Mission Mission

FIVE YEARS! THAT IS NUTS!!!

Here’s what I wrote in my blog post about the first one ever, way back in August 2011:

Well, this has been a dream of mine for a couple years now. The first time I played ping pong in Berlin, my mind was blown and I chanted for weeks and months, “WHY DO WE NOT HAVE THIS IN SAN FRANCISCO???”

Now we do. It’s a party called American Tripps and it debuts the first two Fridays in August.

[...]

It starts mellow, everybody strolling around the table, drinks in hand, possibly movin’ to the music, getting to know the people next to you in the circle. And as people mess up and the ranks dwindle, the action gets serious. But not too serious. It’s all in good fun. It’s fun to watch, it’s fun to hang out. It’s fun. It’s the best!

And it still is! I’m still hungover from last night at Pop’s (where we do American Tripps each and every Monday now) thanks to lots of ping pong and lots of beers and shots and lots of bangers by DJ Beauregard.

Friday is gonna be wild.

Here’s the official invite:

It’s been FIVE YEARS! Let’s party!!!

AMERICAN TRIPPS: The “Berlin-Style” Ping Pong Party
**********5th Anniversary Party*************

• Berlin-style ping pong action ALL NIGHT
• Resident DJs Beauregard & Nutzeffekt (aka Malcolm + Allan) spinning vinyl fresh from Berlin (and elsewhere)
• Birthday cake!
• Party favors!
• Dancefloor up on stage!
• Drink specials!
• Birthday surprises!
• Special appearances by Kramer and Newman (possibly)

Also, we’re sort of filling in for Popscene, so this is an 18+ party! Tell your kids!

Only $5 (because 5 years) at the door (plus an extra $2 if you’re under 21).

As always, please RSVP and invite your friends!!!

Photos by our friend Trusha A. and this report by our friend Malcolm M. (via our Facebook post on Saturday):

The bulk of the burning was apartments above Playa Azul–completely gutted. Blaze was uncontrolled and stoked to massive proportions by strong easterly winds. The fire department seemed to be *extremely* slow in getting hoses on it (about 20 minutes after trucks arrived). A girl who lived above Cole said she was the one who called 911 and suspected it was a trash fire behind Cole sparked by her porch smoking neighbor’s cigarette. Very sorry for the families and residents who lost almost everything, and for the local businesses and employees affected–especially much-beloved Cole Hardware. Let’s try to help them out however possible, and PLEASE let’s not allow market rate condos to be built where local shops and rent controlled apartments stood this morning.

Thanks, all.

It’s hard to talk about the history of theater in San Francisco without talking about SF Mime Troupe. So we were pumped when we saw the notice for this summer’s show Freedomland, since DT&D hadn’t had a chance to review one of their plays yet. First just to clarify – SF Mime Troupe is not silent. As their website explains:

The San Francisco Mime Troupe does not do pantomime. We mean ‘mime’ in the ancient sense: to mimic. We are satirists, seeking to make you laugh at the absurdities of contemporary life, and at the same time see their causes. We travel the country and the world with our message of solidarity, comedy, and the plight of the worker in our increasingly corporatized democracy, and have done shows about most of the burning issues of our time – normally debunking the official story. And because we want our shows about the issues of the day to be seen by the people who are most effected by those issues- working class families who can’t always afford to the ticket prices at the other Tony award winning theaters – we perform most of our shows free in public parks, for tens of thousands of our fellow citizens every summer.

So off we went, to join our fellow San Franciscans for a night of Drama Talk & Drinks!

(l-r) Lisa Hori-Garcia (Emily Militis), Michael Gene Sullivan (Malcolm Haywood), Hugo E Carbajal (Cop), Keith Arcuragi (Cop) in Freedomland. Photo: Mike@mikemelnyk.com

Katie: That was really fun to see a Mime Troupe Show! I highly respect them as a company, and it’s been years since I’ve seen one of their shows. It’s great that they still tackle very topical and important issues in their work. Nothing is more timely right now than the Black Lives Matter movement.

Brittany: One of my favorite theater genres is social justice theater. I’ve always dug the work that was done during the WPA. Unions and political groups using the stage to pass on revolutionary messages through humor and art. I really appreciate that SF Mime Troupe is keeping that kind of theater alive.

K: At times though, it felt like they took a complex issue and oversimplified it. There were some talented actors, but in trying to create such one-dimensional examples of bad-guys and good-guys, they limited the complexity of the characters.

B: I guess that’s one of the failings of this kind of theater. I wasn’t expecting complex character arcs, so I wasn’t disappointed.

