Pow-Pow

January 16, 2006

We got home late last night from a pretty sweet weekend up in Tahoe.

Due to a very busy December and early January, this was my first weekend up at the best cabin ever. The timing couldn't have been better.

Will, Abe, JonZ and I drove up to South Lake Tahoe on Friday night, and it was a nice, clear night, with no sign of precipitation in sight. Ashley, Wendy & Virgil arrived at the cabin around the same time. We awoke Saturday morning to the beginnings of a wonderful powder snowstorm. We spent the day at Heavenly, where we all have season passes.

The snow didn't let up all day, and neither did the wind chill. It's no joke that I've gotten soft since moving to Cali from Calgary, and that fact was never more evident than on Saturday. We ended the day at Harrah's big-screen seating area, taking in a bit of the playoff football games.

We were good kids and stayed in on Saturday night, deciding to avoid the insanity of the casinos on a long weekend. We spent the evening hot-tubbing, eating, drinking, and playing the "Zoolander" drinking game (I had no idea how many times the name "Mugatu" was said in that movie!).

We had an early wake-up on Sunday morning to try to catch some freshies. Approximately 18-24 inches of snow blanketed the mountain in the storm. We managed to get on the hill just after 9 am (earliest start I've had in ages!) and put in a full day on the slopes, ending at 4 (longest day on the slopes that I've had in ages!). The snow was fantastic and super-fun, what a great day.

Oh glorious pow-pow

At the top of Canyon Express





Looking back at the wicked-bad traverse from Cali to Nevada

The sun comes out at the top of Olympic

Virgil & Wendy at East Peak Lodge

Abe & Will chowing on some not-so-cheap pizza

A beautiful view of Lake Tahoe at the top of Gunbarrel

Part-way down the Face of Gunbarrel, taking a "breather"

Oh glorious casinos

Martuni's

January 12, 2006

Some folks from Katharine's department had the delightful idea of going for martini's tonight, so how could I pass that up?

Katharine chose Martuni's as our destination (a likely choice as it was voted Best Martini 2005 by Citysearch).

So, Kat and I joined the clinical folks: Sutton, Jeff, Shane, Veronica & Linda.

Kat's Stoli Orange Cosmo

Veronica & Jeff

Shane, Sutton & Kat

At 9 pm, the piano player showed up and provided some delightful background music, including some old-time Sinatra favorites ("Come Fly With Me", "I've Got You Under My Skin", "Luck Be A Lady", etc.)

Some crowd regulars got up to show off their lyrical wares and we tried to convince Shane to sing some tunes, but we were pretty sure that the piano player wouldn't be too versed in any AC/DC songs.

The guy on the mike charming us with his Sinatra renditions

The piano player showing his versatility on trombone

At 11:30 or so, we decided to be responsible and say "no" to morning misery. As if on cue, the piano guy whipped out "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond...what a perfect way to end the night and leave that damn song in my head until this morning.

Fortune's Top Pick

January 11, 2006

Although Will is going to bug me about blogging this, I just can't help it. Earlier this week, Fortune Magazine released the results from its annual "100 Best Companies To Work For" list.




I was super-psyched to see that my company, Genentech, was chosen as the top pick on this list for 2006. Our company has earned a place on the FORTUNE list for eight consecutive years. For each of the past three years, we have been the only biotech or pharmaceutical company to appear in the top twenty positions.

Anyone who has heard me talk about my company knows that I love working at Genentech and that I truly believe in what we are doing. Our CEO, Art Levinson, is a visionary leader and he maintains his roots and values in key science. As employees, we get a lot of corporate communications from Art and he strives to maintain our culture, which is difficult, especially as our tally of employees has broken the 9,500 mark.

If you're interested, check out the article about Genentech as #1 on the list here.

Olivia is 3 years Old!

January 8, 2006

Olivia turned 3 years old today!

Olivia's birthday party in San Jose was a "Princess" theme, very fitting for our little regal girl.


