4 Years Later

Four years ago I wrote a post about the crazy election day that I had had, and at the end of that post I wrote this:

"P.S. -- While I have my doubts about Obama's proposals, I admit that I also have a hope that he really will be a different kind of President and bring productive changes to the United States of America. I prayed for him this morning and would love to see a President that can truly unify the country.

Here is to Hope and Unity."

Four years later, I do not believe that he has been a different type of President.  He was just as divisive.  When Obama care was passed, he said it was worth it even if he was a one term President.  Obama has not had his eye on the goal, which is improve the economy and protect the nation.

I believe Romney can do this.  That's my two cents.

Jamba Juice Eating Plan Results

Well, I finished my Jamba Juice eating plan with fairly good results. I did vary a little because I am a sucker for a bargain. Jamba is currently running a special where if you buy a wrap or salad and a drink off the menu, they cut two dollars off the bill for your "bundle" (see http://www.summerblissisback.com/foodbanner.php). So I would buy a smoothie and a wrap in the morning, have the smoothie for breakfast (under 300 calories) and then eat the wrap for lunch. Price for such breakfast and lunch bundle was about $7.50. I thought it was a deal for two meals. Then I just made sure that my dinner did not exceed my remaining calories goal for the day. I generally had about 800 calories left for dinner. Other than the night I had dinner at my in laws and the day I slipped in some frozen yogurt for lunch, I stuck to the eating plan for the whole week. At the end of the week, I have lost 1 lbs. Not bad, not great.

I must admit that I need more variety in my eating plan. I do not know how Jared ate so many Subway subs. So, it is just me and my Lose It calculator on my iPhone this week. I am sure I will take advantage of the Jamba Juice bundle again this week, but not everyday.

My Jamba Meal Plan

I love the new wraps at Jamba Juice, especially the Greens and Grains wrap. You know how Jared lost a bunch of weight by only eating Subway sandwiches? Well I think that should work with Jamba Juice wraps also. The wraps are only between 450 and 600 calories depending on which one you buy. There is also a couscous salad with diced jicama and currants. Yum. I am also using "Lose It" on my iPhone to track my calories (love free iPhone apps) and I can easily fit two of those wraps (or the salad) into my 1465 daily calories. Isn't that a beautifully simple meal plan. I am trying it out this week with a moderate goal of losing just two pounds. I'll tell you how it goes next week. Wish me luck!

Part II -- Las Vegas Shows

We went to two shows while in Las Vegas. KA, by Cirque du Soleil, was amazing. However, my vote for can't-miss show is the Wayne Brady show. How funny was his show? I was laughing so hard I seriously could not breath. You don't believe? When we exited the show there were paramedics outside providing oxygen masks to persons who were hyperventilating.

He is a comic genius. I do not know how he thinks so quick to come up with the improvisational songs and skits. His show is different every night based on audience participation. The guy standing behind me in the half price tickets line was called on stage as a prop in one of the skits. However, my favorite part actually came when he was sing a song from his album. A large woman up front was standing up and singing along and dancing. So he went down and was singing with her, but she became so excited that she grabbed the mic and started singing and actually knocked him over into the audience. She did not even notice and kept on singing. Wayne Brady thought it was awesome and said it was the best compliment ever.
It is hard to choose between the Cirque du Soleil shows while in Las Vegas. We picked KA because it was playing at the MGM Grand where we were staying. We went with Brad and Julene Ballard. It was so much fun to see them and catch up.


KA is about warring Asian tribes and a prince and princess that become separated. The acrobatics and costumes were fantastic, but I was most fascinated with the stage that could rotate 360 degrees. Sometimes the stage was a ship rising and falling with the tide, or it would convert to a beach, the slope of a mountain or a vertical cliff as the scenes changed.


And I guess the last show we saw was just Las Vegas itself:

The gondoliers at the Venetian.

Restaurants inside the Venetian with painted ceiling.

Treasure Island with Trump Tower in the background.

Rodeo Drive meets Las Vegas with the Wynn and new Encore. These resorts are ultra plush.


The Excalibur with Mandalay Bay in the background.

The view from our room, the hotel New York, New York.

