Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

no flowers in my hair

Greetings and salutations from lovely San Francisco, California.

I’m in this nifty city, where hippies and techies converge, for Flash Forward 2003, a conference for Flash designers and developers. I went to Flash Forward 2000 in New York City, and if this conference is anything like that one, it’ll be fantastic.

I had classes last night, so I booked an 8:50p flight out from National, connecting in Las Vegas, to San Francisco. Before leaving, I visited the newsstand to pick up all those magazines I keep meaning to get subscriptions to, but never do: Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, and The Economist.

(I read Atlantic Monthly on the flight. Of special interest in this issue: a cover story foray into “The Mind of George W. Bush,” looking at his decision-making process. Also in this issue is a brief article on “The Leadership Secrets of Osama Bin Laden.” Interestingly, both seem to favor a very corporate, delegation-heavy way of conducting business.)

Anyway, I took off from National around 9. I’ve noticed that ever since September 11, I’ve had a strange ritual of saying about 10 “Hail Mary“s during takeoff. Most disturbing? This part of the prayer:

Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

Depressing much?

Landed in Las Vegas around 11:30p (Vegas time). The Vegas airport is directly south of the Strip, so I could see all the major casinos as we landed. From my seat, I recognized Mandalay Bay, the Paris, New York New York, and the MGM Grand. Off the plane, in the airport, I found banks of clanging slot machines in the various waiting areas. In one of the central waiting areas, I walked past a glassed-in smoking area — complete with its own bank of slot machines. Crazy stuff.