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2012 Infiniti IPL G37 Coupe – Sport-Tuned Performance!

April 4, 2012 by Charles Donaldson Leave a Comment

0412-Passign-Lane1 — 2012 Infiniti IPL G37 Coupe

I remember modifying my 1966 Ford Mustang and rebuilding the engine to produce a screaming 300 horses, slapping on rumbling exhaust and working the suspension. The image I wanted and achieved was lo ud and powerful with the ability to handle tight curves and feel every bump in the road. In the 1980’s that was the general requirement to be classified as a sports car.

Well, the years have passed and so has my desire to be thrashed by unforgiving suspension and deafened by sound polluting mufflers. So what’s out there for us rehabilitated sports car junkies? How about the 2012 Infiniti IPL^™ G37 Coupe?

Eager to deepen their gas pedals into the world of the performance game, Infiniti has launched a new line of premium performance vehicles; the Infiniti Performance Line or IPL. Smartly, Infiniti didn’t just focus on extra horsepower and acceleration. They also enhanced the total refined vehicle performance luxury with modifications to the exterior, interior, suspension and engine tuning. The limited production IPL G37 Coupe is the first Infiniti to come from this new line.

From a distance, the profile is quite similar to the current G37 Coupe. A more detailed examination exposes the IPL treatment including new front and rear fascias, sleek side sills and IPL-exclusive 19-inch split-spoke wheels. You have two exterior choices – Graphite Shadow and Malbec Black. The front fascia is aggressive and beautiful. From the rear you cannot help but notice the enormous 120mm dual exhaust tips.

The interior doesn’t vary much from the standard G Coupe. The leather seats are available in either black or red with red accent stitching, and the dash is trimmed in polished aluminum. I would have suggested that they be a little more creative and placed some IPL logos to customize the interior like they did with the exterior. With that said, the IPL edition is fully loaded and very comfortable-at least in the front seat.

As with the standard G Coupe, the rear seat was not truly designed for long trips or tall people or short people for that matter. I had to move the front passenger seat to nearly its most forward position to provide my son who was parked in his child seat, adequate room for his little three-year old legs. Of course, all he cared about was that the IPL looked like a super-fast car.

Standard features include power sliding/tinted glass moon roof, 12-way power/heated driver seat, 8-way power/heated front passenger seat, driver’s seat power lumbar support, dual zone automatic temperature controls, intelligent key with push button start, dual heated power outside mirrors, chrome front grille (black grille optional), aluminum kick plates, hard drive navigation system with XM NavTraffic^® and XM NavWeather^™, rear view monitor and sonar system, Bluetooth^® hands-free phone system, USB connection port and Infiniti voice recognition system.

The Infiniti IPL team invested their time and money in the development of the powertrain and chassis. Infiniti dropped the 348-hp version of the 3.7-liter V-6 under the hood. They opened up the exhaust allowing the back pressure to drop by 30 percent. Compared to the standard G37 Coupe, the IPL only has a mild increase of 18 horsepower. Mated to the 3.7-liter is the choice of a six-speed manual transmission or seven-speed automatic transmission with Drive Sport mode and solid magnesium shift paddles.

The IPL-tuned performance suspension receives 20-percent tighter front springs and 10% tighter rear coils while the brakes and steering components are carryovers. A limited slip differential is standard. The power steering is sport-tuned, and vehicle speed-sensitive. Braking includes 4-piston front and 2-piston rear calipers. All of this translates into a very comfortable and quiet ride. If you have ever driven the G37 sister car – the Nissan 370Z, you know that you feel every bump in the road. The IPL G37 is a huge improvement and delivers a luxurious ride and sporty handling.

Room for improvement:

Infiniti could have made the interior more distinctive

Cool Features:

Aggressive front fascia
Push button start

The standard safety equipment for the 2012 IPL G37 Coupe model includes two-stage front airbags, side-impact airbags for front passengers with front and rear side-curtain airbags, tire pressure monitoring system, lower anchors and tethers for Children (LATCH), front-seat active head restraints, 4-wheel anti-lock braking system, vehicle security system and electronic stability system.

In Summary – The 2012 Infiniti IPL G37 Coupe is a wonderful blend of performance and luxury in a sports car. It has great lines, a comfortable ride, and extreme performance. It’s not a family car, but a lot of fun when traveling either alone or with that someone special. At a price of

$51, 250 it comes loaded with features.

Specifications

2012 IPL G37 Coupe

Base price: $51,250 as driven: $52,345 (including destination)

Engine: 3.7-Liter 6 cylinder

Horsepower: 348 @ 7400

Torque: 276 foot pounds @ 5200

Transmission: 7-Speed Automatic

Drive: Rear Wheel-Drive

Seating: 5-passenger

Turning circle: 36.1feet

Cargo space: 7.4 cubic feet

Curb weight: 3769 pounds

Fuel capacity: 20 gallons

EPA mileage: City 19 / Highway 27

Wheel Base: 112.2 inches

Warranty: 4 years/60,000 miles bumper to bumper

Also consider: Audi TT, BMW 3 Series, Porsche Cayman, Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG

San Ramon’s Oxford Advisors Find Scholarships for Student-Athletes Throughout California

April 4, 2012 by Paul Hirsch Leave a Comment

It’s no secret that college gets more expensive every year. Tuition, room & board, books, and fees for a four year school can cost about $26,000 per year at popular CSU’s like Cal Poly or Chico, while the gross cost can run $50,000 or more annually at top private universities. But the bottom line is, how much will the net cost be for you?

