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2009 California Outrigger State Sprint Championships

Tuesday July 28, 2009

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This last weekend my niece participated in the 2009 California Outrigger State Championships at Leadbetter Beach in Santa Barbara. It wasn’t until Ashlyn shared a video off YouTube that I developed a whole new appreciation for her sport. What I adore is that she is so passionate about her racing. She is out there in the ocean working hard at something she loves and having a great time with her friends.

And congratulations to her and her team of 6 from Dana Outrigger the new 2009 Sprint Champions for their age division. Go girls go!

Here is a video of how long distance paddlers jump out of the canoe, new paddlers jump in. The canoe never stops.

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Friday the coast of California was hit by a mid summer swell sent our way from the other side of the globe. Huge surf closed the parking lot at Aliso Creek, filling it with sand from waves crashing way over the high tide line. Aliso Creek the looked “just like Waimea shorebreak.”

But our destination was further up the California Riviera. The sleeping giant we wanted to experience (as well as check off Lisa’s bucket list of things to see) was Newport Beach’s the Wedge.

The Wedge is a monster of what most consider a body surfing wave. Brought about by the building of a breakwater, the Wedge is a killer, as we found out when we got to the beach that day. We parked a mile away and started walking in, the spray from the surf could be felt on the breeze.

I knew we were in for a show.

These are the free & easy surfers. They don’t look much different than other people. But they live differently. To them the most important thing in life is the sun and the surf. This is what they enjoy, this is what they live for. Surfers live the life they love. And love the life they live. Free & Easy.

From the breakwater past the second lifeguard stand people had come from far and wide to see the ocean do her thing.

Here are one of the sets that came thru while we were there, only 6 guys in the 70*+ water and waves with 20″+ faces. If anyone asked if they could go in you can hear the lifeguards response:

“If you have to ask, you can’t go.”

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I was 19 years old the summer of 1969. Richard Nixon was president. The Vietnam War was raging and Woodstock would not happen until August 15. 40 years ago this weekend Americans waited eagerly for Sunday morning, July 20th, to arrive. NASA was going to fulfill a dream that President John F. Kennedy spoke of in 1961. Some of us are old enough to remember this day quite clearly and so I thought that today I would share with you my walk on the moon memories on this 40th Anniversary. And yes, I do consider this a technology post…I mean really, man walking on the moon, now that is technical!

As I said, I was 19. I had moved back to San Diego from San Francisco on Memorial Day weekend 1969. The reason I remember the exact weekend is that my first husband and I drove from San Francisco to San Diego and we got stuck in traffic in San Clemente on Interstate 5 for six (6) hours that weekend. The good news about that trip is that we were driving our brand new 1969 VW Beetle (air cooled engine), so idling on the freeway was just no big deal. But I digress…

I worked for Wells Fargo Bank and my husband was in college, so he had a summer job of some kind. We lived in a really small, strange apartment that seemed to look more like a motor home and we did not own a television. A friend of ours loaned us a TV to use for the summer. It was a black and white RCA television. This is the same year that saw such summer movie blockbusters as Midnight Cowboy and Easy Rider (both debuted in May 1969). If you have never seen either of these movies, rent them, they are classics.

As I said it was a Sunday morning and I don’t know if NASA specifically planned this historic walk for a Sunday in order to allow more Americans to watch the show, but we got up early, the television went on and at exactly 20:17:40 UTC (GMT) the Eagle landed in our moon’s Sea of Tranquility. That was 01:17:40PM PDT our time. Six and one-half hours later Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the moon’s surface.

I have two distinct memories from that day: First, while waiting for the Eagle to land, the radio played Oliver’s rendition of Good Morning Starshine. The words were perfect. (see the 1st YouTube Video below); Second, we watched the CBS coverage with Walter Cronkite and shared another life-altering event with him. (see 2nd YouTube video below).

And so today, as we begin the 40th Anniversary celebration of our Walk on the Moon, we remember with great respect and sadness the passing of Walter Cronkite last evening at the age of 92. And I will think back to the day so long ago that I sat in that little apartment, watched with wonder and together we wrote in our diary: “Today, man walked on the moon!”

P.S. In 1999 a movie was released as a tie in to the 30th Anniversary, A Walk on the Moon. This is another movie that many of you will enjoy.

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My photo of 1985 “We Are The World” Album

This week we are the world. The world was all a twitter with tweets about the death of three American icons. These were three people from three generations.

On Tuesday our blogger honored Ed McMahon, who passed at age 86. McMahon was a gentleman that we welcomed into our homes for more than 30 years as Johnny Carson’s sidekick among other roles.

Yesterday, our blogger honored Michael Jackson, who passed at age 50. This iconic legend who most of us have watched for the past 40 years, from a little boy to a grown man, always surprised us with his talent and creativity, among other things.

I will not let the week go by without honoring Farrah Fawcett, who passed at age 62. For those of us who are Farrah’s peers by age, we remember her smile and her gorgeous hair. All the women wanted hair like Farrah and all the men wanted the women in their lives to have hair like Farrah. She was a fine actress and you would know this if you saw some of her more serious movies. Now she will be remembered as a brave woman who was willing to share with all of us her struggle with cancer to the end.

In this world filled with technology…twitter, plurk, tagged, YouTube, my space, facebook, emails, blogs…today is Saturday and it is just a day to remember that in January 1985 Michael Jackson collaborated with Lionel Richie and produced with Quincy Jones a song that touched us all. We are the World! (United Support of Artists for Africa) We listened intently, we bought the album and together we tried to help save a continent, most particularly Ethiopia.

