Movie Theaters: Parkway Oakland founders start new business

The Oakland Parkway Theater closure and restoration issue hasn't been in the main news cycle for a few weeks now, but that doesn't mean there's nothing going on. Catherine and Kyle Fisher, the now former owners of both the Parkway and Cerrito Theaters have done a lot of soul searching in the wake of their loss of both facilities and the controversy that followed.

When I interviewed them earlier this year they were at a cross-road in their life and it came out in our talk. Oh, and if you missed that talk, it's here below and it's a good idea to take a look at the video then read what their next move's going to be, which is presented in the email below the video.



Here's the email from Catherine and Kyle on their new venture:

Catherine and I have had our walk on the beach. We've licked our figurative wounds and are ready to start the next chapter in our lives for better or for worse. We're sharing this with you, our wonderful former patrons because our next endeavor concerns some of you.

Over our 13 years at Speakeasy Theaters many people approached us for information on how to start a business like Speakeasy Theaters that spoke as much to the needs of the community and the lifestyle of the operators as to earning a living. When asked, we gave the best answer we could under the circumstances of the encounter, but I fear that given our time constraints our responses were mostly inadequate. We would like to answer this question in the appropriate detail. What we also determined on our walk was that one of the things that we enjoyed most about operating Speakeasy Theaters was working with and nurturing the often fledgling independent contractors who held events at the Parkway, helping them bring their ideas into focus and executing them as well as they could.

To this end, Catherine and I developed Wild Card Circle. Wild Card Circle is several things each of which are intended to help entrepreneurs develop community responsive businesses that in turn allow the developer to live a lifestyle that is rewarding mentally, spiritually and hopefully financially. One of the main components of Wild Card Circle are workshops designed to help the individual find their inner entrepreneur and show him/her how to express it. If any of this seems remotely interesting to you, you can find out more about it at WildCardCircle.com or contact us at Kyle or Catherine @WildCardCircle.com, otherwise this is us signing off from your lives and wishing you well and thanking you for your years of support.

I wish them the best of luck. Regardless of the outcome of the theaters or how you may feel about them, they did give the Oakland and El Cerrito communities fun places that helped to define the East Bay's unique culture.

Michael Jackson - Janet Jackson and AEG blocking Jackson's doctor

According to TMZ.com, relations are becoming more contentious between Janet Jackson, event producer AEG, and Michael Jackson's doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray.

Dr. Conrad Murray holds that AEG owes him $300,000, and is late paying for two months of service.

I wonder if that period includes the segment of time leading to Jackson's passing? If so, Murray not only may not see that money, it seems he should understand the circumstances surrounding AEG's actions and have some kind of insurance backup plan. His job was to keep Jackson not just working, but alive. Still, a contract is a contract.

In reading TMZ.com, I have to wonder why Murray's lawyer needs a publicist and who's paying the publicist? Only in LA.

Which leads to this new bit of related information: Janet Jackson doesn't want Murray to practice again. She says he was the only one giving drugs to Michael Jackson.

I think there's a connection between the non-payment by AEG and Janet Jackson, but that's just my gut.

Stay tuned.

Miley Cyrus: Seventeen’s Style Star of the Year

Miley Cyrus bounces back! After getting the not-so-flattering AOL award as Worst Celebrity Influence of 2009...



...singer Miley Cyrus gets a more flattering award as Seventeen Magazine’s "Style Star of the Year".

Just Jared reports:

The 16-year-old starlet was chosen as the mag’s Style Star of the Year. The mag quotes, “She finally shed her Hannah Montana shell and showed the world she’s an A-lister with it-girl style, which is why Seventeen is honoring Miley as our Style Star of the Year!”

Great to see the Miley Cyrus PR Machine hard at work.

UCLA basketball shocked by CS Fullerton 68, Bruins 65 (2OT)

The stage was set: UCLA basketball opening home game at legendary Pauley Pavilion with what was supposed to be fodder in Cal State Fullerton, making for an easy win coming off close games against Concordia and Humboldt State in preseason.

Right.

Someone forgot to tell Cal State Fullerton. They won in double overtime 68 to 65 and broke a nine-game string of losses to UCLA. With strength training and the Internet used to pass on coaching points, it's harder than ever to beat a non-ranked team without the ranked team playing its "A" game.

