April Ryan v. Robert Gibbs - does Ryan hate White House' Desiree Rogers?

April Ryan, a reporter with American Urban Radio Networks, bumped the Tiger Woods scandal down Google Trends and for something I didn't think would reach the collective public media radar, an exchange with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs posted on YouTube by the conservative blog TownHall.com:



The issue that April Ryan's asking about is White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers' role in the State Dinner Partygate Scandal where Tareq and Michaele Salahi gained access to the exclusive affair without being on the White House' Official Guest List.

April Ryan of American Urban Networks

April Ryan was trying to ask Robert Gibbs why Desiree Rogers was at the dinner. Desiree Rogers is the White House Social Secretary who planned the event. But Ryan says that Washington gossip centers around the perception that Desiree Rogers is just working to advance her own interests.

What's of concern to me is Robert Gibbs' mistake of talking down to April Ryan - he should not have compared her to his kid - masks the real issue: what does April Ryan have against Desiree Rogers?

What's not reported at a number of conservative blogs is that this was the second straight day Ryan came to the White House press briefing and aggressively questioned Gibbs. I saw both exchanges on television and had the impression Ryan was fishing for information to write a "dirty" article about Desiree Rogers, who like Ryan is black.

Desiree Rogers

This exchange between Gibbs and Ryan is not important; what April Ryan wants to discover and then do with the information she gets is. Read this transcript (first posted at the DailyKos) from the first day of questions from April Ryan to Robert Gibbs:

QUESTION: Follow up. Normally in the past, before this administration came, there was always a checks and balances type of system at that gate with the Social Office, as well as the Secret Service --


MR. GIBBS: I think that's what Ed just asked.


QUESTION: That's what I'm saying. And you're saying --


MR. GIBBS: This is a follow-up or -- go ahead, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt.


QUESTION: Again, there's always been a series of checks and balances. And if there was a concern from the Secret Service, they would always relay it back to -- it was a back and forth between the Social Office and the Secret Service.


MR. GIBBS: What I'm saying -- what I said to Ed was --


QUESTION: But let me finish, please --


MR. GIBBS: No, no, no, but let me -- I think the question was asked, so let me reiterate my answer. Again, April, none of that relay happened, right? None of that relay happened between the Secret Service and the Social Office, whether or not the Social Office was standing at the gate or whether or not somebody was sitting in their office at the White House.


QUESTION: If you would allow me to finish, you can understand what I'm saying. The relay did not happen because that person was omitted at the gate from the Social Office. The way we understand, that person --


MR. GIBBS: Omitted?


QUESTION: That person was fired earlier in the year. So --


MR. GIBBS: But again, April, you can ask it seven ways. The answer continues to be, the relay didn't happen because somebody was or wasn't there. The relay didn't happen because nobody picked up the phone to relay the information. I mean, I appreciate the observation that somebody could or could not have been at a certain gate. But again, you could pick up the phone, just like I can pick up my phone in the office and relay you, April. You don't have to be standing in my office for me to convey information to you. I think the --


QUESTION: So are you saying that the Social Office does not have any responsibility in this at all?


MR. GIBBS: April, there's an investigation that's ongoing into the actions of what happened, and I'm going to wait for that to be completed.


QUESTION: The reason why we are questioning the Social Office and the Secret Service is because in the past, both have worked in conjunction and successfully were able to protect the President of the United States without anyone coming in. And now because the Social Office did not have that other layer of checks and balances there, this happened. And people are questioning why this White House is not putting the onus some on the Social Office, as well.


MR. GIBBS: I'm going to let the investigation put the onus on where the onus should be. But what I'm simply doing is explaining to you a series of facts that include the notion that if somebody was confused about whether or not somebody was on a list at a guard tower on the exterior perimeter of the White House, and there was a question, generally somebody could pick up the phone and ask. I'm saying that -- I'm saying that the Secret Service, in the statement that they released a few days ago, acknowledged that that didn't happen and that that was a mistake.


QUESTION: The whole process has been changed at that gate from now on. Will the Social Office be working in conjunction with the Secret Service now?


MR. GIBBS: I think first and foremost we're going to go through this investigation, and I would refer you to the Secret Service about operations that might change at that gate.


QUESTION: And the last question. People were saying that the President was never in danger, and many people have said that is not true. They got in --


MR. GIBBS: Who's "many people"?


QUESTION: People here, Secret Service. These people met with the President. They shook the President's hand. Who's to say they did not have some kind of -- granted, they didn't -- but hypothetically, what if a person had walked in and could have done something to the President? The President -- do you --


MR. GIBBS: This hasn't happened before. (Laughter.) I appreciate the opportunity to indulge in a grand hypothetical.


QUESTION: Has the President remarked on this at all?


MR. GIBBS: Look, I think the President shares the concern that the director has for how this happened and how we can remedy it from happening again.


QUESTION: Is he concerned about his safety with this?


MR. GIBBS: No.


QUESTION: Have you heard him say anything, is he angry or is he as incredulous as the average American is that people could just walk right into the White House like this?


MR. GIBBS: I think the President -- look, the reason there's an investigation is the President and the White House has asked for that to happen. So I think suffice to say the President is rightly concerned about what happened last week.


QUESTION: Have you actually heard him say anything about it?


MR. GIBBS: I have not heard it, but it's been relayed to me.


QUESTION: Can you confirm whether or not charges will be filed against this couple?


MR. GIBBS: That is not a power bestowed on me as the press secretary. I know they've -- according to media reports, they've been interviewed by the Secret Service. I think that's a decision that would be made by the Secret Service and the United States Attorney in that area.

That reads like April Ryan's trying to do a media hit on Desiree Rogers. The Gibbs / Ryan "talks" are not Gibbs being disrespectful to a black woman, Ryan. They are Gibbs trying to defend Desiree Rogers from April Ryan's silly attacks.

April Ryan's questions have nothing to do with Tareq and Michaele Salahi at all. It's about Desiree Rogers' style. First, the real question is what did the Secret Service ask the Salahis at the check in desk? Second, who did the Salahis' know that helped them get into the event? Focusing on what fashion show Desiree Rogers attended in New York City has zero to do with the issue of the State Dinner.

In my view, April Ryan is being what we in the African American professional community call a "crabbarel": a black person who wants to take down another black person because the target has reached some level of fame. Mentioning that Desiree Rogers is at fashion shows and other events is not the point and calls her real intent into question. Desiree Rogers style and looks may be April Ryan's issue, but Ryan needs to get over it.

Tiger Woods scandal update - pictures, Jamie Grubbs, Rachel Uchitel

Just when I thought this was no longer a Google Trend, it's back hotter than ever, and as of this writing listed "Volcanic". The latest Tiger Woods scandal update has news about mistress Rachel Uchitel and the assumed payoff from Woods, one publications' need to dig into the past of the other mistress, Jamie Grubbs, and new pictures.

First, TMZ reports that Tiger Woods never paid off Rachel Uchitel to stop the press conference that was scheduled to be held Thursday. The news counters RadarOnline.com's assertion that Woods did pay Uchitel.

Rachel Uchitel

Uchitel reportedly called the press conference off Wednesday, after a long talk with Woods and his people because of her concern for her safety. Apparently she knows "too much" about Woods with other women and other personal details such that a news conference would have at the very least started a massive public PR battle between Rachel and Tiger.

TMZ's sources explain that Rachel's not afraid of Tiger Woods, but is concerned about how other people not named would be impacted by what she said. So Rachel's just going to go into hiding for a while. Let's hope her personal safety is maintained. Having something negative happen to her after that disclosure would only reopen the scandal as a criminal investigation and that would be massively bad for Tiger Woods.

