Mystery Bernal Heights Bugler Blows Horn Before Sunrise

/ Todd_Lappin / 15 Comments

Reader Chris says he has been awakened a bit earlier than usual lately:

Our north slope micro hood on Mullen has experienced a not unpleasant new early morning ritual: Taps, or at least a bugle announcing the arrival of morning, starting at around 5:30am, and repeating about every 15 minutes for a half-hour. Although vaguely military, this short, plaintive version has the intended “announcement” feel and a soft free-form tone that’s so very appropriate for our little enclave.
That’s all I know.

Yesterday Reader Alicia heard it with a Jewish accent:

Around 5:30am this morning I heard someone blowing a shofar… Do you know anything about this? Didn’t see anything on Bernalwood, but thought you might be a good resource for an answer!

So what exactly does it sound like? Listen in, because Reader Chris captured a brief recording (click the arrow to play):

http://telstarlogistics.com/sounds/BernalBugle.mp3%20

Have you heard it too?

PHOTO: Sunrise from east Bernal on October 17, 2011, by Dona LaVallee

Learn About the Lost Movie Theaters of Mission Street

/ Todd_Lappin / 3 Comments

On Wednesday, October 19 at 7 pm, the ever-excellent Bernal History Project will host a talk in the meeting room the Bernal Heights Public Library about the lost movie theaters of Mission Street:

During the golden years of moviegoing in the first half of the 20th century, just about everybody went at least once a week. Ten thousand people a day went to the movies in San Francisco on Mission Street alone. Most of the theatres are gone now, or, worse yet, sitting vacant and abandoned as sad reminders of what once was, but will never be again.

But a couple of them have been in business for more than a century and continue to survive and, let us hope, prosper. Jack Tillmany’s presentation offers a guided tour of just about all of them, from 16th Street through the Mission and Bernal Heights to Daly City, in black and white and in color, along with the many streetcar lines that provided transportation on San Francisco’s longest thoroughfare. There will also be a small detour to visit Cortland Avenue’s movie houses, the Cortland and the Capri!

Jack Tillmany is a S.F. transit and movie theatre historian. He is the author of Theatres of San Francisco, Theatres of Oakland, and Theatres of the San Francisco Peninsula, the last with Gary Lee Parks, author of Theatres of San Jose. Copies of all four books will be available at the event at below cover price.

PHOTO: Above, the 9 streetcar passes the Lyceum Theater at 3350 Mission, home of the present-day Safeway parking lot. Photo from Jack Tillmany. Oh, and here’s how the view from the same spot looks today:

AAAnother Glossy Magazine Article About Bernal Heights

/ Todd_Lappin / 1 Comment

Another day, another magazine article about how sexxxy and glamorous we are here in Bernal Heights. Only, this one was an inside job: Karen Zuercher is the managing editor at VIA, the glossy magazine that has been published for members of the California State Automobile Association since 1917. Karen also lives in the Dominion of Bernalwood, so she’s an expert on the subject, and that shows in the Nov/Dec issue of VIA, where you’ll find her Weekender’s guide to Bernal Heights.

Among the many local names that get a shout out: The Alemany Farmer’s Market, Ichi Sushi, 331 Cortland, Sandbox Bakery, and Kikker, the parakeet who lives inside Heartfelt.

Pro Tip: During the weeks ahead, if you see a lot of clueless tourists trying to navigate the narrow streets of Bernal Heights in lumbering RVs that are bigger than your house, remember to smile, wave rustically, and direct them toward the “must see” Bernal Heights gift shop located at the base of Sutrito Tower.

Our Seismologist Explains Why Bernal’s Chert Is Better Than Soft Rock During an Earthquake

/ Julian Lozos / 27 Comments

The Surveyor 40/52

In pretty much every earthquake post that has appeared on this blog, I have extolled the virtues of Bernal’s beloved red chert because it doesn’t shake all that hard even during really big seismic events — especially compared to the marsh sand under the Mission or the artificial landfill in the Marina. Today is the anniversary of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, so I figure this is a good to explain why chert keeps Bernal’s ground steadier.

