Monday morning trivia on KOIT:

Q: How many women have given birth in BART stations through the years?

This past weekend I embarked on phase one (of three) of putting up our Christmas lights. I know it’s early. I don’t know if I’ll  have a chance to do it this weekend, so I thought I’d get a jump on it. I’ll wrap up the other two phases this week, but won’t throw the switch until after Thanksgiving. And when I do, you’ll be able to see it from space. I’m a sucker for this stuff!

            I almost feel as if I discovered "Cafe Lucano," the tiny Italian restaurant located on Magnolia  in the "Lucky" shopping center across  from the Lark Theatre in Larkspur.  They had only been open a day or two, and I was the only person in the place.  I looked at the menu, and it was written in Italian.  I asked if they could make a couple of eggs sunnyside up.  They assured me it would be no problem.  My eggs with toast and pancetta and fresh coffee was perfect.  That was a year ago.  
                 Today, it still has that homey "mom and pop" atmosphere.  The head chef is "pop,"  Pasquale Sannella is from Southern Italy, and he takes pride in his authentic homemade cooking, which is evident with every succulent mouthful.  I am not a professional restaurant reviewer.  All I know is what I like, and I have NEVER had a bad meal at Cafe Lucano.  I love the meat ravioli in tomato sauce.

              Son and partner Pietro was proud of the fact that the kitchen makes its’ own pizza dough, gnocchi,  lasagna, ravioli, and urged me to try the home made tiramisu.  I tried it.   Delicious.   My girl friend Joy is fond of the Atlantic salmon piccata.  The fresh risotto is the best I’ve ever had.  The kids from nearby Redwood High School form lines every day to buy the pizza slices, made with Pasquale’s special tomato sauce.
        The only real changes since I first ate there a year ago is that the menu is now in English, and they have white tablecloths during the dinner hours.  And did I mention those two great Italians Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin are always singing in the background?.
                 I love Cafe Lucano, and you will too.  But sshhhhh….don’t tell anybody, or there won’t be room for us.:)

             I was watching 92 year old Jack LaLanne on TV recently.  He and his 90? year old wife were extolling the virtues of ‘juicing."  They were surrounded by dozens of colorful fruits and veggies.   I watched as Jack took half a dozen large carrots, 3 apples, and 4 or 5 stalks of celery, and inserted them in his "Jack Lalanne juicer."  Out poured three glasses of a very healthy looking liquid.  Jack offered a glass to his wife and the tv host.  "Down the hatch," said Jack.  
            He went on to explain that juicing is one of the main reasons he and his wife have lived to their "ripe old age."   "That and excercise," chortled Jack.
        I was convinced.  I bought a juicer.  Breakfast yesterday was two carrots, a large apple, and two stalks of celery.  Delicious.   Today, it  was half a basket of blueberries, a pear, an apple, and half a melon.  Put ‘em all in the juicer, and "down the hatch."   Great taste.   Now, about that excercise………………………..

Tuesday’s trivia on KOIT: 

Q:  The first push button phones went into service on this date (11/18). What year was it?

A: 1963

This morning’s trivia winner, Patty Dempsey of Newark, still has an old rotary phone in her garage. 

Don’t look now, but crab season started last Friday here in the Bay Area.  And a lousy season it is for the fisherman – and we crab lovers – so far. Some crabbers are already packing up their gear and heading home. What do you expect when they’re pulling pots with only one crab inside? Marine biologists claim that the light haul is due to the cyclical nature of the crab supply, as opposed environmental damage. They expect the supply to return to normal, whatever that is, by the 2010-2011 crab season. A small crab at Alioto’s stand at Fisherman’s Wharf will set you back 14 bucks.  But who, besides the touristos, get crab at the Wharf? 

What part of “your driver’s license is suspended” did you not understand? Of the nearly 14 thousand auto accidents in Oakland every year, nearly one-third of them are hit and runs involving unlicensed and/or uninsured drivers.  The cops, and residents, are fed up. So it’s sting time! I love a good sting! The cops set up a trap outside traffic court in Oakland waiting for 18 traffic violators to enter court, receive their sentence of a suspended or revoked driver’s license, then leave the courthouse. Of the 18 with suspended licenses, six left court and got right back in their cars and drove off!

