The pressure has been on for a few weeks now at work. We are expected to make our mass production date in time to support the rollout of this brand-new satellite service we've been working on since the beginning of the year, which is Oct 1. Last weekend I worked on Saturday, helping out the development team do some upgrades to some of the existing boxes and then all week we had daily morning status meetings. The VP described it as "We're jumping off a ten story building and hoping that the guys on the ground can assemble the trampoline before we hit the ground."



Personally I think we're going to splat into the sidewalk.



The band rehearsed with Mark now that he's back from vacation on Friday. We played a long time and were exhausted when we finished. I think we'll get it together in time for the boat cruise; so far there are 300 people signed up for the user conference (which the boat cruise is a part of). We decided to stretch out one particular song to allow the audience members who want to play along with us to do so under controlled situations and not just do a pointless jam that bores everyone to tears (like last year, except mark and I went to get beers while it was going on.).



I went for two bike rides during the week last week and then worked on the yard yesterday and went to the beach for a swim late this afternoon.



I attended my first of 4 sessions on "Creative Photography" at the Encinitas campus of Mira Costa College. I am not very impressed though. First, the class catalog says you MUST be familiar with your camera and its settings, but a lot of the people there had new cameras (because they decided they wanted to "get into" photography, probably) and had no idea what they were doing. Nice cameras, too, nicer than mine in a LOT of cases. There is a couple in the class who have matching very expensive digital SLRs but they at least talk a good game. As for the instructor, well, I have yet to decide if I have any respect for her. 1. She is French, which by and of itself is not a problem except for; 2. Our first class was Thursday, September 11, 2003. During a discussion of when we want to do a field trip she actually asked the class, "What date is it today?" Also, while we had a discussion of f stop and shutter speed and film speed and the like, there was no discussion of the physics of what is going on. Why does the depth of field change with aperture? Well, who cares, we just need to know that it does.



I hate that kind of approach.



The field trip is going to be to Horton Plaza, but she also said we don't have to go. I immediately decided I wouldn't. Since Horton Plaza is private property and so we have to get permission from the management but there's always one asshole security guard who didn't get the memo and with my luck he'll find me first. So I'll probably go to O'side pier to shoot my stuff.

Lots of stuff to cover today.



The car (my poor 6.5 year old car) had to get a new alternator and two drive belts this week. I am now on the edge of getting a new one. I am torn between getting a used Jag and buying a new, socially responsible Toyota Prius.



I bought a mountain bike the other day and have been learning how to ride it. Riding an MTB is totally dfferent from riding a road bike. I like it but I have been struggling with the fit of the bike and the clip-in shoes. Practie makes perfect, I suppose.



The band rehearsed last night as a three piece since one of my guitar players is on vacation. it was OK, but I really prefer 2 guitars since we aren't loud enough to fill in the empty spaces otherwise. I have decided to get a floor tuner and some sort of bass signal processor and possibly even a bigger amp. My Carvin sounds great but it's just a little overwhelmed at higher volumes.



I saw a great show earlier this week; my friend Michael Miller opened for daniel lanois at the Coach House in SJC. Joe was in Michael's band and they put on a great peformance except for the sound. The sound guy was asleep at the switch (what is it with me and shows with bad sound lately?) and they sounded pretty bad for the first half of the set. Low level but extreme vocal distoryion with any vocal energy input by Michael. The crowd was with them though and really responded to them. I was very hapy for them in the end. Joe came by after his performance and we had a quick chat and then it was time for Daniel Lanois. Another great show. it's amazing what less than $20 can get you as far as great entertainment and great music.



The trip is coming up soon; 6 weeks or so. I am looking forward to it and I hope it all works out the way I want it to.

It's been a while since I wrote anything.



The Beatles night at Lake Arrowhead was fantastic. We had a great great time up there. The band was spectacular but they were let down by the support staff - the MC and the sound system. The MC does not know how to relate to a crowd or properly introduce a rock and roll band. The sound system was overtaxed and blew a component at the start of the third song and so for a while it was pretty bad sounding. The guys didn't know about it until Joe went into the crowd to dance with his wife and some friends. The video backdrop was great, though. It really made the second half of the show come alive. I taped a majority of the show this time and have it on two DVDs. My time with L was wonderful, too.



