Saket Vora

Since I didn’t go anywhere for my Thanksgiving Day vacation (thanks, Apple!), I decided to have some fun around town by renting some fancy lenses for my DSLR camera. My friend Gregg told me about borrowlenses.com, a company based in the Bay Area that lets people rent lenses at affordable prices — when compared to actually buying these lenses outright. They had a special promotion where you could pay for a 3-day rental but keep the lenses for a week. Gregg was going to rent some too, so we made plans to sync up and go on photoshoots around town.

Here was my lineup:

From left to right: 24-105mm f/4L IS (MSRP: $1,250), 24-70mm f/2.8L (MSRP: $1,500), and 10-22mm f/3.5-5.6 USM (MSRP: $850). I’m contemplating buying one of the two L-lenses, so this would be a good trial period for them. On the day I picked them up, I was already near Palo Alto so I grabbed lunch with Troy (where he snapped a few shots with the 28-70mm f/2.8L) and visited the Flipboard offices. They have a nice airy space a few blocks off University Avenue, plus a whole wall adorned with tweets about the app. Pretty neat. Next stop was the Apple gym in Cupertino, then popped over to Google HQ for a snack and to say hi to Wendy. It was a slow day, so she left soon after and we headed back north to the City.

On Wednesday I had plans of going to Mt. Diablo, but that was thwarted by some car trouble. Instead, I headed to Chrissy Field to see the Golden Gate Bridge at the ‘golden hour’ and the Pacific Ocean at sunset.

Later that night, Gregg came over with two tripods in hand and we drove up to the top of Twin Peaks, the highest hills in the City. With our tripods setup and hands turning to white from the cold, we worked on capturing long-exposure night shots of the City. It was a beautiful clear night, made lighter with a bright moon hanging low in the sky. The road on the way down makes a hairpin turn, so we timed our shots to capture the car headlight streaks of light.

As we were leaving, we even setup our cameras on the crest of that turn looking back up the mountain. I can’t imagine what people thought as they drove out — two guys wearing dark clothes, crouching in the bushes outside the railing next to dark tripod-mounted pointed objects. But here’s what we got:

Seeking the exact opposite in terms of night scenery, we headed over to Union Square. I tried shooting with the wide angle lens here, but it’s a tough lens to use. Gregg was sporting a 24mm f/1.4L beauty which was smooth as butter.

Thanksgiving day feast preparation consumed much of Thursday. Dan’s family — Jack, Lois, and younger brother Jonathan (Jono) were in town. Here is American Gothic, Warren-family style:

Later that night, I went to see Micky, Melih, and Matt for a 2nd dinner (for the record, Micky makes putting together delectable and balanced servings of food look effortless) and Scrabble.

On Friday, rather than shopping, I met up with Melih and Matt to see the Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibit at SFMOMA. It served as great inspiration for our photowalk, as he is considered one of the fathers of photojournalism. Hat tip to Melih for spotting this relevant exhibit! Gregg joined us after lunch, and we walked to the Ferry Building, then back towards the hub of stores on Powell and Market, before Gregg and I headed up to Chinatown and Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill. We covered a lot of ground that day!

Dinner that night was some Thanksgiving day leftovers, followed by Bananagrams with the Warren family (guest starring Wendy and myself), and later that night I went down to 24th St. to put the 24-105mm f/4L through it’s low light paces. One of the big differences between that lens and the 24-70mm f/2.8L is that its widest aperture is half of the 24-70mm’s widest aperture, which has big consequences in achieving blur free low-light photos. Sure, the 24-105mm has image stabilization, but that only helps with subjects that are standing still.

