Mission Mission

Or is it?

Looking for something to do on a hot Indian summer night?  Once the sun sets in the park and the last beer runs out, head on over to Brick and Mortar for the inaugural show of a new music series taking place the 1st Monday of each month this fall, featuring a bunch of local musicians like Luke Sweeney, among others.

Check out the details and RSVP here.

Yum! YUM! I mean, YUM!!!

[via Brock Keeling]

Just a behind-the-scenes scene from The Bold Italic’s west coast tour. Los Angeles was a blast, Portland is next.

Babes ‘n’ drills!

[graphic via The Cornicopia Institute]

We don’t do that much politicking here (there’s plenty of that on the internet already), but it is a big election year, so expect some issues to pop up as we find them relevant or particularly pressing.

Local grocery cooperative, Rainbow Grocery Cooperative, is officially endorsing California’s Proposition 37, the Labeling of Genetically Engineered Food Initiative. This endorsement is not shocking, since 2000 Rainbow has officially opposed the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs):

“We will ban these foods from any private label product we carry, and support efforts to label and/or ban such foods until a time when they can be proved safe for consumption and the environment.”

Christa Irwin, of Rainbow’s Ecology Committee says of Prop. 37:

“People want to know what they’re eating. Just because a product says ‘natural’ does not mean that it hasn’t come from a GMO crop or possibly processed with or contaminated by one. This fight is imperative and hopefully will change labeling on a national level.”

You have to wonder why the food companies would pay so much money to stop us from knowing how they’re making our food and what they put into it. Since the above graphic was made the numbers on the red side have continued to go up. Fog City Journal has an informative write up on the matter. I just don’t trust companies like Monsanto and Phillip Morris, excuse me, Altria, to hold our health as their top priority. Anyone remember StarLink? If it costs less to do recalls or payout lawsuits…

I think the consumers have a right to know. If the companies believe that GMOs are safe then don’t hide them, convince us. It’s a bummer though, I like a lot of the products in the left column. I think Prop 37 is just the first step in getting to a better place with the development and use of GMOs. Much more testing should to be done, especially focusing on long term effects. Unfortunately there seems to be very little push back on the chemical/food companies making them, and much of the changes they are making are likely irreversible. If Prop. 37 passes consumers will be able to weigh in on the matter with their wallets, which is what the Big Ag companies are afraid of.

Reggae and grass: what a pair. I’m talking about the kind that you sit on in Dolores Park, of course, but I’m sure you won’t have any trouble finding the other kind while you’re there.

Tomorrow, some of SF’s finest purveyors of vintage rocksteady, ska, and early reggae 45s from the SF Vintage Reggae Society will be spinning in the park, live soundsystem style. We’re talking early reggae, folks. So you’re not gonna be hearing no Bob Marley’s Legend. No diss to that, but it’s not what all reggae sounds like.

2pm til the cops come. More on facebook. And here’s a cut to tide you over:

What a shot!

[via LLL]

In case you haven’t heard, Critical Mass is celebrating its 20th anniversary tonight at 6pm in what is sure to be an epic ride featuring cyclists from all over the place coming to the city to participate.  Regardless of how you feel about the movement, you really have to appreciate the fact that it galvanizes so many people.  Allan seems to love the good-natured fun of the whole spectacle, while I on the other hand (as someone who commutes 20 miles on my bicycle each day) usually already have to deal on a daily basis with tons of shitty, angry motorists who I would prefer to not further piss off lest they proceed to hate me so much that they try to hurt me while I’m riding.  Especially with that riding circles in busy intersections nonsense.

In any case, what allegedly all began as “a bunch of drunk bike messengers who got tired of SF police handing out $20 tickets to cyclists all the time for bullshit minor offenses, like not putting your foot down at a stop sign, so they decided to shut down some key intersections around the city and show the cops they couldn’t just fuck with them” has now become quite the thing, and it’s not going away anytime soon, so you might as well just forget about what you were planning on getting done today and check it out yourself!

Also, non-cyclists?  Perhaps this might be a good day to avoid Market St and take BART instead, alright?

Previously:

• Black Friday Critical Mass Meets Baton-Wielding Riot Police in Union Square
• When Critical Mass rides circles in busy intersections
• Critical Mass Debate: Opposing Viewpoints
• Critical Mass Sacramento
• Critical Mass Seattle
• Critical Mass Salt Lake City
• Critical Mass with Instruments
• Meet Junior: Bicycle Messenger Warrior of the Mission

Whenever I see a cool car around the neighborhood, I take pictures and send them to my pal Eric up in Portland who runs Other People’s Things, my favorite car blog. He responds with some knowledge and we post the results here and it’s called “Car Beat.” Here’s what Eric has to say about this little Datsun:

This is an easy one but certainly a classic. It’s a Datsun 510 Coupe (1968-73, this is probably ’70-73). The 510 is legendary for a few reasons- It made Datsun officially popular in the US, much like its direct competition, the 1600, did for BMW.

The 510 was also much cheaper than its competitors. It was considered the cheap alternative (some say copy) of the BMW, but the styling is quite different, and what the 510 lacks in prestige and beauty it makes up for in performance. These old Datsuns are like legos, and you can swap all sorts of Datsun/Nissan motors and transmissions into them, which is advised for this one since that little badge on the trunk reveals it’s stuck with the Borg-Warner automatic transmission.

Sucks the life right out of it, but I can respect that it has been kept in original condition.

Thanks, Eric!