Porsche Cam

We know something good's gonna happen when the Pursuit Porsche Cayenne Turbo rolls into town.  Why?  Because it combines breathtaking performance and unparalleled versatility!  With the PPCT, one can mount any popular remote arm or gyro head with the most user friendly interiors in the biz.  Errr...so I've been told.

The PPCT makes an appearance every couple of months on California Street.  It was here for the Planet of the Apes filming in July and made another appearance just a few days ago - this time for a Nissan Rogue commercial.  It's fun to see filming:

Filming brings a certain buzz to the neighborhood and a sense of excitement.  It's funny though that all of the effort amounts to 1-2 seconds of commercial.  Check it out - can you find "our" shot?

Tree Huggin' the Old Growth in Muir Woods

I wrote about the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes a couple of months ago.  In addition to filming in our neighborhood back in July, they were filming just a few minutes north of SF in Muir Woods.  After clicking around for a few minutes, I learned that (in the movie) the ape civilization was born in Muir Woods.  ...and that's how Muir Woods catapulted to the top of the To Do list.

Muir Woods is similar to the famed Redwood Forest near the CA/OR border: smaller trees but far more accessible.

Once we got down on the forest floor and stood next to these giants we realized 'smaller than the old growth at Redwood Forest' is entirely relative.  These redwoods at Muir are enormous!  They made us feel like Hobits.  We hiked the Sun Trail and only felt helplessly lost at one junction.  Sure we had to backtrack a few steps but I clearly had it all under control.

There were many a great view along the trail but the Old Growth at the base of the valley steals the show.  Here's a previously unseen photo from my Dawn of the Planet of the Apes audition.

Red Sox & Red Beards

That was a pretty exciting season for us Red Sox fans!  I can't think of any better way to undo the tumult of the 2011 & 2012 teams than by bringing home The Commissioners Trophy.  Wifey & I saw the Sox play four times in three different stadiums this year: O.Co, AT&T, and Fenway Park.  Ironically, we went to more games this year than we did when we lived in Back Bay.  Go figure?

The beards were a popular story line this year and I decided to participate!  Meet my playoff beard.  It was fun to grow but I'm happy the playoffs are over - that thing was keeping me up at night (literally)!  Next stop: Movember.

David Ortiz's home run in Game 2 of the Detroit series was the best moment of the playoffs.  Here's the YouTube video but the best quality version can be found here.

As it turns out, I didn't see the grand slam live!  I was out with Jake for his night walk!  When I came home, it was a new ballgame.

The Results Are In

AncestryDNA is just too cool of an idea for me to pass up.  I got my results back this week and have been addicted to them ever since.

The results are interesting, confusing, and require a bit of interpretation.  For example, I'm trying to figure out why I have a stronger DNA match to the West European regions than the typical native.  Nonetheless, this is right up my (dork) alley.

There's nothing earth-shattering in the results but I was expecting to see a stronger match with the central and east european regions.  In addition to the analysis I get a bit of history lesson about how the population of these regions grew, migrated, and otherwise came to be.  Here's the write-up about the population origins of western Europe during 1000 BC.

Germanic peoples moved out of southern Scandinavia, Denmark and adjacent lands between the Elbe and Oder after 1000 BC. The first wave moved westward and southward (pushing the resident Celts west to the Rhine by about 200 BC) and moving into southern Germany up to the Roman province of Gaul by 100 BC, where they were stopped by Gaius Marius and Julius Caesar. 

What is now France made up the bulk of the region known to the Romans as Gaul or Celtica. Roman writers noted the presence of three main ethno-linguistic groups in the area: the Gauls, the Aquitani, and the Belgae. The Gauls, the largest and best attested group, were a Celtic people speaking what is known as the Gaulish language.

This Explains...Something?

One can't understand where they're going without knowing from where they came.  Right?  Maybe?  Something like that!  I come from a long line of able farmers.  The annual Mills garden and subsequent harvest was something to behold.  The young oft delivered gift baskets to local friends in an effort to maintain neighbor relations.

