ReadingLipps

As a student studying abroad in 1998 I had serendipitously stumbled into the heart of Europe during the World Cup, held in France.  I knew of the World Cup but I didn’t KNOW about it.  The hype was building around me but I was just a normal American, raised on baseball, football and all things American.  The first real moment I knew the World Cup was something different was when I was in a small coastal town in Italy.  I had stepped off a train into the center of a tiny village.  I thought the train and town had seemed rather empty.  Italy was playing a World Cup match.  No decent Italian would be anywhere other than in front of his TV at that moment and here I was wondering around lost.  Just as I reached for my map a man ran out from a nearby café and fell to his knees. 

Coffee Creek, CA is a small town in the mountains of Trinity County. The nearest city is Weaverville and the nearest actual city is Redding. This April I visited some good friends of mine, who run some cabins in Trinity. Trinity is beautiful with towering snow-capped mountains and flowing rivers that still yield gold for those willing to pan for it. We were invited to the local volunteer fire department chili feed and benefit auction. The Coffee Creek Volunteer Fire District operates entirely without state funding and depends on the generosity of the community and grants, when they can get them.  I’ve heard they are a responsive bunch. Every available volunteer arrives at every available incident, the benefits of an automated phone system.

I am proud to announce that I have been hired as the Social Media Coordinator for ResponseLogix. This company has taken the bold step of moving into the Social Media space and have selected me to partner with their Marketing Director, Catherine Edwards to advance into the cyber-marketing world of Social Media. ResponseLogix has created software that bridges the gap between internet car buyers and the physical car sales lots. This is a great product for Dealerships that want to make sure to cover all internet inquiries and for those who want to pro-actively reach out to internet shoppers.

Jarrett Robinson is a guy to keep an eye on. His burgeoning acting and modeling career is getting hot. You may have seen him in ads for McDonald's Snack Wraps, or in a Sprite ad with LeBron James or even acting as Beyonce's own personal man-servant in her concerts. I've shared a few late night booze sessions with Jarrett and he was kind enough to take a few moments out of his busy-ass schedule to answer 5 Questions:

The Baja Peninsula offers some of the wildest and most inspiring terrain on Earth, this is my quick guide. I have driven the Baja Peninsula from the San Francisco Bay Area to Cabo, twice, a third time I crossed at La Paz to the mainland. I have also partially navigated Northern Baja and Mexico on other occasions. If you are here looking for advice on driving the peninsula I will say it is dangerous and long. You are looking at a long three-day drive as a straight shot. But that would negate the purpose of driving the peninsula anyway, so take your time. On the next few pages are guides to key towns along the way.

NORTHERN BAJA GUIDE - - SOUTHERN BAJA GUIDE

In college I waited on many tables for cash, here is the story of Table #155 in San Jose, ca. 2000.

A young well-dressed businessman came in to eat with three out-of-country business colleagues.  His young guests were in from India.  This is a common sight in San Jose where Indian technicians often come to work. These three Indian gentlemen had arrived before their American host and politely declined service until he arrived. 

I caught up with comedian and actor Bryan Callen recently and had a chance to ask him 5 Questions. With roles as Eddie Palermo, the Love Chapel minister from the 2009 breakout comedy The Hangover and having been on shows like Entourage and How I Met Your Mother, his career is hot. His comedy is also high energy, abstract and funny.

The façade of Stadio de la Revolucion in Torreon, Mexico bears a graphic relief of soldiers fighting in the Mexican revolution.  As Pancho Villa marched through this area on his military endeavors, the locals claim him as a local legend and so equally do they claim allegiance to the Union Laguna Algonoderos, the local professional baseball team.  Tonight they play the Tigres of Mexico City, the defending champions. 

My friends and I have all gone to San Francisco a hundred times before for the nightlife.  Dressed with shiny black shoes, nice collared shirts and wallets full of cash and credit cards.  Our girls are shiny and they sparkle as they dance in the hot sweaty clubs like Big Heart City and 1015 Folsom.  Money is spent and tipped, tabs are opened and at the end of the night we go home and crash in our beds.

            On this trip to the city, nothing like that was going to happen.

This winter I tried out for Who Wants to be a Millionaire. I randomly put my name in by email and was selected. After much deliberation, mostly based on the comment made before I sent the email: "What if I get picked?" To which my wife replied, "I guess you have to go."

So I booked airfare to New York for the audition, emailed my buddy Raul in Brooklyn for couch rights and it was done.