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| http://men.style.com/details/features/landing?id=content_4157
Funny and informative article about kobe beef becoming increasingly
common. It's going to be tough, but I'm going to find a way to
fit "the jackass superfecta" into my vernacular.
Some of these are very good, many are mediocre, and some are awful. But
one thing is clear. Kobe beef has moved out of the universe in which we
judge edibles by such measures as nutrition, sustenance, tastiness,
etc. It has become something else entirely: a social signifier. In
other words, jackass food.
...
None of this is to say that you can’t have a positive Kobe experience.
You can. But that would be a lot easier if restaurants would stop
coming up with ever more outrageous ways of making you pay for
privilege. Which, naturally, brings us back to Las Vegas. For it was
from that city that a press release recently flowed announcing “the
most extravagant and expensive burger experience ever conceived.” This
was the Fleur-Burger 5000, topped with truffles and a slab of foie
gras. Concocted by chef Hubert Keller of Fleur de Lys at the Mandalay
Bay Casino, the FleurBurger 5000 is named for its price tag, a cool
$5,000. To be fair, your money also gets you a set of fine Italian
stemware, a numbered certificate signed by Keller himself, and a pretty
nice bottle of wine—a 1990 Chateau Petrus, which itself is on the wine
list for $5,000 (The Petrus got 100 points from Robert M. Parker Jr.,
placing you just one spoonful of Beluga caviar away from the jackass
superfecta.)
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Leadership -- I've
been thinking a lot about leadership lately. Using NBA players to illustrate my thoughts, I'd
rather be like Steve Nash than Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant is one of the
most amazing players in the game right now, but that's where his
talents seem to end. Steve Nash, on the other hand, is a great player
in his own right, but he also makes everyone else on his team better than
they would be otherwise. The Phoenix Suns's record was terrible before
Nash came in 2004, even with a handful of superstars and phenoms. With
Nash in the mix, they've become one of the most formidable teams in the
league. Nash doesn't score over 40 points a game like Kobe, but he is
the glue that holds his team together.
Similarly,
I'm
a good analyst. However, it doesn't matter how good my
spreadsheets and analyses are -- they can only add so much value. Don't
think that I'm dismissing the importance of technical skills; good
leadership must begin with good fundamendal skills
and understanding. As I've read, supervising is akin to a technical
skill -- giving assignments, delegating properly to utilize the people
who work for you, time and project management. Leading is different --
providing direction for the people who work for you, and making them
better than they would be as individuals. To me, that idea is
really powerful.
== My friend's response:
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| Kentucky! - The first week of January, Alan (a friend from Ford) and I went to Louisville to visit our friend, Paul Yeh,
who's on a temporary assignment at Louisville Assembly. Here are some pictures.
The plane's emergency exit procedures were demonstrated to us by a gentleman with a
moustache in a diagram. Notice the 3-quarters view of the gentleman as he
performs his exit seat duties. I learned from my art history
course that the 3-quarters view took over century to develop in ancient
Greece. It was lost during the decline of the Roman empire and
eventually rediscovered during the Rennaisance.
We got to walk around Louisville Assembly, but we can't take pictures
there unfortunately. It was cool to be in a plant again.
Alan got sprayed by sparks for the first time as we walked through
welding robots on the Body assembly part of the line.
The first night we went out to a barbeque place with my old roommate,
Paul, who's also on a temporary assignment in Louisville. (Yes,
there
were 2 Alans and 2 Pauls.) The barbeque was pretty amazing.
The green beans had chunks of pork mixed into it, so I let our
waittress know that someone had accidentally dropped chunks of pork
in my green beans (yes, I know they're supposed to be there, I just
thought it was funny thing to say). She laughed and replied,
"Honey, there's chunks of
pork in everything!"
The next day we went to the historic Maker's Mark bourbon
distillery. We got to dip our fingers into a vat of fermenting
grains to see what it tastes like. Paul and Paul both bought
souvenier bottles, which they dipped in wax themselves. We drove
past many whisky distilleries going to Maker's Mark.
Alan and me standing in front of 4th Street Live in Downtown Louisville. This is a pedestrian walk
area with a lot of bars, clubs and restaurants. It's a lot of
fun. Perhaps not a lot of southern belles, but there were a lot
of hot girls out and they all had cute southern accents.
Yeh likes Johnny Cash.
"Burrritoes as Big as Your Head" Seriously, that was the name of the fast food place.
We
could walk around Churchill Downs since no races were being run -- race
season is from 2 weeks before the Kentucky Derby to Nov.
None-the-less, it was cool to see where the Kentucky Derby is run.
We drove past Yum! Headquarters, owners of KFC and Taco Bell, which was a white mansion. We
also ate at a KFC buffet, something that I could have lived my whole
life without doing.
Alan salutes the good Colonel.
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| Detroit Auto Show - The
auto show starts this weekend. Rather, it opens to the public
this weekend. The press days have already commenced. All of
the spectacular automotive presentations made by auto execs, free food
and booze, and VIP treatment end when the auto show opens to the
public. It's still going to be a great event and I'm still
excited to go, but I saw this amusing article in the Detroit Free Press
this morning:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060111/AUTO04/601110429
The axiom among auto show veterans -- repeated
recently in The New York Times -- calls shrimp a barometer for car
companies: The bigger the bottom-feeder, the better the brand is doing.
Shrimp, while available, was in scant supply throughout the preview.
...
For the record, the ailing Ford Motor Co. served
chicken, while General Motors Corp. -- beset by bankruptcy rumors --
doled out Coney Island hot dogs.
...
The scene was contrasted downstairs, where
Volkswagen's chefs from Frankfurt, Germany, color-coordinated
vegetables to match car exteriors. A sample dessert: walnut cake, pear
mousse, absinthe cherries and chocolate baskets with ginger cream. They shipped their kitchen aboard an ocean liner from Germany six weeks ago.
Oh, and for the record, VW isn't doing any better than we are.
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