Passport to the New Year

Each year involves a new adventure, a need to quench the inner wanderlust. 2003 was about London. Twice in fact, with a short side journey the second time around to dramatic Edinburgh. 2004 was about Paris. The first time as a couple. The amazing balcony view from our hotel room will forever be etched in my memory of that trip, as will our boat cruise up the river Seine on a chilly winter evening. I recently stumbled across this website by another adventuresome couple that recaps one of their days in the City of Lights (link here). Heartened to see they recommended one of "our" restaurants, Le Trumilou, along the quay near the Hotel de Ville. I can still taste the grilled whole fish with sauce. Mmm. T and I will have to do Paris again very soon. What will 2005 hold for us as travelers? We'll have to see how things unfold, but Korea will definitely be in the mix.

New Year, New Look

In celebration of the coming new year, thought it appropriate to revamp the look of the weblog, so voila, here it is...

Fantasy Football Finals

We're approaching the last week of the regular season of the NFL. Normally, this wouldn't be an item of note on my calendar since I'm not really a diehard professional football fan. My heart is really in the college game and has been ever since my freshman year at Berkeley. Fitting, with Cal slated to play in its second straight postseason bowl game less than six hours from now (Holiday Bowl, ESPN, 5pm PST). But this season, Sal and some of my other colleagues at Wells convinced me to throw in my twenty dollars and more importantly, my reputation as a proud Texas native to join their fantasy football league. So for an agonizingly long sixteen weeks now, I and eight others have been researching players, watching countless games, negotiating trades with other members, and through it all, consistently trash talking our beaten foes on Monday mornings. For those not in the know about fantasy sports, it's a large, multi-million dollar industry involving every major media outlet in print, broadcast, and the internet. It has contributed to making ESPN the highest revenue-generating cable station in history. Just about every male between the ages of 18 and 45 either plays or knows someone who plays one of the fantasy sports, football, baseball, and/or basketball. And its impact on the national economy, especially during the last weeks of the particular season whether it be the NFL, MLB, or NBA, is immense; a handful of economists have even proven a noticeable loss in GDP due to fantasy sports and its effects on worker productivity. Well, week seventeen, the final week, is a few days away. Seven teams are clearly out of contention. And only two teams are left standing, mine and Jeff's. It'll be extremely close with only a single point separating our two teams as of today. $150 and bragging rights are on the line. Just hoping my wide receivers have a good weekend with many of my running backs sidelined with injuries.

Creative Writing for Adults

The San Francisco Chronicle wine section had an amusing article this morning recapping the notable events in the wine industry this past year and touched on the success of the independent film, "Sideways", by parodying its two main characters, Miles and Jack (article here). In the spirit of the struggling-writer-cum-wine-expert Miles, the article provides a link to a website that someone created a while back that randomly generates wine notes, the short and often adjective-filled commentary by wine connoisseurs used to define the "character" and "personality" of each wine. Here is the link to the Silly Tasting Notes Generator (website here). My first wine note... "Chunky but equally big and plump Chenin Blanc. Hits you with smoked bacon, over-oaked black-cherry and lingering honey. Drink now through June." You can also generate an "extra-silly" version. Here is my first over-the-top wine note... "Tightly wound and morally superior Voignier. Essenses of cottage cheese, sweet fruity pebbles and semi-weak buttermilk pancakes. Drink now through 2008." Too funny. One could make much of the conspiracy amongst professional writers and winemakers. Imagine some of the literary greats marketing wine in their own particular style of writing... Hemingway, Faulkner, Twain, Steinbeck... the latter may be one up already, having penned The Grapes of Wrath.

Autumn 2004, the Abridged Version

The autumn of 2004 marked many a personal milestone. Rather than revisit each with a lengthy, long-winded tome, I thought it better to just list them out and save the in-depth commentary for future weblog entries: - A picturesque and memorable wedding, reception, and extended family reunion in the Sonoma wine country - A wonderful family gathering at the house on the Russian River - A week of decadence and irresponsibility on the banks of the Seine in Paris on our honeymoon - Hosting more than three hundred church members in Walnut Creek for a second wedding reception - Celebrating our first Christmas weekend together as a combined family on the north shore of Lake Tahoe - Having a number of out-of-town friends crash at our new place including two that recently made the decision to move back to the Bay Area - In the midst of all of this, somehow completing the fall quarter of my second year in the MBA program - Watching the Cal football team climb to a top five national ranking after more than a decade of grief as a long-suffering fan - Participating in the annual Big Game bonfire at the Hearst Greek Theater and watching Cal demolish Stanford the next day for the third straight year - Too many other memories to recount in one blog so this will have to do for now.

Closed for the Season

The weblog will be on hiatus from late October to sometime in December. Off to get married.

Power Couple

Loni Hancock and her husband are familiar faces in the local political scene and have been for quite some time now. In the late eighties and early nineties (while I was a student at Cal), she was the first woman to be elected and serve as mayor of the City of Berkeley. In her two terms as mayor, she made a name for herself at the state and national levels of the Democratic Party, along with friend and Berkeley economics professor Laura Tyson. Both were eventually tapped by Bill Clinton to serve in his administration, Hancock in the Department of Education and Tyson as his chief economic adviser. Hancock returned to Berkeley in 2001, in part, to run for the state assembly seat being vacated by her husband, Tom Bates, a seat that he had held for two decades. I know this, in large part, because I served as a legislative intern for then Assemblyman Bates while a student at Berkeley. It was quite an experience. In large measure because the district, the 14th Assembly District, comprised the most diverse hodgepodge of constituent cities and towns, from the liberal stronghold of Berkeley and the communities north of Berkeley to the affluent but politically moderate (at times progressive) area of Lafayette-Moraga-Orinda ("Lamorinda") to the solidly conservative middle-class suburb of Walnut Creek. It was a testament to Bates' political acumen that he succeeded in office for so long given this demographic challenge. He stuck to the issues that were of common concern to all including health services for the elderly and indigent, primary and secondary education, and strong support for the Berkeley campus as well as the East Bay parks district including the creation and funding of the shoreline park and walking trail that now runs from El Cerrito through the Berkeley marina down to Emeryville. Of course in a district dominated by countless Berkeley alums, it didn't hurt that Bates was a starting player on the last Cal football team to play in the Rose Bowl, way back in 1959. Recently, Bates did a little switch-a-roo with his wife by successfully running for mayor of Berkeley against Shirley Dean who took the seat from Hancock when she left for the Clinton post. So Bates, once the 14th District Assemblyman, is now Berkeley mayor. And his wife, Hancock, once Berkeley mayor, is now the 14th District Assemblywoman. In politics, anything is possible. Anyhow, the San Francisco Chronicle ran an article today (link here) about Hancock's new weblog, intended to be a forum for constituents to sound off on certain issues of local concern. The first topic being discussed is the hotly debated proposal for the first Indian gaming casino in the state to be located in an urban center, smack dab in the heart of her legislative district.

Economic Sleight of Hand? The Deception of Low Inflation

A commentary written this month by Bill Gross of PIMCO, the most respected bond fund manager on the Street, has been the talk of the professional investment community (link here). According to Gross, the federal government has been "fudging on inflation" by adjusting many of the prices that go into its calculation for improvements in quality. In a brief five page article, he accuses the federal government of having artificially adjusted down key measures of inflation and of having overstated productivity levels and more importantly, overall GDP growth. He has very strong words for the government and in particular, Greenspan's Fed. He writes: "No I cannot sit quietly on this one, nor as I’ve mentioned, have other notables in the past few years. The CPI as calculated may not be a conspiracy but it’s definitely a con job foisted on an unwitting public by government officials who choose to look the other way or who convince themselves that they are fostering some logical adjustment in a New Age Economy dependent on the markets and not the marketplace for its survival. If the CPI is so low and therefore real wages in the black, tell me why U.S. consumers are resorting to hundreds of billions in home equity takeouts to keep consumption above the line. If real GDP growth is so high, tell me why this economy hasn’t created any jobs over the past four years. High productivity? Nonsense, in part – statistical, hedonically created nonsense. My sense is that the CPI is really 1% higher than official figures and that real GDP is 1% less. You are witnessing a 'haute con job' and one day those gorgeous statistics just like those gorgeous models, will lose their makeup, add a few pounds and wind up resembling a middle-aged Mom in a cotton skirt with better things to do than to chase the latest fad or ephemeral fashion." Looks as though the era of Greenspan worship may be coming to an end as this commentary undercuts everything the Fed has achieved, or rather, claimed to have achieved, in the past half decade, most notably of having kept inflation in check.

No W(h)ining

Heard from someone in my MBA program that Stanford is actually offering a wine tasting class for credit. I was so floored by this that I actually did a search for the class webpage (link here). Unbelievable. If the luxury shopping mall, equestrian center, 18-hole golf course, and Rodin sculpture garden, all on campus, weren't enough. Makes one wonder if Stanford is indeed a real university or rather a luxury resort that happens to award you a piece of sheepskin at the end of your four-year vacation. Apparently, the class from a prior semester toured Chateau Souverain during a trip to Sonoma; they have photos of the entrance as well as the grounds posted on the site (photos here).

