Castro Valley Resident Has Letter Published In NY Times

A letter from Castro Valley was published in the New York Times a couple of days ago. The letter's author is one Wesley J. Smith; a scan of his Wikipedia biography shows that he is an attorney and an expert in bioethics, with a broad publishing and research background. (Not to mention the husband of San Francisco Chronicle columnist Debra Saunders.)

Which leads to a question or three: is Mr. Smith a Castro Valley resident? Is Ms. Saunders? Returning to Wikipedia, they are not listed among our town's notable residents, but such lists are typically made up of athletes, entertainers, and rock musicians, rather than intellectuals and journalists. Your Boulevardier will leave it to the reader to decide if that's a statement on Wikipedia, on American values, or on something else.

Gemignani "Rocks the Dough"

Your Boulevardier belatedly stumbled upon a news item in SF Weekly about the North Beach Festival, held a few weeks ago in San Francisco. Castro Valley's Tony Gemignani and his dough-tossing acumen were, it seems, a hit at the festival. Story and photos are here.

Zeppelin over Castro Valley

The Airship Ventures Zeppelin Eureka was flying over Castro Valley today. Your Boulevardier snapped this poor photo from the back deck of Chez Boulevardier.


Also in the air this weekend: the Liberty Belle, a World War II B-17 Flying Fortress. Your Boulevardier shot this video of the Liberty Belle on a previous visit to the Bay Area.


It's a beautiful clear spring day, so Your Boulevardier recommends that you step away from the computer, go outside, and look up.

Question for Wudas, and for everyone

Regular reader and frequent commenter Wudas wrote in response to the item on Hutch's Car Wash:

Perhaps some letter to the new owner will make him aware of the issues. And I'm certain he is unaware of the power of the blog. That could mean doom to Hutch's.

Your Boulevardier suspects that your mention of "the power of the blog" and "doom" are delivered with tongue firmly planted in cheek. But he is curious: do you think that this sort of post, in which Your Boulevardier complains about a perceived problem, is inappropriate for this forum? And further, do you believe that this blog has any actual, measurable power to sway public opinion?

Your Boulevardier is skeptical. He believes that people looking for reviews and opinions on commercial establishements will turn to services such as Yelp that aggregate the brainpower of many. (That is why Your Boulevardier often provides links to that service, if a business does not have a website of its own.)

Any and all thoughts on this topic are appreciated. And this provides a good opportunity for Your Boulevardier to thank all readers for your attention, whether or not you choose to comment. (A three-year-old study found that about 90% of blog readers never comment; by extrapolation, that could mean as many as a few hundred of you are out there, but frankly that's doubtful.)

Animal Signs

Your Boulevardier noticed on Sunday that the Castro Valley Companion Animal Hospital on Redwood Road has installed a wonderful new sign. The fellow who installed the sign was engaged in conversation this past Sunday and he told the story.

The sign was created by a sculptor named Doug Stuart who lives in Napa County. The design was agreed upon long ago, and in lieu of the finished three-dimensional sign the design sketch was blown up and installed as a flat sign. Of late the paint on that former sign has been failing; Your Boulevardier photographed it for an item that never ran:



Now that the finished sign is in place, a planter will be built around its base and the thermometer will be calibrated. (On Sunday, the instrument on the south (sunny) side read 90 degrees, while that on the shady side read 70 degrees; the latter was more accurate.) The handsome clock itself is battery powered and automatically corrects itself for daylight savings time, leap seconds, and other temporal anomalies. (Your Boulevardier used this opportunity to learn the difference between Atomic Clocks and Radio Clocks; the clock in this sign is a radio clock.)

Do You Hear What I Hear?

When Kris Noceda interviewed Your Boulevardier for his flattering article in The Daily Review, he started with a few general statements: "You blog about Castro Valley, you have a dog, you drink a lot of coffee ..."

The third comment took Your Boulevardier back at first, but he must admit that it is so. Coffee spots do hold a certain appeal, and make regular appearances in these pages. They're good spots to people-watch, and they hold sentimental value: The Trusty BoulevarDog was a regular habitue of Java Bob's when Hanna Carbone owned it, and her photo was taped up next to the cash register. Your Boulevardier remet Mon Petit Chou at Peet's a little over a year ago. An April 2007 post on the topic of unleashed dogs that garnered a bit of debate began with a visit to Valley Java.

But one digresses. Coffee is on the mind today because Your Boulevardier saw yet another article about the effects of coffee on the human body.

If your cup of joe starts talking to you, chances are you're a caffeine addict. People who drink a lot of coffee or other caffeinated beverages are more likely to report hearing voices or having out-of-body experiences than those who go easy on the strong stuff, according to a new study.

Perhaps the colorful characters Your Boulevardier encounters on the streets of the City of Lite are merely hallucinations.

Wudas Is Right

There are fewer things online that are more pathetic than an abandoned blog. One of those things is a blog with a long hiatus followed by a post reading "Sorry it's been so long since there has been a post."

The Castro Valley Boulevardier falls into the second category.

