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Tom recommends: Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, Austin, TX 5th Street

September 26, 2011 recommended, Tom Recommends No comments

I went to Eddie V’s on 5th Street here in Austin this past Saturday and had a fantastic experience. My friend and I were treated to what I consider world-class customer service, so I made a point of emailing the corporate office in order to get our server recognized. Not only did Jim VanDercook, the President/CEO of Eddie V’s call me and leave me a voicemail, but he emailed me as well to ensure that I was aware he was going to recognize our server, Ben. It is THAT kind of customer service that makes this place the tops in my book. Going above and beyond, AND the culture of rewarding it’s employees for great customer service. Bravo Eddie V’s! I’ll be back.

Oh, by the way the food was spectacular. Undoubtedly the best meal I have ever experienced.

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Tom Recommends: Santa Fe Enchiladas at El Arroyo. Austin, TX.

May 23, 2011 recommended, Tom Recommends No comments

Santa Fe Enchiladas, El Arroyo, Austin, TX

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Wanna record your own music? Get yourself a MAC!

November 21, 2010 recommended, The Blog No comments

If you’re a musician, new to recording and want to learn how to do it yourself, GarageBand is the program for you. It’s free as part of the iLife suite on Mac computers. It’s VERY user friendly, as are all Mac applications and with a cheap midi keyboard and microphone you can make great quality recordings.

Here’s an idea I was playing around with…

Here is the Music Player. You need to installl flash player to show this cool thing!

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Strengths Finder 2.0 – by Tom Rath (review)

September 8, 2010 recommended, The Blog, Tom Recommends No comments

by Tom Rath

I was asked to read this book as part of my yearly development plan at work. For the first time, I AGREE with something that has been presented to me at work (this also has to do with the much more laid back and open minded culture of my current company, a sharp contrast from my previous job).

Here’s the main point: Historically, through school and then work, we have been programmed to focus on our weaknesses. We spend a lot of time trying to improve on our weak areas, we stress over them, we even become disgruntled at work. This book, with data collected from the gallup poll argues that you should focus on your STRENGTHS instead of your weaknesess. You read 30 pages, which outlines the idea, and then take a 20 minute online assessment and it then kicks out a report of your 5 greatest strengths and how to improve

upon them.

The rest of the book, covers each strength in detail.

The cheapest price I’ve found for the book is $12 at Walmart.com. Here’s a link

http://www.walmart.com/ip/5512335?sourceid=1500000000000003260340&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=5512335

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Review – Your Mom’s Burger Bar – Austin, TX

September 5, 2010 recommended, The Blog, Tom Recommends No comments

Glen,Worm and I went to Your Mom’s Burger Bar in Austin, TX (located at 1701 E. Cesar Chavez St. 474-6667, www.yourmoms.net) on Saturday night, on a recommendation by Glen’s wife Dana. This place is “AUSTIN” if I can use that as an adjective. Or.. how bout this… It’s very “Alice in Chains”… that would be another good way to describe the feel. Anyway, the burgers are stuffed with cheese, meat and other assorted goodies. As a baseline I had the regular cheeseburger and it was definitely memorable. I’ll even go as far as to say that it beats the previous favorite “Dan’s”.

The cheese is cooked right into the center of the beef. It’s like a cheese volcano. It’s ridiculous. The bun was not too big. That’s the sign of a great burger in my opinion. If the bun is the size of a football, it’s shit. Also, the fries stand out (chili powder flavoring), the onion rings stand out (perfect size, beer battered, they do NOT fall apart), and according to Worm, the mac and cheese is way above average.

HIGHLY recommended. Check it out. You’ll thank me

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Le Creperie Cafe (Long Beach, CA) – FANTASTIC!

June 9, 2010 recommended, The Blog One comment

La Creperie Cafe

562-434-8499

4911 E. Second St., Long Beach, CA 90803

Neighborhood: Belmont Shore

website

I flew from Austin, TX to Los Angeles to try this place in Long Beach, CA. On the recommendation of my girlfriend, who used to live in the area, we took a small overnight vacation to have dinner at La Creperie Cafe.

Compared to the other restaurants in this area, this place is a bargain. It’s a small cafe that is filled with old Parisian furnishings and decor. When we arrived, we were greeted by live music… a jazz piano and saxophonist.

It’s a long way to go for me, but we will be flying out from time to time to get to this great cozy restaurant. This place is a must-visit recommendation from me.

I’m not much of a drinker so I ordered my usual iced tea. I am NOT exaggerating when I say this is the best iced tea I’ve ever had. I even made a point of asking our waiter what brand of tea they used. He said that their secret is adding “rose water” in with the standard iced tea. From the “savory crepes” menu I ordered the Crepe Carbonara (Chicken breast slices, mozzarella and smoked bacon in a creamy garlic parmesan sauce with pesto). It’s $11.95. This is the best meal I’ve had in 2 years. It was a large portion, it was nicely presented, the service was fantastic and the atmosphere was memorable. After my girlfriend finished her entre, she ordered the “Romeo and Juliette” from the dessert menu (Nutella, fresh strawberries and bananas, $7.95). I had a small taste and it was exquisite. This was also a hearty portion and was presented nicely.

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My most influential albums….

March 16, 2010 recommended, The Blog, Tom Recommends No comments

Although there are probably a hundred albums in between, here is a listing of the albums that got the most playing time in my life…

When I look back, some of these are kind of questionable… but I won’t make any apologies..

(If you’re a guitar player, and haven’t heard either Monte Montgomery album, go out and get one)

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The BEST place to eat in Vegas after midnight….

March 14, 2010 Poker and/or Vegas, recommended, Tom Recommends No comments

It’s 3am… you just placed 3rd at the stratosphere’s midnight tournament… you’re starving… what do you do? You go here:

Photo by VegasRex

(photo by Vegas Rex)

This place has been around forever. I found out about it because I saw it in that god-awful movie Lucky You. But, it’s a regular stop for me when I am in town. I do enjoy playing in that midnight Stratosphere tournament.. mostly because I have a high percentage of getting paid out at the end of it.. .however it is a horrible tourny structure. When it’s done, I always go to the White Cross pharmacy because of this great diner. The cook is a Russian guy, and then there’s always another guy that answers the phone and takes delivery orders. But, this is the only place I know of where you can get fried pork chops and eggs at 4am. So, it’s a definite favorite.

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Before the Music Dies: Watch full movie here

November 5, 2009 recommended, Tom Recommends No comments

BEFORE THE MUSIC DIES tells the story of American music at this precarious moment. Filmmakers Andrew Shapter and Joel Rasmussen traveled the country, hoping to understand why mainstream music seems so packaged and repetitive, and whether corporations really had the power to silence musical innovation. The answers they found on this journey–ultimately, the promise that the future holds–are what makes BEFORE THE MUSIC DIES both riveting and exhilarating.