I caught, for the third time, the young band that performs and creates video content at Lytton Plaza.
A guy I met who moved here from Ivory Coast 20 years ago and has an 11-year-old himself congratulated or gave well-wishes to the young singer’s mother, who accepted the attention with aplomb.
Set list: Knocking on Heaven’s Door, Green Day, Sweet Child of Mine — I didn’t hear any Zep this time. Are they mellowing? Also: Blind Melon sung and probably written by a heroine overdose, but the bumble bee video is probably catnip to 11-year-olds.
edit to add, minutes later: I guess I’m stereotyping to write that Shannon Hoon died of a heroin overdose. It was cocaine, in Houston, at age 28, the day he was supposed to continue on to Tipitinas in New Orleans the big easy. Blind Melon the name is supposedly a Cheech and Chong reference. Their debut album was produced by Rick Parashar who I recall having lunch with once in SF, on the invite of Sybil Vain, a.ka. April Deveraux another Parashar product — I think she was on a bill with Billy Nayer Show at Bottom of the Hill; I remember she wrapped her very long microphone cord around my neck mid-song, which made me blush and I had to take off my fleece jacket, and she stayed on our Earthwise mailing list for awhile but I never worked with her or saw her again, or heard from the band, for that matter. Blind Melon broke slightly before I started really following the scene. I wonder what the bumble bee little girl is up to know – I presume, for example, she is not the mother of the young singer pictured above. Hoon sang back-up on Guns N Roses, btw.
Bleachers released his her or its debut cd on Tuesday, but I just heard about it yesterday or today due to a Kimmel re-run (I was actually taping to capta St. Paul and the Broken Bones or something — I was on a “pauline” riff). I thought the dude singing did look a bit like the dude in fun. It wasn’t until his guitar riff that, like punching the button on The Voice, I popped on my laptop to get the skinny. I’ve had this computer — my actual first, my virgin effort — for about six months now and have not yet downloaded or bought any content, except a download code for Sharon Jones that arrived as a blank. My girfliend (I had to try twice to get that by that bitchthe spellchecker) set up everything and did send me my codes but I never bothered to learn them(you need a code to go to the Apple store, for instance (I wanted to write “itstance” but am tired of fighting). I liked his t-shirt Downtown 4 Democracy – -will have to suss on that. I don’t like his GF that much. Shadedfreud or just a hater, or I’ve potentially met too many Smithies (of that generation). See also Kevin Cadogan, for the fact that it does sound like 3EB and poor Kevin’s solo effort never went as smoothly, so far. I am the poor man’s Christgau. (Better than the poor Christ’s Mangau). So $1.29 is the new .99 is it? Rather than continuing on with ABC coverage of Burning Airlines (that’s a misguided Eno reference) I am going to rewind to “I Wanna Get Better”. I presume the original Fun deal provides for solo projects, in this case on RCA. see also Nathan Fielder (dumb star*ucks) Strange Desire is the new of the set. PS the cap edit to add: weird sign that there might actually be a D-G: mid-solo there was a test of the EBS emergency broadcast system – -which reminds me of the band Elastica — but it deleted my pseudo-cat-pure on fake-tivo. May have to plunk down the $1.29. Now we have Meryl Streep asking me to check my polyps so I don’t feel as bad about my Eno joke. In fact I will link to it (disclosure I used to manage this act and may actually still receive 2.5 or now 1.5 percent of what they get by your streaming, from 2003, there’s so much in life we can’t control, such as colorectal cancer, she say: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ5szyqkAHQ Your best shot is to check for a spot — PSA I am not making this up edita2: that’s 427 words and here’s