My Vineyard

Dinner with the Iron Lady

2012-01-25T21:42:00.000-08:00

Something happened to our satellite (DirecTV) the other day, so we've been without service this week until tomorrow when the repairman is due to visit our house. We were originally told it would be two weeks before we could get someone here to fix it. I suspect they rely on telephone support to fix 98% of all issues.

Anyhow, we decided to do something very unusual for us. We went to a movie during the week. I don't think I've done that in decades. A new theater, Cinetopia, opened in our neighborhood last summer, but this was our first visit. Cinetopia is a new kind of theater with different sized viewing rooms and charge accordingly. The smaller the room, the more expensive. We chose the smallest, the Parlor, which was $18 per ticket, but we got senior discounts, so it was $15.50 per.

The seating was very comfortable and the room only accommodated about 18 people in plush living room style couches and chairs. Before the show began, a waitress took our order. We decided to go whole hog, so we ordered dinner -- fish and chips, nachos and two beers. The bill? $48. So altogether with tip we shelled out about $86 for a movie -- surely a record and even steeper than what we paid in London when we lived there.

First, the food. I had been told that it wasn't very good. I would say it was OK, but nothing special. The portions were huge, which always makes me nervous. Though a perfect accompaniment for the film, my chips were too salty in addition to too many.

Watching the movie was a pleasant experience and better than in a big theater. You're much closer to the screen even though it's smaller than in a big theater. We sat in the middle and it seemed just right. The sound was excellent -- also better than a big theater. They offer four different sized viewing rooms. All the other ones are cheaper and scale all the way down to normal prices.

As for the movie (The Iron Lady), we enjoyed it. Meryl Streep did a superb job portraying Margaret Thatcher. It was all done in flashbacks with an elderly Lady Thatcher recalling key moments in her life. I found the approach somewhat disruptive and annoying. Her late husband, Dennis Thatcher, who died some years ago, is constantly popping into her imagination. While that works some of the time, at other times it's annoying and overdone in my opinion.

I felt like there was a bit of a lack of continuity to the story as it jumped back and forth from the present to the past. None of this should detract from the great job Streep did in both the present and the past. But, it left you wanting more and wishing the story line was a bit more tied together vs. the flashback, bits of this, bits of that technique. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 55% ripe rating and that seems about right.

My man Tucker at New Seasons

2011-11-22T18:51:00.001-08:00

A New Seasons market opened recently in our neighborhood and we are ecstatic about the whole thing. I'm incredibly amazed by the quality of the people who work there. Not only are they friendly, they are helpful and even funny. They obviously enjoy their jobs.

I swear that the wine steward, Tucker, works all day every day. He's always there no matter when I show up. And, I love that he actually knows something about the wine. In fact,he knows quite a lot. And, he can help you pick out great wine at the price YOU want to pay.

Right now, I'm drinking one of his recommendations, Behemoth, a blend from the Columbia Valley AVA, which crosses the Oregon-Washington border and runs from The Dalles to Walla Walla. The 2008 vintage is produced by Portland Wine Co.

I don't remember what I paid for it, but it wasn't a lot and it's terrific as an everyday red. Great red fruit and wonderfully drinkable. The blend is 53% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Syrah. Great with everything from steak to pizza.

Returning to the Art of Shaving

2011-11-22T13:18:00.001-08:00

Today, I'm revisiting an old topic -- shaving. In the past two years, I've come full circle from Gillette Fusion cartridge razor to Braun electric razor and now it's back to basics -- a good old fashioned double edge safety razor, the kind my father used to use (I can even remember my grandfather using a straight razor, I think.).

Previously, I had used a shaving brush and soap bowl, but still stuck with the trusty Fusion. So, when an Art of Shaving store opened in Portland, I decided to give it a try. My first purchase was a Merkur Futur, a heavy, Germany made razor with a dial on the handle to adjust the angle of the blade. Then, I decided to give the more dainty, English made Edwin Jagger a try. It's very nice, but the handle is a bit on the short side. Still, it seems to suite my needs a little more than the big German machine.

At first, I was very off-and-on about the whole idea. I was put off by the need to really slow down and take a whole different approach to shaving, even shaving two or three times to get a super close shave. After numerous cuts, I just gave up and went back to the Fusion. But, I keep coming back to the safety razor. I've now been using the Edwin Jagger for about a week with excellent results and liking the idea more every day.

I've been using a pre-oil (made from rape seed) to soften up the beard, but just read that I should be shaving after I get out of the shower, not before in order to better moisten my beard.

It does take longer to shave. This morning, I shaved twice because I watched a video where it was recommended. Also, learned that I should soak the razor in warm water before using as it makes a difference. I'm getting better and better at it and haven't had any major cuts in awhile. One of the tricks is to figure out how long a blade will last. I think it's going to be about a week. I could make one of those Fusion cartridges go a month.

One of the things I really like is that double edge shaving gives me a smaller footprint. No hunks of plastic and metal to throw away, just a very thin blade that is recyclable. And, the razor itself should last for years. In fact I asked a friend who's into antiquing to look for an antique razor. And, you'll definitely save money. Costco sells a 16-pack of Fusion cartridges for about $44, so that's less than $3 each. A double edge blade runs about 25 cents.

I also like the feel after using the double edge razor. It seems like more of an accomplishment and a throwback to a time when he lived in less of a throw away world and cared more about permanence. I'm not surprised that it took me several starts and stops to actually get to a point where I was using the safety razor for more than a day or two at a time. But, I think I finally may be hooked.

If you're inclined to go double edge, read this post from one of the commentators from Badger & Blade, a shaving website.

Bose finally fixes Lifestyle 235 firmware

2011-09-26T22:17:00.000-07:00

Almost a year ago, I bought a Bose Lifestyle 235 home theater system. I connected it to my DirecTV box, Blue-ray player, Sonos sound system and iPod. Everything worked fine with one big exception. I could not use an HDMI interface between my DirecTV box and the Bose console. It worked at first and then wouldn't work.

In frustration, I finally just gave up on the HDMI and after hours on the phone with Bose, connected the DirecTV box using bulky component cables and a very slim fiber optic audio cable. I still had an HDMI connecting the Bose and my TV. But, it was frustrating that I couldn't use HDMI for the whole setup.

Well, I was in the local Bose store today looking at a new SoundLink portable speaker Bose just introduced last week. I happened to mention that I had the 235 and that it worked fine with the exception of the HDMI issue. The salesman told me it had now been fixed.

Bose ships a USB thumb drive with the 235 to allow firmware upgrades. I did one right after I got it, but forgot about it after that. As it turns out, Bose finally figured out why the HDMI wasn't working and made the appropriate firmware upgrades to fix it. So, tonight, I came home, downloaded the upgrade and installed it. After a few bumps on the reset of the Bose unit, it now works with an HDMI cable. And, I swear, the picture and the sound are better.

Lucky I stopped into the Bose store and happened to mention the HDMI problem. Also great that Bose makes its products so they are user upgradable. So, I was able to eliminate some cabling and probably will get a smidgen better performance out of my entertainment equipment.

Linfield sends warning: We've reloaded

2011-09-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

It was another historic day at Maxwell Field in McMinnville yesterday. Linfield opened another football season and from the looks of their solid play and improvement, this is going to be yet another amazing Wildcat campaign. Less predictable and more fun.

Let met set the stage: Linfield comes into the game ranked 7th nationally against 16th ranked California Lutheran University. The rankings mean nothing. Linfield is ranked 7th strictly off its finish last year (9-2, advanced to second round of NCAA Division III playoffs). Linfield is rebuilding, particularly at quarterback, where they lost an All-American. Defense projected to be solid, but also lost an All-American.

And, CLU was projected to be better than their ranking and possibly better than what showed on paper, which was very good. I was fully prepared for a lessons-learning opening loss, not something Wildcat fans suffer lightly, especially at home. And, it did not start out well. Linfield went three out on their first three series and looked, in a word, bad. Meanwhile, CLU marched down the field in its first possession and scored with ease. Uh oh! This could have been a long afternoon.

But, the amazing thing about Linfield historically, is how well they are coached and how well they adjust. Major kudos to Coach Joe Smith and his staff. The fake punt call in the second quarter was pure brilliance and superbly executed. It was the turning point in the game. And, let's hear it for the Wildcat defense! They kept us in the game early and then slammed the door shut on CLU's comeback attempts late.

QB Mickey Inns started out slow and finished like a house on fire, aided significantly by his offensive line who did not allow a sack. He's got a ways to go, but showed visible and major improvement as the game progressed. He's going to be more than adequate, especially if he demonstrates the same kind of improvement throughout the season. Despite two picks, Inns was solid, solid, sold.

And, then there was Josh Hill. The Portland junior ran for 164 yards and two TDs in one of the best performance by a Linfield running back in years. He is exactly what the spread offense needs to be killer this year. Speed, quickness and smarts. Josh is our LaMichael James and will make our passing game even more effective.

This is a team to get excited about. I haven't been excited about a "new" Linfield team since Bret Elliott showed up on the scene in 2004. I was all prepared for a tough season of weekly hand-to-hand combat. I don't think so after watching the superbly entertaining and well played opener yesterday. I've watched a lot of Linfield football in the past 34 years and this year is unlikely to disappoint.

The disaster in Dallas

2011-09-06T10:07:00.000-07:00

I haven't written a blog entry in eons. Guess I've not had a lot to say or at least anything to say that rocked my world. I did manage a blog on my decision to give Windows Mobile Phone a concerted try, then backed out of that one. Just couldn't give up on the iPhone based on the productivity it was providing me. I'm still fascinated with WP7, especially with Mango imminent (probably before iOS5 even). I still use it on WiFi, but haven't gotten up the courage to take it to the AT&T store and have my account switched over to it again. Maybe after Mango.

Just back from the Oregon-LSU game in Dallas. Well, the trip was fun, but the outcome was so distasteful that I'm not sure it made the trip worthwhile. Until now, I'd resisted attending any of these big Oregon games -- partly because the track record is so abysmal. What a surprise, the got bamboozled again by the SEC.

While some disagree with me, I do believe Oregon is being out coached in these big games. LSU's speed was a major factor in helping "create" the turnovers. Did you also catch the time when LMJ was overtaken in the backfield by a very fast LSU defender.

This was a sobering lesson in humility (once again) for the Ducks. They may think they're ready for Primetime, but not that Primetime. LMJ's Heisman Trophy quest is over, which is a good thing. Now, maybe Oregon can shed all the hype and focus on winning the Pac-12, no small task. The bright spot was the defense, until it just got tuckered out in the second half.

The LSU fans were mostly nice, but also appropriately arrogant. But, they can legitimately claim arrogance when they have the kind of talent they have and perform the way they did against a favored Oregon team. With the glamour gone, maybe the Ducks can get back to a workmanlike approach to football. This will be their big test for 2011.

Can Oregon regroup, run the table and land in a nice BCS bowl game in Pasadena or elsewhere?

Day One of Wine Bloggers Conference

2011-07-22T11:48:00.001-07:00

Things kicked off at the fourth annual Wine Bloggers Conference in
Charlottesville, VA. Unfortunately, we are faithful in the Great US
Heat Dome of 2011. Sitting in the technology breakout session where
the talk is all of Facebook vs. Google+.

Tonight dinner at Monticello where Thomas Jefferson is probably
turning over in his grave about the politics in Washington right now.
More than enough great wine here. So much wine, so little time.