Hotel Paris complete with Eiffel Tower.

Part I: Michael Minas -- Las Vegas

My trip to Las Vegas with Shelley was incredible. The sites, the shows and the food. The best food I had was by far at Michael Minas at the Bellagio. I was having a seriously hard time selecting what to eat, so I finally settled on the "cookbook" tasting menu.

It starts out with a tuna tartare appetizer. I love ahi tuna, so I am easy to please on this dish. The tune was a beautiful rich red and it was diced and formed into a circle. It is served with a raw quail egg on top that looked delicious, but the server could not assure me that it was organic, so I had it removed. The description did not say anything about a quail egg, so that did surprise me. The tuna was served with roasted pine nuts, diced garlic and mint on the side, which the server mixed together table side. I enjoyed the crunch of the pine nuts contrasted with the tender tune squares. I must admit that I was hoping for something special from the mint, but I could not taste it. I have had tuna tartare dishes that I have enjoyed more with light fruity vinaigrettes and crunchy salad greens, but like I said, I am easy to please with tuna tartare and I was pleased with this starter.

The lobster pot pie served next was a successful experiment in decadent comfort food. A golden brown flaky crust topped a ramekin filled with tender lobster, black truffles, fingerling potatoes and a bit of spinach. I was worried the lobster would be tough. How can lobster be properly cooked in a pot pie? Well, ask Michael Minas, he knows how. I used my fork and knife to cut the lobster meat into bite size pieces, but then employed my spoon with each bite to scoop up the light cream sauce infused with the rich flavor of black truffles.

The miso black cod was perfectly cooked. The cut of the fish was tall, and I believe it was poached in the miso broth. The miso broth had long slender baby mushrooms. The menu said it would contain shrimp raviolini, but fortunately it did not. As I cut the cod, the moist white flakes would fall into the miso broth below and create what I thought was an elegantly simple combination of flavors. I would have been content if the meal had ended with the third course, but only because I did not know how good the fourth course would be.

A kobe beef ribeye medallion topped with foie gras?! What a treat. A friend I was dining with was a little hesitant to eat "duck liver." So I told him it was not duck liver, it was "duck caramel." I knew he would enjoy this combination, so I encouraged him to cut a slice of steak and foie gras, but to say in his mind "duck caramel" as he put it in his mouth. "Wow, this is really good," was his reply. And it was. The lightly braised "duck caramel" over rare kobe beef fused together into a melt-in-your-mouth meat opiate.

The dessert trio was very good, but ordinary. The root bear float with sassafras ice cream was a slight sophistication on the original; the coconut cheesecake was cheesecake with a nice flavor and texture, but nothing spectacular; and the chocolate cake with caramel ice cream was delicious, but ordinary. The three desserts were not really paired to accentuate or play on each other's flavors. It was just a sampling of well done, but not spectacular desserts.

The service was fabulous. We were dotted on by our waiter (who cheerfully answered all of our questions and added suggestions) and an array of servers who delivered our dishes with excellent timing and made sure our glasses were full and our needs met.

The restaurant is very expensive, but it was a great dining experience that I would recommend.

Cool Guy Chords

So I have been taking guitar lessons lately. I really like it. In fact, I have been practicing my chords when ever I have free time and I can no longer feel with the tips of the fingers on my left hand. The chords seem pretty tough to master. Moving two, three or even four fingers to different configurations on the frets of the guitar in sync with the beat or strum pattern of the song -- brutal! My teacher kept telling me that it would soon be done through muscle memory -- no more difficult than picking up a pencil properly to write a note. So this week at practice I did pretty good. I was playing "Knocking On Heaven's Door" by Mr. Dylan -- G G D D Am Am Am Am G G D D C C C C. I am strumming and you can even recognize the song. So, now I was feeling pretty good and ready to move on. Right?

The teacher says I can pick some songs and he will write the music down for me to practice. We listen to Ordinary World by Duran Duran, Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down, Good Riddance by Green Day. Turns out these guys don't play traditional chords. You know, the ones I have created muscle memory for and have calluses on my finger tips to prove it.

