Palm Pre Review

It’s hard to believe that it’s the middle of 2009 and I’m just now getting my first smart phone, the Palm Pre. In the past, I’ve just used the crappy menu based and text only display of the web on a regular cell phone, and that worked just fine for me. All I really wanted to check was news headlines and sports scores. But in the last few years, the mobile web has really taken off, both with much better designed mobile sites, or even normal screen displays, as well as mobile social networking sites that used location services.

For the most part my old phone worked well enough for sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare. That is, until I got a iPod Touch. With Wi-fi available almost everywhere I went, I was really able to use the Touch like it was an iPhone, and I loved it. It was a lot faster than using the menu based web, and everything looked so much better. I told my wife when I bought the Touch that I wouldn’t regret it 6 months later, and decide that I needed an iPhone. Well that’s exactly what happened. I still like the Touch, but really, it’s a gateway drug to a real smart phone!

And I’ll be honest, I wish I had an iPhone instead of the Palm Pre, and even though I still really like the Pre, an iPhone would work a lot better for me. There are more apps, more games, integration with iTunes, and it just works better. But I get a discount with Sprint through work, and I just couldn’t justify the extra monthly cost. That and I’ve been very happy with Sprint and why change to a company that has had so many negative comments made about them, especially concerning the iPhone.

My two year contract was up last week so it was time to make the move to a new phone, and I had to decide between a Blackberry and a Palm Pre. I asked my Twitter friends what they recommended and everyone said to get the Pre, so I went to the Sprint store to check it out. The Palm Pre felt more like a lifestyle phone, something that would work a lot better with the social media apps I wanted to use. And the interface is more like the iPhone, which I really liked. That and I didn’t plan on using the phone to check work email, which felt like the main reason to go with a BB.

That’s the back story, now on to the review.

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What I Like:

- The physical design. Because of the hidden keypad, the Pre is a lot smaller than the iPhone, and it looks really awesome. There are three buttons on the phone, a menu button, a switch to vibrate mode switch, and a power button. It feels really good in my hands, and when the keypad is open, there is a slight curve to it which makes it more comfortable to talk on.

- Synergy. At first I just synced my Google contacts to the Pre, since my contacts are nicely organized. I was a little hesitant to let in sync my Facebook contacts, but I let it go last night. It worked perfectly. Contacts were merged automatically and now I have a great and up-to-date address book with me at all times. Not all users had their profile pics added to the Pre, but a lot did, which is very cool.

- Messaging. I just love the conversation style display of SMS on these phones. Makes so much more sense than just each message displayed separately.

- Notifications. Both SMS and Gmail messages are displayed by a simple bar at the bottom that doesn’t interfere with any other activity you may be doing. It just displays who it is from, and the subject. You can open the item by tapping it, or you can ignore it by just sweeping it away. I have my gmail checked every half hour which is frequent enough to still get important emails, but also save on the battery.

- Multitasking. It’s really nice to be able to have multiple applications open at once. I don’t use this all that often, but it does make things quicker.

- The camera. The Pre has a nice 3 megapixel camera, and the pictures looks pretty nice. And it also has a LED flash, extended depth of field, but no auto focus features or video.

- Sprint’s EVDO Network. It’s been very speedy, and I have had no troubles connecting so far, even while using it down in the middle of nowhere in Southern Minnesota this past weekend.

- Wi-fi. Sprint’s EVDO has been great so far, but having wi-fi is also nice. This is fairly standard these days, but still a nice thing to have.

- Sprint Navigation. While driving to Rose Creek, MN this past weekend for a friend’s wedding, I typed in the city as the destination, and it worked out the directions from our current location, and we had turn-by-turn driving directions by voice and onscreen. We took a detour and it did a quick job of rerouting our directions. I don’t get lost very often, but this will be very handy when traveling.

- MP3 Ringtones. I was able to download a few free ringtones from crackberry.com and transfer them over to the Pre using the USB cable. Super easy.

