I am a great proponent of women’s issues – always have been. My kids and I marched down Independence Avenue many, many times. Truthfully, I was marching and pushing them in strollers when all this family activism began! I was a charter subscriber to Ms. Magazine and a charter member of the National Organization for Women. I was also one of those glass ceiling women and one of the very few to break the glass without getting too badly injured. So I am very, very glad to finally see a female Presidential candidate. Although, I wish there were more than one!

But now the internal struggle begins. Do I have to vote for the female candidate because she is female? Or is it more complex than that? I have finally decided that it is. The deciding factor – I wouldn’t vote for someone outside of my political spectrum just because she was a woman. If you are a Republican, could you imagine voting for Barbara Boxer? For Democrats, the equivalent is Liddy Dole or Condoleezza Rice – no way.

No, I am going to apply my Warren Buffett litmus test: ‘You can’t do a good deal with a bad person’ I am going to back someone that I think is honest, ethical, telling me what they really think and not what the latest poll told them to tell me. Right now that is removing John McCain and Hillary Clinton from my select list. (I am sad to remove both because one is an American hero and one definitely has the smarts and is a woman). And, I am going to pick someone that agrees substantially with my beliefs, although there are a couple of items that are non-negotiable. And I am hoping that I am going to pick someone that is going to win, but I can’t compromise on the Buffett criteria just to elect a ‘winner’. And I continue to hope that the person who rises to the top of my list will be a woman.

So, now let’s stop picking on the African-American community because they all aren’t automatically backing Barack Obama just because he’s black.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

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Travel allows me to catch up on my reading. Gillian and I subscribe to way too many magazines and papers. They stack up faster than we can read them. So when work calls for a trip, I load up my briefcase and chill out on the plane reading. I found this almost ten days ago, cut it out, and mentally stored it away for commentary at a later date.

Proctor & Gamble is perhaps one of my top five companies that I would like to work for in corporate America. Why? Because they have repeatedly convinced me that great people want to work there. P&G is a leader in collaboration. P&G embraces openess and sharing. P&G believes for every subject matter expert inside the company there are at least 200 outside the company. P&G thinks globally. They adjust quickly, because they know that the best time to change is when you are on top. When you are the leader.

I admire the philosophy that P&G practices. And perhaps best of all, CEO A.G Lafley has the right focus. Del Jones, USA Today management reporter recently interviewed Lafley and asked, "What makes you one of our best leaders?" Here was Lafley's response:

One of my most important jobs is to build an outstanding team. I've been a change agent. I'm pretty courageous. I'm a builder and I think a lot about the greater good, the long term and whether what we're building will last 10, 20, 50 years. I'm a thinker, but I'm action- and results-oriented. Finally, I'm a low-ego guy. I don't have problems putting the greater good of the company or the P&G brands way ahead of any personal aspirations or achievements.

It's no wonder both Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and U.S. News & World Report recently honored Lafley as one of America's best leaders.

And I love his point on being a thinker. IBM's credo is - Think.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 6:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Did You Know? Watch This. It's Eye-opening.

Here's the background from the guy who put it together last August, Karl Fisch, a teacher at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, CO. His version was updated and school specific information was removed by Scott McLeod with Karl's permission and that is the version (as of February 20, 2007) posted here.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006 Did You Know? -------------------------------------------------

My administration asked me if I wanted to speak at one of our beginning of the year faculty meetings. I often provide updates on what's new and different with technology in our building and what teachers need to know to get the year started. But this year I'm really focused on staff development and the "vision" of where we should be headed, so I wanted to do something different. I don't know for sure how it is in your schools, but I imagine they are like mine - a faculty meeting is a horrible place to have the conversations we need to have. In addition, since 49 of my teachers are involved in the staff development described elsewhere on this blog, I felt it would be a waste of time - and possibly counterproductive - to try to discuss anything of substance in the faculty meeting.

So, instead, I decided to take David Warlick up on his idea of telling the new story. I put together a PowerPoint presentation with some (hopefully) thought-provoking ideas. I was hoping by telling some of these "stories" to our faculty, I could get them thinking about - and discussing with each other - the world our students are entering. To get them to really think about what our students are going to need to be successful in the 21st century, and then how that might impact what they do in their classrooms. It would also help the faculty that are not currently participating in my staff development join the conversation.

