Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Cash & Carrie, Lindsey's new Lesbian Love + true catastrophes post by Suzannah B. Troy
At one point some production companies have attempted to ask celebrities to pay something when they kept their clothes from movie shoots. Bottom line is everyone in the industry that can get something for free and hold on to their massive fortunes does. They also attempt to negotiate "plebeians" for as little $ as possible...ho hum.
Jack Nicholson is the only celebrity that seems to me to remember his roots and is just generous, and he used to be a big bad flirt from what I have heard. He probably still is.
I have even witnessed high paid women in the entertainment business including one of the highest paying magazines -- trying to lower the price on the smallest of transactions and than brag to
(was it me ?) about paying x amount of thousands to have the dark circles removed from under her eyes. By the way any supposedly feminist that doesn’t tell what surgery she has had and let’s women compare themselves to her is no feminist. There are also plenty of men that have had face-lifts and their bodies tweaked other than Gene Simmons. Celebrities and authors should include what they have had done on their websites so fans do not compare themselves to them or maybe as a warning for what not to do.
As usual, TMZ has the scoops and not that any of us will be losing sleep over this but if Lindsey Lohan doesn’t get to the USA soon from Cannes she may find herself behind bars. Go to TMZ for more on this and other breaking news in "Celebrity World" - not a planet most of us visit!
Lindsey Lohan is in Cannes to promote the independent film in which she plays Linda Lovelace. For anyone who has no idea about Lovelace’s tragic life and abuse endured here is her wikepedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Lovelace.
Men around the world are fascinated by Lovelace’s famous film Deep Throat and Brian Grazer is among them. He produced “Inside Deep Throat”. Again I would rather refer you to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Deep_Throat.
Linda Lovelace's experience in the porn industry was hellish and she said her husband exploited her and beat her to make her perform. Jenna Jameson, retired media mogul, had some tough times but nothing as horrific as Lovelace. Jameson paved the way for other female porn stars like Belladonna and Terra Patrick to also direct, produce and even create their own studios.
Porn is a mega-billion dollar industry and is not only here to stay but the thin line between porn and Hollywood continues to blur. In fact the AVN Awards, porn’s version of the Oscars is said to be better and a lot more fun than the Oscars. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVN_Award
Way back when in my twenties when I listened to Howard Stern, I remember a porn star lamenting when the porn industry was no longer run by Mafia. You see the Mafia guys paid them in cash.
(Oh, here is the place to plug Theatre 80's Gangster Museum tour but this was before they got in to porn...sorry folks!)
Just to bring you back to NYC. Albany has still not closed the budget and a title of a documentary covering this debacle could be called “Deeply Screwed” how Albany and City Hall took NYC from a recession to a depression...This is an economic horror show here in New York although times are tough in other States and around the world. I write here in NYC so I had to mention the economic crisis here but another catastrophe that people have yet to understand the horror of completely is the oil spill off of the Gulf of Mexico which continues to get worse. Sea life continue dying suffocating to death which is horrific and will have very disturbing long range results. Now the news is the oil spill maybe showing up on Florida’s beaches.
I guess focusing on Sarah Jessica Parker deemed the cheapest entertainer (and believe me she has competition) and Lindsey Lohan are a vacation from very serious issues that truly effect our lives.
p.s The New York Post has an usual photo of Lindsey and her new girlfriend.
BP Oil Spill in Gulf of Mexico: tar balls hit the shore
The damage and economic devastation from the British Petroleum (BP) Oil Spill does threaten to spread to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, but researchers contend that the reported "tar balls" found on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico are not due to the BP Oil Spill. I think.
The question is, what caused them?
The CNN report is confusing. The title reads that tar balls are from the BP oil spill, but the text says they may not be from the spill:
Tar balls found on a Florida Keys beach Monday, while not believed to be from a massive Gulf of Mexico spill, are nevertheless raising fears that oil will spread along the coastlines of Florida and beyond.
Clearly something's going on. This video below is of a tarball found on the shores of Gulfport, Ms:
'
But what is a tarball? The National Oceanic and Atmostpheric Association defines it in this way according to The Miami Herald:
Tar balls, the little, dark-colored pieces of oil that stick to our feet when we go to the beach, are actually remnants of oil spills.
When crude oil (or a heavier refined product) floats on the ocean surface, its physical characteristics change.
During the first few hours of a spill, the oil spreads into a thin slick.
Winds and waves tear the slick into smaller patches that are scattered over a much wider area. Various physical, chemical and biological processes change the appearance of the oil. These processes are generally called ``weathering.''
