Event: Replace the Bass Extravaganza

Joe Lewis—super talented upright bass player, friend of the shop, champion of the neighborhood and proprietor of Bluesix—sadly witnessed his beloved bass get smashed to pieces recently, and that’s just not going to stand. If ever there was a man who loved his instrument as part of his self, that man is Joe.
Tomorrow, Sunday, [...]

Rock Make Street Festival: Sunday, August 24th

Yip-Hip-Hooray! Block party right on.
We are super dooper stoked to let you all in on the incredible Rock Make Street Festival happening in front of the shop this upcoming Sunday, beginning around noon. It’s all being organized by our incredible, indefatigable shopstress neighbor Helen of Whiz Bang Fabrics, along with Tartufi and the good people [...]

Good Woody

This one goes out to Wendy Van Wagner, who loves a good Woody better than most.
Countdown to the new Woody Allen movie. First The New Yorker got all rhapsodic about “Vicky Christina Barcelona,” which made me very very excited—especially the bits about “natural-born lover” Javier Bardem. But then, the confusingly separate New York Magazine just [...]

Road Trip Right On

I just got back home from a whirlwind road trip with my man posse—we caught friends + babies in Tuscon, a pack of bloodthirsty coyotes in New Mexico, heat lightening in the West Texas hills, Olympics on TV, maddening heat overall and family in Austin. We sadly left Leif to hook ‘em horns, cowboy hats [...]

Klibanarama

So I’m finally jumping onto the blog scene! Here’s a nice little Gravel & Gold story for ya.
Last Thursday the lovely Jeff Bowers, here at Wholphin for the summer, stopped by the shop for a visit. We were having a bit of a brainstorm about his wonderful new project, “Somethings” a hand made magazine, full [...]

Hello Friends!

Yay!  This is Nile, with my very first blog post.  I would like to take this opportunity to give a shout out to some things that we Ladies of Gravel & Gold love.  
Besides stripey shirts and awesome musician friends and YouTube videos that make us laugh and perhaps feel a bit uncomfortable, I would like to include [...]

Stripey Bandit

Yikes! Nile recently received word that one of our satisfied customers is saving up to buy a new stripey shirt for her boyfriend, who tragically lost his to a rascally raccoon who ate it off their laundry line. Now, oh constipated masked bandit on the loose, I ask of you: Is this the thanks you [...]

Reverse-Birthification

Doing only what is good and just in this world, watch this superstar kid reverse-birth herself into the rip-off claw yourself a toy machine and then attempt to grab everything that has eluded the rest of us.

And here’s some tips for those of us who are too tubby for the toy [...]

World Hoop Day

The countdown is over, World Hoop Day has arrived! There is sure to be an event near your hometown. If you live here in the Bay Area, I highly suggest you make your way out to the Great Lawn on Treasure Island to join the hordes hooping to their hearts delight. There, you’ll happen upon incredible [...]

I Call Copycat, But Not On You Gertie

It’s a big job keeping up with all the cultural references, namesakes, and identity thieves of Gravel and of Gold—but we’ll continue to do it until our teeny tiny shop is 100% synonymous with those two words.
Let’s start out with this fellow from Las Vegas calling himself desertout on eBay who makes it his business [...]

Graveland Gold Goods

Alright, y’all. The first round of limited edition, crazy-excellent Gravel & Gold T-shirts and tote bags are finally in!
In the face of this level of awesome, an explanation just seems like rainbow sprinkles on top of chocolate sprinkles. But since we Ladies happen to like that combination, I’ll go ahead and let you in on [...]

Oh Go On, Helen

Our brilliant, apparently psychic lady shopkeeper neighbor Helen, proprietress of WhizBang Fabrics, just contributed this situation to the homemade batman mask dialogue without even knowing there was a homemade batman mask dialogue going on. Incredible.

This is from Retales Botijero on Flickr. Yay!

Levon Helm, Musical Thrower Downer

Sev turned us on to Levon Helm’s album Dirt Farmer when we were up at Dovetail Farm, and those songs have been churning through my head ever since. Levon was the drummer for The Band, and in my opinion, the best voice in their crowd.
Since those days, he’s whipped up quite [...]

Take It, T-Rex

Leif likes crazy lo-fi Dinosaur Comics: I like crazy lo-fi Dinosaur Comics. Today’s excellent offering on pesky weight losers is as follows. Yes.
Another stand-by on that old irascible pain predicament. Yes.

The Greenhorns Trailer

Figured I’d save you a few clicks and a few feverish moments of curiosity. As mentioned before, you can find out more about the The Greenhorns film by visiting their homepage.

Offensive to Obama, Awesome to Me, All for Him

Just in case anyone out there hasn’t scoped the “Politics as Usual” Ludacris situation yet:

Now I know Barack is none too pleased about it. But I say, Can I make it my new Barack Obama ringtone? Besides, what does he expect? A whole lot of this:

For a [...]

The Full Tom

It’s an August Tuesday in San Francisco, mostly cloudy, 53°F, feels like 53°F.
Coldest winter, summer in SF, just like they say Mark Twain said—though they also say Mark Twain didn’t say it. It was somebody else’s witticism, but nobody knows who. Reminds me of one of my favorite Chris Rock lines from the 1997 MTV [...]

Dream Sneaks

I went to New York.
I purchased my dream sneakers—high-top Nike Dunks in the Wiltshire Berry Liberty print. Behold, on the right (though I changed out the laces to the red ones provided):
If you come by the shop, you will see me wearing these sneakers. If you visit me at home, you will see me wearing [...]

The Library: Paper and Pins

Friend of the shop and excellent human David Wilson has recently installed a new landscape drawing at The Library, a gallery space over in Oakland (well, technically Temescal). David joins a stellar lineup of talents, including Meagan Donegan, Ryan Donegan, Kathleen Henderson and Dwight Mackintosh. If you find yourself in the area, go check ‘em [...]

Touché, Mr. Banwell

If it’s the paucity of used paper bags, a pair of scissors, a sharpie, and some fishing line that’s holding you back from looking as awesome as we did when we went to see the new Batman movie, may I suggest an incredible ready-made alternative, courtesy of Etsy artist Tom Banwell.

Indeed, they’re for sale. And [...]