Speaking of the Yes Men …
In organizing my photos earlier today, I happened upon these shots from one of my very first assignments with SFist, back in 2005. I had just moved to San Francisco, and the inimitable Jackson West invited me to tag along to the Haight, where the Billboard Liberation Front staged an “intervention” in the Cala parking lot at Haight and Stanyan streets. (Now site of an epic neighborhood battle over a Whole Foods-slash-condo development slated for that spot.) Just minutes after BLF operatives arrived in a white utility truck, a small crowd began to gather, rapt, with cameras at the ready; cell phones, point-and-shoots, external flashes - you name it. (Do recall that the iPhone, Tumblr, and Twitter, the greatest triumverate of online documentation tools didn’t yet exist.) The paddy wagon arrived shortly thereafter. Onlookers snapped away furiously, documenting every move of the befuddled city cops as they awkwardly wrestled an animatronic Ronald McDonald into the cargo hold while a drove of droning clown zombies bowed in homage; a roar of laughter erupted into cheers as the fuzz pulled away with Ronnie’s ass hanging out of the back. Soon the party moved across the street to McDonald’s, where the officers became even more agitated as the group of clown zombies queued up to order with a resounding chant: “WE WANT FRENCH FRIES.” Citations were smugly delivered, badge numbers were noted with indignation, and within a half hour’s time, we were all ensconced safely in the dark recesses of Murio’s Recovery Room. Welcome to SF.
