Free Will Astrology: Week of April 16

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Free Will Astrology: Week of April 16

ARIES (March 21-April 19): I am always surprised when there appears yet another authoritative article or book that implies there is one specific right approach to meditation. The truth is, however, that there are many ways. Here’s teacher Christopher Bamford: “Meditation is naturally individual, uniquely our own. There are no rules. Just as every potter will elaborate their own way of making pots, so everyone who meditates will shape their own meditation.” This is excellent counsel for you right now, Aries. The planetary alignments tell me you have extra power to define and develop your unique style of meditation. Key point: Have fun as you go deeper and deeper!

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): From 1501 to 1504, the artist Michelangelo worked to create a 17-feet-tall marble sculpture of the Biblical king known as David. Today it stands in Florence’s Galleria dell’Accademia and is one of the most famous statues in the world. But the block of marble from which it was carved had a troubled beginning. Two other artists worked on it but ultimately abandoned their efforts, regarding the raw material as flawed. Michelangelo saw potential where they didn’t. He coaxed a masterpiece from what they rejected. Be like him in the coming weeks, dear Taurus! Look for treasure in situations that others deem unremarkable. Find the beauty hidden from the rest of the world.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The Judean date palm was considered extinct for over 800 years. Then scientists germinated a 2,000-year-old seed discovered in the ancient fortress of Masada. That was 20 years ago. Today, the tree, named Methuselah, is still thriving. Let’s regard this as your metaphor of power, Gemini. You, too, are now capable of reviving a long-dormant possibility. An old dream or relationship might show unexpected signs of life. Like that old seed, something you thought was lost could flourish if you give it your love and attention.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): In more than a few ancient cultures, dolphins were regarded as playful allies that would guide lost ships and assist sailors in stress. In ancient Greek myth, dolphins were sacred companions and agents of the sea god. In Maori culture, dolphins were thought to deliver important messages that were unavailable any other way. Many modern Westerners downplay stories like these. But according to my philosophy, spirit allies like dolphins are still very much available for those who are open to them. Are you, Cancerian? I’m pleased to tell you that magical helpers and divine intermediaries will offer you mysterious and useful counsel in the coming weeks—if you are receptive to the possibility.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Do you know about the Leo liberator Simón Bolívar (1783–1830)? This Venezuelan statesman and military officer accomplished a cornucopia of good works. Through his leadership, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Panama, Bolivia and Ecuador gained independence from the Spanish Empire. He was one of history’s greatest crusaders for liberal democracy. I propose we make him one of your inspiring symbols for the next 12 months. May he inspire you, too, to be a courageous emancipator who helps create a better world.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Virgo conductor Leonard Bernstein was a global superstar because of his stellar musicianship, activism, philanthropy and teaching. He transformed classical music by dissolving barriers between “high” and “low” culture, bringing elegant symphonies to popular audiences while promoting respect for jazz and pop. He wanted all kinds of music to be accessible to all kinds of listeners. I think you are currently capable of Bernstein-like synergies, Virgo. You can bridge different worlds not only for your own benefit, but also others.’ You have extra power to accomplish unlikely combinations and enriching mergers. Be a unifier!

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): A rainbow is gorgeous, with its spectacular multi-hued arc sweeping across the sky. Here’s another element of its poetic appeal: It happens when sunlight and rain collaborate. In a sense, it’s a symbol of the sublimity that may emerge from a synergy of brightness and darkness. Let’s make the rainbow your symbol of power in the coming weeks, Libra. May it inspire you to find harmony by dealing with contrasts and paradoxes. May it encourage you to balance logic and emotion, work and rest, light and shadow, independence and partnership. I hope you will trust your ability to mediate and inspire cooperation.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You now have more power than usual to transform ordinary things into extraordinary things. Your imagination will work at peak levels as you meditate on how to repurpose existing resources in creative ways. What other people might regard as irrelevant or inconsequential could be useful tools in your hands. I invite you to give special attention to overlooked assets. They may have hidden potentials waiting for you to unlock them.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): If you google the term “the religion of work,” many critical references come up. They condemn the ways humans place an inordinate importance on the jobs they do, thereby sacrificing their health and soulfulness. The derogatory English term “workaholic” is a descriptor for those who are manically devoted to “the religion of work.” But now let’s shift gears. The artist Maruja Mallo (1902–1995) conjured a different version of “the religion of work.” Her paintings celebrated, even expressed reverence for, the agricultural laborers of rural Spain. She felt their positive attitudes toward their tasks enhanced their health and soulfulness. In the coming weeks, Sagittarius, I invite you to explore Mallo’s version of the religion of work.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Astrologer Aliza Kelly likes Capricorns for their “fearless ambition, limitless resilience and ability to keep pushing forward, even in the face of challenging adversity.” But she also praises their “secret wild side.” She writes, “Inside every earnest Capricorn is a mischievous troublemaker” that “loves to party.” I agree with her assessments and am happy to announce that the rowdier sides of your nature are due for full expression in the coming weeks. I don’t know if that will involve you “dancing on tables,” an activity Kelly ascribes to you. But I bet it will at least include interludes we can describe as “untamed.”

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In 1922, Aquarian author James Joyce published Ulysses, a novel recognized as one of the masterworks of 20th-century world literature. Seventeen years later, he produced Finnegans Wake, an uproarious experimental novel that was universally reviled when it first emerged because of its wild wordplay, unusual plot and frantic energy. In the ensuing years, though, it has also come to be regarded as a monument of brilliant creativity. It’s one of my favorite books, and I’m glad Joyce never wavered in his commitment to producing such an epic work of genius. Anyway, Aquarius, I’m guessing you have been toiling away at your own equivalent of Finnegans Wake. I beg you to maintain your faith! Keep going!

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Years ago, in the early days of my infatuation with a new lover, she put a blindfold on me and ushered me around the city of Columbia, South Carolina. The goal was to enhance my non-visual senses. The experiment worked. I heard, smelled and felt things I would never have noticed unless my dominating eyesight had been muffled. Ever since, my non-visual senses have operated with more alacrity. This fun project also improved the way I use my eyes. The coming days would be an excellent time for you to try a similar adventure, Pisces. If my idea isn’t exactly engaging to you, come up with your own. You will benefit profoundly from enhancing your perceptual apparatus.

Homework: What could you do to transform one of your uncertainties into creative energy? Newsletter.FreeWillAstroloy.com

Startup Art restarts annual indie celebration

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Startup Art restarts annual indie celebration

Returning after a full-stop for five years due to the pandemic, the annual Startup Art Fair sets ablaze one of the area’s finest events for viewing and purchasing the artwork of contemporary independent artists. With 60 artists selected from hundreds of entries from Bay Area, California and United States artists, Startup Director Ray Beldner said pent-up demand and the fair’s unique setting is causing a groundswell of interest from both artists and art lovers.