a lift of another 200 or so: Last night in Brooklyn, the artist Dustin Yellin couldn’t keep his shirt on. That’s probably atypical for a political fund-raiser, but it wasn’t weird — it was Yellin’s place, after all, and he was surrounded by friends. At his Red Hook studio, The Intercourse, a self-described “cultural think-tank-slash-museum school experiment,” a bearded and bespectacled crowd of about 200 paid $50 each to enjoy the borough’s finest ceviche and moonshine, with the proceeds going to the political action committee Downtown 4 Democracy, “an alliance of professionals in the arts and creative media who share a deep commitment to progressive ideals.” Yellin welcomed guests with a bright red T-shirt slung over his shoulder, putting it on only when the sunshine softened, but he ended the night barebacked again, in case there was any question about the kind of event he was hosting. D4D was founded in 2003 and raised $1.5 million to get the vote out for John Kerry. We all know how that turned out. The organization disbanded soon thereafter, having become a full-time side project for its art-world organizers. “It was extremely successful in terms of getting the creative community to participate in the political process,” said Bronwyn Keenan, a former Guggenheim events director and original D4D board member, in Yellin’s garden last night. “But creative people tend to take it personally if we lose. It was a crushing defeat.” “It wasn’t until Sarah Palin that everyone woke up again,” she explained. That missile dodged and the world still intact, D4D has risen from apathy’s ashes this year and partnered with CREDO, a liberal super PAC, with the aim of unseating “The Tea Party 10,” the most extreme and vulnerable members of the U.S. House of Representatives, from Pennsylvania to California. Without their own Sheldon Adelson, the group hopes to make its dent in smaller markets. “I’m personally in a better position to give money now,” said Keenan. “Last time, I was in a position to do the grunt work.” Much of the organizing now falls to a next generation board member, 25-year-old Audrey Gelman, who’s just not busy enough as press secretary for Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and an actress on Girls. Gelman launched a reborn version of D4D earlier this year with The Pocket Guide to Politics, a civics textbook-gone-Tumblr featuring government lessons told through art from Terry Richardson, Dan Colen, Aurel Schmidt, and Andrew Kuo. The book’s launch party, at the Standard Hotel, featured appearances from Gelman’s wide sphere, including Stringer, Lena Dunham, and Mos Def. Maybe that is Jack’s way of telling Lena he is leaving with Audrey. (If I can stay awake another 28 minutes, Jeff Koons may be on with Seth Myers…)
Audrey Gelman in the Times, October, 2013: this explains everything. Except Stephen King’s blurb for Josh Ritter.
Originally posted on Art, the Bible & the Big Apple: Coinciding with the release of his new feature film, Noah, director Darren Aronofsky presents an exhibition of contemporary art inspired by the biblical story of Noah and the Flood. Fountains…
I clicked thru a note about Carolyn Castano show closing at Meridian Gallery on Post in SF — Sunday, July 20, 2 to 4 p.m, 2014 — to rip this salute to Escobar the football player who was murdered after letting in an own goal in a previous World Cup. I also have in my cue a documentary (I’ve seen) about The Two Escobars. There was an art director or photographer in SF (maybe he worked with Jeremy Postaer, on a billboard about Red’s on the pier, I posed for, as an extra, circa 1990) named Dan Escobar.
There’s actually an enya on the “n” in Castano, please note.
Containers of Community by Ehren Tool detail 42 of 880 mugs, plus 8 prints
Eight hundred and eighty ceramics mugs comprise a type of Old Glory reference and codex, at Palo Alto Art Center, which I am calling Palo Alto Peace Center for the next eighty eight days or so.
