Zazzle Bay To Breakers Talking Dog Search 2011

The first Zennie62 Zazzle Bay To Breakers Talking Dog Search 2011 is over, and the result is, well, er, there, ok, almost was a talking dog.

But the dog was preoccupied with a man in a wheelchair. Poor puppy was silent and focused. Couldn't get a word out of him if i tried, and as the video shows, I tried.

This blogger's search for at least one talking dog at the 100th Bay To Breakers started from the moment I got off the BART train, where, upon running into my friend Dave, asked him if he had a talking dog. Dave said his dog went off to New York for a week, and I speculated that we may see him on The Late Show With David Letterman.

I then went to my friend, KRON Channel 4 San Francisco's Mr. Involvement Vern Glenn and SF Police Officer Carcelen in search of a Talking Dog. Officer Carcelen said that I could find one in a few hours, after people got hammered, then they would be crawling on all fours.

So, I figured I'd spring the question on Bay To Breakers GM Angela Fang. Expecting that I would ask a serious question, it hit her from left field and the look on her face was priceless!

Yeah, this was fun. But I do wish some dog caretakers would let their dogs talk. It would save humanity!

In all, I asked almost everyone I encountered: two women at the Park Chalet, assorted dog walkers, two Ghostbusters - you name em, I asked em.

There was another dog that fit the qualification - a cute little Shih-Tzu - Poodle mix that was just lapping-up the attention. But, not a bark at all.

Well, I tried.

Bay To Breakers - 100th Zazzle Bay To Breakers Winning Runners Video

This, above, is the video companion to the blog on the 100th Zazzle Bay To Breakers race. In it, we hear that Ridouane Harroufi said he was determined to "win" this time, since, as race Elite Athlete Coordinator Josh Muxen said, "we keep bring him back" until he wins.

Jack pot!

Also in the video are women's winner, Lineth Chepkurui, and the legendary Meb Keflezighi, with Cal's Bolota Asmeron. Women's second place winner Mamitu Daska, and Michelle Evans, with her friend Heidi, also appear in the video.

Here's the original blog post, below.

Bay To Breakers finish line, a photo by zennie62 on Flickr.

The man crossing the finish line in the photo is the overall winner of the 2011 Bay To Breakers. His name is Ridouane Harroufi - the Moroccan become the first non-Kenyan to win the Zazzle Bay To Breakers. Later expressing a desire to "win it all," Harroufi's time of 34.26 didn't set the record, and he won by three seconds, but it was enough to clear his objective.

Lineth Chepkurui, a Kenyan, continued her dominance of the Bay to Breakers, winning for the second straight year and for the third time since 2008. Chepkurui's time, 39:12, came even though she complained of a minor hip pain that she feared would hamper her performance this year. It didn't.

The pre-race greatly hyped Meb Keflezighi finished in 7th place with a time of 35:34. Hey, give Meb credit; it was his first Bay to Breakers race.

The first Americans to win for the men and women were Jason Hartmann of Boulder, Colorado, and Oakland's Magdalena Lewy-Boulet. Her time was 41:26; his time was 35:28.

Other notable finishers were Stanford's Annie Bersagel and Cal's Bolota Asmeron, who posted times of 42:09 and 36:40, respectively.

As this blog post is created, this blogger is at the press tent in front of thousands of people crossing the finish line, and on a day where it was scheduled to rain.

Thankfully, it didn't happen. As Chepkurui later remarked, the weather was "perfect."

Stay tuned. I still haven't spotted that Talking Dog yet.

Oh, and about that Talking Dog search....

On Stephen Hawking, Heaven, Orgasm, and Fairy Tales

Famed scientist Stephen Hawking says that Heaven is a fairy tale. Aside from the obvious fact that man never experienced an orgasm, the point of it all is to have faith in the existence of Heaven. It's not for me to prove to you that it exists. (And if I have to spell it out for ya, when one reaches orgasm they say "Oh God." Hawking has three kids.)

I think Hawking is just plain afraid to die, but rather than admit that fear, he goes off on those who have faith in God and that they will be in Heaven when they pass on.

I'm also tired of the media propping up one more old white male professor to tell me that God and Heaven don't exist, and in a way that makes human have faith in the scientists and not God. Ever notice how it always makes them look good? 'Oh. I'm smarter than you.'