Friday Night Fellowship

The new film, Friday Night Lights, based on journalist H.G. Bissinger's bestselling nonfiction book of the same name, follows the actual events of the Permian Panthers high school football team in the barren west Texas oil town of Odessa during their 1988 state championship season (review here). Both the book and the film adaptation document and dramatize the obsessiveness and cult status of high school football in rural Texas, in particular, in the boom-and-bust town of Odessa where winning is everything. Indeed, I can attest to the fact that in every Texas town on Friday nights during high school football season, everyone, and I mean everyone including the mayor, is sitting somewhere in the stadium bleachers rooting on the home team. It's the only game in town. But it's more than that. Friday night football games in the Lone Star State are more akin to Sunday morning worship service. An informal state religion really and a mandatory part of one's civic duty as a citizen of the Republic of Texas. The book (and film) document the 1988 season. I actually remember that year and the divisional playoff game between the very same Odessa Permian team and my high school alma mater, Nimitz. With our star running back, we nearly pulled off the upset. Not quite though. Should be interesting watching the movie knowing that our school was involved in one of Permian's playoff games that year.

Going Native: The Hawaiian Rice Plate

While T and I ate most of our meals at the various wedding events, we did have the occasional opportunity to venture out. After our flight into Hilo, we took the advice of a colleague of mine who had just returned from his own trip to the Big Island. Matt's recommendation of Cafe Pesto (link here) was only reinforced on the plane ride in by a "local" who recommended the place to the young flight attendant on board. Who knew the best place to eat in Hilo was an Italian restaurant. Go figure. T's grilled ono with jalapeno-infused broth was delicious though. And my wild mushroom and artichoke pizza wasn't bad either. But the real high point for me was my first encounter with a traditional "Hawaiian rice plate". Hawaiian rice plates are the everyday food of locals, having originated with the sugar cane plantation workers from Japan and Korea generations ago. They vary in composition and quality depending on where you go but generally always include a handful of common components served on a paper plate: rice, fried egg, fried spam, and gravy. T and I ate ours at Blane's in Hilo. Delicious. It definitely beats mainland fast food both on taste and price. Each plate is less than four bucks! My mission now is to find a genuine Hawaiian rice plate place in the Bay Area. There has to be one somewhere.

Big Island, Big Celebration

T and I flew into Hawaii on Thursday for Vincent and Allison's weekend wedding celebration in Kona. Our Island Air flight from Honolulu to Hilo on the opposite side of the Big Island was spectacular. The pilot of the two propeller, 30-seat island hopper flew low enough along the northern shoreline that we could make out each person, each horse, each banana plant, and each dramatic coastal waterfall (and there were many). Hilo is a lush green, tropical paradise, and the flight into the airport was a visual feast. Driving over the mountain pass to the Kona side was another story. The barren expansive fields of lava rock made us feel as though we were roving on the moon's surface. And there were very few "locals" in the coastal Kohala district as most of the area is comprised of isolated and gated resort hotels, including the Marriot where we stayed (link here). Great hotel though and the private beach alone was worth the trip. Ah, reclining on a lounge chair inches from the clear blue ocean surf, the sweet murmur of lapping waves. Nirvana. Other than a few side trips including a tour of the Greenwell Farms plantation in the coffee growing district of Kona, much of our time was spent at one of the many wedding events during the three-day celebration. The rehearsal dinner at the estate house of the Parker Ranch in Waimea (link here) was beyond words. From the demographic of the hundred plus guests, the gathering straddled members of the Princeton Alumni Club of Northern California, seemingly all Ivy League-educated venture capitalists in the Bay Area under thirty-five years of age, Vincent's Kim clan from the East Coast, and Allison's Hostetter clan from the Midwest. The open mike speeches and toasts were all quite memorable and some of them absolutely hilarious. Exactly how did the two of them meet again? Even the Hawaiian pastor ribbed them about that one. The ceremony on Saturday afternoon was held at the small but historic Imiola Church in Waimea (photo here). The New England-style wooden structure supposedly dates back to the mid-nineteenth century. During the ceremony, gusts of ocean wind caused the planks to creak every now and then much like the inner hulls of a wooden ship. Despite the very traditional surroundings, the officiant kept the program short and light-hearted with a refreshing mix of sincerity and humor. Afterwards, we made our way to the reception which was held on the lawns of the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel facing both the white sand shores of Kauna'oa Bay and the deep orange hues of the Hawaiian sunset (link here). It was a quite an evening to cap off the weekend. Disco dancing notwithstanding. We wish V & A a happy life together as well as a safe trip back from their African safari.

Dinner on the Stagecoach

Had dinner last night with the rest of the equity derivatives team at the Slanted Door restaurant in the historic Ferry Building (link here). We ordered a table full of appetizers and entrees along with several bottles of wine and microbrews. It was quite a spread. The buttery halibut with spicy cilantro salad were beyond words as were the tender claypot-cooked shortribs. And the imperial rolls rocked as usual. The best part was passing the bill over to Matt. Of course, a close second was Matt, Steph, and I, the Berkeley contingent, gloating about the success of our football team just to needle the three Stanfordites in our midst.

Weekend Highlights

As we get closer to the wedding date, my thoughts and musings are becoming more abbreviated and fragmented. With preparation for the wedding and honeymoon, marriage planning, work, school, family, friends, and a host of other obligations competing for time and attention, my mind has become one incredibly complex web of interwoven to-do's and queues. One gigantic Excel spreadsheet of the synapses. Anyhow, I did manage to "indulge" in some fun and non-productive things this past weekend. Here's a brief synopsis. Friday night at the Hawaiian (and later Korean) bar on Geary with T and friends for a bachelorette celebration. A personal tour later that night of the Frakes' home in the quiet enclave of St. Francis Wood, guided in part by a doting Schnauzer terrier. Saturday morning enjoying the Cal game on our new Samsung HD-ready widescreen television. Saturday afternoon mountain biking on the Sawyer Camp Trail along the Crystal Springs reservoir with Wag Boy setting the pace. Sunday afternoon with Phil and Suze (after her long sabbatical in Europe) for a dimsum feast in Chinatown and a casual stroll to North Beach for coffee.

Hawaii Lite

This past Friday, Staci organized a bachelorette night for T at a popular Hawaiian nightspot down on Geary in the City. A few of us non-femmes made it out for the last half hour. Before I had a chance to get my seat warm, the drinks came out, one after the other. I don't remember much after that, really. Just bits here and there. The live island music, a pair of raunchy dice, a group tequila shot, a camera phone shadowing my every move, downing a pink Pepto-looking concoction, a small windup toy "swimming" across the table, Wag Boy clearing his throat for an encore performance of the Peking Opera, Christine and Staci looking on in disbelief... hope the night was not a portend of things to come this weekend when T and I are actually in Hawaii... "island living" may be a bit too much for my system. Anyhow, mahalo to Staci for planning the night out and for not hiring a male dancer for the occasion... notwithstanding an inebriated Jonathan doing the Irish jig on the sidewalk after our nightcap at the Korean bar down the street... Riverdance it was not.

The (Real) Big Game

Forget the annual Big Game with Stanford. Right now, THE Big Game is the one on Saturday against USC (link here). USC and Cal are ranked first and seventh in the nation, respectively, and are battling for the Pac-10 title, not to mention, if things go really right, the BCS crown. Just how big is the upcoming Cal-USC game? ABC is touting it as the game to watch and will be televising it nationally. ESPN College GameDay has chosen it as the college game of the week (over the Texas-Oklahoma game) and will be airing their show live from the Coliseum. And the godfather of college football, Keith Jackson, will be doing the play-by-play of the game. The Coliseum has already sold out its 92,000 seats. 92,000! Crazy. And the winner, no doubt, will be an odds-on favorite for the Orange Bowl. Forget the Rose Bowl. If Cal wins on Saturday, they will, for the first time in a very, very, very long time, have a shot at the national title. Bad news, USC is a 7 1/2 point favorite going into the game. Good news, USC was a heavy favorite last season as well, before the Bears upset them in their only loss of the year. As a longtime Cal football fan, I'm flying high (and cashing in on years of agonizing, gut-wrenching losses).

Shallow Alto, Shallow Wallet

Big surprise. Coldwell Banker released the results of their national survey of home prices. Eight of the top twenty cities nationwide with the most expensive housing markets are located right here in the Bay Area: Palo Alto (4), San Mateo (7), San Francisco (8), Oakland Hills/Montclair (15), San Jose (16), Santa Cruz (18), Fremont (19), and Pleasanton (20) (link here). A typical home in Palo Alto averages $1.21 million. Insane. The top ten is comprised almost entirely of California cities with La Jolla (1), Beverly Hills (2), and Santa Barbara (3) heading up the list. With the severe budget issues plaguing state and local governments in California, the high assessment of home values is a necessary lifeline. The question is will the revenue generated by high property taxes help counties work their way through the budget mess. And what happens when valuations, i.e., home prices, begin to fall. Oye.

Corgi Uncorked

Amusing article about a Geyserville winery's recent shindig for its dog-owning club members (link here). Is that a Westie terrier I see in the first photo?

Weekend in Hawaii: Sun, Surf, and Sand... oh, and Southern Cal

It was announced earlier today that the much anticipated USC (#1) versus Cal (#10) game in two weeks will be nationally televised on ABC and will be billed as the college game of the week. Should be an epic matchup. USC just barely escaped Stanford Stadium with a win over the lowly Cardinal on Saturday. They were 22+ point favorites going into the game but barely managed to scrape by with a 3 point margin of victory. The question everyone in college football is asking after that shocker: is USC vulnerable? Or was it a needed wake-up call for a dominant but increasingly complacent squad? Paper tiger or waking lion? Cal fans can only hope it is the former and not the latter. Jake Curtis of the San Francisco Chronicle summarizes it best in his column (link here). Looks as though T and I will be in Hawaii for Vincent and Allison's wedding that weekend. Given the time difference, I may have to get up extremely early to catch the broadcast. Wonder if there is an all-night sports bar in Kona.

