July 30th Pic!

"Shrouded"

Seriously a Lamborghini parked OUTSIDE of the Gregio. Eva and I spent 10minutes thinking about why someone would park their 250K car outside in Phoenix during the monsoon season when it could be parked inside the garage of the Gregio. I was really tempted to lift the cover to get a shot of the Bull logo but decided against possibly being tackled by the owner. Although anyone who parks their 1/4 million dollar car outside probably doesn't care. It was dark blue btw, from what I could tell with the little exposed panel. This morning, the cover was drenched...I guess it rained pretty hard last night. The car has been parked in the same spot for a whole week now, I hope I get to watch the guy or gal drive it soon. I'm not even a car nut, hell I drive a Prius, but a super car like a Lambo is cool! even though my Prius get's 10x better mpg. ;)

July 29th Pic!

"Obslete"

Ordered my Kindle 3 Wifi today! I still have a ton of paper books I haven't finished reading yet but once I get my new toy on Aug 27th it won't matter. I was very torn between the new Kindle and the Ipad, but ultimately decided that though I will get an Ipad in the future, I just didn't need one now, and reading on the Ipad (ie full books) isn't good for my eyes. Eva got a Kindle too, so we can be in a book club of 2! Sharing books will make them seem cheaper and since they're all digital they won't take up a ton of space! I went to go look at the Nook also but wasn't impressed by the weight, however they did have some cool covers! I can't wait to go shopping for a cover for my Kindle, Amazon sells a cool one for $60 but I can't really buy a cover that costs 43% of the actual product itself...that's just nuts! isn't it!? 

Another factor to consider when deciding between the Kindle and the Ipad...Cost, Ipad with all the accessories and such will probably run me $700. I can get 5 Kindles with Accessories for that price. When I sell my Kindle in the future to upgrade to an Ipad I'll probably recover 75% of my cost, which will be enough to buy an Ipad cover!

July 28th Pic!

"Peeping"

Played with my fish-eye lens yesterday (July 28th) for the first time. It actually worked after 25mins, got it to work within 10mins of midnight. Don't worry Eva knew I was taking a pic of her, and authorized this post. She even pretended to sleep....with the light on, for this photoshoot. Good times!

July 27th Pic!

"Polaroid"

This is a lamp at sits in the corner of Eva's bedroom. I used my phone with the FX camera to take the Polaroid effect pic. I couldn't get the pic to rotate however , so please tilt your head to the left.

July 26th Pic!

"Running on Empty"

PTF (Post Travel Funk) in full effect! the change in climate has managed to knock me on my ass more so than the run! It's pretty brutal going from freezing temperatures to 100+ over the span of a day. I made it into work today but barley. My body is aching but I think it has more to do with the bones de-frosting than anything the run did to me.
Today's pic is the Lake again, and yes it's still water-free for the most part. On Friday while waiting in the airport I read that the fish stranded on the bottom of the lake are Carp (not crap), a type of fish that even if rescued that other lakes in the city won't accept because they're looking to reduce their carp populous. To put the dying/dead fish (Carp) to good use the city fed them to a Crocodile named Tuesday on Friday in a parking lot, this way the lake bed won't stink and the Tuesday (the Croc) is fed and people get to see Tuesday be happy on a Friday...Phew. Trust me, it was one of the most confusing articles I've ever read.

July 25th Pic

 "Bonding"

Race Day! (and my Dad's B-day!) Unfortunately no pic's of the actual race itself (we were busy running it!). This day started at 4am with 2 bums fighting outside our window over glass bottles in the recycle bin! It was a colorful fight from what I could hear from the 4th floor. My race started at 5:50am, so I took a warm shower, ate cereal with water out of a plastic cup (pretty bad) and walked outside my hotel to find other runners running towards the race start line about 1 mile out. I don't understand why people would be running (not jogging) towards the race, anyway I took a brisk walk and warmed up in time for the race start.
The race itself went by pretty fast, I ran the 1st half of the SF Marathon, this run took me over the Golden Gate bridge, that run alone is worth the admission fee. I didn't set any personal records, it's probably one of the worst courses to set a PR because 1. It's hilly, which sucked a LOT on miles 10-12. 2. A lot of people run the race so it gets a bit congested at parts, (the start, the bridge and the park). So though the race was fun, my training did not really pay off, I was hoping to run at a sub 7:30 min mile pace, but finished in 1:53 mins at 8:40 min mile pace :(  ...Sam and Eva ran the 5k and they experienced similar issues, a whole group of people were in the front of the start and decided to walk once the gun went off...so the lesson is the first mile is usually a crap shoot in popular races like this. I almost forgot to mention that during the whole trip SF was practically freeeeezing! it was 55 degrees but with wind chill it was nearly 40 or maybe 30 I don't know I couldn't feel any extremities.  

