Mission Mission

Tim Harrington, the Art Director and Animation Instructor at BAYCAT (where I’ve spent my 9-5 for the last 8 years) did an offsite animation workshop at his wife Ali’s 4th grade class at Dianne Feinstein Elementary School last Friday. The result was too good not to share. Gotta love San Francisco’s diversity.

After Sunday’s fire displaced at least 37 Mission District residents, Ellen from the McCoppin Hub Neighborhood Association writes to let us know:

The San Francisco Friends School at 250 Valencia St is hosting a quick
donation drive [Tuesday] through Friday in their lobby from 8am-6pm daily.
Top requested items are new/gently-used clothing for adults and kids,
toiletries, blankets. (Housewares and other items may be part of a
future drive at another location when the immediate needs have been
met.)

SF Friends School is also hosting a Neighborhood Meeting to discuss
what is needed and co-ordinate efforts on Thursday May 10th, 5-6pm. A
Red Cross Representative will attend. All community members and other
aid organizations are welcome. Please join to show your support and
brainstorm what we can do next.

[photo by nancymancias]

My best guess here is that the rental market in San Francisco is so competitive that two desperate people from Baton Rouge are advertising their creative, nerdy and humorous approach to life in order to charm someone into contacting them to move into their apartment.

My question is, will this work? And if so, would it work again? Looking for apartments in the Mission on Craigslist is to be confronted with a harsh reality – rents are pretty much twice what you want them to be. Showing up at open houses and finding people clamoring over one another, offering hundreds more than the listed rent can be a major bummer. Is this actually a saner, more reasonable approach?

Since Artist’s Television Access puts the FUN in FUNraiser, you might consider putting the FUND in fundraiser at their art auction tomorrow evening (Friday, 5/4). Seriously, ATA has been a Mission staple for almost 30 years. We need them.

Artist’s Television Access invites you to attend this year’s Art Auction FUNRaiser! More than 50 works will be available, including pieces by Chris Johansen, Martha Colburn, Scott Hewicker, and many more!

Come for the art, stay for the refreshments! Live music by The Beehavers and a post-auction soul dance party!

ATA is at 992 Valencia Street, near 21st.

The group of people who went around the neighborhood tonight smashing up local business storefronts were not involved with the Occupy movement, according to a source who is heavily active in the movement. He concedes that there easily could be overlap in terms of people who also go to Occupy rallies, or support the cause, but that this is not action that is generally acceptable with the vastly peaceful protesters.

The source points out that wording in this post, where the above image was found, implies Black Bloc tactics, frowned upon by many Occupy protesters, and does not specifically call itself Occupy. Though it appears on a site that seems to be affiliated with Occupy Oakland.

Let’s hope that the damage done tonight ends tonight and tomorrow’s peaceful actions will strengthen, rather than overshadow, the strike’s important messages.

Tomorrow night at The Women’s Building, our blog-neighbor, Mission Local, is presenting their first ever film festival. All of the short pieces are either about the Mission or made by people who live in the neighborhood.

Sounds like some interesting stuff:

A silent dance film, a story about a romantic puppet who gets dumped by his human girlfriend, a profile of a Mission DJ who works at one of SF’s independent radio stations, a look at the conflict between the Mission’s gangs and much more. After the screening, there will be a Q&A with the filmmakers.

Check it out! Support local film so that us local filmmakers don’t have to move to LA!

Saturday, 4/28 at 7pm at The Women’s Building, 3543 18th Street, $5 suggested donation.

Link.

Okay, I’m prepared for the idea that it might just be me. It usually is just me. Maybe I have an acute sensitivity towards pareidolia. But when I saw the picture of the Bay Area that the astronaut took from space today I immediately recognized what was actually happening: The East Bay, San Francisco and Marin are engaged in an eternal battle for the Golden Gate!

Three great beasts. Here’s the proof:

(Bigger version)

The original photo:

Or maybe they’re all just reaching out to gobble up the doggie biscuits that are Islands Yerba Buena, Treasure, Angel and Alcatraz.

Of course, this is not without precedent, in that I had previously revealed the East Bay Beast.

[Originally via SFist]

From a few mornings ago. I’ll try to get up on my mornings.

If you grow tired of the mix of grease-burned carne asada, urine, exhaust and rotting garbage that hovers in the air under your nostrils as you walk through our fair neighborhood, take a chance on Pearl Street and enjoy a whiff of these big yellow suckers. These things are so smelly! And it’s completely intoxicating. To smell, perchance to dream.

UPDATE: Lizzy tells us they’re also hallucinogenic! Bonus! But! Please don’t cut off your penis!