Sunday Streets

Sunday Street Wedding

Neighborhood icon and flashdance bike party tricycle boombox merrymaker Deep and his delightful girlfriend Kim got hitched yesterday smack-dab in the heart of Sunday Streets, quite possibly the most fitting venue for a man so closely associated with transportation quirkiness and the cycling community.  And despite the cloud cover and damp air, the chorus of ringing bike bells and love and sincerity was enough to light up every passersby's afternoon.

There was hardly a dry-eye in the entire place:

Fashion for the Working Stiff

I suppose now that traditionally white-collar jobs are hoodie-and-denim careers and low-pay service industry gigs necessitate shirt and tie, the Bay Area needs more cheap, durable office wear.  That's where Wood Thumb's new Wood Ties come in.  No more coffee stains ruining your old TJ Maxx clearance rack score; just wipe that shit down and go about your day.  Shitty boss?  Well that doofus will walk right pass you, now that you blend in with your office's reclaimed wood walls.  And should your boss notice you, you have a ready-made weapon hanging around your neck.

Get yours next month at Sunday Streets!

[Thanks, Eddie!]

Skee-Ball Comes to the Mission!

Or at least it did, at Sunday Streets outside of Rhea's.  But, clearly, this thing was dragged out to the street from somewhere.  So where is this thing holed up?  And can the public (read: me) play it?

(Also, what would it take to get a bar/venue/dollar store to keep one of these things running?  I know Mission bars don't really need to do anything besides put in a pool table, pinball machine, and maybe a shuffleboard table to pack the place, but there are plenty of spots with ample space that could maybe mix things up and allow us to play skee-ball without schlepping our asses out to Buckshot.)

[Photo by Mission Bicycle]

Are SFPD Officers Capable of Treating San Franciscans Like Human Beings?

Look SFPD, we get it.  Between all the gang wars, drug dealers, and cyclists riding through stop signs, you have your hands full.  The Mission is happening nearly every hour of every day, yet you somehow manage to keep the 'hood from looking like 7th and Market.  You deal with the complaints of geezer neighbors without totally ruining the fun.  You look away when we spark a joint.  And no one has ever watched you slap a pair of cuffs on Cold Beer Cold Water.

For all that, most residents give you well-deserved credit.

But every time we start thinking SFPD isn't all that bad, you go pull a stunt that reminds us all that you employ some of the most toolish douchebags to ever live in the City and County of San Francisco.

Take yesterday's closing of Sunday Streets.  Argubly one of the most successful civic events in the city, Sunday Streets brings thousands of San Franciscans from every corner of the city together to enjoy motor-free streets for five measly hours.  The streets are lined with musicians, neighbors barbequing on their stoops, local merchants and cooks flipping their wares, children learning bike polo, people adoring low riders, kids going nuts with chalk, art bikes, costumed rollerbladers, and even dance lessons.  The community the event fosters is enough to bring a smile to even the most cynical dipshit's face.

So when the public's time was up, how'd you close down the event?  Send officers walking down the street, politely telling people to move to the sidewalks? Dispatch the Mission's bicycle cops down Valencia to assist in winding the event down?  Strap rollerskates on officers dressed like The Village People and kick people off the streets?

No, you sent Officer Power Trip and his sidekick Sargent Shitbag down Valencia on motorcycles, wailing on their sirens, yelling over the loudspeaker to get on the sidewalk, and accelerating into crowds of people so they'd jump to the curb.  And it wasn't jump unemployed kids on fixies you treated like this.  No, these trailblazers in misdirected anger chirped their horns at families in the street, yelled at merchants that hurriedly dragged their belongings to the curb.  Hell, I even saw the officer pictured above accelerate his motorcycle right into former city supervisor and mayoral candidate Bevan Dufty and his volunteers.

Your department treats families, neighbors, and generally lovely people with the same respect you show #OpBART protesters.  What the fuck is wrong with you?

Sunday Streets Returns to the Mission

You already know how this works: from 11am to 4pm this Sunday, Valencia and 24th Streets are shut down to motorized traffic so you can get out there and ride your bike, rollerblade between packs of undomesticated children, walk amongst your community, and, most likely, aggressively campaign.  And just in case it was unclear, skateboarding is not a crime.

Politicians Take Over The Mission During Sunday Streets

Once again, Sunday Streets proved to be a solid community event in which San Franciscans were begged to imagine what Valencia and 24th could look like without traffic and given the opportunity to complain about the wind's affect on their collective haircuts.  Unlike Sunday Streets in years past, in which the event was dominated by art bikes, kids going ape-shit with boxes of chalk, and music, a few politicians were out there not letting you forget 2011 is an election year.

Perhaps the real highlight of the whole day had to have been our human-mustache hybrid mayor, Ed Lee.  There he was, walking down the middle of Valencia with two or three innocuous bodyguards with his head slightly down and a Giants cap and sunglasses hiding most of his face.  Gavin Newsom, this man is not.  Rather than making the entire event about how he attended the event, Lee generally kept to himself, yet kindly offered to chat with people and crack a wide smile for a photo when approached.  He didn't even seem to give a shit when a bunch of kids holding brown bags and Red Stripes ran up for a photo.

And like every quality Ed Lee photo-op, the scene turned into a high-five party.  Joined by Phil of Philz Coffee and mountain bike pioneer Gary Fisher, the mayoral crew began 'giving skin' to passersby:

Then, sensing an opportunity to be hip, President of the Board David Chiu ran up to the scene like a high school math nerd who was just waved over to the cool kids' lunch table, dolling out slaps, fist bumps, and immediately making the situation kinda awkward.  That's not to say I don't like David Chiu—I'm sure he's a fan-tastic guy—it's just if you're going to throw up your sweaty palms with the mayor, you best bring your A game.

Shortly after the high-five party crash, David Chiu mounted his conference bike, cranked up “Hey Ya!” and rolled down the street while a girl dressed in pink shaggy carpet blowing bubbles acted as sweep.  Gutsy music choice.  On one hand, it's a Top 40 hit safe with families and Noe Valley, but on the other hand, it wasn't Gucci Mane.  We'll give him a pass on this.

Supervisor Avalos was also there, who's apparently trying to ride 'Giants Fever' all the way to the ballot box.  From what I can tell, he really impressed the hulking dude in camo shorts holding a hula-hoop with his vision of San Francisco.

Thankfully, the event wasn't all politicians and awkward high-fives.  For example, this local badass was riding down the street on a bike fashioned to look like a deer.

There were also some dudes that didn't realize Cinco de Mayo was last week.

And some shirtless people practicing yoga amongst broken bottles and hungover people who really didn't need to see this.

This pigeon had a shitty Sunday Streets.

Anndddd… scene.

Olive Alley's Anti-Authoritarian Street Art

As the rain subsided in yesterday afternoon, I decided to walk the two and a half miles from the Mission to Golden Era so I could stuff my face with vegan drumsticks.  Unfortunately the much-anticipated Sunday Streets event was a total bust, but even without the streets being closed to traffic, there was still some great street art to look at from the sidewalk.

At one point I made my way down a short stretch of Olive Alley, which may not be as popular as Clarion, Balmy, Osage, or Lilac in the street art world, but nevertheless had some quality stuff to look at:

This particular piece features a mess of quotes written upside down (I rotated the below image) from classic anti-authoritarian figures like Chris Rock and Johnny Depp.

Finally, directly across the street was this friendly message:

(If you are interested in looking at more photos of viewing larger sizes, I uploaded a batch to Flickr)

Pages