"Easy Rider"

"Beware of Sec 27174"

"Simply Golden"

July 24th Pic!

"The View"

Sam took this pic. 

Birthday! turned 27 today and it wasn't as painful as I thought it would be. Added a new gray hair to the collection this year to bring the grand total to 2 (I think...memory is fading with age). Eva got me some awesome presents, a Fish Eye Lens (I will probably dedicate a few days on the blog to fish eye pics!) and cup. Not just any Cup! it's a replica if a Canon L series lens, this was given to the reporters at Vancouver Olympics, it's the 24mm-105mm L Series USM Lens, it is awesome! After months of telling Eva not to put my water cup in the dishwasher (I just drank water in it, no need to wash it for every one use!) she got me my own distinguishable  cup!  
 
Later that day we went to the City (SF) and had lunch, checked in at the hotel, and took a few hours on our own to walk around town. Saw Union Square for the first time, not to mention the humongous Macy's there. The Macy's store is a spectacle to see, we were only on one side of the store on the first floor and that took nearly most of our time. One sad part however is all the stores on Union Square are large retailers, and very few mom and pop stores, we walked into an Antiques store and the prices ranged from $5,000 to $150,000 or more, I'm sure some pieces were millions but I refuse to believe you put a grocery store style sticker on a mil+ item that's just sitting in a little shop.
 
Even Later on that day we went to "Top of the Mark" for some drinks, from this location you can see the entire city...covered in fog. Trust me when I say the city looks a lot cooler when it's covered in the Fog. We also tried to do the Vertigo tour, (Hitchcock's movie) but most of us fell asleep on Friday night before we saw all of it. Then for dinner we went to a little Italian restaurant and stuffed our faces...pre-race meal is the best! you can eat what ever you feel like eating!

"On O'Farrell St."

July 23rd pic!

"Through the Bars"

*Click on the pic, it looks a lot cooler blown up*

Flight to San Jose! Birthday in 1 day, Marathon (well 1/2 of one) in 2 days! This is going to be an awesome trip....it possibly can't start off on a bad foot!...right? WRONG! After waking up at 6am to run some errands and eat copious amounts of Blueberry's (the trick it to eat them before they rot), Eva, Sam and I made it to the airport with minutes to spare to catch our flights. Sam was on her own flight (southwest), Eva and I took U.S. Airways. Sam got on her flight without a hitch, Eva and I on the other hand missed our flight because U.S. Airways apparently closes the gate with 20 mins left to departure. I bet not many Indians fly on U.S. Airways (we're always late). We finally made it on another flight at 2pm, after missing our 10:25am flight, and trust me waiting at the airport is a LOT of fun! I did get a good amount of reading done.
 
We finally made it San Jose and had a fun time walking around the neighborhood playing in the kids play field at the local elementary, while my Aunt slaved in the house making dinner, which included Pizza, Pruschetto (thinly sliced Ham) and Melon, along with some cheese and snacks to enjoy with the Wine. 

 "Jump!"

She was stuck....I was trying to help her down. 

"Damn Dirty Apes"

"Return of the Damn Dirty Apes"

July 22nd Pic!

"No Crossing"

Tempe Town Lake has been drained. The damn Dam broke and suppousedly some beavers died according to some high looking retailer at Fashion Square, according to my sister. I'm no crack reporter but I trust my sources and I'll take the bait on this one and believe some beavers perished. 

The pic was taken with my phone camera...I didn't have my DSLR with me so I just had to trust my phone camera. 

On a more somber note, a dear friend of mine Anne lost her month long battle with Cancer today. It was a pleasure getting to know her the past 5 years. I will miss her for sure! It's good to know that she's in a better place and no longer suffering.

July 21st Pic!

"Droid Does"

Wed night pic was/is kind of lame, but I have a good excuse, my camera battery died as I was doing some light testing using my phone's screen for lighting. After 5 mins of testing, I got the dreadful "Charge Battery" symbol on my camera. The camera battery actually lasts quite long, I took it to Europe and lasted all of Italy and 3k pics without dying on me! ...Droid ...err Canon Does!

July 20th Pic!

