Mission Mission

Streetsblog informs us that there’s a loophole in these new Clipper cards that lets enterprising transit riders game the bejesus out of BART.

Two-dollar trips to the furthest reaches of the Bay Area suburbs? Cool. Let’s check ‘em out. I hear Zachary’s Pizza is almost as good as Little Star.

But seriously, what’s your favorite thing to do in the ‘burbs? Everybody share, and whomever comes up with the best or most intriguing suggestion gets a pair of $2 Clipper cards free!!

[Self portrait by Mat Honan]

Previously:

How To Have Fun This Summer If You Live In SF And Your Best Friends Live in Oakland

Still can’t afford the Dolores Park castle? Bummer.

You have two options: overthrow an Argentinean cocaine baron and usurp his operations, or move to Chicago, where an equivalent residence can be had for one-tenth of the cost at $750K. If you ask me, this is a better-looking church-turned single family home. Plus, less people pee on it on weekends.

Sally at Curbed SF says:

Perfect for a new owner with a god-complex, this converted church boasts 39-foot ceilings, pine flooring, a dining nook on the altar, and a gaping central nave. Furnishing that cavern in any meaningful, never mind cost-efficient, way might be quite the challenge, but there’s plenty of space—and city approval—to divvy it up into multiple units.

You do have to move to Chicago, though. I hear it’s a great city and the bridges smell like chocolate.

Get the scoop over at Curbed SF.

Might I suggest Jet Travel for your color-coordinated jet-setting needs?  Not impressed?  Well then, head up the street to their obvious nemesis, Jet Peru.

Oh, and if you’re going there this evening (from 6-8pm), take a moment to stop by Fabric8 next door for art and street food from the likes of Magic Curry Kart and others.  And don’t forget to check out this thing.

[Photo by Travis Jensen]

Orange you glad we here in the USA take the time to dispose of a dead whale in an orderly and cleanly fashion?

They’re not so diligent in Europe I guess, where Girls Girls Girls spotted this grim tableau.

Some not-so-appetizing Swedish candy, courtesy of Ashleyanne.

And we thought that German plop beer was bad.

Congratulations, San Francisco!  In August, we set a new national record!  Guess which airport had the worst one-time performance in the nation?

The Cranky Flier reports that with only 70.2% of flights arriving within 15 minutes of schedule this August, SFO beat out stalwarts like La Guardia, Chicago and Atlanta.  (Number 2 was Miami at 75.9% and #3 was La Guardia at 76.4%.)

Fog of course is always a threat — bad weather means only one runway can be used — and our absolutely craptacular summer seems to have pushed us over the edge.  Here’s a chart of on time arrivals by time.  (Note to self, do not fly in at 10 AM in “summer”.)

Departures were not great either — August numbers below. The bottom 5 are no big surprises for anyone who’s been on an airplane in the past 10 years but I found our #6 position kind of surprising.

In September we were 9th worst for departure delay, and July we were 28th worst (aka 13th best).  Someone with more money and time than myself really ought to chart this by time and cross reference to weather, kthxbye.

Of course, what’s an SFO post without a link to Telstar Logistics’ glorious air highway map for Bay Area airports?

Met these guys on the strip last night after they had cycled through Flamingo and gotten chased out by the security guards.  One of ‘em was on the phone trying to meet up with the rest of the gang to find out the next spot to hit up.

For the Flamingo run, phone guy was the leader and picked the route through the slots on the fly, scattering drink girls and bronzed, pot-belly’d Medicare recipients in his wake.  Meanwhile, middle finger dude carried the rearguard, security officials nipping at his heels.  Celebration by track-stand up the escalator.

For anyone wishing to join them on their cyclical adventures:  these rapscallions can sometimes be found at SF Bike Polo by 21st and S Van Ness (since they got kicked out of Dolores) when they’re not terrorizing Las Vegas casinos.  Tryouts next weekend!

Last month some friends took me out to this spot called Beelitz, an hour out into the countryside southwest of Berlin. It’s 60 or so beautiful old buildings, all abandoned and falling apart, and it used to be a mental hospital. My favorite of the three or four buildings we had time to explore was the one with an entire fucking old-growth forest on the roof.

I pride myself on always blogging things in a timely fashion, but I’ve been busy and I just now got around to “developing my last few rolls of film,” so I apologize for the untimeliness of this collection of extremely stunning photos (if I do say so myself), but here it is. Please trip out.

Previously:

Berlin Mystery Girl

Biking in Berlin

This is the point I’ve been trying to make lately with all my posts about Berlin and Salt Lake City. But Jim Rock really hammers it home right here:

Thanks, Jim! Hit the road, everybody!

While visiting the fair city of NYC, MM reader Zarah spotted an article in the Metro paper that purports to show one “how to do San Fran like a local.”  What are some of the things she learned?

San Francisco is one of the coolest places on earth–period.

The Mission District is the place for lunch, in particular, Taqueria Cancun & Ti Couz–altho, they also recommend the Marina for dinner, so meh.

I should spend the afternoon in “Delores Park” to watch the “enjoyable sideshow of hip (or weird) locals.”

Read on.