Teams don't just "see the name brand" and lay down anymore. If anything, "UCLA" or "Notre Dame" in football just fires teams up, in some cases causing them to play over their heads. Is CS Fullerton that good down the stretch? We shall see.

What I Saw in Week 10

[Late Monday Night Edition]
Tuesday Morning Huddle
 
What I Saw in Week 10

By David Ortega for Football Reporters Online


Vikings quarterback still fantasy stud…. 
When the season started quarterback Brett Favre was not on anyone’s radar as a number one fantasy quarterback. At 40 years of age, Favre’s better days looked to be in the rear view mirror or so we thought. In Favre’s last four starts he is averaging 300-yards passing per game with eight touchdowns and only one interception.

Marvelous McNabb throws for a mile…. 
The Eagles quarterback played very well on Sunday, but no matter how often he threw (55 times) or who he threw the ball to (seven different receivers) it wasn’t enough. While the Eagles fell McNabb’s numbers rose with 35 completions for 450 yards in the air and two touchdowns in a week 10 loss to the Chargers.

Action Jackson will not be stopped…. 
If you drafted running back Steven Jackson, but had second thoughts because the Rams offense is just bad pat yourself on the back for sticking with the stud. The St. Louis Rams may be 1-7, but that is not stopping “Action” Jackson from having a big season. On Sunday Jackson turned in his third straight 100-yard rushing game with 176 total yards against the Saints. Only twice has Jackson totaled less than 100 yards and for the season he has 1,146 yards of total offense ranking second behind Chris Johnson.
 
Worst of the Worst

When it comes to the Raiders-Chiefs rivalry, the Silver and Black know very little about home-field advantage. Thanks primarily to an inept offense that converted just 12 percent (2/16) of third downs, completed just 13 of 32 passes, and turned the ball over twice, the Raiders lost for the seventh straight time at home against the Chiefs. The Raiders are now 2-7; how did they win two games?


Jury is still Out

Has the Broncos offense finally turned the corner? Well after a fast start on Sunday against the Redskins, it certainly appeared that McDaniels had made the necessary adjustments and the offense was finally right. This was all until disaster struck. After watching Orton complete 11 of 18 for 193 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, the Broncos offense completely disappeared with backup Chris Simms in the game for the injured Orton. With a big matchup with San Diego in week 11 and Simms the likely starter, the offense might regress some before taking any more forward steps. The Jury is going to remain out on Denver’s “Patriot’s West” offense, at least until a healthy Orton returns.



10 Things I Remember From Sunday
(Week 10)

1. The Panthers used their two-headed monster out of the back-field to take down the Falcons; Stewart and Williams combined for 174 yards and two touchdowns.
2. One of my “Four Horsemen” Sidney Rice puts up 201 receiving yards against the Lions secondary.
3. The Titan’s running back Chris Johnson plays like a stud in a league of his own totaling 232 yards and scoring two touchdowns against the Bills.
4. The Redskins offensive line just blew holes into the Broncos defense all day to the tune of 174 yards on the ground.
5. Despite their recent struggles through the air, the Broncos and quarterback Kyle Orton came out gun-slinging in week 10; Orton passed for 193 yards in the first half before leaving with an injury.
6. The “Old man” in Arizona Kurt Warner took a while to get started, but once he did he was unstoppable completing 29 of 38 passes for over 300-yards and two touchdowns.
7. The Bengals defense showed up on Sunday against Big Ben and the Steelers recording four sacks and a forced fumble in their 18-12 win.
8. Steven Jackson is a one man wrecking crew in St. Louis rushing for 131 yards and catching nine balls for another 45 yards.
9. Who is Brandon Gibson, likely the next Waiver wire darling after catching seven passes for 93 yards.
10. Peyton Manning is still Peyton Manning; Sunday night against the Patriots he passed for 327 yards with four touchdowns.







 

Mediocre NFC Yields Giant Strides For Big Blue During Bye Week

Mediocre NFC Yields Giant Strides For Big Blue During Bye Week
BY Jon Wagner-Sr. Writer at Large Football Reporters Online

New York Giant fans can now calm down a little this week. Rest assured, at this point, there’s still very much of a season left for Big Blue.

It wouldn’t be New York if its fans and media didn’t often overreact to each game that any professional team plays in New York. That response just comes with the territory when rooting for or discussing teams in the New York City area.

Sure enough, to the degree that the Giants were being discussed as part of the National Football League elite after a dominant 5-0 start, was the extent to which many in the New York area were asking what was wrong with the Giants and how New York could let its entire season slip away after a subsequent four-game slide.

