This is the Oakland blog for people living out loud. True to the Oakbook philosophy, we’ll tell you where to go, what to do, and what’s really going down in the town and around the Bay. From parties to films, peace protests to flag football, if there's a there there, we'll blog it.
Invite us to things. We're great at parties.
If you've got events, photos, videos, announcements or general news on all the happenings in the Bay, send 'em over to Kwan Booth at kwan (at) theoakbook.com. And don't be afraid to leave a comment. Don't be shy...come over and talk to us. You just might get lucky!
Alright, I was all set to suggest a quiet night of classical tunes ‘n flutes when I remembered this show, and I could not, in good conscious, not blog about it. The house head and former raver boy in me just would not let it pass. I’m already flashing back to the shiny pants and glowsticks days…
Italian production duo Crookers (named for the way they remix songs all sideways and crooked) have been crafting a kind of jittery, spastic club music for the last 5 years. They’ve got a fresh approach to remixing that still borrows a lot of the PLURry feeling from the old school large scale warehouse parties. A crisp mix of electro, hip hop, Baltimore Club and house, their remixes are a party DJ’s fall back bangers armed with the ability to get any dancefloor jumping-unless of course, you’re no friend of the bleepy, the bloopy or the techy. If that’s the case then you should really stay far away from Vessel in San Francisco tonight. I’m sure you’ll be able to feel the electro love for blocks.
But for the initiated, Crookers remixes of songs like We Are All Prostitutes and Kid Cudi’s Day ‘n Night unleash a bit of bass filled fever in our heads that just wont’ be cured by more cowbell. Unless it’s looped under a vocal track, synthesized and tracked to a 4/4 rhythm. It’s hump day people, the perfect night to get a little Crooked. -kwanRead the rest of this entry »
So while the cancellation of this past weekend’s Paid Dues festival left many underground hip hop fans screaming at the heavens, clutching their backpacks and wondering aloud “O GOD Rakim, why has thou forsaken us?!”, tonight’s just announced Mos Def show at Ruby Skye should help restore some stability to the four pillars.
Mos was added to the Paid Dues lineup at the last minute and since he’s already in town and everything, why not play a special last minute show right? Seems like the only thing to do. And to sweeten the deal, Oakland’s hip hop superheroes Zion I will be opening the night along with tunes by DJ Big Von.
But if you can’t wait any longer, snack on this delicious classic vid for Umi Says off the 1999 album “Black on Both Sides”, then get your conscious hip hop fix tonight, cuz Rock the Bells doesn’t roll into town for another 2 months.-kwanRead the rest of this entry »
The company that launched a million blogs turns 5 today.
It was just 5 short years ago that Matt and the WP team unveiled the publishing platform that essentially changed the way people viewed media and content creation (sorry Blogger) and made it so much easier for people (including our grateful OB staff) to share their inner most feelings, political commentary and pictures of their cats in amazingly compromising positions with the rest of the world.
So if you’re like a bazillion other people and currently run a WordPress blog or three, get your hind parts over to 111 Minna tonight and toast the company that made it all possible. Or if you’re the antisocial type (as are a lot of bloggers) just come through, get toasted, hear some tunes, stare at the crowd then come home and blog about it. It’s all in the spirit of the party.-kwan
The Mission was alive and in full color this weekend for the city’s annual Carnival celebration. Sunday’s parade brought out tons of people who lined Mission St. waving flags, dancing along with the festival music and soaking up the festivities. Check out the pictures from the event.-Kwan
Open mics can be tricky things. On any night you’re just as likely to find the next Ginsberg as you are to spend the night clutching your beer and wincing as the umpteenth performance poet of the evening mangles their latest version of the Beat poetry aesthetic. Fortunately for those of us who still believe in the power of a mic and a voice, there’s Lunada.
Galeria de La Raza’a Lunada literary lounge consistently draws some of the area’s top talent with a featured performer roster ranging from spoken word to experimental guitar. Come celebrate the full moon tonight with a special sneak preview of Paradox, a new performance directed by poet Marc David Pinate, as part of La Pena Cultural Center’s Hybrid & Experimental Performance Ensemble.