Movie sequelmania! Get ready for follow-ups to Get Smart, Wall Street, Bull Durham, Lethal Weapon (5), Pirates, and Rambo. Want to see a more complete list? You’ll find it here. If you’ve been waiting for the followup to "Big Mama’s House", today’s your lucky day!

My head has been reeling over the past 2 weeks.

I have been made Executive Director of KOIT’s pulic affairs program – Today’s World, so I’ve been getting up to speed on all of my new responsibilites …and meeting new people!  What fun!  I can’t wait to see what the future holds.
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My Dolly…

Also, one of my horses – Dolly had serious injury to her leg, with life or death consequences with a septic joint infection.  She’s in the care of the terrific equine teaching hospital- UC Davis.  Monday I finally received a glimmer of good news, that the bacteria was not spread and she is eating better.  We’re cautiously optimistic, but she’s not out of the woods yet, your prayers and positive thoughts are greatly appreciated.
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Also, with Christmas right around the corner…here’s something to think about if you’re sending out Christmas cards…

Wed morning trivia on KOIT:

A:…."pick me up"   Gee, that wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that the recipe  calls for about 40 shots of espresso, would it?

Biscotti is an Oakland clothing design company  that specializes in girls clothing. Bernadette Reiss, Biscotti’s owner and design director, was watching TV on election night with her husband Bob, and noticed the dress that ten-year-old Maila Obama was wearing during her dad’s victory speech.  "Isn’t that our dress?" Reiss asked Bob. It was, indeed, a dress designed at Biscotti, and sold at Nordstrom in Chicago for about a hundred dollars. As you might guess the phone at Biscotti is ringing off the hook. Reiss said that she’d like to design more clothes for the little Obamas. I’ll be she would!

             The last time I played golf was over 20 years ago.  Three friends and I went to a small golf course in the Napa Valley.  None of us were very good.  I was the worst.   At the first tee, I carefully teed up the ball, checked out the lay of the land, everyone stopped talking, and I took a deep breath.  I swung.  And I missed.  So I swung again; and I missed again.   Everyone, including me, started laughing.    By the end of the 18 holes, my score was well over  one hundred, and I came to the conclusion that golf just was not for me, and I haven’t played since.
                                In the many years since then,  I have had friends and my brother inviting me to play golf.  I always declined.   I’m just no good.  My brother keeps telling me of the beauty of the golf game.  The serene pastoral setting,  the comraderie, etc.   Ok, Ok, I’ll think about taking lessons.

YOCHA DE HEE

                     Two weeks ago, I decided to check out the new Yocha-De-He golf course at the Cache Creek Casino.   What a gorgeous view. .  The setting is the beautiful Capay valley, with lush greenery, lakes, trees, and a first hole that starts on a 170 foot high cliff and drops down 460 feet to the fairway below.  Breathtaking.  My friends were equally taken aback.

Cache Creek’s beautiful Yocha-De-He golf course

 

                           Assistant pro Jason Gilbert filled us in:  "The course consists of 7,300 yards,  and there is a 15 minute interval between tee-times.  That way, nobody feels rushed.  And the 85 dollar green fee includes cart, practice balls, and valet parking.    And our beautiful new clubhouse  will open in January."

                                I was very impressed.   I asked Jason if he gives lessons:  "Yes," he said.  "When do you want to start?" Hmmmmmm.
 

Cache Creek assistant Golf Pro Jason Gilbert

Thursday morning trivia on KOIT:

I leave the house way too early for home delivery of the Chronicle to do me any good, so it’s become my routine to pick one up on the way to work. That’s exactly what I did Wednesday morning after the election. I also picked up a copy of the NY Times, which I do a couple times a week. I’m so glad I did. Wednesday mornings’  papers,  with the historic election results on the front pages, became collectors items by Wednesday afternoon. At Fog City News on Market Street in San Francisco, people were lined up before the newsstand opened at 8a Wed. Inside a half hour all copies of the Chron & NYT were gone. In fact, by mid-morning you couldn’t   find a Chronicle anywhere. In an extremely rare move, the Chronicle actually re-started the presses to crank out an additional 35 thousand copies. You can bet I’ll hang on to my Chron and the New York Times. A  commemorative copy of the Times is selling on eBay for 400 dollars.