Geez.

For example, someone on Twitter asked me to prove the "existence of Heaven." My Twitter tweet was...

@zennie62 Zennie Abraham
@noveldevice WHAT. You want proof that Heaven exists? Go find it yourself! I'm out golfing!

That person came to me, and is having a hard time wrapping her mind around the concept of faith, or that I'm more interested in golf that preaching to her. If she's a PhD student, she can figure it out herself.

But then, one doesn't need a Phd...

And, again, Stephen Hawking fails to mention the Devil and Hell. Which could only mean that he's a messenger of the Devil, and sent from Hell.

Just my take.

San Francisco Event: America's Cup Yachts Sail into SF, Tuesday

This press release on a special Tuesday San Francisco event - " America's Cup Yachts Sail into SF" - was sent today:

TWO YACHTS REPRESENTING AMERICA’S CUP HISTORY SAIL INTO SAN FRANCISCO
USA 76 and Replica of AMERICA Come to San Francisco Bay in support of 34th America's Cup

WHAT: In support of the 34th America’s Cup, AMERICA and USA 76 are coming to San Francisco to allow residents and visitors the opportunity to experience the excitement of authentic America’s Cup yachts. Operated by Troy Sears, the yachts will offer trips to individuals, groups or corporate parties beginning May 25, 2011 through September 2011.



AMERICA is a replica of the 139-foot yacht that won the Royal Yacht Squadron's "100 Guinea Cup" race around the Isle of Wight held in 1851. The replica was built in 1995 at a cost of more than $6 million. It now serves as a sailing vessel for entertainment and hospitality events, private charters and individual sails for up to 80 people, and will be operational in San Francisco through September 2011 before it returns to San Diego.



USA 76 is an 85 foot International America's Cup Class yacht previously owned and raced by the ORACLE Racing Team in their challenge for the 2003 America's Cup held in Auckland, New Zealand.

WHEN: Tuesday, May 17 - 8:00 - 8"30 am.

WHERE: Boats will sail under Golden Gate Bridge and along Cityfront to PIER 39

TICKETS: USA 76 and yacht America are operated by Troy Sears. To make reservations and purchase tickets for USA 76 or yacht AMERICA, call 1 - 855 - ACSF 2013 (855 - 227 - 3201)

CONTACT: Beth Schnitzer, SPRITZ, beth@spritzsf.com, cell: 917 - 287 - 7064

AT&T Bait-And Switch DIRECTV Update: AT&T Comes Through

On Saturday, this blogger fired off a hot blog post about AT&T and how it appeared that the representatives were trying to turn me toward AT&T U-verse, when I just wanted high-speed Internet service.

Well, thanks for my use of new media, including Twitter, and a blog post deliberately coded to get the attention of AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, AT&T Public Relations saw and read my blog post, and a representative by the name of Rose called me - three times until she got a hold of me on the phone - on Saturday.

She apologized for my experience, and explained that AT&T U-verse wasn't only a system to replace DIRECTV; I can keep my DIRECTV service and still have high-speed Internet, provided under the AT&T U-Verse brand.

She also said she would make sure that my Wednesday appointment for installation was kept.

What this shows is the following:

1) That new media - or if you prefer "social media" - can and does eliminate the barriers between people and corporations.

2) That some companies do understand the power of social media, or what I call "social broadcasting", and have employees designated to respond to complaints that appear on, in this case, Google News and Twitter.

3) That anyone can build such a "social broadcasting" system as I have constructed.

Finally, this is, I must be honest to blog, the first positive experience I have had with AT&T. I was an iPhone user, until AT&T put the same $1,033.36 charge on my phone bill each month, said it was a mistake, then a whole new set of AT&T employees said it wasn't a mistake. I cut my contract.

That's right. The exact same charge, each month.

I even had a conference call with an AT&T rep and an American Express rep, just to get AMEX to ignore the charge each time it popped up.

That was three years ago.

And later that same year I had AT&T wireless service that never worked, and was the focus of a successful class action lawsuit.

I bought a Samsung T-Mobile phone because it looked like an iPhone, but without the AT&T hassle that came with it.

