Blog Her Blood Drive For Erin Kotecki Vest, August 6, 2011

Erin Kotecki Vest, a blogger who's very active with Blog Her as its Social Media Strategist, needs your help. Frankly, I can't put the words together better than Lori Luna has on the Blog Her website. Here's part of what she wrote, or at least enough to give you a good idea of what's going on with Erin, and why your attending this blood drive, August 6, 2011 at The San Diego Convention Center is so important:

For Erin, without the assistance of plasma through her IVIG treatments, she would not have the ability to build her immune system, which as of today was at a scary zero, meaning she has absolutely no immune system. She cannot, on her own, fight off something so small as the common cold, never mind flu season. She lives in a world of constant hand washing, so much so that when her kids, ages 6 and 8, come home from school, the new normal is wash hands, then hug and kiss Mommy.

In her home there are a lot of new normals. It is now normal that “Mommy needs medicine in her arms” in order to be healthy and protect her major organs and live. This cocktail of medicine that enters through her arm includes much needed plasma; plasma that of course comes from blood donors like you and me. While plasma is not the single source that is keeping Erin alive, it is a critical element of her recovery and immune-building process.

For more information, click here, and remember that it's Saturday, August 6th, 2011, from 10:30 AM to 3:45 PM at The San Diego Convention Center, where the BlogHer 11 Convention will be.

You can also donate at your local blood bank.

Clarence Clemons Dies - Played In Mill Valley, October 2010

The legendary Clarence Clemons died at the young age of 69 and due to complications from a stroke he suffered last week. While Mr. Clemons is best known for his sax work with the iconic Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, he's also fondly remembered as a frequent performer in the San Francisco Bay Area, most famously in Mill Valley.

Clemons is fondly remembered for his habit of showing up during open mic night at the now-closed Sweetwater bar, as well as for being a part of the Marin county community of musicians who put the town on the World's map.

Here, Clarence Clemons is shown in this YouTube video I found, playing with the "The Temple of Soul West," on October 22nd, 2010, and featuring Austin de Lone on keys, guitar, vocals; Jimmy Dillon on lead guitar; vocals by Paul Revelli; Eric McMann on drums; and Clemons providing "sax, vocals, and charm."

A sad day. Clarence Clemons is a known because, as Bruce Springsteen said, it was hard to tell where he separated from his sax. His amazing sound helped give Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band it's unique sound.


Clarence Clemons is a signpost on the Zeitgeist.

Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe, Oakland, Gets Hammered On Yelp

Well, now that Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe is open in Downtown Oakland, in the Fox Theater at the Uptown District, it's time to ask "How's it doing?" When this blogger visited the eatery it was the first day of official public service - not crowded and the food and service were good.

But the next week, Rudy's had an "official grand opening," complete with Mayor Jean Quan and other people who may not visit Rudy's regularly, but had to be there - and that included the media.

So now, with all the hoopla out of the way, Rudy's is a known place. What's the verdict on it?

One visit to Yelp.com, the online hub for reviews on food places, can help answer that question. The answer is that visitors and Oaklanders are excited that Rudy's is open, and they gave me a great little tour of the place in this video, too:



But where Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe gets rave reviews for its space, it gets panned for its service on Yelp. Here's a few samples from Yelpers:

New as they are, it's pretty expected that they're working out a few kinks. Seeing as how they're offering this sometimes sketchy neighborhood (I say this as I used to live 2 blocks away) a respite for liquor soak-me-ups until 1am, Rudy's is a blessing and I look forward to making it my post-bar asylum. Also, if you're looking for grub at 7am, you can find a home here as well.

On the first Saturday it was open, I went with a friend and their computer system crashed and they had to close for about an hour while they rebooted it. They can't work without a computer? But in any case, I used to work for a restaurant and I understand that they're still trying to get everything worked out so we left and got chicken and waffles instead.

The food was pretty average, and a decent price. Apparently our food was held up by a large fish and chips back up in the kitchen, which turned out to be more like fish sticks-although tasty ones.

This places does serve alcohol and I adore that they had the balls to move into downtown and are until 1am (thank you!!) so I can walk over before or after the bar and get a bite. What a novel thought. All in all, I will be coming back because this is what the neighborhood needed, meaning there is a demand and I see it consistently busy with 20 and 30 somethings (and families, a great place for kids, if that's your style).

Love the space. We had very attentive service. I didn't chose well off of the menu but that was totally my bad. Love that they had several good beers on tap and a FULL bar. I need to come back during the full breakfast or brunch menu.

And here's part of one review from a really steam-blowing, pissed-off Yelper named Eddy S:

Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe... can fail. BIG TIME!

I was told I was being too harsh but Im sorry, a Taco Bell has their shit together better then this place. If I had an option of zero stars, I would choose it. This isn't just some rant from an unsatisfied customer but a mere observation from a person who expected nothing more and nothing less from any other restaurant. Below is a list of reasons why I gave it a low rating.

1) Just after saying that it was his first day, the water boy spilled a full cup over my friends shoulder.

