USA v Algeria World Cup: Oakland cheers Landon Donovan goal

It could be said that the USA's win over Algeria in this morning's World Cup Soccer match caused the Toronto Earthquake. Indeed, you would be excused if you thought that the Toronto Earthquake happened because of USA Soccer Star Landon Donovan's monsterous goal. While Donovan's goal didn't start an earthquake, it did send America into hysterics, and that was certainly evident in Oakland, California.

Pure Joy in Oakland

The Era Art Bar on Grand Avenue and Broadway was the crowded scene, with people cheering for the USA and for Algeria. In fact, there was a health contingent of Algerian fans lined along one wall of The Era Art Bar. It was a friendly place to be, though, as people stood and sat with eyes glued to the TV sets at the bar.

The game went back and forth, and it looked like the USA and Algeria would both be eliminated as neither scored a goal for most the contest. Plus, again, the USA had a goal taken away from them for an offsides call that wasn't, causing many to remember the USA Slovenia match. (FIFA really needs to install Instant Replay!)

But then at 90 minutes stoppage time, the energy in the room changed as the USA came charging down the field toward the Algeria goal. You could feel the room swell with excitement. Then, after one kick attempt failed, Landon Donovan swooped in to slam the ball home! USA scored and won 1 - 0.

The room erupted with cheers of USA! USA! USA! That goal and the USA win was a great way to start a Wednesday. The USA advances to the field of sixteen. But can't we just win one outright without it being a nail-biter?

Stay tuned!

General Stanley McChrystal ousted by Obama over Rolling Stone blast

Stanley's out 

Embattled General Stanley McChrystal was "ready to resign" his position Tuesday according to The Huffington Post. Today, Wednesday, President Obama gave him a helping hand by pushing him out of the door.

General McChrystal and his staff were the focus of an exposive Rolling Stone Magazine article called "The Runaway General" which has not yet hit the newsstands. Excerpts presented in this space on Tuesday paint a picture of a general who's more like King Kong than Douglas MacArthur, especially in his view toward civilian officials, most notably the President of The United States, who he described as "intimidated" by top military brass in an initial meeting.

The quotes add up to a climate of almost total disrespect for the civilian military officers selected by President Obama, as well as for Obama himself. Here's Obama announcing that he's accepted McChrystal's resignation:



President Obama replaced General Stanley McChrystal with the well-repected and well-liked General David Petraeus, who understands how to cultivate power, unlike General McChrystal, who may be out of the military altogether.

Obama is a tough guy

There's a weird perception that President Obama's not "tough" and is "weak" but that view is a myth. For example, some may be surprised to learn that President Obama has ordered the murder of Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, by using the C.I.A.'s Covert Drone Program, according to New York Magazine.

That fact was couched in a joke that Obama tossed out at this year's White House Correspondents Dinner when he said he had two words for The Jonas Brothers regarding the dating availability of Obama's daughters: "predator drones."

It can be said that those two words could have applied to General Stanley McChrystal. Obama did the right thing by getting rid of him. The President had to send a clear message that he's in charge and he will be not just respected but feared. Things were getting a little out of hand in Stanley McChrystal's office. That will not happen with General David Petraeus at the helm.

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Toronto Earthquake felt in Western New York and southern Ontario

A few months back when this space was reporting on the record number of large earthquakes the World has experienced this year, some complained that the blog posts were just a scare tactic to gain Internet traffic. Tell that to the people in the Toronto Earthquake and those all along the Northeastern United States who felt it.

Toronto was hit by a 5.0 Richter Scale Earthquake today that started near the Ontario-Quebec border and reportedly shook parts of upstate New York and Ohio as well as Chicago, Cleveland and Indiana.

New York Zennie62.com Blogger Suzannah B. Troy shares her view and experience with today's 5.0 Toronto Earthquake (and talks about the USA's World Cup win, too):



Why was the Toronto Earthquake felt over such a large region? The U.S. Geological Survey explains that a quake in the Northeastern United States "can be felt over an area as much as 10 times larger than a similar magnitude earthquake on the West Coast."

With all of these large (over 4) earthquakes occurring in 2010, there's got to be something going on.

Stay tuned.

The Green Hornet Movie Trailer shows promising remake of classic

The Black Beauty

As a kid in the 1960s, The Green Hornet was one of this bloggers favorite television shows. The reason wasn't the character of Britt Reid / The Green Hornet, or Kato, played by Bruce Lee. It was because of the car: The Black Beauty. A cool, lethal vehicle that plays a starring role in the 2011 big screen remake The Green Hornet.

