The Myth: September 2004

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Thursday, September 30

Tastes Great, Less Crowded

I was poking around SFGate.com and discovered that they have a decent wine section, complete with this glowing review of the Lodi wine AVA.

posted by Brad at 9/30/2004 07:05:00 PM | permalink | 0 comments

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Monday, September 27

ElecSHON

Hur T:

I'll never forget losing an election in 3rd grade because my competitor offered Pixy Stix to everyone who promised to vote for him. I wonder if the Kerry campaign can afford to buy a Pixy Stick x the population of TX?

posted by Brad at 9/27/2004 03:19:00 PM | permalink | 0 comments

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Sunday, September 26

Yo! Semite!

It's been nearly a week since we got back, and I'm finally getting around to sharing some pictures from the weekend - shame on me...

We had a good time that weekend, and it sounds like the same group will do it all over again next May - when the famous Yosemite waterfalls are going full throttle. I must admit that it was a trip to see snow in mid-September, especially with someone (from Brazil) who has never seen it before!

The past week has been a fun one - I get to replace my windshield after being attacked my a mysterious invisible rock (or was it a stray bullet?) So that's awesome, as well as the fact that I've managed to lose my PDA :(

I spent most of yesterday tooling around wine country with Brian, a friend from college who is now an IBM consultant based in LA. He took a wine tasting course at the U of M, so it was great to taste with someone who knows quite a bit more than I do about wine, grapes, viticulture... you get the idea.

The Packers lost, but having Peyton Manning & Reggie Wayne on my fantasy football team translates to completely pwnz0ring the entire league this week with over 200 points. The Goofer football team is 4-0 and probably already penciled in for this year's Alamo Bowl...

posted by Brad at 9/26/2004 07:30:00 PM | permalink | 0 comments

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Friday, September 24

BlogThis! - SoYouWanna...

I had sushi again for lunch today, that's twice since we dined with Missy & Tim a couple weeks ago. This could turn into an expensive habit...

As DK (of DKOKS fame) and I were discussing sashimi, maki and nigiri, he sent me a link to SoYouWanna.com, which had an excellent primer course on the Japanese delicacy.

While I haven't checked out any of their other topics, this one was so well written and helpful that I'll be sure to come back next time I need to learn something "nobody taught me in school."

posted by Brad at 9/24/2004 04:23:00 PM | permalink | 0 comments

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Tuesday, September 21

DKOKS: Free Ice Cream

ALERT! ACHTUNG! TODAY ONLY! BAL33T! AL3RT!

Free cones are good, but Chocolate eXtreme Blizzards are much bettAr...

posted by Brad at 9/21/2004 12:33:00 PM | permalink | 1 comments

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Which is exactly why they can afford to give away free cones. Once you get there, you'll decide: Damn! I don't want no stupid free cone, I want the mega chocolate blizzard!

By Unknown, at 9/22/2004 8:07 AM

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Homestarrunner.com Emoticons

If you like HSR and use MSN, these might come in handy...

posted by Brad at 9/21/2004 11:30:00 AM | permalink | 0 comments

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BlogThis! - Back to Back to Back

Nice work.

posted by Brad at 9/21/2004 11:27:00 AM | permalink | 0 comments

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Monday, September 20

BlogThis! - Shame of the City

I was trying to get the facts on the $400/month allowance that San Francisco pays its homeless, and ended up here. I was so moved by the first photo gallery that I decided to share.

Photo galleries are links on the lower right column...

posted by Brad at 9/20/2004 10:55:00 AM | permalink | 1 comments

1 Comments:

And to think that the $400 that they give them a month goes to drugs...sad... - Susan

By Anonymous, at 9/21/2004 9:51 AM

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According to Jim...

There were 65,000 people at the DMB concert in Golden Gate Park. Below is a pano shot of the show, Photomerged from 4 pictures I snapped...

