More Fun Hyperlocal Rockridge Stuff: Pugs and Hummingbirds

I'm thrilled by all the readers who've dropped in and commented so early in my blog's history. I really want to make this more of a local casual blog instead of putting on my Serious Writing Face every time I post, and include more local Rockridge stuff. There's no point in my recycling political news, especially because I'm new to Oakland and I often don't have much to add to the conversation. When I do have something about local politics to say I'll say it here. In the meantime:

I've developed a hummingbird obsession. Fish are to Frank Gehry as hummingbirds are to me. Fascinating that something which today fills the same niche as insects and is occasionally eaten by them is descended from theropods (dinosaurs) and that the evolution of their speed and metabolism has a ceiling based on the limits of kidney filtration (though there's some argument that it's mitochondrial function too). They're a biochemical swiss watch. They're an evolutionary treasure - something I would be proud to show an alien if I met one, as proof of the awesomeness of my biosphere. I've often wondered how close we are to building an RC plane the size of a hummingbird. Put a little camera on it. Fly it down to the corner on Sunday morning before you go to see if there's a line at the breakfast place.

This time of year they don't have many flowers to drink from. The other day one was flying along the edge of my balcony, methodically searching every square inch for sugar. He got quite close to me in the process and seemed desperate. Given their metabolism, they can go from well-fed to death by starvation in literally an hour. So I made a little feeder for them and hung it in the courtyard of my building with some fake red flowers to draw them. I hope they find it.

Equally randomly, there are two pugs next door that, when they let themselves out through the dog door into their yard, scream and cry until they've been let back in. They sound for all the world like they're dying slow and agonizing deaths. Once you realize it's just these two dummies wallowing in their separation anxiety the performance becomes not only tolerable, but progressively more hilarious every time.

Decisive Dellums?

Am I the only one who found the Chip Johnson love fest for Ron Dellums to be a be of a non sequitur? It's certainly positive that the Mayor seems to have turned over a new leaf and is making decisions, but a more reserved attitude is still in order until we see that it's been sustained. I don't know enough about Lindheim to react strongly pro or con his appointment but this seems not to be the case for FutureOakland and others.

All the More Reason to Write Your City Council Member

Chip Johnson isn't crying "recall", but he does make a very useful observation about City Council. That is, they've shown they can "collar" Dellums when needed. Maybe we do have a decision-making body in Oakland after all. Whether you support a full recall (disruptive as it would be) or just increasing the role of the City Council in doing something for the city, now's the best time to write your Councilperson.

Incidentally, it's not as if I'm out looking for stories of Oakland corruption, but this one just popped up on the Chronicle. Note there was no background check, and note how Dellums met this intern - at a block party. Maybe that's how police chief candidates should be introduced to him.

Write your Oakland City Council Representative

...If you're dissatisfied with Dellums. There's a campaign underway to write our council members to get City Council to vote no-confidence for the mayor. If you don't know who your representative is, the district map is here. Don't know why I didn't think of this. After all, it worked to get rid of the Police Chief.

Taking Bets on When We'll Get a Police Chief

Oakland cops have a tough job, and we need them, which why I hope we get a good chief in there now. As Chuck Reed recently said of San Jose, the number one service a city provides is safety. And Ex-Chief Tucker says Council President Brunner and the Council aren't serious about public safety? Honestly? VSmooth says that the OPD got $208M last year and went over budget - how does that compare to other cities?

We can't afford another permanent temporary city-administrator situation like we've had with Edgerly. According to Zennie we at least have some explanation (i.e., it would have been Bobb were it not for Bobb's price tag), but as a clueless private sector hack I'm open to explanations of why it takes this long to hire a city administrator. There are rumors that Dan Lindheim's confirmation for the job is already quietly on the calendar for February 3rd; fine, but at this stage I'll believe a decision has been made once we see it.

So what's the story on recalling Dellums? We just had a riot for crying out loud, and then the head of the police department resigns for unrelated reasons. If we think the temporary disruption is better than 2 more years of this, and there's a mechanism, it's now or never.

State of the City Address Monday Night January 26

Mayor Dellums is giving his state of the city address Monday night January 26. A list of satellite viewing locations is here. Will we be able to watch this at home on KTOP? Will this be posted on the web somewhere?

Report from Downtown Oakland #1

I was at the packed Cafe van Kleef last night (Friday) along with it seemed about a thousand other souls, and I had the good fortune of being able to talk to Peter van Kleef, whose bravery and quick-thinking is featured in Zennie's video from the night of the first protest. Peter thought it was funny that I had seen him on screen but never in person. According to Peter, these jostled pictures I took represent a regular Friday night:


End result: got my greyhound, heard very original live music, talked to some interesting people and had a great time. I'm going to get back down to SOBO for the 17th on 17th festival this afternoon. See you down there.