Meg Whitman Oakland Office fears Oakland, can't spell "surveillance"

In the "now we've seen everything" department, we have former eBay Chairman and CEO Meg Whitman, running for California Governor against Jerry Brown, opening a campaign office in Oakland that shows she and her staff are passive-agressive in their approach to this heavily minority city.

The Meg Whitman Oakland campaign office, located near the intersection of Lakeshore and Lake Park and not far from Lake Merritt, is staffed by two young white men; I've not seen anyone of color as of this writing.

The gentlemen are nice, but very careful in their communications, almost neurotically so. This reflects Meg Whitman's message to Oaklanders, but even more so is a sign that is placed in three parts of the large bay window. It reads:

"SMILE.
YOU'RE ON CANDID CAMERA!
24-HOUR VIDEO SURVELLAINCE"

Yep. They misspelled "surveillance."

So, not only is Meg Whitman afraid of Oakland, she's so fearful she can't even spell "surveillance" correctly. It's a terrible sign, no pun intended, to send to a city like Oakland. It reads that Meg Whitman's more afraid of Oakland than interested in Oakland's vote.

Wonder what former Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown would say about this?

Stay tuned, and thank to Davey D for the news tip!

Giuseppi Logan Brecht Forum by Suzannah B. Troy

http://brechtforum.org/  Giuseppi Logan will be playing tonight at Brecht Forum.  For those who don't know I discovered him playing on a freezing cold winter day 2 years ago to an empty park. I posted a moving rendition of Begin the Beguine and before I knew it jazz fans and critics were contacting me from all over the world celebrating he was in fact alive.  He was looking for a home, a place to compose music and play music.

I ran home and posted the amazing video footage and immediately found a British film maker's video footage of Giuseppi with a little boy Jaee holding hands in Tompkins -- same park almost 45 years before me!  

Peter Gershon, publisher of Signal to Noise, wrote a stirring piece about Giuseppi Logan and acknowledged my work along with the British film maker; a powerful piece worth checking out.

Since my first YouTube and now there are over 20 tube in my YouTube documentary he has now cut a new CD, the first since his 2 well received ones by ESP in the 1960's.   An angel posing as a human being who works for Salvation Army found him a small space in one the Salvation Army's houses that helps people struggling like Giuseppi which is beyond awesome and his little sliver of a living place filled with instruments donated to him by the Jazz Foundation and given to him by kind people fill his little room. 

He is playing at the Stone  August 15.   I am hoping his son will be back to continue work on his documentary and that down the road a major motion picture will be made to tell Giuseppi Logan's story as well as honoring the tragic loss of GL's grandson, same name as his son Jaee's memory.  Jaee was murdered by a cowardly act of gun violence, several shots to the back of his head at a barbecue  He was an honor student and a football star and like his grandfather, and Dad Jaee he had the musical gift.\

Note: The film would honor jazz but also raise awareness and hopefully raise money for a foundation to help stop gun violence.  Who knows maybe there will be a series of films....

The film like my YouTube documentary would underscore even in the latest chapters of your life you can find some kind of redemption.

You can see my first YouTube discovering Giuseppi Logan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTssjT9rAmQ and I did not know who he was.  As an artist I had a powerful feeling for him -- playing to empty seats....admired his passion and drive at such an old age to get out and play in freezing cold weather.

A friend of his youngest child Jaee and only child from Guiseppi's 2nd marriage told Jaee there is this woman on YouTube filming your Dad!  Jaee did not know his father was still alive and after losing his son he wanted to be reunited with his Dad.

I helped make that happened and captured them reunited for the first time in over 40 years so the little boy in the YouTube I found from so long ago in Tompkins is reunited once again with his Dad thanks to a YouTube miracle that I am honored to be part of!

Obama on The View: Sarah Palin, in Alaska, says Obama should be at U.S. Mexico boarder

OK, Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin just can't resist putting her foot in her mouth regarding President Obama. She should just admit he's doing a great job and she's got the hots for him. Instead, Palin, who's known for creating new words like "refudiate," had to talk before she realized where she was.

According to The Huffington Post, Palin said Obama had no time to be at the U.S. Mexico boarder but was on ABC's The View instead. Now, was Sarah Palin at the U.S. Mexico boarder ? No. She was in Alaska.

Alaska.

Great. I guess Sarah Palin's going to tell us she can see the U.S. Mexico boarder from her window, right?

If Palin were serious, she'd have made her statement from, yep, the U.S. Mexico boarder, but its too late for that. Anyway, going down there is the political kiss of death for any elected official or person running for office.

If Sarah Palin is, well, frankly, stupid enough to go down there, she can kiss any idea of running for President goodbye. She will lose the Latino vote and be peppered with blog posts pointing to her racial bias.

Sarah Palin should just stick to being a news commentator who "refudiates" when it suits her. Geez.

Flip Video Camera Mino HD v. Flip Video Camera Ultra camcorder comparison

I love the Flip Video Camcorders. They're the best devices ever created for the video-blogger. And now, thanks to Lila King at CNN, I have two of them: the Flip Video Camera Mino HD and the Flip Video Camera Ultra.

They're different cameras, but the assumption is that the Flip Video Camera Mino HD is the better one because it's high-def. No, not the case. I've found that the Flip Video Camera Ultra is actually better in video quality than the Mino HD. Take a look at these two videos I created:

This video interview with David Glanzer, the Marketing and PR honcho for Comic Con, was created with the Mino HD:



This video of the cast and crew of Hatchet 2 was created with the Flip Video Ultra:



See the difference? I think in the Mino HD the colors are a bit sharper, but the overall pixelization doesn't seems to be as good as with the Ultra. And the Ultra has two hours of time, whereas the Mino has just one, but I think a large model is available.

What I like about the Mino is that I don't have to worry about batteries, but then I have to make sure I have my computer to charge it. In all, I think of both of them as my dynamic duo of camcorders.

Oh, and Flip had nothing to do with my video or this blog post.

Oakland News: Don Macleay and Mayor's Race; Children's Fairyland

Children's Fairyland and Don Macleay in the Oakland Mayor's Race, have urgent announcements in today's Oakland news.

Don Macleay, the Green Party candidate running for for Mayor of Oakland, sent out this email for 100 signatures he needs from you this Saturday:

Nomination signatures needed. Sat. July 31 10AM

Friends,

For the campaign to take the next step I need 100 Oakland voters to sign for me.
We are collecting signatures all this week. You can contact me, Jan, Greg or Michael.

To make it easy we are going to meet at Cafe Dejena on Saturday July 31st at 10 AM.
It is at 3939 MLK corner of 40th right near the MacArthur BART
EASY to get to on bike, foot and car and easy to park. http://www.cafedejena.com

We will have nomination petitions to sign and voter registration cards if you need them.

