InBerkeley

The Cal Recreational Sports Development Fund is the fundraising program for Cal Recreational Sports that helps provide camp scholarships to children of families living in the East Bay who face economic challenges.

The department receives only limited state and campus funding — we suspect more limited than ever this year — and relies on donors and fundraising to fund its Camp Scholarship Program.

On Sunday, October 11, Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto’s 9th annual Crabby Chef Seafood Festival takes place at its restaurant on Fourth Street, and a portion of the proceeds are being donated to the Cal Recreational Sports Development Fund. The program features an “Iron Chef” style culinary competition between local restaurants to choose the “Crabby Chef” champion, outdoor food booths selling cooked crab, crab cakes, clam chowder and other seafood and musical entertainment provided by Freight & Salvage.

The festival runs from 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.  Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto is located at 1919 Fourth Street in Berkeley, just off of I-80 and University Ave.

Events, Sports, UC Berkeley, restaurants Fundraising

To mark Banned Books Week, the Berkeley Public Library is inviting people to come tomorrow between 3 and 5 to read passages from their favorite banned or challenged books. The mass public reading will be in front of the Central Library on Kittredge Street.

The American Library Association promotes Banned Books Week each year to focus on the importance of freedom of access to information and ideas. Mike Pope posted a good perspective on the radicalism of librarians today (hat tip Nancy).

Any suggestions for readings?

Photo by Ingorrr from Flickr

Books, Events

I hesitate to suggest you go to hear Michael Pollan speak tonight in Berkeley, not because he isn’t smart and entertaining, but because last time I went up to the campus to hear him hold forth, the place was so packed many of us were relegated to an ante-room and had to settle for watching him on small screens.

Still, that was a free shindig and tonight’s event requires one to buy a ticket, so Pollan’s enormous fan-base may not come out in such full force — even if he is on home turf.

“The Omnivore’s Dilemma” author and J-School prof will be talking about his philosophy—“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” — in Cal Performances’ Strickly Speaking Series, tonight at 8pm at Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley. Tickets cost $16–$30, (510) 642-9988, www.calperformances.org.

[Photo: Ken Light.]

Celebrity, Events, Food, Journalism, People, UC Berkeley Michael Pollan

We try not to stray into neighboring cities, but the video of the protest at Whole Foods Oakland is just too wonderful to miss (hat tip Lisa). It’s a strong, performance-art-like response to Whole Foods CEO John Mackey’s opposition to healthcare reform.

It doesn’t reach the extraordinary brilliance of the Sound of Music performance in Antwerp (below), but I would have liked to have been in Whole Foods when it happened.

Events, Food

InBerkeley correspondent Mark Haas beamed in these photos of the walkouts happening today on campus.

He says a UCBPD cop estimated there were about 2,000-2,500 protesters. The demonstrations were concentrated at Sproul Plaza. “The rest of the campus looked completely normal. Students told me most classes were in session today,” Haas reports.

Events, UC Berkeley, University UC Berkeley walkouts

At this  time of year, when the veil between the living and dead is thought to be at its most diaphanous, the North Shattuck Association is holding a Dia de los Muertos mask contest to see who can make the most beautiful giant papier mâché skull. The skulls will be worn by their creators in a candlelight procession on Friday October 1. The first prize winner will take home $300. Runners-up will receive gift certificates from local merchants.

Giant papier mâché skulls are a traditional way to celebrate Dia de los Muertos in Mexico and they usually represent different types of people and professions. Often a dark sheet is worn below so as not to distract from the head itself.  Papier mâché hands are also sometimes part of the costume.

Those who would like to enter a head are asked to wear it to Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar Street at Vine at 6pm on  October 30. The judging will take place outside on the church steps. The judges are Suzanne Tan from Berkeley Art Center; Lisah Horner from ACCI Gallery; Heather Hensley from the North Shattuck Association.; and Lisa Bullwinkel from Another Bullwinkel Show.

As well as the procession, local restaurants will create special Dia de los Muertos dishes for the evening, so all are encouraged to stay in the district for dinner. For more information contact Another Bullwinkel Show at 510.548.5335 or msmoose1@anotherbullwinkelshow.com.

[Photo: www.statesman.com]

Arts, Downtown, Events, restaurants Dia de los Muertos, North Shattuck Association

Sylvan Mishima Brackett runs Peko-Peko, a Japanese catering company in Oakland that specializes in the robust, tapas-style food of the izakaya (Japanese tavern). On Thursday, October 1, for one night only, Peko-Peko will transform the Guerrilla Cafe on Shattuck Ave. into a “pop-up” izakaya, serving tasty food, sake and beer.

