I made a vine of Stanford’s first score, in the North end zone, and also one of the crowd surging the field, after the winning FG. I sent the former to a buddy but still have not figured how to upload such to WordPress.
Eric sent some photos of he and Steve on the field, flanking David Shaw. Which is fitting since they appear as extras in a lot of Hollywood films.
Steve made a mash-up of Wild-Calf (I almost wrote “Wilf-Call”) and Steph Curry of the Warriors in similar jersey: “Men In Black”.
I did slap Christian McCaffrey on his shoulder pads, but gently so compared to what they showed Hogan I think it was doing post-game v. USC.
@Inclusive-
I’ve been consistently since about 1992 when I joined Bay Area Action, and 1994, when I founded Earthwise Productions of Palo Alto (aka Earwopa) questioning the role of corporations in society, corporations versus public sector, etc. I criticized, for example, that Council members, from the dias, seemed to be shilling for a particular company merely because it, in a pr move, was offering a demo of one of its products (an issue that is as recent as last night, same issue, same company). Later, I criticized council member Holman, an ally, for how she described a particular company that wanted to work with a developer to build housing here, and for her use of the term “company town”.
There is a more general question of how commissions and board function, and their composition; City Clerks office surveyed about 100 of us recently, current and potential commissioners.
I would welcome a more thorough discussion of the issues of Palantir in particular and the general set of topics.
And yes I am open-minded to seeing what any of these commissioners say or do in office. I know most of them, and respect them — putting aside the question of how much the feeling is reciprocated –and it is definitely a fair question, even posed indirectly as in here, about their dual loyalty. It is not slander to question public figures.
-Mark
Does anyone else out there think the dialogue would be improved if the other 9 of you identify yourself by name? Why the cloak of anonymity?
Also: there is a Human Relations Commission meeting this week, Thursday; it might be interesting to continue this there. Do corporate executives on civic boards have problematic dual loyalties?
and1: maybe its because I am reading Barry Eisler spy stories, but as I walked north on High past Uni this morning, I crossed the street because of a group of four fairly tough looking guys, bearded, ski caps, flannel shirts — they looked like roadies or security for Lollapalooza. As I passed, I noted corporate laminates and I guess “Palantir security” and or ex-Military, and I relaxed slightly (unlike poor Docs, the Eisler character, and John Rain associate who is figuratively but not literally kicking himself becuase he did not check his “6” as he left the convenience store, in Bali, and did not give himself 2 seconds to respond to the sight of two guys wearing motorcycle helmets despite being dismounted and despite the heat). On the other hand, I couldn’t help but think of this, overhearing one of them say, perhaps to each other, perhaps recalling some previous conversation, “Good morning. We know who you are”. To be clear, I am not claiming that Palantir thugs are tracking me, or laying in wait, only that I heard them say “Good morning. We know who you are” to each other. Or maybe there is a private function rock concert or John Vanderslice event at the former Zebra Copy now part of The Shire.
2) Palantir were used by Saruman and Sauron for evil, right? Why not name your company for Elven bread? Lembas.
three days later: a couple more data points: 3) I did pop by 100 Hamilton, at Alma and thru the guards at the door attempt to make contact with the pr department of Palantir. The guard would not reveal the name of the person I would hope to hear back from. 4) as I was heading back to the rest of my life, I ran into Palo Alto Planning And Transportation Commission member Eric Rosenblum and asked if I could speak with him on this topic, the role of Palantir in Palo Alto governance and he said “I don’t think so” and hurried off (he had hardly slowed as I tried to step to his step). 5) I attended Thursday’s Human Relations Commission but did not try to meet Mehdi Alhassani, who in his application to that post described himself as Palantir’s “chief of staff” and referenced that there are 240 Palantir employees who live in Palo Alto. Any serious reporting on this topic would include actual interviews with those who I describe as having “dual loyalties”. Also, Steve Levy did, in his column on this topic, delete roughly half of what I had posted. How do workers at Palantir, especially key employees, balance the expediency of reaching their exit (e.g., an IPO) with their version of volunteerism? How do they balance the famous libertarianism of their founders (e.g. Peter Thiel) with their involvement in governance? Are they deliberately trying to pass themselves off as housing adovocates (as in, is that the limit of their involvement, or how do they balance that with the issue of Landlord’s rights, for commercial real estate, as in office space versus whatever)? Is there a formal stance on Palantir and Palo Alto Forward (or another coincidence, or red herring? What initially caught my eye was the dissonance in the nature of their work and the mural by Dabs and Milo (ok, that and the hobbit fetish). Initially I thought of them as “Palo Alto’s hipster spooks”.
I have an internal file called “palantir rant” of things I started to put on the Steve Levy column and thought better of. For now I better ramble on
Congrats to Mavis Staples for her Grammy nomination, and to Bill Frisell, Donny McCaslin, Motema Records, Merge, Imogen Heap and all the rest. The Mavis is part of an EP that is preview for an upcoming film and also includes two songs by Son Little. I had to look it up to know that Mavis won a Grammy -TM for “You Are Not Alone” with Jeff Tweety but is not her self a “grammy” because although 76 in age she is childless. In two years they should release on vinyl a Mavis Staples 78 rpm. LWATCDR.
edit to add: Harry Smith call your dybbuk. Happy Hannukah. I’m supposedly working on a seasonal piece called “Led Dreidl Dread” and one called “Bitch, I’m Streisand”.