If that's the case, it's fair to say the BP Oil Spill's reached the shores of The Gulf of Mexico already.
Stay tuned.
Diane Feinstein pisses-off Oakland Mayor's Race Green Party candidate
Donald Macleay, who I now give the name "Donny Mac," and who I interviewed here....
...is just plain pissed off.
Macleay fired off this hot letter to me just 10 minutes ago and that I'm about to present to you for inspection below. Indeed, Don sent the letter to a number of media people, which means he really was hopping mad over the issue and wanted to pick a fight or draw attention to himself or some combination of both. That's politics.
It's also necessary. The problem Donald Macleay has is he's a "Don" like Perata, so his name gets lost in the sea of Don. Call this a scream for help from someone lost on a castaway island in Oakland politics. Donny Mac's competing in a field of ten candidates for Mayor of Oakland, California, if we count Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums. He's also up against the idea that it's just Don Perata versus Oakland Councilmembers Jean Quan and Rebecca Kaplan. (And Ron Dellums has not yet said 'I'm not running for Mayor again' and some have said he would.)
Donny Mac is back |
Feinstein for who?
As the Green party candidate in the Oakland Mayor?s race, I am outside of the circles where our US Senator Dianne Feinstein decided to support out ex-state senator Don Perata. She was never going to call me.
I think she is doing Oakland a disservice by endorsing anyone at all.
The Democrats are like a bad marriage that has regular fights that the neighbors get to hear late into the night. The most nasty fights seem to be over who gets the open job. The other semi-official candidate is going to fight for this vacant job as if her career depends on it, because it does.
None of us will be surprised if the fight gets nastier before it is over. Towards the end of American political campaigns we often have a rash of false accusations, dirty tricks and ugly mudslinging.
Then they make up and pretend that there are no bitter resentments.
We pretend to believe them and try not to get too involved.
The nomination period is still not over, therefore Senator Feinstein is making her choice before the whole field is known. So far Perata?s ?conversation? with us Oaklanders does not include much in the way of his views on city issues. So what has she endorsed? Why pick a side?
Oakland, California and the USA are in a major budget crisis and a lingering recession. Sen. Feinstein should be looking to work with whoever is the next mayor of Oakland and should not have her name attached to any hard feelings this election leaves behind. How would she relate to a Mayor Quan if her name is on Election Day dirty business? Would she take calls from a Mayor Macleay?
The next mayor will need to keep up the race for federal funds that our current mayor has focused on. The next mayor will need to find a working relationship with all our state and federal officials.
When the neighbors are fighting late into the night the worst thing you can do is to take sides.
Don Macleay
candidate@macleay4mayor.org
Donny Mac is back and that's the fact, jack!
Stay tuned.
Children's Hospital Oakland's President and CEO on the facility
In a great online video Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland's President & CEO, Bertram Lubin, MD, talked about why parents should bring their kids to Children's Hospital. He says the main reason is "You get a feeling of warmth. That you're around people who care about your children. The children are why we are here."
In all, Children's Hospital has 58 videos in its well-designed YouTube channel. What's missing is a link to a blog where the videos can be housed in an online publication. In this way the videos can have another source of viewers and not just the channel itself. The channel also needs to group the videos in playlists. I could go on, but the videos themselves are excellent.
The videos come together to show and tell a compelling story about a great environment for both parents, kids, and employees.
And as a note to Children's Hospital, my request to be a friend on YouTube is still outstanding; friend me, please.
Miss USA Rima Fakih pole dancing overshadows conservative racism
Some Conservatives think this is affirmative action! |
Take Daniel Pipes, who actually believes that Rima Fakih's win is a example of Affirmative Action in beauty contests.
No kidding. Pipes actually took time to write that. Daniel Pipes even went so far as to form a list of Arab-American beauty contest winners that boils down to one Arab-American woman per year.
That rate of wins is enough to send Daniel Pipes to the moon. This is a perfect example of how some people are brainwashed to think one person who's white and female should be a beauty standard, and someone of color like Rima Fakih could only win a contest due to affirmative action. His view is so sick it makes me sick.
God forbit Pipes from learning that Rima Fakih was the winner of a stripper pole dancing contest too, and don't tell him the contest promoters were from a white radio station. He'd probably go into convulsions!
On second thought tell him! That's a good idea.
YouTubeland Gaga Greyson & dish - Suzannah B. Troy
Mark Souder: GOP Indiana Rep resigns over affair, upsets election race
Rep. Mark Souder |
While liberal blogs like The Huffington Post point to Mark Souder's commitment to the idea of one man and one woman, technically, Mark Souder didn't say he was opposed to having a mistress in a marriage for himself, just Democrats.
