brewery33

Take the Stairs

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:49:06 -0400

I get a shifty look from all of the people congregating at the elevators as I pass by on my way to the stairs. I make my way past the crowd in pursuit of sparsely used door leading to the stairs. I hold no grudges or pass any judgment on the group that has chosen to take the assisted route.

I turn the handle and enter the cold and quiet hallway that houses the multistory building’s stairs. The passage up to the zenith of the building houses a road less travelled. Aligning this ascending route with a transcendental metaphor brings about a notion that can be applied to any discipline.

A long time ago my grandmother gave a short piece of advice that while simple in nature holds vast universal knowledge.

“Take the stairs.”

On the surface taking the stairs represents a little more work involved to attain a common goal. The elevator will most likely take you to the same location that the stairs will, with much less effort. So why then choose the latter?

While taking the stairs you expose your body to an elevated heart rate and test the limits of your cardiovascular system. Such is the case in embarking upon any endeavor in which we apply this theory. There is always a path of least resistance when faced with a decision. Upon which will result in a favorable outcome. But at what point is the outcome so trivialized that the means is not revered?

The means in which an end is satisfied has descended to that of a menial task. What used to be the litmus test of greatness now is a nuisance. The stairs offer a slower and less glamorous road in which to analyze the end. The end has become the focus of energy. Means in which are implemented to realize an end are irrelevant. What this does is compromise the integrity of the end.

Opportunities frequently arise, promising accelerated arrival to the desired destination, whatever the destination is. These opportunities strip the reliability of the end. The end’s importance has stolen our sense of presence. The sense of presence is the hallmark of a craftsman. If the desire for an effective end is valued, the means upon which the end is realized are paramount.

This neglect of the means in which we employ to reach ends is apparent in all aspects of life. From personal development all the way down to government, our processes have been trivialized. Change should be slow. Any change that is taken in an accelerated manner exponentially increases the margin of error. Even though error is essential, it is not beneficial to base means to an end on error.

Speaking metaphorically, taking the stairs is akin to employing a more traditional and proven method. Wisdom is gained through comprehension of the process. Shortcuts rarely offer the value of experience. Shortcuts will give an end that is not fully understood. The fruits of life are realized in the details. If those details are trivialized, what is the point?

Delving deeper into the metaphor of the stairs versus the elevator, control is relinquished upon the entrance of the elevator. Once you have committed to allow the elevator to carry you to the destination, you outsource the experience of the journey. If control is no longer managed the end is in jeopardy.

The next time you encounter an elevator, make an effort to find the stairs. You too will notice the herd’s confused look as they anticipate the elevator to deliver them to their destination. Who knows, we just might cross paths in echo filled stairwells of life.

Rogue Mentality: Give Me Five Good Reasons: U-S-A, U-S-A

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 18:08:06 -0400

Rogue Mentality: Give Me Five Good Reasons: U-S-A, U-S-A:

Today we celebrate the birth of America. The day, in 1776, we as a nation collectively told England to piss off. Since that fateful day in 1776, our country forged its own identity, battled each other, suffered gowning pains, endured, and grown into the most powerful nation in the world. In honor…

Give Me 5 Good Reasons...fourth of July

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 18:01:52 -0400

So it’s fourth of July and my brother in law texts me, “Five good reasons that USA is the best?” So me being the stereotypical guy that can’t back down from a challenge says, “OK, when is post time?” He indicates that he wants to post in the next three hours. As I write this I have had three New Belgium Arrow beers and the clock currently reads 2:48, with a deadline of 3:00pm. So if this sounds phoned in, it is in a way. I will say that I do love this country and this is an easy feat to give five good reasons that America is the best.

1. Freedom of Religion.

I am man of faith, I get my cup filled each week at the local Catholic establishment. Thank you George Washington for allowing me to worship Twinkies if I wanted to.

2. I can choose my own profession.

Unlike communist China or any other oppressive regime, I have the freedom to play in any industry as a career. How many other countries would allow a student to pull federally subsidized loans in a pursuit of attaining a degree in women’s sufferage?

3. I can vote.

Even though my vote is just one of the roughly 200,000,000 votes cast in a general Presidential election and means very little in the grand scheme, it pacifies me. I am able to gather with people that have the same slanted view as myself and attempt to make other people think the same way.

4. Your future lies in your own hands.

Opportunity is available to every single person in this nation, black, white, red, yellow, purple, rich, poor, medium, drunk, addicted, sober, rocker, hip hopper, punker, you get the picture. If you want something, the only thing standing between you and the object or career, or transvestite hooker is your own mind, no matter what you say.

5. The official start of fourth of July is a competitive eating competition.

I kept it pretty serious up until this point, but where else in the world does a nation celebrate the disgusting gluttony that is consuming 68 hot dogs, or over 20,000 calories, in under 10 minutes? Nowhere, because the rest of the world is starving, oppressive, arrogant, or just plain sucks.

Happy Fourth of July from the crew of one at @brewery33 Labs.

BTW it’s 3 o’clock.

CiL Test

Mon, 17 May 2010 19:31:21 -0400

This is what the internet was made for!

Test

Give Me 5 Good Reasons...Medical Pot in Stockton?

