Oakland's Tiki Tom's Restaurant - The Last Video - Part One

On October 7th, 2010, Oakland's Tiki Tom's Restaurant burned down in a blaze of fire that rang up an estimated $750,000 worth of building damage. There was, and still as of this writing, no known cause of the fire. According to several sources, the building was chain locked, and while the power had been turned off, PG&E reported it wasn't their doing.

The fire was officially labeled "suspicious."

Everything was burned, including the boat, a Tampa 66 Chris Craft according to Tom Davies AKA "Tiki Tom", docked on the Oakland Estuary, and in back of the eatery.

The restaurant that was located at 329 29th Avenue with the frog on top was at the center of what it's owner, "Tiki Tom" called "The Oakland Riviera" during a video tour.

This blogger was taken there the day before my 48th birthday on August 4th, and by long-time friends Bob and Barbara Schock, who are new Oakland District Four Councilmember Libby Schaaf's parents.

As I taken with the atmostphere, food, and cocktails of the place, I asked for the owner's permission to make a full video of Tiki Tom's, and out came Tiki Tom himself. (Who looks a lot like my long-time friend Lars Frykman, but without the beard.) The result was one of the wackiest tours I've ever taken of anyplace in my life.

The video - the last one of the entire restaurant and perhaps the only one that includes the boat in its interior - reflects that.

On the day we visited, there was almost no one in the place.  Save for one guy at the bar and four of what turned out to be Tom's friends near the water-side and rear of the facility, and the wait staff, Tiki Tom's was empty.  They were happy to be able to serve us.

But once I turned on the Flip Video Camcorder (one the CNN iReport staff gave me for being an iReport beta contributor in 2007 and that Flip created especially for CNN) man his eyes lit up, and off we went, starting with a talk about the frog on the top of the building.  (I didn't say he was going to be on CNN, or anything like that, but hey having that specially-made camcorder works.)

I asked him about the frog, and he went into a hilarious wild-man rant, saying it's at the top of the place because "people can't find it without the frog. They go round-and-round like they're in Mexico, man!" Then Tom went on a rant about how he got it that was so fast and funny it was hard to understand.  What he was saying was that his buddy who owned it paid $10,000 for it, and he paid $500 worth of drinks for it, "now leave my frog alone!"

Too funny.

He recommended I order their signature dish, the coconut prawns.  I did, and they were excellent, along with the oysters and sanddabs.  Then the Tiki Tom tour started.

Tom said that Tiki Tom's has, or now had surfboards dating back as far as 1930 with the youngest one made in 2002, making his place the only West Coast, California, all exclusive surfboard collection, handcrafted and ridden by Tom himself at every beach along the California coast."   Tom even shared his scar from being bitten by an "albino alligator."

Then, with belly full of a lot of seafood, and Michael Jackson's Beat It blaring through the place, Tom took me on a quick tour that ended on his boat, the Tampa 66 Chris Craft.

We got on the boat via a ladder that's not directly connected to it, so you really have to watch your step.  But once you're on it, it's part time.  Or was.

Tom said he had a lot of parties on the boat; I got the impression that if the boat could talk, a best-selling book and movie would result.  At the very least.

Richard Branson's Surfboard?

On the way back to the table where I left Bob and Barbara, Tom pointed to a surfboard on the ceiling he said was once owned by Virgin Billionaire Richard Branson.   More on that, later.

Tiki Tom, The Oakland Character

Since the fire, Tom Davies has not been officially seen.  I don't know what happened to him.  But, given all that I've seen and heard, and nothing not online or in this video or blog, I think Tom may have been cash-strapped and figured that burning the place down was the only way to recover some money and help his staff.



Just a guess.

We asked the waitress where everyone was and she said they were a little lean on patrons, or words to that effect. It's no secret the weak economy has been hard on Oakland, as it's near 20 percent unemployment rate has shown.   But it's really, really sad that Tom lost his beloved business and boat.  It's also sad that Oakland's lost such a wonderful place.

