THERE’S a real division in our town today, between the haves and the have nots. Some of us have fat, and the rest do not. And among those lucky enough to wear spandex, there’s a whole subset of bikers who ride up and down the hills all day. Alison Stone is one of those pedalers, whose shocking pink outfit and saddlebags set her apart from the rest of the pack.

“I ride virtually every day to work in West Oakland,” she says, and in her spare time she does more riding, up and down the Tunnel Road and through the redwood canyons. “There are so many great places to ride, it is hard to know where to begin — but my favorites are Mt. Diablo — I do that at least once a week — and a great 40-mile, 4,500-foot loop from the house that includes going up Tunnel, along Skyline and Grizzly, down through Tilden, along Bear Creek Road, then up Happy Valley into Lafayette for a coffee frappacino, the bike trail to Moraga then home through Canyon and Montclair — where I almost always stop to do some shopping before the final grunt home.”

And if all that exercise isn’t enough, — riding 500 to 1,000 miles a month — Alison carries bricks in her saddlebags. Pink bricks! “It keeps me strong and ready to go,” she says, whether it be a ride from Istanbul, Turkey, to London, North Africa to the Arctic Circle, or a bike trip across the United States, which she and her husband, John Weiss, have completed four times.

So why all the pink? Alison says it’s a disarming color that gets folks to smile and wave as she rides by. And something else. “It invites people to talk to me — and has been one of best parts of my bicycling experience. I only did it for safety — and it has almost transformed my life.”

E-MAIL BAG: As the Montclair merchants consider the bounty of a possible Sunday farmer’s market, reader Marc Viale reacts to the news that a new restaurant is coming to town. “I read in your article that the old Paradise Pizza place may become a Mexican restaurant. Uggghh — We have five coffee shops, three Mexican restaurants, three florists, three candy shops, two juice places, etc. Can’t the Montclair merchants think out of the box?” he asks.

And reader Adam Herbert responds to my Jan. 7 column on stray cats with word of an ongoing cat abandonment problem near the Montclair Golf Restaurant: “My mother, Nancy Herbert, was one compassionate individual who took it upon herself to rescue a stray named “Sylvester”, and take him to the Lake Veterinary Hospital for emergency medical care after a run-in with a suspected raccoon,” he says, adding Sylvester was near death but has since been adopted into a warm, loving home. It’s hard to believe that anyone could be so cruel as to dump their family pet in the hills, leaving them to fend for themselves. With dogs and raccoons and other wild animals, it really is a jungle out there.”

TIM-BER: As the towering eucalyptus trees come tumbling down, you may be wondering what the future holds for Shepherd Canyon Park. More parking, for one thing, as crews push to accommodate the throngs of soccer players that descend upon the area most weekends. The Shepherd Canyon Homeowners Association has worked long and hard on a plan for the park, which includes replanting native trees in the area. Thanks SCHA!

DUTY CALLING: When nature calls during class time, teachers don’t always answer. But a local high school Spanish teacher has come up with a way to limit those disruptive bathroom breaks by students. Anyone needing to leave the room must first don a sombrero. It’s amazing how many students stay in their seats till class has ended.

IT’S NOT OFTEN you hear a catchy new song — one that puts a little bounce in your step. So much of today’s music is heavy metal din or urban rap — and it seems to feed the anger that some folks are feeling.

Enter a guy named Jeffy pop. No, that’s not his real name, but it seems to fit his light-hearted lyrics and pop music sound. And he’s an Oaklander, too.

Jeff Hanson has played for a bunch of big names. He’s opened for Counting Crows and Third Eye Blind. But to meet him, he’s the boy next door — the guy who helps you bring in your groceries or jump start your car when you need it. His modesty trumps this tremendous talent that allows him to not only write his own lyrics, but play all his own instruments.

In a home studio he built himself, Jeff carefully crafts the kind of pop music that can make artists famous. “My ‘studio’ is just a spare room in my apartment,” he says, “but it’s a comfortable space and I can work there without bothering anyone.”

