SF Events: Ernie Gehr's COTTON CANDY At Balboa Theatre This Weekend

Balboa Theater SF

A San Francisco event must-see: Balboa Theatre's Gary Meyer emailed the news that Ernie Gehr's COTTON CANDY will be at The Balboa Theatre this weekend.

Gary writes:

Critic J. Hoberman has described Gehr's celebrated avant-garde film work as "a tale of three cities": Berlin, his parents' home; New York, where he became known for his structuralist films in the late 1960s; and San Francisco, where he lived and taught from the late 1980s to the mid-2000s. COTTON CANDY visits the beloved Musee Mecanique before its move from the Cliff House to Fisherman's Wharf; relishing the proto-cinematic devices there, Gehr recaptures the dream of cinema before it found its big screen. Gehr introduces the film and joins us for a post-screening discussion.

Check out Cotton Candy this weekend.

Hip Hop News: Too Short Talks New Band, Funk Music Impact - by Davey D

In Hip Hop News, Bay Area Hip Hop Pioneers Richie Rich & Too Short talk about the importance of musicianship & live bands within Hip Hop.  


Too Short: Oakland Hip Hop Royalty 

When we talk about Hip Hop, its important to note that every city and region has its own unique histories and pioneering figures. In New York we give props to Hip Hop’s forefathers, DJ Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa andGrandmaster Flash. They did the first parties, formed the first groups and developed the first techniques throughout the 1970s that laid the groundwork for those who came after. Here out west, 3000 miles away in the San Francisco Bay Area, we pay homage to pioneering figures Todd Shaw aka Too Short, Richie Rich, Freddy B and E-40 to name a few. Like their New York predecessors they too did the first parties, formed the first groups and developed some of the first techniques throughout the 80s that would influence future generations both nationally and around the world.

One of their signature contributions was laying down important blueprints on creating, recording and distributing music independently. The other important contribution from these pioneering artists was the how they used funk music and live instruments to develop the early West Coast sound.

Yesterday we caught up with Too Short at a barbershop around the corner from Mexicali Rose restaurant on 7th and Clay in downtown Oakland. Here he, explained that from the very beginning West Coast Hip Hop had live instrumentation. He noted that when he did his first recordings at 75 Girls record label, like everyone else they had a drum machine but it was complimented with someone playing keyboards, guitars or bass. There was no such thing as sampling for many of the early artists, Short asserted.

Short noted that he was in the tradition of many of his fellow artists and producers like E-40, Digital Underground and pioneering producers Khayree, Al Eaton, Studio Tone, Tommy Foster & Danny McElroy, and Ant Banks to name a few, in the sense that they all played in high school or college bands. Short went on to explain that he started out as a drummer who played in the band at Fremont High School. He said he was also a pretty good ‘one finger expert’ when it came to keyboards and guitar. He named off a string of records including Freaky Tales, Dope Fiend Beat and I Ain’t Tripping where he played the background instruments.

Short added that the use of live instruments allowed early artists to maintain a funk sound that was desired by those who came up either listening or being directly involved in the hundreds of 3-4 man garage bands that existed prior to Hip Hop showing up in the Bay Area. “It was all about musicianship”, he said.Short pointed out that within every Bay Area Hip Hop group there is someone in the fold who can really throw down on the musician tip. It’s part of Bay Area/West Coast culture and our legacy. Short talked about the influence that groups like Tower of Power and Sly and the Family Stone had on early Hip Hop in the Bay.

Shock G of Digital Underground started his group as a full fledge band with a drummer and him playing piano photo credit: ani yapundzhyan

If folks really look closely at Bay Area rap groups you will find that many of them deeply rooted in band culture. I recall earlyDigital Underground shows where DJ Fuze would battle long time drummerChopmaster J while Shock G also an accomplished musician would rock the keyboards as one of his alter ego ‘Piano man‘.

MC Hammer had a lot of early production done by Felton Pilate of Con Funk Shun. Later he would have huge bands at his live shows which included the original horn players from Earth Wind and Fire.

Before Paris also an accomplished musician made his mark as a political rapper, he started out as an artist who was moving in the direction of Prince.

Today artists like Boots Riley of the Coupnot only have their own band, but recently teamed up with Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine to form Street Sweeper Social Club.

Again Bay Area Hip Hop is derived from the funk bands that proceeded them.

This was a point that was re-emphasized by Richie Rich. He said that even though he doesn’t play instruments, he considers himself a musician because as an emcee he uses his voice and flows to play along with live instruments. He went on to add, that over the years he’s come to prefer rhyming with a live band because it allows him a lot of freedom to express himself and also be felt.

