Stephen Backholm

Postage Stamps

2011-11-06T12:03:00.000-08:00

I was a fairly avid stamp collector as a kid. From the ages of 8-12, I spent hours in my room every week sorting through stamps, soaking stamps off of envelopes, and affixing them via stamp hinges to various stamp books.

I haven't touched my postage stamp collection in over 13 years, and decided it was time to do "something" with with it.

I put together several stamp collages that now hang proudly on the wall. Going through the stamps again, rekindled my appreciation for the colors, textures, and designs that make postage stamps so beautiful.

Action and Passion

2011-10-05T11:40:00.000-07:00

As life is action and passion, it is required of a man that he should share the passion and action of his time, at the peril of being not to have lived.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Are you living?

A Composition of Red, Green, Yellow, and Blue

2011-08-01T10:29:00.000-07:00

Ever since I first saw the works of Piet Mondrian while visiting New York years ago, I have enjoyed them. There is something about the clean lines and primary colors that make a sophisticated, modern statement. I want one. But there are two problems, the first is that I can't afford real Mondrian at the moment, and the poster copy will simply, not do.

I have always enjoyed artistic endeavors (mostly related to food), but haven't ever been even a decent sketch artist or painter. But after seeing a friends' (kudos to Alan Granberg) Mondrian inspired effort, I knew that even with my primitive painting skills, I could do it too.

For about $80 dollars in art supplies and 4 hours of effort, this is what you get.

True Grit

2011-01-02T09:47:00.000-08:00

I recently watched the Coen Brothers remake of the western classic "True Grit" and thoroughly enjoyed it. The Coen Brothers delivered another brilliantly acted and shot story full of clever dialog and It truly is a superlative to the earlier John Wayne version, and no, I am not knocking The Duke in any way.

My upbringing included a healthy dose of John Wayne films: Rooster Cogburn Texas Ranger, The Sons of Katy Elder, The Man who Shot Liberty Valence, Chism, The Searchers, and of course True Grit. True Grit is a classic. Rough around the edges? Schmaltzy? Weak acting by some? Yes, but still a classic, and surprisingly true to the novel by Charles Portis from which both films are based.

All of the clever and engaging dialog you experience in both films comes almost verbatim from the book. Knowing that the Coen Brothers' remake was due out in December, I read the Portis novel (of the same name) over the Summer. It is an easy and a satisfying read. I laughed out loud at least a half-dozen times while reading it.

If you haven't read the book or watched either of the films I would suggest the following order:

Read the Book
Watch the Coen Brothers' Version
Watch the John Wayne Version

Holiday Wines

2010-12-11T11:17:00.000-08:00

I wrote an article for ThurstonTalk.com that helps you choose and find the perfect holiday wine.

Check it out.

3rd Annual Man Hike - Hidden Lake Peak

2010-09-02T12:59:00.000-07:00

Message to the Crew

This is going to be good, really good. In case you have forgotten or were unable to attend the last 2 Man Hikes, I have chronicled them on my blog: Lyman Lakes (2008) and Toleak Point (2009). This year our destination is Hidden Lake Peak in the North Cascades. You can find some pictures here.

This hike will be more work than Toleak Point but less work than Lyman Lakes. It is 9 miles round trip starting at 3,300ft and ending at 6,900ft. There will be no mosquitoes. There will be good conversation. There will be good wine.

Mark your calendars for August 21-23 (Saturday-Monday) of this year (2010) and let me know if you are interested.

Planned Itinerary

Saturday (8/21) 06:30 - Meet at Krispy Kreme Donuts in Mt. Vernon, WA. Eat many donuts and pack some for later.
Saturday (8/21) 08:00 - Arrive at Trail Head.
Saturday (8/21) 14:00 - Arrive at Hidden Lake Peak.
Saturday (8/21) 14:30 - Make camp.
****
Eating, laughing, hiking, fishing, sleeping, bear-slapping, exploring, wine tasting, and anything else people want to do.
****
Monday (8/23) 9:00 - Break camp.
Monday (8/23) 13:00 - Eat at the Good Food Drive-In in Marblemount. Yum. Yum.
Monday (8/23) 14:00 - Head for home.

The Trip
The bottom line is that we had a lot fun. Only 6 of us (Chase, Shawn, Sean, John, Crazy Phil, and myself) were able to make the journey, but we set out early on a August Saturday morning with adventure on our minds.

After fooding up in Mt. Vernon, we headed for the trail head. We were all smiles before we started hiking.

The trail was beautiful.

Five miserable hours later we reached our base camp and pitched our tents between the granite outcroppings. The weather was starting to turn and what started as a pleasant 70 degree day, turned into a 40 degree day with the specter of rain.

It's always worth packing good wine.

During the night it rained and rained and then snowed. At ~5:00am the next morning, it was still snowing, and we held a conference from the protection of our tents that resulted in decision to make a hasty retreat.

Although we were forced out a day early, we all enjoyed the escape.

Zuill Bailey Plays Bach

2010-07-11T08:46:00.000-07:00

Music can be such a beautiful way to tell a story, and when a musician plays a piece that was written by someone else they have the chance to tell that story again, but in their own way. I love it when I find a musician who tells me a story that I love to hear in the way I want to hear it. Zuill Bailey has done just that.

In this video Zuill Bailey plays 3 J.S. Bach pieces:

Prelude No. 1 in G Major
Solo Cello Suite No. 2 - "Sarabond"
Prelude No. 3 in C Major

All three pieces are fascinating to watch and listen, but I especially enjoyed his first and last choices.

I love the beautiful melody and style of the first piece, and that it reminds me of a scene in "Master and Commander" where Paul Bettany's character plays this very tune. It is not that Bettany's version is my favorite version (played by Yo-Yo Ma) , but it is the context of the song that truly defines its elegance. Bettany's ship had just gone through a fierce naval battle off the coast of South American in the Pacific ocean where cannons pounded, wood splintered, and many men died. At the end of the day, surrounded by this carnage, he sits down to drink tea from a white porcelain cup and play his cello.

The third piece, to me, shows Bailey's expert skill and the full dynamic prowess of the cello. This piece is intense and all the dissonance in the build up to the ending is masterful.

Few things can transport me to another time and place like music.

Three Wolves Howling

2010-06-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

There are many great writers in this world: Steinbeck, Tolstoy, Wallace, Dumas, Updike, and the reviewers of the Mountain Three Wolf T-shirt on Amazon.com. With just over 1700 reviews there is no lack of clever, beautiful words to elaborately describe the awesome power of this t-shirt. It will revolutionize your life, but don't let me tell you--go read the reviews for yourself.

A Couple of Items to Read

2010-06-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

There are always those articles that you read at one time or another that stick with you. I was recently reminded of two of those pieces, and I highly recommend them both.

The Checklist - Read all about how a simple checklist can provide drastic improvements to all types of processes. It will change the way to look at tasks, why things go wrong, and how to do it better. The author, Atul Gawande, has also written several books.

You and Your Research - This is a talk Richard Hamming gave at Belcore back in 1986. It's about focusing your time and energy.

Wine Vintages

2010-02-23T22:23:00.000-08:00

One of the complaints I often hear from the average wine buyer is that they just don't know what wine to buy. These buyers often buy wine based upon two things: price and how much they like the label. If this describes you, please read on. It is time to become a more educated wine buyer.

What factors should I consider when buying wine?

That is a big question, and honestly I believe it varies depending on what wine region you are buying wine from. I can say that there are two things that you should always pay attention to: the producer and vintage. I am just going to focus on vintage for the rest of this post. I'll talk about producers later.

What do you mean by vintage?

The vintage is the year that the wine grapes that are in the bottle of wine were grown and harvested. If bottle of wine you are looking at has the date of 2006, then the grapes in that bottle were grown and harvested that year.

What makes a good vintage different from a bad one?

Grapes, like any crop, are affected by variations in weather. All aspects of weather have an effect and each growing season the weather is a little different. Too much or too little sun or rain can have a significant impact on the quality of the grapes grown that season. Different types of grapes are affected by different weather conditions.

How do I know what vintages are good?

Rely on people that make it their business to know. Many wine publications provide their vintage ratings free of charge.

The next time you are presented with the option of choosing between two different vintages of the same wine--make the right decision and you'll likely enjoy a better wine.

