What do you get out of SXSW other than Mark Cuban?

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SXSW is the giant music, film, and "interactive" conference going on now in Austin, Texas. This blogger is not there, and has a question: What do you get out of SXSW?

In general, the high tech conferences all sport the same format and are becoming just one, big, plain bore. Pick the event, the format is the same: some panel or person talking to an audience, as of that person is the lone expert on a something. And at Web 2.0, they're all placed on a pedestal. The main problem with these sleep-fests is that someone in the audience at times has a better grasp of what the presenter's talking about than the presenter does.

Is this what Mark Cuban gets out of SXSW?

At SXSW, regardless of the session, the "panel / audience" format's the same. Instead of the "Mark Cuban is God at the stage" approach, why not something that involves the people in the room? SWSX-goers could be asked to bring their laptops and go to a specific webpage to do something, to feedback. How about taking it a step beyond that and asking them to post their video comments and questions on a page for display to the group?

Note that the idea is open-ended. You can pour any subject into it and create an "interaction forum" that is more rewarding than sitting on your butt listening to someone drone on and on, or for that matter, watching Mark Cuban get into a snarky argument with Aver Ronen at SXSW.

Why do you go, or don't go, to SXSW. Take the poll:

More surveys on pollsb.com

Oakland Teachers | East Bay Express wrong about teacher pay issue

As the news that the Oakland, California teacher's union's planned one-day walkout was moved to April 22nd from March 24th, this blogger ran across a paragraph in the East Bay Express that has information that was incorrect. In "Some Hard Truths About Oakland Teachers", Robert Gammon wrote:

...the City of Oakland has nothing to do with teacher salaries. Teachers are employees of the Oakland Unified School District, which is a completely separate legal entity that gets its funding from the state, not the city. So the city has no say in how much teachers make. And thus comparing teacher salaries to cops' salaries, as some commenters want to do, is ridiculous, because they're paid by different entities.

Gammon's wrong and he should look at Section 33678 Subdivision (B) of the California Health and Safety Code. The common misconception about California Redevelopment Law and Tax Increment Revenue, is that redevelopment revenue can't be used to provide services in city like Oakland. Redevelopment revenue can be used to augment teacher's salaries for schools within a redevelopment area if the redevelopment plan for that area was amended to do so.

So, the Oakland Redevelopment Agency could provide a grant to the Oakland Unified School District to be used for targeted schools within the 6,000-acre Coliseum Redevelopment Area, the largest project area in the state of California.

And a recent Court of Appeals decision could result in more money being passed through from redevelopment agencies to school districts, but the main point here is that, should it elect to do so, the Oakland Redevelopment Agency could work with the Oakland Unified School District to have higher teacher salaries in East Oakland, if only to reflect the additional problems teachers face in of working in a high-crime area.

Has Oakland used this provision in California Redevelopment Law before? Yes. In fact, former Oakland City Manager Henry Gardner informed me that the City of Oakland's redevelopment agency used it to form a program with the Oakland Police to remove crack houses in East Oakland.

Gardner and I had that conversation in 1997 when I was the Economic Advisor to then-Mayor Elihu Harris. During that time I was lobbying for the adoption of an idea I created called "Redevelopment Project Area Phasing."

Stay tuned.

Pac-10 Tournament - Cal vs. UCLA, Washington v. Stanford

The University of California Men's Basketball Team advances to play the hated UCLA Bruins tonight at 6:30 PM. Yesterday, Cal made easy work of Oregon, 90 to 76, as Senior guard and Pac-10 player of the year Jerome Randle scored 22 points in the first half. UCLA beat Arizona 75-69.

In the video below, UCLA coach Ben Howland and senior guard Michael Roll talk after the Arizona win about playing Cal tonight. Michael Roll says "We're going to do everything we can to win."

Everything? Like what? Throw elbows? Knee someone?



All this blogger can say is "GO BEARS" Meanwhile, Washington plays Stanford at 8:40 PM PST. Washington beat Oregon State 59 to 52 Wednesday. Stanford shocked second-seeded Arizona State 70 to 61. Arizona State swept the Cardinal during the regular season.

Stay tuned.

Lebron James to return Friday; is Shaquille O'Neal making a difference?

Lebron James is set to return to The Cleveland Caveliers today, Friday. The NBA star some call Superman was out with an ankle injury for two games and was relegated to cheering his team on from the bench.