2) It took two waiters to take our order (Ok. maybe someone was in training... but the other should have been on point). They still came back and said they didn't know if we wanted our burgers medium or medium rare.

3) I ordered their BBQ Pulled Pork Burrito (yes, I know. Don't expect too much or anything really from a cafe serving a burrito but anything would have been better then what they gave me) I received pulled pork wrapped in tortilla with beans and rice on the side. No, seriously. Just pulled pork in a tortilla and beans and rice on the side. If I wanted to make my own simple burrito I would, at home.

If that's what you're gonna serve then fine, but don't have the audacity to charge $10 for it. Seriously?

4) My friend ordered a BLT with A and the only thing they forgot was the A... seriously?

5) Last but certainly not least, our bill came out to $95 and some change. We collected $50.00 in cash from our crew and asked to split the remaining on two credit cards.

One friend received a credit for $75.00 and the other a credit for $20.00. EXCUSE ME! Did you really think we were giving you a $50 tip on a $95 bill.... are you seriously effing with me?

It's sad to say that this is my very first YELP and it had to be in Oakland. I love Oakland and the Fox Theatre but if this is my choice for late night meals then I will easily stick to my last resort... chips and another beer.

Goodnight.

In short, Rudy's is experiencing "opening restaurant growing pains," but those are generally borne of trying to service a lot of people, which means it's busy, and probably crazy busy after 12 midnight. That's good news, for Rudy's and good news for Oakland's economy.

Robert Reich Tells The Truth About the Economy

Leave it to one of my favorite economic professors, Robert Reich, The Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, to explain our economy in just two minutes, in this video sponsored by MoveOn.org. (My all time favorite economist is the late John Kenneth Galbraith.)

The basic point that Professor Reich is making is that there are not enough good jobs for the middle class because we allowed much of the manufacturing industry to leave America. Meanwhile, what he calls "The Super Rich" only pay 17 percent of their total income in taxes, causing massive budget deficits.

I think Professor Reich could have gone many steps beyond this, and made a six minute video. That video would have shown how costs for everything from cars to homes have increased beyond middle class incomes adjusted for inflation, and how that caused the giant wave of foreclosures.

But all this explaining of what happened is fine; we need to come up with a solution, and do it ASAP.

Stay tuned.

New Academy Members: Katy Perry's Russell Brand, Beyonce Knowles, Lead List

The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences (home of The 84th Annual Academy Awards) has announced it's annual list of new members, and this one of 178 is really exciting, as it's paced by the popular trio of Russell Brand, of the Arthur remake, but better known as Ms. Katy Perry, and Bradley Cooper of Limitless, and The Hangover movie series, and the incomparable Beyonce Knowles, and for her performance in Dreamgirls.

The Academy also took the unprecedented step of adding the documentary film maker Tim Hetherington as a member, who was killed in action Libya.

"These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today. Their talent and creativity have entertained moviegoers around the world, and I welcome each of them to our ranks," said Academy Board President Tom Sherak.

No Twitter tweet from either Brand or Perry on the news, and Cooper is said to "shun" social networking, and Beyonce has had a ton of problems with Twitter Trolls, but there's no word from the fake Bradley Cooper or Beyonce Twitter sites, either.

Academy Picks Less Than 211 Maximum

The Academy could have selected up to 211 eligibles for membership in 2011, but it elected not to do so, leaving observers wondering who should have been on the list that's not there. But that's for another blog, because relative newcomers like Jesse Eisenberg, and Rooney Mara , who played well together with he as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and she as the first girlfriend who told him off in The Social Network, and long-time actors Gerard Butler, David Duchovny, Tea Leoni, have made it this year.

And Ellen Page and Anthony Mackie, who I met at the 2010 NFL Draft...



Are on the list.

Mackie's still living that dream...

Public Relations People?

And before we look at the full list, a special mention of the PR people who really run things in Hollywood. No actor is known. No movie is seen without their influence, and this group of ten is no exception.

There's Ira Rubenstein, the EVP for Msrvel Entertainment, who's helped succesfully steer Marvel from comic book icon organization to movie icon organization in an effort that only looks easy.

Among those joining Ira are Susan Ciccone of 42 West and Alissa Grayson of Universal,

42 West is a marketing company with such clients as Woody Allen, Uma Thurman, Kate Winslet, and picked up Tom Cruise away from Rogers and Cowan. 42 West arguably has some of the most powerful women in entertainment, with Ciccone, and the ever-active Leslee Dart, as well. (And no, 42 West has NO idea I'm blogging this.)

Alissa Grayson, a 16-year industry veteran, was promoted to EVP of Publicity (that's Executive Vice President) of Universal in 2010, and manages a staff of almost 50 people.

Rounding out the list are Jeffrey Hall, Jill Ann Jones (J.J. Jones Creative), Mark Markline (Universal's International Publicity head), Carmelo Pirrone of Sony Pictures, Loren Schwartz of Screen Gems, the Sony ad agency, and Lance Volland of Warner Bros.

