In mid-May I bought an Argus Bean 5 MP camera from Best Buy.  I was captivated by the industrial design and ruggedness of the camera.  It can clip like a carabiner to a bag or belt loop, is weather resistant and has pretty simple controls.  Though it is designed for kids, I thought it would make for a great knock-around camera for those times when I didn't want to lug my DSLR with me.  At $60, the price was definitely right as well. 

It got a lot of looks for its design but I found out after taking numerous pictures that it must have a strange image sensor that scans somewhat slowly to acquire the image.  I found this out because many of the pictures I took had wavy images likely caused by movement of my body when taking them.  The images also had the "video" look to them rather than the nice still images you would get from a higher end camera.

If you don't care about pictures that look a little like the fun house mirror, this camera is great.  However, I like my pictures a bit more than that.

It is disappointing when the feature list and industrial design of product is so promising yet the core functionality and reliability betrays that design.  Perhaps I just had a lemon (or maybe a lime given the color) but I hope somebody can make an inexpensive SD card capable knock-around camera like this that takes decent pictures.  I may just have to accept my cell phone as that device though I would certainly hesitate to use it in dusty, sandy or wet conditions.

Moral of the story:  When you design a product to stand out in price, features and industrial design, make sure it doesn't disappoint when people use it. 

Verdict: Returned.

I can't remember my time for the last two years, but this year I managed to finish at 1:20 which meant I finished probably in the middle of the runners, before the walkers, most naked people and all drunks.

After finishing, I walked back to the 5 mile mark and met up with some coworkers who were walking as the running of the bulls to finish the race for a second time.  Of course, I think the people in Pamplona probably had as much alcohol but a bit more running speed.

After finishing we walked back again to find food around 19th and Irving and then walked further to try and find a taxi or way back.  After a long and very entertaining Muni bus ride, we made it back home where we gorged on falafel we bought at Sunrise Deli (excellent!) and wine.

I'm the one in black without the horns and with the impromptu red sash.

I wanted to try out a scenario I have been desiring for a while now so I took my new xo to yerba buena gardens, got on the free wifi and did a little browsing, capped off by this post. One of the reasons I got the xo was that it has a screen with great outdoor readability.

Aside from the screen, it also is small, has great battery life, strong wifi reception and is designed to take some abuse. Of course, olpc is a great idea so I hope the recipient of my donor laptop is enjoying it somewhere in the world.

More on the xo once I get to use it a bit more.

The Blue Angels returned to San Francisco for Fleet Week this weekend and as with anything military or fuel-burning, it was met with controversy and a move by the board of supervisors to ban it.

Nonetheless, I took a few photos of them and was lucky enough to catch them in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.  The traffic getting back was a nightmare however.  Too bad the board of supervisors didn't arrange for a ton of public transit to and from the prime viewing areas.

Kudos to the Giants and San Francisco Opera for putting on opera at the ballpark last week.  There's something to be said for enjoying garlic fries and a beer while watching Samson and Delilah. 

It was also neat to see the full moon rising above the outfield.  My camera phone photo doesn't do it justice.

(Warning: retroblog post)

Tonight I saw Dave Brubeck at Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco.  Dave is one of the jazz greats and I have always wanted to see him perform live.  As a drummer, his Time Out album is one of those things you must own.  For those who don't know the album, it features non-traditional time signatures and its hit, Take Five, was in the background on The Sopranos the week before.  If you don't know Take Five, well, you're missing out.  At any rate, there were two standouts in the evening.  The first was the drum solo by Randy Jones.  I'm not sure how old he is but the guy is much older than I am and he really smoked.  Drum solos are oftentimes sources of cheap applause but this guy's solo was unbelievable and deserved the loud applause it got.  He fell into this theme and would keep coming back to it, building and layering each time.

Of course, the second highlight was Dave Brubeck.  There are few living jazz artists left with the cultural impact he has had.  According to Wikipedia he is now 86 but the amount of life he had onstage defied his age.  During the performance he was calling out to the other band members while comping, laughing and having a great time in general.  His chops seemed as good as they ever have been.  He had a few words for the audience and you could witness his age in his speech and in his cadence as we walked across the stage.

One other minor funny thing was a moment when the band leader for the big band, featured in the second half of the program, announced a song that incorporated some elements of Count Basie and someone in the audience yelled out "Hell yeah!"  I don't think I've ever seen a shout out for Count Basie.  He's one bad ass MF.  Jazz is alive!

The whole show was excellent and aside from the musical talent of the performers and historical significance, it was a great testament to the dichotomy of age (an odometer) versus experience (condition of the car).  I hope I can play drums when I'm 86.  Roy Haynes, another great drummer I saw years back at Stanford in his upper 70s, proves it's possible.

In my MBA program, I had an organizational behavior professor who loved to draw diagrams.  It seems like he would diagram just about any point he was trying to make.  This article in the Village Voice takes it to a whole new level (but doesn't take it to the Bay).

According to an article today in the Capital Times in Madison the "sconnie" culture is the new cheesehead for Wisconsin!  My younger brother's company sells "sconnie" shirts and accessories.  Maybe they should make some kind of foam-rubber thing to put on your head at Lambeau Field.

Omar, does this mean you can collect royalties?

http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article320877.ece

Green Bay Packers season tickets have been sold out since 1960.  In 1997 I signed up on the waiting list for Packers season tickets.  At that time, which was prior to the Lambeau Field renovation, the estimate was that I would be 51 by the time season tickets were available.  Given that there are more seats and the season ticket transfer rules have tightened up a bit, it might be more like 45 now (I can't find the wait calculator anymore).

While I'm not planning on moving back to Wisconsin anytime soon, by the time I'm that age, you never know.  If the packers were having a good season, I would even consider flying back for some games!

Aside from the (now very irregular) jazz jam sessions at Dick's place, I'm hoping to check out some other venues in the area.  There was an article in the SF Chronicle a while back and here's the list of places:

• Sunday night: Jazz at Pearl's
• Sunday afternoon: Dogpatch Saloon
• Monday night: Shanghai 1930
• Wednesday night: Amnesia

Being a drummer, it's tough to sit in at jam sessions but nonetheless, I'm a big fan of live improvisation and jam sessions are where you often get the best of that.

The (somewhat) annual Bond Party was last night and in my typical last minute fashion, I weant grocery shopping for the list I had accumulated over the day getting ready.

I saw them twice when they played Berkeley.  I love this band.  Playing two shows back to back at this late hour on Memorial Day when they have another show the next day in San Jose earns them some serious cred (like they needed any more).

If only I knew of other Pixies fans in SF!

http://www.atomfilms.com/af/spotlight/collections/starwars/

In light of my dad's ventures in organic farming, this seemed both funny an poignant-

http://www.storewars.org/flash/index.html

Last night I saw one of my favorite bassists.