2006 Januik Columbia Valley Red Wine

2010-02-14T19:17:00.001-08:00

Yes, I am still here. I haven't been doing much other than remolding our kitchen.

2006 Januik Columbia Valley Red Wine

Mike Januik is a freaking miracle worker. There is not a single wine of his that I haven't liked. My first exposure to Mike's work was his 2006 Januik Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Great wine. Then I tried his 2006 Novelty Hill Cabernet Sauvignon (Novelty is a separate label, but he is the wine maker). Wonderful. Then on Friday I had his Januik Red Wine. Absolutely delicious.

It is a blend of 43% Merlot, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Syrah, 11% Cabernet Franc 6% Petit Verdot, and finally 2% Malbec.

Tasting notes:

Explosive nose. Loads of dark fruits and spice both on the nose and palate. Smooth tannins and depth on the mid-palate with a lingering, satisfying finish. 14.2% alcohol. $13 USD. Highly recommended.

Listmania!

2009-11-29T09:24:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Amazon.com's Listmania! I've been finding great books to read. Listmania! allows Amazon.com users the ability to create lists of books they recommend categorized around a theme or topic. For each book on the list, you also have access to all of the Amazon users' reviews too. Once you find someone who likes the kind of books you like, you have a good chance of finding books you haven't read that you would enjoy. For example, I have enjoyed every book I have read on this user's list.

The Killer Angels

2009-11-29T09:21:00.000-08:00

Book number 10 this year.

Rating: Good Read.

The Killer Angels tells the story of the battle of Gettysburg from the perspective of a number of prominent characters on both sides. Shaara does a great job with the characters and you easily find yourself immersed in their worldview, their struggle, and their emotions. It is a interesting story to read, and it reads quite easily. It is strange to think that this event took place only 150 years ago. A number of Civil War generals actually lived into the early 1900s. At times it seems that the Civil War was a long, long time ago--it really wasn't.

The Western Way of War

2009-11-11T18:00:00.000-08:00

Book number 9 this year.

Rating: Good Read

After listening to a thought-provoking interview with Victor Davis Hansen, I was determined to read one of his books.

In The Western Way of War, Hansen describes, in detail, what infantry battle was like in classical Greece (~500-323 BC). Fighting was a brutal affair and the Greeks' chose the direct approach of pitched battle to settle any grievances. The phalanx was the Greeks' preferred fighting formation, and men in a phalanx faced the enemy surrounded by their male family members (it was common for men up to the age of 70 to fight as a part of the phalanx) and neighbors. They fought as one, interlocking their shields and presenting their spears as a unit. As a testament to the phalanx's effectiveness, Alexander the Great used this battle strategy to conquer the known world in the 4th century BC.

As I thought through this book, I realized that so much of battle is just controlling human emotion--controlling fear. Even men 5 rows back in a phalanx couldn't see the enemy. You simply read the mood and attitude of the men surrounding you. Fear spreads very quickly. Your side could have completely flanked the enemy and be handily winning, but if your phalanx is taking heavy losses and begins routing, this mood could quickly spread to the other phalanxes and create mass hysteria.The greatest benefit of veteran troops is not that they know how to use a weapon more effectively, but that they know how to manage fear a little better. Veterans have been in this place before, fighting the enemy face to face and completely scared out of their minds. Being able to create contagious fear in your enemies is the greatest battle advantage. The antithesis works as well, if a phalanx feels that it is invincible this feeling is contagious. Both sides of this equation explain the primary reason why, throughout history, smaller armies have been able to beat much larger ones (sure, there are other factors--e.g. leadership, tactics, quality of weapons, etc.).

Another concept resonated with me as I read this book, the simple function of battlefield communication is unfathomable in that age. How do you communicate to a large army spread out over a battle field and coordinate an effective attack on the enemy? The sound of 10,000 men each wearing 70 pounds of armor combined with a 1000 horses' hooves is deafening, and all of this spread out over a battle line a half-mile long. Now try to yell an order. It is no small task to provide timely communication in the battle field, even with all of the advance technology we have today armies still struggle with communication.

There is much more to this book, and I hope to read more of Hansen's work in the future.

You can read it online too.

Clam Digging

2009-10-18T09:31:00.000-07:00

Another great, quintessential northwest tradition was shared among friends yesterday. We donned coats, hats, boots, shovels, and buckets to go razor clam digging. The weather has been miserable the last several days, and not too many folks were interested in going out to the beach to dig, but when the time arrived 10 of us drove west in search of adventure.

Gearing up at the car.

More gearing up.

Philip going "commando." Err...That is without shoes. He may not be wearing anything under the jeans either--I didn't ask.

A friend of Melina's, Rochelle, was visiting from the Netherlands and was able to partake.

Paige sported the Ivar's chowder man look. She hates this picture.

We all had our limits (15 per digger) within an hour, and it only rained for about 2 minutes. Great day to dig.

Philip and Shawn rinsing the clams.

The clams.

Paige's and my limits yielded ~3.5 pounds of dressed clam steaks.

Hardcore History

2009-09-14T20:09:00.000-07:00

History is exciting and we have so much to learn from it. I certainly fall in the school of thought that human nature has not changed much in the last 20 thousand years, and reading or listening about the fall of Carthage or the Black Plague has a poignant relevance to the world we live in today.

My friend, Ken Dean, pointed me towards a podcast series created by Dan Carlin entitled, Hardcore History. Frankly, I would venture to say it could be described as excellent. Dan's energy and excitement for history shines in every noun, verb, and dangling participle. The podcast is free (as in beer), but a suggested donation of a "buck a show" is mentioned. Listen now and contribute when ever it is convenient or your remember. He also has some great interviews with several different historians. I have listened to all of his content (some of it twice) and I am eagerly anticipating new content.

King Leopold's Ghost

2009-09-13T18:21:00.000-07:00

Book number 8 this year.

Rating: Good Read.

Up until this point, I had never heard of the atrocities committed by King Leopold II of Belgium in the 1880s in the Congo, and chances are that you haven't either. In a nutshell, Leopold exploited, enslaved, mutilated, and tormented the people and the natural resources of the Congo Basin to the tune of somewhere between 2-15 million Congolese. Hochschild does a good job of telling the story, but does come across as rather biased at times. I prefer just the facts. You will also hear some interesting, although saddening, truths about the explorer H.M. Stanley. Overall quite informative and pleasant to read.

Spanish Wines

2009-07-25T06:41:00.000-07:00

Spain is hot! The quality and variety of wines being produced throughout Spain today is quite exciting, and on top of that they are at great price points. Spain is one of the premiere value wine regions in the world right now. Quit buying those pathetic, mass-produced labels like Yellow Tail, Columbia Crest, and those overpriced California wines and try a great Spanish wine with dinner tonight.

When I say Spain is hot, I don't mean every wine produced in Spain will be tasty and worth buying. Spainish wines, like any countries wines, run the gamut. There are Spanish wines in all categories: high-end, expensive, cult, flabby, over-the-top, pathetic, inglorious, tasty, and delicious.

Here are 2 great Spanish wines I have tasted in the last several weeks. That I think you will enjoy. Both of them are from the Jumilla appellation.

2005 Altos De Luzon Tasting Notes:

Deep purple-red color. Spicy cherry and a little oak on the nose. Spicy. Smokey. Well balanced and resonates in the mouth. Nice oak that doesn't overpower. A long delicious berry/cherry finish.

I drank this with Spaghetti and it paired wonderfully. Let this wine breathe a bit in a decantor or in the glass. It just keeps opening up. Quite delicious. I am going to buy another bottle of this. You won't be disappointed. Makeup: 50% Monastrell Old Vines, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 25% Tempranillo. 89 WS. 90 ST. $12 USD.

2007 Finca Luzon Tasting Notes:

Blackish purple color. Fantastic nose of black fruits. I also get a charcoal component. Great nose. On the palate you get lots of berries some cherry flavors. This wine comes across as really light and fresh. Well balanced. No tannins. Not a long finish, but balanced and pleasing.

In a blind tasting you would never guess this is a seven dollar wine. Composed of 65% monastrell and 35% Syrah this wine is darn tasty. I enjoyed this with Lamb kabobs and it paired quite well. 88 WS. 90 WE. 88 WA. $7 USD.

