"V For Vendetta" - I've Got To See This Movie

Once in a while comes a flick that you've just got to see and believe it's going to be good even befire you've seen it. For me, that movie's "V for Vendetta," the new movie by the creators of the Matrix that features a revenge story by a refugee from a state concentration camp in a "future" view of Britain I hope we never see, and who's objective is to blow up Parlament to establish a new World Order.

Wow.

"People should not fear their governments," V says, "Governments should fear people." I think Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown now understands that with respect to me and my blog. My experience with him should serve as a warning to any elected official who thinks they can treat staffers and employees with extreme disrespect: don't do it, as it will come back to haunt you.

I only hope the movie's as good as real life. We'll see.

A Great St. Patty's Day, Except For Cal Basketball

I'm writing to report I had a terrific St. Patty's Day. I got some work out of the way, not much. I went to San Francisco to meet my long time friend Mike Silver, who brought members of Cal's Women's Swimming Team with him. This isn't the first time I've met them; the first was actually my first Cal Women's Swim Meet where I watched them battle Staford last year. The second time was "The 2005 Little Game" but it also wasn't the greatest episode for me personally as it was very close to the time of the passing of my father, Zenophon Abraham Sr, and so I didn' realize how sensitive I was.

But I can say I was much better Friday night. But as much fun as I had, the one damper was that we watched Cal Basketball's loss to North Carolina State in the NCAA First Round Tournament Game. There are some of my friends who want Cal Head Coach Ben Braun to be replaced by someone who has a better offensive plan for us. While I agree with this on emotional grounds, I don't have an alternative coach to suggest and I don't know enough basketball strategy to say what the best course of action is. (That's a weakness I have to eliminate, as it's not a hard game to understand.)

Aside from the game, I did have a great time with everyone, and even my friends Monte Poole and Renaldo Wanso were there. I have to admit that it's fun to watch the dynamics of the relationships of all of these friends. The women were really nice and fun to be with. I just couldn't stick around because I promised my friend Damon Connolly -- who's running for Assembly -- that I'd attend his fund-raiser in Mill Valley. I hate to tell a friend I'm not going to be somewhere and not arrive.

So, I left everyone right after the game and drove up to Mill Valley, to Wilderness Trial Bikes. There, in a special tent, was the group of Damon's friends. I showed up late, and in obvious "You're a Cal Grad" garb. Plus, yes, I was the only black guy, but unlike other examples in my past, that wasn't even an issue. In other words, I felt zero weird vibes. Zero. That was nice, and make me think that the problem may have been one centered more in the culture of San Francisco. Marin County actually seems to have a society where people mix better and on a more casual level, less tied to business and work.

At any rate, after his event, Damon, his friend Woody, and I had dinner with one of Damon's supporters, a wonderful couple. He white; she black. He about 15 years older than she; they married for 20 years. The place we ate at is one that my dear friend and business partner Kristin Herrera and I have had many lunches at; it's called Rafters in San Rafael. I really recommend this lively joint if you're up there.

While we were eating, this lovely woman walked past my table and had such a great beauty and presence I almost gagged on my food. Wow. She saw me look at her and my reaction and just laughed. It turned out she knew Woody and was the base player in the band at the St. Patty's day party that was going on as we were eating. Nice person -- married, though. Damon and everyone else totally cracked up over my response to her. I couldn't help it. It's me.

I really do hope Damon wins. He's worked really hard and made all the right contacts. Plus, he's a person of integrity and a true believer -- almost like "Mr. Smith Goes to Washinton." He'll do a great job in the California Legislature.

T.O. to The Dallas Cowboys - An "In Your Face" To The Eagles

This is tbe best deal of its kind since free agency was established in the NFL. The kind of deal one always feared. The one that sends a disgruntled, unwanted, but very, very good player to a rival organization.

That deal just happened as Terrell Owens signs a three year contract with The Dallas Cowboys-- read below.


Owens joins Cowboys, signs three-year deal
NFL.com wire reports
IRVING, Texas (March 18, 2006) -- Terrell Owens has gone from stomping on the Dallas Cowboys' star logo to wearing it on his helmet.

The reviled receiver joined the Cowboys, signing a contract to play for Jerry Jones and Bill Parcells in what promises to be an interesting combination of strong personalities.

There's no questioning his talent -- Owens has consistently put up numbers the Cowboys have lacked since Michael Irvin was in the prime of his career a decade ago.

It's his attitude that prompted the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles to get rid of Owens. His relationship with the Eagles soured only months after he led them to the Super Bowl, finally ending with his release March 14.

