Endorsements, encounters, engagement

This is a 40-picture set of images I took with my new Motorola droid, most of which pertains to my Palo Alto City Council candidacy. Check back if this looks like less than 40.

My coach Hans Delannoy endorsed my campaign today.

My coach Hans Delannoy endorsed my campaign today.

I didn't ask Joe for an endorsement but did catch this natural light shot of him, Joe Zirker, on the day before his 90th birthday

I didn’t ask Joe for an endorsement but did catch this natural light shot of him, Joe Zirker, on the day before his 90th birthday

Terry Acebo Davis and Shylow, at Animal Services Palo Alto

Terry Acebo Davis and Shylow, at Animal Services Palo Alto

Megan the mixologist at Lure and Till seemed offended when I jokingly asked if she was Elizabeth Holmes, "the thirty-year-old with the nine-billion-dollar-start-up". I'm not 30! she said.

Megan the mixologist at Lure and Till seemed offended when I jokingly asked if she was Elizabeth Holmes, “the thirty-year-old with the nine-billion-dollar-start-up”. I’m not 30! she said.

My Gunn classmate Richard Freed and I spent a considerable amount of the 1980s and 1990s hanging Paly- and Frisco-style, but no so much in recent years; we chanced into each other at Johnson Park the other day.

My Gunn classmate Richard Freed and I spent a considerable amount of the 1980s and 1990s hanging Paly- and Frisco-style, but no so much in recent years; we chanced into each other at Johnson Park the other day.

Russ Cohen of Palo Alto Downtown, shown here at Cogswell nooner series, asked me not to malign him here; it's true I suffer from Foote-cone-mouth disease..

Russ Cohen of Palo Alto Downtown, shown here at Cogswell nooner series, asked me not to malign him here; it’s true I suffer from Foote-cone-mouth disease..

Terry and I met this charming young lady and her dog, Diego, at Austere, a Swedish themed gallery on Hill Street downtown LA-LA, when we stayed at Ace hotel in July, 2014

Terry and I met this charming young lady and her dog, Diego, at Austere, a Swedish themed gallery on Hill Street downtown LA-LA, when we stayed at Ace hotel in July, 2014

I thought I saw my name WEIS but it actually says 213 W. as in "west" but also the area code for that part of La-La.

I thought I saw my name WEIS but it actually says 213 W. as in “west” but also the area code for that part of La-La.

It actually is Weird Beers of 213 W. Seventh Street.

Devan John runs a 5:10 mile for the Michigan State Spartans but sat for me, kinda sorta, during her internship at Bryant Street Gallery of Palo Alto

Devan John runs a 5:10 mile for the Michigan State Spartans but sat for me, kinda sorta, during her internship at Bryant Street Gallery of Palo Alto

Henry and Rochelle Ford, both of whom have endorsed Mark Weiss for Palo Alto City Council, met in 1953 when he was a star footballer at Pitt and she was, as today, beautiful.

Henry and Rochelle Ford, both of whom have endorsed Mark Weiss for Palo Alto City Council, met in 1953 when he was a star footballer at Pitt and she was, as today, beautiful.

Terry and I met Carmenita Choy at the I-Hotel space in North Beach, where Terry's work hung this summer

Terry and I met Carmenita Choy at the I-Hotel space in North Beach, where Terry’s work hung this summer


Norzen lives and works in Palo Alto and offered to arrange a Tibetan divination about my campaign for Council.

Norzen lives and works in Palo Alto and offered to arrange a Tibetan divination about my campaign for Council.

Barbara Weiss, my mother, was President of the Palo Alto Jewish Community Center and, along with my father Paul Weiss donated a collection of pottery to the DeYoung Museum

Barbara Weiss, my mother, was President of the Palo Alto Jewish Community Center and, along with my father Paul Weiss donated a collection of pottery to the DeYoung Museum

edit to add, October 6: picked up two endorsements, Nancy Packer and Dr. Peter Casini. Thank you! Liz Zitelli already has four signs on her lawn but agreed to put up a Mark Bennett Weiss for City Council. Thanks, Liz. I told Nancy Packer that I’ve been talking about her son George Packer and “The Unwinding” so much that I might as well be selling it out of the trunk of my car. Will check with the local vendors to see if I can get a wholesale rate, and yeah, I would try that, if only to get a blog post out of the story. And in my brain this flashes to: Jim Newton a Paly ’81 to Packer’s Gunn 1978, to appear via Kepler’s interviewing Leon Panetta on Oct. 17. And I did mention to Weiss-endorser the staff attorney or chief attorney for Public Defender of Sf Matt Gonzalez (who wants to be remembered as an artist who dabbled politically) the Bryan Stevenson lecture coming to Kepler’s Nov. 6, two days after (my) election.

Deirdre Crommie 7 years on the Parks Commission and a mensch, thanks for your support!

Deirdre Crommie 7 years on the Parks Commission and a mensch, thanks for your support!

