The Bourbon Blog !

I have been traveling and working very hard the past 4 weeks to get in an effort to keep everything in my world moving forward at the right time and in the right place. 

A lot of really positive things are starting to fall into place.

So, without trying too hard tonight I am just going to do a quick mind dump mainly so I can actually list for myself the number of really positive things that are happening right now. 

On the work front we awarded the dirt and earth moving contract last week and the excavation company is starting mobilization this week. In about 60 days the site at Copano Bay will be transformed. It was a 2.3 million USD contract but when completed the entire first phase of our production expansion will be finished and the first set of ponds and piping will be completed. We will post pictures of the progress. 

Very cool. 

We have ordered the first cover and that fabrication has started. We are on track for total installation by mid September and actually putting water in the first full commercial production module right after that.

Had several of our investors in this weekend. Great folks. Nothing in life is really more satisfying than taking on an effort like this and having people around you you actually like.

On of our investors who I had never met suggested I change the name of my blog to "The Bourbon Blog". I am seriously considering it for a multitude of reasons. 

I love meeting smart people. 

You have to read the following. I am just going to reprint the article below as I read it with one comment. Some where between 2014 and 2015 we could become one of the largest chitosan (chitin, which is a shrimp exoskeleton) suppliers in North America and we have not even figured any of that into our financial forecasts. 

Norway

Throw Away Your Tails, But Keep the Shells

A factory in Tromsø, Norway, produces chitosan, a product made from the shells of shrimp and other crustaceans, and sells it for $172 a kilo!

Consequently, scientists at Nofima, the Norwegian Institute of Food, Fishery and Aquaculture, which has around 410 employees and an annual budget of about $85 million, are participating in a major European Union-financed project to find uses for chitosan.  Because chitosan-based fibers are 100% biodegradable, the scientists hope to use them to replace the plastic in food packaging.  In addition, according to Morten Sivertsvik, director of research at Nofima’s Processing Technology Department in Stavanger, Norway, “Chitosan used as an integrated part of the packaging can have an antibacterial effect on the food products.”  Mavi, an Italian skin-care company, coordinates the two-year project that includes four EU companies and Nofima’s contribution of $172 thousand.  Chitopack, the website of the EU project, contains information on the work with chitosan packaging.

Information: MAVI, Research and Development, sud srl V.le dell’industria 1, 04011 Aprilia (LT), Italy (phone 06.9296261, fax 06.9281523, email rs@mavicosmetics.it, webpagehttp://www.mavicosmetics.it/mavi2008_e/active-maviceuticals--solution-.html).

Information: Morten Sivertsvik, Director of Research, Processing Technology, Nofima, Måltidets Hus, Richard Johnsensgate 4, P.O. Box 8034, NO-4068, Stavanger, Norway (phone +47-51-84-46-37, mobile +47-905-97-998, email morten.sivertsvik@nofima.no).

The best and most incredible piece of news from the last two weeks is that Lori underwent three days of stereo tactic (cyber knife) brain surgery to remove several lesions from her brain and she came through with flying colors.

She is in a 28 day purge / cleansing from chemo period and if she shows no progression (please God !!!) she has been accepted into the MUC 1 vaccine trail in Dallas which we feel has real hope for along term possibility of remission. 

This is Lori after two years of fighting metastatic brain cancer. She really is my hero. 

It gets better.

We have been working with a very impressive international business group to put together a deal to bring GBT technology and production operations to several global locations in 2014.

Last week we closed that deal. That is not the exciting part. One of the major players in that deal has a close relationship with a leading international researcher in stem cell research dealing with metastatic brain lesions and tumors. He gave us all the contacts, opened up the doors of communication and made the initial introductions. 

Do not tell me prayer does not work miracles.

Still doubtful? Tonight a dear family friend and brilliant attorney called to let us know that Weill Cornell University in New York City has just discovered a gene mechanism, "NTR 708" that when locked down stops the spread of triple negative breast cancer tumors. 

(Note to HBO: Bill Maher is a very intelligent guy but he is also an idiot).

And on the frivolous side, I have not even found time yet to see "Iron Man 3" which I know will be 120 minutes of pure escapism for me. 

I am really looking forward to seeing that one night this week.