friday was the geek gathering. it took place up at the petrol station in the heights. the former owner of kaveh kanes — ben — is the owner. we had a couple of gatherings there a year or two ago. this time it was because he was showing the movie tron and we were co-sponsors. although i’d planned to get there around 7:15pm, an “emergency” came up at work around 6pm and i had to work on it until around 7:30pm. so i didn’t make it out until late. it’s a cool independent place to hang out and drink some coffee or beer. the weather was nice, so we sat outside. dwight gave me a copy of his new book about vista. it’s cool he’s got a book, and that the radio show is mentioned…but i’m not sure what to do with a book about vista. it’s kind of like being an aggie and having a longhorn jersey. anyway…. once there, i learned the projector bulb had just burned out recently, so they were going to show the movie on the big screen inside instead of outside on the wall. i had brought a cigar and was enjoying sitting outside, so i never made it in to watch the movie. and i love tron. (unlike dwight. poor, confused soul.) i had some enjoyable conversations with various members of the techbytes crew before and during the movie. the turnout was decent, a mix of some of the regulars and a few new people. at some point a lady came over and starting talking about art cars. that was cool, but as time wore on and she drank more wine, she became more paranoid, cocky, and contradictory. not a good combination. she talked about how we had lost all of our freedom in this country to speak against the government. about how so many people are having their conversations recorded. about how great s.a.p. is. she asked for a puff of my cigar. uh…yeah, no. anyway, in the end she was going on about how men were scared of intelligent women, how she made six figures and didn’t need a guy to take care of her, and how an intelligent woman wouldn’t bother with this kind of stuff so that’s why she was leaving. she proceeded to display her intelligence by listening to see what we said as she was walking away (hoping to get in a few more barbs i guess, or see how deeply she’d affected us), then getting in her car and driving off in her inebriated state. brilliant, i say. after that odd detour, i ended up talking with treocast for a couple of hours about music, the riaa, internet radio, and all kinds of good things. he’s a sharp guy and fun to talk with. (and no, that doesn’t mean we agree on everything. 🙂 i left around 1am and headed home.