Mission Mission

Figuring the electro night of the TI Music Festival would be the most appropriate time ever to wear such an awesome hat, Allan was disappointed that no one commented on his Swomp Thang lid’s awesomeness the whole time we were there.  Then, while waiting in the hour-long line for the shuttle at the end of the show, he finally got an “I love your hat!” from a random fellow line-waiter.

As he was mentioning to the rest of us how nice it was that the hat had finally received its deserved accolades, a completely different person shuffled past in the contra-lateral line and exclaimed, “I love your hat!”  Cosmic occurrence or past-due acknowledgment?  I can’t decide.

Want a Womp Hat of your own?  You can find them here.

[Photo L-R:  1st Row Me, Natalie, Elisa, Allan;  2nd Row Mischievous Ne'er-do-wells]

Previously:

MM Commenters’ Stories of the Treasure Island Bands

Swomp Thang

Mark Denton (aka swampzoid) used Google Earth to capture this image of the Hub (that circular on-ramp on S. Van Ness by 14th Street that leads to the 101).  I’ve always wondered what kind of seedy stuff goes on in the middle of that thing.

For maximum enjoyment on this abysmally rainy Sunday, we recommend a pairing with Sunny Day Real Estate:

An ethical dilemma for a rainy Sunday.  Sure, the owner of the Faggio would obviously prefer finding his scooter upright upon returning, but would you be doing him a disservice by preventing him from knowing that something happened to his ride?  Assume there is no damage–does it matter if he knows?

Wait, what if the owner saw you propping it back up and assumed you knocked it over?!?  Would could you say then?  Have any of you ever gotten into trouble for mistimed altruism?

Confused?  Luckily, it’s Sunday, so you can always go off and see a minister.

Look closely.  It’s easy to miss at first glance.

The mystery is solved after the jump . . .

(more…)

I know we’ve all been waiting a long time, but the day is here at last and Arizmendi is finally ready to serve you delicious savory and sweet pastries (in addition to the best tomato-less pizza around) all day, every day.  Even though we’ve been stopping by for free samples the past few weeks in hot anticipation, we just had to check out the official opening ourselves to see what the scene would be like.

Savory

And what a scene it was!  A friendly milieu of fixies and strollers, everyone happy to have the opportunity to finally enter the bakery on such a wonderfully sunny day.  There was even a video camera crew from a local food blog asking one of the workers (soon to be co-owners–that’s the beauty of this place) about the elusive “Chocolate Thing” that seems to be such the favorite that it sells out within an hour of morning opening.

Sweet

While we were definitely drawn to the tempting display of both sweet concoctions (the tantalizing brioche knots and pecan rolls) and savory treats (especially the zampano, a roll sprinkled lightly with cheese and pepper), we just had to get our first try of their ever-changing but always delicious pizza.  It had that chewy yet firm consistency that has become the trademark of the cooperative bakery, topped with a pungent mixture of cheese that complemented the baked mushrooms nicely.  Truly worth it despite the scorching weather.  Can’t wait to see what tomorrow’s pie will be!

Pizza Time!!!

Take a quick peek at this gorgeous video following local artist Mark Warren Jacques as he makes his way through the chaos of the City on foot, bicycle, and skateboard.  Shot by Joe Lumbroso of Gallery Hijinks for Mark’s upcoming showing featuring a new direction of work incorporating form, figures and anatomy along with his existing spectrum of clean, fluid lines juxtaposed with bold geometric shapes.

Check out the opening this Saturday at Gallery Hijinks on Bryant at 21st!

Travis snapped this picture in front of Modern Times and asks the above question.  To which we say, at least this fellow has the courtesy to act consistently with what he is advocating; unlike, say, these law-bending scofflaws.

Previously:

Banksy Weighs in on Sit-Lie

As one of the most revered coffee shops (gauged by Craigslist Missed Connections per week) in the Mission, Philz is always on the lookout for ways to increase the number of ways to serve you, the customer.  We’ve seen cupcakes, donuts, and empanadas; but we haven’t truly gotten a sense of the cafe’s plans for 24th Street domination until now, thanks to secret documents recently unearthed by local rabble-rouser brainslip:

El Philzolito
Burritos, tacos, etc. Chipz $0.50.

