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 … Continue reading »]]>

Alex Trebek and Matt Olson, the Berkeley resident competing on Jeopardy! Photos courtesy of 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.”(...)

Read the rest of 20-year old Berkeley native competes on Jeopardy! (389 words)

By Frances Dinkelspiel. | Permalink | 13 comments |
Post tags: Alex Trebek, Jeopardy, Jeopardy College Championships, Matt Olson, Quiz Bowl, Stanford

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 »]]>

Rachel Harris soaks tule reeds on Claremont Creek. Photo: Sandy Friedland

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 then weave them. She sat on the bank of the creek to demonstrate the technique.

The students belong to the Girls Outdoor Club, which introduces them to nature. In the process, they learn about themselves, Harris told Friedland.  The club is sponsored by the Open Circle Foundation, an East Bay organization dedicated to trying  “to improve the quality of life in a community, and enhance the human experience of the natural or urban environment.”

“This sighting made my regular morning walk quite special,” said Friedland.

By Frances Dinkelspiel. | Permalink | 2 comments |
Post tags: John Muir Elementary School, Rachel Harris, Sandy Friedland

Once stuffed into an old winery on University Avenue, the collection, estimated at one million volumes, has now been sorted – and resorted and resorted – for sale.

“The bookstore on University … is a warren of rooms filled to the roof with titles from the mundane and popular to the erudite and obscure,” … Continue reading »]]>

Interior of Berkeley's Serendipity Books, which had an estimated one million books. Photos: Ken Sanders

The collection the late Peter Howard amassed for Serendipity Books was so vast that it will take Bonhams six different auctions to sell it off.

Once stuffed into an old winery on University Avenue, the collection, estimated at one million volumes, has now been sorted – and resorted and resorted – for sale.

“The bookstore on University … is a warren of rooms filled to the roof with titles from the mundane and popular to the erudite and obscure,” Catherine Williamson, Bonhams’ director of fine books & manuscripts explained in the auction catalogue. “Peter wanted people to search for their books, looking carefully and hopefully finding not only what they were looking for, but far more.

“While working to clear the store in advance of this first sale (and the others scheduled throughout this year) we have found ourselves going over shelves once, twice, three times and on the fourth time finding something else worth pulling out and putting in the catalog. I‘m sure that is as Peter would have wished it,” said Williamson.(...)

Read the rest of Rare works from Serendipity Books to be auctioned (554 words)

By Frances Dinkelspiel. | Permalink | 4 comments |
Post tags: Bonham's, Peter Howard, Serendipity Books

“Inspiring innovation,” is the theme for the daylong conference, which is organized independently from the main TED conference (Technology, Entertainment, Design) held every year around the world.

Speakers include Carl Bass, the CEO of Autodesk, Charles Holt, an actor and singer who has appeared in numerous Broadway musicals, Connie K. Duckworth, the founder of ARZU, a nonprofit … Continue reading »]]>

Zellerbach Auditorium: venue for Tedx/Berkeley

More than 1,500 people are expected to go to Zellerbach Auditorium on the UC campus on Saturday for the third annual Tedx/Berkeley.

“Inspiring innovation,” is the theme for the daylong conference, which is organized independently from the main TED conference (Technology, Entertainment, Design) held every year around the world.

Speakers include Carl Bass, the CEO of Autodesk, Charles Holt, an actor and singer who has appeared in numerous Broadway musicals, Connie K. Duckworth, the founder of ARZU, a nonprofit that helps Afghani women weavers, the journalist David Ewing Duncan, and more. UC Berkeley’s vocal group, DeCadence, will perform.

Carl Bass, CEO of Autodesk

“The whole day is supposed to be about innovation,” said Bass, a Berkeley resident. “I’m going to be talking about the speed of innovation and the trends driving it. It’s a wide-ranging talk going from 3D printing to synthetic biology to how Twitter is replacing the New York Times (for me).”

Tickets, which cost $100, are almost sold out. Those not at Zellerbach will be able to watch a live stream of the event.

For more information about the event, visit the Tedx website.

To find out about more events in Berkeley and nearby, check out Berkeleyside’s Events Calendar. We also encourage you to submit your own events.

