Steel Kaleidoscopes

10-Second Test

Here are 11 seemingly simple questions.

You have 10 seconds for each answer.

If you feel stupid, you're not alone.

Cheapflights.com

Think about the value your concierge provides when you inquire about nearby restaurants and entertainment. If your concierge is a good one, you'll find yourself with reservations at a memorable restaurant and perhaps tickets to a sold-out show.

Cheapflights.com is like that concierge, except they put you in the sky and do it online.

You can go to corporate airline web sites and other niche travel sites, but Cheapflights has a unique value prop unmatched by the rest. Think of Cheapflights as a trusted friend.

Besides finding you the best price on airline tickets (hence, the name), Cheapflights features valuable information for both the road warriors and weekend puddle jumpers.

Get the scoop on why airlines overbook (and how you can benefit), tips for getting an upgrade, which airplanes have the most leg room and, perhaps the most key, how to navigate the flight experience with kids in tow.

Heck, they even have a blog with helpful information from both staff and users. And there's a place to rant about airline etiquette, one of my pet peeves.

Most of all, Cheapflights is about saving you money. The site evolved from the entrepreneurial spirit of travel journalist John Hatt who, in 1996, was frustrated with the limited choices facing consumers when booking airline travel. Hatt created and ran the site out of his attic.

Eleven years later, Cheapflights is one of the Top 15 travel web sites and is gaining popularity each day. And for this global success story, the sky's the limit.

That's what happens to useful web sites that put helping the consumer first.

Just like a good concierge.

Why We Root for Tiger Woods

In our minds, there's an innate pursuit for excellence and perfection in the workplace.

Both goals are difficult to reach for most of us, which is why watching Tiger Woods is so addictive and inspiring.

Tiger Woods is perhaps the most visible human being who seems to accomplish both. His workplace is the golf course, and he routinely takes care of business with a winning methodical spirit.

By outplaying the field over the weekend at Torrey Pines' bucolic Buick Invitational for his seventh straight PGA Tour victory, Woods is both making and chasing history.

Seven straight wins.

Do you know how hard this is?

For most PGA Tour players, just winning one event is something to cherish. If you can pull it off once a year, you're probably one of the elite players. To win two in a row is very impressive. But seven?

Only one player besides Woods has ever done this -- the late Byron Nelson who won 11 straight in 1945.

Woods now has 55 career wins, 12 of them major championships.

Sunday after Sunday, we marvel at how Woods rises above his competitors, somehow, some way finding a way to win.

It's an inspirational way to begin the work week because when Tiger Woods wins, he proves that the improbable is probable.

What Ever Happened To...

Andy Etchebarren?

Perhaps best known as the Baltimore Orioles catcher with the thick busy eyebrows, Etchebarren, 63, is currently the manager of the Aberdeen Ironbirds.

The Ironbirds are a class-A affiliate of the Orioles and are based on Aberdeen, Md.  Orioles legend Cal Ripken is the team owner. Before his managerial gig, Etchebarren served as the Orioles minor-league catching instructor.

Etchebarren, a two-time All-Star, won two World Series and four pennants with the Orioles, the club he signed with directly out of high school in 1961.  He was 19 when he made his Major League debut.

In 1971, he caught Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, Mike Cuellar and Pat Dobson, the last four pitchers to win 20 games in a season on one team and a feat that's only been accomplished twice in baseball history.

Etchebarren was the last man ever to bat against Sandy Koufax, when he hit into a double play during the sixth inning of Game 2 in the 1966 World Series. 

Earlier that season, in August, Etchebarren saved teammate Frank Robinson's life. There was a raucous team party and, reportedly, lots of heavy drinking. Robinson, who couldn't swim, slipped in a backyard pool and was under water, flailing about before Etchebarren pulled him out. Robinson went on to win the Triple Crown.

Besides the Orioles, Etchebarren played for the California Angels and Milwaukee Brewers, retiring as an active player in 1978. Etchebarren was a career .235 hitter  in 15 seasons.

Warm Thoughts

Oh for a beach day. Naples beats New England in January.

Album Sides

Waxing nostalgia, here.

Technology is wonderful and digital music is snappy, convenient and self-inventive.

But it's hard not to think about what it was like to buy a new album and listen to Side 1. The needle on the turntable would slowly finish cycling before speeding up to return to the cradle. Then you'd flip the album, getting ready to listen to Side 2.

When albums got a little older and, perhaps, weren't given the TLC they should have, you'd hear crunchy static between tracks because of scratches to the vinyl. This was especially noticeable with slow-starting tracks like Emerson, Lake and Palmer's "Take a Pebble."

Then there was always the unfortunate outcome where the record would actually skip. You'd have left the room to come back hearing "Can't Buy Me Love," "Can't Buy Me Love," "Can't Buy Me Love" and it was not Paul McCartney's intention.

If you had a party and didn't want to be bothered with flipping the record after the 20-minute side, there was a little device that would actually allow you to stack four or five albums. The album ends? No problem. The next album would drop neatly on top of the finished album, and you could even rotate albums between Sides 1 and 2. No need to only just play the opening side.

This was especially true with albums like Yes "Fragile," where "Long Distance Runaround" opened Side 2 and was a fresher perspective than the overplayed "Roundabout," which opened Side 1. And when Southern Rock ruled the planet, Molly Hatchet's "Dreams I'll Never See," the opener to Side 2, was a better air-guitar song than Side 1 opener "Bounty Hunter."

In 2007, album sides really don't exist anymore. MP3s, random play, self-selective downloading and play-lists pretty much are the state of music.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

But for those of us who grew up with albums, it's nice to look back now and then to a time when music was trickier but life was simpler.

Quote of the Day

"The greater the obstacle the more glory in overcoming it."

– Moliere

Witwatersrand

Here's some valuable real estate.

A 60-mile stretch of South Africa's Witwatersrand is the source of 40 percent of the gold ever mined from the Earth.

Witwatersrand is a low mountain range that runs through the Gauteng province. Witwatersrand actually forms a continental divide (hey, they made this the title of a John Belushi movie) with water draining from the north into the Indian Ocean and water from the south draining into the Atlantic.

Dars gold in 'dem hills.

To heck with Xanadu.  Witwatersrand is where it's at.

The Importance of Being Ernie

Burt Bacharach? Great composer. '70s guy, right? Bert Campaneris? A's shortstop. Again, the '70s. Bert Jones. Colts quarterback. Yup, again, the '70s. Bert Simpson, I mean Bart Simpson. '90s guy. But we're talking about Bert.

Streetfight

Guttural screams echoing through a chamber alleyway.

Screeching tires, flashing steel, clenched teeth, adrenalin, anger and indiscipline.

Woeful rivals, Jets and Sharks, the Priory of Sion, Janet Reno and the Branch Davidians.

Piercing sirens, revolving red flashing lights.

Nighttime in the seamy side of the city, an amoral battle of timeless regret.