With a bit more ground to cover tonight, I really felt my chances of finally seeing Steve Jobs might be better; however, I was again let down. Perhaps I’ll get the chance to do that at the next Macworld Expo, and maybe, just maybe, next time I approach him at the keynote, he won’t turn his back to me when I extend a hand.
Sonnet – ThursdayTotal elegance. That’s the first thing I thought when I came into the Hotel Milano. The lobby, the hallway, even the staircase to the next floor, it was all beautiful.
The Sonnet party was the first on my list for tonight, and it was a pleasure to be here first. The party crowd was small when I arrived, mostly vendors from other countries — which made conversations… interesting.
The food was good. Sushi — no squid! — and some other small snack foods. As for the drinks, I enjoyed a glass of red wine, and it was good. I also had a chance to chat with the CEO of Sonnet, who had nothing major to say — at least nothing you couldn’t find out by going to their booth. I did hear they recently received an order for one thousand of their processor upgrade cards for the PowerBook 1400 — a card that brings speeds of the old PowerBooks into the 300-Mhz range.
Food: 4.5 Crowd: 5 Steve-O-Meter: 0 (Though maybe he’d show up later) Overall: 4.5
My Dinner with Q! 
I am pleased to say I had the opportunity to eat at the same table as John de Lancie (see photo, sitting next to Macworld’s Andy Gore). It would be a really big deal, but I also shared a stage with him at the Eddy Awards, and shook his hand back stage, you know, no biggie. I must say, he is truly a nice guy.
The dinner was good. We ate at a restaurant that mixes California Cuisine and Mexican food. The menu had items in Spanish with what seemed like Spanish ingredients, but the plates, well, it looked a bit fancy — too fancy. Don’t get me wrong, my Yo Quiero Shrimp and Chile Dinner was great! As for seeing Steve Jobs here, unless he too had a desire to eat fancy Mexican food — something Vegan of course — pretty slim. But who knows, he could have been a big Q fan, and maybe he was hiding in the restaurant someplace.
Food: 5 Crowd: 5 Steve-O-Meter: 0 Overall: 5
Macromedia – ThursdayThis party was at the Spectrum Gallery, the same place Macworld had its holiday party last year, so I was quite familiar with it. However, the set-up was something I had never seen before, and really enjoyed. They had a construction theme. You know: yellow caution tape, toy construction trucks (remote controlled!), and the catering staff wore those bright orange safety vests and hard hats.
I was wondering where the theme came from, and when I asked Vice President Dennis Griffin he said it was because they are helping to “build the web.” Cute, and creative too.
The party featured a live band that the crowd really seemed to enjoy, and the music was good. The food was also good, though I didn’t stop by the bar. The one thing I did notice that I thought was odd: everyone seemed to be wearing black! Well, at least the majority of people did. And although the music was good, it wasn’t very danceable, but people did anyway. Also noticed a few people, more than usual, with brightly colored hair — is that a Web designer thing?
Food: 4 Crowd: 4.5 Steve-O-Meter: 0 Overall: 4.5
Epson – ThursdayCool, man. This party, at Jillian’s in Sony’s new Metreon complex, featured live music by Jazz artist Chico Freeman, who has also played with Earth Wind and Fire and the Temptations. Though I was too late to enjoy the food, I was told it was good, as were the drinks. I questioned a member of the Jillian’s staff about the crowd and she said, “everyone was nice except for the occasional BO.” Niiice.
The set-up was very well done. Everywhere I looked, there was an Epson light beamed onto the floor — I kind of felt like I was being abducted again, this time by the Epson aliens, similar to last night’s Apple aliens.
There was colorful confetti on the floor, and the tables were decorated with Epson labels. Very well done. As for the crowd, everyone was very excited about telling me how wonderful a party it was, and from what I could see, I think they were right. I was also told, by someone who worked with Epson, that because of the popularity of their performing artist people were willing to pay to get in.
Food: 4.5 Crowd: 5 Steve-O-Meter: 0 Overall: 4.75
MixMan – Thursday 
How often do you get to stand 15 feet away from the group Smash Mouth? For me, not often — even after working as a radio broadcaster for 5 years. But this party, at Bimbo’s 365 club, was different. Smash Mouth was there, and so was I.
The crowd couldn’t be happier as they jumped up and down to the music and sung along with the band. The lead singer even pulled up a whole collection of women to dance with him from the audience. How nice. Though I only recognized two of the songs they sung — the ones I hear constantly on the radio — I enjoyed their beat-box-esque rap thing, and the fact that they started one of their songs, and then started over because they didn’t get it right from the top. How cool is that? Though the party lacked food, and you had to pay for your own drinks, the crowd definitely made up for it. Oh, and Smash Mouth: They’re not a studio band. They sounded just like they sound on the radio. Just no commercials between songs, and no annoying DJ.
Food: 0 Crowd: 5 Steve-O-Meter: 0 Overall: 5 (They didn’t have food to be counted)
Mac The Knife – Thursday night and Friday morning
My first Mac The Knife party, and what a treat! Slim’s was very crowded with, including a table where two people were on the cell phone — to each other! There didn’t seem to be any food here, and I didn’t have the strength left in me to order any drinks. Everyone seemed very happy to be at this party, even some fresh-faced kids who looked like perhaps they were too young to be there — you know the look under-aged people get when they’re in a bar.
When the band started, it got interesting. One band member was dressed in a wig and some tight leopard print pants. The music all sounded the same to me, but then, I’m no fan of heavy metal renditions of Elvis music. When the music started it was too loud to carry on conversations with anyone without yelling directly in their ear, so that’s when I slipped away into the night, trusty camera ready for an upload.
Food: 0 Crowd: 5 Steve-O-Meter: 0 Overall: 5 (They too didn’t have food to be counted)
Go to: Macworld Expo Central