



Not to be confused with university of illinois at urbana champaign whatever.
I wrote this a year ago, before I was banned from PAW.
And thank you XGAU for the inspiration — he had something about Indestructible Beat of Soweto which I’ve never heard. Maybe Matt Nelson and Magid can do Soweto not Turkey.
To wit:
for the win:
There was briefly in Palo Alto a band named Ten in The Swear Jar — sometimes abbreviated to XITSJ — the leader of which later changed its or his name to Xiu-Xiu (but not XIUXIU). Before that they were called The Indestructible Beat of Palo Alto or IBOPA.
The bandleader’s name is or was Jamie Stewart. I do not know if he is related to the more famous James Stewart but his uncle John Stewart was a member of The Kingston Trio, had a hit for The Monkees and I believe worked for Bobby Kennedy. Jamie is a genius.
Jamie Stewart had an affiliation with KZSU the Stanford radio station but even after knowing him for 25 years I have no idea if he is or is not a Stanford alumnus*.
My point is: be yourself — that probably helps on college essays and apps as much as in the general case.
— my two cents worth
P.S. Do applicants check a box to signify they got coaching? And, how much do you charge?
*I do not believe Jamie Stewart of Xiu-Xiu has collaborated with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, but he did collaborate with Eugene S. Robinson of Oxbow who looks like a thug but did indeed go to Stanford.
P.P.S. I recommend going to college even if you plan a career in the arts. Try to graduate by age 25 but don’t feel you have to graduate with your class. Don’t worry about career until about age 30.
and1: aren’t the posters correct in pointing out that UIUC is Urbana campus which is famous for computing, and not Champaign which no one calls it? I bought my best friend from Dartmouth Dr. Brian Moore a picture of Walt Frazier when Doc (who majored in drama for his a.b., then got a masters in education from Harvard, before his m.d. from UMass) took a job at Southern Illinois, only to find that he was in Springfield where they indeed rooted for The Illini and not Carbondale where they remember Clyde — who himself IMHO uses big words gratuitously. Actually I just looked it up: in my day — I’m a Gunn ’82 — the name changed officially to Illinois University of Urbana Champaigne even tho–according to Wiki — the common use for the region per se was the reverse, Champaign Urbana.
I was also taught that language evolves and the best dictionaries are descriptive not prescriptive. My pet peeve is when people with big dogs believe that leash laws do not apply to them.


Cardi B is a rapper, she’s Trini and her new song “Up” already has 43 million views on YouTube although truthfully I’m not sure what a 57-year-old white guy like myself is supposed to make of it specially the vulgarity and the use of the N-word. Or the distinction in her narrative between her suitors which I think she will honor them by inscribing their name in her very flash versus the second cohort which temporarily shall we say leave their mark.
I saw Irving ease off a Jewish successful music manager interviewed on stage about a year ago at a conference in LA with his client Nikki Minaj, also mixed race or West Indian or Trini I believe. And I am quite certain Azoff will never be a candidate for intimacy with Nicki Minaj but somehow based on his stature he does sort of tease her in a way that does not seem appropriate I think he literally called her a bitch I have a tape of this and she pretended to be offended or she pretended to not be offended.
As I ponder this and in fact I sent a letter to city Council of Palo alto regarding our history of racism here and made a very obscure reference to the phrase “nut on our butt” which I attributed to Cardi B but did not really explicate.
I also sent a note to a reporter or critic for the New York Times saying I agreed with her in part regarding Cardi B and I tried to qualify my assent using these same dangerous metaphors.
on the YouTube account with 43 million views although when I did it earlier this morning it had 42 million views and more than 100,000 comments I said something about this is like an updated version of Mary Tyler Moore who said you’re going to make it after all.
Saul Rogovin was a Jewish major leaguer and although I could name a couple thousand major leaguers I don’t think I was familiar with him. But after his career ended he attended a junior college in New York the same one that Carti attended years later and that is how they are linked .
I have a similar problem with pop smoke not sure what to make of his references to his sexual prowess . and his use of the N-word. but my thinking has evolved such that I agree that his song “we are up in all the stores” could be seen as a protest song if you reference the philosophical and perhaps French thinking about property is theft. so looting is political and not just self-serving and material.
and on 60 minutes last night they had Bill Gates who gave away 20 billion yet hordes 20 billion eating a hamburger and discussing his cognitive diffidence .
and then they have Simone biles 4 foot 11 admitting she was abused. Is it good or bad that Stanford UCLA and Michigan all have mini Simones? Or wrapping it all up how much agency does a Cardi B or a Nicki Minaj actually have and do their proclamations of self empowerment really trickle down to their listeners?
edit to ad, an hour later, and after I started to listen again to Irving Azoff and Nicki Minaj February 5, 2020 in Beverly Hills at Pollstar conference:
Nicki has increased her social media presence 20 percent from 110m followers to 130m.