Here's the full list of new Academy Members for 2011:


Actors
Russell Brand – "Arthur," "Get Him to the Greek"
Gerard Butler – "The Ugly Truth," "300"
Vincent Cassel – "Black Swan," "Eastern Promises"
Robbie Coltrane – "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1," "Mona Lisa"
Bradley Cooper – "Limitless," "The Hangover"
John Corbett – "Sex and the City 2," "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"
Rosemarie DeWitt – "The Company Men," "Rachel Getting Married"
Peter Dinklage – "Find Me Guilty," "The Station Agent"
David Duchovny – "Things We Lost in the Fire," "The X-Files"
Jesse Eisenberg – "The Social Network," "The Squid and the Whale"
Jennifer Garner – "Arthur," "Juno"
John Hawkes – "Winter's Bone," "The Perfect Storm"
Thomas Jane – "The Mist," "The Thin Red Line"
Nastassja Kinski – "An American Rhapsody," "Tess"
Beyonce Knowles – "Dreamgirls," "Austin Powers in Goldmember"
Mila Kunis – "Black Swan," "Forgetting Sarah Marshall"
Jennifer Lawrence – "Winter's Bone," "The Burning Plain"
Tea Leoni – "Ghost Town," "Spanglish"
Anthony Mackie – "The Hurt Locker," "Million Dollar Baby"
Lesley Manville – "Another Year," "Topsy-Turvy"
Rooney Mara – "A Nightmare on Elm Street," "The Social Network"
Dominic Monaghan – "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
Connie Nielsen – "Brothers," "Gladiator"
Ellen Page – "Inception," "Juno"
Wes Studi – "Avatar," "The Last of the Mohicans"
Mia Wasikowska – "Jane Eyre," "The Kids Are All Right"
Jacki Weaver – "Animal Kingdom," "Cosi"

Animators
Geefwee Boedoe – "Let's Pollute," "Monsters, Inc."
Alessandro Carloni – "How to Train Your Dragon," "Over the Hedge"
Sylvain Chomet – "The Illusionist," "The Triplets of Belleville"
Jakob Hjort Jensen – "How to Train Your Dragon," "Flushed Away"
Biljana Labovic – "The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger," "Idiots and Angels"
Tomm Moore – "The Secret of Kells," "Backwards Boy"
Teddy Newton – "Day & Night," "Ratatouille"
Bob Peterson – "Up," "Finding Nemo" (also invited to the Writers Branch)
Javier Recio Gracia – "The Lady and the Reaper," "The Missing Lynx"
Andrew Ruhemann – "The Lost Thing," "City Paradise"
Kristof Serrand – "How to Train Your Dragon," "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas"
Shaun Tan – "The Lost Thing," "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!"
Simon Wells – "Mars Needs Moms," "The Prince of Egypt"
Art Directors
Anahid Nazarian – "The Virgin Suicides," "The Godfather, Part III"
Lauren E. Polizzi – "Cowboys & Aliens," "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"
At-Large
George Aguilar
Barry Bernardi
Christopher Dodd
Ted Gagliano
James L. Honore
Dawn Hudson
Beverly Pasterczyk
Randall Poster
Ric Robertson
David Schnuelle
Randy Spendlove
Beverly Joanna Wood
Casting Directors
Nina Gold – "The King's Speech," "Jane Eyre"
Jina Jay – "The Reader," "Layer Cake"
Lora Kennedy – "The Town," "Syriana"
Cinematographers
Frank Byers – "Illegal Tender," "Boxing Helena"
Patrick Cady – "Lottery Ticket," "Broken Bridges"
Danny Cohen – "The King's Speech," "Pirate Radio"
Lukas Ettlin – "The Lincoln Lawyer," "Middle Men"
Steven Fierberg – "Love & Other Drugs," "Secretary"
Barry Markowitz – "Crazy Heart," "Sling Blade"
Charles Minsky – "Valentine's Day," "Pretty Woman"
Lawrence Sher – "The Hangover," "Garden State"
Eric Steelberg – "Up in the Air," "(500) Days of Summer"
Costume Designers
Odile Dicks-Mireaux – "An Education," "The Constant Gardener"
Sarah Edwards – "Salt," "Michael Clayton"
Danny Glicker – "Up in the Air," "Milk"
Directors
Gregg Araki – "Kaboom," "Nowhere"
Susanne Bier – "In a Better World," "After the Wedding"
Neil Burger – "Limitless," "The Illusionist"
Lisa Cholodenko – "The Kids Are All Right," "Laurel Canyon" (also invited to the Writers Branch)
Debra Granik – "Winter's Bone," "Down to the Bone" (also invited to the Writers Branch)
Tom Hooper – "The King's Speech," "The Damned United"
John Cameron Mitchell – "Rabbit Hole," "Shortbus"
Yojiro Takita – "Departures," "Himitsu"

