Your place to share stories on and off the bus.
So how does a little culture clash between tough-as-nails Chicago and nice-as-pie San Francisco go down on Muni? Zore told us all about it at the the Muni Diaries Story Tent at Secession Art and Design last Friday. Check out another story we got that night and the wacky Muni Mad-Libs from the Outbound show.
A gang of thieves has been running a three-cup shuffle game to strong-arm Muni passengers of their money. Sound familiar? The reports just keep coming in. Back in March, rider Adam sent us an account of the shell game con he saw the 24. A few weeks later we got a video of the con. Last night, ABC7 aired another video of the shell game in action.
The scam itself isn’t new, but the intimidation factor and targeting non-touristy bus lines make this seem more menacing than before.
A rider wrote us after seeing the segment and told us she’s seen this game before. You won’t believe when she first witnessed this, though.
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Ahem, is this thing on?
“A brown liquid was found on Muni line 46 today. Passengers were throwing up when the discovery was made, making this the most amazing bus line in the city today.”
Don’t worry, it’s not true. This is just one of the Muni Mab Libs submitted at the Muni Diaries Story Tent at Outbound, hosted by us and Secession Art and Design on Friday night. Secession Art and Design curated an amazing show, featuring the work of Nate1, Eddie, Duerone, and a collection of wearable art. At our Muni Diaries Story Tent just outside of Secession, we heard some hilarious Muni stories like the one that Mary told in the video above, about a war between a boom box and The New Yorker.
We also collected your brilliant Muni Mad-Libs:
“Riding Muni is better than a night on the cornfields with numerous lucky ladies.” – David.
“Riding Muni is like dating a dude who is clueless about your needs and full of surprises, except it’s never the pleasant kind.” – Fabulous R.
“Riding Muni is better than taking a hot jello bath with Jesse Helms on a summer day in North Carolina on mescaline.” – Felix.
Yow!
If you haven’t made it to Secession yet, be sure to check out Nate1’s paintings featuring BART and Muni, Eddie’s large-scale work that you probably recognize from the streets, and Duerone’s handpainted boxcars. Secession also hosts designers of wearable art, including work from Colleen Mauer, Heather Robinson, and Rachel Znerold.
We’ll be airing more of the stories we collected Friday night this week, and watch our Twitter feed for more Muni Mad Libs submissions from the evening.
Art By Nate1
Artist Nate1 is one of the many talented folks who will display their work tonight at Secession Gallery, where we are inviting you to see art, graffiti, and clothing, all inspired by Muni, BART, and our great city. Nate is also the owner and designer of New Skool, a kids’ hip-hop clothing line. He was a part of a wave of graffiti mural art that took the Bay Area by storm in the 1980s. To get you warmed up for tonight, I asked Nate to share a little about how he got started and why Muni and San Francisco feature so prominently in his work.
How did you get started in art?
I got my start in design and art through graffiti art as the co-founder of the legendary Master Piece Creators Crew in SF/DC. As a father, business owner, and artist, I try to use my experience with graffiti art to pass on tradition and show young and old what graffiti has contributed to today’s society via art and design and more importantly the mentorship process.
Why graffiti?
I got into graffiti art through hip-hop culture in the 1980s. I always drew as a kid, but not until I was fully aware of the graffiti scene here in the Bay did I really spend a lot of time drawing. The Bay Area graffiti scene was pioneered in the early ’80s by teenagers and I am proud to be one of them.
Muni is in a lot of the SF scenes in your work — why?
When I was a beginner or toy in the scene, like ’85, ’86, I can remember a lot of my peers scrawling their names on the inside of the Muni after school. The tag or signature of the graffiti writer is the bare essence of graffiti, and my mentor, Omen2, was definitely one of those kids that bus-hopped and left his name on the bus. From this, the art form progressed to more elaborate art pieces or murals, and so the seed was planted.
What else about San Francisco inspires you?
San Francisco is such a great city to do what I do. I own a kids’ clothing line and sell art pieces and freelance a little bit. That sounds ridiculous even to me! But in San Francisco this can definitely be considered a feasible formula to make a living. With two kids, 7 and 4, I have all the inspiration I need. Hip-hop music also definitely plays a part in my creation/production process. Lyrics of good MCs like KRSONE or Rakim used to be written on our large graffiti murals to narrate the message we were portraying.
Come see Nate1, Eddie, Duerone, and a great group of artists at Secession tonight. Come prepared with a short Muni tale and you can share it in our story tent. We’ll have our handy Flip there to record your story, to be published later on Muni Diaries!
Outbound at Secession Art and Design
Tonight, Friday, June 11, 6:30 p.m.
3361 Mission St (across from 30th St Safeway)
http://www.secessionsf.com/
Muni routes: 14, 49, J, 27, 24, 48, 67
BART: 24th Street Station
Rider Eric W. shares his story of why he’s extremely thankful to Muni for being an excellent matchmaker.
It’s spring 2001. It just rained like hell the night before and I’m late for work.. as usual. I grab the 1-California from Nob Hill to Fillmore, where I catch the 22 to the Marina.. that’s where I’m working; just behind the Marina Safeway. The busses are filled with cranky, wet, smelly people. I’ve just finished a slew of relationships, and have finally reached the conclusion that I’m just not the type to have a “steady.”
I’m a musician and an audio engineer. My work, my life, my schedule (for christ’s sake!) is loopy. I am what I am, and it just doesn’t seem to jive with anybody else. It took a while, but I’m just now feeling OK with it. You know the feeling… SO!
