The Left Hand Man on the Right

Maybe it's me, but when did it become against the law to tap your foot while sitting on the toilet? I mean, how do we know that Larry wasn't listening to Kanye's new album on his Ipod? And how do you get arrested for putting your left hand under the stall while reaching for toilet paper? What's criminal about that?

This whole case is ridiculous. Here are some things I want to know.

#1, why is the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport such a hotbed for "lewd" behavior? What ever happened to simply getting a hotel room?

#2, why is the Senator using a public bathroom in the first place? You would think he would have some Frequent Flyer card and could use a bathroom in a one of those plush airline club rooms.

#3, what kind of police officer are you, if your job is to solicit men in an airport bathroom in Minnesota all day. Talk about hating your job.

#4, I'm going to assume that senators must have some minimal level of intelligence. Having said that, why would Larry start the conversation saying, "You solicited me?" What ever happened to "I plead the fifth" or "It wasn't me."

#5, Since when did presidential candidate Arizona Sen. John McCain and Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman become the bastion of morality? (John, deflection won't work. Maybe Newt was right.)

At any rate, listen to this fool and make your own conclusion.

Boise St. 65 - Weber St. 7

"First of all, this was a joke. I was surprised with the way we played. It's not all [the players'] fault. It goes to the coaching staff, too. That was as bad a football game I've been a part of. When you don't come to play, that's what happens." - Weber State coach Ron McBride

Blowout from beginning to end. Granted Weber St. is a I-AA team, Boise still executed very well. Much better than I thought. QB, check; RB, check; DLine check; WRs, check; Secondary, no need to ask.

The streak is still alive.

Kyle, good work on that return. Not sure if you could have stayed inside or bounced out, but I was jumping up and down in the office!


Yeah, this hit was real too. Not sure about the final count, but it was pretty high. That slam on the sideline was the truth. It should be on youtube (update: here you go)!

Stay up.

Go Boise!

Good luck Kyle #1!

The Power of Facebook (I can't believe I'm saying this)

I'll be the first to admit, I'm a self-proclaimed Mark Zuckerberg hater. I'm not sure how we've gotten to where we are today, but Facebook is all over the place. The more I try to run from it, the more difficult it becomes to avoid the revolution. I think I came to this realization sometime last week. While connecting with an old classmate, I saw that he joined a group called "Don't Name Princeton's Mascot."


Prior to logging in Facebook, I had no idea that this "contest" existed. Some genius at the university thought it would be a good idea to name the Princeton mascot. How idiotic (for a plethora of reasons)! I immediately joined the group and proceeded to invite every single Princeton friend. 20 minutes later I had 20 friends join me. The wall posts on the group page confirmed that my outrage was not alone. As of right now, there are 500+ members. Now I can't say that we've won the battle, but the link to the asinine contest has been removed from the varsity sports homepage.

Is our group that powerful? Is Facebook the next Google? Did Mark just punk Shirley? I won't go so far as to say yes, but something happened. Something potentially powerful.

Mark...c'mon bro. Make me like you. Just admit it. You didn't plan this revolution. You got a lot of help. I would respect you a lot more if you just admit that luck has a lot to do with Facebook's success.

If my dad ever...

When it rains, it pours. I've refrained from posting on the Mike Vick situation because there really isn't too much to say. I'm sure never in his wildest dreams would Vick ever believe his career would come to an abrupt end because of his dog fighting. I can't even begin to imagine what is going on in Mike's head right now. I mean seriously.....it was all good just a week ago.

Just a couple of months ago I posted a joke on the Facebook wall of a friend/classmate, Chris (son of Gerald Poindexter), saying that his dad was going to ruin the Falcons season with these trumped up charges. I warned him to tell his pops to chill before the entire city of Atlanta comes to Surry County and beats his a$$. Little did I know, his dad, Surry County Commonwealth's Attorney, was not going to be Vick's achilles' heel. Who would have thought that Vick's own father would rat him out?

