I’ll trade you a 1960 Minnie Minoso for a hair cut

Posted on March 6, 2015 by markweiss86

this is from the Times obit:

He was a five tool player, fast.

He was a five tool player, fast.


Minnie Minoso has been one of my all-time favorite players for close to 40 years. I never saw him in his prime, but I collected his cards in their prime. I sometimes think about trading Gerardo the barber for a cut. (The internet claims that a 1960 Topps Minnie Minoso goes for about $15 near mint but up to $250 mint).

Minnie famously came out of retirement for one game so that he could say he played in five decades.

Rob Syrett said he would do a tribute illustration.

I am popping in on Gerardo next. I guess I need a cut. I left my Minoso at my mujer’s.

and1: the barber is 552 Ramona, the lobby of Cardinal Hotel.

The Times obit mentions that President Obama, who like me is from the South Side, issued a statement about Minnie’s demise:
President Obama said in a statement that “Minnie may have been passed over by the Baseball Hall of Fame during his lifetime, but for me and for generations of black and Latino young people, Minnie’s quintessentially American story embodies far more than a plaque ever could.”

edit to add, three weeks later: today I did go get a hair cut from Gerardo, who repeated his story of having since Minnie Minoso since his Marinau days, in Cuba. I ended up paying for a hair cut and gifting him a 1960 Topps Minoso as a tip. Meanwhile I got into an interesting discussion with Palo Alto Rotarian Dave McKenzie about “Citizens United” and other topics, although I think this may have irritated the other man, also a Rotarian, who was trying to enjoy his haircut.

Posted in media | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Something fishy about Stevenson House new management proposal

Posted on March 6, 2015 by markweiss86

Now the race is on and here comes MONEY up the backstretch TRUTH AND LIGHT are going to the inside, now that, Palo Alto, horse of Stanford, 1890, driven by Marvin, is a different color, shape, of plasticity of things

Now the race is on and here comes MONEY up the backstretch
TRUTH AND LIGHT are going to the inside, now that, Palo Alto, horse of Stanford, 1890, driven by Marvin, is a different color, shape, of plasticity of things


Stevenson House is a 120-unit senior non-profit housing that staff recommends be turned to a for-profit limited partnership, granted a Planned Community zoning exemption, be given $1 M of tax payers money from SUMC (Stanford hospital expansion hush money slush fund) so that a huge real estate developer with offices in San Francisco called John Stewart can get $35 M in federal incentives to upgrade the plumbing in the buidlings — which I toured, which our fine, very nice, cute, livable — they want to move the sink from the south side of a tiny but sufficient bath to the north, blah blah blah. In recent times we have at least the perception of corruption at City Hall, collusion between staff and developers, kowtowing — and in the case of the June, 2014 Santa Clara Grand Jury Report, obvious examples of this — that the slick and incentivized developers find the most arcane and convoluted arguments to always get their way. The staff says “let it fly” in a staff report which the Council is being asked to rubber stamp Monday, March 9 – next week, in four days — but I would think that 3 of them — and I know that a couple have been approached — should pull this, and let it see a little light of Democracy and process.

Surely, we should be cautious. It does occur to me to compare this to Dartmouth College Case, the formation of corporate law — we don’t want to tamper with the affairs of a corporation — but on the other hand the writing is on the wall that money interests make a mockery of Democracy. Is Stewart a legitimate good player here, or preying on the elderly for their own gain? It looks like a Trojan Horse to privatize and then gentrify the beautiful site. What is best for the 120 seniors? That it involves a PC, that it involves $1 M of our SUMC money, that it is arcane, that in numerous instances recently money preys on our social institutions — schools, parks, Little League, Maybell — this calls out for a little extra trip around the track of scrutiny.

Come to City Hall and Council Monday, March 9 and see for yourself or speak out. The opportunity to speak on this issue will be around 8:45 p.m. If you show up at 5:30 there is a rally produced by Joe Simitian, which includes free pizza, about Buena Vista, (an initiative to preserve low income housing for 400 people).

Posted in filthy lucre, media, Plato's Republic | Tagged , | Leave a comment

More from Bill Johnson’s slaughterhouse of ideas

Posted on March 6, 2015 by markweiss86

Posted by Mark Weiss
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood

2 minutes ago
Due to violations of our Terms of Use, comments from this poster are only visible to registered users. Click here to view comment. Why?

This is fishy enough that Council should pull from Consent Calendar

Report Objectionable Content Email Town Square Moderator

Posted by Mark Weiss
a resident of Downtown North

0 minutes ago
Mark Weiss is a registered user.
Due to violations of our Terms of Use, comments from this poster are only visible to registered users. Click here to view comment. Why?

