A VC

The Meat Market Apple Store - A Large Glass Circular Stair

The new Apple store under construction at the corner of Ninth Avenue and 14th Street is starting to come together. I walked by it on the way to Chelsea Market to shop for dinner just now.

As I was walking past the sidewalk permits, something caught my eye and I stopped to shoot a photo of one of the permits with my blackberry curve. As I was taking the photo, the construction site boss came out and started glaring at me. He asked me, "What are you doing and who are you?" I told him I was Fred Wilson and I was taking a photo of the sidewalk permit. I mentioned that it is a public permit and that it was there to inform the public about what was going on there. He just stood there staring at me and I checked my photo to make sure I got what I wanted and then headed on.

The thing that caught my eye was the permit for a "large glass circular stair". The Apple store in Soho has the large glass stair front and center. The Apple store in midtown has the glass enclosure. So they are doing a large glass circular stair in the meat market district. Based on the progress I saw, we may see that stair before year end.

The "North" River

  The "North" River 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

The Hudson River is also known as the North River (as opposed to the East River and the Delaware which was the South River). It runs 315 miles from Lake Tear of the Clouds in the Adirondacks and into the ocean at New York Harbor.

I've moved a lot in my 46 years, but one constant has been the Hudson River. I was born in a hospital that overlooked the Hudson in West Point NY. My bedroom in my teenage years (after we moved back to West Point) looked out over the Hudson and in the winter when the trees were bare, I could stare out the window and watch the boats go up and down the river.

Maybe that's why I love riding up the Hudson River Park. I guess I just have a thing for the North River. And it shows no signs of abating.

The Barbecue Feast

  The Feast 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

I promised photos in my last post and so here's a photo of the barbecue feast before everyone went to town on it last night.

The menu was pulled pork (cooked for 12 hours indirect heat on our gas grill) and brisket (two of them cooked for 8 hours in La Caja China), cole slaw, watermelon feta salad, and way too much desert. We also served beer, sangria, water, and juices.

Hopefully, The Gotham Gal will blog the whole thing with recipes and the like. All I can say was it was awesome.

I posted a few pictures of La Caja China on Flickr if you are curious about that contraption.

And here's the new Bruce Springsteen song that I couldn't figure out how to get onto my Sonos last night when Cliff asked me to put it on. It's nice to hear Bruce rock out.

Radio Nowhere - Bruce Springsteen - Magic (new record coming soon)

Beach Blur at Sunset

  Beach Blur at Sunset 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

I took this photo with my Blackberry Curve last night on the beach at Sunset.

I was moving too fast and it came out blurry.

But I like it anyway.

There's nothing quite like the beach at sunset.

Take a picture of something you see

  Take a picture of something you see 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

It's all starting to come together, but it's not quite there yet.

I go out in the world, take a picture of something i see, email it to flickr, twitter the news, and eventually i'll geotag it and maybe even blog it.

What I'd really like is for all of that to happen in one text message from my phone.

Talk - Coldplay

"you can take a picture of something you see"

Send Me A jpeg Please

Everyone's who has been to an amusement park has seen a photo like this. You get off the ride and they have them on screens so you can check yourself out as the roller coaster took the big drop.

This is Jessica and Emily yesterday at Busch Gardens. We liked the image of Emily's hair standing straight up so we decided to buy it. The women at the counter asked what size we'd like to purchase.

I told her "send me a jpeg please". The girls laughed but I was dead serious. I was certain they'd just take my email address, charge me $5 or $10, and I'd see the email with the attachment in a couple minutes.

But it doesn't work like that. They can only sell you a hard copy. They should fix that.

Photobiking

  City Sunrise 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

The westside highway at 6am in the morning is a wonderful place this time of the year.

The light is awesome.

The city is mostly asleep but it's stirring.

I did some photobiking this morning and I put a fourteen picture slide show of my ride on flickr.

Domino Sugar Factory (continued)

Jake at Bluejake left a comment on my original post and linked to a bunch of photos he apparently took inside the shuttered Domino Sugar Factory.

This one is my favorite but they are all great and there are also links to a bunch of other blog posts on the topic.

Urban landscape photoplaceblogging. I love it. More at Gothamist.

Lower Broadway Bus Stops

  Lower Broadway 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

I noticed today that the city has taken over the right lane of lower broadway at various points between Houston Street and City Hall and put in these bus stop platforms.