Here is my reading of a detail of such, about forty two cups, seven rows of six; I did not actually touch or turn these pieces, per the signs posted, but from examining other parts of the series — there are more than 14,000 cups extant — I know that each mug includes between two and five elements, plus the base of bricks or sandbags that are practically part of Tool’s signature. To my eye the piece as a whole is green, red, white, blue and orange although I will leave it to experts to fix that estimation (close enough for Plastic Alto, I like to say). Kudos to Karen Kienzle for making this happen:
1, three guys in their Army unies, circa 1941; 2, pink, “clearing barrel” gun with helmet balanced on point, as relief; 3, red; 4, green, amulet ? question mark; 6 (I am skipping five, seven and eight) green and red hearts; 9, is that Slender Man?; 10, a quote from Dwight David Eisenhower, general, president, subject of a book by Palo Altan Jim Newton, aka Ike: “it’s brutality, it’s futility, it’s stupidity” quote about you have to have served as a soldier to know the full extent — I can swap out the exact quote later, check back; 15, (I skip eleven thru fourteen) solider with pistol pointing to own head — there is a warning posted that some of the material is for mature viewers; 16, fist; 17, young man in uniform; 18, Hello Kitty, or a bootleg version of her or him, holding a rifle – this repeats a couple more times, at least, in this set, the 880; 19, Egalitie Fraternite and a skull, maybe someone’s patch that plays on the famous French motto: Ehren collects war ephemera and history, and people contribute icons and ideas; sometimes he swaps for something he really wants, he carries around a collection of these — he made these cups during a one-month residency here in Palo Alto, in June, 2014; during the year he teaches ceramics at U.C. Berkeley and shares a home/studio in town with wife and mother-in-law artists all; 20, intricate relief of a battle scene or several, over a backdrop of the pyramid you find on a dollar bill, the Masons thingy, Annuit Eucept or whatever — this also repeats in the set or super-set; 21, some Arabic writing over some artillery, rifles, in Orange; Ehren served the U.S. in the first Gulf War, Desert Storm; 22, Guy Fowlkes motif, in orange, maybe a gas mask; 23, Peace Is The Only Adequate War Memorial — source?; 25, someone named Bloom, part of BGEEA, maybe that’s the father of the school psychologist I met here and mentioned previously, from Vermont — he did work on missile or antimissile guns, Ehren found on youtube as we three were gabbing, and he was otherwise working; 26, a shrine, in relief, with three Indian or yoga gods, in blue; 27, some dude in a tie, presumably a vet or loved one of a vet; 28, this is my dad, Paul Weiss, posed in his Navy blues, in 1941 or so, when he was 18 or so and had just enlisted, he said to avoid being drafted into the army, so that he would have a bunk and not be in a foxhole, he was a radar guy on a small ship, an LCF or flag ship for a fleet, Terry and I snagged it out his wall, of his and Mom’s Palo Alto home and brought it in to the Palo Alto Art Center to scan and include, and in September, in theory, the art center will disseminate the work and we may be taking the piece home with us, Dad did meet Ehren and hopefully will make it to the show, and or the Sept. 7 event, lecture, panel; Benjamin F. Davis, Terry’s dad, who was in the Merchant Marines, unless that is her grandfather, also a U.S. veteran and buried in Colma; they never met in real life, my dad and Terry’s dad; 30, another amulet, like in 4: is that George Washington? Is that a Purple Heart? Reminds me that my Mom gave me, about 2004, as they were downsizing and feng-shuing, her dad’s medal from Rochester VFW, which I promptly squandered to burglars, Feb, 2008, while living in Barron Park; 31, something in green with eagles and the globe; 33, another Eagle insignia; 34, pin-up girls, PG-rated, in contrast to racier stuff Ehren has worked with and included in his book, giving new meaning both to Chicks with Sticks and Big Guns; in green; 35, In Times of Universal Deceit it is a revolutionary act to tell the truth — George Orwell, which reminds me of the Santa Clara Grand Jury report about Palo Alto from June 6, 2014, while Ehren was in residence here; 39, pink, soldier with pistol to head; 40, blank, white — ok, I admit I did pick this one up and inspect it: blank all four sides: did he say the blank ones are tribute to his dad?; 41, This is not Political; 42, more pyramids (actually I cannot read my notes: pyramid ndoss? Whatever. Come see the show yourself and make your own notes and notices.
