To Plunge supporters, the prettiest Christmas lights this year were the seven little green ones that lit up at a city council meeting last Tuesday. The unanimous vote signalled approval of money for design and engineering--that is, the blueprints--to renovate, restore and expand the 77-year-old landmark.
One of the most exciting prospects is the addition of a second source of revenue: fitness training. The design envisions new facilities on the south end of the building, where the tennis courts are now.
Other notable features of "Option B," as Emeryville architects Siegel & Strain's design is known:
The city council's approval of the money is "just one more piece of the puzzle," says Ellie Strauss, leader of the campaign. Next comes the actual signing of the contract, which she expects to happen in January. Then, construction funding, for which organizers are "pursuing aggressively" through a variety of foundations. And finally construction itself.
When will the first swimmer hit the water? Best case, says Strauss, is 34 to 36 months from now.
What can you do? Be available for mass showings at city council meetings and other events at which decisions are made. Sign up on the email list for notification. And, of course, donate money. It's tax deductible.
Lights, Camera, Actionable
I liked that headline, so I'm using it without permission because I probably have a Fair Use right to do so under copyright law. It's from Theresa Keegan's column in today's Contra Costa Times about Pointer Pete Livingston's struggle over Fair Use--the vague rule that one can use copyrighted work without permission for reviews and other non-competitive uses--with Big Hollywood.
TOTP had his story first, of course. Then Alexander Cockburn in the San Francisco Examiner and Keegan in the Times caught on. Livingston's film, "Over 9 Billion Dead Served," claims Fair Use of clips from among the 25 top-grossing U.S. films. You know what the studios said.
Grocery store blues
It's a tough holiday season at the Point's two grocery stores as staffs prepare for the imminent departure of long-time mainstays.
At Santa Fe Market, Bernadette Ayers' last day is the 28th. The moving van comes on the 29th and on the 30th she's off to Memphis with hubby and kids. What will Santa Fe Market do without her? "Pray," said Marie Peckham, the store matriarch. "We'll be lost." Everyone knows a few pieces of the store's operation, but no one knows it all like Bernadette.
Moods are brighter over at Mo's, a.k.a. Point Richmond Market. In mid January, Sophia Warith leaves for graduate school at University of Nevada at Las Vegas--and she's being replaced by no one at all. She's been doing the ordering and much of the cashiering, not to mention secretary of the Point Richmond Business Association. She could have gone to Stanford, as her sister Fatoum (owner of Prego Pizzeria) wanted her to. She could have gone to University of California at Davis, as she leaned toward at one time. Why Vegas? The university has a good public administration department, she said.
Anne Zesiger's new CD, "Aesop For All Ages," finally made it onto the Santa Fe Market's meat counter this weekend. A steal at $15. She spent six years producing it, and toward the end she wondered if she'd ever finish. She performs songs with lyrics by her father, H.C. Nachtrieb. All are based on Aesop fables and intended for any age.
Zesiger has lived in the Point for 12 years and teaches at Marin Country Day School in Corte Madera.
One review on her web page says, "What a great album! I used to read Aesop's fables as a kid. They remain great, engaging, stories with good messages that really hold true today. This album really makes these stories come alive with wonderful music and excellent lyrics. A perfect companion to reading the stories with your family. I plan on sharing this with my many nephews and nieces. Zesiger has an amazing voice, and production and musicians on this album are really sweet."
You can listen to generous two-minute samples of four songs and buy the CD online online. (To hear the clips, you'll need the Real player.) Of course, if you don't want to fool with all that, just pick one up at Santa Fe. They're right over the chicken legs.
The saga of Jay Fenton's trees found space in today's Contra Costa Times. Reporter Rebecca Rosen Lum talked to Fenton, Fred Arm (writer of the Point Richmond Collective Newsletter story), Tom Butt and expert Steve Jones at the California Department of Forestry. Rosen Lum also mentions Talk of the Point.
I used to stand with a few other sidewalk financiers outside Mo's grocery at Washington and West Richmond wondering just how much money was going into the old Bank of Richmond building. I even wondered if a fellow financier was right when he said, "That guy has more money than sense."
Every day, there were fresh signs of expensive work: the demolition of the interior, the excavation, the massive rebar columns and the yards and yards of new concrete. Outside, we all saw Christophe Boucher's briquetage, the brick-by-brick restoration of the old glazed yellow bricks.
I hadn't yet heard about the magnificent fireplaces yet to be restored in the upstairs rooms. I hadn't heard yet of the curved-glass, wooden windows to be custom built in Berkeley and cost two to three times more than custom windows made with ordinary flat glass, which themselves cost up to $1000 each. I hadn't even heard yet about the towering copper cone that will sit atop the firehouse-side corner of the building, to be lighted from within and from which a flagpole will rise. All of this is to restore the building to its historic glory, as accurately as possible.
"Many things could have been done at less expense, at a lower degree of quality," said Howe's architect, Donald Wardlaw. "A different type of developer might compromise here and there. Mark is determined to do a good quality job. He wants to be trusted for what he will do for future clients."
