i don't think we're in kansas anymore...

currently sitting in michael wesch keynote, which is inspiring and humbling and just soooo damned good. which begs the question why i'm a***ing about writing this instead of listening properly?

well, this conference is making my head hurt - there's so much to think about, so many conversations to have, so many links to follow up. and i'm struggling to keep up with engaging, reflecting, and playing (virtually and real-ly). so this is my pathetic attempt at saying that i *will* write up yesterday's sessions, i will post more photos, i may even get around to doing mine and louise's presentation this afternoon if i remember to turn up.

in the meantime, bear with me and enjoy the occasional silence :)

if you only pay attention to one thing that i write...

i know some of you fret about this sort of thing, so here's a health warning:

this blog is open to the world. not closed. not restricted access.

(the chances of anyone stumbling across is are miniscule - in fact i suspect that the chances of anyone reading it at all are minimal - but there you go.)

#2 in a series of no-need-to-read posts!

a few pictures of things within a short walk of the hotel - please feel free to skip this and proceed directly to the competition thread :)


my, what big sparrows they have around here. *gulps*











that big round yellow thing again, hiding behind a tree.

it was nice of them to fly the flag in honour of my arrival.

pizza, doughnuts, falafel, and a camera shop. add a pub and i'm in heaven!

the hotel did mention that there were golfing facilities nearby.

erm, i've lost the receipt for this already. do you think finance will accept a picture as proof of purchase?

finally, the credit crunch is really starting to bite - this poor man's family seems to be trying to sell him to raise funds.

points! points! points!

i've been mulling over bloggames to play this time. too many choices, too little time. so in true setting-out-to-fail tradition, i've decided to run 3 competitions simultaneously - something for everyone! or possibly something for no-one - but let's see how it goes.

competition 1 keyword picture bonanza - yes, it's the long-awaited return of keypicanza! for those who haven't had the pleasure of playing this before, the rules are as follows: on each blog post, you'll find a collection of keywords: your task is to find or create an image that represents one or more keywords, and provide a link to it. points will be awarded completely arbitrarily based on qualities such as showy-offness, with extra special points this time for entries that are judged to have a certain tony hart inspired element of creativity. i'm sure he'd approve of this fitting tribute.

competition 2 uxbridge english dictionary. inspired by listening to 'i'm sorry i haven't a clue' on the way over, here's a slight twist on the portmanteau game. feel free to pick any words from any posts on this blog and provide alternative meanings for them (eg, to give an example from the show itself: warming = an ancient vase belonging to a geordie; or, cocoa bean = an ex-clown). again, points will be awarded completely arbitrarily.

competition 3 trivial trivia. this inaugural competition (btw, is it just me, or is there something happening over here regarding inaugural stuff? i can't quite figure it out, but there's definitely something happening. will see if i can find out more and report back.) is all about filling in the gaps. every now and again, i'll accidentally-on-purpose miss a vital bit of information from a post - your task is to find the answer, and provide a link. no points will be awarded for just knowing stuff - you need to find "proof" somewhere on the internet.

clear as mud? jolly good - now get to it!

customary "hello!" posting, blah blah blah

you should feel free to skip this post. i don't *really* expect anyone to be interested in the details of my journey over here but, you know, i feel the need to start off with this anyway. i mean, just starting with the first conference session would be like starting a conversation half way through, without any of the pleasantries, delay tactics, and inane chatter about the weather. so here you go.


i love travelling, and i love flying (though my arms tire easily), but for various reasons was really really not up for anything but sleeping today. as many of you know, far be it from me to recommend spending any time in manchester. however, at 8.00 sunday morning, i was sooooo pleased that i only had to commute down 1 flight of stairs and endure a 4 minute mini-bus ride to the terminal rather than an epic setting-off-6-hours-early-just-in-case trek across the pennines. there was no-one queuing to check in for the orlando flight and - having smugly checked in online the day before - it was just a case of dropping a case off and changing my seat allocation for the third time in 24 hours. the news that the plane was only half-full (or half-empty, if you're that kind of person) almost brought a smile to my face.

ok, i know i said you didn't have to read this, but: if anyone reading this has ever flown with virgin, did you commit to memory the name of the plane you were on? is it the law to do so? i only ask because, on the transfer bus from terminal to plane side, i was concerned that i'd accidentally boarded the plane spotter express ("oooo, look, it's ruby tuesday! we flew on ruby tuesday last time. i wonder if we'll be flying on her again?"). but it appears it's a contagious condition because, as we approached our plane, lots of people started muttering "oooo, look, i've never been on this one before!" and "well, it was ruby tuesday last time we came to orlando".



we were sat on the tarmac for quite a long time as the plane (it was pretty woman this time, btw) was refuelling, which gave the woman behind me time to make an urgent phone call, which went something like this:



"hello, it's me. yes, i'm on the plane. i said...*sigh* I'M ON THE PLANE. YES. ANYWAY, SEE YOU LATER, BYEEEE!"



actually, the flight was ok - being short means not caring about leg room, and lots of empty seats means that it's easier to stretch out and sleep. at one point, the view from the window looked like this:

which i thought was pretty damned cool. and seeing as we're on the subject of photos, here are a few more from this afternoon in orlando itself.



this little yellow round thing is a bit odd. at the airport, you have to swap your shuttle/transfer confirmation for a ticket, which you then show to someone at the shuttle stand. they then give you this and tell you that when it starts to flash, your transfer is ready so to come back to the desk. but of course no-one has anywhere else to be, so you get 7 or 8 people sat in a row, in front of the transfer buses, trying to look nonchalantly about them, but constantly and nervously glancing down at their little yellow round disk in case it starts flashing.

and on the subject of yellow round things, i've noticed a big yellow round thing over here too. apparently it's called "the sun" and is used for heating and adding light. freaky, huh?