Zazzle Bay To Breakers - Carol And Candy Want The Floats Back

Now that the 100th Bay to Breakers, and the first to be called "Zazzle Bay To Breakers," is over, it's time to consider improvements for the future. On that note, this blogger had the pleasure of meeting two runners (who were also participants and party goers, given the nature of things B2B) at the Park Chalet Restaurant after the race.

They were happy, talkative, and wonderfully opinionated.

Carol And Candy Want The Floats Back in the Bay To Breakers:



The sisters and San Francisco natives both said this year's event was "sparse" as Carol said "it's just the ambiance of everyone on their having such a good time. It seemed kind of sparse without the floats."

The Floats were disallowed for 2011 because they were seen as "rolling bars" distributing alcohol, leading to problems with falling down drunk people. In 2010, the party activity was so intense in the heat of the day that the Crossover Drive underpass was essentially blocked for emergency traffic, as this video from 2010 shows at the 4:42 mark:



This year, as upcoming videos will show, it was a lot tamer at the Crossover Drive underpass. In all, observers said the 2011 Bay To Breakers had fewer mishaps and problems than the year before.

The logical conclusion is that the new rules helped, but I still contend all of these problems would be almost totally eliminated if a big name group like The Rolling Stones or The Black Eyed Peas, or Lady Gaga took the stage at The Polo Grounds. Then, the action would be in that area, rather than all over the streets in Golden Gate Park.

Would it be perfect? No. But the crowd direction would be predictable; everyone would want to be in or close to the Polo Grounds. And the concert would go on until near dusk, insuring that people didn't have time to wander around because the Bay To Breakers was over and the Footstock was closed.

But we can toss around many different ideas for Bay To Breakers 2012. After all, we've got a year to go.

Well, unless Harold Camping gets his way!

End Of The World Not May 21st - Harold Camping Wrong

As this blog post is written, today is Thursday, May 19th, 2011. If Christian Radio Broadcaster Harold Camping has his way, Saturday May 21st will be The End Of The World. It's not necessary to go into a lot of detail to explain that Mr. Harold Camping is wrong.

Rather than immediately point to any Biblical scripture that reads "The World Will End On May 21st 2011," Camping points to a self-created math that leads him to that conclusion. But, really, it's a conclusion Camping would have come to an asserted without numbers.

It's just like Google using an algorithm to express what really is a set of opinions about how Internet search, and the placement of news, should work. Google execs are fond of pointing to this 'black box' that produces a result, but the fact is, if that black box comes up with a search outcome that's not in favor with their views, it will be altered.

Mr. Camping, originally a Berkeley-trained Civil Engineer long before creating the ministry of Family Stations, Inc., used a mathematical system of his own design to generate his result, which has really nothing directly to do with the Bible. In fact, in an interview in New York Magazine, Camping says...

— but there’s nothing in the Bible that holds a candle to the amount of information to this tremendous truth of the end of the world. I would be absolutely in rebellion against God if I thought anything other than it is absolutely going to happen without any question.

In other words, forget the Bible, the end of the World is nigh!

In this way, Camping is very much like another "expert" on what God is, does, and intends who was attacked in this space: Steven Hawking. Hawking is as certain that Heaven's a "fairy tale," much as Camping is sure that the World will end this Saturday, and both hide behind math and science to prove their points.

And the media gives them a ton of attention.

Yikes, man. Yikes.

Camping's backers are every bit as self-righteous as Hawkings's and just as annoying. Both are wrong, but in Camping's case, all it take is for us to wake up and see Sunday, May 22nd, 2011 to know it.

For Hawking, we have to pass away. Or talk to Don Piper:



Stay tuned.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn IMF Salary vs. Bay Citizen CEO Salary

In the wake of the arrest of IMF Manager Dominique Strauss-Kahn for sexual assault, CNN asked if the World leader's $440,000 salary was too much, given his responsibilities.

The Cable News Network compared the IMF with The World Bank, and came away with the point that observers say it's the right amount, considering that Strauss-Kahn had oversite for the loans to those of its 187 member countries who need them.

Well, let's compare Dominique Strauss-Kahn's salary with that of Bay Citizen CEO Lisa Frazier, who makes $400,000.

Is the Bay Citizen salary justified, given CNN's questions about Dominique Strauss-Kahn's salary? The answer's no. $100,000 salary? Yes.

But for Frazier to make as much as the Dominique Strauss-Kahn or President Obama, and yet be in charge of a regional news website, and not even a World news website, is outrageous.

It's not personal, only business.

And the business fact is that The Bay Citizen can't justify paying that high a salary given the small size and Internet traffic footprint of the SF Bay Area news website.

But will that change anything over at the Bay Citizen? No. It still has the outdoor ads that are more debate challenges on the future of journalism than a message to type "BayCitizen.org," as I talked about in this recent video:



Stay tuned.

Redskins Fans Want Donovan McNabb, Not Beck Or Grossman

ESPN.com has an interesting blog post titled "Donovan McNabb weighs in on QB talk," where QB challenger John Beck has already penciled himself in as the NFL 2011 Season starter, saying 'he sees himself as the number one QB' even though he's not taken a snap since 2007.

And Rex Grossman, known for coming up with timely interceptions and fumbles to lose games that matter, was quoted as saying he will "definitely" be the starter.

But according to this hard-core Washington Redskins fans this blogger talked to at the 2011 NFL Draft, Donovan McNabb's their man for 2011. Here's the Redskins fan interview video, made after the 2011 NFL Draft Red Carpet:



Frankly, and I agree with the fans I talked to, the Redskins problem is Head Coach Mike Shanahan. He needs to make a commitment to McNabb, and stick with it. What's not right, is that Grossman had a "brain-up" on McNabb, only because he played in Offensive Coordinator Kyle Shanahan's offensive system the year before in Houston.

If Mike and Kyle are really truly good coaches, they can work with a sure-fire NFL Hall-Of-Famer in Donovan McNabb.

And if they can't then it's time for new coaches.

Hepatitis C African Americans, and INCIVEK

Hepatitis C is a viral infection that causes swelling and infection of the liver, and is particularly active within the African American Community, and at a level called "chronic," representing 22 percent of all known carriers in America.

How this infection spreads by simple blood-to-blood contact and is difficult, if in some cases impossible to detect early on.

Hepatitis C impacts an estimated 270 million to 300 million people Worldwide, 30,000 people in Santa Clara County and 12,000 people in San Francisco, and 2,400 new cases were reported in 2010.

An exciting new drug called INCIVEK, made by Vertex, is said to be the breakthrough drug of the future, today. Moreover, Vertex claims INCIVEK beats the current 40 percent to 45 percent cure rate; patients have a whopping 80 percent cure rate in clinical trials done thus far. But with all this, it's not a vaccine, and it's not yet approved by the FDA, but it reportedly increases the chance that someone undergoing treatment for HVC will be cured by the end of treatment.

This is an interesting - hell, exciting - new development that this blogger will be following in the coming weeks.

Stay tuned.

Steve Mariucci at NFL Draft

Sam, Stephanie,and Courtney - masters of Bay To Breakers PR and media