jemele hill...

I used to read her columns on espn.com.   I thought she was a good writer.

I have to admit that I never watch her show with Michael Smith on ESPN.

Tweets on Twitter can kill a career.   However in this case being suspended by ESPN for her second violation of tweeting the truth will more than likely help her career.

billy bush...

Just read his interview in the Hollywood Reporter.

Never liked the guy; perhaps his last name was a major reason.  And Billy is a kids name.  The only Billy that could get away with that name throughout his life was Billy Martin.

Still not a fan of Billy Bush, but I believe in redemption.  He deserves another chance.

Going through all that self help bullshit makes me respect him less.  But that's the way he's dealt with it.  So more power to him.

It realizes incenses me that the audio of him with that piece of shit derailed his career, but it didn't derail the campaign of the worst candidate I've ever seen in my lifetime.

So, a guy like me can never be a fan of Billy Bush, but I can wish him well...

elizabeth holmes...

One thing I've learned about millennials they have a lot of balls.  Meaning they have so much false confidence in themselves- they believe they can accomplish anything; even if their ideas are bullshit or a sham.

Elizabeth Holmes who started Theranos as a teenage dropout from Stanford has huge balls.  She persuaded investors with her strange voice that she could change the world by providing a low cost and low blood loss way to draw blood.  

Now we know it was all a fraud.

And she just won't give up.  She's pivoting with another machine.  I won't even go into details.

As much of an asshole that Steve Jobs was rumored to be- he was a genius.   Holmes isn't even close.  She's just a good bullshitter.

It makes me sad that in this day and age where bluster seems to accomplish reaching the highest office...

the illumination...

A short doc about Gordon Gund who lost his sight in 1970 when he was about 30 years old.  The former Cleveland Cavaliers owner has devoted his life to fighting blindness.  Gund is now 77.

Gordon went blind due to an inherited retinal degenerative disease called retinitis pigmentosa.

It's a wonderful short doc that uses Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now in its score.

The Illumination shows a kid who was born blind and was able to regain his sight as an 8 year old due to gene therapy developed by Gund's Foundation of Fighting Blindness.  His name is Yannick Duwe from Belgian and he's about 18 years old now.   Yannick was the first.   To date, approximately 100 people have regained their sight due to Gund's foundation.

Gordon is a great, great man.  And his wife is a great, great woman.

the green fog...

I only attended the closing night screening because I love viewing films at the Castro Theatre and I wanted to attend the After Party...

The best thing about The Green Fog is the live performance by the Kronos Quartet in conjunction with the film.  

I could get into detail about The Green Fog, but I won't.  It's not worthy of my time.  The Kronos Quartet are such wonderful musicians and I feel privileged to have witnessed them live.  

brimstone & glory...

This doc won an award at the SF FILM FEST.  

Really, I just wanted to see the Dolby Cinema at 1275 Market.  A truly spectacular theater!

However, Brimstone & Glory is a spectacular film!

These aren't reviews I'm writing about the films I saw at the 60TH SF FILM FEST, but basically some thoughts I have about them.

A town in the outskirts of Mexico City named Tultepec has a week long National Pyrotechnic Festival.   Meaning a fucking huge firework festival!

There is so much danger involved dealing with fireworks and the people in this town including the kids who make these pyrotechnics understand that they may die in the process.

I'm really thinking more about the kids and it seems to me that they wear the scars on their faces from errant fireworks as a badge of honor.

One question I have about the fireworks festival is how it's funded?  I'm going to do more research about the doc and add it into this post.

bill nye: science guy...

Two things I got from the doc- folks who have a thirst for fame and how some people just don't have the capacity to have an open mind to believe in science.   I'm talking about climate change deniers.

Bill Nye has a strong desire to be in the limelight.

For some reason, I thought he had a science background, but his degree is in mechanical engineering.

The Alamo Drafthouse is a wonderful cinema in San Francisco that has very comfortable seats with food and alcohol table service.   I have to admit I had a few drinks before the screening and I wasn't entirely focused on the film.   I need to take another look at the doc.

I'm not certain whether I'm a Nye fan at this moment in time.  The other famous science guy who really has the background Neil deGrasse Tyson is in bits of the film.   I also believe deGrasse Tyson is addicted to fame.

But if I had to make a choice between fame whores like Nye and deGrasse Tyson and climate change deniers, I'll take the science guys every single time...

aaron hernandez...

I was shocked to wake up this morning to read that the 27-year old former NFL football player hanged himself in his prison cell.   This was days after he was acquitted of double murder charges.

It makes me respect life more.  Aaron was such a talented football player and he just threw it all away for whatever reason.  It just makes me sad...

As I go into the 4th quarter of my life, it's disheartening that someone so young(even in prison without the possibility of parole)would take their life.  But I was not in his shoes, I don't know what was going through his mind.  

Everyday is crucial in this life, because you just never know...

lorenzo romar...

I was surprised, but not shocked that Romar was fired as head basketball coach at the University of Washington.

