My friend Dorothy was stuck in the slide at Children’s Fairyland in Oakland. I couldn’t see her, but I could hear her voice.
“I’m stuck in the slide!” she cried out.
We were at Children’s Fairyland in Oakland, joining other adults eager to frolic at the normally kids-only park at Lake Merritt for a “Mad Tea Party.”
The event seemed made for kids at heart, like me. So, on a chilly Saturday evening at the park, we donned our finest tea party attire, sipped some wine and cocktails, and milled about the event as a DJ played dance floor tunes and vendors sold scones and food truck fare, loving the vintage vibes and children’s fairytale theme,. Since no actual children were allowed at this event, we were finally given free reign to play to our heart’s content.
Patrons at Weed Is A Plant order cocktails at the Hella Bees bar
Weed Is A Plant Hella Bees Bar 2340 Harrison St. Oakland April 20, 2024
The sun showed out as hundreds of people gathered around Lake Merritt, grilling and playing music in celebration of the iconic 420. Legend has it that this ubiquitous day celebrated by cannabis enthusiasts around the world became a thing when high school kids in The Bay met up after school to “puff puff pass” the stress of the day away. 4:20 was the code and time to hook up under the bleachers, behind the gym, or wherever they wouldn’t get caught.
Away from the crowds at the lake and other venues around town, Hella Bees and Hella Plants Market co-hosted “Weed Is A Plant,” a unique and more laid-back way to spend the day. Hella Bees, located in the old Rose Mary Jane dispensary location on Harrison, is a spacious, light-filled haven with a bar and backyard, perfect for a relaxed day party and an ideal setting for a 420 event.
Games on: Competitors at the Nutmeg State Games ESports Tournament.
Nutmeg State Games ESports Tournament 2024 Alumni Hall Complex Central Connecticut State University New Britain April 7, 2024
Many children dream of becoming professional athletes. Some want to play on the gridiron. Others want to drain baskets. I had the most impossible dream: I wanted to be a professional videogame player.
“What does it say about a city where its children make visualizations to stop gun violence?”
Oakland is known for its Blackness. A drive through downtown will yield scores of colorful and vivid murals of Black folks. The legacy and philosophy of the Black Panther Party is felt, studied, and highly regarded worldwide. That is why Oakland’s anti-Blackness is deeply infuriating, and why a free presentation and discussion on just that at OMCA last week was so critical.
Tunes from DJ Oracle Selassie filled the theater, and we were ready when educator, chief innovation officer of Edutainment 4 Equity, and host for the night Hodari Bayano Davis took the stage and introduced us to Exhibit A. I had an idea of what the content would be, but was not prepared for the experience.
In the Lobby Bar at the storied Claremont Hotel in the Oakland Hills, my friends pushed me to a makeshift dancefloor. “This woman knows the hula!” my friend shouted as a Hawaiian band, Haopinaka, played next to me, right in front of the real-life backdrop of palm trees framing our sunset view of the bay. I was meant to join a woman demonstrating a Hawaiian hula dance.
My first thought was, How the hell did this happen? And my immediate, second thought was, Oh well, I’ll try my best.
“Do you know the hula to this particular song?” the woman asked. I did not. The last time I performed a traditional hula was with a group of friends at my high school graduation dinner — many, many… many years ago. But I smiled and shrugged, saying I’d try to follow along.
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Jamil Ragland
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Feb 29, 2024 3:22 pm
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The man of the hour, Joe Young Jr.
A Night of the Arts: A Black History Month Event Alvin & Beatrice Wood Human Services Center Bloomfield Feb. 28, 2024
Although I’ve lived the majority of my life in Hartford, I grew up in Bloomfield. It’s always nice to return to my old stomping grounds, and an evening celebrating one of Bloomfield’s most accomplished native sons is as good a reason as any.
At The Alcove cafe on the east side of Los Angeles, there was a secret desk drawer in the back room filled with strips of paper, on which patrons wrote their stories of love los — a cathartic cleansing ritual to help rid one of the pain of a broken heart. When I lived in L.A. for five short years, I contributed several of my own stories to this drawer, hoping to cleanse my soul and to join in the communal activity of people like me — suffering, commiserating, moving on.
