Mission Mission

Louise overheard a cute phone conversation at Atlas Cafe today. She was so tickled, she transcribed the whole thing:

You’re coming apart at the seams, man.  You gotta friend me on Facebook again. Yeah, let’s be friends again, because you got a lotta work ahead of you.  You gotta put all those photos online, man. I’m gonna have lunch with your mom this week.  Maybe you could stop by.  Yeah, in the rain.  Ain’t that aboutta bitch?  And there’s a great Balkan party this weekend, so clear your schedule for that.  The girls are crazy over there.

Phone calls sure sound weird when you only hear one side, right? Read on for a geography lesson and more Facebook talk.

And while you’re at it, like us on Facebook if you haven’t already.

Previously:

• Atlas Cafe home of the best veggie sandwich in town?

It’s hanging out across from the Lex at 19th and Valencia if anyone wants to go throw a brat on.

So, just in case you were wondering: the gentleman decked out in festive attire made from chicken feet and tinfoil wandering last Sunday’s Noise Pop & Shop at Public Works wasn’t some derelict who wandered in from under the overpass completely crazy. That was none other than visionary artist Jason Jaworski, fresh from the scene of his latest performance. See? Art – the more you know!

Via Arrested Motion

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The esteemed Eric Fischer brings us scans of BART plans from 1962. This shot looks south down (and under) Mission from 23rd towards 24th:

The Look of Rapid Transit: 24th Street Mission station

The interesting part (outside of the fact that the BART station was to be so brilliantly lit that men wearing hats would cast stark shadows) is the street photo up top — it was taken from the NW corner of 23rd and Mission, looking south towards Bernal. (Click the image for a big-ass high resolution version.)

Particularly striking is the utter lack of trees (even on the slopes of Bernal).

Lots of donuts though:

Matching shot from today.  The trees make it hard to compare, but changes a plenty. (Click to enlargify.)

Zooming in towards 24th (above the epic car) we see the epic “Smile Awhile” bar:

A more clear view is available from the south.  It should quickly become clear what that sign represents today:

Much more on the history of 24th and Mission, both imagined and realized, over at Burrito Justice from a few months back.

This amazing cover was created by Chuck Whelon for an upcoming book called “the Comic Book Guide to the Mission”. There’s a release party for the book this Friday, March 11 · 7:00pm - 10:00pm at Mission Comics and Art.  I’m disappointed that Rob Liefeld didn’t make a submission, though. Maybe next year! Nonetheless, it will be a great time, here are the details:

Come celebrate the BRAND NEW “Comic Book Guide to the Mission”! Gather and meet many of the creators of this fabulous and entertaining neighborhood resource. Food! Drinks! Fun!

Featuring the talents of: Sean Chiki (Wunderkammer), Jamaica Dyer (Weird Fishes), Andrew Farago (The Cartoon Art Museum, William Bazillion), Shaenon K. Garrity (Narbonic, Skin Horse), Justin Hall (All Thumbs Press, True Travel Tales, Glamazonia), Mario Hernandez (Love and Rockets, Citizen Rex), Greg Hinkle, Nomi Kane (Chutzpah!), Jonas Madden-Connor (Ochre Ellipse), Paul Madonna (All Over Coffee), Omar Mamoon (The Mission: Taco), Amy Martin(Bachelor Girl, The Single Girls), John Mathis, Aindrila Mukhopadhyay, Roman Muradov (Sad Comics), Jen Oaks, Ariel Schrag (Potential,Likewise, Ariel and Kevin Invade Everything), Matt Stewart (The French Revolution), Alfred Twu (First Cultural Industries), Dan V. (American Objects), Geoff Vasile (Trackrabbit), Jeff Walker, Mike White (Amity Blamity), Clint Woods (Fernetiquette), and Rick Worley (A Waste of Time). Plus, behold this amazing cover by Chuck Whelon (Pewfell).

RSVP on Facebook

[via Mission Comics and Art]

Evidence found and captured by Cranky Old Mission Guy.

Hoff Street.

As a city cyclist, I count my blessings every time I go to mount up and my saddle hasn’t been stolen. Imagine my surprise today when I walked outside Atlas Cafe to unlock and found my seat had been upgraded with a snappy red rain cover! Of course, the altruistic act came with a pitch – Timbuk2‘s ninjas stealthily distributed the seat covers in support of a sale – but who can complain when a random act of kindness wards off a soggy bum? With this week’s dismal forecast we can all use an extra bit of shelter.

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Ramona (not pictured) is moving to New York, and she’s decided her biggest obstacle is the books:

Now, I already sold a bunch of them to a used bookstore in the Mission.  I made $30, which was awesome because as books they meant literally $0 to me.  And yet I still felt all weepy when I was standing at the counter sorting my cash and watching The Fountainhead become something I was definitely never going to read.  I said, “It’s so sad, selling books.” Like I was Zooey Deschanel or something, and the clerk looked at me like I was a dipshit and said, “Why?  There’s always more BOOKS.”

There’s always more books.

Read on to see what happens when she gets home.

[Photo by Meligrosa]

In today’s edition of “The People’s Guide” over at Curbed SF, celebrated Missionite Beth Spotswood tells us all about life in her little corner of the neighborhood, a corner she dubs “Suburban Mission”:

Local customs of note: Placing one’s boombox to one’s window and sharing 1960′s do-wop with one’s entire block, saying hello to everyone one passes on the sidewalk, marveling at the line outside of flour+water, gardening, trick-or-treating, Christmas decor 12 months a year, passive-agressive anonymous note-leaving, printed beautifully in really great fonts (see photo).

Charming! Read on.