Cameras

For her birthday, Sarah wants a camera.  She did the research and for any of you looking, it may be of some help in making your decision.

Her assessment:

I think the right fit would be an Digital SLR:

According to reviews, the two most highly recommended choices are as follows and reviews are basically even;
Nikon D3000  (or D40 or D60 is the same thing with a few tiny additional features)
and the Canon EOS XS and XSi

They both take beautiful pictures and I cannot find any discerning difference.  Apparently in the photography world you are either a Nikon person or a Canon person and from there you chose one or the other.  The Nikon and the Canon are both good for beginners - you can use as a point and shoot and start to play around with features.  Once you become more advanced they are a good base if you buy lenses, etc....

The Leica is a beautiful camera but considered a "compact" not an SLR.  I think it is basically more for photographers who don't want to lug around their equipment to weddings, traveling, etc.  It does not have as many features/things to play around with which is why I thought a SLR might be better for me to learn how to take pictures.

Also, the Wall Street Journal among other publications have written about it too much in trend peices and they have since jacked up the price $300 to around $800 since the fall.

The Kid Stays in the Picture

I had heard of Robert Evans before, being an avid movie buff, but never realized the extent to which he has had such an impact on my love for film.  An actor, producer, and former head of Paramount, Robert Evans was behind some of the most influential and important movies ever to come out of Hollywood.

But that is not why I write this post.  Robert Evans, and this well-done and gripping documentary based on his memoirs, also stands (in my mind, at least) as a metaphor for the Hollywood dream.  From the chance meeting that launched his career to the battles with Francis Ford Coppola that created a movie that defined the medium in the Godfather, his story embodies the highs and the lows, the glamor and the drama, and larger than life personas that drive the dream.  For those of us that have the same dream, his story documents that it can be done; that passion can drive success; that hard work and a commitment to your vision can breed success; but that also it must be nurtured and cared for or just as easily lost.

I am not captivated by movie stars - particularly today's breed where talent is often overshadowed by a beautiful face or the ability to entertain the paparazzi - but instead am enthralled by the personas that drive the industry and help create the films that affect lives and inspire creative revolution.  Robert Evans was one of those personas.  To anyone who shares my interest, I recommend you give this film a deserved viewing.

WFU Soccer: The Franchise

I always enjoyed watching my friend Vicente Bastidas as he starred for the Wake Forest soccer team, typically ranked in the top five in the country. Then, a couple years after we graduated, they went to three straight College Cups (Final Fours) and won a National Championship.

This past week, they set the record with four first round draft picks. Pretty impressive for Jay Vidovich and his squad.

Excerpt from this article:

San Jose selected Wake Forest defender Ike Opara with the third overall pick. Opara marked the first of a MLS-record four first-round draft picks out of the same school. Demon Deacons teammates Zack Schilawski (ninth overall to New England), Corben Bone (13th overall to Chicago) and Austin Da Luz (14th overall to New York) rounded out the complement.

"We call it the franchise because (Wake has) produced so many players," Opara said.

Great Quote

"From whence shall we expect the approach of danger? Shall some trans-Atlantic military giant step the earth and crush us at a blow? Never. All the armies of Europe and Asia...could not by force take a drink from the Ohio River or make a track on the Blue Ridge in the trial of a thousand years. No, if destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men we will live forever or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln

Me on Fox Business

So I was getting drinks with my boss and a client at the Waldorf Astoria's Bull and Bear Bar today...they also happen to film Fox Business' Happy Hour there...check me out in the background of this clip...I'm the handsome guy in the sharp suit drinking a Crown and Coke.

Nails

It's almost a year old, but this was a great article on the downfall of Lenny Dykstra.

Growing up and playing baseball, I was the smallest and, most of the time, fastest guy on the team. The way I stood out was to play harder, be tougher, and do the little things better than everyone else on the field. Which is why I loved guys like Dykstra, Brett Butler, Ryne Sandberg, Kirby Puckett, etc. These guys played the game that way and I looked up to them as guys who did things the right way.

Unfortunately, personally they represent some of the worst guys in the game. Kirby Puckett, although he gave heartily to his community, was a womanizer and abused women. Brett Butler chewed tobacco constantly and was known to give it out to children, knowing the addictive and life-threatening issues associated with it. And Dykstra...well, his megalomania and paranoia know no bounds, as evidenced by this article. Which is sad, because the Street could use a guy like him...someone with flare, charisma, and who didn't graduate Ivy and get handed a post at a bulge bracket investment bank. Someone that everyday people can associate with and show that by watching the markets and learning about different products and strategies they too can participate in the game. But, again, we see the evil side of another sports star, another flashy guy in a jet out there pushing a dream that is not based in reality, and the innocent, hard-working people get hurt. Seems like a common theme in too many ESPN and Wall Street Journal articles.

Officiating

Great article on officiating. In two games in the ACC this weekend, including one for my very own Wake Forest Demon Deacons, an egregious no-call in the final seconds sent the game to overtime when it never should have gone there. I believe in letting the players play...anyone who knows me knows that I do not believe in calling many fouls...but when it is glaringly obvious and intentional it must be called. Particularly in the final minutes. There is no excuse for that. Good thing Wake won anyway, otherwise I'd be livid.