The Muni skateboard deck 11.13.09
AIGA SF, a professional association for graphic designers, held their annual gala Thursday night. As part of their fundraiser, various designers are asked to design and donate an object for auction. This year, designers created custom design skate decks for the gala, titled Hung Up. Among rows and rows of flashy, glossy, neon geometrical abstractions was this Muni-inspired deck by John Barretto with Tolleson Design, titled: “Muni is Money.”
And so true it is! As is time. But luckily, skaters (and bicyclists) save on both by powering their own transportation.
Oh, SNAP! 11.12.09
Muni rider 31AXtaordinaire just dropped this in our inbox:
I boarded a 21 headed to the Richmond, and noticed a logjam of F streetcars extending about two blocks around the vicinity of Powell St. As my Fulton & 6th Ave.-bound chariot trundled along Market, it didn’t take long to discover the culprit.
Wow, that’s one broken-ass pantograph trolley pole. Where does Muni go shopping for spare parts, anyway?
Archival SF films show old streetcars, cable cars 11.12.09
By now, you might’ve seen a video floating around the intertubes called, to varying discrepancies, “A trip down Market Street.” If not, go watch it. If our guess is correct, and you have this soft spot for San Francisco in the middle of all your frustrations and angst, you’ll love this footage of our city in its simpler, yet equally fascinating days. It shows the view from a streetcar traveling east toward the Ferry Building, on a Market Street free of cars (easier to do in those days), with pedestrians and horses and buggies crossing the tracks ever so lawlessly.
Owing to the popularity of that video, we came across the above program, sponsored by The Long Now Foundation. The very long program is broken up into easy-to-digest chapters. The un-embeddable chapters we want to call your attention to are: Fillmore Hill Cable Car (lots of great footage of Fillmore and other old cable car lines) and South of Market (which includes archival footage of the Transbay Terminal around 1941). There might be other transit-related bits, but frankly, we haven’t had enough time to watch it all. Here’s a link to the entire program, but you can watch it by the chapter.
The man responsible for the footage, Rick Prelinger, will be presenting more archival video of San Francisco on December 4 at the Herbst Theater.
The clippers on the bus go ‘snip, snip, snip’ 11.11.09
Matt Baume sends the above photo (we edited it slightly to protect the guilty), along with these words:
Thought this might make good fodder for a post. Maybe you’d want to mask his face before posting? Personally I’d leave it as is. Anyway, we can all agree: this person is gross.
Yes, we can agree with Matt here. But I’m sure nail-clipping on Muni has its ardent defenders. As always, we’d love to hear from all sides. But remember: Play nicely.
Muni Say What? 11.11.09
![please_no[1]](http://www.munidiaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/please_no1.jpg "please_no[1]")
Rider Steve sent in this photo. He said, “This probably isn’t funny. But it was hilarious after I’d been drinking for a while.” Heh. I thought it was pretty funny too, and I haven’t even had my coffee yet.
Everybody! Muni party! 11.10.09
Photo by Flickr user Moncrief Speaks
We caught wind of this Thursday’s Muni party aboard the M, and are sad to say we’re all booked up and can’t make it. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. Here’s the deets:
Date: Thursday, November 12, 2009
Time: 7:15pm – 9:00pm
Location: 19th & Holloway Muni Stop (M-Line)
Here’s what the organizers have to say:
This is not your regular post work commute. Dress to impress with your Thursday night’s best and let Muni be the party, instead of just letting it take you to one.
Let Muni be the jumping off point for your night. Club/Bar/Lounge Atmosphere+Public Transit = Evening of Epic Proportions
Dress Code: Fancy (nothing but the best for public transit)
Cover: $2, or free with purchase of Fast Pass
No difficult door policy. No fancy expensive drinks with pretentious names (although those are sometimes nice). Bring all your friends. We’ll bring ours. There’s no reason not to be there.
PLUS: Muni Party Official After Party will be held at Otis Lounge featuring our special guest DJ ELiKi spinning the hottest electro.
Otis lounge is located at 25 Maiden Ln. (right off of the Montgomery Station Downtown). This party is brought to you by John & Brianna, CW Lifestyle, and DJ ELiKi. It’s free, it’s fun, so don’t miss out.
MUNI PARTY
If you go, be sure to report back here with stories and photos!
Wonder Bread Under My Seat 11.10.09
Photo by Flickr user Brian_Brooks
This photo, submitted to the Muni Photos Flickr pool by Brian Brooks, just suspended my evening appetite at least a few hours. How about you? Still hungry for lunch?
Seen any delectable delights on your commute? Send photos and stories to Muni Diaries.
Layoffs Pending — Drivers Exempt? 11.09.09
Muni rider Allan offers the following astute observation:
With service cuts and layoffs pending for MTA personnel, it’s good to know that the drivers are exempt. Apparently they are riding much better than we are and can’t afford the cuts.
Send your Muni musings, photos, slices-of-life, and miscellany to Muni Diaries today!
Photo diary: ‘Yaarrrgh!’ 11.09.09
Muni rider Katie retells this odd encounter from last week:
I was on the 9x Friday, and a guy got on with a parrot on his shoulder around Market St. The parrot didn’t seem to be tied down, but it was very well-behaved and quietly stood on his owner’s shoulder. He was wearing a little red sweater. I got off at Broadway and Columbus, so I don’t know where the parrot (plus the pirate) was going, but it definitely made me smile as I surreptitiously took pictures.
Seen any funny animals (human or other) on Muni lately? Share stories and photos with the faithful readership of Muni Diaries.
Weekend Photos: Just in time for rainy season? 11.06.09
Photo by Thomas Hawk
Well, well. The weather went and turned November-like on us, didn’t it?
Here’s some happy thoughts to carry into this weekend:
- A press release from MTA informed us of Muni service disruptions this weekend.
- On Wednesday, Muni and SFPD initiated a new sting operation (can we get a better code name than “Operation Safe Muni?) that netted more than 400 citations and a handful of arrests. Feel safer yet?
- And Thursday brought sad news of a fight between a Muni station agent and a minor. Not much is known yet, other than the fact that the agent was arrested. It is unclear how the altercation started, and what the other circumstances were. Yes, an adult fought with a minor. But hold your opinions, please.
- Don’t forget to stop by and tell us how you really feel about Muni fare inspectors.
But on to happier (if wetter times) we go. Here’s a photo that came to us after our Halloween 2009 Muni photo roundup.
About this photo, Lucia has this to say:
Apparently no one who snapped photos of this Muni rolling around Mission, Valencia, and Guerrero between 24th &17th sent them in. We parked it on the plaza in Dolores for a miniMuni dance party. And then I broke my ankle, which is pretty much unrelated, but hence the delay in sending this.
And here are some remarkable photos that showed up in our Muni Photos Flickr group recently.
Photo by Troy Holden
Photo by Flickr user bingolio
Photo by tangobaby
Ride Muni like a boss. Our Fast Pass Clipper card holders and Muni Diaries T-shirts are all on sale 
