(ReCode says we can lift their art if we give credit. Thinks ReCode)
Duly noted.
edit to add: more to the point, Dan Ouellette and Bruce Lundvall have conspired to create a legacy project for Bruce, available here. “Playing by Ear”.
I got to this in a round-about way, in that I noted a little drawing of Don Was and clicked on it, on ReCode.
courtesy of reCode
In an astounding career spanning 48 years, Bruce Lundvall has been responsible for signing a wide array of artists, including Willie Nelson, Herbie Hancock, Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Dianne Reeves, Richard Marx, Natalie Cole, Cassandra Wilson, Anita Baker,and Norah Jones. In the words of Dave Koz, “Without Bruce Lundvall, there would be a huge gap in the history of popular music.”
Author Dan Ouellette will paint the portrait of one of the most notable figures in the record industry through an exciting series of interviews with Bruce himself. The project will feature exclusive interviews with some of the most important artists of the last 40 years. Selected items from Bruce’s archives will also be available for online viewing, a library so extensive and valuable that the Library Of Congress has requested it become a part of their permanent collection after this project is complete.
This project will be unique in that it will be a multi-media endeavor that will present the legendary career of Bruce Lundvall through video, audio, and images in addition to the written word.
Mere surmiser. Which is actually now post 658, or six-hundred-thirty-nine posts later perhaps better.
Terry Acebo Davis and Elizabeth Sullivan, in front of a Tara Donovan masterpiece, at Pace Gallery, Menlo Park, May, 2104
Although the reviewer for ReCode says that the Arrillagas, “the largest landowner in Silicon Valley”, own 300 El Camino, other sources say that it is owned by the University. Some of us still make that distinction, between Stanford (and, by extension, the legacy of Leland Stanford Junior) and Arrillaga (John, Jeff, Randy, Laura, Marc et al). As compared to Tim Draper, who is founding his own university, offering certificates of entrepreneurship or something, a few clicks up the Royal Highway in San Mateo. Draper who is a cousin to Nat Wolfe, who plays the most Teddy Francoesque character in the movie, playing across the street. Three Hundred El Camino was until 2005 Anderson Chevrolet, one of 277 outposts for AutoNation, and before that, what we old timers would know it as, Ely Chevrolet. The Elys, related by marriage at least to the Wilburs, who ran the University for years, circa 1920-1940. The gallery director Elizabeth Sullivan, who is from a very nice part of Long Island (and I’m partly bluffing here) said that the concept of having a popup Pace Gallery in Menlo Park was due to a relationship with “a very important collector”, Nellie Bowles of ReCode (covers the Valley), outed Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen as that person. It says that second generation Gallery owner Marc Glimcher had the insight that since Gagosian did so well enticing Hedge Fund guys (Leon Black types, if not Leon Black himself: how would I know?), Glimcher thought to target the Social Media and PayPal Mafia types; for instance, they successfully in two or three cases used Alexander Calder mobiles and stabiles as hooks to land the big fish, or so it is said, if not in those words. Mazel tov. The image works for me.
It is some kind of oddity that the gallery uses the body shop and mechanics bays, built out with white walls, rather than the showroom per se, even with the Stanford and Arrillaga and or Ely connections. On the other hand it is not that obvious that once the thing is built they are continuing to sell art for 60 to 90 days or more or just they are slow cleaning up the elaborate event of April 17 or what not. (Which reminds me to some extent of the recent private function fundraiser at City Hall Palo Alto that masqueraded for whatever perverse effect as a free public event regarding Martin Luther King: the One Percent are getting cleverer and cleverer at flaunting their advantages over we wee 99.9s. Not that we mind pressing our noses to their windows from time to time. Thanks for sharing).
Decorating the weathered chyochin, (Japanese lantern), hanging at the edge of the lanai, (porch), is the kanji for “harmony” (another rejected working title for this, “XIX. Mere surmise slurs: now twenty percent more surmisier” which is a review of an art show and a movie, plus memoir, plus query)
Which I guess means even more of a surmise than the previous time I thought those thoughts, which was about 3 years ago, slightly more. There’s a footnote (or what I used to call “self-commenting” ) about Rob Syrett coming with me to the post office the day a Laurel Nakadate poster arrived. I thought about taking some kind of revenge of Laurel by claiming, in Plastic Alto, that she had a cameo in the James Franco film, as the history teacher, the one who receives a term paper co-written by Val Kilmer as a meddling step-father, with references to “Alexander the Dubious” (which is actually a part for Janet Song). The joke would be that Laurel Nakadate would fancy herself frolicking with the soccer nymphs not as one of the “grums” (although Amy Sedaris gamely plays along, as the librarian; Laurel Nakadate probably hates being mentioned in same graph as Amy Sedaris).
I am meaning to pump out 150 to 1,500 kinder words about Tara Donovan, who has about $2,000,000 worth of work in Menlo Park, in a former auto dealership body shop. Tara Donovan who turned a very large box of drinking straws into a miraculous wall hanging slash sculpture (pictured above); If I had about $50 million in assets under management I would definitely invest $850,000,000 I mean $850,000 in a Tara Donovan, who after all is a MacFound genius.
Vasna Wilson, Drew Altizer Photography Paul Allen, Lucy Page, Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, Marc Glimcher molly glimcher wrote a book about oldenburg, elizabeth says. marc’s mother.
I met a Spanish lady named Paz (for “peace” not “piece” which you can almost get away with in an art gallery) who said that she is also a freelance conservator or preparator at Stanford’s museum, before breaking off our exchange somewhat definitively, as is appropriate for what her day rate must be. She, the gallery director and at least one of the two guards were moving handfuls of toothpicks from a pedestal to various boxes and containers, not unlike the famous “erased DeKoonig” that PACE actually showed a few years back but is in the SF Moma thanks to Mrs. Wattis (who most prefer to Ms. Wilsey, of the rival DeYoung, and the fact that anyone would confuse Wattis with Wilsey is like confusing Nakadate with the adults in “Palo Alto”).
