Around Town

Strumming Up Support

Jam Sessions the Toast of the Island Ukulele Brigade

    It’s a standing Thursday date. At one hour past midday with metronome precision, the musicians—drawn from around the Island—take their places at the table. The chatter dies down. The instruments tune up. And the ukulele jam session begins.
    The venue is a hall at Trinity Lutheran Church on Central Avenue. Leading the pack—on guitar—is the church’s pastor, David Bringman.
    “Are we going to learn anything about strumming?” someone asks on this particular afternoon.
    Bringman, who grew up in the 1960s “when everyone played guitar,” responds with a show-and-tell that involves instructions about thumbs, plucking, brushing, practice and how, with repetition, the left hand muscle memory they’ve developed will extend to the right hand. “If you grasp the principal, you can work on it from there,” he affirms. The men and women, four of them dressed Hawaiian-style for the session, peer earnestly at their music, or the strings of their small instruments. Each person at the table gets a chance to pick a tune and the group barely misses a beat as it transitions from “Polly Wolly Doodle” to “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” and “Jamaica Farewell” to Bringman’s choice, Three Dog Night’s version of Hoyt Axton’s “Joy to the World.”
    The group is as eclectic as the music. Peter Sandholdt, 72, was formerly head cook at the Stanford University Medical Facility. His last contact with a musical instrument, before he picked up the ukulele when the group formed three years ago, was playing sax in high school.
    Dolly Fong, 70, an Alameda resident for 30 years who still teaches, among other things, English as a second language and tai chi, was given her ukulele as a gift and loves to sing. “I don’t have much of a voice,” she laughs. “But the songs lift the spirits and I struggle along.”
    Colleen Vermillion, 63, has a degree in music and played ukulele at college. She decided to reacquaint herself with the diminutive instrument, introduced to the Hawaiian islands by Portuguese immigrants in the late 19th century, a couple of years ago while recovering from a bone marrow transplant for leukemia.
    Stan Lichtenstein, 82, who spent 25-plus years in broadcasting in the Bay Area, took ukulele lessons about 20 years ago “and didn’t learn a thing.” This time, he could be learning more—if there was time to practice. “They say when you retire you have a lot of time on your hands, but it doesn’t work that way,” he says, before reeling off a list of activities and interests that get in the way. There’s biking, walking, presenting programs on cruise ships, and that’s just for starters. But he’s there on Thursdays.
    “The ukulele was popular in the ’20s and ’30s, and there’s a revival going on,” says Bringman, who was asked to lead the group by a player who has since moved away. It’s unlikely they’ll be challenging the reigning king of the new uke wave, Hawaiian Jake Shimabukuro. But the jam goes on.
    For information on the ukulele class, call David Bringman at (510) 522-5220.

—By Wanda Hennig
—Photography by Lewis Smith

Cocktails at Sea

Ferry Bartender Juan Cendejas Spices up the Ride

    High gas prices have lured many drivers from their cars to public transport. Alameda and Oakland residents who opt for the ferry enjoy a perk that goes far beyond avoiding the Bay Bridge on a Friday night: an opportunity to sip cocktails while watching the sun set over the San Francisco skyline.
    Many ferry riders opt for a quick beer or glass of wine, but those opting for something more exotic will be pleasantly surprised when Juan Cendejas is behind the bar. A graduate of the National Bartending School in San Francisco, Cendejas whips up Caipirinhas with cachaça, a Brazilian rum-like spirit, and fresh lime juice. “I always suggest the liquor or new drinks that I think the commuters might like,” he says. “I recently started to bring my little premium bar which includes bottles of Grand Marnier, Cazadores tequila, Cruzan rum and Courvoisier cognac.”
    While cheerfully—and efficiently—serving drinks at sea, many of the other bartenders don’t share Cendejas’ special passion for the latest drink trends. Eoin Meisel has been a part-time bartender on Bay Area ferries for seven years. Cocktails like the Leblon cachaça are not his specialty, he admits. “Juan serves those. I just love being on the water.”
    Originally from Guanajuato, Mexico, Cendejas has been serving drinks to thirsty commuters and tourists since 1998, initially on boats traveling from San Francisco to Alcatraz, Sausalito, Tiburon and Angel Island. Bartending is a family affair for Cendejas, who is a student at the City College of San Francisco when he’s not at work. His brother and wife, who also have their professional bartending certificates, do shifts on the San Francisco-to-Tiburon run. “We like to have fresh limes, celery and anything else we need for a good cocktail or mixed drink. I always try to do the best on the ferry, making the commuters feel comfortable and doing more for them because we see each other every day.”

    Juan Cendejas’s Ferry Bloody Mary
4 ounces tomato juice (or Bloody Mary mix)
1 ounce vodka
4 drops Tapatio hot sauce
4 drops Maggy sauce or Worcestershire sauce
Celery salt
Black pepper
Salt
Cilantro (fresh)
Fresh lime juice
Horseradish
Celery stalk for garnish
Bacon for garnish (Cendejas adds this only on private cruises, not on the regular ferry)
Lime wedge for garnish
Olive for garnish and olive juice for flavor

—By Elisa William
—Photography by Craig Merrill

TAKEFIVE With Janet Koike

1     The Welcoming Spirit
    My favorite thing about coming to Alameda is the warm welcome that Rhythmix Cultural Works got, because as newcomers to Alameda, I thought we might be considered outsiders. But instead, everybody welcomed us as neighbors. And it was just charming. I’m constantly charmed by Alameda, which is great. So it’s nice to be an outsider and to be surprised constantly. I live in Berkeley, but I secretly always wanted to live in a small town.