All good things eventually come to an end, and these lenses need to be returned Monday morning. I’ll be sad to see them go. :/

Last Saturday I headed down to Palo Alto for some football, brunch, and more football. Picked up Amit and first stopped at the Old Pro to watch the NC State vs UNC-Chapel Hill game, bright and early at 9am. Oh, the things we must do out here on the West Coast. Around 11 we headed over to Cafe Brioche on California Ave to meet up with Lux, Eric, Rob, and Ed for brunch. Oh, and Doug came too! Great to see him – he and I met on the very first day of Stanford EE at orientation when he sat down at the same table as me. He’s working at a hardware startup building protocol analyzers — the kind of instruments that don’t seem sexy but are absolutely crucial in developing all kinds of products. He’s learning a lot of great things.

After brunch we headed down to the Nut House to watch the Big Game — Stanford vs Cal. We were seeking revenge this year, after Berkeley stole the game from us last year. We got a big table, pitchers, and of course the peanuts. This year, it was no contest. This Stanford squad is just too good, and it was fun to see them romp against Cal at Cal, bringing home the Axe.

We went our separate ways after the game. It was threatening to storm all day, and the rain bands were dumping rain in San Francisco. One of our windows (over the sink) started to leak bad (it doesn’t have a rain gutter), so I decided to swing by Home Depot for some weatherstripping. It was raining hard by the time I got there, and as I insert my key in the ignition upon leaving, the orange Home Depot signs blinks off. I look around — the entire shopping center had lost power. Rain is really coming down now, and trees are losing leaves in the wind. I have bad memories of driving in weather like this, so I camped out in the parking lot, waiting for the worst to pass.

But you know, it worked out — the timing was perfect for me to drop by the Intramuros to see my colleagues Orville and Rishabh play a short gig at the Intramuros, a cool Filipino restaurant and lounge. Orville plays the drums and was part of a popular Filipino band (they even got a music video on MTV Asia!), and Rishabh plays the electric guitar. They got a small group to jam together, and their friends at Cloud 9 — a local Filipino house band — let them play a few songs before their gig.

Not too bad actually! They only practiced for 3 hours before this gig, so they can only improve from here. We got a table and stayed for Cloud 9, and I’m glad I did. They were great. Their repertoire was easy listening, 90′s alt rock, and Filipino crowd favorites. The two lead male vocalists did a great job with the covers, and a real gem was the female vocalist – A.C., who I later learned was the wife of the guitarist/vocalist. She came up for a few songs, but wow could she sing. Here is the band covering Ironic by Alanis Morissette:

Another fascinating thing to see that night was Orville. Keep in mind apart from Rishabh, me, and a few of Rishabh’s Indian friends, everyone else was Filipino. Orville was completely in his element, and it seemed like he knew everyone. Such an interesting contrast to the Orville I know at work. I’m looking forward to their next gig and heck, even to see Cloud 9 play again.

Last weekend the weather was so nice it begged you to be outside. We’re talking 75 degrees, sunny, and no wind….in the middle of November. Unreal. I took a walk in the afternoon, first swinging by a San Francisco Public Library branch just a block away to get a library card, then hopped on the BART to the Ferry building. I strolled up the Embarcadero, then diverted left and walked up the long winding staircase up to Coit Tower, perched atop of Telegraph Hill. The tower was erected by a wealthy San Franciscan for the sole reason of beautifying the City, and that it does! Another fun fact: parrots! On the way up, I heard rustling and looked up at a branch of berries and saw it covered with several green and red parrots, munching away. Pretty cool. Apparently there is a large number of parrots that have made their home on Telegraph Hill. This was actually the subject of a whole documentary film.

Delorean makes you feel happy. John introduced them to me a couple of months ago, and last Wednesday I went to see them at the Great American Music Hall. Hailing from Barcelona, Delorean makes terrifically catchy, bright, and multilayered electropop/house music, the kind you can’t help but feel your feet start moving. One reviewer calls it ‘electro-sunshine’.

