The Ralph Account

Pfoodman Pflags High Altitude

2012-01-27T18:30:00.004-05:00

This just in from Elimy Korsh. Looks like Pfoodman has friends in high places!

...Here is my best attempt at a Pfoodman Pflag pic at the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. We hiked super fast and were the first group on the summit that day, somewhere between 0500 and 0530. So at the summit it was still dark, very cold (~0F) and very windy (~40-60mph gusts). I was handling the altitude okay but my friend was not so we needed to descend instead of take lots of pictures....

I'll be posting the full set later but wanted to get this pic in your hands. Thanks James and Matt for coordinating the pflag.
--Emily.

Great Downhill Race

2012-01-23T15:14:00.002-05:00

Some Wild Words with Friends

2012-01-21T09:54:00.001-05:00

I have not won a single game of Words with Friends. How can I go on? Talk about a waste of human time? At of this writing I have waited for zyngawf_7 to make a move for 18 minutes. Why?

My Saturday mornings are met with a "what should I do today" anxiousness that carries over in to "perhaps I will make some rounds at the cafe's"

My staff dislikes this because weekends are when there are fewer mouths to feed an less staff to feed the fewer mouths. I like to make an appearance from time to time. Is that awful? Pfoodman, our business, serves awesome food at an assortment of dining service locations throughout the state. Mainly colleges and universities, we have a bunch of private elementary schools and private high schools too. Business has been good. Now that some really good adjustments have been made.

The objective, as of late, has been to define our "culture of excellence" so we can totally shred it in our market place. Recently we have embarked on a journey to determine what this means--what the tangible aspects of our excellence means. Defining COE happens every day, upon my arrival, when I walk through any number of our restaurants (yes, they are restaurants) pointing out that which is right and that which appears to have opportunity. The fact that we display food in an ambient manner sets the tone for what our customers will choose. Many things go in to why food tastes good, and it is not always about the impeccable standards by which we prepare the end product.

There are things like lighting, room temperature, body language, attentiveness, name tags, music, details of food displays, color and contrast, urgency, so many things that go into the overall balance and symmetry of an operation--those extra things needed to give guests a good "feeling" when choosing what they are going to put in to their bodies. If things are cluttered, out of balance, unfriendly, low energy in any form of the word, the food doesn't taste as good.

Wild Thyme's Wellness is a program that started at Pfoodman's corporate office, and downstairs at the Wolf Public House, one of our licensed brands. While we have trademarked Wild Thymes Wellness to get the maximum out of our commitment to advocating food that is fun, healthier than not, and food that students eat, it is not a total "must do" approach. It is subtle, with images and advocacy towards trying to get students to not only eat but to eat right.

It's been a great program and spirited from an award that I received back in 2010 for Best Citizen in West Newsmagazine. I was voted best citizen, I suppose, for commitment to health and wellness and promoting and advocating wellness in my community. At the time I was promoting multiple bike races, a 5k moonlight Howl Runs, numerous events where the outflow of health and wellness were present. I got a plaque and a picture in the newspaper. Pretty cool stuff.

I thought that, if I was able to get a plaque from the local newspaper, then my clients can get recognition for Pfoodman's efforts to help bring attention to healthier eating. That is what Wild Thyme's is all about, this is what we shall do.

What did you eat today?

Five Words

2012-01-19T07:24:00.001-05:00

I should explain the music thing, or the change up as to my influence on things relating to Jimmyleg and the promotion of music at The Wolf and the other promotions that I have been involved in. While I am definitely focused on Pfoodman and centered on leading this company into the next 10 years of incredible performance, little has changed in the way I plan to achieve results, this with a little help from my friends and family.

I have held back because of a couple things that needed my attention--things to do with people, (the most complicated obstacle when navigating personal journey).  Things are coming in to perspective now and I am confident I will benefit from the wisdom gained recently, while laying low, regrouping, recharging, reflecting, planning. All despite the occasional vampire beaten back, now shaken from my shirts leaves, nipping at my skin, lathering a Mosquito drop of blood that will take them as far as, well, it won't take them far enough. They'll be back.

Nope, for me it's the usual: embark, immerse, absorb, emerge, repeat stuff that requires adjustment from time to time. I have done this since I can remember. It's funny, you can find these words in marketing materials throughout my company, and, while building the renaissance and inspirational messaging relating to better health and re-invention; what later ended up being a very significant marketing program called, Wild Thyme's Wellness, serving nearly 40,000 meals per week, I pretty much use the protocol for living my life day to day. Yes, it is irritating to others.

Yup, this is the way I roll, can't help it. I am programed that way, like many others I know. Why? Environmental. Who wants to play like all the other kids on the playground?  I think it has to do with the way I was raised, the way I learned to motivate myself, solve problems, get ahead, make things interesting enough to engage whatever. It's more interesting this way. It's the way I choose to achieve, perform--it's a go-gettum competitive run through the woods, through the garden of forking paths, if you will. I really don't know where the trail will end, nor care, but it is sure as heck a lot better than staying in the parking lot waiting for others to emerge. It's a lesson in adaptation, a survivor approach to dealing with advancement. The journey, an artisan outflow of perspective gained, and I am a performer with an audience. Self expression is necessary, hence this blog and all the other stuff I suppose I do to get attention.  There are story lines to offer up and I get to purvey them. How fun is that?

It's not all that fun at times. I have gotten myself into a lot of trouble here and there, along the way.  It's the humbling part of "getting there". Time and experience offers up good results in one form or another, sooner or later.  Because moving is living.

So when I embarked on the music thing it was at the risk of lots of things.  It's a journey and one that I often fall back on the wisdom from other journeys, other forking paths I have traveled. The thing is, my intuition is better, I can feel the good and bad energy around corners, I am alert to things along the way. That's why I changed the format of The Wolf to Singer Songwriter from Blues, introduced a more community focused programing for the purpose of developing artists, unplugged and a little raw. I stopped shoveling out money to the musicians without a return on investment.

It let a lot of folks down and gave a lot of folks opportunity.  What I learned was a very clear perspective on booking music and the performance industry in general, the tight relationships of the music community and the territorial grasping for stages, necessary to make life sustainable as a musician. I learned how hard the venues struggle, how awful some of the guests can be, wanting something for nothing. I have learned how loyal parents are to their kids music development. I learned what its like to play in a band where the leader dies an awful death, that could have been avoided. RIP: Mathew Kovis.  I had almost forgotten how much that hurt.

The Wolf continues to evolve, wandering thought the woods like the rest of us.  Jimmyleg is not gone, but it is not just me. Just as Pfoodman is a group of like minded people who want to achieve by way of the five words, Jimmyleg is a path of knowledge and aptitude waiting for anyone, ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.

Cicero's: Shirtsleeve Stained

2012-01-15T14:52:00.001-05:00

Congrats on the RFT for updating their online stuff. It's awesome and quite easy to navigate the web version now, check it out.

I remain a client of the RFT for the purpose of promoting shows at The Wolf Public House from time to time. I still must admit, though, that this west side reader tends to peruse the editorial side of things with a "what will turn my stomach most this time?" furver. I am indeed a reader, nonetheless.

I loved the blog post Buyer's Remorse: Cicero's cans its booker and publicist. It showed up this past week in the RFT's January 12th issue. I was directed to it by a couple of folks who thought the story to be..well...strange. They wanted my opinion on it.

Now, I say this without any opinion on talent buyer, Mike Cracchiolo nor (publicist) Kenny Snarzyk. Both seem to have relevant doings in the music scene in St. Louis. I don't know either of them personally and have never done business with them, so who am I to criticize, not my intent. You can find lots of stuff about them by clicking on the links, so do what I did and fill your head with some pretty significant social media placement on behalf of somebody. There, I said it. There is a huge point being made right there.

I will say that I find it strange that the duo appear in the article the way that they do. And for whatever reason, a story is told of bewilderment upon being relieved of their duties from buying (and I assume promoting) talent for Cicero's, down at the Loop. In this case I would ask if music promotion was part of the deal. Because if it was not, it should have been. Was there some sort of confusion. Snarzyk is a publicist, no?

Who hasn't been to Cicero's? The place is a standout for all sorts of things, and music has been a part of the vibe there since I can remember. My opinion of the room is that it is one of the best 200 seat venues in the city--that it has been a haven for token gigs by artists wanting to get stage time in front of their people prior to the change--that it has always personified that which the consumer would expect in a progressive atmosphere filled with fans usually from an invite list of the talent performing or show promoted by (somebody). They do some big shows, lots of small ones, different genre's; a melting pot of stuff along the way since like the early 80's. That is about the way I would sum it up.

So when the RFT announced through (what's become a) fabulous public relations presence, that Cracchiolo and Snarzyk would be taking over, of course things would change. Off they went on a journey to seek out and collect a schedule filled with a ton of premium out-of-town music, rotating in and out, often with multiple stops in St. Louis. Yes, multiple stops means dilution. And too many performances can can be dangerous if you lean on the same audience over and over. Less is more in 11/12. I know this.

My guess is that the usual took place in regard to a mature venue handing over the reigns to outsource opportunists for what ever reason, usually burnout on being in the game. My guess is that Shawn, the venue owner of many years, saw what a lot of other venue owners see when outsourcing booking/promotions:

That there is always a tendency to focus on the top line, not the net.
That the booking becomes opportunistic from the onset with the use use of cash flow generated by the house/facility.
That there is a tendency to overbook and lean on core audience.
That a ton of energy goes towards the booking/promotions agents branding and less about the venue and the music branding and the experience, more about the booking/promoters.
That booking/promotions agents are only as good as their most recent or their worst show.
That the tendency for all outsourced agents lean toward self promotion. The RFT article reeks of it.
That good booking/promotions agents make decisions on what will fill the room and when in the best interest of the venue. Why book at all during playoffs?
That the best booking/promotions agents have stakeholdership.
That a data base of loyal-out of-town talent is not all that hard to seek and find. They often come to you when you put it out there. Yes, it is a pain in the ass.
Musician loyalties are important to the venue and distancing the relationship is dangerous for the long term.

I think this article tells a story different from what was implied. Perhaps, as one of my friends said, "do they think they are bigger than the music"?--that the article is little more than a spin in their direction--a first bite towards saving face on a deal that wasn't amicable from the start--a follow up later with an even higher road approach as not to burn a bridge. Hell, that one reeks of even more indulgence.

Well, you gotta admire the grabbing of space on behalf of Cracchiolo and Snarzyk as "the best bookers", one might ask if proper tone was set for the concept of WIN/WIN. Cuz that is where the real money is. That is where the money always is, long term, long relationship oriented stuff, ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.

Half and Half

2012-01-15T10:15:00.000-05:00

I turned 50 years old this morning. A significant mile marker if I don't say so myself. No, and perhaps I don't speak for everyone, we don't like turning 50 years old as humans. Back in the old days (and I mean way back) did they even count the sunrises until the day of birth of say, an ape like being? Did they recognize appropriately every hunched over, long-in-the-tooth, hairy backed attention seeker during, let's call it, the caveman era? Was there an adult cupcake party from Jilly's Cupcakes going on at the cave?--you know, back in the day?

I sit at the computer waiting for my kid to come downstairs so I can dig in to the table of stuff that my wife has gathered for me. I am pretty excited about that. I hope there is a decent pair of pants in there. I need some new pants. I also need some guitar stuff, but I buy that stuff all the time anyway. I am looking forward to playing some music this afternoon with Loran Cavano. That alone makes for a good birthday.

While sitting and writing, my phone alerts me to the multitude of chimes from facebook; yup, there goes another one. I wonder what the equivalent of happy birthday facebook posts would have been back in the caveman days. Perhaps it was a scream, or a grunt, or a toss of a elk leg from across the fire. I am convinced that the duty to recognise the achievement of "getting somewhere in life" is universal and part of our DNA. I am sure of it.

I was telling my kid, and I will likely tell her again, that things were different when I was twenty. Much different. I have put together some (to me) interesting images that will not only describe what it was like each decade back then, but also to give reason, big reason to keep the human race moving forward. Regardless of how significant some of the stuff, I am a little embarrassed to admit that I used to wear a bi-level haircut, a mustache and a little red leather tie, going out to four-fers at the local pub and dancing later. There were no 3:00 bars. Sick.

Enjoy:

I suppose it is appropriate to leave off after the 90's, somewhere around the start of cell phones. The turn of the century has yet to be labeled and categorized, and really, who wants to take ownership with the politics and all. Lets leave it up to the twenty year olds. That is awful, I know, perhaps my kid will chime in on this one. Here is to another 50 years, ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.

Saving Tanya Harding

2012-01-14T10:29:00.003-05:00

Well, the flu certainly got into my system this week. It seems like every time I walk into a gym to resurrect the spirit of fitness, I pick up some bug during the kickoff process. The bugs lie and wait at the stair stepper, btw, snot drops from previous sweat laden, pear shaped humans, and their army of virus. The critters must have gone hand to mouth, or through the nose, as the experts say. A lot of viruses go in through the nose. This thing turned into that wake-up-feeling-crappy-I-can-go-to-work fail, that deteriorates the moment you step out of the shower, five days and counting. I think I feel better this morning. I couldn't write Thursday.

And with the flu comes the watching of a lot of television. My drug of choice when under the weather...Tru TV, so I can get my fix of Tanya Harding on The Smoking Gun Presents: World's Dumbest!. I tried to explain to my daughter, who Tanya Harding is and was, and why she is significant to the culture of stupid people doing stupid things. I looked at her and said: "You really don't know who she is?" I suppose my comment was really quite rhetorical and awful and I don't even know if she "got" the exemplary humor purveyed because she left the room. However, Tanya is certainly the "Grand Mother Mary" of Stupid Culture and we cannot help but thank her for this.

Like most Americans immersed in popular culture who tend to unconditionally love and forgive "stupid people for doing stupid things", I found it interesting her personal branding accomplishments littered between bouts of comebacks and what I would assume is her trying to make a living. A little research reveals both positive and negative things about her life and her evolution as a person of significance in popular culture.

Here are a few things that I found most interesting:

She was in a band called the Golden Blades and got booed off the stage in their only appearance in Portland in 1995.
She was the first woman to successfully execute two triple axles in a single competition. (This is a token)
She has awful taste in men. Her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, and her bodyguard, Shawn Eckhardt, hired Shane Stant to break Nancy Kerrigan's right leg so that she would be unable to skate as a competitor.
The explicit "Wedding Video"...well, this must have been a low point.

She had a professional boxing career. Her overall record was 3–3–0
She had a child at 40 years old.
She is a motivational speaker.

So what is Tanya Harding?--what gift does she bestow upon our culture? It's awful to think that she is merely a rough and tumble trailer chick who beat up the pretty rich chick to get her way and that set the course for her life, ultimately ending up as a fairly significant entry in Wikipedia.

Permanently marked by the knee knocker event, a series of promotional attention getting grasping at straws must have been the only ticket to personal sustainability in the years directly following. Why else would you put on the dog and pony road road show all the way through the 90's. There is a lot of art imitating life in regard to that sort of thing, a common theme in most cases like this. But when does one become iconic for who they are and what they have done, good or bad, regardless of them hurting others? At what point does forgiveness prevail and droves of popular culture disciples offer up conditional love?

Redemption; the most common way to satisfy the village. I think having a child will do it for her; a couple of interviews with some significant network TV folks. A very solid effort at some strategic PR and the softening of the story telling from yesteryear. So she ain't no Dorothy Hamill, but you have to admire the balance of culpability to ability ratio; her potential to embrace who she is and where she has the opportunity to end up is really quite interesting, ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.

Branding Fuels Pfoodman's Renaissance

2012-01-11T09:05:00.001-05:00

Discovering the need to focus on branding and concept development can sneak up like a bad cold. Before you know it, energy is low and projections are not on plan; the need to renew is eminent. It's best to be prepared." --Ralph Pfremmer, CEO of Pfoodman Holdings L.L.C., St. Louis, MO.

"Understanding the need to refresh and renew doesn’t happen over night. It's a process that, if not planned accordingly, can require significant project work in order to get back on track" says Ralph Pfremmer, CEO of Pfoodman Holdings L.L.C. Not the case for The Pfoodman Group, who last May presented Lindenwood University's new branding package at Evans Commons in St. Charles, MO. The state of the art student center opened in the fall, and already remodels on satellite food service operations and proprietary roll-outs are underway, as part of the planned continuous quality improvement standard.

Pfremmer takes what he calls a "reality check" approach to operations. "The task at Lindenwood was to create an affordable product package that suits the needs of the entire campus while providing trending analysis along the way; feedback for optimal efficiencies moving forward. It's a balance of administrative aptitude, customer relations and market aptitude". Pfremmer also says that moving a single unit board operation to multi-unit operations can be tricky. The logistics can be a huge paradigm shift for any institution. Pfoodman is one of the few companies equipped to provide this service on a personal level, without the big company influence.

Pfoodman began as a boutique regional business in central Missouri and is now headquartered in St. Louis MO. "We started at the turn of the century, 2000" says Pfremmer. The new branding package, which includes innovative food court and board operation programs are part of a "coming out" for Pfoodman--the beginning of new strategic plan attract and service customers with a desire to be the best.

As part of a national expansion into new markets, Pfremmer has not been afraid to invest in brand/product development as part of a strategy to become significant in the marketplace. "Companies such as Sodexho/Marriot, Compass Group and Aramark boast billion dollar sales and come well equiped on the exterior. The next chapter in our story is to compete where it makes sense, gravitating to the client who needs the entrepreneurial edge, that which is at the core of Pfoodman"

**Pfoodman is an on-site catering management company that offers quality dining service programs in three markets including education, business/industry, and senior living. Pictured above, Pfoodman's registered trademark, Wild Thyme's Wellness.

Painting Circles

2012-01-10T09:34:00.000-05:00

The holidays went pretty good this year despite not going to Florida. I have taken the family to Florida for the past several years and it was a bummer not to see the beach. Not looking for pity here, but we decided not to go for many reasons, the first because I didn't want to spend three days in the car. The rest has to do with peace of mind stuff that wouldn't interest you in the least.

I stayed around the neighborhood mostly, got to spend a lot of time working on next years plan of attack. And attack it will be. I seek to stay busy and focused; putting forth energy in the right areas, a more narrowed focus on business, a lazerlike, stealthy, mysterious, cat, wolf and eagle demeanor all mixed into one. Like Rocky Balboa running to the top of the stairs in a beaten up old sweatsuit, it's gonna be a good year Apollo. Check, New Years resolution.

I thought we would start of with a quote from the pontificator...

...I have learned a thing or two about the biggest cliche in American entrepreneurial culture--think outside of the box. It costs money. And to be quite honest, while people take a lot of interest in collaborating with an "out-of-the-box thinker", some end up on the shirtsleeve of the doer, incapable of fortuning the costs and mindset of a "start up" or "start out"...

I don't mean this to be disrespectful to anyone seeking to emulate the secret of getting noticed, executing an idea, a plan, a vision, or capitalizing on any opportunity at any given moment. But there is certainly a line drawn between creative endeavor and the safety circle. Where do you reside? Inside of the circle are most of the things necessary to get things off to a good start; stuff that parallel the basics of success; like start up cash flow, adaptability, knowledge from others, experience from varying degrees of success, the basic understanding of how to balance without a safety net, intuition and the ability to use it.

To me, its those who fail to go into the circle who risk the most--those only interested in feeling how warm the water is in order to keep from jumping head first. You get nothing from this and the longer you sit on the edge of the water, clinging to somebody else, the less you get, the closer you get to drying out. The journey starts when crossing the line, diving in. Without doing so, the journey remains on the bevnap of beer blather. Not a bad thing in all cases. There are exceptions too. Just don't expect something for nothing if you are glued to somebody else as your only strategy to moving forward.

I could give a ton of examples of how I have shaken people off when they needed to go. Indeed there have been a lot of folks coming and going in my world, and I have disappointed more than I have inspired. Perhaps I did them a favor. The jury is still out on how "things" will "end up" for all of us.

What things will be acknowledged? What are these things that we seek to get out of accomplishment? Is it a time and place? Is it tangible? Or is it an overall perception of others towards our accomplishments?-- is it the material possessions that we have accumulated?--or is it the story telling from the journey, the legacy?

