What If An HBO Hit Featured Oakland?

There’s been a lot of hand-wringing lately about a potential HBO series that prominently features Oakland, in all its glory. This series would follow an old-school pimp and his challenges as he deals with younger, more violent pimps.

The Hughes Brothers, who produced and directed American Pimp (1999) and Dead Presidents (1995), announced their upcoming dramatic HBO series entitled Gentlemen of Leisure last summer. If all goes according to plan, the first pilot and episodes would air sometime next year.

In the Hollywood Reporter, scriptwriter Evan Reilly explained the series focuses on “a guy who wants to get out but keeps getting sucked back in by the allure of the game and by extraneous circumstances that have to do with his family.”

Ami Zins heads the Oakland Film Office, which supports movie, TV and commercial production here. She confirmed that scriptwriter Reilly and executive producer Polly Anthony reached her about the project. For HBO, this dramatic one-hour series ideally fills the The Sopranos gap.

If green-lighted, this series would film on location. Zins said the producer identified Oakland as “a character unto itself…with a great diversity of people, culture, arts, architecture and geography.” While the economic impact isn’t known yet, she pointed to The Wired (HBO) which contributes $35 million/season to Baltimore.

What’s the downside for Oakland? You could quickly denounce it based on the subject matter alone, since Oakland becomes the land of pimps and prostitutes. Hollywood is possibly glorifying this crime-ridden life as well. However, I happen to believe that crime becomes a back-drop for the series and its characters.

Folks living in New Jersey probably had the same concerns when The Sopranos began airing. The subject matter was about mafia violence, but somehow managed to work anyway. This acclaimed series drew you into the dark drama and family dynamics over time.

(Full disclosure is that I used to work, long ago, for an HBO competitor. Getting a top-quality series on HBO is a real coup because they aren’t subject to the pressures of network TV. Simply put, critically acclaimed fare can survive without a mass audience and advertising there.)

So here’s an opportunity to bring Oakland into the American culture more prominently, warts and all. It’s admittedly very grimy, and every major city in the world has an underbelly. Will this transform Oakland into an unacceptable place on earth? Somehow I doubt it. If the series really gets aired, this isn’t bad for our city at all.

Dec 23rd Update: News outlets and blogs are buzzing, and we recommend these original takes from CBS5 – KTVU – Oakland Tribune – East Bay Express – Oakbook – A Better Oakland – Brooklyn Avenue – Bicostal Bitchin’

Charity Drop-Offs In The Village

We were recently asked about charity drop-offs in the Village, and searched around for different holiday appeals. Here’s a list of organizations now asking for food, clothing and toys. It’s easy to donate essentials and gifts, and make a difference.

Gift For You

Food: Let’s start with the most urgent request for food, from the Alameda Food Bank. Their stocks are low this year, and the group wants to collect 750,000 pounds over the holidays. You just donate food in the red and black bins at Lucky’s and Safeway. Better yet, the Food Bank also accepts financial donations online.

Letters: For kids, you can play Santa in a few different ways. The best idea comes from the Oakland Post Office, which receives letters kids write to Santa and needs assistance with the mail. They are looking for helpers willing to respond to these letters directly, or as Santa via the North Pole. While not required, you’re free to send gifts as well.

The Oakland Tribune described how to get kids letters: (1) call the Santa Hotline at 510-251-3371 and leave your name, address and phone number; (2) await a form sent to you; (3) visit the local post office with your completed form and a photo ID; and (4) await letter or letters from kids. Then it’s up to you to write back to the kids, and show them you care.

Toys: Give to Oakland kids through the 28th Annual Oakland Toy Drive. According to A Better Oakland, checks may be sent to: United Way of the Bay Area, Oakland Toy Drive, Attention: Cashier’s Office, 221 Main Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, CA 94105.

Alternatively, you can donate actual toys to Alameda County kids through the Toys For Tots. Just drop toys into the local bin at at Wells & Bennett, off Park Blvd (1451 Leimert Blvd, Map). Or send checks to: Toys For Tots, Alameda County, United States Marine Corps Reserve, 2144 Clement Ave, Alameda, CA 94501.

Clothes: As the chill sets in, provide some warmth for kids. East Bay Sotheby’s is collecting winter coats for Oakland kids, and then distributing them via the Lincoln and Fred Finch Centers. So look at what your kids have outgrown, and drop your coats at Sotheby’s (1986 Mountain Blvd, Map).

