APRIL 2011

after 4/7/11, here after 4/14/11, here after 4/22/11, here

 

Don't be meek!

Make John Coltrane Park

in Potter Creek

 

 

April is Jazz Appreciation Month

 

4/1/11

MISCELLANEOUS RAMBLINGS

Today is Berkeley's 133rd Birthday

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US

 

 

Seems it's also the Hell's Angel's 54th

 

Last Tuesday's city council special session video is here. The link to the regular session video is here.

 

"Making safer streets in memory of little boy" by Tracey Taylor at berkeleyside.com.

"Zachary Cruz, in whose memory his parents are crusading for safer streets.

Frank Cruz has turned a horrific personal tragedy - the death on a crosswalk of his five-year-old son Zachary - into a crusade to make Berkeley's streets safer for pedestrians."

"Robberies and other crime at Berkeley High School is common, prosecutor says" by Doug Oakley Berkeley Voice.

Adults at Berkeley High School are obstructing efforts to prosecute students arrested for armed robberies on a campus where robbery, beatings and drug dealing are common, an Alameda County district attorney told a crowd at the school Monday night."

 

 

"Create fair collection system for online sales tax" is a Contra Costa Times editorial.

"With the growing volume of merchandise being sold over the Internet, some California lawmakers are seeking to require online businesses to collect state sales taxes as a way to boost revenues.

Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, is sponsoring AB153, which proponents predict will raise $500 million in uncollected sales tax money."

 

 

And on Tuesday on the PBS News reporter Ray Suarez asked "Is the U.S. Stuck in a Second Housing Slump?"

 

And Charlie Rose' interview with Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew is here. Is Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew one of the wisest politicians on earth? Maybe.

 

 

Kubik emails a link to "Countering Radiation Fears With Just the Facts" at nytimes.com.

"As soon as David J. Brenner heard about the undersea earthquake and subsequent tsunami that devastated northern Japan on March 11, he checked a map of the region's nuclear power plants. One, because of its coastal location and reactor design, looked particularly vulnerable: Fukushima Daiichi. He hoped he was wrong.

Less than a day later, ominous reports of failed cooling systems and radiation leaks at that plant began to emerge." 

 

END

 

 

POST FROM THE PAST

4/8/04

John and Susanne's building on Grayson Street is now finished.

 

END

 

 

Full text of Obama's address, "Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future".

 

 

 

 

 

4/3/11

MISCELLANEOUS RAMBLINGS

Penny Notes

When in Boston some years ago, I was talking to a jazz piano player who said coldly "Oscar Peterson plays penny notes." Meaning simply that he uses lots of them and that lessens their relative value.

Over the years, the idea stuck with me.

But I've wondered who then plays ten dollar notes? I've become satisfied that the Duke Ellington/ Billy Strayhorn arrangements are made up of ten dollar, maybe even, hundred dollar ones.

And I believe something like this applies to writing, with poets creating thousand dollar words.

 

 

 

 

An Exhibition and Auction to benefit Kala Art Institute

Kala Art Institute Board of Directors and Honorary Co-Chairs Senator Loni Hancock
& Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates invite you to

 

a ten-day exhibition of works by a select group of contemporary artists currently working in California culminating in a dynamic Gala Auction on April 30, 2011.

Along with original artworks there will be unique art-related items and experiences offered through both live and silent auctions. Fine wine and exquisite food will be served at the Gala. Proceeds from the auction provide direct support for Kala Art Institute's programs for artists and the public.

Auction Exhibition: April 20 ­ 30, 2011
Preview Party: Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 6:00 ­ 8:00 pm
Silent Auction opens, Free admission
Auction Gala: Saturday, April 30, 2011, 6:30 ­ 9:30 pm

Tickets:
$40/person or $75 for two in advance
$50/person or $90 for two at the door
To purchase tickets:
Online: http://kala.org/auction
By Phone: 510-841-7000
By Mail: Send a check to Kala Art Institute, 2990 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley, CA 94702
In Person: Kala Gallery

 

 

In Casablanca, Captain Renault, says before closing down Rick's "I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here! "

Me? "I'm shocked, shocked to find that violence and drug dealing are going on in Berkeley High! "

Perhaps what's shocking is not that it's been going on, but that it's now finally, almost being addressed.

