Skyline High Reunion was a blast! Tom Hanks and John Landgraf, take note

The 30th reunion of the Skyline High School classes of 1979 and 1980 was a blast. No photos or videos yet, but stay tuned. Tom Hanks should make a movie about our reunion, and John Landgraf, the President of FX Network who graduated with us in the class of 80, missed a great backdrop for a hit TV show by not attending.

Hey John.  You missed a great one! 

First, everyone looked great. Period. For a lot of people, it was impossible to tell they were 47 or 48 years old, as this blogger will be on Wednesday, August 4th.

Second, the turnout was awesome. I'm not sure what the estimated count of people who came to the Sequoyah Country Club was, but I was told there were 100 from the Skyline Class of '80, which is my class, and 30 from the Class of '79, but it seemed like there were more people than just that. Eyeballing everything, I'm confident there 300 people; all acting like they were in their 20s.

Which is the point. Some of us are single, others married, some with kids, some without, and some are grandparents. And of all races, creeds, and colors, as they say. But the one thing we all had in common is we drank like fish and danced are asses off. And those who didn't drink like fish or dance their asses off, talked their mouths off. Talk about a group of people with a zest for life.

At the Friday night "pre-party" at Monahan's, someone mentioned that when we were in high school, the police were a lot easier on you if they caught you with a beer in your car. In fact, the Oakland cops were happy if you shared it with them! I observed that maybe we were the reason all these draconian rules were created! One thing's for certain: it's a different time now.

I can't say the reunion was a time warp. It's not even over because I'm off to the gym and then a reunion picnic. But it was a lesson, for me, in just how great the people I grew up with really were and are. Some of us have passed on, and in most cases due to cancer. But for all of us as a whole, we're the reason that, for all of this country's problems, America, socially, has really become something beautiful.

Skyline High School should be proud. Tom Hanks and John Landgraf, both Skyline High School grads, should make what would be a great new movie or TV show based on our class.

Heck, maybe I'll beat them to it.

Stay tuned.

Consumer Watchdog Running for Congress in MN

Sunday's Saint Paul Pioneer Press gave a black eye to the Minnesota Virtual High School by revealing they recently terminated Shelley Madore, a candidate for Congress, after she reported taxpayer fraud at the charter school. Madore's campaign provided little comment about her charges or the school's reactions, noting the investivation was on-going.

Former MN Representative
Shelley Madore

"When I shared it, I was terminated..."

former MN State Rep. Shelley Madore

Voters in the south Twin Cities Metro area have a choice between the former legislator/watchdog and an unemployed former roofer who "fell into politics" (after falling from a roof) in the upcoming August 10th primary. The winner will challenge incumbent GOP Representative John Kline in the November election.

FEC filings by Madore's opponent Powers have omissions and inconsistencies that might be a story in and of themselves, but what is there reveals he has ample personal assets to loan his campaign $35,000 dollars, giving him the edge in money raised and cash on hand - though both campaigns are struggling to attract donations with so much press attention on other Minnesota races. Twin Cities media has focused on both Tarryl Clark's bid to unseat Michelle Bachmann and the hotly-contested 3-way gubernatorial primary contest, devoting scant coverage to the Congressional primary on the other site of the metro.

The Pioneer Press story characterizes both 2^nd District Democratic campaigns as limping into the primary. The Star Tribue ran a brief article in late July describing Madore's opponent as having a "sketchy résumé" in their first coverage of the primary in months.

"His only income in 2009 was $28,000 in unemployment insurance, according to a financial disclosure report filed in Washington."

from: DFL candidate has sketchy résumé as contractor

24 July 2010

Madore's campaign has made little reference to her opponent's extended unemployment or reliance on his life story rather than policy statements to influence voters, preferring to highlight concrete differences such as Powers failure to hire union workers back when he ran his small business versus her solid voting record as an effective state legislator and endorsements from local and national organizations.

Teacher's unions seem particularly delighted to have a candidate with experience in both the legislature and public education on the ballot: Madore counts endorsements from the National Education Association (NEA), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and Education Minnesota among her growing list.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, Democratic Campaign Manager, journalist, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

Meg Whitman Oakland Office fears Oakland, can't spell "surveillance"

In the "now we've seen everything" department, we have former eBay Chairman and CEO Meg Whitman, running for California Governor against Jerry Brown, opening a campaign office in Oakland that shows she and her staff are passive-agressive in their approach to this heavily minority city.

