Beast Blog

A Waste of Effort

The Chronicle reports on the City of Berkeley's plans to clean up Telegraph Ave. The finger is pointed at the street urchins and derelicts who inhabit the street, but, as someone who lived a block away 16 years ago, I can say they've always been there.

All the patrols, facade improvement grants, and public cleaning crews won't address two fundamental factors. One is acknowledged -- internet retail is gutting the media retail that once thrived along Telegraph (books and music particularly).

But Telegraph is also the street that serves university students, and the demographic of those students is changing. The stores that are doing well are those that appeal to the increasing Asian and Asian-American population. You can throw a stone and hit five places that serve bubble tea. The challenge for businesses is to figure out how to serve this market, a market that seems distinct in its retail habits when compared to others.

Chocolate tasting and culture at UC Berkeley

Sunday, October 9, at 1pm sees "The Culture of Chocolate: Tracing the Mystique and Worldwide Journey of Cacao", and event put on at the Hearst Museum of Anthropology.

Berkeley J-School Events - Including one TODAY

Sorry for the late notice.

Today the J-School presents Charles Mann talking about his latest book "1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus."

6pm-8pm, September 21.

If this isn't enough notice (and I only just found out about it), well, I suggest subscribing to their RSS feed or getting on their mailing list.

UC Berkeley Conservatory Archaeology

The Berkeley Daily Planet offers up an article on the archaeology work unearthing the remains of a conservatory that once graced UC Berkeley.

As it happens, I was at the site and took a bunch of pictures a couple days ago.

If you wanna learn some local history, stop by and say Hi. It's right off the Memorial Glade.

New Media Journalism at UC Berkeley - May 23-27

Cal's J-School is hosting a series of presentations on journalism and the web, from May 23-27. All free and open to the public.

Looks good!

MONDAY, MAY 23

12:30 - 1:15 p.m.
"How to Exploit Attributes of the Web"
Ken Sands, Spokane Spokesman-Review

7:30 - 8:30 p.m.
"The Changing Rules of Journalism: The Role of Editors and Reporters in the Future"
Bob Cauthorn, City Tools

TUESDAY, MAY 24

12:30 - 1:15 p.m.
"Doing a Multimedia Story"
Regina McCombs, Minneapolis Star-Tribune

7:30 - 8:30 p.m.
"Digital Storytelling: New Media's New Storytellers"
Amy Hill, Center for Digital Storytelling

WEDNESDAY, MAY 25

1:00 - 1:45 p.m.
"Grassroots Media"
Dan Gillmor, Grassroots Media Inc.

7:30 - 8:30 p.m.
“VR Photography and Journalism”
G. Donald Bain, UC Berkeley Geography Computing Facility, and Landis Bennett, World Wide Panorama

THURSDAY, MAY 26

12:45 - 1:30 p.m.
"The Northwest Voice: A Citizen Journalism Case Study"
Mary Lou Fulton, Bakersfield Californian

7:30 - 8:30 p.m.
"Wikinews: Online News Community"
Amgine (Wayne Saewyc), Wikinews

FRIDAY, MAY 27

4:15 - 6:00 p.m.
"Let's Quit Building Crappy Newspaper Sites"
Rob Curley, Lawrence Journal-World

yum! chinese!

i've never been a big fan of chinese food, probably because there is sooo much bad chinese food out there (being the oldest ethnic food in the us, there is bound to be!). but i am quite impressed with May Flower! (2156 University Avenue, 510.883.9788)

i stopped in for a quick lunch today and was happy that they serve dim sum (my fave of all chinese food) all day long!

but i was unprepared for the level of quality and freshness- amazing!
for example, i've always hated egg drop soup- it's always such a slimy mess. this egg drop soup was fresh, light, infused with fresh corn flavor and NOT slimy at all!

my friend & i shared 4 orders of their dim sum (they have a limited dim sum menu, but the quality more than makes up for a small selection).

1. shui mai (4 pcs, $1.98) amazingly fresh- the pork puree has whole shrimp in it! yum!
2. pan fried chive dumplings (3 pcs, $1.98) inside the rice wrap was shrimp, ginger, and LOTS of chives. really amazing fresh chive smell when you opened the dumpling.
3. steamed bb pork buns (3 pcs, $1.98) they must make them there. the filling was fresh and tasty- not like the frozen ones from other places!
4. shrimp dumplings (4 pcs, $1.98) whole shrimp, not steamed puree.

i would highly recommend this place, and guess what, they deliver for free!

