Pigeon Forge Cabin Rentals Rock!!

There’s a great place called Pigeon Forge in Tennessee that is an amazing vacation spot. If you can’t afford to go to the more expensive vacations destinations – like Vegas, California, Florida, Chicago, Hawaii or New York – why not consider the beauty and serenity of a place like Pigeon Forge. Pigeon Forge cabin rentals are a cost-effective alternative and will still provide you and your family with an unforgettable experience! These log cabin rentals have Jacuzzis, pool tables, huge decks from which you can view Mt. Le Conte, the highest peak in the Smoky Mountains, fireplaces, big comfortable rooms and more. When you’re considering the vacation possibilities for this summer, consider Pigeon Forge!

Fiber Cable

If you're looking for a high-quality fiber cable that is both reliable and efficient, you really need to take a look at a Web site called http://www.blackbox.com/. The fiber technology that is out there in the market right now is amazing and the prices become more affordable each and every year. But, the important thing when it comes to this particular type of cable is to avoid skimping to save money and then getting caught with an inferior product that won't do the prescribed job. Visit http://www.blackbox.com/ today and put the words "fiber cable" in the Search box. Take Big Ed's word for it -- you'll be happy you did!

Three Great Nor Cal Restaurants

Auberge Du Soleil in Napa Valley (180 Rutherford Hill Road, Rutherford, CA 94573; (707) 963-1211; www.aubergedusoleil.com) features French and Mediterranean cuisine that is creative, flavorful and expertly prepared by Executive Chef Robert Curry. Winner of the "One Star Award: in 2007 from The Michelin Guide and the "Mobile Four Star Award," Auberge Du Soleil is considered one of the wine country's finest restaurants. The Prix Fixe tasting menu is outstanding, pairing excellent wines with outstanding signature dishes. Some of the selections from this menu include a starter like Ahi Tuna Sashimi, Crunchy Vegetables, Crème Fraiche, Sevruga Caviar, paired with a 2004 Nikolaihof "Hefeabzug" Gruner Veltliner from Wachau-Austria; a main course of Seared Scallops, Veal Sweetbreads, White Corn, Summer Black Truffle, paired with a 2004 Martin Alfaro Chardonnay from the Santa Cruz Mountains; and a dessert of Hot & Cold Foie Gras with Peaches, Pain Perdu and Almonds, paired with a 2002 Bon Pere Germanier "Mitis" Amigne de Vetroz from Valais, Switzerland. Food like this makes me wax poetic. Auberge Du Soleil is a gem in the wine country that should not be missed.

Sierra Mar in Big Sur (Post Ranch Inn, Highway 1 in Big Sur (831) 667-2800; www.postranchinn.com) features top-tier contemporary Cal-New French cuisine in a marvelous setting. Voted The #1 Hotel Restaurant in California by the Zagat Survey in 2006, and the #1 Hotel in the World by Conde Nast Traveler in 2003, Sierra Mar is perched atop a 1,200 foot cliff above the Pacific -- and if the view doesn't take your breath away, the food surely will. With a 4-course Prix Fixe menu at just $85 per person, you can't go wrong. For our first course, I had a Carpacio of Ahi Tuna with Gribiche & Quail Egg One-Eyed Susans. The Ahi was melt-in-your-mouth tender and the Gribiche was exquisite. My dining partner had Sweet Corn Fritters with Fried Green Tomatoes, accompanied by a Green Tomato Chutney and Pasilla Chili Jus. My second course was a Lobster-Coconut Bisque with a Thai Lobster Summer Roll. The bisque was one of the most amazing things I have ever tasted. My dining partner had a Roasted Heirloom Tomato Soup with a Grilled Cheese Sandwich. It was good, but I never would have ordered it. I didn't come all the way to Big Sur to eat grilled cheese. My third course was a Grilled Prime Rib Eye Cap "Oscar" with Asparagus, Dungeness Crab and a Choron Sabayon. My dining partner had the same. The prime rib was magnificent and went well with the richness of the crab. For dessert, we both had the Light Meyer Lemon Pudding with Huckleberry Compote. It came highly recommended and it did not disappoint. The service at Sierra Mar was perfection and the entire experience an adventure in culinary ecstasy! I can see why everyone loves this place!

