OK, here's the belated write-up of my meet-up with Sean (St_PatGuy).
On Friday, after I registered for my conference and enjoyed the welcome dinner buffet (urp!), Sean picked me up in his silver 2001 Acura RSX type S, AZ license plate # NCC 1701. Heh, just kidding about that last part. He is a lazy man who has quit shaving, so he has a beard now. We went to the movie theater across the street from my hotel complex and enjoyed Star Trek, which neither of us had seen yet.
On Saturday, after my conference was over, Taximan Sean again picked me up at the hotel, and we went to the Westgate shopping complex in Glendale, where we ate at
Shane's Rib Shack, a chain that neither of us had experienced before. The food was good, and I became infatuated with our waitress, Ari. You're right, Mark, they're all too young for me.
After shopping at Todd Macfarlane's action figure store, we went to Sean's apartment, where we tried out my new Grado 60 headphones. Big thumbs up! Then we listened to Sean's set-up, enjoying Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown (see, Mark, there was good reason you were eager to get to this post!).
We also listened to some REM, and an album that Green Day put out under the (band) name "Foxboro Hot Tubs". I gotta look that up and get it. Thanks for the tip!
Sean has a cool set-up with tube amps. I had never heard of the manufacturers of any of his equipment (preamp, amp, CD player, and speakers). Yet, he was always very friendly and engaging with this n00b reporter. Sean's set-up sounds great, and fun was had by all. Either we didn't play it loud enough, or his neighbors are really cool, because not once did we get warned to turn it down!
After graciously ferrying me to Barnes and Noble so that I could get some reading material for my flight back, we bid adieu. Thanks again, Sean, for the hospitality, and I hope I can return the favor one day!
