Mission Mission

Along with Wavves and Jacuzzi Boys!

And there’s a meeting tomorrow night to discuss the particulars:

Bay Area Bike Share, like many bike sharing programs, is awesome. Expanding into the Mission and other neighborhoods is going to make it TOTALLY awesome.

Here’s a helpful map:

I myself can’t make it to the meeting, but as long as there are stations at Dolores Park, St. Francis Fountain and the Secret Alley, I should be okay.

Riding the Google buses over to the island from the AT&T Park parking lot is fun and all, but how about A PARTY BOAT INSTEAD???

As mentioned in our Q&A with BFF.fm founder Cosmic Amanda, BFF.fm found Cosmic Amanda will be DJing every trip. Also, OPEN BAR!!!

The Bold Italic has the official details:

Catch our boat at the San Francisco Ferry Building or in Oakland’s Jack London Square.

||OPEN BAR||SNACKS||MUSIC||

Our DJ, Cosmic Amanda from BFF.fm, will be playing tunes that will get you movin’ while we move you across the bay.

The first 25 people to board each boat receive a limited edition t-shirt from San Franpsycho. Nautical wear is optional, but heavily encouraged.

Schedule for Saturday 10/19 and Sunday 10/20
Please note: departure times are EXACT! Don’t miss the boat!

Trip to Treasure Island (available Saturday 10/19 and Sunday 10/20)
12:15pm San Francisco Ferry Building (Gate E next to Sinbad’s restaurant)
1:15pm Oakland Jack London Square (Water St. near the Waterfront Hotel)
2:00pm arrival at Treasure Island (Pier 1)

Trip from Treasure Island (available Saturday 10/19 and Sunday 10/20)
11:15pm Depart Treasure Island
12:15am Guests disembark in Oakland Jack London Square
1:00am Guests disembark at the San Francisco Ferry Building

We’ve got plenty of ticket options! Pre-sale pricing only available through Friday 10/11/13.

Tickets are here.

Note: the graphic above (by Allison of C’mon Pony) depicts the BFF crew getting wasted before the festival even starts, as well as the sequined outfit Cosmic Amanda will probably be wearing. Can’t wait!

[via Caryn]

Meet BFF.fm, a brand-new radio station broadcasting from deep inside the Secret Alley, right here in the Mission. “[We're] a community of music-obsessed radio enthusiasts,” according to founder Cosmic Amanda, “We’re excited to share the stuff we love as we discover it and we hope you’ll tune in and find something new that you love.”

I think the key there is bringing DJs on board who are really excited about music and who can’t wait to share their discoveries with people. We have one DJ who is really passionate about radio- so much so that he doesn’t own a television. We have another who quit his gig at a popular commercial station when they switched their DJs over to a corporate-mandated playlist and he couldn’t share the 60s R&B influenced rock he loves. We have some really awesome DJs on board so far and we’re still on the hunt for more quality DJs to join our ranks- people who live and breathe music, or ran their college radio station, or write a music blog…people, like me, who HAVE to be doing this. It’s almost a matter of compulsion.

How have you gone about putting your roster of DJs together thus far?

In the spirit of BFF, all the credit for our ever-growing cadre of awesome DJs goes to our friends. The moment I saw the space at The Secret Alley, I knew I had to make this happen. I ran home, drafted a mission statement, and then started telling everyone I knew. Some friends immediately wanted to be DJs, and others knew people they thought would be perfect and recommended them. It’s funny how in sync and tight-knit our DJ staff feels after only a month. But, it’s because everyone is a friend or a friend of a friend or a friend of a friend of a friend.

And, actually, this friendship-fest goes beyond our DJs- BFF.fm has an amazing support network, too. My husband Forrest took on the crazy complex task of building our studio and acting as our station engineer. Our friend Allison Gore fixed up my janky self-made logo and put it on some buttons. Caryn aka Small Crimes is heading up the music department. Sierra Frost helped us book our first official station event. And there a bunch of other people who have just been super cool and bought t-shirts, liked our Facebook page, and helped spread the word. But I guess I should hold off sounding like I’m giving an acceptance speech until we actually (hopefully) win some sort of award some day.

Tell us about the first official station event!

We’re having a big launch party at Bottom of the Hill on November 27th. (that’s the Wednesday before Thanksgiving) Local bands Kitten Grenade, Deep Dimension, The Happy Hollows, and DJ Jackson Sandland are all pitching in to help us throw an awesome event. Everyone should come on down to hear some awesome local music, meet our DJs, buy some BFF.fm merch, and support independent radio!

And you personally are DJing the Bold Italic’s pleasure cruise to and from the Treasure Island Music Festival this weekend?

Yes! Small Crimes and I are working on the playlists as we speak- we’re planning playlists based on this year’s line up to get you psyched up on your way across the Bay to the festival. And be sure to save some energy for the cruise back each night- I’ll be spinning dance jams from every era to keep the party going til the boat hits the dock. If you’re on board come say hi and we’ll give you a BFF.fm sticker!

And then what’s your #1 main focus moving forward?