- Where. This is a location services app that combines weather, news, Yelp, movies, and gas prices in one.

- Tweed. It’s a free Twitter App that has worked great so far. Nothing super fancy, and not as clean as Tweetie, but it works.

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What I Don’t Like:

- Notification Sounds. Why on earth I can’t change the sound for when I get a new SMS is just crazy. This has been available for every phone I’ve ever seen. I am on call for work, and need to know when I get a page. On the Pre, all I get is a simple two beeps, and that’s it. It doesn’t even repeat if you don’t acknowledge it. This could be a deal breaker for me if I start to miss pages. There is a home brew app that fixes this, but I’d rather not add third party apps quite yet. I want it to work the way it’s supposed to work.

- The keypad. I have semi fat fingers and the physical keypad is a little difficult to type on. And I was really getting used to the on screen keypad that the iPod Touch had, especially in landscape mode. I wasn’t super fast at it, but a lot faster than with this one. Though it did take me a while to get used to it, so I assume I’ll get better with the Pre keypad over the next few months. I probably won’t be writing a novel on it, but it’s good enough for texting.

- Lack of Apps. I really hope we move away from apps, and over to more web based applications. It makes so much more sense to have a web app that works on all platforms, rather than having to develop a separate app and billing system for every platform. But Apple was smart and got out to a huge lead, and with the marketing of how great the App Store is, it will take a while for the change to happen. Foursquare is a lot better with the app, even though the mobile site works for checking in. Instapaper is another App I can’t wait to have on the Pre.

- Google Maps. The Google Maps app on the Pre is decent. It has the little blue dot displaying where you are, which is great for driving around and traveling, but it doesn’t have the option for transit directions. I don’t take the bus all that often, but this is one of the great things about the iPhone version of Google Maps. Hopefully this will be available on the Pre sometime soon.

- Calendar. The built in calendar isn’t as simple. It syncs with Gcal well enough, but I much prefer the list display on the iPhone. A calendar display isn’t very practical on a mobile device. List works a lot better, IMO.

- Browser. Safari on the iPhone is just better. It was smoother, it rendered pages better, and the double click zoom worked perfectly. The Browser on the Pre is just average. It has troubles with Google Reader, and doesn’t display the mobile Star Tribune page properly. My only complaint with the Safari browser was that it would reload pages when switching between tabs. I never liked that.

I think that a lot of my problems with the Palm Pre will be addressed over time. More Apps will become available, and they will get better, as long as the phone sells well, which I really think it should. One of my worries with getting this phone is what happens if the Pre fails. Palm will go away and I’d be left with a phone that no one was developing for. You don’t really have that concern with the iPhone or the Blackberry. That and this really is a first generation phone. Software updates can change a lot of functionality, as long as the form is solid.

Is it an iPhone killer? Definitely not, but it’s still an excellent phone, and I am very happy with my purchase, and look forward to watching the phone and the community grow.

If you have any questions or comments, please let me know.

Marshalling into Lake Street

TD Mischke takes on Minneapolis and St. Paul, by comparing one stretch of road, from Marshall Ave in St. Paul to Lake Street in Minneapolis.

Marshalling into Lake Street: A town sheds its skin on its way across the Mississippi

“Show me these two cities,” said the out-of-towner to the cabbie. “Show me them in a single stretch, on a straight line, where I can peer out the window and see one town become another and know where it happens.”

“Well, ma’am,” said the cabbie, “we ain’t taking River Road then. Nor are we crossing the Ford Bridge. There’s nothing jarring there, no transition. University Avenue doesn’t cut it either. You never notice the change. We take these paths and you’ll start squawkin’ like the others I take from the airport and back. You’ll claim it’s all one big metro now, one super-sized town.

