Mission Mission

An anonymous tipster says the Home Improvement star was definitely there, definitely having a good time. Here’s proof, sort of

No word on whether or not JTT was also on the scene.

[via Chris Ying]

The first bar I ever went to (besides with my dad as a kid) was the Uptown. It was a great experience, just what I always thought a bar would be like: Dark, damp and a little scary. I felt totally at home. Last week the owner, Scott Ellsworth, passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack. I didn’t know Scott that well, but the couple times we talked he was always really friendly, and very supportive of the weird artsy place my buddies and I were building across the street. He ran a bar that didn’t have a cocktail program or a dress code. He ran a bar where you could sit down, have a shot and a beer and chat with familiar regulars. Inside the Uptown I’ve stored paintings during a scavenger hunt art show, made business deals, broken up fights, maybe gotten in a fight, tried in vain to get up the nerve to talk to a girl, watched my team dominate the World Series, and seen Sean Penn close it down.

[via Facebook]

The Bold Italic has a great tribute to him today, which would have been his 60th birthday.

In 2011, when I posted a picture of “KiTOS”, the letters on the back of the bar, Scott wrote in to tell us that it stood for the previous owner’s names, Kim and Tony. Let’s just say now it stands for “Keep in Touch, Ol’ Scott.”

And our pal Andreas was more than happy to indulge him:

After 8 years of working at the Rainbow Grocery Co-op Cheese Department it’s finally happened: I got to sell cheese to Jonathan Richman !!! It’s maddening because I see him in the aisles every couple of weeks but he’s always gone by the time I get out there to “front.” Today I finally found out why; he buys one cheese and one cheese only: Redwood Hill Raw Goat Feta.

I was restocking our sample table earlier today when I saw him flitting down the aisle towards me. He moved like a meerkat, making a beeline (meerline?) for the aforementioned feta. I played it cool, continuing to restock and avoid direct eye contact while I used my typical icebreaker: “Finding all your cheese alright today?” Breathlessly, he replied “Oh yeah, I love this stuff! Buy it every week.” “It’s good!” I said, smiling at him for a quick moment.

It would have been and remained a totally mundane encounter if not for the very last second, when he walked away from me and said, under his breath, “One love.”

Of course, this caused everyone to reminisce about their own encounters with Mr. Richman, and by the sound of them, he sounds like quite the guy!

Andrea:  I waited on him at the Egg & I– he was everything I could have imagined and more! I sat & had a smoke with him & he gave me a bunch of comps to first ave. what a guy!!!!!

Jenny:  when I worked in Philly, I did “hospitality” for him. He had $300 for a budget, what did he want? a six pack of non-alcoholic beer and a bottle of water. then he played for me for an hour at sound check. one of my best memories.

Kelly:  I got called down from the break room to help him once. He had watched a show on tv the night before about when “baby cows get to stay with the mommy cows” and he wondered if Parmigiano came from that.

Jonathan Richman, everybody!

[Photo via Night Fog Reader]

Every time I got to Pal’s Take Away (which operates out of La Movida during the day when La Movida is dormant) I wonder and often say out loud, “Who hangs out at La Movida at night, anyway?”

The answer is: Björk. Björk hangs out at La Movida at night. She had a mostly vegetarian dinner, with a party of eight.

No word on whether or not the dancing cat was one of them.

[via Eater SF]

We’ve been rabid fans of Candy for a loooong time, ever since we saw her absolutely nail “Super Bass” at a DJ Purple karaoke party at Jack’s, waaaay back in the day. (Candy does it better than Nicki Minaj herself, no lie.)

Anyway, her band, Candy’s Crush, is making their live debut right here in the Mission this Friday night (which is both Valentine’s Day *and* Mission Mission’s 7th anniversary) at Verdi Club, opening for the world’s greatest LCD Soundsystem cover band, North American Scum.

We asked Candy if she might be able to give us an idea of what to expect, and she was like totes:

What’s your #1 musical influence?

Prince. Musically and lyrically, he is everything I want to be.

What’s your favorite part about being onstage in front of an audience?

There’s nothing better than being onstage. Personally, I live life pretty much entirely to entertain myself, and if, by doing so, I can entertain other people as well, I feel very satisfied.

