It always seems as with the coming of autumn comes more raffle opportunities then I have greenbacks. Ironically as we are also planning a raffle for Northern California Audi Club during our end of summer (ok, way past summer) bar-b-que in mid October. However two raffles caught my eyes this weekend.

For $150 a ticket, and 1 out of 100 wins a prize one has a chance, or multiple chances at a fabulous Marin abode. Tucked high on the hillside with exceptional city and ocean views. I might just have to, after all every raffle has a great cause, no? With the housing market the way it is, it never ceases me how sellers and real estate companies are becoming more and more creative on how to rid themselves of homes. Raffles seem like a popular method, along with a Ferrari in the garage.

Speaking of exotic vehicles, you could win either Maserati at the 64th Columbus Week. 400 tickets at $1000 a piece for a chance at a Maserati Quattroporte S, or 300 tickets at $1000 each for an Grandturismo. If you don’t walk away with a trident key in your grasps, rest assured, your money has gone to support the Scholarship Fund of the Columbus Citizens Foundation, providing financial aid to elementary, secondary and college students in need.

- Wallace

I’m quite excited. The Killers not only have a new single out (Human) but they’re coming to the bay area again! The last time I saw them in concert was at Shoreline where we (in the seated sections) got pummeled with complementary bleacher pads, I think some beer company gave them out as a ‘great advertising gimmick.’ After seeing the guy in front of me take one to the cheek/chin we decided it was better if we used them as umbrellas over our head rather then tossing them back up to the lawn seating.

Anyways…they’re playing at the Warfield!!! Tuesday, October 21, 2008 - promptly at 8pm.

See you there!

-Wallace

Happy Birthday Alycia! After a quiet Friday we headed up to the city to partake in the MixtArt x Hands-On Mobile art show at Giant Robot then promptly headed over to The Met to celebrate Alycia’s twenty-something birthday.

After a joyous celebration we headed over to the W for a few more drinks, this is where Sunny became precariously intoxicated. Stumbling around, and such winner lines such as: “Where’s my dick?!” while being held up at the urinal in the mens room, “Hey Girl hey ha *snort* ugh…” (yes, this one didn’t make much sense) hollering out my car window at some post-clubbed women, and the ever so “huh errroh I deeeerno weeee’ll fihure it hout tomahro.” while answering if his room mate could drive him back to this car the following morning.

As luck would have it, he totally blacked out and could not remember a thing at the W. His room mate as his luck would have it also worked all day Sunday meaning I had to pick him up and drive him back to his car. Fun.

The rest of Sunday was a complete post-party recovery along with a bit of fall wardrobe shopping. Nice weekend, already looking forward to the next.

-Wallace

Most of you know that I’m not the fondest person of Texas. All those Continental hub delays at DFW have left a less then stellar taste in my mouth. However, I do like Austin - A small town in Texas with a hint of culture, a world renowned independent artist movement, and of course Lance Armstrong.

The MASH SF crew checked into Austin this past July and was able to ride a bit with Lance himself on a fixed gear. Pretty cool, definitely on my ‘must do’ list while visiting Austin. Check it out:

-Wallace

American River - Middlefork “Tunnel Chute”

One thing led to another and before we knew it the six of us committed ourselves to rafting American River’s Middle Fork this past Saturday. Middle Fork’s main attraction is a man made rapid named Tunnel Chute, whey they used to mine this river for gold miners blew through the mountain and diverted the river in order to dry mine the lake bed. While doing so they created Tunnel Chute.

Our day began early. We needed to leave my folk’s place at 6am to make the 8am meeting time in Auburn, California. Then by 9:30/10am we were on our way. With a crash course in equipment, raft and paddle control we were on our way down river. Tunnel Chute was the third rapid, an awakening class 4.5 and literally a chute down two rock walls. Our guide handled the day’s events with some obvious flair.

We learned commands such as, “forward, forward hard, back paddle, lean in, get in, and back on the job” rather quickly. Crystal rehearsed the “get in” command many times prior to Tunnel Chute, and without a doubt probably was the nimblest at getting in and ducking down through the chute. This was by far the funnest rapid I’ve been on, my tattered memories of white water trips in Oregon, Idaho and Colorado pales in comparison.

Lunch was on a popular jettison along the river; bread or wraps, lunch meat, veggies, condiments and fruit. Soon we were all rested up and on our way, we finally arrived at the pick up point sometime past 3pm. We felt accomplished, happy, excited, sore, exhausted, and many a juxtaposition of emotions. With out a doubt it was a whole lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to doing the North Fork this coming spring.

We were unsure whether to make the 160 mile plus journey back to the bay or stop at the folk’s for a nap and fuel. We ultimately decided to head back to the folk’s to nap then go. Along the way back I revisited our plans to hit up Havasu Falls in the Grand Canyon sometime next year. Not sure if we’re still able to set aside the necessary time, but would be a nice trip…at least for the guys. By the time we go home and napped, we slept right through our set alarms and by the time I finally woke up it was 8:30pm. Instead of heading back we decided to grab some Panda Express and call it a night.