From an early age I exhibited strong agricultural proficiencies.  In this video I demonstrate my aptitude for, as they say, tillin' up the land.  Indeed, a green thumb from the beginning.  During the winter, we would rotate the snow piles to keep the atrophy at bay.  In the late Fall, bunny rabbit uniforms were customary regalia amongst the farmer elite.

(Jake) Tahoe

Whenever possible, Jake goes where we go; especially when we head for the mountains!  Cool weather, hiking, and calm waters make for one of those ideal dog destinations.

Jake loves the water but he's not a big swimmer.  He wades more than anything else.  I think that he prefers the comfort of being able to feel the ground beneath his feet.  The slow slope of King's Beach is ideal.  He could run 50 yards out and still be able to stand.

As they say, variety is the spice of life.  Each day at the beach deserves the balance of a day on the trail.  We did a 5 mile hike to a cluster of five small lakes (appropriately named Five Lakes Trail) that overlook nearby Squaw Valley.  When we got there, Jake was quick to jump in, cool off, and apply a fresh layer of dust and mud.  ...which will later find it's way into the car.

This was considered an easy trail but there were still a few frightening passages.  Big altitudes and steep cliffs make for spectacular views.  Here's Jake and I as we check-in at ~7,400' above sea level with Squaw in the background.

America's Cup

In case you're unaware, the pinnacle of competitive yachting season is upon us.  Oh, yes!  In fact, today was the 19th and final race of the America's Cup.  A matchup for the ages: Oracle (USA) vs Emirates (New Zealand).  It was only a few days ago that the Kiwi held a 8-1 lead over the Americans.  Since then, Team Oracle has battled back to tie the score and force one final, winner takes all, rubber match.

Being on sabbatical and all...I couldn't pass up the opportunity to attend.  I was expecting a raucous crowd and the San Franciscans were happy to oblige!  Actually, I kid.  Yes, there was a surprisingly huge number of spectators but wow...except for the families that had pulled their kids out of school to attend the event (really?), the crowds were very well behaved.

I had an excellent view of the start.  Here's the first 65 seconds of the race.  I don't know very much about yachting - go fast was never my area of expertise - but I was sure that Oracle has D.O.N.E. at the 23rd second of the video.

San Francisco Bay offers loads of photo opportunities from all angles.  The combination of San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Alcatraz ensured that each picture had something special in the background.  This was my favorite pic.

San Francisco is rather proud of it's bridges.  I showed up early enough that I could get-in a run from Crissy Field, across the Golden Gate Bridge and back.  It was really cool - the views were as great as could possibly be expected on a clear day.  Up next is the (new) east span of the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge.

Could You Live in a Houseboat?

Sausalito is a short drive over the Golden Gate from San Francisco.  It's a small coastal town with one claim to fame: a thriving houseboat community.  Ali and I live way too close to this little adventure NOT to pay it a visit.  Fortunately, the community opens their doors once a year and allows visitors to tour some of the homes.

I was struck by the size of the community (over 400 houseboats) and their cost: we saw one home that was for sale for over $1M!  Really?  Another surprise was the size of the living space.  I don't recall anything that had fewer than two bedrooms and two bathrooms.  The easily dwarf our Nob Hill apartment.  All of the boats were well maintained.  Each home was unique and intriguing in it's own way.  There's something for everyone...including a Chuck Norris slot machine (manufactured by Mills Novelty Company).  How could I resist?

Dominic DiMaggio (...and Joe too)

I've been catching up on my reading list over the last couple weeks.  ...one of the many many MANY things that makes sabbatical so sabbaticooool.  OK, now that that's out of my system...

I just finished The Teammates: A Portrait of a Friendship.  It is, first and foremost, a story about the relationships between Ted Williams and other Red Sox greats Bobby Doerr, Johnny Pesky, and Dom DiMaggio.

This book was one piece of a larger christmas gift from Ali's parents that contained various different Red Sox memorabilia.  If anyone's struggling to find me a gift, this is a good lead to follow!

I was pleasantly surprised as I read about the roots that some of these guys had in the old Pacific Coast League.  As it turns out, Dom grew up less than a mile away from our current home!  I couldn't wait to get home and run over to the place where Dom (OK - Joe too) grew up: 2047 Taylor Street.