Book Ratings

2009-07-21T21:51:00.000-07:00

Since I rate books when I review them, I thought I should provide a taxonomy for you to understand the method beneath my madness. This list is highly subjective, but I hope helpful nonetheless.

Here it is:

Essential Read - Your life and worldview are not complete until you read this book. This book is well written and it will be one that will spawn random conversations with strangers regarding its content. Other things that fall into this category: dry-aged USDA Prime Beef, Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon, Horowitz playing Scriabin's Etude op 8 no 12, perfectly roasted chicken, Steinbeck's prose, Cafe Baselu's croissant dough, sleeping-in, cherry pie, and duck fat.

Good - This book will certainly be worth the time spent reading it. It is also well written, and you will find yourself marking passages and making notes. At times captivating, this book is important to the development of you as a person and intellectual giant. Other things in this category: USDA Prime Beef, a marginal vintage of Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon, anyone else playing Scriabin's Etude op 8 no 12, roasted chicken, Updike's prose, Bakery Noveau's crossiant dough, and bacon fat.

Okay - The book overall possessed limited intellectual or artistic qualities. At times it was interesting, but lacked any real lasting impression. If you find yourself on a flight, with either this book, Conrad's Heart of Darkness, or the InFlight Magazine you should probably start by reading this book first then move on to InFlight. Other things in this category: all of the restaurants in Olympia that I have tried, cold pizza, raking gravel, warm beer, and fast food.

Pass - Pick up the InFlight magazine and read every description--twice, then move on to Heart of Darkness. This book's pages would make wonderful bird-cage liner or they can be used to mask the bathroom windows during your upcoming remodel. Other things that fall into this category: changing a dirty diaper, attending the reading of a will only to find out you received nothing, being kicked in the groin, eating my grandmother's salmon cakes, and plumbing.

Rogue Warrior

2009-07-21T21:50:00.000-07:00

Book number 7 this year.

Rating: Okay.

My cousin Trevor was recently stationed to Fort Lewis and as result it has allowed Paige, Pear, Jovie, and I to enjoy his company on a more frequent basis. Over several dinners and either a fermented or roasted beverage Trevor has regaled us all things military and has made a few books suggestions along the way. One of the books he suggested was Rogue Warrior by Richard Marcinko.

Marcinko certainly is a rogue warrior. Most notably known as the founder of SEAL Team 6, Marcinko provides you with the story of his life. A rough and tumble character with the vocabulary to match (thankfully there is a ghost writer who crafts the story together), Marcinko provides a provocative tale of adventure.

I wasn't real impressed with the book. There were moments of interest, but I don't think I would recommend it.

The Prize

2009-07-19T20:48:00.000-07:00

Book number 6 for the year.

Rating: Essential Read

My reading is suffering due to Summer projects, but I am getting through a few books. Back in April, I finished an excellent, and when I say excellent I mean excellent, book on the history of oil. The title is The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power by Daniel Yergin.

This is a beast of a book, weighing in at 887 pages, but you will be flying through it in no time. The prize is masterfully written, and Yergin's detailed history reads like a novel. If you want to understand the current situation in the Middle East you have to read this book. If you want to understand WWII you have to read this book. If you want to understand the history of the world for the last 150 years you have to read this book.

Toleak Point

2009-06-13T11:29:00.000-07:00

I feel like the opening line of my past five blog posts should be that I have been busy lately and haven't had time to blog. Well...it's the truth.

Now that the wounds from the mosquitoes have healed from last Summer's excursion and their annoying ways almost forgotten, it was time to go on another hike. A hike to a place where I personally guaranteed the crew that there will be no mosquitoes. The destination was Toleak (Toe-lee-ack) Point on the Olympic Peninsula. It is one of the great coastal hikes in Washington State.
It was a two day, one night trip. Only 12 miles round-trip with very little elevation gain.

Not everyone who wanted to make the hike could, but 12 of us did meet at the trail-head that Saturday morning.

Dana and his lucky hat.

Wyatt and I on the beach.

Hiking.

The view from camp.

Dana's and Kirk's catch.

Shawn's wine (Januik, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005) stole the show.

Wyatt and I grilled up beef kabobs for dinner.

Wyatt decanting the wine.

It was a fabulous trip and the weather was perfect.

Here are all of my pictures and Wyatt's.

Question of the Day: Is a hike really a hike without Crazy Phil?

To Hell and Back

2009-04-18T09:01:00.000-07:00

As if you can't tell from the title, I've been working on the house lately. We have been in our house a year now, and we have been living with a 1960s bathroom that no matter how much you clean it up, it still just feels old and smells old. It was time for a remodel.

After much blood, sweat, and tears, phase 1 of the bathroom remodel has been completed, and the specter of hidden leaking piping has been (almost) vanquished.

I hate plumbing. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. But lately my hatred for plumbing has diminished a little thanks to new technology. The kind gentleman at The Home Depot showed me these wonderful little plumbing adapters made by SharkBite. No torch, flux, solder, tape, glue, cursing, screaming, leaking, stomping, yelling, or flipping out. Just slide on. My family has found them well worth their ~$5 price tag.

Overall Bathroom Project:

Phase 1 - Tear out old (400lb) cast iron tub and put in new shower
Phase 2 - Tear out old stand-up shower (there was both a stand-up shower and a tub in the same bathroom), sink, toilet, cabinets
Phase 3 - Install new bathroom fan
Phase 4 - Lay down new slate floor (with both cork and hardy board underlayment)
Phase 5 - Repair drywall, texture, and paint
Phase 6 - Install new vanity
Phase 7 - Install new lighting

I am hoping to accomplish this before my big hike at the end of May. We'll see.

Coffee and Doughnuts

2009-03-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to take a minute and say how much I enjoy a good cup of coffee and a doughnut.

Pan Seared Atlantic Salmon with Lemon Beurre Blanc

2009-03-23T22:47:00.000-07:00

I have been tinkering with Lemon Beurre Blanc lately, and I have been quite pleased with the results. The picture above is from a dinner I made last week for Paige and the girls. Pan seared Atlantic Salmon seasoned with just salt and pepper. Parmesan mash. Pan seared zucchini. Smothered in the simple goodness of lemon beurre blanc. My mouth is watering just writing this.

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

2009-03-23T22:42:00.000-07:00

Book number 5 this year.

Rating: Good Read

Ever since I was a small child I have been fascinated with world domination. This may possibly be a trait of all young males, but I have not let mine fade even in my well advance age. Reading about great generals, tacticians, strategists, and leaders of men is inspiring to me. That is probably why I gravitated to this book and to others like it.

Mr. Weatherford is well researched, but does tend to present a picture of the Mongols as inerrant and responsible for every advancement since the 13th century--I would disagree.

What struck me the most as I read this book, is that to understand the world we have to look at it through the lens of it own time--the context of mindsets during that age. I doubt any of you reading this blog can even name the predominant world powers of the 12th century. I meet people everyday that jump to conclusions, because they haven't studied history and why the world looks like it does today. Everything is seen for one's own limited perspective.

The Brethern: Inside the Supreme Court

2009-03-14T22:20:00.000-07:00

Book number 4 this year.

Rating: Essential Read

Wow. This book was well worth the time spent reading it. It presents a marvelous inside view into the Supreme Court of the United States of America. Written by two reporters for the Washington Post, Bob Woodward (co-author of All the Presidents Men) and Scott Armstrong, it is both well written and well researched.

Specifically the book chronicles the 1969 through 1975 Supreme court terms. During this time frame many important segregation cases, abortion cases, and government juristiction cases were decided.

This book served to remind me that I would like to think people in positions of power would make objective decisions and not be swayed by personal opinions, emotions, or outside influences, but they are. Don't ever forget that.

Ahead of the Curve

2009-02-22T17:18:00.000-08:00

Book number three so far this year.

Rating: Good read

I am a little behind in writing my reviews of the books I have been reading, but, never fear, I decided to take a few minutes to share the my thoughts on Ahead of the Curve, by Philip Broughton.

I can't remember where I heard about this book. I am always hearing or reading about books that sound like worthwhile reads, and I write the titles down on anything and with anything that is available at the time and place. This is only a temporary location until I send the title to myself in an email for proper filing. Ahead of the Curve was one such title, scribbled on the back of a torn envelope flap, sent as an email, and eventually picked up from the library. However I found this title is of little importance at this juncture.

