Traci Lynn Johnson: Tiki Barber leaves hot wife for Johnson

Traci Lynn Johnson 

The title says it all: Traci Lynn Johnson: Tiki Barber leaves hot wife for Johnson. Tiki Barber's the former standout New York Giants running back was profiled with his beautiful wife Ginny on NFL Network a few years back. 

At that point, this blogger was thinking "What a lucky man. He's got a Manhattan dwelling, a new start in broadcasting, a totally hot wife, and lovely kids." It was easy to be jealous of Tiki Barber.

Now, this space is wondering if Ginny's available for a date. According to The New York Post, Tiki Barber "dumps pregnant wife for hot blonde", but The New York Post got it wrong. The title should have read "Tiki Barber dumps hot pregnant wife for normal looking blonde."

Tiki Barber issued this statement in The New York Post today:

After 11 years of marriage, Ginny and I have decided to separate. This decision was a painful one, but we are moving forward amicably and will continue to work together to raise our children with the love and dedication they have always known

Ginny Barber 

What's wrong with him and why would The New York Post brand Traci Lynn Johnson as a "hot blonde" without even seeing a full body photo?

Not every blonde is hot, but I digress.

Ok. Maybe Traci is hot, after all we're talking about Tiki Barber, but Ginny's hotter.  

Whatever happened to cause the separation of Tiki and Ginny Barber, it's unfortunate to see a couple that was at one point the toast of New York City split.

Moreover, it's sad to see Tiki Barber allegedly skip out on Ginny while she's three months pregnant with twins, again, according to The New York Post, who broke the story!  

Sad.

Stay tuned.

The Masters will be the second most popular TV event in history

Related searches: Tiger Woods, Woods sex scandal, Masters golf, tv ratings history



With Tiger Woods return to The Masters Golf Tournament after his sex scandal involving as many as 14 different women, and the subsequent daily media attention between the Friday after Thanksgiving and all the way to today, the stage is set. The prediction in this space is the Masters will be the second most watched television event in TV ratings history, second only to Super Bowl XLIV this year, which drew 106.5 million viewers.

People will watch this event everywhere. From places like The Beach Chalet in San Francisco and bars like The Balboa Cafe and The Alley in Oakland and Max Laeger's in Atlanta, to homes and house parties, it will seem as if everyone's tuned in to The Masters.

As sports agent Leigh Steinberg noted last year in December, now that Tiger Woods has suffered from the constant media blogs that have damaged his career, America's hungry to see Tiger Woods come back.

The bet in this space is that Tiger Woods will win The Masters.

Stay tuned.

AC Transit Bus Rapid Transit - Oakland and San Leandro should approve it

Related searches: Bus Rapid Transit, City of Oakland, City of San Leandro, AC Transit, BRT, Oakland transit, City of Berkeley transit

Bus Rapid Transit in St. Louis

AC Transit needs our help. Yes, this blogger has been critical of the AC Transit Bus Fight, but maintaining service for those who can't afford private transit is critical. For those of you who have followed the issue, AC Transit has been working with San Leandro, Oakland and Berkeley in developing a rapid bus system that will significantly improve transit operations from Berkeley to San Leandro.

The new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system is particularly important to the Oakland area as it is one of the densest urban population centers in the country and most definitely the densest along the proposed dedicated lane for rapid bus service.

That is why the upcoming planning and approval meeting on April 19 is so important to the future of transportation in San Leandro, Oakland and Berkeley.  BRT is an idea who's time has come.

Already in use and popular in major cities around the world like Jakarta, Bus Rapid Transit can speed up travel times at a low cost according to Mass Transit. BRT is much cheaper than heavy or light rail, BRT would simply dedicate a lane for high-efficiency buses along the Berkeley – Oakland – San Leandro corridor. Riders would be taken along at speeds much faster than normal buses and would be unimpeded by traffic due to the use of dedicated lanes. It’s also much quicker to implement and really is a cool, futuristic approach.

At its City Council meeting on Monday, April 19, the City of San Leandro will decide if it wants to be included in this progress that could be in operation by 2015. If the San Leandro City Council follows the advice of the city’s planning commission, it will pass up this project and lose the opportunity to improve transportation for its residents and bring new customers to local businesses.

Hopefully, for the benefit of smart planning, the San Leandro City Council will re-think the recommendation and employ BRT in its City to improve commuter access and reduce vehicle trips.

Regardless of how San Leandro plans for its future, BRT is a must for Berkeley and Oakland and—in many ways—is just as effective and viable without them. In fact, San Leandro’s loss may mean Oakland’s win. Without having to build the San Leandro stop, the cost of the overall project would decrease, and thus save taxpayer money.

