or
“What I Was TRYING to Say to Al Gore When I Bumped Into Him…”

[Ed. Note. Hey folks - sorry my blog hasn’t been updated in a long time - it has been a CRAZY couple of months & my plate has been full. I’ll do better I swear!]

So I ran into Al Gore last week.

I was at work.

He is on our Board of Directors at Apple.

He was serenely strolling out of an elevator by himself.

I was headed to the next elevator.

I passed and then scurried back and told him he was my hero.

Then I realized how lame that must have sounded (for reasons I’ll describe below) so I tried to explain how it wasn’t lame. And then I added something to show my commitment to the environment. And I tried to say something that demonstrated my intelligence. And…

Well, you get the picture. Needless to say I’m sure neither of us was impressed.¹

Luckily, I know Al Gore reads my blog² so I figured I’d just explain to him what I was trying to say here in an attempt to save my respect for my own intellect. So Al - this is for you….
Click HERE for more…

[Update 11/13/07: this blog http://zunasurf.wordpress.com/ has more updates and info on cleanup efforts than the one I linked]

Lest you think that my life is all Disco Balls, FlashDances, local politics, and working at Apple, you miss the MOST fun thing I do. Clean up Oil Spills! Fun Fun!

[Ed Note: As amusing as this take on things is to me, decency demands I interrupt myself - I did 1.5 hours of volunteering today. That’s it. I’ve never cleaned an oil spill before - so to insinuate I do it frequently is lame. To insinuate that I did a lot today is even lamer. MANY MANY people have spent many hours this week volunteering for clean up. I showed up today on a whim & helped out a tiny amount. So anything I say I did is overstating my value to the project about 10000 fold.]

So… after I single handedly saved a few hundred sea birds, a dozen sea lions, and a grey whale….

(OK - Seriously - read on for details on the clean up & my TINY TINY contribution)

Click HERE for more…

[Ed Note: This post is about Halloween in the Castro, what went wrong, & how to fix it. If you are more interested in my Halloween pictures, or my costume or how I made it, scroll or click to the previous post. Also, if you are interested in the future of the event send email to info AT halloweeninthecastro DOT com & ask to get on the list.]

Halloween is my favorite holiday. This year was no exception. It was getting stale doing the big costume thing and the mega-fun thing. So this year San Francisco decided that Martial Law was the new way to party!

The massive police presence in the Castro on Halloween night was like a snuggly jackbooted baton-wielding blanket on a hot summer night. The biggest highlight? Maybe the formation of cops in full riot gear aggressively marching past me at Café Du Nord. Or maybe it was the cop who screamed at me to not step off the curb, or the cops who screamed at me turn down my small Disco Ball speakers. It’s a toss up really. Hmmmm actually more choices come to mind: Maybe it was when city officials bullied various merchants into joining other merchants who decided to close, or forced BART to shut down - bypassing the wishes of BART’s democratically elected leadership…. such a hard call….

Ugh. It sucked.

I’m left angry at the City, disappointed the idea that “nothing else could be done”, and hoping that everyone helps turn this thing around next year…

(Read on for my thoughts on what went wrong & how to fix it)

Click HERE for more…

[Ed. Note: what follows is me geeking out on making a Halloween costume if that is boring, just check out the pics or read the post about how Halloween went down in the Castro)]

Click here to jump straight to my Halloween 2007 PICTURES
or
Click here to jump straight to my “Making of Disco ball 4.0″ PICTURES

So earlier this year, I decided to pop on my Disco Ball 3.0 costume and roam the streets for a friend’s Birthday bash - very quickly I learned two things:

• Just popping on Disco Ball 3.0 and randomly roaming the street playing music is a BLAST!!! (here is a movie of 3.0 in action so you get the idea - sorry no movie of 4.0 :-()
• Disco Ball 3.0 was a bit of a pain to deal with!

Clearly, at some point I needed to revisit the costume & do it better! Basically, the problems were that it needed to be more durable (it got scuffed up easily), it could look better, & it was hard to get into and out of. There had to be a better way I thought & it was too much fun to leave behind.

Click HERE for more…

This is a placeholder post - more on all this coming soon I promise.

So I was just thinking: in the past few weeks I have:

• Looked up info on “The Shining” after we watched it.
• Looked up the history of the term “salad days“
• Looked up the history of the term “red tape” because it came up
• Looked up “Neil LaBute” because Jon Stewart mentioned him - referring to other candidates ganging up on Hilary at a debate
• Looked up the song “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” because Celeste was singing it
• Looked up “Pyrolysis” because PG&E was talking about converting cow manure into bio-fuel
• Was wondering who came up withe the original Apple logo & thus learned about Rob Janoff
• Was curious about the old BeOS
• Read about Jeff Lynne because I was in a major Electric Light Orchestra mood.
• Was curious about when “aesthete” came to mean “gay” - or was that just in my head since a Tom Stoppard play I saw a few years back (”The Invention of Love“) - turns out it may have just been in my head (& in that play)
• Heard somebody say that Phil Donahue was taken off the air for being critical of the government, so I checked it out
• Read about the assasination of Ngo Dinh Diem because I was bored & saw it on the front page of Wikipedia
• Looked up “Dirty Sanchez” because Jon Stewart mentioned it
• Wondered about Michael Jackson’s upcoming album & general info about the Jackson 5
• Fed my appetite for “Harry Potter” “writing of” info
• Looked up “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life” because I was wondering who sang it

Look through your browser history. Maybe you’ll find something similar…. So the Wikipedia folks are having a fundraiser right now. Seems like a good thing to donate to.

