Tag: announcement

Make that “the revenge of the nerdy Muni riders”!

Please vote for us at the SF Weekly 2010 Web Awards. We’re gunning for these categories: 1. Best SF Twitterer and 28. SF’s Best Social News/Aggregator Site. I mean, this is a democracy and I am not trying to influence you on how you vote, but if you find yourself wondering who you should vote for, the answer starts with Muni and rhymes with Diaries…

Oh, what am I saying? Please vote for us! Winners will be announced on Wednesday, April 7.

Vote for Muni Diaries for Best SF Twitterer and SF’s Best Social News/Aggregator Site here.

BART train operator Kelly Beardsley shares a story at our second event. Photo by Troy Holden

Muni Diaries will be back at the Make-Out Room on Friday, April 23, for our third spoken-word party. Muni has had its ups and downs in the past few months, and the wacky stories just keep coming. So join us at Muni Diaries Live: Breaking It Down to hear some awesome Muni stories live and share a few delicious (and mean) cocktails with your fellow riders.

Our story tellers this time include comedian Will Franken, whose Muni tales promise to be absolutely “twisted.” We’ve got Johnny FunCheap, the man who knows all about having a blast on a dime on San Francisco. The burlesque cheerleading squad, The Cock-Ts, will be back with their misguided coach Chester for more Muni cheers. You’ll also hear stories from Vero Majano of Mission Media Archives, BART operator Kelly Beardsley, and the acoustic duo McPuzo and Trotsky.

And this just in: Silvi from The Poetry Store will be our resident poet of the evening! Look for her with her type writer so you can get a poem written just for you. Check out the beautiful poem she wrote for us.

If you’ve missed our second party in October or our first event (honestly, how could you miss out on so much fun?), we hope to see you at party #3. We always save a little room for audience stories, so come prepared if you want to share a story on stage!

Muni Diaries Live! Breaking It Down
Friday, April 23, 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. No cover!
Make-Out Room — 3225 22nd Street
Routes serving the area: BART 24th St. Station, 12, 14, 22, 33, 48, 49, 67

Our very own Jeff Hunt will be at the Commonwealth Club next Wednesday, March 24, on an INFORUM panel to talk about San Francisco’s new media scene. He’ll be joining Brock Keeling of SFist.com, Michael Maness of The Bold Italic, and moderator Robin Sloan of Twitter.

Come hear about what goes on behind-the-scenes in running our mostly rider-generated website (example: what to do when you receive a photo of the alleged Muni humper?), and how an idea of sharing transit stories turned into the best non-paying job yet!

Details:

Location: San Francisco Commonwealth Club Office
595 Market Street, 2nd Floor (between First and Second Streets, near the Montgomery BART station or take the F, 5, 6, 7, 9, 21, 31, 38, 66, or 71)
San Francisco, CA, 94105
When: Wednesday, March 24, 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program, 7:30 p.m. networking reception
Cost: $12 members, $20 non-members, $7 students (with valid ID)

Rider Joanna told us about a website called StreetSounds that chronicles the sound landscape of U.S. cities to a “sound map.” You can upload audio clips from your everyday life and download clips from other users.  Joanna, who does outreach for the site, also happens to be a public transit fan. “Anyone who lives in San Francisco knows that Muni is a big part of the sonic world here,” she says. In fact, one of her first uploads was a clip recorded from the 21 Hayes, she told us.

StreetSounds is an offshoot of The Smalls, an online “curator” of independent films. StreetSounds says that there will be an independent film competition based on the sounds submitted, so stay tuned for that.

I checked out the site and heard clips  of BART swooshing by, a spoon scraping the bottom of a cereal bowl, a sidewalk musician playing keyboard, and boots clicking down Jackson Street. I love the idea of an audio cross-section of the city, sort of like the Muni playlist that we did awhile back. We’ve gotten some great and always unexpected sounds from your daily Muni rides, like a Metallica singalong, mispronounced street names, and a music video incorporating the sound of an articulated 71 bus.

So what are some of your favorite sounds of your life in San Francisco, and aboard Muni? StreetSounds and Muni Diaries want to know!

If you’re not already reading/feeding/following Streetsblog SF, stop reading this sentence right now and go do all of the above.

Now that that’s out of the way, this awesome site and invaluable source of much of the news we pick up and do our best to spread, Streetsblog SF, is holding a party to commemorate one year online. Nice of them, right? Pre-congrats, Streetsblog SF!

We’ll provide the music, food and drinks, you provide your wit and cheer.

Details:
January 21
6 to 9:30 p.m.
The LGBT Center
1800 Market Street

See you there!