I'm getting ready for a fun week when Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference starts on Monday. I'll be following the meetup and drinkup scene via Twitter. BTW, I'm @davebryan.

Yep time to update a little bit of the crusty blog. So I started playing around with Movable Type stylesheets and slapped in my new masthead. Feeling nostalgic, I thought I'd use Copperplate which I actually liked back in 1992. Now my blog looks like a Steakhouse. Care for some cream spinach with that?

The place was packed by the time of the afternoon drawing and I got to win a prize! I selected the Peet's gift box of coffee beans. Next time your over on Piedmont Avenue, check them out!

Like a bourbon soaked butterfly, I fluttered between Web parties the other night. I started at Webmonkey's Relaunch event at Gallery Lounge and ended up over at 21st Amendment where the Laughingsquid crew was have a meet'n greet with some of their out of town friends.

During my adventure, I strolled through quaint South Park and saw this funny flyer. I also swung by Vima Dance Studio. The people there are friendly and tear it up on the ballroom floor. My girlfriend wants us to take some lessons soon. I think we'll start here!

So me and my younger brother booked out to JJ's in my Datsun 510 to go hang with Devo and finally get see The Humans which were getting some considerable buzz at the time. Half hour later, I'm sitting at a little table with a couple guys from Devo, their manager and a pitcher of beer! I guess those times were a little different.

The Humans came on stage and did a blistering set of punk/new wave music with great surfy guitar licks. I became a big fan of them that night and went to almost every performance they did around the Monterey Bay area. The band was always so cool and friendly to this dorky teenager with his ever present camera around his neck.

Recently I've been going through and digitizing some of my favorite old cassette tapes and I found this aircheck tape of Eric Gies and Sterling Storm of The Humans being interviewed on KLRB - the 'alternative' progressive FM rock station that broadcast from the Barnyard in Carmel Valley. Because of this station I was exposed to the Punk revolution, New Wave as well as artists like Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa and anything else weird the DJs felt like playing.

Here's the cassette tape from November 1980.

After a fun afternoon driving up to Vallejo to visit my good friend John Zorko, we took the ferry to SF to pickup his WWDC credentials. What's in store this week? Can't wait to find out! Probably some cool GUI interface tricks with Core Animation. John is hoping that Apple opens up the iPhone platform to developers to justify an iPhone purchase. I'll probably look into getting one when my two year contract is up with my Sony/Ericsson W600.

Another fun part of the day was trying out my new Canon SD750. I got it to replace my little Nikon that I squished a bit in NYC last month. This camera is pretty cool. It's super small but the quality is great. There's a slow sync mode reminiscent of the rear-curtain sync settings I liked using in the film days. Another surprise is the quality of the video this thing shoots. 30fps - very smooth! My first digital camera, the Canon G2 couldn't come close to this.

Bye-bye City! Um until Monday morning...

Noted blogger, Violet Blue, had her pics 'snowed over' to the regular viewer of her account page. What's strange is there seems to be no rhyme or reason to what gets snowed. The sexytime pictures of her on the floor that my friend Seventeenstars composed? Or maybe the pics of her with some SRL machinery Worldess Workshop Style?

This is all adding up to some bad publicity for Flickr. Maybe theres some room for an edgier, freer (more in the spirit of the Internet) photo sharing site?

As someone interested in the Mac Scene, I started listenging to the Your Mac Life show which was a conventional webcast available by download or a live Internet stream. A couple years ago Your Mac Life stopped allowing downloads of their, only giving the option of purchasing the show through Audible.com. Since i like to listen at my convenience and didn't want to pay for the show, I listened less and less. Your Mac Life show would also hype up their annual party at Macworld, but if you tried to go to the party you'd get a pitch to have your comapny buy in to sponsoring the event. So much for the YML community...

Then along came This Week in Tech, or better known as Twit. Hosted by Leo LaPorte and other alumni of TechTV, he started a weekly podcast taking his idea of a lively roundtable of people in the tech field to discuss a range of topics. From this show, I learned of Kevin Rose and his The Broken series and the then new, Diggnation show and Merlin Mann's 43Folders.com.

What helped catapult these shows to the forefront of the scene, was using RSS to 'Podcast' the content for free. This is the best format for me and a lot of other listeners as you can listen when you want on your iPod; riding to work, jogging or on your stereo. Another aspect that makes the show a success is the community that was started around the shows. Leo started taping the shows at various spots around SF and invited the listeners to participate. A few shows were done at the SF Apple store and a few were done at local cafes or beer joints.

The Diggnation shows have also taken on a life of their own. The Podcast that started with just co-hosts, Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht sitting on a couch, drinking some beers with their laptops on their laps. They discuss the top stories from the reader selected top stories on digg.com. Their public recordings have been usually recorded at the Beach House brewpub in San Francisco. Beer + geeks = good times!

Diggnation recently had a big party for their listeners at Club Mezzanine in San Francisco. They generously gave away two drink tickets and a t-shirt! I even got to meet my organization/life-hack hero, Merlin Mann.

I'm posting some of the pics I've taken from the many public shows I went too i the last couple years.

In 2006, I saw Patton Oswalt twice at Cobb's Comedy Club in North Beach. He's been a fave of mine and Dru since we heard his bit on Heavy Metal on a mix tape from a friend.

Couple weeks ago, I was coming home alone late at night when I drove by the local KFC. The Sadness bowl was indeed mine... all mine!

Now where was that This Mortal Coil box set?

Being a Java Junkie always in pursuit of quality coffee has led me to a few places to mention. One that is very good and closest to home is Mama Buzz on Telegraph and 23rd. An adjoing room has a gallery and 50s style kitchen furniture to kick back. Free Wifi is available and the coffee is dark and rich! They also have some quality beers including Boont Ale. If you order a snack you will be surprised at the quality. Tomatoes on your sandwich are fresh ripe and tasty. An extra bonus is that they usually play a lot of old school spooky music (Virgin Prunes, Bauahus, Joy Division).

Mama Buzz is in an emerging little boho Booze, Art and Coffee zone. Being neighbors to The Stork Club and Rock, Paper, Scissors art collective. FYI, there's still plenty of crack activity on the corner and nearby Valley St.

Rooz is on Piedmont Ave. in Oakland.

I've been canvassing many East Bay cafés looking for good coffee and free WiFi. Went to check out some I saw listed on the BeastBlog.com site and was disappointed. Next time I'm firing up the laptop before I order. Brewed Awakening and Café Neffeli on Euclid were both a waste of time.

Some might disagree with me that WiFi is important for a Café. I like to be able to grab my laptop and work on projects when I'm out. I also enjoy the fact that people on laptops are usually quiet people. Having to overhear some UCSC TA blab on and on about them selves at the next table is no treat.