Dave McGirr - One for the Thumb

Dave and I go back probably at least 4 decades. We met in Tenafly, NJ. Most likely it was through Little League or soccer. I went off to prep school and Dave stayed at Tenafly High. Every time I came home during high school I always got together with Dave. We shared a lot in common.

Dave loves to laugh. Super sharp wit. I think he picked it up on his world travels. He has been around the world many times (excuse me he hitch hiked around the world....think Ox Cart in India). Dave is an entrepreneur through and through. The word "can't" is not in his vocabulary.

In 2008 Dave hosted myself and my son in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was a trip of a life time. We went to the Albuquerque balloon festival. We went horse back riding and played cowboy and we saw a few Indian casinos, also went to a mineral spa in New Mexico that was absolutely amazing. Dave picked us up at the airport and took care of EVERYTHING. We ate like kings. Saw some amazing sunsets.

I could write a book about Dave and the things we've done together. But if you count all of your close friends on one hand, Dave is on my thumb. Thanks Buddy I love you!

Jack Coffou - He Left the World a Better Place

Jack Coffou was as good as a friend as you could find any where. Think about it. When you have to move your house how many friends say YES? Most of them head for the hills including family. Not Jack. He headed down to New Jersey with me and we then drove my stuff back to Boston. Jack gave his unconditional love to his family and everyone around him.

Jack always went through life with a big smile on his face. I've never seen him down, not once. He and I were in the web printing business in Chicago for many years. Both of us became print brokers around the same time. We both felt that we could offer our clients more be giving them more solutions than just one printing shop. The press runs we got into were web runs and big volumes. (Think Junk Mail)

Just this past week I learned that Jack had passed away from a massive heart attack. For me this was a huge shock, he was a big strong man. A bigger shock was he passed away almost two years ago. Shame on me for not keeping in touch. However I had a lot of my own stuff going on at the time.

Bewildered and perplexed and sad I could not say good by to my comrade I searched the internet and found a really short sweet clip of Jack. He left me with one more laugh. Thanks Jack! I love you.

Ron Goedendorp - Going to Indonesia? - Go Ron Go -

I met a guy named Ron. He was sitting in a corner office on Spear St. in San Francisco and it was loaded with books and a surfboard. He was the "wizard," the oracle of invention. His invention "SomethingNow.com" Yup you heard that right he is the brains behind Something Now, not Something Later but Something NOW! WTF is that?

I'm like saying to myself what is this guy doing that affords him the Chairmanship of this high flying Dot.Com? He must be doing something right? He was and is. Ron is a people's person. And he gets stuff done. And not only does it get done, it gets done to perfection, marketing plans, business models, contracts, business plans, you name it Ron can do it.

In my Internet travels he is one of a kind, and a kind man too. He knows when to push and when not to. I love working with Ron. His sense of humor has multiple levels and when we get going on humor it can descend very quickly, I mean super fast...making Eddie Murphy a choir boy.

Ron and his lovely wife Andrea are moving to Indonesia. WTF, Ron....what's over there that is not over here? I mean you might be closer to Jim Rogers the Investment Biker Dude but why the pull to Indonesia? Listen, I hope you have a great journey. We'll still be in touch via SKYPE and GTALK, probably more so.

The glass is always half full with Ron, this toast is for you buddy! Safe Travels. Can you say Go Ron Go?

Twitter Blog: New Front Page!

Twitter Blog: New Front Page!

Camping in Algonquin 2009 Videos

While camping requires a little bit of work and effort it provides some amazing rewards. I had the recent opportunity in July of 2009 to camp with Peter Rhett SKS '77 classmate of mine and my young son Christopher who is 10. We had the opportunity thanks to Peter to go into the back country of Ontario and see Black Bears and Moose as well as Loons. Unfortunately the Moose and Bear move to quickly for us to take pictures of them but we really did see them. The Moose was a bull....like Bullwinkle with a full rack.

Here are some videos from the trip. Some of them are kind of silly and we were just having a little fun. But I think you will see we got a great dose of nature and we were able to drink right out of the lakes and streams as they are untainted and untaxed by the Canadians, Americans or the Bilderbergers.

Peter Rhett - Born to Fish - Forced to Work

Peter Rhett chooses his friends carefully. I feel lucky to know him, I feel lucky to be his friend. He has given me so much I can't put the words together to thank him enough. When I was unable to care for my dog I called him up and asked him if he would be kind enough to look after her, he said a resounding yes, no questions asked other than "when can I come and pick her up?" Why am I so lucky to have a close friend like Peter?

July 4th, 2009 he drove from Virginia to Boston and we then headed to Algonquin Park Canada to do a week of camping together with my son and I. Pete has been to Algonquin at least 20+ times and enjoys nature and the solitude there. He also knows about every plant and animal we had questions for. He is a pure naturalist and truly takes care of the environment. He put us on the most beautiful lakes and we saw two black bears, 2 Mooses, Loons and several other critters, he goes where the animals live.

Peter is well read, super smart, super funny and a super guy, and fun to be around. He is a super great master of dogs, don't be surprised if your dog gravitates to him more than you, he speaks their language and takes awesome care of them. He also has a heart a gold, I learn a lot around Peter, "I love you Super Brother Pete....you're my life long friend." Jim Peake.

Ed Hackney - Nice Guy and Gadget Head

Ed Hackney holding down the fort at the IBM Chess Event in 1997 Kasparov vs. Deep Blue. Glad to say Garry Kasparov kicked IBM's ass in the first round. :-) Now he is kicking butt and taking names in Russia.

I met Ed when I was at K2 Design in New York City. Not only was he the youngest person in the company he might have been the smartest too. One thing about Ed, he loved to learn. He was and still is like a sponge, always asking great questions always learning and he is self taught and put himself through college, nothing lazy about Ed.

Ed and I worked on many projects together. He had the best attitude in the company and was always offering solutions. One thing Ed said many years ago still sticks with me today, "Jim some of the best management training you'll ever get will be working at McDonald's." I believe Ed worked there before he worked at KPMG and then K2. I'd love to work with Ed again. How can I work with more great people like Ed?