The San Francisco Citizen

Things were a little hateful around the area of 606 Sanchez Street in San Francisco a few days back when people could see a large, fuchsia “F*CK MORMONS” banner from all around. While some caution against starting a holy war, others aren’t as circumspect.

The whole affair is still the talk of the town.

Click to expand:

via Daniel R (MisterDarcy)’s photostream

But lo, the offending message got taken down lickedy-split post-haste, even on a quasi holiday. Here’s the same scene from this afternoon: 

See? The houseboat house is now message-free. Credit for getting the sign down might go to Michael Thomas, a blogfather who seems to have a lot of pull in the area.

[UPDATE: Joe Vazquez burns the shoe leather and basically confirms the above here, but he also garners a flurry of quotes from the engineer in question.]

On to new bidness, the next big rally. They’re calling it the Million Gay March, or something. It should be under sunny skies, regardless.

No on Prop 8 Rally
When: November 15, 2008 - Saturday, 10:30 a.m.
Where: City Hall, San Francisco
What: Protest against Prop 8

This was the scene yesterday in the Western Addition, where hundreds of protesters blocked traffic in front of the Chinese Consulate. Drivers on the Geary Expressway, already wary of dangerous all-electric supercars, should experience a similar gauntlet today.

And then the action heads over to the East Bay.

This was yesterday’s schedule from Team Tibet SF:

In San Francisco
11:30-12:00 PRESS CONFERENCE
12:00-1:30 Peace Rally, Concert at Union Square
March to City hall
2:00-2:30 Rally at City Hall
March to Chinese Consulate
3:30-4:30 Protest at Chinese Consulate
4:30-5:15 Walk back to Union Sqaure
5:15-7:00pm Break. Food and Beverages provided by SF TEAM TIBET
7:00-9:00pm Candle Light Vigil w/ Cultural Show at Union Square

Here is today’s

August 24

12:00-3:00pm Protest at the Chinese Consulate

Evening event at Finnish Brotherhood Church in Berkeley on University Ave and cross
street at Chestnut Ave.

Program: 6:00-10:00pm Dinner, Annual Report, Film, Short Presentation

It sure looks steep. But what about this:

22nd Street in San Francisco, California is one of the steepest streets in the world. Between its intersections with Church and Vicksburg Streets in the Noe Valley neighborhood, it has a maximum gradient of 1:3.226, or 31%, the same as Filbert Street in San Francisco.

But these two blocks can’t be exactly the same, steepnesswise, right?

Filbert betwixt Hyde and Leavenworth. Click to expand:

Perhaps Adam, Jamie, Kari, Grant, or Tory, the Mythbusters of the Discovery Channel, could investigate the simplest or cheapest way to see which street has the steepest grade, and then test things out? Some people should put their lives on hold until this important issue gets resolved.  

The Steepest Streets in the City

1. Filbert between Leavenworth and Hyde (31.5% grade)
2. 22nd Street between Church and Vicksburg (31.5% grade)
3. Jones between Union and Filbert (29% grade)
4. Duboce between Buena Vista and Alpine (27.9% grade)
5. Jones between Green and Union (26% grade)
6. Webster between Vallejo and Broadway 26% grade)
7. Duboce between Alpine and Divisadero (25% grade)
8. Jones between Pine and California (24.8 grade)
9. Fillmore between Vallejo and Broadway (24% grade)

The driver of this white car recently double-parked on the streets of San Francisco. But that’s nothing new, right?

San Francisco turns a blind eye to double parking around churches - it’s an “unwritten rule” that you are safe from ticketing in certain areas at certain times. Like Sunday mornings in the Western Addition, say.

The problem is that leaving a car there for an hour or two created a dangerous situation for pedestrians. Bad form. The driver of the red car wasn’t parking - he mistakenly thought the white car was just waiting at the stop sign for a few seconds. So after a while, he backed up and then went around. It’s easier to deal with double parked cars when they sit in the middle of the block.

As an alternative, why not double park at least a car’s length or two away from the crosswalk? That would make things better and safer for everybody. Just saying.