I had been sick most of the week. Feeling weak from the illness, I decided to invite A to a movie instead of going hiking.
Cinequest 20 was happening and as I was browsing through the movies, deciding on what to watch, I saw a picture of the "Traitorous eight". It was the poster for a movie called "The Real Revolutionaries".
The movie was about the history of the development of the silicon transistor, from the time William Shockley established Shockley's Lab in Palo Alto to Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore establishing Intel.
It is a story I knew well, having read Crystal Fire and hearing stories from the late Prof Henry Guckel when I hung around his lab.
The movie started with describing William Shockley, whom the movie described as a brilliant but arrogant scientist. He hired some of the smartest engineers in the US to work for him, but never quite trusted his employees. He micromanaged, was paranoid about the loyalty of his employees and egoistic. Shockley labs was going to build a new transistor device different from the device that won the 1956 Nobel prize. That effort went no where, and eight of the employees, left to form Fairchild Semiconductor, a division of Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation.
Fairchild semiconductor division did very well and was very profitable, but when Robert Noyce found out he was passed over for the CEO position, he and Gordon Moore left to form Intel.
The movie spent some time on Shockley's life after semiconductor and his views on race and intelligence. Robert Noyce's womanizing ways were not mentioned:) There was also lots of cartoons to try explain semiconductor physics. The film mentioned some of the social events happening around the same time, such as the Kent State shootings and Woodstock, but insisted real revolutions were happening in the labs of Silicon Valley.
I felt it was too much material for one movie to tackle, and after watching the movie, I felt unsatisfied. I would recommend people read Crystal Fire instead for more detail history of the silicon transistors.
After the movie, A and I went to House of Siam for dinner. Read my review of the restaurant on Yelp!
Given my nagging cough, we called it a night after dinner.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Kirkwood in the snow
On this Sunday, I went skiing with A at Kirkwood. It was Sierra Alavanche Center's ski day and lift ticket s were only $35 each!
The forecast called for snow on Sunday morning, and chains were required. We considered taking the ski bus, but by the time we checked, tickets for the bus were all sold out! We had no choice but to go in my car.
The drive to Kirkwood was fairly uneventful. We left Bay area at 5am, and with only a short break to put on chains, reach Kirkwood at 9:30am. After a short walk from the parking lot to the ticket office, we hit the slope at 10am.
This was A's first boarding trip in 2 years, so we decided to warm up on green slope first. Since we were in the Mountain Village area, we hit Snowkirk, on lift number 1.
After 2 quick runs, A's confidence picked up a little, and we decided to move on to blue slopes.
I suggested we go up lift number 5 and ski down lower Monte Wolfe and Lower Zachary. A agreed. The snow condition was great and on the easier slope it was lots of fun.
After a few more run on the blue slopes, we broke for an early lunch. A was getting quite comfortable on the blue slopes, so I decided we would hit Wagon Trail on Lift 11 some some black diamond action. (Note: I recalled when I first ski Kirkwood 2 years ago, Wagon Trail was a blue trail. Wonder if I remembered wrong or did Kirkwood made the trail more difficult)
A really like Wagon trail! It was enough of a challenge, but not overly scary. We would spend the rest of the afternoon skiing that trial. Short spoke was opened at about 3pm, and I was able to get a few runs in on that slightly steeper slope.
On this day, I had some difficulty getting my boots into my ski bindings. This has never happened to me before. I had thought there was something wrong with the bindings or my boots, but when I had them checked by the pro-shop, everything seemed okay. I made a mental note to have the skis and binding checked before my next trip.
It snowed the whole day we were skiing and on our way back, the road was still under chain controlled. It was a slow drive.
Given it was almost 8pm when we reached Jackson, I suggested stopping for dinner at Jackson Ranch casino.
Of all my previous trips to Kirkwood, I had never stopped here! The casino was a good 1.5 miles away from highway 88. Inside, it was decent size! There were several restaurants and a food court. A and I each ordered a satisfying bowl of Pho. The hot soup was great after spending the day in the cold. I made another mental note to stop here for dinner on future ski trips, especially if we were delayed getting off the mountain.
After dinner, most of the ski traffic were gone! It made for a fast, uneventful drive back to the Bay area for us.
The forecast called for snow on Sunday morning, and chains were required. We considered taking the ski bus, but by the time we checked, tickets for the bus were all sold out! We had no choice but to go in my car.
The drive to Kirkwood was fairly uneventful. We left Bay area at 5am, and with only a short break to put on chains, reach Kirkwood at 9:30am. After a short walk from the parking lot to the ticket office, we hit the slope at 10am.
This was A's first boarding trip in 2 years, so we decided to warm up on green slope first. Since we were in the Mountain Village area, we hit Snowkirk, on lift number 1.
After 2 quick runs, A's confidence picked up a little, and we decided to move on to blue slopes.
I suggested we go up lift number 5 and ski down lower Monte Wolfe and Lower Zachary. A agreed. The snow condition was great and on the easier slope it was lots of fun.
After a few more run on the blue slopes, we broke for an early lunch. A was getting quite comfortable on the blue slopes, so I decided we would hit Wagon Trail on Lift 11 some some black diamond action. (Note: I recalled when I first ski Kirkwood 2 years ago, Wagon Trail was a blue trail. Wonder if I remembered wrong or did Kirkwood made the trail more difficult)
A really like Wagon trail! It was enough of a challenge, but not overly scary. We would spend the rest of the afternoon skiing that trial. Short spoke was opened at about 3pm, and I was able to get a few runs in on that slightly steeper slope.
