photo of the week: King Block alley

The other day I was downtown for a meeting at AAMLO, and after some lunch, I happened by this bit of juxtaposition off Harrison Street, the Tribune Tower and Clorox building against a bright blue sky, and the wildness of the graffiti-covered brick alleyway.

photo of the week: angles

I've been laid up with a nasty summer cold, so you get a photo from last month. The Plaza Building, city hall, the "Vitality" sculpture by long-time local artist Bruce Beasley, and the Dalziel Building all add their own angles and stories.

photo of the week: study in blue

Last week I was doing a test walk in Golden Gate for next month's Oakland Urban Paths walk. The brightly colored house didn't look so out of place given the bright blue skies.

photo of the week: The Necklace of Lights

The other night while waiting for K, I walked down by Lake Merritt. It was a balmy evening, and very pleasant to just sit and people watch and enjoy the lights.

This is the second permanent necklace of lights; the first was installed in 1925, then shut off during WWII because of blackout restrictions. But the original necklace wasn't lit every night, only for special occasions. The current necklace dates from 1985, and we have The Lake Merritt Breakfast Club and numerous donors to thank for it.

photo of the week: Reflected Sky

We had interesting clouds in the sky on Wednesday, and they made for even more interesting reflections off the Ask.com building.

photo of the week: The Living and the The Dead

Lots of dead people, and thanks to the rain last week and sun this week, lots of living flowers and grass in St. Mary's Cemetery.

photo of the week: colors

Yesterday, K and I toured some of the galleries taking part in the Saturday Art Stroll, the quieter alternative to First Fridays. We talked with artist John W. Wood for a while (we've seen his artwork before, at Gray Loft Gallery in Jingletown), and he showed us a few of the tools he uses to create his art.

photo of the week: swimming the estuary

Not a great photo, but shows a nice slice of the estuary and Port of Oakland with the new Bay Bridge section in the background. What's interesting is the person swimming in the estuary at the lower right...definitely not something you see every day.

Being the Oakland history geek that I am, it reminded me of a story from 1903. Albert Olander, proprietor of Olander's Saloon in East Oakland, bet his barber that he could swim across the estuary. Olander bet his saloon and his barber, Daniel King, bet his barbershop. The selected location was about 1.25 miles across, and before a crowd of hundreds of people, Olander successfully swam across and won the barbershop.

The building that housed Olander's Saloon is still standing, at 1247 East 12th Street. It's no longer a saloon, but the interior still has the wooden bar and other details from the days when it was. Serious props to the guy in the photo above, who was swimming the length of the estuary, not just across.

photo of the week: blood moon

Kand I went to Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve to check out the blood moon. A lot of other people had the same idea...when we left, the parking lot was as busy as on a lot of sunny weekends, and someone we talked with said Sibley was crowded, too. Hope you got a chance to see the eclipsed moon with your own eyes...it was pretty cool. This shot is of the moon just as it was clearing the last of the clouds to the east.

Kayaking by Moonlight

Wednesday was a full moon, so K and I celebrated our wedding anniversary with a moonlight paddle on the estuary, led by California Canoe and Kayak at Jack London Square. The weather was warm, but perfect for being out on the water. There were clouds, but they broke up enough so we could not only see the moon, but had a spectacular sunset. Thanks to Sou and Kathy, our fearless leaders, for a great tour around the estuary.

photo of the week: lines and colors

The simplicity of the lines and colors against the blue sky caught my eye this evening before dinner.

photo of the week: clearing storm

Unfortunately we didn't get much rain from Monday's storm, but we did get a glorious sunset.

photo of the week: rust

I'm not sure why this picture from today's Oakland Urban Paths walk grabs me the way it does, but, well, it does. Why are things in various states of decay so interesting?

photo of the week: painted ladies

Ispotted these colorfully painted Victorians along Foothill on my way between events on Saturday.

photo of the week: outside looking in

The last couple of weeks have been crazy busy with work and other commitments. While I haven't been out cycling and walking around Oakland as much, I have gotten in some Oakland-y goodness like a private Oakland Urban Paths walk (as a fundraiser for another non-profit), a trip to the Oakland History Room, a Black Panther history walk in North Oakland (post coming), dinner at The Dock at Linden Street (post coming), talked with Tina Tamale about Oakland history and my upcoming book (post coming), and a few other things, but I've had almost no time to write about any of them. This shot is returning from Alameda on Sunday. K and I went to see her niece perform as Donkey in Shrek: The Musical. It was a lot of fun, but left me wishing for a longer weekend to do more writing. This week won't see a lot of Our Oakland posts, either...we're taking a longer weekend and going camping. Oakland, country, world: please be nice to each other (for a change) while we're gone. #thatisall

photo of the week: awkward spiral

Inormally don't do much adjustment on my photos, some cropping, and maybe brightness or contrast. This image of the stairs at one of the East Bay Open Studio locations has cropping, rotation, brightness, saturation, and possibly some other changes I don't remember. In any event, I like the result.

photo of the week: Kaiser Convention Center artwork

The Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center has been an Oakland landmark since it was built in 1914. It served as a makeshift hospital during the 1918 flu pandemic. It's been used for concerts (from Elvis to the Grateful Dead), science fiction conventions, roller derby tournaments, symphony performances and public speaking events (from Bill Clinton to the Dalai Lama). But it's been closed since 2006, so more recent Oakland residents may not know it well. Hopefully it will be put back into use sometime soon. In the meantime, go look at it, and check out the seven remarkable bas relief sculptures above each of the doorways on the north side. Featured here is one titled "Wealth of the Sea", featuring Poseidon, a walrus, horsefish, a seal, flying fish, and who knows what else. Turns out these curved surfaces make great sound reflectors and focusers, too.

photo of the week: Oakland Marriott

The Oakland Marriott is an oddly-shaped building, and viewing it from Broadway just south of 10th Street accentuates that. Add in the perspective from a low angle with a non-tilt and shift camera, and it starts looking like a knife blade.

photo of the week: orchids

I'd love to take credit for growing these lovely orchids, but they were there when I bought the house 20 years ago. All I've done is occasionally clean out the pine needles and leaves, and try to remember to give them some water in the dry months.

These lovely flowers are growing outside our front door. Which is as far as I got today, because I've been hella busy with work and other commitments lately. I did manage to catch some of the Warriors win today.

photo of the week: Joaquin Miller Park

Last weekend the Oakland Urban Paths walk was through Joaquin Miller Park. It's an a amazing place, and it's easy to forget you're in a major city when you're there.