The Second Time Around

One of my favorite Sinatra tunes is “The Second Time Around”.  That has nothing to do with this post, other than it’s a catchy title.

 

This post is not about music, but movies.  Last night Michelle and I watched “Wild Hogs”.  It was her first time to see it, but I’d seen it once before at the Malibu Cinema on a guy’s night.  The first time I watched it, I really disliked it.  I thought it was boring, predictable, and overall not worth the time or money. However, last night with Michelle I really liked it.  Certainly not worthy of any awards, but an entertaining way to waste 90 minutes at home.

 

The second movie I watched for the second time is “Quantum of Solace 007”.  I saw it on a guy’s night at the Malibu Cinemas also… at least most of it.  That night the projector broke at the theater about 75-minutes into the movie, and the teenager running the theater didn’t know how to get it started again.  So, she gave us all hand-written rain-checks to come back another night.  However, I don’t think any of us ever went back and watched the end of the movie.  It just didn’t capture our attention. 

This evening while I was hanging out at the hotel, I noticed it was on cable and I tuned in.  It was much better this time.  Very intense.  And it was very consistent with the themes in Daemon and Freedom (TM). .

Neither of these movies are great, but perhaps this goes to show that one’s expectations are shaped by the relative costs of an experience.  Paying $15 at Malibu Cinemas for a show on a guy’s night is pretty high expectations.  But, sitting at home (or a hotel) and killing time is pretty low. 

Maybe I should try Transformers 2 again on video?

Kicking off a long-ride…

This morning I parked my VStar at LAX …

 

 

and hopped on Southwest flight 643 from LAX to PHX to begin an 8-day motorcycle trip on Rte. 66.

Here’s the itinerary…

• Friday – I’m in PHX one day early (I misread the original email..doh!)
• Saturday – Pick up a couple of 2009 Dyna Glides (fully equipped for long road rides) and then we ride through the Tonto National Forest and up to Sedona, AZ where we’ll stay at a Fairfield Resort.
• Sunday – On to Abq to meet our long-time friend (and fellow cyclist) DSB.
• Monday – A LONG stretch across teh panhandle of Texas and across Western OK to our grandparents.
• Tuesday – A morning in OK with grandparents, then off to somewhere in KS.  Maybe to Lawrence to see Michelle’s grandma.
• Wednesday – Across MO and into IL.
• Thursday – On to Chicago where we’ll drop off the bikes and check into a hotel by the airport.
• Friday – 8:30 flight on AA1063 back to LA.

View Larger Map

My first stop here in PHX… was Scholotzsky’s.  They make a very unique sandwich that I first came to enjoy in Abilene 20 years ago.  They had one in Bloomington I think too…but it was on the other side of town, so we never went.

Today I’m just hanging out in the hotel room, blogging, emailing, and reading “Freedom (TM)” by Daniel Suarez.

Stay tuned for more updates from the road.  I think I’ll be able to blog almost every day.  I will also be uploading photos to Flickr from my iPhone.

Buenos Aires y me Cordizon!

 

Buenos Aires

I brought a group of 22 Graziadio students to Buenos Aires last week.  We had an amazing time touring the city, meeting local business leaders, and studying the economics, culture, and politics of Argentina.  It was an absolutely amazing trip.

After about four days, Michelle flew down and was with me for the last few days, then we stayed three days extra after the “official” program ended.  For a review and photos of the study tour see here. 

Here are some photos of Michelle and I touring the city and eating the wonderful food.

Here are a few observations about our trip…

• Unlike the other South American countries I have visited, Argentina views itself as a European country, not “Latin” or “Hispanic”.  It was largely settled by Italian and Spanish immigrants and maintains a largely Italian/Spanish/French identity.  One interesting anecdote from a professor here… he took a group of Argentine students to Darden (UVA) for a study tour in the US.  The instructor at Darden made a comment about how US culture is different from the “Hispanic” culture of Argentina and the students were visibly confused.  They had never considered themselves Hispanic and took issue with the characterization.
• Due to the unique identity (see above), the people, culture, and language are noticeably different from other SudAmericano countries.  For instance the “ll” (double-L) is pronounced with a “zh” sound rather than a “ye” sound.  Also, the people have a reputation in the region for being very arrogant and viewing themselves as different from the rest of the region (and superior).
• In 1910, Argentina was the 5th richest country in the world (today that place belongs to France).  Since that year, Argentina has consistently repeated a cycle of growth and revolution while sliding to the mid-50’s in total GDP.
• According to our instructors, roughly 50% of the national economy is “black market” meaning not reported to the gov’t for taxes.  There are many reasons for this… a distrust of the gov’t and banks leads to a cash-focused economy.  For instance, you can’t get a mortgage for your home…you must pay cash.  So you must bring $300K Ar PESOS to the seller and he must count them.  People tend to hoard their cash at home rather than keeping it in the bank.
• Due to the cash hoarding above, “breaking and entering” is one of the most common crimes in Argentina.  People don’t report their cash being stolen, because it would inspire an IRS investigation.
• For my more liberal friends who support populist policies of “taxing the rich”, you should visit BA.  You’ll see the good and bad of populist policies. On balance, what I saw here moved my opinion further from populism and more towards free markets.  I’m still a believer in government regulation to structure markets and protect the “helpless”.  But populism tends to destroy incentives for production.
• They eat dinner at 10-11pm here…everyone.  Not just the young, single, folks who are looking for some action.  We regularly saw families entering the restaurant at 10pm and staying until after 11.  The kids have to get up for school at 7am.  How do they do it?  And they also stay fit.  There was generally less obesity here than I see in America.
• The food was really good!  It was pretty bland with most meals consisting of a piece of pork or beef and some kind of potatoes. There were no whole veggies to speak of, but also much fewer processed foods overall.  One of our instructors argued that the food was bland because most of the topography nearby is quite bland…mild weather and flat terrain.  He thinks it requires mountains and temperature variation to create more flavorful foods.  Interesting. I think my brother would LOVE this place because of the plentiful steak in the local diet.  My favorite local item???? The empanadas.  Without question.
• The coffee culture is very European…lots of small cups of black coffee that are sipped for a LONG time.  One of my students found a Starbucks and brought a generous coffee to go to a meeting and it was noticeably out-of-place.
• One of the most notable elements of the lower GDP and economic weakness was the general unkemptness of the place.  It’s common to find trash on the streets, sidewalks in disrepair, and street signs missing.  It reminds me of John Q. Wilson’s theory of the broken window (the original article is in Atlantic Monthly from 1982, but I can’t find a public link) . 

