THE AGONY & THE ECSTASY OF STEVE JOBS: SEE IT!!!

"The Agony and The Ecstasy of Steve Jobs" is a one-person, two-hour monologue performance created and performed by Mike Daisey.



Through the end of February it is being performed at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. If you haven't seen it yet, you have two more weeks before it closes.

As a longtime MacManiac, longtime Apple computer and all things Apple fan, as well as a former Apple employee, there was no way I was going to miss a play with Steve Jobs' name in its title.

Jim was a bit tentative about a two-hour monologue but agreed to go with me today. Throughout Daisey's engaging performance, neither of us even considered taking our eyes and ears away from the performance. It is totally captivating and also sobering.

Daisey tells parallel tales of the rise of Apple as a technology company under the leadership of Steve Jobs. He winds this part of his story around his own love of all things Apple.

The other side of his story is about Foxconn, the Chinese company where many Apple products, including the iPhone, and just about all the electronics manufactured by other companies are manufactured. Much of the assembly work is done by Chinese employees, some of them as young at 11 or 12 years old. The work conditions are the equivalent to that of indentured slavery or serfdom. Daisey tells his story of his visit to Foxconn and the people he met.

By the end of the play, I felt somewhat ambivalent about all things Apple as well as my light bulbs, TVs, and every other item that I consider essential to my daily life.

Even if you are an HP, Dell, Nokia, Sony or any other brand user, this is a not-to-miss play.

Daisey is entertaining, engaging, and he has a message to share.

See "The Agony and The Ecstasy of Steve Jobs."

NEW DINING HOT SPOT IN ORINDA: TABLE 24

I read a review of Table 24 in my local newspaper a few weeks ago and was intrigued.

The reviewer described this restaurant which opened in October in Orinda's Theatre Square as a wonderful new addition to family dining, with much the same spirit as the Chow restaurants in Lafayette, Danville, and San Francisco.

So, tonight, after a movie at the Orinda Theatre, Jim and I headed around the corner to Table 24. At about 6:30 p.m., the place was packed, both inside and out on the large patio.

Being just the two of us, we lucked out and got immediate seating at the counter which is always a fun experience. We were seated right in front of the open kitchen and I was next to the owner who was supervising the orders. We got to see just about everything on the menu.



We started our meal with a shared large Green Salad ($10.95), a delicious mix of baby greens, beets, onions, and pecan-crusted baked goat cheese. It was served to us on two plates, each with our own serving of baked goat cheese.

For my meal, I ordered the Fried Chicken with Mac 'n Cheese ($14.95). It was the perfect comfort food meal.



Jim chose the Grilled Chicken Club ($10.95), a beautiful and tasty sandwich on a Ciabatta bun (from local Metropolis bakery). The grilled chicken was garnished with bacon, avocado, gouda cheese, and lemon-tossed arugula. Sandwiches are served with a choice of French Fries, Yam Fries, Green Salad or Fresh Fruit. Jim chose the Fries.



Table 24 is open daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Brunch is featured on Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. With families in mind, there are special menues for "Littles" (Children age 9 and under), where all lunch and dinner selections are priced at $5 and include a beverage and a scoop of ice cream, and "Middles" (Children ages 10 to 16), with lunch and dinner selections pirced between $3.95 and $6.95.

While we did not run into anyone we knew, it seemed we were in the minority. There is lots of meeting and greeting at Table 24 and it seems to be a favorite of large family groups.



If I can find one or two people to share with me, the next time I return, I want to try the Molten Cheddar Cheese Fries, a huge platter of French Fries, topped with melted cheese and chives. It is heated in the big 500-degree wood burning oven where the pizzas are made. Other dishes that caught my eye include the big Niman Ranch Beef Burger, the Grilled Fish Sandwich, The Grilled Cheese Sandwich (three cheese blend with tomatos on parmesan-encrusted brioche bread), the daily fish (on a bed of seasonal vegetables), any of the pizzas, and the Pasta Goombatz (sausage and crimini mushrooms on pasta). If I was a Little kid, I'd order the Hot Dog, which comes with fries, fruit, or broccolini.