Masters in Bemoaning Accounting (MBA)

Began the second year of my MBA program earlier this week. One of my courses this quarter, Managerial Accounting: Strategic Cost Management, is needed for an accounting elective requirement. After taking Introduction to Financial Accounting the first year, it became quite clear that accounting was not an area that held much deep personal interest. Sure discretion and judgement play a part in the field, but for the most part, it remains a highly mechanical, rule-based discipline that limits innovation and creative thinking. Maybe that's why most of the professional accountants that I have met are self-effacing. For the next ten weeks, I'll have to bear with it. One bean, two beans, three beans... oye.

Roman War

Amused to read on the front page of today's Wall Street Journal that American watchmakers are campaigning against the recent use of the Roman numeral "IV" by luxury Swiss watchmakers Patek Philippe and Bedat & Co. Apparently, watchmakers have traditionally used "IIII" on the face as a means to counterbalance the visual weight of the "VIII" on the other side, and some of them view the use of "IV" as an affront to this age-old practice. In all my years of wearing watches with Roman numerals, I never even noticed the use of the "IIII". Somehow, it seems a bit wrong. In my numerous Latin classes, we were always taught to use "IV"; never, ever "IIII". The writer points out that London's Big Ben, the most famous of clock faces, also skirts the convention by using "IV". T and I were actually tipped off to the controversy earlier in the week by a saleswoman at the Kerns boutique in Burlingame as we were pricing some of their watches. We may actually go with the Bedats. Good thing too because, at $25,000 each, the Pateks may be a bit out of our price range.

$1.27 Million

Andrew Tilton had better be right about the decline in home prices. The San Francisco Business Times just published an article with the following statistic: "Statewide, the 10 cities and communities with the highest median home prices in California during August 2004 were: Beverly Hills, $1,445,000; Manhattan Beach, $1,400,00; Laguna Beach, $1,375,000; Los Altos, $1,350,000; Palos Verdes Estates, $1,325,000; Burlingame, $1,270,000; Newport Beach, $1,100,000; Saratoga, $1,062,500; Orinda, $950,000; Calabasas, $935,000." Burlingame/Hillsborough is the sixth most expensive housing market in the state. A median of $1.27 million? Yikes.

Warring Street, Berkeley

Reading this article in the San Francisco Chronicle (link here) reminded me of my own days living in a house on Berkeley's "Greek Row", the picturesque, tree-lined thoroughfare that runs down Piedmont Avenue and Warring Street connecting the eastern gate of campus, Hearst Greek Theater, Memorial Stadium, International House, and the Clark Kerr satellite campus. Friends of my aunt and uncle down in Ventura County were looking for someone to manage a large multi-unit house they happened to own in Berkeley; their son, a member of the Cal men's swimming team, had just graduated and would be moving out of the house along with his teammates (including Olympic gold medalist Matt Biondi, who lived on the second floor). So I jumped at the chance. Free rent with a small weekly stipend. The house and the setup was more than any college student could ask for. Room-by-room housekeeping twice a week, professional gardener, big screen projection television, leather lounge chairs, mahogany furniture, gourmet kitchen with a double oven, full size pool table, free income from selling parking spots along our driveway during football games, etc. Good times.

No, it's the Ritz

The weekend retreat at the Ritz in Half Moon Bay was just the ticket. It started off with a bang. On the way to the resort, we happened to spot one of our colleagues darting around in his new BMW M3 convertible. He shot us the "wanna race" glance and in no time, we were off to the races. Not much of a matchup given I was driving my lowly Subaru Outback. But one of my passengers knew of a shortcut through a local road bypassing a particularly nasty stretch of Highway 1, the route our bimmer friend took. Needless to say, the porter was carting our bags into the hotel just as the M3 roared into the valet station. Chalk one up for the underdog. Indeed, knowledge is power. Later that afternoon, we made sure to rib him plenty about the embarrassing defeat. The dinner in the Miramontes Room rocked. Grilled lobster tails and fresh raw bar served out on a clifftop terrace overlooking the Pacific Ocean during sunset... it had a dreamlike quality to it. Afterwards, everyone congregated around the fire pit for the ritual cooking of the smores. Others opted for cigars and cognac. The best part was going back to my room which came furnished with a large and inviting marble bath and had incredible views of the coastline and the nearby golf links. It all conjured up that classic scene in one of my all-time favorite movies, Field of Dreams, when Shoeless Joe Jackson surveys the pristine baseball diamond built on Ray Kinsella's wheat field... Shoeless Joe: "Is this heaven?"... Ray: "No, it's Iowa."

Retreat Hangover

The outside speaker at this year's retreat was Andrew Tilton, the senior economist at Goldman Sachs. His summary of the economy and the outlook for the near and medium term were sobering. The boost from the stimulus has ended, the federal budget deficit is growing, the need to devalue the currency is inevitable, the medicare system needs to be fixed, the Fed has only begun its tightening of rates, corporate profits are headed downward as productivity begins to decline, ad infinitem. He made a point of downplaying the effect of higher oil prices on the economy by pointing to a more troublesome issue, the huge effect that mortgage refinancings have had in boosting consumer spending and consequently, the business sector. Tilton and other economists view the drying up of the mortgage refi market as a more troublesome issue as the economic recovery tries desperately to gain traction. As for the one bright spot in the economy thus far, housing, Tilton believes the "bubble" (yes, he used the term "bubble") began six months ago when he and other economists witnessed the irrational rising of home prices soon after a rise in mortgate rates; this was on top of analysis showing the widening and untenable gap between income levels and housing prices. He and others believe that housing hotspots like the Bay Area are due for price declines but is of the opinion that such declines will be spread out over a couple of years.

Global Schadenfreude

Very interesting op/ed essay in the latest issue of Foreign Policy (article link here).

Daily Mantra

Just two more days until my Wells group retreat at the Ritz-Carlton Resort & Spa in Half Moon Bay (link here)... just two more days until my Wells group retreat at the Ritz-Carlton Resort & Spa in Half Moon Bay... just two more days until my Wells group retreat at the Ritz-Carlton Resort & Spa in Half Moon Bay. Repeat mantra until the pain is alleviated.

Time is Flying By... at Gale Force

Thought it appropriate with the recent spate of catastrophic hurricanes battering the Southeast that my own schedule has seemed like a plus-150 mph, category 5 windstorm. Wedding planning, honeymoon planning, preparing for my second year of the MBA program, preparing for the move from Burlingame to San Mateo, not to mention the typical demands from work, family, and friends, make Hurricane Ivan look like a minor gust of wind during a typical Chicago day. In the past week, I must have driven what is the equivalent of three laps around the entire Bay Area running errands, visiting with family, meeting with friends, shopping for gifts, searching for furniture, ad infinitem. Thankfully, we have enjoyed and made the most of what little downtime we do have. On Saturday evening, after watching the Cal football team (now ranked tenth in the nation by both AP and ESPN) demolish their second opponent, hapless New Mexico State, we met up with Wag Boy down in Palo Alto and had a hearty dinner at Gordon Biersch off University. The coupling of their seasonal hefeweizen with a basket of their tasty garlic fries rocks. It was a great late summer evening down on "the Farm". And before we knew it, the streets were flooded with inebriated and obnoxious Stanford football fans celebrating their team's drubbing of BYU at neighboring Stanford Stadium. Read later that the Athletic Director had to write a formal letter of apology to BYU for the Stanford Band's halftime show in which they poked fun at BYU's Mormon heritage by depicting a polygamous BYU student with his four wives. Typical. The Stanford Band is notorious for their game-time antics. Most Cal fans will never forget the Band's arrogance when they marched prematurely onto the field during the 1982 Big Game; and will never forget the humiliation the Band suffered seconds later (see photo) at the end of what is now known simply as "the Big Play". They will never learn.

Tour de San Francisco

Look forward to catching just a glimpse of the T-Mobile International pro cycling race (link here and here) taking part in downtown San Francisco this Sunday. All of the headliners will be participating including Lance Armstrong and his U.S. Postal team, Bobby Julich, Levi Leipheimer, etc. Should be awesome actually seeing them live and up close, especially as they tackle the punishing Taylor Street climb.

It's Like Africa Hot

This late summer heat wave in the Bay Area has been an unwelcome surprise. I heard from a colleague that it was a sweltering ninety degrees in the Outer Sunset District of San Francisco the past few days. That is astounding for an area that is typically blanketed in fog and never gets much warmer than the upper sixties. Another colleague who is on maternity leave and has been working from home out in Pleasanton has had her air conditioning system going round-the-clock, with the plus one hundred degree highs baking her roof. What is up with the weather? If it gets any hotter, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) may just rise from his grave and take back his quip, "the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco". A more apropos quote is the one from the Matthew Broderick character in the film remake of Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues: "It's like Africa hot".