Ending up? Is it like a huge banquet announced with a full page editorial in the business journal? A reception, an acknowledgment where I am seated at the head table and my list of paid guests file in to give respect for me being the greatest inspirator? What happens after that reception, after the meet and greet, after the roasting, the parting words, the afterparty. What the hell is left after ending up?

Screw ending up.

Like I told a friend of my the other day. Paint your canvass the way it outta be, you are the artist and the one capable of providing the imagery. You will always need to express yourself, you will always be painting. What part of the circle are you on in your masterpiece?--ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.

The power of praying.

2012-01-07T11:02:00.003-05:00

I thought this gem up the other night when coming home with my chicken salad sandwich. Incidentally, I eat 5 chicken salad sandwiches a week, because I like chicken salad. I should also admit that I often eat past 9:00 PM, usually with orzo or some other superfood. I know I shouldn't eat that late, but it is one of my allowances. I don't eat early either.

I was turning my car in to my neighborhood after working sound at the Wolf. I still have a duty up there on some nights, in addition to my real job at Pfoodman, which, by the way, I am enjoying the heck out of. I am returning to my core values; fitness, wellness, a couple other things too--back to the foundation of Pfoodman when we started it back at the turn of the century, 2000.

I was almost home and thinking about a friend of mine whom I hadn't seen in a while. We worked together for years and, when the time came for him to move on, it caused a little emotion for both of us. I called him prior to his departure to check on things, knowing it was going to be his last day soon. When he answered the phone, he said: "Hey, I was just praying for you"...

Now...

...there are a couple things that went through my head at that moment. First, why would anyone need to pray for me unless they thought I needed it--this a concern under any paranoiac standard; I was a bit restless for good reason. Second, are there not other things more important in life to save prayers for? Are we supposed to pray and talk about it all the time? Do we just use the phrase "I'm praying for you" as a casual term of a endearment, a warm, sensitive verbal caress from anyone wanting to broadcast a tone of humility at a particular time or place? Again, are we at church? If so which church and which God are we referencing? This stuff makes crazy. Let's dig deeper.

This type of dialog is tossed around fairly often in my community. And yes, there is indeed the presence of spirituality in my world. And, while I am not accustomed to the dialog; the referencing of God, prayer, divinity and Jesus; I understand what it means based on my own Christian valued upbringing. I can appreciate it. But honestly, because it was unsolicited and outside of my normal communication standard with most people, I thought he was simply praying for himself and I happened to be on the canvass, an image placed and processed as per his moral perspective of things. (And, man, if I had a clue as to how to pray, in reference to his standard) I would have offered one up.

Ok, I don't know if having "spirituality" means that you have to speak a certain language or talk a certain game or whatever. My political system keeps me from doing that. But is it truly necessary to understand, study, subscribe and/or fall in line with somebody else's standard of the meaning of being spiritually inclined (in this case, what it is to pray for someone)? The message was clear. The problem was that it was "a thrust" of something complex combined with salutation, and at first glance, I thought it to be exploitative and indulgent. I know, I know. Does that make me an atheist?

Not in by book. I suppose that it may speak to my apprehension and sensitivity to being authentic/transparent in my own personal belief system. One that I am quite happy with right now and, like others, seek to become a little more connected. But the bottom line was that I could not tell my friend that I would pray for him too, because I don't have a system set up for that. For me it's like the difference between the greeting salutation of shaking hands or doing the "European kiss on each cheek thing". It's just different.

Perhaps this blog entry is my answer in the form of connectivity to all good, positive things heading his way, my kind of prayer, in the same Christian valued center of love and grace where my spirituality resides? Perhaps I will write a song about it and let it broadcast through the walls, halls, windows and streets in the place where I express myself? I think that works for me, ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.

Amazing before and after photos

2012-01-07T08:58:00.000-05:00

Before Wild Thyme's After Wild Thyme's

Pfoodman rolls out Wild Thyme's Wellness advocacy at three locations

2012-01-07T08:54:00.001-05:00

The Davis and Billy Jack rap.

2012-01-06T08:53:00.002-05:00

Good morning. Another 65 degree day planned. As has been the case in the past, I have had to schedule, (as in make an appointment), for my workouts that now... include riding bikes. This is the only way. And I won't feel guilty about making time during my workday to pull it off. Because it truly is often the only way one can provide discipline to "get it back". I won't be offering excuses like: "I have had a bad year", or "I just cannot get the energy after going through all that" crap. Perhaps a groan here or there.

So there I sat with Wendy Davis Tuesday morning. If you have not heard of her, you will, because I will be watching and writing about her a little more closely on her journey to get well...whatever or wherever she wants to get. This was the conversation; ending up or enjoying the ride. I told her it ain't about getting there, it is about a canvass that you paint into your perfect world along the way. It is a journey that requires navigation and it changes as your canvass takes on meaning. The first thing you do is embark. Raise your hand, get up, get off your ass and do, first. It's a long strange trip, one that, if you fail to recognize that the journey is the purpose, you can get all caught up in the "ending up". I have most recently done this myself. Wendy totally gets it. And she helped me get my arms wrapped around my own personal need to renew my core values. Or at least a picture of someone with decent core values.

There are others like her, but this gal is tough as nails and is not afraid to cry out about how good she feels about who she is, while declaring her love for her husband and child, while glancing over her shoulder at her past as a reminder of her journey.

You would have to http://apabstsmear.blogspot.com/ to get the picture. I recomend you get aquanted. Her husband is pissing me off by losing a ton of weight and embracing that which we all try from time to time, a moderate indulgence and active living lifestyle important to the journey. Jim Davis is in the 180's? We call Jim the Trailmonster for his impeccable trail stewardship down on the Ozark Trail, a place, where, if you let it get into your soul, you will return often. As was the case with the Davis's, I reckon. ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.

El Toro and the High Road

2011-12-05T17:23:00.001-05:00

I have been performing with Loran Cavano and the High Road for a while now. It is a retro county rock thing and it has become very important to me. Loran might call it something different, the genre or appropriate style of our music. Some is cover material, but Loran writes a song or two that totally kills. Our album comes out soon.

Loran is the band leader, and he chooses the set list while keeping things organized. I am totally good with that. I sure as hell don't want to manage anything other than what I have on my plate now, especially when it comes to art and/or expression. As somebody very close to me most recently put it, "a little unwinding the tightly woven weave" might be in order. Things have indeed been stressful. This is my first post since September for Chistsake. I have much, so much, to say moving forward. Why not?

So why no posts? Hell, you try and keep up with it. The writing is a journey of itself, like the music, the cycling, the business, relationships, everything, and I mean everything, is a journey. Whe're we headed next? Are we not already on our way? Damn right we are.

Anyway, I stepped into the music thing to try and get back my harmonica playing roots from way back in Kansas and then later in Houston Texas, back when I was just dabbling with things musically. I would get up on stage and play with a variety of folks. Once with Melissa Etherage who was passing through McPherson Kansas at a place called Cooters. She was hot and not at all gay, that I can remember. (Insert Seinfeld reference). She was in a circuit band and I cannot remember the name for the life of me. But they were from Atkinson Kansas.

I used to carry around a harmonica and play it in the car on the lonesome roads between Kansas towns. I worked at a country club out in the middle of nowhere, and there was plenty of time to blow. I had a 1977 Monte Carlo with swivel buckets. It was 1982 and the movie, Urban Cowboy, had been out for a few years. "Neo Country" music was prevailing in that part of the world. Best line of Urban Cowboy, btw: "All cowboys ain't dumb. Some of 'em got smarts real good, like me".

Later, when I moved to Houston, I had enough skill to play an occasional blues song with a guy named, Joey Long. He was a southern blues guy with a wicked guitar. Robby Campbell played the bass and ironically enough, Robby co-wrote the song "Hello Texas" that Jimmy Buffet recorded for the Urban Cowboy soundtrack. Joey Long and the Texas Brothers was their name and did the house banding at The Gin Mill.

Another memory on this particular journey was that I went to a party at a joint called Grundy's with a girl that I truly was not interested in at all. She left me at the bar to join the entourage of non-other than Mickey Gilley, who was buying drinks for everyone. Yes, I got ditched but the story telling was fabulous. Gilleys was in Pasadena. I never stepped foot in that place. There was a country line dance place on every corner in Houston.

I sucked at the harp back then, but Joey liked me and he always called me up on stage if he knew I was there, down in Southwest Houston Texas. It wasn't until I started playing at the Wolf some 25 years later, that I immersed myself in to the culture and learned very quickly how much work goes in to being a performer. Now I seem to want more of it.

I got the buzz a long time ago but it didn't surface until now, I reckon. I know it had something to do with playing the role of Elvis Presley in a school play when I was 12. I lip synced "Blue Suede Shoes" and totally friggin brought the house down. Anybody could have been picked to play the part but, apparently, I fit role better than the others. I had always taken a particular interest in Elvis and I suppose I had the closest resemblance of any of my classmates. My mom and sister helped me with my outfit and I practiced a lot in front of the mirror. Elvis was on TV a lot of the time back then. We are talkin 1974. I remember the applause, the smiles and the energy that the performance gave the audience. I never forgot that feeling.

Music and performance became a part of me that night, in an auditorium with hanging basketball nets and closets filled with kickballs. I sure am glad that happened. I am glad everything happens. What a journey I am on. We are all on one wild ride. Sure am glad I have music. We all need the music, ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.

Roll out the Cordiality

2011-09-17T09:28:00.001-04:00

There is always a time, sooner or later, when things come full circle. Last night I had one of those realizations.

I was at the inauguration dinner for Dr. John Pieper, the new President at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy. It was an absolutely wonderful event held at the St. Louis Club in Clayton. My wife was excited about this event, because her parents frequent the club and they are always talking about how good the food and service is. I should know this too. I worked there for quite a while in the early and late 80's. I got my start there.

Not much has changed. In fact, it had not changed at all. The impeccable commitment to the culture of fine dining service hasn't wondered of course, and that was what was most satisfying. Looking around the room during the cocktail hour, I pictured myself handing out the "butler passed" appetisers, mixing the cocktails or working in the kitchen preparing the meal to come. It wasn't that long ago that I attended Forest Park Community College headed towards a degree in Hospitality Management. It was a two year program and, if you were smart, you worked in the field while attending.

I started in the kitchen, in 1981, as a chefs apprentice. I worked for Wolfgang Bier, one of the countries Golden Toques, the highest degree of accomplishment an Executive Chef can get. He was an absolute tyrant and, while I learned a ton about classic French cooking. I also learned some of the mistakes one can make when using fear as a motivator. Wolfgang was one of the best, old school, Euro pastry master mean guy. And it was what I needed.

I started at $3.75 and worked full time. I didn't have a car, I couldn't afford one at the time. I later purchased a 1965 VW that sat broken more often than reliable. I lived in South City, on Shaw and Vandiventor. Right across from what is now the main entrance to the Botanical Gardens. Back then it was a rough area. I remember hearing gunshots go off a few times in the gangways between the rows of 4 family flats. We kept an eye on our next door neighbors, a revolving door of drug users and prostitutes. It was a different time, for sure. I wouldn't have changed a thing.

I ended up getting a couple raises and the small group of apprentices became quite close. We knew what we had. We were training with the best in the world. It was prior to a lot of the newer cooking styles, fusion, nouvelle cuisine, characterized by lighter, more delicate dishes and an increased emphasis on presentation.. We learned the classic Escoffier way of cooking, heavier, not as innovative, country club fair.

So last night between sips of high balls, bites of roasted tenderloin, Malbec and flan, I recognized one of the supervisors named Herbie. Herbie was one that we all looked up to when working there. Kind of a JJ Johnson look alike. Tall and funny and very cordial. He was loved by the general membership there, who were all the wealthiest and high profile in the area. I asked my server to send him over and he was there in a flash. I explained who I was and how important the St. Louis Club was to my becoming whom I am. He remembered me.

It was a tad uncomfortable, because he treated me like a member, like one of the people who belonged there. While I was comfortable being there, I couldn't help but relate to the service staff. He was crisp in his skill of making me feel important. And I would have preferred something a little different.

I thanked him for his influence and reached out my hand, a little disappointed from such a high standard of cordiality. We shook hands and at the end was when it happened. Yes! The "Soul brother shake"!-- that three move procedure, beginning with a traditional, palm-to-palm clasp, followed in quick succession by a clasping at the hilt of the thumbs, and finally, by a hooked clasp of only the fingers. Yup, ole Herbie gave it up in ability to read the situation. Letting me know that he was feeling it. Guys like Herbie are my heros.

It was a great evening for a great man, Dr. Pieper. I look to see the St. Louis College of Pharmacy rise up in prestige due to his style and commitment to student and community. I am thankful that he included me in the dinner. It was a wonderful night with a bonus from he past, ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.

Great Music at The Wolf Coming Soon

2011-09-16T13:28:00.000-04:00

Lone Wolf Blues Festival

2011-09-15T10:03:00.000-04:00

Make plans to attend the Lone Wolf Blues Festival at the original Lone Wolf at Castlewood. If you haven't made plans, do it now. Music by Jimmyleg Presents and the Wolf Public House: Mellissa Neels Band with special guests, King Slim, Wildhorse and that special harp player you all know. Click Here for more information.

The Endangered Wolf Center Crisis Journey

2011-09-15T09:58:00.000-04:00

In January of 2010 I embarked on a journey. And I really didn't want to do it. I had been asked to serve on a board before and, at at least one occurrence, was ineffective in my ability to help (other than funding a thing or two).  My skills didn't match up with what was needed, other than them needing some cash or an ongoing supply of in-kind donations, so I resigned after a couple years. It wasn't working for me. I was bored and could not use my skills in a way that would optimize things--that which would provide the organization value and keep my attention deficit minded methods engaged. I have learned a thing or two in regard to stewardship, non-profit management and organizational development within non-profit management. Thanks to a host of resources and collaborative minded folks whom I stay very close. I have learned that matching the available resources of prospective board members with the needs of any particular organization, charitable or not, is critical.  That said, if there is no need for a particular skill-set or a need for a skill without the resource, things go flat.

So I embarked on this latest journey, unknowing at the time, that a skill that I knew that I had would be just what the organization needed. I also know that I have to be careful with this skill. I realize now that sometimes, at the end of the day, in the midst of an organization finding themselves in total crisis, there is nobody sitting at the table who can deal with that which the organization needs most. Many people shy away from dealing with a crisis situations, possessing incredible skills best suited for situations out-of-crisis. Crisis ssituations cause enormous discomfort and tough decision making that people have to stand behind, often at the scrutiny of others, often at the expense of a dose of reality.

I ask myself, why do I do better than others in a crisis?  It has something to do with adrenalin and competition, coaching and perseverance, challenge and strategy. My aptitude for managing during crisis has evolved through the development of an intuitive memory--a hunch--a sense and a feeling, all bundled in to one. Frankly there is nothing more satisfying than rallying a bunch of folks and guiding them through uncertainty and uncharted territory, those situations that some people think impossible. The funny thing is, at the end of the day, after a series of achievements, most people identify with the fact that they knew they could do it, but it takes the right leader. I get chosen a lot for stuff like that for a few reasons.

Making tough decisions and standing by them requires good intuition, a knee jerk type of file recall from a similar situation, or a pattern that, sadly, comparable to another crisis of which I experienced. I have immersed myself in crisis many times and I am not sure that it is all that healthy in the long term.  Wisdom yes, pain in the ass, yes. Being an entrepreneur, is perpetual crisis. I am just sayin.
Of course all this crap sounds self centered, egotistical and narcissistic. To me it is simply logic when seeking remedy. I look at the role of a crisis manager as just another team member with a unique skill needed to achieve a result as a group. The crisis manager is merely one of many needed to resolve issues as a team and relating to the crisis.

In a crisis there is almost always leadership change, an important thing to consider when seeking solutions; the need for a board to embrace the fact that organizational erosion has occurred and that a crisis manager is needed to help visualize the outcome. This person does not work alone.  I need what I call a "Spotlighter". It is needed on every board, often times an executive position, the treasurer, the secretary, whomever is in charge of the things that make sure best practices occur during the turn-around. This person has to buy in, and most importantly, be prepared to keep discipline in reference to ongoing compliance. The Spotlighter keeps it real, calls out that which is not transparent. During times of crisis, the first thing we do is make sure the line is drawn from the past and the present. Moving forward requires impeccable broadcast of transparency. The Spotlighter keeps those things well lit.

If crisis managers are to be able to identify and fend off that which fits a developing pattern of decline, they must work in tandem with the Spotlighter. With the help of a Spotlighter, a good crisis manager uses the gift, practicum from the past that is necessary to see the indicators of decline; the hints of occurrence of failure that need rapid response.

In business, broad shoulders are needed to deal with issues that sometimes others shy away from. It is about focus on the core, the root of the issue with a declaration of change, the drawing a line between the past and what is to come. And don't forget to celebrate the past, regardless. Finding an organization in crisis is not all that uncommon. There was prosperity in the past, do not cut those ties.

I have come to know that in a time of crisis, I am at my best. I see a little more clarity and stand a little more prepared for the battle than others, especially when things get a sideways. I am at my best when things are the worst. Some folks simply have a little more game during these times than others. That is about it. Being a crisis manager is but a small role in any organization. There are far greater complexities than managing crisis on-going in every institution out there. I don't put the crisis manager too high on the totem pole, especially when talking about on-going sustainability strategies and board building. Just don't forget to balance the board with a crisis manager, you got to have that seat filled.
So when the Endangered Wolf Center folks looked to me to get involved, while reluctant to commit, I took a seat on the board and I had no idea what was coming. On Monday we received our continued accreditation from the American Zoo and Aquarium Association.  This was a culminating endeavor that, should we not have retained it, we might not have had much of a future. On September 28th we close on the land that we purchased years ago in order to move the center to a new location.  A perfect storm left us without the funds to continue to pay and the move never occurred. By selling this piece of land, our organization will be left un-encumbered--a situation that was most certainly a crisis.  We were actually able to preserve that land by doing so, by gettin the right people involved. Becoming transparent about our crisis time, an special donar stepped up and saved the center from closing. Just like that we are stable and out of crisis. What great fodder to write about.

I want to thank my team. They know who they are. It is everyone really. Everyone who never gave up hope and helped create the plan. This is how we get through crisis, a combination of hope, planning, transparency and perspective. What a journey this has been. Tonight we celebrate conservation at The Wolf Public House to identify a few people responsible for stabilizing a 40 year institution. Cheers!

For the I am not sure I know what the heck I am doing file

2011-09-10T16:19:00.002-04:00

From left to right: Nephew Davis, Marlin Harris, Alvin Jett, Arthur Roland, Sean Coray, Ralph Pfremmer

Steve Richard, Ralph "Jimmyleg" Pfremmer, Arthur Roland

Sean Coray shredding his recording session.

