Tuesday, May 27, 2008
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This was one very long weekend! Started Thursday with Devil's Martini North, (Scottsdale and Shea). They have 2 for 1 drinks, only issue with that is one drink costs $10, so not really a deal. But about 10 PM it picked up, lots of girls and guys. Place was packed. Dancing, drinking and just having a good time. Headed out to Old Town Scottsdale after that, but it was raining like crazy so I just went home.
Friday night went to Cadillac Ranch at Tempe Market Place. It was ok, road a mechanical bull twice. Had a few drinks, prices weren't to bad, a little expensive but not $10 a drink. We left there and headed to Scottsdale. We walked around to see what was going on and decided on Axis. Had a drink and was getting ready to leave when I met this really nice girl. So I huh out and talked with her, much to her friends dismay apparently. So her friends came and grabbed her about 2 AM so I headed off to find my buddy. We left and went to after hours at Sultry.
Sultry is really cool! They have great food for very reasonable prices. Great atmosphere, actually might consider hanging out there and having a few drinks before the clubs. The owner Rob is really cool, ex-Navy and has specials for service men and women. Ended up talking with him for a bit, talked some shit, so now I have to run down there and eat 6 of his most intense wings. I do it and I drink the rest of the night on him. What is a little physical pain... But seriously check him out. Really cool place. He has a stripper pole up, so after hours is a lot of fun with some drunk girls in there. :) He was telling us about some of his other plans and sounds like that place is going to be super cool. It is right across the street from Myst. Has a nice patio. I highly recommend checking it out!
So we got out of there and went home. The next day I spent recovering from a little hangover and some extremely sore legs, that actually carried over for two more days. Monday rolls around and my buddy Randy calls, so I headed over to Dos Gringos in Scottsdale. $2 beer and $2 food, can't beat that. Had a beer there, walked down to The Salty Senorita, nothing really happening there, had a beer then walked to different little bars to see what was happening. Finally hit Saddle Ranch.
Saddle Ranch was doing pretty well. Lots of people. Unfortunately for me they have a bull riding contest every Monday at 10. Apparrently I have a problem telling my buddy and two pretty girls no. So I signed up. Road the bull, didn't win anything, but had a good time. The food was really good, what we had. They have this big and I mean big cotton candy thing. They brought one out for the girls. Have some pictures, will try and get them up soon. It is pretty funny and way to much sugar! Anyway ended the night there. It was a really cool place, I think we are hitting that again this weekend. You should definately check it out if you have a chance. It is on Scottsdale Road just south of Stetson.
That was my weekend. Lots went on, and I remember it all, a good weekend.
Let me know if you have any suggestions of places to go.Labels: Entertainment
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Wednesday, May 21, 2008
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So Dan Beebe the commisioner of the Big 12 is trying to drum up support to basically remove the red shirt from college football and make it so players have 5 years to play. I think it is a good idea based on the fact that the schedules keep getting longer and the scholarships keep getting fewer. Actually what I would like to see is them go back to the 105 scholarship limit. Then you have 21 scholarships each year over that 5 year span. It would be much better for college football. With the bowl system and all parity like the NFL has just doesn't work.
If you go to playoffs that is a different story and a different blog post.Labels: Football
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Saturday, May 17, 2008
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I have had a couple of weeks off now and been doing a lot of research and a lot of thinking about ideas and what is coming in the next generation of the Internet. One guy I used to work for who thinks he is some kind of Internet guru thinks it is video. Sorry that has been done.
I saw a show the other day about video gaming and how a lot of the new games are very social, I have some experience playing those and it is true. But video games are fun and all, but you lose something in the translation to real life. If you are sitting at home playing video games for hours to days at a time, it is time to get out into the real world.
I feel the next generation of the Internet is with smart phones like the iPhone and Google’s new smart phone OS Android. People more and more want to be connected. The way that works is with your cell phone over 3G or faster connections. It is not a new idea and Google is definitely looking down that path with all their recent purchases.
