biking and seeing

image courtesy of kikashi

Longtime readers may (a) know that I'm a fan of biking as transport and (b) have been wondering why I haven't been posting so much of late.

No, I haven't run out of signs to shoot or even pictures of signs I've already shot, nor have I dropped off the face of the earth. I have been continuing to bike, though not as much as during the Car Free Challenge.

In part, I've been busy working. Yesterday I was out in Pleasanton (via BART and bike, thankyouverymuch), and was programming away when the great news about Prop 8 came out. I've been continuing to volunteer at Habitat for Humanity on Fridays and donate blood platelets on alternate Tuesdays, mostly by bike, too, but some actual income is a good thing.

There's lots to like about biking as transport, the low cost compared with a car and health benefits being high on the list. But I also (re)discovered that by moving more slowly through an area, whether on bike or on foot, you see a lot more than if you rumble by in car. Something DC of Fragmentary Evidence has known for a long time. There's a nice piece over at KALW featuring David Colburn and fellow Car Free Challenge participant Andrea Osgood. Yesterday on my ride to and from Fruitvale BART, I saw several scenes I wish I could have captured with my camera: kids playing, a couple of guys playing dominoes at a table on the sidewalk, an older couple working in their yard. They're all scenes I would have missed if I'd been driving.

Tomorrow I'll be volunteering at Habitat again, though I'll have to leave a bit early for another volunteer gig, helping East Bay Bike Coalition with the free bike parking at the Best of the East Bay party in Jack London Square.

Finally, next week is Scraper Bike Week here in Oakland. Scraper bikes are an Oakland creation, and some are pretty darn cool. Read more about them on TreeHugger. The events for Scraper Bike Week are aimed at kids 7-13, and are being held in a variety of locations around Oakland, but all are welcome.

Celebrate Oakland!

Even if the cooler than normal weather doesn't quite feel like it, summer is in full swing. In Oakland, that means lots of festivals!

First up is the National Night Out (NNO), tomorrow, Tuesday, August 3rd. There are hundreds of parties around Oakland; there's hopefully one near you. My council member, Jean Quan, sent out a list of NNO parties in district 4, but I can't find the updated version on her website, nor can I find a list of NNO parties in Oakland. If you're looking for one near you, ask a neighbor, check the city of Oakland NNO page, or call 238-3091.

Next is The East Bay Express' Best of the East Bay Party in Jack London Square, Friday, August 6th, from 5pm-11pm. It will feature "best of" winners from Oakland and all over the East Bay. It's free, and you can ride your bike there (free valet bike parking from EBBC!) or take the new Broadway shuttle.

New festival on the block is FreshFestival 2010 in Mosswood Park on August 14th. Oakland blog OaklandLocal is helping sponsor it. A good writeup at The Oakbook.

edit: Add to the list the 11th annual Laurel Street Fair. Music, food, vendors, fun for kids, and more.

In a few weeks is Oakland Art & Soul in Downtown / City Center, August 21st and 22nd. I enjoyed last year's Art & Soul, and this year looks to be a fun time again.

The week after that is the Eat Real festival in Jack London Square, August 27th-29th. K and I had a great time at last year's Eat Real. This year's is supposed to be even bigger and better!

Looking further ahead, there's Oaktoberfest in the Dimond on October 9th.

now with even more Oakland-y goodness!

Check out this great dance video of Turf Feinz, Danse Sous la Pluie, first seen over on OaklandSeen:

The YouTube page says the film is YAKfilms, music by Erk Tha Jerk.

Also cool is Oakland State of Mind from Youth Roots:

signs: Dairy Mart

Dairy Mart

Isaw this sign a long while back, but every time I'd passed it, it was overcast and the sign looked even more worn than it is. The business is long gone, the lot fenced off, but the Dairy Mart sign lives on. I got a shot with a cell phone today on my way back from the Habitat worksite near Tassfaronga today.

food: Souley Vegan

I

stopped eating meat some years back in a gradual process, first giving up beef and pork, then chicken. These days I still eat some fish, but I keep the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch in mind.

For me, it was about the huge impact that raising farm animals can have on the environment; for some it's about animal cruelty; for others it's about eating healthier. Those things are a bonus, but not the main reason for me. In general, eating vegetarian is healthier, and these days it's pretty easy to do in the Bay Area. There are even a fair number of vegan (no animal products) restaurants.

Soul food and traditional southern cooking don't immediately come to mind as healthy; with the meats and fatty foods and heavy use of deep frying, they seem closer to the other end of the healthiness spectrum from vegan.

So I was a little skeptical when I heard about Souley Vegan. Vegan soul food? How can there be such a thing? Can it be any good?

The other Friday when K and I wanted a place to eat not too far from the Kaiser Center and that could be relatively quick, we decided to finally give it a try, and I'm very glad we did. The ambiance isn't going to best the trendy decor at the various newer restaurants around Oakland, but it would be at home in southern Mississippi (if you added some oppressive heat and humidity outside the door.) It's clean and tidy, and the Friday evening we were there, they had a live blues group playing in the other room.

sampler plates

The food was very good, and the portions are large. K had a 3-item plate and I had a BBQ 'burger' and everything was extremely tasty. Next time we'd order less food and share, I think. We left feeling happily stuffed. They have a variety of house-made drinks like lemonade and mint tea, but no alcohol (you can always go to Beer Revolution next door for a drink before and/or after.)

We're not the only ones who like the food; Souley Vegan was voted Oakland Magazine's best vegetarian restaurant (Brown Sugar Kitchen got the nod for best soul food) and the East Bay Express' best vegan restaurant. If you eat vegetarian or vegan, or want some great soul food without quite so much guilt, try Souley Vegan -- you'll like it.