From 10 p.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays TAMARINDO in Old Oakland is serving up late night dining (after hours for the Bay Area, anyway). The address is 468 8th St. 510-444-1944.

Since March 15, B Restaurant & Bar in Oakland has had a new master: David Seawell, Executive Chef. Seawell, who has worked mostly in the Bay Area — Stars Café, Boulevard, Fog City Diner – since he began his career at the age of 17 at a swanky French restaurant in Scottsdale, Arizona. I mention all this only because Seawell is responsible for my favorite dish: Marrow Bean Soup with fennel broth and chicken liver crostini. Do you know how hard it is to do chicken liver right?
And in case you’re interested, B was opened in 2005 by Gourmet Provisions (the company behind boxed foods company and the B Restaurant & Bar, both of San Francisco) “with the idea of serving as a catalyst for a neighborhood renaissance that has since come to fruition.” (Note to PR writer who sent me the note: renaissance has only one N in it.) Everything served is supposed to be bought from farms within 100 miles of the Bay Area. Yum.

So things didn't turn out Friday night like I expected. Instead of a mellow night hanging out and checking on upcoming Cinco de Mayo events for Friday's upcoming Night Owl, I spent about four hours down on the Embarcadero waiting for a whack job holed up in a 3rd Street condo (the Sierras on Oak and 3rd) to give up his gun and let his girlfriend and children go. Otherwise, he was toast. The genius had fired at police when they knocked on his door, responding to a domestic disturbance call. Scores of officers and SWAT were there to help him decide to surrender and let the woman and two young children go. Of course, my cell phone was dead, my car was stuck inside the perimeter police had set up and I had no laptop. Thanks to all the neighbors and reporters who lent me theirs. I even headed over to Heinold's out of desperation. Read the rest of this entry »

I have a feeling it's going to be a sweet weekend. I'm going to start it out by a drink at the Washington Inn, now that I wrote about it, I can just go and relax there. But after that, I'm conflicted. It's one of the weekends when there's so many things going on it's hard to choose and impossible to be at them all. Saturday is a big day as far as I'm concerned because it the homecoming of the Bay Area Derby Girls to Oakland after a year of wreaking roller havoc all over the Bay Area — except their birthplace — because the fire marshall pulled the plug on their rink. Not safe for the crowds the BAD Girls were drawing. The story has a happy ending, though. Doors open 8 p.m. at the Dry Ice Hockey Arena, 210 Hegenberger Loop, in OAKLAND. They are so O-Town Soul.
Saturday also marks the next installment of the People Party at the Oasis on 12th Street.  "Blossom into the groove," baby, beginning about 10 p.m. (The Oasis folks really need to do something about their myspace page. How about a Web site for goodness sake?) Then there's the UpSurge! Jazz poetry festival from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday as usual at the Berkeley Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Call 848-3227 or visit the Web site for more info. Admission is $20.
I don't know a thing about the House of Stormz but the ad for their Saturday show called "Trilogy" looks intriguing, although the theme this Saturday is a bit too freaky earth-woman for me:  Drum Warriors, Herstories Project and Amorpheous 1. BUT next time, May 24, includes a fire dancing burlesque show called Pyro-A-Go-Go. Now that's a hard act to beat. There's also Simone De La Ghetto doing the Harlem Shake and drag king extraordinaire AfroDisiac.  No, Simone is not DOING AfroDisiac. Syntax can be tricky sometimes.

I should have known it. But I just didn't expect it, although Oakland is no stranger to racist maniacs like the guy who raged at me the othe night because I would not print that Dellums is — in his words — a rotten, dirty n—–.  (I don't even know if one capitalizes the n-word. It's not exactly in the AP Stylebook.)  I was on a mission at B Restaurant to find a patron to bother with one of those necessary but annoying questions: Did the string of recent robberies make you think twice about coming out at night to dine? (BTW, one guy caught Friday and OPD looking for the other two geniuses.) I thought I had hit paydirt because he had great quotes etc until he starts talking about what he really thought. Read the rest of this entry »

News from the Speakeasy Theaters: Don't bother looking for the schedules of the Parkway or Cerrito in the Chron or East Bay Express 'cause you won't find anything. The Speakeasy folks are sticking to their newsletter and hotline.
I don't know about this...how many times have you grabbed a paper to look up show times? And are we supposed to have the telephone number for the hotline in our address book? No, I'm not schilling for the papers. This is serious business.
Anyway, while we're on the subject, here's some special events at the Parkway, 1834 Park Blvd:
SUNDAY SALON: THE LEGACY: MURDER, MEDIA, POLITICS AND PRISONS — 2 p.m. April 13 (free).
Then at 8 p.m.  CINEMASPORTS, the "Iron Chef" of indie filmmaking, makes its Parkway debut ($7).  The cinematic athletes will be at the City Hall plaza (12th and Broadway–oh so BARTable) at 10 a.m. that morning to kick things off.
Lastly, a benefit for Hand to Hand: FIGHT CLUB – 9:15 p.m. April 15 ($8).

