Tag: 22-Fillmore

Photo by Andy Callahan

Mr. Eric Sir, take it away …

Who says Muni isn’t worth $2?

Last Thursday night I was in a foul mood and in desperate need of some cheering up before the ohGr show at Bottom of the Hill.

After I climbed aboard the 22 I heard a strange sound. It’s difficult to describe to someone who hasn’t heard it; a not-quite-falsetto whine tinged with a gravely roughness that — in a certain way — had a tune which could have been mistaken for music.

The bus cleared out when we hit 16th and Mission and that’s when I spotted the source of the sound: Muni Ray Charles.

Make no mistake, Muni Ray Charles is a black man wearing a suit and sunglasses (at 9pm, no less) who “sings” in his own unusual way.

Passengers kept their distance as Muni Ray Charles rocked himself out like an overwound wind-up toy. Like most other passengers, I was ultimately unsuccessful in suppressing my laughter. His performance was so vigorously impassioned it was impossible to stay in a bad mood for long.

A few stops after Mission, Muni Ray Charles finished the performance, fist-bumped a few passengers, yelled “BACK DOOR!” and was on his way.

Photo by Ian Fuller

Sadly, we just didn’t have enough time at our Muni Diaries Live reunion/open-mic show to have everyone who signed up to share their slice of Muni life onstage. So, we reached out to those individuals to tell their stories here on the website. Enjoy Ellie’s roller coaster chariot of a 22-Fillmore story.

If you ever want to see the entire world without leaving the city, two dollars is all you need for a trip on the 22. I wasn’t planning on visiting Tijuana, Japan, or the cast of Jersey Shore the first time I traveled the Fillmore bus line; I was on my way to see a movie — a Kabuki movie at that!

I had just moved to the city and a friend told me that if the opportunity arouse, I needed to go see a movie at the Kabuki. When she told me this, I had a sudden feeling of nostalgia. So that night, I stuffed a king-sized Kit-Kat in my bag and headed for the corner of Mission and 16th.

After seeing a slew of 14, 49, and 33’s slither by, I decided that it must have been during a stay in San Francisco that the band Whitesnake coined its name. My thought was stopped short by a woman with red-stained jeans, hunched over, and mumbling, “I got my period…I got my period…,” while walking back and forth in front of me.

“Umm…I — I — I’m sorry,” I muttered.

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Photo by Jack Lukic

The multi-talented Heather (she of our Fast Pass card holder fame) sent us this track. It’s her old band, The Old-Fashioned Way, singing about (what else?) the 22-Fillmore.

Specifically, this song, “Rendezvous on the 22,” is about how the lead singer met his girlfriend on the 22. We love stories of love at first sight aboard Muni, we do. Put to song, even better.

A tease:

“i walk block by block
walking is no longer a thought
whoa whoa whoa

if i make it there some way
a lousy no good fare i paid”

Rendezvous on the 22

Lyrics by C. Wu.