We spoke with both Too Short and Richie Rich about the new music venture that’s emerging from their camp. For those who don’t know, Too Short has teamed up with popular accomplished musicians Kev Choice and Martin Luther formerly of theRoots to form a band that has no official name as of yet. Also in the group is Silk E who many know as one of the Bay Area’s dope emcees, who often performs with Tony Toni Tone but as Short noted, she’s also an incredible singer.

During our interview Short talked about how the group has been able to bring such divergent sounds together and make it work. He pointed out Martin Luther‘s soul/neo sou/ and rock backgrounds. He talked about Kev Choicebeing a classically trained jazz musician who can ‘freestyle endlessly’.

‘He’s the exact opposite of me in the sense that he has super positive rhymes and spits rhymes about current events’ Short noted. But that’s what makes the group work.

Silk E rounds out the group with her unique sound and approach

Dubbed Towne Business, their debut performance is scheduled this Saturday September 11th at the Mezzanine in San Francisco. Short noted this will be the first of many shows they plan to do in the Bay Area before taking it on the road.

Here our interviews with both Too Short & Richie Rich-click the links below

Interview w/ Too Short

Interview w/ Richie Rich

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Social Media, Social Networking Specialist Wanted For SF Transit Firm

Hey everyone. A good friend of mine runs a San Francisco-based transit organization. They're in the middle of a total re-branding and seek a social media, social networking specialist. He asked me to assist him in finding the right person for their needs.

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, have over 2 years of experience in new media which calls for running at least one blog for over a year, maintaining active accounts on at least six different platforms, at least one geo-location-based social network, like Foursquare, have a Twitter and Facebook profile (which is expected), are part of the five percent of Twitter users with over 1,000 followers, have at least an active YouTube account with over 5 of your own videos posted, and have at least one social bookmarking profile active, you're a perfect base level candidate.

The best candidates have already served as social networking consultants and can demonstrate that in the application.

If interested, send an emailed cover letter with a resume attached to me at zennie@zennie62.com - I will forward each one to the interested party and help in the selection of the final candidate.

Thanks

San Bruno Fire: YouTube Asks You To Help Victims

The San Bruno Fire of last night, at first locally thought to be caused by a plane crash, but was the result of a ruptured natural gas main explotion, has destroyed 53 homes and impacted countless lives.

San Bruno is also the home of YouTube, with its headquarters located at 900 Cherry Street.

Now, YouTube asks for your assistance in helping the victims of the San Mateo Fire:



You can donate via the American Red Cross with a click here.

More later.

Chevron Ecuador Case: Crude Movie Director Ordered To Talk To Chevron

Crude Movie Producer / Director Joe Berlinger and Lawyer Steven Donziger should have answered the call to my Chevron Ecuador Challenge. Since it's plain to anyone, especially New York U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, that Berlinger has hidden video information relevant to the Chevron Ecuador case, Joe could have saved himself the embarrassment of what happened this week.

Judge Lewis Kaplan has now ordered Joe Berlinger to make himself available to Chevron's lawyers. An amazing turn of events that will most certainly result in the outing of Donziger's case for the sham lawsuit it has been all along.

As this blogger has aggressively stated, Donziger saw an opportunity to collect billions of dollars by presenting a weak case and enlisting the assistance of the Government of Ecuador, while pretending that Ecuador wasn't involved in the lawsuit. His cover? The people of the Amazon, who Donziger claimed to represent.

That argument was destroyed in this space, when evidence was presented proving that the Government of Ecuador itself would collect 90 percent of any damage award that would come from the case, should Chevron lose it. That makes Ecuador itself a party to the lawsuit. Over and above the people of the Amazon, Ecuadorian President and the bizantine and corrupt political system there would have its grubby hands on the money from the Chevron Ecuador case.

Care to lay a bet how much of that money is seen by Ecuador's poor in any way?

Meanwhile Petroecuador and other non-American oil companies have been free to spill oil in the region since Chevron's departure in 1992. Yet, the media has been duped into presenting the facade that American Oil's at fault for Ecuador's problems.

There's no active oil-producing American company in Ecuador as of this writing.

This, learning of what comes of Joe's visit with Chevron's lawyers, is going to be fun.

Stay tuned.

Reggie Bush Scandal: Tony Bruno Weighs In , Talks New Show

Tony Bruno, the legendary sports talk radio host, briefly talked with this blogger about The Reggie Bush Scandal and his new Comcast SportsNet California television show with Gary Radnich this Sunday, September 12th at 9 PM EDT.