As this day closes, I will remember that Dennis and I played this album with our children when they were quite young. The album is still in our home carefully preserved for whatever reason. Maybe because it made us think, hope and assure ourselves that we are all part of this world and this week We Are The World making a choice.

Enjoy this remarkable YouTube video of the studio recording of We Are The World. I’d would love to hear from you!

….change can only come…when we stand together as one!

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Happy Father’s Day from Waterville, Maine. As luck would have it, the internet is down today here in Waterville. Who knows why, maybe the non-stop rain. Anyway I asked Judy to send this greeting. Here is a photo of my dad holding me when I was a few hours old. That is my brother Aaron looking on.

This next photo is of me with my dad, Dennis, on the day of my Bar Mitzvah.

Over the years I have listened to Cat Steven’s song “Father and Son.” The words are remarkable and sooner or later I think all fathers and sons can relate. Enjoy this youtube video and Happy Father’s Day.

Dan

If you are having trouble viewing the video, you can see it here.

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The iPhone 3Gs’ new features are forces to be reckoned with! I have had an iPhone now for just under a year, in that time I have come to love and cherish it. The iPhone, in my opinion, had the most potential to revolutionize mobile technology as we knew it! Overnight, it quickly became the most useful piece of technology that I have ever owned.

After the initial infatuation period ended, I began to realize that there were things that disappointed me about the iPhone. I learned very quickly that with all modern marvels there will be glitches and hiccups along the way. Beta, Beta, Beta! The iPhone is a painting that has yet to be finished, always changing and always evolving; adapting to the needs of the people. Everything that disappointed me with with the iPhone 3G the 3Gs has made up for!

We now have the ability to: copy and paste, take video, send picture and video text-messages, and the list goes on and on. The 3Gs is faster and smarter, we have the capability to make our own applications and now that there is a digital compass we will never get lost! The possibilities are absolutely endless, and I’m pretty sure that the sky is no longer the limit. Here are the details on just a few of the new features:

“Now you can shoot video, edit it, and share it — all on your iPhone 3GS. Shoot high-quality VGA video in portrait or landscape. Trim your footage by adjusting start and end points. Then share your video in an email, post it to your MobileMe gallery, publish it on YouTube, or sync it back to your Mac or PC using iTunes.”

“Voice Control recognizes the names in your Contacts and knows the music on your iPod. So if you want to place a call or play a song, all you have to do is ask.”

“Surf the web from practically anywhere. Now you can share the 3G connection on your iPhone with your Mac notebook or PC laptop.”

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Today is the 65th Anniversary of D-Day and this past Monday Americans waited to hear the news of General Motors’ bankruptcy. Yes, the same GM whose industrial power helped our country be on the winning side in WWII. The news of this bankruptcy was startling, even though we have had so many shocking economical events in the past nine months, I feel this news hits a part of us that is not just about the economy, but our life’s memories.

If you read my Saturday post regularly, you know I am not an economist, and I do not have an MBA. I have, although, worked for major US corporations, mainly banks, and in my day was quite proficient in the automobile financing world. But today’s post is not about economics, albeit I am heartsick for all those workers impacted by this latest chapter in the American automobile industry. No, today’s blog is about my memories of GM. And so I say: Good Night GM…Que sera, sera.

For the record, my life’s memories as they relate to automobiles are not just about General Motors’ products. For example, I do remember fondly my mother learning to drive in late 1953. We had what I believe was a very used Plymouth. Then one evening in 1954 I remember my father coming home from work. When he came through the door I ran to him and grilled him, as little ones do, what had he brought us? I expected ice cream, but to my surprise, he smiled and said: “I brought you a new car!” Outside sat a brand new 1954 Plymouth sedan. It was two toned, dark brown and beige. And it was in that car in 1956 that we (our the family of six) traveled from San Diego to Great Falls, Montana, to show off our new baby brother. It was during this trip(I was 6.5 years old) that the magical car radio repeatedly played “Que Sera, Sera,” (the 1957 Academy Award winning song from the Alfred Hitchcock thriller, The Man Who Knew Too Much.)

By the time we reached Montana I had memorized this wonderful song and my father happily had me sing it for his brothers and sisters! Memories.

My days and nights with General Motors began in 1959. My father traded in the 1954 Plymouth and purchased a 1959 Chevrolet Impala. It was two toned (green and white), no accounting for taste. I never cared for the color, but it seemed so fancy. In 1964 my father traded up for the latest Chevrolet Impala, four door, a really big engine, and a pale blue(Purchase price about $3800). He was beside himself. Following the General Motors’ Mantra…my father loved to see the USA in his Chevrolet. In the summer of 1964 our family made another jaunt to Montana and the song of the summer was the “The Girl from Ipanema,” which won the Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. I believe everyone had a love affair with this car…even Hertz featured this model in their Rent a Car ads in 1964. (I am sure the only reason I saved this ad, which you will see in my Picasa Web Slide show, from my 1965 Hilton Hotel room was because of the Impala.)

The summer of 1967 my parents drove me to college in this ’64 Impala. I wore some flowers in my hair and they dutifully dropped me at the University of San Fransisco and tried to avoid getting lost in Haight/Ashbury on their way out of town!