From the video below, it looks like he had a lot of friends and had a lot of fun:



Stay tuned.

NORAD Santa Tracker - Christmas Eve Santa Tracking

This year, 2010, once again this blogger is following (kinda) the Santa Tracker, but while tree trimming, wine drinking, and talking, and listening to Nat and Frank (Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra).

 But here's my NORAD Santa Tracker Video, because I just had to!



This business of going to the NORAD website to track Santa Claus' trip around the World is rather cool, but I'm in the middle of watching It's A Wonderful Life, so I decided to embed the tracker right here in my blog:



As of 6 PM PST / 9 PM EST, Santa Claus is , well, he's moving really fast! (If the embed doesn't work in your browser, click on the NORAD link.)

Merry Christmas!

Oakland News: Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente Gets DUI Arrest

Sad news. According to the San Jose Mercury News, veteran Oakland City Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente (pictured) was arrested for DUI (Driving Under the Influence) Thursday night at 7:30 PM.

Nacho was arrested, booked, released, and given a future court date to appear.

The CHP (California Highway Patrol) Officer said something that can and should do him in, in court: that "he believed De La Fuente was speeding" and that the officer "noticed impairment."

So, let's see here.

First, the CHP officer didn't have a speed gun to have evidence to back his claim of speeding. Second, the officer didn't have a Breathalyzer to record Ignacio's blood - alcohol level to back his claim that Ignacio was "impaired."

What the hell was this CHP officer doing?  No speed gun.  No Breathalyzer.  And he just hauls Ignacio in, anyway.  Near Christmas.  

Nuts.

I don't care - not a big rats butt - if it happens to everyone; it's not supposed to happen to anyone. So, for those of you who applaud this news, don't.  Stop supporting a screwed up system just because you love to see bad things happen to good people.

If the Alameda County Superior Court judges are worth the votes it took to get them into office, this case should be dismissed.  It damn well better be.

It should be against the law for any officer to make a DUI arrest without instrument record to back his or her claim.   That's just wrong.

Maybe now that Ignacio's got a taste for this crap, as I do, he'll become an advocate for a better system. The one California has in place is nothing more than a money-mill to maintain a California prison-industrial system.

Merry Christmas and don't drink and drive.  Let's have a weekend where the cops have a ZERO arrest record.  Don't give any CHP officer an excuse to arrest you.   Oakland police have better things to do.

Get a limo, like I did in this video:

Oakland News: Top 21 Oakland Christmas Gifts

Merry Christmas Oakland!

Normally, this would be a "top 10" list, but we have so many well deserving Oaklanders, and people who do business in Oakland, that I expanded it to 21.

Why 21?

Because once I started thinking about who deserves an Oakland Christmas Gift, the list just kept going on and on.

It's the by-product of knowing a lot of people in this town. A lot of people who deserve positive recognition. I could have gone on to 40, but had to cut it off at some point.

Here's the list!

