B-Daddy's Other Blog

The B-Daddy Channel - Covers Edition

2011-10-15T21:54:00.000-07:00

My nephew, Kevin, is a talented young musician. He will be playing guitar in a production of Tommy by The Who. We were discussing Pinball Wizard, and decided that deciding between The Who and Elton John for best rendition was the most difficult covers question we had ever heard. So I leave it to the readers to decide.

Time Warner Cable - High Speed to Nowhere

2011-10-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

Time Warner Cable (TWC) is the worst service provider ever. I have had nothing but problems with them over the years, but lately it has just gotten worse. As soon as AT&T U-verse comes to my neighborhood I am going to switch service. A brief litany of their stupidity.

When I switched phone service from AT&T to save dollars, they didn't install my service on time, leaving me without land line service for days.
They lied about the price I would pay for my new telephone service. They quoted me a rate for my second line that wasn't actually available. I ended up cancelling the second line because it was so expensive.
When TWC installed the new phone service they were unable to make every phone jack in the house work, even though they had all worked with AT&T.
The installation is an ugly mess in my bedroom.
During the recent power outage, they lost all phone service. They are totally dependent on SDG&E in San Diego, with no back up power. My neighbors were gracious enough to let us use their phones to check on Mrs. Daddy's folks.
But even if they had power back up, my phone would still have died, because when TWC installed my phone modem, they didn't install a battery back up.
When I asked that a battery back up be sent to me, they have twice said it would be shipped. After five days, when it didn't show up, I called back and they said the order was cancelled. They offered to charge me $30.00 to have a technician deliver it, when it should have been installed in the first place.
Their chat room technician said that I should visit the TWC store, but the help desk said not to do that, regarding the battery.
Every few months, I trek to the TWC to replace my digital cable box, as they start to act up.
They are misleading in their commercials about free HD. If you want ESPN in HD for example, you have to rent their box for $8 per month per box.

Why they stay in business is only because the city grants them a monopoly as cable provider in their service area. I wouldn't invest in their stock, because if we know anything about technology, its that technical change disrupts monopolies.

Beer Review - Bear Republic Red Rocket Ale

2011-10-10T21:15:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we had a little barbecue and Dean brought by one of my favorite beers, Bear Republic's Red Rocket Ale. Someday I'll get around to a top 10 beer list, like Max, but this ale would certainly be on it. (Off the top of my head, I would also include Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale, Avery Salvation Golden Ale, Delirium Tremens, Alpine Ale, Shiner Bock and Highway 78 Scotch Ale.) Bear Republic also makes an excellent IPA, Racer 5.

As you can see from the picture, Red Rocket pours a dark amber-brown, with a head that is full but disappears quickly. But don't let that fool you, it's full of flavor. It has just a hint of sweetness to balance much more hoppiness than expected from an amber ale. Red Rocket is fairly complex, and always takes me a few sips to absorb all of the different flavors embedded. At 6.8% ABV, its not too boozy so its a nice companion to a bbq meal especially steak. Although not a San Diego beer, it is from California, Healdsburg to be specific. Craft beer is one of the few growing industries in our state, and also the least regulated, figure that.

Beer Review - Palmetto Amber Ale

2011-05-25T18:28:00.000-07:00

I was on travel this week to Charleston, SC. We had an after work social at California Dreaming and I asked about the local beer. The barkeep only had one suggestion, the amber ale pictured at right. I was surprised, and he added he add one more, a Pale Ale from Palmetto Brewing, but the delivery hadn't come in. To be honest, I thought a restaurant with pretensions to be Californian out to have more than Miller, Bud Light, Blue Moon, and Widmer Hefeweizen on draft. In fact, other than the one local beer, even the bottled line up was rather ordinary, as Mrs. Daddy's Aussie cousins would say (translation, pretty poor.) The only thing the restaurant really had going for it was a great view of Charleston harbor.

Regardless, I always try to sample the local beer, and this was going to be my one shot. Palmetto Amber Ale pour a dark copper with not much head. The barley is roasted a little darker than a standard amber. took my frist sip and was a little surprised. Fred one of our local hosts had warned me the beer would be bitter; but while it was definitely more hoppy than your average amber, it was not near as hoppy as expected. The beer also had a nice rich malty taste to it, that went down well. Alcohol content seemed about average. This beer was tasty enough to order a second one to go with the overcooked wings and soggy nachos. (The croissants, however, were delicious.)

My final gripe was that they kept the ale ice cold and served it in ice cold pint glasses. I had to let the beer set a while so I could taste it.

Overall, considering that I sampled Palmetto Amber Ale from the bottle, I was very pleased with this local beer. I give it a solid B. Given the richness, they could have easily balanced with more hops.

FTC Disclaimer: I may or may not have received valuable consideration in the form of swag, jack and/or coin to endorse these products. I am not saying and have the right not to do so.

Technology Review: Samsung Epic Android Smartphone

2011-05-14T23:30:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Daddy's phone has been eligible for an upgrade since 2006 (she had a Motorola i90c), so today we went shopping at the Sprint store today and picked up a handsome Samsung Epic. No points for guessing which phone is newer.

This is a great phone that costs only $150 with a two year contract. You can read other reviews of the technology whiz bang, I wanted to focus a little on the operational aspects of having this phone linked with Google.

This is our first try at linking a smart phone to calendar, email, facebook, etc. We went with Google's Android OS rather than the iPhone because it seemed to make the integration with Gmail and Google calendar easier. My wife had been using our Roadrunner account for her main email and Entourage as her software client, but I was having a difficult time figuring out how we were going to synch that with the new phone. It was easier just to start over with a new Google account. We also linked Apple's mail program and iCal to the Google account. This will make keeping the synchronization much easier. This is what is meant by the cloud.

Of course, Mrs. Daddy isn't all that interested in that mundane stuff, she is busy using the camera, downloading "Angry Birds" and testing out the GPS enabled navigation. Which begs the question, why did my GPS device cost as much as this Samsung phone, but does only one application? But it points out the larger issue, that these smart phones are a replacement for multiple devices, maybe even a computer. Except for screen size, most of what we really want to do on our computer we can do on the phone.

Exit question: When will someone build a monitor that connects to a smart phone to overcome its only disadvantage?

The only drawback this phone is that the battery drains quickly when your having fun.

FTC Disclaimer: I may or may not have received valuable consideration in the form of swag, jack and/or coin to endorse these products. I am not saying and have the right not to do so.

The B-Daddy Channel

2011-05-06T23:26:00.000-07:00

This may be a repeat but I wanted to go with a covers edition, following Dean's lead.

The original:

The cover:

Let me know what you think.

The B-Daddy Channel

2011-04-22T22:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter this weekend, here is some music to celebrate with.

The B-Daddy Channel

2011-04-15T16:59:00.000-07:00

This week were going with obscure eurotrash lounge music from the 60s and 70s. Why? Because we can. Here is Jacques Dutronc performing his hit Le Responsable.

There is another great version here, with live dancing, but can't be embedded.

And some more French pop, just because:

Beer Review - Alesmith Anvil ESB

2011-04-13T21:52:00.001-07:00

Today's beer review is one of my favorite beers, that I continue to savor with a variety of meaty dishes. As you can see from the picture, I am talking about Alesmith's Anvil ESB. For the uninitiated, ESB means extra special bitter, from the days in England when most beers tended to be sweeter stouts and porters. An ESB was a lighter beer with light carbonation, and certainly more bitter than a stout. By today's California standards for IBUs, an ESB is not especially bitter.

Alesmith's entry into this category is its flagship beer. It has a nice dark copper tone, with a bit of head and not too much carbonation. It has a very nice nutty taste that always tempts me to drink it too quickly. I like to drink this ale out of a pint dimple mug, the traditional English drinking glass for bitters. Even tough it is a bitter, my palette has become so used to west coast IPAs that I find this to be a little sweet, mainly due to its maltiness. (Kids, that's probably not a word.) However, I would also say that this entry has more hops than its English cousins. For me, that makes the almost perfect beer, sweet, malty but with just enough bite from the hops.

Available, at Keil's and your fine local liquor stores.

Cross posted from Tiger Lily's Island.

The B-Daddy Channel

2011-04-01T22:32:00.000-07:00

Over at The Liberator Today I commented on The Big Chill and the transition of the Baby Boomers from college protesters to capitalist consumers of the finer material things our society has to offer. Today's video has some of those elements. Bowie who wrote and performed the song that created the Major Tom character, was and still is popular among the hipsters. But the Shiny Toy Guns have breathed new life into this classic, even as it used to hawk Cadillacs, which the boomers parents were enamored of, but the boomers not so much. I am including the original version by Peter Schilling because we love to compare the covers.

Beer Review - Highway 78 Scotch Ale

2011-03-19T21:06:00.000-07:00

I was at the High Dive today with Dean, letting San Diego State give me a heart attack by allowing a second overtime against Temple, in March Madness action. Looking for a second ale to fortify me, and help me resist the temptation to order more food, I noticed Highway 78 Scotch Ale on the board, indicating it was on tap. (We previously discussed why we always go for the beer on tap.) The wait staff helpfully explained that this beer was the result of collaboration between local brewers Green Flash, Pizza Port and Stone. I have always been a big fan of Belhaven Scottish Ale, so I was curious to see what our local award winners had cooked up.

They didn't disappoint. The beer had a nice dark amber pour, with an average amount of head. (I am not a big fan of a lot of head.) As one would expect for a scotch ale, it had plenty of malty sweetness and I had to struggle to slow down and enjoy it. As one would expect from our local brewers, it also had more hoppiness than a traditional scotch ale. However, the hops were balanced well with the malt, making for a very nice beer. I was a little surprised that they chose to pour the beer into a tulip glass, maybe Max can explain, as I normally would enjoy this ale in a standard pint glass. Maybe it was the alcohol content, which pushes 9%, and the tulip glass delivered less volume. Regardless, this was a highly enjoyable beer, a longtime import favorite improved by our local brewers. Overall grade: A-.

Cross Posted to Tiger Lily's Island.

The B-Daddy Channel

2011-03-12T19:23:00.000-08:00

Went with what I consider romantic music at TLT for the weekend's music here is some more.

A little more on the memories that go with the second video are discussed at Avocado Memories.

B-Daddy's P-cakes

2011-03-12T18:32:00.000-08:00

This morning I started to make some weekend pancakes, and was bored and unenthusiastic about the effort. I'm a firm believer that in my role as Dad, I should have a breakfast specialty. It's important to be able to do a few things in the kitchen and builds relationships. Pancakes fit the bill. Today, I decided to pull together a number of ideas I have had or tried over the years, this is the result.

First, this recipe can start with whatever your base recipe might be. I realize that most of us don't make pancakes totally from scratch, so this recipe is intended to supplement whatever recipe is your base. I will use a store brand mix recipe for illustration.

