InBerkeley

A recent tweet from Kcecelia got me curious about a place she had referred to as the Berkeley Bulb, which I had never heard of before even though I’ve lived in this area now for 26 years.  Googling the phrase turned up a few references to it, but it turned out that most didn’t really provide much information. Finally, I discovered this article on SFGate from four years ago.

It wasn’t the Berkeley Bulb, but the Albany Bulb. I must have driven right by this place hundreds of times over the years, never thinking there was much out there besides a parking lot for the racetrack. While I watched them dumping trash at the Berkeley Marina and then turn it into Cesar Chavez Park, I had no idea that another dumping ground nearby had met a similar, though less refined, fate.

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Art, General, In the wild, Nature, Recreation

Art Car in 2008 "How Berkeley Can You Be?" parade

The Berkeley fair that has become famous for making fun of all things Berkeley – political correctness, vegetarianism, NIMBY-ism,  pot smoking and naked people  – won’t be held this year.

Organizers of the “How Berkeley Can You Be?” parade and fair have decided to postpone the event because of increased regulations, rising security costs, and declining revenue, according to the East Bay Express. But they hope to bring the whacky spectacle back in 2010.

In its heyday, the parade featured naked people, a grand procession of art cars, beer drinking on the streets, and lots of good cheer as those driving by on floats threw candy into the crowd. More than 15,000 people would crowd the sidewalks and cram into Civic Center Park to celebrate all that was fun, odd, frustrating and endearing about the city.

But alcohol revenues dropped sharply in 2008 when the city required people to drink beer in a contained area instead of taking it to the sidewalk to watch floats go by, said John Solomon, the fair’s founder. The city also started charging for security — $8,000 in 2008 – instead of donating that. Those changes and other factors have made it more difficult to raise the $25,000 to $30,000 it costs to put on the fair.

“The things that were really fun and exciting and drew to the event years ago have been whittled away,” Solomon told the Daily Californian.

Events, Recreation

If you’re looking for something slightly uncommon in Berkeley this weekend, there’s a dragon boat practice at the Berkeley Marina’s M-Dock at 10:30 on Saturday. Berkeley’s dragon boats are raced out of the Berkeley Racing Canoe Center. Guests, passengers and team prospects are welcome at most practices.

Recreation