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 10:00:00 -0400

Another feature that I am going to do is to take a subject, pick a side and give five reasons that back up your argument. I call it “Give me five good reasons”. It works best as a battle between two individuals that are consenting, but it works well on its own as well.

For each reason you get two sentences to explain. You also get 50 words to start and 50 words to end. Twitter has taught me brevity.

This week we have medical pot in Stockton.

Local blogger/writer @slickDiaz who maintains “Reclaiming the Title” has agreed to have a battle of words in regards to the notion of medical pot ordinances in Stockton. Today being the equivalent of Chinese New Year for pot heads, what better way to spend your day than reading two completely obscure points of view on mildly viewed websites.

My five reasons…

5. Stockton’s Great, Take a Hit

Everyone’s favorite director of Stockton’s Convention and Visitor’s Bureau’s ears must have perked up when the puppy dogs known as the Planning Commission rolled over and pleased their masters at City Hall by creating the essential City ordinance for the booming industry of government pot. Now we finally have the credibility to attract employment minded marijuana merchants and over achieving purveyors of fine cannabis to our City with a slogan that will truly be in the spirit of celebrating Stockton.

4. Is this the City leadership’s way of playing hardball with the Police and Fire gangs?

Much to the displeasure of our City Council and taxpayers in general, our City Police and Fire departments exhibit a concerted effort to decimate the coffers of money that are generated through public funding for their “more than fair” retirement racket. The passive aggressive tactic of sanctioning the hippie equivalent of a liquor store and adding an element of potential crime as a submission move, rather than the City Council actually facing their pimps and airing the dirty laundry of collective bargaining, makes complete sense.

3. This is exactly what will fortify our landmark initiative of Strong Neighborhoods

When I think of the missing factor that is keeping our neighborhoods from interacting and strengthening the fabric of the community, I am embarrassed that I neglected to realize the obvious answer lies in the exiled close knit community of recreational drug users. Calling upon the reputation of ambition and organizational aptitude that marijuana users exemplify, we can hope to enjoy drum circles and jam band sessions with no particular regularity other than if it feels good and always benefiting the fight against corporate America, because we hate jobs.

2. Just what former most miserable City in America needs, legal drugs.

While the mortgage tsunami decimates Stockton resident’s financial lives and business owners stand in line at EDD, City Hall contemplates the important issue of how and where we are going to sell pot. Clearly this issue far more important than exploiting our humongous inventory of commercial lease space through aggressive outreach and benefits to potential employers, or bitch slapping the bureaucratic militias that disguise themselves as unions in an effort to negotiate a fiscally sound agreement that allows bargaining in times of need.

1. If it is such a medicinal necessity, why not dispense it through a real pharmacy.

If you are going to allow the sale of a mildly illegal substance within your City limits, why are we allowing loosely organized bands of hippies to facilitate sales and not calling upon the expertise of our legitimate pharmacy constituency? Oh, I know, government involvement in the regulation and distribution of the illicit substance tramples on the counter culture code of ethics in that “the man” will attempt mind control and fund his war machine.

With all of this said, I will not claim to be a straight edge prudish conservative. I only think that the current state of affairs our City is experiencing the idea that our City Council is even wasting their time on this non-issue is laughable.

Snap Judgment: Stockton's new City Manager

Sat, 17 Apr 2010 17:38:59 -0400

Over my hiatus from hyper connectivity, I realized one thing. My life was unbalanced. I would hamper my productivity by over using the tool of the moment. I wasn’t producing anything but a poor public perception of my cynicism. One of the many things that I vowed to change was to gain a focus. So with that, I have to find some sort of structure for my musings if I am to maintain a balance. Because even the Greek god Zeus had issues with balancing chaos, so I shouldn’t feel too bad of my inadequacy. (just saw Clash of the Titans in the theatre)

The first piece of the aforementioned structure that I am implementing in my repertoire is a feature called snap judgment. Here I will take a topic that has consumed my thoughts and pick my top five or bottom five (depends on my mood) opinions of the issue, and write short explanations supporting my stance. So here goes snap judgment #2*

Stockton’s new City Manager Bob Deis

When I grabbed this morning’s Stockton Record at my local Starbucks (see Ian) I became uncharacteristically giddy. They announced the new City Manager that all of us politic fan boy’s have been consumed with. Stockton’s leadership pulled an Apple and shrouded the entire process in secrecy, hence creating a frenzy of interest among the interested. The entire process is rife with events that rival those of an M. Night Shamalan WTF movie ending. Secret meetings, car switching, venue diversion and strict contracts of confidentiality. In that regard I was cynical, but in retrospect I give a golf clap to the leadership for using murky ethics to bring about awareness.

The City Manager is basically the boss in our current political structure. Since our Mayor basically presides over the Council meetings and takes pictures reading to kids, which is not a knock to Mayor Johnston. But literally she really only presides over the demigods that create policy from on high. The City Manager has to make their wishes come true. He is akin to the General in the field working among the peasants, taking and carrying out orders from the idealistic and disconnected policy makers. He basically has the shittiest job in the City. One of the only jobs that actually has the requisite of being a leader. It’s basically a job that you don’t want to give to the guy that everyone likes, because he probably isn’t a leader. Which leads me into my list.

