I recently had the privilege of an upclose encounter with Elephants at the Pittsburgh Zoo. The sheer size, mass, and power of them is spectacular! The photo is me and some coworkers behind the scenes inside the pen with the elephants. While this photo was being taken, we heard a a blood curdling rumble. The zoo keeper explained that it was a purr, but to me it sounded like a scary, if not terrifying roar. I was ready to run, but did my best to maintain composure for this great photo opportunity.
Thank goodness this did not turn into an episode of "when animals attack". I can picture my friends and family now saying, "why was he even back there to begin with?". As stupid as I may have been to go into "their" chamber, I will forever cherish my moment with the majestic beasts.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Elephants are amazing...
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
A very Powerful picture from Barrack Obama's trip to Britain
A very Powerful picture from Barrack Obama's trip to Britain, the picture says it all…. BROTHER TO BROTHER...
You go boy! He is sooo cool. According to one commentor, "This is the most powerful photo in the series. Remember that British Royal custom, and both U.S. and British security procedure dictate that they are not supposed to talk, touch, or shake hands, but the two brothers couldn't resist the historic moment. The Black Royal cop never imagined in his wildest dream that he would usher a Black American president into the British corridors of power. Nice."
Monday, April 6, 2009
Rock and Roll HOF Induction Ceremony
We had the honor of being a VIP guest to the 2009 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland, OH. What a spectacular night! We were front and center to witness Little Anthony and the Imperials, Bobby Womack, Wanda Jackson, Metallica, Run DMC, and others get immortalized.
The performances were even more impressive. The highlight had to be seeing Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jimmy Paige, and Metallica JAMMING!!!
Also, check out the video of the red carpet. Me and the Mrs. are captured right before Rev Run makes his grand entrance.
| Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction red carpet |
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Ready for Football already?
I am still morose over the end of the season. The Steelers won it all, and I can't wait for training camps to start up, so the NFL can get back to dominance.
I think we could have a second league? If the game were marketed correctly, and played in the Post draft doldrums through the Summer, the fan support would be easily built.
Attached are a few photos from our journey to Tampa for Superbowl XLIII. Hopefully the Redskins will get their act together and make it to Superbowl XLIV setting up the ultimate clash with the Steelers. Imagine our two favorite teams meeting for all the marbles?
Spirits Makers Replace Bartender With Convenience
Spirits Makers Replace Bartender With Convenience
As More Americans Entertain at Home to Save Money, Liquor Companies Offer New Lines of Pre-Made CocktailsArticle
By DAVID KESMODEL
Liquor giants are rolling out pre-mixed products to entice recession-weary Americans to serve more cocktails at home.
On Thursday, Beam Global Spirits & Wine Inc. is unveiling Sauza Margarita-in-a-Box, 15 servings of pre-made margaritas containing its Sauza tequila. The party-in-a-box, scheduled to hit the market in May, will cost about $18. Brown-Forman Corp., meanwhile, plans to release two ready-to-drink cocktails in bottles this summer, including Southern Comfort Sweet Tea. And Diageo PLC has begun releasing several prepared cocktails, including Captain Morgan Long Island Iced Tea.
Distilled-spirits makers are aware that many drinkers don't want to fuss with mixing drinks themselves. At the same time, they want to address a shift by consumers toward entertaining at home more and visiting bars less. Last year, sales of spirits in bars and restaurants in the U.S. fell 2.2% by volume, the first decline since 1995, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., a trade group. Total liquor sales rose 1.3% by volume last year, the slowest rate in a decade, according to Impact Databank, the research arm of drinks-industry publisher M. Shanken Communications Inc.
Spirits makers face a challenge in trying to court consumers in a weak economy because liquor is perceived as more expensive than beer or wine, said Anne Carlson, an analyst with market-research firm Information Resources Inc. "They are doing a lot of different things to find their way," including selling both smaller and larger bottles of liquor to give consumers more choices.
Some consumers, preferring cocktails with fresh ingredients, may balk at the pre-made drinks. These new products come at a time when restaurants and bars have introduced cocktails with fresh fruit and juices, and spirits companies have been helping train bartenders to make more sophisticated cocktails.
Beam Global, a unit of the Deerfield, Ill., conglomerate Fortune Brands Inc., says its 1.75-liter margarita boxes are made to fit into a refrigerator and to be toted to barbecues and picnics. The company says it will be the first boxed margarita cocktail in the U.S. market containing real tequila.
Beam Global decided to offer the beverage partly to compete better with beer and wine products, which typically can be carried more easily to outdoor events than various cocktail ingredients. In addition, the success of boxed wines in the U.S. "shows that convenient packaging can be a big benefit for consumers," said Gary Ross, associate brand manager for Sauza.
