by Joey deVilla on October 30, 2008

On Tuesday night, attendees of the PDC were treated to a night at the Universal Studios Hollywood amusement park, which was closed off to everyone but us. Everything was free: rides, food and drinks, and the park was dressed up for Hallowe’en, complete with horror movie characters including Freddy Krueger, skeletons and chainsaw-wielding zombies.
I’ll post more photos in this blog later, but in the meantime, enjoy these photos featuring the new “Simpsons Ride”, which was very amusing. It’s one of those “ridefilms” or “simulator rides”, in which you’re placed in a ride car that seats 8 that gets jolted around in sync to an IMAX film. The basic plot:you’re trying out the new ride in “Krustyland” when suddenly, Sideshow Bob takes over the controls as an act of revenge, and hilarity ensues.

One of the best things about the ride is that they try to keep you entertained in line with…you guess it, Simpsons cartoons. These new cartoons were made specifically for the ride, feature a number of Simpsons characters and best of all, feature writing that’s a lot funnier and sharper than the show has been lately.
[This article was originally posted on my tech blog, Global Nerdy.]
by Joey deVilla on October 28, 2008
by Joey deVilla on October 27, 2008
by Joey deVilla on October 27, 2008
It’s a Silvetta 60-bass piano accordion, which is much smaller and lighter than my other ones. It’s perfect for schlepping to conferences, like the one I’m attending right now, as it’s easier to carry and fits very well within just about every plane’s overhead compartment:

Oh, the “Phileas Fogg” outfit is from Cory Doctorow’s wedding, which took place yesterday. It was a little bit magic show, a little bit Alice in Wonderland, a little bit steampunk and a whole lot of fun. Mazel tov, Alice and Cory!
Here’s a photo of Danny O’Brien and me flanking the happy groom:

I’ll post more photos from the wedding later.
by Joey deVilla on October 27, 2008

Photo courtesy of Miss Fipi Lele.
I leave for L.A. at a reasonable time this morning and land at 11:00 Pacific, after which I shall check into my hotel and scurry down to the Los Angeles Convention Center to catch the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference 2008. It won’t be all geeky stuff, and I’m bringin’ the new travel sized red accordion with me.
The geeky stuff will get posted on my tech blog, Global Nerdy, while the more slice-of-life stuff will get posted here on Accordion Guy.