By Frances Dinkelspiel. | Permalink | 2 comments |
Post tags: Carl Bass, Charles Holt, Connie K Duckworth, TEDx

The event is called World Book Night and its inaugural event in Great Britain in March of 2011 was phenomenally successful. Tens of thousands of people handed out a million free books to those who might not necessarily have ready access to them. The idea was for people to share their love … Continue reading »]]>

World Book Day sees people give away books. Photo: Creative Commons

Book lovers around the world are planning to give away millions of books on April 23 – and they are looking for Berkeley readers to help them.

The event is called World Book Night and its inaugural event in Great Britain in March of 2011 was phenomenally successful. Tens of thousands of people handed out a million free books to those who might not necessarily have ready access to them. The idea was for people to share their love of reading and ignite a similar passion in others.

Now World Book Night has expanded around the world to Ireland, Scotland, Germany, and the United States. The goal is for one million books to be distributed in each country.(...)

Read the rest of Love books? Help give away 1 million of them (594 words)

By Frances Dinkelspiel. | Permalink | One comment |
Post tags: Ann Leyhe, Mrs. Dalloway's, World Book Night

American Idol fans know that when a judge says “you’re going to Hollywood”, that’s very good news. These words were spoken by former Aerosmith rocker Steven Tyler to UC Berkeley undergraduate Kyle Crews recently when he auditioned for the show in San Diego, which also happens to be his hometown.

Crews, who dedicated his rendition of Monica’s “Angel of Mine” to Tyler’s fellow judge Jennifer Lopez (telling host Ryan Seacrest beforehand that he couldn’t stop thinking of her … Continue reading »]]>

American Idol fans know that when a judge says “you’re going to Hollywood”, that’s very good news. These words were spoken by former Aerosmith rocker Steven Tyler to UC Berkeley undergraduate Kyle Crews recently when he auditioned for the show in San Diego, which also happens to be his hometown.

Crews, who dedicated his rendition of Monica’s “Angel of Mine” to Tyler’s fellow judge Jennifer Lopez (telling host Ryan Seacrest beforehand that he couldn’t stop thinking of her “voluptuous lips”), made an impression despite his loud plaid shirt (“you’re going to have to lose that shirt,” said Tyler). Third judge Randy Jackson simply whooped and declared: “That’s crazy. You sound nothing like you look.”

The 19-year-old, whois an enthusiastic member of Cal’s Kappa Alpha fraternity, will now go through to the next rounds in Hollywood.(...)

Read the rest of Cal frat boy Kyle Crews a hit with Jennifer Lopez & co (46 words)

By Tracey Taylor. | Permalink | One comment |
Post tags: American Idol, Jennifer Lopez, Kyle Crews, Randy Jackson, Steven Tyler, UC Berkeley, UC Berkeley Alpha Kappa

“Knowing that Gonzalo had gone there, it’s a very big deal,” says Rodríguez, 26, from his home in Los Angeles. “In the school, they just teach classical music. It’s on the street … Continue reading »]]>

Alfredo Rodriguez makes his Berkeley debut on Sunday at Hertz Hall

As Cuba’s latest piano sensation, Alfredo Rodríguez knows he’s walking in exalted company. A graduate of the Manuel Saumell Conservatory, the same Havana institution that launched Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Manuel Valera, Rodriguez found out early on that prodigious talent could be a passport to an illustrious musical career.

“Knowing that Gonzalo had gone there, it’s a very big deal,” says Rodríguez, 26, from his home in Los Angeles. “In the school, they just teach classical music. It’s on the street that you play popular music and discover jazz. In my case, I love classical music and jazz too. Improvisation is the most important thing to me in the music. It’s my passion.”

Rodríguez makes his Berkeley debut Sunday when Cal Performances presents his solo recital at Hertz Hall. While he often tours with a trio the pianist is completely at home alone at the keyboard, a setting that allows him to fully explore his virtuosic technique and boundless imagination.(...)

