Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Parkway Theater to get help from Oakland Redevelopment Agency
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Remember the blog post I wrote about a week ago stating that Oakland District Two Councilmember Pat Kernighan should get the Oakland Redevelopment Agency (ORA) involved in the effort to save the now-closed Parkway Theater? Well, I was just contacted by an unnamed source who explained in great detail how and when the ORA will work to redevelop the Parkway Speakeasy Theater, located at 1834 Park Blvd in Oakland. The effort will mean the "best of" the Parkway's employees will be asked to return to their jobs, if they want to do so.
First a brief review.
The once-popular Parkway Theater closed its doors on March 22, 2009 after its owners, Catherine and Kyle Fisher of Downey Street Productions, received an eviction notice from their landlord, the Cheng family of San Francisco just four days before closing. The news caused a major panic within the ranks of Parkway employees, who didn't know what they were going to do for work on the short notice of losing their jobs, and within the community, which didn't know how it was going to replace what came to be a center of the neighborhood. Without the Parkway, the area would be a certain candidate for anyone's definition of "blighted neighborhood."
With rapid restoration of the Parkway in mind, a Facebook-based community group was formed called "Save The Parkway" which kind of morphed into a new group called "I Like The Parkway Speakeasy Theater." (I guess "love" is too strong a term.)
At any rate, the organization, led Peter Prato held a large meeting on March 29th that drew about 40 people, including Kernighan and several long-time Oaklanders. There, it was decided that the organization would work to find a theater operator to rebuild and maintain the Parkway as it was before it closed, but better.
Eventually, an organization called Motion Picture Heritage Corporation (MPHC) stepped in to start talks with The Chengs and Kernighan to in some way acquire the Parkway Theater. While the negotiations have been "back-and-forth", the Parkway community folks were digging for information about and then writing and blogging about MPHC, an action that reportedly upset the groups' head Bill Dever. Since Dever and his partners hail from small Shelbyville, Indiana, they're not used to the very public communications that come with the matter of saving buildings and businesses the community values in California. Dever reportedly threatened to pull out of the deal if the chatter didn't stop.
Well, it subsided, but it didn't stop. Indeed, it got worse for a time, as it seemed Councilmember Kergnihan had one direction, the Parkway Community people another, and the former employees just wanted to be left alone, even as the Parkway Community people held another meeting and a party on May 31st to help get money to them. It was a huge mess. But, as I pointed out before, the best solution was for Councilmember Kernighan to bring everyone together, get the ORA involved, and go on the hunt for a number of developers and operators to compete for the right to rehab and run the facility, not just one.
Finally, it looks like we're on the way to seeing that happen. On Tuesday, members of the ORA, including Deputy Director Gregory Hunter, met with concerned Parkway Theater operatives and MPHC (Kernighan was not in the room) to determine a course of action for the ORA. According to my source, Hunter said "we're stepping" in. What that means is the agency may loan the group money or help MPHC purchase the building from the Chengs. As of this writing, the ORA has all of the property condition information and documents and correspondence that have been written to date. They can now do their research work before determining a specific plan of action.
The next step is a meeting with Kernighan and the Chengs, but my source - who was in the room - is confident that this will jump start the effort to save the Parkway. But my request is that the ORA include a meeting with the Parkway community as well to get their input and see the results of their survey work. I don't think their efforts should be ignored.
Steve McNair's girlfriend Sahel Kazemi killed him
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According to a story by TMZ.com, Tennessee assistant medical examiner Dr. Feng Li said an examination of the crime scene, police interviews, autopsy results, and lab analysis revealed that Sahel Kazemi did indeed murder former NFL Quarterback Steve McNair with multiple gun shots last Saturday.
Both were found dead in his Nashville condominium.
Many reports speculated that McNair was to divorce his wife, but TMZ also learned that the couple planned to purchase a new home. So with this, we can figure out that Sahel Kazemi didn't want McNair to go back to his wife and settled the issue with a tragic action. After purchasing a gun, she shot McNair four times - twice in his body and then in the head - and turned the gun on herself.
This is the timeline presented by TMZ which is to be commended for its work on the McNair story:
- Kazemi was pulled over for DUI Thursday morning between 1-1:30 AM. McNair was a passenger but was allowed to leave the scene via taxi with another person. Kazemi admitted to being high.
