A little bit of background, I moved to Oakland from SF when I was five and lived there for the better part of 30 years until 2001 when I moved back to SF. I grew up going to movies at the Grand Lake, Parkway and attended many events at the Paramount. But I had never been to the Fox as it was already closed.

Fast forward to 2009… I’ve been in LA for 2 1/2 years now, but I follow my hometown happenings along with the Fox saga. Well I contributed money to the restoration and in return I was invited to attend the opening gala. My partner and I flew up Thursday afternoon, checked into the Marriott City Center and had an awesome evening with all things Oakland…drinks at Flora, partying at the Fox which was amazing! We were both floored by what we saw inside. I wouldn’t have missed it for anything. It was also strange, that I was actually in a place in my hometown that I had never seen before (only from the outside) and I can’t really explain the feeling, just that I was glad to be “home”. It was great to see Oakland so “alive”! After the party, I took my partner (originally from Michigan) on a walking tour of downtown, which included the Lake, the Paramount and the new Cathedral. Needless to say, he was very impressed. Headed in a cab for a nightcap at my old watering hole the “White Horse” in North Oakland, late night grub in Chinatown and then back to the hotel.

The next day we headed for a matinee at the Grand Lake before heading over to spend the weekend in the City with friends.

So that’s it. I was glad to be a part of this next chapter in the Fox and Oakland’s history. A lot of bad news coming out of Oakland these days, but this was certainly an event that makes me hopeful and proud of my hometown….

You can take the Boy out of Oakland, but you can’t take Oakland out of the Boy…

I plan on visiting Lisbon this summer with my entire family. I’m actually from the beautiful Island of Madeira located on the Atlantic Ocean about 500 miles south west of mainland Portugal. It’s an incredible place with amazing topography, wild flowers, amazing culture, and is basically THE vacation spot for many Brits and Germans. The capital is the city of Funchal with about 120,000 inhabitants. Funchal is a charming cosmopolitan city and a cruise ship stop over for Europeans heading for the Caribbean. The island is basically the tip of a submerged volcanic range. The coast is dramatic with a 2,000 foot sheer cliff called Cabo Jiraon. The interior of Madeira features a 6,000 ft mountain range. Think of Sausalito on steroids and you can start picturing what the city of Funchal looks like. Think of Monterey with Yosemite in the background and you get an idea about Madeira.

I’ll be taking the kids this summer to show them were Dad spent his first nine years.

Oakland, with its Mediterranean climate, waterfront, and green hills, makes me almost feel like I’m back home. I’m glad we settled here.

The glitch, however, is that the earthquake that destroyed Lisbon in 1755 was far worse than anything we’ve ever had here in SunnyCal, and even an all day fado fest couldn’t make up for the combo tsunami / earthquake (followed only days later by another of similar size) that killed off maybe half the population! Is a repeat of that coming again?

Still, what are the odds: better than here along the Hayward fault?

So where’s this Luso Mercado, anyway?

?????

– S

-len raphael
temescal

some of those other clubs you mentioned attracted the hoi polloi. to echo max, the multi-genre appeal of of the fox and paramount make them special – chris rock, speaker series, social distortion, b.b. king, bill cosby, etc… yes friends it is a beautiful day in the uptown