sunday was the last day that I could sleep in to a reasonable hour. now, it's up & out early every day!
The Mayor of Boston spoke at the opening reception held in the art gallery and emerging technologies. He was quite impressed with the technologies developed in his city, right under his nose, but infromed us that the "big dig" was the responsibility of the governor, and so they were not his problems!
There are many interesting things to see in "ETech" -- and the venue itself does not look all that bad, despite the lack of any unique decoration (another "pipe & drape" show this year). The entrance to the venue is dominated by a huge display of large white helium filled balloons tied to reels(which control their heights to produce large-scale pattern) and splashed with colored light.
"submerging technologies" was also very interesting, and involves a good amount of water. There is a muscial harp, played by interrupting streams of water. I noticed that most people approached this device with on finger outstretched, playing on note at a time. However, two adjoining "strings" or streams produce a nice harmony when played together. I believe it uses a pentatonic scale, which always produces nice harmonies (like the black keys on the piano). I tried 2-3 strings at a time, and I heard several others play duets, and it was hard to play anything that sounded bad.
since it was the opening reception, there was a bar, and some free food. I went around the venue with Brad and Mike.
We went to the Guerilla Studio Gallery, and I ran into Amy Morie right away! We briefed each other on the past year, and Amy is back in Florida to study. I toured the GS, which is a bustle of activity. Back at the front desk, I met Goldie, who just graduate in Florida, and is moving to Seattle, Washington, to work for Microsoft as an SQL Program Manager (I think). She was a student volunter last year, and was hanging out with a guy from South Africa. Then Remy came up to me and said she recognized me, and reminded me that we had been introduced by Walt Bransford in 1999. She is from India, so I told her about my upcoming trips to teach in India.
Then Adam called me to tell me where he was sitting in Hall C for the upcoming Fast Forward Papers. Mike and I went to join him on the front row. Before the presentations began (each only 55 seconds!), I called Elizabeth in Phoenix and we talked for awhile as the show started. I missed almost 6 papers before we concluded! Most of the presenters gave a quick review and got buzzed for going over time. Some presented sales pitches, or duets, or rhymes in iambic pentameter. One guy had "I am looking for a job" on his t-shirt, taking advantage of the free exposure on the big screen before 2000 people.
It was onto the shuttles to make it to Sake Barrel. Tom called me to tell me where it was, since they were already there. He told me that the artist was already signing cups! I thought maybe they had broken the barrels early, and the poor cell phone connection made it difficult to convey this concern. But, I finally figured out that they were selling cups for $10 donations. This seems to be a much safer approach than the "cup rush" that typically dominated the ceremony in previous years. We had time to make it to the Mariott before the sake was gone!
At the shuttle service door, it was Roy Edwards. He's at Digital Domain now as a VFX lead, and has been there about 8 months, since leaving Dallas. I convinced him & his friends to join us at Sake Barrel, and we all got on Shuttle #1.
At Sake Barrel, I saw Paris Kaul, the Brainwave Chic, and said hello for Vince. She's done music and 3D animation controlled by brainwaves. She is now working on developing games controlled by brainwaves. She introduced me to her collaborator. I reminded her of my brainwave scan while in the hospital after the attack in 2004, and how the technician reminded me very much of her.
I said hello to Bruce. Towards the end of the party, I stood with 3 others as Bruce told us of his childhood home in DC, where, from the back yard you do not observe any manmade lights at night, yet in the front yard you can cross the street and catch a bus that take you to a plane that will take you to Boston. A study in contrasts. We all joined our cups, and Bruce asked us to concentrate this year on the joining of two, and the balance of joining and separating.
after sake barrel, we went down to the Mariott's sushi bar, but there was no place to sit. So, we found Typhoon on a map, and walked there. The sushi was good, and the Asahi. After that, we took a taxi back.
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