"Luann"

Open the San Jose Mercury News Thursday morning and go straight to the comics.

Greg Evans has created a special “Luann” about “Books For Treats“.

10/29/09
San Jose Mercury New
Comics – “Luann”

Mackenzie Phillips

It was the opening night of Cinequest-19 where I spotted Mackenzie Phillips (American Graffiti, One Day at a Time) at the California Theatre. I told her that it was nice to see her. To which she replied, “Nice to be seen.” I asked, “Did she had something to share with San Jose Metblogs?” Yes, she told me about her tell-all book that should be out in the spring. It took a bit longer than spring, but her controversial memoir “High on Arrival” is now out. Mackenzie is making the talk show rounds and, this evening she will be on with Larry King @ 6:00 PM.

Yes, I enjoy the films of Cinequest, but part of the lure is meeting the producers, directors, actors, TV and movie stars. I’m looking forward to Cinequest Film Festival 20 next February.

Al Gore: Global Humanitarian Award

This year 15 Laureates, who were selected from 650 world wide nominations, are vying for recognition. Laureates in five categories: environment, economic development, education, equality, and health will be rewarded for their efforts to improve lives around the world. One Laureate in each category will receive a $50,000 cash prize.

“The global challenges of the day have become increasingly strident, more deeply rooted,” said Peter Friess, president of The Tech Museum. “Still, there is hope. These incredibly impressive Laureates have all proven to be equal to, or better than, the challenge to make the world a better place.”

To make the evening even more special, this year’s recipient of The Global Humanitarian Award is Al Gore.

“With all that is going on in the United States it is easy to forget that much of the world is still without power, lighting and access to quality, or sometimes to any, health care and education.” said Mike Splinter, Chairman and CEO of Applied Materials. “This year’s laureates remind us that through creativity, entrepreneurship and determination, individuals and small groups can have a powerful impact and bring innovative solutions to the world’s most immediate problems. We salute all of The Tech Awards Laureates for their amazing work to benefit humanity and thank Vice President Gore for his tireless work to inspire action to save the planet.”

The Tech Awards Gala: Information & Tickets (buy now – tickets are going fast)

Thursday, November 19, 2009
6:00 p.m. Reception
7:00 p.m. Dinner
San Jose McEnery Convention Center
150 West San Carlos Street, San Jose, California, 95113

Steve Voldseth

It was during Cinequest 18 that I first met Steve Voldseth. He was starring in the Alejandro Adams film, Around the Bay. I am so pleased to report that Steve and Alejandro are once again teaming up. And to top it off, extras are needed!!!

Date: Saturday, June 27th. Location: West San Jose. Time: 3:30 – 5:00 PM. All ages welcome.

Contact Alejandro – alejandroadams@gmail.com for the, location, wardrobe and scene details.

See Variety

Jeffrey James Lippold

With the convenience of NETFLIX I just don’t get out to the movie theater much. But when my daughter, with her connections, invited me to see the controversial ‘Angels & Demons’ free with her, I said, “OK”. Then remembering that Jeffrey had a part (Carabinieri Captain) in the film, I had to say, “Yes!, When can we go.” I met Jeffrey (Jeffrey James Lippold) at Cinequest 19. He starred in ‘Samurai Avenger: Blind Wolf’, and I became an instant fan…

I’ll get my mind off of Jeffrey and offer this advice for enjoying ‘Angels & Demons’: Get your popcorn and soda before taking your theater seat. Once Harvard symbolist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) takes on the secret of the Illuminati; the killing of Catholic cardinals, you won’t want to miss a scene. My daughter’s visit to Rome caused her to whisper, “I was there!” as the film took us to the architecture along the ‘Path of Illumination’.

Angels & Demons is now in the saved section of my NETFLIX Queue – I will see it again.

Angels & Demons Decoded: A study of Dan Brown’s novel.
Tue, May 26, 8:00p and Wed, May 27, 12:00m
Comcast – Channel – 62

iTunes Angels & Demons game application $4.99

I brought three 17 year old girls with me, and they were out of their minds with excitement to see Britney and the Pussy Cat Dolls. We arrived extra early so we would have time to buy some T-shirts ($40), a Britney mug ($10), a large bag of “Britney Pop Corn” ($4.50) and a soda in the Commemorative Britney Cup, a large orange plastic thing that will last approximately three runs in the dishwasher and cost $7.50. Then we took our Britney Pop Corn and our shirts and went to sit down.

