Mission Mission

MrEricSir posted these videos about Swan, AKA the Pigeon Whisperer, who we mentioned a few of days ago. The documentary was directed by one of his best friends and ex-coworkers of 30 years.

Turns out Swan’s real name is John Ratliff. He was once a gifted television news reporter and father of four until schizophrenia overtook his life and moved him into the streets, where he has rejected any help from his family and friends. It’s really an amazing and tragic story that you should set aside some time to watch today.

[via MrEricSir]

Where the Ladies At? is an app for the iPhone that answers an age old question: “Where [are] the Ladies [currently situated]?”

From the app description:

Looking for ‘dem ladies?

Well stop the search, cause we found ‘em.

The where the ladies at iPhone application is a compass pointing to the venue with the most ladies. Done by the fine gents at http://wheretheladies.at. It could be a bar it could be a cafe, who knows!

But look: judging from the screenshots, it turns out “the ladies” are at a couple of Mission bars! Specifically, the Latin American Club and the Elbo Room. Anyone want to head over and scope the scene for the rest of us fellas?

From what I can gather, this app aggregates foursquare checkins in San Francisco coming from, well, ladies. Then it finds the location with the highest concentration of said ladies and shows you a big ass arrow pointing you there, because apparently people who need an app to find ladies have an innate poor sense of direction.

Now what the user will do with this information is anyone’s guess. But if this is his preferred method of meeting babes, I’ll bet he’ll just sit in a dark corner and elbow his “wingman” while making a a head nodding gesture towards the ladies in question.

[Thanks jacobchills!]

I put out a thinly-veiled request for someone to postcard-ize the awesome picture of SF comedians in Dolores Park, and reader “someJuan” delivered.

There were a couple more attempts in the comments, but let’s face it, someJuan clearly did the best job… and he did it all on MS Paint on Windows 3.1! The guy has skills is what I’m saying.

You’ve seen Portlandia by now right? If not, I think you’d better watch all of their web clips right now.

Say, someone should pitch a sketch to Portlandia showing people posting on a blog about how they are surprised you haven’t heard of it yet.

Q: What do you get when you cross a Mr. Peanut, of Planter’s fame, and a Mr. Pickle, of Mr. Pickle Sandwich Shop on South Van Ness?

A: Mr. Pickle’s classy spats-sporting cousin in SOMA, Mr. Toad’s.

Don’t worry, Mr. Pickle. Your cousin is in the recording and rehearsal space business and poses no threat to your empire.

[via MM reader Shawna]

Previously:

Epic Mr. Pickle Saga

Forget owning a castle, if you have the millions ($22 million, naturally), why not buy an island? This island, to be exact:

And here’s some context:

On the real estate site Zillow, Red Rock Island inexplicably shows up  on the intersection of Van Ness and Pacific Ave., instead of it’s real location just south of the Richmond/San Rafael bridge:

The following comes directly from the listing:

Red Rock Island is the only privately held island in San Francisco Bay and is offered at $22M for the mineral rights and bragging rights.

Woah, mineral rights and bragging rights?

Well, the bragging rights go without saying. Imagine using the line, “Your place or my island?” Instant deal-closer. You’ll be loading up your private helicopter with babes or hot dudes (or both) in no time.

But what’s with those “mineral rights”? Just what kind of “red rocks” are we talking about here? Bismuth? Manganese? I’m not sure what the market is for paint pigment these days, but I can’t imagine it would cover your costs of mining. Don’t forget you’d also have to invest in an industrial-strength rock tumbler to get those other rocks show-ready.

That’s not all the island has to offer, though. According to sea kayaker and explorer Storm Steiger:

Russian and Aluet fur hunters camped on the island while pursuing the huge population of sea otters found in San Francisco Bay in the early 1800s.

Be still my otter-loving heart. That was the 1800s, though. Those otters have skipped town by now.

It was also known as a great place to gather firewood.

Bummer. We all love making fires, but most San Francisco fireplaces have been filled in.

But wait, what’s this?

Did pirates bury their gold on Red Rock? On old charts the island was called Treasure Rock and Golden Rock because of such tales.

Now we’re getting somewhere. What’s more appealing than pirate gold? With all that alleged treasure you might actually break even on the $90,000 monthly payment.

There’s all kinds of interesting information on Storm Steiger’s site, including the story of one entrepreneur who hoped to build a 20-story hotel on the island only to be shot down by the city of Richmond. There’s also a ton of info on this homestead site. Be sure to do your research before buying.

Lost Weekend Video continues their assault on poor, defenseless little old Netflix. Who will come out the winner? All I know is that Netflix never offered a “Klaus Kinski tries to chop off Werner Herzog’s head with a machete” T-shirt, and that’s not helping them.

[via Tenderloin Geographic Society]

Previously:

Internet Killed the Video Store

Thanks to all the community support, Noisebridge hackerspace is here to stay for a while.

But what exactly is a “hackerspace”, you ask? Aren’t hackers just a bunch of Australian terrorists that are trying to destroy America? Don’t worry, these hackers are the gentle kind. They just like making stuff, and would much rather show you how to correctly solder a circuit than steal your facebook password.

KQED recently took a look inside the Mission’s own Noisebridge, which happens to be one of the pioneering facilities of it’s kind in the United States. Check out their video for a tour, interview with the co-founder, and a bit of the history of hackerspaces.

Previously:

Noisebridge in Trouble

Fucking Science, How Does it Work?

Right now I’m trying really hard to think of something better than local songwriter Wolf Larsen’s latest music video, which features a bunch of howling kids from Oakland’s ACORN Woodland Elementary School, but… no dice.

The song is called “Wild Things” and as far as I can tell, it has nothing to do with that lame movie starring Neve Campbell and Denise Richards.

Link for you folks on RSS.

[thanks Megan Keely!]

The former location of Delano’s, which generates a lot of discussion here for some reason, may soon be replaced by a Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market. “Fresh & Easy”? That sounds like the kind of girl you’d want to date. If you are a breakdancer. And it’s the 80′s.

From Curbed:

A little bird just told us that grocery chain Fresh & Easy is this close to signing a 20-year lease for the recently shuttered Delano’s space on South Van Ness in the Mission.

Get the scoop at Curbed SF.

[image via Curbed, thanks Sally!]

Previously:

Delano’s Going

Going

Gone