He had a good 15-year run(298-196), but this past season was just terrible and disappointing.   UDub had arguably the best player in the nation in Markelle Fultz and all they could muster is a 9-22 record with an extremely horrible 2-16 record in the Pac12.   Yes, Fultz missed six games in his one and done season, but there isn't any indication that Fultz would have helped the Huskies secure a better record, even if he played in those games.   Still Markelle Fultz could be the top pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

I was looking forward to seeing the nations #1 recruit out of Seattle's Nathan Hale High School Michael Porter Jr. play for the Dawgs next season- now it's most likely not going to happen, unless UW's rookie AD Jen Cohen pulls a rabbit out of her hat and hires former Husky Brandon Roy as the next head coach.   Roy was a first year coach at Nathan Hale and won the Washington State 3A Championship with a 29-0 record led by Michael Porter Jr. and his younger brother Jontay(another UW recruit).  Plus the #1 ranking in the country as I write this post.   Nathan Hale opted out of Dick's Sporting Goods High School Nationals Tournament later this month- which is like the mythical National High School Championship.

Let's backtrack regarding the Romar connection to the Porter Brothers.   Lorenzo Romar is the godfather to Michael Porter Jr..   Romar hired Michael Porter Sr. as an assistant coach this past season at $300K.   Porter Sr. was an assistant coach at Missouri in the Women's Basketball program.  That's not a move that is usually done.  Also, it relegated Brad Jackson an assistant with the Huskies since 2012 to a newly created special assistant position.  The NCAA has an archaic rule that a basketball program can have only three full-time assistant coaches.  The Porter Brothers led Columbia's Tolton Catholic High School to a Missouri State 3A Championship in 2016.

Now since Cuonzo Martin left CAL to become head coach at Missouri it's rumored that Porter Sr. may be hired as an assistant coach and Michael Jr and Jontay will follow.  Jontay a junior may reclassify and play with his older brother next season in college- where ever that may be?   Another interesting tidbit- the Porter sisters Ciera and Bri play for the Missouri women's basketball team.   Wow!

Cuonzo Martin is a younger version of Lorenzo Romar- great recruiter, yet an average coach in my view.   And strangely, I could foresee Romar getting hired at CAL.  That would make things interesting...

I've followed Lorenzo Romar's career from his playing days at UDub and Athletes in Action where he met Michael Porter Sr..  To UCLA where he was an assistant under Jim Harrick.  Romar helped the Bruins win the NCAA Championship in 1995.  Romar's first head coaching job was at Pepperdine, as was Harrick's.   Harrick resigned from UCLA under fire in 1996.   The timing was off because Romar was already head coach at Pepperdine and UCLA hired coaching neophyte Steve Lavin.  Then on to Saint Louis University and ultimately to Washington.  I was a fan.

My perception of Lorenzo Romar changed about ten years ago.   I saw him in person before a UDub- Boise State football game.   Jake Locker was the QB for the Huskies back then.  He just didn't pass the eye test to me.   I'm not going to elaborate any further.

I wish Lorenzo well.

mr. bings...

Business is business and I understand why Mr. Bings was sold and remodeled.  Unfortunately, the place has lost its soul.  It's sad, but that's just part of life in the Big City.

To be honest, I quit frequenting the joint several years before the new ownership. 

One reason, my friend Michael Chan, the long time bartender at Bings wasn't there as much as he used to be.   

And really, this post is about Michael.  

Can I tell you something or let me tell you something.  That's what Michael says when he wants to tell you something that's important to him.  

I had lost track of Michael for at least a few years. I was worried he was sick and even worse, I thought he might have passed. 

The other night after having a few Irish Coffees at the World Famous Buena Vista Cafe- I was hungry and I walked toward Chinatown to get something to eat.  It was late, about 2am.  There isn't very many places open in San Francisco, let alone Chinatown that are open that late. 

I stumbled upon a Vietnamese restaurant on Broadway called My Canh which I remembered closed late.   It appeared to closed, thus I was about to walk a few doors down to Sam's which was open and serves burgers & crappy pizza.   Then I hear someone yelling "Norm!"   It was Michael Chan. 

Man, I was happy to see him!   I said to him, I was going to Sam's since My Canh is closed.  He said, "No, no, I'll get you in."   Michael knows the people who run My Canh. 

Michael proceeded to order me a large bowl of pho and a raw beef dish in some type of red sauce.  Both hit the spot.   

We caught up while I was noshing on my pho and raw beef.  Michael is a traveling man- Asia, Europe, you name it.  

Then he kept telling he'll never forget my generosity.  I never even thought about it.  I don't like tooting my own horn, then again,  maybe I do...  perhaps in the past, I expected something in return- but I believe I evolved to give from my heart and that's it.  Giving gives me pleasure.  

Michael was kind enough to pay for my meal and an Uber ride back to my apartment.   

Michael Chan was always a kind and generous man and I'm very happy I ran into him at My Canh the other night.  

I rarely am out after 10pm, more like 9pm.  I enjoy being safe in the comfort of my home.  However, life is too short and precious and I need to venture out sometimes to see what this life has in store for me...

Thanks Michael!