Documentary
Jon Alpert – "China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province," "Lock-up: The Prisoners
of Rikers Island"
Amir Bar-Lev – "The Tillman Story," "Fighter"
Lesley Chilcott – "Waiting for 'Superman'," "It Might Get Loud"
Carl Deal – "Capitalism: A Love Story," "Trouble the Water"
Charles Ferguson – "Inside Job," "No End in Sight"
Tim Hetherington – "Restrepo" (posthumous)
Sebastian Junger – "Restrepo"
Thomas Lennon – "The Warriors of Qiugang," "The Blood of Yingzhou District"
Diane Weyermann – "Waiting for 'Superman'," "Food, Inc."
Ruby Yang – "The Blood of Yingzhou District," "The Warriors of Qiugang"
Executives
William J. Damaschke
Richard M. Fay
Donna Langley
Leslie Moonves
Vanessa L. Morrison
Bill Pohlad
Rich Ross
Jeff Small
Thomas Tull
Film Editors
Tariq Anwar – "The King's Speech," "American Beauty"
Naomi Geraghty – "Limitless," "Reservation Road"
Jon Harris – "127 Hours," "Layer Cake"
Darren Holmes – "How to Train Your Dragon," "The Iron Giant"
Pamela Martin – "The Fighter," "Little Miss Sunshine"
Joel Negron – "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," "The Karate Kid"
Terilyn A. Shropshire – "Jumping the Broom," "Eve's Bayou"
Angus Wall – "The Social Network," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Andrew Weisblum – "The Black Swan," "The Wrestler"
Live Action Short Films
Luke Matheny – "God of Love," "Earano"

Makeup Artists and Hairstylists
Judy Chin – "Black Swan," "Requiem for a Dream"
Kathrine Gordon – "3:10 to Yuma," "Ocean's Eleven"
Trefor Proud – "W.," "Topsy-Turvy"
Cindy Jane Williams – "Burlesque," "Hancock"
Wesley Wofford – "Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son," "A Beautiful Mind"
Music
Terence Blanchard – "Inside Man," "Malcolm X"
Fernand Bos – "Crazy Heart," "Cold Mountain"
Graeme Revell – "Darfur Now," "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider"
Producers
Iain Canning – "Oranges and Sunshine," "The King's Speech"
Cean Chaffin – "The Social Network," "Fight Club"
Kevin Feige – "Thor," "Iron Man"
Gary Goetzman – "Where the Wild Things Are," "Mamma Mia!"
Sisse Graum Jorgensen – "In a Better World," "After the Wedding"
Jeffrey Levy-Hinte – "The Kids Are All Right," "Laurel Canyon"
Todd Lieberman – "The Fighter," "The Proposal"
Robert Lorenz – "Letters from Iwo Jima," "Mystic River"
Celine Rattray – "The Kids Are All Right," "Grace Is Gone"
Emile Sherman – "The King's Speech," "Candy"
Emma Thomas – "Inception," "The Dark Knight"
Gareth Unwin – "The King's Speech," "Exam"
Production Designers
Howard Cummings – "I Love You, Beth Cooper," "John Grisham's The Rainmaker"
Therese DePrez – "Black Swan," "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days"
Guy Hendrix Dyas – "Inception," "The Brothers Grimm"
Jess Gonchor – "True Grit," "Capote"
Jane Musky – "Something Borrowed," "Finding Forrester"
Eve Stewart – "The King's Speech," "Topsy-Turvy"
Public Relations
Susan Ciccone
Alissa Grayson
Jeffrey Hall
Jill Ann Jones
Mark Markline
Carmelo Pirrone
Ira Rubenstein
David Schneiderman
Loren Schwartz
Lance Volland
Set Decorators
Judy Farr – "The King's Speech," "Death at a Funeral"
Gene Serdena – "The Fighter," "House of Sand and Fog"

Sound

Andrew DeCristofaro – "Hall Pass," "Crazy Heart"
Joe Dorn – "The Wolfman," "Spider-Man 3"
Marc Fishman – "Bridesmaids," "Crash"
Lora Hirschberg – "Inception," "The Dark Knight"
Chris Jargo – "Robin Hood," "American Gangster"
John Midgley – "The King's Speech," "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace"
Ed Novick – "Inception," "The Dark Knight"
Hammond Peek – "King Kong," "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
Brian Vessa – "Nemesis," "Lambada"
Mark Weingarten – "The Social Network," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Visual Effects

Tim Alexander – "Rango," "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"
Rob Bredow – "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," "The Polar Express"
Tim Burke – "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1," "Gladiator"
Peter Chesney – "No Country for Old Men," "Men in Black"
Paul Franklin – "Inception," "The Dark Knight"
Kevin Tod Haug – "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," "Quantum of Solace"
Florian Kainz – "Mission: Impossible III," "The Perfect Storm"
Marshall Krasser – "Iron Man 2," "Titanic"
Sean Phillips – "Alice in Wonderland," "The Polar Express"
Peter G. Travers – "Watchmen," "The Matrix Reloaded"
Brian Van't Hul – "Coraline," "I, Robot"
Mark H. Weingartner – "Sex and the City 2," "Inception"