The trick, according to Cliff MacDonald who founded the San Ramon college placement service Oxford Advisors, is to get someone else to pay most of the freight. There are billions of dollars available each year from federal, state, and local public sources, as well as private corporations and public foundations. In fact, believe it or not, some of these monies go unused because students and student-athletes do not apply for these grants or scholarships. Moreover, private colleges have millions of dollars in endowments and they use some of these assets to offer merit scholarships to attract students who will make a valuable contribution to their campus.

Thus, like many things in life, those who pay the full sticker price end up subsidizing the athletes, the musicians, the actors, special needs students, minorities and others which the university believes are adding something special to its community. Oxford Advisors matches students’ abilities with the needs of some of the top colleges in the country, and then helps their families to find money to pay a large portion of the college expenses.

Many parents whose children have had success in youth sports dream of athletic scholarships to help them pay for college. MacDonald is uniquely positioned to help make those dreams come true. He has coached youth soccer, baseball and hockey. His work with the San Jose Jr. Sharks Club program in the early 1990’s included qualifying for elite, invitation-only international tournaments throughout Canada, the Midwest and New England.

Each of MacDonald’s three children earned sports-related college scholarships with his help. His hockey-playing son, C.J., went from Amador Valley High School to a prep school in Connecticut which led to a four year scholarship at Wesleyan University where he became a captain of the hockey team. Daughter Candice earned a four-year Division 1 soccer scholarship and also was a 2 time captain at Villanova University, while daughter Caitlin earned a significant scholarship and financial aid package at Dartmouth of the Ivy League, because of her strong academics and soccer skills.

Besides his own children, over the years Cliff has worked with hundreds of student-athletes who have received financial aid or scholarships at four year institutions. “We understand which sports in our region are viewed as particularly strong by college recruiters,” MacDonald said, specifically listing girls’ and boys’ soccer, baseball, girls’ basketball, softball and volleyball. “We have connections with elite club teams and we know how to generate attention for our athletes. The top 1-2 per cent will be discovered by the colleges, but everyone else has to work to be noticed.” MacDonald says he brainstorms with families and pulls out what he knows schools are looking for and then highlights that information in the materials they send to the colleges.

MacDonald’s tactics include detailed resumes carefully formatted to highlight athletic and academic accomplishments, various teams for which the athlete has played, coach’s comments and honors earned. “I strive to get the ducks off the water for my students and then show them how to develop relationships with college coaches,” he said. “I also train my clients in how to write cover letters and conduct themselves in an interview. Nearly everything we do with our students teaches them skills they’ll be able to use the rest of their lives.”

Despite the scholarships available, MacDonald insists that young people should only play sports as long as they are fun. “The scholarship is not the goal,” he said. “Developing character and skills, meeting new friends, having fun, and making lifelong memories are more important. I see far too many cases of parents pushing their children to play a particular sport just because they believe the child has exceptional aptitude, and it rarely works out well. This type of pressure often leads to burn-out, where the teen quits the sport, and usually leads to hard feelings and wasted money.”

MacDonald also pointed out that lots can happen to young athletes. “Kids gain weight, lose weight, stop growing, go through puberty and shift their interests,” MacDonald said. “It doesn’t make sense for parents to focus on athletic scholarships until at least ninth or tenth grade, and more likely when they reach 16 or 17. Before then they should just play as many sports as they can and have some fun.” MacDonald did acknowledge that at East Bay Athletic League schools like Amador, Foothill, San Ramon, Cal High, and Monte Vista, it is difficult for most students to make a team in more than one sport. “The competition is very tough at those schools,” he said.

Although MacDonald has been involved with college admissions for over 25 years, he did not start up Oxford Advisors until 2005. MacDonald and his team provide one-stop shopping for their clients. “Between our staff and our network of partners we can provide strategic college planning, national college searches, specialized SAT and ACT prep, application management, essay consultation, a resource for financial aid; as well as creating distinctive athletic resumes, DVDs and video links to show off a teen’s athletic skills; and even recommending surgeons, physicians and physical therapists if our athletes are injured! The breadth of our services makes us very unique in the college placement field.”

Ideally, MacDonald likes to start with clients during their sophomore year of high school, though he has helped students in their mid-twenties who are stalled in the community college system. “Our process takes at least a year, so if a student doesn’t come to us until their senior year, we can’t do any planning. For we start the application segment in September of the senior year. Yet, we are proud of our systematic or business-like approach and our extraordinary success rates. Nothing is more satisfying for us than placing a student in his or her dream school and using our methods, contacts and resources to help pay most of the expenses. We love hearing how happy they are after we enable them to fulfill their educational dreams!”

Those interested in learning more about Oxford Advisors can call its offices at 925-855-3220 or visit www.Oxford-Advisors.com.

Stamps In My Passport – Egypt & Israel

April 4, 2012 by Harry Hubinger Leave a Comment

“What a difference a day makes.” This line from an old song could easily be expanded to demonstrate the political turmoil that alters a travel site from “friendly” to “avoid” in a few blinks of an eye.

The other evening while browsing through a few of my unpublished travel accounts, I ran across a story I had written in 1999. It had a newspaper article attached dated October 7, 2004. I read through the two stories and found myself mesmerized by the events – one about twelve years ago and a second just under eight.

I ask you to bear with me as I relive some of the past and compare it with the current policies reflected in our newspapers today.

