The Coffee Zone was packed. SRO. I chatted with Gaylin for a couple of minutes (I think she’s the instructor) and learned that some of the dancers were beginners and others were more experienced.
Category Archives: Personal History
SOLD: Marantz PMD660 Digital Recorder
I’m selling I have sold my beloved Marantz PMD660 Digital Recorder. It’s in mint condition, I just want something smaller. You can see all the specs on the 660 here and if you happen to be in the Jefferson City area, I’ll let you take it for a test drive.
The PMD660 sells for between $450-500, and I’m starting at $225. If there are any budding podcasters out there, this would be a good recorder. You can reach me at stevemays@gmail.com.
UPDATE: That didn’t take long. And we have found it a good home with a podcaster who wants to crank out more programs. More on that later.
MacWorld 2008 (5 hours in line)
I mentioned a couple of posts back that, even at 4:30 in the morning, there was a long line of Mac faithful already in line for Steve Jobs’ keynote.
People kept coming and getting in line behind us for hours, so I have no idea how long the line finally got.
Macworld: Day Two
Winding down here at Macworld. Hit the exhibit floor again and watched a very cool demo of Photoshop Elements 6 for the Mac. Out in March. Show continues through Friday but I head home tomorrow.
Last night our gang attended a Devo concert at the historic Warfield Theater. I lasted about 15 minutes. Not sure if it was the head-exploading decibels or the depressing sight of a bunch of guys my age (or very close) dressed in yellow coveralls and orange plastic hats.
Dinner tonight at some fancy-pants French restaurant. More on that later.
Macworld: Day One (SF: Day 3)
In line at 4:30 a.m. for Jobs keynote. Waited in the cold and dark for a couple of hours… and a couple more inside the convention center. Got in to the keynote room just as Jobs began speaking. If we (Mark Snell was with me) had gotten in line 5 minutes later, we wouldn’t have gotten in. We would have stood in line for almost 5 hours…for nothing. Glad I had the experience. But the keynote looks pretty good online. I’m just saying.
After the keynote, we had lunch and then hit the exhibit floor. The Hot New Thing was/is the MacBook Air [Ad – Tour]. They have a long (150 feet?) table set up with 40 or 50 of these little beauties on display. But for the first couple of hours, you couldn’t get close. The crowd was three deep with people who just wanted to see, touch and hold The Worlds Smallest Notebook Computer. We got a few minutes with it and I must say it is impressive. But I am easily impressed.
Lots of other interesting stuff in the keynote but others will report on those. I’m looking forward to renting movies from iTunes. If it works as advertised, this could eliminate the need for Netflix.
I have some video of the day’s adventures and will post that later.
MacWorld: If you’re going to San Francisco…
…and I am. Leaving for MacWorld tomorrow. As a MacWorld virgin, I’ll be under the collective wings of George, Tom and Mark. Seasoned veterans all. If we were driving cross-country, this trip might make a decent road-trip movie. Middle-aged geeks search for meaning and happiness among 40,000 people talking to each other on their iPhones.
I’ll have the MacBook with me (I’m not sure you can get into SF without one for the next week) but blogging might be light. I really hope to soak up the experience and not worry too much about recording it. We’ll see.
Unresolved
I feel like I should do some sort of year end post but I honest to god don’t know what to say. Or even what I think about the past year. The last couple of months are a little blurry and I’m too lazy to scroll my archives to see what happened before that.
I feel the need to make the coming year… different somehow. I have too few vices to give any up. It’s likely I’m already being the best person I’m capable of.
I think I need more real-time communication with friends. More time in meatspace, less time in cyberspace.
I need to spend more time in "now" and less in the past and the future. In a couple of months I’ll have gone zero to 60. That should be a "now" moment.
2007? Really nothing more than some neurons firing back and forth in my head. Imperfect memories at best. 2008? Same deal. Some brain chemistry fiction projected on the inside of my forehead.
To paraphrase the tag line from one of my favorite TV shows, Max Headroom… let’s take the future in 20 minute chunks.
Macworld virgin
In couple of weeks I will attend my first Macworld in San Francisco. 60,000 rabid Mac fans gather for a week of… well, I’m not quite sure but look forward to finding out.
Three Macworld veterans are letting me tag along and their enthusiasm is infectious. These guys are my age and they’re as giddy as a GTO full of college sophomores on their way to spring break.
They know the ropes and have planned our trip like a Delta Force strike. This morning at our planning meeting, I was informed that we’d be getting in line at 4:30 a.m. for the keynote by Steve Jobs.
Macworld sounds like a bouillabaisse of Burning Man, 60’s Be-In, and Jonestown (substitute microbrews for Kool Aid). Can’t wait.
Lee Garrett
Sometime in the 70’s I interviewed Lee Garrett on the Grapevine, a talk show we did at KBOA. If memory serves, Garrett –who was blind– was in town visiting his momma (or some relative). I recall him being a funny guy. Following the interview, I walked him out to the parking lot (where his driver was waiting) and he said that he could drive himself, but only at night.
I sure would like to know the Kennett connection. Can anyone out there help me with that?
Update 1/2/088: Anthony Buckley –Lee Garrett’s son– found his way to this post and confirms that there is still family in Kennett and Lee visits a couple of times a year.
Lee was recently out on tour with Stevie Wonder and has also co-written an album that’s been nominated for an upcoming Grammy (“Soul of a Man” Patrick Lamb performer and co-writer).
Calculate your Real Age
I love these things because they almost always tell me what I want to hear. You answer 10 or 20 questions about life style, diet, family medical history and so forth. Sort of the web’s answer to those scales that would tell your future as well as your weight.
My Real Age is 44.5 (not that there’s anything wrong with 59), my life expectancy is 92.5 (compared to average of 78), which means I can expect to live 12,200 days. But who’s counting.