Bump And Grind

Your Boulevardier met an old friend -- actually, his junior high music teacher -- for coffee at Peet's early this afternoon. The gentleman wanted advice on a new gadget he had purchased, and Your Boulevardier was happy for the excuse to get together and chat -- about musical instruments, electronics, mutual friends, travels, and the joys and complications of life.

Not long before we arrived, a car just outside of Peet's had missed its parking spot and plowed into Marshall Steel Cleaners. Your Boulevardier does not know the circumstances or if anyone was hurt.




This incident isn't the only automotive excitement in town. Last night after 9:00 p.m., as Your Boulevardier was driving home from a rehearsal, he noticed the CHP directing traffic at the intersection of Santa Maria Avenue and Castro Valley Boulevard. It turns out a vehicle had crashed into the control box that's planted in the lawn near the bus stop between Rigatoni's and the corner. (Truth be told, Your Boulevardier had never noticed the box before.) This rendered the traffic lights nonoperational.

Last-Minute Invitation

Members of the Castro Valley Community Band - including Your Boulevardier on baritone sax - will be playing carols under the clock tower at Castro Village tonight from 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. All are welcome, but bundle up!

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.

Star-Spangled, Eardrum-Splitting Banner

Your Boulevardier has learned, through his youthful associate Neveu de Boulevardier, that a rendition of The Star Spangled Banner sung at Castro Valley High School in 2008 made it to a TIME Magazine's "10 Worst" list.

View the crazy video and read the article here.

Consolation may be found in the fact that the young singer is in good company: the now-secretary of state, several professional musicians, and a police officer are also represented in the complete list.

The Upcoming Jenny Lin Concert

One wishes the Jenny Lin Foundation, and the loss it represents, did not need to exist. But the sad event that led to the creation of the foundation is very real, and the good that the family has made of this tragedy is no less real.

One of Your Boulevardier's favorite projects of the Foundation is its summer youth music program. A free summer band, orchestra, and choir give our musical young people a chance to meet new people, have fun in a safe environment, and improve their artistic skills. A good friend of Your Boulevardier is conducting the orchestra.

The groups begin rehearsing on June 22, 2009 (twice a week) and will perform on Friday, July 31 at 7:00 p.m. at Redwood Chapel. The concet is always impressive, and Your Boulevardier encourages residents to support the program and attend the show.

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.

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.

Your Boulevardier Does Not Understand Show Business

An article appeared in last Wednesday's Daily Review, announcing that two Castro Valley High alumnae, singer Alice Lynn and and cellist Kathleen Davis Blair, will appear in a fund-raiser for the Castro Valley Center for the Arts on February 29. Sounds lovely.

The article also said the fund-raising performance will be held at Redwood Chapel.

Why is it not being held at the Center itself?

'Nixon' Off The Schedule?

Your Boulevardier has read a report that Trinity Lyric Opera may not present John Adams' "Nixon in China" this year after all due to a disagreement with the publisher. One hopes that this misunderstanding can be cleared up.