And, now is a good time to donate because the campaign is now finally officially under way.
http://macleay4mayor.org/donate.html

Don Macleay

Children's Fairyland

Children's Fairyland has a number of announcements too numerous to mention. You can see them all at http://www.fairyland.org/, but here's a sample from the email:

September 11 and 12

HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY, CHILDREN'S FAIRYLAND!
Join us for our fantasy costume party. Come dressed as your favorite storybook character or in a 50's outfit & wish a happy birthday to the original children's storybook park in the U.S.

Children's Theatre presents "Mariposas": A play woven from Latin American folktales about butterflies, Mariposas tells stories of why the butterflies are silent, why they don’t fly straight, and why they migrate each year. Created by the cast. 10:30am

Children's Theatre presents "The Golden Reed": In this tale from China, a dragon is kidnapping the children, and a young boy sets out to rescue them. On the way he finds a golden reed pipe that makes all who hear it dance. He learns to play, and with the magic of his music he defeats the dragon and the children dance all the way home. Adapted by Doyle Ott with music by Julia Norton. 12:30pm

If you have Oakland News, send an email to zennie@zennie62.com

American Idol chaos: J-Lo in, Kara DioGuardi fired, Ellen DeGeneres quit

Wow. American Idol is in a state of chaos: J-Lo, Jennifer Lopez, is in as a judge; Kara DioGuardi was fired as a judge, and Ellen DeGeneres quit from being a judge after just one season, and less than a year.

Now, according to TMZ, it's Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and Steven Tyler as the three-judge panel. Still, American Idol's not the same without Simon Cowell; then again, it's ratings were tanking with Simon Cowell.

I said "YEAH" when I first got the word Simon was leaving, and I stand by that. Sometimes the dude could be just plain mean. OK, people got a kick out of it and watched, but eventually they tired of his act.



Now, American Idol's real problem is that there are too many freaking American Idol-type shows. The formula has been over saturated. Think about it. We have Britain's Got Talent, America's Got Talent, So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing With The Stars, and a few shows I've left out of my memory. And then there's American Idol.

And three of the shows, Britain's Got Talent, America's Got Talent, and So You Think You Can Dance, are less than two years old.

All of them have the same judge panel format, so after a time, that approach itself has become just plain done.

Can J-Lo make a difference with American Idol? It depends on what she says, does, and wears. If she comes on with a low-cut skirt and is the major bitch the show needs, American Idol ratings will climb.

Ok, I did say I didn't like mean people, but I was thinking of Simon Cowell's way. With J-Lo, that formula just might work.

Chippy D - Laurence Fishburne's girl a porn star, Kim Kardashian thanked

Montana Fishburne, the daughter of famed actor, Laurence Fishburne, is certainly making her dad an unhappy camper as she's now called "Chippy D" and is a porn star.

According to MissJia.com via TMZ.com, Montana Fishburne thanks her hotness Kim Kardashian for the idea. She says it was Kim Kardashian's sex tape that gave her inspiration.

Laurence Fishburne is the famous TV and movie actor best known for playing Mobius in the Matrix film series. (Correction: Morpheus.) But what was going on at home?

19-year-old Montana Fishburne told the site CarltonJordan.com that she had a lot of at-home experience in playing a porn actress.

Uh...what?




No word on what Laurence Fishburne thinks about all of this, yet. And according to her Twitter account, Kim Kardashian's too busy grinding with Dallas Cowboys Wide Receiver Miles Austin to even care:

time to shine ;-) RT @MilesAustiniii -@kimkardashian rise and grind. ;)
about 24 hours ago via web

Stay tuned.

Missing TechCrunch Social Currency CrunchUp and SV Angels' Ron Conway

Ron Conway 

The TechCrunch Social Currency CrunchUp and August Capital Party is on, and this blogger's blogging from bed because of just being plain tired. Travel to Georgia, then San Diego for Comic Con. And Comic Con itself, as one person put it, can "challenge your immune system."

Then the topping was last nights San Francisco Chapter of The American Marketing Association Mixer at Osha Thai at 4 Embarcadero Center. Met a lot of new people and had a lot of fun. But afterward, this guy was toast; still am.

So I'm missing TechCrunch' Michael Arrington talk with an angry SV Angels Founder Ron Conway, who's pissed that "MA" said entrepreneurs were "dipshits" at last nights' Angel Conference, according to TechCrunch' MG Sigler. Today, Conway said "Well referring to these entrepreneurs as dipshits is bullshit. It’s bullshit in my opinion. It takes a lot of guts and passion to start a company."

You tell'em Ron. As one who's started two companies, Sports Business Simulations and now Zennie62media, which is still under construction, I'll tell you it's not easy at all. But it's empowering; it's increased my level of self-esteem by leaps and bounds. But the hardest deal is making sure you're partnered with the right people.

If that's not working, it can hurt everything - not your self esteem though.

But today, it's not my self-esteem that's at issue. Now, I'm just plain tired. Maybe I'll rally later.

Mark Wahlberg now has a star on the Walk of Fame by: Nikky Raney

Mark Wahlberg was presented with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard on July 29, 2010.

Wahlberg's initial reaction was shock, "When I heard I was getting this star, I felt like it was a practical joke."

Most Wahlberg fans know him best for his acting career. Movies he has starred in include Four Brothers, The Italian Job, The Departed, The Lovely Bones, and others. Most recently he stars in The Other Guys with Will Ferrell.

Before Wahlberg became a well known actor the 39-year-old spent his younger years as an underwear model for Calvin Klein, and a rapper. Mark was known as Marky Mark in the early 1990s with his hip-hop group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.

Wahlberg is the owner the 2,414th star on the legendary walk of fame. He was joined by his wife and four children, as well as his co-star Will Ferrell.

Congratulations to Mark. He is truly deserving of this star.

(photo courtesy of Google Images)

Jersey Shore premiere of season 2 by: Nikky Raney

Last night (Thursday, July 29) the second season of the Jersey Shore aired on MTV at 10 p.m. This season the cast moved to Miami.

Staring at the television screen and tweeting about what was happening - waiting for something notable and "blog-worthy" to happen.

The show didn't have too many surprises. There was fighting, drinking, spray tanning, clubbing, and yelling. The guidos & guidettes were surprised by the arrival of former cast mate Angelina - who had left last season.

Ronnie and Sammi "Sweetheart" had broken up after season one, and their reunion was hard to watch. Ronnie went so far as to call Sammi the "c-word." It's hard to be too shocked by anything that happens on the Jersey Shore, but for Ronnie to call Sammi the "c-word" was actually shocking.

So, the season premiere wasn't too exciting. There weren't too many moments that are notable, because the entire show is just full of drama and chaos. Even so, the show will still be watched by millions every week, because it's hard to look away.

(Photo courtesy of Jaunted.com)

Danielle Harris for FHM 100 Sexiest Women - stars in Hatchet 2, The Victim

Danielle Harris and Jennifer Blanc

Last week during my Comic Con-related limo ride with the cast and crew of the Dark Sky Films horror movie Hatchet 2, I told star Danielle Harris (who's also in Rob Zombie's Halloween and H2) that she should be on the FHM Magazine's "FHM 100 Sexiest Women" list.

