Compounding My Interests

Alata Zerka is no more.  I liked the name as a quirky, fun, personal title for a space that would house some of my web-based writings, yet no one else seemed to get it.  My new blogosphere home is Compounding My Interests, a site where I will continue some of the narratives that began even before AZ came into being, and a place where I promise to write with much greater frequency.  Hope to see you all there!

Compounding My Interests

Wall St. Cheat Sheet

For all my readers out there, I just wanted to make sure you all know that I am now writing for the Wall St. Cheat Sheet.  Be sure to check out my content over there.  There will be plenty of unique content that you won’t find over here on Alata Zerka covering the Technology Sector.  You can click on this link to subscribe to my personal Tech Cheat Sheet RSS feed to stay up-t0-date on the latest trends in the NASDAQ and technology.  Go on over and check it out!

End the Cynicism.

So with all the bad news flow lately, I have noticed a theme on this blog…while I am predominantly an optimist, I could not help but feel incredibly frustrated with the quantity and variety of man-made headline risks.  In the same week that the BP spill became a catastrophic environmental disaster, we saw a luckily failed bombing attempt in Manhattan and the passage of a blatantly racist and downright disgusting Arizona immigration law, not to mention the fact that I left behind the mid-20 age group for the late 20s.  I will talk about the immigration law in the near future, as it is something that strikes a nerve with me.  I am the son of a first generation American from Eastern Europe.  I am no different than a Jose or Juan, other than in my skin color, yet someone from a different skin color would be treated less favorably than I in Arizona.  What is happening in Arizona is EXACTLY the type of persecution that my mother sought to escape from when she left Poland as a political refugee four decades ago.  I promise a more thorough discussion of the issues, but in the meantime, I will leave you all with this link of companies to boycott who call Arizona their home.  Please join me in using democracy and capitalism to take a stand against this hate!

Initially, the headline news leaves nothing to get excited about and much to fear.  It just so happens that beneath the surface something incredibly good is happening.  Just last week marked what I believe to be the most significant biotechnological advance in my lifetime.  Dendreon (DNDN, disclosure: I am long DNDN) received FDA approval to market Provenge, a groundbreaking immunotherapy to treat prostate cancer.  The science works using dendritic cells, first discovered by Dr. Ralph Steinman at Rockefeller University, in order to manipulate the body’s immune system to attack the cancerous tumor itself.  While the application itself is very much in the early stages, the potential is enormous for treating some of our most threatening diseases and ailments including various kinds of cancers, HIV, lupus, etc.

This is an amazing breakthrough for science and something which should bring a good deal of renown to Dr. Steinman and investment in the future of this technology.  With this initial approval, Dendreon will now have much better access to capital–both human and monetary–to develop further applications for Provenge and to continue to tinker with and expand the existing use of immunotherapy in fighting prostate cancer.  I look forward to the growth and development of this technology and fully believe in its potential to change the way that humans and science fight some of our most dangerous ailments.  All of my readers unfamiliar with this technology should take a moment, click on some of these links (here’s another one) and learn about it.  Furthermore, try to find stories that are not from “business” sites, as this story is far larger than a stock-specific one–it is a monumental achievement for humanity.

Disclosure: I am long shares of DNDN.

The Food of NOLA

This special report is written with Emily

Day 1: Best. Meal. Ever.

Upon landing in New Orleans we immediately headed to Bourbon Street for an icy hurricane and a journey through the heart of the French Quarter.  We meandered through the streets and circled Jackson Square while consuming our frosty beverages.  It certainly is a strange feeling walking in a city street with an alcoholic beverage in hand.  After our brief foray into the heart of NOLA, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up for a dinner at Restaurant August, Chef John Besh’s flagship restaurant.  The restaurant came highly recommended from several reliable sources.  We entered with high expectations and left as devout John Besh enthusiasts.  This was to be Elliot’s birthday dinner and so we arrived early to enjoy a pre-dinner cocktail.  As luck would have it, the first table available for our seating happened to be the BEST table in the house–a comfortably large for two corner table with the seats wide open to the interior of the elegant, mahogany-walled dining room.