Our main focus is supporting emerging and underground artists, and we’ll do that not only by spinning their tunes, but by reaching out into the local music scene and forging partnerships with bands and labels. I want us to become a go-to resource for spreading the word about awesome new music.

My goal in creating this station is to build a professional-quality studio in an amazing space that inspires DJs to put forth their very best content. This has been a labor of love for me, taking up all of my free time and money, but even in just the short amount of time we’ve been around the response has been amazingly positive and I can’t wait to see where we can take this.

Thanks, Cosmic Amanda! Now TUNE IN!!! Or get involved!

Also, follow BFF on Facebook or on Twitter!

UPDATE: I posted this just as technicians showed up to upgrade the Secret Alley’s internet connection — so BFF.fm is down for a little while. But don’t worry, BFF will BRB!

UPDATE: BFF is back! Forrest is currently powering the entire station using his phone!!!

Here’s why:

Looks like there are still some tickets left!

From Mission Local:

A man was shot and killed at 21st and Bartlett streets at 4:30 a.m. on Monday. The police had closed off the area surrounding the shooting, with the block of Bartlett between 21st and 22nd still closed at 8:30 a.m.

I took this photo yesterday morning as I was biking by on my way to work, and due to being late did not have time to stop and ask any of the officers what was going on.  Nonetheless, I posted this photo this morning along with a tasteless joke.  I apologize to the families and neighbors of all affected by this incident, and will do a much better job in the future of finding out all the facts and employing the appropriate tact.

In the comments section of last week’s post about a Valencia Street boutique offering a “punk princess” interior design for your toddler’s room, commenter Sean began a comment thusly:

I’ve lived in the neighborhood on and off since ’99. [link]

To which a new voice known as 2 Culture Sportscasters delivered the following analysis:

“He’s gone in with 99, that’s a strong date there, good opening, good opening.”

“Yes, 99 is a real strong date, going to be hard to complete with that, Paul, but he could get in trouble there, 99 during the first boom and all”

“That’s true, that’s true, but many of the other competitors probably don’t have a good hold on when that first boom was happening, remember the Pets.com ad didn’t appear until 2000, that would’ve been many of these other sportsmen’s first exposure to dot-com, and that’s a full year after 99″

“You’re right, you’re right, but he’s also got the on and off, that’s open to question, of course”

“I think that’s close enough, these other guys probably have a number so far past 99 that on and off isn’t going to make any difference here, but we’ll see”

“Yes, we’ll see, we’ll see! Well, it’s a great opener so far! A great day here, and can I just say the weather is gorgeous? You can’t beat that early October!”

So, yeah, there is good stuff in the comments section. Occasionally.

A perspective we don’t usually get to see. Click it to view it larger.

[via Bonesurf]

Bonus party pics after the jump:

(more…)

Katie & Brittany are back, and they finally saw a show that they both really liked! Check out their review:

The Taming serves up a heap of good ole' Southern fried politics. From left to right: Marilee Talkington, Kathryn Zdan, and Marilet Martinez. Photo by Tom Toro.

 
“What happens when a conservative senatorial aid, a liberal political activist, and a newly-crowned Miss Georgia walk into a bar?” We wanted to find out, so we headed down the hill to the Thick House to check out Crowded Fire Theater’s premiere of The Taming, a political comedy by Lauren Gunderson. The Thick House is located in a very residential area of Potrero Hill, and is actually beneath condominiums, a strange place for a theater. We knew it was a good sign.

Katie: So, would you send people to see this show?

Brittany: As long as they go in with the expectation that it’s a satire I totally would. I laughed out loud, the script was really funny and the woman who played Patricia (Marilee Talkington) and the woman who played Miss Georgia (Kathryn Zdan) were both such good actors.

K: They were so good! Too bad the third actress, who played Bianca (Marilet Martinez), was rough.

B: So true, but I still think people should see it because it was really fresh playwriting about a very relevant topic. The director took some of the slapstick too far, there were some rough acting moments, and a few cues needed tightening, but I still really enjoyed it as a whole.

K: Definitely. The script was good and when the actresses nailed the timing – I had the best LOL’s that I have had at a show for a really long time.

The Verdict: The government is shut down but that doesn’t mean your social life is as well. This show is a hilarious night out we highly recommend.

The Drama Talk: This satire on our government couldn’t have come at a better time. Playwright Lauren Gunderson’s script is sharp, silly and smart all at the same time. The theater is pretty tiny and they’re packing audiences in, so be prepared to get cozy with your seat mates.

The Drinks: After the show we walked up the hill to Bloom’s Saloon. The place seemed like an ordinary, neighborhood dive bar, but we found out it has an extraordinary view of the Bay Bridge. We ordered two Angry Orchard ciders, because we know George Washington would be angry if he saw what’s going on in Washington, and enjoyed the view while beaming from a fun night of theater.

The Taming runs through 10/26 at The Thick House, and tickets can be purchased through Crowded Fire Theater’s website, tickets range from $20-$35.

There are also tickets available on Goldstar for $10-$12.50.

Reclining like a motherfucker!

[via Jeff Seal]