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While having a fabulous lunch on the balcony at the Paragon Restaurant in the spectacular Claremont Hotel, we witnessed this brilliant 22 degree sun halo. This is not an uncommon event. What made it special (besides the oysters on the half-shell and the wonderful spinach salad) is the rainbow seen at the bottom of the frame. This may be a part of a very rare 46 degree halo. Or maybe it was part of a more common supralateral arc. I’m not sure though - this is the first time in my life I have ever seen this sort of thing.

And you know, if we had been at work today, we would have missed the whole thing. I think every weekend should be (at least) three days long, don’t you?

Its small footprint and lighted keys would be just perfect in my server room!

ThinkGeek :: blu Illuminated Keyboard

Now that I am actually reading a book about 3D Max, it’s become clear that up until now I’ve done almost everything wrong. So now I am more-or-less starting over. Baby steps. I’m beginning with one of the building’s predominant features - its windows.

I have to quit soon, though. Kelly says it’s weird to spend a holiday weekend on my computer. She’s probably right.

I had been asked by the previous Homeowners Association if it was possible for me to photograph the building and create masks so that we could visualize different color treatments. This would be simple except that there is no vantage point from which to get a decent shot of the building. That was just the excuse I needed to get back into one of my favorite hobbies - 3D modeling.

Stay tuned for more on this developing project. :-)

That’s Nick, Hugh, Gopinath, Karl, thedude and Juwei. Not pictured: Jason, Stefan.

This was the first KA-BOOM we have ever attempted to view from land. In previous years we had always been on a boat in the bay, and let me tell you that is the ONLYway to see the fireworks. I would not recommend anyone go anywhere near the actual event. It was AWFUL!!

Oh well, at least the fireworks were pretty, and of course it was nice to see Jill and Jeff. Next year we’ll either be on a boat or at a bar when they launch the fireworks.

My talented young coworker Nick is moving to a remote part of southeastern Arizona. That’s a bit of a bummer. But there is a silver lining - he’ll continue to work for Affymetrix - remotely! Thanks to Nick’s many skills and Linux/FreeBSD, this should be no problem at all.

Best of luck to you, Nick! I will definitely miss your dry humor, your incredible skills and your enthusiasm for all things open and free. See you on line!

Andrew’s very first rendered scene is a beauty. We had this printed poster-size. It’s looks completely awesome! Of course, it would look great as a postcard card too! (Andrew - are you listening?)

Dan and Dean wander near. An awed Dan drew near a rare red wren. We ran and are near a new red wand. Dawn and Dan dare wed. We draw near an end.

Andrew drew and read and read and drew anew.

Andrew rendered.

We are awed.

You absolutely can not beat an event at Rosenblum - our favorite winery in an airplane hangar five minutes drive from our loft. Ten bucks gets Wine Club members the chance to taste 60 premium wines and eat a ton of delicious food - including Tucker’s fabulous Zinfandel ice cream - and you get to keep the beautiful Spiegelau glass! What fun!!

Luckily for us, our good friend Grant is a cousin of one the world’s most gifted musicians. With Grant’s help, we were able to score five seats in the second row at the resplendent Davies Symphony Hall for last night’s performance by Cliburn winner Jon Nakamatsu. I simply do not have words to describe the skill and talent displayed by Mr. Nakamatsu. I could say the performance was stunning, incredible and beautiful, but that doesn’t really give you any idea of what it’s like to see him play live - especially backed by Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony. This is truly one of the world’s rarest of gifts. Bravo!!

I told you I’d have some fun with this lens…