Select Year: 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002
| :: Cooking Salmon |
Posted 11/14/04 |
 After the Halloween party, Gordon decided it'd be fun to wake me up early in the morning and bring the party to my house. I was grumpy and groggy at first, but then my spirits soared with so many good friends of mine around. We cleaned the kitchen, grabbed the salmon that Gordon caught in the ocean just the other day, and prepared it three different ways. We had some amazing smoothies as well. Afterward, we went to Castle Rock to scramble around for a bit.
Cooking Salmon Photos - Set 1/1 (Digital, Canon PowerShot S230)
Aerial Survey of the Food Preparation (QuickTime Movie, 1.3 MB) |
| :: Halloween! |
Posted 11/14/04 |
 Halloween was really good this year. We went to a party at a house in Boulder Creek, up in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The place was decorated scarier than any commercial haunted house I had ever been to. We walked down a path in the woods and came upon a massive graveyard covered with mist and tombstones. After signing the guest book in blood, we went through a haunted maze, which had strobe lights, scary sounds, bloody corpses, syringes full of blood, body parts, and screaming people scared for their lives! :) The party was great as well. Lots of good friends, lots of beer, and a hookah. Nicole dressed up like a school girl, and I was her corrupt teacher (or preppy fellow student). It was fun :)
Halloween Photos - Set 1/1 (Digital, Canon PowerShot S230)
Running for Our Lives in a Haunted Maze (QuickTime Movie, 804 KB) |
| :: In Vegas for Karen's Wedding |
Posted 11/14/04 |
 Karen, my best friend and fellow deadhead from Pennsylvania, got married in Las Vegas on Saturday 10/23. She eloped, so not many people knew about it. I decided to turn it into a Vegas party weekend, so Gordon came with me and we partied with her and Greg in style. We stayed at the Monte Carlo, won money playing roulette, dined well, saw Blue Man Group, saw Cirque du Soleil Zumanity, partied at an Irish pub in New York New York, visited a wax museum at The Venetian, and had the best of times. It was so good seeing her again, and it was great to meet Greg. They got married in a cute little chapel, and I signed my name as a witness on the wedding certificate. I made a DVD out of the photos and movies that we took, and need to send that out to everyone.
Karen's Wedding Photos - Set 1/1 (Digital, Canon PowerShot S230) |
| :: HFES Conference in New Orleans |
Posted 9/27/04 |
 I spent a week in New Orleans at the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) annual meeting. The conference was very informative, and helped me realize the true breadth of the field. I attended a workshop on situational awareness, and then spent the rest of the week hearing about the latest research in domains such as aviation, aerospace, military, healthcare, meteorology, enterprise software, and commercial web sites. Outside of the conference, I spent time with Tammy and a number of students, alumni and professors in the HF/E program at SJSU. We ate well and had a good deal of fun. These pictures are from Friday night, my last night in town. I had dinner with Tammy at La Crepe Nanou, and then we met Eric, Kalmi, and Joey at a bar where a band was playing. Tammy knew the trumpet player
and singer, Antonio. After that, we hit a number of bars and clubs on Bourbon Street, and went to bed well after sunrise. My plane had to dodge some thunderstorms around Denver, so I got a few shots of some storm cells. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture the lightning streaks.
New Orleans Photos - Set 1/1 (Digital, Canon PowerShot S230) |
| :: Burning Man 2004 |
Posted 9/11/04 |
 Hookahdome was successful beyond our expectations. We had 10-30 people in line and 45 inside, kicking back in a beautiful dome, enjoying belly dancing and other performances, and smoking tasty tobacco. The dome was evaporative cooled during the day and heated at night. It withstood 25-50mph gusting winds and white-out dust storms. We had the best music on the playa. People were talking about us everywhere. As one of my camp mates said on the last day, "I always wanted to run a club." Personally, I had a number of rewarding experiences. Many of them were just hanging out in the dome, interacting with all the wonderful people. I also have great memories of riding the magic carpet at night, dancing at Lush wearing dust masks and goggles, cooking quesadillas, watching
beautiful belly dancing and a black light dance performance Thursday night during our private event (and seeing all the smiling faces of my camp mates), turning around and seeing Nicole in front of me (her visit was a total surprise), walking across the temple, and making many new friends. My only regret is that I hardly took any photos because I was so busy experiencing things. I didn't even get photos of my cool arab clothes, the dome interior, the magic carpet, or my tables! Here's a photo of the Hookah tables in action.