"Blessed by Mac"

Sam in the living room, even with all the lights off her Mac is pretty bright. Kind of an errie pic but I like it. She's wearing the T-shirt I got her once she decided she was going to UofA and become a Wildcat. On one of my drives to Tucson I picked up a T-Shirt, a cap and a key chain and mailed it to Sam. Less than 30 secs after I walked out of the post office, she calls me screaming on the other end to tell me that she was accepted to UCSB after she appealed the rejection. She's a USCB grad now but still rocks the UofA gear!

July 19th Pic!

"Purple Sky"

Awesome sky's in phoenix during the monsoon season, this day I couldn't find the sunset (hidden behind the bridge). I do wish I had a lens big enough to capture the details of the moon. Too bad it would weigh 40lbs.

July 18th Pic!

"Bread plus Wine"

Sunday night per dinner meal...don't worry no Wine was spilt. I however did manage to make dinner, which involved de-thawing some veggie patties and making some awesome sandwiches. Oh it also involved discovering that Eva has a naked neighbor....which would be cool except it's a guy. Just my luck. 

July 17th Pic!

"Hot Food"

Out having dinner at "The Vig", I actually ordered a Salad after a loooong time. It had Shrimp on it. What oil spill? 

We figured that it would take us 30-40 mins to get seated on a Sat night but we walked right in and got seated outside, it the misters pointed directly on us.

July 16th Pic!

"Up in the air"

My sis Sam came to visit today, so this is her contribution to my blog via her cell phone. I'm glad her flight landed safely considering her scrupulous phone usage in the air...tsk, tsk...it wouldn't be bad if she was using an IPhone, since that phone doesn't really work. We're on Verizon our phones are potent.

July 15th Pic!

"The Turtlestones"

A day at the Zoo on Thursday, we woke up at 6am!! and made it to the Zoo at 7am. It got to be around 110 Degrees around 9am. The animals were out most of the time we were there, but after 8:30am most went to find the shade.

"The Strut"

"Cheetah in the Woods"

"Three's Company"

"Slow Lane"

"The King"

"Lawn Ornaments"

"Chillin"

July 14th Pic!

"Wine & Dine"

On Wednesday, Eva and I went to Breadfruit, a Jamaican restaurant in Downtown Phoenix, the place has amazing fish...I ordered Chicken. In my defense this was the second time we've gone so I decided to try something new on the menu, but when they do fish, they do it right! 

Also they have a BYOB for Wine, so you can save some money too, only $15 uncorking fee. A nice bottle of Pinot when it's a 110 degrees out...can't beat it...unless you're drinking white wine, but I'm not a fan.  

July 13th Pic!

"Chained"

I just realized, this pic is perfect today because A. Lindsey Lohan is going to Jail handcuffed, B. She starred in a remake of the Love Bug, so a VW Bug Chained and tied down to a rotten shed is perfect because her movie career is probably over. 

Too much Yahoo news...anyway I've been meaning to take a cool pic of this bug chained down...not sure if the car actually works but it hasn't moved in a few months.

July 12th Pic!

"Bug's World"

This wasn't my intended primary pic for the 12th, but the more I looked at it the more I liked it. I'm a fan of the down to earth perspective, especially at night, it helps keep the camera focused. I would love to say I took this pic while running outside yesterday but these days in phoenix that's physically impossible. One, because I'm not lugging around my DSLR on my runs, Two, because it's 105 outside even at 10pm. Marathon in a 1.5 weeks, guess I'm gonna taper my run's on the treadmill...fun. 

"Airplanes in the Nightsky"

 ...like shooting stars. Set the camera at one sec exposure, and waited on the Patio at Eva's place for an airplane to pass between two palm trees.

July 11th Pic!

"Vuvuzela"

So the Dutch lost a close one...oh well, I guess 3rd time isn't the charm. Went to the Tilt & Kilt for the game, it was completely packed, but as soon as I walked in I heard a distinct sound. Vuvuzela's blaring in the background, it was loud and obnoxious. Some of my friends had recently been to South Africa so they were nice enough to bring some back and I was unlucky enough to sit in the middle of 3 people blasting them the whole game....my ears are still bleeding actually. They really do make a game a little more fun though, I don't know if I could handle them at every sporting event but once every blue moon, they can be fun. 

July 10th Pic!

"Dutch"

The world cup final between Spain and Netherlands is only 12 hours away! ...I haven't seen a single game this world cup, but I'm excited for the final. I hope the Dutch win so I can get a first hand account from a friend who lives there on how crazy a country goes when their team wins! However I should add no team I've rooted for so far has won 2 games in a row. The odd's are against the dutch though, Paul the octopus picked Spain and he's been 100% correct so far. In fact when Paul chose the container of food with Spain's flag on it, all the people in Spain went nuts. I feel like I'm living in a Douglas Adams novel (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy) where all these unbelievable and absurd things happen, I mean people holding their breath for an Octopus to decide which team was going to win the world cup! Pretty soon playing the actual games will just become a formality, whomever the Octopus picks just wins...game over. 

