Friday, October 25, 2013
Weekender: This Weekend's Top Five Events
Fri, Oct 25, 2013 at 6:52 AM
The BART strike is finally over, but that doesn't mean you have to leave the East Bay to have a good time this weekend. Here are five awesome things to do in the next few days:
Clipd Beaks
A few years ago, Clipd Beaks was a band most associated with a loud, chaotic, irreverent spirit and an equally unharnessed personality: In interviews members talked (jokingly, we presume) about performing oral sex in American Apparel stockrooms and (not jokingly) about witnessing a crackhead trying to use the bathroom on stage during one of their performances. But if the Oakland band’s latest EP, Lost Offerings, is any indication, it’s toned things down a bit — or at least learned when to scale back and when to go full blast. “Womb to Tomb” perfectly exploits the soft-loud dynamic within its psychedelic haze, but at base it’s a well-crafted pop song. “I’m really proud of what we’ve done and I think people would respond to the record,” wrote vocalist Nick Barbeln in an email to the Express a few weeks ago. The ten-year-old band will celebrate the release of its limited-edition cassette this week at The Night Light, with Elephant in Castle, Hiss & Hum, and Safe Word. Friday, Oct. 25. 9 p.m., $7. TheNightLightOakland.com — Kathleen Richards
Uncharted: The Berkeley Festival of Ideas
For all the brainiacs, boldfaced names, and big thinkers crammed into the few square miles that is Berkeley, it’s kind of shocking there isn’t already a large-scale, wide-ranging TED-style conference in full swing there already. But here we are, and here comes Uncharted, a two-day “ideas festival” that’s being organized by the hyperlocal blog Berkeleyside at various locations in downtown Berkeley, and which is set to feature speakers including Reuters finance blogger Felix Salmon; National Center for Lesbian Rights Executive Director Kate Kendell; Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas; cookbook author Mollie Katzen; UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks; and dozens more luminaries from the tech, political, activism, and arts worlds. A small warning: All these big names don’t come cheap, but admission to Friday night’s event is included in the price of admission, and scholarships are available. Friday, Oct. 25 and Saturday, Oct. 26. 10 a.m.-4 p.m., $390. BerkeleyIdeas.com — Ellen Cushing
17th Annual Arab Film Festival
The largest independent showcase of Arab films in the United States comes to the East Bay this weekend with screenings at The New Parkway and Shattuck Cinemas. Featuring films such as Electro Chaabi, which explores the underground music scene in Cairo, A World Not Ours, a documentary about a Palestinian refugee camp, and The Lebanese Rocket Society, about a group of researchers who entered the race to space in the early 1960s, the festival covers a variety of topics in films set throughout the Middle East. Collectively, the films challenge stereotypes about Arabs, providing a broader lens through which to view a people who are often misunderstood. Friday, Oct. 25 through Sunday, Oct. 27 and Thursday, Nov. 7. $12. AFF2013.ArabFilmFestival.org — Zaineb Mohammed
Food Day Pop-Up and Beer Garden
In honor of National Food Day, which is focusing on food education this year, the Jack London Square Farmers' Market and Pacific Coast Farmers' Market Association are putting together a Food Day Pop-Up and Beer Garden that will take place this Sunday at Old Oakland's La Borinqueña Mex-icatessen. The event will feature an organic vegetable stand, mobile food vendors, and food artisans from Kitchener Oakland, and a local chef will be on hand to demonstrate how to use less-familiar items of seasonal produce. Beer will be provided by Linden Street Brewery and Almanac Beer Co. Proceeds from beer sales will benefit the association's Market Match program, which gives food stamp recipients extra money to buy fresh produce at participating farmers' markets. Sunday, Oct. 27. 3-7 p.m. TamaleGirl.com — Luke Tsai
- Shaun Roberts
Days of the Dead Community Celebration
This Sunday the Oakland Museum of California will host its 19th annual Days of the Dead Community Celebration to celebrate the Mexican holiday that honors the dead. As usual, the event will include craft activities, food, and musical and dance performances. Bring marigolds or a sugar skull in memory of a loved one and watch demonstrations of traditional Mesoamerican arts and cooking. Be sure to also visit the museum’s special exhibition The Tree of Life and Death: Días de los Muertos 2013, which includes artist installations interweaving the themes of life and death with a focus on ecology and habitat and species loss. Sunday, Oct. 27. 12-4:30 p.m., $15 for general admission, $10 for seniors and students, $6 for youth. MuseumCA.org — Z.M.
Plus... Get your cheapskate on: This is how much we love you guys: Here are our searchable listings of every single free event happening in the East Bay this weekend.
Feed Us: Got any East Bay news, events, video, or miscellany we should know about? Holler at us at Zaineb.Mohammed@EastBayExpress.com.
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