Integrated Control Corp. Kitchen Minder Series Quality Grade Display

Saw an Integrated Control Corp. "Kitchen Minder Series" Quality Grade display, at the CSUS Burger King:

At the time, it read, "D+". Curious about what that reflects...service response time (?)
http://www.goicc.com/kmhelp.html

Radio Songs

Listened to KPFA 94.1 FM, out of Berkeley, California, who featured University of Wisconsin, Madison professor Ramzi Fawaz:

"How has the figure of the comic book superhero played into left-wing political projects and aspirations? In his new book, Ramzi Fawaz argues that the reinvention of the American superhero was a response to, and a factor in, the rise of radical political sensibilities and movements in the 1960s and beyond."
Link: https://kpfa.org/episode/against-the-grain-april-25-2016/

Listened to the first part while driving through the Bay Area, then switched to online streaming, for the remainder.

Listening to Grateful Dead, Live at Winterland Arena, on 1977-06-09

Previously.

UC Santa Cruz McHenry Library - 2nd Floor Touch Screen Display

The UC Santa Cruz McHenry Library has a large touch display on the 2nd floor, near the main entrance.

It appears they partnered with vendor Four Winds Interactive, to provide the display hardware and software:
http://www.fourwindsinteractive.com/

Staff write:

"The FourWinds system was installed in the spring of 2012. The screens are 46" NEC / Canvys V462's w/3M Dispersive Signal Technology (DST) Touch Screen overlays. Screen content is driven by Medius FWP61-BSW microcomputers running Windows 7. The interface is proprietary software owned by FourWinds."

Links:

• NEC V-Series V462 displays 
• Namely: V462; V462-AVT; V462-AVT-R; V462-R; V462-TM; and V462-TM-R
• Since replaced by V463 displays
• Canvys seems to represent the name of the Visual Technical Solutions division, of Richardson Electronics, Ltd., which may represent the provider of the 3M Dispersive Signal Technology (DST) Touch Screen overlay technology, to NEC (?)
• Four Winds Interactive NUC (Next Unit of Computing) media player, model FWP61-BSW
• It seems Now Micro may provide the FWP61-BSW
• Seems Four Winds Interactive rebadge a Now Micro Medius Dynamic Digital Signage Solutions media player
• Now Micro may, in turn, simply rebadge the Intel NUC, for Four Winds Interactive: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_Unit_of_Computing

The Science of Making Friends

An article about making friends, as adults:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-science-of-making-friends-1460992572

Superfeet Copper

Replacing stock insoles with size E, of the following:

https://www.superfeet.com/en-us/copper

Tried on just about every style, at REI. They all felt similar, but these have a memory foam top layer, so giving it a try.

Robert L. Canson - First African-American Police Officer, City of Sacramento

Sign reads:

In Memory Of
Robert L. Canson
1918 - 2001

Beloved Peace Officer and Friend
First African-American Police Officer
City of Sacramento

Radio Songs - Instrumental Surf Music

Kevin has identified Surf Music, specifically, instrumental surf. So good!

Heard on KDVS 90.3 FM out of Davis, CA on Friday, April 15:

• Show Sub Zero, "Exploring classic and modern instrumental surf music and other styles. The music is so cool it's sub zero."

Note: this answers a question, for me, about what style of music this represents, first recognized while watching The Red Elvises, which Wikipedia repots as performing, "funk rock, surf, rockabilly, reggae, folk rock, disco and traditional Russian styles of music...Their music filled the soundtrack of Lance Mungia's independent film released in 1998, Six-String Samurai, a film in which they also had small roles and screen credits."

Can't wait to learn more/listen more.

FasTrak First Use: Antioch Bridge

Used it first during a north-bound crossing of Antioch Bridge, on Monday, April 4, at noon. Worked great.

Note: had planned to use it while crossing the Benicia–Martinez Bridge, but missed my turn and ended up crossing at the Antioch Bridge.

Cliff Swallows Have Returned To Santa Cruz

Note: not sure if this represents the species we see here, in Santa Cruz, or not 

Wikipedia:

"Petrochelidon is a genus of birds known as cliff-nesting swallows. The genus includes all of the five species of birds commonly called cliff swallow...."

Noticed them this weekend, for the first time this year. They speedily swoop by, circle, dive, ascend. Maybe 12-24 in sight, at any one time? They seem to individually fly, not flock. One web site describes their song: "guttural grating sounds and squeaks" which sounds unpleasant, but seems just fine, to me. Our cats seem to find it all very entertaining.

The birds return annually to nest, then return to South America, to over-winter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrochelidon
http://www.nativeanimalrescue.org/the-amazing-swallow/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Santa_Cruz_County,_California

Banana Slug Sighting - University of California, Santa Cruz

Saw my first banana slug today, on the University of California, Santa Cruz campus. Then, 30 seconds later, I saw my second. Both seemed to have spotted citrus fruit peelings.

Banana slug, top center, slowly moving toward citrus peel, bottom center

Weather: 57 degrees Fahrenheit. Humidity 88%. Overcast clouds at 700 feet. 2.2mph wind, from the SSW. Pressure 29.94 inches. Dew point 53 degress Fahrenheit. Slight drizzle. Had rained the previous day. Everything wet and humid and cool and misty and overcast, with tall redwoods all around.

-- UCSC McHenry Library, Santa Cruz, California, USA

My Golden Days - Film

Heard Subject on the radio in the last week or two; want to see it.

