Obiden Koolaid

What do you say after a speech like that? "Wow he really nailed it"? What sort of comment captures what we were just witness to? Take just the vision of that *stadium* (not a convention center, a town hall, or a gymnasium, a *stadium*!), filled with 80K people gathered for a political rally of all things! For me that's the vision that indicates that something is happening here. Someone has emerged to ignite a vision of something different than we're used to. He speaks with a language that is familiar of politicians and yet, there's a clarity to his tone, a passion to his cadence, and a strength in his conviction. I'll go ahead and blow this out of proportion with the hope that maybe it's not really that far fetched after all :) I've grown up through Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. That's my lineup. That's what I have come to know as the Leader of our country. What I saw tonight was so completely opposite of those folks. I've had a pretty liberal upbringing. Throughout which has always been present a waiting feeling. Waiting for "it" to start happening. For things in the world to begin to noticeably shift in a direction of change for the good. For the paradigm that produces leaders like the ones I've grown up with to find closure. What I experienced tonight was just that: the early moments of a new paradigm of leadership for this planet. I think we will look back on this night and without a doubt acknowledge that this event marked the beginning of a planetary shift.

<k, reeling it back in a bit... ;) >

There were a few key points in his speech that struck me the most:

• What confidence and strength he showed us tonight.
  
  
• He called McCain onto the mat. I really felt like he disarmed McCain in such a profound way.
  
  
• He defined for us the goals for his presidency.
  
  • Health care - save me from this $450/month weight!
    
  • Tax cuts.
    
  • 10 year plan to break our oil addiction and invest in alternative energies. It's no longer a choice, it's a must!
  
  
• That this campaign is not about Him, it's about us and the change we are ready to see in the world.
  
  
• This is not an easy road ahead. WE are charged with taking ownership of and driving that change.
  
  
• That the old way of doing things is no longer an option. "Change doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington".
  

He really did nail it ;) I think it was a great week for the Dems. They leave with a mission and a unified committment to get their boy into office. And now off the RNC. It kinda feels like China handing off the olympics to London after blowing up their closing ceremonies. "Here, top that!"

Is Golf an Olympic Sport??

No, well at least not this year. Golf has made its way into the line up a few times in the past: 1900 and 1904, but then dwindled from view. They've tried a handful of other times, but for various reasons was dropped from the line up. Its failure to stick to the wall seems to stem from the formats that have been chosen to play the game. The debate is not dead by any means (60 million golfers can't be wrong, right?). It was on the agenda for this current Olympics, but was too far down on the list to be addressed within the allotted time given to hash out such details. In order for Golf to make it into the Olympics graces, other sports would have to be axed. Baseball, Softball, and the Pentathalon have all been offered up to the Gods for sacrifice, just to allow little white ball chasers into the event list. Seems reasonable. I guess we'll just have to wait until 2012 to realize the fate of this ongoing conversation. Until then, keep your head down and don't swing so hard! Oh sorry, that was for me, not you :)

Lightening in SlowMo

Got this from a few peeps today. Worth checking out for sure.



This video was taken with the Casio EXILIM Pro EX-F1

DNS Vulnerability - IMPORTANT

There's been a vulnerability found in DNS (core service to how we browse the internet/etc). It's quite scary and will probably wreak much damage in the coming months. The best you can do is make sure you're using DNS servers that have been patched. You can test if your DNS servers are vulnerable to attack by visiting this site:

https://www.dns-oarc.net/oarc/services/dnsentropy

Read more about the vulnerability here:

• http://www.doxpara.com/
• http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/07/details-of-dns.html
• http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/08/07/dns-flaw-worse-thought
  

This is not a drill ;) This is very real with very *real* consequences!

If you find that your DNS servers are vulnerable you can raise the issue with your ISP, or use different DNS servers that are not vulnerable. Here are a few FREE services that can help:

• http://www.opendns.com/
• http://DNSresolvers.com

Greenest Person on the planet contest

I found this on a garden blog I like to check out. It's a contest to find the Greenest person on the planet sponsored by 3rdwhale.com. It started on Earth Day and will go until Sept sometime. Guess this is the final round so there are 5 folks left in the running. I haven't had a chance to look at the videos yet, because I'm in bed at 6am and don't want to wake anyone up. Looks pretty cool though.

Cool Bee Guy

I found this video while researching Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). This guy Dennis vanEngelsdorp is very active in the research of CCD. I thought his talk was worthy and wanted to share:



If you're interested in more info. You can check out my Delicious bookmarks on CCD: click here.

