Faces of Oakland

Istarted a new art project a while back, and decided it was finally time to take the wraps off it. It's called Faces of Oakland - the diverse, beautiful faces of people in Oakland. One thing I enjoy at all these great Oakland events I go to is people watching. I love the diversity of Oakland, and find the variety of people beautiful and amazing. As the about page says:

All the people pictured here live, work, shop, and/or play in Oakland. Some I know; most I don’t. I was inspired to create this site in part by the work of Dariusz Majgier, a photographer in Poland who specializes in “5 second street portraits”. I wanted to capture some the diverse, beautiful people I see around Oakland every day.

The site is a work in progress. I'm happy with the general design, but I'm still tweaking the slideshow that plays on the first page. The project itself is ongoing and hopefully never-ending. I'm not as good a portrait photographer as Dariusz, and I'm definitely not as comfortable with asking strangers to take their pictures as he seems to be. So if you see me out there and I ask to take your picture for the project, this is what it's all about.

Faces of Oakland

upcoming Oakland events

Once again way too much fun stuff to do in Oakland, and not enough time to do it all.

Waterfront Flicks - Thursday, September 29, 7pm. The final Waterfront Flick of the season, featuring Chocolat. Food from Miss Pearl's, beer from New Belgium and the EBBC, plus trivia, cooking demos, and more. As always, the weather can be variable, so dress in layers!

Oaklandish Party at Fairyland - Friday, September 30, 7pm-10pm. Children's Fairyland is designed for kids. No adults are allowed unless accompanied by one. But Friday, Oaklandish is hosting a party for adults to explore -- join them for free drinks, music, and Oakland-made magic -- and make sure this Oakland institution keeps on living happily ever after! ($10-$15, 21+)

Oaktoberfest - Saturday, October 1, in the Dimond. A family-friendly Octoberfest event in the Dimond, Oaktoberfest features a large biergarden with beers from local vendors, plus music, crafts, kid-friendly activities, and rootbeer garden for the kids. Come and celebrate the German heritage of the Dimond. Or just come and celebrate with local beer. (free)

Black Cowboy Parade - Saturday, October 1, 10am-4pm, DeFremery Park. A long-running event (this is the 37th annual), the Black Cowboy Parade celebrates the contributions of people of color in the "old west". (free)

Parlor and Politics - Saturday, October 1. A celebration of women's suffrage in California, Parlor and Politics takes you to three historic houses to for a tea to learn about what was happening behind the scenes during the women's suffrage movement in California. Camron-Stanford House, Cohen-Bray House, and the Pardee Home. ($30-$40)

Suffrage Parade - Sunday, October 2. Continuing the celebration of women's suffrage, a parade starting Lakeside Park at Lake Merritt.

Plus the usual events:
Piedmont Avenue Art Walk (3rd Thursday)
Bites off Broadway (Fridays)
Art Murmur (1st Friday)
Downtown walking tours (Wednesdays and Saturdays)
Saturday Art Stroll (Saturdays)

Looking further ahead:
Life is Living Festival - Saturday, October 8, 11am-5pm in Defremery Park (free)
Oakland Heritage Alliance house tour - Sunday, October 9, 1pm-5:30pm in Glenview. ($30-$40)
PedalFest - October 22nd. Bikes, beer, food, fun at Jack London Square.

Eat Real Festival 2011

food truck

This past weekend was the Eat Real Festival in Jack London Square. It featured food and drink from Bay Area producers, music, crafts, and a variety of food-related demonstrations, from cheese making to backyard chickens. With food trucks and vendors from all over the Bay Area, there was a lot to choose from.

