I am starting with a clean slate.

Janella.com is rebuilding from the ground up. I’m starting from zero. This means blog postings previous to this one are no longer available to view. This purging does is not only limited to the blog you are reading now, but also the photos section - which will now hosted on Smugmug. My thoughts on my Flickr account is to post only individual photos there. More on what individual mean in the future.

Why am I doing this?

I have been contemplating this for quite some time. I have been on a creative slump, both in writing and taking photos. It has persisted for awhile now. I have tried dealing with this slump by making manic site design updates to the web site, which regular visitors have seen in the last year.

Part of the problem is with Wordpress, which makes it easy to change your web site’s look by offering plenty of free wonderfully hackable themes. Plug-ins for Wordpress provide additional ways to add features and change the look of the site. Then there are the software updates which can add or change base features. When I started using Wordpress to power the site I started with version 1. As of this posting it is at version 2.3.1.

When I make changes I am satisfied for a short time. Then I start browsing older entries created when using version 1.x or even 2.0, such as the entries of our London trip. I then become unhappy with the way the site looks. The cycle then begins again, changing the site once more. The one constant through these late struggles has been the same - the content.

Yes, the words I have written should stay the same. They should not be edited or reformatted. I should not care that 5 years ago I did not like to capitalize blog entries properly or that post tagging is something I didn’t do last year. I wouldn’t think I would have been the type of person who would care about this, but I do care for some reason I cannot articulate.

What I should be doing is adding new entries when the writing urge hits. I should be taking photos and posting them. But then the above takes a hold of me. It hinders me, stopping me from writing a word or taking a photo. At this point it is something I can’t seem to shut off.

So I have decided to start over.

I tried to think of a graceful way to archive the previous content, other than the archive method offered through Wordpress. At this point I have come up with nothing. What I have written before, and what you have graciously shared your comments on, is not lost. It is simply offline at the moment.

./Janella.com is now ‘red’. “Those of you who know me know that red is my favorite color,” he says sarcastically. I found the Half-Baked via the Weblog Tools Collection site and liked it tremendously.

I hope you are interested in what I write in the future. I hope you comment when you feel the need to do so. I hope to take more photos, interesting photos. I hope to update the site often - in content, not necessarily in design (but perhaps playing a bit with the layout).

From here on we begin anew.

Merry Christmas everybody!

This is the second post about last weekend. As I mentioned previously, a great deal happened.

Last Saturday was Kristel’s college graduation celebration at Dynasty Restaurant in Cupertino Square. The event was celebrated with a dinner, sharing plenty of food with family and friends. I believe we had a total of twelve large courses, each one topping the other. Farrah and I have always enjoyed Dynasty Restaurant and this time was no exception.

At the party, Farrah had an opportunity to catch up with a former co-worker, Teddy, who recently came back to the states. Later in the evening, Kristel gave a heartwarming speech thanking everyone for sharing this moment with her, as well as sharing her feelings regarding the support her family has given her thus far. Nice speech Kristel.

Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my camera to capture any of these moments. After the fact, I wish I had done so. There were so many moments I could have captured. But for some odd reason, in the last several months, I have been very hesitant in taking photos. I think I am in a bit of a funk in this regard. I think I just need to pick up the gear and take photos.

As you have most likely noticed, I have update the site once more. I have added a Twitter widget.

What is Twitter?

Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

The postings to the left - at the time of this writing - are made mostly though SMS. When I have access to a computer, and I think about it, I might make an update through there.

I heard about Twitter awhile back, but never jumped on board. I wondered - who would be interested in what I’m doing? But then again I blog right? Clearly I regard myself as interesting enough to blog, so why not Twitter as well?

Twitter is also known as micro-blogging, since entries are limited (140 characters). It’s similar to sending text messages to someone, but I am sending it to my blog as well. Pownce, which I did a write up on as well, is a similar service with a few differences. I guess Pownce isn’t doing well according to Techcrunch. But Twitter also has issues, mainly downtime, which Techcrunch reports is on the upswing.