Lately I have been on journey. And yes, I am back at riding bikes furiously in anticipation of Burning at the Bluff and the Cyclocross season. It just feels better being fit, way fit, ifyouknow.....I actually had to force myself to not ride the past two days because my legs were heavy from lack of rest. Not a good thing to do when you get towards fifty. Rest is important. The new journey is also one that requires rest. This new culture that I have been a part of for the past three years has produced many things, and rest is not on the list. Thursday night was my first endeavor in to producing music. I raised my hand to help Frank Vanbree, CEO of Urban Future, in an effort to try and raise a bunch of money for his non-profit. I strongly agree with Urban Futures mission and purpose, so when asked, I was eager to help. My role as a music promoter has evolved and I needed the challenge of doing something great, by producing a CD that would spearhead a CD release party, which is just a clever as punch way to host a gala event. Thursday and Friday I directed the efforts of a bunch of folks to help produce the Restoration Blues CD, featuring Alvin Jett and Phat Noiz. Other artists on the album will be myself, Jimmyleg, 6 time grammy winner Arthur Roland of the Blind Boys of Alabama. Others coming in to lay down next week, Rich Mcdonough, Eric Mcpadden, Rockin Jake and Roland Johnson. I also too the opportunity to get likely one of the best unknown artists out there, Sean Corey. I will post his recording soon. Why switch gears to music in my late 40's? Mainly because I own a music venue and play there a bunch, in addition to booking all of the shows there and other places around town. I have learned a thing or two about the people and the customers, the likes and dislikes of the consumer, the differences in genre and the artistic movement playing a role in how I go about booking the right music for the right venue or event. I have even branded my new endeavor, Jimmyleg Presents, in an effort to, well, brand it. I brand everything, most of you know this by now. Branding is the way my mind works, everything boxed and labeled and for what purpose. Branding creates distinction, branding allows for the follow through of storytelling and conceptual broadcast, consistent with whatever it is the brand is supposed to do. I am a friggin branding freak. I have been doing it (dreaming up brands) with food and restaurants concept for the past 15 years on my own dime, developing a handful of restaurant concepts for food courts. We recently launched a new food court last month at Lindenwood University. My accomplishments: The Lone Wolf Coffee Company, The Wolf Public House, Wild Thymes Wellness Center, Pepitas Burrittos, Wai Cha Asian Wok, many others. I find this stuff fun. Supported by strict adherance to operating standards, I might add. Personal branding is where the meat on the bone lies. I love to develop personal brands. My first and biggest was Pfoodman, me. The "P" is silent, like in my last name Pfremmer. Anyway, Steve Mahoney was just as nice as can be letting us use his studio, Four Seasons Media Productions. Steve, thank you very much. Gary Holiday engineered the whole thing. Alvin, Nephew and Marlin were a blast to work with. Enjoy a couple photos...

Wash Ave is not just for Urbanites

2011-08-28T08:18:00.004-04:00

The little lady and I wanted to go down to the Bluesweek Festival. (Better said, I wanted to go down to Bluesweek and she wanted a good dinner so we did what most couples do, compromise). So the compromise was on and we ended up at Mosaic on Washington Avenue, the hipster downtown place where you can sit on the patio and watch a good show of locals and party goers strutting their stuff. We had and absolutely fabulous dinner served by a great server named Dan. This place has it down. So good to see great execution and food impeccably prepared. Looking forward to the opening of another in Des Peres next month. Heck, I will be back down there before it opens. The damn thing should be open by now, no?

Bluesweek was something that I was involved in last year, providing some support in the green room and concessions. Bluesweek was originally at the foot of the Peabody, the former Kiel Auditorium. The Blues Festival moved to where the National Blues Museum will reside, on 6th and Washington, in front of the Laurel, formerly the Dillards Building,and what is now called the MX District. The district is undergoing major renovations as part of a project to develop the area into a full-service retail, dining, entertainment, arts, culture and residential district along Washington Avenue. The National Blues Museum, another project that I was involved in early on, is getting lift from several events as of late, and it is our towns hope, both city and county I might add, that we achieve what others have failed to do, create an international showpiece for the Blues.

One of our towns best young entrepreneurs, Mike Kociela, of Entertainment St. Louis, put on another good show, pulling together with John May of BB's Blues and Soups, an incredible line up of St. Louis musicians, many of whom play at The Wolf, an entertainment venue centered on bringing the culture from the urban core out to the county. Don't ask me why it works. The Wolf is now a very popular room for all kinds of music. We are fortunate to have pulled that off. I could not have done it without first meeting these musicians at the 1st Bluesweek Festival. Most of the musicians have become my friends. It was fun seeing some of our regular bookings/musicians up on the big stage at Bluesweek. The most incredible performance by Rich McDonough of Rough Grooves. An amazing guitar solo confirmed to the crowd that our local blues performers are world class.

After seeing a couple acts, it was only appropriate to take a rickshaw ride back to our car, down Washington Ave, after a wonderful evening that makes one proud to live in St. Louis. We had a great time in the city and will do it again soon.

Standing at the Crossroads

2011-08-21T08:29:00.004-04:00

It was spring of 1999 that I decided to get a mountain bike and begin a new journey. I had been running for a while and my knees hurt all of the time from pounding the sidewalks. I had a stress fracture in my pelvic area too, so said my doctor who recommended I stop while it healed. It was an over training issue that came about after I had gotten fit due to a life changing event. I just couldn't get enough cardio. Later I would have two knee surgeries to correct cartilage damage from playing football in high school, two shoulder surgeries from bike race crashes, a cast here or there, other injuries from all sorts of "situations", while doing my sport. I wouldn't change a damn thing.

I bought my first mountain bike at Touring Cyclist on Manchester Road, from a shithead of a little guy who made the bike purchase experience seem like I was applying for a job at an Apple Store. It was the usual Euber Roadie thing that I would come to know; part of the sport of cycling that would creep into my life for the next 13 years. The bike snob geek and the knowledge that they behold.

While I have never been a bike snob, I did become familiar with the components, the frames, the sizes, the wheels, the maintenance necessary to keep things rolling optimally, even though bike maintenance has never been my thing. Most people know this. The long story short is that the sport of cycling, along with the equipment, the people, and the physical fitness buzz that comes along with it, became part of who I am. I don't know how many bikes I have, some are up at the Wolf, others are hidden around the house so my wife doesn't think that they exist, because they are scattered, dismantled and stacked in various places around the house. I need to get this stuff figured out soon as not to get busted.

In the first couple of years of cycling, I started studying how races were promoted and learned a thing or two from guys like Rich Pierce and Mike Weiss. They had it down pretty good and I liked the idea of creating a festival atmosphere, pageantry, advocacy, to promote active living as a choice of lifestyle. By the way, Active Living was a term coined by my friend Ann Mack, the Executive Director of Trailnet, right here in the LOU. Trailnet is an advocacy for active living in our community, and does amazing work getting the word out on the benefits of Living Well. Active Living was who I had become and I began the process of advocating the concept myself, through my own methods; promoting all sorts of events where people come together for sport, and socialize after.

This has been the purpose of the Alpine Shop Short Track Races, The Wolf Howl Runs, Ballwin Days, our involvement and supporting the Bubba Cyclocross Races, Trailnet, MS Society, Ronald Mcdonald House, Arthritis Foundation and so many other events that I can't even remember. We have been giving and advocating Active Living for 13 years and whats most interesting; the amount of charitable and/or "cause" marketing dollars that I have spent doing so. Somewhere around $300,000 is about right. Not kidding.

My focus on active living events, charitable events most of them, has indeed been part of my marketing strategy. Word, there has to be a commodity at the end of the day. I sell food. I use charitable and/or strategic philanthropy as a method to gain attention, loyalty and confidence...and then I sell food, a direct connection. There has to be a commodity at the end of the experience. I figured that, if I plant the seed in to the minds of those enjoying the events that I sponsor or promote, perhaps they would patronize me and/or help create a buzz about the business. The renaissance of social media and my use of this blog and other techniques to chronicle my experience has been my ticket to getting noticed. It has been fun.

This has been the case at the Wolf and for Pfoodman, and I am pretty darned glad about that, because in addition to laying out 300,000 grand in community event stuff for the past 13 years, these businesses have required investment far beyond that; stabilizing dollars spent as part of the plan to gain attention, get noticed, have people patronize and eventually put a buck on the bottom line for a return on investment. It has been a journey and an experiment that led me to who I am. The funny thing is, people ask for help, there is no shortage of events to contribute. We have provided in-kind donations, cash, labor, anything we could do to help market active living events for the purpose of promoting an authentic presence in the marketplace. My food is a tad on the healthier side, makes sense, huh?

My point to this whole thing is that, in addition to stepping down from my promotional stuff in the active living tribe; what has been a journey that helped me gain the skill and mindset for all sorts of outdoor things, I will be packaging up the use of my philosophy on charitable giving to help other entreprenuers change the world for the better. If I can do it others can.

By investing in my community through charitable giving, my businesses have become sustainable. It would be great if others were to get on board with this.

As a tribe of Active Living folks, it appears that racing our bikes, running in our shoes, cheering on the kids doing the things that we love to do, catches on. We have created a standard that, in my opinion, changed the world a bit for the better. We should be proud of ourselves, all of us Active Living tribe folk. Every person who sets an example of "Living Well" is part of the story that I will tell on my speaker series next year. Perhaps I will get that book done too. Of course I will.

So this is a crossroads for me and I am excited. I can't wait to start being a little more competitive in the sports that I have promoted, stepping down from a thing or two will allow for the time to focus on...well...me. You will likely see Jimmyleg Presents promoting art and culture events of all kinds, a new journey, a new brand centered on promoting cultural events; something that I have already embarked upon with assorted "gigs" around town. A different tribe, with loyal people too.

Oh, it will be necessary for me not to turn my back on the Active Living community, because this is largely who I am, who I have become, and I need these people to remind me of where I started; 45 pounds heavier, a smoker and indulgent. One thing is for sure, I will always be Pfoodman, ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout!

Kinder Needs Some Care

2011-08-19T07:41:00.005-04:00

Peter Kinder starting what was once the Tour of Missouri.

Every now and then, when experiencing a bit of a writers block, I scour assorted websites for low hanging fruit, topics to write about, blogs, enews sources, whatever. If you don't read any of this stuff, its hard to find things that chap enough to pontificate. So I do a lot of web reading each morning so I can stay fresh. For me it is important to stay agitated by what I read, like yesterday and today; Peter Kinders latest dilemma. I swear, if our human condition were packed into one box with a label on the outside, it would say sheep. Now, grant you, I don't like the traditional media, jaded most of the time; right or left opinion broadcast for posturing, especially around election time. Controversy sells, and in politics, you don't have to look far.

Lets get straight to it. The story on Peter Kinder in yesterdays Post Dispatch and in the RFT recently. Yes, the stripper story and the fallout Kinder must overcome because of it. Some friends of mine started commenting on Facebook yesterday. Interesting the opinions; whether his actions were wrong or right, whether facts were reported correctly, why it was reported and whether or not it would hurt his campaign. One friend in particular commented on this type of story being the reason why he (and just about anyone else for that matter) should never run for public office. Lots of skeletons, lots of closets, we all got em.

Well hell yeah? Who would want to lower themselves to playing the political game, the political power grabbing game that keeps our country polarized and in the shitter? One might ask if running for office is even ethical, due to the nature of the way the game is played and the things that these folks do in order to stay in power.

As far as selling papers, this is the backdrop traditional media likes to feed upon; cultivate and harvest, for revenue and influence, constituency. This is what the media perceives our intellectual capacity to be; a heard of sheep who will follow the lead of stories broken that are strategically placed by political game players. The method?--to expose and push moral buttons important to maintaining an institution that is broken and, most importantly, one that they have a stake in.

Have you ever been to a political breakfast put on by (name the special interest group), or a fund raising good-ole-boy rally up in central MO? The kind of event that Kinder attended yesterday to help remedy his bad press by seeking the endorsement of the most Reverent folks he could find? Have you ever?

From the Post Dispatch:

Asked how his answers had been received, Kinder said: "I'm getting a terrific reception."

Kinder stood in the breakfast line with a group of yellow-shirted Tea Party activists from Lebanon, Mo. One of them, Sam Price, 78, said he was "an ultraconservative Republican" and pastor of a Southern Baptist church. He wore a tag that said "right-wing extremist."

Price said he wasn't bothered by Kinder's past dalliances.

"How many years back was it? In kindergarten he stole somebodies bubble gum? I'm 78 and I'm sure not like I used to be," Price said.

---a chess move, more game playing, strategic positioning, soon there will be an offensive.

It occurred to me while falling victim to trying to figure out whether or not I felt empathy for Kinder, a guy who I have worked with indirectly on a couple of projects through the years. I figure me and and all of my boys with skeletons and closets are already in office (or that which has the ability to create great influence) by having a small business and employing people, paying taxes and creating jobs. I think we, without having to manufacture a bunch of bullshit personification of a perfect candidate (because there isn't one), can create a fairly decent platform. But the game has got to change.

An amazing amount of energy will take place between now and election time. Tons of resources used with the platform of change being at the center of things. The irony is that we will all once again fall victim to the same old stuff, endorsing and voting for candidates excited to navigate a system that is in the most need of change. Time to think outside the box folks. ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout...

Short Track Series Results

2011-08-18T15:38:00.001-04:00

A Race Men
First name Last name #1 A #2 A #3A #4 A Total Points
1 ERIC PIRTLE 20 20 20 20 80
2 Dan Miller 8 14 18 18 58
3 Dan McCarthy 4 18 12 16 50
4 Sam Moore 14 16 10 9 49
5 JAY Strothman 16 9 9 14 48
6 chris ploch 18 16 34
7 Bob Arnold 10 12 6 28
8 Rock Wamsley 7 10 1 8 26
9 jeremy bock 5 7 5 7 24
9 Karl Stover 12 8 4 24
11 john matthews 9 10 19
12 Tom Albert 6 8 4 18
13 Jonathan Schottler 14 14
14 peat henry 5 1 6 12
14 Carl Hoffman 12 12
16 justin bowen 3 7 10
17 Zdenek Palecek 6 6
18 Steve Friedman 2 3 5
18 Kevin Koch 1 3 1 5
18 Brian Busken 5 5
20 David Frei 4 4
20 BJ Keane 1 1 1 1 4

B Race Men

First name Last name #1 B #2 B #3 B #4 Total Points
1 dorian hauser 18 20 20 20 78
2 JAY Strothman 16 14 18 48
3 Neil Wessling 1 10 16 14 41
4 JIM LEMON 18 18 36
5 Will Grumke 7 16 12 35
6 David Hagen 10 7 14 31
6 Alex Powell 12 9 10 31
8 Steve Maas 6 12 7 25
9 Chris Claussen 9 4 10 23
9 Douglas Grimm 6 9 8 23
11 David Frei 20 20
12 jim Burtelow 16 16
12 Jax Powell 14 1 1 16
12 Lee Van Norman 4 12 16
15 Joseph Perry 2 2 6 1 11
15 Daniel Tirado 2 9 11
17 Scott Bertelsmeyer 5 5 10
18 Stephen Venters 1 7 1 9
19 Ben Banet 8 8
19 William Cahill 8 8
19 Greg Ott 8 8

C Race Men
C Race Mens First Name Last Name #1 C #2 C #3 C #4 C Total Points
1 Brian Ter Maat 12 10 20 16 58
2 Jonathan Borrson 14 12 14 7 47
3 Anatoly Zlotnik 14 12 18 44
4 Mark Spreitler 16 16 32
5 steven Nelms 6 8 8 5 27
6 Randy Blackwell 10 16 26
7 Ryan Ellen 5 18 23
7 Wayne Molitor 7 10 6 23
9 Shawn Ganske 1 20 21
10 Scott Nelson 20 20
11 samuel bell 9 10 19
12 David Archer 18 18
12 Grant Lanham 18 18
14 jason brassard 5 12 17
15 Richard McCarthy 4 3 9 16
16 Mike Ronieri 14 14
17 Medro Brodeur 1 4 6 1 12
18 JD Peiffer 9 1 10
19 Keith Cruzado 2 7 9
19 Scott Phillips 7 1 1 9
19 Will Scherff 9 9
19 Zach Kroupa 8 1 9

Women A Carrie Cash Women A

Women B

Women B Race First name Last name #1 B #2 B #3 B #4 B B Race Total
1 Loreen Mattson 20 20 20 9 69
2 Emily Korsch 14 14 14 18 60
3 Laura Scherff 16 18 20 54
4 Kerri Schewe 3 12 12 16 43
5 Catherine Ebeling 10 16 8 34
5 Courtney Green 18 16 34
5 Gabrielle Renner 7 7 6 14 34
8 Karen Holtmann 8 10 1 12 31
9 Mary Piper 9 9 9 27
10 Carrie Sona 12 10 22
11 Lisa White 6 5 10 21
12 Christine Ford 18 18
13 Sally Struckman 5 8 13
14 Allison Braddock 2 7 9
14 Teresa Sedlacek 3 6 9
16 Alice Butler 8 8
16 Sammi Powell 4 4 8
18 ann tuchek 7 7
19 Susan Kloha 6 6
20 Cory Redmond 2 2

Women's C
Women's C
1 Casey Carter 16 12 18 20 66
2 Madelyn Nichols 14 14 16 18 62
3 Cindi Inman 10 10 20 16 56
4 Kelly Patty 20 18 38
5 Gina Richard 16 12 28
6 Alice Butler 20 20
7 Carolyn Moritz 18 18
8 Kylee Bowen 14 14
8 Jen Robson 14 14
9 Sammi Powell 12 12

Kids 16 under
Kids (16 & under)

B Race #1 B #2 B #3 C #4 B Total B Points
Alex Powell 18 20 20 18 76
Jax Powell 20 16 14 20 70
Ben Banet 18 18 36
Sammi Powell 16 16 32

C Race

C Race #1 C #2 C #3 C #4 C Total C Points
1 Nathaniel Cotton 18 18 20 18 74
2 JD Peiffer 20 20 18 58
3 Casey Carter 14 14 14 12 54
4 Madelyn Nichols 10 16 12 9 47
5 Ashton Braddock 16 16 10 42
6 Brandon Yarnell 9 10 16 35
7 Bodie Schmidt 12 12 7 31
8 Ryan Yarnell 7 5 8 8 28
9 David Marlow 8 14 22
10 Nick Walker 6 9 6 21
11 Andrew Scherff 20 20
12 Tyler Bresler 9 10 19
13 Mikey Bobelak jr 7 5 12
14 Sammi Powell 8 8

The Young and the Not So Restless

2011-08-09T08:14:00.003-04:00

So the stock market drops 600 points and the usual crap spews from radio and TV. My intellectual friends roll their eyes once again, shake their heads and think how the suits in Washington have done it to us again. It really is getting quite pathetic. A made for TV movie unfolding right in front of our eyes. I am grabbing a box of candy and cuddling up with my business journal instead of watching TV. Surely there is a banker boasting about solvency and a business being acquired here or there from fire sale because of the lending crisis. Good stuff.

I, for one, am discounting this entire episode. In fact, I am going to discount the entire crisis until the one thing that our country can count on to save things gets its shit together. Our young people.

So when will our young people start standing up for what they have to lose? Or better said, what they have already lost? Will it be the total depletion of their parents income that sparks the fire? Those middle classers centered on creating trophy kids in the 90's dead broke at the hands of their own values? What will finally evoke enough concern in them to say, "Hey, my education can work in my favor, I better use my friggin head to get some change working here, or my parents will be living in my one bedroom apartment".

Using education to change things? Isn't that what it's for? My question centers on why this group not embraced the crisis, engaged it, marched on it, localized on it, or, and here is the biggie...gotten money behind it. The good ole American political bullshit way.

Viet Nam was a crisis that was embraced and engaged by our young people, was it not? And as wacko as things appeared from those awful images from the 60's and early 70's, well, they got stuff done. Perhaps our young people only want to get involved if there are human atrocities spewed over radio and TV? Or perhaps they cannot be inspired because of a trained eye on filtering that which does not provide comfort; the fallout of social media and the age of "too much information". Are our students passive because they have filtered that which is the most important; clear perspective on their condition and the world that they live in?

I was searching youtube this morning to get a handle on things--to get college students perspective on the state of things. I didn't find much other than the usual "play by the rules" rhetoric aimed at government funded agencies being cut and their lobby to get the funds back. Then I remembered, while lying on the couch Sunday, I saw a PSA on TV. It had something to do with questioning "the way things are" in our government; an advocacy group of young people speaking out. Nothing to say about the right or the left, Dem's or republicans. Basically that the whole damn thing was bullshit. I am sure I saw it, I heard it, while nodding off here and there. They blamed government, all of it, for our current predicament, the system broke, the process corrupt. Maybe I dreamed it. God, I hope not, that would be disappointing.

What baffles me is that, as long as our middle class offspring are in college, the longer they likely feel protected from crisis. This is the disconnect. It's a safety net put in place by their parents (and not a very big safety net at that). It is us little league coaches, soccer moms, trophy kid manifestation gone array. I think those who can attend college at the hands of their parents income or loans, still tend take things for granted. It is our little middle-class-proverbial-sticking-your-head in-the-sand conflict. I cannot tell you how many 23-27 year olds I know who live with their parents--educated kids without a clue as to what is needed to break out of their culture of entitlement. We are responsible for this. We the middle class. We coddled our children to be that which they have become.

