Ballpark tours last 90 mins. They are offered through the SF Giants and require purchase of a ticket.  Click here for tickets and be sure to select a time when I’m scheduled to lead.

Ballpark tours last 90 mins. They are offered through the SF Giants and require purchase of a ticket.  Click here for tickets and be sure to select a time when I’m scheduled to lead.

Gerard Buulong returns to Art Viewing Adventures to show us his latest works, which will be on display during the upcoming ArtSpan Open Studios from Oct. 10 to 12 at Room and Board (685 7th Street; SF). Gerard’s works start with photographs that he transforms using paint to create images bursting with color and texture. It’s been fun to see his work evolve, and he’s always a lot of fun to talk to.

We'll meet at the Park Branch Public Library (1833 Page St.) and visit sites related to the neighborhood's history and the amazing music it produced. Between stops, I'll play music from Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Big Brother & The Holding Company and many others. The tours lasts about 2 hrs.

Click here for information on the music I play, neighborhood food choices, etc.

Ballpark tours last 90 mins. They are offered through the SF Giants and require purchase of a ticket.  Click here for tickets and be sure to select a time when I’m scheduled to lead.

Ballpark tours last 90 mins. They are offered through the SF Giants and require purchase of a ticket.  Click here for tickets and be sure to select a time when I’m scheduled to lead.

Photographers Greta and Manu Schnetzler are the perfect guests to warm us up for this year’s ArtSpan Open Studios, which will run from Sept. 19 to Oct. 19. Greta is on the Board of the organization, and they will be showing their works at their studio at 1777 Yosemite Pl. from Oct. 3-5. They’ll join us to show their latest works and prepare us for great studio visits.

Ballpark tours last 90 mins. They are offered through the SF Giants and require purchase of a ticket.  Click here for tickets and be sure to select a time when I’m scheduled to lead.

Ballpark tours last 90 mins. They are offered through the SF Giants and require purchase of a ticket.  Click here for tickets and be sure to select a time when I’m scheduled to lead.

This walking tour that will include Kensington’s paths and connecting streets. We will meet in front of Raxakoul Coffee and Cheese at 299 Arlington Ave. and finish at the Colusa Circle. Rides can be provided back to Arlington Avenue for those who need them.
 
On this walk, we will discuss the history of the paths and other points of interest. The Pathkeepers are working to secure public ownership of the paths so they can continue to be enjoyed for safely traversing Kensington on foot. They would also provide vital routes to safety for some residents in the event of a wildfire or other emergency.

Our walking tour will go at a moderate pace. But since some of our route goes uphill, participants should have a level of fitness to comfortably ascend stairs and streets.

There is no need to RSVP.

In 1967, the year of the Summer of Love, Jefferson Airplane was the San Francisco hippie community’s best known band. Their release that year of “Surrealistic Pillow” rocketed them to international fame, and they would go on to play all the major 1960s rock festivals: Monterey Pop, Woodstock and the ill-fated Altamont.

This presentation includes video at each of those events as well as at San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium and on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. We’ll talk about their roots in folk music and how a key personnel change spurred them to great success. In just 5 years, they released 5 classic albums and were harbingers of what came to be called “The San Francisco Sound.”

Click here if you’d like a see a list of the audio and video clips as well as program source materials.

In 1964, all four Beatles were given Pentax 35mm cameras to use as they saw fit. The Paul McCartney Photographs 1964: Eyes of the Storm provide context for the times just before and after the group’s historic appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, which was seen by 73 million Americans and propelled the band to superstardom.
The de Young exhibition features more than 250 of McCartney’s photos and records the rising tumult of Beatlemania as well as an intimate portrait of the band members behind the scenes. It shows the band both in Paris and London as well as on their first US tour in New York, DC, and Miami. While the show’s value stems from its subject matter, McCartney was no slouch as a photographer. He captures an array of scenes surrounding the band and shows great prowess composing fascinating images.

Rodney is joined by Rock Historian (and fellow CLC presenter) Richie Unterberger to discuss these images and the watershed moment in music history they reveal.

We'll meet at the Park Branch Public Library (1833 Page St.) and visit sites related to the neighborhood's history and the amazing music it produced. Between stops, I'll play music from Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Big Brother & The Holding Company and many others. The tours lasts about 2 hrs.

Click here for information on the music I play, neighborhood food choices, etc.

Ballpark tours last 90 mins. They are offered through the SF Giants and require purchase of a ticket.  Click here for tickets and be sure to select a time when I’m scheduled to lead.

Ballpark tours last 90 mins. They are offered through the SF Giants and require purchase of a ticket.  Click here for tickets and be sure to select a time when I’m scheduled to lead.

Millions of years before its first human inhabitants arrived, North Berkeley was strewn with fascinating rock formations. Today, the area includes a set of lovely parks where these remnants of its geologic past can be seen. We'll talk about the Native American presence in the area and how the rocks were used by these first inhabitants. We'll also discuss the creation of the parks and their role when the first housing developments were created.