In this blogger's view, BRT is the fastest, cheapest way to get much needed improvements to our transit infrastructure in the heart of an urban corridor that so urgently needs it. With or without San Leandro, Oakland must approve if we're to secure a transit system that serves our residents for the future.

Stay tuned.

Dan Patrick is wrong about President Obama and The White Sox

On his Tuesday show, former ESPN anchor Dan Patrick, who helms The Dan Patrick Show on DirecTV, took an awful shot at President Obama for telling baseball sportscaster Rod Dibble the truth about his love for The Chicago White Sox.

Dibble asked the President - who threw out a not-great first pitch to open The Washington Nationals 2010 Season but did so while wearing a Chicago White Sox hat - who his favorite White Sox player was growing up.

Now anyone who knows Obama's background is aware that he grew up in Hawaii, and not Chicago, and did not move to my hometown until after college. But Dibble didn't seem to think about that, and Dan Patrick apparently didn't know it.

President Obama remarked that he was growing up in Hawaii and was more of an Oakland A's fan at the time, not the White Sox. OK, honest answer.

But that wasn't enough for Dan Patrick, who uncharacteristically went into a low-IQ moment and laughed and howled at the replay of the video tape of Obama's conversation with Dibble, then got after the President for not naming a White Sox player!

Dan Patrick and the Danettes really looked not smart here. They're not obviously not Chicagoans. Chicagoans chose a team without having a favorite player. It's all about place: Southside or Northside. If you're living on Chicago's Southside, you pick The White Sox, period.  The South Side of Chicago has a brand that reads tough, blue collar, working class, and minority.  If you live on the Northside of Chicago, you go with the Cubs.

The Northside of Chicago is white collar, better-off, and mostly white.  It's only a weird, nerdy Chicago guy like me who goes with both the Cubs and The White Sox, and I have favorite Cubs players even though I grew up on The Southside, but I don't know the whole damn team or its history.

(And really, my favorite Cub wasn't a player, he was a broadcaster: the late, great Jack Brickhouse.)

And I don't have to know. That's not the point. Dan. Get it?

Dan Patrick doesn't "get" Chicago. If he did, Patrick would have left the President alone. Instead, Patrick's rant about Obama's reasons for backing The Chicago White Sox were a low intellectual point in Patrick's career.

Stay tuned.  Next, we turn to The Erin Andrews situation.

Star Trek's Denise Crosby at WonderCon SF

Denise Crosby was at WonderCon SF 2010 last weekend, and talking with this blogger about how she lands so many of her strong, smart female roles. From Lt. Tasha Yar on Star Trek: The Next Generation, to her current role as Capt. Susan Salinger on the TV show Southland, Denise Crosby has a long string - a tradition, really - of playing such television roles. Was it by design? In other words, did she insist on that kind of role?

"I never make those kind of demands," Crosby said. "Actors are kind of subject to the work available, you know?" I think I often get cast in those roles because there's a certain kind of energy I put out there."

But Crosby, in San Francisco to sign autographs as part of WonderCon SF, said she does play the vulnerable female roles, too. She just finished Orpheus Descending on the LA Stage where she played "Lady Torrance", ever the vulnerable woman if there was one.

Denise Crosby is part of what's commonly referred to as "The Crosby Family Dynasty" as she's the granddaughter of Bing Crosby, the daughter of actor and singer Dennis Crosby, and the nice of Mary Crosby.

Even with all that Hollywood royalty, Denise is nice, centered, and approachable. A very good conversationalist, she met her fans at WonderCon SF with a sincere kindness that wasn't always the norm during the event. That speaks volumes for her as a person.

What is a Didgeridoo?

As reported, the Didgeridoo was used by American Idol contestant Crystal Bowersox and played by Ernie Fields, Jr as part of her performance. Crystal Bowersox wowed the American Idol judges, but ahat is a Didgeridoo?


A Didgeridoo is an instrument with a unique kind of sound like something rubbing along a thin wire. It's said to evoke" reverence and oneness with nature. The deep drone of the didjeridoo allows us to relax and to reconnect with mother earth," according to the The Didgeridoo Specialists shop, where one can buy Didgeridoos.

There are a number of places where you can learn to play the Digeridoo.  Here's one online directory - Digeridoos in SF - with an extensive store listing.

Didgeridoo featured on American Idol as Crystal Bowersox shines again

Related searches: Crystal Bowersox, American Idol, Ellen Degeneres, Katy Perry, Randy Johnson, Simon Cowell

What's a Didgeridoo? It's a kind of wind instrument created by "Indigenous Australians of northern Australia" according to Wikipedia. In this video, famed Didgeridoo player Larry 'Winiwini' Gurruwiwi shows us how it's done"...



