Anyone who watched Berkeley native Matt Olson on Jeopardy’s College Championship Tuesday night was amazed at the 20-year old’s performance. He raked up $40,000 in winnings (Jeopardy! dollars, unfortunately) answering questions ranging from fashion design to literature to what looked like a very difficult math problem. Olson, shown above in an interview with KGO, now […]
Celebrity
Posted inArts, Schools, Video
Cal frat boy Kyle Crews a hit with Jennifer Lopez & co
American Idol fans know that when a judge says “you’re going to Hollywood”, that’s very good news. These words were spoken by former Aerosmith rocker Steven Tyler to UC Berkeley undergraduate Kyle Crews recently when he auditioned for the show in San Diego, which also happens to be his hometown. Crews, who dedicated his rendition […]
Posted inArts
Johnny Depp and Tom Waits storm through Berkeley
Berkeley got a taste of Hollywood Monday night when actor Johnny Depp and musician Tom Waits rolled into town. The pair started their night eating at Prospect restaurant in San Francisco, where they got to sample the fare cooked by the newly appointed chef Pamela Mazzola (Depp had the duck.) Then Depp went to UC […]
Posted inCity
Claremont Hotel gets ready for Michelle Obama
A view of the new vegetable beds at the Claremont, which the First Lady will pass by during her visit. Photos: Frances Dinkelspiel Ever since the news broke that Michelle Obama will be talking at a fundraising breakfast June 14th at the Claremont Hotel, the hotel has been spiffing itself up. Rumor on the street […]
Posted inCity
Michelle Obama is coming to the East Bay and Alice hosts
First Lady Michelle Obama is coming the East Bay. Photo: The White House Alice Waters is going to be doing a lot of cooking when First Lady Michelle Obama comes to the East Bay next week. So far, Waters has signed up to do two breakfasts on June 14 to help Obama raise funds for […]
Posted inArts
Chelsea Handler coming to Berkeley on Sunday
Chelsea Handler, the comedienne whose books are so popular that she received her own imprint, will be signing her latest tome at Books Inc on Fourth Street at 4 pm Sunday May 15. Handler’s fourth book (the other three immediately shot to the top of the New York Times’ bestseller list) is called Lies That […]
Posted inArts
The boys are back in town: Lonely Island trio hit Berkeley
Jorma Taccone, Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer: visiting their Berkeley hometown Update, 7:30pm: Exciting news: Dina, one of the managers of Amoeba, writes in to say that this event is NOT sold out as of 5 o’clock 4.14.11. “There are still wristbands available for those who pre-order the new album. Thanks! Peace” Thanks Dina. The […]
Posted inArts
‘He’s so hot’ — aka, the Tony Taccone adulation society
It seems the Artistic Director of the Berkeley Rep has something of a “following”. In fact, read the comments on a story we ran about him last week, and it becomes clear a certain group of fans is positively smitten with Tony Taccone, speaking with more than a little hyperbole of his brazen attractiveness, his warm […]
Posted inNosh
Alice Waters joins Twitter, in a tasteful way
Alice Waters has joined Twitter, and in a way only Waters can: with style and a splash. Her brand new Twitter page – apparently launched on Thursday – is decorated with red chickens daintily pecking the ground for food. How Alice. And even though she hasn’t sent out a single tweet, and is only following […]
Posted inArts
Andy Samberg hasn’t forgotten his elementary school
Andy Samberg remembering his roots on Saturday Night Live, March 12. Saturday Night Live fans attuned to all matters Berkeley (such as the teenage offspring of two Berkeleyside founders) may have spotted that, on last week’s episode, homegrown comedian Andy Samberg was sporting a particularly Berkeley-relevant T-shirt. At the end of the March 12 show, […]
Posted inArts
The night Pablo Picasso heard the UC Berkeley fight song
Alice B. Toklas and Harriet Lane Levy in Fiesole, Italy in 1909. Photo: Bancroft Library In 1908, a Jewish woman from San Francisco named Harriet Lane Levy was invited to a supper in Montmartre to honor the painter Henri Rousseau. This was no ordinary supper: its hosts were the painter Pablo Picasso and his lover, […]
Posted inSchools
Former president of Chile to teach at Berkeley
The former president of Chile will teach a number of seminars this year at UC Berkeley. Michelle Bachelet, who is currently serving as the United Nations’ undersecretary general for women’s rights, will talk about the challenges she faced as the president of Chile and the issues she will address in her new position at the […]