Kudos to Palo Alto Art Center director Karen Kienzle for bringing Ehren Tool here and for kindly posing for moi:
edit to add, 1: I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity. Maybe I can write Jim Newton to get some context for this if it’s not in his book per se. I ripped it from brainyquotes dot com
edit to add, 2: In A Time Of Universal Deceit, Telling The Truth Is A Revolutionary Act. – George Orwell Apparently this is a bumper sticker and not an actual Orwell idea, or maybe it was coined, pressed or thrown by a member of the Santa Clara Grand Jury who criticized us for our dealings with a developer in recent years. Close enough for Plastic Alto and more importantly for Ehren Tool, artist, father and Patriot. He hates it when you say “thanks for your service” btw. Two more things, more or less appropriate here: I counted four or five war memorials at 27 University Avenue, being eyed first for office towers and now for dense housing, and what triggered the GJ report. This never gets talked about. The historic building, the first community center, for USO, sure, but not the flagpole and monument or meeting board for VFW of old; the line “Peace is the only adequate war memorial” seems to be a completely original thought by Ehren Tool. Nice going. He also has published some of his letters to people in power, offering to give them a mug or asking them, for the sake of the troops, to be more efficient at least about their war-making. Do what you said you will do, et cetera.
edit to add: I later decided not only to run for City Council but to double down and apply for ARB; meanwhile I happened on to Rita Varell working on her garden and she added her name to the list of my endorsers, about 20 to 25 by September 24, 2014; I also spoke out against the cellphone tower at Little League Park and although Rany Popp had recused himself, he was watching he meeting on his computer and said he had :no comment: to me–Mark Weiss
385 Sherman, partial view, at Ash
When Palo Alto ARB members Clare Malone Prichard and Randy Popp talk about “property rights” I’m not sure they are not talking about this post-Citizen’s United, post-McCutheon phenomenon of “corporations are people”. Are they saying that they believe that Property per se has rights, like if there is a $10,ooo pile of gold somewhere we have to honor its rights to self-determination and self-actualization and not get in the way of it becoming a $20,000 pile of gold?
I don’t get it.
Steve Levy said the same thing at a meeting, and workshop. He said government and We The People have to be super, duper careful not to tread on Property Rights.
Huh?
I sat thru two-and-half hours of a meeting Thursday about 385 Sherman, where the developer, a slick young guy in a suit, wants to tear down a perfectly good and fully-leased building, down the alley from Cali Ave and it’s triptych mural, to build a super-sized uber-building, with that many more workers and four little pied-à-terre overlooking Sarah Wallace Park. Meanwhile there is a group of homeowners from the 40-member condo association next door, Birch Court, about 19 of whom are pretty vehemently against the proposal. Or at the very least, they want to make sure the project is well-vetted before it proceeds (in this climate of give a developer and inch and he’ll reach for 44 feet).
The board to my mind is likely to let Minkoff be Minkoff and is basically telling the residents “tough titties.” Popp actually said something to the effect of buyer beware if you move into an underdeveloped area, which makes sense if you are talking about a former chicken farm in East Palo Alto or you are a member of the Donnor Party or something, but again in this case these people have lived there for 30 years in some cases and so has 385 Sherman.
Maybe I am too influenced by the fact that one of the homeowners, at the meeting but did not speak — although she told me she was influential in moving the HOA towards what become hiring Bill Ross as council — is my favorite Buddhist-Capitalist, Norzin Lama of Norzin Collections boutique, who came here as a refugee from Tibet in the 198os, sent two daughters to Gunn, Paly and or dental school, and if her English is not perfect (it’s better than my Tibetan, you can bet on) has a way of emoting the meaning of things. I’m encouraging her to speak up at the next round of things, for her sake, her more-in-the-firing-line neighbors and for all of us.
I worry that America and frankly all of the developed world (sic), are indeed losing our spiritual bearings and beyond confusing corporations (or capital) with people, seem to have forgotten the Seven Cardinal Sins.
Maybe we should rename Sherman, Grant and Sheridan for Wrath, Lust and Gluttony?
