Lorde at The Fillmore

General admission. Standing room only. A combination I do not look forward to in a concert. But if the artist and venue are right, I will endure. And Farrah and I did endure this combination, at The Fillmore, to see Lorde.

I was lucky enough to snag two tickets back when they went on sale a few months ago, before  Royals was getting regular mainstream radio play. I don’t know if I’d be lucky to get tickets now seeing how big Lorde has become.  Funny thing was when they went on sale, they seemingly sold out immediately. But I persisted for a few minutes and was able to grab two tickets. 

We arrived a few minutes late to The Fillmore. Friday night traffic going up to San Francisco was ugly as usual. We caught a few songs from the opening act, Until the Ribbon Breaks. They sounded great on stage, so I immediately added a few tracks to a Spotify playlist. After their set people milled around, as usual, waiting for Lorde to take the stage.

The crowd started to fill up as Lorde’s set time was getting closer. The crowd was a good mix of ages, as The Fillmore can be depending on the performer. We were situated in a good spot, center and further back on the floor. Unfortunately, to Farrah’s left, a group of unruly 20-somethings decided to talk and bump around people through the whole performance. One couple just wanted to make out all night.  In front of us was an older couple, probably in their early to mid 50’s. Made me wonder how many concerts do they attend?

Getting back to Lorde –  she performed well for someone who hasn’t performed often on tour. She sounded well, though the bass was on the heavy side, making her voice sound muddled. From another review of the concert, it seems it was her idea to crank up the bass. She had energy, working the stage very easily. She talked between a few songs, using   Thank you, San Francisco, often, which elicited approval from the crowd.

Her set was short, about 12 songs or so, lasting a little over an hour. No encore performed with the lights coming up after her last song. I thought she could have done a few more songs, as her album came out that day in some places.

The annoyances of the general admission crowd are worth it sometimes, especially when seeing an up-and-coming artist. It is always nice to see an artist on the rise, seeing them before they get too big, in an intimate place like The Fillmore.

Other reviews of the show are at SF Gate and San Jose Mercury News and SF Station.

Success!

I knew how I was going to purchase a new iPhone on launch day. I was going to do it online, not stand in line at an Apple Store. I had heard the best way to purchase online would be through the Apple Store iPhone app. Something about using APIs versus the store front would be faster. I don’t recall where I heard this from, but I assumed it couldn’t be worse than watching a browser try to load.

Since the iPhone 5c was already available to order before Friday, I went through a few test runs on the app to see how the purchasing process would be. I noticed that the app is phone specific when purchasing the iPhone, meaning you are choosing to replace the iPhone you are using the app on with a new iPhone. I then asked Farrah to load the Apple Store app on her iPhone, since I was upgrading her phone as well. I would be doing simultaneous purchases using both phones.

I watched as midnight rolled around on our phones. I launched the Apple Store app. I chose the colors and GB size of the iPhones. I confirmed our current voice plan. I also reconfirmed our Unlimited Data plan (sneaking AT&T trying to make me choose otherwise). I then chose AppleCare for each phone. I clicked submit. Within 30 seconds I was done! It wasn’t even one minute past midnight and I was successful in ordering both iPhones!

Now comes the hard part, waiting for the phone to ship.

Color Me Rad

Confident before the run.
Confident before the run.

This past weekend, Farrah, Fina, Kristel, Kay, Chantel, and Marisa took part in the 5K Color Me Rad run. It was held at the Santa Clara Fairgrounds in San Jose. This particular run benefited the

Pacific Autism Center for Education (PACE). I was able to take a few photos at the event. It was a bit difficult avoiding the color powder that is used at the event. I saw several DSLR users have plastic bags over their cameras, similar to a rain bag I used on my Nikon D70 when we went to England. If they do this run again, I will need to make sure to bring a plastic bag with me.

Celebrating after the run!
Celebrating after the run!

Photos for this event are located under the Color Me Rad folder.

My New iPhone Predictions

I am anxiously awaiting Apple’s announcement tomorrow. Having used the iPhone 4S since it was released in October of 2011, I can really use a new phone to satiate my hunger for new phone technology. If I had to wait any longer I might need to consider one of the many Android phones that are available.

I have read many articles about what the tech insiders say will be on the new hardware,. Here is what I think – or hope – will come out of tomorrow’s announcements. My predictions have no basis in fact. They are guided by the articles I’ve read and just my feelings in the whole spectacle that is an iPhone announcement.

  * It won’t be an iPhone 5S but will be called an iPhone 6

  * There will be a less expensive iPhone called the 5C – for color.

  * My reasoning for the name iPhone 6 is the inclusion of the rumored fingerprint sensor and the introduction of the less expensive iPhone.

  * The difference between iPhones will not only be the fingerprint sensor but a retina screen and better camera / dual flash for the premium model.

  * The iPhone 6 (let’s just say premium iPhone until the actual name is announced) will come in black, white, gold, and gray.

  * The 5C will come in 6 colors – black, white, red, blue, yellow, and green.

  * The components of the premium iPhone will be new and faster. The 5C components will be the same as the iPhone 5.

  * Pre-orders will start on Friday, September 13th with delivery on September 20th

I can’t wait to see what Apple will be offering this new iPhone season.

