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On a recent trip to northern California, I dropped by a couple of saloons that are worth mentioning. The day we arrived in San Francisco we visited the 21st Amendment Brewery where the annual Strong Beer Month was in full swing. Most beers on the menu registered at least 8 percent and some were as high as 12!

I tried the Hendrik’s Russian Imperial Espresso Stout and loved every sip. If Guinness got Starbucks knocked up, this would be the offspring. What an amazing beer!

My wife sampled the Watermelon Wheat Wine which is really just a light, filtered wheat beer with a refreshing essence of watermelon. Superb!

The 21st Amendment has pretty good food and a loud, lively atmosphere. Trying to slog from the front door to the dining room on a Friday night reminded me of a college keg party. It was packed with all kinds of people enjoying a beer and a laugh. This would be a good place to hang with a bunch of friends.

A couple of days into the trip I was ready to visit the bar that some people say is San Francisco’s beer Mecca. The Toronado Bar on Haight Street is nirvana for beer nerds. With a huge selection of regional drafts and a splash of other fine beers from around the world, Toronado ranks as maybe the best beer bar you’ll ever visit. And they have $2.50 pints daily from 11:30am to 6pm!

As I sat at the bar, staring at the big board of brews trying to decide which to try first, I was greeted by a stereotypical baby boomer hippie from the Haight. He was all about peace, love and beer. At first I tried to ignore the guy and settle on a beer to drink. However, it quickly became clear that this guy wanted to talk and so I figured if I was cornered then I would at least choose the subject of discussion…beer.

He explained that he had found the last beer he would ever drink. “Pliny the Elder,” he said with a slur and a sip. Pliny the Elder. It’s that good. He was right. It’s a creation of Russian River Brewing Company and it’s a remarkable beer. It’s a double IPA that’s a little more hoppy than most and it has incredible honey and citrus flavors that go perfectly together. It’s kind of like the Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA only better.

Russian River sends some of their beers to the east coast so I’m now on a mission to get a keg installed in my favorite local tap room. Al from The Druid’s Keep promises to keep an eye out for it and let me know when he can get it. Don’t worry, I’ll call ya.

Have you tried to use the credit card machine in a Philadelphia cab lately? I have tried several times and the overwhelming resistance I got from the cab drivers was very telling. These guys don’t want you to use the credit card machine. And they’re so determined to have you pay cash that they’ll argue with you for the entire length of your trip. They bitch and moan about losing money but the fact is that when you DO use the credit card machine you get an option to give them a 20 percent tip or enter another value. I’m sure that they’re still getting their tips so why the hostility?

All I am left to assume is that they’ve been skimming money and scamming their bosses for decades and now the credit card machines are cutting into those margins. They fought them from the start and they’ve now turned that fight to the consumer. It’s extremely uncomfortable to have a cab driver ridicule you for taking money from his pocket. The customer shouldn’t be subjected to this. It’s someone else’s fight.

Mark my words. The day will come when we hear a news story about how cab riding customers prove that they don’t want to pay with a credit card because they aren’t doing so. The machines will be removed or disabled. I guarantee that it’s coming and I guarantee that it’ll be because of the intimidation tactics of the Philadelphia cab driver. Most people will just bow to them instead of arguing. Why should you have to have that fight when you’re just trying to get where you’re going?

From this day forward I will absolutely insist on using the credit card machine if that’s what works for me and if I have to get out of one cab and get into another then that’s what I’ll do. Philadelphia cab rates are some of the highest in the country and we as consumers don’t need attitude from the driver on top of that.

One of the few joys of traveling by air these days is finding a great place to eat dinner once you’ve arrived. While working in Dallas this week I had a hankering for good TexMex and a margarita so I started Googling. I found an amazing place just northeast of downtown Dallas, not far from the Cotton Bowl. Matt’s Rancho Martinez turned out to be one great find.

Tucked into an alcove near the historic, art deco Lakewood Theater, Matt’s serves outstanding, cheap TexMex grub and 23 varieties of margarita. I went with the standard house version - frozen, no salt. Perfect.

Many of the reviews I read raved about the Bob Armstrong appetizer (guacamole and ground beef smothered in queso) but I didn’t think I could eat that much food. I would up getting the beef enchiladas with rice and beans. Quick, cheap and delicious.

I sampled a colleague’s beef fajitas and the meat just melted like butter. I can’t say enough good things about the place. If you’re in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area it is absolutely worth the trip.

Matt’s Rancho Martinez
6332 La Vista Dr
Dallas, TX 75214
Phone: (214) 823-5517

I’m in Las Vegas covering the Consumer Electronics Show for a large cable company based in Philadelphia. Chew on that one. This is my first time in Vegas and I must say that I have been very impressed so far. The city is clean and colorful and really interesting.

