Justin-Klein.com – Life of a Traveling Programmer

My dad and I at the Grand Canyon, 1983 (age 1)

One of my life’s first vacations was a trip to the Grand Canyon in September of 1983. I was just over a year old, riding comfortably on my dad’s back with a granola bar in my hand. The story of that granola bar is perhaps the most frequently told from my entire childhood – I’d grown so attached to it that whenever I dozed off I’d wake up in a panic if it had been lost. Thankfully, my parents were always there to retrieve it so that I could resume my sightseeing with confidence.

Don’t ever say I was spoiled.

My dad and I at the Grand Canyon, 2006 (age 24)

With two months to kill while waiting for the approval of my Japanese Work Visa, I thought it would be a great opportunity to revisit my roots with another trip to the bottom of the canyon.

So at 7:30am on July 15th, Nick, my dad and I started the 7-hour drive from Los Angeles to Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.
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The front of the convention center readies for the first day of E3 2006.

E³, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, is the video game industry’s biggest event of the year, worldwide. It takes place right here in my little hometown of Los Angeles, California.

Upon hearing this, one might think “Pshh, a video game convention. Big freakin’ deal.”

WELL IT IS! 🙂

The games themselves are presented on two-story tall televisions, THX sound systems, often with floor actuators to literally shake the room when something explodes. I’ve spent quite a few posts trying to express the insanity of some of Tokyo’s districts. Well, just imagine taking all of Tokyo…and cramming it inside the LA Convention Center. That’s about how E3 feels (I wouldn’t be surprised if a single E3 costs about as much to put on as Tokyo cost to build).

How INSANE is this!

But even aside from the games, E3 is chocked full of movie stars, pro athletes, and playboy bunnies. This year I kicked off the convention by parking my car as the US army parachuted down Pico Blvd and landed right in the middle of Downtown, LA. Soon after I was watching Tony Hawk on a halfpipe and live music accompanied by some fire-breathing performers. E3 is, to put it simply, awesome.

To give you a better idea, here’s a video I clipped together after the conference.
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