05/14: Your Indie Weekend

It’s a very busy Oakland weekend, and there’s got to be something in this mix to get you excited about living here — the best of Oakland, jazz and wine, urban agriculture, stage shows, elephants, music from Zimbabwe, the Greek festival, mystery writers, documentary screenings, the Symphony’s closing show and so much more.

FRIDAY, May 14

The Indies

The annual celebration of all things Oakland and indie moves to Jack London Square this year. The Oakland Indies will be held in the Pavillion (You know it as the old Barnes and Noble) Friday night to bestow its awards: Pillar, Newbie, Greenie, Neighborhood Dynamo, and our favorite, Oakland Soul (we won two years ago).

What: Oakland Indie Awards
When: Friday, May 14, 5:30 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Where: 98 Broadway, Jack London Square
How Much: $20

Rockridge Jazz and Wine Stroll

Merchants along College Avenue are having a jazz and wine stroll Friday evening, which will be pretty much what it sounds like along with nice discounts at some of your favorite stores like Jan Christensen Heller Gallery and Fit.

What: Rockridge Jazz and Wine Stroll
When: Friday, May 14 May 5 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Where: College Avenue between Claremont and Broadway

City Slicker Farms Fundraiser

Care about urban agriculture? Care about West Oakland? If you answered yes to either of these, then you’ve probably heard about City Slicker Farms, a community-driven group in West Oakland that grows fresh produce for the area’s residents. Friday night, they’re doing some fund-raising at an event where you can learn more about — and celebrate — their work. There will be a potluck, live music, demonstrations and fermented product tasting. Let them know what fermented treats you’re taking at info@fermentchange.org.

What: Ferment Change 2010 – Fermented Food Feast and Celebration of Urban Agriculture
When: Friday, May 14^, 7 p.m.– 10 p.m.
Where: 390 27th Street
How Much: $10-$30, sliding scale, No one turned away for lack of funds. Email info@fermentchange.org to find out about work-trade.
For more info, cityslickerfarms.org

Into the Woods at Mills College

Curtain Call Performing Arts, an outfit committed to keeping ticket prices low and performance quality high, brings its production of Steven Sondheim’s Into the Woods to Mills College’s Lisser Theatre this month. Directed by Catherine Heck, the musical debuts Friday night. It’s a spooky retelling of the Grimm Brothers, but it’s still safe for kids.

What: Into the Woods
When: Friday and Saturday May 14 and 15, 8 p.m.
Where: The Lisser Theatre, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Boulevard
How Much: $12

Chinyakare and the KTO Project play UTunes Coffeehouse

The Chinyakare Ensemble & the KTO Project celebrate the music of Zimbabwe with mbira (a wooden musical instrument) player Musekiwa Chingodza from Harare, Zimbabwe.

Under the direction of Julia Tsitsi Chigamba, the Chinyakare Ensemble will perform traditional dance, mbira, drums, marimba and songs from tribal groups from around Zimbabwe.

The KTO Project, led by Kelly Takunda Orphan Martinez, is a blend of music with ethnic sensibilities from Africa, the Middle East and the Americas.

What: UTunes Coffeehouse, a concert series (with coffee)
When: Friday, May 14, 8 p.m.- 10 p.m.
Where: First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th Street
How Much: $18 for Adults, $5 for Children ages 6-15 (kids under age 6 are free).

SATURDAY, May 15

While you’re in Jack London Square, stop by our gallery to check out the second iPhontography show. Art@TheOakBook will be showing the winners from the art of the iPhone contest, a subgenre of photography that is perhaps best summed up in two quotes (The second quote is from iPhontography’s founding father): “Aim well, shoot fast, and scram.”—Henri Cartier-Bresson. “Aim well, shoot until you get it, and app that bitch until it sings.” —Knox Bronson.

What: Pixels at an exhibition
When: Saturday, May 15, 4 PM – 8 PM
Where: 423 Water Street, JLS
How Much: Free

Learn How to make Buttons

If you think buttons make great small gifts and promotional materials, this all-level class is for you. This is your chance to use a professional grade button maker and circle cutter to make 30 buttons of your design. Take clippings, photos, drawings, reused paper, and other images to make your original art. Saskia, who is passionate about creative reuse, will be teaching the class.

