Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report is hilarious and his show is an American Cultural treasure. But Stephen Colbert's opening speech at the 2010 Grammy Awards just plain bombed. Either Stephen Colbert was before the wrong audience or he had the wrong material.
Whatever the case, watching Colbert struggle through his almost four minutes of his common "let's play the out-of-touch conservative trying-to-be hip, but not" character hurt as much as having the needle of a flu shot driven into your arm.
It was that bad.
The only part that saved Stephen Colbert from being a totally awful opening was pulling his Apple iPad out of his suit. "Does this make me cool?" He asked Jay-Z, for whom he slightly annoyed with his "What up, Z?" question at the start of the disaster. The look on Jay-Z's face was enough to make Stephen Colbert's skin crawl, and that's where it went bad. Stephen Colbert never recovered from that.
Yes. The fact that Colbert was bombing was the "in joke" but it ventured too far into his bombing actually not being funny. Colbert's humor is perfect for events like the White House Correspondents Dinner, but it wasn't a good idea to have him give the opening speech at The Grammys. Watching someone who's so talented just major league bomb at The Grammys was not fun at all.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Grammy Awards 2010: Beyonce performance wows the crowd
Beyonce's militaristic, head-banging performance was the Twitter talk of the 2010 Grammy Awards. Escorted by a group of black armored suit wearing dancers, Beyonce looked more like a super hot drill sergeant than a pop singer.
The design of Beyonce's performance brought up memories of Michael Jackson in This Is It performing HisTory. And it was very much like Emimen's 2002 MTV Music Awards performance of Slim Shady when he walked into Radio City Music Hall with an army of white men all dressed and cut to look just like him.
One thing you have to say: Beyonce is hot. No question about it. She's also the hottest Grammy winner, taking home six Grammys, the most by a female performer in one year.
The design of Beyonce's performance brought up memories of Michael Jackson in This Is It performing HisTory. And it was very much like Emimen's 2002 MTV Music Awards performance of Slim Shady when he walked into Radio City Music Hall with an army of white men all dressed and cut to look just like him.
One thing you have to say: Beyonce is hot. No question about it. She's also the hottest Grammy winner, taking home six Grammys, the most by a female performer in one year.
Grammy Awards 2010: Miley Cyrus greeting fans with her mom
YouTube user Michalyse was one of the fans at the Red Carpet for the 2010 Grammy Awards, when superstar singer Miley Cyrus walked in and came over to sign autographs.
Miley Cyrus, wearing a short black cocktail dress, was with her Mom Tish, and not her boyfriend Liam Hemsworth. (They're not engaged, but reportedly they are still dating. Still one wonders where he was.)
You can hear the crowd, which sounds like her demographic of females 13 to 17, screaming her name. It's a very good video uploaded rapidly.
Miley was a presenter at the 2010 Grammy Awards.
Miley Cyrus, wearing a short black cocktail dress, was with her Mom Tish, and not her boyfriend Liam Hemsworth. (They're not engaged, but reportedly they are still dating. Still one wonders where he was.)
You can hear the crowd, which sounds like her demographic of females 13 to 17, screaming her name. It's a very good video uploaded rapidly.
Miley was a presenter at the 2010 Grammy Awards.
Lady Gaga and Elton John get Grammy's started
The rumored and much anticipated Grammy Awards pairing of Lady Gaga and Sir Elton John happened, and go the Grammys off to a rousing start. Lady Gaga and Elton John are both piano wizards, so it was fitting that they produced a piano duet of a number of songs from past and present:
Sir Elton John had his own signature glitter glasses and both had a kind of "soot' makeup. Elton can still jam on the piano. It was cool: young and old, past and present, both massively brilliant.
Other performances that will be featured are Beyonce Rocks doing Alanis Morissette's 'You Oughta Know', Pink literally "up in the air" for 'Glitter in The Air', Taylor Swift And Stevie Nicks singing the Fleetwood Mac song Rhiannon, and Taylor Swift's You Belong With Me from her album Fearless.
Stay tuned.
Sir Elton John had his own signature glitter glasses and both had a kind of "soot' makeup. Elton can still jam on the piano. It was cool: young and old, past and present, both massively brilliant.
Other performances that will be featured are Beyonce Rocks doing Alanis Morissette's 'You Oughta Know', Pink literally "up in the air" for 'Glitter in The Air', Taylor Swift And Stevie Nicks singing the Fleetwood Mac song Rhiannon, and Taylor Swift's You Belong With Me from her album Fearless.
Stay tuned.