A couple of years ago Jarad brought the subject up in Scrambled Eggs only to be ridiculed by almost all--certainly by most of the establishment. Underlying this, was often "Not here, this is Berkeley. We're special."

Apparently not.

 

 

"Snooki gets $32K to talk 'GTL' on Rutgers campus" is an AP report at contracostatimes.com.

"The pouf is mightier than the pen when it comes to speaking fees at New Jersey's largest university.

The Rutgers University Programming Association paid Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi of the reality TV show 'Jersey Shore' $32,000 Thursday to dish on her hairstyle, fist pumps, as well as the GTL-gym, tanning, laundry-lifestyle.

That's $2,000 more than the $30,000 the university is paying Nobel-winning novelist Toni Morrison to deliver Rutgers' commencement address in May."

 

 

 

The Berkeley Bowl Cafe remodel is moving along with the final drawings waiting approval.

The major change remains the removal of the center-island to be replaced by seating. The kitchen will be moved back slightly with the ordering/display counter running along the kitchen front.

Creatively the remodel calls for two family tables made from the bowling-alley-wood of the original Berkeley Bowl. Wooden chairs and small tables will replace the plastic ones. To make for faster service, an express order counter will be located before the ordering/display counter. There will be proper service with dishes and silverware replacing paper and plastic.

 

 

"Berkeley's Stomping Girl Wines joins East Bay Vintners" by Jessica Yadegaran, Bay Area News Group.

"Uzi Cohen always listened to his grandmother -- except when it came to starting a winery."

 

 

Friday, PG & E hooked-up 900 GRAYSON with fresh power.

Kava's building on the corner of 8th and Grayson is for lease.

Margret's having her house painted.

 

It's Spring and San Pablo Avene is "greening up" nicely. It's worth a ride just for the green trees.

 

 

Our Seventh Street BPD Traffic substation is getting a "new" roof.

Ever wondered why police radio-cars have there spots facing up-and-in? They're pre-focused for ease-at-night use.

 

Smash and grab has appeared again in west-Berkeley, a south of Fourth Street business losing three iMacs out thru their shattered glass door.

 

A little thing, . . . but God is in the details.

Soon after BPD dispatch received this fire call, they sent parking enforcement units to the area to relieve the on-scene radio cars for patrol duty.

"Berkeley hills fire inspires calls for eucalyptus tree trimming, road clearing," Rick Hurd, Contra Costa Times.

"A Berkeley city council member asked residents of her city to make additional efforts to trim their eucalyptus trees and get their cars off the street following a fire Saturday that destroyed a home on the 1400 block of Queens Road.

Nobody was injured in the fire, which started around 10:20 a.m., acting Berkeley police Lt. Mike Dougherty said. The fire caused 'extensive damage' to the home, Dougherty said. The family was not home when the fire started."

 

 

 

Jarad emails

I have always loved reading well written accounts of history that tell an interesting story and provide analysis that helps the reader understand the issues as they were perceived in that time period. This article shines a light on the real story about how and why Lincoln's emancipation proclamation came to be. This is truly an interesting read from a legal and political perspective.

The forgotten story of three "contrabands," a pragmatic general and a shrug that made history.

How Slavery Really Ended in America

from the New York Times Magazine at nytimes.com

 

 

I NEED AN INTERN.

Work includes reporting, writing, editing, proofing, still-photographing, audio-video recording . . . more.

email me at ronpenndorf@earthlink.net.

