As you dust off your umbrellas for the week of vertical rivers, there’s a lot less going on, but still a lot: There's poetry afoot, Shane Company ads on KOIT, and holiday skating at Oakland Ice. You still have one day left to visit East Bay Booksellers and buy stationary (you thought we were going to say “a book about Oakland,” but see, those are best found at ORB Secret Santa swaps). The City of Oakland is hosting some neighborhood clean ups over the weekend and KALW’s new calendar(er) wants to know which events you’re excited about next week (you can leave them a voice note!). Happy Holidays, from team ORB (if you're weird and are into things like "happiness.")
Tuesday, December 23
[West Bay Bonus Event] Eyes Wide Shut, 7pm, Alamo Drafthouse (The Mission). Tom Cruise goes on an odyssey of sexual confusion and paranoia to learn the true meaning of Christmas. A brutally funny sexscapade, say the Austrians (Kubrick adapted it from the Arthur Schnitzler novella Traumnovelle [Dream Story]); 7pm AND 8pm showings – they’re overlapping it like a round. [Drafthouse]
Mystery Book Club: Midwinter Murder, 4:00pm, West Branch BPL (Berkeley). Come dressed in 1920s through 1930s attire, or as your favorite Agatha Christie character. A potluck, which could make figuring out who poisoned the disgraced heiress especially tricky. [BPL]
Bay Area Radical Healthcare Workers Meetup, 6:30pm, Bathers Library (Best Part of Telegraph). Solidarity, Liberation, Care, Resistance, Bathers. Become unbindable! [insta]
Pajama Family Storytime, 7:00pm, Dimond Branch OPL (The Dimond). Stories, songs, activities and rhymes for all ages – like the Ogden Nash couplet perfect for the holiday season: “Candy is dandy / but liquor is quicker.” [OPL]
Also: Read a book, maybe the one about Oakland you picked up at the ORB holiday party, while you deck the halls.
Wednesday, December 24
Basecamp Bakery Holiday Bake Sale, 10:00am, Oken (Lower Rockridge). It’s a bakery pop up BUT ALSO poet/chef Kevin Madrigal Galindo will be selling and signing zines so it gets included here. [insta]
Grown Folks Storytime, 12:15pm, Main Library (Alameda the Island). Take your lunch over and vibe report what the librarians are reading over sandwiches in Alameda. [Alameda Free Library]
Lake Merritt Trump Vigil, 4pm at Grand Lake Theatre (Grand Ave). He really is the undeniable worst, still true, so wave a sign, honk it out. [Mobilize]
Also: Winter Lights For The Solstice at the Piedmont Avenue Branch OPL (Piedmont the Street not the Secessionists) / Listen to a book about Oakland while you’re doing your last minute giftwrapping.
Thursday, December 25
Movies All Day Long, 11:45 am, The New Parkway (Uptown). Movies all day and night; begins with an elf played by Will Ferrell, ends with a Timothée Chalamet played by an elf [the New Parkway]
6th Annual Queer Grinch Show!, 2:00pm, The Long Haul Info Shop (Berkeley). Open the gifts of song and poetry and your heart will grow three sizes today. Featuring musicians CJ Lawrence, Mads Baker, and Ray Der Bankert, and writer Nina Ruth Mir (sample their poetry here and essaying here), and an open mic [Long Haul Info Shop].
Also: Shan Dong / Gum Kuo / Ming's Tasty / Huangcheng Noodle House / Flower Lounge / Spices 3 / Hollys Mandarin / 5 Spiced Kitchen / Lin Jia Asian Kitchen
Friday, December 26
Kwanzaa Storytime, 11:00am, North Branch Berkeley Library (North Berkeley). Learn about the symbols and principles of Kwanzaa and enjoy festive stories and songs. Unlike Alameda’s storytime, this one’s for kids. [BPL]
Poetry!, 6:30 pm, Tamarack (Uptown). There is ***no reading*** today. So read a poem about/from Oakland and come back in the new year!
Also: Read that book your metamour got you about Oakland, probably this one.
Saturday, December 27
Free the Poetry Residency, 10 AM, The Long Haul Info Shop (Berkeley). Day one of four! Go for free craft talks, generative writing exercises, readings, and an open mic. Open to poets, non-poets, poet-haters, clowns, otolaryngologists, etc. [Long Haul]
End of the Year Low Tide Walk, 11:00am, Crab Cove (Alameda). Low tide gets real low around the solstice (moon and sun align and tug harder on the water, for real, it’s astronomical). Search for slippery snails, crusty crabs, amazing algae and more. Wear old shoes or rain boots: you will get dirty! [EBRPD]
84th Anniversary Show: Texas, 11 am, The Orinda Theater (Cold Side of the Hills). Celebrate the Orinda Theatre's 84th birthday with the first movie ever shown in the theatre upon its ribbon cutting in in 1941, run again exactly 84 years later to the day! The story is, two young cowpokes make their way to Texas and compete for the same girl -- saucy. [Orinda Movies]
Gallery Chat at Oakland Museum of California, 1pm, OMCA (The Lake). Chat with and ask questions of OMCA Facilitators as they lead meaningful conversations and offer fresh interpretations to connect with the artwork, artifacts, and stories in OMCA. [OMCA]
Coach Beam Tribute, 3:00pm, The New Parkway (Uptown). The Skyline Class of 2000 is hosting a screening of Last Chance U in honor of the coach who anchored so many student athletes in Oakland. [classy]
Third Culture Tales Stories Beyond Borders, 7:00 PM, Impossible Stage (University Ave). Stories from Third Culture Kids, global nomads, immigrants, and anyone whose identity blends experiences from multiple worlds. Told through storytelling, poetry, art, and music: hat-tip to Devon at SF Has [No] Culture for finding this one! [TCK]
Also: Mush Love Microdose Nature Gathering with From the Hood to the Woods at Lake Anza (Tilden) / Nature Journaling Club at the Berkeley Marina (Sea Level) / Cancel It! Party & Fundraiser for anti-ICE efforts at Sour Cherry Comics (The Mission)
Sunday, December 28
Bay Bird Mornings: Oyster Bay, 9:00am, Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline (San Leandro). Look at the birds, notice the muted colors of shorebirds blending into the glaucous bay, wonder why Wittgenstein said grey couldn't be luminous, look again. [EPRPD]
A Novel Idea, 3:00pm, Main Library (Alameda). A book potluck--bring a book you want to talk about and share with the rest of the book club [Alameda Free]
[West Bay Bonus Event] Smuin's The Christmas Ballet with special guest Lady Camden!, 7:30 pm, YBCA (SoMa). On the 4th night of Christmas, my true love gave to me a ballet and a drag queen (and an afterparty). For anyone whose Nutcracker tickets got blacked out by PG&E. [Smuin Ballet]
Also: Stay busy by adding your suggestions to the always becoming, never completed Oakland Collaborative Syllabus at the Oakland Review of Books so next year everyone can use it to make their holiday wish lists.
