Michael Jackson : MJ Memorial makes time stop

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You know it's a special day when your T-Mobile cell phone allows you to make "Emergency Calls only", you know you paid the bill, and you can't even call customer service. I've seen a lot of days and a gaggle of events, but nothing like this. If you didn't know Michael Jackson passed way, today, you do now.

This memorial is incredible: Stevie Wonder just gave a terrific performance. Now, former LA Lakers great Ervin "Magic" Johnson is giving a really personal, funny, ("I didn't know Michael Jackson liked Kentucky Fried Chicken!") and touching speech. And now, Jennifer Hudson's taking the stage. It's simply amazing this was asssembled so quickly and yet so well. It's moving.

Unfortunately, in death, Michael Jackson is more powerful than in life. His power was always to make us happy, if just for one moment in time, feel carefree and joyful. Sadness today, yes, but also clapping, singing, laughter, and joy, and for me, awe. What an amazing power to have, that ability to bring a smile to someone's face. To change the world through the creative act of making a sound. A tune. A song. And how great to take that power and then give back with the money from it. Michael Jackson has given more to foundations and causes than any pop star in history. Michael cared.

For me, this feels like a weird kind of cultural flashback. Reverend Al Sharpton's talking about the 1970 PUSH Convention held in Chicago, at the Chicago Amphatheater, and I was there. From growing up on the south side of Chicago, and knowing people who at least claimed to know the Jacksons, who lived in Gary, Indiana, then coming out here to Oakland, then to Texas for college, and Berkeley for grad school, and everything else, there was Michael Jackson. Always a part of my life. And now, Brooke Shields is fighting back tears to explain a very personal relationship she had with MJ, but I feel like I've grown up with her too. There all of this is, my life in front of me. Maybe yours too.

And now Michael's gone.

But while he's gone, to Heaven, it's not just his music that lives on, but this message: make other people happy, if for one moment. If you have to write something, make it nice, not mean. Sharpton said it best a moment ago and to his kids: "There was nothing strange about your daddy, but what your daddy had to deal with." He's not kidding. Michael Jackson, from the time of his birth to childhood, to adult , to know, was an extraordinary, misunderstood genius of a man who just wanted to be happy, and spread happiness.

I hope and pray we take up his soul and do the same.

Remembering Steve McNair: The 2000 Super Bowl v. The Rams

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The passing via murder of former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair is really hard to take.  It's hard because McNair was a major player in my first Super Bowl: Super Bowl 38 (or XXXVIII) in Atlanta to open the new century in 2000. I was their as a guest of the NFL as I was working to bring the Super Bowl to Oakland. (We eventually lost to Jacksonville for the right to host the 2005 Super Bowl.)

McNair's Titans weren't favored to win that game agains the "Greatest Show On Turf", the St. Louis Rams.  The Rams were blowing-out and steam-rollering opponents that year and there was no indication that wasn't going to be the case in The Super Bowl.

But someone forgot to tell that to the Titans, led by a stalwart defense and Steve McNair.  With the Alcorn State legends fancy footwork, laser passing, and quick decision-making, the Titans stayed within scoring distance of the Rams, then came to one (Titans WR) Kevin Dyson-almost-touchdown-pass of tying the game.  After that who knows who would have won? (Come to think of it, what if Rams WR Issac Bruce had dropped that dramatic 73-yard touchdown catch and run?  It would have been a new game with the Titans having the momentum.) 

What I loved most about McNair was that he was such a leader, such a powerful presence, few reffered to him as a "black quarterback".  No.  McNair was just the quarterback of The Tennessee Titans, and an undispurted leader.  When the Titans drafted Texas QB Vince Young, I thought it was excellent because then McNair would be his teacher, but then he was traded to Baltimore and with that a great pairing for the future came to an end.

Off the field, I assumed McNair was a quiet man who grew up in the South and did not want to make waves. He and former Green Bay Packers QB Brett Farve were the kind of friends who'd go hunting in what I once heard Farve call their three-piece suits: suspenders and overalls.   In fact, I'm very surprised Farve hasn't issued a statement at this time, not even on his website.

McNair will be missed by everyone.  A sad moment in time.

Remembering Steve McNair: The 2000 Super Bowl v. The Rams

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The passing via murder of former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair is really hard to take.  It's hard because McNair was a major player in my first Super Bowl: Super Bowl 38 (or XXXVIII) in Atlanta to open the new century in 2000. I was their as a guest of the NFL as I was working to bring the Super Bowl to Oakland. (We eventually lost to Jacksonville for the right to host the 2005 Super Bowl.)

