Category: Local

  • What is SYGNYL?

      Today is Groundhog’s Day, and aside from using a groundhog-based weather prediction to determine if we’ll get more winter or spring (spoiler: it’s more winter) we also have our first taste of SYGNYL, a new project from Nonchalance. Taking a step back, Nonchalance is an ongoing immersive art project from Jeff Hull (also known…

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  • Signs of the COVID-19 times part 5

    The summer is long over since my last post in this series, and tomorrow marks a whole new year. A lot changed since that last post we’ve had a presidential election and the first vaccines are (slowly) rolling out to hopefully put an end to this pandemic before next summer. Though in the more immediate…

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  • New fnnch mural at The Valencia Room

    While heading to pick up lunch the other day I happened to notice a new mural from fnnch on the side of The Valencia Room. I should take a step back here and point out a couple of things. If you haven’t been to the Mission recently, The Valencia Room is the bar and entertainment…

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  • Why I have reservations about the Measure RR Caltrain tax (but I’m voting for it anyway)

    Recently the three main counties that serve CalTrain were asked to add an additional sales tax to fund CalTrain service. This was initially rejected by San Francisco leading to some finger wagging, before ultimately landing on the ballot. Many transit advocates decried San Francisco’s decision, but let me point something out: of all the counties…

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  • The forgotten monument that was once on top of San Francisco’s Mount Olympus

    While poking around Atlas Obscura the other day I came across a truly odd monument that I immediately knew I had to check out. Eccentric businessman and former mayor Adolph Sutro had a statue named “Triumph of Light” built to mark the center of San Francisco. The problem is if you consider the landmass on…

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  • Signs of the COVID-19 times part 4

    It’s been a couple months since my last entry in how this global pandemic has transformed daily life in San Francisco. There’s still no vaccine on the horizon despite Russia’s premature announcement, and likewise the United States has utterly failed to combat the pandemic under Trump’s leadership. In other words, the important things haven’t changed…

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  • Signs of the COVID-19 times part 3

    Since last month’s entry in this ongoing series, a number of local, national, and world events have occurred. It’s been a strange, though hopeful time for the most part. Here’ some more changes I’ve seen around San Francisco. In the most literal sense of the title of this post, the city’s Department of Public Health…

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  • Thoughts on extending the T line

    With all the recent news of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests, even avid readers of local news might have missed that two new BART stations opened over the weekend in the South Bay. Here in San Francisco, Muni Metro’s T line extension is still under construction with the Central Subway from SOMA…

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  • Signs of the COVID-19 times part 2

    Since last month’s entry the pandemic-related changes around the Mission and Castro area have only accelerated. As retail slowly reopens some of these changes may be short lived, so let’s take a look at where things stand now. The city’s Department of Public Health has plastered almost every block with signs about social distancing, wearing…

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  • Signs of the COVID-19 times

    With the COVID-19 coronavirus spreading so quickly, everyone’s had to adapt at a rapid pace. Some of the changes are clearly sad and less than ideal, yet safety has to be prioritized or more people will wind up dead. It’s worrisome that some don’t seem to mind the latter part of that equation. Like most…

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