不一樣的大除夕

近排喜歡在SF bay area行山，其實香港的行山徑也「甚有名氣」，小時候團體旅行遠足行過一些，成年後反而甚少，除了兩年前行過一點馬屎州，以及小西灣至馬塘坳，六年前也從昂坪市集和六歲的女兒行到心經簡林。今次約定家姐在香港行山，事先研究過幾條在大埔家附近的路線,包括九龍坑山徑及大埔滘(又稱松仔園),在爸爸建議下選擇了後者.由停車場開始往上走是一條大斜馬路,可見教育徑的入口,入口後是長長的石級,由於兩個大人的膝蓋皆屬有限公司,決定bypass所有梯級,從入口退出,繼續沿著馬路上,經過大埔滘林徑的起點(及終點)牌,又是本人止步的石級,不過另一邊則是一條美麗小溪,十分適合拍照,之後我們返回起點,到松仔園往九龍方向的巴士站等車,目的地是又一城,不過我也知道走這樣山卡拉的車站的巴士路線班次不會很密,所以一見有車即上,隨緣看看可在那裡轉車,結果上了73A,途經火炭及第一城均可轉車出九龍塘,第一城是我們長大的地方,不如一訪兼吃個午餐!

於是在舊稱第一城中心的商場下車,發現已改名置富第一城;而我們小時候逛得最多的銀城商場則已改名樂薈!記得以前銀城有一間茶餐廳好像叫大黃蜂,我家傳統是從來不光顧任何茶餐廳(我第一次吃西多士飲港式奶茶是在美加),那時也從沒想過用自己零用錢去幫襯,今天去同一舖位當然不見大黃蜂,現址是一粥麵,之前一天幫襯過油塘分店的早餐,算過得去,午餐一於來個奶茶炸兩魚蛋牛腩河,也不錯,食飽飽才出發到下一站又一城.

由第一城到九龍塘對我們來說可算是十分熟悉的路程,皆因當年上學,由第一城往返培正,總會在九龍塘轉車,坐城巴(兩年前寫過相關文章),今次坐的則是281A,以前的街邊巴士站已被大規模擴充,在又一城的Haagen Daz用了coupon買雪糕(店員本來因為日期拒受,亦不願提供多一隻杯讓我們分開來吃,不過經理肯通融)拿了Cova生日蛋糕就回家小休,準備下一場.

晚餐既是慶祝新年,也是提早為媽媽慶祝生日,之前想找家餐廳訂座,都說沒有,不過去開馬鞍山海澄軒的天澄閣則可以walk-in,五時半到達,才知原來有街坊團體包下全場搞大除夕派對,僅餘一兩張枱給熟客,我爸媽有幸算是.街坊團體的派對雖未開席,舞池已有一大班街坊(以大媽為主)聞歌起舞,播放的不少是八九十年代香港名曲,來自林憶蓮,梅艷芳,關淑怡等等我們喜愛的女歌手,只聽不看,總算氣氛不俗,幾道菜也味道甚佳.

飯後無甚心情再出街,一個人看有線播葉問2,倒數時刻大家回到大廳看大台的煙花(近年傳媒稱之為煙火,英文是pyrotechnics),踏入2016再繼續葉問2,將來的大除夕看葉問3也說不定.

史上最差勁的網上訂購

從事IT業的我對於購物網站,當然頗有要求,但另一方面也覺得很難做得完美,小小問題一般都會體諒,不過今次在香港Haagen Daz外賣fondue,真是想說四個字:豈有此理(雖然另外四字也適用)話說我們見到雪糕fondue外賣的廣告，記得早幾年試過堂食，今次想在家回味，兼慶祝家姐生日。於是致電沙田分店打算預訂，發現必須先到分店買Voucher，那天我經過蘭桂坊的分店，買了voucher才知預訂必須上網。回家後打開其網站，在主頁找了很久才找到預訂fondue的網頁，該頁又有幾個問題：我們買的voucher是有特定雪糕球數目及fondue爐款式，既然預訂網頁需要輸入voucher號碼，要再輸入以上資料是多餘的吧！難道他們的電腦系統沒有把voucher號碼和雪糕球數目及爐款聯結一起嗎？另一個問題發生在選擇取貨日期：規則說可以三天前預訂，但三天後的日子是greyed out，結果我亂選了其他幾個取貨地點後，三天後的日子才能被選。幸好最後在家姐生日那天順利取貨，其實fondue爐以至整體包裝造得不錯，當然也十分美味，只是作為國際知名品牌，這樣的網購介面實在太失禮吧。

