Not 5 stars because responses to emails sent to their general email box were lacking. Also,…read morebecause they place all risk on the racers - "In case of a disaster including, but not limited to flooding, tornadoes, terrorism, CitySolve Urban Race will decide whether or not to cancel the event based on the safety of participants and staff. In the event of a cancelation, refunds will NOT be issued; risk is assumed by all participants. However, participants will have the option to transfer registration to a different 2013 race." But the June 8th race in Boston did take place, despite a damp start. For a quicker registration, a packet pick up was scheduled the evening before the race, but alternatively the packets could be picked up the morning of the race - for our 11:30am scheduled start, registration was from 10am - 11am. Packets were pretty basic, and consisted of team numbers, a rules sheet, and a waiver that all team members had to sign. Several teams put in great effort for the costume contest; we did not. Then the race began, not with a shot, but with a multiple choice question to lead us to a nearby intersection where one of the CitySolve volunteers were waiting to hand out the clues sheets. Rules were simple - Transportation was limited to our feet and public transportation (for Boston, that meant the T). We were allowed to ask folks for help and to use technology, such as our phones (whether to phone a friend, or as a smartphone to research online). Teams were required to stay together with a requisite photograph of the entire team at each checkpoint. We were allowed (in fact encouraged) to solve 9 out of the 10 clues, and were provided with the opportunity to take 4 photos worth -5 minutes apiece. Penalties were significant; 30 minutes for each wrong checkpoint and each photo that did not include the entire team. With the awards ceremony scheduled for 3pm we basically had 3.5 hours to make it to the finish line with all checkpoints accounted for. We made it! And with time to spare! As we weren't being particularly competitive, we hit all 10 clues and then some (aka all 4 bonuses plus; not that we could get additional credit for the pluses). Sure, the winning team finished in about 1.5 hours (how in the world did they do that??? It took us nearly half an hour just to figure out the clues!), but we still beat out over half the competition. After reaching the finish line, with our time marked, we were given questionaires to complete and to hand back in trade for a T-shirt, and our photos were checked, and we were done. Ah... PS - register early for a discount. PPS - as a gift from one of the sponsors, my team had the pleasure of racing for free. PPPs - If we can race, you can too!

I had a wonderful time at CitySolve Urban Race Boston yesterday…read more My team of 3 had a great time solving the 10 scavenger hunt clues, then running all over the city to take pictures and do the required activities. Smart phones are allowed in the race, but the cool thing is the clues are written so the answers aren't immediately googleable. For example the 1st clue for the Boston race involved translating English to French, and then using the numbers on the spaces under your translation answer, to write the corresponding letters in other spaces to come up with the name of the location you needed to go to. There are bonus photos you can take to have time taken off your final finishing time, however you need to keep in mind that if taking those photos take longer than the time you're earning, you're not earning anything. It was a great day, and it corresponded with Pride weekend in Boston, so some teams, including my own, ended up running across the street through the Pride parade to get to our next location. Winners of the race usually finish within 1 1/2 hours and everyone must be back by 4 1/2 hours after the race starts. My team didn't win, but we felt competitive anyway. (Edit: The race results were posted the Tuesday after the race, and my team came in 8th out of 69 teams! Pretty sweet!) There are also prizes given out for best tweet & best costume. I loved getting to see Boston in a new way through this race, and my husband has already agreed to sign up again when CitySolve comes back to Boston. Thank you to Yelp for waving the registration fees for our team, as part of a contest for the Yelp Elite program! The Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of Boston volunteered at the event to check us in at the start & finish, and managing activities on the route. They were wonderfully helpful & friendly!

First off, I'm not a runner. I do not run for recreation or fitness, I prefer other cardio with…read morechoreography. Having set that premise, this was my FIRST half marathon and I finished sub 2 hours! I ran it with my ultramarathoner friends and it was a wonderful experience. Great support from the locals throughout the route. Weather was overcast and cool. We came early for parking which is free on Sunday. Gear check had the most amazing volunteers and even when the organization system failed, they still had smiles on their faces. Please come and create your own adventure.

Review #3001 Cross…read morecountry meets are good---running for 30 minutes---1 hour etc Cross country is good..running with groups is good..because humans have to run This generation---YMCA 5k Turkey Chase! Berkeley was nice to visit---it's always a positive place--weather is good---fall is nice---campus is grand---fun to run and be out in a community

One good party from start to end, I'd love to take that ride…read moreagain... Again!