So I basically said most of the above to the faculty, and then told them that even though I would usually argue that just showing something and not discussing it afterward was a bad idea, that this time - since a meaningful conversation at the end of a long faculty meeting was unlikely - that's what I was going to do. But that I wanted them to hopefully think about this for their own classrooms, and then hold the conversation with each other over the next few days (and hopefully weeks and months and . . .).

I remixed content from David Warlick, Thomas Friedman, Ian Jukes, Ray Kurzweil and others, added some music, and came up with the .... presentation.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

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I was flipping through my latest Bon Appetit magazine (March 2007) and suddenly catch the world 'Sacramento' on the Readers' Quick Recipes section. I stop and read more closely.

There is a photo of Nick Vidargas of Sacramento, CA with his Open-Face Bacon-and-Egg Sandwiches with Argula. Nick is billed as a law student, newlywed and an enthusiastic cook. (He's model good looking too!) He used to bus tables at Chez Panisse in Berkeley and now 'on weekends, he heads for the farmers' market, picks up what looks best-and turns it into dinner.'

Wow, this guy is too good to be true. I can see this blurb put under the nose of many a husband in the coming weeks to spur them to Nick-like behavior. I, however, will simply be gloating as my husband, who loves to shop for fresh foods and turn them into delicious dinners, will be trying out Nick's recipe for us!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

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In YouTube's corner - an interesting piece from the LA Times.

Tuhin Roy is a top exec at the Digital Music Group Inc., a distributor of digital music and video that recently struck a revenue-sharing deal to put its wares onto YouTube. Ask him why, and he'll give you an answer straight out of the Willie Sutton playbook: if you're trying to make money in an advertiser-supported business, you have to go where the viewers are. Or, as he put it in a recent interview, "To the extent that there are going to be ad-supported video services (online), YouTube will be in a leadership position because they've aggregated so much audience."

YouTube isn't generating much money for anybody at this point, largely because the company has taken a minimalist approach to advertising. Paid spots are confined mainly to banners on the menu pages. This is a company that's incredibly well positioned to sell targeted ads, given how much its users reveal about themselves as they search for and comment on clips. And its users' hunger for video makes the site a natural for video advertising, which can be much more lucrative than banners and search ads. According to Roy, however, YouTube plans to run ads on video pages only if it has a licensing deal with the clip's copyright owner. That's why deals such as the one between DMGI and YouTube are important for both companies.

So why are the likes of Viacom and other major content providers rattling sabers at YouTube, rather than trying to tap the potential spigot of advertising dollars? It's tempting to say that Roy "gets it" and Hollywood doesn't, but that's too facile (even for me). Instead, it's a matter of upside vs. downside. The biggest brands have the largest revenue streams to manage, and they worry about YouTube eating into those streams by drawing viewers away from established outlets (like, say, broadcast TV). DMGI, on the other hand, is focused on building an audience, not preserving one, and YouTube can expose DMGI's fare (including such classic TV fare "I Spy" and "Gumby") to tens of millions of new viewers. In fact, the fencing match between Hollywood and YouTube may actually help smaller players like DMGI. The Viacom and company spend on the sidelines, the better chance DMGI will have to win over YouTube's faithful.

If you doubt YouTube's power to elevate brands out of obscurity, consider the new music video by Canadian hitmakers Barenaked Ladies. It features several amateur filmmakers made famous, at least within YouTube, by videos posted there. If you've spent little or no time on YouTube, you won't recognize any of them. But if that's the case, you really don't get it.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As many of you know, I am passionately political but I try hard to keep most of it out of these blogs. But once in a while my discipline crumbles in the face of something powerful I read. Today I picked up the Business section of the New York Times and read the title of Ben Stein's article: "Of Tax Cuts and Those $10M Bat Mitzvahs." I crumbled.

Here is a quote:

Is this what America is all about? We're in a war and we cut taxes to stimulate the economy - and it probably did - and we are having million-dollar parties at home while our soliders are paid starvation wages to offer up their lives in Iraq? We're in a war and the government cannot afford to pay for adequate training (and here I add 'and medical care') for our soliders but the society at home is routinely having million-dollar weddings and bar mitzvahs?

Can anyone say, "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire"?

We are creating a debt that is about $3 trillion greater than it was when Bill Clinton left office, and one sequel is $10 million birthday parties? Is this what supply-side is all about? To obligate future generations so our generation can have $10 million parties for teenagers?