1. Deis’ departure from his last position was applauded by labor groups.

This is my favorite thing about the guy. Apparently he has the balls to stand up to the street gangs that wrap themselves in the union collective bargaining agreement. Let’s face it, if our largest industry was the industry of government, innovation is basically strangled and left for our City morgue to deal with the remains. Government jobs should not offer the most lucrative retirement. It should be fair, because truthfully City employees are human and deserve a decent existence, but the reward for choosing to become a member of the machine hence abandoning the ranks of private commerce should not be greater than can be justified. What I am saying is that a person that basically served their community should not be able to retire with full pay at 50ish years old. Their job was beneficial to the community, but not so much to justify that much of an outlay of money. I am excited to see what Deis will bring to the bargaining table when our favorite unions, the Police and Fire, come to the table. Something tells me that it will be entertaining as they weren’t even represented during his hiring or interview process. Maybe the City’s largest gangs will finally be forced to play fair.

2. He is 54 and still in labor’s face

Strange thing to pumped up about, right? Well not really. You see it is a good age for a manager of that level. He has gotten out of his “I need to prove myself to the world because I am 30 and ambitious” age. He leveled up and surpassed the “40 year old burn out bureaucrat that is bought and sold to the man” test of endurance. He is entering the bureaucratic twilight and he is still kicking and punching. Only now with more pointed accuracy as he is still vying for top positions such as the City Manager in places such as America’s most miserable City. A City that has a history of possessing gigantic pussies that get elected and basically roll over to have their bellies scratched by soulless developers and street gangs like the Police and Fire unions. I say that if he is still lighting a fire under people’s asses in his mid-fifties where most guys in their mid-fifties are more worried about retirement and finally getting that red corvette. It is likely that he is not going to stop when our labor officials attempt to further decimate the general fund.

3. He is married

This is just a personal issue for me. It is my belief that married people are more stable. We are less likely to hire a raging alcoholic if we hire a married guy than if we hired a single guy. Marriage adds a sense of stability in life. I will not be surprised at the pot shots that I will endure from my single friends for this view, but they simply will not understand. Now his marital status is not a shoe in. For all I know he could be a power mongering dick head that has a shitty marriage full of lies and deceit. But to his credit he did tour Stockton with his wife and give the obligatory, “We are very impressed with the feel of the City” felatio to the press. I mean we are going to pay this guy handsomely to come and play in our current playground built by spendthrifts drunk on property tax revenue. So the fact that he embellished his Yelp review of Stockton is not scoffed at. At least Deis was playing the family man card, with wife in tow. We just have to make sure that we keep the desperate housewives at bay inside of our walls. We don’t want another Mark Lewis fiasco.

4. He left his last job

Deis isn’t all sugar plums and gum drops. The fact that he left his last job because the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors was still reeling politically from new members does strike a morsel of fear into my heart. I guess I would have to know how bad it was. It could have been the equivalent attempting to force a square shaped block through a round hole. I really don’t know, but I do know that he threw his hands up and walked. I kind of have a respect for that because maybe he is just goal oriented and the elected leadership didn’t like the ties that he donned, so they hatched a plan to discredit him through inaction. But still smells a hint like a quitter. This theory doesn’t sound too out of line, because we all know that elected officials are really just glorified pageant winners. They are usually self important and so far removed from the process, that they can’t understand why everyone isn’t just getting along and play together. So I guess my fear is really based in the fact that our elected officials have a history of infidelity regarding bed fellows. They preach and pander to the constituents but turn tricks for the Police and Fire unions. I hope this guy has the endurance of Lance Armstrong.

5. He is a cancer survivor

The fact that he wears a Live Strong bracelet is a little reassurance that his endurance is similar to Lance’s. Deis received a death sentence, but decided rather than be a pussy and succumb to the prognosis, he kicked its ass. It is so impressive to see a cancer survivor crush it. It’s like watching a master of their craft create. It is the ultimate live in the buff attitude. He understands life’s fragility. Death officially knocked on his door and Deis kicked him in the nuts. So we can have confidence that labor contract negotiations will not shake him. Contract negotiations pale in the comparison of mortality. His technique on the battlefield of life personifies his trait of strength. I love strong leaders.

So that is my snap judgment. Now here’s to hoping our short bus politics won’t scare him away.
* (first was the Masters site, I kind of used it as a beta)

In my humble opinion...

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 17:20:00 -0400

So I decided to take some of the Masters in online this weekend. While I was watching I tooled around on their site. Upon landing on the site I was not surprised by the quality of the site, I mean this is the Masters and most people at Augusta don’t even realize that money is hard to come by these days. While I began to dig deeper into the site I began to find some of the cool tools present. I decided to do a quick hit post about my experience. Let me preface that before you go any further and read my bullet points, I am not a golfer, don’t know anything about golf other than that you hit a ball into a hole, but yes I own a set of golf clubs that Mom bought me at Big 5. So here we go.

1. Pretty heavy site, loads slow.

I did a little research (I viewed the source), and found that the site is built Adobe Flash heavy. While this seems to be the standard for most sites that carry, pardon the pun, flashy animations, it is a resource hog. Plus the iPad owners might have a problem with the viewing, and in my opinion, a perfect use for the iPad. I am not rich so I don’t have an iPad, so my iPad problem is based solely on speculation.

