The Night Owl

A salsa congress by any other name…

Angela Woodall — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:47:58 +0000

is still a salsa congress, right? Well, consider the following. I was passing by the downtown Convention Center Saturday evening when I heard the sound of a horn section blaring and dancers swinging in unison coming from the Marriott lobby. It was the Seventh Annual San Francisco Salsa Congress. But the three-day event with 50 workshops, showcases and dance competitions that continued until 4 a.m. was in Oakland. So why is it called the San Francisco Salsa Congress and Oakland or at least Bay Area?????? Why was it not better publicized? We need some serious PR work on this city.

Night owl chariot

Angela Woodall — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:47:57 +0000

I was visiting a sick, post-surgical best friend this weekend who looked at me with some surprise when I confessed I had never heard of the Night Owl bus, the cross-Bay chariot that was supposed to run from SF to Oakland and beyond as long as partiers and graveyard shift workers (etc) did.
Oh the shame! How many of you were like me and believed that you had to curtail your evening hours to fit BART or had to curtail your reveling to fit driving laws? No more. But, like many public services, it’s a “use it or lose it” proposition. A wide stretch in Costra County Co. was discontinued or at least in danger of being discontinued for lack of use. Don’t let that happen to us in Oakland.

Shop the O

Angela Woodall — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:44:36 +0000

Who knew a merchants smooch fest would be so fun? Okay, I’m a geek, but I stopped by the Oakland Merchants Leadership Forum (hang on) at the Washington Inn tonight to write a short blog about the annual schmoozapalooza. I figured it would take 15 minutes. Instead, the Inn was packed with merchants and people from retail arteries that feed our dear city’s businesses, including Steve and Andrew of Oakland Venue Management and Shari Godinez from the Oakland Merchants Leadership Forum and Helen Wyman of Oakland Events and Ligaya Tichy of Yelp and Jonathan Bair of The DTO. So I stayed two hours. Ooops. But, hey! Mayor Ron Dellums even proclaimed via proxy that Nov. 20 is Shop Oakland Day.
The forum has beefed up the Shop Oakland Grown campaign including the Web site that is a portal for merchants and shoppers. Retailers list their businesses and products on the site that buyers can search acc. to their favorite criteria. I’m supposed to write a print story about the push, but the bottom line is you should be slapping down your dollar bills in Oakland. I vote for spending them on martinis but powers higher than those of your humble night owl have determined the thrust should be on holiday spending: $100 per person. Okay, give the Christmas and Thanksgiving, THEN just slip in the martinis.

Pump up the volume

Angela Woodall — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:14:59 +0000

Joyful music improves blood vessel function

Recent study results suggest that laughing and listening to music that makes people feel joyful can help to improve blood vessel function.

Read the full story here

Spice up your monkey

Angela Woodall — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:37:54 +0000

You remember when I wrote that the Spice Monkey cafe was growing up and getting a liquor license? They did and tonight is a free wine tasting to be accompanied by the aptly named Swinging Monkey band.

Shop Oakland, baby

Angela Woodall — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:45:29 +0000

Food by La Borinquena restaurant, Fashion by SOBO (South of Broadway) merchants, Music by DJ BSG, Models hair and make-up by Gente Bella Salon & Spa. What could this be?

Event Info:

Date:        Thursday, November 20
Time:        5:30 PM Cash Bar & Mingling
                6-9 PM Festivities
Location: Washington Inn
                495 10th St.
                Oakland, CA 94612

Cheech & Chong in Bezerkley

Angela Woodall — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 22:00:30 +0000

Cheech & Chong have several shows coming up in the bay area… they will be performing at the Berkeley Community Theatre on Saturday, November 22nd…. at Nob Hill Masonic Center on Sunday, November 23rd…. and at the Performing Arts Center in San Jose on Sunday, November 30th.

Tony Curtis goes Van Gogh

Angela Woodall — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:30:31 +0000

Tony Curtis Exhibit Comes To Dennis Rae Fine Art
Legend of The Silver Screen Will Make Personal Appearance
At San Francisco Waterfront Gallery Wednesday, November 19

Tony Curtis week kicks off tonight, however, at the opening of the show. Be sure to read this month’s Vanity Fair for the whole story about the artist. He totally dishes. Hot Hot Hot.
WHAT: Two Public Opening of Tony Curtis Art Show featuring Tony Curtis in personWHEN: 6:00 - 8:00 PM-Wednesday, November 19

(415) 292-0387

Open to the public-Through December 2008

Monday-Wednesday 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday, Friday & Saturday 10:00 AM - 10 PM
Closed Sunday

WHERE: Dennis Rae Fine Art
781 Beach Street, San Francisco CA 94109Public may call:

415 621-5288 http://www.thecastrotheatre.com/

San Francisco, CA-Aside from his acting career, Tony Curtis has also been seriously painting for 50 years and after going public with his work in 1987, he now displays some pieces on his personal webpage www.tonycurtis.com. His work has been compared in style to Van Gogh and Matisse. Many celebrities have purchased his work - Billy Wilder, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Frank Sinatra, Walter Mathau, Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas.

Digital Artifact Magazine

Angela Woodall — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:14:22 +0000

You Are Invited to a Launch Party for
Digital Artifact Magazine
Issue Two: Transnationalism
Sunday, November 16th at 4 pm. $6.
Artists’ Television Access, 992 Valencia St., SF
(415) 824-3890, atasite.org
Wheelchair accessiblePlease join us for a multidisciplinary evening of readings, performance, audio and visual works to celebrateIssue Two of Digital Artifact Magazine, a web-based journal that explores digital and global culture using hybrid aesthetic tactics. Focusing on transnationalism, Issue Two includes fiction, poetry, essays and translations along with sound pieces, video, and images. Whether lingering in airport waiting zones or interrogating the idea of a boundary line, the works in Digital Artifact’s latest issue question the inscriptions of nationalism, locality and genre and explore the possibilities of transnational artistic practices.

Readings: Renee Evans, Marco Lean, Chana Morgenstern and Camille Roy
Audio: Amanda Davidson and Nick Ott, Mamoru Okuno, and Lily Robert-Foley
Video: Linda Ford, Juliana Mundim, and Kirthi Nath
Performance: Youth Development Principals (Heidi Cunningham, Renee Evans and Cassie Riger)

digitalartifactmagazine.com
digitalartifactmagazine.blogspot.com
digitalartifactmagazine@gmail.com

Digital Artifact is affiliated with the Artifact Reading Series and Press, online at artifactsf.org. Artifact is a member of the Incubator Program at Intersection for the Arts.

Girl on girl dodgeball, Hooters and East Oakland

Angela Woodall — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:10:01 +0000

In addition to a score of other shows and diversions I missed, there was a girl-on-girl dodgeball game Saturday (NO boys allowed). BTW, folks, the Web site comment section will be down most of the afternoon into Thursday morning for maintenance. They are supposedly upgrading to a new and improved system. I am switching to a sort of new reporting system, too. That is, I am supposed to be roaming around Oakland blogging, video taping and writing on the fly starting soon. It’s sort of an extension of what I’m already doing (roaming around). I’ll just be more interactive about it. I’ve been thinking I should start riding the bus up and down Oakland, not just downtown and the popular arteries like Rockridge. I love the Fruitvale and International Blvd up in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Just think what else is out there that remains “undiscovered” by this night owl. OH, one last thing, I was saddened to discover that Hooters’ mascot is an owl. There I was driving by Hooters’ Hotel (!) in Las Vegas when I saw it, larger than life: The Hooters’ owl. Then I find out yesterday that attendees of the weird Bohemian Grove gathering worship an owl. Yuck.