Details of his contract weren't immediately available, but it was likely to include behavior-related provisions. His blowup with Philadelphia last season even led to new rules regarding punishment being written into the NFL's latest collective-bargaining agreement.

Jones, who built a billion-dollar fortune by taking big risks, is willing to take this one because the Cowboys have gone nine years without winning a playoff game.

Part of the gamble is that fans will warm up to Owens, who launched his flamboyant persona in September 2000 when as a member of the 49ers he celebrated each of two touchdown catches at Texas Stadium by running to the team's star logo at midfield. Safety George Teague secured a spot in team lore by decking Owens after the second one.

On a Monday night game in 2004 best remembered for his pregame skit with a Desperate Housewives actress, Owens celebrated another score by tapping on a logo in the end zone.

Until his behavior limited him to nine games last season, Owens had at least 75 receptions and 1,100 yards receiving in five consecutive seasons. The last time a Cowboys receiver hit both figures in one season was Irvin in 1997.

But Owens also has alienated teammates, coaches and the front office with the things he says and does.

In Dallas, Owens joins a team coming off a 9-7 season that included a 2-4 finish, keeping them from making the playoffs for a second successive season. The Cowboys seem to need more than a star receiver to get over the hump, but do need a main threat after releasing Keyshawn Johnson on March 14.

The team lacks veteran leaders, with captains Dan Campbell and Dat Nguyen already gone, as is La'Roi Glover, another calming influence. Dallas also is in a tough division that includes T.O.-less Philadelphia, the New York Giants hoping to improve as quarterback Eli Manning develops and the Washington Redskins, who have been big spenders in free agency.

The Eagles gave up on Owens only months after he helped them reach the Super Bowl. He demanded a new contract one year into a seven-year deal, then squabbled with quarterback Donovan McNabb.

Before that, Owens forced his way out of San Francisco with repeated hijinks on the field and through disparaging comments about teammates, including quarterback Jeff Garcia.

Jones is no stranger to unpopular moves.

After winning big gambles in real estate and digging for oil wells, he put it all on the line to buy the Cowboys in 1989. Since then, he has fired Tom Landry, forced out Jimmy Johnson, entrusted a championship club to Barry Switzer and given Deion Sanders a $13 million signing bonus.

Jones felt pretty good about his choices when the Cowboys won their third Super Bowl in a four-year span. But that was 1995; Dallas has won only one playoff game since.

He has lost other big gambles along the way, from sticking with Switzer to hiring Chan Gailey, then Dave Campo as head coaches. He also has risked public scorn by releasing franchise icons Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith.

Irvin's off-field woes are the local precedent for taking on Owens. However, while Irvin might have tarnished the team's image, he was a devoted teammate and fan favorite.

When Irvin was returning from a five-game suspension in 1996, he was asked how he expected fans to treat him. Irvin said he only had to score a touchdown to win them back -- and he was right.

Could it be that easy for Owens?


AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

Brianna Keilar's Now CNN Anchor / Reporter! YIPPEE!!

Flash! New news on Brianna! Click here!

Last year, I had the pleasure of meeting Brianna Keilar at the 2005 NFL Draft. We had a great, great conversation and stayed in touch, emailing back and forth.

As the link showed, I included her in my account of my NFL Draft trip. As is common with many of SBS' pages, they are highly ranked in particular keyword categories, so the page with her on it was seen quite a bit.

Last fall, some fellow from a New York-based television talent agency contacted me repeatedly asking how he could get in touch with Brianna. I told her about him and she gave me the green light to have him contact her.

Well, she's now anchor on CNN! It could not have happened to a nicer person!

Brianna Keilar Gets More Airtime | Brianna Keilar and Kyra Phillips | Brianna Keilar On CNN Saturday | Brianna Keilar Now CNN Anchor | Brianna Keilar At 2005 NFL Draft

Bush Called "Incompetent" In Recent Poll

I didn't vote for President Bush, but I do feel sorry for him as a man who's clearly on the wrong path. Here's the article, with a link to the orginal work.

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent Thu Mar 16, 12:32 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Deep doubts about the Iraq war and pessimism about America's future have shattered public confidence in President George W. Bush and helped drive his approval ratings to their lowest level ever, pollsters say.

As Bush launched a series of speeches to drum up support for the war, a new round of opinion polls found growing skepticism about Iraq and distrust of Bush. His image declined sharply, with one poll finding "incompetent" to be the most frequent description of his leadership.