Yes, there are a those who are concerned, a beacon of light. Many of our young folk are taking our countries challenges seriously. But how many really live in fear, without a safety net, without a fall back? How can we sift and find candidates for the right movement, any movement, to get this group of people motivated? At what point do we look to our kids and say, "look y'all, it's time you got your shit together and make something happen". "What are you waiting for?"

Have you been to California lately? I was incredibly moved by that states economic predicament. In the beach cities, people with their heads in the sand, in the density of the concrete jungle just to the east, millions of multi generational stratagized families who accept the way things are because, as immigrants, they understand how tough it can be. Bottom line, it is still better than the fear of not having enough to eat.

I find the lack of motivation among our young folks disturbing, because we now have to rely on them to come forward, to get engaged, to change the things that we, the middle class must take responsibility. We have let our country evolve to what it has become and we have created a culture of entitlement with our kids. What is the key that will unlock the door that will funnel an educated movement towards change?

It sure seems like this would be a good paper to write all you young folks. I hope my paper pisses you off a tad...ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.

The Road Not Taken

2011-08-06T08:21:00.004-04:00

Racing bikes seems to be at the forefront again, I have logged over 10 hours on the bike this week and its only Saturday morning. I am heading out for a quick 50 with Pfoodman Racing Team in about a half hour, regardless of how late I stayed up last night. This in between working/playing nights at the Wolf. This is the time of year when all things come together in the business, cash flow returns, thank gad.

Indeed, Pfoodman starts launching froward in August and there are huge sales increases this year because of a lot of groundwork laid a couple of years ago. It has been a tough summer in many ways and I am thankful for my employees staying with me. This fall marks the conclusion of some very unconventional ground work that included the opening of the Lone Wolf Coffee Company and the development of several brands created for the purpose of advancing our sales, someday.

Bottom line, it cost buckets of money to do what we did. And it was untimely, the opening of the restaurant in the middle of the recession and the outlay of funds for the development of the new brands. Few businesses made it through that tough time, few are making it now for that matter. Btw, in case you didn't know, there is still very much a recession that us business owners have to navigate, compete against. It is a different way of thinking, entrepreneurial.

But heck, The Wolf is getting a lot busier and the staff there continues to embrace what has become one of the most interesting places in the city. This on the heels of a new food court created for Lindenwood University, an unconventional project from the little company, Pfoodman, that could; the branding and conceptualization of six new restaurant concepts for use in the most exciting campus community in the state.

So I sit and write this morning about things. This morning is no different. One of my favorite poems, back when I studied poetry while attending Lindenwood, was a classic poem called The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost. It pretty much sums up the way I feel towards that which is mainstream, already tapped, the cliche, that which is conventional and/or somebody elses idea. It represents my position on culture, art, independence, triumph, perseverance. That which goes against the grain, that which is tougher, harder, uncertain. Choosing a path less taken requires a thought process separate from others. The unknown that fuels the need for adventure, a puzzle to figure out. It promotes a little more adversity in life, that which keeps things spirited.

This is what th poem means to me anyway. The need for wonder lust divided into two choices. One with more certainty than the other, simply by the way it appears.

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Please enjoy a quick video of a project now completed...

Sean Coray Takes Stage on Jimmyleg deal

2011-08-02T17:33:00.003-04:00

Meet Sean Coray, if you have not heard of him yet you will. Jimmyleg cohort, Mathew Mossotti, introduced me to him not long ago and put together a show with Sean and another one of our towns talents, Clayton Jones. They both opened for Scarlet Tanager, a whimsical folk genre that likely belongs in a category of its own. Sean played among the early arrivals talking and getting served food. Most players would have gotten lost in the chatter. I want to tell you something. Sean is an idol. The man can sing with soul, ma brothas and sistas. So of course Jimmyleg signed him to multiple shows at The Wolf in order to help him craft his trade and develop his brand. I can't wait to see him with a trio. Can't wait to hear him play his songs deep and emotional, in light of all that he has overcome. Seans story is one of perseverance and it comes through in his songwriting. Say it now: Jimmyleg told you about this one.

Scarlet Tanager Changes Course of St. Louis Scene

2011-08-02T07:54:00.002-04:00

We started embracing singer songwriter stuff a month or so ago and out of the corner steps Susan Logsdon, a new move in to the St. Louis scene. Fellow Singer Songwriter Mathew Mozotti talked me in to letting them do a show as a replacement to a cancellation and Scarlet Tanager showed up this past Friday taking the stage. It was an absolute blast watching this high spirited whimsical family/friend/band get their groove on. I recommend you see them immediately and learn what we learned. Creativity still happens in our music today. Check them out.

She Just Wants to Dance

2011-08-02T07:42:00.002-04:00

Man, while planning my trip to Colorado, I was thinking we should catch Keb Mo in Beaver Creek. Perhaps I will. Regardless, here is a nice clip of She Just Wants to Dance. A great way to start the day ladies.

Jimmyleg Signs John Maxfield Band

2011-08-01T08:11:00.006-04:00

John Maxfield and Drummer, Eddie Kozhevsky, of the John Maxfield Band

The John Maxfield Band has just signed with Jimmyleg Presents to do five shows at The Wolf Public House, Wednesday September 7th, Wednesday October 5th, Friday October 28th, Saturday, November 5th, and Wednesday November 16th.

"Jimmyleg Presents, in addition to its commitment to the St. Louis blues music scene, hand picks the most interesting up and coming Indy artists from the region to help build the renaissance of the artists genre" says Ralph Pfremmer aka, Jimmyleg and owner of the Wolf Public House.

"The John Maxfield Band is an amazing start to what will become an ongoing artist/promoter relationship project aimed at highlighting the best music in our area with a focus on entrepreneurial emergence; managing and growing the business of music and culture" Pfremmer said.

What's up with the Wolf?

The Wolf Public House is in its third year, a music venue born out of the blues and now a strong foothold in the community as a place to find the best music in the county. "The place has been kind of a workshop for everyone" says Pfremmer, who returned to music out of necessity to draw people to his emerging restaurant. "My band, Jimmyleg and the Browndawgs used to practice in what used to be my office, before we moved it out and created the Blackhawk room. We started performing on Wednesdays and the rest is a journey that returned me to my love of performance and event management". Pfremmer also owns Pfoodman Holdings, a multi unit restaurant company headquartered in the same building.

What the heck does Jimmyleg Presents do?

So now that the fall approaches, and there is a flurry of activity on behalf of The Wolf getting ready for the fall music calendar, a new focus on music and promotion comes into play and our season seems to be ramping up. The summer was huge, the Short Track Races, the concert in the parks, Ballwin Days, Creve Couer Days, look for Jimmyleg at the Wildwood BBQ Bash...

Jimmyleg Presents promotes the music at The Wolf Public House and is active in sourcing talent and providing venue, back office and special resources for the music industry.

Need talent for an event? Call Jimmyleg. Need an event promoted?-a CD release party venue?-Greenroom catering and concierge for your artists?-Endorsements and social media reviews for EPK's?-Band management and back office support?-just pick up the Phone. 314-496-2317.

With over 150 shows last year alone with the likes of The Jeremiah Johnson Band, Rockin Jake Band, Scott Holt Band, Scarlet Tanager, Soulard Blues Band, Javier Mendoza, Melissa Neels Band, Bottoms Up Blues Band, Miss Jubilee and the Humdingers, Hudson and the Hoodoo Cats, Pensylvania Slim, Lucky Old Sons, Rough Grooves, Alvin Jett, House of Bishops, Kingdom Brothers, The Benefit Blues Band, Illusions, Matt Kovis, Salt of the Earth, Matt Hill Band, Steve Pecaro, Paul Ranheim (Folk of Flight)...

Jimmyleg Presents has arrived as a clearinghouse for artists and talent buyers. The Wolf Public House is our home office, private boardroom available, full office and studio also available.

Sound Guy Stuff

2011-07-30T08:29:00.002-04:00

Last night I screwed up. While upstairs finishing up my day job stuff, my Pfoodman stuff, I got a text from the manager at The Wolf. "Miss Jubilee is here", it said. Well, that was all fine and dandy, but we also had a CD release party for Scarlet Tanager, and two other solo artists. It was sure to be a very busy night. So it was a big surprise to know that I had two bands booked for the night and I would have to tell one of them that they were not playing.

I don't know what happened but one thing is for sure, I don't like to be the one responsible for for breaking the news to the likes of Dan Conner and Valerie, of Miss Jubilee and the Humdingers, that their trip all the way out to the county was not going to yield a night of work. Because that is what it means to these professional musicians, I take it very seriously, the bookings, and the loyalty that all bands develop for their venues.

I want to tell you something. These guys were great. So nice, no big issue for them. They ate and stayed to watch the other band. they knew I was in trouble. I want to publicly thank Miss Jubilee and the Humdingers for their understanding.

Man did we have a busy night with Scarlet Tanager. An amazing group headed up. Look for huge things to happen with this group.

United by Boondoggle...

2011-07-26T08:17:00.003-04:00

I am confused once again. The government has overspent, as it has for decades. And the big debate on capital hill??--raising the amount of money available to manage the business of the United States, and once approved, well, we can pretty much count on the entire thing being swept under the rug again.

So what's the logical solution? Nope, not cutting back on spending. Uh-uh, not reducing costs or eliminating programs that exist because of on going influence from stakeholders. It appears that at least half of us choose not identify with the reality of this event. Confusing yes, alarming if you ask me. Because even fewer folks seem to want to put a stop to the enormous boondoggle that this country has become. Can't we fire somebody for christsake? Who wouldn't agree that Washington is the problem, not the solution? Is this thing on?

How can we sit back and watch this stuff year after year as intellectuals and not get a little more organized? How can we not, as stakeholders in our own quality of life, seek to find better representation? How can we not determine logically that this whole thing, our current political system is simply a bunch of crap?

I challenge anyone on the receiving end of government hand out to spend of day in the life of a business owner, on your dime, the same business owners who are vilified by the liberal media for being...prosperous, of all things. We could start by touring the corporate office, where we can get a learn on on how to interpret our countries bureaucratic policy towards tax liability, corporate governance and human resource laws. Insurance is another matter, fueled by the judicial system, why not go there too? We will start by opening the mail and count how many items have the word "Government" appearing on the return address. I have only two employees in the office, today.

Hell yes there is a double standard? How can the government get the nod to operate differently from that of any business or individual responsible for bankrolling their infrastructure. It's the same economy, they are fish in the sea, no? It's like our government is of separate influence from that which makes us good, that which has been our distinction as a super power. It appears that our government, by its own actions prefers stifling our ability to grow and create, innovate and contribute to our economy. Our government sets its own rules to play by, for its own purpose, its own agenda.

The Fed folks, all of them, right, left and middle, are maneuvering their way in to that which has always been our calling card, entrepreneurial endeavor. Demanding more out of an already fragile situation, we are on a course to failure; the fed leeching away that which has been the foundation, the footprint of our ability to survive just a couple hundred years ago, capitalism.

Academia: with all these degrees in business and a ton of intellectuals out there dolling out perspective--where are the young people? Why are they not motivated to take on and provide influence over such a matter. Where are those who stand to loose the most? I don't see them. Surely there is group of young civil and neutral libertarians in our midst to rescue our country from complacency? If I were 20 again...

Again, businesses, particularly small businesses, have to compete, on going, for lines of credit by leveraging personal assets and highly scrutinized history/projections by top gun annalists, on going. Bottom line, if you don't got it, banks ain't lending it; a shamble perpetuated by our own governments charity driven lending debacle last decade.

So now that we have a ton of busted home owners, failed proprietors and a record number of unemployed, the fed, those we have to rely on in times like this, coincidentally pushes us further in to debt and vulnerability as a nation. And the politicians continue to sell out for the power and push to get buy-in by the oh-so-dependent. The result being an entitled movement gaining ground; what appears to be the plan all along; the Obama administrations subtle, passive aggressive change into socialism. Scary stuff folks. For the record, I don't like any of them.

And what happens to small business? It is no secret, lending comes from private equity now, instead of banks, which means higher interest and/or the handing over of equity so we can keep the jobs we have created for ourselves and many others. And forget the profits, long gone to the coffers of the fed. Word, for Gawds sake consider capital gains taxes on your business if you have not. If you have debt, it counts as capital gain. If you get pushed out due to low cash flow, if sold inappropriately a huge tax bill will reflect your life work and can leave you with a tax debt, and in jail, perhaps. We thank the government for this mess too, if you don't mind lifting up the rug on this one either.

It seems this running-out-of-cash-thing is a huge inconvenience for the fed but most certainly exposes the agenda of the Obama administration. This while the right takes on the logical and political stance. Pahleeeezzzeeee folks. There is indeed a commonality for both sides: stay in the game, motivate voters to play by the rules of the game we are in, the current system, fight, fight, fight for the two alternatives, year after year, decade after decade. So the power shift is minimal.

Bottom line, revenues will be needed to balance the budget, that means raising taxes, that means killing small business.

Why is there a double standard? Because a double standard gets results depending on agenda. The grid needs a bit of tweaking, ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.

Neighborhood Pre Conceptions

2011-07-20T10:20:00.007-04:00

It was good to see my boy Roy last night, even though it was a Tuesday and I never stay up past 9:00 PM on Tuesdays, unless, ahem...social need be. I was wanting to get home to a key lime pie that Janie had waiting and that is why I cut it short. Sorry Roy, see you next time, Wednesdays are good, each Wednesday at the Wolf, 15480 Clayton Road, Ballwin 63011, entertainment nightly, great food, great culture.

Roy and I grew up together. Pretty much right next door to one another, along with his brother John, best man in my wedding, and Martha, the youngest of the Manning family. We grew up in a pretty cool neighborhood in the 70's in Columbia MO, the Shepherd Blvd neighborhood. I can only explain our childhood adequately by saying that the sitcom, that 70's Show on TV, nailed it. All the way down to Fez, who remarkably resembled Pedro Balratrenena, a foreign exchange student living with the Dickhouse twins up the street. I think most of the kids in the neighborhood would agree, and you know who you are.

So when Roy and I met at The Wolf last night it was the usual conversation: The concern towards our aging parents, a discussion of those who have moved on, died etc. Other stuff like, How are the kids...or What ever happened to so and so...or I never understood how that person turn out that way...pretty basic stuff.

But I must say, at (nearly) 50 years old, the standard conversation among old friends has changed a bit for me. Recently I resonate a lot less energy towards being assertive--not as fevered focus of taking over the world through entrepreneurial endeavor. This is what us "boys" have talked about for the past 25 years when getting together, money and the pursuit of it.

It occurred to me, while sitting there swapping stories, that I am burned out and in recovery mode after this recession and tha past 10 years of full throttle madness. Some personal health and balance measures are in order and I have already embarked on the process. Obvious reasons for my switch up; the crazy stupid government with all the tax laws, the need for special services in order to maintain compliance, the lending crisis, the lack of organized regional focus on entrepreneurial advancement...the list is endless.

Now, of course my attitude will change over time, with the right decompression technique. And I am not talking about vacation or self help books. I plan on taking full advantage of a slow down in order to gain a better position in...something.

I had an epiphany not long ago and I just realized it, another one. This time I realized that my thread (my life as it relates to work/play/achievement/happiness) is pretty tightly wound and it is (for people like me) necessary to take time out to unravel things a bit--to loosen things up, or suffer some major bullshit. If intuition is telling me this, I need to go with it. It is pretty hard to ignore when you feel overwhelmed, the loss of optimism and focus, well, it really, really sucks. I have been there a while. And I have been there before.

From an intellectual perspective, I accept the fact that this can be part of a cyclical process of being an entrepreneur, in my case, a promoter of things. Which, if the truth be known, is really all that I am good at; promoting things. I am pretty good at selling anything that needs a compelling story written about it. From there I simply broadcast the message. Food and hospitality was low hanging fruit. Culture is too.

So Roy asked me what I have going on business wise? What I have been doing? What's been making me excited lately? I am sure he expected the usual launch in to: "I'm gonna get ready to..." or a "Soon I'll have..."

I told him about the music and that I have embarked on playing and promoting it for the last couple of years, helping people get their bands together, their music groove together, buying talent for some festivals around town, booking for The Wolf and others under my brand Jimmyleg Presents. I told him how much I enjoyed learning about the culture of the musicians, how they live, how they struggle, how to play, making the breakthroughs on the stage, in front of the audience. I like playing the harp, writing and playing and producing music, having good nights, and better nights performing. I like the sexy guitars and collect them. I enjoy the people, the learning process, the artistic expression that they have that I pursue--that which has nothing to do with the insanity of the war, fought each day between the hours of 6:00 AM and 5:00 PM, my real job.

Roy looked at me and said, and I shit you not, in the same demure of a banker, a parent, a wife, and an in-law, all rolled in to one big fat expert opinion...

"Ralph, you can't make any money doing that".

I am talking High Road folks...

...Ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout

Blue Bloods and Blotter

2011-07-20T08:21:00.007-04:00

A friend of mine recommended last year that I take a couple days off for some personal solitude, as part of a mental cleansing thing. Nobody but me, perhaps a writing device, nobody around but some nature. It'd be a head clearer, a re-focusing of sort, to get things balanced. This sounded reasonable, and I booked it, only to cancel on it because I was too busy. Who has time for solitude?

I was laying on the couch the other day and rudely interrupted by my wife and daughter primping for, what was it?...the U2 concert. Janie and I didn't go (obviously should have) but a fuss was being made over what Natalie would wear. Concert wear has changed since I last attended an outdoor concert. The last major outdoor concert that I remember was Summerjam 1979 or 80 in Kansas City, and it wasn't all that pretty. But it was pretty cool when REO played "Ridin the Storm Out" amid a major thunderstorm while drug dealers scurried to cover their remaining sheets of blotter acid from the downpour.

Anyway, I was grabbing some solitude that Sunday afternoon, because is was hot and because it had been a long week and because I just damn well was! I rarely lay around and do nothing but July is the Tour D France, and nothing puts me down quicker than Bob Roll and Phil Liggett expressing themselves over a Cote d...something. I was on the couch for something like 3 hours and, at best, caught 10 minutes of the broadcast.

I recently did an advertising thing with new St. Louis magazine, Town and Style. Have you seen or heard of it? Apparently it is a head-to-head smack down for blue blooded mag, Ladue News.

From the RFT: "Town & Style launched in February under the direction of Ladue News' former editor Dorothy Weiner and publisher Lauren Rechan. According to Weiner, the new publication will focus on the area's "central corridor" -- extending beyond Ladue News' concentration on Clayton and Ladue". Oh Thank the Lord, finally a society magazine that covers the lay people in Chesterfield. Perhaps we'll get cable next?

This morning I read the thing cover to cover; what has been showing up at my restaurant for the past several weeks. While scouring the pages for my picture or a mention (awful isn't it?), like most people do that read these community mags, I noticed several of my favorite pals from around my town: Sally Drake, on her opening of Swim, Bike Run. Dr. Tim Jordan, noticed he has a column, Tim is our towns best Developmental and Behavioral Pediatricians. Oh, and John Jordan, Tim's son, works for us and we just love that kid.

Loved also the piece on Kids Rock Cancer Gala from Maryville University at the Black Cat Theater. If you have not been to the Black Cat you are missing out. Maryville University continues to be a gem in West St. Louis County. Other important news in Town and Style: The purchase of Busch's Grove and what will be an Italian Family Restaurant, a great piece on the SS Admiral with a unique photo of the Gateway Arch under construction, and topping things off, a really cool column by Charles Brennan. Who doesn't love that guy. T&S, Congratulations on extending your readership beyond Spoede Rd. You got Chesterfield hooked.

Anyway, I feel better already, after taking a nap on the couch and reflecting about some stuff going on in my community I figure solitude is found in odd places. But my trip to Colorado is likely going to come to fruition. Leaving the second week of August on a journey. I am sure I will find what I am looking for.

The High Road

2011-07-19T08:12:00.004-04:00

It came as a surprise one day when Loran Cavano asked if I would play with him. We ended up calling ourselves the High Road and the song set began to take shape in the form of our humor based banter on stage, using the classics of John Prine, Wayne Hancock, Buck Owens and a bunch of originals that Loran has worked out.