Burning Man 2004 Photos - Set 1/1 (Digital, Canon PowerShot S230)
Gordon Getting His Head Shaved (QuickTime Movie, 1.3 MB)
A View of our Front Yard at Sunset (QuickTime Movie, 480 KB)
Photos of Burning Man 2004 taken by fellow camp mates:
Damon's Photos
Doan's Photos
Gordon's Photos
Jeni & Ryan's Photos
RJ & Kathy's Photos
Tim's Photos |
| :: Yuba City Trip |
Posted 7/19/04 |
 We made great progress on the Hookahdome this weekend. I picked up four 24-foot parachutes, and we scored a 100-foot (300-pound) parachute Saturday morning. Later that day, this was covering the dome in Yuba City. John, Stephen, Jason and Chris aligned the beige carpet and heat-sealed it. Gordon bought a 24-foot ladder, and we tested billowing the chutes from the ceiling. He also got a shop-vac, and we tested cleaning the carpets (and making playa dust storms). We discussed a dozen designs for the Hookah tables, settled on one, and then Ryan and I built it. The table top is hinged with a clasp, and opens to reveal a recessed table. The hookah rests in here, and the table closes around it. It's the perfect height for sitting or reclining, and is strong and stable. After dark, Ryan
tested some lighting setups. We had a beautiful hookah station spot-lit with green and red, and a nice glowing bubble in the field.
Yuba City Trip Photos - Set 1/1 (Digital, Canon PowerShot S230)
Working in the Dome (QuickTime Movie, 1 MB)
Playa Dust Cannon (QuickTime Movie, 644 KB)
New Hookah Table Demo (QuickTime Movie, 1.2 MB) |
| :: Nand & Sarbani's Wedding |
Posted 7/12/04 |
 On Sunday, Nicole and I attended the traditional Indian wedding of Nand and Sarbani. I've known Nand since I came to California and started working at Oblix about eight years ago. It was a beautiful ceremony, rich with symbolism and color. I saw quite a few friends from my days at Oblix. It was like a reunion, and we had a great time catching up over drinks and Indian food. I gave the bride and groom an ornate doumbek drum as a gift. What we thought was silver gift wrap turned out to be cellophane, but Nicole wrapped it up beautifully.
Nand & Sarbani's Wedding Photos - Set 1/1 (Digital, Canon PowerShot S230) |
| :: Climbing by the Falls |
Posted 7/12/04 |
 Since we had Monday off after the 4th of July, Heath and I decided to go climbing at Castle Rock. We hiked out to the waterfall and climbed the cliff up to the lookout point. It was the most intense climb I've done outdoors. I fell three times. There were no holds most of the climb. I had my toes smeared, or my feet were edged on a crack about 1 milimeter wide. At the same time, I had the tip of a finger on my left hand in a small recess, while my right hand finger nails were crimped over another crack about 1 milimeter thick again. I almost passed out when I made it to the top. It was challenging, but fun!
Climbing by the Falls Photos - Set 1/1 (Digital, Canon PowerShot S230) |
| :: July 4th Celebration |
Posted 7/12/04 |
 A bunch of us celebrated July 4th by going to San Francisco this year. We had dinner at Bobo's steakhouse, where we had some tasty cuts of meat. Afterward, we walked down to the pier to see the fireworks. The sky was pretty foggy, and the budget was cut this year (they had one barge instead of three), so the show kind of sucked. The city was chaotic afterward, but we managed to find a taxi and get out alive with only hot sauce stains on a white shirt from some immature punk.