2. Great easy to find statistics

Since the sole reason that I even tuned into the Masters was to see how Stockton’s own Ricky Barnes was faring against the best in world, the ability to easily search the players was much appreciated. I enjoyed that it was kind of real time stats as the current hole was displayed in the player profile along with position and total score (Masters site calls it status).

3. Why only video on two holes

In this day and age and the fact that the members of the Augusta National Country Club have the ability to pay off the national debt and still have money left over, why in hell didn’t they mic and camera every hole. Why be so presumptuous that I would only like to watch holes 15 and 16? Why not give me the option to follow my favorite player? Not only would this be a quantifiable way for the PGA to measure the popularity of the players American Idol style, but it would provide a viewing experience that is individual to each person. The possibility in this notion alone stands to change the sports viewing game. Maybe some big wig will read my stupid writing and bitch slap some of the board members at Augusta, telling them to loosen their grip on the money they love so much and create a user experience that they can sell to every other sport on the planet. You heard it here first, so I am officially taking credit for this idea, because trust me it will happen.

4. All the tools in the Watch Live video server did not work

When I landed on the Watch Live video player and noticed some tools present to customize my experience, I got excited. Then I tried to use them. Yea, they didn’t work. First, I already mentioned the video fascism of only allowing me view holes 15 and 16, but the Hole and Player button didn’t even work. It brought down a container that housed some information about 15 and 16, but I could only view whatever hole Firethorn is. I would have liked to be able to view any hole. That alone would have allowed me follow my favorite golfer through the entire course. The leaderboard button didn’t even work. I liked the picture in picture, but again the elitism of Augusta National permeated the tool as it only allowed for you see what they wanted you to see (Featured Group, Interview(which never worked for me), Holes 15 and 16, and the Amen Corner(Some sort of church reference? WTF)

5. The Masters web coverage is the evolutionary equivalent of Homo Habilis’ use of tools

This is the most diverse sports, if you consider golf a sport, coverage yet. What do I mean? The customization of the viewers experience is driving the broadcasting industry to toy with new technology. Apply this technology to another sport. Could you imagine watching a baseball game and being able to watch inside the dugout, or maybe go to the bullpen cam? What about a penalty box cam in a hockey game to see how bad a dude got messed up during a fight? This is a perfect fit for NASCAR, as the fan could follow the transmissions of their favorite driver. Too bad NASCAR fans think computers are some government conspiracy to become a socialist nation. The work the Masters started during this year’s telecast is only the beginning. I predict that as time goes on, the experience is going to distill into a personalized viewing event for all sports.

I will end with a standing ovation for the Masters. I applaud the innovation, but will nudge my neighbor and say that we still have a long way to go. With the introduction of personal web surfing devices that are pleasurable to look at (iPad reference), the game is changing. I can’t wait to see what MLB will do with the World Series, the NFL with the Super Bowl, the NCAA with March Madness (which by the way killed with this year’s March Madness web coverage), NASCAR with whatever they do with their car races, and the NBA with the Finals.

Mom always said to be nice to the smart kids. Now I know why. Nerds are slowly taking over the way we watch sports.

One man's garbage is another man's treasure

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 13:44:34 -0400

While I was paying my debt to the godfather at Podcast Stockton I came across some interesting things. Since I am loyal to the local tech scene and we have a Craigslist style site that is devoid of skanky prostitutes called Closet Goodies, I decided to post the treasures in the free section. This posting of items for distribution online is my first time. Do you remember your first time? Below is a link to the items that profile the social demographic of Stockton.

http://closetgoodies.com/ad.asp?AD_ID=749

Be a gangster and love your local scene. :-)

Rogue Mentality: Give Me Five Good Reasons: Nike v. Adidas

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 19:32:59 -0400

Rogue Mentality: Give Me Five Good Reasons: Nike v. Adidas:

In 2007, my buddy Andrew Blair sent me an email asking simply, “Nike v. Adidas?” At the time I just finished my first battle blog post called “Gat vs. Googs”(a four parter) and the next logical step was to do she battle. However, as it tends to happen, life got in the way, more specifically…

Give Me 5 Good Reasons...

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 10:00:00 -0400

The clash of the sports apparel titans. Nike v Adidas. @the_Rogue taking the side of America’s sweethart, Nike, and yours truly taking the Germanian powerhouse that is Adidas. Impossible is nothing.

5. 60 year family feud over misunderstood comment between Adidas founder Adi Dassler and his brother Rudi embody the notion of dedication.

4. Nike personifies all that is wrong with the American dream

3. Official shoe of the only reason that soccer hits my radar, the Chelsea Football Club

hooligans

2. Geek cred with Star Wars line

endorsement

Boba Fett

1. Adidas Track Suit

tracksuit

mobster

urban b-boy

Rogue Mentality: Give Me Five Good Reasons: Video Games

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 13:12:10 -0400

Rogue Mentality: Give Me Five Good Reasons: Video Games:

From the mind of Brewery 33 Labs, in conjunction with the Rogue Mentality Brain Trust (this is my epic voice), I proudly present the potentially weekly debate of life’s most polarizing topics: Give Me Five Good Reasons.

The premise is simple, pick a subject i.e. Nike v.s Adidias, take a side,…

Give Me 5 Good Reasons

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 13:11:00 -0400

Top 5 reasons Street Fighter 2 is the greatest game of all time.

