How's Life in SLO?

Intertidal Life at Hazzard Reef

2011-12-23T19:38:00.000-08:00

This week the tidal range had a 9 foot differential due to the new moon. That made for a great week of surfing, and gave me an opportunity to explore Hazzard reef in Montana Del Oro with Lucas. Today the tide hit a -2 foot drop, an extreme low tide exposing seven feet of reef and all the life clinging to it.

I fought Lucas away from the iPad long enough to take advantage of a docent led walk into the intertidal zone.

By the time we started the brief hike down to the beach, he was jumping at the chance to touch the sea life, as the docent had promised.

The reef did not disappoint. I've never seen an exposed reef with so many crazy species. The docent's knowledge had Lucas amazed. He was constantly asking them questions and finding things to catch an ask them about. Here are some pictures from our day.

Thanks to the docents at the Central Coast Natural History Association
www.ccnha.org

On Being A Tourist

2011-07-23T15:09:00.000-07:00

Last week we took the kids up to San Francisco and played tourist. It gave me the chance to see the city in some new ways and re-discover things that make San Francisco fun.

We stayed downtown in Union Square. The Hotel Diva offers reasonable rates, sits next to the best Ramen restaurant in the city (Katanya), and is right in the middle of Union Square. The remarkable thing about this hotel is their kid suites which feature a second bedroom with bunk beds, toys, a Wii, and a giant coloring table. We had a lot of fun goofing off in the hotel room. The kids loved the trolleys and taxi rides down the BIG hills. The simple acts of riding in elevators, eating free jellybeans, and unlocking your room door with a "credit card" are all headline worthy events to a 2 and 4 year old.

We spent an afternoon at the academy of science. I went there frequently as a kid. This was my first time revisiting since they remodeled. At first, I was disappointed because the new high ceilings and skylights diminish the T-rex at the entrance. They also tucked the alligator pit way in the back (we didn't even see it until the second go around). Grumpy "when I was a boy" criticisms aside, the newer version is pretty amazing. The rainforest exhibit is one of the coolest things I've seen in a museum. The hundreds of live butterflies floating around in there was an A+ touch. One of the butterflies landed on Lucas's head. The massive aquarium tanks were also world class. The kids had an absolute blast.

The other big thing we did was hit a Giants vs. Dodgers game. Only Lucas and I went. He loved riding the subway as much as the game. He was so happy, chatting up the Giants fans and running his kid smack about the Dodgers. The other fans loved him and were giving him high fives everywhere we went. I was very proud of him. He ate three desserts. Kung Fu Panda hit a home run into McCovey cove and the Giants won 6-0.

We had a lot of fun on our trip. It was great to look at San Francisco through a fresh set of eyes, ones of a little tourist.

Montana de Oro: California's Best State Park

2011-05-21T14:16:00.000-07:00

In California National parks like Yosemite and Joshua Tree draw visitors from all over the world. Less publicized but equally spectacular, our state park system holds some of the best pieces of land in the US. Of the 250+ state parks in CA, Montana de Oro may be the best of them all.

Montana de Oro offers seven miles of pristine California coastline and 8400 total acres. It features three creeks (Islay, Hazard and Coon) that drain the interior mountains into the ocean. It contains the best surf spot and mountain bike trail on the central coast. Being far away from any highway makes it almost impossible to find for the average tourist. If you make it out there, here are my recommendations:

The Best Mountain bike trail in California: Ridge Trail
I've been riding mountain bikes for 24 years (holy shit!). I've never seen a community more dedicated to the sport than the Central Coast Concerned Mountain Bikers (CCCMB). Their army of volunteers build trails all over the county. Ridge Trail is their best work to date.

This trail challenges you both technically and physically, features breathtaking views and the CCCMB engineered it for mountain biking only. Ignore crabby locals nostalgic for the "old" version of this trail, the CCCMB created a work of art. If you ride, put this on your bucket list.

East Boundary and Barranca Trails
Advanced technical riding at it's best. This loop epitomizes the local hardcore trail. Want to ride this fast? You need killer skills and more than one screw loose.

Coon Creek Trail
Follows Coon Creek along the southern border of the park. This trail feels like a tunnel carved through the thick underbrush of Coon Creek. Flat enough to take the kids. Loaded with wildflowers in the early spring. One of the better hiking trails in the Central Coast.

