Oakland Fox Theater

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Noelle and I went to the Fox Theater in Oakland for the first time a few months back right after it had opened after being vacant for many years. I was really impressed with how beautiful it was on the inside. I was even more impressed that they apparently let people take pictures in there if the artists don't explicitly forbid it. So on the next trip there, to see Video Games Live, I took my 40D and a few lenses. Hopefully I captured the feeling.

ZOMG Art Wolfe Class in Antarctica

Evidently Art Wolfe is offering a class in Antarctica. This is unusual as a.) Art doesn't seem to personally teach much AFAICT and b.) IT'S IN FUCKING ANTARCTICA! Now, if only I had ten grand handy + probably another 2-3 for airfare, which I am sure is not included. Make that twenty, I'm sure I could not go to Antarctica and not take Noelle. I guess I can't complain too much as I have visited two other continents already this year and will have visited a third by the end of the year. Still, Antarctica.

RIP Bea Arthur

Bea Arthur has died. Whether you loved her in Golden Girls or my personal favorite, The Star Wars Holiday Special, she will be missed. Gotta fire up TSWHS now and drink a 40.

Spinal Tap

Noelle and I saw Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest, and Michael McKean doing songs from the Tap and from A Mighty Wind tonight at the beautiful Paramont Theater in Oakland. It was an interesting, mostly acoustic show. I think my favorite part where was when they got up and read the list of required edits from the NBC standards and practices man for This Is Spinal Tap's late night 1984 showing. I think I would have enjoyed the show more if I weren't so tired. I need to get a proper nap in at some point.

Yawn - Back to Work

Well, the honeymoon is done (note I did not say over) and our wedding party has wound up. It was a real joy to see so many friends and relatives Saturday. We booked the room at the St. Claire the night before in the ginormous Palm Suite. I've never before stayed at a place that had a powder room before the bathroom. But, since we had ladies getting hair and makeup done starting at 8:15 (!) Saturday morning, it was probably for the best. Around 2:30 or so, the main photographer started taking pictures in earnest. Then we schlepped around downtown SJ taking pictures until 6 or so, then everyone else went to cocktail hour while we went off for more pictures (snif) near the SJ City Hall dome. Mark, our main photographer, noted that our energy seemed a little low towards the end, which seemed about right given Noelle was wearing a 60lb dress and I had a monkey suit on in the 80 degree weather. After that I was ready for a drink or three. We got back to the hotel, got into the entrance line and made our entrance. Then speeches and dinner! The food was really awesome (that's what using Il Fornaio as your caterer gets you) and Noelle secretly arranged to have a string quartet play for dinner, which was fantastic, as I love chamber music at weddings. Our steampunk planetary constellation of wedding cakes turned out really well (unfortunately I have no pictures at present) and really surprised a lot of people, including the people working at the wedding, so I guess it was pretty unusual. People kept asking how it came to be, to which I responded: well, first Noelle found the robot cake toppers and the internet and we thought, "Hmm, we could build a cake around this..." I thought the DJ was just about right: generally unobtrusive, cooperative with our requests for songs, and generally unobnoxious. People kept coming up to us and gushing about what a great party it was, which was tremendously gratifying, since we (and by we I mean primarily Noelle) had put so much work into it the past however many months it's been. I know I was the host, but I thought it was one of the best weddings I've been to. My only regret was that as groom, I spent a lot of time meeting with guests and seeing how they were doing and all that and I didn't get as much time as I would have liked to enjoy the rest of the party, but I guess that's what happens with all brides and grooms. I still managed to have a fantastic time and we had people dancing until midnight, so I would rate that a success. Some of us were actually hanging around the ballroom until 1:30 or so when the workers kicked us out so they could finish cleaning. I was so sore that night that I had a really hard time getting sleep. Poor Noelle got blisters on her feet despite wearing Birkenstocks during most of the shooting. Anyway, it was a really fantastic time, albeit draining. And yesterday we had to haul a bunch of stuff back from the hotel to home, so I didn't really get much rest until late at night. I feel a little sad that it's over, but also kind of relieved. Anyway, it's done and the main wedding photographer posted some pictures on his blog at this site which look pretty good to me. I understand there are a few more coming later. ;-)

Home again, home again!

Jiggity jig. Tired. Long flight. Flowers and stuff in bedroom. Must sleep soon.