“The art world has been in a slump for the last two years, with people holding their breath until after the elections,” Beldner said. “For two campaign years, it was stressful for everyone. Now that we have the government we supposedly voted for, it’s even more stressful. We need art more than ever. People have been asking for years when I’d start it up again. Between 2015 and 2020, we held annual fairs in four cities. This year I hardly had to advertise, which was typical—but not typical was the speed at which the rooms filled.”

The three-day fair, April 18-20, transforms the boutique Hotel Del Sol and its grounds in San Francisco into an art experience featuring intimate exhibitions with artists thoughtfully paired and presented in rooms. Other areas within the property, including a central outdoor courtyard, offer installations, sculptures, music performances, panel talks, and endless opportunities for spontaneous gatherings and conversations. Startup has coordinated with five nonprofit partners, whose presence supports and expands the resources and options available for making and collecting art.

“Most fairs are run by galleries or single organizations,” Beldner said. “When you go to booth fairs, you walk down aisles until something manages to catch your eye. In a hotel fair, you go into each room. There’s not the distraction of someone across the aisle talking or standing in the way. There’s courtyard music, performances, food and beverages; so it’s activating, integrated, fun.”

Beldner said that the most notable thing about the artwork this year, beyond its diverse mediums which include painting, print, mixed-media, sculpture and performance-based art, is rich storytelling.

“Even in abstract pieces, there’s a ‘See me, I see you’ story. In all the work, there’s a tightness of ideas and execution,” he said. “We’ve all seen technically strong/weak concept art and strong idea/poorly executed art. The artwork curated this year was universally high quality on both levels, and the emphasis is on connecting through story. When you buy a piece of art you’re also buying a piece of that artist’s life.”

GOING BIG Danville-based artist John Osgood’s works include paintings, large-scale murals and illustrations that most often draw from nature or urban environments. (Photo courtesy of Startup Art Fair)

Danville-based artist John Osgood’s story began in the Pacific Northwest, specifically Seattle, where he lived before moving to the East Bay eight years ago. His representational and abstract works include paintings, large-scale murals and illustrations that most often draw from nature or urban environments. Realistic birds, flowers and abstract forms resembling fragmented buildings, ships or cars feature intensely vibrant color and crisp edges frequently rendered through leaving visible black underlying layers of paint. Making his work more accessible are Osgood’s commitment to public art and fine art prints. 

“I like being part of the art world here,” Osgood said. “I have a sliding scale for prints—not everyone can afford an original painting—and the pricing for murals varies.”

When he began painting outdoor murals and was allowed to “go big,” Osgood felt for the first time he was “making a dent on the world.” He painted a 44-foot-tall-by-20-foot-wide mural on the side of a building.

“Someone mentioned he went up on the hills and from 20 blocks away, he could see my mural,” Osgood said. “I realized the mural was changing the landscape. Whenever I do public art, one thing I like best is talking to people in the community and filling them in on what I’m doing. They begin to take ownership of the art. It belongs to them, once I’m done.”

Osgood participated in Startup three times prior to the pandemic. “It’s not a gallery wall with artwork. There’s a different vibe in a three-story hotel with a pool, music going on, palm trees waving in the wind and artists on-site in rooms,” he said.

Among other works, Osgood will showcase “Defense Mechanism,” an 18-inch-tall-by-36-inch-wide painting on wood panel that might be seen as an abstract car, helmet or insect.

“I was watching football while painting it,” he said. “As I worked, it reminded me of an exoskeleton, like a beetle. It made me think that people and insects shelter themselves from all kinds of things. That’s OK. Because with people, not everybody has to know everything about you. And some insects shelter themselves to avoid being eaten by something larger.”

Another work, “Directional Intent,” depicts a bird gazing to its left with purpose. “Birds have to seek and find food to survive,” Osgood said, “but they also jam around and fly for fun, so I paint their stories and those stories connect to mine as an artist and to all of our human stories.”

HISTORICAL BIOLOGY Martinez artist Joy Broom creates mixed-media paintings by collaging symbolic images, family archival materials and natural elements such as seeds, branches, insects and wood. (Photo courtesy of Startup Art Fair)

Artist Joy Broom works from her home in Martinez, creating mixed-media paintings distinguishable by collaging and layering symbolic images, archival materials from her family’s history, and natural elements such as seeds, branches, insects and wood. Her “Memory; Rings,” has pencil drawings on plywood, letter strips, nails and wire under the patina of a protective, purified beeswax skin. Another of her works, “Candelabra, DNA,” fuses cardboard cutouts, ancestral letters and envelopes, antique British glass laboratory slides, red thread resembling blood lines, and Broom’s hair in specimen bottles.

“Biology came first into my work, but history is important because it’s from my family,” Broom said. “I inherited bins of paper materials from my grandmother, mother. I didn’t feel precious about it, so I was able to cut and tear it. It’s my DNA in those bottles. Using the personal materials in an oblique way, I’m still communicating with my mother and grandmother.”

Connecting to audiences universally with her art, and directly with visitors and other artists at the fair, Broom appreciates sharing conversations about identity, memory and individual histories.

“My stories are rooted in small-town America and become universal because everywhere, people live in community with others,” Broom said. “Biology and family histories are powerful forces. I can’t help but want to communicate both.”

Campuses confront free speech crackdown amidst DEI backlash

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Campuses confront free speech crackdown amidst DEI backlash

I once argued in a position paper in journalism school that perhaps hate speech ought not to be protected by the First Amendment. My professor pushed back, saying it was a slippery slope. If the rights of a group with racist ideologies were restricted, who’s to say the rights of those with antiracist messages wouldn’t be limited? It felt like an outlandish hypothetical idea until this January when President Trump was sworn into office for his second term.

On April 3, the Department of Education gave schools and public healthcare places just 10 days to erase all traces of DEI from their curriculum, policies and protocols in order to keep federal funding.

As a journalist, educator and advocate who supports college students from marginalized identities—many of whom identify as BIPOC, first generation, neurodivergent or transgender—I now feel like I’m living through an unprecedented level of hypocrisy.

While transphobic, anti-DEIB, xenophobic rhetoric is becoming commonplace in the White House, we’ve arrived at a time in which college students such as Maumoud Kalil, a U.S. resident and green card holder, are being held in a detention center and facing deportation for exercising their First Amendment freedoms by protesting for Palestinian rights at Columbia University.

It’s in part the heaviness of this socio-political landscape that pushed Oakland resident and Columbia University-alum Amissa Miller to leave academia behind and use her artistry as a writer, facilitator and playwright to impact change. To Miller, the mandates to eliminate DEIB and the infringement on rights for people holding particular political views are part of the same thread of oppression.