-Thursday night, Kazemi purchased a semi-automatic pistol. Police will not say who she got the gun from.
- Early Saturday morning, McNair meets Kazemi at his Nashville condo.
- 1:30 PM Saturday, 911 call is made alerting police of the shootings. Police believe bodies were actually discovered before 1 PM -- cops are "concerned" about the time lapse.
What's interesting is there's no indication Kazemi was arrested by police but that McNair was allowed to leave the scene without her. If the police did take her in if only for a few hours to sober up, she may have felt abandoned by McNair, and that coupled with the fact that he was not getting a divorce, may have pushed her over the edge.
Regardless of the details, it's a terrible end to the life of one of the NFL's most popular stars. I prefer to remember him as I saw him in the 2000 Super Bowl:
Steve McNair's girlfriend Sahel Kazemi killed him
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According to a story by TMZ.com, Tennessee assistant medical examiner Dr. Feng Li said an examination of the crime scene, police interviews, autopsy results, and lab analysis revealed that Sahel Kazemi did indeed murder former NFL Quarterback Steve McNair with multiple gun shots last Saturday.
Both were found dead in his Nashville condominium.
Many reports speculated that McNair was to divorce his wife, but TMZ also learned that the couple planned to purchase a new home. So with this, we can figure out that Sahel Kazemi didn't want McNair to go back to his wife and settled the issue with a tragic action. After purchasing a gun, she shot McNair four times - twice in his body and then in the head - and turned the gun on herself.
This is the timeline presented by TMZ which is to be commended for its work on the McNair story:
- Kazemi was pulled over for DUI Thursday morning between 1-1:30 AM. McNair was a passenger but was allowed to leave the scene via taxi with another person. Kazemi admitted to being high.
-Thursday night, Kazemi purchased a semi-automatic pistol. Police will not say who she got the gun from.
- Early Saturday morning, McNair meets Kazemi at his Nashville condo.
- 1:30 PM Saturday, 911 call is made alerting police of the shootings. Police believe bodies were actually discovered before 1 PM -- cops are "concerned" about the time lapse.
What's interesting is there's no indication Kazemi was arrested by police but that McNair was allowed to leave the scene without her. If the police did take her in if only for a few hours to sober up, she may have felt abandoned by McNair, and that coupled with the fact that he was not getting a divorce, may have pushed her over the edge.
Regardless of the details, it's a terrible end to the life of one of the NFL's most popular stars. I prefer to remember him as I saw him in the 2000 Super Bowl:
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Michael Jackson Memorial dominates Google Trends
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I use Google Trends to follow the most popular Internet searches of the day, and today was no exception. After the moving Michael Jackson Memorial I decided to take a look at what the read was over at the site page. I expected perhaps one or two mentions of "michael jackson" but as of 3:09 PM PST, every one of the top ten searches concerned the Michael Jackson Memorial or some performance that was part of it, but I'm not sure about the reference to Jennifer Hudson being pregnant. She was really on point with her singing, but she didn't look like she was "with child" to me:
1. michael jackson memorial booklet
2. is jennifer hudson pregnant
3. trey lorenz
4. brandon jackson
5. brooke shields and michael jackson
6. shaheen jafargholi
7. shaheen jafargholi michael jackson
8. john mayer
9. smile lyrics
10. smile lyrics charlie chaplin
And here's the screen shot of the site page:
This shows the World public's hunger to read and learn and just plain consume anything about or related to the King Of Pop is still at record-breaking levels. On the Thursday June 25th that Jackson passed, Google had so much traffic the firm's minders thought they were under attack, so it will be interesting to see how today's event impacts Internet traffic by days end.
Meanwhile, here's my take on the memorial with a great CNN-provided montage of Jackson's pop-history:
Michael Jackson's Legacy: Ban child labor in the entertainment industry - guest post from Doc Gurley
Image via WikipediaWe in developed countries banned child labor for many reasons - but one of the primary reasons is the adverse health effects of child labor. One of the Victorian industries that objected the hardest to child labor bans was that of chimney sweeps - the argument being that only tiny humans (read: children) could fit inside a chimney. But then a scientist discovered the link in 1775 between being a child chimney sweep - and scrotal cancer from constant exposure to charcoal dust in trousers. This occupational-disease association was the beginning of child labor bans across industries.
