Mission Mission

Ever wonder what the Mission looked like before “all those CCA taggers and fixie kooks” arrived?  Well, MM reader Eric Shea was kind enough to pass along this video, which he got from his buddy Joe Bay, who presumably got it from creator Patrick Gleason.

Check it out for some neat High8 footage of skating through the Mission in 1994 (around the same time that Fugazi would routinely play shows in Dolores Park).

Link:  http://vimeo.com/14287360

It happens every year, all over. Reader Ross S. sends us this video he shot of some folks burning a tree in the street. (Thanks Ross!)

He also suggests that:

[A] public service announcement regarding when it is ok to burn things in the street (world series win) and when it isn’t (any other time) is in order.

That does sound helpful. When is it okay to burn things in the street? Though this seems a lot safer than burning a mattress in a crowd of hundreds of drunkenly excited fans. It’s probably never “okay”, if you’re really talking about a PSA, but you’ll do it anyway, so it’s always good to be safe while performing illegal acts of anarchy. Anyway, I always thought the beach was the spot to take all of the old Christmas trees. Stack ‘em up and build a super tree. Or just join Danger Ranger. (whoever that is)

One thing we should definitely avoid is leaving a burning tree on someone’s doorstep.

I’d like to also take this opportunity to wonder aloud about shooting video portrait-style, instead of landscape. I know we watch this stuff on our computers, and not the TV, but media still tends to be oriented wider rather than taller. I don’t think anyone prefers the pillarboxed look (seen above), yet people do tend to shoot this way with their phones. Do we need to make room for the long and narrow format? Or should we make people feel stupid so they conform to the old standards?

But that’s not all. He does like a million other cool things too. And all to a totally epic soundtrack. See for yourself:

Also, this.

[Thanks, MC!]

Damn right! Happy holidays, everybody!

[Thanks, Aaron!]

More cutting edge hipster humor! A bunch of SF stand-up comics made this swell parody of Gaston’s song from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Filmed largely in, you guessed it, the Mission. Thank goodness, because musical theater is so underrepresented here.

If you like it, you can vote it up at funny or die.

[thanks Nicole C.]

Ever wondered what it was like to be a real roadie? This new web series starring longtime roadie and Mission resident Mange promises to fill us in on everything we’ve always wanted to know:

[Thanks, MC!]

Bay Citizen caught up with one of the creators of the viral hit and got the full story:

We had done some sketch shows on SF’s foodie culture and the idea about the coffee brand really came to mind. I started seeing ten, thirty people standing in line outside of the Blue Bottle kiosk in Hayes Valley, and I started talking to people who had French press on their desks. And Ritual has been a fixture in the Mission for several years now. The lines that you see outside of these places, the cross between branding and authenticity…it struck us that there was a lot of fun to be had and there was a real passion for coffee in this town.

Read on.

Before you go and call that irresponsible parenting, note that she kept both brakes. See you on Potrero Hill, Xenia!

[via Mission Bicycle]

Maybe there’s something to this whole intelligent design thing because Darwin is clearly wrong about these guys, who filmed themselves bombing Portrero hill and blowing stop signs on fixed-gear bikes.

BikeSnobNYC had these bits of commentary gold to offer:

I’m not sure why you’d make a video like this and put it on the Internet unless your goal is to figuratively urinate on the graves of every cyclist who has ever been killed by a motor vehicle through no fault of his or her own.

Ouch! And:

You’d also think that, in a city like San Francisco, climbing hills quickly would be the true measure of cycling prowess, but I guess water and stupidity always find their own level.

Great idea. Anyone want to start making some impressive “reverse hill bombing” videos? Let us know. We’ll meet you with the cameras (these may be cell phone cameras) at 22nd and Church.

[SFWeekly via BikeSnobNYC]

This is a still from a new film by Talent Is An Asset. You will want to watch the whole thing. The soundtrack is great too.

Check it out.