Uncanny Valley

A bit of quirky San Francisco. Or rather, a quirky San Franciscan named David Johnson. He can usually be found in the Wharf, behind a poorly-constructed ‘bush.’ When a muggle walks by, he will appear and shout, startling the muggle. This despite an inevitably large crowd gathered to watch people get scared. Which I think is even more funny. Even funnier is that some people get scared repeatedly, despite the Bushman always being in pretty much the same place.

Apparently some people think that someone shouting “ooga booga” is criminal and the Bushman has been given hundreds of tickets and been in court a number of times. I think this is retarded, in that sort of way that mentally-handicapped people would call retarded. Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks the Bushman is not a criminal, and many of the citations have been dismissed and he is still there performing almost every day, after about 25 years. Apparently though the Bushman employs a bodyguard in case there is an altercation. He should be the only one on that side of the street (most voyeurs are across the street to not interfere with the show).

I also hear rumours of an ‘anti-Bushman’ who is an imitator who stole the real Bushman’s bit. I don’t have any substantiation for this though.

Here is a sound clip of a typical encounter.