I’m shooting XDCAM HD and I can’t stress enough the joy I get from looking like a real professional in an environment like this. I mean, this camera is a real professional camera. That’s the problem with much of today’s  smaller gear. It’s makes you look like an amateur. This honkin’ axe commands instant respect!

There’s a ton of stuff to see and do so I’m sure the days will fly by. I plan to take tons of pictures and will post some here if I can figure out the flickr thing.

I hope to get to the Hoover Dam on Wednesday since it’s only 32 miles from my hotel, the Luxor. I’m told that seeing it produces one of those holy crap moments, kinda like the Grand Canyon. We shall see.

Jeez, I wish America Airlines was the dominant carrier in Philly. Their checkin system and customer service in Nashville is the best I have encountered in many years. In fact, the Nashville Airport Marriott was exceptional as well. Maybe it’s the city. Too bad I’m not into the whole cowboy thing.

I usually have to check a bunch of equipment when I travel for work and it’s just a hellish nightmare with US Airways. I have to stand in long lines in order to get checked in and I’m never sure that my gear will get to my destination no matter how early I check in. They’ve taken bad service to another level. Yeah, I know, you just turned your first profit in a decade. Good for you. You still suck.

American on the other hand has a newfangled kiosk that allows me to check in and pay for extra gear using my credit card. There’s no waiting and I can even make seat changes and pay for upgrades in the same transaction. It’s truly a gift from the travel gods. As I write this I’m enjoying a $90 upgrade to first class. Thanks, American.

If you’re looking for a nice place to eat in Miami I can make a recommendation. On a recent business trip, a colleague and I tried a great little Italian place called Big Fish.

Big Fish sits on the southern shore of the Miami River. It’s tucked along a stretch of the downtown area that is undergoing a huge construction boom and some promising renovation.

There’s not much to look at right now but its nice to dine in an open air environment just a few feet from the water.

I had the Sea Bass Tagliollini with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus. It was simply one of the best fish dishes I’ve ever had.

My colleague had the salmon with couscous and sauteed fennel. She raved about it.

Most entrees were priced from $15-32 and they had a great wine list. I had an Argentinian Cabernet Syrah that was outstanding!

Soon this part of the city will be bustling with new tennants and businesses as the dozen or so high rise condo and office buildings reach completion. At that point Big Fish will no longer be a secret…and it’ll be a much smaller fish in a much bigger pond.

Big Fish
55 SW Miami Avenue Rd
Miami, FL
(305) 373-1770
http://www.thebigfishmiami.com

Sometimes a less than appealing NFL matchup ends up being a pretty decent game. I was sent to Baltimore last weekend to shoot the Cardinals at the Ravens. Not much appeal there, but hey, it’s an NFL game and I can’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday in the fall.

The Ravens dominated the first half, moving the ball at will, but were unable to score touchdowns. They had a 20 - 3 lead when the Cards replaced their young quarterback Matt Leinhart with the wily veteran Kurt Warner. The offense went “no huddle” and the redbirds started moving the ball. By the 4th quarter the score was knotted at 23!

The Ravens moved into position for a game winning field goal with a few seconds left and Matt Stover drilled it though for the win. The capacity crowd of 71,000 loved it!

So that’s three game winning field goals in three weeks for me. Denver beat Buffalo with a kick as time expired in week 1. Then Detroit nipped Minnesota with a field gaol in overtime. And now this. I hope the football gods keep ‘em coming.

One of the most frequent topics I’m asked about is getting hit on the sidelines while shooting. It happens to someone nearly every game. It’s like being in a plane crash or getting hit by lightning - it usually happens to someone else.

The first time I got hit was in Minneapolis on a Sunday night during a game between the Eagles and Vikings. It was Primetime in Philly and everyone saw the carnage when Orlando Thomas flattened my ass on national television. The hit was so clean, so incredibly square and pure that I don’t think either of us felt it. It’s like when you hit a golf ball just right. There’s no shock, no vibration, just a satisfyingly soft bit of feedback that tells you you struck it just right.

I had no pain - in fact, the only sign that I had been hit was a strawberry on my elbow thanks to that lovely turf in the Metrodome. Of course, I was around thirty years old and fairly fit so I didn’t expect to feel sore. These days I’d never get away with that.

Fast forward about 12 years to September 9, 2007. I’m 42 and I’m now regularly sore from the rigors of sleeping. It’s tough to just lay there for 8 hours. Anyway, I’m in my usual position, seated along the side of the end zone as the Broncos are driving for a score. Cutler releases the ball. I tilt up, find it, lock on and roll focus. Everything slows down. I immediately start thinking about getting crushed because if the ball isn’t caught it’s going to hit me. It’s one of those timing plays where the quarterback just lobs the ball up into the corner of the end zone and hopes his receiver can make a play. And make a play he did.