Excited to learn who gets the bloggers' conference next year. Oregon
is in the running. Fingers crossed.

Posted via email from CFH

Giving up my iPhone (Oh, My!)

2011-07-12T17:02:00.001-07:00

Today, I began a grand experiment -- giving up my iPhone for a Samsung Focus, whick is a Microsoft Windows Phone.

I'm sure that may will consider me crazy or at least semi-crazy. And, I have to say I'm questioning my sanity a bit myself.

But, as my mother always said, you never know if you never try. So, I'm going cold turkey on the iPhone, which I've been using off and on for the past 3+ years.

Why Windows Phone 7? I guess I'd have to say that I'm intrigued about what Microsoft is doing. They have made a remarkable comeback from where they were a couple of years ago. That "comeback" is definitely reflected in business metrics, however. But, I do believe that given some time and persistence (always a significant Microsoft attribute), WP7 willcome around. Right now, the problem isn't the phone, which I've found to be very good. It's the mobile phone carriers. Their sales staff almost refuse to recommend the Windows Phone and in many instances advise against getting one.

I tried three different flavors of Android and it just didn't cut it for me. Why? Basically because it's not finished. I'm past the stage of being a beta tester with equipment that's supposed to work. The last Android phone was also a Samsung, the Infuse. Beautiful, big phone. But it couldn't maintain a bluetooth pairing in my car to save its life. Gonzo!

I also don't like to follow the pack and it seems nowadays that everyone has an iPhone. For me, that means it's time to move on to the next thing. So, how's it going?

Well, so far so good. And mind you, I'm using this as a business device. I don't really play games on my mobile phone, unless you consider Solitaire a game. I'll judgte the phone based on how easy it is to get work done.

So far, here's what I'm liking:

I love the basic UI with the colorful tiles that automatically update with new information. And if you get tired of the color tiles you're using, just pick another color. Mne are green right now.
It's fast, which surprised me.
The basic metahor of the apps is cool and they are different from either iPhone or Android. Different is good.
I really am finding I can get work done faster.
I hated how it brught all your facebook contacts into your contacts until I found out how to have it only bring in info on the contacts you already have.
Works great with my person email and calendar, Gmail, though it's rekindled a long ago relationship with Hotmail.
The display isn't as good as the iPhone's retina display, but it's very good and good enough.
The weight of the phone is nice and way lighter than the iPhone. And the display is bigger.

That's about it for today. Will post again tomorrow.

Posted via email from CFH

Little House on the Prairie

2011-07-08T07:22:00.001-07:00

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My focus today

2011-06-04T13:35:00.001-07:00

Nothing like a cold one on the deck.

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How soon we forget

2011-06-04T13:33:00.001-07:00

Been so long since we had one of these days. Truly lovely and my backyard temp says high 80s. Well worth the wait.

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Taking stock and looking ahead

2011-01-02T11:54:00.000-08:00

In some ways, this year turned out much better than could have been predicted. In other ways, not so great. But, when you add it all up, there was more good than bad. As a friend recently told me, life is a series of transitions and the bottom line is how well you handle those changes and ups and downs. Some transitions are planned and create exciting opportunities. Others are not, take you off guard and demand quick thinking and adjustments. Preparation and experience are the keys to creating success in both instances.

By sectors, my year in review:

Family: Lots of positives here. We were blessed with two additional grand children, Baron, born in March, and Regan, born in October. Both are healthy, growing and amazing in all ways. We are so blessed and fortunate to have three healthy grand children and both our kids are doing well. On the home front, circumstances have given Lynne and I a lot more time with each other. Also, a blessing. This could have been a disaster, but I'm making a lot of adjustments, learning to be more patient and enjoying a reduction in stress caused by the pressures of daily work.

Cautiously optimistic about 2011

Work: This is probably the low point as I lost my job mid-year. I'm still hoping this will prove to be a blessing in disguise. 2011 will go a long ways in telling if I'm right. I am among those aging Baby Boomers whom the steep recession has tossed onto the human scrap heap of the unemployed who may never find full-time employment again. I remain convinced that either through part-time work or consulting, there is a patchwork of projects that could look like a real job. A lot depends on how strong the economy bounces back this year and the appetite for "not-quite-over-the-hill" workers. This is a moving target. The really good note is that it's caused us to focus on our retirement scenario very seriously and make a lot harder choices than we probably would have otherwise.

Sports: This sector couldn't have turned out much better. While my Wildcats didn't win a fifth national championship, they did recover from an early season stumble, win their umpteenth NWC title, wrap up another winning season to extend their national record to 55 seasons and make it to the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs. Not much more to say about Oregon. A perfect season and a spot in the BCS National Championship Game. Wow, the best season ever for the Ducks and the culmination of a long uphill journey from football oblivion only a couple of decades ago. Shocking what money will buy! And, it was all topped off by my late-in-the-year decision to switch from cable to DirecTV. If you are a serious sports fan, you must get DirecTV. The picture is better, the choices are greater, the HD is more ubiquitous. I've had it only for about two weeks, but already a HUGE fan.

Health & Lifestyle: After a nagging injury kept me from running the first half of the year, I got back it in May, which made my doctor happy as I was able to shed about 20 pounds. Now, I need to pick up the pace, lose another 20 and focus on upping my mileage. I'm considering (and I say that advisedly) training for another marathon. Incented by Tyson's sub-four minute first marathon in November. With enough time to focus on the training and IF I can lose the weigh, I could make it work by the fall. I still think this is a long shot. The pace is slower, more focused and all about quality, not quantity of experience. I've spent a lot of time reuniting with old acquaintances and taken time for family. Getting a LOT of stuff done around the house that needed attention and still more to do.

2011: Overall, I'm hugely optimistic about the new year. 2010 was a great year for the stock market and it's hard to predict how it could do better in 2011. I do think we'll be up next year, but less than 2010 -- maybe something in the 5-6% range, unless we hit a patch of unusual inflation. There's more run in this bull despite the fact that what we saw in the second half of 2010 certainly anticipated some of this. Look for a sell-off early in the year that will frustrate some. Businesses will beging spending and hiring at a faster pace than 2010. It could be a great year. Barring some unexpected global catastrophe, there seems little risk that it will be a horrible year. This year will be a big year of adjusting to our "reduced" lifestyle and living the kind of life where we focus on what we need, not what we want. We've already planned some quality time with friends and family. It will be a year of hunkering down and enjoying and appreciating the "simple" pleasures that make life great. I'm both excited and cautious about the new year because more unknowns than I've faced in many, many years. Still, the glass looks half full, not half empty.

I don't believe Steve Jobs

2010-11-14T09:56:00.000-08:00

Every since I bought my first iPhone a couple of years ago, I've ended my habit of endlessly chasing the latest new mobile phones. Saved me a lot of money and more sanity. The iPhone is a great phone overall. It just works. Yes, yes, yes, I'm well aware of its reception shortcomings and penchant for dropping calls. I'm not sure how much of this is the phone and how much is the network. I choose to believe that it's mostly AT&T's lousy and overwhelmed network.

Steve Jobs announces iPhone 4g

Probably the greatest thing about Apple is its customer support DNA. It so far exceeds anything else I've experienced that I never question the higher price Apple often asks for its products. Problem with the MacBook? Set up a Genius Bar appointment and get it solved fast and easy. With no corporate IT department behind me anymore, the local Apple Store is my lifeline -- and a dandy one at that. Ditto Apple's telephone support. And most amazingly, they actually care enough to want to know how you solved a problem so they can help others with a similar problem.

So, not long ago, my 4-month-old iPhone 4g quit vibrating. I took it to the AT&T store and they said all the settings were correct. Next stop, the Apple Store. After examining it, they asked it they could re-image the device. Fine. This didn't solve the problem, so they said they were just giving me a new phone. Great.

Since I got the new iPhone many of my problems with the original phone have gone away. Fewer dropped calls, especially in my house, faster and even better battery life. THERE IS A NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE. I asked the people at the Apple Store if the phone had been improved and was told no, it was identical to my original 4g. So, I stopped in at the AT&T store and there I was told that yes, Apple had made tweaks after the reception flap and that this was not the same phone I bought back in June. So, while Apple did not recall and replace my iPhone, I got the same result.

I'm convinced that Apple did make changes to the original iPhone 4g despite repeated denials by Steve Jobs. What company doesn't slip stream tweaks and changes into a product when it will make a difference during its lifecycle? I'm one of the lucky ones because I found a reason to get a new phone.

The Oregon wine harvest at Raptor Ridge

2010-10-28T16:07:00.003-07:00

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Oregon Pinot Noir at Raptor Ridge

2010-10-28T16:07:00.001-07:00

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Gating at Autzen

2010-10-22T09:20:00.001-07:00

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GAMEDAY!

2010-10-16T08:21:00.001-07:00

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Wildcat tail light decals. Sweet.

2010-10-14T18:19:00.001-07:00

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Sometimes we overthink things

2010-10-13T17:35:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, you just feel like an idiot. That's happened to me more than once when trying to debug a particular computer problem over the years. The only saving grace of all this seems to be the great satisfaction derived from finally figuring out how to make it all work.

This was my curse again this week. I had thought I'd removed myself from computer support calls years ago when I decided it was just easier to come into the closed garden as some people call the Apple world of computers and devices. At some point in your life, you realize you just don't want to spend anymore time on long phone calls with tech support gurus, even the good ones.

This week, my Apple TV device arrived and I quickly took it out of the box and plugged it in only to discover that it wouldn't connect to my iTunes library -- a requirement to access your music files, photos and other media stored on your computer. Apple's online customer support is amazing and I spent hours with three different support consultants. When one went off shift, they handed me to another. They finally threw up their hands and had me take my computer and Apple TV into the local Apple store for an appointment with the Genius Bar.

In literally five minutes, the Apple blue shirt confirmed that all was working fine and that the problem probably was related to my home network. I noticed, however, as I handed him the small black hockey puck of a device that I had turned it upside down when I plugged it in. I also remember the directions saying specifically not to put anything on the top of it as it could affect its wireless functionality.

I mentioned this to the Apple employee. He turned the device upside down and it didn't seem to affect its performance. So, when I got home, I plugged it back in, this time making sure to have it turned rightside up. Bingo, suddenly all the problems were solved! So, hours of time spent moving iTunes libraries around and tweaking network settings came down to turning the device over.

I guess that's a testament to how well Apple builds products and how fare we've come form the days when new devices almost never worked as expected. So, how is the device working for me? In a word, it's amazing and beautiful. What an elegant solution and massive addition to my home entertainment setup and all in such a tiny package. It's nothing short of brilliant.

Don't even think about it, just buy it. You'll get so much more out of your music, photos, movies, TV favorites, radio, TV, sound system, Internet connection. It is a device that enhances your entire entertainment experience by plugging in one elegant, but small device and about 15 minutes of setup. I wish I had the several hours of time back, but at least I'll sleep better know what was wrong and that it's fixed.

I lost my chair again

2010-10-11T18:09:00.001-07:00

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Go Wildcats

2010-10-09T12:22:00.001-07:00

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I've got a lap cat

2010-10-09T12:21:00.001-07:00

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Invasion of the California Pinots

2010-10-01T16:26:00.000-07:00

Though I've often been in denial for years, alas, I grudgingly have to admit that California makes some darned good Pinot Noirs. They are different from Oregon Pinots, but that's not necessarily bad. For years, there was the fear that California's huge capacity to produce wine and price it below Oregon's offerings would ultimately crush the Oregon industry. After all, Oregon Pinots are more expensive and are more "Burgundian." But, whenever I taste Carneros Pinots especially, I enjoy them. And Oregon wineries have more than held their own and established a solid place in the world Pinot Noir pecking order.