Bluff Trail
Follows the coastline from Spooner Cove to the southern boarder of "MDO". Perfectly untouched California coastline. I pray that we never give this type of land up to developers. Once we lose places like this, we lose what makes California great.

On my to do list:
I want to surf Hazards before I die. Hazards is one of the most dangerous breaks on the central coast. If the late drop and dangerous reef don't hurt you, the locals will. Still lobbying the surfers at Wadsworth to take me out there when I'm ready.

Have fun discovering this California treasure.

Where the pavement ends and the west begins...

2011-04-28T18:03:00.000-07:00

My Economist magazine this month eulogizes the death of the California Dream. According to their editors, California is ill equipped to manage the changes that have happened in the economy since 2008.

What else is new? So much of life comes down to how you manage change. Entities that manage change well are the ones that have confidence in who they are, confidence that comes from experience and self knowledge.

The more time I spend down here, the more I appreciate the rural roots of California life. For instance, I went to dinner at the Far Western Tavern last night. They will close their doors in 2012 after 99 years of service to the farmers, ranchers, and military executives living in the northern tip of Santa Barbara county. This place is like going into a time machine and viewing what luxury dining was like for Californians at the turn of the 20th century.

This is the kind of place my Grandfather would have taken my Grandmother for their anniversary. I would call it Country Luxury. You can find these types of restaurants all over California, but they are a dying breed. This type of change happens so slowly, you don't realize you missed it until its gone.

First, the affable waiter brings pickled vegetables and homemade salsa. Next comes shrimp cocktail in a small silver bowl. From an impressive local wine list, we chose the Steele Pinot Noir from Santa Rita Hills. The main course was a "Bullseye" steak with fries and pinquinto beans, a local variety that was my favorite part of the meal. The ribeye was delicious and cooked to perfection. It was a killer meal in an authentic setting, a combination getting more rare in the "new" California that has emerged over the last two decades.

Leaving the restaurant, I was happy that I made the trip to experience this place before it disappears. It motivated me to blog about it and establish a record of my visit there.

In the end, that's the key to managing change; remember where you came from and evolve as elegantly as possible.

Good Luck California.

It Gets Better With Age

2011-01-30T15:46:00.001-08:00

I've been watching ESPN's 30 for 30 over the last year. It's a set of documentaries about the 30 biggest sports stories of the last 30 years. It's gotten me thinking about the fact that I've reached an age where the cultural happenings of my youth are now something to be nostalgic about.

Watching Ice cube weave together the birth of west coast rap with the early 80's LA sports scene in his episode "Straight Outta LA" made me better understand why "old guys" love to talk about the past; it gets better when you add all of the historical context you were incapable of understanding when it happened.

In honor of this revelation, I'm dusting off a post from my facebook page I wrote before I started this blog. It's a list of my 10 favorite albums produced in my lifetime.

Here's the original post:

If you look at any "greatest album" list, it's filled with all the tired old classics from the 60's (stones, beatles, dylan, etc). Many of these albums are truly great, but I want to know what you think are the ten best albums of our generation. I think the music created from the late 80's through 2010 is pretty amazing.

I'm not a music critic and I have no musical aptitude - these are just 10 albums that I love.

10. U2 - The Joshua Tree: My cousin Chris recorded this album on a tape for me and I listened to it until it wore out. When you listen to music on tape, it forces you to listen to every song; I know every chord and lyric on this entire album.

9. Van Halen - 1984: The ultimate album of my grammar school years. My buddies Vaccaro, Milligan, Imelli and Giachetti will all tell you that this album was fucking awesome! Strong evidence that album cover art is totally important when determining your favorite 10 albums of all time.

8. Soundgarden - Louder Than Love: I bought Bad Motor Finger first, but my buddy Brian Law turned me on to this album when I was visiting him at Chico State. Still the ultimate hard rock album, I can only describe it as "raw".

7. Nirvana - Nevermind: Again, an unforgettable album cover. This was the first album I remember from High School that was new, meaning it was not produced in the 60's.