 

 

END

 

 

 

 

POST FROM THE PAST

4/2/10

In what I believe to be the true Potter Creek spirit of mixed-use, our David Snipper emails

Zonkey

 

END

 

 

 

 

"Berkeley Patients Care Collective Celebrates 10 Years" is a story-release at the420times.com.

"The Patient's Care Collective in Berkeley, California is celebrating 10 years in business on Monday, and if you're a patient in the area, they want you to stop by and celebrate with them."

 

 

 

"Berkeley team announces early results from global warming review" at guardian.co.uk.

"A group of scientists in California has released preliminary findings on how much the Earth is warming."

 

 

 

4/5/11

MISCELLANEOUS RAMBLINGS

"The Civil War, the award-winning documentary from filmmaker Ken Burns returns 12 years after its premiere.

The landmark series, airing in its entirety with no content alteration, is rebroadcast complete with digitally remastered images and remixed audio.

The series dramatically introduces viewers to a watershed conflict that ripped the country apart but ultimately helped forge a stronger nation."

 

But before Burn's documentary there was Mercury Record's monumental 1960 audio-documentary, The Civil War.

The Civil War

Harold Lawrence

In publicizing its eleven-hour series, The Civil War, PBS pointed out that producer Ken Burns used hundreds of archival photographs, period paintings, lithographs, posters and other historical visual materials to tell the story of the war. Critic Harry F. Waters gave due credit to the impressive pictorial coverage in his review of the epic documentary. He noted, however, that "ironically, it's the sounds rather than the images that strike most movingly." Waters referred specifically to the authentic-sounding artillery cannonades accompanying the chilling pictures of major battles.

But like most reviewers, he overlooked the fact that the authentic sounds of Civil War weapons, as well as much of the music heard in the series, were taken from the four-LP audio documentary recorded by Mercury Records in 1960 to mark the Civil War Centennial.

 

 

 

 

Our CEID emails

CEID News Spring 2011

(an excerpt)

Birthday's Around the World

Birthdays are one of the highlights of a child's year.

At CEID, the preschool celebrates with a special traditon, combining family, friends, different cultures, and a bit of science. Family and friends spend the morning in class with the birthday child and bring photos to show the class, one from each year of the child's life, beginning with the mother's pregnancy. The children are fascinated to see how they have each grown and changed over time. Families are encouraged to share birthday traditions and food from their culture. Then, everyone sits in a circle with the birthday child in the center. He or she carries the 'world' ball and walks around a candle, which represents the sun--one 'orbit' for each year of life.

The grand finale of the celebration is a pinata, custom made by Maria Rooney, our preschool teacher's assistant.

 

 

 

Councilman Darryl Moore emails

I was notified this morning that, despite our best efforts, the Park Station Post Office, 2900 Sacramento Street (at Russell), will be closing at the end of April.  I urged our representatives in Congress to intervene on our behalf and I appreciate those of you who signed petitions and wrote letters, but it seems that the looming $200+ billion deficit that the United States Postal Service required the agency to make some very difficult decisions. 

 

 

END

 

 

 

"Popular produce stand in West Oakland shuttered until farmer sorts out permit issue with city of Oakland" by Cecily Burt, Oakland Tribune.

The blogosphere is abuzz this week after Novella Carpenter, an urban farmer in West Oakland, blamed a city inspector for forcing her to shutter her popular produce stand until further notice for lack of permits."

Can you spell chicken s#%t?

 

 

 

"San Francisco Rainwater: Radiation 181 Times Above US Drinking Water Standard" at mi2g.com.

"Radiation from Japan rained on Berkeley, California, during recent storms at levels that exceeded drinking water standards by 181 times. A rooftop water monitoring program managed by the University of California at Berkeley's Department of Nuclear Engineering detected substantial spikes in rain-borne iodine-131 during those torrential downpours."

 

 

 

 

 

4/6/11

MISCELLANEOUS RAMBLINGS

Architects, our Kerstin and Andrew are working on a very exciting project--details and drawings to follow.