1. For former Oakland Mayor and now California Governor-Elect Jerry Brown: patience and focus. He's going to need both.
2. For Oakland Teachers: $500 more per teacher, per month. That would help many, many well-deserving and hard working teachers in Oakland.
3. For Mayor-Elect Jean Quan: A Green Oakland Mayor's Bus so she can travel free of parking ticket worry, and get around in a socially-responsible way!
4. For Al Davis and The Oakland Raiders: A NEW STADIUM. The Coliseum was only refurbished to bring the Raiders back to Oakland, not to give the Raiders a state of the art stadium. I told this to the Oakland City Council in 1997, when I was Elihu Harris' Economic Advisor. Then-Oakland Councilmember and now Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley wanted to choke me. "We just spent $197 million and you're telling me it's not state-of-the-art?," he asked. Yep. It's wasn't then, and it's not now. The corridors are too narrow by five feet. The suites at the west side of the Coliseum need a big upgrade. And the places where slip-and-falls can and do happen are still abundant. The lights are not bright enough to be completely effective for night games. There's no after-game restaurant or hotel to take in patrons waiting for BART when they leave the games, let alone gain revenue. In short, and I could go on, and we're just getting by.
5. For The Oakland A's: An owner who cares about Oakland. It's hard to get anyone behind you in Oakland, when you're always trying to get out of it. The drive for a new stadium has nothing to do with any civic love for A's Managing Owner Lew Wolff, and everything to do with Oakland's love for the A's. Mr. Wolff can treat Oakland much better than he has to date. He's tried to leave Oakland almost since he took ownership of the organization; that has to stop.
6. For Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts: 100 new police officer positions and the money to keep them.
7. For Oaklanders who's cars were towed because of the trollish parking enforcement system: $2,000 each toward a new car. Considering that you have to wait one year for Oakland to pay you back for its parking errors, you (er, we) deserve it.
8. For the 10 Candidates in The Oakland Mayor's Race: a bottle of wine each for making Oakland politics fun again!
9. For Rod Dibble at The Alley: a $100 tip for being an Oakland treasure at the piano!
10. For Lara and Gar Truppelli, owners of The Lake Chalet Restaurant: the Oakland Foodies Change Award for having the courage to completely alter their menu and staff in just one year, and for opening up the Lake Chalet to fun events. That's a huge facility on Lake Merritt. A jewel nonetheless.
11. For Oakland Rapper Too Short: A "Too Short Day" by the Oakland City Council. Too Short put Oakland on the map as much as the Oakland Raiders have. He deserves it.
12. For East Oakland: A battery manufacturing plant. That area needs jobs as the unemployment rate is over 20 percent,and more. Such plants are springing up around America. Oakland needs one.
13. For Oakland City Attorney John Russo: an Oakland City Council that won't screw with his already tight budget.
14. For Oakland Gang Members: EMPATHY, in large doses.
15. For outgoing Mayor Ron Dellums and Former Oakland-Mayor Elihu Harris:  Legacy Videos. Because their final years in politics - for Dellums as The Mayor of Oakland and Harris as Peralta Community College Chancellor - have marred their incredible political careers, the videos are a reminder of the great works they have done.
16. For Oakland's Media: ad revenue, from some source.
17. For Oakland Former City Manager and Legends Henry Gardner, Dick Spees, and Richard Winnie: Days for each of them by The Oakland City Council.
18. For New Oakland District 4 Councilmember and friend Libby Schaaf: Big Army Boots! To make sure she remains grounded, focused, and humble in her new and deservedly lofty position.
19. To Russ and the staff at Gaylord's Cafe on 41st and Piedmont: A Certificate Of Excellence In Late Night Cafe Operation! Gaylord's stays open until 12 midnight, and has become a focal point for Oakland's Internet-Based Workforce.
20. To Oscar Grant and His Family: An "Oscar Grant Day" by the Oakland City Council, to remind us of the need for a police force that's a friend to, and not an adversary of, the community.
21. To Grand Lake Theater Owner Alan Michaan: An all-day free-parking area of 40 cars and only for patrons of the Grand Lake Theater.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Santa Baby 99ers Christmas Unemployment Song

Presenting the Santa Baby 99ers Christmas Unemployment Song, or The Santa Baby 99ers Song, on Christmas Eve.

Donalee King (in photo from Zennie62.com), who goes by Paladinette, at Zennie62.com, created this variation of the classic Christmas Song Santa Baby.

King, a blogger who also has her own blog called Jobless Unite,  is one of the so-called "99ers," those who's unemployment benefits have ran out after the 99-week limit, and seek an extension of benefits, or better yet, a job.

In seeking both, the San Diego resident has become a tireless advocate for the jobless. Her work on this song landed her notice by the LA Times.

The video is below, followed by the lyrics, which are graphic but worth reading and singing...if you dare!