6. GreenDay - Kerplunk/Dookie: I list both here because several of the songs from Kerplunk were hits on Dookie. Chad Whelton got me going on Kerplunk, which was a fixture for mountain bike rides throughout high school. Dookie was probably one of the most popular albums that came out while I was in college. There's always a satisfaction in having known a band before they get popular.

5. N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton: Steve Plette got me going on this album. Amazing baselines, crazy lyrics, tons of attitude. Totally different than anything I had ever heard before. Made me hate all the shitty "gangsta rap" that came along in the wake of this album.

4. Helmet - Betty: Another band I got into when I was in college. This is a band most people hate, but when you meet another fan, you are bonded to them for life. Greg Keller this means you.

3. Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back: I got my first taste of east coast rap when Nico Flores and Marc Senegal gave me a tape of Eric B and Rakim (Follow the Leader), but his album sealed the deal. Amazing mix of great beats and political passion that you just don't see in music anymore.

2. Pearl Jam - Vs.: The obvious choice is Ten, which has the song "Alive", arguably the anthem of our youth. But I always liked this album better. My favorite PJ song ever is Leash.

1. Radiohead - Amnesiac: This album changed the way I listened to music. Keith Frankel convinced me to see them on their OK Computer tour, but it didn't sink in until Amnesiac came out. I listened to this album constantly when I did a two month stint in London for work in 2002.

Please send me your top ten.

"When's the last time you won a title?"

2010-11-19T13:14:00.000-08:00

Every Giants fan has heard that question hundreds of times. Small minded Dodger fans always had this fact to shove in our face to quickly end any smack being run at them.

Until now.

Guess what? It's payback time! It's been 22 years since the dodgers won a World Series. That's 14th on the list of MLB franchises with the longest WS crown droughts.

To give them some perspective about how long it's been since their last title, use these fun facts about the last time the Dodgers won a world series whenever you are discussing the topic:

No email or internet
Ronald Regan was alive...and president
No personal cell phones, unless you were Gordon Geckko
No DVRs and no DVDs; not even a Blockbuster Video
The Rockies, Diamondbacks, Nationals, Rays, and Marlins did not exist (4 of 5 have made WS appearances since 1988)
The Rams AND Raiders were still in LA
Michael Jordan was ringless
Greg Norman was the #1 golfer in the world
Madison Bumgarner was not born
Tim Lincecum was four years old, Buster Posey was one
The #1 selling computer had 64k of memory (the size of one email)
Guns and Roses was a hot new band
Johnny Carson was the undisputed king of Late Night

Making a cell phone call was cost prohibitive in 1988

One note: Expect the response,"we've won 5 rings, how many have the Giants won?" DO NOT LET UP in the face of this flimsy defense! As a Niner fan, I know this deflecting tactic well - believe me it is KILLING them that they haven't done sh** in 22 years.

Payback is a bitch.

"This Team Has a Sign Above Them"

2010-11-08T15:52:00.000-08:00

When I was 6, my dad took my friends and I to a baseball game at Candlestick park for my birthday. I can't say I remember the specific game, but the feeling of vastness, intensity and community you experience at a baseball game stuck with me, and I became a Giants fan. Every weekend, as my dad worked around the house and yard, he would have several radios tuned to the game (one in the house, garage, yard, etc). I was never the kid who could rattle off stats, but the Giants were the background noise of my youth.

In high school and college, baseball gave me a forum to exercise my favorite pastime, arguing. Topics such as the Hall of fame, Giants/Dodgers rivalry, Bonds or Griffey, were all the source of great debates. Admittedly, I would have fought anyone over just about anything in those days. There's a part of me that enjoys dissent, and continuing to be a vocal Giants fan took creativity.

When I moved to San Francisco after college, the great Mayor Willie Brown teamed up with Larry Baer to keep the Giants in San Francisco and get a downtown stadium built. That was the only time I can remember that being a Giants fan actually paid off. What a time to be a San Franciscan. Opening Day at Pac Bell was amazing. They built the best new stadium in the majors and it was walking distance from my office. I went to more games from 2000 - 2008, then I had the entire 20 years prior.

We all know it should have happened in 2002, but that gut wrenching loss made this victory sweeter. In hindsight it makes the 2010 Giants one of the best WS champions ever.

The ultimate underdog team wipes away a 56 year long wait for a world class city with the best baseball fans on the west coast. What a story.