Over all, this was a wonderful trip.  Now that it’s over, I’d like to learn Spanish before my return trip sometime soon.  I’d love to come here with Mom and Dad. 

Your belly is like...

So today I was wrestling with Madison.  It's always a lot of fun...lots of wrestling, tickling, and laughing.

Today, she came out with this poetic description...

Your belly is like a giant white landscape that goes on forever in softness and jelloness.

Gheesh...how nice.  :-)

(BTW - that is not my actual belly...)

Christianity and culture... sort of

Here's a funny take on how faith and culture intersect...or don't!

Bragging about being clueless about pop culture. « Stuff Christians Like – Jon Acuff

Photos from San Francisco

Holy moly!  We had a great time in San Francisco this week.  We spent five days there... two nights at the Hyatt Regency, and two at the Hilton.  Both were wonderful hotels and we did so many fun things.  Here are some photos...

The plan was to stay in NorCal and head up to Redwood National Park.  But the weatherman called for severe rain the rest of the week and maybe hail in Redwood. So, we headed back to Cozy Malibu to sleep, refresh, and start over.  We may be heading to Joshua Tree National Park instead for some camping and outdoor recreation.  Or maybe to Long Beach for a few days... Stay tuned...

A whole lot of celebration going on!

Lots of news here lately...
First, last weekend I received this,

and this.

From Mobile Uploads

In case you can't read the small type they are letters from the Provost and President of Pepperdine congratulating me on receiving tenure and promotion to Associate Professor. :-) This is a significant milestone in a journey that began over 10-years ago when I looked frankly at my life as a consultant and decided "I do not want to be writing code ten years from now."


For the past year+ I've been thinking that if I received tenure, I would celebrate by purchasing a new, sportier motorcycle.  However, over the past year our family car has begun having some significant issues... some of them cosmetic (paint, electric windows, general signs of aging), and some more structural (hey, it's a Toyota!). So, I simply couldn't feel good about buying an NTT (New Tenure Toy) while the family was in an aging wagon.  With all of this on my mind, we went for a hike on Saturday afternoon on the Backbone Trail (which is literally minutes from our house).  Here's an picture from the trail...

After the hike we went shopping for geraniums at a local nursury.  However, we were too late and the nursury was closed.  Keyes Nissan, however, was still open.  One thing led to another, and before you know it, we were saying goodbye to our beloved 2001 Sienna (you can see Marcus wasn't quite ready to part with it).

From Mobile Uploads

And we were driving home in a beautiful 2006 Nissan Armada.  Michelle, being a Texan, has always had a thing for big trucks.  So, this is just up her alley.

From Mobile Uploads

To keep the celebration going, on Monday, Michelle drove up to her orthodontist and had her braces removed! Here's her new smile...

Having secured the new family wagon, and paid off the orthodontist I felt much better about heading out to the local Thousand Oaks Powersports on Tuesday and signing up for a 2009 Kawi Versys.  I rode the Green Lantern home on Tuesday night.

Now I just need a matching green jacket and helmet and I'll be set!  The bike is a great combination of sporty handling, but comfortable riding position.  It's got a much higher "fun factor" than my cruiser and with a few adjustments (lower foot pegs and a softer seat) I think it will be ready for long distance cruising.

One more thing to wind up a wonderful week.  Yesterday I was officially offered, and accepted, the position as Associate Dean of Full-Time Programs at the Graziadio School of Business here at Pepperdine! Beginning on Aug. 1, 2010, I'll leave the quality control & production line of higher ed, and move into the category of "overhead".  I'm excited about the opportunity to make a difference in an institution that I care deeply about.

After a week like that, we're ready to for some relaxing.  So, we leave today at noon for a week-long driving tour of the CA Coast.  We'll be in San Francisco Fri-Sun, then in Redwoods National Park, Crater Lake Oregon, Sacramento, CA and finally back in LA.  Of course, we'll be in the new Armada burning an amazing 12 MPG.  Oh well... March 2010 will go down as one of the best months so far.