You know it's spring in Aspen when the ski bums get real jobs and the celebrities jet back to Hollywood. The off-season? Hardly! In summer, this historic mining town buzzes with conferences and cultural festivals. But if you're headed to the International Design Conference in June, better pack a sweater - it snowed 6 inches in Aspen last Fourth of July!
Bicycles and rollerblades are the preferred modes of transportation during Aspen's snowless months. Rent your bikes at Aspen Velo and roll along the Rio Grande trail. For a spectacular view of the city and the peaks of the Elk Mountain Range, hike up the Ute Trail to the top of Aspen Mountain (known locally as Ajax).
For an afternoon escape, hop the bus to Maroon Bells (US$4 round trip) - some of the most photographed mountains in Colorado - and you'll feel you've walked into a postcard of wine-stained peaks, a sweeping valley, and pristine lake. Bring picnic eats from the Charcuterie and Cheese, whose offerings range from caviar to corned-beef sandwiches.
When your legs are noodled and just the sight of a mountain hurts, relax on the sunny patio of Explore Book Sellers and Coffeehouse. Its vegetarian cafe is open from 10 a.m. until midnight, and it's a must for bookhounds, pie lovers, and night owls.
The grand Wheeler Opera House opened in 1889 during the silver boom, just a few years after Aspen's founding. When the market for silver crashed, so did the fortunes of the Opera House, but it has been elegantly restored. It hosts a foreign and independent films series concurrent with the design conference.
If you are in the mood to goof - or maybe golf - around, head down to the Aspen Art Museum, where the current exhibit "Playing Around - A Golf Art Extravaganza" offers eighteen holes of unique miniature golf.
The rustic Krabloonik - meaning "bushy eyebrows" in an Eskimo dialect - is truly a log-cabin restaurant in the wild. House specialties include caribou, moose, and Idaho trout. Its profits help support the Krabloonik Kennel, home to 250 sled dogs.
The Pine Creek Cookhouse is another area restaurant you won't soon forget. It is the definition of "rugged," planted amid miles of alpine wilderness, surrounded by lakes and 13,000-foot peaks.
If you'd prefer a more casual dinner in town, head over to Su Casa for some spicy carnitas and margaritas. Across the street is a small no-name watering hole known by the locals as "Eric's Bar." Or stop into The Flying Dog Brew Pub for an award-winning ale (it has live bluegrass on Sundays).
But whether you're out on the town or 1,000 feet above it, take it slow - the air is thin up there.
Mary Ann Igna; snowboards of thanks to Dave Brumen.
Organized by United Digital Artists, this timely event picks the brains of such industry gurus as Brenda Laurel, Clement Mok, Paul Saffo, Hal Josephson, Kai Krause, and WIRED's own Louis Rossetto. Companies being represented include Kaleida, Broderbund, and Colossal Pictures, to name a paltry few. Come to any of a number of informative seminars for the multimedia novice or expert. Learn of business successes and disasters or new roles and job opportunities; take an evening tour of Multimedia Gulch. US$65/two-hour seminar; $80/three-hour seminar (discounts apply). Contact United Digital Artists: +1 (203) 852 0500 ext. 605, fax +1 (203) 831 8446.
Now in its eighth year, this conference and exposition covers the use of videodisc, CD-ROM, CD-i, multimedia, and virtual reality applications for medicine, nursing, allied health, continuing education, patient education, and health promotion. It provides a comprehensive introduction to interactive video and multimedia computing. Attendees can see state-of-the- art demonstrations, play with a variety of interactive programs, and learn the basic skills required to develop their own interactive courses and presentations. US$445. For more information, contact Scott Stewart: +1 (703) 354 8155, fax +1 (703) 354 2177, e-mail GTVT95B@prodigy.com.
The way we perceive our bodies, the demands we make on them, our expectations of them, and what we understand about them continue to change with the times. More changes are on the way. Design and Human Bodies is the first conference to explore the design implications of these changes. In addition to a plenary speaker roster of high caliber, afternoon workshops will investigate strategic problem solving, universal design, photography, illustration, technology-driven design, and more. US$625, students, $150. For more information, contact the International Design Conference in Aspen: +1 (303) 925 2257, fax +1 (303) 925 8495.
This venerable meeting of art and science minds will feature the provocative theme of "Intelligent Ambience." Ars Electronica will delve into issues of computer-aided environments as well as intelligent, interactive, real surroundings - environments based on machine intelligence. In addition to exhibits on architecture, transportation, and communication, the festival again sponsors the prestigious international Prix Ars Electronica (US$103,750), awarded for the most dazzling computer graphics and interactive art. Price unavailable at press time. Contact Ars Electronica: + 43 (732) 7612 271, fax + 43 (732) 7611 350.
(June 27-July 1)
Technological innovations will transform the home - not to mention everyday life - in the emerging information society. They will affect how private households will function in changing social, economic, and political structures. This conference considers various perspectives and options. Can these technologies contribute to the re-establishment of the home as a living and productive center? HOIT-94 hopes to provide bridges for the various disciplinary approaches to these issues. US$300. Contact Kresten Bjerg at the University of Copenhagen: + 45 31541856, fax + 45 32963138, e- mail kresten@vax.psl.ku.dk.
Artificial Life is the branch of science that synthesizes phenomena normally associated with natural living systems via computers and other artificial media. ALIFE IV will touch upon issues of theoretical biology, discussing not only "life as we know it," but "life as it could be." Within the MIT campus, ALIFE IV hopes to encourage the exchange of opinions, ideas, and techniques. Registrants may tour the Institute's Artificial Intelligence Lab or the Media Lab. US$300; students, $200. Contact Professor Rodney Brooks: +1 (617) 253 0073, fax +1 (617) 253 0039, e-mail alife@ai.mit.edu, on the World Wide Web, refer to "Events at the AI Lab".
