OAKLAND MAGAZINE MAY/JUNE 2009
For a guy they called “motormouth” in middle school, Brian Murphy seems 
ideally suited for his job. He’s the morning co-host at KNBR-AM, 680.
But even a sports fanatic like Murphy never thought he’d end up on San Francisco’s leading sports radio station. In fact, when he got the call to do fill-in (Murphy was working the golf beat at the San Francisco Chronicle at the time), he told management he had no idea how to do radio. Continue reading
HILLS NEWSPAPERS July 9, 2009
THERE THEY GO AGAIN, defying the laws of common sense and economics. The city of Oakland has once again raised the price of both parking meters and fines, driving even more business through the tunnel. Shoppers beware — meters now cost $2 an hour and run until 8 p.m. Slip up, and you’ll be nailed with a fine for $55. Continue reading
HILLS NEWSPAPERS July 1, 2009
I’M NOT WEALTHY, by any means. But a trip with three girlfriends recently to retrieve the family jewels proved to be a rich experience.
It had been several years since my dear friend, Jillian, lost her mom. At the time, it was too difficult to look through her treasures, so they remained — undisturbed — in a safety deposit box in Grass Valley. Continue reading
MONTCLARION NEWSPAPER – July 3, 2009
THIS WEEKEND WE PAY homage to Old Glory. We gorge ourselves with burgers and dogs, chips and dips and red, white and blue desserts.
But America’s birthday, for many, means small town parades and band-shell concerts.
Here are some of my local favorites: Continue reading
MONTCLARION NEWSPAPER – June 19, 2009
MY FOLKS LIVE IN MINNESOTA, on a picturesque tree-lined street between two lakes and a pond. Pretty much everyone lives between two lakes and a pond in Minnesota, but that’s not the reason for my rumination.
It’s my observation that my parents are missing out on something we enjoy here in the hills — navigating the barely passable streets of Montclair. Continue reading
HILLS NEWSPAPERS June 19, 2009
A LONG TIME AGO, in a village not far away, the horseman ruled the land. Barns dotted the hillside and paints and Appaloosas grazed in pastures above the sparkling waters of the Bay.
This was the Oakland hills, circa 1938, when rodeo cowboys ran the ranches and the Mills College girls rode their steeds through the canyon and up the hill, past what’s now Merritt College, to Joaquin Miller Park. Continue reading
MONTCLARION NEWSPAPER – June 26, 2009
I LOVE A good dine-around. As one who can never decide what to order, it’s nirvana to nibble my way through a bounty of edible offerings. Add wine and cheese and I purr like a kitten — which is why I’m so fond of the Oakland Zoo’s annual Walk in the Wild. Continue reading
OAKLAND MAGAZINE MAY/JUNE 2009
George Bernard Shaw once wrote about the virtues of being “thoroughly 
worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap.” Phil Tagami, the developer of the Fox Theater and the Rotunda Building, not only posts these words on his Web site, he lives them. In an animated interview in which we never sat down, Tagami wasted no time revealing what drives him.
What is your favorite piece of the Fox Theater renovation?
All the things that still aren’t done. Until it’s completed, until the endowment is fully raised—until everything on our checklist is handled and the building is really dialed in and we really have a good understanding of how to best provide an event space that meets today’s standards, respects the preservation of the historic fabric and is also economically sustainable so the city doesn’t have to have any fear of supporting it, the job’s not done. Continue reading
MONTCLARION NEWSPAPER – June 5, 2009
IT’S TIME once again for one of Oakland’s best parties, East Bay Open Studios. I’m reminded of a famous quote about art, which seems fitting: “There is no art without intoxication. Art is the most enrapturing orgy within man’s reach.”
That being said, we could all use a little giddy intoxication these days, couldn’t we? So why not take the party bus between studios this year? Continue reading
HILLS NEWSPAPERS June 5, 2009
I TOOK A BATH recently and had the government to thank. If Congress hadn’t 
stepped in to protect Hot Springs, Ark., in 1832, I would have been left high and dry on a recent visit. Instead, I had one of the most enjoyable spa vacations in my 50 odd years on this planet.