Bush's approval rating dipped as low as 33 percent in one recent poll after a string of bad news for the White House, including uproars over a now-dead Arab port deal, a secret eavesdropping program, a series of ethics scandals involving high-profile Republicans and a bungled response to Hurricane Katrina.

The political storm has left Bush's second-term legislative agenda in tatters, threatened Republican control of the U.S. Congress in November's elections and shredded his personal image as an effective leader.

"His strong points as a president were being seen as personally credible, as a strong leader. That has all but disappeared," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center, whose latest independent poll found a dramatic decline in Bush's credibility.

A majority of Americans, 56 percent, believe Bush is "out of touch," the poll found. When asked for a one-word description of Bush, the most frequent response was "incompetent," followed by "good," "idiot" and "liar." In February 2005, the most frequent reply was "honest."

"The transformation from being seen as honest to being seen as incompetent is an extraordinary indicator of how far he has fallen," Kohut said.

Bush's slump is deep enough to put Republican majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives at risk, pollsters said. Democrats must gain 15 House seats and six Senate seats to regain power in each chamber.

"It's not the environment that we want to be running in," Republican pollster David Winston said. "Republicans can still hold the House and the Senate, but it's becoming increasingly more complicated."

In a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, 61 percent said the Iraq war would be a very important or the most important issue in deciding their vote for Congress. As the third anniversary of the invasion approaches, they preferred Democrats over Republicans in handling Iraq by 48 to 40 percent.

WAR 'A BIG ISSUE'

"I think it is a big issue," House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said. "When the country is at war there is a certain unsettling that occurs with people around the country, as you might expect."

Boehner said the anxiety over Iraq was coloring the public's view on other issues like the economy, which he said is performing well.

"People don't look at the president's handling of the economy very well, and frankly I think it is a result of this anxiety over the fact that we are at war," he said.

A recent CBS poll found 66 percent of the public believed the country was headed down the wrong track, while a Harris Interactive poll put the number at 60 percent.

Views on Iraq and the war on terrorism were equally pessimistic, with 67 percent of respondents in the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll saying Bush did not have a clear plan for handling Iraq.

Independent pollster Dick Bennett of American Research Group said Bush's failure to acknowledge public anxieties added to his troubles.

"The biggest problem the White House faces is reconnecting with people. People simply aren't buying it anymore," Bennett said. "People can see for themselves that things actually are not fine."

Bush's ratings are still above historical lows recorded since Gallup started presidential polling after World War Two.

The approval ratings for Harry Truman, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon and the first George Bush, the current president's father, all dropped into the 20s.

Pats Cut Wille McGinest; Browns Pick Him Up

Pats Lineman and USC Trojan Willie McGinest was reunited with his old defensive coach Romeo Crenel today. It's a great move for the Browns as he knows the defense the Browns run -- it was the same as that he played within in New England. The Pats, on the other hand, lose a great team leader.

The Browns are on a serious free agency tear. They've got DT Ted Washington, WR Joe Juervicious, to name some of the more famous names. Let's see how this impacts their draft postion. Will they trade down?

Tammy NYP Sex Video, Bukit Batok Video, and The Paris Hilton View - Wow

It seems that we get constant reminders that the first use of the Internet is for the communication of sex. The latest proof of this is in the massive person-hunt for the unseen Bukit Batok Video, which reportedly shows a couple having sex in a park withing that region of Singapore. Before that, it was the Paris Hilton Sex Video, which is all over the Internet.

Look, I'm not interested in watching two people get it on. I'm far more interested in being one of the two and the other's got to be female. You can also leave the video camera at home.

I'm sorry. But I've never been turned on by the standard couple sex in porn movies. It's another way of saying that porn movies don't do a thing for me -- unless it's just the woman. And I mean a full blown adult woman. Someone like Christine Roth, a female bodybuilder.

Ok. The only time I'd watch a video is if it were just the woman. But I told you that.

And beyond all that, I can't show those tapes on this site, anyway!

"Beth's Oscar Party" - A Video Of Our Trip To "The Academy of Friends" Oscar Party in San Francisco For The Academy Awards

My great friend Beth Schnitzer throws the best parties. One of them is an annual gathering of friends to watch the Academy Awards, and where this author has served as ballot scorer and three-time first prize winner (in six years!)

This year, Beth wanted to try something different, and with that decided to arrange for us to attend the San Francisco Academy of Friends Benefit Party. Held at the Concourse Exhibition Center, this emormous event drew an estimated 2,500 people. It features food and drink from 32 San Francisco Restaurants, an auction, and just plain fun all to raise money to attack AIDS.

