Category: diaries

Those strange voices we all know

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Coming and going
Photo by Flickr user Ric e Ette

The following was sent to us by BART rider Jean

i’m on the bart every so often when i don’t drive to work. i don’t mind riding the trains, but it’s the waiting in the stations that gets me. half the time there’s no where to sit and i know it’s silly, but i just can’t read while standing up. so i just stand around and listen to the bart announcements. “ten car train for richmond in four minutes. eight car daly city train in ten minutes.” and it’s always weird for me to hear the automated announcements because i’m thinking about the man and the woman who have recorded them.

did they record each piece separately and then some computer strings them together? for instance, the guy records, “ten car train for” and then “richmond in” and then “four,” “ten,” “one,” etc. or did they think of every possible train length/destination/time combo and have the guy recite each one? Read more

Category: BART, reflection

Photo Gallery: Reading on Muni

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Heather at Flickr took this great photoset that combines everything I love: public transit, books, and a little voyeuristic view of what people are reading. From her photo set I spotted the Chronicle comic pages, the Examiner, a book called Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, and another called Fresh Air Fiend (by Paul Theroux, the internet said).

You can also find kids reading a big colorful alphabet book, a biology text book (fish!), a book in Russian, and even a few shots of Chinese newspapers. I am really curious about this awesomely illustrated book and this tiny, worn-out leather-bound book.

On my commute, I’m still working through the second half of Haruki Murakami’s The Windup Bird Chronicle and Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet. Anybody got more book recs for commuting on the bus? Check out Heather’s slideshow above, revel in how many people still like to read, and see if you spot any more books you recognize.

Category: diaries, Photos

MJ Sighting: Take 2

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MJ2
Photo by John Heroux

Last week on Muni Diaries, @anthologie posted a photo of a dancer at the 24th Street Station. A guy rockin’ out to PYT, according to her tweets.

We went ahead and added that post to the mix here at the nascent BART Diaries.

And now we have a second sighting of what looks to be the same groovy dude, this time at Glen Park. This photo comes from BART rider John Heroux. Thanks, John!

If you’ve got some awesome BART sightings, write us or send us photos: bartdiaries@gmail.com.

Category: BART, diaries, Photos Tags:

Photo Diary: 71-Haight: 77 Minutes

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71-Haight: 77 Minutes
Photo by Flickr user andy54321

There’s something about the number 7 that I’ve always liked. Maybe NextBus likes it, too. The photog notes:

Probably a NextBus error, the 77-minute wait soon shifted to 12-minutes. But the ad, which I think was for something Muni-related*, promises “extra time in your day.” Haight & Fillmore outbound.

* the ad is actually for 511.org

If you’ve got Muni stories, we wanna hear it! If you’ve got Muni photos, add them to the Muni Photos Flickr group.

Category: diaries, Funny: Muni LOLs, Photos Tags:

Say It Three Times and Your Wish Will Come True

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bartgraf

BART rider Felipe sent in a picture he took at the Rockridge BART station a few weekends ago:

I took this picture sometime during the July 18-19 weekend. It was at the Rockridge BART Station on a bench near the loading/pickup area. Nothing huge, but it appealed to my sophomoric sense of humor…

Hmm sophomoric humor? Felipe,  you have no idea, but you’ve sent the photo to just the right place!

Category: BART, diaries, Funny: Muni LOLs, Photos Tags:

Summer Ballet Season on Muni

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As Light as Air
Photo by Flickr user aussiegall

San Francisco is lucky to have two great ballet companies right here in the city:  The San Francisco Ballet and Alonzo King’s Lines Ballet. However, along with these formidable dance institutions comes summer dance camp. You know it’s summer in the city when the teeny tiny little 14 year olds arrive on the #5 Fulton.

Every summer they arrive after the 4th of July and stay for a few weeks. The girls (and occasional boy) all stay at the vacant dorms at USF, but the ballet companies are all near the Civic Center. So every morning they all get on the bus in the middle of rush hour traffic. The #5 doesn’t get a lot of school kids in the morning so the ballerinas are an unwelcome gaggle of chatterboxes for the morning commuters.

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Category: diaries, reflection Tags:
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