Don't look down !

I have added this link because it is fun to watch! Can you imagine hiking along this path with a camera, videotaping as you go along?
The music only adds to the drama. Check it out here:

El camino del Rey

Shoulda Stayed in Bed

I am so tired today. It's Sunday, but in effect it's my Friday because I have the next two days off(Thank God).Geez, even the internet seems sluggish today.Tonight there will be a small wedding here a the CIA. Only 35 rowdy drunkards to deal with on the Memorial Day weekend. Things could be a lot worse, believe me. The weather has been weird today. It rained yesterday, was sunny this morning and the rain is supposed to return tonight.I don't know what I will be doing on my day off, but for starters I will have to write to my nephew Justin and let him know that I listened to his CD. Some of the songs are better than the others. He has one called "Happiness" which is a nice little instrumental that I would like to add as a background to one of my Quicktime movies. The other thing I need to do is get more rest ! Yawn.

Too Cool! Mick answers my Question !

Recenty, I went online and came across a page on youtube™ that solicited questions people may want to ask the Rolling Stones. So I decided that I wanted to ask Mick Jagger if he studied Voodoo in Haiti. I heard somewhere that he had, and I wanted to hear his response. So check this out here !

Hear his response...

Now if you want to see both his and Keith's responses to other questions, go to: Living Legends and see for yourself. See, I wasn't jiving you !

My Friend, Reid

My buddy Reid started his own toy business many years ago. He is a very bright and modest man, with a keen business sense. Over the years I have watched him divest, invest and rebuild a business by his unrelenting commitment to the success of a product he created. I think this has served him well, long before I met him over fifteen years ago.He has always been on the lookout for ways of increasing his customer base and finding new ways of marketing items that support his main product, Flexiblocks™. The education community has certainly served him well, because this product is highly educational for youngsters and oldsters alike. Lately, I have encouraged him to start a BLOG so that he can have a place where people can comment on his product and stay in contact with him. If you want to visit the website he refers people to; Go to flexiblocks.com and have a click around.

In case you missed it...

I downloaded the video from the internet and compressed it using Quicktime Pro so that I could post it here. The Corkscrew Collection was featured on Modern Marvels on the History Channel about a month ago.I am still suprised at the number of people who said that they saw it. Anyway, I know the link to the website was posted a few blogs back, but I thought it would be nice to have it play here just in case the link gets broken.I apologize in advance for the "Flip for Mac" logo emblazzoned across the screen.You see, the orginal video was a windows media file and had to be converted to a mac format for cross-platform viewing. I have the trial version of this processing program because I am too cheap to shell out 30 bucks for the fully loaded version. So just Enjoy what's there!

Sunday Serenity

Today, our cooking demo Chef Steve Ruggenberg came in to prepare for the daily cooking show and promptly informed me that he was ill.Luckily, there were only nine people on the books, so I did not have to rush about returning a lot of phone calls to let these folks know that the demo was canceled.After he left, I posted a few signs and made a few phone calls to the supervisors to let everyone know what the story was. The morning hours were cool and foggy.Early May in St. Helena feels more like late winter than late Spring in the Valley. Many bicyclists were riding up and around the Silverado Trail and Highway 29 as part of a Charity Ride for Diabetes. I think my nephew Edward is participating. Last year I donated a couple of bucks, but this year I've been stingy. Last night I went to " Scooter Rosa 2.0" for a party and raffle. After shelling out 40 bucks for a Shwag bag ( that I have yet to receive ) and a chance at a new Vespa scooter, I sat down with a few other motorscooter enthusiasts for a Ginger Beer and plate of Buffalo Wings. The event was held at the Russian River Brewery.I was reluctant to enter this place at first. It had that typical stale beer and barf smell which is foreboding to say the least.I got to talking to my new friend Damien who has been working for a dry cleaning business the last 11 years of his life.He also tells me that he is into video production, and has learned most of the processing software for this endeavor from scratch. An hour into the conversation, the winner of the scooter was announced.We looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders. I left shortly thereafter to ride back to Calistoga. I felt okay about spending the forty dollars because it went to a good cause. The money collected went to Big Brothers/Sisters of Santa Rosa.