UC Santa Cruz Hike

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6834016

• Baskin School of Engineering
• McHenry Library
• Global Village Cafe
• Bauru: Ham, tomatoes, melted mozzarella cheese & oregano (we chose the whole wheat baguette)
• Acerola smoothie: Amazon cherry, banana, strawberries & OJ
• Now operated by Amazon Juices UCSC
• Features pastries by Kelly's French Bakery
• Noticed the newspaper displays had gone dark
• Liked the regional topographic maps
• Walked through the UCSC Department of Music building, to view the practice rooms:
• Older, but well-maintained equipment
• Several practice rooms occupied, but many free
• Yamaha Clavinova CLP-122S Digital Piano
• Year of manufacture: 1992
• Features: 
• Master volume slider
• Reverb
• OFF ............When no reverb effect is selected (no REVERB indicator is lit), a special natural damper effect is applied to the piano voices. This simulates the natural resonance of an acoustic piano’s strings and sound board when the damper pedal is pressed.
• ROOM ........This setting add a continuous reverb effect to the sound that is similar to the type of acoustic reverberation you would hear in a medium-size room
• HALL 1 ......For a “bigger” reverb sound, use the HALL 1 setting. This effect simulates the natural reverberation of a medium-size concert hall
• HALL 2 ......For a really spacious reverb sound, use the HALL 2 setting. This effect simulates the natural reverberation of a large concert hall
• COSMIC ....The COSMIC reverb effect produces an echo-plus-reverb sound that can add life and animation to your music
• MIDI/Transpose: Allows access to the Clavinova’s Transpose function (to shift the pitch of the entire keyboard up or down), keyboard touch sensitivity adjustment, and MIDI functions
• Voice Selectors: 
• Piano 1
• Piano 2
• Clavinova tone
• E. piano
• Harpsichord
• Organ
• Pedals:
• Soft/Sostenuto (Left) Pedal
• Damper (Right) Pedal
• Playing the Demonstration Tunes
• Press the C7 key (right-most) while holding the [MIDI/TRANSPOSE] button
• Press a selector to start playback of the corresponding tune, featuring the voice normally selected by that voice selector button
• Tunes:
• [PIANO 1] .................. “Grande valse brillante” by F. F. Chopin
• [PIANO 2] .................. “Lake Louise” by Yuhki Kuramoto
• [CLAVINOVA TONE] “Rêverie” by Debussy
• [HARPSICHORD] ..... “Invention 3” by J. S. Bach
• [ORGAN] ................... “Symphonie pour orgue No.5” by Widor
• Dual Mode: allows selecting and configuring two voices at once
• Touch sensitivity configuration: Hard/Medium/Soft
• Transposition:  
• Shift the pitch of the entire keyboard up or down in semitone intervals up to a maximum of six semitones
• “Transposing” the pitch of the Clavinova keyboard facilitates playing in difficult key signatures, and you can easily match the pitch of the keyboard to the range of a singer or other instrumentalist
• Pitch control: Pitch control makes it possible to tune the Clavinova over a ±50-cent range in approximately 1.2-cent intervals
• Yamaha Upright Acoustical Piano
• Serial Number 1213490
• Indicates Hamamatsu, Japan, as the manufacture location, in 1971-1972 (?)
• Found arrangement, in the piano bench, of Étude Op. 25, No. 7 (Chopin), "alternatively known as the "Cello" due to the prominent melody played in the left hand"
• Great Meadow Bike Path
• Passed the UCSC Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS)
• Service road: had a number of 40 yard dumpster containers, for various materials: plastics, carpets, metals
• Arboretum, through the back gate, walked into the gift shop
• Smelled rich foliage smells, reminding me of the ravine near my childhood home
• Up the hill, to Oakes College
• Passed a number of signs: Collective Museum, the campus-wide art project by Portland-based artist group Public Doors and Windows (PDW); we sat at Ken's Bench
• Koi fish
• Porter Slug Grill and Cafe: open, but we overheard someone asking about something unrelated, and we though it was closed...not a big deal, since we needed cash and the ATM seemed down
• Walked through Kresge College, to Owl's Nest, but closed
• Back to McHenry BSOE
• Drove to Marini's, on Swift, for ice cream--noticed the Ferris Wheel model working, but the marbles kept falling off

How to Care for a Sad Person

Done:

1. Lay blanket out
2. Pick up sad person
3. Lay sad person in blanket 
4. Roll them like a sushi
5. Place sad roll on bed/couch/comfy place
6. Hug roll close
7. Put on rolls favorite movies 
8. Feed roll snacks
9. Make sure roll is well hydrated. Tears make roll dehydrated 
10. Happy lil’ sushi roll

My Neighbor Totoro, chocolate, wine, sparkling water.

McLaren 12C

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLaren_12C

Seen in a parking spot, at our apartment complex. o_O

Parked between two SUVs. Used models retail for close to USD$200,000.

UPDATE: It's crammed between two Honda CR-V SUVs. Disquieting.

Radio Songs

Heard on KDVS 90.3 FM out of Davis, CA:

Bart Graft's "I Ain't Waiting", from the self-published album, "Nineteen Eighty-Five". Bandcamp.

Super Dry - Japan

Saw someone wearing a coat manufactured by Super Dry - Japan, which seemed pretty cool. No idea what style, but something like a windbreaker (windcheater?):

http://www.superdry.com/us/mens/windcheaters

Zydeco Wake Up Music

Last weekend I listened to a radio program playing zydeco music and it planted the seed of an idea to wake up to zydeco, at some point, in the future. Noting so I do not forget.

Minera Dead Sea Salt

Suggested by Lanna.

Superga Shoes

Saw someone wearing Superga shoes:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superga_(brand)

Noting, for reference only.