You can also check out my Bee Bog: http://skw3rdsbees.blogspot.com

100 Pushup Workout

I recently started following Guy Kawasaki on Twitter and he posted about some of the best workout plans to get in shape. One of them was the 100 pushups in 6 weeks plan. I started it up tonight. My initial test was 22 pushups (burl dog, burl!). I just finished the 1st workout. Turns out my buddy N8 is doing the same workout and started tonight as well. So we can now kick each other's butts into gear for the next 6 weeks.

SK on three weeks of Fatherhood

We're three weeks into the "Maya Experience" :) Umm...wow. The past three weeks are a blur with highlights of awesomeness, and sleeplessness. Things began with complete surprise. Maya's due date actually today, so she came a bit ahead of schedule. Sally was hit with something called HELLP Syndrome which is rare and very risky for the mom. Long story short, that boils down to "baby comes out now" kind of a situation. Fast forward 40 minutes from that moment and you have "here dad, she's a beautiful baby girl". And it begins. Me looking down at this flailing helpless little child, who without any effort at all - without any effort at all - completely shifted our reality. Maya is the center of our everything and that is the most amazing feeling we've ever known.

My parents have told me the story of bringing me home, putting me in my crib, looking down at me, me looking at them, them looking at each other. "Now what?". Yea, now what? Kicked from the nest where the nice nurses are a button click away. We actually did ok I think the first night. Got the co-sleeper assembled and the pack-n-play (that thing rocks). She slept most of the time, but we (well Sally) had to wake her up ever few hours for some "boobie snacks". Being a premie we had to keep her on a consistent feeding schedule to make sure she was gaining weight. When we left the hospital she was down to 5lbs 5oz which means she lost 10% of her birth weight (5lbs 15oz) so we were all *very* motivated to keep her eating. We checked her weight on monday and she's at 6lbs 2oz so we're looking good!

She had a bit of jaundice so we were sent home with a tanning bed of sorts (not really tanning, but exposes her skin to low levels of UV light) which helps break down the bilirubin.



She knocked that out in a few days - atta girl!

Day 7: Bring on the Family!

Sal's Dad and Step-mom arrived on Friday, which gave us a few days home alone with the girl to get things settled and ready for the onslaught of family that was about to descend upon us. It was great to have extra pair of hands to help out around the house and most importantly to help love on our girl.


She's been a bit gassy lately which sends her into full on baby meltdown which has been..."challenging" (says Sally from over my shoulder). Yes challenging is an appropriate term. Good thing she's cute :)

Sally's Mom and Brother have been here for a week now, which has been fun as well. Our little girl is not short of love in this house that's for sure. Having the extra help has been awesome. Our dogs are spoiled though. Seems Sandy and MichaelP both love to throw the ball for the pups so they've been getting an overdose of ball throwing.


Today is our anniversary (5 years) and the original due date of our little one. We're 3 weeks in and ready for a nap ;) The day to day, in the trenches work keeps us on our toes and is sometimes minute by minute. It's all worth it though. We find ourselves just looking at her. I can't wait to meet the person she is going to become. (ie, the LPGA champion that will support her parents with all of her winnings -- bring the Raine :)

Thanks for all the notes, emails, cards, and gifts. Everyone has been awesome and we appreciate it! K, there's a diaper that needs changing and it's my turn. Lates!

Maya in da house!

Guess who decided today is the day!

Check out more pics here.

Nailed

Nailed
Originally uploaded by skw3rd

On our way into town for a Dr.'s appointment this morning a truck going the other way on the highway kicked up a rock and nailed my windshield. Crazy.

Sweettooth Rocks

One of my favorite bands SweetTooth just released their new CD. It rocks! You can check out some songs and buy it here:

http://www.idynomitemedia.com/sweettooth.html

http://www.sweettoothrocks.com

These guys are from San Diego. I used to work with Matt (long hair rocker in the pic. AKA Wilda) at MP3. I've been following these guys for a while now. This album is *really* well done in my opinion. Somewhere around the 3rd or 4th listen it opened up for me. They've really done a great of job adding dimension to their sound. Nice work guys! If you're in San Diego, their CD release party is this Saturday at O'Connell's.

The Playlist:

1) Part of We: That little "guitar?" riff in the back drop is sick. The build up to the chorus make me rock out in my chair every time ;) Jeff rocking it on bass. I hear you back there :)

2) All Wrong: Nice beats Rob.

3) There and Back Again: This song gives me chills every time. Matt wrote it for our boy Don Ross who was called up and sent off to Iraq in 2003. Glad you made it back in one piece pal! Nice song Matt! Really sounds good. This is one you can listen to without purchasing the cd. Do it.