Our waiter was particularly informative and the restaurant was uniquely flexible in allowing patrons to “design” their own meal.  Each item listed on any of the day’s menus (a la carte and two tasting menus) could be ordered in any way we desired.  The amuse-bouche tipped our hand to the fact that this dining experience would be phenomenal.  A tasty concoction served in a quail egg shell topped with some fine caviar paved the way for our first course: an heirloom beet salad complemented with smoked bacon, jumbo lump crab and a blend of mustards served on top of a blend of lettuces.  Next we each ordered an appetizer.  Emily enjoyed a delectable gnocchi served with crab meat and topped with an amazing truffle oil sauce.  Elliot ordered the oysters three ways: sauteed with pepper, baked with a delicious horseradish sauce, and deep fried southern style in a tangy batter.  What a start!

For the entrees, Emily ordered the filet mignon while Elliot ordered the day’s special veal served over a creamy spinach.  Through and through this was an exceptional culinary experience.  From the atmosphere to the service to the food itself, everything was simply stellar.  We left the meal determined to sample several of John Besh’s other well-regarded New Orleans restaurants.

Day 2: Brunch at Brennan’s and More Besh

We woke up still slightly full from dinner the night before, but ready for our breakfast (more like brunch, but in NOLA no one’s counting) at Brennan’s.  The baked apple appetizer and the french onion soup each delighted and were unique takes on traditional favorites.  Elliot enjoyed his jumbo lump crab omelet (yep a lot of jumbo lump crab down in NOLA) and Emily devoured her egg’s Portuguese–a NOLA twist on Egg’s Benedict.  Most importantly, the banana’s foster dessert wowed with its fire-y production and candied and sugary blend of flavors.

For dinner we visited our second of three John Besh restaurants–Luke.  This is a more casual, although no less tasty experience than Restaurant August.  We both ordered the day’s special slow-cooked brisket in a horseradish ravigote sauce and bouillon potatoes.  This was yet another satiating and delicious meal that induces hunger just thinking about it.

Days 3-5: The Jazz Fest Days

We started the first two Jazz Fest days with pre-festival trips to Mother’s for some amazing po’ boys.  Between the two of us, we conquered the Ferdi, the turkey ferdi, the fried shrimp and the John G, all the while drinking some of the tastiest Bloody Mary’s.  I will let the fact that we dined at Mother’s two days in a row speak for itself.

The food at the festival itself was outstanding.  We sampled the crab meat po’ boy, the craw fish po’ boy, the fried chicken, crawfish monica, fried plantains, jerk chicken and jambalaya.  It is truly incredible that even in the midst of torrential downpour the vendors pulled together such flavorful and delightful meals.  Each day many Jazz Fest attendees left the music festival talking about the food.  Not to sell the music short or anything (because it was incredible and that review will come next), but the food really captured the attention of us festival goers.

At night we enjoyed Bourbon House and Tony Moran’s on Bourbon Street, as well as Emiril’s NOLA and Besh Steak (our third Besh experience).  After the long, food-filled days of Jazz Fest, we weren’t quite as hungry as our earlier meals in the city; however, each restaurant had unique highlights: the bbq shrimp at Bourbon House, the chicken parm at Tony Moran’s, the short rib and friend chicken at Emiril’s, and again a Besh filet at Besh Steak.  I can comfortably say that at no moment in Jazz Fest did i feel “hungry.”  Eating in the city was an activity unto itself.

Out and About at Pat O’s: Our brush with fame

During one night out at Pat O’s on Bourbon Street, we were sipping one of their famous hurricanes when a group of guys and a bachelorette party both started shrieking as if they were seeing the Beatles step onto the stage at Shea Stadium for the first time.  We are talking high-pitched, loud and uncontrollable shrieks.  They run up to some guy who Elliot at first guessed was Seth Rogen.  He was close.  It was Rogen cohort, Jason Segel.  Segel was out on Bourbon Street with his hot non-actress/model girlfriend made even hotter by her non-actress/model status.  We both agreed that her “normalcy” made her even hotter.  While the screaming boys and girls clamored for pictures with Segel, his girlfriend was brushed aside and landed right next to our table.  Elliot quickly struck up a conversation and gathered all the important information: Segel is in town filming a new movie with Ed Helms (of the Daily Show and the Office fame) entitled Jeff Who Lives at Home.  She was friendly and talkative and handled well the chaos surrounding her famous beau.