Jared and Chrissy came too, and sadly Dave missed it because he was stuck in China. The venue was full but not packed, while gave everyone enough room to move — and move they did. From the first song till the end, the crowd was moving. The four members of Delorean are Ekhi Lopetegi on lead vocals and bass, Unai Lazcano on keyboard and samplers, Guillermo Astrain on guitar and samples, and Igor Escudeo on drums. Unai quickly became a fan favorite because from the first song to the last he was constantly bobbing his head and dancing while moving between his gear, eyes half-closed with the look of a person who is in the moment and just loves doing what he’s doing.

The set started off with Seasun off their Ayrton Senna EP, then moved into Subiza territory. The band did a remarkably good job at bringing their well-arranged song to a live show, with greater emphasis placed on the beats.  It was a great show — a lot of fun. Hopefully next time they can play a longer setlist.

After I got home I downloaded the four song Ayrton Senna EP and proceeded to listen to pretty much only that for the next few days. It’s terrific. Check out some more Delorean tracks below, and I’ve got to put a plug out for Grow.

Delorean – The Big Dipper

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Delorean – Monsoon

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Two weekends ago, I felt truly lucky to have the opportunity to participate in the Peak Lane Harvest of 2010. Caitlin, a friend of Wendy’s from Google and whose boyfriend Timm works at Apple (he helped write the software for the shuffle this past year; Dan and I were on a build in China with him too), is from the Bay Area and her family has a beautiful home in Portola Valley. They have a small vineyard in their backyard, and as a hobby her parents make a barrel or two of wine each year. At harvest time, they throw a party and invite friends to come pick grapes, bottle the cellered vintage into bottles, and put them into cases.

Timm guided me to the vineyard and showed me how to select and pick the right grapes. Off I went with my barrel and clippers, doing my best to bring in a decent haul (it was tough cause a lot of the low hanging fruit was already picked).

A lot of familiar faces from work were there — Matt, Ken, Carl, Stan, Alex, Dan of course, Harpreet. They were manning the bottling and corking operation. We were filling the 2008 vintage. The grapes picked in this year’s harvest will ferment, then cellar for a few years.

This year the yield was small, so this station just had a 1-up fixture.

The designed their own label, I think based off a painting Caitlin’s mother made.

The bottle top was applied ala heat shrink, with a large pot of boiling water serving as a the heat source. Adds a real professional touch!

Glamour shot!

Halfway through we took a break for lunch, which was just amazing. Caitlin, Timm, and Matt all went to Michigan for undergrad, and the Michigan game was going into overtime at this point, so things got tense. I watched some of it with them, just went outside and joined Wendy and Dan out on the back porch patio, overlooking the vineyard and surrounded by fruit trees.

After a bit more work, we all ended up just sitting outside and enjoying the staggeringly beautiful weather. Crisp air, warm, slight breeze. Couldn’t have asked for better weather.

That bottle was almost finished when it was thrust in my hand!

Around 3:30pm, I bid the group adieu and with two bottles in my hands, thanked Caitlin and Timm again for their generous invitation. What a neat experience! I headed over to my old stomping grounds at Stanford’s Rains apartment and parked the car, taking a stroll through campus to the intramural fields. If it’s Saturday, it’s college football! #13 Stanford was hosting #15 Arizona in a big time Pac-10 matchup. Mike was hosting a tailgate, and I caught the tail end of it. We leisurely wrapped up the festivities and headed into the stadium. I parted ways with that group and met up with John and his crew, with Chrissy and Jared and Amit joining us later. The day wasn’t over yet — for Amit and I had to bounce halfway through the 2nd quarter to head up to San Francisco to hit up a Diwali dinner. It was hosted at Amit’s friend Anant’s home, in Noe Valley only. Anant was actually my TA too for an energy policy analysis course at Stanford. Anant’s roommate Amrita works at Google, so several Googlers came by for dinner too. So that evening was spent enjoying homecooked delicious Indian food and having rather interesting (note: non-tech) conversations. I also met a new friend there, Arjun, who works at a networking startup in Menlo Park. Of all the new people I’ve talked to, he’s the person who has understood the most of what I do.

