Hi from Dublin

Sunday Sunday Sunday! Monster Trucks

• Ok call me crazy, but some innate curiosity is tugging at my primative side to go and see monster trucks this Saturday at AT&T park.

It's probably more geared for the WWF age bracket crowd than the 30-something females, but nevertheless, I have to wonder what it's like. My friend Gus went last year, and when I asked him if he'd be up for a 2nd annual trip his response summed it up: "Worth going to once, but a little much for a repeat visit this year...i will wait until i have kids ;) "

I'm heading to my favorite San Francisco neighborhood bar tonight, 111 Minna. Where else can I find my Big Daddy IPA for a very affordable $3? Not DJing tonight, but just catching up with a fellow Fordhamite who also moved out to San Francsico recently. I didn't really know him in NYC, but he's a friend of my friends, so to speak...you know how it goes.

Speaking of beer, I find the disparity between the price of a beer in a SF bar vs. NYC quite astounding, while prices of wine glasses are much more aligned.

For example, at 111 Minna, a hip happening spot, draft beer is $3.
In NYC, the only place one finds $3 pints of good beer is either at McSoreley's Ale House (and it's a 12 oz glass for $2) with the limited selection of "light" or "dark" or...where? I'd say average pint price is $5.00 these days. Beer and Monster Trucks...what better way to end the day!

10/20/30 PPT Rule

As a fan of Guy Kawasaki, I am preaching out to all ye PowerPointer's...follow his advice for winning presentations whether it's for VC, Sales pitches, or arguments sake.

http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2005/12/the_102030_rule.html

I haven't read too much from him lately, but I remember from seeing him speak a few years back to promote his new book (at the time), Rules for Revolutionaries. We should take a hint and learn from him.

Props to Kristen for the blog pic

• http://kristenmitch.blog.co.uk/ - See yours truly skiing in Utah with pals kristen and her roommate Anne. Is Kristen secretly hiding out in the UK?

Some 2006 Stats to Chew On

• Happy New Year 2007! Here's some great US Census bureau stats released today about our consumption of media in the last 365 days.

There's some interesting facts here. For instance, did you know that according to the new U.S. Census Bureau's Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2007, adults and teens will spend nearly five months (3,518 hours) next year watching television, surfing the Internet, reading daily newspapers and listening to personal music devices.

According to projections from a communications industry forecast, people will spend:

• 65 days in front of the TV
• 41 days listening to radio
• A little over a week on the Internet in 2007
• Adults will spend about a week reading a daily newspaper
• Teens and adults will spend another week listening to recorded music
• Consumer spending for media is forecasted to be $936.75 per person

Looks like media is warping at full speed ahead. Read the press release for more facts.

Also, can someone please explain this one to me?

• The retail price of a gallon of milk jumped from $2.79 in 2000 to $3.24 in 2005, while a pound of creamy peanut butter dropped from $1.96 to $1.70. (Table 712)

And this stat really proves the direction I believe we are unfortunately emphasizing too much in school. Are teachers more generous with A's? The likely scenario is that the caliber of students is higher today with more people applying to college more than ever.

• Nearly half (47 percent) of college freshmen enrolled in 2005 had earned an average grade of A in high school, compared to 2-in-10 (20 percent) in 1970. The majority (79 percent) of freshmen in 1970 had an important personal objective of “developing a meaningful philosophy of life.” By 2005, the majority of freshmen (75 percent) said their primary objective was “being very well off financially.” (Table 274)

It's crazy to think that everyone is out there for financial stability. I certainly hope that there's more to college than that for our future generations.