As in the video, she says, "How to we make that happen." Well, aside from Danielle Harris hiring Hatchet 2 publicist Daniela Sapkar, here's the first shot at it. IF FHM Magazine's at all Internet savvy, they'll see this and check out her website, and the rest is a matter of time.

Generally, FHM Magazine has a voting process, but even if one were held, Harris would make the list.

Catch Danielle Harris in Hatchet 2 in October, The Victim, in production, and in my cool limo ride video series, like the one above.

President Obama on The View: its OK to be black (and mongrel)

U.S. President Barack Obama made an historic first today, appearing on ABC's The View talk show this morning. President Obama was his usual smooth self as he addressed the question of the razor-voiced Joy Behar, the raspy-voiced Barbara Walters and Whoopi Goldberg, the sugary-voiced Sherri Shepherd, and the Valley-girl-voiced Elisabeth Hasselbeck. (Nudge-wink to Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who, while troublingly conservative, is also totally, freaking, hot.)

It's OK To Be Black and Mongrel In America

Obama talked about everything from Snookie and Mel Gibson to the wars, to his daughters and Michelle Obama. More on that later, but what got this space's attention was Whoopi Goldberg's question asking Obama "where are we" as black people, and "who are we?"

Obama said he dealt with those issues of identity when he was a teenager and "wrote a book about it," finally saying that if people saw him as black that was just fine. He also said, correctly, that we were a mongrel demographic, and he's right. Blacks are. So what?

But, for this blogger, that conversation came on the heels of a series of emails and tweets sent by people who were black (or claimed to be as with the Internet, you never know who a person really is), and on my take on Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco.

To cut to the chase, I said the Cincinnati Bengals receivers were getting racist media coverage, and I stand by that. The claim of some of the readers was for "how I made black people look." Look to whom? Whites? Asians? That statement has always bothered me. This idea that blacks have to live for someone else view of who they are.

I remember when I was, oh, nine years old. This friend of my uncles said "I'm gonna buy a new Cadillac every year, just like white people do. That was 1971. I asked him why it was important to do something because someone white did it; he didn't have a good answer for me.

Unfortunately, there are some African Americans who, regardless of age, are mentally trapped with the same ideas today. Some of them contact me angrily expressing how they think "we look" as blacks.

I really don't care. What's more important to me is how others look to me. Not the other way around. And the key to black self-esteem and success in the World is to get over what someone else thinks about you.

Take a page from President Obama and feel good about yourself.

Journalism 101: Interview DOs & DONTs by: Nikky Raney

Lorenzen Wright Found Dead by: Nikky Raney

Former NBA player Lorenzen Wright was found dead behind an apartment complex in Memphis, Tennessee; he had been missing since July 18.

Wright was 34-years-old and played for the NBA for 13 years on Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Clippers. His death is still undergoing police investigation.

As of right now there is much speculation whether or not this was a homicide.

Deepest condolences go out to his family and friends.

(Photo Courtesy of CBS)

C-17 Globemaster Elmendorf AFB Alaska crash update

The C-17 that crashed at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska, is now the focus of a U.S. Air Force investigation.

The Boeing military cargo plane, one of 199 in operation around the World, according to FlightGlobal.com, crashed yesterday at 6:14 PM local time.

The C-17 was making a rehearsing flight plan as part of an air show called The Arctic Thunder Air Show, but what went wrong to cause the giant plane to crash, causing a plume of smoke seen for two miles and as high as 750 feet in the air, is not known. Hence the investigation.

C-17 Globemaster crashes in Alaska

Whatever's going on in Anchorage, it played host to its third aircraft incident in just this one summer. A C-17 Globemaster military cargo plane crashed at Elmendorf Air Force Base with four people on board Wednesday. Air Force spokesperson Lt. Gen. Dana Atkins said that it was likely no one survived.

No one knows why the C-17 crashed, but the result created a plume of smoke 750 feet high, and seen for two miles in any direction. According to FOX News, this has been a rough year for air travel in Anchorage:

The crash is the third airplane incident in Anchorage this summer. In June, one child was killed and four others burned when a small plane crashed after taking off from the city's small-airplane airport in downtown Anchorage.

The C-17 Globemaster is the result of a competition between Boeing and McDonnell Douglas almost 30 years ago. The Boeing version lost to the Mc Donnell Douglas entry, even though it had a more innovative thrust system. (Now, McDonnell Douglas is Boeing.) The C-17 has a more conventional thrust system; here it is, and the plane, in action:



Stay tuned for more on this.

SB 1070: Arizona's illegal immigrant law so psychotic it was blocked

When Arizona Governor Janet Brewer signed the obviously racist (and there's that word again) illegal immigrant law formally called SB 1070 into law, it was called "psychotic" in this space.

Obviously U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton agrees because she blocked the key provisions of SB 1070 that made it an open door to allow racist, yet legal, stops of ordinary Arizona citizens who might look like they were illegal immigrants to the police officer. In other words, if you're blonde, and especially female, you not likely to be a target.

Judge Bolton prevented Arizona law officers from making warrantless arrests of suspected illegal immigrants for crimes that could cause deportation. Bolton also issued a preliminary injunction that delayed provisions that required immigrants to carry their papers and banned illegal immigrants from seeking employment in public places.

This is a huge development, worthly of several blog posts.

Stay tuned.

New Thor Teaser Trailer from Comic Con 2010 has Thor's hammer, Mjölnir

Thor Mania continues. Marvel Comics and SEGA joined together to announce the creation of the video game for the Thor movie, set to be released Summer 2011 at Comic Con 2010. (For those of you who don't know who Thor is, Thor's a Marvel Comics comic book character first introduced in August 1962, the month and year I was born - August 4th, 1962).

Now, today, they've sent the first Thor Teaser Trailer for the game. And while its for the video game, none of its content should be taken for granted, because we see Thor's legendary hammer Mjölnir for the first time.

Moreover, we see the main title design that will be used for the promotions, and for the movie itself. And as Thor's standing before what appears to be an alien terrain, we also get some idea of just where the Thor movie may take us.

That's stated because the video game story line was made especially for it. SEGA reports that "action adventure boasts an original storyline exclusive to the videogame, for which Matt Fraction, lead Thor comic book author, served as story consultant."

Thor The Video Game will be released Summer 2011 by SEGA and for use on the Xbox 360, PlayStation3, PSP system, Wii and Nintendo DS platforms.

Terrell Owens with Chad Ochocinco at Bengals brings racist media coverage

After a five-team race, Terrell Owens, the six-time Pro Bowl selection, becomes a Cincinnati Bengals player. In joining the Bengals, he's paired with his good friend Chad Ochocinco, making what has to be the most dangerous wide receiving tandem in the NFL. OK, so why the institutionally racist media coverage?