Impromptu Farmhand

While Crystal and I were chowing down on our orange chicken my folks arrived at the house. They chatted while we continued to munch and ultimately fell back asleep. In the morning my mother summoned me to help gather some tomatoes, not a big deal…or so I thought. Next thing you knew she had me filling up two boxes full of the plump red things. This was not what I volunteered for, but wait…she wasn’t done with me yet! Next were grapes!

The planted grapes about a year ago, not sure exactly why but they did. My mother had us try her ‘wine’ we found it more like liquor, I’m not a fan…but who knows you might be. Cesar Chavez and his “No Grapes” strike was all I thought about while gathering those bunches. Never had I imagined I’d be picking grapes, in fact when we visited wineries we’d pick them for fun, but this was work…and when I was done I had a solid crate full. No Grapes.

So I put the grapes away and I figured I was done, I started to look for breakfast when my mother, yep…she found me asked if I could help her with the squash and gourds. Now…I never knew how, nor cared how cucumbers grew. I always thought they were the smooth, oblong, and green things you pick up at the market. Wrong. Those things have spines on them, not only did they have spines but the leaves had some sharp bits as well. My mouth slipped more then a little, those things seriously hurt. I just gathered what they normally picked up in about 1/3 of the time. That was that, I was done. On with my breakfast.

Tasting Lodi

By the time Crystal finally woke up it was bordering noon. My folks had already left for breakfast and I ate what was left of the previous evening’s Panda Express. Crystal got ready and grabbed a quick bite at Starbucks. We’ve tasted wine all over California but have been neglecting Lodi, we figured since we’re so close it would be a shame to skip it. We set out with just about no expectations, it was Lodi after all. I soon learned that there was decent wine in Lodi, I wouldn’t say any that blew me away but there was certainly good wine to be found. A couple that stood out were actually tasted at the main tasting and info center off Turner Road. The two notable wines were an Old Vine Zinfandel from M2, and a Cabernet Sauvignon of all things by Onus.

Anyways if you plan on check out Lodi Wines I highly suggest you stop by the Info Center and picking up a winery map. They taste wines here as well, particularly the smaller wineries which lack a tasting room. If you want even more exclusive and artisan wines check out Uncorked in Woodbridge. In our 5 hour romp we visited these wineries:

(Hidden) Jewel - Wasn’t a huge fan of any of their wines, but they did have a Spanish varietal that I was fond of.

Woodbridge - This was the one we came for, it is the other Mondavi winery and also a part of Constellation, however we found the best part about Woodbridge was the pepperoni and salami sticks as well as their wine educator Karen who pointed us to some notable wine makers.

Heritage Oak - This is a newer winery, in fact they have only been bottling for a little over a year. They have grown grapes for decades, but have only recently produced wines for the public. I enjoyed their wines, Crystal didn’t find them too intriguing by any means.

Macchia - They won best of with their Barbera a few years ago and offered a flight of 9 wines in addition to a port. Probably the most charming winery we visited this day, and also a good mix bag of wines. Some superb and others a bit flat, mainly the first two zins. The Barbera is still very good, as were the last 3 or so Zins. Crystal ended up picking up a bottle here, her only bottle as well I should mention.

Berghold - If you’re looking for the infamous Napa style receptions you can not miss Berghold. Its grounds, although no where as impressive as Robert Mondavi or Sterling, is no less impressive. Generous pours, and a tranquil estate sets this winery apart from the rest. Their wines were alright, nothing I found fabulous, but I picked up a viognier here. Crystal was nearly drunk at this point.

M2 - This was by far our favorite ‘winery.’ Their tasting room is actually part of an industrial warehouse. Reminded me of the tasting rooms in Santa Barbara, but this one was fly infested, small, and hot. However their wines shown through, and definitely worth the trouble. I ended up enjoying their Trio Zin over the Old Vines Zin we had earlier, and as a result there’s a bottle of Trio on our rack now.

After Lodi, we went…yes again to Panda Express then slept off the alcohol till 8pm. The drive back into the bay was a grueling one, but neverless it was that or the commute of all commutes the following morning. Had a good weekend, looking forward to Friday already. *sigh*

Wallace

Lemans Karting - Fremont, Ca - Web Media Photoshoot

You know those days where it seems the planets line up, the moon is full and Murphy’s Law kicks into full swing? That was today. I hit the ground running, meeting after meeting after meeting until I grabbed lunch with Michael at Rose Market. I missed the parking lot and decided to park in the residential neighborhood, instead of making a 3 point turn I thought it was a smart idea to back into one of the driveways and simply drive out. Only…that driveway was one of those ‘curbways’ where the curb and driveways were one homogeneous mound of curved cement, as my rear wheel dropped to the asphalt it caught my carbon fiber exhaust pipes and as a result cracked my exhaust near the manifold. Fun huh? My car sounded like an American hot rod with down syndrome, the three or so mile drive to the dealer was rather embarrassing…and that is where the car is now.