What: Button making class
When: Saturday, May 15, Noon to 3 p.m.
Where: Rock Paper Scissors Collective, 2278 Telegraph Avenue @ 23rd Street
How much: $5 class fee to cover materials
Register online rpscollective.com

Mysterious Women

Seven women mystery writers of the Bay Area will be discussing their work at the Oakland Public Library Main Branch. Meet and listen to authors Rhys Bowen, Diana Chambers, Lucha Corpi, Susan Dunlap, Priscilla Royal, Susan Sherrell, and Kelli Stanley talk about why and how they do what they do.

What: Panel of Women Mystery Writers at the Oakland Library
When: Saturday May 15, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Main Library, 125 14th St.
Contact: Main Library Reference Services, 510-238-3138
How Much: Free

Elephants at the Zoo

The Zoo’s got a busy Saturday mapped out for you. Circus Finelli, an animal –free circus will have acrobats and clowns performing at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.
The zoo’s hosting an elephant day. There will be elephant information stations throughout the zoo, teaching fascinating things about the zoo’s pachyderms. Pick up your binocular and data sheet and become an elephant researcher at Oakland Zoo’s elephant research camp.  The elephant keepers will be taking people for a behind-the-scenes tour of the elephant barn for a $5 donation. All proceeds go to the Amboseli Elephant Research Project.

Saturday, May 15th 10 a.m.- 3 p.m.
The Oakland Zoo, 9777 Golf Links Rd. oaklandzoo.org

Oakland Underground Film Festival/ Jack London Square Summer Film Series

The Oakland Underground Film Festival will presentRemembering Playland at 7:30 p.m. and Special When Lit at 9:15 p.m. for the May installment of the Jack London Square Summer Film Series.

Director Tom Wyrsch has resurrected San Francisco’s now-extinct Playland at the Beach, a 10-acre amusement park located next to Ocean Beach, in Remembering Playland.Playland at the Beach was established in the 1880s and dismantled in 1972.

Co-presented by Pacific Pinball Machine of Alameda, Special When Lit is the definitive story of the rise and fall of pinball as told by hardcore fans, collectors, designers, and champion players from across the globe.  A product of the mechanical and electrical age, this American invention swept the world and defined cool. A game, a sport, a lifestyle, pinball made more money than the entire American movie industry through the 50s and 60s. Brett Sullivan’s film retraces the passion of pinball followers, and also revealing the demise of pinball to the new era of video games. Rediscover the lure of the lost pop icon-Pinball.

What: Summer Movies
When: Saturday, May 15, 7.30 p.m. onwards
Where: Jack London Square Pavilion Theater, 98 Broadway (inside Jack London Square)
How Much: $10, no one turned away for lack of funds. Tickets at  brownpapertickets.com.

SUNDAY, May 16

Culture Fest

The Koreatown-Northgate neighborhood is holding a party Sunday, which promises to be worthy of the diversity along that stretch of Telegraph Avenue. Called Culture Fest the event will have food (look for gyros from the folks at Oasis), music (on three stages), martial arts demos, and a neighborhood swap meet.

What: Culture Fest
When: Sunday May 16, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Where: Telegraph Avenue between 23rd and 25th Streets
How Much: Free

Greek Festival

The Oakland Greek Festival has been treating the town to Hellenic hospitality, food, and music each spring for nearly 40 years. This weekend, visit the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Acension for spinach pie, lamb, and other treats from the cradle of Democracy. The weekend-long event will feature all sorts of Greek music and dancing from pop to classical. Visit the website for a coupon that brings the admission down to $5.

What: Oakland Greek Festival
When: Friday-Sunday, May 14-16, 10 a.m. – 11 p.m. (Fri & Sat) 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. (Sun)
Where: Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascension, 4700
How Much: $6

Ode to Joy

The Oakland East Bay Symphony ends its season with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. It’s been more than a decade since the OEBS performed the “Choral” symphony. This time Maestro Michael Morgan will lead tenor Thomas Glenn on Friday and Adam Flowers on Sunday. Baritone Bojan Knezevic will lead off with one of the most amazing moments in classical music, “Freude, schoner Gotterfunken…” John Kendall Bailey will lead pre-concert talks before both performances.