Brackett worked at Chez Panisse for six years as Alice Waters’ assistant, and then as the restaurant’s first creative director, in charge of special dinners and events. He then left for Japan to eat and cook, and worked at a locally famous soba restaurant in the countryside north of Tokyo. Brackett’s izakaya-style menus combine local seafood, meats and other seasonal, sustainable ingredients.

When I spoke to Sylvan this afternoon, he told me he hopes to someday open a real izakaya, and thinks that opening this pop-up izakaya will be a fun way to try out some things he’s been thinking about.  Sylvan is still developing the menu for this event, but he said there will definitely be sardines simmered with some dashi, soy sauce, mirin and ginger.  Other possibilities include karoke (potato croquettes), gyoza (pot stickers), tsukemono (Japanese pickles), kakuni (braised pork belly with hot mustard and daikon) and dashimaki tamago (classic rolled omelet).

The pop-up izakaya will be open from 5:00 p.m. until late on October 1.  Izakaya crowds can sometimes be large and boisterous, but because seating at the Guerilla Cafe is limited, small parties are definitely encouraged.  Onaka peko-peko is Japanese for “I’m starving,” so bring your appetite.

(Photo: Aya Brackett)

Events, Food, restaurants

Doesn’t this look like fun?

Ellen DeGeneres’ day-long Twittertease of Berkeley looks like it ended up in a scrum. I think finding the Cupkates Truck was a better way to spend time.

Events

The Daily Clog has posted Your Guide to Walkout Festivities to help you navigate the various budget protest and walkout events taking place on campus over the next  24 hours or so.   They warn you should expect to encounter a lot of picket lines and rallies if you’re planning on being anywhere in the vicinity of campus tomorrow.

Events kick off tonight at 7 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium for a Save the University teach-in, where several big-name faculty members, including Robert Reich and Ananya Roy, will explain the situation and the reasons for all the fuss.

You’ll also find several links to other Daily Californian articles on the walkout.

Education, Events, Government, Issues, Politics, UC Berkeley

A clue to the evolution of modern human culture, an ancient battle that led to the rise of Germany and an examination of media coverage of the war in Iraq are just a few of the topics in this fall’s “Enduring Value of Humanities” Lecture Series, offered by UC Berkeley Extension.

Starting tomorrow at 6:30 p.m., this series of four evening lectures by distinguished academics offers new insights from the past across a range of subjects. Lectures cost $10 each. From human evolution and ancient Roman history to the changing face of journalism and the future of California, these lectures offer new perspectives on the economic, political, and cultural challenges the world faces today.

Tomorrow’s lecture, “How a Battle 2,000 Years Ago Changed Your Life,” explores how by halting Roman expansion into Northern Europe in AD 9 Germany permanently divided Europe into a Roman south and a German north, and the repercussions of that event in our daily life now.

For more information or to sign up for these events, please visit the UC Berkeley Extension web site.

Education, Events, UC Berkeley

The Berkeley Juggling and Unicycling Festival opens today at 5pm at Berkeley High’s gym. It gathers many of the best jugglers and unicyclists on the west coast, and also welcomes those of us who have never tossed a bean bag in the air. There are demonstrations, beginners’ and master classes, and a family-friendly variety show.

The festival runs until midnight tonight, then resumes at 9am on Saturday (and runs through to midnight again), followed by a modest 9 to 5 schedule on Sunday. While most of the events are at Berkeley High, the festival’s variety show on Saturday night will be at King Middle School.  For those who can’t get enough juggling, the schedule promises that juggling continues after the midnight closings on Friday and Saturday.

Photo by Matthieu from Flickr

Events

Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center, a nationally recognized nonprofit music and culture venue that specializes in presenting live world and roots music, is once again holding its Dance-A-Thon fundraiser event next week at its Berkeley venue on San Pablo Ave., just south of Gilman St.  This is the first Dance-A-Thon since the 1998-2002 annual series, which helped raise funds toward the purchase of the current Ashkenaz building from the late founder David Nadel’s estate.

This year’s Dance-A-Thon will be held on Saturday, September 26, 2009 from 2:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., and will feature 12 hours of live music from around the world. It’s an event for the whole family, and will feature activities for the kids, great raffle prizes and good food in the Back Studio.

There are two ways you can attend the event: You can pay a $20 door price the day of the event, or for $10 you can preregister as a sponsored dancer. Anyone who gets sponsorships totaling $100 or more gets their Dance Card number entered into a drawing for one year admission to Ashkenaz. All the proceeds are tax-deductible and will go toward Ashkenaz operating expenses.

