The Charter House, Bellvue KY

The Charter House restaurant in Bellvue, Kentucky has a spectacular over-the-river view of the Cincinnati skyline. Known for friendly service, the layout of the establishment is spacious with open seating. With carpeted floors, the acoustics is not too noisy. Warm colors, ambient and pinpoint lighting, and colorful fish paintings adorning the walls make The Charter House feel comfortable and a place to bring friends or work associates.

For starters, I ordered the Lobster Bisque. The presentation was nice – the bisque came in a little kettle shaped bowl complete with handle and lid. The soup was ladled over a small mound of lobster meat at the bottom of the bowl. The flavor and serving portion was just right.

For the main course, I had the seared scallops with bok-choy and coconut rice. The light soy and sesame dressing added the right amount of flavor for the scallops. It was overpowering for the rice though, not allowing the coconut flavor to come through. Toward the end of the dish, much of the rice was left swimming in the soy broth. After finishing the meal, instead of tasting the full ensemble of flavors, I was left tasting lots of salty soy, garlic, and sesame.

I would recommend the chef ease off on the sauces. This seems to be an ongoing issue for many restaurants I visit – dishes drowned in sauces. Perhaps a better approach for this entrée would be to offer the sauce on the side.

All in all, I would say The Charter House is a nice place to dine. However, the lingering soy taste prevents me from highly recommending this restaurant.

Weird Week In Review - June 20

In case you missed last week, here is your one stop review of all things from WeirdGuy blog. Have fun!

A Strategic Plan For Data Mining

4 Communication Styles To Reach Customers

Using Social Networks To Support Learning And Training

The HUGE Value Of A Learning Strategy

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Flock — A Bloggers Favorite Browser

Here is a post from dAlen about Flock, the Social Web Browser. If you blog, use Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, or YouTube you will want to check this browser out.

Flock also provides tools for bloggers and other users who want to create content—and that’s where this browser really shines. If you run a blog, you have the option of inputting your log-in information for a number of common weblogging hosts and services, such as Live Journal, Movable Type, or Blogger. Once you’ve entered that information, you can click on the browser’s Blog option to launch a pop-up window that is preconfigured with your weblog’s categories and posting options, and also provides space for writing an entry.

Read more…

Download Flock 1.1 for Windows, Mac or Linux

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Weird Week In Review - Mar. 28

In case you missed last week, here is your one stop review of all things from WeirdGuy blog. Have fun!

4 Things That Will Change Your Life

Hilarious “Cat Man Do” Video

Networking, Character, and Competency Still Matter

Rethinking Life and Relationships With Web 2.0

Quotable Quote - Cicero

Blogging, The Long Tail, And Leading vs. Following

Quotable Quote - Plato

How To Make Bananas Foster

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- Weird Week In Review (Mar. 14)
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How To Make Bananas Foster

This is one of my favorite desserts and is always fun to make for dinner parties! It often “wows” the guests if you light the mixture table-side. Enjoy!

clipped from www.wikihow.com Bananas Foster is a dessert that originated in New Orleans, Louisiana (US). It’s fairly easy to make and very impressive to watch, not to mention delicious. The burst of dancing flames will dazzle the audience, caramelize the bananas and tantalize your guests, while pleasing the eyes and “astonishing” the taste buds all in one shot! Two bananas 1 cup of brown sugar 1/2 stick of butter 1/8 of a cup of spiced rum: one shot 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract/essence Vanilla ice cream Peel and cut bananas lengthwise and in half, then set aside. Remove the ice cream from the freezer and allow it to soften. Set burner to medium to high heat Place the butter into the saucepan, stirring continuously to prevent burning. Add 1 cup of brown sugar to the melted butter and stir constantly, this should be allowed to cook and caramelize for about 3-5 minutes. Once the brown sugar and butter mixture is the consistency of warm maple syrup, turn the burners to low. Add the banana slices. Coat thoroughly and allow bananas to soften. Add the vanilla extract. It may seem overpowering at first but it will mellow. Once the vanilla smell reduces add the spiced rum to the mix. Allow 10 seconds to simmer before lighting the mixture. Let the mixture burn itself out and pour the warm bananas foster over the ice cream. While fun to watch, the flames actually add nothing to the taste or texture of the final dish. So if you are scared: Don’t. It will taste exactly the same. Add additional flare by sprinkling a mixture of sugar and cinnamon over the flames. It will create a sparkling effect.