Join me as we proceed to... THE FUTURE

Currently on display in UC Berkeley's Doe Library is "Transportation Futuristics", a small exhibit of materials detailing a variety of approaches to improving transportation. It's filled with monorails, super sonic aircraft, hovercars, and the like. The accompanying website showcases all the items, but not at a resolution equal to the original materials, so it's worth a stop there.

It's accessible any time that Doe Library is open, and is open to the public. Doe is open between 8am and 9pm during the week.

Digitalia at UC Berkeley

The J-School at Cal is putting on a series of panels dealing with technology, society, and the human experience.

Living With The Genie:
On Technology and the Quest for Human Mastery
Thursday, April 29, 7 pm
With Howard Rheingold, Denise Caruso, Ray Kurzweil, Richard Rhodes, Mark Schapiro and Christina Desser

Revisiting Virtual Communities:
The Internet’s Impact on Society and Politics
Friday, April 30, 9 am
With Craig Newmark, Susan Mernit, Markos Moulitsas Zúniga and Mark Pincus

Disrupting the News Industry:
Media Concentration and Participatory Journalism
Friday, April 30, 10:30 am
With Dan Gillmor, Vin Crosbie, Neil Chase, Ken Sands and Bob Magnuson

a little background

When I lived in Oakland as a young adult I thought the Bay Area was as big as it got. I never even left California until I was 27, and that was for my honeymoon (divorced now, and swell friends with my ex, photographer Carl Posey, who is Berkeley High class of ‘83). I was at Cal for a while, then freelanced at The East Bay Express, the Bay Guardian, and was music editor at SF Weekly. It all seems a very long time ago. I used to party at Geoffrey’s in Jack London Square. I favored LaVal's pizza over Blondie's. Ate often at Lois'. I dealt with the gruff staff at Flint’s for the tangy barbeque ribs and bright yellow potato salad. Had brunch (when I had some money) at Rick & Ann’s up by the Claremont Hotel. I used to live at the Vulcan Foundry Studios at San Leandro Boulevard and High Street), and bought dollar burritos from the catering trucks over near there. I hung out at Yogurt Park in Berkeley. I worked at Saks Fifth Avenue for years (and was a good saleschick, too!). I used to go to Slim's in San Francisco, and to the DNA Lounge and to the Kennel Club (it’s no longer there? Or is it?) for hip hop shows. I listened to KALX as well as KMEL (which I know has changed a lot). Screamed through Cal basketball games when Kevin Johnson was at guard. I swore by Peet's (and still do). They serve it at a place here in Brooklyn called Boerum Hill Food Company, and please believe I go there often. I started writing for NY magazines like Spin and Rolling Stone (I still write for them sometimes). And finally ended up at Billboard, then at Vibe, then at Time Inc. Wrote More Like Wrestling while on a journalism fellowship at Northwestern University. Got some good reviews here and here and here, as well as a bad one (you thought I’d post it?!? Not). Started teaching at places like NYC’s Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center and The New School University and St. Mary’s College of California. As of today I haven’t had a day job in almost three years, and I like it. I write as much as I can, mostly fiction, and after fourteen years in journalism (Deadline! Deadline! Deadline), sometimes I feel like I’m not writing enough. It’s funny how life works out. I’m going back to school in the fall (after dropping out of Cal a thousand years ago) for my MFA (ask me how, with my no-BA-having self; it’s a good story).

More later.

Today is Cal Day (and bakesale day) in Berkeley

Today is Cal Day, when UC Berkeley has an open house all day. Although it is supposedly geared towards prospective students, it's lots of fun for everybody. For the autodidact, there are lots of free lectures and demonstrations. I'd recommend Professor Tyrone Hayes' lecture, Genetically Modified Weeds, Hermaphroditic Frogs, and Premature Babies, if you can get yourself to the Valley Life Sciences Building by 9 AM.

