Mayor Gavin Newsom formally announced his candidacy for California governor on Tuesday, offering himself as an heir to the same groundswell for generational change that helped send President Barack Obama to the White House.
Entering a race that could see him competing against men 15 and 30 years his senior, the 41-year-old Democrat pointedly used YouTube and the social networking sites Twitter and Facebook to disclose that he would seek his party’s nomination to succeed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The move mirrors Obama’s early efforts as a candidate to identify and mobilize supporters through the Internet. But Newsom, who campaigned for Hillary Rodham Clinton in the presidential primary, described it as emblematic of the “intuitive” comfort with technology, transparency and consensus-building he says he shares with Obama.
Newsom For California
“There will be legitimate questions nationally – is change an affectation of the personality of Barack Obama and is it exclusive to Washington, D.C. and the occupant of the White House? Or is that change, that generational mind-set, going to take shape across the rest of the nation, starting with the most populous state?” he said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We’ll see.”
Newsom said that to broaden his appeal beyond the San Francisco Bay area, he plans to highlight his background as a successful businessman – before becoming mayor, he founded a wine store that he parlayed into a string of restaurants – and as a politician who has been fiscally responsible. For several months, he has been crisscrossing the state and meeting with voters in markedly less liberal areas such as Stockton and San Diego.
“I’m socially progressive, no doubt about that,” he said. “People know I will fight for the things I believe in. But they may not know that other side.”
Source
“We can’t afford to keep returning to the same old tired ideas and expect a different result,” the Democrat told supporters in his three-minute YouTube announcement, part of the unprecedented “virtual fly-around” campaign announcement done entirely in the new media.
The gubernatorial candidate’s announcement video, which premiered on his Web page, GavinNewsom.com, utilizes three languages – English, Spanish and Mandarin – as well as images of solar technology, schools and health care facilities. It argued that Newsom – now in his second term as the city’s mayor – has created jobs, helped San Francisco establish a rainy day reserve and budgetary “sound fiscal policy,” and has tackled the challenge of providing universal health care to the uninsured.
In his announcement, Newsom says his record on issues like environmental and green technology issues, health care and government spending “isn’t conservative or progressive. It’s just plain smart for everyone.”
Newsom is a smooth cat. This could be a big win for The Playboys of the World. I will definitely float some scratch his way. (Although his is a little too negative on Legalizing Prostitution.)
And his wife is an intelligent, classy woman. (And I don’t say that about a lot of women).
Michael Porfirio Mason
AKA The Peoples Champ
AKA GFK, Jr.
AKA The Sly, Slick and the Wicked
AKA The Voodoo Child
The Guide to Getting More out of Life
http://www.thegmanifesto.com
My name is Don Juan De Marco. I am the son of the great swordsman, Antonio Garibaldi De Marco. Who was tragically killed defending the honour of my mother, the beautiful, Dona Inez Santiago de San Martine. I am the world’s greatest lover. I have made love to over a thousand women. I was twenty-one last Tuesday.
No woman has ever left my arms unsatisfied. Only one has rejected me. And as fortune would have it, she is the only one who has ever mattered. This is why, at twenty-one, I had determined to end my life. But first… one final conquest.
Don Juan DeMarco – Restaurant Scene
Don Juan: May I?
Woman: Um, well actually… I’m expecting a friend, er, he’s been delayed, but he should be here soon.
Don Juan: Well, I will not linger…I am Don Juan.
Woman: That’s very funny. Is there a costume party at the hotel?
Don Juan: No. I am Don Juan. Directly descended from the noblest Spanish family.
Woman: And you seduce women.
Don Juan: No. I, I never take advantage of a woman. I give women pleasure… if they desire it. It is of course, the greatest pleasure they will ever experience. There are some women… fine featured, a certain texture to the hair, a curve to the ears that, that is sweeps like a turn on a shell. These women… have fingers, with the same sensitivities as their legs. The fingertips have the same feelings as their feet, and when you touch their knuckles, it is like passing your hands along their knees. And this, tender, fleshy part of the finger, is the same as brushing your hands along their thighs. And… finally…
Don Juan (voice): Every woman is a mystery to be solved. But a woman hides nothing from a true lover. Her skin colour can tell us how to proceed… a hue like the blush of a rose, pink and pale, and she must be coaxed to open her petals with a warmth like the sun. The pale and dappled skin of the red-head calls for the lust of a wave crashing to the shore, so we may stir up what lies beneath and bring the foamy delight of love to the surface. Although there is no metaphor that truly describes making love to a woman… the closest is playing a rare musical instrument. I wonder, does a Stradivarius violin feel the same rapture as the violinist, when he coaxes a single perfect note from its heart?
Don Juan: Muchas gracias, senorita.
Don Juan (voice): Every true lover knows that the moment of greatest satisfaction comes when ecstasy is long over. And he beholds before him the flower which has blossomed beneath his touch.
Don Juan (voice): Oh, well. Now I must die.
Michael Porfirio Mason
AKA The Peoples Champ
AKA GFK, Jr.
