Suzannah B. Troy interviews City Council Member Dan Halloran on THE NY BUDGET CRISIS!!!!!!!

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to Oakland, Alameda, Coliseum

Yesterday, this blogger filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the City of Oakland and to the following offices: The Oakland City Attorney, the City of Oakland Office of Economic Development, The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority, The County of Alameda County Administrator's Office, and The City of Oakland's City Administrator's Office.

The email with letter attached stated:

Pursuant to the state open records act, I request access to and copies of all emails, written letters and correspondence, and studies of any kind regarding the budget and operation and management of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, and future development plans for baseball, football, and basketball stadiums in Oakland and over the time period from today back to 1/1/2008.
I ask that the agencies wave fees for copies of studies and emails (which can be printed out from a computer) and to avoid charging greater than the the cost to make a black and white copy of a document.
If my request is denied in whole or part, I ask that you justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the act.
Thank you for your assistance.
Sincerely,
Zenophon Abraham

I did this because with the slow death of traditional media and lack of money for investigative reporting (or in my case blogging) there was precious little information on what was going on with stadium efforts in Oakland. Moreover, there seemed to be a veil of secrecy that was first evident when Mayor's Ron Dellums Sports Task Force met.

As one may recall, I quit that Sports Task Force because I discovered there were actually four separate groups meeting on the matter of building a baseball stadium for the Oakland A's and none of them were talking to each other. Nothing against the people in the other groups, or Mayor Dellums, but I did not feel the person with the highest level of experience in these matters in Oakland was being called on.

That person is me.

When I was at The 2010 NFL Draft and for the sixth year in a row as media, I was reminded once again that, more than any other person in Oakland who's not a working sports executive, I was better able to understand and evaluate strategies and plans for building stadiums in Oakland. Working as the Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris' representative in this area and the process of working to bring the 2005 Super Bowl to Oakland, the National Football League's constant and enduring friendship, and the creation and success of my Oakland Baseball Simworld game, were the gantry upon which my expertise was built.

That's why I'm the best person to gather Oakland stadium development information and evaluate it. I want to get as much information as possible to paint a picture of where the City of Oakland and The County of Alameda are in their collective ability to establish a stadium development program in Oakland. I want to learn what budget has been set aside for related efforts. I also want to learn if the process is being done in a logical and fair way, and that women and minority firms are getting a fair shot at landing work.

I'll keep everyone posted on the FOIA progress.

Stay tuned.

Nightmare On Elm Street, Iron Man 2: critics v. fans

Nightmare On Elm Street, the remake of the classic horror movie, is out today. Just one week before Iron Man 2 is released in America. But Iron Man 2 is already out in Europe, and critics are panning it, but not fans. That there was this disconnect between fans and critics did not become obvious to this blogger until the CNN review of Nightmare On Elm Street today. 

The critic didn't like it. The critic said it wasn't scary. Then, in the middle of the critic's review was a link to another review by a CNN ireporter. this one:



He gave the movie an "A." And the difference revealed why movie fans don't pay attention to critics. Fans are hardwired to like movies; critics seem to think they have to find something wrong with movies. I prefer the former and not the latter.

There's a reason the Internet's causing movie critics to lose their jobs and it's not just that one can issue their own view. It's a way of striking back at the critic who has to bash a movie "just because." After a while you get tired of that. You want a fanboy or fangirl telling you about the flick they like. You can figure out if you like it after you've seen it.

Also, even when fanfolks don't like a movie it's for honest reasons. Some just plain say a movie was boring or in the case of the CNN ireporter, it was good.

You get a simple explanation, not the rewrite of War and Peace.

Critics take note: there's nothing wrong with being a fan.