McNair's Titans weren't favored to win that game agains the "Greatest Show On Turf", the St. Louis Rams.  The Rams were blowing-out and steam-rollering opponents that year and there was no indication that wasn't going to be the case in The Super Bowl.

But someone forgot to tell that to the Titans, led by a stalwart defense and Steve McNair.  With the Alcorn State legends fancy footwork, laser passing, and quick decision-making, the Titans stayed within scoring distance of the Rams, then came to one (Titans WR) Kevin Dyson-almost-touchdown-pass of tying the game.  After that who knows who would have won? (Come to think of it, what if Rams WR Issac Bruce had dropped that dramatic 73-yard touchdown catch and run?  It would have been a new game with the Titans having the momentum.) 

What I loved most about McNair was that he was such a leader, such a powerful presence, few reffered to him as a "black quarterback".  No.  McNair was just the quarterback of The Tennessee Titans, and an undispurted leader.  When the Titans drafted Texas QB Vince Young, I thought it was excellent because then McNair would be his teacher, but then he was traded to Baltimore and with that a great pairing for the future came to an end.

Off the field, I assumed McNair was a quiet man who grew up in the South and did not want to make waves. He and former Green Bay Packers QB Brett Farve were the kind of friends who'd go hunting in what I once heard Farve call their three-piece suits: suspenders and overalls.   In fact, I'm very surprised Farve hasn't issued a statement at this time, not even on his website.

McNair will be missed by everyone.  A sad moment in time.

Megan Fox is right, Michael Bey: "Transformers" is a special effects movie!

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Today it was reported that Megan Fox is in "hot water" for her statements regarding the movie "Transformers." Director / Producer Michael Bey was even quoted as saying Megan "Has a lot of growing up to do." ABC News agreed with Bey and said Fox "put her foot in her mouth again." Well, folks, Megan Fox, one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood in more ways than one, didn't put her foot in her mouth and Michael Bey and ABC News should appologize to Fox for their statements.

Megan Fox

What did she say? In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Fox said this:

Question: What percentage of your (acting) range have people seen so far?
Megan Fox: Seven percent. On the new one, I tried. But unless you're a seasoned veteran, working with Michael Bay is not about an acting experience.

And later...

Question: You're a bigger star now than when you did the first Transformers. Did they beef up your role in the sequel?
Fox: The humans are still secondary to the robots because it's a movie about robots. I feel like the part is adequate. I feel like we do something that's watchable on our end and then ILM makes it phenomenal.

Question: You don't sound convinced that this is the greatest movie on earth.
Fox: It's not trying to be the greatest movie on earth. It's going to be the best action movie of the summer. Hands down, it will win that. But it's not trying to be a Golden Globe-nominated film. It's a badass popcorn summer movie.

Question: You up for a third Transformers?
Fox: Sure. I mean, I can't s--- on this movie because it did give me a career and open all these doors for me. But I don't want to blow smoke up people's ass. People are well aware that this is not a movie about acting. And once you realize that, it becomes almost fun because you can be in the moment and go, ''All right, I know that when he calls Action! I'm either going to be running or screaming, or both.''

Michael Bey's response was less than diplomatic:

Michael Bey

Well, that’s Megan Fox for you. She says some very ridiculous things because she’s 23 years old and she still has a lot of growing to do. You roll your eyes when you see statements like that and think, “Okay Megan, you can do whatever you want. I got it.” But I 100% disagree with her. Nick Cage wasn’t a big actor when I cast him, nor was Ben Affleck before I put him in “Armageddon.” Shia LaBeouf wasn’t a big movie star before he did “Transformers”—and then he exploded. Not to mention Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, from “Bad Boys.” Nobody in the world knew about Megan Fox until I found her and put her in “Transformers.” I like to think that I’ve had some luck in building actors’ careers with my films.

But Megan Fox is correct, moreover, Bey's own comments defend her, as well as the fact that Bey poses not with Fox or the other Transformers stars, but with a robot.

 

The real star of Transformers with Bey

What Fox is saying is what everyone knows: Transformers is a special effects-driven movie. If Bey were to make an actors movie, this would not have been it, and he would have not plucked the unknown Fox for the role. That's essentially what Fox is saying. But what's so bad is Bey's reach for ageism: Fox's being "23-years old" has nothing at all to do with her statements; anyone could have made them of any age and have been totally correct.

Making comments on someone's age is more often than not inappropriate in a society where 40-year old women look like they're in their 20s, 25-year-olds marry 45-year-olds, and rockers are still hard at it in their late 60s, some dating women in their 20s. On top of that, we have 20-year olds establishing companies that reach billions in value.

