Blogging via iPad

It's been a while since I last blogged but when my iPad was delivered this Saturday I thought I would try out the iPad BlogPress app. So I connected my Apple Bluetooth mini keyboard to my iPad and here we go.

When Apple announced the iPad could be pre-ordered, I immediately jumped on the opportunity to have this new product shipped directly to my home. That seemed so long ago now. On Friday, I received a call from my bank indicating that several charges was hitting my account for various amounts. I quickly validated this was for my new iPad and all of the accessories that I could pre-order. Then it hit me and began to get anxious and excited. Shortly afterwards I received an email from the Apple Order store that my order was being processed for delivery. Wow! I immediately went on the UPS site and started my monitoring through out the night twittering and face booking my friends that my iPad's journey started in China, Hong Kong, Alaska, Kentucky, then to Portland. The journey: 04/03/2010 11:18 A.M. DELIVERY PORTLAND, OR, US 04/03/2010 7:30 A.M. DESTINATION SCAN PORTLAND, OR, US 04/03/2010 7:29 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN PORTLAND, OR, US 04/03/2010 7:24 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN PORTLAND, OR, US 04/03/2010 5:50 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN PORTLAND, OR, US 04/03/2010 4:30 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN LOUISVILLE, KY, US 04/02/2010 11:15 P.M. IMPORT SCAN LOUISVILLE, KY, US 04/02/2010 2:52 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN LOUISVILLE, KY, US 04/01/2010 9:13 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN ANCHORAGE, AK, US 04/02/2010 4:23 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN CHEK LAP KOK, HK 03/30/2010 4:43 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN SHENZHEN, CN 04/02/2010 8:25 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED CN More about my iPad experience in my next blog. -- Ed's iPad Blog posting

Location:Portland, Oregon

Oscars 2009

For the first time, Elaine and I viewed the academy nominations for "Best Film".  All of the nominations were excellent movies to see as we enjoyed all of them.

My Oscar favorites are: 1) MILK, 2) Frost/Nixon, 3) The Reader, 4) Benjamin Buttons, 5) Slum Dog Millionaire

MILK: Sean Penn's performance was amazing and it is his time to be deservedly recognized. The reason why this was my favorite pick is that I learned something new about Mayor Moscone and the impact of the gay movement that I had no clue. The time era was cleverly covered from the clothing to the cars. Truly a story that deserves telling.

Frost/Nixon: With a slow and uninteresting beginning this movie did not grab you until the end. Even though I was prepared for the final moment, the delivery from Frank Langella throughout the building moment made you realize the impact of power at the highest levels. Something that will require internalizing how our political system is open to abuse but subject to public accountability over time.

The Reader: Even though I did not care for the subject matter, Kate Winslet character was striking. The weaving of several controversial subject matters left you in a state of wonder.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons: I really liked this movie and Brad Pitt's transformation. The story line is a bit surreal as the story ended a bit awkward. But I really enjoyed this movie.

Slumdog Millionaire: Everybody's favorite and likely Oscar winner as I did enjoy this very much. But I think it's a bit over rated. Amazing story, great acting, and clever multi level melding of the past to present. Even though the ending was predictable the actions of the brother left your jaw open.

Valentine's Day

It was Friday at the original plan was to stay home and enjoy a quite time with Elaine (and save $$$).

But during Girl's Nite out earlier in the week, decided to go on a journey to find the warmest place to go in Oregon. So the hunt for where to go began.

Yachats on the Oregon Central Coast. The weather forecast was in the 50's with mixed blue skys. Uncovered the Overleaf Lodge, a 3 diamond rating with lots of positive reviews. In fact, I found no negative reviews but somewhat nervous. I was able to get the last room due to a cancelation, potentially a good sign. Next, my dinner reservation attempt was not looking promising. The best restaurant in town I was told is the Yachats River House but they were booked. I found the email address to the River House and as we were packing to leave, I received an email from Marcii letting me know that we could sit in the lounge area as it would be on a first come first serve basis. However she would place us on her wait list for a table should there be a cancelation. Sounded somewhat promising.

After dropping off flowers that Elaine arranged for my daughter, Brenda, and granddaughter, Dahpne - off we go. Our first gourmet stop: Burgerville in Hillsboro for a milkshake. 

