Time Travel Online - the Fourth Dimension

Yesterday, I took a trip back in time--online. It all started because I received a real estate listing that I was idly interested in (I'm not planning on moving) and it showed nothing of the outside of the house. Curious, I went to Google Maps and found their photo of the exterior. The outside of this Eichler house was so unassuming that I'm guessing that the agent found the beautiful and nicely staged interior to be more sales worthy.

In any case, that little part of the brain that "surfs" the Internet thought, "I wonder how the houses I lived in years ago look today?" Easy enough--type in the address, click the photo in the upper right, and there I was.

The thing is, after spending the last few days seeing assemblages of the late Steve Jobs' deterioration, it was amazing to see how easily people can deteriorate yet how well preserved my old houses and neighborhoods were. They looked nearly the same. And these are houses I occupied in the 1950s and 1960s.

Out of curiosity, I clicked the little circles to move forward and managed to "walk" the several blocks from my old house to my old school where I attended the fifth grade. It still looked the same. And at the top of the street, at a familiar corner, I found my crosswalk.

It's one thing to look at photos, but memories live forever. That was where the crossing guards worked--student volunteers with white regalia--a crossed white shoulder bar and belt--that they wore when on duty. I had a chance to fill in once and had intended to be part of that elite unit in the sixth grade--but my parents moved me to the next state over the summer and I never got to do it. It's hardly much to me now, but it exemplified the taste of 10 years old--and the other times I had to move in the summertime. And it all came back to me thanks to this "modern technology."

Even though the house and neighborhood looked about the same, surely there many incremental changes, and of course all the cars were 50 years newer. I also understand that it's likely that the interior of my old house is completely different. Not only is my family long gone, but time has passed and stuff does accumulate. Last year I had the chance to visit the home I occupied from 1965-69 for the first time SINCE 1969. It was the same rooms and windows but nothing was the same. That's the fourth dimension--time travel.

Steve Jobs - Follow Your Heart

Steve Jobs died yesterday. We all knew it was coming, but somehow, the news hit me hard. Age 56 is just too early to go (and way too close to home).

I love my iPod. I would love to own an iPhone someday, and a mac. Steve led Apple, with his vision and refusal to compromise, to give us sublimely elegant solutions to what we needed--or learned we needed. The world has changed forever.

What I am thinking about today is what made Steve Jobs the man he was--and what that means to you and me.

I just watched Steve's 15-minute 2005 Stanford Commencement Address again. Although there is irony in it now--he tells the students that his pancreatic cancer had been removed and he was fine--he made three points that we all can consider as we live our lives.

First, he talked about connecting the dots--which you can only do in retrospect--to see that when you follow your heart, it can lead you to where you need to go. The genius we attribute (rightly) to Jobs is that he followed his own path and trusted in himself that it was the right way.

Second, something that might seem at the time to be tragic or horrible (being fired from the company you founded was his example) can be the best thing that happened to you. You can start fresh and lightened of burdens, take a new path. The important thing is to not lose faith.

Third, he talked about death, calling it life's change agent. If today was the last day of your life, would you do what you're doing? If not, then it's time to think about what is most important to you and find a way to do that. Jobs was convinced that life is precious--and limited--and that you should find what you love--and never settle for less.

He ends by evoking Stewart Brand and his Whole Earth Catalog--"Google on paper," and their final words: Stay Hungry Stay Foolish." The best way to remember Steve Jobs, I believe, is to try to live more like him--and follow our own visions for our lives. There's no time to waste.

Arturo Marquez - Renowned Mexican Composer

When our conductor introduced us to Arturo Marquez's music, it was obviously very different from the Mozart pieces that are the heart of our upcoming program. But one listen to Danzon No. 2 convinced me that this was going to be a big crowd pleaser.

Marquez, born in 1950, is a big name in Mexico, and his music is now widely played. He grew up with musical influences from his father and grandfather, and besides studying multiple instruments in his youth in Southern California, he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship and earned his MFA in Composition at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California. He has won many awards, including the prestigious La Medalla De Oro De Bellas Artes de Mexico, the Gold Medal of Fine Arts of Mexico.

The music has the Latin rhythms that pulsate and move the piece along. The challenge for an (American) amateur orchestra is to give it life and keep it moving. Our dedicated band of about 35 players sunk our teeth into it again last night and our performance is improving. I'm hoping we have it ready to roll by concert time in three weeks. It's a beauty.

If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, it's the Castro Valley Chamber Orchestra's concert on Sunday, October 23 at 2 p.m.

Scion iQ - Small Outside, Big Inside

Just from a quick glance, you'd say that the new Scion iQ is Toyota's version of the smart car. It's got very little in front of it's windshield and a vertical hatch in back. But it is no smart car.

Before looking at the numbers, all I can say is that when you're driving the iQ (nice take on "smart" name, right), it doesn't feel small. That's because it's not little where it counts. The seating is high, legroom is plentiful, the windshield stretches far forward, and truly, when you're driving a larger car you don't see the hood or trunk anyway.

The iQ may be small--10 feet long--but it is 14 inches longer than a smart, on a 5-inch longer wheelbase. It also is almost five inches wider and weighs about 300 pounds more. It's powered by a 1.3-liter four cylinder engine under its diminutive hood that puts out 94 horsepower through a continuously variable automatic transmission.

The smart has a 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine in the rear that produces 70 horsepower through an odd "automated manual" transmission.