Ashkenaz was founded in 1973 by David Nadel, a dedicated human rights activist and folk dancer who pioneered the presentation of world music long before the genre had a name. For 24 years he led Ashkenaz to become a community watering hole presenting music as diverse as Balkan, Cajun, Zydeco, African Highlife, Brazilian Samba, Afrobeat, Calypso, Soca, Blues, Contra Dance, Eastern European Folk Music, Flamenco, Reggae, Salsa, Ska, Soukous, Bluegrass, East & West Coast Swing and more. In 1996 David was murdered by a drunk he refused to let back into the building.

Visit the Ashkenaz web site for more information about the Dance-A-Thon event, or about being a sponsored dancer, volunteering or donating prizes or cash.

Events, Music, West Berkeley

Does anyone care that the How Berkeley Can You Be? parade has been cancelled?

I know not everything in a city needs to be or should be family-friendly, but I am put off by a daytime event that includes stuff that I wouldn’t want to take my kids to. I know it’s designed as a counter to political correctness but I’m not really keen on public nudity and throwing cigarettes to kids in the crowd.

Or is it just me?

Photo by Jutta from Flickr

Events

Photo: Kafziel, Wikimedia Commons

If you’re looking for a non-traditional and perhaps intellectually stimulating way to commemorate the anniversary of the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks, perhaps a civil engineering lecture will fit the bill?

Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl, a professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley, will be giving what has become an annual lecture in memory of the terrorist attacks at 3:30 pm on Friday, 9/11 in 502 Davis Hall.

He’ll be discussing his controversial structural study, first made public in 2006, that concluded that if the Twin Towers had been built to standard building codes, they may not have collapsed.

As he told the Chronicle of Higher Education in a 2006  article (premium access required):

“‘From the day that I stood there and watched it collapse” on television… ‘I was thinking that this is impossible. That there’s something strange here.’”

Events, Science, UC Berkeley, University 9/11, Architecture, Events, UC Berkeley

I don’t usually associate museums with beer, but that’s exactly what’s going to happen next month at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology on the U.C. Berkeley campus. All in the name of education, of course.

On October 10, the museum will be presenting 99 Bottles of Beer, Global Brewing Traditions 2500 B.C. — Present, the third installment of its annual series exploring the anthropology of food.

99 Bottles of Beer will include a moderated discussion on beer and brewing led by distinguished professors and renowned beer experts, including Fritz Maytag, President and Brewmaster of Anchor Steam Brewery. Held in the Pacific Film Archive Theater, the symposium’s topics include the history of beer and its rituals, the process of beer brewing and the traditions of beer consumption. Also, a workshop on how packaging affects beer flavor will be held by speakers from 21st Amendment Brewery in Kroeber Hall.

A beer tasting fair on the Hearst Museum’s patio and portico will be ongoing throughout the day. Beer vendors include Trumer Brauerei, 21st Amendment Brewery, Anchor Steam Brewery, Hoppy Brewing Co., Eel River Brewing Co., Butte Creek Brewing Co. and Triple Rock Brewery & Alehouse, among others. Food will be provided by Henry’s, featuring creations by Chef Eddie Blyden.

The event accompanies the new exhibition (free admission) on view in the museum gallery.  Curated by Dr. Ira Jacknis, the Museum’s Research Anthropologist, the exhibition presents 130 beer-related objects from many eras and broad geography, in a breadth of media.

Tickets cost $30 for the full program (Symposium, Beer Fair and Workshop), or $20 for the Symposium only or Beer Fair and Workshop only. Museum members and UCB students receive discounts, and an additional $5 early-bird ticket discount is available to those purchasing tickets before September 12.

Events, Food, UC Berkeley

Two fascinating archival films of the September 17, 1923 Berkeley fire from the Prelinger Archives.

Events

The 636 solar panels atop the new Berkeley Bowl West building at 920 Heinz Street in Berkeley must be doing their job pretty well.  Tomorrow, the market’s owners are receiving a $167,029 solar energy rebate check from PG&E.

Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, representatives from PG&E and Sun Light & Power President Gary Gerber will be on hand, too, no doubt to promote solar energy, boast about what a great job they’re doing and to get their photos taken. In preparation for tomorrow’s event, southeastern Berkeley and parts of the downtown area were plunged into darkness early this morning to remind citizens of just how important electricity is to our daily lives. No word on whether Berkeley Bowl West was affected by the blackout or not.

The solar panels atop the acclaimed Berkeley Bowl West facility are expected to produce 149,633 kilowatts of electricity per year, and were installed by Berkeley-based by Sun Light & Power.

You, too, can attend the rebate-receiving ceremony. It will take place at noon on Friday at the Berkeley Bowl West.

Architecture, Business, Environment, Events, Government, Green, Politics, West Berkeley