Obama Party Hopping During Super Tuesday In SF and Oakland

This is a political "slice of life" video I created during the evening of the March 4th "Super Tuesday" Primary. It starts with my trip to the Oakland "Obama For America" headquarters to do some phone banking work and then to two Obama parties in San Francisco, one at Tosca and the other at an art gallery. Along the way, you will meet Obama volunteers and discover their motivations and passions for being involved in this enormous grass roots movement to get Barack Obama elected President of The United States. 

49ers Disorganization Injured QB Alex Smith

After four new offensive coordinators in each year of his short NFL career, former Utah and now San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Alex Smith has been place on injured reserve after injuring his shoulder in practice last Friday.  Once a player goes on IR, he can't be taken off until the next season, so that closes the 2008 campaign for Smith.

I was there in 2005 when Smith was drafted amid some controversy by the 49ers, who were trying to decide between Smith and California Quaterback Aaron Rogers, who's now the starter for Green Bay after being there first round pick, 21 positions behind Smith that year.  The talk was that Rogers was not 22 positions worse than Smith, but his equal.  It just depended on what system each signal-caller was in.

Smith never got settled with a single offensive approach, and last year was terrible.  The 49ers insisted on using a kind of deep passing game that called for fast retreats by the offensive line and seven step drops.  The result was a sacked and battered Smith.  The 49ers have continued this approach with the hiring of former Rams Head Coach Mike Martz as offensive coordinator.  The results have been the same; the 49ers QB was sacked three times in the first game against the Arizona Cardinals, last Sunday.

Fortunately that person was not Smith, but J.T. O'Sullivan, who the 49ers brought over from the Detroit Lions because he was familar with Martz and the system he was going to install.  That seemed to spell curtains for Smith even before the injury.

The only question is will the Gold and Scarlet keep Smith next year.  Time and performance this year will tell. My early bet is that 49ers Head Coach Mike Nolan will not be back past this year and Smith will have to deal with the whims of yet another groups of coaches.

Gavin Newsom - SF Mayor On GOP, Sarah Palin, John McCain

http://zennie2005.blogspot.com -- This presents SF Mayor Gavin Newsom at a rally for Barack Obama in Berkeley on September 4th, 2008, and an interview given just after his speech before the crowd.

Christine Pelosi On Obama, Clinton, And The California Democratic Party's Denver Shindig Location

This is the first video kicking off our coverage of the Democratic National Convention and events leading up to it. This one was a $2,300 a plate fundraiser for Barack Obama at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, CA, Sunday August 17th, 2008.

As part of the event, an Obama Rally was held outside of the hotel. Two, perhaps three people with bullhorns were leading the crowd in "Obama" cheers, and one I recognized.

Christine Pelosi, daughter of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the author of the well-received book "Campaign Boot Camp" a guide to successful campaigning, as well as a California Superdelegate supporting Senator Barack Obama.

I asked Christine about having Hillary's name placed in nomination and she skillfully ducked the question as only she can do. Instead, she said she was looking forward to the voting process, and reminds us that she's been a delegate since 1996.

Then Christine informed me that the California Delegation will have its party Wednesday Night at the Denver Museum of Natural History. So, if you're coming to Denver and are a Californian with political connections, that's the place to be.

Harry Denton Lays Down On The Filmore, Literally

Harry arrives at the Balboa Cafe

From San Francisco Scene / SF Politics

If you'd have told me that I'd end my evening into very early morning trying to convince the legendary Harry Denton not to lay down in the middle of the intersection of Filmore and Greenwich after what he admits was a drunken bender, I'd have said you were nuts.

Well, you weren't. What I saw was the embodiment of Old San Francisco in action. Harry Denton's a throwback to the days of a bar called "Henry Africa" and Herb Caen and the Three Martini lunch, and Carol Doda. Denton is fun, San Francisco style. But what I now understand that to mean is a kind of ultimate freedom we don't see today. And when we do see it, we just don't know what to do.