Firepit and outdoor tasting room at Ardiri Winery

Having visited the winery when it was owned by the late Gary Andrus (Pine Ridge, Archery Summit and Gypsy Dancer), the makeover is impressive and gives the winery a completely new, upscale personality. The wines are all new as well. Ardiri's first Oregon Pinot is in the barrel and won't be bottled until January. But, there are two Carneros pinots available as well as well as an estate grown Chardonnay-Pinot Blanc blend.

I liked both of the Carneros Pinots, especially the 2008, which has a wonderful perfume nose and compelling hints of plum and cola on the pallet. The 2009 in the barrel was similar though with more fruit and spice. Both were delightful and a pleasant change from Oregon Pintos. I found the '08s and '09s to be somewhat salty, but salty in a good way -- like sea salt chocolate. And the price is right. The '07 is $25 and the '08 $28 with great discounts for wine club members.

Time will tell, but I say welcome Californians. The Oregon pinot industry is big enough and diverse enough to welcome wines made from grapes grown in California and trucked north. It's not an easy thing to do as others (Patricia Green Cellars) have tried this in the past without commercial success. Ardiri is a serious entrant in Oregon's ever expanding vinosphere. The significant investment is impressive and joins the growing number of wineries who are realizing that it takes more than making great wine to attract customers. Viva la diversity!

Buy American? Shocking, but true

2010-09-28T15:36:00.000-07:00

I'm kind of a car guy. Well, not really.

I like cars. I don't love cars, not like my friend Brian who's life centers on cars. Having said that, I really don't like to drive. It's just another chore. If I could teleport myself from place to place, I'd be a most happy camper.

2010 Ford Focus Sedan

But, I've owned a lot of cars. Just ask MFW if you doubt me. And, I could afford to retire today if I wasn't so insistent on trading cars so often over the years. Having said that, I would really be in deep trouble if I'd bought houses like I did cars. And, I'd probably be divorced.

My BMW got in a small fender bender (not my fault). Someone backed out of a driveway and hit my parked car on the street. Oh, well. Not much damage, just inconvenience. So, it's in the shop getting repaired this week.

My "loaner" is a 2010 Ford Focus SES. I've heard a lot about the Focus, but now I'm a believer. This is one nice car. It's got spunk, is fun to drive, has a lot of "luxury" features and best of all is quiet for a car in its price range. I'm really surprised by how quiet it is. Oh, did I mention it gets 35 mpg on the highway and 27 in the city. That's about the same as my smaller turbo Mini Cooper.

And, Holy Martha, the price. I could buy two of these for what I paid for the Bimmer. Now, to be honest, this is no BMW. It doesn't have the fit and finish and the amazing workmanship. But, it's probably good enough.

I'm seriously thinking this will be our next car and probably the one after that, too. Amazingly, this will be the first American-made car I've ever purchase. I had two Ford trucks, but no cars. I like Ford and think they're doing a good job. It has a lot of cool features which was always the reason I bought foreign. Some of the Ford's implementations -- like Sirius radio -- are superior to the BMW and far, far cheaper. I also think the radio sounds better if you can believe it.

I may have squandered a lot of bucks on cars earlier in my life. Now I see a chance to make amends.

Pork shoulder looking awesome

2010-09-12T14:37:00.001-07:00

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I've had better days

2010-09-12T09:33:00.001-07:00

Home after yesterday's disappointing trip to LA for Linfield's opener against Cal Lutheran. It was the (frustrating) story of two halves that ended in a rare non-league loss. Looks like the Cats have some lessons to learn and one was taught to them yesterday in Thousand Oaks. We usually make great adjustments in the second half, but this time, it was the Knights who made the adjustments, leaving Linfield wondering what happened.

What happened was that Linfield just got whipped. Too many mistakes on offense and a way-too-porous defense to win this game. The offense will be fine. The defense needs work. The good news was that Willamette is probably not as good as we may have thought and therefore completely beatable. The whole season comes down to the Oct. 2 matchup with the Bearcats at Maxwell Field. Lick our wounds, regroup after a bye week and get ready for Willamette.

On a happier note, the Ducks looked amazing albeit against a second division SEC team. I was able to watch most of the game (the best part, at least) form a bar at LAX. When we arrived, the Alabama-Penn State game was on every one of the 10 TV screens, so I asked that some of them be switched to Oregon-Tennessee. That didn't please the jerk sitting in front of me. He practically wanted to fight because they hadn't asked his permission. The customers were clearly into the Oregon game and could care less about Alabama.

So today, it's BBQ and NFL, my two favorite three-letter acronyms. Now, hopefully NFL Redzone is also working. Had some issues with Frontier over that, but they've assured me that we've got it. The station comes up and now there is music, so I'm hopeful. Gotta run to check on the charcoal.

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Cal Lutheran takes lead

2010-09-11T15:45:00.001-07:00

Breakaway run puts CLU up 40-35 with 5:42 to play

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Cal Lutheran FG

2010-09-11T15:39:00.001-07:00

Linfield clings to 35-34 lead with 8:17 left

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Linfield right back

2010-09-11T15:28:00.001-07:00

Aaron Williams 75 run to set up Linfield TD. Linfield 35-31. 13:21 4th. Sent from iPhone

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Cal Lutheran takes lead

2010-09-11T15:26:00.001-07:00

On 28 yard TD pass 2 PAT. 31-28 Sent from iPhone

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End of 3rd

2010-09-11T15:19:00.001-07:00

Linfield 28-23. Sent from iPhone

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Boehme throws 3rd int

2010-09-11T15:08:00.001-07:00

CLU runs all way back 39 for TD. 28-23 5.30 3rd. Sent from iPhone

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CLU threatening

2010-09-11T15:02:00.001-07:00

CLU long run to Linfield 12. CLU FG. 28-17 7:08 3rd

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Linfield 28-14 at half

2010-09-11T14:35:00.001-07:00

Cats dodge bullet at end of half as CLU misses FG. Sent from iPhone

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CLU scores to cut lead to 28-14

2010-09-11T14:19:00.001-07:00

Cats put up brave effort but CLU narrows lead with 1:51 left in half. Linfield fumbles kickoff. Sent from iPhone

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Cats extend lea

2010-09-11T14:07:00.001-07:00

Linfield mar he's 49 yds. Scores on 25 pass Boehme to Saxon. 28-7 Cats. Sent from iPhone

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Linfield 21-7

2010-09-11T13:51:00.001-07:00

Averie takes swing pass for 20 YD TD 12:01 2nd

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Cats lead 14-7

2010-09-11T13:40:00.001-07:00

Boehme to Saxon 19 USA. Sent from iPhone

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Linfield picks at clu19

2010-09-11T13:38:00.001-07:00

Awesome hit on return Sent from iPhone

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Boehme picked

2010-09-11T13:36:00.001-07:00

Ze nod tipped pass int at CLU 6

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Cats come back

2010-09-11T13:27:00.001-07:00

March right down field, score. 7-7. Now we play defense. Sent from iPhone

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Argh

2010-09-11T13:19:00.001-07:00

Longoria takes opening kickoff, drives to CLU 1. CLU picks Boehme returns 97 to Linf 1. TD CLU. 7-0. Sent from iPhone

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Let's get ready to rumble

2010-09-11T12:33:00.001-07:00

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CLU chapel where I said a prayer for A Big Cat Victory!

2010-09-11T12:10:00.001-07:00

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Cats getting ready

2010-09-11T12:06:00.001-07:00

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Our QB's mom

2010-09-11T12:03:00.001-07:00

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Busted at Cal Lutheran

2010-09-11T11:23:00.001-07:00

Gig Harbor Cat had to pour out $50 worth of Longies as CLU campus cops bust up our tailgate. Tailgater swarming with security guys. Our answer: Screw you. I'm drinking Coke. Sent from iPhone

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Cop bust up our tailgate. CLU prudes!

2010-09-11T11:20:00.001-07:00

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Busted at Cal Lutheran

2010-09-11T11:18:00.001-07:00

Gig Harbor Cat had to pour out $50 worth of Longies as CLU campus cops bust up our tailgate. Tailgater swarming with security guys. Our answer: Screw you. I'm drinking Coke. Sent from iPhone

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Tailgating at CLU

2010-09-11T10:42:00.001-07:00

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Tailgating at CLU

2010-09-11T10:36:00.001-07:00

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Gameday in TO

2010-09-11T09:10:00.001-07:00

Took a brief tour of the "facility" for today's game. No wonder teams are in awe whine they come to the Catdome! Tailgating area is paved, but that's about the best I can say. Had dinner with DenSoc last night at Claim Jumper in TO. Fun time. Dennis is very entertaining guy. Very LA, even some Hollywood. Slept OK at Hampton Inn and just finished sumptuous breakfast. My brother is at Rocky Top for Duck-Vol game. Pouring rain right now. But game isn't for seven hours. Plan is to get to CLU about 10:30 for tailgating DenSOC has promised to buy pizzas for all. Sent from my iPad

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Pregame meal at TO Hampton Inns. GAMEDAY!!!!!!!!

2010-09-11T08:19:00.001-07:00

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Dinner with DenOS

2010-09-10T19:53:00.001-07:00

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Boise State deserves big bowl, not BCS title game

2010-09-07T09:45:00.000-07:00

After last night's squeaker against an unimpressive Virginia Tech team, Boise State should now run the table, win the rest of its games and go undefeated. This will set up a huge discussion at the end of the season about whether they deserve to play for the national championship.

Maybe, this is the year to just end the argument and put them in the national championship game, unfair as that may be to all the other teams who play real schedules before big crowds and under a lot more pressure than BSU will experience the rest of the way. Not only are their opponents going to be weak (don't count on Oregon State to give the Broncs much of a game), but they will play in front of an average of 26,000 people when they go on the road. This compares to other teams facing road game crowds of 70,000, 80,000, even 100,000 partisan fans.

Boise, meanwhile, will be skating through the season, pounding on weaker opponents in order to maintain its ranking. The only pressure Boise will face will be to run up the score on every opportunity and pummel as many of its unworthy opponents as possible. Warning, OSU, the Broncs will be out to run up the score on Sept. 25 as this will be their last game against a quality opponent.

So, those of us who don't believe that Boise is worthy of the National Championship Game due to its unrepresentative schedule, it's time to let it go. Even Colin Cowherd, the ESPN host who describes my sentiments pretty accurately, is resigned to the fact that BSU goes unbeaten and then we see where the chips fall.

If there are two other undefeated teams from real conferences, BSU won't get in the title game. But, the Broncs will land a BCS Bowl game. Let's just hope that this year, it's not the "Arranged Marriage Bowl" that they played in last year where they were matched with TCU, another team that plays a chump schedule. If they can beat VaTech on the road then they can play Florida in the Sugar Bowl next January.

But, let's save the national title game for two teams who have proved themselves against more than one ranked opponent.

Tualatin River Wildlife National Refuge

2010-09-06T08:47:00.001-07:00

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I love my Ducks

2010-09-04T10:00:00.001-07:00

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Another technology milestone

2010-09-03T20:16:00.001-07:00

There have been many since I bought my first PC (an IBM) in 1982. Or, perhaps I should date that to the Bomar digital calculator I bought from Sears a few years prior to that. They all have one common thread -- each has been completely amazingly fascinating in its own way. Yes, even the Bomar calculator with its glowing red LED numbers.

