Mission Mission

A 2 alarm fire is raging at Valencia and Duboce, at a multi-story apartment building across the street from Zeitgeist.

I can smell it from 22nd and hear the sirens. I hope everyone’s OK.

Update (1:35pm):

It was upped to a 4 alarm fire. Witnesses reported an explosion prior. The blaze is under control now. 37 people will be displaced and there were 5 injured including 3 firefighters who were victims of a collapsed staircase. Scary stuff. Read on at Mission Loc@l.

[photo by nancymancias]

SFGate posted some great then-and-now shots of Mission locations that you may know. Check out a 1962 Clarion Alley, lined with quaint bungalows:

And now, it’s the only street in the Mission that’s apparently immune to city graffiti citation!

Here’s everyone’s favorite intersection: 24th and Hampshire (AKA “Deuce-four Ham”).

Sadly, Bucket O’ Suds didn’t survive the British Invasion:

I personally think the closing of Bucket O’Suds marked the end of the golden age in Mission. After that, it was only high-tech artisanal laundry facilities. No soul. I long for the days where I’d pop a nickel in the laundry machine and get a shave from Chet while I waited. Maybe someone should start a kickstarter campaign to restore the Bucket O’Suds space to it’s full architectural glory.

Check out the rest of this amazing series at SFGate.

[photos SFGate Archives, Peter Hartlaub]

About half a day after Weston Wear was cited for being helplessly vandalized by the Monday night rioters (and later tagged), Weston Wear happily reports:

City has removed our citation. The squeaky wheel really does get the grease!

— Weston Wear Store (@WestonWearStore) May 3, 2012

I guess all your nasty comments hurt their feelings! Way to go, readers! Keep ‘em coming.

Talk about adding insult to injury. Or is it adding pointless fine to injury?

Oh SF City dept, citing us for graffiti on our boarded up windows is just poor taste.

— Weston Wear Store (@WestonWearStore) May 3, 2012

On the shitty meter, this just about ranks up there with getting your car stolen and having to pay for towing.

It’s a good thing that antenna operators are equipped with portable video recording devices (in the form of smartphones) these days:

And here’s another tower tour from 2009:

[via Monkeybrains]

American Hipster, a new YouTube reality show about America’s next top American Hipster (I think), just did a profile on Jeremy Tooker, the owner of Four Barrel cafe / artisanal bike-storage facility. Check it:

The absurdity of sipping coffee samples from a tasting spoon and spitting them out into a cup is apparently not lost on him, either.

Sally snapped this shot of the view from the 299 Valencia condo development. Get yourself a telescope and you can go ahead and cancel your subscription to Kink.com.

[photo by Sally Kuchar/Curbed SF]

Well, the first major Dolores Park renovation is done, and it just so happens to be the section of the park you’re probably too old to hang out in. This Saturday, check out the ribbon cutting event from 2-4pm.

True to Dolores Park form, there will be a performance with Shredder Hoops, a troupe of scantly-clad women demonstrating their flexibility with flaming hula hoops:

Live music will be provided courtesy of Orange Sherbert, a family-friendly band that writes rap songs about the benefits of eating locally-sourced sustainable seasonal vegetables (no I didn’t just make that up):

Oh, and there’s face painting, if you’re into that. I personally don’t care for it, after the unicorn-whose-head-looked-a-lot-like-a-dick incident of 1986.

[via Dolores Park Works]

Fear not, Mission purists, maybe these tech startups that you love to hate are on their way out, or so says this good-bye note that sexpigeon brought to our attention. Local startup Branch, some kind of conversation-having platform (’cause you know, who wants to go through the trouble of having a real one), laments:

San Francisco is just too nice. The nature is too accessible, the architecture is too Victorian, and the weather is too perfect. The quality of life here is unrivaled. But I feel like I haven’t earned that yet. One day, I’ll bike across the bridge and meet my family at Mill Valley Beerworks.

For now, I miss the grit and grime of New York. It is real and raw, and the commotion of the city is contagious. Startup life is characterized by constant motion and tenacious tinkering, not hikes on Mt. Tam and brunch in the Mission, and the pace of life and breadth of humanity in New York is invigorating. I like to tell people: New York is like coffee. You know it’s not good for you, and you don’t really like the taste, but you just can’t get enough. The rush, the jitters, they’re addicting, as are startups.

[via sexpigeon, be sure to read his response, which mentions sweaters and hookers]

Update:

Lock up your goats!

[Spotted on 18th and Mission]