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.