Writers

Stuart Blumberg – "The Kids Are All Right," "Keeping the Faith"
Lisa Cholodenko – "The Kids Are All Right," "Laurel Canyon" (also invited to the Directors Branch)
Debra Granik – "Winter's Bone," "Down to the Bone" (also invited to the Directors Branch)
Karen McCullah Lutz – "The Ugly Truth," "Legally Blonde"
Aline Brosh McKenna – "27 Dresses," "The Devil Wears Prada"
Bob Peterson – "Up," "Finding Nemo" (also invited to the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch)
David Rabe – "The Firm," "Casualties of War"
Anne Rosellini – "Winter's Bone"
David Seidler – "The King's Speech," "The King & I"
Scott Silver – "The Fighter," "8 Mile"
Kirsten Smith – "The Ugly Truth," "Legally Blonde"
Aaron Sorkin – "The Social Network," "A Few Good Men"
Daniel Waters – "Batman Returns," "Heathers"

NOTE FROM AMAPAS: Additionally, the Academy invited John Coffey, Risa Gertner and Robert C. Rosenthal to Associate membership. Associate members are not represented on the Board and do not have Academy Awards® voting privileges.

Individuals invited to join multiple branches must select one branch upon accepting membership.
New members will be welcomed into the Academy at an invitation-only reception in September.

The Vancouver Riots: Dramatic Photos By VancityAllie

Riots and fires now at Georgia and Homer... Smoke going up, batons and shields up. #YVR, a photo by VancityAllie on Flickr.

Vancouverite VancityAllie, who's blog posts were featured here during the 2010 Olympics, is back again with a series of dramatic first-person photos from the Vancouver Riots.

In the video, I joked that she had not posted anything on her blog, and so must be out there. I was correct - she was recording what was going on.

She says the photo above the video describes riots and fires now at Georgia and Homer Streets in downtown Vancouver. "Smoke going up, batons and shields up."

The photo gives a good idea of how much of the downtown was impacted by the rioting. Even people in those areas near riot action were affected by the smoke from the burning cars and trash cans.



In that photo above, another fire was set on the other side of Homer Street. You can see the amount of trash on the street, left in the wake of the rioting progress.



Vancity reports that the crowd of downtown rioters has not only converged on the Jeep, but eventually would push it over.



This photo reports another fire on Homar Street, between Robson and Smithe.



As all of the riot action was taking place nearby, the victorious Boston Bruins were being escorted out of the city. You can just see their bus on the left of the photo.

Stay tuned for more photos.

The Vancouver Riots And Kissing Couple Make Statement

The Vancouver Riots are history, but that they happened, now 24 hours ago and after the Boston Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks 4 zip and drunk fans proceeded to trash the downtown, the city's counting the cost of the damage.

What happened to cause the riots is that you had young fans who were just plain pissed off and a product of an Internet age of immediate expression of anger and instant self-gratification.

Where a loss in sports was once much ado about the game, now it's much ado about civic destruction and love-making.

What the Vancouver Riots also did was forever (I hope) erase the totally racist idea that urban blacks are more prone to riot than any other group of people. The U.S. Media has played a great role in advancing that stereotype, but today it's no more.

What we saw was total destruction, countered by one interesting moment that reminded this blogger of some of Actress Amy Smart's best public sex scenes.

A couple laying in the middle of the street, kissing, and the woman with her skirt up way too high implying the next phase of action, as the rioting was happening around him.

It wasn't staged, and this was confirmed by Sarah Lache, who works for Comcast Sports Chicago, and stayed up until 3 AM Wednesday morning trying to determine if the photo taken by Richard Lam of Getty captured a real and not a staged moment.

And Lache agreed with this blogger via Twitter that the scene reminder her of Amy Smart at her movie sexual best, too.

Well, at least some good humor was found in all of this violence - thanks to Scott Jones and Alex Thomas.

They are the kissing couple.

According to Nine News, he is from Austrialia and she's from Vancouver. The stand-up comic who was performing in the city, had recently started dating Thomas.

Wow. 

Academy Awards (AMPAS) New "Variable" Best Picture Rules A Mistake

For the last two years, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has used a 10-movie Best Picture, preference voting system to pick the "best of the best." But now, and after a vote by the Board Of Governors of AMPAS of six of 14 votes total (and that's all the voting info that was in the press release), to add what they call a "twist," but what this blogger thinks is causes damage to the overall improved ratings for the event.

Now, rather than an assured ten movies being nominated for Best Picture, the number could vary between five movies and ten movies - that's a huge error, but what's done is done.

Here's Academy President Tom Sherak to explain the idea behind the changes: "With the help of PricewaterhouseCoopers, we've been looking not just at what happened over the past two years, but at what would have happened if we had been selecting 10 nominees for the past 10 years."

Sherak noted that it was retiring Academy executive director Bruce Davis who recommended the change first to Sherak and incoming CEO Dawn Hudson and then to the Board of Governors, according to AMPAS.

AMPAS Spokesperson Leslie Unger said The Academy went back over the last 10 years of "Best Picture" voting and determined that "the average percentage of first place votes received by the top vote-getting movie was 20.5. After much analysis by Academy officials, it was determined that 5 percent of first place votes should be the minimum in order to receive a nomination, resulting in a slate of anywhere from five to 10 movies."