The Meg Whitman Oakland campaign office, located near the intersection of Lakeshore and Lake Park and not far from Lake Merritt, is staffed by two young white men; I've not seen anyone of color as of this writing.

The gentlemen are nice, but very careful in their communications, almost neurotically so. This reflects Meg Whitman's message to Oaklanders, but even more so is a sign that is placed in three parts of the large bay window. It reads:

"SMILE.
YOU'RE ON CANDID CAMERA!
24-HOUR VIDEO SURVELLAINCE"

Yep. They misspelled "surveillance."

So, not only is Meg Whitman afraid of Oakland, she's so fearful she can't even spell "surveillance" correctly. It's a terrible sign, no pun intended, to send to a city like Oakland. It reads that Meg Whitman's more afraid of Oakland than interested in Oakland's vote.

Wonder what former Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown would say about this?

Stay tuned, and thank to Davey D for the news tip!

Giuseppi Logan Brecht Forum by Suzannah B. Troy

http://brechtforum.org/  Giuseppi Logan will be playing tonight at Brecht Forum.  For those who don't know I discovered him playing on a freezing cold winter day 2 years ago to an empty park. I posted a moving rendition of Begin the Beguine and before I knew it jazz fans and critics were contacting me from all over the world celebrating he was in fact alive.  He was looking for a home, a place to compose music and play music.

I ran home and posted the amazing video footage and immediately found a British film maker's video footage of Giuseppi with a little boy Jaee holding hands in Tompkins -- same park almost 45 years before me!  

Peter Gershon, publisher of Signal to Noise, wrote a stirring piece about Giuseppi Logan and acknowledged my work along with the British film maker; a powerful piece worth checking out.

Since my first YouTube and now there are over 20 tube in my YouTube documentary he has now cut a new CD, the first since his 2 well received ones by ESP in the 1960's.   An angel posing as a human being who works for Salvation Army found him a small space in one the Salvation Army's houses that helps people struggling like Giuseppi which is beyond awesome and his little sliver of a living place filled with instruments donated to him by the Jazz Foundation and given to him by kind people fill his little room. 

He is playing at the Stone  August 15.   I am hoping his son will be back to continue work on his documentary and that down the road a major motion picture will be made to tell Giuseppi Logan's story as well as honoring the tragic loss of GL's grandson, same name as his son Jaee's memory.  Jaee was murdered by a cowardly act of gun violence, several shots to the back of his head at a barbecue  He was an honor student and a football star and like his grandfather, and Dad Jaee he had the musical gift.\

Note: The film would honor jazz but also raise awareness and hopefully raise money for a foundation to help stop gun violence.  Who knows maybe there will be a series of films....

The film like my YouTube documentary would underscore even in the latest chapters of your life you can find some kind of redemption.

You can see my first YouTube discovering Giuseppi Logan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTssjT9rAmQ and I did not know who he was.  As an artist I had a powerful feeling for him -- playing to empty seats....admired his passion and drive at such an old age to get out and play in freezing cold weather.

A friend of his youngest child Jaee and only child from Guiseppi's 2nd marriage told Jaee there is this woman on YouTube filming your Dad!  Jaee did not know his father was still alive and after losing his son he wanted to be reunited with his Dad.

I helped make that happened and captured them reunited for the first time in over 40 years so the little boy in the YouTube I found from so long ago in Tompkins is reunited once again with his Dad thanks to a YouTube miracle that I am honored to be part of!

Obama on The View: Sarah Palin, in Alaska, says Obama should be at U.S. Mexico boarder

OK, Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin just can't resist putting her foot in her mouth regarding President Obama. She should just admit he's doing a great job and she's got the hots for him. Instead, Palin, who's known for creating new words like "refudiate," had to talk before she realized where she was.

According to The Huffington Post, Palin said Obama had no time to be at the U.S. Mexico boarder but was on ABC's The View instead. Now, was Sarah Palin at the U.S. Mexico boarder ? No. She was in Alaska.

Alaska.

Great. I guess Sarah Palin's going to tell us she can see the U.S. Mexico boarder from her window, right?

If Palin were serious, she'd have made her statement from, yep, the U.S. Mexico boarder, but its too late for that. Anyway, going down there is the political kiss of death for any elected official or person running for office.

If Sarah Palin is, well, frankly, stupid enough to go down there, she can kiss any idea of running for President goodbye. She will lose the Latino vote and be peppered with blog posts pointing to her racial bias.

Sarah Palin should just stick to being a news commentator who "refudiates" when it suits her. Geez.