It's nice to have another high quality, casual, American restaurant close to home.

TASTING TEA AT TEANCE

Last week, Melia and I headed to Teance in Berkeley, in the busy Fourth Street shopping district, for a "formal" tea tasting.

Teance's business is primarily a wholesale and online tea and tea accessory business, based in Emeryville, California.

This Fourth Street location is its only retail outlet.

In addition to its lovely store, with tea pots and other accessories attractively displayed and a central water "shower" garden in the center, Teance has a tea bar at the back of the shop. The circular tea bar is a work of art in and of itself; it is 10 feet of circular concrete, cast in a single pour and embedded with semi-precious gemstones and fossils.

It is at the bar where we did our tasting. This formal tasting, priced at $18 per person, consists of tasting three teas of your selection from a large tea menu. (there is an added cost to taste some special rare teas, but most of the tea menu selection is not the rare tea).

Before and while tasting, our server guided us through our selections and talked with us about the teas that we sipped. We evaluated the taste, observed the color of the brewed tea, and generally immersed ourselves in the tea experience. Each tea was resteeped several times. It was a delightful way for Melia and me to visit.

On weekends, Teance offers some tea snacks on its menu. But, during the week, it is just tea. Wanting that little something to eat with our tea, I dashed next door to the Pasta Shop Markethall to buy several fancy chocolate bars, some of which were infused with tea, just to keep in theme.

While Teance was not overly busy during the more than two hours that we spent there, there was a steady stream of customers. Some come in just to buy loose tea or a tea accessory. Others joined us at the bar to enjoy a pot of tea. A single tea tasting costs $7 (rare tea tasting is $15 per tea). We were the only ones doing the tasting of three teas.

My favorite tea was the Lichee Red Premium which I had to purchase to take home to continue enjoying. That's what I'm sipping as I write this blog post.



Teance is a beautiful and calming place to enjoy tea, conversation, and an escape from this bustling shopping district.

MacWorld 2011 is now in San Francisco

Today was the first day exhibits at Macworld 2011 in San Francisco.

Of course I was there...this year with Joanne and Linelle.

The crowds gathered outside the exhibit hall in Moscone West waiting for the 10 a.m. opening.

Some did a bit of shopping at the MacWorld boutique.



The show is quite small this year and what we saw most of was cases and other accessories for the iPhone and iPad.

The only really big company exhibiting was HP with some interesting wide format printers and some intriguing digital cameras. I'm going to further investigate the model with the touch screen.

There also were a lot of companies selling photo software and apps. Linelle purchased a suite of programs that simplify the tedious editing steps that Photoshop can do.

And there were some amusing products such as a truck that runs around a Vinyl record and plays its music! At almost $100, it was too expensive for Linelle to buy for her dad, a vinyl collector.



We were amused by works of art created with the backs of iPhones and iPads.




Software for the iPad to record you while you are sleeping, presumably to determine if you snore or not and to signal you or your partner to tell you to stop also intrigued us.

My favorite iPad case was by Lostdog from BlueTrek. When I get an iPad, it will be on my list for accessory purchases.

A highlight of the show for me was the iPhone Life Magazine booth. Last year, I took home a complimentary copy of the magazine and became a subscriber. They were at the show again this year and I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with one of my favorites of the magazine's writers, Todd Bernhard. If you haven't read iPhone Life, be sure to pick up a copy at the show.

All told, we spent a bit over three hours and did the entire show. I wouldn't have missed it, but there were few new discoveries. The show is smaller than it was last year. I still miss the days when Apple participated in MacWorld and when I could spend several days there and still not attend all the presentations that interested me.

For lunch, we left the exhibit hall and walked a few blocks to 'Wichcraft for some delicious made-to-order sandwiches.



'Wichcraft has other locations in New York City and Las Vegas. It was started by celebrity chef and head judge on Top Chef, Tom Colicchio. They also serve salads and soup; a good choice and a good value for an informal, high quality breakfast or lunch when attending an event at Moscone Center or when shopping in the San Francisco Centre.