The beauty of sax

Having been playing for a few months, of course I am very biased. I have just picked up soprano and fell in love immediately. George Coleman played it in this tune:
If you want a whole album of soprano sax, check out Jane Ira Bloom's work. I am listening to the sweet and surreal sound of the ballad "Tell Me Your Diamonds" from her album "The Red Quartets."

Another female saxophonist (alto) I recommend is Caroline Davis. Her "Live Work & Play" from 2012 was in a jazz quartet format but with guitar instead of piano. It's good to see some varieties.

Finally, check out "Breakaway" by smooth jazz saxophonist Elizabeth Mis. Yes, she's holding a soprano on the album cover.

Best metal of 2015

收到The Rolling Stones雜誌的Newsletter電郵，有連結到本年20大重金屬唱片榜，也是時候重溫或認識一下今年的佳作。榜上有好些老字號：Iron Maiden, Slayer, Napalm Death, Faith No More及Lamb of God;其他聽過的名字還有Marilyn Manson, Killing Joke及Ghost。

Lamb of God的新作512(還以為是area code，原來是他在捷克的監倉號碼）早已欣賞過，由第一首Still Echoes的第一分鐘已感到一如以往的壓迫感，到Overlord一曲開始慢下來及靜下來，起初聽略感沉悶，但多聽幾次才發現該6分鐘長之曲的深度，由2分鐘起慢慢推向高潮。全碟結他solo不多但皆有畫龍點睛之效。

至於Iron Maiden的新作，一聽主打歌曲Speed of Light及10分鐘長的大碟同名epic歌曲The Book of Souls，就感到他們延續了80年代重金屬正宗的精神。

Slayer自結他手Jeff Hanneman過身再加上原鼓手Dave Lombardo離隊後首次推出新作Repentless，事前不被看好，皆因餘下的結他手Kerry King似乎遠不及Hanneman及Lombardo受死硬派擁躉歡迎，（讀了此文才知原來歌手Tom Araya也是和Hanneman比較交心，King的人緣真是...）事實上新碟的結他聲稍為不同，卻不是壞的轉變，死忠們即管給他們機會吧。

作為The Mephistopheles（SPS舊名）of Hong Kong的成員，當然要聽聽包括一曲名為The Mephistopheles of Los Angeles的Marilyn Manson新作The Pale Emperor，其實Manson的音樂水平一向不低，只是很諷刺地被其刻意誇張的形象所遮蔽。除了以上一曲夠catchy，其餘作品頗有goth另類金屬味。

聲音更另類更goth/post-punk的則是Killing Joke，今年新作總共有15首歌，每首皆份量十足。像我一樣喜歡Fields of the Nephilim及Sister of Mercy等goth band的朋友不容錯過，絕對是2015重型音樂top choices之一。

榜上無名但也要一提的有Huntress今年的新作Static，基本上風格相當統一（負面講法則是有點千篇一律），不過憑著Static及Sorrow兩首catchy作品，再加上有點Neoclassical味道的結他，此碟還是值得一聽。

相機推介

朋友是攝影專家，我經常向他請教及和他討論攝影，當今主流想法是「器材先決」，自然成為常見話題。我雖然不常旅遊，但拍攝旅遊照片是我相機的頭號目的；另有朋友主要是想方便拍攝小朋友演出，於是朋友介紹了這個指南，在此和大家分享下。

根據這個指南，Fuji的定焦相機X100T輕巧畫質高，是旅遊攝影首選，作者並不推薦時下女士喜歡的無反，原因我同意：配件實在太貴！我為朋友找一支18-200mm的Sony E mount鏡頭，要$800！Tamron制為Nikon單反用的18-200mm才$250左右，Sigma的也只是貴少少。事實上該作者推介的另一部旅遊相機是Canon的單反SL1，此機也適合拍攝小朋友演出。