Since we took the stage on Mondays, and because we kind of sucked at the beginning, we put a disclaimer on our show, we called it the High Road "Workshop", or so I did. This in an effort to alert those whom might come and hang out while we did our thing--that we might have to take some starts and stops, work out the stuff that makes for seamless music making. And stay they do, sometimes. I think the tongue and cheek humor, which has become part of our show, was a result of our overcompensating the mistakes made as we worked the songs out. It is consistent with taking the High Road, not taking ourselves all that seriously, but working hard to get it right, over time, on stage, in front of others. It is a tad stressful, but I am never shy when a microphone lands at my lips.

About two weeks ago we finally did a show and opened for Wildhorse, another bass, guitar duo, at The Wolf. We packed the room and held them. Now we are off on a new Journey, a gig this week at the Wolf again, and another at the Meremac Marina on Sunday. While I still play the harp around town with whomever asks, the High Road is the road I am on and I am having a ton of fun. Looking to get our CD worked out. We are just about ready to record.

Always Teste

2011-07-05T08:27:00.001-04:00

2011-07-04T08:00:00.001-04:00

It's On!

2011-07-02T07:30:00.005-04:00

Go Here for Information

Get Dirty

2011-06-26T09:02:00.001-04:00

Seasonal Pessimism Kills Art.

2011-06-20T07:45:00.006-04:00

It is hard to believe that summer is already here. I missed spring yet again. Spring is the best time to slow things down. Again, I should have taken in the Dogwoods and the Rose Bud trees blooming in the cool air, even if it was raining most of the time. It has to do with winter coming to an end, the gray colors fading into pinks and yellows and violets. This is what Missouri does right around late March. It happens slowly and if you don't stop and center yourself on what's happening, you miss it, as I did. It's no different than late October when golden brown leaves hit the ground after a heavy rain, this after months of dry air and outdoor fall sports, reminding us that winter is right around the corner. Pessimism.

I missed this spring due to having my head down again. I don't plan on missing another. I told myself years ago that, when I reached 50 years old, I would close one chapter and begin another. I am not sure if it has to do with work or just general energy spent on being less aggressive, less competitive, less the need to control. I am thinking art here folks. Taking my personal artisanship to the next level. I will write about this soon. Of course, I still need to make money and finish putting my kid through college and all that stuff, but why not start the new journey now, when I can still feel the youthful urging of wonder lust? Don't we all want to hang on to a little bit of that? I don't want my wonder lust to fade, but I certainly want my family with me. This seems to be more important as of late.

I think the spring amplifies wonder lust and, if our head's down and you don't look up and watch whats going on around you, you miss the opportunity to think objectively, to reflect on things from the past while looking forward, towards the future and with the things that are most important to you. I hope its not too late to still be able to pull this off. This in the light of certain things in and out of my control. This after a pretty killer fathers day that flowed from moment to moment, perfectly, with my wife of 22 years, my best friend.

So I am centering a bit here folks. Stepping back with a new POV. It is prudent at this juncture, even though I don't really know what it is. I thought to myself the other day-- what is there for me to write about lately? And I had a hard time coming up with much to say other than some pessimistic rhetorical crap that pushes peoples buttons.

I need new images, new experiences and influences to be inspired, to be the best that I can be. Don't we all? I think a couple of trips are in order. I am heading to California in a couple weeks to chill on the beach and see some music, gonna do Colorado and New Mexico, a couple other places before getting busy in September. This time there will be a plan to relax and consider what is important in life.

Just now my wife said for me to rush in to the kitchen. Little Girl, as we have named her, the most resilient female deer in our back yard deer family, has given birth again to some babies and this morning was the first we have seen them. It is going to be a good day.

Yep, while in Hermosa Beach I will bring my guitar and play on the pier. Always wanted to do that, ifyouknowhatimtalkingbout.

Alpine Shop Short Track Dirt Crits 2011

2011-06-17T07:17:00.002-04:00

Click Here for Pre Registration Page for the Short Track Dirt Crits.

Coupon Recovery is Free

2011-06-16T07:32:00.005-04:00

I took a lot of heat recently over a post on Groupons. Disclaimer: I don't care by the way, especially from those who want to take potshot commentary like: "you as a business person should know not to say things like that" or "by talking negatively about groupon folks, you will alienate business"...

First, its a blog, I have to hook people by calling it the way I see it. Appalling is a good thing if I am delivering my goodness correctly. The world is not homogeneous, neither is my expression. Unconventional is good when navigating the web, no? It is all in good fun.

Second, well, they are likely right, I should not be doing this. I should not alienate potential customers just because they have the expectation that, if they mine the papers and web for deals, they will get one up on the average consumer at the expense of the business who conforms to that which is not in their best interest. The other consumer, my ideal consumer, who purchases things at face value, cares about business in community and understands how hard it is to make it in a retail business. These...non-coupon people, perhaps, have more disposable income, but most are simply loyal customers who rarely balk at the cost of what is purveyed because there is value built in to the entire "performance" of the experience. Because they like the experience, the food, the culture, and the personality of the place. These value centers, by the way, are loaded in the cost of the check average. In case you didn't already know this.

OMG, small business is at the root of our community folks. If we don't patronize small business, it goes away. And with the current lending situation, the banks with piles of money counted and sorted and manicured and groomed and counted, and loved by smiling white shirt red tie suits who do nothing more than sell checking accounts (not making loans), well we are in trouble (please refer to paragraph 2)

To have the expectation that, in order to earn loyalty, small business needs to discount, is unsafe for the business owner. Group purchasing cultivators (tribe builders of educated and conditioned discount seekers) are centered on their own agenda. While encouraging small business to participate, the number of entitled patrons grows making it harder for the small business to justify selling anything at a break even, much less a profit. This, by the way, was the genious reference to Groupons people being like roving zombies. I thought this was most excellent. (paragraph 2 please)

I was at a concert in the park last night. My business participated in Ballwins Concert in the Park and they hired one of our house bands, Alvin Jett and Phat Noiz to play. I made that happen. As part of the deal, The Wolf was set up giving away wraps, and sliders, and chips and salads, promoting our business, getting involved in the community goodness through art and culture and business. its a great way to promote your business, btw. I enjoy doing it. In fact, we did it at Ballwin Days, we do it at the Short Track Races at Castlewood, we do it for numerous charity events around the city, we do it just about every month these food and beverage give aways. Just to promote the business while being a part of whatever community or whatever endeavor.

So when a real nice lady came up and asked me where the free coupons were while she was taking a pull off of one of those free blackbean sliders that my boy Lupo layed on her. I launched in to my rhetoric. Basically told her to read my blog.

Folks, I don't mean to ruffle any feathers. But you heard it here today. I will never, ever do another coupon again. I am officially off the grid when it comes to discounting through any type of coupon, groupon, Metromix, deal of the day, anything. It is unhealthy for my business, and it is unhealthy for the economy adn the overall general condition of the wold and the universe we live in. The fact that several businesses (groupon type businesses) are cultivating tribes of discount seekers, packs of one time hitters with a mission to get something for nothing, at the expense of the small business owner, is not healthy for the small business economy. I might as well call my business Wal-wolf.

Somebody needs to scream out the window "I am mad as hell and not going to take it anymore!" I am OK being that dude.

Controversial? probably. Who wants to conform anyway? Ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.

Capital Ride

2011-06-13T07:07:00.002-04:00

We started Friday night at Coopers Landing, where we ribboned through a couple storms with very little rain. It was cool watching the storms come up on us from the river, which was swollen pretty good. Coopers Landing is a hoot, live music, some pretty good Thai food, and lots of whatever you need. We road from there to Hermann on Saturday, then to St. Charles on Sunday. Instead of shuttling, though, we simply rode home from there. Great fitness with some good guys on the Katy.

More Wolf Troubles

2011-06-10T08:15:00.002-04:00

Fires in Arizona Causing problems with Mexican Gray Wolves.

Summer Concert/O-Sport Series at The Wolf

2011-06-07T07:02:00.003-04:00

Ok, I just put the finishing touches on the Wolf's Entertainment and O-Sport schedule. And oh baby, the O-Sport Schedule is well underway with last weekends inaugural Ballwin Days Bike and Blues Experience. The Wolf provides our community with the best of art and culture and active living events. If you have been to the Wolf to check things out. Be there soon.

Now that we have gotten through both Creve Couer Days and Ballwin Days. Where our collection of Blues Music provided West County folks with a little overview of St. Louis Blues, it is time to settle in to our Summer concert series.

Below is the list of events that you can expect from the Wolf this summer.

O-Sports

Lindenwood Capital Ride, this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Castlewood Days, Saturday, June 11th, see Miss Jubilee and the Humdingers and enjoy food from The Wolf at West Counties most talked about natural resource, Castlewood State Park.

Short Track Dirt Crit Races at Castlewood State Park, June 30, July 7th, 14th, 21, and 29. Enjoy the best mountain bike racing in the state, picnic to follow. Lets roll!

Alpine Shop/Big River Running trail running series at Castlewood State Park. August 4, 11, 18, 25. Come out on Thursdays for the best in trail running/racing, Big River Running making things happen for the trail running culture.

Jimmyleg Presents Calendar

Jimmyleg Blues Jammers have off until October for the Fall/Winter Series.

Miss Jubilee and the Humdingers, June 10th.
Hashbrown Blues Band, June 11th.
High Road Workshop, Wed. June 15th.
Pernikoff Brothers, Thur. June 16th.
Rockin Jake Band, Friday, June 17th.
Melissa Neels Band, Saturday, June 18th.
Clayton Jones, Wed. June 22nd.
Chris Ruest Band, Friday, June 24.
Blues 66!, Saturday, June 25th.
High Road Workshop, Wed. June 29th.
Kingsom Brothers, Friday, July 1st.
Pennsylvania Slim, Saturday, July 2nd.
High Road Workshop, Wed. July 6th.
Miss Jubilee and the Humdingers, July 8th.
Hudson and the Hoodoos, Sat, July 9th.
Clayton Jones, Wed. July 13th.
Javier Mendoza, Friday, July 15th.
Melissa Neels Band, Saturday, July 16th.
High Road Workshop, Wed. July 20th.
Soulard Blues Band, Friday, July 22nd.
Matt Hill Band, Saturday, July 23rd.
High Road Workshop, Wed. July 27th.
Idle Minds, Friday, July 29th.
House of Bishops, Saturday, July 30th.
Grayson (Route 66 Tour) High Road Workshop opens. Wed. August 3rd.
Lucky Old Sons, Friday, August 5th.
Rough Grooves, Saturday, August 6th.
High Road Workshop, Wed. August 10th.
Harbinger, Friday, August 12th.
Pennsylvania Slim, Sat. August 13th.
High Road Workshop, Wed. July 17th.
Aaron Griffin and the Youngsters, Friday, August 19th.
Melissa Neels Band, Sat. August 20th.
High Road Workshop, Wed. August 24th.
The Benefit Blues Band, Friday August 26th.
Illusions, Saturday, August 27th.

June, coming soon, Singer/Songwriter night, more Americana and Blues, more acoustic. Road bands coming and going.

October 1st, benefit for The Endangered Wolf Center and Missouri Wildlife Rescue. Get this, ON THE RUINS OF THE ORIGINAL LONE WOLF TAVERN AT CASTLEWOOD. Tickets 35 bucks in advance and at the door. Look for details soon.

Ballwin Days Bike and Blues Experience

2011-06-06T07:50:00.007-04:00

Whew, it was darned hot out there. But what a day and what an inaugural race of what will become and epic adventure. I loved the family participation, lots of kids. lots of give a ways from local business. It was a great start to a new face on Ballwin Days.

The Green Monster, after a day of work, rests again, until next time...

The torque needed to pull through the sand, as evidenced by the gun show above.

I did it!

With a little help from my friend.

Team mate Mike Wise shredding the monster.

Zack Hafner, back in his usual form.

Lemans starts kind of, well, they are rough.

The King of the Royal Council (Bill Howard) speaks to the minions.

The Green Monster far exceeds the Schnucks Grocery Carts appeal.

The Strand.

The Pfoodman approaching meltdown.

But he stays in front of Bert, for the moment.

Then he makes a massive pull during a transition.

Team Mate Darrin Marlow pretty much shredded the field.

100 Miles to Nowhere!

2011-06-03T09:48:00.002-04:00

Can't you just wait to sit on your bike for a hundred miles and wave to the same people after each 4 mile lap? That is what Pfoodman Racing is doing tomorrow. Gonna be a hoot for a good cause. If you want to join in on the profundity, throw ketchup or something like that, come on. Meet at the Wolf.

100 Miles of Nowhere details
WHEN: Saturday, June 4th - 6:30am wheels roll
WHERE: The Wolf Public House, 15480 Clayton Road
WHAT: 25 - 4 mile laps
WHY: Because we can
HOW: Run what ya brung. Road bikes, TT bikes, big wheels, tricycles, your call.

Share dialog about the EWC

2011-06-02T09:04:00.004-04:00

Oh my. I am exhausted from the article that appeared in the Post yesterday about the beautiful wolf pups. Such an outpouring of love for the center and concern. I anticipated a couple negative outbursts too, but had now idea where the jugular would be. I am compelled to answer some of the concerns and would like to use this forum as a question and anwer place. Why not?

Just what am I talking about?

The Endangered Wolf Center has basically been near collapse for the past couple years. Barely squeaking by, living hand to mouth through the thicks, but mostly thins, of cash flow. I got involved through an in-kind donation for the Gala event in 2008. We basically did the event for free. I wanted to meet Betty White and get a picture taken with her, which I was successful. In fact, I sat right next to her table and got to talk with her a couple times. She is one cool lady. Same with Jack Hanna.

Things began to slide from there. A year and a half later, after joining the board and becoming involved because I liked the people and the wolves, I find myself as the board chair and leading an effort to either close or re-invent the 40 year institution.

I have found this to be an extremely hard task because of a small group of folks destined to keep the center (and the people working hard to save it) from correcting itself. Some of these people are close to me, others sit off to the side and wait for opportunities to point out faults. This is kind of irritating, especially because I am simply a volunteer and try and stay within my abilities to help oversee things. I have spent a lot, a lot of time on the center as of late.

I ask these people (in this here public and transparent forum), what is the deal? There seems to be issues with what occurred in the past, with people who have moved on or gone away. Why have a bone of contention aimed at the EWC now with every single inch of the place being evaluated and secured, scrutinzed and fixed for change; the individuals you hold responsible are no longer around.

The center is the Wolves, folks! Why take aim at them?

It is low road stuff. The same stuff that centers on bad energy and negative broadcast. It is the devil. I really don't want to shut the center down. But I don't really have the patience to deal with the politics of armchair opinion either. I am hopeful somebody will come in and help me, because this is an enormous task. I am trying (like Billy Jack) not to lose my temper on matters.

I think I can lead the center out of trouble, with some additional board members and some cash combined with impecable detication to ethics. But man, without the hate mongers at least tossing a small bone into the confidence den, they will likely get their wish, it will close. Bottom line, it appears that the folks who show a lot of anger towards the center do not have the resources or the connections to save it, otherwise they would approach me now and try and help. Instead they hide behind the past and whatever assumptions they conger up.

Folks, crisis does not forever tarnish an institutions ability to get its act together--to manage through crisis and then sustainability is our mission, get on board. This is your amnesty period. Please forgive and help out. How long are you going to hold on to that which is at the center of things--the fact that the low road is a more comfortable place--that the real essense of this project lies in community.

Hey, no prob. This is a tough time, I kind of understand this stuff, when people get pissed, when people need a forum.

Please, get off your keyboards and phones, quit writing nasties on forums, and emails, quit calling our donors, our constituents, our members.

Regardless, lets sort this out here, on my forum. I invite anyone to share dialog over the EWC. Lets get the Moose out of the room.

The Wolf Meets Virginia Kerr of KMOV

2011-06-01T15:22:00.001-04:00

TV appearance this morning

2011-05-31T07:36:00.004-04:00

I am going to be on TV today. I was thinking about taking some opportunity on a couple things. While I have the stage. While the microphone approaches my lips, the pontificating magic just inches away. It's live too. So I have a chance to take liberty with some of my advocating rhetoric.

Lets make a list of things that I might sneak in the interview.

1) Distaste for the Groupon culture. Just because.

2) The need for more Art and Culture in West County. Check out our music calendar.

3) The Endangered Wolf Center needing the support for our new Pups.

4) Blatant shout out to the Ralph Account folks.

5) The Bike and Blues Experience this Sunday at Vlassis Park.

6) Pfoodman Racing doing 100 miles to nowhere this Saturday, 25 laps of a 4 mile course in front of the Wolf. Proceeds to the Lance Armstrong foundation.

TV, this AM, check it out on KMOV channel 4.

Lewis Visit

2011-05-28T07:54:00.003-04:00

It had been a while since I stopped by my good friend Lewis Greenbergs house. I mean, he stops by my place quite a bit. Occasionally I like to return the gesture. He has a circuit of fans that he must touch every day. The Wolf is just one of the places we can catch Lewis doing his thing. I promised the Planet (Mike Marino) that we would visit Lewis and take in the artwork. I told him also that he would be changed forever, Lewis delivered.

A couple Sundays ago I saw one of my employees and her dad interviewing Lewis for what would become a class paper. As Lewis unwound the answers to her questions, the father did what most people do, listen with intense interest with his jaw dropped; Lewis, a walking canvass of broadcast. To engage him is a journey, one that takes you into a world of anger, sadness, joy and sorrow in a psychedelic rhetorical spew. You have to be a little patient at times. Trust me, getting to know Lewis is a treat.

Lewis has been working on several projects in his house. And man, things have evolved on the interior. If you have the chance to visit, open your eyes and ears, and listen to the broadcast, enjoy the display of art, dig deep in to his mind until you find "it"-- a reflection of ones self, without the boundaries of conformity.

There doesn't seem to be as much hate for Lewis in the community as in years past. I applaud those who have learned to accept diversity and, our people, instead of carrying a torch, choose to embrace him for what he is. Bravo to those who get it.

Interesting things inside the walls of the WPH

2011-05-26T09:26:00.006-04:00

First off, the above is what every board room should look like. Period. Got a guitar to sell, let me know and we will keep it here for business hours viewing. Put it on Craigs list and my administrative gals will show them for you. Of course, I am always buying cool stuff.

Straight line winds swept all the tables into the corner on yet another day of rain and wind. We feel for the folks in Joplin, a container for supplies to be dropped today. Bring your stuff.

The Lewiscar. Not the batcar, but much nicer, a work of art in itself. Have you ever heard him coming. He has a crazy exhaust system that alerts his fans of his arrival. We love Lewis and his generous personality. Thank goodness for interesting people.
Blackie Starks of the Isaac James Band. Last night jamming with his Dad, Mike Starks (Doc Sweetwood). Look for Blackie to do an acoustic set at The Wolf.

Above, another jammer from last night, Richie Callison, former lead vocalist with Geezer Butler of BLACK SABBATH and HEAD EAST, has completed the promotional video for the new single 'Run Back', from his latest self-titled Clearview Records CD. The video was edited and co-produced by Bryan Loss and Richie Callison. Check it out below.

I See...Groupons

2011-05-25T09:01:00.005-04:00

We were sitting in our favorite Mexican restaurant Monday, and before I knew it, my wife and I sensed something was different. And I knew exactly what had happened. First, it was busier than normal. And I was mildly bothered by that. Not because I feel that I should have a restaurant to myself. I adore the owner of Charros, and his small business sprouting out of his hard work and effort. But because the people there were not the normal folks, fellow tribe members, or locals that I have become accustomed to while sipping on my favorite frozen marg, I was a tad cantankerized.

There was a lot more hustle and bustle. kids playing hide and seek, babies tossing salsa on the shades. I saw an argument with a server who tried to explain that they did not have PBJ for the kids, in his best broken English. There were more servers on, there was a lot more chitter chatter of people who have never been in the place before, remarking on how this place compares to the other place, etc. I didn't recognize anyone. And most everyone was...OK, I am going to say it, overweight. I will go ahead and say this too...so were their kids.