I wanted to lead and even headline with:
Golly, Flip or his Ghost Author Wrote, what a Year of Random Bad Luck, 1965 which is an art reference if you think of motorcycles carving lines into the salt flats of Nevada, near Reno. All that is a Rachel Kushner reference. Rachel Kushner who I rank near Tara Donovan, probably ahead of Laurel Nakadate (of whom, don’t get me wrong, I am a fan, if afeared), slightly ahead of Paz from Spain (but who knows?), and Elizabeth Sullivan (the gallery director) — in my pantheon of Female Super Heroes. (The Flame Throwers, 2013, p. 23).
My problem with Laurel Nakadate is that if I ever met her or contacted her via email, like a fan letter or a query from a potential collector or patron or whatnot is that she, I fear, would immediately file me with her “marks”, the middle-age and out-of-her-league men on whom she prays. And to be clear, I am pretending to believe that Laurel Nakadate is Janet Song, from “Palo Alto” not to be further confused by Janet Fung, a character, like our “mere surmise sir” meresurmisers, Helen Hong, of Coen fame, not a Coppolater. And it took me a while to fathom that our poor Gia is the daughter of Gio Coppola, who died in a boating accident while she was in utero, which maybe explains a lot of this.
Janet Fung I mean Helen Hong
Janet Song
Reminds me that when Charlotte Gerstein and I heard Tom Robbins read or lecture, circa 1990 at Herbst Theatre in SF, a woman in the audience asked him how he could write so skillfully from a woman’s perspective (think Sissy Hankshaw, for one). Robbins who has a book out this week, a memoir, with a tiny bit about David Smith, I think, maybe Robert Smithson. I would love to read his art writings, if someone would compile them.
Reminds that I asked Tony May what he was doing in 1961 when Claes Oldenburg had his happenings in East Village. He said that he was a freshman in college, at Wisconsin, and didn’t start making or doing happenings until about 1965. (NB, Claes Oldenburg, Tony May and Yours Truly Mark Weiss share a birthday, January 28 — but I wasn’t happening at all, until 1964). Tony May Terry and I saw at Bill Gould’s art party. Bill Gould who is on a plane to Poland to install a piece of public art but not plop art called Maki which means “poppy” or so he thinks.
detail of a tony may
James Franco and Gia Coppola vehicle not to be confused with “Palo Alto” the movie by Bradley Leong (Paly ’04) and Tony Vallone or their website.
The person I link to, or gallery, in Lyons, Colorado, that sells “the cove” also sells work by Enrique Chagoya (who I note in yesterday’s Stanford Daily, that I read today, or the day after I posted the first version of this, is also curating a student show at Stanford), his wife Kara Maria (a piece called, fittingly “Hawaiian Punch” for $750), Luis Jiminez (of his famous blue mustang, I had seen or coveted before, which is $2,800). I have two copies of a Diego Romero print, not the Landfall one — maybe when my art budget really runs dry I could try to trade one for something like, note to self. John Yau wrote thusly about LN: You explore a more unstable terrain, always intent on making “a narrow escape,” the only option you see for yourself. Meanwhile, the middle aged, potbellied man is condemned to pirouette, again and again. It is his one true moment of beauty and tenderness recorded for posterity—you have given him his “narrow escape” and he knows it, as he does what he is told. LN, not at Pace here or in New York, except perhaps in spirit, according to Plastic Alto, and she is actually about 12 years younger than moi. And I only would stand being called “pot-shaped” if the speaker were Jody Naranjo or Autumn Borts-Medlock, although it is also true that I was recently taunted for my physique by a shapely and bikinied French new mom, I admit. Speaking of Kara Maria, I also noticed recently that she, Stephanie Syjuco and Stanford’s Xiaoze Xie were among the recent acquisitions on display at San Jose Museum. Stephanie Syjuco’s piece, about the anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge, is an installation piece that in some ways reminds me of Donovan.
I was also jonesing to ring Holualoa to ask Miho Morinoue about her edition of 20 lithograph that took her a year to draw, that features her cousin (we also met, this is in February, 2013) diving into a pond, and a lantern on the porch with kanji that say “harmony” — now that deserves it’s own post or domain, don’t it? And maybe $1,800. The cheapest thing in the PACE Menlo Park is not Jeff Koons (my bad guess — I chug) but Nara NameToKome 奈良美智(whose work we saw in Palm Springs and told Elizabeth so
Miho Morinouye of Holualoa Hawaii the big island above Kona, who is second or third generation artist, but also a dancer, and teaches or sets example at Donkey Mil center where Terry Acebo Davis dropped in to work, February, 2013
My friend the filmmaker/pathologist Dr. Brian Moore sent me, apropos of nothing, a quote attributed to Kojiro Tomita, a famous curator of Asian Arts at Boston’s MFA:
“It has been said that art is a tryst, for in the joy of it maker and beholder meet.” ~Kojiro Tomita
I wrote him back this terse not terribly clever slur:
I came I saw I concur
Meaning I agree with Mr. Tomita’s statement (which was new to me; HE was new to me) and I thought referencing the idea of going to a museum and seeing (or trysting, as the case may be); and referencing the famous “I came I saw I conquered”.
It reminded me, perhaps perversely, of the bit in Coen Brothers’ “A Serious Man” in which Gopnick accuses his student of cheating and the student replies “Mere surmise sir.” (its funny, at…
The Beautiful Game is 1) nickname for soccer, especially Brazilian soccer, 2) coined by Pele and served as title for his autobiography and 3) above, forming a hat trick of memes or tropes, the opening number of a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber taking place in Belfast about soccer loving people with other things on their mind, but the title is taken indeed from 1 and 2.
