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April 19th, 2011 | Good Juice, Travelogue
While on a recent trip to the central California coast, I stopped in to visit my good friends Curt and Martha. Prior to a day of decadent tasting of the great Rhone varietal wines of Paso Robles’ west side, we stopped into the Templeton Farmers Market. Though we were committed to a dinner of roast beef, root vegetables and a spring salad, we were inspired by the lovely artichokes that were just harvested early that morning. If you’re feeling adventurous, try out the recipe I posted on my companion website, Tasting Adventure. It’s a nice fresh spring Artichoke Risotto, easy to prepare and takes the best flavors of the artichoke and plants them from your table to your palate.
When in Paso Robles I tend to gravitate to the westside wineries, not only because they are closer to Curt and Martha’s home, but for the most part, I find the wines more interesting and the environment more aesthetically pleasing, to my taste
 anyway. I was happy to see that the people behind Bill Armstrong and his fairly new Epoch Estate Wines purchased the old York Mountain Winery which Martin-Weyrich drove into bankruptcy along with all of their other over leveraged properties and projects. Best of all, they took the sterile and ugly “trailer” that Martin-Weyrcih used for a tasting room and made it into a warm, inviting environment that resembles more a lounge than a tasting room. I do look forward to the renovation of the historic York Mountain Winery building and hope they ultimately move the tasting room back in there.
While on the trail we visited Denner Vineyards which just released their 2010 Denner Vineyards Viognier, light and golden and perfume on the nose and viscous and dances in your mouth with tropical fruit flavors and a hint of butterscotch. We slipped by Tablas Creek Vineyards where we indulged in what I believe is perhaps the best rosé in California, made primarily of Mouvédre the 2010 Tablas Creek Vineyard Rosé with its color of rich cranberry, and flavors of spice, apricot and sour cherry, it’s the perfect summer wine. Stock up now.
With each visit to Curt and Martha’s Casa de las Vistas, I find myself leaving the area before I really settled in, where the comaraderie, good food, wine and endless brainstorming of ideas and dreams quickly fades as the 101 freeway beckons me to head south—until the next trip.
A trip to Paso Robles Wine Country isn’t complete without a picnic lunch from the veritable and fresh Farmstand 46.
The Behaug, a roast beef sandwich with aged cheddar, red pepper, sweet onion and horseradish on toasted rye!
Raisins, beets and greens. Nothing like eye food at the Templeton Farmers Market.
March 22nd, 2011 | Mac My Day It’s no secret I love my iPhone. My friends, clients and associates will all attest for my relentless efforts to help them take advantage of this powerful tool and help them be more productive—and successful.
However, most iPhone users who purchase and download apps rarely use them the day after they bought them. In fact, only 10% of iPhone applications retain its audience over time, according to Greg Yardley, VP of Flurry, a smartphone analytics and monetization platform that tracks over three billion end user application sessions monthly.
As of today there are 367, 232 active apps available for download in the App store, accoring to 148apps.biz. So what apps are people really using? How do you make sense of the wild landscape of iPhone apps? Whether you’re a self-professed techno-geek or simply a blossoming iPhone user, I’ve put together a short list of iPhone Apps I simply cannot do without. But more than just “using” these apps, the key to success and is mastering these apps. Ideally, an app should, more or less, work the way you want to work and not force you into working the way it wants you to work. I think this is why we have such high app abandonment rates among users.
So I’ve provided a quick summary of why I think YOU shouldn’t be without these apps, and offer a tip or two on how to jump start your journey on the road to success. Sorry, there are absolutely no games I can’t do without, though I’m a closet Scrabble junkie, but I’ll save that for another post.
Here are the 5 iPhone Apps every productive and successful person should use:
1) Dragon Dictation – Free
I hate the iPhone and iPad keyboard. As advanced as a species as we humans are, we shouldn’t be pecking away and tiny keys on a phone or tablet. Dragon Dictation frees us from the burden and hassle of tapping away. And lets us use our iPhone as we should: hands free.
Using incredible voice recognition, you simply speak clearly into your phone, using normal language for punctuation or line returns, and when done Dragon Dictation does its magic and translates your voice into text. Simply press one button and the text is automatically pasted into Facebook, e-mail, SMS text message, Twitter or copies to the clipboard for easy pasting into your favorite social media app or other of your choice.
Dragon Dictation Tips:
1) Use punctuation: say period, question mark, comma, exclamation point.
2) Make paragraphs and line returns: say next line, new paragraph
3) Rather than choosing SMS/Text from the Dragon action menu, have a text conversation thread open and choose copy. Double click (fast app-switching) the iPhone button and choose the open SMS app and simply double tap to paste the text into your message. Same goes for email. Faster and less pointing to address the text or email.
2) Google – Free
While the Google App is perhaps a tad bloated, it’s single most useful feature is voice search. You see, I truly am averse to tapping the
keyboard. Simply launch Google, click the microphone icon in the search page and speak your search. The results are spit back at you instantly. If you really want to get tricky, you can take a photograph of something and submit the image as a search, Google will use its advance recognition to determine possible results. Great with bar codes, too. Not sure who the artist is of that painting, take a picture and submit.
Google Search Tips:
1) If you want to navigate and look through many of the results, choose “Open in Safari” as Google will return to the search box after clicking a results link.
2) Be sure to adjust your settings to allow orientation change so you can view your results vertically and horizontally. And set your default to launch the search box.
3) Evernote – Free
 Let’s face it, we all live in a world where we use multiple devices that access the internet, to do our work and to communicate. Any app available for the iPhone that is used to log or capture data that doesn’t provide a Mac OS X equivalent and some method to sync is ultimately useless, in my opinion. Evernote changes that. With Apps designed for Mac OS X, iPad and the iPhone (and Windows 7, Windows Mobile and Android) Evernote syncs your data so that it’s with you wherever you go.
You can categorize your notes by creating different notebooks. I have one for my keynote speaking business, each of my marketing/branding clients, recipes, creative writing and more. No matter where I am, I can capture my writing, rambling, photos or scribbles directly into the appropriate notebook. If I’m using my iPhone or iPad, the note is tagged with my location and searchable accordingly. Now I know where my best (and worst) ideas come from!
Evernote lets you capture information any way you want. Clip web pages,text, photographs and audio. Take a photograph of something that contains text: a menu, billboard, brochure, road sign etc., and it will convert that photo into a pdf and convert words into text. This makes the text from that photograph searchable within Evernote. I took a photograph of some hand scribbled notes I had from a conference and when I search, I get results from my poor, but recognizable by Evernote, handwriting.
Evernote Tips:
1) Take pictures of napkin brainstorms, scribbles and more. Get rid of the paper. The note is archived forever and is converted into text searchable by Evernote.
2) Use Voice Notes for capturing ideas. Forget the iPhone Voice Memos app, use Evernote and record your ideas, conversations and more. Then apply tags that make it instantly searchable.
4) WorldCard Mobile Lite – Free (full version available for $5.99)
I n keeping with my theme of avoiding any keyboard entry into you iPhone or iPad, WorldCard is the most amazing tool for capturing contact information from business cards I’ve ever used. It recognizes e-mail addresses, the difference between mobile, office and fax numbers and enters them in the appropriate fields in the iPhone Contacts app. And if you’re good and using MobileMe, these contacts are automatically sync’d with all your computers, tablets and mobile devices.
No longer do business cards bulge from my wallet or are scattered on my desk waiting for me to enter into my contact list. I simply take a photograph of the card with my iPhone and 98% of the time the information is translated into text correctly and in the appropriate fields. I can then toss the business card. If I’m really good, I’ll take a photo of my new contact and assign it to the new record in my Contacts file on my iPhone.
I’m using the free app and it’s fast, accurate and saves me an incredible amount of time.
Evernote Tips:
1) After you’ve entered a contact, be sure to toss the card. You’ll still accumulate cards, but make a point at end of day or first thing in ther morning to convert your cards to contacts so that the cards don’t pile up.
2) It works with both horizontal and vertically designed cards. Some company names that are merely logos may not convert to text, so you may still have minor keyboard entry. But WorldCard makes it easy.
3) I use the free version, though associates tell me the paid version is a bit snappier and packed with additional features. Start with free and use it. You’ll be blown away.
5) My AT&T – Free
 Okay. This is a no-brainer. With the free myAT&T app I can monitor my call, text message and data usage. None of this worries me too much because I’ve been grandfathered on the unlimited data plan. However, because I travel outside the states often, I like the ability to turn on and off features such as data roaming, international text messaging plans and more. Rather than waiting on hold with AT&T customer care, I can turn on and off services on the fly. And because data can be incredibly expensive abroad, I am sure to rest my data to zero before take off at the airport, this way I can be sure to monitor my data usage and avoid excess charges like the $3,000 bill I ended up with in South America. Never again.
My AT&T Tips:
1) Use this app when you travel outside the country. If you don’t have an unlimted plan domestically, you can easily watch your data usage and adjust accordingly.
Tell Us About Your Most Useful Apps.
Remember, an App is only useful if you use it at least once every day or two. How many apps do you have on your iPhone? Which Apps can you live without?
Which Apps have changed your life and made you more productive and successful. Please share so we can follow up with the best of the best.
And, while the five apps I profiled here are my most useful, it’s worth mentioning a few other notable apps that might make your life easier. Check them out, too!
Most Useful iPhone Apps: Runners Up:
1) 1Password – the most useful App on my desktop and laptop PC and very useful on my iPhone
2) Skype – I’ve got a lot of friends outside the US who can call me from the computer and it actually rings on my phone if my Skype App is active. It’s amazing
3) Google Voice – I can access Google Voice messages and receive and send SMS messages easily
4) MailChimp – perhaps the best e-mail marketing service available, this iPhone App allows me to access report for my clients, add names on the fly to email campaign lists and manage my campaigns.
5) Remote – I do have AppleTV and yet I hate the slickly designed but clumsily operated gum stick remote. With this app I have much more fluid operations when navigating my AppleTV.
6) Seesmic – There are so many good Apps that let you access and post to your various Social Media Networks. While I like HootSuite and Tweetdeck, I find Seesmic to be more a more clever interface, though unlike Hootsuite, it’s not integrated with FourSquare, which it really should.
March 21st, 2011 | Good Juice“>  1992 Ferrari-Carano Reserve Tresor Cabernet Sauvignon 1992 Ferrari-Carano Reserve Tresor surprises me for a19 year-old Sonoma Cab
 This bottle has been kicking around my cellar for more than ten years. I must admit, I wasn’t excited about opening this wine. But as the adage goes, it’s not going to get any younger, so with apprehension and low expectations I pulled the cork on this nearly 20 year old Sonoma cabernet from Ferrari – Carano Vineyards.
When I think of Ferrari-Carano, I usually think of the over oaked Chardonnay that for a time was a popular wine by the glass in many restaurants. The Tresor, a bordeaux style wine that blends all five of the bordeaux varietals, is a very limited production reserve wine. Perhaps I thought of opening it because I actually saw a current release on the top shelf in the Von’s grocery wine section in nearby Carlsbad. It was selling for about $80, though currently Von’s is selling its entire wine inventory at 30% off. Buy six bottles or more and they’ll knock another 10 percent. So the Ferrari-Carano Tresor was selling for about $60.
But a 1992? I did a quick scan through CellarTracker. Nobody has one in their cellar. There were no tasting notes, at all. Then I went over to WineSearcher. Same thing. None for sale. Perhaps my 1992 Ferrari-Carano Tresor Reserve was the only remaining bottles, save the wineries library.
I pulled the cork.
