Mission Mission

Our pal Inna saw her life flash before her eyes this morning:

Ok not even funny anymore – I just had a terrifying moment with a Google bus turning from 24th onto valencia that nearly killed me and one other person. We had the green light still – it was very clearly green, and he just plowed into the intersection. Cars stopped and honked, people screamed, and even google’s minions waiting in line to board the thing looked up from their phones.

I don’t even know what to do – who do I complain to? Who will listen or care? It’s simply not safe for these gigantic buses to have complete reign of the streets. It’s a terrible feeling to not feel welcome in your own city- this is the icing on the cake.

I also experienced a harrowing moment last week while biking north on Valencia approaching 25th Street.  One of the behemoth buses pulled up alongside me and then tried to beat me to the stop on the NE corner, almost pinning me to the sidewalk.  Luckily I was able to maintain control of my bike and sprint past it, but damn!

I don’t drive, but if I did I would be livid with these buses.  I routinely see a tech bus chilling at a green light waiting for another tech bus in front of it to finish its business at the stop located across the intersection.  So imagine you’re stopped behind a bus at a green light and it just sits there for a couple minutes while the lights cycle through, and finally when the first bus is finsished unloading or dropping off or whatever does that green-light-chilling bus cross the intersection and awkwardly pull over in just enough of a diagonal to continue blocking the street.

Did we really kill the 26 Valencia Muni just so these giant out of-control buses could run wild?  I know it’s a broken record at this point, but just remember that these buses are another example of something that incoveniences (and sometimes endangers) the public and whose only benefit is increasing profit for private companies (by enhancing their recruiting efforts and employee productivity).

Essentially, all the buses really do is transfer the extra minutes that their employees would have to wait if they took regular public transportation along to everybody else.

Previously:

• The Google Bus: “If you want an iPhone, a Facebook profile, and Google Maps, this is part of the price you’ve gotta pay”

Yep, that’s right, the Tenderloin Museum!  And things are starting off with a bang this Thursday!

The Tenderloin Museum kicks off its evening programming on Opening Night, July 16th at 6:30pm with transgender activists Tamara Ching, Veronika Fimbres, and filmmakers Susan Stryker & Victor Silverman. Moderated by Randy Shaw, the panel takes us back to the days of the Tenderloin’s 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria riot when transgender women and queers were harassed by police and businesses alike.

In those days, the Tenderloin was the geographic center of the city’s emerging gay and lesbian civil rights movement. It was in the Tenderloin where the movement’s more confrontational spirit was demonstrated, and brought success. Stryker, Ching and Fimbres will describe the decades of struggle following the Compton’s riot, as that legendary act of resistance—three years before Stonewall–was only the beginning.

Check it all out here.

And that’s not all!  Stop by the following week for the first showing in 50 years of Drugs in the Tenderloin!

A stark and often harrowing look into the life of the street denizens of the notorious San Francisco district which was a haven for junkies, prostitutes, and pushers during the Sixties… it takes a real gutter-level look at its subject, the grainy night photography capturing beehive-haired hookers and turtle-necked dope dealers plying their trade against a smoky backdrop of seedy neon, while meth users pontificate about their high, and a youth worker takes a couple of shocked city officials on a walking tour of the area, pointing out such lurid landmarks as Market Street, known in the area as the “Meat Rack” thanks to the male hustlers who ply their trade there.”Join us for some incredible footage of the Tenderloin’s past.

Our pal Carlos noticed something quite peculiar the other day:

An NYC cab spotted on Camp and Albion streets this morning.

Must have been a pretty pricey ride!  Perhaps they should have taken Uber?

Nuts 2 U!

PS. I totally expect there to be a pop up shop somewhere in the Mission selling horse doovers, whatever the hell they are.

[Via FoundSF]

Be wary of the Sonic Boom!  Our pal Dr. Eric barely made it out alive!

Our pal Alicia takes us through it:

A year ago my bike was stolen. It was not the end of the word. Someone wonderful lent me an interim bike, eventually I bought a new bike at a very reasonable price and it had gears – and I had long needed gears. At other times on my life I would have felt that harder, I was greatful for that. Today I was walking across the street from the place where it was stolen from and there was my old bike frame- worse for the weather – and with new handlebars ex cetra but it was it. I went home, gathered the old paperwork- sure enough the numbers matched.

I did not want the old bike back. My apartment is small, the resale value would be low. It had been gifted to me in the first place and served me for 5 years. But bike theft is a big problem. Eventually-Reluctantly I called the police. …

Then it rider came down the stairs. Sweet Latino guy about my size. Construction worker with his fellow workers. Said he bought it at the flee market. They assured me he was an honest guy, I believe them. He offered it back. I told him to keep it.

Around the time that bike was stolen, I had a big flower pot of succulents stolen off the stoop. I’ve often thought how much I would like to see them again- not to have them back-but just to see if the poppies ever came up, and how they all grew and changed.

I was glad to see my bike again, glad to meet the guy who was riding it around, glad he wasn’t an asshole. Glad it was something that helped his life. This is all to say, don’t steal. Which means many things. Peace be with you dude. Peace be with you little bike. More peace guys. Spread the resources more evenly.

There are worse places for a pigeon nest, sure, such as RIGHT OUTSIDE MY WINDOW, but I have the sad suspicion that Darwin will win the day and that this pigeon is destined to suffer the same fate as his flat brethren.  I mean, they can’t all be majestic BART birds.

Well, just look at this beauty.  It’s even got one of those rad triangle antennas on the back, but you’ll have to trust me on that one because no pics.  Why someone decided to take a road trip from Texas to the 22nd Street Caltrain station is beyond me, but at least we get to marvel at this magnificent chariot while they’re here!

It takes a bit more gumption, but so much more imaginative than merely tipping it over!  I mean, you can still use it, but WOULD YOU???

This was pretty damn fun last time, and now it’s happening again!  In FIVE HOURS!!!

Invite your friends here!