Dave and Heather's Blog

yeah I know, I'm slacking again. Just so damn busy these days!

Well I was able to finnagle some photos from Heather that were taken fromour trip to Mendocino the weekend before last.

Here are some photos:

Click on the photos for full size images

Heather with Chasie:

Heather and I:

We had a wonderful time there and can't wait to go back. Some of the wineries we hit up:

• Lazy Creek
• Novaro
• Goldeneye (a branch of Duckhorn winery)
• Esterlina
• Scharffenberger Cellars
  

we picked up wine from every winery with the exception of Scharffenberger, we weren't too fond of thier sparkling wines.  The Lazy Creek Syrah is excellent and the Esterlina ports are awsome too!

More to post later!

Posted by Dave at 04:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I've come down with some kind of cold. Not sure how this happened but... I'm also slacking on updating. Some quick things that are upcoming when I get a chance to write.

1. Heather and I spent last weekend in Mendicino and visited various wineries up there.

2. Went to see Legally Blonde the musical. Pretty good.

3. Work is crazy. 

4. I'm sick. Oh that's right, I already mentioned that.

5. Going to Paso Robbles / Pizmo beach this upcoming weekend.

I need some good sleep.... more to come soon, I promise.

Posted by Dave at 03:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Heather and I went to see James Taylor in concert last night. It was actually quite good. I'm not all that familair with his music although a couple of the songs I was able to recognize and his voice is one I've heard in a few places. I just didn't know that voice corresponded that the name until last night. Great music. The guy is a very talented musician. Essentially it was a him with a electric or acoustic guitar strumming and singing along with a pianaist on a full grand with a electronic organ keyboard on top of the grand piano. What was really unexpected to us was how funny he is. in between songs he would sometimes take time to tell these zanny stories and had the crowd laughing quite a bit. A really nice added bonus.

Information about James Taylor (wikipedia) 

Obviously you can't take photos during the show but I brought out my phone and tried to take a shot. Here's what I got (and this is even after some photoshop work to try to pull out more of the image). Apologize that the picture isn't the best, but it's the best I could do with my cell phone in really low light.

James has a small Apple laptop next to him that he would use in between songs to display images on the screen behind him while he would tell stories about how each song was derived. Where, when, and what the song was about prior to performing it. As Heather said, "It's neat to hear where each song came from, we always just have our own idea but it's usually not the same as where it really came from."  James Taylor apparently has a song on the Soundtrack for Pixar's "Cars" as well.

Great great show.  I would go and see him again.

Posted by Dave at 08:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Any got Valentine's day plans? I'm taking Heather to

Le Colonial

which has been compared to Slanted Door. I've been there once before and the place is amazing.  Should be fun. Kind of rough that the day falls on a weekday but what are you going to do. Heather and I both agree that the day is really a marketting ploy by the card, restuarnaunt, candy and flower industry to boost buisness. I was telling her, "If you're the person only does something romantic for your significant other on Valentine's Day, then there are other issues".  Her and realize that this day should not be really all that different from other days unless your significant other's birthday (or anneversary) falls on the same day in which case you better plan ahead big time.

Tonight I'm going to see James Taylor. I haven't really listened to his music in the past but I have heard of him and his music.  Should be a fun concert. It's going to e Heather, me, and her friends Tera and Mo.

Posted by Dave at 03:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Heather and I went to the Jersey Boys show last night at the Curan Theatre in San Francisco.   The show was excellent. I'm not a huge fan of sixties music but as Heather said, "I don't listen to those songs but it's funny that I knew all the words". It was obvious that a lot of the songs from the show are a staple of All American music past. It's hard to live in the states and not come across 90% of the music from performed for this show in some form of movie, show, or re production by a modern day artist. 

Overall the show was a fun experience and the performers did a great job protraying a group of friends (family) that start up a band and go from nothing to a one hit wonder, then two, three and so forth as well as the hardships that follow while in the spotlight.  

The show is essentially about the band 'The Four Seasons' 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Seasons_(group) 

Posted by Dave at 09:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Every's favorite money hungry Guess jeans model has died.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/02/08/anna.nicole.collapses/index.html 

I blame it on the TrimSpa. I'd say if you own any shares of TrimSpa stock, sell them now.... damn.

