Morning Thoughts

My Pick: All Over Coffee by Paul Madonna

I stumbled on My Pick for this week by complete accident. I was at the bookstore hoping to replace a copy of the Qur'an I lost on the bus last week when Paul Madonna's book grabbed my eye. I'm not a big comic reader, but the beautiful cover alone was worth the purchase price.

All Over Coffee is quirky in the sense that it's not like your typical comic strip. There are no people anywhere in the book, only San Francisco city and landscape ink sketches - unbelievably detailed one. Although, the lack of people doesn't mean there aren't any characters. What I am enjoying most about this book is how Madonna's amazing architectural details are juxtaposed with all too familiar dialogue that, after exploring, isn't as random as it first appears. His commentary makes you feel like you're actually a part of the culture and urban landscape that makes up San Francisco. Below are three of my favorites so far (click to enlarge them):

- Justin

A Conversation with Stasha

Yesterday while I was working on my business plan, I was blessed with a surprise message from my girlfriend on MSN messenger. Some of my friends that haven't met Stasha have asked what she's like, so I decided to post one of our typical conversations...

Bill Gate's Last Day at Microsoft

I came across this funny video this morning made by Bill Gates and friends - Bono, Jay-Z, Obama, Clinton, Gore, Spielberg, to name a few - to show what his last day at Microsoft will be like. Bill's last day of employment is slated to be the end of June, and this video shows us a human side of him that I'm not sure if any of us imagined possible. We, or maybe just I, tend to see Bill Gates as an icon of human achievement, not because of his wealth, but more for his humble nature and caring for human beings. He is truly an inspiring innovator, and whether you're a Microsoft user or not, you can't help but to be impressed by his tenacity for greatness. Plus, this video is pretty funny.

- Justin

In the Air by Malcolm Gladwell

My Pick is the newest category in my blog, which I decided to add about three minutes ago. Every week, I usually come across an article, essay, movie, person, or idea that I find fascinating or inspiring. I tend to file these fascination bits away for future reference, and am always eager to tell people about my great find - almost like I'm the only one who knows about it! Instead, I'm just going to start sharing them on my blog each week, probably posting on Sundays, but I'm too impatient to wait that long for my first one, so I'll do it this morning.

Since The New Yorker is my favorite magazine, it's only fitting that my first pick come from there, and last week's issue made this easy.

What I'm Reading

The last few weeks I've been walking and riding the bus, and consequently, reading much more than usual, which is nothing to complain about. Yesterday and today I have been enjoying Ludmila's Broken English, which is impossible to put down. Pierre's elegant prose captivates me, one of my favorite passages below describing Ludmila in her bedroom after a figh with her familyt:

"Ludmila stood naked behind her curtain, fussing through the clothes in their musty holdall. Irina had hidden it outdoors overnight, dampening its contents. Ludmila rummaged idly, sucking in the malty dark of her home, the smoke of her vanished childhood. A blade of light crossed the room to burn the edge of the curtain; she drew the curtain back to splash herself in the light, flexing before her mirror to make it pool and play around her hollows and curves. She met herself staring, and pouted."

Just thought I'd share that little bit...

- Justin

New Book Review

Today I posted my second book review, a short one, on the Persepolis by Marjane Satropi. I'm not sure how often I will be able to post over the next two weeks, I'm in the late stages of trying to secure investors and funding for my new startup, Justin Says, but I'll try my best.

- Justin

Paintball in Las Vegas

A couple of weeks ago, I asked Kevin, my little brother, what he wanted to do next time we hang out. I can always come with some entertainment for myself or my friends, but that's pretty easy. Las Vegas is Disneyland for adults, but closer to a library for kids. Everything is 24 hour, and if you can imagine it, you can do it here - well, if you're 21 that is. So when I challenged Kevin, 15, to come up with something he wants to do, I expected to get options like going to the arcade, a show, some batting cages, movies, or maybe even some go-karts. I was completely off, he chose paintball!