When the Weekly writes, apropos of 429 University proposal, that the discussion is a “proxy battle in a broader debate” over development, don’t they actually mean that there is inscrutable and undue resistance here because leadership is unwilling and afraid to say no to any whim of establishment landlords and developers such as the Thoits brothers, Chop Keenan, Jim Baer or Roxy Rapp, and that Jaimie and Elizabeth Wong are in effect a scapegoat or whipping boy couple, and or subject to a type of bias or discrimination?
And when you say “Victorian homes” on Kipling, don’t you mean office and retail? Michael Harbour’s argument is dubious in that his building, likewise is more office space, for a venture capital firm (and not his practice, as you state).
My understanding is that the Wongs suggested to pay in lieu fees for example to eliminate the problem of under-grounded (sic) traffic exiting onto Kipling north but staff told them they could not do it. Merely hindering or repressing the redevelopment of 429 does not in itself turn Kipling into a pedestrian mall.
Also I had to chuckle when commissioner David Bower made some ludicrous speech about Ms. So-and-So’s button shop his dear mum used to drag him to, on Kipling, and his opposition to the changes. Bower was the one who, when I suggested we push Keenan into having a cultural tenant at nearby 456 University (The Varsity, now a “co-working space”) and his reply was, as reported herein, “This is America! Go ahead and buy your own building”. Even if we’ve moved Bower off his jingoism, I doubt that means that there’s anything more Democratic about our policy downtown. Or show me.
Let’s see how they treat the similar pipeline proposal at Lytton and Kipling before we crow over taking back commissions and council from the powers-that-be. d
The Wong’s proposal fits under the “downtown cap” and before the moratorium.
Jim Loscutoff also known as Moose or Loscy enjoys a smoke and a fire-gun, at 85, in Florida, photo by a fan on a pilgrimage.
The long and the short of it is that the Weekly had two sports stories yesterday in which I felt the Gunn context had been unjustly omitted and here in Plastic Alto, I seek the cure.
First came news that Paly hoops legend, and 7-time NBA champion “Jungle Jim” Loscutoff died at age 85. Keith Peters (himself a Gunn ’70) compares Loscy to Jeremy Lin rather than, as I had coined, being part of the “Three L’s”, for Loscutoff, Lin and Lockhart, as in Kent Lockhart, the former Gunn standout (1981), who was a New York Knicks draft choice (and arguably the smallest person, at 6’4″ to be drafted for his defense).
Meanwhile, Palo Alto resident Sara Choy, who is 4 ‘ 11″ (and thereby part Robert Reich, and part Chrissie Evert), won her 59th prep singles match in a row, and her second CCS championship. She lives in the Gunn district and went to Terman but was recruited by former Gunn and Stanford All-America Jeff Arons to play for Sacred Heart Prep of Atherton (which is three miles from her apartment, while Gunn is five). The article mentions Arons, but not the irony of his Gunn pedigree. It mentions two other CCS-Stanford stalwarts (of my generation), but not other Palo Alto champions like Rebecca Dirksen or Stephanie Savides.
Sara is now ranked #5 nationally in the Girls 16s, which is approaching Savides territory (Stephanie was state champion for all distaff types when she was Sara’s age, i.e. she was Womens’ champion, she told me recently).
A student journalist (Maya Humes) at Stanford wrote about Choy and described her as playing tennis to this level specifically to get in to Stanford, tantalizingly nearby, which, if true, probably creates as much doubt about her candidacy as it bolsters it.
It would have been interesting to have Loscutoff and Choy pose together at some sort of ceremony honoring local sports legends, rather than merely linked here in cyber- neo-real and random- pomo, symbols manipulated like topspin lob- world.
If Sara Choy had more vision she would shun the private schools and win 2 more titles for public school Gunn High
edit to add, a couple days later: I’ve read the first two stories of Phil Klay and was slightly put off to learn that he was a public affairs officer and not a grunt in the war (well, he is from Dartmouth, and ROTC) and that he says it rhymes with “eye”. His maternal grandfather was a diplomat according to NYT wedding announcement. It’s kinda weird (and off-putting) to be reading Phil Klay and Barry Eisler (or I’m listening to an audio book cd). I think I’m a year late to Klay. National Book Award 2014 although I got it from this months i.e. end of 2015 Dartmouth Alumni Magazine.
I’m also working on a story about the Dartmouth football coach who wrote his school’s fight song, or one of them. That’s almost like if Ernie Banks wrote “Take Me Out” or something. “Wah hoo wah” is an archaic and sometimes offensive and shibolithic Dartmouth utterance of congrats while “oo-rah” and in his use “oo-fucking-rah” is a Marine greeting.
I’m sort of super-setting Phil Klay and Robert Reich. I’m hoping to read a public-available article on semantics and the military by Colonel Rich Outzen the former Aragon of San Mateo and Dartmouth football star, a lineman, and subject of Brian E. Moore’s documentary on the return of ROTC to Dartmouth, “Army Green” (1986).
By Saper-Worf, words shape reality more than describe it. So yes, words are weapons. The universe is a story as much as a place, according to Brian Swimme. Same holds true, as near as we can tell without distorting, for Plastic Alto.
edit to add, a couple days later: I’ve read the first two stories of Phil Klay and was slightly put off to learn that he was a public affairs officer and not a grunt in the war (well, he is from Dartmouth, and ROTC) and that he says it rhymes with “eye”. His maternal grandfather was a diplomat according to NYT wedding announcement. It’s kinda weird (and off-putting) to be reading Phil Klay and Barry Eisler (or I’m listening to an audio book cd). I think I’m a year late to Klay. National Book Award 2014 although I got it from this months i.e. end of 2015 Dartmouth Alumni Magazine.
who sings like an super weird else comes to Slater
Plastic Alto with Mark Weiss 