You can follow people on Twitter - where you will receive a text message on updates they make on Twitter. I haven’t done this yet because I don’t know anyone on there. But if you sign up for Twitter let me know. I can then follow you!

Give Twitter a spin.

This review is about a week late, but it has taken me a bit of time to digest the Tori Amos concert Farrah, and I saw it last Friday. Tori is touring in support of her latest album, American Doll Posse. I wasn’t a huge fan of the new album, but after watching Tori’s performance, it makes me want to play the album every day. I guess that’s what good concerts do to you.

The Venue

I like going to The Paramount Theater in Oakland. The theater looks great and the sound has always been well producing in the handful of shows I’ve been to there. Parking is very convenient, located directly across the street. The staff is nice and helpful, showing each attendee their seat.

The Performance

Photo by ericskiff as posted on Flickr.

In Tori’s latest album, she sings her songs through various personas. I believe she performed first as Santa, then for the second half as Tori. Yes, I guess Tori is one of Tori’s personas. Her set list included:

• Body and Soul
• She's Your Cocaine
• Hoochie Woman
• Secret Spell
• You Can Bring Your Dog
• Raspberry Swirl
• Big Wheel
• Crucify
• Sugar
• Cornflake Girl
• Bells For Her
• Caught a Lite Sneeze
• Winter
• Cooling
• Virginia
• Hotel
• Code Red
• Precious Things
• Bouncing Off Clouds
• Hey Jupiter

We enjoyed the concert overall. I especially enjoyed Caught a Lite Sneeze, even though I saw her perform this song before. I believe Farrah enjoyed her new song, Bouncing Off Clouds

When we entered The Paramount there were several signs noting that the show was being taped. Farrah and I have only been to one previous show that was being filmed, Jack Johnson at the Greek Theater. [sample video] The Greek Theater is a big venue, so filming wasn’t obtrusive. Unfortunately, where we sat in The Paramount a boom crossed our viewing path often. This made parts of the performance frustrating to watch, breaking up the rhythm of the show for us.

End Result

Overall it was a good performance. I think it was the first time I’ve seen Tori do costume changes. This added a different element to the performance.

Set list information obtain from [here] and [here].

Last Saturday I attended the holiday party for Genentech. It was held at AT&T ballpark. Yes, Genentech took over the whole baseball park.

First off, let me say that I hate calling it AT&T Park. Though PacBell no longer exists as a company, the former ballpark name PacBell Park rings more true when spoken aloud.

Last year’s holiday party was held at the Marriott in San Francisco. It was a more formal affair, dressing up for dinner and dancing. The party was great, but very crowded even though the party took up all the ballrooms and most of all the other nooks in hotel. I’m guessing the venue change had partially to do with that situation plus the Marriott is going through a slight renovation at this time, so it may have not been available for this shindig.

This affair had been built around two ideas: do you want to dine and dance or did you want to dine and get down-and-dirty in the snow. Yep, snow. We chose the latter, which meant dressing more for a trip to Tahoe then a trip to a ball.

We met up with Farrah’s co worker one her co workers (plus her boyfriend). It was my first time meeting both of them and we hung out most of the night together. Farrah co worker brought her ice skates as we heard there was going to be an ice skating rink somewhere in the ballpark.

We both entered ballpark at 7:00pm sharp. Once we got to inside we headed up toward the ballpark. We looked out onto the field to see what was in store. So much could be done:

• Near the middle of the baseball diamond there was the ice rink.
• In left field a hill of snow was available to sled down.
• In each dug out you could stand in line to have a whack at the batting cages.
• There was a dance floor and band set up in center field. The band played 70's disco and soul music.
• In the field and club level, a dining area and music was set up. Jazz and an 80's coverband where at the club level, a DJ in the field level area.
• Fireworks lit up the sky a little after 9:00pm
• There was food throughout the ballpark. A big favorite was smores which was available int he Promenade level.

Farrah and I watch as her co worker and her boyfriend ice skate for some time. We met up with Sarah and her date, who also ice skated. We danced and ate the night away, spending all of the five hours in the ballpark.

