Big Casino to Look Like Brad Pitt

The Big Casino has joined a gym for the first time in his life. They asked me what my goals were and I said that I wanted to look like Brad Pitt (I know this is unambitious but you have to make sure your goals are achievable). I've gone twice and I'm like 1% towards my goal!

Big Casino on Backpacking

Next to this listing are some pictures from the Big Casino's recently completed backpacking trip. My brothers Paul and David as well as daughter Jessica went along. We spent two days getting into a choice lake in the Kaiser Wilderness Area. We spent four nights by the lake and had it to ourselves except for two day hikers who were fishing. We took a day hike up to some 10,000 foot lakes and took the picture of me with the backdrop of the Sierra Crest. It was pretty relaxing and between the four of us we read 8 books! It does occur to the Big Casino that there are different backpacking styles. The two largest contingents are those trained by the Boy Scouts (that would include the Big Casino) and those following the tenets of REI. I encourage everyone to backpack but let's review some of the differences between the Scouts and REI. I've decided that the Boy Scout motto, "be prepared", is more accurately entitled, "be prepared to adjust". For example, we always sleep outdoors on our ponchos rather than in tents, so we only bring tents in case it rains. So, I grabbed a $29 two person tent as we ran out the door. One night it did threaten to rain so we put up our tents and it was clear that mine was wholly inadequate to the task. Being old scouts, Paul and I jury-rigged my poncho over it using a hiking stick as a strut ensuring that if it were to rain we would be nice and dry. If I were an REI type backpacker, I'd have a $250 tent and wouldn't have had the fun to innovate! Another example is the old school grill I always carry to BBQ our fish on. More on backpacking types later.

Big Casino Recommends Santa Cruz Restaurant

Last night MABS and I went to La Posta on Seabright and it was brilliant. I had seabass cooked in parchment with clams and vegetables with a spot of wine. Subtle but very tasty. MABS as usual had crispy duck which was in a wine sauce sweetened with black grapes - very nice for sopping-up with the wonderful bread we were served. The bartender stopped by to chat and we learned that there are over 900 varietals (different kind of wine grapes) grown in the country of Italy. This is in comparison to what I've heard about CA which has something like 30 varietals. We tried a mere three of them last night. Delicious desert of vanilla gelato with a shot of espresso poured on top.

BBQing at Seacliff State Beach

Last weekend we celebrated the wonderous MABS' birthday at Seacliff State Beach. We arrived at 6:45 am in order to grab a couple tables near a barbeque on the strip of land between the actual beach and the road - a very popular location. Even at that early hour we were only able to grab the last three available tables to host the 100's of people who were going to attend this magical 60th birthday celebration. It turned out to be a huge success featuring bbq sausages and various salads. What was also very neat was people watching, such as watching all the people scurrying around at 7:00 am setting up their "sites" with everything from tarps to huge coffee urns. Later, around noon, I walked up and down that strip and observed all the different groups happily sitting around eating, drinking and talking. The groups were composed of a very diverse slice of people reminding the Big Casino that at its very best, America is a nation of immigrants raising their families, enjoying the company of their extended families and friends and all that encompasses living a purposeful life.

Big Casino has solved the problem of cooking eggplant

Everyone loves eating dishes with eggplant in them but most of us don' t like mushy foods. The problem with eggplant is that if you don't use salt to drain off the salt before cooking the eggplant winds up mushy. And if you cut up your eggplant and let it sit with salt for 20 minutes (as recommended) its hard to rinse all the salt off and then you wind up sauteing it which is delicious but not the healthiest option. With some credit given to my incomparable sister-in-law Nancy, the Big Casino has a solution. Cut up the eggplant roughly the size of carrot sticks or french fries or the goofy mozzarella stick appetizers, mix with a little olive oil and bake in a pan for like 30 to 45 minutes, at 450 degrees, stirring like every 15 minutes or so. They will come out of the oven as wonderfully flavorful thin eggplant strips - akin to jerky. You can munch on them immediately or save them and use in almost any dish, such as soft tacos, omelets, pasta dishes etc.

Big Casino asks for your help

While I was a Sophomore Sociology student at UCSB, I was very taken by one of the studies we reviewed that surveyed a large group of women who had had multiple sexual partners and concluded that the women rated their Jewish lovers as the best.  I have often quoted this study and recently have been dismayed that some people doubt its authenticity.  Despite my cursory efforts using Google, I have not been able to locate the study.  If anyone can find it for me they will get a prize!  I know that there is a raging debate between the hard sciences and the soft sciences (my children for example who mock my status as a "social scientist") but I always felt that the study mentioned above gave credence to the validity of the research my fellow social scientists conducted.

Big Casino Supports Cultural Arts

I'm very excited about this summer's Shakespeare Santa Cruz plays and plan on attending two of them, Shipwrecked and Midsummer Night's dream.  I already have tickets and suggest you support Shakespeare Santa Cruz and grab up your tickets soon.  (I'm going to skip Julius Caesar, mostly because of the trauma it caused me during English class as a Junior in High School.  We were all required to memorize the "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" speech and stand up and recite it in class.  If you got the first couple lines right you got a courtesy D and if you got all the lines right you were awarded an A.  Knowing my limitations in the memory department I was going for a B and worked overtime to learn all the lines necessary for the grade.  Unfortunately, when I stood up in front of my fellow Coltonites to recite the lines, I got just past C- and forgot everything else, leaving me with a grudge against the bard.  I hope the guy from SSC gets at A. )