“As an alum of Columbia, I’m really sad about what’s happening. But I can’t say I’m surprised,” Miller said. “It’s been really interesting to watch institutions and see who resists and who is just falling in line.”

Miller says there’s a palpable tension between student activism, a longstanding pillar of the college experience, fueled by the comprehensive education that teaches students to ask critical questions and fight for a more just world, and college administrators and law enforcement, who are interested in maintaining order. 

“Anyone who’s not horrified by the backlash against DEI or by witnessing students being taken across state lines for speaking out might be under the illusion that they’re safe,” Miller said. “What’s happening now ought to call us all to realize that none of us are safe under a structure where this can happen.”

Miller suggests this moment in time marks a litmus test for university campuses: Will institutions honor the values and critical-thinking skills they claim to teach or will they be complicit? And it’s a time for those within the institutions to consider the same questions.

“Under our current hierarchical structures, we have to ask what kind of protections our positionality affords us and how can we use that to take care of our neighbors and communities and to intervene?” Miller said. 

While Miller appreciates the experiences she gained while working on college campuses, she decided that for the sake of her health and wellbeing she’ll keep both feet out of the academic world for now.

“At the moment, universities feel like training grounds for students to reach a certain level of hierarchy on a ladder, as opposed to questioning why the ladder exists in the first place and how we can get rid of it,” Miller said. “Unless the university can be an environment for students to grapple with, I’m not sure what the function is right now.” 

Still, hope remains a verb for Miller.

“It really is ‘we, the people,” Miller said. “If we continue to watch institutions failing us and falling in line and expect anything other than that, we can lose hope or become despondent.”

This is why it’s more important than ever to rely on ourselves and each other. “We have so much more power than we recognize that we generate through relationships with our networks and communities,” she said.

Honoring Lee Hildebrand

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Honoring Lee Hildebrand

Lee Hildebrand’s long, eclectic career centered on the Oakland blues scene. After getting out of the Army in the late ’60s, he began hanging out in the blues clubs that populated Oakland at that time. He contributed freelance articles about local blues, R&B and gospel artists to publications including Living Blues, Downbeat, the Oakland Tribune and the San Francisco Chronicle.

He was also a writer and music editor at East Bay Express, overseeing feature assignments, calendar blurbs and other tasks at the paper.

In 2017 Hildebrand had a stroke that reduced his ability to write, but when he passed away in January he left behind an impressive body of work. He wrote countless reviews covering multiple genres; liner notes for a wide range of albums on Stax, Fantasy, HighTone and many other labels; and five books—Hammertime; Bay Area Blues, with photographer Michelle Vignes; Colors and Chords: The Art of Johnny Otis; Stars of Soul and Rhythm & Blues; and Images of the Blues, with photographer Lee Tanner.

“When I was at the Chronicle, I was able to open the door and get Lee into the Sunday Pink Section,” said Joel Selvin, former Chronicle pop-music critic. “He brought in stories that never would have seen print without him. He was familiar with all the underappreciated musicians in the Bay Area; not only local blues artists, but country, folk and other genres he’d tumbled into. He worked the margins and he was a great writer. 

“Seeing him around the scene, he was always grooving, with a happy smile on his face,” Selvin added. “He never lost that cheerfulness, even after his stroke.”

To honor Hildebrand’s legacy and raise money for his daughter, Leeza Cree, local blues-harp icon Mark Hummel has put together a benefit concert featuring some of Hildebrand’s favorite artists.

“We were of the same ilk, in terms of what we loved about the blues,” Hummel said. “Lee’s taste was more evolved than mine, with a vast knowledge of the blues, jazz, swing, vocalists, R&B, soul and folk. He helped broaden my horizons. It was his writing about folks like Barbara Dane, Oakland funk pioneer Johnny Tolbert & De Thangs and Linda Tillery that got me hip to them. 

“In 1978, he wrote one of the earliest pieces on the SF Blues Festival, for Living Blues magazine,” Hummel continued. “He gave me a nice review, ‘. . . Hummel, formally a histrionic performer, has finally found his groove . . .’ I met him shortly thereafter, at a blues club, and we talked. He said he was a fan of Junior Parker and a less-is-more approach to the blues harp. He was a West Coast-centric blues fan, leaning more towards Lowell Fulson and Bobby Bland. I told him I was a Junior Parker fan, and we became friends.”

Hildebrand also played drums and often sat in with Hummel’s band, the Blues Survivors. “When we had a slot to fill, Lee was always on the job,” Hummel said. “He toured with us once, when I had Joe Beard on guitar and Big Joe Duskin, from Cincinnati, on piano. We all got along great and Lee did a cover story about that tour for the Express, with a picture of us in the van, in front of the Ivy Room. He also toured with Jimmy Rogers, Louis Myers and Ron Thompson, and sat in with Muddy Waters.”

The tribute show Hummel put together includes performances by Lady Bianca, the Dynamic Miss Faye Carol, Fillmore Slim and Curtis Salgado, from Robert Cray’s band.

“The backing group for the tribute includes people with a deep history in the Bay Area music scene,” Hummel said. They include Henry Oden on bass (Loading Zone, Little Richard); drummer June Core (Junior Lockwood, Johnny Shines, Charlie Musselwhite); Jim Pugh, founder of the Little Village label, who played with Elvin Bishop; and Robert Cray on keys, and so many more. We can only play one long set, but it’s gonna be action packed.”

Lavay Smith, lead singer of the Red Hot Skillet Lickers, will also be on the bill. “Lee recognized Black American music comes from a rich, deep culture,” she said. “It’s a cliché to say that he’ll be missed, but he leaves behind a big hole and he won’t be replaced.”


‘A Celebration Of Life: Honoring Lee Hildebrand’ takes place at 7:30pm Tuesday, April 15, at Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero, Jack London Square, Oakland. Info: yoshis.com. 510.238.9200.

Social Eyes: Week of April 10-16

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Social Eyes: Week of April 10-16

WEDNESDAY-SUNDAY, APRIL 9-13

DANCE

ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER

The venerable dance company makes its annual visit to Berkeley, and this year’s shows pay tribute to artistic director emerita Judith Jamison, who died in November 2024. Notable Bay Area premieres and Ailey’s iconic Revelations are highlights. With four different programs on tap, the toughest decision is not which to see; it’s how many. The company rewards audiences with new dancers who bring unique qualities to the stage, established dancers heralding Ailey’s signature style and choreographic voices speaking to the future of dance in America. Great music, choreography and dancers—can it be that simple? Ailey proves it is. – LOU FANCHER

INFO: Wed-Sun, various times, Cal Performances‘ Zellerbach Hall, 101 Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley. $40–$135. 510.642.9988.