I see Palo Alto as first of all a vacuum of non-participation in Democracy, following by a huge push from, in this case, the real estate industry, such that leadership is basically compromised — not necessarily completely corrupt, as is indicated by the Grand Jury report of 6/6/6 I mean 6/6/2014, which references one developer and two of his deals or near-deals — such that yeah, the architects ask about types of Magnolia trees, and types of lighting but never say the obvious:
why do we need the building in the first place?
(which reminds me of my other post last week about the architects on the HRB, historic resources, and the proposal to turn a historic theatre into more office space and they guy said it would not bother him at all if a theatre he designed as a theatre was used as an office. And I wished I had asked him if he hears back from his residential clients that they find themselves shitting in the living room and therefore want him to come back and tear out the bathrooms. I actually referenced, in real time, Howard Gossage and David Brower and their ads to save Grand Canyon from development: Would you flood Sistine Chapel to help tourists better see the ceiling).
The coldness and callousness of the applicant, his attorney (making little jokes every ten minutes to his crony — his name is David Van Atta) and leadership reminds me of Harry Lime in “The Third Man”:
how many of those little dots disappearing before it bothers you? (he was a post-War drug dealer sitting atop a ferris wheel looking at the people, commenting on his disregard for shipping bad drugs to hospitals).
Anne Steinle Birch Court homeowners board
It does not give us much privacy.
build for common good, not developers.
massive, not respect scale of neighborhood, mit neg, mitigation monitoring plan
arborist report not current (march)
six trees, only 1 high chance of surviving
magic photos , esp of birch
decks across from us, problem already
please remove any decks and walkways facing our residences
contaminated soil near eating establishments? Mary Ryan
1,700 pages of documentation??
44 days of excavation
(proximity to, but not at, toxic plume…)
72 percent higher than state standard on toxicity (in 2009? study of toxics)
the residents are pretty convincing, to my ears
Brenda Lowen
lives on second floor, of CC2 picture
privacy screen of trees
Pat Baty
(works at PA clinic — lives in next building)
(PAHC condos, nearby —her neighbor — )
asks about Comp Plan on office versus res (although mostly Downtown cap)
Peter Holland
scale, privacy, zoning
too massive for small site it sits on
misleading diagrams, height of 4-story building
trumpets gain of 4 market rate at expense of 19 existing homes (inc BMR??)
CC2 next to rm-40? 40 percent of project next to Sarah Wallis Park — loophole
city is giving away public benefit of the park to private developer
Kevin Kiser
challenges the rush nature, the 1700 pages, and the 30 day period
72 percent above legal limit, on soil
demolition releases asbestos and lead paint?
parking issue alone should be enough to put the brakes on this project
Sue Kiser 30 years resident
(Sherman v. birch:)
(burning atlanta vs a tree grows in brooklyn)
(immune compromised)?
(where does matt live?)
canary in the coal mine (song by Police)
Bob Moss at 935
hazardous material report is inadequate
based on work at barron park and moffeit field
TCB in groundwater
mitigation is inadequate
Rita Varell
lives outside area
lives near a noisy church??
mention GJ report, and asks about disclosure (3 board members said they met with applicant)
pump out of private residents water, where does the water go?
Bill Ross at 945 — 24 minutes of time
260 Cali as comparable case: do neighbors really get the chance to enforce CeQa aspects of adjacent new projects?
Cara Silver, city attorney, responds
(“weak response” bill says privately during break, around 1025; i had moved my car, 1020)
1035 reconvene
spoke to rita varell during break…
randy popp asked about materials. material board…or was that lew?
title 24 and soft lighting regarding energy???
clare and randy mention “property rights”
people should expect that whatever is around them will get built up someday. (spoken like an architect or the fountainhead)
11 am i gotta go, concerts i s more in my wheelhouse. follow up with some of the people and do right about this.