They play "cool guy" chords (what my teacher calls them). What does that mean? Well basically it means that they don't play the third note in the chord, i.e., the ring finger. The finger that is totally retarded and does not like to do anything unless the middle finger does it too. The finger I have been struggling with all month. Cool guys don't use it. Oh, and if you don't use it, it appears that it gives your guitar playing a more "wild" sound.

So all the songs my teacher wrote down for me to play, don't work with the chords in MY muscle memory. Somehow after battling with my ring finger to do more than just hold my wedding ring, I am now suppose train it to stay home when we play the "cool guy" chords. Wasn't it obvious from the beginning that I was only going to want to play the cool guy chords. Sheesh!

And don't even get me started about Black Sabbath. I asked if I could play Iron Man, and he said that their guitarist didn't play a guitar that was tuned traditionally. He said that the rest of the bank must have tuned their instruments to his lead guitar. Appears to be a progression from cool guy chords that bread a few rules to the bad boy chords that have no rules. Which, of course, makes me want to learn the bad boy chords even more. Rock on!

Learning to Make Your Own Graphic BLING

I have been reading Seth Godin's blog. Marketing has always seemed like Voodoo to me. So not only does he put up interesting and useful stuff, but I feel like he is beginning to demystify marketing for me. Especially, internet marketing.

Today's post I thought was particularly interesting because many of us are trying blogging or other internet ventures and I notice that everyone wants to add "BLING" to their site. Well Seth has put together a reading list for do it youself graphic BLING BLING. Check it out @ http://www.squidoo.com/become-a-really-good-graphic-designer.

The Silmarillion

I found a used paper back copy of the The Silmarillion and I could not resist buying it. It is a collection of some tales that J.R.R. Tolkein had never finished and that his son published posthumously. Apparently, Tolkein had written these stories first beginning in the early 1919 and had presented them for publication, but had been refused. After reading them, I must say that their greatest value was that Tolkein already had developed this entire Middle-Earth when he went on to write The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and could draw on this deep historical context when giving birth to his new works.

For fans of The Lord of the Rings series, The Simarillion is definitely worth the read for a better understanding of what is going on between the characters and races and the historic precedent of the areas in Middle-Earth. Some of the tales are very interesting and captivating. Don't get me wrong, there are some wonderful parts such as the creation of Ea (the World) and how it was sung into being and the tales of Hurin. But even with a map of Middle-Earth and a table of Elvish words, sometimes it was just hard to follow the who, what and where.

That said, I did learn the some cool facts:

• Who and what Sauron was


• Who was the Balrog Gandolf fights in Moria


• Who made the 3, 7 and 9 rings (we already new who made the 1 ring to rule them all)


• Why Aragorn lives longer than other mortals


• Why Aragorn's crest is a white tree


• Why Elrond was leaving Middle Earth


• How Elrond, Arwen and Aragorn are all related (Aragorn is Elrond's nephew (just like 50 generations removed)


• Who Gandolf and Saruman are and where they came from


• And just a better general understanding of who built what and lived where

So if you are a Tolkein fan, it is a fun read without taking on the entire 12-volume history of Middle-Earth. It has some shining moments, but is more like background reading than a classic Tolkein epic.

So there you go. I think it was worth the $6.99 I paid for it and was good reading for my BART rides.

Google Ads Gone Wild

I open up my blog today and the first thing I notice is that the Google add tower has an Elvira-ish woman holding her Chi Chis. "What on earth is Google advertising?" I wonder. Then understanding dawns on me. Its an ad for The Forbiden Zone movie. Google picked up my reference to Oingo Boingo and the mistic knights and placed an add to purchase a copy of the movie that was the real birth place of Oingo Boingo.

Google ads have become very specialized in deed. It is going to be interesting to see what Google decides to advertise with each post. The ad I am posting about is probably already gone, and I am now just rambling nonsense.

But I am kind of curious to see what Google will "ad" next.