It was a very very good holiday party.

I’ll post some photos when I get a chance.

I’m working on bringing photos back up on Smugmug - which will be the primary source for most photos. I’m thinking of using Flickr more for photos I’m trying to be a little more creative with. Also falling into Flickr will be photos of more questionable content that Smugmug might not allow (such as the Folsom Street Fair photo set).

I’ll write more shortly on why I chose Smugmug over Zenfolio going forward. It’s just going to take me some time to encapsulate my thoughts on this subject. But you can look at my current Smugmug page at http://verbal.smugmug.com/:

Spider-Man is not one of my favorite comic book characters. I’m more of a Batman guy, but I have enjoyed the Spider-Man movies. I thought the second movie in the series was better than the first. So my expectation of this third installment was very high, even after hearing of the lousy reviews.

As I always start my reviews, here is the Netflix synopsis of Spider-Man 3:

After defeating eight-armed cyborg Doctor Octopus, Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) faces off against a new crop of villains, including the shape-shifting Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), in the third adventure of the comic book series. While Spidey's superpowers are altered by an alien organism, his alter ego, Peter Parker, deals with nemesis Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) and gets caught up in a love triangle. Kirsten Dunst and James Franco co-star.

What I Liked

The actors and the characters they inhabit are likable. The special effects involving the Sandman were cool. Also, the “Gwen Stacy rescue scene” was done with just the right amount of intensity. The last battle scene at some moments, but in the end left me unfulfilled.

What I Didn’t Enjoy

But not all the special effects worked. The first battle slash chase scene looked particularly fake and uninspiring. Subsequent battles were too long and a bit repetitious.

The whiny nice Peter Parker started to get on my nerves. The angry Venom-infected Peter wasn’t menacing to be but an over-the-top hilarious caricature. My guess - Toby Maguire can’t pull off this duality bit convincingly. Also, the path the Harry Osborn character takes feels a bit forced.

The film also suffers from too many characters in a movie. Let’s see, there’s the old gang (Peter/Spidey, Mary Jane, Aunt May, etc.) and the new characters (Gwen Stacy, Ed Brock Jr., Venom, The Sandman, and a few others). To me, this problem caused some of the old Batman franchise films not to reach their full potential.

Final Thoughts

This trilogy hasn’t ended on a strong note. Spider-Man 3 is a watchable film. I just don’t think I’ll care to watch it again.

1/2 (out of 5)

I decided to finally learn Adobe’s Photohop, so I signed up for a class at my local Junior College. The classroom has about forty computers, ten of which are iMacs. Since the first day of class the iMacs haven’t worked.

Each day I would come into class, and each day the teacher would say, “Choose a computer, but don’t sit at a Mac. They aren’t working! I hate Macs.”

Actually the iMacs do work! Unfortunately no one, even those people in the IT department at the JC, can figure out how to get them on the network! So the iMacs sit there looking pretty.

Four weeks later I arrive at class with the teacher declaring the Macs now work. The IT departments solution? They installed Windows!!!

I’m a bit sad at the unwillingness of the IT department to try and seek out a solution other than installing Windows. You would think they could do a simple search on the Internet, but I guess that is just too much work.

If you haven’t heard, I have dumped my problematic LG-VX8500 (aka The Chocolate) and moved onto an iPhone. The recent price cut, coupled with the frustration with my possessed Chocolate auto dialing, helped make my decision easier.

So what do I think of the iPhone?

What I Like:

My primary concern was that the phone, as well as the AT & T service, would provide a horrible experience. Up to this point, phone use has been a pleasant experience. Call quality is good both on a headset and the iPhone directly. I haven’t had a dropped call or weak signal throughout my routine travel and use.

I love that my contacts and calendar are managed from my iMac. The interface to the iPhone address book makes looking for and dialing a phone number an enjoyable experience - except when you need to do it quickly (see below). Syncing is a breeze for these two applications. I love being able to make edits to a contact or calendar entry and having complete faith it will sync properly. No issues as of yet.

