A labor day blogging pass ... my weekend was pretty great (despite losing my bike), how was yours?  Today I went sailing, Westlake Yacht Club's annual Labor Day Regatta, and managed to win, barely, on the third tiebreaker over my longtime friend Charlie; I cannot guess how many times we've raced each other on this very water, since we were kids in single digits.  Followed by a steak BBQ and a nice glass of Pinot, an interesting movie (Sunshine Cleaning), and now ... blogging!

I've been re-playing Myst, on my iPad, it's been about 20 years since I played it last.  Still cool.  I so remember the amazingness of it, so far ahead of its time.  (And I remember getting a CD-ROM drive, at one time I was an expert at hooking them up - remember IRQs?)  The graphics and puzzles are still great.  And next up, Riven :)

BTW no, I don't remember all the puzzles ... actually I remember them after I solve them again, but not before :)

Was it really only a month ago that we got back from Europe?  Wow.  Seems like ... a year, or something.  Man has this summer passed  s l o w l y ...

An interesting interview with the CEO of Nestle, Peter Brabeck-Lemathe: Can the world still feed itself?  It's a wide ranging discussion - most interesting - but the most salient points are the inefficiency of using biologically produced calories as energy, and the foolishness of banning GMOs (genetically modified organisms).  The latter reminds me a lot of nuclear energy, in that the "greens" are on the wrong side of the issue. 

A meta-observation: the acumen of our business leaders far exceeds that of our political leaders.  Sigh.

The other night we watched Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines.  A classic.  And all those flying scenes were real; this was pre-CGI.  How great to construct all those amazing contraptions? 

I hope this isn't fake: a boy went to war in 1914, and left his bike chained to a tree...  excellent. 

I haven't been paying much any attention to the Vuelta a Espana, but saw where Juan Jose Cobo is leading, after winning on the desperately tough climb to Angliru.  Good for him.  Bradley Wiggens is in the hunt, as is Denis Menchov.  Rooting for Bradley, it was tough luck when he crashed out of the Tour de France. 

Excellent advice from Steve Jobs, passed along by Brad Feld: Start with the Customer Experience.  You can feel when a company does this, and also when they stop... 

Here's an important question: Can a great chef's cookbook turn you into a great chef?  This is a tough question to investigate, because many of the buyers of great chefs' cookbooks are already good cooks.  I would say a great chef's cookbook can be inspirational, and that could make a big difference. 

This is incredible: Cyborg Dinosaurs.  I can't do this justice, you just have to click through to read it, and watch the movie... 

Wrapping up, ZooBorns of the weekend: Baby Chinchillas. 

Onward!  Into my last week of vacation...