Bay Area

Check out his tumblr http://oaklandhotspot.tumblr.com/ - Starmama from FFHound(roid)!

the article came out lovely. so cool of you to share yourself like that. cheers! - t-ra: not givin up

"WHEN I FIND OUT I’m moving, I walk home slowly. The temperate climate of Berkeley, its warm April sunshine stretching over green hills, crowds the sidewalks with flowers — an explosion of California poppies, mountain lilac, hummingbird sage, fawn lilies, and pink-flowering currant erupting from winter into hard, bright colors. I bend over a shaggy bush of Cecile Brunner roses, listening to the whir of a hummingbird as it hovers over the fuchsias, their brilliant pink and purple petals swaying softly. Everyone has assured me that I will love Colorado, but still, a faint sadness hangs like the cobwebs in the corners of my boxed up apartment. At San Pablo and Addison I look at my neighborhood as if I had already left, gazing over my shoulder at the mural painted along Mi Tierra market — the Indigenous woman with her arms extended high over her head, snapping a fence in her hands, the bold colors standing out against the muted Bay Area fog. Between Mi Ranchito Bayside Market and the... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

This is amazing thanks for sharing! - Donna Fisher

"You want to see something frightening on a lovely afternoon? Check out this amazing interactive map of Ellis Act evictions in San Francisco put together by Brian Whitty. It's stunning: Between 1997 and 2013, it seems as if most of the Mission, Noe Valley, North Beach, the Marina, and Potrero Hill was evicted. Hundreds and hundreds of apartments turned into TICs, which now want to convert to condos. Hundreds and hundreds of tenants, who once had rent-controlled apartments, losing their homes -- and given the price of housing, losing their ability to live in San Francisco. Each little red flag is a human tragedy. Each one represents a transforming city that no longer has room for the middle class, much less poor people. It makes we want to cry. Or throw up. Or something." - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

:( - WoH: Professor MOTHRA

"nternationally acclaimed for their performances on stage, screen and television, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart will star at Berkeley Rep in a revival of Harold Pinter’s celebrated play. In No Man’s Land, we wonder if two writers really know each other. Or are they performing an elaborate charade? The ambiguity—and the comedy—intensify with the arrival of two other men, drawing the audience into a place between the present and time remembered, between reality and fantasy. Since its premiere in 1975 and its acclaimed 2008 London revival, No Man’s Land has been hailed as one of Pinter’s “indisputable modern classics” (Telegraph). Now these terrific actors take on this towering drama, helmed by award-winning director Sean Mathias, first for Berkeley Rep audiences, and then for Broadway where they will perform the play in rep with Waiting for Godot this fall. Don’t miss this strictly limited engagement." - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"How can we create resilient, regenerative cities and towns? Permaculture, an ecological approach to design, shows us how. Though land may be limited, cities are rich in other resources, especially social capital. This workshop will show how to find, harvest and integrate the many resources in our cities in sustainable ways. Toby will share ideas about accessing land for gardening; creating business guilds and networks; working with local government and policy makers; learning the pattern language of the city; creating public space in neighborhoods; and building urban ecovillages. You’ll learn about specific techniques and strategies for food production, energy security and community resilience in metropolitan areas and towns. Join us and learn how permaculture's principles and design methods can leverage the special opportunities of both urban and suburban areas. About the Instructor: Toby Hemenway is the author of Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, which for the last... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"In 1982, Jörg Rupf founded St. George Spirits and, using the extraordinary fruit grown in California, began producing eaux de vie. At the time, St. George, named for the patron saint of Rupf’s native Freiburg, Germany, was one of the only artisan distilleries in the United States. In the years since, Rupf has trained numerous distillers, launched an American craft spirits renaissance, and received no fewer than four James Beard Award nominations. Recently, Rupf passed on the reins of running the business to another maverick, current Master Distiller Lance Winters. It was 17 years ago that Winters approached Rupf with his resumé — a bottle of homemade whiskey — and he was hired on the spot. After eight years working together, the pair moved St. George Spirits into its current home, a 65,000-square-foot airplane hangar at Alameda’s Naval Air Station. Coincidentally, Winters had worked previously from the Naval Base, as a nuclear engineer stationed aboard “The Enterprise.” Now he... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"SAN JOSE -- The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office on Thursday arrested three 16-year-old boys on accusations that they sexually battered 15-year-old Audrie Pott, who hanged herself eight days after the attack in the fall. Sheriff's Lt. Jose Cardoza said it arrested two of the teens at Saratoga High School and the third at Christopher High School in Gilroy. The victim's family attorney, Robert Allard, said students shared photos of the attack on cellphones. Pott posted on Facebook that her life was "ruined" and that she was going through her "worst day ever" shortly before she committed suicide, Allard said. "The family has been trying to understand why their loving daughter would have taken her life at such a young age and to make sure that those responsible would be held accountable," Allard said. "After an extensive investigation that we have conducted on behalf of the family, there is no doubt in our minds that the victim, then only 15 years old, was savagely assaulted by her... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"Charming, Cozy I BR Cottage in redwoods near pastures, stables (plenty of worms!) unfurnished no amenities, rustic, flying distance to Woodacre Market Hurry this is one one of the coveted birdhouses on San Geronimo Valley Road sure to go fast. Priced right, rents for a SONG (cheep, cheep!). More photos available upon request. Absolutely Definitely NO CATS!" - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

