Events Sept 29th to Oct 2.

Look who's back. Sorry folks, between my DSL line dropping constantly, some blog engines not updating, work, life, and some stuff in between work and life... Some stressful events, however, I did get out yesterday- and shot 75-73 for two rounds of golf, so life is just shiny. Well, here we go.

What's new in town? If you're sufficiently recovered from the Love Parade, Folsom Street Fair, Shakespeare in the Park, the Fringe Festival, and the Blues Festival... you should already get a hero cookie (or at least an honorable mention).

Today (Thursday 9/28), Bloomingdales is opening at 845 Market Street. I love New York; but yes it's true, you can't take it with you. Instead you can have them build a Bloomingdales near you which is a pretty good thing.

The North Beach Indian Summer Blowout; I know the name sounds like a western film with the Rat Pack stuck on a bus with a flat tire. But this sale at 1450 Grant Ave (at Union St) has deep-dish discounts on AB Fits, Delilah Crown, Ooma, Pixie, and others. Sat & Sun 11 am-7 pm.

Sunday October 1st is the Castro Street Fair and also Free Comedy Day In the Park (Golden Gate Park at noon).

A reminder next Tuesday and Wednesday are FREE first days around SF! Free first Tuesdays include: SFMOMA, De Young Museum, Legion of Honor, Asian Art Museum, and the Conservatory of Flowers. Free the first Wednesday each month: SF Zoo. First Thursday is MATCHA at the Asian Art Museum, with music/DJs, performance, and urban-ness.

Wahooo! The Big Book Sale is here. The 42nd Annual Friends of the San Francisco Public Library's Big Book Sale is going on now (Thurs-Sat 10am-8pm, Sun 10am-6pm) in the Festival Pavillion at Fort Mason Center. Sunday all books $1 or less.

I'm planning on going to the Palo Alto Art Walk next Friday (6-9 pm). I kept trying to get to it for the past couple months, but now a friend from Palo Alto will join me, so I am going!

Get ready, Fleet Week is October 7-8. That means dogs going wild, unbelieveably loud jets, and some very, very tricky aeronautics! (is that the word?). Fireworks will be on Friday Oct. 6th. The Blue Angels are back this year! (Have you ever seen a dot-mil addy before? I haven't. I want the domain ga-zillionaire.mil hah!)

If you need to find a great time filler-in (calling this a "waste of time" would simply be offensive), you've gotta visit Line Rider. It's noughta game. You simply draw a line, and this totally unsuspecting huckelberry tries to ride his sled down it. It's great fun (uhhhh, unless you happened to be that poor fellow).

You all agree (right?) that Pantone could've chosen their phrasing more delicately whence they named their system the Pantone Matching System (PMS). Well, anyhoooo, this Pantone Matching photoset on Flickr is a pretty neat one.

I've got some new projects on my plate, so I'm getting busier for the next few weeks; but I haven't keeled over, so I should be blogging more. Cheers.

image credits: Bloomies pic by Connie C, from Yelp.com, Blue Angels from blueangels.navy.mil, Big Book Sale from friendssfpl.org, Pantone Beanie from Marketing Drive's Flickr gallery.

Cars, a Convertible Sofa, and The CHALL3NG3

First, I would like to start off with a brief tribute to Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter. In an accident, Monday September 4th, on the Great Barrier Reef, he was stung in the chest by a stingray, and not able to be saved . Irwin brought excitement and conservationism to many, many fans throughout the world. He was also a major component of launching the tv network Animal Planet with his 10 years of hosting his own show. There will be a new conservation fund set up in his honor, The Crikey Fund, although I cannot yet find a link to it. Thank you Steve Irwin, for enchanting us with your special brand of humor, learning, and delight; you'll be missed.

Last week, I had from an inside source that West Elm would be offering leather furniture. Well, I got me an e-mail today sayin' exactly that! Some nice simple pieces that offer as much comfort as style (I mean that in a good way here people), and prices are more within reach.

Yeah, well leather's been done, you say? You want to know new? How about this BonBon Convertible Sofa. It's my kind of triathalon: couch-to-climb-to nap.