Seismic waves travel at different speeds through different kinds of rock. The harder the rock, the faster the waves can travel. This alone is an advantage for shaking: waves spend less time traversing an area of hard rock than a comparably-sized area of sand or landfill.

Chert: 1    Landfill: 0

The issue is compounded, however, by the fact that every seismic wave has a specific amount of energy associated with it. If much of that energy goes into traveling quickly forward through the rock, less goes into shaking. But if the rock slows the forward propagation of the wave, the energy goes into shaking instead. The end result? Less shaking for less time in hard rock sites, more shaking for longer duration in soft soil sites.

Chert: 2     Landfill: 0

Liquefaction is another big problem with sand, soil, and landfill sites. Liquefaction is the process during which seismic shaking mixes loose soil and rock particles with groundwater, effectively turning the ground into quicksand. This was a huge problem in Japan and New Zealand this year, and it was also one of the main reasons the Marina was hit so hard in Loma Prieta. The more solid your rock, the fewer small particles there are to combine with groundwater, and the less the groundwater can permeate the rock in the first place. Bernal’s chert is good and solid, and it’s not going to turn to quicksand under us.

Chert: 3     Landfill: 0

So there you have it: Bernal’s chert means less shaking, for less time, without quicksand. In the event of another earthquake like Loma Prieta or 1906, Bernal Heights would certainly feel it, but our cherty geology will do a lot to help minimize the damage, whereas softer rock just strikes out.

PHOTO: Champi the Japanese Akita points out chert formations on Bernal Hill. Photo by Jay Axe

Much Fun Was Had at Festival on the Hill 2011

/ Todd_Lappin / 10 Comments

Fiesta on the Hill, 2011

Fiesta on the Hill, 2011

Fiesta on the Hill, 2011

Fiesta on the Hill, 2011

Fiesta on the Hill, 2011

Wow. What a great small-town-in-the-big-city scene the 2011 Fiesta on the Hill turned out to be. Cortland was jammed with a happy mix of locals, visitors, adults, kids, humans, and barnyard animals.

There were mistrels on hand to serenade the wee ones:

Fiesta on the Hill, 2011

And balloons aplenty:

Fiesta on the Hill, 2011

And some freaky-weird dude who looked like a Buddha at Burning Man after an intense psychedelic experience:

Fiesta on the Hill, 2011

And friendly witches to paint pictures on children:

Fiesta on the Hill, 2011

Also, PONIES!

Fiesta on the Hill, 2011

Congrats to all the organizers who helped make Fiesta on the Hill 2011 so much fun. See you next year!

UPDATE:

New neighbor Adrian Mendoza took some great photos during the Festival as well:

Aztecs and Fiesta in Bernal 009

Aztecs and Fiesta in Bernal 055

Aztecs and Fiesta in Bernal 010

Aztecs and Fiesta in Bernal 021

Lots more of Adrian’s photos, right here.

PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics and Adrian Mendoza

Fiesta on the Hill Comes to Cortland on Sunday

/ Todd_Lappin / 1 Comment

The mother of all Bernal Heights street festivals comes to Cortland this Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY: Fiesta on the Hill!

Fiesta on the Hill is a community based, high-profile and energetic Festival with an attendance of over 20,000 friends and neighbors from San Francisco‘s Bernal Heights area, neighboring communities and the greater Bay Area. The event is in its 22nd year and continues to grow.

The Festival benefits the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center whose mission it is to preserve and enhance the ethnic, cultural, and economic diversity of the Bernal Heights District of San Francisco and surrounding neighborhoods.

Cortland will be closed to traffic, so pedestrians can roam with impunity. There will be a petting zoo, pony rides, and climbing wall for the Junior Citizens, along with lots of yummy street food and artists selling stylish schwag to enhance your luxury lifestyle. See you there.

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics

Lotus Garden Vietnamese Restaurant Set to Reopen

/ Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

And now for some tasty news.

Remember that terrible three-alarm fire that devastated a building on Mission Street near Valencia last April? And how the damage forced the closure of the much-loved Lotus Garden Vietnamese restaurant?

