Wrapping up my California trip involved heading down this afternoon to the San Elijo Lagoon north of San Diego to see what turned out to be a beautiful male California Gnatcatcher. While common in Mexico, only about 2000 pairs breed in the U.S.; the photo below shows the short coastal sage shrub where I found the bird. Way back when we lived in LA in the late 1980’s I passed this area dozens of times traveling on Interstate 5 (it’s in the background); I never took the time to find this bird and check it off. Finally I tracked one down!
A photo of the bird, courtesy of bird-friends.com on Google Images:
I flew in today to attend the world launch party of a new premium rum called ‘Caliche’. I took a few photos of my travels. I started with a first-time visit to the J. Paul Getty Museum. I’ve heard over and over that this is a must-see, but it far, far exceeded my expectations. What a complex, what a piece of real estate, what a collection of art:
Coming toward the end of the day and I was treated to being alone in rooms with fantastic art:
See if you can find the celebrities in these party shots. Here are some hints. First: Boardwalk Empire.
The 70’s Show:
I have no idea:
Sports legend:
Hall of Famer Model, who with her husband co-hosted the event:
And as a fun ending to the evening, the ‘Final 13’ American Idol contestants were checking into the hotel.
I am on the board of a non-profit in Milwaukee that is in great financial shape with a lot of cash that can be invested, and we regularly get financial performance updates from the professional money managers we’ve hired who oversee some of our investments. These managers are with a well known, national brokerage firm. Here is what they wrote in their most recent letter:
“It is difficult to find active managers who can consistently outperform their respective benchmark over time, net of fees.”
Huh? Really?
The benchmarks are easy to understand: the Russell 2000, S & P 500, comparatives like that. And this firm want us to pay them a fee so we can underperform the benchmarks?
No wonder why ETF’s and index funds have taken such huge market share.
Every year, up to a billion birds die in the U.S. crashing into glass windows. For the last couple of years we’ve been working to design, manufacture and distribute a window tape at a reasonable cost to significantly reduce bird collisions at home. Supported by the Rusinow Family Foundation, a new tape is now available through the terrific efforts by the folks at the American Bird Conservancy (click the graphic for a link):
We are eager to expand distribution to retailers throughout the world. Please let me know if you can help, it would be much appreciated.
And, of course, if you have issues with birds colliding into glass in your home, please consider purchasing some tape!
Well, they’ve already performed late last year on Conan; next up: Jimmy Kimmel!
I’m on the board and lead investor of Madison, Wisconsin based Death’s Door Spirits. The company has begun building a new distillery, as well as launching an aged whiskey production program, to complement the current stable of award-winning gin, vodka and white whiskey:
Video
Lots of travel this past week, resulting in four new birds to my ABA life list. Last Wednesday, Nutting’s Flycatcher near Lake Havasu, Arizona (at this spot):
A break on Friday in Washington, D.C. for a meeting with the President:
Then off to Ocean City, Maryland to see Purple Sandpipers feeding along this shore:
Had to take a photo of what real lump crab cakes look like:
Then on Sunday off to a place in the middle of Indiana to see a Hooded Crane (very rare sighting in the U.S.) - see link:
http://flic.kr/p/breSJrAnd then yesterday morning in St. Louis, a rush to see Eurasian Tree Sparrow (making it ABA # 642) before scrambling to the airport to head out before the approaching snowstorm!
What I will do for a bird!
This afternoon I was part of a group who met with President Obama. An incredible experience. This photo was kindly taken by a really nice guy to my left as the President was beginning to respond to a question I had just asked:
Last week’s highlights included a lifetime low round of 76 (at Renegade), seeing one of the top singers in the world - Dimitri Hvorostovsky (below) - perform at The Orpheum in Phoenix, and closing the sale of ModernMed to Paladina Health (link).
