The iPhone 5 delivers

Posted on by georgefattell

Well, like a lot of other Apple aficionados (I’m sorry, I refuse to use the term “fan-boy” ) I looked forward to the debut of Apple’s iPhone 5 with great anticipation. Would it deliver and meet expectations? Well, I think the answer is an unequivical YES!. Most of the reviews from tech sites seem to be very positive and the pre-orders are coming in a record setting pace. This thing is going to be a huge home run for Apple. There is no doubt about that. I’ll be buying one for sure, but more on that later.

Has the praise for the iPhone 5 been universal? Not quite. Just go to the comments section of nearly any major tech blog and you can find critics of the new device, who claim that Apple still falls short in this area or that, that the latest Android models are still better in some ways (no NFC or wireless charging) and point to the fact that Android phones , sold by multiple manufacturers, now out sell the combined iPhone models and interpret that as a sign that Apple has peaked and is in decline.

I don’t think the iPhone 5 lacks any features that matter to 99% of current iPhone users.

Apple does not want to be the Toyota or General Motors of the mobile phone manufacturers. It is more like they want to be combination of BMW and Porsche. They could certainly sell more iPhones if the introduced stripped down low cost models. They don’t want to do that. Apple just doesn’t think that way. They want to control a large segment of the the middle and upper-end of the mobile phone market and they are doing that very well.

Once again, major kudos have to go to Jon Ive and the design team at Apple. At first glance, the iPhone 5 looks very similar to the iPhone 4S, but a variety of small design refinements make it more elegant than it’s predecessor. The most significant change of from the previous model is the display, which Apple lengthened to 4.0 inches from 3.5 inches. I think the iPhone 5 is the best looking mobile phone on the market. Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I can’t think of another company that combines form and function like Apple.

Is there another company that cares more about high quality industrial design than Apple? I don’t think so. BTW, I would encourage all who want to learn more about the design and features of the iPhone 5 to watch the 6 minute video on the Apple home page which explains the development of the device. The video features Apple Sr VP’s Ive, Bob Mansfield and Scott Forestall, who are all familiar faces to many Apple fans.

As I mentioned above, I plan on buying an iPhone 5 myself. I currently own an iPhone 3 GS, so I am due for an upgrade. I’ll probably wait until the initial demand surge subsides and buy one in a few months. I also want to see if any hardware/software issues crop up with this new product. I don’t think that will happen with the iPhone 5 because I think the antenna issue they had with the iPhone 4 is probably still fresh in the minds of Apple exec’s and I would think that Apple has gone to great lengths to ensure something like that doesn’t happen with this product, but you never know with new designs, so I’ll wait and see if any defects emerge over the course of the next couple of months.

Visit to Cowles Mountain

Posted on by georgefattell

I made a trip out to the Mission Trails Regional Park to climb Cowles Mountain today (09-06-12). The Park is a 5,800 acre preserve located in the northeast corner of San Diego. The Park contains several large mountains, including Cowles, which is the tallest mountain in San Diego. The summit reaches 1,591 feet and provides spectacular 360 degree views of the San Diego region.

The trailhead is located at the corner of Navajo Road and Golfcrest Drive. There is a parking lot at the trailhead, as well as restrooms. The parking lot appears to only have room for only about 20 vehicles, so you might have to park a few blocks away on the street. It is also possible to get to the mountain via San Diego’s mass transit system. Just take the Green Line trolly to the San Diego State transit station and transfer to the 115 Bus. Ride the bus to stop at the corner of Jackson Drive and Golfcrest Drive. The ride takes about 10-12 minutes and leaves you one block from the trailhead. Just look for the huge mountain when you get off the bus, you can’t miss it.

Here are a few of the pictures I took while on the way up:

The view west toward the Pacific Ocean

George Fattell at Cowles Mountain in San Diego
Here I am at the top of the mountain. Many people who climb to the summit of the mountain touch the plaque I am standing behind here and then head back down to the base.