I am not sure what the point is.

Won't this increase the congestion on lower broadway which is already an incredibly congested street?

Does anyone know the reason the city put these in?

Steve commented with this link explaining that these things are called Bus Bulbs. Thanks Steve. I still think they are dumb.

The Learner's Permit

  Jess Driving 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

They make you take a test to get a learner's permit in New York. I think they should make the parents take a test too.

I found myself in the passenger seat with my oldest daughter behind the wheel for the first time today and I realized that I had no idea what the right level of oversight was.

We were headed out to get coffee and muffins at Mary's this morning and when we got there she was not parked exactly right. I grabbed the wheel from the passenger side and showed her how to get the car at the right angle. That wasn't cool, she told me. She said I could tell her anything but grabbing the wheel was off limits.

I guess that's a good rule until we are about to hit something or someone.

She drove three times today with me in the passenger seat. She did great. And I think I did pretty well too.

There's Only One Jackson

  Only One Jackson 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

This billboard for a new condo in the west village says there is only one Jackson.

Well in my world, there is only one Jackson.

He's the single most frequent commenter to this blog.

He's an active blogger himself.

And he's also my younger brother.

Lady Luck

  Place your bets! 
  Originally uploaded by {platinum}.

Luck is an essential element in successful investing, venture capital included. I consider myself a lucky person. My dog is named Lucky and he has lived up to his name.

Last night, after dinner in Vegas, headed back to my room, we stopped at a craps table. I put $40 on the pass line and the stickman handed me the dice right away. I rolled three straight 7s, then back to back eights, then crapped out. The table was going wild. I took my chips and left. Figured that it couldn't get better than that.

I don't honestly recall what my take was, but I think I made 3x in five minutes.

Big East Champs!

Go Hoyas

I am so happy to see the Hoyas back in the Big East finals and with John Thompson's son coaching and Pat Ewing's son on the squad. It brings back such great memories.

I'll be checking my Blackberry tonite at a friend's daughter's bat mitzvah. I wish I could watch the game, but some things are more important.

I've heard that if the Hoyas win tonite, they might get a first seed. Wow. Wouldn't that be great.

Paintball

  Headed Into Battle 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

Josh's friends convinced their dads to take them to Long Island City for an afternoon of Paintball.

The boys were a little scared at the start. Would it hurt to get hit? How come the guns were so loud?

But after about one second in the first battle, they couldn't get enough of it.

And neither could the dads, at least this dad. At one point I thought I was Rambo. I charged the middle, jumped over the barrier, hit the ground, crawled forward, and took out the other side.

Now I am not much for guns and killing and war. But I must say, a little pretend battle during a cold February afternoon was pretty damn fun.

Proud Papa (continued)

  Jessica At Snowmass 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

I took about thirty photos of Jessica and her friend Len in the terrain park at Snowmass this past weekend but none came out as well as the one the mountain photgrapher took.

I guess there's a reason that he's a professional photographer and I am not.

Ever since I was a kid, I've loved getting air on the mountain.

I've tried hard to pass that joy on to my kids and I am so pleased to see that Jessica enjoys catching air as much as I do.

Cool Photo

That's me in Josh's sunglasses taking the picture of him.

My Afternoon In Midtown

  My Afternoon In Midtown 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

I spent yesterday afternoon in midtown manhattan. In the span of about three hours in midtown, I accumulated three of these visitor badges.

Union Square Ventures is located in the Flatiron district between Union Square park and Madison Square park. It's not a high end office location. And one of the great benefits of working in and visiting companies in the Flatiron district (and Soho, Tribeca, the Village, Chelsea, etc) is you don't have to spend five minutes getting through security.

I realize why we have this security in midtown and wall street. I lived through 9/11 too.

But given the choice, which fortunately I have, I would never locate a business in one of these high security buildings. It's a pain to visit them .

New Blog Photo

I used to change my blog photo (upper left sidebar) regularly. I've gotten out of that habit and I had the photo of my and my family and the umbrella up there for six months.

I saw a great photo of me and my kids and our gelatos outside of Giolitti in Rome on the Gotham Gal's screensaver this morning. And decided to make it my new blog photo. So there it is.

Smoking Manhole Cover

  Smoking Manhole Cover 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

It's about 15 degrees (F) in NYC today.

The streets were smoking on the way to work.

When it gets cold in the city, the heat that exists underground can be seen rising up out of the ground.