Today, I was at the Apple store and asked about the new Apple TV. This is something I've never been much interested in before. Just don't want more boxes, wires and complexity cluttering up my living room. They didn't have it in stock yet, but it got my curiosity up, so I checked out the "instant play" section of Netflix. My big discovery was that my relatively new Sony Bravia TV has this capability built in. So, I've now added Internet TV to my mix and the only gadget I needed was an inexpensive ethernet cable.

It took me all of about 10 minutes to set it up. First, I had to connect the TV to my router, an Apple Time Capsule. Then I had to register it on Netflix. Within literally seconds, my Instant Play que showed up on my TV screen. And, I was watching a PBS documentary within a few more seconds.

I had no idea it would be this easy and that's a scary prospect for tradition suppliers of TV content. Even though we get hundreds of channels on our FIOS cable service, we are constantly looking for something interesting to watch. Netflix Instant Play may just have solved our problem. And it also may significantly diminish the number of DVDs we get from Netflix. DVDs are increasingly becoming a pain, mostly due to the poor quality of the disks.

I can see myself paying a lot more attention to my Instant Play que than my DVD que. And you don't have to be a genius to also see where Netflix real future lies.

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Great dinner at Pepita's in Beaverton

2010-09-03T19:05:00.001-07:00

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Lunch at Oregon State Fair

2010-08-31T12:51:00.001-07:00

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Las Vegas' sad state of affairs

2010-08-26T19:09:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a short stay in Las Vegas, my first visit there since 2006 and one of many visits over the past 25 years. I can't help but think this place is losing much of its charm and class. What once had a sort of earnest entrepreneurial feel, now seems a lot more like greed run amuck. We stayed on the north end of The Strip, also known as Las Vegas Boulevard, right across the street from the bankrupt Fontainebleu Hotel/Casino complex. Work stopped on it about a year ago when the developer ran out of money.

Mothballed Fontainebleau

Just down the road, past the decaying Circus Circus, the massive Echelon complex sits abandoned, it's sprawling series of buildings behind a tall fence on acres of prime Vegas real estate. A story in the local paper today said Marriott may come to the rescue if the project can ever be completed.

Farther down the strip in the midst of a collection of glass towers, the Cosmopolitan is nearing completion and work is actually moving ahead. A wide swath of financial disaster fueled by a belief that there was no end to the money that would roll into the city if only the facilities were built. This is a city that is visibly hurting and badly in need of direction and vision.

Some of the new places are nice, but in general, the tacky is winning out over the classy. The classic hotel casinos still remain, like Caesars Palace, the Bellagio and Steve Wynn's twin towers. But a lot of the rest of it is decaying junk or worse, new junk. The Miracle Mile shopping center is a prime example of the latter. Hunkered up against Planet Hollywood (formerly the Aladin), the place offends most of my senses -- a load, tasteless temple to consumerism.

Vegas has grown so fast in recent years that it's lost its sense of perspective, not to mention esthetics, quality and certainly direction. The schlock is starting to win out. And it's too bad because this once was a classy city that attracted classy people. Where is the civic leadership? Where is their sense of shame?

Better ideas rock

2010-08-19T18:38:00.000-07:00

You don't always have to be first. Sometimes, just having a better idea is enough. Here are some examples:

My son needed a new notebook computer, but he also has a growing family and is moving into a new house. So, he opted for an iPad. Today, HP admitted that iPad sales are hurting its notebook sales. Geee, do you think. I love my iPad. It's a great product and I use it as a companion to my notebook, but for many, many people, it's all they need. Apple saw an opportunity in the market and introduced a brilliant product, catching the old guard PC industry napping . . . again. Does this sound familiar? Can you say iPhone? People like that kind of initiative when it empowers them.

I recently switching from Supercuts to Great Clips. (Sorry, I'm not a salon type of guy who has $50 to spend on one of life's necessities every few weeks.) Last time I was at Supercuts, the floor was peeling up, the outlets didn't all work and the staff was listless and bored. At Great Clips, not only is the staff enthusiastic and motivated, but they actually use computers so they know your preferences and who you are. People like that. Supercuts stayed in the analog world. Great Clips is providing better customer service by using technology and won me over.

A little hole-in-the-wall restaurant in our neighborhood has carved out a great niche by cooking great food and pricing it right for eat-in, but mostly take away. It's called Hapa Grill and the food is seriously good for around $7 a meal. They keep it simple -- great food at a great price. You get tired of pizza after awhile and their Hawaiian/Asian Fusion fare is something different. People like that.

It is this kind of innovation that will lead us out of the economic dumpster. It's happened before and will happen again. Just give it a little time.

Let's go Yankees!

2010-08-18T15:23:00.001-07:00

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Lantana

2010-08-16T09:36:00.001-07:00

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Scandinavian Festival Junction City

2010-08-15T14:13:00.001-07:00

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Stoller Vineyard family picnic

2010-08-15T14:00:00.001-07:00

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Big Al's Opens in Beaverton

2010-08-12T19:58:00.001-07:00

We attended the "soft" opening of Big Al's tonight. At $15 apiece, they raised $15K for the Beaverton Police.

This place is a bit hard to decipher. It's part adult and part kid. It's also BIG. So let me just run through what I liked, what I didn't like and what I couldn't figure out.

This place is primarily about bowling. There are two bowling alleys and they're both very nice. But it's not like an old time bowling alley because it's not just bowling. We didn't bowl because the lines were too long. Better to come back later and try that.
The building is well laid out and organized. The games (mostly for kids) are upstairs. The bowling and sports bar are downstairs.
The food tonight was not great and barely good. But, it was a buffet. At $15, a buffet isn't going to be good, just OK. This worried me a bit. I hope this isn't any indication of what it'll be like on a regular basis.
The Sports Bar is fabulous and to me the highlight of the place. It's like Vegas. A big terraced room with tons of tables and booths. The whole back wall is video screens and there are nine altogether, including one big one in the middle. In addition, there's a ticker with game updates and stats running across the top. This will be a great place to watch NFL, assuming they get all the games and have sound on the feature game.
The mobile phone reception is awful in the place, at least for AT&T.
There was no wifi and I would consider that a HUGE oversight and a must add. People are too hooked on their phones and want to be abel to use them even if the reception is crappy.
When we asked about the menu for NFL Sunday mornings, we got kind of a blank stare. Not sure they're planning on serving breakfast on Sunday morning. Another potential massive oversight. They could essentially keep people there for three meals on Sunday IF they play their cards right AND have decent food.
The upstairs game Arcade looks really fun, even for adults. Lots of ways to blow money.

Overall, Big Al's is a helluva beautiful place and it should do well if they can draw decent crowds during the week and not only on weekends. It's also about a mile from our house, so you can't complain about that. We will absolutely give it the benefit of the doubt and several tries. But, a beautiful building won't be enough without excellent execution on why people will come there -- to have fun.

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The promise of Oregon Chardonnay

2010-07-20T19:40:00.000-07:00

I just poured myself a glass of Stoller Vineyards 2007 SV Chardonnay. I have long been a Chardonnay fan and am particularly hopeful for the kind of Chardonnays that Oregon will someday produce. Bill Stoller has made a big bet on Chardonnay at his Dundee Hills vineyard where he has planted 60 acres.

I always liked Chardonnay, though I enjoy other white wines as well. But it wasn't until I spent some time in Europe and started drinking the Burgundian Chardonnays that I really got hooked. These crisp, minerally Puligny-Montrachets and Meursaults are in my opinion the best white wines on the planet. (And incidentally if you're looking for those French wines, do stop by Scott Paul Wines in Carlton where they important a bunch of great red and white burgundies.)

If Oregon can make competitive Pinot Noir, why not Chardonnays? To me, this is merely a function of experience and focus and I fully expect the Oregon Chardonnays to only get better and better. Stoller's 2007 is a great example, if it has a bit more oak than I would like. The finish is creamy and long. Lots of honey with some vanilla and tropical fruit highlights. And a complete bargain at $28 if you could find any. The 2008 is still available though the last time I tasted it, I preferred the 2007.

Nikon D90 or Panasonic Lumix GF-1

2010-07-04T12:18:00.001-07:00

I'm torn between a DSLR (Nikon D90) and something kind of sleeker and cooler, like the Panasonic Lumix GF-1. I really like the looks of the latter, though it's a bit spendy for what you get. Biggest worry about the Nikon is that I'd not use it as much because it's so big and bulky. Lumix comes highly rated and people who own it love it. Considered a great street camera. What are your thoughts?

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My new eatery

2010-06-15T09:19:00.000-07:00

Every once in awhile, you stumble on a gem of an eatery that's so good, you just have to pinch yourself to believe it's real.

A couple of weeks ago, my son was visiting. He's a big Yelp poster and advised me that the highest rated restaurant in Beaverton was in the local shopping center 5 minutes from my house. I had heard it was good, but never tried it. The small corner shop has been a million different things over the years. Usually some kind of modified fast food . . . never something that really compelled to me to give it a try. And since all the previous places went out of business, my guess is they weren't all that good.

So, last Saturday we were in a hurry and needed a quick bite between engagements. I said let's try that place in the shopping center. It's call the Hapa Grill and the fare is fast Hawaiian. And, man is it ever good. I love to discover new kinds of food and believe me this is special. Entrees are in the $7-$10 range with lots of sides and even homemade desserts!

We were both blown away by our meals. I wrote a rave review on Yelp and am planning to go there for chow again tonight. In a way, my biggest worry is that too many others will discover it, they'll outgrow the space and have to move.

If you've not been there, you've got to give it a try.

The embarrassment of the Pac-11

2010-06-14T20:23:00.000-07:00

Let's not mince words, Larry Scott is a moron and the Pac-11 presidents should fire him forthwith. The erstwhile Pac-16 commissioner sold the presidents a bill of goods about his ability to achieve dramatic expansion and ended up embarrassing everyone. What a MESS!

This guy was hired by the Pac-10 (before Colorado joined) with the promise that he had what it would take to achieve dramatic expansion of the conference that had become the laughing stock of college and pathetic TV income. Well, Scott got taken to the woodshed by the folks at UT, who turned the Pac-10 invite into more money for themselves and up their chances of increasing their dominance of the Big XII, which is now technically the Big X.

So, what you do now, besides fire Scott? Well, the Pac-11 must make the best of a horribly embarrassing situation. Left at the altar by the Big X, the Pac-11 is now probably forced to go after Utah from the Mountain West. That's the conference that Boise State just joined. Only good thing about that is that it kind of poops in BSU's punchbowl. No alligator tears here.

Scott is getting raked over the coals. He has royally screwed this up and now must figure out how to save face. I don't think it's possible. This one is too far gone. As he learned big-time, Don't Mess with Texas. According to reports, the Texans weren't impressed with Scott in their meetings last night. Gee, what a surprise!

Will Scott the bungler go after anyone else? Does anyone really care? He could go after BYU. Not sure Colorado State measures up or adds anything. After that, it's pretty slim pickings. Boise State is a joke. I mean, can you imagine USC going to Boise State? It ain't happening.

It's probably time to just make the best of a horrible deal. Go get Utah, lick your wounds and decide what to do about Scott after his blundering start.

Shopping . . . big and little

2010-05-25T09:57:00.000-07:00

My two favorite places to shop and "discover" stuff are Costco and Trader Joe's.