If Lebron James's is on steroids, they sure didn't help him from an injury. Personally, the talk that James is on steriods, is really awful. The real conversation should be about Shaquille O'Neal.

is Shaq making a difference?

When Shaquille O'Neal was traded to the Cleveland Caveliers, the move was hailed in this space as the one that could bring a ring to Lebron James and Cleveland.



Now, Shaq's out for almost two months because he had surgery on his injured right thumb Monday. It was hit when The Boston Celtics Glen Davis blocked Shaq's shot on February 25th.

But before that point, Shaq averaged 12 points and 6.7 rebounds in 53 games according to ESPN. It's not far off, really just a small amount, below his career averages. For a person who's played for 17 years, Shaquille O'Neal's size and shot techniques still make him a formidable player. He gives Cavs coach Mike Brown the ability to work in a big lineup, and provides a much needed enforcer...when he's healthy. The Cavs record is 50 and 15 as of this writing.

Shaquille O'Neal told Cavs GM Danny Ferry that he would be back in time for the playoffs. If he's ready, Mike Brown should have Shaq play longer than his 23 minute average. Coach Brown's not getting enough out of a Shaq who's fully into the tempo of the game.

Merlin Olsen died of cancer at 69 - NFL and NBC star

Merlin Olsen died of cancer at 69 today after a battle with cancer that in a 2009 lawsuit Olsen claimed was caused by Asbestos exposure.

Olsen sued NBC Studios, NBC Universal, 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, Sherwin Williams, Lennox Industries and other companies, according to TMZ.com.

Merlin Olsen is the model for success in the transition from football to regular life. He became a great actor, starring on Little House on The Prairie and Father Murphy. And of course, he was a terrific NBC football analyst.

When this blogger thinks of Merlin Olsen, the word "smooth" comes to mind. In his speech and movement. A quite giant who I met after the 1993 Cal and Stanford Big Game, when his son Nate Olson played for Bill Walsh at Stanford.

Merlin Olsen played defensive end as part of the Los Angeles Rams "Fearsome Foursome" of Rosey Greier, Deacon Jones, and Lamar Lundy in their 4-3 defense.

Jason Ritter and Marianna Palka talk about Good Dick The Film

Jason Ritter and Marianna Palka, the co-creators of Morning Knight, Inc., were at the Night of 100 Stars Oscar Party on Oscar Sunday. Jason Ritter, the son of John Ritter, opened the video talking about his role in an NBC pilot called The Event.

But Ritter and Palka were also interested in pushing attention toward their 2008 film called Good Dick. The website's synopsis of the movie is here:

Good Dick is a modern fairy tale about a troubled, reclusive young woman and the persistent video clerk who draws her out of her claustrophobic world by starting up a unique courtship with her. As they become closer, her sexual antipathy is met with his unflinching optimism, until finally her aggressive defenses overwhelm them both and the relationship bursts apart. Profoundly affected by his presence in her life, she finds that she has the courage to face her past.

Good Dick was a 2008 Sundance Film Festival Award Winner that is independently distributed as of this writing on DVD. The film's written and directed by Marianna Palka and from the looks of this trailer...



Is an entertaining film.

Because of the "assembly line" of celebrities, there wasn't enough time to get more in depth about the movie itself. But more on it later; visit the website Good Dick The Film.

Stay tuned.

Days of Our Lives David Leisure talks about fame - after The Oscars

At the Night of 100 Stars Oscar Gala last Sunday at The Beverly Hills Hotel, actor, comedian, and Days of Our Lives star David Leisure talked about fame. Or when he knew he was famous. It was connected with his iconic role as "Joe Isuzu" 25 years ago. Then, the snarky spokesperson for The Isuzu brand started to be recognized by "people he didn't know" and after a while it got "creepy". But he's used to it all now.

David Leisure played Charley Dietz in the series Empty Nest to 1995 and today he's "D.A. Woods" on the long-running soap opera Days of Our Lives. I later ran into him at the Beverly Hills Polo Lounge just before the whole Alec Baldwin episode unfolded.

Stay tuned.

Corey Haim had enlarged heart and water in his lungs

The LA County Corner's Office (who's had a very busy last three months with the deaths of Brittany Murphy, Casey Johnson, and now Corey Haim), reports that Actor Corey Haim had "pulmonary congestion, an enlarged heart and water in his lungs" as reported by TMZ.com.

But with that, the LA County Corner's Office has not determined that was the cause of Corey Haim's death. Several prescription medications were found in Corey Haim's apartment, including Valium, Vicodin and Soma.