It’s no secret that Lake Street is my favorite thing about living in the Twin Cities. No other street is as diverse, or covers as much of what makes Minneapolis a great place to live. From the wonderful River neighborhood of Longfellow in the east, through the diverse and historic Midtown, to the hip and youthful Uptown with Lake Calhoun. Minneapolis like to call Nicollet Ave “Eat Street”, but you could eat at a different place for a year along Lake Street, from the Longfellow Grill to Burger Jones.

But that’s just Minneapolis. Crossing the river into St. Paul is just as wonderful. From the beautiful homes near the river, through Concordia College and St. Paul Central HS, to the Cathedral. If only the section of Selby Ave, from Snelling to the Cathedral, was on Marshall, could it be any better as far as dining and drinking goes, but Marshall Ave is a better representation of the quiet city to the east.

Rock the Garden 2009

I’m still a little depressed that I couldn’t make it to Rock the Garden last year, especially after how much I enjoyed Saturday’s show. While the lineup wasn’t quite as great as it was last year with four of my favorites bands – Bon Iver, Cloud Cult, The New Pornographers, Andrew Bird – I still really enjoyed the flow of Rock the Garden 2009. And it was a great reminder of how fun outdoor concerts can be when done right. I was at the first Rock the Garden with Sonic Youth and Stereolab back in 2000, but the event has really taken off since then. I’ll take an event like RTG over an all day thing or full weekend festival anyday.

Tricia and I took the bus to Franklin and Lyndale and walked down to the Sculpture Garden to meet a friend that was buying our extra tickets. We arrived around 3:30 and the line to get in was fairly long, but 15 minutes later, we walked right in with no line at all. So props to the organizers for keeping things moving.

In years past, the stage faced to the east, meaning the crowd had to stand in the street. Part of this was because the Guthrie Theater used to be where the hill was, but also being of the neighborhood. With the Guthrie now gone from that area, the concert organizers worked with the neighborhood to get the stage moved 90 degrees, now facing the hill. This meant everyone had a great view of the stage, and giving it a more amphitheater feel. I had zero problems with the layout of the event.

The beer lines were quick (Summit Pale Ale and Scandia), and while I didn’t have any food, the burgers looked really good. I’m not sure which vendor was selling them, but my mouth watered every time somebody walked past with one. My only complaint with the concessions, is that the Rock the Garden sent out a Twitter message saying that we could bring empty water bottles and there would be places to fill them up. Well, I never found those, but luckily I ran into Kyle who filled it up in the VIP area.

The flat area in front of the stage and part of the hill were full when we got in, mostly with people sitting on blankets, so it wasn’t super packed together. We grabbed a spot just to the right side of the stage, even with the DJ booth. We probably could have moved a little closer, but it ended up being a great spot. Fairly free of drunk idiots or scenesters who were just there to be seen and heard. And one of the benefits of the new layout, was being able to sit on the grass between each set. That really gave the event a more casual feel to it.

On to the music.

Solid Gold:
Solid Gold really benefits from playing in a dark club, preferably late at night, so their opening set at 4:30 in the afternoon to a mostly sober crowd didn’t really do them any favors. But they really seemed to make the most of it, and the crowd, most of which had most likely never seem them live, was into it. It will be interesting to see what their next gig is like. Hopefully this will bring them some new fans.

Yeasayer:
After the first 3-4 songs I was completely unimpressed with this band, in fact, I was annoyed that they were even on stage, wasting my time. For some reason I had never heard any Yeasayer until this week, when The Current had one of their songs (“2080″) in their Song of the Day Podcast. I enjoyed that song, so I was looking forward to the show, but these first songs didn’t do anything for me. Then things seemed to change and it got a lot better. Had I not been so unimpressed with the first few songs, I would have said it was a great set.

Calexico:
Calexico was the perfect band for this spot, and I’m sure they picked up quite a few new fans, including us. Not sure why, but I just never got that much into Calexico before this. But their combination of alt-country, indie rock, and Latin music was perfect for an event like this. They knew how to entertain a crowd and felt really comfortable in front of 10,000 people. They are the one band I’m most looking forward to seeing again, though I know it won’t be as good as this performance was.