Wow, you may say, those are two really opposite ends of the spectrum. And, that's exactly right. Costco is good for lots of things -- mostly non-perishables -- while Trader Joe's is purely focused on food and related items. It is the European grocery store that we ultimately fell in love with while living in London. Costco is amazing in its own way and that's mostly for saving money.

I used to think TJ's was expensive until my son turned me around on that. Not only are the prices very, very good, but because the items are packaged in reasonable sizes, you save money by not over buying. And the quality and differentiation of choice is outstanding.

One of my criteria for a great shopping experience is whether it's fun. Both Costco and Trader Joe's hit that mark. And, it has nothing to do with size. It has to do with being interesting and not boring and turning your shopping experience into an adventure. It also has to do with marketing and merchandising and it has to do with the people who work there. Are they interesting? Are they well informed? The other day I bought a bar of soap at TJ's and the dreadlocked clerk said he had just seen a documentary on the man who founded the company that made the soap!

Costco overcomes its size with its focus on quality and amazing customer support and guarantee policies. Costco stands behind products the way Nordstrom once did. For such a huge retailer, this is truly amazing. But, it buys customer loyalty and that's priceless.

Another thing I love about Trader Joe's is that it's not pretentious. Take the wine section. They are proud of the value they bring and often apologetic about recommending a wine that costs more than $10 a bottle. And, if you haven't checked out the recipe section of the newly revamped website, you're missing out. I suspect some turn up their nose at TJ's because "it's too small." But, as we discovered when we lived in London, you really can find everything you really need in a small store.

There are probably a lot more reasons to like both stores, these are just a few of my favorites.

Sonos pioneers music-on-demand market

2009-11-06T16:00:00.000-08:00

Sonos is now shipping its new ZonePlayer S5, the first "affordable" device by the company that has rewritten the book on how to enjoy music in your home. Mine is somewhere around City of Industry CA, arriving next week. After years of considering Sonos too expensive, I've fallen and hard. I now have two ZonePlayers and their new spiffy touch-screen remote controller.

The S5 is a self contained unit that includes speakers and all the Sonos magic electronics that allow it to receive music from the Internet and your personal iTunes collection and distribute it wirelessly anywhere in the house. I can anticipate using this outside and when I'm working on a project in the house where I don't want to put in a permanent ZonePlayer.

The rise of Sonos (and newer competitors from Logitech and others) is a testament to how pervasive the Internet has become in our lives and how we're now depending on online access much as we have other utilities in the past. The Internet now powers by computer, music system, telephone and TV. It is my link to the outside world much as the telephone once was. It is saving me oodles of time and money. This is a brand new market and while others are now interested because it's expanding, Sonos owns this territory and it's value has to be skyrocketing. There are even rumors that Apple is interesting in acquiring Sonos.

We are close to the tipping point when this thing just takes off with new players entering and innovating. Expect content to be the next major accelerator which will in turn fuel more adoption of the technology. Current content providers like Sirius and Rhapsody should benefit.

This is another great example of how technology is changing our lives for the better. Sonos has made it easy and even fun to access an almost unlimited library of music easily and quickly. And, it works amazingly well -- easily passing the sniff test for useful consumer electronics.

Expect the content providers also to start cranking up their offerings as they realize this lucrative new market opportunity. Rhapsody, a partnership between Real Networks and MTV, is already on the bandwagon with a pay music service. Pandora is free, but now limits the amount you can listen to before paying a modest fee. You can find and listen to podcasts on Sonos. The potential, however, is virtually unlimited.

Start spreading the news

2009-11-05T09:15:00.000-08:00

To all the Yankee faithful who are celebrating today . . .

I wore my official 2009 away jacket to work today. It's a great trophy and rememberance from the Championship 2009 season. I couldn't be prouder of a group of guys. They started out rough, pulled it together and took home all the marbles -- no easy feat, especially when you consider the world had counted them out after Game 1 of the World Series.

This will go down as one of the great Yankee teams, built in the tradition of the Bronx Bombers. They will also be remembered as the team that won it all the first year in the new Yankee Stadium, just as they did in 1923 in the old Yankee Stadium. It was mix of old timers and newcomers. They started out stumbling and trailed Boston at the All Star break. But, the pitching finally jelled and they not only overcame the Sox, but won going away.

After years of free agent busts, the Yankees struck it rich in the off season. Sabathia

was impressive and dependable. Burnett was not, but he did come through enough times to make a difference. Pettitte was a great addition. Teixeira had a horrible series, but more than carried his weight to get them there, leading the American League in home runs. And A-Rod. No one will call him Mr. Choke ever again. In many ways, he was the MVP of the series. Jeter gets his fifth ring and A-Rod gets his first. For all the newcomers this year, it was a huge reward for joining a team that was anything but a certain winner when the season started.

And, hats off to Joe Girardi. He took the blows, but in the end did it his way. He now has four rings, three as a Yankee catcher in the 1990s. This one was a long time coming, but worth every ounce. A few more tweaks in the off season and these guys will be even harder to beat next year.

Election provides few if any insights

2009-11-04T15:12:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's off-off year elections are being over analysed. Hard to reach much into them. Sure, the Rs appear to have gotten a leg up by winning governorships in Virginia and New Jersey, but they also took it on the chin in New York, losing a House seat that they'd held since the mid-19th century. My perspective is that the candidates still matter. It's not just party label -- unless of course, you're a member of the deep core and only vote a party ticket.

In both Virginia and New Jersey, which are largely Democratic states, the Republicans won by appealing to the middle (independents) who swing back and forth and decide close elections. It's how Obama won comfortably last year. To them, it's about the candidates more than party affiliation, since they don't buy into the dogma of either party and vote for the best candidate or sometimes vote against a bad one.

Moving on to the ballot referals. Maine voted down gay marriage. But, Washington refused to reject a law expanding the rights of same sex couples. Both votes were close. This may just reflect the demographics in Washington and its strong Democratic registration. As the voting population continues to skew younger and Western, expect to see more votes that favor gay marriage and same sex couple rights. It's inevitable because that's the point of view of young people today.

Washingtonians also rejected draconian spending limits. While comparisons may be tough to make, that has to be somewhat encouraging to Oregonians who oppose repealing the tax increases on business and the wealthy imposed by the last Legislature and on the ballot in January.

The most interesting race, however, was in upstate New York where Bill Owens appears to have defeated his conservative opponent, Douglas L. Hoffman. Hoffman was hand picked by the right wing of the party after they rejected the local Republican nominee. This is a huge blow to the Dick Armey branch of the conservative movement that has its eyes on using this scheme to defeat moderate (normal) Republicans elsewhere in the country. What they didn't bargain on is the fact that his could split the party and open the door to a Democrat. They are targeting other races in 2010, including some incumbents. This is just another example of how the ultra-conservative, evangelical wing of the party is in deep trouble and on its way out.

Why Republicans don't have a sense of humor

2009-11-02T15:56:00.000-08:00

Good discussion in The New York Times' Caucus blog (and in print) today of the rising partinsanship among broadcast news networks. The blog examines the recent decision by the Obama White House to start cutting Fox News out of the action when it can discriminate such as in situations where there can only be a small pool of reporters. This is sort of tit for tat for things like Fox's decision not to air President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress on health care. (Ironically, it was during this speech that Joe Wilson became a right wing hero when he shouted "liar" during the speech.)

Anyone can see that Fox hardly lives up to its moto of "fair and balanced." And as is evidenced from the stats, most Democrats, now the solid majority of people in America, rarely watch it. I used to watch it occasionally earlier in the decade when its demographics were more evenly balanced, but it's now become just too nauseating and blantantly biased. More than any other so-called news network, Fox is much closer to propoganda than news.

On the other hand, CNN (home of the hated Larry King) has become the favorite network of liberals and Democrats. And, in fact, the same is true of MSNBC, CNBC, Headline News and Comedy Central. All of which goes to show you that Republicans don't much like coverage that attempts to tell both sides of the story, nor do they have much of a sense of humor.

Apple may have more of a fight on its hands

2009-11-02T12:06:00.000-08:00

Apple may find themselves with a bigger battle on their hands than they previously thought. I got the "gold" install on my work computer over the weekend and Windows 7 is even better than I expected it to be. I've been using a late beta version since May. Most things worked well with the exception of some sound drivers and IE8. I'm happy to report that both of those glitches are now fixed with the shipping version of the OS.

I would echo the perspective of Microsoft's television ad campaign. Simplicity and efficiency. I also think the shipping version of the OS has been accelerated over the one I was using, which makes it even greater. You can get so much done with this OS that you find yourself wondering what to do with your computer. It's just slam, bam and you're done. Never thought I'd actually say this about a PC, but it's downright joyful to use.

Apple is hitting the airways hard with new versions of its "same old" ads (I'm a PC and I'm a Mac). Some are clever, but they're really not that funny anymore because Windows 7 really has shattered most of the myths of Vista and previous versions of Windows. This is a no-nonsense, bread-and-butter OS that is solid as a rock, reliable, fast and the best news of all -- you can buy it on a new PC that's about half the price of what you'd pay for a comparable Mac.

No question, the new MacBooks are beautiful. They're almost works of art. They are fine design and work well, too. I've ordered a new Toshiba Satellite T135 notebook. I have connections and this is what they recommended for the type of notebook I wanted (light and portable). It's thin and light and weighs less than a comparable MacBook. Now, it's not as pretty, and I may not be as cool, but will work just as well if not better. And I can extend the warranty for two additional years for $116. Apple charges $249 for the same thing with AppleCare. (To be fair, Apple offers more with its great telephone support.)

Yes, there are those who are religious about Macs and PCs. But that is a shrinking base. Most people nowadays just want to get stuff done. I have a long history with PCs even though MFW prefers a MacBook. This is far and away the best version of Windows or any other OS Microsoft has ever invented. Combined with today's impressive hardware and rock-bottom prices, it's a steal. You should have no concerns about getting stuff -- and a lot of it -- done with the new Windows 7 computers hitting the market now.

In daring move, Costco puts Gore on cover

2009-11-02T10:24:00.000-08:00

If you haven't seen the most recent issue of The Costco Connection, check it out (the current issue isn't online yet). Al Gore is the cover and the lead story. It's a great iconic photo and the story discusses his ideas on energy and how we deal with energy issues in the future.

This seems like a bit of a risky move for Costco, which avoids controversy and if anything skews to the right in its book selections. I've got no idea what the circulation is though it has to be in the millions or the demographics of its customers, but I'd guess a pretty good cross section. We do know that the demographics of its shoppers skews toward people with ample disposable incomes. Democrats like Al Gore and believe that he got screwed out of winning the presidency in 2000. Righties hate Gore and don't believe there is any such thing as global warming, therefore people aren't responsible for damaging the evironment -- it just happens on its own.

It is one more example, however, of a company looking at its social responsibility as seen through the lens of its customers. And, it shows how far the discussion of global warming has progressed. Even some Republicans now grudgingly acknowledge that changes are happening though they're not as specific on the cause and don't want to address the problem in any meaningful way (sort of like the health care debate). So, this may not be as much a liberal/conservative issue as it is an acknowledgment broadly that most people, regardless of their politics, now concede that, yes, there is such a thing as global warming and it's a serious problem and one we all have a responsibility to address. Still, not everyone agrees as evidenced by this Costco shopper.

Thank you Costco for raising Mr. Gore's ideas to your customers. It's the responsible thing to do.

