Two Jews walk into a bar

(Alternative title was: "Christ, that's good beer")

If you're into large quantities of wine, the LA Wine Fest is the place to be. I can't remember much about the wine, other than that there was a lot of it. There were a couple decent wineries from the Ventura area, and we met some interesting people...like Jeremy here...from Durban...at the Wine Fest to sell some of his country's liquid wares. (Please take note of my purple teeth.)


Both titles (above) were stolen from the Schmaltz Brewing Company. I would feel bad about stealing their slogans, except they stole the name of their beer (He'Brew) from a Joan River's joke (which goes something like: "You're so goy you think Hebrew is a macho beer"). But I digress, here's me with a bottle of He'Brew. Hey, my teeth are still purple.


I would write something about the tequila and vodka tasting, but things are hazy by then. I have a couple of brochures for what I think are my new favorite tequilas: Dos Manos Añejo and Don Camilo Reposado.

Dinner at comme Ça after the Wine Fest. We took the bus down Melrose, as driving immediately after sampling 60 wines is probably a bad idea. The tarte flambe compared poorly to the several we had in France...Here's Nico at the bus stop, looking way too happy. Why are her teeth so white?

And you guys think I make this stuff up.

Objective To determine from a societal perspective the risk of sudden cardiac death associated with running in an organised marathon compared with the risk of dying from a motor vehicle crash that might otherwise have taken place if the roads had not been closed.
Design Population based retrospective analysis with linked ecological comparisons of sudden death.

Setting Marathons with at least 1000 participants that had two decades of history and were on public roads in the United States, 1975-2004.

Main outcome measures Sudden death attributed to cardiac causes or to motor vehicle trauma.

Results The marathons provided results for 3 292 268 runners on 750 separate days encompassing about 14 million hours of exercise. There were 26 sudden cardiac deaths observed, equivalent to a rate of 0.8 per 100 000 participants (95% confidence interval 0.5 to 1.1). Because of road closure, an estimated 46 motor vehicle fatalities were prevented, equivalent to a relative risk reduction of 35% (95% confidence interval 17% to 49%). The net reduction in sudden death during marathons amounted to a ratio of about 1.8 crash deaths saved for each case of sudden cardiac death observed (95% confidence interval: 0.7 to 3.8). The net reduction in total deaths could not be explained by re-routing traffic to other regions or days and was consistent across different parts of the country, decades of the century, seasons of the year, days of the week, degree of competition, and course difficulty.

Conclusion Organised marathons are not associated with an increase in sudden deaths from a societal perspective, contrary to anecdotal impressions fostered by news media.

More American than apple pie...

(Sorry my posts are a little out of order)

To escape Newport Beach's enhanced security zone, Nico and I spent the 4th of July with the Pacific Symphony. Although the Pacific Symphony plays at the Verizon Amphitheater in the Summer, they allow picnicing (and did not seem to mind/notice the two bottles of wine I brought) at their events. We started our picnic (prepared by Nico) up on the lawn (also known as the cheap seats), but moved down to our slightly better seats before the concert started.


The symphony played alone for about an hour, took a break, then reappeared with special guest Don Mclean. Don Mclean played all your old favorites like "Crying", "Vincent", and the extended version of "American Pie".

The fireworks were fair...better than what you would see at the Hollywood Bowl.

You can take the crosstown bus, if it's raining or it's cold...

An impromptu tandem ride to San Diego yesterday seemed like a good idea on Saturday night. We left Newport at 6:20 AM (20 minutes behind schedule). I do not remember seeing any traffic until we hit Oceanside. As we were on a tight schedule, we skipped our usual breakfast at the Longboarder Cafe [they have a big sign that says: "We do not serve fast food"...they are not lying], and instead stopped at A Little Moore Coffee Shop in Leucadia.

A few beach towns further, we stopped at the bottom of the hill leading up to Torrey Pines as I attempted 1) to eliminate some irritating noises, and 2) stop the rear derailleur from shifting on its own. To my surprise, both chains were bone dry, leaving me to wonder if I had run them through a chain cleaner and neglected to re-oil. After a little lubrication, things were a little quieter, though the shifting never improved much. While we were stopped, the sun decided to appear, making the rest of the ride considerably warmer.