We arrived at Overlook Lodge about 5:30pm just in time for the sunset. The drive down the coast was gorgeous. At first, the Overlook was slightly understated but such a great location right on the rocky coastline. The grounds and outdoor area was very nice and the room was comfortable.

Our first night we went to the local pub, the Drift Inn. Live music was playing and the food was decent as we split the grilled salmon with blackberry hazelnut. The Mojito was fab with the right amount of mint as Elaine had a non-descript glass of white wine. Fun pub experience and good/quirky service with an intriguing history. The old fashion chocolate cake is how cake should be.

The next day, waking up on the second floor with a wonderful view of the ocean. Unfortunately the windows are a bit misplaced as you have to stand to see the ocean view but still nice. We had a lite breakfast at the lodge which was provided as part of our stay. It was ok, better than most continental buffets. Good coffee. 

After a short ocean side walk along the trail behind the lodge, we encountered seagulls in a small cove cut between the rock where the waves crashed in bringing detached mussels onto the sandy area. A seagull would take turns taking a mussel flying high in the air, then diving towards a rock area letting gravity break the shell open even further. Fascinating to watch. Then it would find a more private place on a grassy area to feed while protecting it's claim.

We wander further south @25 miles to Florence where we stopped for lunch in Old Town. I've always had a fascination with Florence but Yachats is beginning to grow on us. We ate at the Zebra Bar in the Bridgewater Ocean Fresh Fish. Our waiter was an attractive young man that must have been about 6'11" or taller. Wonderful service. We had a crab cocktail and skewered scallops and prawns in a lite teriyaki like sauce. That hit the spot as we had the Zebra Cellars Wild Z which went perfectly with the seafood aperitifs. Interesting, Zerba at Zebra - a bar theme. We stopped in the local wine shop where the owner seemed more fascinated with the still high housing prices in the area versus us as customers. We were pleasantly surprised to see Gino Cuneo's new wine on the shelf. A twist top 2006 Sangiovesi, Tre Nova Bonatello. So we picked up a bottle. We always stop by the kitchen store which rivals Sur- La-Table. Fun store.

An exhausting day of eating as we head back to our room for a nap. It's 5:30pm, as we get dressed for dinner as we are not sure what the evening has in store for us. Then our room phone rings, it's Marcii! They just had a no show and if we can be there in @10 minutes the table is ours. So off we go to the River House. Dinner was perfect. Our waitress, Marie, started out our evening with a nice appetizer and wine. The mushroom pate, an amazing assortment of mushrooms, garlic, herbs and Rogue blue cheese to hold the pate together in a generous portion rolled into a ball served with a slight drizzle of truffle oil on grilled focaccia bread. The wine, 2003 Chateau La Fleur Maillet Pomerol, a nice french bordeaux. I wish I could remember what this wine had to offer but I was a bit preoccupied by having our first valentines together being married. Elaine had the grilled scallops in a beurre blanc sauce on a bed of purple risotto while I had the Duck Confit with purple sticky rice. A perfect evening ending with more chocolate, the chocolate brownie! What a way to cap the night.

As we checked out the next day, we both agreed that Yachats is now added to our list of favorite places in Oregon to return. We have past by so many times without stopping. Now we know.

We drove to Corvallis to grab lunch on Sunday afternoon by everything is closed. We did find the Downtown American Dream Pizza, the infamous place where Barack Obama stopped. Then onward to Dallas Oregon to visit with Elaine's sister Lori and husband John where we enjoyed dinner together and caught up in all of the ice tree damage that occurred on their property during the winter storm. Then home later that evening.

Overall a very nice Valentine weekend. I'm very lucky to have my valentine Elaine.

Girls Nite Out

The girls: Jill, Cara, and Koali - and then there is Kate who is remote, east coast, out with the boys. The place: Pok Pok on Division. Still great.
The rules: Ed makes no decisions - just pays.

The girls are late, but Kate text me and orders my first drink for the nite.
A Wiskey Sour.

The rest is left to your imagination. Lot's of girl talk.

My First Blog

This is my first blog. Not sure what I will write about as I explore the world of blogging. I may head in the direction of discussing wine but then again the world of technology regarding interoperability and idiosyncrasies between Apple and Microsoft operating environments is a personal interest of mine.