Breaking news from The East Bay….
These fotos are of the Maze before it crashed and burned.
3:45 am Sunday in Oakland –
A tanker carrying 8,600 gallons of fuel crashed, burst into flames, and proceeded to melt the upper deck of the Macarthur Maze near the entrance to The Bay Bridge — causing a 250 ft. section to collapse. Flames shot almost 200 feet into the air, but the driver of the tanker amazingly walked away with only 2nd degree burns. He is being treated at St. Francis Hospital in The City.
This section of The Maze is traveled by 80,000 commuters every day. Almost 250,000 use The Bay Bridge. This will be the worst traffic disruption The Bay Area has endured since the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989.
Matt Harput — bka Bootsy — is heir to the largest collection of vintage adidas Originals in the world. Located on Fillmore and O’Farrell, the store is currently undergoing a minor face lift to be completed sometime this year. Right now is prime time to stop in the shop as everything is 40% off.
In 1978, Turk Harput stumbled on 1000 pairs of deadstock sneakers at an Oakland flea market. He traded his ‘74 Volvo for the entire lot and started selling them for $5 or $10 out of his VW bus.
The secret to Harput’s success is buying timeless classics, putting them on ice (read: in an attic upstairs), and re-releasing them at a later date to the public at a mark-up.
Japantown is a bonsai tree of what it once was in the first half of last century. The only reason to go there anymore is the food. And Sapporo. You wont find me there often, because I hate fish and am not a big drinker.
At the center of Japantown aka Little Osaka you will find the Peace Pagoda at the center of the 3 malls. It is one of 80 placed around the world, gifts of peace from the Japanese after WWII. The five-tiered stupa was designed by architect Yoshiro Taniguchi.
Japantown is also referred to as Nihomachi. The City is referred to as “Soko”.
Anchored at the corner of Postreet and Buchanan, Japantown is not what it once was. It sprouted up after the 1906 Firequake, and was a bustling mini-city until the forced removal of its citizens during the internment camps of WWII. The area literally became a ghost town overnight.
During the internment camps, thousands of African-Americans migrated to the area to find wartime jobs. The Japantown malls came in the 1960s as part of Justin Herman’s controversial Urban Renewal Program, intended to rejuvinate the area. Culturally, things were never the same. Once spreading out over a 20 square block area, todays Japantown is down to 6 blocks.
What is left are a few shops, restos, Kabuki Cinema, and the Miyako Hotel. Kabuki Bowling Center, RIP.
Both the bamboo plant and the waving cat are symbols of luck and prosperity. You see them everywhere in J-Town.
———————————————————————– This post originally appeared April 7th on Metroblogging SF. Last week I stepped away from that project so I could focus on this site and keep providing content to you, our 8 loyal readers. ———————————————————————–
“My assignment: To write about (and fotograph) San Francisco and San Franciscans. My deadline: Now and all the tomorrows. My problem: To find The City and its people….”– Herb Caen, 1960
Two local legends, J. Boogie (left) and Shashi (right) meeting for the first time at Crissy Field:
The J. Boogie legend is born out of a 15 year career in the DJ biz. Probably one of the hardest working dudes in the SF music scene, I met him several years ago at the former Justice League on Divisadero. This guy can play anything from Dub to Hip-Hop to Soul to Salsa. You can catch him every Sunday at 6pm running BeatSauce on KUSF 90.3FM.
The Shashi legend is one also involving turntables. But he doesnt spin em, he fixes em. Shashi is a 20 plus year pro-lurker of the Lower Haight and knows everyone in every home and store from Webster to Scott. He moved here from India in the 70s, was a writer for the SF Sun Times, and knows how to fix most anything involving music making. If you ever get a chance to sit and talk to this living legend, do so. Hes got stories for daaaaays.
Waking up, the day looked dreary and drab. Concerned, I called the one Jay Dubbz to see if his event was still on. He confirmed that come rain or shine, those suckers were getting boiled.
The sun showed her face around noon and the countdown began. The mix was spicy in the pot — consisting of onion, lemon, and garlic.
Plug1 didnt put fish on his dish, but Plug2 did. To eat a crawfish, you crack the body open and then pull out the meaty insides.
Video of the execution below. Those poor bastards never stood a chance.
Contrary to popular legend, in 1954 Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe were married not at The Church of St. Peter & Paul at 666 Filbert Street in North Beach, but at City Hall.
He did however marry his first wife, actress Dorothy Arnold, at the church in 1939.
In the armpit of The Tenderloin — the intersection of Ellis and Taylor — is Glide Memorial Church. There are no crosses inside and they dont preach any certain religion. And everyone, and I mean everyone is welcome to attend. And they do. There is a line around the corner every Sunday at 9 and 11 am.
This is due in large to the Reverend. Cecil Williams took over the church in 1963 and grew Glide into one of the biggest providers of free social services in The City. They serve over 3000 meals A DAY to the homeless and offer help to skid rogues, AIDs carriers, and single pregnant mothers.
“The true church stays on the edge of life, where the real moans and groans are. Most church folks settle in, get comfortable and build walls to protect themselves from anyone that looks or thinks differently than they do.”– Reverend Cecil Willaims, 1995
“My assignment: To write about (and fotograph) San Francisco and San Franciscans. My deadline: Tomorrow and all the tomorrows. My problem: To find The City and its people….”– Herb Caen, 1960
Whilst waiting for the N Judah the other day, I ran across an almost 10-year old piece of Twist artwork, commissioned for MUNI. Gotta love the irony of illegally etching train windows for 15 years, only to turn around and get PAID for doing the exact same thing at a bus-stop belonging to the public agency you once wreaked havoc on.
“Sometimes a rock soaring through a plate of glass can be the most beautiful, compelling work of art I have ever seen.”– Barry McGee
Ever wonder why our streets have the name etched into the concrete on the corners?
This is why: immediately after The Great Quake of ‘06, our village burned to the ground. The buildings, the street signs — any landmark you would use to identify where you were standing — all were destroyed. One would have no idea if he was at the corner of Bay and Hyde or Union and Gough.
The planners decided part of rebuilding The City That Once Was, that every street would be stamped with its own name in case some ill nastiness like that ever happened again.
Unfortunately that is the only fact I can confirm about the All-City sticker king. It seems that every Chronicle/Guardian/Examiner/SF Weekly paper box and light pole in The City has been hit off with one of his stickers over the past 15 years.
Ive heard he is a bike messenger in cities worldwide. Ive heard he was born in Barcelona.
I found a 3-picture gallery here, but this doesnt really tell me much either.
Until today, I thought baseball was sudden death, meaning you could not tie. It must be some pre-season rule, because the Giants and A’s ended the game 2-2 in extra innings.
#25 was “BOOO’ed” everytime he took the field. I hope #756 catches one of those naysayers dead in his eyeball. Sometimes hatin will catch you a bad one.
Dont gimme no bammer….fries:
Ive seen SF shoes before, but these were new to me:
