I would drop football before I’d pay the players

Posted on June 23, 2021 by markweiss86
I disagree with Denny Freidenrich, who lauds the Supreme Court decision on paying NCAA athletes. If i were a college President I’d recommend dropping football entirely before having professional athletes represent the school and displacing students athletes. Denny’s brother was chair of the Stanford board and chair of their most successful capital campaign. I recommended “Freidenrich” as the name for what is now Greene Middle School.
I don’t see the rules change as paying Jim Plunkett for value created I see it displacing him for someone more mercenary

Plunkett was already famous as a high school player

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Rich Outzen ‘89, from Aragon to Antalya

Posted on June 23, 2021 by markweiss86

Rich Outzen ‘89 is a retired colonel in the US Army and a language scholar and diplomat. At Dartmouth he was a lineman on the football team and a reporter for The Dartmouth; he used my notes to finish my story on the 15th reunion of the 1970 team, Lambert Trophy winners — I had interviewed Murry Bowden and Willie Bogan by phone but overdosed on tricyclics and was renditioned to Dick’s House to sleep it off like it was so much Rapier Punch.

Outzen was the star of Brian Moore’s documentary about ROTC “Army Green”.

Might be fun to update “Army Green” 36 years later, 18 up.

I wonder what Outzen would make of Hakan Sukur’s cafe on Bryant Street in Palo Alto;

I’d love to get him on a panel with Michael McFaul.

What does Rich Outzen think — or tweet — about the January 6 events?


Outzen attended Aragon of San Mateo whose alumni include musicians Pegi Young and Neal Schon, comic book Superhero creator Darick Robertson and filmmaker Brad Lewis (Ratatouille). 

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Los Panaderos demo of Cake’s ‘Mexico’ with two-voice-harmony and jawbone

Posted on June 22, 2021 by markweiss86

I met Sharon Benitez and her sister Tanya Benitez Sunday busking on University Avenue, near Oren’s Hummus. They peform in a grupo called Los Panaderos (The Bread-makers) and also teach folkloric dance to children under the name Quetzal.
They were here as part of the World Music Day/World Music Month activities that are sponsored by Palo Alto Recreation Foundation and City of Palo Alto (our version of Fete De La Music / Make Music Palo Alto / World-Wide Music Day, held ten times on Father’s Day since 2009, when I was on the committee with Claude Ezran).
I saw Los Panaderos doing a traditional version of “La Bamba” which people (Anglos) know from Richie Valens, Los Lobos and a movie also called “La Bamba”.
They had a platform for Mexican clog dancing, which got hacked by some Asian guys who were also B-Boys – I got a bit of that on film.
Sharon has a degree in ethnomusicology from Santa Clara University and a budding career as an artist/educator/activist and producer.
I sent this tape to Tommy Manzi who manages Cake and to Bruce Solar, their agent.
Cake played twice in my Cubberley Sessions, back in the day — I mean fall, 1995 and summer, 1996. They almost played here about 10 years ago, a benefit for solar power — not their agent, the thing from which we all derive our power.
I would love to have Los Panaderos record “Mexico” by John McCrea and Cake for my Lions With Wings Bandcamp label.
Meanwhile, you can catch Los Panaderos again Saturday, June 26 — this Saturday — from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on University, maybe near Oren’s or maybe near Cafe Venetia – -they are sharing the street with the Mark Wong-VanHaren family band also known as Camacu. 

PS: Cake uses a Vibra-slap, which imitates quijada, made from the jaw of a mule. There is no Vibra-slap in either “Mexico” or “You Part the Waters”.  “Is This Love”, yes. I’d like to see the Benitez sisters and maybe their whole band have a side project that does nothing but Cake covers with accentuated Mexican flourishes. Although I have to also add, as an Old G Cake fan, that the band uses the word more like “caked with mud” like if you stepped into some fine dust and your boot was coated or caked with earth; intense. Layered. Vale?

And1: Oren’s Hummus features pita. I spoke to the manager who said he is open-minded to spornsoring or at least not thwarting a continued music presence next to his parklet of tables in the streets, this summer. 

Andand: I spoke briefly with Sharon Benitez about her fellow musician Cecilia Peña-Govea also known as La Doña — I had come from the Ledisi/The Seshen/La Doña event at Stern Grove (see the laminate I’m wearing, with my Superchunk hoodie). 

andandand:

This is from today’s email message to Miguel Govea, father of La Doña; I hereby induct Los Panaderos, Tanya Benitez and Sharon Benitez into the pantheon:

I already list La Doña in my pantheon of legendary Bay Area and Latin projects, or that I’ve worked with (as a promoter) including: John Santos*, Orixa*, Bloque*, Ozomatli*, Rupa and the April Fishes, Beth Custer Doña Luz 30 Bezos*, Beth Custer and Octavio Solis, Los Mocosos, Santana, Greg Landau, Chris Strachwitz, Chuy Varela, Laura Chavez, Danilo Perez*, Adam Cruz*, Luciana Souza*, Vivendo De Pao*, Marco Diaz Melecio Magdaluyo duo*, Marta Sanchez Roman Filiu duo*, Juan L. Sanchez Trova Latina,* Los Lobos, The Blues Experience*, B-Side Players*.* denotes artists who’ve appeared in Earthwise Productions; also: Sal Gaeta and Sandy Lunares’ Acoustic Paradise — played my first show, on referral by Juan Sanchez — plus Sandy worked the door for about 100 shows. 

