Congratulations Oakland A’s for winning the A.L. West title and making it to the playoffs!
Sadly they couldn’t make it all the way to the World Series but it was a valiant effort.
Oakland Stadium Facts:
The Oakland Coliseum, built in 1966 is currently the 5th oldest MLB stadium and 4th oldest NFL Stadium.
It houses both the Oakland A’s MLB baseball team and the Oakland Raiders NFL football team.
It seats 63,000 in full attendance for the Raiders but only 34,000 for the A’s due to the tarp on the upper deck of the stadium.
The switch from Baseball Field to Football Field cost about $250,000 each time.
The first game was a Raiders game on September 16, 1966.
The Athletics moved to Oakland from Kansas City in 1967 and played their first game on April 17th 1968.
The Raiders left for Los Angeles in 1981 and returned to Oakland in 1995.
This is a news clip on the conversion from Oakland A’s Home Games to Oakland Raiders Home Games.
Coliseum City New Stadium Buy Moneyball
Oakland has approved $3.5 million and the first steps towards a new “Coliseum City” project that will include new sports venues for all 3 teams. Which is good because Oakland is in trouble right now with all three teams trying to move to other cities. It will also focus largely on surrounding retail such as hotels and entertainment but will also include huge improvements and upgrades to the Oakland Airport Business Park. This in return should attract more jobs(as many as 32,000) and more retail to Oakland as well as provide new sports arenas for the Oakland A’s, Oakland Raiders and Golden State Warriors.
Golden State Warriors Moving?
In May of 2012 you may have heard that the Golden State Warriors are planning a move to San Francisco. While this is sad it will not stop Coliseum City from being built.
This is a quote direct from Oakland Mayor Jean Quan’s facebook page.
Here is the press release.
Regarding the Warriors pursuing a new venue in San Francisco: Coliseum City is a long-term development project that was never dependent on any one tenant. It was always a larger project than just one sports team. This is the largest transit-oriented development project in the state, with entertainment, sports, retail, office, hotels and a convention center, and is one of the centerpieces of Oakland’s economic renaissance.
You can see it will be tied into Coliseum BART.
And a grand look at the proposed New Coliseum City Complex from above.
Overstock buys signage at Oakland Coliseum
Well you have it, on April 28th, 2011 the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority made a deal with the Utah based online retail behemoth Overstock.com today to display their name for 6 years at a rate of 7.2 million dollars. It will be dished out in increments starting with 1.2 million the first year and a 3% increase each year after that. However Overstock has the option to leave the contract early if either teams leave Oakland. Which is a high risk possibility. Currently both teams are leased to play in Oakland till 2013, at which point it is unknown because the Oakland A’s have been trying to leave for Fremont or San Jose and the Oakland Raiders have been having problems selling out since they built Mt. Davis back in 1996.
50% of the income generated by the deal will go to the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority while the other 50% will go to the Oakland Raiders. The Oakland Athletics were left out of the deal because the team already receives income from the billboards and signage inside of the stadium.
The stadium has been brandless since 2008 when McAfee did not renew their 10 year advertising contract.
Overstock plans to have signs up within 30 days and can change the name at anytime since the company is currently working on re-branding their image to O.co. In which case they say they don’t mind the nickname “The Big O” for the coliseum. And The City of Oakland is already referred to as “The O” or “The Biggity Biggity O“. Next door to the A’s Stadium you already have the “Oracle Arena” where the Golden State Warriors play.
Oakland A’s Stadium photos
Old Oakland Athletics Stadium before the Raiders moved back and installed Mount Davis.
New Oakland A’s Stadium after Mt. Davis was built. Oakland Hills view blocked.
Oakland A’s home game.
Raiders Oakland Coliseum
Mt Davis Oakland Coliseum.
Mount Davis during an Oakland Raiders football game.
Coliseum Night time. McAfee had a 10 year contract which expired in 2008.
Stadium Day Time McAfee sign.
Scoreboard where the Oakland A’s get their advertising money.
Day Game by Amanda Fletcher.
Tarp on the upper deck to limit crowd thinning at Oakland Athletics games.
Oracle Arena where the Golden State Warriors play basketball.
The best way to get to the game is BART! And you get off at Coliseum BART station and walk over the pass.
At the Raiders Game up in the end zone.
Taken before entering a game. Oracle Arena parking lot.
1989 World Series Battle of The Bay Poster from Chevron.
Dimond Park Sausal Creek Trail is a little known trail running along side of Park Blvd in the Dimond Canyon. It starts in Dimond Park and goes along side the creek for a little while under the Liemert Bridge and onto the Montclair Golf Course.
