Off to California

I'm looking forward to meeting you and everyone who can make it to the CH Nerd Summit.

If they get the wi-fi working, maybe you can give him a virtual hug. 

Did you pack all your cables...

Bapsi just because YOU need all sorts of cabling in order to function, it doesn't mean that our Bitflippant does.

bitflipper




Note that "significant" in these parts means you can see some on the ground, so the 6" that fell last night definitely qualifies. You'd think, based on Seattle's northerly latitude, that it would be a snowy place, and in fact the world's highest snowfall occurs nearby on Mount Rainier. But in reality lowland snow is rather novel around here due to the prevailing weather patterns that bring warm, wet weather from the southwest most of the time. Snow removal equipment is generally lacking, and the topology is hilly. Consequently, any amount of snow can cause the region to grind to a halt.

Although I'm in Scotland, you just described where I live exactly. Apart from the Mt Rainier bit.

Well, I have arrived in Anaheim without incident, and the sun is indeed shining here. It's a comfortable temperature, perhaps 65 degrees or so, a pleasant change from the ice and snow in Seattle. I'm pretty sure I have all my cables, so now my only concern is a) getting my NAMM badge and b) getting some Indian food, not necessarily in that order.

Storm: "freezing" is technically 32 degrees fahrenheit and below. If that were to actually ever occur in Southern California, I'm sure a state of emergency would be declared. Remember that scene in "LA Story" where Steve Martin gives an on-the-street weather report where he's interviewing passersby asking how they're coping with the cold snap? The punch line was that it got down to 65 degrees.

Just a test to make sure I've got all the goodies for uploading pictures...I'll have to work on the size

Doesn't look like he's doing anything much.

So we went over to the convention center to pick up our badges and were delighted to find that this year we have the desirable "E" (exhibitor) designation on them. (The only thing better is a "B". In past years we've been "NE"s, "V"s and the lowest of all, "A".) So it occurred to me that our "E" badges meant we could sneak in during the show setup, which we did.

Of course, I headed over to the Roland pavilion straight away. Roland's got the entire Arena this year, a convention within the convention. Unfortunately, I was immediately met by two beefy, serious-looking security ladies who quickly hustled me right back out the door I'd entered by. They even blocked my view so I couldn't see any secret stuff. I don't know what Roland's hiding in there but it must be something good.

There seem to be more small companies and new companies represented this year. I take that as a positive sign. They are, however, mostly Chinese, with exciting names like "Sun Yung Distributing Ltd" and featuring products like childrens' drum kits. And accordions. Apparently, the Chinese are now the accordian-makers to the world.

Saw some most awesome cymbals and gongs, hand-made in Florida by two guitarists. 800 bucks gets you a very cool-sounding cross between a crash cymbal and a gong. Picture an oblong crash about 3' wide. If I had a portable recorder it would be tempting to try and sample it.

After being nearly impaled by forklifts - twice - we decided abandon our trespassing adventure and go eat pizza. There is music in the Marriott and the Hilton tonight, so that's how we'll end day #1 in Anaheim. The Marriott lobby is a great place for music, the room sounds good and the seating consists of comfy couches with footstools.

The official NAMM experience starts tomorrow, Thursday, so I'll start my annual NAMM blog post then. As always, with photos. This time, however, they may include photos of bapu. You've been warned.

WHy would Roland kick you out.......you're bitflipper!! ...the legend!! :)

It did warm up today. I think we even got up to 74! But waking up to 42 F in the beach cities has been awful this year.

Can't wait for the update.