Zennie62 Widget beats SFGate Widget, approaching NY Times Widget
Last year, my friend Steve Kloft (who's a consultant to several top New Media companies), came to me by my surprise having already created a widget for me called "The Zennie Abraham Widget". The best thing is I never asked for it or even thought of it. It was Steve's creation; his idea to promote me.
That's a friend.
Steve was then and still is now a consultant to WidgetBox, which I later featured in a video on the firm here:
That's a friend.
Steve was then and still is now a consultant to WidgetBox, which I later featured in a video on the firm here:
YouTube has President Obama's full State of The Union Address
Thanks to The White House and YouTube News and Politics Editor Steve Grove, YouTube has the full, high-definition video presentation of the State of The Union Address President Barack Obama gave on Wednesday, January 27, 2010. If you missed it, you can watch it right here on video without leaving this post:
The speech was one of the greatest President Obama has made in history because it came at a time when he, and America, needed a great speech. Obama needed it to reset the course of his young presidency. The United States needed it to establish a vision of a possible, full employment economic recovery.
The problem America has suffered under is that while America's economy has grown at a three percent rate in the 2009 third quarter and at 5.1 percent in the 2009 fourth quarter, unemployment is still at high levels.
This is so because before the last two quarters of growth, America's economy was on a steady path of recession for almost two years. Job production has not yet followed this growth and credit is still tight.
The result was a feeling that America was not on the right track. But President Obama's State of The Union Address changed that. According to a CBS poll, 83 percent of Americans supported the proposals President Obama described in his speech.
The full text of the speech is presented by the New York Times, here.
Stay tuned.
The speech was one of the greatest President Obama has made in history because it came at a time when he, and America, needed a great speech. Obama needed it to reset the course of his young presidency. The United States needed it to establish a vision of a possible, full employment economic recovery.
The problem America has suffered under is that while America's economy has grown at a three percent rate in the 2009 third quarter and at 5.1 percent in the 2009 fourth quarter, unemployment is still at high levels.
This is so because before the last two quarters of growth, America's economy was on a steady path of recession for almost two years. Job production has not yet followed this growth and credit is still tight.
The result was a feeling that America was not on the right track. But President Obama's State of The Union Address changed that. According to a CBS poll, 83 percent of Americans supported the proposals President Obama described in his speech.
The full text of the speech is presented by the New York Times, here.
Stay tuned.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Miss America 2010 Winner: Rush Limbaugh dancing to Lady Gaga
The official Miss America 2010 Winner was Miss Virginia Caressa Cameron. But the real Miss America 2010 Winner was Rush Limbaugh dancing to Lady Gaga, which is becoming a YouTube and Blip.tv hit.
First, Limbaugh, the Couch Potato Conservative blowhard and radio star - who made news first by being named a judge in the wake of his blast of a female caller "April", telling her to get the "tampon out of her ears" (as he was insulting Haiti after the earthquake) - was named judge of the pageant.
Second, Rush Limbaugh, discovering he was happy to be alive in the wake of his unfortunate chest pain incident on New Year's Eve morning, got off a what can only by called a "dry heave" of a dance to Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" during the pageant. It was a hilarious scene worthy of analysis on video:
All kidding aside, it's great to see Rush Limbaugh getting lose and enjoying life. No word on Lady Gaga's opinion of Limbaugh's dancing. But if you're interested in what a "dry heave" dance is, it was created by the writers of Seinfeld and done by Julia Louise-Dryfus as "Elaine" and seen here:
Stay tuned.
Rush Limbaugh cuts ..something (photo by Alan Colmes)
First, Limbaugh, the Couch Potato Conservative blowhard and radio star - who made news first by being named a judge in the wake of his blast of a female caller "April", telling her to get the "tampon out of her ears" (as he was insulting Haiti after the earthquake) - was named judge of the pageant.
Second, Rush Limbaugh, discovering he was happy to be alive in the wake of his unfortunate chest pain incident on New Year's Eve morning, got off a what can only by called a "dry heave" of a dance to Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" during the pageant. It was a hilarious scene worthy of analysis on video:
All kidding aside, it's great to see Rush Limbaugh getting lose and enjoying life. No word on Lady Gaga's opinion of Limbaugh's dancing. But if you're interested in what a "dry heave" dance is, it was created by the writers of Seinfeld and done by Julia Louise-Dryfus as "Elaine" and seen here:
Stay tuned.
001 - Sfist Oscar blog post gets Zennie story wrong
UPDATE: Zennie62 video views according to TubeMogul.
