Blackmans on the Web (log)

Just returned from the 2005 Oracle OpenWorld conference in San Francisco. OpenWorld was totally packed this year. Over 40,000 people. Way too big for my taste. Made it kind of tough to get to sessions and do any kind of meaningful networking.

The closing night party was a big event held at Fishermans Wharf Pier 31. The location was right at the base of the Bay Bridge. It was a nice night. Temperature was a little chilly, but nice compared to the 100 degrees in Dallas! While the whole 40,000 attendees weren’t at the party, there was a huge crowd none-the-less. The line for libations was too long to justfiy standing in line for 20 minutes only to get a 6 oz. cup for beer.

There were several bands slated to play including Fountains of Wayne (famous for “Stacy’s Mom”), Berlin, Bow Wow Wow and the Motels. The featured band was Counting Crows.

The Crows put on a great show (in my opinion). Train played at the PeopleSoft Conference last year and – while not bad – only played for about an hour or so. The Crows played a nearly full set and were on stage for almost two hours.

Bought a new Sigma lens for my Canon 350XT and got some great shots. Kind of grainy because I had the camera set at ISO 1600, but still nice. You can check’em out here