Jeff’s neighbors don’t even hear the music, because he built a little vocal isolation booth out of a closet.

And where does he get inspiration? Some of it just comes from everyday life. “Stuff happens, some of it makes you think, and some of what you think about gets written down. Then you pick up a guitar and find a way to turn a line or two into a melody, and you’re off.” Jeff likes songs that tell a story, and like many boomers, he grew up listening to the Beatles and top 40 AM radio.

“I’m still, and will probably always be, drawn to the same things I’ve always loved in songs: a memorable melody and a big hook.”

Jeff’s solo CD “Here At Home” is available on his Web site . (http://www.jeffypoprecords.com/) Remember his name. As an old radio deejay, I predict he’ll be coming to a station near you — sometime soon.

CRIME ALERT: If you think your garage is a safe haven, keep reading. A hills neighbor was shocked the other morning to find that his van was gone from his garage. Somehow the door had been left open or opened on its own overnight, and someone took advantage of the situation.

Even worse than the missing car, the man’s wallet and personal information were inside the vehicle, along with some outgoing bills.

Oakland police are warning residents to keep their garage doors closed, their valuables in the house, and the door between the house and garage locked. Sad but true, we need to be on guard — even in the sanctuary of our own home.

E-MAIL BAG: The Town Crier’s column is read far and wide — even in Australia. A couple from Queensland checked in with reaction to last week’s piece on Cold Stone Creamery’s decision not to move to Montclair. The pair weren’t big fans of Cold Stone, but then I wouldn’t expect them to be.

They reportedly operate the No. 1 volume Baskin Robbins in all of Australia.

Speaking of Montclair, reader Michael Levy wants to know what’s happening to the old Paradise Pizza, which is undergoing a metamorphosis of sorts.

While I don’t know too much about it, apparently a Mexican restaurant is opening there. But there must be a flood of memories right now for long time villagers. With the paint being stripped off the signage above, it’s gone back a few decades to read “Montclair Hardware.”

READERS RECOMMEND: If you’re looking for something to do in January besides go to the gym, Dorothy Manly suggests Head Royce School’s upcoming performance of Carmina Burana. About 150 students from the music department will be involved in this major work by Carl Orff, including four of the school’s choirs and its orchestra. The concerts take place tomorrow and Sunday, as well as next Friday, at Regents Theatre at Holy Names University.

HEAVENLY HARMONIES: On the subject of music, have you heard the East Bay Urban Harmony Chorus? It’s one of the neat things about our multi-cultural community. They do everything from ’50s doo-wop to ’60s rock ‘n’ roll — even music from the ’70s and ’80s sneaks in. And it’s always a cappella, in four part harmony. If you want to add your voice to the mix, come to any of their Monday night rehearsals from 7 to 9 p.m. at St. Paul’s Church, 116 Montecito in Oakland.

AFTER MONTHS OF SPECULATION, it appears Cold Stone Creamery won’t be moving into Montclair.

The word is there aren’t enough ice cream eaters to make it profitable. Or could it be we’ve got too many sweet shops in town as it is?

But just the mention of another chain in the village brought a landslide of comment to the Town Crier’s e-mail box. Small business owners Marian O’Brien and Keith Whitaker wrote: “Too many times now, all over the country, the chains win and it is heartbreaking and creates homogenization of communities.”

They cite a number of studies used to convince small towns, their zoning boards and city councils that they shouldn’t turn their backs on the traditional, small-town businesses.

Montclair merchant Debi Echlin (A Great Good Place For Books) agrees: “Having a grouping of small independent shops is much of what contributes to the charm. I am constantly dismayed that our landlords have little concern for the quality of life of their tenants and the residents they serve.”

One of Echlin’s goals is to help folks understand that every time they open their pocketbook, they are voting for something. In this case, it’s chains versus small, independent retailers.

E-MAIL BAG: People are talking (hopefully not with their mouths full) about the new gourmet restaurant, Montclair Bistro.