Pandora Radio

Ready to explore the genome of your favorite genres of music? Then log onto http://www.pandora.com/ and enter your favorite song or group and it will examine the musicological aspects the tune that gets your groove and suggest similar songs. I tried first "Oingo Boingo" and it brought up Weird Science, which is my least favorite song from those mystic nights, so I tried to really test the project and added in The Smiths with Oingo Boingo and it brought up a nice mix of Morrissey, New Order, the Cure, Boingo, the Smiths and Simple Minds. I look forward to see what Pandora will include next, but I was a little impatient to test out the projects musicality senses so I next entered "Kryptonite" by 3 doors down. A nice and predictable mix (Daugherty, Linkin Park, Nickleback and Lifehouse) came up that I enjoyed listening to. Not bad. So how about non-contemporary music? I next created a Benny Goodman station (I like jazz clarinet) and some classic Benny came up and Pete Fountain that was awesome, but I also had a bunch of jazz piano (I am not so crazy about) and some Ella Fitzgerald (who is great, but obviously not a clarinetist!). So I can give the songs on my station a thumbs up or thumbs down and my radio station "learns" to narrow its selection in the genre to the genome of musicality that I like. In the jazz clarinet station it has narrowed down the selection just to clarinet pieces and I am enjoying new songs I have never heard before in random easy listening format. Right now I am listening to Honeysuckle Rose by Benny Goodman. Nice. So give it a try and let me know how you like it.

P.S. It also gives backround of the artist and a description of the music genre the artist fits into. Enjoy and learn about your old and, hopefully, new favorite songs.

Kart Racing

Chad Poplowski and I both included on our 25 Random Notes on facebook that we like to drive fast. So we decided to try out some Kart racing. Chad recommended GoKartRacer in Burlingame, CA for the races. It was an excellent selection. They provide a racing suit and helmets and have very nice karts that go about 50 miles an hour.

If you have ever gone kart racing with me, you know I am way too competitive and it is not uncommon for me to get a warning or flagged down for some penalty time. So it is nice for me to be able to let loose in a semi-safe environment like GoKartRacer.

Chad is a very good driver and we had a lot of fun racing each other and the other divers. While I won, I must admit that I illegally made Chad spin out or he probably would have taken me. But there was no foul and I received no penalty time, soooo I am officially the big winner. LOL!

Chad works in tax advisory at KPMG so we also talked shop a bit about corporate responsibility in executive compensation and how it should be evaluated from a risk management stand point. I think we both agreed that even though Congress has passed a sleuth of new laws, it is still the foxes that are guarding the chicken coup in this area.

So yesterday was a pretty awesome day. I started out at Jonathan's lacrosse game, and he played well and took his first shot on goal. Then it was off to Kart racing. Afterward, Chad took me to La Metate and we had foot long carnita burritos. When I was done with that I spent some quality time with my father-in-law fixing Paul's roof and then I went on a nice date with my wife wherein she creamed me in BananaGrams, so that I could once again be humbled and prepare myself to enjoy the sabbath with my wonderful family.

Life is good.

Pinewood Derby -- Sk8r Car

It was Jonathan's last year for pinewood derby. Man is he getting big fast.

He designed a skateboard car this year complete with a grip tape top. Not the fastest design, but it was very fun to make. My favorite part was his original design artwork on on the bottom of the deck. Below are some pics and video. You can tell which car is his in the video from the cool red wheels.

Enjoy.

80's New Wave Playlist

Want a walk down memory lane? Check out this new wave playlist that one of my frat bothers posted. I turn it on softly as back ground music in my office. It has some awesome hard to find songs that only an 80's aficionado could enjoy.

Enjoy,

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.playlist.com%2Fplaylist%2F9944818699%2Fstandalone&h=be1605f026a1e686b7908dd8178e62f2

LOST

I am so glad most of the characters of LOST are back on the island. The non-island part of the show was beginning to stink worst than Locke's casket in the meat freezer. Now we can get back to solving the mysteries of the island. But first this mystery: Where did Kate and Jin leave there kids? That is really bothering me!

Facebook

I have really enjoyed facebook over the last six months. I must tell Paul thanks for getting me hooked up. Especially with the move, it is a great way to stay in touch. But most of all it has been amazing that friends I have wanted to find, but couldn't before facebook, have found me. Every time a friend request pops up it is so exciting to see who will be there.

However, it was not until yesterday that I had actually been deleted as a friend. I went to look for a friend to send a message, and the friend wasn't there. So I sent a friend request with a note that I thought we were already friends.