The usual excuse applies: real life has been busy. Several things have been noted by Your Boulevardier, but he has not taken time to post on them. For example:

• A couple of weekends ago, several of the concrete trash bins on Castro Valley Boulevard were knocked over. They were righted within a day or so.
• Other vandalism seemed to spike as summer drew to a close. The pedestrian overcrossing over Highway 580, frequented by Your Boulevardier, was tagged again, and promptly cleaned up again. Your Boulevardier is pleased that the appropriate authorities are staying vigilant to it.
• Restaurants have come and restaurants have gone. The Indian restaurant in the Village, the Vietnamese place across from Pete's Hardware, and the "Theme Unknown" place by Kragen Auto Parts are among the openings. (Your Boulevardier has not tried any of them.) Closed are Fongs, Peking Village, and Pancho's. Meanwhile, Bangkok 580 fell victim to a takeover robbery.
• The cloudy creek question (the post on which prompted Wudas to remind Your Boulevardier to update the blog) was resolved, and it appears the problem was simply construction erosion upstream. If Your Boulevardier appeared alarmist, he apologizes.
• Your Boulevardier participated in Barefoot Boot Camp at Castro Valley Yoga in the third week of August. The upper body is still complaining, though proud to have made it. It's amazing and heartening to think that a dozen people would be up and exercising at 6:00 a.m. for six consecutive days!
  
• School has opened, and it is pleasing to Your Boulevardier to see children walking to their classes. Still, school zones continue to be dangerous places for pedestrians, what with distracted parents driving their offspring while engaging in telephone conversations, eating breakfast, or attending to their grooming.
  
• For Sale signs, and vacant properties, seem to be appearing more frequently around town, at least in Your Boulevardier's home district of Baywood.
• Your Boulevardier saw a poster for a Green training class co-sponsored by the Castro Valley Sanitary District and the Castro Valley Adult School, upcoming on September 27. More information can be found at the Adult School website (appropriately enough, on Mr. Green's welcome page.)
• A production of Carousel is coming to the Center For The Arts later in September. One can't go wrong with Rogers and Hammerstein.
• Castro Valley product Rachel Maddow is getting a regular MSNBC show. Your Boulevardier does not partake of intense political coverage from any portion of the spectrum, so he has not seen the show; but he knows friends of Maddow's parents, and hears that they are rightfully proud of their daughter.
  

For now, this list of tidbits will have to suffice. Again, Your Boulevardier apologizes for the long drought of new material.

Exercises in Transitions

Your Boulevardier, accompanied by the Trusty BoulevarDog, walked the Main Drag this morning from Castro Valley Boulevard's West End to Midtown. Some random observations, cleverly strung together:

Canine and human noses were pressed to the glass at Le Saigon Bistro, which by appearances is soon to open. The new restaurant, across from Pete's Hardware, features high-backed leather chairs, a dramatic red back wall with a pass-through to a gleaming kitchen, and a feng-shui friendly fountain just inside the door.

Speaking of fountains, the water feature outside of El Rancho Steak House has once again been soaped by bubbly vandals.

Speaking of ranches (ah, now one sees how this transition business works), a cowboy in full Western regalia -- broad-brimmed hat, slim jeans, knee-high snakeskin boots, and, for goodness sake, spurs -- was noted at the Post Office this morning.

Speaking of the Post Office, Your Boulevardier notes belatedly that the coin-operated stamp machine has been removed. With it goes the last place in town to get shiny gold dollar coins for gifts, not to mention postage for personal communications.

Speaking of personal communications, an Alameda County Sheriff's officer (I don't believe she was a deputy sheriff, because she was driving a dark blue department pickup truck and not a cruiser) was seen talking on a cell phone without a hands-free device as she drove down The Boulevard this morning. Grabbing that one final opportunity before the laws change, one supposes.

Speaking of final opportunities, this is the last tortured transition for today. Your Boulevardier thanks you for reading!

Castro Valley On The Move

Your Boulevardier visited (via auto) the Castro Village today. Parking was a disaster, because much of the lot (especially between Walgreens and Don Jose's) was in the process of being patched and resurfaced. Homeless cars cruised the remaining aisles like sharks, looking for spots to become available. Actually, the cars weren't like sharks, because sharks (with some exceptions) don't stop moving.

Also on the move: the racks and aisle at our local Trader Joe's. The store was a bit chaotic today when Your Boulevardier went shopping, with products being transferred to temporary racks (on movable feet) in preparation for some sort of rearrangement.

Our third moving item for the day: a report on last Saturday's Rowell Ranch Rodeo Parade. Actually, Your Boulevardier did not see most of the parade (though he participated with the warm-up act); however, several other Castro Valley bloggers have chimed in with good reports. Coincidentally, all are young mothers. XTina, AKA Lucky Number 8, posts some beautiful photos. Laurie of A Joyful Life gives a kids' eye view of the event. And Graciela tells the story of how her child's preschool participated.

Welcome Visitors

Your Boulevardier received a flattering email that he will reproduce here in its entirety.

To Our Boulevardier,

I recently discovered your blog entirely by chance through a Google search (interestingly, a Google search for "Castro Valley falafel" hits your July 2007 posting). I love your blog -- thank you for writing it!!

I thought of you and your blog when I heard an interesting inverview on the "Living on Earth" radio program on public radio. Will Self talks about the allure of exploring a city on foot and discovering things one ordinarily wouldn't experience in a car or other means -- much like you do in your blog.

Brief quote:
"So there's this marvelous sense that one gets of being cut off from the mass of humanity in this very, very simple, very self-directed way. You don't need any equipment. You don't need any fancy accessories. You can just get out of your chair and do it and you're instantly exploring in that way. You're finding out new things about your environment."

If you're interested, you can listen to the 9-minute interview or read the transcript (here).

Thanks, and keep up the good work!
Jim

You have our gratitude, Jim. Your Boulevardier welcomes such praise, and is happy to hear about -- and post links to -- interesting resources on the Internet for those interested in walking about.

Alas, not enough walking about has been done by Your Boulevardier of late. Work pressures have, unfortunately, coincided with the current spate of fine spring weather. The trees are blossoming (the apricot at Chez Boulevardier is loaded and lovely), to the bane of those with allergies but to the delight of those of us who are visually oriented. One wishes he had time to spend nosing about. Soon, it is hoped.