Mission Mission

Just saying.  Here’s one that pays proper homage to the city’s Asian heritage.  And crows, one of the smartest birds around [citation needed] and obvious heir of Tyrannosaurus Rex.  Look how majestic they perch!  Vancouver has the crows to thank for the city’s lack of pigeon epidemic.  Also:

They take their Commie shit very seriously

An epic standoff of purple proportions

I think this is the crow lady when she was younger

Bonus:  Urban farm!  With people working on it in the rain.  Vancouver is hardcore.

We’ve got plenty of murals in San Francisco.  We need more farms.  Case closed.

MM reader Jesse W. saw them playing this board game at the common table this afternoon.

By the way, did anyone else catch internal emails that were released revealing how BP purposely neglected to install recommended safety devices (centralizers and stop collars) because it would have taken 12 extra hours and they were already losing money by the day since the project was so delayed.

One BP official, upon realizing the error, wrote to his colleagues “But, who cares, it’s done, end of story, will probably be fine.“  So classy.

Everybody, meet SanJalisco, formerly known as Los Jarritos.  MM reader Mark P. stopped by this weekend and noticed something was amiss:

Just stopped by Los Jarritos at 20th and South Van Ness, a great family restaurant that’s been at that corner at least 20 years. Sign on the door says they’re changing their name. I asked why. They said they’d been sued by the Jarritos soft drink company.

Indeed, despite the fact that owner Dolores Reyes opened the place back in 1988, around the same time that multi-national Novamex started importing their drinks to the US, and that jarritos themselves are actually small earthen clay pots popular in Reyes’ home state Jalisco; the beverage maker nonetheless remained undeterred to ensure sole possession of the name even after losing an earlier court decision in 2007. 

Reyes, lacking the considerable legal budget enjoyed by Novamex, couldn’t afford to keep up the battle in court, much less the $50,000 that the corporation wanted in order for the small restaurant to keep its moniker, and eventually decided to relent and change the name.  In all, it appears that almost 30 similar restaurants around the country with some version of Jarritos in their name were targeted.

You’d be doing yourself a favor by going to stop by and show your support thanks to the delicious menu featuring breakfast chilaquiles and other fabulous platano creations.  Pair that with their refreshing michelada for a fantastic hungover Sunday brunch that gives Boogaloos a run for its money.  Just don’t expect them to be selling Jarritos sodas anymore, though.

Great article on this over at the SFBG

[Outdoor Photo by Michael N via Yelp]

[Food Photo by vegansaurus!]

Fancy tea drinkers enjoying the wonderfully warm Sunday afternoon on the patio of Samovar Tea Lounge at 18th and Sanchez were unceremoniously jarred from their leisure by the rear end of a Mercedes SUV.  The driver apparently suffered a stroke while behind the wheel, causing her vehicle to roll backwards down the steep hill of Sanchez directly into the popular corner cafe.

One patron sitting outside was pinned against the wall and sustained a broken pelvis, but others sitting inside only suffered minor abrasions from the shattered glass flying everywhere.  Deigning this to be real news, ABC Local has a cute video about it with interviews from eyewitnesses like a Samovar server and the owner of Urban Bread who noticed the SUV rolling by and picked up the phone to call 911 as it crashed across the street.

Let’s hope everyone is OK and recovering (Samovar Tea Lounge included).

[Photo by Jsong, via Uptown Almanac]

One of these days I’m going to force myself to make it over to that flea market at 15th and Mission next to the Kink Armory.  San Franciscans seem to love waiting in lines, be it for allegedly killer sandwiches, hip new restaurants, or bathrooms at Dolores Park. 

I wanted to check it out Thursday morning, but that robust line managed to dissuade my desire while also calling into question my San Francisco-ness.  Obviously there must be some great deals to be found there besides stolen bicycle frames (oh wait that’s the Laney College Flea Market).  

Have any of you dear readers ever braved the line?  What’s the coolest thing you’ve managed to find?

I accidentally turned left onto Valencia from 15th Street this afternoon, and it was like I was teleported into the post-apocalypse version.  What could have caused all this havoc to take place?  Luckily, intrepid MM “videographers” provide a peek below into the process behind the repaving of Valencia for the Streetscape Improvement Project:

1. Humongous cement buster pneumatic drill to loosen up the pavement
2. Group of foremen standing around chit-chatting
3. Scoop shovel breaks up the street concrete into chunks, which are then scooped into an adjacent disposal truck for removal
4. Cement crew gets busy and springs to action, with more cement trucks mixing in reserve

Previously:

Coming Soon: Valencia Streetscape Improvements

Getting A Feel For The New Valencia

Just had to stop by the Jimi Hendrix shrine in Renton, WA, on the way to our show with Citay in Olympia.  Judging by the mementos left behind, it appeared that a number of folks had similarly visited to pay their respects.  American flags, beads, flowers of all shapes and colors, Taz (!!!), and . . . what’s this?

I can’t decide who’s the sadder hypothetical person.  The one who was all, “Dude, we have to leave a nug for Jimi!” or his buddy who probably responded with, “Duuuuude, you can’t just leave one nug for Jimi!”

I guess I’ll have to go with C, the inevitable stoner who eventually would stumble onto this scene and think to himself, “Jimi won’t miss these nugs.”

PS.  DO NOT fuck with the Renton PD

Revisiting our prior debate over whether it is acceptable for pedestrians to stand in and occupy parking spots in order to hold them for their friends, MM reader Jeremy shares the following story:

Some dirt bag motherfucker used his vehicle to battered me out of the parking spot I was holding for me wife, who was 1 block away.

After asking if he saw me, He said yes, and sneered, “there are no savesies.”

I asked him not to leave, as he had just hit me with his car, and I wanted to call the police.  He threw down a business card on the hood of his car and told me to “do whatever the fuck you want, because I’m going home.” and walked away from his car, presumably towards home.

So I called the cops.  A hour and a half later, duchebag who used his vehicle as a battering ram was handcuffed in the back of a black and white, not for hit and run(accidental accident that he walked away from), but Felony vehicular assault (He new I was there and purposely hit me with his car).  Fuck anybody who wants to use their cars as weapons, either against pedestrians, or bicyclists

FYI, Dirtbag never even asked me to get out of the way. He just rammed into to me with the back of his car and pushed me out of the way. I would have probably given up the spot to him had he asked (I spend enough time looking for parking after work to be sympathetic to someone coming home after work).  But ramming people with your car?  Go to jail, asshole.

[Photo by Dan of Future's Past]

Previously:

Okay for Pedestrians to Occupy and Hold Parking Spots?

Pretty sure that’s not his bike . . .

[Photo and caption by my buddy Johnny]

Not sure why these just got opened at 5pm, but the collective park celebrates the fact.