Cal 56, Air Force 14

Cal won its season opener convincingly and made a strong argument for all of the preseason hype as well as the top 15 national rankings from both the AP and ESPN polls. Rodgers and Arrington both looked solid as did the offensive line. And freshman tailback Lynch is clearly the real deal. I had the live stream of the game playing on my wi-fi enabled laptop at a Starbucks in the Santana Row shopping district of San Jose, and the neighboring cafe patron turned out to be a Cal grad as well. He pulled his chair alongside my laptop, and we formed an impromptu Cal rooting section. Good times.

Open for Business (School)

The second year of my MBA program officially begins in three weeks. Three weeks. Damn. Well I enjoyed the summer recess while it lasted. Definitely not looking forward to restarting the daily commutes from downtown San Francisco down to the heart of Silicon Valley. Forty miles of pure I-101 gridlock. Shouldn't complain. I have a classmate that makes the daily trip from his job in Walnut Creek, a much nastier sixty mile, I-680 commute from the inland part of the East Bay. Maybe I'll seek solace and inspiration from Jason, a classmate and fellow Kor-Am student group member, who graduated this past June. He and his wife Melissa just invited us over to their new home in Sunnyvale for a housewarming party next weekend, where we will invariably commiserate with the other MBAs and their spouses. Plenty of beer and pizza I hope.

Sedaris in Berkeley

Reviewed the fall schedule for Cal Performances (link here) and was surprised to find David Sedaris on the lineup. I have been slowly chipping away at his latest work, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (link here), during my trips to the loo, and some of his latest pieces are pure comic genius. There is one that had me in tears - "Six to Eight Black Men", about how different cultures celebrate Christmas, in particular, the Dutch, where Santa is accompanied not by reindeer or elves but rather, "by six to eight angry black men". Apparently a holdover from the Netherlands' days as a colonial power. In an age of globalism and cultural homogeneity, Sedaris finds comfort in these peculiar vestiges of regionalism. He also notes the gun laws in Michigan which permit the blind to hunt unaccompanied by a sighted person. Scary. I enjoyed his prior Me Talk Pretty One Day and Holidays on Ice, but this collection may top them all.

Los Pueblewhat?

Some residents along the rugged and spectacular coastal stretches of San Mateo County are proposing incorporation as a municipality to gain more sway over local development (article link here). Not unheard of. This was partly in response to the recent acquisition of private land by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (link here). But the sheer size of the land the residents are wanting to include is jaw-dropping: all land within the boundaries of Pacifica (north), Santa Cruz (south), the Pacific Ocean (west), and I-280 (east), excluding the already incorporated town of Half Moon Bay. This would include the stretch of Crystal Springs adjacent to our new place along the San Mateo/Hillsborough border. The proposed area has two of the best scenic drives in all of Northern California (i.e., Highway 1 from Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz and I-280 along the Upper and Lower Crystal Springs Reservoirs from Burlingame to Palo Alto), as well as some of its most pristine beaches and hiking trails, especially along the unspoiled mountain ridges separating Crystal Springs from the coastal areas. With only 6,500 residents in that vast swath of scenic and undeveloped greenspace, it would make the proposed "city" the least densely populated municipality in the entire state. More trees than people indeed. Along with the fiscal hurdles involved with incorporation, the proponents will probably need to change the proposed name of their municipality to garner some more votes. Los Pueblecitos? Sounds more like a barren, sun-baked transit stop in the middle of Arizona or New Mexico rather than the lush, coastal oasis that it represents, in Northern California. And the name doesn't exactly roll off one's tongue. Thankfully, the proposition is a long shot.

Buy Dubya at 0.534, Sell Kerry at 0.466

As mentioned in the prior "Going Long" on Shares of UCB weblog entry, the University of Iowa maintains a simulated but fairly accurate futures market on the expected outcome of the upcoming Presidential Election (link here). The morning after Cheney's pointed attack of Kerry during the Republican National Convention, it appears the spread between Bush and Kerry in the Iowa market is widening in Bush's favor. Dubya is now trading at 0.534 and Kerry is at 0.466. Translation, the markets are forecasting a 53.4%/46.6% outcome with the Bush/Cheney ticket winning reelection. This may change with the anticipated barrage of anti-Bush commercials about to be broadcast by pro-Kerry 527 groups.

Last Breath of Bachelorhood

T had her bridal shower this past weekend and a number of her out-of-town friends made the trip to San Francisco including some friends from New York who took up residence at my place in Burlingame. So I crashed over at Wagamama Boy's bachelor pad across the bay. Big screen television, Comcast digital cable, comfortable couches, ready supply of beverages... need I say more. After a pleasant dinner on Saturday night with T and a few of her friends (including Kathy from Seattle, who I met for the first time), I made the drive back to the pad where Wagamama and I sat unmoved till three in the morning as we soaked up the multi-channel Olympics coverage. The gold medal match in women's handball between Korea and Denmark was epic. Never thought I would be so into handball, a strange amalgam of soccer, basketball, and roller derby. Game went past double overtime and ended on an exchange of penalty throws. Definite nailbiter. {remote control} Taekwondo. Steven Lopez wins gold. {remote control} Track and field relays. U.S. men's 4x400 dominates the field. {remote control} Volleyball... at the rate we were going, we could have easily gone till daybreak. Good times. Much thanks to Jeannie for planning the shower and for allowing me one last weekend to squander time as a pretend bachelor.

"Going Long" on Shares of UCB

The expectations for the Cal football team are sky high. The San Francisco Chronicle ran a series of articles in today's special Pac-10 preview including the lead article (link here). Not surprisingly, the Cal-USC matchup is getting quite a bit of national attention including from ESPN and ABC. Not so much because Cal and USC are expected to be the top two teams in the conference, but rather, because of the backstory involving last season's BCS debacle. USC's only loss was to Cal in triple overtime, ultimately costing them the outright national championship and tossing the entire BCS computerized scoring system into chaos. USC, the consensus number one in the country, will be out for revenge. But this year's Cal team is strong enough to make the matchup very interesting. This year's football viewing season will be a busy one with the program in Berkeley getting so much attention (and televised coverage); not to mention my participation in a friend's fantasy football league. The live draft for the league is in a couple of days and the trash talk amongst the ten participants has already begun. Fantasy football should be interesting this year especially with the involvement of two long-time veterans in our league. During football season, much of Wall Street spends as much time glued to the fantasy football ticker as it does to the exchange ticker. Scary. In fact, our Bloomberg terminals on the floor provide real-time football scores, news, and player updates. Trading stocks or trading players. Same approach, same skills involved. Buy low, sell high. Shares in IBM undervalued? How about Pittsburgh wide receiver Plaxico Burress? Shares in UT Starcom a growth opportunity? How about San Francisco quarterback Tim Rattay? Now if the Cal football program were a stock, it's beta would be off the charts. On a related note, the University of Iowa operates a simulated "market" in which participants can buy or sell futures based on their expectations of who will win the Presidential Election (link here). It's considered to be fairly accurate. Bush was last trading at 0.525 while Kerry was at 0.476 (latest quotes here). Not a good sign for the Democrats.

Show Me the Money

Just heard another one of our group members is defecting to New York. Two major departures in less than three months, both to major derivatives dealer firms in midtown Manhattan. First, Steven to BNP Paribas and now Mike to Credit Suisse First Boston. Times like these that I realize the derivatives world is comprised of a scant three cities: New York, London, and Tokyo. And that the real money and the bulk of opportunities are in New York. Sad to see Mike go. During a group dinner at Moose's in North Beach, his inebriated and comic attempt to speak Russian, apparently the native language of his maternal grandmother, to Katya, a colleague and daughter of a former Russian diplomat, had us in tears. Dosvidanya Mikhail and spasiba.

Get Real

Seattle-based Real Networks appears to be upping the anty in its battle with Apple and its hugely successful iTunes website for paid online music downloading supremacy. Just a week ago, they introduced a promotional "half-price sale", lowering the price per song from 99 cents to 49 cents. And this morning, they announced a pilot program with two universities allowing students to subscribe to the Rhapsody monthly service at a steep discount (link here); students would pay $2 to $3 per month for access to unlimited music downloading. Hmm. But don't they download songs for free already. Yes and no. While peer-to-peer "sharing" is still very common, universities have really cracked down on the practice, usually by limiting the bandwidth of dormitory broadband connections at night. And Real Networks is betting that students would opt to pay the nominal charge for the convenience of not having to hunt for songs via peer sharing networks, the assurance of a quality download, and the legitimacy of having legal ownership of the songs. The two pilot campuses? The University of Minnesota and my alma mater, the University of California, Berkeley. The execs at Real Networks are a crafty bunch. One can't dismiss the audacity of their latter choice. Berkeley is not far from Apple CEO Steve Jobs' "other" office at Pixar Studios in neighboring Emeryville (or from Apple headquarters in Cupertino, for that matter); and Jobs' close friend and Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniack, is a Berkeley alum and continues to have strong ties to the campus. It's getting ugly.

The Big Rivalry in Athens

Both the Berkeley and Stanford athletic departments are tracking the success of their respective Olympians at the Games in Athens (Berkeley link and Stanford link). As of today, Stanford collectively has six medals, all silver, and has yet to garner a gold. This is surprising given the large contingent of Stanfordites in Athens. Comparatively, Berkeley grad Natalie Coughlin alone has already earned two gold, two silver, and a bronze. Bears rule. On the topic of Cal athletics, there was yet another glowing article about the football program, this time in the most recent USA Today (link here). The bit about Jeff Tedford as the Godfather had me rolling. The mention of Heisman and Aaron Rodgers in the same sentence may be taking it too far though... even for us die-hard alums.