If the recently released trailer is a decent representation of what to expect from the film, it's going to be a hit, and The Black Beauty will be its star.

The Green Hornet stars Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz, Jay Chao, Tom Wilkinson, and Academy Award-winner Christoph Waltz in what can be described as an "origin" picture which will explain how The Green Hornet came to be. Here's the video trailer:



While the movie is obviously set in modern America, what remains as the connection to its 1960s TV past is the Chrysler Imperial that is converted to become The Black Beauty. It's a car that Chrysler should make for purchase today (without the machine guns, of course); it would turn around that car maker's fortunes overnight.

As was the case when a kid, I'll see The Green Hornet for the car first, then for Cameron Diaz.

Rock the Casbah!

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums says Mayor's job can be done "anywhere"

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums

The San Francisco Chronicle's lead story in the newspaper edition has the not-good-SEO title, "Just before budget deadline, Dellums weighs in," and has Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums looking every bit like the leader he wants you to think he is.

One photo features Mayor Dellums giving a "you lookin' at me" stare at someone. Another photo has Mayor Dellums with his hands clasped together as if he's the all-knowing seer-in-charge.

All of that's great PR for Mayor Dellums, that is until he speaks: I'm the master strategist," Dellums said according to Matthai Kuruvila at SFGate.com. "My job is to establish strategy, to establish the policy framework within which those negotiations would take place. And I have assiduously and diligently and coherently done just that."

Really, that comments' OK. A mayor's supposed to be a cheerleader for his own actions. But then Dellums gets a little weird. "I have been briefed to the max. It would seem to me that to the most casual observer, that I'm totally in command of what it is we're trying to do. My job is to direct."

Visions of a statute of Mayor Dellums come to mind at this point, with Dellums right arm and extended index finger pointing the way.

That would seem to be enough, but then the Mayor goes off on an existential rant, saying "In the world of computers and the world of telephones and the world of faxes, you can do this job anywhere."

What's that? Let's look at the quote one more time:

"In the world of computers and the world of telephones and the world of faxes, you can do this job anywhere."

That means Mayor Ron Dellums can be outside of Oakland, in, say, Paris drinking coffee at an Internet cafe on the L'Avenue des Champs Elysées, and still run Oakland from his laptop. Right?

Let's take that example.

While drinking coffee Mayor Dellums gets a call from one of his aides that a child was killed by a stray bullet in Oakland. The cafe happens to have a World Cup game on in the background. The family of the boy would like Mayor Dellums to come and say a few words of support and bring life back to a neighborhood that needs a lift.

Mayor Dellums says "Uh. Ok. Uh. What should I do?" The aide suggests using USTREAM, a computer, and a projector to make a live stream of the Mayor issuing soothing remarks to the people at the church in Oakland. The Mayor says, "Good idea."

Within two hours, the system is set. The family thinks the Mayor's Office's idea is a little weird, but goes along with it. After all, at least the Mayor's doing something.

The Mayor starts by saying "Today, marks a dark day in Oakland," as he sits in sunny Paris, France. "One of Oakland's young was taken from us today. But we will not let his passing or the way it happened dampen our sprit! We will lift Oakland up in the name of this boy! We will...

Then someone in the background and in the cafe yells "GOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!"

I think you get the idea.

A Mayor has to be in their town to not just run it, but be there for the people of it. Oakland is not a city a Mayor can run effectively from Paris, France, or Mongolia for that matter. To be a good Mayor of Oakland, the person must be in Oakland and with its people as much as possible.

Mayor Dellums, the coffee in Oakland's just as good as the coffee in France.

Earthquake Canada shakes NYC + Soceer + Taylor indicted by Suzannah B. Troy

Time for the NYC round-up live from New York!   The USA soccer team won!   There were loud screams of joy I witnessed and show you for a mili-second here in NYC.   If you felt your home shaking here in NYC and it wasn't from passionate love or a subway line running under your home than it must have been the 5.5 magnitude earthquake from Southern Ontario, Canada.

I think it was about 1986, I remember feeling slight tremors from an earthquake so it wouldn't be a first for New Yorkers.