I guess I could understand why Vick's Co-d's would cop pleas and leave their "friend" out to dry, but his FATHER. If my dad ever......................................I would have to do more damage than Randy Couture did to Gonzaga's nose.

I know father-son relationships can be hard. I'm thankful everyday for the relationship I have with my father. Sure he constantly reminds me of danger and opportunity or tells the same jokes or at times can be overbearing, but what father who is proud of his three sons wouldn't be supportive? It's because of him that I work so hard at what I do (and why I'm so aggressive/overbearing/dedicated). Failure is not an option......especially when we only have a limited number of opportunities in life.

I still can't understand this. What would drive a father to go on national tv and sell out his son? His own flesh and blood. Basically, Michael Boddie put the last nail in the coffin. At least Abraham could say God told him to do it. I'm thoroughly disgusted!

I'm sure I've done some things in my 29 years that my dad didn't like. I'm sure there are some things that he down right hated. But in the end, we talked about it and worked things out. I think that's what makes a relationship stronger. I can't think of a single thing I could ever do that would give my father the impetus to arrange from my sodomization in a Federal penitentiary.

It's things like this that make me wish Father's Day was once a month, not once a year. I don't think we take the time to really thank the dads that not only shield their children from prison, but actually act as role models. I'm glad I have my role model. I'm glad my father has been in my corner every day for 29 years straight.

Thanks Dad for having my back.

My House of Stairs

Why all the tattoos?

A lot of people ask me that question and the answer varies every time. I got my first tattoo in high school right before graduation. It wasn't about rebellion, it was more about permanent self expression. Since that time, I've gotten a tattoo at every major juncture in my life. Each one represents something particular to me and is a biography/historical timeline of sorts.

Why that latest tattoo? As many of you know, we've been working really hard for the last 4 years getting yOOnew off the ground. When we started, we had no idea how difficult it would be to create an electronic exchange. Imagine building the NASDAQ or Euronext.liffe from scratch. After several prototypes, several years, several iterations, several long days and even longer nights, we are now getting ready to come out of stealth mode.

Having said that, my latest tattoo, M.C. Eschers's House of Stairs, was my most ambitious undertaking.

I always say that each successive tattoo has to be "better" and more complex than the former. Boy did I underestimate the complexity of Escher's work.

I arrived at The G-Spot Tattoos around 11:15am. (Don't be fooled by the outdated website. The shop founder, George Moore, is probably the most talented tattoo artist on the east coast.) For those who know how anal I am, it takes a lot to convince me to put something permanent on my body. On top of that, I would never want to bastardize the work of Dali or Escher. George is the only person that I would ever trust with the task. No disrespect to Chris, Arni, and the rest of the Miami Ink crew or Kat for that matter, but George is on another level.

Anyway, G started at about 12:45pm and finished around 5pm. When I say finish, I mean just with the OUTLINE.



After all the shading was said and done, it was about midnight!


Now...I think I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but this was a bit ridiculous. The last hour was the absolute worst. However, when it was all said and done....George had created a masterpiece. (I'll post the final product when things have completely healed).

What's the point of this post? These last four years of my life have been like the 11 hours I spent sitting in the cold, dark room bleeding profusely. I had a great idea of what I wanted when we started......the adrenaline was pumping and I was juiced. After the first year or 2 hours, things were a breeze. I felt good and my heart was filled with fervor. Then things changed. The soreness kicked in and it became uncomfortable. The lack of comfort then transformed to pain, then annoyance and then all I could do was just pray for it to be over.

What is most frustrating? You start with a clear vision and begin to see the beautiful picture come to life before your very eyes. As things develop you start to realize this is going to be a long, hard, and painful process. After awhile, things don't seem to look right and the only thing you can think about is.......when will the madness stop?

Why all the masochism you ask? Because when the wounds heal and the bugs have been worked out.....the end product is so gratifying. It's the final masterpiece that keeps you enthralled, keeps you focused, and keeps you prepared to do it all over again...........

