I’m off to Las Vegas tomorrow evening for the National Association of Broadcasters show. If you happen to be attending the show and feel like saying hello, I’ll be demoing Soundtrack Pro in the Apple booth Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. See you there!
SXSW 2006 (Saturday)
Originally uploaded by Laughing Squid.
Just thought I’d break weblog silence to mention I’m currently sojourning in my favorite home away from home, Austin, Texas, for South by Southwest. I’ll be here for a good long time (for both the Interactive and Music parts), and I’m all about meeting new friends (or old friends I only talk to online), so drop me a line (my first name at this domain) if you’re around and would like to say hello!
Today I officially decided I’m going to Austin for South by Southwest 2005—although only for the music festival. It was tempting to join the web elite at the interactive conference this year, since now I actually know some of them (unlike when I went in 2001 and spent most of my time feeling thoroughly out of the loop), but I just couldn’t get that much time off.
Anyone else out there planning to attend? If so, what shows are you planning to see?
Update: Here’s who I’m thinking about seeing (hopefully the final schedule won’t force any difficult choices):
I spent Easter back home in Denver (yes, I still do—and probably always will—think of Denver as home). Regrettably, I failed to take any photos (despite the onset of a fairly impressive spring snowstorm on Sunday night) but I am nonetheless sufficiently moved by the experience to put down a few random weblog notes on the flight home.
As promised, a few notes on latter half of my recent UK trip (warning: lots of photos)…
On our way out of Edinburgh, we decided to pay a visit to Roslin, birthplace of Dolly the Sheep, to check out the mysterious Rosslyn Chapel. As an enthusiast (though not a serious one, mind you) for esoterica of all sorts, I just had to see this 15th century church, which was built by a Knight Templar, boasts strong associations with Freemasonry, contains hundreds of carvings of the pagan Green Man, and has variously been said to contain the Holy Grail, the mummified head of Christ, the heart of Robert the Bruce, a lost Gospel or two, and the true Stone of Destiny!
I don’t put stock in any of that, of course, but the chapel was still well worth a visit for a look at its incredibly elaborate masonry.
Glasgow was a bit of a disappointment, mainly because we arrived too late to see much after visiting Roslin. There were a few museums I wanted to visit, but they were all closed by 5:00 PM. I’ve been a big fan of Charles Rennie Mackintosh ever since a college design class, and they supposedly have some good club nights, so we dropped by the Glasgow School of Art—but it was closed too. We also tried to visit some record stores—until, of course, they all closed. Unfortunately, we didn’t know where Belle & Sebastian hang out, so we called it an early night.
London was cool, as usual—although, this being my fifth visit (and, amazingly, my second of 2003), I hope I won’t sound too pretentious if I say it’s getting to be slightly old hat. I personally was rather pleased at what a seasoned Underground user I’ve become. I think the only times we actually had to look up the station for a destination were to find Woody’s (a club with mind-bogglingly expensive drinks and an enjoyable night of “minimal electro, spaced-out disco and NY punk-funk”) and the fantastic Clapham Kebab House.
In addition to a lot of the usual sights and museums, we finally got to do some record shopping, visiting both the Rough Trade shop off Portobello Road and the numerous shops on Berwick Street in Soho. I have to say, though: it may be the seemingly dormant British music scene, or incipient iTunes-ism, or my new, grown-up sense of fiscal responsibility, but this time I didn’t leave the UK with a fifth of the CDs that I usually do.
Photography afficionado that I am, I also really enjoyed visiting the exhibition for the Schweppes Photographic Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery. I even got to snap a quick, paparazzi-style photo of Mary Archer and her disgraced husband Jeffrey admiring her portrait in the exhibition! I was amused to see that the gallery also has a permanent portrait of Apple’s own Jonathan Ive—on the screen of an iMac no less.
All in all, the latter half of the trip was OK, but not great. I’ve gotten savvier about traveling in the UK every time I’ve visited, and this trip was no exception. The big lesson this time: do not visit London in early January, since the weather’s less than desirable and there is very little of interest going on.
I plan to post about the rest of my trip to the UK later, when my readjustment to Pacific Time isn’t weighing quite so heavily on me, but for now I just have to relate an amusing anecdote about the return flight. You see, those who have traveled with me know that I am fated to lose at least one expensive, electronic device every time I travel (I once left a MiniDisc player on the streets of Paris and a digital camera in an Edinburgh taxi), and this time was no exception. As I was getting ready for bed on my first night back home, I suddenly realized, to my horror, that I had misplaced my beloved iPod!
I knew the only place I could have left it was in the pocket of the seat in front of me on my flight home, so I spent the next day calling British Airways at SFO every hour on the hour, hoping that one of the flight attendants had found it and turned it in. Since no one at the BA Baggage Office answers the phone, however, it quickly became apparent that I would have to head up there in person.
When I actually visited the baggage office this afternoon, I was all prepared to explain to the clerk what an iPod looks like, so it really took me by surprise when, upon hearing the mere word “iPod,” the guy looked at me curiously and said “Oh, you’re the iPod guy.” He informed me that they had placed my iPod in the safe upstairs, and that I should go to the ticket desk to collect it.
