Mission and Highland

2011-01-07T21:14:00.000-08:00

Somebody got hit by a car while crossing Mission Street this evening. It sounded like a car hitting another car. The guy kept trying to move while he was on the ground. The guy in white is his brother. Their mom also showed up. I hope he's o.k.

2010-08-19T20:03:00.000-07:00

Caught this guy dancing with what appears to be a croquet mallet in Folsom Playground while riding my bike home from work.

2010-07-12T15:51:00.000-07:00

Another bust on Mission and Highland. Undercover officers and cars. Cops sure seem to think this guy had something bad in his car.

2010-06-12T18:10:00.000-07:00

Holly Court, Highland Ave., SF, CA

2010-06-10T14:28:00.000-07:00

Found this stencil of what I think is Cuautemoc while crossing San Jose Ave on the pedestrian bridge to Roanoke. Glen Park represent!

2010-06-01T18:51:00.000-07:00

I was awoken from a nap by the smell of campfire, so I took a look outside to see what was on fire. A house on Miguel and Arlington was on fire. Firemen, fire hydrants, chainsaws, axes, and all of that fireman stuff was in full effect. I hope everyone is o.k.

2010-04-12T17:10:00.000-07:00

It takes a crane.

2010-04-11T18:54:00.000-07:00

2010-04-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

Someone knocked over the trash can last night. Then, someone was nice enough to put some orange cones around it. Let's see how many days it stays like this.

2010-04-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

I heard fire and police sirens the other day and looked out the window to see the first picture. Then, after making some pasta and fooling around on the internets, I looked out the window to see the big white coroner's van. Somebody didn't make it.

2010-02-02T16:12:00.000-08:00

As I was pedaling my bike up Mission Street between Randall and Highland, a jogger started to catch up with me.

"Damn, I suck, I'm getting passed up by a jogger while I'm on a bike," I thought.

The jogger then said, "Excuse me, do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Sure," I replied while continuing up the hill.

The jogger explained between deep breathes, "I was jogging on 24th street when a homeless old guy pushed his shopping cart in front of me. I pushed his cart out of my way. The old guy got pissed. I said, 'I'm sorry, I don't have a problem with you, I just want to jog,' The old man picked up a metal pipe and started to swing it at me. I swung back at the old man. What would you have done in that situation?

"I would have run away," I said.

"You would have, huh?"

"Yeah, I usually don't hit people," I said.

"Neither do I, but I was just reacting toward the guy swinging at me."

"Yeah, totally sucks man. It's a fucked up situation. It happens too often in San Francisco," I said as we approached Highland and I started to take a right.

"Thanks man," replied the jogger as he continued down Mission Street.

2010-01-20T14:07:00.000-08:00

2009-11-11T18:00:00.001-08:00

Mission and Highland walked to the north side of Bernal Hill today.

2009-10-28T09:19:00.000-07:00

I'm promoting my band, Pinched Nerve on FCC Free Radio tonight from 9-10pm. I'll be drinking beer and discussing how trash, pigeons, and Mission and Highland, influence my music. You can listen online, or if you're in SF you can probably listen to it on a real radio at 107.3

2009-10-26T15:13:00.000-07:00

Who needs telephone poles when you've got a tree and a stapler?

2009-08-29T23:24:00.000-07:00

2009-08-10T17:50:00.000-07:00

Music by Pinched Nerve

2009-08-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

2009-07-16T10:53:00.000-07:00

I think it's funny that they took the bus.

2009-06-07T21:32:00.001-07:00

"The Silver Man" Visits Mission and Highland.

I've lived in this apartment for about 7 years. I've been looking out of this window for a long time and have never seen the "Silver Man." I've seen dudes like this at Pier 39 and Union Square, but never at Mission and Highland. There's a clown that lives around here. Her name is Pinky. No silver dudes.

Yesterday, during the El Salvador victory party, "Silver Man" popped out of a taxi right in front of the 49er Liquor store. It looked like he had a boom box and a stand which I assumed was his work gear. He put it on the side wall of the liquor store and walked right up the block to meet some big dude who seemed to be waiting for him. "Silver Man" gave the big dude something. Big dude gave silver man something. "Silver Man" then went into the liquor store before heading up the block.

I like to think "Silver Man" scored on Mission and Highland.

