Mission Mission

I’ve had some exceptional luck lately, running into two different local bluesmen, each willing to share a couple songs and some knowledge about the proper way to tame a harmonica.

The Blues Man of 16th Street offered to teach me how to bend a note. Usually I carry my own harmonica around, but on this night it was sitting in my desk drawer. When he told him that I’m trying to learn, but won’t ever be able to play like him he quickly replied “Yes you can. Yes you can. You just gotta keep at it.” And then, “always have your harmonica with you, you never know when inspiration will strike you. I always play my own stuff [even though he's demonstrating something different here, just for instructional purposes]. Your music is yours,” he said, patting me on the chest, “it comes from you.”

(Sorry the videos are dark. Unfortunately that’s my dopey voice you hear in the background)

Next, Drake Dillen, who lived on Valencia near 22nd a few decades ago while doing construction work, played me a few of his old favorites. He had a falling out with his brother and had to leave the city, fell on some hard times, got into some trouble, and finally made his way back to the city to, possibly, sing out the blues into the cool foggy nights.

Let’s all just take a moment and listen to “Wrong Nigga to Fuck With” (embedded below for those whose iTunes lack it) while looking at this shot of Cube from the official poster for Lottery Ticket, out August 20.

How does this make us feel?

Wesam Nassar, my pal and producing partner, put together a short interview with Dave Eggers about Abdulrahman Zeitoun and his family, the subject of his most recent book.

It is an excellent book, by the way. On the one hand Eggers tells the amazing true story of a man choosing to stay in New Orleans during Katrina. On the other hand he illustrates the experience of being an immigrant Syrian Muslim in Bush’s US. And though those both seem like themes that would dominate any story, in the end what I was most left with is the strength of the Zetioun family (here and around the world), and their determination to hold together through anything, without compromising their values or beliefs.

(Sorry, was that too serious for MM? I’ll post some more pictures of garbage on the sidewalk soon enough)

Maybe it’s one of those things when you want to know more about the person who’s behind something that you really like and then once you learn a little bit you realize that you didn’t really need to know. Or maybe not.

Mission artist Victor Reyes seems like a cool enough guy. He and the Chronicle writer, Justin Berton, talk to a random “hipster”, then Berton calls Reyes out for how much he sold a piece and Reyes explains graffiti.

I guess it’s a better piece than that. It’s always going to be a little embarrassing, I assume, when you read your profile in The Chronicle. Anyway, I still think Reyes is the best working street artist around these parts.

Victor Reyes a man of letters on a Mission

I was walking home after a long day at work this evening and I was thinking about stopping at a local tavern and drawing a bit, and while thinking about what to draw, this dude came up to talk to me. I wasn’t in the mood to inquire further, but now I wish I had. In any case, he inspired me to draw.

On South Van Ness near 20th Street.

“Hey, sorry to bother you, but I just gotta let you know, my friend Sheng isn’t really my friend. And I’m gonna have to start calling him Chainsaw Skills ’cause it’s gonna get really embarrassing.”

To see it bigger.

Well, time to chalk up another celeb hanging in the Mission. This time, at the Armory.

I was listening to WTF with Mark Maron this morning (which by the way, is an amazing podcast. It’s like a series of psychotherapy sessions for all my favorite aging stand-up comics) and I was surprised to find out that Margaret Cho is pretty freaky. So freaky, in fact, that she has been known to visit the Armory for some bizarre late-night… well just read on:

Check out the rest of this fascinating episode here and I guess we’re a celebrity gossip blog now. Stay tuned for our acquirement by Perez Hilton LLC.

(photo by davidyuweb)

Molly Ringwald Sighting at Delfina
Jane Lynch Sighting at Delfina

Happy birthday, Plumpy! (Our old pal Plumpy saw M.F. Ringwald yesterday):

So remember when Jane Lynch ate at Delfina Pizzeria a few weeks ago? Well, today Molly Fucking Ringwald was there. Awesome. I was eating with my friend who works there (it’s my birthday, so yes, I totally made my friend eat at her own work) and she confirmed it with the other employees. I didn’t get a photo because I’m not trying to be a creepster, though. So maybe this isn’t solid enough to go on the blog.

Au contraire, mon frere!

Photo by wnyc.

Previously:

Jane Lynch Sighting at Delfina

On a nondescript Sunday at the 500 Club, one particular karaoke crooner’s artful rendition of a George Michael song managed to attract the attention of members of both sexes, so much so that they each posted competing Missed Connections vying for his affection.

He must be doing something right!  Team Vag fired the first salvo:

500 Club karaoke – boy in the striped shirt – w4m (mission district)

i liked the way you sang george michael.

i was with my roommate and we split really fast when we realized we were running late to a show.

wish i would have talked to you.

i was the one in the white dress.

p.s. i’ve never posted here before. yikes.

Sensing that the opportunity was slipping way, Team Penis finally got on the board later that night:

Singing George Michael at 500 club on Sunday – m4m – 25 (mission district)

You were singing George Michael at 500 club on Sunday. I’m shy and wearing a green sweater — which is why I didn’t say hi. Email me if you want to grab a drink at 500 club sometime.

No need to fight!  I’m sure there’s plenty of him to go around.  And I wouldn’t have said hi either if I was wearing a green sweater.  The point is that I think it’s safe to say that striped shirts are back (though neither poster specifies vertical or horizontal–this is important, people!).

Stay tuned for more hyper-hyper-hyper-local news!

[Photo (probably not of boy in question) by Scott Annechino, karaoke photographer extraordinaire]

Congrats again to Hamburger Eyes on an epic opening.

Congrats to Armand here, who just graduated from Cal’s Graduate School of New Media Twitter Blog Science. What will become of Mission Local without him?

And Sunny, you’ve got lipstick on your chin.

In the Mission, the best we’ve been doing is the occasional Bratt brother. In SOMA, they get JANE MOTHERFUCKING LYNCH. I wonder what she had for dinner.

For more legit news like this, read South of the Slot, a wily and deadly blog about SOMA, written by the one and only wily and deadly Brock Keeling.

P.S. If you’re not watching Glee, what is wrong with you? Even former MM editor Kat Malinowska is into it! She’s very discerning, AND a former professional TV blogger.

UPDATE: She ate in the Mission too!