Passionfish in Pacific Grove (701 Lighthouse Avenue, Pacific Grove (831) 655-3311; www.passionfish.net) offers a very unique California dining experience with outstanding food and wine in a casual and relaxed atmosphere. Chef Ted Walter is well-known for changing his menu all the time, which means that you'll always find new and exciting items every time to visit Passionfish. Walter is a big advocate of using the freshest sustainable seafood, slow cooked meats, farm fresh organic greens, and delectable house-made desserts. Walter is also into the culinary theory that "simpler is better", which I cannot agree with more. So many restaurants serve food that it overwrought with sauces and ingredients that don't add anything to the dish. They're basically showing off. Walter serves food that is healthy, flavorful and ecologically sound. They also have an amazing wine selection, which led to them winning several Wine Spectator awards. When we visited Passionfish, we had the Asparagus Fries with a sesame aioli ($7); Oysters in a carrot ginger sauce ($8); a Roasted Beet Salad with goat cheese, greens and fried onions ($8); a Tilapia entree with a balsamic-garlic butter sauce and thyme mashed potatoes ($17); Idaho Trout with sautéed artichokes, banana potatoes and basil ($16); and a Dick Confit with a honey-vinegar reduction, chili potatoes and braised fennel. As you can see by the prices that I have listed here, Passionfish is not incredibly expensive, which is a refreshing change when you consider all of the restaurants in San Francisco that are grossly over-priced.

Cheaters Never Prosper

If football gods exist out there, they’re surely smiling today. The New York Giants, a team no one believed in, beat the New England Patriots yesterday in the Super Bowl by a score of 17-14. A boring game for three quarters, this one will go down in history as one of the best ever.

It will also be remembered as the day when the brash braggarts, the cocky prima donnas, the princes of the NFL, got their come uppance. If revenge is best served cold, yesterday was a chiller. Bill Belichick and his group of elite athletes were outplayed and overmatched. The king is dead. The dream is over.

New England will not be talked about in the same breath as the San Francisco 49ers, Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys, great NFL dynasties all. The Patriots came off like big-headed trash talkers and the Giants left us with a happy, warm feeling. It was a karmatic snap-back of the highest magnitude. It was sweeter than candy and more fitting than a good pair of shoes. Okay, enough with the corny adjectives.

Things couldn’t have gone worse for the Pats. The day before the game, The Boston Globe published a report that New England cheated again back in 2002, when they videotaped the St. Louis Rams’ final practice prior to the Super Bowl. If you don’t know, a walk through is where a team goes through all of the plays and formations that they plan to run in an upcoming game.

If indeed the Patriots taped that practice and used the information they gleaned from watching it, they would have had an undeniable advantage. It would be like knowing the end of a movie or the punch line to a joke. As it was, New England beat the Rams in that Super Bowl, even though St. Louis was heavily favored.

Although Patriots’ officials vehemently deny the charges, the whole thing stinks. It also tends to ring true, since we already know for a fact that the team is not above cheating and videotaping is their preferred method. The most ironic part of it all is that The Boston Globe broke the story – New England’s hometown newspaper. Maybe they’re as sick of Belichick as everyone else is.

Then, there was the cocky attitude of the Patriots before, during and after the game. You would think that a team with their record of dominance would be a little humble. Not these clowns. They were talking smack the week before, throughout the game and afterwards during the post-game press conference. Tom Brady made a snarky comment before the game during a press conference, when he implied that the Patriots would score a bunch of points against New York’s defense. Rodney Harrison dissed them, and then Randy Moss made some disparaging remarks about the Giants’ secondary – a secondary that had just shut him down.

And then the capper had to be when Bill Belichick left the field early at the end of the game. That really showed a complete lack of class. If a player did that, he’d be fined and possibly suspended. The bottom line is that Bill Belichick thinks he’s above it all. He could care less what anyone thinks. Belichick is the epitome of a selfish, egocentric bore – the man has shown that he’ll cheat to win and then when he loses, he acts like a four-year-old.

And that’s why the whole affair was wonderful to watch. It was the choke job of the decade, if not the century and a pleasure to experience from beginning to end. At least that’s my take on it. I guess if you’re a Patriots’ fan you’d probably see it a little differently.