As I write this, playing on TV in the background is some financial show. They are asking a question, "If you want to be in the top 1% of net worth households, what do you need your net worth to be? My financially savvy husband is responding, "One million dollars." The answer is six million. No, a million is what it used to be before we changed the rules for the rich to make them even richer. We promised that all that extra tax cut money would be re-invested. Do multi-million shindigs count as reinvestment?

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against people making money. I love the fact that Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are insanely wealthy because they use their money for philanthropic purposes. They don't need to advertise their wealth by holding parties that require spending obscene amounts of money.

I just put a new quote on my email from the favorite person I like to quote on my emails, Marian Wright Edelman. Service is the rent we pay to be living. It is the very purpose of life and not something you do in your spare time. And, for sure, this quote from Ms. Edelman is even more appropriate for this subject - Never work just for money or for power. They won't save your soul or help you sleep at night.

Don't let America burn as we all get addled by the inane gossip of the day. Frankly I am sure that we could make the stories of our troops dying in the streets of Iraq and the families they have left behind just as riveting as Anna Nicole Smith, drug addict, sad F-grade celebrity. Let's get our priorites straght. I am going to focus on this one, another quote from Ms. Edelman: We are willing to spend the least amount of money to keep a kid at home, more to put him in a foster home and the most to institutionalize him.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Pierre's Dad sent us this photo of Oswego, New York that he had just received from relatives.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

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The Golden Rule for startups is the most basic principle in business - revenue minus expense equals profit.

It's that simple. And hard at the same time. From the outset, entrepreneurs must focus on two things revenue and expenses. Too often in the heat and passion of launching a company, mistakes are made about incurring expenses. In other words, managers make bad decisions on managing expenses. Capital is precious during the startup phase. Guard it ever so carefully. Serial entrepreneur, Wil Schroter, maintains, "Startups need to be frugal."

1. Ditch the office space. The office space lease is probably the single worst investment you make with your money.
2. Forget about hiring. The second worst offender on the cost analysis is headcount. Hiring staff in start-up mode is generally a horrible idea.
3. Write on your hand. Startups don't need office supplies. You need a barely functional computer (get one cheap through an online auction), a cell phone, which will also be your main company number, and write on the back of your hand. Anything else is a frivolous expense that's absolutely unnecessary.

Only spend on stuff that makes money.

If you want a simple way to determine what to spend money on, just focus on expenses that directly relate to income, such as marketing and sales. If it's at all possible to deliver your product or service without an expense, then it's not essential.

What you'll find by adopting a no-expense-is-necessary mentality is that your road to profitability will be much shorter. Then, when the cash starts tumbling in on the profit side of the equation, you can slowly start to add a few expenses to the mix.

RightNow Technology founder and CEO Greg Granforte agrees with this approach.

There's a sign that I keep on the wall of my office. It says simply, “Nothing happens until somebody sells something.” In other words, sales is where your business begins. Sure, you may have a great product or service that you’ve worked hard to develop. You may have hired a fantastic staff. You may have cash in the bank, a logo and letterhead, a beautiful office, computers on the desks, all those things that come to mind when we picture a business. But that’s not what makes a business. Only sales can do that.

This is good news for bootstrappers. Bootstrappers can’t afford fancy offices or big staffs. They may not even have a finished product yet. But the bootstrapper doesn’t need those things to get started. As soon as you can start selling—that is, go out and find customers willing to buy his product or service—you have a business.

Live by the Golden Rule and your company stands a good chance of succeeding. If you don't follow the Golden Rule, then your company will most likely fail, like the vast majority of startups.

Simple. But hard to do.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 7:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I was at a dinner party on Saturday night and mentioned I was moving to Microsoft Vista. There was a stunned silence and then 30 minutes of conversation about how unstable new operating systems are and other dire warnings. Too late, of course, because I had to buy a new computer and what was the point of buying a 'last operating system' model.

And, so far, things have been going well. But there were more treats in store.

I was at the airport yesterday morning and wanted to use my computer to add a post to this site. Ever the optimist, I turned on my computer and looked for a wireless network. But I only found T-Mobile. And I wasn't ready to sign up and pay for that for a short time use. And then, just as I was clicking off the T-Mobile page, I noticed a Vista logo. And then I looked further and saw the word 'complimentary'. Seems that if I am a Vista user (through new acquisition or upgrade) I get complimentary T-Mobile Hot Spot service through April 30th.