Here are some car facts about me:
1. Since 1968 through today I have owned 13 vehicles. 41 years…13 vehicles. Two(2) were General Motors products, three (3) were Chrysler products and eight(8) were foreign models.
2. What I love best about my General Motors vehicles is this: In 1980 we brought our new born Aaron home from the hospital in the 1979 Buick Regal and in 1984 we brought Daniel home from the hospital in our 1984 Chevrolet S10 Blazer.
3. In 1997, Dennis and I drove across country with Aaron and Daniel in our 1994 Dodge Caravan…more memories.

My friends know this about me. I am not a car person. I do not care about cars, I hate worrying about vehicle upkeep, I would love to have all of the money I have spent over the past 41 years buying, renting, leasing, insuring, and repairing vehicles. I would happily live in Manhattan, Chicago, or San Francisco and take mass transit. But I will never trade the memories of being brave enough to ride with my mother when she was learning to drive and I was only four, or my father settling in the driver’s seat for a Sunday drive in the country, or road trips to Montana, Las Vegas, Denali, Howe’s Cavern, the Bronx, Washington, D. C…and let’s not forget front bench seats, no seat belts, no A/C, crossing the desert with a canvas radiator bag.

So today, que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be. But for some reason I cannot bear to say good-bye to GM. I will remember the great ads, Dinah Shore, and my favorite from 2002.

If you are having trouble viewing the video, you can see it here.

I will say good-night to GM, savor my memories and wait and hope the reinvention is successful.

P.S. Let me hear about your GM memories and enjoy my YouTube video selections and Picasa Web Album.
P. P. S. A good friend just read this blog and he reminded me that in 1960 my father purchased a used 1940 Cadillac mourning car. It had jump seats and held about 10-12 people. It was the real fore-runner in our family for a mini-van. Go to this blog post to read about my dad and see a photo of this crazy car.

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About a week ago I sat in a wonderful Greek restaurant with my friend and client Will Bruzzo. Don’t worry…Dennis was there, as well. I have known Will for at least five years. He is a successful criminal defense attorney in Orange County, California. While having lunch we talked about Will’s parents, Aldo and Sarah. They own a villa and winery in Vicenza, Italy. Since 1985 Aldo and Sarah, with their son Alan, have been living the dream of owning an Italian vineyard.

As Will talked about their adventure he reminded me that Aldo and Sarah, whom I met a few years ago when they were visiting from Italy, have decided to retire and sell the villa and winery, Ca’ Bruzzo. The beautiful Ca’ Bruzzo Winery and Villa is for sale! Of course, my mind wandered back to 2003 when I first saw the movie, Under the Tuscan Sun, and I recalled how Dennis and I were both so taken by the story that we rushed home to see how easy would it be to purchase an Italian villa. Such dreams…now instead of living under the Tuscan sun, I find myself living under the Tucson sun!

But I digress…seriously, did you ever dream of changing your lifestyle, learning a new trade? I think we all do this from time to time. But every once in a while people actually take the plunge and just do it! So, if you find yourself at a crossroads in your life and want to think about starting a new chapter, then I invite you to check out Ca’ Bruzzo. For all descriptive details and photos, you can visit Piedmont Properties.

Here is a YouTube video of Vicenza…enjoy.

Remember it is Saturday morning, the day for dreams. And when tonight comes, you might wish upon a star like a famous woodworker Geppetto and your dreams could come true.

Let me know if you decide to live your dream of owning an Italian vineyard.

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T-Mobile G1 users will be getting an OTA (over-the-air) upgrade to the Android 1.5 “Cupcake” which is being pushed by T-Mobile randomly this month. Some of the features that are coming with the upgrade should have been there on the initial release and have been far pass due.

Some of the new features include an on-screen QWERTY keyboard (which helps prepare for the next Google phone which rumors say will be released this summer as the T-Mobile myTouch 3G). Other enhancements on the Cupcake include direct photo upload to Picasa and video upload to YouTube with the option to make them public or private. The picture or recorded video can also be sent as MMS and type in a title or caption. Faster browser thanks to the new JavaScript and webkit engines.

A new radio has been added on this release which should help the battery life as well. A few things that were not mentioned on the release also include contacts photo appearing next to the contacts name, home screen widgets, voice search, and of course a call log that makes sense. The Android 1.0 told you how long ago the last call was made but not what time. The Android 1.5 displays what time the last call was made (this feature should have been available on the 1.0 release).

Would you like a Cupcake?

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Tubey, a new application for the iPhone, creates and posts movies to YouTube and Facebook.

Take your pictures.
Assemble and order your shots.
Choose your transitions.
Choose your music from a wide selection of copyright free music.
Add captions.
Create your video.
Post your video to YouTube or Facebook.

All from your iPhone. All from a single application.

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I am sitting at my desk right now. It is Saturday 6:51AM and the view from my Tucson home office is pretty spectacular. The doves are nesting in the porch eves, the hummingbirds are fluttering around the blooming ocotillo and the prickly pear are preparing to bloom. As a write, a little bunny just walked up on to the porch enjoying the early morning weather. This week the Tucson desert around our home has been particularly beautiful and I thought I would tell you about three ways to enjoy the living desert.

I don’t want any of you to worry that my hints are going to cause you to do anything too strenuous. In fact you don’t even have to physically be in the desert to enjoy the living desert. And remember, this is Judy writing today. I gave up hiking, backpacking, camping, and bicycling a long time ago. So here we go…

1. Rent or buy a copy of Walt Disney’s The Living Desert. This film was released in November 1953! Yes, I know that is over 55 years ago, but it won the academy award in 1954 for best documentary and if you have never seen it, then you are in for a surprise. There was a time that I offered a You Tube video clip from the movie that deals with the cute ground squirrels; however, as is often the case the video has been disabled. Here you can visit a Walt Disney site and view the limited trailer. My parents took my sisters and me to see this movie in 1954 and I have never forgotten the beauty of the blooming cactus.