Massively bad is the sudden negative press Woods other girlfriend Jamie Grubbs is getting today. CBS News.com has a new set of pictures and information about Jamie Grubbs "criminal record" posted on its Crimeinsider website.

Why "Crimeinsider"? Because EOnline reports Grubbs was arrested for shoplifting a coat in 2004 and a credit card balance EOnline says she didn't pay (which is dangerous territory to wade into because such issues are generally resolved). It seems to me that EOnline think's it's ok to defame Jamie Grubbs character and I'm guessing the reason is that some PR effort has been launched to attack her.

For example, RadarOnline reports that Grubbs recently worked in a medical marijuana "pharmacy." Reporting that is also wrong-headed because the next question is did Tiger take a medicinal toke?

Why all the negative press about Grubbs?

Because unlike Rachel Uchitel and Kamile Moquin who didn't talk about their Woods encounters, Jamie Grubbs was rumored to have received $150,000 by US Weekly to talk about her affair and turn over the now infamous voicemail recording of Tiger Woods asking her to take her name off her phone.

Jamie Grubbs' action torpedoed Tiger Woods' public image in a way that the Thanksgiving night accident had not. But, in a day when millions of people, including me and Paris Hilton, have DUIs, I'm not sure what good dishing on her so-called "record" will do and it could open EOnline and RadarOnline to a lawsuit from Jamie Grubbs.

Yikes.

If you're looking for revealing photos of Jamie Grubbs and visit the site with that objective, you're going to get punked because there's nothing special or revealing about them. But if you have to go there to see for yourself, click here, then come back here.

Reports: Woods offered $80 million prenup to Elin

Meanwhile, reports are surfacing, starting with New York Magazine, that Tiger Woods offered his wife Elin Nordegren an $80 million revised prenuptial agreement. Finally, in what would certainly be a show with ratings to blow away those gained when she had Sarah Palin as a guest, Oprah Winfrey's reaching out to Tiger to come and talk.

Stay tuned.  As I said in a vlog, this story will last for another week.  

Did Stanford Coach Jim Harbaugh use the F-word?

That Stanford Cardinal Football Coach Jim Harbaugh would be one of YouTube's first results in its brand-new "Trending Topics" feature was interesting to me. So I started searching on YouTube, found nothing, then checked Google News and saw a brewing controversy.

Jim Harbaugh

Some claim Jim Harbaugh used the F-word, and I'm not talking about the word that refers to sex. The other one that has to do with sexual orientation.

Allegedly Harbaugh yelled some choice words at game officials during the Stanford - Notre Dame contest that the Cardinal won 45 to 38. Now it's common for coaches to lose it and yell something at an official - it's expected in our culture. So from that perspective Harbaugh's rant was standard issue.

But the assertion is Harbaugh did more than just rant, where a coach complains about a call, but he called a name to an official, the F-word. It's something, this issue, that's been hidden from wide view. From reading the dates of the posts about this controversy, its been around for almost two days but only gay-oriented sites have covered it, even though it's on Google News under "jim harbaugh." Until now, no mainstream media site or straight-person's blog picked up the story, so I figured this straight-guy who has a blog and blogs at mainstream media sites would put it out there.

Ok, house cleaning out of the way, what proof is there that Harbaugh got off such a blast? Well, if you discount the self-proclaimed lip-reading bloggers, none, and here I'm wading into dangerous territory because the feelings on this are rightly powerful. Any slur is a bad one, but one must make sure there are several sources that can claim what the blogger asserts, as I had in the LeGarrett Blount issue.

I think Towleroad blog went too far in making an assertion that Harbaugh made the statement and basing that blog post on a video of the coach yelling without the sound.

But the problem that gives fuel to the issue is the video itself was just made private by its maker! So we can't see the video a second time. That in itself is really suspicious and now adds smoke to this story. The video should have remained available.

For Harbaugh, he asserts he did not use the term. Outsports reports that Harbaugh said:

It did not come out of my mouth. It would not come out of my mouth. It’s not in my heart to ever say that.

That's enough for me here. We have coach Harbaugh who says he didn't say it, and a video that really doesn't prove he said it.

The person who started all of this was a guy named Chris Finley who made the video and guessed at what was said. That was enough to cause a small controversy.

Time out. It seems to me some people are just knee-jerk ready to find fault with others and so much so that they will make up a story without hard evidence. That's got to stop. From my experience Coach Harbaugh's a good man who would not have a negative thought about someone based on race or sexual orientation.

Jim Harbaugh's only problem in the eyes of this Cal Alum is that he coaches the Stanford Cardinal Football Team.

Oregon v. Oregon State today; Cal v. Stanford in 2010

Congratulations to the Pac-10 Champion Oregon Ducks, who won a trip to the 2010 Rose Bowl after defeating Oregon State, 37 to 33 in their "Civil War" played Thursday night.

Oregon came back from a shocking season-opening loss to Boise State and the LeGarrett Blount name-calling incident to hammer Cal and USC before running into a Stanford Cardinal team that seemed Rose Bowl-bound until it was stopped by the sturdy Golden Bear.

That the Oregon / Oregon State rivalry ended in a fitting contest for all the marbles means that in 2010 The Cal / Stanford Big Game's next. And of course Cal will march to the Rose Bowl.

But until that happens, we have to look at videos of the Oregon v. Oregon State game and watch Oregon fans and students storm their field.

National Board of Review Awards - Up In The Air, Best Film; Precious snubbed

The first awards show of the Oscar season brings a surprise. The National Board of Review selected Up In The Air, the romantic travel story featuring George Clooney, as Best Film, but snubbed the controversial domestic violence story that is Precious.

Precious by Lionsgate Films

And as the Academy Awards will have 10 Best Picture nominees, the NBOR's provides a glimpse of what might happen in March with this Top Ten Film List:

An Education, 500 Days Of Summer, The Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds, Invicus, The Messenger, A Serious Man, Star Trek, Up, Where The Wild Things Are.

The surprise here is that Precious did not make the Top Ten list, but Star Trek did.
 
Star Trek was projected as a film that would be marketed as an Oscar contender and this awards outcome is the first proof that Paramount's tenpole movie of 2009 may also have that Oscar luster.

But that written, the films to watch for have multiple awards: Up In The Air with Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay awards; Clint Eastwoods' Invictus, a film of sports and freedom in South Africa, won Best Director, Top Ten, and the NBOR's Freedom of Expression award; The Messenger earned Best Supporting Actor for Woody Harrelson and made the Top Ten list, and a Spotlight Award for Best Directorial Debut for Oren Moverman; An Education also made the Top Ten list and Carey Mulligan took home Best Actress award.

But what happened to Precious and why is it not in the Top Ten List?

I think it has a lot to do with the New York City film community, the very same that snubbed Precious during the Gotham Awards in October.

Opray Winfrey's support aside, I thought good pictures were supposed to shake you up and make you think and "be real" and Precious did all that. I'm beginning to believe that, at least in New York City, that film community was not ready for a hard core story about African American domestic violence in America.  But given the range of views I've gathered about Precious, it may be a hard film for anyone to take regardless of race or region; still, it's one of the top nominees in The Independent Sprit Awards, so one storyline during awards season will be if Precious can weather its storm of controversy and emerge with at least an Oscar... or any award. 

Precious aside, a pattern of front runners is slowly emerging as we head toward the 82nd Academy Awards with the top award winners being Up In The Air, Invictus, An Education and The Messenger.