Slow-walking and road-blocking

2009-10-29T16:53:00.000-07:00

You may be thinking, gee, haven’t the Republicans been awfully quiet of late? I’ve certainly noticed that ever since the embarrassing outbursts during President Obama’s speech on health care reform to the joint session of Congress in September.

But, let’s face it, they haven’t had a lot to crow about. Their big agenda item is jobs. “Where are the jobs?” they ask. So, it’s really the economy stupid and they’re banking on the stimulus package failing (that was their previous message). Well, today’s numbers on GDP (3.5% growth in the third quarter) were more bad news to their cause. It at least proves that the stimulus is stimulating growth and that’s what it’s supposed to do. Despite some questions about whether this growth would have happened without the stimulus, the stock market likes it.

They’ve not shown their hand on health care other than they all plan to vote against it, which will hand the Democrats a huge campaign issue next year. “Republicans don’t want health care reform. Do you agree?” Americans overwhelmingly want health care reform, according to every poll. But, Republicans are going to go on record opposing it.

The only way Republicans win at this game is if they can actually defeat health care reform from passing. But, that doesn’t look likely right now.

So what are the Republicans up to? They support the war in Afghanistan and they oppose health care reform. Perhaps this is helpful. It came to me as part of an email today:

Eighty-one times. So far this year, Republicans have stalled Senate action 81 times. Each time, critical legislation that should have taken two hours has instead taken weeks.

Republicans are not a party of ideas. They’re purely a party of obstinacy. They’re slow-walking and road-blocking for one reason only: to see Democrats fail.

They are doing what they usually do — nothing. Obstructing, and saying “no.” Enough said.

Republican strategy out of touch with today's electorate

2009-09-16T10:01:00.001-07:00

I have a theory on the recent Republican strategy to smear and destroy President Obama through the use of lies and half truths, rude and boorish behavior, much of it based on plain old fashioned racism. The GOP faithful are still pissed that Obama won. They're not only sore about this, but can't figure out why. There are certainly enough nut cases in their ranks, so all it takes is a little encouragement from the desperate leadership and you have the kind of mob mentality we've observed recently. It's a little humorous that they've tried to associate Obama with Hitler when in fact their behavior is comparable to how the Nazi Party gained control in Germany.

So, they've set out on an ugly and underhanded campaign to discredit him through any means imaginable. This starts with opposing everything he proposes and ends with mean-spirited and often racist demeaning. No president in our history has been treated as shabbily as he has. Why? A lot of Americans -- and they tend to be conservative -- just don't think a black man can run this country. And, if you had a conversation with one of them they would base it on all the old stereotypes. This is an ugly turn on US politics and one that promises to do long-term harm to the Republican party.

Why? Because the majority of Americans don't buy into it, especially younger voters between the ages of 18-30. They voted overwhelmingly for Obama and continue to support him and the Democratic party because the Democrats represent their point of view on many issues, not just Obama. These aren't the people attending Tea Parties or carrying racially suggestive signs in DC. What they are doing is rolling their eyes at all this nonsense. And, it's not influencing them as is evidenced by these recent poll results which show Obama's approval ratings have taken a startling uptick in the past week. This signals that he has a strong base of support and that his speech to Congress was a big success among open minded Americans. It also signals that Joe Wilson's "you lie" heckling and the kerfuffle over his speech to school kids only harmed the right and made them look petty and small minded. The GOP is moving in the wrong direction by embracing and encouraging the mob. Every day they do this they take another step away from today's reality and paint themselves as old, stodgy and living in the past.

What the rhetoric clearly demonstrates is that the Democrats and President Obama continue to be the part of optimism, hope and abundance while the Republicans stand for negativism, fear and scarcity.

The sad state of America

2009-08-24T10:47:00.001-07:00

Paul Krugman's NYT column today lays things out about as clearly as you can. It details with real facts (not lies) how the middle class has been screwed by Reagan and the Bushes. Not to mention the gutting oif our economy. Yet this is all so complex that none of them understand it and one could argue that their plight has made them even more vulnerable to the fear card, which is the only hand the righties know how to play.

Nerd Alert: Verizon FiOS, Sonos update

2009-08-23T09:28:00.000-07:00

I've had my Verizon FiOS TV/phone/internet service for more than a month now and have had decent time to check it out and debug. My baseline is: I like the service, it's been mostly good, but there are some hidden issues that they dont' tell you about that might cause you not to buy the service if you knew in advance.

Let me take them one at a time. Internet -- great, no problems. Fast and reliable so far. Phone -- no issues. Like the VM better than Comcast's. TV -- let's talk.

The main issue I've had with TV is short blackouts on HD channels, some worse than others. This is intermittent. Sometimes it's non-existent. Other times it's annoying as hell. The other night it was horrible, blacking out every couple of minutes. This was beyond annoying. So, I called Verizon and waded through their support system that tries very hard to deny you the option of ever talking to a person. But if you know how to get around it, you can outfox the automated system.

Once I got a person, I explained my problem. He told me that HDMI cables are notoriously unreliable (funny, they worked just fine when I had Comcast with the same equipment). He recommended that I switch from HDMI to component. I did and it fixed my problem though it took me some time to rewire my system and change all the connections in my Onkyo audio/video receiver. The picture seems fine and no more annoying blackouts. Some online research indicated that there's not much difference if any between the two and component may actually be better in some situations. So, though I have more cables snaking around, I have a good HD picture again.

When they installed FiOS, they set it up with an HDMI cable! Perhaps the tech support guys should talk to the installers. Also, apparently this is a problem with the Verizon (Motorola) cable box because HDMI works fine on our second TV which has a different box (no PVR). Becasue I like the service when it works and the additional channels I get on Verizon and the cheaper price I'm willing to work with their technical challenges. Others with less technical acumen or patience might not.

Sonos
This will be short because I LOVE MY SONOS SYSTEM. I love it partly because it's so elegant and IT JUST WORKS. Not sure I've ever been so enthusiastic about a consumer electronics product. It just rocks.

OK, enough of the slobber. I just got the new Controller 200. Wowowowowowow! This is quite the well thought out and built remote device. I absolutely love using it. It's small, has a great display and touch screen and is fun to hold and use. I now do more with my Sonos system (ZP90 and ZP120) because of the new controller. The old controller is going to find a great home as part of a brand new Sonos system my son's getting for his birthday.

Seriously, if you've not looked at and considered this system, you're nuts. It's just amazing and the support and customer attention is stellar -- beyond any other brand I've ever dealt with and that includes Costco and Nordstrom. Period. And even for those who can be intimidated by tech gear, Sonos is brain dead simple. You won't need the Geek Squad to set it up. It will just work. I promise.

As an evangelist of cool new technologies and gadgets, I love to be able to pass on my learnings and recommendations on the best new products out there.

Change or die

2009-08-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

I've been watching the health care debate and sometimes wondering if I'm nuts. I'd really like to know the inside story on the Obama administration's strategy which has been broadly debated and criticized by opponents and proponents.

Here are my baseline thoughts:

Many, many Americans, especially those who've joined the mob scene at town hall meetings, are ill informed or stupid or both. They are lapping up the right-wing lies and distortions and then demonstrating their lack of ability to grasp complex issues by getting hysterical at the meetings. Not to mention, they have no interest in engaging in dialog. To them, dialog is shouting and emotionally flipping out.
Change is great in concept and as a campaign theme. Doing change is much, much harder. No one likes to have their cheese moved. And when you actually do change, it's very upsetting. Even if you hint at change, it conjures up all kinds of fears that things won't be the same and when things aen't the same, that's bad to many people.
The politicians are mostly rubish. They are lazy self-centered whores. They are so focused on re-election that they don't bother to find out the real facts, just spout half truths and out and out lies. This is despicable and reprehensible. But, it is the political system we've created and we live with.
Obama needs to get tougher and call a spade a spade. It's time to go partisan and get this thing done. To hell with trying to please the opponents because no matter what he does, he will never please them. Yes, he's trying to end the political divisions, but when the opposition is only focused on defeating everything he proposes and actually hates him, forget it. Move on.
The behavior of the right-wingers (shrinking Republican base) is embarrassing to the country and to them. Packing guns to political rallies -- give me a break! This is basically macho bullshit wrapped in the Second Amendment. It's complete crap and it's only demonstrating to the real majority how wacko they are. Obama won the election largely because the well-educated and thoughtful young voters called bullshit on the "establishment" that elected George Bush and they said enough. They're saying enough about this as well. The perception that there's widespread support for the town hall nut cases is way overblown.
A few goofy people have raised the temperature on this debate way beyond any sense of reality. I'm glad Obama and his family are taking a much-deserved vacation and letting this all cool down. He has done a lot and worked super hard for the past seven months. He deserves some time off.
The righties will continue to use any excuse to demonize the President because they hate him and will do anything to get him out of office including things I don't want to mention here. They are in their sunset days and they know it. Desperate people resort to desperate means. They have no ideas, no leaders only hate and a "let's not change anything mantra." Well, the world is and has been changing in dramatic ways. Message to everyone: Change or die.

Back in the old neighborhood

2009-07-24T07:56:00.000-07:00

Well, we're back and it seems in many ways like we never left. Same neighbors, same running routes, same annoying traffic though I have noticed that there's a lot more of it. We once seemed to live in a pretty quiet and calm traffic area. Since they pushed through the main road in front of our house to connect with another main road, traffic and traffic accidents seem to be way up.

Not much turnover in the retail establishments, which is surprising considering the incredible shakeout caused by the economy. My theory that people will shop closer to home must be accurate. Even the bad restaurants are still around. Or maybe it's that my tastes have changed since returning from 2.5 years living abroad.

We've had to remove the big trees (flowering pears) in front of our house because they have a disease and are pushing up the sidewalks. They had a good 20-year run and probably shouldn't have been picked by the city in the first place. They're being replaced by much smaller and slower growing trees that hopefully have fewer and more easily managed leaves. We'll see.

Progress on the unpacking moves apace, but we're now down to the hard part -- things you haven't seen or needed for years, but you still have around. That means you have to go through all the boxes and sort out what to keep and what to get rid of. We are getting rid of lots. That's our default position on everything. Pare, pare, pare. Less is more. Simplify your life. Unclutter. Purge. We still have a few big pieces of furniture and a small storage unit to deal with as well. But, it's the boxes that are still all consuming. What could be in them?

Yesterday MFW opened a wrapped package and found a suitcase that contained my long missing cuff link collection. Good until all the double cuff shirts I bought in England wear out. The charger for the camera that I'd given up on finding and bought a replacement for turned up as well. Now I have a spare.

Now that we can actually move around in most of the rooms, time for the finer details, like picking out the art we want to hang so we can make decisions about what we don't want and what doesn't fit. We have too much, but parceling that out will be easy. One can never have too much art. It just lets you pick what you really like the best and rotate more often.

Our weekends have been crazy since we moved back in. Though we're not doing anything this weekend, it's not time to rest. We have a long list of projects. If we get to 80% of them, we'll be doing well. And one of the most important is to take some time to go see a movie (free AC and it's supposed to be hot, hot this weekend). Hmmm, what to see. I want to see Bruno, but have heard mixed reviews on it. Saw that the Royal Family in England is getting a private viewing. Must not be that bad if the Queen is planning to see it.

Now, this is going to be weird

2009-06-30T09:57:00.000-07:00

We are about to move back into our house after living elsewhere for three years. Wow, that's a long time and it will involve three moves total for the round trip since we left in August 2006.