2. If you live in a desert environment, particularly around Tucson, AZ, then just take a walk in your neighborhood. It is spring time in the desert and for the next few months the cactus will take turns producing beautiful flowers and fruit. Just yesterday I was retrieving my neighbor’s mail and I had to stand back and wonder at the simple beauty of the living desert. And if you really think that a desert tortoise is just to be seen in the movies, here is a photo that Dan took last summer in Gates Pass a few miles from our home in Tucson..

3. For those of you who can not rent or buy the Living Desert and do not live in the desert, I invite you to watch my slide show of a RED TORCH CACTUS. This cactus is located outside my bedroom and Daniel decided to chronicle the blooming process. These photos were taken over the course of 24 hours. And you should know the flowers really are only in full bloom for one day! (I created this slide show using Googles’ Picasa Web Albums.)

So I will sign off for the day, more living desert for me to see, sans snakes!

P.S. If for some reason my slide show is really not of a Red Torch Cactus, I hope one of my readers will correct me.

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The current economic downturn in the U.S. is hurting many clients. We think that you can not just wait for the storm to pass, but must work to survive in the rain. We also think that our clients who take a long view and who work hard now will be in the best shape when the economy recovers. Lastly, we think that the Internet is the most cost effective way to promote many businesses.

In this newsletter we discuss a free offer from Webconsuls, some ideas that may help your web site generate more business, and a case study of a site revision done with one of our clients, the Lodge at Moosehead Lake. We also highlight new clients well as the redesigns for some current clients.

A Free Offer From Webconsuls

We know that the text on many of our client’s sites is outdated. We also know that many of our clients have been very busy running their businesses and just have not had the time to review their sites and bring their text up to date. And we have had nominal charges for text revisions.

In this downturn you may be less busy and may have the time to review your site. We are suspending our charges for text updates on our clients’ web sites.

So go through your site, see what text needs to be changed, what can be enhanced. Do you have new testimonials to add? Prices to change? Services to add? Staff members to change?

Email your changes to Dick (dickfay@webconsuls.com), Judy (judy@webconsuls.com) or Dennis (dennis@webconsuls.com). We will review them and schedule the changes as soon as possible. If your change request is beyond just a text change, then we will discuss any possible charges before making the change.

Improve Your Web Site

Your web site can probably be enhanced. While we can not make major changes for free, we will try to do them as inexpensively as possible. Here are some ideas:

Start and maintain a blog: A blog is a relatively easy way for you to add content to your site and provide current information. Since the search engines love content, more relevant content could bring in more visitors and more visitors could be more business. Your blog is only limited by your creativity. A hospitality site may want to write about seasonal changes in the area, a lawyer may want to write about a successful resolution to a case or perhaps the implications of a major ruling. You could use a blog to mention special limited time pricing. Our experts can help you set up the blog and teach you how to maintain it. We provide an on-line tutorial for participating clients. The maintenance is easy and you might even find it to be fun.
Add video to your site and/or youtube.com: The search engines are starting to integrate video results with their search results. So a video may provide more visitors and then more business. Visitors may also stay on your site longer to look at an interesting video and that could enhance your sites performance. There are relatively inexpensive video cameras that do a great job for web video. Our experts can discuss the process with you and get your started. Again you may find it to be easy and fun.
Upgrade Your Website:Does your site reflect well on your business today? Does it reflect well on you? How does it compare to your competitors? A site that looked great in the past may be outdated today. So when you are reviewing your text, also review your look. We can not build new sites for free, but we can work with you to upgrade your look and we will do our best to keep the costs down. Another advantage to a redesign is your site may have built in a way that is considered old-fashioned today. The sites we build today take advantage of techniques that were not available a few years ago which do not change the look of the site but allow the site to load faster which makes it more “search engine friendly.”
Get involved with Social Media: You have probably heard of the most popular social media sites, such as facebook and myspace. Once mainly associated with teen and young adults, these sites are now used by people of all ages. The social media sites are not used to directly market your business, but to reach people, make them aware of your business, and then they may make the people they reach aware as well. Some of the popular Social Media sites: LinkedIn: Facebook: Twitter:

A Case Study in Refreshing Your Website…

Lodge at Moosehead Lake Buying an existing business in today’s world also includes inheriting a web presence. On June 1, 2007, Linda and Dennis Bortis left the corporate environs and fulfilled a life-long dream by purchasing The Lodge at Moosehead Lake and becoming innkeepers. As if this change in lifestyle were not enough, what with learning a new trade and familiarizing oneself with this beautiful property, Linda and Dennis soon felt that their website did not do the property justice. But what to do?

When Linda and Dennis first contacted Webconsuls, we explained that the current site had been designed and built per the specifications of the previous owner/innkeeper. Our best advice was to take time to get to know the website, its contents, navigation, good features and not so good features. In other words, get comfortable with your new life and keep copious notes on how you want to enhance the site.

Over the past 20 months, Linda and Dennis have done just that. They prioritized their goals and learned the business of inn-keeping. As time went by, Linda sent us new text, new photos, had us create new pages and became a blogger. But in December 2008 Linda approached us with her vision of a redesign of her home page. Given the economic times we all now face, Linda and Dennis felt sure they could not and should not invest in a whole new website, but they could tell their story better. That is, they could offer their website visitors dramatic photos of both Moosehead Lake and the lodge. Linda also new she needed to make the home page a virtual invitation to “check out” the entire site.