Here's the full list of NBOR winners:

Best Film: Up In The Air

Best Director: Clint Eastwood, Invictus

Best Actor: Morgan Freeman, Invictus and George Clooney, Up In The Air (tie)

Best Actress: Carey Mulligan, An Education

Best Supporting Actor: Woody Harrelson, The Messenger

Best Supporting Actress: Anna Kendrick, Up In The Air

Best Foreign Film: A Prophet

Best Documentary: The Cove

Best Animated Feature: Up

Best Ensemble Cast: It’s Complicated

Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: Gabourey Sidibe, Precious

Spotlight Award for Best Directorial Debut: Duncan Jones, Moon, Oren Moverman, The Messenger and Marc Webb, 500 Days of Summer (tie)

Best Original Screenplay: Joel & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man

Best Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up In The Air

Special Filmmaking Achievement Award: Wes Anderson, The Fantastic Mr. Fox

William K. Everson Film History Award: Jean Picker Firstenberg

Top Ten Independent Films (In alphabetical order):
Amreeka
District 9
Goodbye Solo
Humpday
In The Loop
Julia
Me And Orson Welles
Moon
Sugar
Two Lovers

NBR Freedom of Expression: Burma Vj: Reporting From A Closed Country, Invictus, The Most Dangerous Man In America: Daniel Ellseberg And The Pentagon Papers


Top Six Foreign Films (In alphabetical order):
The Maid
A Prophet
Revanche
Song Of Sparrows
Three Monkeys
The White Ribbon

Top Six Documentary Films (In alphabetical order):
Burma Vj: Reporting From A Closed Country
The Cove
Crude
Food, Inc.
Good Hair
The Most Dangerous Man In America: Daniel Ellsberg And The Pentagon Papers

Tiger Woods scandal - Tiger Woods Voicemail Remix a new song

The Tiger Woods Scandal has sparked an online creative streak with content producers making jokes and photoshopped pictures. But this new song takes the cake. It's called Tiger Woods Voicemail Slow Jam Remix.

Tiger Woods Voicemail Slow Jam Remix is based on the voicemail allegedly left by Tiger Woods for Jaimie Grubbs asking her to take her name off her phone before his wife called her. Produced by HalfDayToday, it was distributed via Twitter and YouTube and blogs and now has gone viral.

MSNBCs David Shuster picked it up on Twitter as has The Huffington Post, BoingBoing, and now my blogs! The video, created by Trevor Cushman with the video by Al LeVine, has this description:

Tiger Woods knows how to treat a lady right. Here’s a sexy song to prove it.

It's a creative mix of the voicemail, sultry music, and added voices. A combinations of the Tiger Woods sound with a little El Debarge thrown in.

Nice.

Half Day Today is an LA-based New Media Organization specializing in comedy and viral videos. What I'm impressed with is the speed with which they turned out this remix, just about 24 hours from the release of the voicemail. Well done.

JETS IN TORONTO TO FACE BILLS: PLAYOFF HOPES STILL ALIVE

JETS IN TORONTO TO FACE BILLS: PLAYOFF HOPES STILL ALIVE
by TJ Rosenthal for Football Reporters Online

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdX5YzOaS3Y to

The NY Jets saved their season last Sunday against Carolina with a 17-6 win.
That win will mean nothing if Gang Green can't continue a much needed win streak 
that includes  tough AFC East battle with the Buffalo Bills in Toronto tonight. It's Thursday night football. A short week to prepare followed by either a happy long layoff before week 14, or the realization that postseason dreams will be all but
 over.

For the Jets , RB Thomas Jones will be a key factor tonight. The Newark Star Ledger reported this week that Jones is second only to the Chargers LaDanian Tomlinson in yardage gained since 2005. An impressive stat for a humble guy. 
For the Jets to go to 6-6, he'll need to add to that tonight against Buffalo, a team that owns the league worst  32nd ranked rushing defense. Can QB Mark Sanchez's color coded bracelet minimize the interceptions for a second straight week? It better. Sanchez threw five interceptions in the Jets previous meeting with the Bills.
A sickening  week six OT loss that also saw NG run killer Kris Jenkins injure his knee and thus become lost for the season.

The 4-7 Bills are a different team since the last time the Jets faced them. Head coach Dick Jauron is gone, fired weeks ago in favor of interim Perry Fewell. Fewell got his first NFL coaching win last week at home against Miami. This thanks to the resurgence of WR Terrell Owens, who credits his recent hot play to the new starter QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. Owens said this week that the relationship between himself and former starter Trent Edwards simply was not there. RBFred Jackson has supplanted Marshawn Lynch as the starter as well. Lynch who started the year serving a three game league suspension, has yet to find a rythym in 2009.

With Tampa Bay on the schedule next before a tough finish against Atlanta, undefeated Indy, and the first place Bengals, the Jets are in position to make the stretch drive interesting. This is as big of a game as a 5-6 team can have. Let's call
it a playoff game because in essence it is. Win, or go home.

Three keys to the Buffalo Game:

Darrelle Revis vs Terrell Owens:  Owens is on fire the past two weeks. Revis has shut down top wideout all year starting on opening day in Houston against Andre Johnson. Randy Moss twice. you get the idea. Tonight must be the same.

Thomas Jones vs Bill Run defense: Jones has to go for close to 100 Yds. and a TD against the 32nd ranked D. If not, that would mean the onus would've been on Sanchez. Bracelet or not, the Sanchise is being asked to manage things and keep the chains moving, not take 2009 into his own hands. 

Can we get an unsung hero tonight?: moments like these call for the unsung hero. The guy who wasn't a threat on paper, in game films. Let's look for a Brad Smith, Danny Woodhead, or perhaps a Jet interior defender like Sione Pouha tonight. The Jets need a big contribution from one perimeter guy tonight to help push things over the edge. If the QB isn't allowed to, or can't light it up, it will take, oh god am I actually saying this? 52 flashlights. This of course to quote ex Jet head coach and now ex UVA head coach Al Groh who used this reference in 2000 after the Jets beat Tampa with former Jet Keyshawn Johnson who mocked WR Wayne Chrebet that week before the game.

Follow TJ Rosenthal on twitter@ thejetreport

Tiger Woods scandal - Rachel Uchitel press conf cancelled, deal?

The latest news in the Tiger Woods scandal is that nightclub executive Rachel Uchitel called off a press conference scheduled for 11:30 AM PST. TMZ.com reports that the reason is connected to an alleged phone conversation between Rachel Uchitel and Tiger woods and his management staff last night.

Rachel Uchitel

TMZ implies that the result was a deal to stop talking in exchange for money but that's not been confirmed as of this writing. Still, the simple suggestion of a payoff for silence will sully the already damaged image of The World's Best Golfer. But I believe his call may have had to do with the concern of sponsors like Nike and Cadillac, who are seeing the image of their brands harmed by the Tiger Woods scandal.

Rachel Uchitel is the first women connected to Tiger Woods affair rumors. After denying them, she was about to do what I predicted she was thinking of doing: talking.

Now Tiger wants the chatter to stop. I can't say I blame him but he has little control over this now that it's part of pop-culture.

Stay tuned.

Parnevik, who introduced Tiger Woods to Elin Nordegren, expresses regret

According to Bob Harig at ESPN, Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevik, who introduced Tiger Woods to Elin Nordegren, is not happy with Tiger Woods in light of the affair scandal. And while you may say "no kidding", it gets better.

Nordegren started working as a nanny for Parnevik in 2000. She was introduced to Woods in 2001 at the British Open, and then married him in 2004.