Some observations:

The neighborhood hasn't change much except that the curb trees have gotten a lot bigger and now need to be cut down and replaced because the city in all it's wisdom specified the wrong ones in the first place. (Then they want to charge you $75 for a permit to correct their mistake.) All of our close by neighbors are the same, just older.
Lawns don't take care of themselves. Ours is now on life support after three years of renters. The landscape guy said to give it six months to see if it comes back with some TLC (like water!).
Little things mount up. A loose screw here, lack of cleaning and dusting there. Pretty soon things fall off or turn to very stubborn grime. I've always believe that half of life is showing up and the other half is paying attention. When something doesn't look right or sound right, check it out and have it fixed -- now. Or it'll just get worse and cost you more down the road. Deferred maintenance is a prudent idea only for so long.
The house seems so big compared to where we've lived the past three years and especially while it's empty. The temptation will be to overfill it -- again. We got rid of a ton of stuff when we moved, so hopefully we have a new religion on stuff. It will fill up fast and despite all the stuff we purged when we moved out, we are going to need to purge even more.
We've made enough changes that it will feel like a new old house to us. Familiar, but different. We're moving the rooms around to get more value from our investment (are houses still an investment?). No more living room. That was the room that collected dust and little used furniture. People felt forced to go in there when we had too many house guests. The too-small family room will become the just right dining room. And, the living room/dining room will become the very big and comfortable family room.
We're getting more energy efficient with a new 95% efficient furnace (the old one died a year ago) and considering replacing more windows. Already went for the cordless electric mower to pamper the ailing lawn.
We always hated the white cook top, so it's been replaced with a very sleek black model. Ditto on the refrigerator. Black to replace the disappointing stainless steel version. Stainless steel anything seems like a great idea in the appliance store, but our experience is that it's a disaster in the kitchen. Proceed with caution.
We've already made some new rules about "stuff." The pantry can only be half full of food. The other half is for non-food items and cooking utensils and appliances. No duplicates. If we've got two of anything, one of them gets given away or goes to Good Will.
Unclutter. This will be a great test to see if we can cut the clutter for real. If there's no place for something then it goes. We're no longer saving/storing things for "someday." The attic is all cleaned out of packing boxes and carpet remnants and non are going back up there.

Well, this is a start. Once we've lived back in the house for a month or so, I'll report back on how best laid plans are working out.

Change is in the air

2009-06-21T08:59:00.001-07:00

Even Republican misrepresentations and scare tactics won't be enough to flaunt the will of the American people and stop the inevitable changes coming in how Americans purchase and receive health care. This is hardly a surprise given how out of touch the GOP has been with the wishes of Americans over the past several years. Those who have had their heads stuck in the sand for years will finally be bowled over by the huge momentum gathering among Americans for health care reform.

A new poll out today and published on the front page of The New York Times shows that Americans overwhelmingly (72%) support a government-run health care option as a prime means of driving down the cost of health care. It's particularly telling that opponents in Congress don't even have a majority of their party behind them as 50% of Republicans favor the option.

We will continue to see the Fear Card played as the primary reason for not reforming health care, but the truth is that the opponents have no solutions or proposals. They just want to stand for the "haves" in an era where they are increasingly endangered species. The "no" option is ringing hallow with most Americans who understand that change is not only needed, but required. We cannot continue to prop up a bloated and out of touch health care system that does not act in the interest of the vast majority of its constituents.

Despite all the arguments about how awful health care is in other countries, there's no denying the data which show that life expectancy in countries with government health care (France, Italy and Canada) is higher than in the US. We are paying more for less and the American people are saying enough. Now it's up to our politicians to put our wishes into action. This is another ticking time bomb for Republicans in particular. Their argument has no clothes since they can hardly say it's not broke. In the end, they're left with their default argument -- be afraid, be very afraid.

Costco to sell only 90+ wines under $15?

2009-06-17T12:09:00.000-07:00

Costco is denying a rumor published in Examiner.com that it plans to sell only wine which receives a rating of 90 points or higher and sells for $15 or less. Speculation was based on a recent study of Italian wine drinkers that showed that they maintained the same quality of wine they were drinking in better economic times, just drank less of it. Americans are drinking the same amount, but drop down a step in price.

From discussions I've had with my friends, I would say this is accurate of many American wine drinkers. This does point out one of the dilemmas facing the wine industry since it's also believed that once people trade down, they tend to become comfortable there and don't move back up.

Also interesting speculation on the wine drinking habits of millennials. They don't care about scores, but are focused on value and prefer regional labels.

Shaving the old fasioned way

2009-06-17T11:01:00.000-07:00

With Father's Day coming right up, it's a good time to offer my best gift suggestion for Dad. This is something I discovered while living in London and absolutely fell in love with. Shaving the old fashioned way with hard soap and a badger brush.

I'd always shaved with foam or gel -- something that comes out of a can. I'm not even sure what compelled me to give old fashioned shaving a try. I think I was in a store, like Evelyn & Crabtree, one day and started asking questions. One thing led to another and I gave it a try. Shortly after that I bought a kit for my son-in-law and he, too, loved it.

You basically need two things -- shaving soap and a good shaving brush. Not only do I get a much closer, smoother and enjoyable shave using the soap and brush method, but the soap lasts forever. I'm still on the original soap and mug I bought in September 2007 and I use it every day except when traveling! I expect it'll last several more months. So, from a pure cost standpoint, it's a great deal.

I use the hard soap that often comes in a mug, but you can buy the soap and mug separately. Soap refills are relatively inexpensive and can be ordered online. I've not used Amazing Shaving, but plan to give it a try. I recommend the hard soap because it'll last much longer. But, you can also get a soft soap that is more like a lotion. I like creating the lather from really hot water. I just use a normal Gillette razor.

Here's what Amazing Shaving says about shaving soap:

Shaving soaps provide a longer lasting lather, warm the face and are hygienic; they improve skin circulation; they’re 100 percent biodegradable; and most important, they just smell so darn good.

Shaving soap cakes are generally easier to use and provide consistently good results. They also typically cost less than shaving creams.

A good quality shaving soap will have the ingredients necessary to produce a rich moist lather to soften the beard, moisturize the skin and lubricate the face to make it easier to slide the razor across your skin.

The brush is the key piece and the most expensive. You can pay hundreds of dollars for a really good or fancy one. The best ones are made from badger hair. I paid about $50 for mine and bought it at Portland Cutlery on SW Broadway near Pioneer Place. It seems to work well, but there are probably better ones. You'll also need a stand for the brush since it should hang to dry properly. They come in all sizes, shapes and materials.

So, before you get Dad one of those electric shavers, consider stepping back in time when men where men and they used real soap and straight razors. I can almost guarantee you he'll be delighted with his gift.

Chardonnay search

2009-06-17T07:52:00.000-07:00

Still in search of the great American chardonnay. The Wall Street Journal last week did its annualish survey of affordable US chards and they liked Newton Red Label, Chalone, Clos du Bois (get it cheap at Costco), Heller Estate and Simi. Overall, they felt that while chards have improved some from their last tasting, the 2007s still leave a lot to be desired.

I'm going to try Costco's Kirkland Chardonnay and will report back. It's currently in stock at our Costco for $8.99. May pick up the Clos du Bois as a comparison as well.

New Costco discoveries

2009-06-16T15:15:00.001-07:00

After being missing from the shelves for a month or more, Costco finally has Purell hand sanitizer back in stock. This is the waterless hand wash that is so wonderful when you can’t get to a bathroom or the one you can get to is so disgusting you refuse to use it. For $10.99 you get three pump containers and three small personal sizes to fit in a purse or briefcase.

My guess is that there was a huge run on Purell during the Swine Flu panic. Now, Purell seem to have caught up with demand. This stuff works great and is a must for traveling.

With Fathers Day, anniversaries and graduations cramming the calendar this month, don’t forget about Costco’s restaurant gift cards. They’ve got a bunch, but I picked up two $50 certificates for McCormick & Schmick’s for $80.

Costco also has a nice selection of designer ties and ballistic pinpoint button-down dress shirts for $16.99. This is another Kirkland brand item that simply can’t be beat for quality and value at a great price. Everybody should have a blue one and a white one. They are classic in any wardrobe.

Also, look for Kirkland Napa Chardonnay. I’ve tried this before and it was what I call interesting and worth every penny at $8.99. I’ll report back after trying again.

Finally, the shelves were nearly bare of notebook computers, very unusual for Costco. So, I asked the salesman why and he said they will be fully stocked on June 26 when new computers arrive with Windows 7 upgrade coupons. They will come with Windows Vista installed, but you’ll get a free copy of Windows 7, Microsoft’s new operating system, when it’s available in October. This may finally be the “buy” sign new computer purchasers have been waiting for. I’ve been using Win7 for about a month now and can vouch for what a solid product it is. If you’ve been holding back on a new computer, now is the time to buy.

Latest gadget, but it may be the best

2009-06-11T15:05:00.000-07:00

Since I decided to take the plunge and sign up for Sirius satellite radio, I've truly fallen down the Internet radio rabbit hole. And, I'm loving every minute of it. About a month ago, I took the next big step and bought a Sonos player primarily so I could get my Sirius service off the Internet and not have to worry about the quirkiness of the temperamental antenna.

So, I should first explain exactly what Sonos is and how it works. It's been around for a few years and I had always thought of it as a solid though expensive way to share music around your house and certainly cheaper than wiring the whole place. Believe me, I've been there, done that and it's a giant pain in the rump and the wallet. But, what I didn't realize is that Sonos is so much more than just a way to distribute music. It's also a gateway to Internet music and if you've not experience it, you are in for a real treat.

The Sonos device (I have a ZonePlayer 90) connects to the Internet via your wireless router. Just plug and play, no passwords, user names, etc. It then sends its output through my AV receiver. But that's just the half of it. You can buy additional ZonePlayers, with and without amps, that you can put in other rooms and connect to speakers. The music is transmitted wirelessly and it's great quality. But, there's more. You can play different music in every room and indpendently control the volume in each room. You can put together a system like this for around $1k.

The Sonos comes with its own hand-held controller or you can download a desktop controller that runs on your computer or you can download the controller app to an iPhone or iPod Touch free. The controllers are all excellent and give you vast control over a massive music library.

So, enough with the equipment. It's all about the music. Not only can I access Sirius and my iTunes library, but Internet radio and Internet music services such as Pandora (free), Napster, last.fm and Rhapsody. I sometimes wonder why I even bother with the iTunes anymore. I can literally find anything I want and play it instantly online. Or, you can build your own stations with the artists and songs you love most. Just put them together, tailor them and play them. You can even pass your playlists along to others on Pandora. Sonos also lets you build custom playlists drawing from all your music sources. Amazing.

My guess is that a music snob with amazing equipment would find fault with the quality of the music over the Internet. Most services are at 128kbps. Rhapsody is at 192kbps. But for relaxing background music while you're entertaining or just hanging out, it's more than just fine. If you're a music lover and if you like all kinds of music as I do, this really can't be beat.

Geek Warning! Why I'm liking Windows 7

2009-05-29T10:30:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to have our tech services department put Windows 7 on my work notebook a couple of weeks back. It has been a pleasant surprise, and outside of a couple of issues, I'm liking it quite a lot and believe it will do wonders to help erase some of the bad blood generated by Vista.

For starters, this is a much lighter weight OS than Vista. It takes megabytes less space on my hard drive. I mean, this is a dramatic difference in terms of the space it freed up. Recently, I had to do a house cleaning because I was reaching the limits to a rather smallish hard drive. But, now, I've got acres of free disk space.