The Princess Birthday girl

Outside the "See Me Tee-Pee"

Inside the "See Me Tee-Pee"

With Ria inside the "See Me Tee-Pee"

Angie put me in charge of games for the party. It was very interesting doing the "research" for the party games. As expected, things to consider for planning successful games for the 2-6 year demographic:
- active but short games
- nothing too competitive
- nothing involving Olivia's toys (she's in the "possessive" stage)
- everyone should have a chance to win a prize
- an hour to ninety minutes is a good amount of time

The first game that I had planned was a "treasure" hunt in the backyard. Angie's new backyard is nice and big, and thankfully, the weather cooperated and it was a beautiful day. I had found some great chocolate coins that were wrapped in bright foil--pink and purple Barbie-themed coins, and orange and yellow Sponge Bob Squarepants-themed coins. I scattered them around the back yard and the little ones went at it. It only took about 10 minutes, but the kids were psyched and they all got some gawdy costume rings as prizes.

Hunting for chocolate coins during the treasure hunt

After the treasure hunt, we moved onto the "must-have" birthday pinata. In keeping with the princess theme, I found a green frog pinata and fastened big red lips onto the whiffle bat for the whacking the pinata...."kissing the frog prince". It took a decent amount of time to fill the pinata this morning, as the hole for the toys and candy is the size of a casino chip.

The birthday girl goes for the frog pinata



The frog pinata was a tough reptile to crack. Each kid got a chance to whack the frog, and then a second chance...some kids got 3-4 times to try it. Finally, the frog opened enough to liberate the candy and toys.

Over-the-top frog-whacking force the lips to eject from the whiffle bat

The pinata FINALLY releases the candy and toys





The birthday cake!

Oliva and Patty with their lollipops

Margu-please!

January 5, 2006

It's always fun times when a good buddy comes into town. This time, it's Michael Margulies (a.k.a. Miguel Margueles), a former Brass Monkey teammate. Mike left this side of the country last spring to pursue his dream of becoming a lawyer, and he is currently in his first year at Cardozo Law School in New York.

Will and I walked down to the Mission last night to meet up with Wendy, Mike, and his buddies Blue, Jenny and Greg. We had originally planned to go for dinner at Puerto Alegre on Valencia, but it was mysteriously closed, and we were all too lazy to walk across the street to actually find out why. Then, we considered the economic favorite, Pakwan, but Jenny quickly nixed that idea with a "I just can't do it". So, we managed to agree on going for spanish tapas at Ramblas, and amazingly, all the stars were aligned and there was a table with room for 7.

(Sidenote: Parked outside Ramblas (on the curb, no less) was a American-made, gas-guzzling monstrosity of a vehicle...maybe a Ford Bronco circa 1990, that had the most fitting personalized license plate---"OPEC[heart]ME"...god bless America!)

Michael sporting his NYC shaggy-hair look

Dinner included: (my favorites in bold)

- pitcher of Sangria
- Romaine Hearts Spanish blue cheese, crispy jamón & lemon caper vinaigrette
- Pan Tomate Grilled baguette with tomato, garlic, jamón & Manchego
- Piquillos Fire roasted Spanish peppers filled with cumin-lime blended goat cheese
- Butternut Squash Gratin with dried cherries, sage Laura Chenel goat cheese & cream
- Tortilla Espanola Potato omelet with lemon aioli & salsa verde
- Las Ramblas Paella (saffron rice with shrimp, mussels, clams, chicken, chorizo & peas)
- Gambas al Ajillo Sautéed white shrimp with garlic, sherry & olive oil
- Empanadillas de Verduras Filled with Manchego, goat cheese, spinach & pine nuts
- Setas Mixed wild mushrooms sautéed with olive oil, pimenton, butter & garlic


Greg, Jenny, Blue, Margulies and Wendy @ Ramblas



After dinner, there was a drink at Casanova just a few doors down from Ramblas. Will and I pulled the chute and headed home, convinced that it must be close to bedtime, and in actuality, it was only 10:30 pm. Oy!

Thursday may be the new Saturday, but feeling tired and old is still the same as feeling tired and old.

Booty Camp

January 5, 2006

It's been 5 days since NYE and I'm still exhausted and dragging my feet at work. The guilt of all the slothness and calorie intake of the holidays has propelled me into the gym every day of the week, so I'm sure that the elevated aerobic activity has contributed to my exhaustion.