Jesper Parnevik

Now, what Parnevik said to Harig at ESPN is damning:

I would be especially sad about it since I'm kind of -- I really feel sorry for Elin -- since me and my wife were at fault for hooking her up with him. We probably thought he was a better guy than he is. I would probably need to apologize to her and hope she uses a driver next time instead of the 3-iron. It's a private thing of course," he said. "But when you are the guy he is, the world's best athlete, you should think more before you do stuff ... And maybe not just do it, like Nike says."

Ouch! Why he had to get off the Nike blast is beyond me, but I wonder what the 'swoosh' people will think about the Tiger Woods affair now.

Stay tuned.

CNN down 60 percent in ratings; John Klein should use iReport

I don't find this surprising at all, but CNN's down a dramatic 60 percent in viewers, while Fox News rules the ratings for November. As I've written before, and will continue to blog until the cows come home, CNN's failure to match its 2008 ratings performance, when it was number one, is due to a failure to change.

Or to recognize the similarities in aspects of change and react.

What was true in 2008 is true today: people are more than ever interested in what other people do. That rule of mine covers why the Tiger Woods story is so hot and why Sarah Palin continues to get press as well as why there's a new interest in politics.

The Internet has changed our expectations and made it easier to get information on celebrities. Now bloggers like PerezHilton make a decent living off the information trade about stars and the World's industrial culture thirsts for more and more information. It should come as no surprise that we expect this from television; it's why Headline News, or HLN, is doing much better than CNN. It's also why Fox News remains on top.

News is a story of people, not events. CNN forgets that. Traditional news organizations don't seem to understand that. How CNN can regain status is via the one underused resource it has and CNN President John Klein seems reluctant to develop: the iReport.

John Klein of CNN

People want to see people and the use of the iReport allows that. But CNN has cut back on its employment of the vlogging system and even downgraded its visibility on the CNN website. That's a huge error on John Klein's part.

I've said it to CNN and I've blogged it here: iReport's the answer for CNN.

Tiger Woods scandal - Woods in intense marriage counseling

UPDATE: Jesper Parnevik, who introduced Woods and Nordegren, blasts Woods

Tiger Woods is in intense marriage counseling. This comes as reports fly around regarding what his wife Elin Nordegren would get if she filed for divorce.

For example, if the Tiger Woods scandal (which continues with Rachel Uchitel's press conference today) ends with a divorce between Woods and his wife Elin Nordegren, the Herald Sun reports she would realize a settlement payout of $300 million.

But that $300 million figure has been floating around unsubstantiated, so I'm not going to use it as anything more than a jumping-off point for blogging.

The matter of a divorce payout is more complicated than the Herald Sun presents and Nordegren's already receiving a "stay home" gift. According to Chicago Sun Times Columnist Bill Zwecker, his sources claim that the couple is currently involved in intense marriage counseling and Nordegren already has a "hefty seven-figure amount (that was) immediately transfered into an account she alone controls".

For those of you math challenged that's at least $1 million.

Moreover, Zwecker writes that Woods original prenup required Nordegren to remain married to Woods for over 10 years, and then she would receive $20 million. But after the Tiger Woods scandal, she demanded and got a shorter term at a high amount. Zwecker does not report what that is as of this writing.

Tiger Woods with even more women? C'mon

Hollyscoop.com claims even more women are expected to come forward to claim their moment in the spotlight, er, say that they had sex with Tiger Woods. But now this is, to borrow a term now-President Obama used during the 2008 Democratic Primary, "Silly Season" because we will have to continue to sort through the garbage to determine which story is real. Oh brother.

I've got news for any woman who's part of the "I slept with Tiger" set. If you expect to receive the same level of media attention enjoyed by Rachel Uchitel, Jaimee Grubbs, and Kalika Moquin, forget it and for a very technical reason: the novelty factor is wearing off.

What we're seeing now is the public adjusting to a new image of Tiger Woods because of the scandal, but once that sets in, and it's happening fast because of New Media, the public's collective ear will not perk up as high the next time a woman says "I slept with Tiger Woods." The collective response will be a yawn and a snarky "So what" which will translate into no payouts for news, unlike the $150,000 US Weekly is rumored to have paid to Jaimie Grubbs for her affair story.

Stay tuned.

Tiger woods update - Rachel Uchitel‎ to admit affair Thursday

For now Tiger Woods' morning statement admitting his "transgressions" seems to have cooled the search activity, but there's still a lot out there. First, the Tiger Woods voicemail was released today and played all over including the CBS Evening News, which even took my Mom by surprise. She said "I can't believe that's on there!"

While the Jaimie Grubbs voicemail recording was spread all over , the Florida Highway Patrol released 100 new accident photos which you can see here.

But what's equally interesting is how nightclub executive Rachel Uchitel's name has sprouted up in searches again, and because information surfaced that Woods allegedly purchased her tickets for a trip to Australia. The National Enquirer linked the two in Australia at the same time but she said it was just coincidence.

Rachel Uchitel

According to the Kansas City Star, Rachel Uchitel's expected to admit that she had an affair with Tiger Woods on Thursday. According to TMZ.com, Uchitel said she "lied for him."


TMZ reports:

Sources say less than an hour before Tiger's accident, Rachel and Tiger were texting each other. Elin confronted Tiger and asked whom he was texting. She grabbed the phone and we're told she called Rachel to confront her. According to sources, Tiger and Elin began arguing and the phone broke in the process.

And that happened just before Tiger left to get into his SUV and drive off, which points to the ever increasing possibility that his wife Elin Nordegren did indeed hit his Cadillac SUV with two golf clubs.

Uchitel's lawyer Gloria Allred will make a statement at 11:30 AM PST Thursday.

If you're keeping count, that's officially three women - Jaimie Grubbs, Rachel Uchitel, and Kalika Moquin - who've had affairs with Tiger Woods.

Stay tuned.

Super-Hot Rachel Sklar Super-Mad at New York Observer

I created this video-blog for two reasons: first, because my friend Rachel Sklar  (well, friend in online media from my Huffington Post vlog submission days,  but have yet to meet) wrote a stinging column at the news website Mediaite where she's Editor-at-Large; second, because her take seemed to focus on the ridiculous perspective that at 37-year-old (as of next week) she was unattractive.

Before I continue, Rachel Sklar, you're just plain hot.

Rachel's angry with the New York Observer's Spencer Morgan, who wrote a rather mean-toned column entitled "Rrrowl! Beware Cougar's Young Niece, the Cheetah", about what he observes is a particular kind of woman younger than the hated "Cougar" but who is equally sexually-aggressive.

I don't know Spencer Morgan and I noticed that he's married, but my experience is such that men who have to place that kind of label on a woman hate women. What I mean is they have to categorize a woman for the general purpose of making a negative statement about them.

Think about it. When was the last time you saw the term "Cougar" used in a positive light, except when some guy says he escaped the paws of one, female or feline? That's not nice at all. By extension, it's not cool to call a woman a Cheetah, either, regardless of age.

The message I took from Spencer Morgan's ranting story about drunken exploits in Manhattan was that aggressive women are to be feared, loathed, and avoided at all costs.

I can't help but wonder if that view applies to women who are aggressive in the workplace or on the playing field? While Elizabeth Lambert has become the poster child for dirty play, I've got to admit I applauded the fact that it was a woman doing the punching instead of a man. Negative aspects aside, aggressive and assertive women are the kind most likely to stop a potential criminal in his or her tracks. It's about time.

I for one find such a woman extremely hot, and I'm proud to say I know a lot of them. Spencer cracks on women who sleep with a man then leave in the morning as if nothing happened; that's the fun story of my sex life. We call it "no strings" and Morgan's complaining? In my book, it's called a good screw and real men don't run around whining about women who start them.