The Mail application is also very well done. I am able to access an account I set up specifically for the iPhone - a Yahoo! account since it does push mail - with ease. I filter/forward emails to that single account to retrieve while mobile. No issue accessing over WiFi or on The Edge Network.

The iPod part of the phone is great. Listening to music and viewing videos has been a joy with this device. The memory space is just enough to fit plenty of music and videos to last a weekend trip.

What I Don’t Like:

The major complaint I have is the inability to make a call quickly - e.g. single touch dialing. It takes a minimum of three contacts (e.g. press, slide, touch) if you have your iPhone setup correctly to make a quick call. But I rarely need to make a quick call.

I’m not missing voice dialing (I didn’t use it much), GPS (never had it), or a 3G Network (never used it). Larger memory than 8 GB would be nice, but it’s not a deal breaker. Plus, from what I have read, 8 GB is the largest memory available for any smartphone.

Good phone, and a great iPod! It was worth the (lower) price of the iPhone.

Fugees fans won’t be hearing any new material from the ‘Killing Me Softly’ stars anytime soon. (via Lauryn Hill should ‘see a psychiatrist’ | Metro.co.uk)

I wanted the website to have a splash page introduction. I was going to code some HTML but then I thought of another way to do it. I’ve used Pixelpost before as a photo blog. Then it dawned on me that I can use it as the site intro as well!

The front page photo will rotate from time to time based on when I post a photo. Please make any comments on the photos if you wish. From the front page, you can access:

• The Blog - where I might write some long winded post.
• My Tumblr - a quick blog that is more up-to-date than the main blog. Here you will find quotes, stories, videos, or photos that I run into during the day. Some links may be Not Safe For Work (NSFW). I will try to point those out.
• My Flickr account - where most of my photos are posted.
• Browse - which allows you to view the photos posted on the main page. The archive will get larger as more photos are posted.

Please comment and enjoy!

I covet both the newly announced iPod Touch and the iPhone. The iPhone price went down $200. It is still pricey, but it does look sweet. If I were lucky enough to get only one which would I choose?

Last week I threw aside my LG VX8500 as it started developing an annoying habit of auto dialing the last call in my call log. I went back to my previous phone which I happened to keep just in case.

My iPod is a third generation model which only lasts 1 1/2 hours on a fully charged battery works if I keep it plugged in. Poor little me, right?

I’m leaning toward wanting an iPod Touch more because I’m not sure I’m still sold on a music player slash phone. But still it would be nice to have an all-in-one device.

[Update: Thanks to Bert for sending me this commentary by Gina Hughs on Yahoo! Tech. More information to consider.]

[Update: Steve Job’s writes an open letter to early iPhone users offering them a $100 credit at an Apple Store. Very classy move to quell the anger of early adopters.]

I wasn’t sure if I heard Marlon right when he was talking about Mandy Moore doing Umbrella at Music in the Park.  But I guess she could have since Yahoo! has her doing a cover of that song.  It doesn’t sound half bad.

But honestly, all I could think about as the video progressed was “Damn, how close do you need to be to the microphone?”

Mandy Moore - "Umbrella" from Ringleader on Vimeo.

How do you make a kid’s movie about talking and transforming robots into a live-action summer blockbuster? You get Steven Speilberg to produce and Michael Bay to direct the movie, that’s how you do it.

Transformers is the second movie we watch at the AMC Theaters in Cupertino Square. Does it succeed in starting a new franchise of movies about robots from the planet Cybertron? Or does it sink like a hunk of junk?

The Netfilx synopsis:

Based on the popular toys that transform from machines into giant robots, this live-action movie from Pearl Harbor director Michael Bay finds the planet Cybertron inhabitants engaging in a secret war for control of Earth's natural resources, which they desperately need for fuel. Able to disguise themselves as cars, airplanes, boats, and more, the transformers prove a tough enemy in this film starring Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, and Jon Voight.