Posted by Dave at 01:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

JESUS CAMP 

Heather and I watched part of

(click the photo for the movie site) 

last night . What an odd movie. As you can see from the above link, it's essentially about Evangelicial Children.  It's obvious that the majority of these children are raised in white bred blue color middle
America. We actually didn't make it through the movie simply becasue we were both passing out so we shut it off and will hopefully finish it sometime this week, maybe tonight. What a trip to see how these kids are raised. I guess it's just a different way of thinking but it's hard not to giggle at some of things you see in the movie. But of course there is a frightening undertone about this growing group of children and families that are being raised with this very narrow minded way of thinking.

PAN'S LABYRINYH 

Some of the people around me have heard my general interest in seeing Pan's Labrynth.

http://www.panslabyrinth.com/ 

The movie is entierly in Spanish as it is written and directed by Guillermo Del Toro who has directed movies like Blade II and HellBoy.  This movie he had been writing for quite some time and was always put off while he was working on other titles. He finally had time to finish writing it and apparently the movie was done very quickly which is amazing since the artwork, cinematography and effects seem magnificent.

Heather agreed to see it with me (score!) after she realized the movie isn't so much Horror as it is Adventure/sci fi.  Not her first pick for sure but she said she would be willing to see it with me. This is one of those "must see in theatre" movies.  Maybe this weekend. 

Has anyone here seen this yet?   

Posted by Dave at 09:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Really been lagging on the cycling front. I mean I've been keeping up with the spinning classes and spend some serious time in the gym spinning and lifting weights but Heather and I rode on Sunday and although it wasn't a rough ride, I felt it some afterwards. I think it's safe to say that spinning and weight lifting is helping keeping my metabolism up (caloric burn rate over time) and slightly helping my endurance it's just not cutting it in terms of time on the bike.

The other day I was on Muni on the way to Heather's house, looked at my watch and noticed it was approaching 6 PM. I then noticed one very important observation....it wasn't dark yet! One more month and there may be enough light in the afternoon that if I can work it out to get here earlier and get home and on the bike by 5 I can easily get at least an hour in before it starts to get really dark. Although spinning is great, it's just not the same.

This weekend is rainy so any weekend plans I would have liked to make for cycling are 'kaput' since I just don't ride in rain. 

MUNI

Today's muni ride was crazy. As Heather stated, "It's a Muni meltdown".  I waited 15 minutes at the stop on Judah in the Sunset. WHen it arrived it was so crammed I couldn't get in anywhere. Doors close and I have to wait another 15 minutes and almost didn't make it into the next train. When I did, I was crammed like Sardines all the way to Montgomery street exit which is one stop before Embarcedero (mine). What a mess. In the past it hasn't been this bad, I don't what was up with today's commute but it took WAY longer to get to work.  I wish I stayed in bed.

Posted by Dave at 01:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Heather and I went to an ACT show on Friday night called "The Circle".

The play was written by W. Somerset Maugham in 1921. It was directed by Mark Lomas.  The play is essentially an English comedy that takes place in the 1920's England. The above photo was of course not from the other night but from a much earlier rendition of the show in the twenties.

The play essentially has multiple themes but centered around a love affair from the past and present. It's said that the plays "presents a skptical concept of every character. You really see the foolishness of a Shakespearean heroine, as well as her great beauty, her wisdom and sagacity. In The Circle you don't know whos side to be on". Some of the actors: James Waterson, and Philip Kerr.

Prior to going to the show, we had prety decent sushi and some random sushi place in the city. One of those boat sushi places where you quickly grab the sushi from boats and in the end they tally up how much your bill is based on how many plates (and which kind) you have. Not bad.

Oh I hear the colts won the Superbowl. Heather and I didn't get a chance to watch it. Ehh...Neither of us are into football all that much. She admitted that the only reason she would want to watch the SB is for the half time show and the commercials. I'm not into football all that much either but would have liked to invite a few people over to watch the game on my TV home theature HD setup but most of my friends are not into football.  

Posted by Dave at 09:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Ben Holmen a.k.a. Dr. Shrinker sent this to me. I thought I'd post it here. Answer away in the comments section.