Base recipe for 12 pancakes:

Dry mix - 2 cups
Milk - 1-1/2 cups but we are reducing this to 1-1/4 cups due to the extra liquid in our supplement below.
Eggs - 2
Oil - 2 Tbsp

B-Daddy's supplement:

Lemon Juice - 2 tbsp
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Granular Sugar - 3 Tbsp
Vanilla - 2 Tbsp
Beer - 1/2 cup (I recommend a bock or dark lager like Longboard Lager.)
Quaker Oats Instant Oatmeal (Maple & Brown Sugar) - 2 packs

Mixing the batter:

In mixing bowl, lightly beat eggs, and add the liquid ingredients (milk, oil, lemon juice, vanilla) but not the beer, also add the sugar. Stir to an even consistency. Add the beer.

Separately mix the dry pancake mix, oatmeal and baking powder.

Add the dry mix to the liquid and blend with a fork until at an even consistency, but small lumps can remain. (Do not over blend.)

Using 1/4 cup portions, pour the batter on a lightly buttered griddle. Flip when the bubbles have mostly formed (a little sooner than with your traditional recipe.)

I may experiment in the future with increasing the beer and decreasing the other main liquid, whether it be milk or water.

Some notes on the theories behind this recipe.
The carbonation from the beer helps lighten the pancakes, as does the combination of the lemon juice and baking powder. The sugar makes the pancakes sweeter, but also causes the edges to carmelize more quickly, hence the need to flip the cakes sooner than otherwise. The oatmeal makes for a heartier consistency. Cooking with butter? Well that should be obvious.

Cross posted to Tiger Lily's Island.

And yes, I drank the rest of the beer.

Selecting a Beer for Your Date

2011-03-07T21:25:00.000-08:00

Has this ever happened to you? You're on a date. Your sweetheart, wife, or girlfriend, who normally orders wine, surprises you with, "I'd like to try a beer with my meal tonight, what do you recommend?" Your heart races, she has put forward the ultimate trust in your judgment, asking you to select her beer. But will you prove worthy? How will you balance your treasured "guy-knowledge" of the the ancient tradition, with the need to ease the fairer sex into this experience with all the gentleness you can muster? Never fear, B-Daddy is here to guide you through the process.

Your first and most important question is for your wait staff, "What do you have on draft?" Why? Because the draft beer has a number of important qualities that contribute to its superior quality. First, it is likely to be fresher than the beer sitting in the cooler of the restaurant, for who knows how long. Freshness matters with most beers, and certainly with the kind that you will be ordering for your date. Second, the draft beer is in a sealed metal keg. So what? Light is the enemy of beer flavor, as well. Beer exposed to light eventually obtains a putrid taste known as "skunk beer" which is the result of the hop oils spoiling. (Source: BeerAdvocate) If draught, or draft, beer is unavailable, then you want beers in the darkest bottles for similar reasons.

But, we are little closer to selecting a beer. If your date has little exposure to drinking beer, then what little she has sampled is probably an American lager such as Coors or Budweiser. If so, and you might want to discuss this, you might suggest a more full-bodied lager. You want to expand the reach of her palette without frightening her off. You might want to look for some quality lagers. A lager may be described just as a lager or some other style such as bock (somewhat darker), Märzen, or Pilsner. I have found that Mrs. Daddy also likes the Hefeweizen style of beer, which is neither a lager nor an ale; Widmer Hefeweizen on tap is great and often available. (For a discussion of the difference between lagers and ales see beer-faq.) I suggest the lemon or orange slice if you go with the hefeweizen, because your lady friend might not be ready for all the yeast taste. I know they might be a little pedestrian, but Shiner Bock, Stella Artois, and Sapporo have been successful selections for me. ( The Sapporo 22 oz can seems to do a good job of preserving freshness. Cans are actually better than bottles because they don't let in light.) What ever you do, stay away from this guy's top ten for your uninitiated date (but not for yourself, those are some great ales.)

If your relationship is of a long term nature, you also have another opportunity. The beer you order for yourself can be the introduction to more flavorful ales for your date. Always offer to let her have a sip of your beer so that she can develop a taste and you can see what she likes. This means you might limit your own selection in the long term interests of the relationship. I recommend pale ales to start; heavily hopped beers like IPAs take some getting used to. If you live in San Diego, Stone Pale Ale or Ballast Point Yellowtail Pale Ale make excellent introductions.

That's it, I strongly recommend you do some research yourself and be ready to impress your date.

Cross posted to Tiger Lily's Island.

What is Important - Today's Memorial Service

2011-03-06T20:20:00.000-08:00

I went to a memorial service for a family friend today and was given a sharp reminder of what's truly important. Judy did not write a blog, never ran for office, and didn't run a business, yet hundreds of people turned out for her service. Why? She touched the lives of so many people through the love and generosity of her life. She was a friend to everyone who came into her life, especially her family. Always thinking of how she could help others, even when she was in the last stages of cancer, she was known for a beneficence of spirit that impacted the world around her. Now she is sorely missed, even though we have the assurance that she is with the Lord. And it gives me pause to examine what is important in my own life. And I am sad that I never told her how grateful I was for the friendship she gave to our family, especially my Mom. But I also know she would have said that no thanks were necessary.

The B-Daddy Channel

2011-03-05T21:54:00.000-08:00

It's covers weekend, taking Dean's lead. I am going with 60s covers this weekend:

B-Daddy's Book of Management - Update

2011-03-02T22:43:00.000-08:00

This is a re-post of my earlier post. I knew I had a tenth rule, but couldn't remember it, scroll down to #10 for the update.

I have had some success as a manager, which always amazes me. I am not a particularly brilliant leader, but I have had great people working for me, making me look good. I have a few simple ideas about management that I want to record for posterity. If I get around to it, I will flesh out some of these ideas and perhaps add to them in future posts.

Rules of B-Daddy's Book of Management.

1. Plan to do nothing, and you will certainly achieve your goals.

2. Management is hard, leadership is better and supervision is most difficult of all.
Corollary: Hire people who don't need supervision.

3. Hiring is the manager's most important decision.

4. Stay on message. Communicate consistently. Repeat your theme repetitively.

5. The commodity in shortest supply is management attention.
Corollary 1: The most important word in a manager's vocabulary is "no."
Corollary 2: Email is an evil leach of your time.

7. Understand your firm's economic engine and your unit's.

8. Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.

9. Deliver the bad news yourself, let your people deliver the good news.

10. If you can't cover yourself in glory, cover yourself in paper.

Power of Faith - Christianity and Islam

2011-02-27T13:36:00.000-08:00

Throughout Muslim lands, Christians face persecution, torture and death for "bitterly clinging" to their religion. Apostasy, converting to a faith other than Islam is punishable by death, yet men and woman still convert to Christianity in the Middle East in predominately Muslim countries. Meanwhile, Muslims face no like persecution in the West, and Islam has a tradition of forcible conversion of conquered peoples. (In fairness, Christian kings have also done so, but it is not a tenet of the faith and has not been practiced for centuries.) There is a strain of Islam today that still preaches the imposition of Islam by force.

So I ask, when one religion expands by force and seeks to prevent competition through threat of death and another religion relies upon persuasion to make its case and its believers are unwilling to renounce their faith, which religion is indeed more powerful?

The B-Daddy Channel

2011-02-25T21:37:00.000-08:00

At TLT the weekend's music came from Iggy Pop, because I had tripped across him looking at my glam play-list. Over at BWD, Dean is doing a poll on cover vs. original, so I thought I would do the same. I am posting Iggy Pop's The Passenger again, along with Siouxsie and the Banshees 1980s cover. I will put up a poll at right.

Ale Review - Avery Brewing Salvation Ale

2011-02-21T22:28:00.000-08:00

Sampled Avery Brewing's Salvation - Belgian Sytle Golden Ale. It was a little lighter in color than some other Belgians I have sampled. I admit to not being a big fan of this style in the first place, but really enjoyed this ale. The label is a bit tongue in cheek, calling itself the "Holy Trinity of Ales."

Waynok and I sampled from the 22 oz bomber, which had a nice clean pour, not much head. What struck me right away was the spicy flavor to this beer. Even though the label touts apricot and peach flavors, the cinnamon is what I first noticed, along with the higher than average ABV at 9%, it also has a little more hoppiness than the standard Belgian. The peaches came through more in the aftertaste. It also had a very full feeling while drinking it, insisting that it be sipped. This is a nice after dinner beer, very full and flavorful. My grade is an A-.

The B-Daddy Channel

2011-02-19T21:58:00.000-08:00

Road Dawg urged me to revive this blog, so I have. Plus it gives me a chance to post more music. Doing 90s grunge at TLT, so wanted to continue a little in that vain.

Greenday may not be "officially" grunge, but I associate them temporally with that era.

The B-Daddy Book of Management

2011-02-19T00:06:00.000-08:00

I have had some success as a manager, which always amazes me. I am not a particularly brilliant leader, but I have had great people working for me, making me look good. I have a few simple ideas about management that I want to record for posterity. If I get around to it, I will flesh out some of these ideas and perhaps add to them in future posts.

Rules of B-Daddy's Book of Management.

1. Plan to do nothing, and you will certainly achieve your goals.

2. Management is hard, leadership is better and supervision is most difficult of all.
Corollary: Hire people who don't need supervision.

3. Hiring is the manager's most important decision.

4. Stay on message. Communicate consistently. Repeat your theme repetitively.

5. The commodity in shortest supply is management attention.
Corollary 1: The most important word in a manager's vocabulary is "no."
Corollary 2: Email is an evil leach of your time.

7. Understand your firm's economic engine and your unit's.

8. Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.

9. Deliver the bad news yourself, let your people deliver the good news.

Sonos is the Bomb

2011-02-18T22:40:00.000-08:00

Today I am reviewing one of the most unsung yet amazing tech products ever invented. Of course, I am referring to the Sonos music system. Not much to look at,

but a great product. In fact, it is the only thing we have ever purchased that actually improved over time. Here is how it works. The Sonos is a device to play music from the computers in your house, or the internet. No need for stereos, cd players, iPods, or radios any more, just one box with speakers (or several boxes), and an iPod like controller. At first the Sonos could only play music we had ripped to the computer. Later, it added various subscription music services, like Rhapsody. Initially the Rhapsody required the computer to be turned on to work, but later Sonos changed the software to allow Rhapsody streaming directly to the Sonos. Later radio stations, either local or worldwide were added to the mix. You can still attach your iPod or other device.

Our system has four boxes, that can operate independently, or in any combination. All four together is party mode. They communicate wirelessly, requiring only the connection to power and one or two sets of speakers. This gives maximum flexibility in their placement throughout the house. If you have a backyard party, you can just move the box and speakers outdoors. Speaking of parties, you can build playlists consisting of hundreds of songs themed for the party and can mix between streaming and home computer sources for the music. (For the very nerdy, you can even play from independent networked attached storage or an iPod you connect to your network.) We have a Halloween themed list that starts with the Monster Mash and has the Bloodletting by Concrete Blonde, for example.