5. Racial Stereotypes

Street Fighter 2 danced on the line of political correctness with its over the top representation of each characters ethnic and persona stereotype. While the game play is the standard at which makes a game great, the depth of the characters make the game timeless.

4. Game play was simple yet still sophisticated

Street Fighter 2 was the first game that incorporated character specific special moves in a fighting game, to my knowledge. While Street Fighter 2 paved the way for the one on one fighter, its special moves that were individual to each character are the standard of perfect sophistication that outshines the manic button mashing of its “special” spawn fighting game Tekken and the extreme example of requiring a PhD in order to complete a fatality in the gore fest fighter Mortal Kombat.

3. Rivalry between friends was heightened at the arcade by the entrance of this game

In the age of physical arcades where kids had to leave their homes to play their favorite game, Street Fighter 2 was first game to have someone actually kick the ass of someone else on the screen, hence decapitating the high score standard. Head to head gaming emerged, adding a characteristic of swagger and trash talk during the game, to the once individualistic nature of the classic arcade game.

2. Individual endings for each character

On many levels the detail of individuality permeated the game play of Street Fighter 2, but none more so than a personalized ending for each character. Not only did this mathematically substantiate the 69.99 price tag of the 16 bit SNES game cartridge by encouraging you to beat the game with each character, but it also sparked the revolution of taking a picture of the ending screen to prove to your friends at school that not only are you a nerd, but an accomplished video game nerd.

1. Bonus games

The mini game was a button mashing break from the action that paid homage to the high score and best time standard of its predecessors. Breaking what looked like a Subaru apart on a dock, or smashing barrels on a conveyor belt provided the foundation for a future of sophisticated gaming by dangling the proverbial hidden features carrot with diverse layers of game play.

I know it’s against the rules but here is a little extra that didn’t make it into the Top 5, but is more of a testament to the depth in which Street Fighter 2 permeated the video game world. Capcom rode this pony until the wheels literally fell off.

Edit to satisfy ruling of Interweb judges 3-23-10 1245p Pacific

Bonus: Only game to have sequels that chronologically stopped at 2.

The game’s name was so important to the franchise that it merely added a different description rather than an iteration. EX: Street Fighter 2: Tournament Edition, Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers (see we have more racial stereotypes to exploit), and Street Fighter 2: Champion Edition.

~~And we have a fan club. Game Over.~~

Here come the coattail riders (yes me)

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:20:17 -0500

My secretary came in this morning with some surprising news. Being an avid watcher of Channel 10 and understanding my plight for Stockton, she always has some news nugget pertaining to our City. This morning touched home a little more than the usual useless piece of knowledge. She said verbatim,

“Some guy was on talking really positive about Stockton because of some Forbes list
and he had like an internet show, or talk show, or something. I thought you would
like it because he is on the internet.”

I knew it could only be one guy, so I asked a few questions to see if I was correct.

“Was there a wily mexican guy that was full of positive energy?”

“Yes”

“Was there a short haired guy that looks like he belongs to the cult of Apple?”

:-| *(puzzled look from secretary)*

“Did the news refer to their show as an internet radio show?”

“Yes, yes they did”

“Eureka it must be Podcast Stockton” (I might not have said this)

The last questions were just small inside jokes for an audience of nerds, but I confirmed that the netcast, (we will talk about this later), in question was none other than Podcast Stockton.

Congratulations to Matt and Rod, for being positive and making it great. These guys are proof that positivity will prevail and success is not monetary, but lies within. Why else would two guys that haven’t made a dime for their efforts continue to produce a product that is better each time. If they were a wine they would be a Bordeaux. More importantly if they were a beer, they would be a Gueuze from Cantillon, a beer that completely and consciously transcends any idea that you might have of beer. You see a Gueze takes three years to even be classified as a Gueze, from that point forward the taste only becomes that which legends are written about.

Bottom line, if you don’t listen, you probably should.

Click here to see Podcast Stockton on Channel 10

Click here to see Podcast Stockton on Channel 3

(ps I hate myself for putting “Click here”, but since only my grandparents read this, I have to spell it out for them)

If we are keeping score, I think News 10 did a far better job with the story than the cold Channel 3 in studio plug. The footie of the “outback studio” added a warmth to the story that the frigid studio of Channel 3 couldn’t muster. Also it just seems that Channel 10 cared more because they sent a reporter. Channel 3 invited them to the studio, while nice, its just not personal. Personal works in human interest. Just my opinion, yes I still have it. Enter trolls.

Stay fresh.

I don't want to suck like SEO companies

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:02:43 -0500

I was treating life like a slimy SEO company. I knew the proper strings to pull, or people to agitate to create a response. My content suffered, but I got a healthy amount of traffic. The traffic was seeing a one dimensional character that I had created in an effort to say “LOOK AT ME!!!”. Hence my inner self was experiencing an unseen breakdown. Getting down to brass tacks, number one needs to be in order.

I want to find the focus and channel my energy toward completing a goal that will satisfy my mind. My tactics of late would be just the opposite of what I have realized. I am just as gross as the telemarketer promising front page Google ranking.

