Red Friday

Your Boulevardier was up early on Friday morning for a yoga class, and later in the day walked the City of Lite. Things were generally quiet on both occasions, perhaps to the displeasure of retailers. There was no waiting to see Santa in Castro Village at around 1:00 p.m., but the line for coffee at Peet's practically stretched out the door.

Although the Man in Red was under-occupied, the Trees in Red -- these spotted in the parking lot behind Round Table Pizza on Redwood Road -- were busy working their magic.



An hour or two later in the day, a pocket storm blew through bringing high winds, torrential rain, and thunder, all followed by a double rainbow. Quite the weather episode.

Happy Holidays

Your Boulevardier notes with pleasure that Castro Village is making good use of an empty storefront to create a sitting room for Santa. What's more, it has marked the space with a very attractive sign.


In the not-so-distant past, of course, the big guy sat in a chair in the window of the Village Toy Shop. When that store closed and Eden Bicycles took over its place, the bike shop kindly (and, Your Boulevardier thinks, wisely) ceded some of its sales floor to the man from the North Pole.

This new situation makes sense. It puts another storefront to use while not taking away valuable space from merchants. Still, his presence in his own quarters will draw the young ones and their parents to the Village.

Happy holidays, all. Let the season commence!

A Saxophone is Silenced

Your Boulevardier was saddened to read the obituary in the Daily Review for John Almond.

Regular shoppers at Castro Valley's Pete's Hardware will likely remember John, who (like all Pete's employees) was knowledgeable and eager to help. His English accent may have given away a bit of his exceptional nature, but not the most important nugget: as Johnny Almond, he was one of the most important and influential blues-rock saxophonists of the 1960s. Someone has already updated the Wikipedia entry on his band, Mark-Almond, to reflect his demise.

Mr. Almond's memorial service is scheduled for December 12 at Neighborhood Church. One imagines and hopes that the music at the service will be most impressive -- though it can never be as wonderful as it would have been if Mr. Almond himself were playing.

Sit a Spell

Your Boulevardier is a fan of The HayWord, which reports online the news that's happening to our immediate south-southwest. And Your Boulevardier is happy to report that he's not the only one poking gentle fun at billboards, misspelled signs, and the like. Reporter Eric Kurhi has, correctly, labeled one sign in Hayward "an affront to spelling."

Sadness on the Strip

On his walk this morning Your Boulevardier came upon a small group of people gathered around a dead dog in the gutter on Castro Valley Boulevard near Worley's. The animal, which looked to be a Chihuahua mix, black with brown and white markings, was not recently killed; perhaps it had been hit by a car overnight.

The people were debating what to do about the dog. They had removed its collar and (based on a small bit of eavesdropping) it's presumed they were planning to call a number on the tag. All Your Boulevardier heard was one young woman saying to another, "So put the collar back on it."

It's heartbreaking when a pet is killed, and it's anguishing to see an animal dead in the roadway. The easiest thing to do when one comes upon such a situation is to wince and move along. Your Boulevardier respectfully tips his beret to these people who chose not to just turn their heads and walk on by.

Midnight Moon

Last night Your Boulevardier took BART to San Francisco to see the apocalyptic thriller 2012 with friend PF and his son JDF. After dinner and a 7:30 p.m. show -- and a lost phone that required our scouring the sticky floors of a few theater rows -- a Dublin-Pleasanton train was caught for the ride home.

Upon arriving at the Castro Valley station, and being on foot, Your Boulevardier decided to make a detour by the Chabot Cinema. He was curious whether the theater was hosting a midnight show of New Moon, the latest in the Twilight vampire saga. Sure enough, the marquee was lit and people, mostly young women, were assembling. Some were walking to the theater from surrounding parking lots, looking like moths moving toward a bright light or zombies stalking fresh brains.

The theater doors were already open when Your Boulevardier passed at around 11:40 p.m., so there wasn't the stereotypical line of fans that midnight "event" movies sometimes engender; however, there was a good-sized crowd inside, purchasing tickets -- and, perhaps, coffee. Some people were sighted in pajamas and slippers and carrying blankets. It seems that, to some in attendance, the midnight movie event evoked the feel of a teenage sleepover.