Other amenities include a search function for Rhapsody that often finds obscure or hard to find songs. (Rhapsody requires a $12.99 per month subscription.) You can also download controllers that operate on the computer (Mac or PC), so the family doesn't have to fight over the one controller. It also has a simple equalizer if you need to adjust the sound.

As I said, this is the most amazing tech acquisition Mrs. Daddy and I have ever made, we recommend it highly.

FTC Disclaimer: I may or may not have received valuable consideration in the form of swag, jack and/or coin to endorse these products. I am not saying and have the right not to do so.

Cross posted to Tiger Lily's Island.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-12-10T22:07:00.000-08:00

Before

After

Go Navy, Beat Army!

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-12-03T19:07:00.000-08:00

This weekend's theme is country music by artists not considered country. See the TLT for the post that kicked off this discussion. Here is Norah Jones' tribute to Johnny Cash. I know it's sacrilege to so state, but not sure if June Carter could have performed this any better. Pops, I await your commentary.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-11-26T11:49:00.000-08:00

We've got a Joshua Tree theme going for the weekend. Hope you enjoy U2 and the scenery.

Here is the full version of the song since the above version was cut off.

Store Review - Vitalityweb in Poway

2010-11-20T20:56:00.000-08:00

I have been having lower back pain for over a year. One thing I noticed was that I seemed to have very little pain at work. I attribute this to the fact that I have a Herman Miller Aeron chair at work. I put off buying one for myself at home, because of the expense, the basic model is typically over $600 and the model I have at work, with the "tilt forward" feature and adjustable arm rests retails for more than $800. I finally decided that the pain was too much and looked for a local store that sold the Aeron. I went to Vitalityweb in Poway, because their prices were slightly lower than anyone else selling new Herman Miller chairs in San Diego and I could go there and do a side by side comparison of the models for comfort.

The sales staff was very knowledgeable about the Herman Miller chairs. I was shown the exact differences between the basic and fully adjustable models as well as the newer Mirra model. Further, I learned some tips on positioning the model I had at work that I did not know. I ended up buying the fully adjustable model and drove away from the store with it in my van.

I don't often find such all around excellence in a store, so wanted to give them a little praise on the blog.

FTC Disclaimer: I may or may not have received valuable consideration in the form of swag, jack and/or coin to endorse these products. I am not saying and have the right not to do so.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-11-19T14:09:00.000-08:00

This weekend's music on both blogs is from the "Achtung Baby" album by U2. This was my favorite tune from that album.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-11-13T00:36:00.000-08:00

We are featuring Nina Simone this weekend on both blogs. Here is another classic from a very talented black female vocalist, Feeling Good.

Happy Birthday to the Marine Corps

2010-11-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

Photo courtesy of the Commandant's Marine Corps Birthday web site.

When I was in the Navy I always knew that if I was in real trouble, I could count on the Marines. In the 1990s, I had to arrange a submarine change of command on short notice. A color guard is a traditional part of the ceremony, marching in with the the nation's flag as well as the flags of the Navy and Marine Corps while the national anthem played. The day before the ceremony, at our only available rehearsal, the base color guard, made up of Navy sailors, showed up. They did not strike me as particularly military looking. Two of the sailors needed haircuts and the woman member of the team was pregnant. Call me sexist, and some will, but a pregnant woman carrying a flag, in military formation or not, does not look particular fearsome or military. They could barely march either.

I was in charge and I was in a panic. Then I remembered, there were Marines on the base as part of a weapons security detachment. I promptly dialed them up and asked to speak to their commanding officer. I was told that he was on leave, and my heart sank, but it shouldn't have. It turned out the executive officer was acting as C.O. and was ready to make a command decision.

"We can do it," he said to my great relief, "I only want a few things for my Marines." Oh crap, I thought, here it comes. The major continued "I want my Marines to get a meal on board the ship." "Done," I replied. "And I want them to be given a tour of the submarine and be given an official photograph of the submarine signed by the Commanding Officer." "Done" I said again, with what I hoped wasn't too audible relief.

The next day the Marines showed up and they looked great, they marched with precision and the ceremony was a great success. The old and new skippers were both happy and I had learned a valuable lesson, when you're in trouble, call the Marines.

I made sure those Marines got all that was promised as well.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-11-05T11:46:00.000-07:00

This weekend I am playing some updates on traditional gospel songs. At the TLT we have Bruce Springsteen putting a jazz spin on "Mary Don't You Weep." Here are the Beach Boys and their incredible vocal ensemble performing "Michael Row the Boat Ashore."

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-10-29T20:55:00.000-07:00

Halloween this weekend, so I am reprising one of my favorite bands from the 90's, Concrete Blonde, with some spooky music.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-10-22T15:18:00.000-07:00

We're going with some classic rock and classic music video this weekend on my blogs. Here is one of the all time great 80s music videos.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-10-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

I'm going with Joan Baez for this weekend's music. Here is a favorite tune of mine that Joan sings well. I wish she would have put her considerable vocal talents to the different song but same tune sung by Mahalia Jackson.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-10-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

At The Liberator Today, I posted a song that I first heard on one of Pop's Pete Seeger albums. Why were there so many albums by aging lefties in our house growing up? Can't answer that one. Anyway, The Weavers with Pete Seeger, made some great music, and here is one of my favorite, haunting traditionals.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-10-02T02:05:00.000-07:00

BDaddy is feeling mighty fine after Collingwood's demolition of St. Kilda in the Grand Final Replay.

If you want to know more about the group performing the music, click here. Here is a little video from the first half. No video yet from the second half, but Collingwood continued the domination displayed here.

Most Exciting Draw Evah

2010-09-25T20:05:00.000-07:00

But still... a draw. I had assumed that the AFL Grand Final last night (PDT) wouldn't be on TV, since ESPN seemed to be putting all their other AFL action on espn3.com. Fortunately, I stumbled on the game in time to catch most of the second half and watch my adopted team, the Magpies, squander a 24 point halftime lead. St. Kilda ended up taking a late lead, but the Magpies struggled back to a one point lead. Unfortunately, Hayes of the Saints managed an amazing one point behind as it took two odd bounces to make it through the goal. Details here.

Better yet, watch the ending yourself. Collingwood Magpies are in black and white vertical stripe, the St. Kilda Saints are in white.

This is the perfect sport to fill the time between the NBA finals and the start of the college football season. But seriously, for Michele's Aussie cousins I have one question, a draw? In the the equivalent of the Super Bowl, there's no rule to conclude the game? Are you kidding me?

This game lends itself to so many really good options. To help out the Aussies and convince ESPN to broadcast more of this great sport I offer the following options so that the Grand Final doesn't end in a draw, waiting another week for a replay.

Sudden death. Like American footy, except perhaps you have to score a goal, not just a behind to win. Maybe you could also win on six behinds.
A ten minute overtime period, sort of like basketball, the game that Aussie Rules Football most reminds me of.
First team to score 9 points or similar, that might be interesting, because getting some behinds would also count for something.

So Aussies, I await your comments. I dare you to defend this outcome on other than economic benefit to the owners.

The B-Daddy Channel - Special Edition Collingwood vs. St. Kilda

2010-09-24T08:53:00.000-07:00

Collingwood plays St. Kilda today (Saturday in Australia) for the Premiership at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds. Lacking ESPN3, I can't watch the game live today, but wanted to sing the club song to root on our team.

As a reminder and encouragement I am posting the highlights of arguably the most important Collingwood win of the season, against last year's champion Geelong that sealed their top seeding.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-09-18T13:09:00.000-07:00

This weekend's music comes from the Byrds. I'm feeling pretty good about all the recognition the Tea Party is getting, including the recognition that our effort is necessary to the preservation of the Republic. It's not just about elections, but changing hearts and minds. Any let's enjoy our initial success, have some beers, and remember that there is still much hard work ahead.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-09-03T21:40:00.000-07:00

We're going with Surf music this weekend to celebrate the end of summer. Here are Los Straitjackets performing one of my favorite surf songs, Pacifica.

The B-Daddy Channel Special Edition

2010-08-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Daddy told me that Glenn Beck said that he wanted to get a military fly-over for the rally on 8/28, but he was denied permission. Apocryphal? Perhaps, but it looks like Somebody approved some kind of request regardless.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-08-27T23:28:00.001-07:00

We're going from Social Distortion to social phenomenon this week. It's a Beatles weekend for B-Daddys's blogs.

And just because I can't resist for reasons known to those who know me:

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-08-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

We're going with Social D this weekend, at both blogs. Here they are covering the Man in Black performing "Ring of Fire."

But since this is a cover, it is only just that we post the original:

Collingwood Defeats Carlton - UPDATED With Photos from the Game

2010-07-31T18:09:00.000-07:00

Shaun Hampson scores a rare goal for Carlton.

The Magpies take the field.

I had the pleasure of watching a very enjoyable watchable sport yesterday, at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds, where the Collingwood Magpies defeated the Carlton Blues 105-57. For Americans who have never seen the sport, it has elements of rugby and basketball and has quite a quick pace. The 105 scored by Collingwood was typical of a winning score. I'm not going to try to summarize the game, there are decent explanations here and here.

I adopted the Magpies because one of our hosts here in Australia, Mrs. Daddy's cousin is a big fan. Collingwood has the biggest fan base in the country, but has only won one championship since the league was changed from the Victoria Football League to the Australian Football League. This year, they are in first place, but the bookies still have the second place team, and last year's champions, the Geelong Cats as the favorites to win it all.

I liked the game, because it really took a minimum of explanation to understand the basics of play. Also, like basketball, your team can shift from offense to defense in a blink, as the ball is always in play. Because scoring often depends on getting a free kick close to the goal, tall strong players have an advantage, but the size of the field, about 150m by 135m, along with the need to run the length of the field, means there are no fat players on the field. In fact, there are a mix of players of varying speeds and sizes. The game puts a premium on overall athleticism. I saw some amazing catches (marks) with players going high in the air to grab the ball. The other amazing feature was the ability of some players to quickly launch an accurate kick towards the goal regardless of body position.

Given the relative size of the population, AFL is wildly popular. The cricket grounds weren't filled, but there were close to 78,000 in the stands. Like stadiums around the world there was overpriced beer and food for sale, some of it a little different. We all tried a meat pie; it was alright. The fans were overall well behaved. I was a little nervous because the fans are mixed in the crowd, there wasn't a particular side on sat on. (Also complicating the picture is that fans of both teams might be members of the Melbourne Cricket Club, as is our host. As a consequence, both Blue and Magpies supporters were mixed in the members section.)

The other interesting item was that we felt compelled to stay to the end of a blow out and not leave until we had sung the club song.

Good old Collingwood forever,
we know how to play the game.
Side by side we stick together,
to uphold The Magpies name.
Hear the barrackers a shouting,
as all barrackers should,
Oh, the premiership's a cakewalk
For the good old Collingwood.