Sharon McKellar and Mana Tominaga, two librarians at the Oakland public library, had the same idea. Hearing about a “broken hearts shrine” from another librarian at a conference, Sharon convened the first iteration of the Broken Hearts Party at a bar across the street from the main library back in 2019. In subsequent years, they decided to expand its reach, and created a shrine at the library with contributions from patrons chronicling their own broken hearts. They also created a crafting party just before Valentine’s Day, where people can come together to write down their stories, contribute artifacts, or create a page to be added to the yearly “Broken Hearts” zine, now heading into its third issue.
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Julian Castronovo
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Feb 15, 2024 1:16 pm
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KOBEBRYANTSTATUEUNVEILINGCEREMONY Crypto.com Arena Los Angeles Feb. 8, 2024
I had come for the reveal, true, but was not there to see the veil lifted. I was outside the arena, surrounded by large, crying men. When it comes to professional sports, crowds are typically figured as thunder and worship and yelling. But those gathered on February 8 in downtown Los Angeles to see the new bronze statue of Kobe Bryant were neither violent nor loud. The mood was half-somber, half-confused. We quietly chanted his name and clutched our offerings: framed photographs, flickering votives, rosaries dyed purple and gold.
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Eloise Rollins-Fife
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Feb 13, 2024 2:13 pm
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CREEPYGALSLAND Superchief Gallery Los Angeles Feb. 10, 2024
Is there any holiday Angelenos won’t use as an excuse to dress up like fabulous little freaks? Just when I thought the pressure to meticulously plan out festive couture was on hiatus, I found myself in a twisted homage to St. Valentine, dreadfully underdressed and shivering from fever in the long line outside Superchief Gallery, eagerly anticipating passage into the Creepy Gals Land opening alongside hundreds of the city’s most dedicated fashionistas. Though the real show was still to come, the parade of costumed attendees in ensembles ranging from “sexy psycho bunny rabbit” to “hot pink life-sized Furby” was a fitting preview of the aesthetic hedonism that awaited us. I felt downright modest in my rose-patterned teddy and KN95 mask, worn to protect my fellow creepy gals from the creepiest thing of all: the flu virus absolutely ravaging my upper respiratory system.
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Brittany Menjivar
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Feb 1, 2024 1:44 pm
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PASADENACOMICCON Pasadena Convention Center Pasadena Jan. 28, 2024
Comic cons are like chain restaurants: everywhere the same. Whether held in sleepy suburbs or busy cities, comic cons share certain staples: brightly lit exhibit halls stretching into the distance; fan art and merch spanning from Spider-Man to Squirtle; and, of course, cosplay. Even so, a convention is never totally predictable; familiarity and novelty intertwine. Just as a Canadian Burger King might delight an American tourist with a different array of breakfast pastries, each con offers something new.
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Robin Lapid
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Jan 28, 2024 3:46 pm
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A contestant ponders the spelling of his word in the "Cardi Spelling Bee" at Baba's House.
Cardi Spelling Bee Baba’s House Oakland Jan. 24, 2024
After all these years, I still recall it like it was yesterday: Dan Mini Elementary School. Fourth grade. I’m on the auditorium stage, in the final round of the schoolwide spelling bee. I can feel the few hundred students holding their breath as I’m given the final word to win the spelling crown. And it just happens to be the one word my older brother specifically taught me to pay attention to—rendezvous. I smile under my breath, repeat the word, and slowly spell out the letters.
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Jamil Ragland
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Nov 13, 2023 10:41 am
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Score! One Gundam Deathscythe Hell, found.
Manchester Comic and Toy Convention Army and Navy Club, Manchester, Conn. Nov. 12, 2023
I’ve been a Gundam fan since Gundam Wing premiered on Cartoon Network almost 30 years ago. I collected as many of the mechs as I could, but my favorite by far was the Gundam Deathscythe Hell. Across various moves throughout my childhood though, they were all lost. I’ve searched high and low for it since then — of course it’s on Amazon, but I don’t want it so bad that I’d pay a crazy price for it.
Imagine my elation then when I happened to look down and in the pile of action figures, toy cars, ’90s memorabilia and various knickknacks, I saw my favorite Gundam. I asked the man behind the counter how much.
