Hearst Corporation's Steven R. Swartz Owes Zennie62 Dinner

Hearst Corporation's new Chief Operating Officer Steven R. Swartz was formerly head of Hearst Newspapers, of which The San Francisco Chronicle and SFGate.com fell under his direction.

Now, replacing Cathy Black, who gained a small measure of pop-culture fame with an appearance on The Celebrity Apprentice, Swartz will take on a larger role, including the company's digital marketing efforts. Meanwhile Mark E. Aldam becomes the new head of Hearst Newspapers.

But while over Heart Newspapers, and in the last year in his 2010 report that I downloaded after some poking around, Swartz pointed to one aspect of Hearst Newspapers online that performed extremely well: the City Brights bloggers.

(And on March 18th, 2010, I generated over 280,000 unique visitors for SFGate.com in just 7 hours according to an email from Kevin Skaggs, when he was SFGate.com Executive Director.)
That equals money - revenue from ads that go to SFGate.com employees, so it's fair to say that during my little experiment with real-time blogging, I helped save a few jobs, and got Steven Swartz promoted.

(And on March 18th, 2010, I generated over 280,000 unique visitors for SFGate.com in just 7 hours according to an email from Kevin Skaggs, when he was SFGate.com Executive Director. Correction: that's 545,000 unique vistors for that one day according to Skaggs.)

Does Steve know about my output? Yes.

The overall problem, I think, is Hearst Corporation needs to adopt the ethic of listening to everyone, everywhere. I certainly do, even if I disagree with the message I might get. Hearst also needs to focus on buying blogs as much as it does print.

All I want from Steven is dinner at 21 Club in New York City. My favorite place.

Meanwhile, congratulations!

Tila Tequila In News Because Of MC Hammer

After almost a year of absence, Reality TV Show star Tila Tequila is back in the Google Trends, but not because of anything she did; she can thank MC Hammer.

According to TMZ.com, MC Hammer has announced he's going to perform at the Gathering Of The Juggalos in August.

Now the reason for Tila Tequila's appearance in the MC Hammer news is because she was attacked at the last one of these rowdy and dangerous events. In fact, here's my video on that happening:



Tila threatened to file a lawsuit over the attack incident but there's nothing online to indicate that she actually did, beyond the initial news of her stated intentions.

Perhaps the occurence wasn't a publicity stunt for Tila, but the problem was her method of seeking attention via calamity (like with San Diego Chargers Linebacker Shaun Merriman) had worn so thin, even a real tragedy was left to question.

Now, it's MC Hammer's turn. Why he's doing it? I don't know.

But he should ask Tila about her experience.

Oakland, Meet Lloyd, Crossing Guard At Grand And Mac Arthur Blvd

If you are on Grand Avenue and Mac Arthur in Oakland, California, during the rush hour and school mornings and afternoons, you've seen Lloyd. For 13 years, the man, 76 years old and turning 77 July 10th, served as the official crossing guard for that corner for 13 years.

Over that time, Lloyd has always worn a big smile and had a greeting for everyone, without fail. He says that by smiling he makes others happy in a kind of "pay-it forward" way.

As to what's changed about Oakland from his vantage point, Lloyd gave me a surprising answer: that everyone's in a hurry, "Nobody got time for nothing. People just rush by."

So, let's pay it forward, and back to Lloyd - give him not just a smile, but a greeting. Stop and talk to him for a spell. It's a great way to pay back someone' who's given so much to so many with his time on that busy corner of Oakland.

Ann Coulter Skips Pierce Morgan's Question On A Gay Child

Piers Morgan, CNN's choice to replace the now-retired Larry King, has been working to find his sea legs with American audiences, holding interviews that perhaps were interesting, but didn't really "hit" the mark.

But last night's interview with Conservative Mouth Ann Coulter did it. Pierce Morgan owned Coulter from start to finish on his CNN show, with the kicker being that she could not answer his question "How would you feel if you had a Gay child."

Instead of saying what any reasonable person would expect to hear, which is "I would not care because I love my child," she skipped the question. Opting for what she thought was an "out" by saying she's never been married, even though she's been engaged not once, but three times.

