Esme Murphy of WCCO Radio and I discussed upcoming Apple hardware products, including the Apple Watch and new iPhone 6 handsets.

Steve Borsch, one of eight local techies with whom I liveblogged Apple’s press event, came up with this doozy related to the Cupertino company’s just-announced smartwatch:

Don’t forget, everyone, to look for the new “iJulio” interface when the new Apple Watch debuts (yes, this is a joke).

Thanks, pal. Your Photoshop handiwork always cracks me up.

WCCO Radio’s John Hines, apparently calling from the Minnesota State Fair, quizzed me on upcoming Apple iPhone models and related tech topics.

Technology podcaster Leo Laporte mentioned me and my Facebook feed in passing while discussing the social network’s ever-mysterious algorithm with Robert Scoble and other “This Week in Tech” panelists on Sunday.

Coincidentally, I mentioned Laporte in a Sunday Pioneer Press article.

I’ve wanted to do backyard movies with a projector and screen for five years, ever since my wife and I moved from our St. Paul high-rise condo into a single-family dwelling with a big back yard.

For one reason or another — including several summers filled with home-improvement projects — we never got around to it.

Then, this month, we were mulling a follow-up to an epic party we hosted in June. That was the biggest bash we had ever thrown, and thinking about how to top it made our heads hurt.

Then it dawned on us: Let’s not even try. Instead of organizing an adult gathering, we decided to focus on kids and build an equally epic — but very different — event around them.

Hello, movie night. Read more ›

I joined Chuck Joiner’s MacJury not long ago, along with two other panelists, to discuss rumors and speculation about (and our hopes for) Apple’s upcoming, likely-soon-to-be-announced iPhone models.

Good times … but note to self: Position the laptop higher to ward off the dreaded double-chin effect.

I am a classic introvert, so I find socializing to be a bit alarming and exhausting.

I am glad a made the effort at a block party in my neighborhood for National Night Out yesterday, however. I was mildly petrified at the outset, as usual, but ended up having a blast.

My wife (who, unlike the hubby, is a social animal) and I met amazing folks.

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Our house has an extra-large front porch, and this has been a blessing during the summer.

My wife and I have practically lived out there, catching up our reading, chatting with friends, and splitting a beer every so often at dusk (we can’t hold our liquor so a half-brewski each is plenty). We’ve set up big, comfy chairs, and I will sometimes take a nice nap on one of those.

I have also wanted to work on the porch, but creating the right kind of workstation proved to be a challenge. Comfort and minimalism are key, so I had to pick out the pieces carefully.

This week, I finally pulled everything together.

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“Kazablan,” one of my favorite movies and childhood memories, is sort of an Israeli take on “West Side Story.”

I despaired for decades at finding a “Kazablan” DVD to own, but the movie recently popped up on Amazon and I pounced.

I highly recommend “Kazablan” (and I say this as one who isn’t all that crazy about musicals). The tunes stay with you and so do the characters.

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I don’t love going to the dentist, but I do love my downtown-St. Paul dentist, Leroy Hipp. He’s the nicest of guys, which makes my dentist-chair ordeals bearable. He’s very good at his job.

Then there are the little touches.

For instance, Dr. Hipp celebrates patients’ half-century birthdays in a special way: He will give each person a copy of the Life-magazine issue published on (or near) their dates of birth.

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My wife and I had a memorable Fourth of July weekend in the company of good friends at a handful of fun parties.

The highlight of one bash: An impromptu concert by Iván Sánchez, who has a lovely voice and plays a mean guitar, with an assist from Tom Miller on his own guitar (and cello).

Above is a YouTube playlist with Iván’s performance in its near-entirety.

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