Strangest PSA Video Featuring BART

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!

Weekend Photos: Muni Lowrider


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

E-Embarcadero Inches Closer to Reality

Muni is ready to resume testing its fabled E-Embarcadero route all the way down to Caltrain, as the city gets transit-ready for America’s Cup next year.

SFGate mentioned plans to get the resurrected streetcar route up and running in time for the 2013 event. But now SF State student journalists have confirmed plans for SFMTA to begin testing on the E this summer.

SFMTA confirmed the reports.

There’s no word yet where the stops will be. (For stop information, see Rick’s comment, below) According to Golden Gate Xpress News, an estimated $20-30 million will be spent on various transit projects to get the waterfront ready for throngs of boat-racing enthusiasts. Let’s hope it’s a win-win for visitors and locals alike.

Check out the Golden Gate Xpress for more.

Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All About You(r Muni neighbor)

Jesse was recently, well, bemused on Muni. Here’s why.

I got up to ask the Muni driver if he thought the bus was going to make it to upper Market since the street looked like it was blocked off up ahead. As I was doing this, the crazy guy boarded the bus (an F Bus, btw, since there was something wrong with the streetcars) and started answering my question with “yes, yes, we’ll make it to Church St.,” which in hindsight is somewhat interesting because Church was my destination. Crazy guy and I both went to sit in the sideways seats at the front of the bus. I noticed there were two quarters on his seat just as he sat down on them.

I said to him, “Hey man, you just made 50 cents,” as I pointed to the quarters. Without looking at them, he reached back and grabbed them from practically under his ass and held them in his tightly closed fist. He said “Here, I can tell you the dates on them.” Then he seemed to concentrate for a second, and said “1977…1995.” He opened his hand and we looked. He was right on both accounts. “I can always predict dates on coins,” he explained. That was just the beginning.

Other topics of conversation covered:

  • His Superior Court murder case was dismissed.
  • He is turning 41 next week.
  • Everyone has transistor radios.
  • Fuck his dad.
  • His family is trying to kill him.
  • He can predict the date on coins. (see above)
  • His mom died at 57.
  • This is his first day without heroin or methadone.
  • He only wears Element shoes but doesn’t skate anymore.
  • Fuck his dad for ducking him for his whole life.
  • This city is pissing him off.
  • His last name rhymes with Bolinas.
  • The guy sitting across from us might be his dad.
  • He’s got to leave this city before he kills someone again.
  • His family is everywhere, even in City Hall.
  • Theres photography studios everywhere, and that’s how he knows how to find his dad.
  • He can tell that he and I are on the same wavelength.
  • Oh, and fuck his dad.

There’s a little something for everyone in that story, we think. What’s your Muni story?

K, L, and M Muni Metro lines to West Portal are down (updates)

Final update (7:25 a.m., next day): SF Appeal reports that Muni Metro is running again following repairs overnight.

Update (9:36 p.m.): SFGate now reports that crews will work throughout the night to restore power to the damaged lines. SFMTA spokespeople hope to have service running before the morning commute.

Update (5:57 p.m.): SF Appeal reports that a semi brought down the wires that are causing the delay. According to 511.org, the delay persists as of now.

Original post: SFGate has the story.

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