K: True, I guess I just don’t prefer this kind of theater, but it was well done. I appreciate that this piece choose to show us long-term institutionalized injustices that compound over the course of a black person’s life. Systemic injustices that they endure over and over again, and then when they’re stressed, or fed-up, or what have you, they finally stand up for their rights and that’s when the events escalate to make an otherwise ordinary oppressive encounter turn deadly.

B: I liked that they were blunt, that it didn’t have a happy ending like most musicals, and that they didn’t try to sugarcoat it, while they still somehow made it funny. The only thing I do wish is that there was a better call to action at the end. At the end of the play I wish the audience had jumped to their feet and had started chanting Black Lives Matter, because they were so moved by the injustices they saw on stage. I feel like that should be the ultimate goal of this sort of piece, and the audience just didn’t get there – they clapped – they were possibly intellectually moved – but they didn’t take to the streets. It didn’t have quite the oomph, or the solution. I guess there isn’t an easy solution, but I wish there was.

The Verdict: Who doesn’t love a day in the park? Who doesn’t love free theater? SF Mime Troupe’s Freedomland allows you to enjoy both, while being funny, topical and maybe even a bit revolutionary. Go see it when it comes to a park near you!

The Drama Talk: They did a good job of using humor to lighten up what could be an incredibly heavy topic and made it accessible. The actors are uniformly talented, and for such a small cast (only 4 people) they convincingly play a wide variety of very different characters. The music is good, as is the band, but you don’t really leave this show humming a tune. It’s a show that makes you think, which is one of the best things theater can do.

The Drinks: Since this show is normally in a park, we suggest BYOB (when allowed), but since we saw the show at the SF Mime Troupe space, we availed ourselves of the vino there.

Freedomland runs through September 7th, so even though we’re nearly halfway through the run, you still have time. Nearly all of the performances are donation based, so while you should totally throw SF Mime Troupe a few to keep this great company going strong, you can just show up. Even thought the show we saw was in the SF Mime Troupe space, nearly all the rest are outside in parks all over the Bay Area and beyond. You can check out the SF Mime Troupe website for more details, but here’s a list of the remaining shows this summer:

Frances Willard/Ho Chi Minh Park
Sat, Aug 8th @ 2:00 PM (Music 1:30)
Sun, Aug 9th @ 2:00 PM (Music 1:30)
Hillegass Ave. & Derby St., Berkeley

San Lorenzo Park
Sat, Aug 15th @ 3:00 PM (Music 2:30)
Sun, Aug 16th @ 3:00 PM (Music 2:30)
San Lorenzo Park, Santa Cruz
Post-show discussion after 8/15/15. No dogs, alcohol, or smoking allowed in park.

Glen Park
Sat, Aug 22nd @ 2:00 PM (Music 1:30)
Bosworth & O’Shaughnessy, San Francisco

Mitchell Park, South Field
Sun, Aug 23rd @ 4:00 PM (Music 3:30)
600 East Meadow Drive & Cowper Street, Palo Alto

St. James Park
Tue, Aug 25th @ 6:30 PM (Music 6:00)
3rd Street & E. St. James Street, San Jose

Miners Foundry – Parking Lot
Fri, Aug 28th @ 7:30 PM (Music 7:00)
325 Spring Street, Nevada City
Ticket Info: http://www.minersfoundry.org/buy-tickets/

Southside Park, Bandshell
Sat, Aug 29th @ 5:00 PM (Music 4:30)
6th & T St., Sacramento

Community Park
Sun, Aug 30th @ 7:00 PM (Music 6:30)
East 14th & F St., Davis

Bay View Opera House, Outdoor Plaza
Wed, Sep 2nd @ 6:30 PM (Music 6:00)
Bay View Opera House, San Francisco

Peacock Meadow in Golden Gate Park
Sat, Sep 5th @ 2:00 PM (Music 1:30)
JFK Drive & Peacock Meadow, San Francisco Btwn Panhandle and Conservatory of Flowers

Dolores Park
Sun, Sep 6th @ 2:00 PM (Music 1:30)
Mon, Sep 7th @ 2:00 PM (Music 1:30)
19th St. & Dolores St., San Francisco
Post-show discussion after 9/6/15

Late Saturday night my buddy Malcolm bought nine bacon-wrapped hot dogs for a party of four people, only two of which were actually hungry. I ate half of one and took another to go. I popped it in the fridge and forgot about it until just now. And now I’m hungry.

Let’s talk logistics: I’ve got a can of Tecate and a bag of maple-bacon Kettle Chips on the side, and a vintage KronnerBurger placemat/menu in case there’s any spillage. And I’m listening to the Gooch Palms album for moral support.

I’ll update this post as the project progresses. Okay here I go…

UPDATE (12:54): All the fixins’! Looks not too bad. Smells great! Feels real cold, fresh from the fridge.

