It's odd to be on the outside looking in, but here I am. No more 1500+ emails to attend to, no more deadlines (for the moment), no more wondering how to reconcile this and that and come up with the definitive article on a subject we've been through time and again. And no more readers, for the moment. That may be the hardest part.
It is odd -- a bit like the old play "Six Characters In Search of an Author," except this time it's an author in search of an audience.
Tomorrow everyone will be back to work, and the burden on those who remain will be even greater than it was before. That's not a pretty thought. And yet, I can no longer begin to help solve it.
The latest issue arrived just before I departed, and it's mighty thin. No wonder that they're cutting back. Sad, but... Meanwhile, I'm looking ahead, at diverging roads.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
New in Vegas
Although things were pretty dead in Vegas when I showed up for "work week" on the Artistry Demos this year, the city came to life over the weekend. And although a bit less crowded this year, throughout the week it was the good old Vegas we've come to know and love.
As always, there were a few surprises. Walking along the strip one evening I had a disorienting moment or two as I followed a bobbing, illuminated mini-billboard down the sidewalk. It turns out some of those folks who wear the day-glow yellow "girls! girls! girls!" tee shirts and slap the little playing cards before they try to hand you one have a new attention-getting device. Many of them now are sporting backpacks that support and power an illuminated two-foot-wide by four-foot-high image (generally showing the same subject matter as the cards). They do get your attention!
Viewed from the front, only a one-foot section above the head is lit up, but even that is an eyecatcher.
I didn't think I could inconspiciously snap a photo of those particular examples, but I did get a shot of the same device promoting monorail rides.
One other new thing I came across this year was the iPod vending machine near the elevator bank on the Hilton's first floor. It just seems a little odd to be swiping a credit card and spending $200 or more in a vending machine, but who am I to judge? It was interesting, to say the least. On closer inspection, a lot of the offerings were accessories - cases, earphones, and so on - but the full-size, full-power, full-price items were there, too. There's nothing quite like Las Vegas!
As always, there were a few surprises. Walking along the strip one evening I had a disorienting moment or two as I followed a bobbing, illuminated mini-billboard down the sidewalk. It turns out some of those folks who wear the day-glow yellow "girls! girls! girls!" tee shirts and slap the little playing cards before they try to hand you one have a new attention-getting device. Many of them now are sporting backpacks that support and power an illuminated two-foot-wide by four-foot-high image (generally showing the same subject matter as the cards). They do get your attention!
Viewed from the front, only a one-foot section above the head is lit up, but even that is an eyecatcher.I didn't think I could inconspiciously snap a photo of those particular examples, but I did get a shot of the same device promoting monorail rides.
One other new thing I came across this year was the iPod vending machine near the elevator bank on the Hilton's first floor. It just seems a little odd to be swiping a credit card and spending $200 or more in a vending machine, but who am I to judge? It was interesting, to say the least. On closer inspection, a lot of the offerings were accessories - cases, earphones, and so on - but the full-size, full-power, full-price items were there, too. There's nothing quite like Las Vegas!
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