Souder attacked then-President Bill Clinton and called for his resignation after the Monika Lewinsky Affair, but not Clinton's impeachment.
Mark Souder's resignation opens a once closed door of opportunity for Democrats Indiana's 3rd Congressional District. The district was considered safe under Mark Soude's watch, even though some observers had predicted a close November race.
Stay tuned.
Palin proves TIMING is EVERYTHING - again.
Most of the pundits assure us that Tea Party activists (or at least coverage of them on TV) bolstered by Palin's photogenic smile tipped the balance against incumbent Utah Senator Robert Bennett when he failed to secure his party's nomination at a state convention.
Naturally, Palin has bestowed her Tea Party blessing on John "Complete the Danged Fence" McCain, yet by all accounts McCain is in danger of being upset in a primary. There's no question Arizona is currently the focus of the immigration storm in the U.S., but it's shaping up as the epicenter of the anti-incumbent earthquake since McCain's well-documented "toughening" of his rhetoric on that issue hasn't staved off the challenge from former congressman/talk show radio host J.D. Hayworth.
Like former President Bush, as recently as 2007 mavericky Senator McCain had championed less-extreme solutions to immigration reform before consulting the tea leaves and getting his position right. Unlike Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter, McCain's not in a primary today, but he may wish he was as Hayworth continues to make inroads in McCain's lead. By the time the late August Arizona primary happens the Palin endorsement will be ancient history, and McCain's staff will be struggling to dominate the news cycle much the way Specter's struggled to be "bigger news" than Joe Sestak.
The "re-assignment" of Campaign Manager Shiree Verdone and Aide Mike Hellon reveals just how precarious McCain's situation really is -- and that demonstrates how little impact Palin's early endorsement had. Given her own notoriety it's hard to say if Michelle Bachmann is getting any boost from her connection to Palin, but she's already worried about the Democratic front runner, State Senator Tarryl Clark, who hasn't even secured her place on the November ballot yet (MN primary: August 10th.)
Palin's endorsement may not be enough to preserve McCain's power. Specter's calculated change of parties hasn't looked very effective. Bachmann's running negative ads before her own presumed challenger has even won the primary. Meanwhile the Obama administration is moving forward fast on Wall Street reform, and the unholy trinity of BP, Haliburton, and Transocean squandered that same administration's willingness to let off-shore exploration move ahead.
Drill, baby, drill? Timing is everything.
Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, journalist, political staffer, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.
Miss USA Rima Fakih does Miley Cyrus pole dancing
Miss USA Rima Fakih is in the middle of a sexy photo controversy (another one) that really should go away, but here it is. In 2007, Rima Fakih participated in a contest produced by the Detroit "Mojo In The Morning" Radio Show that invited women to enter a stripper pole dance contest.
This is what an email sent to this blogger from the Detroit MoJo In The Morning show representatives read:
In 2007, newly-crowned Miss USA Rima Fakih participated in our annual event titled "Stripper 101." Our nationally-syndicated morning show (based in Detroit) holds an annual class for women who wish to add spice to their relationships. Real-life strippers teach our female listeners the art of the strip tease and pole dancing at the Coliseum Gentleman's Club in Detroit. At the end of the class, a contest is held among the new students and in 2007, Rima Fakih was the grand prize winner, walking away with jewelry, gift cards, adult toys and a stripper pole for home use. The event is attended by women only and Fakih did not remove any clothing. The circulating photos have been on our website for three years.
So with that, the overall question is "what's the big deal?" Just last week we had the Miley Cyrus Lap Dance Video controversy, and if you don't know what that's about here's my video on that...
And last year we had the Carrie Prejean Miss USA issue, and the Miley Cyrus Stripper Pole Dance issue at the Teen Choice Awards, and a number of other similar scandals in between. Do we really care anymore?
To be frank, I'm not surprised that Rima took these photos and then entered a pageant. It seems to be this new standard that women who think they look good and do enter these photo contests or have racy photos of themselves created, then go into Miss USA-style beauty competitions.
It raises the issue of what a role model's supposed to be at a time when the very definition of it is being rewritten as we debate it. We talk about it as a way of working our way toward accepting it, then it goes away.
I think that's what should happen here, but for those conservatives and racists who may use this issue as a tool against her. Good luck Michelle Malkin.
I write that because I'm lovingly taking my Facebook friend Malkin to the woodshed for her attack on Rima Fakih, and really just because she's Arab-American as Barrett Brown at True/Slant points out - even though Michelle will not admit that. If Rima were white, Michelle would be defending the photos and her. Ball's in your court, Michelle.