So, sometimes it pays to be an early adopter.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A big thank you to all of you who attended our latest Sacramento Executive event held Wednesday 21st at Il Fornaio downtown. At final count, you numbered more than 100! You can see pictures to judge the buzz. Thanks to Geof Lambert who took these ‘grip and grin’ photos. Really, that’s what they are called in the ‘industry’.

Pierre and I are truly honored that you choose to attend these events. You are the nicest, smartest, most entertaining and most fun people in Sacramento and over time many of you have become our friends as well as our colleagues. It truly is like holding a party and all of our fun friends show up and the discussions are passionate and real and challenging and mostly stay polite! And even better you guys are nice enough to help cover some of the entertainment costs! Pierre was very sorry to miss this one…and even sorrier to have to be at his corporate headquarters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. But I know he appreciated the many people who asked about him.

Thank you to our long time sponsors for underwriting the event and keeping the entry fees reasonable. And thanks to those companies who generously offer up a selection of interesting prizes. This event’s prize trove was definitely for the snow buffs.

The lucky winners were:

2 lift tickets to Northstar – Compliments of Prosper Magazine
Susan Boyme – Revionics

2 lift tickets to Sierra at Tahoe – Compliments of Prosper Magazine
Mark Tabak – MLP Real Estate Securities

$40 Gift Certificate for Hoppy Brewing
Ilya Miroshnichenko – Kovar’s Satori Academy

2 tickets to Leslie Marmon Silko – Compliments of the California Lecture Series
Scott Hildebrand – Tubes Music

‘Endless Slope’ – Ski/Snowboard Lesson – Compliments of SnoZone
Kendal B. Smeeth – SmeethCO

2 days of skiing/snowboarding – Compliments of Alpine Adventures
John Williams – Wells Fargo

Ticket to ‘Stuart Varney’ – Compliments of Sacramento Speakers Series
Paul Robinson – The Robinson Group


We’ll be contacting the winners shortly with details on how you can collect your prizes. Don’t forget to enter your business card at our next event. And help us out by RSVPing a little earlier next time – it saves you money and makes our life easier by better estimating food and space requirements.

We are thinking about El Dorado Hills for the next event, which for city dwellers like us is heresy, but we started Sacramento Executive to reach out to the seasoned executives moving to ‘the Hills’ and invite them to become part of the very interesting discourse and required heavy lifting surrounding Sacramento and its growth, pains and all. So maybe we need to take Mohammed to the Mountain (or at least the Hills). If you have fierce objections, let us know.

A bientot…until the next time.

Gillian Parrillo
Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive.

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Our friend Ed Ring is right again. Ring, a Sacramento area resident, has been talking up a storm about how federal, state and local governments' pension plans are lining up to be a significant burden on government budgets and taxpayers' pocket books.

It seems the national news media agrees with Ring. The USA Today's feature front page story yesterday was Pension Tension - More and more retirees are finding that it pays to have worked for the government instead of the private sector. Reporter Dennis Cauchon writes "Government's generosity could have serious consequences for taxpayers and pensioners. Some states - including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio and West Virginia - have troubled retirement systems that may require huge tax increases, spending cuts or even defaulting on promised benefits. The U.S. government has a bigger unfunded liability for military and civil servant retirement beneftis ($4.7 trillion) than it does for Social Security ($4.6 trillion)."

What's going on here? We better wake up and do something, else we are heading for a fiscal crisis. And thanks to Ed Ring for pointing this out to us so frequently over the years.

We agree with you Ed!

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 3:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Kudos to teacher Melanie Hartsell. Her middle school math class read a story in the Dallas Morning News about an injustice and set about righting it, even though it happened 70 years ago.

In Dallas in 1937, Olympic gold medalist, John Woodruff, broke the 800 meter gold record. And then had the honor removed when it was determined that the track was too short.

The students, motivated to right the wrong after reading a story by Dallas Morning News columnist James Ragland used all of their mathematical prowess to prove that Mr. Woodruff beat the world record by 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 seconds. Several other mathematicians have endorsed their results.

Mr. Woodruff who is now 91 was touched by the students efforts. Many people have been trying to get Southern Methodist University to uncover the error and confer the honor upon Mr. Woodruff, including Bill Cosby who has an honorary degree from the uuniversity. While the race did not take place on SMU's grounds, they did host many of the atheletes and it was their engineer who had measured the track prior to the event.