My wife disagrees. She thinks he just lives in the neighborhood. She saw him the next morning.

I think he partied all night.

2009-06-07T21:24:00.000-07:00

¡El Salvador Ganó!

These dudes were pretty happy that El Salvador beat Mexico in a futball game. Cars were honking and driving up and down the street with the El Salvador Flag flying out of their windows. These dudes tried to high five them.

2009-05-20T20:26:00.000-07:00

I'm going to take advantage of the traffic I've gotten from Mission Mission to shamelessly self-promote. My DJ partner, Jaybee, and I will be spinning records at The Argus Lounge, Friday night. It's still in the Deep Mission and only about five blocks from the corner of Mission and Highland so it counts. Drop on by, mention the blog, and I'll buy you a drink.

2009-05-19T17:42:00.001-07:00

Last night the couple above me got into a big fight. It sounded horrible. I was going to call the cops. Then, I heard the woman walk down the stairwell crying. I poked my head out the window to see her walking and weeping down the sidewalk toward her car holding an overnight bag. I watched her get into her Mustang and leave expecting the boyfriend to come running after her. I thought things were done for the night.

About two hours later, around 10:30, I was in the front room doing some work on my computer when I heard voices down below on the street. I peered behind the curtains to see a patrol car directly below. I looked down the street and saw at least three more. I switched windows to get a view of the gate to the stairwell that we share with the couple upstairs. There were at least five cops at my front gate with flak jackets and rifles. I decided to see what was up. I threw on my jacket and slippers, turned on the stairwell light, and walked down. "Out of the stairwell!" they said. I got out of the stairwell. They asked me which apartment of I was from. I immediately became worried about my wife who was still up in our flat. They didn't seem concerned and wanted to know if there was any way out of the building besides the front gate. I told them there were back stairs that emptied out to the door we were standing in front of next to the stairwell, but it couldn't be opened from the street. They asked me to open it. I asked them if it had anything to do with a domestic dispute earlier that night. They said yes, and I ran up stairs, told my wife the cops were coming, got a flashlight, and ran down the back stairs to open the door.

The cops then went into game plan mode. "Can you open your front door, so we can stand in it?" they asked me. They explained that posting a cop in our door would prevent a "fatal funnel" in which the suspect would be able to gun everybody down (fatal) in the stairwell (funnel). I immediately had visions of the recent Oakland cop massacre happening in my stairwell. "Where should we go while you're in our front door?" I asked. "As far back as possible," he replied. I ran upstairs, left the front door open for the cops, walked into the bedroom where Sandy was, closed the door behind me, walked to the far side of the room and sat on the ground.

They went into action, knocked on his door, ran upstairs, and arrested him. No gun shots. The cops later thanked me and took a statement about the fight I heard earlier.

Apparently, after the fight, the woman from upstairs drove over to the cop station and reported the battery. She must have given them her keys, because I saw them return to the apartment a little later looking for something. She must have also told them he had guns. That's why they were brandishing rifles.

He's going to have to come back to get his stuff. Not looking forward to that.

2009-04-26T14:16:00.000-07:00

Shake down on Highland and Mission. This was a while back. I've been lazy. I think it was a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. He later went on his way.

No picture, but there was a mugging on Mission and Highland Thursday night. 10:45pm. Someone's purse got swiped. No one hurt. No weapons involved. I called 911 after hearing someone on the street scream, "Help! Fire! Mugger!"

2009-03-03T20:55:00.001-08:00

Heard 3 or 5 shots last night around 10:30 while in bed. Ran to look out the front window and didn't notice anything excited except for a car speeding down my street. Told myself it was firecrackers. Five minutes later cops, fire trucks, and an ambulance showed. The street was block off and the ambulance left with someone in it.

2009-01-31T12:27:00.000-08:00

2009-01-31T12:25:00.000-08:00

2008-04-28T10:12:00.001-07:00

2008-01-13T12:36:00.000-08:00

2007-12-31T00:49:00.000-08:00

This man woke me up at 4 in the morning. He was yelling about being cut open like a pig.