Beam Global Spirits & Wine Inc.
Beam Global Spirits & Wine Inc. is unveiling Sauza Margarita-in-a-Box, 15 servings of pre-made margaritas containing its Sauza tequila. The party-in-a-box, scheduled to hit the market in May, will cost about $18.
The liquor maker also will release this month several new flavors of its DeKuyper Burst Bar Shots, which are pre-mixed shots that it began selling last summer.
Brown-Forman, the Louisville, Ky., maker of Jack Daniel's whiskey, plans in late June to release two prepared cocktails made with its Southern Comfort whiskey-flavored liqueur: Southern Comfort Sweet Tea and Southern Comfort Hurricane. The 1.75-liter bottles will sell for about $20 each. The beverages mark one of the largest new product launches for Southern Comfort since Brown-Forman bought the brand 30 years ago, said Campbell Brown, director of the Americas for the brand.
Sales declines for Southern Comfort in bars in key markets such as New York and Florida "have been pretty large" in the recession, Mr. Brown said. Sales in grocery and liquor stores have "softened the landing, but we need to have new news out there about the brand."
London-based Diageo is releasing Smirnoff Tuscan Lemonade, Captain Morgan Long Island Iced Tea and Captain Morgan Parrot Bay Mojitos across the U.S. by the end of May. Diageo, the world's largest spirits producer by volume, has been pleased with the sales of other prepared cocktails, including its four-year-old Jose Cuervo Golden Margarita, sold in bottles, said Larry Schwartz, president of the U.S. arm of Diageo. The company believes the new products also help lift awareness and sales of its flagship brands, such as Smirnoff vodka, he said.
Sales of prepared cocktails have been rising faster than spirits sales overall in the U.S. over the last year. In the year to date through Feb. 22, sales of prepared cocktails at U.S. food and drug stores rose 8% in dollar terms against year-earlier levels, while total spirits sales climbed 4%, according to Chicago-based Information Resources.
Write to David Kesmodel at david.kesmodel@wsj.com
Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page B9
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Kid Cudi vs Crookers - Day 'N' Night (Official Music Video)
Cranking! Joint is hot to death. The soundtrack to LA! Reminds me of clubbing hard in Hollywood.
iPhone 3.0 full of surprise and delight
Good review from our friends over at TUAW.
Some thoughts on iPhone OS 3.0
by Mel Martin on Mar 17th 2009
I was a bit taken aback and pleasantly surprised by all the features crammed into the 'coming by summer' update. Stereo Bluetooth on 3G and iPod touch, a hint of tethering support if cell providers provision it, and turn by turn navigation, which I think surprised many. Apple had signaled last year that there were lots of problems in providing this feature.
MMS and copy and paste were big features on many users lists, and some had predicted MMS would not make it.
And then there are little surprises, like in-app purchasing. Take a wild guess on how fast Amazon will add this to their Kindle app. Peer to peer communication between iPhones will open up a whole new world of unexpected and leading edge apps and games.
Of course 'push' capability made it in, finally, and developers will have fun exploiting all the possibilities.
It's a good bet that Apple is responding to competition, especially from the upcoming Palm Pre. There was a perception that Apple had fallen behind in the feature wars, and this update will quench a lot of that chatter. Even with this massive update, people will still want to use their phone as a camcorder, and voice dial didn't make it into the mix, at least so far. Apple has said they may have more to announce.
I can't remember any software update for a phone that added so many features. When I had a Windows Mobile phone, updates were seldom seen and were generally not very exciting. Mostly, I remember a few bug fixes, but not many new features.
Apple is to be congratulated for doing so much with the existing iPhone 3G and iPod touch, but I can also sympathize with owners of the first generation iPhone that will get some, but not all of the new features due to limitations in the original hardware.
On balance it is nice to see two trends that I hope continue. First, Apple is responding to user feedback, and also responding to the market in ways that the old Apple did not.
I think a day like today makes most people happy they have an iPhone, as it is proving to be an investment that keeps renewing itself. Certainly, there is a good chance that Apple will release new hardware this year, with even more features, more memory, and likely a faster processor.
Still, this is a rather mammoth update and pretty much like getting a whole new phone. It speaks directly to those who say 'I'd buy an iPhone if it had cut and paste, or MMS, but otherwise no sale'.
Sure, it would be nice if the original iPhone shipped with all those features, but Apple has continued to invest in and enhance this platform, doing things their own way and on their own schedule.
All in all, I feel pretty good about Apple today. How about you? Let the flames begin.