I've never really been paintballing, but I liked the idea. The fact that I could run around and splatter my friends - not for long - with a gun full of paint was all the convincing I needed. I began searching the web, and after speaking with a few facilities, I decided we would go to Las Vegas Premier Paintball.

Bison Killings in Colorado

I lived in Colorado from 2001-2007, and am convinced it's one of the best places to live and raise a family. The people are passionate about the cities they live in, and nearly everyone is in tune to local news and events. I always have a tough time convincing people to take a look at Denver when thinking about relocating, mostly because you never hear about it.

People don't understand why Colorado is such a beautiful place, but that's the way I liked it. The entire state is quiet, clean, friendly, and conscious. The only real problem with Colorado is, it only gets press coverage when things go bad. Columbine, Kobe Bryant, Police beatings, the Rockies losing, and now this. C'mon Colorado!

Redesigned Site and Book Review

Yesterday I was tired of working on, well, work stuff, so I decided to redesign my personal website. I decided to take the easy way out, and tryout my iWeb software from Apple. The program is so cool because any idiot, as I've proven today, can make a website by just typing in text and dragging and dropping media wherever I want.

The site also includes my life list and reading list along with reviews.

Grand Theft Auto IV Breaks All Entertainment Records

The Financial Times today reported that Grand Theft Auto IV has broken all entertainment records during its first week of sales, raking in about $500m. The previous record was for the release of Halo 3 at $300m for its opening week.

The game's US publisher, Take-Two Games, has been in talks with Electronic Arts over a $2bn EA buyout, which, like the Yahoo-Microsoft talks, have gone nowhere due to Take-Two's belief of EA undervaluing the company, which may change with the release of these numbers. But this isn't what most interests me about GTA's release. I'm more interested in what I've seen on the news about the game destroying kids' lives.

The Declining Newspaper and Why I Cancelled the WSJ

Yesterday I joined the ever growing club - with thousands of new members daily - of those that cancel their newspaper subscriptions. My victim, The Wall Street Journal. The funny thing about my entrance into this club, the WSJ is one of the few papers that actually experienced any sort of growth in their circulation numbers over the past year or so. Rupert Murdoch, who owns the Journal, may very well be one of the only paper moguls sleeping with a smile at night.

, the leading reporter of print circulation, released a report stating that US daily newspaper circulation is down 3.6% (as of March 31) with the Sunday circulation down even more at 4.6% compared to a year ago. In 2000, the newspaper industry enjoyed revenues in the neighborhood of $49b, today they hover around $42b, still loads of greenbacks, but far below what they once were. With overall ad spending following a similar route, one has to wonder how long the traditional newspaper can stay afloat?

Virgin Airlines, My New Favorite?

I was taking a break from work today some time today and started to look a little more into Virgin Airlines. I see Sir Richard Branson as one of the most innovative, unique, and inspiring people to ever walk this earth. The guy is a machine and continues to hit home runs with every pitch. He owns something like 300 businesses, and is a walking poster of never giving up and to always follow your dreams.

I need to buy an airline ticket in the next month, so I decided to just go straight to Virgin America and see what all the hype is about. Their customer service philosophy - Loyalty is hard to earn...but easy to lose - serves as their guidance for taking over the low fare airline market.

Justin's Quarterly Review, a Work in Progress

My last few months have been spent researching, planning and developing my new hyperlocal startup, which will also include a quarterly magazine of local arts, culture, literature and events. The planning has been fun, meeting and working with business leaders, mentors, and investors has been inspiring, and the huge amounts of support has been overwhelming at times. In total, the process has been a wonderful learning experience and has provided me with a better understanding of myself, my future, and what I am capable of.

Lately I've been working on the concept for my quarterly publication, and while I glean a variety of magazines, there are a handful that I subscribe to and consider to be in the upper echelon in the world of journalism.

I like School, but it's not that great

While working on my new startup, there have been countless times that I have been very stressed out, worried about finances, feasibility, deadlines, and that I may be dreaming too big. What I have come to realize though, is that you can never dream big enough. I've come across many entrepreneurs that were afraid of dreaming too big, safely making goals that they know are easily attainable, never having to fail. While this works for some, I'm not an active proponent of these lazy methods. I just don't believe there is room for complacency in entrepreneurship. Though complacency provides a nice safety net, very few people have achieved great things with that mentality, save that for the corporate world.