Predicting Division Winners for the NFL 2012 Season

Posted on by georgefattell

Well, here are we are again, it is time for Football. I’m ready.

Here are picks for each Division:

AFC East: New England. Easy pick here. I don’t see any other team in AFC East challenging the Pat’s, with their high octane offense and a defense that should be improved.

AFC North: Baltimore. Cincinnati and Pittsburgh will push Baltimore once again and that makes this division a very tough call, but I think Ravens hold on to this division for at least one more season.

AFC South: Houston. The Texans will be strong on both sides of the ball and I don’t see any of their division rivals challenging them.

AFC West: San Diego. OK, I’ll admit that my adopted hometown bias is influencing this pick. This division could be very competitive and I can see Denver or Kansas City winning the race too, but I’m going to go with the Chargers. Looking for Philip Rivers to play well and I’m counting on the Chargers being stronger on both sides on the ball this season then they were last season.

NFC East: New York. I expect Dallas, Philly and Washington to provide tough competition, but I there I’ve got to go with the defending Champ’s. I grew up about 10 miles from the Meadowlands and consider myself a life long Giants fan, so I will admit to hometown bias here too, but I don’t think I’m going out on a limb here. That said, I would have picked the Eagles if I thought Michael Vick would play the entire season, but I remain skeptical that he will because I think his style of play puts him at too much risk.

NFC North: Green Bay. Chicago and Detroit are not far behind, but I can’t pick against Aaron Rodgers, who remains the best QB in the league imo.

NFC South: Atlanta. New Orleans will be there too, but the expect the Falcons to improve on offense and that will give them the edge.

NFC West: San Francisco. Not a hard choice. The 49ers are stacked on both offense and defense. Seattle should be good, but they won’y threaten the 49ers, who should win this division easily.

Strikeforce: Rousey vs Kaufman – San Diego

Posted on by georgefattell

Mixed Martial Arts returns to San Diego today with Strikeforce fights at the Valley View Casino Arena. I attended the weigh-in’s yesterday at the Arena, which was fun because you get to see the fighters from a fairly close distance and get a feel for the confidence levels of the various fighters. There will be a total of 9 fights, 6 with men and 3 with women.

I think there are two particularly interesting fights on the card.

Rousey Weigh-In

The Main Event, featuring the current Strikrforce Woman’s Bantamweight (135 lbs) Champ, Rhonda Rousey (5-0)vs. Sarah Kaufman (15-1), who is a former Strikeforce Champ in this division. This fight was will be a classic contrast of styles, pitting Rousey’s high level judo (she won the Bronze Medal at the 2008 Olympics) and grappling against Kaufman’s high level boxing. Rousey has won every one of her pro fights by submission (armbar). Kaufman has only lost one fight and that was by an armbar, so it will be interesting to if she can prevent Rousey from submitting her. I’m going to give the edge to Rousey. I think if Rousey can take the fight to the ground Kaufman won’t be able to handle her Olympic level judo skills. But, and this is a big but, she has to careful about avoiding strikes that could KO her.

Rousey by submission, 2nd Rd.

Rhonda Rousey

Men’s middleweight fight:

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (15-3) vs. Derek Brunson (9-1)

Souza is the heavy favorite for this fight. The Brazilian is a 5-time World Jui Jitsu Champion Brunson and trains with the famous Black House team, which also includes Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida, among others. Brunson , OTOH, has some serious Wrestling credentials. Brunson is a former 3-time Div. II All-American (UNC-Pembroke). Brunson also trains at the highly regarded Jackson’s MMA in New Mexico. So, Brunson may give Jacare a battle, we’ll see.

In the end I think Souza’s ground game will be too much for Brunson.

Souza wins by submission, 2nd Rd.
This fight is a consequential because if Souza wins it is believed he will receive a rematch with current Strikeforce Middleweight Champ Luke Rockhold. Both Rockhold and Souza are very good fighters and it would be very interesting to see how one or both of them would fare against highly ranked UFC fighters. Now that Zuffa owns both promotions it may be possible that we will see Rockhold, Souza and a few others take on UFC fighters within the next year or two, at least I hope that happens. It would be great for the fans.