RadarOnline reports that Corey Haim's mother said Haim was helping her on her battle against breast cancer.

That battle's all too familiar to me. My Mom battled breast cancer and was declared cancer-free April 17th, 2005. She takes a drug called Femara that has really worked wonders.

Stay tuned.

Amanda Knox cleared by Mario Alessi confession - CBS News

According to CBS Online via YouTube, Amanda Knox, who's currently serving time in an Italian prison for the alleged murder of Meredith Kercher, did not kill Meredith Kercher.

Amanda Knox, the former University of Washington student and her boyfriend at the time, Raffaele Sollecito were said to have worked with Rudy Hermann Guede to kill Meredith Kercher in a sex-play gone wrong. But this video taped confession by Guede's prison-mate Mario Alessi clears Amanda Knox of any wrong-doing:



In the video, Alessi says that Guede told him that he and a friend of Guede's went to Meredith Kercher's house that night. They had met a few days earlier in a club; they went to Meredith Kercher's house but "it was not planned." She was surprised to see them, but invited them into the house.

Rudy himself had asked if she wanted to have a threesome, which she did not want to do. Rudy went to the bathroom for about 15 minutes, then came back and found a "completely different scenario." He found the girl with her back on the ground and the guy holding her in his arms. They then went into a kind of dry humping threesome that Alessi describes in detail in the video.

The guy, unnamed, took out a pocket knife and basically killed her with it, according to Alessi. It started as an accidental stabbing that Rudy wanted to heel, but "the guy" wanted to "finish the prostitute off" according to the video. He did so and then left. Rudy stayed behind, but eventually exited the house as well.

Rudy Guede wrote a letter saying that Mario Alessi's claims were not true. But since Alessi's claims would work against him and Alessi was his prison mate, Alessi's claims ring true.

Amanda Knox was nowhere to be seen when Meredith Kercher was murdered.

Stay tuned.

Chevron Ecuador issue: Chevron wins court victory against Ecuador

In the ongoing court battle between Chevron and the Country of Ecuador, Chevron won a court victory against Ecuador today. According to Reuters, A U.S. District Court Judge in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, granted Chevron the right to pursue an order to have via Ecuador to complete environmental cleanup work it and the state-run Petroecuador Oil Company were to have done when it took over oil production from Chevron-Texaco in 1992. Chevron will seek to have this done under the "U.S. - Ecuador Bilateral Investment Treaty."

In a statement sent to this blogger, Chevron said...

Chevron is pleased that the Bilateral Investment Treaty arbitration can proceed. Chevron is seeking to hold Ecuador and its government owned oil company, PetroEcuador, to the promise they made to complete the environmental cleanup of the Amazon. Texaco Petroleum did its share of the cleanup as promised, and PetroEcuador now needs to own up to its promises and address the environmental problems wrongly being blamed on Chevron. Only the international arbitration panel can bring Ecuador to the table and compel PetroEcuador to do the right thing and clean up its oil fields. With today's decision, we are one step closer to making that a reality

The court ruling has huge implications for Ecuador's oil production strategy. First, Ecuador has pursued a course of oil nationalization since 1990, but during that time has failed to make timely improvements in oil production facilities or adequately clean up oil spills. There have been over 100 oil spills in the Amazon Delta region since 1992.

Ecuador has embarked on a systemic removal of American oil companies. The most recent major example being Occidental Petroleum in 2007, where Ecuador literally kicked out Occidental from its property siting a breach of contract. Ecuadorians then had fist fights over the left over luxury cars.

When Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa came to power in January of 2007, he had pressures from two sides. First, Ecuador's environmental activists wanted more attention to cleanup of the Amazon, but state officials wanted to continue the nationalization of petroleum production. Correa crafted the perfect head-fake strategy: ask for money from oil companies to clean up the impacted areas of Ecuador, but continue and expand state oil production. Causing Chevron to pay billions for a cleanup project it was only partially responsible for was part of the strategy. The U.S. Court's decision has wrecked that approach.

Much of the opposition to Correa from activists has been muted by Ecuador's horrible treatment of the press. Teleamazonas, a TV station that reported that a natural gas exploitation on Puna Island could cause the suspension of fishing for up to six months, was shut down in December of 2009 for three days, according to The Committee to Protect Journalists. In 2008, a local journalist working to point to corruption in the judicial system was jailed for 10-months.