Storage is everything when it comes to drinking older wines. And by the look of the cork, this bottle was stored impeccably. In the glass it barely showed signs of age. A little tinge of browning on the edge, but mostly a rich opaque ruby red color. And on the nose? Showing dried cherry, slightly earthy with some straw and hints of cedar, mushroom and coffee grounds. On the palate this wine showed amazing balance with ripe plum, olive and dried cherry and pomegranate. It’s only flaw, and this would be for a new bottle, was a slight drying on the finish. But the finish lasted for a good 30+ seconds. Wow. This wine was made at a time that California and new world winemakers were NOT pushing extraction, alcohol and ripeness. This tasted like bordeaux with a California pedigree. The odd bottle that had been pushed around for months—years—in my cellar surprised and amazed me. Too bad there’s not another bottle—anywhere. Good job Ferrari-Carano, you do know how to make good—great—wine.
1992 Ferrari-Carano Reserve Tresor – 93 points (tasted 3/19/11)
Sunday afternoon is an excellent day to stroll along Cedros Street in Sonana Beach’s design district where local farmers, chefs and street vendors set up shop for one of the nicer farmer’s markets in North County San Diego.
Open from 1-5pm the small market meanders up a narrow pathway on the east side of the street a few blocks south of Birmingham. From organic produce to grass fed meats and artisinal bakeries and gourmet products, it’s what you expect from a farmer’s market—people with passion about food and sharing. And it’s always good to support local farmers and entrepreneurs.
I’d never seen a lemon like the “Citron Buddha Hand Lemons” one farmer was hawking for three bucks a piece. Three elderly ladies were fondling its arthritic looking fingers before they yielded to the lens of my camera. A quick google search revealed that the Chinese and Japanese use it, not for cooking but, for perfuming rooms and clothing. In Western cooking it’s often used for zest or for a tart candy when made into a chewy succade.
I opted out of the purchases, but with my newfound knowledege, I look forward to a return to the Solana Beach Farmer’s Market for more tasty fresh organic treats and a citron buddha’s hand lemon. I’ll be sure to share the adventure and discovery on the pages at Tasting Adventure—a new project that is in development and related to my upcoming book.
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Low tide in the late afternoon in Solana Beach makes for a perfect time to walk on the beach. As the sun makes its descent and the glowing orb paints the bluffs orange and yellow and the shadows of beachcombers stretch and dance across the damp sand. Good thing I made the time today to wander and wonder.
A vey passionate winemaker whose wines are some of the best I’ve discovered in recent years just announced that he will be issuing a refund to anyone who bought one of his most recent releases. Why? Because he doesn’t feel the quality is up to the standards he strives for and is committed to making.
Wow!
I’ve been passionate about wine for more than 15 years, beginning my wine adventure just before the first wave of California Cult wines were espoused, and perhaps created, by legendary and controversial wine critic Robert Parker. I quickly found myself on dozens of mailing list of impossible to get cult wines, though I continued to taste and discover the next and the next.
I would also search out the small and passionate producers and winemakers whose wines were made with love, passion and attention to quality yet were small and often off the radar to reviewers at The Wine Advocate or the Wine Spectator. Soon my cellar was crammed with some 2,000 wines. Too many to drink in a lifetime, my friends would say. Nestled next to to the Screaming Eagles, Harlans, and Hillside Selects were Alban’s, T-Vines, Linne Colados, Copains, Andrew Wills, Penner Ashes, Talismans, Corisons, Littorais, Terre Rouges and then some. I searched, tasted wine often and discovered.
That was then.
Then I took off and spent more than three years Tasting Adventure: riding around the world alone on a motorcycle. Funny, but I happened to find my route drifting through wine regions such as the Colchagua and Casablanca valleys of Chile, Mendoza in Argentina, Uruguay, southern Brazil and South Africa and onward. I even discovered bottle capped wines in Ethiopia. My passion for wine followed me as I followed my passion for discovery.
When I returned I looked at what was left of my cellar and realized that while it had a lot of depth, there was little breadth. And chocked with big names from here and from over there, I realized it was time to redicsover what seduced me about wine in the first place. It didn’t take long. That mystery, come hither look of the gentle shoulders and smooth neck of a bottle of wine was the same feeling I got when my fingers gently turned the globe. Curiosity and discovery.
For me, there’s nothing like the feeling of discovering something that touches my senses, tingles my skin and promises to deliver an experience that takes me to new places. Sounds incredible, huh? You know the feeling. Even better, when it’s your little secret. Excited to share it with just those friends who share the passion and appreciation for such an experience.
Bedrock Wine Company I had that feeling. That experience. Bedrock’s first “official” release was barely two years ago with the 2007 vintage. Winemaker Morgan Twain-Peterson grew up crawling around cellars, standing on wine barrels and sharing wine with family and friends. His father founded Sonoma County’s Ravenswood Winery, which was sold to Constellation Brands in 2001, about the time Morgan was a sophomore at Vassar College. He ultimately studied and worked at wineries in Australia and Bordeaux, before returning to his home in Sonoma where he hung his shingle and formed Bedrock.”>
When I discovered Bedrock Wine Company I had that feeling. That experience. Bedrock’s first “official” release was barely two years ago with the 2007 vintage. Winemaker Morgan Twain-Peterson grew up crawling around cellars, standing on wine barrels and sharing wine with family and friends. His father founded Sonoma County’s Ravenswood Winery, which was sold to Constellation Brands in 2001, about the time Morgan was a sophomore at Vassar College. He ultimately studied and worked at wineries in Australia and Bordeaux, before returning to his home in Sonoma where he hung his shingle and formed Bedrock.
I bought a mixed case of the first vintage of Bedrock wines, including a few heirloom wines. These heirloom wines are from classic old vineyards, most more than 100 years old. Planted by families of some of the first settlers in California, many Italian immigrants, the vineyards are a mishmash of obscure grape varietals, including some that are stumping the best ampelographers at UC Davis and in Bordeaux to identify . Without sophisticated wine making equipment, chemical analysis or new age yeasts, they’d plant a mix of grapes and make a single wine from the vineyard—a field blend. Winemakers today do all the blending in the lab or barrel rooms. The wines were stunning. While I was fascinated and blown away by the heirlooms wines, it was the 2007 Kick Ranch Syrah that stopped my in my tracks.
Working the cellars at Ravenswood, Morgan is no stranger to the notion hard work and passion breeds great things.
Bedrock Wine Company was my little secret. Small production wines crafted with passion and with a commitment to heritage and history by focusing on old vineyards—vineyards that potentially could yield its owners much more money per ton of grapes if they were replanted with Cabernet or Pinot, or the trendy wine du jour. I shared this secret with a select few.
Morgan isn’t shy about his passion and commitment, either. Who else posts on their website a winery’s objective is “To reclaim rose’ from the excesses of saignee and focus on precision, delicacy, aromatics, and food friendliness.”? Or, “To make fascinating and quixotic white wines from unique sites and interesting varietals.” Or, my favorite: “To dream big but keep production low!”
Alas, all things must pass.
In mid and late 2010 the wine industry press raved about the wines, including Robert Parker who in September gave every one of Bedrock’s wines tasted scores between 92 and 95 points. My secret was out.
To be sure, once a wine receives such high scores, they sell out quickly. Sometimes scores like this give wineries a license to print money, allowing some to hold high-scoring wines hostage unless customers buy lower rated or less desirable wines. Even worse, a 99 or perfect 100-point score from Robert Parker can see some winemakers join the ranks of the greedy on Wall Street, like John Alban (Alban Vineyards) who after receiving a 100-point score for his 2005 Reva Syrah increased the price of the wine 76% to $167 from the prior years (2004) offering at $95, causing uproar and defection from many of those loyal customers who’d been buying his wines for more than 10 years—long before US wine drinkers warmed up to Rhone-style wines and Parker’s high scores.
Then you have young winemakers like Morgan Twain-Peterson, who told me he will not increase his prices unless his costs increase. And he will do the best he can to continue to offer the wines in reasonable quantity to those who’ve been with him since the beginning—albeit a very short history. After the huge scores were published, most of Bedrock wines sold out in just hours.
His next release, in November 2010, was made up of some small lots from the 2009 vintage, including heirloom wines, pinot noirs, a Sonoma County Syrah and a Russian River Zinfandel. These sold out in a few days by wine buyers waiting with bated breath and palate for the latest from Bedrock. Keep in mind, most of his releases are just a few hundred cases each. I was lucky enough to get a selection of Bedrock’s winter release, but haven’t yet opened a single bottle.
Yesterday Morgan e-mailed me, and everyone else who bought his 2009 Russian River Valley Zinfandel:
Hi Everyone,
After a lot of thought, laboratory testing, and more thought I have decided to issue a refund for the 2009 Russian River Valley Zinfandel. For a number of reasons I can theorize about, the wine in bottle little resembles the wine many people enjoyed out of barrel while tasting at the winery. Though I think the wine will improve in bottle it is not reflective of the standards of quality that I pride myself on keeping at Bedrock Wine Co.. As such, any wine that has not been shipped will stay at the winery and I will be issuing refunds to everyone who purchased the wine via the mailing list. Refunds will be issued over the course of this week and next as I will personally be doing the line-item deletions and refunds from each order, which is a bit time consuming. My apologies for this inconvenience but it is of utmost importance to me that those people who order my wine receive juice that is stellar. […]
My apologies and continued thanks for your support,
Morgan Twain-Peterson
One of my bottles of Bedrock Wine Company 2009 Russian River Valley Zinfandel
As far as I know, this is a wine industry first: where a winemaker without hesitation unilaterally and unabashedly refunds, to every customer, 100% of the price of a bottle of wine he feels doesn’t reflect “the standards of quality that I pride myself in keeping.” Wow, Morgan! Let’s talk about integrity and passion.
He didn’t have to do this. In fact, I’d bet that most who bought that wine would enjoy it and believe that at $22, the cost on release, would be a good value. In fact, I’ve been in tasting rooms where I’m handed a glass of a corked wine, yet two-thirds of the bottle already consumed. And in the tasting room, people sipping away and most assuredly thinking that’s the way it should taste—as if it’s just the wine.
To be sure, most wineries will replace a corked or tainted bottle someone purchased if brought to their attention. But to broadly contact every buyer and inform them that a refund is coming their way? Never.
Take a look at what happened at Beaulieu Vineyard (BV) in the late 90′s, when Morgan was in high-school. Wine Spectator, along with other winemakers and wine buyers noticed a recurring problem with BV’s expensive cabernets. Writing in the Wine Spectator in late 2002, California wine editor James Laube noticed that BV wines showed “musty flavors, sometimes faint, sometimes overpowering. It was the distinctive character of TCA (2,4,6 trichloroanisole), a flaw usually associated with tainted corks.”
After a series of blind tastings and laboratory testing by a leading wine analyst, the BV wines showed positive TCA results—in fact, Laube found that all the BV wines tested contained significant levels of TCA. When brought to the attention of BV and Joel Aiken, its winemaker, he admitted that they experienced a higher than average incidence of corky wines.
Further testing by BV revealed that a particular humidified red-wine cellar had registered high TCA levels and was the likely culprit tainting wines stored there.
Even though the wines were noticeably tainted or corked, Laube wrote “the maddening part about TCA taint is that not everyone notices it. BV said it had received only four consumer complaints about corky wines in the past year.”
But did BV do anything about its discoveries and tainted wines? I’m sure it replaced the wines complained by four of its customers. But for others, it continued to sell and distribute wines it knew were flawed.
What would Morgan Twain-Peterson have done?
Laube summed it up best, writing in the Wine Spectator in December 2002:
“It’s a shame that no one at BV took the flaws in their wines seriously enough to investigate, and that they allow the TCA contamination to linger through at least three vintages. But even if most consumers never notice the TCA in BV’s reds, how the winery deals with the problem now will determine whether or not people embrace their wines in the future.”
I’m sure other winemakers have let bottles leave their cellars that may not have held up to some level of standards. And others, like Hanzell Vineyards, who suspended sales temporarily when it discovered higher than average TCA levels in some of its wines. No matter what, it’s the winemaker or winery decision that matters. Whichever they choose when releasing a bottle that’s perhaps not up to the quality consistent with the brand or vineyard, I just hope they sleep well at night.
I’m going to open a bottle of that 2009 Bedrock Wine Company Russian River Valley Zinfandel and pour it—blind—alongside some of its high quality zin brethren and see if I can discover anything new. After all, wine is about learning and discovering.
If you’re in the area and want to discover along with me, let me know.
Meanwhile, thanks Morgan. You are the real deal and the industry would certainly be enriched by more like you.
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Editors note: I interviewed Morgan at Bedrock in Septebmer 2010, the interview will be featured in a Podcast here next week. Stay tuned. Subscribe for updates.
February 19th, 2011 | Creative PursuitI’m hardly a creature of habit, but there are those things I often revisit that serve as a reminder to me that perhaps I should make a habit of paying more attention.
Simple things, like grapefruits and sunsets.
I remember many years ago as a towheaded New Englander those days my grandparents returned from their annual pilgrimage to Florida. They’d show up at our house with tanned faces, big smiles and sacks of fresh oranges and grapefruits. Lots of them. The ensuing mornings were filled with citrus delights. I remember gripping our serrated grapefruit spoons with bamboo handles like a tennis racket and digging into the pink flesh of the freshly cut grapefruit. Low riding in the chair, I could barely get my chin over the kitchen table, when squirt, the juices of the grapefruit freed by my spoon making perfect aim at my eyes. Ouch.
The best part was the end. After devouring the flesh and veins of the fruit, I’d grip the skin and squeeze it catching the remaining juice in that serrated spoon and slurping it down my throat, noises and all. I’d give my wrist a good workout until the fruit was spent. Finished. Until the next morning.
This grapefruit ritual would last until those sacks were empty, until the next year. The oranges? My mom would cut them into wedges and we’d bite into them folding our lips over the skins, making some kind of devious mask or muzzle, and then try to talk, yet mumble. My brother and I would then peel the skin from our teeth and and bite every last bit of the juicy orange.
Sunsets, on the other hand, my grandfather could not bring back from Florida. But with each orange and morning grapefruit, I did taste the sunshine—and the sunrise.
It wasn’t until I journeyed west did I begin to truly appreciate sunsets. I think we are just simply genetically programmed to stare in awe and be captivated by sunsets. Not all the time, though. Sure, our busy lives, to do lists, e-mail, tweets, appointments and addiction to LCD screens and smartphones, often interfere with our enjoyment of such simple pleasures; or leave us taking them for granted.
So we all can use a little reminder. Just how a few minutes, at the end of the day, can make all those busy moments earlier in the day, gently fade with the sun. And those reflections of color on clouds, sand or the glass windows of a high-rise, give our eyes a needed break from our LCDs, so we too, can shine and reflect.
What do you think?
I continued to be impressed with the camera and its capabilities on Apple’s iPhone 4 or 4G, however you wish to refer to it. Yesterday afternoon while roaming around Orange County and Newport Beach I was stunned by the dramatic sky and clarity as ominous clouds hung over the coastline and the rugged terrain of Catalina Island seemed so close I could touch it, even though it sits 21 miles off the coast.
While summer sunsets in Southern California have tropical leanings, it’s the winter skies recently cleansed by days of rainfall and awash in swaths of cirrus and stratocumulus clouds that give sunsets textured surfaces to reflect. As my friend Tim is fond of saying, sunsets come alive after the sun goes down.
The iPhone 4 in HDR mode, which is selectable on screen after the camera is launched, takes three images in rapid fire succession, one normal exposure, one under exposed and the third, over exposed. It then merges these images to create a photo that leverages the best blended-exposure for those “hot” and “dark” areas in an image when lighting isn’t optimal–such as the sunset shots you see here. By default, the iPhone 4 saves the original normal exposed image and the merged enhanced image. This can be adjusted in the settings for the phone. Check out the pairs of images show using the HDR (high dynamic range) setting of the Apple iPhone 4G. Not I varied the focus area in these images and therefore the area for where iPhone sets its ‘normal’ exposure.
In all of the images here, the normal exposed image is on the left and the HDR enhanced image is on the right. Click on any image for a higher resolution image. Below I show an iPhone 4 HDR taken inside with hot incandescent backlighting.
By changing the focal point and therefore exposure setting, you can experiment for interesting effect.
Sunset Over Newport Harbor, Newport, Beach, California – 5:04pm January 6, 2011
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If you haven’t played with the HDR capabilities of your iPhone 4, I think it’s worth checking out. Here’s one final example of an interior shot of my friend Rob in a hotel room where hot lighting in the background is blown out in the normal exposed version, but tempered rather nicely in the HDR merged image.
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Backlash Against High Fructose Corn Syrup Grows
I don’t claim to be a nutritionist, yet I prefer to eat healthy. Though, I am a foodie, in my own unique way. I love to cook, experiment with recipes and explore different cuisines. That’s why I’m writing a cookbook. It’s an exciting concept. I’m focusing on around the world with real food and real people made simple. It will blend stories and photographs from my around the world motorcycle adventure with recipes from some 35 countries. Stay tuned, more on this exciting project as it evolves.
When it comes to food and nutrition, it’s no secret I’ve got an ax to grind when it comes to high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Sure, when I was growing up, perhaps, sugar was evil. My mom never bought nor allowed soft drinks in our home. On the Hawaiian archipelago, farmers grew sugar cane (and pineapples). Not so much anymore.
High-fructose corn syrup has been the preferred sweetener for many years for a number of reasons. First, government subsidies on corn make it cheaper than sucrose (sugar). And second, the government imposes high tariffs on imported sugar. In Hawaii, hotels and golf courses, I imagine, have historically delivered a high return on capital than sugar cane farming. And those US territories like Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands? I guess they can’t compete with the corn subsidies either.
Sugar tariffs aren’t new. Our young country imposed the first tariff in 1789. Over the next century and a half the tariffs were controversial and contributed to partisan debate, sugar industry lobbying and election politicking. I will avoid a historical treatise on the various farm bills, sugar taxes, tariffs and related quotas that our country endured, all in effort to protect our farmers and control sugar prices.
To refresh your understanding of HFCS, it’s the most widely used sweetener in food and beverages in the US. High-fructose corn syrup is made through a process that changes the naturally occuring sugar content in cornstarch to a form of sweetener called fructose. To break down some of the cornstarch into fructose, a number of enzymes are added to the separated cornstarch: alpha-amylase, glucoamylase and glucose-isomerase. After this enzymatic process, which results in a mix of 90% fructose and 10% glucose,which is blended with the original corn syrup to achieve the desired sweetness types: HFCS 55 (55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose) and HFCS 42 (42 percent fructose and 58 percent glucose). HFCS 55 is the most widely used. It serves as the main sweetener for soft drinks and prepared foods.
Fact is, HFCS is processed and, as such, is in processed food. We grow a lot of corn in the United States. And there are government subsidies to help our corn farmers. This is also controversial. Seems that we go out of our way to protect our farmers, which sometimes isn’t in our best interest. Food and soft drink producers can buy HFCS cheaper than natural sugar. But HFCS is under attack and blamed for the growing obesity problem in our country. Even more, earlier this year researchers at UCLA’s Johnson Cancer center say that “cancer cells can readily metabolize fructose to increase proliferation.” The study, they say, “may help explain other studies that have linked fructose intake with pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancer types.”
Though the American Beverage Association and the Corn Refiners Association have long argued sugar is sugar. The researchers at UCLA found otherwise. They grew pancreatic cancer cells in lab dishes and fed them both glucose and fructose. Tumor cells thrive on sugar but they used the fructose to proliferate. “Importantly, fructose and glucose metabolism are quite different,” the researchers wrote.
Another problem with a corn subsidies and our propensity to tax sugar is ethanol. As we strive to lessen our dependence on foreign fossil fuels and move to more green or sustainable energy sources, we must consider bio-fuels such as ethanol. There are many ways to produce ethanol, but some are just not economically feasible or environmentally friendly. Our government, led by politicians in corn growing states, fancy a possible future of ethanol produced from domestic corn.
In South America, Brazil has been extremely successful in producing ethanol from sugar cane. So much that Brazil is nearly self-sufficient when it comes to energy sources–ethanol and domestic oil drilling. In fact, Brazil could be a source of ethanol for the United States. However sugar tariffs make it too expensive—54 cents for each gallon of Brazilian ethanol imported into this country. And if the American Sugar Alliance have their way, this tariff will never go away.
One this is for sure: the sugar industry is doing better as a result of the backlash against HFCS.
I will change eating habits or go out of my way to avoid purchasing products with HFCS. So, I realized recently I had no ketchup in the fridge. It’s no wonder, I hardly eat or use ketchup, but needed some for a little cookout of hotdogs and hamburgers. As a brand loyalist to Heinz, I picked up the bottle and read the ingredients. Sure enough, the number two ingredient is high-fructose corn syrup. Disgusted, I scanned the shelf. Then it jumped out and hit me like a two-by-four on the head: Hunts Ketchup. Screaming with green type on a yellow snipe: “NO High Fructose Corn Syrup.” I picked up the bottle and tossed it into my basket.
In April of this year ConAgra Foods, the parent of Hunt’s brand products, removed HFCS from all of its ketchup products. Stating its decision was “in direct response to consumer demand.”
“The 2009 HealthFocus® Trend Report indicated consumer concern over high fructose corn syrup has risen from 27% of shoppers being extremely or very concerned in 2004 to 45% of shoppers in 2008.”
According to BevReview, 2009 was the year “we finally saw mainstream reinforcement of the sugar vs. high fructose corn syrup flavor experience.” That’s when Pepsi rolled out Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback–soft drinks made with real sugar.
Here in Southern California, there is almost a cult following for what is referred to as “Mexican Coke,” classic Coca-Cola made with pure cane sugar—no HFCS—even better, served in classic real glass bottles—no plastic.
Next time you’re food shopping, check out the ingredients of what’s in your basket. You may be surprised. I do know this, we’ll continue to see the big brands pulling back on HFCS, and that’s a good thing.
Last month I had an opportunity to attend the annual National Speakers Assocation (NSA) annual convention. This year the event was held at the World Center Marriott in Orlando, Florida in the shadows of the “house of the mouse.”
I decided to attend just days before and new to this business of speaking, I had no idea what to expect. Though, I was sure I needed to be there.
For those of you who aren’t up to date, since returning from my three-year solo odyssey around the world on a motorcycle, I’ve been sharing my experiences as a professional keynote speaker. My keynote speeches are designed to inspire people to do and live better. My presentations combine fast paced humor with heart-stopping tales from around the world motorcycle. I try to make audiences laugh while they absorb lessons I learned on the road—lessons applicable to both our lives in business and at home. I move audiences too, with touching stories of the beauty and kindness in humanity. From a business point of view, my keynote talks inspire people to step outside their comfort zone and take a chance. My stories illuminate the beauty in diversity and the importance of creativity, innovation and communication to success. I have a website dedicated to my speaking business, if you’re interested.
In short, I was blown away by the convention. Not so much by the general and breakout sessions, but rather by the people I met.
Sure, the sessions were enlightening and information. And often they were inspiring and motivating. Watching Chad Hymas, a quadriplegic passionately deliver a keynote presentation had me both in tears and holding my sides laughing. Or listening to Wintley Phipps tell his amazing stories of chance and then singing perhaps the most soulful version of Amazing Grace I’ve ever heard. And I couldn’t scribble notes fast enough while learning presentation techniques and speech construction from the legendary Patricia Fripp (who, I was surprised to learn, is guitar legend Robert Fripp’s sister). And then there’s Lou Heckler. With some 30+ years experience in speaking, I found nobody who could connect with an audience and tell a story as good as Lou. Jean Gatz told me that the best way to judge the effectiveness of a speaker is by how many times you look at your watch while he/she is speaking.