I got a different look at things this year, as I volunteered to help with setup and beverage service. On Thursday I joined a bunch of other volunteers and some staff for a variety of setup tasks. We packed goody bags for volunteers, set up tables, moved several hundred pounds of flour, prepped signs and did a number of other odd jobs. It was interesting to see all the other prep work going on at the same time -- it's easy to forget how much preparation goes into a festival like this.

beer shed

On Friday, a different set of volunteers showed up early to learn the ins and outs of beverage service. After some training, some of us went to a beverage tent near the main stage, and others went to the main beer shed. The beverage tent was designed to be a quick-in, quick-out option, with a limited number of beer and wine choices. That seemed to work, as we never had long lines build up. (The main beer shed had 10 or so varieties of beer, 10 or so varieties of wine, as well as non-alcoholic drinks, so people had more decisions to make.) It was mostly fun, but it was definitely work, too.

After my shift was over, I wandered about checking out all the exhibitors and listening to the live music, and enjoyed watching people enjoying themselves. I wish I'd had room to sample more of the food and drink -- it looked and smelled wonderful. For some great photos from Eat Real, check out the post on Foodhoe's Foraging. Next year I'll definitely leave more time and energy to enjoy the festival myself.

More photos:

Eat Real Festival

More coverage:
Foodhoe's Foraging
Flickr photo pool

Oakland Underground Film Festival

Last week was the 3rd annual Oakland Underground Film Festival. Other commitments kept me from seeing as much of it as I would have liked, but what I saw, I loved. The Oakland UFF is a showcase for independent film, with a special emphasis on social justice, urban life, and the environment.

Opening night was at the Grand Lake Theater, and featured Yelling to the Sky, and it packs a punch. The Oakland UFF site describes it with:

A graceful churning of sound, color, and chaotic emotion, Victoria Mahoney’s semi-autobiographical directorial and screenwriting debut has been called “the cinematic equivalent of Miles Davis’ “Bitches Brew,” and it burns as it goes down, leaving you slightly dizzy, staring into the clouds. Starring the luminous Zöe Kravitz as Sweetness and Gabourey Sidibe (Precious) as her high school nemesis, Yelling to the Sky is a coming-of-age mash-up of raw emotion where the only answer to the brutal riddle of urban adolescence is to join in the fight for acceptance and survival.

The film doesn't vary from Sweetness' viewpoint, so you never get an answer to some questions, like why her dad changed the way he did. It had great cinematography (especially the dinner scene), all the more amazing for being done all in two takes or less. Victoria Mahoney was there for the showing, and had a Q&A session after. She explained the 'two takes or less' was purely a financial decision; they couldn't afford to shoot all the scenes she wanted if they did more takes. While that pressured the crew, it ended up bringing a live theater-like feeling to the production -- every body brought their best to every scene.

Mahoney described some of resistance she got to making the film, "Nobody's going to want that film", and complaints (from white, over-40 movie types) that it was "too slowed-paced for today's youth". She said she made the film she wanted to make, and kept going back to the responses of the under-20 crowd to make sure she was on track.

Two thumbs up for Yelling to the Sky. See the website for Yelling to the Sky for more info about future viewings.

The rest of the festival featured an eclectic mix of independent films. At the far end of the grittiness scale was an endearing collection of short films featuring the stop-motion heroine Komaneko:


Did you see any of the Oakland Underground Film Festival films? How'd you like them? How was the after party at NIMBY?

Oakland Local

I've been following Oakland Local for some time. It's a non-partisan, non-profit media organization that promotes discourse on local issues that matter. They also provide training and mentoring, and present various local events (like Code for Oakland back in June). You may have seen their booth at local events like Art & Soul.

In simpler terms, it's one of the best sources for news about Oakland. It's by Oaklanders, by people who live and work in the neighborhoods they report in, believe in the issues they report on, and have a wide variety of viewpoints.

I'm proud to say I've started contributing to Oakland Local. At this point it's just the occasional cross-post from here on Our Oakland, but who knows what the future holds. In any event, if you're not familiar with Oakland Local, check it out. Add it to your newsreader or bookmarks today!





More pictures from Tuesday's meetup:

Oakland Local