The best sessions I attended were on the last two days of the conference: a talk on Win32 programming, Under the Hood of Vista/Longhorn, future plans for C#, future plans for C++, and garbage collection in .NET. So, maybe in the future if I go I'll arrange to just hit the last half. ;)
I had a few hours free on Friday, so I walked from the hotel to Walt Disney Hall. This is probably the one thing in the area that has the name Disney on it, that wouldn't appearl to kids - it is the new symphony hall. It is pretty cool looking, all brushed-metallic and curvy, similar to the EMP in Seattle except not as garish and well, better looking.
On one side of the hall is a small park, raised above the sidewalk, with a nice view of the city. The centerpiece of the park is a flower petal fountain, made from crushed marble. There were shady spots and tables and chairs, so I took the opportunity to read a few pages of The Botany of Desire, which I've been making slow but steady progress in. I was in the tulip chapter, reading about the beauty of flowers, so I decided to take a few macro closeups of ones right next to me.
After a while I got up and followed a hidden exterior path which wound up near the roof of the building. At one point the roof structure was exposed and you could see the support beams and how the metal sheets were hung on them. Plus of course, more views of downtown. Unfortunately it was too late to take a tour of the interior, so I left and went to the Westin Bonaventure for dinner.
That hotel has been the shooting location for at least two movies, because of its dramatic exterior elevators: In the Line of Fire, and True Lies. Near the elevator shafts are plaques which point this fact out! I wandered around the open air six story atrium, full of shops and restaurants, and settled in on an expensive sushi dinner (good thing I can expense it!).
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