My Twenty Seconds of Fame

Today I found out that the segment of "Modern Marvels" from the History channel had been posted to the web. I've created a link to the portion of the show that featured "corkscrews" and am featuring it here.
Modern Marvel's Corkscrew Episode The other two people in the video are Karen McNeil who is the author of the Wine Bible, and Crystal Collins who is the education coordinator of the Rudd Center for Wine Studies at the CIA. All in all, the vignette featuring Brother Timothy's collection went very well, and I am pleased to the producers of the show for their superior editing skills. They really made me look like a pro. A good forty minutes of shooting was refined down to twenty seconds ! So far, I have recieved several compliments about my appearance on the show, and would probably be a regular viewer of Modern Marvels if I had a TV and a cable connection to watch it on... Right now, I am in the process of inheriting a large screen set that my nephew wants to replace with a new flat screen model. Perhaps after my next paycheck I will have some extra cash to upgrade my home network. All I will have to do is purchase the newest version of Apple TV, and add some selective content, and this TV will turn my one bedroom apartment into a home entertainment center ....Wow & Whoopee!

Rita's Birthday

Today is April 23rd and it is my sister Rita's Birthday (She is the tall one in the back when this picture was taken many years ago). It is also a gloomy looking day, but let that be no reflection on our relationship. She is a great sister and a wonderful mom to her two boys, and now she is a wonderful grandma to her two grandchildren. Rita has been a stable influence in my life, because she has been the most accesible person in the family to talk things over with; Whenever I have needed to hash out a problem, she has been there. I recall one time when I was around 14 years old and she convinced me not to run away from home.I sometimes wonder what my life would have been like if I had ignored her plea. On another note, My friend Reid and I went to see the new Rolling Stones movie,"Shine a Light" today. It was fun.I hope that I have half the energy Mick Jagger has when I get to be his age. After the movie, I am bringing a fresh salmon that we will be cooking for dinner.Reid is a Salmonaholic if there is such a thing. Anyway, I initially wanted to send a card to my sister letting her know what I've been up to...but am having trouble with my" dot mac" account today. Grrrrrrrr. I hope that I will still be able to get a nice little ecard off to her before it's too late.

Keeping up with it...

Wow, it has been over a week since I've blogged ! Shame on me. This is so much better than writing in a diary because of it's vulnerability, and potential to reach an outside audience. At times, I've wanted to reveal more about myself here, you know... kind of like the "baring your soul" variety of blog.I think it would be difficult to filter out what would be ego-blather versus what would actually be making a contribution to my readers. After all, wouldn't that be the job of a good editor? Wait a minute, I'm not only the author, but I am also the editor! ( duh! ) This is so like the committee running constantly in my head. But hell, if I can't express it, I am stuck with it! ( What is it that I was talking about, again? ) Oh yea, this blog. My paranoia tells me that some "meta mind" in the background is tabulating all this data and information to eventually dispatch the white coats to deposit me in a rubber room. More than fearing for my sanity would be the idea that someone would be put away for having an opinion or that I am dangerous to the community as a whole.I am shocked at how hard some people work to control the behavior and opinions of people not like themselves. I think that we all need to be more generous and charitable in our opinions of others.. and let it begin with me.

Not liking Facebook

I recently deactivated my Facebook account. I find it annoying, unpleasant and user unfriendly.I tried having a game of Scrabble (called "Scrabulous" online) and when I clicked on the link to continue the game, it did not take me to the playing board to plot my next move ( sorry... a simple gesture, shouldn't have to jump through hoops for that! ) Then I got an email from a college sweet heart. She wanted to add me to her friends list. I replied to her email because the link she supplied brought me to MY PROFILE PAGE not hers ! I know what is on my page... duh ! I then searched for her in the search for friends feature and was unable to find her. Oh well... Now, I've come to the conclusion that social networking is just idle bullshit that only serves to tittilate the easily impressionble. I think like most people, I may have jumped into this WAY too soon. Now I'm just pissed for doing just that.