Shift to a Buyers Market

Alexis McGee, president of Foreclosures.com, was quoted in today's San Francisco Business Times: "McGee warns that defaults would probably rise again as rising interest rates put pressure on hyper-inflated west coast housing markets. 'We think a long overdue price correction has already begun. Over-leveraged homeowners that have abused home equity lines will find themselves with negative equity. If they get in a bind, they'll just mail their keys to the lender and walk.'" This is what I surmised in my prior weblog Bursting of the Bubble?. I can only hope a meaningful "correction" hits the Peninsula by graduation time. Two of the guys at the semimonthly and unofficial Wells Fargo / Johnson & Johnson poker night were sharing information about prospective homes and real estate agents in Arizona. They both work in regional sales with the option of locating anywhere within a three hour flight range of San Francisco. Apparently, Arizona is a very popular haven for those fed up with the Bay Area housing market; no doubt because a half million actually buys you something down there. How sobering.

Proof Positive

For those of you who are mathematically-inclined, here is a simple proof to show that "0.999... = 1" (link here): (1) Let x = 0.999..., (2) then 10x = 9.999..., (3) now subtract x from both sides, (4) we get 9x = 9, (5) which reduces to x = 1, (6) thus, x = 0.999... = 1. Hmm. Intriguing. Yes, it's been a slow morning.

Friday Vine & Dine

Yesterday, we had the good fortune of enjoying a pleasant afternoon on a vineyard in Sonoma. We had a few photos taken in the picturesque fountain garden at the pastoral Vintners Inn (link here). On the drive back down through Marin, we stopped at one of our all-time favorite restaurants, located in Sausalito. Their samosas and freshly-made chutney rock. A Wells colleague and his wife opted for the barbequed oysters at Hog Island Oyster Company (link here) near Tomales Bay. They were determined to "top it off" with prime rib down in the city. Oye.

Our Neighborhood Japantown

With T's move to San Mateo, we have spent a considerable amount of time shopping and dining in the nearby downtown area. It is becoming evident with each subsequent visit just how many Japanese-Americans there are in the area and how intertwined they are with the history of the city. I count more than ten Japanese restaurants within a three block area as well as two Japanese markets, a Japanese-American historical center, and a full-fledged Japanese tea garden (link here)(additional photos). By chance, we stumbled across a genuine Tokyo-style ramen house above one of the markets; the patrons were all Japanese nationals, presumably JAL flight crews on layovers at SFO. One of the markets, Takahashi, apparently dates back to 1906 (link here). Who knew San Mateo had such a thriving Japanese-American community? Will definitely have to try the homemade mochi as well as the fresh, unpasteurized tofu procured and sold at Takahashi.

Grape Press

Encouraged to see a Chateau Souverain offering amongst the list of highly recommended Sauvignon Blancs in a recent San Francisco Chronicle review (link here). T and I have been raving about their Sauvignon Blanc for some time now ever since we first sampled it at their restaurant. Their 2002 seems to get quite a bit of press (yes, pun intended). Maybe if we're lucky, we can score a couple of cases to pour at the wedding in October. Earlier this week, the winery shipped us a bottle of their Viognier as well as a reserve bottling of their Merlot, both of which I am eager to sample, especially now that the audit is winding down at work.

That's Greek to Me

The swimming competitions at the Olympics have been intense. Real nail-biters. Tuesday night's men's freestyle relay final had me on the edge of my seat as the American team just beat out the Aussies by a microscopic 13/100th of a second. It was a little nerve-racking to see the time gap created by Michael Phelps' dominating start vanish with the next two swimmers and to watch as Klete Keller had to battle Ian Thorpe stroke for stroke down the last 50m. That had to have been the closest finish ever. It was also great seeing the American women's team repeat the same feat for gold last night (and for a world record to boot). Natalie Coughlin, the Berkeley phenom, cut through the water like it was air. The men's individual all-around gymnastics competition was even more entertaining. Midway through, the Chinese gold-medal favorite choked when he missed a hold on the horizontal bars and had to completely stop and restart his routine. The anguish on his otherwise stoic face was apparent. The overall favorite to win gold, American Paul Hamm, had choked as well, having fallen over the mat into the scorer's table after he landed off-balance after his vault. The spectators were in collective shock (as were the NBC commentators who were fumbling for words to express the magnitude of their disbelief). This opened the way for the two upstart Koreans who were solid the entire night and were the only ones not to have committed any serious gaffs. By the last rotation, they were almost assured the gold and silver medals. But Hamm had the very last routine in the finals, on the horizontal bars. He stood in fourth place and by his own account, was resigned to battling for bronze. To earn gold, he would have had to score well above 9.80, an unlikely feat given the miserly scoring by the judges that night (there had been only two prior scores above 9.80). Hamm went for the jugular and put on an amazing display. His three consecutive "release and grabs" and his nailing the high arch dismount earned him the gold by the slimmest point margin in history, 12/1,000th of a point. It was quite a show.

$400/Hour

Because of the complexity of some of our deals, I oftentimes have to consult with outside legal counsel. And as with all of our past deals, I rely on the same dependable attorney, a Chicago-based partner at the largest corporate law firm specializing in financial derivatives work. We are on the phone together just about every other week. Only recently did I learn that he had chosen law as a second career much later in his life; Bob attended law school at the University of Chicago in his early forties and was by far the oldest member of his graduating class. Apparently, he had originally pursued a career as a tenure track professor of philosophy after having earned his doctorate at Cornell. Big time philosophy wonk. And on the side, he serves on the board of the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust. Big time architecture wonk. If his billable rate were a bit more reasonable, I would have relished the opportunity to pick his brain about both topics. Sartre, Existentialism, the Prairie School, Falling Water. Discussing the mechanics of a prepaid variable share forward contract on restricted shares held by an insider just doesn't have the same appeal. Maybe that's why the billable rate is so damn high.

Monthly Parking as an Economic Indicator

Economists have often toyed with clever and ingenious ways to gauge the state of the economy. For example, The Economist has long espoused its famous "Big Mac" theory of purchasing power parity. By comparing the cost, converted in U.S. dollar terms, of a McDonald's Big Mac hamburger in various countries, one can determine whether a nation's currency will strengthen or weaken versus other foreign currencies based on the notion that a McDonald's hamburger should cost the same in Seattle as it does in London or Kuala Lampur (link here). In much the same way, I have my own informal measures of how the local economy is doing. One such measure is the "Financial District Monthly Garage Parking" indicator. During the height of the internet boom a few years back, the parking garage across the street from my office building on California Street had a waiting list of more than fifty applicants all wanting to secure a monthly parking spot. The ones that did secure spots had to pay a "courtesy" fee to the garage manager. In third world countries (and New York City), this is better known as a bribe or kickback. But the tech bubble was at its apex. And employee bonuses and stock option gains ran amuck, driving up demand for monthly parking. Anyhow, I inquired at the same garage this morning as to what the wait list number was. The response? "What wait list? Go ahead and pick your spot. Price is a flat $360 monthly." While I am ecstatic about having secured a garage spot so close to work and at cost, what this might say about the ongoing state of the local economy is a bit sobering.

Brief Hiatus

Writ·er's block, n., a psychological inhibition preventing a writer from proceeding with a piece of writing. Much to think about lately and little motivation (or time) to write. It will pass I'm sure. But in the meantime, here is an excerpt from an excellent article by Robert H. Frank, a writer and professor of economics at the business school at Cornell (bio here), in which he theorizes why a number of research studies have concluded there is little correlation between wealth and personal happiness: "Does money buy happiness? Considerable evidence suggests that if we use an increase in our incomes, as many of us do, simply to buy bigger houses and more expensive cars, then we do not end up any happier than before. But if we use an increase in our incomes to buy more of certain inconspicuous goods–such as freedom from a long commute or a stressful job–then the evidence paints a very different picture. The less we spend on conspicuous consumption goods, the better we can afford to alleviate congestion; and the more time we can devote to family and friends, to exercise, sleep, travel, and other restorative activities. On the best available evidence, reallocating our time and money in these and similar ways would result in healthier, longer– and happier–lives" (link here). Sounds like an interesting argument from another socially progressive Berkeley doctoral graduate. Frank is a Cal grad and former Peace Corps volunteer.

Swinging at the Ritz

Received the formal agenda for the annual group retreat at the Ritz-Carlton Resort & Spa in Half Moon Bay (link here) scheduled for September. Appears they incorporated golf into the program. We can choose either an 18-hole round of golf or private lessons with a staff pro. Hmm. Embarrass myself by launching a salvo of balls over the cliffs into the Pacific Ocean (as my coworkers cower in shame) OR actually learn how to swing a golf club correctly from a former pro. Tough choice. Think I'll go with the lessons. This recalled a similar outing I participated in a few years back with Dechert at the Scarsdale Golf & Country Club in suburban New York City. We had a choice of either golf or tennis. I chose tennis and in the heat of competition, ended up nearly beaning a senior partner from the Hartford office (and my doubles partner for that afternoon) in the head with my backhand. Golf lessons it is.

Dateline: Crawford, Tex.

Hilarious. Will Ferrell does a political ad as Dubya down on the ranch in Crawford or as it is better known inside the beltway, "White House West" (link here). Unfortunate that the spoof as well as the website are being sponsored by ACT, a liberal political action committee. What's a registered Republican to do? The GOP political action committees are, by and large, humorless. We have to get our laughs from the other side. Sad but true. Case in point, the commencement address given by Jon Stewart (an avowed liberal) at his alma mater, William & Mary (an incubator for conservatives), a few months ago (link here). It had me in tears.

