Warm weather isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, rain in May can stave off a tragedy. Here’s a cautionary tale from a time in the recent (ok, distant) past.
Vandal Ruins Emmy’s New Art; Citizen Helps Capture the Culprit
Okay, this is really sad.
In a brazen, daylight attack, some wacko dude defaced the new street art installed on the side of Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack. The pieces had been commissioned by Emmy herself, apparently, but on Monday morning the murals were attacked by a vandal armed with a can of white spraypaint.
Here’s what they looked like last week, BEFORE the vandal attacked:
So, that’s the bad news. The good news is, a Bernalwood reader caught the vandal in action:
Our tipster writes:
I was walking past Emmy’s about 9:50 this morning and saw this guy brazenly defacing the new artwork in broad daylight. I didn’t confront him (I had my 20 month-old daughter strapped to my back; not sure if I would have otherwise), but I took his picture and called the police with a description.
And even better news: The SFPD got the guy. Bernalwood is told he was a regular patron at Emmy’s, and may be struggling with some sort of substance-induced loose screw or some such, but the belief is that the defacement was not an act of malice.
Still, really sad. Fingers crossed that the Emmy can restore the piece or secure a worthy replacement.
PHOTOS: Bernalwood Intelligence Agency
All Signs Point to Bernal Heights
PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics
Off the Hill: Best Cheap Eats in the Mission, Carnival Parade on Sunday, Beach Chalet Blues, and a Market Street Makeover
It’s time for Bernalwood’s Friday buffet of warmed-over nibbles from around The City:
The 20 Best Dishes Under $10 in the Mission (7×7 via MissionLoc@l)
Design Unveiled for New SFMOMA Addition (SF Chronicle)
Don’t Forget the Carnival Parade on Sunday Morning!! (FunCheapSF)
Let’s Roll: Best San Francisco Food Trucks of 2011 (SF Weekly)
The Odyssey of the Original Beach Chalet at Ocean Beach (The Richmond Blog)
Planning Underway to Make Market Street Not Crappy (Streetsblog)
PHOTO: Carnival 2009 in the Mission, by Telstar Logsitics
Indie Rock Star or Bernal Heights Civilian?
An analysis of the photos from that recent Bernal Hill video shoot by The Cool Ghouls and some other pictures in the Bernalwood Flickr Group prompted an important insight: Bernal Hill can make anyone look like an indie rock star.
Consider: The photo above shows The Cool Ghouls, a San Francisco music group. The Cool Ghouls have a myspace page, which means they are ACTUAL indie rock stars.
Now, for comparison’s sake, consider that all the people shown below are NOT indie rock stars (as far as we know) — but they look like it anyway.
A Hollywood Moment at Avedano’s
Roll cameras! Lights! Quiet on the set! Aaaaaannnd ACTION!
Reader Otto of the Bernalwood Intelligence Agency wrote in to report that a fancy-schmancy camera crew was filming on location at the fancy-schmancy Avedano’s butcher shop last night:
I just walked by Avedano’s Meats, 235 Cortland, and there is a film crew there, right now, well 5:40pm or so. Sign outside says “you agree to be filmed…” for The Cooking Channel/Lion Television. There is a rental RV parked out front with production people lounging around. The nice lady at the corner shop next door says it is a London-based cooking show, they are filming all over town, they were filming in Chinatown earlier today, and they’ve been at Avedano’s for a while. That’s all I know – pretty exciting stuff, eh?
Yes! But then again, perhaps we should be used to this sort of thing by now, with so many food celebrities setting up shop our neighborhood, eh?
PHOTO: Gail Williams
New Street Art Outside Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack
There’s some new street art to ponder while you wait for your pasta at Emmy’s Sapghetti Shack, across from the Taoist Safeway.
We’re told that both pieces are by l’artiste qui s’appelle Haculla, and both were commissioned by Emmy herself.
If there’d been one of those dorky Facebook thumbs-up “Like” buttons on the side of the building, I definitely would have pressed it.
PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics
Cheerful Bernalwood Bobos Fear Exile to Sunset District
Hey brother, do you happen to have an affordable 1 BR apartment for a cosmopolitan couple in need of a glamorous address? Homemade signs posted to Bernal Heights utility poles are practically a form of local folk art, and Going West spotted this gem:
Bernal Heights is where everyone wants to be. Saw this sign posted on a pole on Cortland and in some other places around. You’d think it was impossible to find a place to live here.