2007-10-02T09:15:00.001-07:00

2007-08-14T19:44:00.001-07:00

2007-08-10T09:51:00.000-07:00

2007-08-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

2007-07-28T12:04:00.000-07:00

I have hurt my back again. Three days ago, while changing clothes to go swimming I bent over incorrectly and bam! I knew I had done something bad. I swam, but couldn't ignore the pain running down my sciatic nerve. Last time I had felt pain like this I was on my back for a month. I walked home instead of taking my bike hoping that I'd be able to walk it off. I got home, did some chores and then went out to meet some friends. The pain was there, but I was determined to have it go away. No luck. Next morning I couldn't get out of bed without spasms taking over my back side. There was not a comfortable spot be found. Ibuprofen three times a day. Maximum dosage. I walked to the Walgreen's and bought an ice pack and spent the rest of the day watching movies from my bed, pausing only to get up and do the exercises my physical therapist had given me over three years ago.

It's been three days and things seem to have improved. I can sit upright in a chair, but if I slouch I'm thrown into spasms. Yesterday, I was unable to bend over and tie my shoes. I haven't tried that yet today. That will be my new goal. I have moved from my bed to the living room couch. I get better wireless reception here. No spasms yet today. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

2007-07-02T22:40:00.000-07:00

2007-05-31T16:08:00.001-07:00

2007-05-29T20:37:00.001-07:00

2006-04-02T01:06:00.000-08:00

Hit-run suspect surrenders to police
Mission altercation led to man's death at service station

2006-03-31T19:31:00.000-08:00

A post damaged by a car involved in the murder at the Shell Station. (photo courtesy of SF Chronicle)

The damage has now been covered up for repairs and turned into a memorial for the victim.

A close up of one of the messages on the memorial. I walked past the gas station a second time on my way back home from a walk. There were about 15 people gathered around the memorial writing messages on it.

2006-03-31T15:56:00.000-08:00

On the way home from work yesterday we noticed that Richland was completely cordoned off by the police. There were flares set up at the ends of the street and yellow police tape strung across the road. We tried to catch a glimpse of what was going on but couldn't figure it out. So, we headed home, parked the car, and tried to forget about it. We then heard a police helicopter flying overhead. I couldn't stand it anymore and decided to check it out. An older lady standing on the corner carrying her groceries told me someone was killed down the street at the Shell station, but she had no idea why the cops were near us on Richland. I walked towards the liquor store on the corner of Richland and Mission and took some pictures. I then headed into the liquor store to pick up a six pack and find out what went down. The stock boy told me in his broken English that there was a car accident down the street. That didn't clear anything up, so I went up to the register and tried to get some info from a lady buying cigarettes. She said that the car involved in the killing at the Shell station was found parked on the Richland bridge. The cops had closed off the street and were questioning everyone. She was concerned that her neighbor, who was wanted by the cops for a completely separate issue, was going to get busted. "The Feds knock on his door every week," she said. I headed back home and found the old lady still on the corner. She had her groceries all over the sidewalk; she must have been searching for something. I relayed to her the information I had learned. We both told each other to stay safe.

Later that evening Sandy and I went out for a walk to meet some friends. We passed the Shell station. It had yellow police tape around it's perimeter and a t.v. crew was setting up cameras. A brick post had clearly been hit by a car and was in pieces. About six blocks farther into our walk we passed by a funeral home on Valencia and 26th. There were at least 150 gang members in front of the funeral home whistling, yelling, and conversing. Every single one including grandmothers was wearing red and white. Lots of baseball caps and 49ers jackets. I've never seen anything of the sort in my life. It was straight out of a bad cop drama. Trying not to stare and give anyone a reason to talk to us, we walked past the crowd. We noticed a cop car at the end of the block watching everything. We decided to take a cab home that night instead of walking.

Here are the newspaper articles about the incident at the Shell station and the Richland bridge. The funeral home on Valencia is also mentioned, although there is no mention about gangs.
Man allegedly runs over another man at SF gas station
Arrest in deadly gas station hit-run

2006-02-07T16:41:00.000-08:00

Something just went down. Sandy and I had just crossed the bridge towards our place as we noticed a bunch of the high school hoods on the sidewalk. A truck coming towards us stopped and the people within it started yelling at the hoods. All I heard was, "Fuck you!" and "Nigga." The hoods started to bolt. Sandy and I both had the feeling that we were in the middle of shit going down. Since I was riding shotgun I simply ducked down hoping to avoid any gunshots. Sandy pulled the car over to the opposite sidewalk. Within minutes everyone was gone from our block. Sandy took off on an errand she had to make and I walked to the corner to check things out. Quite a few concerned non-hoods were hanging out in front of the corner store and pointing down the street. I went upstairs to the flat in order to check things out better. Cops eventually came, the concerned non-hoods told them what had happened and pointed them towards different directions. Cop cars have been whirring up and down the street. It's a warm day so there are all sorts of people on the street.