If you want tech-ier toys, nothing beats a swank car, right? Except a faster one in the St. Petersburg to Amsterdam 2006 Challenge. GTspirit.com has a pretty full overview of the event, day-by-day. This event features the real deal exotics... The new and highly anticipated Audi R8 (edmunds.com profile) and the Spyker C8 Spyder (complete with factory photos).

Okay, what say you win the current $114 million Mega Millions Lottery? Then you'd need a swank place to park all your swervish cars (I think I just used a non-word here). Just look to the Germans for marvels of engineering and function. Example: the Volkswagen factory carpark is just the coolest. It should almost go without saying, that if it's cool, of course I found this on TheCoolHunter.net.

A 'lil fashion note, from The Cool Hunter, Paul & Joe have agreed to produce a fashion line for Target. More and more high end designers are moving into mass market. I like a lot of the looks from Paul & Joe for this season.

One thing I'm finding here in the city of fog, is that only visitors and tourists seem to take the walking tours. I've prolly helped direct people to the Alta Plaza steps for the Pacific Heights Mansions Walking Tour four times in the past week. So, here is the fruit of my research and a site link for FREE walking tours in San Francisco. I know they are full of amazing information, perhaps one day I'll get up and go.

Google has teamed up with other search partners to offer news searches extending back to the early 20th century. This article from TechCrunch explains. Cheers.

image credits: Crocodile Hunter banner from Animal Planet at Discovery.com, BonBon Sofa from Inhabitat.com, Audi R8 photo by Priddy/Priddy for Fourtitude.com, Volkwagen carpark from The Cool Hunter, Paul & Joe pic from paulandjoe.com

Fashion, Flickr, and Phenomenons

Runway to Retail has a list of some interesting Men's Essentials. Plus, it's just a pretty interesting site to get some fashion news.

Metrofashion.com may not update as often as some other sites, but they have some good runway pics, articles, and covered the recent SF Fashion Week. Unfortunately, in a less-recent post they state: "Versace and Dries Van Noten both show a delicious range of toned down creams and beige in their collections." Well, props for recognizing one of my fave designers (DVN), but this last Fall/Winter 2005/2006 season was not smashing in my opinion.

Just a couple quick Flickr photosets that I like. I truly appreciate that so many are comfortable sharing their amazing work online... These are just a few photographers I've found recently that inspire me to look through the lens a bit more creatively.

• SeraphimC has some beautiful architecture with strong linear qualities.
• Reinhard.Pantke has some sky and ocean shots with stunning atmospheric captures.
• Hailun has a wonderful sense of color and space- the simplicity of compositions enhances and strengthens her already breathtaking shots. And don't even get me started on how perfect her titles are.

Is it possible to make a universe in a test tube? Some physicists believe it may be. Very interesting article. Hmmm. Speaking about the universe, this cover story of Time Magazine fascinated me: Let There Be Light. It explains how a couple astronomers are searching for the farthest galaxies that have yet to be discovered. Thanks to the great new blog: Headlines on Things That Matter, for keeping me informed on this article and many others. Uhhhh, that pun (matter) was not intended.

This site: Tomorrow's Trends is a blog that reviews many interesting topics, including this article about 3-D printers, which is pretty amazing. Also on Tomorrow's Trends, I found this link to Princeton's map of Americanization. The global domination of Starbucks and McDonald's. Wowzers.

During nearly four months since I started blogging, I've come to realize a few things.

• Blogging is a responsibility if one wishes to keep visitors returning. Regular updates are essential.
• I am grateful for the "mental exercise," a bit of creative writing
• I am using my own blog constantly- just as I had intended, as an archive for sites and links; since my Firefox bookmarks are already overflowing.

Mostly, I have found many sites, people, and interesting tidbits while I search for things of interest to me, things that I relate to, and things that also can make it onto my blog. Thanks for coming by, please come visit again. Cheers.

image credits: Choose from SeraphimC's Flickr set, beach from Reinhard.Pantke's Flickr set, My Green Wings from Hailun's Flickr set

A Camera, A Corkscrew, and a Coupon

Really quickly, a few deals to jump on if you're interested, sorry many of these expire today.