It's a cool effect.

Here are some more photos I took on my way to work in the bone chilling cold today.

Snowy Church Yard

  Snowy Church Yard 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

It's barely snowed this year in New York City.

Jessica's friend who moved here from Los Angeles last summer called her all excited yesterday and shouted "it's snowing!".

I love the snow and I've missed it.

So on the way to work, I shot this photo.

It's a sight I see every day, usually twice a day, on the way to and from work.

But it looked even sweeter today.

Late May In January

  Washington Square Park - January 6, 2007 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

It's 70 degrees in NYC today.

Everyone is out and about in the village. It feels like a late May spring day.

In the picture, the crowd is packed around the fountain in Washington Square Park where entertainers are doing their thing. That's a typical scene in the spring, summer, and fall in the park.

The christmas tree under the Arch is not.

I expect a few more people are making a committment to buy a hybrid the next time they buy a car.

Long TM.

More Competition for avc.com

  Coming Soon Indeed 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

AVC by Adrianna V. Campanile may be coming soon but AVC by Fred Wilson is here to stay.

Neither of us own avc.com :(

For those of you who are curious, avc.com is owned by AVC Technologies of Bethlehem, PA (a city I lived in for 5th and 6th grades!).

FeedBurner Rocks

  Steve & Eric Playing Guitar Hero 
  Originally uploaded by FeedBurner Fotos.

I saw this photo today on my Flickr start page.

It's two of the founders of FeedBurner (Steve and Eric) playing Guitar Hero II against each other.

I always knew FeedBurner rocks.

Bur now we have proof.

But I want to know who won.

Making A Gingerbread House

  Making A Gingerbread House 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

It's a holiday tradition in our house.

The kids love doing it.

The hardest part is making the walls and roof, which The Gotham Gal does.

Then the kids take it from there.

Coach Jessica

  The Pre-Game Huddle 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

Jessica, our oldest daughter, was too old to play in the GVYC league (at PS41 in Greenwich Village) this year. So she signed up to be an assistant coach. But in the first game of the year, her head coach couldn't make it.

So she got a battlefield promotion and was head coach.

It was fun to watch her handle a team.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

The Stones, Rio, Copacabana, Beach. That looks awesome.

Photo courtesty of Globo, via my friend Vanessa

A Halloween Board Meeting

  Dawn of the Living Costolos 
  Originally uploaded by FeedBurner Fotos.

When we scheduled today's FeedBurner board meeitng on Halloween, Dick Costolo told everyone they had to come in costume.

So we did, we came as Dick.

It was one of the most hilarious moments in my board meeting career.

Thanks to Matt Blumberg (holding the laptop in this photo) for the masks and the idea.

Delgado Does It

I finally got in front of the TV during the fifth inning last night. The Mets were in a tight game, they got a couple base runners, and the Delgado came up. All you needed to do was check out the look in his eyes and the look in the pitcher's eyes and you knew what was coming. And sure enough, he went deep. That was the moment. The next inning he knocked in another couple runs. Five RBIs in a couple innings. The Mets are back in it.

New Icon

I've got a new icon in AIM, MyBlogLog, and several other social networks I belong to:

This was done by an artist in Phoenix named Jenny Ignaszewski who I have never met. She did it by looking at my blog. Amazing. It's was done for Wallstrip where I'll be an occasional commentator. Anyway, I like it and you'll be seeing more of it over time.

Great Game, Tough Loss

  Josh Goes Nuts After Justin Miller's 103 Yard Kick Return 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

Jackson, D, Josh and I went to see the Jets play the Colts today.

It was a very thrilling game, capped by Justin Miller's 103 yard kick return with 2 minutes to go which put the Jets up by four.

This photo is Josh reacting to it. Everyone was going nuts.

But Peyton Manning calmly marched the Colts back down the field witout any timeouts and won the game for the Colts.

The last play of the game featured one of the longest flea flicker plays I've ever seen with at least six or seven Jets touching the ball before it was over.

We had a blast but it would have been more fun if the Jets had come out on top.

My Kind Of Bottled Water

  My Kind Of Bottled Water 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

The Gotham Gal picked up this new bottled water at Murray's Bagles this morning. Gotta love the name!

And I love the whiskey bottle shape. Nice touch.

But it gets better. Fred's got a blog with his favorite YouTube videos and indie films on it.

And Fred's got a MySpace page too.