(As a side example, the Hollywoodgossip.com photo has a nasty note on it they installed.  The photo shows Paris Hilton with Owens and other black men. So, the Hollywoodgossip.com blog feels compelled to call her names because she's with black men.  Had they been white men, that message would not have been there.  Instead, we would have got some article about who her next boyfriend was.  Racist?  Yes.)

Terrell Owens with Chad Ochocinco should bring conversations about how the Bengals can scheme to get the most out of each receiver. One really interesting pattern combination is to have both in a slot formation, with Owens to the post from the outside, while Ochocinco takes the corner. Another effective combination is the hitch - corner system popularized by Joe Tiller at Purdue, where we have Owens run the hitch, and Ochocinco the corner route.

Instead of scheme talk, we have talk about the two "entertainers" getting together. Or ESPN's John Clayton wondering if they can share the spotlight.

And the ESPN stupidity continued when Chad was interviewed by ESPN after the news that Owens would join the Bengals. The ESPN anchor asked Chad a question that made this blogger wonder why ESPN hired him: "How well do you know him?"

Any follower of sports knows that Chad and T.O. are friends and have been for a long time, but this ESPN guy had to push the idea that they diddn't know each other, even as Chad explained they were friends for 10 years.

It's the insistence on playing up the "circus" and Chad and T.O. as (without saying it) outspoken and flamboyant black men that really makes me pound my first on the desk. Code words like "entertainer" or "reality show" or "circus" or "trouble" or "flamboyant" pepper ESPN blog posts and television coverage.

It's to the point, where I'm sick of ESPN's low-brow, racist approach. ESPN and the media don't refer to outspoken white players that way. Take the Minnesota Vikings Defensive End Jared Allen. He of the crowd-pleasing sacks who loves the mic as much as Owens and Ochocinco. But you never see the same code words applied to him.

The subtle message all week long is if you're a black guy who's outspoken and walks a different path, you're a threat. It happened when Dallas Cowboys Rookie Dez Bryant said he wasn't going to carry Roy Williams pads. Who did the media compare him too? Terrell Owens. And now, just a day or so later, the silly, racist crap continues in the media. Some of it, delivered by black male sports writers, who should know better.

Just because it's coming from them doesn't make it OK. Word to the media: if you don't know about football strategy, don't write about football. If you can't draw a play and describe it to an audience. If you don't know what a team's doing as it unfolds, don't write about it or talk about it.

The reason is the lack of football strategy understanding is replaced by some commentary peppered with the sports writers prejudices. Frankly, I'm tired of it all.

I'm really sick of the garbage that's coming out of a number of media outlets regarding Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco. Please stop.

Oliver Stone's take on Hitler and Stalin by: Nikky Raney

The 63-year-old director, Oliver Stone, told the London Sunday Times that "Jewish domination of the media...Israel has f***** up United States foreign policy for years."

Stone is creating a 10 hour TV special called "Oliver Stone's Secret History of America."

As if the Jewish remark wasn't enough to make Stone look bad he continues to say:

"Hitler is an easy scapegoat throughout history and it's been used cheaply."

Stone believes that what Hitler did to the Russians was far worse than what he did to the Jewish people.

Stone didn't stop there; he remarks on Josef Stalin:

"Stalin has a complete other story. Not to paint him as a hero, but to tell a more factual representation. He fought the German war machine more than any person."

However, Stone understands that what he said was offensive and has since apologized.

"In trying to make a broader historical point about the range of atrocities the Germans committed against many people, I made a clumsy association about the Holocaust, for which I am sorry and I regret."

Time will tell how this all plays out once his TV special airs.

(Photo courtesy of Parade.com)

On UK Film Council campaign, Hatchet 2 horror movie, Tron trailer

Save the UK Film Council. Just on the heels of Comic Con and my Friday with the Hatchet 2 cast and crew, comes the news that Britain is considering cutting the UK Film Council. It's one of many ideas that's part of Britain's wrong-headed austerity policy. History teaches us it's better to deficit spend, but people don't learn so well. Instead, Britain takes aim at movies and The UK Film Council.

Britain should keep the UK Film Council as it's key part of the UK's presence in the healthy entertainment industry. The decision by the Department of Media, Culture And Sport is wrong. Moreover, it should see how the movie industry is one of the best systems for the expression of creativity that then realizes a business component. Just see the interviews with Adam Green and the cast and crew of Hatchet 2, made during Comic Con in San Diego in a trip by this blogger and sponsored by The Kings Inn Hotel.





And of course, who can forget the debut of the Tron Legacy cast and the new movie trailer:



Just because all of this seems like fun doesn't mean it's not business, or that it doesn't have an economic impact. The job multiplier for the movie industry is around 4, which means that for every one job in the movie, there are four more created, considering distributors and retailers, lawyers, publicists, and artists. While one may point to the Internet as a threat, it's actually not. It's just another way of doing some of the same distribution jobs; it doesn't happen by accident.

By cutting The UK Film Council, Britain runs the risk of choking off the growth of reborn film companies like Hammer Films, which made its debut at Comic Con San Diego. Hammer is a UK product with a long history and needs the UK Film Council's involvement to grow in the 21st Century.

Save the UK Film Council. Cutting it is a mistake.

Adam Green on Hatchet 2 - how the horror movie came to be

Adam Green is a determined genius. The creator of Dark Sky Films Hatchet and the upcoming Hatchet 2, said (in a limo on the way to Comic Con and part of this blogger's trip sponsored by The Kings Inn Hotel, San Diego) that the horror movies series, which features the murderous exploits of Victor Crowley, was in his head from childhood days, and wanted to get it into the big screen, but a series of rejections forced him to the point of writing the script from scratch in just three days.

Now, with Hatchet 2, Adam Green has a second shot at building on a cult classic released in 2006. The best way to describe the Hatchet series is "old school American 80s horror" where teeth and gums are pulled out, body parts are thrown, and general bloody chaos is the order of the day.

In our limo ride to the San Diego Convention Center where Comic Con was held, Adam talked about how Hatchet 2 was created, but what, or who, took over the conversation was his general family of Danielle Harris, who plays MaryBeth, screen legends R.A. Mihailoff, and Kane Hodder (Leatherface in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3, and Jason from Friday The 13th, who play Trent and Victor Crowley respectively (and Victor Crowley's father, too, in the case of Kane), A.J. Bowen, Tom Holland, and Jennifer Blanc-Biehl, who, while not in Hatchet 2, is set to start filming The Victim with her good friend Danielle Harris, next week.

Together, and you see this in the video above, these guys are a total riot. Their chemistry is why I think Hatchet 2's going to be a hit. That glue, the bond they have is evident on screen. Hey, if it was all an act for the camera, it was a good one. But I know for a fact that was not the case; they're really good, down to earth people.

This is the second video in a series. The first one I just had to get out first, because it's the funniest and most provocative of the series. Eventually, we'll get to the more serious videos, but these "Hatchet 2 limo ride videos" you'll see only here.  