July 4th Celebration Photos - Set 1/1 (Digital, Canon PowerShot S230) |
| :: Field Day 2004 |
Posted 7/12/04 |
 We made another trip to Black Rock Desert for ARRL's Field Day this year. We erected antennas, drove in circles, visited Trego hot springs, did some off-roading, and made about 500 radio contacts all across the country. I made my first QSO (a formal contact with another radio operator) with a guy from Florida. We also visited the site of Hookahdome and cleaned up some small bits of trash that we found (screws, beads, drill bits, plastic, etc.) At night, we BBQ'd sausage and burgers, drank beer, and played with a red-flashing-LED frisbee. It was fun!
Field Day 2004 Photos - Set 1/1 (Digital, Canon PowerShot S230) |
| :: Dome Building |
Posted 6/15/04 |
 A bunch of us had a blast building the new Hookahdome in Yuba City over the weekend. We created a 40-foot geodesic dome, and it came out fabulous! All the parts were created the previous weekend. We cut 1/2-inch conduit, pressed the ends, drilled holes, grinded the rough out, bent the tips at angles, and painted them with the appropriate colors. Then we hauled all of those parts out to Jason's grandmother's place in Yuba City for the build. We hoisted a mast into the air from which we raised the dome, and built it from the top down. At one point a bar at the top broke off and the dome crashed down a foot or two, but we scrambled to raise scaffolding and repair it. The dome came out much bigger than I thought it would be. It's so cool! You can see more photos on John's and Damon's sites, including
ones that we took with Gordon's camera on a tripod. There's a great group photo and a shot of the dome at night, where it's lit up only by the glow of blue rope light.
Dome Building Photos - Set 1/1 (Digital, Canon PowerShot S230)
Mix of Jim & Gordon's Photos - Damon's Site
John's Photos of the Dome Raising - John's Site
Photo's of Parts Fabrication - John's Site
|
| :: BarBot Research |
Posted 5/7/04 |
 We went from bar to bar in San Jose Thursday night doing "research" (and quite a bit of drinking) for our egronomics and design class. We designed a "BarBette" handheld that takes drink orders and sends them wirelessly to a "BarBot" machine at the bar, which is like a robotic bartender. We tested some schematics for the handheld's user interface with five servers at three bars (San Jose Bar & Grill, a Mexican bar next door, and Gordon Biersch). We probably could have tested it more, but we ordered drinks and appetizers and had a blast. Michaux started the evening off with two shots of tequila, and was quite ripped by the end and was having flashbacks to his days in Santa Cruz. Tom was close behind. We all went to Giza to smoke a hookah, and when Lindsey
went home, we went back to Gordon Biersch. For fun, we decided to call Ada, a fellow team member working with campus security that night. She met up with us, and to our surprise brought a guy to unlock the 10th street garage, which let us use the elevator instead of walking up the spiral ramps. My Jeep was the only car on the top floor. All in all, it was a fun night!
BarBot Research Photos - Set 1/1 (Digital, Canon PowerShot S230)
|
| :: Climbing Castle Rock |
Posted 4/12/04 |
 I had a great time climbing Castle Rock with Heath, Meredith, and some new friends yesterday. Frank, Johnson, and Sam were climbing Chockstone when we arrived, but needed webbing, so we decided to team up and share gear. To warm-up, I scrambled up and down a chute on Summit Route. Chockstone was fun, but a little ledge or overhang proved to be a challenge. We then moved the rope so we could climb the slab on the West Face, and I got a chance to rappel for the first time, which was scary at first, but proved to be a blast! At this point, we met Matt, an experienced climber who wanted to team up on A Farewell to Arms. I now know why it's called that! It was a 5.10 crack climb with an overhang,
and I actually managed to get up the first part of it by using a wrist jam (or fist jam) for the first time. I had to put my left wrist in a crack, then put my right wrist in above it, at which point you're basically hanging from your two arms. Then I had to step up, and pivot on my right arm (still jammed in the crack), then reach my left hand out and grab a hold above, while bringing my right foot up to a pocket. I got this far, but then fell. It was a great day, and we're going to try climbing with these guys every Sunday.