But, the real benefits are how much better it works. Start with start-up and shutdown. Both have gone from agonizingly painful minutes long experiences to something you can actually watch happen while you get situated. I used to go get coffee and even then, it wouldn't always be booted up. Shutdown is equally fast. It also hybernates properly, giving it a much greener footprint. This will be very noticeable to Vista users.

Then there is the new task bar across the bottom of the display. (Hmmmm, wonder where they got that idea.) It's not as dynamic as OSX, but it's super functional and in many ways better. Not only are all your most used apps there, but when you hover over the icon, up pops a list of open and recently used documents. In the case of your browser, you will see all the open tabs.

I also found that saving, finding and organizing documents and files is much easier and faster than in Vista. Not sure what's actually going on here and I think the tweaks are more on the minor side, but they are all good.

My overall impression is that this is a very solid OS that users will like a lot and that will be very competitive. It is simple and solid and "just works." It doesn't seem as fancy as Vista, but much more utilitarian. It took me no time to get used to it and start working faster.

So, if you're in the market for a new computer you've got two choices -- either buy a Vista machine now and upgrade it or wait a few months and get a Windows 7 machine. There is no release date announced yet, but since the release candidate is out, it shouldn't be that long and it would make good sense to get these computers out for the back-to-school guying season. And, paired with some of the super duper pricing out there now on new computers, you will have yourself quite a bargain.

Windows 7 is going to be big and is going to help Microsoft a lot.

Why we can't all just get along

2009-05-11T11:13:00.000-07:00

I walked by an empty cubicle the other day and noticed a copy of The Economist lying on the desk. Though it was a couple of weeks old, I couldn't resist picking it up and thumbing through it. It's a magazine I've subscribed to on and off for years, most recently during my years in London. If you've never heard of it (gasp) or never read it, you need to get a copy -- for your own well being if for no other reason. You can get a discounted copy at Costco.

With so much crap going on around us in the world, it's just nice to sit down and absorb a reasoned and well written point of view. It's more than food for thought. It's consoling. The coverage is global. I know this is somewhat of a foreign concept to most navel gazing Americans. But it gives a world perspective despite the fact that it's a British publication. The section on the United States is concise and, well, just excellent. You will read stories that you won't find elsewhere, like the battle to make uranium mining legal in Virginia. Even the writeups of stories you're already familiar with take on a new life with new facts and amazing perspective. It is so well written that it's a joy to read them over again anyhow.

The Economist is not about journalistic egos or heroes, either. The stories are not by-lined or signed even though the magazine is comprised of an excellent staff of writers and editors. And, unlike most other news publications these days, it is not getting hammered by the economy. In fact, both Time and Newsweek have announced their intentions to remake themselves in the image of The Economist.

A great example of why I like The Economist is the Lexington column, a weekly one-pager on the U.S. The one I just read was headlined: Obama derangement syndrome. It examines the fairly dramatic polarization that is already happening in this country over our new president and how much less likely Americans are to give the new guy a chance than only a couple decades ago. It concludes that this "tit for tat demonisation" is not only poisoning American political life, it is making it ever harder to solve problems that require cross-party collaboration. It now takes an outside perspective to shine the line on how petty and unproductive our political system has become even in the deepest of crises.

How can any educated person not become fatigued if not downright disgusted with today's political scene? I just signed up for a subscription. I know I'll feel better after I start reading it again.

Republican blunders just keep on giving

2009-04-28T14:18:00.001-07:00

Today was a very big day for President Barack Obama. Not only is he on the eve of an incredibly productive and successful first 100 days in office with soaring poll numbers to prove it, but Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter added the frosting on the cake by announcing that he's joining the Democratic party. Here's what Sen. Specter said of the decision that rocked the capitol today:

“I’m not prepared to have my 29-year record in the United States Senate decided by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate, not prepared to have that record decided by that jury,” Mr. Specter declared in a rather defiant tone at a news conference.

With the inevitable seating of Al Franken, the Democrats will have a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority, making it much easier for the president to get his legislative initiatives through the Senate without being tripped up by the minority party. This has to be a horrible day for the Republicans as they lose their last moderate senator. But, certainly it's a bad day they had coming and richly deserve.

Specter was faced with a difficult re-election battle within his own party. Now, according to experts, he should cruise to re-election as a Democrat in a state where the voter sentiment has shifted sharply to the left in recent years. In this case, the simple truth is that the Republicans drove Specter out of their party and now they will get to pay the price -- just as they are paying the price for so many other short sighted, dogmatic decisions of late. In many ways, these kinds of Republican blunders have become the gift that just keeps on giving . . . to the Democrats

Chateau Montelena tasting

2009-04-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

Lynne and I attended a tasting of Chateau Montelena wines the other night at Liner & Elsen in Portland. For those unfamiliar with California wine lore, Chateau Montelena is the winery that produced the chardonnay that rocked the French wine industry in 1976. The story is the focus of the movie Bottle Shock, which is not available on DVD. You can read the whole account on the CM website.

The tasting was hosted by managing director Greg Ralston, a Portland State University graduate who has been with the winery 21 years. We went to the tasting because we had seen the movie on the recommendation of our friends John and Lea. I have to admit the movie was OK and if it hadn't been for the historical significance and my interest in wine, I probably wouldn't have liked it at all. In chit chatting with Greg afterwards, he acknowledged that few things outside of the basic plot of the movie were actually true. There was lots of embellishment for Hollywood's sake. Greg noted that when Montelena was started in 1972 there were 12 wineries in the Napa Valley. By 1978, that had shot up to 112. He said that after the movie was released in August 2008, visits to the winery shot way up and they got more single-bottle orders of chardonnay online, but overall sales did not increase.

But back to the wine. We tasted a beautiful and not overdone zinfandel, six cabernets from 1999 to 2005 and a chardonnay. If there's one thing I took away from the tasting it was that over the years, Montelena has remained true to its heritage and discipline of making table wines that complement food. They have avoided the trends that so characterise California style wines -- from big butter bomb chards to over fruited and hot zins. Greg said that his wines are probably more popular in Europe and other parts of the world than in America for these reasons. The style is definitely more subtle and less fruit forward -- much more in the French style.

I have a lot of respect for this approach and believe that its a viewpoint that many Oregon winemakers also aspire to. I'm particularly impressed with the desire to stick with a French white burgundy style of chardonnay that stays the same year in and year out. This style of chardonnay is an essential part of any well kept wine cellar. It's so classic, crisp and refreshing. A few Oregon wineries are serious about creating a chardonnay in this style, especially Stoller, Chehalem and Domaine Serene.

These are definitely not trendy wines. They are not meals unto themselves and they are not delicious cocktail wines. But, they are great wines, with a great story that will stand the test of the ages even though the winery is less than 40 years old.

Reclaiming America's soul

2009-04-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

Paul Krugman of The New York Times in his column today weighs the dos and don'ts of investigating the torture issue and ultimately holding those responsible accountable. This has become a very hot topic after seeming to disappear earlier, mostly because President Obama said he wasn't much interested in dwelling on the past and wanted to move ahead. He now seems to have had a change of heart in large part because of a fierce political debate over whether to investigate or not.

The conservatives, of course, want to move on and sweep it all under the rug. I'm sympathetic to that argument, that you really dont' accomplish much by investigating past misdeeds. And, because there were so many in the Bush administration that could be pretty much a full-time preoccupation of the Obama administration. Unfortunately, they have other problems to solve, the largest of them created by the same Bush administration.

But, there is the statement President Bush made while in office, that "this government does not torture people." That was obviously driven out of a mindset that because your attorneys tell you something isn't torture means it's so. I don't think anyone now believes this to be the case.

Dick Cheney is on a personal crusade to defend the government torture doctrine he helped write. Maybe I'm way off base and these are difficult times, but shouldn't America be better than that? Isn't it really our morale fiber that has made us the strongest nation (not the richest) in the world. Isn't that what real leadership is about -- the ability to acknowledge, examine and admit your mistakes -- and then change your ways?

Is the debate over torture merely politics as some would tell you? Or is it about something bigger, something more fundamental to our values as Americans? I found Krugman's column helpful in sorting this out.

Too good to be true

2009-04-24T08:40:00.000-07:00

The Democrats could have only made this up in their wildest dreams. What if the two most despised people in American politics -- Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney -- were to emerge as the leading spokespeople for their cause. Well, son of a gun, that's exactly what's happened. Can you say "playing right into our hands" or "stepping on their own tails?"

That's the scenario that's playing itself out and mostly because these two guys are so stuck on their own egos that they can't stand to take a back seat when their party is hurting and needs anything but their universal unpopularity and polarization to fan the flames of its demise. Gosh the guys in the White House strategy office must be rubbing their hands together and rolling on the floor. Can you imagine the kinds of ideas rolling around in the heads of Paul Begala and James Carville about now?

The Limbaugh thing was kind of predictable. Everyone knows what a blowviator and egomaniac he is. But the Cheney thing comes straight out of left field. This is not the pose of ex-presidents and vice presidents. When they leave office, they're supposed to be statesmanlike. Huh, Cheney a statesman?

I mean what were his approval ratings when he left office? Below 20%? By comparison, he makes Bush look like an American hero. He's got his teeth around the torture issue and he's not going to let go, even if it means the Democrats now have doubled the number of attractive targets they now use to paint the Republican party as extreme and out of touch.

In the gadget room: Hooked on Sonos

2009-04-17T08:36:00.000-07:00

As Lynne can attest, I buy and fiddle with too many gadgets, some of which can be incredibly disruptive. She, like most consumers, likes things to work and doesn't like change. Adding the Logitech universal remote was a good move, but very disruptive, mostly because it's really not as easy to use as one might like. But, you can only make controlling four separate devices so easy. Lynne not withstanding.

My latest disruptive technology is Sonos. I've had my eye on Sonos for a long time, but was always put off by the cost and I viewed it strictly as a device to move music around the house wirelessly. I'd heard very good things about Sonos, but never taken the leap. Then we got Sirius satellite radio a few months ago. We are using an indoor/outdoor antenna with mixed results. I'm really kind of a radio nut of often prefer it to TV or sometimes with the TV sound turned off.

With Sonos, I could stream the internet feed of Sirius directly into my sound equipment, but not have to worry about signal interruption. I figure, hey, I'm paying all this money for broadband, I might as well get maximum benefit from it. But, what I didn't realize was that Sonos would also give me access to hundreds of internet radio stations and services likek Pandora and last.fm which are free. Literally, there's nothing I can't find now with a few clicks of the Sonos controller. I now have this huge jukebox in my house. This has opened up a whole new world of entertainment. And, because I only bought one Sonos unit, I'm not even streaming music to any other locations. I expect to do that soon. Oh, and least I forget, you can also play your iTunes library directly from the PC you have it stored on.

Lynne has taken to Sonos pretty well because it's a lot easier to use (she can control it from her PC), and because the benefits are so great. She can find the kind of music she wants anytime. This has turned out to be one of the best gadget purchases I've ever made. I highly recommend it for those who like to listen to music and other radio content such as NPR. I bought mine at Echo Audio in Portland. I can's say enough good things about these guys and how helpful they are in solving your audio problems. They are truly understanding consultants who help you solve problems, not just peddle equipment.

Ugly Americans

2009-04-17T08:21:00.001-07:00

We saw our fair share of bozo American antics while living in the UK for more than two years. Traveling abroad soon? Then please read this.