July 14, 2019 by tomdalzell

R. Crumb and Berkeley

  The other evening, I was talking with Doris Moskowtiz of Moe’s about Quirky Berkeley.  She reached for her phone and showed me photos of Robert Crumb’s Mr. Natuaral painted on a City trash can at Bancroft and Telegraph.  She told me of getting Crumb’s permission to use Mr. Natural. And with that – it […]

July 7, 2019 by tomdalzell

Jon Balderston’s Sketch Books

In the fall of 2016 I posted about Jon Balderston, whom I called “Quirky Berkelety Royalty.” In the fall of 2017, I posted about a visit to the Alameda Point Flea Market Maracia Donahue and Jon Balderston walked me around.  Those, my dear friend, are two absolute quirky powerhouses. Jon has been through the wringer with […]

July 6, 2019 by tomdalzell

Mini-Post: Mud puddle, boys, and bikes

This photo shows two boys on bikes in a mud puddle in what would become People’s Park.  We chose it to illustrate the callous neglect of the University after demolishing the houses and apartments in the block. A few weeks after the book was published, Jacaeber Kastor sent me this photo. Kastor grew up in Berkeley.  He […]

June 29, 2019 by tomdalzell

Ira Marlowe’s Monkey House

  This is one of the pieces of monkey art displayed outside the Monkey House. This is the sign in the door.  Sorry about the glare. There is a stylized monkey silhouette above the door. And a knocker – singular – to die for. Behind glass (sorry about the glare) is monkey art.  A couple […]

June 22, 2019 by tomdalzell

Big Bill Miller and the Berkeley Provos

The Berkeley Provo Movement was small, short-lived (late 1966 until 1968), and important in a way that was completely disproportionate to its size or lifespan.  Its de facto leader, Big Bill Miller, was a bigger-than-life, prominent figure in countercultural Berkeley for five years and then disappeared. The Berkeley Provo Movement was loosely based on the Dutch Provo movement, […]

June 19, 2019 by tomdalzell

Mini-Post: Liane Chu

  Let’s try this out for a few weeks and see how it goes.  The idea is – a mid-week tiny taste of Quirky Berkeley.  My thought is a single photo, maybe two.  This might be bettered suited for Instagram – we’ll see. In the fall of 2017, I published a post called “Liane Chu […]

June 15, 2019 by tomdalzell

Tyler Hoare Again! Sub Missing! Airplane Missing! UFO Missing!

  Tyler Hoare is one of the most prolific creative people I know.  I wrote about his art, emphasis on his different incarnations of Snoopy doing battle with the Red Baron, and I wrote about his show last winter at the Compound Gallery. Now I update you: 1) The Snoopy submarine that Hoare launched in […]

June 8, 2019 by tomdalzell

Painted Ladies #3

I look at this house and smile.  I imagine the people living there.  I imagine that they are intelligent and compassionate, with exquisite if simple taste that reflects solid Berkeley values.  Is that reading too much into a beautiful painted lady?  I doubt it. After a first and second post on Berkeley’s painted ladies, I […]