Waking from Hibernation

Incredible. The Cal football team has been ranked fifteenth best in the country in the most recent ESPN/USA Today Preseason Coaches Poll released on Friday (link here). T and I have been fortunate to catch quite a few home games since Jeff Tedford took the head coaching reins two seasons ago, including the memorable drubbing of Stanford in the '02 Big Game (link here). One thing is for sure. From the buzz felt in the seats of Memorial Stadium during the home games we have attended, he has palpably reinvigorated the Cal alumni base and endeared himself to hardcore Bear Backers. The two consecutive Big Game wins definitely helped, as did last year's bowl win over Virginia Tech. The away game scheduled for October 9th against USC (ranked the top team in the country by every preseason poll out there) should be intense. Cal will want to prove it truly belongs in the top twenty. And USC will want revenge for their triple overtime loss in Berkeley last season (their only loss in fact and the primary reason they were denied consensus national championship honors last year). Should be an interesting game to watch. Without a doubt, it's a great time to be a Cal football fan.

Brief Respite

While we earmarked this past weekend for cleaning the new Crystal Springs house and unboxing all of the items from T's old place, we did manage to steal away an evening with friends down in the South Bay. We met up at the lively outdoor plaza at Santana Row and slowly made our way to a tiny Korean restaurant in a nondescript corner of the El Camino Real corridor. Suzie, our local food expert, ordered more than a table full of hearty dishes and soups. The naengmyun (cold buckwheat noodles in a light broth) was especially good as were the homemade mandu (potsticker dumplings). And as a sign of just how busy everyone has been lately, we "caught up" and celebrated two belated birthdays and one belated four-year wedding anniversary. Definitely a much needed respite from our weeklong battle with boxes.

Northern Exposure

It's official. Robert Dynes, President of the University of California system and a native of Canada, announced the hiring of his friend, fellow Canadian Robert Birgeneau (currently President of the University of Toronto) to be the new Chancellor of the Berkeley campus (link here). A pair of Canadians at the helm. Lovely. Sure they are both eminent research physicists and first tier college administrators. But they are also Canadian. Try as I might, I can't help but recall that other Canadian pair, the McKenzie brothers, played by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas in the 80's film, Strange Brew (link here). I can already see Dynes and Birgeneau in the corner sipping cheap Molson beer from the can, yelling "ya' hoser" at Ward Connerly during the Board of Regents meetings. Heaven help us. We'll have to tack on "eh" to the end of every Cal cheer from now on. "Go Bears, eh", "Beat Stanford, eh". Damn those Canadians.

Double Feature

Managed to see two films this weekend. The first was The Clearing, a Robert Redford film based loosely on a true story of the kidnap and ransom of a wealthy businessman. After having read a glowing review in the San Francisco Chronicle (link here), I eagerly plunked down my nine dollars for this one. Redford films have always been a personal favorite. The Great Gatsby, All the President's Men, Three Days of the Condor, The Natural, A River Runs Through It, Sneakers, Spy Game, ad infinitem. Yes, even Barefoot in the Park. And while The Clearing had me engaged from start to finish, it was an engagement based heavily on anticipation. An anticipation that never found resolution or denouement. The film holds very little action or narrative drive, and its emphasis on character development and set pieces is more befitting a small scale theatrical play. The acting by Redford and Helen Mirren is superb however, and their ever-evolving relationship as husband and wife across time and space lies at the heart of the story. The film employs the device of time to great dramatic effect. It was also interesting to notice the similarities between the tycoon's estate in the movie and the real-life gated estates in nearby Hillsborough. The second movie, The Bourne Supremacy, was a welcome one-eighty. All action, all narrative drive, and little need for character development. This sequel definitely tops the original. The hired Russian assassin kicks arse. Thought it was amusing when he chases the Matt Damon character on a dirt road in Southern India in a brand-spanking-new silver Hyundai Sonata sedan, and Damon alerts his girlfriend that they are being pursued by a "silver Honda". Also noteworthy that the studio avoided any political ramifications of staying true to the Robert Ludlum book. The Ludlum book centers on the assassination of a high level Chinese politician. The filmmakers quietly changed the venue to Russia.

The Republic of Texas

Watching the media coverage of Lance's sixth Tour de France victory, I was amused to hear that a number of the buildings lining the Champs Elysees flew the Texas state flag (in lieu of the American stars and stripes) in honor of the record-breaking event.  State of Texas or Republic of Texas?  Give it time.  Reminded me of The Texas Embassy, the tongue-in-cheek name for a restaurant that T and I found during our walk through the foreign embassy district of London during our last trip.  Hilarious.  I was also amused to hear Bob Roll, a former cyclist and now lead color commentator on OLN, mention Lance's humble beginnings "on the tough streets of Plano, Texas".  As any native of Dallas will tell you, Plano is actually a nice middle-class suburb of Dallas.  It has one of the best school districts in Texas.  It also hosts the national corporate headquarters for J.C. Penney.  "Tough streets"?  Not really.  Anyhow, with Lance winning so many stages in his last six Tours, we may need to change the song "Yellow Rose of Texas" to "Yellow Jersey of Texas".  Hook 'em horns.

To Make a Mountain Out of a Molehill

Mountain biking up the hills of North Berkeley?  Why not I thought.  It was a nice day and I had ready access to a bike.  And having just watched Lance win the final time trial of the Tour de France on OLN, I felt inspired to get my arse off the couch.  So Wagamama Boy and I tossed our bikes into my Subaru and headed for the hills.  The Wildcat Canyon Trail, a mile north of campus, starts at the base of Tilden Park and ascends up the hill to the summit at Inspiration Point.  At the trailhead, Jonathan assured me the climb was fairly gradual with few switchbacks, a category 4 ("easy") or 5 ("senior citizen friendly") rating at best.  Cat 4 or 5 eh.  Oh, okay, not a problem then.  So we headed off, him in a top-of-the-line, shock-absorbing Specialized rock-hopper and me in a jangling, creaking no-name brand mountain bike with a faulty gear shifter.  After the first hundred yards up the sloping trail, I realized we were in for a long, painful ride.  The muscles in my thighs, calves, lower back, and abdomen all began straining, accompanied by an intense burning sensation.  And what I earlier had thought was a fairly soft, comfortable seat began to feel more like an anvil repeatedly hammering away at my backside on the rocky, uneven surface of the trail.  A third of the way up, my heart rate was close to reaching cornary arrest levels, the sweat was streaming down my neck, and my arms were convulsing like a pair of vibrating rubber bands.  And I was cursing like a sailor.  Thankfully there were no underage hikers within ear shot.  But I kept peddling.  And peddling.  And peddling some more.  Admittedly, I had to rest and walk up two of the steeper inclines, but in time, we eventually made it up to the summit.  Mission accomplished.  The view at the top was picturesque, the winds pleasant, the oxygen plentiful.  Yes, oxygen is a beautiful thing.  The ride back down the hill was both exhilarating and terrifying.  Definitely a "white-knuckle" experience.  My rump took an even more intense beating.  As did my arms which effectively operated as shock absorbers for the rattling bike.  But it ended soon enough.  And all-in-all, it was a good first ride, I must say.  Can't wait for the next go around.

The World at Your Feet

Read in the most recent Berkeley alumni newsletter that Chancellor Berdahl appointed John Lie, a Korean-American professor, to be the new dean of the Center for International & Area Studies (announcement here).  IAS holds fond memories.  While majoring in political science, I specialized in area studies and devoted most of my elective units to courses provided by IAS.  Northeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa.  Specialized courses in Korea and China.  IAS allowed me to explore the world without leaving the steps of Sproul Hall.  A typical day could (and did) include speaking at length with an eminent German scholar about the political dynamics of the Tianamnen Square Massacre, having lunch with a visiting student from Tokyo and discussing their take on the formation of the European Union, and taking a coffee break with my Argentinean teaching assistant to learn about the Patagonias.  The outgoing dean of IAS, Professor David Leonard, actually taught my Sub-Saharan Africa course way back when I was an undergraduate.  There is a dated but amusing Q&A with incoming Dean John Lie on the sociology department's website (link here); after reading through it, you learn that his family immigrated to the States from Korea during the 1950's.  Wow.  Truman was still President and the Korean civil war had just ended in a truce.  From Lie's erudite responses, you also realize why he received both of his degrees from Harvard.

Neighborhood Chow

Earlier in the week, we had dinner with Staci at Joy Luck Place, a contemporary banquet hall-style Chinese restaurant, not far from what will be our new place on Crystal Springs Road.  Judging from its patrons, the place appears to be a magnet for Peninsula ABC's, almost more so than the Straits Cafe in Palo Alto or Fook Yuen in Millbrae.  And for good reason.  The food is pretty good.  Fresh, authentic, and not greasy at all.  Mushrooms wrapped in tofu skins were especially good, as was the mixed seafood soup.  Can't wait to try their dimsum service one of these weekends, especially given the short bike ride from our soon-to-be new home.  The San Francisco Chronicle ran a review of their only other locale in Cupertino (link here).  Now if I could just find a good Korean restaurant in the area.