I hate calling stuff out like this (or don't even have a second thought). I mean, who am I to generalize, stereotype, categorize, box up, bookshelf...? I do see things in this sort of way; the differences, the paradoxical "isms" that dance and sing around me all day. To me, verything has a label, so I can remember stuff. I have silos for all sorts of things. Me?-- I likely fall in to a box labeled: impatient, sarcastic and narrow. Though I would like to argue/negotiate a little "means well"...if I were to have my liberties.

Look, I don't like coupons, especially the new internet gig "Groupons". They bring out...Groupon Zombies. And since I have either owned or managed a business for over 30 years, whether it be my own or somebody Else's, I think it is indulgent for the consumer and the promotions company. The promotion takes place just so the Zombies can take advantage of and never come back. No they don't, they never come back, not unless you do the promotion again. It is a sub culture of people wanting something for nothing and they are now categorized by their own habits/values. They are not my customer. They let their kids toss salsa.

Groupon people stand out like neon, wheabling from the parking lot to the front door, grasping on to their printed pieces of paper, ink barely dried from a two for one print cartridge deal a The Mart. They have conversations with each other on the way from the car, the rules to follow when getting seated. They spend with surgical precision, exactly what the coupon will deliver, and often short the tip. facts, folks, just ask those who have experience.

Nope, I will not be doing groupon advertising ever again. In fact, I will not be doing discounts on anything ever again. Just to keep from having to board up the windows from those expecting nothing other than a free ride, at the expense of the proprietors dime.

Support your local businesses like your family. It is your village, we all are part of it.

Groupons are over.

I don't even really work here...

2011-05-24T08:27:00.000-04:00

Good Friend Rockin Jake is THE Showman

2011-05-21T09:52:00.000-04:00

Ballwin Days Presents: The Green Monster/Toilet Bowl aka Spiral of Death

2011-05-20T11:01:00.003-04:00

For anyone wanting to know what to expect from the Ballwin Days Bike and Blues Experience. The above vid is of the Green Monster. The thing is famous and has been kicking the butts of our local race folk for several years. Built by our own local race hero Jeremiah Strothman, the Green Monster is sure to please.

Also, the toilet bowl (also called the Spiral of Death) Take a look at local legend Chris Ploch on our style of racing. Thanks Alpine Shop for being our partner.

If you have not signed up, do so now here.

2011-05-20T09:16:00.001-04:00

Days of our lives...

2011-05-20T09:05:00.001-04:00

Days of our lives...

2011-05-20T09:04:00.001-04:00

Jackass: the luck of the entrepreneuer

2011-05-18T07:04:00.008-04:00

I suppose I might be considered lucky. At one time or another we all are considered to be that way. At least I am told this from time to time. I don't feel lucky, though. In fact, I have never really thought about how luck plays into much that I do but I can tell you that I don't carry around a buckeye or kiss a key chain or skip over cracks in the sidewalk. In fact, I think the concept of luck is pretty much bullshit.

Life is about making things happen, no? Not just some whimsical fortune, sweeping in and making life good. To be honest, I get pissed if somebody says I am lucky. Lucky means you didn't earn it, that you were "chosen" to benefit by some sort of benevolent cherry picking--that you are special somehow, chosen among others, without reason, or perhaps with reason, because you are special. Here is a sentence for you to consider. "That lucky bastard always has all the luck".

Ok, so I did "get" lucky once. I loaded a slot machine up with quarters when the first casino opened in St. Charles back in 1995 or 96. Here is the luck--I was lucky that my wife went out of town for the weekend so I could sneak over there with my bro, Matt Modica. Or maybe I was lucky to not have run out of gas on the way there, or lucky that I didn't get hit by a falling pigeon while leaving my car. It wasn't that I was lucky to hit the jackpot on a slot. I was smart enough to go home directly after winning, purchasing a car, a lawn mower and a TV before the weekend was done.

I parlayed that 2700 like cooks making casseroles out of leftovers. I am certain that it wasn't luck, more like....jackass entrepreneurship.

Now (I need to preface) this was quite a while ago, so don't judge me on all this stuff. I certainly don't go to casinos for entertainment and loath the thought of dropping a dime on anything owned by say...the Isle of Capri Casino. In fact, I don't really go out much now, except to eat or go to a movie, perhaps a blues show or a meeting for a brew on business. Catch me at The Wolf if you want to see what I do on Wednesdays, 15480 Clayton Road, doors open at 6:00.

But that night, after winning the 27 C's, I went to a bar and "by chance" met a guy who had just gotten out of jail. He was down on his luck, had been picked up for missing a court date or something, I really didn't ask. He was a car salesman who did a little work on the side with a friends dealers license. He was nervous that his friend was on his way to the bar and wanted him to pay him back the money that he had posted for his bail.

While I was leaving he came out and asked me if I was in the market for a Jeep and pointed to the corner of the lot.

Under the light of a neon sign, there was a 1986 Grand Cherokee Jeep Woody, kind of rough, but we all know what woody jeeps are majorly within the "style quotient". I immediately told him I would give him 500 bucks without looking inside or driving it. Deal!

I was to contact him to get the title in a few days and we made a handshake agreement. Now, some of you are sitting there thinking, A) Ralph is a total dumbass for giving the dude (just out of jail) 5 bills. Or B) He is brilliant for going "all-in" on the friggin Woody...

I sold the car for 2700 bucks, the same amount that I won at the casino roughly two years to the date, to a student at a local college, who had to have that car as part of his personal ensemble. I drove that jeep as a third car up to 250,000 miles, had 203,000 when I first got drove it home from the bar. It just never stopped running and when the time came to sell it, I was sad. I am still sad, because I am not sure if I have ever (percentage wise) had as good a ROI than that crazy deal.

Was it luck that Chris Hitler, (yes, that was the guys name) happened in to the bar where I was gloating my winnings to the smokers and beer guzzlers mumbling under their breath what a lucky bastard I was? Did something line us up in order to provide him with what he needed to square a debt and me the good fortune of getting a 300% return? I think not. I took action.

It was the beginning of the game and sometimes you have to throw the dice.

Be careful out there.

Fan Mail

2011-05-17T11:57:00.000-04:00

Just look at it!

2011-05-17T08:08:00.000-04:00

Bassmaster Pranks

2011-05-17T08:05:00.000-04:00

Wolf Pfotos by Phil Sholberg

2011-05-14T11:05:00.003-04:00

I See Wolf People

2011-05-14T11:00:00.000-04:00

Paul Ranheim

2011-05-14T07:13:00.003-04:00

Paul Ranheim is busy plotting his emergence as an artist and Jimmyleg Presents is pretty darned excited about it. Paul is a good friend of the Wolf and we have seen him grow as an artists as well as a student in theology at Covenant Seminary; yesterday was his last day at school and now he begins a new journey. He is a kind man, deeply artistic and on his way up. Look for him at the Wolf again soon.

Paul Ranheim is a singer-songwriter from Seattle whose music bridges the genres of acoustic, indie, folk, and rock. Listeners are drawn in by his profound lyricism and winsome musicality. Paul's vocal & chord choices are creative, often incorporating jazz-like qualities, and demonstrate his obvious passion for sculpting music. Deeply contemplative and emotionally engaging, Paul's music takes his listener through vivid images rooted in life to convey the joys and sorrows of the shared human experience.

Genres: Folk / Acoustic / Indie

John Rhines Shreds for Pfoodman Racing at the Mellow Johnny's Classic

2011-05-09T08:19:00.004-04:00

Chemistry Award

2011-05-07T08:41:00.001-04:00

Former Build-A-Bear model inks Pfoodman shoot

2011-05-06T13:38:00.006-04:00

The Barn of Lucerne will be the backdrop for the new branding collateral's for Pfoodmans new exciting Higher Education roll out. Friend, cyclist and local photographer Phil Sholberg, formally corporate photographer for AB companies, is set to do get it right. All grown up Maryville University Student Natalie Pfremmer along with Peter Miquelon, and David Conley, all of West St. Louis County, will also be featured.

Assorted ispirational images

2011-05-06T08:36:00.002-04:00

The model and the intern

2011-05-05T08:27:00.002-04:00

Appalled by the human culture experiment.

2011-05-03T07:39:00.004-04:00

Is it unfashionable and/or un-American to think that broadcasting the hunt and killing of a (fugitive) kind of makes me feel, well, barbaric? I mean, the shouts and cheering in our cities, the bold font and type in our newspapers, the ongoing testimonials of how the killing unfolded, the high fiving, the bravado that occurred as a result of our countries military work. Not to mention the proud parents of a young military man boasting that their son was possibly the one taking the life of a terrorist. No matter how much of a schmuck the dude was, I am repulsed by the whole thing.

Now, let's assume that he actually was killed yesterday. I heard many a patron of the Wolf yesterday citing conspiracy stuff--that he has been dead for years, that he died of natural causes (kidney disease) and that the fed, well, they made a big deal of it. Because if he were to have died earlier, he would have become a martyr, and that would have been an Adrenalin shot to Alquida. If you have access to a coffee house pretty much all of the day, you get to hear the communities take on this stuff. I am hearing that our government had more of a propaganda agenda than anything else. I am just saying what I heard. Who wants to talk about the fed, ever?

I have healed from the bombings in New York, moved on. I have been able to fade the images that burned into my memory and gone to a place where those things don't sit atop my daily influence. Never had images effected me in such a way. I wasn't in New York, but some of my family was. I am not sure if they descended on ground zero to revel when the killing of Bin Laden was confirmed. Instead I would like to think that they closed their eyes and thought "What a world we live in"--a tear of pity for all human beings and our condition.

No there is no obligatory reveling coming from me. Today I am not all that proud to admit to participating in the overall human experience. We suck as humans. Our standard should be higher than this. Perhaps we can blow things up to make it better.

A note from Endangered Wolf Center Board Chair, Ralph Pfremmer...

2011-04-29T09:31:00.003-04:00

A note from Endangered Wolf Center Board Chair, Ralph Pfremmer...

I wanted to thank everyone for the confidence as transition continues to take place on the Endangered Wolf Center Board and with the center itself. Since sustainability is hallmark and the core focus of our efforts, it is important that I share something with you. Below is an open and honest narrative of our condition that will be at the center of most of the dialog moving forward. Please read and also please help by sharing this message. It is important that we all understand our situation. I like a happy ending to any story, so please read the whole thing.

The Crisis Short story.

First some facts. The Endangered Wolf Center sits modestly on a small parcel of land owned by Washington University off of Beaumont Rd in St. Louis MO; it is at Tyson Research Center, in Eureka. It is Washington University, who has been our ever patient partner, our land manager, who five years ago politely asked that we move to another location so that they might use the land for specific university endeavor. This was way fair enough. Washington University and the 63 acres that the center currently occupies, has graciously been home to the Endangered Wolf Center for 39 years. The request to move marked the end of an era, and a new journey for the Wolves, the volunteers, the benefactors and the custodians. An era what would soon become and extremely challenging time.

New land was purchased, a beautiful track south of the Legends off of FF in Farmington MO, a wooded location dotted with springs, ponds and caves in northwestern Jefferson County.

At the time, the Executive director, a notable scientist, leveraged heavily the possibilities of the location, and the board approved the purchase of the land that would become the new home for the wolves, a perfect center for scientific research on a very significant piece of land with multiple possibilities. But the move would never happen.

It's best explained as a series of unfortunate events, the perfect storm, a combination of decisions made on behalf of a group of people with best intentions in mind, the continued survival of the wolves and a dream vision project. Decisions were made without optimal fiscal scrutiny, and without warning, the recession of 2009 was upon us. No, it has not been just one event causing the crisis at the EWC, and not the fault of any one individual.

So it is important that, even while we remain in crisis, we also aspire to be united now more than ever before--committed to celebrating the service of all, and repairing that which we have fallen short.

There were many things that left the EWC in crisis; core benefactors were dropping off, many of the original group of grassroots donors and sources of revenue stopped giving, those taken for granted, those close to Marlin Perkins and wife Carol, those supporters, so important for all of those years, a lot of them disappeared. The recession hit, development opportunities dwindled and the board found themselves in severe conflict. Folks, it has been a tough couple of years.

But we are still here! And by God, there is much to celebrate. A new strategy and a strategic plan based on the core values, for one. A new mission and purpose contrived from the principals that got the center off the ground 40 years ago!

Let’s talk positively here for a second.

After any crisis, change occurs. A zero basing, important to embarking on a new path. The Endangered Wolf Center found the need to change gears, to reduce its staff to what makes sense economically, to change out board members, to move away from the center of influences keeping us from creating a strategic plan for recovery. We needed new relationships, better accountability from a business perspective, increased awareness and testimony from those agencies relying on us. And incredible testimonies we have; wonderful endorsements from The Fish and Wildlife, The SSP, the USDA, the BBB and every other agency wanting to evaluate our proficiency. A sustainable plan of attack was needed and we are in the process of rolling it out today! We have a bright future, if we believe. We need everyone to believe and everyone to get on board.

I am ready to serve and would encourage anyone to contact me directly if you would like to visit, or want to help get involved. My email is Ralph@pfoodman.com and my cell phone is 314-496-2317.

Thanks for believing.

Ralph Pfremmer

Hidden Importance of Royal Wedding Within!

2011-04-29T07:46:00.004-04:00

I awoke this morning to the TV playing loudly, and a bunch of pre-adolescent kids singing something that I couldn't understand. In front of the TV, on the floor, sat my wife, crying. It was the Royal wedding, and she had gotten up at 4:00 AM to watch the days events unfold.

We have been to London and toured most of the areas highlighted in the broadcast. I think this had something to do with why she got up to watch. But, like most people, the reason was more along the lines of wanting to be "taken away" into a fairy tail world; the same reason why the other million or so households tuned in.

And that is what the whole thing appeared to be, a snapshot of British fairy tail goodness. The history and the discipline towards the legacy and customs of the Royal Throne. What do we see when we partake in such a spectacle? And why do we tune in?

I can tell you why. Kate for one. She is absolutely the best pick for the job. And it is a job. Her poised and pure projection of what a princess should be is spot on. Anyone with a daughter likely sees a smidgen of Kate in her, or vice versa. That is why I sat and watched for two hours this morning with Janie, the Royal Wedding. And that is precisely why I became emotional when they closed in on her face and her smile. She is absolutely what a princess should be.

As I attempt to wrap up my take on the wedding, it is necessary to highlight a couple things.

-William will be bald in two years. Trust me on this.

-A behind the scenes army of lay people scooping op horse poop must have been as well planned as the wedding itself.

-Did someone tell the ladies at the wedding that those hats enhance their beauty?

-Communion must be going on into the latter part of the month.

-They are gonna need a couple two sided buffet tables for the banquet.

-Children choirs are a little creepy.

I don't want anyone to think that I don't get as wrapped up in the hoopla as anyone else. The wedding will be a topic of conversation all day long: "Did you see the wedding?" or "Wasn't Kate gorgeous!" and the most important.... "Prince Gabbert went to the Jaguars!"

All in all I enjoyed the broadcast, but I also feel a personal connection to Al and Matt and the rest of the NBC crew. It was a well covered event. Thanks to the throne for taking us away from the grind, or perhaps, for getting us up early before the grind, ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.

I Paint, therefore I am...

2011-04-28T08:03:00.009-04:00

Man I get inspired by certain things lately. I found myself blabbering to a friend last night who's kid is in a tough spot. A tough spot because he is trying to figure out who he is and what he is supposed to be doing. I have met him, he is a good soul. I swear I had a similar conversation with one of my employees just last week, the same type of personality, the same types of issues.

Both kids are very sweet, kind and considerate. They want to do something great, they have dreams but have a hard time convincing others that their dreams are real and doable. Neither has a history of achievement. From a conventional perspective from say, their parents, or educators, they appear to be underachieving, because they have a hard time conforming to conventional standards of learning. They crave to set a course to getting somewhere, but often remain at a low confidence level. They are actually eager to embark on a journey, a gloves off, no brakes, artisan driven masterpiece of a rolleride. But they don't have approval.

They are reluctant to share with others how plainly they see themselves fitting into a picture, a vignette (a short, impressionistic scene that focuses on one moment or insight into a character, idea, or setting). These are good kids often without the right jobs who are expected to do things the conventional way, like their parents do and like their parents did.

Nope, these kids, well, they appear not to have their shit together. From an outsider perspective (referencing those who conform to conventional standards) they need counseling, medication, therapy, ugh. Some of these kids can't finish school or have a tough time in school. Again, a daily broadcast of conventional standards shoved in their face from a system leveraged by those who succeed under those standards. It's too boring, they cannot concentrate, so they take comfort in doing repetitive tasks (usually at work) to keep their mind focused on things, because they can dream about their settings while doing so. A canvass that they could paint if given the materials, the tools to paint that perfect moment with them in it.

I was one of these kids. And it took until I was 35 to realize what the issue was. I remember sitting in class, starting to engage the teacher on a topic like...say...government. Before you I knew it I was disconnecting and putting myself into a moment with what the world would look like with me as a government leader. I am doing it now, as I write this. I just fired the entire IRS, my latest masterpiece of personal vignette, yay.

Now, what's interesting is how many vignettes I can keep up on my dashboard. Those little pop-ups that I am quite good at recalling.

My mind works by recalling the concepts (what I have learned by doing) and concepts are delivered to my memory by practicum (by doing things). By mastering an "in the moment" understanding of how things work, I enter a very comprehensive understanding of things. From a conventional perspective it is called intuition, a very solid file recall system that appears better than most. In business it is called vision. Because I think in concepts, I am able to apply very quickly what might be the outcome of an endeavor. The outcome appears to me in the form of a vignette and I am quick to move forward or away from the project. I do this in business and no, I am not always right. Note to parents.

So when I figured this out; the brakes off, gloves off journey that I mentioned above, well, it kinda set me free. I embarked (unconventionally) on a journey of collecting a wheel barrel full of concepts that I wanted to create, POW! Now people think of me in a different way and often bring their kids to me to get inspired.

I apply a lot of this to some of the skills that I have developed through the years--this as a result of releasing the shackles of conventionality. Here is my list of vignettes that I kind of painted in: I embarked on a journey to become a speaker, a decent masters athlete, a musician, a writer, a mentor, a business leader, an advocate, a shit disturber (when needed). This as a result of dropping the "lead coat" of what others thought I should be. Which most often was a middle manager.

Bottom line, these kids need not only to be encouraged but challenged to think in terms of this perspective, same with their parents, same with our community.

Cause you know why???

These are the friggin entrepreneurs! Yes! These are the kids that make it happen when others cannot figure out what makes them special. All they need is a push in an unconventional direction and a challenge to embrace the "way of thinking" that sits idle in their own DNA. Are we getting this yet?

I am lucky, a series of events put things in to perspective for me a little later in life. I was a late bloomer, always have been. I have learned that it is totally about the journey and the incremental "creative moments" created and converted to action that provides fulfillment, that purpose driven life that we all need. Me and those two kids crave purpose and want to change the world. Nope, we ain't at our best when things are homogenized. And there are other quirky things that we have to live with. But who's perfect? It's a long strange trip in my vignette.

Ifyouknowwhatimtalkinbout.

City and County Spew

2011-04-23T08:53:00.003-04:00

I heard on the news yesterday, while lying in bed, that the city of St. Louis has lost another 29 thousand residents. I get my news by listening to Farmer Dave and McGraw Milhaven on the Big 550 while breaking the seal between consciousness and sleep. The irritating high pitch of Milhaven is enough to jar a bear from hibernation.

I heard one of the two talking about how many people have left the St. Louis area in this past year. Turns out that 29,000 people have bailed on the city since the census in 2000.

Lets put that in terms of what people can understand.

It goes without saying that the earnings tax has something to do with it. As well as the crime on the north side and the lack of public education. Such a shame, the grasping at straws those city fathers are left to contend with. It is business as usual for the most part, corruption continues to take place, more finger pointing and less services.

The Earning Tax, some call it the Silly Tax, one percent earnings. Lets say you make a hundred grand a year, and your wife, say, fifty grand a year, or the other way around. And lets say that your business or the business that you own does not withhold and pay the city, like other taxes, state and fed. At the end of the tax season you have to write a check for 1500 bucks to the city. Bam! That kind of stings. And that wasn't a gun shot. Lets say the average in come is 35 thousand in the city. That is a loss of over 10 million in revenue. Not to mention the population density funding that the city gets. The report card being the census.