Creative Parent Training

By E. Brown

While at dinner last night with some friends the topic of children came up. I have two children and love them both dearly. The couple we were dining with are newly weds and have been thinking about having children. I wish I had seen these books prior to last night. From Wry Baby comes two hilarious parental training books: Safe Baby Pregnancy Tips and Safe Baby Handling Tips. The authors, David and Kelly Sopp, use creativity and illustration to equip expecting and new parents with the do’s and dont’s of child raising. Grab your own copies today and start learning!

Oh yes, remember - have fun!

A New Iron Man Trailer Released - Promising This Movie To Be The Best Marvel Debut Yet

No, it is not on the official Iron Man movie site - yet. The newest trailer, that screened at WonderCon, is on the Web and is HOT!! Check it out on MySpace.

The movie is due to release May 2, 2008. Visit the official site for downloads, character sketches, fan art, and more.

Peter Pan and Willy Wonka On Creative Thinking

I just saw this slide show on Communication Nation. As I have stated before, you do not have to be an artist to be creative and exercise your creativity. The author, Kelsy Ruger of PopLabs, explores many of the popular myths about creativity in the workplace and how to overcome them.

Have fun and enjoy!

| View |

Do We Need To Justify Innovation?

As strange as it may seem, many businesses want or even need innovation, but are not willing to pony-up for the project or initiative. Why?

clipped from innovateonpurpose.blogspot.com We were asked recently to consider speaking on the topic of justifying innovation. That’s a difficult topic but one that needs to be addressed, since many individuals are being asked to start an innovation initiative, but also justify the investment in resources and dollars, and the opportunity costs. First question we ask when someone wants to “justify” innovation is: Innovation project or innovation program? Next question - why do we need to justify innovation at all? No one would ever question the relative value of a purchasing team and process and software, or a sales team. If the one key competitive advantage you have left is in creating new products and services faster and more effectively than your competition, do you need to justify the infrastructure to do that? Next, what’s the value of one good idea? Do you think that Proctor&Gamble has recouped all of its innovation investments from the Swiffer alone? Finally, the last thought around innovation. There are two metrics you can use to measure how well innovation is working. For the first year, most likely, you’ll need to use process based metrics. How many ideas did we create? How many ideas moved into new product or service development? You need to establish your goals and use these metrics early on because it takes time for ideas to prove their value. The second metric is what we call outcome based metrics. Over time as the ideas you generate have impact, you should be able to trace the revenues and margin back to your innovation team. Recognize that probably 85 to 90 percent of your original ideas may not provide a payback, but some will.

Innovation and Authenticity

What do you think–is there a trend toward authentic products and services? Are consumers clamoring for more authenticity from you? How can you innovate and show yourself as real and relevant?Read what Innovate On Purpose had to say about this topic. See below.

clipped from innovateonpurpose.blogspot.com Driving to work listening to NPR this morning, I heard an interview with two pollsters who were talking about the presidential race. What was interesting to me was that one of the most important aspects of the campaigns, and the candidates, was the concept of authenticity. I think there’s a trend forming - not just in politics but in all facets of life in the US. Things have become so packaged, so commercialized, that many of us yearn for something that is more original, more meaningful, more..dare I say it..authentic. So, if there is a trend toward seeking products and services that are “authentic”, what can that mean for your business? Your marketing needs to reflect your status in the industry and the intent and history of the business. However, authenticity isn’t really a “fad” or trend, and will be hard to claim as your own if your firm is merely a follower. To be authentic, you’ll need to make a claim or stake out some turf and defend it.

Candle Unlike No Other (PIC)

Here is another example of using creativity for a product that has been around for ages. The Bravit L1 is a candle you could literally sit and watch. The fun design makes this a creative product worthy buying.

clipped from dustbowl.wordpress.com

How To Create A “Best Of” Widget From Your All Time Top Posts On WordPress

By E. Brown

NOTE: This is for those hosting their blogs for free on WordPress. If you are not sure, you can check your URL. It will read something like name.wordpress.com

Like you, I frequently monitor the Blog Stats page on the WordPress Dashboard. It’s a barometer of audience participation and whether articles are of relevance. To make it easy for my readers to find the “Best Of WeirdGuy” I would manually go through the posts and note the lifetime views until I had a list of 10-20 articles. Then I would load the links into a Text widget. Needless to say, this process was cumbersome and time consuming. I emailed WordPress and after some back-and-forth correspondence Alex and I found the statistics pot of gold. Now creating a “Best Of…” widget is much easier.

