Capitalism

Force of Habit Records to Become a Restaurant

Details on what is to come are still a bit sketchy, but according to SFist, 20th Street's Force of Habit Records (which hasn't been seen open by this blogger in quite some time) is set to formerly close up shop and become some sort of restaurant/cafe joint called “20 Spot”:

Another small, independent record shop bites the dust. Force of Habit, the little punk shop at 3565 20th Street (at Lexington) appears to be on its way to closing as SFist finds that a new restaurant/café wants to move in called 20 Spot. Force of Habit owner “Braindead” Dave Devereaux died last July at the age of 41 of unexplained causes. At the time, his family said they hoped to sell the shop and the online record business to someone who would keep it open, and a Save Force of Habit campaign launched to aid the effort. But it seems that was not meant to be.

Read on.

[Photo by Robert B. Livingston]

Earth-Loving Activists 'Hack' BofA ATMs to Remind You That BofA Sucks

The folks of the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) ran around San Francisco last night 'hacking' Bank of America's many ATMs into “Automated Truth Machines.”  Here's how:

RAN activists took to the streets of San Francisco and turned every single one of Bank of America's Automated Teller Machines in the city into Automated Truth Machines. Using special non-adhesive stickers that were designed to look exactly like BoA's ATM interface, the activists gave the bank's customers a menu of what their money is being used for, including investment in coal-fired power plants, foreclosure on America's homes, bankrolling climate change, and paying out fat executive bonuses.

It's part of RAN's new tumblr-based “Bankrupting America” campaign, which is full of a lot of neat photoshops and text I didn't read.  But it looks nice, and we can all agree that BofA kinda sucks.

Now, let's hope they figure out how to hack these things for real.

[Link | h/t Haighteration]

The Mission Needs More Barbers, Apparently

I love lines! Lines for a table at brunch, lines for a concert, lines for a booth at the Lusty Lady… they're the best.  But even so, the daily 10:45am iPhone gabfest outside of the Brooklyn chic F.S.C. Barber is just baffling.

In some ways I get it: paying 25 bucks for some “Hangover Relief” (a rose-water-and-eucalyptus-infused shave with a neck and hand massage) sure does sound nice—and picking up the phone and making a reservation is really just another pain in the ass not to be bothered with.  But as I sit here reading Yelp trying to figure out what makes this place so wait-outside-the-door-for-them-to-open awesome, I can't get past the complaints of 3 hour long queues for a beard trimming.

Fuck, as you can see from the picture, one of the guys waiting doesn't even have hair.

What am I missing and is it time for me to hang up this 'career' as a 'blogger' and earn my living by temporarily handicapping dude's sex lives with a pair of pruning shears?

Like a Vampire or Dick Cheney, Cafe Gratitude Won't Die

Seriously:

Café Gratitude’s legal woes stemming from lawsuits brought by former employees have been resolved—what exactly that means for any of the parties involved, they aren’t saying. […]

According to Stephen Sommers, the lawyer for former employees Sarah Stevens and Ravi Shankar, the “matter has been settled” and he is not allowed to discuss the terms.

Matthew Engelhart echoed Sommers' statement.

So, will the restaurants remain open?

“Some will close and some will stay open,” Engelhart said.

How horrible is that?  It's like finding out Osama Bin Laden was shot dead and two months later, “Oops!, we just shot some random a-rab with a beard!”

I'm going to go cry into my kale salad.

[The Bay Citizen | Photo by Jed Schmidt]

Coming Soon to 24th: Meat!

I saw this… thing in an otherwise empty 24th Street window the other day.  What could possibly be coming soon?  A butcher who sells steaks for disoriented people new to town? A bacon-wrapped art gallery? A combination ping-pong practice space/artisan deli sandwich purveyor?

Places seriously don't even have to sell anything anymore. Come get your meat maps or whatever. It's a thing.

At Rainbow Grocery, There's Always Power for the Registers

The power's out and the lights have gone dark at Rainbow Grocery, but worry not: there's enough electricity pumpin' out of the backup generator to keep all the registers going, should you need to stock up on bulk grains and nutritional yeast before the weekend gets underway.

[Thanks for the heads up, Laura!]

365 Days of Sexy Bike Messengers!

TCB Courier made some calendars with pictures of themselves on them!

Aren't couriers just totally the hottest? Hottest hotties ever. So cute. And buff. Now instead of loitering around the statue or the courthouse hoping to catch the eye of a Vigorelli-riding hottie, you can bring them right home with you in the form of a wall calendar!

Initially I wanted to make fun of this as just obvious attention whoring but it's really a pretty clever way to promote a local business. Actually, the more I look at these pictures, the more I like them. At first I was nonplussed. Now I keep scrolling back up to look at that picture of Chas' back. Later today I'll probably stop by Mash and pick up one of these calendars. You can also shoot an email at tcbcalendar@gmail.com to order one. 

Fecal Face Gallery Reopens Tonight!

As previously mentioned, Fecal Face has setup shop on Mission Street (2277 Mission St., specifically) after that massive September fire in the Lower Haight.  And after a month of settling in, they're ready to open their doors tonight at 6 for their latest show, “Fake Sunset”:

During the summer of 2011 FFDG was asked to select three San Francisco based artists and bring them to Sao Paulo, Brazil to participate in the third edition of the MCD LAB shows co-curated by Brazil's NOZ.ART (Ana Ferraz, Lucas Ribeiro Pexao and Tristan Rault). Featuring hand pulled three color silk screen prints, the show opened on July 25, 2011 at Sao Paulo's LOGO Gallery and featured prints from Jeremy Fish (USA), Matt Furie (USA), Aiyana Udesen (USA), Sesper (Brazil/SP), Lucas Cabu (Brazil/SP), Fabio Bitao (Brazil/SP), Talita Hoffmann (Brazil/Porto Alegre), Anthony Nathan (Brazil/Curitiba), Lucas Torres (Brazil/Belo Horizonte), and Alberto Monteiro (Brazil/Rio de Janeiro).

After traveling throughout Brazil during this past Fall, FFDG will host the only US stop for the exhibition on display for 2 weeks with an opening reception Friday, January 6th (6-9pm). San Francisco based artists Jeremy Fish, Matt Furie, Aiyana Udesen along with Brazilian artists and curators Lucas Torres, Ana Ferraz, Lucas Ribeiro Pexao and Tristan Rault will be present. All 10 prints will be for sale framed and unframed. Tecates shall be served.

Tecates! Welcoming your new neighbors to the 'hood! Let's shower them in housewarming presents! I'll bring a cup of sugar, you bring one of those weird Japanese sex pillows.

[More information on the show, including some additional previews of the prints and background on their new space, on FFDG]

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