My violation is that I claim the Weekly has a pro-Developer bias!

note: This is my backing up something I wrote two minutes ago on Palo Alto Weekly comment board, where 5,000 plus people have read a report about monkey business at Stevenson House, the 120-unit senior non-profit housing that staff recommends be turned to a for-profit limited partnership, granted a Planned Community zoning exemption, be given $1 M of tax payers money from SUMC (Stanford hospital expansion hush money slush fund) so that a huge real estate developer with offices in San Francisco called John Stewart can get $35 M in federal incentives to upgrade the plumbing in the buidlings — which I toured, which our fine, very nice, cute, livable — they want to move the sink from the south side of a tiny but sufficient bath to the north, blah blah blah. In recent times we have at least the perception of corruption at City Hall, collusion between staff and developers, kowtowing — and in the case of the June, 2014 Santa Clara Grand Jury Report, obvious examples of this — that the slick and incentivized developers find the most arcane and convoluted arguments to always get their way. The staff says “let it fly” in a staff report which the Council is being asked to rubber stamp Monday, March 9 – next week, in four days — but I would think that 3 of them — and I know that a couple have been approached — should pull this, and let it see a little light of Democracy and process.

Surely, we should be cautious. It does occur to me to compare this to Dartmouth College Case, the formation of corporate law — we don’t want to tamper with the affairs of a corporation — but on the other hand the writing is on the wall that money interests make a mockery of Democracy. Is Stewart a legitimate good player here, or preying on the elderly for their own gain? It looks like a Trojan Horse to privatize and then gentrify the beautiful site. What is best for the 120 seniors? That it involves a PC, that it involves $1 M of our SUMC money, that it is arcane, that in numerous instances recently money preys on our social institutions — schools, parks, Little League, Maybell — this calls out for a little extra trip around the track of scrutiny.

The headline refers to the numerous instances that I have posted on PAW and then had my ideas deleted. The Weekly is not a marketplace of ideas but a slaughterhouse. The Weekly deletes ideas and manipulates reality for its own gain.

Come to City Hall and Council Monday, March 9 and see for yourself or speak out. The opportunity to speak on this issue will be around 8:45 p.m. If you show up at 5:30 there is a rally produced by Joe Simitian, which includes free pizza, about Buena Vista, (an initiative to preserve low income housing for 400 people).

Posted in filthy lucre, media, Plato's Republic | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Merchants of shadows

Posted on March 6, 2015 by markweiss86

Yahoo Mail
Sent
waititi

Re: “Merchants of Doubt”
People
me Today at 12:35 PM
To
Peter Drekmeier
CC
Timothy Gray Tom DuBois Eric Filseth John Fredrich Nancy Shepherd Sidney Espinosa Wayne Douglass Chris Gaither Sea Aram James
good call.
I recommend it as a co-bill with nearby Guild showing “What we Do in the Shadows” about the effect of high tech on aging vampires.
Review: ‘What We Do in the Shadows,’ a Vampire Comedy

image

Review: ‘What We Do in the Shadows,’ a Vampire Comedy
The film, directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, is set in New Zealand and follows four ghouls who have problems adapting to the modern world.
View on http://www.nytimes.com
Preview by Yahoo

Mark W

From: Peter Drekmeier
To: Peter Drekmeier
Sent: Friday, March 6, 2015 9:01 AM
Subject: “Merchants of Doubt”

Hi Folks,

This looks like a good film that I thought might interest you.

-Peter

Merchants of Doubt

Come see this award-winning film showing how a small group of “pundits for hire” have sown doubt about scientific findings — starting with denial of the health effects of tobacco, toxic chemicals, and now, climate change. With a satiric touch, this documentary lifts the curtain on “spin” and the industries that pay for it.

Saturday, March 7 — 7:00 pm
Trinity Church
330 Ravenswood Ave., Menlo Park

Free — registration not required, but seating limited to first 200 guests.
Sponsored by Acterra.

See the film trailer at http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/sony/merchantsofdoubt/

Please spread the word to others interested in the psychology and politics of climate change.

———————————–
Peter Drekmeier
pdrekmeier@earthlink.net
(650) !!!-VAMP

Posted in Plato's Republic, sex | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Transcript of Mark Weiss 2015 application for Palo Alto Human Relations Commission

Posted on March 6, 2015 by markweiss86

Just today, for about an hour, I was talking with a nice lady from Stevenson House, about elder care. 2. Earlier today, for one hour, I held a vigil at Lytton Plaza, re Susan O’Malley “Community Advice”. 3. Pretty consistently, since 1977, as Student Body President of Terman, and on-going 37 years, I fill my dance card with various “human relations” matters, some more formal than others. Auto-didact, mostly.