I could go on with further name dropping and tidbits from the convention, but I’m afraid I’d leave someone out. To be sure, I’m confident that many of the new friends I met will be long term and even potential partners and mentors.
More importantly, however, was how surprised I was and the feeling I got from most everyone I met. Make no mistake, this convention was full of people who like to talk. And full of people with very big egos. Some rightfully so, some perhaps yet to be proved. Regardless, however, everyone is willing to help everyone. Keep in mind that 2009 was the worst year in the speaking business—ever. And in many ways we all compete with each other. Sure, there are varying categories of speakers, but we’re still competing for the diminishing dollars spent on meetings and speakers. This will change. Even so, members of the NSA are willing to share and help one another. As a newcomer and first timer to the convention I found many members offering their time, introducing me to their peers and asking me how they could help me. Coming out of the marketing and advertising world, this is refreshing. And perhaps this attitude has its roots in NSA founder Cavett Robert who said some 40 years ago, “As speakers, we never fight over the size of our slice of the pie, we build a bigger pie.” I think that spirit is clearly evident—even to this newcomer.
As another member shared with me, “the most precious gift you can offer anyone is your time.” So if any of my readers need a little help, advice, feedback or encouragement, drop me a note. I’d be happy to help.
Before attending the NSA Convention in Orlando, I wasn’t a member. Today I am.
What speakers have you heard over the last few years? And would you recommend them? Why?
June 24th, 2010 | Mac My DayI didn’t really need an excuse to convince myself to buy a new iPhone. Yet putting it through the complete wash cycle in the automatic washer clinched the deal. Returning from a recent motorcycle and camping journey through the Sierra Nevada mountains (if you’re not following my WorldRider blog, you might want to now) I tossed in the smokey clothes and road worn motorcycle gear complete with my iPhone 3G in one of the pockets into the washer. I set it outside for two days to dry to no avail. Actually, the phone connects to my computer and allows me to sync, but the screen is the white screen of death. Nothing.
I was in Bishop, California with a working iPhone 3G when Steve announced the new phone to the world. A little more than a week later I washed the iPhone I bought shortly after arriving back in the USA, almost two years ago. But what to do? With some two weeks before the new phone would hit the streets, I needed a working phone.
So I tore through some boxes of memorabilia I’d stashed from my three-year around the world motorcycle trip (remember, you should subscribe) and pulled out the trusty SonyEricsson P1i smartphone that I carried around the world. Unlocked and 4-band GSM, I simply bought SIM cards for most of the 35 countries I visited. This is a pre first-generation iPhone smartphone. It runs Symbian, has a stylus, is 3G and quite good. But it’s not an iPhone. But using the phone for the last 10 days or so brought back many memories. Even more, this nearly 4 year old phone has innovations that the iPhone 4 just debuted. My Sony Ericsson P1i has a front facing camera which I used to video-chat while in South Africa, Namibia and even Tanzania. Plus, it has an incredibly powerful LED flash for the 3 megapixel camera, that also takes damn good video.
But it’s not an iPhone.
L to R: my old iPhone 3G, only a white screen of death after washing it; my P1i: notice the front facing camera; my new iPhone 4 and the bumper ‘guard’
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Note the rear camera on my Sony Ericsson P1i and its LED lights! Very bright too! This is vintage 2007 and I was video chatting in Africa in 2008!
With confirmation of my iPhone 4 pre-order, I headed to the Apple Store in Carlsbad at about 5am this morning where I became about the 50th person waiting in the “reserved” line. There were nearly 200 hundred or more people waiting in the “no reservation” line. By the time the store opened for business at 7am there were more than 400 people waiting to get their hands on an iPhone. At the front of the line there were a couple dozen people in sleeping bags, with air mattresses and even someone with a full-size traditional mattress. They’d been there all night.
This Apple store and its employees did more than anyone might expect to make those passionate iPhone 4 fans comfortable. When I arrived, there was a video projector and sound system playing big screen movies on the wall of an adjacent store when I arrived. The night before Apple bought a bunch of pizzas for the hard core staying the night. As the sun started to rise, Apple wheeled out a convenience cart with a large thermos filled with Starbucks coffee. Other employees wheeled around another cart offering water, juice, croissants, breakfast bars and muffins to those in line. And this continued even after the doors opened at 7am.
Though not everyone was happy. One woman complained how slow the line moved for those without pre-order reservations. Turns out that only one ‘walk up’ customer for every 10 reserved customers could buy a phone. As time passed the ration was dropped to 5 to one. I simply pulled out my laptop and worked on a project while I waited. By 8AM I had my new iPhone and synced it with my MobileMe, Apps and photos.
How do I like my new iPhone 4? I’m duly impressed — especially with the screen, the new Retina display. It’s crisp, contrasty, sharp and bright. Plus, the ability to shoot video, while available on the 3GS, was new to me. I walked around the store and shot a rough video of the madness. I also bought the Apple $29 bumper — a protective frame that fits around the perimeter of the phone. This not only provides additional shock absorption in the event of a drop, it also will prevent the inevitable scratching of the front and back glass when setting the phone down on any surface.
Walk-in unreserved line.
Early AM waiting for iPhone 4
Lovely Carlsbad Apple Store employee wheels a cart of muffins, croissants and more to those waiting in line to get their hands on the new iPhone 4.
After the doors opened in Carlsbad an iPhone 4 hard core abandoned his mattress and headed to the cash register.
The quality in manufacturing precision is evident simply when holding the phone in your hand. And the phone is snappy. Applications open quick and scrolling through App pages is fast. Some apps use new transitional animations and these blend seamlessly without hiccup.
There have been a few behavioral idiosyncrasies I will share. First, when syncing my photos iTunes goes through a process of optimizing the photos; I’m assuming to take advantage of the high-resolution Retina display. Depending on the number of photos synced, this can take a long time. I have some 2,000 photos currently. I have iTunes sync some highlight photos from my WorldRider journey, and all photos and projected taken or created in the last month. Problem is, iTunes seems to go through the lengthy process each time I connect my iPhone and sync. It should truly ‘sync’ and optimize only those new photos added since last sync. It doesn’t appear to do this.
Second, I purchased the new iMovie for iPhone App. I did this from iTunes and not through the App Store “App” on my iPhone. After agreeing to the $4.99 price, downloading the App and updating some 15 Apps I synced the phone again. Later, eager to share the iMovie App with a friend, I realized it wasn’t installed. I had confirmation that I’d purchased it, but when I searched the App store using the iPhone, only a couple iMovie related Apps showed up. Not the new iMovie. The only way I found the iMovie was through the App Store “Top 25″ list.
Hey, but iMovie IS cool. Here’s a short two-minute video I made of footage shot just moments after getting my hands on the highly sought after iPhone 4 on its release day.
The third problem may be App related or a bug in the iOS4. One of my favorite photography Apps is the free Joby Gorillacam. This handy utility gives added functionality to the iPhone camera including turning the entire screen into a shutter trigger (Press Anywhere), a self-timer, time lapse tool, bubble level and image stabilization. Perhaps my favorite is 3 Shot Burst. This simply takes three photos each time you press the shutter—giving you three chances for a solid and sharp photo. This App must be running after shooting photos so it can save the photos buffered to memory. I shot a dozen or so photos and let the App save the photos, but about 20 minutes later I realized non of the photos were in my Camera Roll. It appeared that the photos never saved. However, a couple hours later the photos magically appeared in my Camera Roll. Where were they hanging out for a few hours?
Another strange message happened when syncing my ring tones through iTunes: one ring tone wouldn’t sync because “the ring tone is too long.” Funny, I’d sync’d that ring tone many times using iOS 3.x — seems there’s a limit with iOS 4; this particular ringtone was 1:04—perhaps one minute is the threshold, I don’t know.
Finally, as beautiful as the new Retina Display is, its high-gloss design is a magnet for fingerprints and smudge marks. Sure these aren’t very noticeable when viewing full screen dynamic images or Apps, but it’s glaringly obvious when the iPhone just sits on the desk or conference table. Let’s face it, we can’t always be glued to our beautiful Retina displays.
Overall I am very pleased with the phone and use I’ve given it for the last 10 hours. I’ve yet to create folders, play with background screens/wallpaper or engage fully Apps taking advantage of new features such as multitasking or the gyro. Yet I look forward to packing my Sony Ericsson back into the box of memorabilia and spending time with my new iPhone 4.
What are your experience with the phone and iOS 4?
UPDATE: 6/25/10 11:10PM
Used iMovie to edit a video of very rough footage shot after getting my iPhone earlier this morning. No problem uploading to YouTube except that it only uploaded a low resolutoin verson of 320P. Been trying to upload a higher resolution 720P version to MobileMe but after 5 failed attempts I’m giving up. Why won’t this upload to MobileMe. Same network, same video, same deal and over local WIFI – but no go. Seems silly. Check out the YouTube video here.
Living in Southern California certainly has its benefits. The weather is perhaps the best in the country, there’s great live music, entertainment and most of the airports, even the smaller regional hubs are well served by the airlines. So when one needs to flee southern California, there are always many options.
Another benefit of Southern California is both its extensive freeway system and the backroads that twist and wind through canyons, mountains and across distant valleys and deserts. Whether driving a car or riding a motorcycle, chance are you’ll find a road that suits your immediate needs. California was built on the notion that the automobile provided independence, freedom and even an extension of one’s personality. Though to this writer perhaps the ultimate freedom is provided my the motorcycle, to realize this liberty one needs to get far away from the super-slab freeways.
But when does such motor culture become a liability and the automobile, or even the motorcycle an obstacle to personal freedom and liberty?
Simple. Friday afternoons in Southern California.
And this past Friday I was forced to make difficult decisions. A late night Thursday voice mail from my NYC-based friend Charlie posed interesting questions and appealing options:
“Allan, not sure what you’re doing tomorrow, but I’m going to be in Los Angeles for just one night and would love to see you. Perhaps there’s a bottle of wine you’ve been dying to try, a new restaurant you’d like to explore or somewhere with an interesting wine list you’d like to visit. Let’s get together,” Charlie said.”And if it works out I just might let you check out my new iPad.”
It’d been months since I’d seen Charlie, and nearly a year since we cracked open a beautiful bottle of 1998 Trebbiano d’Abruzzo from Valentini — certainly one of the world’s finest white wines and one of the rarest, too with less than 30 cases finding its way to North America each year. So sure, the thought of connecting with him was great. But the thought of driving to downtown Los Angeles on a Friday afternoon turned my stomach.
Then, with far greater speed than Apple can sell its iPad, I had a brainstorm. Armed with the info that Charlie was staying at the landmark Bonaventure Hotel, I mined my memory and remembered a notable Italian restaurant with a unique wine list just blocks away. Though I’d never been to Drago de Centro, chef-owner Celestino Drago, with several restaurant concepts in the LA area perhaps was a celebrity chef before it became trendy. Drago Centro was not only just a few blocks from The Bonaventure, it was about a mile from Union Station. Would it be possible to take the train from San Diego to Los Angeles, both of us avoiding Friday afternoon traffic and thereby setting the stage for the consumption of only good Italian food and wine and not an ounce of fossil fuel? It was worth a try.
It’s railway transportation (Amtrak and local service) that separates Southern California from Charlie’s east coast locale. San Diego is about 120 miles from Downtown Los Angeles. From New York City in all directions about 120 or so miles will get you to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Hartford, Connecticut, Wilmington, Delaware and the suburbs of Albany, New York and many cities in between. Looking for rail service between Philadelphia and New York City? The Amtrak site shows almost 50 daily departures. But on the west coast, you get 13 departure options with Amtrak Rail service between San Diego and Los Angeles. So planning and timing is critical.
The guy sitting next to me on the Amtrak Zephyr rolled his eyes and said “not again!” as the conductor announced our train, scheduled to roll into Union Station at 6:45pm, would be nearly 30 minutes late. I was 15 minutes late for our 7:15 reservation at Drago Centro. But there was Charlie. In one hand a glass of Vermentino from Sardinia, in his other Drago’s impressive wine list. He hands me the iPad. “Sometimes these wine lists are hard to read in the dimly lit interiors of city restaurants, so I downloaded the list from Drago Centro’s website,” he says smiling. “What shall we order?”
For the both the doubters and curious, who haven’t been able to figure out “why the iPad”, the uses of Apple’s new tablet computer become clearer and more innovative every day. Even with the help of modern technology, choosing a wine from Drago’s 25 page wine list is a time consuming, yet thoroughly enjoyable process. I let the server know that while we were ready to dine this evening, I needed to be cognizant of the clock as I needed to make the last train to San Diego — at 10:10pm. With the help of Drago Centro’s sommelier we settled on a bottle of Nerello Mascalese, an ancient red grape varietal indigenous to Siciliy and usually grown at high altitude in volcanic soil. Tonight’s Nerello Mascalese was grown on the slopes of Mount Etna by the Murgo Estate who’ve been growing grapes and making wine there since the mid-1800′s.
Though the sommelier was quick to notice the first bottle he pulled from the cellar was sadly corked, he promptly presented a second. Charlie and I agreed to split two starters and a primi and segundi piatti — sort of creating our own tasting menu. The wine was medium in body, showed a touch of minerality and spice with rich red fruit and pared nicely with the scallops and baby octopus salad we’d ordered as starters. While we matched the second and third courses with a wine from my cellar — a rich, seductive and big 2006 California syrah from The Red Car Wine Company called The Fight a perfect complement to both the le pappardelle al fagiano, a hearty pasta in a rich morel mushroom sauce with roasted pheasant and the la labatina di vitella, an impeccable grilled veal chop with perhaps the best sweetbreads we’d ever tasted.
I was advised it was 15 minutes before 10pm, as we shared a glass of the syrah with the waiter and sommelier. While only about mile away, I opted for a taxi to ensure I’d get to the station for my 10:10pm train. Though I had abandoned a half-glass of syrah and arrived at the station at 10:09, the Amtrak service agent informed me that my train had already departed. Amazed and my jaw wide open, I stared at her in disbelief. My train earlier in the day departed late and arrived in Los Angeles late. But this train was early or simply on time? This can’t be happening. The bubbly and cute woman at the ticket window giggled as she advised there were no more trains until morning. But I could take a bus. When? Her eyelashes fluttered as she told me 3:30 AM. What?! That’s more than five hours–longer than the initial train ride and my dinner with Charlie.
Then I realized just what freedom and liberty meant when it comes to being in control of one’s transportation; that is, having a car or a motorcycle. I was stuck. A taxi to San Diego would cost $200 or more. Hitch-hiking from downtown LA on a Friday night isn’t recommended. By the time I connected with Charlie, he had finished dessert and was on his way back to the Bonaventure. Suggesting that he could probably swing a deal on another room, I passed and suggested we find a dive bar and continue our conversations. Charlie’s east-coast time zone set body just couldn’t keep up.
The clean up crew at Union Station were clueless as to where I might kill some time other than getting horizontal on the wooden benches as the 3 or 4 others in my predicament had chosen. I couldn’t see waiting here for 5 hours.
So I did the next best thing: pulled out my iPhone.
The first list of results from Yelp didn’t sound promising. So I changed my search. Just over a mile walk, adjacent to nearby Little Tokyo is Blue Whale. The dozen or so reviews mentioned live jazz, good drinks and “chill out” atmosphere. Perfect. I started my adventure and trekked up Los Angeles Street, crossed over the 101 while gazing down on the madness of hundreds of cars screaming by, and over to First Street where I searched for my destination.
 Blue Whale is tucked into a corner on the third floor of Weller Court, a three story building filled with Asian fast food places like Orochon Ramen, Marukai Curry House, a place called Giggle Giggle and several other gift, novelty and specialty shops. With barely any signage save a waist high sandwich board, I almost missed the place. Chris, the large-sized bouncer/doorman discounted the normal $10 cover since the jazz band had only one more set before Blue Whale would close at 2AM. inside the minimalist decor including a handful of black and white prints and a floor to ceiling wall covered in chalkboard complete with large clock hands sans numbers. But I was taken most by the quotes and verse from Hafez, Leon Shenandoah and others that were nearly laid out using clean typography on large white celing panels dropping from the ceiling at various angles providing interesting geometry. And below dozens of ottomans provided comfortable seating for listening and watching live music performance; or for simply reading verse on the panels above. I was especially taken back by this from Rumi:
Listening
Listen, and feel the beauty of your separation,
the unsayable absence.
There is a moon inside every human being.
Learn to be companions with it.
Give more of your life to this listening.
As brightness is to time,
so you are to the one who talks
to the deep ear in your chest.
I should sell my tongue and buy a thousand ears
when that one steps near and begins to speak.
– Rumi (1207 – 1273)
The performance by a group of young and passionate musicians was led by drummer Zach Harmon, who I understand penned a number of the compositions the quartet played this late Friday night, though for the last number Harmon’s roommate, Bobby Wilmore stepped in added flair to the percussion by banging out on the congas. I learned that most of the band hadn’t played those tunes before. With eyes glued to his music stand guitarist Perry Smith fooled me. Blending improvisation tightly to the complex rhythm and time signatures, Smith seemed to get lost as he displayed his mastery of the six-strings. Without an official band name, I referred to them as Zach Harmon’s All Stars as the crowd stuck around for the obligatory and well-deserved praise and thanks.
Zach Harmon’s All Stars
Blue Whale, Los Angeles, April 23, 2010
Zach Harmon, Drums
Perry Smith, Guitar
Josh Nelson, Piano
Hamilton Price, Bass
Bobby Wilmore, Congas (special guest)
Blue Whale owner, Jun, explained to me that he’d been open less than a year. A competent chef (I didn’t get to sample, but I’m told) combined with great music and word of mouth that spreading nearly as fast as California wildfires in the fall have kept a steady, loyal and growing crowd. If you find yourself in Downtown Los Angeles waiting on a train, or just looking for great live jazz, head over to Blue Whale. Trust me, it’s worth the nominal cover charge to see talent this good up close and personal.
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Check out all my photos from Blue Whale & All The Musicians
I understand some of these musicians play in different groups at Blue Whale often. Even better the sweet and sexy bartender, Ava Gaudet, a Rhode Island transplant via Manhattan, revealed she sings and has a band. With pop and soul leanings, her sultry voice sometimes is as seductive as her smile. She and her husband are working on her debut album. She’s hot. You can check out her website and listen to her music on her MySpace page.
As the clock slipped past 2AM I bid Jun, Ava, Chris and Zach farewell, promising to revist Blue Whale sometime soon and made way back to Union Station pausing to reflect on the static LA buildings silhouetted against a stark yet slowly moving blue sky.“>
As the clock slipped past 2AM I bid Jun, Ava, Chris and Zach farewell, promising to revist Blue Whale sometime soon and made way back to Union Station pausing to reflect on the static LA buildings silhouetted against a stark yet slowly moving blue sky.
When I arrived back at the station my bus was waiting, I boarded the bus and joined the other half-dozen and half awake passengers and slouched into the seat. Somewhere around the 101 and the 5 Freeway I must’ve dozed. I don’t know how long it took, but seemed almost minutes later when the bus driver shook me awake. “Hey!” he said, “this is your stop.”
I got home just after 5am and just before Sunday’s sun peaked out to greet the night. Had I made that train earlier I’d been in bed but would’ve missed out on Blue Whale.
I guess getting stuck in Los Angeles was bound to happen. Perfect for this sometimes nomadic adventurer, because the adventure starts when things stop going as planned.
I’ve been on a personal mission for quite a while. Actually, I’ve probably been on a number of personal missions, and probably for my whole life. The thing that strikes me today is my disgust of plastic shopping bags and my mission to avoid them at all cost.
And it’s cost that I think is important here. These bags that became so ubiquitously blemishing to peaceful hues of African landscapes where craggily Acacia trees, brambly bushes or even the lone tree in a desolate dessert with branches and limbs reaching like arms into the sky seem to grab the lofty plastic shopping bag with desperate attempts to capture the floating orbs that drift through the air due to the carelessness and passiveness of business and people. I fondly referred to them as African Flowers. For after riding hundreds of kilometers through empty yet seductively peaceful landscapes, I knew when I was near the next settlement: I started spotting those african flowers, nasty and ugly plastic bags of pale blue, pink, red and white. So ugly were parts of supposedly the idyllic paradise of Zanzibar, I felt a lump in my throat and even a tear coming on, not unlike the infamous ant-pollution/litter ad with the American Indian in full headdress that arguably gave environmental awareness its booster shot in the early 1970′s. The only thing worse in Zanzibar were the mountains of littered plastic water and soft drink bottles.
The African Flower?
While Africa perhaps disappointed me the most during my travels, it also surprised me and inspired me to realize we have more opportunities than problems when it comes to losing our addiction to plastic bags.
In South Africa the government initiated a law that requires supermarkets and other retail shops to charge for plastic bags, thus providing a contemplative moment for shoppers to consider. Instead of paper or plastic? It’s simply, do you need a bag? If so, it’ll cost you. Though the few cents perhaps is hardly a strong deterrent or motivation, it at least frames the idea. And in more affluent countries perhaps many would scoff at the cost and not think twice. That’s not the point. The plastic not only scars landscapes of our planet, they find a way into the animal kingdom and upsetting the balance of our ecosystem. Remember those circular plastic straps that held together six packs of cans of beer and soft drinks? I have memories of family and friends standing over the trash can cutting them into pieces so they wouldn’t end up in our environment chocking birds, interfering with swimming fish and more. Are they even used anymore?
Also in Africa, I found the countryside of Rwanda impeccably clean. No African Flowers and barely a hint of a carelessly tossed plastic bottle. I quickly learned this wasn’t an accident. The president implemented a country wide ban on plastic bags. Try to bring a plastic bag into the country and you’ll be forced to leave it at the airport—in a recycle bin. Plus, the last Saturday of every month is community clean up day. For a few hours on Saturday morning community leaders and residents scour their neighborhoods and clean up the trash. It’s not a law. I’m aware of no penalties. It has just become ingrained in the culture of this country that is tring so hard to not to forget the atrocities of the genocide some 16 years ago, at the same time trying to rebuild their country. With new ideas of community, togetherness and environmental awareness.
Beyond Africa, the first country in the world to ban plastic bags is Bangladesh. Floods in 1998 and 1999 the left 2/3 of the country submerged under water, were caused because discarded plastic bags clogged drains.
So, in Africa and Bangladesh, not only do you find some of the most harsh realities of why plastic bags must go away, but you also find several progressive policies aimed at cleaning and preserving those landscapes and wildlife that leave us in awe.
What can we do here, in the United States?
Mining through the wasteland, I am encouraged that globally our world neighbors as well as our domestic brethren are making small strides toward a plastic bag free planet:
1) China has banned production of “super thin” cheap flimsy bags since June 2008
2) China has banned shops from handing out free plastic bags since June 2008
3) San Francisco was the first city to ban petroleum-based plastic shopping bags; a reducation of 180 million bags which require some 800,000 gallons of oil to produce
4) Edmond, Washington was the first city in Washington to ban plastic bags. Sadly, Seattle’s ambitious effort was sacked by plastic industry lobbying money (see below)
5) Maui, Hawaii beginning in January 2011 will ban all plastic bags from the island.