What I Liked

The movie starts off well. The early action and battle scenes provide plenty of bang for your movie buck. The opening scenes in the desert with American troops fighting a lone Decepticon show just how tough these robots are. The movie moves at a nice pace through the first half of the film, providing a nice mix of action and information without getting too bogged down in either.

The introduction of our hero, the girl/woman he’s destined to be with, and other characters move along at a good clip. Shia LaBeouf isn’t your next action star, but you can see he has skills playing the reluctant hero. I’m sure we’ll see him in similar parts as his career grows. As the humans and the Autobots start interacting more on a personal level, the film starts to slow a bit. It almost comes to a complete halt when the Autobots go to Shia’s home to retrieve an artifact.

What I Didn’t Enjoy

The acting is passable, with the robot voices providing as much emotion as their human counterparts. I’m not a big Jon Voight fan, so his Donald Rumsfeld-type role could have been cut out as far as I’m concerned. Anthony Anderson’s computer geek character seems to be thrown into the mix out of left field. The relationship between Shai LaBeouf and Meagan Fox’s character wasn’t believable. Plus believing Megan Fox was a high school student is a big stretch.

There are almost one too many battles in this movie. When the Decepticon and Autobots finally clash, it is difficult to follow who is the good guy and who is the bad guy. And I still didn’t understand the deal with the Allspark, as explained in the film.

Final Thoughts

This loud live action-packed, CGI-filled, nonsensical plotted movie proved to be slightly successful as a new action film. I guess I could see it become a franchise, though I’m not sure where it can go from here. The crowd we saw it with seemed to love it. And it did succeed in recapturing the feeling of the afternoon cartoon I enjoyed in my youth.

Transformers: ** (out of 5)

I am playing catch-up on my movie reviews. Knocked Up is the first film Farrah and I watched at the new AMC Theaters in Cupertino Square (formerly Vallco Shopping Center).

Vallco Mall had been dying a slow death. For every open and operating store, there are almost twice as many empty spaces. The theater is meant to breathe new life into the mall, bringing in people and hopefully other businesses. I suppose the name change is meant to remove the hold stigma of what was and to mark a new beginning.

The movie box office is on the second floor between Macy’s and Sears. Once you purchase the tickets, either from the ticket booth or using one of the six self-service kiosks, you head up the escalator to the third floor and sixteen new theaters.

The theaters are nice and clean (for now) with the normal big comfy stadium chairs and wide rows. It can get a bit dark in the theaters making walking into the show an adventure. Before the previews, there is a twenty-minute feature / commercial / infomercial. This can be annoying when you are trying to talk to anyone else before the movie.

Well, onto the movie review.

The Netflix summary on Knocked Up:

A one-night stand results in an unexpected pregnancy for entertainment reporter Alison (Katherine Heigl) in Judd Apatow's romantic comedy. Determined to be a good mom and keep her career on track, Alison decides to try to make things work with the baby's father, slacker Ben (Seth Rogen). It's anything but smooth sailing as the odd couple gets acquainted, but Alison finds there's more to Ben than she originally thought. Paul Rudd also stars.

What I liked:

Going into this movie I had no expectations. I didn’t hear whether it was good or bad, and this was several weeks after it had opened. I found the movie both smart and funny. The dialogue and situations ring true to life, with all the comedic and dramatic twists and turns. I was pleasantly surprised that Seth Rogen could pull off the leading man role. Paul Rudd is golden as ever, especially during the trip to the Las Vegas scene.

Katherine Heigl and Leslie Mann put in strong performances as well. Mann’s acting chops don’t seem to be there for me, bordering on a bit amateurish, but it works for this role.

What I Didn’t Like:

The ending seemed a bit rushed to me. I wouldn’t have minded if the movie was longer just to provide a more satisfying resolution. The juvenile antics of some of the secondary characters wore thin after a while.

Final Thoughts

This is a good comedy with likable characters. Katherine Heigl does well doing light comedy, and Paul Rudd is funny as heck. I wouldn’t mind seeing where these characters end up ten years from now.

