photo credit: Western Horse Review

photo credit: The Calgary Sun

photo credit: CTV News

During NA 373 Adam brought up how he is a big fan of the Calgary Stampede. The annual event is a big rodeo in Calgary, Alberta.  Adam said he isn’t a fan of bull riding or other parts of the rodeo, but he loves Barrel Racing, where hot cowgirls ride horses around barrels.

During No Agenda #268, John Dvorak mentioned the Ghost Towns of China. These are newly built communities that aren’t occupied by anyone and appear abandoned.

From the Daily Mail:

These amazing satellite images show sprawling cities built in remote parts of China that have been left completely abandoned, sometimes years after their construction.

Elaborate public buildings and open spaces are completely unused, with the exception of a few government vehicles near communist authority offices.

Some estimates put the number of empty homes at as many as 64 million, with up to 20 new cities being built every year in the country’s vast swathes of free land.

The photographs have emerged as a Chinese government think tank warns that the country’s real estate bubble is getting worse, with property prices in major cities overvalued by as much as 70 per cent.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1339536/Ghost-towns-China-Satellite-images-cities-lying-completely-deserted.html#ixzz1BL998DeP

Adam was invited to dinner at the exclusive private club, Soho House. Adam was guest of Micky’s friend, director/writer Frank Coraci (The Wedding Singer, Waterboy). Adam explained that it’s a private club that originated in London and that you can get black balled by other members. Adam always finds it interesting to explain what he’s up to and how his concepts are received while he is in these kinds of social situations.

Soho House West Hollywood
9200 W. Sunset Blvd. [map]
West Hollywood, CA

http://www.sohohousewh.com

Bonaire - photo by Adam Curry via Twitter

Adam and Micky are vacationing on the beautiful island of Bonaire in the Dutch Antilles.

Adam was having a lot of issues getting the live stream working even when throttled down to 32kbps. Nevertheless, the show went on!

Adam is taking the week off and heading to the Dutch Antilles with his girlfriend Micky. He didn’t disclose which island he is headed, but we wonder if he is going to St. Maarten with its infamous airport. As an airman, Adam should appreciate the crazy landing approach to the airport as it’s adjacent to this nice tropical beach!

Congrats Adam to your new focus on No Agenda, App Show and DSC. New doors are opening all around!

Emeryville/Powell St. Exit - Emeryville, CA

A John C. Dvorak Pet Peeve of the Day feature!

Oh no! John’s Lexus is getting trashed while he attempts to traverse the pothole ridden freeways of the Bay Area.

To get an idea for yourself, Dvorak reports if you head eastbound on I80, then take the Emeryville/Powell St. exit, then head towards Trader Joes’s. Dvorak claims that are so many pothole’s it’s like your in Mexico or a third world country! John point is he doesn’t think any of the excessive taxes he is charged on his rental car ever make it to repairing our crumbling infrastructure.

Los Altos Gun Club Shooting Range

Dvorak shoots rare and exotic guns here. Mentioned in No Agenda #18

It’s officially known as One Rincon Hill and it was mentioned during No Agenda #3 while it was still under construction. This is the tallest building in SF altitude-wise and contains condos and apartments – Dvorak was pointed out that it is built right at the base of the Bay Bridge and if it ever falls or it’s glass falls out during an earthquake it’s a disaster waiting to happen. It replaced the old Union76 building which used to have a clock on it. One design feature of the building is the water tank at the very top which is supposed to act as a counter balance in the case of high winds or an earthquake.

Currently the building is finished and occupied while many of the residents bicker over where dogs are allowed to pee.

Adam and Micki came here for a recent weekend getawaway (June 2010). The Hotel del Coronado is a famous, picturesque, hotel/resort located near San Diego, California. You might recognize it from the Marilyn Monroe movie, “Some Like It Hot”.

Overall, Adam thought the place was run down and not worth the money.  Service was also subpar and disappointing.  One feature of the hotel, is the infamous ‘haunted room”; unfortunately, it was occupied so they couldn’t go check it out.

Since the nicer restaurant, Ocean 1500 was closed, they dined at the neighboring Sheerwater. The food was declared, ‘marginal’ and service ‘atrocious’!

To top it all off, the hotel’s beach is in the flight path of the nearby military base – loud aircraft buzzed by every three minutes!

Mentioned during show #210

Yelp review
Hotel Del Coronado

500 Orange Ave
(between Adella Ave & Glorietta Blvd) map
Coronado, CA 92118

(619) 522-8490

Albany, California – usually referenced as “Silicon Valley North”, is Dvorak’s home when he’s not up in Port Angeles, WA.

It’s a relatively quieter town than its southern neighbor, Berkeley. Lots of quaint, small houses and good schools make this a popular bedroom community for the San Francisco Bay Area. The towns main drag, Solano Ave., sports cafés, restaurants and boutiques.

This cities website is one of the most tasteful and well designed ones I have ever seen!