The lesson here is that Webconsuls cannot run your business and we certainly cannot know every detail about your business. The relationship that Webconsuls seeks to have with their clients is one of mutual respect and coordinated effort to present your business in its best light. Linda and Dennis represent some of the best in understanding this symbiotic relationship. Here are a few helpful hints:

Really study your site, not just the text and photos, but the flow
Learn about how to reach new guests, like newsletters, press releases, join organizations and associations. Don’t be afraid to brag about your property.
Study your statistics and analytics
Learn how to take good photos and how to upload them in your Picasa account.
Obtain feedback from your guests or customers.

The new look and feel of the home page is dramatic. It took a while to get to this point with many phone calls, emails, documents, testing, but now Linda reports: “I’m getting a lot of great comments on my home page. The lodge was full for Valentine’s but one room and we had 38 for dinner – higher than any other special dining night since we got here.” This is all great news and while the website refresh was not free, it was affordable and obviously it is producing a good return on their investment (ROI).

New Clients

We welcome some new clients:

Affirmations is a private alcohol and drug abuse treatment center located in Scottsdale, Arizona that treats various addictions in a uniquely non-judgmental and affirming manner.

Agua Dulce is a women’s extended care facility whose program is designed to further strengthen recovery, minimize relapse potential, address lifestyle changes, and develop a complete aftercare plan.

Octopus Pool Cover Safety Frame is the only pool cover safety cover frame that securely fastens any safety cover without the need to drill rivets, bolts or anchors into the pool deck.

Synergy Group Services is a family/physician owned and operated drug and alcohol rehab center, located in beautiful West Palm Beach, Florida. Their caring physicians and trained rehab specialists provide the nurturing environment needed for effective addiction treatment.

Unity Recovery Center in Hobe Sound, Florida has an objective of providing the highest quality personalized drug and alcohol addiction treatment services available at an affordable price.

Hope by the Sea is a Southern California Drug Rehab center located in San Juan Capistrano that offers individualized treatment programs for drug rehab at reasonable cost because addiction and alcoholism affect everybody.

Wonderful Windows does window cleaning in Orange County California. They have told us : “In the first week of putting my new website online I received three new customers that can turn into regular business. Webconsuls rocks !!!”

Redesigned Sites

In addition to the Lodge at Moosehead Lake we have recently redesigned several client sites.

Lasting Recovery is San Diego’s Premier Intensive Outpatient Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center. Lasting Recovery helps men and women interrupt the emotional turmoil and destructive pattern of alcohol and drug abuse. We assist individuals to reclaim their health, build self-esteem, heal their relationships and develop strong relapse prevention skills.

Sea Cliff Hale is a beautiful vacation home in Poipu on Kauai and perfect for large family vacations, family reunions, group golf getaways and or just a visit to paradise.

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Today is Saturday, April 4, 2009. This is one of those historical days that stays in your mind. You wake up and think to yourself what is special about this date. And then you remember, April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated.

In 1968 we didn’t have cell phones, iPhones, the Internet, personal computers. We depended on learning about the news by radio and for the most part black and white television sets, and the newspaper. Your social networks were not virtual like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube; on the contrary your social networks were your friends, college classmates, co-workers, family members.

In 1968 I was a freshman at the University of San Francisco. Spring break was about to begin and I was not going home to San Diego. Here is a clip of the CBS Evening News, April 4, 1968.

As the years have passed, I remember April 4th for many reasons. “There are eight million stories in the Naked City. This has been one of them.”

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If you are into a new trend of watching TV online, you can expect commercials in the near future. Google is looking to expand its TV ad brokering to online sites such as YouTube. Google has been running test advertising programs for TV ads for months and hopes to creative an avenue for advertisers looking for traditional and online outlets.

It seems this will only effect the bigger businesses from the advertising standpoint. The ability and desire to create and market TV commercials, even if only online is less feasible for most middle and smaller sized budgets. From the consumer standpoint- more commercials where previously there hadn’t been. So who wins here? Google and (Google would argue), the larger advertiser.

Here is the article as reported by the Wall Street Journal: http://tech.yahoo.com/news/afp/20090327/tc_afp/usitmediatelevisionadvertisinginternetgoogleyoutube

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The lights on Broadway were dimmed twice this week to honor and remember two award winning actors, Ron Silver and Natasha Richardson. Don’t jump to conclusions…I didn’t know either Ron Silver or Natasha Richardson, but their work touched our lives and now sadly their untimely deaths do as well.

Live theatre is just that…live and filled with the unexpected. The actor that becomes ill, the lights that don’t work, the sound system that fails, every production is just slightly different and that is the magic that is ours to keep when the lights go down and places are called.

My theatre experience, albeit limited, has always been from the production side of the house, serving on boards for summer stock theatre or for California State University Long Beach’s Cal Rep. But this experience taught me that you just never know who you may one day see on Broadway. From 1992 through 1997 I watched young actors travel to New Hampshire to spend the summer months performing for the Mount Washington Valley Theatre Company (MWVTC). And as the years went by it was wonderful to watch some of these actors eventually act on Broadway…Steven Rosen (Spamalot), Ken Kantor (Guys and Dolls, Forum…and still today in Phantom of the Opera) Scott Davidson (Hairspray), Angela DeCicco (Les Miserables), Matthew Aibel (Candide).

