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

Karla Kane’s golden west

Posted on August 16, 2012 by markweiss86

I’ve always had a soft spot for Karla Kane of the Corner Laughers ever since I first read about her or them in an article by Kimberley Chun in the Chronicle a couple years ago. I’ve only seen her or … Continue reading →

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Posted on August 12, 2012 by markweiss86

Originally posted on 4&20 blackbirds:
by lizard Alden Van Buskirk died in 1961 at the age of 23 from a rare blood disease. His medical case was the focus of an article in the New England Journal of Medicine (August…

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Hang a banner or wear a hat

Posted on August 10, 2012 by markweiss86

I met Donna Slote, milliner, as distinct from, as far as I know, but perhaps converging on, Donna Slote, millionaire, at Coupa Café, Palo Alto, today, Friday, Aug. 10, 2012. It amuses me how well, in the world of social … Continue reading →

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Rob Reich stands tall with squeezebox

Posted on August 10, 2012 by markweiss86

Rob Reich is a Bay Area-based musician and composer who will play Sunday nearby in Mountain View at Rengstorff House which is an historic sight and community center near Shoreline Park and Amphitheatre (which simultaneously is hosting comebacks from the … Continue reading →

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Accept the good

Posted on August 6, 2012 by markweiss86

I chatted with a nice lady from Colby Posters in LA and would love to design and order some posters just for the heck of it. But it’s weird I am blogging about a hypothetical letterpress poster project. “Accept the … Continue reading →

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Fighting words in their own dugout (Harbaugh monologue research)

Posted on August 6, 2012 by markweiss86

At the Gunn High of Palo Alto, Calif. Class of 1982 30th reunion, John Chovanec, the former all-league football and baseball star, gave me further comedic or psychic grist for the mill for the performance piece cum social sculpture I … Continue reading →

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Meta-post on the long tail

Posted on July 27, 2012 by markweiss86

The scoreboard shows that about 300 people have viewed this blog this week and that about 80 different posts have been visited, of the 400-plus that exist. There have been about 20,000 views in the history of “Plastic Alto”.  Wired … Continue reading →

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Owen Smith and Ruth Belikove in Albany

Posted on July 27, 2012 by markweiss86

Terry and I went to Albany one Sunday afternoon to greet Santa Fe painter Mateo Romero but an added bonus of the event was meeting Albany painter Owen Smith, who happened to create the cover of The New Yorker the … Continue reading →

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Ornette LOL tribute

Posted on July 16, 2012 by markweiss86

Ornette Coleman’s website includes a cool feature. I would describe it as an electronic xylophone, or a MIDI idiophone that lets you sound from a selection of samples by clicking on about 60 little buttons, multicolored keys. The sounds are … Continue reading →

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A picture is worth 109 KB

Posted on July 14, 2012 by markweiss86

I met the brothers Cory and Eric Fraser jamming at a private function in Los Altos Hills and enjoyed their duo versions of Hendrix and Sinatra; they told me that in a former life they were signed to a major … Continue reading →

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