widdershins

San Francisco Municipal Parking Assistance Corps

Of the many types of San Francisco street crazies, one of the most rapidly growing segments is the volunteer parking helper. He's standing in the street in front of oncoming traffic, directing cars into empty parking spaces, in hopes of earning a handout. Some of these are more crazy than others, imagining that they are some sort of air traffic control for street parking, jabbering and gesticulating wildly. Others are seemingly sober and pleasant, with a smile and a 'god bless'.

Telling the crazies from the rest of us on the streets is getting harder and harder thanks to bluetooth headsets and people who are obsessed with talking on the phone. No longer is a lone someone talking out loud a certifiable loon....

Uphill Both Ways

Remember way back when you'd watch Saturday Night Live with your friends (I mean way back, like in the 70s and early 80s) and laugh and laugh at the skits?  Sketch comedy lives on in San Francisco with Uphill Both Ways, a comedy troupe (mostly a duo) that fills its small theatre for hour-long bouts of non-stop laugh-inducing skits.  These guys are good.  They write and perform their own material (it's not improv, at least not intentionally), including amusing videos, some of which you can also see on their site.  This Friday night (at their regular haunt, the Dark Room in the Mission) they are performing a rare encore of their most-recent show, Stuff and Things.  If you're in San Francisco, highly recommended. A few weeks later, and I'm still laughing about "Brain Freeze", their unexpectedly memorable skit about what happens when you eat ice cream too fast.  Check it out.