Presidential Visit

The past few days, our group has noticed a large cluster of high-level security personnel at the Omni Hotel adjacent to our office building.  After asking around, it turns out the President is staying there this entire week.  No, not our President, who has his hands full in Washington with the 9/11 Commission Report due out today, but rather, President Bagabandi.  President Baga-who?  His Excellency Natsagiyn Bagabandi, the President of Mongolia, who is stopping in San Francisco to give a speech at the Asia Foundation's 50th Anniversary Gala (link here) on his way back home after an official state visit with Dubya at the White House.  Maybe he'll try the much-ballyhooed porterhouse steak at Bob's Grill inside the Omni.  Bob's may need to rename it "Mongolian Beef" for the occasion.

The Peninsula

With some much appreciated help, we devoted most of the weekend to moving T's furniture and other belongings from her long-time home in the East Bay to our temporary home on the Peninsula. We will be leasing a quaint townhome on the San Mateo-Hillsborough border just a few miles down from the Crystal Springs reservoir and hiking trail (link here). The house is located on bucolic Crystal Springs Road which meanders and winds through several miles of scenic hillside, lined with creeks and leafy oaks. And along the way, you can gawk at the multi-million dollar Hillsborough estates nestled high above the roadway. No surprise that the road is popular with cyclists (and real estate agents) which you see more frequently than cars. We are looking forward to regular picnics at the reservoir and the occasional bike ride down the lake trail to Menlo Park and Palo Alto. But the real beauty of the location is that it is also a short walk (the other direction) to downtown San Mateo and to my favorite gourmet market cum culinary school, Draegers (link here). Their celebrity chef demonstrations are a must. As for the move, T should be settled in fairly shortly; and I will be joining her from nearby Burlingame after our wedding in October. Our house-warming party should be in mid-November so be on the look out for another invite.

Half Moon Bay Summer Retreat

Have a stack of files on my desk taller than a golf club. How do I know this? Because there's a golf club (not mine of course) next to my desk. Our derivatives group has been scrambling to prepare for next week's audit by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the federal bank regulator, and it's been an ongoing battle with paper these past few days. The paper is winning at the moment. What can I say? I love audits like the plague. Thankfully, we received our long anticipated invitations to the Financial Derivatives Group Summer Retreat at the Ritz-Carlton Resort & Spa at Half Moon Bay in September. Woohoo! A luxury hotel stay and great food, all at Wells Fargo's expense. Almost makes up for the audit. Last year's event was awesome. A catered outdoor dinner of fresh lobster, prime rib, and wine aplenty, out near the 18th green with the Pacific Ocean cresting beneath us as we mingled atop the high cliffs. We even had a brief impromptu conversation with Frankie Andreu, Lance Armstrong's former captain on the US Postal Service cycling team and currently an Outdoor Life Network reporter covering the Tour de France. The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay rocks.

Sullivan Sisters Summer Shindig

Received an invite from the Sullivan sisters to a large gathering they are organizing this week at the Red Room and Le Colonial to celebrate the 18th birthday of the Olsen twins. They are too funny. Given the roster of invitees, it should be a real spectacle. Ken and Michelle are always good for some laughs.

The Stanford Theatre

Received the summer film schedule for the Stanford Theatre in the mail yesterday. Usually not keen about anything with "Stanford" in its name, let alone anything located in the heart of University Avenue in Shallow Alto, this old fashioned movie house is one notable exception. Founded back in the 1920's and restored not too long ago by David Packard, Jr. (son of the Hewlett-Packard founder), the theater epitomizes the plush, opulent cinemas that became the cultural centers of most American towns during the glory days of movie watching. Yes, the seats are red mohair, the authentic Wurlitzer plays before every showing, and the heavy curtain rises at the start of the film. Very cool. As a tribute to former President Ronald Reagan, the Stanford Theatre is including screenings of ten of his previous films, including Bedtime for Bonzo, on its summer roster. Personally, I'm looking forward to the screenings of Roman Holiday, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, and Jason and the Argonauts. They are also screening Picnic, the William Holden/Kim Novak film from the 1950's, best known for having been used by one clever theater operator to sell more beverages in his concession stand. The phrase "Drink Coke" was spliced into various frames creating a repeated subliminal message. Apparently, sales of soda shot through the roof. Given Packard's affiliations with the theater and his alma mater, I wouldn't be surprised if the same techniques were used for the messages "Buy H-P" or "Go Stanford, Beat Cal".

Major Deal in the Offing for Oracle?

The much-publicized civil antitrust case filed by the Justice Department against Oracle in its bid to takeover rival Peoplesoft came to a close recently in a San Francisco federal courtroom. A decision is expected in the next few weeks. The trial has had its newsworthy moments including the revelation that Microsoft had been secretly negotiating with SAP for entry into the same market space, a revelation that sent ripples through the global equities markets. And to add drama to the proceedings, the courtroom battle included a backdrop of personal feuding (Craig Conway, founder and CEO of Peoplesoft, was once a direct report to Larry Ellison at Oracle) and intense regional competition (the City of Pleasanton and its 8,000+ Peoplesoft employees versus the City of Redwood City and its 30,000+ Oracle employees and hordes of partner companies). The case has also been noteworthy for another reason, corporate weblogging. Gary Reback, legal counsel at Peoplesoft and a very well-known lawyer in Silicon Valley, has been sitting in on the trial and has been blogging about the case to Peoplesoft's employees and investors (link here). This is one of the first known cases of a corporation using (and sponsoring) weblogging to further its interests. God help us. Weblog as PR and marketing tool? This morning, Oracle announced the hiring of Harold You as Chief Financial Officer, succeeding Jeff Henley, who served in that role for more than thirteen years and was recently promoted to Chairman of the Board. Interesting development, not just because You is Korean-American, but because his primary expertise is in investment banking, having served in senior corporate finance positions at Morgan Stanley, Salomon, and Lehman. His most recent position was as CFO of Accenture (Andersen Consulting), but it's his i-banking experience that Ellison is probably tapping now that the government's antitrust case is over. Whether that means a renewed deal for Peoplesoft or bids for other takeover candidates has yet to be seen. But it's clearly no accident Ellison hired a former i-banker as financial right-hand man the week after the end of the antitrust trial.

Would You Like Kimchi or Chutney With That Burger?

Viewed the trailer for the film, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, a new comedy set to release in a couple of weeks (link here). It was so off-the-top absurd that I did a double-take. A twenty-something Korean-American (John Cho) and Indian-American (Kal Penn) tandem, after having partaken of some "brownies" (nudge nudge, wink wink), set out onto the New Jersey roads in search of "the perfect meal", i.e., White Castle Burgers. From the premise of the movie, it sounded more like the writer, director, and producer were the ones sampling the brownies. In the spirit of the American Pie series (in which Cho was a notable cast member), the duo get themselves into a slew of ridiculous predicaments. Kumar (Penn) is the Bing Crosby on this particular road trip while Harold (Cho) plays the Bob Hope foil. There's a number of cameo appearances including one by Neil Patrick-Harris, aka "Doogie Howser, M.D.", the very first "weblogger" of our generation. Funny the film used the term, "the perfect meal". I remember first hearing it while taking the CalTrain from Santa Clara back to Burlingame last fall. A half-inebriated Stanford student was screaming into his cellphone, apparently to his buddy who was flying in from the East Coast, "Yeh, dude, we are so on for 'the perfect meal'. Soon as you hop off the plane, dude, we are there." Took another ten minutes and five "dudes" to realize what he meant by "the perfect meal". One In-and-Out Double Decker with fries and shake followed up by a half dozen Krispy Kreme glazed donuts and coffee. Apparently, "the perfect meal" is code for a high calorie, artery-clogging fast food binge-fest appropriately following an appetite-inducing session of "brownie" smoking. Lovely. Reefer notwithstanding, I'm looking forward to seeing the movie. The trailers are hilarious.

Great Ad

Love watching the latest Nike commercial with Lance Armstrong cycling through various American landscapes (link here). Even more so because the last segment of the ad was filmed directly in front of my office building in the San Francisco Financial District. Lance rides down Kearny Street as the camera pans in parallel one street below on Montgomery Street. The signs for Palio and Henry's, both eateries around the corner from my building on Sacramento Street, are clearly visible. Very cool.

One Degree of Separation

Called the Goldman Sachs equity derivatives desk in New York earlier this morning to confirm some information about a trade we did with them recently. After verifying what was needed with "Dan", presumably someone I had never spoken to before, we soon downshifted and made small chat; only after conversing for several minutes (mind you, a minute is an eternity in the world of trading desks) did it dawn on us that we had met in person only six months earlier. Dan and I attended the same ISDA financial derivatives conference in New York this past January and had lunch together on the last day. Scary. The equity derivatives world is small indeed. Not quite as small (and interconnected) as the Korean American community but damn close.

Two Decades and Many Pounds Ago

Had lunch yesterday with Andrew at a familiar spot, Pasta Bene, hidden in an alleyway off of Kearny in the Financial District. It seems as though every time we meet, he gets progressively thinner. He is apparently down to 150 pounds, and at his height, that's rail thin. The last time I weighed 150 pounds, Reagan was President, Iran-Contra was in the news, Black Monday had yet to hit Wall Street, Korea was finalizing preparations to host the Olympics, and I was hitting tennis balls on a court in suburban Dallas listening to the latest Men at Work cassette tape on my cutting-edge, brick-sized Sony Walkman.