I've been busy lately with the law enforcement side of my beat so have been less than energetic in the Night Owl blogging area.  But last night I caught the last minutes of the talk at Swarm Gallery with Marcus Shelby, Angela Wellman, Duane Deterville, James Gayles and other illustrious company talking about jazz and visual art. My colleague George Kelly taped some of the discussion, which I will post here when it's available. The talk was the culmination of Gayles "Jazz Masters" series of portraits. 
By the time I arrived chairs were being put away and photos taken with the celebs. Then talk turned to Casper Banjo, the Oakland artist who was killed earlier this month. He was shot by police because he raised a gun (that turned out to be a replica) at police.  Deterville said the community was outraged because not only was an elder killed, but a few days later a teen boy was shot by police, who said he had turned a rifle on them.
No apologies came from OPD in either case, which angered Deterville. He was saying it felt like there was no justice — because Banjo was black. 
From what I understand, he was saying that racism makes pulling the trigger that much more likely because of racial profiling. I think Hershell West summed up best the anger and frustration I heard last night and have heard for years: "Casper's death seems so surreal and yet so familiar in an inner city community where black men are gunned down on a regular basis without consequence, without justifiable cause. The black community must need demand a full and accurate account on this unforgivable outrage. My hope is that casper's life, his art, and his dignity, will require a more resolute action bv the community to demand unequivocal justice, not only for the humanity of casper, but rather, and more importantly, justice for the future of black manhood in the inner city of Oakland."
Deterville's wife said the elected officials need to be pressured to do something about the situation. I have no issues with OPD because I work with them. I'm a white middle class woman so one bothers me — police or otherwise — because even in the "worst" parts of town everyone figures I must be lost driving around in my beat up old Toyota.  
But I hope to find out what effect Banjo's meds had on his behavior (i.e. why was he out there on the street with a replica gun in the first place); whether he had an epileptic seizure while officers were demanding he drop the gun; whether the shooting was justified based on objective criteria; and, lastly, untangle the statistics to show whether black, Latino or other people of color are the majority of victims in police shootings.  So if I don't write as often here, it's because I'm hunkered down. Not much of a night owl but I'll try to keep things going. If you have anything good to share send it on and pitch in to keep Oakland's night life in the spot light.

Good question. I think we all are right now. We'd have several good excuses in any case. East Oakland-raised rapper Ise Lyfe poses the question tonight at the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts (1428 Alice St., Oakland). The one-man show revolves around the question of expectations and traps.
The show starts 8 p.m. Tickets are $15-$20.  

Things got so busy here this week I forgot about the beatboxing event yesterday at La Pena. Good thing it's a monthly affair. The next one is April 24. The advertisement says that "Speak the Music" is a new Bay Area group dedicated to the art of beatboxing. 
Art + Beatboxing?  Don't get me wrong — I mean no disrespect, but since when did those two words come together? Something must be going around because there' s also a bimonthly gathering of beatboxers in San Francisco at the Climate Theater over on 9th and Folsom. The next "Vowel Movement Beatboxers" is April 5. Okay these guys are hot, serious stuff but the name is uncomfortably close to another kind of movement. Might be intentional but picturing Bowel Movement Beatboxers grosses me out. Okay. I'm beat (no pun intended) and a little cranky.  Anyway, the La Pena venue is all ages $8 admission. The Climate gig is $10 general admission 21+ only.
Saturday is another event that caught my attention because I hadn't heard of the group or the venue. The House of Stormz is presenting a trilogy of community, medicine and celebration from March 22 to May 24. I am so going to the Pyro-A-Go-Go fire dancing burlesque show on the 24th. But then the two-time Lip battle champ Talia this Saturday sounds good too. The club is in the unlikely location 1439 105th Ave. @ International Blvd.  Admission is $10 - strictly 21 and over.
(Photo by JS Moorman)

Something is brewing Thursday evening. In two art galleries that sit side-by-side. And it ain't even the first Friday Art Murmur.
The art show, "JazzMasters," opens to the public at the Swarm Gallery, (560 Second St.).  Marcus Shelby — whose likeness is painted in blue against an old review of a Duke Ellington show — will be on hand for the reception with his quartet and Faye Carol.
Next door at the ProArts Gallery (550 Second St.) comes the artists' reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. for “Jingletown Junction,” a series of photographs, paintings, sculptures, mixed media and even furniture (did I mention live music, too?) revolving around the section of the city between the Fruitvale District and Alameda bridge near 29th Avenue. Legend has it that Jingletown got its' name in the 1930s from the mostly poor Portuguese mill workers walking the streets in their Zoot Suits with hands in pockets jingling the coins they earned picking cotton. The other story is that the area got the name from the jingling bells worn by dairy cows.
For those that can't make either event, Shelby be part of an artists panel discussion planned for 6:30 p.m. March 27 at Swarm with "Black Artists in Oakland" co-author Duane Deterville; photographer and musician Kimara Dixon; Oakland Public Conservatory of Music dean and trombonist Angela Wellman (whose portrait also is in the show); and arts columnist Wanda Sabir. Greg Bridges from KCSM and KPFA will moderate.
At ProArts,  there will be an artists’ talk 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. April 5 about the Jingletown show. 

Lookin' good.