Pot Vending Machines Crop Up In Los Angeles

Los Angeles is always on the cutting edge. The City of Angels is well-known throughout the world for leading the way in music, film, art and theatre. And now LA-LA Land is turning heads with its newest cultural innovation – a vending machine that dispenses pot.
This amazing city, the place that popularized the fast food drive-through, edible underpants, eight-headed vibrators (aka “The Hydra”), phone sex and microwave chimichungas-- has a new invention that will set the world of 420 on its noggin -- 24-hour medical-marijuana vending machines.
Patients suffering from chronic pain, loss of appetite, annoying in-laws, nosy neighbors and other ailments that marijuana is said to alleviate can now get their pot with a dose of convenience at the Herbal Nutrition Center, where a large machine will dole out the drug around the clock.
Inventor and owner Vincent Mehdizadeh said the machine gives users convenience, low prices, safety and anonymity.
But federal drug agents say the invention may need unplugging and the people who own and fill such machines could be breaking laws.
"We have an open investigation [into these machines]," Jose Martinez, a special agent for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, told The Globe and Mail in a telephone interview from Los Angeles yesterday.
"We have to follow through and basically dot our i's and cross our t's and once we have completed our investigation we'll present the matter to a magistrate and if we have enough we'll get some seizure warrants."
U.S. federal law does not recognize the medical-marijuana laws in California and 11 other states. "Marijuana is illegal in the eyes of the federal government," Mr. Martinez said.
Two dispensaries in the city have installed vending machines to distribute the drug to people who carry cards authorizing marijuana use. A third is awaiting delivery of its machine.
The computerized machine requires fingerprint identification and a prepaid card with a magnetic stripe. Once the card and fingerprint are verified, a bright green envelope with the pot drops down a slot.
Mr. Mehdizadeh said it took seven months to develop and patent the black, armoured box, which he calls the PVM, or prescription vending machine.
Mr. Mehdizadeh said any user approved for medical marijuana and registered in a computer database at his dispensary can purchase the drug in advance and then use the machine to pick it up.
The process provides convenience and privacy for users who may otherwise feel uncomfortable about buying marijuana, Mr. Mehdizadeh said.
At the Timothy Leary Medical Dispensary in the San Fernando Valley, the vending machine is accessible only during business hours. An employee there said the machine was introduced about five months ago, and provides speedy service.
"It helps a lot of patients who are in a lot of pain and don't want to wait around to get help," Robert Schwartz said. "It's been working out great."
Mr. Mehdizadeh said he sought the advice of doctors and decided to limit the amount of marijuana dispensed to a user to one ounce a week. Each purchase from the machine yields one-eighth or one-quarter of an ounce. By eliminating a vendor behind the counter, he said, the machine offers users lower drug prices. The one-eighth-ounce packet would cost about $40 (U.S.) - $20 lower than the average price at other dispensaries.
The DEA and other federal agencies have been actively shutting down major medical-marijuana dispensaries throughout the state over the past two years and charging their operators.
Mr. Mehdizadeh said his centre was the target of a federal raid in December.
He said no arrests were made and no charges filed against him.

Will We Be Singing "Ebony & Hillary?"

Last night when Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama supposedly debated, I couldn’t believe my eyes. You call that a debate? I haven’t seen that much love in one room since John Lennon and Yoko Ono did their famous sleep-in peace protest in 1969. I thought that at any moment they were going to start making out. I’m surprised someone didn’t yell, “Get a room!”
It’s pretty obvious what is happening. The Democrats believe that Obama and Hillary on the same ticket will lead to certain victory. A black man has his supporters and a woman has hers, even if that woman is Hillary Clinton. Put them together and you’ve got a pretty formidable combination. Or so they think.
It’s a strategic move that has been well-calculated and expertly orchestrated. The two candidates don’t want to beat each other up now so that they can’t run together later. The objective is not who gets to be the next President – it’s to get the Republicans out of office. And who knows -- it might just work.
This was USA Today’s take on the debate/lovefest:
In their first one-on-one debate last night at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton engaged in "cordial" (AP), "congenial," and "civil" debate on policy questions. The rivals marked the absence of recently departed contender John Edwards by making repeated plays for his supporters. The Wall Street Journal reports "several weeks of political jabs largely took hiatus" on Thursday night when Clinton and Obama "set aside differences and threw darts at the Republicans in their first one-on-one debate." The Los Angeles Times calls the debate "congenial," while ABC reported, "Both candidates came in with a clear plan. Be nice. No nasty swipes or bitter arguments tonight."
USA Today notes the two "drew sharp distinctions on issues such as health care and foreign policy." They "agreed on two things: either of them represents a stark change from President Bush and one will be the nation's first woman or African-American president." As she has "throughout their campaign, Clinton challenged Obama as being too inexperienced to be in the White House from 'day one.'" Obama "countered that Clinton represents the status quo of Washington." The Politico says the debate "did little to change" the race, and notes that Clinton and Obama "associated themselves repeatedly and obsequiously to" Edwards, "whose endorsement both are seeking."