President, Earthwise Productions of Palo Alto
concert promoter / artist manager / blogger

I’ve fairly consistently been involved in civic engagement since 1977 when Cheryl Putt Preising my classmate tapped me on the shoulder at brunch and suggested I run for Terman Junior High Student Body President.

And my business started as a social experiment as much as for-profit, to bring people together. It was a reaction to Rodney King Riots, and first Gulf War; it’s also a spin-off of Bay Area Action / Earth Day.

I also spoke in August, 2014 to Council, about Ferguson, MO and how it relates to here, about the continuum of neighborhood watch and uniformed public safety. I spoke for 2 minutes Nov. 25, 2014 to a group of 100 Stanford students who had marched to 250.

I’ve admitted in public, I think it was housing element sub-committee, the strain of my 40 % rent (delta).

I worked in 2009 with Claude Ezran to produce the first World Music Day.

I think we can do better, even here, on Gideon v. Wainwright*. I wrote about “Sean Berry Case,” here, as an aberration of justice.

And see below, re “healthy community”:

This is my response to 1, 2, and 3 combined: I can explicate if interviewed for position by Council an example of what I do privately and how I am perceived:

To (list of 32 names including me)

I just voted. I voted for a single candidate for council. I voted for you. Last night, a friend of Sam’s committed suicide. This is very troubling. There are serious issues in Palo Alto. Of all the candidates, I think you are best suited to address them.

Sincerely,
Scott Rothstein, 735 La Para Avenue, Palo Alto, CA

I got about 2,100 votes, and {approximately} 9,000 all-time.

I’ve written more than 100 articles on my Plastic Alto blog on these issues (and another 1,000 on the arts, 500,000+ words all in; some of it may have been read by, and partially influenced, even by Chaos Theory, if indirectly, current leadership and their / our utterances, and “Our Palo Alto”).

(Community Services element of the Comprehensive Plan) — I own a hard copy of

*I’m gonna chat here a wee bit and provide supplemental material in the form of this link, if you are in the electronic realm of Plastic Alto the blog and not for instance on the panel of 7, 8 or 9 council members being handed hard copy of this, embed of a panel featuring not Adlai Stevenson of Illinois but Bryan Stevenson of Alabama, on Gideon: are we as fair to the poor as we claim to be?

“transcript”here means I’ve re-typed the contents of my application, which was 80 percent hand-written, while sitting on the 7th floor of 250 Hamilton, aka City Hall or City Clerk / Mayor’s office. Initially I felt the Rothstein statement was sufficient to prove my credential as an HR commish. Either way, I will keep on keepin’ on, or as my rabbi (JM) says, “you may not finish your work, but you can’t stop either.”

Posted in Plato's Republic, words | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

1234 Big Chief want wood cube D4 alarm clock

Posted on March 5, 2015 by markweiss86

$30 at kikkerland 8668225571

$30 at kikkerland 8668225571

Posted in art, nola | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Wiener queen works extra long hours

Posted on March 5, 2015 by markweiss86
Jacquetta Lannan the driving force and spearhead of and behind Chez Franc becoming one with everything at 5:55 on a Thursday

Jacquetta Lannan the driving force and spearhead of and behind Chez Franc becoming one with everything at 5:55 on a Thursday

Posted in sex | Tagged , | 1 Comment

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie Big Oil doofus

Posted on March 5, 2015 by markweiss86

IMG_20150305_173750666

Posted in media, Plato's Republic | Tagged | Leave a comment

State of the horse, Palo Alto

Posted on March 5, 2015 by markweiss86

IF this little magic doo-hickey is not f-ing with me gray matters, Palo Alto before it was a city near Leland Stanford’s farm was a horse owned by Leland Stanford the farmer and driven by his famous jockey Charles Marvin. As evidenced by this fine 1890 painting.

Charles Marvin also wrote a book “Training the Trotting Horse” that he dedicates to his boss man. I would guess that beyond this scanned version Stanford the farm I mean world class university has a library that someone if not me can access this for reals.

(and somehow I am flashing to the vampire documentary I just saw at Guild and how powerful and seductive beings sometimes acquire us mere mortals as slaves)

paloaltowhitehorse1890

Steve Staiger surely knows more about this scoop, so to speak. (When you say “horse” and “scoop” in the same breath, watch your step. There’s also a song that I heard Buddy from Nashville sing at a house concert at hedgehog I think, something about the guy whose job at circus is picking up after the animals. I’m the guy who…)

edit to add: and if anyone cares I got to this (link) because I wanted to see if Christopher Felver who made a doc about Ferlinghetti and has a book on musician photo portraits I borrowed from library has a palo alto connection and what I got instead was that an online auction was selling a Felver portrait of Bukowski next to an oil from 1890 about “Palo Alto” the horse. Which is like Bill Rose looking for a nanny online and instead finding Felstiner essay about “this dust of words”.

