Daily Archives: August 28, 2012
The Berkeley Wire: 08.28.12
Photo: BeckCowles
New campaign office opens for Berkeley candidates (Daily Cal)
Grad student accused of taking nude photos of young girl (SCS)
Cal faced with stopping Nevada’s high-powered pistol offense (Mercury News)
UC Berkeley sees slight fall in Washington Monthly rankings (Daily Cal)
Shop Talk: The ins and outs of Berkeley businesses
HAND-CRAFTED SUPPLIES GIVE WAY TO OFFICE SUPPLIES For 36 years, Ethnic Arts has been selling wares and crafts from around the world, first on College Avenue, and from the Gilman Village Complex for the last 18 years. Change is now at hand. Foothill Partners from Sacramento has bought the complex at Tenth and Gilman Streets and has recruited Office Depot to move from its spot at 1025 Gilman into the Ethnic Arts space. Owner Eleanor Hopewell isn’t sure where the store will go next when it moves out at the end of 2012, but is determined there will be another chapter. She intends to increase the company’s online presence with a blog and more sales, and is keeping her eyes open for a new space. … Continue reading »
Berkeley Ace Hardware looks to move to Andronico’s site
Berkeley Ace Hardware, which has been in its present site at 2145 University Avenue for 50 years (and in business near that site since 1895), looks poised to move to the old Andronico’s building at 1414 University Avenue. The lease has not yet been signed by Berkeley Ace Hardware’s owners, Bill and Virginia Carpenter, but realtor Michael Korman said a “fundamental agreement” had been reached.
“We hope this will go,” Korman said. “It looks very promising.”
Berkeley Hardware’s move has been spurred by the planned Acheson Commons development, which will see the construction of 205 new residential units in the block that includes the hardware store. The landmarked exterior of Berkeley Ace Hardware will be preserved, but the closure during construction made relocation imperative if the store was to continue in business. The parking area currently behind the hardware store will also be lost in the redevelopment.
Berkeley Hardware is the oldest operating business in Berkeley aside from the University of California. … Continue reading »
UC Berkeley serves up an edible education this fall
Tonight marks the return of Edible Education at Cal, with solo instructor Michael Pollan kicking off the 16-week course. The class is open to both undergraduate and graduate students — and, like last year, some 300 free seats are reserved for the public. (See details below for nabbing a ticket to these popular sessions, which typically fill to capacity each week.)
The Graduate School of Journalism professor, and guest speakers from the food and farming world, will examine the future of farming and food and explore how the U.S.’s industrialized food system impacts the environment, health, farm and food workers, as well as the culture at large.
“Food politics are in the forefront of students’ minds these days,” said Pollan, known to tackle wonky food subjects in compelling prose in bestselling books such as “In Defense of Food.” “They like hearing from non-academics — activists, farmers, and journalists.” … Continue reading »
Review: The Expendables 2, Red Hook Summer
A few weeks ago I reached (and, thankfully, passed) one of those horrific chronological landmarks that remind us of our inevitable, coming-soon-to-a-crematorium-near-you demise. About the same time, The Expendables 2 – the sequel to 2010’s unforgettable muscle-fest The Expendables – opened in cinemas nationwide. Coincidence? I think not.
The characters in the series are, after all, played by long in the tooth, well past their prime action stars that should be collecting Social Security instead of truckloads of stolen plutonium. As for me, I’m an over the hill film critic who should probably be spending his golden years watching old Nelson Eddy-Jeanette MacDonald musicals instead of over the top shoot ‘em ups. (Anyone wanna buy me a ticket for the next TCM Classic Cruise? Mickey Rooney’s gonna be there!)
One horrific thought festered in my mind as The Expendables 2 began: I could succumb to a fatal heart attack at any moment. Could there be a less dignified death than popping one’s clogs during a matinée screening of a film in which the bad guy’s last name is ‘Vilain’? Dear Lord Baby Jesus, Great Tree Spirit, or Ever Expanding Black Hole of Nihilistic Non-Belief, I silently begged, please don’t let it happen to me! … Continue reading »