6) The City of Los Angeles in a few months, starting July 2010 will ban plastic bags–unless state legislature imposes a fee on them.
And there are others. If you know of any other anti plastic bag initiatives or policies, please comment here. I’d like to update this sometime in the future.
Despite the seemingly progressive policies, sometimes things don’t work as planned. Despite efforts, some would rather fight than switch.
1) Seattle voter in August 2009 voted against a mandatory 20¢ per bag fee consumers would pay for plastic or paper. The city council approved the measure in 2008 but a media war and some $7 million dollars spent by the bag industry squashed the councils measure.
2) Many cities have been sued over such plastic bag bans. Earlier this year, California Appellate Court turned over Manhattan Beach, California’s ban. The court said the city didn’t due it’s due diligence in terms of enviornmental impact before enacting the ban. The suit financed and lobbied heavily by “The Save The Plastic Bag Coalition,” if you can believe such a thing exists–though clever marketing even though the money behind it is a group of plastic bag manufacturers and recyclers, perhaps, including Plastics Foodservice Packaging Group (PFPG)
Justice Mosk, not surprisingly, dissents. With the following opening line: “Requiring the small city of Manhattan Beach (City), containing a little over 33,000 people, to expend public resources to prepare an environmental impact report (EIR) for enacting what the City believes is an environmentally friendly ordinance phasing out the retail distribution (not use) of plastic carryout bags within the City and promoting the use of reusable bags (not paper bags) stretches the California Environmental Quality Act (Pub. Resources Code, § 21000, et seq.) (CEQA) and the requirements for an EIR to an absurdity.” — from Shaun Martin’s California Appellate Report
So you can see, several towns, cities and counties have tried to tackle the plastic bag issue. Some have initiated laws and regulation with ratcheting timeframes for accomplishing plastic bag reduction goals. But it’s not enough. Lobbying and self-interested plastics and petroleum firms have proved they’ll throw money in an effort to preserve their business. While I don’t favor government interference or overregulation, the last time I forgot to bring my own bags to the grocery store the handful of items I purchased were put into 5 plastic bags. That’s ridiculous. And I’m sorry. But planting a plastic bag recycling container at the entrance and exit doors of the market just isn’t going to do anything. We need to ban these bags. For good. Forever.
In the meantime, I’m going to do my part. I bring my cloth bags to any store I shop; for groceries, household, clothing, motorcycle parts & accessories, office supplies, computer stuff, music stuff, travel gear and more. And I hope that we can all work together and live and promote cleaner, healthier and simpler lives.
Will you join me?
 Unless you’ve been sleeping or simply unaware or uninterested in the world of technology or Apple, you know that gadget website Gizmodo somehow managed to get its hands on what is likely the next (4G) generation of the Apple iPhone. With Apple’s trademark, if not Gestapo-style secrecy it’s hard to imagine someone so careless to lose something treasured and guarded as much as the Hope Diamond or perhaps the Jefferson Bottles. But like those bottles, perhaps there’s a back story with a plot and climax yet to be revealed.
Rumor has it Gizmodo paid $5,000 to those who “found” the phone. Some Apple news sites claim the phone was stolen. If so Gizmodo could be exposed to criminal and civil legal action, should Apple decide to pursue. Or, as some surmise, could this be another clever PR stunt designed to focus media to discussing the impending new device? Nobody at Apple is saying anything. But the pundits are certainly having a field day. And news of the story has hit virtually every mass media outlet in the country.Again, Apple is everywhere. And this, as some have noted, on a day when glowing reviews on the new Android powered device, HTC Incredible, hit the street. Coincidence? Probably.
But we’ll all have to wait until June to see closure to this story when Apple is likely to announce the new device. It’s not that the old device is in trouble. Did you see Apple’s earnings report today? Apple sold nearly 9 million iPhones last quarter. Plus, profits were up 90 percent. In after hours trading I hear the stock kicked up some $20 at one point. Even iPod sales continue to be strong, selling almost 11 million units in three months.
I don’t use my iPod shuffle much these days. Sure, it’s my music player of choice when I’m riding long lonesome highways on my motorcycle. But even when I go to the gym I bring my Shuffle, but rarely crank it up. I’m content listening to the tunes over the sound system when working on weights and machines. And with every cardio machine in the place fitted with its own LCD screen and connected to some 120 channels, I simply pull out my iPhone headphones and plug into the machine. It’s about the only television I ever watch.
But I think there must be something wrong with many of the people going to my gym. Virtually every time I plug my headphone into a unit, the volume is turned up to ear drum piercing levels! Who can watch TV that loud? Or is everyone deaf?
Strange.
April 18th, 2010 | Music, Travelogue Seems that the only traveling I find myself doing these days is either up and down the California coast. While my return to trip to Israel in December was an exception, I discovered this week that low mileage traveling combined with stellar live music can be quite satisfying to this nomadic wanderer. I got lucky. Lucky in several ways. First, lucky that Mark Knopfler booked two different venues for three southern California shows featuring his latest release “Get Lucky.” I am also lucky that I had the opportunity to see Mark perform at each of these venues. First, at Pechanga Casino in Temecula–in the shadows of Southern California’s far from burgeoning wine capital. It’s not for the lack of effort or monetary investment that Temecula wines are second or third-class citizens compared to virtually every other wine region in California. But I digress.
The second Mark Knopfler show I was lucky to catch was at the classic Pantages Theatre in the heart of Hollywood. Marked by impressive colonial architecture and a palatial auditorium complete with an ornately complimented balcony, The Pantages opened on Hollywood Blvd in 1930 as part of a national circuit of Vaudeville theatres. In 1949 the eccentric aviator and RKO Theatres owner Howard Hughes bought the theatre and proceeded to move his personal office there. And for ten years through 1959 the Academy Award ceremonies were held there. Today it hosts broadway productions, musical concerts and is a favorite location for television, cinema and music video productions.
As for Pechanga? Thanks to the Supreme Court decision and California voters approval of Proposition 5, today it’s the largest Indian Casino in the state.
If you haven’t picked up or downloaded the latest Mark Knopfler album, Get Lucky , I strongly suggest you give it a listen. Combining American folk, rock with Scottish celtic melodies and great story telling, it’s another example of why Mark Knopfler is not only one of the most prolific and satisfying musicians of our time, but also another example of how one of the hottest selling artists of the 80′s continues to grow and deliver new material rather than rehashing the same over and over again.
So with my lucky tickets in hand, I enjoyed Knopfler and his seven piece band artfully and with passion draw from Knopfler’s (and his Dire Straits) diverse catalog of rock, folk, country, and blues melodies and ballads where his signature guitar and whispering and sometimes gravely voice delivered what everyone wanted while offering surprises along the way. Often understated and always unassuming Knopfler worked the night using some six or seven guitars while his band kept time, rhythm and melody with a bevy of instruments that could fill a museum including an accordian, fiddle, ukelele, penny whistle, Hammond B3, piano, bouzouki and octave mandolins, banjo, cittern, bagpipes, flutes and many others I either don’t recognize or simply forgot.
Mark and the band played to a sold out show of 1,200 at Pechanga while some tickets were available for Mark’s second show at Pantages, I think it’s safe to say he filled every one of its 2,703 reserved seats both nights. While a more intimate venue and yet lacking the history and magnificance of the Pantages, the Thursday night show at Pechanga marked only the second time I’d seen Knopfler solo, the first was summer of 2005 while I was on the North American leg of my around the world motorcycle adventure. I was heading to the Arctic Ocean when I learned he would play at Chateau St. Jean Winery just outside Seattle. Thanks to my friends Jonathan and Dr. Love, who worked there, I was able to take a brief break from my tour to see Mark on his.
At Pechanga the band started off with a driving version of Border Reiver, a song about the lives of truck drivers in Scotland in the 60′s. Pechanga’s crowd was diverse and perhaps the heckler’s shouting rudely at Mark to easily gave away their homeland roots. In feeling the energy of the band, I felt that they weren’t 100 percent in sync, though each individual’s musicianship signed and drew standing ovations at nearly every song. And the last song of the evening saw more than a hundred people run for the stage proving southern California has no shortage of energy.
But at the Pantages, the band was on fire. The ninth show of the tour, they are still warming up. If I could figure a way I’d be in New York, DC or Boston later in May as the band winds down the North American leg. Also at Pantages, the band pulled out another trick that wasn’t used in Pechanga: instrument mounted cameras. I thought it odd when Mark appeared after yet another guitar change with a funny protrusion on his guitar. It wasn’t until the curtain behind the pand revealed a large screen did I figure this out. This way the crowd could see Mark playing every note of Sultan’s of Swing. Even better, these aren’t High-Def cameras with pristing images. Instead, they are more like rudimentary web cams, low res and mixed with abstract images providing more texture and color than close up reality. I like this and wonder why it wasn’t used at Pechanga. There was one other annoying thing at Pechanga. Despite the band’s current policy to allow photography (no flash and no video) within the first song at Pechanga security made it clear they didn’t want to see my camera. Though at Pantages, the venue, aware of the band’s policy, allowed my camera inside. However, the lady next to me continued despite my glaring eye to take pictures with flash. I was sitting in the tenth row, and I know this annoys other concert goers and distracts the band. I never use flash nor obstruct others when taking pictures. You can check out a sampling of the shots from both nights on my website here.
As I explored the tour notes of several of the band members including Richard Bennet, Tim O’Brien and Guy Fletcher, I realized I wasn’t the only one who found Saturday night’s show at the Pantages outstanding. Collaborator, co-producer snd multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire, Guy Fletcher admitted it in his blog:
The show this evening was unanimously the best of the tour so far. The Saturday night LA audience was truly fantastic and it was only natural for all in the band to applaud them as we gave our final end of show bows. – from Guy Fletcher’s “Natural Selection” tour diary
I also learned that after the show in Temecula, the band took a very quick flight in their chartered jet back to Van Nuys airport—probably took them 20 minutes. It took me a couple days and ride up the 5 freeway so I can joy them again for the best show of the tour, so far. Perhaps not as adventurous as riding around Sudan, but that little bit of travel coupled with some stellar live performance and musicianship certainly satiated my urge to wander and help me continue to focus on the exciting projects I’m working to complete by the summer.
Stay tuned for more.
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Think about this: Are you socially aware?
During a new client consultation our conversation spun through a bevy of topics enough to make any marketer’s head spin, but the most heated discussion involved social technology. It seems everyone is social these days. Or wants to be. Clients, customers, employees, job seekers, celebrities and even entities and products all are clamoring to be more social. Is this new? Hardly. Perhaps I’ll date myself here, but I remember throughout my elementary education I had nearly daily classes of social studies. One of my favorite school field trips was chaperoned by my social studies teacher, Mr. Kline. He took us to Washington DC to watch our government in action. But the experience of being away from home with my 7th grade friends was certainly a study in social behavior–even if I wasn’t familiar with the lexicon, I certainly had my social skills tested that long weekend.
So why social? It’s the buzz. The other shoe has dropped. As marketers struggle with controlling the reputation of products, personalities and people, the unbearable weight of a vast universe of social technology has them reaching and trying anything–usually to minimal success. Why? Because most don’t understand what it means to be social. They don’t even understand the lexicon.
So let’s just quickly set the record straight on the jargon, or lexicon as I like to say.
Since we’ve always been social and studying and lived in social environments, it’s important to identify what’s different or what’s changed our social environment. It’s simple: technology. That’s what’s causing the confusion.
Social Technology: The umbrella or header which all new social behavior and interaction is taking place. In simple terms, it’s social, propelled by technology and internet connectivity. Underneath this we have subcategories such as social media and social networks.