Beautiful game indeed (4)
also known as “The Boys in the Photograph”, by Ben Elton (I almost read as Elton John)
There’s a big buzz in certain parts of South Barron Park, a part of Palo Alto, a part of South Palo Alto that I have, in previous posts likened to the Vieux Carre (a poetic and sometimes metaphorically useful part of New Orleans, if New Orleans is to beignets and funky piano what Palo Alto is to billion dollar apps), for a new potential-billion-dollar-exit-strategy app, called World Cup Buzz. World Cup Buzz, which you can find on that Google Play Store, was previously known, pre-launch, as HeadCount and Pow-Wow-Wow, before it morphed into something that would be fun (and propitious) for the thousands of soccer fans attending next month’s (next weeks’, starting in 17 days) soccer championship finals in that South American nation, famous for “the beautiful game”. Is World Cup Buzz “the beautiful app”? How will we know? How soon will we now? Or, how far from being “the beautiful app” (which basically means, one that can be quickly developed, launched, buzz-worthy, a mass appeal, you know for kids, bundled, shopped, and sold to the highest bidder, a bonus baby, a billion-dollar-bouncing baby, with or without its rubber baby bumper or App-ri-ca stroller, like a wheel-barrow on the way to the the bank, laughing, or whistling ey-away-away-away, ole, ole) is “World Cup Buzz”? World Cup Buzz started as something that, for example, would tell you how long the line is at Izzy’s Bagel. If you were hungry for a bagel, and lived 10 minutes from Izzy’s — let’s say it’s 10 a.m. on a Sunday morning — and planned on playing soccer at noon in San Jose –let’s say you played on an 0ver 35 men’s team, like as a sweeper or stopper, you are good on defense, you have speed and instinct and a team spirit, you are a soccer dad and entrepreneur with a track record for high tech — it seems like all your days are either
That’s kinda weird that I confused “…eats his shoe” with “Burden of Dreams” even in a soccer-themed post
coding, playing soccer, or driving one of your two boys to their matches — you use Waze — Waze, in a way, is precedent for World Cup Buzz, as is, truthfully, and you are lying if you claim that for your baby, your app, it is not, as is WatsApp (the nineteen-X-billion dollar app) — and you happen to play on a team with a anomalistic preponderance of Azerbaijanis, whether or not you caught the result of the friendly at Candlestick, whether or not you, being only 30 minutes by bike from their training ground for 10 days, caught any of the U.S. team’s training at nearby World Class University and Wealth Incubator (Named for or Created For Sadly Too Soonly Departed Son of Wealth — were Leland and Jane the first Soccer Parents? — where was I? — oh, yeah, Sunday morning, tasting bagel and watching my time. With this app, World Cup Buzz, formerly known as HeadCount or Pow-wow-Wow! you can tell how many other users — WCBuzzers?? — are there, at Izzy’s, and re-calculate, if needs be, how to use your valuable time. Time is money, right? Buzz gives you the power to beat crowds or join them – anytime and anywhere, with ease. The app, once a sufficient number, a critical mass, of users are also playing along, Brazillian-style, quick passing, no long balls necessary, are also using it, will tell you whether it is a long wait or a short wait, relative to the week before or what you might expect, pre-World Cup Buzz (I hesitate to call it BWCB like B.C. — too soon to shorted the new meme to a shorter meme — meme v. trope — and I wonder, if this is the right place, how many gigs did Stipes and Mills perform as Rapid Eye Movement before fore-shortening or circumcisioning to REM, or is it R.E.M.? ) You can also post comments about the site, for the benefit of the other users of the app. The comments are anonymous and stay visible for two hours.
Buzz blends location data with anonymous messaging to help you find the action or avoid long waits.
So, because the founders of the potentially-billion dollar app (or next-billion-dollar-app) are soccer lovers, and because the Gods conspired to synchronize the development with the 20th World Cup, he pivoted (which is jargon, but also conjures, to me, Beckenbauer in 1974, or even Andrew Jacobson in Pac 10 final at Berkeley in 2004, Jacobson the FC Dallas footballer from, coinkydinky or not, this same part of South Barron Park Palo Alto) and okay this is admittedly kind of like British style, kicking long, he moved an set of domains from places to eat within 10 minute drives and 10-20 minute weights near South Barron Park, to South America Following the international sensation of questionable musical value that was the vuvuzela – the multi-coloured, two-foot long plastic horn that became such a hit with football fans at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa that they were subsequently banned – the caxirola has been unveiled as the aural stimulant of choice at next year’s tournament in Brazil.This time the instrument, which has been created in a collaboration between the Brazilian musician Carlinhos Brown and the country’s ministry of sports, has been carefully designed to sound considerably less grating.Unlike the vuvuzela, which has historical cultural significance in South Africa, the caxirola has been designed especially for use in stadiums.A yellow and green percussion instrument, it makes a rattling sound when shaken, not dissimilar to the South American “rainstick”. (That’s from New Zealand Herald website, which somehow pops up via the search engines when you type in “world cup buzz” BEFORE this app; years from now we will be laughing about it and say “you know, there was a time when the New Zealand Herald article on caxirola versus zuzuvela would pop up before…” this). Another way to think about it is that World Cup Buzz, the app, seeks to be as popular as vuvuzela, it seeks to make noise, in a sense, like a buzz, but not be annoying. Maybe it wants to be like caxirola, assuming caxirola, actually pans out, becomes a phenomenon, there is money in it, and is not just hype. Too soon to tell for caxirola. Although we are counting on World Cup Buzz. Caxirola, relative to vuvuzela has the potential to be World Cup Buzz of in-stadium -analog- noise -making-devices, or ISANMDs. And not to confuse the tech-savvy, sports fan but: wonder if Smule has a caxirola–simulator, a digital-caxirola? (It’s a bell). World Cup Buzz has domains set up for each of the 12 stadiums that comprise the World Cup. Coincidentally, or not, I have fond memory of U.S. -Brazil at Stanford Stadium in 1994, with my Mom and Dad. I think we walked from Cali Ave. The stadiums are:
and Estadio do Maracana, in Rio Di Janeiro which hosts the final match, July 13, and was also where in 1950, prior to a recent facelift, and before there was World Cup Buzz, the App, Brazil beat Uruguay in an exciting final.