Waynok and BDaddy enjoying the game.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-07-24T20:45:00.000-07:00

Going to Australia tomorrow with the family. I always loved this song from the first Rocky, a perfect theme song for a dramatic interlude. This time with pictures from our newly adopted football club the Magpies of Collingwood.

I also wanted to show some video from a Collingwood playoff victory in 2008.

Beat That, Chuck Norris

2010-07-17T09:53:00.001-07:00

My family is a big fan of the whole Chuck Norris line of jokes as in When Chuck Norris crosses the street, the cars have to look both ways.

Chuck Norris may be tough, but can he do this? Check out this headline from the War In Afghanistan.

British Soldier Shot in the Face by the Taliban... Spits Out Bullet

A brave British soldier who was shot in the face by the Taliban spat out the bullet – then walked nearly two miles for treatment before being rushed home for an emergency operation.

Stormbringer has the full story from the Daily Mail.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-07-16T14:08:00.000-07:00

We're going with a baby boomer themed weekend. Over at TLT we have the classic "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin playing. I remember getting tired of the whole "Stairway to Layla" format on KGB FM in the 80s, but now I kind of miss it, well sometimes. Anyway, we're going all in on the whole classic rock theme this weekend, with Eric Clapton performing the original version of Layla as the lead for Derek and the Dominos.

Overlooked in the LeBron Saga

2010-07-12T19:18:00.000-07:00

Dean threw down pretty hard on LeBron's decision to play in Miami, calling him out for not being the alpha dog his PR machine had made him out to be. I agree. But I read some pretty decent commentary about the reasons for LeBron's decision and his lack of alphaness (OMG, I meant to type LeBron and it came out Obama, just now. Not coincidence.) KT might appreciate this because it highlights another role that fathers play, that is very much overlooked, building leaders out of young men.

From Allen Hunt at Townhall:

So why in the world did Lebron James land in Miami? Love and family.
...
As is well-known, Lebron never had a relationship of any kind with his father. In fact, it is unclear if the identity of his father is even known.
...
His need for love, family, and direction were filled by a group of childhood friends with whom he formed such a close bond that they played youth league, AAU, and then high school ball together. Very little change occurred in that group. They bonded, and with the help from a few teammates' fathers, Lebron emerged as the best high school basketball player in America. However, he did not emerge as the leader. Other players in that childhood fraternity led the team; Lebron starred. And there is the crucial difference.
...
The top dog role does not suit him well. Deep down, he prefers to draft behind the leadership of a stronger personality – his point guard in high school, and now Dwyane Wade in Miami. Lebron is Pippen. Wade is Jordan.
...
It is no accident that lead dogs like Kobe, Jordan, and Wade all had strong fathers in their lives. Lebron did not. As a result, he is still emerging as a man.

I know this is hard to explain, but I read those last words and I just want to cry for LeBron James. It sounds silly; he pulls down more in a year than I will in my lifetime, or several, but I truly feel sorry for him if that article is accurate. But I was blessed by a father that was always present in my life, even to this day, and feel a sense of self confidence as a result that I had always taken for granted.

Which brings me to Obama. We elected a President who has some of the same issues as LeBron. His father was mostly absent from his life. He never had to lead before and it seems to weigh him down. His most important priority? Health care. His response? Let the Congress figure it out. His biggest crisis? The oil spill. His response? Blame others, try to look tough, fail. Peggy Noonan commented that he looked snake bit; that comment comes into clearer focus when you understand that he probably isn't emotionally ready to be a leader. God help us all if there is a real crisis. Perhaps he will rise to the occasion if called upon, certainly, the nation is capable of rising to the occasion even if its leader falls short.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-07-09T21:29:00.001-07:00

I'm going with the same artists as on TLT for this weekend's video. Bubblegum rock isn't what it was in my day, this is way better.

I Was a Six Sigma Coach for Putin

2010-07-07T20:16:00.000-07:00

Well this explains a lot. It turns out that one of the Russian spies was a management consultant spouting all the usual platitudes of modern management theory. Thomas Frank, with whom I usually disagree, has a hilarious article on the Russian spies' methods of infiltration. The spy pictured at left, Donald Heathfield, has his own web site, where he inspires us with the following management speak:

As an advisor to major corporations, he focuses on building the capacity of organizations to develop and implement future strategies and on the creation of tools that enable this process.

I'm jazzed. This is either proof that these Russians were very clever imitators of our culture, or... (drum roll please) they have been responsible for destroying large swaths of the American corporate landscape with ridiculous theories about management effectiveness. Hence the title of this article, stolen from Mr. Rich.

Before his web site is removed and perhaps lost to posterity, I have captured his personal page to document the diabolical treachery of the Russians.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-07-01T23:16:00.000-07:00

Happy Fourth of July Weekend. A couple of clips from the HBO movie "John Adams."

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-06-20T00:10:00.000-07:00

I am calling out Mew2ds, author of Elecman's Tower, for his failure to post. To give him a little inspiration here are my entries for the two rockin'est video game themes of all time, amazingly, both are for the SNES. First, from 1993 we have the theme from Plok, an otherwise nondescript game whose them song actually got me to keep turning on this game.

Second, a much more popular game that had great music at every level, and was one of the most popular games on one of the most popular platforms of all time, here is the jungle theme from Donkey Kong Country:

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-06-18T22:50:00.000-07:00

This is one of my all time favorite tunes. I can't find the original version by Dylan, but this version by U2 is my favorite. The photos that go with the video are pretty cool too.

Mrs. Daddy and I have argued about whose version is the best for a number of years; so out of fairness, here is her favorite version:

Lakers

2010-06-17T21:50:00.000-07:00

To put tonight's win by the Lakers in perspective, I have to tell you that the first time I was old enough to really appreciate basketball, watching the NBA finals with Pop, I watched this:

The outcome was another Laker loss to the hated Celtics, and in the last seconds of a game 7, no less.

1972's championship run, including a record 33 game winning streak, went some ways in the healing process, it was great to see Jerry West finally get a championship ring. But as satisfying as it was to beat the Knicks, they weren't the Celtics.

Then in 1984, I thought the Lakers would have a great chance to avenge all those losses against the Celtics, but again, somehow the Bostonian prevailed, in a heartbreaking 7 games, again.

In 1985, led by a 38 year old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, the Lakers finally beat the Celtics in the finals, making me very happy. Finally, we had beat the Celtics. Winning again in 1987 against Boston was sweet as well. Put to bed the meme that LA couldn't beat the Celtics.

Fast forward to 2007-2008. The Lakers had struggled following the loss of Shaq, half of the threepeat tandem along with Kobe Bryant. Lacking the right big man in the middle, the Lakers had suffered for a few seasons. Pau Gasol came to the team in March and immediately had an impact. I hadn't really expected the Lakers to win the Western Conference at the start of the season, I really thought the Spurs would take it again, but Pau Gasol gave them a fighting chance. Meanwhile, the Celtics were dominating the East with their big three. As the Lakers proceeded through the finals, I was worried, because I didn't think that the Lakers had enough time together as a unit to beat the Celtics and I was right, they lost in six games. I watched the whole brutal final loss of 39 points.

Given all that history, I had a lot invested in this series. As it came down to a seventh game, I was also keenly aware that the Lakers had never won a seventh game against Boston. When they got behind by 13 points, I admit that I was so upset I turned the game off for a few minutes. But they came charging back, despite shooting horribly the whole game, both from the floor and from the free throw line. They had played clutch defense the whole game, and that had kept it close. In the fourth quarter, Kobe willed the whole team forward as the chiseled out a small lead, clamped down and won the game. This really exorcises the demons, a seventh game victory against the hated Celtics, with the Lakers being the tougher, more defensive minded, willful team, reversing roles long assumed. Team sports don't get any better than this.

Quickie Restaurant Review - Phil's

2010-06-12T14:41:00.000-07:00

Waynok has a short restaurant review of Phil's as part of a birthday post for mew2ds over at Project Scatterbrain. We had a great time; I must say I favor the beef ribs over the pork baby backs, but they were both delicious. What Waynok didn't mention was the nice selection of local craft brew on tap at Phil's, making it the perfect place for ribs. It is darn close to Rendezvous in Memphis, where the section of the menu for chicken and other non-rib items says "Hard as it is to believe, not everyone eats ribs every chance they get."

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-06-11T19:53:00.000-07:00

I've got Chris Isaak playing over TLT today. I looked for something else by the same artist, to showcase a great voice, so here he is covering Roy Orbison:

And to give him proper credit, here is Roy Orbison, the original:

Restaurant Review - Offshore Tavern & Grill

2010-06-06T20:01:00.000-07:00

Mrs. B-Daddy here, otherwise known as Tiger Lily, if I ever start a blog. Seems like I should give it a go since every other member of my family has their own blog. I am reviewing the Offshore Tavern and Grill on Morena Blvd. B-Daddy and I went tonight to try out this neighborhood place and liked it quite a bit. It helped that the Lakers were playing on the numerous flat screen televisions placed on every square inch of wall in the tavern. It was also nice that the Lakers were coming back from a dismal first half that my husband informed me was a sure sign they would lose. My comment was, “hey it’s half time, they can, they have and they will come back strong.” Even though they eventually lost, they did come back and take the lead in the third quarter. I was pleased to see this happen as I know what this team is capable of. I do not watch basketball as much as I used to, but should, as I love the sport.

Anyway, the Offshore Tavern and Grill is a place my handsome brother-in-law Dean would like. It has a good assortment of local brews on tap (we had the Ballast Point Yellowtail Pale Ale) pretty waitresses that are efficient and pleasant, a nice looking wood bar, a pleasant view and the aforementioned flat screens all over every wall. The food was decent, with very generous portions and the price was right. It is near another place on Morena Blvd. that Dean likes, The High Dive. I give this place a thumbs up and hope to have some good times here with family and friends.

Why We Love Sports - Part 2

2010-06-05T19:13:00.000-07:00

In an earlier post, I discussed how the competition of sports can become sublime. Today, two things reminded me of ways that sports teach us other lessons. First, Peggy Noonan discusses the blown call that cost Tiger pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game. Not the blown call, but the classy manner that Galarraga and umpire Jim Joyce handled the outcome show us how to handle disappointment with grace. From her column:

What was sweet and surprising was that all the principals in the story comported themselves as fully formed adults, with patience, grace and dignity. And in doing so, Galarraga and Joyce showed kids How to Do It.
A lot of adults don't teach kids this now, because the adults themselves don't know how to do it. There's a mentoring gap, an instruction gap in our country. We don't put forward a template because we don't know the template. So everyone imitates TV, where victors dance in the end zone, where winners shoot their arms in the air and distort their face and yell "Whoooaahhh," and where victims of an injustice scream, cry, say bitter things, and beat the ground with their fists. Everyone has come to believe this is authentic. It is authentically babyish. Everyone thinks it's honest. It's honestly undignified, self-indulgent, weak and embarrassing.