[Note: What follows is a long ramble about my 8th and 9th flash mob dance parties, FlashDances 8 & 9 & what worked and didn’t. If you want to cut straight to the PIX click here, or the MOVIE or the PLAYLIST ]

Woooooooo! So Saturday night was my 9th FlashDance & if you didn’t come, ummm… well it was ok and kinda fun. If you did come or didn’t but CAN handle the truth: WOW - that was the best one yet! Am I the only one who thinks FD9 was the best? (Who else has been to all 9?)

Click above for the movie

CLICK HERE for the PIX

FlashDance 8, a month ago (July 28th), was technically the most difficult & the smallest attended ever, but still managed to be a hell of a lot of fun. The big thing I learned at FD8 (besides that people don’t like going to the Marina) is that the crowd is everything and as long as there is music, everything else is details. In addition to being the smallest attended, FD8 had the worst weather, the most location problems*, the most significant technical difficulties, and I was super-late. Ugh. But even after all that - we had big fun! Why? because people were IN to it. For example, when the audio cut out - people just sang :-)… all in all I biked home with a big smile on my face after FD8….

That all being said, all the problems stressed me out & disappointed me. If everyone who was there wasn’t so much fun and so forgiving, I would have been seriously bummed about the night. So I really wanted to FlashDance 9 to be more like FD7 - BIG SIMPLE FUN EASY.

We nailed it! You guys are awesome. That was SO what I wanted. Here’s the scoop: Click HERE for more…

 

 

Those of you who know me well, know that I am I’m never one for hyperbole or rampant enthusiasm. In fact, if there is anything wrong with my life, it is that I get excited about too little. Amen.

 

Thus when I tell you I have had the best pastry ever, know that such a statement, like all such pronouncements from me, can be taken for what they are worth: Gospel.

 

Thus I shall speak unto you: 

1. Go to Garden Bakery in Chinatown, on Jackson St. (just downhill from Stockton St.)
2. Walk in.
3. Order a “Lai Wan Bao” (my apologies to the Chinese.) (Ok Adrian, hit us with the translation)
4. Praise the Lord.

 

It looks like a large bun made of something like “Dutch crunch” bread but more yellow. The two I had (Well… I had to make sure the first wasn’t a fluke! I SUFFER for you guys) were both warm and just slightly crunchy from being in the heater. The first bite is yummy, soft, slightly sweet bread, with a lightly crunchy crust - yum! But soon thereafter you hit the custard bomb payload at the center and then… then the angels start singing….

 

Get Thee To Garden Bakery (Jackson & Stockton.)

 

 

Hallelujah 

‘deep

 

.ps

Ok, fine.  I didn’t discover this on my own, there was a Moses involved:  Brian Kusler.  Brian & Kelly were introduced to this by their friend Adrian, who’s family owns a shop nearby.  Brian then introduced this to me. Thanks Brian - though don’t think I don’t realize your nefarious homosexual chubification agenda! 

 

.pps

I can already hear Peat complaining ” but Tartine Tartine” - get over it.  I nubs me some Tartine too, but this is the deal.  In fact, if anyone else has a different great pastry, leave it in the comments.  If enough do, then there shall be a Pastry Off!

Well folks, I’ve owned the Precious, my iPhone for a week now & given how much I’ve been obsessing about it (since before it came out) & how many people have been asking me about it, I thought I’d write down my ramblings (that’s why I have a blog isn’t it)… so if you’re not sick of all things iPhone read on…. and even if you are - you should at least watch Pogue’s musical….

Before I get into my thoughts though here are some video links that are MUST see for those iPhonically inclined:

• NY Times tech columnist David Pogue, lays it all out hysterically via the iPhone Musical. This link has better quality, but if you’re not a registered NYTimes user, go to YouTube below:
• PCWorld drop tests the iPhone - WOW & EEEK - it takes a licking…
• Apple’s video tips about Using the Keyboard on the iPhone

Also, before I go further there are a few important caveats to know. As an Apple employee, writing a blog entry about Apple products is a dicey proposition & one that I won’t do often - but I’ve been so obsessed about the iPhone that this will be a rare exception. So to that end - if you are reading this, keep in mind the following:

• all opinions here are MINE MINE MINE and have NO RELATION TO APPLE’s POLICIES OR PLANS
• There is NOTHING in this post that is not already public knowledge. It is not like I have many iPhone secrets to spill anyway - I’m just a happy little cog in the Apple machine & in very little position to know anything major about the iPhone. And if I did, I wouldn’t be talking anyway.
• Unlike most posts of mine, I’m not going to be completely transparent with my criticisms: sure there are things about the iPhone I wish were different, but as an employee, this is not the forum for them.

So on with the ramblings:

Short Answers:

• Yes, I nub nub nub it.
• Yes, it has flaws, but they are overwhelmed by its upsides.
• Yes, it is as cool as all that.
• No, the AT&T network won’t give you rabies. (a.k.a. It’s not that bad)

Long Answers

• How Do I Like It?
• More Does NOT Equal Better
• A Golden Apple

Click HERE for more…

Pronounced Eye-Pee-hOn
So I’ve been wanting to talk about the iPhone for weeks - both its ups and downs & why I’ll be getting one ASAP!! and what tradeoffs I’m willing to live with. But I can’t because, as an Apple employee, I can only talk about stuff that has been made public. Luckily the reviews are starting to roll in & here are the tech industries biggest two columnists weighing in on the iPhone & they do a good job ’splaining it all……

Walt Mossberg from the Wall Street Journal
David Pogue from the NY Times

‘deep

.ps
Does anyone use AT&T in SF? I’d love to know how you feel about coverage since I’m switching from Verizon (Verizon - how I loathe thee for crippling my phones - though I’m a slave to your coverage area!)

.pps
Ok - here is one more - Steven Levy from Newsweek - he captures the feel of it (& it is funnier!)