In 1999 there seemed to be a lull – an uneasy peace – between the Palestinian population and the Israeli government. Bethlehem was classified as an “open city,” and tourists from around the world flocked to this historic town. Less than a block from the entrance to the “place of Christ’s birth” Palestinians shops sold souvenirs and joked easily with the tourists. We saw no reason not to exploit this calm and booked a trip.

It was our intent to visit Jerusalem, Bethlehem and some other usual tourist sites in Israel. We included a visit to Masada, the plateau which housed the final Jewish resistance to Roman rule. But to start our vacation we chose to spend a leisurely week in Eilat. Driving south in Israel, auto traffic along the Arabian Wadi which connects the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Acaba flowed freely, devoid of checkpoints. This Jewish resort area is located on the southern tip of Israel and borders the Gulf of Acaba. The weather here is pleasant, and the sea water is a near perfect temperature. If you look on a map you will see this tiny neck of Israel borders Jordan to the east and Egypt to the west. It is an ideal location to explore a segment of all three of these countries.

It was an easy trip, for example, to cross over the Jordanian border and motor to Petra. The trip is just over an hour’s ride, and although you are required to hire both an Israeli and a Jordanian tour guide, the visit to the fortress of Petra is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

On our third night in Eilat, we decided to cross the border to Egypt. The Egyptian city just a few kilometers from the Israeli border is Taba. We took a taxi to the border in Israel and explained to the immigration officer that we planned to have dinner in Taba and return. He obviously was mystified as to why anyone would want do this, but with much eye rolling he passed us on. We walked a hundred yards along a road with high wire fences on either side – with apparently a field full of mines beyond that barrier.

The Egyptian border guard was also amused by our plan, but he stamped our passports and hailed us a cab which took us into Taba. We asked the cab driver for suggestions for dinner and a little shopping, and he suggested the Hilton Hotel on the east side of town.

Here stood the multi-storied building, in typical Hilton style. A circular drive led up to a large front entrance with a footman available to open the door for us. The lobby was populated with men in abayas, business suits, and casual clothes, while the ladies wore more feminine abayas, fashionable dresses, and even jeans. We shopped a bit, had cocktails and dinner, and at about nine o’clock in the evening retraced our steps back to Eilat.

As I mentioned in my introduction, there is an article attached to my story about this visit. On October 7, 2004, just as my first book was being printed, a vehicle drove up this beautiful circular drive in front of the Hilton. Just as the footman approached a large bomb was detonated – blowing the entire front of the building away and eventually collapsing almost the entire multi-storied hotel. The devastation was enormous, and the loss of life severe. The building was completely destroyed. But, to the best of my knowledge, in the intervening years it was totally renovated and today is once again, the Taba Hilton – a lovely resort hotel on the Gulf of Acaba.

There are windows of opportunity that open to us travelers. Often they stay open only a short period, and then they close for generations. Even today, as we read our daily papers, we are bombarded with stories of Palestinian/Israeli conflict, and the evolving “Arab Spring” taking place in Egypt. We must be alert – for most often these are just fleeting opportunities.

Classics to Pop

April 4, 2012 by Lawrence E. Anderson Leave a Comment

Many of us find ourselves humming or singing a favorite tune or other songs we know while driving or in the shower. But how many of us think about how or where the song came from? We may or may not know the composer, but is the song their original material or did it come from somewhere else? Believe it or not, many so-called modern songs originated from classical music.

The great master composers of the seventeenth, eighteenth or nineteenth centuries apparently had no qualms about “borrowing” or “lifting” tunes from each other. Musical literature is rampant with this questionable practice. I suspect that plagiarism was not the big deal in those days as it is today.

Most, but not all youth today, view the great music of the past as not relevant, out of step with the times and even boring. Creative and imaginative teachers use this phenomenon of classics to pop to teach students classical music by showing them how themes are adapted into pop/ rock musical genres. The aim or goal in this type of instruction is to show that all types of music are important and should be appreciated.

Instruction may include having students listen to the original classical theme then listen to its adaptation into popular music. In this way students learn about the classics if pop music is used to introduce it in a non-threatening and interesting way. These classes have been shown to be most effective when teaching modern day students.

The hope is that students, through this type of teaching about music they didn’t understand or appreciate i.e. classical music, would come alive for them and eventually assure its survival in the world.

The following illustrates the popular music that was generated by the great classical composers of the past:

1890’s -“O Promise Me” from the musical Robin Hood based on an Italian opera Mala Pasqua
1910’s -“I’m Always Chasing Rainbows” from Fantasie Impromptu by Frederic Chopin; “The Marine Hymn” from Gendarmes Duet by J. Offenbach
1920’s -“Going Home” from the Largo from Dvorak’s Symphony #9 – The New World
1930’s -“Song of India” from the Song of the Indian Guest from Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sadko; “In an 18^th Century Drawing Room” from Mozart’s Piano Sonata K. 545
1940’s -“Tonight We Love” from Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto #1 this was Freddy Martin’s theme song “Till the end of Time” from Fredric Chopin’s Polonaise in A Flat
1950’s -“Stranger in Paradise” from the Broadway musical Kismet, based on Alexander Borodin’s Polovetsian Dances. Also from Borodin is Baubles, Bangles and Beads; “Catch a Falling Star” from J. Brahms Academic Festival Overture
1960’s -“It’s Now or Never” based on Elvis Presley and also O Sole Mio, “Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh” from Ponchielli’s Dance of the Hours; “A Groovy Kind of Love” based on Sonatina in G Major by M. Clementi
1970’s -“Pictures at an Exhibition” by Emerson Lake and Palmer from M. Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition; “Could it Be Magic” inspired by Chopin’s Prelude in C Minor;
“A Fifth of Beethoven” – a disco version of Beethoven’s 5^th Symphony; “Night on Disco Mountain” from M. Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain
1980’s -“Midnight Blue” from Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata; “Rock Me Amadeus” from Falco; “Mars” from Mars the Bringer of War from Gustav Holst’s The Planets
1990’s -“All Together Now” based on chord progressions from Pachelbel’s Canon; “Everythings Gonna Be Alright” from Bach’s Air on the G String; “Love of My Life” from J. Brahms 3^rd Symphony
2000’s -“Remember” from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake; “Road to Joy” from Beethoven’s Ode to Joy in the 9^th Symphony; “Lacrymosa” based on Mozart’s Lacrymosa movement from the Requiem; “Yatta” from Pachelbel’s Canon

It is interesting to note that in my research I found many more popular songs were based on Pachelbel’s Canon then any other musical source.

The above list is far from complete. This is just a sampling of some of the most well known songs. There are too many to mention in this brief space. The number of modern day composers using classical themes in writing popular songs is nothing short of staggering. The next time you hear classical music being put down, remind that person that there is a good chance they are hearing a classical theme that inspired the popular song they are hearing.

Please submit your questions and comments to banddirector01@comcast.net

Visit our website at www.danvilleband.org for up-to-date information about the Danville Community Band.

Wings of Valor – Avian Wartime Couriers

March 10, 2012 by Anita Venezia Leave a Comment

What do Xerxes, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Napoleon Bonaparte and General Pershing have in common? They all dispatched field maneuver orders, battle results or other vital messages by carrier pigeons. No human could outrun sunlight, arrows, spears, or bullets, but the lowly bird could carry messages to home destinations by soaring high above fields, valleys, mountains or seas.

As far back as 3,000 years ago Egyptians, Persians, Etruscans and Greeks sent messages by carrier pigeons, and secured the precious birds in purpose-built dovecotes with as many as 2,000 pigeonholes. Romans built coops, called columbariums, throughout the empire and introduced pigeon culture to the Mediterranean and Britain. Fortresses housed the working birds in lofts above observation towers to protect the couriers from predators or theft, and in medieval times, pigeon sanctuaries were only owned by privileged classes in castles or chateaux.

0312-VeneziaWings-of-Valor2 — As this photo (at Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy) reveals, author Anita Venezia’s love affair with pigeons is well documented.

At the height of the Industrial Revolution when the first telegraph lines were connected in 1860, Paul Reuter ironically employed a fleet of 45 pigeons to deliver closing stock prices for the new communication technology, and the banking Rothchilds used birds to send market results. Recently in Orissa, India, the internet put fleets of postal bird carriers out of business, and the Afghani Taliban has forbidden all bird ownership to prevent pigeon-grams.

Pigeons are not always a good thing; overpopulations in metropolitan cities cause extensive damage, such as the culprits in Venice, estimated at 130,000, targeted for vector control because they cost the city over a million euros a year. The once-quaint habit of tourists feeding the pushy pigeons that literally carpet St Mark’s Square for all-day bird banquets is now outlawed, and licensed birdseed vendors have been put out of business. The pesky birds perch in cornices and apertures of Venice’s delicate historic buildings and churches, and claw and peck at calcium-rich marble facades. The attractive nuisance of the iconic pigeons soaring over St Mark’s Basilica may soon be a thing of the past.

Homeward Bound
Pigeon research shows their efficiency; they can fly at speeds of 75 mph, but average 50 mph on 600-mile trips. The birds, of the Columba genus, set goal directions with a natural ‘compass’ enabling them to determine relative flight routes by detecting the earth’s magnetic field and spatial odor distribution. Flying by olfactory navigation, they are oriented to their home lofts by instinct, visual landmarks, roads, buildings and other man-made features.

Messenger homing birds have worked for room and board for millennia, but few pigeons have actually been awarded with medals for heroism, as those which flew in the Great War, and then again when they were called into service in World War II.

During World War I, when battles were fought on many fronts in unforgiving foxholes, muddy trenches and the fields of Flanders, lowly pigeon carriers had daunting tasks of flying messages through poison gasses and flying shrapnel. At the brutal battle of Verdun, thousands of pigeon batches relayed messages, but one heroic bird named “Che Ami” entered into legend by saving the lives of 200 Americans on October 4th 1918. German gunfire had already killed over 300 soldiers, trapped behind enemy lines, and the remaining 200 were being bombarded by their own friendly fire. Twelve courier birds had already been shot down and “Che Ami” was the only one left. An officer attached a canister to the bird’s leg with a message, “We are along the road parallel 276.4, and our own artillery is dropping a barrage on us. For heaven’s sake stop it!” Even though the bird was shot, it returned to the loft; 25 miles in 25 minutes.

When the pigeoneer soldier retrieved the message in the coop, “Che Ami” was on his back bleeding; he had a hole in his chest, his leg was blown off and an eye shot out, but he had saved 200 men of the 77th Infantry Division. His handler made him a wooden leg and the hero pigeon received the French Croix de Guerre medal for heroism. “Che Ami” was decommissioned, sent home on a troopship, and met by General Pershing in New York. The bird died on June 13th 1919, and his frail body was preserved. The hero bird of the Great War remains a legend, displayed with its Croix de Guerre medal, standing forever proud, mounted on a wooden leg in the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

When the United States entered World War II, they ‘drafted’ pigeons into service for intelligence communiques; the British were already using the valiant vector courier program. The Germans too had couriers, controlling entire homing pigeon racing unions, and even trained falcon interceptors to take down the British messengers. Predator programs on both sides proved problematic; falcons, unable to discern the German couriers from British ones, intercepted anything that flew.

