Category Archives: WHERE

Dreaming of Blue Skies…

oakland mural, oakland mural art, blue trees mural, blue skies mural

I spotted this mural a couple weeks ago in West Oakland, at 26th and Magnolia…. not far from my home, but amazingly I had somehow never seen it before. I thought it might be new, but the inscription says it was painted by M. S. Hove (aka Scott Hove) in 2003. It’s amazing what you can find if you abandon your regular routines and explore a bit…

blue trees mural, oakland mural art, west oakland mural

This is actually only half of the mural but I wanted to focus on the lovely blue skies during these dreary days of rain and drizzle, so I’ll have to show you the fiery side another day (or you can always check it out on his website if you don’t want to wait).

This one, at least the trees side, has a little bit of that Van Gogh Starry Night quality, don’t you think? He just did a new piece on Telegraph near Berkeley that feels a bit more Miró to me… I’ll feature that another day too.

oakland mural art, west oakland mural, blue trees mural

Hove is another Bay Area native who attended the California College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC, now renamed CCA – sans crafts), though he considers himself primarily a self-taught artist. He works in a variety of mediums, his work typically “reflect[ing] on the relationship between the natural world and mechanical civilization, and the drama that occurs during this interaction.”

blue mural, oakland mural art, west oakland mural, blue people mural

One of the unusual mediums he works in is light. He actually draws with light, with the help of photographer Bruce Lynn. He has a whole series on his website, and I think this one is one of my favorites. Pretty cool, eh?

The Layover – a hip new spot

So my friend invited me to The Layover the other night. Have you been there?

It’s a pretty new joint in downtown Oakland… they opened a little over 3 months ago on October 9th in the old spot occupied by Pat’s, Franklin Street between 15th and 17th. Look for the neon green martini glass…

downtown oakland, the layover, layover bar in oakland

We went on a Tuesday night, which is comedy night… live stand-up comedy, followed by live music… no cover charge. Did you catch that? No cover charge. How cool is that?!

the layover, layover bar, layover bar in oakland

We saw 5 comedians, each with about a 15 minute set, and I can honestly say that four of them were quite hilarious. The emcee for the evening mentioned that the comedians are all students, and that The Layover is their training ground to try out new material.

The room was packed, which doesn’t take much, as this little club only holds 49 peeps. It’s an intimate vibe, further accentuated by the plush living room decor. Beautifully re-upholstered vintage pieces in warm velvety colors… one of the owners, RaeAnne Turner, is responsible for the fabulous seamstress-ing.

And what’s even cooler is that all of these gorgeous pieces are for sale! It’s a neat concept. They stock the house with sweet vintagey finds… including not only tables, chairs, & couches, but also light fixtures, pillows, and more… you take ’em home (if inspired and the price is right). That way they’re consistently restocking the venue with new interesting pieces. Keepin’ it fresh ya’ll!

In addition to the furniture for sale, the space functions as an art gallery too… with an associated gallery next door. They had a pretty eclectic mix of stuff up… one of a kind artist-modified light fixtures, small scale paintings, mixed media pieces, and the gorgeous collaged canvases of Daniel Healey featured in blankspace’s This Is Not My Beautiful Life show.

tuesday night comedy night, comedy at the layover, the layover bar

The last shot below was taken after the comedians wrapped up and the musicians were gearing up to get started with the live music. Don’t let the empty chairs fool you… everyone was just at the bar refilling their glasses!

I wish we could have stayed to see the band… Tuesday nights feature something of a “house” band with a rotating cast from Rogue Wave, Crown City Rockers, Persephone’s Bees, Bright Eyes, & more. Man, that sounds awesome! But it was a school night and I needed to get to bed…. waaahh.

RaeAnne’s husband, Zachary (aka Prozack) Turner, is in charge of the musical program at The Layover… selecting DJ’s and live bands, and it looks like he’s got a pretty astounding line-up. Even the house music playing Tuesday night while the band was setting up was super groovy. Can’t wait to check out the Friday night Sure Shot Soul Review (featuring DJ MTM spinning soul, funk, disco, and afrobeat)… again, no cover.

There’s a great article in the East Bay Express: Oakland’s New Layover that highlights more of Zachary’s musical background, as well as the contributions of his other business partners, Tim Martinez & wife Christie Vaughn, in the creation of The Layover.

layover bar in oakland, the layover, interior of the layover

The Layover is located just two blocks from the 19th Street BArt station, the Fox & Paramount Theaters, and a nice little collection of local restaurants: Pho 84, Spice Monkey Cafe, Awaken Cafe‎, and a whole lot more… do check it out!

The Alameda County Courthouse

So today I had to run a quick errand to the Courthouse… yea right!

All I can say is the entire experience was an incredible exercise in patience (I am not a patient person).

