David's Blog

My favorite attraction in Las Vegas is the Fremont Street Experience (FSE).

I saw this once before soon after it opened in '96...it still gives me goose bumps.

Fremont Street is located downtown, away from the The Strip. It has a very different vibe than the The Strip...it is more intimate and classic. The FSE is a canopy that runs for 5 blocks down Fremont St. The canopy is a ginormous video screen that shows amazing 10 minute videos after sunset on the hour until midnight. We caught two shows: American Pie and Tribute to Queen.

I love how all the casino lights go out just before the show starts.

The sound system rocks, with speakers everywhere that allow the sound to follow the images across the screen.

Here is some of American Pie...

Here is the tribute to Queen...

Technorati Tags: Las Vegas, Fremont Street Experience, Queen, American Pie

Posted on October 8, 2008 11:58 PM | Permalink| Comments (1)

A short 30 minute drive from Las Vegas is Hoover Dam, probably best known as the structure built to contain Megatron.

We drove out to the dam and I walked across it. It is amazing and worth the trip.

The drive out to Hoover Dam...

A casino in the middle of nowhere

The descent towards Hoover Dam

Power lines from Hoover Dam

New bridge to bypass Hoover Dam

Lake Mead side of the dam

A giant spillway for overflow

The other side of the dam

Arizona side

Nevada side

Trip back to Vegas (strip can be seen in background)

Technorati Tags: Hoover Dam, Las Vegas

Posted on October 6, 2008 11:25 PM | Permalink| Comments (1)

I went to a (new to me) bar this past Friday called "Butter."

Any place that serves deep fried Twinkies and deep fried P. B. & J is alright by me...especially if it is from a trailer (they have a trailer in their bar)! I actually had a deep fried Twinkie...unbelievable.

The drinks were awesome! How about a tangtini? I think I got Tang in several of the drinks I tried. My favorite specialty drink name..."Bitchin' Camero."

The DJ was spinning Southern Rock mixed with Hip-Hop...all stuff you'd recognized, but a little bit different.

Here is the write-up on Yelp.

This is going to become a regular stop for me...next visitor to SF...we are going to Butter.

Technorati Tags: Butter, San Francisco, Bars

Posted on September 28, 2008 6:41 PM | Permalink| Comments (1)

I met up with some friends yesterday for dinner at a place called "Memphis Minnie's."

A barbeque place in SF? No way!

It's a small place that is overflowing with character and good/unique food.

I ended up having a little of everything:

• BBQ Seasoned Fries (*really good*)
• BBQ Pork Rolls
• Fried Cheese Grit Sticks
• Corn Bread Muffin
• Pecan Pie

Everything was yummy...definitely will have to go back to this place.

Here is the Yelp page with more info.

Big ups to Yung for the hookup. And ladies...he's single.

Technorati Tags: Memphis Minnie's

Posted on July 19, 2008 3:32 PM | Permalink| Comments (0)

I found the "Wave Organ" today. I jog past it all the time, and I had no idea it was out there. You have to walk to the end of a thin jetty to find it. You get nice views of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge from the Wave Organ.

What is it? It's a sculpture made up of pipes that create sound as the tide comes in and out. It reminds me of something out of Myst. It's an interesting concept.

Mom listening to the Wave Organ

Pipes that let sound out (you can see them continue into the water)

Pipes!

More Pipes!

Alcatraz from the Wave Organ

Golden Gate Bridge from the Wave Organ

Technorati Tags: Wave Organ, San Francisco

Posted on March 26, 2008 8:57 PM | Permalink| Comments (1)

I stopped by Pixar today. The above picture is about all you get to see if you aren't a guest of a Pixar employee.

I *really* want to see what their studio looks like inside, but I don't know anybody that works there.

If you know somebody that works for Pixar that wouldn't mind showing me around, please let me know. In exchange, I'd be happy to show them around our campus.

Technorati Tags: Pixar

Posted on January 19, 2008 5:45 PM | Permalink| Comments (1)

The last day of my trip.

I arrived at Bangalore's Hindustan Airport (BLR) ready to finish my trip around the world and return to San Francisco. I was leaving India for Singapore. From Singapore I would switch planes and head to San Francisco with a stop in Seoul, Korea.

That didn't happen.

At the airport, I was informed my reservations had been canceled. There was room to put me back on the flight to Singapore. However, the flight from Singapore to San Francisco was completely booked.

My best option was to fly to Singapore and take the next available flight to San Francisco, 14 hours later with a stop in Hong Kong. There was also a chance I could get back on my original flight via standby.

