Pettys at Sesame Street

After arriving quite late the night before, again we had to get up early to make ourselves look great for the camera, ready for when the director and cameraman arrived about 6.45am. They filmed us travelling on the subway, and asking people how to get to Sesame Street.
When we arrived we were wired for sound and shown onto the set. Jonathan played "Sing" for them on a keyboard, and they were very appreciative. We hang around all morning, watching them film, and had chats with Telly monster and Elmo in the technical breaks. We also got to be extras in the opening sequence for a show that will possibly screen in about 18 months! It was all very low key and pleasant. We were filmed in our chats, watching, looking around the set and so on. They should have enough material you would think.

Pettys at Disneyland

We got reunited at LAX airport and Mark drove masterfully through the LA freeways to our motel in Anaheim. On Friday we went to Disneyland. It was a bit of a strain getting up that early, but it was worth it. Thanks to Ridemax (Google it) we managed to go on all the rides we wanted, with minimal waits. Disneyland was wonderful. It truly is in a different league from other theme parks. The attention to detail is impressive. It was a really busy day, but the organisation was impeccable. The food was great (if pricey) and the fireworks were great too. Jonathan had a blast. His favourite ride was Splash Mountain. Nicola liked Pirates of the Caribbean. Mark enjoyed that one too and the Matterhorn. Thunder mountain was good too.
We had a quieter day on Saturday, and had a swim in the motel pool.

Nicola at INFORMS conference in San Diego

I am writing this from a Hilton hotel in San Diego, where I am attending an INFORMS conference. (It’s the American OR society). I am having a great time. The flight across the Pacific was pretty grueling, but improved enormously by the provision of individual screens to watch movies etc. I watched Speed and Little Miss Sunshine, which has excessive use of profanity, but otherwise is a pretty cool movie. I started watching Twilight, but it didn’t hold my interest. It was about as fast as the book to get to any plot, so I gave up.
On Monday and Tuesday I got things ready at work, and wrote my presentation and dealt with my email etc, then on Wednesday I packed and flew to the US. We got an email from Emma (the researcher) that we are going to meet Elmo/Kevin Clash at Sesame Street. That is pretty amazing.

I had one day of recreation here before the Colloquium started. I hired a bike, caught a ferry to Coronado and biked around there. I visited the Hotel Del Coronado, which was the location of “Some Like it Hot”. I’ll have to watch the movie again now! The weather was perfect. I forgot to get a helmet. In America people don’t get head injuries from not wearing helmets. ;-) I have to say it was lovely to feel the wind I my hair, and fortunately I was mostly on bike trails. I must say, Coronado is a lovely area. I liked looking at the houses.

It is nearly (!) Halloween here and I am interested in the merchandising opportunities it seems to afford. I spent an hour or so in supermarkets the other day, and am amazed at the range of candy. Is there anything in particular you would like us to bring back for you? There were also some ‘big as’ pumpkins. It seems a little bizarre to have autumnal stuff here in the land of permanent summer. (Southern California), but I guess it is no odder than all our fake snow at Christmas. There is a lot of Mexican food (what a shock) which is really yummy and has plenty of vegetables.
I went to the Horton Plaza after dinner, which is an outdoor mall which reminds me a lot of that Escher painting you had with the staircases going all over the place. It is really funny trying to get from one place to another. – and even trying to get out can be a challenge. It has some really interesting shops too.