I’ve even had feedback from folks in Orinda, where they know a little something about fine dining, themselves. Then there’s the e-mail from reader Vera Louie, who says her party’s conversation at the Bistro lasted well beyond dinner, the other night.

“They (the restaurant staff) kindly asked if they could buy us an after dinner drink at the bar in order to free up the table for other customers. We were definitely impressed.”

DINING ADDENDUM: On the subject of restaurants, a reader approached me with this comment about my Jan. 7 article on Pastino’s, on Park Boulevard in the Glenview: “You talked about the great service but mentioned very little about the food.”

While I did say the food was great, I should have said authentic too, since it’s every bit as good as the food my Italian husband grew up enjoying. And though pasta gets a bad rap on the low carb diet — when you find a good comfort food, I say “stick with it.”

AMERICAN DREAM: There’s nothing so grand as a parade, and the Rose Parade is one of the biggest.

So you can imagine how Montclair mom Patricia Absalom felt when she was invited to ride on the Starbuck’s Coffee float New Year’s Day. The float featured Starbuck’s Costa Rican Coffee and Patricia is from Costa Rica. She and her husband Ken, and sons Ashley and Julian, were flown to Los Angeles and wined and dined for four days during the festivities.

And how were they picked for the honor? Much like the Lana Turner story, Patricia was discovered in a popular place, casually sipping a beverage. But instead of Schwab’s on Hollywood and Vine, the setting was Starbucks on Mountain Boulevard — in Montclair.

ZOO UPDATE: And the winner is … Tulsa, Okla. Yes, Tulsa has won Microsoft Game’s “Best Zoo in the Country” competition, sadly leaving Oakland behind. Still, our hometown zoo finished in the top 15, which leads director Joel Parrott to reflect on how far the Oakland Zoo has come.

“It wasn’t that long ago we were called one of the worst in the country,” he says, “and I’m honored to have been considered for this award.” The Tulsa Zoo gets a $25,000 grant for animal care and operations.

LET ME BE the 500th person to wish you a happy New Year! The Town Crier had to take time off last week to recuperate from the exceptionally long holiday season. But now that it’s 2005, I’m following through with a resolution to share certain secrets in the neighborhood — for the betterment of mankind.

Most locals have been to Pastino’s, the cozy Italian eatery on Park Boulevard in the Glenview district. You’d never know by tasting the food, but there isn’t an Italian in the whole operation. George Chan is the owner, and he kept the old recipes and some of the staff from the days when Sal Calo ran the place.

But it’s not just about comfort food. Pastino’s has two of the best waiters in town: 23-year-old Carlos Ham and his 18-year-old sister Wendy love working for their cousin George. “He needed someone he could trust,” says Wendy, who always seems to be smiling.

A student at Cal State Hayward, Wendy was born and raised in Honduras, along with her brother, making them tri-lingual in Chinese, English and Spanish. “Sometimes we get mixed up and speak ‘Spanglish,'” jokes Carlos, who is glad they can communicate with Pastino’s Spanish-speaking kitchen staff.

So there you have it. I’ve shared the secret of a great Italian restaurant with a multicultural twist and brilliant wait staff — and I’m probably going to regret it. After all, how many “high maintenance” customers like me can they handle?

Welcome sight

Isn’t it nice when you enter a town, to be greeted with a “welcome” sign? Some of Montclair’s movers and shakers are coming up with a plan for a sign and a garden — as you enter the Village from the north.

Volunteer Jill Wilson Broadhurst with the Montclair Safety and Improvement Council says the group is working with a landscape firm that’s has done a lot of pro bono work for non-profits and community groups, and an intern from UC is working on the plans and sign design.

Once that’s done, Broadhurst will be calling on all green thumbs to help with things like stump removal, soil preparation and planting. Oh, and the Montclair group would love to hear from local artists who might want to paint the concrete walls in town (what remains of the old railway).

Murals of Montclair would be a great way to celebrate the history of our “town.” If you’d like to help, log onto www.montclairsic.org and send an e-mail to the appropriate chairperson.