What: Ode to Joy
When: Friday and Sunday, May 14 and 16, 8 p.m. and 2 p.m.
Where: Paramount Theatre,
How Much: $20 to $65

03/05: Your Oakland Weekend

We see classic thrillers, feathered serpents, used books, tarot cards and gigantic sales this Oakland weekend.

Friday, March 5

Wait Until Dark

The Paramount Theatre Movie Classics series has been picking some winners recently. The last show was “The Lady from Shanghai.” On Friday night, the movie to be projected on the Paramount’s massive screen is “Wait Until Dark.” Starring Audrey Hepburn as a blind woman terrorized by Alan Arkin in his best turn as a villain, “Wait Until Dark” is a tense, tight thriller. As always, the organ starts cranking at 7:30 PM.

Friday, March 5. Doors open at 7 p.m., the movie starts at 8 p.m.
The Paramount, 2025 Broadway
$5

Illuminated Art Walk

This First Friday in March, the folks behind the Illuminated Art Corridor have organized the Illuminated art walk. Every hour, a guide riding a bicycle projecting art images will lead an illuminated art walk from venue to venue. The route will go from Rock Paper Scissors Collective to Creative Growth Art Center to 21 Grand and then back to Rock Paper Scissors Collective.

The Illuminated Art Walk is part of a larger multi-gallery event honoring Art IS Education, a celebration of youth arts learning.
Friday, March 5, 6 p.m.to 9 p.m.
2278 Telegraph
510-238-9171/rpscollective.com

Opening Reception for ‘Radical Botanical’ contemporary botanical photography

Danielle Fox curates the work of Hiroko To, Hagit Cohen, Michele Hofherr, and Chi Fang at Slate gallery. These are contemporary photos with botany as their central theme.

The show celebrates the exquisite designs that nature offers us, grappling with art’s capacity to represent it, while also reflecting on the fleeting nature of perfection and beauty, an age-old metaphor for our own mortality. At once beautiful and dark, the exhibition also makes clear what is at stake when man’s drive for technological, urban, and economic development threatens nature’s delicate balance.

Radical Botanical: Contemporary Botanical Photography
Opening Reception
Friday, March 5, 6 p.m.-9 p.m.
Slate art & design gallery, 4770 Telegraph Ave (& 48th)

The Feathered Serpent

The Art Murmur is going down this weekend. Before you embark on a debauched cultural tour of Telegraph Avenue, stop by the Art@TheOakBook gallery for a shamanistic art opening that’s more neolithic than neo-anything else. Obi Kaufmann will be on hand under candlelight to discuss the genesis behind his stunning three-wall mural, The Feathered Serpent.

Friday, March 5, 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Art@theOakbook gallery
423 Water Street, Jack London Square (across from where Barnes and Noble used to be)

Saturday, March 6

Papercuts by Ryohei Tanaka

Tokyo-based artist Ryohei Tanaka comes to the Rowan Morrison Gallery, where he conjures fanciful creatures, realistic portraits, and realistic portraits of fanciful creatures with a folded piece of paper and a pair of scissors. His unique take on the traditional Japanese art form kirigami has been featured in international exhibitions and contemporary art publications such as Giant Robot.

At the opening reception, you’ll get to see Ryohei creating papercut portraits. For more on his work, visit ryoheitanaka77.com

Saturday, March 6, 7 p.m.
Rowan Morrison Gallery, 330 40th Street

Book Sale

Replenish your library at College Prep’s second annual fundraiser this Saturday or Sunday. Although, we suggest you get there Saturday for the best used books, CDs and DVDs. The prices will hit rock bottom at noon on Sunday when five bucks gets you a grocery bag full of books.

Saturday and Sunday, March 6 – 7, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. (Saturday), 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. (Sunday)
6100 Broadway (Near Lake Temescal and Highway 24)

The Corner of Tarot and Collage

Pick a card, any card. Valerie Adinolfi will teach a class binding the wisdom of the tarot with the self-expression of collage at Oakopolis Saturday. “In this workshop, we will be working with the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck. The workshop begins with a short meditation led by Valerie. Each participant will pull a tarot card, which will be the focus for their collage. Materials provided. However, feel free to bring your own images, decorative paper, scraps and/or calendars that are special to you.”