THURSDAY, APRIL 10

ROCK

SKELETON KREWE

Jerry Garcia once said, “the live show is still our thing,” which any Deadhead would say is true. There’s a reason why one band created an entire culture and movement behind their music and ideology for 60 years. Part of that culture is the thriving tribute and jam-band scene combining Dead cover bands with original music that keeps the spirit of ’60s San Francisco alive. Like Skeleton Krewe, a relatively new band composed of well-seasoned, old-soul veteran players: Rob Barraco, Barry Sless, Stephen Inglis, Peter Sears and Jay Lane, all members who have collectively played in Dark Star Orchestra, Bob Weir & Wolf Bros, Dead & Company, Phil Lesh and Friends, Bill Kreutzmann’s solo work and Primus. – MAT WEIR 

INFO: Thu, 8pm, Cornerstone, 2367 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. $33. 510.214.8600.

FRIDAY, APRIL 11

HIP-HOP

MACARTHUR MAZE

Named for the bustling interchange in Oakland where four freeways braid together on their way to every corner of the Bay, hip-hop group MacArthur Maze is a collective of MCs and producers channeling Oakland’s energy into intricate flows and head-nodding production. ​Led by DJ D Sharp, the Golden State Warriors’ dynamic official DJ with a collection of NBA championship rings, five emcees and four producers will perform hard-hitting anthems and grooves at OMCA after a dance lesson and the museum’s Gallery Chats. – SONYA BENNETT-BRANDT

INFO: Fri, 5pm, Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St., Oakland. Free. 510.318.8400.

FRIDAY, APRIL 11

JAZZ

STEVE SMITH & VITAL INFORMATION

Steve Smith stands out for the array of musical idioms he’s made his own. The rising jazz star detoured into rock stardom in 1978 when he joined Journey for a seven-year run. From his work with the great fusion band Steps Ahead and his collaborations with tabla maestro Zakir Hussain to his tribute project Buddy’s Buddies, Smith has plunged into the deepest rhythmic waters. He’s also led Vital Information; the latest incarnation is dauntingly formidable with British electric-bassist Janek Gwizdala and Cuban keyboard virtuoso Manuel Valera. The power trio’s latest album, New Perspective, features thoroughly reimagined arrangements of tunes from different chapters of Smith’s career, including Journey hits. – ANDREW GILBERT

INFO: Fri, 8pm, Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland. $33–$69. 510.238.9200.

FRIDAY, APRIL 11

ROCK

DOUBLE NAME NIGHT

When compiling epic show bills, Gilman knows a thing or two about how to do it. The storied venue has curated Double Name Night to kick off the weekend, featuring bands—who guessed it?—whose names involve repetition. Oakland-based dance-grunge group Tell Me Tell Me will be there to get everyone moving, as will garage-rockers Mommy Mommy and prog-rockers Doctor Doctor. Rounding out the bill are Extra Extra!, Scary Scare and Please Please, an East Bay emo extravaganza. Fans might be seeing double, but that sounds like a rock ’n’ roll dream dream. – AM

INFO: Fri, 7pm, 924 Gilman, 924 Gilman St., Berkeley. $15. 510.524.8180.

SATURDAY, APRIL 12

SYNTH

QUEST MASTER

The word “carpenteresque” was first coined to describe music that captures the same ethereal feel that acclaimed horror director and musician John Carpenter writes for his films. But the broader genre conjures images of dark forests, long quests and the perfect soundtrack to play Zelda with. And with bands like Quest Master, how can one not get down and kill some dragons? Across their multiple albums and EPs, Quest Master has kept a mysterious mood flowing throughout their songs, casting a spell on all who listen. One can only imagine the evil enchantment that awaits this Saturday when they take the stage at Eli’s Mile High Club—which needs the community’s support right now—with Putrid Marsh, Fief and Magick Creature. – MW

INFO: Sat, 8pm, Eli’s Mile High Club, 3629 Martin Luther King Dr., Oakland. $20/adv, $25/door. 510.808.7565.

SATURDAY, APRIL 12

AMERICANA

THE BROTHERS COMATOSE

The Brothers Comatose fuse bluegrass, folk, rock and a distinctly Bay Area sense of humor, crafting down-home and road-ready songs. Founded by brothers Ben and Alex Morrison in San Francisco, their sound is rich with harmonies, driving rhythms, inventive storytelling and good fun. Take the rousing anti-hop anthem “The IPA Song,” which denounces the bitter brew once and for all. The band can move gracefully from the bittersweet to the gritty and playful, and their live shows turn into full-on hootenannies where the audience becomes part of the band with singalongs, foot-stomping and chopstick percussion. – SBB

INFO: Sat, 8pm, Cornerstone, 2367 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. $38. 510.214.8600.

SUNDAY, APRIL 13

CLASSICAL

OWLS

Does an owl’s calling sound a bit like cellos in the night? It’s not a common simile, but it may become one as the string quartet Owls continues its ascent into chamber music. The ensemble comprises some of the most innovative musicians and composers on the scene: violinist Alexi Kenney, violist Ayane Kozasa, and cellists Gabriel Cabezas and Paul Wiancko. One of the group’s distinguishing features is the presence of two cellos where there are traditionally two violins. The New York Times has described this as “the ensemble’s low-end theory of string quartet,” attesting that the unusual arrangements dazzle. – ADDIE MAHMASSANI

INFO: Sun, 3pm, Cal Performances‘ Hertz Hall, 101 Cross-Sproul Path, Berkeley.  $74. 510.642.9988.

TUESDAY, APRIL 15

ROCK

ETRAN DE L’AÏR

Any 9-year-old kid starting a band with only one acoustic guitar and a “drum set” that’s a hard-shelled fruit hit by a sandal has intrigue—especially when the band of brothers and cousins goes on to develop their pan-African style of rock and become an entity of repute. These masters of Agadez guitar music have been in high demand as a top-tier wedding band in Niger for 25 years. Their technique is tight, the rhythms addictive and the homeland influences firmly established. It’s fluid music with propulsive energy, perfect for dancing. Opening is maya ongaku, a trio of musicians equally magnetic, with a gently synthesized sound comparable to nature humming while otherworldly beings softly croon lyrics. – LF

INFO: Tue, 8pm, The New Parish, 1743 San Pablo Ave., Oakland. $36. 510.227.8177.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16

JAZZ

ABLAYE CISSOKO & CYRILLE BROTTO

Even worldly music fans might be forgiven for not knowing what a kora or a diatonic accordion are. Senegalese kora master Ablaye Cissoko will demonstrate the 800-year-old, 21-string instrument’s versatility alongside French virtuoso Cyrille Brotto on the diatonic accordion at Freight & Salvage on April 16. Mora about the kora: It’s like a cross between a lute and harp, and is used in West Africa by djeli families, historically storytellers and genealogists. The diatonic accordion, also called a melodeon, is a type of button accordion, with each row of melody-side buttons creating notes of a single diatonic scale. It’s a favorite instrument in many
folk cultures. The duo are touring in support of their second album, Dijyo, which means “water” in Senegalese. Their music is described as a “luminous conversation tinged with melancholy.” — JANIS HASHE

INFO: Wed, 8pm, Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison St., Berkeley. $52. 510.644.2020.

