Enoteca

"Il Pirun" di D'Elia Mario
Location: Via Fieschi 115, Corniglia - Italian Riviera (Ligoria - Cinque Terre)
Tel: +39 0187 812315
Cost: 5 euro per drink of wine
Rating: 9/10
Comments: This is a little wine shop at the 3rd village of cinque terre. Mauro is the owner and you can't miss him. He old, round, and has white and grey long curly hair. This place is great for reflection while the sun is setting and his choice of music is a local pianist who sings like Vasco Rossi.

If you decide to visit ask Mauro to hook you up with a baby bib when he uses a Pirun to poor wine in your mouth. fun times!

Il Birrificio di Como

Brew Pub & Restaurant
Location: 22100 Como, Via P. Paoli, 3 - Italy
Tel: +39 031 505050
Cost: 10 euro per drink (average)
Rating: 7/10
Comments: I went here with Daniela and Riccardo one saturday evening after shopping in the center of Como. It was a great place for aperitivo snacks and the mojitos are a perfect 10. I would also like to mention that you need to have a conversation with the bartender with blonde hair. She is full of excitement and loves the word "PAURA" said the same way some surfer dude from Cali would say "RAD".

Fratelli La Bufala

Pizzaioli EmigrantiLocation: Viale Sabotino 1A, Milano
Tel: +39 02 58328448
Cost: (average)
Rating:
Comments:

haven't eaten here yet... it's on the list

Fabbrica Pizzeria

Fabrica Pizzeria con Cucina
Location: Alzaia Naviglio Grande, 70 Milano
Tel: +39 02 8358297
Cost: 18 euro (average)
Rating: 8/10
Comments:
All I can say is "Tortufa Pizza" You MUST try this pizza! The atmosphere is fast paced, up-beat, with an modern style interior decor.

ASMARA

Ristorante ASMARA
Location: Via Lazzaro Palazzi, 5 Milano
Tel: +39 02 89073798
Cost: 18 euro (average)
Rating: 7/10
Comments:
I went here with a few friends from my Italian lessons class and the cuisine is African. From my naive perception of African food, I thought this this place spot on. You eat with your fingers and the portions are huge! We shared two plates between six people. The meal was prepared for us on atop a bed of African bread. I'm not sure what they call it but it reminded me of thin pancakes with a spongy feel.

Capoverde

Capoverde
Location: Via Leoncavallo, 16 Milano
Tel: +39 02 26820430
Cost: 23 euro (average)
Rating: 8/10
Comments:
I went here with some buddies from the office after kitesurfing on Como and with an empty stomach I was ready to eat! I forgot the name of the pizza I decided on but it was the last one on the pizza menu which absolutely floored me. I upgraded it to include mozzerella di bufula and it already had picans and the flank of a calf. (forgot the name in Italian) SOOO GOOD! Topped it off with to glasses of the house vine and finished with turtufa gelato. yum!

This is a must if you want to show your friends what real Italian pizza tastes like. The atmosphere was also pleasent with a 'garden' like feel. Lots of plants and friendly wait staff.

Be prepared to read Italian... no English menus.

Cycling

Rossignoli
Location: Corso Garibaldi - 71 (Milano, Italia 20121)

Santuario Madonna del Ghisallo
Patrona dei ciclisti
Magreglio (Como, Italia)
Pubblicanzione per pellegrini, turisti, ciclisti
Socita, agenzie di viaggio, visitatori

Came accros this place one day when I was driving back from Belagio. It is usually part of the Giro d'Italia and has one of the most difficult climbs that i plan on tackling!

That's Wine

That's Wine
Location: Piazza Velasca, 5
Tel: +39 02 87393153
Cost: 7 euro (below average)
Rating: 9/10
Comments: Well, alot can be said about this place but one in particular should be stated first. The staff is AWESOME! If you ever have a chance to visit this place, make sure you ask for Natasha. This girl speaks at least 5 languages fluently and knows more about Milan than anyone else. She also picks out 3 or 4 wines for you to pick from based on what food you are having for your aperitivo. This adds to the ultimate experience and really emulates how they treat every customer. Haven't seen someone leave with a frown!