荒謬世界香港篇之「尊貴」議員歧視病人

建制派議員失言，在今日香港已經不算新鮮事，皆因金句王鍾Treegun久不久就會發功，為市民帶來不少歡樂，也有點功勞。不過今次蔣元秋因為泛民對抗網絡23條之惡法拉布而發牢騷，提到精神病人，明顯帶歧視成份，不單只精神料醫學院發聲明指責，連她黨友精神科醫生也要求道歉，她這次比鍾議員失言更令人反感！ 講開又講，其實鍾議員花名Treegun固然來自其本名，但更和黐根這個罵人精神病的俗語諧音有關，似乎也有點歧視性，我想以後不如用根樹做花名，反而更反映其說話特色呢。

IT經驗

不知不覺從事這一行已廿年，算是老古董了，現在新一代的熱門科技公司似乎喜歡請剛畢業的新人，可能因為有衝勁有新思維而且便宜一點。作為老古董的我當然要為老古董發聲：今年公司軟件出現了一個問題，我就覺得處理得好全因那一位人兄經驗夠豐富。話說公司有一個軟件自動根據來自其他系統的資料更新，主要是地區性資料，包括時區；今天有一部份和亞利桑那州Flagstaff市相關的更新失敗，因為系統沒有America/Arizona這個特別的時區：該時區基本上和US/Mountain一樣，只是不用夏令時間而已。那位人兄用了最快的方法暫時解決問題：就是把資料暫時改成US/Mountain！反正現在並非夏令時間生效期。（BTW，有朋友剛搬到Flagstaff，祝他們生活愉快！）

Some jazz guitar music

I am listening to the track "What Goes Around" from the album "The Mystery of Life" by jazz guitarist Karen Segal and her trio right now. The first time I listen to it was during my drive to SF earlier this morning on the radio. It caught my attention immediately. Why? It sounds very similar to the style of jazz played by Alex Skolnick Trio (In case you don't know. Skolnick is the guitarist of the legendary metal band Testament) including the tones of the guitar, the arrangement and even the "middle-east" modes used! I googled and this is probably the first time anyone linked them together :P I shouldn't be too surprised by her rock tendency though 'coz she mentioned she would be a rock musician if she isn't a jazz musician in her interview from 2009.

Another album I would like to write about is "The Test of Time" by Ken Navarro. (The Cool Jazz countdown podcast played his latest album in the 12/4 episode, BTW) His music is classified as smooth jazz. Gotta admit I was attracted by the album cover that showed him holding a Godin MultiAc Nylon guitar (yeah, no wonder there's this term guitar-porn) Surprisingly (or maybe I shouldn't), the whole album is all acoustic solo guitar music. Better yet, it features several pop cover as well as some standards, including Imagine, Police's Message in a bottle and another Beatles' medley. I have been attempting to play some pop covers these days (mostly on sax) and appreciate the difficulty in making them sound interesting musically. Navarro didn't play much lengthy improvised solo but instead rely on harmonically-rich arrangement.   

How It's Made

It was one of those woke-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-with-nothing-better-to-do night so I watched the recorded shows on my DVR (not a lot yet 'coz I set it up just one week ago) After finished watching the exciting 2015 Tournament of Champions (of women 9-ball pool. Ga-Young Kim defeated the "veteran" Allison Fisher. Can't believe I have been watching her playing for 20 years! And she's 47 now), the TV showed the end of "How It's Made" from the Science channel, which caught my attention and I rewinded and ended up watching for ~1 hr of how the following products were made:
- wafer rolls: from raw materials like flour, sugar and chocolate to finish packaging in cans
- championship rings: from the metal mold cut with computer based on 3D design, to the molded wax, and then the plaster mold enclosing the wax model, melted metal poured in, mold dissolved and finally polishing the finished product.
- packaged cooked chicken and turkey
- wood pellet: from wood chips to pellets that could be burnt for heating
- NASCAR engine

The channel has some videos online too. Like this one for making champagne:

Sports highlights: football and more "football" plus some auto racing

The first football game I watched on the new Xfinity X1 box was the Monday night game between the Cowboys and the Redskins. Da Boys haven't won any game without Tony Romo as QB for a long time. The last game with Matt Cassel as QB on Thanksgiving against the Carolina Panthers was disastrous. I didn't have high hope for them against the division-rival Skins. And there wasn't much action: tied with 3 FGs each 'til late in the 4th quarter. Dejean Jackson fumbled a kickoff return near their own endzone and the Cowboys seized the opportunity to score a TD with less than 2 min left. Then the Skins marched down the field and Jackson scored a TD to tie. Only to see the Cowboys' kicker Bailey kicked a long FG with seconds left to win the game. What a win! And the 4-8 Cowboys was just one game behind the first place teams (which are all other NFC East teams) Unbelievable. Even though I still have low hope on the team winning the division or making the playoff, it's good to see them having the fighting spirit with such a horrible start after Romo was injured in week 2.

Last weekend was mostly "reserved" for watching college football as several important conference championship games were played on Saturday, which would decide who got in the 4-team national championship playoff. For SEC, #3 Alabama vs #18 Floria. For ACC, #1 Clemson vs #10 North Carolina. For Big 10, #4 Iowa vs #5 Michigan St. For Pac 12, #7 Stanford vs #20 USC. And before all this, there was an unimportant Big 12 conference non-championship game between Texas and #12 Baylor in the morning. So glad to see the Longhorns upset the Bears. They got to a quick start which was proven too much for Baylor to overcome. Well, maybe beating Oklahoma earlier in the year and this win saved coach Charlie Strong's job. Not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing for the 2016 season. However, the team started several younger players in this game and they did pretty well. We'll see.

Next was the Bama-Florida game, which actually started out much less exciting but eventually Bama showed its strength (and the Florida offense wasn't able to do much) And the next 3 championship games all started ~5pm PST! I ordered take out at 4:30 so I won't miss any action :) The Iowa-MSU game was dominated by the defense with the teams trading FGs. The #1 team looked vulnerable against UNC's offense. And USC initially couldn't do anything against Stanford. I was hoping all 3 games would have been decided ~7:30 so I could head to a concert by the local orchestra. However, the teams went back-and-fro and I stayed instead. The last minute TD by MSU was an exciting one (even though I'd rather see Iowa to win) It would have been quite interesting as far as the national championship picture is concerned if UNC upsetted Clemson: who should get that 4th spot? Maybe Stanford leapfrogging Ohio St? Or maybe UNC leapfrogged them all? Well, it was a moot point though. My prediction: another national championship for the Bama (beating MSU and then Clemson) When is Nick Saban gonna leave Bama for Texas? Maybe after winning another one?

The weekend actually started with the other type of football: I woke up at 6:30 to watch Bayern Munich losing to Monchengladbach (can't believe I spelled it correctly the first time!) I am a fan of Bayern but don't mind the result too much as this is only their first loss of the season. Next was the boring 0-0 draw between Man United and West Ham but I was happy to see the defending champ Chelsea suffered another loss, this time to the newly promoted Bournemouth! How low can they go? :P Anyway, the biggest soccer match of the week to me was the MLS cup (yeah. I care enough to record it while attending my kid's orchestra performance) I have been rooting for the Portland Timbers since they beat KC in a thrilling first-round playoff game (Tied 1-1 in regulation. Tied 2-2 after OT and the PK shootout was decided by two goalies shooting against each other!) They got the best start ever against the Eastern conf champ Columbus Crew in this final because the Crew's goalie failed to clear the ball cleanly in the first minutes of the game. And they never surrender the lead since then. Congrat to them!

Speaking of champions, it's sad to see that owners of the San Jose Sabercats, the reigning Arena Bowl champ, has decided to quit the business. I hope another owner pick them up before next season.

While I was preparing for switching to X1, I binge-watched many recorded shows on my "old" DVR, including some Formula E, Pirelli World Challenge and AMA Endurocross races. Congrat to the 3 respective champ of 2015: Nelson Piquet Jr, Michael Cooper (WC GTS division) and Cody Webb.