Ahead of the Curve is narrative describing the author's experience of attending and graduating from the Harvard Business School (HSB). Broughton was a journalist by trade before heading off to HSB, in fact, he was the Paris bureau chief of the The Daily Telegraph of London. The dichotomy between journalism and HSB is a topic that the author speaks to frequently and is a vein that is articulated and struggled with throughout the chapters. In an upfront and unbridled manner, Broughton describes the day-to-day activities of attending HSB. If you have ever wanted to talk to a HSB grad about what it is like to attend HSB, this is the book for you.

When reading this book, I felt like I was in the classroom right along with the author. The book is not a textbook, but I enjoyed picking up key pieces of knowledge that the author made a point to highlight. Finance is valuation. Can leadership be taught? Is business the best medium to teach leadership? Inventory is a dirty word. Cash conversion will make you or break you. Strategy is not operational efficiency. "Be a principal or decision maker, not a service provider--they possess the grail: control over their time (Rubenstein)." There is always money for good ideas.

Each HSB class is made up of ~30% international students, ~30% women, and 40% men comprising a total of about 900 students. HSB attracts what Broughton describe as "insecure overachievers"--some of the best and brightest minds making the pilgrimage to the holy land in order to have the chance to make fat salaries and garner the praise and adoration of all who adore the HSB brand, while subliminally trying to prove to themselves and everyone that they are worth something. When you arrive at Harvard you are assigned a section letter (e.g. Section A, Section B, etc.) consisting of 90 students. For your first year at Harvard you take every class with that same section in an effort increase relationships with your classmates.

It has always been a dream of mine to attend HSB, but the more I think about it, the more I know it isn't for me. People don't go to HSB to only work 40 hours a week and have a family life. People go to HSB to work 90 hours a week and never know their family. My family is too valuable--I love them too much. In my mind the ticket to serious wealth is in the entrepreneurial spirit. Striking out in a mixture or real estate, business ownership, and consulting is the path that Paige and I have chosen. Not working on somebody else's ideas--working on our own.

I look forward to the day were I can work hard for myself, spend more time with my family than my co-workers, and enjoy 3 hours lunches with my cousin Philip, delighting in fine food and riveting discussion.

Gulliver's Travels

2009-02-07T18:55:00.000-08:00

I finished my second book of the year 3 weeks ago: Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift.

Rating: Pass

Up until this point, I had never read this book, but its references are unavoidable in modern society and I considered it an essential read. I will be blunt. I was greatly underwhelmed by the book. Sure, there are all types of underlining literary themes, and it is considered a precursor to the modern novel, as well as a satirical tale of human nature and a spoof adventure tale, but I found it rather dull. Swift's writing is neither intriguing nor beautiful.

The story is divided into four parts--the four journeys of the fictional Lamuel Gulliver. The most popular portion of the book, Part 1: The Voyage to Lilliput, finds our protagonist stranded on a remote island that is a complete miniature world. Swift describes how Gulliver is a giant in the land and a variety of his adventures. Parts 2, 3, and 4 describe Gulliver's adventures in a land of giants, arts and mathematics, horses and yahoos respectively.

Swift's writing, may be consider essential, but with the plethora of written works available today, I didn't find this work to be worth the time.

Nicknames

2009-01-23T11:30:00.000-08:00

I have a certain penchant for nicknames. Aliases and epithets have naturally come to my lips for most of my friends and family members. I'm not sure why, maybe it helps my mind work--one of my creative outlets? Were these people inadequately named by their parents? Probably not, I consider my work to be additions not replacements.

In the realm of nicknames, I must pay homage to Trevor and Philip Corrigan. While I am a mere amateur in this field, they are Grandmasters. Having tuned their trade in the fertile fields of an Irish Dancing troop, I am no match for their creativity and prowess in art of nicknaming. I still laugh myself silly thinking of their creations, but I am not able to share them in order to protect those nicknamed.

Those I have nicknamed:

Pear - Snuggle Britches, Pumpkin Pants, Princess Pear, My little Swedish Pear

Paige - Lovely girl, Babe, Hun, Beautiful girl, Wonderful

Jovie - J Jove, Jumpin' Jove, Googly Bear

Warren - WarrenOtis, The Otis Man

Jai Tia - The Chinese Business Man

Wyatt - Bub, Wyatt the Buyit

Melina - Nina, Neen

Chase - Floyd

Doug - Paps

Racer - Bruce, The Chicken Man

Hutton - Ned

Uncle Rick - Richard the Large

Cousin Adam - Adam Faddam

Jon Falcon - Jonboy Falcon

Jon Fischer - Jonboy, Jonny

Philip - Crazy Phil, Shrodei

Trevor - Trev, Travis (deprecated)

Candice - Candice Pandice Pest-o-Wandice (also deprecated and created by Trevor and Philip)

* Picture: Boris the Blade aka Boris the Bullet Dodger

Biblical Eldership

2009-01-15T20:04:00.000-08:00

Rating: Okay

I finished my first book of the year on Friday: Biblical Eldership by Alexander Strauch. The book was good. Strauch relies heavily of the protestant Bible as his primary cited source, and he also cites a number of well-known authors and teachers that run in Christian circles. So as long as you accept Sola Scriptura, this book will come across as well reasoned and informative.

I will admit that I didn't learn anything shockingly new about Biblical eldership, but it was a good refresher on what the Bible has to say about the subject. I am by no means saying that I am an expert on the subject either. The author emphasizes how the vast majority of the modern western church has strayed from what the Bible defines as a church governance structure. The role of Senior Pastor, Priest, Cardinal, and Bishop, don't exist in the Bible and are actually harmful to the health of the church.

Without going into all of what Strauch had to say, but the bottom line is there should be a group of qualified elders that humbly serve, admonish, and shepard a community of people striving to follow Jesus--nothing more, nothing less.

I am not doing this book justice in this recap. I am at a point in my own faith where I'm challenging everything about it, and I am striving to understand how Jesus really wants me to live in these times. In tandem with this book I am reading The Shaping of Things to Come, which, in my mind, more fully addresses the failures of the modern church. Biblical eldership (or lack there of) is just a piece of the problem.

Overall, the book was worth the time spent reading.

Norman Rockwell Haircut

2009-01-13T20:02:00.001-08:00

(Grandpa Elven, Me, my Dad)

This picture is a work of art; it is an illustration of everyday American life. If Norman Rockwell had been alive, I'm sure he would have painted this exact scene. With one snap of the shutter it captured a broad spectrum of emotions: anticipation, optimism, excitement, shock, surprise, and victory. All of this in the confines of a simple haircut. My Grandma Doris took this picture in March of 1992.

I can still remember this day. It was a weeknight, and my Dad had just gotten off work. We had a meatloaf (yes, I told you I remembered) dinner at home, and then we drove up to my Grandparent's house to get my hair cut. My Dad had been telling me for a while that I should go with a shorter hairstyle, under the guise that it would be cooler in Summer heat. If you are familiar with March in Aberdeen, Washington you know that Summer is right around the corner in late July. Being 8 years old at the time, I was easy to convince.

My Grandma Doris usually cut my hair, but my Grandpa Elven specialized in the military cuts. This night would be my first haircut from my Grandpa. My Grandpa's slogan was "It isn't a good haircut, unless you lose a pint of blood." I knew my Grandpa was joking, but there was always a seed of doubt in the back of my mind. Grandpa used to cut my Dad's and his three brothers' hair when they were young, and now that I think back on it, this is probably the first time in 20 years that he had manned the clippers. This explains the expression of jubilee and the triumphant stance he exhibits, he too was surprised that I was alive and that the haircut was a success.

I, myself, am experiencing major heart failure as I see my new haircut for the first time. My Dad decides to just smile as big as he can and throw in a few fake laughs to try and convince me, by social proof, that the haircut is perfect. It worked--I loved the haircut and sported the style for many years to come.

Well done Grandma.

Waterbrook Melange 2005

2009-01-12T19:17:00.000-08:00

I opened a bottle of Waterbrook Melange 2005 in November, and this wine stood out to me because of the cinnamon component I experienced on the palate. At first taste, I attributed this to the Mourvedre grape, which is known to deliver cinnamon, but I was wrong. This wine is a red blend from the Columbia Valley made from Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc, and Syrah. That's right, no Mourvedre. Hmmm. I'm not sure where the cinnamon is coming from, but it was fun to drink and experience.