‘La cocina’ depicts kitchen chaos

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‘La cocina’ depicts kitchen chaos

The American dream dissolves into thin air during a rare moment of silence in Alonso Ruizpalacios’ operatic film, La cocina (The Kitchen). On a break from their gruelling jobs in a Times Square restaurant, a small group of employees smoke cigarettes together in a dead-end alley. Prompted by Pedro (Raúl Briones) the sous chef, they recount their overlapping dreams for money, security and love.

When it’s Pedro’s turn he holds his coworkers’ attention with a pregnant pause before leaping to his feet. Without saying a word, he dashes through the stacked-up piles of garbage on his way back inside The Grill. He’s anxious to catch up with Julia (Rooney Mara), his dream girl, before the dinner rush begins. Pedro is propelled forward by a range of unpredictable emotions. He’s a human stoplight, flashing from red to yellow to green and back to red, in seconds.

Tall and angular as a skeleton, Pedro is a dynamic provocateur. He contradicts authority figures, picks at everyone’s vulnerabilities and initiates explosive confrontations. Pedro only lowers his guard during a tryst with Julia in the meat freezer. He whispers his vision of their shared future together in a remote coastal city in Mexico. As an immigrant without papers, he wants a green card as much as he longs to return back home. Lack of money is the great impediment.

Set in an era at least a couple of decades before the advent of cell phones, Ruizpalacios shot the movie in black and white. The colorless cinematography removes any temptation for the filmmaker to feature dishes adorned with foams, gelees and elegant daubs of sauce. La cocina instead captures the chaos and horror of The Grill’s inner life, a kitchen fueled by pounding hearts, fumbling limbs and damaged souls. When a pipe bursts and floods the space, the camera captures a farcical ballet choreographed by a gleeful demon. The scene rivals the best moments from Marx Brothers’ films like Duck Soup and A Night at the Opera.

The camera also weaves around the kitchen employees the way it did in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman, another behind-the-scenes New York movie. Each individual is studied close up. Almost everyone is provided with at least one trenchant monologue. On their first day at the job, Estela (Anna Díaz) and Laura (Laura Gómez) must both contend with the baffling responses of an antagonistic Pedro. A few stations away, Max (Spenser Granese), one of several line cooks, hasn’t recovered from the previous night’s confrontation with Pedro. The tension between them builds until it pops.

Part of the implicit conflict stems from Max’s jealousy. He looks at Julia the way Pedro does but remains stubbornly nonverbal. She responds to Pedro’s sense of play and imagination. While she cleans the panes of glass on the enormous dining room aquarium, Julia and Pedro banter and tease each other like urban versions of Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. Sparked by flirtation and conflict, their chemistry begins with wordplay.

Language also proves liberating for the waitresses, hosts, managers, dishwashers and cooks while they set up for the lunch service. They form an impromptu chorus to let off some steam. Comparable to that famous cuss-out sequence in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, the employees start rattling off a series of filthy four-letter words and epithets to each other. Ruizpalacios makes quick jump cuts to bump up the pacing. They all try to outdo each other in English and Spanish, coming up with the dirtiest insults until everyone starts laughing. It helps them cope with the daunting rush they’re about to confront.

The personal melodramas define the characters but also serve the narrative arc of Ruizpalacios’ grand tableau. After Pedro drops several lobsters into the aquarium, the director films them slowly descending to the bottom of the tank. He zooms in on the banded claws that renders them helpless. When Pedro is outside on his break, he stares up and sees a flock of birds flying across an empty gray sky. The immigrants in this kitchen are beholden to a not-so-benevolent restaurant owner. He promises them citizenship papers but never delivers. La cocina paints a portrait of an America that’s happy to ignore the plights of the tired, the poor and the huddled masses.    

‘La cocina’ is available for streaming on Paramount+ and Apple TV.

Free Will Astrology: Week of April 9

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Free Will Astrology: Week of April 9

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Life is asking you to be a source of generosity and strength for the people and animals in your sphere. I hope you will exude maximum amounts of your natural charisma as you bestow maximum blessings. Soak up the admiration and affection you deserve, too, as you convey admiration and affection to others. Here’s a secret: The more you share your resources, help and intelligence, the more of that good stuff will flow back your way.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Ceramicist Jun Hamada says that trying to force harmony into her art leads to sterile work. “The most beautiful pieces come from the moments I stop trying to make them beautiful,” she notes. “They emerge from embracing the clay’s natural tendencies, even when they seem to fight against my intentions.” I recommend her approach to you in the coming weeks. Your best results may emerge as you allow supposed flaws and glitches to play an unexpected part in the process. Alliances might benefit, even deepen, through honest friction rather than imposed peace. What will happen when you loosen your attachment to enforced harmony and let life’s natural tensions gyrate?

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Gemini-born Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) was a prolific architect who orchestrated many daring designs. Among his most audacious experiments was a project to build a house over a waterfall in Pennsylvania. “It can’t be done!” experts said. But he did it. Before he was ready to accomplish the impossible, though, he had to spend months studying the site’s natural patterns. I bring this to your attention, Gemini, because I believe you are ready to consider your own equivalent of constructing a house over a waterfall. Prepare well! Do your homework!