My buddy Steve called it the day before the series started. This Giants team had a sign above them. It's a biblical reference. When an entity has a sign above them, they cannot be stopped. Like the patron saint of travelers, St. Christopher - there was nothing that could end this team's mission.

Nobody picked this team, not even me. They were the opposite of the teams they beat. No pedigree, not anointed by the experts, cast-off by the scouts, several of them on the verge of retirement. Now they're described as street fighters.

Even the starting pitching was billed as secondary to the "unbeatable" match ups with Haladay, Lee, Oswalt and veterans like Lowe and Hudson. But this team only lost THREE GAMES in the playoffs! How the f--- is that possible?

Was there something divine about this team? I think so.

In the end, the faithful were rewarded with an unexpected gift and the end of a tortuous wait. I'm glad it's finally over.

Tomato Porn

2010-09-30T09:21:00.000-07:00

I've been bragging on my tomatoes all summer. I show these pictures on my iPhone about as often as I show pictures of my kids. People are amazed at the production I got out of my garden, while lamenting their own small, green tomatoes. What can I say? It's just my natural instinct for farming i guess. Here is a sample of the output this year - there's more where this came from people.

Late Summer

Early Summer

Mid Summer

Salsa Recipe

2010-08-13T19:48:00.000-07:00

My tomatoes are finally ripe! Time to make some fresh salsa. Here's my recipe (I double all of this, but I eat a lot of salsa):

3 tablespoon chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic
3 skinned/diced tomatoes
3 hot peppers, chopped (1 jalapeno, 1 serrano, 1 habanero)
2-3 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1-2 tablespoon lime juice
salt and pepper
radiohead
firestone double barrel ale

Throw it all together and you've got salsa. I run a couple of cups of boiling water over the onions to soften them up a little. Drink the beer, listen to the radiohead. Enjoy!

Be Careful What You Hate

2010-05-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

This post is about baseball, something I love, but first I want to write about hate. Chris rock said it perfectly in his stand up hit, "Bigger and Blacker".

"See, it don't make no sense to hate nobody.

lt don't make no sense to be a racist, sexist, or nothing, but.... lt don't.    
'cause whoever you hate will end up in your family.    
That's right, you don't like gays, you're gonna have a gay son.  
You don't like Puerto Ricans?  Your daughter's gonna come home with ''Livin' la vida loca!''

I'm going to let you in on a little secret about people in the bay area. They teach their kids to hate. Despite a reputation for tolerance known worldwide, discrimination is actively encouraged by nearly every native. It's not discrimination against gays or Puerto Ricans, it's hatred of Los Angelinos.

We despise their freeways, their traffic, the fact that they steal all our water, the lakers, the dodgers, the orange curtain, the ridiculous celebrity culture, obsession with appearance, mindless trendiness, the smog - we hate it all.

Just as Chris Rock predicted, my hate has come back to me. My roomate in college: SoCal. My wife: SoCal. But perhaps the most brutal irony is the fact Dodger fans outnumber Giant fans by a 4:1 ratio in the central coast. The TV and radio feeds are the Dodger network. I am surrounded by the very thing I loved so much to hate!

In addition to Dodger saturation, one of the toughest adjustments to life on the central coast is life without professional baseball. Heading down to Pac Bell on a Saturday for a day in the sun is one of my favorite things to do. Night games after work. The stadium, the team, the game - I love it all.

Ex-Giant and Cal Poly Mustang Mike Krukow has delivered the solution for my problem in the form of the Krukow Klub at Bagget stadium, home of the Cal Poly Mustang men's baseball team. The Krukow club is one of the best deals going on the central coast. $200 season ticket gets you access to all the games, all the beer you can drink and all the hot dogs you can eat. Yes! Beers, Baseball and hot dogs in unlimited quantities goes a long way towards filling my Giant void and easing my Dodger headache.

I'm just glad the things I love outweigh the things I hate.

Spring Events in SLO

2010-05-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

Last week, I took Friday off to celebrate the end of Winter. The combination of moving to SLO and having two kids crippled my snowboarding habit, so Winter has become boring (outdoor activity wise). Spring arrived on the central coast with an onslaught of fun things to do, saving me from overdosing on the indoors.