No doubt, the questions surrounding the problems that the Giants still need to fix this season were, and still are, legitimate. And, if the Giants don’t soon rectify a lot of the issues that were exposed during their aforementioned four-game losing streak, it’s true, Big Blue’s goal of reaching the playoffs could be in serious jeopardy.

But, for those who were spewing all of the doom and gloom talk about the Giants’ playoff possibilities, many going so far as to say that the Giants’ fourth straight loss ended their season, take a look at the current NFC standings after what happened on Sunday, as the Giants tried to regroup during their bye week.

Sure, New York had slipped from 5-0 to 5-4, and from first place to third place in the NFC East.

Yet, simply by not playing, the Giants moved back into a tie for second place with the 5-4 Philadelphia Eagles (who were beaten in San Diego on Sunday), and are now just one game behind the 6-3 Dallas Cowboys, the NFC East leaders, who lost at Green Bay this week.

As for the NFC wild-card race, the Giants and Eagles are not only tied for the wild-card lead with each other, but also with the 5-4 Atlanta Falcons (losers at Carolina on Sunday) and the 5-4 Green Bay Packers. Carolina, San Francisco, and Chicago are each a game back, at 4-5.

For all of this past week’s chatter about the Giants’ season being over, New York still very much controls its own destiny as long as it can pull everything together and play better.

The Giants host Atlanta next week, while having other home dates with Dallas, Philadelphia, and Carolina in December. And, the Giants are done with both the Cowboys and Eagles on the road.

The bottom line is that while the Giants have to correct a lot of what plagued them while losing four games in a row, and they still have much work to do in order to reach the playoffs this year, they’re very far from the fate many had prematurely predicted for them (if any Giants are Mark Twain fans, they can certainly relate).

As evidenced while the Giants rested this week, no one else in the NFC East seems to be running away with their division, and even less so in the NFC wild-card picture.

So, at least for now Giant fans, view the remaining Giant games in this season the same way your team plans on approaching them. It may sound clichéd, but forget about the recent past and take the rest of the season one game at a time.

Because it doesn’t appear that anything regarding where the Giants are headed this season, one way or the other, will be determined any time soon.

Lauren Bacall, Roger Corman, and Gordon Willis get first Oscars of season

The first Governor's Awards were given Saturday night, kicking off the film awards season and marking the first time the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave out honorary Oscars at a ceremony separate from The Academy Awards. Lauren Bacall, Roger Corman, and Gordon Willis were honored. Let's take a video look at their work, staring with the legendary Lauren Bacall.

Lauren Bacall

Lauren Becall was introduced by Angelica Huston, who said "Lauren Becall once said 'Stardom isn't a career; it's an accident", then observed that for Becall, celebrity was no accident.

Becall took the stage to a massive ovation and looking at her Oscar said "I can't believe it. A man, at last."

Lauren Bacall is known for being statuesque, confident, and damn sexy. With a voice that could melt you as much as it commands your attention, Becall went on to star in the classic film The Big Sleep, and was best known for her relationship with Humprey Bogart. But to many Ms. Becall was associated with a then-new cigarette-cool class and style that was the hallmark of the post war feminine image.

Here's Lauren Bacall in The Big Sleep:

Roger Corman

Roger Corman was introduced by one of my favorite filmmakers Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia) , said that Corman had a "mind-bloggling ability to create successful films under impossibly tight schedules and budgets."

Roger Corman is known as the "King of the B-Movie Makers." Some of Mr. Corman's films have come to define American Culture, particularly the bombastic yet creepy sci-fi / horror movie introductions of the day, like this one from Corman's It Conquered the World (1957):

Gordon Willis

Gordon Willis was introduced by actor Jeff Bridges, who remarked that Willis was being feted for his "unsurpassed mastery of light, shadow, color, and motion."

Willis said that he was fortunate that he was able to do "pretty much what I wanted to do" in his career.

Cinematographer Gordon Willis is best known for my personal all time favorite film, The Godfather, which I've seen 44 times now. Here's the final scene from part one of Francis Ford Coppola's modern epic:



In all the awards show was a success, even with the occasional flubbing of the introductory lines that one would not seen in an Oscar telecast. But then, this wasn't on television. The Governor's Awards had the feeling of a party at an exclusive club, but considering the legends in the room, that was the best way to do it.