Ball point pen on the morning newsprint I will continue on Monday profiling the team behind Barack Obama. Today I wanted to take a moment to remember Robert F. Kennedy. On June 5th 1968 he was shot by Sirhan Sirhan at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after winning California's Primary election that day. He died the following day-forthy years ago today. ...
Read MoreBall point pen on the morning newsprint Leading off, Political consultant, David Axelrod. Axelrod is credited with implementing a strategy that encouraged grassroots participation, involving the people and giving them a stake in the campaign. Encouraging bloggers and using the internet to build an army of donors contributing a hundred dollars or less, Obama's grass roots fund raising soon dwarfed the small number of deep pocketed contributors in other campaigns . ...
Read MoreBall point pen on the morning newsprint Congratulations to Senator Obama! Yesterday in my post regarding the passing of Bo Diddley I linked to some footage of him performing his self titled song released in 1955. That was before Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech, before the end of Jim Crow laws, before civil rights legislation, and before Barack Obama was born. The camera pans several times to the audience showing white kids bopping to Bo's rhythm and blues, but in the last few seconds (about 5:17 in) the camera pans to a segregated group black girls enjoying the show from what appears to be the balcony. That was fifty years ago, when many southern states legislated that blacks had to use a separate entrance, learn at a separate school, drink from a separate faucet, sit at the back of the bus, and could only sit in the balcony at theaters...Last night our nation made Bar ...
Read MoreBall point pen on the morning newsprint Three beats, a pause, then two more beats. That was the trademark Bo Diddley beat that Bo used in his self titled song, and as the foundation for so many of his hits. He influenced a generation of artists including Buddy Holly, U2 and George Thorogood, who covered and introduced a new audience to his song "Who Do You Love". Bo received a life time Grammy Award and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was 79. WATCH BO DIDDLEY HERE AND HERE ...
Read MoreBall point pen on the morning newsprint This weekend at the Democratic Rules Committee, Clinton loyalist Harold Ickes said that Senator Clinton instructed him to reserve the right to appeal to the Credentials Committee at the Democratic convention in August. la de da de de, la de da de da ...
Read MoreBall point pen on the morning newsprint Growing up, I loved the Carol Burnett show. Part of it's charm was that they didn't edit out the mistakes...the cast was so funny that they cracked each other up. The more they tried to control themselves and get through the dialog, the funnier it was. They were having such a good time doing the show that the laughter was contagious. Sadly, Harvey Korman passed away yesterday at UCLA Medical Center. He was 81. ...
Read MoreBall point pen on the morning newsprint Andrew Keen's Book "The Cult of the Amateur, How The Internet Is Killing Our Culture" hypothesizes that Web 2.0, where content and information are increasingly being controlled by amateurs, is a very dangerous step backwards for our culture. Where in the past, information was disseminated by learned people who had to go through a screening process of acquiring degrees, convince a publisher or being hired by a publication, now anyone with a computer (yes, even I'm doing it) can start publishing their thoughts. Sites like Wikipedia, where the content is written and edited by amateur volunteers are often filled with grammatical errors, misstatement of facts or even vindictive slander. The more polarizing the subject the more policing/editing the topic will require. That's where 53 year old software developer, Johnathan Shilling comes in. He's the un ...
Read MoreBall point pen on the morning newsprint Filmmaker Sidney Pollack passed away yesterday at his home in Pacific Palisades California. He was 73. Nominated 11 times for Academy Awards, Pollack won 7 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for the epic film Out Of Africa starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. Pollack wore many hats in his career as a filmmaker including those of director, writer, producer and even actor in films like Tootsie and Michael Clayton. ...
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