Saturday, March 6 Noon – 4 p.m.
Oakopolis, 447 25th Street
Sliding scale $15-$20

Music and the Love of Food

At this dinner the guitar is scalloped – not necessarily the potatoes. The In the Mood for Food Dinner Concert Series continues Saturday night with a duet “version of the pioneering world fusion music group Ancient Future featuring scalloped fretboard guitarist Matthew Montfort and santurist Mariah Parker.” Renowned chef Philip Gelb will be making a gourmet vegetarian meal. The cost is $55 per person, and there’s for 20. Guests should bring their own drinks. The location is somewhere in Oakland. For reservations call 510-393-6096, or email phil@philipgelb.com.

Saturday March 6, 7 p.m.
Location TBA
$55

Sunday, March 7

Women’s Day

Back in the days of the USSR and its satellites, International Women’s Day was a big deal. Women would receive flowers at work, and the ancient patriarchy of Central and Eastern European societies would get a progressive gloss for a day. Since 1989, International Women’s Day hasn’t been what it used to be. But on Sunday morning, the Niebyl Proctor Marxist Library will be hosting a panel discussion on the role of women in fighting injustice.

Sunday, March 7 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Niebyl Proctor Marxist Library, 6501 Telegraph Avenue
Free

White Elephant Sale

It is that time of the year again. The Oakland Museum Women’s Board brings back the beloved White Elephant sale. If you step into that giant warehouse, you’ll find yourself shopping for all kinds of things you didn’t even know you wanted. This is the ultimate rummage sale. The thing to watch out for: the sale attracts thousands of people, so parking on Lancaster Street is limited.

Saturday, March 6 & Sunday, March 7 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
333 Lancaster Street (at Glascock)
510-536-6800

09/25: Here’s the O-Scene Weekend

There are movies, more movies, delicious street fairs, a mad hatter tea party, Oakland’s finest artists at our own gallery – art@theoakbook – and much more this fine O-scene weekend.

FRIDAY, September 25, 2009

Oakland Underground Film Festival

The Oakland Underground Film Festival is so underground it’s not even being held in Oakland. This year the DIY film festival will be held in a location the organizers are calling West West Oakland aka Alameda. For only $25 bucks you can get an all-festival pass for three days of films that are practically guaranteed not to not bore you. Consider “Destined to be Ingested,” which is about a boatload of rich folk running afoul of cannibals on an unexplored South Pacific island in the 1980s.

Friday September 25 to Sunday September 27.  Click here for the schedule
2700 Saratoga Street, Alameda

Fourth Friday Music and Finding Neverland

The outdoor movie season isn’t over – as yet! Watch Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet in Finding Neverland tonight at the Dunsmuir Hellman Historic Estate. The movie starts after sunset, but there will be live music to keep you entertained until then.

Grounds open at 6 p.m.
Movie begins shortly after sunset (approximately 8:30 pm).
Admission: $5, Self-guided mansion tours: Free

For more on Dunsmuir, go to www.dunsmuir.org/

SATURDAY, September 26

Book Release: Historic Photos of Oakland by Steven Lavoie

Steven Lavoie, the librarian in charge of the Oakland History Room, will talk about his new book featuring the history of Oakland in photographs. Lavoie knows the town’s fascinating history well – from the Pullman Porters and the Black Panther Party to Jack London, Isadora Duncan, and Gertrude Stein.  His depth of knowledge shines through his collection of photos that accurately reflect Oakland’s past and present.

Free
West Auditorium in the Main Library, 125 14th Street,  510-238-3138
3 p.m.

Grassroots Economy Festival

The global economy may remain be shaky, but grassroots economies are blossoming all over the country, and Oakland is an epicenter of cooperatives, co-housing, and other forms of resource sharing. The first ever Festival of Grassroots Economics is a must for anyone interested in knowing more about economies that care about the environment and social justice. The free event includes expert-packed panels on subjects like the legal issues associated with the formation of a cooperative, the existing resources for grassroots economies, and urban food security.

10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Humanist Hall, 390 27th Street
For more information, go to jasecon.org

Improvised Branches

Come to our art gallery in Jack London Square, art@theoakbook, to view the work of 11 of Oakland’s – and the Bay Area’s — finest artists. Come for the art, stay to mingle and talk. If this art doesn’t get people talking, nothing will.