It goes like this, the telemarketer will litter your content with links to credible sources and also provide links to your page from “credible” sources. What this does is game the Google engine to garner page views. If you care anything about your content you won’t fall victim to this unethical practice, or you will pay the piper in a high bounce rate.

What you should do is find a focus that your content will encompass. Once the focus is agreed upon, start creating content in the medium that you desire (Twitter, blogging, vlogging, email). Not only will you be staying true to yourself, but you will find that the content is more rich because you actually care about what it is you are creating. Focus allows you a path to follow and a goal to attain. Without either of these you are just treading water.

This has happened to me in the “real” world. I lost my focus and imagination. Living without the chatter I am making strides on finding my lost characteristics. I am creating a plan and readying myself to return the space. Upon my return, I will use the tools available with more precision. That is the idea anyway.

The muddy water isn’t so much clarifying yet, but I think that it is safe to say that the answer lies in acts. You have to love what you do. If you don’t love what you do, you are only acting as a cog in the great machine of depression.

I leave you with a video and a quote.

“If you watch the pennies, the dollars take care of themselves.” Ferment on that until next post.

Stay fresh.

An awkward moment

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:13:01 -0500

Residents of undeveloped nations would scoff at my personal journey. The fact that I am at such an odds with myself, that the focus of my life at this point is to regain a focus, is a metaphor of excess for the gluttony that has entangled the world’s perception of our “culture”. I ridicule myself for having such a paltry outlook. People are dying from disease, famine and violence and I am sitting here pretty in my upper middle class tax bracket with a loving wife, cute daughter, expensive PC’s (that’s right multiple computers), newish car, and job (yes I even have a job) that allows me flexibility in my personal endeavors (blogging, civic involvement, philanthropy). What the fuck do I have to complain about? I feel like such a pussy and a dick at the same time for even exercising my mental ineptitude as a real problem.

Whether you agree with my judgment of myself, or care to add to the findings, I could really give a flying you know what. My goal is focus and innovation. Without imagination, innovation is impossible. In order to find my wayward imagination, I must focus. Focus requires concentration. Hallways as noisy as my social media outlets diffuse focus.

Riding with my Dad the other day, on our way to get ashes I vocalized my issue with him. We had an awkward father/son moment where we weren’t sure how to deal with the emotions, and then after some added forced conversation I happened upon a possible obstacle that could be the first clue in locating my imagination.

Since the death of my mother I have found that the dynamic of my family has changed. Before you face palm and close the tab that you are viewing my stupid writing on, the statement deserves merit. You see with the death of my mother, I basically have become an orphan. My dad being a man from an all boy family and me being the oldest boy of yet another all boy family, emotional fortitude is not really our strongest characteristic. With that said, I always had two parents, but recently had one exit this dimension and move on to whatever lies on the other side. The other, my dad for those of you keeping score, is reeling from the sudden shock of a 35+ year mate vanishing. In his plight of a now upside down life, the role of a father has been displaced with the rest of his displaced existence.

As I sat and pondered the direction that this revelation had the potential to take me I listened to the message of the ashes, which was suffer silently. Great, so now that I have made the decision to go to social media rehab, which we will call my blog, I get an M. Night Shyamalan plot twist thrown at me. Here I think that I am having a complete epiphany, only to find that once again the location of my imagination has eluded me.

Suffer in silence for the world doesn’t hold the answer to your toils. Kind of makes my blog useless.

I've lost something

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:25:24 -0500

In the past few weeks I have noticed something happening. The subtle nuance of this wretched annoyance has been gaining momentum and advancing upon our community with the grace of an ogre pillaging a rural Swedish community. The white elephant in the room has taken its place on the stage and announced that he is present. Everyone at the party has been empowered to acknowledge the subject that we all spoke of indiscreetly.

University of the Pacific is an institution that is quite honestly one of the most immaculate grounds in the City of Stockton. A short stroll through the meticulously pruned rose garden to admire the art of maintaining these visually delicate yet astonishingly resilient plants allows escape. A saunter into the small forum of columns that is easily recognizable as you have seen the image in a coveted family portrait that takes proud residence in the living room of a beloved friend or family member. These and many more monuments of visual expression are valuable to the atmosphere of experimental and free thought, as well as the surrounding community.

Stockton Beautiful is an organization of concerned individuals that have a mission to beautify their community. The board and membership of the philanthropic group from the young and energetic to the wise and accomplished infuse each other with the notion of beauty. Beauty goes further than its superficial stereotype. Beauty creates a culture. Pride comes from beauty. Stockton Beautiful is no stranger to efforts of invigorating a community of individuals to accomplish unthinkable feats of excellence. We can see the fruits of their work in the collaborative spectacle made possible through driven community philanthropic exertion, in the Rose Garden that resides in Victory Park on the north side of the Haggin Museum.

Greg Bahr is a citizen of Stockton. If you have spent any time on the Miracle Mile enjoying a sunny walk on Sunday, or patronizing one of the loving merchants, you have probably come across Greg. He is responsible for community events in the district such as the wildly successful Miracle Mile Night through his interaction with a group of focused individuals that serve on the little known, highly experimental, yet overwhelmingly effective Neighborhood Renaissance Committee. This group is of the mind that if neighborhood events are present the fabric of the community will be strengthened. Communities with strong fabric tend to employ a lighter outlook on the grim offerings that life brings. My opinion of Greg is rather skewed, due to my respect for his efforts, but I am fairly confident that if you stop and listen to his pleas for a cohesive effort in the infinite quest for betterment, we will most definitely agree.

