Lunch With George!

Sailing: San Francisco Trip Report

This last weekend, George and Toni ventured to San Francisco to check out a J/24 for sale, and most importantly, to take a sailing lesson aboard a J/24!

The weather was perfect (in George's book) for sailing-- a light wind, blue skies, and good temperatures. Toni spent a lot of time on the tiller, and George spent his time climbing around the deck adjusting the sails and familiarizing himself with the boat. Even though the J they took their lesson on was one of the earliest models (circa 1978), it was in GREAT shape.

They were sailing in the bay, and had a great view of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate (George took the photo of the bay above). They also saw some very nice boats on the bay. By all accounts, it was a great day! George is now convinced that the J/24 is the boat for him.

Unfortunately, the J/24 for sale was in lousy condition-- it had really been neglected. The hunt continues!

George and Toni made up for the disappointing sailboat by visited a Mini dealer (there are actually three Mini dealers in the bay area) and got to see several up close! Too bad they're already on the waiting list in Phoenix-- they probably could have drove one home.

Ama Dablam

From what I've read, visiting Nepal is a breath-taking experience (although maybe that's due to the high altitude :-). The vistas along the trail are supposed to be truly spectacular, and the people of Nepal seem to be friendly and welcoming.

The biggest challenge is to be in good enough physical shape to hike for three weeks at high altitude. Lukla (where the treks usually start, following a helicopter flight from Kathmandu) is above 9000 feet, and Everest Base Camp sits at 17,600 feet above sea level.

A typical trekking package goes something like this:

• 18-21 days on the trail
• Hotel and meals in Kathmandu on the way in and out
• All meals and hot beverages during the trek
• All camping gear is provided
• Sherpa porters carry your gear duffel
• Visit the Namche Bazaar (trading hub for the Sherpa people)
• Visit and stay as guests in Sherpa villages such as Tengboche
• Visit Everest South Base Camp
• Optional climbs of lesser peaks such as Island Peak
• Cost: $2000-$3500.00 (does not include getting to Kathmandu and home again)

The problem is that Dell uses a proprietary power supply and proprietary motherboard with different pin-outs than standard supplies. The kicker is that although they have different pin outs, they have the same connectors, so it's easy to physically plug a standard power supply into a Dell motherboard or a Dell power supply into a standard motherboard, and if you do you can destroy one or the other.

	DRIVEN Even though George believes in general that Sylvester Stallone doesn't make very good movies and isn't a good actor, he always manages to enjoy Sly's movies in spite of himself (I have similar feelings, yet I really enjoyed both Cliffhanger and Demolition Man). George said he did enjoy watching Driven, and that it had good racing action scenes.
	AMERICAN PIE 2 George remarked that American Pie created a new genre, in much the same way that Airplane! started the "Stupid idiocy" genre (that's my name for it!). George says one of these films is enough, though. And if you only see one, George thinks the original is the one to see (although his favorite character, "Stifler", is funnier in American Pie 2.
	JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK Roger Ebert conveyed several of the funny moments from this movie (mostly Hollywood insider stuff) in his review, and at some point stopped and said "If you read this review without a smile or a nod of recognition, I would recommend 'Rush Hour 2'". I'm not sure George would like Rush Hour 2, either.
	BEING JOHN MALKOVICH Due to time constraints, George was only able to watch one hour of this film during his first sitting. He loved it, and couldn't wait to see the second half. Unfortunately, the second half didn't live up to the first. It was a very clever idea, and the explorations and experiments undertaken by the main characters in the first half make it sound to me like a film I might still rent.
	SWORDFISH I know that I've been wanting to see Swordfish, as Fred had recommended it to me some time ago (the previews looked like fun). It seems that George really liked it, too! George notes that they made good use of the 360° camera known as the Timetrack (as discussed at our lunch back on November 15, 2001) for the special effects.
	PAY IT FORWARD George and I had identical responses to this film: It was really great, all but the ending! I won't tell you what the ending is, however. The movie feature good acting by Helen Hunt and Kevin Spacey, but Haley Joel Osment steals the show. I recommend Pay It Forward, and I'm sure George would, too.