First, for those of you who are saying "Isn't Tony in Los Angeles?" The answer is "Yes." But Bruno will, as he put it, "fly back and forth from LA" to do a show in San Francisco - one that he's talked with Radnich about doing for a long time.

"Gary and I have been doing radio for a long time," Bruno said, "and we enjoy doing it together. So we've kicked around the idea of doing something up here on television. And we're finally gonna give it a try."

As to Reggie Bush, who's Heisman hasn't been formally taken from him, even though a rumor surfaced to the level of truth two days ago, Bruno said "It didn't surprise me. The Heisman group was talking about it. I know Reggie had to expect something...But he's with the Saints now and moved on."

One lingering question not answered is if Bush would have to physically give back his 2005 Heisman Trophy. On that Bruno didn't have an answer, but our conversation about what fun Reggie and Kim Kardashian may have had with The Heisman when the two were dating made for a good laugh or three.

Bruno A Veteran

Tony Bruno is a sports talk radio veteran, and host of Into The Night With Tony Bruno, has worked for four networks: ESPN Radio, Fox Sports Radio, Sporting News Radio and The Content Factory. He's filled in (and very well, I may add) for Dan Patrick on The Dan Patrick Show.

But this blogger wonders if Bruno and Radnich are going to "make it rain?"



Stay tuned.

ESPN's Jay Mariotti: LA County DA Drops Domestic Abuse Charges

Jay Mariotti and Girlfriend (?) (Deadspin.com)

ESPN Personality Jay Mariotti, after being declared all but done at ESPN, panned on Twitter, and then canned from AOL Fanhouse, must be breathing a sign of relief, even though he's not out of the woods, because today, Thursday, the LA District Attorney announced it was dropping domestic abuse charges against him.

The Beverly Hills Courier reports that the case was passed on to the City of Los Angeles DA's Office.

But a spokesperson for the City of Los Angeles DA's Office claims the report had not been turned in as of this writing.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock, or just don't pay attention to sports, you know the story of Jay Mariotti's arrest on August 21st. Since then, Jay's been excoriated online and off and in the same way he blasted athletes who were accused of domestic violence.

More later.

KRS-One And Dr Travis Gosa: Is Hip Hop Education a Hustle? - By Davey D

Is Hip Hop Education a Hustle? KRS-One And Dr Travis Gosa weigh in.

As Hip Hop culture expands into new arenas there will always be tensions as established institutions mold parts of the culture to fit into practices ideologies that have long existed and work for them which may be in sharp contrast to the practices and ideology of its practitioners. To the chagrin of those who feel closer to the culture they see Hip Hop being compromised and diluted. Others see it as par for the course. Hip Hop is like any other tool. It reflects mores and mindset of the people who use it.

This essay below was featured on the website Rise Up Hip Hop Nation where guest blogger Dr Travis Gosa of Cornell University raises an important issue about Hip Hop and education..Is it a hustle or something that is breaking new ground and causing tensions among those who feel left behind?

-Davey D-

Is Hip-Hop Education A Hustle? Getting Serious About Rap Pedagogy

Written by Dr. Travis Gosa

Dr Travis Gosa

Sorry for the hate, but I feel obligated to ether Mr. Duey, the rapping math teacher who’s been “putting some flow to STEM subjects.” At the end of August, the white middle-school-teacher-slash-rapper-slash-party-entertainer (I can’t knock the hustle) dropped his second educational rap CD entitled “Class Dis-Missed 2.”The tracklist features 18 educational rap songs including “Big Ballin’ Planets” (an astronomy tune) and “Dewey Decimal System” (reppin’ library science ya’ll).

My beef is not with Mr. Duey’s flow on “Plate Tectonics” or “Long Division.” In fact, I would compare Mr. Duey’s lyrical ability to be similar to that of Mase, Silk da Shocker, or Sudanese-Australian rapper Bangs (“Take U To Da Movies”). Mr. Duey is no Rakim, and I’ve heard worse.

No, I’m ridin’ on Mr. Duey for doing what has become popular of late: the complete bastardization and misappropriation of hip-hop education for profit. Too often, what is packaged as “hip-hop education” and “rap pedagogy” is nothing more than what Greg Tate calls “the marriage of heaven and hell, of New World African ingenuity and that trick of the devil known as global hyper-capitalism.”

continue reading this column by Dr Travis Gosa at Rise Up Hip Hop Nation

While reading this column I was reminded of a speech rap star KRS-One gave a few years ago about education and the many flaws we find within the school system.. He talks specifically about what sort of people and background is needed to teach Hip Hop Culture ...I thought I’d post up this speech to add to the discussion.. You can peep this excellent speech HERE.