Waterbrook Melange 2005 Tasting Notes:

Deep purple color with flashes of red. Aromatic nose with notes of cherry and black fruit. Tons of sour cherry on the palate with hints of cinnamon. Somewhat of a damp earth component. Pleasing finish. I am going to buy another bottle of this. 89 pts Wine Spectator. $10 USD.

The Mantle

2009-01-12T19:14:00.000-08:00

Ever since we first moved into our house, possibly even before, Paige has wanted a mantle to hang the Christmas stockings on during the holiday season. I guess she doesn't just want the mantle for the purpose of hanging stockings, but for adding some pizazz to the fireplace that currently is just a mass of ugly bricks. So I decided to set about doing something about in time for stocking hanging season.

The Wood

My Dad recently came into a mess of Teak from a dock worker that scavenged the support packaging that encased a sail boat shipped from South East Asia back in the 1970s. My Dad is a woodworker, but more importantly in this case a wood collector. He has wood stored in 16 cities, 7 counties, 4 states, and 2 countries, and that is just the wood he has scavenged, bought, begged, swindled, and poached in the last month. Some people would say that he has wood issues, but when I benefit from it, I won't complain. Dad had the teak milled up into a variety of sizes, but there were some real beauties that were 3" x 10" x 8'--perfect size for a mantle. This would have been the easy choice, because very minimal work would be required to have a finished product, but that piece of wood has a market value of about $600 USD.

The cheaper option, as far as hard dollar value for the wood (not necessarily labor), was to veneer mdf that was cut to the dimensions we wanted. As you probably guessed, my father has a large selection of veneers. Paige and I decided on some highly figured Santos Rosewood (Genus: Machaerium; Species: scleroxylon).

The Process

The initial plan was to spend a solid day down at my parents' house and get the mantle done--all in one day. Since both my Dad and I had Veteran's day off, we determined that this would be an ideal day to spend building a mantle. We got off to an early start and we had the mdf cut and glued in virtually no time at all. After lunch down at the local roach coach, we began gluing up surfaces and laying down the veneer.

The veneer didn't lay down as easily as we had hoped, and we attributed this to the fact that we were working outside (under cover) and it was raining heavily. All of that is just to say it was quite humid and the glue wouldn't dry. It took another long evening of my Dad and I working on it, and an additional 5-6 hours of my Dad's time putting on the final touches.

The Hanging

We had my parents up for dinner on December 4th, and after dinner my Dad and I hung the mantle. We used a cabinet hanger to attach the mantle, and it went up with relatively little effort.

Dinner consisted of Moroccan shrimp on crostini, grilled rack of lamb, Parmesan mashed potatoes, Campo Viejo Gran Reserva 2000, green salad with fresh croutons, Ethiopian Misty Valley coffee, chocolate crinkles, and peanut butter oatmeal cookies.

Dinner and 2 Wines

2009-01-09T22:14:00.001-08:00

Paige and I had Shawn up for dinner tonight. We had dungeness crab (Cancer Magister) cakes and a curry vinaigrette salad with fresh croutons. Shawn brought a Sticks Pinot Noir 2006 from the Yarra Valley in Australia, and I had a L'eCole 41 "Walla Voila" Chenin Blanc 2007 in the fridge that we opened too. Shawn had actually given me the L'Ecole for Christmas, so it was nice to be able to try it with him.

Sticks Pinot Noir 2006 Tasting Notes:

Gorgeous color. Bright red with depth. A lot of cherries and raspberries on the nose with a tinge of barnyard and hints of vanilla. Great balance. Smooth on the palate, and loaded with berry notes. Decent finish. Price: ~$19 USD. I would buy this wine again. Solid effort.

L'eCole 41 "Walla Voila" Chenin Blanc 2007 Tasting Notes:

Light yellow/golden color. Minerals are quite prevalent on the nose with a sweetness of peaches. Overall a somewhat fruity nose with hints of honey. A good deal of peaches reach the palate, and the wine comes across as refreshing. While dry, the wine does carry a little sweetness. Quite tasty. I would buy this wine again. Price: $14 USD. 88 pts Wine Advocate. 89 pts Wine Enthusiast.

We topped off the evening with some decadent chocolate chip cookies that Paige made, and Costa Rica La Amistad caffe machiattos. All of this over 3 rousing matches of Settlers of Catan.

Reading

2009-01-05T20:21:00.000-08:00

One of my resolutions for this new year is to read more. It is hard to quantify "more" so I thought to myself that I should read 100 books this year, but then I did the math and it works out to ~2 books every week. 100 books isn't feasible with my current load of obligations, so I settled on a more manageable number, 30.

I am going to read 30 books this year, and I am not limiting myself to one genre. Where do I start? Well I just started 3 books:

Biblical Eldership by Alexander Strauch
The Shaping of Things to Come by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

My goal is to have at least 10 of the books be classics. I will let you know my progress.

All of this reading will be in addition to my standard reading everyday.

Everyday I selectively read articles, opinions, and editorials from the following publications:

The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
The Seattle Times
The Olympian
Internet Storm Center
Slashdot

Joke

2008-11-19T22:02:00.000-08:00

I just had to pass along a joke I heard today. Enjoy!

"An infinite number of mathematicians walk into a bar. The first one orders a beer. The second orders half a beer. The third, a quarter of a beer. The bartender says "You're all idiots", and pours two beers."

Nontrivial infinite series are always worth a good laugh.

A Couple of Blogs

2008-11-13T21:44:00.001-08:00

Life is very busy right now. We are still getting used to having a new baby in the house and that process seems to take up the majority of everyone's time. In the last few minutes at the end of the day, I found the time to discover a couple of great blogs and I wanted to share them with you all.

The first blog is called "The Range Life" and it chronicles the kayaking/exploration adventures of 3 guys from the Seattle area. They are really in to what they do, they know how to take great pictures, and they know how re-tell the adventures. The Seattle Times had an article about these guys today, and thus I discovered them. Crazy Phil was the first person I emailed when I discovered the blog, since "crazy" is right up his alley.

The second blog is John Lott's personal blog. John Lott is a senior research scientist with the University of Maryland. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from UCLA and has contributed much to science and society. His is primarily known for his books and research looking into gun control, but he has also done excellent research in the area of media bias, abortion, and women's suffrage.

Enjoy! I'm off to bed to try a get a little sleep. Wish me luck!

P.S. The picture has nothing to do with the post. This is a shot of a fruit tray I made up for a Sunday morning brunch 2 years ago.

Danish Puff Pastry

2008-11-02T21:02:00.000-08:00

As much as I love to eat, cook, smell, and taste food, you would never be able to tell from my blog. I seldom make the time to write about the food I cook or enjoy, but it is not from a lack of desire. This current election has kept me busy researching a number of issues and keeping people from spreading partial truths, but it has not kept me out of the kitchen.

Yesterday I made one of my all time favorite desserts: Danish Puff Pastry. I have been making this dessert since I was ~10 years old, and with a cup of coffee it always satisfies (even if you don't include the coffee). The recipe is from (of all places) the classic, red covered, Betty Crocker cookbook.

There is something so simple and yet profound about a butter crust and choux pastry drizzled with icing sugar frosting and topped off with blanched toasted almonds.

Jovie Blythe

2008-10-29T13:52:00.000-07:00

Well Jovie finally graced us with her presence yesterday. She came a bit unexpectedly, but it was a pleasant surprise.

Jovie Blythe Backholm
6 lbs, 9 oz
18 inches
10/28/2008 16:00

Both Paige and Jovie are doing great.

Excellent Value Wine

2008-10-12T22:19:00.000-07:00

I discovered Penfold's Koonunga Hill 2006 Shiraz Cabernet blend about a year a go and I have been enjoying it ever since. This wine is an incredible value. Here in the Northwest, Costco is currently carrying the wine for $6.99 a bottle. You don't want to miss this. You get loads of blueberries and blackberries on the nose, and the palate is rewarded with ripe fruit, black currents, and black pepper. The alcohol seems to still be a little hot in this wine, but I am going to stash a few bottles away to enjoy in 5-10 years. This wine is excellent now and I am sure it will only get better with age.

Robert Parker gave it a 91. Need I say more.