WGTCT

Age and the entrepreneur

There's been a lot of debate about the optimal or ideal age to start/run a startup. From Marc Andreessen to Fred Wilson to other celebrity tech bloggers.....everyone has an opinion. I don't have anything major to contribute on the topic other than my gut leads me towards the younger end of the spectrum (and my brain is swayed by pretty charts).

During my bschool days when I jumped on the bandwagon and tried my hat at "strategy" consulting, I remember interviewing with some partners from BCG. I recall them stressing the high level of involvement that new hires (fresh college grads or MBA grads) have on important engagements. 2 points stuck with me.

• First, they contended that younger people with little "domain" expertise tend to develop expertise from a completely different perspective. When tasked with solving difficult problems, they are not clouded (consciously or subconsciously) with preconceived notions of how things work or should work. They may also use seemingly irrelevant experiences to answer a question.
  
• The second point was that if you look at geniuses and their greatest accomplishments or contributions to society, "greatness" tends to take place at an early age (Einstein, Mozart, etc.).

While we may accept these observations as truth, many have asked for quantifiable data. While reading Marc's post tonight, I remembered an overhead projection slide from a class on tech entrepreneurship. I would like to direct everyone to Professor Edward Roberts at MIT Sloan. In his book "Entrepreneurs in High Technology: Lessons from MIT and Beyond" (especially Chapter 3) Roberts addresses "The Makings of an Entrepreneur."

The data is compelling.

NBA Information Arbitrage

"By having this non-public information, I was in a unique position to predict the outcome of NBA games. Some of my picks included games I had been assigned to referee." - Tim Donaghy

Really Tim? You were able to "predict" the outcome of NBA games because you had non-public information? No $hit! How else can anyone make money in any "market"? Either you're lucky or you have more relative information than other market participants. This "edge" may help your predictions, but nothing is more powerful then simply blowing your whistle when a play is not in your favor. Tim you didn't just have inside information, you CREATED information (allegedly........sometimes I have to cma).

I've always contended that sports markets are more efficient than the equity markets. There is a lot more transparency. You don't have to worry about funny accounting or corporate scandal. Every major media outlet publishes sports scores, odds, and injuries daily. Most people are more informed with regards to sports than stocks. If you don't believe me, try this simple experiment. Ask someone.....where is GOOG trading, then ask.....who is leading the National League. More people would say the Mets than $487.18.

I'm not so much concerned with Tim's inside information. As a somewhat believer in APT, eventually this information gap will be arbed away.....usually quicker than one can realize any gains.

As repulsive as it is, I could potentially grow to forgive Tim for using his edge. However, having a ref purposefully affect the outcome of a game is the ultimate disgrace. Players gambling on/against themselves is horrible. But a REF! A REF? A supposed, independent, neutral arbiter. I'm disgusted!

And to think......none of this would have come to fruition if the Feds were not investigating the Gambino crime family in Brooklyn. They stumbled upon Tim and contacted the NBA. All for what?

Let's look at the numbers:

• Gamblers at first agreed to pay Donaghy $2,000 for each correct game pick and later boosted the payment to $5,000
• Investigators believed Donaghy made at least $30,000 from December to April
• Donaghy was free on an unsecured $250,000 bond
• He also faces a maximum prison sentence of 25 years, $500,000 in fines and might have to pay a still undetermined amount of restitution to the NBA

Some reports claim that Tim was providing "tips" since 2003. How much money is that? If one team plays ~80 games a season and Tim refs every game, we could estimate 5 seasons or 400 possible games. Let's say that he has some "edge" on 1/2 the games and is correct 90% of the time (i know that's impossible, but we are making an assumption about his edge). This would mean that Tim could supplement his $200k+ annual salary with $900,000* over 5 years. That brings his total annual compensation to $380,000 a year. What a f*cking idiot!**


* 400 games * 1/2 edge * 90% accuracy * $5,000 per game = ~$900,000.00
** $380k - (25 years * annual prison salary) - (costs associated with running from the mob) = ~ $0.00

Who knew the electric violin could sound like this?