miraculously lifted from getty images and telegraph.uk
And this is probably a wee bit out of bound, even by Plastic Alto standards, which, after all, is a music blog, but I recently caught a tribute to Vince Guaraldi (“Linus and Lucy”) in which the musician explained that the famous Brazilian jazz guitarist Bola Sete was named for billiards (the auto-speller, especially here in Silicon Valley, and S0uth Barron Park South Palo Alto, wants to change “billiards” to “billions” and who could blame her?); in Brazil, and I believe this, the black ball is a 7, not an 8; i.e. an “eight ball” is a “seven ball”; the jazz guitarist was black. I should at least link in (but not, never, Linked In — I have a wordpress blog but otherwise do not engage in social media, and rarely refer to brands by name) if not embed a piece by him. I’m also flashing, because that’s how I roll, my synapses, to a Cape Verdean singer I met, friend of Larry Dunlap, who loves soccer and when I first attempted small-talk with him — and this was before the definitive book on small talk by Rob Baedeker and Chris Colin — I guessed “soccer” naturally — Cape Verde is a small island off of Africa that, like Brazil, is a former Portuguese colony — he pointed out that Eusebio once out-played Pele. I will come back later with his actual name and maybe a little blurb about the cite: although it was a European Club match perhaps not World Cup. I have watched parts of every World Cup since 1990, or avidly since 1990 when I lived in North Beach, San Francisco and would choose my pub based on the game; this was before World Cup Buzz, of course. This time I would have to say I am as excited by the launch of this App, World Cup Buzz as I am for the tournament itself. And I am not being paid to say this, although as a matter of disclosure it is true, to say the least, that I am often invited to join the founder at his home, for example, for well-grilled high-end meat products, like sausages or hot dogs and yes, the occasional choice cut of grilled meat. footie (I was waiting to say that, inside or instep joke): * when I wrote Manaus I made a mental note and am now letting loose of the fingers — which would draw a yellow card in soccer but is okay, so far, in the blogosphere, although I heard that someday the NSA will be able to tell if we are typing with our fingers or typing with our toes and may restrict use of fingers, some people will be forced for arbitrary reasons to only type with their toes — to mention, in a Plastic Alto joint coverage of tech and soccer summits — WORLD CUP BUZZ, the app — WORLD CUP BUZZ, The app — this is a good time to remember Les Blank, traveling to not Brazil but Peru with Werner Herzog, as documented in “Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe” and “Fitzcaraldo”; surely getting from a dozen users all related by blood or marriage to a couple million users, the next thousand or so related by soccer is easier than building a replica of a ship and hiring actual Indians to haul it across the isthmus? (if you can both grant me poetic license and in your mind at least picture as a form of substitution, which is limited to two per match for FIFA but virtually unlimited in the internet, to speak of Peru as if they were Brazil: don’t get me wrong, World Cup Buzz works in Peru as well). If you are a “Plastic Alto” subscriber / follower and are reading an early edition of this post with only about 1,633 words you can listen for about five minutes to Bola Sete and Vince Guaraldi here, while you wait for me to add the links to the other 9 stadiums. But also check back for other colorful links, not necessarily designed to create interest in World Cup Buzz, The App: World Cup Buzz, The App is as of this writing for android only although rumor has it that a highly placed member of the federation is secretly working on an IOS version. The term “android” incidentally is licensed for all of our use by George Lucas; he makes some money every time we say “android” even in Plastic Alto, although, did I mention I am not being paid to do all this? Tikkun Olam could also be seen as imaging the Buckminster Fuller soccer ball in a world with apparently a lack of glue, or thread and needle and we or people like me — I know I ‘m not alone — are trying to put the ball together, so that kids can play, and not fight over the lack of a ball. That’s my only motivation. (The Buckminster soccer ball is probably the most iconic soccer ball design throughout history. Originally created by Richard Buckminster Fuller, the Buckminster soccer ball design consisted of a series of 20 hexagonal and 12 pentagonal surfaces sewn together to make a nearly perfect sphere. Alternation of black and white panels helped players discern any movement in the balls trajectory. from this). By the way, Pele, and this occurred to me watching the Bola Sete video, is a contraction of his previous nickname “Perola Negra” (Black Pearl); his real name is Eduardo Something. Another thing, World Cup Buzz, The App is not “ambush marketing” or an unauthorized use of a trademark or someone else’s intellectual property — I’m not speaking for the owners or creators of the software, like I said above I just happen to root for them and am a longtime Silicon Valley insider and retired advertising executive and English major who follows these things. I think their tack is that they are commenting on the tournament so it’s fair use, they are not claiming to be the “(Valueable Trademark) of Apps” or something. If anything, developing a billion-dollar piece of software that enables soccer fans and makes the world a better place for soccer fans only enhances the value of FIFA’s World Cup, which features $1.4 billion in corporate sponsorship in 2014 event. And even better, after this FREE software enhances the spectator experience for thousands of FIFA customers, it will help soccer dads and weekend warriors time their visit to Izzy’s Bagels, or House of Bagels, or decide Izzy’s versus House of Bagels and all that. It’s a win-win-win-win-win to an infinite progression, perhaps also helping find the Riemann Primes on the zeta landscape. There’s absolutely no downside to World Cup Buzz The App reaching its goal of 19 billion users. What’s good for World Cup Buzz The Ap is good for you, dear reader. And another thing, game or not, a billion dollar, I mean, ahem, nineteen billion dollar idea or not, one thing that if you are of a certain age, like you can identify “Max McGee” and maybe know that “Richard Kimball” is “The Fugitive” it is simple enough fun and a challenge to, even if we don’t get thru, try to memorize the names and locations of all 12 Brazilian arenas and stadiums, and for bonus points where they are roughly on the map, relative to Cristo Redentor, and see if you can still do that in five years. Whether or not you, in 2019, have saved those 12 sights and domains on your World Cup Buzz. edit to add: I’m picturing an edit to add, an illustration, of a soccer jersey with the name SoLoMo on the back, as the player’s name. Also, something about the fact that World Cup Buzz, The app users can also comment on the various “kits” (uniforms) worn by the respective teams, while at the games or they (and we) can cheat and check it out here on the internet, thanks to Telegraph. Related: FIFA World Cup’s social media strategy, known as Global Stadium.
The more widely Buzz is used, the better Buzz becomes for everyone.
edit to add, 10:15 the next morning, Saturday or Shabbat:
2.
