I Dream of Muni: Fantasy Fare Inspector

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OMG, shoes
Photo by Flickr user WarzauWynn

Muni worked its way into the subconscious mind of Andrea of Hula Sunset. Also starring in this episode are Hubby, fare inspector, and Mom. Why does Mom always show up at the most inopportune places in dreams?

Hubby and I were going to catch the F-Market from our house to go to work. We got to the platform and I realized that my Fast Pass wasn’t in the little pocket of my purse where I usually keep it. It was in the jacket pocket, and of course I had left that jacket at home. Being that we’re way too poor to pay a fine should a POP officer request to see our POP, we decided to not take the train to work, but rather take the train home.

While we’re on the train two things happen. 1) my mom is on the train 2 seats ahead of us, notices us and gets all mad that we didn’t ride the train with her in the first place, and 2) we realize how stupid we are riding the train because we don’t have POP and it doesn’t matter that we’re going home to get my Fast Pass instead of going to work.

Sure enough, the fare inspectors get on the train. When they get to Hubby and me I explain to the nice POP lady what happened, and thank her for not being my least favorite fare inspector who I’m sure is out to get me, and I ask her where my favorite fare inspector is, y’know, the really large friendly lesbian with a crew cut — tough but friendly and fair. She smiles and walks away.

No ticket for me. Thanks dream-inspector.

Hubby and I get off the train and I don’t remember anything else except for a weird stairway, some kids playing lemonade checkers, and my mom giving me crap again for not riding the bus with her.

Yup, we dig Muni dreams. I’m still waiting to dream the one where Lou from Hot Tub Time Machine and I ride the 38 to save the world, whacking zombies with golf clubs along the way. Come on, REM sleep, you can do it!

Category: diaries, reflection Tags:

Three guesses on this ‘Day in the Life’

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Three guesses on how the above picture represents a “day in the life on Muni.”

Ok, go!

A closeup of the sweater on the passenger next to you?

Nope.

A piece of fuzz found hanging from the fare box?

Still no.

Nothing?

Head over to Burrito Justice to find out how the fantastic Eric Fischer created these maps from NextBus data. This makes the frequent long waits for Muni almost … poetic, no?

Category: diaries, Photos

Muni Book Club Chapter 1, N-Judah

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Riders James, Katie, and their friends started a really cool site called Between the Lines to document who’s reading what on public transit in our literary city. Here’s what they spotted this weekend on the N-Judah. Maybe you’ll see James and Katie soon on your line so you can share your discerning book choices.

After judging a book by its very intriguing cover from a few seats over on the N-Judah, Between the Lines had the pleasure of briefly chatting with Grace Foster about her chosen Muni tome, The Second Happiest Day. When she warned us that it was a rather obscure book, we were hooked.

How’d you find this book?

Grace said that she had first heard of the book through a review in either the San Francisco Chronicle or the New Yorker, and that she borrowed the book from the Oakland Public Library. She also told us that the author, John Phillips, was actually writing under a nom de plume. His real name was John Phillips Marquand, Jr., (a previous reader of this particular book thought it was important to pencil in). He was the son of the famous John Phillips Marquand (whom your author had never heard of).

Should we read this on our commute, too?

Grace said that she generally liked the novel, which was written at some point in the 1950s and involved the lives of upper-class characters. She said it was “typical of a forgotten genre,” and was a rather obscure work.

Turns out Grace was right. According to this Washington Post report, it is out of print and “long ago disappeared into the remotest shelves of the secondhand bookstores.” Good find, Grace, and thanks for chatting!

Does it seem like everyone is reading the same thing on your bus? Have a better idea of what they should be reading? Share it with your fellow riders.

Category: diaries, reflection Tags:

Meet the Artist for New Public Art for Church and Duboce

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There’s going to be some new art and seating areas along the N-Judah line as a part of the Church and Duboce Streetscape Improvement Project. Wanna know what the new seating area will look like on Church and Duboce, and meet the artist who will create the sculpture there? Primitivo Suarez-Wolfe will be at the Harvey Milk Recreation Center tomorrow evening:

The Arts Commission recently approved artist Primitivo Suarez-Wolfe’s conceptual proposal for a series of new public artworks that will be implemented in conjunction with the Church and Duboce Streetscape Improvement Project. Inspired by the surrounding architecture and the history of the neighborhood, Primitivo proposed to create a series of steel chairs that, in addition to creating a distinct identity for the intersection, will provide much needed seating for the area. The artist will also design a vertical sculpture for the corner of Church and Market that will serve as a gateway feature for the neighborhood. This is your chance to meet with the artist and engage in a dialogue about his artwork concepts before he develops the designs for presentation to the Arts Commission.

More details

WHEN: Thursday, April 15, 2010, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Get there by Muni: N, 71, 6, 24, 22
WHERE: Harvey Milk Recreation Center, 50 Scott Street (at Duboce Avenue), Downstairs Exhibit Room

The artist’s proposal (PDF) mentions salvaging and reusing Muni tracks — melting tracks that were slated to be demolished and recasting chairs out of them. Suarez-Wolfe wrote that “the chairs themselves will be cast replicas of domestic seating from local cultures and contexts. To me, this begins to connote the shared diversity and character of the Church and Duboce community.” I’d be interested to see how this turns out in real life.

Thanks, funcheapsf.

Category: News Tags: ,

Saving Muni From Itself

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Ignoring The Space Between Windows
Photo by eviloars

Finally.

SF Weekly’s cover story this week is a bajillion-word feature that finally does the myriad ills affecting Muni some justice. We won’t spill too many words here, so as to save your retinas. But please, if you ride and/or care about the future of public transit in your city, read this article.

The feature comes on the heels of the Board of Supervisors yesterday rejecting a motion to strike next month’s 10 percent service cuts (via Streetsblog SF) based on violations of state environmental regulations. And, for what it’s worth, Matier and Ross blame the operators union (exactly the kind of finger-pointing and blame-gaming the SF Weekly article disparages … the problems with Muni are as complex as navigating SF streets in a 40-foot articulated, you guys).

(We apologize for yet another interruption from our regular, storytelling programming. We feel this to be important enough. Plus, we’ll be back shortly with more wild tales of life aboard the mobile circus that is Muni.)

Category: News
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