Minnesota Gives Up

Your Boulevardier snapped this photo a few weeks ago of the billboard that stood guard at the west end of Castro Valley Boulevard.



Minnesota tried to kick California when it was down. But clearly its plans failed, because now there's a Corona Beer advertisement in its place.

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.

That Ought to Keep the Kids in School

Construction continues on the security fence surrounding Creekside Middle School. The chain-link portion on Paradise Knolls is complete, and its tall zinc-clad poles and mesh gleam. Heavy, rectangular black posts now line the Center Street frontage, awaiting some sort of connectors; judging by the height of the posts and their color and construction, Your Boulevardier suspects that an eight- to ten-foot-tall wrought-iron-style barrier is on its way.

One wonders if there isn't a better use for the CVUSD's capital improvement budget. Your Boulevardier cannot claim to be a student of the district's finances or a close scrutinizer of its operations, so he will not judge. He will just wonder.

One is reminded of the new roadsigns going up along Interstate 580 through Ashland, San Leandro, and Oakland, just west of Castro Valley. Soeur de Boulevardier first noticed and mentioned that these monumental new signposts seem to be replacing perfectly adequate existing signage. One sometimes wishes that the dollars had been spent on the road surface, rather than on the directional placards that dangle above it.

Ups and Downs

Your Boulevardier and the Trusty BoulevarDog took advantage of today's bright, cool Sunday morning to stroll the West End. Some things in Castro Valley are looking up, and other things in Castro Valley appear a bit downtrodden. A brief catalog of observations:

Upside: Some time was spent at Valley Java, which was as bustling and busy as ever. A new railing around the outdoor seating area provided a hitching post to which the Trusty BoulevarDog could be secured while coffee and a blueberry muffin were procured. It's good to see a locally owned independent coffee place busier than the forlorn Starbucks on Stilts at the corner of The Boulevard and Lake Chabot Road.

Downside: Properties along The Boulevard are in need of maintenance, especially vacant ones. The former rental yard on John Drive, the vacant gas station at the corner of Stanton Avenue, and the landscaping in front of Tony & Ted's Liquors all look pretty shabby.

Upside: Work has resumed in earnest at the future Saigon Bistro (next to Valley Inn). A workman was there this morning, in fact. New windows and granite facing on the building's front are in place. The windows were obscured so Your Boulevardier could not see what has been accomplished inside, but he noted construction-related vehicles in front of the shop earlier this week so he assumes that progress is being made.

Downside: What in the world is going on at Carry Outee? The lot looks more like a dumping ground with each passing day.

Upside: The Rowell Ranch Rodeo is coming, and businesses around town are preparing for our anachronistic Western festival with window paintings, posters, and other decor. Your Boulevardier, it should be known, is a fan of horses but not of rodeo, and looks forward each year to the Rodeo Parade. This year it is on May 10, and as always the real entertainment begins at around 9:30 when the Castro Valley Community Band warms up the crowd.

Downside: The Daily Review has apparently decided to distribute its newspaper for free in some neighborhoods on an occasional trial basis. (If there is a pattern, Your Boulevardier cannot detect it.) Sadly, people who are not in the habit of receiving a newspaper at home are also not in the habit of picking them up from their driveways or yards, so dozens -- perhaps hundreds -- of yellowed, pathetic-looking papers are littering our streets and sidewalks.

Upside: a new business has opened next to Knudsen's Ice Creamery: Jazzy Crafts. Your Boulevardier has not yet visited -- the grand opening was just yesterday -- but it's always exciting to see people pouring their entrepreneurial ambitions into our town. Best of wishes to the proprietors.

Downside: Your Boulevardier notes with a sigh that election season appears to be upon us. Oblivious to irony, sign-posters for Dennis Hayashi and Loni Hancock have been busy piggybacking their placards onto the signboards that tout vacant real estate about town. Is this honestly the association that these candidates want?