“Do you live with your daughters?”, I asked Maria; it was a stab in the dark and wishful thinking but sometimes I do have an uncanny knack for pulling facts out of the aether.
“No, I have no children”, Maria said.
Maria is an 81-year-old Mountain View resident, since 1968 and had flagged me down to get directions. She is heading to the Seventh Day Adventist in East Palo Alto. She is a congregant of the Mountain View chapter. I called the number someone had written down for her but there was no answer.
“They have already started,” she explained.
I estimated that she was about five miles from the church. It is on Beech Street, (at least, according to those directions), but I am not sure where that is. (I have lived in the area on and off since 1974, but rarely visit our neighboring community to the east, especially not on Shabbat).
Maria offered the fact (and I believe her, have no reason to doubt) that she was married once, briefly, but broke it off because “he wanted someone to Mommy him, and I wanted to be an independent woman.” I said “I can imagine” or maybe only “I can believe that.”
I apologized in advance but asked her if she would consider going home and trying to find the East Palo Alto church on another day, perhaps with a navigator. I couldn’t think of the word for “navigator” and as I stammered she said “I don’t like GPS.” She had revealed earlier that she had no cell phone either.
I could not think of what else I could do to help her but after she left I doubled back to see if she had pulled over again. In those few minutes I was pondering the fact that I could offer to drive her back to Mountain View and then take the train back to University Avenue.
I said “God bless”, shook her hand, and that I had enjoyed meeting her. Before that we traded what passes for my basic exchange of thoughts about Brazil; I said, referencing the above, that I had been trying to learn the names of the 12 stadiums.
“There’s one in the Amazon,” she offered.
“Manaus” we both said, semi-in-synch.
I thought about making this it’s own post, maybe “God as My Co-Pilot” but opted to addend (or “edita”) the 2,500 words from yesterday.
The U.S. tangles (tangoes?) with Portugal on June 22 in Manaus, in Group G action.
3.
As the technology improves, as more users add more buzz to World Cup Buzz, The App, we may soon get real-time info (comments) about how crowded this or that gate or cage is:
If your intended place, your goal, is too crowded, you may be able, with World Cup Buzz, to reboot and reroute to a location easier to access, per your unique needs
4. If mentions of Les Blank and Werner Herzog are not gratuitous enough, when I say “eats his shoe” above I am thinking of Errol Morris. There is always room for an Errol Morris reference in Plastic Alto; he looms over everything here like Cristo Redentor, a Colossus of oblique reference. When Errol Morris was merely talking about making his first film, “Gates of Heaven”, about the Cupertino pet cemetery soon to be relocating to Napa, and not making it per se — and remember, there were no blogs in those days, which legitimize all this talking about but not actually doing, even Chomsky would agree — Werner Herzog said, within ear shot of Les Blank — maybe they were all at Peets, the original Peets, in North Berkeley, and the “ear shot” was actually a “spit-take” — “if that guy finishes that film I will eat my shoe”. And the rest is history. Anyhow, Steve Cohen, who is a leading character in Plastic Alto and actually exists, or a factual version of the fictional character – He’s like the Dr. Gonzo of Plastic Alto — Steve Cohen told me yesterday via cellphones (and not Cohome, as I used to have it programmed) that he saw an enhanced re-issue of “A Brief History Of Time” with bonus material in which Errol Morris claims that rather than shooting on location they shot in a studio that featured reproductions of the various mundane settings, homes and offices of all the principal characters, Steve Hawking and his friends and family. Which I guess is kinda analogous to the suites and domains we can create via coding half a world away from the actual Estadios Beira-Rios and Das Dunas. I mean, yes, our goal is that in these 7 weeks, by halftime of the final match (I’m guessing Brazil v. Italia), there will be enough World Cup Buzz The App users that we here at wCBTA HQ in Palo Alto, watching on tv, can tell when someone makes a comment — “let’s do the wave” — and actually impact the game, but it will also be fun, even if we are short of 20,000 users in Brazil, for us in Palo Alto to feel we are there, to have created this imaginary-to-virtual presence via the miracle that is this technology. Stay tuned to see if we have iOS on line by then. Time by the way is getting briefer every minute.
Palo Alto’s Architectural Review Board unanimously approved Thursday morning (May 1, 2014) a giant green illuminated sign for the new giant building at the corner of Lytton and Alma.
The building is already controversial because of its size and its use of Planned Community (PC) zoning, a device by which developers push thru overly dense building and what most people (but not so-called leadership) would call up-zoning or changes to the established zoning, in exchange for purported “public benefits”.
So now the tenant, a privately held tech widget with a cutesy name and a ton of juice behind it in financial backers, wants an overly large and who are we to deny that? Which reminds of the joke about the 800 pound gorilla.
I am not sure if the giant green illuminated sign points North, South, East or West. I admit, although I’ve lived here on and off for 40 years, I forget which way, officially is West: I think of Menlo Park and San Francisco as North, but sometimes the maps declare things East that I think of as North.
In the case of 101 Lytton or Lytton Gateway (which is actually on Alma — see what I mean?), my question would be: does the giant illuminated sign face the residents of Palo Alto, in University North Neighborhood (what I would call the North and West sides of the building, compared to the South and East sides, which to my reckoning face office space and the train station)?
And because I am an English major I immediately thought of The Great Gatsby and the green light of west Chop, although I haven’t thought thru why exactly — close enough for the blogosphere and “Plastic Alto”.
My main point is: the giant illuminated signs to be installed at the giant new building face: Wall Street.
That is, despite whatever might have been said at the brief public hearing, by our commissioners, staff and the applicants (the developer and his minions, close to a dozen on this Thursday morning), the signs do not help pedestrians find their way. How many times can someone get lost looking for the corner of Alma and Lytton, and that giant oversized building?
No, the idea is to build up brand name for the privately held company, soon to go IPO.
By the way, a secondary tenant of the building is a “third-wave” coffee company, based in the Bay Area, also playing the IPO game – and who knows how many investors are in both projects. And as someone self-employed, office in home, who spends much of his days surfing our better coffee houses, I am pretty psyched about the new coffee house. (This missive would be twice as sardonic if not for that fact).