On John Bolz, John Carroll, Perez Hilton, blogging, and making money

John Bolz is the number on Google Trend as this blog post is written. The problem is no one knows why. But one has to use John Bolz and "grover cleveland alexander" to generate traffic, views, and ad revenue for their blogs.

When San Francisco Chronicle Columnist and all-around good man John Carroll wrote about bloggers and wondered how they make money (in "the blog dilemma" which should have been designed to be found in a search), he looked at it, it seemed unknowingly, from the perspective of one who's used to working for someone else.

Perez Hilton shows the way

Perez makes a business of hounding Miley

The most successful bloggers own their own blogs: Perez Hilton comes to mind. Now, if you're going to tell me what you think of Perez' content, you're not going to learn anything, so you're not the person I'm trying to reach.

Perez Hilton owns his own blog, and yet he's "multi-platform:" he has millions of Twitter followers. His videos can be found on his own YouTube channel, where, like me, Perez is a YouTube Partner. That means he earns revenue from his video views. He's got over 62,000 YouTube subscribers as of this writing. Me? I'm just over 5,000 YouTube subscribers, but hey, I love every one of them.

But my point is Perez has his own channel and his own "brand" that's not all in one place.  Regardless of what you think about Perez Hilton, you know what you're going to get when you visit his blog. That "brand" has led to offers of up to $20 million for his blog.

What John Carroll missed is a look at the blogger who's an entrepreneur. Before the days of journalists looking for work as bloggers, there were journalists who did blogging, specifically Justin Hall.

Hall's called a pioneer blogger, but the point here is that Justin did his own thing as a blogger and gained fame doing it.

I encourage people who blog at Zennie62.com, or any of the blogs in the Zennie62 network, to maintain or start their own blogs and cross post their work to mine. I want each person to grow their own online value. That's what John Carroll, ever the good man, misses. But it's also my fault for not following up with Carroll on my desire to video interview him

See, John Carroll is a star. Like many long-time journalists and columnists he has a following, but he's not "branded" in the way Perez Hilton is. He's not on video or mobile devices. He doesn't have his own widget.  He should have all of this, and more.

In short, John Carroll doesn't have that set of platforms that, added together with respect to traffic, he can sell for money, or make money from. It's a welcome direction given the shrinking print media industry.

The problem is the death of print media is forcing people online, where they're quite literally lost in Internet space. Many people: journalists, publicists, and public relations specialists, are totally lost.

And they're not helped by those who are in the same professions who take money from them with these seminars and panel discussions, claiming that they know the Internet way, when in point of fact, those same persons don't even have a clear Internet presence and brand. So, it becomes the blind leading the blind, and both eventually get frustrated either because they aren't making real money or the people have realized they don't know and have stopped paying them.

If you are asked to pay over $100 to attend a social media "how-to" function, run, don't walk, to the nearest exit. Don't do it.

Just do what Former San Francisco Chronicle Columnist Glenn Dickey did, and at my pushing, about five years ago: he started his own website called Glenn Dickey.com. Plus, he's at Examiner.com And while I think he could improve on his Internet presence and website monetization by a ton, he's at least created an online home that has some value (the paywall's a bad idea). The Examiner gives him another platform that helps drive awareness of the "Glenn Dickey" brand and thus, get more traffic.

So, John Carroll, you can make money blogging, but you've got to have your own blog and brand. In short, you have to think not in terms of working for someone else, but in terms building your own media business.

Jack Tatum, 61, Oakland Raiders Legend dies: I saw Darryl Stingley hit

Tatum crushes Stingley (NY Times)

Jack Tatum, the Oakland Raiders Legend dies at the young age of 61, and this blogger is shocked: Jack Tatum is one of those people who, as an Oaklander, is like part of your mental furniture; you just expected him to be there, forever.

That's especially true because I saw Darryl Stingley as he was hit by Jack Tatum at the 1978 preseason game between the Oakland Raiders and the New England Patriots. I was at Skyline High School at the time (in fact, unbelievably, our 30th reunion is this weekend) and went to the game with my good friend Bill Boyd (who you may remember from my Star Trek video, if you follow this space).

Bill and I were nerds before the term was created. In Bill Boyd's case, he was given to a Monty Python-style of humor: he could sing the "LumberJack Song" on cue. (Well, OK, all of us - me, Bill, Lars Frykman, and Craig Prior on a good day - could.)

Anyway, it was Bill's first pro football game at the Oakland Coliseum - I got the tickets from my Mom, who was friends with Raiders Defensive Tackle Otis Sistrunk and Marvin Upshaw, brother of Oakland Raiders Legend and later NFL Players Association Executive Director Gene Upshaw at the time - and he was in rare form. When the Oakland Raiderettes Cheerleaders were introduced, Bill stood up in his seat and yelled "SEX! SEX! SEX!" When the Oakland Raiders players came out, he got up and yelled "VIOLENCE! VIOLENCE! VIOLENCE!" Well, he was right.

The New England Patriots and Darryl Stingley in particular, were having a field day on offense against the Raiders. I got used to seeing Stingley run after the catch with abandon; Tatum put a stop to that.

As I recall, Stingley caught a slant pass and headed up field; I saw a number 32 cross my binoculars, and then a resounding crack. That was it.

The Oakland Coliseum was the quietest it's ever been. Darryl Stingley was down and Bill and I thought he died. That's a wild something to experience, especially when you're a teenager.

Then, after what seemed to be an eternity, they brought out a stretcher, gently lifted Stingley, and took him to an ambulance.

As you know by now, Darryl Stingley was paralyzed.

That event forever changed Jack Tatum and NFL Football. He played with less abandon after that, and it closed a chapter in Oakland Raiders history where the team was considered to have "criminal elements" on it. The charge came from then-Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Chuck Knoll, who's own players had some of the same claims aimed at them...by the Raiders.

Shortly after that event, and entering the 80s, the NFL liberalized defensive contact rules, allowing receivers to run through defenses without being "chucked" beyond five yards, whereas a defender could hit a receiver and knock the person off course before.

That change paved the way for the wide-open NFL of today.

That ended the Jack Tatum era.

Jack Tatum, whom I met once, was from what I recall a quiet and nice person; not at all like his football persona.

He died too young, but his sprit lives on. Perhaps the modern Oakland Raiders will channel his energy into an NFL Championship.

Stay tuned. What a sad day for Oakland sports. Jack Tatum, RIP.

Charles E. Johnson, San Mateo's Tano Capital, invest in India, China

What's interesting to learn about Bay Area venture capital firms, and on the heels of Thursday's TechCrunch Summer Party hosted by August Capital, is that not every one focuses on the United States.

In the case of Tano Capital, the San Mateo, California investment firm founded by Charles E. Johnson, the former President of Franklin Templeton investments, who's its managing director, has its investment interests primarily in India and China.

