www.geoffmitchell.com

My friend posted something yesterday on his website that struck a chord with thoughts that have been running through my own mind of late. The separation of work and personal life in the age of blogging and personal websites. Anybody I work with can and some have visited my personal website. That’s great in many ways but awkward in others. Some of what I write here is really surface oriented fun and trivial stuff. But some is pretty personal, and opinionated too. Although I don’t have issue with a coworker’s reading my reviews of movies, music or humorous antic-dotes, there’s something about the guy across the table, whom I’m pressing for a commitment to a timeline or deliverable, knowing some of the more emotional details of my life that makes me feel a bit exposed. So I tend to not promote it at the office.

Unlike Jess’s post, however, I’m comfortable enough to say that nothing here might cause the room to fall silent as I enter a room, or for the reader to feel compelled to avoid eye contact the following day when they bumped into me at the water cooler.

It’s been a day for Apple events for me. First there was the communications meeting at work today marking the launch of the iPhone. Very exciting stuff. Yummy yummy kool-aid :-)

Then, tonight, while en route to The Great Bear coffee shop in downtown Los Gatos to do some writing, I stumbled across the boarded frontage of a new Apple Store, right next to Andale’s and the Great Bear, both places I frequented heavily when I lived on Wilder Street downtown. How cool is that?

Yes, one might ask, “Dude, you work there. What ever would you find in an Apple Store of interest?” Plenty. There’s always something interesting to be found in the store, and more then that, just the experience of being a fly on the wall is entertaining.

Finally, due to a reference by a friend via SMS on my Treo, I stumbled across a reference to “line sitters” on ifoapplestore.com, and I thought I’d check it out myself. Damned if it’s not true, there’s actually people SELLING iPhones, or their spot in line to get one, on Craigslist. Ultimately, they’ll make a couple of hundred dollars for standing in line. Uh, just standing in line for 24hrs = $8.33/hour. And it’s likely there’s more then 24hrs involved. Clearly these entrepreneurs aren’t math whizzes.

All the industry is abuzz about the iPhone this week. Friday’s the day they go on sale, and we have a big communications meeting tomorrow about it as well. I’ve had the cash stashed away for this purchase for some time, yet as the day approaches I still don’t know for sure that I’m ready to scramble and stand in line for it.. I’ll likely feel differently after the meeting though, where I’ll walk away with a glazed expression in my eyes and kool-aid on my lips, muttering “iphone…must… buy… iphone….”. And you know, I’ll have one shortly thereafter. I just don’t see myself not. It’s about as unthinkable as my having lived without an iPod for the past 17 months.

I’m hoping there’s some special announcement being made by Steve tomorrow. Please be “free iPhones for employees”… Please be “free iPhones for employees”… Please be “free iPhones for employees”… :-)

I’m hoping there’s some special announcement being made by Steve tomorrow. Please be “free iPhones for employees”… Please be “free iPhones for employees”… Please be “free iPhones for employees”…

OK, if it worked once…. “Please win the lottery”…”Please win the lottery”…”Please win the lottery”…

All the industry is abuzz about the iPhone this week. Friday’s the day they go on sale, and we have a big communications meeting tomorrow about it as well. I’ve had the cash stashed away for this purchase for some time, yet as the day approaches I still don’t know for sure that I’m ready to scramble and stand in line for it.. I’ll likely feel differently after the meeting though, where I’ll walk away with a glazed expression in my eyes and kool-aid on my lips, muttering “iphone…must… buy… iphone….”. And you know, I’ll have one shortly thereafter. I just don’t see myself not. It’s about as unthinkable as my having lived without an iPod for the past 17 months.

I’m hoping there’s some special announcement being made by Steve tomorrow. Please be “free iPhones for employees”… Please be “free iPhones for employees”… Please be “free iPhones for employees”… :-)

I’m hoping there’s some special announcement being made by Steve tomorrow. Please be “free iPhones for employees”… Please be “free iPhones for employees”… Please be “free iPhones for employees”…

OK, if it worked once…. “Please win the lottery”…”Please win the lottery”…”Please win the lottery”…

You know you’re in touch with your “inner Felix” when you find yourself irrationally compelled to reorganize the dishwasher, ensuring that all like cups, bowls, and utensils are all grouped and organized. And all mugs have the handle facing in the same direction. Uh, so I’ve heard. Not that I’m that obsessive. No. No, not me.