4) Lovegirl: I first heard this song in Matt's car on a cd he had cut in his bathroom or something :) This was pre-SweetTooth. I love it. The first verse of this song rocks:

You caught me watching you this morning, you thought you were alone...you forget how much I love to watch you wander in a world of your own.

5) The Crutch: This is one you can hear without purchasing the cd, so go listen to it. Good rocking song. I like the guitar and drums in this one.

6) El Cajon: This is a song from Rob's old band The Wreck. The distortion on Matt's voice is cool. Got a rocking drive to it.

7) No Big Mystery: Ah meet *Mrs* Cathryn Beeks of the Cathryn Beeks Ordeal. Highly recommend checking her out. She's a beautiful, soulful goddess, and core (glue) to the San Diego music scene. She just got married too - congrats Mrs. Edwards!

8) Bleeding Nerve: Good old SweetTooth song. Head rocker for sure.

9) Holding Back the Rain: Meet Matt Silvia. Dog's got a voice. John's guitar work on this one is sick.

10) The Rain: I roll it and I smoke it. A cool down tune.

11) Pushing You Away: I totally dig the chorus to this song. Cathryn throws down at the end. Awesome.

12) Bring on The Love: Matt and Cathryn doing that thing they do. It's got this rocking jam in the middle of the song.

13) TV: K, I love Matt and I love SweetTooth, but this song for me is all about Barbara Nesbitt on back up vocals. She comes through like an angel. Damn! I know that sounds cheezy, but seriously, like an angel.

Awesome. That was fun. Good to hear SweetTooth doing well and rocking it out. Good to hear some familiar voices from the SD community in there as well. If you like a good rocking sound, it's worth $10 go to download this cd and give it a listen. Like I said earlier, it took about 3 or 4 listens before it cracked open for me. Luv it when that happens. Thanks guys for a great piece of work. Rob - Artwork on the CD - sick dog!

4 weeks

We're just 4 weeks away now. Sally's got her bag packed and is ready to roll. I guess that means I should pack some stuff too huh? The final stretch. We took some pics tonight. Sally looks great!

One of the best sporting events ever - maybe THE best...

I just spent 5 days watching the US Open, which was probably the most amazing sporting event I've ever seen. I've never watched a full golf tournament. Usually just catch a few highlights here and there on the weekend. In the past few months though I've been abducted by the golf bug (Thanks Mike). I figured this being Torrey, once a local course to me where we used to play twilight for $17, I should watch the whole thing from start to finish. And I did.

Let's break it down...

The Coverage

http://www.usopen.com nailed this event! They had the desktop leaderboard that ran in its own window and steamed up to the second stats on leaders and the field. You could even create a custom view of players you were interested in. I also downloaded the Mobile Leaderboard to my Blackberry. Same setup as the desktop leaderboard, but was with me 24/7 so I could track the scores and figure out Tiger's tee times. Saving the best for last: the streaming video. I found this feature on Friday. It was an ESPN feed that followed only on Top 3: Tiger, Mickelson, and Adam Scott. It was commercial free and they had their own commentators - separate from the network feed. It was awesome! The only bummer was it being ESPN only, so when NBC took the coverage for the weekend, we lost our streaming feed. I was really looking forward to cooking pulled pork on Saturday and having the laptop streaming the 3rd round in kitchen with me.

San Diego was Luvin it!

San Diegans were luving the US Open at their home course. That was hot! First ever major in their home town. The players couldn't stop talking about the impeccable shape the course was in. San Diego, although a huge and growing area, always has this weird way of having a small town feel to me. This was one of those times.

OMG - How does he do that!?!

Tiger's Putts were so clutch!

Saturday - Round 3 - to Eagle into the Lead:

>

Sunday - Round 4 - to force a Playoff:

>

Rocco!

You gotta luv and be stoked for Rocco Mediate. He played the tournament of his life. Kept himself in the leaders group all week. Would've been the oldest ever to win the US Open at age 45. Was inches from stepping into the winners circle on Sunday when Tiger snatched it from his hands and put them both into a 5 th round of 18. The thing I like most about Rocco was the fact that he was having the time of his life. Wouldn't you! Just you and Tiger, playing 18 holes of golf at Torrey with 24K of your closest fans :) Good times!

The 91st hole

I'm glad to hear people refer to this Major as one of the best they've ever seen. It was certainly mine. To start out with the top 3 golfers in the world grouped together. To watch them watch Tiger pull away to the lead. I came across this article that had quotes from Hank Haney, his coach, about the knee and how the week went from his perspective. Amazing. We all know what an athlete Tiger is. He took it to a whole different level this week. He played us a story that was incredible to witness. That was fantastic!