The firm, established in 2007, started with a few small investments, but then ramped up its activity considerably in 2009. It started with an investment in AltoBeam Technology, a China-based designer of digital TV chipsets. Then Tano placed $2.2 million in TongXue.com, a Chinese-based social network, that's become one of the 50,000 largest websites in the World (and with a really cool animated activity map).

In 2010, Tano Capital's activity increased, to the point that it has now as many deals in play as it did in all of 2009. And Tano's not totally out of the United States in terms of investment deals: it started the Tano Global Hard Assets Fund, which invests in U.S. hard assets.

Tano does all of this from it's offices in San Mateo, Mumbai, Mauritius, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, and Tianjin.

Terrell Owens is more than just a Reality TV star by: Nikky Raney

Terrell Owens was a well-known football player (former All-Pro receiver) before landing a reality TV show on VH1 (The T.O. Show).

Although some have reported that T.O's career is on the decline he still has hope for the upcoming football season.

The New York Jets are set to possibly be the next to sign Owens, but the Cincinnati Bengals also have their prospects on the star.

Only time will tell which team the star will join, but the fans will definitely be glad to see him back on the field.

(Photo courtesy of Mouth Piece Sports)

Move over Andrew Breitbart, here comes Hipskind!

Darlene Heslop "sighed and rolled her eyes" according to a story in the Chicago Tribune. For that she got ejected from the June 14 meeting of the City Council in Elmhurst, IL.

"Surely nobody expects the committee to conduct its business effectively if citizens are free to make facial expressions in public."

I'm serious.

"Making faces behind the mayor's back is disruptive, in my opinion,"

~Stephen Hipskind

Now, according to the Tribune's Editorial, the Elmhurst City Attorney has been directed to research the legal definitions of disorderly conduct and disruptive behavior apparently as a precursor to drafting an ordinance "to curb non-verbal outbursts." There is already a state law defining disorderly conduct as "an act in such unreasonable manner as to alarm or disturb another, or to provoke a breach of the peace." 

Somehow, to me, neither sighing nor rolling your eyes, even if done more-or-less simultaneously at a meeting of elected officials, seems likely to provoke a breach of the peace. A snort? Maybe. A chuckle or two, even? Perhaps.

July's been a busy month for dictionary makers

First we have the new verb breitbart, as in "he breitbarted the story," to describe taking something so egregiously out of context that it takes on a meaning opposite from what was originally intended.  Now we also have the new verb hipskind, as in "he hipskinded the event," meaning he caused members to walk out undermining the meeting quorum yet succeeded in wasting tax-payer money by sending an attorney on a wild goose chase - over somebody sighing and rolling their eyes.

Is it any wonder voters seem hard-pressed to trust elected officials to bring value to their work? To delegate to an attorney the task of devising a way to control facial expressions sounds like some farcical Monty Python sketch.  Sadly, it's not - it's the state of the city in Elmhurst, IL.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, Democratic Campaign Manager, journalist, and photographer who contributes regularly to various web sites on topics such as economics, politics, culture, and community. He's glad nobody could watch his facial expressions while he wrote this.

Tom Staub? City of Alameda's City Manger in trouble on SunCal Alameda Point

Victim of a can't do city

This blogger returns from Comic Con to see that Alameda's a big mess. Forget Tom Staub, or Tony Hayward, or Fugazi, or cats that look like Hitler, or any questionable content, the Internet World should pay attention to how Alameda messed up.

The City of Alameda’s rejection of developer SunCal’s Alameda Point redevelopment plan and involvement is an example of the City’s awful political and staff leadership and it will cost the taxpayers millions of dollars and lost jobs over the coming years.

Perhaps just as damaging, unless something with SunCal can be salvaged, my sources say the City’s reputation has been irreparably damaged with Wall Street and the investment community and, now, any major developer would be foolish to even entertain driving through the Alameda Tube.

(Hey investment community, come to Oakland.)

That's too bad for a project, the redevelopment of what was the Alameda Naval Air Station and what we call Alameda Point, which was closed in what was called the "Base Realignment and Closure Act" of 1992.

I was on the first Alameda Base Reuse Committee, and the time table we had called for the project to be underway by now. But, thanks to Ann Marie Gallant, that's not the case.

Alameda’s interim city manager, Ann Marie Gallant is the problem. Period. She's become the Tony Hayward of the investment community in my view, and someone should be royally pissed off; I am. Ann Marie Gallant has been single-handedly behind the collapse of the SunCal project from the view of this space.

Gallant's recent stop-the-development-at-all-costs efforts in which sources say she secretly started reading the emails and correspondence of a well-regarded Councilwoman, Lena Tam, and then hired a private attorney to file claims against Tam, taking her out of the vote for the Alameda Point development and casting aspersions on Tam’s supporters.

While Alamedan’s don’t know the full story about Ann Marie Gallant, it will soon come out in this space, as both Tam’s top attorney John Keker and, separately, SunCal are looking at legal action against Gallant and the City of Alameda.

One of the big issues is the money SunCal spent in paying the City of Alameda's staff during the negotiating period and what the staff did and did not do during that time. To say that Gallant and the City of Alameda are in big trouble is an understatement.

Tom Staub? Forget it.

Stay tuned.

On Leah Siegel of ESPN, Dez Bryant, and Comic Con 2010

Blogging thoughts on Leah Siegel of ESPN and the Dallas Cowboys' Dez Bryant, and posting videos on Comic Con from San Diego International Airport.

Leah and her kids 

Leah Siegel of ESPN

Leah Siegel, is a Dallas-based producer for ESPN, and mother of three, sadly lost her battle with breast cancer Monday at the young age of 43. That news is particularly hard for me, because I will never forget the January 14th day my mother first informed me she had breast cancer.

And although she has survived, 2005 was a year that, between her breast cancer, and losing both my father and step father to prostate cancer in March and October respectively, I'd never cried so much in one year in my life. I hope, before I die, we find a cure for cancer. But for now, we morn the passing of Leah Siegel, who's plight generated an online following.

According to her husband Eric Loehr, writing on her blog, Leah died at 4:30 AM. Funeral service will be held at Friday, July 30th, 2 PM at Sparkman-Hillcrest Funeral Home, 7405 Northwest Hwy Dallas, TX 75225.

Dallas Cowboy's Dez Bryant Is Terrell Owens?

Former Oklahoma State Wide Receiver, and Dallas Cowboys 1st Round Draft Pick Terrell Owens is being compared to former Dallas Cowboys Wide Receiver Terrell Owens, and for a really stupid reason: he will not carry Roy Williams pads!?

To that I saw, Roy Williams and the media need to grow up. No disrespect to the great Roy Williams, but he made this a really bone-headed story by running to reporters, who were eager to take it, and form it into another, drum-roll please, "BLACK MAN WON'T DANCE" tale. Want proof: they played the "Terrell Owens" card.

Oh brother.

That Roy Williams is black, which someone's going to blurt out with, as if that's significant here, is of no matter. According to ESPN, Williams said he carried pads, paid for dinners, and did other things NFL veterans asked him to do because he "didn't want to be that guy."