I put on a pair of shorts to wear to work today. The “Cargo” style shorts. Loose, baggy and long. I spent the first 3 hours of the day driving to the office, walking about, getting up, getting down, moving around… the stuff one does. And then, while walking down the hallway outside of my office, I felt something lightly brush against my calf and ankle.

I looked back, and lying on the carpet behind me was one of my black dress socks. It must have been inside the shorts after they were washed and I never noticed it once I put them on.

I walked back, picked it up and took it back to my office, laughing at the fact that it’d somehow managed to hold on through a few hours of the day before finally dropping.

Then it hit me. I realized how lucky I was to have been all alone in that hallway, and to not have had it drop out when I was walking into or out of a meeting earlier that day. As much as I’d like to imagine that most folks would have bought the ‘dryer cling’ story, I can only imagine what others might have made of somebody having a sock drop out of there pants leg.

My recent chance to see Roger Waters live re-ignited a long standing interest in and curiosity about the live performances of “The Wall”. The tour they did was extremely limited and elaborate, and I failed to take the reins and make the journey to LA when they toured. I was so young then, but it could have been made to happen. And from what I’ve heard, it’d have been worth doing so. The show featured a complete building of and subsequent tearing down of a huge wall between the performers and the audience. As a kid I’d have been trilled to have seen it, but understanding the back story and motivations behind the story and music make it all the more intriguing. I have read that it was filmed but Roger Waters has yet to authorize it’s release on Video. Still, I stumbled across a really interesting documentary about it on YouTube that I though others might find entertaining viewing as well. It’s broken down into 7 segments and it’s worth watching.

YouTube – Pink Floyd – Behind the Wall

What is it about pizza that makes it always taste as good if not better, cold, the following morning. I’ve put this theory/observation to the test over and over again, and it still holds true. Even crappy Costco pepperoni pizza for the kids takes great the next day. But then again it’s not like it could taste worse, now could it?

Citizen Kane is and has been one of my favorite films for decades. I’ve seen it at least 20 times if not more. I’ve owned VHS copies, LaserDiscs, and DVDs. I’ve watched on TV and even on the big screen at classic film revivals. I’ve read books and watched documentaries about it and i’ve looked at it from every possible angle; screenplay, cinematography, acting, and more. This film never ceases to amaze me and to leave me feeling overwhelmed at the art, talents, innovations, and especially the simple beauty of it’s melancholy revelation being so poetically disclosed in the final images of the film. A single word, a final word, has such an incredible impact when taken into the context of the journey of his life, and reflects so many levels of loss, longing, reminiscence and emotion. It’s a beautiful and complex piece of art.

And AFI has ruined it for many who’ve yet to take that journey.
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I had the great opportunity of seeing Roger Waters perform in Oakland last night. It’s now the following day and I want to capture these thoughts before the ringing in my ears subsides. I’ve seen some pretty incredible shows but this was, well, breathtaking. This was a loud, thundering assemblage of some of the greatest music even recorded by Pink Floyd, and the second half began with a full, complete performace of “The Dark Side Of The Moon”. It was incredible to hear and to watch. The staging, props and visuals were spectacular. I won’t go through the entire song list or all the little details, but from the thunderous opening of “In The Flesh” to the sweeping range of “Comfortable Numb”, this was simply one of the best shows I’ve seen. Roger Waters was in great form, playing and singing as powerfully as you’d expect. He was visibly enjoying hmiself and at times seemed to beam with pride that these iconic songs were primary his lyrical and musical creations. It was like watchig a proud parent on stage with his award winning son.

On a side note, one of the highlights was “the Pig” flying through a confetti covered arena during a section of the song “Sheep”. I shot some grainy video with my digital camera and posted it on youtube where you’ll find other footage from this tour as well. In addition, for trivia buffs, here’s an interesting back-story to the Pig, used in photographing the cover of “Animals”, from wikipedia….

