The Mission - Faux Real y No Mas

Is there anything in San Francisco more annoying than Carnaval? Yes, plenty of events that I'd like to see eliminated forever -- Pride, Up Your Alley, Folsom Street Fair, Hairison, etc. I actually like Carnaval in theory, but not the hassle of having no parking options for two days, noise, drunks from Pleasanton, and noise out my front window before I'm ready to wake Sunday morning.

Here are a few images in the calm before the storm. (And for those that are not locals, yes we celebrate Carnaval three months late because it's too cool in February to strut down 24th Street in those skimpy costumes.)
UPDATE: Having an odd hankering for Pepperidge Farms Verona cookies, I stepped into Samy's where the man himself was behind the counter babbling in his heavily non-Spanish accented Spanish. "Quantos años?" The baby-faced youth replied, "Uh...viente...uh, no, viente...viente..dos, uh...no, viente cinco..."

"ID! ID! Tiene ID?" Samy screamed.

"Uh, no...mis amigos tienen..." the youth slurred, and then turned to me pleading, "Tiene una ID?"

"No ID no cerveza!" Samy screamed.

All of this was going down while George Hearn was singing "Epiphany" from Sweeny Todd on the TV behind the register and that wretched new song by that Madonna creature was blaring on a boom box outside. I thought her four minutes were already up.

That, my friends, is Carnaval in the Mission.