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One evening during the 2009 NBA Finals this blogger was given a surprise: the opportunity to be a celebrity bartender for the first time and at a place called Players Sports Bar and Arcade at Pier 39 in San Francisco. Aside from the fact the owners of Players Sports Bar should have aimed higher that a blogger, it was a heck of a lot of fun. So much so, that for World Cup Soccer, it's got to be hopping! One day, Steve Molloy, one of the owners of this kind of mini Dave and Busters in San Francisco, was the tour guide through this vast 13,000 square foot of Pier 39 space, leading the camcorder through its islands of video games, air hockey tables, and other fun stuff. But the video sat on the computer waiting to be uploaded while yours truly fretted with how to improve it. Yesterday, all the worrying gave in to the desire to just get it out, so the result is the video above and a plug for the place that may have been the first in the San Francisco Bay Area if not Americ

Oscar Grant  As Oakland, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, California, and much of the United States await the jury verdict in the Oscar Grant / Johannes Mehserle murder trial, Oakland braces for what's widely feared to be an outbreak of riots should the jury decision not go in a way that is an obvious punishment for former BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle. If you want to find out what's happening on the streets of Oakland around the rioting fears, there are few better people to talk to than Oakland cab drivers. On Saturday night, one cab driver (who did not want to be identified by cab service provider or name), did agree to this video above as we talked about what he heard people saying as they rode his cab . "Everybody's talking about it," he said. "I don't know. Some people are saying that a lot of people left town. You know this guy was saying 'I knew a lot of cool white people that's left town. They're not ra

Just got an email from Pier 39 (Pier 39 Beach Street & The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94133 (415) 705-5500) about their many upcoming events for the Fourth of July. Here's what it reads: Fourth of July Waterfront Celebration! PIER 39 celebrates Independence Day with a star-spangled day filled with fun and excitement for the whole family! Beginning at 3 pm, enjoy free live band performances in the PIER 39 Entrance Plaza. From 3 – 5 pm, listen to the soft rock explosion of Mustache Harbor. Then get ready to rock out to your favorite 80's hits with Tainted Love from 6 – 9:30 pm. Be sure to check out our street performers on the Crystal Geyser ALPINE SPRING WATER Stage throughout the day. After the concert at approximately 9:30 pm, look up to the sky over the Bay for The City of San Francisco's annual fireworks display. PIER 39's Fourth of July activities are proudly sponsored by Coca-Cola, Crystal Geyser ALPINE SPRING WATER, Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, t

Berkeley AC Transit Bus Rapid Transit Oakland, CA-based AC Transit has declared that contract talks between the Alameda - Contra Costa District Transit Company and the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 192, (ATU) have reached an impasse. AC Transit is working to close an estimated $56 million budget deficit due in large part to reductions in revenue from property taxes. AC Transit is working to reduce labor costs by 8 percent at least; far better than cutting jobs but the ATU fails to see it that way. AC Transit has been forced to increase fares and decrease service to make up for the revenue shortfall. ATU made an offer but it reportedly wasn't enough to help close the gap: AC Transit seeks $15 million in savings. What the ATU does not understand is AC Transit's budget problems, like those of the City of Oakland itself, are due to massive reductions in sales and property tax revenue . AC Transit receives a percentage of each dollar of property tax collected in wha

Today, Wednesday, Oakland At-Large Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan made official what many of her supporters were waiting for: that she's officially running for Mayor. She did this 49 minutes ago at the Joyce Gordon Gallery at 406 14th St. It was just two years ago in September 2008 that now-Councilmember Kaplan talked with this blogger about running for the At-Large Oakland City Council Seat: Now, less than two years later, and having successfully been elected as At-Large Oakland Councilmember,  Rebecca Kaplan announces she's running for Mayor of Oakland. What was true then in 2008 is true now, Oakland's in terrible fiscal shape and its worse today. But let's go a step further: Oakland's got a giant unemployment and underemployment problem that could sack many of the new restaurants that have opened over the past two years. Is Kaplan the person to fix all of this? Well, she just got into Oakland City Hall. Mayor Dellums?  What's up? While I don&#

On Sunday, this space reported the existence of 11 examples of graffiti at various points around Oakland's Lake Merritt from Grand Avenue to Lakeshore Avenue. All of the taggings were done using red spray paint and all were messages related to the Oscar Grant, Johannes Mehserle murder case. Some of the graffiti messages seemed to wish harm to Johannes Mehserle, the former BART Police Officer who shot and killed Oscar Grant. Here's the video showing the problem: Today, all of the messages have been removed by the City of Oakland. The shores of Lake Merritt are back to their unmarked and clean look as the photo above shows.   I did not check the AC Transit Bus Stop on Grand Avenue, but since the video pointed to all of the places, and all of those points are clean, the bus shelter should be as well.  Unless, of course, the City of Oakland's not in the mood to help AC Transit.

City of Oakland At-Large Councilmember and would-be Oakland Mayor's Race participant has announced she's going to make a "special announcement" and reports that it "Will be an eventful speech solidifying her position in the Mayoral race." It will be held Wednesday at 11 a.m at the Joyce Gordon Gallery 406 14th St. In other words, after meetings, events, talks, and the parking issue, Councilmember Kaplan's going to officially run for Mayor of Oakland. And why not? The Oakland Mayor's Race is wide open race and anything can happen between now and November, when the election for the next Mayor of Oakland is held. What I hear from Oaklander after Oaklander is that not one of the candidates is exciting to them. That may be because they haven't seen all of them. The Joyce Gordon Gallery is located on 14th Street between Broadway and Franklin Streets in downtown Oakland.