I frequent "That's Wine" usually Tuesday and Thursday with my friends from the Italian course because its only a rocks throw away and light on the wallet.

UTZ

UTZ - Food and Motion
Location: Via Solferino 48 (next to the Anteo Movie Theatre)
Tel: +39 02 6551180
Cost: 35 euro (average)
Rating: 6/10
Comments:
For such an exceptional website, I was expecting more when I arrived. From the website, it looked as if the chef spent hours taking pictures of the main course meals. Nice atmosphere, friendly staff... but slow (domani!), food and dessert was great.

This was a Thursday night right a BA meeting at the office. We had a group of 8 including colleagues from France, UK, Corp., and Italy.

Copapan

Copapan
Location: Breuil-Cervinia, Italy (small ski village)
Tel: +39 0166940084
Cost: 5 euro per drink (average)
Rating:4/5
Comments: This place was rockin! If you like loud music, exciting British people, and a somewhat of a Irish feel (dim lighting), then this place is for you. The bar tender was also the DJ and every song she spun was energizing.

I was here with Tizzy, a friend of mine from Milan for the weekend and this was our favorite place.

Trattoria Toscana

Trattoria Toscana

Location: Corso Di Porta Ticinese 58
Tel: 02.89406292
Cost: 30 euro
Rating: 3/5
Comments:
Trendy place near the Columns of Lorenzo. Aperitivo till 9:30. After 9:30 the bar starts crankin up the volume with some techno. The entrance is subtle but inside is fashion. Have a seat on the steal sofa that looks like a pair of lips.

I was here with Pauline and Lucas, two of my friends from the Italian course I'm taking in Milan at International House. I highly recommend this school for anyone interested in learning Italian is a very short period of time.

Remole

Region: Toscana
Year: 2005

This wine was produced near the region of Siena where the very popular Gallo Nero (black rooster) is made. Remole is a more fruity wine and much easier to drink than the Southern Italian wines. It goes down smooth with a satisfying finish.

Corvo

Region: Sicilia
Year: 2005

- Very strong wine... Since the wine comes from the southern parts of Italy the grapes have had lots of sunlight and very little water making the grapes more concentrated. This dryness is present after each sip of wine making you feel like your mouth is dry.

Obika

Obika
Location: Via Mercato - corner Via Fiori Chiari (save this one in your GPS)
Tel: +39 02 86450568
Cost: 40 euro (above average)
Rating: 4/5

Comments:
woah! do you guys like Momozzarella di bufala?!? I sure do and that is this places speciality. I would recommend a brunch/lunch with colleagues who you are trying to impress. The prices are a bit steep (like all of Milan), but if your a mozzarella conoisseur than it's a must!

This place was initially discovered by Tizzy who then introduced it to me and now I've managed to show numerous other people. They all seem to like it... except the price.

Ristorante Pizzeria "il Capriolo"

il Capriolo
Location: 20080 Pasturago Di Vernate (MI) - Via L. Einaudi, 1
Tel: 02.9055483
Cost: 10 euro per lunch (avg)
Rating: 2/5
Comments:
Not bad over all but the atmosphere was too fast pace... reminded me of chain food

Roberto and I went to this place for lunch for an out of office meeting which turned out to be really productive. Possibly a good place to take coworkers/potential customers?

Premiata Pizzeria

Premiata Pizzeria
Location: Via Alzaia Naviglio Grande, 2
Tel: 02.89400648
Cost: 10 euro per pizza (avg)
Rating: 4/5

The first time I went to this place was last year (06) with Jaime. This is probably one of the better Italian restaurants I like to take guests to. It has an authentic taste and atmosphere for pizza. The wine however is from a giant barrel and doesn't have much flavor.

