Mission Mission

Here’s a great video of the old soul Kally Price singing at the Red Poppy Art House May of this year. She is joined by Leon Oakley on trumpet, Ari Munkres on bass, Craig Ventresco on guitar, and Rob Reich on piano.

Her new album is recorded and will come out on Porto Franco Records some time soon (I hope).

A couple of weeks ago I posted about a new bag company in the neighborhood, Mission Workshop. Tasked with doing some kind of a review of their backpack, I decided to . . . well, I did my best. Take a look.

In summary, the bag is expensive, at $200+ it’s more than I would think to spend on a bag. Then again it’s made and, apparently, sourced in the US. Plus, as was pointed out on the previous thread, if you only have to buy it once and it lasts, maybe it’s a solid investment.

In any case, this does seem like a great bag to take camping or on an urban hike or whatever. It’s huge and fits a ton of crap. It’s also obviously made with care and attention to detail. So if this is the kind of thing that’s important to you, this is a good buy.

I’m still uneasy with all these hip new things being named after the neighborhood . . . but I’m writing this on a blog that did it twice, so what can I really say.

I know, I know, making fun of hipster stereotypes is getting tireder and tireder.

But: “You’re kind of like a fat Katy Perry.” Haha!

[Thanks, Mimi!]

Previously:

Dating in San Francisco is Brutal

First up is a movie I made about trying to find your friends in such a huge crowd. It is screenshotted above and embedded below:

Fun, right!?

Then comes a video by reader Travis L., in which he and a buddy deliver the results of a variation on Dolores Park Bingo they came up with just for Pitchfork:

Thanks, Travis!

Thus ends Mission Mission’s coverage of a seriously great party in Chicago.

Previously:

Pitchfork Music Festival in Pictures

From the comments thread of the previous post, Christopher F. Smith‘s fine tale of a 16th and Mission original.

Are you sick of hearing about how awesome Sunday Streets was? I sure am, after being hungover and stuck in a car for a 2-hour drive to Salinas during the actual event. In any case, Postcards from SF posted a short video showing some highlights.

Mission yo-yo genius Doctor Popular is featured prominently, performing music on his iPhone (hope he’s holding it right) alongside cellist/songwriter Unwoman. There’s also a little girl exploiting her adorableness to shill lemonade. I’m going to guess it was made from concentrate, but can anyone confirm? Please give a full review if so.

Ran into these little guys on the Valencia leg of my commute home this evening.  Gotta say, the kids around here are getting cooler by the week!  Good to see they still stop at red lights though.

[between 14th and Duboce]

Previously:

Support Mission Skater Kids By Buying The Right To Take Photos With Them And Their Inflated Condom

SFPD Officer Threatens to Break a Skateboarder’s Arm, Allegedly Kicks Him Into Cruiser

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.

Well, I guess I know what I’m doing this weekend.  Slo-mo is back!

Thanks Nico!

[Link! for those of you on Reader]

Big Bang Big Boom

These Blu people (not from the James Cameron magical cats movie) made this crazy video that explains where we came from and where we’re headed. I guess. Anyway, it’s really long, and maddeningly thorough. If you don’t have 10 minutes to watch it I recommend letting it load and jumping to about 8:10 where it shows us humans and our issues. Not just because it’s about us, but because it’s really neat.

(via io9)