Posts Tagged ‘haight’

Hurray! The Memphis Minnie’s “Big Pig” Van is Back on the Road, After Being “Destroyed” in a Giants Victory Riot on Haight

Tuesday, May 21st, 2013

Remember when our San Francisco Giants won the World Series the time before last?

It was back in 2010. Good times. I celebrated by climbing on top of the Memphis Minnie’s Barbeque Joint And Smokehouse Ford van parked on the street in the Lower Haight.

There I was, looking fierce bouncing up and down in my little black dress and orange pumps, along with bunch of other people.* We few, we Band of Brothers, we Baseball Furies.

Anyway, as the above link to Haighteration shows, the Big Pig, she got messed up.

But here she is back on the road in 2013, wavy roof panels and all:

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I don’t know, I think this ride is worth more than it would have been without the battle scars from aught-ten.

I think this rig is now a historic artifact worthy of preservation.

Keep on keeping on, Memphis Minnie’s.

*Oh, not really. Actually, after watching on a friend’s big screen (’cause I don’t I have cable ’cause I want the Comcast monopoly to die die die) I had to ride my bike on up to Pac Heights. The city was electric, all over, not just in the Mission and in the Haights.

Where Will YOU Be on 420 Day? In Golden Gate Park or at 420 Day Street in Noe Valley? Plus, an Awesome Vapor Cloud Photo

Friday, April 19th, 2013

Golden Gate Park be getting all crowded these days on annual 420 Day, so why not head on down to Noe Valley and light up at 4:20 PM at 420 Day Street instead?

The neighbors will welcome you interloping potheads with open arms. I’m sure!

Actually, Noe Valley is the locus of NIMBY – it’s filled with asshole millionaire homeowners and concomitant neighbor feuding.

Here it is, 420 Day, or close enough. Check out the comically large Planning Commission NOTICE OF HEARING notice on the front gate and the comically small recycling bin out front. (No black garbage can? A point of pride, I’m sure)

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Oh, here we go, here’s real 420 Day, not too far from the Haight Street McDonalds on Stanyan.

That’s not fog, that’s a cloud of exhaled Mary Jane:

An excellent capture from world-famous Broke-Ass Stuart.

All right, Happy 420 Day 2013!

Not All Google Buses Go To Google! Meet the Mission District Facebook Shuttle, Lost in the Haight

Friday, March 1st, 2013

That’s my guess, that this VanTool #180 had just come from FaceBook Building #16 down in Menlo Park.

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FaceBook itself sucks, of course, but the FaceBook corporate shuttle, well that’s all right by me.

Cyclists Have the Choice of Going North or South over Alamo Heights – Which is Better, McAllister Street or the Wiggle?

Wednesday, February 13th, 2013

If you want to get there and back again from the Panhandle bike path and Mid Market (and beyond), your best choice is McAllister Street.

It’s waaaaaaay better than The Wiggle route.

Why?

Well, why not? McAllister Street (aka the Hastings Cutoff) is shorter and swifter and straighter and safer

Actually, The Wiggle is The Rookie’s Choice, full of part-timers like CW Nevius (oh he just quit cycling in The City, hardly surprising) and fast fixie riders who don’t know any better.

And The Movement prefers the Wiggle, for some unknown reason. But if you just want to get from A to B, then its Market McAllister Divis and eventually Fell for you.

Like this – that’s UC Hastings, your Hastings Cutoff lodestar, there in the background on the left: 

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So you climb a bit more using McAl, like 20 more vertical feet if you add up all the ups and downs, but big whoop.

All right, see you out there on the HC!

Uh, Did a Couple SFPD Officers Get Jumped by Street Kids on Haight Street Dec. 7? Emergency Surgery? Blurred Vision?

Tuesday, December 18th, 2012

Uh, isn’t this sort of big news?

So how come nobody’s talking about it, except for Camden Avery of Uppercasing, The Upper Haight  Blog?

“What happened, according to the SFPD’s Park Station statement, was that at shortly after 11 PM Friday night, two uniformed officers in a cruiser stopped in the street to investigate a man lying down in the road. When they approached, he jumped up and punched one of the officers in the head. According to a security guard at Whole Foods, who witnessed the incident, the assailant called for help from a group of street kids nearby.”

Read all about it.

A hippie SFPD cop with “Stealie” clip identifier on his “assault weapon*”

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*As defined by Senator DiFi. (Of course most people would call a run-of-the-mill, police-issue handgun and handgun, but not DiFi.)

Running the Sidewalk Gauntlet in the Upper Haight at Oh Dark Thirty – The Effectiveness of the Sit-Lie Law

Friday, December 14th, 2012

This is Haight near Masonic roundabout 12:30 AM this AM.

Street kids will sit around on the sidewalk until the SFPD comes by, and then everybody will all stand up all at once.

And then the cops will leave and then everybody will sit down again.