At the time, if you recall, Lotus Garden owner Kathy Tang was very worried about the future:

The great amount of fire burned my restaurant and will take a few months for them to just rebuild the whole building. oh my god how can my family and i survive. My restaurant is my and my husband’s only income.

Six months later, things are looking up. Neighbor Amanda from the Bernalwood Intelligence Agency recently heard word that Lotus Garden was poised to reopen, and she gave our hotline a ring-a-ding-ding to share the news. Then we called Kathy Tang to confirm.

Kathy tells Bernalwood that Lotus Garden hopes to reopen on October 18, in the same location. She said the restaurant “maybe will look better” (cute!) with new paint and lighting.

“We hope our old customers who used to love us will still come see us,” she said. It’s been a rough six months, she admitted, but she had a special message for the Citizens of Bernalwood:

“Thank you to everyone who was so concerned about us,” she said.

PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics

Shoe Fairy Visits Bernal Heights Resident

/ Todd_Lappin / 18 Comments

IMG_2448.JPG

Reader Nina was visited by a veeeeery special guest this week: The Bernal Heights Shoe Fairy! Let her tell the tale:

I was visited by the Bernal Shoe Fairy a few nights ago.

I was pushing the stroller out the front door when I noticed a pair of shoes in a plastic bag, securely closed with a rubber band, placed gently in my stoop planter box. They were hot pink, which actually matches my hair color right now. I thought it was a strange coincidence. I was not surprised, however, to find such a random thing at my doorstep, as people are always leaving things in front of my house. Bits of pottery in the other planters, used condoms, random bits of clothing, you know, whatever. There was a funeral going on at the church next door, so I thought maybe someone from the church just wanted to stow the shoes there until after the service.

So I left the shoes alone overnight, expecting the owner to come back for them by the morning. Lo and behold, the shoes were still there this morning. My curiosity increased. My husband said “it’s garbage night, just toss them out”, but they looked like decent shoes. I can’t just throw out a pair of shoes. Suede, hot pink, booties with a mini heel, looked in good condition. I was starting to think that it was not a coincidence that these shoes were left on my door step. I decided to bring the shoes in for a closer inspection.

IMG_2449.JPG

PRADA. Someone left a gently used pair of PRADAS at my door! It’s gotta be the shoe fairy, right?

Only problem is that the shoe fairy got my size wrong. These are labeled a 36, which translates (thank you, Google) into a US 5.5 or 6. No way can I squeeze my giant post-baby feet into these beauties.

I write to you, Bernalwood, both to thank the shoe fairy publicly for thinking of me (I do, actually, need a pair of hot pink shoes for a wedding this weekend, if they had been the right size this would have truly been a magical gift), and to see if anyone else out there is a size 36 and in need of some hot kicks.

Angry Parents Rally at Paul Revere School

/ Todd_Lappin / 40 Comments

Vintage Coke Sign

There’s rebellion afoot at Paul Revere School on Tompkins, with a rally that was scheduled for 8 am this morning taking place to protest the policies of the school’s principal. The SF Appeal carries the story:

Parents at a school in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood are holding a rally Thursday to call for the removal of the school’s principal for what they say are unfair regulations.

The 20 or so parents at Paul Revere School, which teaches pre-kindergarten to eighth grade students, are taking issue with principal Sheila Sammon, who is in her second year at the school.

Sammon has allegedly instituted new rules such as issuing demerits for students taking bathroom trips, said Phillip Pierce, an organizer with Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, a group that advocates for low-income and immigrant families.

Any Paul Revere families care to weigh in on the controversy? Comment away.

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics

A Safety Update from PG&E About That Anxiety-Generating Gas Pipeline in Bernal Heights

/ Todd_Lappin / 7 Comments

As you may recall, last week Bernalwood introduced you to Line 109, a PG&E gas pipeline that has recently become the focus of much concern, in light of potential safety issues that could cause the line to explode in a searing fireball — much as it did here once before, in 1963.