Souza (L) and Brunson (R)

Post Fight Commentary

Well, I went for 2 for 2 with picks, but I honestly did not think that Rousey and Souza would make such short work of their respective opponents.

How awesome is Rousey’s ground game?!? At this point, all her opponents know she is going to try to secure an armbar and yet they can’t stop it. Took all of 54 seconds this time!

As for Jacare Souza, I guess I should have added he has pretty good hands too. Brunson found out about that the hard way, being KO’d in the first round. Strikeforce definitely has to set up a rematch fight between Rockhold and Souza. Let the winner take on a top 5 UFC middleweight.

My favorite Pizza Places in San Diego

Posted on by georgefattell

I honestly can’t say there are many Pizza places in San Diego that compare favorably to all the great Pizza Parlors in the New York/ Northern New Jersey area, which is the area I grew up in. However, I found several Pizza joints in the SD area that I do think are very good and can recommend. Here are my top four:

1) Pizza Port (Ocean Beach)

2) Pizzicato (Banker’s Hill)

3) Surfrider Pizza (Ocean Beach)

Honorable Mention: Bronx Pizza (Hillcrest)

A few thoughts about the 2012 Olympics

Posted on by georgefattell

I did not watch as much of the Olympics as I would have liked due to the fact I was just too busy with other things to watch much during the day and early evening, but I was very impressed by what I did see.

First off, I thought London was an outstanding host city. Is there another city that could offer such an impressive variety of facilities, both new and old, for the Games? The people of Great Britain should be very proud of how well the Olympics Games were conducted.

I think all Americans should be very proud of the way the U.S. Team performed, I know I was. A few of our athletes fell short here and there, but many others met or exceeded expectations. The result was a overall medal count that exceeded all other nations and, importantly, included the most Gold medals. This American team has set the bar high for 2016 in Rio and that is the way it should be.

UFC 150 – Denver

Posted on by georgefattell

Looks like the Dana White & Co. have put together a pretty good card for UFC 150, including a very interesting fight for the Lightweight Championship.

Here are my picks for the top three fights:

Lightweight: Champion Benson Henderson (16-2) vs. Frankie Edgar (14-2)

Rematch of the top two lightweights. Henderson defeated then Champ Edgar by decision in their last fight, which was a brutal 5 round slugfest. Both fighters have great all-around mma skill sets and are extremely well conditioned. As always in this division, Edgar will give up size and weight to his opponent. Edgar is usually able to overcome those disadvantages with his superior conditioning and relentless pace, but Henderson can match Edgar there and seems to be even more athletic. Edgar has great intangibles and very strong will power. Edgar’s weakness is that sometimes he gets reckless and leaves himself open to dangerous strikes and kicks, which he did in his last fight against Henderson, who caught him with an up kick that changed the direction of that fight to Henderson’s favor. If Edgar can avoid making such mistakes this time he can win.

This is a very tough call, but I’m going to go with Edgar by decision.

Catchweight (157.5 lbs): Donald Cerrone (18-4) vs. Melvin Guillard (30-10)

I’m going to pick Cerrone to win by submission in the 2nd rd.

Middleweight: Jake Shields (27-6) vs. Ed Herman (20-7)

Shields returns to the middleweight division, after a mixed run in the UFC welterweight division. I think Shields will be more dangerous as a middleweight, with added muscle. Herman is a tough, up and coming middleweight, but I think Shields has superior wrestling ability and that will enable him to win this fight. I predict Shields wins by submission in the 3rd rd.

Post Event Comments:

Well, I went 2-1 with my picks, but it could have easily been 3-0 because Benson Henderson defeated Frankie Edgar by split decision. I thought both Henderson and Edgar were more conservative in this fight than they were in their first fight, but this fight was extremely close and really could have gone either way imo.