Thursday, March 26, 2009
Food Fun
I have two bits of fun food news to share.
Sunset's One-Block Diet blog has been nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award. My connection with this is tenuous at best; sweetheart Angela helps with some of the recipe testing (keen eyes can find her in some photos), and traveling companion Alan always seems often to be in photos partaking of the results. Still, I feel a sense of reflected pride. Congrats.
Also, Barbara and Kevin Brown, singing friends in SFBACC and proprietors of R&B Cellars, recently showed up on TV's Eye on the Bay along with their office manager Daphne Dahmen to prepare a lamb dish (made with R&B Swingsville Zinfandel) for Easter. Fun viewing, and Barbara says there's more on tap.
Check 'em out!
Sunset's One-Block Diet blog has been nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award. My connection with this is tenuous at best; sweetheart Angela helps with some of the recipe testing (keen eyes can find her in some photos), and traveling companion Alan always seems often to be in photos partaking of the results. Still, I feel a sense of reflected pride. Congrats.
Also, Barbara and Kevin Brown, singing friends in SFBACC and proprietors of R&B Cellars, recently showed up on TV's Eye on the Bay along with their office manager Daphne Dahmen to prepare a lamb dish (made with R&B Swingsville Zinfandel) for Easter. Fun viewing, and Barbara says there's more on tap.
Check 'em out!
Labels: blogs, food, friends, garden, media, TV, wine
Musical Fun
I have two upcoming concerts to announce:
1) The San Francisco Bay Area Chamber Choir will sing its spring concerts on Saturday and Sunday, April 4 and 5, in Alameda and Fremont, respectively. Concert time both nights is 7:00 p.m. We're singing a big range of music -- many, many short pieces -- ranging from Renaissance secular music to contemporary American madrigals. There's a reception after the Saturday concert with free snacks; I'll be baking Madeleines. Details, addresses, and etc. can be found here.
2) The Castro Valley Community Band has its spring concert on Wednesday evening, April 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the Castro Valley Center for the Arts. I bought a piece of music for the band from a publisher in France -- an arrangement of some of the music from the Umbrellas of Cherbourg -- that we'll play, along with our usual mix of showtunes, orchestral transcriptions, marches, and other fun stuff. And it's free!
Please consider yourselves invited.
1) The San Francisco Bay Area Chamber Choir will sing its spring concerts on Saturday and Sunday, April 4 and 5, in Alameda and Fremont, respectively. Concert time both nights is 7:00 p.m. We're singing a big range of music -- many, many short pieces -- ranging from Renaissance secular music to contemporary American madrigals. There's a reception after the Saturday concert with free snacks; I'll be baking Madeleines. Details, addresses, and etc. can be found here.
2) The Castro Valley Community Band has its spring concert on Wednesday evening, April 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the Castro Valley Center for the Arts. I bought a piece of music for the band from a publisher in France -- an arrangement of some of the music from the Umbrellas of Cherbourg -- that we'll play, along with our usual mix of showtunes, orchestral transcriptions, marches, and other fun stuff. And it's free!
Please consider yourselves invited.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Cisco Flips for Video
The rumors were true: Cisco has purchased Pure Digital, the company that makes the Flip camcorder.
Cisco, of course, has been a beloved client of mine for years. And I'm a fan of Flip, and have done some mildly crazy things with mine (such as strapping it around my neck while skiing and making a hillbilly VCR out of it).
But what to make of the merger? Cisco historically has been very good at acquiring and integrating other business-focused technology companies into its corporate fold. Its acquisition of Linksys and its move into the home market has been generally well-handled, but that involved a networking company buying another networking company. The Pure/Flip company is a different beast, and I suspect it has a very different customer base. Dumber and cheaper, to be frank. (Remember, I'm a Flip devotee.)
My advice for Cisco (as if it wants my advice) is twofold: keep Pure's programmers, because I generally like the way FlipShare works (though not its appearance); and create a cheap, capacious battery-powered box that can offload videos from the Flip when I'm away from the computer. (For those of you who don't know: the Flip does not have removable memory, so once it's full, you can't record any more until you offload the videos.) If that box can be a network device too, fine; just keep it simple.
Cisco, of course, has been a beloved client of mine for years. And I'm a fan of Flip, and have done some mildly crazy things with mine (such as strapping it around my neck while skiing and making a hillbilly VCR out of it).
But what to make of the merger? Cisco historically has been very good at acquiring and integrating other business-focused technology companies into its corporate fold. Its acquisition of Linksys and its move into the home market has been generally well-handled, but that involved a networking company buying another networking company. The Pure/Flip company is a different beast, and I suspect it has a very different customer base. Dumber and cheaper, to be frank. (Remember, I'm a Flip devotee.)
My advice for Cisco (as if it wants my advice) is twofold: keep Pure's programmers, because I generally like the way FlipShare works (though not its appearance); and create a cheap, capacious battery-powered box that can offload videos from the Flip when I'm away from the computer. (For those of you who don't know: the Flip does not have removable memory, so once it's full, you can't record any more until you offload the videos.) If that box can be a network device too, fine; just keep it simple.
Labels: gadgets, news, photography, technology, video
