Author Archive
February 8, 2021 by tomdalzell
A Normandy Village Photo that is as Cool AF
In October, 2013 – early in the life of Quirky Berkeley – I rejoiced in Normandy Village in all its quirky glory. Normandy Village, aka Thornburg Village, is a cluster of apartments, some of which have been converted to condos, on the first block north of campus on Spruce Street. It was built in the […]
February 2, 2021 by tomdalzell
People’s Park 1969: Where Are They Now?
Among the cast of thousands in the battle for People’s Park in 1969 was Charlie Palmer, the outgoing President of the student body. The Establishment among Cal students, voiced by the editors of the Daily Cal, initially opposed the community takeover of the abandoned plot of land that we now know as People’s Park. After […]
January 26, 2021 by tomdalzell
People’s Park – Gentrification Tape!
I have been criminally negligent to Quirky Berkeley. I am trying to repent. I have a number of photos and pieces in the assembly line. I must and shall get them posted. As Bob Dylan sang, I can change, I swear. We know that I have a great interest in People’s Park. The University has […]
October 27, 2020 by tomdalzell
Jane Fonda
Lincoln Cushing is the fountain of all wisdom when it comes to political posters. He recently posted about five posters related to Jane Fonda’s time in Berkeley. So – this is his fault. All his fault. Jane Fonda and her daughter Vanessa, child of director Roger Vadim, moved to Berkeley in 1971. Fonda married Vadim […]
October 19, 2020 by tomdalzell
Sam’s 58 McNevin Singing
These were tough times. Sam was robbed twice in the 1960s, once in 1964 on the way back to the club from the bank, and in 1966 in the parking lot. He was shot in the parking lot heist. When Michael McNevin heard that there were traces of the bar intact, he communicated a strong […]
September 20, 2020 by tomdalzell
The Signs of San Pablo Avenue – El Cerrito South
I have posted about the signs of San Pablo Avenue – signs in Berkeley and Albany and Emeryville and neon signs and a post about the bars on San Pablo in Berkeley. When I did my first post about San Pablo Avenue in 2014 (before Trump, before the pandemic, and before the fires), I wrote: […]
September 14, 2020 by tomdalzell
Fito – Ten Years Since his Transition
Newspapers reported that in the early morning of September 12, 2010, Adolfo “Fito” Celedon Bravo died shortly after being shot on this spot at Emerson and Adeline during an armed robbery as he walked home with his fiancée Amber Daniela Nelson after a night of dancing at Ashkenaz on his birthday eve. Nelson uses a different verb […]
September 9, 2020 by tomdalzell
The Home and Art of Peter Neufeld
This is about Peter Neufeld’s cat, his house, and his art. One could not make up a more daring, creative, against-the-current life than that which Neufeld has led. This is Peter. He is a most young 80-something. He has lived an extraordinary life, pure and true. I asked him about his secret for longevity and […]
May 9, 2020 by tomdalzell
Susan Brooks …. again
Susan Brooks has her studio in the Sawtooth Building on Eighth Street between Dwight and Parker. It is also known as the Kawneer Building; it is a West Berkeley industrial building that is home to a variety of small buinesses – including artisans, craftspeople, tradespeople, engineers, consultants, designers, fine artists, small industries, performance groups, theathers […]
April 5, 2020 by tomdalzell