Mission Mission

Eh there, guys.

Did you know there was a rad organization in San Francisco dedicated to tracking down war criminals and bringing them to justice?  You didn’t???  Well, here’s your chance to get involved and help them out, all while drinking wine and listening to some jazzy melodies from our own Vic Wong!

CJA is an international human rights organization dedicated to deterring torture, war crimes, crimes against humanity and other severe human rights abuses around the world through litigation, policy advocacy and outreach in pursuit of truth, justice and redress for victims and survivors. 

In addition to our quarterly free speaker series events, the YPCHR puts on an annual fundraiser for our peers.  This year our event is called A Toast to Justice and will be held on December 3 at SomArts (934 Brannan St.).  Guests will enjoy wine tasting from several local and international wineries and live music from jazz guitarist Vic Wong, plus remarks from renowned artist Richard Kamler.  The exhibition in the gallery is a group show called A Place of Her Own featuring all female artists.

Tickets available here!

Look, you can even use this handy app to effortlessly manage your vacation rental!

I mean, I get it.  AirBnB is a really neat service.  The problem I have with it is that it emboldens landlords to act like assholes in the interest of making more money on their properties, all at the expense of real city residents’ living situations.  This isn’t about some mere pastry-rating app; this is people’s homes.

While that may or may not be an outstanding problem yet, if allowed to continue to grow unchecked and unregulated it will only embolden more and more landlords to act like assholes, and before long you’ll have a city full of $450 per night vacation spots and not much else.

So why not regulate it before it comes to that?

Oh shit, Halloween is on a Saturday this year, so you know what that means . . . SMITHSFITS!!!

All SMITHS, All Misfits, ALL NIGHT
Costume contest at midnight, (all entries must be in by 11:45).
$5
9pm doors

And get there early for to buy one of these shirts!

Check out all the details here.

Our pal Zach, who you may remember as the infamous seeker of holiday romance, recently had a run-in with some local bike thieves that ended in the BEST WAY POSSIBLE:

HOW I LOST MY BIKE (THEN GOT IT BACK 15 HOURS LATER)

This whole situation was (most likely) avoidable and entirely my fault. But, y’all wanted a story, so here it is.

HOW I LOST MY BRAND-NEW TRACK BIKE

Do you know those once-every-three-years drunks where you do something incredibly stupid and out of character?

No? Just me? OK, well, this was one of those.

After a long day of riding and racing at Quake City Rumble, I figured I’d get my party on. Been working and training hard, plus organizing the finale race, so I felt I’d earned a good tear.

Long story short, after hopping around to a few spots I left my coworker’s birthday party sometime between 2 and 3am. (I sort-of-not-really remember leaving but apparently had promised to walk my bike home)

Now, even when I’m on autopilot, I’m pretty OCD. Phone, keys, wallet – I never lose my necessities. But when I woke up at home around 8 or 9am, and looked at the spot where I keep my bike, it was empty.

Not only did I just get this thing, I’m supposed to race it at the Wolfpack Hustle Finale Crit in Austin next weekend.

Commence freaking out.

THE INTERIM

But I can’t freak out, because today is the Mountain Lion, the biggest and baddest alleycat in San Francisco. And I won it last year, which means I’m organizing it this year. This keeps me mentally occupied from dwelling on my missing bike and hating myself too much. I post a picture of the bike describing my situation, and since bike people know all too well the pain of a missing machine, it becomes shared quickly across social media.

HOW I GOT MY BIKE BACK

The Mountain Lion ends and we’re hanging out at Potrero Del Sol Park. It’s about 5pm and I’m ready to tuck into a burrito when I get a call from my buddy Demi. He says his friend Eli is pretty sure he spotted my bike downtown; I get his number and give him a call.

“Yeah, your bike’s on Market near New Montgomery.”
“Are you sure it’s mine?”
I don’t believe this is happening but Eli rattles off a part list and now I’m 100% sure; plus it’s one of only 3 Heavy Pedal Axiom frames in the Bay Area.

