In the world of mind-numbingly boring jobs, swinging a sign to advertise mattress sales or open houses along Bay Area roadways ranks pretty high. So as I walked down Fourth Street by Moscone Center this morning, you can imagine my excitement to see this dude, who had taken his sign job to a higher realm -- a freakin' signage samurai. Talk about flair! We weren't alone in our amazement. Motorists waiting at the stoplight took him in with their mouths hanging open; commuters passing with iPod buds in their ears smiled at the completely unexpected skills of this maven. Spinning the sign like a basketball on his finger, slashing it around him back like a mad baton twirler, stopping it in mid-air to head-bang for a bit.
Taking his headphones off to talk with us for a second, the sign samurai handed us a card out of his wallet: "Matthew Kermode -- AArrow Sign Spinner, Spinstructor."