If you look at the map, you'll see a playground that was named after Dom's brother (Yankee and debatably the best baseball player ever), Joe.  Despite an excellent career, often against all odds, Dom never really got the credit he deserved.

Here I am in front of the house.  The entrance on the right leads to 2047.  It's difficult for me to say how much the house has changed over the 90 years since they lived there.

Truthfully, it's a bit underwhelming.  I was expecting, at least, a placard.  In lieu of any identifying mark, I couldn't help but wonder if the addresses have changed over the years.  Perhaps I'm at the wrong house!?  ...wouldn't be the first time.

Back to Boston

There’s no place I’ve been that’s quite like Fenway Park.  Each visit brings an intoxicating mixture of moments frozen in time, a century’s old lore, zealots united, traditions honored, and the promise of October baseball.

We were excited to be back in Boston for a couple days and even happier to have tickets for (likely) the last home series against the Yankees this season.  This is the second time that we’ve had seats atop the Green Monster and we’re fortunate to share the experience with Ali’s parents in celebration of their 40^th wedding anniversary(!).

One of this seasons little treasures is right to announce our disapproval of Alex Rodriquez with even more vitriol than usual.  By the way, he went 0 for 3.  The Boston faithful are somewhat of a spectacle to be observed.  I tried to record some of the fun but the audio didn’t do it justice.  I did, however, capture both the Boston accent and it's spirit in all it's glory.  This “offer” came from the gentleman behind us and was directed towards Red Sox left fielder Johnny Gomes (out of frame).

The Red Sox won and moved one step closer to clinching the top spot in the American League.  I wouldn’t be entirely honest if I didn't admit to the haunting memories of September 2011.  Fortunately, most of that team is long gone!  'Love That Dirty Water' is a little bit sweeter after the Sox beat the Yankees. 

Sabbatical: Take Two

Remember the feeling of the last day of school?  How's about the first day of summer?  I've been so fortunate as to reconnect with those childlike emotions not once but twice during the last nine years.  That's right folks, Sabbatical Part Deux has started!

Last time around I got married: I love you, Wifey!  

This time, however, relaxing takes center-stage.  We've got trips planned to Connecticut, Boston, and Tahoe.  In between those trips, I've made lots of time for downtime and re-energizing.  The possibilities are exciting: golf, tennis, boxing, a new language, build a piece of furniture, reading, writing, exercise, and so on.  ...not to mention that the Red Sox are headed for the playoffs and the English Premier, National Football, and Champions Leagues are all getting underway.  Woo to the hoo.

Red Sox in SF

The Red Sox rarely come through San Francisco.  Since they're coming through SF this year, Ali and I jumped at the opportunity to get tickets to the Monday night game.

The trick about AT&T Park is the effect the bay has on wind and temperatures as the sun sets.  We sat high (really high) in the third deck at AT&T and we thought we were going to be exposed to the worst of the temps and bay breeze.  Fortunately, all of the worry was for naught.  We were conveniently blocked from the elements by the safety wall and small overhang above the third tier.  Take that, wind!

We were pretty far away from the field but we loved our seats.  We had a great view of every play and every square inch of the field.  The ballpark is a nice walk from our Apt.  In fact, running along the Embarcadero and around the ballpark is one of my favorite runs.  If you have a good zoom camera, another cool thing about AT&T Park is that you can look into the A's stadium on the other side of the bay.

In the wake of the Boston Marathon tragedy, the Red Sox have been receiving tributes at away games. Ali and I used to live just a few blocks away from it all.  Even though it's been 10 months since we moved, the events were still frightening to us.  We thought the tribute was a very nice gesture.  They even played Sweet Caroline between the 7th and 8th innings!  (So) Good times for the many Red Sox fans that were in attendance.

Red Sox win: 7-0!

Magic Gadgets: Chromecast

Ali is truly one of best gift givers I’ve ever known.  It’s one of the things I love most about her.  Google announced the release of Chromecast on Wednesday (July 24).  The gadget quickly sold out on all shopping sites. 