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Ledisi Anibade Young The 1st Elected The New Queen of Stern Grove

Posted on June 21, 2021 by markweiss86
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Hark

Posted on June 21, 2021 by markweiss86

Despite the fact that i both taped the game and bought the morning paper, it was my trainer James Ward who told me that the A’s lost to the Yankees on a triple play to end the game.

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Jules at 33

Posted on June 17, 2021 by markweiss86
I first heard about Julian Lage, Blue Note recording artist on the cover of Downbeat, in 1996 when he was the subject of a film by Stanford’s Mark Becker
“Jules at 8”.
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Don’t bullshit a bullshitter, Pacaso

Posted on June 17, 2021 by markweiss86

J.K. Dineen of the Chron has a story about a unicorn billion dollar start up buying vacation property in Napa and Sonoma but claiming to be PLUR.

He wrote me back a four word exegesis: diversity in the workforce ie if P- targets gays.

My reply:

1) the name of the company falsely trades on the name of an unrelated great artist, other than if they are saying Cubism or collage are like fractional interests;

2) fractional interests tend to devalue property not increase it;
3) LLCs and limited partnerships are longtime tactics in buying commercial property, although you yield control to the GP. The GP as a venture-backed or publicly traded company would worsen the effect. Its a bad investment of $600,000. 
4) inherent to any start up is the lie regarding creation of wealth; there is nothing about this idea that rationalizes the valuation; 
5) its a pyramid scheme on two levels, stupid people bailing out smart money;
6) the private life or sexual orientation of Austin Allison is irrelevant. 

 

 

 

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I bought a book and three songs popped out

Posted on June 15, 2021 by markweiss86


I bought Bruce Iglauer’s memoir about Alligator Records from the window of Books, Inc. of Palo Alto, near the Stanford football stadium.
I noticed in the index a section about Gaye Adegbalola, a founder of Saffire – the Uppity Blues Women, whose work I admired. She’s a retired school teacher, an activist, mother, scientist and all-around force of nature in Fredericksburg, Virginia, near our nation’s capital.
I rang Gaye out of the blue(s), and then sent this letter:


Ms. Gaye:
Nice speaking with you.
I’m offering you $XXX (xxxx dollars) to make a recorded performance for my internet initiative (that I call Lions With Wings). I’m a concert promoter (sometimes also artist management) but due to the Covid pandemic I started an internet project for performers arrangers and writers where people perform in their home studio or collaborate electronically and send me the result as a sound file. If Ms Queen can find a tape recorder function on your smart phone, I think that would suffice. I’m posting all the outcomes on Bandcamp as a free stream. And in many cases I will later offer you a performance in my series at Mitchell Park Center here in Palo Alto. (It actually got started because some artists I had already paid their deposit for cancelled spring 2020 shows and the recordings are a “make good”).
The $xxxx would be $500 now and the balance on demand. If you keep track of your time, I think of it as $xx/ hour for 46 hours. That is, I am offering to underwrite 46 hours towards preparing, creating, researching rehearsing and or performing something I can post to the internet. (You can also farm out or assign any of those hours at same rate to collaborators or parts or crafts or consultants). I would say that I am anticipating that people turn in some thing between one song — five minutes —but it took them that long to figure out— or maybe like an EP 30 minutes five songs. It ideally would be something that was initiated or got started specifically for this project.
If you deliver by June 30, 2021 that would be fine. Hopefully by then we could also realistically figure out when live shows resume — in some ways this “label” project is like research towards a live show.
Mark Weiss
Earthwise Productions
PO Box 60786
Palo Alto, CA 94306
(my phone)
Lions With Wings

I have specific ideas I could suggest based on things that you said or did in the four or five videos you posted on your social media page. But really whatever you wanna do is fine.
I’d be honored.


One-hundred-seventy-one email messages later, plus some texts and a few phone conversations, and these three tracks arrived:
1) “Keep the Faith”


2) “John Lewis”


3) “Tell Mamala”



Lickety-split, we hope to post them to my Bandcamp account for download. Look for Gaye popping eyes and raising spirits on the West Coast soon enough, lord willing and the creek don’t rise.