When the British First Airborne Division Signals parachuted into Holland, pigeons were carried in chest-attached baskets or air-dropped as intelligence vectors. The Confidential Pigeon Service was used by the Dutch and French resistance by attaching vital messages to birds to carry 240 miles across the English Channel. When intelligence could not be radio-transmitted, due to interception or inability to thread wires over rough terrain, combatants fitted pigeons with aerial micro-cameras to capture enemy positions, and during the Invasion of Normandy, the birds were invaluable to allied operations by carrying dispatches to the allied beach raiders. During a fierce battle at Monte Cassino in Italy when British troops were stranded behind German lines, they used their last three courier pigeons that arrived with SOS dispatches minutes before B52 bombers were taking off to bomb the area.
Pigeons also worked as lifesavers in naval and Coast Guard search and rescue operations, and were standard passengers aboard ships, planes and bombers, trained to carry messages about downed planes or ships lost at sea. As pigeons can differentiate colors, on rescue missions, they alerted searchers to survivors wearing red or yellow, bobbing in the waves.

With courier successes, the US Government conducted a national census of racing pigeons, and when the Signal Corps issued a call for both genders at $5 each, they secured hundreds of thousands of birds. The American Racing Pigeon Union patriotically offered their most prized birds for the war effort; their 600-mile fast-flyers, and G.I. pigeoneers cross-bred the fastest birds with the best homing instincts, putting the sturdy inductees through rigorous training. They moved field mobile lofts daily for three weeks for birds to memorize aerial bearings of their combat coops.

When couriers were ready for combat missions, it was discovered that males were driven by hunger, jealousy and sex. If a male saw its mate with another male at the onset, the fear of a ‘Jody’ bird scenario would make it fly home faster; a staggering 96 percent reaching their destinations.

Thirty four of our animal kingdom fine feathered-friends proved courage beyond the call of avian duty, and for distinguished service they received the coveted Dicken Award. Many stories tell of MIA or POW couriers or of incredible bravery under fire—like dark-feathered “Blackie Harrington” who served at Guadalcanal, and though badly wounded completed his Pacific missions. “Blackie” was rewarded a cushy retirement; servicing in a breeding loft, as was blue-checked “G.I. Joe” who flew for the 56th Infantry, and gallantly saved a thousand men from a bombing raid in 1943.

Many pigeons have been honored by the countries they served, the men they saved, and how their unique flight service affected battles. Though bird fanciers have paid as much as $132,000 for a single stud pigeon; the storied war birds were priceless as life-savers. The beloved little heroes of the feathered animal kingdom deservedly ‘won their wings’ and the birds of the air have justly earned a revered place in wartime history.

Racers of Alamo
While researching, I serendipitously found a local pigeon-racing enthusiast, John Bellandi, owner of Alamo Feed & Grain, noted for its life-size horse on the roof. I spoke with Charles Petrovich and learned that racers are homers, but homers are not necessarily racers. Racing pigeons are prized for speed and pedigreed bloodlines. “The Red Hen,” originating from the Belgian Janssen brothers, was imported in 1963 by breeder extraordinaire, Hank Vernazza. “Red Hen” was an upper echelon class of royal bird blood and the source of Vernazza’s fame among multi-club combines. Birds are registered through combines to compete in Young Bird or Old Bird Races; trucked in and tossed from places like Idaho or Nevada to fly home, the winning times clocked at arrival on the board.

Charles explained, “Birds don’t fly over mountains, they fly road routes, following my truck and then take off. When I arrive at my Antioch loft, they’re waiting for me. We have overfly handicaps — the difference could be 100 miles between lofts.” I asked about homers and racers. “Our birds are bred and trained for speed. We call the wild pigeons ‘barnies’.” I knew about barnies — they nested at my house.

To get the coop scoop, I checked into an online chat room. One pigeon fancier posted that the fastest bird ever was probably “True Grit,” found as an egg in a coop, incubated by a hen and whose bloodline was of unknown parentage. Others of legendary status are “Super Crack,” “Dreamboy,” and “Eurostar.” I followed chit-chat that the Belgian Janssen breeders had the best pedigreed bloodstock, still dominating in high-end auctions.

Pigeon racing is still a viable big-stakes sport with 15,000 registered lofts, and Queen Elizabeth’s high ranking loft won first place in 1990. In South Africa, the Sun City Million Dollar Race pits over 4,000 international birds all vying for a $1 million purse. Pigeon squabs are airlifted, trained and acclimatized in the grueling African veldt before the big race. Even also-rans win big purses and expensive cars—in short there are no birdbrained contestants in this sport — it for is for winners who fly fast and soar high.

Rain Rain Go(ne) Away?

March 10, 2012 by Michael Copeland Leave a Comment

Just the other day, I was listing to my favorite song, It Will Rain by Bruno Mars (from my favorite movie, Breaking Dawn) when I realized that we are in need of some rain. It has been said that I have a keen sense of the obvious. You don’t need to be a meteorologist, although I would make a totally awesome meteorologist, to know that winter = rain and we haven’t had much precipitation in these here parts. If I’m not mistaken, at the time I penned this article, it had rained but once since Thanksgiving and only twice since the Fourth of July, or something like that. We desperately need that water like substance that falls from the sky to make our grass green, to fill our lakes and streams, to hydrate our crops (especially the medicinal crops that are so popular and profitable) and to wash my car. Yea, I don’t pay for car washes during the rainy season and my ride is filthy right now.

