Being Green

Ever wonder how Muni used to clean buses before they stopped giving a shit?  This right here is the 'Cyclone' Coach Cleaner, a 1958 bus/Burning Man Art Car that used to act as a giant vacuum:

This modified Motor Coach was used as an enormous vacuum cleaner to rid buses of litter left on board. Pulled along side another bus, the accordion-like seal was extended to the door and a powerful blast of air turned the bus interior into a literal cyclone of flying debris, saving hours of hand sweeping.

Uhhhhhh... rad.

[Photo and Quote via SFMTA Photo Archives]

Do you like eating? Hanging out with 30+ of your friends and neighbors? Cooking a big-ass meal without spending a dime?  Not having to leave the neighborhood?!  Well, the Wigg Party is (finally) bringing their famed Urban Eating League (UEL) out of the civility of the Lower Haight into the wilds of the Mission District and they'd be stoked for you to get involved and chow down with them.

Wigg Party MC Morgan Fitzgibbons (who you might remember from that delightfully brutal take down of C.W. Nevius' cycling journalism a few weeks back) fills us in on the details of UEL:

In case you aren't familiar, the Urban Eating League is the underground community dinner we at the Wigg Party produce. We find 5 hosts sites (homes/apartments) within walking distance of each other to cook a locally-sourced meal and create a dining experience. Then we get 30 people to sign up as Eaters ($20 a head to pay for the food) and organize them into 10 teams of 3. Each team goes to all 5 sites, sitting down with a different team at each site (there are 2 teams = 6 people at each site during all 5 rounds). After all sites have been visited, the teams grade each host site on food, creativity, hospitality and execution. We tally the scores and declare a host site champion (we line up prizes for all the hosts sites no matter how they finish) - there is also a prize for best team, as the teams are expected to have a theme, dress up, get creative, and be silly.

But as a primarily Lower Haight-based operation, the Wigg Party's network of hosts in the Mission is a little sparse, which is where you come in.  They're looking for sites between 18th-24th and Dolores-Treat (although are considering sites just outside of that range) to help with their March 25th (from 5-9pm) event.

And why would you want to host?

Lots of reasons. You get to practice/show off your culinary skills (with all the food being paid for). You get to meet 30+ fun people over the course of the evening who are all coming into your home with gratitude and trying to do their best to make you smile (singing songs and giving gifts is pretty standard from our teams of eaters). You get the thrill of competition and potentially being crowned champion (although nobody goes home without a prize - typically a gift certificate from a local merchant). AND, as a host site, you get preferred entry into future Urban Eating League events as an Eater (always a tough ticket and guaranteed to sell out).

Should you want to learn more before diving in, the SFBG wrote them up last year.  Otherwise, email Morgan directly to get involved & host a table.

Note: a previous version of the post insinuated CBCW stole the bicycle.  That was 100% a joke that didn't go over a well.  Our apologies for any confusion.

Everyone's favorite surly bartender is now taking a new bike and using it to zip between Dolores and Mission bodegas, making our $3 PBRs just that much colder when they reach our lips.  And while this is cool and all, I can't help but wait for the day he starts dressing like a PCP-addled Hells Angel and slings beer from the back of a sputtering hog.

Previously on Uptown Almanac

• Blue Velvet Meets Real Life
• "Cold Beer, Cold Water" Turns Up to Riot
• My Day As Zombie Cold Beer! Cold Water!
• Cold Beer, Huge Profits