Hundreds of years later, we've got a lone industry holdout which has remained exempt in developed countries - the entertainment industry. Even with restrictions on the hours worked, no other industry is allowed to employ children and babies.
Why should this child labor be stopped? I would suggest a hypothesis - that we have a clear association, like that of charcoal dust and cancer, between childhood exposure to fame and early death. I also would argue that the toxic exposure to fame is dose-dependent. Which is to say - the more famous you are as a child, the more likely you are to have a bad outcome. I would further argue that, like other reasons we've banned child labor in industries, there is also a developmental effect. In other words, the younger you are exposed to this toxic substance (fame), the greater your chances of a bad outcome.
If you view fame as a childhood poison, like asbestos, or charcoal dust, fame acts with life-shortening effect, and its impact is magnified by higher doses and earlier exposures. This is a potent epidemiologic argument for extending our current child labor ban to include our last holdout - the entertainment industry.
I would further argue that, besides early death, fame has a dose-dependent, and age-dependent association (perhaps causality) for two other highly destructive outcomes - substance abuse and mental health disorders. These high rates are also likely increased by earlier exposure to fame. While delaying the exposure to fame until adulthood may not completely prevent fame's destructive effects, it is likely that many vulnerable people will be more resistant at a later age. Furthermore, an adult can make informed decisions about fame exposure in a way that children are incapable of doing. There is also considerable anecdotal evidence that a child who is subjected to intense fame becomes developmentally delayed at the first age of exposure, resulting in delayed or even arrested maturation. The famous person is, for all intents and purposes, arrested at the age of earliest fame, lacking age-appropriate maturity, insight and/or impulse control.
In fact, you could, from an epidemiologic standpoint, argue that we, as a society, by allowing child-labor in the entertainment industry, are enabling, if not causing, the early death and destruction of our most gifted members.
What are the opposing arguments for treating the entertainment industry like every other industry? First, there is, of course, the profit angle. In particular, not just the industry's profits, but the parent's profit. These same arguments historically were used to try to prevent child labor bans in other industries, and are still used today to stymie child labor bans in developing countries.
Second, there is the argument that a talented person "wants" to be famous as a child. From an ethics standpoint, however, we as a society often restrict and severely limit children's desires for their own good - both individually and as a group.
Finally, there is, of course, what I would call the Disney effect - which is to say that our children want to see other children singing and dancing and acting. But is that a sufficient justification for the widespread destruction of talented lives?
I would suggest that, at a minimum, an appropriate legacy for the sad tale of Michael Jackson's death would be a Screen Actors' Guild-RIAA music industry-CDC joint prospective study. If children are to be used in the entertainment industry, it is past time we tracked their health outcomes over time. The results may be shocking - and the study would not be hard to do. Assessing fame is quite simple these days - entire businesses are devoted to measuring it in precise detail. A long-term, longitudinal study looking at the effects of early, dose-dependent fame exposure is the least we as a society owe to the memory of this talented, and tortured, individual - Michael Jackson.
So do you think fame is toxic to children? Should we restrict or track children in the entertainment industry? Weigh in with the comments section. If you want to advocate for protecting children in the entertainment industry, you can go to a page at my website and send an email.
You can read more from Doc Gurley at her website: www.docgurley.com
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Michael Jackson : MJ Memorial makes time stop
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You know it's a special day when your T-Mobile cell phone allows you to make "Emergency Calls only", you know you paid the bill, and you can't even call customer service. I've seen a lot of days and a gaggle of events, but nothing like this. If you didn't know Michael Jackson passed way, today, you do now.
This memorial is incredible: Stevie Wonder just gave a terrific performance. Now, former LA Lakers great Ervin "Magic" Johnson is giving a really personal, funny, ("I didn't know Michael Jackson liked Kentucky Fried Chicken!") and touching speech. And now, Jennifer Hudson's taking the stage. It's simply amazing this was asssembled so quickly and yet so well. It's moving.
Unfortunately, in death, Michael Jackson is more powerful than in life. His power was always to make us happy, if just for one moment in time, feel carefree and joyful. Sadness today, yes, but also clapping, singing, laughter, and joy, and for me, awe. What an amazing power to have, that ability to bring a smile to someone's face. To change the world through the creative act of making a sound. A tune. A song. And how great to take that power and then give back with the money from it. Michael Jackson has given more to foundations and causes than any pop star in history. Michael cared.
