Muni Shell Game in the News, Again

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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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Category: diaries, News Tags: ,

Can I Ruffle the Feathers on Your Sweater?

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Oreo Posing in his St. Patricks Day Sweater
Photo by Flickr user sheepguardingllama

Last Friday, I was riding the 12 home after work from SOMA to the Mission. I was staring off into space when the man sitting next to me said, “Excuse me?” I looked up, thinking he might be looking for directions or have some sort of question.

“I don’t know if you know this, but you have feathers or fuzz all over your dress — on the back, and sleeve…”

I looked at my sleeve. It was true. The combination of black dress and fuzzy sweater meant that there was weird linty fuzz all over me.

“Oh yeah, there is. Thanks for letting me know,” I replied.

“Do you want me to wipe it off of you?” He asked me.

The thought of this mild-mannered but still very creepy man touching me in any way was not appealing, so I told him it was fine and that I was heading home soon anyway.

“Well,” he said. “So what’s your sweater made out of?”

Really not wanting to engage any further, I looked at the tag of my cardigan.

“Uh… looks like viscose, cotton and angora,” I read off.

He smiled at me, and I went back to staring out the window. About four stops later, he got off.

I don’t mind making conversation on the bus, but here’s a pro tip: asking other riders if you can touch them — probably not a good idea.

Category: diaries, Funny: Muni LOLs Tags: ,

Boom Box vs The New Yorker, From Our Story Tent

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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.

Category: diaries, Funny: Muni LOLs, WTF: Weirdness on Muni Tags: , ,

Weekend Photos: Stand behind the yellow line

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Stay behind the yellow line.
Photo by rkallerud

Are the rains finally over? This weekend sure is shaping up to be a wildly un-S.F. one, weather-wise. Enjoy, and don’t bake yourselves too much (take that to mean what you will). Also don’t forget to come see and/or buy Muni and BART art tonight at Secession. Come prepared to share Muni stories in our storytelling tent, too. Next stop, fun town.

Here’s the week’s Muni news to tickle your brain:

– Fire truck, Muni bus clip each other’s mirrors (SF Examiner)
– Parking Tax Revenue Measure for Muni Makes Its Way to Supervisors (Streetsblog SF)
– October 2010 to see the last paper Fast Pass (Muni Diaries)
– Muni operators set to vote on concessions deal (City Insider/SFGate)
– Treasure Island may get new Muni line (SF Examiner)
– Alledged Bus Tagger Busted at 24th Street BART Station (Mission Local)
– List of artists for Central Subway project whittled down (SF Examiner, via SF Appeal)

Enjoy, and we’ll see you Monday. xoxo

14-Mission
Photo by Brandon Doran

Antique Electric Bus/Train
Photo by prayitno

Fine, Let's Take The Bus
Photo by Troy Holden

DSC_0417a
Photo by mr.skeleton

Category: News
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