I have had several bloggers comment on the “Best Of…” widget in my sidebar and some have asked me how to do it. For posterity, I decided to create this How-To so that you can share your best-of-the-best with the world. Enjoy!

Step 1 - Gather Your Data
From your Dashboard > Blog Stats Admin page, click on Top Posts & Pages.

From Top Posts & Pages you can view summaries of top posts from the last week, 30 days, 3 months, or year. For this exercise we want to click on the line Summarize: All Time. This will give you a summary of the top posts for the life of the blog.

Collect your data here for your top 10+ articles and posts.

Step 2 - Format Your Widget
I like to open a second window, or if you use Tab Browsing, another Tab. Navigate to your Presentation > Widgets Admin page. Use an extra Text widget and title it, Best Of… (or something else snappy).

You will need to know some simple HTML for this next part. You can create a bulleted list or numbered list — the choice is yours. I like to use a bulleted list, or in HTML, an unordered list <ul>. Here you will move back and forth between your two Tabs or Windows. Return to your All Time stats page and Copy the link location (PC: right mouse click or Mac: CTRL click). Move back to your widget and Paste the URL for the article within your <a> tag. Type the article title, close out your tag and move on to the next link. Copy the next link location from the stats page and move back to the widget until you have added all your links.

Your HTML Code should look something like this:

<li><a href=”Link Location Here”>Article Title Goes Here</a><br>

The <li> tag is for each List Item and the <br> tag puts a Break after the line.

Step 3 - Save Changes
Finally, close your widget and Save Changes from your Admin page. Click View Site to review your handy work and make sure it looks the way you expected and is placed on your blog where you want. If you need to tweak it or add/change more, just repeat Step 2 — That’s it!

What I have outlined here is “one way” of doing this. If anyone has used another method please feel free to share in the comments section below. Thanks.

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The Power of Enthusiasm

By E. Brown

One of the questions I often ask speakers is, “Are you enthusiastic about your topic?” Whether it be a professional speaker, teacher, manager, or CEO the power of enthusiasm has a remarkable effect on people. When you are enthused and excited about a topic or project the people around you get excited too. When you are not enthusiastic about a topic or project — guess what? Yep, the people around you pick up on it and are not interested either.

The power of enthusiasm affects us all. Henry Ford said it well:

You can do anything if you have enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes rise to the stars. Enthusiasm is the spark in your eye, the swing in your gait, the grip of your hand, the irresistible surge of your will and your energy to execute your ideas. Enthusiasts are fighters, they have fortitude, they have staying qualities. Enthusiasm is at the bottom of all progress! With it there is accomplishment. Without it, there are only alibis.

Are you enthusiastic about…

- where you are in your job?
- the place that you work?
- the position you are in?
- your particular role on the team?
- where you are headed in your vocation?
- your personal relationships?
- what you are studying?
- the direction your life is headed?
- what will happen tomorrow?

As you can see, enthusiasm touches all aspects of our lives. Don’t settle for mediocrity. If you’re in a place that you are less than enthused about, what options or opportunities do you see around you? Can you get excited about what you’re doing or do you need a change of place and pace?

Life is and can be fun! Take a look around, assess the situation, and choose today what kind of enthusiasm you are going to show and teach. Enthusiasm is a powerful thing.

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5 Keys To Success At Work And Life

By E. Brown

Author and coach, Dan Miller, offers these often overlooked factors that can become the keys to success in all you do. Although, these were originally aimed at the workplace, you will see that they have application across the broader spectrum of life. I hope you find them as encouraging as I did.

The 5 Keys To Success
1) Passion - Without passion a person drifts aimlessly through life taking each event and day as it comes. Fire fighting and rolling with the punches from week to week. But, a person with passion is a person with goals. They have a target and they are on the road to achievement.