The stage was set up like a three-ring circus with a cylindrical film screen hanging over the center ring. There was also a cylindrical curtain in the center ring allowing for entrances and exits through the middle. It was a nice set up that allowed the entire pavilion access to views of the stage and made every seat at the HPP a good one.

The Pussy Cat Dolls took the stage at 7pm, and although the Pavilion was barely half full at this time, the screams were deafening. My three guests were out of their minds with excitement as I nonchalantly sat in my seat updating my Twitter account about the concert – I’ll be honest, the PCD are not my thing, but I do enjoy some of their songs. There was a spiral staircase in the center ring which they used to dance on, and they also ran back and forth between the three rings. They had some great dance numbers and the audience loved them. Pussy Cat Doll lead singer Nicole Scherzinger gave a shout out to San Jose what seemed like 30 times in their 45 minute set; I suppose Britney wasn’t paying attention – but again, that’s for later in the story. The crowd went wild when they started up “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire, and again I give them props for their dance numbers, they definitely brought their skills with them. There were only five Pussy Cat Dolls on a huge three ring stage, but they made use of all three rings and really gave their all in the dance numbers. They closed their act with “When I Grow Up”, a song to which not even I am immune. I sang and danced with the rest of the audience, we shouted our applause as they ran off stage, and we sat back down to wait for Britney.

It was only quiet for about ten minutes while the crew rearranged the stage. Then the two side rings lit up and the audience was treated to some circus side shows while the crew worked on the center ring. There were dancers, acrobats and a rhythmic gymnast who put on an impressive hula hoop routine. There were a few clowns and more acrobats, and overall the 10-15 minutes of side shows kept the audience entertained. My guests were torn between losing their patience while waiting for Britney and being mesmerized by the shows below. Eventually though, the side shows stopped, the lights went down, the music started – and all hell broke loose, I thought my girls had lost their damn minds they were screaming so hard and the 30 year old woman next to me almost fell down the bleachers she was jumping up and down so much.

Before Britney arrived on stage, the cylindrical screen above the stage lit up with a video intro starring gossip blogger Perez Hilton dressed as a creepy but fascinating transvestite showgirl/courtesan. The video promised a crazy warped version of a circus to come and I was truly excited. The music changed to “Circus” and Britney arrived on stage to deafening applause. However it was already at this early point that the choreography started to show weaknesses. “Circus” is a pretty awesome song with some smart whip cracking sound effects. Britney had a whip in her hand and sometimes halfheartedly struck the ground with it, but there was no sharpness to the act. She was then put into a gilded circus cage on wheels where she writhed around for the entire song while background dancers rolled her from ring to ring.

This got old fast.

And it continued. No one expects Britney to actually sing at her concerts; whether she has that ability or not, I do not know, but what we do expect is Britney dancing and entertaining us. There were some ten second bursts of dancing that were unimpressive but mostly she bounced up and down on platforms or couches, and was repeatedly carried or rolled from ring to ring. As far as the singing went, lip synching is not really a big deal at this type of concert these days, but I was quite shocked that there didn’t appear to be any pretense of real music. There were some remixed intros, but the majority of the music was straight off her CDs. Halfway through the concert I started to wonder why we were even there: Britney isn’t dancing, she certainly isn’t singing – did I pay $65 + fees for each ticket just for the pleasure of being in the same room with her?

The lack of spectacle did not help matters. There were a couple short spurts of fireworks, there were five minutes of run of the mill magic tricks (Britney got sawed into thirds, and she appeared and reappeared satisfyingly), and there was a fire ring that petered out before it should have. But overall the stage rings were worn and very scuffed, and seemed too empty for such a big stage. There were not usually more than five or so dancers on stage with her at a time. Britney did cover all three stages often, but there was still a feeling of emptiness and lack.

This feeling was helped and hindered by the completely awesome cylindrical screen. Possibly I’m the only one, but I loved watching that screen. Serving as the only backdrop available in this theater-in-the-round, it constantly had videos, animation, lyrics, cartoons and atmospheric background running on it. It was really the one thing that saved the concert visuals; the artists, animators and cinematographers who put it together should be commended. The problem was that it was so good it also provided a glaring contrast for the emptiness on stage. At times there were videos of Britney herself on screen, shot in the visual style of her “Circus” video and they were sexy and just gorgeous. But down on stage, scuffed whiteness and Britney dancing her elementary dance steps.