Rachel, I'm not implying that you're such a woman; I'm just attacking the message of Morgan's work from my personal view. As the only male member of the San Francisco Chapter of WISE - Women in Sports and Events - I can't tell you how many men are just plain scared of attending a mostly-female networking event. But what's even harder to understand is this: aggressive women like men who fear and hate them.

I think this has to do with some women not being able to get beyond a message that they have to have a certain type of guy: black women have to have a black man where white women have to have a white guy, and so on. Fortunately a number of forces have come together such that the Millennial generation between 21 and 31 is almost devoid of such a concern; in my experience as of this writing, interracial dating for Millennial women is far more the standard than for women over 30.

Another set of forces has impacted the mating scene: the emergence of gay culture. In San Francisco (I live in both Oakland and suburban Atlanta) I've talked to a number of white women over the years who complained that the white men they were interested in turned out to be Gay. In fact this happens so frequently many white women assume a white man may be Gay if he's attractive and of means.

It's so much a part of our American urban culture, the concern found its way into Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives, when Judy Roth (Mia Farrow) observes that Michael Gates (Liam Neeson) is "single and not Gay" and that was in 1992; 18 years later, it's part of our cultural DNA.

So all of that spells confusion for a lot of women, especially older women. But it spells an America where it's easier to get a hook up, but harder to find a mate. So older women are just trying to make it as best they can.

Many women are adjusting to the new World around them by going after what who they think will accept them regardless of color, which is a fantastic development. Black women date white men; white women with black men, and all points connect in between. Cool. Very cool.

Some women get so frustrated with older men who don't grow with the culture or with them and fear aggressive women, they turn to....women. Look at Meridith Baxter.

So while all this is going on, some mean guy has to go and put a term on older women just trying to cope, calling them Cougars. I hate the term and it certainly does not apply to Rachel Sklar.

Rachel, this is for you: you're just plain hot. OK. There's nothing about you that is even remotely undesirable. You've got a great smile, lovely eyes and a playful way that just comes shining through, and your damn smart. Stop picking out or being drawn to men who can't see this (or who fit in a certain "box") and would even think of a woman of any age in a negative light such that he has to use a derisive term. Kick them to the curb.

Rachel Skalar, you're awesome and your best days are ahead of you. I hope this blog rant of mine makes your birthday that much happier. And when I'm in New York, let's catch dinner at 21!

Happy Birthday!

Did Obama's West Point speech make the case?

Guessing at the response of the audience on hand -- some of which will likely end up fighting in Afghanistan or Pakistan -- based on a few selected shots of cadets that have been prepping for finals and were there near the end of their day after an evening meal is fairly difficult. I think it’s safe to assume the range of reactions at West Point was broad, but there certainly were many cadets who seemed very eager indeed to shake the President’s hand and have their picture taken with him afterward.

I’d say the President laid out supporting evidence for the decisions he’s made, and articulated the goals and mission scope rather succinctly given it’s a distillation down from months of meetings and briefings with countless military and civilian advisors and other world leaders or their emissaries.

Nonetheless, those with an ax to grind were quick to fill the airwaves and the internet with every negative angle they could remotely connect, from comparisons to Viet Nam (which Obama had already effectively rebutted during the speech) to the dollar cost relative to enacting health care (a valid point, which utterly fails to address the reality that neither NATO nor the U.S. is prepared for the chaos that would ensue if we simply recalled every allied soldier as quickly as is logistically feasible.)

There’s no, “deadline that guarantees the Taliban and al Qaeda fighters will hide their weapons until the coast is clear,” as some have suggested There’s a target for turning over control to a sovereign government that nonetheless includes the potential that they can’t be entirely ready that promptly. A Jihad-oriented, radical branch of Islam calling itself Al Qaeda and/or the Taliban is as bent on controlling the world as Hitler was, and the choices are clear: deal with them there, now, or they will export terror around the world at the time of their choosing.

The bottom line is that after nearly a year of consultation President Obama made a very difficult decision to commit more American lives to help ensure a NATO success, thereby limiting the probability of Al Qaeda mounting an effective strike against countries not enamored of this radicalized, extremist interpretation of Islamic law. Naturally audience reaction is mixed, and the emotionally charged nature of this decision means that even among those who watched him speak many weren't listening to what the speech said, but for what they expected to hear.

That effect will only be magnified as the echoes of supposedly informed opinion rebound on the talk shows and websites which depend on ratings to generate ad revenues. The President was organized and thorough, the rest is up to the listeners. If you didn't get it, "raw and unfiltered," and/or you don't track down transcript you're likely to be hearing what you expect, too.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, journalist, and political analyst who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

Tiger Woods jokes from The Wanda Sykes Show

The Tiger Woods scandal's already produced jokes courtesy of comedian Wanda Sykes. On her new program The Wanda Sykes Show, she released a totally hilarious, if not politically-correct, take on Tiger Woods.

Of course it hits home with brother like me who don't drive Cadillacs, but maybe after this whole deal I'll reconsider! Skyes managed to skillfully weave together Tiger's African American side and Asian side with funny results:



The Wanda Sykes Show airs Saturday nights at 11 PM / 10 PM CST on Fox.

Transgressions of Tiger Woods, jaimee grubbs, kalika moquin, dominate search

To look at Google Trends as of this writing, you'd have no idea President Obama gave a speech committing 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. It proves what I've said to many for years: people search for information about other people first.

It's a fact that escapes marketers who claim not to understand how to use the Internet to promote their products. People follow people more than products. It also escapes many in mainstream media, like Rupert Murdock, who's under the ego-fueled impression that removing his content from Google will make Google suffer. Murdock forgets that content is king, not his publications. Ha. Google's got Tiger Woods; who needs Rupert Murdock.

 

Is Rupert Murdock paying attention?

As of now, Tiger Woods-related search terms dominate Google Trends. Eight of the top ten searches are connected to the Tiger Woods issue, so much that the only way to compete in this environment is to write multiple posts about some aspect of the Tiger Woods story. Here's the top search terms as of 10:26 PST; 1:26 EST:

Today's Hot Trends (USA)
1. transgressions
2. jaimee grubbs pics
3. kalika moquin pictures
4. tiger woods voicemail
5. transgression definition
6. meredith baxter
7. jamie grubbs pictures
8. nancy locke
9. tiger woods cheated on wife
10. tiger woods text messages

The sixth term is related to Meredith Baxter's announcement that she's lesbian. My prediction is that will last for another three hours, then diminish and fade away by Thursday under the sheer weight of interest in the Tiger Woods story and the additional content released whenever Woods, or anyone connected with his drama, talks.

(As a closing note of advice, if you want to be a good professional blogger, you've got to blog about news that doesn't interest you from time to time.)

Stay tuned.

Tiger Woods voicemail to Jaimie Grubbs, Kalika Moquin new girl

Jaimie Grubbs has released a voicemail she claims has the voice of Tiger Woods on it. Meanwhile, Kalika Moquin has surfaced as the third woman other than Rachel Uchitel that Tiger Woods allegedly had an affair with, placing his statement of "transgressions" (plural) into a new light and makes me wonder about Elin Nordegren and that golf club. 

 Tiger Woods, Jaimie Grubbs, Rachel Uchitel, and Kalika Moquin 

US Magazine / USWeekly has provided exclusive audio content that Jaimie Grubbs received the call from Tiger Woods. USWeekly posted the voicemail as a video here:



In it a voice that sounds like Tiger Woods says:

"Hey. It's , uh, it's Tiger. I need you to do me a huge favor. Um. Can you please take your name off my phone? My wife went through my phone and may uh, may be calling you. If you can, take your name off that, and if you can just have it has a number on the voicemail. Just have it as your number. Do me a huge favor. Okay?"