I was very impressed last year, and look forward to year #2! A relaxed friendly vibe, great…read morelocation right by BART, very good music, arts and crafts - and free admission. What's not to like? Many of the performers are so young that some of them never got to see Jerry Garcia play. Yet they really nailed the sound, even the vibe of the Grateful Dead and JGB music. Good enough to make the audience dance, and everyone had a lot of fun. I think anyone who loves this music will really enjoy this festival. See you there!

There is no bad seat at The Freight but this time I got front row , it's always general admission…read moreseating. This show was for Dave Alvin and Jimmy Dale Gilmore... two legends playing without their band for this show. Last time I saw them with their full band much closer to home at Felton Music Hall... also a great venue. Opening artist was guitarist Lenny Kaye from The Smiths and he was great too. Awesome audience as usual for The Freight. Get out and see live music, it's always a great time.

We saw Keola Beamer and Henry Kapono recently. It was our first visit to the Freight since they…read moremoved ever so long ago. This is truly a nice venue to see music. The staff is friendly; parking is convenient next door in the garage; plenty of restaurants nearby. There were also a few snack items and drinks available for sale. I was bummed that perhaps customer service and management aren't completely in synch with their own policies. I had written and asked if photography would be allowed since this was a Hawaiian show. I wanted to bring in one camera with an attached lens, no flash to take photos for personal use only. I was told that the policy was no photography was allowed. On the night of the show, the last announcement before the show started, was that non-flash photography was welcome. Oh well.

Anyone whose ever been here knows that the intimate venue and the productions are 7 stars-worthy…read more(though the tix ain't cheap), and the staff is 7.5. Particularly, Ari who patiently navigated a glitch on my page that was preventing me from purchasing a ticket (even though it was one of the cheapies). Hats off to everyone and everything about the theater (though my Mom insists that wearing them inside is rude.) :)

The Berkeley Repertory Theater is an excellent venue for first-class plays. It boasts a spacious…read moreoutdoor courtyard where you can socialize during intermissions. The staff at the box office is friendly and accommodating, and everyone else in the theater was equally welcoming. For those who require closed captions, the theater provides free listening devices and headsets. Simply present your ticket, and they'll take your name and seat number. I attended a play called "The Cook," and the performance was outstanding. However, I did have a minor concern about the theater's temperature. It was a hot day, and I wondered if the air conditioning was cranked up excessively or if that's the usual setting. The cold temperature made it uncomfortable for my parents, and they couldn't sit through the second act, so they had to leave. Despite this minor issue, the theater is not overly large, making it the perfect size for an intimate experience. The performance was truly great, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm already looking forward to attending another play or performance in the future. The theater also has a bar area and offers some snacks. There's a convenient parking garage across the street that costs approximately eight dollars for 3 to 4 hours. This is a great option since there's limited parking on the street.

The staff at Rockridge two wheels has been super helpful to me. I accidentally laid my bike down…read more(twice lol), and each time, Alex in service took care of me right away. If you want a dealer that stands behind their products with great service, this is the place to be. When I bought my bike, I added three years of service and a seven year extended warranty on the engine, back wheel and more. It's like stress-free riding. Love it.

This is a review for MOTO EXCHANGE. They have a great selection of Royal Enfield motorcycles and a…read more"no-haggle" pricing strategy. They gave me the motorcycle I wanted at a great price with a minimum of fuss and no stress. Daniel is great - ask for him! (Also, the owner of the shop tightened up my mirror for me himself when I informed him it was loose!) FIVE STARS!

The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe is only on for 4 more performances- SEE…read moreIT! STREAM IT!! Marga Gomez is utterly astonishing in her talent performing this brilliant & iconic (Lily Tomlin) monologue of the 80s/90s (written by her wife Jane Wagner). It's a MUST SEE in the absolutely charming downtown Berkeley arts district theatre!

the SEARCH for SIGNS of INTELLIGENT LIFE in the UNIVERSE is fabulous. Marga Gomez does a fantastic…read morejob. It is on until August 10th. Don't miss it.