For me, this feels like a weird kind of cultural flashback. Reverend Al Sharpton's talking about the 1970 PUSH Convention held in Chicago, at the Chicago Amphatheater, and I was there. From growing up on the south side of Chicago, and knowing people who at least claimed to know the Jacksons, who lived in Gary, Indiana, then coming out here to Oakland, then to Texas for college, and Berkeley for grad school, and everything else, there was Michael Jackson. Always a part of my life. And now, Brooke Shields is fighting back tears to explain a very personal relationship she had with MJ, but I feel like I've grown up with her too. There all of this is, my life in front of me. Maybe yours too.
And now Michael's gone.
But while he's gone, to Heaven, it's not just his music that lives on, but this message: make other people happy, if for one moment. If you have to write something, make it nice, not mean. Sharpton said it best a moment ago and to his kids: "There was nothing strange about your daddy, but what your daddy had to deal with." He's not kidding. Michael Jackson, from the time of his birth to childhood, to adult , to know, was an extraordinary, misunderstood genius of a man who just wanted to be happy, and spread happiness.
I hope and pray we take up his soul and do the same.
Remembering Steve McNair: The 2000 Super Bowl v. The Rams
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The passing via murder of former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair is really hard to take. It's hard because McNair was a major player in my first Super Bowl: Super Bowl 38 (or XXXVIII) in Atlanta to open the new century in 2000. I was their as a guest of the NFL as I was working to bring the Super Bowl to Oakland. (We eventually lost to Jacksonville for the right to host the 2005 Super Bowl.)
McNair's Titans weren't favored to win that game agains the "Greatest Show On Turf", the St. Louis Rams. The Rams were blowing-out and steam-rollering opponents that year and there was no indication that wasn't going to be the case in The Super Bowl.
But someone forgot to tell that to the Titans, led by a stalwart defense and Steve McNair. With the Alcorn State legends fancy footwork, laser passing, and quick decision-making, the Titans stayed within scoring distance of the Rams, then came to one (Titans WR) Kevin Dyson-almost-touchdown-pass of tying the game. After that who knows who would have won? (Come to think of it, what if Rams WR Issac Bruce had dropped that dramatic 73-yard touchdown catch and run? It would have been a new game with the Titans having the momentum.)
What I loved most about McNair was that he was such a leader, such a powerful presence, few reffered to him as a "black quarterback". No. McNair was just the quarterback of The Tennessee Titans, and an undispurted leader. When the Titans drafted Texas QB Vince Young, I thought it was excellent because then McNair would be his teacher, but then he was traded to Baltimore and with that a great pairing for the future came to an end.
Off the field, I assumed McNair was a quiet man who grew up in the South and did not want to make waves. He and former Green Bay Packers QB Brett Farve were the kind of friends who'd go hunting in what I once heard Farve call their three-piece suits: suspenders and overalls. In fact, I'm very surprised Farve hasn't issued a statement at this time, not even on his website.
McNair will be missed by everyone. A sad moment in time.
Remembering Steve McNair: The 2000 Super Bowl v. The Rams
More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget!
On YouTube.com
The passing via murder of former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair is really hard to take. It's hard because McNair was a major player in my first Super Bowl: Super Bowl 38 (or XXXVIII) in Atlanta to open the new century in 2000. I was their as a guest of the NFL as I was working to bring the Super Bowl to Oakland. (We eventually lost to Jacksonville for the right to host the 2005 Super Bowl.)
McNair's Titans weren't favored to win that game agains the "Greatest Show On Turf", the St. Louis Rams. The Rams were blowing-out and steam-rollering opponents that year and there was no indication that wasn't going to be the case in The Super Bowl.
But someone forgot to tell that to the Titans, led by a stalwart defense and Steve McNair. With the Alcorn State legends fancy footwork, laser passing, and quick decision-making, the Titans stayed within scoring distance of the Rams, then came to one (Titans WR) Kevin Dyson-almost-touchdown-pass of tying the game. After that who knows who would have won? (Come to think of it, what if Rams WR Issac Bruce had dropped that dramatic 73-yard touchdown catch and run? It would have been a new game with the Titans having the momentum.)
