This week, Hoodline takes a look back at highlights from the 1,500 stories we told in 2014, from bar and restaurant openings to profiles of local residents to our biggest neighborhood controversies. Today's focus: the strange and the silly.
We have an appreciation for absurdity here at Hoodline, so when a random or ridiculous story hits our laptops, we're more than happy to spread the word. Here are some of the lighter, loonier tales we told in 2014.
January
Photo: Andrew Dudley / Hoodline
On the laundry beat, we found a Groupon for some oddly-named Haight Ashbury bed sheets, and we ducked an unwanted shower of dryer lint at Hayes and Webster.
February
In February we were puzzled by two local construction sites. First, a surprisingly cheerful fence popped up at 55 Laguna. Then, further northeast at 300 Ivy, we were briefly tantalized by flyers advertising the arrival of Pizzeria Delfina in Hayes Valley (it turns out the plywood had been recycled from a site in Burlingame).
Our faith in humanity was briefly boosted by the uplifting tale of Muni riders who banded together to dislodge a car from the streetcar tracks near Duboce Park.
But our cynicism was quickly restored when a skirmish at Molotov's involving some rude patrons somehow turned into national news, all because one of said patrons was wearing Google Glass.
March
A film crew descended on Waller Street to shoot a Brazilian telenovela, while the Mayor visited Fillmore Street to celebrate ice cream.
We learned important Upper Haight secrets, like the best place to get free cardboard boxes.
We encountered various small things on the sidewalk: a miniature library on Noe, succulents on Divisadero, mutts on Market Street.
Photo: Stephen Jackson / Hoodline
A Lower Haighter achieved his dream of throwing out the first pitch at a Giants game, while we once again failed to achieve our dream of winning a dream house, this one located on Broderick Street.
April
April was all about filming in the area.
Hayes Valley hosted the filming of both the pilot for an ABC show called "Exposed" in Patricia's Green, and a Citibank commercial at Timbuk2. A Bollywood production shot in Buena Vista Park, while The Daily Show filmed a segment on the aforementioned Google Glass skirmish in the Lower Haight. As far as amateur videography goes, a homeless man in the Castro donned a GoPro camera to document his daily life, while quadcopter aerial footage of Duboce Park ruffled some residents' feathers.
Still frame from video: Tamas Kalman
Meanwhile, we learned that the Haight is full of millionaires, some of whom probably live in adorable cottages. In brown news, the Upper Haight suffered brownouts, while the Lower Haight had a minor mudslide.
Hoodline reader Molly H.
May
We explored some neighborhood secrets in May — the city's official weather station on Mint Hill, a little-known concert venue on Shrader, some obscure architectural elements on Divisadero.
We considered renting out our toilets for Bay to Breakers.
We wondered why traffic was suddenly so erratic on Oak and Fell (answer: a system malfunction), and investigated what happens when you get a trespassing citation (not a whole lot, if you use a fake name). We also trekked up to Alamo Square to watch a Taye Diggs-starring TV show being filmed.
June
Two Lower Haight bars made the news in June: a fugitive from the FBI dropped into Mad Dog in the Fog to use the ATM, while The Daily Show aired that Molotov's-inspired Google Glass segment that was filmed in April (see above).
We wrote about a couple of semi-suspicious developments — motorcycles getting tipped over (could have been the wind), and the Panhandle slides going missing (they were just getting repaired).
Finally, we fixed our eyes on the skies to profile a couple of local icons: the joyful bubbles of the Haight Ashbury Bubble Stroller, and the wild parrots of Telegraph Hill slash everywhere.
Photo: Andrew Dudley / Hoodline
July
Aspiring air guitar champions jammed at the Independent, and three-legged dogs partied in Duboce Park. But July wasn't quite as fun for the trees on one block of Pierce Street, which got infested with insects and unceremoniously removed.
In July we saw the signs, some telling us not to park in NoPa, others not to throw up in cabs. And we had some messages of our own for the adorable tourists of the Upper Haight.
Our oddest discovery of the month may have been that the real-life couple at the heart of Orange Is The New Black had their first real date at Kate's Kitchen.
Lionsgate
August
More amateur filming surfaced in August, specifically an aerial view of the Lower Haight and a hyperlapse walk through the Castro. Non-amateur filming included Paul Rudd's Ant-Man, which set up in the Panhandle and shot footage around Buena Vista Park.
In unexpected unpleasantries, a 3-story geyser erupted after a hydrant blew at Linden and Laguna in Hayes Valley, and we discovered a compendium of crap named after Haight Ashbury, making the bed sheets we found in January look downright normal.
Reader Kassie P.
September
Some unfortunate typos marred the installment of sidewalk plaques honoring LGBT luminaries in the Castro in September. The installment of new slides at the Panhandle playground, however, was a success.
We pondered the ubiquity of sandwich boards on the sidewalks of the Upper Haight, and pondered what kind of sandwich might have been eaten by the President of the Philippines as he inexplicably visited the Upper Haight McDonald's.
Photo: Jerry Gainor
We flew over the Castro (aerial footage was really hot this year), while the crew of Looking returned to film in the Lower Haight.
We also looked at the history of some of San Francisco's strangest laws, and enjoyed the strange history of the Lower Haight in 1990.
October
As Halloween approached, we spotted an insanely creative Hayes Valley security gate that welcomes trick-or-treaters and passersby alike. We listed the hottest pet costumes of the year, and learned about a pumpkin-related event that was, well, too hot for general audiences.
Speaking of which, a man climbed the Spanish American War statue at Dolores and Market and disrobed.
November
November was all about big appearances. We chatted with Garth Brooks on Divisadero, witnessed Margaret Cho busking on Haight, and welcomed Oprah Winfrey to the Castro. We also cowered in awe/fear of a giant can of diabetes in Hayes Valley.
Photo: Twitter / Shaun Willett
We also got a little nostalgic, fondly recalling the Alamo Square shoe garden.
December
The year ended on a strange note, almost entirely weather-related.
Rainfall wreaked mild havoc along the Wiggle and created a mini-lake at Buena Vista East. A collapsed sewer led to a sinkhole in Cole Valley, while another extreme wave of rain prompted us to go on storm watch.
It probably had nothing to do with the weather, but a moving truck got stuck for 10 hours at Alpine and Waller.
And finally, in cheerier news, much of the legendary collection of Santa dolls that formerly belonged to Marlena's bar returned to 488 Hayes Street, now home to Brass Tacks.
Photo: Rose Garrett / Hoodline
A fun, strange year it was indeed. Stay weird, San Francisco.
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