Tech of the day: Slingbox and Xfinity X1

It's deja vu all over again! I wrote about configuring the Comcast remote in Slingbox in 2010 :) I just upgraded to X1, Comcast's latest and greatest internet-based TV set top box, as a reward for signing a 2-year contract (and "locked" into a lower rate than the "regular" rate of $150+ for cable+internet as the "discounted" rate has expired at the end of my previous 2-year contract) The hardware installation is easy: I just swapped out the old box with the new box they delivered to my doorstep, literally. However, no channel above 719 (i.e., stuff I watch, like ESPN, which was showing MNF Cowboys vs Redskins) was available. We had to call Comcast support and have 3 of them looked into this (the last guy seems to be a Tier 3 who knows more about "the code" needed to get those "preferred" channels going) The last hurdle was to reconfigure my "ancient" Slingbox. According to "official" Slingbox support, I could configure my Slingbox's on-screen remote control via the web app on watch.slingbox.com. When I accessed it on Chrome, it says the setup is only supported on Firefox and IE. My PC doesn't even have Firefox. However, on IE the web app was stucked with "Locating slingbox" prompt forever so I finally gave in and installed Firefox. And the web app does work on Firefox (with extension installed) and I got to choose a model of my set top box, which is an Arris XG1-A (according to Comcast.com) and not available as a choice. The only choice seems appropriate was the "generic" Comcast X1. Fortunately Comcast is pretty good with remote control compatibility between different versions of their boxes. (As a side note, I could have chosen Comcast X1 from the unsupported desktop client but the way to confirm in that setup assistant was using the "Power" button, which was disabled)

荒謬世界香港篇之電視台又無糧出

我的一位不相熟的FB朋友是我中學師兄，也是一位藍絲，倒不算是大問題，比較有趣的是他經常comment on亞視揸fit人葉家寶的博客post，令我除了從港聞之外多了另一個渠道認識這位近年曝光率甚高的傳媒人，也是我的老師兄（和王晶黃杏秀同屆）一直以為葉是亞視CEO，原來該職位數年前已懸空，葉的official title是高級副總裁兼執行董事，主管市場營業部，該部門應該負責出糧吧。事實上，他也是在去年亞視欠糧風波後才廣為人識，曾發起一人一萬入股救亞視（其實此舉有法律問題）最近又因欠糧一事被檢控及罪成，雖無需坐監但被罸款。網民反應不一，有些指他為虎作倀抵罰，也有人同情他只是打工，做了老闆的代罪羔羊，為他感到不值。個人意見傾向後者（當然也因為一場師兄弟有點biased）事件並未告一段落：亞視又再欠薪，葉家寶在其博客公開他已向亞視辭去執董一職，以免再負上刑事責任。從維基百科得知，葉家寶從事香港傳媒界多年，資歷深厚，似乎是有料之人，非亞視以前那些靠裙帶關係掌權者可比，他總算為建制派作出一點犧牲，前途應不成問題。比較令人感到遺憾的是曾經屢有佳作的亞視淪為笑柄，明年更將失去廣播牌照！究竟亞視永恆的神話能否延續？大家且拭目以待。

達聞西真跡？

近兩個月我在本網誌潛水，皆因正在上藝術史課，每週功課已經寫了不少，再無餘力。今週重出江湖，講講一個和藝術有關的話題，以前寫過強國電視台有一個名為「尋寶」的節目，該節目請來專家鑑定觀眾帶去電視台的藏品，有些貨真價實，當然亦有很多只是複製品或普通貨色（據聞有些所謂專家在這些節目造假，所以當娛樂好了）。言歸正傳，教授介紹這條片有點相似，話說1998年拍賣會上出現了一幅拍賣行歸類為19世紀德國畫家作品的女士側身肖像，2007年轉手到目前的主人，這位收藏家認為作品風格不似19世紀德國畫，反而接近意大利文藝復興，可能出自大師之手！提到文藝復興大師，第一個當然想起達聞西，英國一位達聞西研究權威Martin Kemp出手，再加上其他鑑證專家幫忙，結果得出以下結論：
1）作畫的羊皮經碳14鑑定，極可能來自達聞西的年代。
2）畫家是左撇子（達聞西也是）
3）達聞西曾經效力的米蘭統治者家族一位女士出嫁時做了一本羊皮書冊，為波蘭國家收藏，當中缺了一頁，釘裝的孔和畫邊的孔痕跡吻合
4）畫中人服飾和該統治者太太帶來的衣著風格相符。
5）粉筆顏科不易在羊皮上色，需特別處理，例如混合蛋白。達聞西以喜歡試驗聞名。

