Interview: Jason Shiga
Ahh, the allure of the world wide web. How well SFist remembers those first months out of college, working a real job. While we were being trained we had an inordinate amount of time to explore the web and all the wonderful sites on it. Our love affair with the web has dulled somewhat over the years, as being chained to a computer for twelve hours a day has lost some of its appeal. Occasionally we still come across something that makes us fall in love with the web all over again.
Today Jason Shiga provides a reason to be on the web more (check out his favorite website tip). As if Jason hasn’t given enough to all of us already—amazing comic strips like "Fleep", books like "BookHunter" and the joy of knowing that all that genius was born in Oakland. East Bay represent! On a more personal level, SFist is thrilled that someone who has been profiled by Time Magazine would do an interview with us. If you’ve never read Jason’s comics, you’ve been missing out. But that’s what New Year’s resolutions are all about.
Name
Jason Shiga
Introduce yourself in one sentence
I make interactive comics for people without computers.
Age and Occupation
29, Cartoonist
Home Town
Oakland
How much time have you spent in the Bay Area?
I was born and raised in Oakland. I work for the Oakland Public Library as a Library Aide.
Favorite website
Google. P.S. Try googling the word “failure”
Favorite local business
Piedmont Copy
What I'm currently Reading
“The Mystery of Chimney Rock”
Best Deal in San Francisco
The public library
Favorite mode of transportation
Walking
Best Band or Musician to come out of the Bay Area
Scrabbel
Favorite local hangout
Lark Pien’s house
SF has the BEST:
Cable cars
You've never lived in SF until:
I don’t know. I’ve never lived in SF!
Favorite Bay area politician of past or present:
Jack London ran for mayor of Oakland under the socialist party (he lost).
Now that Gavin Newsom is single, who are you going to set him up with?
Christian Bale (because they look similar and they could wear matching clothes like in Korea and it would be adorable/creepy)
You can tell someone is a local here IF:
They board MUNI through the back doors
SF would be soooo much better if only:
It were Oakland. Oakland rules!!!
Best Burrito:
Zamorano Taco Truck on International
Best Restaurant:
The Singapore Malaysia restauraunt on Clement
Best movie scene filmed in or about SF:
Bullit (SF) and Matrix Reloaded (Oakland)
Best thing to do in the city in the summer:
Walk around Golden Gate Park
Favorite artist to come out of the bay area:
Me! Unless you mean out of the closet in which case the answer is David Gaddis.
Favorite author to come out of the bay area:
CD Payne
Place you always tell visitors to check out:
Urban Ore
Favorite Bridge in the area:
The one to Alameda that goes Burrurururururururururur when you drive over it.
You have two hours and $15 bucks to kill in SF, what are you going to do?
Go to Fisherman’s Wharf and buy a snow globe with a cable car inside and then put a penny inside the machine that smashes it into an oval. No just kidding. Use the money for admission into the Alternative Press Expo.
I have found/sold/bought the following on craigslist:
A macrovision disabled DVD player.
I want all the SFists out there to know:
Floss
Tell us a San Francisco Story:
A mentally ill man on in the back of a muni bus was yelling “Sai Wais Whadadoo!” for about 20 blocks. Over and over again like some sort of mantra. Eventually everyone tuned him out and continued on with their lives. Then he said, “Sai Wais!” and stopped. Everyone looked toward the back of the bus. Even the bus driver. The whole bus was silent for about 10 seconds until someone from the front said, “Whadadoo?”
Question you'd ask if you were doing this interview:
What superpower would you like to have?