Ecuador has worked to keep quiet its mishandling of oil production and the resultant environmental damage, while encouraging the media and using the courts to force American and foreign oil companies to pay for the oil-related mess Ecuador caused, and fooling American activists groups into helping Ecuador's government nationalize its oil production. Today's ruling will have a major impact in altering that course of behavior.

Stay tuned.

Conan O'Brien tour: American Express is the sponsor?

Conan O'Brien is back with a tour sponsored by American Express: Atlanta, San Francisco, Spokane on the list. The tour Conan O'Brien "The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour" will cover 30 cities in all, starting with Eugene, Oregon on April 12th and ending in Atlanta on June 14th at The Fox Theater. On Twitter, Conan tweeted:

Hey Internet: I'm headed to your town on a half-assed comedy & music tour. Go to http://TeamCoco.com for tix. I repeat: It's half-assed.

What's interesting to this blogger is American Express, which has financially squeezed its credit card customers (like this blogger) and caused them to give up their Gold Cards because of their practices, and has taken Federal Government bailout money and improved its fiscal position, is the sponsor.  Is this supposed to make me reconsider American Express?

Apparently, American Express is healthy enough to get back in the event sponsorship game. Hopefully, it's treating its customers much better than in 2008. If I were Conan O'Brien, I'd have pursued another sponsor. Why not an airline like United Airlines?

At any rate, here's the full list of Conan O'Brien tour dates according to the Kansas City Star:

4/12/10 Eugene, OR Hult Center for the Performing Arts
4/13/10 Vancouver, BC, Canada Orpheum Theatre
4/16/10 Spokane, WA INB Performing Arts Center
4/17/10 Enoch, AB, Canada River Cree Resort & Casino
4/18/10 Seattle, WA Seattle Center – Marion Oliver McCaw Hall
4/22/10 San Francisco, CA Nob Hill Masonic Center
4/24/10 Universal City, CA Gibson Amphitheater
4/29/10 San Diego, CA San Diego Civic Theatre
4/30/10 Phoenix, AZ Dodge Theatre
5/1/10 Las Vegas, NV The Pearl Concert Theatre @ The Palms
5/4/10 Reno, NV Grand Sierra Resort & Casino
5/5/10 San Jose, Ca San Jose State University Events Center
5/6/10 Sacramento, CA Sacramento Memorial Auditorium
5/9/10 Boulder, CO Mackey Auditorium
5/10/10 Denver, CO Ellie Caulkins Opera House
5/13/10 Dallas, TX McFarlin Memorial Auditorium- SMU Campus
5/14/10 Austin, TX Austin Music Hall
5/15/10 Tulsa, OK Brady Theater
5/16/10 Kansas City, MO Midland Theatre
5/18/10 Minneapolis, MN Orpheum Theatre
5/19/10 Chicago, IL Chicago Theatre
5/22/10 Toronto, ON, Canada Massey Hall
5/30/10 Atlantic City, NJ Borgata Spa & Resort – Event Center
6/1/10 New York, NY Radio City Music Hall
6/4/10 Boston, MA Wang Theater
6/6/10 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
6/7/10 Upper Darby, PA Tower Theatre
6/8/10 Washington, DC Constitution Hall
6/11/10 Manchester, TN Bonnaroo Music Festival
6/14/10 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre

Stay tuned.

The Richest person in the world: Carlos Slim Helu

The richest person in the world is Carlos Slim Helu, but who Carlos Slim Helu? The Richest Man In The World reportedly makes $30 million a month. Carlos Slim Helu, who tops The Forbes billionaire list, is the Lifetime Honorary Chairman of Telefonos de Mexico.

Mr. Helu, whom the Christian Science Monitor weirdly described as "the portly cigar-smoker", is the first man from a developing country to become Richest Man In The World. That's another way of saying Carlos Slim Helu is the first person of color to top the Forbes billionaire list.

How Carlos Slim Helu got there is by purchasing a controlling interest in Telmex in 1990, along with a group of investors, and used that to leverage the buying of as many telecom companies in Mexico and Latin America as possible. Now, his family owns 90 percent of Mexico's telephone lines and 80 percent of its cellphone. He's used that to finance his business operations around the World.

Carlos Slim Helu owns almost 7 percent of The New York Times and in 2009 gave the Times Company a $250 million loan. He's reportedly happy with his stake in the company and has no plans to increase it.

Stay tuned for updates.