Blogs
Good morning ya’ll. For all you exhibitionists out there, according to the San Mateo County Times, SFO has introduced full-body image scanners as another option for passengers to gain security clearance. A 3-D makeup of your body is rendered on a screen, naughty bits and all. I haven’t been to the gym lately, so I think I’ll pass. Speaking of showing some skin, according to the Contra Costa Times, skin melanomas are on the rise in the United States. It’s increasing…
Rockridge. This turned out a little creepier than expected… -h
The worldwide reception of Chinese novelist Yu Hua’s fourth novel, Brothers, reminds me of the Slumdog Millionaire paradox. The country it portrays protests with indignation while the rest of the world showers it with accolades.
Winter has finally arrived, and it’s making its presence known. According to the Tribune, the rough weather has created flight delays at both SFO and Oakland airports today. And tax credits seem to be raining down in California particular hard as well lately. According to the San Mateo County Times, for whoever can manage, buying a home in the Golden State now might be a good bargain, with both state and federal incentives providing some nice savings. I suppose some profit is…
According to the Tribune, UC Berkeley journalism student Rhyen Coombs has won the Dorothea Lange Fellowship for her work and photography on what people leave behind in their foreclosed homes. And it’s nice to see empowered youth take a stand in West Oakland to improve public health.
In today’s Trib, Cecily Burt reports that despite the woes of the economic downturn, the Oakland waterfront has become “an epicurean’s delight.” As the Slow Food Movement takes a stronger hold on the Bay Area, smaller artisan food producers are replacing old factory giants like Granny Goose, and the City is banking on local, sustainable food production becoming a new economic growth area. Oakland’s economic team even organized a tour of the “Waterfront Food Trail” to highlight the local companies. Read…
Chilling with the seagulls at Lake Merritt.
The City of Oakland has been hard at work installing bike racks this last month in Oakland’s commercial districts, including 40th Street, Piedmont Avenue, College Avenue and the Grand/Lakeshore area. This project started when the city got rid of parking meters and so unintentionally also removed 4,300 on-street bike parking spots. To read more about this, see the Oakland North article by Samson Reiny, Off with their heads. The other day, I caught up with one of the city workers…
Who can think about installing alternative energy resources at home with an economy like this? Well, according to the Chronicle, some Berkeleyans are doing it as a part of the city’s new solar financing program. With some major tax credit and rebate assistance, you too can go solar too. Just hurry when the next application window opens–nine minutes was the time it took for all available spots to be filled last cycle. But for the 1 million people laid off,…