I have been told by Jason that my scooter will be ready on Thursday. I will believe it when I have driven it back from Santa Rosa and it is parked behind my Ford Aspire. I could hardly sleep last night thinking about it. I still owe the Credit Union around a thousand bucks before it is officially paid off. It couldn't come at a better time because the weather is getting better and better now that spring is here. On another note, last Friday I appeared on "Modern Marvels" a show about gadgets on the History Channel. I was demonstrating some of the most unusual corkscrews in Brother Timothy's collection here at Greystone. All in all, the filming took around an hour, of which two minutes got aired. I was quite pleased with what got shown. My co-workers also got to have what artist Andy Warhol dubbed your "Five minutes of fame." I already have been quite shocked by hearing back from the people that actually stayed up to watch it. The company promised me a DVD sometime in the future, so I will get to bring it out and show it at family gatherings. That should be good for a few chuckles and a yawn... tee hee.

Who reads this stuff?

Okay, so the scoot is STILL in the shop, awaiting parts and refurbishing.I have been told that it is under warranty, so I don't have to worry about the cost of labor and parts.I will know for sure if the scooter is ready to be picked up on April 10th. My guess is that the mechanic can't wait to see it leave the shop because it has been there for over a month. I don't want to get these people mad at me, because I will probably need them in the future for regular tune ups. This is just embarrassing.I now surround that vehicle with the white light of the Holy Spirit. In fact, I surround the shop where it is being serviced with the white light of the Holy Spirit ! May all Peace and Harmony prevail ! Amen.

Nursing a cold

Yesterday did not start out well for me. Driving to work, the old white "potato" that I drive had a blowout. After changing the tire and getting my hands filthy, I drove the rest of the way to work on the little doughnut tire that served as a spare. Thankfully, I was able to get a new one put on later on in the day.You know when you have a cold when your voice makes you sound like a progressive jazz d.j. from West Oakland on a late night radio show. I was telling the women at work that I was going through puberty again.I hadn't realized how much I use my voice at work until I found it difficult to talk. Throughout the day my chest was aching from coughing up crap.My supervisor let me go sometime around three.I stopped by Safeway to buy some cheap expectorant to move the nasty glop on out. This morning, it was easy to tell that my body needed the rest it got. stretching and yawning felt especially gratifying... kind of like a cat on a warm window sill that arches it's back and opens it's mouth wide enough for flies to go in and out. After a big bowl of cereal and posting to this blog, I'm heading back to my feathered respite.

Holy Saturday, Batman !

Today is Holy Saturday and I went to work today.I am still pretty tired today from not having a good night's sleep. My new friend Chet came by for the cooking demo, and she has become quite a regular to these cooking demonstrations. She and her friend are Filipino, and cute as buttons. I think she likes me, but I might just be dreaming.Today's demo was some God-awful Potato Gratin dish with Portabello mushrooms.I wanted to like the demo, but it just seemed like an inordinate amount of time spent on bland ingredients and boring utensils.I don't plan on preparing this dish for myself or anyone else anytime soon.The last demo that made any impact on me was the Quinoa Salad demo. I went right to Cal Mart to buy myself a package so that I could prepare this dish that has proven itself to be quite versatile and delicious.You can make Quinoa with peppers, onion, garlic, lemons, avocado and other savory ingredients.The other nice thing is that it is a complete protein with loads of nutrients and other health benefits... like, it's great for your heart and cholesterol reduction.Anyway, I don't know what I am going to do for the next couple of days without my scooter, but suffice to say that I left a message with Moto Mechanica requesting an update on the status of my joy ride.Come tuesday I should know something (keep your fingers crossed ) Just for giggles I made this silly movie below for your enjoyment. Also, the picture at the top of today's blog is my neice, Erin. We were having fun making goofy faces with the Photo booth application last Christmas.I just hadn't gotten around to posting it.

