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In the Mix

Picture Perfect

Artist Mel Ramos Loves Women—and Living in Oakland

    Picture the scene. A quite street in the Rockridge District. An unassuming house painted a mustard shade of yellow. There’s nothing, other than that you know you’ve come to the correct address, to suggest that this is the home of one of Oakland’s legendary residents. A man famous—some would say notorious—for his life-size paintings of naked women that look airbrushed in their perfection. In fact, they are oil paint on canvas, or sometimes linen, executed with a delicacy and detail that sees the artist plow through countless tiny watercolor brushes. This is the artist, celebrated in a 1977 Oakland Museum retrospective, who has given us, for posterity, the likes of lithe and lovely Lola Cola, who views us from inside a glass of Coca-Cola; Rubarb Ruby, a natural redhead who reclines, for our visual pleasure, on a freshly baked rhubarb pie; Candy, who eyes us provocatively from inside a Baby Ruth wrapper; and Five Flavour Fanny, who looks remarkably like Uma Thurman kicking back on a roll of Lifesavers.
    Mel Ramos, now 74, first made his mark on the art world in the ’60s when, as part of the Pop Art movement, he exhibited alongside Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann, Roy Lichtenstein and others of the genre, all of whom he has outlived. “I’m the survivor,” he laughs, his eyes sparking with humor, as they often do, and observing knowingly from behind large spectacles.
    Ramos has lived in this house with his wife, Leta, since 1967 when they moved from Sacramento. He’d taken a job in the art department at Cal State Hayward (now California State University East Bay), where he taught until he retired in 1998. “I find Oakland a superb place to live and work,” he says in response to the question, “Why live here?” Now that he’s selling paintings for more than a million dollars and could, one would presume, choose to live anywhere. He reels off names of a dozen restaurants along College and Telegraph avenues that he and Leta frequent. “In my twilight years, we tend to eat out every day,” he says. Which sounds like a joke (the twilight years part) given that when we meet he’s just been contacted about a commission request by Pamela Anderson, is putting the finishing touches to several large nudes for an exhibition and is preparing for his annual three months in Spain where, in 1972, he bought a house with money from a Zurich art dealer stashed inside his cowboy boots.
    Ramos believes his best work is to come. His quest with each new painting, he says, is perfection. “My philosophy is that utopia is at the top of the hill—and you spend your life trying to get there.” He disagrees with those who say his art is sexist or exploitative. “I love women,” he says. “My work is a celebration. That’s how it is.  Take it or leave it.”
    See more of Mel Ramos’s work at www.melramos.com.

—By Wanda Hennig

—Photography by Jan Stürmann

About a Jazz Singer

Ed Reed Heir Apparent

    The line at the Cheeseboard Pizza Collective snakes out the door and up the sidewalk. At the south end of the storefront, pianist Brian Cooke, bassist Robb Fisher and singer Ed Reed perform the jazz classic “Sometimes I’m Happy.”
    A gaggle of moms, kids and solitary diners dig into their slices; other folks pick up whole pies to take home; and none of the above, most likely, realize they are being serenaded by one of the great male jazz singers of our time.
    That the 79-year-old crooner is heir to the vocal legacy of Nat “King” Cole, Billy Eckstein and Arthur Prysock is just dawning on the jazz cognoscenti, as well. After all, the Richmond resident released his first album, Ed Reed Sings Love Stories, only last year, and his second, The Song Is You, just a few months ago. Cleveland-born, Watts-raised Reed started singing jazz as a teenager, with Charles Mingus as his guide. “My dream was always that Duke [Ellington] would knock on the door and say, ‘Ed, come join the band.’ ” But between 1946 and 1986 Reed did most of his singing behind the walls of San Quentin. “I went through 25 drug programs, eight crazy houses and four penitentiaries,” he says of his efforts to kick the heroin habit he picked up at the Army base in Oakland.
    During a visit to the annual Jazz Camp West a few summers ago, he hooked up with trumpeter/saxophonist Peck Allmond, who, with producer Bud Spangler, made sure that Reed started recording. Now he has a Web site (www.edreedsings.com), a publicist and a high-powered booking agent landing him gigs from here to New York City’s Jazz Standard.
    Reed talks frankly, sometimes wistfully, about his anguished past: He first met alto sax giant Art Pepper buying drugs in 1947 in a house at Eighth and Market streets in Oakland, and he says of the genius but drug-plagued trumpeter Dupree Bolton, “there’s a graveyard full of people like that.” But he waxes rhapsodic about the present—“It’s all new; it’s all exciting”—and the salvation he finds in singing. “Life ain’t easy,” he says. “These songs teach us how to grieve … and let go of it.”
    Ed Reed sings 5 p.m.–8 p.m. Tuesdays at the Cheeseboard Pizza Collective, 1512 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, and celebrates the release of The Song Is You Aug. 25 at Yoshi’s Jazz Club, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland.                                                   