For the Al Gore Global Warming conspiracy theorists, I will admit that this winter in the Bay Area it has felt more like a dry summer in Texas, except that the temperatures have certainly been winter cold during the nights and mornings. The San Francisco Forty-Niner footsy flannel pajamas I received at Hanukah have been getting a real work out this season while I haven’t even opened the “Mitt for President” umbrella I got for Christmas. As kids, my mom taught us songs such as “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” by BJ Thomas, “Rainy Days and Mondays” by the Carpenters and “Kentucky Rain” by Elvis Presley. Songwriters have always had a love affair with rain so wouldn’t it be nice if one of the contestants on American Idol or The Voice would bust-out a soggy song to woo Zeus, the Lord of the Sky and the God of Rain.

Many Native American cultures have been known for their rain dances. A rain dance is one of the most famous ceremonial dances, out of a long line of choreographed movements, that once held the responsibility of appealing to the various Native American gods. The rain dance in particular was a way to gain favor and summon rain to come down and nourish the crops that would serve as sustenance for a specific tribe. It has been documented that tribes such as the Osage and Quapaw actually tracked the weather patterns and then performed the dances as a form of trade when there was a higher likelihood that it would bring the desired results. Today, the term “Rain Dance” refers to any ceremonial action taken to correct a hardware problem with the expectation that nothing will be accomplished.

Please allow me to share with you a wonderful poem by Shel Silverstein, a very talented man and poet, entitled appropriately Rain.

I opened my eyes
And looked up at the rain,
And it dripped in my head
And flowed into my brain,
And all that I hear as I lie in my bed
Is the slishity-slosh of the rain in my head.

I step very softly,
I walk very slow,
I can’t do a handstand–
I might overflow,
So pardon the wild crazy thing I just said–
I’m just not the same since there’s rain in my head.

When you think of rain, one can’t help but think of Gene Kelly, a very talented singer and dancer of the 40s and 50s, who stared in the popular movie, Singing in the Rain, along with Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds. More recently, the cast of Glee did a musical mash up of “Singing in the Rain” and “Umbrella,”, by Rihanna. In typical Glee fashion, it was an amazing production featuring water raining down on the cast in the McKinley high school theatre. If not for the unrealistic water works extravaganza, given the budget public schools have for the arts in the year 2012, I loved it. Conversely, I found the movie, Purple Rain written by, directed by and staring Prince a bit confusing. It didn’t actually feature a purple colored rain at all. There was a lot of cool singing and dancing by a freaky little guy who wore a lot of purple outfits, but alas, no precipitation. Dustin Hoffman turned in an incredible performance as an autistic-savant in Rain Man. He was a wiz with numbers and a fan of Judge Wopner, but again – no rain.

At the risk of insulting any of my seven or eight loyal readers, most of you probably know that rain also makes snow. Am I assuming too much? As bad as the people of Northern California need the sky to open us and water droplets to pour down on us, the folks living in the Sierra Nevada Mountains need snow for their livelihood. Everyone connected to the ski industry, from the ski resort operators to the beloved snow chain installation technicians, are undoubtedly praying for the fluffy white stuff to cover their mountain home. No snow = no money. Sadly there aren’t as many cool songs about snow as there are about rain. Have you heard, “Set Fire to the Rain,” by Adele? One word … Brilliant! However, Snow Patrol is one of my favorite new bands although I can’t recall a single song they sing related to snow. Now if Snow Patrol recorded an alternative version of the holiday tune, “Let it Snow,” they would totally rock the Winter Olympics in 2014.

Although I may have strayed a little from my original theme, I would hate to think of the negative repercussions a rain-less winter would have on our region. Drought is a dirty word around here. I want to “make it rain” like an insurance conventioneer with a fist full of $20.00 bills at a Vegas strip club. With any luck, by the time this article appears in type, we’ll be wearing raincoats and galoshes amidst a couple of months of consistently strong rain. I’m not talking “Noah’s Ark – forty days and forty nights of torrential flood” like rain or anything, but enough of the wet stuff to sustain us for the balance of the year.

An “April Showers Bring May Flowers” type of rain would be just fine.

Tapping to Release Pent-up Emotions & Unhealthy Habits — “Are You Kidding Me?”

March 10, 2012 by Trina Swerdlow Leave a Comment

Yep, I predict that these words could easily roll off your tongue along with a smirky smile when I begin to describe a popular personal growth tool. So, go ahead and giggle. I won’t be offended. In fact, when I first heard about this tool — the “Emotional Freedom Technique” (EFT) — I thought it sounded completely and utterly … “airy fairy.”

Despite being heavily armed with a healthy level of skepticism, I received training to facilitate EFT (ten years ago) during my certification program to become a clinical hypnotherapist.

Then, after witnessing many positive results — first hand — during the EFT training sessions, my perspective began to shift, and my respect for this tool started to grow.

And, not only was I struck by the results I was seeing (and experiencing) during the interactive training sessions, but I was also struck by how simple EFT was to use. For example, the technique consisted of gentle fingertip tapping at specific places on the body that aligned with a person’s acupuncture meridian points. So, the acupuncture meridian points were stimulated without the use of needles.