6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
423 Water Street (in Jack London Square across from Barnes and Noble)

Pads4Girls Sew-A-Thon

This event was supposed to be held on Saturday, but has been postponed. However, we suggest following it at calendar.rpscollective.com/month.php

This event at Rock Paper Scissors hopes to accomplish two goals: to teach people to sew and in the process, create reusable cloth pads for girls in Africa. As you might or might now know, in many parts of Africa, girls miss school when they have their periods since menstrual supplies are hard to come by. The volunteer-run art space on Telegraph is working in conjunction with Lunapads to ship the pads to several non-profits in Africa.

For more information about the Pads 4 Girls program, check out lunapads.com/donate.htm

Mad Tea party

Artists Bruce Tamberelli, Darwin Price and Yvette M. Buigues have reinterpreted Wonderland for this show at the Float gallery, aptly titled Through the Looking Glass. The opening reception features live Jazz by ManOverboard and bubbling absinth spiked tea. They promise you’ll be grinning like a Cheshire cat!

6 p.m. to 9 p.m.  (Show runs through Oct 31)
Float gallery
Free – unless you choose to buy something.
1091 Calcot place #116 Oakland
510-525-1702, thefloatcenter.com

SUNDAY, September 27

Out and About on College

The highlight of last year’s Rockridge Out and About Festival was the whole pig roasting over an open fire at the corner of College and Shafter. The picnic in the street will return this year along with several blocks of other attractions, including live music, fashion shows, and a green living expo. It’s the last Oakland street fair of the summer. Don’t miss it.
11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
College Avenue (Between Claremont and Manila)

John Handy at Sundays in the Redwoods

Want to get some of that parking money back? The Oakland East Bay Symphony will be performing free at the Woodminster Amphitheater as part of the city’s excellent Sundays in the Redwoods program. Michael Morgan will conduct winners of the OEBS Young Artists Competition in recitals of Mozart, Mendelssohn, Rossini, and others. John Handy, the remarkable alto saxist, will close the performance. The concert begins at 2 p.m. with performances by local groups. OEBS tunes up at 4 p.m.

Free
2 p.m.
Woodminster Amphitheater
3300 Jaoquin Miller Road

08/21: O-Scene weekend

Friday, August 21

Rear Window@ the Paramount

Sure, Jimmy Stewart’s character is kind of a whiny pill, but Grace Kelly is sublime. Could there be a better venue than the Paramount to see Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 masterpiece Rear Window?

“Return to Hollywood’s Golden Era in America’s finest Art Deco movie palace. Movie Classic presentation includes a newsreel, cartoon, previews and the Paramount’s prize give-away game “Dec-O-Win”. Live organ serenade begins at 7:30 p.m. with Jerry Nagano at the Mighty Wurlitzer!”

$5
The Paramount, 2025 Broadway
Doors open at 7 p.m. Box office opens at 6 p.m.

2009 Butch Voices Conference

Butch Voices is a grassroots organization dedicated to all self identified Butches, Studs, Aggressives, other similar identities, and their Allies. It is hosting the 2009 Butch Voices Conference this year at the Oakland Marriott. The event features keynotes by Jeanne Cordova, S. Bear Bergman and Malkia “MAC” Cyril. The program includes workshops, presentations, networking dinners, artists’ showcase, performances, film screenings and more. Registration and workshops take place at the Marriott, but other venues include Humanist Hall and the Vibe Lounge. Visit butchvoices.com for details.

Thursday, August 20 through Sunday, August 23.
Oakland Marriott, 1001 Broadway, 510-451-4000

Saturday, August 22

40th Street ArtQuest
Closing reception for Resound – Carl Auge’s solo show – at Rowan Morrison Gallery

A group of local merchants along 40^th Street, which connects MacArthur BART and Piedmont Avenue, are having an art party of sorts on Saturday night. Manifesto Bicycles, Rowan Morrison Gallery, Premium Tattoo and Vintage, 1234GO! Records and Issues are all hosting art receptions on the same evening as part of the 40th Street Corridor Art Quest 2.

If the artwork isn’t enough to tempt you to visit each location, they’ll have treasure maps. If you get stamps from all the galleries and stores, you could win gift certificate prizes.