Read the rest of In Berkeley: Cuban pianist sensation Alfredo Rodríguez (469 words)

By andrew. | Permalink | 2 comments |
Post tags: Alfredo Rodriguez, Avotcja, Cal Performances, La Pena, Todd Sickafoose

Just as with the new Magnes, which unveiled its new space on Sunday, BAM/PFA is to be housed in a 1920s-era 1939 building originally designed as a printing plant for UC Berkeley. It is located at 2120 Oxford Street at Center Street, in the heart of downtown.

Is it not fitting that, … Continue reading »]]>

The old printing plant in downtown that will one day be home to the Berkeley Art Museum. All photos: David Stark Wilson

Call it “beautiful decay”: these stunning photographs, taken by David Stark Wilson, show the interiors of the future home of the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA).

Just as with the new Magnes, which unveiled its new space on Sunday, BAM/PFA is to be housed in a 1920s-era 1939 building originally designed as a printing plant for UC Berkeley. It is located at 2120 Oxford Street at Center Street, in the heart of downtown.

Is it not fitting that, as the demand for printed thesis, documents, books and monographs has waned, the engine rooms that produced these volumes are now being put to good use while remaining in the cultural realm?

(...)

Read the rest of The “before” pictures: Berkeley Art Museum/PFA (183 words)

By Tracey Taylor. | Permalink | 7 comments |
Post tags: BAM/PFA, Berkeley Art Museum, David Stark Wilson, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, WA Design

When Peter Selz arrived in Berkeley in 1965, the university only had a small art gallery to display its modest collection of art. Selz had been recruited from the Museum of Modern Art in New York City to oversee the construction of a new, contemporary museum, the Berkeley Art Museum on Bancroft Way.

He did that and more. With Selz at the helm, the Berkeley Art Museum redefined many aspects of modern art and brought overdue attention to … Continue reading »]]>

When Peter Selz arrived in Berkeley in 1965, the university only had a small art gallery to display its modest collection of art. Selz had been recruited from the Museum of Modern Art in New York City to oversee the construction of a new, contemporary museum, the Berkeley Art Museum on Bancroft Way.

He did that and more. With Selz at the helm, the Berkeley Art Museum redefined many aspects of modern art and brought overdue attention to California artists.

Selz was already “something of a star,” when he arrived in Berkeley, according to Paul J. Karlstrom, whose new book, Peter Selz: Sketches of a Life, has just been released by UC Press. He had been one of the first curators to trumpet the work of Mark Rothko. His star grew even brighter in Berkeley after he put on groundbreaking shows such as “Directions in Kinetic Sculpture,” an exhibition of the Surrealist René Magritte, and Funk!, which showcased ceramicist Peter Voulkos, Bruce Conner, and other California artists. Selz, who had fled Germany during the Nazi regime, also created the Pacific Film Archive.(...)

Read the rest of Book explores impact of Berkeley Art Museum’s Peter Selz (305 words)

By Frances Dinkelspiel. | Permalink | One comment |
Post tags: Berkeley Art Museum, Bruce Conner, Deborah Kirshman, Malcolm Margolin, Mark Rothko, Pacific Film Archive, Paul J Karlstrom, Peter Selz, Peter Voulkos, Rene Magritte, Richard Nagler

Noah St. John is the antithesis of the archetypal awkward teenager. A sophomore at Berkeley High, he exudes a quiet confidence and has a magnetic stage presence.

Last year he won the 2011 Bay Area Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam after performing “Strawberry Blonde,” a piece about his crush on a girl in school, and NPR broadcasts him reading his pieces.

In a profile published in the Chronicle yesterday, St. John said: ”For me, it’s about communicating with the … Continue reading »]]>

Noah St. John is the antithesis of the archetypal awkward teenager. A sophomore at Berkeley High, he exudes a quiet confidence and has a magnetic stage presence.

Last year he won the 2011 Bay Area Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam after performing “Strawberry Blonde,” a piece about his crush on a girl in school, and NPR broadcasts him reading his pieces.

In a profile published in the Chronicle yesterday, St. John said: ”For me, it’s about communicating with the audience, not so much getting caught up in the rhythm or sound of your own poem.”

In the video above, he performs a spoken word piece about capoeira in the first round of the poetry slam he went to win. Watch out for the almost nonchalant body flips.

By Tracey Taylor. | Permalink | 4 comments |
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