Brian Hamachek has taken the early lead in the Earthwise Productions/ Plastic Alto contest for the seven Palo Altans vying for three open seats in November’s election.

“I’m really not much of an artist, but here you go”, he wrote. A graduate of local schools, he is a small business owner with tech acumen. He is the youngest candidate in the contest.

Provisional to input from the judges, I will score Brian Hamachek 50 points on a 100 scale, for his 23 second version of Train’s “Hey Soul Sister”.

Two other candidates asked for an extension. A third candidate, through a spokesperson, was offered a substitution in songs.

Realtor Alex Comsa, a Romanian emigre who has also worked in tech said he identifies with sports culture and world soccer, to the exclusion of arts — if he is reading this he can substitute the Liverpool parody song about Mo Salah, sung to “Oh Sit Down” by James.

Contest extended to 3:34 pm next Friday, September 23.

this is too long of a digression but quite a story; James’ “sit down” is an excellent example of my aspirations for how art can make the world turn, at least in other countries but strangely not yet here.

edit to add, hours later: this just in

Julie Lythcott Haims : 🎶 and the race is on 🎵