If there's one thing I can't stand it's getting the story completely wrong about another person. Like "Lady Gaga is dead" or "Johnny Depp is dead" for example. The blog Sfist has taken things too far with respect to this blogger and I'm calling them on it. The Sfist making fun of my Oscar predicament was the last straw. They got it wrong.
First, SFist refers to me, Zennie Abraham, as their "Old Pal, Zennie". Well, I'm asking them to stop it, or if I am their "Old Pal" then take the "Old Pal" to lunch. I've never met a single soul over at SFist and would not know any one of them if they walked past me, and they probably have.
I do not know Sfist Editor Brock Keeling by face or any of the other editors at SFist. I've invited Brock to lunch, but he's never taken me up on the invitation (until an email I got as I was writing this). Meanwhile, I feel that at times, and as I've added up, SFist is trying to selectively take some of the 800 blog posts I've written on SFGate.com alone and make me look like a black buffoon.
Yes, it started with my take on Star Trek and black men, which I stand by. At the time, there was a question of how minorities would be shown in a show that was known for its racial diversity and that I grew up with.
While the Star Trek movie was much better than I expected, and I'm a fan of it, the movie was still a wee bit off. What I want of the World is for people to think in terms of diversity first and that's a battle, along with advancing women in business and politics, that I will fight forever.
I try to help people by showing them, openly, how to make money with videos on YouTube. (How many times have I talked about the YouTube Partner Program?). I like helping people, as my friend Sarah Austin shows:
I wish Sfist would present that side of me.
SFist always of late uses a video that's of me doing something not serious (Zennie Abraham goes to White Castle) or if its a blog, about race (Harry Reid). SFist skipped over my blog posts on Haiti. They didn't even pay attention to my Haiti donation list. Matters about Oakland's draconian parking problem are not there at SFist. My interview with Craig Newmark was ignored by SFst. Why?
No. I'm not perfect. I'm a terrible proofreader. I'm at points undisciplined. I talk alot, to a lot of people. I hate tech event where there are a few folks of color. I hate it when people segregate themselves by race. I'm not an ideologue. I favor big business. And I'm perhaps too wonkish. But I am extremely creative. I do know how to write for the Internet. Bots love me and some people, too. It's the reason I'm the highest traffic generator at SFGate.com.
I've generated over 1 million visitors at SFGate.com for three straight months including January, and discovered and developed a formula that allow me to cover both the national and World traffic generating content, then once I reach a point, mix in the local news with it.
I use the strategy for my own blog system and only Google's irrational protection of news websites over blogs keeps the same performance from being repeated by my blogs. If anyone were smart, they'd pay attention: SFGate.com does.
I'm trying to help advance media's future. We can disagree on a lot of things, but one thing we can all agree on is we need to fashion a course for news that's sustainable. News, like it or not, is now a commodity market. But the reason many news organizations fail is they treat it like its at their whim. The idea that "the editor knows best" is the reason many news efforts fail.
In the old days, blacks were shut out of newsrooms. Today, in this tech-led culture, any one can make a difference regardless of race, color, or sex. That's what I'm trying to prove and I love it when some get pissed off about it. Tech can overcome racism and prejudice, if one knows what they're doing. Why Sfist can't present that is beyond me.
But the bottom line is SFist got it wrong. AMPAS (the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)invited me to apply for a press credential for The Oscars. Anyone would be excited if they were given such an opportunity. The Oscar invite was to me a gauge - a measure - of the impact of what I've done. I have the metrics; I should be at the Oscars. But if not, I just want to know what I need to do to change that for 2011. There's nothing wrong with that.
If there's one thing I can't stand it's getting the story completely wrong about another person. Like "Lady Gaga is dead" or "Johnny Depp is dead" for example. The blog Sfist has taken things too far with respect to this blogger and I'm calling them on it. The Sfist making fun of my Oscar predicament was the last straw. They got it wrong.
Sfist never shows this side of Zennie
First, SFist refers to me, Zennie Abraham, as their "Old Pal, Zennie". Well, I'm asking them to stop it, or if I am their "Old Pal" then take the "Old Pal" to lunch. I've never met a single soul over at SFist and would not know any one of them if they walked past me, and they probably have.
I do not know Sfist Editor Brock Keeling by face or any of the other editors at SFist. I've invited Brock to lunch, but he's never taken me up on the invitation (until an email I got as I was writing this). Meanwhile, I feel that at times, and as I've added up, SFist is trying to selectively take some of the 800 blog posts I've written on SFGate.com alone and make me look like a black buffoon.