Bernalwood has since been in contact with Paul Parmley, a representative from PG&E, who offered to answer any questions we have about Line 109 in Bernal Heights. And indeed, we had some questions. So here they are, along with the answers we received from Mr. Parmley.

Q. What detail can you provide about the section of Line 109 that runs through Bernal Heights?

Line 109 through the Bernal Heights neighborhood is 26-inches in diameter. Line 109 has a maximum operating pressure of 145 psig. The current pipeline was installed in 1981 and 1982, and it was pressure tested during construction to 550 psig for eight hours. The pipeline operates at less than 19% of the specified minimum yield strength (SMYS) at this location, providing a considerable margin of safety.

Q. Have any sections of the line in Bernal been replaced in the last 50 years?

The section of Line 109 in the Bernal Heights neighborhood, between Alemany Blvd. and Cesar Chavez, was installed in 1981 and 1982.

Q. When was Line 109 last inspected, and how?

PG&E has a comprehensive inspection and monitoring program to ensure the safety of its natural gas transmission pipeline system. PG&E regularly conducts patrols, leak surveys, and cathodic protection (corrosion protection) system inspections for its natural gas pipelines. Any issues identified as a threat to public safety are immediately addressed.

Patrols: PG&E performs regular patrolling of transmission pipelines to look for indications of pipeline leaks, missing pipeline markers, construction activity and other factors that may threaten the pipeline. Line 109 through the Bernal Heights neighborhood was last patrolled in August 2011, and everything was found to be normal.

Leak Surveys: PG&E regularly conducts leak surveys of its natural gas transmission pipelines. After the San Bruno incident, PG&E performed additional ground leak surveys for its entire natural gas transmission system. Leak surveys are generally conducted with a leak surveyor walking above the pipeline using leak detection instruments. Line 109 was last leak surveyed in April 2011, and no leaks were found.

Cathodic Protection System Inspections: PG&E utilizes an active cathodic protection (CP) system on its gas transmission and distribution pipelines to protect them against corrosion. PG&E inspects its CP systems every two months to ensure they are operating correctly. The CP systems on Line 109 were last inspected in September 2011, and everything was found to be operating correctly.

Integrity Assessments: PG&E also performs integrity assessments of certain gas transmission pipelines in urban and suburban areas. Line 109 had an external corrosion direct assessment (“ECDA”) in 2009. This assessment identified no issues requiring corrective action.

Q. Have the records pertaining to the Bernal portion of 109 been validated?

PG&E pressure test records for Line 109 in the Bernal Heights neighborhood are complete.

So there you have it. The good news is, our section of Line 109 is relatively new, and thus hopefully does not have any of the shoddy, 1950s-era welds that were blamed in the San Bruno explosion. Likwise, it seems that an active inspection regimen is in place to validate the line’s integrity.

This is encouraging stuff, and we are grateful to PG&E for for providing such detailed information. Yet given the magnitude of PG&E’s recent mismanagement of its pipeline infrastructure, and the tremendous potential for harm, unwavering diligence will be required by both Bernal Heights residents and our local authorities to ensure the pipeline will remain safe for decades to come.

As Reader Tara commented earlier this week:

Thanks for asking for a summary and please post an update whether or not you receive a reply. This article about PG&E in SF Gate yesterday got me even more pissed off and scared about this. Trying to think about what we can do as influential citizens of Bernalwood.

How to Add $350K in Home Value in Just Four Months (Maybe)

/ Todd_Lappin / 1 Comment

SocketSite says the 1,231 square-foothouse at 580 Banks was originally listed for sale in July 2010 for $848,000. Reason prevailed, however, and it didn’t sell. So after a series of dramatic price cuts, the property eventually turned over for $442,000 last July.

Fast-forward four months, and the big numbers are back in play:

Sporting a remodeled kitchen and bathroom on the second floor, two new legal bedrooms and bath on the first floor, and new windows throughout, the now four-bedroom home has returned to the market listed with 1,822 square feet for $799,000.

But will the upgraded home will sell at the upgraded price? Let’s watch and see.

PHOTOS: MLS via SocketSite