Now to work on my 30 handicap :)

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Meat
Originally uploaded by skw3rd

Changed up the recipe to go with Pulled Pork Sandwiches rather than ribs. Still rolling with JB's BBQ Sauce though.

Update - 6/17/08

The first annual SKham Jam was a success. Good peeps. Good golf. The pulled pork sandwiches were off the hook. Much praise was directed to JB for the recipe of goodness. We had good old homemade corn bread, pies from Loula's, and of course The Hoge Famouse Chocolate Pecan pie.

Here's the recipe for the Pulled Pork variant:

• 8lbs of Pork Shoulder (I went with boneless)
• Kosher Salt
• Corse ground pepper

1. Rinse the pork shoulder and pat dry. Generously salt and pepper the meat. Stick in the oven at 250 for 8hrs (1h per pound seemed to do it right). Internal temp of the meat was between 160 and 170 which was perfect.
2. Pull out of the oven and cover loosely with aluminum and let rest for about a half hour.
   
3. Pull of chunks of meat onto a platter and with two forks start shredding. Drizzle some of the BBQ sauce onto the pile of pulled pork and mix it in to coat things up nice.
4. Warm up some wheat buns in the oven for a few minutes.
5. Pile on some pork, drizzle some BBQ sauce on top, then add nice health layer of cole slaw.
   
6. Feast

JB's BBQ Ribs Recipe

Got this BBQ Ribs recipe from my buddy Josh. Gonna rock it out this weekend for a little BBQ we're hosting (if it stops snowing...in June!!!)

JB's Ribs

The Sauce:

• 1 slice of apple wood smoked bacon (Bacon!!!)
• Fresh Thyme
• White Onion (1/2 or so finely chopped)
  
• Clove of Garlic finely chopped
• 2 cups of Ketchup
• 1/4 cup Dark Molasses
  
• 1-2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar (depends on how zingy you like it)
• 1/4 tsp. Cumin
  
• Few dashes of Cayenne (some like it hot)
• 1/4 tsp. dry mustard powder
• 1/4 tsp. smoked paprika

The ribs:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 275
2. Rinse the ribs and then pat dry.
3. Salt and Pepper them up. (Don't be shy and remember Kosher salt, cuz we're fly like that.)
4. Drop them on a baking sheet and put in the oven at 275 for at least 2hrs.

Let's get saucy:

1. Wrap the thyme with the bacon and tie it with some string.
   
2. Drop the thyme/bacon roll into your sauce pan and reduce it for about 10 minutes or so. Not too crispy, just enough to get some oil in the pan and a few crusties off the bottom of the pan. ( Thyme and Bacon getting happy in the pan together...oh snap that's gonna smell good!)
   
3. Add your onion and garlic. Cook it down until the onion is nice and translucent.
4. Stir in the rest of your ingredients.
5. Let simmer for about 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.
6. Take off heat and set aside.

Smok'm if you got'm:

After about 2hrs, take the ribs out of the oven. Heat up your grill to low. Glaze those puppies up nice with some sauce. Drop the ribs on the grill for about 15 minutes or until they're nicely charred. Let them rest for a few minutes off the grill. Serve with a side of the left over sauce.

Report back!

Cool Pix Site

My buddy connected me with this site:

http://pixdaus.com/

It's pretty cool. Some great pix.

Snow in June?

Snow in June?
Originally uploaded by skw3rd

It's June 10th and it's 35 degrees out and snowing.

Humboldt in the news

My buddy sent me this article about Humboldt and California Prop 215 fall out. Talks about Arcata a bunch. Having lived in Arcata for 7 years, it's close to my heart. Check out the video. The first part shows some footage of Arcata. I luv the guy that gets the impromptu knock at the door: "Um no I'm not a grow house...well maybe a little in the garage for myself".

Chick is getting big yo!

Waiting for the doc to show up. Guess someone decided to have a baby during our appointment.

5 weeks and counting

Maya is only about 5 weeks away from entering this world of ours.
Sally is doing great. She's a champ for sure. Things are starting to
get a bit crowded in the belly. Maya has been doing a lot of
rearranging in there to keep things comfy. She should *drop* pretty
soon - I know there's a technical term for that - presenting - shoot,
can't remember? Anyway, once she does, it should give Sally some relief.

Sally bought a bag today to pack up her *birthing stuff*. Of course my
response was "Um...we have like 3 suit cases don't we?". That
conversation pretty much ended in "Yes, dear". I'm getting good at
that one.

Seattle gray

Seattle gray
Originally uploaded by skw3rd

Did my last trip to San Diego for a while. Passing through lovely Seattle where the rain was quite welcoming.