Why were my reservations canceled? Apparently the travel agent had me booked twice...once for a Friday night departure (in case I wanted to come home early) and also for Saturday night. Singapore Airlines noted I did not show up Friday night (I never planned to), and it is their policy to cancel all reservations if you miss one. The travel agent was not aware of this policy.

I probably should have been furious about all this...but I was actually excited. I get to spend a day in Singapore!

The only bad part: I missed out on a night of sleep. I left India Saturday night (11:10pm) and arrived in Singapore early Sunday morning (6:05am). I had almost no sleep since the flight was about 4 hours long.

There was a chance that I could get on my original flight as a standby. I had to hang out in the Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge until my original flight left to have a chance to board as a standby. The lounge has free food and drinks. I had about 2 hours to kill so I had some breakfast and cleaned up in the showers.

While I was waiting in the lounge, I saw some Asian girls checking out some guys. The girls were tracking their every move and trembling in excitement.

I noticed the guys had several security guys with guns surrounding them. I asked the girls who the guys were.

They were *shocked* I asked such a question! "You don't *know* who they are?!?!? They are FAHRENHEIT!"

Above is a picture of Fahrenheit in the corner of the lounge. They are a new boy band that is big in Asia. I'm usually up on my celebrities...so it was bizarre being one of the only people in the lounge that had no idea who these guys were. I tried to get a photo with them, but security would not let me approach them.

My original flight took off totally full without me...so now I had 12 hours to tour Singapore. I asked information if I would have a problem visiting Singapore for the day without a visa, and they said I would be fine with my passport. I bought a Singapore guide book and headed out of the airport on a train.

The train seemed like one unit instead of individual cars. You could easily walk the length of the train while it was traveling. When the train turned, you would lose sight of parts of the train that were bending around the corner. It was an odd effect. I took some video of it:

My first stop: find the new Lucasfilm Animation Singapore studio. I found it, but it was closed (it was Sunday) and my badge didn't let me in. :(

The lobby with a Yoda statue from Clone Wars

Exterior of Lucasfilm Animation Singapore

I got back on the train and headed towards downtown.

Civilian War Memorial

Singapore Flyer (above two photos) will open in early 2008 and will be the largest/tallest observation wheel in the world.

I spent some time walking around the beautiful Raffels Hotel.

A Toyota Mark X parked in front of the hotel...never heard of this car before.

I grabbed lunch at Seah St. Deli (part of Raffles Hotel). I was *really* craving a burger, fries, and a milkshake...and this place does a nice job of mimicking an American deli.

After lunch I decided to try a famous drink invented at the Raffles Hotel called the "Singapore Sling". It was great...tasted a bit like a Pat O'Brien's Hurricane.

I returned to Singapore Changi Airport to prepare to head back to the US. This airport is amazing. It has an enormous shopping mall, a movie theater that is free...

...a spa...

...free internet terminals, free Xbox 360 kiosks, a sports bar with enormous TV's, and nice fish ponds...

If you are going to be stuck in an airpot...this is the one to be stuck in!

The last thing I did was exchange my Singapore Dollars for US currency. Here is what their money looks like:

I was impressed with how clean and advanced Singapore is. I plan on going back when I have more time to enjoy it!

Technorati Tags: Singapore, Fahrenheit, Raffles Hotel

Posted on December 2, 2007 11:41 PM | Permalink| Comments (4)

The last day in India we got to be tourists and check out the sights.

We started at the ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) temple. I took this picture from the parking lot. We weren't allowed to bring in cameras and we had to remove our shoes and socks before we entered.

Their web site has some nice photos of the temple.

We were told that normally it takes hours of waiting in line to see the inside, but we were spared the wait because we were there so early (around 9am).

Seeing the Main Temple Hall was quite an odd experience...I knew nothing about these people and what they were chanting about.

Our guide, Rashikesh, was nice enough to buy me a book on the subject.

When we left the temple, we got to put our clean socks back on our filthy black feet. Felt disgusting at first, but you quickly forget about it.

Next stop: Bannerghatta National Park!

Before we started, I needed to test the restroom. You had to pay the bathroom attendant to use it...I'm not sure how much, because Rashikesh took care of it for me. The urinals were normal, but the toilets had *no* toilet paper...just a water hose! And the part that shocked me the most...there was no soap or a sink to wash your hands!

We started with a bus tour through a lion and tiger reserve.

We had to stop abruptly because some wild elephants were too close for comfort...