The Beach

  Ben and Josh Catching A Ride 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

The weather hasn't been so good, but we are still making the best of it.

The water is warm and the waves are great.

Ernesto might make them a bit too big later today. Ugh.

Rainy Day At The Beach

  Rainy Day At The Beach 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

Cards, Guitar Hero, M Ward, Tom Petty, Decemberists, Ben Kweller, WEHM, People Magazine, and the Sunday Times is providing plenty of entertainment value.

Gutar Hero Double Action

  Guitar Hero Double Action 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

We got our second Guitar Hero guitar.

It's taken the competition to another level.

I hear from the people who developed the game that Guitar Hero 2, coming in November, is going to take multiplayer play to another level.

We can't wait.

Guitar Hero (continued)

  Josh Rocks Out On Guitar Hero 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

It took Josh less than an hour after getting home from camp to get totally hooked on Guitar Hero.

He and the Gotham Gal are now competing to be the house's best rock star!

I have a feeling that this game is going to get a lot of play now that the kids are home.

Let's Go Mets

  On deck 
  Originally uploaded by alpineinc.

What a weekend. Pedro came back strong after a month off. And yesterday my main man El Duque showed why he has to be in the postseason rotation. As I write this, the Mets are finishing off a sweep of the Braves in a hitfest of a game.

Carlos Beltran went crazy this weekend. If he keeps this up, he's the MVP for sure.

Tonight

Yum Pick A Game Damn Much Better

Madison Square Park Benefit

Madison Square Park is a case study in urban park renewal. When the Gotham Gal and I moved to NYC in 1983, we used to live right down the street from the park. And we'd walk through it during the day and wonder why it was so downtrodden. We wouldn't walk through the park at night.

Almost ten years ago, Danny Meyer and a group of donors, including us, went into partnership with the NYC Parks Dept and rebuilt the park and created a conservancy to keep it up. The result has been nothing short of amazing. I've blogged a bunch about the park, including the Shake Shack and numerous festivals they have there. It's become a hub of activity day and night and everytime I walk into the park I am filled with pride and joy for that.

Last night the conservancy held its annual fundrasier in the park featuring many of the best restaurants in the neighborhood who set up stalls, ala jazzfest. We went from one stall to the next sampling some wonderful food.

But the best part was this bluegrass band they had called City Grass. I caught them here doing a bluegrass cover of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here. Excellent stuff.

Madison Square Park Benefit

Madison Square Park is a case study in urban park renewal. When the Gotham Gal and I moved to NYC in 1983, we used to live right down the street from the park. And we'd walk through it during the day and wonder why it was so downtrodden. We wouldn't walk through the park at night.

Almost ten years ago, Danny Meyer and a group of donors, including us, went into partnership with the NYC Parks Dept and rebuilt the park and created a conservancy to keep it up. The result has been nothing short of amazing. I've blogged a bunch about the park, including the Shake Shack and numerous festivals they have there. It's become a hub of activity day and night and everytime I walk into the park I am filled with pride and joy for that.

Last night the conservancy held its annual fundrasier in the park featuring many of the best restaurants in the neighborhood who set up stalls, ala jazzfest. We went from one stall to the next sampling some wonderful food.

But the best part was this bluegrass band they had called City Grass. I caught them here doing a bluegrass cover of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here. Excellent stuff.

Guitar Hero

At Brainstorm I attended a breakfast panel on the future of entertainment and Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision, handed out this really cool Guitar Hero playstation2 game. I finally got around to hooking it up this weekend and the Gotham Gal and I spent time playing around with the game. You basically play a "toy" guitar along with songs like Smoke On The Water, I Wanna Be Sedated, I Love Rock and Roll, and many others. We have a way to go before we get to be rock stars (in the game or real life), but we had fun. If you are interested, you can get the game at Amazon.

Mike Pelfrey

I watched the kid pitch the first inning yesterday. I think he's for real. Imagine a rotation that includes Pedro, Willis, Glavine, El Duque, and Pelfrey. Wow.

Youtube Video of the Day

Here's Jimi Hendrix playing our national anthem at Woodstock in 1969. He kicks into it about 40 seconds into this video. And about 4:45 into it, he goes right into Purple Haze.

World Cup Fever

They were lined up on the street in East Hampton today watching the shootout in the England Portugal match.