Roy Williams knows, and anyone else culturally honest enough to admit it will say, that being "that guy" means being a black guy who does not play by the rules set out for him by society. Thus, the "Terrell Owens" mention by the media.

It's an institutionally racist way of society reminding a black guy of his place, and aided by another black guy, in this case Roy Williams.

Considering that the Cowboys having won an NFL Championship since the '90s, maybe Dez Bryant's the guy the need. Roy Williams seems more worried about Dez Bryant being a black guy "who dances," rather than an NFL player who can help them win a ring.

Williams could have just talked to Dez Bryant privately about the issue, and not ran to the press. That was awful on Roy's part.

Dez, just play ball.

Comic Con 2010 is History

A sad Monday and not just for the news of Leah Siegel's passing, but for the end of Comic Con 2010. With the exception of the unfortunate stabbing incident, I've never seen so many happy people in one place in my life. Every day of the five days I was here, my days at the San Diego Convention Center started with seeing smiling people, young, middle-aged, old, and even toddlers. That was cool.

On the matter of the stabbing incident, I talked to David Glanzer, the Director of Marketing and Public Relations on Comic Con on video, here:

.

Briefly, Glanzer and San Diego Police Officer Sargeant Cecena both said that two friends got into an altercation and that the pen stabbing accident (more that than an assault) was "minor." It took 40 minutes to get the show back to normal that Saturday evening. Glanzer said he "could not remember anything that this happening at all" in the 41-year history of Comic Con. Part of the problem may be the sheer size of Comic Con.

Glanzer said they've outgrown the San Diego Convention Center, and even though they experimented with expanding events to the nearby hotels, they had to turn away 400 exhibitors. If an average booth cost is, say, $400, then Comic Con turned lost $400,000 because of lack of space at the San Diego Convention Center.

But fear not, Comic Con will be back in San Diego for 2011 and 2012; it's 2013 and beyond that's the issue.

Glanzer and the Comic Con staff will take a week off, but come next week they will be "right back at it" looking at proposals from Anaheim, Los Angeles, and San Diego for the future.

Buffy The Musical closes Comic Con

One of the most fun events I attended (the other being not really an event, but the day spent with the Hatchet 2 cast and crew, and I've got a lot more to blog about for that) was the last one called Buffy The Musical.

Basically, an audience of about 3,000 or 4,000 people watched and sang along to Buffy The Musical's songs, using the subtitled lyrics as a guide. Some people knew the songs by heart. My favorite song was "Where do we go from here."

Did I sing? Yes. But then, that's what happens when you're a black guy who doesn't dance.



A really good question. But I'd like to thank Lila King and my friends at CNN iReport for giving me a cool Flip Video Camera Mino HD, specially designed for CNN, and a nice CNN hat.

Stay tuned.

2 can play @ Breitbart's editing game!

By now you've learned what great lengths Andrew Breitbart will go to editing video to make people, such as Shirley Sherrod, look as though they're for something they're against - hey, video clips don't lie, right?

Right.

Now the folks at MoveOn have released the perfect counterpoint: video of Breitbart talking about having cocktails with terrorists while disparaging the people you and I think of as normal.

Mr. Breitbart's remarks, excerpted from a presentation at February's Conservative Political Action Conference -- months before he deftly edited Ms. Sherrod to defame and discredit her -- are shocking, really.  

But don't take my word for it - go see for yourself!

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, Democratic Campaign Manager, journalist, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

Giuseppi Logan Over a Rainbow by Suzannah B. Troy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3grJe-g5Zw

It was a brutally hot morning here in NYC including really bad air quality but of course Giuseppi Logan was out early playing his sax to practice, to play because playing music is his life line, without music he is dead and because he needs to earn money.  I of course gave him some. 

I happen to send YouTube an email just now about some things that exceed dollars and cents and reuniting Giuseppi Logan with his son after over 40 years thanks to my YouTubes can only be described as a YouTube miracle.

Jaee  Logan lost his son to random gun violence.  His son was an honor student like his Dad.   Jaee flew to NYC to be reunited with his Dad and now he is back in California working hard on his career with the goal to get back here and continue work on his documentary. 

When Jaee and I first spoke I told him I saw a documentary but also a Hollywood film like The Soloist but better.

Here is Giuseppi Logan playing music because not to play is to be dead.  He had to live too long without his instruments.   Giuseppi still struggles big time but he has found some kind of redemption very late in the 9th inning so to speak including with his new album his first since his two he made with ESP in the 1960's.

Comic Con: Thor Trailer, Hatchet 2, Harry Knowles Ain't It Cool News

I still never saw Asgard

Comic Con 2010 ends today, Sunday, so before heading down to the San Diego Convention Center, end doing work to end the trip sponsored by The Kings Inn Hotel, let's clear the decks.

We'll talk about the buzz around the Thor trailer and the movie, Hatchet 2, and my interview with Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News and who's the new Editor for Comic Con, essentially, as he put it, it's "new face." But first, the Thor trailer.

As of Sunday morning "Thor trailer" was the 7th highest search trend at Google Trends, proving the sheer hunger to see the movie version of a generations-popular comic book and cartoon series. While this blogger didn't see the Thor trailer clips that were presented in Hall H Saturday evening, and because I and others were told Hall H was closed after the "Comic Con Pen Stabber" incident, there's is Collider to give us an idea of what happened.

Briefly, and so you can read the rest of the Thor trailer story there, Collider reports, first, that the Thor panel of Kenneth Branagh, Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Kat Dennings, Tom Hiddleston and Clark Gregg, were blown away by the Comic Con audience and reactions. Second, Kenneth Branagh reports that Thor was the movie he really wanted to do, but that he's "excited and nervous" about doing the action scenes as director, because he's not done them before.

The Thor trailer clips consisted of scenes beginning with the hammer in the New Mexico desert, where Iron Man 2 ended. Then Thor's being interrogated by Agent Colson (Clark Gregg) because he destroyed "a whole team of his men." Then we see Asgard (or, as I put it, I never got to see Asgard), where Thor is banished to Earth for his reckless behavior. At the end of the clip, what's described as a "Destroyer" comes to Earth and takes out some cars. And all of that in Thor 3D. Yep, Thor and Captain America will be using a kind of 3D conversion process.

Hatchet 2 Thoughts

I have so much video from my day at Comic Con 2010 with the cast and crew of Hatchet 2, that I need a full day to deal with all of it, and that will come this week. In order to generate some buzz for the hard-working folks associated with the Dark Sky Films production of Hatchet 2, I created the most provocative clip of all, outside the movie scenes, which I'm not authorized to show. That's "Danielle Harris of Hatchet 2 - contest and vagina talk" video:



But Adam Green's Hatchet 2 is going to be a hit when it comes out on October 1, 2010. I will write that and stand by it. It's a movie that has a compelling story for a horror movie of it's kind, and about how Victor Crowley's father (played by Kane Hodder, who's also the head-smashing Victor Crownley himself)'s own sorrow essentially caused Victor Crowley's deformities. (You have to see it.)