Cal Day is also a great place to bring kids for the day. There are lots of fun hands-on activities for kids of all ages. We went last year (in the rain) and had a blast. Based on last year's experiences, I would especially recommend Activities in Archaeology at the Archaeological Research Facility, 2251 College Ave for elementary school age children. The university students were very sweet, and they really set things up nicely for kids, with lots of interesting activities, and the kids get to take the home the "artifacts" they discover. The parents can watch hand tools being made from obsidian and flint, just as our ancestors did 10,000 plus years ago. Another good pick is visiting the usually pricey Berkeley Art Museum or the Lawrence Hall of Science, both of which are free for the day. It would be hard to go wrong taking a kid to Cal Day.

As a final bonus, MoveOn activists are holding their Bake Sale for Democracy Saturday, and there are 6 bake sales being held within a mile of campus. Rumor has it that the founders of MoveOn will be at Kerry's Benvenue Bake Sale for part of the day.

Highly recommended.

Cross posted from The Berkeley Blog.

Emerging Technologies at UC Berkeley

I spent today at the University of California at Berkeley Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Departments Annual Research Symposium. It was a blast, in many ways the academic equivalent of the O'Reilly Emerging Technologies Conference I went to two weeks ago. Instead of the O'Reilly fare of Robots and Quantum Dots and Programmable Matter and Emergent Democracy Worldwide, they had Smart Dust, Electric Clothes (Transistors made from woven textiles), Circuits printed on Plastic and Technology Research for Developing Regions. While some of the subjects were similar to ETech, the crowd and format were very different. While anyone who stumbled across the website in the last month could register and attend for free, the crowd consisted almost entirely of invited academics and members of the research divisions of large corporations, plus a few Europeans and a very large crowd from Finland. Instead of young hackers giving talks then joining the audience, there were graduate students who gave presentations or demos but then went back to their labs/cubes. The conference appeared to be primarily Berkeley CS and EE showing their stuff to current and potential sponsors and collaborators. Nothing wrong with that, and I was delighted with the chance to attend and see the profs and grad students present their research results.

I was very impressed with the breadth of the research being done, and with the number of labs that are scattered around town, working on things as different as extremely low power self organizing sensors connected by wireless networks to very interesting design methodologies for real-time fault tolerant software. I suspect that the people who tied up Sprint's application to put up 3 cell antennas on a building in Berkeley for 2 years have no idea of all the wacky and creative things that the UC wireless researchers are up to with radio in Berkeley.

I probably won't get a chance to write up my notes, but if I don't and you are interested, I highly recommend the three (1, 2, 3) talks mentioned above, all of which are archived on the Berkeley CSEE web site.

Cross posted at The Berkeley Blog.

Robert Reich to teach at UC Berkeley

That little feller from the Clinton Administration is a visiting lecturer in our midst:

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/01/12_Reich.shtml
====

Robert B. Reich, former U.S. labor secretary in the Clinton administration, is a distinguished visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy for the spring semester, which began Jan. 13.

He will spend his time at the Goldman School teaching a course on wealth and poverty, giving public lectures, and working on a new book about leadership and change.

Reich said he is excited to be at the Goldman School, which, he said, "stands at the true pinnacle of excellence." He and Goldman School Dean Michael Nacht previously worked together at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

His first formal public lecture is set for April 13, with details to be announced.
====

His university homepage

Hip Hop Film Fest - Nov 12 - 14

Yo yo yo! For three days, the Hip Hop Film Fest is throwing it down at UC Berkeley, 22 Warren Hall. A mix of shorts and features, only $2 per screening ($1 if you're a student). Sponsored by Cal Hip Hop.

Free Movies!

The Pacific Film Archive theatre is doing more to lure us in! They've instituted a new program called First Free Thursdays. Starting this week you could see the quirky looking documentary The Good Wife of Tokyo and risk nothing but your time!

(but be prepared to deal with the fact that this program is sponsored by The Gap - don't wear any bright colors or they may ask you to leave)

Go Bears... just not when I have work to do.

All the parking meters along Bancroft Avenue are hooded with paper bags reading "No Parking" and three police cars patrol the street to enforce it. Private lots for blocks around campus are offering one choice for parking - $20 to $25 for the full day, no hourly rates. Why the madness? Football.