I took Natacha out for her birthday; we went to dinner and saw "Julius Caesar" at the Old Globe and then last weekend we went for a hike with Friendly but he got too hot so we had to turn back. It WAS pretty hot, too.



We had a big neighborhood party at Floyd and Kathy's last night which was pretty fun. Lots of food. Natacha came over and then later Ed, Gretchen and a surprise guest in the person of Todd.



I decided to invite my parents and my aunt and uncle to Rome for a week in October. We all pulled together good itineraries for excellent prices. We are staying at a 5 star apartment near a metro stop and a taxi stand. THis shold be fun!



I am considering whether to pick up a digital camera; I am torn since I already have LOTS of photo gear, but the appeal of digital is very strong to me now. I have done a fair amount of research and I know which one i want to get; it's just a matter of will I get it or not?

Last night was the big Counting Crows and John Mayer concert down at Coors Amphitheater. Turns out it was a co-headliner tour with John as the last act and the owner of the light system.



I had a decent time; the Crows were pretty good (the drummer was really good) but htey were only on stage for 75 minutes or so, which disappointed a few of the group we were with. Half of the group got up and left because they didn't like John Mayer. My argument of "We paid $56 for these tickets, maybe we should get the most of our money by watching this guy" was not considered. Later I went to the Counting Crows site were it was clear that they were co-headlining so there shouldn't have been any issues.



I went for a hike today and slept this afternoon and am looking ahead to next weekend in Lake Arrowhead with great anticipation.

It's Tour de France time again. The Outdoor Life Network is covering it every day, which is great.



I went on vacation last week and had a great time. This time it was a tropical sit-on-the-beach time in Mexico. I took a few photos and while I am pleased with them the last few are marred with an eyelash/eyebrow hair that basically ruins the image. I might be able to get them cleaned up via some custom finishing if I decide to go that route. I can also clean them up in Photoshop.

Something I posted on the Peter Gabriel website the night of his show in Orange County:



I've just returned from the "LA" show which is really in Orange County at what used to be called Irvine Meadows but is now Verizon Amphitheater. Same set list as Shoreline Amphitheater show.



Good show, but not a great show. It took a while for the audience to get going and some members of the audience were unhappy with the sound level (not loud enough).



The band was excellent, but I have to say Melanie Gabriel is no Paula Cole. The set list was disappointing to me personally. I've been a "true believer" in PG for over 20 years. The show he did on the "Security" tour at the Universal Amphitheater in LA in 1982 stands as the greatest show I've ever seen. I so hoped he'd use this tour as an opportunity to bring back some great stuff from the Peter Gabriel Plays Live era, but it was not to be. "Family Snapshot" would have been great to hear, as would "No Self Control." Even "San Jacinto" would have been awesome to hear live.



The opening act was good but I would have preferred no opener and have PG play for an extra 30 minutes to get all those great old ones back in the set; "Sledgehammer" might be a big hit and "So" might be what brought him the audience he has today, but I wish I wish I wish...



I was of course almost immediately flamed by members of the "Cult of Peter" who probably never heard of him until "Sledgehammer" but oh well. Funny though that the next day a few others posted similar wistful opinions and weren't flamed.

I have been neglecting my house lately and it has retaliated.



I went for a great hike yesterday and then worked on my roses, which are suffering from every unhealthy condition a rose can suffer from. I bought a combination insecticide/fungicide/mildewcide and sprayed it on and then added a ground-based disease preventer. I trimmed the bushes back to near-nothing and hopefully they will spring back healthy and happy.



Today I worked on the front sprinklers. I'll have to do to them what I had to do to the back set; replace the valves and re-wire. Fortunately I have plenty of wire this time.



We had a neighborhood party today which was fun. I dragged my monster PA out and we had tunes in the driveway and the street. My party is next weekend. Una amica Italiana called me yesterday to wish me a happy birthday and to enjoy my party; I'd forgotten to tell my Italian friends that I'd changed the date so she was one week early. It was great to hear from her, though and we had a good conversation.