Whale Watch

Over the weekend, my fiance had one of her bridesmaids in town for her wedding shower, and with two days to kill, she wanted to do something purely New England. Granted she is originally from up here, but there was one thing that she had never done, neither had we, a whale watch. As anyone from the area can tell you, fall has come in quite cold and it probably was not the best idea to head into the ocean.

Cold aside, the day was beautiful, seas calm – until we were half way through Boston harbor. That was when we experienced five to 10 foot seas, needless to say half of the boat was not feeling to well. I had the benefit of a jug of Cape Codders to keep me sane. When we entered the ocean, the seas were calm and we saw a whole bunch of whales. Below is the video that I grabbed of the whales coming close to the boat to say hi.

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Trust Agents a valuable resource for college students

While my Internet has been down this week (patiently waiting for Comcast as I type) some of the thunder of this post has been stolen by none other than the President, but it’s worth posting none the less. Over the weekend, I finished reading Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. Granted the book offered insight for those of us engaged in social networking and PR as ways to improve how we interact with folks within the space as we build up our influence among our networks.  I could go on and on in a big review about how the book offered X,Y,Z benefits and why YOU should buy it, instead I am going to dive into who should be reading this book – College Students and Young Professionals.

While this may be one of those Why is he saying this? moments, but flip back to the President’s speech the other day to students Watch what you put on Facebook. Granted he said that everyone does dumb things that can come back to haunt them, but he didn’t get into what kinds of dumb things employers may see that can be a detractor in job searches, granted TA doesn’t either, but it highlights the importance of an online reputation.

This is something that should be hammered home in college classrooms across the nation. This is not only important for the PoliSci, Communications or Pre-Law students, but rather for everyone.  Think about a few of the stupid things that you’ve done in your past, did they wind up online? Probably not, but if they did, you know that it is a pain to make them disappear, especially if it is our friends who think that its funny to show them to the world.

With that in mind, when I look at my cousins’ pages, I cringe and try to offer them some feedback. Granted it may be cool to show off pictures of you and your buddies hitting the bong or getting so drunk that your friends draw on you, having them posted online can lead to you losing a job or missing out on landing one. Here & here are examples of the former.

On the later, I can speak in more concrete terms. As the reputation watchdog for my company, I have seen these kinds of posts and worse using my various search tools. Perhaps the most egregious one could have been avoided if the candidate thought before Tweeting. In this day and age, it is naive to think that large companies do not monitor their trademark on the social space and saying: X Company is sweating me hard right now, I’ll rape them for the best salary; I don’t even want to work for X, but a check is a check right? It’s a great starting point; or When the hell is this company going to make me a better offer? I pwnd them – is sure to come back to bite you in the end.

Those statements (with some editing) were things said by candidates at my company that were passed along to the hiring managers. They also are not unintelligent students, but from Ivy League and top tiered universities. So the question becomes would they have avoided these posts if they had some education on an online reputation? I think so.

What do you think? Have you seen these while managing your company’s online reputation?

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Rutt’s Hut a roadside slice of Americana

Is there anything more iconicly American than a hot dog? Don’t sell me the whole apple pie line, I am not buying it. A dog has it all mixed and matched parts of beef and pork or turkey and chicken – a perfect melting pot – wasn’t that what America was originally called? Eat your heart out apple pie.

With that in mind there are countless variations of the frank from the dirty water dog schilled in NYC to the Chicago dog to Pinks in LA, every area of the country has a flavor all their own, equally claimed to be delicious. Growing up in New Jersey I had the best of two worlds.

Hopping on a train, I was able to snag a dirty water dog or hop down to the village to grab a recession special, but that’s not the point of the post. I grew up in Jersey and anyone worth their weight in the state, or at least North Jersey, can attest to the age-old question of which dog shack is better? The Hot Grill or Rutt’s Hut. For years I was a devotee of the Grill’s special sauce, but one chance experience turned me onto Rutt’s and swayed me forever.

If you never heard of Rutt’s or tasted on of their dogs, let me suggest a pilgrimage. For staters, the place looks straight out of the 50’s – and hosts a weekly car show for the era – and the dogs are equally unhealthy, deep-fried and split end over end. Sounds great right – again it’s simply American deep fried and served with a side of cold Bud.