AKA The Sly, Slick and the Wicked
AKA The Voodoo Child
The Guide to Getting More out of Life
http://www.thegmanifesto.com
I have been thinking a lot about “friendship” lately.
It is almost amazing the amount of Treachery and Deceit one experiences in life.
True Friends are rare and hard to find. Associates I have many, friends very few.
Muhammad Ali on Friendship
Muhammad Ali Poem on Friendship:
“Friendship is a priceless gift that cannot be bought nor sold.
But, its value is far greater than a mountain made of gold.
For gold is cold and lifeless, it can neither see nor hear.
In time of trouble its powerless to cheer.
Gold has no ears to listen, no heart to understand.
It cannot bring you comfort or reach out a helping hand.
So, when you ask God for a gift, be thankful if He sends,
not pearls, diamonds, or riches but, the love of real true friends.”
The Rest is Up to You…
Michael Porfirio Mason
AKA The Peoples Champ
AKA GFK, Jr.
AKA The Sly, Slick and the Wicked
AKA The Voodoo Child
The Guide to Getting More out of Life
http://www.thegmanifesto.com
Finalists for the James Beard Foundation were named Monday: http://www.jbfawards.com/nominees.html. Winners are announced on May 4th at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall in New York.
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The only ones I really pay attention to are the Restaurant and Chef Awards.
Here they are with my comments and picks below in Bold.
Restaurant and Chef Awards
OUTSTANDING RESTAURATEUR AWARD
Tom Douglas
Tom Douglas Restaurants
Seattle
Keith McNally
Balthazar, Lucky Strike, Morandi, Pastis, Pravda, and Schiller’s Liquor Bar
NYC
Richard Melman
Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises
Chicago
Drew Nieporent
Myriad Restaurant Group
NYC
Stephen Starr
Starr Restaurants
Philadelphia
Keith McNally in a landslide. Sure Stephen Starr’s Morimoto is dope, but Balthazar is one of the illest restaurants in the USA.
Either Paul Kahan or José Andrés. Suzanne Goin’s Lucques I thought was an airball. Blackbird is mindblowing, but if I have to choose, its going to be Ferran Adrià’s understudy, José Andrés. The Spanish just can’t be touched right now. And that goes for Chefs and International Playboys.
OUTSTANDING RESTAURANT AWARD
Babbo
NYC
Chef/Owner: Mario Batali
Owner: Joe Bastianich
Boulevard
San Francisco
Chef/Owner: Nancy Oakes
Owner: Pat Kuleto
Fore Street
Portland, ME
Chef/Owner: Sam Hayward
Owner: Victor Leon and Dana Street
Highlands Bar & Grill
Birmingham, AL
Chef/Owner: Frank Stitt
Jean Georges
NYC
Chef/Owner: Jean-Georges Vongerichten
Owner: Phil Suarez
I am down with Jean Georges, but its a toss up between Boulevard and Babbo. If I have to pick one, I give it to Boulevard by a nose (I swooped too many super fly Sophito Girls out of there, so its hard for me to go against). Never been to Portland, ME or Birmingham, AL so I can’t comment on those two.
Mighty Show Stoppers – Hippy Skippy Moon Strut
RISING STAR CHEF OF THE YEAR AWARD
Nate Appleman
A16
San Francisco
Sean Brock
McCrady’s
Charleston, SC
Johnny Monis
Komi
Washington, D.C.
Gabriel Rucker
Le Pigeon
Portland, OR
Michael Solomonov
Zahav
Philadelphia
Sue Zemanick
Gautreau’s
New Orleans
Either Sue Zemanick’s Gautreau’s or Nate Appleman’s A16. I have heard tons of good things about Nate Appleman’s cooking from my peers and I enjoyed it myself, but Sue Zemanick’s Veal Chop with an fly New Orleans Exotic Dancer put it on top for me.
The Bazaar by José Andrés at SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills
Los Angeles
Chef/Owner: José Andrés
Owners: SBE
Corton
NYC
Chef/Owner: Paul Liebrandt
Owner: Drew Nieporent
L2O
Chicago
Chef: Laurent Gras
Owner: Richard Melman
Momofuku Ko
NYC
Chef/Owner: David Chang
Scarpetta
NYC
Chef/Owner: Scott Conant
Staying away from this one. Need to do more case studies on Momofuku Ko, The Bazaar by José Andrés, L2O and Corton.
OUTSTANDING PASTRY CHEF AWARD
Gina DePalma
Babbo
NYC
Kamel Guechida
Joël Robuchon at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas
Pichet Ong
P*ong
NYC
Nicole Plue
Redd
Yountville, CA
Mindy Segal
Mindy’s HotChocolate
Chicago
I can appreciate the art, but who cares about Pastries?
OUTSTANDING WINE SERVICE AWARD
Bin 36
Chicago
Wine Director: Brian Duncan
Blackberry Farm
Walland, TN
Wine Director: Andy Chabot
Le Bernardin
NYC
Wine Director: Aldo Sohm
Patina
Los Angeles
Wine Director: Eric Espuny
Picasso at Bellagio
Las Vegas
Wine Director: Robert Smith
Either Aldo Sohm from Le Bernardin (the only place in the US I will eat seafood on a Monday) or Robert Smith from Picasso at Bellagio. I still think this award should go to Mark Slater of Citronelle.