詳情可看以下錄像：

不過也有很多專家大潑冷水，指完全不似達聞西風格，以我的皮毛認識，也覺不像：畫中人90度側望，與觀眾零交流，和達聞西流傳下來的罕有油畫以及較為大量的肖像drawings中感覺mysterious的女性皆很不同；換句話說，此畫境界低得多了。是真也好，是假也好，畫主自稱有人出價八千萬美元向他收購（他的買入價是二萬二千元），他已把該畫好好藏於某間瑞士銀行的夾萬。

Hair metal power ballad

One of the biggest clichés of the late 80s hair metal scene is that every album has to have a power ballad. It was dissed by the critics a lot. Well, it happened for a reason: fans like them. That's my guilty pleasure too. I was reading the 50 Greatest Hair Metal albums from the Rolling Stone magazine and came across this song:
Man, Alice Cooper sounded so much like Aerosmith (Well, Steven Tyler was indeed featured on it)! Liked the video because of the gal.

篆書

最近買了一支Fine italic nib的墨水筆,師兄建議用來寫篆書甲骨文之類,尤其是鐵線篆,找到這個自動轉換(簡體->篆體)的網站,很好用.

荒謬世界香港篇之地鐵禁古箏

早前傳媒流傳一張背著古箏的學生在大圍站被地鐵職員留難最後無法上車的照片，網民指出帶著比古箏更大件如電器傢俱的乘客（疑似水貨客）卻在地鐵進出自如，相當不公平。後來有報導指曾有祖國學生欲攜古箏乘港鐵來港參賽被拒，以及大提琴也在被禁之列，可見受害者不只本地人，也有祖國人；不單中樂器，亦有西樂器，總之音樂人不分彼此。

蕭才子撰文從經濟學：執法成本分析此現象，其實道理極簡單：職員捨難取易也！和水貨客糾纏既費時又費勁，拿著樂器的學生哥如何相比？早幾天又流傳一張城管留難拾荒老婆婆的照片，說為何被趕的從來不是有枱有櫈阻街的電訊公司電視台推銷員？道理也差不多吧。


熱愛中樂的我在中學時代也學過兩種中樂器，幸好笛子和二胡皆方便攜帶，其實我不知有學生會背著體積重量不小的古箏乘搭公共交通工具，這股熱誠實在值得尊重。

Bass music

I heard that some people have the tendency to hum the bass line when trying to sing-a-long and I doubt I'm one of them but I do enjoy bass-centric music a lot. I recommended "The Bridge" by Charnett Moffett and "About Now" by Mark Egan before. The former is a bass solo album. I listened to another today: "Ones All" by Dave Holland. Any non-bass fan should give this a listen: Holland's melodic playing will change your mind. One bass is all you need, but sometimes it's also good to have a saxophone, as in the case of bassist Heiri Kanzig's duet with Chico Freeman named "The Arrival." You would hear the intimacy between two voices, and the listener, which is a very special feeling, especially on the ballads. Last but not least, another album with Dave Holland was his collaboration with flamenco master Pepe Habichuela named "Hands" It started with a producer invited both of them to play in Spain. That's when Dave Holland learned the art of flamenco. And it proves that really talented musicians are capable of mastering multiple styles. It's actually quite rare to hear flamenco music featuring bass (here is a study on this topic by a music school student) I think all instrumental flamenco music lovers will enjoy this work a lot as Dave Holland has added an extra dimension to the style.