Posted in art, ethniceities, media, Plato's Republic, sports | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Our Mayor Nancy Scombridae

I spoke at Council twice yesterday, once on our “parks deficit” and once on the dubious public benefit at the former JJ&F site, and both times Nancy Shepherd botched my name. (She called me “weese” once and “mike”).

Reminds me of this exchange between Evan O’Dorney — the Intel winner and Spelling Bee champ — and a CNN newsreader whose name no one recalls, in 2007. (Incidentally or not, I described the precocious O’Dorney in context of Paul J. Cohen — another Intel-Westinghouse winner — and that post is one of my post hit-upon; do the math).

Nancy and I, for the record, have been friends since we met, and were seated together, on the 2009 campaign trail.

(In a previous post, I imagined her dancing to an Imperial Teen song, from a movie).

Nancy mentioned that she has been stressing lately and has never been good with names, in an email.

Also, Jay Thorwaldsen, editor emeritus of PAW,commented below about Samantha Lee’s art NOT depicting a scuba diver, and coined a term “scubidicoius” or something (in the way that Pat Burt said the objection to work on Cali Ave was “clabber-gaseous”).

I will file this under “words”.

I will try to chill her out when the op arises, Ms. Nancy Scombridae.

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Joe 90 v. Joe 90

I never heard of Joe 90 until my cousin Craig told me that his band had changed it’s name to it, to wit:

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Happy 90th birthday, Joseph Zirker and good luck at art show opening Thursday in Palo Alto

Menlo Park artist Joe Zirker turns 90 Wednesday and has an opening at Palo Alto Art Center Thursday, 6 p.m.

Menlo Park artist Joe Zirker turns 90 Wednesday and has an opening at Palo Alto Art Center Thursday, 6 p.m.

From our friends at Art Center:

joepeg

Thursday, August 14, 6-8 p.m.
Palo Alto Art Center, Meeting Room
FREE

Join us on Thursday for refreshments (and cake!) as we celebrate the 90th birthday of internationally recognized local artist Joseph Zirker, and his current exhibition, Joseph Zirker: A Celebration of Prints, Collages and Sculptures. This exhibition offers a glimpse at works created during an extensive and ongoing career, highlighting new collages by the ever-prolific artist whose innovations continue to inspire.

For more information contact the Art Center at 620.329.2366 or artcenter@cityofpaloalto.org.

edit to add, an hour later: I was sitting in City Hall nodding off in a Committee of Policy and Services meeting on City Audit when my phone buzzed to tell me that the Joe Show was this week, Thursday. I jumped up and left meeting, waking the entire row, and within 8 minutes was posing Joe in the twilight. But when Terry, my Terry, Terry Acebo Davis the former two-term PA Arts Commissioner got back from her day-night job, on bike, she suggested that we swap out the immediacy of my photo for the reportage of our recent visit to the Zirker Studios, two-miles from City Hall, in nearby Menlo or MenAlto. By Terry:
joeByTerry14

Posted in art, ethniceities, Plato's Republic | 1 Comment

Britt of 534 Ramona (from series of casual portraits of people I meet oftentimes)

IMG_20140812_175458945

Years ago, before I moved back to Palo Alto from San Francisco I worked in ad agencies as a freelance copywriter and also had some of my own small clients. In that spirit I toured the then-new store on Ramona and told this woman, who later posed for a photo and said she wanted to be a singer, that I could help the managers of the store reach out to the community, and perhaps get our then-mayor to new a ribbon cutting or appearance. I left them a business card but did not do any work for them; the building is owned by Elizabeth and Jaime Wong, whose project at 429 University I later spoke in favor of. Also, back in the 1990s I briefly dated a woman who split her time between booking rock shows and doing the marketing for the same group that sells its wares at 534 Ramona the former shoe store.  As for “Britt” — if that’s her real name — have not seen her since nor  heard her sing, to the best of my knowledge. (the original post is from 2014, the update is summer, 2018 and only because WordPress says someone clicked on this yesterday. There are 2 views total in four years. Now that I’ve tagged this “elizabeth wong” lordy look out)

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Hoops legend endorses former player for Palo Alto City Council

Cougar-Titan legend Hans Delannoy, Charleston Center, August 12, 2014

Cougar-Titan legend Hans Delannoy, Charleston Center, August 12, 2014

(my coach Hans Delannoy strolled Cubberley campus today and talked about old times. Hans led Gunn to league championships in 1980 and 1981 and was California Coach of the Year for leading San Ramon girls to a section championship in 2006, months after he and I organized a reunion to help current Gunn boys break a skid of losses to crosstown Paly. When Gunn finally beat Paly and won league, for first time in 28 years, Tom Jacoubowsky emailed all of us who playing our small role. Truth to told, I was a small part of the 1981 Titans, who went 25-3. Our top player, future Texas-El Paso star and NBA draftee for the Knicks Kent Lockhart had 1,400 points and I had exactly four — on one field goal and two free throws — I say, I get more mileage out of one bucket than any prep player in history…more to come here — I actually have about 40 shots — photo shots, not round ball delivered in arc with back spin — to post, that I will call “Endorsements, Encounters, Engagements”, later but meanwhile here is Bobbito Garcia and his highlight reel. Not an endorsement, but I did sit next to him at Brown Sugar in Oaktown. Mitch Stephens of the Chron and Exam dubbed Hans “Peninsula legend”

edit to add:

San Ramon Valley (16-11, 7-2), coached by longtime boys and girls coach and former Peninsula playing legend Hans deLannoy, seems to have all the pieces in place. San Ramon Valley is the only other Contra Costa team to win a Division II title (1990). MS, 12/25/04, the Chronicle

Meanwhile Hans is hosting his retirement gala, Saturday, August 23, 2014 6 p.m. at San Ramon Marriott; Tony Bowers and Mark Weiss are among the Titans set for the tilt. Thanks, Hans, for posting that photo of me on the Bill Green (1961-2012) bench, behind the Cubberley football-soccer-track fields.

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Meet Mike Cassidy and eat Chinese Tuesday

TASC event — news to me

Mike Cassidy

August 12th

Women and Computing: The Promise Denied

Mike Cassidy, former Silicon Valley Dispatches columnist at the San Jose Mercury News, and currently the storyteller at BloomReach, a big data marketing application startup, wrote a three-part series on women and computing earlier this year. Part one of the series covered the reasons behind the lack of women in computing (women hold less than a quarter of computing jobs in the US) and the consequences. Part two addressed the question of why it matters that women are not better represented in the tech workforce. Part three looked at what it will take to reverse the decline (women earning computer science bachelor degrees declined from 37 percent in 1984 to 17.6 percent in 2011).

Mike will summarize his findings, share his experience researching the series and moderating a panel discussion (Cracking the Code: New Ways to Get More Women and Girls in Tech), and comment on the significance of recent moves by Google, Facebook and Yahoo to disclose the diversity of their workforces.

Mountain View, I found on link from Weekly, contact a Bob Kirby 965-something Hangen Schewan 134 Castro, I have a breakfast meeting with Lydia Kuo in Barron Park if anyone is stalking me.

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Samantha Lee’s “Scuba” w. Sandra Wang known as SCUBA

a work called "scuba" by Samantha Lee, the one you might find on Grant

a work called “scuba” by Samantha Lee, the one you might find on Grant

I think I met Samantha Lee an artist, and shot a swede of one of the works hanging, in a boutique on Grant at North Beach. She did write her name or URL somewhere. I think the below is one of the works or very similar.

It says it is called “Scuba”, although I said it was a space-suit when I commented on it.

Reminds me of an artist or part of a duo I met on Hayes a whiles ago (and wrote about a few times) Sandra Wang who is part with Crocket Bodelson of SCUBA. I think they are down in Santa Fe these days.

I like both of their work and hope to see more.

This is the work “side ride” by the artist(s) Scuba, including Sandra Wang:
sideride1

My influences in life are Joseph Cornell, Rex Ray, Ray Johnson,  John Pfahl, Basquiat, Jack Kerouac, and my fellow artists.

My influences in life are Joseph Cornell, Rex Ray, Ray Johnson, John Pfahl, Basquiat, Jack Kerouac, and my fellow artists.

Terry, my Terry, Terry Acebo Davis, the artist and commissioner, with Sandra Wang of SCUBA and Crocket. I took this. I wrote this:

I shot this. I wrote this

I shot this. I wrote this

This is definitely Terry Acebo Davis, at House of Nanking, Sunday, August 10, 2014

This is definitely Terry Acebo Davis, at House of Nanking, Sunday, August 10, 2014

I know this is the artist I met yesterday but am unsure if I have matched her to whatever I found on the web.

I know this is the artist I met yesterday but am unsure if I have matched her to whatever I found on the web.

And this is a work she said she made, I believe her, but I forget the title or misplaced the note she wrote:

This looks pretty much like the same scuba as the very top, right?

This looks pretty much like the same scuba as the very top, right?

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Shazbot

shazbot

Posted in media, words | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Proposed ballot argument against local measure D on council composition

Shall the Palo Alto City Charter be amended to change the number of Council Member seats from nine to seven, commencing on January 1, 2019?

Henry David Thoreau famously said, “who governs best governs least” but in the same essay, “Civil Disobedience” (1849) he also called for what in contemporary terms might be called civic engagement. Or move on.

Keeping the Council composition at nine members rather than the proposed reduction to seven better ensures a representative council, responsive to the spectrum of needs of the people.

In terms of efficiency leadership could learn to be brief.

Palo Alto has a 120-year history on enthusiastic and passionate engagement in local self-governance. The abruptly proposed measure could constitute a breach in that fabric.

Keep it simple. Keep the status quo. Nine is fine. Against the Amendment.

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