Skip the bottle of Yellow Tale that you always buy and try something new. Try this wine and let me know what you think.

Taste

2008-09-03T20:34:00.000-07:00

Over the last 6 months I have been really focusing on training my palate (thanks to Gary). As a result, I am not only enjoying food even more, but I am having a lot of fun.

First, let's get something straight. Most of you have probably seen the "Taste Map" of the tongue presented to you before? I even recently saw a tongue taste map in the September issue of Seattle magazine, and it is all wrong.

There are 5 known "tastes" that humans can detect with all parts of their tongues more or less equally:

Salty
Sweet
Bitter
Sour
Umami

Also, taste receptors are not only isolated to your tongue. The soft palate (back of your mouth) also has taste receptors. Your nose also plays a major role in taste. So remember, the taste map is a lie.

On this recent taste journey I have been tasting everything by itself. This is my attempt to really single out flavors. What do onions really taste like? What does chervil really taste like? What does grass taste like? What does fresh cream taste like? Since I have started doing this I have found that I am venturing down a new path of being able to discern individual tastes within complex flavors. I am now noticing blueberries in my coffee, mushrooms in my wine, and loganberries in my chocolate. What fun.

Start training your palate today.

Free Text Books

2008-08-19T20:01:00.000-07:00

I am glad to see that I am not the only person that thinks the college text book industry is downright criminal. There are a number of distinguished professors who are creating open text books that are available for free in an attempt to change the system.

Here is one a recently discovered and started to read:

Introduction to Economic Analysis by R. Preston McAfee

Lyman Lakes

2008-08-11T21:38:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been 3 months since my last post so I thought I would sit down and write a bit. Life has been very busy. Between working at my new job, remodeling our duplex, spending time with Paige and Pear, and eating there hasn't been much time for extra stuff. I did manage to go on an epic 3 day backpacking trip Lyman Lakes with a bunch of great guys at the end of July, and what a trip it was.

The Lyman Lakes are located in the Glacier Peak Wilderness on the eastern side of the North Cascades in Washington State. This is truly a fantastic area to explore.

There were 13 of us on the expedition and the group dynamic is one of the biggest reason the trip was such a good time.

The crew:

Terry Corrigan (fishing addict, refinery and oil industry guru, enjoys a good cup of coffee, my uncle)

Trevor Corrigan (active military, cribbage hustler, trained in the art of surveillance, hard-working, alpha male, jackhammer, merciless, insatiable, my cousin)

Philip Corrigan (crazy, posh elite university student , literature and philosophy buff, frugal, possible socialist, enjoys free clothes, eats books for breakfast, as bent as the Soviet sickle and as hard as the hammer that crosses it, my cousin)

Sean Roach (budding marketeer, carries a man-purse, fitness buff, frequently concerned of his image with the ladies, poor taste in movies and restaurants, has big heart for people, my friend)

Dana Brandt (solar energy entrepreneur extraordinaire, well read, refined coffee palate, always up for crazy stunts, never turns down a well crafted brew when offered, my friend)

John Falcon (industrial/automotive designer, hard-worker, tough, dry humor expert, always willing to eat, innovative, my friend)

Kirk Rensink (adventurer, easy-going, never turns down or loses an eating competition, freakishly tall, my friend)

Wyatt Backholm (talented, from an elite bloodline, has the speed of the mongoose, quick with a joke, not verbose, tan, my brother)

Shawn O'Neill (Starbuck's employee, trivia expert, can hold a conversion on any subject, extensive knowledge of hotels, foodie, has watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy more than all members of the expedition combined and then some, my friend)

Jim Napier (business mind, shipping expert, always jovial, reliable, best candidate to back you up in fight, always willing to eat, generous, my father-in-law)

Chase Napier (political science major, uber video game skills, friendly, always up for an adventure, responsible, great athlete, my brother-in-law)

Hutton Napier (youngest member of the group, leet video game skills, football player material, my brother-in-law)

Stephen Backholm

Shawn and I have been planning this trip for about 8 months. The plan was, for those of us in the Thurston/Grays Harbor county area to leave Tumwater, Wa on Thursday night July 17 at 5:30pm. Shawn and I drove in one car and Jim, Chase, Hutton, and Wyatt in the other. We arrived at the EconoLodge in Wenatchee, WA about 10:30pm with one pit stop at the Tacoma Mongolian Grill (Shawn regretted this later that night). Terry was in Moses Lake, WA on business so he was already at the motel when we got there. Trevor, Philip, and Sean, coming from Bellingham, arrived shortly after, and Jon, Dana, and Kirk, also from Bellingham, pulled in around 2:30am. We got up at 5:00am and convene in the parking lot at 5:30am.

Our destination was Chelan, WA, but more importantly breakfast (yes, breakfast is a destination). We ate at a little restaurant called the Apple Cup, and then proceeded to the Lady of the Lake boat dock.

We loaded our gear into a luggage container and settled in for the 3.5 hour boat ride.

Six dozen cookies lighter we arrived at Lucerne, which is nothing more than a boat dock about 45 miles up Lake Chelan. From there a bus was waiting for us to take us to Holden Village, which is about a 45 min drive (~11 miles) in a very old bus.

With our packs on our backs, we finally hiked out of Holden Village about 2:00pm. It was hot, about 90F, but the mountain air was clear and refreshing.

We had finally made it to the Glacier Peak Wilderness.

The first mile went well and spirits were high, then reality set it. Hiking sucks. Especially when it is hot and you have 50lbs on your back. There is a point on every hiking trip that I think to myself, "I do this for fun?" I wasn't quite at this point yet, but before the day was over I had reached it a dozen times or more.

Hart Lake was our first stopping point at about 4 miles in. Great scenery.

The last 4 miles of the hike can't be spoken of in mixed company. It was a lot of elevation gain and a lot of cursing.

We finally made it to Lower Lyman Lake about 8:00pm, took off our packs, and then Sauruman unleashed his horde of flying devil birds--the mosquitoes had come.

Jon Falcon sporting his patent pending underwear mosquito netting.

The mosquitoes were everywhere and it kept us all in a state of constant movement and eventually drove us home a day early.

Our group split up the next morning, as we each had different goals for the day. Sean and Philip had the most energy and headed off to Cloudy Pass. Here is a view of Lower Lyman Lake from Cloudy Pass:

Looking down the valley to Hart Lake from Cloudy Pass:

Shawn, Chase, Jim, Hutton, Wyatt, and myself were not feeling quite as energetic and we headed off to Upper Lyman Lake. Jon, Kirk and Dana eventually joined us there, but they enjoyed sleeping later than most of us. There were some really nice views of Bonanza Peak on the way up:

We spent the day up at Upper Lyman were the mosquitoes only roamed in packs in the hundreds (an improvement), and had a pleasant hike down the East side of Lower Lyman on the way down.

The next morning (a day early) we loaded up our packs and said good bye to Lyman Lakes.

Overall it was a great trip. I am truly blessed to have such great friends.

Oh, yeah. Here's proof that I actually went on the trip.

Here are the links to all of the pictures taken on the trip:

Shawn O'Neill's Pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/shawnroneill/LymanLakes

Sean Roach's Pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/biggestroach/LymanLakesCampingTrip/

My Pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/sbackholm/LymanLakes

Bed Head

2008-05-04T06:47:00.001-07:00

Pear frequently exhibits some of the best bed head I have ever seen. While my hair after sleeping all night just looks plain ugly, Pear's looks quite hip and trendy.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Exhibit C

Book Sale

2008-05-03T21:24:00.001-07:00

Paige, Pear, and I went to a book sale at the Olympia library this morning. I have been to a few book sales before, and you just never know what to expect. Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised at both the selection and the price.

I ended up picking up the 16 titles in the picture for $15.00 USD.

Smokin' deal.

The Art of the Start

2008-04-08T10:45:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon a great talk given by Guy Kawasaki at TiECON 2006 about starting a company. Guy has a great presentation style and he cuts all the buzz-word mumbo-jumbo and gets straight to the point.

This is a must watch.

Kansas

2008-03-17T10:03:00.000-07:00

I have always been fond of the music put out by the band Kansas, and I was reminded of why this is when I saw this live performance of "Carry on Wayward Son."

Be sure to catch Steve Walsh's brilliant Hammond solo.