Quite a day. I realize with full certainty — and with a twang of guilt no doubt too — of the often charmed life I’m living right now. I’m very very lucky, and very very fortunate.

Back in October, Jordan — one of my favorite people in the world — was back in California from North Carolina for business. I met Jordan at NC State when he joined the senior design team headed up by myself, Greg, Win, and Jared. We became fast friends over shared interests (Apollo program!) even though we come from very different backgrounds. Jordan landed a co-op at Apple, then later recommended me to his team when an summer intern opening popped up. The rest is history — if it wasn’t for Jordan, my life would be very different now.

The plan was head to Napa on Saturday, rain or shine. Napa is one of Jordan’s favorite places to visit, and he had a list of wineries to visit. The cast of characters for this trip included Dan and Wendy, Jordan’s colleague Dan and Emily, Gregg and Sarah, Jared, Joey, and Sean. First up was Cliff Lede at 10am (early start), then hopped over to nearby Yountville for a breakfast snack at the Bouchon Bakery, part of the Thomas Keller culinary family.

Joey enjoys a pastry at Bouchon

We passed by the French Laundry too (someday…someday.)  Frank Family was next, and the atmosphere was boisterous, with a lot of people huddled inside to get out of the rain. Soon one of the folks there motioned to Jordan and our party went to a quieter side room and given more personalized attention. We talked about how difficult this season was wine growers. The summer was rather cool, so in an effort to give the grapes a boost many wine growers cut back leaves and grapes to give the remaining ones more sun. Then, a two week heat wave rolled through and killed a lot of what was left. Some wineries reported to have lost 1/4th of their crop. The personalized attention given at Frank Family compelled me to buy a 2007 Zinfandel from them.

We hit up ultra-gourmet (read: hilariously overpriced…like $250 for a pepper grinder!) grocery store for lunch sandwiches for a picnic, then the parking lot of ZD Wines to eat (kept raining the whole time). To squeeze in an additional winery, we squeezed in a trip to Stag’s Leap, which was probably the nicest winery in terms of atmosphere and history, then the super casual but fun Napa Cellars. I really enjoyed this place — the woman hosting us was super friendly and kept pulling up new wines to try. Our $5 tasting flight included four wines, but we ended up trying nine, with generous servings too. I bought a bottle of Folie à Deux here.

Jordan and me

Jordan, Dan, and Emily were staying up in Napa for the evening, so the rest of us headed back home. We decided to finally try the famous Zachary’s pizza in Berkeley but ended up eating later than intended because we got mixed up between the unbeknownst to us two locations. One car went to the North Berkeley one, the other car went south. The funny part here is that on the way out of the restaurant, we ran into none other than Dave (aka Murder Bear)!  I remembered Dave saying he was going to be up in Napa with a large group of friends but we never ran into each other up there…then randomly decide on the same restaurant and location for dinner. It’s times like this when you realize what a small world it can be.

The following day the whole group got together again for Sunday Night Dinner at our house again. Jordan, Dan, and Emily came by after another day of wine tasting, and they were going to be taking a red eye flight that evening. Sensing a large crowd, we pulled out all the stops. I first made a mushroom and spinach risotto that I stuffed into peppers and heirloom tomatoes, followed by a classy mac & cheese dish. Sean came with a immensely flavorful vegetable stroganoff. Joey prepared a vast quantity of Cap’n'Crunch Chicken, while Dan pan seared steak served with a sauce based off a red wine reduction.  Troy did pork tenderloin. There was a lot of cooking, a lot of food.

Dan opened a very, very nice bottle of wine he had gotten Jordan as a gift back in 2008 when he was interning in our lab, but Jordan left before Dan had a chance of giving it to him. That night we all enjoyed it. It was a joy to have Jordan out here and for him to meet with all my friends that never got to meet him. I hope he comes back out here soon!