CANCER (June 21-July 22): In the early phase of his illustrious career as a photographer, Edward Weston (1886–1958) cultivated a soft-focus, romantic style. But he ultimately converted to stark, uncompromising realism. “The camera,” he said, “should be used for recording life, for rendering the very substance and quintessence of the thing itself.” If there is anything about you that prefers warm, fuzzy illusions over objective, detailed truth, I suggest you switch emphasis for a while. If you like, you can return to the soft-focus approach in June. But for now, a gritty, unsentimental attitude will be essential to your well-being.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Here’s my mini-manifesto about change, just in time for a phase when change is most necessary and possible for you. 1. Real change is often a slow and subtle process. There may be rare dramatic shifts, but mostly the process is gradual and incremental. 2. Instead of pushing hard for a short time, you’re more likely to change things by persistently pushing with modest strength for a sustained time. 3. Rather than trying to confront and wrestle with a big problem exactly as it is, it’s often more effective to break the seemingly insurmountable challenge into small, manageable pieces that can be solved one at a time through simple efforts.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Textile artist Mei Zhang wondered if the synthetic dyes she used on her fabrics were limited. Might there be a wider variety of colors she could use in her creations? She discovered that her grandmother, using age-old techniques, had produced hues that modern dyes couldn’t replicate. “The most sustainable path forward,” Zhang concluded, “often involves rediscovering what we’ve forgotten rather than inventing something entirely new.” I recommend that counsel to you, Virgo. The solution to a current challenge might come from looking back instead of pushing forward. Consider what old approaches or traditional wisdom you might call on to generate novelty. Weave together fresh applications with timeless principles.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The moon rises about 50 minutes later every day, and always at a slightly different place on the horizon. The amount of light it shows us is also constantly in flux. And yet where and how it will appear tomorrow or 10 years from today is completely predictable. Its ever-changing nature follows a rhythmic pattern. I believe the same is true about our emotions and feelings, which in astrology are ruled by the moon. They are forever shifting, and yet if we survey the big picture of how they arise, we will see their overall flow has distinct patterns. Now would be a good time for you to get to know your flow better. See if you can detect recurring motifs. Try to develop more objectivity about how your precious emotions and feelings really work. If you do this correctly, you will deepen and enhance the guiding power of your precious emotions and feelings.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Research reveals that interludes of productive uncertainty may strengthen our brain’s neural pathways—even more so than if we consistently leap to immediate comprehension. The key modifier to this fortifying uncertainty is “productive.” We must be willing to dwell with poise in our puzzlement, even welcome and enjoy the fertile mystery it invokes in us. Neurobiologist Aiden Chen says, “Confusion, when properly supported, isn’t an obstacle to learning but a catalyst for understanding.” These ideas will be good medicine in the coming weeks, dear Scorpio.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Persian-American author Haleh Liza Gafori translates the poetry of 13th-century Sufi mystic Rumi. One of their joint books is titled Gold. She writes, “Rumi’s gold is not the precious metal, but a feeling-state arrived at through the alchemical process of burning through layers of self, greed, pettiness, calculation, doctrine—all of it. The prayer of Sufism is ‘teach me to love more deeply.’ Gold is the deepest love.” That’s the gold I hope you aspire to embody in the coming weeks, Sagittarius. You are in a resplendently golden phase when you have more power than usual to create, find and commune with Rumi’s type of gold.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The coming weeks will be an excellent time to reframe the meaning of “emptiness” in your life. To launch your quest, I will remind you that quiet interludes and gaps in your schedule can be rejuvenating. Sitting still and doing nothing in particular may be a good way to recharge your spiritual batteries. Relieving yourself of the pressure to be endlessly active could be just what you need to open up space for fresh possibilities.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): There was a time, many years ago, when I consulted a divinatory oracle every day of my life. Sometimes it was the Tarot or the I Ching. I threw the Norse runes, did automatic writing, used a pendulum or tried bibliomancy. Astrology was always in the mix, too, of course. Looking back on those days, I am amused at my obsession with scrying the future and uncovering subconscious currents. But employing these aids had a wonderful result: It helped me develop and fine-tune my intuition and psychic powers—which, after all, are the ultimate divination strategy. I bring this to your attention, Aquarius, because I believe you now have an enhanced power to cultivate and strengthen your intuition and psychic powers.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The fovea is the part of the eye that enables sharp vision. Humans have just one kind of fovea, which gives them the ability to see clearly straight ahead. Eagles have both a central and peripheral fovea. The latter gives them an amazing visual acuity for things at a distance. This extra asset also attunes them to accurately detect very slow movements. I suspect you will have a metaphorical semblance of the eagle’s perceptual capacity in the coming weeks, Pisces. You will be able to see things you wouldn’t normally see and things that other people can’t see. Take full advantage of this superpower! Find what you didn’t even know you were looking for.

Homework: Which of your previous bests are you primed to surpass? Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com

Eli’s Mile High Club faces a financial crisis

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Eli’s Mile High Club faces a financial crisis

Eli’s was once one of Oakland’s liveliest neighborhood nightspots, putting on shows by local and nationally known blues artists almost every day of the week. It has changed hands several times over the years and, while the club still features the blues every Monday, it also showcases rock, funk, R&B and Latin acts, as well as DJs. In the last few months, however, the club has struggled to stay afloat.

“Every minute of my time is occupied with defending our space,” said Matt Patane, one of the owners of Eli’s Mile High Club.

“Our demographic is local blue-collar people, blues fans and artists,” Patane said. “We made it a point to make it a reasonably priced place to come. Even though the overall costs of utilities, food and the general upkeep have gone up, we tried to keep it affordable. Our commitment is not to the profits, but our connection to the community, which is so deep that we remained sympathetic to the need for a place of affordability. It’s a self-sustaining business, but the profit is minimal to none.”

Everything changed last November, when someone complained about the patio in the back of the club not being up to code. That space had picnic tables and was a hangout for club regulars and a place to eat and relax, as well as a place to host local fundraisers for nonprofit organizations and markets for local craft persons. Various club owners and their patrons have used the patio for many years.

REGULATIONS COMPLICATIONS A heady mix of permit issues, despite grandfathered-in rights, threatens to close Eli’s patio and seriously hinder bar service. (Photo courtesy of Eli’s Mile High Club)

“The City of Oakland is making us reapply for a conditional-use permit for the patio,” Patane said. “We are working together with the city to bring the place up to code. They’re making us prove, within the city’s records—which we’ve already given them—that the prior owners were allowed to serve food and alcohol on the patio, going back to the owners long before the club became Eli’s.

“We handed them a permit and zoning reports dating back to 1920,” he added. “So this means, if we reapply for the permits, we’d lose all the grandfathered-in rights that we already have, and that can make us subject to further conditional use of the space, which affects the way we serve the community. This would be a major setback and further limit our business.”

In other words, the regulations are extremely complicated. “The laws are dated so far back that there are few people in the City of Oakland offices that know about them and understand the rights of small businesses,” Patane said.

“We have submitted the permit and zoning records to the building departments,” he continued. “We understand that they are understaffed and dealing with a lot of similar issues. However, our case has been open for two or more years, which is putting a lot of stress on us as business owners and on the business itself.”

Patane said they’re going up against two separate things. Bringing it up to code is a fairly easy process and the city is working with Eli’s owners to help them comply.

“The conditional-use issue is something we need to establish,” Patane said. “If we don’t have it, we can’t use the patio space, which will cost us a good portion of our business. It’s a complicated issue and it’s overwhelming and hard to understand. People have seen the patio space operating like this for decades, which makes it harder to understand what the city is asking us to do. What we don’t want to happen is to get choked out of using a space that’s been around for 50 years.”

The process has kept the patio closed, which has resulted in Eli’s losing more than 60% of its business. “People keep asking me, honestly, why we keep fighting to save the place. It’s about the community and the legacy of the place,” Patane said. “We’re in a neighborhood that doesn’t have a lot of commercial business, so keeping the thing going is essential to who we are as owners.”

Patane and his business partner had a meeting with the fire marshal, their architect and three members of the city zoning and planning department. They determined that the club needed to go through the process of reapplying for permits to bring the space up to code.

“That’s not to say it’s not up to code,” Patane said. “We had acknowledgements from the City of Oakland, going back for some time, saying that it was up to code. They’ve been working with us, in real time, as we’re trying to define why certain things were built, at the request of our neighbors, so we can all live in the neighborhood together.”

Patane and company even went the extra mile by creating sound and sight barriers, to offer their neighbors privacy.

HISTORIC NIGHTCLUB Eli’s, which has served the community for over 50 years, is located in North Oakland’s Longfellow neighborhood at 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. (Photo by Samantha Campos)

“We’ve been keeping Eli’s going for almost a decade,” Patane said. “Giving up hasn’t been an option. The community loves the space so we extend that love back to them, and it’s been difficult. We’ve had to reduce our staff and the hours we’re open to remain sustainable. Myself and my business partner have put so much money into the place to keep it going and remain part of the community, that we don’t want to give up.”

As business owners, Patane and his partner dealt with the crises with the help of the community.

“People have asked us to speak up and make people aware of what’s going on,” Patane said. “I started a GoFundMe page at the request of people in the community who wanted to help us and provide some relief from the financial stress we’re under. It’s part of a joint effort for us and the community, to help us come up with the money to get through this.” 

Meanwhile, Eli’s still keeps the music going and still draws a diverse crowd of all ages, races and musical tastes, with shows taking place four times a week. View the schedule at: elismilehighclub.com.

To help cover the expenses the owners are incurring to keep the club open, visit: gofundme.com/f/keep-elis-mile-high-club-alive-in-oakland.

Plant them now, dig them later

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Plant them now, dig them later

During the pandemic, if people weren’t making sourdough bread, they were starting a garden. Some got hooked on the primal connection between hands and soil, and discovered seed libraries—a resource in both Alameda and Contra Costa counties that continues to bloom.

The East Bay dug the ground for the seed library movement. The Berkeley Ecology Center is credited with creating the first modern seed library in 1999, called the Bay Area Seed Interchange Library. BASIL still thrives, with a legacy of more than 450 seed libraries worldwide.

As noted on the BEC website, one important reason for people to grow and share seeds locally is this: 

“In the last three decades, the majority of the world’s family-owned seed companies have been bought out by multinationals, such as the Monsanto and Novartis corporations. These companies are not interested in creating sustainable food systems and communities. They are busy replacing carefully bred strains of vegetables and flowers with their own hybrids and patented varieties. Hybrids don’t produce viable seed, and the seed from patented varieties cannot legally be collected and used. Instead, the seeds must be bought fresh each year, forcing gardeners and farmers to purchase from corporate seed sources annually.

“Traditional knowledge of seed saving and plant-propagation techniques exists in fewer and fewer minds and communities. In order to create a positive ecological future for the planet, we need to begin teaching each other the skills necessary to save our own seeds.”

BUDDING GARDENERS The Oakland Library Melrose branch hosts regular Garden Club meetings and events to learn about plants and gardening from germination to compost, as well as growing vegetables and seed saving. (Photo courtesy of Oakland Library)

BEC store Program Manager Christine-Angelica Belardo explained that inside the resource center on San Pablo Avenue are several sets of drawers holding many varieties of herbs, flowers and vegetables, with an emphasis on California natives. Visitors sign in, indicating if they are taking or donating seeds.

“It’s very busy,” Belardo said, adding that the library has been extended to hold jars of seeds. Milkweed, which nurtures Monarch butterfly larvae, and cucumber seeds are in high demand, she said. Fact sheets supply info on subjects such as how to create a raised bed, and which seeds grow best where and when. “People can also call our Help Desk to get questions answered,” Belardo said.

Although a drop-off in seed demand immediately followed the pandemic, “there’s been a jump up again,” she said. The BEC is regenerating its classes and event offerings, such as composting workshops, and hopes to restart Master Gardener talks and demos.

Richmond Grows! seed library has been housed in the Richmond Civic Center Main Library since it opened May Day 2010, and its use has grown exponentially. But the Main Library will shortly undergo a major renovation, so the seed library will move to the rec center at 3330 Macdonald Ave., “right next to the Tool Lending Library,” likely by the end of May, said co-founder Rebecca Newburn. Which, she pointed out, might well be a boon for those beginning gardeners who need tools as well as seeds.

Richmond Grows! has evolved to become one of the most active and successful seed libraries in the East Bay. Like the majority of these libraries, it’s self-serve: People take seeds from the herb, flower and vegetable cabinets, and store them in provided coin envelopes. But its popular website provides guidance on what to plant when, including a month-by-month spreadsheet. It also provides info on which seeds might likely produce cross-pollinated seedlings, as some plants are very prone to this. Richmond Grows!’ Lettuce Unite! newsletter can be found at ri***********@******ck.com.

GROWING INTEREST Richmond Grows! seed library has been housed in the Richmond Civic Center Main Library since it opened May Day 2010, and its use has grown exponentially. (Photo courtesy of Richmond Grows!)

During the pandemic’s first year, Newburn said, the seed library gave away an astounding 20,000 seed packets, followed by 13,000 the next year. Even now, she said, economic uncertainty and concern about climate change continue to grow interest in home gardening. “People fall in love with a plant and learn how to steward it,” she said.

The most popular seeds include lettuce and tomato varieties, arugula, cilantro, beans, herbs and, among flowers—cosmos, marigolds, sweet peas and nasturtiums.

Richmond Grows! maintains a seed library finder for the entire East Bay at richmondgrowsseeds.org.

The Kensington Seed Library was founded in 2017 as the Kensington Seed Circle. It began as a mailing list to alert interested patrons about upcoming seed-starting or gardening-related programs, and kicked off an annual Seed Swap in March. The Seed Circle was launched thanks in part to a generous donation of seeds from local resident and urban farmer Charlie Costello of MariLark Farm, and from seeds purchased with the support of Friends of Kensington Library.

Jenny Rockwell, the current community library manager, brings her love of nature to the seed-sharing program. Many of the world’s problems could be alleviated, she believes, by finding ways to “connect with nature and grow food.” She first encountered seed libraries while working in the Potrero Branch of the San Francisco library system, then, while working with Oakland Public Library, she secured a $20,000 grant to buy seeds and sponsor classes.

She’s been at the Kensington Library since August 2023. As noted, the library already had a seed library—in its case, a seed cart—and volunteers packing seeds into coin envelopes. Now, it offers occasional events with Contra Costa Master Gardeners, a planting guide, access to copies of Golden Gate Gardening, the bible of local gardening lore, and accepts seed donations from enthusiastic local gardeners.

One recent donation that proved extremely popular, Rockwell said, was a quantity of “Drama Queen” poppy seeds. A bee favorite, Drama Queen’s brilliant, fringed red blossoms reseed themselves and can be grown in containers. Rockwell herself has a container garden and takes care to provide varieties of herbs, flowers and vegetables that do well in small, contained spaces, recognizing that not everyone has a front or back yard.

Seeds in demand from the cart include flowers, “particularly natives and heirlooms,” she said, and fava beans. Each season, four or five varieties of seeds that grow well during that time are featured.

Kids have asked for ways to participate in planting, and Rockwell is looking to develop a space or a program to propagate that. Her goal is to “create a culture of gardening, with conversation circles” and community sharing of knowledge and support.

Oakland’s library system includes 15 locations with seed libraries, including the African American Museum and Library and the César E. Chávez Branch, said Senior Librarian Celia Davis. She works with Friends of the Oakland Public Library, which provides funds to buy seeds in bulk, and volunteers to package the seeds. Davis also helps produce brochures on seed saving and gardening tips, and a container gardening ’zine.

“We look at what will [grow best] in Oakland,” including plants that attract pollinators, she said. Some locations focus on beginning gardeners and, in addition to seeds, offer seedlings of popular herbs, flowers and vegetables, such as tomatoes. As with all of the seed libraries, native plants are also a priority.

Community partners, such as Oakland’s Pollinate Farm & Garden, are welcome. Many workshops are offered in both English and Spanish, and kid gardeners may attend events such as the upcoming “Activities in the Garden,” on April 11 at the Brookfield Branch. 

Davis noted that the branches also refer interested seed borrowers to the Oakland Parks & Recreation Department’s 13 community garden locations.

“Interest in our seed libraries has really grown in the last five years,” Davis said, adding, “We also encourage seed donations.” And library visitors are not the only people enthusiastically embracing the seed libraries, she said. Library staff members are also picking up trowels and learning the joy of nurturing plants from seed.

Find a list of branches with seed libraries, including a list of upcoming garden-related events, at oaklandlibrary.org/seed-lending.

Saving Seeds GloballyThe Svalbard Global Seed Vault in the Arctic, established by the Norwegian government in 2008, is not a library but rather an icon of the seed-saving movement. The vault holds more than 1 million seeds from all over the world, with room for millions more. These seeds back up the global seed genebank, and could be used to preserve a future food supply. For more information on the Seed Vault, visit regjeringen.no.

Oakland Roots tied with Las Vegas Lights on March 29

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Oakland Roots tied with Las Vegas Lights on March 29

The Oakland Roots SC tied 0-0 against the Las Vegas Lights FC at the Coliseum on Saturday, March 29. This tied game earned the Roots their first point and bringing their record to 0-1-3 throughout their four games. See the upcoming game schedule at oaklandrootssc.com.

All photos by Giovanni Castaneda.

Free Will Astrology: Week of April 16

Free Will Astrology: Week of April 16
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I am always surprised when there appears yet another authoritative article or book that implies there is one specific right approach to meditation. The truth is, however, that there are many ways. Here’s teacher Christopher Bamford: “Meditation is naturally individual, uniquely our own. There are no rules. Just as every potter will elaborate their own...
Read more

Startup Art restarts annual indie celebration

Startup Art restarts annual indie celebration
Returning after a full-stop for five years due to the pandemic, the annual Startup Art Fair sets ablaze one of the area’s finest events for viewing and purchasing the artwork of contemporary independent artists. With 60 artists selected from hundreds of entries from Bay Area, California and United States artists, Startup Director Ray Beldner said pent-up demand and the...
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Campuses confront free speech crackdown amidst DEI backlash

Campuses confront free speech crackdown amidst DEI backlash
I once argued in a position paper in journalism school that perhaps hate speech ought not to be protected by the First Amendment. My professor pushed back, saying it was a slippery slope. If the rights of a group with racist ideologies were restricted, who’s to say the rights of those with antiracist messages wouldn’t be limited? It felt...
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Honoring Lee Hildebrand

Honoring Lee Hildebrand
Lee Hildebrand’s long, eclectic career centered on the Oakland blues scene. After getting out of the Army in the late ’60s, he began hanging out in the blues clubs that populated Oakland at that time. He contributed freelance articles about local blues, R&B and gospel artists to publications including Living Blues, Downbeat, the Oakland Tribune and the San Francisco...
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Social Eyes: Week of April 10-16

Social Eyes: Week of April 10-16
WEDNESDAY-SUNDAY, APRIL 9-13 DANCE ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER The venerable dance company makes its annual visit to Berkeley, and this year’s shows pay tribute to artistic director emerita Judith Jamison, who died in November 2024. Notable Bay Area premieres and Ailey’s iconic Revelations are highlights. With four different programs on tap, the toughest decision is not which to see; it’s how...
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‘La cocina’ depicts kitchen chaos

'La cocina' depicts kitchen chaos
The American dream dissolves into thin air during a rare moment of silence in Alonso Ruizpalacios’ operatic film, La cocina (The Kitchen). On a break from their gruelling jobs in a Times Square restaurant, a small group of employees smoke cigarettes together in a dead-end alley. Prompted by Pedro (Raúl Briones) the sous chef, they recount their overlapping dreams...
Read more

Free Will Astrology: Week of April 9

Free Will Astrology: Week of April 16
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Life is asking you to be a source of generosity and strength for the people and animals in your sphere. I hope you will exude maximum amounts of your natural charisma as you bestow maximum blessings. Soak up the admiration and affection you deserve, too, as you convey admiration and affection to others. Here’s a...
Read more

Eli’s Mile High Club faces a financial crisis

Eli’s Mile High Club faces a financial crisis
Eli’s was once one of Oakland’s liveliest neighborhood nightspots, putting on shows by local and nationally known blues artists almost every day of the week. It has changed hands several times over the years and, while the club still features the blues every Monday, it also showcases rock, funk, R&B and Latin acts, as well as DJs. In the...
Read more

Plant them now, dig them later

Plant them now, dig them later
During the pandemic, if people weren’t making sourdough bread, they were starting a garden. Some got hooked on the primal connection between hands and soil, and discovered seed libraries—a resource in both Alameda and Contra Costa counties that continues to bloom. The East Bay dug the ground for the seed library movement. The Berkeley Ecology Center is credited with creating...
Read more

Oakland Roots tied with Las Vegas Lights on March 29

Oakland Roots tied with Las Vegas Lights on March 29
The Oakland Roots SC tied 0-0 against the Las Vegas Lights FC at the Coliseum on Saturday, March 29. This tied game earned the Roots their first point and bringing their record to 0-1-3 throughout their four games. See the upcoming game schedule at oaklandrootssc.com.
Read more
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