Greetings from Asbury Park
Apr. 12th, 2005 08:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yendi(Or East Harbor, Baltimore, but it's not like any rock singers or wrestlers ever used that one.)
I'm sitting in the Baltimore Convention Center, waiting for Cal Ripken, Jr. to speak to the Blackboard User's Conference. Why is a man who never went to college speaking at a conference devoted to academic software? Because he's famous and from Baltimore, which probably says everything I really need to know about this conference. Last year, they had Robert Reich, who was not only, y'know, college-educated, but who also resided in academia and even used the software.
But I digress. They're blasting The Proclaimers and the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou? while we're waiting, and hey, that's okay.
Fuck that -- they switched to "Semi-Charmed Life." Urge to kill rising with each motherfucking "doot-doot-doo."
Anyway, since I wasn't expecting working wireless, my laptop isn't that juiced, so I don't know that I'll be online today, but hey, as long as the wireless is working and the speeches are worthless, I'll post. Once 9:30 hits and the actual presentations on topics I care about start, I'll probably be offline.
In the meantime, I played Hotel Hell with Wyndham last night, as the "Wyndham by Request" plan does not, it turns out, include an option for me telling the fucktards at the hotel to fuck themselves.
No, I didn't really tell them that. But requesting not to be in a run-down room that felt like it belonged in a Motel 6 shouldn't have been too much, especially since they dropped the ball and failed to provide any of the stuff they were supposed to. Combine that with bitchin' insomnia, and I did not sleep well.
I did watch the local broadcast of the Washington Nationals, complete with none of than former Expo (for five minutes) Ron Darling as color commentator.
(Aside: FIrst pre-Cal speaker is on, telling us to applaud because this is the best-attended user conference yet!)
And hey, Mets Win! Again! Three more, and we'll be mediocre!
Flight up here was nice -- this was the first time I flew since Delta started offering real snacks (Sun Chips!), and it was surprisingly smooth -- no delays at all, in fact. Guess that's why I got the hotel chaos I did.
(Aside: They're now showing a video presentation of Cal's accomplishments, to the tune of "Simply the Best," instead of "You're So Vain," as it should be; ever wonder why the Orioles didn't win shit during the final years of The Streak?)
(And now he's on stage, and twelve people are giving him a standing O to Bruce's "Glory Days," and he's waiting for more).
(The sum of Cal's speech: I don't know shit about Blackboard, but my daughter's real smart)
Anyway, I'm going to post this and log off before Cal embarrasses himself any further talking about geometric proofs (you have to be here to really get how pathetic this is).
I'm sitting in the Baltimore Convention Center, waiting for Cal Ripken, Jr. to speak to the Blackboard User's Conference. Why is a man who never went to college speaking at a conference devoted to academic software? Because he's famous and from Baltimore, which probably says everything I really need to know about this conference. Last year, they had Robert Reich, who was not only, y'know, college-educated, but who also resided in academia and even used the software.
But I digress. They're blasting The Proclaimers and the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou? while we're waiting, and hey, that's okay.
Fuck that -- they switched to "Semi-Charmed Life." Urge to kill rising with each motherfucking "doot-doot-doo."
Anyway, since I wasn't expecting working wireless, my laptop isn't that juiced, so I don't know that I'll be online today, but hey, as long as the wireless is working and the speeches are worthless, I'll post. Once 9:30 hits and the actual presentations on topics I care about start, I'll probably be offline.
In the meantime, I played Hotel Hell with Wyndham last night, as the "Wyndham by Request" plan does not, it turns out, include an option for me telling the fucktards at the hotel to fuck themselves.
No, I didn't really tell them that. But requesting not to be in a run-down room that felt like it belonged in a Motel 6 shouldn't have been too much, especially since they dropped the ball and failed to provide any of the stuff they were supposed to. Combine that with bitchin' insomnia, and I did not sleep well.
I did watch the local broadcast of the Washington Nationals, complete with none of than former Expo (for five minutes) Ron Darling as color commentator.
(Aside: FIrst pre-Cal speaker is on, telling us to applaud because this is the best-attended user conference yet!)
And hey, Mets Win! Again! Three more, and we'll be mediocre!
Flight up here was nice -- this was the first time I flew since Delta started offering real snacks (Sun Chips!), and it was surprisingly smooth -- no delays at all, in fact. Guess that's why I got the hotel chaos I did.
(Aside: They're now showing a video presentation of Cal's accomplishments, to the tune of "Simply the Best," instead of "You're So Vain," as it should be; ever wonder why the Orioles didn't win shit during the final years of The Streak?)
(And now he's on stage, and twelve people are giving him a standing O to Bruce's "Glory Days," and he's waiting for more).
(The sum of Cal's speech: I don't know shit about Blackboard, but my daughter's real smart)
Anyway, I'm going to post this and log off before Cal embarrasses himself any further talking about geometric proofs (you have to be here to really get how pathetic this is).
