The third week of the month is often meeting-heavy. That’s OK, some of these meetings are awesome — and if they’re not, there are lots of other fun things to do this week.
Friday, July 12
Cosmos & Cocktails Featuring Men in Black at Chabot
7 p.m.
Chabot Space and Science Center, 10000 Skyline Boulevard
Join Chabot for Men in Black, the sci-fi comedy classic that follows a New York detective who joins a secret organization that polices extraterrestrials on Earth. Grab dinner in the café or a glass of wine before the show. A perfect night out for parents! On-site child care is available.
Tickets are available at: http://www.chabotspace.org/summer-movies.htm.
Youth Musical Theater Company Production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Opens
7 p.m.
Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice Street
In YMTC’s upcoming production, audiences can look forward to seeing the Bay Area’s most talented young performing artists, accompanied by a professional twenty-seven piece orchestra playing Jonathan Tunick’s original orchestrations.
YMTC is dedicated to providing exceptional training to young performing artists by producing professional musical theater. It brings together the Bay Area’s most talented and dedicated young singers and actors with professional directors, designers, and musicians, to create theater that takes on challenging and sophisticated musical and dramatic themes, and is always accompanied by a full, live orchestra.
Additional dates and times: July 12, 13, 18, 19 & 20 at 7 p.m., and July 14 & 21 at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $26, $18 for seniors 65+, $13 for students, and available at http://ymtcsweeneytodd.brownpapertickets.com/.
For more information, visit http://www.ymtcberkeley.org/sweeney-todd/, or contact info@ymtcberkeley.org or 510-595-5514.
Saturday, July 13
Three Corners Neighborhood Group Saturday Neighborhood Cleanup
9 – 10 a.m.
The corner of 66th and San Pablo
It’s the second Saturday of the month: time for a Saturday Neighborhood cleanup! Join neighbors to walk the block and pick up the trash that’s accumulated. Bring a pair of gloves and a trash bag and meet up. It’s a great way to meet neighbors and make things cleaner, too!
For more information, visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ThreeCornersNeighborhoodgroup/cal.
On Fire Again! Rekindling Lifework Purpose & Passion
9 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Homewood Suites by Hilton Oakland — Waterfront, 1103 Embarcadero
Discover how to find a next lifework that’s really your calling. Imagine feeling on-track and confident again! This workshop is taught by an experienced career renewal coach, and a perfect fit for those who are:
Successful, know what they don’t want, but don’t have passionate clarity for what they want to do next
Employed or an entrepreneur, but questioning direction, and ready for something new, true and fulfilling
Unemployed and ready for a new direction with work that’s more than just a job
Participants will gain renewed hope, strengthened confidence, resources, support, and concrete next steps to begin taking immediately.
The cost of this workshop is $47. For program and scholarship information, visit http://BrilliantNEXT.com/lifework.
For more information, visit http://OnFireAgain.com, or contact Rikk Hansen at events@BrilliantNEXT.com or (858) 848-6398.
Oakland Heritage Alliance Tour: F. M. “Borax” Smith Estate
10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Redwood tree, corner of McKinley Avenue and Home Place East (1 block off Park Boulevard)
Visit the site of Arbor Villa, Francis Marion “Borax” Smith’s palatial estate. Smith founded an international industry (“20-Mule Team Borax”), established the Key Route System, and became one of Oakland’s most famous, colorful entrepreneurs. The tour visits the site of Oak Hall, the 9th Avenue palm trees, the Mary R. Smith Cottages and other historic houses, including ones designed by Bernard Maybeck and Julia Morgan. This is a 2-mile, hilly walk.
For more information, contact the OHA office at (510) 763-9218 or info@oaklandheritage.org.
Lake Merritt Boating Center Open House
1 – 3 p.m.
Lake Merritt Boating Center, 568 Bellevue Avenue
Lake Merritt’s boating center is offering free boat rentals and rides at its Open House. Splash into summer, enjoying the wonderful view of Oakland!
For more information, call (510) 238-2196.
OMCA In-the-Mix: Behind the Scenes of Natural Sciences
1 – 2 p.m.
Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak Street
With OMCA In-the-Mix, visitors get to join the conversation. Find out how the new Gallery of California Natural Sciences relates to the other great exhibitions and permanent galleries at OMCA — with a featured surprise guest. Join the in-gallery thought-provoking conversations. Check museumca.org for featured guest descriptions and links.
For more information, click here.