I’ve been listening to a good deal of Röyksopp lately, especially in the evenings. Heard them from John’s (the South African) music library, and seconded by Joey too. Röyksopp is a duo out of Norway, grounded in electronic music but who seem to have successfully pivoted their other foot (so to speak) to other genres like rock, pop, dance, and instrumental. The result is a surprisingly intriguing mix of songs and sounds across their albums Junior (which I like better) and The Understanding (listen to Silver Cruiser and tell me you wouldn’t be surprised to see that on a Radiohead album).

At one of our dinner parties, I discovered that Röyksopp makes for some good nighttime mood music. Turned it on as dinner started, and it played right through to us lounging on the couches with wine, slowly entering a food coma but talking about issues and events. Didn’t have to tend to a playlist or play DJ, the music just worked. Here are just two tracks, one that trends more pop/dance and the other which is instrumental.

Röyksopp – This Must Be It

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Röyksopp – Röyksopp Forever

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A week after the Jónsi show, I found myself back in nearly the same place to see Sufjan Stevens perform at the Paramount Theater. Longtime readers know how endearing Sufjan’s past work has been to me — his albums Greetings from Michigan, Come on and feel the Illinoise, the Avalanche, and Seven Swans are orchestral folk Americana at its best. They are staggering works from a young musician, and we all wanted more. Sufjan has left that sound and started experimenting more, with the meaning of songs and music. I cannot fault him for that. His new work, The Age of Adz, finds Sufjan in new waters that the listener can tell he’s still trying to understand and feel out. It has some of the characteristics of Sufjan’s style, but with the freedom to use synths, loops, and non-traditional song structures. I had only heard a few of his songs, so much of the concert was a new experience for me.

Sufjan and his large supporting band starts off with an enlivened rendition of Seven Swans, before diving into the new album. The new work is interesting, but much of it I still don’t understand and honestly prefer the old stuff. About halfway through, Sufjan speaks to the audience for nearly ten minutes about his recent musical explorations and his most recent muse. Kinda weird. One of the last songs played of Adz had Sufjan don a pair of white sequined gloves, a King Tut headmask, and dancing around the stage singing into an auto-tuned mic. Was I really at a Sufjan concert? Hehe. After a finale of Chicago, Sufjan came back for a solo encore of his old material — a piano version of Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Bethlehem, and acoustic guitar version of To Be Alone With You and John Wayne Gacy, Jr.  Maybe to send off the audience on a high note? Heh, either way — an interesting performance. Good luck, Sufjan.

Last Wednesday I saw Two Door Cinema Club at Slim’s, a small venue between the Mission and Soma, near the DNA Lounge. Two Door Cinema Club is a guitar heavy trio out of Ireland that Troy introduced me to several months ago. Their music is extremely catchy, with good rhythms and melodies. It was my first time at Slim’s, and it’s actually a pretty nice small venue. Tall ceilings, large stage, long bar, and way in the back there is even a very small (12 people?) balcony seating area.

The band sounded great, and they pulled off all the guitar riffs that made me like them in the first place. A new face was the drummer (their videos only show three of them), who bounced around his chair during the entire show with endless energy. The band even played a new song they had been working on while on the road.

Based on the reaction, the crowd really got rowdy as the first notes of What You Know rang out. Even though this song isn’t a single, everyone there was very into it — and indeed, it’s the song of theirs that I highlighted here too. I’m really looking forward to their return to San Francisco, when hopefully they will have more songs to share!

Back in mid-October, I took a trip back east for a little vacation…and Melih and Micky’s wedding! After a couple of days in the Triangle with my parents and night trips into downtown Raleigh to catchup with friends, I headed west to Asheville, out in the mountains of North Carolina. I made stops along the why, trying to find a pair of overalls, which turned out rather difficult in the Triangle. Melih thought it’d be a hoot if all the guys showed up at the rehearsal dinner wearing overalls, and I was happy to oblige. Finally, I ended up finding a country clothing store in Asheville and got a pair.

