Sailin’ Shoes

It turns out that all of my shoes have black soles, so I borrowed these from my neighbor Steve for today’s cruise and brunch at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon with John and Laurel. What a gorgeous day!!

The Mighty Affymetrix IT Team

I made a group shot at our IT picnic last week. I often do not get to be in group shots, as I’m stuck behind the camera. I really wanted to be a part of this one, so I asked my boss to shoot a picture of me after I shot the group, and I…

Troels and Jesper Do Germany

My circle of old friends is getting wider. Yesterday I received a long e-mail from Troels Nørlem – another old pal from Greenland. What a thrill it is to hear from Troels – the official Thule Air Base Photographer! Sounds like he’s is doing well with his wife and two kids in what he refers…

thedude’s Photo in Copenhagen

Hey Dude, Have a look – it looks super cool! – it’s dye-sub printed directly on a sound-absorbent panel. Thanks for allowing us to use the pic!! Best regards from Copenhagen – Sten Jauer, Art Director LAND DESIGNLAB APS | VESTERGADE 12A 3 | DK-1456 COPENHAGEN | DENMARK Thanks, Sten! I think it looks great…

San Francisco Death March

Entertaining guests from out of town is exhausting. Ann and Lynne had made a detailed list of must-see Bay Area “attractions” – some of which I had been successfully avoiding for nearly 25 years. Places like Fisherman’s Wharf, The Haight, Lombard Street, the Painted Ladies, Chinatown, Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco cable cars and Alcatraz are…

Hot Fun Actions

I use a PhotoShop Action to prepare images for my blog. My “Blogerize” action scales images for the site in steps while applying a bit of smart sharpening along the way. The action also converts the images to the appropriate color depth and color space. Since I need to do these things for every image…

Two Places at Once?

thedude proves it’s possible. I should mention that I used the latest version of PhotoVista to stitch this together. The original 17,860 pixel-wide version is the best “automatic” stitch I’ve ever produced – at least in terms of stitch accuracy. The new version’s automatic lens detection is a real time-saver. This means that for most…

Fun (But Dangerous) New Neighbors

Today we discovered that we have not one, but TWO wineries within stumbling distance of our loft. Both JC Cellars and Dashe Cellars recently opened tasting rooms less than three blocks away. What a great addition to our neighborhood. This is the kind of urban development we can support! Tasting is free, and the rich,…

Christmas Cosmos!

In my opinion, the best gift is something consumable. Thanks Grant and Sandy, Ali and Neil for the perfect gifts! Oh – and the ergonomic mouse pad is way cool too! Amazingly comfortable. My wrist never felt better! 😉 Highly recommended!

Printing REALLY Large

The hallway panorama is in! It looks pretty impressive, if I must say so myself. A major improvement. The nine foot wide print was made from a 10,000 pixel wide image consisting of four time exposures – approximately 30 seconds each – shot with a Nikon D2X. I used PhotoVista to do the stitching; Pictopia…

Steve Wynd 2005

The title of this entry hints at the fact that I see my first friend in California way too little. Steve and I had an awesome time revisiting our old haunts in the foggy Sunset District. We both concluded – again – that there’s no place like San Francisco – the number one tourist destination…

Working at Home

I’m working at home today. We’re having the tub refinished, (results) and someone needs to be here. Of course this is cool, because it gives me a moment to post another image from my past. I know you’re all dying to see a picture from my year in Diego Garcia. I believe this was taken…

The Day Started Out Well Enough…

Of course, after breakfast at Paragon, wine tasting at Rosenblum, sushi at Tachibana and not one, but TWO strong mai tai’s at the Conga Lounge, we all felt a teensy bit thrashed by the end of the day. Good thing I won’t be seeing these people again for almost four whole weeks! 😉

Great Food and Fun

We definitely should do this more often. Thanks, Steve and Diane for allowing us to trash your pad!

One in a Billion?

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…

Affymetrix UNIX Op’s Group

I thought you might like to see a couple pictures of the fabulous guys I work with. This is the most talented group of UNIX GEEKS I have ever met, and our most excellent manager Karl. We spent this Friday afternoon in Pacifica at a cool bowling alley called Sea Bowl. The occasion was to…

Lazy Hazy Easter Sunday

If you can possibly avoid the usual gathering with extended family, it turns out that Easter Sunday is a great day to get things done. We easily made our way up to Mount Diablo to take in a somewhat hazy, but otherwise perfect view, got the car washed and even ate a little salt-and-pepper calamari…

(Incr)Edible Art

Thanks to some very kind people at work, Kelly and I were given a gift certificate at one of the very best restaurants in the Bay Area. I was expecting the food to be good – maybe even great – but it exceeded even my most optimistic expectations. I know it sounds hard to believe,…

Tachibana and Toni

If you know me, you know that I could live the rest of my life on a diet consisting of nothing but sushi. Hamachi sashimi is the simply best food in the world – period. And the very BEST hamachi can be found at Tachibana n Oakland. Ah, but it doesn’t end there! The sushi…

We Really Should Stop Meeting Like This…

Another weekend – another grueling trip to the valley. Each and every one of these gals can all outlast thedude. When will he learn??? The brief visit was BIG fun, though. Congratulations to Wendy! (Love that sweater!) Glad I could help increase the odds, Frank. (I’m sure I’ll) see you again soon!

Sleepless in Santa Rosa

We drove to Santa Rosa yesterday because I had to work on another computer. (The story of my life.) As it turned out, the trip was very worthwhile. My “client” gave me four(!) fabulous cases of wine in return for tuning up his Linux server. Thanks Neil!! Kelly’s high school classmate Steve and his girlfriend…

First Holiday Party of 2003!

This year’s first holiday party was at Dominic’s house in Concord. Dominic is Kelly’s hair stylist and a Fresno native like Kelly, so we never miss his parties. Dominic has HUGE family – six brothers, seven sisters and about 87 beautiful nieces. His home is cozy with two fireplaces that kept everyone comfortable despite the…

Turkey Day in Fresno

The holiday weekend consisted mostly of the usual fare – family and tons of fabulous food. Of course, any outing with the Hunter Clan is guaranteed to produce a few memorable moments. This year was no exception. The first surprise was a doozy… Imagine your standard-issue bar stool strapped atop a custom built five horse-power…

Fabulous Fun Day!

Wow! What a terrific day! Our dear friends Jeff and Wendy drove up to the bay area all the way from Fresno to test drive a Mini Cooper. (They loved it.) We spent the rest of the day eating, sightseeing and sigh Christmas shopping. Lunch at Jack’s Bistro, cruising past the USS Midway, martinis at…

Busted!

Alert reporter Randy Kincaid scooped this image of thedude at a recent rally for Ah-nult.

Happy Birthday, Dude!!

Thanks so much to all who came to thedude’s party. Jim and Kelly are blessed to have the best friends (and neighbors!) in the world. We love you all!