This is the new sit-lie law in action:

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The Mysterious Boulders That Have Just Popped in the Golden Gate Park Panhandle

Friday, December 14th, 2012

I think these boulders are telling us that The Solstice is coming soon, or something.

Or maybe the Panhandle Park Stewards have something to do with these new arrivals.

Foreground and background – are these rocks and others nearby going to stay here?

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Oh, by the way, Stewards. People are still kind of pissed about how local real estate interests chased away the harmless Panhandle Bandshell a half-decade back. And, you know, Stewards, you all seem kind of cozy with area realtors (lower-case “r” as always) and homeowners associations. So what I’m saying is that most residents would prefer a muddier Panhandle with the Bandshell than a less muddy Panhandle with whatever it is that you’re spearheading.

Just saying, Bro-ham.

Big Skate: Skateboard Trade Group Attacks Supervisor John Avalos Over His Concerns re: Mountain Dew Tour

Monday, October 22nd, 2012

Hey, remember that whole sit / lie deal in Haight Ashbury? Well, the people behind the sit lie initiative are the same people behind the “San Francisco Skateboarding Association” and this new press release.

Enjoy:

“Skateboard Group Condemns Supervisor for Criticism of Free Civic Center Event

The San Francisco Skateboarding Association had strong words for a San Francisco Supervisor critical of the skateboard and BMX contest held in the Civic Center Plaza this weekend. The event is free and open to the public.

“By publicly condemning the Mountain Dew Tour in their inaugural year in SF, Supervisor John Avalos continued a practice perfected by our parents’ generation of elected leaders: bash skateboarders and deny us access to public spaces in San Francisco,” said Bryan Hornbeck, President of the SF Skateboard Association.

In the mid-80’s San Francisco became the birthplace of a worldwide phenomenon known as “streetstyle” skateboarding, where skaters utilize man made structures to express themselves* in ways no architect ever imagined. The Dew Tour brings professional athletes from around the world to compete in a world-class skatepark. Local riders also get to participate. On Sunday, the skatepark will be open to the public for a community skate session.

San Francisco is also home to Thrasher Magazine, an internationally recognized skateboard publication and several high profile skateboard companies and retail establishments. The Dew Tour at Civic Center is seen as an economic boon to the San Francisco skateboard industry that employs hundreds of people, mostly under the age of 30.

“To us, this is the Super Bowl of skateboarding. Our store has seen a huge amount of traffic for the past two weeks because of the Dew Tour. This helps our business, which in turn helps our employees. Maybe Supervisor Avalos is upset that they took away his parking space in front of City Hall, but it’s a small price to pay for promoting our industry to the world,” said Kent Uyehara, owner of FTC Skateboard Shop on Haight St.

Organizers of the event say that thousands of hotel rooms have been booked for the participants and their families and that the event is being streamed and broadcast on network television to millions worldwide.

The S.F.S.A. seeks to advocate for skateboarders of San Francisco through organized representation and community action. The S.F.S.A. wants to improve the public’s perception of skateboarders through education, information distribution and community outreach with a focus on the creation of public skateboard parks for the youth of our great city. http://sfskateboarding.wordpress.com/”

OK fine.

Oh, what’t this, Central Freeway skate park? Rly? Hey, what about a Central Subway skate park – I’d like to see that.

*Now I’ll tell you, I don’t know if the BOMA people would approve of this…

San Francisco Briefly Freaks Out Over Unannounced Siren Test for the End of Sunday Streets 2012?

Sunday, August 26th, 2012

Looks as if we got our weekly Tuesday Noon Siren Test in early when some of San Francisco’s emergency sirens went off today at 3:45PM to … mark the end of Sunday Streets Chinatown?

Take a look:

The siren signified the end of Sunday Streets this week in Chinatown. We apologize for any concern.”

So more than just the one siren went off and that was the mistake?

Why should our City Family be horsing around with the emergency sirens in the first place?

So we should call them San Francisco’s Emergency/End of Sunday Streets sirens?

Anyway, it sounded like this:

Here’s an update from Tom Prete of Ocean Beach Bulletin:

“A siren from San Francisco’s Outdoor Public Warning System sounded at about 3:45 p.m. Sunday, but a City Twitter account stated that the siren was activated accidentally.”

And here comes Johnny-come-lately AlertSF.org:

“The sirens were activated citywide inadvertently this afternoon. There is no emergency in San Francisco.

Thank you,
Alert SF”

District Five Supervisorial Candidate Julian Davis Opens Campaign HQ Saturday at 10AM – Haight and Steiner

Friday, August 17th, 2012

Comes the news from Linda Post of SF FYI Net:

Julian Davis – Campaign Headquarters Grand Opening and Mobilization
When: August 18, 2012 – Saturday - 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Where: 609A Haight Street, San Francisco
What: Join Julian Davis, candidate for supervisor in District 5. Grand opening and mobilization. Fresh breakfast, hot coffee.  Speakers, plans for marching to victory in November and then hit the streets.
Informationjuliandavis.org