E-mail bag

Reader Shelley Brooks had this comment on my Dec. 17 piece about the adopted stray pussycats at Quinn’s Lighthouse on the Embarcadero: “My daughter attends Beacon School on Livingston Street at Embarcadero, and I am on a campaign to trap/neuter/return the feral cats near the school.”

She says feral cats are a huge problem on the waterfront and she hopes folks won’t feed them unless they’ve been spayed or neutered, because the number of kittens that can result is “staggering.” The kitties at Quinn’s have reportedly been fixed.

Strange coincidence

With the world rushing to help in the wake of Asia’s natural disaster, the timing of this is uncanny. Chabot Space and Science Center debuts a giant-screen film this week, called “Forces Of Nature.” It’s as close as you’ll ever want to get to the awesome power of an earthquake or severe storm. Save your meal for after the show.

Twas the night before Christmas

And all through the land

Was utter exhaustion

The holidays were at hand

IT’S CHRISTMAS EVE. Time to wake up and smell the pine needles. Savor the flavor of spicy egg nog and hot mulled wine. Take a walk through the holly berries and spot the mistletoe in the treetops above you. Reach deep inside and find the spirit of the season — then let it radiate so others can feel the warmth.

And if all this seems hard — remember the children. They’ve been waiting all year for Santa’s arrival, and my “mole at the Pole” tells me a big stack of letters have come in from the Oakland hills. Here are some excerpts:

“Dear Santa: This year we’re on a cruise. If you could deliver them (the presents) on the cruise that would be great, but if you can’t — it’s awesome if you deliver them at home. There will be cookies and cider on the cruise but only cookies at home…”

“Dear Santa: I really, really, really want a pet. Any kind of pet. I just want a pet — badly. Maybe you can get me a hamster.”

“Dear Santa Claus: Of course I want a cell phone…”

“Dear Santa: I have been good most of the time. I would like a blue bike. No — a red bike.”

“Dear Santa: I want a toy machine gun that doesn’t shoot anything but makes the noise.”

And finally, the wishes of a little girl who didn’t mince words when she ended her letter with this: “Okay — only two words — may I please have an Aurora dress (from Sleeping Beauty), a sleigh, and snow on my Aurora dress.”

In reading all this, I can’t help it think how much better we’d be — if our own wishes were this simple.

E-mail bag

More letters are pouring in on the makeup of Montclair. With rumors that Cold Stone Creamery wants to open here (as reported in my Dec. 3 column), reaction has been swift to the advent of more chain stores in the village:

LaRee Jensen-Graham writes, “I have seen the dedication to service of Maurine Marie at Montclair Malt Shop, I have benefited from the knowledge and experience of Erik Hoffmann at Montclair Village Hardware, I have experienced the personal attention and marveled at the artistry of Jameela Bragg at Esther’s Garden (gone now to Orinda because of the very high costs of overhead).”

LaRee feels if competition from the major chains forces the little guys out, the younger generation will miss out on the personal attention and service offered by our “small town” merchants.

But reader Sharon Collins has a different perspective: “I think the idea of a small community shopping area is great, however, I have not found Montclair’s businesses for the most part to be very ‘thankful’ that they have this opportunity be a part of this wonderful community. For the most part, the people who operate the businesses do not show friendliness towards their customers.” She feels that competition can bring out the best in an area, and she wants Montclair to “show that it is the best.”

But maybe the future can best be told by looking at the past.

Harriet Schlader remembers the way things used to be: “It has saddened me each time a nice retail shop has gone out of business or elsewhere. Remember Rose and Rodden (next to the B of A, with shoes and women’s clothing). There was another nice dress store on La Salle next to the Travel Agency which I miss. The Ice Creamery was a place where my daughter worked, briefly, and we frequently visited as a family and sent Woodminster patrons there after a show on a warm night. The bakery, J. Coop Ltd., and on and on…”

Schlader thinks that shoppers, merchants and landlords should agree to a plan for preserving Montclair — and making it even better.

