OAKLAND

a coworker of mine just moved to west oakland (21-year old recent uc santa cruz grad who's down with the plight of the black folk) and he goes on at length about how vibrant his community is and how it gets such a bad rap... and i'm like, dude you've lived there for 2 months and your perceptions of the community are more influenced by how happy you are to have street cred than anything else. so it doesn't surprise me to hear that west oakland is being gentrified pretty heavily - this guy is pretty much exhibit A for that.

for the junkyard/thrift store recommendation, I'm guessing Urban Ore is probably a good suggestion. It's in Berkeley (I think anyway) right off of Ashby, in between San Pablo and 880. It's a big old warehouse full of junk/not junk (including electronics, clothes, furniture, uh... doors, records... basically anything old and used). It's fun to look around anyway.

totally off the current topic, and also on a lighter note: do oaklanders have any recommendations for good sort of junkyards/thrift stores where i could find a decent set of wooden drawers and a big desk?

Define "decent". Obviously the first place to look is Urban Ore, but there's a guy who sells stuff about a block north of Alcatraz on Telegraph who has a lot of stuff like that for dirt cheap, although you'd need to refinish most of it unless you don't care about how stuff looks.

mostly i just mean: not termite ridden, stable, functional (i.e. drawers slide in and out adequately). not to fussed with the appearance.

Yeah, check OE and the spot on Telegraph. Usually a bunch of stuff just sitting around outside, a little bit north of Cafe Colucci.

Urban Ore is a bit "overpriced" now - furniture selection isn't as great as their selection of fixtures - like doors, toilets, etc. The San Pablo flea market place (not actually a flea market) but a big thrift/junk shop on San Pablo in North Oakland might be a better bet. They also have desks at the UC Berkeley surplus warehouse, which is around the corner from Urban Ore on the street between 67th and Ashby, also on San Pablo. It's the same building that houses the bindery and up until recently, printing services.

thanks guys

36 Hours in Oakland, Calif.

I live in the gourmet ghetto! it's been called that for ages.

36 Hours in Oakland, Calif.

I loathe Luka's ... I had more positive experiences there when it was the rat-infested Hofbrau. It reminds me of Blondie's in SF circa 1999.

found ohmega salvage on san pablo - found an amazing desk there, perfect for what we need, but couldn't figure out a way to get it to our apartment anytime soon. kinda worried about wood rot & termites in it, too :/

Since the SF thread is about burritos right now, I'm totally obsessed with the Sinaloa taco truck in Fruitvale. So amazing.

Good to know, will check out.
Anyone know if the Lanesplitter by the lake is delivering yet? I heard there were take-out only...

is there more than one? i went to the one in temescal this past wknd, it was dece

There's one in Berkeley on San Pablo and they just opened a hole in the wall between Grand Ave. and Lakeshore sort of near the Serenader.

Le Val's recently moved/opened a location in Oakland ... I got a good fish sandwich there.

This is going to be fun:

http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2009/08/29/mn-baybridge30_p_0500529609.jpg

Woo hoo! Accidents!

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1681730592?bctid=36873198001

I'm taking the ferry back tonight; the BART is going to be a clusterfuck I bet.

Get to drive across one last time after work today (they let us out at 3 for the traffic) then tomorrow I'll find out how crowded BART is.

(My normal amazing system, for those who don't know, is to leave my car at the San Leandro BART station during the work week, then to BART back and forth with my car waiting for me in the East Bay to get to/from work/BART/lunch. I do the Bay Bridge twice a week, Monday morning and Friday night.)

ok between this and the LA fires i got the hell out of dodge just in time :/

but this is cool!

although I've wondered, what do Treasure Island residents do this weekend? They're closing both spans right?

never mind: "Vehicle access to Yerba Buena Island and Treasure Island for residents, employees
and visitors will be maintained via special permit from San Francisco."

If you were also wondering.

they haven't closed the bridge for almost exactly 20 years right?

no, they closed it a few years ago during the same weekend.

so glad I live AND work in the east bay now

guess I'm the only fan of infrastructure-repair-related traffic-and-transit-snarls then

also, 24 hour BART!

I would be a bigger fan if I didn't drive across that bridge so often.

I predict BART won't be that bad tomorrow on account of everyone saying 'fuck this, I'm not coming in'. At least, that seems to be the dominant paradigm at my place of employment.

I'm hoping all the SOMA eateries will be dead tomorrow from all the east bay commuters staying home. No lines!

I have a gig in SF tomorrow night, and will brave the San Mateo bridge ...

Lotsa luck. Realized I drove over that section of the Eastern span for the LAST TIME EVER last night. I seriously stressed out about playing some appropriately cool music while doing so.

They also seem to be doing a bunch of construction on 880 and 24.

Is it that center divider stuff on 880? That's been going on and annoying me for awhile. 880 is the worst freeway in the Bay Area, by the way.

280 is the best.

I spent several years commuting from Oakland to Hayward ... oh how I loathed 880.

downtown sf is a fucking ghosttown rn

would be an A+ night for critical mass

OOh boy, can't wait to take my early out at work here, hop on BART, have a couple beers and get rolling with the extended weekend in isolated SF!
(sorry this isn't all that Oakland related, but hey, since that's where the bridge closure came up...)

280 really is the best.

although there are stretches of heading right out of SF where people drive like maniacal assholes

"downtown sf is a fucking ghosttown rn"

My office is ridiculously empty even for a a Friday.

Sounds like the bridge may not re-open on time:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/09/06/california.bridge.closed/index.html

that would be great, because then my boss won't come to work, and I won't have to feel bad about not finishing this crap on time.

Time-lapse:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTM6Ux8Viak

that's awesome

Mehserle trial being moved out of Alameda County

Jacobson said his "deepest concern" was the possibility that jurors would have to walk past protesters outside the courthouse each day of the trial demanding "justice for Oscar Grant."

He really thinks simply moving the trial will dissuade protesters? Or quell the anger that will ensue if Mehserle is found not guilty?