I met Melih and his friends in downtown Asheville, and headed back to the apartment they had rented for the week. It was so neat to meet the different people who have been with Melih throughout his life. The friends from middle and high school he played soccer with, his roommate from freshman year, fellow photog buddy from the Technician, his high school teacher and later roommate in San Francisco, his buddy from Extreme Blue, his accomplice-to-crime and colleague from TokBox. I guess I was the one who knew him both back in NC as well as San Francisco.

As folks went off to prepare for the rehearsal dinner, I spent the afternoon walking around downtown Asheville. What a beautiful, charming little town! I couldn’t help but smile as I turned corner after corner; even took a moment to text my parents asking why we had never visited before. Asheville full of nice restaurants, cafes, boutique art stores, beer lover bars, squares, and courtyards. The crowd skewed young, largely due to the nearby UNC-Asheville campus.

The rehearsal dinner was at a nearby barbeque smoke house. What a great mix of people — Melih’s friends from North Carolina, his Turkish community from Raleigh, Micky’s friends from San Francisco, and Micky’s friends and family from England and Europe. And yep — Melih, myself, and Matt were sporting the overalls! It was a shock too to see Drs. Mehmet and Hatice Ozturk too, they are two of my favorite professors at NC State, and Dr. Ozturk was going to be officiating the wedding.

I woke up early and joined Melih, Matt, Ray, and his wife Allison to nearby Chimney Rock for a morning hike. The leaves were just starting to turn colors, and it reminded me how pretty the Smoky Mountains can be.

We got back into town and had lunch at Mellow Mushroom. Andrew and Micky’s brother Dan joined us. Dan is one top-notch guy — really enjoyed talking with him. In the late afternoon, we boarded coaches and headed to a nearby farm. The wedding location was beautiful — a farm nestled into the mountains, an open field, with trees all around and a perfect sky. The bar served Pimm’s No. 1 (no small surprise considering the British contingent here), and it was a real treat for us who have never tried it. A perfect summer / fall drink, kind of like a more sophisticated iced tea. Delicious!

The ceremony was wonderful. The first highlight was Hatice reading two poems by the Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani, who later emigrated to London. These poems — written as love letters between a man and woman — were so moving that I later asked her for the source and translation. Melih and Micky both wrote their own vows, which told how they fell in love and their hopes for the future. Melih leaves me in awe of how expressive he is of  his passions and emotions, something that I wrestle with.

The rest of the evening was filled with dinner, talking and dancing. What a neat experience to be part of a joyous event that saw so many different cultures coming together.

The next morning I headed out of Asheville down south to Charlotte, city of my birth. I have no strong attachment to Charlotte though, as we moved away when I was around 4 years old. Still, my good friend Win is working downtown here and I didn’t want to miss a chance to catch up with him. I found a parking spot downtown and was really impressed — tree-lined streets, good energy, nice restaurants and bars all around. The financial focus of the city (the #2 financial center of the US after New York) was apparent. I met up with Win and his girlfriend Marian and, after a bit of searching (a lot of places were closed for Columbus Day), we found a place to eat. We talked about the wedding, Charlotte, how lovely Asheville is, about how his work was going (he does IP / patent law), and how this past year at Apple unfolded. Who knows — maybe Win can make a fact-finding trip out to the Bay Area soon ;)

I hit the road around 1:30pm back to the Triangle, but made a detour as I passed through Chapel Hill to see my friend Terrell at his house. Naman — like the true champ he is — came over too even though he and his friends were in the middle of hosting a massive summit at Carolina for the University Allied for Essential Medicines conference. And then later that evening, after dinner, I got to see Ben, Greg, Kelly, Chris, and Mark in downtown Raleigh. What a day, what a weekend, what a trip back home. The best kind of trip I could hope for.