Posted in art, Plato's Republic | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Waxwings at 250

Posted on March 5, 2015 by markweiss86
Art like this makes for better bureaucrats

Art like this makes for better bureaucrats

Laura Jacobson and I crossed path at Peet’s, she on her way to nearby studio me to this virtual world of 1’s and 0’s and signifying monk keys.

Sundry topics flew by, as the lines shrank. One, the line for her ordered coffee to be made. Two, the line I was to not stand it, to order.

The bottom line: City of Palo Alto Public Art Collection should include a Laura Jacobson – she lives Downtown North, went to Gunn and has studio here in town —

edit to add,the next day, because just as I typed above “town — ” my order came up and I thought good place to stop. But then:

—– Forwarded Message —–
From: Laura Jacobson
To: Mark B Weiss
Sent: Thursday, March 5, 2015 9:24 PM
Subject: Re: portrait of laura and waxwing, 2012

Wow, that was fast! So cool to run into you. And so glad to hear that Terry’s project is almost headed to Seattle. She must be in the studio very late these days. Thank you for the plug, the post, and the links to the posts! I hadn’t seen the 3-year-ago post so that was a fun surprise.
I would vote for flight there and the ride back to enjoy the coast line — it is so gorgeous!! Nothing can beat digging your toes into the cold sand of the beaches along Rte. 1.

Laura

––––––––––––––––––––
Laura Jacobson

studio: 4030 Transport Street
Palo Alto, CA 94303
url: http://www.laurajacobson.com
cell: (650) !!!-CLAY

On Thursday, March 5, 2015 9:46 AM, Mark B Weiss wrote:

that’s as far as I got before my coffee came up….just as well.

you may recall, as I did, and then found via the internal search function, that three years ago I had you pose for a photo, and its placement on my blog. I still have not actually written about your work or you, just these odd tangentials. In the previous piece, I can side-tracked playing a game wherein in each paragraph there were succeeding alphabeticals: a, b, c. It started, I think with Laura Jacobson (l, j) and Nelson Mandela (n, m) plus the photo that says”first floor” but I used as r, s, t…

you are probably too busy to focus on what I am doing here.

Terry meanwhile is trying to finish up what will be an installation next month in a group show in Seattle asian art museum, Wing Luke. She now claims we will have to drive there, since she does not trust shipping the work. on one level that’s cool, in that the process of getting there becomes part of the work. on the other hand, i hope she takes her friend minerva and lets me fly up separately.

mark w

i think that title also references a middlebook sculpture at Westin Hotel palo alto

if thou think this is weird, keep in mind that the original reference is to a Nabokov piece:

Karen- (in honor of her honor)
Not to confuse you, that I am six or seven deep in things I ran by you then dropped, but I want you to take a peek at this link, about the art of Palo Alto artist your neighbor Laura Jacobson (she lives huzzah and was sup actually). In my blog yesterday I suggest that her work should be in our Palo Alto public collection, perhaps at 250 Hamilton perhaps even your office.

I suggested specific pieces I wanted to donate to then-mayors Sid Espinosa (a New York skyline by Stacey Carter) and Yiaway Yeh (a color chart by Rob Syrett). I have this notion that there should be a fund to purchase in honor of each mayor, a piece of art. (I tried to donate the two pieces I just mention but got caught up in the red tape and still have them).

Laura Jacobson and I crossed path at Peet’s, she on her way to nearby studio me to this virtual world of 1’s and 0’s and signifying monk keys. Sundry topics flew by…
View on markweiss86.wordpre…
Preview by Yahoo

I don’t know if this piece is still available, but you should check her out nonetheless.

Mark Weiss

and1: I admit I’ve never read “Pale Fire”
I was the shadow of the waxwing slain
By the false azure in the windowpane;
I was the smudge of ashen fluff -and I
Lived on, flew on, in the reflected sky.
And from the inside, too, I’d duplicate
Myself, my lamp, an apple on a plate:
Uncurtaining the night, I’d let dark glass
Hang all the furniture above the grass,
And how delightful when a fall of snow
Covered my glimpse of lawn and reached up so
As to make chair and bed exactly stand
Upon that snow, out in that crystal land!

Posted in art, ethniceities, Plato's Republic, sex, sf moma | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment