signs: Marcus Books

It's been a while since I did a post about a cool Oakland sign. OK, it's been a while since I did any post. I dropped K off at MacArthur BART today, and the weather was glorious. We were in a rush to make sure she got her scheduled train, but that didn't stop me from noticing how amazing Marcus Books and the murals on the outside looked in the break in the weather. So after I dropped her off, I swung around and took some pictures of the sign, building and murals.

new mural adorns San Pablo Ave. underpass

There's a beautiful new mural being completed under the I-580 underpass on San Pablo Avenue. It features West Oakland's music history, people and architecture. The elements of the mural were designed by McClymonds High School students, and put together by head artist David Burke. The mural is sponsored by Attitudinal Healing Connection, which is based nearby. AHC-Oakland will be holding a completion celebration on July 12 at 1pm.

This mural is one of six planned for West Oakland. Read more about the larger mural project for the area at the Oakland Super Heroes Mural Project website.



More photos of the painting:


On a less cheerful note, several photographers and reporters have been robbed in the area during the day, the most recent a veteran Oakland Tribune photographer. I was there on Sunday taking pictures, but fortunately I didn't have any problems.

signs: Pacific Saw Works

Pacific Saw Works

Special thanks to Oakland North and their reader Gordon Mackenzie, who posted a picture of this awesome sign I'd missed before. It's a pretty cool-looking building, too. The sign says "lawnmowers" to let customers know they sharpened other sorts of blades, too.

signs: Gallagher's Liquors

Gallagher's Liquors

Icame across this sign while dropping off some plywood scraps for someone on Freecycle. I'd been down that section of MLK before, but never noticed the sign.