Everybody is a pizza critic

My kids have been watching a show online about pizza.

A Detroit crust is much like a Silician crust. A New Haven crust is just a cracker. By the look of the dough you can tell if it was made in a gas oven or a wood fired oven. And so on.

They tell me that the host of The Pizza Show, Frank, is ever so nice.

Last night’s Caprese pizza was interesting in that it was sprinkled with a sweet balsamic vinegar. It was a bit soggy. But I found it delicious. The rest of the family wasn’t as convinced.

As it comes to pizza, everyone is a critic. Pizza is something very personal. More so than any other food. We may have our preferences between Thai Basil and Jasmine Thai, but we are okay with either restaurant. Wings from Smoke Eaters pack a bit more heat than from Wingstop, but either will do.

As it comes to pizza, it has to come from Pizza California, or from Luigi’s. Visitors from New York will make the trek to the nearest New York Style pizza restaurant, ’cause there is only one style of pizza. And don’t talk to an Italian about Hawaiian pizza, or risk losing a life long friend.

You may not like every pie, but only Little Caesar’s deserves the wrath of the keyboard. For every other pizza, see Anton Ego.

In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends.

July 30, 2020

July 29, 2020 images

California’s majestic Sierra Nevada

When I arrive in Yosemite’s valley, get my first glimpse of Lake Tahoe, or dip my feet in Pinecrest Lake, I get transported to a different era. The beautiful timeless scenery, the pine trees, the wooden chalets, and carved signs take me back to how I imagined these places were in the sixties.

Camp Curry

Were it not that the parking lot at Yosemite’s former Camp Curry is now full of luxury SUVs and modern pickup trucks, rather than Chevy Bel Airs, Ford family wagons and Studebakers, it is hard to tell the year. The canvas tents are the same as in the pictures. The Ahwahnee hotel looks the same, amidst the granite walls of Yosemite valley. And most of all, the scenery changed very little.

Ahwahnee Hotel

I get the same feeling when I head north to Lake Tahoe in summer. I can imagine several Cadillacs pull into Michael Corleone’s lakeside villa. The houses and chalets near Tahoe City appear to be built many decades ago. Squaw Valley’s 1960 Winter Olympics sign is still there.

Lake Tahoe

Of course a few minutes later you are back in the future as you roll into the recently upgraded mountain town of Truckee. They are putting the finishing touches on a brand new high school. There is a yoga studio. The all natural and vegan supermarket has a line out the door. Downtown is historic-chique, where you are park your Tesla next to the restored Truckee hotel.

But as soon as I leave the village, and head up the mountain, or towards the lake, it doesn’t take long for me to feel back in a timeless era. California Sierra’s are so beautiful.

July 28, 2020

It is time to host the Covid Games of 2020

We all want the thrill back of the last minute three pointer, the home run in the bottom of the ninth, or the winning goal from a corner. However covid-19 decided otherwise and halted all sports events. The Bergamo-Valencia game was considered what of the super-spreader events early in the pandemic in Italy.

The question is how can we bring back these mass sporting events in a safe way. The German Bundesliga figured out a system early on, with lots of testing and disinfecting. Teams remain in isolation in hotels, and play game day in an empty stadium with artificial stadium noise. There is no hugging when scoring, only a fist or elbow bump. Such system is only possible when the country is doing well: the curve is bent, plenty of covid tests are available, and a general respect of following the covid rules.

Not every country is in the same situation as Germany. The United States is far from stabilizing the impact from Covid-19. After the initial leveling off of positive Covid-19 cases and deaths, we are now experiencing the wrath of the virus.

As Feynman used to say, “For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled.”

The same is true in the US. You can not spin the science, or the Covid-19 data. The virus will not just go away. The spread and impact of the virus is real. Hospital beds are filling up. People suffer and die. For nature cannot be fooled.

Amid this reality, there is hope for experiencing sports in the US: Covid games, brought to you by Disney and ESPN.

ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando

The solution is simple:

1. Find an set of isolated resort hotels: Disney World, Las Vegas, Scottsdale, Hawaii, Galveston Island. The key is to be able to assign a hotel per team, and isolate the team from family and fans. These players are making millions. They can live and play in isolation for a month or two, don’t you think. “For the love of the game”.
2. Set up the CDC Arena where all the teams will be playing. Without fans, home advantage doesn’t really exist. Teams save money and energy traveling.
3. Create an accelerated calendar. Without the need to travel across the country, without fans having to go to the stadium, you can organize a many games a week. The covid-calendar has games Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday and Friday.
4. Strict medical protocols, with lots of testing, and disinfecting.

Last night, I watched the San Jose Earthquakes win against Real Salt Lake, playing in Orlando. The NBA started already a mini-league in Disney World. It is odd that Major League Baseball, who invented the resort league with Spring Baseball in Arizona, didn’t move to this system. I don’t know what the plans from the NFL or NHL will be.

The near term future of the major sports leagues in the US, is one where teams will live in isolation, and play in the same Covid-free stadium, away from their fans.

July 28, 2020

July 28, 2020 images

The way I understand the car business is all wrong

On the drive to Tahoe, we listened again to one of my favorite podcast episodes of This American Life: 129 Cars.