I love the city of St. Louis. I really do. I respect those who live in the areas tee'd up for re-development. Specifically the Mercantile Exchange project, located where the old St. Louis Center was. If you don't know of the debacle that occurred when developers decided to relocate all of the street level retailers in downtown St. Louis to a raised mall taking over three city blocks, well, you probably wouldn't want to own it anyway, not as a St. Louisan. We are not supposed to be that stupid. So who was?

A little research...

"Work started on St. Louis Centre in the early 1980's with an opening planned for early in 1984, but then Stix was denied it's request for tax abatement's and grant for the reconstruction of it's building. The end result being that ADG and Stix sold their building to a real estate developer, moved the HQ staff to a new building on the outskirts of St. Louis, and leased back as a tenant 3 floors for a much more spartan(and smaller) downtown Stix store. Needless to say, one unique aspect of St. Louis Centre was gone and it had not yet opened"

The reason the mall didn't work was due to the low numbers of people living in the city way back in the 70's and 80's. Hell, the mall closed at 7 PM in order to adjust to expenses of staying open late, and no cutomers, even during Christmas. There has been an issue with the city leaking residents to the county since the 70's. Has it taken thirty years to figure this out? Is business as usual going to get different results?

It is a calamity, the continued exodus of people living in the city. Not only that, St. Louis County population was down 1.7 percent, likely recesson related. Not sure what that means, but my guess is that the value and the services are exemplary in the areas of growth. Jefferson and Franklin counties are up, as well as, and don't be surprised, St. Charles County once again.

I suppose it is time to start pushing buttons on the merger of the city and the county. I mean really start pushing buttons. I think the developers are going to need it. Even though my latest experience with downtown re-development yielded a very real perception that they would rather not have "county folk" competing for their opportunities. This while they build out pretty much everthing with tax credits; only the prospect of private money sitting on the come line. I speak specifically of the project at the Laurel, the Embassy Suites Hotel and the East Washington Avenue district bookend and the entire MX project.

Well, I will continue to bring the culture of the City to the County in the meantime. And pontificate here and there from the safety of my white picket fenced yard, the brown dog and the garage stuffe with SUV's, the good schools and the Walgreen's-on-every-corner. Time is running out for me. I will be in Florida before the first GAP store opens in downtown St.Louis, I am sure of this. I will try to set an example of how things require some out of the box thinking from time to time--that the good ole boy's in the city and their opportunistic developers with tax credit dollars are stuck in a paradigm that needs change in order to optimize. It won't be long until the county folk pick up the scrap metal. Some already are.

Official Name Change Coming Soon

2011-04-19T17:33:00.003-04:00

My gosh. The name change is nearly complete for the Wolf. Back about a year and a half ago, the Casino folks wanted me to quite using the name. Said I was supposin to get a trade mark or something of the like and that I was gonna be in a heap if I didn't abide. I shouted out to just about anyone I have ever known named Mark and...hell, I got nothing to trade, so I don't know what the hell they meant by that.

Bottom line is the Signs are coming this Thursday and the brand change will be nearly complete. And since the casino made it a habit of checking my blog from time to time, to check in on what this ole feller has been doing with the pennies and nickels saved, well, this will complete the story telling. Unless they want to purchase a franchise....Ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout! C'mon now!

The High Roaders

2011-04-13T08:38:00.002-04:00

It is official. Loran Cavano is the real deal. He and Brian approached me a while back and asked if I would sing and play guitar and harmonica in their Band, the High Roaders. Well sure enough, we made the jump Monday night by connecting to the songs that Loran has handpicked. It is a country rock kind of gospel stuff with a little rockabilly in it. Not something I have done before and it certainly challenged me. I am not a lead guitar player, but rhythm I can work myself through pretty well. Plus my new custom Bill Moore solid body, recently set up to my specs, seems to be working for me. The harp playing is much more of a quick pop note play instead of the blues bend style that I have become used to. I am loving it.

We have a CD coming out soon and my guess is that you will be surprised. Reminds me of the type of harmonizing I used to do with my good friend Matt Woods when we were kids. I always loved singing with others. Look for this new CD in the next couple months.

Blues ain't for Christians!

2011-04-11T07:35:00.003-04:00

So I was a guest on Frank Vanbree's radio show the other day. He was filling in for Dr. Gina Loudon, a fairly conservative radio talk show personality on Truthtalk 630 AM. I checked the station out over the weekend, Holy Tea Party! I sure am glad that I didn't launch in to anything over the top. I am not sure I have ever done that before, taken part in such a thing. I was prepared a bit with the statement: "I am to the right of middle!", just to be safe.

My angle was to talk about Blues Music and how The Wolf has gotten into the fabric of our community in Ballwin by doling out a special kind of cultural customer experience in our programing. And it has had its interesting results. For you outsiders, West St. Louis County has been considered by some to be a nest of conservative demographic placeholders.

Disclaimer: even though I refuse to recognize politics as a backdrop to anything I do in my community, one can't help but notice the good moral values centered in our community, along with its focus on family. Honest? I like it that way. Of course I do. That is why I live here. For the record, I lived in the city when I first moved to St. Louis. And no, I did not attend High School here. That is why I am successful as an entrepreneur. Play by the blue blood gamebook and get owned, I say. This is a whole other post. Bottom line, I have good Christian values, but get repulsed by one-way communication streams

Let me pose this question. Does conservatism equal less culture? Boy, my experience in upper middle class America sure smells of it. But what is culture? Doesn't culture require a little diversity? Or are we supposed to do what my community does, travel to the city and "rent" culture for the day, then return to our safety in the County unscathed, shedding our experience of the day to the safety of white picket fences?

Diversity in ethnicity, art, music, custom and expression. I NEED a diverse canvass to fill in daily, a non-homogeneous outlook, so that I can continue to learn and provide information to those needing perspective. Do you know how many people really want perspective? We can't learn much from a non diverse way of thinking, we need influence from time to time. Influence outside of the box, contrast, so that we can understand who we are and, if things go right, adjust our journey along the way.

When we opened The Wolf back in 09, I knew that I would take a couple risks here and there. It was evident that the community, specifically the surrounding neighborhoods, would be concerned over the "type" of people that would be coming and going out of my coffeehouse turned Pub.

At first it was the likes of Lewis Greenberg, many people asked me how I can let him in the door. We have had other "groups" who have been less than embraced by the community. Once we had a conflict over the expression of conservative values in a meeting while another group met planning a charity event, two groups patronizing the place at the same time, distinctly different ideology. Sparks didn't fly, but there was a moose in the room, to say the least.

An employee of mine took a phone call on Saturday night. The caller was a woman who was very upset over the fact that we were having Blues music in West County. She was really ripping the employee taking the call. She used profanity, an out of control blabber over me, Ralph Pfremmer booking Blues music in the County. Strange, because while on the radio show, we also got a call from someone who said they thought that Truthtalk 630 AM was a Christian station and that Blues music was not Christian music, "how could they allow me to do this?". They were upset that we played an entry song when Frank and I started the segment. It was the Blues that the caller was upset about.

Then it occurred to me. Could our community be dotted with over the top right wing fanatics? Could this really be a problem? Could the Wolf be the center of controversy relating to the types of artists that I choose to highlight as part of our cultural outlay, our customer experience? Was the caller speaking specifically of some of my blues artists being of African American heritage? Let me tell you something, the caller unloaded on one of the most beautiful and sweet young African American teenagers I have ever met...and that pretty well sums it up...fear.

I am not sure where I am going with this yet. I am, however, intrigued. Do we have the opportunity to begin a journey on diversity and community right here in Ballwin? I think I helped humanize Lewis Greenberg by expressing to the community that he is indeed my friend and a very good one at that. By expressing this to the community through this blog I suppose I launched a missile over the bow of anyone carrying a torch. The result was a happier Lewis with more friends than foes.

So folks, there are human beings in our midst who possess the same moral character as everyone else, without all of the narrow minded baggage, without all the prejudice. Culture is good for our community and provides us with contrast--what is necessary to learn and grow and be fulfilled. My community continues to move in the right direction.

Assorted Photos

2011-04-11T07:24:00.005-04:00

Lots of stuff to report on, some controversial stuff brewing too. But before I get too over the top with that, lets first post some pics from the things we accomplished this past couple of weeks.

Website set to launch

2011-04-10T08:32:00.003-04:00

Well, the new Wolf Public House website is almost ready to launch. A bit wordy, but lots of cool information there. This will be the template for more operations.

And Gee, I have noticed that it is taking up a lot of my time. My work is fun, don't get me wrong. But The Wolf continues to evolve. From a sleepy coffee house to a vibrant pub used for all sorts of community things. It is challenging starting something from scratch, changing gears a few times, letting things evolve, keeping employees on track with an evolving concept. Our employees are simply the best, and when things get challenging, sometimes they move on. I hope those that have, come back some day and say, wow, that was a pretty cool experience. I remember thinking that of Mike Duffy's Pub and Grill down the street. I was a manager there when it openend in 1987. That is how I role, I look to the present to create a spiritual presence for the future. I know that things get tough, but the bottom line is that we were able, as a group, come up with something great to be around for a long, long time.

Yup, that place is complicated, with the catering to the schools, the music, the meetings, the promotions of O-Sport events, the Jimmyleg stuff, plus the social and human resource stuff that we use the place for, for Pfoodman. I can honestly say that the joint is well-used.

What is interesting is the clashing at times of different social groups. The smokers, who are often the blues crowd, (The Wolf has blues music as part of their lineup), the health and wellness crowd, those folks centered on active living and healthy eating. These groups are bookends a part and it will be interesting how we "become" a group co-existing. One group learning from the other, one group influencing the other. Politics too, we occasionally have conservative groups meet at the Wolf, across the room might be a charity event planning for some eco-focused endeavor. There are educators, pontificates, artists, plumbers, doctors, surfers, dog groomers, farmers.

The website will attempt to capture all this stuff. Look for it next week.

Radio Debut

2011-04-08T11:30:00.007-04:00

Frank Van Bree runs Urban Future, a non-profit “connector” of the Family, School and Community in impoverished urban areas. At the core of the model is the student whom they challenge to see and believe in his/her possibilities. At the apex is the family, the student’s primary educator, who is supported by representatives from the community and the school. This is some tough stuff. But Frank is doing good work. I cannot help but get involved.

I first met Frank while working on a project with Stlblues.net, a business that I was a part of. The objective was to, through Urban Futures after school program, put blues in the schools. We were successful doing this by getting several blues artists from to community to go in to the schools and do their thing. It was a huge success. I would later sell my interest in Stlblues, but Frank and I remained friends. In fact, his son plays music on my stage at The Wolf Public House.

I suppose that we were kind of destined to become friends-both having a passion for community, family, culture and diversity, a kind of custodial giving and moral capitalism platform that drives us; we have both used our businesses in a way that enhances our community perspective on all sorts of things, primarily art and culture and advocacy towards a better community.

So when Frank told me he was doing radio shows as a guest on Dr. Gina Loudons drive time show, I looked at him and said: "what is your angle?" Fastforward to today, and I am a guest on his show on Truthtalk 630 KJSL, while he fills in for Dr. Gina.

So what would I have to say? I am just a food guy with a couple neat ideas for my community. I like music, blues in particular. What in the world would I have to say?

My guess is that we will discuss lots of things but likely center our perspective on community and those fuzzy lines drawn between City and County; why there is division, what can be done to change it. We will talk about my platform; the things I do in my business to broadcast the solution for better community, my efforts to expose my community to what was needed. I will share my perspective on how a business can change a community; create storytelling and imagery that enhances the quality of life. Not through politics, mind you. Through a business development and strategy far greater than government.

This is the stuff dreams are made of. Looking forward to telling my story on how West County has more culture and more diversity, more focus on active living and advocacy towards being who we say we are, moral leadership, raw, un-conventional in your face, brakes off go get em....entrepreneurship.

Yup, we got results out here at the Ballwin City Limits, next up, lets take it on the road, down to the city, where the first order of business is to put music in our kids hands, because music is the language we all listen too.

The Endangered Wolf Center Lives!

2011-03-31T08:02:00.005-04:00

It's that place that some of you might have heard about years ago. It's the Marlin Perkins thing, the Wolf Sanctuary, the Wild Canid Survival and Research Center of last year, now renamed the Endangered Wolf Center. The renaming is part of an important re-branding strategy as we seek to rise it up out of the ashes. It has been a tough couple years.

You might have seen us popping up on Facebook. Or showing up in some unconventional places with volunteers reaching out to the community. Some of you might be connected to the people responsible for making the place sustainable. You might be connected by Facebook, friends, family. Connectors.

Yes, we need to broadcast that which we have been lacking, a bunch of new members with new connectors, new people to get involved, a new appeal to all sorts of people, coast to coast. We need to spread the word about the work that we do out there. Each week we average 30 new members. This is inspiring.

It's the place where they do "stuff" with the wolves--a St. Louis institution for years, a very special place that seems to have given folks the impression of being well endowed, well funded through the years. This perhaps due to a connection to Washington University and the Zoo. While both are supportive of our cause and provide us with wonderful resources along own way, we are on our own when it comes to funding and fundraising. And it ain't easy. We need St. Louis to step up.

Hey, I don't mean this in a bad way. I just mean that most people who have lived in St. Louis, have heard of and/or have memories that it exists; many people from Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, other groups centered on Eco-focused interests or animal preservation. Many of these same people perhaps don't know of our challenge to keep the place open. That's all.

My guess is that very few people actually know the significance of the center for the region and for the World--that without the good work being done, the Mexican Grey Wolf would have expired--that without the continued sustainability of the center today, the same result will occur. This is some pretty heavy stuff, the danger of losing the EWC and the resulting extinction of the species. We have already saved the Wolves once, this due to our accreditation and support from the Fish and Wildlife Services.

Honestly? With out the work being done at the EWC, the Mexican Grey Wolf would have long ago been extinct. We currently house 10% of the entire Mexican Grey Wolf population at the EWC. The wolves, owned by the Fish and Wildlife Service, are part of a Species Survival Plan.

The Mexican Wolf Species Survival Plan (SSP) captive management program is an essential component of Mexican wolf recovery. Specifically, the purpose of the SSP is to re-establish the Mexican wolf in the wild through captive breeding, public education, and research. The Endangered Wolf Center is chosen by accreditation through the Association of Zoo and Aquariums (AZA). We are one of only a few who work on the preservation of DNA, the scientific data and collection important information to the sustainability of the species that results in the breeding and releasing of these animals in to the wild.

So now that you know what's up with all this stuff, lets talk about things that St. Louis has to hang our hat on. Lets speak candidly about our community and the things that we represent as a region, as a "people" in our community--the things that make our city special--that which sets us apart. Lets make a list, but not include, say, professional ball sports.

First some facts, the Endangered Wolf Center sits modestly on a small parcel of land owned by Washington University off of Beaumont Rd in St. Louis MO, it is at Tyson Research Center, in Eureka. It is Washington University, who has been our ever patient partner, our land manager, who five years ago politely asked that we move to another location so that they might use the land for specific university endeavor. This was way fair enough. Washington University and the 63 acres that the center currently occupies, has graciously been home to the Endangered Wolf Center for 39 years. The request to move marked the end of an era, and a new journey for the Wolves, the volunteers, the benefactors and the custodians. An era what would soon become and extremely challenging time.

The Crisis Short story.
New land was purchased, a beautiful track south of the Legends off of FF in Farmington MO, a wooded location dotted with springs, ponds and caves in northwestern Jefferson County.

At the time, the Executive director leveraged heavily the scientific possibilities of the location, and the board approved the purchase of the land that would become the new home for the wolves, a perfect center for scientific research on a very significant piece of land with multiple possibilities. But the move would never happen.

It's best explained as a series of unfortunate events, the perfect storm, a combination of hip shooting decisions on behalf of a group of people with best intentions in mind, the continued survival of the wolves and a dream vision project. Decisions were made without fiscal scrutiny, and without warning, the recession of 2009 was upon us. No, it has not been just one event causing the crisis at the EWC, and not the fault of any one individual.

There were many things that left the EWC in crisis; core benefactors were dropping off, many of the original group of grassroots donors and sources of revenue stopped giving, those taken for granted, those close to Marlin Perkins and wife Carol, those supporters, so important for all of those years, a lot of them disappeared. The recession hit, development opportunities dwindled and the board found themselves in severe conflict. Folks, it has been a tough couple of years.

But we are still here! And by God, there is much to celebrate. A new strategy and a strategic plan based on core values for one. A new mission and purpose contrived from the principals that got the center off the ground 39 years ago!

Lets talk positively here for a second.

After any crisis, change occurs. A zero basing important to embarking on a new path. The Endangered Wolf Center found the need to change gears, to reduce its staff to what makes sense economically, to change out board members, to move away from the center of influences keeping us from creating a strategic plan for recovery. We needed new relationships, better accountability from a business perspective, increased awareness and testimony from those agencies relying on us. And Testimonies we have, wonderful endorsements from The Fish and Wildlife, The SSP, the USDA, the BBB and every other agency wanting to evaluate our proficiency. A sustainable plan of attack was needed and we are in the process of rolling it out today! We have a bright future, if we believe. We need you to believe too.

I hadn't planned on becoming a board member when my wife Janie and I decided to support the Gala event in 2009. Me? I suppose my skills in connecting the dots helps. Who would have thought? I am a promoter, a brand guy and a perspective guy, little else. I was called upon to lend a hand, to put things in to perspective, to help make some tough decisions, to help raise money, help rally some energy towards what has now become a personal mission to respond to what might could be a huge loss to our community.

And now it seems I am chosen to lead the center out of this crisis.

So this blog entry is to share with you the story behind the crisis, and the corresponding plan to re-emerge as an institution worthy of being embraced by our community. I need your help, and encourage the community to get behind this, for the wolves and for the EWC's continued institutional significance to our community.

Social Media Low Roaders

2011-03-28T07:56:00.005-04:00

Don't you love social media? All the good communication that takes place, day to day, the broadcast, the outreach. All that allows for the overlay of information from one person to groups of others. I find it interesting and try to stay up on the change. I find it a topic to speak on, to write on, to converse about. Because it is a phenomena. The same goes for texting, emailing, any type of communication that provides one person a means to communicate...without being in front of the person whom they communicate with. I am convinced that there are a lot less bloody noses due to the calling out of people being done online instead of being in front of the person.

I do speak about personal branding a lot; the importance of identifying and broadcasting the imagery and foundation for ones personal distinction, the stockpiling of storytelling on blogs, facebook, twitter, the images and connections to certain things that provide anyone wanting to be within your social network, a beacon; a place to go to find information that is strategically placed. Did you guys get that? Especially you young folks.

Some people forget that it is part of a very important conventional system, the social media process. It is something that needs to be understood, because mistakes can be made. That is why I do a lot of speaking on the topic. I do it for free too, which is becoming more frequent for whatever reason. Because when I speak, I usually reference the goods and bads of the social media phenom. Those things that can cause you harm, along with what can be sort of a weird dependence. Over use and the wrong type of use will have an opposite effect. Collect your friends and feed them the wrong information, and you lose friends.

I asked the intern the other day why he didn't have a Facebook page. He wouldn't tell me why, but I suspect that it has something to do with the way that it was used during a period of his life that was less than centered on success planning. To remove oneself from he grid is to discipline one from the do's and don'ts. But it will be necesary in some form later. Kind of makes sense, but, to be honest (and here is the indulgent part), I want to make use of his social network like everyone elses.

Frankly, I want all of my employees social networks to be connected to mine, and the musicians I hire to perform, the vendors that I use, the people I know and come in contact with. I want all of my people broadcasting how there life unfolds while being connected with me, because that is really what we are saying/doing by being connected and sharing information. Even if contact happens just every now and then, a photo or a communication of some kind shared with the others, a comment, a "like", we know that they are there, and "in" the social network. This is the benefit that one gets from social media and the use of other peoples social media.

Listen here, and this is what our young folks don't understand yet, there is (or should be) a commodity at the tail end of every post, even if it is simply the commodity of a job or a lead for a job, or an eventual "conditional betterment" of some kind. And advertising by posting is a don't, don't advertise. Providing relevant information is at the center of your broadcast to your people.

