I had a fantastic day yesterday. I mean - truly outstanding. Outside of the bomb exercise excitement during the day I attended what was likely one of the most interesting and entertaining talks I've seen to date.

Michael Rubin is one of these all around genious type of guys - smart and funny with tons of stories to tell including his best one: how George Lucas, somewhat unknowingly, revolutionized film making for ever - and he's documented in a great book called "droidMAKER: George Lucas and the Digital Revolution".

I have a film class paper kicking around where I bluntly state that Lucas hasn't made a good film since "THX 1138" (for the initiated - myself now included - that's pronounced THIX) and I stand by that. What I have never meant is that the man is some sort of lackey. I's always appreciated his contribution to film making - I'm just not the biggest fan of his films. That said, I never realized just how big of a part he had in revolutionizing the way so many films are made today. Michael's talk was loaded with details and fun facts but it was all delivered conversationally and with a lot of passion. Entertaining and informative is an understatement. To top it off, he personalized every book to the individual (and I don't just mean with a name. He asked questions about where you worked and what you did) and happily talked about everything from movies to computer tech stuff that was way beyond my understanding. A really super guy.

I also had the great pleasure of meeting Dr. Alvy Ray Smith, co-founder of what is arguably one of the world's best recognized animation companies PIXAR. Does it get any better than this?

Dr. Smith shared a couple of stories about the beginnings of PIXAR, the struggles of getting George Lucas' attention, perhaps most importantly considering PIXAR's current incarnation, the hiring of John Lasseter, how the company got it's name and the first years of struggling to make ends meet under Steve Jobs. Again, a fantastic speaker with loads to of interesting things to share.

All in all, a super night. I'm not sure how it's going to be topped but SIGGRAPH is on the road to doing it again. Next month, a talk from legendary futurist Syd Mead (OMG SYD FREAKIN' MEAD!!!) along with a screening of "Blade Runner: The Final Cut". I already have my ticket although I'm almost certainly going to skip the movie mostly because of its running time. It'll end very late and I still have a long trip home afterwards!