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).

Some of you may have heard that as of March 1, Oakland's Parkway Speakeasy Theater prices will match the Cerrito: $7 GENERAL ADMISSION — $5 MATINEES.
The Speakeasy folks called the increase a "last minute fiscal decision" due to the "topsy turvy economy."

Tickets for the Oscar bash at the Parkway and Cerrito speakeasy theaters are on sale now. They went fast yesterday but there's still some left for you stargazers who want to spiff up for the Academy Awards Feb. 24 on the Speakeasy theaters' HD big screens. No hipper place to be, I say.
The Parkway will be open 3 p.m. today and the Cerrito opened 1 p.m. Advance tickets $20, limit four per customer, ages 18 and over only.
The Cerrito Oscar Bash will be hosted (with trivia, contests and prizes) by Will the Thrill and Monica Tiki Goddess downstairs http://www.thrillville.net/ and Mr Lobo and the Queen of Trash upstairs http://www.cinemainsomnia.com/
Both screens at the Parkway will be hosted with live skits, trivia, costume contests and more. Doors open 4 p.m. The show goes on 5 p.m.

This week just has not been going well, which is strange because it should be considering how beautiful the weather is. Friday night Oakland felt like it was about to blossom after the foul rain and wind that battered us for what seemed like forever. I was out at Flora — my first time, but seeing as it is THE hot-spot right now and I'm writing a follow-up story about the Uptown area, I pulled up a stool at the vintage-style bar and ordered a "Dark and Stormy" cocktail, which would describe this week so far. Maybe it was a sign of things to come?
Enough has been said about Flora, good and bad, so I'll only comment that it felt like Bogart and Bacall might show up any minute. That's the kind of vibe the bar and exterior have. The restaurant is different.  So there I was, a little tired, leafing through the Trib when Ira, who's on the Fox team sidled up to the bar. I have to say the New Yorker brightened the mood. So did seeing a young man and his father sitting next to us reading a story about the reopening of the Fox Oakland theater I had just written in the Trib. What a grand sight. Oakland paper, Oakland restaurant, Oakland folks.
I was testing the renaissance hype about how Flora and the Fox, along with the Paramount, are going to ignite the area and draw people to the existing clubs, like Van Kleef's and the Uptown, where I headed next. People were indeed out in numbers and looking good that balmy evening for a Jill Scott/Raheem Devaughn show at the Paramount and the band at the Uptown (sorry, forget the name of the band but people were definitely rocking out). The place was packed with night owls, including a reader — a librarian from the East Coast – who was there for the first time having won tickets for the show. It's interesting to get a perspective from folks that have recently moved here because, seems to me, things are changing fast.  They'll never know the experience of bountiful parking the way it used to be. Okay, I'd rather sacrifice parking (which I did that night) for some nightlife. But that's just me. Anyone else noticing this? Are you ready for the trade-off?

Here's another e-mail from a reader to share a tip:

Dear Ms. Woodall;
As a long time Oakland resident, I enjoyed your recent piece about the FOX Oakland theatre restoration, along with other interesting Oakland theater information. Via my interests in Oakland's history and preservation, I attended the FOX auction in 1978; my kitchen clock (large neon advertisement for '4 Wheel Brake Oakland') came from my winning bid at the
late T & D Theatre's auction circa 1976.
(The T&D was a super swank place that opened in 1916 on 429 11th St. with a Pompeian Room and ladies' tea parlor where tipping the help was forbidden, according to Theatres of Oakland. Originally the initials stood for the owners, Turner and Dahnken. Later T&D was short for "Tough and Dirty," a nickname that should tell you something about the theaters fate.)

I'm currently engaged in a personal project documenting and researching
small town movie theaters throughout the US. I'm combining my professional
past in the local film industry with a passion for photography: http://www.rushcreekgallery.com/lfop/index.html

Midnight Saturday,  Barely Legal Productions celebrate nine years of presenting THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW at the Parkway in classic style! And speaking of horror shows,  it's SUPERBOWL XLII on all screens at both Parkway and Cerrito on Sunday.  21 & over, $2 "party fee", doors open 2PM, game at 3PM, first come, first served. The Cerrito (which is wheelchair accessible upstairs) is showing the big showdown on big screen and cafe broadcast is in HD.  http://www.azsuperbowl.com

Picture yourself beginning 10 p.m. Mondays with a pitcher of Bud and a bowling ball playing out your suburban, stationwagon-driving fantasies at the Albany Bowl.
Schlemiel! Schlemazl! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated! It's a steal at only $1.50 a game.  Albany Bowl is located at 540 San Pablo Ave. (Albanybowl.biz)
Actually, I happened to pass by there yesterday from the Cerrito Speakeasy, where I saw a matinee of "Sweeny Todd" (I am the only person I know who actually liked the film), and was stunned at the bustle in that little section of El Cerrito by the BART station. The Cerrito, three cool cafes, the big shopping center, little stores, a hardware store that is NOT Home Depot, etc. It used to be dead over there.  Closer to Solano Ave. (which is its own success story), are the Albany Bowl, stores, cafes, shops and Kingman's Ivy Room, which, as I told my daughters while driving by, my mouth agape, used to be a pretty murky bar at times. I've meaning to get to the Ivy Room since it changed ownership. I remember Kingman from the days when he ran a cafe on Lakeshore and I lived up on Mandana. I practically studied my way through college there, when they were waiting to just get a beer and wine license. Then came Kingman's Lucky Lounge on Grand and now he has pretty much built a hip empire of hooch.
(BTW, photo is by Thomas Hawk)