Seasonal offering

And finally, here’s an addendum to last week’s story about figgy pudding. When I mentioned the Jones family no longer makes the traditional English faire because of the hazards of cracking one’s teeth on the hidden six pence — I discovered a “pence-less” pudding for sale in Montclair.

The Malt Shop not only has little containers of the holiday dish, it also carries the brandy butter complement. So bring me some figgy pudding and bring it right here!

I’ve seen him a couple of times. A bent over man with a flowing white beard, hitchhiking along a rural canyon road. It’s Christmas, I’m thinking, and he looks like Kris Kringle. Still, I keep driving — feeling cautious and guilty at the same time. “What if he is Santa?” I ask myself. “What if I’ve lost the ability to believe?”

Then I remember last week’s hold-up at the Knitting Basket, where a man walked into the store with a gun. I remember the string of recent robberies in Montclair, catching shoppers off-guard.

The holidays bring out the best — and the worst — in people. We want to believe in the goodness of mankind. But for some, this is only a season to steal and to victimize. Santa is out there, but so is the Grinch. Let your heart be merry — but your eyes be watchful.

Speaking of Santa

The last of Santa’s workshops and photo sessions is this Saturday in Rockridge. Bring the kids from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Santa is set up at 5467 College Avenue.

And take a ride on the free cable car running up and down the busy street.

Chain reaction

Everywhere I go, people stop me to talk about the future of Montclair. My Dec. 3rd column on chain stores in the Village really touched a nerve.

Here’s more feedback: Robbie Neely with Friends of Montclair Village writes: “Hear, hear! As you might recall, voters in our survey last summer — what do you like most/least about the Village? — frequently mentioned the absence of chains and the uniqueness of shops under “like most.” And, under “like least” the lack of dining diversity was among the top vote getters.”

Montclair shopper Sheryl Nureck says she’s originally from New York and always seeks out neighborhoods with stores that make people feel connected to their neighborhoods. She, too, wants to keep that small-town feeling. “I hope in the end, it’s not just about money for the real estate owners (landlords),” she says.

But local Realtor Lydia Nayo (Coldwell Banker) offers a different perspective: “I want to believe Montclair is a sufficiently diverse community to be able to handle two ice cream shops with different ambiances and experiences to offer.”

Nayo says the Village has competition in other categories such as dry cleaners and restaurants, and “the answer will be for loyalists of a favorite place to keep it their favorite, and for the merchants to do their work and keep up with change.”

Animal tales

The raccoon and the pussy cat are the subject of two tales from readers. The “coon” nearly died while dining in the trash at a local swim club. How he got there was most unfortunate. The club’s cleaning crew unwittingly wrapped him in the nightly garbage — and tossed him in the Dumpster. He was freed when the day crew saw the trash take on a life of its own, with the bag flopping wildly in the bin. And you thought only cats had nine lives.

Speaking of cats, they’re part of the ambiance at Quinn’s Lighthouse on Oakland’s Embarcadero. Restaurant owner Bodo Eichler says he feeds four stray cats. They give him such joy, they’re like part of the family. All I can say is the fish must be really fresh at Quinn’s. You know how finicky cats can be.

Holiday surprise

What’s a good English Christmas without figgy pudding? Just ask Frances Jones, who says she’s stopped making the dish at her house, after a guest nearly cracked her tooth on the filling.

No, it wasn’t the fruit that was hard — in fact, this recipe was fig-less. It was the six pence hidden in the holiday offering — a tradition that required guests to cut their portions into tiny, bite-sized pieces. With no figgy pudding this Christmas, is there a void in the holiday season? Apparently not. “It’s like the fruitcake tradition,” says Jones. “You know, everyone hates fruitcake. We just kind of gave it up.”

Do you see what I see? I borrowed this line from a popular Christmas song last week to ask a serious question.

Do you see the advent of more chain stores in the Village as a threat? Does it matter to you if Cold Stone Creamery moves in (a possibility that’s still up in the air) or if small shops struggle to survive in the environment we’ve already created?