Another glaring but welcome contrast came late in the concert when Britney left the stage and each of her background dancers came out for an individual solo as their name flashed on the screen above. The dancers were surprisingly AWESOME, and it was great to let them showcase their talents in that way. But why weren’t those talents used in the show choreography?? The Pussy Cat Dolls had excellent choreography and with only five dancers they were able to cover all three rings and wildly entertain the audience. Britney and her dancers rarely gave her audience this feeling. I think this was the biggest mistake the producers of this show made, if the choreography had been stepped up just for the background dancers I think everyone would have been happier. Obviously the dancers were capable of more than they were given.

An hour into the concert Britney actually turned her mic on and gave a shout out…

To Sacramento!!

There was a huge applause at first which quickly diminished to a smattering while everyone processed “What did she just say?” through their minds. Then half the audience, including me, applauded and screamed anyway. First of all, it’s Britney, but second – I kind of cut performers some slack on this even though they really should take the time to know this before taking the stage, and she was in Sacramento the night before. So to me, it was not big deal, but to my young guests… it surprisingly factored into their experience. To her credit, she corrected herself later in the concert and shouted “San Jose” a couple more times.

Britney left the stage right before the finale and the cylindrical screen lowered to the floor and showed hundreds of quick clips of all her videos while “Baby One More Time” played. This was another awesome five minutes of entertainment and whipped the crowd into a frenzy before Britney came back out in a police costume complete with shorty shorts. She closed down the show with “Womanizer”, the audience forgiving everything and sending her out with more screams, shouts and applause.

Was it a bum concert? No. I had a good time, the three girls had a good time, and the drunk woman next to me had a good time. It just could have been better – a LOT better. I gave it a B+ in my head and then asked my guests. They each rated it a B+, saying they were expecting a lot more, but they still had fun. 17 year old Morgan Phillips loved the concert as a whole but wasn’t happy that Britney “didn’t really sing and she didn’t really dance.” 17 year old Catalina Corral agreed saying “the dancing could have been a lot better but I did like it.” Stephanie Munoz summed it all up by saying that Britney just went through the motions when she danced, and “I don’t know what was up with that Sacramento comment. But I really liked the Pussy Cat Dolls.”

Early this morning, a woman in San Jose sent this tweet to Demi Moore:

Immediately Demi Moore retweeted it on her own profile, adding “Hope you are joking.” There was every indication that she was not. 

The woman’s profile indicated only that she was located in the Silicon Valley, so mere seconds after Demi reposted the tweet, the San Jose Police Department fielded phone calls from near, far, and everywhere in between. SJPD reported that they found the woman and she is safe and under evaluation.

I’m not directly linking to the woman’s Twitter profile to respect her need for privacy in the aftermath of a very public plea for help, but it’s out there if you want to find it. I’m also not going to be posting on whether Demi saved someone’s life, if Demi herself should have called 911, what Twitter’s role is in all of this, blah blah blah.

Instead, if you ever come across a similar situation with an imminent threat of suicide, call 911 immediately. If you know someone locally dealing with suicidal thoughts, read this first, then encourage them to call the Santa Clara County Mental Health, Suicide & Crisis Service:

• San Jose (408) 279-3312
• North County (650) 494-8420
• South County (408) 683-2482

If they’re outside the county, have them call 1-800-SUICIDE.

I’ve also been trying to look up an online anonymous 24/7 instant messaging service that helps those in distress. The only things I’ve been able to find are MyTherapyNet,  this service from the Rape Abuse and Incest National Network and some social networking sites linked to the Suicide Prevention Lifeline. 

If you know of any, please leave links in the comments.

Having dealt with friends with suicidal thoughts in the past, I do not take these stories lightly, and neither should you. I just hope this bit of information can help someone, somewhere.

Woz left home to Dance with the Stars!

See him tonight @ 8 PM – and give him your vote!

At 8:30 AM tomorrow  morning, March 28, a celebration of this American hero begins at the Mexican Heritage Plaza. The walk will be followed by a festival at the Plaza de César Chávez.

Tonight Los Gatos, California chef David Kinch will test his culinary expertise when he goes up against chef Bobby Flay.

The Iron Chef competitors must turn out dishes created using the “secret ingredient.” For Kinch this shouldn’t be all that hard. Creative is what customers of the world famous Manresa restaurant have come to expect.

Food Network – Iron Chef America:
Mar 15, 2009
9:00 PM ET/PT
Mar 16, 2009
12:00 AM ET/PT
Mar 19, 2009
9:00 PM ET/PT

Channel 35 on Comcast
110 on the Dish
DirecTV on 231