Ride Into The Sun

Ride Into The Sun

This is Luna's cover of the Velvet Underground song Ride Into The Sun. I was listening to it this morning on my ride into the sun and wanted to share it with all of you. It's off the new Luna record Lunafied which is only available online.

Brainstorm Bits - Argentina vs Germany

A good third of the conference is outside crowded around a TV watching this great match.

It looked like Argentina was going to win and then Germany scored on a brilliant header late in the match. These guys are Germany fans celebrating the goal.

I had to leave to catch a flight home before the shootout. I see that Germany won 4-2 in the shootout. I hate to see such a hard fought match like that one come down to a shootout but they had to end it. The players were running out of gas.

Brainstorm Bits - Ute Trail Hike

YouTube Video of the Day

When everyman becomes a color commentator.

Happy Fathers Day

  playa2 
  Originally uploaded by La Fragua.

To me

To my Dad

And to all fathers.

Update - Jackson pays tribute to our dad and the place I was born.  Nice post Jackson.

The Big Apple Barbeque

The Big Apple Barbeque is in Madison Square Park today and tomorrow.

It's an awesome concept, bring the great pitmasters to NYC and take over an urban park and fill it with music, beer, and great food.

The only problem is that there are too many barbeque fans in NYC and they were all out in force today. The lines were 30 minutes or longer per pit. They had something called the Bubba Fast Pass which we decided to do.  You lay out $125 on a prepaid card and get to go in the back door.  But they sold a ton of fast passes and the point of sale system didn't work so the lines were as long on the Fast Pass lane as they were on the regular lines. It got so bad that they started giving away food on the Fast Pass lanes so that they could speed it up.

As a result, even though we went with a group of 10, I didn't spend all my Fast Pass money so I'll be back for seconds tomorrow.

The highlight for today was the pulled pork sandwich from Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur, Alabama.  Washed down with Brooklyn Beer. Wow was that good.

Risk

  Playng Risk 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

One of our favorite pastimes when we get out to our beach house is to get a game of Risk together.

Last night and this morning, Jessica, Josh, Josh's friend Ben, and I played a long game of Risk.

I took the strategy of taking north america and heavily fortifying central america, greenland, and alaska.  That worked pretty well and I just sat back and accumulated armies while the kids went after each other.

They finally woke up to my strategy, made a peace treaty among themselves and went after me.

Kind of reminds me of my Yahoo! eBay post from yesterday.

El Duque!

My favorite active major league player is El Duque, aka Orlando Hernandez.

I love his high leg kick, I love his big game mettle, I love his crazy breaking stuff, I love his life story, I love the mystery surrounding his age, and most of all I love his name.

This morning I woke up to the news that El Duque is now a Met!

Awesome.

A Police State

  An Endless Line of Police Cars 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

I was bikiing on the west side yesterday morning and this line of police cars came down the west side highway.  It went on for at least three or four minutes.

There were at least 50 police cars in this motorcade and I never saw a SUV or some other car that was carrying the person they were protecting.

I have no idea what the reason was for the motorcade but it sure felt like overkill to me.

UPDATE: Lot's of good comments explaining what this was.  It's a "hercules" practice session.  I take back my comment about overkill. I am glad they do this.

Chinatown For Lunch

One of the great things about living in New York is you can get pretty close to visiting another country on the subway.

Today, we spent three hours in Chinatown eating and having fun on a beautiful spring day.

The Gotham Gal details the day on her blog, including where and what we ate.

I'd highly recommend this for anyone who lives in or is visiting New York. 

It's a lot of fun.

Gehry and Meier on the West Side Highway

On 18th Street, right on the West Side Highway in New York City, the future headquarters of Interactive Corporation is rising up from the ground.

It's an interesting glass tower structure, designed by Frank Gehry, and showcases his warped sense of design. I enjoy looking at Gehry's buildings from the outside. They capture my imagination and they are fun. I've been watching this building go up from my regular bike rides up the west side bike path and I can't wait until its completed.

About 15 blocks south of Gehry's building, between W 11th and and Charles Street, also on the West Side Highway, are three glass towers designed by Richard Meier.

These towers have been very controversial as many west villagers don't like the Miami Beach/Rio beachfront tower look.

I actually like looking at them. They are striking buildings that give the west side a different look.

But there is one thing about these Meier towers that I have always wondered about.  The use of glass from floor to ceiling turns the full floor apartments into fish bowls and unless you use curtains for privacy, your apartment is there for the world to see.  But if you use curtains, you lose the dramatic floor to ceiling views. It seems like a tough choice for those that live in these towers.

