Mission Mission

A new music venue called Brick and Mortar is opening up tonight with the local Ray Charles tribute band: Rayband. They start at 9:30pm. Here’s the event page. The venue is at Mission and Duboce which puts it right by Discount Builders Supply, a great place to go if you need lots of pipe.

Looks like they are going for a funk and soul vibe, and have a pretty ambitious lineup for the coming months, including Zigaboo Modeliste of the Meters, Breakestra, and Daptone records presents Charles Bradley.

[photo by insouciance]

Update: The venue occupies the old Coda space, according to SFWeekly.

As Allan mentioned, I’m in Vietnam this week.

You would love it. It’s 90 degrees now. There are more $2 multi-colored fake Ray Bans than you can handle. Dudes just walk up to you on the street with them. Seriously, I buy two more pairs every time I leave the hotel. The pho costs about $2.50 and is as ubiquitous as McDonald’s. Banh Mi sandwiches? Like 50 cents. And then there’s the coffee…

Did you know the most expensive coffee in the world comes from Vietnam? This particular coffee goes for hundreds of dollars per pound in the US, but it’s about 10-15 bucks here. But that cute weasel on the package is not a mascot, it’s part of the manufacturing process.

You see, these are beans that have been eaten by a weasel (technically a civet), passed through its digestive system, and roasted. It’s called Kopi Luwak. Wikipedia says:

Coffee cherries are eaten by a civet for their fruit pulp. After spending about a day and a half in the civet’s digestive tract the beans are then defecated in clumps, having kept their shape and still covered with some of the fleshy berry’s inner layers.

And what exactly does that accomplish?

Research by food scientist Massimo Marcone at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada showed that the civet’s endogenous digestive secretions seep into the beans. These secretions carry proteolytic enzymes which break down the beans’ proteins, yielding shorter peptides and more free amino acids.

Whatever you say, science dude. I can attest that the beans are the strongest, richest, most chocolatey coffee I’ve ever smelled. I have not tasted it yet, but I will be bringing some back. Is anyone curious?

Now that you mention it, I can think only of one other type of person that consumes substances that have been passed through anal cavities: a junkie.

A tipster sent us these pics of the latest addition to the ongoing collaborative mural by Public Works started by Banksy during his 2010 promotional surge through the city. This augmentation was allegedly added by none other than French pioneering stencil artist Blek Le Rat.

More pics after the jump.

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Jack reports:

A police chase just ended outside my window. The truck… smashed in to the toyota and the dude took off running. He hopped a fence into parque ninos unidos. Cops everywhere. For a while there were police on the rooftop next to the park with what looked like assault rifles.

I later saw a handcuffed guy being taken away in an ambulance, so I guess they caught the driver…

Cops on the roof with rifles! More pics after the jump. Anyone know what’s up? Was this guy an international jewel thief or something?

[Thanks Jack!]

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You find cool stuff clicking through to our commenters’ web sites. Case in point: T.C.’s Don’t Go Changing SF, a blog that finds an old picture of a SF building and shows it right next to a current one from the same angle.

Remember Kay Jewelers on 21st and Mission?

No? Weren’t you around in 1953? What are you, 27 or something? Maybe you know it as this:

I’ve always wondered about the origin of those weird Romanesque pillars in that particular building. No answers here. I guess they really didn’t care for them in 1953 and covered them up with that sign.

But look, if you can afford the lease, that could be your windowsill! On the downside, you’ll probably have to hear Medjool patrons every night.

[via Don't Go Changing SF, check it out for more great historical photos]

You can store a lot of rainwater in a double-bass! Stick funnels in the f-holes for added efficiency. Bottle and save for later.

“Robin Williams, Brian Wilson, and  Jem.”

Seriously, though. This guy was way cool. He didn’t seem phased that I ran out of Dalva yelling, “HI I SAW YOU FROM THE BAR AND CAN I TAKE YOUR PICTURE PLZ?”. He confirmed that he didn’t lose a bet and just did it for fun. You rule, dude.

Our pal Joshua checked out the free jazz show at Explorist International and had this to say:

At one point a dog wandered in, the drummer paused to pet the dog and the other musicians sorta filled in for the missing beats only to have the drummer jump back in at the right moment, free jazz at it’s best.

Hear that jazzbos? Don’t let a little thing like “being in the middle of a performance” keep you from taking care of business. Work it into your solo. Read on for the full typo-ridden review.

Good news for ice cream fans: Humphry Slocombe is working on a book of their ice cream recipes. That means you’ll be able to make your own Secret Breakfast (corn flakes and bourbon ice cream, duh) at home.

Wait, you can make ice cream at home? Yup. Apparently the recipes will show you how to do it using a $50 Cuisine Art appliance you can pick up at a department store. The book comes out in about a year, which is only slightly slower than actually waiting in line at their store.

Does this mean a Jasper Slowbrushe recipe book is to follow? I’ve been dying to crack the code behind their French Fries & Durian Aioli flavor.

[The Feast via Mission Loc@l]

The search for an elegant bicycle beer transport solution has plagued mankind for decades. Significant advances were made in the past couple of years, including the Dolores Chiller by Timbuk2 and Rickshaw Bagworks’ Mexican Revolutionary-inspired Beerdolero.

This innovative and handsome solution was originally designed to to carry bike polo mallets, but once the craftsman realized that bike polo is not exactly as ubiquitous as he had thought (and that lots of people seem to think it’s lame), he strapped beer to it and won the rest of us over. The result is the “6 Pack Frame Cinch”, available on etsy now, for just $22.

Interesting idea, outsourcing the heavy lifting to your bike frame as opposed to your back. It’s probably not great for your balance, though, so don’t bother with that no-hands track stand unless you want to be picking broken glass out of your arm.

Still no word on what’s available for people who want to carry a 12-pack, though.

[via Hellen Jo, who also happens to be a kick-ass mission artist]