We see the opposite of this grace too often, even in Little League, kid's soccer, etc. where the parents are often an embarrassment to the kids.

Coach Wooden's passing, whose giant character dominated the sport of college basketball while he coached, passed yesterday. Dean captures a truth about some of the most inspiring Los Angeles sports figures of the 20th century:

One of the enduring ironies if you are familiar with the Los Angeles sports scene is this: for a culture that is so temporal and is entirely about "the next big thing", trendiness and glamour and which lacks substance of any kind, the three most iconic sports figures, Vin Scully, Chick Hearn and John Wooden were men of faith and family and who plied their respective trades for decades and who did it in a gracious and humble fashion in a land around them where grace and humility are considered completely foreign terms.

Indeed, we notice that character counts, it matters for the long term and the success of those men and their enduring legacy rests not just on their talent but their character.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-06-04T15:00:00.000-07:00

We're working on a surf theme this weekend. Over at TLT, we have some classic surf from the Ventures. We think this band has a surf sound as well, but we'll leave that judgment up to you. Here are Los Straitjackets playing one of the all time great movie themes, indeed the movie itself is on my list of greats as well.

BTW, is there a movie with a more manly cast than this, with Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, and James Coburn all on the screen AT THE SAME TIME?

Memorial Day

2010-05-31T12:27:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day's origins are rooted in the Civil War, where a larger percentage of nation's young men were killed than in any other American war, before or since. The war was gruesome, long and cruel. Like all wars, it solved nothing, except for ending slavery and redefining the nature of our union. The Commander in Chief at the time explained the causes as follows:

One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease.

It was originally known as Decoration Day, and arose out of the practice of decorating the graves of dead soldiers on both sides of the conflict. From the Wikipedia article:

The Memorial Day speech became an occasion for veterans, politicians and ministers to commemorate the war--and at first to rehearse the atrocities of the enemy. They mixed religion and celebratory nationalism and provided a means for the people to make sense of their history in terms of sacrifice for a better nation, one closer to God. People of all religious beliefs joined together, and the point was often made that the Germans and Irish soldiers had become true Americans in the "baptism of blood" on the battlefield. By the end of the 1870s the rancor was gone and the speeches praised the brave soldiers both Blue and Gray. By the 1950s, the theme was American exceptionalism and duty to uphold freedom in the world.

To commemorate this day and the war in which it originated, I am linking this video. The volume is a little low, so you will have to turn it up.

Link Love for a New Blog

2010-05-31T00:54:00.001-07:00

There's a new blog in the B-Daddy family, Elecman's Tower. Check out mew2ds' take on all things videogame, or as we like to say, gameage. I will be adding a permanent link at the side.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-05-23T01:50:00.000-07:00

Just because I'm so happy with my new computer:

Windows on iMac - This is the Bomb!

2010-05-22T18:00:00.000-07:00

I am a long time Windows user who always had trouble getting used to the MAC operating system even though there are two Macs in the house. On Friday, I bought a new iMac, because I thought it would actually be easier to transition my work to the iMac instead of a new Windows machine. This is due to the magic of VMware Fusion. I loaded up the VMware product on my iMac as well as some enabling software on my old Windows machine. I kicked off a program overnight and voila, an image of my old machine was now on my iMac in the morning.

This was a far easier experience than I have ever had when buying a new computer. There were a few hiccups, but they weren't too bad.
1. Nobody mentioned that I would have to disable the firewall on my old Windows machine.
2. Windows wanted me to re-register the operating system. It took a while to figure out the magic words to say to get them to give me a new product key.
3. I am still having a difficult time dragging and dropping out of Windows to the Mac. Works great the other way.

The Windows image starts up way, way faster than on the original hardware. Now I have the best of both worlds on a blazing fast iMac (quad core, 8Gb Ram, 1 Tb hard drive.) Certain programs, like my smart card reader and middleware, that don't run well or at all on the Mac run just fine. Don't ask me how the underlying Mac can't run something that Windows image can.

The iMac itself is a marvel of spare design and simplicity, there are almost no wires on my desktop, making Mrs. Daddy very happy. The screen is huge and the processing fast.

FTC Disclaimer: I may or may not have received valuable consideration in the form of swag, jack and/or coin to endorse these products. I am not saying and have the right not to do so.

Best Political Commercial Ever

2010-05-21T19:36:00.000-07:00

I know this has been posted elsewhere, but had to share for this weekend's video. If you haven't seen it, this is must see red meat for conservatives, enjoy!

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-05-07T15:46:00.000-07:00

This weekend's music is probably a re-run, but with the British elections winding down, I wanted a Brit theme and this is my favorite song by the Clash.

Garbage Day

2010-05-03T20:21:00.000-07:00

One of the catch phrases my youngsters use is "GARBAGE DAY." It comes from this perfectly horrid 80s movie, Silent Night, Deadly Night 2." Here's the infamous clip:

Mrs. Daddy felt a little like the poor anonymous schlub to takes the bullet after an encounter with our city's fine sanitation workers. Last week, after the regular garbage pick up, she walked out to find garbage from our can strewn about the street and what had been a heretofore perfectly usable "black refuse container" was now cracked beyond use. Being the trusting fool that I am, I calmly told Mrs. Daddy to give the kindly folks at the city's collection services a call, and that all would be made right. Certainly, since the city's refuse collectors had been a wee bit clumsy with our container, we would be provided a new one. Instead Mrs. Daddy was harangued mercilessly for what seemed like an interminable part of her life as to why the city would have to charge her for a new container, and how they would have to charge her for delivery (total $95.00) and how she couldn't pay on line, she couldn't pay over the phone and if she wanted to use a credit card she would have to drive to their office.

I feel lucky that my wife didn't harm herself in a desperate attempt to gain relief from the hideousity of the bureaucrateze to which she was subjected. (Some of those words don't spell check, but dang it, they should.) Here is the helpful explanation for all of this from the city's very own web site (they're mighty proud they have a web page, even if it can't take credit cards.)

Refuse containers damaged in the regular collection process will be charged prorated replacement costs. Containers in use for more than 10 years will be replaced for $70 plus delivery, if applicable. Containers within the 10 year lifespan will cost a prorated fee based on $7 per year, plus delivery charge if applicable. Call customer service at 858-694-7000 for amount if damaged lost, or stolen container was used for less than 10 years.

That clear enough for you? To quote Iowahawk, "Pay Up Sucker."

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-04-30T17:55:00.000-07:00

The translation of all three entries today is approximately this:

Hava Nagila Lyrics
Transcription -- Translation

Havah nagilah -- Let's rejoice
Havah nagilah -- Let's rejoice
Havah nagilah venismechah -- Rejoice and be happy
(repeat stanza once)
Havah neranenah -- Let's sing
Havah neranenah -- Let's sing
Havah neranenah venismechah -- Sing and be happy
(repeat stanza once)
Uru, uru achim! -- Awake, awake, brothers!
Uru achim b'lev sameach -- With a happy heart
(repeat line three times)
Uru achim, uru achim! -- Awake, brothers, awake, brothers!
B'lev sameach -- With a happy heart

A Tiny Bit of In Flight Drama

2010-04-21T23:12:00.000-07:00

On my flight home tonight, I encountered a situation that gave me a little pause. I had the aisle seat about three quarters of the way back on the last leg of my flight back to San Diego on a MD-80 aircraft. The plane was full, as were all the other flights I took. (If the airlines aren't making money now, with full planes, they never will.) About half way through the flight, the woman in the aisle seat woke me from a semi-doze/semi-daze that is my normal state during air travel and asked me to let her out to use the bathroom. I went back to the crossword puzzle, which always makes me sleepy. But as we approached San Diego, the captain announced that we might hit some turbulence and lit up the "fasten seat belts" sign. However, the lady from the middle seat had not returned.

I was thinking that maybe she was a little claustrophobic and was just hanging out in the bathroom. But I started thinking about the situation. As we began our descent into San Diego, the middle seat was still empty. This is where a little paranoia and maybe seeing too many movies got the better of me. I stood up, looking around for our erstwhile passenger and couldn't see her. The male flight attendant at the back of the aircraft motioned me to sit down, which I didn't. I could see him push the button for the fasten seat belt sign signal, to get my attention.

Finally, I was able to get the attention of a closer female attendant and told that we had a missing passenger. She said that the woman had gotten sick and they were tending to her in the back, mystery solved.

During the time when I had some doubts about what was going on, I kept thinking about all the in flight terror movies and news reports. I just didn't want to be "that guy" who could have done something, but was too embarrassed. But I also wonder about the paradigm of the flight crew. I think they are so used to treating the passengers as sheeples, that they don't consider giving them any information, even when an anomalous condition occurs. Too bad, because on any given flight the chances that any individual wants to arrive alive approaches 100% by a vanishingly small differential.

After the fact, I also realized that I was profiling that woman, not by race, ethnicity or religion, but by behavior. Her behavior, at least what I could observe, was outside normal range. She had spent what seemed to be a long time in the restroom and didn't return to her seat for turbulence or the descent. There are a lot of clues that people give in their behavior; I think this is why Israeli methods are so successful.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-04-16T21:43:00.000-07:00

We're having a sunshine kind of theme on the blogs this weekend. Over at TLT, Katrina and the Waves are Walking on Sunshine. Here we have Smashmouth in throwback mode, Walking on the Sun.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-04-09T18:13:00.000-07:00

I saw this band on October 27, 1979 at the Blarney Stone in Pittsburgh, PA. It was a great evening that I'll never forget, even if I was drinking rum and cokes, like a good sailor. These guys have always been a favorite band of mine and this song in particular is one I like to sing along too.

Just want to add that I miss you Irish; and hope you see this someday.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-04-03T00:46:00.001-07:00

Hope you are having a great Easter Weekend. Here's a little reminder of what it's about. The Newsboys from down under bringing a little thunder to our music.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-03-31T20:43:00.000-07:00

I know it's not the weekend yet but this video is just too heroic to pass up. Pam Stout, as sweet and reasonable a woman as could be put on national television, explains the Tea Party movement to David Letterman. You can tell Dave isn't down with her brand of politics, but she does a great job. Give Dave credit, he let her speak, and boy does she make her case.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-03-26T17:36:00.001-07:00

Today's video is something near and dear to my heart as a former submarine sailor and a bit of a companion piece to the article below. There is a saying in the force that there are two kinds of ships, submarines and targets. Here is some footage explaining why we think that way.

And a little more video from the Aussies:

To quote P.J. O'Rourke, "Now that's the way to waste the taxpayers dollars."

Submarines once, submarines twice....
Ok, we won't go there, this is a family friendly blog.

Sinking of the Cheonan - Who Dunnit?

2010-03-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

I think the question on everyone's mind with regards to the sinking of a South Korean navy vessel the Chenoan, is "Was this North Korean (DPRK) action?" Here are some thoughts on pros and cons that this was DPRK action.