Giuseppi Logan YouTube miracle by Suzannah B. Troy

Miracles do happen and when I  filmed Giuseppi Logan on December 14, 2008 playing Begin the Beguine  I became part of that miracle. I knew I had filmed something powerful. Giuseppi told me to look up his name on the internet. I found out people thought he was dead and that he was a very loved jazz composer and musician that made me two important records in the 1960's. I also immediately found another YouTube of Giuseppi with a little boy in the very same park from 1966. Two years later I would meet that little boy who is now my age and help reunite him with his father after all these years. A jazz writer Tim Madison had contacted me and told me how deeply moving my YouTube was. He told me he watched it over and over. I said I do to. He urged me to continue filming but I said I was very tired and traumatized. I had just had to sell my home of 2o years which is traumatic but it was even more so because I am an outspoken activist. I did not know if I could find the strength but I did. Peter Gershon, publisher of Signal to Noise, wrote a powerful piece on Giuseppi Logan entitled "Out From the Shadow" and Peter Gershon is one of the only people to fully acknowledge my work and contribution because usually people just help themselves and erase me. Pete's powerful piece and my YouTubes I believe helped Giuseppi and one way was generating enough interest that he was able to get back in to the studio and make his first new record from the 1960's that has been received to very positive reviews. Matt Lavelle, a musician recognized Giuseppi Logan when he came in to a store where Matt was working and ever since he plays music with Giuseppi and gets him and the group he formed gigs.  This is huge for Giuseppi because it helps him earn money which he needs and of course it allows him to connect with people who still remember him and love his work. I had suggested to Giuseppi's son Jaee, also a musical genius he should make a documentary and he took my advice.  He filmed the reunion and when we in the park with the camera rolling a guy came up and shook Giuseppi's hand.  He said your records got me through college. Very moving in so many ways and Giuseppi Logan wants to get back in to the studio.  He has new compositions including a piece he named after me, "Suzannah".

Tiger Woods Jesse James Sex Addicts? Is Sex Addiction like Big Foot? post by Suzannah B. Troy

Dr. Oz, Oprah's TV star doctor does believes that sex addiction exists although he concedes some people use it as an excuse for sexually pigging out (my term not his).  In the case of Jesse James and Tiger Woods, Dr. Oz does believes it is sex addiction because these guys had so much and they threw it away which sure sounds like addictive behavior -- maybe more than one addiction in play causing a lot of destruction along the way.

I have seen many men interviewed that treat the term "sex addiction" like Big Foot or The Loch Ness Monster meaning it doesn't exist but simply said "it is a guy just being a guy".  Of course it is mainly bad boys or bad boy wannabes stating sex addiction doesn't exist.

Guys have their locker room talk and so do women.  The women I speak to are deeply repulsed and would have no interest in spending any time with these guys.  They are also repulsed by Rachel what's her name that Tiger Woods paid 10 million dollars not to talk to the media about him.   What could she share that so many of his mistresses have not already shared and some how the Derek Jeter bad dream Tiger had was already leaked, so who cares and why dole out  10 million dollars to a mistress?  I think Tiger Woods took perverse pleasure in paying such a huge amount of money for silence which seems like more of the addiction in play.

Great sex is like a really good conversation you don't want to end.  When you are thinking only of yourself or how much money the person has, it doesn't seem like it is about sex at all but about power....power tripping and addiction.

As much as most people may tune in to hear a sound byte on celebrity sex addicts, most people really don't care because they don't marry sex addicts.  Most of us sigh with relief and say, thank goodness we aren't married to them.   Despite all their sexual conquest and sex texting, they sound like some of the loneliness guys in the world.

Caleb Campbell, 2008 NFL Draft hit, returns to Detroit Lions

Viewers of this bloggers videos from the NFL Draft will remember the All-American hit Caleb Campbell, from the 2008 NFL Draft.

Campbell's an Army 1st Lt. a 7th round pick of the Detroit Lions who the U.S. Army originally allowed to delay his entry in the Army to play in the NFL, much to the delight of NFL fans at Radio City Music Hall in 2008 as the video shows.

But in July 2008 The Army reversed field and said Caleb Campbell could not as a soldier play in the NFL.

But now, Caleb's getting his chance to play in the NFL according to The Detroit Free Press. Awesome. And because Caleb's a nice very respectful person this blogger had the pleasure of meeting at the NFL Draft in 2008. The whole room at Radio City gave Caleb a standing ovation, making one of the most moving moments I've ever witnessed at The NFL Draft.

Caleb's attending the Lions Minicamp, and signed a contract with the team this week according to Pro Football Talk.com.

Best of luck to him.

Annette Edwards as Jessica Rabbit? Edwards has a long way to go

Annette Edwards is a British 57-year old great-grandmother who wants to look just like Jessica Rabbit. Who's Jessica Rabbit? She's the animated character from the 1988 hit movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit:



For some reason, Ms. Edwards wants to look like her favorite cartoon character Jessica Rabbit. So much so that she spent $16,000 on an effort to look just like her, including "curves in the right places" as she explained in the video above.

This corner says "Right on! Go for it." It's just that Annette Edwards is not quite there in her path to be the real-life Jessica Rabbit. Plus, she thinks she's got to eat like a rabbit to look like Jessica Rabbit, who's a cartoon of a human, not a rabbit.

That's the head twister.

But rather than just diet, Annette Edwards should work out to reduce the flab along her arms and get toned in that area. She should also bench press so she can have more uplifted breasts. That would go a long way toward her overall objective of looking like Jessica Rabbit.

Rock the Casbah!