The iQ actually offers rear seating, something you won't see on a smart. With the dash pushed far forward on the passenger side, you can fit an average-sized adult in back. Really. Behind the driver, there is zero legroom, unless that driver is very short of stature. Normally, I left the rear seats folded down for a handy cargo-carrying space.

How about the MINI Cooper? Well, the iQ is 26 inches shorter, although the width is almost identical. The MINI's wheelbase is 18 inches longer--which is why that legendary box can carry so much. The MINI is about 400 pounds heavier too. So you can see that the iQ is pretty small. But--it doesn't feel that way.

The iQ is very nicely finished, even in the pro-production model I had the privilege of testing for a week. Handsomely detained surfaces and thoughtful touches make it seem much more than an econobox.

Fuel economy: The iQ is rated at 36 City, 37 Highway. The smart gets 33/41. The MINI is 29/37.

Pricing: While the smart claims to have a $12,000 car to sell you, the iQ should start at about $16,000. The MINI is more like $20,000 plus.

The iQ was just delightful, with its strong, full Pioneer audio system, surprising road presence, and, as previously stated, perceived roominess. The only thing is, it's too short to carry an upright bass, which is the only possible reason I have for not ordering one immediately.

I dubbed the iQ the Nash Metropolitan for today.

The iQ will arrive shortly on the West Coast of the U.S., and elsewhere over the following several months.

October

October is when the year gets serious. Sometimes, in the morning, you feel a nip in the air when you're walking the dog. And those walks, morning and night, are starting to require the flashlight again.

When you're in school, October is when you're far enough along to know who's in your class, which teachers you like (or don't) and those projects and tests are around the corner.

Late September and early October is the traditional time when the new cars are introduced. That has been a ritual I've participated in since I was 10 years old. Something new, something changed. Visits to dealerships to claim brochures. Spotting the new models on the road for the first time. Sometimes it's something all-new, but incremental changes can be exciting, too. It feels different today, both because the automotive industry has changed and I've grown up, but there's a remnant of that October excitement that remains. This year, the long-awaited new Beetle represents this annual event for me.

October contains my half birthday. That was most important the year I got my learner's permit, but it still is a little private marker of time passing, which it is doing much too quickly now.

October (sometimes September) contains the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashana) and Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). It's the starting point for Jews who follow the tradition. I don't, particularly, but I still think about it, and it gives this time of year a sense of renewal rather than fading into autumn, leaves falling, and melancholy.

Apples. Now's the time to get 'em fresh and crisp.

For sports fans, it's time for the culmination of the baseball season with the games leading up to and including the World Series. For basketball fans, the NBA season begins at the end of the month. Football is in full swing. Sports Illustrated is a fat publication in October.

And all of it is rolling inexorably into the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, with all the accumulated memories of turkey, tree decoration, family dinners, gift giving, and suddenly--a new year.

Propel - New Way to Get Alternative Fuels

I was driving along in a familiar spot a couple of days ago and at the Valero gas station, I saw a little "mini station" at the corner with a green sign that read "Propel." Curious, I stopped in.

Propel is a new concept in supplying alternative fuels--biodiesel and E85 ethanol--to drivers. Rather than setting up their own stations, they lease a small area from existing stations and in partnership, offer the fuels in a separate, but very compact, "clean fuel point." For the established fuel provider, it's turnkey--they lease out the space and get a profit while Propel builds, supplies and maintains the mini station. This sounds like a brilliant idea. And Propel says that these clean fuel points are built in an environmentally sensitive way and with their small footprint, are highly efficient.

The station I visited was a few miles from my office, but when I took the information card from the rack on the spotless pump, I saw that there are several places to obtain the fuels not too far from my house, too. These other clean fuel points were partnered with 76 and Chevron stations, so dealers from at least three major oil companies are participating in this new idea.

Today, Propel offers plant-based E85 ethanol for flex-fuel vehicles that can run on this fuel as well as gasoline. They also offer biodiesel. The blend of fuel sold (5%, 20%, or 99%) varies depending on location. Any Diesel car can use 5% and the 20% blend is being promoted as usable by most Diesel cars. The full-strength fuel may require some preparation of your car, and some new Diesel vehicles may not be able to use it.

Propel is actively looking into future alternative fuels from waste, algae and other sources, too.

By making alternative fuels easily available at existing, familiar locations, Propel is helping to move us to toward the cleaner energy we need to improve the environment and reduce our dependency on imported oil.

The next time I'm driving a flex-fuel or Diesel car, I'm heading in!

Playing Beatles at the Farmer's Market

It's been a while since I put out the guitar case and earned my supper. But that's what happened this morning when my musical friend Frank and I took our Beatles duets to the Hayward Farmers' Market. (The photo is not of us--just representative, although we did have a tent like that and an open guitar case in front.)

Not only did we enjoy ourselves (time flies, mysteriously, when you're playing music live), but we learned which songs will need a bit more attention and which ones are in good shape. At a farmer's market, the crowd tends to be moving, so you attract many visitors, some of whom linger and drop a buck in the pot. Many applauded and waved.

We worked our way through the early catalog--From Me To You, Hard Day's Night, etc. to One After 909 and a few off the White Album and Sgt. Pepper. The music is everlasting and universal. One little girl of about 8, came by with her dollar. It turns out she's a bass player (!) and I gave her my card so she could send me an email. Gotta get them started early.

When you play Beatles material, it keeps the spirit of the band alive. It's something more than catching Hey Jude on your iPod or wearing a John Lennon T-shirt. Not that there's anything wrong with those things, but for me, playing brings the songs to life--even if we have to move some to a lower key to sing them.