Mission District

Mission Cheese Opens Tomorrow

Valencia's new cheese shop is set to open tomorrow, which is fantastic news for cheese fans such as myself that are too impatient to stand in line at Bi-Rite or walk all the way to Rainbow before heading to The Park.  Plus, free high fives all day.

Now, let's relive one of television's best cheese moments:

The César Chávez Holiday Parade Sure Was Nice

If you missed the César Chávez Parade and Festival this weekend, you missed out on a bunch of dancing, live music, street eats, mural painting, and mayoral candidates begging for support (for more coverage on all this, check out Junk Thief and Bluoz).  While all that was fun, the real highlight of the day was the lowrider segment of the parade, particularly this Lincoln's paintjob.  Ignoring the irony of this vehicle honoring a man who fought for farm worker's rights and living wages, I can't help but look at this and be reminded of “Selleck Waterfall Sandwich”, only this is “Busty Women, Waterfall, Jermaine Dupri Lyric.”

A beautiful intersection of internet and lowrider culture, really.

Protesting the Wars is Boring

That anti-war/free Palestine/free Bradley Manning/Stand with Unions/buy-these-Che-Guevara-shirts protest in Dolores Park and Valencia Street yesterday sure was a failure.  While I have to give the organizers props for being the first people I've ever witnessed burning the American Flag on Tallboy Terrace (horribly pictured above), they clearly don't know how to promote political activism to anyone under the age 50.  Personally, I hadn't heard there was going to be a protest in Dolores until I showed up for my typical Sunday ritual of drinking Tecate and complaining about the wind, which is the first sign that Bay Area political organizers don't have a clue.  But once I found out the protest, I had the displeasure of having to listen to the protest…

I've heard a lot of reasons over the years as to why anti-war rallies have been so poorly attended by 20-somethings since September 11th: “There's no draft to motivate the youth to protest against the war.” “There are not as many photos of dead soldiers or mass destruction as there were in Vietnam.” “No Americans romanticize Bin Laden as a revolutionary figure like radicals did of Communist figures in the 60s.”  Sure, those are all valid reasons, but the real reason nobody goes to anti-Iraq war protests is because they are boring.  There's nothing uncool about standing against continued wars in the Middle East or Obama turning his back on campaign pledges, but what kind of self-respecting kid wants to hang out with 60-year-olds who wear jackets covered in oversized buttons and recite poetry before screaming about justice?  From what I'm told, protesting Vietnam was fun.  Listening to protest songs.  Doing drugs with thousands of your friends and neighbors.  Socializing with other single people your age.  Come for the protest, stay for the party.  Yesterday's protest was anything but that.

I know everyone hates yuppies and shit, but if these anti-war organizations had any sense, they'd motivate a bunch of Mission kids who work in marketing, event promotion, and tech to start organizing protests that feel less like a senior singles mixer and more like a party.

In San Francisco, Even Death Metal Concerts Are Exactly Like Burning Man

I made my way to the epic Blood, Bath & Beyond Day at Potrero del Sol on Saturday.  For those of you unfamiliar with Potrero del Sol, it's the park at the corner of Potrero and 25th in which you can drink beer and listen to metal just a few yards away from a playground and a child's birthday party without any neighbors calling the cops.  Coexistence in its purest form.

Well this particular weekend, the park was not only host to bands such as “Zombie Death Stench” and “Feral Depravity,” but also some Burning Man pregame picnic.  As the video shows, the two groups got along just fine…

Bonus shot at 1:50 of children rolling down the hill while some dude from Modesto screamed about society falling apart or some shit.

[video shot by Steve Rude]

Free Frybread and Veggie Navajo Tacos at El Rio Tonight

We all know that El Rio has been serving $1 PBRs and $2 well on Mondays since the Spanish built Mission Dolores, but now they're also offering up 'free' Rocky's Frybread on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights.  While Rocky, who cooks the frybread in the Diné tradition he learned growing up outside of Shiprock, NM, accepts donations for his wares, the suggested donation ends up being cheaper than most else you can eat in this town.  Plus, being able to chow down on a fried dinner while hanging out on El Rio's back patio on a warm day like today?  Can't get much better than that.

This is What Happens When 'Bloggers'/Failed Musical Theatre Kids from Michigan Invade Your Coastal City

When Broadway kids Andrew Keenan-Bolger and Dani Spieler won some Lonely Planet contest, they were asked to create a travel video documenting their trip to San Francisco.  After watching this gem about 5 times I can attest that these musical theatre kids have a seriously distroted view of what a video with a “campy twist” means, what comedy is all about, and how to act in a production outside of “Perez Hilton Saves the Universe.”  I mean, isn't musical theatre the definition of campy? Hey musical kids, I know this might be a stretch for you, but can you make this vid campy, k?  You guys would have been far more successful doing a Glee meets High School Musical tour of the Tenderloin. And I'm sorry guys, if you're renting your trendy single-speed bikes from Blazing Saddles, you've already lost the game.

Only in San Francisco Does Your Drug Dealer Have a Daily Deals iPhone App

There I was taking a Sunday stroll to my dealer's house when I had the bright idea to peruse the App Store for an app that would save myself 79 cents on a dime bag.  Turns out my impulse wasn't so absurd: Mission Street's Medithrive actually has an app for that.  Now I can load up my phone from Zeitgeist's patio and know that a joint costs $17 bucks and I can save 5% on today's hash purchases.

Perhaps more exciting than the existence of a Groupon-clone for weed is the promise of “mobile ordering” coming to their app.  Soon you'll be able to call TCB Courier, have them deliver a Rhea's sandwich and a 12-pack of whatever-the-fuck, all while you order pot on your mobile and “legally” download a bunch of 90's Kevin Smith movies.  This is the future, people.

Pages