Philzeist
Porta-Potty packed smokey watering hole.

Philzamunde
Palestinian take on upscale sausage.

Phjlz Belgian Phrjtz
Benelux cone-based appetizers.

Read on for the rest.

[Photo by Premshree Pillai]

Previously:

Deal of the Year: $200 Annual Bottomless Miller Pint at Clooney’s

Reader Andy P. wants to know:

I was riding north on S Van Ness back to work and saw all kinds of commotion on 22nd street, anyone know what happened?

Luckily, tipster Eugene C. has the answer!

Nothing terribly exciting and you can’t see much in the pic, but two pickups got into an accident on 22nd at Capp in front of the El Trebol.

So there you go.  Nice work team!

UPDATE: More pics!! And word of an injury. Also, SFist has more story.

It had to happen sooner or later given the jungle-like chaos of Market Street.  You may have witnessed it yourselves from time to time, or possibly have been inconvenienced while waiting on piled-up Muni buses from an occurrence several blocks ahead.  You just never expect it to happen to you.

First, a little back story:  I was hustling down Market on my bicycle as I usually do and crossed New Montgomery onto that weird block where vehicles in the right lane turn onto 2nd Street while the cheese-gratered left lane is reserved for through-traffic.  Knowing this, I stayed in the left lane while also being careful to avoid the treacherous Muni tracks and BART vents when all of a sudden a taxi cab pulled out directly in front of me from the line of cars waiting in the right lane. 

I only had time to yell before I collided with the window above the rear left door side and tumbled onto the pavement (I’m sure his passenger was quite surprised as well).  I popped back up (as many bikers do instantly after getting in accidents of various severity–why does this happen so often???) and walked over to the side of the road where a bunch of bystanders immediately came over to see how I was doing. 

I was actually overwhelmed by the sheer number of people who stopped to help.  One kind woman even offered to take me upstairs to her office so I could wash up in the restroom (my elbow was bleeding quite a bit).  Another person walked by and asked what happened, to which a witness responded, “That crazy taxi just hit that guy!”  Someone else said, “I’m calling the police.”  Just as I mumbled, “Oh, please don’t do that,” a squad car pulled up behind and buzzed the siren.

Before I could say anything, another person exclaimed “That taxi over there hit him!”  The officer asked if I was injured and required any medical attention, but I said I just needed something to soak up my now quite-bloody arm, which he quickly provided.  Then he went over to get the taxi driver who had been waiting in his cab after pulling to the curb.  Since I wasn’t too badly hurt, the officer said he was just going to provide collision information cards for the driver to fill out in case I woke up the next day and couldn’t move.

The cab driver, a young and polite African fellow, was terrified, however.  While the officer was getting the cards from his car, the cabbie pleaded with me, begging me not to report anything, saying he would lose his job and imploring me with sad details about his family.  He kept repeating “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you, please, tell the man, please,” over and over again.  I told him I felt fine and didn’t think I would have to make a statement or anything, but I just wanted his info as a precaution in case I ended up with some freak injury once the adrenalin wore off.  At the same time, I also warned him that he needed to be much more careful in the future, especially on a crazy street like Market, and that the move he pulled would have been unsafe under any circumstances.

With the situation resolved, we all went on our separate ways.  Hopefully the whole incident left a lasting impression on the cab driver so he drives a little more carefully from now on!  It’s not like he did it on purpose, but there’s a reason why cabbies in this city have such a notorious reputation.  As for me, hopefully my sore elbow won’t affect my drumming during the recording we’re planning on doing in the coming weeks.  It could easily have been much worse, so I’m happy that we were all able to walk away and go about the rest of our day.  Be careful out there, folks!

Previously:

Pedestrian Struck by Taxi on Market; Muni gives up

Cyclist Down at Fremont and Market

Cyclist Dead After Hit and Run Collision

Creep In An SUV Targeted 4 Cyclists Last Night