Perhaps the most common term we hear thrown around board rooms and coffee shops is Social Media. Again, some will use such words as a substitute to truly understanding. So I will try to clear the air. Social media relates to content.
Social Media: The creation and distribution of content designed to influence, persuade, generate relevance, opine or simply share with an emphasis on the solicitation of input and commentary. In the context of Social Technology social media are primarily internet and mobile platforms. Social media include personal, business and brand blogs, YouTube, Flickr, Slide Share and others. Social media are methods for sharing, distributing and providing a platform for the searching and mining of that user generated content.
Then what about those pesky social networks?
Social Networks: This is where people connect with other people online. They are virtual communities whose participants are connected by common interest, experience, proximity or other bonding criteria. Social networks provide a platform for interaction, communication and collaboration between friends, family, and other members and participants. Top social networks include Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter.
I realize that the above definitions are simple descriptions to complex concepts. Yet, it’s important to simplify and provide common ground so everyone is ‘on the same page.’ Where it gets tricky is how all this ‘social’ business works and why that’s important. Again, my objective is to simplify these things so that we are playing on the same field.
There are plenty more buzz words in the social space and the discussion of such is beyond the scope of this short post. Suffice to say that the most important concept in social technology is relevance. The use of social media and social networks can enhance or reduce a person or organization’s relevance. So the use of it should be carefully considered. While I’d be stretching the idea if I were to espouse that individuals need to develop a social strategy before posting anything on their Facebook page or Twitter feed. But I’m not far off the mark. To be sure, it’s critical for business to develop a social strategy, social user guide for employees and well thought out objectives on how social technology will impact both relevance and reputation.
There are plenty of discussions surrounding this concept floating everywhere on the net. There are plenty of self-described experts, too. Fact is, this ‘social’ business is too young and immature for anyone to be an expert. It’s shaking out. One thing is for sure, it’s serious business. And without the thinking, discussing and planning necessary, using it carefree might put you or your organization in a precarious position.
Now, think about that.
April 6th, 2010 | Mac My Day, MusicTime for a quick update on the Digital Tavern. Pardon the diversion, but this post will focus on some personal and business items that I hope you’ll find interesting or at least somewhat amused.
 First, it’s all the hype and there’s no doubt you’ve seen it on the news, heard strangers talking about it in line at Starbucks or the grocery store or you’ve perchance caught a glimpse of one at your favorite taco stand. I’m talking about the iPad. Apple’s PR machine has leveraged it’s best secret weapon–the use of its infamous secrecy shrouded in air of mystery and intrigue. From the cover of Time Magazine to Colbert’s ginsu knives demonstration of the iPad’s surprise use as a vegetable chopper to Letterman and…well you get the idea. If you weren’t aware of the iPad’s impending blitz before, you’re knee deep in it now.
I waited 15 minutes to get my hands on one at the local Apple Store. In a word: stunning. One truth is self-evident, what the iPad is NOT is just an oversized iPod Touch. Such a statement is an oversimplified spew of nonsense. What I don’t know, is where the iPad will end up. Nobody does. But it will organically morph into the lifestyles and lexicon of more people worldwide than any analyst can imagine. I do see it breathing new life into the dying media of print. And this I’ll watch with anticipation.
Some see it as a great alternative for reading books. Akin to the Kindle or e-reader or nook, the iBookstore is as intuitive as to walking around your local Barnes & Noble. But my brother has his doubts. He finds that reading the Amazon Kindle easy on his eyes, noting that he is adverse to staring at glossy computer screens. His short time with the iPad yesterday raised doubts.
The nine-year-old standing next to me at the Apple store ignored his Dad’s suggestion at “let’s just see what it can do,” as he flipped through and played all the demo games. And my friend Aaron was taken back by how beautiful and functional the calendar application looked at worked. “It’s actually a calendar, Allan.”
I don’t have one yet. Not sure if I want the 3G / GPS enabled version. What do you think. I will get one soon enough. For what will I do with mine? I imagine I can do perhaps 50% of my daily computer work on the device, things like e-mail, research and writing. There’s no question in my mind that this iPad is so well designed that there’s barely any need for training, a manual or even help file. It’s so intuitive and with a user interface that is so well thought out. The way computers ought to be. And the way Steve Jobs always dreamed they should be.
On other notes, I had a chance to see Al Stewart on Saturday night. He played the venerable, if not tired and worn Coach House in San Juan Capistrano. Accompanying him on lead guitar was Dave Nachmanoff. It’d been some time since I saw Al and Dave together. But I was taken back not by Dave’s new goatee, but by his trim body. Now Dave is no tall guy. He’s probably about 5 feet 3 or so. The last time I saw him he weighed over 200 lbs. Last night he told me that he weighed in at some 130 pounds. Good for him.
Al Stewart
Dave Nachmanoff
Al played to a sold out crowd and beyond his hits Time Passages and Year of the Cat, he played a great versions of “Clifton in the Rain” a folk number he wrote in 1970; and “Don’t Forget Me” and led off “Like William McKinley” with a charming story of sitting on a porch and waiting for lovers to come to him. If you haven’t seen Al Stewart Live, it’s his passion for history and gift for storytelling that makes the experience more than just live music. Here’s a video I shot of Al when I was recovering from my broken leg.
A night with Al of course isn’t complete without wine tasting. Dennis Overstreet, the properieter of Overstreets in Beverly Hills, a friend of Al’s and mine also joined the gang backstage. The wine of the night? Two. The first, a 2000 Château La Nerthe Châteauneuf du Pape Cuvée des Cadettes and an estate Pinot Noir 2007 from the great Patricia Green Winery in Oregon.
I continue to be in awe over the 2007 Pinot Noirs from Oregon, and I’m sure I’ll post more reviews on these gems in the future.
It was much longer than Avatar, the latest Hollywood blockbuster. Even breaking James Cameron’s own record for box office revenue, which clocks in at some 2 1/2+ hours. And at about 3 1/4 hours of low tech, high acting and great storytelling, Warren Beatty’s 1981 film “Reds” seems to get lost in dungeons of old and classic films. I had a chance to use up more than 3 precious hours and experience this film the other night. With three Oscar wins (a slew of nominations) including Beatty as best director, Maureen Stapleton as best supporting actress and best cinematography (Vittorio Storaro), the film was sheer joy to watch.
I’m feeling a bit nostalgic about films. While I am appalled that Cameron’s Avatar won best picture at the Golden Globes, and will likely lose any respect for the Oscar’s if the film takes away best picture later this year. But along the lines of “Reds,” I’ve queued up “Lawrence of Arabia” for another 3 hour + stint sometime later this month. Eager to watch Sir Lawrence hammer the Ottomans and giving rise to power of the Arab and Beduin people. And, where we are today.It seems a good time to watch a film about the Russian Revolution and the fervor in left-wing Americans in their own war of trying to give rise to both Socialist and Communist parties here in the United States. This takes place in the early 1900′s — in both America and Russia, with a few scenes taking place just over the Russian border in Finland. It’s about love, friendship, art, politics and dreams. Yet I couldn’t help think about the tea-party movement that is building so much fervor in our present day political climate and t he spin-offs and in-fighting in the dozens of different tea parties. And those behind many of such tea parties efforts to make the current administrations efforts to move the economy, improve healthcare and fight the war on terror appear like “Bolshevik Plots,” might take a few hours of their day and take a trip back in time and reflect.
Apple released a major upgrade to its photo management and editing software, Aperture, last week. My upgrade is on the way and I’m confident that once and for all this will put those still hanging on to Adobe’s LightRoom effort will ultimately give in and recognize the superior tools, advanced features and ease of use that has been the case as Aperture has matured over the last three years. Just might inspire me to take a short trip into the desert or baja or somewhere for a little diversion and exploration in creative photography. Stay tuned.
For those of you who’ve been reading The Digital Tavern over the years, you certainly will attest to my lack of consistency ever since taking off on my around the world motorcycle trip. But I’ve been ba
ck long enough. And I’ve let the dust collect on the tavern after each false start in trying to get it up and running. Suffice to say, I’ve got a lot of irons in the fire. And I do have another blog that also is in dire need of attention. But as blogging goes. It’s still a passion. And no matter how I try, I’ll never be able to share the breadth and depth of any discussion in 140 characters.
But for those who’d like to follow my Twitter feeds, which in the past have been updated much more often than the blogs. I invite you to hop on over to any of my feeds and follow me. There’s more coming down the line.
Twitter: Digital_Tavern | allankarl | worldrider | clearcloud ctc
And for those of you who followed that crazy motorcycle ride around the world, and want to be updated when the books and speaking engagements are announced you can become a WorldRider Facebook Fan and subscribe to updates at the WorldRider website.
September 21st, 2009 | Travelogue, WorldRiderImagine California more than 150 years ago. Until Spain recognized Mexico’s sovereignty in 1821, California was a Spanish colony. This colony was separted by two missionary factions. In the North, Alta California was governed by the Franciscan missions and to the south Baja California was under Frandiscon mission rule. But the young sovereign Mexico soon had its hands full when a perhaps overly zealous US President James Polk seemed bent on fulfilling our nations manifest destiny pushed Stonewall Jackson, Zachary Taylor and a talented group of junior officers which included Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee into Mexico. U.S. Troops battled their way through Mexico until they occupied Mexico City and thereby setting the stage for the Mexican Cession of 1848 when Alta California and Nuevo Mexico were ceded to the United States — a condition that ended the war. 
As the cliché aptly dictates, ‘the rest is history.’
Modern day Alta California, or the 31st state to join the union, is the fifth largest economy in the world. But southern California, a significant contributor to that position, is an unlikely oasis smack in the middle of a grand desert — unable to sustain itself with local water sources. Thus, the on-again, off-again rival with Northern California and the other Colorado River basin states — many of which, ironically enough, were part of territories negotiated from Mexico.
Water is life. And while I certainly didn’t need to span half the globe to find evidence of this notion, it hit me harder than I ever imagined as I skirted the border of Namibia and Angola while trekking Kaokoland and the African nomadic tribe of the Himba. And then seeing how water is also death as the mighty Zambezi spilled and spilled its bounty into the flood plains of Mozambique and Zimbabwe forcing people to migrate and spreading disease along the way. We see it when the media makes it news. But until you really see it and see the people does it move one into action.
 But here in California, we’ve somehow negotiated not only the state from foreign hands, but the water that we need to stay alive. Except we’ve negotiated that from our domestic brethren and neighbors. Fortunate to turn the tap and have the magical elixir quench our thirst instantly, this seemingly basic American privledge disappears once you cross that line once drawn by the missions which now is a wall separating the United States from Mexico and California from Baja California.”>
But here in California, we’ve somehow negotiated not only the state from foreign hands, but the water that we need to stay alive. Except we’ve negotiated that from our domestic brethren and neighbors. Fortunate to turn the tap and have the magical elixir quench our thirst instantly, this seemingly basic American privledge disappears once you cross that line once drawn by the missions which now is a wall separating the United States from Mexico and California from Baja California.
My around the world odyssey also took a turn when I crossed that line and entered Baja, California a few short years ago. On a rough yet beautiful road that parallels the pristine coast along the Sea of Cortez from Puertocistos to Coco’s Corner through the Sonoran Desert, I found myself out of water. With temperatures north of 100 degrees fahrenheit, the often rocky and washboarded road eventually caused my shock to blow — overheated, overworked and over done. Sandy washes caused me to dump the bike. And my overworked body was nearly dehydrated — and there were no services, no taps, no convenience stores along the way. Exhausted and spent, I was saved by the one-legged man known to all as simply Coco.