Oh, here's a few more pictures and a movie, brought to you by a new toy I've been playing with named Picasa.

posted by Brad at 9/20/2004 12:43:00 AM | permalink | 0 comments

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Friday, September 17

CEO Training

I just spent the last half hour autographing 300 letters to plant retirees for this year's United Way campaign. It brought back fond memories of sitting in school, filling an entire sheet of looseleaf paper with my signature - no doubt in preparation for the day I become CEO and have to sign stuff a lot. They do sign stuff a lot, right?

To make myself super productive, I wore one of those rubber thumb condoms - it's ribbed for the paper's pleasure you know. Using protection was a fantastic idea, because I escaped the ordeal with only minor paper cuts to the corners of my mouth. The only problem is that my left thumb is all sweaty now, and seems to have developed a distinctive odor…

Time to go mail merge 300 envelopes - woohoo! I enjoy this kind of stuff WAY too much - my mom can testify to how much I used to love spending time in office supply stores. Maybe I should be an executive secretary or something?

posted by Brad at 9/17/2004 11:45:00 AM | permalink | 0 comments

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Wednesday, September 15

Schwinng!

A whole month early, Susan bought me a birthday present.

A whole day later, I chipped in and upgraded to the illustrious S-25:

So that's fun. As was our weekend in SF with Missy y Tim, including the record 1/2 hour trip to Ikea and our maiden voyage in the Sea of Sushi. We got some moderate sunburn on our faces during our stay in Golden Gate park, and Susan consequently "loves our color!"

We've been compiling a list of "every thing you might ever want to pack for just about any trip," and have come up with about 120 bare essentials so far. How about this for an easy audience participation - what is some obsure thing that you thing we might have forgotten to include? Muchas gracias.

Now Playing: Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica

posted by Brad at 9/15/2004 12:05:00 AM | permalink | 3 comments

3 Comments:

How about dental floss? Jan

By Anonymous, at 9/15/2004 5:15 PM

How about a nail clipper or a patch kit for your air mattress? Rebecca

By Anonymous, at 9/16/2004 7:10 AM

first aid kit with a little of everything...it has protected me on every trip so far! Mom

By Anonymous, at 9/16/2004 10:50 PM

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Tuesday, September 14

DKOKS: Office Poop

Introducing "DKOKS," which is the clever acronym I just invented to represent links that Dmitry Kopylov suggests. Get it? D.K. okays? Nevermind...

Since we all know how much I like to talk about poop, here's a handy guide for how to poop in the office.

posted by Brad at 9/14/2004 06:36:00 PM | permalink | 0 comments

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Saturday, September 11

Fixed Ze Pics

My computer is having all sorts of unhappiness issues right now, and IIS is uninstalled. I copied the photo gallery from last week to this server, so it is now available here.

Susan and I spent Friday evening at "Lincoln Center Live!" - which was highlighted by a karaoke competition, live music, dinner at Ernie's, and charity wine tasting:

We also tasted a Pinot Grigio and two Blossom Hill wines, but you've probably had your fill of links (plus I couldn't find any). Apparently the winemaker at Casa Lapostolle is Emily Mariner, from the same family that makes tasty Grand Mariner.

As soon as Target releases her, we are headed to the big city to visit Missy & Tim. Tommorow is the big DMB concert in Golden Gate Park, which should be good times. According to Let's Go San Francisco, it's the largest urban park in the United States. Central what?

Now Playing: Dave Matthews Band - The Central Park Concert

posted by Brad at 9/11/2004 04:48:00 PM | permalink | 0 comments

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Friday, September 10

BlogThis! - Google Groups 2 Beta

Not sure how long it's been out, but today I discovered a beta version of Google Groups. The interface reminds me of Gmail, apparently this is the future of Google?