And before that, there was my experience with a defective Cingular cell phone, just before Cingular was consumed by AT&T:



So, with all of that bad history, I'm giving AT&T one more try. This time, I think it's going to work.

At least, I have faith.

Stay tuned.

Ridoune Harroufi, Bay To Breakers winner, with Josh Muxen, Angela Fang, and Katie Harrar

Allison, Courtney, and Stephanie: Media PR Rock Stars

IMF's Dominique Strauss-Khan proves that having a big title does not mean you have common sense.
Married dude accused of rape.

Zazzle Bay to Breakers Director Angela Fang: Winning

Bay to Breakers winners with Angela Fang, a photo by zennie62 on Flickr.

For as much criticism and, at points, awful comments from activists and some bloggers over the years, Zazzle Bay To Breakers General Manager Angela Fang (third from left in the photo) must be congratulated for pulling off what everyone here says has been a successful 100th Bay To Breakers.

Over the last decade, Fang has seen everything from rains, record-breakers, and drunks, over the evolution of San Francisco's giant excuse to party.

But Fang's biggest challenge has been dealing with angry community groups who want change on one side, and "race preservationists" who want nothing about the Bay To Breakers to change, including the floats and open containers of booze.

Fang has weathered all of the public relations turmoil with a smile and a determination to complete the job of producing what really is a magnificently complex undertaking. It's no small feat to coordinate an event that draws over 100,000 people.

And like, say, Comic Con in San Diego, those 100,000 people aren't under one roof - they're all over the place! The potential for disaster is extremely high, and Fang's team has experienced a number of events that could have gone extremely bad.

One of them, involved Ken Bye, who had a heart attack while running the 2010 Bay To Breakers, went into a coma, then came out of it, only to go into another one sometime later. Mr. Bye's back this year, walking with a group of supporters.

Rather than cover an event like that up, Fang and her staff talk about their support for Mr. Bye, and celebrate his return to The Bay To Breakers.

So, if you happen to see Ms. Fang on the streets of San Francisco, give her a nice statement of congratulations. She deserves it.

Bay to Breakers winners with Angela Fang

More runners coming in from Bay To Breakers

Zazzle Bay To Breakers Elite Runners Press Conference

This is the only full video of the entire Friday Zazzle Bay To Breakers Elite Runners Press Conference. It's 50 minutes long, and not only includes the introductions of each of the Bay To Breakers Elite Runners, but interviews with sponsor representatives, including Zazzle Founder and CEO Jeff Beaver.

But who are the "elite runners?"

According to the press info, here are some highlights about them:

- American Meb Keflezighi is fresh off a 3rd place finish over 10k in Madrid. He is the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the marathon, and 2009 NYC marathon champ. Meb looks to add to his stellar running resume in his Bay to Breakers debut.

- Lineth Chepkurui from Kenya, defending Battle to the Breakers Champion from 2010, is 23 and is looking to capture her third Bay to Breakers title. Her 2011 campaign includes a victory at the BAA 5k, a runner-up finish at the Crescent City Classic, and a team gold medal at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.

- Also making his B2B debut is 2009 Boston Marathon champ Direba Merga. The 28 year old Ethiopian is the 2011 RAK ½ marathon and Yangzhou ½ marathon champion.

- At 25, Misiker Mekonnin Demisse is coming off a big win at Lilac Bloomsday 12k where she surprised the field to become the race’s first Ethiopian female champion. She looks to continue her success in the streets of San Francisco.

- From Oakland, CA, Magdalena Lewy-Boulet is the fifth fastest American woman of all time in the marathon, setting the mark in the 2010 Rotterdam Marathon. Magda is also a 2008 Olympian for the US in the marathon.

Also, Katilin Gregg, from UC Davis, is running the Bay to Breakers for the first time as an elite runner. And Gregg and Neil McDonagh claim the "home field" advantage, where Gregg can walk home as she lives two-blocks from Golden Gate Park, and McDonagh grew up in the Sunset District.

Well, bed awaits. This damn thing starts at 7 AM this time around! That's the only part of the deail I'm not jazzed about.

Plus, it's starting to rain!

Oh, bring your Talking Dog:



Stay tuned.

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