It’s a rather short trail as you can see from this map. The Sausal Creek Trail.
However it’s very close to home and a beautiful trail.
When I was a kid I did this trail a lot in my days of exploring creeks and tunnels.
But I recently did this little walk again on an overcast slightly raining misting day and it was pretty awesome and I suggest you do it soon.
Sausal Creek Trail Dimond Park
The whole walk down the trail you have Sausal Creek running along side of you.
As you walk down the Sausal Creek Trail you are surrounded by a canopy of trees. You really forget you’re in Oakland.
At some point you come under the Liemert Bridge which spans high across Dimond Canyon.
It is located in the Oakmore neighborhood off of Park Blvd up Sausal Creek Trail.
It was the largest single span bridge on the West Coast when it was built in 1926.
It became a City of Oakland landmark in 1980.
As you can see there is a lot of graffiti under the Liemert Bridge.
You can actually climb up the hill to the top of the bridge. I have done this many times as a kid. When you’re a kid things just generally feel bigger. Well I climbed up the bridge as an adult and it still feels really big. Try it, but don’t hurt yourself!
And here is a tilt shift picture from the top of the bridge. It’s pretty far down there.
So in conclusion you should go check this trail out. Oh and sorry for all the yellow green tinted photos. I was playing with a new camera app that day that is kind of like Instagram for Android.
I have put up my Burning Man 2011 photos and must say they are amazing!
I have awesome pictures of sound camps like NeXus, Robot Heart Art Car, Opulent Temple, The Temple of Transition, The Man, random Burning Man girls and fellows, Art pieces, theme camps, The Playa sunrise over Black Rock City or the sunset, The Man, fireworks, fire balls, explosions and more!
The City of Oakland currently has 4 permitted Medical Marijuana dispensaries and has approved 4 more for a total of 8 marijuana clubs within Oakland’s borders. At the moment 10 finalist have been chosen for consideration and by early February Oakland will choose the 4 winners of new Medical Marijuana Dispensary permits.
Oakland (also known as Oaksterdam) is taking a step forward while others are taking a step back. The Federal Government has raided and shut down over 200 pot clubs during the last few months but that hasn’t stopped Oaksterdam from growing. While others are shutting down Oakland has doubled the amount of permitted clubs.
In fact, recently the Federal Government has encroached on Harborside and the City of Oakland is suing the U.S. Government.
Oakland has always been cutting edge in the Medical Marijuana Industry.
In 2006 Oakland became home to Harborside Health Center, which is now the nations biggest dispensary with 112,000 patients.
In 2007 Oaksterdamn became home to Americas first Cannabis University or “weed college”. However the feds have raided and shut them down which is a sad point in the forward movement.
In 2009 Oakland was the first US City to tax Medical Marijuana.
Why would the City of Oakland do such a thing? Well it’s because Oakland charges a $60,000 fee for each dispensary permit, along side with collecting a 5 percent annual business tax. This brings in about $1 million dollars a year for Oakland and could potentially be doubled to $2 million if the 4 new clubs perform as well as the existing 4.
Meanwhile the state of California is bringing in about $100 million a year in taxes from the billion dollar medical marijuana industry.
This is also great news for the Growing Industry because with only 4 clubs the market is currently flooded and over saturated with high grade marijuana. Meaning the clubs are turning away growers and not buying their crops.
With 4 more clubs in play the demand will go up and the growers have a higher chance of selling their crops to a local dispensaries versus having to use the black market.
The above Oaksterdam Mural has been painted over by the new landlord of the building after Oaksterdam University was shut down. It’s a shame to see it go because it was a beautiful work of art.
Oakland Medical Marijuana Clubs
Current Dispensaries: 4
New Permits: 4
Total Pot Clubs: 8
Oakland Revenue: About $1 million a year in fees and taxes.
San Francisco Medical Marijuana Dispensaries: 24 (SF does NOT tax them like Oakland)
Statewide: 1,000
State Sales: $1 billion
States taxes: $100 Million
Occupy Oakland
Last night I attended the Occupy Oakland march with over a thousand other people.
It was a great night full of power, voices, numbers and an all around positive vibe…. Until the force of Oakland Police Department(with the help from many other cities from around the bay) started tear gassing innocent peaceful protestors.
They attacked the crowd with tear gas, flash bangs and rubber bullets. I got gassed at least 4 times last night and even after they gassed us it lingered in the air burning for a long time.