Up Torrey Pines, down Torrey Pines, through La Jolla, Pacific Beach, Mission Beach with a 2:00 PM arrival at the San Diego Zoo. (92 miles, total time pedaling 6:37). We were too tired to do much of anything, accept watch the big giant tortoises...they were too tired to do anything accept turn their heads to look at us.

3 more miles (downhill mostly) to the train station, where I was told that I could not take a tandem on the train. They got nicer when I explained the bike comes apart, and I could make it as small as they wanted. I ended up removing the timing chain and uncoupling the front "third" of the bike. Bicycle storage on an Amtrak train (at least out in these parts) consists of two hooks (one for each wheel)...your bike is supposed to be secured vertically to the wall [hope you can picture that]. I ended up hooking the front third of the bike over one (top) hook, and the back third over another (top hook). Nico and I did a little extra securing (and made some padding) with our gloves and helmets.

The train was only a half hour late to Santa Ana. (Your tax dollars at work). We had the bike back together a little before 8 PM. To make things interesting, I decided to run the cranks out of phase (captain 90 degrees ahead). With the sun going down, we began the last 10 miles of our trip with a tail light and no head light. My first thoughts on out of phase cranks: 1) a little faster on the flats/downhills, 2) wobbly going up hill. The stoker thought starting was much more difficult...

Home at 8:40 PM, for a daily total of 105 miles. Too tired to work today.

What's going to happen exciting today?

Michael B. Lasko, Pokerstar

I've been playing a fair amount of (legal) online poker at pokerstars.net. [Nico might say more than a fair amount]. For those of you unfamiliar with the bait and switch, pokerstars.net is a free poker site...it exists to get you hooked on poker so that you will move over to pokerstars.com (a real money poker site). For those (like me) who do not part with their (real) money easily, one can occasionally win real money (and spots in real money tournaments) at pokerstars.net...again, for the purpose of getting you hooked on poker so that you will spend (real) money at pokerstars.com.

This week I won a spot in a one million dollar pokerstars.com tournament (by playing a free tournament at pokerstars.net). I finished in 1,965 place (out of 11,000 entrants)...good enough for a $150 prize. I would have finished a little higher, but I was already a half hour late for work, and started pressing. Figuring I would gamble the $150 away if I left it in my pokerstars.com account, I cashed out my winnings.

Note to IRS: Although I have not spent any money on pokerstars.com, I have spent more than $150 in Vegas honing my poker playing skills...let's call it a wash.

All this and non-smoking bars...

Upon arrival in Indianapolis (several years ago), I remember complaining that there was absolutely nothing to do in Indianapolis. I only knew pharmacists at the time, and their suggestions always involved going to some Hoosier bar. Nico and I had not yet developed a taste for the finer things in life, and could not have afforded them at the time, anyway. Morale of the story: If you are ever thinking about moving to Indianapolis, I would strongly recommend spending two weeks there first.

Yesterday, I got an email from an old (old, old, old) friend. [That's probably two many olds, as I believe I am a couple of months older than said friend.]

"Maybe I'll try to escape the Pasadena heat and take the family to Newport for a day in Paradise. I haven't been there for ~20 years, so you might have some suggestions for activities out your way."

Off the top of my head, all my Newport picks (besides sailing) involve Newport bars (which though much better than Hoosier bars, probably do not fit the bill for minor children). With a little effort, I came up with the following list:

[I was trying to avoid:
1) the obvious: "Go to the beach"
2) the overly touristy: "Have a Balboa Bar or Frozen Banana"

3) the difficult: "Get pre-approved to test drive a Ferrari"]

Sorry for the sidetrack, here's my list:
1) Get here early and buy some (still breathing) fish.

2) Rent a Quadricycle (room for friends and family).

3) Ride the Ferry a bunch of times.

4) Visit the tide pools (low tide only).

5) Find a good picnic spot.

6) Catch a free movie (parking extra).

I can run 26 miles, but one cup of Nespresso cappuccino, and I'm about ready to have a heart attack.