1) Name 5 jobs that stink
2) Tell us of an invention you'd make if cows flew
3) Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, I saw you last night, ________________________ .
4) What does PPR stand for?
5) The only thing worse than ______________ is _________________ .
6) As a Superhero, what is your Superpower?
7) Name 5 animals that start with the letter R

Posted by Dave at 01:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Seriously, is the new OSX code named "Leapord" supposed to really be a big improvment? I've been toying with the idea of getting an apple for some time now. I really think the best way to approach my music again is to start fresh again on an apple rather than a PC. I know the PC supporters out there would be up in arms about this and scoff at the idea of getting a MAC but I really like the usability of the OS and Logic Pro is an awsome tool that I would love to use.

Personally I'm not big on Loop tools like Acid and fruity loops. I know they're great tools but I'm not one to use other people's pre fabbed loops and sound clips to "create" my music. It's like cutting out pieces from other photos and drawings, making a collage and saying it's your work of art. Sure it can be but I like to do everything by hand. I've always told people that the creation of the art is more important to me than the outcome. The path in which I take to get there is the learning experience i want rather than just "wow, I can just slap these pre fabbed sound clips together and I'm done! I'm an artist! woo!"  ya right. One thing about me is I envision how a song should be long before it's even 5% done. This means I go through extensive measures to create specificially to how I imagined it. This means pre fabbed work just doens't fly. Plus, I want my music to get more organic. Meaning I would like to use more REAL instruments rather than all synth. 

So Vista...I need to get a copy of Vista and see how things play out with that in regards to how I want to use my PC. Would Vista + music tools for PC be good enough for my goal? I'm not sure. There are great tools out there for the PC. Cubase, Cakewalk, and then my buddy Ben intriduced me to Ableton Live which is alright so far.  

I'm still trying to figure out which version of Vista I will need.  

Oh in regards to yesterdays' post.  Sean made a comment about using almond or cashew buttur which is great too. Yes, I have seen at Andronicoo's and Whole Foods the dispensors that will grind up the nuts and shell it out for you into a container right in front of you so there's no additives.  That's great as well. Either way, just a little of any kind of nut butter is actually benificial. Low in sugar but has protein. Some studies have suggested that small amounts of nut butter each day can actually help you LOOSE weight, build lean muscle. Granted too much of it can be detrimental too.

Posted by Dave at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Random...

We've all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I'm a firm believer in this. Ever since I lost weight, one of the factors that has been a part of my regimine is breakfast. One of things I told myself was since I used to rarely eat breakfast, I can utilize that to my advantage by eating exactly what my body needs and not gorge on foods that I can easily live without.  So I tried a few things in the morning like Bran cereals, fruit, etc. I finally landed on Whey Protien shakes mixed with Soy Milk.

+ 

Each scoop of Whey Protien Isolate is about 20-25g of protien.  I've read you really want to use Whey Protein Isolate, not concentrate.  The Isolate type has less fat and lactose per serving so in essense, it's more pure than the concentrate.  I usually add two scoops so that's somewhere between 40-50g of protein not counting the protein from the Soy Milk which is about 6g.

Heather has a great tool called "The Magic Bullet". Yes, the name is open for all kinds of jokes.

You can actually find these at Fry's too. It's great since it's small and I can drink right from the glass used to blend the two.  I used to try to just mix the Soy milk and whey together with a spoon but it was always clumpy. 

Now the ultimate is to use

• frozen (or regular) berries (strawberries, blueberries and rasberries), 
• whey protein
• a little flax seed (seed or oil), 
  
• tablespoon of vanilla,
  
• half tablespoon of peanut butter (this really is good for you in small dosage)
• maybe some oatmeal but I haven't tried that yet, I've only read that it's a great option.

Normally I don't take the time to make a berry mixed shake so it's usually just Soy Milk and Whey  but the weekends are different.  Although Heather has gotten me into Oatmeal on the weekends. Real Oatmeal with whole oats, cut up apples, cinnamon, and a dash of vanilla. Her and I like to have that Saturday mornings.

I usually drink one of these with a multivitamin mix in the morning and that's how I start my day. Interestingly, as long as I keep this regmine up, I have a LOT more energy in the day and function better along with my training routine. 

Posted by Dave at 04:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)