If you're ever having a hard time finding what you're looking for using a traditional search, give the groups a try - there's something like 800 million messages just ripe for the pickin'

posted by Brad at 9/10/2004 05:31:00 PM | permalink | 0 comments

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Brad, The Bringer of Awesomeness

Tonight was my first taste of the sweet sweet nectar that is the Stockon Symphony. I'm pretty sure that I was the last person to actually purchase a ticket, which afforded me the stellar opportunity to sit next to a sweaty orchestra fan in the last row of the upper deck. That alone was worth the $7.50 price of admission - thank you University of Minnesota student ID for the 50% discount...

In addition to Stravinsky's Fireworks and Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, they performed Gustav Holst's "The Planets," which is near and dear to my heart as I played two of the more popular movements (Mars & Jupiter) in my more musical days. I often wish that I was playing el Trombone on a regular basis, but I wonder what I would have to spend less time on in order to make time for it..

Sleeping? You've got to be kidding.
Eating? I might choke!
Working? Now you're talking...
Susaning? I doubt she'd let me get away with that.
Blogging? Heaven forbid.

Now Playing: Chris Whitley - Rocket House

posted by Brad at 9/10/2004 12:46:00 AM | permalink | 0 comments

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Wednesday, September 8

BlogThis! - Mad Gun Disease

...gun manufacturers are poised to roll out their holiday lines of assault weapons...

I couldn't help but click the little orange BlogThis! button after reading that quote, from an article in tomorrow's Washington Post. Didn't you know that The Myth was the place to get your news before they actually print it?

Anyways, I think it is completely ridiculous that Dubya wouldn't push for this bill. Are there really that many potential voters who he would offend by doing so? I find said proposition hard to believe...

posted by Brad at 9/08/2004 11:29:00 PM | permalink | 0 comments

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Monday, September 6

Larson, Larson, Larson & Gierok

Susan's parents and seestor spent the past several days in sunny (HOT) California - it was great to see them and spend an action-packed Labor Day weekend diddling around the area. The whirlwind has left me rather exhaused, but I'm afraid of forgetting some of the details if I don't get them down soon. Commence brain dumping...

Jan and Rich arrived on Tuesday evening, as Susan and I were on our way up to see Jason Mraz and Dave Matthews Band in Marysville. It was a great show, except for the whole driving home until 1 AM thing. While was out winning bread, Susan and her parents spent Wednesday together - details are foggy since I wasn't there, maybe she will have to start a blog to tell you all ab00t it?

After successfully locking Susan's parents out of the house while we were "stuck at work" on Thursday, we eventually united and rolled up to Sacramento for a nice dinner at Paragarys before picking Becca (seestor) up from the airport. Susan had to work on Friday, so I filled the nice boyfriend role and entertained her family with a trip to Van Ruiten Vineyards in Lodi. After a nice tour and probably too much wine, we ended up at the School Street Bistro for lunch. After reuniting the family, we didstuffthatIcan'trecall and whipped up some beefburgers for dinner - hooray for the $5 cookbook from Michael's.

We left early Saturday morning for San Francisco, where we filled the day with:

Riding the carousel on Pier 39
Listening to sea lions do their thing as they battled for control of precious dock space
Coitus in the Tower on Telegraph Hill
Trying to enjoy a "Cold Horlick" in Chinatown
Climbing 260 ft. redwood trees in Muir Woods National Park

Sunday brought a trip to the Napa/Sonoma wine country. We started with a free tasting at Viansa, which was great - except for the old ladies trying to elbow you out of your spot at the wine bar. On to Turnbull, where they were infintely more hospitable and got some of our money to show for it. We hopped up the road to the Niebaum-Coppola estate (yes, that Coppola) to check out the million dollar staircase from Belize. Since Rich is a sucker for dessert wines, we made a trip to Prager Port - home of the oldest web site on the Internet and some sweet, sweet Claire.

We spent some time in Old Sacramento today before returning Becca to the airport from which she came. If it wouldn't have been so damn hot, we would have probably enjoyed our time a bit more. They have a candy store where you can have free samples while you "shop," which brought back somewhat fond memories of the tiny store in Oak Creek where the Nazi owner would make you stand by the door after you've made your sugary selections under her watchful eye.