I should see if any of this is in my Apple library already.
I’m watching the Warriors while I type: who knew that Brooklyn had Harden and Durant? And it was Barbara Manning, SF Seals, proving her bona fides by pointing out that Joc Pedersen was traded or not signed by the Dodgers — he’s in Chicago, a Cub.
4. Fiona Apple: Fetch the Bolt Cutters(Epic)
5. Lucinda Williams: Good Souls Better Angels(Highway 20)
8. Dramarama: Color TV (Pasadena)
9. Lori McKenna: The Balladeer(CN/Thirty Tigers)
11.Black Thought & Salaam Remi:Streams of Thought Vol. 2 (Human Re Sources/Passyunk Productions ‘18)
15.Sam Hunt: Southside (MCA Nashville)
16. Bob Dylan:Rough and Rowdy Ways (Columbia)
19. Public Enemy: What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?(Def Jam)
20.Taylor Swift: Evermore (Republic)
27. Black Thought: Streams of Thought, Vol. 3: Cane and Able (Republic)
28.Eminem: Music to Be Murdered By (Aftermath/Shady/Interscope/Goliath)
30. Les Amazones d’Afrique: Amazones Power(RealWorld)
31. Yonic South: Twix and Dive (La Tempesta)
32. The Chicks: Gaslighter (Columbia)
33. Black Thought: Streams of Thought Vol. 1 (Human Re Sources ‘18)
34. Elizabeth Cook: Aftermath (Agent Love/Thirty Tigers)
35. Waxahatchee: Saint Cloud (Merge)
36. X: Alphabetland (Fat Possum)
38.Haim: Women in Music Pt. III (Columbia)
39. Brandy Clark: Your Life Is a Record (Warner Bros.)
43. Phoebe Bridgers: If We Make It Through December (Dead Oceans)
44.Will Butler: Generations (Merge)
46.New Orleans Mambo: Cuba to Nola (Putumayo)
48. Hamell on Trial: The Pandemic Songs (Saustex)
52. Clem Snide: Forever Just Beyond (Ramseur/Thirty Tigers)
58. Toots and the Maytals: Got to Be Tough (Trojan America)
61. No Age: Goons Be Gone (Drag City)
62. Lil Wayne: Funeral (Young Money ’19)
65. Hayes Carll: Alone Together Sessions(Dualtone)
Hippo is a new insurance startup, a unicorn, which means it is valued at $1b. One-point five billion or a billion and a half, according to the business journal, which lists it among the largest venture deals.
The photo shows an Iguodala. Not to confuse you. (They pay a former Warrior, a basketball champion ten thousand or a hundred thousand dollars to say a few words, sign autographs and hand out his book — which in turn helps the company claim to be worth billions, get it?)
Palo Alto is on FIRE, finance insurance real estate.
Iguodala is in Miami, played six of his 17 seasons here, is averaging a respectable 20 minutes per game but only four points (compared to about 8 per game for the champs). He’s from Springfield, Illinois originally. Assaf Wand is from Israel, I wonder if he played basketball and if so his nickname must have been Magic.
edit to oink or edioi:
Bloomberg reported on Feb. 5 that Hoffman and Pincus are in talks to take public by merging with Hippo at a value of more than $5 billion. That more than double the $2 billion valuation investors gave it in November when it closed a $350 million funding round, according to PitchBook.
backed with bw:
PALO ALTO ANNOUNCES NEW MASCOT, GIANT PIG
City Council member Lydia Kuo (the one on the right) poses with the new mascot The Giant Pig. It is known as Giant Pig or OKJA-PA. Ed Shikada said that was his first item on his slop bucket list, coming over from San Jose where he discovered Sharkey the Shark. The Bol Park donkey had no comment other than “eeeeeeyooo”.
| 1. | Barbara Manning ‘Cantor’s Mind Was Rocking’ | 9 |
| 2. | MC Lars: In the Land of the Grasshopper Song | 2 |
| 3. | Dayna Stephens: The Nomad | 2 |
| 4. | Barbara Manning “Twilight” | 2 |
| 5. | L. Marie Cook: Women on the Wall | 1 |
| 6. | Dayna Stephens: The Prophet | 1 |
| 7. | Barbara Manning “Dying to Live” |