Living Funk – Silver Black Summer Day
OUTSTANDING WINE AND SPIRITS PROFESSIONAL AWARD
Dale DeGroff
Dale DeGroff Co., Inc.
NYC
Merry Edwards
Merry Edwards Wines
Sebastopol, CA
Garrett Oliver
The Brooklyn Brewery
Brooklyn, NY
John Shafer and Doug Shafer
Shafer Vineyards
Napa, CA
Julian P. Van Winkle, III
Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery
Louisville, KY
Not even sure I have been to any of these states unless I was “passing thru” during my “distribution” days. And even then, I am pretty sure I took a more southern route.
Best Chef: Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH)
Koren Grieveson
Avec
Chicago
Arun Sampanthavivat
Arun’s
Chicago
Bruce Sherman
North Pond
Chicago
Michael Symon
Lola
Cleveland
Alex Young
Zingerman’s Roadhouse
Ann Arbor, MI
Koren Grieveson of Avec. Where the heck is Shawn McClain of Spring?
Best Chef: New York City (Five Boroughs)
Michael Anthony
Gramercy Tavern
Terrance Brennan
Picholine
Wylie Dufresne
WD-50
Gabrielle Hamilton
Prune
Gabriel Kreuther
The Modern
Wylie Dufresne. Because he is so trippy. Just playing.
Best Chef: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, NY STATE, RI, VT)
Rob Evans
Hugo’s
Portland, ME
Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier
Arrows
Ogunquit, ME
Michael Leviton
Lumiére
West Newton, MA
Tony Maws
Craigie on Main
Cambridge, MA
Marc Orfaly
Pigalle
Boston
Never been to any of those spots or even those states in the last year. Although I am intrigued by Pigalle.
Best Chef: Northwest (AK, ID, MT, OR, WA, WY)
Maria Hines
Tilth
Seattle
Joseba Jiménez de Jiménez
The Harvest Vine
Seattle
Ethan Stowell
Union
Seattle
Cathy Whims
Nostrana
Portland, OR
Jason Wilson
Crush
Seattle
Didn’t go to the great Northwest last year.
Best Chef: Southeast (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV)
Hugh Acheson
Five and Ten
Athens, GA
Linton Hopkins
Restaurant Eugene
Atlanta
Mike Lata
Fig
Charleston, SC
Bill Smith
Crook’s Corner
Chapel Hill, NC
Bob Waggoner
Charleston Grill
Charleston, SC
Lets say Linton Hopkins’ Restaurant Eugene just because I heard good things from one of my old running partners who seems to frequent The Home of The Pimps, Players and Money Makers.
Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers – If It Ain’t Funky (1979)
Best Chef: Southwest (AZ, CO, NM, NV, OK, TX, UT)
Paul Bartolotta
Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare at Wynn Las Vegas
Sharon Hage
York Street
Dallas
Ryan Hardy
Montagna at the Little Nell
Aspen, CO
Claude Le Tohic
Joël Robuchon at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas
Andrew Weissman
Le Rêve
San Antonio
I have dug Paul Bartolotta’s joint since it first opened. Many great meals and nights there. Defeated a very heavy media-hyped up Professional Poker Player/ Playboy there too. Straight Peeled him for his girl right at the bar even before I finished my tuna carpaccio.
Best Chef: South (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS)
Zach Bell
Café Boulud at the Brazilian Court
Palm Beach, FL
John Currence
City Grocery
Oxford, MS
John Harris
Lilette
New Orleans
Douglas Rodriguez
Ola
Miami Beach, FL
Michael Schwartz
Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink
Miami
I have actually wanted to go to City Grocery for a long time, I just never seem to find myself in Oxford, MS. Pick either Lilette or The Savoy housed Ola. Rodriguez is The G on nouveau Latino and Cubano cuisine.
A graffiti artist has vandalised a Banksy image in Hendon in an apparent show of disdain towards his fellow spray painter.
Less than a month after the painting appeared on the wall of a substation at the junction with the A1 and the A406 North Circular Road, it has been defaced by another urban artist.
Before being targeted, the image depicted a boy seemingly marking the wall of a power station with the words “Last Graffiti Before Motorway”.
But over the weekend someone painted the word “PRICE-LESS” across the wall, with one national paper yesterday running pictures of him in action.
Members of the Banksy Forum website, which follows the artist’s work, have condemned the art attack, with one member saying the perpetrator is “jealous, and bitter”.
Another man, who calls himself buddings, responded to suggestions Banksy only carries out work for financial gain, by writing: “I don’t get this at all.
“Banksy wasn’t paid to do it, he wasn’t hoping someone would sell the wall. Banksy could have done the same image on a canvas from the comfort of his studio for a massive amount of money but instead goes out in the middle of the night and gives London a little gift.”
He added: “How the hell does this remind Banksy of what urban art is all about?“
Forum member happy shopper said: “Obviously done by an idiot with no style at all.”
