The Beech Called "Beach" - An Aviation Story

Being pilots and sometime aviation buffs, interesting facts
grab our attention from time to time. 
Being the proud papas of a Beechcraft Bonanza B36TC, anything
‘Beechcraft’ or Bonanza is of particular interest.  When we started looking for the ‘step up’ plane shortly
after we closed the deal on our first plane, a trusty Piper Archer, 11 years
ago…we identified the Bonanza as a real candidate for the next plane. Moving up
is all a part of the aviation lifestyle.

Long story short, we felt that the Beechcraft Bonanza, the longest most
successful production plane in aviation history, was the right one for us.  Its sleek design, high speed
performance, reliability, and payload all spoke to our needs for a flying
SUV.  How many times have we stuffed
lamps and furniture in the backseats, brought a whole dinner party of utensils
and food from one location to another….really utilitarian.

One interesting fact is that early in the production of this
airplane, that began in 1947, a test pilot refitted a Bonanza and flew it
non-stop from Honolulu to the West Coast of California.  Proving its long range characteristics
and sturdy construction.  Aptly
named ‘Waikiki
Beach’’   William Odom
flew the original V tail Bonanza in the first record setting light aircraft
flight from Hawaii to the mainland. 
With out penchant for period Hawaiian architecture and style (link to
homes), this is of particular interest. 

A second record setting flight from Honolulu to Teterboro,
New Jersey was flown by the ‘Waikiki
Beach’ two months after the first transpacific flight.  The ‘Waikiki
Beach’ now lives at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C., a well
earned tribute to a remarkable aircraft and one that is near and dear to us
personally….

Recycled Glass Tile: Luxurious & Sustainable for a Modern Estate

In all the Bathrooms in this Modern Estate in Montecito we tried to use glass tile that was at least 50% content of recycled or post industrial glass tile.  The result was modernist elegance in every room.

The entire room is tiled in glass. Floors and Walls. The pattern is an offset running bond pattern installed vertically. The glass tiles are a mixture of sizes and vary from matte, to glossy. The floor is a 1" grid of matte glass mosaic and we used a 1/4" x 6" "pencil glass rectangular tile to finish the edges between the wall and the floor, like a tiny lining border. This room has a serene modernist and timeless quality to it.

This mosaic tile in the Pool House Bath is a mixture of stone and glass tiles. The colors were chosen to reflect the surrounding colors of the landscape and ocean beyond.

Modern Powder Room. We used very thin Glass Mosaic tile in conjunction with a counter to ceiling mirror simply applied to the drywall and tiled right up to the mirror. The Dornbract Faucets were plumbed to come through the mirror. Farrow and Ball Wallpaper is on the adjacent walls.

Copper and Wine colored Glass mosaic tiles on softly arched ceiling and illuminated from the sides above the wine racks was the perfect accent for the wine cellar.  Oceanside Tile is a great resource that we specify all the time for recycled content glass products. Here's a link to Oceanside's Sustainability page.

A Decadent Holiday Brunch, Lobster with Chipotle Mac & Cheese, Caviar and Melon & Prosciutto

One of my favorite things to do in Santa Barbara in the wintertime,  especially around the holidays, is to host an afternoon Lobster Brunch as Pacific Lobster is in season. We recently did this to celebrate Gregg's December birthday. We prepared Barbecued Lobster with Chipotle Macaroni and Cheese. This is a fantastic combination as the Chipotle in the Mac and Cheese really offsets the Lobster nicely. Just forget about calories and cholesterol  for the afternoon! Throw in some Caviar while your at it.

Make sure to prepare a beautiful Green Salad with lots of colorful veggies, it will plate beautifully by providing contrasting color and give your guests the illusion that there is actually something healthy on their plate.

Even if you don't live in Santa Barbara find a great Shellfish company in your area that will prepare lobster for you to take away, cleaned and prepped ready for cooking because it takes all the work out of the preparation. Just be careful not to overcook the Lobster. Use a large spoon to "baste" the lobsters while shell side down on the grill. Squeeze lemon over the lobsters as well. Flesh side down for only a couple of minutes and use tongs to rotate them back on their shells careful to not pull flesh out of shell because it may stick to the grill. More butter and lemon then when done, serve hot.

Start with a really nice prosciutto thinly sliced wrapped around a ripe slice of melon. This makes a beautiful preparation that can be prepared in advance and set on the table prior to quests arriving. It takes patience to pull the slices of prosciutto apart without tearing them, but it will make for a more pleasing "wrap" on the cantaloupe. 

If you really want to be decadent and generous with your friends prior to seating, serve Champagne and Caviar with appropriate condiments. We like to serve caviar with diced onion, sour cream (or creme fraiche) egg yoke diced, egg white diced and blinis to pile it all on to. Everyone plows through this elegant presentation in about 30 seconds. Please make sure that you purchase Farmed Caviar, this is a link to a great New York Times article sourcing farmed caviar for us in the Dining & Wine.