Your Boulevardier did not join the fun. He is not current on the Twilight phenomenon, and one supernatural movie was enough for the evening. He walked down Baker Road (past another place haunted by denizens of the night, Spanky's Lounge) and across the pedestrian overpass over I-580 and home.

Ramp to Somewhere

Your Boulevardier noticed this recent addition to the onramp to eastbound I-580.



A couple of things strike one as odd about this. First, what's it for? Your Boulevardier's best guess is that it's for Highway Patrol or other emergency vehicles to sit in before they enter the freeway.

Second: the drainage from it. Note, if you can in the photo, the contours of the ramp and the wall behind it. The wall drains into the grate (currently surrounded by sandbags) while the pullout itself drains onto the sidewalk, or maybe into the adjacent gutter.

Thirdly: the tiny fence atop the small retaining wall. What is its purpose? A person can walk twenty feet to get around it, so it can't be to keep someone from what's on the other side. If it's to keep people from above from falling onto the ramp, another question arises: what are they doing up there in the first place?

None of this is earth-shattering news, or even the least bit important. It's just curious. If any readers know about civil engineering, an explanation would be most welcome.

Delay of Game

The Donut Hole Bocce Tournament to benefit Sam Nouv has been delayed (due to rain) until this Saturday, November 21, 2009. There's still time to get in on the action.

We're Counting On Boulders

On a recent visit to the new Castro Valley Library, Your Boulevardier noticed that one of the boulders near the footbridge has an identifying number.



Truth is, when the boulders were delivered many weeks ago, it was noticed (but not posted, alas) that all of the stones were marked with numbers. Your Boulevardier was tempted to make a remark about tagging, but let it go. Now, it is guessed, those numbers were used by the landscape architect to direct heavy equipment the placement of the boulders.

Village Happenings

This coming weekend (November 21-22), FOB (Friend of Boulevardier) Fleurette Sevin will be one of several artists demonstrating their skills, selling their wares, and supporting music education in Castro Valley schools at Aran's Art Studio.

Fleurette fuses glass into colorful creations, such as holiday-themed the bottle stopper shown below. She also takes custom orders. Other artists will be demonstrating ceramics. There will be a raffle, kids' projects, and live music. (Your Boulevardier hopes to join in the music-making on Saturday.)

The event is from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. both days. Please do plan to attend, and to make a purchase.

English Only

Your Boulevardier happened to be visiting his bank this morning when a pack of English car enthusiasts gathered for a top-down drive in the cool autumn air.



Most -- if not all -- of the cars were MGs. (Click on the photo for a better view.) The variety of colors and styles and vintages was most impressive. Your Boulevardier snapped his photo a bit surreptitiously; had he been more bold, he would have inquired more about the group and taken photos of some of the elaborate headgear that the motorists were employing to keep their ears warm.

The roar and rumble as the string of English Roadsters started up and pulled onto The Boulevard was great fun to hear.

The Drink's On Me

This juxtaposition of billboards on Castro Valley Boulevard caught Your Boulevardier's eye this morning.



One would not suggest that alcohol and soda are equally bad for young people (or for adults, for that matter). However, a good case can me made that neither one is very good for a person. Soda in quantity -- the billboard advertises 100 ounces for a family of four as a possible serving size -- provides a great deal of carbohydrates and little else. Those 25 ounces would deliver 75 grams of carbohydrates -- largely in the form of high fructose corn syrup, which some say is worse than good old glucose.

We have excellent tap water in Castro Valley. Perhaps that's the best choice of all.

Steaming into the Holidays

Your Boulevardier has a small surplus of scraps to post, but is squeezed for time due to other commitments. How can it be that he holidays are already pressing upon us? But it seems that they are. Anyway, a few items are on tap and should appear in the coming days.

Meanwhile, he will report that, while he loves the Castro Valley outlet of Peet's Coffee & Tea, the company really needs to power-wash the area under their outdoor tables. And truly, it would be most neighborly if they would wash the sidewalk all the way to their garbage cans, and around the corner for a few yards on Redwood Road. The rains are coming (we all hope), but they're not going to wash away the sticky stains on the concrete.