Well, apparently I’ve struck a nerve, because the e-mail is piling up. Here are some of the responses:

Reader Don Mackey says the “chain environment I fear” has already arrived in Montclair. But he suggests we vote with our pocketbooks. “The landlord should have the right to sign leases with almost whomever he deems fit (taking into consideration that all codes and statutes are adhered to). It is the customer who then decides over time if that was a good business decision on behalf of the landlord and the tenant.”

Mackey says he doesn’t want to see any more national accounts in town. “Call me crazy, but I would like Montclair to be distinguishable from any other ‘strip mall USA.'”

Reader Marc Viale has a different perspective. “I welcome the arrival of new stores in Montclair Village,” he writes. But he thinks that Rockridge small business merchants have done a better job of providing unique and successful small businesses.

“Rockridge residents would not allow a major chain to enter as their needs are exceeded by the existing merchants,” Viale says. “If anything this is a wake up call for Montclair small business, as Montclarions want more.”

I’ll keep a running dialog (with more reader feedback) in future columns, as I strive to be the voice of the people. After all, that’s the job of a Town Crier.

Highway sentiments

Diane Hill has these comments on last week’s column update on Highway 13: “I was so pleased to see that Caltrans is considering a change in the form of the median — so plants can go in along even more of the highway than before.”

“I found it interesting that the reason, they claim, to put in an asphalt lane is to make highway cleaning easier,” Hill says. “I’ve noticed that areas that have a wide asphalt are not necessarily cleaner. So much for that argument.”

Holiday treat

No Christmas seems complete without the classic “A Christmas Carol.” While lots of theater companies offer it, the most talked about show seems to be at Moonlight Productions in Piedmont today (Dec. 10) through next Sunday (Dec. 19).

The children’s theater group is directed by Danny Buell, who has acted in “A Christmas Carol” every year since he was 4 years old! For more information, call 510-482-1569.

Flower power

Thanks to reader Jonathan Taylor for giving me the “dirt” on Oakland’s daffodil project. He says the idea “sprouted” from the almost entirely volunteer organization Keep Oakland Beautiful.

“Thousands of daffodils will bloom in public spaces all over Oakland,” he writes, “and dozens of volunteers have worked hard to bring the program to life.”

Taylor says his group looks for ways to keep Oakland beautiful, clean and green — especially involving children. It’s an official chapter of the national organization Keep America Beautiful.

Humbug

Parking lots can bring out the best, and worst in holiday shoppers.

Reader Randa Peterson says she witnessed a verbal altercation over Thanksgiving that involved two senior men, arguing about a parking spot at the Montclair Safeway.

Each one had a spot, by the way, but that wasn’t good enough. They wanted the same spot, no doubt closer to the door.

It reminds me of the gray-haired motorist who thrust his middle digit in my direction at Albertson’s one holiday season. I can only surmise that the man hadn’t eaten — and was acting impulsively on an empty and rumbling stomach.

WHAT DOES your town mean to you? Can it be just a soulless place to spend money? Or do you yearn for a village with sweet little shops that are the lifeblood of the merchants who run them. As Bob Dylan once wrote, “The Times, They Are A’ Changin.”

Small towns take on a different demeanor when chain stores move in. It may start with a video store, a company name that’s widely known. Then a big coffee shop moves in down the block, and a fast food chain. Pretty soon, your little town looks like a strip mall — a place where profit is king and nobody really knows your name.

Call me old fashioned, but I don’t want this to happen in Montclair.

There’s been talk that Cold Stone Creamery may move into the Village, where Travel Service Montclair was on La Salle.

The scoop from building owner Andy Namba (of the San Jose area) is that he’s been speaking with a wide variety of prospective tenants — including Cold Stone Creamery. But Namba has no written contract yet with anyone. “It’s way too early to speculate. No one business has been selected,” he shared.

For its part, Cold Stone Creamery spokeswoman Ann Christenson says the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based chain is looking to open an additional store in Oakland — but no lease has been signed for any site, including the one in Montclair.

Still, the buzz on the street is at fever pitch, and some merchants are worried.