Unlike many dog joints that ask you what you want, you simply have one choice mustard and relish. It may sound gross to some, but it is a taste that simply melts in your mouth.

Much like old-timers and the 50’s, I get very nostalgic thinking of Rutt’s. Living in Massachusetts, I am not sure if there is anything as unhealthy or delicious when it comes to dogs. So whenever I head home for a visit, I make sure to swing by and grab a dog or three, much to the dismay of my girlfriend.

Hungry? Hop on down to Route 21 in Clifton and grab a few, just don’t try to understand the guys behind the counter as they have a language all their own.

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My 15 minutes of fame

Back in 2003 while interning with the Baltimore Ravens, MTV followed around my friend Joseph Evans and I around for the day. It was a whole Day-In-The-Life kind of thing. It’s kind of corny, but hey it is what it is.

Enjoy.

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NJ Turnpike Exit Beers

Growing up in New Jersey, it wasn’t weird to ask folks what exit they were off of. It was only after moving away from the Garden State that I realized that was just a Jersey thing. However, every now and the, I feel a little nostalgic and want a piece of home. Its always difficult to find Taylor Ham or to grab a cheesesteak from the Midway – that has all changed with Flying Fish Beer’s Exit Series.

The Cherry-Hill based microbrewery’s new line will pay homage to the New Jersey Turnpike’s exits with this new series of beers.

There’s nothing inspirational about the clogged stretch of highway known as the New Jersey Turnpike. But don’t tell that to the Jersey natives at the Flying Fish Brewing Co. They’ve just embarked on a symbolic road trip to brew a unique beer for every exit on the turnpike.

Brewery founder Gene Muller says he was tired of going to beer conferences and having everyone make the same joke when they found out he was from Jersey: What exit are you from?

His response came in alcoholic form. Exit 4 is the location of the brewery and the first beer in the company’s exit series. The exit itself is a trash-strewn stretch of pavement populated with chain restaurants and cheap motels. Exit 4, the beer, is an American-style Belgian trippel with notes of banana and cloves and a nice bitter finish. Just like the turnpike itself.

It’s a good gimmick, but Flying Fish has vowed to come up with a different brew for each exit. It’s not easy.

“At first, we were going to have the alcohol level match the exit,” Muller says. “But Exit 1, 2 and 3 people really wouldn’t be interested in. And Exit 17 and 18, you’d probably start to get in trouble.”

– Robert Smith, NPR

While the beers sound tasty, they have some detractors at MADD and the NJ Turnpike Authority say they promote drinking and driving

Joe Orlando, a spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, said it’s a bad idea to associate a highway with alcohol. Flying Fish has answered the authority’s concerns with disclaimers that the beer isn’t endorsed by the authority.

“There’s been a brokered peace here,” Orlando said. “But don’t expect to see it in any of our rest areas.”

That doesn’t satisfy Mindy Lazar, executive director of New Jersey’s chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. “The combination of a roadway and advertising for any kind of a beer doesn’t make any kind of sense,” she said. “This is almost a mockery.”

Full story

While I see the benefit of airing these concerns, they are just truly foolish. Does Rocky Mountain Waters imply that Coors is good rafting fuel or Bud sponsoring NASCAR good for drinking and driving? No, but both are not little companies either where these organizations can take swipes.

On my trip home this weekend, I will try to pick some up and let you know if it tastes as good as my other favorites from home.

And if for any stretch of the imagination you were wondering what my exit is:

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Face 2 Face – Dirty Water?

On Saturday night, we headed down to Gillette Stadium to check out the New England stop of the Billy Joel, Elton John Face 2 Face tour. While the concert had all the song’s you’d expect from the pianomen – From Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and We Didn’t Start the Fire to Pianoman. I also took my new Flip Mino camera to give it a good test run. I am glad that I did because I caught a gem that I am not sure I’ll ever see again.  During the breakdown of Billy’s performance of River of Dreams, he broke into an impromptu version of Dirty Water.

This was my first time I used the camera so I apologize for the shakiness.

I take it he’s a Mets fan as “Yankee Universe” would disown him.

Click here to check out all the videos I shot.

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