How’d you put together your band?

Keith (our bass player) and I started this band after having a conversation about our mutual love for Chaka Khan. We wanted to do something funky that would get people to dance. At the time we were also in weird places with our love lives, so naturally starting a band sounded like a good way to get all the girls/boys. (I’ll put that to the test at our first show!) After that, we eventually recruited Koop (drums) and Rich (guitar) so we could have the sexiest band ever.

How do you feel about Valentine’s Day?

My 5th grade boyfriend bought me chocolates, a fake rose, took me roller skating and made me a mix tape for Valentine’s day (which included Blackstreet, No Doubt and Queen). It finally occurred to me in recent years that Valentine’s Day would never, ever again be so good. Instead of ranting about it, I prefer to use this holiday as an excuse to be with good people, get down on the dance floor and (hopefully) get some action. What more could anyone ask for?

Amen! Get advance tickets (since they’re cheaper than tickets at the door) and RSVP and invite yr friends!

From the Fayes blog:

I was an extra on the set of The Master.  If you’ve see the show Extras or done extra work or known someone who has, then you already know that extra work is not glamorous, it is depressing and is never a career move for aspiring actors or filmmakers, and it’s rarely fun.  I was almost gone, moving away for what I thought would be forever, and had no interest in the gig.  Also, I had no transportation and the shoot was up north.  When you get a call for one of these gigs you have to ask what the film is about and who is making it.  Out of curiosity I asked.  When I was told that it was P.T. Anderson’s new film, staring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Laura Dern, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams and that I had been selected for my “classic look,” the compliment went to my head and I became full of fantastic ideas about my all but sure discovery by my favorite American director as his protégé.

Read on.

Kyle Lesley is a San Francisco audio engineer, social activist, and all-around excellent human being. He is also a person who was recently diagnosed with Stage IV melanoma. Given that he has helped out countless folks in the city’s independent music scene with his know-how, it only makes sense that a bunch of musicians got together and decided to throw him a party this Sunday at El Rio to help pay for his treatment and some other necessities.

From 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. this Sunday, Nov 10, a donation of $5 to $20 gets you five bands and a DJ, plus, you know, everything else good that’s usually at El Rio (alcohol, a patio). If you’re lucky, Kelly McFarling will do some Whitney.

(Original painting — that will likely be part of a raffle — by Eunice San Miguel.) (The photo below is just Kyle being Kyle-like.)

First there was the time Lou Reed starred in a Supreme ad which was plastered on the Valencia Street Art Wall:

It promptly got defaced:

Then there was the time local gaming historian David Enos hipped us to the 8-bit classic “Lou Reed’s Street Hassle“:

Possibly my favorite was when we spied Lou Reed in the lining of a purple raincoat at Thrift Town:

Oh man, and then there was Doc Pop’s siiiiick animated GIF of a bunch of Lou Reed stencils:

Seeing him dining at St. Francis Fountain was pretty cool:

And finally, last Halloween, a nice little Frankenstein joke on the Faye’s chalkboard:

(Me and my family performing “Sweet Jane” at Thanksgiving 10 years ago was not on Mission Mission.)

Lou Reed rules!

If anyone can provide some perspective on all the changes that have been occurring in the Mission as of late, it’s Michelle Tea, a local author who’s been around to witness the progression since at least the ’90s.  Her refreshingly honest writing on everything from drugs to gentrification strikes a personal nerve in anyone who’s lived in this neighborhood for a while (as does her tales of adventures at the Albion before it became Delerium) .

Anyway, tonight’s your chance to meet her!

Published in 2000, Valencia brought fame and critical acclaim to local writer Michelle Tea. This autobiographical slice of life of the late 90s Mission explores topics like queer culture, kinky sex, and obsession. Recently, chapters of Valencia have been made into a series of short films known as The Valencia: Movie/s

Join Adobe Books and Michelle Tea for this love letter to Mission subcultures! The reception will begin at 6:30pm; screening at 8pm. Michelle Tea will be in attendance and introduce the film.

Snacks provided Rainbow Grocery, beer donated by Speakeasy.

Tickets available at the door, and more details here.