Bruce Davis said “In studying the data, what stood out was that Academy members had regularly shown a strong admiration for more than five movies. A Best Picture nomination should be an indication of extraordinary merit. If there are only eight pictures that truly earn that honor in a given year, we shouldn't feel an obligation to round out the number."

Unger explains that if the system had been in place over the last 10 years, "there would have been years that yielded 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 nominees." She explains that once the number of nominations is determined, the preference voting system will still be used to pick the Best Picture winner.

AMPAS Must Focus On TV Ratings

That decision is an enormous mistake because it effectively removes the chance that a popular movie could reach the level of "Best Picture" and help drive ratings for the Oscar telecast. This move will effectively shrink ratings potential and revenue for Oscar itself for those years where the number is less than ten, and a box-office hit fails to make the Best Picture list.

That scenario, coupled with AMPAS still-poor social media program, will guarantee poor ratings problems for years to come.

Sad to say.

Other AMPAS Changes.

This corner has no strong view of the other changes noted in the press release, so here's what AMPAS via Unger is reporting:

Other rules changes approved by the Board include:

In the animated feature film category, the need for the Board to vote to “activate” the category each year was eliminated, though a minimum number of eligible releases – eight – is still required for a competitive category. Additionally, the short films and feature animation branch recommended, and the Board approved, refinements to the number of possible nominees in the Animated Feature category. In any year in which eight to 12 animated features are released, either two or three of them may be nominated. When 13 to 15 films are released, a maximum of four may be nominated, and when 16 or more animated features are released, a maximum of five may be nominated.

In the visual effects category, the "bakeoff" at which the nominees are determined will expand from seven to 10 contenders. The increase in the number of participants is related to a change made last year in which the number of films nominated in the visual effects category was increased from three to five. (Me: logical move.)

Previously, the Board approved changes to the documentary feature and documentary short category rules that now put those categories’ eligibility periods in line with the calendar year and thus with most other awards categories. The change means that for the 84th Awards cycle only, the eligibility period is more than 12 months; it is from September 1, 2010 to December 31, 2011.

Other modifications of the 84th Academy Awards rules include normal date changes and minor "housekeeping" changes.

Rules are reviewed annually by individual branch and category committees. The Awards Rules Committee then reviews all proposed changes before presenting its recommendations to the Academy’s Board of Governors for approval.

The 84th Annual Academy Awards Nominations Presentation will be held Tuesday, January 24th at 5:30 AM.

Anthony Weiner Resigns - Video Press Conference And Job Offer

New York U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner did something on Thursday this blogger honestly didn't think he would do: resign from his seat in Congress.

In a press conference that has been correctly described as a "circus, the 25-year elected official announced he was stepping down from public life, and to take time to correct his life and obviously work to repair a marriage undoubtedly damaged.

Weiner, who personally contacted and sent lewd photos of himself to five women, first said he would not resign, but apparently saw his political life fading as many Democrats ran away from him and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi reportedly threatened to strip him of committee assignments.

That move alone would make it much harder for Congressman Weiner to help his constituents.

So, at 2 PM ET, Weiner took to a podium at Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York, to first explain that the venue was where his political career started, and then said...

Unfortunately the distraction that I have created makes that [work] impossible... so today I am announcing my resignation from Congress.

And that's when all hell broke lose in the form of a man we didn't know until Thursday. That's when he yelled "Goodbye Pervert" and other choice words I really don't want to type here.

Now, we know his name is Benjy Bronk (right), and we know he represents The Howard Stern Show.

And we also know he likes to be in interesting photos of his own (see below - that's really Bronk himself).

Some people just don't think about the photos they're in, do they?  Or maybe Bronk doesn't care? 

At any rate, that planned Howard Stern injection of bombast didn't make things any better for Weiner, and added a sad note to the press conference proceedings.

Anthony Weiner's Future: Larry Flynt?

What's Anthony Weiner's future? Well, we really don't know, but it's good to know that Weiner has at least one appropriate option: working for Hustler Founder Larry Flynt.

In Thursday's Huffington Post, Mr. Flynt wrote:

I would like to make you an offer of employment at Flynt Management Group, LLC in our Internet group. As a Congressman, you are known for your intensity and perseverance...This offer is not made in jest. To show our sincerity, Flynt Management Group, LLC is willing to pay twenty percent more than your former Congressional salary ($174,000), ensuring that your medical benefits would be equal to what you were previously receiving....While you will have to relocate to our corporate offices in Beverly Hills, California, we would pay for all relocation costs.

The job offer is apparently open-ended, and it's not clear exactly what Flynt would ask Weiner to do, although the statement "While this employment opportunity is being offered in large part due to your qualifications and clear passion for making a change.." would seem to point to the same actions that caused him to step down, that's not clear.

Stay tuned.

Oakland's Tupac Shakur Turns 40 - His Senseless Murder

Oakland Rapper and Actor Tupac Shakur turns 40 today, and yet while he's not with us, his spirit is.