There will, of course, be music, refreshments, and lots of things to buy. Local retailers credit the first ArtQuest, held in February, for boosting the neighborhood’s profile and attracting new small businesses like Subrosa Coffee to the area.

40th Street Corridor ArtQuest
Saturday, 6 p.m. – 10 p.m.

Manifesto Bicycles, 421 40th St.
“The Living City 2” featuring the work of Oakland artists Bruk Dunbar, Jane Elliot, Marcos Lafarga, Marc Landes, Jeff Riley and Alex Rosmarin.

Rowan Morrison Gallery and Artist’s Bookstore, 330 40th St.
Closing reception for the paintings of Oakland artist Carl Auge in an exhibit called “Resound, New Work by Carl Auge.”

Premium Tattoo and Vintage, 4130 Broadway Ave.
An installation of the paintings by Oakland artist David Seiler.

Issues, 20 Glen Ave.
A reception of works by Sacramento artist Bluewater Avery called ‘Schlock and Aww Shucks!’

The following businesses will also be open late:
1234Go! Records, 423 40th St. & Subrosa Coffee, 419 40th St.

Jammin’ In Tha Concrete Jungle

Youth Movement Records and the Hood Games are having another skateboard contest & jam Saturday evening. There’ll be live art-making and music.

The Fox Lot @ 19th St. & San Pablo Ave
11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Free

Plant a tree and have some fun

The Ella Baker Center’s Soul of the City program and Urban Releaf are planting trees to beautify West Oakland this Saturday. The goal: To bring more than 500 people together to plant 50 trees along West MacArthur Blvd, between West Street and San Pablo Avenue.

And just in case you’ve forgotten why trees are important: Planting trees is one of the best ways to clean the air and make a neighborhood look like.. a neighborhood. They’ll also be cleaning up the streets, planting flowers, and talking with community members about the importance of clean air and caring for the neighborhood. If you feel like doing some work in your community, mark this one on your calendar. You’ll feel good, meet some cool people, and yes- get free food and music.

9.45 a.m. to 2 p.m.
West MacArthur Blvd. at West Street (meet in the Big O Tires parking lot)

Sunday, August 23

Artist Talk: Ted Pontiflet at the Joyce Gordon Gallery

Sculptor and painter Ted Pontiflet will talk about the inspiration behind his current show – the novelist James Baldwin. There will also be a poetry reading with the Black Dot Artists, Marcel Diallo, Duane Detterville and others.

3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Joyce Gordon Gallery, 406 14th St. (12th St. Bart Exit)
www.joycegordongallery.com, 510-465-8928

Oaklandish Regatta '08

Radio Regatta

This summertime party will go down at the Lake Merritt Sailboat House with DJs, food and beer, and free gondola rides. You can also go out for a spin on the Lake on other half-priced boat rentals. Bring your radio, because the event also features an FM micro-broadcast – and you can hear it with your radio even if you’re out on the water. This event is free for all ages.

Free
1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Lake Merritt Boathouse, 568 Bellevue Ave.

Uniquely Yours: Green Windows’ creative writing workshop

The workshop is for young people 16-25 and their friends – youth
workers, teachers, parents. Faculty, students and staff of the Peralta Community Colleges especially welcome.  Just email Peggy (gww@greenwindowswriters.org) if you’re wondering about whether you fit in or not. Drop-ins are welcome, but long term commitment is encouraged. Class will be held every fourth Sunday

Suggested class fee: $1-$25, sliding scale; additional donations welcome
7 p.m. to 9.15 p.m.,
Rock Paper Scissors, 278 Telegraph Ave.
greenwindowswriters.org

07/30: Here’s the O-Scene weekend

Friday, July 31

Street Cinema

The Parkway’s future may be uncertain, but folks in the Lake Merritt area are doing things for themselves. On Friday, there will be a free outdoor showing of Space Jam (the so-so movie with Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny) across the street from the Parkway. Pre-show entertainment includes live music and Native American dancing. Show up around 7:30 with a lawn chair and a blanket.