(do write, i mean)
(later I walked the block, including Sarah Wallis Park, and did run into my friend Matt who lives on Grant; I also traded voice mail with one of the residents that I know personally and left a note at the door)
(in between I had an excellent Tri-Tip sandwich from John’s downtown on Lytton, which I took to the Brown Bag concert at Cogswell Plaza, featuring Tony Lindsay and Spang-a-lang (including Bryant Mills on drums, and a bass player on lunch break from UPS, wearing his uniform, for three songs; and met Sgt. Steve Savage of PAPD, and said hello to Russ Cohen of PAD and Ali Williams of the City who spearheaded the resumption of the series after a 5-year hiatus; I will return to this post or a further post to organize my reaction to 385 Sherman proposal — classic case of values clashing in Palo Alto — I would tend to side with the residents of Birch Court, who have hired former Council candidate Bill Ross to represent their views, while Minkoff has hired John Paul Hanna and Dave Van Atta, I believe their names are, he Van Atta spoke at the meeting).
edit to add, Aug. 21, 2014 reporting direct from ARB, then posted to PAW:
I spoke out against 385 Sherman proposal just two minutes ago, at ARB, as did Bob Moss, Bill Ross and a dozen others.
I wrote up my notes of the earlier ARB hearing here
Web Link
Too massive, too disruptive, not in keeping with our General Plan…protect neighbors first!
Paul Weiss and Ben Davis party Tool-style in Palo Alto gallery of war heroes
I met Ehren Tool about five times during his month residency at Palo Alto Art Center, furthering his project of turning five years as an MP in the Marines into 10,000 or so ceramic mugs. The art of war, the war of art. You do your own math.
Or check out the 1,000 or so “new guys” that were created here. Many of them feature content contributed by we Palo Altans. I met a nice lady who said her dad made missile launchers in Vermont –she’s a school psychologist, she said; I think I noted later in Ehren’s in-box that her family is represented in the installation.
Terry meanwhile arranged for our two dad’s to hang out side by side in the exhibit, which runs until September. They never met in real life, but their mugs like find together – -I’m kinda curious to see what other two to five bits on info and icon adorn the rest of the mugs. In theory the mugs become part of our personal collection in that Ehren makes a point to give away and disseminate the individual components of this work. Terry and I had procured a couple of mugs two years ago at a Veterans’ Art show in Alameda, CA, curated by Ed Holmes. We didn’t note Ehren’s name until we heard of the local show and realized we knew the work, or something of it.
Ehren’s mother-in-law also offers tours of their Berkeley compound many Sunday’s during the summer and fall.
I bought Art in America for $11 (June/July 2014) partially because I recognized the name Chris Ofili, who did the cover art. I am a little disappointed there is not a corresponding article on the Nigerian artist in London famous for offending a New York Catholic Mayor.
Upon whom am I flinging revenge by lifting his work from there to here?
backed with:
b/w
I had some wicked thoughts about a parody of the Fortune cover about the nice looking young lady and her multi-billion dollar value pre-IPO, which I imagined merging with Chez Franc gourmet hot dog stand on Cali Ave, the result of which would make even me blush, gag and wash my hands with liquid perfumed alcohol goo.
I think I posted on Palo Alto Weekly site something about the famous New Orleans based one-timed novel about hot dogs, because Chez Franc is in the former Know Knew Books site. I think here I am deliberately mis-reading “house” for “cheese” as in big money. it’s not foamy if you have to explain it. Speaking of hot link: P
and San Jose Mercury by Quinn, which is where I came in Michelle Quinn. Wow, Al Henning of Dartmouth and Palo Alto — I remember leaving him a voice mail about his letter to Council about utility rates — pisses all over Theranos as a post to Michelle on Elizabeth:
While I wish Ms Holmes and Theranos well, the experience of NanoInk offers an object lesson for what may occur in the market for medical diagnostics.
