Life isn’t all strumming and four strings—I drove over to San Francisco last week to attend MacWorld Expo and experience all things Macintosh (and frankly, to enjoy some top-notch dining and the freshest Dungeness crab on terra firma). I’ve been attending MacWorld since 1987 (when it was a much smaller event) and never fail to find software that makes my life easier—and hardware to keep my day-to-day computing more delightful.
Dad and I have been MacWorld regulars for a decade or so now and this year was no different—he flew into Sacramento Airport and we toodled down I-80, across the Bay Bridge and unloaded luggage at our favorite hotel (to be kept a secret since it’s small and “undiscovered” at this point).
Our first day included several hours at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and, of course, dinner out (thanks, Dad!).The next morning found us at Moscone Center to claim our MacWorld “Exhibit Only” badge holders. What a mess the whole registration process was this year; my guess is they’re going to get a lot of complaints from folks who elected to save the $2 mail cost and pick up their badges there. We already had our badges (we’re not gonna waste limited show time to save a lousy two bucks) but we still had to ferret out the elusive badge holders in the midst of the masses of Macintosh enthusiasts.
I’d posted on the Flea Market Music Bulletin Board to find other Mac-oriented ukulele players to meet up with at MacWorld but none had responded by the time I left for the show (perhaps my infamous “enthusiastic but always a beginner” reputation has preceded me everywhere…) so I had to take matters into my own hands and seek out Expo-attending ukulele players. Well, one specific ukulele player to be exact: Andy Ihnatko.
Author of numerous Macintosh and techie books as well as a regular Mac technology columnist, Andy writes with an inked-up flourish that’s as fun to read as it is informative. Plus he plays the ukulele. I’ve spotted Andy at previous Expos, but he made a special appearance at his publisher’s booth this year on Wednesday to tout two of his newest books (“iPhone Fully Loaded” and “iPod Fully Loaded”–I bought ’em both and that’s a plug, Andy; two more royalties). While I was definitely interested in the books’ topics, I arrived early at the booth, determined to ask Andy about his ukulele playing. You see, back a few years ago he’d written about playing ukulele on his (pretty much now-defunct) website; a search of his new blog, though, didn’t tag anything about that friendly little four-string instrument. I was in search of the truth: Was Andy still playing ukulele???
“Well, yes I do still play ukulele,” he answered, a bit stunned, I think, that the first question put his way had little to do with a computer featuring an apple silhouette. The crowd surrounding the booth grew a bit restive (Ukuleles, huh? Where the heck are the deep questions about RSS feeds and audio streams?) so I quickly punctuated our conversation with a request for a photo of Andy playing “air ukulele.” He politely (still a bit stunned, I believe) okayed the request—first asking what chord he should use and then asserting that he would do a Formby strum for the Kodak moment. I snapped it, grabbed another shot of the two of us flashing the shaka sign and then Andy asked if I wanted him to sign my book.
So, if you want to borrow my “iPhone Fully Loaded” tome you’ll notice the flyleaf note: “To Tonya! A fellow strummer.” Of course, you really should buy the book for yourself. It’s well-written (I’m already on page 137) and besides, it’s important to support a fellow ukulele player; especially one who knows what he’s writing about…
Wednesday was a full day of MacWorld wandering–with a purpose. To mark my 50th birthday (no comments, please!) Dad and Mom had decided to use the show as an opportunity to purchase a lovely little iPod Touch for me; we have no AT&T coverage in our neck of the woods at home so the iPhone isn’t a possibility. The Touch is great–but I’m still trying to learn to type accurately on it, let alone quickly (I think instant messaging has given people under 35 much better-skilled fingers for this feat). Dad and I had another great dinner out and nursed some sore feet back at the hotel. Thursday found us homeward bound once more, but not before exploring Treasure Island, where Dad was discharged from the Navy and spent his last two weeks pulling shifts at the brig more than half-a-century ago.
By the way, did I mention I had a great time? The next MacWorld Expo is Jan. 5-9, 2009. Bring your ukulele and I’ll see you there!