Daily Archives: February 6, 2012
The Berkeley Wire: 02.06.12
Berkeley’s Telegraph Avenue hit by hard times, needs a makeover [NYT]
When Berkeley’s Home Street was a street of homes [Patch]
Lost passport in Paris connects student to ’49 UC Berkeley alumna [UCB]
Future funding for city’s childcare programs under threat [Daily Cal]
The making of a Cal feature film: high art and rubber duckies [UCB]
Les Waters bids Berkeley Rep adieu with “Red” [Stark Insider]
Berkeley rapper Lil B pays homage to East Bay skateboarder [Patch]
Photo: Get to the point, Dance, by 2812 photography/Berkeleyside Flickr pool.
Telegraph site owner plans for temporary resurrection
The owners of the old Sequoia Building site on the corner of Telegraph and Haste last week submitted plans to the city of Berkeley to enable them to reopen Raleigh’s and Café Intermezzo, two restaurant businesses that were gutted by the fire that destroyed the 1916 building on November 18th, 2011. If approved, the plans would also allow them to launch Gabriella’s, a restaurant they owned but had not yet opened on the site, and which also burned down.
Designs, drawn up by Oakland architect Kirk Peterson for owner Greg Ent, call for three canopy-like tents fixed to concrete pads, along with three shipping containers which would be used to house kitchens. The idea is to resurrect the restaurants on a temporary basis while planning a new apartment building to replace the one lost to the fire.
“It will have an ad hoc quality, but could be really fun,” said Peterson. ”It’s a unique application and no-one has ever done this here which puts it into its own category. The owners want to get their businesses up and running again and the city is interested in moving things along as quickly as possible to help the neighborhood.” … Continue reading »
20-year-old Berkeley native competes on Jeopardy!
In 2004, when Matt Olson was 12, he was captivated by Ken Jennings, the 30-year old man who won 74 Jeopardy! Games in a row. It was the longest-winning streak ever on the popular game show and Jennings’ success catapulted him into national celebrity.
Ever since then, Olson, now 20, has wanted to compete on Jeopardy! When he was a student at Berkeley High, he took the online test to get on the show, but didn’t make it. In 2010, when he was a freshman at Stanford, he took the test another time. Again he failed.
But in 2012, Olson beat 12,000 other college students to win a spot on the Jeopardy! College Championship, which runs through February 14. If Olson triumphs (and he is contractually required not to reveal the outcome of the contest) he will win $100,000. His first appearance on the show is Tuesday Feb. 7. The show airs at 7 pm on KGO, channel 7.
“I’ve watched Jeopardy! Since I was a kid,” said Olson, now a sophomore at Stanford majoring in Symbolic Systems. “I’ve wanted to be on the show for a really long time. It’s pretty cool. I got my dream.” … Continue reading »
Family dynamic unravels in Aurora’s “Body Awareness”
Annie Baker tackles heavyweight and potentially sensitive subjects in “Body Awareness”, which premiered at the Aurora Theatre last Friday. The sharply written, tightly wound play manages to be at once entertaining, funny and thought-provoking, which is testament to the skills of the 28-year-old playwright.
We open with feminist professor Phyllis (Amy Resnick) on the podium addressing an imaginary, as well as the real, audience. The academic is orchestrating “Body Awareness Week” on a small Vermont college campus. She and her partner Joyce (Jeri Lynn Cohen) are hosting Frank, a guest artist (Howard Swain) who specializes in taking nude photographs of women. Also in the household is Joyce’s 21-year-old son Jared (Patrick Russell), who, the couple believe, has Asperger’s Syndrome.
The family dynamic, already troubled, reaches breaking point after the arrival of Frank who swaggers through every scene sporting a permanent Cheshire cat grin, managing to be likable and vaguely creepy at the same time. … Continue reading »
Unexpected sighting: Basket weaving on Claremont Creek
Sandy Friedland, who walks all around Berkeley, spotted an unusual sight Saturday on her early morning stroll.
Claremont Creek south of John Muir School is usually fenced off to keep children away from the water. But Rachel Harris, who teaches gardening and science at John Muir Elementary School had opened the fence to teach basket weaving to a class of 15 fourth and fifth grade girls. Harris was showing her students how to soften the tule reeds in water and … Continue reading »