2) Determination - Many talk about purpose today. Having a purpose in life and a purpose for the things done on a daily basis. When there is a purpose, there is determination to see it through. If an obstacle arises, it does not send a person spinning into other directions. An on-purpose person has the determination to stick it out and work through the obstacle to keep moving toward the goal.

3) Talent - There is a lot of talk today about talent. Finding your unique talent and strengths make you a better employee and person. As Jim Collins said in his book Good To Great and Marcus Buckingham said in his book Now Discover Your Strengths, not everyone is talented in every area. Yet, everyone has a talent. Wise is the person who discovers their talent and maximizes it.

4) Self-Discipline - Many dislike this word because it does not come natural. I struggle with this as well, but without self-discipline a person can be easily swayed. This is often the foundational character quality that the other keys are built upon.

5) Faith - You have done your research, you have crunched the numbers, you have talked with various people you trust, but there is still the uncertainty of the unknown. This is where faith comes into play. Sometimes you just have to step out. You cannot reach new heights by having both feet on the ground.

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iPhone With More Memory. Apple Almost Has It Right.

Alright Apple, spin this however you’d like, but the fact remains people want more memory at a better price. The “cool factor” is starting to wane and many iPhone adopters see their friends with inexpensive phones and iPod’s with lots more memory that still get the job done.

So, Mr. Jobs, get off your high-horse and eat the bitter pill of unmoved iPhone inventory. Yank out the low memory guts and replace it with more. Then you’ll be able to recoup some of your production and marketing costs.

Like I said in the article, Your Virtual iPhone, what I have works great and I am not switching until this product gets where it needs to be — and it will get there. To bad many will spend 2 to 3 times over what it would have cost to wait for the “right one.”

clipped from crave.cnet.com Apple doubled the capacity of the iPhone and the iPod Touch on Tuesday for an additional $100. Apple thinks that there’s still room for an 8GB iPhone in the mix, said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of worldwide iPod and iPhone product marketing. The first time around, people signaled pretty clearly that they wanted more than 4GB of storage, but he thinks that there’s still a “sweet spot” at 8GB of storage. And the iPod Touch can also store more music and videos now, with 32GB of capacity for $499. That device is now available in three versions, with Apple also selling a 16GB model for $399 and an 8GB model for $299.

Great Japanese Monster Collection

From BoingBoing, comes this wonderful collection of Japanese monster figures made by Bandai. Brings back lots of memories — I was watching the original Godzilla yesterday with my son…good times…good times.

clipped from www.boingboing.net

Designer Chair for Dr. Evil? (PIC)

OK, this made me laugh. I mean, it is a legit design and I am sure it is very comfortable, but it made me think of Dr. Evil.

You could also lay the chair on its back and use it as a basinet. Hmm…

I am certainly for creative and fun ideas, but I cannot see this in anyones home - sorry.

clipped from dustbowl.wordpress.com

USA Today and Creative Learning - About Time!

By E. Brown

I read an article in USA Today that was about the new and creative use of technology amongst university professors as a means to teach and meet with students. Utilizing technology to bridge distance and time and make connecting easier.

Certainly, I am glad this is in the news, but the fact is, it’s not new news. Using computer technology for mass training and teaching started gaining popularity in the early 1980’s. I think back to Clement Mok’s kiosk that he created using Apple HyperCard. Anyone remember that? This new use of technology was used at a convention to connect attendees. So, what paradigm has changed between then and now (outside of the obvious fact that technology is more widespread and more powerful)?

The articles stated:

Harvard University computer science professor, David Malan, is one of a growing number of professors nationwide turning to Internet technology to enhance course communication and connect with students.

“There is a tremendous advantage especially when it expands on the potential for learning and allows students to access materials in different ways,” says Jillian Kinzie, associate director of the National Survey of Student Engagement.

The article goes on to say:

Richard Lillie, an accounting lecturer at California State University-San Bernadino, says virtual office hours and other means of communication are the future of education. “It’s going to have significant ramifications. …We have to think, ‘How can we really use these tools creatively to communicate and still guide the learning process?’”

Hmmm…sounds vaguely familiar. How can we use these tools to creatively teach and communicate?

Note to self: Start a blog that discusses tools, techniques, and tips on using technology for equipping and training with a creative twist — call it ‘WeirdGuy.’

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