So what I see happening in the next few years is the Internet being ported to the smart phones. As the phones become more and more powerful and as Google and Apple start to war for OS and phone market share, as they open up the market for individual programmers to build applications. The Internet will take a marked change. Currently 95% of people use it through their PC or Mac. But soon you will have all the basic functionality you want and more from your phone.
Soon your social network will extend to your phone allowing you to interact with your friends, collages and others from there. You can already access a huge amount of data from your phone, but soon it will be presented in a way that makes it much more user friendly.
Soon if your business is not online and accessible from a phone you will be missing out.
I am almost done documenting an idea to take some social media aspects from the web to your phone and use the portability of your phone to add new functionality to it. A team at MIT is working on a similar idea. There are some differences, but I personally see a lot of possibilities for smart phones and new applications that depend on data from the Internet. I am very excited about it.
I actually see it really hitting about 3 to 6 months after the new iPhone hits and the first phones with Android on them roll out. It will be a lot of fun.Labels: Technology
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The other day someone told me that a report came out showing that Arizona had gone into recession. They seemed a little surprised by that. Let’s look at why Arizona would be one of the first states out west to be hit.
1. The state government and the new laws they continue to pass.
a. Putting photo radar on roads outside the cities. How is that good for the state? Sure people will go slower or tourism will just die. Why would I want to go to Arizona if I am going to get photo radar tickets constantly? I know they say they won’t send them out of state. Well then why are we wasting the money? Seems like the negatives outweigh the positives here.
b. New DUI laws. I agree that DUI is a huge problem. Not sure that putting people in jail for 30 days on their first offense is the answer though. First a person gets a DUI and is now going to go to jail for 30 days or more. They have now lost their job in most cases and it will be very hard for them to get a job if they are charged with a felony. I understand that the person is the one taking the risk and doing the crime, but this law is taking what may be a productive person out of the economy. My suggestion would be improve the infrastructure of the city at the same time. Buses, Cabs, how about putting the light rail in somewhere it might actually be useful. Not sure what the point of the light rail is if it doesn’t go to the airport, stadiums or anywhere in this city people might want to go.
Say they put the light rail in to go to old town and north Scottsdale, the new stadium in Glendale, the stadiums down town, ASU and Tempe and HOW ABOUT THE AIRPORT! What is the point of it right now? It really goes nowhere I can use it. I sometimes wonder how stupid the people are that put these things together. Here is an idea. Put a bus terminal in where people can ride the bus to the light rail, put cab stands in at strategic locations so people can ride the light rail and get off where they need and get a cab to their destination. I really don’t see how hard this would be.
But to go back to my original point, improving the infrastructure of the city would not only reduce DUI’s but would attract new companies to the city. Instead of using laws to try and somewhat drastically change society how about providing an alternative and then using laws to change society in a large number of ways.
Doing this would also have the effect of making Phoenix a greener city.
2. The housing boom. Phoenix was huge in the housing boom. I bought my house and it doubled in value in the first year. People who really couldn’t afford the house they were buying were getting approved for stupid loans. The loan companies were providing loans that were so unreal I couldn’t believe it.
I went to refinance and one of my friends told me to go with this loan, it was about the dumbest loan I had ever seen, the initial payment was so low I knew it was a bad idea. He tried to talk me into it over and over, I went with a conventional loan and happy I did. My house payment would be close to $3,000 a month if I had done what he wanted.
Fortunate for me, but a lot of people went with those loans. Phoenix is getting hit hard, that is loss of tax dollars and all those bad loans are now a drag on the entire nation. Someone should really be in jail for this crap.
I feel bad for the families that lost their homes, but they should have known better. The loan officer should have known, but the all mighty dollar got in the way. Now the people that worked hard and didn’t go the easy route get to bail everybody out that did and the economy takes the hit.
The only loan guy I will ever use is over at Sallie Mea, Tom Metzger, he always told me the truth and I always got what he said I would.