The legendary poet-rap writer was gunned down in 1996, and by four-shots from a gunman in Las Vegas (the video mistakenly reports 1994 as the year Mr. Shakur was murdered.

Now, a man named Dexter Isaac says he was responsible for the 1994 shooting and robbery that, for some time, Sean (P Diddy) Colmes was said to have been responsible for. Isaac also offered that he was paid $2,500 to go after Tupac Shakur.

Think about that.

A man was paid less money that some people make in a month to kill Tupac Shakur. Mr. Isaac must be a sad sack to even think of doing that - messing up his life and Mr. Shakur's for a measly $2,500.

That's just plain nuts, but also shows you how screwed up our culture can be.

Meanwhile, Tupac lives on with us in his way.

Philippines Lanches Renewable Energy Program

President Benigno Aquino of the Philippines has noticed that there are many power shortages across the country and realizes that it's time to look toward renewable energy, such as solar.

Philstar News reports that by 2030 the Philippines will join the many other countries using renewable resources as power sources. He says that this will help rebuild the nation:


"He added that through renewable energy, the government can supply the electricity needs of the people at a lower cost and not at the expense of the environment.

With the NREP in place, the government hopes to achieve the " twin goals of harnessing our renewable energy potential while ensuring that our people's energy needs are met," Aquino said.

"With this in mind, the plan is to nearly triple our renewable energy-based capacity from around 5,400 megawatts in 2010 to 15, 300 megawatts in 2030," Aquino said."

ABS-CBN news interviews Energy Undersecretary Jose Layug:


" "We're hoping renewable energy will account for at least 50% of our energy mix by 2030," Energy Undersecretary Jose Layug told reporters on Tuesday.

"Within this month we will award between 40 and 80 contracts, mostly for hydro. There will be a few (contracts for) wind and some solar," Layug said

The Southeast Asian country's new renewable energy target is more ambitious than a goal, announced last December, to double renewable energy output in 20 years.

The Philippines imports most of its oil needs at present. High oil prices have pushed inflation up this year, and were a factor in the central bank's decision to increase interest rates in March and May.

"(Renewable energy resources) are expensive now because of the emerging technology, but in the long term we see that the price will start coming down, making it cheaper than (traditional sources)," Layug said."


This is great! The whole world needs to realize solar energy is the way to go!

Michele Bachmann Buzzing; Sarah Palin's Enemy Blogger Syrin, Buzzed

It's almost a full day after the GOP Debate, and Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is still in the top 10 of Google Trends results. Earlier today, the Rep from Minnesota was number two in Google Trends.

All of this Internet buzz is due not just to her announcement that she's running for President Of The United States, done during the CNN telecast of the GOP Debate, but that she didn't fail in her presentation last night.

Of course, had she went on to say or do something expectedly off-the-charts crazy, Ms. Bachmann would have enjoyed (yes, enjoyed) even more online buzz. Let's face it, we compare Bachmann and Sarah Palin...



But Michele's fall didn't happen last night. That alone means Bachmann's serious, and wants to be taken seriously. It's only fair that we do so. To do anything less would be, among other things, sexist.

Why sexist? Because of some of the tweets I saw last night that made my blood boil, specifically those calling for her to... Well...

@AntonioLlanito Antonio Llanito
Michele Bachmann go make me a sandwich #CNNdebate

There were a bunch of those tweets. Not cool.

No. If we're going to attack Congresswoman Bachmann, it should only be done on substantive grounds, and we can cover a lot of "ground" there.

For example, there's the time Bachmann said that Net Neutrality was an "Obama Censorship Plot" - no kidding.

There's also the time she said to Michael Steele, the GOP's first black chairperson, "Michael Steele! You be da man! You be da man!"

Oh, brother!

And for more juicy items on Bachmann, all we have to do is visit DumpBachmann.com, which I'll focus on more in a future blog post.

And if that's not enough, we have Bachmann supporters like my new Twitter foreplay playa buddy Sherry Whitstine, who's tweets toward me for blogging about Sarah Palin's emails about her have got me all excited, and hoping the blogger who calls herself Syrin is as physically hot as her tweets.

Here's the exchange. And, OK, I have to admit that I was really trying to mess with her, and it worked. I love foreplay.

It started with this...

