Raising rents and the history of land ownership

Man, over at SF Appeal what started as a simple, “can my landlord really raise my rent?” turned into, “short answer is yes, long answer <insert history of land ownership in Western civilization>”. Here’s a snippet:

As societies became more complex, ruthless bands of sociopaths (call their leaders pharaohs, kings, popes, bankers or the 1%) took control, they usurped the commoners’ (call them the people or the 99%) rights to own the land. I’m sure the bargain went something like this: “Look peon, I’ll defend your land for you, but because I have taken on this burden you have to give me unfettered rights to your land.” Faced with an offer they could not refuse, most commoners gave in. Those who resisted lost their ability to pass down their genetic make-up to future generations. It seemed that evolution created the perfect marriage of cowards and kings.

Good read, if you wanna shake your fist at the sky. Check it out.

[via SF Appeal]

Valencia protester cries, ‘down with this sort of thing!’

“What thing?”, you ask. Well, isn’t it obvious?

Three nights of Mission Night Market this week

Ken Ken Ramen is hosting a 3-day “Asian night market” style event with local artisinal crafts and food vendors at their space on 18th St.:

We love Asian Night Markets full of interesting stalls, vendors, food, and craziness — so much so that we’re turning our noodle factory into a three night Mission Night Market! Set up next door to Ken Ken Ramen at 3376 18th St, Mission Night Market will run Thursday, Friday & Saturday, hosting independent vendors, crazy artists, and more. Themes and vendors will range from Surfers to Vintage to Palm Readers to Jewelers to Japanese Dessert Makers & more!

Look for a wild selection of local artists setting up shop and hawking their goods at this evening bazaar. Three nights only! March 8-10 2012. 6pm to Late.

Selected vendors and more include:

  • Bobaguys
  • ScuttleFish Vanagon Surf Mobile
  • SanFlan Japanese Desserts
  • Palm Reading
  • The Gypsie Shop by Curator Amanda Krampf
  • Alite Camping Equipment
  • JackKnife Outfitters
  • Revolver Select
  • Cureall Vintage
  • Auger + Ore Jewelry
  • Webster Reading Room
  • Roppongi Records
  • Aoi Yamaguchi
  • Kitsch Art Gallery
  • Valerian Jewelry
  • Dillon Montara Clothing
  • Adam Lam Furniture

Nice try guys, but we all know it’s not a real Asian night market without knock-off Adidas shoes and booth after booth of iPhone cases.

This goes down at 3376 18th Street 6pm to late Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (March 8th, 9th, 10th).

The crossed out name is ‘Frankie’

My guesses:
  1. “Frankie” is on the dog’s birth certificate, but everyone knows him as as “Blanca”. Owner realized this after having printed the sign.
  2. It’s a recycled sign. Owner couldn’t be bothered to design a his own, and this dog looked close enough. Oh, and somehow he has the same phone number.
  3. A disgruntled neighbor is trying to sabotage the recovery effort.

Any other theories?

[via webuiltthiscity]

Topless cat

20120227-150808.jpg

AKA “titty kitty”?

[22nd and Bartlett parklet]

Stroller security

It’s no surprise that Bernal Heights has a completely different class of theft problems. Stroller theft, to be exact. It’s said that a nice stroller can fetch up to $100 on the black market.

Nice try at security here pops, but anyone carrying a hex wrench could detach that handle in minutes, leaving you with a long walk home carrying a sobbing baby. Here are some time-tested tips:

  1. Cover the stroller with stickers. A thief is less likely to want to deal with removing a bunch of stickers to make the item sellable.
  2. Get a beater stroller. Sorry, but having nice things comes at a cost. Spare yourself the heartbreak of losing something extremely valuable. I hear www.strollersdirect.com has some decent rides that wont break the bank.
  3. Leave an ugly decoy baby in the stroller while it is unattended. Nobody wants an ugly baby.

[Snapped in Bernal Heights, Sunday]

Image of old dude is actually guy on horse coming through an arch next to a shrouded sleeping woman

Will this optical illusion be the one that finally unseats “Old-lady-with-cartoonishly-large-nose-or-comely-lass-looking-away“? I think so. Snatch it up before it becomes the next classic.

By Octavio Ocampo, the guy who did the freaky Don Quijote one.

[22nd and Mission]

‘Ask for Bonnie’

Rudy from Monkeybrains sent us this snap and added:

Found on the corner of Bryant and Cesar Chavez while walking beside my 4 year old learning to bike.

Well a kid’s gotta learn about legalized prostitution sooner or later. Better this way than from some punk at school.

Jacked-up house

15th and Dolores.

Seeing stuff like this makes me wonder how houses don’t just fall over all the time.

[via dexnandflexn]

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema founder takes us inside the New Mission Theater

For the past decade, the interior of the New Mission Theater could only be seen by curious developers and graffiti artists who could climb real high. Lucky for the rest of us, Tim League, the founder of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema released some photos from his last visit to the site.

Tim seems pretty stoked to work on this project, calling San Francisco his “favorite city in the world” and the place his parents met. He fully plans to restore the site to its historic architectural glory. I, personally, can’t wait to enjoy that historic architectural glory myself (with a pint and Back to the Future 2).

The rest of the photos can be seen here, and the Drafthouse blog.

[Alamo Drafthouse via Mission Loc@l]

Vic Wong

Posts: 772

Email: vic (at) missionmission.org

Website: http://vicwomg.tumblr.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/vicwomg

Biographical Info:

Vic was born in Oakland. He is a software engineer. He plays jazz guitar. Vic owns a sword.