Brews Jazz Funk Festival @ Squaw Valley

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Lake Tahoe

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Lake Tahoe

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Beautyful morning at cabin

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Lake Tahoe View from our cabin

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Vacation day 1- Reno

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Mobile Blog

Yes, it is true. I finally retired my Motorola Q, after 2 years of frustration to get it to work right. It was one of those days; I went to play softball and unfortunately, it rained out on the 2nd game. The umpire called the game in the 3 innings and we went home all soaked. My Motorola Q finally got enough of me and stopped working. I decided to give it a try and went to an Apple store. Luckily, I was the 3rd person in line and got and 16GB white iPhone 3G in 15 minutes. Everything works out great and I love the iPhone. I am betting I will do more mobile blogging since iPhone is really easy and convenient to blog. Please pardon my iPhone's 2M pixels photos, but it is the only true "smartphone" out there. I guess I should call my mobile blog as iBlog, instead of the previous Q Blog.

My blueberry nights

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iPhone

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Summer

I am still not sure if I like summer or not. Like it or not, it is already here. This summer has been acting weird; a week of 100ºF weather, then followed by a week of rain. After that, the temperature is hovering between 70ºF and 80ºF.

I have been outside running tests for work the last two weeks and got myself a very healthy tan. Because of that, I don’t feel like going out in the weekend. I don’t enjoy heat and sweat too much. I guess my only joy in this summer so far is playing softball sponsored by the company. I always like baseball, even when I was a kid. I didn’t get to watch too many baseball games when I was kid (baseball is not a popular sport in Malaysia). My limited exposure to baseball though, didn’t stop me from liking the game. I always like Yankees and dream about going to see a Yankees game. I did play “softball” with other kids when I was in elementary school, using a tennis ball and a wood table leg as bat. We spent the entire 15 minutes break between classes playing softball. No one really knows the rules. We just played however we like it. It was all about having fun.

Now, playing real softball, with a leather glove, cleat, real ball, bat and all the right gears is so much fun. This coming week, Ivy and I are going to the company sponsored baseball game at Washington Nationals new ballpark; Nationals playing against LA Angels. It should be a great summer outing. But right now, I feel like having a cup of nice coffee at Old City Coffee Cafe in Philly, where you can hear the church bell ringing prior to the Sunday service.

Sonny Rollins Concert

Finally, Ivy and I went to Sonny Rollins concert at the Kennedy Center last week. It was a sold out concert. At 77, he still play his tenor saxophone magnificently. By looking the way his walk (or rather limp), you would think he is pretty much out of it. But no, his intensity is probably as great as his widely acclaimed "Saxophone Colossus" recorded 52 years ago. Of course, he is not alone. His band provided a solid and entertaining performance as well. Sonny Rollins is not a man with too many words. Each time he stepped on the stage, he started playing his improvisational jazz right away. I don't think I can find a better way than Washington Post put it, "Sonny Rollins, Still Full of Sax Drive".

By the way, the view from the terrace of Kennedy Center is enticing. The night view of Potomac river has never been so beautiful, especially with a night of jazz and a lovely company. Oh...I should take it back. The night when I propose to Ivy, on a Odyssey cruise, was the most beautiful full moon night and the Potomac river has never been so lovely.

Daylight Saving Time

Today is the first day entering daylight saving time (DST). Ivy and I slumbered until noon time and decided to make today as the "detox" day (i.e.: a day doing nothing but relax). After a simple lunch, we were listening to Sonny Rollin's Saxophone Colossus while reading books and magazines. It is part of our ritual to listen to jazz music while "detoxing." But this is time, it is partly to prep us before going to Sonny Rollins's concert next month at Kennedy Center. Weekend like this is so precious to us due to my recent tight working schedule.

I noticed I haven't been writing for a long time. I also have more than a dozen photos to be organized and posted on my blog. After this busy project is over, I am hoping to find more time to do my own stuff. This year seems to be a busy one. I have so much anticipation and excited about my plan for the rest of this year.

By the way, I was reading Haruki Murakami travel journal earlier. And, he posted a photo of a duck he saw in his trip to Vermont. I don't even know why he published that photo in his book. Anyway, that reminded me a duck that I saw when Ivy and I were visiting Rochester, Minnesota in 2005. That duck was trying to blend in a herd of geese. There are nothing special about this photo, but it makes think that I need a vacation.

I have updated my photos page. Check it out!

Busy

I have been really busy after the end of summer. However, I was able to squeeze a week off to visit LA last month. I am working on the photos and hopefully I could post them before the end of this year. I can't believe this post is the only one in last three months. Busy life is good though. Stay tuned.

Lakeside Getaway

I have uploaded some photos I took during my labor day short vacation to Minnesota. It was a short but relaxing vacation. Ivy and I spent 2 nights with my best friends in a cabin by the Lake Superior. The cabin located 40 miles north of Duluth downtown. We spent most of the time in the cabin or by the lake; drinking beer, BBQ, chatting, watching movie or playing water. We did jump into the lake despite the water temperature average 40°F. The lake view from the cabin was so incredible that we moved our mattresses to the living room, slept by the fireplace, and let the sun that rose from the horizon woke us up. I enjoyed the vacation so much that I can still remember the lake view vividly. We spent some time to visit several tourist attractions around Duluth downtown and North Shore (including Split Rock State Park and Lighthouse) but the starry skies, cozy camp fire, the sound of wave hitting the shore, and the company of best friends made the vacation the most memorable one. I have to say this is definitely the best vacations we had for a long long time. Thank you Susu and Aaron for your warmest hospitality.

Diana Krall Concert

It was last week Ivy and I went to Wolftrap to see Diana Krall live concert. I was lucky enough to pull a connection and got a pair of nice front seats (10 rows away from stage). We were pleasantly surprised that Chris Botti was touring with Diana Krall. That one hour opening was energetic, entertaining and well-rounded. He was very different from his last concert. Most probably because the band he is playing with now is both playful and innovative. The drummer, Billy Wilson, played like a powerful octopus (no kidding) and many times, he almost stole the spotlight from the rest of the band. He, however, overpowered some of Chris Botti's music arrangements. Everyone still enjoyed it. I can't wait for his next album after he gave us a sneak peek of one of his new works releasing this coming September.

Diana Krall is good as one could expect. She was, however, pretty grumpy at times; complaining about her body shape after giving birth to a twin a couple months ago and complaining about how much she missed home when an audience yelled "Where is Elvis?" (she is married to Elvis Costello). She played excellent piano but she never forget to give her band credits for her successful concert. I am sure she understood her talented band is doing everything to support her, otherwise, her singing/piano alone might not be as attractive. I personally like her singing better than her piano. I guess I have seen better pianist performance. That's no doubt though, Ivy and I enjoyed this concert a lot and the feeling was surreal. For whatever reasons, her music reminded me about New York City, a jazzy summer in the city, especially when she was singing "A Case of you." I was holding Ivy's hand and enjoyed that moment immensely. I still believe music can melt one's heart and make two souls one.