Her response, "We were friends, but you never write anything so I deleted you." I guess she keeps a tight group of friends on facebook. I have more of an open door policy. Sometimes I get a friend request and I can't recognize who they are at first. But after I look at their pictures and see who their friends are, I remember and usually a flood of fun childhood memories come back to me. And I smile.

Anybody Home?

Today when I signed into my blog, I expected it to be filled with virtual cobwebs and covered in techno dust. I have not abondoned JiggyIntel. I am just on a temporary leave of absence until the New Year.

I am swamped at work. And more work keeps pilling in everyday. Even working seven days a week, with twelve hour days, I am still falling behind. Its almost 7 pm, and I am about to start on number 1 on my priority list for today because responding to calls and e-mails has kept me busy all day. But in this economy, I can't complain. And Shelley has been super sweet, and not complained.

Remarkably, I do have a mental list of topics I would love to blog about. I just need some time.

Right now, if I am not working, I just need family time. I need to tease and be teased by my quick witted and beautiful teenage daughters. I need to listen to Jonathan talk about the hotel he is going to build or just toss a ball with him. And Ellie, well I need to squeeze her. Without family time, I can't recharge my batterys.

Blogging and working out have suffered the most. But I can honestly say that I am fat and happy.

So, of course, one of my New Year resolutions will be to be skinny and happy. And blog more.

Roller Coaster Election Day Results

Wow, what a ride! First, Shelley and I found out that our precinct had less than 250 registered voters and therefore we were mail-in-only voters.

How can that be? We live in the City of Walnut Creek. There are 200 homes on our street. Thankfully, Shelley and I had not thrown away the voter information packages we had received, or we may not have been able to vote at all.

We had to carefully fill out our ballots at home and take them to any voting station and drop them off. I HAD NO RIGHT TO ENTER A VOTING BOOTH AND MAKE A SELECTION. I read the instructions to my mail-in ballot very carefully, but I was very worried that there was going to be a hanging chad somewhere on it. I hope my vote was counted this year.

Shelley was able to drop off her ballot at her parents' community center.

Then there was the Proposition 8 issue. I work in San Francisco and so it seemed that everyone was against the Proposition. On Monday night, someone stole our "Yes on Prop 8" sign. I cannot believe the amount of vandalism and theft that occurred to property with signs supporting Prop 8.

Even after Obama was announced President Elect, I tried to stay up to see if Prop 8 would succeed, but I was too tired and finally went to bed. On the morning news, it was announced that Prop 8 had been successful. I was frankly stunned.

I hope this victory makes activist courts think twice before making up "fundamental rights" out of thin air. Most of the large political controversies today are created by overreaching court decisions. Courts are empowered to interpret the Constitution, not rewrite it.

I support legislation that helps couples, whether common-law, same-sex or other domestic relationships or "families" obtain means to support and care to for the people they love. I do not want to impose my moral and religious beliefs on them through governmental intervention, but I am glad that we are not forced to redefine traditional marriage, which is unarguably the most important institution for the advancement of human kind and the well-being of children. Marriage is not just about boy likes girl, it should be about a very special commitment between two people to sacrifice and work to bring a new generation of healthy and enlightened individuals into the world that will hopefully continue our progress to a better tomorrow.

P.S. -- While I have my doubts about Obama's proposals, I admit that I also have a hope that he really will be a different kind of President and bring productive changes to the United States of America. I prayed for him this morning and would love to see a President that can truely unify the country.

Here is to Hope and Unity.

Week in New Orleans

I recently spent a week in New Orleans to attend a conference for the National Association of Stock Planning Professionals, or just NASPP. Yes, I am a member, and it was actually a very interesting conference. Especially right now with all of Congress' new restrictions on executive pay, but I am not going to bore you with the details of what I learned. We also did some pretty cool stuff.

The most cool was a private concert with Jewel. Merrill Lynch set up a concert with Jewel at a museum in New Orleans. We had dinner first with traditional New Orleans food, like gumbo. About 80 people attended and it was a really good show. She is an amazing singer and she was very funny too. She played some old favorites, some of her new country stuff and even some songs that she has not released. It was very fun.

