Last Sunday, I walked over to Haight St. to see and photograph Banksy's rat up above Villain's Vault. I grabbed a chai and tried to figure out how he got up there. While I watched people snap photos, I realized that The Booksmith had a great angle for framing the rat. They were setting up a stencil window already, so I contacted the Booksmith's owner to make sure "Stencil Nation" was going to be in the window and see if she could help me get on the roof. Christin said that the stencil window was in the works two weeks prior to Banksy's apearance, and she gave me the contact info for the two property owners across the street. Gary got in touch quickly and wanted to go up there with me some time later this week. Sami, who owns the Red Vic building where the rat lives, contacted me and wanted to somehow include http://www.350.org/ as part of the Banksy frenzy. Sami planned to meet me today (Thursday) to look at some books and talk about http://www.350.org/ , and Gary finally had to cut the lock to his rooftop hatch and replace it before we met today to go up there. Sami doesn't like graffiti, taking care of her beautiful Victorian and displaying messages of peace and love are her main focus, so she wasn't completely thrilled about Banksy's rat. What she was thrilled about was trying to get her own meme going via the Banksy photos from all the tourists that visit the Upper Haight. She started out by getting her manager Troy to tack on a handmade 350.org sign, which may have blown away by now. I told her that painting a logo up there might be the best idea, and live longer among the elements. I went up there with Troy to snap some photos of the rat with the sign (Sami has a vision and we all are partners!), walking out a door that leads straight to the neighboring wall. Troy is convinced that Banksy stayed at the Red Vic B&B. Two Englishmen were registered there at the time of the crime, and they needed a key to get into the building the night the stencil went up. Troy watched videos and feels that a person who said he was Banksy on one of the vids (with a mask on) looked and sounded like the same person registered at the Red Vic. It seems that if the rat stays on the wall, Sami will have a 350.org logo by it. That is her vision and wish to turn an illegal piece of graffiti into a positive message that will help save the planet. I couldn't disagree with that and told her "It's your building, so you can put whatever you want on the wall!"