This is about the size of what I can afford to rent in the Bay Area these days... - Spidra Webster

Excerpt: "Ben Davis: I’d been working on the Bay Bridge project from a communications point of view. After Burning Man in 2010, I was exhilarated by this “city” of 50,000 people coming together and working beautifully. I wanted to bring that awe to a place where it could live a little longer. Then it clicked—this bridge could be a canvas. When I looked at Leo’s work, the hair 
on the back of my neck stood up. Only one artist was considered for this work. And it was Leo Villareal." - Stephen Mack #TeamMomo from Bookmarklet

Project home page: http://thebaylights.org/ -- Video of the light show is at http://vimeo.com/41574472 and some photos at https://www.facebook.com/thebayl... - Stephen Mack #TeamMomo

I haven't even seen this yet -- I need to schedule a visit. - Stephen Mack #TeamMomo

"As the Bay Area's prime homebuying season begins, a witches' brew of market forces is making this spring one of the toughest times in memory to purchase a home. Arrayed against average buyers are fiercely competitive investors and others paying cash on the barrelhead, a scarcity of homes for sale, bidding wars that have run up prices and even problematic appraisals. "The banks -- they want all cash and they don't really care," said a frustrated Shannon Masse-Winks, who is searching for a home around Berkeley. The 34-year-old Oakland designer, who is soon to be an architect, said she and her husband Peter began house hunting a year and a half ago. "We totally got outbid at all times," she said. "The homes were going to people paying all cash. It's very frustrating, and now the prices have gone up about $100,000 since last year at this time. It is awful." Real estate agents say it's the ultimate sellers' market -- very few sellers and hordes of buyers. "It's certainly a very... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

Hmm, those homes are much cheaper than here in Aus... might have to buy a holiday home ... - Mo Kargas

"A miniature door at the base of an elm tree in Golden Gate Park is creating a big hubbub. No one knows where the little hinged brown door, which isn’t even a foot tall, came from, or what purpose it serves, but its presence has enchanted people of all ages. Pictures of the mysterious door started popping up online a couple of weeks ago, and a blog about San Francisco's Richmond District wrote about it after a reader sent in pictures." - Me from Bookmarklet