Knocked Up: **** (out of 5)

I’m sure you have noticed another change on ./Janella.com. Yes, I keep fiddling with the look, never been satisfied with one layout for too long. Every time I think I have a look I like, I tend to find an aspect that doesn’t suit my website vision.

What is the main vision?

I would like, and hope, that the website is easy to read and easy to navigate. Some day soon I will probably go back to a splash page for the opening page, similar to Miss Aniela’s home page. (I’m sure I could have picked a different example, but she takes such nice photos. Note: some photos might border NSFW items, so click at your own risk.)

For the blog, I was trying the latest version of Movable Type 4. Remember Movable Type?

Back in the day I used Movable Type to run ./Janella.com. Everything was running nice and smooth, but then Six Apart felt like charging for their product. I could still use it without paying, but it simply seemed wrong. In May of 2004, I switched to a free solution which was WordPress . WordPress has powered the site for the last three years. I heard there was a new open-source version of Movable Type out there and decided to give it a try.

Well, I liked some bits of it and didn’t like others.

Things I Liked

The templates provided with Movable Type are nice. They mirror some of the templates provided at Vox which is not surprising since Six Apart owns Vox as well. I especially like the cityscape templates created by .tiff - one of my Vox neighbors. The layouts are clean and easy on the eyes.

Notice the red “V” icon? Nice touch. Anything that encourages comments and makes it easier is a welcomed feature, especially since BossaNova, Fina, and MJ use either Vox or LiveJournal.

Things I Didn’t Like

The installation is better than before, but it still takes a little tech knowledge to do. It’s not as simple as a WordPress install - which basically requires you to create the database, upload the files to your website, access a URL, and - poof! Instant blog.

Movable Type is still something like Upload file into the cgi-bin. Make sure the *.cgi files have the right permissions. Move the mt-static files to a directory and …. Well, it can be a bit to follow. After my fourth install, I have it down pretty well.

The WordPress import of entries into Movable Type wasn’t smooth either. There was a bit of formatting problems here and there. I managed to work it out by first installing an old version of Movable Type (3.3), then installing Movable Type 4. A lot of work. I’m sure the final release of version 4 will be easier on tasks such as this.

I didn’t enjoy that generating your pages produces multiple static HTML files based on categories, years, months, etc. Why have all these files?

Editing templates, styles, and using widgets isn’t as straightforward as it is in WordPress. I had a tough time creating links in the sidebar, as well as incorporating standalone pages. These things should be easy!

My Final Thoughts

Would I use Movable Type again for the blog?

Yes. Overall it is a nice piece of software, but it has room to improve. It does a good job of handling multiple blogs - if you write on a variety of subjects. But knowing there is an alternative that is easy to use and easily has hundreds of different templates, plug-ins and widgets to customize a blog, makes it a difficult proposition to change.

My choice is still WordPress.

You got problems with managing email at work? I have problems myself. This little lecture by Merlin Mann [by way of [Daringfireball.net] just may help you better organize your email inbox - if you put into practice what is being preached.

Kayla went into the hospital this morning for surgery. The reason: to remove a cyst that had grown on the left side of her neck. The surgery lasted about 3 1/2 hours. Kayla is doing fine and resting in her nice hospital room with her mom this evening.

A cool map - at least I think so - of “200 most successful websites on the web” done as a tube/subway map. You can see the original map here with further information on its creation as well.

This is going to be a long post. Forgive me, I’ve been a bit behind on posting this and decided to just lump these all together.

Is a bigger venue better when it comes to a concert? I prefer the small places around here, like the Warfield or the Filmore.

This summer we have managed to see four big concerts: John Mayer, Diana Krall, The Police and The Smashing Pumpkins. Two played in arena settings and the other two in smaller clubs.

Guess which performances I enjoyed the most?

The Smashing Pumpkins @ The Filmore 07.16.2007

BossaNova and I caught the second Smashing Pumpkins show at the Filmore. He was kind enough to get tickets when Farrah and I were in England. Actually, BossaNova is responsible for my best concert experience: The Smashing Pumpkins at The Warfield in support of the Siamese Dream album. BossaNova sums up the concert experience very well on his blog entry.

