Author Archives: markweiss86

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About markweiss86

Mark Weiss, founder of Plastic Alto blog, is a concert promoter and artist manager in Palo Alto, as Earthwise Productions, with background as journalist, advertising copywriter, book store returns desk, college radio producer, city council and commissions candidate, high school basketball player, and blogger; he also sang in local choir, fronts an Allen Ginsberg tribute Beat Hotel Rm 32 Reads 'Howl' and owns a couple musical instruments he cannot play

Goodbye, Mr. Plastic Alto: Ornette Coleman, 1930-2015

Posted on June 12, 2015 by markweiss86

(When City of Palo Alto and Stanford University in 2006 combined to create the two-field soccer complex, the Mayfield Site, at corner of Page Mill Road and El Camino, I remember tripping on –figuratively — the little rubber pebbles that … Continue reading →

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Jeff Tesreau w. Jack Chesbro

Posted on June 11, 2015 by markweiss86

Henry Schulman in the Chronicle, apropos of the Chris Heston gem, mis-identified the previous Giants rookie to toss a no-no; he called Jeff Tesreau “Jack Tesreau.” I texted him on that, or I tried, at least to send something from … Continue reading →

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Some notes on provenance and Stanford’s Hopper

Posted on June 11, 2015 by markweiss86

The Cantor Museum at Stanford announced its acquisition of an important painting, the 1913 Edward Hopper oil “New York Corner” also known as “Corner Saloon”. The press release lists 13 funds, couples, people, entities or anonymousi who helped the museum … Continue reading →

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San Jose’s ukelele source

Posted on June 10, 2015 by markweiss86

Janet and Smiley Kai own and operate a great little ukelele store Ukelele Source, in San Jose’s Japantown, on the corner of Jackson and North 5th (599 North Fifth Street, 95112; 408.998.2640) What caught my eye was the proximity of … Continue reading →

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Stanford donors rally ($20 M) behind fictitious poor

Posted on June 10, 2015 by markweiss86
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The Mendoza Line and taxing the payrolls here

Posted on May 29, 2015 by markweiss86

I posted something to Steve Levy’s column today, about San Francisco payroll tax: As of 2012, San Francisco had a 1.5 percent payroll tax, that brought in $400 M to city coffers. What would you estimate, Dr. Levy, the hypothetical … Continue reading →

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Cool public art in the pipeline for Palo Alto (Ala & Binta)

Posted on May 26, 2015 by markweiss86

Ala Ebtekar and Binta Ayofemi (the blue tunnel thingy did not cut and paste from staff report, will update)  (you can find it here, in the staff report, if you scroll down) edit to add: Elise DeMarzo sent me … Continue reading →

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Yo La Tengo and BV

Posted on May 26, 2015 by markweiss86

Yo La Tengo is a rock group based in New Jersey featuring the husband wife duo of Ira Kaplan and Georgie Hubley. They are big in my world, even if you’ve never heard of them. Their name is a baseball … Continue reading →

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Eminent domain is clear moral choice for Buena Vista Mobile Home Park

Posted on May 25, 2015 by markweiss86

t I say eminent domain is the clear moral choice. What the current ownership group intends to do, and I believe that was their plan since they took over, in 2000, is an economic pogrom. Palo Alto meanwhile has protective … Continue reading →

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Pat Monahan rocks Shoreline Friday, photo by Eric Cohen of The Dancing Twins

Posted on May 25, 2015 by markweiss86
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