Mission Mission

At least according to every Facebook and Twitter newsfeed I happened to lay eyes on last night.  Everyone had something to say about the thunder, either regarding how awesome or terrifying it was, but the most striking sentiment came from a friend’s FB post:

It made me realize that in the 6 or 7 years I’ve lived in SF myself as well, I can’t exactly remember experiencing a thunderstorm either.  I guess they just don’t happen here ever?  I could have sworn that they were commonplace when living in Berkeley before that, but perhaps that’s an invented memory too.  At the very least, nature’s sonic performance last night finally gave all the East Coasters and Midwesterners something to be smug about!

[Photo by trophygeek]

Previously:

• It did NOT rain today
• But damn, did it EVER rain last night!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo_qM_T6zqM

“Rock music DJ night,” says the official invite (which also pointed us to the above Gun Club jam), “glam rock, powerpop, and more. 4 hours of rock music, dozens of beers on tap, no cover.” Tonight starting at 8:30 at Gestalt.

The weather’s too ugly to stray too far from home, so this might be just right (especially if you’re also planning to see the Jay Reatard movie at the Roxie right down the block, which you should). RSVP and invite your friends!

You know — for your Kindle!

(I guess this is some kind of hilarious new comic strip in the Bay Guardian? I didn’t try going to the URL because it couldn’t possibly be a real thing, right? Funny though. Well done, Bay Guardian!)

[via Idiot Tempers]

Turns out last night’s buckets of rain did more than just make people feel scared/cozy. Humphry Slocombe laments via Twitter that the store has been flooded, which not only is surely causing lots of headaches but also has damaged copies of their newly-printed recipe book. Luckily they’ve probably got some bourbon on hand. We’re sorry, guys! Chin up!

I mean, it sounds pretty good, no?

[link]

Now that we’ve got a kickass bowling alley in our neighborhood, we’d better start looking the part.

[via Cool Bitch]

Ariel was pretty happy that it did NOT rain yesterday, as was I since I did not get absolutely soaked on my bike ride home from work like I did the previous evening.  However, is it just me or were any of you woken up at around 4am this morning by the LOUDEST rain storm (sans thunder) that you’ve ever heard?  Seriously, it was a deluge out there–it sounded like there was a waterfall outside of my window!

Please tell me that I’m not crazy.

[Photo by land of entrapment]

At least not where I was. It was mostly supposed to. Nobody’s complaining though. Except dehydrated people/things.

Supposed to rain tomorrow, we may even get a thunderstorm, they say.

Does anyone know any site or app that accurately tracks/predicts the weather in San Francisco’s microclimates? Hyperlocal weather blogs? Neighborhood soothsayers? (weather specific)

As I walked around this evening the sky had a really nice glow to it.

You could be the next Puck! (And hopefully not the next Judd!)

Here’s all you need to know:

UPDATE: Oh maybe I read that wrong. Still unclear where the next season is set. SORRY!

[link via Mission Local]

En route to Minako, my friend warned me about the service. “The woman who runs the place is really friendly,” he said. “Cool,” I replied blandly.

“No, but almost too friendly. She talks to you the way your mom might. She sorta crosses a line sometimes.” This turned out to be unassailably true; the proprietor has a distinct personality that establishes itself early in conversation and makes its mark on every nook and cranny of the physical space as well. I like distinct personalities, so I dug this place, though it might not be for everyone. In fact, one of the things that drew me to Minako is the extremely polarized love/ hate reviews it gets on Yelp. Differing opinions? Sign me up.

Minako is unique, and so is the woman who runs the front of the house. There’s no doubt about that. But what the restaurant lacks in convention, it makes up for with delicious soup broth, homemade umeboshi, and clearly labeled vegan and vegetarian options. (When something is vegetarian but not vegan at Minako, it’s labeled “Ovo-Lacto.” WIN.) It also has lots of things for your omnivore friends, so you can take them there when they get sick of you suggesting dinner at Cha-Ya… again.

My soup had lots of seaweed and pickled plums; the latter were prepared by the proprietor’s mom 12 years ago, while I was driving around my hometown in a beat-up old Jetta listening to Weezer.

The twice-cooked eggplant had a beautiful texture – crunchy on the outside, mouth-melty on the inside, like a savory M&M – and came with a little pile of minced ginger, which was a perfect foil for the salty, fried dish.

We also got free agar dessert, which my friend thought was white grape and I thought was aloe. It wasn’t great, but it was free, who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?

Drawback: it’s pricey, so save it for a night when you’re a) flush and b) willing to look past it.