Brandon Marshall, a 6′4″ 230lb. receiver made a perfect grab, tapped both toes inbounds and fell directly into me. My lens hit him right between the numbers, jamming the viewfinder into the bridge of my nose. What’s a little blood between friends?

Marshall recovered nicely and went on his way, celebrating a truly great catch. I dusted myself off, mopped the blood off my nose and commented that I couldn’t wait to see that one on HBO. As it turns out, my shot was nearly as well executed as the Broncos’ touchdown play. The fact that I didn’t bail out on the shot makes it - in my humble opinion - one of the best shots of a touchdown from a guy who got creamed. I mean, I was steady until the absolute moment of impact and I widened out just at the right moment so you could see him catch the ball and then tap both toes inbounds. I think I nailed it and if you’re a competitive sideline shooter, those are the moments you live for.

Lots of friends and colleagues commented on the shot but very few asked if I had any lasting effects. It turns out that this hit was much harder to recover from than the shot I had taken more than a decade earlier. It’s three weeks on and I still have some soreness in my chest and back.

It’s a bitch getting old.

There are some places in the NFL that have a certain funk. You know, the kind of place you get sent when you’re not on the “A” team. These are places you wouldn’t necessarily go if given the choice. Let me just go on record as saying that for me, Buffalo isn’t one of them. The team has been bad lately but in a sick way, I enjoy going there.

Buffalo has the best wing place in the world. Duff’s is on Millersport Highway in Amherst. If you like wings and football, do yourself a favor and go to there for a weekend of spicy bird parts and good gridiron action. Screw the Anchor Bar, Duff’s knows how to make a chicken wing. They also have their own beer which isn’t too bad.

I used to have Duff’s number programmed into my phone’s speed dial. I’d call them when I landed at the airport and pick up 20 mediums on the way to the hotel. Now we have a guy who drives the film up and back so we usually go there together to shoot the shit and stuff ourselves.

Buffalo also has one of the most underappreciated camera assistants in the business. Dave Budzjeiko is a local, quirky guy with a thick upstate New York accent and a thin upstate New York mustache. He’s a lot like me, a freelancer who is sometimes unsure of exactly where he stands. What can I tell ya, we’re all insecure.

Dave gets a ton of respect from me because he’s simply one of the best. I have never, ever had a problem with a mag loaded by Dave. He’s fast, accurate and he thinks ahead. He’s what every film loader should aspire to be. Good thing the Bills haven’t won anything lately or I may never have found Duff’s…and one of the company’s best assistants.

People are always asking me about my work for NFL Films. They seem fascinated by it. I’ll admit it’s a good job on a number of levels. Not the least of which is the marketing factor for the rest of my business. People are impressed by NFL Films and working for them seems to trick people into thinking I’m good. I shouldn’t say that. I just wanna stay humble.

Quiet confidence is good. There are plenty of guys I work with who think their crap doesn’t stink just because they shoot guys who throw a ball real good. Guess what, Hoss, you ain’t saving lives. Let’s not lose sight of that.

I really enjoy being on an NFL sideline in the fall so I’ll probably keep doing this as long as they let me. I’m certainly not doing it for the money. ‘Nuff said on that one.

I shot the Vikings/Jets game at the Meadowlands in week 2 of the preseason. NFL Films produces a show called Hey Rookie which airs on ESPN. They follow some of the top draft picks around during the preseason and assemble a show about their experiences as they enter the league. I have shot Hey Rookie for four seasons now. It’s a pretty good gig.

This year I was shooting Vikings running back Adrian Peterson. He had a good night - scored his first NFL touchdown - and was happy to tell us all about it on camera. He looks like a real player. I think the Vikings will be a contender this season. Their defense had a great night. I know, I know, it’s only the preseason.

The strangest thing I encountered while shooting Hey Rookie was two years ago in Denver. The Broncos and 49ers had just finished the third game of the preseason and I was standing outside the 9ers locker room with NFL Films soundman Al Feurbach.

We were waiting to interview then rookie quarterback Alex Smith. All of the sudden people started running in and out of the 49ers locker room. There was definitely something very bad happening but none of us knew what it was. We were speculating that maybe someone had collapsed. Boy were we right. About 15 minutes later, an ambulance backed up to the door and out on a stretcher came 23 year old Thomas Herrion, a young offensive tackle who was trying to make the team. He had collapsed as coach Mike Nolan was finishing up his post-game speech to the team.

As they rolled him out of the locker room - in uniform - and loaded him onto the ambulance there were people who were clearly making desperate attempts to save his life. They were giving him CPR and it really didn’t look good. Herrion was pronounced dead at the hospital a short time later and needless to say, we didn’t do the interview with our rookie.

Crazy, sad stuff.

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