To scare the wild elephants away a safe distance, some park workers set off several loud explosions. The park workers rode on an elephant to make sure the wild elephants were gone.

Once we got along on the safari, we got *very* close to tigers and lions...

India is a lot more relaxed than the US when it comes to rules and regulations. The great part about that is you get to be really close to lions and tigers. The bad thing about that...lions and tigers are really close to eating us. I couldn't help but think about this scene from Jurassic Park when we were in our bus surrounded by tigers...what happens if the bus breaks down (it was barely running as it was)? Cell phones don't work out there and nobody had radios, so how do you get help? It's dangerous...but that was part of the fun!

Next, we toured the zoo. Our guide showed us a cage of geese. He thought these were amazing creatures and encouraged us to take pictures of them. I told him we see them all the time in the US.

Next, he showed us the pigeons...

I *did* take a picture of the pigeons, because I couldn't believe you would have these at a zoo.

BUT then, we saw the *best* animal yet at the zoo...a monkey!

We were so excited we started taking pictures. The monkey was out in the open just sitting on top of a fence...he wasn't in a cage. Our guide was annoyed and said we needed to hide our food and walk quickly away from the monkey. We wanted to stay and take pictures but our guide insisted we need to move now. As we left the monkey, I noticed there were monkeys all over the trees above.

I explained to our guide that of all the things we've seen at the zoo, the monkey is by *far* the coolest!

He didn't understand. "You don't have monkey's running around San Francisco?"

He explained that monkeys will come in your house and attack you to get your food. They are not afraid of humans. I guess his reaction to monkeys would be like our reaction to rats.

Next up: Lal Bagh Botanical Garden.

The main thing we wanted to see was the Glass House...

This is the view looking away from the Glass House...

I thought the signage on trash cans was interesting...

The rules of the garden were not something I'm used to seeing either:

The last thing we did was go to M.G. Road to go shopping before heading to the airport.

On my way back to the US, I exchanged my Indian rupee's...here's what they look like...

Technorati Tags: India, Bangalore, ISKCON, Bannerghatta National Park, Lal Bagh Botanical Garden, M.G. Road

Posted on November 11, 2007 9:16 PM | Permalink| Comments (0)

We stayed in a 5-star hotel in Bangalore, India called The Windsor. That sounds really impressive until you learn that they also have 7-star hotels in India. I don't know how a 5-star India rating translates into an American rating...but The Windsor was very nice.

Technorati Tags: India, Bangalore, Windsor

Posted on November 11, 2007 6:09 PM | Permalink| Comments (3)

Probably the most unbelievable aspect of my trip to Bangalore, India was the insane traffic.

Here are a collection of short clips I made during one commute across town...

As the crow files, it wasn't even 9 miles from our hotel to our destination...but it took over two hours to make the journey on average. Our fastest time was just over an hour. Our longest time was when it was raining...more than 2 and a half hours.

There is a lot of honking going on...but it isn't from irritated drivers like we have in San Francisco. It's "polite" honking to let people know that you are near them. Most of the trucks have a sign on the back encouraging honking so the driver won't run into you. Here is an example sign on a truck that says "Horn OK Please"...

The honking really is necessary based on how packed the roads are.

I was amazed by how many motorcycles were on the road. I'd guess that for every one car/truck there were 10 motorcycles...just about the opposite of the USA. Some people use their motorcycles like a minivan. I saw a family of four traveling on a motorcycle. I missed my chance at catching that on film, but I did get this family of three...

The streets are filled with yellow taxis. But these taxis are a bit different than the ones we have in the USA, they are called "Auto rickshaws."

Cars drive on the left in India...mostly. Many of the roads have no lanes or people just make their own lanes...which means you never know if you are going to play chicken with someone...

Another popular vehicle that I've not seen before were the Maruti Omni Microvan. These vans look about the size of a golf cart, but seat up to 8 people (crammed in...I saw one fully loaded). Below is a Maurti Omni on the right side of the picture...

Tata makes many of the vehicles in India. Here are a few...

I saw several *tiny* electric cars called "Reva"...

There were a lot of cows on the road in the middle of the city...something I'm not used to seeing! There are cows in each of the next pics...some might be a bit tough to see until you zoom in.

We actually got hit twice during our 5 days in Bangalore. Each bump was minor. With cars driving so close, bumping each other is fairly typical ("you *only* got hit twice?!?!?!"). After a car hits another, you just keep moving along...nobody pulls over to inspect the damage, trade insurance, or call the police...it is just part of driving in Bangalore! The damage is usually pretty light because the traffic keeps you driving under 15 mph.

