Dickens Fair 2007

Me, TUO and some friends went to Dickens Fair last weekend up at Cow Palace near San Francisco. Good times! As is usual in the scale of California events, the place was massive and the quality was high. Lots of great costumes, peformances, and reproductions. I'm sure TUO will give a full account! :-)

Richter? Damn near killed 'er!

TUO and I were at home on the computer when we felt a rolling sensation from the ground beneath us - our first noticeable earthquake! It lasted about 10-15 seconds, it centered at Alum Rock (about a 20 minute drive from our place) and it registered 5.6 on the Richter Scale, but caused no major damage other than a couple of downed power lines.

Our first instinct was just to look at each other while it was occurring. Really, we should have head to the nearest door jamb just in case it was a big one, but TUO was fretting while I was going "cool!" And it occurred we should probably re-stock our emergency Earthquake supplies...

Cool Link: http://quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/

Oktoberfest 2007

TUO, me, and Zeke

A week ago we went to Oktoberfest in Campbell (about a 10 minute drive from our house). As usual, there were crazy amounts of people there. It's been running a few years now, so you'd think they'd actually increase the amount of beer tents to meet demand or seperate non-alcoholic beverages into a seperate queue, but noooo...

While there was beer and schnitzel, there was also a tonne of craft booths set up on the street as well. TUO ended up getting another cool mask and bracelet. Me, I was happy with the Hefeweizen! I still remember the Harvest Moon Beer Festival they had at the U of R - good times, that! :-)

Otterfest 2007

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has recently just launched their Wild About Otters exhibit where they have some guest otters from different parts of the world. In addition to their regular sea otters, they have visiting Asian small-clawed otters and African spotted-neck otters. I don't know it is about those moist furry tube rats, but I think they're pretty nifty. We ended up going down to see them numerous times with various friends.


African spotted-neck otters


Asian small-clawed otters


Sea otters snoozing with their toys


A very helpful vermillion rockfish


Zeke, TUO, and Dianne

Oh, and here's something disgustingly cute. I'm serious - if you don't have a cute tolerance, do not click on the link.

Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Avast, me hearties! 'Tis Talk Like a Pirate Day!

And for ya scurvy dogs that don't know how:

Talk Like a Pirate Instructional Vido

Yarrr!

Zombies Invade SF!

We missed this by a day:

Zombies Invade San Francisco

Doh!

Those Wacky Rosicrucians

When enthymeme was down a few weeks ago, we ended up taking a visit to the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum. Don't know much about those Rosicrucians, but they sure collect a whole lot of neat Ancient Egyptian stuff! TUO already posted a picture on her blog, but here are a few more.


Fountain and temple



Secret Egyptian garden... Rosicrucians only


Whole lotta breakable stuff inside...


TUO and enthymeme posin' by the sun carving


Me and enthymeme walkin' like Egyptians


Me and TUO are entombed!

Canada Day at Huddart Park

On July 1st we went to Huddart Park for the Digital Moose Lounge Canada Day picnic. There were about 300 Bay Area Canadians gathered together for it. We had a nice Fireman's BBQ, drank beer, ate Canadian candies and cookies. We ended up mostly talking with the Canadians from Saskatchewan, including a lady from PA and a guy from Regina.


Donna from PA


Me and TUO revelling in our Canadian-ness


All bow before The Digital Moose!

Terrain Day

Last weekend we spent a pleasant warm Saturday building miniatures terrain outside at my friend Thomas' house (a co-worker). Gotta say, outdoor minis-building in the middle of March is definitely a plus! The theme was "jungle terrain" so Thomas could do a very cool "move a damaged tank through a jungle infested with orks" Warhammer 40K scenario, and perhaps a later Lustria game.


The production line


TUO makin' cool trees

Berkeley Trip

Don't jump, Trevor!

Last Saturday we took a trip up to Berkeley and area with our friend Trevor, a professor from the university.

We started off going to the Dark Carnival bookstore, an older popular bookstore which specializes in sci-fi and fantasy. Lots of very popular authors go there for book signings.

We then headed off to Berkeley's Gourmet Ghetto to tour around and get a bite to eat at an excellent burger place called Bruno's Burgers, probably one of the better burgers I've eaten, with beef comparable to Alberta beef!

We spent the afternoon around the hills overlooking Berkeley where they had some nice walking trails. The humidity was so thick you could see your breath even though it was relatively warm. Very nice day!

Teatro ZinZanni

We had our launch party at Teatro ZinZanni on Saturday. It was quite the entertaining show, a dinner theatre with acrobats, opera singers, and comedy. Very cool stuff.


They graffittied us!

Summer Picnic

We had our company summer picnic at Vasona Park last Sunday. Man, it was such a great day! Blue skies, warm (not hot) weather. BBQ and drinks, free swag, sports (including bocci!). Best part: it was freakin' October! I've been getting emails from friends back in S'toon and talking with family about "freezing rain!" and "4 inches of snow". Damn... California is pretty awesome! :-)

NorCal Renfaire

We went to the NorCal Renfaire this past weekend, and got to check out another of the cool events going on in the area. Like events we attended in the past, we went in with Saskatchewan-level expectations, and got a California-level reception! We spent quite a full day there, and were quite entertained!