Here is the set list from that night courtesy of http://www.blamo.org/sp/

Main Set :

• The Leaving Lament
• Mama
• Promise Me
• With Every Light
• Blue Skies Bring Tears
• Tonight Tonight
• Tarantula
• Cherub Rock
• Shame
• The Aeroplane Flies High
• Hummer
• Bullet with Butterfly Wings
• United States
• To Sheila
• Death from Above
• Thirty-Three
• Rocket
• Translucent
• Starla
• Doomsday Clock
• 7 Shades of Black
• Today

Encore 1 :

• That's the Way (My Love Is)
• Heavy Metal Machine

Encore 2 :

• Zero
• Gossamer

The Smashing Pumpkins came on a little after 10 pm, a late start for what I heard was a 3-hour gig! We only lasted through the main set which took us to about 12:15 am.

As BossaNova pointed out the show started slow. But when they started kicking into Tonight Tonight the show turned into something more. It was great to see Billy and Jimmy in action again. The new group seems to click especially when Billy went on his little time of reflection rants - which he did twice during the show.

Rating: *** (out of 5)

The Police @ The Oakland Coliseum 06.13.2007

I have seen Sting perform several times, but I never saw The Police play - until now. Seats opened up one week before the show, and Farrah and I were lucky to score some last-minute tickets. The seats were excellent - behind home plate slightly right of the stage.

In such a large venue it’s hard to feel any energy from almost any band, and The Police were no exception. After the initial excitement of the opening songs, the show went into a slight lull, then rebounded back again to finish strong. Sting, Andy, and Stewart seemed to be clicking on mostly all cylinders, enjoying themselves and each other’s company on stage.

Here is the set list courtesy of The Police Tour 2007 blog

• Message in a Bottle
• Synchronicity II
• Don't Stand So Close to Me
• Voices in My Head / When the World Is Running Down
• Spirits in the Material World
• Driven to Tears
• Walking on the Moon
• Truth Hits Everybody
• Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
• Wrapped Around Your Finger
• The Bed's Too Big Without You
• De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
• Invisible Sun
• Walking in Your Footsteps
• Can't Stand Losing You
• Roxanne
• King of Pain
• So Lonely

Encore:

• Every Breath You Take

Second Encore:

• Next to You

I’m happy I had the opportunity to see The Police, albeit almost 20 years after their prime.

Rating: ** (out of 5)

Diana Krall @ Yoshi’s

I believe the first and last time we saw Diana Krall perform was in the outdoor Mountain Winery venue. She put on a great show under the night sky. So when I saw she was playing at a smaller venue, at Yoshi’s in Oakland, I had to buy tickets.

She had not performed in a while since having her kids. The tickets were for her last set at Yoshi’s. An excellent review of the night’s events can be found here.

What I enjoy most about Diana Krall’s show is that she knows how to interact with an audience. She is constantly aware of what is going on, especially in a small place like Yoshi’s. She can be humorous, both while talking to the crowd and while performing. During “a talk with the crowd” people started shouting out song requests - one of which was Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Farrah and my song. No, I didn’t scream this out.) She quickly responded, “I don’t have the range for that song.” Then during her solo in the following song, she proceeded to play a few measures of, you guessed it, Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

Diana Krall at Yoshi’s. What more can you ask?

Rating: **** (out of 5)

John Mayer @ The HP Pavilion 06.05.2007

I have never seen John Mayer perform live. I have often heard he puts on a good show, but I wasn’t trying to set my expectations too high. I’ve seen a few shows at the HP Pavilion. Most have my experiences have been fair at best. The two U2 shows I recall seeing there were great experiences because of the seat location that offered both a great view and great sound. For John Mayer, we were sitting in section 128, which is on the right side of the stage, and had good seats. Though the seats were not bad, they don’t allow you to have the best audio experience.

We arrived at the Pavilion as Ben Folds was performing the opening set. His band’s performance was erratically energetic, trying to keep the crowd interested. He tried unsuccessfully to interact with the crowd through some stories and small talk. This seemed successful on a small level. He did score points with some songs, a cover of a Dr. Dre song and a cover of The Postal Service’s Such Great Heights. Overall, an uneven performance for me.