In light of Tiger Woods statement on "transgressions" that have hurt his family, also just released this morning, it seems Jaimie Grubbs is telling the truth. The only action left is for Tiger Woods to confirm that the voice on the voicemail is indeed him. I've got to admit, it sounds like him.

And what about Kalika Moquin? Who is she?

Kalika Moquin, like Rachel Uchitel, is another nightclub executive, this time a marketing manager with the The Bank Nightclub at Bellagio in Las Vegas. But unlike Jaimie Grubbs, she's not talking about everything that happened. The New York Daily News, which created the photo you see here, has Moquin as saying "It's not appropriate for me to comment one way or the other," by way of the source, Life and Style Magazine.

Life and Style reports:

Life & Style can exclusively reveal the identity of a woman who has quietly been seeing golf star Tiger Woods for months -- as recently as late October.


Kalika Moquin, left, a marketing manager for The The Bank Nightclub at Bellagio in Las Vegas, hooked up with Tiger more than once at his Las Vegas hotel during the weekend of Oct. 23, an insider tells Life & Style. Kalika is the third woman to be publicly linked to Tiger. Club promoter Rachel Uchitel and Los Angeles cocktail waitress Jaimee Grubbs have also been named in shocking reports as women with whom Tiger has cheated on his wife of five years, Elin Nordegren.

Life and Style's source is an "insider" who claims that Tiger said to Kalika Moquin that he was not happy in his marriage and that married life isn't all it's built up to me.

Man, for a guy like me who wants to get married, why do I keep hearing that all the time? Still, I believe in marriage and hope Tiger gets it together.

Tiger Woods statement today gives all of these reports, from Jaimie Grubbs and from Kalika Moquin, new light. But it also makes me wonder if Rachel Uchitel's not holding something back. If she is, it's certainly her choice but I wonder if she now feels compelled to speak more freely.

Stay tuned. Wow.

Tiger Woods appologizes for transgressions that let his family down

Still more questions about Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren than I raised here:



In a blockbuster new post on his website, TigerWoods.com, Tiger Woods made a statement that's sure to cause even more questions to be raised than answers. Woods said he appologizes for "transgressions" that let his family down. But with who? Jaimee Grubbs? Rachel Uchitel (who denies this)? Or the to-be-named third woman?

Here's what Tiger Woods posted:

I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart. I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect. I am dealing with my behavior and personal failings behind closed doors with my family. Those feelings should be shared by us alone.




Although I am a well-known person and have made my career as a professional athlete, I have been dismayed to realize the full extent of what tabloid scrutiny really means. For the last week, my family and I have been hounded to expose intimate details of our personal lives. The stories in particular that physical violence played any role in the car accident were utterly false and malicious. Elin has always done more to support our family and shown more grace than anyone could possibly expect.


But no matter how intense curiosity about public figures can be, there is an important and deep principle at stake which is the right to some simple, human measure of privacy. I realize there are some who don't share my view on that. But for me, the virtue of privacy is one that must be protected in matters that are intimate and within one's own family. Personal sins should not require press releases and problems within a family shouldn't have to mean public confessions.


Whatever regrets I have about letting my family down have been shared with and felt by us alone. I have given this a lot of reflection and thought and I believe that there is a point at which I must stick to that principle even though it's difficult.


I will strive to be a better person and the husband and father that my family deserves. For all of those who have supported me over the years, I offer my profound apology.

I will have my video commentary later today. My view is that while a little confession is good for the soul, in this case David Letterman's example is still one Tiger Woods should follow. Letterman explained exactly what happened and made a joke of certain details in the process. It humanized Letterman.

In the same way Tiger Woods can both bring sympathy and support for himself, and reduce the chatter, by explaining exactly what happened. What he's done is open the door a little bit, which only encourages people to look in through the gap.

For example, just what does Woods mean when he refers to his "behavior and personal failings"? That's the question of the day.

Stay tuned.

YouTube Meetup at Oakland's Lake Chalet Saturday, December 12th

There have been YouTube Meetups, but never one in America's most exciting city, Oakland, California. The Oakland YouTube Meetup at Lake Chalet at 1520 Lakeside Drive in Oakland, and is on Saturday, December 12th 2009 from 2 PM to 5:30 PM.



What's the plan?  To meet, eat, and video!  But the idea is to meet YouTubers from all over and especially Oakland, San Francisco, and Northern California.   But it's also a party for non-YouTubers to learn more about how YouTube and YouTubers can help promote their business; you learn by watching us in action and mingling! 

It's also a YouTube contest with prizes for the person who uploads their video the fastest. 

Join me and other YouTubers like Sarah Austin for a cool event in a really awesome place: Lake Chalet:



Visit our Facebook page here.

More information to come, but contact me Zennie62 at zennie@zennie62.com

President Obama's Speech makes case for war

Tonight, before an audience of well-dressed and metallic blue suited West Point cadets, President Barack Obama gave the first speech calling for war in his young career. It was an Obama Afghanistan speech of 35 minutes time that turned this still skeptical observer from mild opponent to supporter.

Why?

Because President Obama reminded me of America's unique place in the World. It's something all too easy to forget in a time of massive job loss, outsourcing of industrial capacity, and decreased wealth. It's all to easy to believe that America's just another country rather than the leader of the free World. Obama gave me a wake up call.

Obama said we do not seek to occupy Afghanistan or to target a religion or an ethnicity. Obama explained that he wants to rid Afghanistan of the terrorist cancer in its culture (my words) and cause the country to become a partner with the industrialized World.

Obama also gave a picture of a region that's producing terrorist enemies who try to enter America at a regular rate. That was new information for me and caused me to place Obama's decision in another perspective: Obama wants to go to the source of these terrorist attempts and stop it.

President Obama did what few other Presidents have done: place the act of war in an overarching framework that fits within America's ideals. Unlike President George W. Bush, who said he wasn't an advocate of nation building, then sent America on a mission to do just that in Iraq, President Obama insisted that a long occupation was undesirable, then explained why. Obama assembled the intellectual and emotional framework for a troop surge and did so in fine fashion. The lingering question is will it work?

The one part of the grand scheme is  Afghanistan.  Will they Afghan people be able to take over and run their affairs in 18 months?  Will we stay if that's not the case, or leave according to timetable?  Can Afghanistan be trusted to do its part in this effort, or is the culture so intermixed with Al Queda that such expectations are folly? 

Those are the questions I have, but I'm ready to go forward because this President reminded me of America's place in the World.

Tiger Woods car accident and Elin Nordegren argument animated

A friend sent this video above from Taiwan news which has the two versions of the Tiger Woods scandal in cartoon animation. The first part of the video contains an animation of Tiger Woods driving into a tree, then wife Elin Nordegren saving him using a golf club to smash the window of his Cadillac SUV.

The second part of the video is more dramatic. It features an animated version of the alleged argument between Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren, and has Elin slapping Woods, causing him to run away and to the Cadillac SUV, then turning to see her give chase and taking his eyes off the road, causing him to crash into a hydrant and then a tree. Below is the original title of the video in Taiwanese:

【蘋果動新聞】伍茲深夜撞車 老婆破窗救夫 疑點重重

Which roughly translates to:

[apple moves news]Woods late at night has a collision the wife broken window to rescue the husband questionable point layer on layer

Jaimee Grubbs releases alleged Tiger Woods texts, fails to prove affair

A Jaimee Grubbs / Tiger Woods update: Jaimee Grubbs released the alleged Tiger Woods texts to RadarOnline.com. The online celeb site reports that there were just two texts, which read...