—Derk Richardson

—Photography by Ashley Summer

You’re an Oaklander If...

You Dunked Donuts at Dave’s Coffee Shop
    True Oaklanders remember finding an unhurried sit-down place at 2 a.m. for nice, greasy food that didn’t involve Denny’s. Yes, old-timers recall the big neon sign fronting Dave’s Coffee Shop at Broadway and 42nd Street that promised eggs, hamburgers, French fries, shakes, coffee and pancakes 24 hours a day.
    Originally opened in 1930 with six stools and three booths, Dave’s was always a late-night beacon to those in search of a hearty meal, but it was more than that. Dave’s was a classic neighborhood diner serviced by waitresses who knew customers by name (who in turn knew them) and frequented by those who loved the social aspect of eating.
    Hallmarks of another time it seems, as these diners have fallen casualty to the quicker pace of modern American life, which is what happened to Dave’s in the mid-1990s as it switched to a breakfast-and-lunch-only schedule, finally shutting down for good in 2004. Now it’s a car dealer parking lot, its proud standing sign a pleasant reminder of bygone times.

—By Daniel Jewett

The Green Bin

Talk to the Animals

    If you have an old, clunky and outdated cell phone the size of a shoe stored in a box somewhere, the Oakland Zoo’s got a new home for it. The zoo has partnered with the Kentucky-based company Eco-Cell and launched an innovative program to recycle old cell phones, batteries and accessories: More than 70 percent of the phones go to first-time, low-income users. Just as importantly, the program keeps hazardous materials out of landfills. Moreover, Eco-Cell pays the Oakland Zoo for digital handsets made by major manufacturers, and that money goes to benefit the zoo’s animal and conservation programs.
    And there is yet another reason Oakland Zoo officials are enthused about this recycling program—it may help ameliorate the plight of endangered mountain gorillas half a world away.
    Cell phones contain a mineral called tantalum, derived from metallic ore called coltan (columbite-tantalite), which is mined in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the home of the mountain gorilla. The mining of coltan has resulted in a dramatic loss of food and habitat for these animals. Currently, there are only 3,000 gorillas left in the park.
    “By partnering with Eco-Cell,” says Amy Gotliffe, the Oakland Zoo’s conservation manager, “the zoo helps the planet by creating less electronic landfill and less demand for coltan while supporting gorilla habitat and providing even more opportunities for visitors to become educated stewards of the planet.” And who can’t get behind that?
    Drop-off boxes are located in the Island Café and the Oakland Zoo’s education building; drop off a phone and receive a free train ride. Summer hours 9:30 a.m.–6 p.m. daily through Sep. 1, 9777 Golf Links Road, (510) 632-9525, www.oaklandzoo.org.