Comedians

Mitch Hedberg Quotes

Quick Video
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9104976284161819323&q=mitch+hedberg&hl=en

Dogs are forever in the push up position

This shirt is dry clean only. Which means... It's dirty.

I bought a doughnut and they gave me a receipt for the doughtnut... I don't need a receipt for the doughnut. I give you money and you give me the doughnut, end of transaction. We don't need to bring ink and paper into this. I can't imagine a scenario that I would have to prove that I bought a doughnut. To some skeptical friend, Don't even act like I didn't buy a doughnut, I've got the documentation right here... It's in my file at home. ...Under "D".

Someone handed me a picture and said, "This is a picture of me when I was younger." Every picture of you is when you were younger. "...Here's a picture of me when I'm older." Where'd you get that camera man?

I like cinnimon rolls, but I don't always have time to make a pan. That's why I wish they would sell cinnimon roll incense. After all I'd rather light a stick and have my roommate wake up with false hopes.

People teach their dogs to sit, it's a trick. I've been sitting my whole life, and a dog has never looked at me as though he thought I was tricky.

An escalator can never break. It can only become stairs. You would never see an "Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order" sign, just "Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience."

Every time I go and shave, I assume there is somebody else on the planet shaving as well, so I say, "I'm gonna go shave too."

I type a 101 words a minute. But it's in my own language.


The next time I move I hope I get a real easy phone number, something like 2222222. People will ask, "Mitch, how do I get a hold of you?" I'll say, "Just press two for a while, when I answer, you'll know that you've pressed two enough."

My lucky number is 4 billion, that doesn't come in real handy when your gambling. I'm gonna need some more dice, 4 billion divided by 6, at least.

A waffle is like a pancake with a syrup trap.

You know they call corn-on-the-cob, "corn-on-the-cob", but that's how it comes out of the ground. They should just call it corn, and every other type of corn, corn-off-the-cob. It's not like if someone cut off my arm they would call it "Mitch", and then re-attached it, and call it "Mitch-all-together".

I like buying snacks from a vending machine because food is better when it falls. Sometimes at the grocery, I'll drop a candy bar so that it will achieve its maximum flavor potential.

On a traffic light yellow means yield, and green means go. On a banana, it's just the opposite, yellow means go ahead, green means stop, and red means, where'd you get that banana?

My roommate says, "I'm going to take a shower and shave, does anyone need to use the bathroom?" It's like some weird quiz where he reveals the answer first.

I think pickles are cucumbers that sold out. They sold their soul to the devil, and the devil is dill...
...and then at the end of the letter I like to write "P.S. - this is what part of the alphabet would look like if Q and R were eliminated.

I don't have a girlfriend. But I do know a woman who'd be mad at me for saying that.

The depressing thing about tennis is that no matter how good I get, I'll never be as good as a wall.

My friend asked me if I wanted a frozen banana, I said "No, but I want a regular banana later, so, Yeah."

Jokes

TOP 5 LIST (note: It is always important to memorize atleast one joke before any activity)

1. What is the hardest thing about rollerblading?

Ans: Telling your parents you're gay

2. What do you get when you mix together a penis and a potateo?

Ans: Dictator

3. What do gay termites eat?

Ans: Woodpeckers

4. What do a Texas tornado and a Tennessee divorce have in common?

Ans: Someone is going to lose a trailer

5. Two goldfish were in their tank. One turns to the other and says, 'You man the guns, I'll drive.'

Races

Race Name	Place	Distance	Time	Pace	Comments and Excuses
Liberty or Death	5th	5K	20:19:00	6:48	First race of the year!

2010

Newbury Duathlon

Place: 28/200+

Distance: 5k run, 25k bike, 5k run

Run - 21:08; Bike - 50:51; Run - 23:35
6:48 min/mile; 18:30 mph bike; 7:30 min/mile

http://www.racetimingsystems.com/public/results.aspx?raceid=1053

My going away party

Join us for the biggest bash this year as we celebrate some pretty cool people! The honorees of the night think you are pretty cool too, and would love nothing more than for you to join us at this send-off/birthday bash!

