Yes, this post is being made early in the morning for me. I don’t usually contemplate rising from bed before 7:00AM most mornings. I actually got to sleep at a reasonable hour for the first night since working tech at Dragon*Con. After awaking from some unremembered dream, I laid in bed and let random thoughts bounce through my head.
When I started planning stage direction and the introduction for The Dragon*Con 2003 Masquerade, I decided to get up and check my e-mail.
I typically check my work e-mail before going into the office. This prepares me for anything our Japanese or Taiwanese offices have been up to overnight (in otherwords I don’t get blindsided). My mailbox was pretty empty, only two new items. The first was a routine “thank you” from a Japanese sales rep for resending something I had already e-mailed three months ago. The second was another confirmation from the Intel Developer Fourm.
Well, it was really spam promoting several IDF-related events, but they called it a confirmation.
I open the e-mail and get one hell of a shock. Here’s the first line from Intel’s e-mail …
You are invited to meet William Shatner, Star Trek’s Captain Kirk!
OMG! William Fucking Shatner! You have got to be kidding me? I just got done with this crowd! Let’s see why Intel needs Billy boy at their convention …
William Shatner, Star Trek’s Captain Kirk, is one of the best-known film and television actors in the world and author of 27 books. Shatner’s new technology book is Star Trek: I’m Working on That: A Trek from Science Fiction to Science Fact, co-written with Chip Walter. To write this book Shatner and Walter traveled for the better part of a year to major universities and research institutions all over the country including the MIT Media Lab, NASA, The Foresight Institute, Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute, the Human Genome Project and the Entertainment Technology Center. The scientists they visited represent a who’s who of movers and shakers in their respective fields.
The title of the book was suggested by Stephen Hawking. While being wheeled through the Enterprise’s engine room on the Star Trek set during a visit to Los Angeles, the tour paused at the Warp Engines. Hawking gestured toward them and asked what they were. “Well,” he was told, “those are the warp drive engines.” Hawking smiled and said, “Oh yeah, I’m working on that.”
Shatner will make a guest appearance during Thursday’s keynote by Pat Gelsinger and Sunlin Chou. The keynote will be in Exhibit Hall 1 of the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, Thursday, September 12, from 8:00 to 9:30a.m.
Hmmm … I love that phrase “co-written” … it translates to “Holy shit I’m an actor! What do I know about physics that doesn’t involve stunt work? Let’s call this Chip guy to handle the geeky stuff.”
But does it stop there … oh no, not by a long shot. Let’s go further into the promotional e-mail …
EVENING ACTIVITIES:
Super Diamond Rocks IDF Fall 2002!
Don�t miss the IDF Conference Concert, Tuesday, September 10
Come see the high energy tribute to Neil Diamond on at the San Jose Civic Auditorium
***Please be sure to wear your IDF Fall 2002 conference badge to attend this event***
So exactly when did IDF become Dragon*Con? When did my life become Dragon*Con? I’m definitely taking my video camera to IDF.
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