Free
Friday July 31, 7:30 p.m.
Across from 1834 Park Boulevard

Poetry on a Summer Evening

H.D. Moe is hosting Poetry on a Summer Evening. If poetry’s your thing, get to Humanist Hall anytime between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. to hear from Jack and Adele Foley, Ivan Arguelles, Garrtt Lambrev, Richard Di Grazia, Andy Hayes, Kush, Jeff Grossman and many others. There will be surprise guests and open readers and musicians, too.

Free. Donations welcome
6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Potluck begins at 6 p.m. All are welcome. Poetry begins at 7.
Humanist Hall, 390 27^th Street

We Love the Town

Deejays Zita and Dmadness will be spinning at Luka’s again. It’s time for their We Love the Town party. They’ll be serving up some funk, dancehall, hip hop and Oaktown love.

$10
Every fifth Friday, 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Luka’s Taproom and Lounge

Saturday, August 1

The re-opening of the Fish

The 87-year-old iconic bar that shut down in 2008 is reopening its doors on Saturday. The Kingfish Café and Pub on Claremont Avenue started out as a bait shop in 1922. But it soon became a sports bar that developed a loyal following over the years. Expect a lively crowd fighting for the jukebox and the shuffleboard.

Noon onwards
Kingfish Café and Pub, 5227 Claremont Avenue

Paper Chase

You’ve got to know when to fold ’em. Rock Paper Scissors, the excellent arts collective on Telegraph Avenue, is holding an origami class on Saturday afternoon. In addition to learning some nifty origami models that will make great holiday ornaments, you’ll learn the origins and philosophy of the art form. The teacher has been practicing origami since his grandmother taught him to do it when he was seven. The cost is what you can afford.

1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
RPS Collective, 2278 Telegraph Avenue
RSVP over at their website, Questions: 510-238-9171

Market Mural

The Community Rejuvenation Project celebrates the completion of a new big ass mural at El Ranchito on the corner of 23rd Avenue and East 16th Street. If the prospect of checking out the handiwork of CRP, which aims to transform “blighted areas of the community through murals, community clean-up, landscaping & gardening, and community celebrations,” doesn’t hook you, maybe this will: El Ranchito is offering free food.

Saturday August 1, 12 p.m. – 4 p.m.
El Ranchito, 23rd Avenue and East 16th Street

Burlesque ‘n’ Brass

You saw them at Uptown Unveiled. Now you can see them again at Café Van Kleef. It’s Burlesque ‘n’ Brass night at the popular downtown destination.

Blue Bone Express & Hot Pink Feathers.
$10
First Saturday of the month, 9 p.m.
Café Van Kleef, 1621 Telegraph Avenue, CafeVanKleef.com,  (510) 763-7711

Lakefest

This is not your typical toe ring, tie-dye tee shirt street festival with a bunch of generic “crafts.” This fair looks like Oakland. Lakefest starts its second year Saturday with a full line up of music, beer, wine, food and craftspeople from all over Oakland. For more, click here.

Aug 1 and Sug 2, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Free
Lakeshore
oaklandlakefest.com/

Sunday, August 2

Alpine Oakland

While beer gardens are all the rage in many towns where hipsters dwell, the trend hasn’t yet taken root in Oakland. But on Sunday, you can hoist a stein in a genuine Bavarian-style lodge hidden in the Oakland hills. The Oakland branch of the California Nature Friends Corporation ( a nearly 100 year-old institution) opens its doors to the public for an afternoon of bier, wurst, and the brassy tones of the Al Gruber band (their motto? When you’re ready to Polka…)

Noon – 6 p.m.
3118 Butters Drive
Admission: $10 for adults, kids under 14 are free.

Yanga Celebration

In Yanga, Mexico, “Carnaval” is dedicated to black African culture. The Mexican Consulate and the East Bay Center for the Performing arts present an afternoon filled with music and dance celebrating this tradition from Yanga.

Noon to 4 p.m.
$5 to $8 (included with the cost of museum admission)
Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak Street, 510-238-2200
www.museumca.org

Poetry Flash with Lucille Lang Day & Roz Spafford

Lucille Lang Day’s new book of poems is The Curvature of Blue; Lucille Lang Day’s new book of poems is The Curvature of Blue; Lucille Day (pictured above) has published four previous books of poetry, including Infinities, Wild One, and Self-Portrait with a Hand Microscope, her first, for which she won the Joseph Henry Jackson Award. She is the founder and director of Scarlet Tanager Books, a literary press in the Bay Area. Spafford has been a writer, teacher, and activist for the last three decades. She wrote book reviews and a newspaper column of media and cultural criticism called ‘Mediations’ for much of that time. Her poetry and fiction have been widely published in literary magazines.