Howe insists he'll make a buck. "It won't be a home run. It'll be a single," he said. He should know. He's a certified public accountant.
He has run the numbers, he said, and he figures he can demand the rent that will pay for all this. "Even if I spend $700,000 I'm still OK," he said. That's the cost of renovation, on top of the "$700,000 to $750,000" he paid to buy the place.
Besides, he said, this is where he'll have his office.
But all that's his business. What will be our business in the spring or summer of 2003 will be a brand new historical monument.
When the workmen spray off the dust, and the copper cone towers over the square, the curved wooden windows and glazed yellow bricks sparkle and the flag flies, the sidewalk financiers will fade away as talk turns to the new beauty in town. Then even after the novelty fades and after this gem embeds itself in the town's culture, new generations of Pointers will feel that it's theirs.
Our own Pete Livingston, independent filmmaker and former special-effects maven at Industrial Light and Magic, has made a film titled "Over 9 Billion Dead Served" that reveals "the vocabulary of violence." It contains clips from 25 of the all-time highest grossing films in U.S. history. Trouble is, the seven movie studios object. Shove your Fair Use, they say. Last Thursday, Livingston's attorneys filed suit to clear things up. Until the court rules, which will likely be no sooner than March, the movie stays in the can.
For a fan of rain and railroads, this was a good day to try out the new Annie's, on West Richmond Avenue near the tracks. I got to watch the rain and CSX container cars while I ate a rueben served by waitress Rainy. My sandwich was good, and the beef udon slurped by a TOTP correspondent was superb. "Plenty of vegetables and not too many noodles," she said.
You can help save the Plunge with every bite on the next two Monday nights at the new Fresh Choice at Hilltop Mall.
On December 9 and 16, that Fresh Choice will donate 20 percent of the proceeds paid by diners who present coupons. (December 2 was also a benefit night.) The restaurant is just 12 minutes from the Plunge up the Richmond Parkway and, hey, you've got to eat anyway.
To have 20 percent of your $6.99 donated, download and print the coupon. Details are on the Richmond Plunge site, linked below. If you need directions, click on the directions link below.
If you can't make it to Fresh Choice for dinner on the appointed Mondays, why not just donate the incremental cost of driving to Hilltop Mall and back (let's say $1) plus the cost of dinner at home (let's say $2 per person). Just fill in the donation form (link below) and mail it in with your check. Remember that your contribution is tax deductible.
Throwing in good ice cream after bad?
Is there an ice cream parlor in the Point's future? Correspondent Andrew Butt has reported hearing such a rumor. The grapevine is yet unclear on where, when and who.
Oldtimers recall an early '90s attempt that turned sour. We can speculate about the new owners' wisdom, whoever they are. But a casual survey by TOTP reveals hope for an operator who can scoop with aplomb. According to one observer, the earlier parlor failed from "bad management, bad timing, bad service and bad ice cream."
This week one year ago I was in Sicily near my grandmother's home town. The morning after I arrived, I took a walk with my cousin and her son down to look at the Mediterranean and then up to the Terrasini town square for cappuccino at a table on the sidewalk. This year, I found a place in the Point with cappuccino and a view nearly as good: Rosamaria's Cafe, across from the post office.
The espresso is strong and the steamed milk is thick enough to suspend the coffee in thick streaks. According to a barista I know with 22 years' experience, the cappuccino's good because owner Mike Nova and cashier Ana Maria Delgado pay attention. When they steam milk, there's no hissing, spitting, roar or rumble, which indicate a shallow nozzle or scalding. They judge the temperature by feeling the pitcher, not by reading a thermometer.
Outside, the sidewalk tables put the cappuccino sipper inside the Point's daytime epicenter.
Next best is Little Louie's when Tony, one of the owners, runs the espresso machine. If only there were tables on the street.
I now avoid the corporate coffee shop in the Swan Yoga Building, despite the tables and chairs outside. The counter people steam the milk indifferently, producing large, useless bubbles. Typical in a company that runs by formula, the espresso-machine operators use thermometers to know when to shut off the steam. And as for the coffee itself, the handful of lattes I've had there were so weak they may not have contained any coffee at all.
I haven't tried espresso at Altura or Hidden City in a year or more, and I've never tried Hotel Mac's.
When the Point has mastered espresso, perhaps someone will introduce a pastry to go with it: authentic Sicilian-style cannoli.
Do you have different tastes? To send me email, click on the envelope. <%radio.macros.mailTo ()%>
See the Chronicle's fun story about Thursday's Turkey Shoot and peace march. On the Web, the two photos are in color, and the one with David Dohlberg is easier to make out than the black-and-white version in the paper.
My apologies for the lack of new material in the last week. I've had a big computer problem---which I finally licked this afternoon. After days of troubleshooting, the culprit turned out to be my year-old Intellimouse Explorer, a Microsoft mouse. The fix: a new Logitech mouse. I'll try to catch up between now and Monday evening.