Zennie Abraham
zennie62 Zennie Abraham
@AkSyrin I just found a set of emails dated in July (can send specific date) from #SarahPalin about YOU. Said you made "hateful" comments.
17 hours ago

zennie62 Zennie Abraham
@AkSyrin In fact, about 4 pages of the emails posted deal with you; seems they were gearing up for some response.
17 hours ago

zennie62 Zennie Abraham
@AkSyrin Correction, I found more pages. It also looks like some other emails may have been deleted. You really got to Palin and Family.
17 hours ago Favorite Reply Delete

And I expected a reasonable, logical response, not what I received the next morning:

Sherry Whitstine
AkSyrin Sherry Whitstine
@@zennie62 correction please! You don't have any facts in your silly blog. Im Palins adversary cause she's a liar abused power & no integrity
4 hours ago

Sherry Whitstine
AkSyrin Sherry Whitstine
@zennie62 btw you just found these emails yesterday when the rest of the world found them 4 days ago! ( u have No Clue what I said )
4 hours ago

To which I responded:

zennie62 Zennie Abraham
@AkSyrin Actually, I am the first to refer specifically to your emails for a news website. Sorry.
3 hours ago Favorite Reply Delete

And then Sherry went off on Sarah, as if... I don't know? I was Sarah Palin? This next set of tweets from Sherry was just bat-shit crazy:

Sherry Whitstine
AkSyrin Sherry Whitstine
@zennie62 Sarah, You are Incompetent Sarah, your family needs - No one else does! Sarah U missed that civics class? What, you're Christian?
3 hours ago

Sherry Whitstine
AkSyrin Sherry Whitstine
@zennie62 Syrin's COMMENT: Sarah, your kids need u- No one else does! Notice the FAKE email to be copy and pasted & fake name put to it?
3 hours ago

Sherry Whitstine
AkSyrin Sherry Whitstine
@zennie62 Actually first to refer to me? Sorry You are showing that you like the rest are blinded by ignorance U cant ENDURE SOUND DOCTRINE
3 hours ago

Ah. Okay! The original reference source was this Huffington Post blog post, and this link takes one straight to the email files. I searched online for a reference to Syrin with respect to the emails, and found nothing at the time. But that wasn't of concern to Sherry, so I figured that telling her would be a waste of time.

Given her insults toward me, I figured it was on, and I'd have some real fun. And all under the theory that Sherry's engaging in a type of foreplay.

zennie62 Zennie Abraham
@AkSyrin Hey Sista. I didn't post the files. I just reported about them.
2 hours ago Favorite Reply Delete

zennie62 Zennie Abraham
@AkSyrin Sherry. Is all this foreplay from you?
1 hour ago Favorite Reply Delete

But for some reason, Sherry doesn't recognize an Internet file or reference to one. So, her sexy foreplay blasts continued.

Sherry Whitstine
AkSyrin Sherry Whitstine
@zennie62 Hey bro UR CLUELESS! What files, you Goofball!? U don't have any files to post! Just sanitized emails from a liar, fraud, failure
1 hour ago

Sherry Whitstine
AkSyrin Sherry Whitstine
@zennie62 DUH! palinemail.msnbc.msn.com/palinAll/pdf/1… From SP- Cut the body of this email and paste into a new email w/ fake name and send to content@adn.com
1 hour ago

So, with that, I figured it was time to go semi-street on her...

zennie62 Zennie Abraham
@AkSyrin Time out, playa. you're saying the emails are faked?
1 hour ago Favorite Reply Delete

Her response was a howler!

Sherry Whitstine
AkSyrin Sherry Whitstine
@zennie62 Ignorant fool! What kind of language is this, playa? I'm in Wasilla, u r NOT! I know the TRUTH, u DON'T! Whose the playa?
1 hour ago

That got me excited! So I tweeted:

zennie62 Zennie Abraham
@AkSyrin Ah. I also included that language, playa. I love this foreplay. Are you married or single?
1 hour ago Favorite Reply Delete

And from that, I learned that Sherry Whitstine has committed the last 12 years of her life to, er, "expose" Sarah Palin.

AkSyrin Sherry Whitstine
@zennie62 says things like- Is all this foreplay for you? Foreplay?goofball! foreplay to what? My Mission for 12 years: EXPOSE Sarah Palin?
53 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Let's think about that: 12 years. That's all the way back to 1999. That's before the turn of the 21st Century. Before the first video-blog (2001). It's one year before the launch of Google (1998). And it's well before the founding of YouTube, Blip.tv, Facebook, and Twitter.

12 freaking years.

And all during that time, Sarah Palin has done nothing but go from Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, to Governor of Alaska, then to 2008 GOP Vice Presidential Candidate, after being drafted by a group of young conservatives, and now millionaire public figure.

And over this period, Palin has been attacked,  her kids have become celebrities, and people have made all kind of claims that keep the media going - like the one where Bristol Palin's kid's real father was black. 

Even with that, and other attacks and blasts, Sarah Palin has earned over $12 million since leaving the Alaska Governor's Office, and that estimate was released a year ago.  

And what has Syrin, er, Sherry Whitstine, done over that time? Get angrier and angrier. So much so that her focus has been on nothing but Sarah Palin, and apparently from her tweets to me, not even sex.

Or fun.

The real question is what sparked Ms. Whitstine to embark on this 12-year, Captain Ahab-like pursuit of Sarah Palin? Whatever the answer, it's clear Sherry's the classic definition of a Sarah Palin-hater.

But a hater doesn't have to be as single-mindedly dedicated as Syrin! She's pissed-off and beyond the charts. Can you imagine the pent-up, raw, primal sexual energy, just waiting to be unleashed from Ms. Whitstine! Wow. What a gusher of a ride that would be!

Stay tuned.