Time

I feel I don’t have enough time during any given day. At least not enough to do what I want, when I want to do it. This is why my blogging has efforts have fallen by the wayside.

Wife. Kids. Work. Eat. Commute. Sleep. These are the priorities in order. Wife. Kids. Work. Eat. Commute. Sleep.

Sleep is nice if it can be had. When it is possible, it doesn’t come in consecutive hours, not since the kids were born. I’ve learned to function with chunks of sleep here and there, sneaking in a few extra minutes on the commute to-and-from work.

Commuting and working are dedicated blocks of time. The commute is not fixed in its length. It can take up to 2 1/2 hours a day. And if there is an incident on Caltrain, add another 90 minutes to that time. I try not to take my work home with me, but my job is easily accessible through any device.this makes it easy to read and answer work issues.

That leaves the time spent with the wife and kids. They are the center of my world, the reason I do what I do. During the week I don’t have the opportunity to spend much time with them. An hour or two in the morning while getting ready to leave for the day. A few hours at night at dinner time then bed time. At least we have the weekends together.

Eating is done between all of these times.

Setting aside time to write has been tough. I can steal a moment away here-and-there to jot down a thought I want to explore. Finding the time to think that thought through and writing it down can be difficult. But I believe I need that time, the time to use my brain and stretch my fingers. My writing may not be revelatory but it is mine. It is seething I wish to express, even if it is a trivial matter.

And so I’m making an effort to post more, to write more in this space. It may be a simple comment on a link or a long bitch fest about a day gone sideways. But it’ll be something I want to share. Whether you want to read it is up to you.

I hope you do.

Mia Following Kaleb

Mia follows Kaleb up a hill during Kaiden's first birthday party.
Mia follows Kaleb up a hill during Kaiden’s first birthday party.

Mia follows Kaleb up a hill during Kaiden’s first birthday party.

Mia and Kaleb were blowing bubbles outside during Kaiden’s first birthday party. Kaleb decided to walk from the playground and down the sidewalk trail. Mia followed. There was a little hill past an intersection path that Kaleb decided to walk up. Mia followed. Up the hill, they both went toward a house. Kaleb made it all the way to the top. Mia – about 90% before she slipped, causing her shoe to fall off. I was there right behind her to fix her shoe and encourage her the rest of the way up to the top.

Getting down is a different story.

This photo was taken on March 2, 2013.

Mia and a Sunday Afternoon

Mia and a Sunday Afternoon
Are you looking at me?

We were hanging out in the living room on the Sunday afternoon before baby Graecyn’s arrival when I took this photo. Mia was enjoying a few vanilla wafers and wearing her sunglasses while watching an episode of Dora the Explorer.

This photo was taken on November 4, 2012.

My iPhone 4S Camera Issue

I wanted to take a photo of Graecyn yesterday with my iPhone 4S. I launched the camera app from the lock screen. The familiar shutter image appeared but didn’t proceed any further through the process. I tried again and again, quitting a relaunching, but nothing happened.

I did a hard reset, tried booting into different camera apps I have on my iPhone, but each resulted in no joy.

I did a web search and found that this a problem experienced by some users. I went through the necessary restore steps, even wiping my phone completely without restoring from a back-up. The problem did not go away.

I’m guessing it is a hardware issue since it affects all the photo taking apps I had. We’ll see what the Genius Bar says tomorrow.

Update: Just got back from the Apple Store. The problem was hardware – the front camera was no longer working. This is one of the things I like about an iPhone, the ability to go to the Apple Store to get it fixed. Where would I go to get my Android phone fixed if I had a problem? The carrier is most likely. I’m not sure their level of service would be the same.

Induction Day

The plan today is to induce labor since Farrah isn’t showing any signs of giving birth as of yet.

They asked Farrah to call in at 7 AM to see when she could come in. We expected to go to the hospital after dropping off Mia at daycare. But the result of the 7 AM call was to call back at 9 AM, so we took our time getting Mia ready and off to daycare. She arrived there at 8:30, an hour after her normal arrival time.

Mia’s daycare is only a few blocks from the hospital. So we decided to find a close Starbucks to grab a coffee. Farrah then called in at 9 AM. They said now call in at 2 PM – when people have checked out. Wow, were we ever going to be able to check in?

We made our way to Target to buy a few supplies. Then off to Palo Alto to have lunch at the La Boulange and check out the new Apple store (it’s gorgeous). Oh, and we grab some Philz’s Coffee.

Farrah calls in at 2 PM. Finally, the answer comes into the hospital at 3 PM. Check-in was smooth. We got settled in OK.

Now it’s just a waiting game.

Mia and the Harvest Festival

Mia and the Harvest Festival
Mia enjoying snacks from the Harvest Festival at daycare.

Instead of celebrating Halloween at daycare they have a Harvest Festival. Parents are invited to enjoy time with the kids. There are a few activities, such as building necklaces, playing with pumpkins, and painting. Mia has a little bee temporary tattoo on her right-hand. And the necklace she is wearing is one she put together herself!!! Mom and dad only tied it on her.

This photo was taken on October 26, 2012.