3. Basically there are a lot of reasons; I personally feel the biggest reason for Arizona’s issues is the state and local government. The governor needs to get up and start leading in a positive direction. The state senate needs to work for the people and the city needs to figure out what it wants to do. Does it want to be a premier city or continue to be so completely screwed up? Transportation in this city SUCKS! The Sherriff of the county has to go. There are lots of things that need to change.
Make sure you vote and make your voice heard if you agree with me or not. This state has issues in my opinion and the only way it changes is to vote and tell the people making those decisions what you want. Change is a good thing.Labels: Politics
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So spent the night all over the valley tonight. Started at 16th Street Sports Bar, regular place although I personally try to stay out of there lately. It is a great bar, but too much personal bs for me. Friday nights they do trivia, alway competative, check it out if you are into that.
Then hit Aunt Chiladas, was kind of dead, a little surprised by that, being that it is one of the last good weekends to sit out on their patio. If you have a chance definately hit AC's on a Friday night. It is alway a blast and always a different crowd, changes throughout the night. Goes from older to younger and back or vise versa. But it is a lot of fun. Not cheap, but free food for happy hour.
Got bored there and headed out to Scottsdale. My buddy and I hit Drift first off, knew some people there. I hadn't been there in a few years, used to be one of my favorite places to go. If you go and have a driver get an Evil Bastard. GREAT drink. Hung there for a little bit, then walked around to see what looked happening. Ended up at Myst, seemed to have the most people in it. It was early for Scottsdale. But we stuck it out and it ended up being fun. My ears are ringing from the music. It really isn't my kind of place. I am not a club kind of guy, but I had fun. Met some people, hung out with some old friends and just really had fun. The GoGo dancers were smokin' hot. I actually would do that again.
We split out of there and my buddy wanted to go home, but I talked him into going one more place. We headed over to Giligans. That was a waste of time. It was dead in there. Well not actually dead, but all guys. So we were out of there quick.
Over all Myst was the highlight of the evening. Lot of fun, lots of people and lots of pretty girls. What more could you ask for?
LaterLabels: Entertainment
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Friday, May 16, 2008
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So my buddy Ryan and I hit Scottsdale tonight. Hear on the radio that Trader Vick's was going to be the place to go. So we decided to hit it. The bar was very cool, nice area's to kick back with your friends. Good drinks, a little on the pricey side, but nothing crazy for Scottsdale. Food looked good although we did not eat. As for the fun factor on a Thursday night, it was kind of dead, it was their first Thursday night deal, so you have to give them a little time to build it up. I did like the atmosphere though. Very cool. Very chill. Has a huge selection of alcohol.
After hanging there for a bit we went over to Dos Gringos. That place was buzzing on a Thursday night. Very happening. I am sure once it gets hot it will die, but tonight it was a lot of fun. Met a lot of people, one guy was super entertaining. Ronnie has no fear, but dude, you need to get some glasses or something. It was a ton of fun. Had a few beers, prices are definately Scottsdale, but again not too bad. Lots to look at and a good time too be had by all. We hung out there the rest of the evening and then split. I definately suggest checking Dos out. I am sure Tempe is no different.
Overall it was a good night, started kind of slow but ended on a high note. Check it out and let me know what you think. Later!Labels: Entertainment
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Thursday, May 15, 2008
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So I had what I thought was an interview today for a hi level position with a company. It ends up that it was just a head hunter that wanted to see how I would interview and got me in there to pitch me. Hate that. I had all this build up, was ready to knock one out of the park and all for not. Oh well guess it was experience.
Kind of having a hard time sleeping tonight. Something hit me this evening that brought up a lot of feelings I have been trying to repress. Right now they are running amuck. Oh well guess that stuff is part of life.
I have been trying a lot of new things in the past few weeks. Made a really good new friend and met a lot of new people. I am slowly learning to broaden my horizons. Came at a price, but anything you survive and can learn from is a good thing.