 

Kubik emails a link to an informative four minute video-lecture

Sebastian Thrun: Google's driverless car

 

"The Berkeley Unified School District released a plan on Tuesday to improve security at the high school, but didn't address one of the major recommendations made by the police - to put security officers in uniform" reports Frances Dinkelspiel at berkeleyside.com.

Seems berkeleyside.com is now part of sfgate.com.

Sh###it!

How'd yah do dat Frances?

 

 

900 GRAYSON continues to break all previous records with last Saturday "The best day ever."

A group from Berkeley's Image Comics lunched at 900 yesterday.

 

END

 

 

POSTS FROM THE PAST

4/3/04

Sometimes you get the tiger

 

4/24/04

In the '70s, at Moe's Books and Records we very seldom carried new records, mostly because of their short markup. My memory is that you'd make seventy-five cents to a dollar on a four-dollar record, and these records were available to customers on trade which we issued at 75 percent, so we were just swapping dollars on trade transactions. This was not trading-up, and Moe did not look kindly on such practices.

But one new record that we regularly stocked was the Balfa Brothers Traditional Cajun Music vol 2 (Swallow 6019 [1974])-- the music was fresh, tuneful and dance filled. Also, the brothers played together well and on hearing you knew they loved what they were doing. The record sold well even with its corny album cover.

I loved the record. I even remember drinking a lot of red wine and playing along on my cello, imitating their cajun style. The more red wine, the better the imitation--it seemed. Though I traded away my personal copy long ago, I always remembered the disq.

Some months ago at a neighbor's, I saw what looked like a tiny version of the album on her living room table, instantly recognizable by it's same, but now not-so-corny cover. This was in fact the CD release of my favorite old record plus another Balfa brothers LP. I borrowed and eagerly listen to it. Like better-wine-than-I-drank-when-playing-along-with-the-record, it has aged well.

Buy it and you will have lots of listening fun. My own favorite cuts are Two Step De L'anse A Paille, Madeleine, and Family Waltz. An aside--I've recently begun listening to CDs of the Baroque authenticists often because of the free and improvisation-like quality of their playing, their performances being excitingly filled with the musicians' own trills and turns. The Balfa Brothers too, decorate their tunes with trills and turns. What fun! (The Balfa Brothers Play Traditional Cajun Music vols 1 and 2 cost $16.00 here or get it at your local store.)

 

4/15/04

and sometimes the tiger gets you

 

END

 

 

 

"California market chain files for bankruptcy" by Eric Sanderson at bankruptcyhome.com.

"A.G. Ferrari Food recently closed one of its stores, but has decided to keep another 12 stores open, according to a report. The company listed assets ranging from $1 million to $10 million, and listed the same amount for debts in the bankruptcy filing . . .

The East Bay store that is closing, located in North Berkeley, had six employees, the filing said. Ferrari told the news source that the company is attempting to relocate the workers at the closed store."

 

 

"St. Patrick scholar at Town Square Library this month" in The Vacaville Reporter.

"A St. Patrick scholar from the University of California will discuss the true nature of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, at 6 p.m. April 15 in the Town Square Library, 1 Town Square Place, in downtown Vacaville.

Daniel Melia, of the Celtic Studies Program at UC Berkeley, promises to 'tease out the myth from the man,' according to a library press release."

 

 

"Xiaoqing Cao, a former biomedical cancer researcher at the University of California, is the new face of the UAW," Detroit Free Press.com.

"Cao, who spent nearly four years as a postdoctoral researcher, is now president of UAW Local 5810 in Berkeley, which now has 6,500 members and ratified its first contract last year.

The UAW helped postdoctoral researchers win annual wage increases, health care guarantees and a minimum salary of $37,740 -- a fact Cao said she believes will lead the UAW to win even more members in higher education.

'This is a group of workers that work long hours and the pay scale is not that attractive,' she explained.

