Muni Diaries » eugenia

Thank You, Muni Hero of the 1-California

eugenia — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:45:59 +0000

Riding on a nearly full 1-California last Thursday afternoon, I opened my eyes from my mini nap when I noticed that the bus wasn’t moving. It appeared that the bus driver was leaning over having a conversation with a passenger who wanted to board the bus.

I heard an older woman’s voice from the opened bus door: “Do you give change?” We all knew the answer.

Then I heard the same woman’s voice: “When’s the next bus coming?”

The bus stop happened to be one without the NextBus display, so nobody really had an answer for her.

Just as I was starting to feel a little bad for her, a young man got up from the first row, leaned over to the open door and said, “Ma’am? I’ll pay for you. Come on in.”

The woman got in the bus — she was a silver-haired lady wearing a blue quilted coat. The young man paid her fare, got up, and gave his seat to her, and we were on our way.

Thank you, young man in the black leather jacket, Levi 514s, black Adidas, and black messenger bag. There’s a big difference between feeling bad for someone and actually doing something about it. Your kindness made me realize we need to cross that line more often.

Saw a Muni model citizen? Give them praise here.

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Photo Diary: Ghosts of Muni’s Past

eugenia — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:00:15 +0000

Photo by Maxence Derreumaux

Found this great photo on Flickr. Pretty eerie.

Oh, hey, we have a Flickr pool. Won’t you drop something in?

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Strangest PSA Video Featuring BART

eugenia — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:05:48 +0000

There is a tech conference in town over President’s Day weekend, and reader Jeremy A. shared its incredibly strange yet hilarious PSA video about the closure of the westbound deck of the Bay Bridge that holiday weekend. Notice the wind in Barbie’s hair as she rides through BART with her rotund companion.

From what I can gather, the people who made the video are a part of the SMB MVP Community Roadshow (Sponsored by HP and Microsoft), an event featuring Windows Storage Servers. Alas, my geek cred has its limits. But who cares — there’s a talking Barbie and a garden gnome telling you to ride BART!

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More Shoe Fetish on Muni

eugenia — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:00:18 +0000

Photo credit

Just feeding your shoe fetish needs here at Muni Diaries. Also, I want to know the owner of those kick ass black boots. Call me and we can be shoe twins.

More footwear awesomeness spotted on the bus:

Photo by @s_mckenney

Photo by Brian Brooks

Photo by @rsofca

Via Instagram

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Weekend Photos: Muni Lowrider

eugenia — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:00:46 +0000

Photo by Lorcan Keating

He (?) is at least not on the seats. See also: “Would you spend the night in a Muni street car?“

We’re planning some cool new features for Muni Diaries in the coming months. Meanwhile, have you been following the better-than-TV stream @munidiaries on Twitter?

My favorite last week:
RT @spiegelmama: Why do I expend such effort not to fart on the bus when it seems nobody else even tries? #opensewer #busreek

So get your fill at @munidiaries @bartdiaries, @caltraindiaries, and @actdiaries!

Enjoy these photos and your weekend!

Photo by Jeremy Whiteman

Photo by Octoferret

Photo by maraby on Instagram

Photo by Jaymi Heimbuch

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Muni Is My Canvas

eugenia — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:54:32 +0000

Photo by @cinemaone

@cinemaone on Twitter/Instagram created this brilliant portrait of a Muni rider. I think this is the result of Hipstamatic Dream Canvas and AutoPainter2 plus some other wizardry up his sleeves.

Got your own Instagram Muni masterpiece? We wanna see.

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Can’t Get Enough of Muni-Simulation Video Games

eugenia — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:00:23 +0000

Video games answer all kinds of fantasies: run through a dungeon, battle intergalactic forces, sniper-shot a deer. And make over Muni.

Right?

At least one video game company seems to think so. Rider Will sent us a tip that Paradox Interactive has released the U.S. Cities Pack of their “Cities in Motion” game. The cities in the game includes San Francisco and you can design the entire Muni system, from routes to wages to fares!

Happy building, indeed. And safe, timely driving, young padawans!

Check out the trailer for the new U.S. version of Cities in Motion.

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Weekend Photos: Domo on Muni

eugenia — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:00:01 +0000

Photo by @roobss

Domo grew legs and is riding Muni!

Thanks to Instagram, I was able to catch up with the latest Domo sighting and other great pictures in this post so if you’re on Instagram, be sure to @munidiaries and show us what you saw.

And this just in: Our dear friend Secession Art and Design is having a big sale this weekend, which includes New Skool’s Muni Diaries shirts and onesies. So if you want to nab one brick-and-mortar style, make your way to Secession by Sunday.

Enjoy these photos and your weekend!

Photo by @miglu_miglu

Photo by @bigshop

Photo by @jaime_415

Photo by @psyrad

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Photo Diary: Smoking Kills

eugenia — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:00:59 +0000

Found this on Instagram. Who carries a baggie full of cigarette butts on the bus?

Just when you think you’ve seen everything.

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Recap: Muni Diaries Live, Full House!

eugenia — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:45:38 +0000

Photo by Kevin Wong

You packed the Elbo Room on Saturday night to hear some live, true Muni tales, and our storytellers did not disappoint. There were many priceless moments (like this hilarious shot of funnywoman Caitlin Gill). Let’s recount them.

All of these awesome Muni Diaries Live photos here are by Kevin Wong.

Pinched Nerve kicked off the show with a song with a chorus that we all know too well: “Back Door, Step Down!” Killer fishnets too.

Writer Jan Richman told a tale of testifying in “Muni court” with a mangled hand.

Lots of us from the Bay Area hear his voice every morning, so it was a surreal treat to have KTVU traffic reporter Sal Castaneda in the house.

Comedian Caitlin Gill had us in stitches. If your reflexive response to any crisis on Muni is to take out your ear buds and close your book (with your finger still on the page you were reading), you are not alone.

As usual, we encourage three brave audience members to come up on stage and share their own Muni stories. Our great prizes from Timbuk2, Tacolicious, and SFLocal.net served as encouragement.

Muni Diaries is nothing without your tales, and these brave audience members — Kristina, Shawn, and Jesse — brought their A game. I love the conspiratorial look on Shawn’s face.

Jesse, who you might remember from the last show, took home the first-place honor.

Glynn Washington, executive producer of NPR’s Snap Judgment, gave everyone a lot of food for thought when he was confronted with a mugging on his commute.

When a “smelly tramp” gave Chloe Veltman a smelly kiss “in the carriage” (oh Brits!), she did the only logical thing: write a five-part madrigal to sing at Muni Diaries Live. Chloe led the song, performed by Nick Weininger, Matt Scherb, Meredith Landis and Rebecca Schonberg. Nice neckware too!

We closed the show with Stephen Elliott, who you may know as the author of The Adderall Diaries and editor of The Rumpus. He dug out a couple of pages from his journal to share with the Muni Diaries Live crowd.

We were overwhelmed by the amazing turnout at the Elbo Room Saturday night — our apologies if you were stuck in line downstairs or fighting your way to the bar. But it was amazing to see that Muni rides can bring so many people together to share a drink, commiserate, and laugh at the absurdities of urban life.

Thank you to all our storytellers and to everyone who came out to enjoy this evening with us. Until the next show, keep the stories coming!

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