Mission Completed

Had our annual Christmas dinner Saturday. It was a lot less crazy than last year: only 14 guests instead of 25 or whatever it was. I actually found the seating to be fairly reasonable. I was in the kitchen a lot cooking for the first part of the evening, but it was a tenderloin roast, so it wasn't too awfully demanding. The roast actually got done roughly around the time the last guests showed up, so it came out of the oven just about perfectly done. It must have been good because most of it got eaten. A nine pound roast is a lot bigger than one might think it would be. Also prepared a couple of pies and some cookies which were also popular. There was much merrymaking and a good time was had by all. Sunday was a _much_ more laid back day than Saturday, after all the excitement that had been building up. Derek stayed over because he is currently sans car, so we took him home Sunday afternoon. We went out last night and saw the animated Christmas Carol in 3D which was quite good despite Jim Carey starring. He was a lot more restrained than he could have been, considering his resume. Now back to work, which hopefully is going to be nice and quite for the next couple of weeks.

May B-Day Pix

(click for more pictures)

Here are some pictures from the BBQ we had to celebrate the May birthdays this year.

Busy Weekend

Friday night we drove a million miles to Concord to see Duran Duran. They're actually still holding up pretty well after all these years. They trotted out all the hits (except "New Moon On Monday").

Saturday was spent cleaning up the house and working outdoors in preparation for the BBQ on Sunday. Both lawns got mowed and the plants generally got cared for.

Sunday we had about 30-35 people over for a BBQ to celebrate all of our friends' birthdays for the month of May. It started out as a small gathering for a couple friends, but it kind of got out of control. People got see our newly painted interior walls and the bookcases we put up in the living room (the spring remodeling project) to house the Video Collection of Doom (fills two Billy™ bookcases). We had a fire in the fireplace outside as it was a bit chilly towards the end of the afternoon. This was a bit unusual as normally when we have people over it's really hot. Anyway, everybody seemed to have a splendid afternoon, so it was well worth the preparation. Then a number of us went out to see Iron Man. Good times!

They Say It's Your Birthday!

Happy Birthday to me! A bunch of friends had me out for dinner last Thursday at the Kyoto Palace, where I had way too much sake to drink to celebrate thirty-seven years of me. It's a Japanese steak house type place, like Benihana. We got fried rice shaped like a heart and a fried onion volcano, and our cook tried to bounce fried chicken into our mouths. Our table wasn't very good at catching them. And I got a really, really tasty steak (The Shogun). I was very happy to have so many folks come out and celebrate my birthday. It was a good night out.

The next morning was a bit rough though. Had to get over some stomach crankiness which was probably sake related.

Richard Branson Leaving Virgin America Party

VA Party

So tonight Virgin American threw a party at Ruby Skye and it's sister club, Slide (which amusingly enough has a real slide in its entrance) because their first flights flew today. Since Noelle works there, I got to go. It was an interesting experience, since usually I'm there for some electronic band or a dj and it's a lot dirtier. Tonight all the waitresses and bartenders were dressed like VA flight crew. The food was quite tasty and the open wet bar was great (although I didn't partake much since I figured I'd be driving). I forgot to bring earplugs and was punished for my incompetance. They had an illusionist (not loud) and the band Cold War Kids played (too loud). (Sir) Richard Branson was there to congratulate the troops. Noelle was trying to take a picture from the curb (we stepped out for some air and nicotine, depending on who you were) and got smootched by Sir Richard. I wish I could have gotten a shot of that. Also appearing were a number of Web 2.0 type nerds including Tim O'Reilly. He gave Noelle a moon pie. Weird night, but reasonably entertaining. And good snacks.

July 4th Recovery

Whew, I am finally feeling a little less tired after the big Transformers movie/Independence Day BBQ. Noelle and I had around 30 people over to see the fruits of our labors on the house and back yard and to partake in our barbeque feast. Noelle manned the grill and I made sure people had enough sangria, food, etc. Well, I did until about the fourth mojito. Then my recollection becomes fuzzier. Of course that was the day that it was fiendishly hot out. Thankfully we have a covered patio and Noelle even had an excuse to break out her pavillion style sun shade. After three hours or so of food, drink, and general merriment, about half of us went over to Saratoga 14 to see Transformers, the Movie. Given the generally poor quality of Michael Bay's movies, this was like watching Shakespeare in comparison. The human lead was generally engaging as a character and the transformer animations were spectacular. There were a lot of jump cuts and shaky-cam style shots that prevented you from seeing most of the details of the transformations, but I think that added to the mystery. After getting out of the (strangely) hot theater, we went downtown to watch fireworks. Other than being surrounded by a sea of hot, annoying humans, the fireworks show was great! All in all, a great July 4th. But exhausting. I was dragging all day yesterday. I feel much better now. Is it the weekend yet?

Weekend Update

Another busy, busy weekend, although I got out with Noelle and did some fun stuff instead of just working the whole time.

Friday Night: Went with Noelle to see TMNT, which was pleasantly much less lame than I feared it might be. I never really cared much for the cartoon show, but the movie was moderately entertaining. The main story, about an immortal general trying to bring back his cursed siblings, was a lot better than I expected. The main reason I went was the trailer they showed at Comic-Con last year, which was fairly impressive. The turtle animation was great. The human animation was ok (and looked inspired by the Incredibles or Jimmy Neutron). I really liked the environment animations, which had a softly lit, radiosity-ish look to them. Anyway, it wasn't Shakespeare or anything but entertaining nontheless.

Saturday morning Noelle and I went to a couple of nurseries. We got an orange tree and a plethora of rose bushes at the Almaden Valley Nursery. Then we took an exciting trip up to Yerba Buena Nursery , which specializes in California native plants. I got a Ceanothus (wild lilac), a California Buckeye, and a bunch of new irises (different colors than the ones I already have) for the house. Landscapers are coming next week, woot!

Saturday night a bunch of us went to a party at the Porn Palace, which was a fundraiser for Cam's bar that he operates (with some other folks) at Burning Man. I was the DD so I got to people watch, which was quite entertaining since it was a sort of a goth party, complete with lots of vinyl and leather costumes (and one dude who looked like he escaped from the set of Tron), NIN remixes, a bondage equipment museum, chains hanging from the ceiling and beams, poles for pole dancing, and public floggings. Or as they call it in SF: Saturday Night. It was all very fun, but I was really tired by the time I drove everyone home.

Sunday we slept in and then got up to paint around most of the windows that I got put in a few weeks ago. We got most of it done by the afternoon (we were trying to get them all done ahead of the rain that came in the past couple of days). Then Noelle, Wendy, and I went up to the Flower and Garden Show at the Cow Palace in SF, which really kicked the ass of the ones I went to back in Maine. Almost got out of there without buying anything until the very last minute, when I caved and got some ludicrously priced windchimes. Drove Wendy home and then Noelle and I had a nice dinner at PF Changs.

Very tiring. At some point I look forward to the phase 1 projects being done (which they will be once the landscapers finish up next week).