If you haven't read Douglas Adams....trust me, we're not that far away from a world he imagined. In fact all human behavior is represented in his books, except instead of saying a certain attribute belongs to Italians he says it belongs to some alien race, it's funny because it's not racist, it's alienist (?).  Genius.

July 9th Pic!

"Ninja Focus"

Friday Night involved, Thai Food, good beer and some "friendly" Table Tennis. Ken was focused and managed to kill all of us, but I still finished 2nd, which is a lot better than finishing 3rd. There wasn't much room to maneuver around the table so I was handicapped from the start. However I still managed to pull of all my Win's against Chris, who can beat Ken, so in theory I'm #1. 

I too one day hope to take my formidable talents to South Beach one day.

July 8th Pic!

"What Game?"

Got a free ticket to a D-Backs game on Thursday, Eva was using the Telephoto, so really couldn't get any good shots of the players, or any action in the game. With that handicap I decided to take shots of things around me instead, baseball is pretty damn boring anyway. The baby sitting in front of me was making funny faces all night, so I figured what the hell, I'll bite, I like the pic above the best because the kid looks really concerned. It was probably the most well behaved baby I've ever seen, didn't cry or make a fuss once!

D-backs V Marlins, D-backs won huge, we left during the 8th since they were up 6 runs.

July 7th Pic!

"A dog day Night"

I don't think I need to say anything else about this pic...other than it's really really hot in Phoenix right now, 110 degrees and when people don't pick-up after their pets it really stinks. It's just plain horrible. Picking up after pets is a reason alone not to have any pets, not to mention chewed up shoes, and busted pillows.

July 6th Pic!

"Tour de Tempe"

A late but still somewhat timely ode to Tour de France going on. With all the crashes going on in the Tour I was luck enough to find a bike a little bent at the wheel. 

Before starting my Marathon training for the first time in 2008, I was pretty damn close to getting a bike and going to cycling races instead. Then I realized that I'm pretty clumsy, and would be one of the guys that would cause the crashes you hear about at every race. Don't worry though I will eventually be one of those guys that will be crashing all the time!

July 5th Pic!

"Almond Hostage"

Hmm...I was trying to make it look as if the fuscilli was taking the almond hostage, but instead it looks as if it's an almond on some Pasta. great. Almond going for a ride on a pasta?

July 4th Pic!

"Fire Working"

4th on the Lake, it was a blast. 

"Painting with Fireworks"

"X Marks the Spot"

"Squid"

July 3rd pic!

"The Cab"

Some fancy wine, being poured in a fancy manner. This wine came highly recommended by one of Eva's friends, and I agree it's very good! Probably the lightest Cab I've ever had. We sat outside on Eva's patio while checking out the view, unfortunately for us to the left of us was a naked guy hanging out in his apartment, or half naked guy anyway..that's half too much naked.

July 2nd Pic!

"Turtle Power"

A gift Eva received from her grandmother, it's a Turtle that you can put a plant in. She'll be putting a cactus in it, I think it'll actually look kind of cool. A Turtipine? 

I'd suggest some leafy plant but my track record with plants is 0-5, there's a reason I recycle and drive a prius...it allows me to kill plants. Good thing I'm not responsible for any living creature.

July 1st Pic!

"Red Cup"

I finally got my awesome new Android phone today! HTC Incredible...the thing is freakin sweet! It took me about 1-2 hours to get used to the interface and another 2 hours to master it and get it to play nice with all the things I want it to do. I downloaded an app called FXcamera...the image above is an Andy Warhol effect of a pic taken of a red cup. I didn't have any Campbell's tomato soup handy unfortunately. 

Droid does baby! ...Droid does

June 30th Pic!

"Empty"

Moved Eva out of her place to her new apartment 2 floors down. I remember the first time I saw her place...It reminded me of a nice hotel lobby. Huge windows, super high ceilings, killer view of the Tempe Town Lake. Her new place is really nice also...it's almost exactly like the one she left but with normal ceilings. The move took us roughly 15 hours (!!)...but by the end of the move, everything was unpacked and in it's place. Most people unpack after they move and spend about 5-6 hours moving, but unpacking takes days....so it you think about it, we saved a lot of time just unpacking as we moved!