For a bunch of guys with bad hair and no sense of style these guys could play, and they exhibited qualities that so many bands strive for and never attain: musicianship, writing ability, and simplistic synergy (not overplaying).

Spread the Thunder

2008-02-05T13:03:00.000-08:00

About two weeks ago I discovered a great website all about wine. The site is http://winelibrary.com and it is amazing. Gary Vaynerchuk (Vay-ner-chuk) is the mastermind behind the site, and he hosts daily video blogs all about wine.

I am learning so much about wine from his show that I feel like I should cut Gary a check. Not only do you learn about different wines, more importantly Gary teaches you how to train your palate to distinguish different tastes. If you are interested in wine you have got to check this site out.

Blackberries

2008-01-28T10:49:00.001-08:00

I was sitting at my desk this morning at work and I realized that there has been something nagging me since last Summer. It is the basic fact that there are two types of people: people that know what little wild blackberries are and people who do not. This all started on July 2nd, 2007 when my wife, daughter, uncle Terry, and cousin Philip were walking down the road from our house heading towards an old logging road to pick blackberries. Now if you have ever lived in the Northwest you have probably seen a group similar to ours dressed in old clothes and boots armed with buckets and plastic milk cartons and typically exhibiting a state of euphoric glee. Now this description fits home schoolers and blackberry pickers, so make sure you get your groups straight (chances are they are both). This is a good time to note that my cousin Philip's milk carton looked as if a dog had chewed the opening at the top, while mine was gracefully cut with a hand sharpened Damascus steel blade forged high in the northern reaches of Japan by...you get the picture. Anyways, we were walking down the road and a neighbor of ours asked us what we were up to, and I responded that we were going to pick blackberries. My neighbor gave me a funny look and said "blackberries aren't ripe yet, [duh]." I smiled and went on to try and describe the difference between what we call little wild blackberries and the ubiquitous Himalayan blackberries that she was obviously referring to. I only received a blank stare in response.

The above scenario has happened more times than I can count. People too often have no idea that little wild blackberries (also called California, trailing, or Pacific blackberries) even exist. In my opinion these berries are culinarily far superior to their Himalayan brother due to their smaller seeds, tarter flavor, and smaller size (means less water and more intense flavor).

Newsflash:

There is more than one type of Blackberry in the Northwest.

California, Trailing, or Pacific Blackberry (Rubus ursinus):

Himalayan or Armenian Blackberry (Rubus discolor):

Eleven

2007-12-05T12:39:00.000-08:00

Classic dialog from This is Spinal Tap:

Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and...
Marty DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?
Nigel Tufnel: Exactly.
Marty DiBergi: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?
Nigel Tufnel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?
Marty DiBergi: I don't know.
Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Marty DiBergi: Put it up to eleven.
Nigel Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.
Marty DiBergi: Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?
Nigel Tufnel: [pause] These go to eleven.

Health Care

2007-10-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

I found a noteworthy article commenting on America's current "Health Care" debate entitled: "No 'Health Care' in America" by Thomas Sowell.

You can read all of Dr. Thomas Sowell's articles here.

A few of my favorite excerpts:

"This was all before politicians gave us the idea that the things we could not afford individually we could somehow afford collectively through the magic of government."

"Doctors cannot stop you from ruining your health in a hundred different ways, so statistics on everything from infant mortality to AIDS are not proof of a need for government to take over medical treatment."

"But that is very different from hospitals being stiffed every day by emergency room users whose only emergency is that they want to keep their money to spend on fun, instead of on doctors."

Top 10 Films

2007-10-25T08:39:00.000-07:00

I had a discussion the other night with a group of friends about movies, and I came to the conclusion that I don't have a absolute favorite movie--it's just too hard to narrow it down to one film.

Here are my top ten up to this point in time (not listed in any order of precedence):

Rope
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The Godfather
Roman Holiday
Braveheart
Gladiator
The Hunt for Red October
Saving Private Ryan
On the Waterfront
Touching the Void

Gameknot

2007-09-07T14:48:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon a wonderful chess website called www.gameknot.com. They advertise themselves to be the largest Chess playing website on the net, and I would have to say I'm impressed.

You can play a number of games concurrently against any one of the ~675,000 registered players, with turn intervals from 3 to 14 days. You can also play real-time games that don't affect your rating. GameKnot also has a FIDE rating system, leagues, teams, clubs, and this is all for free (yes, there is a premium membership that allows for a few extra bells and whistles).

Check it out, sign-up, and challenge me to a game--my userid is sbackholm.

Rambo Marathon

2007-08-19T16:10:00.000-07:00

Last night my cousin Philip and I set out watch one of the classic, intelligent, sublime, and transcending film trilogies of the 20th century: Rambo. We only made it through the first two before I told Phil that I needed to get some sleep (Yes, I am getting old). But I must say that it was 3.5 hours of pure enjoyment. Don't worry, Rambo III will be watched in the near term to complete the trilogy.

Colonel Trautman's famous monologue boasting of Rambo's abilities:

You don't seem to want to accept the fact that you're dealing with an expert in guerrilla warfare. With a man who's the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A man who's been trained to ignore pain, to ignore weather, to live off the land. To eat things that would make a billy goat puke. In Vietnam his job was to dispose of enemy personnel. To kill, period! Win by attrition. Well, Rambo was the best.

Book Lists

2007-08-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

Over that past weeks I have been searching the Internet looking for book lists. What I mean by "book lists" are lists of books that people have enjoyed reading and gained knowledge from. Now I am not interested in just anyone's book list, but specifically people that I consider intelligent and those that exemplify traits that I admire. Some characters meet both criteria, while others only one.

You can tell a lot about a person and where they are going from the books they read.

My Findings So Far:

Fog Creek Software Management Training List, By Joel Spolsky

Personal MBA Reading List

Newton Quote

2007-06-29T14:24:00.000-07:00

"I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."

-- Sir Isaac Newton

Newton kindly reminds us that the science is far from decided.

CCNP - Done!

2007-06-17T09:14:00.000-07:00

I took and passed the final test for my Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) certification yesterday. It feels great to be done with it. The CCNP is comprised of 4 tests covering a wide range of networking topics.

All the gory details about the certification can be found here.

The 4 tests are as follows (in the order I took them):

Building Scalable Cisco Internetworks (BSCI 642-901)
Optimizing Converged Cisco Networks (ONT 642-045)
Building Cisco Multilayer Switched Network (BCMSN 642-812)
Implementing Secure Converged Wide Area Networks (ISCW 642-025)

The CCNP also requires you to have your Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification--I took this in 2001 and renewed it in 2006.

I have found certifications a great way to enforce a structured learning regiment in my profession, and it looks good on my resume.

Pop drinkers beware

2007-05-30T13:09:00.000-07:00

From the article:

"A new health scare erupted over soft drinks last night amid evidence they may cause serious cell damage. Research from a British university suggests a common preservative found in drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi Max has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA."

http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article2586652.ece

It appears the agent here is a preservative called benzoate, and it is found in both Coca-Cola and diet Pepsi.

My theory is that the more processed a food is the worse it is for you. I personally don't drink pop (1 or 2 cans a year), and I am more and more thankful for that position every time I read an article like this.

Back to it

2007-05-29T11:51:00.000-07:00

Today was was my first normal day back at work after being gone at training for the last 2 weeks in Bellevue. The first week was a Ciscoworks class and the second was combo Cisco course addressing a number of topics: QoS, MPLS, IPSEC VPN, Cisco Device Hardening, and Wireless Security. Overall the training was informative and well worth the time. I also found that being away from work, and having time devoted to study was rewarding.

Paige and Pear also came along and we had fun times shopping, eating, and touring the Seattle area.

Forced Abortions in China

2007-04-23T07:51:00.000-07:00

So often in the news we hear about the growth and development of China and the Chinese people. China appears to be developing at incredible pace, and the Chinese people are beginning to experience personal freedoms like never before. The Chinese government has even recently relaxed their enforcement of the one-child per family law, but it appears that they still enforce it as they see fit. An NPR story this morning tells of large number of forced abortions in southwest China. Listen here.

Here is how it works:

The family planning commission determines that you have violated a law
They show-up at your house and tell you that must have an abortion
If you don't want to they physically carry you away to the hospital
At the hospital they give the pregnant women 3 shots into her lower abdomen
Within the next several days the woman gives birth to a stillborn baby

One of the mothers they interviewed described her stillborn 7-month old baby as being completely black in color. The family planning commission will perform abortions at any stage of pregnancy; the story also tells of a 9-month old baby being aborted.