With all that being said, we both now must satiate our hunger with some delicious New York bagels.  Look for the music review in the next couple of days.

A Failed Bomb is Not a Failed Attack

Unfortunately that is the reality that us New Yorkers and Americans face in the wake of the failed car-bombing in Manhattan. Irregardless of the failure of this attack, us New Yorkers must face a new reality.  Since 9/11 there have been several scares, one of which resulted in the imprisonment of several Al-Qaeda members after a failed attempt to bring bombs into the New York City Subway system.  Despite all these past events, something is different now.  All of the other problems were either false alarms or still very much in the planning phase and far from execution.  Today we now know that there was in fact a bomb in Times Square and had it not been for the shoddy construct of the bomb itself, we very much could have woken up to the news that something ugly and catastrophic happened in New York.  This is a scary reality.

With this failed bombing, we learned that the “show of force” does little to actually curtail a determined actor.  Times Square is the part of the city most abundant with police officers and an area in which we see the city’s show of force on a regular basis.  The premise behind this tactic is that in “showing force” the city can deter potential violent actors.  I always questioned the logic behind these tactics and believed it to be part of a broader governmental initiative during the Bush Administration to instill a sense of fear in Americans in order to pursue a political agenda.  After the Moscow attacks I laughed about the reactionary “show of force” in New York.  Did an incident in Moscow really shift the odds of an attack on New York in that given day?  Would hordes of soldiers carrying M-16s while wearing bulletproof vests really do anything to stop a determined attacker?  These are scary things to think about, but ultimately things we must contemplate.  Especially in the wake of the first real threat post-9/11.

Moreover, my fear is far larger than the “global terror threat.”  We tend to focus on international terrorists; however, as we all should know by now, homegrown terrorists are perhaps even more dangerous.  Just a few weeks ago, an American flew a plane into a Texas IRS building.  With the rhetoric from the Teabaggers, it’s frighteningly hard to know where the line will ultimately be drawn on which tactics are OK and which are not.  Some of the undertones of the Teabagger movement are eerily similar to Timothy McVeigh’s ideological underpinnings and the new Arizona immigration law highlights some alarming undercurrents of growing intolerance, anger and frustration with the American Dream today. The entire politics behind pitching a “Real America” against some imminent and lurking threat freaks me out for its potential to become a much larger hate-based ideology in which both the protagonists and antagonists are further radicalized (Sarah Palin=a ticking time bomb).

I live just one avenue and fifteen blocks and Emily works a mere two blocks from the failed bomb.  For the past few months I have been thinking about living outside the confines of NYC (primarily in terms of the economic and quality of life factors) and now I have yet another reason to do so.  Although I know that there were no injuries in this failed attack, it awakens the reality as to just how easy a target my city and its abundance of people and places are for both international and domestic terrorists.  Terrorism is defined as “violent acts which are intended to create fear (terror), are perpetrated for an ideological goal (as opposed to a lone attack), and deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants (civilians).”  This attack fits the bill on all accounts and success with regard to something like this is not measured by the function of the bomb itself, but rather by the impact and aftermath.

Unfortunately, I as a New Yorker feel less safe today than I did yesterday and seeing the SWAT team on the subway everyday will do nothing to change that feeling.  Lucky for BP, this close-to-home scare has pushed my angry rant off for another day and even luckier, it has pushed the oil spill headlines to Page 2 of our nation’s papers.  The spill is equally as scary in its own right for the downright disregard for safety and the environment exhibited by some of the companies involved.

Who Dat!

Yep that’s right, it’s me and I’m back from New Orleans.  What a great time it was.  Every detail on this trip, both large and small, played out to perfection–the music was stellar, the food outstanding, and the city was vibrant.  Thanks to my beautiful fiance Emily for orchestrating such a phenomenal vacation!  Since each aspect of the trip had distinct features to it, I figured it would be best to review everything in two parts: first, I will run through my New Orleans post-Katrina observations, and next I will delve into the music and culinary review (when I get to it, you’ll see why I linked the tunes and the eats).  My first trip to NOLA came as a young and naive college freshman in search of the Mardi Gras experience (and what an experience it was) during which time  I quickly fell in love with the city’s food, music, and architecture.  There is truly a unique and American feel to this city that boasts an amazing blend of cultures.  These cultures gels into their own personality at the mouth of the river that so personifies American Grandeur and the pioneer spirit of the New World.