I felt the same thing about the giant and non-conforming sign at the Grocery Outlet on Alma: the company is actually pretty savvy and in my opinion is only running a Palo Alto store as a short-term loss-leader but they want that giant signage to market direct to the handful of venture capitalists who may drive by, shuttling their kids to soccer matches up and down the Peninsula.
Kara Swisher recently reported on the convoluted funding mechanism that our green light is apparently crucial to:
SurveyMonkey has raised a massive $800 million in debt and additional equity funding, which it plans to distribute in a tender offer, said sources with knowledge of the situation.
It is one of the largest private capital raises for an Internet company.
The move is being done to allow employees and early investors to cash out of the Palo Alto, Calif., online polling company, since it does not have current plans to go public.
That will presumably occur, though, with this financing valuing the under-the-radar SurveyMonkey at $1.3 billion, sources added.
About $450 million of the total will be from new investments from a number of key investors, including CEO Dave Goldberg and Tiger Global Management.
But one new investor is an interesting one — Google — and not through its Google Ventures arm. Instead, it is via a new investing vehicle that has been created at the search giant that is focusing on late-stage companies — like SurveyMonkey — which have a proven business model.
In fact, the company is profitable and has been funding its operations and expansion from current revenue.
But there was a feeling that early investors — such as Bain Capital and Spectrum Equity, as well as early employees, including its original founder — should be rewarded, since there is not an IPO in the near future.
That said, Spectrum, which bought the company in 2009 and brought the well-regarded Silicon Valley entrepreneur Goldberg in as CEO, will retain a large stake in the recapitalization.
I noticed you once or twice on University Ave in Palo Alto; actually, I saw you once only, driving past, and circled again to catch another glimpse. If I had ever seen you while on foot I would have stopped and watched and then chatted you up. I have met probably 50 street musicians this way.
I have a study of buskers, called “ICOBOPA”. I’ve also spoken at public hearings about the importance of street music.
This person, Gabi Holzwarth of Redwood City, was profiled by Nellie Bowles for ReCode, Nellie Bowles who also wrote about Pace Gallery Popup in Menlo Park (which I am writing about).
I still think the recent Palo Alto ordinance prohibiting amplifiers at Lytton Plaza is unconstitutional and am busking so to speak for a plaintiff to challenge the policy. I actually sent a little note about this to Bob Lefsetz, in response to something he wrote about the One Percent.
I was also recently back and forth with Jerry Hanan about doing some street music here.
Gabi Holzwarth by Asa Mathat for ReCode
Jonah Matranga at Lytton Plaza, Election Day, 2012
T-Rosemond Jolisant at Fete De La Musique Palo Alto, 2012
This is actually me, Mark Weiss, performing as Beat Hotel Rm 32, with Tommy Jordan (who took this), Dave Hydie, that guy with the custom painted congas, and Buttons, Dec. 2011
I met Maya Angelou twice; first, at the Clinton Inauguration, Brian Gaul and I stood among about 10,000 others, several hundred yards from the action, “marked the mastodon” creeping through our eardrums, penetrating our senses after a while.
The second time my then girlfriend and I discovered her at the bar of the Four Seasons in Philadelphia (at 18th and Benjamin Franklin Parkway) and we chatted her up only long enough to express our respect; maybe I said, like I am doing here, I claimed, that I was there “On the Pulse of Morning.”
Apropos of the news that former BGP partner David Mayeri is opening a non-profit music venue in Berkeley, re-purposing the former UC Theatre (flagship of Gary Meyer’s Landmark chain), I am re-posting this letter I wrote to City Council about The Varsity Theatre in Palo Alto (current home to Samsung offices and an empty first floor).
“Turning on the lights of the new UC Theatre will broaden the music scene and appeal of the Downtown arts district for a more youthful audience, beautifully renovate a grand old lady of a theater, and revitalize a key stretch of University Avenue that serves as a gateway to Downtown and UC Berkeley,” said John Caner, CEO of the Downtown Berkeley Association.
My understanding is that the only person on the list below who toured the Palo Alto facility was Danny Scher. Steve Baker of Freight and Salvage had made a plan to meet me at 456 but called back that day to cancel on account of his son being injured in a youth soccer match. My impression is that Karen Holman was the only member of Council to actually check with Tom Ferhrenbach about this concept , the record shows. Steve Emslie, who is now both drawing a pension from the tax payers as a retired City Official AND earning fees as a lobbyist for the developers, told the Post shortly after reading this document that a theatre in downtown Palo Alto was a non-starter. Interestingly, around that time John Arrillaga or his people came to the City with grand plans to build at 27 University and took the City’s suggestion to add a theatre to that plan (for Theatreworks).
Running into the various dramatic personae of this saga, as I did today, makes me wonder about it all again. I was greeted by James Keene, as he and Claudia Keith crossed Hamilton at Emerson, and then noted Steve Emslie with developer Jim Baer huddled at Coupa, and greeted by two other people on our payroll.