Hatchet 2 also has some of the funniest, kill scenes I've ever seen in a horror movie. In Hatchet 2, teeth and gums are pulled out of heads, a giant saw cuts two men in half, and there's a lot of a very emotional Danielle Harris. When I asked how she got ready for that, Harris said she just got up each day and did it, then slept a lot after shooting was over.  Stay tuned for more videos from my Hatchet 2 day.

My Harry Knowles Ain't It Cool News Interview

The Harry Knowles Ain't It Cool News Interview will get its own blog post and soon, but I wanted to insert it here for more views because Harry's a true Comic Con legend who's finally getting his due. Harry Knowles' Ain't It Cool News blog has grown from obscurity to be recognized by Hollywood publicists as the online place to get the word out about their clients' new films. And now, Harry's the official face of Comic Con.

But with all that, Harry Knowles is still a very funny, smart, nice, person with a quirky sense of humor. Here's the video, where he says that he wants Comic Con to remain in San Diego, and that the Tron trailer has a sound that made "his balls shake." I'm not kidding.



Stay tuned for more from Comic Con.

Comic Con 2010 Stabbing at Hall H update

In this Comic Con 2010 "Stabbing at Hall H" update, reports are that the person who started the incident was detained by his own friend in Hall H.

According to Comic Book Resources, or CBR News, which did great work in blogging this, Sergeant Gary Mondesir of the San Diego Police Department said the following:

Basically, inside of Hall H during Comic-Con, prior to one of the showings, two males got into a dispute. One male attacked the other male, stabbing him on the side of his eye with a pen. Officers were relatively close by. Citizens within the hall detained the person. Officers came and arrested him, and right now we're processing the scene inside...The victim's friend actually assisted in taking the suspect into custody.

He'll be charged with assault with a deadly weapon due to the stabbing in the eye. We are still processing the scene. We have a field evidence technician who's taking measurements and collecting evidence...The show is still going on. It happened in an area where we didn't have to stop the show. We can actually work around it and process the scene. It happened inside the hall but off to the side.

(Visit CBR News for more info.)

The problem for those outside like this blogger was that Comic Con / San Diego Convention Center security were walking through the Hall H lines telling patrons that Hall H may be closed. That was as the line was moving, so the assumption my friend Krystyl and I made was that the people ahead of us were being told to leave as well. "Ahead of us," means over 1,000 feet ahead of us, and with security giving what turned out to be false information, we didn't know what was going on. So, we left, and missed the Marvel Panel.

CBR News also talked with David Glanzer, the head of Comic-Con Director of Marketing and Public Relations, who said "Sadly, an incident like this is something you never want to happen. Right now, we're deferring to the San Diego Police Department who was on site very quickly. My understanding is that they apprehended the suspect and completed their investigation in probably less than an hour. The programs were delayed for about 40 minutes, but everything is back up and running."

Which is great; but many who left the lines for Hall H didn't know that and departed because they were told Hall H might close and work got around that it was already closed.

Crazy.

Stabbing at Comic Con 2010 - Marvel Avengers panel security said was over, went on

I never saw Asgard...

Earlier Saturday evening at Comic Con, a man who was in the Resident Evil panel in Hall H, got into a fight with another man, stabbing him in the face with a pen. The next panel for Hall H was the one this blogger was waiting for, The Marvel Panel featuring Thor and Captain America, but really turned out to be a full introduction of The Avengers cast, did go on.

That means, according to the LA Times Steven Zeitchik, who was already in the Hall, I missed Robert Downey Jr., Clark Gregg, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, The Avengers director Joss Whedon, and producer and Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige.

Great.

This, even as Comic Con and San Diego Convention Center security people walked around the lines for Hall H announcing "Hall H may be closed." That's why a large number of people, including myself, left the line. And, as my video showed, there was a lot of chaos:



There was no clear communication of what was going on to anyone except by the Comic Con / San Diego Convention Center staff who walked around the Hall H lines.

The impression given to many was that the Hall H show was not going to go on. I'm happy those who stuck around managed to see The Marvel Studios' The Avengers presentation, but I'd prefer a much clearer line of communication in the future. It's totally irresponsible to the Comic Con patrons for security people to waltz around making announcements they weren't sure of.

Advantage to those who went to Hall H and stayed there, almost the entire day; disadvantage to those, like myself (and many of us with press badges), who did get in line for Hall H, only to be told it was closed, and first, due to health reasons and eventually because of the hot-head who decided to get mad over a seat.

Great. Just great.

Stabbing at Comic Con 2010 - Man stabbed in face with pen at Resident Evil panel

Comic Con 2010 had a criminal act that closed a big show on Saturday, July 24th. The Marvel Comics presentation of Thor and Captain America motion picture cast and production teams and set for 6 PM PDT was cancelled because a man was stabbed in the face with a pen and during the Resident Evil movie panel just before it.

Just as this blogger was waiting to get into Hall H for the Marvel Comics presentation, and texting with friend and social media expert Krystyl Baldwin, there was a rumor going around, but not confirmed that Hall H was closed. Krystyl told me that it was closed, but to me "closed" meant it was already shut and people were in it, and then it would reopen.

But then, as she and I were texting, it became clear that Hall H was closed, but no one knew why, or at least we didn't.

Photo by Krystal Baldwin 

Then, as we walked out of the line, a group of police officers walked by us with a man in a "Harry Potter" shirt in handcuffs, but Krystyl and I did not know why.  The people standing in the line knew something because they were booing him.  Since we were further into the line, the news of what happened had not trickled to us at that time.  Krystyl said the Hall H was being closed for "health reasons."

A woman, walking in the other direction, explained to us what happened: that a man was stabbed during the Resident Evil panel, and by the person in the photo here that was handcuffed.

According to the blog Techland.com, the issue was described as "a seating squabble."

UPDATE from YouTube commenter:

SoCalCCGs
55 minutes ago
I was in Hall H when it happened. They didn't let anyone in and there was only an hour delay. Police were they and they questioned witnesses, thats all. Problem was all 6,500 people were standing on their chairs to find out what happened, lol. It was kinda a side show.

All we know is as of this writing, the events set for Comic Con, at least for Hall H, have been cancelled for Saturday.

Comic Con is not known for crime problems. Indeed, the Comic Con environment is described as "chill." For this to happen is an indication as much of Comic Con's rapid growth.   While 125,000 badges were issued, there have been estimates of as many as 200,000 people in San Diego, many looking for badges to get into the San Diego Convention Center.

Comic Con is coming back to San Diego for 2011, but the future of the event in San Diego rests with what the city does to fit an event that's growing faster than it can keep up with.

Yes, fighting over a seat is childish, but it's also a byproduct of a very crowded event, the size growth potential of which is not known.

Stay tuned.