Istanbul Once More (With Feeling)

So Noelle and I have returned to Istanbul for the last night before heading home and we're staying at the fabulous Istanbul W. And I do mean fabulous! This place is like what they imagined the 21st century would be like back in the 70s (not the Soylent Green imagining). Seriously, this place has mood lighting like a club and chillout music playing everywhere, like a club. Unlike a club, the music doesn't threaten to damage my permanent hearing. This place is far and away the most fun of any of the places that we've stayed at so far. If Virgin America were a hotel, it'd be a W. And frankly, that's just what we need before our 16 hour flight back tomorrow. The cabbie from the airport even failed to play the "you gave me insufficient money" game that most of the Turkish cabbies have tried to run on us. I was honestly dreading having to deal with that shenannigans. In 24 hours we'll be in the air heading back to the Bay area, which I miss, especially my non-swank house and my super swank kitties. Looking forward to seeing our friends and having a cool wedding reception.

Oh, did I mention the free wifi in the lobby? I really like this place.

Hello, Goodbye Greece

Well, we're almost done with Greece and the whole honeymoon thing. Our departure from Santorini was largely uneventful, other than Noelle almost losing her wallet in the cab. Athens has proven cooler than expected. The Grande Bretagne is a swank hotel (it was good enough for Ze Germans to use as headquarters in WWII, so it can't be too too bad, right?). We've been to the Acropolis, the Ancient Agora ( where ya know, they invented the Democracy, ya know?), Hadrian's Gate, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the mountain where the Muses lived (forgot the name), and the archeological museum. Noelle's tired of looking at "old stuff." Frankly, it's gotten to be a bit of a blur to me as well. It was super cool to see Agamemon's death mask and walk around ruins that are 2500 years old. Down sides: there is graffiti everywhere and today some asshole lifted Noelle's wallet. I have not wanted to cock punch someone so badly in a really long time. Oh well, shit happens when you travel, I guess. I am really looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and playing with the kitties, so I guess it's a good thing we're leaving in under 36 hours.

Chillin' In Santorini

We spent the past couple of days cruising around the island and taking in the sights, which are gorgeous. We spent an afternoon in the beautiful town of Oia. Oia has the picturesque white buildings that you see in the travel photos. It also has marble streets which I thought were quite nice. We didn't get much of a sunset, as it has been somewhat overcast the past few days. We've also drove around most of the island which was a lot if fun. The hills rise rapidly from the sea. Last night it rained and there was thunder and lightning off in the distance. It started off rainy this morning, but it seems sunnier now. Enjoying our leisurely vacation here. I've taken over 1200 photos so far. I feel a little behind. :-D Just kidding.

Made It to Santorini

Finally, we have made it to Greece. Our flight from Athens was about an hour late, but we finally got here yesterday afternoon. There was some more confusion on arrival, as evidently all of the numbers I've gotten to contact this place were wrong _and_ The Blue Angel Villa is basically just a house that we've rented for the week, so the cabbie had no idea where it was. Fortunately, a tourist agency got us a number, so we finally got in. The place is incredible! Two bedrooms and a loft bed, a giant sunken hot tub and another sunken bath, and amazing views of the caldera. The skies are a but hazy, but the town us beautiful. Really looking forward to the next few days.

Puttin' On the Ritz (again)

So, while enjoying a fine breakfast this morning before our day trip up the Bosporus, I check one of my e-mail accounts only to find that Yahoo Travel has chosen today (I guess the previous day relative to the CA time zone) that the airline which was supposed to have taken us to Santorini tomorrow has changed our flight status to "unconfirmed." and that I have 48 hours to clear things up with them. Good thing I have Internet access here! So, long story short(er), Olympic had cancelled our flight for tomorrow and if I want to roll the dice and cancel all our flights in Greece for the rest of the trip and gamble that the walkup price is less (fat chance) I can do that, otherwise I have take the next flight they can offer me and suck up the extra night in Istanbul.

Edit: iPhone ran out of juice. Rebooked the flight for Friday and we got another night at the Ritz. I got an answering machine at the next hotel, so hopefully they understand the situation. All things being equal, the Ritz is a fine place to hole up. Costs notwithstanding, the service is superior to anything I've ever had. Going to check out Topkapi Palace momentarily.