-Davey D-

Tom Brady : After Car Accident, At Practice, Ready For Bengals

Photo taken from Photobucket 

Tom Brady, the New England Patriots Star Quarterback-in-search-of-new-contract, was in a car accident in Boston, today, Thursday morning. According to Sports Illustrated, Brady is attending practice, and other reports say he's "just fine."

Considering how severe the accident was, with an unconscious passenger in the other car and the use of the "Jaws of Life" to get that person out of it, for Brady to emerge without a significant scratch is almost unbelievable. But it is believable. Reportedly, Brady declined treatment on the scene.

Tom Brady's in practice and ready for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Stephen Hawking: This Blogger's View Brings Out A Scary Crowd

Stephen Hawking's new book The Grand Design has - as it was designed to do, I suppose - stirred much debate.

In this blogger's case, the approach was to present the little-talked-about view of choice. That is, I choose to believe that God created the universe, where Stephen Hawking elects to assert that God did not create the universe. This video blog explains why:



Now, I never professed to side with either science or religion, understand, because for me, they exist as one. That's a conclusion I also came to at 15 years old, and have not wavered from it since.

My intent was to prove that people who "back" or support Professor Hawking are, in their own way, just as much religious zealots as the people they complain about who are religious zealots. Sadly, I have succeeded.

There's a small crowd out there, some of them who live right in my backyard of Oakland and San Francisco, and frankly mostly residing within a white, male, 20-something to 40-something, moderate education, more beer-drinking than wine-drinking, demographic, who I have come to consider as dangerous. That is, so full of basic anger that they're to be considered not safe to be around until they prove otherwise. They're the kind of people who contact you online just for the sole purpose of being hostile, but in public will hide in the shadows.

They will be the first to say they're not racist, but then lack the proper introspection to ask why they take the time to be who they are? No one black or minority, or female contacts me in the hostile way some of the people I refer to have done. Yes, openly hostile, out-of-the-blue communications primarily via Twitter and email. (Comments I discount because one really doesn't know who the person commenting is.)

So, tired of such a pattern of contact, I'm putting my foot down to the "B Walsh'" types of the World - stop it.

Disagree In An Agreeable Way, Can't You Be?

Prof. Stephen Hawking

What's most disturbing about this situation I point to is the person's inability to disagree in an agreeable way. But then, in this case, how can you disagree when I state my choice of believing in God? It's not something for disagreement. It, as they say, "is what it is."

I have friends who are atheists, but I don't argue with them about that; that's their choice. What I'm more interested in is why a person elects to adopt the belief system they have? In Stephen Hawking's case, the missing issue for me is what personal, not scientific, path led him to his recent conclusion?

For me, the idea that the Universe came from "nothing" is contradictory to the basic mathematical proof that one-times-zero equals zero and one-times-one equals one. That means you can't have a Universe from "nothing" and calls into question why Hawking has such a device as "nothing," if only to be used as a "something" - a something used only to disprove God's role if not God's very existence.

Why?

I also must ask this very thorny question: why is it that the people who introduce the ideas that God doesn't exist as we think of him (like Hawking), or that whites are a superior intellect (like the late William Shockley) tend to be white and male and use "science" as some tool behind which to hide their prejudices?

That's a pattern I find disturbing and unanswered. It seems society spends more time asking why a disproportionate number of black men commit crimes, without stopping to consider the damaging impacts of centuries of racism and discrimination. Then, because of the kind of persons such an environment produces, some so-called scientist, who happens to be white and male, then says, "Oh, they're genetically inferior," which in turn lets racism off the hook. So it's OK for that person, and everyone else to be racist. Think about it.

You're just not going to come up with a black male scientist who asserts that blacks are genetically inferior intellectually.

You see my point here? I'm asking questions about the very psychological underpinnings of why we chose to believe what we believe. For some, my approach is unsettling, but it does not call for the person to be hostile to me. Indeed, I'm concerned that the people who consider themselves scientists or "fans of science" aren't more introspective.

So, I say this, if you can't control yourself, stay away from me, please. It's not worth all the emotion you express. Use it for more productive efforts that advance society.

Tom Brady gets in car accident By Nikky Raney

Photo taken from Photobucket 

Tom Brady, New England Patriots' star quarter-back, was involved in a car accident at 6:34 a.m. on Thursday, September 9, 2010 in Boston, Massachusetts on the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Gloucester Street, according to reports.