My cousin Philip is currently studying abroad in China, and he has been describing to me all of the freedoms that the Chinese people have, and I was beginning to believe him. While China may be making progress, these gross examples on government control and killing remind me that they have a long way to go.

Statistics of the World

2007-04-09T13:59:00.000-07:00

Here is an informative talk given by Hans Rosling at TED. The discussion is about common statistical myths about 1st world and 3rd world countries, and he also demonstrates some dynamic graphing software that he helped develop. The video is ~20 minutes, and well worth the time.

See more of the presentations at TED 2007.

The overall point to me was that you can't generalize facts about the 3rd world, or 1st world for that matter, and there must be tailored solutions to solve each strata's problems. I was also reminded of how much we tend to misinterpret world statistics.

The Great Global Warming Swindle (update 2)

2007-04-06T08:41:00.000-07:00

After doing some more research I have found that the producer, Martin Durkin, of TGGWS is not the friendliest bloke, and that he modified/distorted a number of the graphs in the documentary to support his views. So it appears that a number of the figures he quoted are not correct, and the documentary has inaccuracies. Due to the inaccurate nature of this film, I will not continue to promote it--Al Gore has already spread enough lies about global warming.

All this according to an article in The Independent.

The science is not over, we all are in agreement that global climate change is happening, but I don't see any substantial proof that humans are causing it. I don't claim to be an expert on the subject, but I am human being who can weigh facts, observe scientific evidence, and come to proven conclusions.

Google Maps - My Maps

2007-04-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

Google just rolled out a new feature that allows you to customize maps and call them your own.

Check out my travels map (not complete), and make a map of your own.

Intelligence Squared Debate Series

2007-04-04T12:41:00.000-07:00

NPR has been broadcasting a great debate series hosted by Intelligence Squared. The format is an Oxford style debate where Intelligence Squared invites 3 panelists from each side of the argument to the same locale, moderates it, and sells tickets to the public. The audience's job is to vote before the debate on their conclusions about said argument, listen to the debate, and then vote again about same argument. Over the course of the ongoing series, there have been a number of great topics: Weighing the freedom of public expression, Debating a nuclear Iran, Hamas: Government of terrorist organization?, and many more.

The one that caught my eye was a popular topic and a favorite of mine: "Is global warming a crisis?"

The results were noteworthy:

"In this debate, the proposition was: "Global Warming Is Not a Crisis." In a vote before the debate, about 30 percent of the audience agreed with the motion, while 57 percent were against and 13 percent undecided. The debate seemed to affect a number of people: Afterward, about 46 percent agreed with the motion, roughly 42 percent were opposed and about 12 percent were undecided."

What is your opinion?

New Grill

2007-04-02T20:37:00.000-07:00

Well we finally got a new outdoor grill over the weekend, and I am thrilled. For the last 2 1/2 years Paige and I have been using a small grill, and while it has gotten the job done it has always been lacking BTU output. I really wanted to get the same grill my parents and my good buddy Jon have (Vermont Castings, 60,000 BTU output, porcelain coated cast-iron grates, heavy-gauge type 304 stainless steel hood, 5-year burner warranty, top-rated on Consumer Reports, ~$600) but the manufacturer stopped making it. So I started to look at other grills on the market.

The second best rated grill on Consumer Reports was a Sears Kenmore so Paige and I went up to Sears and looked at the grills they had available. Their grills look well constructed and they offer the specs I was looking for:

Porcelain-coated cast-iron grates (holds heat much better than stainless steel)
48,000 BTU main burner output
Even heat distribution (went to Consumer Reports for this information)
Heavy-gauge Type 304 Stainless Steel hood
12,000 BTU side burner (for deep fat frying). Egg Rolls, baby!
Free assembly (this is a wonderful thing)

After looking at the a few more grills around town I was sold on the Kenmore, and the best part is that it was only $300 USD. I borrowed my cousin Adam's big brown beater van and brought the grill home. Here it is:

This is Pear's reaction to the new grill:

Needless to say she was impressed, and Paige and I christened the grill with rib-eyes, the king of all steaks.

Pear was equally amazed by the steaks:

The Backholm's will be grilling all Summer long.

Quadruplets and a Pipe Salesman

2007-03-30T07:44:00.000-07:00

I really have been enjoying the "StoryCorps: Recording America" series on NPR lately. StoryCorps is a collection of interviews made by everyday people at recording booths setup by StoryCorps across the US. The recorded interviews will be stored and cataloged in the Library of Congress as a historical record.

The two interviews that I have enjoyed the most are one I just heard this morning about a set of quadruplets born in 1915 and one I heard a while back about a traveling pipe salesman. Both interviews are short and very enjoyable.

The Great Global Warming Swindle (update)

2007-03-19T14:46:00.000-07:00

As I blogged about several weeks ago a great new documentary about global warming is out (Google Video). This is a must watch, no matter what side of the debate you are on.

20 Rules for Investing

2007-03-19T14:44:00.000-07:00

My aunt forwarded me this list from Investor's Business Daily. After reading through it I found it to be (at least to me) rather profound. The list is a blend of tips from both a technical and fundamental analysts prospective.

Tip number 5 immediately jumped out to me.

The Challenge

2007-03-19T14:33:00.000-07:00

Lord Monckton of Scotland has formally challenged Al Gore to a climate debate. I wonder if old Al will attend, or can he not back up what preaches? See the full article.

Lord Monckton also had a wonderful quote:

"A careful study of the substantial corpus of peer-reviewed science reveals that Mr. Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth, is a foofaraw of pseudo-science, exaggerations, and errors, now being peddled to innocent schoolchildren worldwide."

I sure do love the word foofaraw. It is just plain fun to say.

Kiss Mouth-to-Mouth Goodbye

2007-03-16T09:09:00.000-07:00

Foxnews reports about a new study has been released that suggests that CPR would be more effective without the breathes between chest compressions. The emphasis should be chest compressions, do 30 instead of 15.

Nerd Test

2007-03-11T14:08:00.000-07:00

I decided to take a test to see how much of a nerd I am. Here are the results.

The Great Global Warming Swindle

2007-03-06T07:18:00.000-08:00

A new video documentary, or rockumentary if you will, on global warming is soon to be out, and luckily this one won't be brimming with hearsay, public-opinion pushed off as scientific fact, and scare-tactics. The hosts off this documentary won't receive any honorary doctorates, because they already have doctorates in climatology, geology, oceanography, meteorology, environmental science, biogeography, and paleoclimatology. The documentary is titled "The Great Global Warming Swindle" and it is set to be aired on March 8th, at 21:00 GMT, on British Television Channel 4. If you are outside of the UK, like me, you can watch it on the web. The trailer is here.

From what I gather, the thrust of the documentary is that there is scientific evidence that global warming is not caused by humans, but by irradiation from the Sun. From the write up, " the experts in the film argue that increased CO2 levels are actually a result of temperature rises, not their cause." I am interested in hearing the science behind this idea of increased temperatures causing increased C02 levels. I guess we will have to watch and see.

Here is a write-up on the documentary by the Daily Mail.

Tolstoy summed up the modern attitude toward global warming quite nicely.

"I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives."

Human Caused Global Warming?

2007-03-02T14:51:00.000-08:00

There is an informative article about global warming on National Geographic's website today.

A Russian climatologist claims that simultaneous warming on Earth and Mars suggests that our planet's recent climate changes have a natural and not a human-induced cause. Unless Al Gore wants to inform us all on how the fossil fuel emissions from Earth reach Mars and heat it up too.

Cold Remedies put Children at Risk

2007-03-02T14:20:00.000-08:00

There is a thought-provoking article in the Baltimore Sun today about fifteen pediatric experts petitioning the FDA regarding the dangers of over-the-counter cold medicines to children. From the article, "As long as the child is generally healthy, the best thing to do is let the virus run its course, and generally they'll get better as quick or quicker than when they take these medicines," says Dr. Steven J. Czinn, chair of pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

This is an excellent article and yet again challenges the whole “Modern Mom” mentality. Our bodies were designed to heal themselves, and when we rush to take or give medicine just to ease some discomfort we actually do more harm than good.