We had some passes for the Barrett Jackson car auction so we made the most of our Saturday evening and decided to check it out. Sarah had been out there on friday night as well, which is how we got our passes, but Saturday night was the not-to-be-missed night.
You certainly get caught up on the rush of the high-speed bidding that goes on with some of these cars. We missed the Shelby Cobra that sold for $5.5 million (the crowd went wild right as we were walking toward the auction area) but were able to see some high-profile and great looking cars.
We saw some of the cars auctioned by the OCC crew with Paul, Mikey and Sr. all on attendance. They sold their cars with matching choppers which was pretty unique. Alice Cooper also had a few cars on sale and we came pretty close to him while checking out this "Billion Dollar Babies" as it was getting ready to on the block. Reggie Jackson was also auctioning one of his cars and threw in a signed baseball bat to sweeten the deal.
Tony Stewart and Chip Foose were frequent visitors on the auction block during the evening, I was told that Tony Stweart had bought a couple of cars earlier in the day, including a home-depot-orange truck. We also saw the Shelby GT500 used on the commercial from Ford which introduces the new model.
Speaking of getting caught in the rush of the auction, I wanted to make a bid on one of the cars, as long as it was one of the first bids, but I could not convince Sarah and the fact we did not have a bidder card would not have helped my cause. Anyways, it was a lot of fun to be out there and thanks to the guy next to me telling us all that extra-info as the cars came on the block, such as the truck bought by Tony Stewart.
We get our movie rentals from the local Blockbuster mostly because it is just a couple of blocks away and convenience is a great thing. Also, when Sarah suggests we get a movie, it usually means that I will watch the movie while she catches some zzzz’s after watching only part of the movie. This is not a bad thing except we try to catch up on recent releases which are usually a 2-day rental and once in a while we incur some late fees because I forget to take the movie back on time.
We have been talking about signing up for a movie rental service and Netflix was the logical choice until the recent Blockbuster media blitz made me think more about this. I am still thinking Netflix, specially after today’s announcement to deliver movies directly to the pc, but it would be nice to have the option to exchange a movie at the local store for those rare days we want to watch more than one movie. I would be interested in finding out other’s experiences with either Netflix or Blockbuster’s TotalAccess service.
We are starting off the 2007 season with the Copper Cup tournament this weekend with only after a couple of scrimmages to get ready. We have a couple of games on Saturday and one on Saturday. Hopefully we can make it to the Monday play when the semifinals and final takes place.
This weekend also marks one year since we ran the P.F. Changs marathon and half-marathon. A few friends are participating this year but unfortunately the tournament does not allow me/us to go cheer them on. However, the sunday schedule allow us to meet up with them for lunch and celebrate their accomplishment without feeling the pain of running the miles.
The only bad thing about this weekend, at least Saturday, is the weather forecast. We have a cold front moving in which is cooling down the whole state and will make for a very chilly Saturday morning game. At least it appears as though rain will not be a factor so we just need to bundle up.
update: well the tournament didn’t quite go like we expected as far as results goes. At least I got the temperature thing correct and it was cold, apparently the coldest Phoenix has been in sixteen years. As far as the team goes, we tied our first two games and lost our third game against a team we’ll see again in league play. Instead of playing on the semi-finals on Monday morning, we had to play Sunday night and settle for our only win of the tournament on the consolation game against a team from New Mexico. At least, the tournament gives us a few games to work out the kinks before league season starts next week.
Apple Inc. announced today a series of new products and some updates during Steve Job’s keynote for Macworld. There is plenty of coverage about the new products, most probably with far more insight than anything I could offer here. However, I do have some initial thoughts on the new products that are as good of an excuse as any to update this blog.
Apple TV looks great from an entertainment point of view, the perfect companion for your Tivo or preferred DVR. Apple TV provides the interface to your own digital library. All those photos from your last vacation or your music library will now be easily available within your entertainment center with the ease of a few clicks.
Airport Extreme this is probably the one piece of hardware that that has received the least amount of attention, yet it is a great improvement over its previous version. Some will see it as a high-priced wireless router, I am not sure that I would run out to get it today, but it provides a high-speed router with a great visual design and the ease of use that only Apples seems to come up these days. Probably the feature that I find the most interesting, is the ability to simply plugin an external hard-drive or printer (or both using a USB hub) and share it within your network. Great for that central location you need for your music library, your computer backups and anything else that needs to be accessed by multiple machines within your home network.
iPhone this is probably the one product that will be discussed the most over the next few days and yet the one that we know the least about. I love the features presented during the keynote but I cannot see myself spending that much money for a gadget. I know that if you combine the price of an iPod plus a smart phone, the price gap is not that much but I just can’t see myself standing in line for one of these devices. I wish you could buy the device sans the phone features and the 2 year contract from Cingular. Also, given the historical battery performance for the iPods I would like to see some figures before jumping on board.
However, although I might not be the first one to own the iPhone among my friends, I will be the first one recognize the risk Apple is taking with the new touch-based interface and context-aware user interface. A risk that is very much worth taking since most user interfaces used in today’s phones tend to fall short when you jump from application to application. By moving toward a more dynamic UI, Apple has the flexibility to provide the best interface for each individual application and motion sensors provide further information about how the user is utilizing the device. Combine these two features and you can start providing an improved experience for your user.
