Mission Mission

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band second line yesterday was a great time. Marching through a crowded Mission street sidewalk seemed to make the cops nervous, but things went off without a hitch and there were nothing but smiles all around from drivers and locals alike. Some familiar local musicians joined in on the jam.

Here’s a quick video:

The parade ended inside the actual Preservation Hall West (AKA “the Chapel”) where we were greeted by some confused-looking construction workers. The bartenders served up some drinks and everyone walked around the venue, checking it out.

One of the employees said that this weekend is just a preview opening for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. The actual opening date is still up in the air. From the look of it, there was quite a bit of construction to go.

Still, the place looks great. The main concert hall is in the chapel (hence the AKA, “the Chapel”). There are at least 4 bars. One in the concert hall, one in the balcony, one in the front, and yet another in a side room.

Booking will be overseen by by the folks behind Slim’s, so you can expect that vibe to carry over to the Chapel.

Hey non-day-job-having Mission people: you don’t want to miss this. At 1:30pm today, a New Orleans-style second line parade will be led by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. They will march from Revolution Cafe to the forthcoming Preservation Hall West location:

Dear San Franciscans. Anyone want to parade with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band Friday (10/5)? A New Orleans’ style Second Line will be held with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band for the opening of Preservation Hall West at The Chapel, Friday at 1:30pm. The parade will start on Bartlett & 22nd st. and will run to Preservation Hall West at 777 Valencia st. Musicians, support the band by bringing your instruments! Everyone else, sport your New Orleans gear and noisemakers for this historical event

Grab your banjos and head on down!

I somehow managed to get tipped off about this from a well-informed friend in Chicago. Go figure.

[via Preservation Hall]

Boy, you sure blew it by not ponying up $7 million to buy that crazy church-turned-house across from the park last year. Now it’s gone to a boring society-benefiting cause like education.

Don’t worry, your second chance may be on the way. Reclaimed-church mogul Siamak Akhavan (who also converted 601 Dolores), hopes to give a 4-unit residential makeover to the Second Church of Christ, Scientist on 20th and Dolores. Yes, the dome would be converted to a unit and good luck finding dome-friendly picture frames.

Fun fact: Christian Science has absolutely nothing to do with actual science.

More over at Curbed SF.

[photo via wallyg]

Late last night, some monocot-hater(s) sliced through the trunk of one of the palm trees near 20th and Church. Shortly after being discovered this morning, the damaged tree was deemed an immediate hazard and was taken down at around 2pm.

It almost looks as though the intention was to have the tree fall onto the tracks, as if the J-Church needs any more delays.

I can say from, err, personal field research, that the cops cleared everyone out of the park playground at midnight, so this probably happened after that unless these guys were super-quiet about it.

More info over at Dolores Park Works.

[photo via Dolores Park Works]

Reggae and grass: what a pair. I’m talking about the kind that you sit on in Dolores Park, of course, but I’m sure you won’t have any trouble finding the other kind while you’re there.

Tomorrow, some of SF’s finest purveyors of vintage rocksteady, ska, and early reggae 45s from the SF Vintage Reggae Society will be spinning in the park, live soundsystem style. We’re talking early reggae, folks. So you’re not gonna be hearing no Bob Marley’s Legend. No diss to that, but it’s not what all reggae sounds like.

2pm til the cops come. More on facebook. And here’s a cut to tide you over:

Looks like Daly City’s Koi Palace has caught on to this whole burrito fusion thing. Check out the “Shredded Duck Burrito”:

Its “tortilla” is a pan-fried scallion pancake, and its insides are peking duck-style shredded duck and cucumber slivers. There’s plum sauce for dipping.

It tasted great, though calling it a “burrito” might be a stretch. Where are the closed-off ends? It’s more of a wrap, I’d say.  Still, I haven’t seen a duck burrito since Mission Chinese’s Chinito (RIP) which brought back some fond memories.

And before you go complaining, “waaaah don’t tell people about my favorite ‘secret’ dim sum spot” ’cause it’s too late. The lines have been crazy long there for years.

UPDATE: Mission Chinese Food insider Chris Ying weighs in…

@missionmission Dude the duck burrito is OG. It is from whence @missionstfood‘s flatbreads came. Also on KP’s menu: the chinito’s dad.

— Chris Ying (@chrisyingz) September 5, 2012

Ty Segall jammed with the insanely-talented kiddos from SF Rock Project at last weekend’s Indie Mart. Check it out:

Tell me that doesn’t rule.

I hope they do more collaborations with local musicians. Seems like a pretty awesome idea to me.

This just in: the Rite Spot Cafe, one of my favorite spots to grab a burger and watch a Japanese cowboy belt out Jimmy Rodgers tunes, is wrapping up its renovations and opens on September 5th. They are actively booking music acts for the month, so it looks like their nightly live show format will remain the same.

It has been closed for about a year for “serious or repeated violations pertaining to vermin infestation.” Translation: roaches. Well, let’s hope all that was taken care of.

Local singer/songwriter Wolf Larsen teamed up with Mission filmmaker Pete Lee, Viracocha, and what looks like the mysterious silhouettes of the Patzner bros for her latest music video. It was filmed within the reclaimed-wood walls of Viracocha with little/no budget. If watching a graceful modern dancer caress vintage typewriters to ethereal breakup music is your thing, you’ll love it. You will probably like it anyway. NPR did.

Wolf’s alter ego, Sarah Ramey, happens to be a fascinating person. She was the personal blogger of the Obama campaign in 2008 and is currently writing a book “The Lady’s Handbook for Her Mysterious Illness” which probably has to do with her struggle with an illness that’s been keeping her in treatment in Washington D.C.

Also, check out Pete Lee’s stuff if you haven’t already. He recently did a crazy martial arts music video for Aesop Rock.

Last night, local funnyman Sean Keane competed in San Francisco’s first Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction event.

What is a “Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction”, you ask? Sean explains it:

The competition is split into two parts: in the first, contestants read prepared pieces of erotic fan fiction (topics last night included Animaniacs, Angry Birds, and the sitcom Family Matters). Before they read, contestants from the second round draw topics from a bag, and write their own pieces while the prepared works are read. Second-round topics included Watership Down, Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, and X-Men.

He may have been thrown a soft ball by drawing “Driving Miss Daisy”, but boy did he ever deliver with his epic “Riding Miss Daisy“. Here’s an excerpt:

Miss Daisy gazed at Hoke’s strong black hands, rough from years of gripping the wheel but surprisingly tender. Hoke swung into the right lane and accelerated past a slow-moving jalopy with ease, almost caressing the wheel as he made the pass. Miss Daisy unbuttoned the top button of her blouse, exposing a neck that hadn’t known the lips of a man since the Great Depression.

That’s about as clean as it gets. If you haven’t eaten recently, maybe you’ll want to read the rest of this very, very wrong piece of fiction here.

I don’t think there were any winners in this event.