Glenmore Road visits the Botanic Gardens on Josephine's last day before the return to Palo Alto. Tom and I checked out the bats on the way home. 08.14.2009

08.07.2009

With Warwick and Lee. 05.31.2009.

With Tom (aged 4, almost 5). Lots of stopping to play in rockpools along the way. 03.29.2008.

Navy parade and yet another Harbour cruise

Sydney Cricket Ground 02.08.2009

Paddington (Sydney), Australia 01.31.2009

Paddington to Bondi and back, with Warwick Anderson 01.19.2009

SFO-SYD, Paddington, the SCG, the Australian Museum, Centennial Park, Bronte, and a cloudy Bondi 01.05-19.2009

Josephine starts the 1st grade. 08.26.2008

Scenes from the Essex campus and environs; a weekend in Oxford at Nuffield College (thanks Ray Duch); a few hours in London (time for a walk up Primrose Hill); LHR-SIN-BNE on SQ. August 2008

Foggy morning, kids out on the board with Quan. 07.06.08

Busch Stadium, St Louis, Missouri. 06.17.2008 Plus collectible souvenirs (JPG & JPG). Thanks to season ticket holder and WUSTL political scientist Andrew Martin.

Window seats. 06.15.2008 & 06.18.2008

The Department of Political Science hosted a celebration for David Laitin (elected to the National Academy of Science) and Scott Sagan (American Academy of Arts and Sciences), and to welcome back Jackie Sargent as our Administrative Services Manager. Papua New Guinea Statue Garden, Stanford campus 06.12.2008

T34 Navy Trainer and a DA42 Twin Star, the latter flown by one of my former students, Cameron Percy (complete coincidence). 06.01.08.

The kids are still young enough to think its a fun day out to go ride the monorail and moving walkways at SFO (while Dad plane spots, plays with the camera). Not for long. 05.24.08

Tom played with Ben and Jackson, Josephine got her face painted, and the Stanford Band brought the curtain down on a yet another beautiful day in Northern California. 05.18.08

Stanford University 05.13.08

Swordplay with Tom on a Spring afternoon, the perfect to unwind after a cross-country flight. Palo Alto, 05.11.08

Dinosauria, Ben, Jack and Asarel, cake, and a sugar rush; plus a celebration at Bing the next day 05.04.08

04.20.08

Beers and cheers, end of exam week, Winter quarter 2008, in the late afternoon sun outside Encina Hall. 03.21.2008

A bleak afternoon, with the kids and the planes breaking up the gray. 02.18.2008

One of our favorite spots in the area; a nice perk of being a resident of Palo Alto. 02.17.2008

We were asked to mark the kids' first 100 days at Ohlone. 02.08.2008

02.07.2008

Kodak Theater, Hollywood-Highland complex 1.31.2008

San Jose 12.27.2007

Pacific Grove, Monterey, Palo Alto 12.23-26.2007

Could this have been the last time the AEC does a National Tally Room? 11.23-24.2007

On Election Day I took a drive over the ACT border into one of Australia's perennial bell-weather seats, Eden-Monaro, for a look at the miracle of democracy up close. I visited four polling places; three in Quenbeyan, and, on the advice of some Labor guys working one of the Quenbeyan booths, I went to the largest booth in the division, in Jerrabomberra. 11.24.2007

Campbelltown and Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia. 11.20.2007

Conference and High Table 11.09-11.2007

Mum and Dad saved this for me. 10.27.2007

My one-hour lunch DJ set on KZSU. 10.15.2007 (AIFF, 633 MB)

Sydney Ferry ride on "Supply" (First Fleet Class) 07.29.2007

Is it weird when a 40 year old man takes lots of photos out the window etc? BNE-SYD 07.26.2007 SYD-BNE 07.24.2007

Brisbane 07.07-08.2007

Sydney. 06.30-07.07.2007

17" MacBook Pro arrived in about 5 working days since we got the order in: 2.4GHz, 2x2GB RAM, 160GB HDD. Grinning. 06.21.2007

