7.31.2007

"I'm covered in Rubber"

Molten rubber to be precise. The post title is a quote from this past Sunday when I attended my first ever NHRA Drag Racing event at Infineon raceway. The dragsters and their rabid fans were surreal against the rolling hills of Sonoma.

The event was easily one of the loudest experiences of my life. The top fuel dragsters run nitrous through 8,000 horsepower engines. To give you an idea, one piston produces more HP than a NASCAR. They would start with a burnout which would send nitrous fumes and rubber filled smoke toward our seats. The effect of which made me look like I had black chicken pox. And if you tried to wipe the rubber off your face, it would just smear. After the burnout, the cars would line up and the start lights (Xmas tree) would light up. This was the moment where you cover your ears. Even if you have ear plugs. Because in short order, all hell breaks loose.

4.5 - 5 Seconds and 12 gallons of fuel later, the "car" is a half mile away doing 327 miles an hour. And it feels like a thunderclap has just happened right in front of you.

At one point an alcohol dragster, only 4,000 HP, overpowered it's wheelie bar and went over backward. Luckily the car went airborne and landed back on the wheels. The driver was fine. She actually returned to the track and cheered on her teammate. Yes, she.

Another event of the day was Cops versus Kids. Where cop cars would drag race against High Schoolers in their supped up rides. Only 2 cops won. Out of 10. And all the cops got a head start. The crowd was definitely cheering for kids, not the pigs.

Friday was also quite eventful. I attended the Daft Punk show at the Greek theatre on Cal's campus. Took a party bus over. Heard The Rapture open. Pretty good. Then large black curtains covered the stage. Once DP came on, it became one of the most incredible light shows I've ever seen. I'll let the photos and video that my man Alan captured speak for themselves.

Photos: http://public.fotki.com/ace33/070727/
Video: http://www.youtube.com/user/EYZA01

It was also one of the loudest shows I've ever heard. My ears took a beating this weekend. Thanks very much to the angel who gave me ear plugs at the show.

7.20.2007

I live in a bowl of Jell-O

At least that's what 4:42:22 AM felt like. My first earthquake. And a 4.2 one at that. You can find all the details here.

What's amazing to me, is all this information was up and available within hours of the actual event.

So, it really did feel like I was in a Jell-O mold that some kid was having entirely too much fun jiggling. No one was hurt. I think one thing fell off my roommate's mantle. It didn't last long and was fairly quiet. I'm just glad I wasn't standing up at the time.

But I do find it ironic that first earthquake experience was actually in Winston-Salem.

7.18.2007

SF Profile #2: The hander-outer.

They are the holders of dreams. Of fantasy. Of quick fix and faster cash.

They lie in wait. At the top of the mass transit escalator. Sometimes around corners. So sneaky. Some brazen and right in the middle of the sidewalk. Ready to spring their pamphlet on you. Or this morning a simple innocuous card. So innocent. Just take it. Please your curiosity. They stand there hands out in full confidence that what they hold will change your life for the better. Make you stronger. Make you faster. Make you more than you ever hoped more could be.

The secret they carry is just for you. And the thousand other fine people who, while completely different from you, will benefit just the same.

It's the next big thing. Like Soothsayers they proclaim, "My little magic card will be all over the news next week but you can get in now."

But the hander-outer has a nemesis. The straight ahead, I couldn't possibly care less stare. A stare it has taken me a month to perfect. The look that says, "I'm no sap." A stare worth learning. Because the hander-outer will soon make an appearance near you. They might not be as polished. Or as persistent, but they will be there. Those keepers of ambition. Those purveyors of sure things.

7.16.2007

Ho Hum

Just another boring weekend. Friday night found me at a lovely little French Restaurant enjoying a steak with a rather sublime blue cheese sauce. The perfect medicine for the days that preceded it.

SaturDAY was spent working on radio spots but SaturNIGHT and a bit of Sunday morning was full-on dance partaay. A friend of my roomie's birthday party. Julia, she turned 33. Trav (roomie) DJed while in full Band Leader uniform complete with Capo. It was a costume party. I went as a human.

It's a different experience walking into a club with the opening DJ. I was given a grand tour by the guy who designed the sound and light system. And was looked after by the bar staff as if I was a local. Perhaps I kinda, sorta, just maybe, am.

Sunday was another Giants game. This time against the Dodgers. Great rivalry. Not so great performance by the Giants. Barry popped up 5 times. Perhaps you shouldn't always swing for the fences with the bases loaded and down by two runs.

Then it was home for a Sunday dinner with Trav and his girlfriend. A thick pork chop, grape chutney, salad and cottage cheese pasta. All good.

So, just another boring weekend in about the perfect-est city ever.

7.12.2007

2,753 Miles

2,753 miles from home (SF) to home (NC). And I'm feeling every single one of them today. One of our dogs had to be put down. She was 20 and it was time. But it hurts not to be able to be there for my mom. I know it's hard on her. Foxy is now in a better place where you get cookies just for being. You don't even have to pretend to go outside.

There's some other news going on with another family member as well. And it's fairly serious. I knew there would be days where being across the country would be tough. I just didn't realize it would all hit at once. And this hard.