These three groups evidence the presence of positive movement in our City. People are working to create the nirvana of community. As we spoke of earlier, a white elephant that has come from the shadows of civic conversation in Stockton. His presence has been embraced. It is all too easy to make fun, stay cynical and ignore our emotions. The perception of mediocrity and ignorance is lavished upon us by our national media publications. Our local media has become snarky and arrogant to the population of new media consumers. I have found myself embroiled in passion fueled discourse that is not contributing to the solution but rather of symptom of the white elephant. This is the most troubling to me.

It is through my faith that I have weathered the stormy waters of loss. I am no person to preach and ladle my ideological rhetoric upon you. My only mention of this is to make apparent of my plans to regain my imagination and focus my efforts. In my loss of imagination I plan to embark upon a spiritual journey in search of the treasure that has befallen me.

The white elephant’s message is a dangerous path. His call to acceptance is my cue to reboot my operating system. With the Lenten season upon us and the coming of Ash Wednesday, I will be disconnecting from the matrix of chatter, and focus on real efforts. I will leave the acoustically challenged halls of Twitter to find the voice that I have lost. I plan to engage the philanthropy that is meaningful to me and shed the cynicism that has polluted my mind. I plan to detoxify my spirit in an effort to return with the child like wonder that I desire.

Words are not meaningful if not built upon action. My grand plans of success through philanthropy are on trial and it is my turn to stand in front of the judge and plea our case for freedom. I will not be participating in any form of social media other than blogging. I will not be Twitter alerting my blog. My reason for this is that the core of my answer lies in personal discovery. Vanity and narcissism are the foes in which I am at battle with. It is the constant quest for the laugh, that I have lost the ability to entertain myself.

Easter will be the day in which I emerge back to the scene with a hopefully fresh look and box of hustle. I will look to the people that are fixtures in my life for support and share the journey through this little piece of real estate on the internet I call brewery33 aka my stupid writing.

I leave you with a quote that hopefully bounces around your cranium and ferments for a while. I actually don’t know who said it, but it is in no way my work. I hope that works for citing purposes.

“In this media-drenched, data-rich, channel-surfing, computer-gaming age, we have lost the art of doing nothing, of shutting out the background noise and distractions, of slowing down and simply being alone with our thoughts.”

Stockton will win.

Stockton is lucky to have this guy!

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:29:27 -0500

Guest blogger day at @brewery33 Labs. I met Greg while working on a local political campaign. We instantly became friends based solely on the fact that we were the only people that were not in contention for an AARP discount working on the campaign. As we conversed more, his passion for philanthropy through positive event organizing became apparent. This guy is one of the integral reasons that the Miracle Mile is having community events. His latest endeavor of the Neighborhood Renaissance Committee’s “Save our Post Office” event, was a wild success. I have video to prove it, and will post sometime in the next few days.

Without further ass kissing I give you Greg Bahr “unofficial Mayor of the Miracle Mile” (a title that I officially coined) Thanks for coming to play.

Hello David Siders & Record Staff,

It was good to see you at last weeks City Council. I’m sure your still adjusting to the new resident in your home. As always, I also read your blog from the meeting. I thought it striking that there was no mention about the unique and trailblazing partnership between the City and UOP and many others in the median project at Pacific Ave & the Calaveras River. The fact that UOP donated $86,000 to pay to create a shovel ready project isn’t something commonly seen here. This is good news that the Record should be covering. It is a source of never ending frustration that important things like this are often neglected, passed over, or dismissed. The Record plays an important part in our community. Stockton suffers a bad self-image, and this springs up from many issues, such as; crime, education, and unemployment. However, the Record also shoulders some of the responsibility for our low self-esteem. If the Record were to embark on a “what is great about Stockton” campaign, and create a noticeable, focused, and consistently positive effort at promoting this community, it would go a long way to garner good will equity with the community. A lasting effort to promote the positives of our community would help to spur economic development. And, this part is for the business end of a newspaper, growth in economic development would increase potential advertisers.

I’m trying to do my part to improve the quality of life here. What is the Record doing?

Please be more mindful of important opportunities to report news-worthy events such as the public/private partnership between the University of the Pacific, Stockton Beautiful, the Miracle Mile Improvement Dist., & the City of Stockton.

Greg Bahr
Co-Chair
University Neighborhood Renaissance Committee

St. Baldrick's Day Massacre

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:52:23 -0500

Today was potentially a big day for philanthropy in Stockton. During my daily lurk of the Siders blog I came across the young Lincoln high school student that stood before City Council offering the opportunity to help children that have cancer merely by shaving your head. The poor student got the political treatment and walked away with a meager offer from vice mayor Kathy Miller to hold the clippers, rather than get scalped for charity.

This event gave me the idea to ask my current favorite City Council member (due to her presence in the playground we nerds know as Twitter) @susanEggman if she was game to shave her head. My initial tweet to her was in complete jest and I actually was waiting for some of the faithful to say that I was acting like a bully again and to stop being so rude. Side note, I have found that sarcasm and jokes tend to not translate so well in the written word.

