The Entroporium

Over a month ago, Amanda Stokes went missing about three blocks from my house.  Posters are up all over the neighborhood. SFGate: Homicide police join search for Oakland woman missing since Nov. 25

Back in June, the Supreme Court issued its decision invoking Brown v Board Of Education to end racial quota systems in Louisville and Seattle public schools. Regardless of where you stand on this issue, legal support of diversity is a an assumptive underpinning of our lives that anyone born from 1965 forward has had to [...]

I am a Sweeney Todd geek. I’m not entirely sure why I begged my parents to take me to the original Broadway production in 1979 with Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury, but I did and it was a major event in my life. That was the first time the power of theater was really brought [...]

This is the Christmas window display at my old neighborhood toy store, Sweet Dreams.  It’s incredible that this store has survived 35+ years in the face of toy retailer consolidation, but this is a credit both to the store’s inventory policies (plastic franchise toys held to a minimum, lots of personality in displays and a [...]

The Trappist, open about three weeks now, is a surprisingly beautiful tavern in downtown Oakland specializing in hard-to-find Belgian beers and nothing else.  Its proprietors have gone wonderfully overboard, importing a brand new tap system from Belgium and decorating the narrow space with a beautiful dark wood bar, handsome shiny taps and tasteful wall decor.  [...]