Deductible Junkets
If You're Headed to Monterey for TED6
Monterey perches at the southern tip of a crescent-shaped bay just over an hour south of Silicon Valley. But the town is pure sea lions and Steinbeck, not one byte of silicon. And although modern Monterey suffers from a bad case of touristitis, the peninsula remains an exquisite landscape of rolling hills, gnarled cypress forests, and vertigo-inducing sea cliffs.
Pick a designated driver - someone to watch the road - and venture down the sweeping coastline. Procure picnickingsat the Mediterranean Market in nearby Carmel, and drive 45 minutes south to Big Sur. Or trade your Budget for a bike - the majestic Point Lobos is an easy 3-mile ride from Carmel.
Oodles of otters and other marine mammals frolic along the coastline, site of a national marine sanctuary and a living promotion for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. In addition to the three-story Kelp Forest and bat-ray petting pool, don't miss the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute show on Thursdays and Fridays at noon. The institute's submarine research vessel explores Monterey Bay canyon, an undersea chasm, and transmits live video footage via microwave link to the auditorium. Look on as researchers discover bizarre, previously unknown creatures of the deep.
Back up at sea level, take in a weekend matinée at the Dream Theatre, which is modeled after a 1930s movie palace. The theater features foreign flicks and artsy movies. Couples curl up in the love seats, but there are lounge chairs for not-so-chummy conference-goers.
When the curtain closes, walk over to Ferrante's in the Marriott Hotel for a drop as the sun slips down over the Pacific. When the colors have faded, move on to Fresh Cream, which all agree is the best restaurant in town. Look out over the moonlit harbor as the aroma of lobster ravioli and, later in the evening, Grand Marnier soufflé, envelops the small dining room. The Rio Grill, a southwestern sojourn just a short drive away in Carmel, is a livelier spot serving smoky, grilled entrées with just enough spice to justify another frozen margarita.
In the moderate range, the funky Monterey Samsara Café serves a mostly vegetarian menu from breakfast until 11:30 p.m. and offers a full espresso bar, not to mention the Black Water special. If jet-strength coffee isn't your cup of tea then try Morgan's Coffee and Tea. At this dig, Darjeeling is dull - try a pot of the Pinhead Gunpowder.
Although the Monterey Jazz Festival is months away, you can catch a few riffs at Doc Ricketts' Lab, a basement club named after an eccentric local biologist of the Steinbeck era. In the interest of science, test the Tweaker in a Beaker, a specialty of the house. Doc Ricketts' features live bands, from rock to reggae, seven nights a week. But on Saturday night, stop by the Tyler Street Bar and Grill to see Alligator and the Bayou Boogie Band, a local zydeco group. Gator taught Jimi Hendrix how to play the guitar with his teeth and behind his back.
If you catch the spirit of Monterey and want to do something for the area, visit the Monterey Brewing Co., which donates a percentage of the sale of every Save the Whale Pale Ale to the cause.
Jessie Scanlon
VideoFest '95; Berlin (February 9-19)
VideoFest '95 will emphasize interactive media, with seminars and workshops on CD-ROM production and the Internet. As usual, the main program presents the best video art, documentary, and computer animation work of the year, with several projects from Eastern Europe. Academics, computer artists, and filmmakers will critique the past 30 years of media art and look to the future. Registration: around 15DM (US$10). Contact: +49 (30) 2 62 87 14, fax +49 (30) 2 62 87 13, e-mail vf-info@contrib.de, WWW http://info.archlab.tuwien.ac.at/~katz/finemedia/FM_Web_Pages/Videofest.html#ViF.
TED6 Conference; Monterey, California (February 22-25)
TED6 will close the popular series devoted to the convergence of technology, education, and design. This year, yet again, the list of eclectic speakers will make you drool: Douglas Coupland, Frank Gehry, Stephen Jay Gould, and Kai Krause, among others. Participation by the equally illustrious audience will be the icing on the cake. And don't worry, the TED creators are already working on two new events: TEDWELL and TEDSELL. Registration: US$2,000. Contact: +1 (401) 848 2299, fax +1 (401) 848 2599.
PC Forum; Phoenix, Arizona (March 5-8)
It's time to bite the bullet and subscribe to Release 1.0 (US$595 a year) if you want to attend PC Forum, Esther Dyson's conference for the digital élite. As the "Local to Global" theme suggests, la crème de la techno-crème will discuss how communications technologies are redefining our concept of community, with emphasis on the implications for global business. Registration: US$2,600. Contact: Daphne Kis, +1 (212) 924 8800, fax +1 (212) 924 0240, e-mail daphne@edventure.com.
Commerce and Banking on the Information Superhighway; Chicago (March 23-24)
Personal computer sales average 200,000 a week. Four million people subscribe to an online service. More than 50 percent of the hosts on the Internet are commercial. And even the conservative banking industry is catching on. Leaders of Citibank, among other big suits, will join with cyber-entrepreneurs to look at the future of banking. Keynote speaker Tim Jones, the CEO of Mondex, will discuss its digital cash project, which is scheduled to launch in the UK this year. Registration: US$1,195. Contact: Gregory White, +1 (312) 540 3010, fax +1 (312) 540 3015.
ETHICOMP95; Leicester, England (March 28-30)
This year marks the maiden voyage of ETHICOMP, an academic and industry forum to discuss the ethical questions raised by information technology. Papers and workshops will cover the ethics of the Internet, viruses, and hacking; issues raised by the existence of accounting and medical databases; and other digital dilemmas. Registration: around US$350. Contact: Simon Rogerson, +44 (533) 577475, fax +44 (533) 541891, e-mail srog@dmu.ac.uk.
Fifth Conference on Computers, Freedom and Privacy; Burlingame, California (March 28-31)
Modern technology has thrown a virtual wrench into the Bill of Rights. Accepted concepts of speech, assembly, and property must be redefined for the digital age. CFP '95 will consider these and other issues, such as commercial life on the Net, telecommuting (tele-exploitation?), universal access, and netiquette. Registration: price unknown at press time. Contact: fax +1 (415) 725 1861, e-mail cfp95@forsythe.stanford.edu.
Kelp tanks of thanks to Mason Killebrew and Jocelyn Williams.