Studio Quercus Presents Space: Group Exhibition and 5th Anniversary
4 – 6:30 p.m.
Studio Quercus, 385 26th Street
Studio Quercus is proud to present Space, a massive group exhibition and gallery-wide installation, on view July 5 through August 17, 2013. Join Quercus on this particular evening for the artist reception and celebration of its 5-year anniversary with live music, refreshments, prizes, and more!
Humor, beauty, absurdity, and awe abound as visitors enter Spaceship Quercus to view works that include painting, drawing, sculpture, video, and installations created around the theme of “space.” This event taps into the imagination of anyone who’s looked up at the stars and wondered “what the heck is going on out there?”
Founded in 2008 by Susan Casentini and Kyle Milligan, the interdisciplinary gallery is a space for full-scale individual and group art exhibitions, installations, and performance events located in downtown Oakland. With the community in mind, the nonprofit gallery cultivates creative exploration and an exchange of ideas, allowing for the unexpected to happen.
For more information, visit http://www.studioquercus.com/, or contact info@studioquercus.com or (510) 452-4670.
Sunday, July 14
NAACP’s Second Annual Day of Unity
Beebe Memorial Cathedral, 3900 Telegraph Avenue
Nearly 100 faith leaders from around the country will join together in the second annual Day of Unity, an event designed by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to inspire pastors to preach from the pulpit about HIV/AIDS as a social justice issue. Pastor Hames of Beebe Memorial Cathedral will be recognized as one of eight national Day of Unity Champions, and will represent the NAACP and its initiative, The Black Church and HIV: The Social Justice Imperative, as a leader in the movement to stop the social injustices that have led to the unequal impact of HIV on Black America.
For more information, or to join the NAACP in the fight to save lives from HIV, please visit their website, www.theblackchurchandhiv.org.
Oakland Heritage Alliance Tour: Tiles and Terra Cotta in Uptown Oakland
12:30 – 3 p.m.
Southeast corner of 17th and Webster Streets (at the Howden Building)
This tour focuses on twenty buildings dating from an era when many downtown facades were surfaced with architectural ceramics. Styles changed from 1908 to 1931, including in the later years the introduction of brightly-colored glazes. The nature of this medium will be examined, its unique beauty highlighted, and its needs for preservation and restoration explored. From 3:00 – 3:30 there will be an optional tour of the interior of the Howden Building, with a chance to view historic photos. This is a level walk.
For more information, contact the OHA office at (510) 763-9218 or info@oaklandheritage.org.
Poetry flash with Brynn Saito and Caroline Goodwin
3 p.m.
Diesel, A Bookstore, 5433 College Avenue
Brynn Saito’s book of poetry, The Palace of Contemplating Departure, was the winner of the 2011 Benjamin Saltman Award from Red Hen Press. Her poetry has been selected for anthologies edited by Helen Vendler and Ishmael Reed, and she’s been published in many literary journals.
Caroline Goodwin’s new book of poems is Trapline. Born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Caroline moved to the Bay Area in 1999 to attend Stanford University as a Stegner Fellow in poetry. She now teaches in the MFA and undergraduate writing programs at California College of the Arts, The Stanford Writer’s Studio and U. C. Berkeley Extension. Her sequence of five poems, Text Me, Ishmael, was published in 2012.
For more information, visit poetryflash.org.
Tuesday, July 16
Oakland City Council and Oakland Redevelopment Agency Meeting
5:30 p.m.
City Council Chambers, Third Floor, Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza
The City Council is the governing body of the City of Oakland, and consists of eight members who are elected directly by the citizens of Oakland: one representative from each of seven districts, and one at-large representative. The Council sets goals and priorities for the City, as well as approving the city budget, adopting ordinances to help the City serve its citizens, and appointing members to various boards and commissions. The City Council meets 2 – 3 times per month, on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Tuesdays. A downloadable agenda is available at: http://clerkwebsvr1.oaklandnet.com/calendar/.
For more information, visit http://www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/CityCouncil/ or call (510) 238-7370.
Release Party for Inquiring Mind‘s Spring 2013 Issue at Diesel
7 p.m.
Diesel, A Bookstore, 5433 College Avenue
Each issue of Inquiring Mind takes up a particular theme relevant to westerners interested in Buddhism. In the Spring 2013 issue, called “Once Upon A Time: Stories and Poems of the Dharma,” creative writers and poets speak of their journeys. What does it really mean to be a human being? What is it like? How do we love and how do we let go?
