Grouplove "Tongue Tied"

Another afternoon session at Mississippi Studios in Portland.  This time it was Grouplove.  Super fun group.

Of Monsters and Men "Slow and Steady" *NEW*

Shot with an iPhone 4 at Mississippi Studios in Portland, OR

Of Monsters and Men "Little Talks" in Portland, OR

Shot with an iPhone 4 at Mississippi Studios in Portland, OR
March 24, 2012

Pantech Element Tablet

Just this past week I got a chance to head down to Ogden, Utah for the Dew Tour and to check out the Pantech Element Tablet from ATT

Here are the specs of the tablet:

8in HD touch screen (1024x768 resolution)

Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, 

Wi-Fi 802.11 

3.5 mm audio port

micro-USB charging port

micro-HDMI port

up to one hour of 720p video recording

5mp rear facing camera with flash, 4x digital zoom, fixed focus

AT&T 4G network

IP57 rating (limited dust ingress protection, water immersion between 15cm and 1m depth)

16GB hard drive

up to 32 GB micro SD card

1 GB RAM

Before playing around with this tablet I had never used an Android device.  I was very curious to see how the learning curve would be.  After un-boxing the tablet and playing around for a bit, I had little doubt that I would have a problem with it.  The Element itself felt pretty durable, although the back of it was prone to getting fingerprinted up pretty easily.  I had to fiddle around with the screen brightness especially out in the sun.  It never seemed to be bright enough for direct sunlight, nor dark enough for chilling in the hotel room and surfing the web.

The ports have heavy duty covers on them to increase the Elements waterproofness, although they are sometimes a bit annoying to open and close.  The touchscreen took a bit getting used to in terms of response.  The haptic feedback is very nice and lets you know exactly what you are inputting.  The camera is 5 mp and records 720p video.  It took some pretty decent shots but to be expected didn't have tons of range trying to take photos of snowboarders and skiers from a distance.  I was pleasantly surprised with the video it took especially up close. The playback looks crisp and it did a good job capturing the sound without sounding too muffled or distorted.  So far, the waterproofness has been awesome.  I was able to tote the Element around in the snow, rain, and get sprayed by champagne by some of the athletes on the podium.  I put it under some running water from the tap and all is well.  


The Pantech Element runs on the ATT 4G network and/or WiFi.  The first evening in Ogden was misery for everyone with a wireless device and a good solid signal was hard to come by.  When all the kiddos left the Mac Miller concert however, there was an instant spike in service and all my downloads/uploads were fast as can be.  On the slope the next day everything was lightning quick while posting videos, photos, updates.  


Overall I was really impressed and will continue to use the Element for most of my daily stuff.  It really is a pleasure to not have to stare at a small cell phone screen and have a nice vibrant display to look at.  The size doesn't make it overkill to take with me while walking around town and actually fits kind of nicely into my jacket pocket.  I really like the fact that i can take this tablet out into a coffee shop and not have to worry about any kind of spills.  I do recommend this tablet for someone who is looking at getting into the tablet game or someone who is a frequent traveler an needs something a little more adequate than a cell phone.  It would also be perfect for a family who is constantly dealing with little ones spilling drinks.  


The Pantech Element Costs 299.99 with a 2 year commitment and 499.99 without any contract

James Mercer of The Shins performing New Slang

94/7 sent out an invite to a "secret" show at Mississippi Studios in NE Portland.  He played a quick 6 song set and it was quite awesome.  Here he is closing with New Slang.

iPhone 4s-Initial thoughts

If Apple had simply called it the iPhone 5, I can see people going absolutely crazy for it. Because they are calling it the 4s everyone thinks they are skimping out. Here are the new features.
A5 processor-same as iPad 2 1GB of RAM
8mp camera-f2.4 wide 73%more light
1080hd camera
Siri personal assistant-voice command/recognition
2 antennas-better download speeds (theoretically up to 14.4mbps) and better call quality
CDMA and GMA -true worldphone

I am preordering for sure. Function over fashion. It's all about what's under the hood. To quote Star Wars "she may not look like much but she's got it where it counts". Thoughts?