Tribal dancer


Flower wreaths by performance stage


A stern Queen Lizzie


Knights preparing to joust



Squire guiding knight to joust


Morris dancers!


Yarrr! 'Tis pirate theme weekend!


Queen's court in session

Muir Woods

When Chris & Suzi were visiting we took a trip up to San Francisco and Muir Woods. We spent the day hiking around the woods and ended with a nice supper in SF at a great dockside restaurant.


En Route via Golden Gate Bridge


Presenting... Muir Woods!


Thick Foliage


Redwood Hollow


Knotty Wood!


Chris and I at Ocean View


Walkway through Muir Woods


Friendly Banana Slug

A Tour of the City

San Francisco is a great place to visit. Lots to see and do everytime you go! During Ben & Rilla's visit we took a journey back and forth across the city (people in the South Bay call SF 'the city' even though San Jose is much bigger in this century).


Sea lions on Pier 39


Ben, Rilla, and Amy in front of Alcatraz


A typical SF cable car


Ben and Rilla on the cable car

Vista Point

On the way back from SF after a game of Savage Deadlands,we stopped by a "Vista Point" and caught a scenic view at sunset as the sea fog rolled over the hills and forests. Some pics below:


The fog rolls in...


Bloody Tourists!

Gilroy Garlic Festival

Ah, the greatness that is Gilroy, and the marvel that is its annual garlic festival. We were NOT expecting the sheer size (or expense) of the event, which involved parking our car in a HUGE field and bussing out to the place. It was quite a spectacle, with three stages, food and craft vendors... I had no idea that it was such a big deal! Below are a few pictures from the festival:


Ben, me, Amy and Rilla with the The Garlic Mascot


The Lovely Ladies of Garlic! (and me)

More to follow!

Yachting on San Francisco Bay

Yarrrrr!


Alcatraz

Last Saturday we had the good fortune of being invited by friends in San Francisco for a trip around the Bay on their yacht! The weather was gorgeous, the company was great, and we got to see a lot of cool sites from the Bay, including the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and a sailboat race! All-in-all, a very cool day! :-)

The Great Outdoors

We had quite the busy weekend, strangely enough in the great outdoors. I say strangely because I'm not one to normally enjoy frolicking about in nature. I've said it many times, "I spent most of my life getting out of the bush (the farm), so I'm not too eager to go back!" Then again, maybe it's the Saskatchewanian in me still thinking: "It's a nice day - I must go out to enjoy it!"

On Saturday we took a trip with a couple of Amy's friends up to the Yuba River, a really beautiful spot northeast of San Francisco. There we found a small river beach where a warm mountain stream broke through the hills. The water was clear, small fish swam about in the water, and we even found gold flakes in the water - I guess that's why they call California "the Golden State"! Oh, and there were a lot of nekkid people there skinny-dipping - apparently the spot is quite popular with a lot of the California hippy population!


Rio Del Mar Beach

On Sunday we went to Rio Del Mar Beach, just outside of Santa Cruz. We were there with a bunch of people from one of the local gaming stores we had made friends with, and a good time was had by all. We had lots of fun swimming in the ocean and talking around the campfire. I even learned how to body surf on a boogie board! That is truly something I never thought I'd make time to do in my lifetime, but circumstances have changed a lot in the past year!

Viva Las Vegas!

Amy and I just got back from a weekend trip to Las Vegas, Nevada! It was a celebration event for our company, so they covered the trip, hotel, banquet and a show on Saturday night! I have to say, it's GREAT being part of a company which takes care of its employees!

We arrived in Las Vegas on Friday night around supper, when we dumped our bags off at the Luxor. If you don't know, the Luxor is an Egyptian-themed hotel in the shape of a pyramid, and instead of elevators has 'inclinators' since they travel inside up the incline of the pyramid! Pretty amazing stuff.


Statues at the Luxor

After we left our bags with the concierge we rushed over to the MGM Grand to watch the performance of the latest from Cirque du Soleil: KÀ! The tickets were a bit pricey, but then again, I didn't know what to expect. It was simply amazing, and worth every penny! I think what impressed me most was the sheer amount of mechanical engineering which went into the performance. The stage itself was one HUGE slab on an arm which allowed it to revolve, incline, and even go completely vertical! And something to keep in mind - the actors will still acting on it when this was happening! Wow... just... wow!

We spent the rest of Friday night and most of Saturday afternoon socializing, running around on a scavenger hunt, and generally enjoying the sights. We managed to drop by the Hilton and get our geek on with The Star Trek Experience, which included lunch at Quark's Bar and Restaurant, the Star Trek timeline museum, the 'Borg Invasion 4D' and 'the Klingon Encounter'. Lot's of good, sci-fi fun!


YMCA with a Klingon

Klingon Weaponry and Outfits at the Star Trek Museum

Saturday night we got together for a banquet and speeches, then proceeded to the highly entertaining Blue Man Group. Very humourous, entertaining, and interactive!


Our Scavenger Hunt Team!


Lou in Vegas Gear!

All-in-all, it was a great weekend! We actually hope to go back again to see more of the sights and shows of Vegas one of these weekends. It's actually a cheap flight from San Jose, so we'll seriously consider doing it again some time!