Beast Blog

my fave food court spots

food courts can be a great place to get cheap eats, and many of the spots have awesome ethnic food.

Emeryville Public Market has food of practically every ethnicity you can imagine- every configuarion of asian and pan-asian, middle eastern, american, european countries including greece, germany, and italy.

my fave two spots at this food court are:

Wazwan - an indian place with great chaat- samosas with killer cilantro chutney (my fave kind!), and masala dosa.

and Kashmir (i think that's the name), right across the aisle from Wazwan. they serve afghani food. their spinach bulani rocks. i was a little sad that they felt the need to change the name of their food from afghani to persian after 9-11 (perhaps they experienced a boneheaded decline in sales?), but the food remains as good as ever.

another food court worth mentioning is in berkeley, just east off the telegraph haze on durant. there are several places in the court, but i like the pho place. i am a creature of habit, and tend to get the seafood egg noodle soup there, which is great. fresh cilantro leaves really add a freshness to this wonderful soup, which is just as good in the summer as it is on rainy days when you need some warmth.

Film Bums' Paradise in Emeryville on July 17

Bums' Paradise, a well-reviewed film about the residents of the Albany Bulb and their efforts to fight so-called redevelopment and eviction, is coming to Lola's Outdoor Film Frenzy in Emeryville, 1280 65th Street, Emeryville, between Hollis and Doyle, on Saturday, July 17th, at 8:30 pm. I've wanted to see the film ever since I read about how it was made, by letting the residents of the Albany Bulb encampment film themselves, in a sad article about the death of one of its stars. I hope to make it to the screening myself.

The filmmakers, who will be present, say "So grab you[r] chair and blanket and come lounge beneath the stars at Lola's Film Frenzy." Only $7, no one turned away for lack of funds. More details on venue and film available here.

Cross-blogged at The Berkeley Blog.

Emeryville CarShare Pods Coming Soon

In the next couple of months, we'll be opening two new pods in Emeryville in the East bay. One of the pods will be within walking distance of the Amtrak Station and the Pacific Park Plaza Condominiums. The other new location will be on the Emeryville peninsula. We'll let you know as soon as we have exact locations. If you know anyone who lives or works in Emeryville, please let them know. Non-members who would like to be notified directly about upcoming new pods should send an email to newpods AT citycarshare.org.

Those Hollen Days of Yore

Video Games - Triple Down

For dedicated video game players, Best Buy and Circuit City are depressing. They only sell the straightforward expensive stuff. No old games, no antique consoles. No strange fourth-party peripherals. Few action figures. Toys 'R Us is slightly better but it's frankly a scary store to be in unaccompanied by a minor.

I may not stack my desktop with too many pieces of plastic. But I enjoy shopping for games in the context of game playing - at a store that stocks history and reverence for obscure electronic entertainment.

For a while, the near-East Bay had only one video game store like this - GameStop near Home Depot in Emeryville. East Bay video gaming ground zero - it was the only refuge for urban and urbane gamers alike. People selling pot-smoke reeking PlayStations and people hunting a used copy of the Phantasy Star series reissued for the GBA.

Now the number of used stimulation resellers in the near-East Bay has tripled. In the last month, two EB Games stores have opened: one on Shattuck, one on Telegraph, both near University/Bancroft. They sell nostalgia-riffic NES and SNES and Sega systems. Action figures. Hint guides. Weird peripherals. And, best of all, they sell old games. The prices on games less than a year old aren't much better than a new version, but it extends their stock back into history. If you're looking to save some money and extend the life of an old machine, a $5 copy of Tomb Raider for the Dreamcast might be just the thing.