The Decemberists:
If you know me, you most likely know that I am a Decemberists fan. They’re not my favorite band by any means, but I have always enjoyed what they do. From their first albums and amazing 400 Bar show back 2004 to the new, more narrative/literal stuff. I didn’t like the last show at First Avenue, but that was basically because I had been listening to them non stop for like 6 months, and was sick of it. I just over did it on The Decemberists.

I was a little worried for the event having them as the headliner. People either love them or hate them, they either don’t mind Colin’s voice, or they can’t stand it. They either enjoy everything they’ve done, or stopped caring after the first two great albums. So I just wasn’t sure how the crowd would react to them.

When I heard that they were going to be doing Hazards of Love straight through, I was annoyed at first, because I didn’t love the album, and thought it was a cheap way to fill a setlist. And with a crowd that isn’t there just to see them, I thought they would have been better served to play a full set of all of their music.

But that is why I am just a fan and not in charge of things like this, because I was wrong on both levels. I now enjoy the album a lot more, and thought playing it straight threw was a great idea. Really, playing only a couple songs from it wouldn’t have made much sense, because it tells such a story. And I probably would have left the show thinking it was just another Decemberists set of all the songs I’ve already seen live multiple times.

The crowd was really into it, at least they were around us, and every where I looked. People were singing along, dancing, and really getting into it. Part of it was probably the beer, and being out in the sun all day, but that will happen at any show. And it was all because of the music.

In fact, the band didn’t even say a word until the encore, when Colin engaged the crowd like he would have at any other show. I usually get annoyed when bands don’t speak to the crowd, but I didn’t even notice that they hadn’t until he first did speak. It just worked.

Throughout the show, Tricia was thinking about how great of a voice Shara Worden has (and Becky Stark), and how much it reminded her of the band Heart. And what did The Decemberists end the show with? A crowd pleasing cover of “Crazy On You” (video) that really capped off a great night of music.

Now the only question is who will play next year, and will they be able to continue the high quality of acts year after year.

Top Beer Bars – Mpls vs St. Paul

My last post about the local beer scene, along with this post on Beer Advocate got me thinking about which city has the best beer bars, Minneapolis or St. Paul. I used to think it was St. Paul hands down, mainly because of the Happy Gnome and Muddy Pig, but after putting together this list, I think it’s pretty safe to say that Minneapolis takes it. It’s close, but I think that the bars in the Riverside/West Bank/University area is hard to beat.

I didn’t include any Irish Pubs in my list because I’m still annoyed that most of them still don’t include any American Craft Beers in their tap selection.

What do you think? Did I miss any places that have more than just a handful of great beers available?

Minneapolis
Busters on 28th, Acadia, Blue Nile, Nomad, Town Hall Brewery, Grumpy’s NE, Grumpy’s Downtown, Stub & Herbs, Bulldog NE, Bulldog Uptown, MacKenzie’s, Bryant Lake Bowl, Triple Rock Social Club, Mac’s Industrial, Herkimer Pub

St. Paul
Muddy Pig, Happy Gnome, Blue Door Pub, Great Waters, Bulldog Lowertown, Groveland Tap, Sweeney’s Saloon

Suburbs
Barley John’s Brewpub

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Local Beer Scene

I’ve been thinking about this for a few months, but over the weekend I was reminded of it while talking to a friend about the lack of specialty beers from Minnesota breweries. Over in Wisconsin, both New Glarus and Tyranena release special beers over the course of a year. New Glarus with their outstanding Unplugged series and Tyranena’s Brewer’s Gone Wild. And Boulevard’s Smokestack series has also been a very impressive release. But for some reason, Flat Earth, Surly and Summit haven’t taken this same path.

Until now.