What do you think about all this? Should Miss USA Rima Fakih be allowed to keep her crown? Take my poll > Click for poll
The San Francisco Sunshine Flower Girl at The Union Street Festival
Sunshine The Clown |
The San Francisco Sunshine Flower Girl, is "Sunshine The Clown" and appears at San Francisco festivals from Union Street and the North Beach Festival, to The Folsom Street Fair. But one thing happened at Union Street last year which should not happen to the San Francisco Sunshine Flower Girl: harassment from so-called festival representatives.
What the San Francisco Sunshine Flower Girl is make flower balloons for money, and not a lot. But the nature of what Sunshine The Clown does such that she's mobile. Asking Sunshine The Clown to get some kind of festival booth permit, which runs into the thousands in some cases, is anti-business.
The San Francisco Sunshine Flower Girl should be hired by the festival producer to add to the ambiance of the event. Let Sunshine The Clown make some money and put smiles on the faces of the people of San Francisco in the process. There's nothing wrong with that.
And if you want to hire the San Francisco Sunshine Flower Girl, go to this website: http://www.thesunshineshow.com or just send Sunshine The Clown an email here: sunshine@thesunshineshow.com
Monday, May 17, 2010
YouTube Turns 5: My YouTube Story - Zennie62
YouTube turns 5 years old and this is my third installment to celebrate YouTube's fifth birthday.
This blog post presents the video called YouTube Turns 5: My YouTube Story.
For me, all of this started when I was using a camcorder at the 2006 NFL Draft and interviewed my friend Oakland Raiders Legend and Stanford Hall of Famer Michael Dotterer as we were walking to 21 Club restaurant in New York City.
On the way, Michael said "you're a vlogger, You should start video-blogging" or words to that effect. He also mentioned an online show called Rocketboom. That was here:
Later that year I was lucky enough to attend Vloggercon in San Francisco, and met a lot of interesting people including Irina Slutsky and Schlomo Rabinowitz, who produced the event:
The stars of Vloggercon were Amanda Congdon and Andrew Michael Baron the founders of Rocketboom. While not YouTube stars, Amanda and Andrew's daily video news show with videos hosted on their own site, drew as much as 125,000 viewers a day, and over 1 million during their celebrated argument over control of the company. That happened just a month after this presentation:
While their argument was nasty and publicly displayed it served to shine light on the value of video-blogging and vloggers.
It was also an example of what was possible for me.
In 2007 I became a YouTube Partner, which means I draw a monthly check based on the views my videos generate. That set in motion a number of events, from being on the CNN / YouTube Democratic Debate and the "coin question"...
Which now-Vice President Joe Biden answered very well at the debate:
That started a major change in my life and led to to being on my first national TV show, and on CNN, and one of my favorite videos:
And later that year I met YouTube Founder Chad Hurley at the BizWorld Luncheon:
Then there was the 2008 Democratic National Convention, and CNN's Jessica Ellis found me to be their on the scene iReporter. Of course, YouTube was right there with me and Matthew Modine and Willie Brown:
As of this writing I have posted 942 videos on YouTube and heading toward my 1,000th. I officially joined YouTube in April of 2006, so I'm past my 4th year mark with YouTube. But what's changed is that now I feel like I'm part of the YouTube family:
YouTube and vlogging have made me a better, more confident, and more thoughful person. It's actually helped my game business Sports Business Simulations, and for me, now, I have two jobs that I have to figure out how to merge into one. Whatever it comes to be, YouTube will be a part of it.
And yes, YouTube fixed my Channel, Zennie62.
Hong Kong seeks California and U.S. wine imports, signs MOU
The bottom line is that for winemakers in America, and particularly in California, Hong Kong has made doing business there much easier. US wine exports to Hong Kong totaled $49 million in 2009-2010. The U.S. is Hong Kong's fourth largest wine importer; America wants to be number one.
The Secretary of Commerce of the United States, Gary Locke, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Rita Lau, in Hong Kong. The "Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Wine-related Businesses" (MOU) was signed between Hong Kong and the United States on Monday, May 17, 2010.
Because of the MOU, Hong Kong will facilitate in the pairing of wines with regional cuisine, facilitate wine auctions and assist in the establishment of quality storage facilities in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is becoming a regional wine trading and distribution center for Asia, and it's clear from the MOU that it wants to grow in that area.
For more information, contact the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco. It's at 130 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA 94104-4386; the phone number is 415-677-9038.