‘Wave Shelters Do Not Shelter!’ 12.07.11
Wave shelters do not shelter! Let’s all get wet!
The new Muni shelters may not protect you from the rain, but they may protect you from small fire arms. Useful? Let’s hope not.
Impromptu U2 Medley Aboard the 49-Van Ness 11.03.11
Photo by Brian Brooks
I thought it might be Omer, the infamous Mission District sidewalk “musician.” After seeing a photo of Omer, Mozart thought it could be him. What do you think? I’ve never seen Omer on Muni, but it seems like he’d draw a lot of attention on it.
Are you in this Muni music video? 10.25.11
Watch the video for a party on the 49 that really gets rolling at 2:04. Think the partiers are Pinched Nerve friends or lucky passengers on their way to YouTube Vimeo stardom? You tell me.
Hat Tip: Bernalwood, home of the best local blog masthead ever.
Violated on Muni 09.21.11
Photo by julesreyes
“I was sitting on the single seats on the 8X and a man got on the bus and held the pole next to my seat…the bus makes a small turn and the man leans toward me and brushes my arm with his hand. I mean this might be understandable if it was a wide turn and if we were going pretty fast, but the bus was not. The 8X is typically a crowded bus and as a non-confrontational person, I didn’t accuse him of anything just yet. So after that I turned my head in his direction and he was staring down at me.
He was a middle age bald man with a big gut wearing a blue polo shirt. He didn’t touch me again till the next small turn. He was clearly exaggerating the impact of the turn. I was fed up with this pervert. You may think I am over-reacting to this someone touching my arm on the bus, well this is not the worst I’ve experience or seen.
I’ve talked to people about this happening and they tell me not to start anything with the guy for my own safety in case he has a weapon or might follow me home. This infuriates me that I can’t do anything about it.”
Personal spaces might be tighter on the bus but that’s no excuse if this man is brushing against Stella on purpose.
Over the weekend I was on a fairly empty 49-Van Ness and a guy decided to sit next to me and promptly “fall asleep,” resting his arm on my hips several times. At first I wasn’t completely sure that he was doing this on purpose, but after the fourth time I had enough and got up to get to the next seat. Like Stella, I found it infuriating and frustrating.
I’ve read that in other countries there are women-only passenger cars just to prevent groping. Not that groping is limited to female victims alone.
Ladies (and gents), weigh in: Has this happened to you? If so, how do you deal with it?
Pillow Talk on the 49-Van Ness 08.18.11
Photo by juicyrai
Sometimes Muni seems like San Francisco’s living room.
I settled into a seat and the man next to me, a large scruffy older guy carrying a box of Chinese leftovers, pointed to the couple and said, “Hey, what are those?” “Pillows,” the girl said. “How much are they?” the big guy asked. The girl, a little uncomfortable already, said, “Oh we got them on sale.”
Where? The big guy wanted to know. The boyfriend tried to fend off all the questions about these shiny new pillows, but the big guy really wanted to know everything about them. “Well I hope they are comfortable. You guys look like newlyweds and you’ll probably be testing them out a lot! It’s like buying a new car, you gotta test the ride, you know what I mean?!” The people around him laughed and the big guy launched into a different conversation with another guy about cars as we passed by the car dealerships on Van Ness.
The young couple seemed relieved that the attention was off of them. By this time a new crop of passengers got onto the bus and I heard one of them say, “Hey, what’s in those boxes? Pillows? Where’d you buy those?”
A whole new thread of conversation about foam pillows was being started among the new strangers in the front of the bus. The big guy was still deep in his car conversation and I thought, Hey, this is San Francisco’s living room.
Muni has yet to smell like Teen Spirit 07.20.11
Photo by Flickr user jen_maiser
A couple weeks ago, rider Martha told us about a 49-Van Ness that smelled like basil, which was noteworthy because the 49 never smells like something you’d want to eat.
“Muni smells like…” actually shows up a lot on the @munidiaries Twitter feed. Here are our recent favorites.
Yummy
@jessicasuzette: #Muni smelled like strawberries, somebody went to #farmersmarket love clean trains.
Could go either way
@WillieFDiazSF: Someone on this Muni bus smells like Hot Dog juice. Makes me wanna have a BBQ.
@jdaisy: this LTaraval smells like fish AND chips.
The Bad
@cache_theory: the smells of the #sfmuni…urine & moth balls
@RGreenberg: Guy just got on #muni smelling like week-old pants, and fertilizer.
The Optimistic
@fsquared: This bus smells like pancakes and syrup. #wishfulthinking #muni
We’re constantly impressed by your creativity and the, um, evocative descriptions you send. So keep ‘em comin’!
Best smelling 49 ever! 07.05.11
Photo by Jasmine&Roses
I took the 49 home straight from the market with a big bunch of fresh basil and the whole bus smelled like basil!!! It was the best smelling bus ever! I think I’ll always buy fresh herbs if Muni will always smell this good!
Other 49-Van Ness passengers with a sense of smell haven’t been so fortunate. To whit:
Swishy River on the 49
Did you see this Muni incident this afternoon? 06.23.11
Reader Karl snapped this pic from his apartment today around 2:30 p.m. He says:
“Ellis was completely blocked the entire time. Looks like both cars were totaled…saw someone being carried from the bus on a stretcher. The lady in the black car was sitting in the driver side until paramedics arrived, but she didn’t appear to be too badly hurt…I didn’t see much outside of the aftermath.”
Did you see this incident? It looks like a 49, and Karl says it took more than an hour to clean up the scene. Send us more info if you’ve got it, and let us know here or @munidiaries on Twitter if things are wonky on Van Ness.
It is certainly not a good day for Muni vs. Other Object, so we’re hoping everyone involved is OK.
Ballad for the quarante-neuf-Van Ness 06.08.11
49 Van Ness from Jon Reyes on Vimeo.
Though I sadly couldn’t get a photo of that one, we at least have this: more French stuff on a Van Ness line.
I take 47s and 49s — pardon, les quarante-septs et les quarante-neufs — all the time and it’s always a treat when I come up on such students. It helps me think dreamily of Paris instead of the yelling guy who shows up on the 47 in the early evenings.
This rules.
Thx: @stankpalmer
Take Muni to the Rapture 03.09.11
At least that’s what some pamphleteers have in mind. As seen on the 49 by Muni rider Charles. Click image to embiggen.
Like Sex, Love, Lust … Muni? Click 
Ride Muni like a boss. Our Fast Pass Clipper card holders and Muni Diaries T-shirts are all on sale 