We meet in amphitheater of John Hinkle Park (41 Somerset Pl, Berkeley). The tour ends at the Great Stoneface Park, a 10 to15 min. walk from our start point.

2.0 miles, 300 feet elevation gain, 2 hours

NO REGISTRATION NECESSARY

For most Americans, the term “suburbia” conjures single-family homes and uniform architecture in areas that are solely residential and reliant on car transportation. With its array of land uses and architectural styles, North Berkeley defies this stereotype. On this tour, we’ll visit its Tudor Revival public library, homes of different styles, a small but vibrant business district, and even a small agricultural site.

We’ll discuss the magnificent Queen Anne period hotel gracing the area in the late 19th century and the foibles of the stage actor who had it built. And we’ll see how the area’s layout is well designed for the community’s present-day needs and discuss examples of home hardening that help prepare it for the challenges of the future.

1.6 miles, 100 feet elevation gain, 2 hrs.

NO REGISTRATION NECESSARY

Ballpark tours last 90 mins. They are offered through the SF Giants and require purchase of a ticket.  Click here for tickets and be sure to select a time when I’m scheduled to lead.

Ballpark tours last 90 mins. They are offered through the SF Giants and require purchase of a ticket.  Click here for tickets and be sure to select a time when I’m scheduled to lead.

Kody Paul grew up in the Bay Area and is now attending the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He’s been visiting small towns in Illinois and producing photo books that provide a fascinating glimpse of life there. He will join us to display and discuss some of his favorite works, and we’ll have a chance to learn about his image-making proclivities. Full disclosure: he is Rodney’s nephew but also represents the 4th generation of photographers on his mother’s side of the family.

We'll meet at the Park Branch Public Library (1833 Page St.) and visit sites related to the neighborhood's history and the amazing music it produced. Between stops, I'll play music from Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Big Brother & The Holding Company and many others. The tours lasts about 2 hrs.

Click here for information on the music I play, neighborhood food choices, etc.

Ballpark tours last 90 mins. They are offered through the SF Giants and require purchase of a ticket.  Click here for tickets and be sure to select a time when I’m scheduled to lead.

Ballpark tours last 90 mins. They are offered through the SF Giants and require purchase of a ticket.  Click here for tickets and be sure to select a time when I’m scheduled to lead.

Millions of years before its first human inhabitants arrived, North Berkeley was strewn with fascinating rock formations. Today, the area includes a set of lovely parks where these remnants of its geologic past can be seen. We'll talk about the Native American presence in the area and how the rocks were used by these first inhabitants. We'll also discuss the creation of the parks and their role when the first housing developments were created.

We meet in amphitheater of John Hinkle Park (41 Somerset Pl, Berkeley). The tour ends at the Great Stoneface Park, a 10 to15 min. walk from our start point.

2.0 miles, 300 feet elevation gain, 2 hours

NO REGISTRATION NECESSARY

While best known for her hanging wire sculptures, San Francisco artist Ruth Asawa worked in many different forms, and the current retrospective at SFMOMA includes drawings, prints, public art and clay masks. But the vast exhibition also includes more than 75 hanging wire sculptures and a great many other tied wire forms. This is a blockbuster show that will please Asawa’s legion of fans in the Bay Area and remains on view through Sept. 2.

Jeanette Pettibone and Dragana Monson join Rodney to talk about this revered local artist whose highly original art forms resound far beyond the Bay Area.

This walking tour that will include Kensington’s paths and connecting streets. We will meet in front of Raxakoul Coffee and Cheese at 299 Arlington Ave. and finish on the Ardmore Path, just below Arlington Ave.
 
On this walk, we will discuss the history of the paths and other points of interest. The Pathkeepers are working to secure public ownership of the paths so they can continue to be enjoyed for safely traversing Kensington on foot. They would also provide vital routes to safety for some residents in the event of a wildfire or other emergency.

Our walking tour will go at a moderate pace. But since some of our route goes uphill, participants should have a level of fitness to comfortably ascend stairs and streets.

NO REGISTRATION NECESSARY

Ballpark tours last 90 mins. They are offered through the SF Giants and require purchase of a ticket.  Click here for tickets and be sure to select a time when I’m scheduled to lead.

Ballpark tours last 90 mins. They are offered through the SF Giants and require purchase of a ticket.  Click here for tickets and be sure to select a time when I’m scheduled to lead.

We'll meet at the Park Branch Public Library (1833 Page St.) and visit sites related to the neighborhood's history and the amazing music it produced. Between stops, I'll play music from Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Big Brother & The Holding Company and many others. The tours lasts about 2 hrs.

Click here for information on the music I play, neighborhood food choices, etc.

We'll meet at the Park Branch Public Library (1833 Page St.) and visit sites related to the neighborhood's history and the amazing music it produced. Between stops, I'll play music from Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Big Brother & The Holding Company and many others. The tours lasts about 2 hrs.

Click here for information on the music I play, neighborhood food choices, etc.