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21st-Century Tour Guide

     Everyone has been on a trip or two where the travel guide was the heaviest thing in the suitcase. Well, www.coolhunting.com (check out Cool Hunting’s Oakland bit in the video section) has led travel guides into the 21st century and Oakland along with it. The result is a 10-minute word-of-mouth video guide highlighting stores, restaurants and people around town.
     “It’s an adventure, because we don’t know what’s going to happen or where we are going to be sent next,” says Josh Rubin, editor in chief of the site, which boasts a readership of more than 500,000 around the world. The site features daily updates on ideas and products ranging from art, design, culture and technology that must meet one main criterion: stuff they like. “Filming is a chain reaction based on one or two starting points.”
     In this video — one of the first in what they hope will begin a series of short pieces highlighting smaller cities around the United States — producer Ami Keo begins with a visit to Issues magazine shop. Each person interviewed talks about their favorite aspects of the city, which sends the roving crew to familiar favorites like Bakesale Betty and puts them face-to-face with lesser-known celebrities, like Dan Fontes, the artist behind the giraffes under Interstate 580 at MacArthur Boulevard and Oakland Avenue. Even Oaklanders can appreciate a glance inside the Tribune Clock Tower and a reading from poet Zach Houston — all featured in the video.
     If you are from Oakland, you might find yourself furrowing your brow about what is not in the video, as opposed to what is included. However, Rubin hopes that viewers will see it the way they do — as a pleasing peek into a great place to visit, live and experience. “We know that Oakland has a lot more to offer than what’s covered,” he says. “We wanted to put a fun lens on the city for people. The video provides a filter.”  Point taken.  Because, as Oaklanders know, this town has enough bright spots to fill a feature.