Las Vegas Public Transportation

A little over a week ago I was involved in a car accident minor enough to walk away from (and the 20' to my front door), but major enough expedite my experience with Las Vegas public transportation. To make a long story short, the accident and subsequent loss of my wallet (no credit cards, no rental car) has provided me with an opportunity to ride the bus like millions of other Americans.

7 year old, Latarian Milton, steals grandma's car...

I love his recommended punishment...

Hiatus

I've been out all weekend and will conclude the hyperlocal series this week. For now, check out these newsworthy links I read today:

Cheap sun power promised soon Eco-Safe and iTunes Portland Sustainability Center

Defining Hyperlocal, Part 3: Citizen Journalism

In Part One of my mini series of Defining Hyperlocal, I talked about the history of business in America, which led to the evolution of small business and locally sustainable communities during the Colonial period. Today's topic is citizen journalism/media, which is simply journalism done by non-journalists.

Newspapers have been around for quite some time. Julius Caesar had a daily news bulletin posted for the public called the Acta diurna. There was an 8th century newspaper in Beijing, and in the 15th century German cities began to publish broadsides, single paged newsletters, as well. In 1556, Venetians could read the Notizie scritte for a small fee, the gazetta.

My Life List

So a few years ago I started to make a list of the things I want to do in my life. Well, the other day I found that list and decided to put organize it on my computer and take it more seriously. I then thought it would be fun to share the list with everyone, which would also give me more motivation to actually complete the list since anyone can see my progress.

So up on my website, you can take a look at my list, my photos, the books I'm reading, have read, and plan to read. You can basically keep up on my life (if anyone cares to) while I keep track of my progress.

Seems silly, but it was actually sort of fun to make and easy to do. I'll keep it updated as I have time.

- Justin

A Response to Gas Prices

This morning, Sterling Terrell posted about our current gas prices, and questioned if they really are in fact high prices.

Terrell argues that the increases in gas prices is dependent on inflation, taxes, and the fluctuations in supply and demand.

In general, Terrell does a decent job explaining the basics of gas prices, however I would take it with a grain of salt. He first discusses how inflation impacts the gas prices:

First, we need to take into account inflation. The result of the Federal Reserve printing too much money is a loss of purchasing power of the dollar: something that cost $1.00 in 1950 would cost about $8.78 today. As for gas prices, in 1950 the price of gas was approximately 30 cents per gallon. Adjusted for inflation, a gallon of gas today should cost right at $2.64, assuming taxes are the same.

Environmental Money Tree

I am a voracious reader. I have an insatiable appetite for learning and expanding my general knowledge of, well, anything. I am absurdly interested in everything. Reading is my lifelong pursuit to understanding the world and, whether healthy or not, I am never satisfied with my knowledge. Like everyone, I have my favorites, but one day I may be reading Phillip Sidney's 16th century Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia, and the next day will be full of James Bond adventures, of course in comic book form. Reading allows me to keep an acute mind and helps me to become a better informed person.

One of my favorite books is F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. This morning I wanted to know a bit more about Fitzgerald, and I found this article (a self analysis) he wrote in the February 1936 issue of Esquire. The second paragraph really hit me hard. I have a little notebook I carry around with me everywhere I go. It is full of ideas I have, quotes I like, random thoughts, doodles while waiting for my coffee, you name it. A piece of this article is my newest entry, and also what led to this posting:

The Defining of Hyperlocal, Part 2: Small Business

In PART 1 of my quest to define hyperlocal, I talked briefly about the history of business in the US during the colonial days. As colonies began to work and trade with each other, the business of retailing began to take form as nomadic peddlers traveled from house to house trying to make a profit. The vast majority of these hawkers would make a few 1,000+ mile trips with packs of goodies on their backs (either by horse or foot).

