InBerkeley

Berkeley Hillside Club
LECTURE—Friday, October 9 at 6 pm

ART SHOW & SALE—Saturday–Sunday, October 11–12, 11AM–6 PM
Free admission
The Hillside Club is pleased to present the Fourth Annual Landscape Art Show and Sale and a special lecture by Thomas Reynolds on the long tradition of collecting California landscape paintings. Thomas Reynolds is the owner of Thomas Reynolds Gallery in San Francisco, an authority on early California landscape art, and a supporter of local bay area landscape painters. He will also give a tour of the show and discuss the exhibited paintings.

The lecture will begin at 6 pm on Friday,
October 9th.

The show and sale will continue Saturday through Sunday, October
10 through 11 from 11am to 6 pm.

The Hillside Club is located at 2286 Cedar Street, at Arch in Berkeley.

For more information contact 510-848-3227.

Artists presenting their work include:
* Bryan Mark Taylor     * Christin Coy
* Daniel McCormick     * Dean Holland
* Dennis Ziemienski     * Douglas Morgan
* Elaine Carpenter     * Erma Wheatley
* Jack Cassinetto     * Jerrold Turner
* Julie Nunes     * Julie Seelos
* Kevin Courter     * Mark Farino
* Nikki Basch-Davis     * Paul Kratter
* Ray Carpenter     * Robin Moore
* Tim Horn     * Tom Soltesz
* Zenaida Mott

General

There is a young man in my neighborhood (East Cedar Street) who is severely disabled by Lyme disease. He can barely walk, has virtually no control over his hands, his symptoms are similar to Parkinsons: very stiff body and frozen muscles, staring eyes and frozen facial muscles, significant shaking, lack of control of his hands and fingers, constant pins-and-needles, and difficult or non-existent speech.

Over the months, I have seen him shuffle up and down our street, and have tried to engage him in conversation with varying levels of success. Right now, he is unable to speak at all.

He is living on state and federal benefits, I think has visiting caregivers and is receiving no medical treatment for the disease. He badly needs a device to enable him to communicate using either his head or eye movements.

It seems that whatever social services he is in touch with have been either unable or have not tried to get such a device.

So, I have decided to see if I could help him get such a machine, and gather the community to support him with visits errands etc. I have no experience in working with the disabled, but he is someone in my North Berkeley community and I care.

The first thing I did was to go to my two local banks (Bank of the West and Bank of America on Shattuck) to ask about setting up an account where local people can contribute money of any amount by just mailing a check. I have seen and contributed to such accounts myself in the past, and I figured that either of these two banks would be eager to help a good local cause. Wrong. Minimum deposits, account charges, and other complications have meant that I am now looking for a bank that will step up to the plate, waive charges, and make it possible for anonymous people to mail in or bring deposits to any branch, to contribute to the fund.

I am prepared to handle whatever tax implications this might entail, but do not want to set up a 501 (c) 3 for the purpose. I want simply to collect money for a severely handicapped person in our community. Does anyone know of a bank that would do this?

Also, I have not yet reached out to social services and local charities for help, but if you know of resources for such situations, I would be glad to hear. Please email me at johnfeld@thegraphicsreport.com

Help needed

You’re invited! Come join in a lively local conversation about mothers, families and the women’s movement. The Hillside Club in Berkeley is hosting the event with MomsRising’s co-founder Joan Blades leading the conversation.

WHAT: “Mothers, Family, and the Women’s Movement in the 21st Century”
WHERE: Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar Street, Berkeley CA 94709
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 20, 7:00 PM
WHO: You, your kids, friends, neighbors– all are welcome!

This Hillside Club event is $10, or $5 for club members and members of momsRising.

Tickets available online and at the door. Seating is limited.

We’d love to see you there!

A Woman’s Voice will present Joan Blades in conversation with friends and audience members discussing the role of mothers, families and how they relate to the on-going women’s movement now and in the future. Joan is a co-founder of both MoveOn.org and MomsRising.org. The former is a political education and advocacy group; the latter
works to bring together millions of people who share a common concern about the need to build a more family-friendly America.

This is the first in a monthly series of lectures at the Club. The series, A Woman’s Voice, gives women an opportunity to express their passion to a new or wider audience.