Live and Let Live

This past week I attended Pat Freeland's memorial. It was a very nice affair that took place at her husband ( and my friend ) Don's house over in Oakmont. Don is my running buddy who will push me to run to the top of Coyote peak at Bothe State Park on my days off.We had a pot luck dinner and I brought the fixin's for garlic mashed potatoes. There were only six of us there, mostly close friends of Pat over the years. After dinner we had a great cake made by Laura. We sat around and shared stories about Pat and the things we remembered best about her. She was a very spiritual person. It's only a few days left before Spring and already the weeds around my apartment are up to my knees. So, in a flash of inspiration I put on my work gloves and went outside to pull them up. Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day and I wore my Sullivan's Tavern sweatshirt to remind myself that I have Irish Ancestry ( Do I need to remind myself of this ? Sometimes I wonder ).Recently, a second cousin by the name of Clancy Mullen sent an email with an attached file which turned out to be a very accurate family tree. He wanted to cross check the data that was included in this account. Now I pretty certain that my big ears came from the Sullivan side of our family, rather than the Ryan side.Also, my brother John has insisted that we are in no way related to former president Zachary Taylor, contrary to a rumor that was started by my niece, Elizabeth.

The Scooter Saga Continues...

Here it is Tuesday, March 4th, and it is my day off. I crossed my fingers as I went out to start the scooter this morning, as I know the starts have been rough... if at all. This month would be no different, as my scooter problems have been going on since last October.After numerous tries, I finally got the damn thing started. When I drove it to Moto Mechanica, Eli was waiting for me as I drove up. I explained the problem and he immediately got it into the shop and on the rack. He turned the fans on it to cool it down so that he could recreate the problem as I had explained it to him. He said that when it cooled down, he would try to start it and hopefully know how to proceed.Then I went for a hike into town. After a couple of hours he called me to tell me that it would start and that the problem could not be diagnosed unless I left it overnight. OY ! I called my friend Don and my friend Reid already this morning, and begged them for a ride over there, then to call back and cancel after that would be an annoyance I thought. They got the scooter started (not a good sign). I walked back to the shop from downtown Santa Rosa. I prayed the Serenity Prayer so that I would be prepared mentally for the worst case scenario. Eli was still on break when i arrived, so I talked to his assistant. She told me about a battery charger that I could hook up so that I would not have to take the battery out of the case every time I wanted to charge it.I suspected that I had one of these already so I ended up driving my scooter back to Calistoga to install it. I still will have to bring this monster back next week to get some fuel filter chamber valve replaced.If it ain't one thing it's another ... to be continued.

A Visiting Dignitary at the Napa Valley Premier

This event is where all the vintners in the Napa Valley get together for a barrel tasting to see what will be their featured wines for the upcoming wine auction in June. I usually see a wide range of folks from the Napa Valley at these events. Unlike the Mustard Festival, this will attract mostly wine writers, media types, local vintners, wine merchants and then some. Around 700 people will be in attendance. Security will be in abundance as many people who don't have tickets to this one may make am attempt to get into the building.I will be on hand to direct traffic inside the building and to give out local information. Later on, I will be running the cameras for the cooking demonstrations.Now it is Monday, and I have a little time now to rehash what happened on Saturday. Much like the Mustard Festival, it rained all day and there were plenty of umbrellas at the main entrance of Greystone for the guests of the Premier.The Conciege desk was completely taken over by the people from the Vintner's Association who were registering the attendees. Around noon time, I wanted to get a glimpse of the action in the Barrell Room. Before I head upstairs I talked with James our security guard, who informed me that William Shatner ( the original Captain Kirk of Star Trek fame and more recently on Boston Legal as Denny Crane ) was somewhere in the building. I went to the Teaching Kitchen first, then walked back down to the Barrel room. Nada. Since I had to be back to do the cameras for the one thirty demo, I didn't have much time to catch up with him. Jeff Pettigrew our special events captain, informed me that he was wearing a black leather jacket and walking with a cane! ( that shouldn't be so hard to find him then, I thought.) Lastly, I took the elevator back up to the Teaching Kitchen to see if I could find him there...and as the doors opened... there stood Denny Crane !! (Shatner) waiting to ride back down. Immediately, I made myself the official "operator" as no one else was in the elevator, and proceeded to invite his whole entourage to board. The ride down was uneventful, save for the fact that he asked his handler for a telephone number of someone in the 415 area code. As eveyone got off on the first floor he was the last to leave as I held the door from the inside. I notice that he and I were exactly the same height which wasn't that astounding, really. Our directors, Charles and Ruben happened to be near the elevator as Bill took one last look around before leaving the building to get into his limo. I think we were all a little star-struck.