So some good stories or maybe not good, but entertaining.
I went to a party a couple of weeks ago. We were doing shots, lots of shots. Anyway last thing I remember is sitting down on the couch and next thing I know it is 10:30 AM and I wake up on the couch at my friends place. I go out to get in my car, start it up and the alarms in the car start going off saying all the tires are flat. I get out, look at them and sure enough they are. I check them and it doesn't look like they were slit, so I drive to Circle K and fill the first one up. Ran my hands around it to see if I could feel air getting out, didn't feel any so I did the next tire, it seemed fine. I went back to the first and it was holding pressure. Filled the rest up and it has been fine since. For that bastard that flattened them, RUNFLATS BABY!!! $3 worth of air and I was gone!
Story number 2
I had this 20 year old bottle of Dom Perion that I bought for a special occation that never happened. So I made plans to go drink it with some of my friends. I went to the fridge to get it and take it to drink with them. I grab it and barely get it out of the fridge when I hear what sounds like a gun go off and something whiz by my head. Next thing I know I am getting sprayed by something. I look and it is champaign everywhere. I start trying to drink it as fast as I could. I got most of what was left down as it fizzed out. It was pretty tasty. Would have been much better out of a glass, but oh well. The cork landed some 25 feet away with the little metal twist deal still on it.
My friends thought I should have been upset about it. I thought it was kind of funny. I don't think that bottle was ever meant to be enjoyed. It was just the way everything seemed to end at that time in my life, blown up for no reason. :) I tiold my friends, it isn't like that is the only bottle on the planet and not like there won't be more. But it make for a fun story.
Anyway, not sure what I am going to do this weekend. I was invited to Mexico for a few days, not sure I want to do that, sounds like lots of "bad" stuff could happen down there and I am not sure I am ready for that, 4 months ago I would be on it, but we will see. Big party tomorrow at Trader Vick's at the Valley Ho. Might swing by there and see what is going on. Sounds like fun. Friday night, I think I will probably swing by AC's and then find some place new that I haven't been to yet or in a long time.
If you can't tell it is a big transition period in my life right now. Kind of exciting and scary all at once. But I think those are the times that make us who we are. The times that if you can survive it you can survive anything. My times aren't anything yet compaired to what I know goes on in this world, but they are very trying for me....
Next time I have to get into this Patriots football scandle and why I think the NFL is covering it up and why the NFL might be more like the WWF than we all know.
Later.Labels: Personal
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Friday, May 09, 2008
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It has been a little while since my last post. I had been working on a blogging plateform for a company I was working for. A little over a year of development and it was working really well and coming along nicely. When I left it was running almost 4,000 blogs across a number of servers and was almost completely automated; from building of the sites to the posting to all the little things to help the site run smoothly and get traffic. Kind of proud of what I did there. It was time to move on. I had been there for just short of 8 years.
Actually got away from the stuff that was going on there and cleared my head a bit. All the sudden I have so many ideas and so many things I want to do. The next few months are going to be big.
I am currently writing documentation for my next project. Am hoping to get the process started for a patent on the idea in the next week or two. I am also looking for a new job. Have my resume ready and have been sending it out, but think it needs to revising. So need to that taken care of in the next day or two.
I have learned a lot in the past year or so, learned from a lot of failures in business. I think you learn the most from those instances. Learned a ton from the good things as well. Think I am ready for the next step in my professional life.
Personal life has been a little rough, but have learned there as well. Seems everything likes to come down all at once. But if life always gave you roses you would forget to smell them.
Nebraska football is back on track hopefully. I think Bo will do the job, may take a couple of years to get to where we need to be, but I think the team will be competive.
I think a lot of good things are going to happen in the second half of this year. Hopefully the economy will pick up. Unless something is done about the price of oil I don't know how that will happen. The President has the power to drive the price down, just release some reserves. Your daddy did it and it worked. But these are the times we live in.
Anyway I will be back more often now. Got some time and energy to post now.Labels: Personal
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