1. The reason I harp on the Daily Cal so much is not because I have some kind of animosity towards the newspaper. On the contrary, I want to see the Daily Cal actually do that thing we often refer to “journalism.”

2. (On ASUC): An organization which demands hundreds of dollars from each student but asks that those students not actually follow what it does with that money was practically begging for someone to take my role.

(The numbers are our emphasis.)

We may not have agreed with Beetle with many of his opinions, but we believe that he served an important role keeping a check on the paper and the student government … something that has not been filled by OTR, the Clog or any other blog.

Therefore, this pimp cup is for Beetle, and we’re pouring one out for you, homie.

Best Post Ever [Beetle Beat]

It’s about time. According to a March Daily Cal article, the space was vacant for the past two years. Now, it’s suddenly gone and painted itself yellow and red to house what sounds like another Asian Ghetto–one that includes a new sushi joint by the name of Sushi Minami.

And what’s that–does that sign say “TOUCH Karaoke?” That’s right–it looks like a newer, closer place for you to belt out your Mariah Carey-isms is set to open soon on a Durant Avenue near you.

Image Source: Patrici Flores
Japanese Restaurant to Open At Former Noura Cafe Location [Daily Cal]

Cheeseboard pizza deserves a pilgrimage, worth even a trek on foot when you just can’t wait for the bus. Some Berkeleyans prefer Zachary’s, but if you want your pizza on the lighter side, there’s no better place than the collective down Shattuck Avenue.

Cheeseboard serves a new, single type of pizza every day, and we’re not talking pepperoni. There’s Roma tomatoes, corn, potatoes, cremini mushrooms, Asiago, feta, slices of lime–all so juicy and just greasy enough. Don’t expect tomato sauce on your slice (frankly, you won’t miss it that much either).

Simplify your life, take a break from your mad studying. Accessorize your slice with a salad or something fizzy to drink, sit down on the meridian underneath the sign telling you not to and zen out to the notes of upbeat jazz peppering your experience.

Location: 1512 Shattuck Avenue, accessible by the 7, 9 or 18 bus
Price: A few bucks for a slice (plus a bonus baby slice)
Notes: The line looks long but moves swiftly.

Image Source: Alice-Chen under Creative Commons
Website [Cheeseboard]
Earlier: Gregoire for Sandwich Cuisine

NewsCenter reports that Newmark will emphasize three main points in his speech:

1. Follow in my footsteps: “Never read a prepared speech unless you’re good at it.”

2. Wanna know corporate life? (No.) Read Dilbert.

3. When in doubt, quote Shakespeare: “Brevity is the soul of wit.”

We’d also like to add a No. 4: Never use craigslist casual encounters when drunk.

The event begins at 4 p.m. at the Greek Theatre. Congratulations to all those graduating!

Image Source: Andrew Feinberg under Creative Commons
Craiglist founder to give commencement speech [NewsCenter]

OK, so you know how we mentioned that photography exhibition–Berkeley without Shadow–in the Wurster Hall lobby on Friday evening? We actually ended up going, and it was totally, well, illuminating. Visual Studies 186 students took on unusual angles for looking at Downtown to poignantly portray oft-unnoticed aspects of the city–and we’re not just saying that to shamelessly plug the work of the Clog’s own captain, Patrici Flores, photographing Berkeley’s homeless.

Photographs ran the gamut stylistically, from haunting black and white close-ups of street life to the stark realism of full-color panoramas; from strategically blurred images of the Wells Fargo building, to snapshots of restaurant employees. One burgeoning artist/anthropologist/photojournalist even made the trek to Berkeley High where they shot portraits of students that created some interesting secondary school parallels to various UC Berkeley stereotypes.

Another widely varied aspect of the event was the refreshment, a.k.a. free grub. The $2 wine flowed like wine (for the over-21 set, of course) and the cheese, grapes, baguette and biscotti were seemingly endless. A surprising and tasty addition to the array of usual artsy foodstuffs was dried hibiscus flower. (We sensed Trader Joe in our midst … )

Once we had made the rounds–taking a careful look at each picture, and reading each caption–we bid Patrici (and, incidentally, our Anthropology G.S.I.) farewell. We resisted the urge to grab a bottle of wine and a hunk of cheese for the road (so not classy) and embraced the urge to look at Berkeley with fresh eyes.

See website for photos from the exhibition.

Image Source: Jill Cowan
Berkeley without Shadow [Website]

Part mini-pep rally, part frat party, part a Capella concert, and part ritualistic sacrifice (just kidding, but someone did bring their dog) each group started with a Cal spirit song, while the audience sang along and raised their (proverbial) glasses to our esteemed institution. Then the two groups alternated performing their favorite songs, along with the requisite, um, we’ll call them “interpretive dances.”