On this day, I had some difficulty getting my boots into my ski bindings. This has never happened to me before. I had thought there was something wrong with the bindings or my boots, but when I had them checked by the pro-shop, everything seemed okay. I made a mental note to have the skis and binding checked before my next trip.
It snowed the whole day we were skiing and on our way back, the road was still under chain controlled. It was a slow drive.
Given it was almost 8pm when we reached Jackson, I suggested stopping for dinner at Jackson Ranch casino.
Of all my previous trips to Kirkwood, I had never stopped here! The casino was a good 1.5 miles away from highway 88. Inside, it was decent size! There were several restaurants and a food court. A and I each ordered a satisfying bowl of Pho. The hot soup was great after spending the day in the cold. I made another mental note to stop here for dinner on future ski trips, especially if we were delayed getting off the mountain.
After dinner, most of the ski traffic were gone! It made for a fast, uneventful drive back to the Bay area for us.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Sharks vs Red Wings at "The Tank"
I have never watched an ice hockey game.
There, I have said it. Despite being a semi-serious sports fan, despite going to school at 2 traditional NCAA ice hockey powerhouse, despite spending 6 years in the midwest. I have never watched an ice hockey game on TV, let alone live.
This Tuesday evening, however, it all changed. I went to the San Jose Sharks vs Detroit Red Wings game. This was a U of M Club of Greater San Francisco event.
I drove to downtown San Jose after work, found parking at the Market and San Pedro garage. The city charges $3 per entry on game night:( From the garage, it was a short walk to HP Pavilion, affectionately know as "The Tank" to Sharks fan.
I got to my seat just after the introduction of the players, which was followed by the singing of Star Spangled Banner. Then the game began...
In the first quarter, Sharks jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. I thought both scores were sort of lucky since they came off rebounds from the Red Wings' goaltender. But the lead was short lived as the Wings scored twice to even the score later in the quarter. One was a rebound off the goaltender as well, and the other was a nice wrapped around shot.
In the second quarter, the Sharks had several good opportunities. There was a 5-6 minute segment where Sharks were constantly attacking, but resulted in no goals.
In the third quarter, Red Wings got 2 more early goals. The Sharks began to develop a sense of desperation. They were checking harder, skating faster. The Red Wings packed their defense, and despite efforts from the Sharks, there were no more goals scored.
I thought the better team won. On this night, the Red Wings seems more organized, control the puck better and passed more cleanly. I was surprised to learn later that the Sharks are actually ahead of the Red Wings in the standings.
Anyway, ice hockey is quite an exciting spectator sports because things are moving at high speed. Lots of good scoring opportunities could be created quickly, seemingly out of nowhere.
The game reviews can be read at SFGate.com and MercuryNews.com
After the game, our group met with Jed Ortmeyer. He is a fellow Michigan alumni! Jed was injured in the game and needed to see a trainer, but had committed to speaking with us. He shared with us his game day routine, which is pretty simple: wake up at 10am, meet team for breakfast, work on some drills, sleep, get dinner, work on more drills, warmed up for game. We shared about broomball event and immediately, a Shark media person joked "Are you guys trying to recruit Jed to be on your broomball team?" Everyone had a good laugh.
Overall, the ice hockey was a pretty fun experience. Now I am wondering if I should go to the Sharks game with Wisconsin alumni:)
There, I have said it. Despite being a semi-serious sports fan, despite going to school at 2 traditional NCAA ice hockey powerhouse, despite spending 6 years in the midwest. I have never watched an ice hockey game on TV, let alone live.
This Tuesday evening, however, it all changed. I went to the San Jose Sharks vs Detroit Red Wings game. This was a U of M Club of Greater San Francisco event.
I drove to downtown San Jose after work, found parking at the Market and San Pedro garage. The city charges $3 per entry on game night:( From the garage, it was a short walk to HP Pavilion, affectionately know as "The Tank" to Sharks fan.
I got to my seat just after the introduction of the players, which was followed by the singing of Star Spangled Banner. Then the game began...
In the first quarter, Sharks jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. I thought both scores were sort of lucky since they came off rebounds from the Red Wings' goaltender. But the lead was short lived as the Wings scored twice to even the score later in the quarter. One was a rebound off the goaltender as well, and the other was a nice wrapped around shot.
In the second quarter, the Sharks had several good opportunities. There was a 5-6 minute segment where Sharks were constantly attacking, but resulted in no goals.
In the third quarter, Red Wings got 2 more early goals. The Sharks began to develop a sense of desperation. They were checking harder, skating faster. The Red Wings packed their defense, and despite efforts from the Sharks, there were no more goals scored.
I thought the better team won. On this night, the Red Wings seems more organized, control the puck better and passed more cleanly. I was surprised to learn later that the Sharks are actually ahead of the Red Wings in the standings.
Anyway, ice hockey is quite an exciting spectator sports because things are moving at high speed. Lots of good scoring opportunities could be created quickly, seemingly out of nowhere.
The game reviews can be read at SFGate.com and MercuryNews.com
After the game, our group met with Jed Ortmeyer. He is a fellow Michigan alumni! Jed was injured in the game and needed to see a trainer, but had committed to speaking with us. He shared with us his game day routine, which is pretty simple: wake up at 10am, meet team for breakfast, work on some drills, sleep, get dinner, work on more drills, warmed up for game. We shared about broomball event and immediately, a Shark media person joked "Are you guys trying to recruit Jed to be on your broomball team?" Everyone had a good laugh.
Overall, the ice hockey was a pretty fun experience. Now I am wondering if I should go to the Sharks game with Wisconsin alumni:)
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