Readers for this event include Anne Barrows, Barbara Gates, Mushim Y. Ikeda, Susan Moon, Denise Newman, Scoop Nisker, Gary Turchin, Marty Williams and others. Copies of the latest issue of Inquiring Mind will be distributed at the reading and books by the writers will be for sale. This event is free and open to the public.
For more information about Inquiring Mind, click here.
Wednesday, July 17
Oakland Digital Arts & Literacy Center (ODALC) Presents Social Media for Small Businesses
10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Oakland City Hall, Council Chambers, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza
Now in its third year, Oakland Digital’s Social Media for Small Businesses is an accelerated 3-hour event that serves as a neutral, educational and learning platform for local small-business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. The event introduces practical and emerging social networking platforms to help educate and empower small businesses to succeed in the digital economy.
Break social media down into easy-to-understand parts to utilize digital tools and technology as a platform to grow your small business. Participants will learn how to:
Engage existing and new customers with email marketing
Use email communications to improve customer loyalty
Build an online presence with social media marketing
Use Google to get on the web, say more with video, work better together with apps, find new customers, and see who’s coming and going
Understand Twitter and grow a business 140 characters at a time
Reach, engage, acquire, and retain customers through Oakland Digital’s Digital Equity program
The cost is free, with a suggested donation of $25 per person. each donation of $25 or more will receive a Google notebook and Oakland Digital schwag!
For more information, or to register, visit www.oaklandsocialmedia.com.
“Cops & Kids” Ice Cream Wednesdays
2 – 4 p.m.
San Antonio Park
Come for free ice cream cones, floats and lots of sprinkles! This event is sponsored by the Oakland Police Activities League (PAL) and The Oakland Police Foundation, with special Thanks to Nestle Dreyer’s Ice Cream.
For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/TheFoundationofSafety.
Golden Gate NCPC 10X Monthly Meeting
7 – 8:30 p.m.
Golden Gate Recreation Center, 1075 62nd Street
This monthly meeting of the Golden Gate Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council recurs on the third Wednesday of each month, except for December. For more information, or to get in touch with the organization, please visit the website below.
For more information, visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NCPC-10X/cal.
Thursday, July 18
Oakland City Council Rules & Legislation Committee Meeting
10:45 a.m.
Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Hearing Room 1
The Rules and Legislation Committee usually meets at this time (although it is recommended to confirm the day and time, as this is subject to change). A downloadable agenda is available at: http://clerkwebsvr1.oaklandnet.com/calendar/.
For more information, visit http://www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/CityCouncil/ or call (510) 238-7370.
Oakland Food Policy Council Meeting
5 – 7:30 p.m.
1000 Broadway, 5th Floor, Room A or B
The mission of the Oakland Food Policy Council (OFPC) is to establish an equitable and sustainable food system in Oakland. It strives to: ensure access to healthy, affordable food within walking distance of every Oakland resident; bring underserved neighborhoods to the food policy table and increase “food literacy” among Oakland residents; put food, hunger, and food systems on the City of Oakland’s agenda and contribute to the national dialog on food policy; and turn the Oakland food system into an engine for local economic development and involve local and regional agricultural communities.
For more information, visit http://www.oaklandfood.org/.
Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee Meeting
5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Hearing Room 4
Oakland’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) was chartered in 1995 to advise the City on the design of bicycle and pedestrian facilities and related issues. Members of the public are welcome to attend all or part of any BPAC meeting.
For more information, visit http://www.oaklandpw.com/Page124.aspx.
OSD Advisory Committee Meeting
6:30 p.m.
Hunter Hall, on the fourth floor of the Paul Robeson Administrative Building, 1025 2nd Avenue
Representative parents, staff, students and community members make up the District Advisory Committee (DAC). The DAC provides a community perspective to the Board of Education and the District leadership on important educational issues. They also assure the District and individual schools are in compliance with state accountability laws. Each school appoints a representative to the DAC.
For more information, click here.
Melrose High Hopes NCPC Beat 27X Meeting
7 – 8:30 p.m.
Horace Mann School, 5222 Ygnacio
The NCPC is the main organizing group for the neighborhood. The Steering Committee, which is the NCPC leadership team, makes decisions about monthly meeting agendas and major events. The monthly meetings are a great opportunity to let the designated City Council Member and Community Policing Officers know about neighborhood concerns and engage them in helping the neighborhood. Visit the organization’s website for updated agenda items, general information, or to get on the mailing list for future meetings.
For more information, visit http://www.ncpcbeat27x.org/.