THE REINVENTION OF JAMES - What I Like

I like stuff.

I like to write when inspired.

I like to discover new things.

I like to share my discoveries with others.

I like the joy I see in someone’s face when they have experienced the delight I have come to know.

I like wine, beer, food and the challenge of pairing them.

I like travel and variety, exploring.  Napa, Tahiti, Vegas, Portland, Spain, (insert new destination here).

I like spending time with Nina, she is the best.

I like collecting and organizing (that’s the geek in me).

I like the media, radio, TV, film (that’s what my Dad left me).

I like the Opie & Anthony Radio program

I like to talk, I like to listen, but I prefer the talking part.

I like to counsel, I like to advise, I like to share my experiences, my mistakes in hopes that others will not repeat them.   

I like to take care of people (This is from Mom)

I like to play a part. I like to play a role. I like to take the lead at times.

I like comedy when it’s funny and I fancy myself a funny person.

I like my personality, my sense of humor, my charm and I hope others are not just playing along when they seem to like it too.

I like games but I don’t like the time they take away from me; does this mean I don’t like games?

I like the people around me and I like the fact that there are times that when I am in a group of people that may not be good for me that I have the wisdom to recognize it and change course.

I like the idea of living in a small town but need a big city from time to time.

I like to matter.  I like to make a difference.  I like to get credit for my successes.

I like to brew beer.  I like when someone likes what I have brewed.

I like to review.  I like to share my opinion and I believe my opinion is valuable and others consider it.

I like to demystify things.  I like to make plain those topics that due to their complexity scare people.

I like it when I provide a wine recommendation and it results in someone reaching beyond their comfort zone and opens their eyes to possibilities.

I like the day I discovered Bootleggers Knuckle Sandwich DIPA.

I like the day I introduced my brother to Bootleggers Knuckle Sandwich DIPA.

I like the three months I spent in Napa studying wine at the CIA, dreaming about the future making good friends, living what became WINE LIFE.

I like Oregon. I like my family in Oregon. I like spending time in Oregon, but I like California too.

I like Oregon beer.  I like the idea of distributing Oregon beer down to Southern California and I hope one day to know the steps to take to make this happen.

I like money, not in terms of hoarding but in terms of what it can get me.

I like gambling but not to the point it gets boring, and it does.

I like road trips (like Huell Howser did) but I don’t like commuting.             

I like the idea of reading this list of likes in an Andy Rooney voice.

I like the NFL and the Raiders and even though I may complain about those who judge me for being a member of the RaiderNation I love the controversy. 

I like staying up late when I am busy doing things but I like getting enough sleep.

I like the fact that this list is only a partial list of my likes and I could go on forever...

Dukacab

In putting together a "mixtape" for a guys trip to Vegas I came across some old favorites and some of them stuck. I was amused by the stuff we thought was cool when we were young and I felt nostalgic listening to "The Cure", "The Jam", "Echo & The Bunnymen", "The Smiths". How we thought one band was "gay" when another one that sounded similar was cool struck me funny but we were kids after all. Kids don't know crap.

One thing that really stuck with me was my CD's of Genesis's "Duke" & "Abacab".

When the tune "Keep it Dark", the story of a man trapped by his fear who dreams of the world outside but is too scared to open the shades, came on the stereo one of my friends said "what is this?". I guess we didn't all listen to the same stuff back then.

As my Genesis CD's are now converted to MP3 and thrown together in a single folder the two became a mixtape of their own sorted by cut number and song title instead of by album. Call it "Abacuke" or "Dukacab". Whatever it is it takes two thematic masterpieces and creates a melange of messages that question issues of socioeconomic differences through a battle of good vs. evil intermixed with an examination of the insecurity we all possess inside.

Phil Collins, yes kids he had a career before going solo, belts out a series of emotionally wrenching hymns about those whose value is in their possessions and who ignore the damage caused to nature that surrounds us. The end result making him "feel like an alien, a stranger in an alien place". Followed by the lonely man who "is just waiting for someone to show" and deliver him from the purgatory that is his life.

Is life a battle of good versus evil or is it merely finding the balance in all of us the makes living OK?

Listening to my Sixth Sense

Some people call it intuition, some think they are psychic, some think that there is an angel looking over them or a message from a loved one who has passed. I am not sure what it is but it seems that lately my sixth sense has taken over.

So I am in Las Vegas and I am walking through the Casino and before I sit down at a table I know whether I will win or lose. It's when I don't listen to my sixth sense that I lose because every time it told me to play I won. It's uncanny and I didn't have to be drunk for it to speak to me.

For example:
I was playing a version of Texas Hold'em that my buddies like at the Hard Rock Casino and just had a bad feeling about it. The dealers were cool, the game is fun and we were having a good time but the bad feeling persisted. I lost $100 very quickly so I left the table. My buddy Erik left at the same time and I asked if he wanted to play some blackjack and we walked to the blackjack tables. None seemed like the place to sit but then I passed by a craps table it was as though the Nubian Queen dealer was beckoning me to play. I ignored it at first because I don't like to play craps unless there is a low limit but after a second pass around the casino and a second come hither look I was taken in. It was a blast and I won more than the $100 I had lost at the other table.

This kept happening to me, whether it was the table I was sitting at or the seat at the table I was sitting at I knew whether it was in the cards (or dice) for me to win. Next time I will listen to my sixth sense.

With A Little Help From My Friends

What would you do if you couldn't find your way?
If you felt like you had lost your grip and there was nowhere to turn?
What if you thought that the world was closing in and you were trapped?

You might send an e-mail to some old friends.
And that might result in the a trip to Las Vegas.
The reuniting of longtime friends for a couple nights of gambling, drinking, and good times
And the start of a new tradition

It was good.