Well, from her awful, robotic, performance on Pierce Morgan's show, we can only conclude Gay youth give her problems.

Sad.

But thankfully, we don't have to worry about Coulter not loving her kids because she doesn't have any kids.

Stay tuned.

Harley-Davidson Bikers Piss Off Gavin Newsom's Dad At Balboa Cafe, SF, CA.

This is a study in how not to piss of the customers of a well-known bar and restaurant in a neighborhood that doesn't like loud noises, much. When a party's not involved.

This blogger was at The Balboa Cafe in San Francisco's Marina District and after The Union Street Festival, and wound up having a cocktail with William Newsom, who's son Gavin Newsom's the current California Lieutenant Governor.

At any rate, there were two guys with Harley-Davidson Iron 833 bikes making a rukus of a noise outside the establishment and pretty much pissing-off most of the patrons; especially Mr. Newsom. So, he went and a group of others, including myself, went outside to see what was going on. And as Newsom was stewing, I figured the nuisance was best captured on video. All the better to mark the moment and get the license plate of the bikers as they performed their noise-making stunt for the World to hear.

And boy were those bikes loud!

Man, standing there was a moment I'll never forget, that's for sure.

I have no idea what happened to the bikers after than moment, but at least I'll know to bring ear-plugs for the next time they show up.  

Stay tuned.  

Oakland Restaurants - Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe Visit In Uptown Oakland

The new Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe finishes a buildout of the front store spaces of The Fox Theater in Oakland, and is enjoying its first week of operation, this week.

The deal to get Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe at the Fox Theater started just over two years ago, and while it was delayed in fits and starts of deal-making, the end result was well worth the wait.

This blogger walked in on just plain impulse and, possessing a craving for breakfast at night, changed mind and ordered the Monday Blue Plate Special: The Meatloaf. A full, hearty meal of the kind not seen during the whole California Cuisine craze (which I'm somewhat happy has been altered to encourage larger portions), the meatloaf was almost as good as my Mom's at home, and overall I'd give it a B.

The atmosphere at Rudy's was incredible. Bright and airy, it's a great place to hang out and talk or people watch over a great meal.

The added plus is a kind of dining car in the rear of the place that, as I'm told, can be reserved in advance.

Rudy's, at 18th and Telegraph Avenue in Downtown Oakland and open from 7 PM to 1 AM each night, is a great addition to the growing Uptown scene. But I still think a baseball stadium would have been much better at the condo location than what's there now.

Check it out.

Sarah Palin Paul Revere Error From Fear Of Looking Stupid

Former Alaska Governor and now GOP Presidential non-candidate, candidate Sarah Palin, has done it again. She's stuck her foot in her mouth in recounting the history of Paul Revere. First, instead of just answering the question of a reporter, who asked how the day went, Sarah had to go off on some rant that went like this:



If she had to say anything she should have said "It was nice to see the place where Paul Revere said 'The British are coming'" and left it at that. But no, not Sarah Palin.

Nope.

Sarah Palin's so afraid of looking stupid before the cameras, and thus the people of America, she over-compensates and says more than she should, rather than less. She comes off as if she has to be the ultimate authority on whatever she's talking about.

So what happens, is Palin says something at length, then is wrong about what she says, which defeats her own purpose of trying to look smart. So, Palin keeps trying to dig out of this image hole, and only digs herself deeper into it.

If Governor Palin relaxed and stopped worrying about what people thought about her, this "stupid spiral," if you will, would end. Palin would disagree with my assessment, but if it were not so, this habit, then why the pattern of consistently putting her foot in her mouth?

It certainly doesn't taste good, that foot. And eating it's not the best meal for anyone who has White House-level ambitions.

Stop The Blame The Media Game 

In closing, Palin should not just stop thinking about what people think of her, but stop blaming the media for whatever stupid comment she makes.  In the most recent case, Palin said it was a "gotcha" question.  But how the hell can that be if the question was an opened ended one, asking how the day went? 

That's a sure sign there's something wrong with Governor Palin.   She's done this before, and the act is fading, fast.