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Save the Albany Bulb with Blackbird Raum!

by Darin
Albany Bulb solidarity meeting incorporates good eats from Food Not Bombs and Blackbird Raum performs a true bluegrass performance. Post-modern hardcore acoustic yo!
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I came in late from working @ The Long Haul for the Berkeley non-profit Slingshot newspaper. I was sooooo happy that EBFnBs had full pots of food there, really really really. A salad to die for, and nice mildly spicy beans with BROWN rice. There was a meeting, apparently some Bulb person had been warned by cops or ranger dick and was going to get arrested for returning home again after curfew. Nice to see a good mix of folks from the neighborhood. Sometimes activism is like a family reunion. I usually take the southern trail in, this time I took the (middle?) other trail. I was really unhappy to see and to have to be told by my colleague that the city park somebodies [nobodies?] had begun bulldozing the oak scrubs and other deciduous life. The plateau frontage of the bulb does not require a buzzcut. People are crazy, people are stupid. My opinion is that the park planners or the city people are idiots. I remembered 13 or so years ago when there were small huts on the north side close to wear they bulldozed, food not bombs would come out at certain times and leave food for the hut dwellers. Mostly extra produce. The place really needed more life growing, it was desolate and stark, no wind shelter, no place for wildlife to hide from predators. Further west is closer to what it was like before they bulldozed, it was finally beginning to fill out properly. Idiots. One of the great things about activism is seeing a huge group of people watch a great local band perform, and seeing a lot of familiar faces is nice also. I think better than the sold out show at 924 Gilman a little ways away south of the Bulb in Berkeley ... this event had character and integrity, spoke from the heart. I couldn't really tell how many Bulbians were there. I just hope that other than the noise that Bulbian folks there could somehow appreciate that we can sometimes throw down east bay style in solidarity.
I noticed while I began photographing, and as I left the bulb, the same group of Albanyers (people from Albany or vicinity that are non-bulb,) were walking around, like they always are, on their evening stroll, older couples, nice smiles. They seem to be a little concerned or had care in mind, there were onto the idea of the 'event,' and were at least cordial enough to be polite about it. I hope they have good intentions in mind about the Bulbians.
Folks dancing around, tripping over the labyrinth stones. It was a real ho-down. People who knew the lyrics sang every word real loud. No need for a mic check at this occupation thank you. There were some drunk guys that fell on my legs a couple of times, and I was afraid of spraining my ankle or knee because they pinned my foot down as they hella leaned / fell into my leg. It'll walk out in a few. I'll say this much, maybe there are missing travelers in the community this time of year, or maybe the word of mouth network wasn't as good as it could have been, I really should expect to see something closer to twenty more of my colleagues there from, you know, around the way. A show that good should have had more bands and people. I also wonder if there shouldn't be a Occupy the Farm solidarity action with #OO, you know and so on. I won't go to a consensus meeting though, they always make the moderate choices-a waste of my time. I just hope for the best and try to remember to charge my batteries, and bring my memory card.
Yesterday I saw a back issue of the Berkeley non-profit Slingshot Newspaper from 2003 (?)[Pretty sure...] and there was a great map of the Bulb in plain view with a 'strategy map,' and a telling history of the Bulb. The access trail had been dug out and labeled, 'moat.' The Bulb was now a fortified island. Among other embellishments there was a barbed fence on the east side, and a staging area for catapults on the west side of the 'moat' dug out. If I'm not mistaken there will be a FALL 2013 Bulb article in the new Slingshot. I asked the editor, there hasn't been a Bulb article in Slingshot in ten years? He said no, there have been a few. I'm not the editor, before Occupy Oakland I was only a reader, my memory on the subject is not as profound as his.
Look, somebody let me know when you need to dig that moat okay? I've got a shovel at home. I got some tools also, let me know about those catapults, call the Slingshot or something.
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