Maurine Marie owns the Montclair Malt Shop. For eight years, she’s been carefully crafting the personality of her little ice cream parlor. She serves not just sweets, but nostalgic gifts like rubber chickens, Trolls and retro-style Pez candy dispensers.

Her shop is creative — and one of a kind. It’s the kind of shop that makes Montclair unique, and it’s been featured in TV and print, time and again. Cold Stone Creamery has stores nationwide. It’s trendy and hip — and the younger generation loves it.

The Malt Shop is a symbol of a more innocent time, and frankly, it’s an endangered species. And while I recognize that competition can be good for business, it can also be its demise. Do you see what I see? Do you care? Let me know how you feel.

Carpool sting

Just when you thought it was safe to pick up riders at the casual carpool area on Park Boulevard word comes that the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department is slapping fines on motorists.

Rider Amy Graves says a car she got into recently was stopped by a deputy for blocking the bus lane. Rather than wait for the unlucky driver (who was getting a fat citation), Amy and her brother hooked up with me at the carpool stop on Park near Leimert. You can add “blocking bus zones” to your list of carpool no-no’s.

Tree takedown

If you like vistas, you’ll love what the East Bay Regional Park District has done to the corner of Shepherd Canyon Road and Skyline Drive. They’ve toppled a stand of scraggly Eucalyptus trees that were considered a fire hazard to the neighborhood, not to mention an obstruction to motorists at the junction of four ridge-line roads. The reviews are mixed. But as the stumps come out and the hillside gets green, folks are warming up to the idea.

Internet DJ

Oakland hills disc jockey “Audio Vidya” is on the air again. The former Live 105 personality has gone global with a radio station on the web called the Audiofile.

To hear it, follow the links from her Web site, www.audiovidya.com. She says she plays hits that were never hits, but should have been — alternative pop from strange-sounding groups like the Buzzcocks and Radiohead.

Even more interesting, you too can be an Internet DJ for just $9.95 a month. An East Bay company called Live 365.com lets you have your own “station,” download your own music and even add your own voice. How do they make their money? With commercials they drop in every few minutes — just like your traditional radio stations.

SOME FOLKS THINK we’re silly. Tree huggers, I think we’re called. But when Caltrans denuded our picturesque Highway 13, it raised the shackles of more than just environmentalists. Everyday motorists, just driving to work, have been calling and writing to complain.

The idea of putting in a new median area wasn’t the issue. It was taking out the foliage, native or not, without warning — all at a time when efforts were under way to win scenic highway status. It was like one hand had no idea what the other hand was doing.

The good news is that a compromise may have been reached. After two recent meetings with a half dozen neighborhood groups and several public officials, Caltrans is considering a change in the form of the median — so plants can go in along even more of the highway than before.

Though it’s not a done deal yet, I’d just like to say thank you to Jean Quan and her City Council staff (including Richard Cowan), along with community leaders from the Shepherd Canyon and Piedmont Pines homeowners associations.

Thanks, too, to Fernwood and Estate Drive neighbors, the Montclair Safety and Improvement Council and Friends of Sausal Creek for attending the meetings and giving hills folks a voice.

There’s no reason our highway can’t be safe and scenic.

Meter mania

Did you know that the city of Oakland is not offering free meter parking on Saturdays during the holidays this year? Montclair Pharmacy and Book Tree owner Joe Sullivan thinks there’s going to be a lot of confusion, because the yellow free parking stickers are still on some meters from previous years

“It’s going to be deceiving to the general public, because they’re going to read one thing on the meter and then they’re going to end up getting a ticket from the city of Oakland,” he says.

That’s not good for business or for Oakland’s public relations.

Fortunately, in Montclair the Montclair Village Association has removed the yellow parking stickers and is keeping the public garage open on Saturday for free.

Montclair memories

Thanks to reader Marta Zahn for her memories of horseback riding in the Oakland hills in the 1940s, related to my Nov. 12 column on hills horse history. She recalls saddling up every Sunday at the Hake’s Stables in Woodminster (near what is now Cesare’s Restaurant).

