Mission Mission

The latest iteration of Gastank:

Dick Cheney as Grim Death (stencil):

Fire-Axe Bozo and Fire-Axe Bozo remixed as Giants Fan Fire-Axe Bozo:

Click any photo to enlarge.

Update: Speaking of baseball, Boing Boing just published some pretty good baseball news. Link.

KQED just published The Needles & Pens Twenty-Three Dollar Adventure, in which writer Suzanne Kleid asks the question, “If I wanted to get 4 or 5 great zines, and spend about twenty bucks, what should I get?” The helpful staff hooks her up with some good stuff, and she sets about picking it apart.

Now I love Needles + Pens, and I spend $20 there often, and I’m glad they’ve gotten this good press. But after reviewing her haul, Kleid concludes:

Blogs are a dime a dozen. They require very little financial investment on the part of the creator, and none at all on the part of the reader. It takes a bigger, more special burst of inspiration to make a physical object out of your life experience.

Ouch. I mean, maybe she sees it that way because she blogs for big corporate media entities like KQED and McSweeney’s. But you can’t tell me that some zine is better than WHATIMSEEING because somebody stapled some papers together and Plug1 didn’t.

Don’t want to end on a negative note though… What great titles have you guys come across at N+P? (I tend to love everything by that Please Let Me Help guy, Titty City for the articles, and I hear good things about StreetWorthy.)

Needles + Pens on Myspace (for bulletin updates like “Hey KQED wrote about us”).

The other day I was lamenting the lack of pet stores in the Mission. I wanted to walk by a storefront, see a puppy flopping around and falling over when it ran, or a kitten sneezing. Instead I chose a pretty good substitute, and stared in at the catfish and crabs at Fresh Meat Seafood Market for a couple minutes. Sure the catfishes’ eyes were a little glossy (although the one I named “Fluffy” seemed a little more alert than the others), and the crabs scuttling over one another and accidentally cutting off limbs with their pinchers wasn’t quite as adorable as what I had in mind, but it had to do.

Until I discovered Ocean Treasures.

Granted, it isn’t on my way to…well, anywhere, but the serene blue tanks and graceful fish drew me in like a shark to blood. Filled with exotic fish and reefs, it was more like an aquarium than a pet store. If it weren’t for the smell hüpfburg kinder emitted by another wayward wanderer, I would have stayed longer. But the fish didn’t seem to mind the stench. They stared lazily out at me and glubbed a goodbye.

But I’m still going to say hi to Fluffy on my way home tomorrow. Cross your fingers that he is still there…

We never made it to Mission Bazaar to see inside the Armory, but SFist has a full report by Krista G.:

The space had a few stages and lots of vendor booths selling hipster essentials like eclectic belt buckles and unusual fashion hacks.

Link.

In this video, Lola makes fun of her dog Dante during a game of fetch in beautiful Dolores Park. (Thanks Lola, Dante and Carmel)

We did it! Two days ago we were complaining about never having taken the time to sit down and enjoy the inviting seating at Mereb Market, but tonight we rectified the situation. Shawerma from Ali Baba’s in hand, we went in, bought our tallboys from Nice Lady, then went outside and grabbed a table. Mmm. Hearty food and cold beverage on a bustling neighborhood corner:

A passing group-home kid observed, “Those fools got falafel,” to which his companion replied, “Mmm, smells so good.” It was pretty good, but not as good as finally realizing my goal of one day sitting at these tables. The clicking of hüpfburg mit rutsche either picture will result in your seeing a bigger version of it.

NOTE: Nice Lady’s husband waited for us to finish eating, and then politely informed us that they sometimes they get ticketed if patrons drink beer at their outdoor tables.

Saturday and Sunday:

Mission Bazaar is proud to present the first public event at the historic San Francisco Armory in over thirty years. This 200,000 square foot reproduction Moorish Castle was completed in 1914 and was used aufblasbare spiele as a National Guard facility until 1976.

Admission is reasonable at $5, artisans will be selling things, Gaucho is playing, and we’ll get to see *the inside* of that thing.Complete deets.

- “I wish I had a Frisbee.”

- “I wish I had a knife.”

(Clicking pic makes it big.)

I know you guys know this spot. For years I’ve wanted to take an hour and sit here sipping a tallboy. Relax, watch the hustle and bustle. But I never have. Why? This inviting little corner is just a block from Dolores Park, the center of the universe. So I go in, buy a couple king-size Modelos from the extra-gracious lady behind the counter, and I walk on.

Has anyone ever resisted the park’s pull and actually sat down and enjoyed this little Mission District oasis?

NOTE: Name of place is Mereb Market. Click pic to see big version. Also, Google Map of corner.

Over at Curbed SF, Andy Wang reports from the Transbay Terminal Plan Public Meeting:

The envisioned downtown skyline will be defined by a graceful “mound” consisting of a peak (Transbay Tower) and a gentle taper. High rise haters, take notice: friendly presenter Josh says they want to keep surrounding buildings about 200 feet away from each other — so as to avoid an overly carpa hinchable dense clusterfuck of buildings.

Our favorite part was the above image, created by Curbed’s Jimmy Stamp (click to enlarge). I’m no NIMBY, but who’s bummed as me that we won’t get to see the bridge at all anymore?