Thank you for your question about our Nespresso Grand Crus Blends. The caffeine content per brewed capsule will vary between approximately 55 and 65 mg. The Lungo Blends contain 20% more coffee per capsule; therefore they do have slightly higher caffeine content, about 77-89mg. The coffee in our Nespresso capsules has a caffeine content that ranges from 1.2 to 1.5% caffeine; this difference depends mainly on the green coffee (Arabica Vs. Robusta as well as to a lesser extent the coffee origin) and the degree of roasting. There is no correlation between the assigned "strengths" and caffeine content. In the Espresso range the Capriccio and Roma contain the most caffeine.

For any further questions or concerns, simply contact the Nespresso Club at our toll free number 800.562.1465. Our Coffee Specialists are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Emerald City Blues

Why is Virgin America 1/2 the cost of Alaska Air on a routine flight from Los Angeles to Seattle? Does it have anything to do with the people at Alaska knowing I have $500 in vouchers that are about to expire? Note to people at Alaska: SEA is your hub; you should be paying me to fly there.

Also at work today (best read bottom to top): [I usually remove the names of my coworkers, but evidently Ami Vu does not mind that everyone knows she is going to see New Kids on the Block.]
____________________________________________________________________________________
From: Lasko, Michael B
Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 1:38 PM
To: Vu, Ami M; xxxxxxx, xxxxx x; xxxxxxxx, xxxxxxx x; xxxxxx, xxxxxxxx
Subject: RE:


To remove me from this thread, delete my name from the "To" field before sending your reply.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: xxxxxxx, xxxxx x
Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 1:41 PM
To: Vu, Ami M; xxxxxx, xxxxxxxx; Lasko, Michael B; xxxxxxx, xxxxxxx x
Subject: RE:
Ami,

Please remove the following names from this thread: Mike Lasko, xxxx xxxxxxxx, xxxxx xxxxxxx

Please add the following names to the thread: xxxxx xxx, xxxxx xx, and xxxxx.

xxxxx xxxxxxx, Pharm.D.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Vu, Ami M
Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 1:39 PM
To: xxxxxx, xxxxxxxx; xxxxxxx, xxxxx x; Lasko, Michael B; xxxxxxxx, xxxxxxx x
Subject: RE:

Yes, it’s a reunion!!!!!! They’ve got old songs and NEW songs too. I told Lasko that I would buy him a t-shirt of NKOTB!!!!!!!!

Ami
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: xxxxxx, xxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 1:38 PM
To: xxxxxxx, xxxxx x; Lasko, Michael B; Vu, Ami M; xxxxxxxx, xxxxxxx x
Subject: RE:


Is it a reunion? I thought they dissolved a long time ago. Their new band name should be New Adults on the Block now, right? 98 degrees? Did they have reunion too? In honor of Nick getting past Jessica Simpson? Ambrosia, you crack me up.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: xxxxxxx, xxxxx x
Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 1:26 PM
To: Lasko, Michael B; Vu, Ami M; xxxxxxxx, xxxxxxx x; xxxxxx, xxxxxxxx
Subject: RE:


Hold on Lasko, maybe Ami means that they're paying people to go to the New Kids on the Block concert.


xxxxx xxxxxxx, Pharm.D.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Lasko, Michael B
Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 1:12 PM
To: xxxxxxx, xxxxx x; Vu, Ami M; xxxxxxxx, xxxxxxx x; xxxxx, xxxxxxxx
Subject: RE:

I want off this thread. In fact, I am going to make an appointment at Lacuna (as featured in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), so that I can forget I ever knew anyone who paid to go to a New Kids on the Block Concert.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: xxxxxxx, xxxxx x
Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 1:10 PM
To: Vu, Ami M; xxxxxxxx, xxxxxxx x; xxxxxx, xxxxxxxx
Cc: Lasko, Michael B
Subject: RE:

I can't go - I'm already going to the 69 degrees concert. : (

xxxxx xxxxxxx, Pharm.D.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Vu, Ami M
Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 1:09 PM
To: xxxxxxx, xxxxxxx x; xxxxxxx, xxxxx x; xxxxxx, xxxxxxxx
Cc: Lasko, Michael B
Subject:

ARGHHHHHHHHHHH, AHHHHHHHHH!! MY HUSBAND HAS CONFIRMED THAT HE WILL BE ABLE TO TAKE ME TO A NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK CONCERT!!!!!!!! WHO’S IN?????


Ami