And in this video, the Digerridoo on Tuesday's telecast of American Idol (appears after Crystal Bowersox is interviewed by Ryan Seacrest):



The American Idol judges were, as Ellen Degeneres put it trying to find "a new way to tell you how great you are." Randy Johnson said "you're in the zone." Simon Cowell said "That's a song I could hear on the radio." and Katy Perry said the song was "Slinky. It was sexy. You were playful."

Then Ernie Fields Jr, the player of the Didgeridoo, was introduced and said "I'm the contractor. I got a call and I said 'I'll do it.'"

She wowed'em, with Ernie and the Didgeridoo's help.

Comics News: Captain America on "Captain America" at WonderCon SF

Related searches: Captain America, First Avenger, Captain America, WonderCon SF, The Fantastic Four, Chris Evans, Jon Hamm, Marvel Comics



WonderCon SF was held last weekend and from all accounts it was not only a blast, it may have set an attendance record. With the wave of movies based on popular comic book characters, there were more costumes of those characters in movies slated for release, like The First Avenger: Captain America.

As reported in this space, The First Avenger: Captain America is a movie based on the Marvel Comics hero of the same name. The First Avenger: Captain America, to be produced by Marvel Entertainment and directed by Joe Johnston (The Wolfman) has a release date is July 22, 2011, as of this writing. Chris Evans, "The Human Torch" from The Fantastic Four movie series is signed to play the government-serum-enhanced WWII soldier Steve Rogers.

But what do fans think of Chris Evans as Steve Rogers? I asked that of a number of fans at WonderCon SF, including one who had no problem being on video. That Captain America said he liked the choice of Chris Evans, who "was the only good part about The Fantastic Four."

But what about Jon Hamm, the star of the TV series Mad Men, which has developed a cult following? "I think Chris Evans adds a certain amount of youth to it. Because if you think about it, a soldier on the battle field is going to be pretty young" (Evans is 30 and Jon Hamm is 40). I didn't find anyone who disagreed with "Captain America" on Chris Evans, so it seems like fans are now ready to give Evans the thumbs up.

Stay tuned.

More big earthquakes projected for 2010 than 2009, 2008, and 2007

As reported in the blog post on the 7.7 Indonesian earthquake of today, an analysis of online information published by the US Geological Survey revealed this information:

In all there have been 23 "significant earthquakes" of above 4 on the Richter Scale in 2010 thus far, according to the US Geological Survey. And of those, 17 have been over 6 on the scale. There were 72 "significant earthquakes" in all of 2009 and 58 in 2008, and 56 in 2007.

If this rate continues according to this blogger's calculations, there will be 92 "significant earthquakes" for 2010, 20 more than in 2009 and 44 more than for all of 2008, and 46 more than in all of 2007.

The skeptic would offer that this current trend of "significant earthquakes" could be slowed by a lull, but even excluding 2010, the number of "significant earthquakes" has increased from 56 in 2007 to 72 in 2009 in looking at the USGS information.

One reason for this increase in number may be improved earthquake sensing technology. Indeed, the USGS reports that this is the case. But there's a problem in the basic logic presented by the USGS, a large earthquake has damaging impacts such that more sensitive technology would make no difference, a large quake is just that: big. People know when an earthquake larger than 6 on the Richter Scale strikes. Moreover the USGS points to improved technology between 1931 and today, not within the last decade.

So we come back to the apparent fact that we have more earthquakes of significant (read: large) size projected for 2010 than in over the last four years.

Stay tuned.

Sumatra Indonesia Earthquake 7.7 on Richter Scale

Continuing what has been an incredible and incredibly horrifying string of large earthquakes starting with the 7.0 Haiti Earthquake, then earthquakes in Guatemala, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, and just this week the 7.2 Southern California Earthquake and now the Sumatra Indonesia Earthquake at 7.7 on Richter Scale, and it's just the first week of April.

This is the second time in 2010 Indonesia has suffered from a "significant earthquake."

In all there have been 23 "significant earthquakes" of above 4 on the Richter Scale in 2010 thus far, according to the US Geological Survey. And of those, 17 have been over 6 on the scale. There were 72 "significant earthquakes" in all of 2009 and 58 in 2008, and 56 in 2007.

If this rate continues according to this blogger's calculations, there will be 92 "significant earthquakes" for 2010, 20 more than in 2009 and 44 more than for all of 2008, and 46 more than in all of 2007.