Cal wants me to hate football. Now, I never actively disliked the game, I just never really cared about it one way or the other. Berkeley campus, though, reacts to one of its "football days" in a way that makes me want to launch all "pigskins" into the centre of the sun.

The lesson learned? Stay away from Cal on game days, unless you desperately need a Coach Tedford bobblehead.

Film Fans Rejoice - Night of the Hunter Mania

This weekend and next week, the Pacific Film Archive has a special treat for film lovers.

On Saturday, July 26th, there's CHARLES LAUGHTON DIRECTS THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER: A PRESENTATION OF OUTTAKES FROM THE FILM. And on July 30th, they're showing the film in pristine condition.

I had the delight of seeing this presentation last year in Los Angeles, and wrote it about it (with lots of pictures). If that doesn't encourage you to go, nothing will.

History is a Dirty Business

In UC Berkeley's summer session course Anthropology 133, students learned not only how to dig square holes and sift through archival materials, but also that archaeology and history are public endeavours. Local press this last week noted our efforts at two sites on Cal campus - a nice piece in today's San Francisco Chronicle followed less detailed offerings in the Oakland Tribune and Berkeley Daily Planet on Thursday and Friday. As a graduate student instructor for the course, I helped supervise excavations at the C.U. Conservatory site, where the remains of a shining Victorian glass-house now lie under a parking lot.

Before: the UC Conservatory ca. 1900

(photo from the Oliver Family Photograph Collections, Bancroft Library, University of California)

After: a field school student excavates remains of the west-wing foundation.

(photo by author)

J-School Throwin' It Down, Convergence Style

From an announcement from UC Berkeley's School of Journalism:

You are invited to a series of presentations next week on multimedia, convergence and online publishing at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism:

MONDAY, MAY 19

Doing Weblogs for Newspapers and Local News Sites
7:00 ? 8:15 p.m.
- Ken Sands, managing editor of online and new media, The Spokane Spokesman-Review
- Paul Andrews, technology columnist for the Seattle Times and author of The Paul Wall Weblog

TUESDAY, MAY 20

Charging for Online Content
12:45 ? 1:45 p.m.
- Peter Krasilovsky, vice president and senior partner, Borrell Associates

The Daily Routine of Internet Users: The Day-Part Survey
7:00 - 8:15 p.m.
- Rusty Coats, director of new media, Mori Research

WEDNESDAY, MAY 21

Online Advertising and Revenue: The Personal Shopper
7:00 - 8:15 p.m.
- Bob Cauthorn, vice president of digital media, San Francisco Chronicle

THURSDAY, MAY 22

Doing a Multimedia Project
1:00 ? 2:15 p.m.
- Robyn Dochterman, interactive editor, Minneapolis Star Tribune

FRIDAY, MAY 23

Putting Multimedia Into Practice: Deadline Stories and Projects
1:30 - 5:00 p.m.
- Rob Curley, general manager, World Online, the Internet division of The Lawrence Journal-World

All the presentations are free and no RVSP is necessary. Each presentation will be in the library at the UC Berkeley Journalism School in North Gate Hall. Directions are available at:

http://journalism.berkeley.edu/directions.html

The presentations also will be Webcast live at:

http://journalism.berkeley.edu/events/mm2003/workshop2/

Cinematotrash

Short notice I know, but this weekend (May 9-11) we've got "Born to Be Bad 2: Conference and Film Festival", a celebration of trash cinema, taking place at the Pacific Film Archive. How can you turn down a talk titled, "Why I Hate Gwyneth Paltrow: The Failure of Contemporary Cinema, from Hollywood to the Avant Garde"?

"I'm Going to College!"

Walking around campus today I noticed an excess of blue and gold as the place gears up for tomorrow's Cal Day (that's Saturday, April 12th). While the University of California, Berkeley is never shy about promoting itself, Cal Day is when they really go all-out to attract new students, impress visiting families, and entertain the neighbours. I'll be doing my part for the Archaeological Research Facility programs by supervising some undergrads' outreach projects and answering questions about historical archaeology in 55 Kroeber Hall, between 10am and 4pm. We may not have a cyclotron, but we've got heart - and a lot of dirty old stuff.