On to sad bad news.  LT, Lawrence Taylor was indicted for having sexual intercourse and oral sex with a minor.  The New York Post wrote this, "Taylor, 51, a Hall of Famer with a drug-plagued past, was slapped with felony rape, misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child and other charges in the May 6 incident."
and this as well.

 Taylor's agent, Mark Lepselter, told The Post today, "The bottom line is, there was no surprise" from the indictment. "We weren't blind-sided."  


How ironic is that statement about being "blind-sided" when Taylor is the crown jewel of the best selling book and film that won Sandra Bullock an Oscar and proved she was blind sided when it came to her cheating husband.  Ironic for Taylor because he could have ridden the wave of the success of "The Blind Side" which  pays tribute to him in the opening lines of the film but instead he road his way in to self destruction, yet again.


I feel most sorry for the young woman that was exploited and pray she achieves her dreams and or at least is safe among friends..




The New York Post reports New Yorkers think government, Albany and I will add in City Hall, stinks!


On to happy news.  I have more footage of Giuseppi Logan who will be playing a gig at the 5C Cultural Center Sunday at 5:30.  GIuseppi composed and played sax on his two successful albums by ESP records in the 1960's before he self destructed and disappeared.  But I filmed him 2 years ago in Tompkins Square Park and he is no longer lost but on the road to redemption late in life.  He has a new album, his first since the 1960's and the album is well received.

Giuseppi Logan is playing the piano in Tompkins Square Park. The piano is there as part of a program called "Arts Activism in Action."  Volunteer, Gary Newton unlocked the piano so Giuseppi Logan could play.  I am told GL played the bag pipes, flute, sax, clarinet and piano.

He told me he wished he had a piano in his home.

Right now we can't even get his phone up and working.  Hope to have that resolved soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClEa5B4eRb8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSKRb-69Ywo

My YouTube documentary playlist

http://www.youtube.com/my_playlists?p=D1175469A77B9F2C

Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer to Produce 83rd Academy Awards

Well, the Adam Shankman Oscar production stint lasted all of one year, unfortunately. Because, for all of his flirting and grind dancing with Miley Cyrus, Shankman did a terrific job in co-producing the 82nd Annual Academy Awards.

Bruce Cohen 

Now, a new team gets a chance: Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer were selected to produce the 83rd Annual Oscars. According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science, the pair produced the Academy’s first Governors Awards last November.

AMPAS President Tom Sherak is happy

During the announcement AMPAS President Tom Sherak said, "I'm absolutely ecstatic that Bruce and Don have accepted my invitation to produce and direct the 83rd Academy Awards telecast. Their work in producing the Academy's inaugural Governors Awards was exceptional and I am confident they will bring their creative vision and extraordinary talent to produce (and) direct a most memorable Oscar show."

Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer are ready

Bruce Cohen, who won the 1999 Best Picture Award as producer of American Beauty, said "I fell in love with the Oscars as an eight - year - old kid, the night my grandmothers let me stay up to watch for the first time. It is a dream come true for me to now be producing the show with the phenomenal Don Mischer, whom I've had an incredible time working with in the past. We hope to create a show that celebrates what people around the world love about the Academy Awards year after year - the excitement, glamour and tradition of Oscar Night itself."

Don Mischer 

Don Mischer, who worked with Cohen in 2009 and who produced the incredible We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, said "During my previous collaborations with Bruce, I have come to know him as a passionate, smart and creative producer, and I couldn't be more thrilled to now be working with him on the Oscars. As a producer and director, I have always been inspired by the live broadcast of major, high - profile events and when it comes to that, it doesn't get any bigger than the Academy Awards. The Oscars are truly 'appointment' television, they're eagerly anticipated around the world, and they offer a unique opportunity to celebrate the extraordinary artists who take us on a journey every time we step into a movie theater."

The Oscars will be presented Sunday, February 27, 2011 at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live on the ABC Television Network.

No word, as of this writing, on the show's hosts. But Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin (AKA Phil Tagami), did a great job this year.

Peter Orszag to quit Obama Administration: the Orszag sex scandal

The Office of Management and Budget Director, 41-year old Peter Orszag, the bespectacled, cowboy boot-wearing, double-chic banging star of the Obama Administration is rumored to plan to resign from his position in a few weeks, according to ABC News.

