Author Archive
November 9, 2014 by tomdalzell
Giant Guitars
I have confessed that I love big signs. So of course I would love it if we had a giant guitar sign in Berkeley. I didn’t think that we did. But I was wrong. We have one. Here, though, is a collection of photos of giant guitars. I exclude on elitist grounds photos from franchises […]
November 5, 2014 by tomdalzell
Walks
To start with, I collect here photos from walks that I have led. August 24, 2013: Southeast Berkeley My first walk for Berkeley Path Wanderers. The Doxie house, the Tsui fish house, murals along the way, the Wall of Democracy on Pardee, a dark satanic mill, and Karl and Cate’s house and Dwight/King highway sign […]
November 5, 2014 by tomdalzell
Quirky Berkeley Walk #3 – Berkeley Path Wanderers – November 2, 2014
This walk was not a typical Path Wanderers walk – very urban, no paths – and it represented something of a mission creep for Quirky Berkeley. My focus is quirky material culture in yards and on houses, but I submit that it is humanly impossible to say “Quirky” and “Berkeley” and not visit Telegraph Avenue. […]
November 5, 2014 by tomdalzell
Quirky Berkeley Walk #2 – Berkeley Path Wanderers – March 2, 2014
The description of the walk was: Following in the wake of the popular south side Quirky Berkeley walk this past summer, we’re now off to discover the quirky side of northeast Berkeley. We promise lots of examples of Berkeleyans expressing their individualism through art, architecture, creative foliage and much, much more. We’ll begin at Live […]
November 5, 2014 by tomdalzell
Quirky Berkeley Walk #1 – Berkeley Path Wanderers – August 24, 2013
Colleen Neff has played an important role in the Berkeley Path Wanderers. She is a friend and neighbor, and has gone with me a number of times on my every-block-of-every-street Quirky Berkeley Quest. She suggested that I lead a walk for the Path Wanderers. Good idea! We met near the Ashby BART station. When […]
November 2, 2014 by tomdalzell
Representational Sculpture
I have 234 photographs of sculpture in Berkeley yards. I think that it is time to start posting some of them. I have posted photos of yards which serve as galleries for the sculptors who live within the homes with the yards, but until this moment have not ventured into individual sculptures. Here are a […]
November 2, 2014 by tomdalzell
Raleigh Fingers
Evy Kavaler’s sculpture of Raleigh Fingers was a girl’s artistic tribute to a colorful and skilled pitcher who captured the hearts of the East Bay in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Evy grew up in this era, and her artistic heritage was legit – she is the granddaughter of architect Oskar Gerson. Raleigh Fingers […]
November 2, 2014 by tomdalzell
Rogue Gnomes
Berkeley has a few rogue gnomes, part of a broader social problem seen with increasing regularity wherever gnomes are found. Gnomes are by definition different, and the gnome way of life is different from ours. That said, there are some who are rogue by any definition of the word, with the exception of Sarah Palin’s […]
October 28, 2014 by tomdalzell
Serendipity
Used book stores were an important part of my life from the early 1970s until around ten years ago when I was seduced by the instant gratification of online used book aggregators which take you from glimmer in the eye to purchase in seconds. Berkeley’s used bookstores were a big feature of what made Berkeley […]
October 28, 2014 by tomdalzell