—By Aromrak Luangrath

Roadside Respite

    For those zooming along Interstate 880 on their way to an A’s or Raiders game or back from the airport, there’s a treat of a detour just off the route. From the 66th Avenue exit, head west, away from the Coliseum, to where Zhone Way dead-ends into a loop of Oakport Street, and take a breather in Oakland’s newest pocket park—the 66th Avenue Gateway Park on the Oakland Waterfront Trail in the Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline Park.
    It’s easy to find: Look for the gleaming swoop of stainless steel that resembles a wave suspended atop a modern bus shelter. That’s Pacific Current, one of the public-art pieces dreamed up for the park by the Portland, Ore.–based team of Fernanda D’Agostino and Valerie Otani, who also created the carved-stone sculptures that stud the hardscape of curving crushed-oyster-shell paths merging into a boardwalk that extends into the mudflats.
    From just about any spot in this tiny park (a joint project of Oakland’s Measure DD Program and the East Bay Regional Parks District, and built by contractor John Clay), visitors get spectacular views of the panorama from Arrowhead Marsh and Alameda just across the glistening water of San Leandro Bay to the San Mateo foothills, San Francisco and Mount Tamalpais. “Our goal was to get people out of the going-fast, pick-up-friends-at-the-airport mentality to this very contemplative spot,” says Otani. “We also wanted to create a site that had a very flowing organic feel.”
    To that end, D’Agostino explains, the principles of fluid dynamics—the study of flow in everything from bird flight and weather patterns to ocean currents and shoreline shapes—informed both the overall design, a collaboration with Sarah Sutton and John Hykes of Berkeley-based Design, Community  & Environment, and such details as the shapes of the viewing shelter and the stone work.
    “We also wanted to get people as close as possible to the water,” Otani adds. “One of the strong motivations in our work is stewardship. By being more attuned to the fascinating places that you normally just go whizzing by—like this incredibly peaceful wetlands area that’s home to endangered species and on the pacific flyway with thousands of migrating birds—you take care of them.”    

—By Derk Richardson

—Courtesy of Brian Brian Foulkes

Oakland Made

TruKid Fun in the Sun

    Jennifer Adams Bunkers may hold the key to healthy kids’ skin: Make a fun product.
    That’s what she, as the founder and CEO of Oakland-based TruKid, is doing with her new all-natural, chemical-free skincare line—marketing it more like a toy.
    TruKid produces soap, shampoo and conditioner, detangler, lip balm, sunscreen, face wash, face and body lotion, foot cream and the popular Hero Stick, which takes the sting out of booboos. The gentle products, geared to kids but fine for the family, have kid appeal from packaging to product: They are brightly packaged (many in easy-to-use pumps), smell fresh and fruity, have fun names and are picture-coded for easy identification.
    Bunkers, a mother of six with a proven background in product development, formally launched TruKid in September 2007 and gained notoriety when the Healthy Habits pack earned iParenting Media Awards Best Products 2008 recognition.
    A product junkie of sorts, Bunkers decided to create a safe, kid-centric skincare line when her brood got stung by her
adult wrinkle cream. She searched for kid-safe products, and when she wasn’t satisfied with what she found, she developed her own, using safe, mild, nontoxic ingredients with easy-to-read labels.
    “Healthy skincare is our business,”  she says.
    Bunkers’ goal with TruKid products is, in fact, to instill in kids healthy skincare habits that will last them a lifetime, so she brings an educational component to TruKid by including helpful information on the Web site, www.trukid.com, that parents can use to better understand skincare products. There’s also a TruKid music CD, Silly Songs for Healthy Habits, because “kids learn when they’re having fun, and my kids love to sing.”
    For now, TruKid products are available online, but Adams says they’re coming to major retailers. Look for a couple of new soon-to-be-released mom-only products, as well: tinted lip balm and body scrub.
    “If I can’t send a mom a cocktail,” Bunkers says, “I can at least send her a lip tint.”
    TruKid, True Skincare for the Active Kid, 129 Filbert St., (510) 463-2676, www.trukid.com.                   

—Judith M. Gallman

—Photography by Paul Skrentny

Media Shelf

New Releases from East Bay Authors and Musicians

BOOKS
Oakland’s Equestrian Heritage by Amelia Sue Marshall and Terry L. Tobey
(Arcadia Publishing, 2008, pp. 127, $19.99)
    Local cowgirls Amelia Sue Marshall and Terry L. Tobey have rustled up more than 220 vintage photos of cowboys, ropers, trick riders, parades, riding academies, barns, stables, horse people and everything else equine-related for an enjoyable, nostalgic and entertaining black-and-white picture book and romp through horsier times that seeks to preserve Oakland’s once thriving and vibrant horse history and heritage. Accomplished horsewomen, the co-authors ride posse to track down the old-timers, trainers, instructors, saddlemakers, saddlesmiths and others so their heartfelt contributions to the local horse scene might be preserved for future generations of horse lovers. A portion of the proceeds from book sales supports the Metropolitan Horseman’s Association, a civic group of horse enthusiasts dating back to 1938 that continues to sponsor shows at Sequoia Arena.

