A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Additional Pictures

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The Oakland Athletics are my favorite sports team of all time. They have been since they moved here, but between you and me, they have been since the Kansas City A's attracted my attention at an early age. Personally, they were my favorite American League Team growing up in the 60's for two reasons. First I was enamored with Campy Campaneris - the last player to play all nine positions in one game in 1967. The A's also has the same card 'style" as the Oakland Raiders during that time and the "Lamonica to Wells" combo that made them winners will always stand out in my mind.

Here I am waving my Patriotic Banner. As a professional Lobbyist, it's important to remember that this country has a lot of faults, but the thing that sets us apart from the others is that its not illegal to talk about those problems in an effort to correct them. That makes me a very, very, very strong supporter of the First Amendment. Personally, I am against all attempts to "change, modify or restrict" any of inherent rights. This thought makes me a strong support of political philosophers like John Locke and Thomas Jefferson.

"Now Is The Time"- Law School Graduation was quite a day - as I am sure you can imagine! I didn't sleep the night before - I was too worried something bad would happen. What you ask? Well, how about walking on the stage and tripping on the long robe? Pictured with me here is my father and friend Tom Mitchell and his son Casey.

Its often been said that I march to the beat of a different drummer - maybe its because I pride myself on being an out of the box thinker - or I just like challenging people. Maybe that is why I went to law school - to face more challenges in my life. In this picture the "graduation from law school show" is starting.

My public life has stretched 30 years. During that time I have been involved in over 2000 media events, as well as spoken before the legislature an innumerable amount of times. Combined it shows that I am both able to speak in public and am able to speak about things of importance to both voters and legislative officials. In this picture I am getting ready to exercise my vocal cords - again!

As a long time photographer, you often beauty in the strangest of places. This picture was taken December 2005 when I took my parents on a 10 day cruise for their 50th anniversary. I travel a lot, and have done so with my parents many times. In this pic, this beautiful plant was growing in an old lava field.

Here is another flower that struck my eye. As you may or may not know, the state flower for Hawaii is the Hybiscus - and they grow 90% of all of these flowers sold in the world (as per our guide). This one was found in a store - actually in a Hybiscus growing facility. Isn't it beautiful?

One place I have visited a few times is the Grand Canyon. I don't know why I like it - maybe its because it makes you feel so small and insignificant or that the beauty is one of the most romantic places I have seen in the world (I have been to over 25 countries and over 40 American states).

This picture was taken in a plane over the Grand Canyon in 2005. What I like about this picture is two fold. First, I like the concepts that the rocks embody - the concept I feel it screams is "time" and mans role in it. I also like the coloring, as well as symmetrical leanings of the towers. Combined they show the awsome poer of Mother Nature!

Sedonia is a little artist community found in Arizona. It is in between the Grand Canyon and Phoenix. Sedonia is comfortably nestled in a canyon with lots of red rock spires all around. The view of the spires and desert from our motel room was georgious. What made this trip ironically funny is that our hotel was down the street (one block) from the community Synagogue and Jewish Community Center (JCC). As a California Jew, I find it interesting that a small community like Sedonia had a JCC, but Sacramento doesn't!

In Hawaii, one of our stops was the South Pacific/Hawaiian Cultural Center. In this pic, I am with one of the natives, eating a raw coconut. What's interesting about this is that I had to "de husk" the coconut and then start a fire with the fibers!

Friendship comes in all shapes, definitions and sizes. Here I am with my oldest Sacramento friends, Andy and Ken at Ken's 50th birthday party. I am on the left, Andy is next to me and Ken is in the middle in the yellow shirt. I have known both of them for almost 30 years. Next pictured is Big Bob Skrak (background) and Clinton "Little Drop" DuPree. I have known both of them for over 15 years - probably closer to 20.

I am sure that this arch looks familiar but you probably can't place it... well, to make it easy for you - this is "Lands End" in Cabo San Lucas. This is where the Sierra Madres break down and actually end up in the Ocean. It is also known for "Cabo Wabo", Sammy Hagar's Club and Tequila.

I know that he is not a popular man, but one of the people I have known for almost 20 years now is OJ Simpson. I met him one night with - are you ready for this - Liza and Joe Namath. I was at the Beverly Hills Hilton and they were sitting in the bar discussing/planning Liza's AIDS benefit that was going to be held in the hotel later that week. They were in the hotel bar late at night - I believe it was around 1, and when I walked in, they were talking. Needless to say, out came the credit card and I wound up purchasing them all drinks. Funny how things work out. This picture was taken in 2003 when I ran into OJ in a Florida Airport. He was putting his son on a plane. The son and I sat together on the way back to California.

Throughout my life, I have been blessed with the love of three very good cats. The first was Stormy - a great cat with blue eyes and a voice that would wake up Moses from a deep sleep. The second cat was Groucho - a fiesty cat that would just as soon scratch and bite you as love you. In fact, its funny, she would not go near my ex-wife or come into our home. I could never figure out why. Once I moved to my condo, bingo, she turned lovable and became an inside cat. Go figure. Here is a picture of Kozmo.... my special kitty. She was given to me by my next door neighbor about 3 weeks after Groucho died. At first I didn't want her, but now I love her. When I first got her, she was a big ball of fluff... in fact, she was an orange ball of fluff, and I called her "orangy"... as in Orangatang. Soon her name developed and its... Skydmoure Kozmo Ross.... or as she is affectionally called now - Skidivious!