Category Archives: My favorite things…

EARTH Sticker

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Saw this cool bumper sticker the other day in the Redwood Park parking lot… As I was snapping the picture, I heard the car beep and unlock and realized its owners were behind me and approaching the car. I immediately felt guilty and suspect! But the 12 year old boy was smiling at me, as was his mom, who simply asked, “Would you like one?”

Yes please!!

Her friend (artist Philip Kohn) created the sticker as a means to raise money for non-profit organizations working to protect biodiversity and wilderness. Seems fitting that I would come across this in our lovely protected Redwood Park, which undoubtedly is one of my favorite things about Oakland.  In addition to the redwood groves (just a few miles from downtown), the park contains over 1800 acres of evergreens, chaparral, streams, and grasslands and is home to many critters including the rare golden eagle! This according to their literature… I can’t say I’ve ever seen one.  Though I did see a great horned owl once.

If you want to support his cause, or just have a cool bumper sticker, you can pick them up here: http://www.earthsticker.com/

Grand Lake Love.

So I spent a good chunk of my Saturday meandering around Lake Merritt and the Grand/Lake area… I started at the Farmers Market which is simply awesome and definitely one of my favorite things about Oakland.  It’s a wonderful combination of fresh farm produce & flowers, prepared foods, artisan goods, live music, and more.  They even have a stand with massage therapists & tables ready to ease any remaining work-week stress right out of you!  I made my way to the food court where a great lo-fi funk band was playing… I think they were called Sprocket (not sure about this though).  Check out these little tykes… they were totally groovin’!

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Then I pedaled around the lake… and at 11:45am sharp, the bell tower of The Lady of the Lourdes church (featured last week) started chiming what I believe is a portion of one of Beethoven’s symphonies… it played for several minutes, which I honestly had never heard before. Pretty cool.

As I rounded the next corner, I came upon a group of about 50 people on a lawn section adjacent to the lake, doing the Thriller dance.  Yes, Michael Jackson’s Thriller.  They were doing it without the music, but anyone who knows the video (is there anyone who doesn’t?) knows this dance!  A group of random passerbys (myself included) stopped to gawk and laugh.  It was quite hilarious.

What I’ve since learned, is that this group (and others) are preparing for an attempt at the Guinness World Record for the largest simultaneous worldwide dance to Thriller on October 24th (called Thrill the World).  It’s just a week away folks, so if you want to get in on this ridiculous fun and dress up like a zombie and get down with the funky grooves, there’s one last rehearsal scheduled for this Thursday, October 22nd.  Click here for full rehearsal schedule as well as a link to practice the dance at home.  How can you not love this???

After leaving the zombies-in-training, I parked my bike and spent a lovely time strolling through The Gardens at Lake Merritt. It’s amazing how many people cruise the lake every day – bicycling, pushing their strollers, running their dogs – but how few people know of this gem. Located on the north side of the lake within Lakeside Park, the gardens are comprised of a seven-acre collection of themed gardens. I’ll have more info on this in the next couple of days, and will be focused most of this week on all the cool things that are happening around Lake Merritt. It’s really the heart of our city.

The Crucible

How can I write about metal art in Oakland and not speak of The Crucible? It’s an institution, and one of my favorite things about Oakland. This is what makes Oakland cool. That you can throw a festival of fire next door to BART, in which a column of fire is sprayed 80 feet into the air, with the bart tracks & trains running right by. What do the people from Walnut Creek think?!!

This multi-disciplinary non-profit facility is responsible for a good chunk of art at Burning Man, the annual Fire Arts Festival in Oakland (which moved to a new location near Fruitvale this past summer), and a slew of classes at their West Oakland Bart oriented location… everything from blacksmithing (of course), to ceramics, fire-dancing, moldmaking, and much more. Please check out their links, because I simply can’t tell you enough to truly do them justice.

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The word ‘crucible’ refers to a vessel or container used for heating substances to high temperatures. Below is an example of one they have sitting out front… It’s comprised of thick steel wrapped around an interior of concrete, and it is huge!

Another meaning of the word is “a place, time, or situation characterized by the confluence of powerful intellectual, social, economic, or political forces.” (dictionary.com) The Crucible truly is this, for they define themselves as a collaboration of Art, Industry, & Community, and rightfully so.

Their location in a historically depressed part of West Oakland rejuvenates the area with art, commerce, and education, accessible to all through classes, community events & service projects, and more..

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They recently received an NEA grant that allowed them to install a new ramp, making the facility wheelchair accessible. See below all the intricate metal work adorning it, icons of bay area history, glossed in fire-engine red enamel … our current city logo (the oak tree), the Port of Oakland, the Fox Theater, the Tribune Tower, the Bay Bridge, the Black Panthers, Rosie the Riveter and more.

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“To ignore evil is to become an accomplice to it.” ~ MLK Jr.

September 1, 2009

IMG_0428This gorgeous and profound mural is located on Lakeshore avenue under the 580 overpass.  It’s nestled between my favorite movie theater (The Grand Lake Theater, which never shows commercials and still hosts it’s wurlitzer organist on Friday and Saturday nights) and my favorite farmers market, the incredible Grand Lake Farmers Market on Saturdays from 9am to 2pm.

I was unable to find any history on the mural other than the painted inscription which states it was painted by Susan Greene, Meera Desai, students from Westlake Junior Highschool, members of Project YES and the East Bay Conservation Corps, with funding from the California Department of Conservation, EBRPD, and a MLK Jr. Grant.

If anyone has more information, please send me a comment.