(As for the title of this post, this is the slogan you can see emblazoned on chests of young aspirants visiting Cal.)

CDC Director Gerberding to speak at UC Berkeley April 8

Dr. Julie Gerberding, the Director of the U.S. Center for Disease Control, is currently scheduled to talk at the U.C. Berkeley School of Public Health's Dean's Colloquium in the Anita Baldwin Auditorium at 4:00 PM on April 8, 2003. Given current events, I wouldn't be surprised if the event is canceled or rescheduled, but if the talk is held I'll be there and will report on it for www.SARSWatch.org. I imagine that it will be interesting.

John Brady Kiesling at UC Berkeley, Part 2

I went to John Brady Kiesling's talk at UC Berkeley, previously noticed here, and it was fantastic. A real American hero. Description of the talk (long) and impressions over at Tilting at Windmills.

March 24-29 at the J-School

From UC Berkeley School of Journalism:

MONDAY, MARCH 24
7:30 - 8:30 pm
Should Journalists and News Organizations Blog?
A discussion with:
- J.D. Lasica, Online Journalism Review senior columnist and author of New Media Musings weblog
- Rusty Foster, founder of kuro5hin group weblog

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26
7 - 8 pm
The Future of Wireless Technology
A talk by:
- Cory Doctorow, co-editor of Boing Boing weblog and outreach coordinator for the Electronic Frontier Foundation

THURSDAY, MARCH 27
7:30 - 8:30 pm
Can Online Publications Charge for Content?
A talk by:
- Vin Crosbie, president and managing partner of Digital Deliverance

All three events will be held in the journalism school library at North Gate Hall.

The events are free and no RVSP is necessary. The presentations also will be Webcast live at:

http://journalism.berkeley.edu/events/mm2003/

FRIDAY & SATURDAY, MARCH 28 & 29
Sixth annual new media conference
"Connecting with the Wired Generation: How Young People Use Technology, the Internet and the Media."

Just a reminder if you haven't already registered for the conference, which begins on Friday evening with a keynote address by John Seely Brown, and then goes all day Saturday with a series of panels. For the conference you do need to register online as we may have a full house. The conference Web page, which includes a schedule and list of speakers, is at:

http://journalism.berkeley.edu/events/conference2003/

And directions to the Journalism School are at:

http://journalism.berkeley.edu/directions.html

The presentations and the conference are sponsored by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, the USC Annenberg School for Communication and the Western Knight Center for Specialized Journalism.

John Brady Kiesling at UC Berkeley this Thursday, March 20

John Brady Kiesling, the American foreign service officer who resigned in protest over Bush's unilateral preventative war policy, will be giving a talk, Preserving America's Moral Capital, this Thursday, March 20, 2003, at 7:30 pm at the Sibley Auditorium at the (heavy irony) Bechtel Engineering Center on the UC Berkeley campus.

I have listened to Mr. Kiesling, read his resignation letter, and written about him. He is an incredibly articulate American hero, and I suspect that it will be a fascinating talk. Highly Recommended.

Maps and Directions available at the Goldman School of Public Policy website.

Do Cities Have a Future?

UC Berkeley's journalism school is proving to be an amazing resource for thought-provoking public lectures. On March 20th, and interesting urban studies lecture open to the public:

The New Metropolis: Do Cities Have a Future?"

A discussion with Washington Post writer and author Joel Garreau, San Francisco Chronicle urban design writer John King, and Bay Area developer Rick Holliday. Moderated by UC Berkeley Journalism School Terner Teaching Fellow Bradley Inman

Thursday, March 20
7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
UC Berkeley School of Journalism
North Gate Hall, Berkeley Room 105

US cities are bubbling up, taking new shapes and making new sounds. Some downtowns are becoming tourist destinations, sparkling like never before. Others are as dead as Babylon. Some places that until recently were bedroom communities are now job-packed, high-property-value visions of an ethnically integrated, high-technology future. Others are a darkly punk hallucination featuring gangs, gridlock and drugs. How does this new weave of urban events fit together?

Sponsored by the Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, College of Environmental Design, the Program on Housing and Urban Policy and BRIDGE Housing Corporation.

Faculty, professionals, students, and community members are invited to attend.