E-MU 0404 USB on Windows 8

I bought a E-MU 0404 USB for its DAC (decoding digital music from PC for playback) and headphone amp capability years ago. (Also briefly tried using it as an audio interface of my guitar from the input for recording and guitar amp simulation) Since I had to move it around when using it which was not very convenient, it went out of favor for years until I dug it out last week. My current PC runs Windows 8. And E-MU doesn't officially support it. In fact, the product has already been end-of-life-ed. Well, it's still worthy to give it a try. So I downloaded its "latest" beta driver for Windows 7 64 bit. I "Run as Administrator" on the downloaded executable and clicked through the errors. Voila! The driver is up and running! The output was fed to my Qinpu A3 amp which drives a pair of Paradigm monitor as my bedroom system.

I am curious about the current status of the E-MU line of products and found some discussions that are not very favorable to it, for example, the reliability, which actually matches my experience: my 0404's input 1 started to introduce some noises not too long after I used with my guitars and I gave up on that purpose (When used with Audacity, input 2 is mono, which is still technically usable.) I had a better USB audio interface in my Korg Pandora anyway. From Creative's official pages, it seems that all development has stopped after 2011. So my next DAC will not be a E-MU. 

Back to Ubuntu 14.04

I have been experimenting with different OS on this old Toshiba Core i5 15" laptop since its HD with the original Win7 image became unstable last year. I started with Ubuntu 14.04 (installed via a bootable USB flash drive) Then moved on to Ubuntu Kylin 14.10, which targets Chinese but has quite a bit of errors/crashes for some unknown reasons (the pop-up dialog became annoying!) The Chinese functionality doesn't seem too useful anyway. So I decided to wipe it clean. Ubuntu offers 14.04.3 LTS (The Long Term Support version comes with five years of security and maintenance updates, guaranteed) It's basically usable out-of-the-box but of course I need to install Flash separately: WatchESPN links to Adobe which links to Ubuntu Software Center which cannot find the plugin. Command line is still the way to do (follow these steps)

My weekend

It's that time of the year (free cake, free cake) again. We had a night-out the weekend before at the Mission Street in SF (foreigncinema for drink and Lolinda for Argentinian steak) already. So this weekend was to be with friends and family. The Saturday started with EPL as usual: very happy to see Chelsea fell to Crystal Place. Then it's time for the San Francisco International Pen Show. I arrived ~10:15 and immediately headed to Susan Wirth's seminar. Very educational and entertaining (checking out other people's pen testing samples) After playing with many pens and ink, we left for K&L Wines. The excuse was to pick up my 3 bottles ordered last year. And of course we didn't miss the Sat afternoon tasting there. The theme was Chilean and Argentinian wine. Some were surprisingly good. Dinner time was all to myself. I originally wanted to try the Habit burger and picked the one in Daly City (Serramonte) The line was way long (not expected) so I had Boston Market instead (also had a line! But not as long) Next, it's party at my friends place (thanks to the Tangs!) Awesome ribs :) And we all had fun trying out new bottles of ink (with the cheap plastic pen branded "Dollar", rightfully so)

The Sunday started with EPL as well: very pissed to see Man U fell to Swansea. Also watched the pre-recorded Arena bowl victory of the mighty San Jose Sabercats (which was 17-1 in regular season. We went to one of those 17!) I finally got to try the Habit burger at lunch time. It's indeed pretty good (and not pricey) Glad that we beat the line by arriving before 11:45. The next activity was people (and new products) watching at the Valley Fair mall (when it's so hot, no one wanna play outdoors with me) I often told my son that as much as we don't enjoy shopping, we don't wanna be ignorant about what's out there either. Then it's preparation for cooking the celebration dinner ("So steak" and "So shrimp", named after my cooking instructor!) And watched more sports of course: Juan Pablo Montoya let the IndyCar title slipped away by crashing with teammate (and defending champ) Will Power. "Mr. Consistent" Scott Dixon ended up winning his 4th title. The MotoGP race at Silverstone was also won by an veteran driver and former champ, Valentino Rossi. It was close between him and Marc Marquez for many laps but the latter fell. This season of MotoGP has been good so far with lots of competitions, lead changes, and polesitter being overtaken at the start! What a happy ending to the relaxing weekend.