To give you a bit of historical background, Stanford Engineer Gary Craig developed EFT after he studied Thought Field Therapy (TFT) with Dr. Roger Callahan. EFT was first developed to assist people in reducing or clearing emotional pain and negativity that may have fueled their fears and self-destructive behaviors.

Now, after teaching clients how to use EFT on themselves for the past nine years in my private practice — I must admit — I am a big fan of this tool. For this reason, I often teach EFT to people who want to release an unhealthy habit such as cigarette smoking or nail biting.

In addition, a few years ago, I taught EFT to Carrie (a forty year-old woman) whose medical doctor referred her to me after Carrie’s weight escalated to an unhealthy level.

During our first session, Carrie confessed that she had been drinking four cans of soda a day … for over twenty years. I pointed out to Carrie that since one can of sugary soda is about 145 calories, she was consuming approximately 580 calories a day from soft drinks alone. Then, with calculator in hand, I continued to add up the empty calories, which came to 4,060 calories a week, or a whopping 211,000 calories per year (the equivalent of 57 pounds) … just from soft drinks!

Carrie and I addressed her soda-drinking behavior during two EFT sessions. Between our two sessions, with her doctor’s encouragement, Carrie began weaning herself from her long-held “four sodas a day” habit. Then, when she felt ready, Carrie used EFT on her own. She was surprised and delighted when EFT’s tapping methods helped her move past her cravings — without reaching for any sodas. As a result, Carrie was thrilled to see her weight begin to go down … while her healthy “water-drinking” habit was going up!

In addition to weight loss, when doctors or psychologists send referrals to me, I often teach the clients how to use EFT for the following personal challenges:

Stress
Cigarette smoking
Insomnia
Creative blocks
Grief and loss
Perfectionism
Procrastination
Low self-esteem
Fear of failure
Fear of success
Life transitions: career change, empty nest, or retirement

Finally, if the idea of adding EFT to your stress-reducing “repertoire” sounds appealing, then call or email me today.

After all, you might be surprised to find that EFT’s tapping to release pent-up emotions and unhealthy habits is much more productive that simply wringing your hands (or frustratingly drumming your fingers on your desk). In fact, after experiencing the gifts of EFT, you just may hear yourself say … “hey, she wasn’t kidding!”
(Name and client details changed to protect confidentiality.)

Name and client details changed to protect confidentiality.
To receive Trina’s FREE newsletter “Transformational Tips for Mindful Living,” sign-up on her website: www.TrinaSwerdlow.com

Trina Swerdlow, BFA, CCHT, is a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, an artist, and the author and illustrator of Stress Reduction Journal: Meditate and Journal Your Way to Better Health. Trina has a private practice in downtown Danville. She soulfully shares her creative approach to personal growth and passionately supports her clients in reaching their goals. You can reach her at: (925) 285.5759, or info@TrinaSwerdlow.com.

Certified Clinical Hypnotherapy services in California can be alternative or complementary to licensed healing arts, such as psychotherapy.

Retirement Risks – Beware of Them All

March 10, 2012 by Damien Couture Leave a Comment

What is risk? If you ask most investors, they would tell you that risk is the chance that an investment will go down in value. But this is only one type of risk – market risk. Investors face several other additional types of risk in retirement. These risks, if not addressed, can chip away at your retirement savings. Unfortunately, most retirement savers are far too fixated on market risk and do not pay close enough attention to the other types of risk.

Market risk is the chance that an investment’s actual returns will be different than expected due to overall price fluctuations in the market. Under this definition of risk, equities have the most risk and cash has the least. Market risk, however, is not the only risk out there for retirement savers.

What about the chance that you might not have enough set aside to meet your retirement spending needs, a savings shortfall risk? This can be compounded by retiring too early and/or spending too much in retirement. Longevity risk is the chance you will live much longer than expected and outlive your savings. Inflation risk is the chance that inflation will erode the purchasing power of your savings. In all of these cases, the “riskier” asset is cash and the “safer” asset is equities. Other risks to watch out for include legislative risk, the risk of law changes to taxes, pensions, Social Security and Medicare. What if someone dies early or becomes disabled? Fire consumes your home? What if you get sued? Catastrophic events risk is often overlooked and can be hedged with insurance and proper estate planning.

Investors need to rethink the concept of risk and how it can change over different life stages. As a young saver you have time on your side and many years of future income to put toward retirement savings. Market risk should not be a big concern. The bigger risk at this stage is the savings shortfall risk. You should invest for high returns and make sure you are getting a savings program going.

Savers in midlife can also accept high levels of market risk. They still have very long time horizons and many future years of income and contributions. They should still seek higher returns and watch that they are saving enough to avoid a shortfall. They should reduce their market risk as they near retirement.

Once retired you have no more future income to fund contributions and must now shift your focus to balancing market risk with longevity and inflation risk. This still requires seeking attractive returns and maintaining a healthy equity exposure. Longevity is the greatest risk for new retirees.

A senior retiree has likely spent down some of their retirement savings and needs to focus more on minimizing losses while at the same time generating returns that keep pace with inflation. Now is the time to pay attention to market risk yet balance it against the risk of losing purchasing power.

Damien helps individuals invest and manage risk. He is a Certified Financial Planner™ professional and a principal of Walnut Creek Wealth Management. These are the views of Damien Couture, CFP^®and should not be construed as investment advice. All information is believed to be from reliable sources; however we make no representation as to its completeness or accuracy. Not all recommendations are suitable for all investors. Each investor must consider their own goals, time horizon and risk tolerance. Your comments are welcome. Damien can be reached at 925-280-1800 x101 or Damien@WalnutCreekWealth.com.