Big Day, Big Island

We officially booked our flights to/from Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii for another wedding we will be attending in early October. Should be a crazy month as our own ceremony is only a couple of weeks later. Strange, we may be the first couple ever to take a Hawaii trip before our nuptials. Should be fun nonetheless. And it should bookend nicely with our honeymoon in France.

Bursting of the Bubble?

Ken Rosen, economics professor at Berkeley's Haas Business School and Director of the Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics, was interviewed in today's CBS MarketWatch. He sees rising rates delivering a much-feared housing bust. Yes, a bust and not a "soft landing" as is the general consensus lately. According to Rosen, current home prices are simply not sustainable, and he expects sales to decline measurably from their historic highs. With the median offering price of a home in Burlingame hovering around the $1 million mark, I hope Rosen is right about the bubble bursting. What is also worrisome from a macroeconomic standpoint is the rise in consumer debt and the erosion of home equity ownership. Due to the housing boom of the last six to seven years, more people now own homes. But because of the development of home equity loans and lines of credit by banks and mortgage lenders, overall "ownership" of homes is actually being eroded as many have shifted existing consumer debt (typically, car loans and credit card balances) to these new secured credit facilities. Lenders are even making it a practice of marketing and packaging equity loans and lines of credit with all new mortgage applications. The problem is homeowners are not merely shifting pre-existing debt, but they are taking on unnerving levels of new debt. With a $30,000 to $50,000 low interest, tax-deductible line of credit, why not? And naturally, as a result, consumer spending has been robust these past few years, even as the economy suffered through higher unemployment and spikes in the consumer price index (CPI). This is all fine and good in an environment of steadily rising home prices (and appreciation). But when home values stagnate or decline, this creates enormous problems on a macroeconomic level.

Brief Update to The Big Rivalry Continues

We plucked a new marketer from the Citigroup equity derivatives desk in New York. She was educated abroad (hence not a Berkeley or Stanford alum) so the 3-3 deadlock in our group will continue indefinitely. The Axe remains in limbo.

He Saved How Much?

Read an article in the Personal Journal section of today's Wall Street Journal profiling a man in his early thirties who managed to save $200,000 despite only having worked a little over five years at an annual salary of $55,000. And only a fraction of that amount was the result of investment appreciation. The article touts his frugality and financial discipline, and rightfully so. But what caught my eye was that he lives in Savannah, Georgia. Try doing the math in a high cost area like the San Francisco Bay Area. It's possible, but get used to plenty of roommates, public transportation, and peanut butter & jelly sandwiches (without the jelly).

The Amazing Race and The Amazing Race

Normally not one to watch television regularly, the past few days have been a notable exception. Daily coverage of the Tour de France on the Outdoor Life Network has been the drug of choice as of late. I am truly addicted. Last night's coverage of Stage Three had me on the edge of the couch. The latter half of the race involved cycling on a narrow strip of cobblestone road. Dangerous both because of the width of the path and because of the cobblestone surface. But the most dangerous (and dramatic) part of the race came in the first half when all of the riders went full force (and took enormous risks) to be the first to reach the mouth of the cobblestone path (and avoid the inevitable bottleneck). The mad dash accounted for a particularly nasty spill that occurred early in the stage to a group of riders, including Iban Mayo, one of the heavily favored GC contenders. Mayo may be out of contention completely. Thanks to Hincapie and other USPS teammates, Lance avoided all spills and remained within striking distance of the GC lead (and the yellow jersey), only sixteen seconds back. Today's team time trial stage should propel him into the overall lead. Cool seeing Frankie Andreu (see prior post, A Full Cycle) working as the sideline reporter for OLN during the Tour. From one amazing race to The Amazing Race, the only reality show I have made a point of watching. The season premiere aired last night and it did not disappoint. Eleven teams of two in a fierce dash around the globe going by train, plane, car, boat, bike, horse, camel, rickshaw, whatever, to get from one country checkpoint to another (to avoid being the last team at each checkpoint and thus eliminated from the race). This season began with a flight from Los Angeles to Uruguay in South America. In the very first sprint out of the starting gate at the Santa Monica pier, two of the participants fell hard on the wooden planks of the pier. One was tripped up by another player. The second, a retired Army officer, fell on an exposed nail and gashed his knee open. And the madness begins. As usual, there were certain tasks that were required along the way. The most entertaining one was requiring each team to carry a sixty pound beef carcass a quarter of a mile down a Uruguayan street. Last season's highlight was during the Korean leg of the race when the participants had to down a plate of live octopus and also dive into a frozen lake during a typically harsh Korean winter. What can I say, the show appeals to my wanderlust.

12,154

Apparently, according to a web application, that is how old I am in "number of days". Ouch. A life expectancy of eighty years translates to roughly 29,220 days, taking into account leap years. If I live to eighty (very likely given both sets of my grandparents are pushing past ninety), then that leaves roughly 17,000 more days to live, learn, thrive, and contribute. 17,000 seems like a large number, but then so does 12,154. Sobering thought. Ferris Bueller may have been onto something.

Cinema Paradiso

Been reading a weblog chronicling one couple's efforts to finance and startup a small "art house" movie theater (link here). Interesting tidbits, including a breakdown of a theater's finances. Some of their proposed ideas make a lot of sense, e.g., selling beer and wine at the concession, packaging tickets with pre-fixe dinners at neighboring restaurants, etc. To maintain anonymity, they have disguised their real names as well as the name of the town they are considering for the cinema. They refer to it simply as "Midwestburg". Clever. And a nod to The Simpsons in which the exact location of "Springfield" (nearly every state in the Union has a town named Springfield) is always kept a closely guarded secret and has been the longest-running joke in the series (link here). In an increasingly bland and standardized world of cookie-cutter multiplexes and retail chains, it's reassuring to see ventures like the two-screen cinema continuing to be developed and promoted. Kinda makes me nostalgic for the dollar movie house in Irving, Texas. Yes, the floors were sticky and the seats creaked, but unlike the cineplex at the mall, the place had a character that was distinctly fixed to its locale, truly an Irving institution. How can you forget a theater that employed its own organist and let you in for free on your birthday?

Saturday Morning at The Fillmore Street Jazz Festival

After a brief swing through Noe Valley on a very foggy Saturday morning where we met briefly with some of T's friends, we made our way to the Richmond District for dimsum at Ton Kiang with Wagamama Boy. We were so early in fact, they seated us immediately at the center table on the main floor. That never happens. As usual, the plates flew off the trays. Five types of steamed shrimp dumplings, fried crab dumplings, steamed greens, and flat rice noodles. I topped it off with a plate of small, extremely moist "Asian" donuts. After dimsum, we took our typical coffee stroll through the Marina and eventually made our way to upper Fillmore in Pacific Heights. Lucky for us, the annual Fillmore Street Jazz Festival, apparently the largest street fair in the City, was taking place on that very same day. Who knew? The entire mile stretch of Fillmore from the summit of Pacific Heights down to the bustle of Japantown had been closed off to traffic and was now clogged with thousands of pedestrians, musicians, artists, and food vendors. Countless sights, sounds, scents, and tastes. There were a dozen music stages, one at each intersection, where soloists would croon or ensembles would riff. Many of the food vendors were grilling their food in the open where the smell of Italian sausages and sweet onions wafted in the breeze, mixing with the aroma of garlic fries and padthai noodles. Definite sensory overload. We walked the entire length of the festival, stopping to view, listen, savor, and sample. It took us a solid two hours to make our way down to Japantown. Great morning all around, pleasantly mild summer weather, an entertaining street fair, and no wait at dimsum to boot.

The Freeze Frame Scene

Made our way to a matinee showing of Spiderman 2. I'm usually not a big fan of the comic-book-turned-Hollywood-blockbuster genre and have shunned previous hits like the Batman series, the X-Men series, the Hulk, etc. The computer-generated special effects ("CGI") so central to most of these types of films usually serve to mask a weak, recycled plot line and paper-thin character development. Eye candy but not much more. Worth nine dollars and two hours of my life? Usually not. What can I say? This time around my arm was twisted, literally. Under duress, I sat in the theater trying to summon an open mind. True to form and expectation, S2 was bathing in CGI, one-dimensional characters, hokey dialogue (including an absurd conversation between Peter Parker and his dead uncle in heaven), and the annoying comic-book view of the world (and its inhabitants) as either "good" or "evil". But to its credit (and to my surprise), S2 anchored the plot squarely around the moral dilemmas confronted by Peter Parker. Dilemmas rooted in reality and amidst daily situations that ring true. This superhero is often late to work, lives in a dingy apartment, struggles to pay the rent on time, is awkward around others, suffers at the sight of his widowed aunt who pushes a $20 bill on him even as a house foreclosure notice sits on the nearby table. The character is not just "more human", but his encounters (and daily travails) are as well. Toby Maguire and his wide-eyed, stolid demeanor were very well suited to this role. And I have to note, the film had one of the funniest freeze frame moments in recent memory. I would see the movie again just for that scene alone. Classic.

The Psychology of Time (Mis)Management

Read an entertaining article in the Harvard Business Review exploring the underlying psychological factors motivating those who chronically mismanage and abuse time. The author, a clinical psychologist and researcher at the Anderson School of Management at UCLA, breaks down four categories of time abusers including "the perfectionist", "the preemptive", "the people pleaser", and "the procrastinator". Each involves a common pathology rooted typically in adolescence. Fascinating material. Wish I had read this in college, in particular, the section on "the procrastinator". Oye.