The Life of a Silicon Valley Rockstar

My varied life… in a nutshell

California Wine Pioneer Robert Mondavi Passes at 94


Robert Modavi passed away today at the age of 94. He was a true pioneer in the California wine industry and the first to make a big splash with international partnerships in his Opus One venture with Baron Phillipe Rothschild. Robert Mondavi Winery is still, by far, the most visited winery in Napa valley in spite of now being owned for years by giant Constellation Brands.

In fact Robert Mondavi was the first place I visited on my 21st birthday. I still remember my first “legal” glass of wine being the Mondavi Moscato D’Oro. It’s still one of my favorites to this day, maybe for sentimental reasons alone. I won’t go into a laundry list of all my Mondavi stories, but one special story springs to mind. In the middle of a wine tasting trip in Napa I decided to stop in for a late lunch around 3 at Mustard’s Grill in Yountville. After my salad I saw an older man come in and sit down. I didn’t recognize him from the back, but it was Robert Mondavi. I couldn’t decide between two wines and as I was contemplatign both bottles showed up… courtesy of Mr. Mondavi. I went over to thank him and almost stumbled over myself realizing who had sent them. I tried to thank him, but he would have none of it, politely asking me to enjoy and thanking me for coming over. It wasn’t dismissive the way you might think from a man of his stature. He was genuine, even humble. It was a refreshing change from the usual pompous Napa air.  

Cheers to you Robert Mondavi. You began my love affair with wine and changed me in a positive manner. I salute and thank you for your contribution to the wine industry and more personally, to me.

May 16, 2008 Posted by Alex | Life | , | 1 Comment

Jerry Yang / Yahoo smokescreens latest Carl Icahn / Microsoft move


…And that move is Checkmate. On top of of the official Yahoo response to Carl Icahn’s letter, Jerry Yang felt the need to add his 2 cents. His advice? Ignore it and it’ll go away! Taken from his email to all employees:

What can employees do?
We ask you to continue to put aside all rumors and speculation you may be hearing.

Kara Swisher has been on this since the beginning and has a great analysis of CARL ICAHN’s intial letter of intent to Yahoo with the best part being:

Nonetheless, I must ask: What are you smoking over there on the Left Coast?

When someone dangles more than $40 billion to anyone on Wall Street, we’d throw our mother under the wheels of the bus if we needed to to get it. Frankly, we would do it for $12.43.

In any case, your break with reality is my golden opportunity.

Regardless of Yahoo’s Roy Bostock’s posturing it seems Roy, Jerry and the rest of the board are soon to be in the unemployment line. Michael Arrington put it most bluntly in his post “Dear Yahoo: You’re Fired“. The key is, he’s dead on. Valleywag’s analysis of who own how much of Yahoo shows Bert and Ernie, I mean Roy and jerry, are virtually powerless to stop Carl from doing whatever he wants; including bending them over a table while Steve Ballmer comes in for the kill. (In the picture on the left, Steve and jerry do their best impression of playground “mercy“. photo credit to Kara Swisher and Boomtown)

 

Is Ballmer playing the role of Icahn’s puppeteer or is it just a convenient alliance in light of a win-win situation involving billions of dollars? I’d vote the latter, but they do make a formidable team!

May 16, 2008 Posted by Alex | Technology | , , , | 1 Comment

Blackberry Bold Available Now!! sorta…


Earlier this week at the UCStrategies conference a peer (unnamed for his/her protection) was trying to show me something I think he knew I already knew about… It took me a day to figure out what was behind it, he was showing it to me on the new Blackberry Bold! Very cool form factor and usability seemed much improved over the pearl and similar models. I’m a tried and true Windows Mobile user, but this is a great release from RIM.

According to Engadget AT&T will get the Bold first for a retail price of $300. Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile will get it in September with the T-Mobile edition costing an extra $50.

May 16, 2008 Posted by Alex | Life, Technology | , , | No Comments Yet