Daily Archives: November 10, 2011
Berkeley firefighters tend to smoking van in the Elmwood
Two Berkeley fire engines were in attendance at around 8:00pm Wednesday in the 2900 block of Piedmont Avenue in Berkeley’s Elmwood neighborhood due to a report that smoke was pouring out of the windows of a white van parked at the corner of Piedmont and Ashby.
Firefighters used axes to break windows as well as the lock on the rear doors of the van, after which point more smoke billowed out and a water-like liquid could be seen … Continue reading »
Occupy Cal arrests total 40 as protesters plan next moves
Following Wednesday’s daytime Occupy Cal protests on campus, which drew a crowd of 3,000-plus, and the subsequent flare-up between protesters and police in the evening, Thursday saw a relatively calm day as demonstrators regrouped and planned further action.
There was one arrest on campus this morning, according to UC Berkeley spokesperson Janet Gilmore, who said an individual not affiliated with the campus interfered with a police officer taking down a tent.
“It has been fairly peaceful all day, individuals just gathered around the plaza, teach-ins held, and so on. We are hearing word of some sort of gathering on the plaza at 5 or 6 today,” she said.
Chancellor Robert Birgeneau expressed support for the Cal Occupy cause. In a message to the Cal community he spoke of yesterday’s demonstrations: “We compliment the organizers and speakers for setting an example of peaceful protest and mobilization. As we informed the campus community earlier this week, we understand and share the concern of the Occupy movement about the extreme concentration of wealth in US society and the steady disinvestment in public higher education by California and other States.” … Continue reading »
The Berkeley Wire: 11.10.11
Buy books at Mrs Dalloway’s next weekend to benefit Berkeley High [BHS]
Berkeley’s solar calendar rocks [Berkeley Daily Planet]
Shades of 1969 Berkeley in Occupy protests [In These Times]
Penn State and Berkeley: A tale of two protests [The Nation]
Berkeley unveils drug drop box [Oakland Tribune]
Some of Bach’s sweetest stuff on tap at UC Berkeley [Coco Times]
Photo: One very strong shadow, by A Ess Bee/Berkeleyside Flickr pool.
Berkeley pastor bans protesters from church duties
Members of the congregation at St Joseph The Worker Church in Berkeley who have been holding regular protests at the church since the early summer, have been told by the church’s pastor, Father John Direen, that they can no longer serve as ushers, lectors or eucharistic ministers.
The group, which is about 20-strong, is unhappy with the way Direen has been running the church since he took over more than two years ago. They say they need a pastor who will communicate with them and demonstrate a clear vision and leadership.
The group has been meeting weekly and sending letters to both Father Direen and the Bishop of Oakland, the Most Rev. Salvatore Cordileone, requesting meetings, and asking that the church community be more involved in setting the future direction of the church which is facing financial difficulties. … Continue reading »
Filmmaker favors multiple dimensions, timeframes
Berkeley-based filmmaker Peter Chang likes breaking boundaries in his work, be it in space or time. His latest oeuvre, Deus Ex Homine, is a beautiful stereoscopic 3D motion-controlled time-lapse short film. In it, the camera sweeps around the Bay Area: taking in server farms in Silicon Valley, indoor gardens, Berkeley’s Gather Restaurant, and Oakland artist Jeremy Mayer at work building astonishingly lifelike robots out of old typewriter parts.
Chang, who majored in English at UC Berkeley and worked for many years as a photo-journalist, established his production company Cinefugue in San Francisco in 2006. He said it focuses on innovative uses of cutting-edge technology with themes related to humanity’s future and the young generation. A previous project, Lightscapes, a TV show for Discovery HD Theater, was the first television program to feature mostly time-lapse photography.
Chang says he likes to think of time-lapse photography as a ”god’s eye” technique that compresses time. “It’s a way to get people thinking about the future, by making it seem as if time passes quickly. … Continue reading »
After protests and arrests, calm returns to Cal campus
The UC Berkeley campus was calm this morning after a night of protests and altercations with police that resulted in 39 arrests, including one faculty member, and several injuries, although as yet there have been no reports of protesters being taken to hospital.
A couple of dozen protesters with placards, and one tent, could be seen in front of Sproul Hall at around 9:00 am Thursday.
Captain Margo Bennett, spokesperson for the UCPD, said two of the 39 arrests were made for battery of a police officer. The remainder were for interfering with police officers, failure to disperse/unlawful assembly. Capt Bennett confirmed that UCPD police officers were joined by officers from the Alameda County Sheriff department and, late on Wednesday night, by officers from the Oakland PD.
The Berkeley Police Department managed the protest when it went onto Berkeley streets, including Telegraph Avenue, Wednesday afternoon, but were not involved in any on-campus activities, according to BPD Sgt Mary Kusmiss.
The Occupy Cal Day of Action on Wednesday was held to to demonstrate against public education budget cuts and tuition hikes, and to show solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement. … Continue reading »
Black Sabbath (not that one) and Abraham Inc in Berkeley
When it comes to exploring interesting music, this week is good for the Jews.
Tonight, Josh Kun presents “Black Sabbath: The Secret Musical History of Black Jewish Relations” at the JCC East Bay, a mind-expanding excursion into little known territory where African-American artists interpreted Jewish liturgical and secular Yiddish material. The director of USC’s Popular Music Project, Kun is an incisive critic and scholar who is a founding member of the Idelsohn Society for Musical Preservation, which compiled and produced the multimedia presentation “Black Sabbath” that ran last year at the Contemporary Jewish Museum.
On Sunday, Cal Performances presents Abraham Inc., a collaboration spearheaded by clarinetist David Krakauer, trombonist and bandleader Fred Wesley and accordionist and beat architect Socalled. The Montreal-based Socalled (aka Josh Dolgin) grew up grooving to Wesley’s insistently funky riffs on classic James Brown tracks sampled by hip hop artists, and he arranged a meeting in 2006 between Krakauer, a frequent creative partner, and Wesley. … Continue reading »
Neighbors welcome transformation of eyesore on Arch St.
By Sylvia Rubin
On a short sleepy stretch of Arch Street, between Eunice and Spruce, a bold jungle-themed mural is materializing on the back wall of a crumbling concrete carport.
It’s the work of Beth Emmerich, a tattoo artist from San Diego, who is filling the space with a giant Ganesh, India’s elephant-headed god.
This is only Emmerich’s second mural ever (the first was a Day of the Dead skeleton in West Oakland). She created that artwork at the corner of Campbell and 24th Streets off Mandela Parkway last June.
A trained fine artist and a tattooist for more than a decade, Emmerich had never spray painted anything before, but she’s a complete convert now. “This is so much quicker than tattooing. I’m having so much fun, I’m really thinking about going in a mural direction with my art. Every time you pick up a different medium, your brain starts working in new ways.’’ … Continue reading »