After a half-hour wait, John Mayer and his band hit the stage. The crowd rose to their feet as the band took the stage.

His set list, according to his web site, was:

• Belief
• No Such Thing
• Good Love is On the Way
• Gravity
• Bigger Than My Body
• Dreaming With A Broken Heart
• Vultures
• I Don't Need No Doctor
• Wheel
• Why Georgia
• Waiting on the World to Change

– encore –

• Slow Dancing (acoustic)
• 83 (acoustic)
• Who Did You Think I Was (acoustic)
• I'm Gonna Find Another You

John brought energy to the stage which encouraged the crowd to its feet, in particular through his more familiar songs. But the power is hard to sustain throughout the show. He knew most people wanted to hear the hits and tried his best to please the crowd. At times he appeared to be goofing around with his bandmates, then he would turn around to play a deep-from-the-soul guitar solo.

Between songs and small talk he seemed to want to vent, often referring to dreams, anger, and heartache. It seems he still might be recovering from his break-up with Jessica Simpson - Eck, did I just write her name on my blog? - and was channeling that energy into his performance.

Though he provided a good effort, the performance felt as if something was missing. I think the HP Pavilion is too big of a place for John Mayer (most of the 200-section was empty) - at least for now. An indoor venue like the Warfield or even the outdoor Shoreline Amphitheater might be better suited for his talents.

Rating: ** (out of five)

Photos from Kristel’s Surprise Birthday Lunch are now posted on the flickr account. I’m 50/50 on how the photos turned out. I took them with the new Sigma lens I’ve been using. It is a great lens, but I have yet to get accustomed to taking into account the depth of field (DOF) and the aperture I’m using. This causes objects meant to be in-focus out-of-focus. Some of the photos could have turned out better.

You can find all my photos on my flickr account. Below are a few of my favorite photos.

I received an invitation to Pownce the other day. I must say I was really curious about Pownce when I first read about Pownce on Techcrunch. After several days of using it I am on the fence if I will continue to use it or not.

What is Pownce?

Pownce is a way to send messages, files, links, and events to your friends. You'll create a network of the people you know and then you can share stuff with all of them, just a few of them, or even just one other person really fast.

From the Desktop software image on their web site it almost looks like an IM program, but it is not really one. Then again it sort of is.

First off, you do not need to download the program available on the site. You can do everything you need to do on the web site! I did download the program for the Mac and runs and looks nice. But I really don’t need one more program running on my computer.

Second, it is nice to post little public blurbs on Pownce. But doesn’t that just make it another blog/tumblelog/twitter thing? Yeah, but the fun part comes when you are able to share links, files, events, and other things with specific friends or group of friends privately.

For example: I want to share with a few friends a joke, link or file not meant for public consumption. I couldn’t blog about it for all to see. Yes I could email it to them but email can get lost, have bandwidth limits, or be just plain cumbersome. But if my friends were on Pownce, I could send it to that group of friends privately. It would be posted on their Pownce page. They could comment on the posting or access the link/file any time they wished. Like IM the posting shows up as a little blurb. But unlike IM you don’t have to view the message right away. Check out my Pownce page here.

Both the client and web interface on Pownce is straightforward and easy to use. The learning curve is almost non-existent. But will I use it beyond the next few weeks? It really depends on the traction Pownce gets from my friends who join. Without friends or contacts, and it’s true on any social network, it is difficult to be…social.

For some reason I don’t think the current feature set is the be all end all Pownce. But it is a promising start.

If you would like an invite, I have a few to give. Just email me at the usual places. I’ll hook you up :)

Just wanted to make this quick post saying that Tiana, Jane, and Ann are visiting from Hawaii this week. This weekend was packed with activities including a trip to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom and Paramount’s Great America.

I’ll work on the photos when I can and get them posted. Come to think of it did I ever finish all the photos from England slash France trip?