We began Thursday night at Roll Out the Barrel in downtown SLO. This is a wine tasting event paired with local restaurants. I preferred Taste of Pismo the prior weekend, less crowded with a lot of the same wine makers. Here are my favorites:

Lone Madrone: If you like interesting vineyards and interesting blends, Neil Collins is your guy.

Wolff Vineyards: We bought some Syrah from him two years ago, awesome fruit from an amazing vineyard.
Laetitia: Tie for best Pinot Noir on the central coast, along with Talley Vineyards, both tasting rooms are worth a visit.

Friday, I headed down to Santa Barbara for the AVP event there. It was windy, but we saw some decent matches. A couple of AVP observations:

1. Rodgers/Dalhauser. as dominant as they are boring. They remind me of the Pete Sampras era in tennis; fine for the hardcore fans, but bad for the sport overall.
2. Most of the players are boring. Masterful at the game, but like watching a bunch of bankers. Where have you gone Brent Frohoff? Guys you play professional beach volleyball - loosen up a little.
3. Parity. There are many young players out there that can win. Getting to the finals or semis is an accomplishment these days.
4. Santa Barbara is a sick place, I'm glad the AVP decided to only have tournaments in places where there is a natural beach + beach community. No more parking lots in Fresno.

Saturday night Maria and I went to the Hospice Du Rhone grand tasting. HDR is everything I hate about tasting events, too many vintners, no personal touch, insular wine geek vibe. However - the wines there are unreal. I can't believe how many killer Syrahs we tasted. Here are my favorites:

Cabot Vineyards: Organic vineyard in Humboldt. So much about wine comes down to the people and these are cool people that make great wine.
Wrath: If you like cool climate Syrah, this is a good one. Bonus points on the Led Zeppelin inspired name.
Skylark: San Franciscans will recognize John Lancaster from Boulevard, this is the label he runs with Robert Perkins. The Rodgers Creek Vineyard, Sonoma Coast was an excellent coastal Syrah.

Rumor had it that some chick from a small vineyard in Cambria was also packing some "hootch" in her purse. A noted wine critic described the 2007 Estate Syrah as "the best example of a cool climate Syrah in the building".

We spent Sunday on the farm. Lucas caught a lizard and took pictures of wild flowers and rocks. We had polenta lunch at a local fund raiser. It was a lazy Sunday, fitting for the activities that preceded it.

iPad Thoughts

2010-04-10T08:31:00.000-07:00

This post is off topic, but I've had my iPad for a week and wanted to post some thoughts for people considering a purchase.

My company did a "strengths assessment" to help me better understand and exploit my natural capabilities. The idea being to match what you do well and what you actually do for a living. My report identified "input" as my top talent. People who are talented in the Input theme have a craving to know more, they like to collect and archive all kinds of information. Input is the reason I love the iPad.

I read a lot. I think of the internet as my expanded brain. There's not a piece of trivia or answer I can't find in 10 minutes of research. The form factor of the iPad suits this use case perfectly. Here's why:

1. The Screen: It's bright, just the right size and touch screen is THE BEST way to browse the internet. I feel disconnected using a mouse now, it's inefficient. See what you want and click it directly with your finger. Eliminate the middleman.

2. The Size: The tablet feels more like a piece of paper than a computer. I never sit on the couch with my laptop. Now I have all my publications accessible without sitting down at a desk. Makes reading feel less like work.

3. Always connected: Last night I made stir fry. I opened the epicurious application, found a recipe and the iPad sat on the counter next to me while I made it. iPad beats using a cookbook; it offers reviews and tips by people who execute the dish (there were 20 meaningful reviews with variations I added to my dish). Imagine when they embed video. When I realized I didn't have an ingredient, I went to google and figured out a suitable alternative.

4. The Apps: USA Today, NPR, the WSJ offer really nice applications to read their pubs. Flickr photos lets me access and download my photo archives. There are some useful note taking apps (I get a lot of ideas while I'm reading all this stuff). Going forward, it's unlikely I'll read the print version of anything available online (unless I'm camping or at the beach).

Here's my experience with some of the common complaints:

1. No flash: I've noticed this twice and don't care
2. No direct inputs (e.g. USB): That's what I have a laptop computer for. Apps like Flickr give me the option to store files on the iPad. Zero effect on my primary use case. Good reason to stick with the 16GB version.
3. Fingerprints: give me a f***ing break
4. Multitasking: I don't get it. Critics say this limits the usefulness of pandora. OK, but that's what I have a stereo for! Buy some of your own music you cheap bastards.