Ok. This is what happened.

I decided to visit the Balboa Cafe in San Francisco, really because I'm used to the place and thought that the Olympics would be on television and I could watch the games with a crowd that may be yelling "Go USA" or something like that. But I forgot that it's Saturday night and the only time one may release such a cheer was in watching someone else neck in public.

So when I arrived, the Balboa -- partially owned by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom -- was boringly crowded. People in clicks. Scores of lovely women. The Olympics were on TV. Chatter and laughter, but the same familar din one hears on a Saturday night at that place. Nothing special.

Enter Harry Denton.

Harry Denton is a true San Francisco legend. The man the San Francisco Chronicle calls one of the city's most visible bon vivants, and a promoter and owner of several successful establishments, from Harry Denton's Southside Bar which was on Folsom street in the 80s, to Harry Denton's Bar and Grill on Stuart Street, and Harry Denton's Rouge and Harry Denton's The Starlight Club atop the St. Francis Hotel. Harry has established himself as a celebrity long ago. He has a list of fans -- including me -- and a fierce following of people. I think Harry also senses that San Francisco's become a little boring.

So, Harry walks into the Balboa with a couple I've never seen before, goes around to the side bar area and during greeting us all -- I'd just seen him at the REAF Benefit called "Help Is On The Way" the last Sunday -- "I'm really fucked up." Harry had a lot to drink, and was blowing off steam after a reunion of people associated with the late bar Henry Africa. I was happy to see Harry because he's really a nice person who is always ready with a smile or a quick wit, and he's got an eye for the ladies, even though he's Gay, which is great for me because he points a straight bachelor like me in the right direction.

Anyway, I told my friend Lance, one of the bartenders that all we needed to complete the circle of famous San Francisco night crawlers was Johnny Love. Well, the person I've known since 1990 walked in just five brief minutes after I said that. It turned out that Johnny, Harry, and my friend Rick were all at the Henry Africa reunion, and had got a table outside.



I was invited to join them.

We were all outside and Harry was in rare form. He was well aware of his condition, saying "I need to blow off steam." He did. Harry made fun of the lot of us and just in general was a total riot, occassionally tossing beer bottles to the ground, which refused to shatter -- I'm not making this up -- less they ruin the sprit of the proceedings.

At that point, it was clear something strangely, weirdly magical was happening, at least to me.

Johnny Love sitting On Harry Denton's Lap

After a time, not too long, it was time for all to leave the Balboa. We'd went inside for a bit just before closing and then had a devil of a time getting Harry out, but we did. Then weirdness set in. Johnny walked off with his girlfriend, but without telling Harry or Rick he was going to return. Harry insisted on waiting for Johnny, but eventually realized he wasn't coming back after a long episode of waiting and trying to keep Harry from falling.

Since the numberr were reduced to me, and Harry and Rick, I wound up with the task I assumed which was keeping Harry upright. That was tough. At that point Harry decided that he wanted attention. He said so: "I want attention", and proceeded to try and lay in the middle of the intersection of Filmore and Greenwich. I successfully stopped him from the act, and as he was nearly hit by a car -- but I did this solo.

In getting Harry back to the sidewalk I was livid with the onlookers, many who had taken time to talk to him and give him pats on the back, but would only look at Harry rather than come out and help me with him. At that point, seeing them as part of the shallow and spineless masses that let events like Columbine happen and allow people to be mugged and attacked before their eyes, I collectively gave them my finger.

I was pissed.

Getting Harry into a limousine was a chore, and I did not succeed at the time, but then Harry elected to try a second stint at laying down on the Filmore. Only this time he insisted and while I grabbed his arm, he fought me off, and as I talked to him about how the police may show up ("I don't care"), Harry laid right down on Filmore.