Some believe that Mr. Woodruff lost his title under questionable circumstances during a time of deep discrimination when the idea of a black man breaking the record in Dallas would have been untenable. At the time, black atheletes were not allowed to stay at the SMU dorms with the other athletes but were sent to a segregated YMCA.

SMU has been unable to determine the exact circumstances but has decided to honor Mr. Woodruff's achievements including his winning the 800 meters in the 1936 Olympics, a feat overshadowed by Jesse Owens' multiple gold medal wins at the same Olympics. Mr. Woodruff also earned a master's degree and served in the military during WWII and Korea. SMU has set up an athelete scholarship in Mr. Woodruff's name.

But back to those 120 students who used a formula they conceived, Distance = Rate x Time, which they called DiRT, to prove it. Talk about using math to prove something real and to undo a very big wrong, better late than never.

Congrats kids and bigger congrats to your teacher who answered the questions you assuredly have asked many times, "Why do I need to learn this?" "What will I ever use it for?"

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

PS: And yes, this is the same SMU that will almost certainly be the future home of the President George W. Bush Presidential Library

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was on Dhttp://www.digg.comigg.com and saw a headline "Can You Survive 24 Hours Without A Computer? It sent cold chills down my spine. I arrived at the site that is polling to find the answer to this question. 3,589 blase people - oh, sure, i would walk, write, etc. etc. And 497 type A people like me - no way and I don't even want to think about it!

If you want to join in, the date is March 24 2007. They are even asking for links to videos of the no-computer day - a Mike Posehn second in the making?

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

After our weekend of techno wizadry, this made me laugh.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

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I go through PC notebooks like high fashion models go through clothes - one a season it seems. For the last two weeks my latest notebook lost its display ability, which required me to unhook Pierre's screen from his PC and plug it into mine. It worked pretty well too, but Pierre was getting a little antsy! Then my notebook decided to not bring up its operating system. Many tries of turning it off and bringing it back up with no fix, resulted in my turning it over and shaking it vigorously. This not only fixed the problem, but temporarily fixed the display problem too. Nothing like a good shake to get things back in order again! It finally, however, became clear that it was time for another new PC.

At previous times like this, we have always had our techno-knowledgeable friend Paul to assist us at every turn. But now we aren't local and he can't come to dinner every Sunday as payback for his invaluable input so we were stuck with going it alone. OK, well I did run by him the details of the PC I was going to buy for final approval!

First we began by replacing our all in one printer. We bought an HP because we have always had luck with them. We were immediately impressed with how easy everything set up including making the PC part of our network and accessing it wirelessly. It went almost flawlessly.

Next we decided that we needed to upgrade our backup function. So we purchased a Western Digital MyBook device. And, other than a few dark moments, I managed to back up my old PC - seemed like a good thing to do - and then move all of my documents over to my new PC, including figuring out how to move all of my Outlook files (especially like important files containing Contacts and Calendar items). OK, for you techies, this sounds like small potatoes, but to us, it was huge.

And now I am figuring out Vista. It took us several minutes to figure out how to print from Outlook - clicking on the Windows logo is not immediately apparent. But so far, I have been very happy with all of the new functionality. It really feels like the security is much tighter especially in terms of Spam in Outlook.

I am really pretty excited about discovering lots of new bells and whistles in the Office 2007 edition. But I haven't as yet moved over my ITunes music as there appears to be some major glitches there and Apple is still working on a fix.

Emboldened by our weekend foray into technoland, we called Directv and ordered an HDnet DVR and we bought another small flat panel TV which Pierre hooked up himself although it required a joint effort to program the remote!

Watch out world, we might even decide to get rid of our 10+ year old VCR player soon!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 2:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Mike Posehn, local Sacramento film maker, is at it again with this time elapsed film of the Queen Mary slipping into San Francisco.

Mike, fantastic work!

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 7:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

John Dorfman, legendary money manager and stock picker, is stepping down as a columnist for Bloomberg News after nine years. Dorfman intends to devote full attention to his investment firm Thunderstorm Capital. In his last column he highlights nine lessons learned from his nine years as a stock investment columnist.