Thrilled that I was going to be getting my iPod back, I sprinted back up to the departures area and waited patiently to talk to a BA representative. When one of the women finally acknowledged me, she had almost the same reaction as the guy downstairs: “Oh, yes, we’ve all heard all about the iPod!”
She finally directed me to her supervisor, the only person who could open the safe. The supervisor brought me the iPod, but asked an unusual number of questions before handing it back to me (What does it do? How does it work?), which I took to be genuine (if somewhat odd) curiosity about the technology.
It wasn’t until I had a chance to actually examine my iPod’s case that I began to understand the BA staff’s curious behaviour. The iPod was still perfectly functional, but the metal back no longer fit snugly onto the white plastic front on the left side, as if someone had attempted to pry the enclosure open with a knife. At first I wondered if some electronically curious airport employee had decided to dissect the thing, but then it hit me: in the wake of terrorist threats that delayed a Washinton-bound BA flight for five days, some flight attendant must have caused an incident by mistaking my iPod for a bomb! I guess I’m probably just lucky that the poor thing didn’t meet its end in a controlled explosion!
I think Boromir summed the situation up perfectly in Fellowship of the Ring: “It is a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing.” I guess that’s life in the post 9/11 era…
I hope everyone had a good time last night. Unfortunately, my evening didn’t go quite as planned, since the authorities in Edinburgh made the surprise decision to cancel the Hogmanay festivities at the eleventh hour (the first time it hasn’t gone on in its twelve year history).
The increasingly insistent voice over the loudspeakers asking the huge crowd on Princes Street to disperse blamed the problem on “inclement weather,” though, in my estimation, things weren’t that bad. It had been very windy earlier in the evening, but by the time 11:00 rolled around, it had quieted down a lot (and believe me, I would be the first to complain about the wind here!). I suppose it was the only responsible thing to do, since the winds posed some safety problems for fireworks and the (evidently rather shoddily constructed) main stage, but it left many out-of-town visitors like myself more than a little nonplussed. We had a few hot donuts, hung around with the rest of the crowd until midnight, and then shuffled home.
Fortunately, unlike the most of the overseas visitors present, I had a fantastic (and extremely funny) group of Scots to hang out with afterward, which made the whole debacle a lot less disappointing. After profuse apologies from Jamie’s friends on behalf of their city, some curry, and my introduction to the Scotch and Irn-Bru cocktail, I was back in a festive mood.
Here are a few more photos for those who are interested…
The Fun Fair on Princes Street.
We’re about to head out the door for more sightseeing, but I thought I’d take a moment to turn in my last post of 2003 and put up some photos of my stay in Edinburgh so far.
As expected, it’s been rather cold here. It snowed a little last night, and the various news outlets have been predicting more snow for tonight (the BBC is calling for “near blizzard” conditions, although I tend to wonder if their definition of “blizzard” isn’t a bit different than mine).
Ammon, Jamie and I have had an enjoyable time hanging out with the locals (mostly Jamie’s ultra geeky University of Edinburgh friends), and we Americans have been thoroughly initiated into Scottish culture by our new friends (we even visited a chip shop for some artery-clogging goodness last night, although Ammon wussed out and had some sort of vegetarian concoction!).
Anyway, people are demanding that I put down the computer so we can leave. See you all in the new year!
(Update: Ammon’s friend Ryan has exposed our true plans for New Years Eve!)
The Edinburgh skyline from the castle.
Another day, another airport. This time I’m waiting for my flight to London at SFO, having left Denver this morning after an enjoyable holiday visit (executive summary: watched loads of MST3K DVDs with my Dad and brothers, made pilgrimage to Bull & Bush, hung out in dive bars with new weblogger and former co-worker Chris Jones, saw Return of the King again, did the usual family/Christmas stuff). If you’re thinking it’s a bit stupid that I flew all the way back to California just to cover the same distance during my flight to the UK, well, you’re right. Suffice to say, it’s a long story…
After the 8-odd hour flight to Heathrow (which I think I’ve come to despise more every time I’ve done it), I’ll be boarding another yet another flight to Edinburgh. Bottom line: I’ve got many frequent flier miles to go before I sleep.
On a happier note, it’s looking like the last minute trip I made to REI in Denver was a brilliant idea. If The Scotsman’s predictions of freezing Hogmanay weather are accurate, I think I’ll be appreciating my new Polartec fleece very much before the trip is over!
Since my flight has been delayed by an hour here at lovely Mineta San Jose Airport, now seems like an opportune time to post about my long-anticipated end-of-the-year travel extravaganza. First stop will be the Mile High City, where I look forward to spending Christmas with family and friends. After that, I’ll be off to the UK, where co-workers Ammon Skidmore, Jamie Montgomerie, and I intend to celebrate New Year’s the Scottish way: by enjoying Edinburgh’s famed Hogmanay!
I’m very much looking forward to visiting the UK again. In addition to Edinburgh, Ammon and I will be spending a day in Glasgow and 3 days in London, so if anyone has any recommendations for places to go or things to see, I’d be interested to hear them. Particularly where London is concerned, I’d love to hear suggestions for interesting things to do outside of the usual tourist circuit.
I should also take this opportunity to issue the obligatory warning that posting to my weblog may be a little light while I’m on the road. I hope to do at least two or three posts from the UK, but a lot of that will depend on the amount of time and Internet access I have. Stay tuned…