UPDATE (12:58): First bite! Tastes great! Plenty of mayo, which is a must. Cold hot dog basically tastes like bologna, as you know. Not bad! Into it!

Yum! It even looks good!

DAMN, the Gooch Palms rule! You should read my post about them from over the weekend in case you missed it.

UPDATE (1:01): Uh oh, a momentary twinge of heartburn!

UPDATE (1:03): First bite of jalapeno! Still nice and hot!

UPDATE (1:04): I’ve got two likes on my Instagram post about this undertaking, and two comments, one of which, from my pal Christina, who always tells it like it is, is: “Gross tho.” Yup!

I’m really glad I’ve got this Tecate.

UPDATE: (1:06): Just kidding, I’m totally loving this. I’m really surprised the bun is totally intact. Virtually zero sog. Even though there is a LOT of mayo (and other sauces and vegetable-related moisture), none of it got into the bun! Science!

UPDATE (1:08): The heartburn comes and goes.

The maple-bacon Kettle Chips pairing was unplanned, I just happened to have them lying around, but it’s pretty good. Contrasting the savory bacon dish with the sweeter bacon dish is fun.

UPDATE (1:09): I just burped! And man, it was a big one!!

UPDATE (1:13): The burp cleared out plenty of room for my to finish the rest of the dog. Here’s proof I’m almost done:

UPDATE (1:15): I had to spit out some inedible bacon gristle, no big deal. About to take that last bite!

UPDATE (1:16): Taking the final bite as, appropriately, the Gooch Palms beautiful album closer “Don’t Cry” plays. Yum! Swallowed it and burped again!

Okay, I did it! No ill effects really. I can’t believe it took me a whole 31-minute album to eat a hot dog, but whatever. Seriously, listen to this album, it’s on Spotify and stuff.

I guess I’ll update again if there’s any blowback, but I don’t anticipate any.

Thanks for your support!

Our budday Malcolm, a connoisseur of all things Balkan, fills us in:

The great Mano Cherga Band plays tonight with Chervona, Makru Musica and DJ Zlejko from Kafana Balkan (late night set 1AM-close). For those of you who’ve yet to see Mano Cherga, this Serbo-Gypsy five-piece has the power to transform any venue into the homemade-vodkanol-fueled rural Balkan Wedding of the Year, 1990. You become the too-young sweaty groom; she becomes the too-young sweaty bride. Chances are she is a lovely link in the fairy circle of scarf dancing girls that seems to spring up wherever these fellows play. You have your whole lives ahead of you! Tonight the floorboards will leap, the chandeliers will swing, and temblors will pass unnoticed!

In! RSVP and invite your friends!

American Tripps is back again already! RSVP and invite your friends here!

Here are some pictures from last time, shot by local photographer Allison Donlevy:

See the whole gorgeous album here.

Summer is a bummer!

[via MCF] [Thanks, Malcolm!]

Beware out there!

(Thanks, Malcolm!)

“Ok, there’s only enough oxygen in there for a few hours, so try not to breathe too much.  We’ve got to make this last the whole weekend.”

If you walked down Valencia at all during the beautifully sunny weekend that we all just had the pleasure of enjoying, you must have noticed these poor souls trapped inside the window of Artist Television Access, the rad non-profit media access company that always seems to be up to some neat stuff when they’re not committing crimes against humanity.  Be sure to check them out if you’ve ever got some free time and a creative streak, or if you just want to see what’s new in the artistic community.  Besides indie film festivals, art installations, and aesthetic workshops, it also makes for the perfect spot to throw a Berlin Ping Pong Disco Party:

Photo by Malcolm M.

UPDATE!!! They are having a FUNraiser this weekend!

One day last summer, Katie and I and our friend Malcolm were walking home after some dancing at the Knockout. This big drunken dude came marching up to us, mumbling in Spanish. He was jolly and seemed harmless enough, so we started making small talk and taking pictures.

The guy was mumbling and mumbling and cracking himself up. It was pretty funny.

Malcolm had just come back from a trip to a Spanish-speaking country, so he was able to communicate a tiny bit at least. The guy was very impressed, took an instant liking to Malcolm.

At some point he got a little rough, but still all in good fun.

Soon, we tried to say our goodbyes and get a move on. Especially Malcolm.

But before we could leave, guy reached down and took a big handful of Malcolm’s genital area, then whirled around and strolled away, giggling to himself. Ouch!

Anyway, Malcolm moved to another continent today, so we thought we’d share this story in his honor. We’ll miss you, buddy!

Also, sorry about the resless photography. Hopefully it gets the job done.