I like to consider myself a bit of a task-master (capable, efficient, etc.) I did my research. I knew where I needed to go. The document I downloaded from the internet directed me to my local courthouse – Wiley W. Manuel in West Oakland. I went there, waited in line, partially undressed to go through the metal detector and security screening, made my way to the second floor where I was supposed to find the Court Self-Help Center. Instead, I found a locked door with a PDF taped to the window stating that the self-help center had been moved. Mind you… this was the same PDF I had located on the internet and printed out, however the information here was different. Apparently no one bothered to update the web. Argh.

I then made my way to the correct location… the iconic Rene C. Davidson Courthouse, perched on the Southwest corner of Lake Merritt. Waited again in line, went through the metal detector and screening, made my way to the second floor… Room 240 where I expected to find the Court Self-Help Center. Instead I found a series of flyers stating that the Self-Help Center had been moved to the first floor, Room 109.

I could go on and on… two more lines, then directed to the basement, only to be told to go across the street to the Family Law Library, then back to the Courthouse, back through the security screening, back in line… You get my drift.

What should have been a simple 15 minute procedure took me 2 1/2 hours. Jeeezzzz…

The positive side is I got a nice look at this beautiful building, during a thin slice of blue sky and sunshine today. I refer to it as iconic because it’s frequently featured as an Oakland landmark in illustrated and photographic materials… like this vintage style postcard on Our Oakland’s Greetings From Oakland post. Which reminds me… did you all notice my new blogroll? Right-hand side… scroll down. Check it out, there’s some great stuff~!

Rene C. Davidson Courthouse, alameda county court

This is actually Alameda County’s Fifth Courthouse. The fourth was a real stunner, built in the Parisian Second Empire Style with a domed central tower and four miniature corner towers… see historical photo below. It was opened in 1875, located between 4th and 5th Streets at Broadway, and for over 50 years served “as a powerful symbol of the importance and wealth of what was then California’s fourth most populous county.” Sadly, it fell out of favor before the modern historic preservation movement and was ultimately replaced and eventually demolished. (Courthouse historical placard)

alameda county courthouse

Our current courthouse, the Rene C. Davidson, was constructed in the mid-1930’s through the passage of a $1.7 million bond measure, supplemented by Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The building, consisting reinforced concrete over a steel frame, features exterior surfaces of California granite and terra cotta trim. Designed by prominent local architects William Corlett, Henry Minton, James Plachek, William Schirmer, and Carl Werner, the main facade of the building faces Lake Merritt (I actually shot the back from 12th Street) and opens to spacious lobby featuring fifteen foot high marble mosaic murals depicting county history. Wish I had pictures of those to share but I somehow missed seeing them while being funneled from line to line. Guess I’ll have to go back…

The Trappist

So I spent like two hours of my supposed-to-be-a-day-of-rest Sunday working on setting up the stupid Facebook Fan Badge that you see off to the right hand side of this column. You would think it would be so simple… in this age of technology and social networking and applications capable of hand-holding with each other. And it should be so simple. But NOooooo!

Apparently the WordPress text widget only accepts straight HTML and not the Javascript programming incorporated into the Facebook Fan Badge. And if that’s all Greek to you, then you can understand my frustration as well. I needed a 12 year old to program this for me! But instead, I struggled with building the little HTML widget myself… wasting precious time, and literally driving myself to drink.

So please, if you’re a Facebook-er, make it worth my while and click on that stupid button and be my fan on Facebook. sigh.

My friends and I met at The Trappist in downtown Oakland (8th Street @ Broadway). It’s a gorgeous bar housed in an 1870’s Victorian building, specializing in Trappist, Belgian, and other European fancy brews. Steeped in Euro-pub ambiance, the bar itself is as beautifully crafted as the beers they offer, each served at the correct temperature and in the properly shaped glass to allow one to fully experience the subtle & complex flavors.

the trappist, belgian beer bar, downtown oakland specialty bar

Trappist refers to the reformist order of Cistercian monks established in the 17th century at the La Trappe monastery in Northern France. The monks lived austere lives characterized by vows of stability, fidelity to monastic life, and obedience. The monasteries were required to be self-supporting, living off their own land, labor, & resources, and it was out of this commandment that monk-maintained breweries originated. (Wikipedia)

Today there are only 7 true Trappist breweries, owned and run by active Benedictine Abbeys: 6 in Belgium and 1 in The Netherlands. The Trappist carries beers by all seven: Achel, Chimay, Koningshoeven, Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle, and Westvleteren, in addition to many specialty beers not easily found elsewhere. They currently maintain 25 beers on tap and have a rotating bottle stock of between 130 – 140 different brands. Wow!

the trappist brewery, trappist brewpub

Do you know those Stella Artois commercials you see before the previews start at the movies? The bartender takes such exquisite care with preparing the glass just so, pouring the beer ever so particularly, all in an effort to deliver the perfect glass of beer. That’s how they do it here. Not kidding. If you take your beer seriously, please check them out. You won’t be sorry.

the trappist, belgian beer pub,