2006-01-17T09:22:00.000-08:00

The picture above is the view outside my dining room window. It looks out onto Mission street. I've zoomed in on the lines for the buses. If you look closely you'll notice a bunch of cassette tape hanging onto the line kind of blowing in the wind. It's been up there since New Year's Day. I have no idea how it got there, but I don't think it's coming down any time soon. There's also a big bunch of it wrapped around the sign on the street near the crosswalk that says, "Stop for Pedestrians."

2006-01-14T11:04:00.000-08:00

Last night I made some popcorn, but didn't have any butter so I went across the street to the corner store to purchase some. I bought my butter and headed outside to cross the street towards my flat. Some guy in a big puffy jacket and fur lined hood blurted out "T-Mobile for sale!" as I started to cross the street. First time anyone has tried to sell me something on my block.

2005-12-12T20:44:00.000-08:00

I just heard two guys yelling "Nigga!" I wasn't worried at first. I thought they were friendly voices. "What up Nigga?" I heard someone say again. Like, two friends who hadn't seen each other for a while. So I ignored them. Then I heard, "You little bitch. Come on Nigga. What up?" Friends were not becoming reacquainted. So, I decided to look out the window and noticed a Suburban or some sort of SUV pulled over to the side with it's doors open. Two big guys were standing with their arms up in the air indicating what they were saying (What up Nigga?). I didn't get a chance to figure out who they were yelling at. I watched them get back into their car and take off.

2005-12-11T18:03:00.000-08:00

Saw a car on fire yesterday. Big brown flames. I happened to be looking out the front window when I saw a cop car blocking the south bound lanes on Mission Street. It had it's lights on and I noticed people on the far side of the street moving quickly away from the area and others pointing. I immediately assumed it was a shooting until I saw white white smoke in the street. I couldn't see where it was coming from so I put my shoes on and went downstairs. That's when I saw the car on fire. A Mexican was directing traffic off of Mission Street onto Highland. A fire truck came and put it out. An officer came up to relieve the Mexican from his duties. The Mexican hugged the officer.

Called the Cops Again

2005-12-05T12:18:00.000-08:00

Last night, after getting home from a long drive, I was in my front room putting together my stereo system. There was a group of eight kids right underneath my flat in front of the laundromat. I looked out the window and noticed about eight of them hanging out talking on their cell phones and smoking Swisher Sweets. I went back to whatever I was doing, but was distracted when I heard the sound of spray paint.

I turned the lights off inside the house and peered through blinds to see what was happening. There was a tag on this big green metal box that the phone company people open up and peer into every once in a while. I decided to call the non-emergency sfpd number and report the spray painting.

The operator answered and asked me the usual questions like, "How many are there?", "What race are they?", "What are they wearing?", "Where Are They Now?" The operator asked for my name and number, and then asked me to stay on the phone until an officer arrived. That seemed surprising. I've called the cops a few times and they'd never asked me to stay on the line and this includes the time I called about a shooting that was going on right outside my window.

So, the kids started walking across the street to the liquor store when a squad car pulled up. Two of them tried to walk into the liquor store but the cop went in a pulled them out. They then had about five kids sit on the ground and put their hands behind their backs. Two more squad cars then showed up. The operator told me I could hang up, but two minutes later she called back and asked if I could see what was going on. She asked if they had the right people. So, with the lights out in the front room and me peering through the miniblinds I told them that one of the guys they had wasn't involved and that one of the girls standing around was. I could hear the person on the phone speaking through the cops' radios telling them what I had said. I was told thanks you and hung up.

They called again. The seargeant wanted to talk to me. The operator told me they'd take the suspects around the corner so I could meet with officers. I declined. No way was I walking out in my neighborhood and talking to the cops after five dudes had been made to sit in the sidewalk.

I stopped peering through the miniblinds and went to my bedroom and tried to watch t.v. I've called the cops after seeing groups of kids totally knock shit over in the corner store without any response from the law. This time...three squad cars appear and they want to meet with me.