Happy Birthday to...

Steven "Shamelessness" Bassett (February 20)
Brian "Platty" Platt (February 28)
Tiffany "Ballcock" Morrison (March 3)
Natasha "Fun-loving, American Hating Commie" Lingurovska (March 8)

This is also Jordan "Italian Cowboy" Randall's last weekend in Austin before going back to Italy for 2 years, so let's send him off in style.

We will kick the wild night off at 6:30pm with some fish-fry dinning, birthday cake eating, and pre-downtown drinking at Jordan's house. There will be plenty of food and beer, but feel free to bring other festive beverages and food of your liking.

After eating and pre-drinking, and maybe a little Happy Birthday song and dance, we will head downtown to be at Maggie Mae's on 6th by 10:30pm for some drunken debauchery and good times for all. We hope you'll join us for both the festivities, but if you want to meet up downtown for a shot or two, thats cool too!

And as always, the more the merrier, so bring anyone that likes to have a good time. We hope to see you all there!

1993 Yamaha Superjet

Judging by the outward appearance, you may think this 650 superjet is completely stock. Instead, you're dead wrong! We have scraped everything but the crank and rebuilt the motor with a factory pipe matched with dual 46s mounted to a 760 powerplant. The jug has been ported and polished and has two wiseco twins. The rickter footholds, aluminum handpole, deep intake grate, 9/17th prop, and ride plate are the finishing touches.

Can’t wait till summer!!!

bad news, I blew up my motor again. Looks like it swallowed some water while it was still being broken in. Now its back at the shop. :(

1971 International Scout

Here is a page for my 71 Scout. I picked this off road machine up in San Marcus, Texas with a few problems that need to be addressed immediately.

1973 Corvette Stingray

This is a page for my Stingray where I will document future modifications, races, and car shows.


Austin Performance & Specialty
10716 N Lamar Blvd Ste AAustin, TX
78753-3073
Phone: (512) 832-5566
Ask for Gary, shop owner, who has done a phenomenal job offering advice and upkeeping my vette for the past 3 years.

(Click on picture to enlarge)


haha, I thought this picture was hilarious. This was taken during our 10 day hiking trip to Mt. Whitney. (2006)

I'll keep a single post where you can search by label to find all the linked blogs I occasionally visit.

1. Jordan Randall
a. Branch Assignment
b. Home Improvements

2. Mike Roberto
a. Mike Roberto's rants and raves
b. Bertopics

3. Vanessa Peters
a. Vanessa peters
b. Ice Cream on Mondays

5. Brian Spears
a. Branch Assignment

some more funny pics

Here is a quick way of seeing all my favorite external links that contain photo albums

1. Jordan's Picasa Pics

• House Pics (Inside)

• House Pics (Outside)

2. James' Picasa Pics

3. My Facebook Pics

California

Stevo and I are planning a trip to see berto at the end of February for one last party together before he gets to busy with customers and I ship off to Italy. I'll have more to say later but here are some of the goals of this trip

1. Find a kitesurfing shop so I can order a kite before I leave for Italy

This ended up not working out. Kite Sufari is run by a bunch of kids who have no idea about business

2. Party harder than ever with in Hollywood

This definitely happened.. take a look at the pics on facebook

3. Meet a famous superstar

This didn't happen. I did however, stand on Johnny Carson's hand prints in Hollywood

Kite Surfing

For that next kitesurfing trip, take a look at the following links

1. 
   http://www.waveriders.biz/infopages/Red_Sea_Kite_Safari_The_Boat/163/469


2. 
   http://www.kiteboardingholidays.com/all/trip-kite-boat-cruise-hurghada-5584.php


3. 
   http://www.fun-kite.com/Croisiere_itineraire.htm

My Top Ten Stocks Today

1. NATI
2. CAT
3. DELL
4. GOOG
5. ROK
6. AAPL