As this photo shows, most of the people who live in these towers choose the fishbowl and keep the views.

Which leads me back to the Gehry building.  As you can see from the top photo, Gehry has decided to use frosted glass on his building, at least for most of the way between the floor and ceiling.

It's an interesting choice. I suspect its going to work well for the people working in the building.  But I am not sure I like the look on the outside of the building. I didn't like it at all when I first saw it and although it's growing on me, I think it takes something away from the otherwise really cool look of the building.

The Big Easy, Jazzfest, Bruce Springsteen, and Thomas Hawk

I love New Orleans.

And ever since Katrina, I've wanted to go back there.

I wish I could be there this weekend, at Jazzfest, celebrating everything that is great about New Orleans.

This is the weekend to go.  Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello (with Allen Toussaint and solo), Sonny Landreth, all at the Acura Stage on Sunday afternoon.  Damn I wish I'd been there to see that.

But this weekend was also Emily's Bat Mitvah and first things come first.

So I am left to listening to Bruce's new record, Elvis, Allen Toussaint, and Sonny Landreth instead.

It's not the same thing at all.

But Thomas Hawk's photos of New Orleans and Jazzfest on Flickr help a lot.  He's doing an amazing job of shooting the city, the festival, and the people, and capturing the vibe. 

Thanks Thomas.

Emily's Bat Mitzvah

  Emily Reading 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

Mazel Tov Emily!

Coming Together

Josh's band, the four fellas, are starting to get it together.

This clip (from the new and much improved vimeo) is from their last gig at the coffeehouse a couple weeks ago.  I was waiting for the new vimeo to post this.

They had it going until Ben's mike stopped working. The clip is about a minute long.

Four Fellas Play Come Together on Vimeo

Rainy Sunday In NYC

  Rainy Sunday In NYC 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

I took this with my sidekick on the way to get bagels this morning.

This weekend has been a rainout in NYC.

LA Bike Ride and Gear Noise

I am sitting in LAX waiting for a flight to Seattle and enjoying that great feeling you get after a long bike ride.

My friend Gordon took me on a mountain bike ride this morning in the mountains north of LA.  We started in Kenter Canyon and rode up to an old cold war lookout station that was part of the Nike Missile System protecting Los Angeles.

At the farthest point - the Nike Missile Station - I got a flat tire. I was riding a borrowed bike and Gordon and I were really struggling wtih changing the tube. It was the "blind leading the blind" as Gordon said.

Then out of the blue these two guys show up and lo and behold, one of them (I forget his name) is the host of a mountain biking podcast called Gear Noise. It was a gift from the mountain biking gods! The guy showed us how to easily get the new tube in, how to work the newfangled pump that Gordon had bought the day before, and gave us a few pointers as well.

He was an expert and I suspect his podcast is really good. If you are a mountain biker, you should check it out for sure.

Here's a picture of Gordon and Mr. Gear Noise after my tire was back on the bike and we were ready to go.

On the way back down, we took the single track down the section called The Whoops.  These are basically non stop jumps for about a mile on a downhill track. It was a blast. If you like to mountain bike and live in LA and haven't ridden on this trail, you really have to do it.  It's so much fun.

Santa Monica Hike

  Awesome View 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

Jason and I took a hike up the Santa Monica mountains this morning.

It was a short hike, probably less than 90  minutes in all, but the views were incredible.

When Advertising Meets Reality

  IMG_0079 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

I was walking down 23rd Street from Sixth Avenue toward Fifth Avenue this morning and saw this large wrap around billboard for a new Motorola phone.

This model had a street lamp sticking out of her upper lip.

Sometimes the real world enters the world of advertising and when it does, it's often not pretty.

Thanks Hugh

Hugh at Gaping Void linked to my VC Cliche of the Week and contributed this graphic.

I've added it to the orginal post with Hugh's permission.

Thanks Hugh!

GYVC Basketball

Yesterday was the finals of the GVYC Basketball League.  This is the best girl's basketball league in lower manhattan, for all I know, the only one.  It's run by Harry Malakoff, a local villager who had the vision to start this league for girls between the ages of 10 and 14 over ten years ago. 

Here's an article from the Villager that tells the story of the league and provides contact info for anyone who is interested in getting their girls involved in a great program.

It was a bittersweet day in our family beca