Mission Mission

[via nomined]

We’re excited to welcome back Fringe DJs Blondie K & subOctave this Saturday! Fringe recently won BEST DANCE PARTY in SFWeekly. Having a residency at Madrone Art Bar for the past 6 years, they have also been dropping in Pops Bar to bring their indie music video dance party to the mission with FringePop. So break out those dancing shoes and meet us out on the dance floor this weekend.

See what else is in store this week at POPS:

5/26/15 TUESDAY

Happy Hour Entertainment 6-9PM with Retro Tuesday

A mix of music from a range of decades to keep you groovin

Tropicana Tuesdays

“Quality Latin BASS”

Every Tuesday at POPS BAR

Music: FREE (Local BayArea DJ`s)

Salsa Lesson: FREE (Instructor La Muerte)

Time: 9pm – 2am

Music by local BayArea DJ`s, such as Stepwise, El Kool Kyle, Mr. Lucky, Mr. E, J Boogie and more…

Salsa I LatinHouse I Latin HipHop I Moombahton I DubCumbia I Merengue I Bachata I Dancehall I LatinReggae I and more…

5/27/15 WEDNESDAY

Happy Hour Entertainment 6-9PM with DJ Bezera

Whatever Wednesdays

9PM-1:30AM

Whatever Wednesday is YOUR PARTY, literally. You got DJ skills? Have you been itching to show ALL your friends? Its your turn to take over the night and mix it up. Send us your request, your best mix and we’ll see what we can do to get you your turn.

Email: tom@popssf.com

No Cover

21 UP

5/28/15 THURSDAY

BFF.FM Night

9PM-1:30AM

Rotating DJs from local BFF.fm radio! This week: DJ Pizza Party (Donut Leave Us!)

Our beloved DJ Pizza Party is moving to NYC! Come get Emo with us as she spins her feels one last time and eat FREE PIZZA & DONUTS! Drown your sorrows!

Come support local community radio.

No Cover

5/29/15 FRIDAY

Happy Hour Tunes with Steven 6-9PM

DJ King Most

HIP-HOP & R&B, Electronic & Indie Jams & Classic Vibes

9PM-1:30AM

No Cover

5/30/15 SATURDAY

FringePop

The indie music video dance party is twice as nice & double the fun in the mission!

Want more Fringe in your life? Then this is the event for you! DJs Blondie K & subOctave spin all your favorite indie rock music videos plus the latest remixes causing a buzz on the dance floor.

http://www.fringesf.com/

DJs Blondie K & subOctave spin the best indie rock music videos all night from artists such as:

Empire of the Sun * Foster the People * Grimes * Phoenix * Capital Cities * Matt & Kim * CHVRCHES * Say Lou Lou * MSMR * Two Door Cinema Club * M83 * Cut Copy * Friendly Fires * Yeah Yeah Yeahs * Robyn * La Roux * Passion Pit * Daft Punk * Marina and the Diamonds * San Cisco * The Naked and Famous * The Ting Tings * CSS * Ladyhawke * Chromeo * Yelle * LCD Soundsystem * Franz Ferdinand * MGMT * Miike Snow * Lykke Li * Dragonette * The Rapture * Holy Ghost! * The Strokes * Arcade Fire * Bloc Party * The Presets * Hey Champ * MNDR * Haim * Little Boots * Grouplove * Metric * Housse De Racket * Tegan & Sara * Icona Pop * The Killers * Ellie Goulding * Strange Talk * Metronomy * Atlas Genuis * Classixx * Yuksek * RAC * Many More!

Sign up on facebook and twitter for the latest news:

http://www.facebook.com/fringesf

http://www.twitter.com/fringesf

9pm-1:30am

NO COVER

POPS BAR

2800 24th Street @ York

San Francisco, CA 94110

www.popssf.com

Remember when they first started talking about this possibility way back in 2012? Now we’re nearly there!

[via Urban Life Signs]

On Friday night I watched the Cavs-Hawks game at Pop’s, ate a really good burger at the Big Rec (now softly open at 3066 24th Street), saw Cocktails open for Wild Nothing at the Chapel, did a quick Jaeger shot at Doc’s Clock, danced like an animal during Lustmord’s set at the Gray Area Festival, ate two bacon-wrapped hot dogs, danced a little more at Baobab, ate birthday cake at my cousin’s house, ate another bacon-wrapped hot dog and then went home.

Along the way I ran into a bunch of people, one after another:

1. Lauryn McCarthy, formerly of the Bold Italic (defunct website)
2. Jess Stuenkel, of Tuff Signals (garage rock on the radio)
3. Sean Rawls, of Still Flyin’ (legendary SF band)
4. Bel Poblador, formerly of CNN (media conglomerate)
5. Melissa Gordon, of Prima Bike Maintenance (greasin’ up yr chain)
6. Pro Fan Marisa, of Professional Fans (music lovers)
7. Chad Salty, of Salty Artist Management (music lovers)
8. Josh Farrell, formerly of Mollusk Surf Shop (surf shop)
9. Rob Queenin, formerly of Thieves Tavern (tavern)
10. Omar Mamoon, of Dough & Co (yummm cookies)
11. Jono Brandel, of Patatap (best thing ever)

It was pretty fun. It reminded me of the San Francisco of 2010 that David Enos wrote about so poetically.