Cooking.com is having a sale up to 75% off on items. I can't find much that is a great value (I think some of their "retail" prices are way inflated), but this countertop mounted corkscrew for $15 is one nice deal.

Save 20% off at CompUSA on any single unadvertised item, expires today (code: LABOR20).

Borders coupon for $10 off a purchase of $20 or more. Expires today 9/4. Must be redeemed in-store.

OfficeMax has the often raved about Canon A620 digital camera for $179.98 while supplies last. This is the one 7.1 mega pixel pocket cam that many pro photographers use themselves for a "portable" and recommend most highly. Cheers.

image credits: corkscrew from cooking.com, Canon A620 from OfficeMax.com

Contraptions & Contests.

Just a leisurely stroll through internet-wonder-ville this morn found a few things of interest.

What if you could own lie detector sunglasses that are supposedly 95% accurate. Would you, uhhhhh, give me the benefit of the doubt (5%), 95% of the time I'm talking? Israeli-developed technology, this stuff is for real. Wow. How's that addage go: 'for anything you say, a cannon-will-be-used against you.'

I know, I'm constantly blogging alternatives to iPods for all you gadget freaks... It's only because my 2nd gen 40 GB iPod was roughly a $400 item, and no longer even recognizes the hard disk. All my songs, my (backup computer) data, addy book, etc are gone forever to some place that is fast growing in popularity- wherever iPods go to die.

Here is a Sony Walkman NW-S200. A swell 'lil playing device that reminds me of the stylishness that Sony always tries to convey. In some ways it reminds me of the first 'taxi-cab yellow' Sony Sports Walkman they released that was waterproof and dustproof (about 20 years ago). It had that same kind of Sony Style to it (for back in the day).

Should these still be called Walkmans? I think with Sony and their proprietary Mem Sticks et al, a better term would be "StickMen." Now that I think about it, a StickMan just wouldn't be available in powder pink, so that could be a StickLady. By golly, now is that perpetuating an image that women should be anemic and underweight and have self-image issues? Ohhhhh. Now I see why they leave it at Walkman, ne'ermind.

Back to the iPod and iTunes bashing. One of the most influential (and famous) bloggers anywhere is prolly Nicholas Carr with RoughType and Rough Sort. On RoughSort, Carr writes about the news of MySpace intending to sell its some 3 million unsigned bands' music. Basically, Carr says: "technology leaders seldom get dethroned by direct competition."

One can only hope... I mean, Intel is proportedly laying off somewhere between 10-16.5% of its 100,000 workers to keep pace with new chipmaker AMD. AMD just wallops Intel in virtually every benchmark and temperature comparison. So, it can happen.

I've written about my opposition to iTunes and DRM on Cnet.com. Basically, I feel I'm treated like a thief for BUYING music. I can't freely use the music I buy from iTunes. Just wait for folks to upgrade their 'puters and try transferring their whole iTunes library. Anyways, I'm not saying to steal music. That's still wrong. I'm still buying hardcopy cd's, I guess.

At BoingBoing, there's an article today about Bob Dylan and iTunes. It's not a very happy article, and is a great example of how iTunes is trying to bully us consumers. I whole-heartedly agree with these statements- especially the last few paragraphs about ridding DRM entirely, buying from other sources, not getting good value fromiTunes at $0.99/track, and understanding that there simply aren't enough legitimate options to keep some from using p2p.

Wow, if you've read through that rant, you deserve a hero cookie. Better yet, some hard earned swag or cash.

Nokia is holding a contest: Nokia Eye on Fashion. Snap a pic using a Nokia camera phone and send it in to their Nokia India site. You could win a new unreleased Nokia phone or some haute designer stuff. I scanned the rules and couldn't find anywhere stating you had to reside in- or capture the image in- India. Ends September 22nd.

Fossil is having a contest that ends shortly (Sept 12th, 2006): Design Your Own Tin. You can only enter once, and you could win between $100 and $1000 plus the chance to visit their design studio and have your tin produced. Wow, even thinking about going to Richardson, Texas is such a thrill. hold me back. wow. yeah, i know.

