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flaneursI was busy in June, so I decided to do the June challenges in July. I don't expect credit or anything :-)
Theme I, option A says:
"Get on the first bus that comes along (and that you're able to get onto).
While travelling on the bus, look out of the window until you see something interesting.
Get off at the next stop, go back, and thoroughly investigate the interesting thing"
I started from home, in downtown San José, California. I live right on a transit mall street, so I literally walk out the door and see a bus stop with six or seven different bus lines. VTA buses are terrible, but even on a Saturday afternoon, where I live is enough like a transit hub that there are buses every few minutes. I only had to wait a minute or two before the 23 bus (destination: De Anza College, in Cupertino) arrived...
...and then sat on the bus for twenty minutes while the bus driver informed a man who'd boarded the bus that he had to button up his shirt, the man unleashed a torrent of racist and profane verbal abuse on the driver (the driver was a young black man, the passenger was an older Latino man) and refused to leave when requested. When the driver called the cops, the passenger did as well and spent at least six minutes (I recorded it on my phone) telling the 911 dispatcher that the bus driver had asked him to button up his shirt, which was an outrage, because he (the passenger) paid $137.30 per month for car insurance with Geico; his wife was with him; he wasn't going to rape anyone or get anyone pregnant; the driver had probably had some "Pepsi or cocaine" last night; and the driver probably was mistaking him for somebody else who he'd seen in prison. When the cops finally came, the guy and his wife got off the bus voluntarily and could be heard yelling at them that the driver was an "idiot" as the bus was leaving.
That was the most interesting thing that happened on the whole trip.
The bus heads west down San Carlos St. in San Jose, then turns onto Winchester Blvd. and onto Stevens Creek Blvd. to enter Cupertino. Stevens Creek is a land of malls (upscale Santana Row and downscale Vallco), strip malls, car dealerships, and not a lot else. I wasn't seeing much that made me want to get off the bus until I saw a place with two rainbow flags over a nondescript door, between a smoke shop and an adult shop. Googling revealed that the place, "Tinkers Damn", was one of the more prominent gay bars in the South Bay. That was interesting but it was around 4:30 PM and I didn't feel too much like drinking, so I stayed on the bus. Nothing much else that was interesting at all except a few restaurants, but I wasn't hungry and didn't have money for food anyway.
When the bus approached its final stop, De Anza College, I noticed a sign announcing the weekly flea market in the main college parking lot -- 10 to 4 on Saturdays -- and while it was 5 PM, I figured maybe there would still be some stalls open, so I got off the bus. Not really; there were tents, but all the booths were packing up and leaving. I'd brought my bike on the bus with me, so I rode around the college campus looking for something interesting. Then I found a a fountain that was mildly interesting:
I didn't put myself in the photos out of vanity, I swear -- my phone was dead and I had to take the pictures awkwardly using my MacBook camera.
It's a cool fountain, but hard to see in the picture. The part you can see pretty well looks like a "D" from the other side, so I wondered if was a "D" for "De Anza".
That was pretty boring, wasn't it? Then I rode my bike home, which I think was no slower than the bus.
Theme I, option A says:
"Get on the first bus that comes along (and that you're able to get onto).
While travelling on the bus, look out of the window until you see something interesting.
Get off at the next stop, go back, and thoroughly investigate the interesting thing"
I started from home, in downtown San José, California. I live right on a transit mall street, so I literally walk out the door and see a bus stop with six or seven different bus lines. VTA buses are terrible, but even on a Saturday afternoon, where I live is enough like a transit hub that there are buses every few minutes. I only had to wait a minute or two before the 23 bus (destination: De Anza College, in Cupertino) arrived...
...and then sat on the bus for twenty minutes while the bus driver informed a man who'd boarded the bus that he had to button up his shirt, the man unleashed a torrent of racist and profane verbal abuse on the driver (the driver was a young black man, the passenger was an older Latino man) and refused to leave when requested. When the driver called the cops, the passenger did as well and spent at least six minutes (I recorded it on my phone) telling the 911 dispatcher that the bus driver had asked him to button up his shirt, which was an outrage, because he (the passenger) paid $137.30 per month for car insurance with Geico; his wife was with him; he wasn't going to rape anyone or get anyone pregnant; the driver had probably had some "Pepsi or cocaine" last night; and the driver probably was mistaking him for somebody else who he'd seen in prison. When the cops finally came, the guy and his wife got off the bus voluntarily and could be heard yelling at them that the driver was an "idiot" as the bus was leaving.
That was the most interesting thing that happened on the whole trip.
The bus heads west down San Carlos St. in San Jose, then turns onto Winchester Blvd. and onto Stevens Creek Blvd. to enter Cupertino. Stevens Creek is a land of malls (upscale Santana Row and downscale Vallco), strip malls, car dealerships, and not a lot else. I wasn't seeing much that made me want to get off the bus until I saw a place with two rainbow flags over a nondescript door, between a smoke shop and an adult shop. Googling revealed that the place, "Tinkers Damn", was one of the more prominent gay bars in the South Bay. That was interesting but it was around 4:30 PM and I didn't feel too much like drinking, so I stayed on the bus. Nothing much else that was interesting at all except a few restaurants, but I wasn't hungry and didn't have money for food anyway.
When the bus approached its final stop, De Anza College, I noticed a sign announcing the weekly flea market in the main college parking lot -- 10 to 4 on Saturdays -- and while it was 5 PM, I figured maybe there would still be some stalls open, so I got off the bus. Not really; there were tents, but all the booths were packing up and leaving. I'd brought my bike on the bus with me, so I rode around the college campus looking for something interesting. Then I found a a fountain that was mildly interesting:
I didn't put myself in the photos out of vanity, I swear -- my phone was dead and I had to take the pictures awkwardly using my MacBook camera.
It's a cool fountain, but hard to see in the picture. The part you can see pretty well looks like a "D" from the other side, so I wondered if was a "D" for "De Anza".
That was pretty boring, wasn't it? Then I rode my bike home, which I think was no slower than the bus.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-08 01:42 pm (UTC)That was the most interesting thing that happened on the whole trip.
Well, I'd say that definitely counts as an eventful trip, heh. Over here supermarkets had a thing a couple of years ago about stopping people going shopping in their pyjamas (the branch near one of my friends already had a sign requiring footwear of some sort and no male toplessness).
I found the fountain on waymarking.com, which led me to the college website:
http://www.deanza.edu/campus_art/fontana.html
no subject
Date: 2012-07-10 01:59 am (UTC)Broken empires seem appropriate for Silicon Valley.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-10 08:30 am (UTC)Vote Emperor Norton!