Joan Blades is a co-founder of MoveOn.org, which has an online membership of over 5 million. Mother’s Day 2006 she co-founded MomsRising.org with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner to tap the power of online grassroots organizing for mothers and families in the U.S. MomsRising has an online membership of over 1 million. She is the co-author of The Motherhood Manifesto, which won the Ernesta Drinker Ballard Book Prize in 2007. Last century she co-founded Berkeley Systems, taught mediation at Golden Gate Law School, practiced mediation, and wrote Mediate Your Divorce. She is also a mother, a writer, an artist, a jeweler, a soccer player, and a Hillside Club member.

General

On Saturday August 8, the Hillside Club will be holding a Paella Mixta dinner.

Paella is a dish of saffron-flavored rice combined with zesty vegetables, chicken, shellfish, Spanish chorizo and garlic.  It is cooked on a large round pan, also called paella, over a fairly low heat.  Mixta means that there is a combination of different ingredients.

This authentic Paella will be prepared and cooked by Chef Ciado who specializes in creating sumptuous paellas, and has prepared gourmet cuisine throughout the world.

The cooking will take place in the middle of the main hall of the Hillside Club, while we get a chance to sit around, be entertained by the visual and aromatic spectacle of the creation of a Paella Mixta, and socialize drinking sangria. You are also invited to bring your alternative drink of choice. The cooking will start at 6 pm and we will eat when it is ready at about 7. There will be a vegetarian alternative, as the paella contains chicken, seafood and sausage.

This is a new outreach by the Hillside Club to the foodies in the community. The Hillside Club hosts Club dinners throughout the year, and many potlucks and other food events, but this is a first reaching out to the public and featuring gourmet food.

The Hillside Club is one of the oldest social clubs in Berkeley. It was founded in the late nineteenth century and the clubhouse has been in the same location on Cedar Street since 1906. The club promotes art and culture in the community and is completely owned and run by its members.

Cost: $38 per person.

Reservations are required and tickets must be purchased prior to August 4. Tickets are available here. You can also send a check to Hillside Club, Attn. Paella Mixta, 2286 Cedar Street, Berkeley CA 94709. Include names of all the people attending, a telephone number and/or phone number. Tickets will be held at the door. Seating is limited, so please book early. For additional information call (510) 644 2967 or email the Hillside Club.

Events, Food, General

Last night I had one of the best meals I have had in recent months. And I eat out quite a lot.

This was at Barlata Comida, a Catalan tapas bar on a fashionable area of Telegraph Avenue. The food was uniformly excellent. The three gazpachos come in tall glasses, each one very different to the next. Actually there is a salmorejo of garlic and bread, a white ajoblanco made with almonds and garlic, and a traditional thick gazpacho of vegetables in a tomato base. Each was delicious.

The fish was fresh — salmon, sardines, and anchovies. The Barandada made with salt cod and mashed potatoes and lots of garlic was totally satisfying. And the perfectly cubed mountain of fried potatoes with a dab of allioli and spicy tomato were a must have.

At the end of the meal, our party of four shared a fideua cooked in squid ink with monkfish, squid, and shrimp, also topped with allioli. A delicious twist on the traditional paella.

An amazingly good feast. Each dish was completely different in taste, texture, and color, and they arrived in a fairly steady stream that kept us eating and still left enough room for talk and sipping wine.

In all we had about eight plates and a couple of desserts, and we were more than full, and very satisfied.

The menu is extensive (about 50 items), and there are additional daily specials. Tapas and latas range from $4–$10, and the large plates are from $13-$14.
The wine list is also extensive. We drank a bottle of Can Blau Monstant that was excellent, if a little costly.

The waitress was friendly, well informed and was very liberal with the wine samples before we settled on the Can Blau. The wine list is long with many Spanish wines, mostly red. There are a couple of sparkling wines, a few sherries, and a wide selection of beer, on tap and in bottles. The wine prices range from $20–$135, and the beers are $4–7. Most wines are also available by the glass.

The atmosphere was very warm and friendly, although noisy. As there are no reservations, go a little late, they stay open until 11, and miss the 40-minute wait at 7 p.m.

I can’t wait to return and try more of their delicious small plates.

Barlata Comida 4901 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland (510) 450 0678. Open seven days 5–11 p.m. No reservations.

Food, Telegraph Avenue, restaurants