In August 1998 we traveled to New York city for a memorial service for Dennis’ Aunt Beatie (Beatrice Helfand Cantor). While we were in the city Aaron and Dan asked if we could get tickets to see one of their favorite musicals, Cabaret. (Dennis played the role of Max, owner of the Kit Kat Club in MWVTC’s 1995 production of Cabaret.) The revival of Cabaret had opened on Broadway to rave reviews in early 1998 starring Natasha Richardson as Sally Bowles. Sadly we could not get tickets as the show was temporarily closed on July 21, 1998, when a temporary elevator tower across the street from the venue had collapsed causing the production to be shut down. As I said, the unexpected is part of the “magic of live theatre!” Aaron and Dan were disappointed, but we did purchase a copy of the Cabaret production poster…and this week I stood in our home and stared at this poster remembering Natasha Richardson…in her Tony Award winning role as Sally Bowles. The Sally Bowles we didn’t get to see on Broadway, because of the unexpected!

So this Saturday morning I dedicate this post to those unexpected life events that somehow touch each of us. I thank Ron Silver and Natasha Richardson for sharing their lives and talent. I will remember Ron Silver as the crazy neighbor who lived downstairs from Rhoda from 1976-1978 or as Bruno Gianelli in West Wing and I will remember Natasha Richardson in Nell, The Parent Trap, Cabaret and Maid in Manhattan.

The lights go down, places are called and life happens all around us, including the unexpected magic and sadness. Enjoy listening to Liza Minnelli as she performs Maybe This Time from CABARET. Your thoughts?

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Create your own Unique Ringtone with Audiko, using their cut and share technology. Not only can you make ringtones from your own music, but you can extract music directly from YouTube videos. If you are like me and you think that paying to make a ringtone from a song you have already paid for through iTunes is not that great, then Audiko.net is your solution! Audiko has very simple user-friendly instructions for creating your own ringtones. Audiko will create your ringtone in the iPhone accepted format; all you need to do is drag the file into the Ringtones folder of iTunes and upload it to your iPhone.

Just see for Yourself:
Whiskey-Change-survival-of-the-fittest.m4r

Reading Time: 4 minutes

The key to managing crisis is to keep an eye on the long term, while you’re dancing in the flames.

There will come a time when you believe everything is finished, That will be the beginning. – Louis L’Amour, A special congrats to Dick & Francene for choosing the right partner.

What’s Next? The Current Financial Crisis, The Ultimate Reboot & Homo Evolutis.

The Current Financial Crisis? Stop Evolving, Stop Growing. The Ultimate reboot is at hand.

I would argue that we are already living in the time of the ultimate reboot and Homo Evolutus. You can see those people all around you. Notice the kinds of tech that you or your friends are now using, Facebook, iPhones, and bluetooth headsets. Some people are evolving right before our very eyes.

This same evolution is going on with the information that we use, as it is moving to the cloud where our devices are just the access points to this info.

The sweet spot is the chatty innovator who is using your product or service and talking about it on the internets. These people are aware of what is going on because they are learning on the fly how to digest this deluge of information.

Does your site have a, blog, an RSS feed, video, an audio podcast? If it does great! You are feeding these innovators the information they want in a way they find usable, if not you are still living in a Web 1.0 world.

Web 2.0 is a phrase that we see bantered around all the time. To me a Web 2.0 website gives me the tools to Follow, and Interact with, the information that is being produced by the site, Either from the site owners themselves ( Like this blog ) or via user generated content, think Digg or Youtube.

Watch this scary and at the same time inspiring Ted Talk, that will point out the fires we are dancing thru today, and new ideas that are forming the basis of our tomorrows.

Reading Time: 6 minutes

25 years ago today my funny valentine, our perpetual valentine, was born. It was February 14, 1984, when our youngest son, Daniel, came into this world at about 8:00PM in the Providence Hospital, Anchorage, Alaska. It is hard to believe that 25 years have passed since that cold, freezing cold (about 6 degrees), winter night. Dennis arrived home from the office around five and found me resting in the bedroom. He inquired if I felt OK to which I responded: “Well, I am OK, just uncomfortable.” By 6:00PM we were driving on icy roads hurrying to get to the hospital. Dan arrived so quickly that it was really Dennis and the charge nurse, Char Peters, who delivered Daniel. No anesthetic and that is why I said Dan arrived about 8:00PM, the truth is everyone in the delivery room was so busy that we forgot to look at the clock!

That evening Dennis and I knew that Valentine’s Day would always be special to us. We would really never need to buy another card or Valentine’s gift as we had our perpetual Valentine. To remember this night, Dennis wrote a song for Daniel. You can enjoy “Daniel’s Valentine” here.

This sweet little boy, is now a man that loves books, music, history, whitewater rafting, rock climbing, harmonica playing, photography, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Twain, Emerson, Thoreau, philosophy, dogs, and good food. He was named for my uncle Daniel and my father’s mother’s maiden name Ryan. Daniel is a Hebrew name meaning “God is my judge” and Ryan, of Gaelic origin, means “king” or “little prince”. I need not say more.

The video I am sharing with you today is Pete Seeger singing Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” at a celebration for Pete Seeger’s 90th Birthday on May 3, 2009.