I hope I didn't miss too much, but anyone reading this who wasn't part of the weekend festivities probably hit their head on the keyboard in boredom some time ago. For a more visual experience, check out the pictures.

Now Playing: J.S. Bach - Brandenburg Concertos (Academy of Ancient Music)

posted by Brad at 9/06/2004 11:15:00 PM | permalink | 1 comments

1 Comments:

Hi Brad,
I am anxious to see your pictures but everytime I click on the link I get a message that page cannot be found. Is there another way to view them? Thanks again for the fun vacation.
Jan

By Anonymous, at 9/10/2004 9:28 PM

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Saturday, September 4

BlogThis! - 9/11 Pentagon Attack

Personally, I find it all too easy to forget about the fact that nearly 200 people died in Washington DC on 9/11, since so much of the focus (and damage) was in Manhattan. I'm not sure why Michael didn't make this "BlogWorthy," but it's mos def worth a peek.

I was thoroughly confused by the end of the Flashtasticness, but the good folks at About.com brought me back to earth a bit. While I can't say that I've ever heard of any 9/11 conspiracy theories, having written two research papers on JFK's assassination makes me a sucker for this kind of stuff...

posted by Brad at 9/04/2004 01:41:00 AM | permalink | 0 comments

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Thursday, September 2

BlogThis - WMP10

I have this little situaSHON that I like to call "I've got close to 50 GB of music but my iPod only holds 20." As a result, I can't put my entire collection into iTunes since it will run out of space when trying to sync with said iPod.

I think that the brand spankin' new Windows Media Player 10 might be the solution, becoming my "desktop" player, while iTunes keeps Mr. iPod up to date...

Is there a better way?

posted by Brad at 9/02/2004 02:43:00 PM | permalink | 3 comments

3 Comments:

It troubles me that biggest problem you blog about is whether or not your mp3s fit on your iPod. Cheers to that, though! I mean I like your (and now my) mp3s.

By Anonymous, at 9/02/2004 3:32 PM

Funny you should ask that... of COURSE there is an elegant solution to that problem... would you expect anything else from Apple? Here you go... and for all you fellow iPodders, this may help you too. When you plug in your iPod, it will show up in the "Playlist" pane in iTunes. If you right-click on that icon, you should be able to select "iPod options". In the following window, you can have your iPod sync everything, just selected playlists, OR only "checked" songs. By using the last option, you can keep all of your 'tunes in iTunes, but not be faced with the horrible thing that Bradley is: switching FROM iTunes to WMP. {shudder}

Happy iPodding!

By MICHAEL, at 9/02/2004 4:57 PM

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I'm Cold

I never thought I would be blogging from a server rack, but that's exactly what's going down right now. I'm waiting for a backup on our Lucent server to start running, and decided to pass the time by "chilling out" in this room that is a brisk 65 degrees. Apparently if the A/C ever broke down, this room would be over 90 degrees in a matter of minutes, which is apparently a bad thing for sensitive computers. I say they should start making 'em tougher.

Spent yesterday afternoon at Micke Grove Golf Links, which was a nice course for the stellar bargain of $16 (included 18 hole greens fees, power cart and beverage). My attempt at the first tee was a full swing whiff - I can't even recall the last time that happened. It must have been a good omen, as I went on to shoot a 44 with 19 putts. Even more impressive is the fact that I carded two 44's in a row, if you include the 2nd 9 holes at Swenson with my papa.

It looks like the backup is running OK, I'm going to stop babysitting it for now...

posted by Brad at 9/02/2004 02:06:00 PM | permalink | 0 comments

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Wednesday, September 1

BlogThis! - Gophers on Long Island

I'm pretty excited to see a former Golden Gopher hockey player on my 2nd favorite NHL team...

posted by Brad at 9/01/2004 04:12:00 PM | permalink | 0 comments

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