NYC Shuts Down Muni T-Shirt Maker in a Major WTF

San Francisco MUNI Satire
Photo by Flickr user joe.moore

You might’ve noticed a nice little Muni merchandise post Eugenia did for us the other day. I liked it. I like seeing creative people do their creative stuff and possibly make a little bit of moolah off it. I also like poking fun at things like struggling public transportation agencies. Sometimes, the two go well together.

Like in the case of the 40withegg blogger. This guy made a set of shirts with the letter logos of Muni’s Metro trains, substituting words like “Judah” or “Church” with words that match the route’s letter, like “T-ardy,” and mocked Muni. (see image, above.) Good, clean fun, right?

Not according to CafePress, where 40withegg meant to sell some shirts. Before he closed a single deal, CafePress took his wares down, citing a cease-and-desist letter it received from … New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Agency.

New York City? WTF, indeed! Is this a case of transcontinental, inter-agency FAIL?

In case you were curious, here is what the New York subway route bullets look like:

NYC: Subway Station

Our Muni route bullets look like this:
New Outbound Sign, Embarcadero Station

Again, WTF?

Thx: Plug1 for story tip

Photo Diary (of sorts): BART Art

P1010356.JPG
Photo by itsolivia from the nascent BART Photos Flickr pool

So cool. And that’ll teach this San Franciscan to visit MacArthur for more than just a train-transfer.

Be sure to check out the new BART Photos group on Flickr, where you can add all your wonderful imagery. We’ll use the photos from time to time the same way we do on Muni Diaries, and we’ll always give the photographer credit.

Also, keep those BART diaries coming: bartdiaries@gmail.com.

Happy Thursday, and happy commuting!

Updated with Editors Note: Cobra Malt Liquor Through a Straw

A lot of you objected to the publication of a photo that rider Matthew took on the 19-Polk, of someone who he thought was a dead-ringer for Whitney Houston. Your comments are really valuable to us at Muni Diaries as we constantly walk the fine line between democratic forum and editorial integrity. We don’t often turn your posts away because we want to create a place where you can tell your stories, but we definitely don’t want to do this at someone’s expense. We’ve taken the picture down but left the text of the story here in the post. Agree or disagree with our decision? We want to know. Please tell us in the comments section. – Jeff and Eugenia

Original post:

Muni rider Matthew writes to tell of a possible celebrity-sighting on a San Francisco bus.

Tell me this wasn’t Whitney Houston! She was a “BOBBY!!” shriek away from a dead ringer.

Seriously, her makeup looked professionally applied, if a little too glittery for 3 p.m. If she wasn’t so wasted and her top wasn’t so stained with spilled liquids, I really would have thought it was the Diva Herself. God I hope those stains were just her drinks…

“Whitney” fell asleep long enough for me to snap her photo. She woke up soon after to root around in one of her bags for another Cobra Malt Liquor (which she drank through a straw, because as you can see, she is a LADY).

I can snap photos and poke fun because lord knows I’ve been that drunk lady on the bus a time or thousand.

Matthew has just become the first Muni-razzi. Seen any celebs or dead-ringers on Muni? muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com

Bike Racks, a How-to Rap

Our brethren across the Bay, AC Transit, alerted us to this amazing video demonstrating something most of us need help with — getting your bike into one of those dadgum contraptions on the front of the bus. Why, just this morning, we ran a diary-ette about “mounting” stuff to the bike rack. How timely.

Say it with me now one time: “Bring it down, pull the bar, put it on, put it on, take it off, put it up when you’re done, when you’re done…”

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