“The president of the Metropolitan Horseman’s Association was Mister Bemis, who owned a string of (little countertop cafés). There was one near the Grand Lake Theater, one on Third Avenue and East 12th, and another one kitty corner from the Oakland Hotel on 14th Street.”

The hills were dotted with barns in those days, and folks rode their horses through rolling landscape almost unimaginable today. Can we turn back the clock?

Bulb sightings

I can hardly wait until spring, when Oakland is awash in daffodils. With so many volunteers planting bulbs (provided by the city and Home Depot), we may look more like Holland than “the hills.”

Just last weekend, Jill Broadhurst and members of the Montclair Safety and Improvement Council (these folks are everywhere!) cleaned up the medians along Mountain and Park boulevards, and then planted 200 bulbs. They have more plans for Montclair, too, which I’ll unveil in a later column. But if you want to help — see the group’s Web site. www.montclairsic.org.

Birthday bounty

At a time when kids birthday parties are getting bigger and more expensive than ever, here’s a refreshing story. Hills grandmother Jean Stickever says her grandson Max Bratton, got a lot of great gifts at his party last weekend.

But unlike other birthday celebrations, these toys weren’t for him. The first-grader at Corpus Christi School had asked friends to bring new, unwrapped toys for the Toys for Tots holiday donation drive. Max may be just 7, but he’s got an “old soul.”

IT’S A FASCINATING time for world politics, and the political process has never been more interesting — at home and abroad. One hills woman has seen, firsthand, how precious and fragile the democratic process can be.

Mills College emeritus professor Edna Mitchell has been living in Afghanistan and working as a volunteer specialist for the Ministry of Higher Education in Kabul. With a team of five, she helped monitor the recent elections for fraud and found just getting into Kabul was more like a Keystone Cops than an Indiana Jones adventure. The red tape and the lack of consistency in traveling on Afghanistan’s Airiana Airlines made the trip a challenge, to say the least; at one point her flight was canceled because a government official reportedly needed to use the plane). Over the next few weeks, Mitchell will tell us some of her stories from this historic election.

In the meantime, the dust is still settling from our own surprising elections in the U.S. Montclarion reader Judy Janse saw election day as a kind of religious experience. “We are performing a communion with one another and the God we want so much to believe in, our god of democracy, of free will and individual rights,” she writes. “With this act there is only one sin we can be sure we are not guilty of. That of not voting at all.”

Heavenly craft

When is a necklace more than just jewelry? When it’s used to pray, according to Alameda senior Eleanor Wiley. Her jewelry is getting national attention as she resurrects the ancient practice of prayer beading.

And how effective are prayer beads for helping folks cope with everyday stress? Wiley says she’s helping more people now than she ever did as a speech pathologist. Her bead stringing workshops are a forum for people to share their stories — and their blessings.

Hawaiian connection

The phrase “it’s a small world” can apply to many situations. There were at least two Oakland hills connections on my recent trip to the big island of Hawaii. Looking in the West Hawaii newspaper, I saw a piece by Oakland Realtor Dian Hymer (whose column is also carried by Hills Newspapers). She related the story of some Oakland homeowners who had problems with their title, under the heading “what you don’t know may surprise you.”

The second Oakland connection came when I signed up for a snorkel trip on the big island with Sue Breisatori of Ocean Adventures. It turned out she was a Bay Area gal and a humane officer during the ’91 Berkeley-Oakland Hills Firestorm. She went house to house in the hills, rescuing stranded cats and dogs.

She said she’d never forget the little gray cat that was cowering in the corner of a doghouse, with burned whiskers and a hot ember threatening to burn the fur on its back. When she finally re-united the cat with its owner, there were tears of joy all around, and a grateful meow from the kitty.

Speaking of animals

Next time you pick up a pack of breath mints for yourself, get some for Fluffy and Fido, too. Pet Food Express in Montclair has fish-shaped mints for cats and bone-shaped breath fresheners for dogs. Don’t ask me how you get your pet to eat a breath mint — but if you’re concerned enough to buy them, you’ll find a way.