Engagement Party

Tonight was a festive time had by my nephew Edward and his wife, Antonella, their little baby daughter Mila and Ed's brother in law, Mario and his newly engaged fianceé Angela. We met at the Wine Spectator Greystone restaurant at around 6PM and sat down to a fabulous meal. Edward had the Meyer Lemon Risotto with scallops, I had a Chick Pea Indian Curry Dish. Antonella had the Roasted Chicken, Mario had a Flank steak and this was only after we sampled the delicious temptations. The temptations are small sample-size dishes of delectable delights consisting of a variety of appetizers. Mario talked about his engagement to Angela with much warmth and tenderness. The meal was topped off with a great dessert of Creme Bruleé and a Chocolate Lava Cake which oozed warm chocolate ganosh with around 65% Cocoa Powder. WOW ! Mila kept us all entertained with her cute faces and attempts at language. After dinner we went for a late evening tour of the Culinary Institute of America. A great time was had by all.

Valentine Ruminations

Well the good news is that I brought my scooter in last week to be serviced. These past few days have been cool and clear. Riding back and forth from work has brought a great sense of joy back into the day. Naturally, I have my ITunes going and I am bundled up as I tool up and down Highway 29. Last night I drove it to the Crab Feed that took place at the church I attend in Calistoga. It is always easy to get a good parking spot on that thing.This event is sponsored by the men's club and is usually attended by the same people every year. Something about attending this church and participating in the men's club is suddenly seeming very ho hum to me. On one hand, I am grateful that the church is there... but on the other hand, it seem's like it is lacking the vitality that I am seeking. It is Lent now, and I am checking my motives and reflecting on many things as I walk with Christ through forty days of abstinence ( I am not telling you from what ). My lust for life is on the increase though. Slowly but surely, we will be rolling into spring and summer when new life busts out. Tonight, my nephew will be at the Greystone Restaurant, and I will be joining him when I get off of work. I look forward to this gathering.

Mustard Magic

The Mustard Festival came and went. I was really suprised how fast the facility was cleaned up and put back into shape. The night before was quite a show (as well as a fiasco) with men and women in their best formal attire getting wet as the rain came down outside in buckets. Even with the tent construction over the main entrance, many people were forced to stand outside in the rain due to a backup at the door as the folks inside were checking their umbrellas . It was very cold outside, so people were quite antsy to get inside to sample food, wine,desserts and a wide assortment of treats from many restaurants around the valley, including out own Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant. I took a bunch of pictures,but had to contend with image instability, even though I had my monopod attached to the camera. After the evening wound down, I got home to jump into bed and remembered a set of keys that someone dropped off with me to give to security. I had to bundle up and drive all the way back down there to return them... THAT NIGHT. Evidently, one of the volunteers had misplaced them on the shuttle bus and would not have been able to drive back to Napa in their own car unless these keys got back to them in a timely manner. Oy Vey ! To see more of these images go to: Mustard Magic