We've been interested in the Fell and Masonic deathtrap for a while. So, it was with incredible glee that we saw this, above, on our morning run. It's pretty simple - there's a left-turn arrow for westbound cars that stays green for about six seconds. Then the turn arrow goes red, and the bike/ped signal goes green. A new, longer left-turn lane has been installed on Fell to ease some potential traffic congestion from... [continue]

For every Johnny, there is a Daniel-san. For every Federer, a Nadal. Every Billy Mitchell must eventually face his Steve Wiebe. And so it was at the Transfer this weekend. The cool kids have been gathering there in droves lately, so it came as no surprise to us that their happy hour pimps Pabst Blue Ribbon. But what's this? Hamm's on the menu? A venerable Minnesotan brew challenging the iron-clad hold that PBR has on... [continue]

According to the L train driver this morning, there are switching problems right now in the subway. This means that trains to downtown from West Portal are s...l...o...w (ten minutes or so from Forest Hill to Castro station), and the J and L will crawl once they hit the Duboce Tunnel. If you have a morning meeting, you're probably gonna be late.... [continue]

We checked out the Renaissance Faire on Sunday in Golden Gate Park, and...it was a complete and total blast. We saw live jousting, a group of people re-enacting The Merry Wives of Windsor, the truly awesome dancing musicians pictured above, and pirates, outlaws and the odd ninja or samurai. Afterwards, we headed (in full regalia) to Tommy's for margaritas, where we had the best conversation ever: "Were you at the Renaissance Faire?" asked a... [continue]

It was with some interest that we read Chuck Nevius's latest column on security cameras in the City. The reviews of the cameras have been mixed at best, with the most recent incident involving the use of camera footage to prove that an accused man was innocent, and that the witnesses in the case were somewhat less than reliable. On the other hand, the cameras have done very little to solve crimes, possibly because the... [continue]

We caught a 71 to downtown this morning, headed to around the ballpark. Hopped off at Van Ness to catch a T or an N. Then we waited for five minutes while a J sat in the station. After that five minutes, a voice came over the PA: "Attention MUNI customers - we are experiencing heavy traffic between Van Ness and the Embarcadero." Hey, at least we could understand the voice on the PA. That... [continue]

We roll our eyes whenever politicians whine about Muni losing money (public transportation is not a for-profit enterprise anywhere), we do get frustrated when we see pass-fakers, gate-crashers, and other reasons that showcase how antiquated the Muni fare collection system is. See, if Muni could actually collect the fares that people are supposed to pay, they would have more money to maintain things and (fantasy world here) have things show up on time. We... [continue]

The article in yesterday's Chronicle is a snippet, a notice, a little bit of writing that doesn't do justice to the life of the late Ryan Jones. Ryan was an under-the-radar local hero. You may or may not have known him, but if you live here in San Francisco, Ryan probably made your life here more beautiful, more enjoyable, more memorable. Ryan worked for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area's Site Stewardship program. He'd... [continue]

We were out running this morning, and caught a weird site cruising up Masonic. A bright red Toyota Prius with what looked like a conning tower on top. We followed it for nearly a block, and deduced that the four megaphone-like things on top were actually cameras. Our only conclusion - those crazy kids at Google are street-level mapping again! Have you seen the mutant Prius today? Where? And what funny/ridiculous/outrageous behavior do you think... [continue]

We biked up to the in-the-throes-of-remodeling Masonic/Geary Trader Joe's the other day, laughing at the poor people who waited in line in their cars. We cruised up to the little bike rack plaza, expecting to lock up at the normal, wavy, lock-eight-bikes-to-it rack like they have at the public library. But...they changed the rack to the ineffectual spoke variety that they had at our junior high school! See, the problem is that it's pretty... [continue]

We snapped the above photo at everyone's favorite traffic mess - the Arco station on Fell and Divisadero. The sign on the fence reminded me of photos we'd seen of gas shortages back before we were sentient, but happily for drivers, this isn't the harbinger of shortages or rationing. The station will soon finish with their repair work, and people will once again be able to fill their H2s for $.02/gallon less than at... [continue]

We were down at the Heart of the City Farmer's Market again today, and we were glad to see the sign above. Looks like the market managed to worm its way out from under the powerful Newsom thumb, and will continue to remain a nonprofit. Yay! But, the other side of the sign revealed a tougher, more insidious threat to the market. Find out what it is after the jump!... [continue]

In a private meeting with the Bikes Belong board of directors the other day, presidential hopeful (and oh, man, we're hoping) Barack Obama said that "if he were elected president he would increase funding for cycling and pedestrian projects." Federal funding? For bikes? Wow. The good news is that by the time that funding becomes reality, the City might be done with the environmental impact review of the Bike Plan. A review, by the way,... [continue]

Hey, are you doing anything tomorrow night? If you're like us and you love the Heart of the City Farmers' Market (Wednesdays and Sundays on UN Plaza), you might want to consider going to City Hall, sidestepping the throngs of happy marrying couples, and going to room 250 at 5:00. See, Mayor Gavin has introduced legislation that would turn the operation of the market over to the city's Real Estate division, taking it away... [continue]

We were out in Sacramento this morning for a family lunch at Spataro, talking a bit of Bay Area Politics, when one of our party said "Speaking of Ron Dellums, there he is." And there he was, sitting at a long table with a group of well-dressed folk, one of whom we recognized as California Speaker of the Assembly Karen Bass. The mayor's party was about twelve strong, and we couldn't hear a whit... [continue]

The name of the bicyclist killed yesterday has been released. He was Kirk Janes, founder of the American Flyer bike messenger service, and a well-known figure in the local bike messenger community. We like this quote from the Chronicle that describes the kind of guy he was: Janes had broken his hip while riding on Second Street last year and could have gone on disability from the state. Instead, he quit Speedway Delivery last... [continue]

Discerning MUNI rail riders have known for a while now to bring small change to Church Street Station, as the quarter-dispensing machine has been broken there for over a week. We were (thankfully) exiting Church this morning, and saw that the other, dollar-coin-dispensing machine, is also broken. That explained the poor woman we saw at the turnstiles, pleading with the gate agent to accept her U.S. currency. No dice. The only choices she had... [continue]

This morning we ran north on Arguello to the Presidio. When we reached California Street, it struck us that there were no pedestrian signals at that intersection, which is rife with pedestrians, on a crowded bus line, and right near a couple of schools and a huge synagogue. Thinking back, most of the intersections to Arguello don't have pedestrian flashers, with the exceptions of Fulton, Geary, and Clement. Every other intersection - including some... [continue]

You wouldn’t guess it from the quiet way he talks, but Edouard Rollet is a man on a mission. He’s the co-founder of Alter Eco, a small San Francisco-based company that works with tiny organic farms and co-ops around the world, importing their food here, all certified as fair trade. We came across Alter Eco through a friend, and ended up talking to Edouard in the small conference room of their funky Dogpatch office,... [continue]

Some of you may remember a couple of weeks ago, when we were on a Caltrain that struck and killed a woman near 22nd street. Well, we were on the train again this morning, and when we got on at mountain view, a very familiar voice came over the PA. "Ladies and gentlemen, we're sorry," said the voice. "But there has been a fatality involving a train ahead at Menlo Park, and we will be... [continue]