This was just the most recent in a trail of events, I mean what else was there for me to do but shake my head and laugh about it? I mean that crack wasn’t going to weld itself. I’m just looking forward to seeing Crystal - it’s a great feeling knowing that someone will always be waiting for you with an reassuring hug and a warm smile. The prior 2 weeks have been testing, this one doesn’t seem to be becoming any easier.

Sycamore Picnic Area - planning NCAC’s fall BBQ (oh such headaches)

Although my weeks have been hectic, I’ve been making full use of my weekends. This weekend started off no where other then Hooter’s with Tru, Yi, Mei, Connie and company. I used up my once per year allotment of Hooter Wings and beer. Fun evening.

Saturday was my Father’s birthday, we traveled to San Jose to join them in their BBQ festivities. My Mother ended up preparing, in true mother fashion, too much food. Steaks, chicken quarters, short ribs, a variety of salads, corn, futomaki, and a plethora of other items that I could not count/name. Good to have dinner with them again, and see their remodeled house. Still needs a bit of work, but hey…it’s almost done. Then we caught up with Ryan and Barry at Fahrenheit Ultra Lounge in San Jose - always an event with those guys as well.

Sunday was lazy, just the way I like it. I normally don’t make plans on Sundays but due to my exhausting weekday schedule I booked a breakfast with Zoli at 9:30am - no sleeping in. Other then that Crystal and I spent the evening mish mashing around town. She got dolled up just to leave the house without an actual agenda, the only thing we collectively accomplished was dinner at Pepper Lunch in Milpitas. Driving out there takes effort these days. With that done we let Sniffy hop around, I got re-introduced to my rear carbon rim, she did some last minute work, then it was lights off. Exciting life we lead huh?

Anyways, for what it’s worth that was my weekend. Apologies for the lack of inspiration, I need to figure out how to manage my work schedule…it’s really stressing me out. However, music has always played a key role in my life, two albums I can’t turn off right now are MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular, and Jay-Z’s American Gangster Soundtrack.

My next post will be more entertaining. I promise.

-Wallace

Better late then never… Met a couple new members of the Singletrack Group last Saturday for a early ride. Marcely who I thought was a Team In Training coach for the longest time, everyone in the group referred to her as ‘Coach Cely’ so I was a bit intimidated, and Lisa who’s actually peddling around Lake Tahoe right now in the Tour de Tahoe. The combination of these two pushed me forward on what is probably the most difficult ride I’ve done all season. When I do ride with the usual group we usually only do one big climb, on that particular Saturday we did two.

Needless to say I was beat, but also happy and fulfilled. A great feeling.

Afterwards I met back up with Crystal and headed to downtown Saratoga to grab celebratory drinks at the Plumed Horse. Now there are few cellars that are visually appealing to me, but Plumed Horse owns one of these cellars which ignite my curiosity. It’s not large, but incredibly modern and STOCKED. Their wine list reads like an A-List Cannes Party - the bar and lounge is nice, but we’re going to have to eat a meal here soon.

After a sidecar and a pour of Suntory we walked down Big Basin to our 7:45pm RSVP at Restaurant Sent Sovi. This restaurant has probably been on my personal wish list for the better part of the decade, however it just so happened that I choose to celebrate Crystal’s 26th birthday here. Our dinner read like this:

1. Prosciutto wrapped Fig served on a bed of Micro Greens
2. Duo of Foie Gras - Torchon of Sonoma Foie Gras with Mulberry Compote and Smoked Cashews
alongside Maple Foie Gras Soup with Candied Orange Peel and Crispy Yellow Peas
3. Littleneck Clams Steamed with Bacon Confit, Roasted Shallots, Fennel and Herbs
4. Trio of Melon Sorbet with 25-year-old Balsamic, Limoncello Sorbet with Rosemary Water and Vodka Grapes
5. Sonoma Valley Liberty Farms Duck with Walnut Polenta, Heirloom Eggplant and Duck Confit “Dome”
6. Frog Hollow Apricot “Inside Out” Baked Alaska with Dark Cherry-Chocolate Gelato
7. Trio of Chocolates- Dark Chocolate Marquise with Electric Caramel, White Chocolate Chestnut Mousse,
and Hot Milk Chocolate with Vanilla Marshmallow

So how was it? Incredible. Chef/Owner Josiah Slone came out at the end of our meal for a quick chat about the food, service, patronage, and our bottle of Cooper-Garrod Claret. We told him that his duck was definitely one of the best duck dishes we’ve had the pleasure to taste, and everything else was simply splendid. I enjoyed it, and looking forward to going back soon.

Happy Birthday Buns!

-Wallace