1. Out-of-favor stocks are the best road to capital gains.
2. Don't be swayed by Wall Street analysts.
3. High portfolio turnover is not necessary for good results.
4. The investment value of a stock is independent of whether it has been moving up or down.
5. Predicting the market with consistency is extremely difficult.
6. Predicting the economy is even harder.
7. High valuations alone aren't a good reason to sell a stock short.
8. High profits alone are no reason to invest in a stock.
9. Dialogue with readers was one of the best parts of my experience as a columnist.

John, sage advice. We will miss your column.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 6:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Wishing everyone a happy Chinese new year.

The year of the pig/boar, for people born in 1935 1947 1959 1971 1983 1995 2007. One of those is my year. People born in the Year of the Boar are honest and tolerant and make good friends, but tend to expect the same from everyone else, and more often than not they end up disappointed. They thrive in the arts as entertainers.

Famous people born in the Year Of The Boar:
Dudley Moore, David Bowie, Elton John

A bunch of Brits...just like me!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

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Today the New York Times featured an article on blogs focused on consumers becoming debt free.

This is a must read article for those who struggle with their personal debt load. Several blogs are identified where people share their journey on becoming debt free. Here are a few blogs that are worth checking out: blogging away debt , save leigh ann and k gazette It's sort of like AA for spenders. Oh, and by the way, Leigh Ann provides 'professional' advice to companies and individuals on the subject of getting debt free.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 3:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Gillian made the call and set me up for the dreaded doctor's appointment. Dr. Casenave entered the room. I knew what she was about to say.

"Pierre, you have diabetes." My suspicions were confirmed. Well it's time to fix the problem I told the doctor. I asked her what we were going to do. She responded in her usual frank way (after all, she's the one who pointedly tells her patients they are fat, if in fact they are fat) - "Pierre you are going to take pills the rest of your life. You are going to diet correctly and exercise 30 minutes a day. Exercise six days and take Sunday off to sit on your butt."

She exclaimed that she was going to craft a diet for the diabetic - me. She tapped away on her Dell laptop, as if she was the top queen in typing class. Moments later she handed me this:

1. Breakfast: oatmeal with berries, EAS Advantage shake, eggbeaters.

2. 10:30 Snack: one orange, one apple, one banana, 20 almonds, 2 pkg low fat string cheese, Power Bar or South Beach Bar

3. Lunch: salad with oil/vinegar, meat (any meat you wish with fat cut off and no gravy and no frying), green vegetables: green beans, asparagus, spinach, zucchini, squash, onions, bell peppers.

4. 15:00 same as 10:30.

5. Dinner same as lunch.

NO, NO, NO: no juice of any kind, no sweets of any kind. NO white rice, no carrots. Very little wheat bread, brown rice and very little potatoes.

Yes, yes, yes: water, 2 miles per day of exercise, diet soda, Crystal Light, sugar free popsicles.

I told her that I loved to cook and eat. She said I could still be a gourmet chef, but maybe eating out was going to be different.

Dr. Casenave and her husband don't own a TV. Every weekend they go to a movie. Isn't the Doctor a trip!

Life goes on. And so does diabetes.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I don't know why I never went to the Crocker during all the time I was in Sacramento. Well, truth is that I went to some events - a wedding, a reception, a holiday party - but never just to an exhibit. Maybe I didn't feel a personal connection to any of the exhibits. A huge billboard outside the museum with the exhbition titles and dates - not enough detail for a personal connection.

Here in Dallas we have gone to quite a few special exhibitions. Matisse: Painter as a Sculpter; shared between the Nasher and the Dallas Museum of Art, Van Gogh at the Dallas Museum of Art, Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth and even BodyWorlds, a somewhat creepy display of plastinated human dead bodies. We even have a trip planned to Houston for the end of April to see the Masterpieces of the French Paintings from the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art (they will be on loan to the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston during the Mets renovation project).

All of this 'culture-vulturing' as my parents called it, left me wondering about the Crocker, which led me to make a great discovery of their current exhibition - Yosemite 1938. On the Trail with Ansel Adams and Georgia O'Keefe.