A good portion of the attendees are Gay (maybe the majority), and so it presents a great slice of San Francisco life. And candidly I write that it's an event everyone should attend at least once and if only to just get over whatever "stuff" they may be dealing with and learn to just plain enjoy people. Everyone's very nice and funny, and if you're a single straight guy like me there's loads of attractive women. But that written, our group was full of beautiful, smart women so there was no real need to go elsewhere.

The video I took (which you can see with a click here or on the title of this post and with the QuickTime application) presents Beth at her best: always with a smile, introducing us not just to anyone, but heavy-hitters, energetic, lively, fun, and yet very professional all at the same time. I keep telling her she should run for office, as I think she'd make an excellent San Francisco Supervisor--or Mayor!

The video is also a celebration of our friends, including the very talkative and expressive Mr. Abraham (that's me). I don't resist a time to get my face in the video as you're going to see. And even when I'm not in the picture, you can hear my voice and that cacaling laugh of mine.

Also, listen for the Oscar picts of our friends. It's interesting to see who picked what and their inflections of confidence that "Brokeback Mountain" was going to take the best picture award.

The flick itself has parts where it seems like the camera's on while being carried in a rush. It is. I started to edit out that part but as I watched it, I felt just like I did at the time when the camcoder was on: in a chaotic, fun rush. I know you'll feel the same way!

Sports Illustrated's Mike Silver Sheds Light on The Edgerrin James Deal Sending Him to Arizona

Mike Silver's got a knack for getting to the real story behind NFL players. He does that here with Edgerrin James, the former Indy Colt who's now running back for the Arizona Cardinals.

But knowing Mike, he may have even hit a bar in South Beach while on the story! (Click on this post's title to read it.)

A Nice Day, But A Mean Guy At The Grove on Chestnut

Today was one of those great days Ice Cube rapped about, but I didn't see the need for an AK. It was nice, even though I was sick for much of it.

I've got a kind of cold bug that will not let go of me for whatever reason. So, I've got Vitamin C, B-6 which is what my late Dad told me to take a lot of, and asprin and zinc. Plus, I've got other medicine, too.

With all that, I tried to work out today, and do webwork too. Ouch.

To get myself in the mood, I drove over to The Grove on Chesnut in SF, and was fortunate to get a good place at one of those tables with the pillow seating and the electric power pluggins. As I did, I sat next to A VERY MEAN MAN.

He was not mean to me, but to some defenseless old woman who -- I don't know what happened -- but he YELLED at her in the cafe, and as others (even the people she was talking to) said nothing to him.

Something about her seemingly not wanting him to sit there. The guy told me he "threw" her umbrella at her -- the one she use to save the table. I don't know.

All I know is he was trying to bully her. He was also buying his weak-ass male friend as they were playing Backgamon. Yelling at him not to make another mistake, and learning forward and pointing his finger in the guy's face.

He was really pissing me off. After holding my mouth, I did tell him he should appologize to the lady. Of course, he objected and explained what she did. I told him he should have taken it up with the manager of the cafe. He agreed.

But after some talking, he fell back into his normal ass-hole mode: "It's not my job to make others happy," he said in response to my call for him to "Make others happy." He seemed to delight in being mean, making snide remarks about the lady to his friend.

I finally left, but not before telling the manager -- who knew of the lady's problem with the man -- that if that guy did that again, I'd send him to jail myself.

So, I came back to Oakland and went to The Alley to sing.

NFL Free Agency Roundup

Man. Gone a few days and the NFL turns upside down. To find out who-went-where at a glance, I went to NFL.com. This is what I learned:

Mike Anderson signed with Baltimore away from Denver.

Egderin James is now with the Arizona Cardinals! (I guess he doesn't want a Super Bowl ring after all!)

John Kitna bolted Cincinnati for The Detroit Lions, leaving the Bengals in the hunt for a quaterback to spell the healing Carson Palmer.

The Bengals signed Super Bowl XXXIV MVP Defensive Back Dexter Jackson away from the Tampa Bay Bucs.

Drew Brees is now a New Orleans Saint, which eliminates their need to draft a quarterback.

The Oakland Raiders have done nothing on the free agency market -- yet.

Why Am I Readng About Clay Aiken?

I noticed this over at Technorati today. What's the deal? As I read the psts, he's done nothing newsworthy at all! Someone tell me?