 To my surprise, there was a package from Amazon waiting for me when I got back from my run today.  Sure enough, I am the proud new owner of the hottest gadget on the market today!  I have no idea how she did it, but I love the surprise.

Now we can stream our favorite new show (House of Cards) onto the TV with MUCH LESS headache.   Also worth streaming to large format HD: Moses vs Santa Claus.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Over the last several months we’ve seen two commercials and two movies filmed right outside our Apt.   Now that we’re parking the car in a garage (and not worrying about street parking), the filming days are really a lot of fun.  In the past 24 hours we’ve watched our section of California Street go from thoroughfare to armed patrol area, in which, the curfew laws are strictly enforced. 

They’re filming for The Dawn of the Planet of the Apes today.  We’re already counting down to it’s release next year!

After all of this setup, coordination, and filming…I can’t imagine that they’ve captured any more than 30 seconds worth of final-cut footage.   Although it’s exciting for us, it must be mind numbing for the crew.  We watched as they filmed this sequence at least ten times over.

Maui in a Minute

Volcano – How many people get to say that they biked down a volcano with their mom?  I do!  The group jumped on bikes shortly after sunrise at the top of Haleakala and down we went.  A couple of hours later we were in the little town of Paia enjoying a breakfast at Moana Café.

Waterfalls – The main attraction of the Road to Hanna are the waterfalls.  We saw no fewer than six waterfalls and loved each one of them.  The Maui waterfalls are one of those things that don’t photograph well.  Experiencing them in person does far more justice.

Beaches – At times it felt like there were more beaches than Banyan trees.  My favorite, Kalama Beach Park, was just a couple miles away from the condo and along the path that I would run.

Luau – Luaus are a Hawai’i must.  Ours was buffet style.  The pork and chicken was excellent.  I tried just about everything poi, lomi salmon, and all four deserts.

Sunrise – We were picked-up at 2AM for this little experience.  We drove for better than two hours to the top of Haleakala where we dawned winter gear to help protect us from the elements.  At 10k feet, the temps were in the 30’s and manageable by my standards.  The wind, however, had some bite.  It made me wish I had my ski goggles and an extra layer.

Shaved Ice – I wanted to have a shaved ice before I left the island.  When I did, I got it from Ululani’s Shaved Ice: mango, passion fruit, and coconut were my flavors.  They sell three different sizes: mini, small, regular.  I had to laugh because even the mini was too big for a normal human being.  Anyhow, I repeated this love affair for the next three days.

Vistas – Everywhere I looked was another unforgettable view.  It’s tough to go wrong with beaches, sun, volcano’s, and palm trees.  I have an odd compulsion that to name inanimate objects (like trees).  I named the palm tree off of our balcony “Georgina.”

Noteworthy – I had a difficult time getting out of SFO.  The Asiana plane crash happened while I was on my way to the airport.  My flight was delayed, delayed, delayed, and then finally cancelled.  I was fortunate to get out of San Francisco the following day.  During takeoff, I was on the east-facing side of the airplane and had a clear view of the wreckage.  …not exactly the thoughts I wanted going through my mind during takeoff!

An Ultimate Return

I got Mom, Hollie, Mike, and Matthew to the airport this morning by 6:30a and rushed home to make final preparations for the start of the Live Ultimate Run.  And thus, after a long hiatus, I made a triumphant return to the road race circuit. 

This race was challenging for two reasons: I didn’t get a full night sleep and, Ali and I took the family on the official Mills in the Hills Napa Valley excursion yesterday!  Today’s endeavor was a 10k race.   Under other conditions, I might aim to finish under 50 minutes but not today, my friends, not today.  Instead, I set a more modest goal of 1 hour.  Good thing I did too!  My official race time was 59:52.9.

Overall, I enjoyed the race.  Anytime there’s a flat course, a good time, a medal, and a cool t-shirt…the race is sure to get high marks in my book.  You may (or may not) have noticed that I need a tan.  7 days 'til Maui!  ...actually, I'm pretty sure that's not gonna do a whole lot in the "tan" department.