Yes, it started with my take on Star Trek and black men, which I stand by. At the time, there was a question of how minorities would be shown in a show that was known for its racial diversity and that I grew up with.
While the Star Trek movie was much better than I expected, and I'm a fan of it, the movie was still a wee bit off. What I want of the World is for people to think in terms of diversity first and that's a battle, along with advancing women in business and politics, that I will fight forever.
I try to help people by showing them, openly, how to make money with videos on YouTube. (How many times have I talked about the YouTube Partner Program?). I like helping people, as my friend Sarah Austin shows:
I wish Sfist would present that side of me.
SFist always of late uses a video that's of me doing something not serious (Zennie Abraham goes to White Castle) or if its a blog, about race (Harry Reid). SFist skipped over my blog posts on Haiti. They didn't even pay attention to my Haiti donation list. Matters about Oakland's draconian parking problem are not there at SFist. My interview with Craig Newmark was ignored by SFst. Why?
No. I'm not perfect. I'm a terrible proofreader. I'm at points undisciplined. I talk alot, to a lot of people. I hate tech event where there are a few folks of color. I hate it when people segregate themselves by race. I'm not an ideologue. I favor big business. And I'm perhaps too wonkish. But I am extremely creative. I do know how to write for the Internet. Bots love me and some people, too. It's the reason I'm the highest traffic generator at SFGate.com.
I've generated over 1 million visitors at SFGate.com for three straight months including January, and discovered and developed a formula that allow me to cover both the national and World traffic generating content, then once I reach a point, mix in the local news with it.
I use the strategy for my own blog system and only Google's irrational protection of news websites over blogs keeps the same performance from being repeated by my blogs. If anyone were smart, they'd pay attention: SFGate.com does.
I'm trying to help advance media's future. We can disagree on a lot of things, but one thing we can all agree on is we need to fashion a course for news that's sustainable. News, like it or not, is now a commodity market. But the reason many news organizations fail is they treat it like its at their whim. The idea that "the editor knows best" is the reason many news efforts fail.
In the old days, blacks were shut out of newsrooms. Today, in this tech-led culture, any one can make a difference regardless of race, color, or sex. That's what I'm trying to prove and I love it when some get pissed off about it. Tech can overcome racism and prejudice, if one knows what they're doing. Why Sfist can't present that is beyond me.
But the bottom line is SFist got it wrong. AMPAS (the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)invited me to apply for a press credential for The Oscars. Anyone would be excited if they were given such an opportunity. The Oscar invite was to me a gauge - a measure - of the impact of what I've done. I have the metrics; I should be at the Oscars. But if not, I just want to know what I need to do to change that for 2011. There's nothing wrong with that.
001 - Mike Silver's in The Audi Efficiency Challenge charity drive to Super Bowl XLIV
My long time friend Yahoo! Sports Mike Silver's in The Audi Efficiency Challenge charity drive to Super Bowl XLIV. This is the email he sent on the event:
Hey everyone... I'm fired up to participate in the Audi Efficiency Challenge, beginning tomorrow in Washington D.C. and ending at the site of Super Bowl XLIV. It is a race to see who can make the drive (in a state-of-the-art, clean-diesel SUV) with the most fuel efficiency, and I am trying to win $20,000 for a pair of Type 1 diabetes-related charities, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Diabetic Youth Foundation. As many of you know, my 10-year-old son has Type 1 and it is a daily and constant challenge for our family and for those of the up to three million Americans with the condition. I hope you will check out my new website and offer any support that you can. There are direct links for both charities. And please spread the word! I totally appreciate it.
http://www.ridewithsilver.com
Mike Silver
001 - Domino's new pizza taste is just awful - an update
On December 20th, this blogger conducted his own informal taste test of the new Domino's Pizza formula. It was terrible:
I read that Domino's Pizza had a new recipe that aimed to "put away the competition" as CBS News reported. So I decided to order a sausage, bell peppers, and cheese version from the store on Grand Avenue here in Oakland.
Aside from the fact that the delivery person didn't understand how to use the intercom system where I live, and had to come twice, the pizza itself was just plain awful. Now, it was cold but warming it just worsened things. I'm sorry. I read that Domino's spend two years developing this new taste; what the heck were they thinking?
A pizza is made by the crust, the sauce, and the cheese. The Domino cheese, whatever it is, is so bad I don't even want to finish my pizza. And the sauce is so bland, it might as well not be on the pizza.
I'm now eating the Cesar Salad I ordered to go with it. In fact, I'd have been happier with just the salad!