Peter Orssag and Bianna Golodryga

Before the jokes about Peter Orszag's sex scandals start, this space has to give him credit for steering the passage of the $862 billion stimulus bill, the Obama Health Care Plan, and President Obama's budget. Peter Orszag is the successful representative of our generation of well-trained, young, good-looking, smart, and fun-lovingly sexy professionals.

Any dude who can snag ABC newscaster Bianna Golodryga while banging wealthy shipping heiress Claire Milonas, and running the country's budget is a man.

A man, yes, but not a thoughtful man.

On January 7th Milonas and Peter Orszag announced that she had given birth to a child, leading to this statement by the couple:

"We were in a committed relationship until the spring of 2009. In November, Claire gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Although we are no longer together, we are both thrilled she is happy and healthy, and we would hope that everyone will respect her privacy."

Claire Milonas 

The truth is Peter Orszag met Bianna Golodryga at last year's White House Correspondents Dinner. Orszag then dumped the heiress Claire Milonas for Golodryga while Milonas was pregnant.

If it weren't for the pregnancy, Orszag would be just the White House stud. (Heck, considering Orszag's office has a fireplace, there's no telling how many women he's had in there during the winter.)

Instead, Orszag's a candidate for one of President Obama's lectures on Fatherhood. You know the one? The one where Obams says "any fool can get a girl pregnant."

As quiet as it's kept, you've got to believe Milonas isn't going to raise Peter's kid without his involvement. Moreover, Peter Orszag dumping Milonas, who then has his kid, as he's planning to marry Bianna Golodryga, has to set off Milonas' bells.

And set up more potential embarrassment for the Obama Administration.

General Stanley McChrystal: Obama should fire him for Rolling Stone blast

Stanley McChrystal thinks he can beat you up

General Stanley McChrystal is the worst kind of military official a president can have: a person who shakes your hand, pretends to like you, then talks about you behind your back and to the press. That's what General Stanley McChrystal did to President Barack Obama in the Rolling Stone Managzine article called "The Runaway General", and exactly why Obama should fire him.

For all of his military accomplishments, General Stanley McChrystal is obviously just one man who must learn that in politics people don't have to take your advice all the time, but it's important that they listen.

McChrystal obviously does not know how to cultivate power. It's not being heard or having your ideas adopted, but giving others the impression that the people who matter the most listen to you, even when they don't. That's something this blogger learned working for the last two Mayors of Oakland before the current Mayor Ron Dellums. It's something McChrystal does not know.

According to the New York Times which has excerpts from the Rolling Stone article that was written by war reporter Michael Hastings, the segments' comments were and are damning. Here's a set of them:

Stanley McChrystal, Obama’s top commander in Afghanistan, has seized control of the war by never taking his eye off the real enemy: The wimps in the White House.

Then, according to the New York Times, McChrystal's whining about having to attend a dinner with NATO Allies in Paris in April. This is what went down:

"The dinner comes with the position, sir," says his chief of staff, Col. Charlie Flynn.
McChrystal turns sharply in his chair. "Hey, Charlie," he asks, "does this come with the position?" McChrystal gives him the middle finger. [...]

"I'd rather have my ass kicked by a roomful of people than go out to this dinner," McChrystal says. He pauses a beat. "Unfortunately," he adds, "no one in this room could do it."

Already, we see a thread here: General Stanley McChrystal thinks he's King Kong: the one person who can beat up anyone. McChrystal was probably your schoolyard bully, and it looks like he's not done pushing people around.

People like that often get punched in the mouth either figuratively or literally. It's a good thing General McChrystal didn't say to Vice President Joe Biden "bite me." as an aide suggested he do if asked about Biden's comments. While VP, Joe Biden's just ask likely to tell General Stanley McChrystal to f-off and then give him a good one. Of course, Biden wouldn't actually do that; he would figure out a way to do it politically, where the impact is far more lasting than a punch in the mouth.

And then there's this installment from the Hastings article, one that takes direct aim at Obama:

Even though he had voted for Obama, McChrystal and his new commander in chief failed from the outset to connect. The general first encountered Obama a week after he took office, when the president met with a dozen senior military officials in a room at the Pentagon known as the Tank. According to sources familiar with the meeting, McChrystal thought Obama looked “uncomfortable and intimidated” by the roomful of military brass. Their first one-on-one meeting took place in the Oval Office four months later, after McChrystal got the Afghanistan job, and it didn’t go much better. "It was a 10-minute photo op," says an adviser to McChrystal. "Obama clearly didn't know anything about him, who he was. Here's the guy who's going to run his [expletive] war, but he didn't seem very engaged. The Boss was pretty disappointed."