So here is how things can work against you. I own a couple businesses, an unfortunatly, an employee gets terminated for whatever reason. The employee is pissed off and runs to the arms of her desktop friends and starts to shred her former employer through a litany of personal attacks. A couple other friends and supporters of the former employee chime in and the group dynamic takes place, the smearing of a business and often the owner of the business from a group of people who have basically taken on the personality of a rioting, roving terror group. People get caught up in this all the time.

They urge each other on, posting inflammatory things about the employer, the manager, the families of the people working there, then usually a handful of other former employees chime in. It's like a social looting, from the safety of a bedroom computor.

It's usually teenagers, but not always. Lots of cuss words, drunken typing and stuff late night. I had one kid friend me so he could show me what he wrote on his wall. He took it down the next morning after I explained to him that I didn't really even know that he was not working for us anymore, and that I always thought he was a pretty good kid, a little too busy for his schedule, but a good kid. And he is a good kid.

Sometimes its adults who don't think before they trash. Like a gal I know who trashed her soon to be ex husband and got slapped down by her attorney for divulging information to the masses, she pretty much got owned.

Hey, I am used to the trashing and the fallout from assorted employees who have moved on for whatever reason. Statistically, I have employed cumulatively over 10,000employees through my career. My numbers are actually pretty good. But one thing is for certain. A certain percentage of people who waved the proverbial middle finger while walking out the door, the same ones who trashed me and my family, the business, the others who continued on...a very high percentage come back in to my life with a sense of understanding years later. And you know friggin what? I am there with warm smiles and a handshake. Darn near every time.

Not always back to work, mind you, but back to that which is within the same acceptable standard of human warmth and understanding. In other words, people may not like what I (or my managers) have to tell them, and it may be necessary for them to go, but sooner or later they might gain a little wisdom and take the high road. I know this. I am a former terminated employee. Yup, Columbia Country Club, 1977.

Kids, parents, you should never trash anyone online or send off masterpiece emails to the owner of a business. You only make an ass out of yourself, and create a record that can be referenced someday. And parents running to the rescue of your child, spouting off an email masterpiece on best practices, institutional management pontifications, and opinionated undertones aimed at whatever issue that screwed your kid out of a job, for the purpose of your own proverbial finger wave, you only make it worse.

I love the fact that I get to play a role in the intellectual maturity of young people while their parents provide a safety net. It is a recipe for failure in the short term. The long term provides wisdom. I earned my stripes by the stupid mistakes made in my career and now choose to transfer most of it to real life opportunity for those who want it, including friends kids. My lord it gets stupid sometimes. I have learned to take the high road, because it is less about bad energy and more about setting a standard for my village. My village wants people who are up for the challenge. Period.

The fallout from a former employee who feels they have something to gain by trashing me on the Internet is short lived. About 10 minutes in the cyber community. The memory of that persons actions within my social network can last forever. Same goes for the parents. Kind of a shame. All in the day of the life...ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.

The J. Huston Tavern Arrowrock...Comfort Foods Just Taste Good!

2011-03-22T13:21:00.004-04:00

J. Huston Tavern Opens in Arrowrock

2011-03-22T08:50:00.005-04:00

Well we did it, we opened another restaurant. It's called the J. Huston Tavern and it is kind of out in the middle of knowwhere, in Arrowrock MO. Noop, it ain't just any place, not to the folks who know it and loved it though the years. When I was a kid I remember going to Arrowrock to watch my cousin and a bunch of my friends play roles in the Walt Disney Production of Tom Sawyer. Johnny Witacker anyone? The kid from Family Affair? Doubt many of you remember, but the town was used as the backdrop. It is a historic place, managed in part by the State of Missouri, and several other groups keeping the place funded and open to tourism.

What is cool about this project is that we now have a practicum and hands on learning experience for the student in the Hospitality Program at Missouri Valley College. Students will be able to learn by applying academics in their own classroom, a real tavern. Now the term tavern doesn't mean that our students are working in a smoky bar, with a bunch of professional drinkers. The term tavern comes from colonial America 1800.

Larger taverns provided rooms for travelers, especially in county seats that housed the county court. Upscale taverns had a lounge with a huge fireplace, a bar at one side, plenty of benches and chairs, and several dining tables. The best houses had a separate parlor for ladies, an affable landlord, good cooking, soft, roomy beds, fires in all rooms in cold weather, and warming pans used on the beds at night.

What's New at Ballwin Days?!!

2011-03-21T08:32:00.011-04:00

The Wolf Public House Presents

Ballwin Days "Bike and Blues Experience"

June 5, 2011

Bike Race Starts at 11:00

Music Starts at 1:00 till 6:00

The Rockin Jake Band

The Jeremiah Johnson Band with the Sliders

The Bike and Blues Experience is new to Ballwin Days. This years Sunday events will take shape on behalf of The Wolf Public House, Pfoodman Racing and the Alpine Shop. The Wolf and their staff, known for their commitment to community advocacy on health and wellness with events like The Wolf Howl 5k Midnight Run and the Alpine Shop Short Track Dirt Crits at Castlewood State Park plan on taking it up a notch.

This time promoter Ralph Pfremmer of Jimmyleg Presents adds his love of Blues Music to the mix, bringing to the main stage, The Rockin Jake Band and St. Louis 2010 King of Roots winner, The Jeremiah Johnson Band with the Sliders.

The bike race will be an ABC format: fast and furious race in A's at high noon, seasoned Vets race in B's at 1:15, Kids and Citizens race at 2:15. The course will be NOT YOUR TYPICAL off road bike race. We will have obstacles galore, steps, the Green Monster, the Toilet Bowl, and more, more, more. "This ain't no picnic Grandma. But you can shake a cow bell and scream as Jr. (or perhaps your husband) comes screaming by.

The Alpine Short Track Dirt Crits are the summers most popular off road racing in the area. In its fourth year, racers descend upon Castlewood State Park every Thursday in July to test their skill in fast track racing fun. Each course is different, always a party after. This years Short Track Dirt Crit races are again scheduled at Castlewood State Park.

The Start Finish will be right in front of the stage with the same awful commentary of yesteryear. Racers will each get a commemorative T-Shirt as part of their participation. Ballwin Days has a "Taste of Ballwin" going on within feet of the start/finish, food and drink for sale, a perfect day for Bikes and Blues.

2011 Blues for the Heart Concert at The Wolf

2011-03-21T08:07:00.007-04:00

On April 3rd, 2011, seven blues bands filled with our towns most incredible musicians will descend upon The Wolf Public House, putting on a show like no other. All in the name of raising money for the American Heart Association Walk. Rich McDonough heads things up with a hand picked lineup that that county has not often seen.

Plan on making a day of it at The Wolf. The patio will be in full swing, we will be firing up the grill on the patio with some new and interesting PM menu items soon to be rolled out. Bartola will be running around cheer leading and making sure all is well, the Intern talking Beer on what continues to be the most interesting beer selection period.

Get there early to get a seat, doors open at 2:00 but hey, rules were meant to be broken, patios will be covered. Parking on the North Side of Clayton for overflow. No cover as usual!--but donations are much appreciated for the cause.

Out of towners consider the Dury Plaza Hotel in Chesterfield.

For more information contact Ralph@pfoodman.com

Roy D. Mercer

2011-03-20T08:31:00.001-04:00

The Bat Phone

2011-03-19T09:00:00.002-05:00

I saw a kid last night in a batman cape. He was running around the dining room, displaying the black fabric with the batman logo on it. It reminded me of when I was a kid. Damn I liked that Batman. Not the ones in the major motion pictures, with all the drama and darkness. I am talking about the real Batman and Boy Wonder. I was Robin like five times in a row for Halloween. POW! CRACK!

St. Louis is home to....

2011-03-10T07:19:00.004-05:00

I have been out of town for the last few days. And for good reason, business development. And I narrowly escaped the Big 12 Tourney centered at the Power and Light District in Kansas City. Staying another night, going to the Mizzou Game, would have turned my week upside down.

I did enjoy the work that the development had done in that area, the re-development, a newer outside mall with bars and restaurants and events. Fairly impressive use of space, but word has it the center has struggled a tad and that the retailers are hanging on for life. I hate hearing stuff like that, reminds me of...um, St. Louis.

I like going to other cities to check out the boldness of their (re)development initiatives and other reach outs with the money bucket. Most of the stuff you see these days come from tax credits to kick things off, construction financing on short term deals from the banks to be rolled up later. The crazy way thing s are financed today. Only a certain group knows how to get things done.

Nope, you never really know much about anything until you venture out and see what everyone else is doing; what other cities have embarked upon; what developers and stakeholders conjure up. And then there is the good ole benchmark that we compare everything to, St. Louis.

Hey, we do some things very well here in the Lou, like education. We have wonderful public and private k-12 schools committed to excellence, same with higher education. The choices are amazing. Of course, we have our under achievers, but so does everyone else. I think the reason our education system is so good, in both public and private sectors. There is a beacon, a heartbeat, throbbing from the blue blood epicenter, somewhere around the crossroads of Forsythe and Hanley. God bless the blue bloods for their utopia, a town where we (others) continue to have to come up with our own fortunes on our own kids education. The more blue blood money to build infrastructure, bricks and mortar, increased services...the higher the fees. They will keep giving, designating, we will keep paying more to accommodate the operations costs. There are two exclusions in this area, they know who they are.

You know what else St. Louis is good at?--ball sports, duh. Or perhaps it would be said better: "St. Louis has a lot of sport venues that charge out the ass to attend but people still seem to go". This is likely the perception in every city with pro (ball/puck) sports. Think merchandise sales here too folks. I paid fifty bucks for a Rams Jersey. Thirty Eight bucks for four dogs and four cokes in my 200 per seat tickets.

St. Louis has an incredible music scene. Especially in the blues music genre. I am not sure you can beat it. And this commentary comes from the musicians themselves. Unfortunately, there is a tremendous amount of competition that drives down the "St. Louis musicians" ability to get a higher wage. As a result you see the best music in the country by walking out your back door. Since St. Louis is still has a moderately priced cost of living, we get to rub elbows with the big time.

And one more thing, Mountain Biking. Nuff said. Our mountain bike trails are some of the most abundant and challenging in the country. We are lucky. And you know what is cool about it? They are built by volunteers.

The purpose of this rant? Not sure, but I am getting anxious to get the hell out of the house with spring coming, a little less focus on the conventional way of thinking, a little less influence from the status quo of the blue blood culture. More t-shirts, hats, racing, music and interesting things to write about. There ain't no place like home.

Look at this!

2011-03-06T08:52:00.001-05:00

Won't be long now! Alpine Shop Short Track Races

2011-03-05T11:23:00.002-05:00

Arrow Rock’s historic J. Huston Tavern to reopen | News Tribune

2011-03-03T09:23:00.001-05:00

Arrow Rock’s historic J. Huston Tavern to reopen News Tribune

Lindenwood University Business Dining Etiquette

2011-03-02T08:57:00.003-05:00

My program is better than my video skills. Had a great time, thanks to all who attended.

Warm Weather Means Racing

2011-03-01T07:50:00.005-05:00

Just say no!

Well, March is finally here and we can close the door on the long term cold spells and look forward to a little more warming. Not that anything can't happen in March, but we take one step closer to gaining that "outdoor" time.

My wife said that Missouri won't be warming up until May, that Dave Murray snuck unto her conscience and said that. I say Dave Murray can take a hike. It is time to ride and ride a lot. My mountain bike sits neglected, hanging next to last years mountain bike, in a state of depression.
We shall do some trips this year, one to Colorado to do a quick Hut to Hut thing in Fruita once the trails open. I have been wanting to do this and as soon as I figure out the dates we I will post it and we can figure out logistics. Then there is the California trip in July with the family. I need to go see my mom and Natalie wants to see what it's like to live on the beach. We are staying in Hermosa or Manhattan Beach, so I can park the car and do nothing but ride bikes. I figured I'd use Palos Verdes as a training ground, lots of sustained climbs etc. It has been a while since I rode around up there, probably 30 years.

Also in July is are the Dirt Crits, each Thursday evening. Very popular and fun afterwards due to the picnic that the Wolf Public House will lay out. We still need some sponsors, so anyone wanting to get in front of 500 reveling fans in a pretty cool race format, give me a ring. Its all about active living and we are down with promoting it.

Oh, in June we will be producing the Bike and Blues experience, a cross/short track race on Sunday the 5th. This combined with the Blues on stage. Riders will race on a course at Vlassis Park in Beautiful Downtown Ballwin. This is part of the Ballwin Days Celebration and it is sure to be a cool one. More on this later.

Pfoodman Racing also has a race at Castlewood State Park this year. Pfoodman Racing the former SharkPfood team of last year has spun away with its own sponsors and identity. We are a mountain bike and cross specific team, training pretty much all the time. I you think you got what it takes give me a ring and I will explain how obnoxious the team truly is. Thanks to Pfoodman, Bigshark, The Wolf Public House, Carborocket, KBS Construction and many more for letting this thing get off the ground. Just so you know. We have the men and the women's state champion on our team, 2010, just saying.

DBMFHR Rollout and Assorted Vid

2011-02-28T10:12:00.004-05:00

Nelson talkes about his injury, Team Seagal and their roll out, no, I filmed but did not attend. I mean, peak in March? I can barely pedal. Great group of the toughest cyclists in the State. I think their totals were 7500 feet of climbing and something like 87 miles according to Matt James garmin. No, not sorry I didn't go. I did have a nice ride with the Struckman's.

Rockin Jake Song Writing Project Gone Wrong

2011-02-26T11:53:00.003-05:00

Jake and I got together the other morning to work on a song that he wanted to get out on paper. We were just getting started when Janie walks in and high jacks the entire project. We didn't mind. Turns out we learn a little something special about ole Jake. We did get the basis for his new single done. Can't wait to hear him blow tonight at the Wolf.

13.3 Billion for the IRS

2011-02-25T07:06:00.004-05:00

Well, the tax thing is starting to poke its head around the corner. Don't you hate that? What I hate the most is having to spend money on all of the services needed in order to determine what tax is due or better said, prepare what has become too complicated to do ourselves. And I employ a CPA on site.

Our accountants firm is the best in the area, but they are also the most expensive. Not my words, somebody else's. But you get what you pay for in this arena. If you don't, sooner or later you will. And due to the multiple things that we have going on, the entrepreneurial "stuff" that creeps in and out of our day to day dealings, I am lucky to have them sort it out at all. Why? Because we always seek to create a revenue producing entity. One that puts in to the system. We are successful at this sometimes, but at the end of the year there is sorting. Our logic works, it simply needs...sorting.

But what's to sort out really? I mean, as a business owner who creates jobs, one who goes through the trouble of borrowing and/or lending money to the business in order to manufacture, wholesale and/or retail a commodity, one who lays it all out there, takes chances in the spirit of capitalism, this so I can pay workers that in turn spend money in our community, I truly don't think much of the privilege of paying taxes on multiple fronts. And now the system is growing?

I must have missed the book of dont's. Because if there was a book titled "Don't go into business because the government will fleece you" I would have purchased it. Never has it been more evident that our country is in an absolute state of knee jerk reaction towards sustaining the system that it has created. I am saddened. Has anyone noticed inflation? A direct result of relief funding. Print money and the value of the dollar decreases. In our business, we are tracking an 8 percent increase in food next year. That is a half a million in real dollars passed on to our end user.

I read recently where Obama included the hiring of 5100 new IRS employees to collect on fraudulent tax preparers and high income cheating corporate tax payers. Comon folks, I wonder what that means to small business? I'll tell you what it means, it means that we are on the radar along with the others. We are in the landscape and now looked at with opportunity. More scrutiny, more need for outside expensive council to do the sorting, when the fed points to something and needs clarification.

In 2007 an audit produced a credit due. It cost us 4 thousand to defend it. Not at all kidding.

So we the small business folks who are getting the health care reform shoved down our throats. And guess who is responsible for monitoring our health care compliance, you guessed it, the IRS. This not included in the 5100 employees to be hired; a completely separate endeavor. I wonder what the projected non-compliance or penalty income gained from small business unable to comply will be? Just coming out of the gate?

Bottom line is that the income from penalties on all fronts are a new revenue source and we have given the government another portal, new legal access into our business, where it can navigate around, provide influence over how we do things and ultimately send over an invoice, whether it be in the form of a penalty, fee or tax. It really chaps my ass that we have to answer to anyone standing on the outside of our business requesting reporting and/or compliance over anything. Why? Because I am a good citizen and I pay my taxes by the rules already.

Take a guess at what the total income as a result of hiring all those IRS folks. 56 Billion over the next decade. Do you not think that we all work for the fed now? I am thinking of buying that Vanagon and selling t-shirts at festivals again. Square can you hear me?

Wednesday night Blues Jam

2011-02-24T09:41:00.001-05:00

Pfoodman employees are the best!

2011-02-23T10:20:00.002-05:00

To the committed employees of Pfoodman...

I wanted to thank everyone for all of the hard work this past year and let you know that we are very excited about the future and have some exciting plans for the company in the planning stages. Along those lines, we are very pleased to announce the following promotions and transfers within the organization:

Russ Hunt is now the Corporate Director of Purchasing. Russ has been with Pfoodman from the start, fulfilling the role of Food Service Director at Lindenwood University with great success. Russ has played a key role in the development of the excellent program at Lindenwood and will assist in the roll-out of our new foodservice concepts and food court, while heading up our new purchasing department.

Chris Lupo will be taking over the Foodservice Directors position at Lindenwood University. Chris is excited about being back at Lindenwood and will be leading his team into the future. Chris’ leadership and results at St. Louis College of Pharmacy and Chaminade College Prep were a huge contribution to Pfoodman’s success in these endeavors.

Kiki Strecker will be taking on the role of Director of Sales and Marketing at Lindenwood University. Kiki has been a regional manager for Pfoodman, directing the senior living division while also coordinating the catering and management of the Wolf. Kiki will continue to keep her hand in some corporate functions while working with the client and leading the sales and catering team at Lindenwood.

Dave Klimuszka will be the Executive Chef for the new Commons at Lindenwood University. Dave will be heading up the roll-out of the new facility, leading his team and coordinating the opening of five Pfoodman branded concepts. Dave has been with Pfoodman since the start and we are excited to have him overseeing this critical element in the future of Pfoodman.

Steven Babler will be the Foodservice Manager over the current board café for Lindenwood University. Steve’s culinary and management background along with his ambition and ability to take on new challenges will be a great fit for Lindenwood and Pfoodman.

Executive Chef John Buchanan has taken over the Food Service Directors position at Chaminade College Preparatory. John’s role as Executive Chef and his support of Chris were a key element to the success of the opening at Chaminade. His professional approach and culinary experience makes this a natural fit for John, Pfoodman and most importantly our client, Chaminade.

For those of you who were not aware, Jim Nethercott has taken over the position of Foodservice Director at St. Louis College of Pharmacy. Jim was the Foodservice Director at the Stratford at West Clay in Carmel Indiana, under difficult circumstances and came shining through. We are very excited to have someone with Jim’s experience and proven successes joining Executive Chef Jon Firganza and working to continue the successes at STLCOP.

Scott Elgart has taken on the role of Executive Chef at the Fountains of West County. Scott comes to us with a vast array of experience, most recently as the Executive Chef at Houlihan’s on Olive. Scott’s experience, personality and genuine concern for the residents and their needs, makes him the perfect fit for the Fountains.

Shellee Peuster is taking over the General Manager position at the J. Houston Tavern in Arrow Rock. This is an exciting project we are working on with Missouri Valley College. The Tavern will be utilized to offer on the job training for students enrolled in the Hospitality Studies program developed through the combined efforts of the School and Pfoodman. The tavern is part of the Missouri State Park in Arrow Rock and is the oldest continuously running restaurant west of the Mississippi. The Tavern opens on March 26th. We will keep you posted on all of the exciting developments at this property.

Congratulations everyone, including those of you who are reading this, your hard work and dedication do not go unnoticed. We appreciate each and every one of you and we look forward to building a great company together. Pfoodman continues to grow and I believe we have a very bright future. We are very glad to have you with us on that journey to success! Stay tuned for upcoming developments. Please let any of the management team know if you have any questions or need additional information.