Mission Mission

SFist this morning published a list of reasons you might be a bandwagon 49ers fan. Topping the list? You live in the Mission:

Once a bastion for Latino families, introverts, and homosexuals, San Francisco’s Mission District is now home to long lines of beards in black Giants caps waiting for ice cream, bread, groceries, Chinese food, and evenhaircuts at a fucking barbershop. Is it because The Mission has the best the city has to offer? Hell no. You can find the greatest of anything all over this unparalleled city of ours, not just on Valencia and Mission streets. It is because nowhere more in San Francisco do people love to be a part of something, to be a part of organized fun than in The Mission. If the shocking rise in baseball fans among the PBR set during the 2010 Giants World Series is any indication, we could see double that with football fans provided the Niners win Sunday’s NFC Championship.

Fair. Read on for lots more astute analysis.

[Photo by C'mon Pony]

I’d meant to go back later and chuck a brick at one of the wood panels to test their fortitude, for journalism’s sake, but I forgot.

It was like the 1996 Summer Olympics all over again, minus leotards, plus anonymous challengers, and all in an arena traveling up to 80 miles per hour. Thank you, BART gymnasts, for the best BART ride ever!

[Amazing photos via Jess]

After many months of waiting for the right moment, Allan and I finally got to tour supposedly the first bowling alley to open in SF in decades, Mission Bowling Club. We all know how much Allan likes ping pong, well my indoor drinking-with-balls sport has always been bowling.

Lane view from the mezzanine. [photo by me]

Back in high school we used to take the 22 to Japantown Bowl, with two floors of lanes and some of the worst food items in town. It was awesome. But it closed down around 11 years ago, and nothing has taken its place. Though I wait patiently.

Future bar view from the mezzanine. [photo by me]

Mission Bowling Club isn’t trying to be what Japantown was. With 6 lanes, a sit-down restaurant headed by neighborhood celebrity chef Anthony Myint and a full bar, they’re going after something different. Which is not to say that they want to restrict the crowd they attract. During our tour, co-owner Sommer Peterson was clear to stress that they wanted to be able to welcome neighborhood families as well as the 21-35 year old Mission nighttime scene, which they’ll have no trouble attracting.

[photo by me]

Future restaurant seating. [photo by me]

On the weekends they’ll be open for all ages, with weeknights reserved for the 21 and over crowd. Of the six lanes, three will be open for walk ins, the other three available for reserving by phone or website. You will pay by the hour, rather than game, to keep people from just hanging out in a lane all night. In addition to brand new lanes (brought in on two semi trucks in the middle of the night) they have all new bowling balls and shoes. The bar top will be made of a reclaimed lane from newly refurbished Morgan Hill Bowl. Sommer, who created the Divisadero Art Walk, will also be curating art for a large side wall, as well as rotating art installations for the huge wall above the lanes.

[photo by Allan]

Now, I know how excited I sound. Because I am. Because bowling is awesome. Yeah, it’s gonna be crowded, and cost more money then I wish it did, because I wish it was free, or as cheap as an old ass bowling alley. But there aren’t any around here, so we get a brand new one. So sure, there are plenty of things to gripe about (already well documented on this site) from the vocal minority, but I think we mostly want and deserve a bowling alley. One that isn’t a car. One where we can eat Mission Burgers in actual chairs. One that actually sounds welcoming. And I get the impression that these proprietors are sincere about really opening this up to the whole neighborhood. They know they’re going to make mistakes, so they’re open to reasonable feedback. As Sommer said, they’re opening three new businesses all at once, “I’m happy, proud and scared.” So I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt and I’m excited to see what happens.

Brain Pickings has unearthed a “don’ts” list for female bicyclists in the 1890′s.  Here are a few favorites:

• Don’t wear loud hued leggings.
• Don’t use bicycle slang. Leave that to the boys.
• Don’t refuse assistance up a hill.
• Don’t imagine everybody is looking at you.

Read on.

[via PavBlog] [photo]

Despite the rather inclement weather last Friday threatening to ruin New Year’s weekend, local artists Tim Hon and Steve Ha braved the elements to put some final touches on their 49ers tribute mural on the Walgreens at 23rd and Mission.  Yesterday, their hard work was rewarded with a visit from Niners tight end Vernon Davis, still radiant after helping the team earn their first playoff berth in years, who stopped by to sign the piece and yuck it up with local media.

While not quite as astounding as Taqueria Vallarta’s “batshit insane” Niners mural, the fact that San Franciscans are interested in their football team again is a good thing for the city.  Let’s just try not to riot again if they end up winning it all!

[Second photo by Alisa]

Says Dexn and Flexn:

Kinda like the workout scene from any Rocky movie.

What would this guy’s theme music be though?

After noticing this Bender’s patron’s intense focus and agressive stance, we conducted a short interview to learn more about this bit of pinball tachnique that we all intuit but we never really think too hard about.  Watch:

http://vimeo.com/34037924 

This is the last American Tripps of 2011! DJ PJ promises to play some holiday jams, Rocky will be out front fryin’ up frybread, and the Berlin-style ping pong action will be EXTRA MERRY. (This one is strictly 21+ though; sorry, preteens.)

RSVP and invite your friends!

(And if you want to see how the party in the Lower Haight went, view the pics here.)

And the first inductee is . . . our pal George “Butternuts” Duran, one of Rhea’s longtime behind-the-counter warriors. In case you were wondering, he gets his nickname from the basketball court where he is quite the beast and will taunt you by yelling “Butternuts” every time he busts a shot in your eye, reminding everyone that his stroke is smooth as butter.  Yes, sometimes basketball sounds dirty.

Another notable catchphrase of his destined to be lost in the annals of folklore is “WAMU!”  This is uttered anytime he hits a bankshot off the backboard into the hoop, because even though we’d usually be playing on the weekend, the bank is still open (zing!).  Curiously, when WAMU got absorbed by Chase back during the financial crisis, the new name didn’t quite stick, so we just kept kept yelling “WAMU” anytime an inappropriate bankshot found its way into the hoop.  Of course, there are now newer, younger players who came through after the bank went under and consequently have no idea what we are talking about.

But that’s how folkore works, right?  RIP Alan Dundes.