They deliberately hurt people, throwing tear gas at a crowd of people helping Scott Olson get up. They shot canisters at protestors heads. The videos are all below. Of course the news did not tell you this. That’s why I am. Police brutality against innocent citizens will not be tolerated.
City of Oakland takes action against police who used excessive force on protestors including Scoot Olson. Story here.
I’ll admit, there were a few people out there wanting to riot but there was no riot. This was done during the march after the police had already used gas a few times.
This was the general population.
Why were so many people out there?
After 3 weeks Occupy Oakland’s encampment which was an off sprout of Occupy Wall Street was raided by OPD the night before at about 4:30am, arresting 85 people and destroying everything they had built. Their personal belongings were also confiscated and yet to be returned.
The tent city had a kitchen, library, kids zone and all. This meant a lot to a lot of people and could have been handled another way by the City of Oakland.
Here you see Boots Riley from The Coup performing at one of the free live hip hop shows.
He actually marched with us the day after the police attacks and I got to thank him for being out there and making some of my favorite music.
I know I’m going to get flak for this but here we go.
I myself, personally went by the camp only about 7 times and found it to be rather disappointing and sidetracked from the actual Occupy Wall Street movement. I know a lot of people and I mean a lot that share this exact viewpoint so just STFU and let others speak instead of alienating yourself against other people who are fed up with the system as well. We need people like me and them that want to do something but disagree with a homeless village as the answer.
It turned into way more of a “commune” as many of the Occupiers dubbed it and it seemed more of a place for the homeless to come get free stuff. Some claimed it was “their land” and they were “taking it back” and it is a “new way of living” and even called it “sustainable” and “commerce free”. However it was all bought, paid for then donated. That is a mooch economy and had nothing to do with the big corporations, banks, Federal Reserve and all else wrong with our country right now. So I just honestly could not support and was pretty upset it went from something positive to a food kitchen for the same guys that always hit me up asking me for change when I myself struggle to be where I am. Which is not really anywhere. I mean sure that’s a good cause, but not the Occupy Movement. And a lot of people are homeless beggars by choice, do nothing for themselves, are rude and overly aggressive. I’ll never support that.
I also could no longer defend to my friends who saw the same thing I saw. It became a joke and an eye sore. It smelled bad, it made the Occupy Movement look bad and was over all a fail. The City of Oakland only let it exist for so long because it wasn’t a protest, it shut nothing down, it made no difference, it was just there. Until it started becoming a safety and health hazard, then of course they shut it down real quick.
But, that got everyone else out in the streets. All of us that didn’t want to come hang out at a smelly tent city but wanted to be heard. Now what are we going to do with this forward momentum?
There is a lot going on with this nation and it was good to see so many people out there just like me. A lot of people are fed up and willing to take to the streets. To some it was to take back Frank Ogawa Plaza, which has also been dubbed Oscar Grant Plaza by a few of the Occupiers.
The Plaza was Occupy Oakland’s main base of operations where many set up tents and lived for 3 weeks.
I was not out there to take back some silly plaza. I was out there to show support in numbers and let America know we are fed up too! The nation is watching us, just like we were watching Occupy Wall St. and Egypt. The more of us that show support the easier it is for the others to come join us. We know we’re all fed up and don’t know what to do about it. Well just come out. That’s a start.
A very simple way to help is to switch to a Credit Union. Take all of your money away from big banks.
Here you can see the march going down 19th St from Broadway to Telegraph. A lot of good people, hard working Americans that make up the 99%.
This is the scene just moments before the riot police attacked us for no reason.
This is the scene after they attacked. ONE person threw a single plastic water bottle towards the cops direction and they started attacking immediately hitting and injuring innocent peaceful people.
This is what Democracy looks like…… Peaceful innocent protestor attacked by the police.
Another innocent victim of rubber bullets fired into the crowd at peaceful people.
This next video I did not take but it clearly shows police brutality against lovely human beings that are helping the Marine Scott Olson who was also shot in the face by the police.
Scott Olson the Marine Veteran was in critical condition fighting for his life and is now on the way to recovery.
This is very sad and it makes me want riots and destruction. We were peaceful. They attack and harm us.
This is not the first time Oakland Police have used “non-lethal” crowd control weapons on peaceful protestors.
Back on April 7th, 2003 at the Port of Oakland OPD attacked and wounded several protestors without warning.
WE WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS.
WE ARE FED UP.