The UAW's growing organizing success in education and casinos, along with a recovering automotive industry that allowed automakers to recall thousands of workers, helped the UAW gain members for the first time since 2005, according to a report filed with the U.S. Department of Labor."

 

 

 

"Feds send $50 Million to grow California solar companies:Energy Department grants expected to create jobs, solidify California as solar industry leader 'Solar is a proven job-creator'" at centralvalleybusinesstimes.com.

"The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded two California organizations a total of $50 million in grants through the federal "SunShot" initiative.

The grants, awarded to SVTC Technologies in San Jose and the Bay Area PV Consortium, managed by Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, are intended to boost American competitiveness in the global solar energy industry and lower the cost of renewable energy by supporting advanced solar photovoltaic-related manufacturing processes."

 

 

 

 

"Research Shows How Glaciers Carved Their Own Way" at planetsave.com

Kurt Cuffey overlooking the glacier-carved Bowen River drainage (middle), Mount Tutoko (far right) and Milford Sound (left) in Fiordland National Park of New Zealand. (Photo by Johnny Sanders)

New research out of the University of California, Berkeley and the Berkeley Geochronology Center (BGC) has allowed scientists to reconstruct what the land looked like before it was scoured and carved up by glaciers."

 

after 4/7/11, here

 

 

from my log

4/3/11--Off-and-on all morning---dry dirty air in warehouse front and IMMEDIATELY in front of warehouse, watery blurry eyes, dry mouth and throat, light head with prolonged exposure.

4/5/11--7:22 AM-- irritant in warehouse front and front of warehouse, dry dirty air, watery eyes, cough attack.

 

 

eternally useful links

 

Bay Area home prices from sfgate.com

 

Bay Area foreclosures from sfgate.com

Our City Council update is here.

 

Our Planning Commision update is here

 

 

You can find more information about our current weather conditions than is good for you at www.wunderground.com

Want to see weather coming in, going out, beautiful sunsets, and much, much more? Check out http://sv.berkeley.edu/view/ This very hip site was in an email from reader and contributor, Tony Almeida. Read Tony's Jimi Hendrix story on the only page that routinely gets more hits than Scrambled Eggs.

 

Best gas prices in 94710, as well as all of US and Canada, are here at gasbuddy.com

Kimar finds Costco routinely has the lowest price.

 

Richmond Ramblers' motorcycle club member, Cliff Miller emails a very

useful link

If you ever need to get a human being on the phone at a credit card company or bank, etc., this site tells you how to defeat their automated system and get you to a human being within a few seconds.

http://gethuman.com/

 

Markets is not just a reference for Berkeley-Hills radicals with 1.5 mil homes and considerable portfolios.

 

Our City of Berkeley Boards and Commissions page is here--redone and friendly.

 

 

Berkeley Police reports at insidebay area.com are here.

 

Our Berkeley PD Site with crime statistics and more is here.

Crime Log for 94710 is here

This site is NOT affiliated with Berkeley PD.
Take time to report crime!

 

All reports of crime-in-progress should first go to Berkeley PD dispatch--911 or non-emergency, 981-5900. THEN make sure you notify EACH of these City people.

The contacts are below:

Our Area Coordinator is Officer Karen Buckheit, Berkeley PD - 981-5774 kbuckheit@ci.berkeley.ca.us

AND check out BPD feature "Who are these Crooks."

 

Angela Gallegos-Castillo, City Mgr Off - 981-2491 agallegos-castillo@ci.berkeley.ca.us

Ryan Lau, aid to Darryl Moore - 981-7120 rlau@ci.berkeley.ca.us

Darryl Moore, City Councilman dmoore@ci.berkeley.ca.us

 

More Scrambled Eggs & Lox, here

and

Stories about Berkeley and stories about recorded-music

are at

Journal of Recorded Music 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

 

ronpenndorf@earthlink.net

The original owner of all posted material retains copyright. The material is used only to illustrate.