Nickel Creek Farewell For Now

Dawn and I saw Nickel Creek in San Francisco last night. It was an awesome show. They played a lot of their hits, including The Fox, The House Carpenter and Reasons Why. Even though I was bummed that they didn't play Lighthouse Tale it was still an awesome show. It was the first time either one of us had been to the Warfield which was a perfect venue for these guys. It's hard to believe that they have been playing music together for 18 years. Even though they are officially going on an "indefinite hiatus", I'd be surprised if they didn't get back together in a few years. It'll be interesting to see what solo work come from Chris and Sarah.

A short clip of The Fox.

A short clip of Smoothie Song.

Check out the (some are blurry) pics here.

The Grape

After a long vacation, The Grape (the band that brought you the matt-beckwith-dot-com theme song) was back on the road for their one night world tour. Tom, Ralph, Ted and Jady rocked the Blackwater Cafe with songs like "Crackheads Crossing the Street", "Hearts and Wounds" and "My Old Neighborhood".

Manager Tools Conference

I arrived at my hotel in Dulles, Virginia a little while ago. I am here this week attending the Manager Tools Effective Manager Conference. I have been listening to M-T for a year and a half or so and am very excited to be here for this event.

If you are a manager (or hope to be one soon) I highly recommend listening to Manager Tools. Putting their teachings into practice will absolutely have a tremendously positive effect on your career (as well as those on your team).

4/20/07 update

manager-tools-matt

What a great two days. Without question, the most valuable conference I have ever attended. Mark and Mike, along with Michael, Cathy, Travis and Laura perfectly planned every detail of this entire event. Mark and Mike took us through the details of the management trinity and spent countless hours allowing the 100 attendees to pick their brains.

I met a lot of other managers from a vast array of industries and from all over the world. It was great to see that no matter what the background, industry or continent, management is management is management.

JR & Megan

Before heading back out to Texas, JR, Megan, Wynter and Audrey came over and hung out with us, Mike & Shauna and Shawn. JR and Mike... showin' the love!

Check out our pics here.

Mostly Trivial

I am a self-professed podcast junky. One of my favorite podcasts is Mostly Trivial, with your host Johnee Bee. After doing some research on the penny-farthing bike I bought recently, I decided to pitch some trivia questions to the show. I was driving home from work, listening to podcasts, and Mostly Trivial started to play. I was blown away when Johnee Bee introduced the category as 'bicycles'. I'm practically famous! Finally, I knew all of the questions. If you haven't listened to Mostly Trivial, give it a try. It is a short, very well produced weekly show.

Check out the episode I contributed to here.

Click here for Mostly Trivial on iTunes.

Happy Easter

With JR and his family making the trek from Texas, Tony and his coming down from The Property and Lance even showing up, we had a great Easter at the house. Of course, that means everyone wanted a picture of all the kids... Ken, Lance, Tony, Mike, Me, JR and Missy... all in the same place... that doesn't happen too often.

Of course, there were cameras galore.

Click here for our pics.

Mike's pics.

Also, check out our Easter pics from years past 2006 / 2005 / 2004 /2002

Happy Easter!

Party Pardee

The first century of the year for me was the Party Pardee. This great metric century started in Ione and took us through Amador and Calaveras counties. This was the first time I have ridden in this ride although I have been on most of the roads before on other rides. Mike warned me that the hills were brutal, I just didn't realize how brutal they were. Mike's son, Spencer, joined us for the ride but had little notion of what he was in store for today. Today was not only Spencer's first century, it was also his first organized ride, and he hadn't climbed this much before. He had a new bike, an awesome looking Trek 1500, which he hadn't even been on before today!!! The odds were stacked against him but he persevered!!! Even though there were times he wanted to take the SAG wagon back to the car, he didn't give up (the Chariot's of Fire theme song would be appropriate here) and kept pounding away at the climbs! Mike rode exceptionally well, especially since he's put less than 150 miles on his bike this year.

This ride was one of the best supported rides in the area and we will definitely be doing it again next year.

At the end of the ride Spencer found his way in front of me and Mike so it looked like he pulled us the whole way. You learn fast, Spencer! So, what did he look like at the end of day? Cool, calm and collected... ah to be young again!

Thanks for the great ride gents!

I only took a couple of pics, but here they are.

Guess What?!?!

After Dawn's mornings started getting tougher we thought we would find out for sure. So, last week we took the test and... surprise! Guess what's coming to the Beckwith family?

After a trip to the doctor we discovered that she was farther along than we originally thought.

September will be here before we know it!

update: look at the date!

Christian's Birthday Party

Happy birthday Christian!

After everyone devoured cake and ice cream and Christian opened up his gifts (and counted his loot) Ken and I went and picked up theboneshaker / penny-farthing. Mike and I had tried, unsuccessfully, to ride it a few weeks before but Ken was sure he could do it on the first try. And ride it he did... he had no problem riding it right from the start. Here's a quick video of him sprinting down Mike's street.

Even I was able to finally ride the bike.

Check out the pics here.

Pink Panthers on the Prowl

Opening ceremonies for the Stockton Girls Softball Association were held today. Our girls, the Pink Panthers, looked really good for the first game of the season.

Check out the pics here.