Because of my fascination with the city, I tracked Katrina with great concern  and mourned the losses suffered–human, spiritual and physical–in the storm’s wake.  I really had no clue what to expect on my first visit since that disastrous time.  Sure enough, I was thoroughly impressed.  Before I delve farther into the specifics, I need to make clear one caveat: I did not actively seek out touring through the particularly hard hit areas, but I did pursue conversations with a diverse array of locals. I am not naive, but I went to New Orleans in search of highlights and signs of strength with an open mind and an awareness to some of the complexities and inequities in the rebuilding effort.

A prominent theme throughout the city was a common purpose amongst the locals.  It was amazing to experience the New Orleanean’s sincere love of their home and hunger to rebound, rebuild and thrive together.   I got this sense that New Orleans was like a New York City at the turn of the 20th century or Chicago following the Great Fire, or the spirit of the “Greatest Generation” following World War II.   Everyone in the city openly appeared determined to chip in and play their part in not only rebuilding the city, but developing and spreading its cultural influence.  In some respects, I think that Katrina and the post-Katrina diaspora of New Orleaneans stranded throughout the country helped build up a buzz about the city’s unique and personal strengths.  Many tourists were making first-time visits and the city center was full of an abundance of travelers from from Europe and throughout the U.S.A, and as far away as Australia and while the city always attracted tourists, it was even more prominent than expected.

(A brief digression: this sense of oneness, hometown pride and unity in purpose is something missing from the big picture United States today.  While there are fragmented ideas and  people from divergent backgrounds, everyone understands that there is a common goal to unite behind in New Orleans.  Nationally, on the other hand, there is a huge void in the political and economic culture of the U.S.  What does our country value?  What is our economic competitive advantage?  How do we, as Americans want others to see us?  Historically, this country was amazing at bringing together a diverse array of cultures all with the goal of living the American Dream.  New Orleans seemingly does this well right now, America does not.  These are some philosophical ideas that I would like to explore at more length moving forward.)

This is the real world, and as such, not everything is perfect.  I did observe some cynicism from the people I encountered.  One common theme, sometimes subtle and several times overt during my trip, was that the city and its people recognized the need for tourism in the effort to rebuild.  On our cab ride from the airport to our hotel, our taxi driver urged us to “spend as much money as we can in New Orleans, because the city really needs it.”  The uptown area was beyond the early recovery stages and seemed to be thriving, while the lower, poorer parts of the city looked the part.  A sense of injustice continues to pervade the handling of issues leading up to and following the Katrina disaster and the tagline “heck of a job Brownie” lives on in the music and vernacular of the city.

I get the sense that New Orleans has to a large extent completed the initial bounce-back from the storm and is now in the process of building upward.  The city’s football team, the Saints, perfectly embody this trend.  Once known as the Aints, they are now the  joy of this incredibly prideful city.  Americans all over now sport the black and gold of what has now become America’s team (I held off on mentioning the Saints because I think they are an effect rather than a cause in the city’s rejuvenation and I don’t want the two to be confused).  The city understands that its culture is a main attraction–both spiritually and economically–and it is rallying around that fact in redesigning itself to maximize the benefits from that identity on a national level.  This upward growth will go a long way towards creating a sustainable and safe future for this wonder of a city.  Check back later today or tomorrow for the music and culinary review of Jazz Fest 2010 as well as some NOLA pictures.

Down South in New Orleans

Tomorrow morning, Emily and I fly down to New Orleans for this year’s Jazz Fest.  This is an event that I have been itching to attend for years now.  As a college student in Atlanta, I spent several weekends and breaks over in the city and it quickly became one of my favorite places to visit in the country; however, Jazz Fest always coincided with the end of the semester and finals.  Despite the festival always falling on my birthday, finals were the one time I could not manage to sneak away from school for a weekend of fun.  This is my first time returning post-Katrina and I anticipate some disappointing changes; however, I still expect to experience a vibrant and rejuvenated French Quarter still glowing in the aftermath of the hometown Saints’ Super Bowl triumph.  New Orleans is a truly American city with its blend of French, Spanish, English, African, Cajun and Creole cultures.  This cultural “melting pot” resulted in one of the finest and most uniquely American cuisines, as well as the invention of the inspiration for this particular festival–jazz. I look forward to thoroughly enjoying both.