I often wonder what Baja California would be like had it been part of the Treaty of Guadalupe back in 1845. For more than 150 years it has remained wild, beautiful and host to wildlife that reaches the tops of its mountains to the coral reefs of the Sea of Cortex and the surf-pounding waves of the Pacific. And while its natural beauty is compelling on its own, the dolphins, whales, lizards, turtles, rays, birds and more all make for a fragile ecosystem that is in serious jeopardy.
The road from Puertocitos to Coco’s Corner — I’m told this is being paved today. I hope not.
The road often not forgiving.
The man only known as Coco.
Recent changes in Mexican law have opened the door for foreign ownership and development. And if not tended to with commitment to care and conservation, Baja, and what makes it so endearing and seductive could die. And that’s why I spent my Saturday morning viewing amazing photographs and listening the words of the photographers that shot them at San Diego’s Natural History Museum.
Ralph Lee Hopkins has been shooting nature for more than twenty years. Leading many photo adventures with National Geographic’s Lindblad Expeditions, Ralph has traveled the waters from Alaska to Baja – and along the way touched whales, swam with dolphins and observed from afar the amazing polar bears. While the beauty cannot be denied, Ralph isn’t shy to share those photographs which are not so beautiful — photographs of places where human intervention and development have left open wounds and irreparable scars on the face of our planet. Ralph has teamed with WildCoast, a non-profit that aims to protect and preserve coastal ecosystems and wildlife in the Californias and Latin America.
This is just one of the amazing photographs of Baja California you’ll see at Baja – the photo exhibit featuring Ralph Lee Hopkins at the Ordover Gallery in San Diego’s Natural History Museum.
While Ralph’s photo work focuses on the ocean, sea and coastal areas of Baja, Saturday’s exhibit and talk also included work and stories by Miguel Angel de la Cueva, who just weeks ago endured and watched the damage caused by Hurricane Jimena.
If you find yourself in Downtown San Diego (Balboa Park) I urge you to check out the exhibit of photographs by Ralph, Miguel and others on the fourth floor in The Ordover Gallery.
September 11th, 2009 | Creative Pursuit
I’ll never forget. You won’t. They won’t. And in the rare case of memory lapse, the media won’t let you.
Today’s long list of errands forced me to burn fossil fuel by driving around. I opted to listen to the radio, rather than my iPod. There’s plenty of talk about remembering what happened eight years ago today. Our president made comments. The mayor of New York commented. And those survivors and relatives of those killed in New York, Pennsylvania and VIrginia also reflected and solemnly prayed or otherwise remembered.
Garden of Reflection in Pennsylvania, construction for the official Flight 93 Memorial has yet to break ground. What have we been doing? Arguing. Politicking. Special interests. Selfishness. Greed. Indecision. Ego. And what else? It amazes me how something so important to our country can quickly become a red herring.”>
Eight years later and there’s no memorial in New York City. And yet we’ve got a fantastic memorial at the Pentagon and while we’ve got the Garden of Reflection in Pennsylvania, construction for the official Flight 93 Memorial has yet to break ground. What have we been doing? Arguing. Politicking. Special interests. Selfishness. Greed. Indecision. Ego. And what else? It amazes me how something so important to our country can quickly become a red herring.
Enough of that.
Did the events of 9/11 change your life? After the shock, sadness and anger subsided and the flags slowly disappeared from houses, cars and fashion, what did you do? Were you affected? Or did you think you were affected because you should?
Me? Yeah. The events changed my life. Big time.
I was in a stuffy conference room at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas with about 20 of the leaders of my company at the time. It was all business. But somehow I felt that the company I founded was becoming more distant. Like a shooting star, when I first had the vision there was excitement, movement energy. But in that conference room we weren’t waving flags. We were stunned. But we continued with business. We had to. Then the golf tourney. The decadent dinner and wine.
My wife at the time managed to find the only rental car available in all of Las Vegas. A convertible Ford Mustang. Flights were cancelled. Everyone was in flux. With one of my partners, I drove back to Orange County, California, with the top down.
A week later I drafted my resignation letter. Good god. I resigned from the company I founded. I was giving up my baby — my shooting star. But it felt good. Liberating. Then I had to tell my friends.
After a few months of counseling, my wife and I decided we’d be happier apart — so we amicably split and divorced. I started another company. Then I decided to ride my motorcycle around the world — alone.
And I did.
I’ve been back for a year now. And the Digital Tavern has been given a facelift. And today I’ve committed myself to being more tenacious and prolific when it comes to writing. After all, 9/11 did change my life.
Did it change yours?
I guess I’ve been out of it. Well, at least out of this country. For three years. Wandering the byways of distant locales in search of some truth I already believed but needed to prove to myself, dodging erudite donkeys while avoiding potholes and pitfalls of solo adventure travel, lots has changed around here – in California – in the USA. And no. I’m not referring to those evolutionary technological metamorphoses like how social network usage has surpassed e-mail or mobile web usage will likely outstrip home usage by next year. No. Evolutionary change happens. It’s not forced, planned nor predictable.
I’ve never been one to go overboard in waxing nostalgic. Though its no secret that I’m fascinated by history and believe that perhaps the best thing to come out of the United Nations is its UNESCO World Heritage Foundation. And that I abhor those developmental homogenizations that gave us planned communities and corner strip malls in the 80′s and 90′s and the big box retail pimples on our landscape in the late 90′s and 00′s. I applaud advancements in transportation, healthcare, technology and education. And while globalization is a double-edged sword, I believe that as humanity we are working toward making the world a better place for those of us here now and those to come in the future. The “green” movement, also evolutionary, continues to gain momentum and has resulted in changes — good for everyone.
But there are some things I believe to be, if not sacred, very important. Some things should stand tall and serve as a reminder of another time – whether good or bad. And such things need not be hundreds or thousands of years old nor warranting a place on the UNESCO World Heritage List. You know what I’m talking about. Things like the Redwood Room at the venerable Clift Hotel in San Francisco. The Clift Hotel, was built in 1915 and was the biggest hotel in California. After the end of prohibition, a lounge with massive redwood paneling and bar rumored to have been carved out of one redwood tree was added in 1934. The room designed in classic Art Deco, was the epitome of swanky lounge and along with the hotel ushered and represented what must be considered California’s renaissance. Movies were talking. California impressionist artists were wandering the Sierras and the foothills painting ‘en plein aire’, John Steinbeck was immortalizing California growth, prosperity and challenge, the automobile was changing America and California freeways set the standard for the roads of ‘tomorrow’.
The Redwood Room in the Clift Hotel in San Francisco, was a favorite stomping ground of mine in the 90′s and early 2000′s. In that room I felt different, filled with emotions I can’t explain but only could feel. Those dark panels stretching 20-30 feet above me. The classic Art Deco appointments pushed my imagination and the bartenders, the bartenders. They were as old as the hotel. One bartender who’s delivery of one-liners could challenge Henny Youngman, told me that he’d been working there for 39 years. As the other bartender polished a high-ball glass, he revealed, “Yeah. I’m the new guy.” How long I asked, “I’ve only been here nineteen years.”
For me, sliding into the Clift Hotel and off the streets of San Francisco’s tenderloin, just off Union Square took me back to another time where my mind could drift, wander and wonder about who walked here and who these bartenders consoled and poured for over the years.
I admit, it’d been awhile since I ducked into the Redwood Room, but on that brisk January evening earlier this year, I was startled, taken back and disappointed. Purchased in 1999 for $80 million, Ian Schrager and his modernist designer Phillippe Starck supervised a massive renovation that has sucked out its spirit and ruined the Redwood Room. Sure, the tall redwood panels are there, but trendy red lighting obscures its beauty and all but hides the grain. Starck-designed furniture is uncomfortable and out of place. And the dark red lighting hides the beautiful bar. Digital portraits on LCD panels hanging from the redwood feature young 20-somethings in color tinted and continually changing expressions. It’s not modern. It’s trendy and it’s distracting. There is no history. No feeling. Other than cold. The music, instead of lounge – infused jazz is hip-hop, trance and house served at volumes that make conversations difficult and ordering confusing and often misunderstood. Schrager and Starck changed the place from a classic art deco lounge to a “see me, dig me” nightclub. And in the process tossed out one of California’s true historical treasures. And those bartenders? Where did they go? Servers and bartenders look like the portraits on the walls and I found it difficult to find someone over thirty.
Some of the Redwood Room spirit was retained, not the sconces and not seen art deco chandeliers, but the rest is an abomination.
Flat panel screens hung on those classic redwood panels show silly pictures of beautiful people whose expression changes subtly as the images dissolve.
Lounge tables and chairs are low, you must hunch over to talk or interact.
As I would expect in San Francisco, the changes to the Clift didn’t go without some community protesting, fist banging and foot-stomping. But ultimately Schrager won. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy some of his properties. The Mondrian has always been one of my favorite. But when you butcher a classic under the guise of modernization, I think you’ve gone too far. The renovation was completed in 2002, I’ve learned — about the time I started planning my around the world motorcycle journey. It took me six years to get back to San Francisco and see the progress. And it’s enough to make me sick.
Oh. And the other change that perhaps doesn’t poke and prod me as bad as the Redwood Room fiasco? The Wall Street Journal. When did THAT happen. Today I saw a headline on the front page that read “Cash For Clunkers Program, Runs Out of Gas.” Color photographs and a kicker in red ink above the Banner/Masthead pointing to the weekend journal entertainment section — Hollywood? And get this: display advertising on the front page. Gotta pay to play, I guess. But, boy! Things have changed. While I know that newspapers are limping and gasping for air, and soon they’ll all go the way of the Redwood Room — or worse. Just fold. But the WSJ another venerable more than 100 year old institution has also been ruined. Not that I care so much about this, but like Schrager, the new owner felt that the only way to make a profit and continue the enterprise was radical change. The smaller format, inclusion of political stories, color photography and poorly designed graphics makes me feel like I’m reading USA Today. And I don’t mind USA Today. Except I know what I’m getting with USA Today – my expectations are met. But the Wall Street Journal? Something’s rotten here.
So I’ll just flick my fingers over my iPhone, load the AP news, search Yelp for a better bar and play with my koi pond – happy that I’m not using old or unfriendly technology. For modernization, the iPhone is happening.
Photo on front page has nothing to do with the news features on front page. Note the red ink above masthead: Hollywood unleashes….?
I’ve never seen puns in WSJ headlines in past — at least on the front page. And full color display advertising?
While it’s been long since I’ve posted to The Digital Tavern, today someone suggested I explore using MacJournal. So this is my first test blog.
Here I insert an image…. but I wonder how I can tell MacJournal where to put the file when uploading?
After my test, I find that I can insert an image and it uploads correctly, but I don’t know where that file is uploaded to. Also, it appears that MacJournal doesn’t allow me to use a thumbnail and an active link to a full size or large image of the file.
On first view, there is no intuitive interface. Just making a word link in the copy is not standard. The command-K keyboard pair handles this. Nor is there an intuitive way to center that photograph above. Or what about putting the photo inline?
So while in five minutes I’m able to write this text and insert a photo, I’m still lost. Is there a way to access or download a list of all my previous entries?
I notice there isn’t a quick “publish” button anywhere and must use the “share” menu to publish a blog entry.
Okay. I’ve figured out how to download all the entries from my blog. Though when doing so the program freezes this entry screen.
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anyway. I was happy to see that the people behind Bill Armstrong and his fairly new Epoch Estate Wines purchased the old York Mountain Winery which Martin-Weyrich drove into bankruptcy along with all of their other over leveraged properties and projects. Best of all, they took the sterile and ugly “trailer” that Martin-Weyrcih used for a tasting room and made it into a warm, inviting environment that resembles more a lounge than a tasting room. I do look forward to the renovation of the historic York Mountain Winery building and hope they ultimately move the tasting room back in there.
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