In the colonial era, the retail business was a vehicle out of poverty. While most of us relate peddling to those scheming entrepreneurs selling magical potions off the back of their carts (everything seemed possible in those days), many significant inventions (like the steamboat), enterprises (Stanley Tools), and prominent leaders (Lincoln, Edison) came from the colonial day peddling.

Social Entrepreneur: Kjerstin Erickson

A while back I was trying to launch a non-profit that would help build schools and clean up communities in poverty stricken Indonesia. I was full of ambition and determination to meet my goal, but soon realized the sheer magnitude of such a project was overwhelming. I was also struggling to find supporters to help launch the project, "too big and ambitious" became a phrase I now hate to hear. Frustrated with empty promises of help and support, I finally gave up. I saw an opportunity to help people, but I quit because I "lacked the resources" necessary.

I'm a very ambitious person, but am not afraid to fall. While morally devastating, there are benefits from every failure. I actually learned that successfully trying is just as important as achieving your goal. For example, I may not be helping people in Indonesia (yet), but I learned how to network and ask powerful people for things you want, which isn't as easy it seems.

The Defining of Hyperlocal, Part 1

The other day, after I finished preparing for a meeting with potential partners, I asked a colleague of mine to review the material and give me his thoughts. The last couple of months have been full of 120-130 hour weeks researching, planning, and calculating for my new "hyperlocal" startup. Everyday, in addition to looking like I woke up and did a few lines of coke out off of my bathroom sink, I've also learned that time becomes more valuable than nutrition and exercise. passion has eagerly replaced them both.

After reading through the document, there was one question I've been asked numerous times before, "What does Hyperlocal mean?" I have found the term to be rather ambiguous. Many people have varying opinions on what it means, but for the majority, it is centered around local news and events. A good start, but I believe the term connotes a deeper meaning within the realm of economics, specifically at the local and community level.

One Mean Executive

I came across this today and thought I would share it with everyone. The audio company Monster Cables has demanded that the Blue Jeans Cable company cease and desist selling, advertising, and basically anything that "violates the intellectual property rights" of Monster. In addition, Monster "insists" that all such products are recalled and all accounting records from these sales be turned over to Monster. I don't know much about audio cables, but they all seem to be pretty similar to me.

The beauty of all this is, Blue Jeans Cable's owner is a lawyer by trade, and judging by the name of his cable company, he is a pretty laid back guy. Not only did he post the official cease and desist letter on his website, he also released his response to Audioholics, an online A/V magazine for everyone to see (and pasted below). I found it pretty funny, but it's long. I say read the first 2-3 paragraphs, then the final 3. That will give you a good overview of the tone, as well as Mr. Denke. : (taken from an Audioholics blog)

Living in Las Vegas

So I have been living in Las Vegas for about 8 months now, and am just starting to settle in and understand this city. The two most common questions I get from people are “What could possibly make you want to live in Las Vegas?” and “What’s it really like to live in Sin City?”

Rails-to-Trails

I came across Rails-to-Trails today purely by accident. I was reading about innovation, which led to learning more about carbon fiber, taking me to a page devoted to carbon fiber and bicycles, ultimately landing me at Rails-to-Trails's website.

As interesting as the other topics are (I'll catch up on them later), as a cyclist, Rails-to-Trails is even more fascinating.

A True Humanitarian Entrepreneur

I would like everyone to meet Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, world traveler, hitchhiker, future Nobel Prize winner. At 19, this guy went to Africa and began importing trucks to Lagos. That was around 1991, and it only lasted about two years. Thank God.

His family owned a textile company, and Mikkel made enough money in Africa to buy out other family members in 1997, giving him the reins as president and CEO of Vestergaard Frandsen. He has turned those textiles into a company that designs products to change the world. In fact, I think they should change their mission statement to, "We change the world."

My First Post

Well, this is the first attempt at blogging by this CEO (I like the way that sounds).

I decided to name it Morning Thoughts because, well, I wake up early and that's when I do my best thinking. I've also realized that many bloggers write at certain times or on particular days, but I have no idea when I'll write and anything I write about will most likely be on whatever I've thought or read about earlier that morning.