San Francisco loves all of its children – especially the eccentrics. To speak of our city without mention of the confidence men, embezzlers, reconstructed losers and spit-shined derelicts that populate its history is to somehow miss the point of why San Francisco is so special. Our blessed burg has always been a refuge for America’s oddballs and outcasts. San Francisco is the terminus of their inexorable trip westward, their last stop before deep water – and fittingly, our nation’s bellwether of the bizarre.

Market Street, San Francisco’s diagonal backbone, has long been a magnet for the aggressively strange. A common sight on Market, the celebrated Frank Chu is one of the most doggedly persistent ‘demonstrators’ in San Francisco history. Hoisting his trademark hand-lettered sign, since 1999 Frank Chu has been campaigning for the impeachment of various American presidents, all of whom he claims conspire with aliens of the “12 galaxies” to secretly film him against his will. According to Chu, this stealth footage has been broadcast throughout the universe, making him into an intergalactic film and television star; accordingly, he and his family are owed billions of dollars in unpaid royalties. To read more about Mr. Chu and the various oddballs and irregulars that have helped shape San Francisco into the unique place that it is, visit the Belle Cora web site.

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The indefatigable Mr. Chu

The indefatigable Mr. Chu