East Bay

"A Searing Indictment of Our Consumer Culture"

Much to my surprise, Emeryville's Bay Street shopping center is not only home to interesting art (or, art of any kind), but is self-aware!  Yes, rather than hanging up a giant Christmas tree like the unfettered capitalist scum of San Francisco's Union Square, Emeryville retail mecca erected a “holiday tree” made of shopping carts and shiny ornamental balls.  As BuboBlog (taker of the above photo) speculates, is this a pointed critique of the Black Friday-ification—the pepper spraying, and killing, of our fellow man over dumb crap we won't use in six months—of what was a winter celebration of family and Black Baby Jesus?

Artist Anthony Schmitt explains:

The shopping cart tree symbolizes both generosity and abundance, as well as acknowledging those less fortunate where their whole world may be housed in a cart. We see shopping carts everyday and take them for granted. Individually the beauty of an everyday object may become invisible, but in quantity you can’t miss it.

Oh.

[BuboBlog]

Local Band Midi Matilda Projects Themselves All Over the Mission in New Stop Motion Music Video

Midi Matilda, the new indie electro-pop duo that's been described as a cross between “MGMT and Washed Out,” filmed their latest video all over San Francisco and Berkeley.  After shooting a whole mess of footage of themselves rocking out in studio, they projected their performance all over the streets, alleys, businesses, and AT&T utility boxes that make this town the marvel that it is, and pieced it all together for one helluva music video.

Check it:

Antoine Dodson 2.0: Bay Bridge Edition

Here's your daily reminder that KRON 4 News is completely fucking useless. 

And for the record, this is what CHP fanboy Stanley Roberts looks like…

Stanley Roberts, his “fat ass”, and a skeezy looking CHP officer attempt to go scuba diving in a parking lot. Pic via Avere Group.

ABC News Sponsors Free Ice Cream Giveaway in Exchange For Epic Shots of Occupy Oakland

Nothing is quite as appalling as seeing Yet Another Food Truck and ABC News setting up shop directly outside a general strike.  Don't get me wrong—I'm all for ice cream on a hot day.  But to drive up to sell ice cream to a bunch of people trying to shut down commerce for the day?  Well, that's just tacky.

But in true activist Oakland fashion, “Treats for the Streets” is no San Francisco food truck.  They have no website, Yelp profile, Twitter feed, Facebook page, Tumblr, Groupon deal, or daily 7x7 Magazine coverage and they give their ice cream away for free.

Everyone involved seemed a little too busy to give me the low-down on how this mobile gift economy scheme works, but I'm digging it.

Dolores Park's Cookie Dude Joins General Strike

And he was committed!  I was, like, hungry and shit after smashing the state all morning; so I walked up to him holding a five, half expecting him to unzip that middle finger to unveil a secret tank-top pouch full of freshly-baked oatmeal raisin cookies.  No dice!

BREAKING NEWS: The Fourpocalypse Is Still Upon Us!

DISCLAIMER: NO GRAPHIC DESIGNERS WERE EMPLOYED IN THE MAKING OF THIS BILLBOARD.

Having risen from the ashes of fallen 2k10 memes, the Four Horseman of the Fourpocalyspe ride again to deliver cryptic billboard messages to East Bay commuter drones. Thankfully, the sexy/multiracial news team at News 4 is providing minute to minute coverage of this “breaking news”; Four Loko is now ingestible in a bottled form. Follow up investigation reports that the new 'Poco Loko' 16oz cans will also hit the shelves soon, delivering sugar and shit quality alcohol in a smaller form factor to better infiltrate your life. 

But as for the mysterious new slogan “EVERYTHING'S GONE”, News 4 seems stumped.  Is this a reference to the caffeine and other stimulants that have since been removed from the Four Loko formula? Perhaps a nod to the once dwindling and now extinct supply of 'pre-ban' Lokos from our nation's bodegas?? Or has the Fourapture come to whisk devout cans of Loko away before the coming Fourpocalypse??? 

Something tells me that 'News 4' won't be doing much coverage of any Four Loko related deaths

Oakland Duo Takes Limo to Dolores Park to Rap About Four Loko

This video has it all: dancing on park benches, facial expressions that capture the true taste of Four Loko, crowd surfing in a Shell gas station parking lot…

… and it even has Unchill AZN Bro flashing his whitie tighties:

Shit's gross as hell, but if you listen to the lyrics, there's some real gems in there.  A tatted white girl talking about putting people into a hearse.  Pronouncements that Four Loko never went away.  Real talk.

Give it a watch:

(Thanks Sally!)

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