I was passing through Grand Central Station today and heard one of most amazing instruments....the electric violin. The music was so moving that I had to take off my headphones......and I was listening to the new Common album.

After standing in the hot subway station for over 20 minutes listening to Lorenzo LaRoc, I decided to take some video on my treo and post a quick blog. You can download a the full single on Lorenzo's myspace page.

I recommend buying the album (I bought my CD at the station). I usually don't stop to listen to street performers, but this was an extraordinary case. Apparently Lorenzo has been playing the subways for over 15 years. He's a well trained, well accomplished musician, composer, and arranger. He doesn't "work" the subways full-time, but knows other musicians who make over $200k a year doing what the love. (And I thought they were poor bums wasting their time in the subways. Damn I was wrong!)

Don't just take my word for it! Watch the video (Sorry for the poor sound quality.....it's Palm's fault.)

Lorenzos' Bio:

Lorenzo La Roc is a native New York electric violinist, composer, and arranger. He began playing the violin at the age of eight, and though he was classically trained, he now plays a diverse gamut of styles, including jazz, rock and Latin music. He studied at the Julliard School of Music under the tutelage of Mary Jane Metcalf, the Guitar Study Center in New York City and at the Creative Music Studios in Woodstock.

Very soon after graduating college, he was hired as a solo electric violinist to perform with Warner Brothers recording artist, Sheila E. It was then that he embraced Latin jazz.

After several years working with Sheila E., Lorenzo formed his own group of New York City musicians called Masterpiece. Masterpiece is now comprised of cutting edge musicians who have worked with many grammy-award winning artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, and Whitney Houston.

Lorenzo uses his signature trademark, a custom made five-string plexiglass electric violin. The intensity and passion with which Lorenzo plays his instrument expresses not only his musical versatility, but also his deep love and commitment for what he does. He hopes to bring the electric violin to a popular audience and to touch the hearts of listeners worldwide.

And I thought the X-Games was boring

I'd be the first to admit that I didn't really like skateboarding. I though it was for geeks who couldn't play a real sport......I take it ALL back. I watched my first X Games this past week and have a new found respect for these modern day Evil Knievels. On my JetBlue flight from Vegas (yes, I'm up), I had nothing better to do than watch 5 straight hours of skateboarders, bikers, and other crazy, young guys/girls defying gravity and performing some of the most amazing tricks I've ever seen. I never knew this sport (I'm officially recognizing it as a sport) required ridiculous skills, tremendous body control, strength, creativity, grace, and most importantly reckless abandon that one would have difficulty finding from the toughest in the NFL..........I mean they hang low. Very low.

Here's a sample:

Adam Jones bustin a Shaolin flip! (I'm even learning the lingo!)


Todd Potter rocks his kamikaze flip - Kiss of Death Backflip!


Kyle Loza's Gold medal trick.


These guys make it look so easy. Makes me want to go out there and pick up a skateboard and start flippin.....SIKE!!

Now let's talk about Jake Brown and his fall from grace. If you don't know who/what I'm talking about, just scroll down below. Before you do that, here is a video of Jake Brown performing some sick tricks. Please watch this video before you go any further. It will give you a good idea how skilled Jake is.

VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED. If you haven't seen this on ESPN and refuse to live in the 21st century and watch TV, please prepare yourself.

I was fooled into thinking this stuff was fun and games. This fall reminded me never to ride a skateboard. I saw this clip on the plane without my headphones on.....good thing I didn't hear the SMACK! Take a deep breath.


Let's take a look from another angle (homemade film).


One more time for good measure (on the jumbotron).


Jake, I wish you a speedy recovery. Thanks for introducing me to the sport.