Muni Diaries Live: ‘Please exit through the weirdos’

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All photos by Kevin Wong

What’s better than commiserating with your fellow Muni riders about the ups and downs of our transit system? Try dishing all your best transit stories with more than 200 of your San Francisco neighbors over drinks at the Elbo Room. On Saturday, we packed the Elbo Room once again with your friendly faces and our wonderful storytellers for an evening of hilarity that can happen only on Muni.

ronn

We opened the show with comedian Ronn Vigh, who had teased you on Twitter a few days ago wearing his Clipper Card costume (and little else!). Ronn faced off with a screamer on Muni, and that’s just the beginning.

mat

Wired writer Mat Honan had once used Muni data to find out when the next bus was coming. Imagine that! He dug deep into Muni’s history to find out why Forest Hill station smells the way it does—and what is really wafting through the air when you take a deep breath at Muni stations.

dhaya

Comedian Dhaya Lakshminarayanan endeared us with a story of taking her dad on the bus to Big Lots. By the end of her story, we all wanted to be best friends with her dad, who thought that “exit through the rear door” was “exit through the weirdos.” I like his version better!

kevin

We were honored to have SF Chronicle reporter Kevin Fagan at our show. Kevin graced us with songs inspired from the newsroom. He’s seen Muni—and San Francisco—through the lens of a reporter for two decades now. You can see his next show with his band, The Irish Newsboys, at Lefty O’Doul’s on Dec. 6.

klee

When we found out that comic Klee Wiggins’ dad was a Muni operator, we immediately felt that we had to have her at the show. And we definitely made the right call. Klee’s parents met on the bus, and by the middle of her story we were doing a call-and-response of Muni lines.

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Four-time Moth Grandslam champion Josh Cereghino wrote a new Muni story just for us, and we were all for his pastry-themed, tough street nicknames like “Biscuit.”

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haiku_jesse

Our fifth Muni Haiku Battle (can you believe it?) was the closest challenge we have had. Ronn Vigh’s haikus had us in stitches. We all wondered: Will Jesse James keep his crown, or will Ronn take home our new wearable trophy, a Members Only jacket for the only Muni Haiku champion in town?

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It was almost too close to call, but Jesse James donned the glittery jacket! We’ll have Ronn’s haiku up on Muni Diaries in a few days.

Twice a year we celebrate what it’s like to live in San Francisco—and riding Muni is such a big part of it. Thank you to everyone who made it out to the Elbo Room to celebrate with us, and we hope to see you in the spring!

This Thursday: SFTRU PUBlic Transit CRAWL: To L and Back

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Remember how fun it is to drink? Now you can do so with fellow transit enthusiasts and celebrate last week’s defeat of a nasty, anti-public transit proposition.

The SF Transit Riders Union is hosting a “pub”lic transit crawl (get it? get it?). They’ve cleverly dubbed this one “To L and Back,” as it will take place at various points along the L-Taraval line.

Here’s the schedule:
6 p.m.: The Residence, 718 14th St at Market and Church (Near Church Station)
7 p.m.: Philosopher’s Club, 824 Ulloa St at West Portal (Near West Portal Station)
8 p.m.: Parkside Tavern, 1940 Taraval at 30th Ave
9 p.m.: Riptide, 3639 Taraval St at 47th ave
~10 p.m.: L Taraval into the night

And here’s the nifty pricing plan:
$40 = 1 year of Membership + 4 drink/raffle tickets
$30 = 4 drink/raffle tickets
$24 = 3 drink/raffle tickets
$18 = 2 drink/raffle tickets
$10 = 1 drink/raffle ticket
$ 0 = come along for the ride, all you need is your bus pass!

Read more about “To L and Back” at SFTRU’s website.

Transit News: Sunset Tunnel tracks, late-night BART, faster Muni, World Series Muni damage

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Photo by Jeremy Brooks

  • Sunset Tunnel Track Work Began Last Friday (Hoodline)
  • Nick Josefowitz Unseats 24 Year Incumbent James Fang With Promises Of Late Night BART Trains (SF Appeal)
  • SFMTA Wants Stop Lights, Not Signs, To Keep Muni’s 5-Fulton Moving (Streetsblog SF)
  • SFMTA hit with $140,000 damage bill in World Series celebrations (SF Examiner)
  • Not Your Ordinary GPS—Tracking Your Ride (SFMTA’s Moving SF Blog)

Your Weekend Transit Advisory: Veterans Day parade, construction, construction, construction

We’ve got you covered Saturday night. But for all your other weekend plans, here’s some things to keep in mind:

Veterans Day Holiday Muni Schedule

On Tuesday, the Veterans Day Holiday: Muni service will operate on a regular weekday schedule.

Veterans Day Parade

On Sunday: The annual Veterans Day Parade will take place on Market Street from 2nd Street to the Civic Center Plaza. Staging will begin at 7 a.m. on 2nd Street between Market and Folsom streets. No traffic will be allowed on 2nd Street. Cross traffic on Folsom, Howard and Mission streets at 2nd Street will be allowed until the parade begins. After the parade units have passed and the street is cleaned, 2nd Street will be re-opened for traffic.

Traffic along Market Street will start closing beginning at 10 a.m. No traffic will be allowed on Market Street between 2nd and 7th streets after 10:30 a.m. SFMTA traffic control officers and SFPD officers will be present to facilitate cross traffic across Market Street between 2nd and 7th streets until 10:30 a.m.

Streets will be re-opened once the parade units have passed and the streets have been cleaned.

At 11 a.m. the parade will proceed north on 2nd Street, west on Market Street, west on McAllister Street, south on Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place and pass the reviewing stand. The parade will disband on Grove Street between Van Ness Avenue and Larkin Street.

During the parade, vehicles will be re-routed around the parade route except Muni buses.

The following Muni line and routes will be affected:

  • F Market
  • 2 Clement
  • 5 Fulton
  • 6 Parnassus
  • 8X Bayshore Express
  • 9 San Bruno
  • 10 Townsend
  • 12 Folsom-Pacific
  • 19 Polk
  • 21 Hayes
  • 27 Bryant
  • 30 Stockton
  • 31 Balboa
  • 38 Geary
  • 45 Union-Stockton
  • 71 Haight-Noriega

Read more

Muni moments that (almost) make it all worth it

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Photo by Israel.

It’s no secret. Muni Diaries exists because we believe in the entertainment and joy that can be gleaned from an otherwise mundane (at best) or frustrating (at worst) experience. To wit:

  • Little girl ~6 yo parodying Muni “please hold on” saying “hold on for what?” to the tune of a popular inappropriate song
  • Our #SFMuni driver sounds like Barry White, which is awesome considering how short she is.
  • guy at #SFmuni stop doing extremely precise liquid dance to headphones music in a storefront reflection, and it’s very good
  • Dude next to me has @PopeyesChicken on the bus and IT SMELLS SO GOOD. #sfmuni
  • “You gotta wait til you 40 to date, then date 3 years, then get married.” advice from dude on #SFMuni while on the phone

If those tweets don’t force the corners of your mouth up just a little bit, we cannot help you.

This week’s Things on Muni was brought to you by @AshMcD00, @pinkopaque22, @boursier, @cherilusive, and @DaneYoshida. Follow us on Twitter and share your Muni musings.

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