Much to my surprise @susanEggman accepted the challenge but added a caveat, raise 5 thousand dollars. It’s basically a political trump card. It puts me in a position, which began as a common chide, of now becoming a fund raiser for a cause that while is very worthy, doesn’t really fire me up enough to take even more of what little precious time that I have with my family, away from them.

I have received a lot of support from the Twitter community from Stockton and abroad encouraging the pursuit of the goal (thank you by the way), but much to the displeasure of the crowd I will have to bow out. Let’s say politics have won this round. While in a perfect world I would love to drop everything and raise the 5 thousand dollars that it would take to have @susanEggman shave her head, not only embarrass her, but more importantly provide the funds to whatever children’s cancer society that Lincoln High school is benefitting, I must swallow my pride and accept defeat.

I am still game to get my head shaved, and invite fellow Stockton Tweeps to do the same, as long as it doesn’t cost any money. With my stupid start up and educational pilgrimage, I really have very little cash to spare. The only tangible thing of value that I could give to benefit the research of children’s cancer at this point is my dignity by allowing my locks to taken.

Feel free if you are a philanthropist in search of a cause, to take this episode of Parks and Recreation and run with it. It will not be considered poaching and you will be assured run in the paper and possibly TV coverage. It has some legs, but will take a lot of energy to meet the goal, especially in this recession. I hate pussing out, but through many battles and wild stunts I have learned to fold my hand. Thank you Kenny Rogers. Now excuse me while I go to write a check that the City Council is making me do, because I do business in an Enterprise Zone.

Politics 1, @brewery33 -100, Lincoln High School St. Baldrick’s Day complete win, because lots of people are talking about your event. Keep it philanthropic.

With a little help from my friends

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:56:46 -0500

I have been at an odds with the @recordnet’s decision to paywall their content. My initial reaction was that they were basically slitting their throat. As the notion of charging for content has fermented in my mind a while, I think that the decision is not far from the solution. Definitely not anywhere close, but closer to solution than to total and utter failure.

Being in business myself, I respect the ideal that a business must make money. Profits are not the only reason a business must produce a black bottom line. For instance if an organization plans any sort of future, innovation and pushing limits is essential. In order to innovate and push limits the organization must employ some pretty talented staff. Talented staff costs money. I get it.

Rather than outline the history of the newspapers presence on the web, we will just assume that if you have made it this far in the essay that you understand the newspapers are charging for previously free content. If you are not aware of that, let me Google that for you.

Enter the paywall. A blogging colleague by geographic area, stated some pretty good criticism of the new fangled business plan that the Record was embarking upon. @slickDiaz noted that if we are supposed to pay for this content, make it worth our while by offering some dynamic content such as podcasts, video, and supporting documents, just to name a few. I have a whole long winded opinion that addresses this approach, but since people like to read 500ish words, I will practice brevity and speak on it another day.

What if we allowed people that are paying customers, to share the article with their friends by providing a link to the paying customer. This special link would end with a number that a script on the referenced page recognizes and allows the person who followed the link access. Influence by creating a social following. I am sure through scripting this could all be possible and traceable to analyze what type of content is popular, by digital word of mouth. Yes there will probably be some sort of hack that will generate scripts to allow common journalism thieves to view the documents without receiving a link from a subscriber, but I don’t think that I would worry so much about people pirating my writing, because at least they are receiving my news and have worked hard to get the news from my source. It is actually kind of flattering.

The notion of allowing people to share is not so crazy. Liken the concept to making a copy of an article to share with a group that you are working with, or to post on the bulletin board at work. Copyright laws are probably broken when people share writing this way, but you just reached an audience that would have otherwise never read your offering. It creates a sort of affiliance program that might encourage people that do not subscribe to the online version of the paper to realize the value of the product through a little taste, from a person that they trust. You could even leverage the power of suggestion by offering local influential bloggers a free account to offer to their readers a peek behind the paywall at the green pastures of dynamic content.

People such as myself and the rest of my generation, digest news a touch different than say our parents and grandparents. Through a completely un-scientific poll I conducted, found that the only people that have agreed to the new paywall model the Record has offered us, are the old people who probably use an aol email start their web surfing by reading the news at Yahoo!, and think that an email client is someone that I sell things to. In my opinion it is time to upgrade your news criers from the kid on the corner and the creepy guy that hangs out in front of the grocery store to the revolutionary idea of social sales.

If anything, the managing staff at the Record could allow this notion access onto the agenda of whatever meeting that whatever board of executives deal with the online subscription department. At that point they can realize that I don’t know what I am talking about and continue down the path of alienating their audience.

roguementality: Gameday Photo Essay Part II Going to College...

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:09:39 -0500

Willie Rallying The Troops

Willie Hanging A Jayhawk

Even She Toughed It Out For Gameday

Teletubby Not KSU's Finest Moment

Biggest Crowd in Gameday History

This Kid Absolutely Got On TV

Why Did I Go To A Small School Again???

Coach Frank Martin, Crowd Went Balistic

Respect The Family Man

roguementality:

Gameday Photo Essay Part II

Going to College Gameday almost swung me back to college hoops from the NBA, almost. College crowds destroy NBA crowds in every way….