The original Pink Floyd pig was designed by Roger Waters and built in December 1976 in preparation for shooting the cover of the Animals album. The forty-foot, helium-filled balloon planned to be flown over Battersea Power Station on the first day’s photo-shoot, with a marksman prepared to shoot the pig down if it broke free. However, the pig was not launched.

On the second day, the marksman wasn’t present because no one had told him to return, and the pig broke free due to a strong gust of wind (gaining a lot of press coverage). It disappeared from sight within five minutes, and was spotted by airline pilots at forty thousand feet in the air. Flights at Heathrow Airport were cancelled as the huge inflatable pig flew through the path of aircraft, eastwards from Britain, over the English Channel, finally landing on a rural farm in Kent that night.

It’s just me thinking out loud, but while glancing at the label of a pair of shorts recently, I started thinking about how I have shorts stored away that are smaller sizes, and that led my mind to wonder why a pair of size 30 shorts are priced the same as a pair of size 40. Ultimately, there’s a good deal more fabric used in the larger sizes, right? So does this mean that the price is averaged out, and that sales of size 30’s net greater profits then sales of size 40’s? And what’d be the consequences if clothing costs went up along with sizes? Would having to pay a few extra bucks for the added material needed to cover one’s fat ass be enough motivation to hit the gym whittle down a size or two?

I distinctly remember the first time I heard this song. I was with my wife, the kids were newborns, and we were driving over hwy 92 en route to Half Moon Bay. I’d downloaded a live recording of Glen Phillips, one of the original members of “Toad The Wet Sprocket” and somebody we’d seen live a year or two beforehand. His show was great, but I was unfamiliar with some of the tracks on this live recording, including this one.

Although they’re simple words, there is something about the mental image of the Vega, the father setting out with a vendetta against a neighbor’s dog, the kid silently praying that he fails in his mission… it’s just something that hits a resounding note of hot summer nostalgia. Not that I’d ever been in the exact scenario, but I’d imagine we all have one or two childhood memories of a cigarette smoking father wearing a short sleeve white T-shirt and smelling a bit of stale beer. Right? Anybody? Or am I completely alone here?

I was the driver for the drive-by of the neighbor’s dog
Dad had always hated him and he said “Come on son,
Get into the Vega now and I’ll go get my shotgun”
It was a military holiday and kids were everywhere
I hid behind the steering wheel and tried to disappear
I tried to speak but couldn’t, Dad was whistling and drinking beer

And I prayed “Dear God, if You save this dog
I will never get high, I will never jack off
I will do all the things that I should but have not
I’ll be a good boy from now on”

We turned around the corner soon and saw the neighbor’s yard
Dad lit up a cigarette and rolled his window down
And grinning like an idiot he stuck his head and body out

And I prayed “Dear God, if You save this dog
I will never get high, I will never jack off
I will be all the things that I should but have not
I’ll be a good boy from now on”

Well he popped in a shell and took aim with the gun
Then a flash and a bang and the dog it was gone. . .

…Listen to a live recording to hear “the rest of the story”

I distinctly remember the first time I heard this song. I was with my wife, the kids were newborns, and we were driving over hwy 92 en route to Half Moon Bay. I’d downloaded a live recording of Glen Phillips, one of the original members of “Toad The Wet Sprocket” and somebody we’d seen live a year or two beforehand. His show was great, but I was unfamiliar with some of the tracks on this live recording, including this one.

Although they’re simple words, there is something about the mental image of the Vega, the father setting out with a vendetta against a neighbor’s dog, the kid silently praying that he fails in his mission… it’s just something that hits a resounding note of hot summer nostalgia. Not that I’d ever been in the exact scenario, but I’d imagine we all have one or two childhood memories of a cigarette smoking father wearing a short sleeve white T-shirt and smelling a bit of stale beer. Right? Anybody? Or am I completely alone here?

I was the driver for the drive-by of the neighbor’s dog
Dad had always hated him and he said “Come on son,
Get into the Vega now and I’ll go get my shotgun”
It was a military holiday and kids were everywhere
I hid behind the steering wheel and tried to disappear
I tried to speak but couldn’t, Dad was whistling and drinking beer

And I prayed “Dear God, if You save this dog
I will never get high, I will never jack off
I will do all the things that I should but have not
I’ll be a good boy from now on”

We turned around the corner soon and saw the neighbor’s yard
Dad lit up a cigarette and rolled his window down
And grinning like an idiot he stuck his head and body out

And I prayed “Dear God, if You save this dog
I will never get high, I will never jack off
I will be all the things that I should but have not
I’ll be a good boy from now on”

Well he popped in a shell and took aim with the gun
Then a flash and a bang and the dog it was gone. . .