We decided to reinstitute Wednesday Night Running Club (WNRC), which consists of me, Katharine, Key and sometimes Wendy, going for a "run". This usually involves a snail's pace of 10 min/mile for 2-3 miles at Kezar (or the Marina or GG Park during the summer) while we catch eachother up on life events. Last night, we were heading to Kezar when Wendy told us about a new gym that she and Anna joined in the Castro, close to their house. They got two free sessions with a personal trainer named Steve, who happens to run a "Booty Camp" on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights at Kezar.

The deal is that you show up, pay $6, and do an hour of combination strength, core, plyo and aerobic exercises at Kezar for an all-body workout, with emphasis on, of course, your booty. According to Steve, it's "An hour of intensive, yet fun, ass-centric exercise that hits your body from nipples to knees". So, we all decided to try it out.

It was great. I was a little tired/sore from a the gym classes, but it was a good challenge. Steve was great at pushing you to your individual limit, and it's nice to be in a group exercise environment outside in the fresh air. I already do a lot of those exercises at the gym, but not necessarily all in one session.

I'd be up for doing the Booty Camp every week. In case you're interested, it's called "Steve's Booty Camp S.F.".
Wednesdays - 7 pm
Sundays - 11:30 am
$6
Kezar Stadium (Upper Haight)


Later in the evening, Will, Wendy and I ventured over to the Marina (I know, I know, the Marina...) to join up with Ron Kubalanza and his 31st birthday celebration at Bar None on Union Street. Lots of folks were on hand to help Ron enter his 31st year in style, and there was even a cake! By the time we got there, Ron definitely didn't need the shot of Jamieson's that I got him, or the laundry list of drinks that followed that.

Things don't change much at Bar None--there was the music sounded like a soundtrack to one of my junior high dances, the standard little girls that rudely bump into you with their designer jean-clad butts and little purses, and the big beefy guys in rugby shirts and backwards ball caps. It really does crack me up how such a small geographical city can have such distinctive neighborhoods with characteristic and sterotypical demographics.

Anyway, Happy 31st Birthday! to Ron, cheers to many more bowling trophies with the Three Wise Men!

Sidenote: Congratulations to Shaun Webb, who has broken out of the confines of "employment" and is pursuing greater life challenges.

Happy New Year!

January 1, 2006

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Welcome to 2006, my loyal blog readers!

Last night was full of frivolity and typical NYE madness.

After the Alcatraz tour, Ben and I went home to recharge before the evening's festivities. We met up with a bunch of frisbee folks (and some civilians) in the early evening for some chow at Park Chow in the Inner Sunset. It was also Gretchen's 32nd birthday, so Alden had made a lovely chocolate cake for her.

(New phrase alert:"Cakage Charge" = The additional fee that is charged by restaurants if you bring your own cake into their establishment. Similar to "Corkage" charges when you bring your own wine).





Safdie instigating another round of "Happy Birthday"

After dinner, the whole crew of 15 headed over to Fireside Bar on Irving Street for a pre-party drink. Ben and I tried to hail a cab for over an hour to get over to Glen Park for another NYE party at my buddy, Trent's place. As expected on a night like NYE, there were no cabs to be had, and we kept drinking our malibu-oranges.

Eventually, we headed over to the Pink Palace, where Henrik, Shaun and Jannine were hosting another NYE party just a couple blocks away. The party was in full-swing by that point, with Shaun rocking an old-school "The City" velour track suit, and the DJ's spinning sweet tunes on the dancefloor (garage). There was enough alcohol to intoxicate a small city.

Shaun in all his NYE glory

Shots!





Oh yes...there was Dance! Dance! Revolution!



Our very own Harold and Kumar: Henrik and Shaun

Dance! Dance! Revolution! with a twist









Bea and Paul

Frodo demonstrates the fine art of "Big Fish-Little Fish-Cardboard Box": (dance moves for people that don't know what to do with their hands when their dancing)

Big fish...

Little fish...

Cardboard...

box...

It's a little-known fact that "Big Fish-Little Fish-Cardboard Box" was created by my friend, Shane, in Calgary, and is at least 8 years old. This phenomenon has spread throughout the frisbee community over the last few years and has gained widespread popularity in the last year. Thank you "Big Fish-Little Fish-Cardboard Box", for oh-so-many great times on the dancefloor.

2006 Word for the Year: MORE