Flip Video Camera Mino HD v. Flip Video Camera Ultra camcorder comparison

I love the Flip Video Camcorders. They're the best devices ever created for the video-blogger. And now, thanks to Lila King at CNN, I have two of them: the Flip Video Camera Mino HD and the Flip Video Camera Ultra.

They're different cameras, but the assumption is that the Flip Video Camera Mino HD is the better one because it's high-def. No, not the case. I've found that the Flip Video Camera Ultra is actually better in video quality than the Mino HD. Take a look at these two videos I created:

This video interview with David Glanzer, the Marketing and PR honcho for Comic Con, was created with the Mino HD:



This video of the cast and crew of Hatchet 2 was created with the Flip Video Ultra:



See the difference? I think in the Mino HD the colors are a bit sharper, but the overall pixelization doesn't seems to be as good as with the Ultra. And the Ultra has two hours of time, whereas the Mino has just one, but I think a large model is available.

What I like about the Mino is that I don't have to worry about batteries, but then I have to make sure I have my computer to charge it. In all, I think of both of them as my dynamic duo of camcorders.

Oh, and Flip had nothing to do with my video or this blog post.

Oakland News: Don Macleay and Mayor's Race; Children's Fairyland

Children's Fairyland and Don Macleay in the Oakland Mayor's Race, have urgent announcements in today's Oakland news.

Don Macleay, the Green Party candidate running for for Mayor of Oakland, sent out this email for 100 signatures he needs from you this Saturday:

Nomination signatures needed. Sat. July 31 10AM

Friends,

For the campaign to take the next step I need 100 Oakland voters to sign for me.
We are collecting signatures all this week. You can contact me, Jan, Greg or Michael.

To make it easy we are going to meet at Cafe Dejena on Saturday July 31st at 10 AM.
It is at 3939 MLK corner of 40th right near the MacArthur BART
EASY to get to on bike, foot and car and easy to park. http://www.cafedejena.com

We will have nomination petitions to sign and voter registration cards if you need them.

And, now is a good time to donate because the campaign is now finally officially under way.
http://macleay4mayor.org/donate.html

Don Macleay

Children's Fairyland

Children's Fairyland has a number of announcements too numerous to mention. You can see them all at http://www.fairyland.org/, but here's a sample from the email:

September 11 and 12

HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY, CHILDREN'S FAIRYLAND!
Join us for our fantasy costume party. Come dressed as your favorite storybook character or in a 50's outfit & wish a happy birthday to the original children's storybook park in the U.S.

Children's Theatre presents "Mariposas": A play woven from Latin American folktales about butterflies, Mariposas tells stories of why the butterflies are silent, why they don’t fly straight, and why they migrate each year. Created by the cast. 10:30am

Children's Theatre presents "The Golden Reed": In this tale from China, a dragon is kidnapping the children, and a young boy sets out to rescue them. On the way he finds a golden reed pipe that makes all who hear it dance. He learns to play, and with the magic of his music he defeats the dragon and the children dance all the way home. Adapted by Doyle Ott with music by Julia Norton. 12:30pm

If you have Oakland News, send an email to zennie@zennie62.com

American Idol chaos: J-Lo in, Kara DioGuardi fired, Ellen DeGeneres quit

Wow. American Idol is in a state of chaos: J-Lo, Jennifer Lopez, is in as a judge; Kara DioGuardi was fired as a judge, and Ellen DeGeneres quit from being a judge after just one season, and less than a year.

Now, according to TMZ, it's Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and Steven Tyler as the three-judge panel. Still, American Idol's not the same without Simon Cowell; then again, it's ratings were tanking with Simon Cowell.

I said "YEAH" when I first got the word Simon was leaving, and I stand by that. Sometimes the dude could be just plain mean. OK, people got a kick out of it and watched, but eventually they tired of his act.



Now, American Idol's real problem is that there are too many freaking American Idol-type shows. The formula has been over saturated. Think about it. We have Britain's Got Talent, America's Got Talent, So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing With The Stars, and a few shows I've left out of my memory. And then there's American Idol.

And three of the shows, Britain's Got Talent, America's Got Talent, and So You Think You Can Dance, are less than two years old.

All of them have the same judge panel format, so after a time, that approach itself has become just plain done.

Can J-Lo make a difference with American Idol? It depends on what she says, does, and wears. If she comes on with a low-cut skirt and is the major bitch the show needs, American Idol ratings will climb.

