You know how it is gentle reader, you purchase your first pirate book "to supplement your teaching" at an out of the way book store where no one knows you, and pretty soon you've got a collections of 6 or 7 books on the subject...it's a dangerous road to follow friends, "Just say No!"
But who could say "No" to the Annual Northern California Pirate Festival in Vallejo. Not me, that's for sure. I now know what the Renaissance Faire performers do in the off season, they attend the Pirate Festival.
These people are pretty annoyingly legit when it comes to the outfits and being in character. I saw one guy dressed as Blackbeard that would certainly put my costume from my teaching days to shame. Surprisingly, people not in costume were in the minority.
Pirate Awesomeness! Let the festivities begin.
Quaint little Sea Shanties, of course four hours of Sea Shanties was a little much...
A converted hover round chair...clever, clever captain.
This mast was pretty authentic looking for being staked in the ground...
Surly crew members Rusty, Yosiell and Oscar enjoying a brief interlude before the beatings continue.
After awhile, some started to mix their genres as steampunk pirates arrived and the burner crowd arrived in their Burning Man outfits without even a nod to the theme of the day. Still, all added to the carnival atmosphere and a good time was had by everyone. I was hoping the day might be a total wash and help to quell my obsession, no such luck readers, I'm just as obsessed as ever.
Speaking of outlaws, the 4th of July holiday came and went in Oakland. We took a bike ride down to Jack London Square, to enjoy the family friendly activities...lots of kids!
From there we attended a lovely quiet little barbecue at the home of Matt and Tyler, our almost neighbors. Lots of good food and good company.
Evening was soon upon us, and we left to go to the fireworks. We figured a good viewing spot would be Alameda, seeing as how on parts of the island one can see the fireworks at Berkeley Marina and at the SF Embarcadero. We pulled into a small parking lot facing the giant Oakland cranes and waited for the festivities.
The fog, of course was coming in fast and furious freezing out expectant on lookers and obscuring much of the fireworks displays.
Unbeknownst to us, this was where all of the local rednecks and outlaws come to shoot off their own fireworks. The family in the car next to us had purchased $600 worth of fireworks, and were bound and determined to set off every single one. Pandemonium ensued as one of the dads was holding a firework to shoot off and didn't realize this particular variety had multiple shots in it. He started to put it down and when it went off again, he dropped it to the ground before picking it up in time to shoot it toward a car full of kids and parents. Well, it ain't fun until someone loses a body part. Luckily the paramedics were not needed and all was well that ended well.
Of course soon after we decided that we wanted to keep all of our body parts and drove home with the self satisfaction of knowing that the biggest rednecks we have ever encountered may not be in North Carolina after all.
In other June news, Yosiell and two others had a show at Faultline, "Omni, Trium, Perfectum". Pretty cool stuff, the show is coming down this weekend but Yosiell's pieces will be up on his website soon.
An instillation of witches...
A piece by Felicia Ann, another member of the Faultline group.
My favorite piece of Yosiell's in the show...very Creepy-Cute.
Lisa Pisa's pieces.
Felicia Ann subduing Yosiell.
It was a great show and received lots of attention from the local art community. We also went to California Great America for Yosiell's Birthday. My recommendation? Visit on a Monday during the summer. Zero lines for any rides and no crowds. We certainly enjoyed the water rides. It was great to be reminded that roller coasters are fun no matter your age.
It's Snoopy!
Yosiell, Me, Jaimie, and Rusty enjoying the tallest, fastest (and ricketiest) wooden roller coaster in northern California...Oh, and the little girl in the bottom left hand corner photo bombing us...what's up with that?
It's time to give a shout out to one of my newest favorite places, the Oakland Museum of California! On Friday nights, the museum remains open late and sells tickets to the exhibits for half price...but the fun doesn't end there. Near one of the entrances, the museum hosts a food truck rendezvous, with live music. There is also a make shift bar, and a few activities for kids. The crowd is certainly a microcosm of Oakland realness. It' s a beautiful event celebrating the true diverse nature of our hamlet.
Food trucks everywhere you look.
The sun setting from the roof of the museum.
Inside the museum, a DJ was spinning vinyl records and using instruments made from common household objects to add to the music.
One of the current shows is: Super Awesome: Art and Giant Robot
A piece included from our friend Lee, AKA Leecifur. Lots of artists interpreted the robot figure...following were a few of my favorites.
Although all of the selected pieces are great, these are only a small taste of the entire exhibit.
The museum also offers monthly bike tours. We attended one such tour and rode around downtown looking at different historical spots.
One of the spots we stopped at was a marker of where the first public school in Oakland stood in 1852. This humble plaque marks the spot in a little easement between the street and where the BART goes underground. The spot is very unassuming and is filled with trash and graffiti. Rather depressing but maybe a good symbol of where public schools in Oakland are now, stripped to the bare minimum.
One of the reliefs in a doorway of the Civic Center. The center was built in 1914 in the beaux arts style. It has housed many different events over the years including in the early years, a KKK rally. Other events include Ringling Brothers Circus, a Roller derby team, UC, Berkeley Woman's Basketball, Elvis Presley concert, Martin Luther King Jr. speaking (on the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation) , the Grateful Dead played here (57 times), and very recently, Occupy Oakland marched on the civic center to reclaim the space for the people (it remains unclaimed).
Taking the bike tour encouraged me to purchase and read Beth Bagwell's, Oakland, The Story of a City. It is a very good basic read of Oakland's history and alludes to many of the larger than life characters that helped shape this city, but unfortunately doesn't really dive into the stories that make Oakland interesting. The Civic Center is a building with an illustrious past and I would love to see someone actually reclaim the space for the people in a productive way...
As you can see, the Oakland Museum has inspired me to find out more about Oakland's humble beginnings blossoming into a major urban center. Check out the museum, and hopefully you too will be inspired.
Oakland is a city of extremes and contrasts. It is always exciting to live in the blue collar center of the bay area. Enjoy a final picture depicting the dismantling of the bay bridge...I've said it before, this looks like a great opportunity for the General Lee and the Dukes of Hazard to jump the river. I will always be a child of the 70's sitcom.
So, my Oaklandish friends and also any future visitors to our city by the bay...check out the local scene, there is a there, there!
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