If you want to join and get updates on marches and other events here are some links. Occupy Oakland Facebook group This is where everyone argues. Occupy Oakland Twitter This is where you get important updates!!!!
After Oakland Police attacked the peaceful protestors and made complete fools of themselves mayor Jean Quan decided they will not be present for our demonstration the next day.
They did not call on other cities for mutual aid and there were no police at all in our crowd of around 3,000.
When we started marching there were very few police anywhere in the city and it seemed like there were more BART Police and Highway Patrol if anything.
The march went great, it was awesome and inspiring. No problems at all with no police to cause them.
General Assembly
A huge march heading through the streets.
Violent Protestors!
Last man standing in a tree! Running Wolf.
The Oakland General Strike November 2nd 11/2/11
Well Oakland we did it again. We pulled off an amazing event for the people by the people. We showed the nation and the world that we mean business and we were out there in large numbers.
On our way to the Port of Oakland.
I have seen some media reports claiming we were only “hundreds”! We must have been at least 30,000 strong and they don’t say a word about that. So far the media has only focused on on a little violence carried out by the Blac Bloc Anarchist.
A few bank windows were broken, a Whole Foods was smashed up and a fire was started in the street. This isn’t the protestors it is the small group of Anarchist using our numbers for their goals and tainting our name in the media and provoking attacks by the police. This same group came out during the Oscar Grant protest to incite riots as well.
Good citizens and protestors tried to stop them from vandalizing and the anarchist tried to attack them too. But does the news cover that? No. They tell you that wild Oaklanders tore up their city again. This is NOT the case and anyone who was there can tell you that.
The event all together was amazing. Being part of it felt like something major because it was. We are not alone and many feel the same way we do and are willing to take to the streets to show it.
I arrived around 12:30pm and 14th and Broadway was full of good people carrying nothing buy joy and pride. There was music, dancing, speeches, great signs, people handing out stickers, papers, pamphlets, free water and more.
Then it was time to march! About 2:00pm we took off heading towards the banks to protest them being open. At this point I saw about 20 or more of these anarchist all rush together wearing their masks and hoodies with backpacks full of supplies heading for the front of the march. Along the way they broke out several bank windows along Webster including Chase, Wells Fargo and a small financial institution. My good friend is a security guard at one of these buildings that does NOT house banks. They attacked his building as well breaking windows on a small business dry cleaner and a few other places for no reason. So I stopped to take some photos. By this time they are carrying onwards and attacked Whole Foods as well. Luckily they were caught on video and hopefully this can clear Occupy Oakland’s name of the unwanted violence.
Some of the protestors tried to stop them and they attacked them as well.
This has to be stopped. What can we do? They were in large numbers by the end of the day starting fires in the streets and even throwing things at police again trying to provoke riots. And they got us tear gassed once again. While we stand by peacefully they give us a bad name, the media reports that it was us and no one who wasn’t there knows the truth.
I liked the first march, we were very visible and took a highly traveled route getting support from all the cars along the way. People everywhere saw us, waved and honked happily and told us they supported us. Sure those few acts of vandalism happened but whatever. It was great overall.
The second march I didn’t really understand. I don’t know what we think we accomplished by marching on the Port of Oakland. It was night, I saw very few ships and didn’t see any full of cargo. We supposedly stopped one shift from coming in to unload, but unload what? Did they do it all ahead of time because they knew we were coming? Did they wait till we left and come in late? Or was it just a slow day at the Port with minimal containers to unload?
The Port of Oakland is not a bank and they haven’t done anything to us. In fact they employ a LOT of people. I myself used to work there in the IT Department and can say it was the best place that I have ever worked. Very friendly people that are not out to do any wrong. As for who we blocked? We didn’t really block the “Port of Oakland”, we blocked the shipping companies who rent their space. Again, from what? Did anyone see any full ships? There were so few trucks there, no train yard movement. It was a ghost town. Could it be because they truckers themselves striked the 2 days before due to explosive shipping containers arriving?
When the Port is in full swing there are lines of trucks for days, trains full of containers and so on. But that’s usually early on in the day or when major ships arrive stacked full of cargo.
I was against the idea but marched anyways with a bunch of my friends to be one of the numbers, to show support and to let others know we’re all out here in solidarity.
I kind of think whoever came up with this idea wanted to steer us away from downtown or where others can see us. But around that time of night there is not a lot to shut down anywhere besides like Walmart or something.
Regardless of what I find to be misdirection a lot of positive came form the General Strike. March on Occupy Oakland. I will continue to join. I just hope we have better ideas in the future.