Climbing Castle Rock Photos - Set 1/1 (Digital, Canon PowerShot S230)
|
| :: Climbing on Goat Rock |
Posted 4/8/04 |
 Heath and I left work early today and met up at Castle Rock to go climbing on Goat Rock. This was only our second top-rope climb outdoors, and our first climb with just the two of us. There were no experts around, so our lives were dependent on our own knowledge and skill. We setup a good anchor by wrapping webbing around this bomber knob at the top. Heath rapelled down, which was the big test, to see if it would hold, and it went well! We then got about eight climbs in before it got dark. It was easy, about a 5.7, but we made it challenging on ourselves by taking the harder routes up and finding some crazy crack climbs. Unfortunately, there are no photos of us climbing because if one of us
was taking photos, we wouldn't have been doing our job belaying and ready to brake a fall! We had to hike a mile in to the rock, and a mile out through the dark when we were done. It was over steep terrain, so I'm completely beat right now. But I had the most amazing time!
Climbing on Goat Rock Photos - Set 1/1 (Digital, Canon PowerShot S230)
Heath Walking Across a Narrow Peak (QuickTime Movie, 884 KB)
|
| :: Another Trip to Kan Zaman |
Posted 2/8/04 |
 Last night was fun as hell. Gordon, Josh, Jason, Ryan, Jenny, Colleen, and I had dinner at Kan Zaman. We had cucumber salad, humus, pita, tahini dip, grape leaf rolls, falafels, skewered chicken, rice, and lamb pastries. It was all very yummy! We drank beer and spiced wine, watched the belly dancing (we had the best seats, she was bending back right into my face and almost stepping on my feet!), and grooved to the music until it was late enough to bring a hookah to our table. I think we loaded it up three times throughout the night.
Another Trip to Kan Zaman Photos - Set 1/1 (Digital, Canon PowerShot S230) |
| :: Remembering Grandpa in Florida |
Posted 2/2/04 |
 My trip to Florida was incredibly rewarding. In addition to seeing my family, I got to see my grandmother and my uncle and aunt, whom I haven't seen in ages. My grandfather's service was done outdoors at a veteran's memorial field. His Eisenhower jacket was on display with the flag presented to my grandmother, right next to his ashes, and there was an honor guard that did their ceremony and fired a salute with rifles. The rest of the weekend was spent seeing a little bit of the area, drinking and playing cards with my brothers, and going through my grandfather's scrapbooks, journals, and writings. In addition to a World War II veteran, he was a published author of a book on reincarnation, unpublished author of a book on war and foreign policy and his autobiography,
producer of Hollywood movies and audio programs, and an entrepreneur and investor in ventures across the globe. I'm looking forward to having some of his writings shipped out to me so I can read them and perhaps make them available online.
Remembering Grandpa in Florida Photos - Set 1/1 (Digital, Canon PowerShot S230) |
| :: Partying With My Brothers in Tahoe |
Posted 1/26/04 |
 I had a great mini-vacation with my brothers. We snowboarded at Kirkwood on Thursday and Friday, and spent Saturday driving around the lake and hanging out in Reno. While there was no new snow, the conditions were still okay, and good for riding fast and carving. We partied in our hotel room, played poker and roulette at Harrah's and Harvey's, and hung out at a dance club called Altitude. Saturday we partied hard in Reno. All I can say is that we had a blast :) We have a ton of pics, and a ton of movie clips, and they're absolutely hilarious. I'm going to make a movie out of it and burn it to DVD.
Tahoe Trip 2004 Photos - Set 1/1 (Digital, Canon PowerShot S230) |
| :: Smoking Hookahs at Kan Zaman |
Posted 1/10/04 |
 Last night Gordon, Heath, Meredith, Josh, and his brother Joel and I had Spanish tapas at Cha Cha Cha's in the Haight. Both before and after dinner we went to Kan Zaman (just about next door) to smoke hookahs, watch belly dancers, share the energy with everyone, and clap and dance to the music. It was a fun night! At one point we also stopped at Magnolia, a brewery, for some drinks and, believe it or not, more food. Let's just say that there was a lot of eating and smoking going on that night -- oh, and drinking! :)
Smoking Hookahs at Kan Zaman Photos - Set 1/1 (Digital, Canon PowerShot S230) |
|
|
