I don't think before I type's Comments

Andrew Dalton over at Curbed put together a pretty solid guide to the Western Addition:

Q: Local Customs of note:
A: People live in cafes here. Which is great because the beer tends to be cheaper, so we drink a lot of it and everyone is immediately more social and neighborly. Bean Bag Cafe started a $2 happy hour some four years ago (with actual beer! that tastes good!) and it set off price war that's been raging ever since. If you're paying more than two bucks a pint and it's before 8pm, then you're at Nopa and that is way too early to be at Nopa.

Also worth noting is Nemo's comment:

I lived in a great flat on Broderick and Hayes for seven years in the 80s. A block away from what is now NOPA (the restaurant). The NOPA building was actually my laundromat at the time. The best ribs were at DO City Ribs right across the street. They had bullet proof windows inside and would drop your order down into a tray (like old banks).

We used to call the hood Do Valley and Divisadero was the Rue de Do. Unfortunately after I left the name faded. It never caught on. Much better than NOPA though.

Perhaps more exciting than getting food from behind bulletproof glass was their slogan, "eat your ass off."  The legend has it that they had a mural out front that "literally" depicted the slogan.  I can only imagine the beautiful monstrosity that building must have been.  Anyone have a picture of the place?

Read the whole thing over at Curbed. (photo by tomnono)

Cade had this to say on today's post about the Richmond:

I know that via blog comment isn't really a good way to start a discussion that will have any actual insight, but seriously, why dont people that live in the mission leave more? It is not the end all and be all of San Francisco. People that live in the Mission will be the first one to bitch about not wanting to to go "all the way out" to the Richmond, but in reality, the furthest away you are going to have to travel to any part of town is 7 miles, so its really NOT that far away at all. Hell, its hard enough to get people to venture out to SOMA from the Mission, which is even closer, not to mention that if you have a bike like a good lil Mission resident, your bike ride is only going to be 25 minutes if you make the "hella long" trek out to the Richmond , still faster then a damn bus or car ride, and its not that epic of a ride either, the panhandle is pretty flat.

I just get really tired of hearing about how great the city is from people who live in the Mission and rarely leave. They aren't really experiencing the whole city as much as those who have to actually put an effort into making it down to hang out with those who feel like there is no reason to leave. I implore you, go to Crissy Field sometime, take a look around and tell me that the view from there, encapsulating the entire city sans bay bridge, isn't worth the 35 minutes it took riding down there to get to see. Hot damn, ride with that special someone, bring a sandwich and tall boy, and holy shit you have the recipe for a great date situation and you have spent the grand total of leftovers in the fridge. (See not only are you doing something "exotic" and seeing great "foreign" views, but its the economical date and who is more attractive in these tough times then a thrifty spender? Ladies????)

I realize that there is some bit of sarcasm in your post, and I'm not trying to direct my bit of animosity at you KevMo, I just seriously have been wondering why people think the Mission is the only good part of the city and why places like the Richmond or Presidio get little love. I figure I may as well go to the source of news for much of the Mission, and really, most of S.F residents to try and help explain it to me. Don't get me wrong I like the mission, I do, but I also realize there is SO MUCH MORE to this great city then just 2 or 3 square miles of it.

Now if anyone can let me in on why they be hatin on venturing out of the mission bubble, please do so, I'm all ears...

I would make my typical snide remark of "It's the fog, stupid," but yesterday was evidence that fog is a shitty excuse.  Lack of street art?  No Victorians?  Bars that fill up with college kids at 9:30?  Honestly, I'm too lazy to figure out the answer.

(photo by zzz_zzz)

Ready, Set, Riot?

Categorized: Activism, East Bay

As the entire internet knows, Mehserle was just sentenced to an appallingly minimal 2 year sentence, with credit for time served.  People have been quick to point out that his punishment for the wrongful killing/murder of Oscar Grant is less than the sentence Vick received for torturing canines.  

KevMo is already on the scene and reports that Foot Locker (above) has definitely learned from their past mistakes. So far the crowd is at about 300 and is generally subdued. More updates as the scene develops, but from the look of things it appears that SF might have finally upstaged Oakland in the riot department.

 

Fuck that stupid shit on the island. I don't fuck with that lame shit and if you don't know how bad SF sucks at music festivals then I guess you deserve to let those herbs take your money

The Bay Citizen just put together an interesting slideshow of Dolores Park throughout the years and posted up this nugget of Dolores history:

Jurors in the trial of Ramon Rodriguez, who admitted to beating 16-year-old Hilda Rosa Pagan by the park bandstand in the spring of 1952. Pagan's body was found in a hole behind the shrubbery to the right.

I had heard rumors from neighbors and park history buffs that the building in the middle of the park had been a one-level facilities building for years and that there was a second building for public restrooms, but I could never dig up a photo proving it (allegedly there is a photo of the Mayor in the 1950s addressing a large crowd in the park from the platform, but that photo seems to be lost too).  Well, this photo seems to back up both claims: the now-facilities building doesn't have a roof and on the corner of 19th and Dolores, a second building is clearly visible.

The story goes that between sometime in the '50s, a roof was put on the building and the city started selling concessions out of the space, only to shut down the space in the 1970s because of asbestos.  I suspect we won't be seeing the city try that again...

In other news, it looks like the northeast corner of the park has been popular for decades.

(all photos from the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection.  Via the Bay Citizen)

Then might I suggest running down to Valencia's Buffalo Exchange, where you can pick up this little gem.  While there are hoards of thrift stores in the city to get costumes, Buffalo sure does have an expertly curated selection.  Other outfits includes a watermelon bikini and some furry-looking thing that makes you like a cat foaming at the mouth.

The Bay Bridged, among a mess of other places, are reporting that Best Coast has been announced as the secret headlining act for Aquarius' 40th party.  Ten Bucks (plus some stupid credit card fees)!  See everyone there.

For the unfamiliar:

I'm like the MS Paint of Photoshop with my skillz. No, that doesn't make any sense.  Fuck you.

Tonight, from 9:30pm to 1:30pm at Grand Coffee at 2663 Mission St, Uptown author Serg will get his wish.  

That's right, in honor of Guerilla Guac proprietor Richard's bday, they'll be serving out his avo-wares FOR FREE. This shit will get snatched up by drunken hiptards faster than NSFW pics at LastNightsParty.com. So get over to Grand Coffee early tonight, and grab some chowder from Soup Dup too.  

The World According to San Francisco

Categorized: Humor, The Memenets
Tagged: maps

David sends us this map our way.  I'd say something snarky about it but, honestly, I think this is pretty much as close to perfect as you can get.

(no idea who authored it, but it was found on reddit) UPDATE: Generic made it!

Honestly, this is not an anti-cyclist metaphor.  NO REALLY!

WHEN THERE'S NO MORE ROOM IN HELL, THE DEAD WILL WALK BIKE THE EARTH!!!  

TONIGHT (Oct 8th), the East Bay Bike Party will be doing their 6th Zombie Ride.  It's exactly what it sounds like; a zombie flash mob with two wheelers.   AWESOME.  The gathering starts at 7:30pm, departs Oakland City Hall at 8pm, and eventually ends up at Parkway Lounge where they've arranged free bike parking and pizza sandwichs (not free).  

I might even brave these cyclist hoards just find out what the fuck a pizza sandwich is.  

More info on their route here.