3 p.m.
Diesel, a Bookstore, 5433 College Avenue
dieselbookstore.com, 510-653-9965

Sonic Youth

One of the best known indie rock bands in the country plays at the Fox Sunday night. Don’t let the weekend end on a mellow note.

8 p.m.
Fox Theater, 1807 Telegraph Avenue
$35.50
thefoxoakland.com/

07/17: The O-Scene Weekend’s Here.

Movies, book readings, swaps, bloggers’ BarCamp, kid-friendly wine parties, and of course, art.. there’s all this and more going down in Oakland this weekend…

Friday July 17

Annual T-10 Video Festival

See the weird work of Bulk Foodveyor (Philip Bonner) at 21 Grand Friday evening. Bulk makes “media based theater using physical assemblage with a bizarre satirical humor.” It will be the second night of the 9th Annual T-10 Video Festival. “… Conceived by Sarah Lockhart, (T-10 Video Festival) began shortly after 21 Grand first opened its doors. As the cultural landscape has shifted, so has T-10, redefining its purpose each year, while remaining focused on short form works. Including experimental documentary, narrative shorts, animations and expanded media works.”

Admission is $6
8:30 p.m.
21 Grand, 416 25th St.

Oakland Bites and Sucks

In Adrian Harper’s Oakland, the city is as diverse and multi-culti as it is in real life. However, in Harper’s book, “Night Biters,” vampires are also part of the city’s cultural fabric. Come hear Harper read from his young adult novel at Laurel Books Friday at 7 pm.

Free
7 p.m.
Laurel Bookstore, 4100 MacArthur Boulevard, 510-531-2073

Saturday, July 18

RPS Clothing Swap

Forget the consignment stores. The RPS Collective is having a huge clothing swap Saturday afternoon. Take clean clothes, meet new people, buy some food and drinks and make it a swap party. They even have a sewing machine for alterations.

2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Rock Paper Scissors, 2278 Telegraph Avenue @ 23rd Street, 510-238-9171

Beast (East Bay) Bloggers Camp

East Bay bloggers, this one’s for you. One of Oakland’s best-known bloggers, V Smoothe (A Better Oakland), Spot.us and Anca Mosoiu, a tech entrepreneur and founder of TechLiminal, a physical space for tech, are hosting Beast Bloggers Bar Camp.

They say East Bay is pig latin for beast. And if you’re wondering what a bar camp is – BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn from each other in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from participants.

It promises to be an interesting event.  Look at the schedule here.

$20, sliding scale
8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Techliminal, 268 14th Street, 510-832-3401

Red, White and Booze

Obi Kaufmann will be the first to admit that he hates wine bar art. (We’re not sure exactly what that is, but like pornography, we’d probably know it when we see it.) About a year ago, Kaufmann set out to show that wine bar art didn’t have to be blander than a bottle of Two-Buck Chuck Chardonnay. He’s curated 11 shows at Zza’s Wine Bar, and on Saturday is the reception for “Red and White,” the first group show for the wine bar’s alumni artists.

Free
6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Zza Wine Bar, 550 Grand Avenue

First and third Friday of the month, the party’s at Luka’s where the Oakland Faders present Flashback Fridays. DJs Platurn and Mere One will spin “old school hip hop, party anthems and all things funky.”

$10
9 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Luka’s Tap Room, 2221 Broadway @ Grand

Sunday, July 19

Beach Blanket

The Oakland winery JC Cellars is hosting its annual beach party Sunday. The $25 admission gets you snacks from an “urban chic” taco truck, cheeses and pates, ice cream, and, of course, 12 types of wine to sample. The beach party is family friendly with a DJ, petanque, and a craft table for kids. If you buy your tickets early, the price is $20. It’s on Sunday, so you won’t have to worry about the City’s new parking enforcers slapping you with a $55 fine.

1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
JC Cellars Winery. 55 Fourth Street. 510-465-5900