I saw somebody in the audience at Oracle last night with a “HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM” sign, during the nail-biting fourth quarter, so I started singing the chorus from this great jam by the Gooch Palms (who are performing this summer at Mosswood Park in Oakland at Burger Boogaloo along with the Mummies, the Gories, John Waters, the Black Lips, the Trouble Makers and lots more) and it worked — we won! The chorus in question doesn’t kick in until about 2:10, so be patient:

And check it out, I was wearing a Gooch Palms shirt at the time, what are the odds?

(Actually I have four Gooch Palms shirts, so the odds were pretty good.)

Go Warriors!

[Photo by Jaime Lou]

To be clear:

1. This happened last night
2. This is on Bryant between 21st and 22nd, in the heart of the Mission
3. This is an open house, where a real estate agent shows the house to potential buyers
4. There is a team of valet parking attendants out front, ready to park your BMW for you so you don’t have to

(Thanks to our neighbor Marc A. for the photos and reporting.)

We’d heard about epic productions of classics being done to rave reviews at Bay Area parks before, so when We Players latest show Ondine, staged at Sutro Baths, came to our attention we knew we had to check it out. Katie’s not much for the cold and wind, so Brittany and her boyfriend, Sam, donned their layers and took off for a cliff side afternoon of Drama Talk & Drinks.

Brittany: So what did you think?

Sam: There are too many words in the English language for me you to tell you what I think. I’m exhausted.

B: Me too, I enjoyed it though. Not necessarily my favorite script, which is surprising given my love for The Little Mermaid, but it was a really cool production.

S: I enjoyed being led through the forest. It’s fun to just give yourself over to the world of the play. The first act was great because it introduces you to that world, the second act was charming and funny and they give you snacks, but the third act got long.

B: Yeah, I was content listening to cool music and seeing beautiful stage pictures, when it tried to get into the drama it kind of lost me. They had to stick a lot of complicated fairy tale sadness into that final act.

S: That trial was no fun for anyone.

B: Despite the overly complicated ending, I still think its a good show. I’d tell people to see it.

S: Me too. Between the views, the amazing movement work, and a handful of really great actors, I think it’s totally worth it. Besides it’s not often you get a workout watching theater.

The Verdict: Put on your walking shoes, you’ll need them to check out this beautiful show. If you don’t like stairs, or cold, or sitting on the ground this play will make you pretty uncomfortable. If you love Sutro Baths, are game for walking up some hills, and like classical theater, we think you’ll enjoy this innovative production.

The Drama Talk: You can’t get a more beautiful set than Lands End and Sutro Baths. If you love this park, it’s really fun to fall into the world of the play and imagine that the water spirits walking the hills are real. It’s not surprising that Ondine is rarely produced, its not the greatest play. It’s a very long (the show is 3 hours) retelling of a simple fairy tale which is both predictable and unnecessarily complicated. We Players, however, does it beautifully. Ava Ray’s performance of Ondine was fierce and delightful. The chorus of women who played Ondine’s sisters were eerie and created some of the most striking stage pictures we’ve ever seen. Admittedly, we’re a sucker for place based immersive theater, but We Players also really knows how to do it.

The Drinks: The most convenient cocktails after the show can be found at Cliff House, but we were walking to the N Judah, so we opted for the always cozy Park Chalet for post-show drinks. We snagged a seat near their fireplace to warm up, ordered a flight of all their house-made brews, and toasted to an adventurous afternoon of cliff side theater.

Ondine has been extended through June 14th, with performances Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays beginning at 4:30pm at Sutro Baths. When you get your tickets they send intensive instructions on what to prepare for (hiking and cold) so you’ll know what to do.  Tickets are $50-80 per-person and available through the We Players website, and are already almost entirely sold out. They give you fancy water and treats during the show too, so if really cool theater isn’t enough, there’s that.  Also if you really can’t afford it, they say to email them and they’ll see what they can do.

[Photo and title by local class war junkie Ticklefight]

What you’ll need:

• 1 order of Ma Po Tofu from Mission Chinese Food
• 1 bag of Burger Rings

Instructions:

1. Next time you’re in Australia, bring back a bag of Burger Rings.
2. Then get an order of Ma Po Tofu from Mission Chinese Food.
3. Eat them side by side.
4. Enjoy how well they go together.
5. Thank me when you’re grateful.

Now please also enjoy some other recipes I wrote…

Atlas Obscura talks to Randall Ann Homan and Al Barna, authors of the new book San Francisco Neon: Survivors and Lost Icons:

Which neighborhood in San Francisco has the highest concentration of remaining signs?

Grant Ave in Chinatown has the most legacy neon signs per block. This is probably because Chinatown has never experienced a major “redevelopment”phase. Sadly, only two or three of these signs are still illuminated.

Is their loss something that is universally mourned in SF?

People mourn the loss of legacy neon signs, and also the small businesses they represent, which are being squeezed out by gentrification. A neon sign often marks traditional gathering places in neighborhoods, where generations of city residents congregate to watch movies, drink martinis, buy raviolis, eat fish, and even park cars.

The Q&A contains some great shots of iconic neon here in the Mission. Read on.