"BERKELEY -- An 8-year-old girl visiting the Lawrence Hall of Science in the hills above UC Berkeley was hit in the leg by an arrow Tuesday, police said. The girl was sitting on a life-sized model of a fin whale on the plaza outside the public science center at 1 Centennial Drive when she was hit in her left thigh by an arrow about 10:45 a.m., said UC Berkeley police Capt. Steve Roderick. The girl suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to a local hospital with the arrow still lodged in her leg, authorities said. The arrow did not appear to be a toy, and it wasn't immediately known whether the shooter hit the girl accidentally or on purpose, Roderick said. UC Berkeley police are checking nearby parking lots, homes and the hills around the science center for any signs of the shooter, Roderick said. "It doesn't appear to be associated with any experiments or demonstrations or anything associated with the Hall of Science," he said. Investigators will try to analyze the arrow's trajectory to determine where it came from." - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

Andrew: You're right, I never used to be a little girl. - Tudor Bosman

Where to buy everything from Aleppo to za'atar in San Francisco and beyond. - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"Sexy and bold looking beans from Rancho Gordo: these aren’t your granny’s beans! Bay Area native Steve Sando brings a touch of glamour to his indigenous “New World” heirloom bean company, which was founded in 2001. The Napa headquarters for his company, Rancho Gordo, is decorated with movie posters from 1940s and ‘50s Mexican cinema. Those posters serve as the inspiration for Rancho Gordo’s unique packaging, which feature images of beautiful Mexican women from that era. That is but one creative spin Sando has been put on marketing a food group often relegated to the bulk bin aisles.Come summer, it’ll be interesting to see how many of Sando’s posters will make it to his soon-to-open store inside the Ferry Building. Rancho Gordo will move into a space currently occupied by the Scharffen Berger Chocolate folks. Sando sells more than two-dozen types of beans, and Rancho Gordo’s new brick-and-mortar presence will let him expand his offerings to include stone ground chocolate, banana... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

I'm surprised I never heard of his business prior to leaving the Bay Area. Heirloom corn tortillas for $3, though! - Spidra Webster

"California's community colleges -- the nation's largest public higher education system -- have lost so many teachers and classes that students are being driven away. With the number of course sections down systemwide by as much as 20 percent since 2008, enrollment rates have hit their lowest point in two decades, concludes a Public Policy Institute of California report released Monday. The community colleges' ideal of open access for all, still dear to many Californians, barely resembles the reality on campuses today after years of budget cuts. "I expected to get the classes I needed, but I was wrong," said Rigo Navarro, a second semester student at Chabot College in Hayward. Navarro wants to major in criminal justice and engineering but said he has yet to find space in a math or a criminal justice class. Alexandra Olivares, 18, had it even worse, at least at first. Every class she tried to take in the fall at Chabot was full. She cried as she joined wait lists, thinking she would... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"The Pied Piper is returning to the Palace. Now, whether the cherished Maxfield Parrish painting “The Pied Piper of Hamelin” will return to the spot on the wall above the main bar in San Francisco’s Palace Hotel where it had hung almost uninterrupted for 103 years remains to be seen. After an outcry from San Franciscans of all stripes – from historians to tipplers to Mayor Ed Lee himself – the owners of the Palace Hotel told City Insider on Monday that they have changed their minds about selling the painting at auction and will return it to the hotel after a museum-quality restoration in New York. The painting may not go back in the bar named for it, though, and may be prominently displayed elsewhere in the hotel, said Greg Dickhens, president of Kyo-ya Hotels & Resorts. “It hasn’t been determined yet whether it will be in the Pied Piper room or somewhere else in the hotel,” Dickhens said. “That’s my biggest concern, to make sure it’s protected adequately. It has suffered in the past... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

Text of SJMerc article: "SAN JOSE -- Police have issued an Amber Alert after someone stole a car with an 11-month-old baby inside near Story Road and Jackson Avenue, police said. Sgt. Albert Morales said the suspect, believed to be a Latino woman, drove away in the white 2006 Jeep Liberty in the 2300 block of Amador Drive with Gabriela Quintero inside, who was not yet strapped into her baby seat. The mother had just left the car for a moment when the car was stolen at 6:43 a.m., according to Morales. The car's license plate number is 6BWK440. It has a spare tire in the back, and some baby stickers are also on the rear of the car. David Magana, who said the victim rents a room in his family's house, said the mother was loading her car this morning and went back inside the house. When she went back outside the Jeep was gone. Magana said he woke up to screams and ran outside. They quickly called 911. Magana said the mother saw a woman standing near the vehicle with bags in her hands and... more... - Stephen Mack #TeamMomo from Bookmarklet