According to the promos Paradox is work of metaphysical music, an “exploration into the power of performance to heal the spirit…both story and non-story, theatre and non-theatre, teaching and non-teaching, being and non-being. It is the space beyond the logical or rational where opposites coexist and simultaneous truths converge.” Got that? Story AND non story, teaching AND non teaching. Deep right? No rewarmed “Howl” over here.-kwanRead the rest of this entry »
The San Francisco arts nonprofit Counterpulse says that the mission of it’s Dance Discourse Project is “to articulate in a cohesive and coherent way, from the participants themselves, what is happening in dance in the Bay Area and beyond.”
Tonight is the 3rd installment of the series and features a discussion between choreographer Jo Kreiter, performance and Butoh artist Ledoh (pictured), local dance legend Sara Shelton Mann and rising international choreographer Miguel Gutierrez. The panel will discuss the multiple layers of the political in their work, how bodies are politicized through movement, and how activism plays a unique role in the Bay Area dance scene.
This special installment, presented at Project Artaud Theater, is co-presented by CounterPULSE, Dancers’ Group, and ODC Theater, as part of its festival “For the Record: Dancers Debate the Body Politic.”
Is Pop Culture Art? Is Art Pop Culture? Since the Andy Warhol era artists have been trying to elevate pop culture to the level of art; and since artists have uttered the words “I want to be a star” - it’s gone the other way too.
Tonight’s panel features three of the elder statesmen and leaders in San Francisco’s art and pop culture worlds as Re/Search Publication’s V.Vale, Last Gasp’s Ron Turner and “Head Trip” director John Law chew the fat on the intersection of art and pop and what happens when those lines are defined and blurred. Moderated by professional coach/social architect Michael Vav.
I don’t think there’s much debate around the significance of the upcoming presidential election. Not only do we have two candidates, a woman and a black man, that have a damned good chance of winning the top spot but we also have the chance to unseat the party responsible for the last 8 years of failed international policy, economic downturns and general Anti US sentiment worldwide. To just say we have a lot at stake here would be a big ol’ fat understatement.
But the thing is, just how much does your vote count if things really don’t change much when the next set of suits step into the White House? And is saying that you voted in a historic election really that significant if it’s the only community minded thing you do all year? What about the historically low voter turnouts in low income communities nationwide? If anything, the people who need to have the loudest voices are often the most disenfranchised. What do we do about it?
These are the kinds of questions that’ll be flying around the room at the Oakland Museum tonight during the Wake Yo Game Up panel discussion and performance presented by the Town Business Network. A panel of deep thinkers, community organizers and activists are hoping to get down to the nuts and bolts of the electoral process, focusing the discussion on how to turn the political rhetoric into practical action, the factors affecting voter participation in urban communities and where do we go after the election, no matter who wins. The panelist will be addressing the issues with a particular focus on hip hop culture and ways that artists and cultural influencers can be a part of the change. Speakers will include Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson, writer and historian Davey D, radio personality Chuy Gomez, journalist Eric K. Arnold and Town Business Network founder Charles Johnson. -kwan Wake Yo Game Up!
Free
7-9:30
Oakland Museum
1000 Oak Street, Oakland
510-776-4644
It’s time to open your ears to some lyrical verses while opening your checkbooks for a good cause. Poetry for Water is a series of fund raising programs featuring words and performances by the Bay Area’s litterati with all proceeds going towards building the second of a series of water catchment areas along the migration route of the Samburu people of Northern Kenya, near the border with Ethiopia. The water will not only save their children from the fatal diseases of polluted water sources, but will also help to sustain the Samburu¹s fragile nomadic way of life.
Tonight’s reading features local luminaries Dave Eggers, Maxine Hong Kingston, Roger Housden, Elizabeth Rosner, and Nina Wise with Beth Lisick handling the MC duties.
Word to the wise: get there early. The previous two events, which featured performances by Peter Coyote, Anne Lamott, Jack Kornfield, Jane Hirshfield sold out early. Read the rest of this entry »
Open mics can be tricky things. On any night you’re just as likely to find the next Ginsberg as you are to spend the night clutching your beer and wincing as the umpteenth performance poet of the evening mangles their latest version of the Beat poetry aesthetic. Fortunately for those of us who still believe in the power of a mic and a voice, there’s Lunada.
The San Francisco arts nonprofit Counterpulse says that the mission of it’s Dance Discourse Project is “to articulate in a cohesive and coherent way, from the participants themselves, what is happening in dance in the Bay Area and beyond.”
Still from “Head Trip”