06.17.2007

Tom's last day for the year, and Josephine's last day at Bing forever. The kids didn't quite realize what was going on (the teachers are such professionals that the kids are pretty oblivious to the occasion), but all the adults crowding into the room with cameras triggered a little consternation, plus it was the hottest day of the year so far. Janet and I were barely keeping it together...wishing that somehow the Bing experience could continue indefinitely for Josephine...but, in no small measure because of the nurturing environment at Bing, she's more than ready for the next thing. 06.11.2007 and 06.13.2007

06.02-05.2007

05.04.2007

04.07.2007 and see here for the aftermath.

03.31.2007

Palo Alto, California 05.06.2006

Palo Alto, California 05.04.2006

Palo Alto, California 05.02.2006

San Jose, California 04.18.2006

Palo Alto, California 03.26.2006

We got some snow up on Skyline Blvd in late February. It was a Friday afternoon so I took the kids up for a peek. Tom found the mud more interesting than the snow. No surprise there...

The history: back in November 2003 we flew home from Australia on a United 747-400 (YSSY-KSFO) under the command of a veteran United captain, Walter Bates. It was Capt Bates retirement flight (FAA rules!) and mid-flight he announced that fact over the PA, and then sent the flight attendants around collecting e-mail addresses for anyone who wanted some digital video shot from the flight deck (our take-off at Sydney, and the final approach and landing at SFO). I've had this video sitting here for ages; I thought I'd finally push it up here.
Sydney takeoff mpg (10MB). According to Capt Bates:

At the start of the takeoff roll on Sydney's runway 16R we weighed the aircraft limit of 875,000# (the max for the C5 Galaxy is 769,000#). This included nearly 400,000# of fuel (there are 6.7# per gal.). It took over 60 seconds and 2,000# of fuel to accelerate to a speed of 187 knots - about 215 mph - where the 16 main wheels left the runway. We used 11,500' of the 13,000' runway.... The takeoff video is of the first 1:54 minutes of the flight. Have the volume up as full audio is included. At the start of the video you hear Sydney tower's takeoff clearance to us over the cockpit speaker referring to runway 16R. My "93%" and "1.43 EPR" comments refer to the power setting for takeoff - nearly full power. That is 224,000# of thrust that is held for the first 100 seconds and you hear the engines come up clearly. The "80 knots" call identifies the latest time by which takeoff power must be set. The call of "V1" (156 knots) occurred at the precalculated last point where we could abort the takeoff and stop on the runway. After that we're committed to go though certification and weight limits insure that if the most critical engine (they're not equally important) were to fail at that point we could still climb away safely. The "VR" call (174 knots) is where we lift the nose about 20 degrees. The "V2" call is when we lift off. You clearly see the marks identifying the approaching opposite end of the runway going by at this point. If the speeds don't look that fast it is because the camera, and my windshield, are 32 feet above the ground. After liftoff you have a nice view of Botany Bay ahead.

San Francisco final approach to roll out mpg (11.4MB).

I also include a video of our landing in SFO from about 1,000' altitude on down - that's Coyote Point Yacht Harbor off to the left at the start of the video. Just before touchdown you hear the automated voice of our radar altimeter calling off 50, 30, and 10 feet above the runway - and that's calibrated from the bottoms of the first main wheels to touch the pavement. At touchdown my eyes are still nearly 60 feet up. At this point our inertial guidance system is being updated by transmitters on the end of the runway giving us an accuracy of less than 2 feet. With this system we can land with visibility of only 600 feet. We touched down at about 170 mph being over 350,000# lighter than at takeoff and use reverse thrust from the engines and a sophisticated antiskid braking system to get it stopped. All takeoffs and over 99% of landings are done manually. Only in Hollywood do autopilots do so much flying.

Palo Alto and SFO, March 2006