Here is a contrast-enhanced detail for the small print-challenged. Also, new Bernalwood slogan: “SAVE US FROM THE SUNSET!!!”
PHOTO: Going West
An Old Plan to Build a New Tunnel Under Bernal Heights
Along time ago, in the office of a city planner far, far away, a plan was hatched to solve San Francisco’s traffic problem.
The year was 1928, and the San Francisco Traffic Survey Committee had mapped out a vision for the future that involved widening selected city streets to adapt them for use as major arterial throughfares.
Bryant Street in the Mission was to become one such proposed artery; it would carry much of the traffic traveling between South of Market and the Peninsula via Bayshore and San Bruno Avenues. But how would all those vehicles get from Bryant to Bayshore (and vice-versa)?
Why, through the Bernal Tunnel, of course!!
Look closely, and it’s right there: A short tunnel running under present-day Franconia Street to whisk motorists through layer upon layer of our beloved Bernal Hill chert. One end of the tunnel would open roughly at the intersection of Holladay and Faith, and the other would disgorge traffic at the site of what is now that weird triangle-shaped gas station at the junction of Precita, Bryant, and Cesar Chavez.
Notice the other plans in store too. Like, for example, completing the street grid across the top of Bernal Hill via a much straightened-out Esmerelda Avenue (presumably after much of the hilltop was quarried and flattened). GENIUS! No Bernal Hill Park! No unseemly wildlife! No feral radish! Just a few dozen more homes, and a much more tidy drive around the neighborhood… all in the name of Progress.
PHOTOS: Unedited version of 1928 map via the ever-fabulous Eric Fisher
Last Night Was an Excellent Sunset for Fans of Orange and Blue
Some Lovey Dovey on the North Slope
A North Slope voyeur sent us a tale and a photo of avian romance:
Lovey Doveys were out today. This pair nests here every year, sometimes right in the flower pot, but I’ve not seen this kind of a show before. Those darn birds were at it for hours and hours while I worked in the room next to that deck. I definitely will have to scrub that table. Yuck.
Lovey Dovey
I said you’re the cutest thing that I’ve ever seen
I really love your peaches, wanna shake your tree
Lovey dovey, lovey dovey all the time
Said lovey dovey, I can’t get you out of my mindI tell you that I love you and you ought to know
I love the way your father slammed the back door
Lovey dovey, lovey dovey all the time
Said lovey dovey, I can’t get you out of my mindI get a high when you kiss me and I’m on the ceiling
My knees get weak, my heart beats, my head starts dreaming
I love you pretty baby, place no one above
Give it up, IYou’re the cutest thing that I ever did see
Love those peaches, got to have that tree
Lovey dovey, lovey dovey all the time
Said lovey dovey, I can’t get you out of my mindI get a high when you kiss me and I’m on the ceiling
My knees get weak, my head starts dreaming
Give it up, I just can’t wait becauseYou’re the cutest thing that I ever did see
I really love your peaches, got to shake that tree
Lovey dovey, lovey dovey all the time
Said lovey dovey, I can’t get you out of my mindAnd I’m walking and I’m talking but I feel alright
Said lovey dovey, I can’t get you out of my mind
Lovey dovey, I can’t get you out of my mindOtis Redding: Lovey Dovey Lyrics
Songwriters: Ahmet Ertegun;Memphis Curtis
San Francisco Declares War on Radish
Bernal Journal shared this photo taken near the south gate on Bernal Hill.
Though a quiet and seemingly humble foe, it seems our City has been overrun by marauding hordes of feral radish. To combat the Radish Menace, park maintenance officials today reached for the nuclear option.
Sources tell Bernalwood that in closed-door meetings, Fleet Admiral Alice Waters had vehemently opposed this proposal. Instead, Waters favored the use of a counterinsurgency technique that she called “The Salad Strategy.” But in the end, her plan was overruled.
Meanwhile, Bernal Journal is not pleased:
PHOTO: @bernaljournal
Cool Ghouls Film “Oh California” Music Video on Bernal Hill
Last week it was glamorous fashion shoots, and this week it’s music videos by the hipster undead…
San Franciso’s Cool Ghouls recently filmed a video for their cute song “Oh California” on our rapidly-browning hill, and the finished product is a lot of fun to see. There’s no embed for the finished video via the band’s Facebook hoo-hah, but by all means watch it right here. To grab the music, download the free Cool Ghouls EP.
PHOTOS: Kate Shay
Bernalwood 