I’m standing on Fillmore at Sac, surrounded by numerous Chinese shoppers on their way back to the Richmond (I say that because I’m over 6 feet…. let’s just say that I’m sticking out) when the 22 arrives… finally. I get on… finally… and see the most amazingly beautiful woman ever… in… my… life!
Well, did I forget to mention how late I was? No shower, no coffee… not my best impression. All the lilliputians enter into the bus, there are seats in the back, but, I decide to stand next to her. I’m not thinking clearly yet… so I got nothin’. Big zero. I’m standing there on the lurch-and-puke that is the 1-California, and the woman sitting next to Her gets off…. then – she looks up at me and moves to the inside chair… holy #h&*! What to do?!?!
So I sit next to her… “sit next to her idiot!” I tell myself. Well, I don’t want to seem like a fool so I hold my paper out in front of me (turns out that it was upside down). I can’t stop staring at her hands.. they are long and sleek, so beautiful.. plus I can’t just stare directly at her, that would be rude.
No, I haven’t said a word yet.
So the bus goes down the hill and prepares to turn right onto Union, SHE shuffles her stuff and I think she’s going to get off at the corner, so I stand up all gentleman-y (I’m getting stupider and stupider) and she gets off the bus.
NOW…. in my head is a conversation, more of a scolding really, “you idiot! You didn’t even say hello! Say something! Who cares if she laughs at you, at least you’ll be able to look yourself in the mirror and know that you tried!” Good point. Of course by now she’s left the bus.
So I stay standing, watching her. Yea… here’s my plan…. see which store she goes into, then come back over lunch and “just” happen to go into the same store… brilliant! (Idiot)
But then something happens. As the bus is progressing along Union she looks back at me… and sees me staring at her…. then I see her laugh to herself! She saw me! She wasn’t creeped out! Holy s#*t! OK OK. Here’s my plan. I sometimes get off at the corner, by the Coffee Roastery, and get coffee… ahhhh coffee.. did I mention? Hadn’t had any yet. SO! I’ll get off and get coffee, then just “happen” to come out at just the time she walks by and…. Perfect plan. (Idiot)
Well, others seem to have not had their daily dose yet. The line is too long… this is taking too long! I’m looking out the window to she if she’s coming, then she comes into the Roastery! Damn! Now what?! (Idiot)
So my new plan (Idiot) is to take a long time putting cream into my coffee aaaaannnnd… she gets hers and is there at the cream and sugar station in a flash. (Damn!)
So in my head is a conversation… “Just say something you moron! What’s the worst that could happen? Your life already sucks!” Good point.
So in my best cool-as-Steve McQueen-manner I say “Hello. I saw you on the bus, and I don’t usually do things like this, but I just thought… would you like to have coffee some time?”
Yes.
We are both standing there.
With coffee in our hands.
That was my best line.
(Idiot!)
Luckily for me, she thought I was funny and charming enough to give me her phone number…. (oh wait it gets better) BUT… I had just purchased a brand new Palm pilot. The first generation. Didn’t know how to use it yet. Had no pen or pencil. Yea…. (Idiot!) She uses a pen of her own and writes her number down on a napkin (God I feel like a moron right now) and agrees.
Well, do I wait the requisite 3 days (or whatever the f#c&), no! I had concert tickets for that weekend, (don’t remember what show). So I call her that evening… and the next day…. and the next day…. and the next day… (Idiot!) I say to myself I’ll try one more time, if she doesn’t return my call, at least I’ll be able to look myself in the mirror and know that I tried.
—–MORE TO THE STORY—–
Well, we finally connected and eventually got married! But here’s the funny. The day in the Roastery. She had just gotten a new cell phone. Didn’t know how to retrieve messages. Actually, didn’t even know that there were messages to be retrieved, as she hadn’t read the manual. So, one of my calls woke her up one afternoon and sent her on a frenzy to find the manual. New technology is not always the answer, as it turns out. Anyway… she is wonderful, and found my clumsiness charming enough to give me a chance and now we are going on 9 years…. I never thought I’d say this, but, thank you Muni.
Photo by Brian Brooks
Photographer Brian Brooks has been a regular contributor to Muni Diaries almost since the beginning. We love his black and white photos like this glimmering F car we featured in a weekend photo post. We caught up with him to talk about what inspires him to photograph public transit.
How did you get into photography?
I’m a transplant(circa 1994) from New Jersey and loved photography from an early age. My first job was at a 1-hour lab. A great way to learn about photography is through trial and error, working a lab where resources are unlimited is very helpful. I’m mostly self-taught with a few college classes here and there. I shoot about 40 percent analog and 60 percent digital.
What is it about Muni that inspires you to take photos there?
It’s where most San Franciscans can be seen. It’s also great because people are standing still, which gives you more time to focus on them. One of the most memorable moments was when a fare inspector ripped a transfer from my wife’s hand and I shot a photo of the interaction. It had expired while waiting on the platform for a late train.
How do you get a good picture on the bus?
I almost never ask people if I can take their photograph.) The few times I’ve asked while riding Muni they’ve always said, “No.” I can still see those photographs in my head. If you’re in the public space, you’re fair game.
What’s your line?
I’m more of a train person so the N-Judah is my line. Every time I ride Muni I can tell a story about it.
Check out more of Brian’s Muni photos on Flickr. Got Muni photos yourself? Join our Muni Photos Flickr pool.