One night I went to the French Quarter with a guy I met at the conference to see a jazz band. It was a pretty big jazz band with about 10 players, a full grand piano and an absolutely crazy drummer, whose solos I really enjoyed. The French Quarter was pretty crazy. We were there on a Tuesday evening and Bourbon Street was still filled with people drinking and partying to cover bands -- kind of weird to see so much action on a Tuesday night. After the jazz band, we watched some karaoke at the Cats Meow and then headed back to the hotel.


Foodwise, my favorite was the charbroiled oysters at Drago's. I didn't really eat anything else that was amazing or worth mentioning.


Lastly, there was a booth set up at the conference to have our golf swings analyzed by a golf pro. She videoed me from the side and the back as I swung, and then showed me where I was loosing power. It appeared so obvious from the video what I was doing wrong. I can't wait to get to the driving range and see if I can get some extra distance out of my driver.


So that's it for New Orleans. The other nights I just ordered room service and did some work or watched a movie. Sometimes peace and quite is just what I need anyway.

We had a very fun Halloween! But I am sure Shelley will update you on that and put up some pics of our paint job yesterday of our living room. Shelley picked out a blue/grey, and I admit I was dubious about it. Of course, it looks great. Shelley has an excellent eye for color.

Say Goodbye To Big Beautiful Flat Screen TV? Say It Isn't So!

I just wanted to be like Jeff Heniger and when "my" team goes to the World Series I get to buy a new gigantesaurous flat screen TV. Is that to much to ask?

The Dodgers were in the lead in the 8th inning. That is suppose to be in the bag!!!!!! How could the Dodgers give up another late inning lead? They should be ahead 3-1, not the Philo-doughboys. Okay, I feel better after a little online ranting.

On a good note, Shelley and I went to Tokyo Lobby and tried the cherry blossom roll (salmon on the inside, tuna on the outside, and all in a flower shaped design with red roe on top) and I found a new frozen yogurt shop today called Ambrosia that had really good pistachio yogurt.

Oh, and even better, I just received my new corporate AMEX card. Its been a while since I have had the ole law firm credit card. It feels familiar, relaxing. Good. Calm.

I mean the Dodgers can come back from a 3-1 deficit, right? Right?!!!!

It's okay, I am going to find my happy place. It is time to go back to reviewing the new law that cuts back executive's pay if they recieve federal bailout relief for their company. Talk about somebody who really has problems. Time to draft a few more plan amendments, read some more tax regulations . . . maybe even draft a memorandum in my beautiful, peaceful, sunny office. Hmmmmmmm. Hmmmmmmm. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay.

Thank you Boston! Thank you Cub's curse!

I am seriously thinking about purchasing a Manny Ramirez Dodger jersey. In fact, my new favorite number may be 99. A red 99 on the front of a Dodger's jersey is, well, -- beautiful!

I remember seeing Manny in a Dodger uniform for the first time. I was traveling for a job interview, and I had been so busy chasing contacts and catching up on changes in employee benefits law that I had not even noticed that he was traded -- and BAM! -- I look up at a television screen at an airport restaurant and I see Manny hit a home run -- and he is wearing a Dodger's uniform -- and he is jogging around the bases in a Dodger's uniform -- and I squint my eyes closed and open them again because how could it be true -- but it is -- Manny is now receiving high-fives from other Dodgers and he is still in a Dodger uniform and its, well -- beautiful.

The Dodger's have had their share of good hitters before, but nobody like Manny Ramirez. Usually, this caliber of hitter is wearing pinstripes and when they come up to bat I feel knots in my stomach and tightness in my neck (I think sometimes I would even say little prays for pot-bellied Fernando Venezuela to strike the evil pinstriped monster out).

I can't wait to go home and watch Manny tonight. The Cubs truly are cursed. It is the only way I can explain that Manny is in a Dodger uniform. He is there to beat the Cubs.

And while watching Manny work a pitch count is truly fine art, I do find myself saying little prayers in the back of my head again. Please, please, please baseball gods, do not let the New York Yankees make him into an evil pinstriped monster next year.

Manny deserves a some more fun in the sun in Chavez Ravine (aka Dodger Stadium).