This week, Summit announced that they will be releasing a new series, called Unchained, where they are allowing their brewers to take charge – “they get to choose the style and are in charge of overseeing the whole process, from recipe formulation to ordering raw materials”. Their first beer will be a Kölsch, a style that hasn’t really been over made and is an interesting first beer. I am very looking forward to this and future releases, especially after Summit’s latest full time beer, Horizon Red, which I’ve really enjoyed.

While I am looking forward to this Unchained series, and as much as I’d love to see a similar Surly or Flat Earth series, I think what they are doing is more beneficial to the overall local beer community. Surly has released quite a few beers that never made it to the canning system, instead doing draught only releases that are available to select local bars, thus spreading the wealth a little more.

Beer fans are very supportive to the local community, and by having these events at bars, more money is spent supporting the local scene much more than just buying a few six packs. Go to any Surly or Flat Earth event, and the bar is packed with people eating dinner, trying the featured beer, but also trying whatever else is available.

Some of the Surly beers that I’ve had that never made it to cans:

• 16 Grit
• One
• Two
• Three
• Bitter Brewer Cask
• Furious Cask
• Furious Dry-Hopped Oak-Aged on Cask
• Hell
• Mild
• Smoke

Where would many of our great beer bars be without events like these? As much as I’d love to be able to buy a special release of Surly to take home, I think the beer scene greatly benefits from the way things are. Surly knows that without an active beer community, they wouldn’t be where they are, and where would we be without Surly. Definitely not in a place that I’d like to live in!

Stabby's Cafe

Stabby’s Cafe, on the corner of 42nd and Cedar, opened up a few weeks ago, and I stopped in today for lunch to check it out. This is the old Isabel’s Coffee Cafe location, so I hope they have more success and can last for a while.

It looks like their specialty will be Flint Style Coney Islands. The owner, Mike Staab, grew up in Flint, and has spent years trying to perfect his own recipe.

If you’ve ever spent time in the Flint/Detroit area of Michigan, you know there are two kinds of Coney Islands: the Detroit method, which is a wet-with-chili-sauce, and the Flint method, a dry sauce. I prefer what I grew up on – hanging out at Angelo’s and Starlite Coney in Flint – of course, the dry method. So here is to years of work perfecting the Flint-style Coney Island. All beef dog topped with my Flint-style Coney sauce and raw onion. $4.50

The menu looks very good but there are similar options already available in the area, so I hope that they can survive with places like Colossal Cafe across the street, Buster’s on 28th, Chris and Rob’s, and Matt’s. The menu even states that they don’t sell Jucy Lucy’s and to go to Matt’s if you really want one!

I ordered the Coney Island, called the Angelo, to see what it was all about. The dry chili was easier to eat and had a lot more flavor than the more typical wet chili dog. I’ll definitely go back for another, after I try some of the other options.

I’m really looking forward to going for breakfast though. I’ll try any place with Biscuits and Gravy on the menu, in my hopes of finding some that are as good as those I’ve had in KC. They also have gourmet omelets, scrambles, and a variety of pancakes.

Also:
Heavy Table: Coming Soon: Stabby’s Cafe

Surly Feature on Kare 11

Kare 11 did a story last night on Surly Brewery, partly focusing on Omar’s dad, Naseem Ansari, a 76-year-old Pakistani immigrant. They didn’t talk much about the beer, but the story was still good. And it’s Friday, so go get a Surly.

Best Rivalry in Sports

ESPN.com had a nice video about what is the greatest rivalry in sports right now. We are very fortunate to have some excellent rivalries all happening at the same time. These athletes are going to go down as some of the best ever in their sport, and sports fans get to enjoy these battles all year long.

Tonight’s Game 7 match-up between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals features the top two players in the NHL, Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. These two players are the faces of the league, and will dominate the league for the next 15 years. They hate each other and play with intensity that isn’t matched by anyone else on the ice.

In the NBA, everyone is hoping for a Lakers-Cavs final so we can see Kobe face LeBron. Kobe has had success in the past, but needs to win a title on his own. LeBron is the future and this could be his time to take over the league. A final with these two players would be exactly what the league needs.