Two ambulances arrived as well as the Boston Fire Department. The firefighters had to use the Jaws of Life to free an unconscious passenger from the other vehicle.

Brady's Audi sustained front-edge damage, but the other vehicle, a van, had a traffic light knocked over onto it. The one injured man in the van had blood all over his face and was freed through the roof. Two other passengers were uninjured.

Steve MacDonald, Boston Fire Department spokesman told Boston Herald, said Brady went left when a man in a Jeep Cherokee showed up to the crash site.

Obituary Writing By Nikky Raney

Since Zennie62.com frequently reports on celebrity deaths I thought it would be appropriate to include a blog post from The Future of Journalism to help when writing obituaries. These guidelines are used for journalists - so as bloggers it's all right not to strictly follow. I post in hopes that if someone wants to blog on the recent death of someone but is struggling with putting the post together this may help:

Sierra and Nikky

My class assignment most recently was to write an obituary of one of my classmates. Of course, I chose my  best friend Sierra. It is really quite morbid to write an obituary for your friend - and even more strange being interviewed for your own obituary.

I have actually written an obituary which was published in Foster's Daily Democrat. The obituary was for my Apung (Tagalog for Grandfather) Pidong. I requested to write it instead of the reporters, because when a family member writes it it is more personal. The paper was lucky that I am a journalist, and the obituary met standards. It's easy to understand why papers prefer to not have family members write the obituary.

Anyway, here is the obituary I wrote for Sierra. I will be passing this in at 5 p.m.
Obviously not all the information is factual. I have deleted some of the information to ensure the privacy of Sierra. In the actual assignment the information is included - but I didn't find it to be necessary for the outside world. I did not include any photos within the obituary, because I think that when her real obituary is written there will be a photo from when she is older.

Sierra Lynn Blanchard-Bruce dies at 96

By Nikky Raney

            Sierra Lynn Blanchard-Bruce, 96, a long-time resident Orlando, Florida died on August 23 at Florida Hospital in Orlando.

            Born in ######### on March 2, 1990, Sierra spent the early years of her life in ######### with her parents Scott and Lisa Blanchard and her younger sister Katie.

            Sierra participated in Girl Scouts and Upward Bound before graduating from Valley High School; she spent a semester at the University of Maine and then transferred to New England School of Communications in Bangor Maine. She went on to receive her Bachelor's Degree in Communications spring of 2013.

Sierra and Nikky

            Sierra was offered a job as a reporter for Teen Vogue fashion magazine and was relocated to New York City. In 2015 at the age of 25 Sierra married her college sweetheart Colin Bruce at Central Park and then took a quick honeymoon to Aruba.

            Sierra continued to work as a fashion reporter for Teen Vogue and traveled around Europe visiting Italy, France, Spain and England. Colin had joined the Coast Guard, and the two were very wrapped up in their careers.

            Sierra relocated with her husband to San Diego, California after Sierra gave birth to Peyton in 2017. Sierra became a stay at home mom and took care of her son. Three years later Sierra gave birth to Amelia.

            During the time she stayed home with the children Sierra grew fond of photography. Her passion grew and she was constantly taking photographs of her children and soon was getting requests to take photos in more professional settings. She went back to school and continued to take courses to pursue this hobby.

            In 2030, at age 40, Sierra received her degree in Photojournalism at San Diego State University. Colin had left the Coast Guard and was working as a freelance sport's reporter.

            Sierra started her own photography business in 2034 which she named Sierra's Shots. Sierra was hired to photograph many celebrity weddings as well as fashion events. Her connections from when she worked at Teen Vogue helped her really get her photography business booming.

            Sierra and Colin moved to Orlando, Florida at age 75 to retire. Peyton and Amelia joined together to continue with Sierra's Shots in San, Diego while raising families of their own.

            Sierra became a widow in late 2070 when Colin died in a motorcycle accident at Daytona Beach at age 80. Sierra moved in with Katie and her husband George Drake and their daughter Ashlyn.

            Sierra spent the later years of her life scrap booking and baking goodies for her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She strongly believed, "Life isn't about finding yourself, but about creating yourself."

            Those who knew Sierra best will always remember her for being funny, spontaneous and caring.

            Sierra is survived by her son Peyton and his wife Judy and Amelia and her husband Doug Darrell; her grandchildren Ryan, Thomas, Jane and her great grandchildren Leslie, Michael and Ashley; her sister Katie, niece Ashlyn and great-nephew Theodore.

         The service and funeral arrangements are private as requested by the family.

Maybe later I will post the obituary that was written about me!