Lastly there's the price. The iPad is a high quality device. There's nothing cheap about it. It looks and feels expensive. Netbooks use low quality parts and feel cheap. A decent laptop is more expensive than an iPad + lacks the form factor mentioned above.

Conclusion: iPad = future of personal computing. It's a better way to experience the internet and you can have it today. It works perfectly, so you don't need to be a nerd to enjoy it. Go buy one, you won't regret it.

Farmers Market - The Crown Jewel of SLO

2010-04-03T07:48:00.000-07:00

I like hot dogs. I can eat a sleeve of pringles during a commercial break. When we lived in San Francisco, I ate out constantly, and I didn't have the healthiest habits. SLO farmers market changed that.

The central coast is farm country. Neat rows of crops and cows cover most of the landscape here. Half the population drives a white pickup truck and wears a shiny large belt buckle (not because they think it makes them look hip).

The benefit of having farms as your neighbors is exceptional produce. Even a top ramen eating junkie like me notices the quality difference. The locavore movement is in overdrive down here. There are too many markets to count in the area, you can hit one every day of the week if you wanted to.

The SLO market is the alpha dog of the pack. It covers 6 blocks downtown. Every local group or small business has a booth. You can browse long blocks of produce, flowers, fruit, artisan cheese, honey, olive oil and other natural goodies. Several bands play in the side streets along the main route. There is a bounce house and various activities for the shorties.

What did people do with their kids before bounce houses where everywhere?

If you are some kind of farmers market aficionado, you need to check this one out. It has to be the largest, highest quality market in California.

And there is BBQ. Good lord these people know how to BBQ. Pulled pork sandwiches, tri tip, corn, beans, corn bread - its all here and it's incredible.

With all these food options, you can help but eat healthier and locally. The fresh veggies are dialing up my sauce to unprecedented levels of goodness. My salsa POPS with freshness and heat. I've even planted a garden in my backyard (no belt buckle yet).

If I can change my eating habits, anyone can.

Review: Santa Barbara Zoo

2010-03-13T10:24:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite places in San Francisco is the Stienhart Aquarium. As kid we visited it frequently. We never went to the SF Zoo. When Luke was born, we went to the Zoo to walk around. Large and recognizable animals are good for kids. What I'm trying to say is the SF Zoo sucks.

We went to the Santa Barbara Zoo yesterday and it blows doors on the SF Zoo. It's cleaner, more kid friendly and the animals don't attack patrons. There are some "big" animals, including two elephants and two lions. This zoo holds a great assortment of flightless raptors, including a bald eagle. The kid's park in the middle of everything sets this zoo apart from any others I've visited. It features a huge hill covered in astro turf that kids slide down on with cardboard "sleds". Hilarious to watch them spin and crash.

Extra bonus: the zoo is right across the street from east beach, where all the sand volleyball tournaments take place. I can play a tournament while Maria takes the kids to the Zoo!

Riding Lopez and Santa Margarita Lakes

2010-03-11T11:26:00.000-08:00

Three amazing mountain bike rides. Cold Canyon at Santa Margarita Lake, Blinn Ranch at Santa Margarita Lake and Duna Vista at Lopez Lake. These rides can be found in the book "Fat Tire Fun" a local mountain biking guide for San Luis Obispo County.

Cold Canyon: Rolling single track leading to two back country campgrounds (Swampi) in Santa Margarita Lake. Three Stars

Blinn Ranch: Old Ranch road with manageable climbs and great views of Santa Margarita Lake. I did both this trail and Cold Canyon on the same ride. Two Stars

Duna Vista: Rolling single track with one large but manageable climb. Fast, technical down hill. Amazing views of Lopez Lake all the way to Oceano Dunes. Four Stars.

From Urban to Bucolic in 2 Years

2010-03-11T10:06:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder what it would be like to move out of San Francisco to the central coast? I was wondering that two years ago when I made the move to San Luis Obispo. Since then, everyone asks me "How's life in SLO?". This blog sets out to answer that question.

FROM

TO