L.A. and Back

Wow, what a week. Last week U2 and this week L.A. for Adobe MAX. Got back yesterday and I'm still tired. (click photos for larger view)

Flew out last Saturday afternoon with Jimmy Joe Pete to get in a day of touristy stuff before the conference began on Monday. Wanted to get to the beach, but never got there.


We hit Grauman's Chinese Theater and checked out the cement footprints. I was surprised at how small some footprints were like Paul Newman. Probably because they seemed larger than life on the big screen.


Had lunch at the Hooter's across the street from Grauman's and caught some football.


Just after lunch, police cars screamed into the street and blocked traffic. Still not sure what this was all about, someone said they did this every year.


Vintage police cars lined the street and as I walked farther down I noticed there were also some very famous cars including the original Batmobile, Herbie The Love Bug, the Back to the Future Dolorean, and the Blues Brothers car.


This only lasted 15 minutes tops and they took off as fast as they came in. It was cool to see, but very strange.

Also strange to see the Kodak Theater where the Academy Awards are held without all the red-carpet extravaganza. There's a mall at the front of the theater with shops and restaurants, something you don't see on TV.

The previous night after we got in, we had dinner in an Irish pub and then a few drinks back at The Biltmore Hotel, once home to the Oscars for eight ceremonies between 1931 and 1942. After reading the hotel's history glad to have stopped in and spent a night.

Among many highlights, The Biltmore hosted the Democratic National Convention in 1960 which appointed JFK as presidential nominee, and was used in many films including Chinatown, Ghostbusters, and Bugsy.

Sunday evening after checking into the conference hotel, Wilshire Grand, went down to the ESPN Zone across the street from the Staples Center for dinner and to catch Sunday Night Football. This cavalcade of restaurants surrounding the Nokia Theater, known as LA Live, would also be the site of the MAX Bash following the Adobe MAX awards Tuesday night.

The Adobe sessions were good this year and learned some cool new stuff. John Mayer stopped in during one of the general sessions to talk about how he's taking advantage of technology and Adobe's software for his latest release.



Mark Hamill (aka Luke Skywalker) hosted the MAX awards and what they call the "Sneak Peeks," when Adobe teases attendees with potential new software features.



Following the awards and "Sneaks" the MAX Bash kicked into full swing on the Nokia Theater plaza and in three or four restaurants as well. All arcade games were free in the ESPN Zone along with admission to the Grammy Awards Museum.


After checking out both, we also checked out Lucky Strike Lanes and the Conga Room. The photo above was taken from the balcony of the Conga Room as the party was winding down.

Had a great time. Like the Joss Stone song I'm jet lagged, but unlike Joss "my feet left the ground" and I'm weary from the time change.



- Salud!