In 1938 friends Ansel Adams, Georgia O'Keefe, David McAlpin and the Godfrey Rockefellers set out on a 10 day trip through Yosemite. Here is a description of the trip from the University of Wyoming Art Museum's website:

Adams, O'Keeffe, McAlpin, and the Rockefellers departed for the High Sierra on Sunday, September 11, 1938. With them came a pack-string of fourteen mules, enough animal-power to haul all the camping, kitchen, and photo equipment, with a few extra mounts for those who wished to ride. The ten-day trip through the high country was not particularly arduous, outfitted as they were with plenty of blankets, food, and hired help. Assisting the group were local backcountry experts Al Kay, Alvin Rhode, Robert Barnett, and Lile Pierce, who assumed the duties of guiding, packing, unpacking, setting up camp, and cooking. Five campers with four hired hands is a luxurious ratio when it comes to wilderness treks. Adams had arranged everything with convenience in mind, so the campers could photograph, hike, or relax as the mood struck them.

It was reportedly quite cold on a number of evenings, particularly after the group climbed to 10,000 feet and camped near Tuolumne Pass. Ever positive, Adams recalled that everyone considered it a "prime adventure." Mornings began with hot coffee and a good breakfast. Adams was an early riser, who liked to be up with the sun so he could take advantage of dawn's dramatic light. During the day, the party made small excursions from their base camp or trekked to their next campsite. Gas lamps enhanced the light of the campfire at night and the party scheduled dinner for after sunset, to allow for more photography at dusk.
To have the group in Yosemite, seeing and appreciating the land that he loved, must have been uplifting for Adams. His later reports of the excursion are glowing. In his autobiography, he wrote, "O'Keeffe loved campfires and would stand close to them in her voluminous black cape, her remarkable features and her dark hair gleaming in the flickering light. She never seemed bored or tired and enjoyed every moment of the trip.

After the trip was over, Adams, even then a well-known photographer of the California wilderness, made 3 photograph albums, including personal notes, and sent them to his fellow travellers.

Adams' most famous photographs are of sights in Yosemite. This trip might well have been the beginning of his great awe for the wondrous beauty of this spectacular area.

The exhibition is made possible because the heirs of David McAlpin donated his album to the National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, Wyoming and this album has become the basis for the exhibition at the Crocker.

The exhibition runs until May 6th. You can get more informaiton on the Crocker website.

I am going to check it out when I am next in Sacramento. It sounds fascinating.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The Tour of California, an eight-day, seven-stage, 600-mile bicycle race, is coming through Sacramento on February 20th. Sacramento is the end of Stage 2. Racers will enter Sacramento across the Tower Bridge and head to the Capitol. They will circle the Capitol before racing to the finish line at 11th and I Streets.

Huge crowds are expected. Traffic will be affected as the race involves more than 80 intersections.

To enjoy the fun with a minimum of disruption, plan to assemble no later than 2PM.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Bob Shallit reports in his Sacramento Bee column today that:

WebRaiser Technologies, which makes software for kiosks, has been snapped up by Flextronics International Ltd. of Singapore.

No details are being released. But Mark Breunig, WebRaiser's senior VP and general counsel, confirms the sale and says a formal announcement is set for a trade show in April. "We don't want to tip our hand to competitors," he says of the company's taciturn stand.

He does note, however, that the sale is a "good exit" for investors.

About 15 employees work at the 10-year-old company, and all are being retained by Flextronics, which is making its second dip into the Sacramento startup market. In December, it purchased Roseville-based International DisplayWorks Inc. for $243 million.

WebRaiser had a deal with Home Depot to manage the propane kiosks outside the front of their stores. I always loved their technology. The problem is that it had such broad applications that trying to focus on a few markets was tough. With Flextronics' might and deep pockets, WebRaiser will have what it needs to really break out.

Reporting on all of these acquisitions is a dream come true for people who have believed for a long time that there is lots of talent waiting to break out here in Sacramento. As I reported last week in the post on the CoreLogic 'merger', events like this are great for Sacramento. They build confidence in entrepreneurs to start new companies; they build confidence in investors that investments in local deals can be lucrative, which provides funds for the entrepreneurs; they build confidence in acquirers that this region has good candidates for acquistion, and it spins off capital that investors and insiders can put back into more local deals. A wonderful momentum for which we have been striving for much too long.

Let's keep 'em coming.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 5:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This weekend our kitchen sink got clogged. Pierre noticed it first. "We'll have to call a plumber, " he states emphatically. When I give a less than positive response, he moves to "We'll have to go buy some Drano."

I know for sure, there will be no plumber until I have done everything in my power to fix it, including taking the pipes below it apart, using the plunger for 3 or 4 hours, and putting down the drain a concoction so lethal (even though made of household ingredients) that it puts Drano to shame.