Another big difference...no road rage! Americans would go on a killing spree if they were dealing with traffic like this. The Indians were extremely patient and calm...even after somebody bumps their car.

Technorati Tags: Bangalore, India, Traffic, Reva, Maruti Omni, Auto rickshaw

Posted on November 1, 2007 11:55 PM | Permalink| Comments (4)

I was in India for the past week. My trip took me around the world. I started in San Francisco and changed planes in London Heathrow before continuing to Bangalore, India. On the way back, I went via Singapore and Hong Kong before returning to San Francisco.

I left SF on Sunday @ 4:50 pm PDT (Pacific Daylight Time) and arrived in Bangalore on Tuesday @ 6:00 am IST (Indian Standard Time)...more than a 24 hour trip.

To prepare for the time zone change, I stayed awake for the trip to London (10 hours 10 minutes). I slept for the 2nd leg from London to Bangalore (9 hours 25 minutes). When I arrived it was 6 in the morning, so the timing worked out well because I was ready to wake up.

I traveled on British Airways business class. The flight from SF to London had a really nice seating setup. You could raise a window between you and the person next to you and then it felt like you were in your own private area.

Here are some pics from the London flight on a 747-400...

Technorati Tags: Bangalore, India, London, England, Heathrow, British Airways

Posted on October 29, 2007 8:14 PM | Permalink| Comments (4)

My Dad and his wife Rosie came to visit me in San Francisco this weekend.

They aren't leaving until Tuesday. I have to leave today (Sunday) for India for a business trip. I decided to take Friday off so I could spend more time with them before I ditch them in San Francisco.

I've already given them the Presidio tour (home of ILM and LucasArts). So this time I took them to Skywalker Ranch (home of Skywalker Sound). We had lunch out there and then explored the area. It is a really beautiful and amazing place.

When we got back to town, we grabbed some grub at Asqew and watched Transformers.

Saturday, I took them wine tasting. We started at Gloria Ferrer (in Sonoma Valley) and tasted Champagne.

Next, we went to Napa Valley. I like Napa better than Sonoma...it is more picturesque. The grape vines are turning fall colors now.

We stopped at Robert Mondavi's winery. You get 2 tastes for $10 and you get to keep the Robert Mondavi labeled wine glass. Additional tastes are $3. This place is beautiful. Definitely worth checking out.

For dinner, we ate at a garlic restaurant in San Francisco called "The Stinking Rose." The food was great, with interesting atmosphere (garlic hanging everywhere).

Sunday we met for breakfast at Noah's Bagels. I forced them to watch "Death Proof" and then I dropped them off at Monaghan's for Bloody Mary's and NFL football while I got ready to head to the airport.

Great visit...thank you guys for coming out to see me!

Technorati Tags: Skywalker Ranch, Napa Valley, Gloria Ferrer, Robert Mondavi, The Stinking Rose, San Francisco

Posted on October 21, 2007 1:58 PM | Permalink| Comments (3)

I'm getting packed now for a 4 day trip out to Las Vegas....leaving tomorrow morning. I'm meeting my old high school buddy Chris Franka out there to celebrate our birthdays (this Saturday). We have the same birthday...but I'm exactly one year older.

Any suggestions on what to see or do? Post away in the comments. I haven't made any plans yet.

Technorati Tags: Las Vegas

Posted on October 3, 2007 9:14 PM | Permalink| Comments (9)

I'm going to spend quite a bit of time on an airplane soon, so I wanted to find something to keep me entertained.

I initially thought about getting a Dell XPS M1330 laptop. I was actually one click away from buying it today when I realized the ship date was after the bulk of much of my traveling.

I'm actually glad I didn't get the laptop. I don't travel very often, so the laptop would probably sit unused most of the time.

So the next best thing...an iPod. What I like about the iPod over the laptop...

• Much cheaper ($350 vs. $2,500)
• Much better battery life (7 hours vs 3 hours for watching movies)
• Much smaller (can fit in my jacket pocket)
• Much lighter
• Fast charging (about 2 hours for 80% capacity)
• Less concern about theft
• Should arrive next week

I figure I will load it up with...

• Season 5 and 6 of 24 (from iTunes)
• Several seasons of South Park (from iTunes)
• A few movies I haven't seen (from iTunes)
• Some audio books (from iTunes)
• The 3 video games iTunes has (Ms. Pacman, Tetris, and Sudoko)
• My music collection

Putting everything on the iPod means I don't have to worry about bringing a bunch of DVD's with me.