Ok, I did say I didn't like mean people, but I was thinking of Simon Cowell's way. With J-Lo, that formula just might work.

Chippy D - Laurence Fishburne's girl a porn star, Kim Kardashian thanked

Montana Fishburne, the daughter of famed actor, Laurence Fishburne, is certainly making her dad an unhappy camper as she's now called "Chippy D" and is a porn star.

According to MissJia.com via TMZ.com, Montana Fishburne thanks her hotness Kim Kardashian for the idea. She says it was Kim Kardashian's sex tape that gave her inspiration.

Laurence Fishburne is the famous TV and movie actor best known for playing Mobius in the Matrix film series. (Correction: Morpheus.) But what was going on at home?

19-year-old Montana Fishburne told the site CarltonJordan.com that she had a lot of at-home experience in playing a porn actress.

Uh...what?




No word on what Laurence Fishburne thinks about all of this, yet. And according to her Twitter account, Kim Kardashian's too busy grinding with Dallas Cowboys Wide Receiver Miles Austin to even care:

time to shine ;-) RT @MilesAustiniii -@kimkardashian rise and grind. ;)
about 24 hours ago via web

Stay tuned.

Missing TechCrunch Social Currency CrunchUp and SV Angels' Ron Conway

Ron Conway 

The TechCrunch Social Currency CrunchUp and August Capital Party is on, and this blogger's blogging from bed because of just being plain tired. Travel to Georgia, then San Diego for Comic Con. And Comic Con itself, as one person put it, can "challenge your immune system."

Then the topping was last nights San Francisco Chapter of The American Marketing Association Mixer at Osha Thai at 4 Embarcadero Center. Met a lot of new people and had a lot of fun. But afterward, this guy was toast; still am.

So I'm missing TechCrunch' Michael Arrington talk with an angry SV Angels Founder Ron Conway, who's pissed that "MA" said entrepreneurs were "dipshits" at last nights' Angel Conference, according to TechCrunch' MG Sigler. Today, Conway said "Well referring to these entrepreneurs as dipshits is bullshit. It’s bullshit in my opinion. It takes a lot of guts and passion to start a company."

You tell'em Ron. As one who's started two companies, Sports Business Simulations and now Zennie62media, which is still under construction, I'll tell you it's not easy at all. But it's empowering; it's increased my level of self-esteem by leaps and bounds. But the hardest deal is making sure you're partnered with the right people.

If that's not working, it can hurt everything - not your self esteem though.

But today, it's not my self-esteem that's at issue. Now, I'm just plain tired. Maybe I'll rally later.

Mark Wahlberg now has a star on the Walk of Fame by: Nikky Raney

Mark Wahlberg was presented with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard on July 29, 2010.

Wahlberg's initial reaction was shock, "When I heard I was getting this star, I felt like it was a practical joke."

Most Wahlberg fans know him best for his acting career. Movies he has starred in include Four Brothers, The Italian Job, The Departed, The Lovely Bones, and others. Most recently he stars in The Other Guys with Will Ferrell.

Before Wahlberg became a well known actor the 39-year-old spent his younger years as an underwear model for Calvin Klein, and a rapper. Mark was known as Marky Mark in the early 1990s with his hip-hop group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.

Wahlberg is the owner the 2,414th star on the legendary walk of fame. He was joined by his wife and four children, as well as his co-star Will Ferrell.

Congratulations to Mark. He is truly deserving of this star.

(photo courtesy of Google Images)

Jersey Shore premiere of season 2 by: Nikky Raney

Last night (Thursday, July 29) the second season of the Jersey Shore aired on MTV at 10 p.m. This season the cast moved to Miami.

Staring at the television screen and tweeting about what was happening - waiting for something notable and "blog-worthy" to happen.

The show didn't have too many surprises. There was fighting, drinking, spray tanning, clubbing, and yelling. The guidos & guidettes were surprised by the arrival of former cast mate Angelina - who had left last season.

Ronnie and Sammi "Sweetheart" had broken up after season one, and their reunion was hard to watch. Ronnie went so far as to call Sammi the "c-word." It's hard to be too shocked by anything that happens on the Jersey Shore, but for Ronnie to call Sammi the "c-word" was actually shocking.

So, the season premiere wasn't too exciting. There weren't too many moments that are notable, because the entire show is just full of drama and chaos. Even so, the show will still be watched by millions every week, because it's hard to look away.

(Photo courtesy of Jaunted.com)