One of the things I liked to do when I went to college was go to The Underground to play video games. Actually I went bowling there first with some friends, a few times. I have somewhere around a 80 average bowling, but it was more of a social thing anyway. But the other half of The Underground was an arcade with a good variety of games.

I used to go there with a guy to play a couple of games every two or three nights. We really liked this shooting game, Steel something. Games where two people can play at once. Terminator was another good one. We had a weekly CyberBall match, which we split over the course of a semester. Other than that I rarely went to The Underground.

The Berkeley campus is one of those places that prides itself on its activism. As you walk down Sproul Plaza, first of all there are a huge amount of people when classes are going. And then there are these stands on both sides, for the various clubs, causes, or whatever. Students man the stands trying to convert passer-bys to whatever cause they're supporting.

On most days there are a couple of people standing on soapboxes (or the equiva- lent) and spouting off at the crowd. The Hate Man, who I never really listened so I'm not sure what his message was. There was some guy who sang old-style songs. Some young people preaching the good word, whatever that may be. All of them adding to the cacophany of noise that is Sproul Plaza.

Walk another fifty yards past the Plaza and it quiets down considerably. You pass over a wide paved bridge going over Strawberry Creek. And it's hard to tell you're one a bridge, but for the thick stone railings built in some classic style. Tied to the columns of the railings, with chains or thick rope, are these big wooden signs promoting various clubs on campus. Here is a sign for the Gay and Lesbian Organization next to a sign for Toastmasters next to a sign for the Soccer Team. Colorful handmade promotions.

Past the bridge, on the left is a building whose name I forgot. I only had a couple of classes there and thankfully didn't have to wander around inside. The tale goes that two architects (maybe brothers, but once again I forget) designed the building, starting on opposite ends. For one reason or another they had significantly different designs so the two halves don't match correctly. So in consequence there are few ways from one half of the building to the other, most of the corridors being blocked off. Dwinelle Hall I think it's called.

Sort of opposite of Dwinelle Hall is Wheeler, which is an English building as far as I could tell. I think I had one class there. Mostly went there to see the movies shown in the auditorium. The Berkeley movie club would get enough funding from the Student Union to get some really cool movies. Big favorites were the Star Wars marathon and the Indiana Jones marathon. First movie starts out and it's great. By the time the second movie starts it's starting to get warm. By the third movie it's both late and hot, but the crowd is rowdy, you can yell out the lines or "watch out!", "don't do that". It's fun. They also were able to show a lot of previews, although those were a bit harder to get tickets to, since you had to show up early to claim a couple of tickets.

But I saw the two trilogies. I remember seeing Green Card, maybe Cyrano de Bergerac. The previews of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and With Honors. A slew of other movies that I can't remember. Usually went with my roommates in Freshman year, or with friends otherwise. You'd all show up at 18:30 for the 19:30 movie, to get in line and get a good seat. The movies were like $2 or free, so there'd be enough people to pack the auditorium on most nights. Weekly shows. That's enough for now.