Oakland Tribune Outtakes

I was trying to give you some NYC flavor from last night. I can’t tell if the video is wacky bc of my connection here or bc of the low light I shot the video. The streets were shut down so people parked their lawn chairs to soak in the sights.

Bring some Pride to the East Bay Saturday.  The Same-Sex Pride Ball is Saturday at the Allegro Ballroom, 5855 Christie Ave.

Pro Arts is moving from Second Street this month to downtown and re-opens June 23  in the Oakland Art Gallery with “Bay Area Currents 2009.” The artists’ reception is 5-8pm June 25. Also, the Last Fridays Concert Series picks up in the new gallery on 7:30 pm June 26. No word yet on what will replace Pro Arts that occupies the space next to Swarm Gallery, which is staying put and is ready for East Bay Open Studios 2009, which began last night. Here’s a glimpse (okay, a badly shot one…sorry) of the opening party last night at Pro Arts, when the move was announced. (Tell me too, do you think the Oaktown Night Owl moniker I am using on Twitter and Qik — see embedded logo on video below – is too annoying?)

So it looks like the city is moving a bit closer to the idea of using an empty lot next to the Fox Theater for public art instead of a parking lot.

Which is to say, city staff has not ruled it out as infeasible, anyway, according to an email from Jonathan Bair, chair of the city’s bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee. Bair was at Wednesday’s Planning Commission meeting when city staff gave an update.

Developer Forest City is supposed to build housing on the lot at 19th Street and Telegraph Avenue, but asked for an extension due to the economy. In exchange, the city asked Forest City to construct and operate a temporary parking lot there.

That idea didn’t fly with the community members who want more pedestrians and fewer cars on the streets around the Fox and other uptown venues. They lobbied City Hall and lo and behold, the council voted to let the community come up with an alternate plan.

Right now it looks like the desire is use the space to display large public art….. what better way to get pedestrians to hang around and enjoy the street-level view???

Stay tuned for updates….

Esther’s Orbit Room, the last holdout from the days when Seventh Street was THE place to go in the Bay Area to catch well-known or up-and-coming jazz and blues artists such as Ike and Tina Turner, Ray Charles and Etta James, has finally closed its doors. And with Esther Mabry’s declining health, the club’s future is very much in doubt. Stay tuned for the story later this week in the Tribune.

Last month, crews used Cragmont School in Berkeley as a set for filming NBC’s pilot program, “Parenthood.’ “Parenthood,” from the creators of ”Friday Night Lights” revolves around adult siblings, the Bravermans. The project is based on the 1989 movie by the same name.

Berkeley school district spokesman Mark Coplan said the view of the Golden Gate Bridge and City of San Francisco were primary reasons for crews picking the school for filming.

The filming of  ”Parenthood,” with Peter Krause and Maura Tierney, has wrapped up in Berkeley, but not without a tragedy. Nora O’Brien, the executive in charge of drama programming, died April 29 after collapsing in Sausalito, according to the Associated Press.

There were reports on the Internet that the 44-year-old O’Brien actually collapsed while filming on a set in Berkeley. Coplan said that isn’t true. O’Brien had worked for six years at NBC Universal as an executive at the Sci Fi Channel and, most recently, as vice president of drama programming for the company’s studio division, according to the AP. Reports said she suffered a brain anyeurism.

3rd Annual Oakland Indie Awards “Best of Oakland”
Start Time: Friday, May 15 at 5:30pm
End Time: Friday, May 15 at 8:30pm
Where: The Crucible

To see more details and RSVP, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=59181026492&mid=2010e4G59a71801G33a7d3G7

Some may same that UC Berkeley basketball forward Jamal Boykin’s moves on the court are a work of art.

But another true work of art are the 44 portraits he drew of President Barack Obama and his family. It was Boykin’s New Year’s resolution to renew his passion for drawing, which he’s been doing since he was a youngster.

After drawing one picture of  President Obama in an airport on a Cal basketball road trip, he decided to make it his goal to draw 44 pictures of the 44th  president.

It’s his ultimate goal to one day be able to present the drawings to the president. But for now he will show of the color drawings, which also include Michelle Obama and the couple’s children, on Saturday, May 9 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at the Alphonse Berber Gallery, 2546 Bancroft Way in Berkeley. Boykin plans to speak at 7 p.m. Refreshments will be served. The art includes photography by Cal guard Nican Robinson.

An ABC story on Boykin is here: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-fbyEZbaCk
Cal basket guard Patrick Christopher will recite poetry at the event, a fundraiser  for art supplies at Malcolm X Elementary School in Berkeley. Boykin’s drawings will also be shown at galleries in Los Angeles and Washington D.C. in the future.
 
Boykin is a 6-7, 230-pound forward who was the California state player of the year as a high school senior. He transferred to UC Berkeley from Duke University in 2007.

Eve Chaurand-Fraser is about the farthest thing from a NASCAR racecar driver.
She’s an attorney.

But this Saturday at the Phoenix International Raceway, Chaurand-Fraser, associate general counsel at the Oakland-based search engine Ask.com, will have her name plastered on the front of the Ask.com NASCAR racecar hood driven by Bobby Labonte, the 44-year-old Texas native who drives the No. 96 car. Millions are expected to watch the race.
Chaurand-Fraser, an Oakland woman who has been with the company for three years, gets the honor because of her “superior work” at the company, said a company spokesman.

“Eve keeps the Ask legal engine finely tuned, revved up, and race-ready. Whether it’s focusing on syndication deals, privacy policies, or partner contracts, Eve is always poised and focused on doing whatever she can to help her company and community,’’ said a statement from the company. “Eve is known to go way more than the extra mile for her team, pulling many all-nighters to work out the details on some of the trickiest and most complex deals vital to one of Oakland’s major employers.”

Wow, maybe she should drive the car after all?

Labonte, a driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, comes from a racing family. His older Terry Labonte was a NASCAR driver until he retired at the end of the 2006 season. The duo are the only brothers to have both won the championship in NASCAR’s top series. Bobby Labonte is also the uncle of former Nationwide Series winner Justin Labonte.