…Listen to a live recording to hear “the rest of the story”

It seems like only a year ago that I’d taken a day to sit and reflect on the past year of parenting. It was on a day that held an abstract and relatively unmotivated meaning in my childood, that matured into a day of longing regret and reminiscence as a young adult, and that now carries with it an instinctual desire to consider my own fatherly experiences and the future reflections my own children might have in many decades to come, as they look back at the father I am today. On Father’s Day.
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Wednesday morning, after daring to actually carve out the much needed 30min in my morning to get my long overdue haircut, which itself was delayed by a hunt for bearable wearable clothing suited to 90+ degree temperatures, I finally made it into the office in time to resume working on getting a coordinated plan of action around 3 or 4 concurrent projects I have on my plate. Only to, 30min into it, be visited by my manager with the news that the scrambles of the previous week, the same ones that’d sidelined my other project efforts at that time, turned out to not be sufficient, and there’s a need to do it all over again.

Feeling like the dizzy kid that’s just missed his last swing at the Piñata and, removing the blindfold, finds himself dizzy and facing a completely different direction they he’d expected, I squinted my eyes, adjusted to the change, and set out on my scrambling path.
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To make a long story short, a conflict’s arisen in my work and personal schedules. WWDC. Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference. I had a ticket to see Lindsey Buckingham perform live, and he’s in my list of top 5 guitar gods. If you’ve never seen his solo performance on “The Dance” DVD of the Fleetwood Mac reunion, check it out. I think you’d agree that he’s a brilliant guitarist. But WWDC is this week and we have an organize-wide push to attend on the same day. Getting back into town and to the show in time is not a logistically sound option, and there’s a big post-conference event following the day’s sessions.

In reflecting on things, I’ve identified the impetus behind the broad effort within the engineering community to herd and shuttle us up to Moscone Center today. They’ve held the post-session gathering on campus for years and now they’ve moved it to SF, near the conference location. This makes better sense for those attending, however it leaves the attendees with far less immediate access to the engineering community. Sure, there’s lots of engineers attending the sessions, but it’s a subset, and not an immersion.

I suspect they want an immersion for our developers, and I’ll be foregoing the Buckingham experience this time around. Fortunately I have the memory of a prior appearance at Bimbo’s in SF, and access to the DVD video, but given that this is his home town (Palo Alto, actually), it’s regretful that I’ll not be treated to the performance.

There’d better be a killer musical guest at the developer conference to offset this one. If they’d only combined the two….

We’re having some moderate landscape work done at home, and as a result, there’s an open trailer parked out front for the collection of debris being hauled away. From the moment I saw it there, I knew… I just knew that somebody would try and come by and dump some of their own debris or junk into it. Some people see an open dumpster or trailer full of trash as an open invitation to clear out the cinder blocks and avocado-green refrigerator from their side yard for free. Stuff like that happens all the time.

And I’ve been on the watch for it…

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A month or two back, I posted my open ‘confession‘ of betrayal… a full disclosure of having purchased a nock off copy of our own iPod Shuffle from an overseas manufacturer. I admitted feeling a bit slimy about it, but it didn’t stop me from continuing to use it. I even pondered the thought “If Steve Jobs were to walk in I don’t know if I’d hide it or show him an ask what they’re doing to prevent it?”

I just got to answer that question.
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This month’s header image required a little more room, but it’s a favorite image and captures the summer month ahead. This was taken while we were living in El Dorado Hills, and the kids were playing in a wading pool in the back yard during their day long birthday celebration with family. I used my Canon Rebel in sports mode and shot a continuous series of images as they splashed about. This is my favorite. The white object is a wiffle ball full of water.