My first thought was expressed to Harry "Hey, the police are going to get you." Harry didn't care, and sure enough an SF police cruiser pulled up, and as the officers got out of the car and approached Harry, something nice happened. Other people -- not part of the throng I gave my finger to -- stepped forward to help me get Harry up. The numbers of people -- about 10 -- was great enough to convince the police to get back into their car and continue on their way: they did.

Harry stood up and held his arms skyward as if to say "I did it" and the crowd standing on the Filmore and Greenwich sidewalk erupted into spontaneous applause. It was surreal.

Finally, the crowd broke up and once again I was tasked with having to get Harry into a limo, but this time I had help from guys who used to work for him and saw him. We got Harry into a limo and on his way home.

Whew!!

Harry Denton showed me and the crowd what San Francisco was all about: personal freedom. Laying down on the street was the ultimate act of freedom and fun. Something we used to see in the City when people were less judgemental and information was less fragmented.

Don't get me wrong, I like -- love -- New Media, but there's something missing in today's society. It's this watered-down P.C. culture, and while I love that it's less racially insensitive and more diverse than in the past, it's also less just plain fun. It's like everyone's worried about doing something wrong or being accused of doing so by someone else and certainly not willing to take charge of anything or take action against an injustice.

Enter Harry Denton.

Harry wanted to have old fashioned fun and the people of the city and even the police parted the way and let him. It was glorious.

1-Maria Ayerdi Has Pelli Clarke Pelli Design For SF Transit Center

Maria Ayerdi Has Pelli Clarke Pelli Design For SF Transit Center

Maria Ayerdi on Flickr

I have to admit I liked the Skidmore Owings and Merrill design, even if their architectural renderings imply they forgot Black folks existed. But the Pelli design focused on a "green" theme and addressed several pressing flow issues that the others did not. Now, Transbay Terminal Joint Powers Authority Executive Director Maria Ayerdi has Pelli Clarke Pelli to work with.

What will we get in San Francisco? This video series holds a clue:

1:



2:



3:



4.



Overall the design is breath-taking. Let's see how much of this design remains as the process of building the structure in a weak economy commences.

Maria Ayerdi Is The Face Behind The New SF Transbay Terminal

Remember the San Francisco Transbay Terminal Design Competition video I created? Well, the executive director of the effort is none other than Maria Averdi. You can read more about her here.

John McCain's San Francisco Visit To Be Met With Protests Today

Senator John McCain has a big-ticket fundraiser of 100,000 per person and held at the Fairmount Hotel to add to the public money he's already using to run for President.

I figured an anti-war protest must have been planned and I was right: there's one according to KTYU.com:

SAN FRANCISCO -- Grassroots campaigners are planning to protest the continuation of the Iraq war Monday outside a fundraising event at a San Francisco hotel for Republican presidential nominee Arizona Sen. John McCain.

Members of No Soldier Left Behind will rally outside the campaign fundraiser and collect petition signatures calling for a responsible end to the war, according to Peace Action West, an organization that fosters civic activism. Protestors will hold signs advocating the end of the war and well being of Iraqis and Americans in the region.

"Sen. McCain is here raising money in support of an Iraq policy that will be a continuation of the president's fail strategy," Peace Action West's Executive Director Jon Rainwater said. "Americans and Iraqis can't afford four more years of mistakes, so we are insisting that the next president bring a responsible end to the war in their first year."

The protestors will assemble in front of the Fairmont hotel at 6:30 p.m.

Zennie Abraham The Partying Playboy According To TangoDiva

Zennie Abraham The Partying Playboy According To TangoDiva

Wow. Ok, according to TangoDiva I'm now a "Partying Playboy" but I'm not sure if I'm right up there with Hugh Hefner or not! Here's what TangoDiva wrote (oh. Ok. I answered the questions and they put them out there!):

The Man Issue 08: Zenophon Abraham
By Tango Diva

Name: Zenophon Abraham
Hometown: San Francisco, California
Occupation: CEO of Sports Business Stimulations

1. Where do you like to flirt?
Pretty much anywhere. Bar, rapid transit, football stadium, dark part of a dive place.

2. Where's your favorite table for two?
- I like the 21 Club in New York, The Alley in Oakland, and The Balboa Cafe in San Francisco -- three different places but all have history and two are darkly romantic (the Balboa's too well-lit).

