TELEGRAPH AVENUE CHARRETTE Berkeley Design Advocates is holding a two-day charrette jointly with the Telegraph Avenue Business District on Friday Sept. 27 and Saturday Sept. 28 with a view to brainstorming ideas for a better Telegraph Avenue. BDA, a membership organization of planners, architects and engineers that works to support good planning and design in Berkeley, says the goal is to “develop concepts that will serve as a catalyst for the revitalization of Telegraph Avenue through public improvements and private development projects.” (Read the full statement with details of the charrette’s objectives.) It’s the second charrette organized by BDA. Read about the first one, reported by Berkeleyside, which was held in the spring of 2012. If you would like to participate in the charrette process, you are invited to join a walking tour of the study area on Friday Sept. 27, which starts at 3:00 p.m. from the First Presbyterian Church and is expected to take about two hours. Questions? Email Phil Henry (Phil@the architects.com) and put “Telegraph Charrette 2” in the subject line, or call him on 510.526.7904.
FREE COMPOST If you’re a gardener in Berkeley with a need for good fertilizer, grab a shovel and a friend’s pickup truck because the city is giving away free compost this Saturday. The event is at the Berkeley Marina at 201 University Ave. (across from the Doubletree Hotel) and will last from 7:30am until there’s no more compost left. It’s first-come-first-serve, so arrive early. It’s also self-serve, so bring the right tools and transportation. Pickups can’t be filled higher than the lip of their beds and have to be covered in a tarp. Berkeley has given away free compost on the last Saturday of every month since February 2013. Saturday Sept. 28 will be the second-to-last giveaway, so if you want free compost now’s the time to get it!
SHELLEY DOTY X-TET Berkeley native Shelley Doty is bringing her jazz-infused rock melodies to Freight & Salvage Saturday, Sept. 29. Doty first made her name playing with the popular 90s jam band “Jambay.” Since then she has played with Sheryl Crow, Sarah McLachlan and Chrissie Hynde. She also co-wrote and provided the soundtrack for science fiction film Strange Frame: Love & Sax. Saturday she’ll be accompanied by current members of her X-tet (she keeps the membership changing so her music stays fresh): Mike Sugar on bass, Julie Wolf playing piano and accordion, Dale Fanning on percussion, and cellist Beth Vandervennet. Tickets can be purchased in advance on the Freight & Salvage website or at the door. Doors open at 7pm, show stars at 8pm.
WEST COAST LIVE Freight & Salvage is also hosting the broadcast of West Coast Live this weekend. The two-hour lineup is presented, as always, by Sedge Thomson and will feature oodles of star power, including heavyweight authors Jonathan Lethem (Fortress of Solitude, Motherless Brooklyn) and Norman Rush (Subtle Bodies, Mating). There will also be special guests, including members of People Show, the longest running experimental theater troupe in the UK, as well as the popular bluegrass pros from the band Hot Buttered Rum, a quintet of Canadian folk musicians called The Bills, and house pianist Mike Greensil. This talent-packed event goes live on Saturday, Sept 28 at 10am and runs until 12pm. Tickets can be purchased in advance or reserved online.
(THREE-IN-ONE) WEEKEND EVENTS Berkeleyside is a proud sponsor of three fantastic events taking place this weekend. Kick the weekend off with Endless Summer Cinema’s screening of Invasion of the Body Snatchers this Friday at 7:30pm at the Crescent field downtown. Learn how to butcher meat, pickle veggies, brew beer, raise chickens, and pour the perfect cup of coffee at the Eat Real Festival, a celebration of the Bay Area’s food system that runs Sept 27-29 in Oakland’s Jack London Square. And celebrate human movement, music and much more at Cal Performance’s day-long Fall Free-For-All on Sunday. Participants will see samples of professional work from the Cal Band and the Cal Department of Theater, Dance and Performance Studies, featuring art forms like American jazz, Flamenco, stylized Japanese comedy, and more.
Don’t miss these other events featured on Berkeleyside:
Local food extravaganza Eat Real Food Festival
Cal Free for All: Choreography on a massive scale
Postpone the start of fall with Endless Summer Cinema
‘Spying on Democracy’ author Heidi Boghosian in Berkeley on Sept. 30
Big Screen Berkeley: Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Check out Berkeleyside’s event calendar for many more events, and make sure you post your community happenings there.
-By Eli Wolfe