So today, as I wish Daniel a happy 25th birthday, I want to wish all of you a Happy Valentine’s Day. If you attempt to learn about the history of this day, you will find that everyone seems to have their own version of how and why we have come to celebrate Valentine’s Day. I will let you do this research on your own. What I have come to realize in the past week is that I have many friends and relatives that have a February birthday. It is an extraordinary number. Let me see: our son Daniel(14th), Dennis’ sister Vivian(19th) and brother Harvey(19th), Dennis’ cousin Bob Stuckelman(19th), Dennis’ cousin Joe Stuckelman(16th), Dennis’ nephew Joshua Yates(14th), Dennis’ nephew Jared Rubin(27th), our friend Arnold Glassman(16th), our friend Father Rick Degagne(11th), our friend Sheryl Thompson(14th), our friend Bart von Gal(21st), my cousin Harry Egan(14th), my sister Agnes Laband(13th), my nephew Steve Laband(5th) and the list goes on. Just this week as we celebrated Father Rick’s birthday we both commented about all the February birthdays, so Father Rick counted back and we concluded that it must be the lusty month of May that produces all of these wonderful February babies. Come to think about it, May is the month we celebrate Mother’s Day…so now we may conclude what really goes on in many homes on Mother’s Day.
Happy Birthday Dan!

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Have you seen He’s Just Not That Into You? This film opened yesterday and since today is Saturday I thought I would provide a little preview of this romantic comedy. Technically speaking, He’s Just Not That Into You, was not on my to-do list for February 6th, so I have not yet seen the movie, but I have seen the previews. I think this is one of those films that I might be able to convince my husband, Dennis, to see. Why? Eye candy! There are enough “big” stars, both men and women, in this film to keep everyone happy for 129 minutes. For your convenience, I have included a trailer for the movie in this post. You will see that the producers feel that the basic interactive groundrules for men and women are established when we are very young children, which is “he says one thing, but means another” and “she hears what she wants to hear.” As an aside, I remember my first little boy “friend.” In 1954-55 we walked to kindergarten each morning holding hands. His name was Raymond Wood. I think he was always nice to me!

Ok, here is the scoop: He’s Just Not That Into You is based on a self-help book that was written by Greg Behrentdt and Liz Tuccillo. No, neither Greg nor Liz is a psychologist. Both were writers for Sex and the City, they based this book on a famous line from the 6th season episode called “Pick-a-little, Talk-a-little” which originally aired July 13, 2003(yes, the episode title is the name of an annoying song from The Music Man). Six years later and with a reported budget of $25,000,000 we now have a romantic comedy that will either make you laugh or help you escape today’s crazy technical world for two hours.

Probably the most poignant message in He’s Just Not That Into You is this: In today’s world, unlike when I was wondering “why doesn’t HE call?,” a person can’t just expect to hear from someone via a landline phone, they need to worry about every known “SOCIAL NETWORK:” myspace, facebook, youtube, plurk, plugoo, brightkite, ping, twitter, yammer, and the fatal text messaging via the cell phone. As Mary, played by Drew Barrymore, says: “It’s exhausting!”

The fact is love, or what we hope will turn into love, makes us do foolish things. We are all guilty of this, we are human. In 1965 Martha (Reeves) and the Vandellas released “Love Makes Me Do Foolish Things,” it never made it to #1, but many of us loved this song, because in 1965 and for a long time after that, our social networks consisted only of a phone and the Friday night mixer (dance). This song made us cry and if we were really lucky that special someone would ask us to dance and we would forget all our troubles. Escape!

So for this Saturday: Dance to this music,take a break and go away with your friend. Go to the movies or rent a movie,love the one you’re with, and let me know how this works out for you, write a comment on my blog post.

P.S. For the record, if you are wondering what happened to little Raymond Wood. We continued through grade school together as friends. After that we lost touch. In 2006, my mother passed away. As I stood outside the church waiting for her funeral to begin, I looked across the crowd and there stood Raymond. He walked over to me, put his arms around me and said “I wouldn’t miss being with you today.” Precious memories, indeed!

Reading Time: 17 minutes

Forty years ago this month I entered the real work force. A real job with Wells Fargo Bank. I was all of 19, recently married and had dropped out of the University of San Francisco. This real job had the same grade and pay of a teller, but the Human Resource Officer who interviewed me thought I might be better suited to a desk job with limited “face to face” contact with the public! I was paid $370 per month. (Let me save you some time, that computes to $2.13 per hour.) I was assigned to the Monthly Payment Loan Center as a Payoff Clerk and my desk was located on the 3rd floor of the Wells Fargo Bank World Headquarter’s building at 44 Montgomery, San Francisco, Ca. The building was new, completed in 1966 and it was the tallest building in San Francisco between 1966 and 1968. While my blog today is somewhat personal regarding my resume, I want to dedicate it to Lilly Ledbetter. We should all thank Lilly Ledbetter for her relentless pursuit of justice which resulted in the eventual passing and signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. It has been a long 40 years!

If you are not familiar with Lilly’s case against Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, then I invite you to read about it. After the Equal Pay Act of 1963 was passed most Americans probably felt protected by the law, but for women in the work place there has been an undercurrent sometimes barely noticeable, nevertheless palpable. Let me explain how this phenomena works. When you are hired by a large company, a well established company (Wells Fargo was founded in 1852), there is a presumption of trust. After all this is a bank and we all know that the basis of banking is that of a fiduciary. So is a 19 year old woman suppose to see red flags when in the interview process she is asked what kind of birth control measures do you use? Should the 19 year woman question why as an employee of the company she has no maternity insurance coverage, but the wives of male employees do? Should the 19 year old woman question her manager (a man) when he reminds all employees that they will be subject to termination if they meet with union leaders?