The ladies of the Golden Overtones were really belting ‘em out, and the men of the Octet didn’t sound so bad themselves. We were particularly impressed when, in the midst of an especially well-done Aretha Franklin medley of some sort, the lead singer at the time took a hefty swig out of an unidentifiable silver can, and continued singing. Now that’s what we’d call talent.

As things slowly descended into a happy sort of chaos, we decided to call it a night. When we left, though, there were definitely some dudes mounting the awning over the front entrance into the tower, and it was getting increasingly difficult to hear the singers. Maybe the guys were just trying to sing their love for Berkeley from the rooftops …

Image Source: Tristan Harward under Creative Commons
Rock the Clock [Facebook]

Starting next week, the Daily Cal will be available every Monday and Thursday. Summer production ushers in a new crew of editors:

Editor-in-chief: Bryan Thomas
Managing editor: Tamara Bartlett
Night editor: Laura Macarthur
News editor: Angelica Dongallo
Sports editor: Andrew Kim
Arts and entertainment editor: Louis Peitzman
Opinion editor: Victoria Tang
Photo editor: Nathan Yan
Clog editor: Patrici Flores
Staff representative: Salgu Wissmath

Sorry, but you gotta deal with Patrici for yet another semester (what a drag, right?).
Image Source: Daily Cal
Changing of the Guard [Daily Cal]

Our favorite part is the detail about the pro-troops group, Move Forward America, which brought packets of salt and spread them around the recruitment center to, get this, keep their precious Marines safe from the spells. Lunacy is contagious. Didn’t you know? In the meantime, FOX News has trained a 24/7 webcam on the recruitment center storefront, laboring under the delusion, no doubt, that they’ll be able to score some damning evidence of Satanic rituals on tape if they wait long enough.

Image Source: moonrising under Creative Commons
Spells Cast at Anti-Marine Rally in California [FOXNews]

If you’re the sort of person who relieves stress by burying your head in the sand and pretending everything will be OK, then consider this a spoiler warning and skip to the next paragraph. For those of you ready to accept the truth, here goes nothing: Everything will not be OK. Why? Because next Monday marks the end–of instruction. This also means that next week, we’ll all be irretrievably entrenched in the throes of those torturous tortures, borne of darkness and hellfire–finals. (The horror! The horror!)

Accordingly, here are a few ideas for wholesome use of your last-weekend-of-semi-freedom that won’t leave you with an untimely hangover and undone final papers:

Berkeley Without Shadow
Friday, May 9, 5-8 p.m., Wurster Hall Lobby. Come see original photography of Downtown Berkeley by your comrades in Visual Studies 186. Facebook also says the event “includes a reception,” which could potentially be code for “free food.” Should be gritty and awesome–and free. We’re so there.

University Symphony Orchestra Concert
May 9-10, 8 p.m., Hertz Concert Hall. Hertz Hall is pretty and–from what we hear–so are the pieces by Ravel, and Strauss that the positively talent-riddled group will be performing. Students can up their cultural I.Q. for just $4.

World-Making and World Art Conference
May 9-10, 10 a.m.-5p.m., Berkeley Art Museum Theater. Stop by and listen to experts from around the world “confront theories of world-making with the diversity of world art traditions.” (Or take a nap?) Free admission, baby.

Botanical Gardens: Birding Breakfast and Rose Stroll
Saturday, May 10, 8-11a.m. and 1-3 p.m. Botanical Gardens. The early birder gets the worm on this one, so if you can drag your ass out of bed and up that hill in time, you’ll get the unique opportunity to shake your tail feather and practice your bird call with expert birders and free breakfast. Tasty. In the afternoon, show your mom how deserving you are of your tuition by taking her on a rose stroll with a real, live Berkeley horticulturalist. Both events require prior registration and the stroll’s $17 for students.

More details and links and stuff on the UCB events calendar.

Image Source: Jill Cowan
UC Berkeley [Events Calendar]
Berkeley without Shadow [Facebook]

Sometimes sacks of money do fall from the sky. Officials from California’s community college adminstration announced the largest philanthropic gift they have ever received in the history of the system’s existence yesterday, and also valiantly restrained from falling all over themselves to kiss Bernard Osher’s feet. Hell. For fifty million dollars, we’d do the same.

Our fair governor was at the news conference too, where he identified a community college education as a very important stepping stone to the land of fame, riches and biceps that no normal person could get two hands around. When asked about the secret to his success, he said that the solution’s obvious: “Come to America. Go to community college. And marry a Kennedy. It’s all very simple.” Well, now. How come we never thought to do that before?

Of course, the gift comes at a time when the community college system is facing a $483 million budget cut from our state-wide monetary crisis. Kind of like repairing a spouting stump with a bandaid. Yowch.

Image Source: David Muir under Creative Commons
California Community Colleges get big gift for scholarships [SF Chron]