3. Where should we stay when we visit (besides your place)?
Hmm. I like the Claremont Resort in the Oakland Hills. Great views, pool, tennis, and food, too!

4. What qualities do you find irresistible in a woman?
Hmm, again. I really like intellect and good character. OK, I melt at the view of a pair of athletic legs on a woman, but if they're connected to a person of low character and cold heart, I'm easily turned off. I like women who know how to maintain relationships, even if we're just friends.

5. Where can we find you on a free Sunday afternoon? Just roll over?
At times I'm at an outdoor restaurant. Or I may work at an Internet Cafe. Maybe the gym. Depends.

6. What do you love most about your city (besides our arrival)?
I like the fact that I know everyone from the Mayor to the cab drivers. I feel connected in Oakland; I just wish my Mom was here rather than Georgia as she's my only family.

7. What should we bring when we visit your town? What should we leave with?
Bring a jacket and shorts -- ok short-shorts. It gets warm during the day, hot at times, then it cools down fast. But I've got to see those legs! :)

8. What do we absolutely have to see while we're there?
You have to see the Golden Gate Bridge. No matter how long I've been in the Bay Area, that site is enduring.

9. Any areas of town we should avoid?
Frankly it's hard to pinpoint one area anymore as it seems crime is happening all over, from Berkeley to SF, to Oakland. I'd just plain be careful period.

10. Any local secrets you want to share?
Well...Valleywag has a certain sex writer who used to have "clients" if you know what I mean. (No, I was not one of them.)

Chinese Government Already Arresting Dissidents Before Olympics

http://zennie2005.blogspot.com - If you remember the video I made where I talked about how the Chinese Government could use IP address data from the Viacom / Google lawsuit to find dissidents and arrest or kill them --

See:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ua_XT1RJIE

Then brace yourself because the Chinese have already arrested two Internet dissidents Du Daobin and Ye Guozhu and have done so before the Bejing Olympics.

Both dissidents were arrested for "subversion" or writing against the actions of the Chinese Government. Such actions bring into focus the value of the "annoymous blogger" because the idea is that by being just that, one can explain and report in a dissident fashion without the kind of retribution these two gentleman are facing.

But the actions of some using the term annoymous have threatened the very ability to use that term. As a momentary aside, people using that term must take care not to abuse its use for mean-sprited purposes.

China is clearly concerned about its image during the Olympics and as such does not want dissidents exposed to foreign journalists, so they're locking them up. It's up to the Internet blogging and vlogging community to expose their actions and even make sure that Chinese nationals are informed of them.

Finally, President Bush should not just go to the Olympics but remind China of its human rights violations

Cal Assembly Speaker Karen Bass and Willie Brown At SF Yoshi's Fundraiser

This is a video of a fundraiser I attended on July 1st at Yoshi's In San Francisco. The hosts of the event were Hala Hijazi, the President of Professionals VIP, and Former and Legendary Speaker of The Assembly and Mayor of San Francisco Willie L. Brown, Jr.

Speaker Brown was at his best, holding court, and at the end of her speech, he encouraged the crowd to "Drink. Drink. Drink. And then let me represent you for driving drunk!"

Brown is now an attorney at Kay and Merkle.

It was a great turn out, with everyone from Art Torres the head of the California Democratic Party, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, and several SF supervisors like Aaron Peskin and Sophie Maxwell, to Assemblyman Sandre Swanson, and business leaders like Michael Johnson, who owns Yoshi's in San Francisco to Kofi Bonner of Lennar, and Steven Kay of Kay and Merkle, and my friend Beth Schnitzer who heads marketing for Pier 39 and Melissa Galliani who's the local sales manager of KFRC.