Good! - Shevonne

""...that you will paint a suitable picture for the Barroom of the Palace Hotel, San Francisco about 6 ft by 16 ft, to be delivered no later than the first of November 1909, for the sum of six thousand dollars, very truly yours, J. W. Sharon Addressed to the artist in Paris, this letter confirms the order for an original painting to be created by the artist for the bar of the Palace Hotel, sent by J. W. Sharon" - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

Original letter commissioning Maxfield Parrish to make a painting for the Palace Hotel in SF. - Spidra Webster

"With so much concern over what's in our food and where it comes from, seed savers say they're taking back the power to feed themselves, one backyard crop at a time. NBC’s Diana Alvear reports." - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

The Richmond, CA seed library is shown in this report. - Spidra Webster

part of what Monsanto wants to kill. - Hieronymous Boosh

"A high school principal took a hands-on approach to school safety in San Francisco when he chased down a suspected iPad thief and pulled him off a fence as he tried to escape, school officials and authorities said. Students at St. Ignatius College Preparatory in the Outer Sunset had suffered a wave of theft involving school-issued iPads, with dozens disappearing over the last few weeks. Administrators had a description of a suspect - a man seen hanging around campus when the thefts happened - but hadn't been able to catch him. Dean of Students Bill Gotch was doing his regular rounds through campus around 3:45 p.m. Thursday when he saw a man matching the description and stopped him to talk. Though the suspect looked the part of a high school student - complete with a backpack and a copy of Lord of the Flies - he couldn't easily answer questions about what school he went to and why he was on campus, said principal Patrick Ruff. He and Gotch questioned him further in Gotch's office and... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

Great part in the video is a student interviewed who said "I wanna be like him when I grow up" and the reporter says "You want to be just like Mr. Ruff?" "Well...I want to be as athletic as he is. I don't want to be principal." - Spidra Webster

Haha! - Stephen Mack #TeamMomo from iPhone

"The owners of San Francisco's Palace Hotel have removed the famous Maxfield Parish Pied Piper painting that has graced the hotel's main bar for over a century and plans to sell it at auction. The mural was removed Friday morning and will be sold as the centerpiece of the Christie auction house's spring sale of important American paintings on May 23. The painting, which measures 16 feet long by six feet deep, is considered a major San Francisco cultural treasure and is a major feature of the Pied Piper room, selected as one of the city's "legacy bars and restaurants" by the San Francisco Architectural Heritage. The hotel said the painting was being sold because "it is no longer practical for the hotel to display, an original work of this value and cultural signifcance, in a public area." The hotel estimates the value of the painting to be between $3 million and $5 million. It was painted by Parish, one of the most noted American painters of the 20th century, in 1909 especially for the... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

I remember coming into this place when I was in town for business conferences. Very luxurious and exuded that old exclusive Americana feel. - CarlC, spelling expert from Android

"BERKELEY -- Chez Panisse, one of the world's famous foodie meccas, will be closed indefinitely following a March 8 fire and is not taking any new reservations, according to a post by owner Alice Waters on its website. Following the fire, which started in the early morning under the front porch of the Shattuck Avenue eatery, the restaurant said it probably would reopen March 23, then it moved it back to March 30. Turns out those dates were overly optimistic. "We are calling everyone personally to cancel all existing reservations, and we will post new updates as we receive additional information about the progress of the reconstruction," Waters said on the website at www.chezpanisse.com. As builders began doing demolition work, they realized that both the top and bottom porches of the building will have to be removed and rebuilt. "In addition to the significant damage to the lower room, much of the damage was structural and the upper porch sits on the lower one," said General Manager... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

It really is too bad, but seeing how long it took one of the restaurants around here (with a far less complex building) to recover from a fire, I'm not surprised it will be a lot lengthier recovery time. - Jennifer Dittrich