Cheers,
Mark Weiss
Earthwise of Palo Alto
Plastic Alto blog
Lions with Wings label

 

I like her line about Kamala Harris – -who was elected Vice President of the U.S. during our correspondence: sassy, classy stank eye. Doesn’t really go here but I met Kamala at Jim Newton’s book party in Menlo Park. Good luck to Maya Wiley my classmate running for mayor of NYC. EQUALITY DIVERSITY TRANSPARENCY HONESTY LEGITIMACY BRAVERY (She’s speaking)..

 

Updated three weeks later: good news, a label is negotiating with Gaye to distribute these songs as an EP; bad news, they asked Lions With Wings and Plastic Alto to take down the free streaming until the ink dries on that deal. Go, Gaye!!

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Quick take on Ventura

Posted on June 15, 2021 by markweiss86

A shot of Jack with your planning

I like a musicians’ village with subsidized housing for artists from Palo Alto taking serious steps towards careers in music, that don’t have to move to Nashville or Austin to live while they develop their audience. Molly Tuttle, whose father Jack Tutle works at Gryphon could be a stakeholder or consultant. ie. Gryphon is near the site.
The other thought is that Matt Sonsini CEO of Sobrato, went to Gunn High and lived part of his high school years in Evergreen Park, somewhat near NVAC. Maybe he could walk the site. There’s another good guy now at Sobrato named D. Valentine sic.

The worst part of this deal is either that developers bought up a bunch of contingent sites and or pushed thru the larger upzone (14 acres >>>>60 acres) or the money wasted on the consultants and dog-and-pony shows.

outro:

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O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on

Posted on June 14, 2021 by markweiss86

Susan Slusser* in today’s Chron describes baseball pitcher Joe Ross of the Washingtons as a “tarter”. Ross, a Bay Area native who led Bishop O’Dowd to the CIF North Coast sectional quarterfinals held the Giants my favorite team to five hits and no runs over eight innings.
I know that “tater” can be baseball jargon; home run. Lord knows why; the batter got the whole russet, eyes, skin and all?
The first thing I did after Duffy and I got done with our morning rounds was to fire up the laptop and tap the word “tarter” into an online dictionary (My trusty Webster’s Ninth is upstairs, with its protegee and successor, Webster’s Eleventh).
I noticed that “tartar sauce” is spelled differently.
There is no noun form of “tart”. Tart can mean strong — is she saying that Joe Ross shut down Yaz and Crawf by being a thing sharper than chedder?
My mind leaped to something vaguely Shakespearish? Her writing is strong sauce, or strong meat?

No, it’s a typo. Ross was the starter, the starting pitcher and not a reliever. He was just the second starter to throw seven or more innings against the good guys this year, and it was the best outing of his career. He also K’d nine and walked none.

I quote from Othello above, using “meat” and a concordance (big word for list of Shakespeare’s words). “Green” in this case and my headline can refer to both the name of the Chronicle’s sporting pages and its hue. It also vaguely references the outfield at Boston’s Fenway Park, The  Green Monster, which is vaguely a pitcher amenity.

Sour dough bread requires a starter, if you excuse the Steve Dalkowsky.

In the big inning, there was darkness. And God said “humm baby”.
Remlinger, Remlinger, Remlinger. My finger for a horse. Rollie?


*Slusser is the successor to if not the protegee of Henry Schulman who I once berated for confusing or conflating Jeff Tesreau for Jack Chesbro. Like myself, Mike Remlinger and Kyle Hendricks of the Cubs, Tesreau was a Dartmouth man. Forsooth. (Henry VI, Part 1, IV:1:25)

 

and1: I want to caution readers and writers (catchers and pitchers, of idears) about the distinction between tartars (they of the sauce) and tartans (they of the kilts — Scottish people wore such, more a MacBeth thing than a Hamlet; I went thru a similar mind trip yesterday watching the North Macedonians in the Euro 2020). 

andand: At Jack Hirschman’s 80th birthday event at City Lights they handed out a broadside of his in which the former SF Poet Laureate mentioned a “Prince Hal” and I wonder if that was a baseball reference (Newhouser of the Tigers) or the Bard.

 

andandand: I’m still here, because the Giants and Dbacks don’t start for another seven hours — we are going with Matt Peacock who is from Southern Alabama, close to Mobile, where Hank Aaron, his brother, Willie McCovey and jazz bow Billy Bangs hail from, as compared to Westfield Alabama where Willie Mays was get or got four hours north, really Birmingham — but I forget my actual point. Not Mudcat Grant, from Florida not Mississipi actually, though we note his passing, but now I know: I was sussing about the fact that “iron sharpens iron” from the Bible, according to Robert Alter of Cal, really means, if you check your Hebrew, something more like increasing the magnetic quality. Stay tuned, y’all. 

 

edit to adle: If Ross “K’d nine”, did the Giants have a “dog day afternoon”?

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