Roger Federer was on track to be the best tennis player of all time, all he had to do was win a few more championships and the title was his. But then Rafael Nadal came around and these two had amazing final after amazing final, but Federer kept winning. Then it happened. Nadal finally beats him and hasn’t looked back.

I don’t really follow golf, but everyone knows Tiger and Phil. Tiger is the champ and could go down as the best ever. Phil was supposed to be his competition but he struggled when it mattered. But now Phil seems to be back and will continue this rivalry.

All four are amazing rivalries, but I don’t think any compare to what we might be witnessing with Ovechkin and Crosby right now. This isn’t a match-up where one is on his way in and other on his way out like with Kobe-LeBron and Federer-Nadal. Ovechkin and Crosby are both young and dominating, and will for a long time. They are both at the top which makes his match-up the best. If you don’t agree with me, watch game 7 tonight.

Growing Hops

A few weeks ago I linked to my friend Shane’s post about his hop plants and how they survived winter. At that time they were just little tiny sprouts. Well, they have grown a little and are looking very good! I can’t wait to watch them over the summer.

He has Willamette, Magnum, and Sterling

Brunch at La Chaya Bistro

A few weeks ago, we went to La Chaya Bisto on 46th and Nicollet in Minneapolis for brunch. La Chaya is run by Juan Juarez Garcia, a chef from Mexico City, who also spent time in Southern Italy. The food gets its inspiration from Mexican and Italian foods, and Juan prides his restaurant on using only the best ingredients, and being meticulous with the presentation.

While looking over the menu, Juan came out to ask if we had any questions. He went over some of his specialties and talked about the quality of ingredients he uses. His charm and input was appreciated since we weren’t really sure what we were going to order, and he seemed very proud of his work at the restaurant.

The food is mostly organic, tortillas are hand made upon ordering, the chorizo is made in house from Fischer Family Farms Pork, all salsas and sauces are made daily in house from natural ingredients, organic dairy and eggs, pasta is made by hand at La Chaya daily with organic ingredients, and all meats served are hormone free and/or organic.

I’m never quite sure how much I’ll like more modernized Mexican food, because I love the street food so much, but this meal changed that opinion. Everything was excellent, and we can’t wait to go back again.

My Dad ordered the La Chaya Eggs Benedict (Poached Eggs on Avocado with Melted Cheese and Green Salsa served on English Muffin). My Dad isn’t a very adventurous eater, but he couldn’t stop talking about how much he enjoyed this. It sounds a little strange for Eggs Benedict, but this was very good. I would definitely order this the next time we go.

Tricia and my Mom both ordered the Handmade Quesadillas (Three Housemade Quesadillas: Mushroom & Cheese, Rajas & Cheese, and Chorizo with Potatoes & Cheese, Served with Housemade Salsa Verde). The home made tortillas were perfectly cooked, and Tricia said the chorizo was the best she’s ever had. The quesadillas weren’t greasy like so many others which made it a lot easier to eat for brunch. The Salsa Verde was good, but a little too spicy for both of them. But it wasn’t really needed either.

I ordered the Chorizo Molletes (Refried beans on Bread with Melted Cheese served with Fresh Salsa Mexicana). Juan said this was a typical breakfast item in Mexico City, which sealed it for me. When I tried it plain, I thought it was too bland. The chorizo was very good, but the whole thing was just average… that is until I put the fresh salsa on top. That changed everything, adding freshness and completed the dish.

We’ve kinda stopped taking my parents to new restaurants because they typically don’t really care to try anything new, but they couldn’t stop talking about how good the meal was.

My parents and I each had gift certificates, but instead of using them both on this visit, we decided to just use one of them, so we’d have a reason to go back soon. It’s not often that my parents enjoy a new place as much as they did, so we have to take advantage of that.

La Chaya Bistro
4537 Nicollet Ave S.
Minneapolis 55419