“I will wear you out...when was the last time you got (bleeped)?”

And...

“Send me something very naughty…Go to the bathroom and take (a picture).”

But this does not provide evidence of an affair. Also missing are the dates and times of the texts. What's interesting is RadarOnline starts the post off with a link to seven pictures of Jaimee Grubbs. Grubbs is or was a San Diego cocktail waitress, who's San Diego-based Facebook page is down where she calls herself "MissBluesky".

I think that's a reference to Blue Sky Vodka, which commonly hires young, hot women to pour vodka at events. Here's an example from my SF Giants Opening Day video:



Grubbs claims she met Tiger Woods in Las Vegas in 2007.

If this is all she's got it's terrible. So far there are holes big enough to drive a truck through here. It would be one thing if she had a photo of the two of them, but a text message without identification information is a joke. Still, it's caused an Internet frenzy as four of the top ten Google Trends as of this writing have the name Jaimee Grubbs.

It reminds me of the young L.A. rapper who claimed he was the father of Bristol Palin's daughter. I and others then speculated that Bristol's man just may be black so we turned up the heat on him and it all turned out to be a hoax. About the only thing it did was bring attention to his awful MySpace music.

Stay tuned.

Miley Cirus hates Twilight: New Moon, calls it a cult

While Miley Cirus is the teen singing sensation that doesn't mean she buys into the whole Twilight: New Moon craze. According to The Manila Bulletin, Miley Cirus, who earlier this year caused an Adam Lambert-sized PR buzz with her Teen Choice Awards stripper pole dance number and then with her concert crouch grabbing routine,...



Is far more conservative in her view of the hit film series, the Manila Bulletin records her saying:

"I don't believe in it," said Miley in an interview.. "I don't like vampires. I don't like the wolf that pops out of the screen when I'm watching my TV at night. I don't like it. I don't want anything to do with it. I don't like the shirts. I don't like any of it...“I think it’s a cult. I think it’s bad. I think it’s, like, just people get too [much] into it. I feel really lame because everyone is so excited and I’m like, ‘Don’t even talk about it.

“For me, I think it’s like when guys look at supermodels and they’re like, ‘That’s the perfect girl.' That’s what those kinds of movies do to us.

“They’re like thinking that’s what girls should be like and not everyone is going to be Edward [Cullen], hate to say it."

Cyrus then went on to say that she thinks actor Johnny Depp is hotter than Twilight: New Moon star Robert Pattinson, or..."way hotter for sure."

Right now, Robert Pattinson's got the hot film, earning over $230 million at the box office.

Parkway Theater update: no new news

If, like me, you're wondering what the newest information on the Parkway Theater is, well, according to the "i like the parkway" website forum, there's no news - but that's news.

If you need a refresher, this video explains what happened to The Parkway Theater:



And this video covered the first community meeting:



And this is my video interview of former Parkway owners and founders Catherine and Kyle Fisher:



This is the communication that was released recently:

Dear friends of the Parkway Theater,

We hope you're well. We've missed you. It's been a while since we've given an update on the status of the Parkway, so we'd like to share the information we have about the on-going efforts to get a new business opened there.

As we approach the time of year where friends and family are a central theme, the organizers of I Like The Parkway are reminded that we have found both in the eclectic group of movie-lovers united through the loss of the Parkway. We know that this theater will re-open because of your support, your passion, and as time has told in the 9 months since it closed, your patience. For this we are thankful. Happy Thanksgiving.

** BUSINESS OPERATOR UPDATE **

The Parkway building is still empty. Yes, yes, we know. Not cool. The Motion Picture Heritage Company is no longer looking to open a theater there - we don't have the details, but it seems the cost of building repairs has been a big hurdle.

As most of you know, the first potential operator (Motion Picture Heritage Corporation) that made a serious effort toward re-opening the Parkway did not end up signing a deal. Since then, several groups have shown interest, put together business proposals, and worked on their plans with the theater building owners and/or the city. Some have since moved on; some are still somewhere in that process. Unfortunately, nobody has gotten to the point of signing a lease on the space, so we don't anticipate the theater opening up before the year's end. From the consistent activity of potential business operators, we are optimistic about a 2010 re-opening.

Because of your collective enthusiasm for the reopening of the Parkway, potential operators have recognized the benefit of working with the community to understand our needs and concerns. To date, multiple parties have reached out to begin that dialogue with us. What has become clear is that there is no shortage of interested parties who would like to re-open the theater in the spirit of what it once was. The challenge is crafting a deal that is agreeable and fair to both the would-be operators and the building owners and in demonstrating the financial viability of such a business to banks or investors. Until the reality of a deal presents itself we will continue to act as we have, fostering relationships throughout our community and throughout Oakland that we believe will lead to a better home for all of us and the re-imagination of the Parkway. Our primary objective is to ensure that anyone who reopens the Parkway has a clear business plan that reflects the ideas and concerns of the community, while balancing the requirements of a profitable business.

** WHAT NOW? **

As I Like The Parkway continues to grow, there are still people that love the theater and have no idea what happened. If you know people that love movies (that's most people, right?) and want to bring back a great place for movies and food, send them to http://www.iliketheparkway.com this week. Forward this email to 5 of your friends for eternal good luck!

** MURAL THANKS **

Have you driven by the theater recently and noticed the mural? Thanks to Ras Terms and Desi W.O.M.E. If you're at Woody's across the street, be sure to thank Steve or Robert for coordinating with these artists.

** FOR THE DOGS... **

For those of you interested in the neighborhood immediately adjacent to the Parkway, there is a group of residents that recently proposed creating a fenced, off-leash dog area in the small green space bordered by Park, E. 22nd, 5th, and E. 21st (see the map here). Councilmember Pat Kernighan is soliciting feedback through a survey on her site. Please visit her survey to share your thoughts.

Until next time, we hope you have a happy holiday, get to spend time with family and friends, and, as always-

We won't give up if you don't.

Thank you for all that you do,
I Like The Parkway

Stay tuned.

December is film awards nominations month - here's a list

With such events as The Sprit Awards and The Annie Awards as well as the National Board of Review Awards, its hard to keep up with all of the award programs that are about to announce their nominations this month. To make it easy for you, and me for that matter, here's my list of dates that nominations are expected to be announced for each event based on several sources:

December 1: Annie Awards, Sprit Awards noms
December 3: National Board of Review Awards noms
December 7: Washington Area Film Critics Awards noms
December 13: American Film Institute Awards noms
December 14: Broadcast Film Critics Association Critics Choice Awards noms
December 15: Golden Globe Awards nominations noms
December 17: Screen Actors Guild Award noms
December 20: Satellite Awards
December 31: Online Film Critics Society noms

That's just for those awards where the dates were confirmed. As I get more information I will update the list. There are almost 30 award nominations that will be released in December.

Annie Awards has Coraline, Disney dominating nominations

The Annie Awards come up February 6th and the nominations are in and listed on the awards event website starting with Best Animated Feature:

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs — Sony Pictures Animation
Coraline — Laika
Fantastic Mr. Fox — 20th Century Fox
The Princess and the Frog — Walt Disney Animation Studios
The Secret of Kells — Cartoon Saloon
Up — Pixar Animation Studios

Disney has a total of 17 nominations, including eight for The Princess and The Frog and nine for Prep and Landing, according to the LA Times. Both movies have not yet released, with The Princess and The Frog set to screen December 11th and Prep and Landing airing on ABC Television December 8th.