As Pierre continues his capitulation to the clog god, I rush to the garage and grab the plunger. The new super dooper plunger with concertina effect. Pierre plunges, but his heart isn't in it because he is busy planning his trip to buy Drano, followed closely by his call to a plumber. Meanwhile, I am mixing up a lethal brew. I have actually no clue what I am mixing together but I am pretty sure it will open the drain but maybe by blowing up the double sink area together with the granite.

"What is that?" Pierre asks. "Oh just something to get things moving," I say. One second later Pierre says, "It's not working." "

For goodness sake," I say, not wanting to admit defeat, but privately worried that it's really not going to work. "Give it some time. It didn't clog in 5 minutes."

And then I grab the plunger, plunge with verve and just when I am about to give up, there is a parting of the waves noise and a gush of water down the drain.

"There," I say. "No need for a plumber."

Ok, so my never say die attitude extends to clogged drains, but I work at rates much less than a plumber and much, much less than the cost of a bottle of Drano.

And Pierre is good at other stuff, like programming this website and cooking.

Happy Valentine's Day, honey. I love you

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Do something nice for someone today...or something nice for lots of people.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 5:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Over the past few months, this blog has been honored to be chosen several times by IpsoSacto as a candidate to have one of its postings published in the upcoming Sunday edition of the Sacramento Bee.

IpsoSacto (isn't that the greatest name?) was started by blogger John Hughes. He monitored blogs from "Stockton to the Oregon border, Fairfield to Tahoe." I thought it had been started by the Sacramento Bee, but somewhere along the line the close relationship envisioned between the Bee and John was paired down to a column in Sunday's Bee that highlighted (in very brief format due to the small amount of space allocated) 3 or so posts from local blogs.

Last week we received word we were one of the candidates and today I decided to check to see if we had 'risen to the top of the heap' and received a mention in the Bee. I typed in the URL and got this notice:

Sometime between 11:30 p.m. Feb. 12 and 6:45 a.m. Feb. 13, someone gained unauthorized access to this server and deleted all of the content in the web directory.
The ipsoSacto project and the Blog Watch effort are now officially dead.
If you have some technical expertise in computer security and would like to help me locate the security hole that allowed this fatal breach, contact me at jomariworks at gmail dot com

Good grief. Who would do such a thing? A snubbed website owner who learned he or she had not been chosen for an appearance in the Sunday Bee? Some lunactic looking for kicks?

I think it's sad. Not sad because no more mentions for the Sacramento Executive in the Bee, but sad because:

Someone wiped out this guy's great idea and on-going business. (Ok, so he probably should have had better security, but so should we all), and

Sacramento Bee reader's won't get to figure out that the local blogs are talking about subjects that the local newspapers and other media outlets wouldn't cover in a million years.

Lately when I want to get the most up-to-date info on a news item, I go straight to Google's blog search. Otherwise, I have to wait for ages for the regular news services to post, but not bloggers. It's the closest thing you get to instant news and while it's not always accurate, neither are the mainstream media outlets. The other day when I heard something outrageous on CNN and wanted to ensure that it had really been said, the CNN transcript never showed up on line, nothing ever made it into the mainstream press, but there it was front and center on the blogs.

As we watch the mainstream media wimp out, thank goodness for the blogs.

John, my condolences. I think I will buy an IpsoSacto coffee mug on CafePress to make me remember everyday the importance of the voice of the people.

And if any of our readers has any technical expertise that could help John, send him an email at jomariworks@gmail.com

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 2:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Sacramento-based startup DMGI (NASDAQ:DMGI) announces another deal with an industry leader - this time YouTube. Details of the deal from Media Week

YouTube Inks Deal With DMGI
Mike Shields

After recently tussling with Viacom over roughly 100,000 video clips from some of the most popular shows among young adults, YouTube has signed a deal to distribute full-length episodes of several TV series that much of its audience has probably never heard of.

The Google-owned video repository has signed a deal with Digital Music Group Inc., a distributor of independently owned music, TV and film catalogues. The arrangement will result a host of classic TV series dating back to the 1950s and '60s, such as Gumby, I Spy and My Favorite Martian, being made available for viewing on YouTube.

Also as part of the deal, the YouTube community will soon have legal access to use certain DMGI o