Yeah. Well, I hope at least it will allow them to redesign in a way that allows them to improve the design for their purposes, as well as to upgrade environmental design. I hope her insurance is covering her well. - Spidra Webster

"Last March, one of our QUEST contributors, Thibault Worth, wrote a piece about the fluorescent millipedes that were unexpectedly discovered on Alcatraz during a survey of the rat population on the island. As we were eager to learn more about these fascinating arthropods, I and my several of my KQED Science colleagues headed to Alcatraz with forensic entomologist Dr. Robert Kimsey, the National Park Service's Integrated Pest Manager Bruce Badzik and the UC Davis Entomology Club. This was my first visit to Alcatraz, and my general impression of the island was as Badzik described it to me during our interview: “Most people are fascinated with the history of the federal penitentiary on Alcatraz because of the well-known criminals such as Al Capone, “Creepy” Karpis, the “Birdman of Alcatraz” and Machine Gun Kelly. There were also a lot of movies made about Alcatraz: Murder In The First, The Rock, Escape From Alcatraz with Clint Eastwood. So people love to come out to see where those films... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"Vegetable Breeding Intensive Short Course at Baia Nicchia Farm, Sunol CA register by email at basil@ecologycenter.com $50, worktrade & student discounts are available, pay with check or paypal (use donation button on the right) Fred Hempel is an organic farmer and plant breeder at Baia Nicchia farm. He breeds tomatoes squash, peppers, & mustard. He sells his own & Ethiopian vegetable varieties through Artisan Seeds. He has released multiple tomato varieties that are sold through partnerships with wholesale producers and seed companies. The course will cover: Planning and Tools for Data Assessment: gather materials; preliminary experiments; prioritize important traits for plant selection Seed Saving and Introduction to Reproductive Biology (inbreeding, outcrossing, vegetative propagation, ect.) Principles of Selection: what to look out for in order to get the results you want, recognizing mutations, natural crossing between garden neighbors, and line variation b) Selection for, or... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

I am super sadface because I can't make this. But if you live in the Bay Area and are a hardcore gardener, I really recommend it. - Spidra Webster

"BERKELEY -- A robbery suspect was arrested and another is being sought in a shooting early Saturday that injured two employees of the popular Ashkenaz Music and Dance Community Center in Berkeley, police said. The incident began when two armed men entered the crowded dance club at 1317 San Pablo Ave. at 12:05 a.m. and demanded cash from employees, said Officer Jennifer Coats, a Berkeley police spokeswoman. During the holdup, two employees were shot and wounded. They suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were being treated at a hospital. Officers arrived shortly after the shooting and saw a man running from the scene and into a yard, Coats said. The Berkeley police SWAT team and an Alameda County sheriff's K-9 deputy responded to the scene and found the suspect behind a nearby building. His name was not released. A second shooter remains at large. In a message on Facebook, Ashkenaz representatives wrote, "We are deeply touched by the support and concern already expressed by so... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

:-( - Russian Space Lizard

Michael Phelps visiting Oaksterdam? - Spidra Webster

"Erica Maskaleris, 31, of Oakland has been missing now for four and a half days, and her family and friends are becoming understandably anxious. Maskaleris was last seen in running clothes on her typical morning run, around 8 a.m. on Thursday, on a surveillance video from outside Taste of Denmark bakery at 34th Street and Telegraph Avenue, which is near her home. She never returned home from her run, according to roommate and nephew Patrick Lopez, and she subsequently failed to show up for a flight on Friday to visit a brother in Texas. Oakland police are on the case, and have asked the family not to comment on the investigation, but another nephew, Courtney Lopez, says that they know that Maskaleris was not running away of her own accord. It's a spooky story, and the only clue that they have so far appears to be the fact that Maskaleris looked "purposeful" and like she was "warming up" for her run in the surveillance video. Family members and police are seeking any information that... more... - Russian Space Lizard from Bookmarklet