devBear.com

Waiting in line for an iPhone 3G S

Outside the Emeryville Bay St Apple Store

Chill-axin' by the Pool (long weekend in Miami)

New incase Power Slider Case

I've decided to hold off (at least for now -- we'll see how long that lasts) on getting the new iPhone 3G S. Instead I walked out to the Apple Store today and picked up the incase Power Slider. It has got some interestingly divergent reviews from totally-rockin' to sucky, but given bad experiences (case in point: Christyxcore) with the competitor Mophie Juice Pack Air, I decided to go with the Power Slider. The main complaint others have is the loss of reception, and since my reception already seems pretty bad, it could be horrible, but I'm willing to risk it. I'll let you know how it goes.

Daily Candy: Madsen Cycles

Daily Candy pointed towards Madsen Cycles today, a company that makes this cool cargo bike. The big bin can tow a whole lot (can trasport like 600 lbs... pretty sure I cannot bike with 600 lbs). They're also giving 2 away July 15 to twitter followers and to those who link to their site.

Spotted at Fair Oak Park Festival

iTunes DJ

I have a lot of music, but a lot of it seems to have gone missing when I lost an iPod that I was keeping all of it on. Or rather, I have most of that on CDs but I am going to have to find them and rip all 300 again. In the meantime I have about 6 GB of music on my computer (most of the older music I have is not on here unless I repurchased it out of frustration.). But Now that I have 6 GBs again I thought I'd finally do that Random iTunes 15 songs thing and see what comes up.

• "Witness" - The Beekeper - Tori Amos
• "Amazing Grace" -Living in Clip [Live] - Ani DiFranco
• "Let's Never Stop Falling in Love" - Mr & Mrs. Smith soundtrack - Pink Martini
• "Just Lose It" - Curtain Call (Deluxe Explicit) - Eminem
• "King (Bonus Track) - Weezer Red Album- Weezer
• "If I Could" - In Between Dreams - Jack Johnson
• "Underwear" - 69 Love Songs Vol 3 - The Magnetic Fields
• "Rise Up" - All That We Let In - Indigo Girls
• "They Don't Want Music" - Monkey Business - Black Eyed Peas
• "Do What You Want to Do"  - Sing Along With Acid House Kings - Acid House Kings
• "This Love (Acoustic)" - Soungs About Jane - Maroon 5
• "Milk (Massive Attack Remix)" - Absolute Garbage - Garbage
• "I Looked All Over Town" - i - The Magnetic Fields
• "Do They Know It's Christmas" - Do They Know It's Christmas - BandAid
• "Stan" - Curtain Call (Deluxe Explicit) - Eminem & Elton John
• "Warning Sign" - The Last Kiss soundtrack - Coldplay

Out of that list it turns out I am not actually sure what ~1/3 of them actually are... probably have listened to them all at least 1x. (OK that is 16 songs because I included the one that was actually playing at the time).

I hit the refresh button a couple of times to see what else would come up. Some of the same artists come up again and again because I seem to have a lot of their tracks in my current collection (Jack Johnson, Tori Amos, Maroon 5) but others are also there (Les Miz soundtrack, The Killers, Smoking Popes, Soft Cell, Grey Eye Glances, The Beatles, etc.). Kind of fun. I should probably use this more as a way to actually figure out what is in my music collection.

Sale Pending

Front of house

We finally heard back from the seller -- and it seems we did get the house. Just spoke to our real estate agent, and he has all the paperwork, so we are good to go! W00t! So, after dinner I stopped by the house. Can't be inside yet, but I took some pictures outside. This is a picture of the front of the house -- the garage is on the left (by the fence) and the house is on the right. The house isn't very exciting from the front, but at least there's a nice front yard.

 Back of house

This is the back yard of the new house. I didn't take this picture but I do think it's a better view of the back that the one I took walking around in the yard. From this side you can see the first floor (walk out basement), the main floor and deck, and the loft.

Das Poop (street graffiti)

Chalk Drawing Outside Gregoire Restaurant

Paraplegic dog: Close-up of his rear wheels

Quickie review of Corso

Early dinner tonight at Corso (skipped lunch). The Bellini al Corso was great, quite sweet though, so avoid if sweet is not your thing. Mozzarella burrata was creamy -- the filling was different than I expected, not the best I have ever had, but went well with the pinenuts and oil on the plate. The t-bone steak (they didn't have the fried rabbit, which is what I was dying for) was expensive, large, and overcooked. Menu said medium rare, but it was definitely more like medium or even medium well except for close to the bone where it was ok. I did bring the extras home, but it's too bad Bellodawg can't eat them anymore. The polenta with marscapone was great though... not even really heavy at all, light fluffy airy and creamy somehow all at once. I still like Corso, thumbs up, but I'll be passing on the steak next time in favor of a pasta, a pizza, or maybe the rabbit, if it's there.

farmer brown: $15 brunch

Who knew you could get a good, all-you-can-eat brunch in SF for just $15? And I don't mean an Indian buffet -- which, don't get me wrong, is good in its own right -- but just isn't a Western brunch.

Or, in this case, a Southern brunch. Comfort food all the way. Hit farmer brown with Mosspink today after taking Bellodawg for a walk and swim at Crissy Field. Brunch is all-you-can-eat fried chicken, bacon, scrambled eggs, pancakes, potatoes, biscuits and grits. There may have been something else, but I can't recall. Plus, they also have (for extra) bottomless mimosas, sweet tea, lemonade... we had Arnold Palmers (sweet tea + lemonade). (also really liked the atmosphere)

And, I found out during the brunch that we got the house we bid on. Big YAY! And Mosspink was the one who referred us to the real estate agent! So I will probably have really fond memories of the restaurant.

Dinner @ adesso in Oakland

Played with my new camera at an enjoyable dinner at Adesso in Oakland. I had a couple of cocktails -- their Pisco Sour and a Grapefruit Gimlet -- along with the selection of finger foods and other antipasti they offer for free during happy hour (5-7 pm MTWThF, plus a 10:30-11:30 pm or so time I never expect to be awake for). Pictured above -- the duck salume with Meyer lemon and... something I forget.
The picture looks way better full-sized (click to view).

Early lunch

Working at home today and spotted a box of Annie's Creamy Deluxe Mac & Cheese. Actually I think they are officially "elbows" but since I have always been partial to Kraft's blue box, I always call it mac & cheese. Even when I make it from scratch with different cheese and different pasta.

Red Velvet Cupcake from Sprinkles