(In fact, if you're in Oakland, California, print out the lyrics, take them down to The Alley at 3325 Grand Avenue, present them to Rod Dibble at the piano, and ask he would accompany you in song. Santa Baby is a song he knows how to play.)




Lyrics to video song Santa Baby - 99ers Style 2010

Congress Baby, the 99ers need a tier 5......to survive

I know you’re HEARTLESS P@#*s But....so what?

My children need some dinner tonight!

The car got repo’d and the rent is awfully late...but wait

You only care for the rich that’s a B*@#H

there’s millions of us dying out here

We can’t afford a Christmas tree

While you’re all buying Cartier at Tiffany

You bailed out banks Greece and Haiti too

I think it’s time the 99ers heard from you

Obama baby, just help the 99ers please

and... don’t tease

Been a really tough year

Out here

I Hope Your change is comin’ tonight

Obama honey, you sold 99ers flat out

no doubt

and now it’s snowing out,

My stomach’s growling

I need some food and shelter tonight

Sherrod honey, Schumer and that Stabenow too

Were through we all trusted you

but senate baby your lies have left us hurtn’ out here

We’re not rich - guess we don’t count

The dirty little secret you won’t talk about

There’ll be no jobs again next Year

It’s time you kicked your senate’s butts into high gear

Congress baby just pretend to care for us poor

once more - come on it’s just a check - so what the heck?

there’s millions of us dying out here!

That’s right I’d rather work than fight

Hurry Congress there’s 99ers dying TONIGHT

Merry Christmas!

Festivus 2010: No Mediaite Festivus? What Gives?

Festivus, that annual celebration for the rest of us, is upon us, once again. But in 2010 Festivus just don't feel like, well, Festivus.

The idea was first introduced in Seinfeld, Jerry Seinfeld's long-running television comedy, as an alternative to what some perceive as the commericialization of Christmas.

But this time, Festivus doesn't feel like Festivus, and maybe that's because the idea was started by a long-cancelled TV show, rather than a religious event?

At any rate, I know Festivus isn't as huge this year, because Mediaite's not mentioning it at all. Last year, the online media watchdog publication had a Mediaite Festivus of the top 50 media influencers in 2009, and that I talked about in my vlog here:



This year, zip.  Nada.

And while Festivus is a Google Trend, some of the blogs and articles don't seem to be focused on it in the title heading.  Festivus is more the day that, say, an NFL football game is being played.

I think AOL's David Knowles got it right when he observed that Festivus lived on, although Seinfeld reruns were "dated."  I think Festivus is headed in the same direction.  But there's still Christmas, and always will be.

Now, for this blogger, Christmas is about giving, not necessarily buying. It's also a celebration of the time of Christ's birth.

That's forgotten.

An aside.

For some reason there are people who just want to be mean. They want to be mean 24 and 7, and so they hate Christmas. Can't stand it. Those people are sad sacks. There's nothing wrong with being nice to people and giving to them in honor of the birth of Christ, and because it's just a plain nice thing to do.

As I said to someone who explained the common rationale for not celebrating Christmas, in other words, it's commericialized, "Christmas is something you do with society. Why does it have to be about you?"

Don't be selfish. Get into the sprit. Give of yourself.

Happy Festivus and Merry Christmas!

Oakland Twitter Tweets For Wednesday, December 23rd 2010

There's so much going on in Oakland, it's hard to represent it all in just one blog post.  The Oakland City Council approves use of up to $750,000 for an environmental study for a baseball stadium for The Oakland A's.  The City of Oakland sues three sub-standard hotels said to be prostitution dens.   The Oakland Raiders get ready to host The Indianapolis Colts.  It's all here, and more.  

A newsletter is just a static report, too. So how does one best capture all that's happening in Oakland? A Twitter Tweet stream like the one below.

What's neat is you can see the changing news scene in Oakland, as well as what's happening off the mainstream media path. Check it out:



Read more: http://www.technixupdate.com/add-display-twitter-tweets-stream-to-website-or-blog/#ixzz18tKNeew3