By 1972 I did start to ask questions, but I didn’t have the time or money to fight for the cause…so I resigned from Wells Fargo and returned to college full time. By 1974 I received my B.A. in Social Work and went back into the work force, only to find myself once again in the banking industry. In 1978 I was hired by Crocker National Bank and by early 1979 (at the age of 29) I was an Assistant Vice President of Consumer Loan Administration. I worked in the Crocker Bank Tower located at 611 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA. By this time, no one questioned my birth control measures (except my immediate Vice-President when he promoted me to AVP and then said with a chuckle: “Now, don’t get pregnant!”), women employees now had maternity coverage, and unions just never came up in conversations.

In late 1980, I gave birth to my first son, Aaron. I resigned from Crocker Bank in the Spring of 1981 and it was purchased by Wells Fargo in 1986. I did not return to the banking industry until October 1985. By then I was 36 years old and we had just relocated to Conway, New Hampshire, with our two young children. Dennis and I met with a Commercial Loan Officer of Indian Head Bank North to discuss purchasing a country inn. After reviewing our business plan and resume, the gentleman looked at me and said: “Can we set this loan application aside and talk about hiring you?” He had me! After all, we were new in this community and if one of the most prestigious banks in the state was willing to offer me a job as a loan officer, two blocks from our home with medical benefits for the whole family then why not accept it?

I worked for Indian Head Bank North, was promoted to Vice President, and continued there even after we purchased Cranmore Mountain Lodge in 1986. But in 1988 Indian Head Bank was purchased by Fleet Bank and by 1989 most of the senior officers had been offered a severance package. I resigned my position in November 1989. Fleet Bank was purchased by Bank of America in 2003.

What you need to understand is that I always suspected that I did not receive equal pay for equal work in the banking industry. And now you are probably wondering why didn’t I pursue it. The answer is complex: First, most companies use what are referred to as pay grades. According to Wikipedia a “Pay grade is a unit in systems of monetary compensation for employment. It is commonly used in public service, both civil and military, but also for companies of the private sector. Pay grades facilitate the employment process by providing a fixed framework of salary ranges, as opposed to a free negotiation. Typically, pay grades encompass two dimensions: a “vertical” range where each level corresponds to the responsibility of, and requirements needed for a certain position; and a “horizontal” range within this scale to allow for monetary incentives rewarding the employee’s quality of performance or length of service.”; Secondly, in most large companies you are subject to termination if you discuss your compensation level with other employees. So there you have it in a nut shell, put the woman in a pay grade that is the same as the men performing the same job, but start her in the bottom of the pay range and then make it clear that if she discusses her compensation she will be fired; Third, if you really want to keep her in tow, then give her a title, like Vice-President. It is all about TRUST!

Tonight I had the opportunity to read about Lilly Ledbetter’s suit. As I read through the history of the case, I finally came to the Supreme Court’s ruling against Lilly. Again, according to Wikipedia: “Justice Alito delivered the opinion of the court. The Court held that according to Title VII, discriminatory intent must occur during the 180-day charging period. Ledbetter did not claim that Goodyear acted with discriminatory intent in the charging period by issuing the checks, nor by denying her a raise in 1998. She argued that the discriminatory behavior occurred long before but still affected her during the 180-day charging period. Prior case law, the Court held, established that the actual intentional discrimination must occur within the charging period. The Court also stated that according to those prior cases, Ledbetter’s claim that each check is an act of discrimination is inconsistent with the statute, because there was no evidence of discriminatory intent in the issuing of the checks.” So basically, they ruled against Lilly because she did not file her complaint within the 180-day charging period.

As I read this decision I immediately thought of the standard operating procedure for most companies, you are subject to termination if you discuss your compensation level with other employees. That being the case how could one ever hope to meet the requirement to file a complaint within the 180-day charging period?

It took the only woman on the Supreme Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, to point out the idiocy of this ruling by presenting the dissenting argument. Quoting from Wikipedia: “Justice Ginsburg dissented from the opinion of the Court, joined by Justices Stevens, Souter, and Breyer. She argued against applying the 180-day limit to pay discrimination, because discrimination often occurs in small increments over large periods of time. Furthermore, the pay information of fellow workers is typically confidential and unavailable for comparison. Ginsburg argued that pay discrimination is inherently different from adverse actions, such as termination. Adverse actions are obvious, but small pay discrepancy is often difficult to recognize until more than 180 days of the pay change. Ginsburg argued that the broad remedial purpose of the statute was incompatible with the Court’s “cramped” interpretation. Her dissent asserted that the employer had been, “Knowingly carrying past pay discrimination forward” during the 180-day charging period, and therefore could be held liable.”

So here’s to Lilly. She fought the fight and she won the battle (not necessarily the war). On January 29, 2009, President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (With the revised statutory language, the majority opinion’s interpretation referenced above is no longer valid, and the law now conforms to the interpretation advocated by Justice Ginsberg in her dissenting opinion). Lilly will never be financially compensated by Goodyear or any government agency. She led a fight for all of us and for that we should be thankful.

P.S. Today’s image is a collage of some more of my business cards from over the years. What a hoot…great titles, with almost always unequal pay! And for the record, over the years I fought many battles with my employers over equal treatment. In 1989, I refused to sign my severance package under threat of non-payment. The reason? It contained a clause that I was not allowed to discuss the terms of the agreement with fellow employees. I wonder why? Could it be that the packages were not equal? I knew they were not, I didn’t sign, but they paid me my severance. To think how the battles might have been waged differently with the Internet, YouTube, Facebook, Blogs, Twitter…dare to imagine!

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2009 California Outrigger State Sprint Championships