Where in the Wild? Camouflaged Creatures Concealed … and Revealed by David M. Schwartz, Yael Schy and Dwight Kuhn
(Tricycle Press, 2007, 33 pp., $15.95)
    Children’s author David Schwartz turns out his 50th title in this kids’ picture book that mixes descriptive poetry, arresting wildlife photography and useful science prose to highlight ladybugs, coyotes, tree frogs, deer, weasels, moths, killdeer, crab spiders, flounder, snakes and newts. Little ones will like the poetry as well as peeking behind the full-page camo photos for the creature reveal, where they can also learn a little science about the critter. Co-author Yael Schy is Schwartz’s wife.

CDs
The Phenomenauts, For All Mankind
(Springman Records, www.springmanrecords.com)
    Oakland’s own rock ’n’ roll commandos, who famously insinuated themselves into the Warped Tour as parking-lot stowaways, launch their third full-length CD into orbit, propelled by the quintet’s thunderous, poppy psychobilly (psychedelic rockabilly). The sci-fi-costumed band’s crunchy, ringing guitars, solid drumming and atmospheric Moog synthesizer and effects abound with space/surf twang and Right Stuff optimism, in the tradition of the Ventures, legendary ’60s pop producer Joe Meek, Devo and the Ramones.
 
Nicolas Bearde, Live at Yoshi’s: A Salute to Lou
(Right Groove Records, www.nicoloasbearde.com)
    The third album in 10 years from one of Oakland’s most soulful singers pays homage to the late Lou Rawls. A veteran of Bobby McFerrin’s Voicestra and the local a cappella ensemble SoVoSo, the Tennessee-bred Bearde applies his rich vocal timbres and delightfully swinging phrasing to a varied program of standards (“The Girl From Ipanema,” “God Bless the Child,” “The Shadow of Your Smile”), lesser known gems (such as the Abbey Lincoln–Max Roach opener “Living Room”) and a10-minute “Lou’s Medley” that of course includes the Rawls hit “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine.” Pianist Glenn Pearson, bassist Nelson Braxton, drummer Jason Lewis and tenor saxophonist Charles McNeal provide superb accompaniment, and Bearde’s rapport with the audience is audible and contagious.

—By Judith M. Gallman and Derk Richardson

Your Move

Fun and Games in Old Oakland

    Old Oakland is known for its great restaurants and bars, but another attraction is gaining notice and fans for something a little different. It is a hall of cards and dice and skill and chance where you can rub shoulders with monsters and soldiers and stand to gain, or lose, entire kingdoms. And it happens every night. 8
    Since August 2004, when four partners moved into the Swan’s Marketplace building on the corner of Washington and 10th streets, Endgame has become the only game in town for board, roll-playing, collectible-card, miniature, historical and tabletop games and the people that play them.
    “We have one of the largest spaces in the Bay Area and this cool old historical building,” says co-owner Chris Hanrahan, “but the real draw is the play space.” The large corner shop carries every conceivable type of “analog” game imaginable (no video games here), but the real action happens in the two large, open playing areas upstairs where the Endgame partners host game nights after store hours on weekdays and during the day on weekends.
    “It’s a different model,” Hanrahan says. “People come in and plan to spend an evening and meet other people with similar minds. You are having a conversation and playing. That is what I love about it.” This type of gaming, with some of the games played on tabletops with intricately painted figures, models and terrain, is especially social, great for young and old alike, he says.
    Greg Johnson of Martinez, a local chapter master for the popular Warhammer 40K Fight Club, agrees. “It is a great place to drop off the kids and know they are learning and not playing video games,” he says, adding that the play space is one of the best he’s seen.
    The games take a while to master, but Hanrahan says a new player can be up and playing very quickly, and games last about an hour on average. “The first time someone new comes in, a player will grab them and give them a hand in.”
    Running a game shop for a living is a lot of work, Hanrahan explains, especially since he and his partners do all the accounting and ordering, and each is responsible for his own game night, but, he finds time, he admits, to “play a game here and there.”
    Endgame, 10 a.m.–7 p.m. daily, 921 Washington St., (510) 465-3637, www.endgameoakland.com. Check the Web site for game nights and watch for the store’s anniversary party on Nov. 8.                                   

—By Daniel Jewett
—Photography Craig Merrill