As this is Jazz Fest, I am most excited for the music.   This weekend I will surely enjoy Levon Helm’s return to singing, My Morning Jacket, the Allman Brothers, Simon and Garfunkel and of course, a whole slew of New Orleans favorites including the Funky Meters and Galactic.  Unfortunately the schedule gods refused to cooperate with my intentions in putting My Morning Jacket’s slot opposite Simon and Garfunkel’s as the Saturday evening headliners demanding that I either split myself in two or allocate some sort of division of time between their respective stages.  We shall see how that plays out in real time.  Although I am most excited for the jazz, I also cannot wait for the food.  We already carved out an extensive culinary tour of the city taking us from some local funky favorites like Camellia Grill and Mothers’, to some  fine dining like Restaurant August (it’s my birthday so I do have to indulge!).

While on vacation posting will be sparse and I will definitely fall behind on the news-flow, but I will try my best to give some quick reviews of favorite places, people, food and music experienced throughout the week.  Following my return, come back over to check out my observations and feelings with regard to the city’s post-Katrina resurgence (and/or continued difficulties), as well as my reviews of the music, food and good times.

See you on Bourbon Street!

Welcome to My World…

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I am a late-twenties, soon to be bar admitted attorney in New York, but yet to work in a law-related job, daytrader and blogger.  Last November, I started writing for my firm’s blog about trading, finance and economics.  With this domain, I am looking to create a collection of my more thought out writings from my work-related blog (some are merely random observations about a given equity or market at one particular instance in time and are not meant to last much beyond that moment), as well as to express my thoughts about a wider range of topics.  This will be an outlet for me to further explore, develop and define my thoughts and philosophies and a forum for me to connect with like-minded thinkers (and debate those who disagree).  I am an avid sports fan, a passionate reader and a music enthusiast.  My favorite teams are the Islanders, Jets and Mets; novels are Infinite Jest, Siddhartha and The Sun Also Rises; economists: Hyman Mynsky and Joseph Stiglitz; and bands are The Beatles, Phish, Grateful Dead and Radiohead.

When I finally decided to branch out and write my own blog, I quickly started thinking about titles.  For the longest time, nothing really hit me as interesting and since I anticipate talking about a scatterbrained variety of topics, no relevant subject-specific title seemed right. I wanted something that reflected me personally and that this would be my world.  I was born in 1982, the year that a movie about an alien who befriends a young earthling took America by storm.  My parents insist it is merely coincidental, but I can never be sure.  It  just so happens that I share the name Elliot (please don’t spell it with 2 T’s…pet peeve) with that little boy and, even worse, the initials and title of the movie with that funny looking alien: E.T. Every step of the way, these initials have followed.  It seemed only natural to name my corner of the blogosphere after E.T’s home planet.

It turns out that there were several names in the book E.T.: The Book of the Green Plant (I had no clue there was a book!)  that preceded the movie, Brodi Asogi being the most prominent, all of which mean green planet in one language or another.  The idea behind the name became instantly more appealing on learning the green planet connection.  I fully believe in the green movement and like the idea of living in a green planet–better air and water improves quality of life in a variety of ways.  Over time I will definitely share my views about the green movement, but despite the implications of the title, it will more likely be a theme.  Out of the several names, Alata Zerka had the most appeal.  While Brodi Asogi is more prominently known in connection with Star Wars (I neither love nor hate Star Wars and am not all that into sci-fi), Alata Zerka is uniquely connected to E.T.

In this “planet” of mine I look to explore and map my personal philosophies in politics, economics and investments as well as to rant and rave about all of the above plus sports, books, movies and all the fun things in life.  This year, 2010 is a big one for me and I look forward to chronicling its happenings right here.  In seven months from now I will be marrying the girl of my dreams–Emily.  Little did she know that just four years after snagging my Mets hat from my head, she too would be an E.T. Welcome to Alata Zerka, I look forward to your visit and don’t hesitate to leave a comment or two