What I loved most about McNair was that he was such a leader, such a powerful presence, few reffered to him as a "black quarterback". No. McNair was just the quarterback of The Tennessee Titans, and an undispurted leader. When the Titans drafted Texas QB Vince Young, I thought it was excellent because then McNair would be his teacher, but then he was traded to Baltimore and with that a great pairing for the future came to an end.
Off the field, I assumed McNair was a quiet man who grew up in the South and did not want to make waves. He and former Green Bay Packers QB Brett Farve were the kind of friends who'd go hunting in what I once heard Farve call their three-piece suits: suspenders and overalls. In fact, I'm very surprised Farve hasn't issued a statement at this time, not even on his website.
McNair will be missed by everyone. A sad moment in time.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Megan Fox is right, Michael Bey: "Transformers" is a special effects movie!
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Today it was reported that Megan Fox is in "hot water" for her statements regarding the movie "Transformers." Director / Producer Michael Bey was even quoted as saying Megan "Has a lot of growing up to do." ABC News agreed with Bey and said Fox "put her foot in her mouth again." Well, folks, Megan Fox, one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood in more ways than one, didn't put her foot in her mouth and Michael Bey and ABC News should appologize to Fox for their statements.
Megan Fox
What did she say? In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Fox said this:
Question: What percentage of your (acting) range have people seen so far?
Megan Fox: Seven percent. On the new one, I tried. But unless you're a seasoned veteran, working with Michael Bay is not about an acting experience.
And later...
Question: You're a bigger star now than when you did the first Transformers. Did they beef up your role in the sequel?
Fox: The humans are still secondary to the robots because it's a movie about robots. I feel like the part is adequate. I feel like we do something that's watchable on our end and then ILM makes it phenomenal.
Question: You don't sound convinced that this is the greatest movie on earth.
Fox: It's not trying to be the greatest movie on earth. It's going to be the best action movie of the summer. Hands down, it will win that. But it's not trying to be a Golden Globe-nominated film. It's a badass popcorn summer movie.
Question: You up for a third Transformers?
Fox: Sure. I mean, I can't s--- on this movie because it did give me a career and open all these doors for me. But I don't want to blow smoke up people's ass. People are well aware that this is not a movie about acting. And once you realize that, it becomes almost fun because you can be in the moment and go, ''All right, I know that when he calls Action! I'm either going to be running or screaming, or both.''
Michael Bey's response was less than diplomatic:
Michael Bey
Well, that’s Megan Fox for you. She says some very ridiculous things because she’s 23 years old and she still has a lot of growing to do. You roll your eyes when you see statements like that and think, “Okay Megan, you can do whatever you want. I got it.” But I 100% disagree with her. Nick Cage wasn’t a big actor when I cast him, nor was Ben Affleck before I put him in “Armageddon.” Shia LaBeouf wasn’t a big movie star before he did “Transformers”—and then he exploded. Not to mention Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, from “Bad Boys.” Nobody in the world knew about Megan Fox until I found her and put her in “Transformers.” I like to think that I’ve had some luck in building actors’ careers with my films.
But Megan Fox is correct, moreover, Bey's own comments defend her, as well as the fact that Bey poses not with Fox or the other Transformers stars, but with a robot.
The real star of Transformers with Bey
What Fox is saying is what everyone knows: Transformers is a special effects-driven movie. If Bey were to make an actors movie, this would not have been it, and he would have not plucked the unknown Fox for the role. That's essentially what Fox is saying. But what's so bad is Bey's reach for ageism: Fox's being "23-years old" has nothing at all to do with her statements; anyone could have made them of any age and have been totally correct.
Making comments on someone's age is more often than not inappropriate in a society where 40-year old women look like they're in their 20s, 25-year-olds marry 45-year-olds, and rockers are still hard at it in their late 60s, some dating women in their 20s. On top of that, we have 20-year olds establishing companies that reach billions in value.
And to add sauce to the goose, digital media has slammed decades of music and television together, such that today, Michael Jackson's songs of 30 years ago top the Billboard charts in the wake of his death.
Slowly, technology is making age passe, but even with that I must observe that Michael Bey's a bit behind the times. Perhaps he should pay less attention to age and to insulting his stars and more to the substance of his movies.
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