At the same time, all this reflection reminds me that I am the luckiest man on the planet. The job I have. The friends and family I have, even if most are far away. The stories I'm collecting. Every day is a blessing. Staying focused on that will get me through.

7.08.2007

Erik Estrada likes house music.

Or at least his long lost twin does. It's an odd thing. There are a lot of people in San Francisco that look exactly like other people. Today I went to this house music event and there was Erik Estrada. Sort of. And a girl who was throwing down on the dance floor was the spitting image of my friend Anne DeMartini.

Perhaps it's me projecting my wish for my friends to be here with me, but I swear almost everyday I see the near perfect replica of someone I know.

It will be interesting to see if on my visits back to the East coast, I begin to see twins of the friends I make out here.

Or maybe I'm just nuts. That's certainly plausible.

7.06.2007

La fete premiere

A title en francais to honor the French who helped us with the Revolutionary War. I'm sure they showed us many excellent methods for retreating. Glad we didn't use them.

July 4th marked the first party in the new pad. 3 DJs. Lots o' people. A strawberry rhubarb pie. Just enough beverages. A love hammock. Hot fire & John burgers. Several iPhones. One demonstrated by an actual Apple employee. Carrot Cake. Couple dogs. All around a good time.

I met many of my roommate's friends and they are best described as good people. And hot people. And hysterical people. Lots of fun conversations.

At one point, Cannonball Run was playing on the projection screen TV as several of the guys laughed that Jackie Chan's character in the movie was aptly named ... Jackie Chan.

7.01.2007

Guest entry from Eric Sykora (Eamon's Cousin)

I left the East coast early Friday morning and arrived on the West coast Friday afternoon. When I arrived at the Oakland airport I had to find a way into San Francisco. I asked for directions on how to get to the BART station. I took the directions to the bus to take me there where I discovered I needed 3 dollars in exact change causing me to ask the nice ladies behind me for an extra dollar.

When I finally arrived in San Francisco I walked about three quarters of a mile to Eamon's office. When I was walking down Pacific I almost passed the small doors of the old fire station. When I got inside Eamon came down stairs to show me around and introduce me to his co-workers. And about 30 minutes after meeting the co-workers I had taken money from each and everyone of them. Thanks to the 2nd ever game of Wall-Ball.

With my $12 in winnings I was off to the San Francisco Giants game with Eamon. We decided to check out the iPhone madness at the Apple Store on the way. We stopped to admire the 1000+ eager customers ready to get their hands on the greatest thing since sliced bread. Then we met up with Eamon's friends Lee and Bart before heading down to the game. The Giants stadium was nothing short of incredible with it being located right on the bay. We also got to see Bonds 750th home run.

When we woke up on Saturday we headed around the corner to a good bagel shop. Then we headed off to Coit Tower where we got a good look at all of San Francisco. After, we took a walk around the city and walked through some cool shops and galleries. One shop looked like it was stocked full with movie props including a sweet oversize flash light used as a lamp. Then we wandered over to a Mexican place Eamon knew about where we got a Burrito that weighed almost as much as we did. After packing up the unfinished giant Burritos we were off to more exploration. For dinner we headed to a cool sushi place called Tokyo Go Go. They had a huge selection of fish which tasted incredible.

On Sunday we moved about six boxes and two suitcases to the new house. Half the boxes were dvds, which took us about 15 minutes to just sort them out by genre. For lunch we stopped by a cool pizza joint where we picked up a couple slices of pizza with a San Pelligrino Limonata to drink, the killer meal. We also got to take Juju out of her concrete cell in the basement. It was quite fun cruising around town with the crazy pissed off drivers flying by. After a day of moving we stopped by a cheesesteak place around the corner from the new house to grab some dinner. We took dinner up to a park on top of Alamo Square where we could watch the sun go down on the city.

This was my second visit to San Francisco, last summer I got to do a lot of the tourist stuff. This summer I got a chance to just hang out and hit up some of local places that I wouldn't have known about as a tourist. I'd have to say that it is a pretty sweet city and I'm a little jealous of Eamon's new home. I leave tomorrow for North Carolina, its going to be sad leaving such a cool city, but I'll definately be back for more than just a weekend.

Humina, humina, humina

I want an iPhone.

As a part of yesterday's adventures, my cousin Eric and I stopped by the Apple store to see the legend that is iPhone. It's hard to believe that 6 months after its announcement it has arrived. We jostled for position at the iPhone altar and I was eventually able to hold one in my very hands.

It's the real deal.

Everything works exactly as it's supposed to. The web was quick (no doubt due to the store wi-fi). The screen is gorgeous even after being pawed by masses of people. Movies look incredible. Typing on the keyboard is fairly quick and intuitive.

If you are only considering the iPhone, don't dare touch one. The case must be made of some addictive substance that will have you throwing $600 at the nearest Apple clad individual. The precious was the only thing Eric and I talked about whenever there was a quiet moment the rest of the day. I even had a hard time going to sleep last night because I started thinking of it.

My guess is Apple, and unfortunately AT&T, are going to make a great deal of money as people finish out their contracts over the next year or so.

Apple is now repeating a famous Eddie Murphy joke: "I got this Mot#!@$%&#(#^ now."