I can’t say enough about how much I enjoy a really good documentary, and Ken Burn’s “The West” is one of the best I’ve ever seen. I recall watching the debut PBS broadcast back on 1996, clinging to every detail, and pacing eagerly as I’d await the next installment. Having been blow away by the Native American exploration, “500 Nations“, the year before, this effort focused on a broader scope of people during a narrower time frame of the US history. It is so rich with drama, humor, intrigue and tragedy. It’s unbelievable to imagine the things that took place throughout the ’settling’ of the West. The conditions. The intentions. The politics. The ignorance.

Watching this tonight [part 6], while deep into the history of General Custer, Sitting Bull, Little Big Horn, Chief Joseph, the Nez Perce, Wounded Knee, and the atrocities of the displacement of a nation’s original population, I was reminded of the night I went with friends to see “Dances With Wolves” when it’d first come out. That film was a staggering depiction of a peaceful people being brutally driven out of their homes, and it was hard to walk out of theatre without feeling ashamed and embarrassed.

I often make jokes when I’m uncomfortable, and at the end of the film, as the lights came up and as we silently rose and shuffled our way out of the theatre, there was an unspoken tension in the air. Intending to break the mood, as we entered the lobby, I made an ‘eye rolling’ and clearly insincere statement to my friends, attempting to lighten things a bit before having a serious discussion.

“Hey, I don’t know about you but I’m still proud to be White” I said. Jokingly.

And that’s when ‘Chief’ caught my eye.
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One of the attendee’s in this meeting walked by a couple of times. They smell like pot. I know that smell, and it triggers numerous memories. But perhaps it’s just a fluke, and perhaps it’s their perfume. “eau de the Kind”. Who’s to say? And more importantly, who’s to ask? Not me. I’ll just sit here and reminisce on days gone by.

“Lucky Charlie Bucket’s one of five golden-ticket holders treated to a tour of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory in Tim Burton’s reimagining. Along with the other four (rather naughty) contest winners, good-hearted Charlie (Freddie Highmore) visits the factory and encounters Oompa Loompas, eats wonderful candy creations and meets the fascinating Wonka (Johnny Depp) himself. From the time he enters the factory, Charlie’s life changes forever.”

Geoff’s Comments: Although there were a few snickers here and there, it was far too dark for my taste.

[ rent Charlie and the Chocolate Factory via netflix.com]

“Lucky Charlie Bucket’s one of five golden-ticket holders treated to a tour of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory in Tim Burton’s reimagining. Along with the other four (rather naughty) contest winners, good-hearted Charlie (Freddie Highmore) visits the factory and encounters Oompa Loompas, eats wonderful candy creations and meets the fascinating Wonka (Johnny Depp) himself. From the time he enters the factory, Charlie’s life changes forever.”

Geoff’s Comments: Although there were a few snickers here and there, it was far too dark for my taste.

[ rent Charlie and the Chocolate Factory via netflix.com]

Yes, I definitely work at one of the more creative and, by association, liberal work environments. Especially when it comes to dress codes. Hell, the CEO wears black shirts and torn jeans all the time. Apple’s know for being the place not to wear a tie when interviewing. I know this from having conducted interviews myself, but more personally, from the reaction of the shorts and hawaiian shirt clad manager that first interviewed me. Fortunately he saw beyond the tie and quickly learned that I was a parrot-head at heart.

What strikes me as interesting, though, is when I see somebody on campus, or even out & about in daily life, who’s dressed in something clearly extreme and relatively bizarre. I’m not talking about somebody wearing white after labor day…. I’m talking about the bright green spiked hair guy with the bolo hat, plush yellow jacket, blue Doc Martins and WWII sopwith camel style aviator hat complete with goggles poised above his forehead.

What’s up with that?!?!
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“U.S. Army correspondent Jake Geismar (George Clooney) gets caught in a web of intrigue involving ex-flame Lena (Cate Blanchett) in Steven Soderbergh’s drama set in post-World War II Berlin. Lena’s missing husband is hunted by U.S. and Russian military, and in desperation, she looks to Jake for a way out. Tension mounts as Jake discovers Lena’s been keeping secrets and the black market dealings of his shady driver (Tobey Maguire) come into play.”

Geoff’s Comments: Surprisingly good. A wonderful homage to film noir, complete with the visuals, score, plot twists. Excellent!

[ rent The Good German via netflix.com]