Nigerian Larry Bowoto's War Against Chevron Hits Brick Wall

Who is Larry Bowoto?



Larry Bowoto is an indigene of Ilaje community in Ondo State, Nigeria. He claims that Chevron hired people to shoot him as he was protesting. This story is all over the Internet, but the other side of it is not. Chevron claims that Bowoto was one of several 100 who held Chevron employees hostage for several days.



A trial starts in September 2008 in San Francisco federal court against Chevron by Larry Bowoto, but after almost a decade, Bowoto’s legal team very quietly dropped half the case against Chevron earlier this year...More.



UPDATE: Trial Information

Sf Chronicle Losing $1 Million A Week - Newspapers In Trouble

According to today's NY Times, the newspaper industry is in trouble, as papers suffer from competition from the Internet. The SF Chron has been losing $1 million a week since last year. As Time O'Reily wrote last year, he reads the online version of the SF Chron 95 percent of the time, and the "offline" version about 5 percent of the time. That's probably true for me, as well, but Tim and I are both in the Internet business.

What can be done? Well, my answer is "nothing" -- the offline news people have to adjust to this New Media world, as do institutions and PR people who have been oriented toward using offline newspapers to get the news out. This also includes sports leagues like the NFL, which has a long standing relationship with such organizations as The Associated Press, but not the Huffington Post, which draws 14 million visitors a month.

The SF Chron seems to be trying to find its way on The Internet, where it gets about 5 million visitors per month. That's still far less than the 23 million visitors that Craigslist gets, but then CL's reach is nationwide.

In fact, I think the future of the SF Chron is -- well, let me restate. The SF Chron should be more of a national and international online news system, with a local twist. Thus, it can get eyeballs from more places than just the Bay Area, but still be focused on the SF Bay Area.

First Day of Legal Gay Marriage In San Francisco - Video Account

This video covers the events outside San Francisco City Hall involving the first day of legal same sex marriage in San Francisco: Monday, June 16th, 2008 at 5:38 PM. A historic news and politics event. I went with the objective of determining the opinions of people in the crowd.

Obama VP? Zennie Asks Obama Supporters In San Francisco

What do supporters of Senator Barack Obama for President think of how far the campaign has come? Who do they want as his Vice Presidential Candidate? I asked people at a celebration event held at San Francisco's Ruby Skye night club on Tuesday, June 10th 2008.

The responses seemed to boil down to this: most of the people I talked to want or seem to think that Kansas Governor Katheryn Sebelius will be the choice. Two people, including San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, thought that the choice should be Senator Hillary Clinton. Two others said she should definitely not be the choice -- a view shared in another video by Oakland City Attorney John Russo, and others gave criteria but no names. Who's your choice for Obama's VP running mate. Chime in here.

SF Supervisor Chris Daly Called For Riot in San Francisco During Olympic Torch Protest

Just as San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom was worrying about the very possible future of violent protests along the route of the Olympic Torch Relay on the evening before the day of the event, April 9th, here in my video below, is Supervisor Chris Daly calling for protesters to "shut down" San Francisco, stating that it's part of the city's history to have such things happen.

Appearing before a crowd of about 8,000 people and as part of a well-done Olympic Torch Protest event at United Nations Plaza and featuring actor Richard Gere, Supervisor Daly took the stage with Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi and after saying "Free Tibet" and waiting for the crowd to respond, he said "to do any less than take the streets of San Francisco would be un-san franciscan.

Daly continued by stating that in "1934, labor shut San Francisco down. In 2003, 300 people were on the streets of San Francisco saying 'no' to an illegal war and occupation of a country where the people were not inviting us in.." and continued as Supervisor Mirkarimi clapped in celebration of his speech, and the crowd got more excited.

