xkcd on the Verizon Droid

And the Droid wins:

iPhone or Droid

Dining in Yountville

We have been going up to Yountville for years.  It's a small town in the Napa Valley, about an hour north of where we live, most famous for being home to The French Laundry.  We almost always eat at Bistro Jeanty, a charming French restaurant there that makes us feel like we have escaped to the French countryside (with perfect cassoulet).  But Yountville has become a dining mecca, with a series of extraordinarily good restaurants within a few blocks each other.

Besides The French Laundry, Thomas Keller also has Bouchon, a bistro with killer profiteroles, and the Bouchon Bakery, which is like the ones you find in Paris.  About 3 or 4 years ago, he opened a temporary restaurant down the street from those three, which he planned to use for testing purposes.  That restaurant, called Ad Hoc, remains open to this day.  Their motto:  "For temporary relief from hunger."  


Last night we went up to Yountville with our friends Theresa and Doug, with whom we have shared many wonderful dining experiences, to try out Ad Hoc for the first time.  This turned out to be a very good idea.  The restaurant is casual and fun.  They serve a single prix-fixe dinner five nights a week, four courses for $49.  But these were no ordinary courses.  Here is the menu from our dinner:

The salad was perfect, simple and delicious, with a wonderful apple vinaigrette dressing.  The shortribs were cooked in the sous vide method, for 48 hours, which left them soft and smooth.  The highlight of that entree, however, was the pappardelle pasta, better than any pasta the four of us had ever tasted.  The cheese course was a very simple cheddar cheese - our waiter said, "there is nothing uncheddar about this cheddar."  Just the right description.  And the dessert was superb, fabulous ice cream with homemade banana bread.


Ad Hoc is now very high on our list of top-notch Bay area restaurants.

Not so smart dog?

An article I saw the other day listed the top ten smart dogs and the top ten not-so-smart dogs.  Daisy is part Basenji, part Beagle, and she didn't do so well.  Basenjis are no. 2 on the not-so-smart list; Beagles are no. 9.   


At least it turns out the list is from a study done in 1994.  Maybe these breeds have moved up since then.  If you are interested, here are the lists:

Top 10 smartest dog breeds 

• 1. Border Collie
• 2. Poodle
• 3. German Shepherd
• 4. Golden Retriever
• 5. Doberman Pinscher
• 6. Shetland Sheepdog
• 7. Labrador Retriever
• 8. Papillon
• 9. Rottweiler
• 10. Australian Cattle Dog

Top 10 not-so-smart:

• 1. Afghan Hound
• 2. Basenji
• 3. Bulldog
• 4. Chow Chow
• 5. Borzoi
• 6. Bloodhound
• 7. Pekingese
• 8. Mastiff
• 9. Beagle
• 10. Basset Hound

The article also offered a dog IQ test.  We are holding off on trying this on Daisy.  No need to rush things, is there?


Besides, in the photo above, she is happily sleeping on our bed.  Seems pretty smart to me.

A new library and learning center

Today is the opening day of the new Lafayette Library and Learning Center.  This beautiful new facility has been in the planning and building stages for years - so it is a great event for our town that it is finally here.


This new building replaces our small, cramped, 60's era library with a wonderful new central spot for Lafayette.  As a former mayor and the current mayor explained in a recent article in the SF Chronicle:

Lafayette citizens reimagined the library as a place for lifelong learning and collaborated with 12 of the region's leading arts, science and educational institutions to showcase their traveling programs. Called the Glenn Seaborg Learning Consortium, this collection of nonprofit organizations honors the UC Berkeley scientist and chancellor who called Lafayette his home for more than 40 years.

We were early contributors to this effort and have special libary cards to show for it!


There will be an all-day celebration today, but in reality the celebration will be continuing, as Lafayette opens a library that all towns should aspire to.

The Spider Awards

From the somewhat creepy file - Wired Science has announced its Spider Awards: Wired.com's Arachnid Hall of Fame.  There are ten of them in all, but just the first one is enough to fuel your fears of these guys:

I hope I never see that in my living room.

66% more people chose fun

This is just great.  It's The Fun Theory - a website "dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better."


Just watch:

Speaking with passion

We get a lot of interesting speakers at work.  This Monday a large crowd turned out to hear from Al Gore, who made a passionate speech about his new book on the subject of climate change.   I was privileged to host several of Mr. Gore's friends, which entitled me to a seat in the front row.  It's not often I sit so close for a speech by a former Vice-President, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Oscar winner, all rolled into one.


Gore is very passionate about the issues related to climate change.  I thought most of his points were fairly well-stated, though his lukewarm support for nuclear power ("I don't necessarily oppose it," he says, "but watch out for how easy it has become to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons") is a bit condescending.  Nevertheless, there is no doubt that he knows his stuff in this field.


I've always had this (fairly universal) view that Gore is stiff and lacks charisma.  Not so - in person that is not the case at all.  He was interesting, well-spoken, funny and generally pretty charming.  He definitely knew how to work the crowd (always a politician, I guess).


So perhaps this was not the speaker whom I would first choose to see, but it is certainly an amazing opportunity I get at this job to see such interesting people up close and in person.  Some of the highlights - Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Magic Johnson, Chef Thomas Keller, and an amazing concert by Carlos Santana.  I feel pretty lucky.