What else can be said? Barry Bonds broke the Babe's home run record today (finally!)! He is now numbah deux on the all time home run list.
Barry Bonds crossing the plate after home run 715
Everyone was just waiting for this one! They had banners drop from the light towers, shiny streamers released into the air
see the streamers in the middle of the pic? There were more but this is the tail end
and this sign on the left field wall.
715, only 40+ to go!
Sometimes when you're walking down the street, you see something absolutely scary.
Grrrr, must eat meeeeet!
Gotta watch out for those there "miatas". Probably didn't get its dose of super unleaded so now it wants the taste of flesh stuffing!
Grrr, didn't you understand me the first time?
Moral of story: Always carry camera with you lah! That's how I missed the furniture tree near my house. No camera! This time, have camera! Muhuhahahahahah!
I've just realized something.
This is the first Memorial Day I've spent in the US in, oh, saaaay, three years! How boring! No wonder I've spent it overseas in the past...
Although Memorial Day is meant to be a holiday of rememberance for those soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who have fallen, Memorial Day has become less and less of that and more the official beginning of the summer season. And a good time to buy a car, apparently.
And since I've been stuck in SFO over this holiday weekend, I've been Mr. Handyman around the house, taking care of all those projects that have piled up.
Fix intercoms: check. And check. Twice because there are two.
Car stereo died on Friday; spent all day Saturday taking my poor car apart to replace it: check.
Caught up on "24": check check check (three episodes).
Finally got interview for Sacto gig; have to dig up writing samples and fill out long application (again!).
Begin stressing? Check.
Was up early this AM helping out some people out at the airport. Was able to take this snap with my SLVR (which is only a VGA camera, explains the blah quality..)
That's a nice looking 757 lah!
This past weekend was the quarterly open house held by Rosenblum Cellars in Alameda.
The building ain't glam, but the wine sure is!
I wound up going despite the flakiness of two ppl I asked along (like they're getting a wine-related invite next time!). Got comped lah! Tasting of 20+ wines, snacky foods and a Riedel wine glass. Whatta bargain!
Besides this healthy spread, there were snausages, satay and white castle type burgers. And Zinfindel ice cream!
Riedel Glasses for tasting!
The tasting was held both inside the winery and outside in the parking lot. Despite an unseasonal rain (which kept a lot of people inside, wimps!), the crowd was managable and an atmosphere of "chill" in addition to a lot of "smug" made the event a good one. There was a lot of wine!
There's a lotta wine in those tanks & barrels...
Naturally, after tasting and eating for three hours, there was another place to visit. Hangar One, a boutique vodka label that makes its wares in a hanger in the old Alameda Naval Air Station (where they keep dee nu-clear wessels). Great vodka, even though it's a bit pricey.
This is what they distill vodka with
And this is how they display it!
I tried some tea infused vodka called Q1. It was like the kind of tea you want at 0200 after you get kicked out of the bars for last call...
Here's a shot of The City from Alameda in the rain. Wah!
No, I 've not gotten one yet. But I have slammed the lid and kicked the tires on one.
First. they come in a shiny white, like the previous iBook and a matte black which looks really cool but shows greasy fingerprints easily.
In "innocent" white...
Yearrgh! It's da dread pirate Roberts! I mean BlackMacBook!
It's noticibly bigger than the 12" PB, as seen here.
That's Bender on top and the thus unnamed MacBook on da bottom. Despite this, my bags can carry up to a 15" laptop so that's all good.
The screen is shiny and bright and very vivid. The keyboard is, erm, different. Instead of a traditional keyboard, it looks like a bunch of chiclets. There's also space between the keys so remembering your touch typing is a must!
I'm leaning toward the white one because as you can see here, the matte coating can wear off, leaving a shiny spot. Click on picture for bigger one.
You can see it from a distance
This could be an issue as time goes by
Will probably be upgrading soon. Bender's 3.5 years old!
No, not getting all "metro", just missing being on the road (and in ryokan, in the airport, on the train, etc.).
So here's one that was written by Yoshii Isamu dedicated to the Gion Quarter in Kyoto.
Kani kaku ni
Gion wa koishi
neru toki mo
makura no shita o
mizu no nagaruru
No matter what they say
I love Gion
Even in my sleep
the sound of water flows
beneath my pillow
Each year, on 8 November, local geiko perform the Tea Ceremony to honor the deceased.
Yes, I need to get out there, and SOON!
I picked up a Lumix DMC-FZ7 to play with last week. Not bad! Besides having a kick-ass Leica lens, it also has shutter and aperture priority, program and manual modes and a big zoom (36-432mm) too. I was raised with SLRs and rangefinders so having a digicam with these kind of controls that dun cost an arm and a leg is exciting! The Ixus is great for carrying around and photowhoring, but sometimes you just want to work on technique and being artsy-fartsy.
Aperture priority basically means that you can focus on an object and it will blur the background for those artsy-fartsy shots that many picture-snappers aim for. See?
Since I live 5 minutes away from an international landmark, I drove 5 minutes and took some pictures last night.
Yup, it's all a "Special Driving Zone" here...
Toll Plaza, where you pay to enter San Francisco. Is it worth it?
And the one sign that should be plastered on all sidewalks...
While mucking about on the internet (and missing my biannual trip to Hong Kong), I found this page that makes me miss it even more.
Apparently, the guy who took the photos was there during Xmas. Twinkley lights!
Oh yah, saw MI:3 tonight. Not bad! Especially her.Wow! She's also based outta Hong Kong...