Translation: McChrystal's insulted the President didn't treat him like a rock star. Well, that's just too bad for McChrystal. It also illustrates my central point: McChrystal's too much the pugilist to understand how to build and cultivate power. His ego is so large that it blinds him to the need to form power relationships.

McChrystal's schoolyard bully view of the World cost him a chance to build a good relationship with President Obama. McChrystal certainly has one with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is reported to have said "Give Stan what he wants", and that's only because she feeds his towering ego. Can you imagine what McChrystal would have said about Hillary Clinton if she didn't?

While Obama may not do it, the best move is for him to sack McChrystal. Then he will have time to reflect on his mistakes and learn that in politics, the guy who can beat up everyone in the room is often the one who's the weakest person in the room.

Tom Hanks films Larry Crowne; Larry Crowne script was leaked

Three days ago, this space featured a photo of Toy Story 3 actor, the Legendary Tom Hanks, looking at playback from his upcoming movie Larry Crowne, co-starring Julia Roberts. In the process of researching for that blog post, at least three sites have it, two for free and one for pay.

Of the free websites, one is a Julia Roberts Fan site called AboutJulia.com, and the other is the beloved Awards Daily.com.

The third site is called "The Tracking Board" where you can get it for $59.

With all the Internet exposure, I figured Tom Hanks deliberately leaked the November 2009 draft of the script to create buzz before Toy Story 3. So, why not put it on Scribd to generate even more buss, right? After all, what's the passive aggreession for?

Well, someone managed to convince the dude at Scribd that having the script on Scribd was a copywrite violation. But if Tom Hanks' people are really that concerned about having it out there, why allow all of the links?

A team of people could give Playtone Productions a lot of headaches by just posting and reposting the script. That leads to one question: who leaked it?

Someone out the script out there for view. If I were running Playtone Productions, I'd have done it on purpose, then altered the movie here and there just to add some twists not in the script.

Whatever the case, Larry Crowne's being tossed around and why not?  It's a good script.

Stay tuned.

FIFA punishes Koman Coulibaly for USA vs. Slovenia World Cup call

Koman not in World Cup

After much anticipation over the weekend, FIFA officials failed to announce a real review but they did punish USA vs. Slovenia World Cup match referee Koman Coulibaly for his non-call, call that prevented the United States from winning Friday's epic battle.

FIFA has dropped Koman Coulibaly from the World Cup by not assigning him to the next round of World Cup matches (33 - 40), according to Sports By Brooks.

If you happened to miss the kick and the call - let alone the outpouring of comments, some defending Koman Coulibaly, most not - here's my video:



FIFA defends referees

According to ESPN.com, Jose-Marcia Garcia-Aranda, head of refereeing for FIFA, said "We are very, very satisfied with the performance of the referees."

You've got to be kidding. If Jose-Marcia Garcia-Aranda's and FIFA are happy with the "performance" of referees like Koman Coulibaly, it's obviously a cover for the real story. If FIFA were really "happy" with the refs, Koman would have been assigned to another match.

Not so.

You've got to give FIFA credit for political head-fake that's a thing of beauty. The sports' governing body essentially affirmed Coulibaly's mistake by action, while allowing its words to indicate that Koman would not be punished.

Maybe FIFA officials learned this form of passive aggression after an extended stay in the SF Bay Area?

Blogger News: Oakland Bloggers for Libby Party at Era Art Bar

Relax at Era 

This Wednesday, June 23rd, a group of Oakland friends, boosters, and bloggers (and some combinations of all three) are gathering at Era Art Bar and Lounge for Libby Schaaf.

The event starts at 5:30 PM, in Oakland's Uptown District. The Era Art Bar and Lounge is a new venue, growing in popularity due to it's warm, inviting, large interior and fun atmosphere.

And if that reads like a commercial, well, it is. But really, come on down. You don't have to be an Oakland blogger or a blogger for that matter to join us. But we do ask that you donate $30 to Libby's campaign for the Oakland District 4 City Council Seat.

So, see you Wednesday, June 23rd at 5:30 PM, at 19 Grand Avenue, Oakland, CA‎, (510) 832-4400, and near the intersection of Grand Avenue and Broadway in Downtown Oakland. ‎