2     The Marketplace
    I love the Marketplace because I can walk there [from Rhythmix]. I walk there almost every day. The best coffee: at The Beanery; the best bakery, Feel Good Bakery; and the best grocery, Alameda Natural Grocery. I love [Marketplace manager] Donna [Layburn]. I think she’s done a great job. I am so sorry Season to Taste closed because that was my lunch alternative.

3 The Restaurants
    I love lots of restaurants, but I think my favorites are C’era Una Volta, Burma SuperStar and The Ark. C’era Una Volta has Cheryl [Principata] and Rudy [Duran]. I love Rudy. Just visiting with Rudy is worth the price of admission. And Burma SuperStar—the green tea salad—I love that. Oh, it’s so good. I’ve had it other places, but theirs is different; it’s better. And The Ark, where all your meals appear with a bit of sculptured carrot or vegetable. I mostly eat vegetarian, so that’s what they’re about.

4     Small Town Aspect
    I like that I feel safer here than anywhere else in the Bay Area. I think it is safer here than anywhere else in the Bay Area. And I like that I can park when I go to City Hall. So to me, it’s like Alameda is still living the American dream. People here are not naïve, and they’re not oblivious to the rest of the world, so it’s even more special. It makes everyone really be more appreciative of what they have.

5     The Setting
    I love that the beach is here. And when I have time, I’m really looking forward to doing that bike ride around Robert Crown Memorial State Beach, Shore Line Drive and Bay Farm. Maybe next month.

—Judith M. Gallman
—Photography by Craig Merrill

Media Shelf

Books

Accidentally on Purpose, A One-Night Stand, My Unplanned Parenthood and Loving the Best Mistake I Ever Made by Mary F. Pols
(Harper Collins, 2008, pp. 272, $26.95)
    Alamedan Mary F. Pols, former movie critic for the Contra Costa Times, pens a poignant, heartfelt memoir about her late-in-life pregnancy from an unemployed boy toy 10 years her junior. Her romp covers hopes and dreams, disappointments and expectations, joy and sadness, with Pols ultimately finding satisfaction and self-fulfillment in her son and motherhood. Her straightforward, self-deprecating, wry writing style, peppered with tons of memorable details from mundane everyday life, makes the book a page-turner.

CDS

The Associated, Be Seeing You (www.theassociated.net)
    The Alameda power trio of Brian Klunk (electric guitar, vocals and trombone), Nate Quihuis (bass) and Steve Mason (drums) embraces a wide scope of rock influences on this self-produced eight-song EP. The energy surges at a consistently high threshold, even as the tempos vary, from the buzzy punky opener, “Lover’s Olympics,” through the chunky modern ska of “Rock Tight” and the lilting power ballad of “I Hope This Reaches You in Time” to a crunchy-pop cover of the Boxtops’ “The Letter.” With guest clarinetist Paul Trust adding lines that emulate dub-master Augustus Pablo’s melodica, “Ragga Fallujah” echoes the Clash circa Sandinista!, while other tracks bring to mind the heavy elegance of the Who and the raw roar of Iggy Pop. Catch the trio live at such Island venues as Rooster’s Roadhouse and The Lost Weekend.
—By Judith M. Gallman & Derk Richardson

About a Kitsch King

Andrew Fitzpatrick Brings Firetiki to Alameda

    A unique cultural renaissance is happening in Alameda. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the city is an island, but it seems that “tiki” culture is suddenly springing up everywhere.
    Local DJ, graphic designer, patch maker and Web designer Andrew Fitzpatrick has added to that trend by bringing his online store down to Earth in a small, corner retail space just blocks from the Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge, and with wholesalers Fuzzy Dude occupying the other 1,800 square feet of space in the building, the tiki trinity is complete.
    “The store is a wacky mix of new and used consignment,” Fitzpatrick says of the store he opened earlier this year, which includes tiki mugs, Hawaiian shirts, patches, paintings and Gearhead Magazine (Fitzpatrick is its Web designer) merchandise. “We don’t have a lot of walk-in yet,” he says, “but everyone who does come in has a good laugh at something.”
    The idea to bring Fitzpatrick’s successful online store to life came from friends and fellow Alamedans Ian Stride and Laura Hendrickson. They wanted to move the headquarters of their Fuzzy Dude kitsch wholesale business from San Leandro to Alameda. Due to a legal loophole, the space they found needed to contain at least some retail space. Fitzpatrick, Fuzzy Dude’s patch designer and Web master, was the logical choice.
    “We have worked with him for a long time, and he is like family to us at this point, kind of like that silly little brother,” Stride jokes. “And we really wanted to be in Alameda.”
    Look for Fitzpatrick, also known as DJ Fitz, spinning his favorite tunes occasionally at Forbidden Island and every fourth Saturday at the Lost Weekend Lounge, check him out online or stop by the store.
    Firetiki, 1716 Lincoln Ave., (510) 263-0278, 10 a.m.–7 p.m. Mon.–Wed., Fri.-Sat., www.firetiki.com, www.fuzzydude.com.  

—Daniel Jewett
—Photography by Craig Merrill