Love Gone Wrong

March 10, 2012 by Mike Spencer Leave a Comment

By now Valentine’s Day has come and gone and you likely heard stories on “private investigators’ busiest time of the year for infidelity cases.” Hogwash and bunkum. The P.I.s getting busy with cheating cases on Valentine’s Day is in the same league with the falsehood of Super Bowl Sunday having the most cases of domestic violence.

Eighty percent of the work load at our firm involves sleuthing for lawyers and for businesses–straight-forward meat-and-potatoes stuff. Perhaps my least favorite question at cocktail parties when I let down my guard and tell people what I do is: “So, you do cheating spouse stuff. Like ‘Cheaters’?”

I don’t much care for boyfriend-girlfriend surveillance-type cases. We screen our clients pretty carefully to weed out stalkers and freaks. But we do handle family law and domestic surveillance assignments. If it’s boyfriend-girlfriend situation and not much is at stake I would advise the potential client to just have some trust, or if it’s going badly just break it off and onto the next fish in the sea.

However, I do sympathize for what is a common scenario for our domestic clients. The most common customer is a professional woman about 40 to 55 years old looking at a divorce or involved in a child custody case. Some want ammo for court in child custody matters but others just want to see who has replaced them. If the husband had some honor and told the truth sooner we would not have these clients. What thanks is this for a woman who has raised the kids, likely held a job too and kept the household together?

This is not to say that it’s only men who cheat. Three out of five of our last cheating cases involved married women. The husbands had suspicions and acted on them after intercepting e-mails. (We never engage in touching another person’s email, phones, etc., all illegal acts.)

We catch the cheats with patience and stealth. Clients ask “how long does it take?” and we honestly cannot tell them as to do so would imply us having a crystal ball or other magical powers. The best analogy I have is that doing surveillance is like hunting or fishing: you might have to cast your line over and over, day after day to land one. I have gone out on someone six or seven times before they bolted for the cheating side of town.

And I have seen it all: There was the Australian businessman who we caught in San Francisco with a hooker after his wife became suspicious when she saw some of his Viagra pills were missing. There was the “case of the jealous blind man” who thought his wife was in porn 40 years ago and who thought he was not the biological father of his daughter. (“No” to the porn rumor and “yes” to him being the father.) I have had several cases where men fell for women and gave them cars, hiring us to find and repo the cars but then relenting and giving the cars back. My first domestic was in 1994, capturing images of an illicit kiss on this stuff called “film.”

And for the record, December and May or June tend to be busiest for domestic investigations.

The Skinny: New Technologies on Fat Reduction.

March 10, 2012 by Theresa Taylor Grutzeck Leave a Comment

Coolsculpting May Be The Magic Wand For Contouring The Stubborn Fat You Want To Lose.

If I had a dollar for every time someone wished they could trim the pooch of the belly, the bulge of the hips, or even the little flesh that spills over the top of a strapless gown without any effort, then I’d be as rich as the people behind Coolsculpting Technologies are about to be.

The Coolsculpting device, which is now at residence at Dr. Michelle Place Plastic Surgery Center in Danville, is a non-invasive treatment that eliminates fat cells in specific areas of your body. A cooling applicator is attached to the targeted area to extract energy from the underlying fat tissue, while protecting the skin, nerves, muscles and other tissue. The cooled fat cells undergo apoptosis (programmed cell death) and are gradually eliminated, reducing the thickness of the fat layer. Aside from some coldness to the area being treated and some electric tingle that lets you know something admittedly weird and extraordinary is happening, it’s trauma-free, safe, and requires no surgery or downtime.

Since the equipment was FDA approved and delivered to Dr. Place’s headquarters last December its switch has been in the “on” position more than it has been off and it’s no wonder it is the only office in the Bay Area that provides this service. The Plastic Surgery Center has done over 500 treatments for patients to help sculpt and melt their stubborn unwanted pooches: which is the hardest to rid with even extreme exercise.

On January 17th I attended a Coolsculpting seminar at the beautiful “The Studio” in Danville to see first hand what all this melting fat was all about. The Coolsculpting people were there and were very knowledgeable and confident in their equipment. Dr. Place spoke about the device as a lunchtime treatment that could be done in one hour and that will offer results from only one session! She also said, “It will give you lasting results, killing the fat cells for life.” The Plastic Surgery Center did a demonstration treatment on one of the 40 girls that were attending. I spoke with the patient in treatment and she told me that there was no pain; it was cooling yet comfortable. We all loved the results and, with zero downtime and no surgery, we were excited to line up and schedule our own procedure. Julie Fontaine, the office manager, scheduled a one-hour appointment for me to melt away my not-so-loving pooch.

I went in the next Monday without hesitation and was greeted by a wonderful and professional staff. Dr. Place and the Nurse practitioner prepped my tummy and marked the areas to be sculpted. They placed the Coolsculpt device gently on the area of the skin that would be suctioned and pulled into the machine. Aside from some cooling sensation, it was comfortable and virtually painless. Throughout the procedure Dr. Place and the nurse practitioner checked in to see how I was doing. I am now onto smooth and flat abs, while it takes up to three months to see the final results Dr. Place said you can see a reduction in two weeks. So, ladies, now is the time for slimming and melting that fat away for summer and the outcome is permanent, so start today. Once the word gets out, that machine will be going into overdrive.