Bicycle Tour down the Pacific Coast Days 5-8

Day 5 Sunset Bay State Park to Humbug Mountain State Park
We knew waking up this morning that we would have to climb one of the steeper grades that we would be seeing this whole trip.  Fittingly enough, the name of the road was Seven Devils.  Looking back on it now though I realize it wasn't nearly as bad as everyone had figured it to be.  In fact it was one of the more pleasant rides on the whole trip.  Today I was also in for a surprise when one of my friends, whom I met in Breckenridge during his Trans Am bike ride, met up with me on the back roads and brought us some well needed Clif Bars. Thanks Parry!!  We rolled through of Bandon and got some of the best mexican food we ha on the whole trip.  Another little town that was pretty cool was called Langlois.  It was a very cool place with some diners and an awesome little grocery store.  Art galleries were all over the place as well.  Once we reached Port Orford were able to see the ocean again and wouldn't be leaving it until we were headed toward the Redwoods.

Beach at Sunset Bay Park 

Seven Devils 

Bandon, OR

Face Rock Viewpoint

Port Orford, OR

Humbug Mountain State Park sunset

Day 6 Humbug Mountain State Park to Harris Beach Park
It was going to be our last full day in Oregon.  We were going to miss the friendly "share the road" signs, no sales tax, and free hot showers at all the campgrounds.  We were out of camp once again long before anyone else woke up and we enjoyed some beautifully quiet coastal mountain roads.  We had fairly mellow day and between the views and the thought of being in California the next day we made it to one of our favorite campsites on the whole trip.  One thing of note is while riding the coast the prevailing winds can turn on you in a second.  We had a nice tailwind throughout most of the day but toward the end we had the wind in our faces.  It wasn't horrible by any means but, something to keep in mind for the rest of the ride.

Early morning riding

Dino Power

Cape Sebastian 

Arch Rock Viewpoint

Harris Beach

Harris Beach

Campsite

Campsite

Day 7 Harris Beach to California Border to Elk Prairie Camp
To me and many others today was the most memorable day of the trip.  The weather sucked, we entered California, climbed the biggest hill on the coast, and entered the Redwoods.  Not bad for one day on a bicycle.  Everyone left camp early due to the weather (light misty rain) and so that we could get one of the biggest climbs out of the was as fast as possible.  Coming from Colorado, elevations and climbing 2500 feet don't really bother me all that much.  Here, on the Pacific Coast, the grades are much steeper, the roads much tighter, visibility is nearly zero AND riding a fully loaded touring bike, makes things just a little harder.  It was a very easy ride to Crescent City and upon leaving there we started climbing.  We gained approx 1200 feet in 3 miles and then cruised all downhill into the Redwoods.  Crossing into a little town called Klamath we saw a whale that had come up the river to give birth.  Quite a sight to see.  Coming down a hill into Elk Prairie could have been the single best experience on a bike.  I felt like an speeder bike racing around Endor, Star Wars style.  We showed up at Elk Prairie and despite some light mist, we stayed dry and went to sleep after a long, very rewarding day.

Welcome to California

National AND State Park 

Say Trees! Paul, Paul and Babe

Big trees er'where

theres an Ewok in there somewhere

Quite an exceptional place to ride

Day 8 Elk Prairie Campground to Eureka KOA

Waking up after a long night of rain usually is a real pain in the ass.  When you wake up to a herd of elk in the middle of the campsite and they are within 10 feet of you, it makes the rain not seem too bad.  The first sop of the day was in a little town called Orick.  We stopped at a diner, and after seeing the confederate flag hung proudly there, I was looking forward to getting on the bike as soon as I could.  It stayed fairly misty the first half of the day, but the sun was out by the time we reached a little hippie town called Trinidad.  We relaxed with the whole group and had an awesome lunch overlooking the ocean.  Today was one of the first days we had to ride directly on a 4 lane highway.  Despite being on a highway, the shoulders were huge and the terrain was flat so we made some amazing time.  The day ended, with everyone meeting at a KOA campground and as much as I hate commercialize campgrounds, it felt good to do a load of laundry and even got to go to an ice cream social!

I guess thats why they call it Elk Prarie

Time to head out

Lunch spot

Trinidad