I decided on the 160GB over the 80GB because of battery life...the 160GB can do 7 hours of video watching on a charge verses only 5 hours on the 80GB.

There are two color choices, black or white. I went with black.

Any suggestions for good audio books, TV, or movies available on iTunes are welcome!

Technorati Tags: iPod, classic, 160 GB, iTunes

Posted on September 26, 2007 9:32 AM | Permalink| Comments (10)

After five months in California, I'm making a quick trip back to Texas.

I can't technically take vacation yet, so I'm only going to be able to visit for a weekend.

I'm *really* limited on time, and I want to see a bunch of people, and I like to hang out in bars, so here's the plan:

Frankie's

7pm-???

Saturday July 28th, 2007

Come out and join me for a drink and some (pretty) good bar food. You can park for free in the parking garage.

Hope to see ya there!

Technorati Tags: Dallas, Texas, Frankies

Posted on July 9, 2007 9:21 PM | Permalink| Comments (7)

Today I visited Alcatraz and Angel Island. Photos are here.

I got my ticket from this web site. I bought my ferry ticket 5 days in advance. The only option that wasn't sold out was the 9am tour of Alcatraz and Angel Island. The ferry returned at 2pm. Cost: $51.

We left pier 33 and went to Alcatraz first. The ride was about 15 minutes. The ferry to Angel Island left at 11am, so we had about an hour and a half to explore "The Rock." We did the free audio tour, which was about an hour. You could start or stop the audio as you pleased so you could spend more time in an area than the tour permitted.

Next, we went to Angel Island, which is about a 20 minute ride from Alcatraz. We rode a free 1 hour tram tour around the outskirts of the island. Afterwards we had lunch at a cafe near the ferry dock and then returned to pier 33.

The views from Alcatraz and Angel Island are spectacular. I doubt I'll want to do the tour again...but it is certainly worth doing once.

Technorati Tags: Alcatraz, Angel Island

Posted on July 8, 2007 10:13 PM | Permalink| Comments (1)

My old pal from high school came over to visit me last weekend. The photos are here.

I gave Chris the traditional tour of ILM and then we went bar-hopping off Chestnut.

Chris had been to San Francisco before...so I needed to come up with something to do that would be new for him and me. He hadn't been to Silicon Valley before, and we are both big nerds, so we went on a tour of corporate campuses. We saw...

• Sony Computer Entertainment
• Sling Media
• Electronic Arts
• PDI/DreamWorks
• Apple
• Google
• Intuit
• Mozilla

Here is a map of where we went.

Next we toured the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. It is a beautiful mansion that was under non-stop construction for 36 years, 24 hours a day, year round. It features bizarre designs like doors and stairs that go to nowhere. The mansion had 40 bedrooms, even though the owner, Sarah Winchester, never had any guests.

Technorati Tags: Sony Computer Entertainment, Sling Media, Electronic Arts, PDI, Apple, Google, Intuit, Mozilla, Winchester Mystery House

Posted on July 1, 2007 2:01 AM | Permalink| Comments (4)

Jessica came to visit me a couple of weeks ago. She brought a great Texas-attitude to San Francisco that I really missed and appreciated. The pictures from the weekend are here.

We crammed a lot into a weekend visit. I took her on an ILM tour first (of course). Then I forced her to walk up Lyon street to see how serious the hills are in San Francisco (your calf's will be begging for mercy). We walked around Pacific Heights checking out where the rich people live before returning to the Marina.

On Saturday, we headed to the Francis Ford Coppola winery in Napa Valley, Rubicon Estates. For $25 a person, you get to try 5 wines and get a tour of the winery. The tour included a visit to the wine caves. After the fact, I learned I get to bring a visitor for free with my Lucasfilm ID...oh well. We had lunch across the street at the Rutherford Grill, which was great.

When we returned to San Francisco, we did the 49 Mile Scenic Drive, which gives you an amazing view of many facets of this city.

On Sunday, we had clam chowder at Tarantino's in the Fisherman's Wharf. We had a great view of the ocean, but we spent most of our time watching the World Famous Bush-man scare people. Last thing we did was visit the seals on Pier 39.

Technorati Tags: ILM, San Francisco, Rubicon Estates, 49 Mile Scenic Drive, Fisherman's Wharf

Posted on June 24, 2007 11:38 PM | Permalink| Comments (0)

This weekend I did the 49 Mile Scenic Drive around San Francisco.

I noticed the "49 Mile Scenic Drive" signs around work, so I looked it up on the Internet to find out what it was and where it went.

I haven't met a single person in San Francisco that has dri