Since then, commenters and emailer have responded to explain how much they like the new taste or to say I didn't have the new version of the pizza. So to prove that wasn't the case, I uploaded the video above. You can see that the box claims the new pizza is the one with Domino's Pizza'a new taste. And that was the pizza I called terrible.
Then, I received this email:
Hi Sir,
With refrence to our telephonic conversation ragrading your last experience with us at Domino's pizza I sincerely appologize for the inconvinience you had .
Just to make it up your next order is on us .
Again we appologize for inconvinience you had.
Best regards
Apparently Domino's Pizza Headquarters saw the blog post, contacted the Oakland Grand Avenue store, and the manager contacted me. He offered to provide another pizza made to order by my instructions, and on Domino's Pizza.
Since then, the call to order one has not yet happened, but Domino's Pizza has not stood still. Now, the fast food giant claims their last pizza version was terrible. The new marketing strategy has taken many by surprise. Econsultancy wrote:
Domino's Pizza has a confession to make: the pizza it has been selling for decades sucks. If you ever thought that the crust tasted like cardboard, or that the sauce tasted like ketchup, Domino's isn't going to argue with you. It knows.
Wow. But the problem I has was the new taste was worst than the old one. Of those who took issue with my blog post, I think most were Domino's Pizza plants: people hired by the firm to respond to my often-seen blog post either by commentary or email. Domino's has worked aggressively to get the word out that their new pizza is really better. They even have their own YouTube channel, with their latest pizza taste-test videos just having been uploaded one week ago:
Is all of this really the best approach? I don't know, but I'm going to take them up on their pizza offer.
Stay tuned.
Friday, January 29, 2010
001 - California lawmakers want to take free parking away from you
No free parking? This article in the LA Times has a number of people up in arms. Apparently California State Senator Alan Lowenthal (D- Long Beach) wants cities to reduce the availability of free parking. And just as the City of Oakland's thrown a parking choke chain around Oaklanders. His proposal won Senate approval. He says this:
"Free parking has significant social, economic and environmental costs. It increases congestion and greenhouse gas emissions."
It's this - wanting to take away free parking - that's the kind of stupid squeezing of Californians during what is now a jobless recovery that will doom Democrats in November. Lowenthal has the backing of the Sierra Club, which picked the wrong issue to wade into, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The bill reportedly provides financial incentives for cities and counties to stop providing free parking on the street.
The question is, will it provide campaign financing for any Democrat who backs it. The ones who do will get a swift ticket out of office in California. It's really just a money grab dressed up as an environmental concern.
Stay tuned.
"Free parking has significant social, economic and environmental costs. It increases congestion and greenhouse gas emissions."
It's this - wanting to take away free parking - that's the kind of stupid squeezing of Californians during what is now a jobless recovery that will doom Democrats in November. Lowenthal has the backing of the Sierra Club, which picked the wrong issue to wade into, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The bill reportedly provides financial incentives for cities and counties to stop providing free parking on the street.
The question is, will it provide campaign financing for any Democrat who backs it. The ones who do will get a swift ticket out of office in California. It's really just a money grab dressed up as an environmental concern.
Stay tuned.
001- Bank of America website is down as of 12:17 PST
Wow, the website for the Bank of America really is down as of this writing. After a long load time, the result is "page not available". Moreover, it looks like the servers are not responding and their may be what's called a "DNS" (Domain Name System) problem. The reason for that assertion is the logo links do not come up in the page that you see below:
So, even with the special page Bank of America page, we can aee what looks like a DNS issue. We can't browse, and B of A may be getting numbers but not pages. The DNS system is supposed to convert number codes into the readable webpages we're all know. This blogger's bet is that's not happening.
The question is why?
The impact is that millions of people around the World can't get in to see their accounts. However, it does not appear to be impacting account transactions offline. For example, credit and debt cards my friends have are working as of this writing.
As of 12:17 PST, the Bank of America website is still down. A cyber attack has not been determined as the cause of the problem.
Stay tuned.
So, even with the special page Bank of America page, we can aee what looks like a DNS issue. We can't browse, and B of A may be getting numbers but not pages. The DNS system is supposed to convert number codes into the readable webpages we're all know. This blogger's bet is that's not happening.
The question is why?
The impact is that millions of people around the World can't get in to see their accounts. However, it does not appear to be impacting account transactions offline. For example, credit and debt cards my friends have are working as of this writing.
As of 12:17 PST, the Bank of America website is still down. A cyber attack has not been determined as the cause of the problem.
Stay tuned.
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