Mission Mission

OMG the Mish! was all “OMG!” over this mural of Valencia Street on the wall South End Grill ‘n’ Bar. Look closely and you can spot Omer the rocker (aka Bum Jovi)!

If you want another challenge, see if you also spot the six things that are missing from this mural. Answers over at OMGTM.

Little Otsu is done with Valencia Street. They’re closing up shop to make room for a new McSweeney’s project, but they’ll stay open online:

The decision to close the storefront now, Crown says, is also connected to the rising cost of retail space on Valencia. Small spaces are so in demand that finding a comparable space would be a difficult proposition.

Mission Local has a whole feature on the closure right here.

[Thanks, Al!]

Photo by gemma correll.

Looks like Medjool’s Gus Murard has been falling behind on payments for the dilapidated New Mission Theater and GIANT VALUE building and is possibly facing foreclosure from the City College of San Francisco Board of Trustees.

According to the article, Murard planned to eventually convert the site to “affordable housing”. If this is true, he’ll totally save money on signage by just slapping “APARTMENTS” under “GIANT VALUE”.

Get the full scoop at the über-1337 M!$$!0n L0c@l.

Isn’t there a better way to get a peak inside the Kink.com armory?  I realize that a certain Belle & Sebastian video may have suggested that this is the way to go, but do you really want to end up as the office piece of fluff?

Maybe you do.

Previously:

The Tens Takes You Inside The Armory

Another Glimpse Inside The Armory… From Margaret Cho?!

Pre-Internet Kink.com Armory

A couple of weeks ago I posted about a new bag company in the neighborhood, Mission Workshop. Tasked with doing some kind of a review of their backpack, I decided to . . . well, I did my best. Take a look.

In summary, the bag is expensive, at $200+ it’s more than I would think to spend on a bag. Then again it’s made and, apparently, sourced in the US. Plus, as was pointed out on the previous thread, if you only have to buy it once and it lasts, maybe it’s a solid investment.

In any case, this does seem like a great bag to take camping or on an urban hike or whatever. It’s huge and fits a ton of crap. It’s also obviously made with care and attention to detail. So if this is the kind of thing that’s important to you, this is a good buy.

I’m still uneasy with all these hip new things being named after the neighborhood . . . but I’m writing this on a blog that did it twice, so what can I really say.

Mission: Comics and Art‘s own Leef Smith was recently immortalized in comic form, along with two other local comic shop guys and a few old school ones. The amazing drafstman Jon Adams illustrates and writes the piece for The Bold Italic.

As drawn by Jon Adams.

As photographed by AD.

This Saturday Leef invites you into his awesome shop on 20th Street for a performance by Marian Call. Her music is rad and when you hear it you know why she’s playing at a comic book store.

Info is found here.

From tips for Feng Shui courtesy of The Tens, providing helpful advice for Clare’s Deli:

Something about this strikes me as unsafe.

To complete continental transformations project-managed by generic, seen here working his magic on Frjtz:

Real Talk: their decor is almost painful. Is it a Belgian thing? Is this what Hercule Poirot’s dining room looks like?

Please have all requests TCB Courier’d to Benders for consideration.

My vote goes to Mission Laundromat on 22nd right next door to the Latin American Club.  You’ve got $2 basic machines, $4 and $6 heavy-duty units, and 7 minutes of drying per quarter.  Ample seating has been introduced to augment the jury-rigged wire bench pictured at the front here, making for a nice lounge in which to catch up on that Milan Kundera novel you’ve been putting off (as long as you don’t mind the hospital-bright fluorescent lights, rhythmic drone of overloaded washers, and frequent visits and appeals from panhandlers).  Best of all, your friends on their way to a quick drink next door will often spot you and invite you to come along!

Anyone else have any suggestions?  Until I hear about a better one, I’m declaring this one the winner.

[Photo by Sangroncito]

One tried and true way to ingratiate yourself to the local community is to host a free event with a popular band and an open bar.  In this, the quite controversial Levi’s pop up on Valencia does not disappoint.  We arrived on Saturday evening and were treated to an enthusiastic crowd of folks who were just as curious to explore the various intricacies of the shop as we were.  Tables around the space were teeming with lettering stamps, screen presses, Macs, and all sorts of other design supplies, and visitors were encouraged by the staff to get their hands dirty.  Of course, the bountiful supply of free Wild Turkey on the rocks did not hurt either.

By now, it seems as though everyone has expressed their opinion about this possibly revolutionary endeavor.  Could they have made more effort to engage the already prevalent printing shops in the neighborhood, such as Ape Do Good, in an attempt to bolster those businesses?  Sure, probably.  But given their impressive list of local community collaborators, such as Southern Exposure and the Women’s Building, this seems a lot more benign than many initially assumed.

One thing that I definitely would have done differently about the evening though:  Even though it was free to attend, guests still needed to RSVP on Facebook prior to the event.  While I understand the rationale and crowd-controlling aspects of this decision, it unfortunately promoted this weird LA club vibe with people lining up to get in and staff with clipboards at the front door to see if they were “on the list.”  I feel this could have been made to be a little more inclusive.  However, once people got in, the joy on their faces was apparent as they were treated to free drinks and the musical stylings of local favorites Honey.

We spoke to Dan, the shop manager, about the ambitious project’s future.  The plans are to vacate the space by the end of August (so Charles Phan can open a high-end banh mi spot or something) and move to New York, where instead of printing presses, the focus will be on photography (not just digital, but also dark rooms with stop bath and photo flow  and all that business).  Then, if things work out, the next spot might be in New Orleans to open a pop-up music recording studio.  It really seems like they’re taking this community thing seriously, but man, I wish we had gotten the photography or recording pop-ups!  I guess when Levi’s thinks of San Francisco, they think of T-shirts.

UPDATE!!!  I neglected to mention the purpose of the event, but luckily commenter Patti fills us in:

That particular Levi’s event was a launch party for the 4th issue of First Person Magazine, which was printed on the premises that day, along with three limited edition artist prints.  FP Mag, made by local Betty Nguyen,  was chosen as one of the projects for the workshop.

We initially were wondering how it would all go off and it actually went really well.  I don’t think the RSVP list is meant to be exclusive but is simply a way to manage the head count to keep the SFFD happy.

Previously:

What Do You Think About the Levi’s Workshop on Valencia?

Inside the Levi’s Workshop

For the past three Fridays from 5-9pm, Matt Cohen (SF Cart Project) has been organizing “Off The Grid” meetups in Fort Mason where all your favorite independent food trucks gather and vie for your attention with their adorable, pun-filled, flavor-enhancing names. The event also features an alcohol tent and local live music. In fact, tonight the Ferocious Few will be playing at the event, if you’re not up to anything.

Last Friday, I hopped on the 49 and checked it out. Vendor favorites like El Haurache Loco, Soul Cocina, Chairman Bao, and Kung Fu Tacos were all in attendance. It was fun, although I must say I was a bit overwhelmed with the selection. I wasn’t exactly hungry or wealthy enough to spend $7 at three different trucks to try stuff out. Still, it was nice to know that there was one place I could count on all these guys to be once a week as opposed to following 50 twitter feeds.

Matt has been pushing to hold similar events in the Haight, Civic Center, and the Mission. After last night’s Parks and Rec meeting, he got his approval. The Mission location will be Mission Playground.

No word on when the permitting process will wrap up, but after chatting with him a bit last week, Matt seems like a pretty motivated dude and I’m sure he’ll get the ball rolling right away.

(via SFWeekly, photo by Gary Soup)