Mission Mission

I’m fighting back my gag reflex as I post this.

Reader Seth writes:

I bought these gems in New Zealand earlier this year

Anyone in New Zealand now want to help us import a 24 pack of these for the next Mission Mission giveaway? Let’s talk.

Chow posted a very long article on Mission Chinese Food.

One point of interest for me was that it describes the fate of the beloved Chinito. My mom’s theory, being a Chinese restaurant owner herself, was: “It was probably just a pain in the ass to make.” However, it turns out the “Chinese Donut” element of the dish had to be purchased in the morning in Chinatown and they just didn’t feel right about serving it after it had been sitting out all day.

Read all about the chefs, their spicy-as-fuck food, their weird relationship with Lung Shan, and more over at Chow.

Update:

Oh hey, Chow also has the recipe for Chef Bowien’s Explosive Chicken Wings. They claim it’s better than it’s inspiration, from Chinatown Szechuan joint Z & Y. A bold claim!

What better way is there to you show that you’re down with hyper-local clichés than sporting this handsome T-shirt?

It’s available tomorrow at True SF on Haight.

[via DJ Josh B.]

Hot tip: the corner of 19th and Valencia gets great wifi from a well-placed monkeybrains.net antenna. On top of that, the trash bin makes a great laptop stand and dog anchor. No need to buy a cup of coffee for the priviledge, either.

Any other good spots?

[via honeyjets]

Bummer, songkick did an analysis of rock shows per capita (that means per-person, you know) and San Francisco isn’t even on the chart. What’s the problem? This is a major city that is full of awesome bands.

I can tell just from observation that there is not as much as a music-going culture here. I can throw out a couple of my theories:

1. New venues being shut down by neighbors before they have a chance
2. A lack of all-ages underground shows
3. Poor accessibility
4. People aren’t bored enough

What’s your theory?

[via Dangerous Minds]

Chris Garcia wrote this set just for you.

Update: Chris performs at the Dark Room on Mission b/t 18 and 19th every Wednesday at 8-10pm as part of the Business. He recommends pairing this with a burrito and Whiskey Wednesdays at Benders.

It’s no secret that we have a bit of a bag fetish here. And yes I mean those bags. Messenger bags. Yup, after a long day of hard riding there’s nothing like having a big sweaty sack on your back.

Chrome bags just launched a custom bag program at their flagship store in SOMA. This was formerly available only in the NYC store, but now Chrome’s vastly superior hometown gets it. So if one of the selections in their current spread of pre-set color combinations isn’t loud enough for you to adequately express yourself, then just go pick your own.

The way it works is you go in to their store on 4th and Brennan, talk to a “in-store live-sewing expert”, and watch your custom bag take shape. I’m not sure what kinds of services this expert offers. It could be anything from “yeah, just pick from these 15 colors” to “oh nuh-uh, girl. That scheme does not go with your eyes.” You’re just going to have to go see for yourself.

Get the scoop on Chrome’s other fine products at their website.

CONTEST

Don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about you poor creative types who are still rocking that high-school Jansport with the broken zipper. Chrome has kindly offered a FREE custom Citizen bag to one lucky reader here. But as you know, we don’t just give stuff away to anybody. You have to work for it, and this is gonna be a tough one.

In the spirit of color schemes, here are 5 mission color combinations that you might recognize. First commenter to name the locations of all 5 wins (leave a real email address, ok?). Guess as many times as you want. It’s as simple as that. Get to it!

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

I’ll supply hints in the comments if it turns out this is too much of a stumper.

Right Click -> Options -> Disable Office Assistant

[On 17th and Valencia via Tom R]

Previously:

Microsoft Street Art

You don’t want to miss this: Slavic Soul Party is a Balkan brass band from Brooklyn that doesn’t make it out here too often, and when they do it’s in much bigger venues. They just announced that they’ll be playing at the Mission tonight.

In addition to the Serbian brass band tradition, they mix in some American funk, soul, New Orleans, and whatever-the-fuck-they-want traditions. They even did a Nirvana tune on one of their records (and not some trite version of “Lithium” or something… try often overlooked In Utero gem “Very Ape”)!

Tonight (Sat, Nov 13) they will be performing at Amnesia with the Bay Area’s own premiere Balkan brass band Brass Menazeri. Who knows, if you’re lucky you might catch them all teaming up like Voltron and marching up Valencia St. later tonight.

As a 3-year veteran of Berkeley Co-ops, Homestead has always satisfied my urge to drink beer and throw stuff on the floor without picking up after myself.

They are turning 5 years old and closing off part of 19th st for all-day celebration Saturday. The festivities run from 11am to closing, featuring bands and food (presumably not just peanuts). Go show them some love.

[via Broke-Ass Stuart, photo by Jared Zimmerman]