From a film perspective, Coraline leads with 10 nominations. Here's the list of nominations held by the leading animated feature film contenders:

(10) Coraline
(9) Up
(8) The Princess and the Frog
(4) Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
(3) Fantastic Mr. Fox; Monsters vs. Aliens

Jaimee Grubbs claims Tiger Woods affair; another woman, too

Wow, first the National Enquirer claims that Rachel Uchitel had an affair with Tiger Woods (she denies it)...



... Now, after the story of the alleged Thanksgiving fight with his wife Elin Nordegren surfaced, we have two more women coming forward to bask in the black-lit glow: Jaimee Grubbs and another yet unnamed.

Jaimee Grubbs

The two sources are US Weekly (via TMZ) and Radar Online. At USWeekly, Jamie Grubbs claims that she had a 31-month affair with Woods that started April of 2007 when she was 21 years old. TMZ reports:

The magazine, which comes out tomorrow, claims Grubbs had 20 sexual encounters with Tiger. Us Weekly has photos, racy texts from Tiger, as well as a voicemail from November 24, in which Tiger suggests his wife might be on to the alleged affair.

If Elin Nordegren did go upside Tiger Woods' head with a golf club, I can see why she did it. But, and this is a powerful "but", stories like the one Tiger generated are bait for any woman trying to make a name in entertainment and Jaimee Grubbs certainly fits that mold. She was on VH1's Tool Academy.

The question is, why wait until now to come forward?  Did she want "hush money" from Tiger Woods and he refused?  If so, and that's a question someone should ask, it doesn't make her look good at all.  Coming forward in this way says nothing good about the character of Jaimee Grubbs.

Meanwhile, Radar Online claims "several other women" are coming forward to claim they had sexual affairs with Tiger Woods, but the online mag explains it has no names and has not seen or listened to any evidence, but does write:

RadarOnline.com also exclusively learned that ANOTHER woman has voice mails from Tiger and is in talks with a national outlet to reveal her sexual affair with the golfing great.

 Ok, let me see.  It's a recession.  People are looking for whatever marketing edge they can get.  I'd just bet the voice mails are innocent on the part of Tiger Woods or even doctored and the women are in the entertaiment industry.   Like  Jaimee Grubbs, if they do step forward they have a lot of explaining to do.  

I don't think this is going to harm Tiger Woods as much as it will show the dark character of the women talking to the media.  I can't help but wonder what Rachel Uchitel thinks of all this.  

Stay tuned.

Notre Dame Football Press Conference on Charlie Weis

Yesterday the Notre Dame Football program announced that Charlie Weis was no longer the head coach of The Fighting Irish effective today, December 1st. Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick held a 20 minute press conference to talk about what was his decision and moving forward.

The video presents 15 minutes of that 20 minute event (provided by CBS Sports Online and The University of Notre Dame) including the question and answer session with the press and my commentary.

Why 15 minutes? To control the video file size and get this out as quickly as possible. You can read the full transcript at the Notre Dame Football website here.

At the press conference, Swarbrick said that told Weis of his decision not to retain him Saturday night, after Notre Dame's loss to the Stanford Cardinal 45 to 38. He had not talked to any other coaching candidates before releasing Weis. My impression is that, indeed, how the team performed in that game impacted Swarbrick's choice to look for a new coach. After the game, Weis did not talk to the press.

Charlie Weis leaves with a 35 win, 27 loss record and was just 16 wins versus 21 losses over the last three years.

Swarbrick said that he believes the program has the right ingredients to take the next step and return to a level of prominence is a leadership issue, and "turning the corner" is a matter of finding the right person. Swarbrick believes that having a team with a great defense is a must in a pursuit of a BCS bowl bid.

I think Swarbrick should have given Weis one more year with a strick objective: 8-4 we retain you, less than that we get rid of you. At 8-4 a BCS bowl bid would take care of itself.

But now, Notre Dame has to start over again.

After some thought I do believe Notre Dame can return to football competitiveness, but not prominence. The reason is that talent and the knoweldge to develop that athlete is more spread out and communicated via the Internet. Also, new schemes work for one year, then because of online communication, answers for those approaches are developed rapidly.

I think Weis gets that now. When he came to Notre Dame he was confident he had a "schematic advantage" but as I told anyone who would listen it would take about two years for college football to develop a "book" on his offense, then we would see how well he could coach and recruit. We did; Weis lost to Army 31 to 17 and that started the league of pissed off Fighting Irish fans. Some of them think a return to the days of Knute Rockne is possible, and Swarbrick's one of them.

Notre Dame can be competitive, but to think the program can get talented players to come and perform under the amazingly rigorous academic standards the school has established is just plain unrealistic. The main problem is Notre Dame refuses to change with the times: to come into the 21st Century. I'm not saying it should relax its standards, but make a choice that if its going to maintain them it should expect to field a competitive football program and be happy with that.

But as long as Swarbrick and other Golden Domers think they can "wake up the echoes" Notre Dame will be in for more coaching failure for years to come. What Swarbrick should do is sit down and craft a numerical performance standard for the next coach to follow that reads like this: if your team posts an 7-5 or better record for four years, we will extend your contract after year five. Simple.

That standard may not be "national championship level" but it does make sure the program establishes a competitive ethic first, then, maybe, that national championship will come.

Stay tuned.

Tiger Woods update - neighborhood on lockdown

Tiger Woods update in brief because it's been a long Monday for me here in Georgia.

First, the neighborhood Tiger Woods lives in is on "lockdown", making it sound like its a candidate for the MSNBC TV show of the same name. According to TMZ.com, Isleworth Florida security has it so tight that people who live there can't go from place to place freely. It's so bad that security took the memory card of one person's camera away and confiscated it.  Part of the reason for this is that it's turned into a makeshift TV studio with a 24-hour presence of TV trucks and and "three dozen vehicles".  

And TMZ itself is under attack as having inaccurate information according to the Orlando Sentinel. Sgt. Kim Montes of the Florida Highway Patrol told the newspaper none of their reports were accurate.  But given that the FHP has not talked to Woods or Elin Nordegren either, how would he know? 

Geez.

What is known is that on Monday, the Florida Highway Patrol was snooping around the hospital Woods entered for treatment on Friday, in search of more information. They still do not have a search warrant, but want one to basically confirm if it was Tiger's wife Elin Nordegren who hit him. I hope they never get the search warrant.

On the matter of the hospital, injuries, and Woods golf tournament, it seems he's so badly banged up he can't play in the Thursday event.

A new account of Woods and Elin Nordegren has surfaced at RadarOnline.com. It has the following:

Tiger Woods told his wife that she ruined their Thanksgiving and stormed out of their house before crashing his car early Friday, RadarOnline.com is reporting exclusively.

The golfing great had been arguing with wife Elin Nordegren for quite some time Thanksgiving night, according to a source familiar with the situation.

When the argument escalated, Tiger left the house and according to the source told Elin: "You've ruined our Thanksgiving! Are you happy
now?"

Tiger, 33, had pulled out of his driveway at 2:25 am Friday when he crashed. He has not offered any explanation about where he was going. He released a statement Sunday taking responsibility for the crash but not addressing what happened prior to the accident.

Given how large the Woods home and compound is, how the hell could someone hear all that? I'm just wondering. 

In all a sad tale, now with people taking bets on the future of his marriage and pulling for him to get a divorce. I'm not one of them; The Woods' have two kids who need them together. I hope they get through this.

Stay tuned.