Then Supervisor Mirkarimi took the mic and said that Supervisor Daly was called the "Daly-Lama" around City Hall.

Ok.

Still, one wonders what may have happened if Mayor Newsom had not secretly altered the Olympic torch path the next day. Not only would there have been violent protests and perhaps deaths, but Chris Daly would have hit his objective of protests being held, which would have cost the City itself a lot of money in police hours and the almost certain flood of lawsuits that would have been filed.

Here's the video:



Video also on Dailymotion and AOL , and MySpace.

SF 49ers Stadium Endorsed By SF Chron; Niners Punt On Santa Clara Stadium

The San Francisco Chronicle endorsed Proposition G, which if it passes, will -- in the words of the Chron

offer a nonbinding but nevertheless critical public expression of support for a proposal by Miami's Lennar Corp. to develop up to 10,000 homes, about 700,000 square feet of retail space as well as artist studios, green-tech-research facilities and more than 300 acres of parks and open space in and around the old shipyard. As part of the project, Lennar also would rebuild the Alice Griffith public housing project.

The endorsement came along with the news that the SF 49ers are abandoning the Santa Clara stadium project.

SF STADIUM GETS BOOST WITH SF CHRON ENDORSEMENT

The San Francisco Chronicle endorsed Proposition G, which if it passes, will -- in the words of the Chron

offer a nonbinding but nevertheless critical public expression of support for a proposal by Miami's Lennar Corp. to develop up to 10,000 homes, about 700,000 square feet of retail space as well as artist studios, green-tech-research facilities and more than 300 acres of parks and open space in and around the old shipyard. As part of the project, Lennar also would rebuild the Alice Griffith public housing project.

The endorsement came along with the news that the SF 49ers are abandoning the Santa Clara stadium project.

Sun's Jon Schwartz Presents Startup Camp On Sunday Morning - Live Blog

Ok, I decided to not sleep late or go to Church, which is what I should do, and come to this something that's called "Startup Camp" in San Francisco. I'm late so I missed the breakfast, but I came to meet other entrepreneurs and find out better how to raise money for Sports Business Simulations.

Right now, I'm listening to Sun Microsystems CEO Jon Schwartz talk about why Sun's interested in startups and he's going through a Q andA about Microsoft's failure to aquire Yahoo. Generally, he's happy because it means that there's still competition in the marketplace; acquisition of companies like Yahoo by Microsoft hurt that, which hurts Sun's market for new customers.

On Cloud Computing

Jon says that Sun introduced a way to buy time on high performance supercomputers, but that didn't go well. It's time-sharing. But after conversations with the lawyers of big companies it was found that they -- the companies -- didn't want to share clouds with other firms.

Sun is an infrastructure provider. He says that Facebook is a cloud service -- but not for computing, for social networking.

This interview is more about Sun and really not about startups at all at this point. It would be nice to get back to the conversation about the Startup market. Just because Sun's the sponsor doesn't mean that we have to hear about Sun and not startups, or only about startups in the context of Sun.

Yes, the conference is free, but that's no excuse.

Maybe when the questions are opened to the audience that will change.

Jon just kind of busted out the interviewer over a question regarding reducing the workforce. When Jon turned the quesrtion back to him, the interviewer said "I'm a capitalist" -- Jon said "Well, 'm not. That sounds like a sweatshop to me." That got a lot of applause. Good for Jon.

Darren McFadden At NFL Draft - Three Interviews With Oakland Raiders RB

I am in New York City for the NFL Draft. As part of our partnership with KRON TV Channel 4, San Francisco, we created these video interviews of Oakland Raiders First Round Pick Darren McFadden. You can see more of our coverage at http://kron2008nfldraft.com



Agent Ian Greengross On The Thursday Before the Draft talks about character and the chance of a holdout should the Raiders draft McFadden.



Agent Greengross after the Raiders pick McFadden and McFadden Press Conference



Darren McFadden Interview after press conference