Releasing dead dreams and dashed hopes is hard. That's why, on the afternoon of December 31, 2009, more than 200 local people gathered to support each other in this effort -- with laughter, music, and the best of dark humor.

This funeral sing-along event, "Nothing Holding Me Back," was the brainchild of local author "Cemetery Mary" Patrick Kavanaugh. It was held at one of Oakland's architectural treasures, the Chapel of the Chimes.

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Black Dynamite, a clever marriage of Blaxploitation and Kung Fu movies set to Adrian Younge's original score, is poised to become a cult classic. Its San Francisco premiere at the Castro Theater on Friday, November 20, and Oakland premiere on Saturday, November 21, are accompanied personally by Director Scott Sanders and star Michael Jai White.