NanoInk was founded in 2002 based on dip pen nanolithography technology developed in the chemistry lab of Chad Mirkin from Northwestern. Lurie Investments of Chicago provided most of the funding. This investment firm, headed by Ann Lurie, generates monies used by the Lurie Foundation (also headed by Mrs Lurie) in its philanthropic endeavors, for instance for a children’s hospital and a cancer center. The Foundation and investment firm were created by Mrs Lurie and her husband Bob, as he approached his death in 1990 due to colon cancer. (Mr Lurie had been equal partner with well-known real estate investor Sam Zell.)
NanoInk had developed a 10-protein bio-assay diagnostic panel for inflammation response. Much less than a drop of blood was required to perform the assay. At the same time, sensitivity was dramatically improved, by at least several orders of magnitude, compared to conventional assays for inflammation response. LabCorp and NanoInk had reached tentative agreement to deploy this assay in LabCorp’s dried blood spot processing center in Florida, which performs hundreds of thousands of assays each day.
Regardless, NanoInk, through the efforts of the investment bank Lazard, was unable to capitalize/sell its technology during 2012, and as a consequence (along with other cash flow issues at Lurie Investments), NanoInk closed its doors suddenly in February 2013, and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in April 2013. The bankruptcy trustee attempted without success to market NanoInk’s IP. Most of it has reverted back to Northwestern, and it’s unclear whether another startup will emerge to commercialize the technology.
At its close, NanoInk employed nearly 100 people. The company spent a total of $150M over 10 years, while generating total sales of about $30M.
I have noted the new Theranos facilities on Page Mill Road in Palo Alto. While impressive, they seem profligate to me, given NanoInk’s experience: even a startup as well funded as Theranos needs every penny for operations and development, not for buildings. So, I hope Theranos is merely renting this space, and not wasting precious capital on a headquarters which awes but does not further the enterprise substantively.
He probably has a good take on Lisa Conte and Shaman Pharmaceuticals, which ran thru $90 Million, a lot of money at the time, trying to repeat in a lab what witch-doctors could do in the bush, so to speak. Caveat emptor.
In terms of Al Henning’s concern about profligacy in a fancy headquarters, I agree with him but for a different reason. I think it is very deliberate and calculated — with a track record — to continue the image that works just well enough for that $9 Billion initial public offering; I commented previous — vox clamantis style — about image-manipulation and “plays” for Survey Monkey and Go Daddy and even Grocery Outlet. How good we actually are at creating useful gadgets and cures, or creation of wealth, seems secondary to the fact that the finance business is really good at going from idea to payout to those in the know. Like Buddhists seeking for the reincarnations of their former teachers, the VC community is looking for that billion or ten-billion dollar bonus baby who is the second coming of Steve Jobs. Isn’ t it pretty to think so. The stuff of dreams. Yadda Yadda.
Another thing: Here is more on Nanoink, from Neil Kane in ChicagoBusinessInsider. I also, as is the nature of search engines, spent a few minutes futilely trying to figure how closely if at all the Chicago real estate and philanthropy Luries are to the San Francisco real estate, baseball and philanthropy Luries r. (Robert H. Lurie w. Bob Lurie). My payoff would have been, since this is a music blog, tying in to Bobby Lurie’s rock band, The Billy Nayer Show and their debut album, speaking of cheese franks, The Ketchup and Mustard Man. At best, Bobby Lurie the rock musician is Ann Lurie’s cousin; probably more like the fact that Steve Cohen the Plastic Alto regular, Steven J. Cohen is not and is not related to Steve Cohen the Wall Street cheat. I am fairly certain (only) that Bachelor Bob of BNS was almost Batboy Bob of the Giants. Steve Cohen is cousin to Howard Cosell however, it that helps.
Click here to get your miracle ticket for a Grateful Dead meet-up at Mountain View Century theaters, 7:30 show, a 1972 Germany concert film.
This is probably more fun that the typical Palo Alto Planning and Transportation Commission meeting, which reminds me: what was I thinking when I went to such a a meeting the night that Pablo Sandoval hit three homers in a World Series game?
Plastic Alto with Mark Weiss 