Happy New Year - the Bowl Alternative

Happy New Year! A friendly reminder not to miss my new favorite Escape on New Year's Day, the NHL's Winter Classic at 1 p.m. ET on NBC. Our beloved Detroit Red Wings won a thriller over the Chicago Blackhawks at Wrigley Field a few years ago. Today the Penguins and Capitals take their rivalry to a perfectly smooth outdoor "pond" at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. Sorry BCS alphabet soup of Bowl games, this Hockeytown couch potato is all over the hockey classic in Steel City. Enjoy.

"The nobodies are the new somebodies"

Not Lance. He's always been a somebody. In the November 2010 issue of Fast Company Guy Kawasaki stated, "the nobodies are the new somebodies" referring to emerging social media influencers. I see his point. To be active in social media requires finding the new somebodies all the while conversing with them as a couple of friendly nobodies. Not as easy as it sound. My blog is a whisper. Not even to the level of murmur as far as followers go. Yet I enjoy the hell out whatever interaction occurs. It is Escape in practice. I especially enjoy the new somebodies that I discover. Like Pick6blog. Not one on the level of the Huffington Post but the writer is a somebody to me. So I shout out to "nobody" in particular come on in. For a brief moment in time, space and the Internet we'll be somebody.

The Ultimate Parlay

Ralph Lauren has made a fortune by making his versions of classics (clothing, furniture, jewelry, ...) a need more than a want. I still can't get over the size of the logo on the U.S. Open tennis ballboys and ballgirls. So what does he do with his hard-earned money? According to the latest edition of Vanity Fair Mr. Lauren does NOT collect art. "You can't drive a painting," he told the writer. "I drive these cars, they just don't sit there," he added. Sure it's an Escape owning and admiring classic cars. But driving them is the real joy. Car lovers know it as the huge @#$^-eating grin you get when revving through the gears. The art gallery I'd next like to visit is the D.A.D. Garage featured in the article. (Click the photo.) Lauren's Westchester, NY rival to our local Henry Ford Museum. Here's to hoping Ralph rings me up and says, "hey, I'm going to be on my yacht in St. Barts for awhile, can you swing by and run the rust off the Alfa."

At least I know some of my Polo Outlet purchases didn't just keep the store doors open - they helped pristinely restore Gullwing doors, too.

Experiential Retail at Road Runner Sports

Not me. Some other guy getting fitted.

I love to run. I'm fascinated by well-run, highly-differentiated retail businesses. I visited the perfect intersection of these two interests at Road Runner Sports flagship store in San Diego. I'm a proud Road Runner Sports (RRS) VIP customer for over 15 years, from their catalog-only roots, to their transition to online, and now to my first visit to one of their physical retail locations. If you enjoy running, go. Go now. There's a fantastic vibe in the store. It's bright and colorful. The staff clearly knows running because they're runners. Beyond the obligatory shoe wall the store has a track and ShoeDog advisors conducting interactive video gait analysis. Cool stuff. Because it was 52 and rainy outside the San Diegans were busily buying up "cold weather" gear. I snagged a deal on a Saucony running jacket that outfluorescents any highway worker's safety gear. Can't wait to try it at home where cold weather means frozen eyelashes. That's an Escape.

Digital Scrabble® - my newest Escape

I broke down. Downloaded my first iPad PAID app, Scrabble. What a well spent $1.99. Truly a great, simple Escape. I've loved Scrabble forever. I can still recall epic seven-letter words. Sometimes while reading I'll see a word and think, "that would be a great Scrabble double word score." My Mom instilled my love of Scrabble. She did it by beating me regularly. She still has many of the score sheets to prove it. But playing the computer is a whole new ballgame (word game). I "rack" my brain over the tiles and place down a word. Actually drag and drop a word. The beautiful, shiny interface glows as it tallies my score. Before I've even digested my new letters the computer casually tosses out a word. Often one I've never seen before. Think avidin. Talk about memorizing the dictionary. The computer doesn't gloat. Also you never hear, "my letters are crappy," or, "there's nowhere to go on this board." The machine is a quiet assassin. But he (she) is rapidly improving my game. And when I next match up with my know-it-all youngest daughter on our Deluxe (missing one "I" tile) home set, look out. I won't need no stinking U with my Q. I'm going to whip you. No strike that. I'll employ my blank to demolish, eliminate, eradicate, and annihilate you.