You think celebs don't want to be part of contests? Well Brad Pitt recently held a contest to help build new sustainable housing in New Orleans to help revitalize the area after Katrina. Nice going Brad, the Global Green initiative sounds like everyone's a winner. And hey, just check out who's involved: Mikhail Gorbachev (Founder & President), Leonardo DiCaprio, Jerry Moss (Founder, A & M Records), and Edward Norton... Cheers.

image credits: Sony NW-S200 from Popgadget.com, Brad Pitt pic from imdb.com, Global Green from GlobalGreen.org

My Technology & Film Rant

I'll start with a great internet deal for ladies... Amazon.com is having a deal for $60 on selected stylish styles of Gucci eyewear. This style is my fave. I thought the deal expired yesterday, but looks like it's still going on, for how long I dunno.

If you're looking for a new mp3 player and share my belief that there are better players other than iPods, this is a perfect solution. The SanDisk Sansa c200. It's a 1 GB or 2 GB player with a micro sD slot to expand up to 2 GB more for $80 or $100 respectively. With FM tuner and voice recording, it's a great deal.

I am a big fan of technology and innovation decreasing our environmental impact, and nothing would do this better than hydrogen fueled cars. I can't wait to actually see them actually be offered in production models. It's been news for years, and will still be a few years away from true mass production happening. Here are some updates.

This Mini Cooper Hybrid packs 0-60 mph in 4.5 second power into a "mini" package. A great concept, the PML Mini QED, uses a small combustion engine solely dedicated to recharging the battery, this is a great advancement in the right direction.

On the other hand, (from the great environmental magazine), this Mother Jones article explains how President Bush is planning to help keep the petroleum companies thriving... By producing 90% of future hydrogen fuel from refined oil, natural gas, and other fossil fuels. Somebody give the guy a nickel to go buy a clue. The whole idea is to stop our reliance on fossil fuels and clean the air. Geeeez.

Cnet has a recent article about hydrogen cars not being available until 2015 at the earliest. BMW has built several succesful prototypes; but like GM and others, aren't ready for production.

Back to politics, for a quick second. A recent August 2006 poll from pollingreport.com shows Hilllary Clinton has a good shot at the White House (with an overall percentage of 29% and a Democratic percentage of 40%), from the Democratic Nomination Survey. Al Gore, John Edwards, and John Kerry follow in percentages. This may be a promising 2008 election for Environmentalists and Democrats alike. Here's to hoping anyways.

On to film and movie news... This article from TheStar.com is mostly about the very un-interesting topic of an Indiana Jones IV (with Harrison Ford), but at the end, it mentions Rachel McAdams agreed to play Agent 99 in the upcoming Get Smart film. One can only speculate on this being a fun project to see hit the big sceens. What with her turning down the lead Bond Girl role in the upcoming Casino Royale. Hmmm.

Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest has scorched the box office, with totals that have now moved it into 3rd place for all-time worldwide grosses, at nearly $1 billion USD. No wonder the third film is already getting lots of attention. I'll find it interesting to see Chow Yun-Fat in his largest box-office release. No doubt, this film will be one of the most anticipated films ever. RottenTomatoes.com has the title confirmed as Pirates of the Carribean: At Worlds End (no apostrophe).

For all those looking for a fantastic deal on a sD card for your digital camera or gadget, ZipZoomFly (one of my fave e-tailers) has the A-Data 4 GB 150X sD card for $50! Well, it's $64.99, free shipping, and a $15 mail in rebate offer. Being in California, I'd pay sales tax (8.25%); still it's the best offer I've ever seen on this card, expires September 4th. This is the highest rated card for my camera (Canon S3 IS) according to many users on forums like dpreview.com and others.

Have a great long weekend. Cheers.

image credits: Gucci eyewear from amazon.com, SanDisk Sansa c200 from SanDisk.com, Mini Cooper hybrid from treehugger.com, Rachel McAdams from imdb.com