Oakland News: The Alley's Ready For Christmas!

If you live in, or are visiting Oakland, California, you must visit one of my favorite places, The Alley.

Located at 3325 Grand Avenue, and just up the street from The Grand Lake Theater, The Alley is an Oakland institution who's history goes back to 1931.

Then, it was a speakeasy and very much as it is today (except that the upstairs has been closed for years).  But in 1960, Rod Dibble started playing at the piano, and never stopped since.  I estimate patrons have  sat at the piano with Rod 105,000 times since 1960 to 2010.

So, if you like to sing, want to give it a try, or enjoy listening to others sing, pay a visit to The Alley this weekend.  Sit down, order a steak, then go over to the piano with a cocktail and get a song book.  The drill is to pick a song you want to sing, and Rod plays the piano background for you as you sing.  My song is "Fly Me To The Moon."

And if you are fortunate enough to here a man wearing a beret hat, and sitting with his wife, sing, give him a hearty round of applause.  He's Dave Chapman, and like Rod Dibble himself, has just beat cancer - stomach cancer.

Congratulations Dave!