Yesterday, there was a free festival at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Garden. Rae and I were looking forward to a performance by Xeno — think punk Cirque du Soleil — but were disappointed when their act was cancelled. I’m not sure why; instead of flying acrobatics and twirling fire sticks, we got a comedian (Robert Turner was his name?)
Tonight’s COBA meeting featured a presentation on fireworks photography and large format printers. I wrote a bit about fireworks in this entry and spoke to the group about general techniques for shooting fireworks. Instead of rehashing what I said, here are some links with good photos and techniques:
Lucas Pereira has calculated the gradients of numerous Bay Area climbs, including my mainstays Old La Honda and Montebello Road. I’ve always wondered how these classic climbs compare to those in the Tour de France. Does anyone know how the category system for climbs is defined? Would Old La Honda be a Category 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, or Beyond Category climb? Compared to the climbs in the Alps and Pyrenees, the Bay Area doesn’t seem to have climbs that are both long and steep; it’s usually one or the other.
Update: July 15, 2005: I think I found a source on the Internet for Check it out!categorized Bay Area Climbs. Check it out and think about these HC climbs when you’re huffing and puffing up Montebello and Old La Honda!
How would a professional cyclist do up Montebello Road, a 5.30 mile (8.53 km) climb with an average gradient of 6.9% and max grades of 16%? The fastest I’ve gone up that hill is just about 39:30, and I remember being at my limit. If pros rode twice as fast as me, they could climb Montebello in a smoking 20 minutes!
There used to be a series of organized rides called the Low-Key Hillclimbs. I don’t see any mention of it in the 2000’s, so participation must have fizzled out. If I had more time, I’d love to organize a rebirth of this event!
The switch to DSL at the house means no cable, no OLN, and no television coverage of the Tour de France for me this year.
I followed today’s punishing Stage 10 by refreshing three sites with live updates (CyclingNews, VeloNews, and Le Tour). Although it would be more exciting to watch it live, the short dispatches every few minutes kept my imagination running as Armstrong, Valverde, Rasmussen, and Mancebo ran away from the field at Courchevel.
Currently, I’m following these websites:
Are there any other must-visit sites that I’ve missed?
Update July 17, 2005: Found a live audio update from TDFBlog. Copy and paste the below URL into Windows Media Player and stay up-to-date with the race live!
Three weeks ago today, Rae and I got married! Woo hoo! Big thanks to all the friends and family who helped make our wedding day extra special!
We had a tremendous amount of coverage during the wedding. Kudos to everyone who brought their cameras and videocameras to the event! We’re still sorting through all the photos! In the meantime, we’ve created a smugmug gallery for you to browse. We’ve separated the gallery into eight sections.
Jeremy is heading to London next week to start up his company’s European office. He celebrated his impending departure with friends during his annual chili cookout.
The chili was spicy and yummy as before and the lasagna was first-rate. Again, Rae and I supplied the Martinelli’s and Pepsi. We’re down to a few remaining bottles from the wedding!
The July 2005 meeting of the Camera Owners of the Bay Area (COBA) user group will be held on Wednesday, July 13, 2005 at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) from 7:30-10:30 pm.
Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July. If you photographed any of the fireworks celebrations across the Bay Area, bring some prints to the meeting to share with the group!
We will have a brief presentation on equipment and techniques for photographing fireworks. If you didn’t get a chance to shoot them this time, come to the meeting! You’ll be well-prepared next year!
Randy Heilbrunn, Large Format Specialist at HP, will speak on HP’s DesignJet Large Format Printers. His presentation will cover:
We are working on bringing in an HP DesignJet 130 to demonstrate at the meeting. This printer can make prints up to 24″ wide by 50′ long.
Rae and I attended a BBQ at George and Tami’s place in El Cerrito. The usual DR/RT/Wushu crowd was there, along with some of George’s colleagues at Pixar. Cyrus, Bryan, and Phoebus kept the grill going and the food flowing. We brought over leftover Pepsi and Martinelli’s from the wedding.
It was a little nippy up in El Cerrito compared to the searing heat in the South Bay. We got a little sunburned on our 4-hour, 50 mile bike ride on Saturday that took us from Cupertino to Highway 92. It’s amazing to think that the Tour de France riders do more than twice the distance in the same time! They are absolutely flying for three consecutive weeks!
Science Magazine celebrates its 125th anniversary with a series of articles on what we still don’t know.
My favorite? Are We Alone in the Universe? Many a night I’ve lay in bed wondering if, in my lifetime, we’ll ever make contact with or confirm that life exists outside of our blue planet. Recent space exploration on Mars, Titan, and other celestial objects is steering us to the conclusion that no, we are not alone.
I’ve always enjoyed science and thinking about these hard questions. Why I didn’t become a scientific researcher can be attributed directly to Chem 32! Interesting class, but one that made me realize that my destiny was meant for a different path.
While relaxing at home after a 4-hour bike ride that took us from Cupertino to Portola Valley to Highway 92, we found a giant fly in our kitchen. Can anyone identify what kind of fly this is? We think it is a horse fly.
Rae declared him guilty of being gross, so after capturing him in our nets, we sentenced him to a spider web in our backyard to meet his fate. Would that be cruel and unusual punishment?
Update 16:57: Justice has been served. An hour later, a spider emerged from its hiding place and began devouring the poor fly.
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