Chahrshanbeh Souri @ The Persian Center in Berkeley…read more NARRATIVE A few years ago before sleepover with Houman, Michelle and I pestered him about No Rooz and all the festivities that went along with the celebration of the Persian New Year. As members of a multi-culti friendship tribe we begin the New Years season on December 31st and then continue on through March until New Years has exhausted itself into Springtime. Houman mentioned fire jumping. I was intrigued and since I hadn't been to Burning Man in a few years, I was called to the fires! CONTACT INFORMATION The Persian Center 2029 Durant Avenue Berkeley, CA 94704 http://www.persiancenter.org/ Phone: (510) 848-0264 HOURS Tuesday before Vernal Equinox, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. PRICE RANGE Inexpensive. Traditional Persian cuisine is sold to support the event and the center. SUMMARY This Zorastrian custom dates back to 1300 B.C. It celebrates one of the last evenings of the year and is symbolized by fire so that people can see their way into the new year. Bonfires are lit because they are purifying and can light our way into the new year. In Berkeley Durant is lined with people of all ages talking, laughing, dancing, wishing greetings upon each other, doing the traditional Persian double-cheeked kisses hello and good-bye. Downtown Berkeley is a great venue for the event. Behind Barnes and Noble what is normally a quiet side-street is blocked off and filled with Persian music and flooded with lights. Two sets of bonfires are lit to keep the celebration moving. The DJ and MC are pounding out Persian favourites and new remixes. Parents jump with their young ones who look wary of going near the flames. Sweethearts jump in tandem. Frat boys try to outleap one another in side-by-side races. As the spring crisp air fills your lungs, you look up past the buildings into the deep blue night sky. The moon is lit and the stars begin to speckle the sky. All the while you're bundled in your coat, talking with your friends, and rehearsing the Persian phrase while waiting your turn to jump the bonfires: (Sorkhi-e to az man) Give me your beautiful red colour (Zardi-e man az to) And take back my sickly pallor! Houman wrote it down for us the first year we went. Last year he sent us a reminder and the group of us split between pronouncing it in English and pronouncing it in Persian. Afterwards we all met up at a Chinese restaurant to finish out the evening's festivities. More laughter, more stories. More good times. Don't let the year slip without celebrating another new beginning. Jump the fires on Tuesday night to ring in No Rooz! SERVICE Volunteers are very helpful with guiding newbies to the fire-jumping lines. The atmosphere is FESTIVE! Party down, Persian-stylie! REST ROOMS Port-o-potties by the fire-jumping area or local eateries and bars if you plan ahead. SUGGESTION? Pronunciation guides for the Persian-challenged.

We finally got to check out Chahar Shanbeh Souri to celebrate Persian New Year. I found out about…read moreit on chowhound last year and made sure to put it on my calendar for this year. It was Tues. 3/18/08. We took Bart to Downtown Berkeley and walked down about 3-4 blocks to Durant Ave. The place was crazy busy with DJ Aykut & DJ Dr. T spinning very loud music. There was a flyer saying 4 Shanbeh Soori After Party 9:30p-Close the DJs were going to be at Pasand Lounge, 2280 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley a 5 min. walk from the Persian Center. People line up around the Persian Center to buy food. There were Kabob sandwiches: chicken or beef wrapped like a burrito w/ rice inside & a small half tomato & water or soda for $10. Chicken was dry and boring to eat. You could also get a noodle soup for $5-very minty w/ a sauce another table had & even some sumac you could add or some chopped onions. Soup was ok, hubby liked it more. For dessert Golnazar Persian ice cream sandwiches were $3. It's Saffron ice cream w/ pistachio. Just ok w/ thin crispy wafer like cookie to sandwich the ice cream. Pre-packaged. They also had a 1-pint tub of Faloudeh for $3. It was frozen solid when A. tried to eat it, he had to wait about 15 min to finally try it, he finished it so it must have been ok. The best part was the jumping over the small fires. The line was Crazy long, but it moved fast, near the fires the line finally breaks into 2 lines and you can jump over 3 small flames. Almost anyone can jump over the fire..we did and it was FUN. Then we left, still Recommended at least once.

I love outdoor venues for concerts, and this one is no exception!…read more Came here to see Jack Johnson last week. Sound was awesome. Love how the fog rolls in overhead. Seating is a bit tight, but this place was built approximately 100 years ago I believe. Good amount of concessions and restrooms. Would definitely come here for other concerts!

THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE KHALID SHOW ON 6/26…read more This place is hands-down the best venue in the Bay Area. This was my first time here and I'll be going to see two more shows this summer. If you are attending a GA show here, I recommend arriving when the doors open. We were able to get parking with ease right across the street and get in line. Bring a stadium cushion or seat with back support as long as there's no metal in it. They didn't seem to be super strict on bag sizes, I used a stadium approved clear tote. But I saw a lot of bigger totes and Trader Joe's shopping bags. Refer to the site for information on what you can bring in as far as water bottles, snacks and other items. Literally every seat is a good seat here!