Ira and the gang spend a month at a Jeep dealership on Long Island as they try to make their monthly sales goal: 129 cars. If they make it, they’ll get a huge bonus from the manufacturer, possibly as high as $85,000 — enough to put them in the black for the month. If they don’t make it, it’ll be the second month in a row. So they pull out all the stops.

The car business is hard. Margins are as low as 3%, only slightly better than supermarket margins. Every month, every quarter, every year, the counter starts at zero. That’s how sales works, you say. The difficulty for a car dealer is that success is defined by a magical new sales target, handed down monthly from the manufacturer. Being profitable depends on making the incentive bonus every month.

It does make you wonder why car manufacturers keep a network of car dealers. It seems so expensive, and complicated with the many rebates, bonuses, inventory management, and competing nearby dealers from the same brand.

Tesla went direct to the consumer, except for in Texas where they weren’t able to bend the rules. I do not understand the protectionist laws in place favoring the network of car dealers.

The podcast episode also reiterates how sleazy this business is. If they do not make their money on with the price of the car, they will stuff profit into the extended warranty, or with some add-on protection packages. The customer doesn’t know how to gauge whether these are good items to purchase, and the dealer is not offering them in good faith either.

“Buyers are liars”, that’s how the dealer looks at the customer. There is also the cat and mouse games the sales agents are playing with the sales floor manager. It is one big bazaar, except that if you are in a Moroccan bazaar you know you are being swindled.

With the covid-19 pandemic, I expected car dealers to be suffering tremendously. You were to shelter in place, rather than shop for a car. Where were you heading to anyway, that you needed a car.

This could be a moment to make a great deal, and replace my aging 2005 Volvo as it neared 200,000 miles.

It was true for the first 3 months that few cars were sold. Then with the gradual reopening of businesses, Ira Glass commented in the episode’s epilogue that car sales went bonkers.

How did this make sense? Companies had been laying off people. Some companies even closed their doors for good. Congress passed a very large economic rescue package. The world economic news was terrible as well. This didn’t seem the time to make a large purchase. I figured people would reason that the resting piece of metal in their driveway, could make it another few thousand miles.

There lies the issue. Car purchases aren’t rational decisions. This is what Keynes meant when he wrote about Animal Spirits.

This is why the This American Life producer ended up buying a Jeep rather than the more reliable, more practical Honda Pilot she wanted to buy in the first place.

July 27, 2020

July 27, 2020 images

Great support is golden (or a nice bbq brown)

The Fourth of July weekend started in mineur. My Camp Chef Pellet grill finally had arrived via Fedex. However it had suffered a little damage in transit. I hoped the hopper dent was only cosmetic. The assembly had been easy. But unfortunately, the auger had suffered a fatal blow and didn’t turn. No pellets made it to the burn pot.

In the Camp Chef Smokers Smokers Facebook group I had read rave reviews about the Camp Chef support team. It was time to put their support to the test. A few emails back and forth and new hopper assembly was on its way. The interaction had been smooth and response times (given covid-times) acceptable.

Today I heard the Fedex truck arrive and was giddy to get it all fixed. I installed the new hopper and auger and it worked right out of the box as expected. Installation was a breeze with 8 screws. As I write this, a pork butt has been on the smoker for almost seven hours. The picture below is from hour 5. In short while I will wrap it and do the final cook at 295F. I am following Aaron Franklin’s masterclass instructions on this cook.

Pork Butt Hour 5

I don’t know how Camp Chef is handling the costs of fixing shipping issues. Perhaps it is margin or perhaps it is covered by insurance. Nevertheless, the customer references surely are making up for it. Going into this, I knew they were going to make it right.

Protect your brand by handing great customer service. Don’t penny pinch.

July 18, 2020

July 18, 2020 images

School TV

California schools rightfully are very cautious to resume in-person classes. My daughter’s high school informed us school will start up again from her bedroom.

The administration has accepted the unanimous recommendation of the COVID-19 Task Force and has determined that the school will open in August in distance learning mode exclusively, with all classes taught remotely.

My son’s university offered an online option as well. I am glad he is not going to the campus in Los Angeles this fall. Many of his friends also opted for the study from home option.

It was good to hear on NPR’s Up First that the Los Angeles School district and teacher’s unions are on-board with online classes. Safety first.

This brings of course the problem that many poorer students do not have access to a computer at home. It may be very difficult for them to take classes from home.

But is that really a problem, or have we not considered all options?

First of all, many people, of all levels in society seem to have access to a smartphone. Hey Google, let’s put out a K-12 Youtube curriculum. Hey Quibi, this may be pivot you have been waiting for: record classes in phone format and offer them for free. Upsell the evening entertainment.

It is true that even if there is a smartphone in the home, it is difficult to share among all kids, or you may not have an unlimited data plan.

Thus, we need a second offering. Let’s put those Youtube curricula on regular over-the-air TV. Let’s repurpose public television to broadcast various grades of K-12 classes.

I grew up on some horrendous school television from the Belgian Radio and Television (BRT). Here’s an example about the Belgian Train System. Even sex education was available via school TV.

We don’t need to wait for Elon Musk’s Starlink for easy internet in remote locations. Let’s just go back old school and tune into channel 9 for today’s class from Ms Gonzales on the difference between ser and estar.

July 14, 2020