Also consider helping new mothers, who need support caring for their newborns. Loved Twice, run by Montclarion Lisa Klein, delivers baby essentials to moms through local hospitals. They welcome donations of used infant clothing at Cool Tops Cuts for Kids (in Oakland or Lafayette).

Any other charity ideas this holiday season? Please share them here.

Backstage At The Caldecott Tunnel

When you’re a Montclarion, the Caldecott Tunnel is an omnipresent beast. You constantly drive over, around or through the tunnel – and know the bores quite well.

However there’s a seldom-seen backstage for tunnel operations. Much like a theater, Supervisor Doug LaVallee and other Caltrans workers monitor the stage for air circulation and traffic. Check out Inside Bay Area’s video and article, which are interesting.

In the video, the supervisor explains how the tunnel operations work and walks through all the backstage areas. He opens the stage door, where the traffic is whipping along. Plus you glimpse the barrier changes, when traffic directions are switched that day.

History and Growth:

These tunnels have been part of the landscape for a long time. The Caldecott’s original two bores opened in 1937 and replaced the rickety hillside tunnel built in 1909. The third bore was added in 1964, to accommodate the growing East Bay population headed to Oakland and San Francisco.

In the intervening years, BART was constructed and these trains accommodate many commuters. Yet auto traffic still creeps along the Rt. 24 freeway, and Caldecott’s one of the best-known traffic jams in the Bay Area. We’re so proud to hear the radio reports weekdays!

Plans for a fourth bore have been shaping up for years, and are slated to begin during 2009. Some $420 million of funding has been secured from a mix of agencies and bonds, at least the last we knew. Here’s how the eastbound approach looks today and would appear with an additional bore.

Construction Matters:

Montclarions are rightfully concerned about the disruption underneath our proverbial feet, when drilling starts up. There are mixed feelings about whether the State authorities have done a sufficient job with construction mitigation.

Many locals, who live north of the tunnel, organized as the Fourth Bore Coalition to file suit and push for additional environment review. They are worried about noise pollution and its impact on local schools, among other matters.

By contrast, local press wants the construction to proceed without delay. The Contra Costa Times called this a nuisance lawsuit. The Oakland Tribune felt the bore should proceed as well, when the suit was filed. We await the judge’s ruling this month.

Regardless, the fourth bore is a done deal. Whenever the Caldecott construction finally begins, this new bore will be a mostly underground and slow-moving project. It’s expected to take five years, and open sometime in 2014.

More info: The California Dept of Transportation has a tunnel site devoted to all its construction plans, and you can spend hours reading here. The Fourth Bore Coalition has filed a brief here, which seeks additional assessments.

Sorry, Montclair Soaps Aren’t Edible

“I cut my soap into square bars an inch thick. At first glance they look a bit like a nice cheese,” says Kim Emanuel, owner of Montclair Soaps. They look so delectable that he’s actually heard someone exclaim, “Wow, these are lovely…can you eat them?” Well, no.

Emanuel has been making unique soaps here for the past two years, using olive oil. He explains that “olive oil is very similar to the natural oils manufactured by skin and so it acts to moisturize and protect, without being greasy. The cold process of making olive oil soap results in a bar that is both deeply cleansing, moisturizing and extremely gentle to the skin.”

Of course, there’s an interesting back story about Kim and his decision to begin making and selling soaps in 2006. He’s a semiconductor engineer by day and felt the need to do “something a bit more human.”

“Soap by nature is very touchable, has wonderful aroma, it’s pretty and one can retreat into a tub of hot water with a bar of great soap,” declares Kim. “Before you know it, all the stress of the day drifts away. It’s a meditation. Soap is wonderful!”

He says his “favorite part of the whole process is when people come back to me after using my soap and tell me how much they love it, or how nice their skin feels…or how their nine-year-old son takes more baths now.”

It’s great to have a real soap maker in our backyard. Among the 14 varieties, he sees the highest demand for Mint Rosemary, Almond, Apricot, Oatmeal Milk & Honey, Pear and Lavender soaps. I’m attracted to the Lemon Grass, which puts me in the minority.

Holiday Gift Alert! Montclair Soaps maintains an online store and also holds court Sundays at the Temescal Farmers Market. You can order soaps online here, and Kim has graciously offered all Montclarions a $1/bar discount by inserting the word “MONTCLAIR” in the coupon code box at checkout.

Also you can avoid shipping charges completely, as a local. Just mention that you want to pick up bars at the Temescal Farmers Market (next to the DMV on Claremont Ave) when you see the special instructions in the online shopping cart. You can meet Kim there every Sunday to pick up your order.

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