— By Erika Kali |
Either Twitter is taking a cue from Google and hired their own roving Tweet machine, or some guy is really into Bambi and turned a Disney word into a license plate back in 1994 and has absolutely nothing to do with the company.
On a side note, how much do you think that license plate is worth if he sold it? Do you think Biz Stone would buy him a decent car for it?
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
We all know that goofy gangsta raps about white people shit (read: food) are a thoroughly exhausted meme, but with lyrics like “just one thing missing from this blessed day, a motherfucking magnum of cuvee chardonnay” and protips for how best to deal with spazzing girlfriends, this one is worth a watch. Also, there's lots of gratuitous grape eating and box throwing, which were two of my favorite activities as a temperamental child.
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
During Friday's contentious 20th Anniversary Critical Mass ride, two women dressed as half-and-half cookies were in a mighty hurry to get to a wine bar. So they did the logical thing and got out of their idling vehicle in the middle of the Tenderloin and began charging at cyclists with a lit road flare.
The entire scene is a complete spectacle, but it gets real good around 4:15, when a homeless TL denizen lectures the young ladies, concluding with “Damn, my nipples are bigger than yours.”
[via SF Citizen]
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
A million years ago, the guys at Ape Do Good Printing put together a killer set of parody Michael Schwab shirts, featuring a truck full of dead pigs for Chinatown and a crusty gutter punk for The Haight. We clamored for someone to design more of 'em, but it never happened.
Well, fortunately for us, designer Irina Blok came across our call and accepted the challenge over the weekend. And, if I do say so myself, these make a fine addition to the originals (although maybe SOMA's cute lil' sidewalk poo should have a box over it?)
If you want to get one of these for yourself, they'll be up on Irina's CafePress in the next day or two.
— By Erika Kali |
Have you ever broken up with someone and mentally had to divide up “your” places to avoid running into each other? It looks like someone took their failing relationship a step further and pulled a stunt reminice of that time in college you duct taped the floor of your dorm room in an attempt to send a message to your booze-stealing roommate.
When all is said and done, what side is the best side? I suppose it really comes down to what kind of Mission you want: Dolores Park, Bi Rite and Tartine, or Benders, El Farolito and 14 luggage stores.
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
We mentioned back in March that a couple of neighborhood comics were looking at putting on a festival combining the indigestion of burritos and the healing power of comedy. They took their vision to Kickstarter, raised the money it took to get the fest going, scoured through hundreds of submissions for comics across the country, and made everything official. The result of their hard work? The SF Comedy & Burrito Festival, a three day stand-up fest on Oct 11-13th with over 100 performers in six venues.
The festival features a mess of our favorite local comics (including most of the folks associated with The Business), but is also importing a number of heavyweights from out of town, including Matt Braunger from MadTV, late-night veteran Brendon Walsh (who'll be recording his debut album at the festival), and butt-tweeter Sean Patton. And in true Mission District fashion, you won't have to leave the neighborhood to see any of 'em. The festival promoters are taking full advantage of the neighborhood's weird assortment of venue offerings, putting comics on stages ranging from classics like Elbo Room and the Dark Room Theater, to lesser-used gems like Esta Noche and The Polish Club.
Now, festival passes might seem a bit expensive at $55 (and they go up from there when early bird pricing is up on Sept. 15th), but keep in mind it's multiple shows spread over 3 nights and there's free burritos (and rumors of complimentary beer). Also, it's apparently not cheap to book out three venues for an entire weekend. So do yourself a favor and get tickets now while they're good and cheap.
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
I don't really know much about this Cindy Sherman character, other than the fact Ira Glass loves her, her mug is posted all over 24th Street, and she posts a lot of photos of herself wearing different outfits on the tumblr “The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art”. But here's local drag artist Lady Bear paying tribute to Cindy by painting herself Boehner with heaps of delicious MSG.
[via SFBG]
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
In what is shaping up to be a banner year for evicting landmark institutions, North Beach's Purple Onion has been evicted from the space it has occupied since 1952. The building was recently sold for an assuredly ludicrous sum of cash and the new owner gave the comedy club and the terribly-named upstairs Caffe Macaroni the boot.
“We're out on the 1st [of October],” Purple Onion owner Mario Ascione confirmed to Uptown Almanac earlier today. “The new owners are coming in on the 28th.”
Along with Cobb's and The Punchline, The Purple Onion has been one of San Francisco's three pillar comedy venues. Maya Angelou and Phyllis Diller, who also died last week, had their first gigs there. Woody Allen, Richard Pryor, and Robin Williams have all performed on its stage. Zach Galifianakis's 2007 DVD special was recorded there—real historical shit like that.
To get some perspective on what this means to local comedy, we asked Sean Keane to tell us a bit about the significance of the place: “There was a point where you could tell how long a new comic had been in the comedy world by when their Facebook profile photo changed to them at the Onion.”
However, the general reaction amongst local comedians on Facebook has been decidedly mixed, ranging from the I-don't-give-a-fuck snark (“The Purple Onion as we knew it is dead and gone”) to more pragmatic assessment (“there goes 60% of my shows”). But most seem to think this void might foster a more DIY spirit within the comedy scene, forcing comics out of North Beach into more casual venues not typically home to stand-up.
As for the future? The Onion's owner doesn't have any plans to reopen the venue at a different location, but intends to look into it. He also refused to talk to us about the future of the space and who bought the building, but one source* told us that Michigan-based strip club magnate Roger Forbes bought the building and plans to turn it into a tawdry tittie bar.
*I should note that this source is a comedian, and I don't particularly trust comedians.
[Photo via Courting Comedy]
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
Thanks for the feedback, 20th Street!