Pros:

Reports have been out that the regime is "under stress." It has been Kim Jong Il's classic fascist style to manufacture crises to maintain loyalty and this would be a doozy.
The manner in which the sinking occurred, with no witnesses, is classic as well. Now Kim can plausibly claim no responsibility while simultaneously threatening more such violence.
The sinking happened near the disputed maritime border between north and south. This gives Kim a back up strategy of claiming self defense, if his first cover story is blown.
The link to possible NorK action was quickly played down. At first I thought that would be in the "con" column, but read this from The Guardian, (H/T Information Dissemination (ID)*)

If the sinking of Cheonan was intentional, it creates a serious crisis for the Koreas' neighbours and for the United States. None of the US, Japan, or China desire the threat of major military action on the Korean Peninsula. The US, still embroiled in Iraq and Afghanistan, doesn't want another military confrontation on its plate. At the same time, it will be difficult for the US to restrain South Korea from some form of retaliation. Japan's patience with North Korea has similarly run thin, and it is unlikely that Tokyo could be relied on too heavily as a voice of caution. Beijing has only limited affection for its North Korean client, but certainly does not want war, or even the threat of war.

Cons:

ID also reports that the ship was in an area known for rocky shoal waters.
Commenter Marcase on ID had this to say: Interesting titbit: the PCC-772 Cheonan belongs to the ASW-version of the Pohang class, which carry 12 depth charges on the rear-deck. If there was either an accident, or a lucky shot, most of the stern would've been destroyed and the ship would've sunk like a lead pipe.
There has been no credible evidence to date that this was a DPRK action.
The ship apparently was underway, meaning that action by divers would be unlikely. (Sabotage by a traitor might not be ruled out though.)
I am doubtful about the efficacy of the Stalinist technology of the North's submarine fleet. While the sub pictured might be small and hard to find, its ability to score a hit with a worthy torpedo should be questioned.

Sango class DPRK sub floundering South Korean waters.

B-Daddy's professional judgment, based on VERY limited information: I go with an accident, because many things can go wrong at sea, and that's the first way to bet in the absence of other information. But I like Ian Flemings quote:

Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.

*By the way, Information Dissemination and CDR Salamander are the two "go to" blogs for all matters naval.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-03-19T16:27:00.000-07:00

This week's music has a Japanese theme, even if not particularly Japanese, for reasons that are ultimately irrelevant, but started out with my looking for articles from un-PC types blogging about women on submarines (Clue that lack of PC would follow: "Naval leadership casts the last vestige of its manhood down the toilet.") Before I get in more trouble, Here is Alphaville with "Big in Japan."

Wisdom of the "New Class"

2010-03-16T20:16:00.000-07:00

Over at The Volokh Conspiracy, a discussion of something called "New Class" was prompted by a series of articles in a philosophical journal that most of us will never read. While the prose is leaden and dense and indeed, invited the scorn of most commenters, the article gave me a something to think about and ways of looking at Obama and his coterie that I had not previously considered. First a taste of what you've been missing:

The paradigm of a "new class" originated in socialist Eastern Europe among dissidents and other regime critics as a way to describe the ensconced stratum of managers, technocrats, and ideologues who controlled the levers of power. The rhetorical irony of the phrase depended on the implied contrast with an "old class" as well as the good old class theory of the orthodox Marxism that once served as the established dogma of half the world. The history of class struggle, which had been history altogether, had culminated in the victory of a proletarian class that in turn had ushered in—or was well on its way to ushering in—a classless society. Or so the grand narrative went. To talk of a "new class," then, conjured up the unquestionable epistemology of class analysis, while simultaneously challenging the notional outcome: instead of the end of the state and classlessness, one was stuck with police states and a new class that, while eminently cooler than the Bolsheviks of yore, still exercised a dictatorship (of the not-proletariat) while skimming off the benefits of unequal power. The phrase turned Marxism against Marxism during those decades when the fall of the Berlin Wall was not even imaginable.

Migrating across the Atlantic, the term took on a new meaning in the last third of the twentieth century as a designator of the rise of a new post-industrial professional class, the cohort of the student movement after 1968 on its trajectory into social, cultural, and political power. At stake was the gradual displacement (if not disappearance) of the old markers of class distinction and the alternative privileging of sets of linguistic and intellectual capacities, combined with the assumption that greater intelligence implied a de facto natural claim on greater power: meritocracy means that the smarter should rule. Yet this trope just reiterated, in a new context, the problem of intellectuals and power, a curious echoing of East European rhetoric. As the best and brightest claimed power in order to rule better and with greater radiance, their critics came to dub them a "new class" in order to draw attention to their sanctimonious aspirations to pursue their own interests by remaking society in their own image. Paradoxically, the conservative critique of the new class could make the "Marxist" move of pointing out how universalist claims masked particularist interests. What ensued was a decades-long conflict between, on the one hand, advocates of more enlightened and ever more expansive administration of society, and, on the other, proponents of reduced state oversight, defenders of society against the state, and the deregulated market against the long reach of political power. The political wrangling of our current moment still takes place within this framework. The complexity of the new class and its culture, however, is that while it sets out to administer society and establish bureaucracies to regulate social and economic life domestically, at the same time it attempts to ratchet down the political and military power that might be projected externally: a strong state toward its subjects, a weak state toward its enemies!

Reading the whole article, and some Volokh commentary, they are saying that pointy headed professors who take over political parties think they know more than the rest of us and should be allowed to tell us what to do.

OK, that was an oversimplification. What astounds me is that cleverness by itself is considered to be superior to experience. In some ways you could say that both liberals and neocons suffer from this same malady, but in different ways. The neocon view of Iraq, was in a word naive. That a defeated people would welcome us with open arms and we therefor did not need "boots on the ground" to secure the victory was shown in hindsight to be a grave error. But liberals suffer their own delusions about foreign policy.

Its signature contribution to foreign policy is "smart power," a term that nobly implies that boots on the ground are dumb and that some—still elusive—strategic rhetorical eloquence will make enemies vanish without ever firing a gun, since language is its ultimate power. The corollary economic policy is negative, defined by discourses of environmentalism that imagine achieving greener national spaces by exporting dirty manufacturing and energy consumption to the developing world: not in our backyard.

Obama's promises to talk to Iran are the epitome of this arrogance. Note also the dichotomy of dispensing with the use of physical power abroad, but the ease to which the whip is applied to one's own citizenry. That is because it is for their own good. But we conservatives note that, and rightly, that the imposition of a greater regulation and entitlements, to be administered by an ever hungrier regime of bureaucracies guided by the professoriat, becomes self perpetuating and devolves power permanently to those who have the hubris to believe they should wield it. It is in fact, the Road to Serfdom.

Which brings me to why Sarah Palin is so hated by the Left. She is the only politician who ever laid a glove on Barack Obama, he of the golden tongue. His soaring rhetoric induced some to forget that he had achieved relatively little in his public life. She did so in a way that in our gut, we knew was true, because it talked to our experience of others like Obama who are "all show, and no dough." She did so with humor and with a reminder of the value of traditional values. Her success and her rhetoric were both an affront to the members of the "New Class" who see themselves as superior because they hold superior opinions and have a large vocabulary.

Tradition and religion, values, and experience born of difficulty are all the enemies of the "New Class" because they stand in direct opposition to their agenda of imposing the "Wholly Administered Society" on the rest of us. Sarah Palin is the walking example of success born of those attributes. Her degree from a small state school, her love of hunting and the fact that she is a good looking woman to boot, presented too much cognitive dissonance for the left to take. Hence the unbridled derangement.

Obamacare is the direct outgrowth of this thinking as well. Decades of experience with the failures of central planning do not deter those who wish power for themselves at our expense. It is an issue of freedom, and not just in the particulars, but in the global sense that it removes from us the responsibility for our own choices, without which freedom cannot exist.

Management and Jesus

2010-03-14T16:55:00.000-07:00

Pastor Jim's sermon this morning started with the injunction to learn humbly a message of many scriptures. I find it interesting that this message is also born out in the more serious books on management I have read recently, Good to Great, The Fifth Discipline and 7 Habits. I continue to be amazed that the application of Christian principles are "discovered" by modern research and touted as something "new." Don't get me wrong, those are excellent books, but the application of their principals is made much easier by the discipline that comes from following Christ. The longer I live the more convinced I am that unbelief is as much an act of faith as belief, maybe more so, when so many of the principles of our faith are born out by research.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-03-12T21:48:00.000-08:00

We're doing Elvis Costello songs this weekend on B-Daddy's blogs. This is really on of the great 70s tunes and well ahead of its time. I have a question for the readers, is the irony intentional, accidental or non-existent? I was never sure.

Women on Submarines

2010-03-09T22:40:00.000-08:00

I have been called out, to respond to the CNO's recent announcement that women will be taking their place on U.S. submarines, finally getting the glamor assignment that years of male chauvinism has denied them. My initial reaction that I sent 'Dawg requires a little elaboration:

It's a mentally rough, confined life, where the abrasiveness of close quarters is more than the average guy can handle. Don't see how this will go well. Also, the fact that they are only going onto SSBNs is a career killer for the female officers, because you need both SSN and SSBN experience to understand that particular warfare environment. The Navy has no money to modify the SSNs in a way that would be acceptable, the CNO is blowing smoke.

With regards to career path, SSNs are nuclear attack submarines whose primary mission is to search and sink other submarines, often the SSBNs (Nuclear Ballistic missile carrying with nuclear propulsion, I dare Bush to say that fast.) The rhythms of the two types of submarines (ignoring SSGNs for the moment) are very different. The SSBNs operate on a very predictable 112 day patrol cycle, alternating crews. SSNs operate typically in a two year cycle that includes a major 6 month deployment, but their schedules are very unpredictable. Because of the different missions and optempos, service on both platforms is considered necessary for promotion, and more importantly, should be considered for promotion. This will put the women at a disadvantage. I also know that redesign of the already extremely crowded attack subs is not in the cards. The Navy has no spare cash for this, and the Congress isn't going to cough up the bucks.

The other reality of life on a submarine is that it involves living in very close proximity to your shipmates for extended periods of time, with nowhere to go to get away from them. It's hard to explain the toll that a lengthy patrol underwater takes on the psyche. I am ill qualified to know how mixing late teen and early twenty somethings in a pressure cooker environment will turn out. My guess? Usually ok, because of the caliber of our people; but occasionally off the rails, because they are still only human.

Finally, it will make leading submariners, always a challenge, just that much harder. Not a legit argument against, just a fact. But the hypocrisy of this plan is telling me that the Navy is doubling down on political correctness.

In case you were wondering about how this would all look; the image at top is of an actual midshipmen on a submarine, the image at bottom is from a movie.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-03-05T17:04:00.000-08:00

I note I haven't blogged a true article in over a week. I've been very busy with my on line class "Leadership for the Information Age" and my main blog The Liberator Today. We're doing a The Outlaws this weekend for music; here is their biggest hit "Ghost Riders (in the sky)."