And to add sauce to the goose, digital media has slammed decades of music and television together, such that today, Michael Jackson's songs of 30 years ago top the Billboard charts in the wake of his death.

Slowly, technology is making age passe, but even with that I must observe that Michael Bey's a bit behind the times. Perhaps he should pay less attention to age and to insulting his stars and more to the substance of his movies.

Bridge Of The New USS Enterprise NCC-1701

Michael Jackson Fans gather at Staples Center for their last goodbyes

Fight in SF Fillmore: bouncer doing his job with patron

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Saturday July 4th was a great day to be out-and-about in the San Francisco Bay Area. A tradition shared by my friends and I - and thousands of others - is to attend the Fillmore Jazz Festival, which is a good 10 blocks of music, food, and fun. One of the favorite stops along the stretch is Harry's Bar, which serves up a great combination of beautiful people dancing and socializing to funk and rock music. After hanging with friends inside, a group of us ventured outside as it was just too hot. I came back later, but after perhaps a few minutes inside, determined that the outdoor weather was better.

I go to Harry's each year with the same group of friends - except we didn't see Monte Poole this year - so I'm used to the vibe during the festival. I give the staff a lot of credit for keeping the crowd at a manageable level; not that it was ever out of control in the past, or this year for that matter. But in past years one could not even pass through the place with ease; not so on Saturday. The relative calm of the party made the incident I'm about to explain all the more, well, weird.

There was a patron that was giving the Bouncer and the patrons inside a real hard time as the video will show; a guy with a "3" on his back. At first I ignored him and talked to my fellow Oakland friend on the curb, but given the way he was behaving - at first taunting the bouncer to fight, but then more and more relentlessly so - I could not do so. I activated my camera and just stood on the curb holding it up.

The Bouncer had told the patron to leave as he had too much to drink, was beligerent, and had been given a number of warnings. For a beat, it actually looked like "Number 3" (as I will call him) was going to just walk away. But something happened - for some reason it was really important for him to get back in the bar - and he started to ask the bouncer "Are you black or white" (the bouncer's black as is the patron), and he repeated the question again and again. The bouncer said "As long as you stay back away from the door you can say anything." For many of the onlookers, the patron was a source of comic relief; a woman walked up and started dancing sexily behind "Number 3". We kept saying "Turn around. It's more fun behind you." But he didn't. Number 3 was locked in on the person he believed to be his tormentor: the Bouncer.

There were several voices asking for someone to call the police, and another voice said "they've been called." (Don't know if there were any Twitter tweets at the time.) Still the police never came. The bouncer asked for the police to be called. Nothing. Not even security. At that point, "Number 3" decided to violate the space the bouncer told him to avoid and pointed his finger right in the bouncer's face. To me, it seemed like he was about to hit the bouncer. So the Bouncer took a look at his partner, and then kind of grabbed him and put him into a hold, and as soon as he had him on the ground said "I'm going to hold him until the police arrive."

The sudden, wild mix of emotions was dizzying: one man upset with the bouncer and another upset with the man who was upset with the bouncer, and a woman sitting on a stoop calmly looking at the weirdly intertwined pair only to ask "Are you going to kill him?" "No" the Bouncer said, "I'm trying to hold him until the police get here."

Festival security did arrive after a few minutes and they helped the Bouncer escort Number 3 away from the venue, and to the appalause of the onlookers.

On my YouTube page, the comments seems to run mostly to the defense of the bouncer. Someone took issue with the use of the hold - what someone called a sleeper hold - but the Bouncer seemed to take great pains to make sure Number 3 could breath. He was trying to hold him.

Personally, given Number 3's behavior, I'm not sure the Bouncer had too many choices; that guy was going to do something. If the Bouncer let him back in Harry's it's almost certain he would have got into a fight with someone there. Me? I'm not one for violence at all but I understand the actions the Bouncer took; I think festival security should have been there much faster to clear Number 3 away. Given that they were on call for that event, and the day was coming to a close, the Bouncer really should have had some help from festival security.


The new pattern of violence in Sf's bar districts

I and others have noticed a violent male patronage out and about in areas of San Francisco one would not expect to see them: the Marina District and Pacific Heights, where Harry's Bar is located are two examples. Just over a week ago a man fired a gun on San Francisco police at a Marina hotel, and over at one establishment on the corner of Fillmore and Greenwich known for its dance floor, some have complained that certain men are just there to start fights and its only a matter of time before someone pulls a gun. It seems the problems of nightclub violence that have plagued the Mission, Tenderloin, North Beach, and The South of Market, are now almost everywhere in San Francisco.

Why?

That's a good question I can't answer here. But I will return to do so in the near future.