It would be in the public interest if Council strived to avoid the appearance of a two-track governance, for the elite and the commoners (letter to Council, August, 2011)
Keene, James
Aug 1, 2011
To
Grider, Donna
mark weiss
Fehrenbach, Thomas
Emslie, Steve
thanksJames Keene
City Manager
City of Palo Alto
250 Hamilton Avenue
Palo Alto, California 94301
650.329.2563
James.Keene@cityofpaloalto.org—–Original Message—–
From: Grider, Donna
Sent: Monday, August 01, 2011 8:41 AM
To: mark weiss; Keene, James
Cc: Fehrenbach, Thomas; Emslie, Steve
Subject: RE: letter to council re 456 UniversityMark:I see that you have subsequently sent this to Council. I am also forwarding to the City Manager.Donna J. Grider, MMC
City Clerk
City of Palo Alto
650-329-2226ü*Think Before You Print!*—–Original Message—–
From: mark weiss [mailto:earwopa@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, August 01, 2011 7:56 AM
To: Grider, Donna
Cc: Espinosa, Sid; Scharff, Greg; Gail Price; Holman, Karen
Subject: letter to council re 456 UniversityI am writing you to ask our elected representative government, our Mayor Sid Espinosa and eight additional City Council members, to intervene in the matter between the landlord/manager of 456 University Avenue and his prospective future tenant, at the Varsity Theater, in the wake of the failure of Borders national chain Books there. On these five grounds:1) The venue could be a future site (as it was from 1927 to 1994, for more than sixty years) for a public hall, for entertainment, for a marketplace of ideas, for live music concerts, for live theatre, for lectures, for government outreach, for film programming and high technology showcasing, for up to 900 people at a time; this use is a rare thing, an essential thing for a Democracy, great for local economy (see Richard Florida, “The Creative Class”) and consistent with our articulated values about “civic engagement.”2) When Council in 1996 voted to give landlord a variance to permit conversion from Theatre to retail, it was very specifically and popularly asked to only do so if the Theatre could be converted back; short of a literal covenant, the popular conception is that in the event of the failure of the national chain bookseller, the citizens (at that point 8,000 had signed a petition) would have a fair chance to present a proposal. Also, and former Mayor Gary Fazzino reminded me of this recently, the engineering done in 1996 very specifically was done so as to ease the reversion back to a Theatre or public hall use. (The website of Meserve Engineering of San Jose confirms this and has useful photos).3) Our elected council should perhaps atypically take the initiative here in terms of directing or engaging with applicant in that he is generally perceived to be the most powerful land-owner in town, or one of “the Big Three”, endorsed eight or nine of the campaigns of the current Council; it would be in the public interest if Council strived to avoid the appearance of a two-track governance, for the elite and the commoners. Indeed, it looks like the three local papers have something of an embargo on this story, of the community interest in The Varsity Theatre. Also on Friday, July 29 a deputy city manager seemed to be making prejudicial, premature and biased comments on this issue, or words were attributed to him, that this proposal – the Varsity Theatre — was a non-starter (“that a theater wasn’t really a viable option”????). Also, given the historic value of this building, staff should be instructed to be thorough, diligent and error-free in its writings, research and reports on this topic (perhaps especially to refute the notion that the very powerful can somehow hermetically influence staff utterances); perhaps any application for permits at 456 University, in this context, could be grounds for calling a public hearing;4) In terms of the value of a proposed or potential Varsity Theatre, perhaps offering, via a qualified nationally-known commercial operator, by a non-profit or an ad hoc and to be formed new NGO, or by government, beyond the economic value to local restaurants, hotels, impulse-buy shops and perhaps CalTrain, one specific social value near to my heart would be its impact or synergy with Project Safety Net. I believe, especially in the context of the demise of our downtown teen center, and the closing of the public hall during the work on the Art Center, that there could be concerts specifically to raise funds or consciousness about teen suicide. In 1998, for example, I hosted and produced just such an event at Cubberley featuring a band called Pansy Division, who were famous as a clearinghouse for such information. More recently, I have been in contact with Kristin Hersh, who played Cubberley, was nominated for a Twilight Series show, and has spoken publicly about the suicide of her friend the musician Vic Chesnutt. Also, I thought of Judy Collins, who wrote a book about depression, and thought to contact her, regarding a potential concert here, via her associate my friends at Grassy Knoll management and label, Julia Reinhart. Joan Baez and Dar Williams are also well known, sympathetic, and have local ties.5) I think staff or council should be in contact with potential operators of a venue, who could also offer insight, encouragement and information should it come down to deciding that a local newly-forming operator is the best viable new tenant. People I have, since July 20, spoken to include: Jason Olaine, Gunn graduate, and manager of Yoshi’s San Francisco; Gary Meyer, founder of Landmark films; David Lefkowitz, manager of the Warfield Theatre, for Goldenvoice; the office of Alex Hodges, of Nederlander of Los Angeles, operators of San Jose Civic; Brad Kava, music writer, artist, and partner in Santa Cruz Blues Festival; Stuart Brewster, of Palo Alto Jazz Alliance; Steve Baker, manager, Freight and Salvage, of Berkeley (a $20 million dollar project that Palo Alto City manager Jim Keene told me recently he had a great familiarity with); Chris Cuevas, artist manager and founder of Wanderlust music and yoga festival; and Roger McNamee, artist, venture capitalist and investor in Slims/Great American. Also, I think we should contact Lee Smith, Michael Bailey and or Rick Mueller of Live Nation, who operate Shoreline, Mountain Winery and the Fillmore; Greg Perloff of Another Planet, who runs Fox Theatre in Oakland; Danny Scher, a Paly graduate, former president of Bill Graham Presents in San Francisco, principal of Dansun Productions in Berkely, who I believe consulted with his schoolmate Gary Fazzino on this matter in 1996; and Dawn Holliday, of Great American Music Hall, Slims and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass free festival. I have a list of more than 40 such potential sources on this matter, many I have dealt with personally. (I said to council on July 25 that I would on a pro bono basis help staff research and write a white paper on this important and timely matter. I am hereby repeating the offer and advocating that something like should be done, or asking).While I know that many feel that government should not intervene with property rights and the free market, I think there are certain cases where we are compelled to act, and this case, of the matter of 456 University and the Varsity Theatre qualifies and merits it. I think, as keeping with the lore of social media, perhaps the crowd-sourcing and hive-sourcing, and wiki- , would yield a better solution than otherwise would be arrived at by the savvy and successful individual. There could be a win-win that generations of Palo Altans (and regional supporters) would laud your efforts and the efforts of the landlord here. It could be all of our legacy to act here and now on this matter. Many people here feel that the numbers 456 for further auspice are a lucky combination; I realize I am asking for something quite difficult to achieve or hope for.Perhaps we could put funds forward to get a 60-day window for first right of refusal, to research these ideas.Thanks and advance for whatever you can do.Mark WeissPalo Alto residentFollowing music w. government since 1978 when, as an 8th grade rep to Terman Site council I was amazed to hear Led Zeppelin played over Cubberley High p.a. while en route to a district-wide school-hours meeting
Another note is that Dinklespiel apropos of Mayeri reports that Warren Hellman, the financial backer of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival (I note indirectly above), is also one of the funders for the UC Theatre plan. Jim Keene was City Manager of Berkeley when Freight and Salvage rebuilt Downtown, which is one of the reasons he gave my proposal even this much credence.