The Outlaw - Ghost Riders In The Sky - MyVideo

OK, it doesn't make sense, but how can you not like clips of Clint Eastwoood backed by a classic country tune like that.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-02-26T11:12:00.000-08:00

We're doing Steve Miller this weekend, because he's great and the Mighty Waynok likes him too. This was the best sound quality I could find for Abracadabra, I have no idea what message the video is supposed to convey.

What We Learn From Team Sports

2010-02-25T21:08:00.000-08:00

I have played team sports all of my life, and still do, even if only in pick up games of basketball. I believe strongly that God has used this to make me a better person. At it's best athletics are an almost a religious experience. Consider these quotes from Bill Russell in the The Fifth Discipline:

Russell is careful to tell us that it's not friendship, it's a different kind of team relationship that made his team's work special. The relationship, more than any individual triumph, gave him his greatest moments in the sport: "Every so often a Celtic game heat up so that it became more than a physical or even mental game," he wrote, "and would be magical. The feeling is difficult to describe, and I certainly never talked bout it when I was playing. When it happened I could feel my play rise to a new level . . . It would surround not only me and the other Celtics but also the players on the other team, and even the referees . . . At that special level, all sorts of odd things happened. The game would be in the white heat of competition, and yet I wouldn't feel competitive, which is a miracle in itself . . . The game would move so fast that every fake, cut, and pass would be surprising, and yet nothing would surprise me. It was almost as if we were playing in slow motion. During those spells, I could almost sense how the next play would develop and where the next shot would be taken . . . To me, the key was that both team had to be playing at their peaks, and they had to be competitive . . . "

Sports can elevate our very lives, lifting us above the hum drum routine of our lives. Speaking as a man, I know I need that.

But team sports also make us aware that our greatest achievements are not as individuals, but as part of a team, making those around us better as well. More from Bill Russell in the same book:

"By design and by talent," wrote basketball player Bill Russell of his team [the hated] Boston Celtics, "[we] were a team of specialists , and like a team of specialists in any field, our performance depended both on individual excellence and on how well we worked together. Non of us had to strain to understand that we had to complement each other's specialities; it was simply a fact, and we all tired to figure out ways to make our combinations more effective..."

We realize that our role is important even if not visible and that our most important role is to learn to work together with our team mates achieve our mission of winning the game.

Participation in team sports also undermines racism, no small achievement. When I worked at U.S. Strategic Command years ago, we heard one of these professional racism lectures tell us what a bunch of racists we tended to be. He was making his pitch pretty reasonably until he ventured out on this limb, telling us that if he went out on the basketball courts at the massive gym (converted from an aircraft manufacturing plant) at Offutt AFB, he would see segregated basketball games. I knew then what an out of touch moron he actually was, because our lunch leagues were as integrated a group of teams as you could find in America. Our loyalty was to our team not our race; we just wanted to win.

Finally, team sports reinforces the sportsmanship that is at the heart of Americans. During the game we play hard, but by the rules. And we voluntarily play by the rules, not because the referee will blow the whistle, in the pick up game, there is no ref. But because we want our victory to be free of taint, because it is just the right thing to do. Once the final whistle blows, we can shake hands on a game well played and walk away, without any animosity in our hearts, the very model of Christian attitude. I think this last bit has been lost in professional and college sports. A team may win on an obvious fifth down in football, players flop to draw fouls, animosity by fans continues after the game. Americans could improve their sportsmanship, I believe. But sports are still a great crucible in which to forge character.

Management Gobbledygook

2010-02-20T21:31:00.000-08:00

What is wrong with managers? Over at KT Cat's place, he has been lampooning all manner of management practice including Lean Six Sigma and corporate pronouncements on, well I can barely figure it out. Managers are forced to read a lot of theory and swill a lot of jargon to keep up with the latest fads imposed from above. But it baffles me that managers try to feed the same jargon to employees who frankly just want to do their jobs. I hope that he doesn't mind that I am lifting this video he made with xtranormal:

Almost everything discussed in that unintelligible video actually makes sense or does some good. But the managers who allowed that crap to get published make themselves appear to be fools. Why can't we managers talk like this:

"We use the Balanced Score Card (BSC) to make sure we don't forget ALL the ingredients of our success by too much focus on one area. We balance keeping our customer happy, keeping our costs under control, developing our people's talents, and improving the way we do our work, all of which will help us accomplish our mission."

"The network talent model means that our people need more than just technical skills, every employee also needs leadership, management and teamwork skills."

"Being a high performing organization means that we stay focused on the work that actually contributes to the products our customers want, and seeks to eliminate work that doesn't help achieve that end."

Now that wasn't so hard, was it?

New Blogger in the Familia

2010-02-19T18:44:00.000-08:00

I'd like to announce a new blog, Project Scatterbrain, written by the Mighty Waynok. As he states in his first post, it will NOT be a political blog. But amazingly enough, his second post hits on sports. I'll let you figure the familial connection. If you ever forget how to get there, he is linked at right.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-02-19T18:15:00.000-08:00

It's an REM weekend. We've got the end of the world on The Liberator, here they are again liberating Europe from tyrannical radio, or something. By the way, what's a hib-tone?

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-02-12T00:10:00.000-08:00

I guess it's my week for Celtic music. I've got Enya playing on The Liberator Today and Loreena McKennitt over here.

Proflowers.com Is Unethical - Avoid Them

2010-02-07T14:53:00.001-08:00

Mrs. Daddy recently ordered flowers for a friend from the Proflowers.com web site. Next thing we know, we are enrolled in something called Encore Marketing Easy Rewards program and monthly billing has commenced against our credit card. This was certainly not authorized, and these jackals have been sued for this before. The way it works is that you are asked if you want to "earn" $15 savings, once you click yes, without any terms or conditions offered, a new window popped up. Mrs. Daddy closed that window, but we were billed anyway and more worrisome, our credit card information given to another business. I have filed a complaint with the California Department of Consumer Affairs and posted a bad review on line, but just wanted to warn my readers. This isn't the first or even second case I've had of fighting on line fraud, and I am going to keep fighting back. Hope some jackass from their company reads this and tries to sue; even if Google takes down this post, it is going to cost proflowers far more than any business they ever get from me.

AVOID PROFLOWERS.COM

As a manager, I question why a legitimate business would go down this path. They are clearly going to get smacked down and it will ultimately ruin their brand name. As folks get motivated to fight back.

Lean Six Sigma

2010-02-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

KT posted a hilarious video on Lean Six Sigma (LSS), a method embraced in industry and government for process improvement. I went on an extended rant in KT's comments section which I have liberated to a post here.

My experience with this method of process improvement has been uniformly miserable, failing to achieve anything of significance. Recently I was again provided the results of an LSS effort that again resulted in a new process but no reasonable method of implementation. This is the third time in a row. Each time we are asked to then build an information system to implement something conceived by LSS, and we have to start over. I was told that, at a minimum LSS would deliver "shovel ready" requirements against which software could be delivered, but that has not been the case.

The root cause of this failure initially eluded me, because I don't believe that anyone is intentionally stupid or malicious, but you can't tell by the results of LSS. Thinking about Stephen Covey's 7 Habits helped me dissect the mystery. Habit 2, begin with the end in mind, provided the insight. LSS, by its nature, starts with no particular end in mind, just the idea of improvement. As a result no actual improvement comes from this undefined goal.

A brief example. We set a goal that over 80% of new employees would have a functioning email account and computer account on their first day of employment. We made significant changes in the way we performed initial information assurance and other training and achieved that goal. We are trying to ratchet up to 85%. But we get no credit for huge process improvement that has saved millions of dollars in lost productivity because employees previously waited around for up to two weeks before they could use a computer. Sorry, no LSS credit for the poor slobs who did all the work to save the organization millions (and I can prove it.) (Achieving LSS savings is often put into employee objectives. In this case, we started with a particular goal and actually effected process improvement, because we knew where we wanted to go.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-02-05T18:56:00.000-08:00

This movie was the funniest send-up of a genre I have ever seen. You can watch the whole thing on Stage Vu.

Restaurant Review - Blue Water Seafood

2010-01-31T18:30:00.000-08:00

The whole B-Daddy family had a late lunch at Blue Water Seafood on India St. today. It is located a little north of Little Italy in an area of San Diego that I do not much frequent, even though it is fairly close to home. It was very crowded on a Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. speaking well of its word of mouth reputation. It compared very favorably to my long time San Diego seafood favorite, Point Loma Seafoods on the Shelter Island waterfront on Scott and Emerson.

I don't know if they were consciously emulating the Point Loma style, but there were many similarities, from the very casual indoor/outdoor/patio dining style, to the display of fish on ice as one enters to order. They offer all of their fresh fish in three styles, Sandwich, Salad or Plate. Mrs. Daddy and I opted for the plates, with our halibut and red snapper, respectively, prepared in a style they called bronzed. It was the most lightly breaded manner I have ever seen fish prepared, and was perfect for keeping the fish moist and flavorful. From the taste, the fish was obviously fresh, as well.

In the beer department, they had a small but reasonable variety of bottled beers, and no PBR. But where they excel, is in the full line of Ballast Point brews on tap. Unfortunately, they were out of the Yellowtail Pale Ale, so we opted for a pitcher of Wahoo Wheat. It was perfect with the fish plate. Another way I prefer them over Point Loma is in the salad. They offer a nice mixed garden salad with fresh greens, much better than cole slaw. Also, the jasmine rice is a nice alternative to fries.

The youngsters were very please with their fish and chips and clam chowder. I should also mention that they offer a number of chilled shrimp and fish cocktails, ceviches, etc.

I have to rate this a bit above Point Loma, a place I have been loyal to since 1984.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-01-29T13:23:00.000-08:00

We subscribe to Rhapsody, which the whole family enjoys; tens of thousands of songs can be streamed all over the house through our Sonos system for a low monthly fee. (I might have been paid to make the comment, but maybe I wasn't, so I invite the FTC to investigate.) The one drawback is that not all artists allow their songs to be streamed, The Beatles and Led Zeppelin, being two famous examples. Also, sometimes the most popular hits are blocked from a band that is otherwise available. The one song that I have always liked in this category, from the days before they became wildly popular, is this little number from Fleetwood Mac:

Operation Aurora and Asymetric Warfare

2010-01-25T22:12:00.000-08:00

Although the news about the events quickly died down, Chinese government hacking attacks on Google and other companies is an important moment in internet history that is not getting the analysis it deserves. First, a quick summary of what happened from McAfee's web site:

McAfee Labs identified a zero-day vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer that was used as an entry point for “Operation Aurora” to exploit Google and at least 30 other companies. Microsoft has issued a security advisory and McAfee is working closely with them on this matter. “Operation Aurora” was a coordinated attack which included a piece of computer code that exploits a vulnerability in Internet Explorer to gain access to computer systems. This exploit is then extended to download and activate malware within the systems. The attack, which was initiated surreptitiously when targeted users accessed a malicious Web page (likely because they believed it to be reputable), ultimately connected those computer systems to a remote server. That connection was used to steal company intellectual property and, according to Google, additionally gain access to user accounts.