My day started out at the The Santa Barbara Shellfish Co., on Stearn's Wharf where I had called in an order for 10, 1.5lb lobsters to be cleaned and prepared for grilling. They always give you clarified butter and lemon wedges to go as well, this saves so much time. The city had erected a beautiful Christmas tree on the wharf. 

A stately  California Brown Pelican just outside the restaurant.

Airbus A380: Luxury Travel - Compare Cabin Designs

Compare the Cabin Designs of the New A380 between Emirates Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Air France and Qantas in this LA Times Article.

The Cinerama Dome & Michael Jackson

We're going down to LA to see Michael Jackson's "THIS IS IT" but the really exciting thing is that were going to see it at the Cinerama Dome.

The Cinerama Dome 1963 by Welton Becket, 6360 Sunsent Blvd. Hollywood, Ca.

Photo courtesy you-are-here.com.





A geodesic dome built for the Cinerama format, this mini-Epcot like structure is a wonder of 1960's showmanship. Featuring an enormous curved screen and ample seating underneath the large dome, the Cinerama Dome is famous for blending first run films with the occassional revival classic. The Cinerama Dome opened November 17, 1963 with 937 seats and the World Premiere in 70mm of "Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World". Additional 70mm films included the West Coast premiere of "The Greatest Story Ever Told" on February 17, 1965, the World Premiere of "The Battle of the Bulge" on December 16, 1965 and the World Premiere of "Ice Station Zebra" on October 23, 1968. In 1999, The Dome exhibited an exclusive week long showing of the original "Blade Runner" answer print.

For more information about historic cinemas go to Cinema Treasures.

Michael Jackson's "THIS IS IT".... here's a link to the trailer.

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Heal The Ocean Benefit in Montecito, Ca.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus was a hysterical talking about "s**t and piss, let's face it, that's what we're talking about" prior to dinner at the annual gala benefiting Heal the Ocean on September 26. You can learn more about Ms. Dreyfus's charity work at Look to the Stars the world of celebrity giving.

This exquisite 'fabulous fish" puppet created by Matthew McAvene was just one of a cast of creations for part of the post dinner and auction entertainment.

Mr McAvene and Jean-Michel Cousteau (right) pose with fishy friends just part of the cast of The Big Fabulous Fish Show.

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Recycled Aircraft into Houses!

I was flying low about 2500' along the California Coast from Oceanside to Santa Barbara. Somewhere over Malibu I looked down at a construction site and saw what looked to be like a airline diaster, I couldn't believe my eyes. I circled, took pictures with my iPhone and realized I was looking at house being built using very large aircraft wings and primary structural elements. Googled it when I got home and sure enough. Check out this amazing project. Read about on this incredible project on treehugger.

Courtesy of treehugger

By the way, recycled aircraft are not an invention of the 21st Century.

Courtesy of Tree Hugger

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The Ultimate Toy

As a pilot I was wowed by the Icon A5. This "light sport aircraft" is the ultimate toy for pilots who enjoy the water. Imagine launching this puppy from your yacht like a jet ski! Read more about this ingenious development in aviation in Wired Magazine.

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I'm a Tubehead

I always try to avoid seeing any components that drive the media in any room. In this Family Room / Theater. We used two 65" Panasonic Professional Plasma monitors, the same used by NASA! Tucked away in the "Media Closet" is a stack of equipment to run Cox HD Digital Cable, DVD, and Apple T.V. Two Monitors works great whether you watching the game on one monitor and a Sleepless in Seattle just downloaded from the internet. With Apple T.V. you can edit and create great slide shows. The parallel activity not only looks cool, it is a fantastic way to expand the functionality of this room. By the way the lighting and Drapery are controlled from the Phillips Pronto Universal Remote Control.

In this Master Bedroom we created a custom installation for the Panasonic Profesional Plasma Monitor and installed it behind a specialized mirror and created a custom silver leaf frame around the whole ensemble over walls that are upholstered with Calvin Fabrics linen. The mirror glass is very expensive as were the custom picture frames..so yes, we installed two mirrors, one for the T.V. and the other mirror simply to match because of the symmetrical arrangement of the dressers.

We did the same installation in a sitting room off the Master Bath.

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I'm craving Salmon and Eggs

I'm craving Salmon and scrambled eggs this morning! Check out this beautiful presentation of a Silver Salmon we caught in Alaska this summer at Winter Lake Lodge. The very talented chef new we were leaving the next morning so she prepared our big Silver for breakfast. She presented the fish on a platter with salmon mouse AND individual servings of Salmon Hash with scrambled eggs and spinach. I thought it was brilliant to make a visual presentation of our gorgeous fish and separately prepare each serving. Talk about a visual feast for the Table!

Dropped in by Heli for Fly Flishing. Great way to go when there are NO ROADS! Naturally, most of our fishing was Catch & Release. Our Fishing Guide demonstrates his very soothing and compassionate method! I guess he was calming the big Silver down before releasing. We used special "no barb" hooks to allow for easier release

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