Posts Tagged ‘Culture’
Oakland restaurants kick off Restaurant Week with good eats and great deals
Thirty-five Oakland restaurants are participating this week in Oakland’s first Restaurant Week, a project of Visit Oakland, the city’s official marketing organization. Lauren Callahan reports.
Read MoreArtist community hosts open house party
Mike Taft isn’t an artist in the traditional sense. But when his entire live-work apartment complex was having an open house art party on Friday—one that he founded and organized—he was of course going to find a way to entertain the crowd. “I’m grinding down a piece of plywood with an angle grinder,” the industrial designer said with a grin.
Read MoreAfter the fire, Oakland’s love of tiki burns on
Until it burned to the ground, Tiki Tom’s waterfront restaurant and bar, with its giant inflatable rooftop frog and bright yellow exterior, was a difficult place to miss.
Read More“Emporium” event showcases locally made Halloween costumes, risque performers
“Back in the day, your mom made your Halloween costume,” says Samantha Stevens, a filmmaker and event planner, and the creator of Thursday night’s D.I.Y. Emporium: A Benefit for Rock Paper Scissors. “That was so much better than the little dinosaur costume you would buy at Wal-Mart.” The Emporium is a combination showcase and sale of clothing, jewelry, hats and homemade costume pieces, some of which would make a mother blush.
Read MoreLavish creations honor cycle of life and death at Fruitvale’s Dia de Los Muertos
On Sunday, hundreds of Oaklanders stepped out into the rain to pay homage to those who’ve passed on. The 14th annual Fruitvale Dia de Los Muertos Festival, put on by Oakland’s Unity Council, was a stunning study in eye-popping color as visitors perused altars set up in booths along E. 12th Street dedicated to the deceased, ate hot churros and watched traditional dances backed by a thunderous chorus of drums. Dia de Los Muertos, which means Day of the Dead, is a Mexican holiday with roots in an Aztec celebration of the goddess Mictecacihuatl, queen of the underworld. The festivities take place on November 2, the day after the Catholic celebration of All Souls Day.
Read MoreGraffiti artists do battle at DeFremery Park
Twenty four of the most talented graffiti artists from California, Chicago, Hawaii and New York battled in West Oakland last Saturday.
Read MoreChoir competes for gospel gold
Eight choirs. One night. Fifteen thousand fans. Watch the singers of Oakland’s Genesis Worship Center as they take the stage in the “Best Choir in America” competition.
Read MoreGreen Day’s rock opera hits home
Midway through the rock opera “American Idiot,” the main character Johnny, his rebel girlfriend Whatsername, and an ensemble of urban youth belt out their message of isolation in the city: “My shadow’s the only one that walks beside me, my shallow heart’s the only thing that’s beating, sometimes I wish someone out there will find…
Read MoreAround the World with the Dalai Lama
Pico Iyer, the travel writer and a decades-long acquaintance of the current Dalai Lama, has a new book about his old friend.
Read MoreSurfing the world wide couch
Would you ever let two strangers crash on your couch? Recently reporter Alba Mora welcomed two couchsurfers into her Berkeley home. Surfing the world wide couch from Alba Mora on Vimeo.
Read MoreOakland’s pushcart organizers fight illegal street vending
By Anna Bloom/Special to Oakland North Emilia Otero, and her daughter, Shelly Garza, longtime organizers of food vendors in East Oakland, say they are seeing a marked increase in illegal street vending.
Read MoreA tribute to Kasper’s: History, in hot dogs
Her water broke. They grabbed what they needed, scrambled out of the house and hit the road. The couple finally arrived, and it wasn’t a minute too soon. The husband jumped out of the car and rushed inside to the counter. “I’ll take two hot dogs please—to go!” he said. “I can’t tell you how…
Read MoreFinger-picking guitar down at Lake Merritt
I went down to Lake Merritt last weekend with my friend Jack Woodruff to shoot this audio-profile video of him working his recession-time gig as a street musician. He has played acoustic guitar for 12 years. Recently he had shoulder surgery and since he’s having a hard time finding a job in the service industry,…
Read MoreAnnual Ragga Muffins Festival in Oakland
Ragga Muffins – Stephen Marley, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Julian Marley Fox Theater – Oakland Oakland, CA Fri, Feb 20, 2009 07:00 PM ($37.50) “God is black, if not just look at your shadow. Jah bless,” usually says Lee “Scratch” Perry while walking into the stage. The 72-year-old, Jamaican born, reggae-dub shaman will bring his delayed…
Read MoreKeeping it clean: Public art in Oakland
Public art works in Oakland live the good life. While city-commissioned sculptures and murals in San Jose and San Francisco have been targets of graffiti and vandalism, curators working in Oakland’s public arts program say that here, people are mostly content to admire public art without adding their own editorial flair. But even though passersby aren’t a problem, there is another threat lurking the streets.
Read MoreBeer pong at the Stork Club
Rowdy times at the first-ever beer pong tournament in the East Bay put together by the Stork Club and the East Bay Express.
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