Get Into the Real Estate Game!

Right now, the ever-changing world of real estate is presenting wonderful advantages for buyers. If you're looking for a home, now is an ideal time to be in the real estate game. Why are you still renting? When you rent, all you're doing is paying someone else's mortgage. You're not building any equity or getting any price breaks -- it's crazy! Build anest egg right now and start taking a real close look at real estate. It's time to take a gander and consider your options. It just makes good financial sense. Find a good location, take a shot at getting a good loan with an attractive rate, and then go for it. Get in the game, baby. Be in it to win it!!

"Just Quit, Baby!"

The Raiders denied a report Friday that owner Al Davis had asked Coach Lane Kiffin to resign.
Citing unidentified sources, ESPN reported that Davis had drawn up a resignation letter for Kiffin two weeks ago but that the coach had refused to sign it. Kiffin, 32, has two years left on the contract he signed in January 2007."There is no issue here," Raiders senior executive John Herrera said. "There was never an issue here. There's nothing to it."

Yes, unfortunately, there is an issue here. In fact, there are a ton of issues here. The Oakland Raiders have long been the laughingstock of the NFL. Their “Commitment to Excellence” has changed into a “A History of Incompetence.” There are entire generations of Raiders fans out there who have known only losing year after year. The team’s long list of bad moves and stupid decisions goes on and on.

And everyone knows what – or rather who – the problem is. His name is Al Davis. The once brilliant owner has deteriorated into an old, bitter, litigious geezer who is incompetent, overbearing, stubborn and just plain cranky. His beloved Raiders have been out-of-control for so long that putting them on the right track is probably going to take at least a decade.

Long ago, George Steinbrenner, owner of the NY Yankees, pulled this same kind of guano. But, even Georgie Porgie eventually figured out that it was a better idea to hire good people and let them run the team. When he did that, he won a lot more world championships, and even though he can still be obnoxious at times, the Yankees are a much better team when he’s in the background.

No one in their right mind will want the Raider’s job now if Kiffin does indeed get the boot. Who wants to work for a boss who is constantly up your derriere? Anyone with any talent who wants to have a future coaching in the NFL will run from this job like the plague. Remember – Davis fired Mike Shanahan and John Gruden couldn’t get away from the man fast enough.

Davis doesn’t want a coach. He wants a bitch, a yes man and a lackey who will do whatever he says without displaying a backbone or voicing an opinion.

Speculation about Kiffin's status began three weeks ago when reports surfaced after the season that he wanted to fire defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. The Raiders dismissed those reports and announced that Ryan was staying on as coordinator.

There were also reportedly problems between Kiffin and Davis during the season. Kiffin was upset when Davis didn’t get JaMarcus Russell, the first pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, signed and into training camp. Instead, Al haggled with Russell and his agent, which meant the rookie was pretty much not available for the entire season. When Russell did get into a few games late in the season, he looked unprepared and overmatched. The team went 4-12 in Kiffin's first season in Oakland, doubling the team's victory total from the previous year.

Stand by to see how this plays out. The sad fact is that the Oakland Raiders will be terrible until Davis lets someone else run his team. The man should be forced to sell, but the NFL is afraid to get sued, so it will never happen.

The sadder fact is that you can fire a coach or cut a player. But, you’re stuck with an owner, whether you like it or not. And that is why the Raiders will suck until Al Davis decides to “Just Quit, Baby!”

(Portions of this article courtesy of www.espn.com)

Oops - I messed up. Instead of a photo of Al Davis, I accidentally inserted a picture of Bette Davis!

A Great Charity

I found a great charitable organization called Car Angel (www.carangel.com). It's a wonderful non-profit company that uses car and other donations to make videos for kids and teens. They have given away over 2.4 million videos, so these people don't just talk the talk; they walk the walk. A lot of these car donation places just take your vehicle and sell it and pocket the majority of the money. But, not Car Angel. They're the real thing and are doing really valubale and special work. It's a win-win situation if you have a car that you want to donate to a good and useful charitable cause. Check out this video from www.carangel.com. Do something special -- make a car donation to them today!!

Budget Software

Organizations must possess the specialized ability to fully and effectively manage very complex and highly intricate financial functions. A significant number of these functions include consolidation, job costing, budget control, cash flow analysis, costs tracking, purchasing processes, major and minor allocations and currency management. PROPHIX has the budget software that allows you to easily handle the many variables involved in performing these complex financial analyses. If you are a member of even a small organization, you need budget software that will help you stay ahead of the game.