Donut Forget

Your Boulevardier hosted the Subcompact Loaner over part of the weekend, and walked the pooch on Sunday morning to Lee's Donuts. He purchased a cinnamon roll and left a gratuity; he inquired as to proprietor Sam Nouv's well-being, and was told that he is healing from the criminal beating he received last month.

Word on the Boulevard is that eight teams are now signed up for Saturday's Donut Hole Open Bocce Tournament, to be held at Adobe Park in Castro Valley, to help defray Mr. Nouv's considerable medical expenses. The tournament organizer would prefer for there to be twelve teams. (There must be an even number.) The entry fee is $100 per team.

Information can be found on the Castro Valley Chamber of Commerce Calendar. (If that link does not work, go to the chamber website and click about until you find it.)

Crowing about Rowells

Don, the fiberglass horse that stands guard outside of Rowell's Saddlery, has a new friend -- a large-headed scarecrow. Your Boulevardier does not know if the smiling new fellow is a temporary or permanent addition to the shop's publicity team, but we're certain Don enjoys the companionship on chilly days like today.



("Don," by the way, is Your Boulevardier's name for the horse; the handle was bestowed in honor of Don Guillermo Castro, who once owned the valley in which our town now resides. Yes, Your Boulevardier is aware that "Don" is, in this case, a title, not a name. Work with me, people.)

Radio Buzz

Your Boulevardier is loyal, but he is not exclusively a patron of businesses in Castro Valley. He's also a fan of -- and walks to -- shops in downtown Hayward. On a recent visit to the Book Shop (a fine business that recently changed hands) bookseller Renée insisted on telling Your Boulevardier about an upcoming bit of excitement in that fair city.

It seems that KFOG "personality" -- one remembers when they were called Disc Jockeys, alas -- Big Rick Stuart will visit the Hayward Peet's from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon on Saturday, November 7, to hawk the radio station's latest "Live from the Archives" CD. The proceeds from sales of these CDs go to bay area food banks, so the cause is just.

Look for Renée. Something tells Your Boulevardier she'll be close to the front of the line.

Ramping Up

Progress continues on the Highway 580 / Redwood Road interchange. For a long time the work seemed largely confined to the south side of the freeway, but in the last few weeks crews have taken out trees, built a retaining wall, and carved off a portion of the Spencer Mortuary parking lot for the westbound offramp. (Click the photo for a larger view.)



The pace of the project is to be commended -- especially when compared with the interchange modifications at Strobridge Avenue. Your Boulevardier commented on the problems with this project way back in January; only recently has the vacant lot been cleaned up, but the trash along the fence under the freeway remains, and lanes -- both on Strobridge and on the eastbound onramp -- continue to be inexplicably blocked off. (Your Boulevardier does not refer to the closing of Strobridge at Gary Drive, which he approves of in spite of the fact that it makes access to his own neighborhood more difficult.)

Back to the Redwood Road interchange, a number of questions remain in Your Boulevardier's mind, regarding both the roads and the sidewalks. He will post these questions in the near future. Meanwhile, as a pedestrian, he hopes the walk/don't walk signs and buttons will be connected soon.

Down In The Dumps

On a Monday walk from Chez Boulevardier to downtown, Your Boulevardier encountered an illegal dumpsite on Norbridge Avenue, just west of Nunes Avenue. Returning to the scene yesterday, the detritus was still there. (Not that it would get up and remove itself.) Your Boulevardier apologizes for the poor quality of the photo.



Your Boulevardier and Mon Petit Chou, who was making a rare-but-welcome weekday visit, discussed the circumstances that could lead to a person dumping two couches, a bed, a pallet, and other miscellaneous refuse on a public street. Certainly, a trip to the dump can be costly, but the Castro Valley Sanitary District offers a free bulky pickup once a year. Perhaps timing and finances were the issue: the dumper had been evicted from his home and had nowhere to take the stuff, and no money to deal with the problem. Chances are the truth will never be known, in this particular case.

Regardless of the circumstances, dumping on a public street is a selfish, wasteful, uncivilized way to deal with refuse. Clearly the perpetrator knew this, because he dumped his junk in a dark, untrafficked stretch of road with no residences on either side.