Two pretty random A&R notes, Vienna Teng new cd and single “Level Up” video and Dan Bern, from Jonathan Demme’s documentary about Jimmy Carter, “Ballad of Jimmy Carter”.
I also spied something about Greil Marcus talking about “The Manchurian Candidate” he first saw at Varsity Theatre in 1962.
I remember first seeing it, alone, when it came out in the fall of 1962, at the Varsity Theatre in Palo Alto, an old-fashioned Moorish wonderland of a movie palace.
Whatever thoughts connected these three points in space, and filled a couple hours surfing around the internet, I cannot begin to recount here.
I was thinking about a “Palo Alto Serf Music” event, my new pet name for the street music event here next month that I am typicalyl hating-on.
Vienna Teng played The Varsity when it was a Borders, and she was doing a free in-store. Dan Bern used to play, probably twice, the house concert series on Amaranta Way in Barron Park, produced by Ray Sliter.
Bonus track:
Here is a Jimmy Carter jingle, from 1976; I distinctly remember seeing this in 1992 at the Carter Library in Atlanta, with my dad and my former roommate Scott Rafshoon, who sang along…
Medeski Martin Wood
7-29-96
Cubberly Community Center (Max capacity 330, I’d say about 100 people that night*)
Palo Alto, CA
This is a great-sounding AUD recording of a very nice show.
Source: (Mikey Perrott) Schoeps CMC6 + MK4
Genealogy: Master DAT > DAT clone > My DAT clone
Transfer, track, and upload on 10/18/00
(Jeff Ishaq jishaq@earthlink.net) Fostex D5 > WaveTerminal 2496 > CDWave > SHN 3.x
One set only [121 minutes]
Disc One: [60:12]
01. [12:54] Chinoiserie
02. [13:53] Lifeblood
03. [06:27] Is There Anybody Here That Loves My Jesus
04. [03:46] Macha ->
05. [07:14] Caravan ->
06. [05:07] Wiggly’s Way
07. [10:51] Henduck >
Disc Two: [61:13]
01. [08:52] Jelly Belly ->
02. [06:04] Drum Solo
03. [06:27] Night Marchers >
04. [07:00] Dracula >
05. [05:28] Bass Solo
06. [10:52] Chubb Sub
07. [16:30] Moti Mo
Flaws: d1t14 14:25.7 -> 14:26.5 diginoise zap. This is apparently in the master, unfortunately, probably due to the fact that
this show JUST BARELY fits on a 60M dat (121 minutes long), and the zap occurs in the ‘danger zone’ of a 120-minute DAT.
-Jeff 10/18/00 Burlington, VT
*The show sold-thru and in fact we started a waiting list in the unlikely event that people who had ordered advance tickets did not show up; that is to say, we turned away about 40 people. So there were at least 300 in the theatre (although it is also true that a volunteer allegedly was letting people in thru a side door, and when we settled with the band we only paid them for 300 sellout). (Ed. note: I actually think this is where Eric Hanson and I first met: he said “Tell me for real, is there much chance of getting into the show of this list?” And I told him: not much; it was Kevin “Santana” from Groovesmith who told me which doorman was letting people in thru the side door).
The other funny thing is that AFI had played the night before and we had chargebacks for damage to the seats, and the staff people, for the City of Palo Alto not our own staff, were very wary of further damage, so at one point they turned on the house lights and tried to instruct our ushers to tell the MMW fans to dance closer to their seats, and not rush the stage, and the band played on although I swear I recall John Medeski playing some weird sounds on his organ to mimic and mock the staff, sort of like how the teachers sound in the Charlie Brown tv shows.
I have a cassette of this, maybe by the same people who post here, but I’d like it if someone could pass me this file. Mark Weiss Earthwise Productions of Palo Alto producer of the show
And this is MMW from 10 weeks prior, at Liberty Lunch in Austin:
And this is Jim The Critic for the Weekly previewing the show:
Free-form trio Medeski, Martin and Wood plays Shoreline one night and Cubberley the next
by Jim Harrington
Chris Wood doesn’t quite understand why his New York-based jazz trio Medeski, Martin and Wood has been so eagerly adopted by some of the same fans who once flocked to Grateful Dead shows to spin like tops in musical ecstasy.
He may not understand, but he also doesn’t mind.
“It’s great because we are having a lot of people come out to our shows,” Wood reasoned during a recent telephone interview from a tour stop at Colorado’s Red Rocks.
Fans of jam-based rock, popularized by the likes of Blues Traveler and Dave Matthews, and free-form jazz should check out Medeski, Martin and Wood (MMW), and find out for themselves why the band’s fan base has broadened. The trio plays an Earthwise Productions show at the Cubberley Community Center on July 29. The day before, the band also plays on the second stage of the H.O.R.D.E. (Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere) festival at Mountain View’s Shoreline Amphitheatre.
As their latest disc, “Friday Afternoon In The Universe,” shows, the band specializes in an improvisational style of very loose jazz. Keyboardist John Medeski produces thick grooves through the use of his big-sounding Hammond B3 (as well as other organs). He edges the band toward chaos at one moment and then sharply leads the trio back into a melodic swing that might remind one of a day, long ago, spent skating at a local roller rink.
Keeping with the anything-can-happen theme, bassist Wood and drummer Billy Martin provide a sometimes unsteady foundation for Medeski’s keyboard plowing. The music seems to flow and ebb with Medeski’s organ work. But Wood and Martin are not the focal points, except on occasional solo shouts.
The band hooked up in the late ’80s, when Medeski and Wood decided to try jamming with Martin.
“We decided to just go for it, and see what would happen if we added (Martin) to the mix,” Wood recalled. “It was pretty instant. We knew it was a good thing.”
Their record company calls MMW an “alterna-jazz” trio–a term that Wood is less than thrilled with.
“It’s about as bad as any possible label that you can give us,” he said.
Plastic Alto with Mark Weiss 