“There’s eyes on my bike near Market and New Montgomery!” I yell.

Sardine, who is in charge of organizing this weekend’s events and is also great at shouting, hears me. “Oh shit, for real?” He turns to the crowd of racers and chillers, “ANYBODY WANT TO HELP THIS MAN GET HIS STOLEN BIKE BACK, HE’S GOING DOWNTOWN NOW!”

I start pedaling. Adam Shapiro, Brian Dooley, Carlos Balam, Matt Vanaman and possibly some others (sorry if I forget) are in hot pursuit; especially impressive because I just threw a hard-as-fuck race that these guys all finished (to the tune of almost 50 miles and 5500 feet of climbing).

I have my phone on loud for updates, and sure enough, Eli rings me every couple of minutes. I don’t like dipping through traffic while yakking on the phone but it’s sort of a necessity in this situation. The target is riding my bike around Civic Center. OK, no, now he’s at 5th and Market. So at this point it’s Dooley and I tearing down Market street.

I’m scanning the crowds and I spot my bike being walked on the sidewalk. I see Eli getting off his phone (he’s been following the thief this whole time) and pointing to the guy with my bike. He’s a big, gnarly looking white dude covered in tattoos and I get the feeling he’s been to prison at least once.

Well, Mr. Thief hops off the sidewalk and is about to mount up. I immediately flip a u-turn and box him in to the curb from the front and side, with Dooley pulling up right alongside and behind him.

I don’t remember exactly what I yelled in the heat of the moment, but it was just something gruff and direct like “Off the bike, man. That’s my ride.”

The dude very quickly dismounts and hands the bike over to me, spinning some bullshit about buying it off Craigslist this morning. I tell him I don’t want to hear it and just like that we’re off with the bike in hand, just as Matt and Carlos show up. The whole thing is over in 15 seconds.

I ghost ride my recovered whip back to my house, and invite my posse in for some shots of good bourbon and some beers. I put the bike back in its spot, and we roll back to the park for the weekend’s award ceremony.

I’ve never been so depressed and mad at myself, then so elated in less than 24 hours. Bike people are the best people when it comes to looking out for each other. I got incredibly lucky here, but I am eternally thankful to everyone who was keeping an eye out, and who came to help, and especially Demi for the tip off from Eli, who followed the thief like a total crime dog.

Btw, winter is coming.  Do you have a holiday girlfriend/boyfriend yet???

I for one am most likely doomed for taking this photo.  Save yourself while you can!

But instead of candy inside, these pinatas are just full of hot air.  BA-DUM-BUM-TISHHHHHHHH

(Thanks Laurie!)

Despite all the changes ravaging the city, at least we’ve still got our pals Social Studies making new records!  It’s been a while since we heard from these folks, but apparently they were hard at work the whole time crafting sweet, sweet melodies.

Have a listen to the new album here, or do yourself a favor and buy the whole thing here!

I’m not sure exactly what’s gonna happen, but I know it’s gonna be fun:

Here I come Bay Area! I am so pleased to offer the Bay Area debut of Sex & the Suburbs, the show that is the expression of everything creative I do right now. It is based on poems I wrote between the ages of 19 and 22, almost entirely in Berkeley, CA.

The show will feature opening set by Deirdre Stewart, sharing story and song learned and inspired by her recent residency in southern Mexico.

I am honored and humbled and proud and terrified and excited to invite you to come and experience and create this thing with me.

Check out all the details here!

Wow, has it really been two years already?

The Adobe Books and Arts Cooperative has been an amazing adventure, thanks for joining us on the journey. We need your help to continue to stay open and to thrive. Join us on July 24th and raise a glass to a wondrous creature known as Adobe Books, and to learn more about how you can get involved by joining the co-op.

There’ll be art from the staff, music, and treats from Tartine!  Check out all the details here.

Previously:

• How to celebrate an anniversary