According to The Times Online UK, the Sumatra Indonesia Earthquake struck at 5:15 AM or 22:15 GMT, 125 miles away from the coast of the city of Sibolga and 29 miles below the surface of The Earth. As of this writing there were no reports of major damage or casualties, and tsunami warnings were stopped.

Stay tuned.

Google can fix News Media's big Internet problem

Related searches: MSM, news media, Google, Google AdSense, Google news, blogger, youtube, youtube partner, Rupert Murdoch, New York Times, Arthur Sulzberger, Jr.

At times it's good to take a step back and look at how news media's changing. Yes, it's done everyday, but I'm referring to this blogger pulling away from what I now call "The systems approach to blogging" for a moment to reflect on the changes in media I've seen. While there are many small news media developments that are really interesting, the one large one that bugs me is what I've referred to before: the fragmentation of news media and the involvement of Google.

Again, the "fragmentation of media" is news media created by many individuals and groups, often for niche markets or interests. What's happening is that as more people discover blogs and how to use them, as well as social networks and mobile social networks, it's harder for any one news outlet, individual, group, or company to make money. And Google's adding to this problem.

In protecting one news media group, Google's making it harder for other news media organizations and individuals to make money online. Google is protecting established news organizations online at the expense of smaller and newer ones. How? With Google News.

Google News favors established news websites. But what if it didn't do that. What if what was posted was the result of a pure automated content analysis, and whatever was posted first that met the criteria was listed? That would open up more media platforms and push out established media. It would force larger media organizations to partner with existing blogs and perhaps buy them, or vice-versa.

Why? Because smaller but smarter media publishers would have a fighting chance to generate traffic and earn ad dollars from that volume.

Why Google and not Bing or Yahoo for this approach? For several reasons. First, Google still controls, as of this writing, Google controls approximately 70 percent of the search engine market. And even with the advent of Bing, Google's search engine share doesn't seem to be threatened one bit.

Google also owns Blogger and has Google Adsense, the online advertising platform that's almost symbiotically linked to Blogger. Google could actually increase its own ad revenue base by leveling the news playing field. And it could give Google News placement priority to content that was created by Google account holders who were YouTube Partners. That program is also part of Google AdSense, go Google wins again.

While Google takes full advantage of its integrated web systems in this way, bloggers win by being able to see a simple reward for hard work and teaming up. The bigger the blog staff and the more active the blog, the more traffic it draws.

Who loses? Established news websites that do not understand how to write for the Internet, that's who. Google has been protecting and coddling these news organizations for far too long, and in the process slowing their growth in the Internet business.

The problem is too many journalists and news organizations don't understand that when they're writing online, they are in effect creating a new web page. The basic rules of web site design for search are consistently violated and so often that it's criminal. Titles have nothing to do with the subject of the article post. The subject name, the primary keyword, at times doesn't appear in the first paragraph and it it does, it's there only once.

I could go on and on.

Google leveling the playing field would force old media organizations to ship up or get out. And it would work as a breakwater against media fragmentation by essentially rewarding teams of bloggers.

What would Rupert Murdoch think about this? Not much, probably. What about Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., the publisher of the New York Times? Can't imagine he would be thrilled with the change. But it would force those organizations, and others, to produce better content that can be found on the Internet.

Over time, it would also force media consolidation, and help smaller media teams to actually have a better chance be rewarded for being competitive, and that reward is to earn a living.

Nicollette Sheridan's One Shining Moment 2010 with Marc Cherry

Related searches: Nicollette Sheridan, One Shining Moment 2010, Marc Cherry, ABC Studios, Jennifer Hudson

Nicollette Sheridan, who's famous for being on Desperate Housewives is getting her "One Shining Moment 2010" with Marc Cherry. Nicollette Sheridan is suing Marc Cherry, the creator of Desperate Housewives for $20 million in a wrongful termination claim.

Sheridan charges that Marc Cherry hit her and then killed off her character "Edie Britt", thus getting rid of her, when she tried to complain about it.

Whatever the case, ABC Studios is standing behind Marc Cherry according to EOnline: "While we have yet to see the actual complaint, we investigated similar claims made by Ms. Sheridan last year and found them to be without merit."

The lawsuit covers assault, wrongful termination, and gender violence. It reads that Cherry hit her across the head and face. Yikes. Here's a copy of the lawsuit you can read: LAWSUIT.

I'll post another blog on this after reading the suit in depth. Meanwhile, here's the video of Jennifer Hudson singing One Shining Moment as part of CBS' video to end the amazing 2010 NCAA Championship and Duke v. Butler, a game for the ages.



Stay tuned.