I included McAfee's self promoting language because they deserve some credit for their work. Notice that McAffee does not explicitly call out the Chinese government, but I have no such qualms.

Google's response has been masterful. But, first, you have to understand that the success of the Chinese attack threatens the very core of Google's business model. Google can only grow by persuading more consumers to put their data on line. Obviously, we must believe it is safe to do so, specifically, that privacy, integrity and non-repudiation of our data can be assured. The success of the Chinese exploit threatens that model. In all the hoopla over cloud computing, in which Google is a leader due to their massive lead in understanding commodity server technology, the need for security remains the cloud darkening the silver lining of the promise of vast amounts of cheap compute capacity.

For Google to fight back traditionally, by going to other national governments to complain, will hurt not only its brand name, but the trust in the very product at the core of its business line, (and it isn't search, despite what the average consumer may think.) Google instead attacked the Chinese leadership where it lived, by publicly embarrassing them over censorship and making THAT the big issue on the pages of newspapers. What they did was show the Chinese that the hack attack was too clever by half, and that Google had the capacity to strike back in a way that would personally offend Chinese leadership. This will certainly put more caution into the actual cyber-warriors conducting this espionage, because embarrassing the boss is never a good career move.

Meanwhile, I caution people to be very careful about what they store in cyberspace. While interacting on line is unavoidable, and sometimes even fun, taking basic steps to protect one's data are necessary. If you are a Windows user, you should have antivirus (like Norton or McAfee), anti-spyware (Spybot), software firewall (ZoneAlarm), hardware firewall (like a router, don't plug straight into your cable modem for instance) and turn on Windows automatic patching. Further, I think that local back up of data, while more less effective for disaster recovery, is better from a security perspective.

Restaurant Review - Old Trieste

2010-01-23T19:27:00.001-08:00

Thursday evening, Mrs. Daddy and I got decked out on a whim and visited a neighborhood restaurant, Old Trieste. Mrs. Daddy also wore her faux fur and high heels, which turned out to be very apropos. Old Trieste pretty much defines what you would expect from an "old school" Italian restaurant. One should certainly dress up a bit to enter this establishment. They have plush vinyl booths, although white has replaced red. You are served by mature gentlemen waiters in tuxedos who are exceedingly polite and made me feel well treated. The menu is not extensive, they stick to what they know, veal, seafood, Italian pastas and Fillet Mignon. I actually like the fewer choices on the menu, it usually means the chef knows what he is doing with those dishes through greater familiarity.

We were one of only three parties that evening as the weather in San Diego that night was uncharacteristically windy, rainy and cold. The service was leisurely but attentive. We ordered wine right away, no wine menu; we just discussed it with the waiters. We had excellent lightly breaded zucchini brought out right away as an appetizer. It was very close to the highlight of the evening. They kept the breading to the perfect minimum to retain the moisture of the vegetable and lock in its flavor. For dinner, I had the Veal Marsala and Mrs. Daddy had the Veal Parmigiana. We were also served spaghetti with marinara sauce and a spoon to help twirl the noodles as the side dish. This spaghetti on the side is another characteristic of old school Italian. The veal was tender and the Marsala sauce creditable. I thought Mrs. Daddy's veal had a little more mozzarella than necessary, but was still tender and good. All in all the main courses were very good. For desert we split a nicely done tiramisu.

Even though we had an enjoyable evening with very good food, I am not sure we will visit again very soon. The prices are just a tad high for the quality of the meal and you have to be in the mood for a certain restaurant experience to go there.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-01-22T22:15:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the lack of blogging on this site. What little time I have had has been devoted to The Liberator as I have started another on-line class, working on my Chief Information Officer certificate from National Defense University. This course has been the most interesting to date, discussing intuition, creativity and framing so far. Unfortunately, as fabulous as the political landscape has been of late, my professional life has been as frustrating as any time I can remember since taking this job. To the core of my being, I feel compelled to believe that my number one priority, yesterday, today and tomorrow is delivering the IT services needed by my customers. Yet, it seems as though everything but customer satisfaction is what is important to the executives for whom I work, until the day that I don't deliver, which happened to be Tuesday of this week. Then it is suddenly my number one again. So this weekend's music is meant to match my mood. It is also music that totally changed my view of what constituted rock. Here are the Talking Head with Life During Wartime.

The B-Daddy Channel

2010-01-15T09:42:00.000-08:00

Even though I don't watch this show on TV, we have been borrowing DVDs of the show or downloading them from Netflix. This is one of the funniest cartoon series ever, even better than the Simpsons, and a worthy successor to a long line of made for TV cartoon shows that started with Crusader Rabbit. For some reason I can't get its catchy theme song out of my head. So here is the theme to Futurama; maybe it will get stuck in your head.

Blinking and Thinking

2010-01-12T22:19:00.000-08:00

I started a new online class this week, which will be eating into my blogging time. The class is grandiosely titled Leadership for the Information Age, but since I like grandiosity, just look at my blog mastheads, I figured this would be right up my alley. The very first reading assignment was from the book Blink, by Malcom Gladwell, a terrific read by a terrific writer. The excerpt we were asked to read is about "thin slicing" or rapid cognition, or what most of us call intuition. I guess the point of the reading was to make us aware of differing styles of decision making. But for me, I don't need to reinforce bad habits, and that excerpt from Blink does just that. Here's some quotes from Gladwell's web site for a taste of what I am talking about:

It's a book about rapid cognition, about the kind of thinking that happens in a blink of an eye. When you meet someone for the first time, or walk into a house you are thinking of buying, or read the first few sentences of a book, your mind takes about two seconds to jump to a series of conclusions. Well, "Blink" is a book about those two seconds,...

One of the stories I tell in "Blink" is about the Emergency Room doctors at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. That's the big public hospital in Chicago, and a few years ago they changed the way they diagnosed heart attacks. They instructed their doctors to gather less information on their patients: they encouraged them to zero in on just a few critical pieces of information about patients suffering from chest pain--like blood pressure and the ECG--while ignoring everything else, like the patient's age and weight and medical history. And what happened? Cook County is now one of the best places in the United States at diagnosing chest pain.

Now to my problem. The more complex my job has become, I paradoxically seem to have less and less time to just think and analyze. I believe that I am this awesome decision maker like those Chicago doctors, except I don't have the year's of experience in IT that they have in medicine. I make a lot of snap decisions in the course of the day, often based on an email description of a situation, but more often from a phone conversation. I realize how limited those sources of information can be, but I just don't have time to stop and think, and occasionally I make a mistake that takes time and effort to back out of. Now comes this book that is telling me this is all just fine, you can bat a high percentage based on limited information if you concentrate on just the right facts. (Which facts? The RIGHT facts.) Great, rather than impose a little self discipline and carve out time during the day to perform careful thought and analysis, this leadership class is reinforcing my bad habits.

Maybe if I knock out the homework for this course the same way that I make decisions at work, I'll have time to blog after all.

Listening To Your Customers

2010-01-08T18:06:00.000-08:00

In How the Mighty Fall, Jim Collins talks about how once great companies fail by failing to listen to their customers. In my own work, I am finding that listening to my customers is both rewarding and frustrating. What's great is that they clearly have a great need for the services I am responsible for delivering. The frustration is the impediments in delivering those services in the bureaucratic environment of the Federal government. Interestingly, I was talking to a former employee of GM, who worked for them in the IT area, and many of these same problems occur in the private sector in big businesses.

But listen to customers management must, or you can go the way of Domino's, once a fast rising company. This video is being cross posted from a political article on The Liberator Today, but the lessons are as applicable to management as to politics.

The B-Daddy Channel - Update

2010-01-08T12:00:00.000-08:00

I love all kinds of music, so with a second blog, it gives me a chance to post twice as much weekend music, a tradition pioneered by Dean with his "Radio KBWD is on the air" posts.

I like Tom Jones and both versions of "Mr. Jones" even though they are unrelated except for title.
First the Talking Heads who make as good use of trumpets within rock as anyone I can think of.

Now the Counting Crows

The Counting Crows have a line in this song that so perfectly captures our narcissistic age:
"When I look at the television, I want to see me staring right back at me."

UPDATE:

And how could I forget this Mr. Jones?

Vigorous Exercise and It's Detractors

2010-01-07T19:23:00.000-08:00

Tuesday's print edition of the Wall Street Journal had three excellent articles on the benefits of exercise. They can be viewed on line here, here and here. I normally wouldn't write about this at all, but a few items really caught my eye. First, let me state that I believe that exercise does very little to assist in weight loss, based on my research and personal experience. So I am not promoting exercise for that reason.

However, I was astounded at how exercise reduces the severity and frequency of so many diseases. The other interesting fact was the seeming correlation between extremely vigorous exercise and improved health as demonstrated by Dr. Paul Williams. Here is where the controversy starts. From the WSJ:

While Dr. Williams is well respected by other exercise scientists, he is shunned by those in the public-health field. Dr. Williams is routinely excluded from committees charged with formulating exercise guidelines, and his grant proposals are often rejected as irrelevant because few exercisers want to hear the word "more." Public-health officials also worry that touting Dr. Williams's research could discourage the sedentary from doing any exercise at all, or lure them off the couch with goals too lofty to engender success.

Here is the nanny state at its worst and most pernicious, because it is the kind of low level controversy that never sees the light of day. Rather than just letting the truth get published, the public health czars think we are all too stupid to handle the truth. Of course there are down sides to very vigorous exercise, risk of injury and becoming demotivated among them; but for goodness sake, let free adults decide for themselves.

The last article talked about making the time for exercise and has some great tips to get people moving. My tip comes from what my youngest does; he really doesn't like exercise, but he often walks for an hour or more while playing a hand held video game. My research has shown that he gets as much benefit or more than I get from a vigorous 20 minute run.

What is News?

2010-01-06T22:23:00.000-08:00

Tecolote Canyon from the air, looking south.

I took my dog for a walk at 8:30 this evening. As I left the house, I saw two police helicopters circling over Tecolote canyon with their search lights trained on the terrain below. They made quite the spectacle and noise and I kept an eye on them as I made the long trek around my neighborhood. They were up for at least a half hour and eventually flew off. But it got me thinking, about what is news. If you're like me, you read the paper, the internet watch television and feel well informed. But this little event that unfolded before my eyes has not been reported anywhere that I can find. Knowing the canyon is a haven for the homeless (almost said bums) and illegals and that there has been at least one murder there, I have to believe that something was up.

Earlier in the day, my son said he saw two Border Patrol SUVs flying up I-5, an unusual sight. Same story, no news from that either. And I am not sure whether that was related to what I saw later in the evening.

It just makes you wonder what else is going on where you will never really learn the full story.