I kept my emceeing mercifully short, but I did mention the fact that the current TOC schedule seems designed to create deep psychological conflict as you agonizingly try to decide which (untaped) lecture you want to hear.
It's a bit like that scene at the end of the last Indiana Jones movie, where Indiana must choose between fake chalices and the true holy grail. You look at the list of lectures and try to Choose Wisely. You can never go wrong choosing MadBard, aka Michael G. Shapiro.
He seemed concerned, in a recent comment, that he never got mentioned in emcee speeches and didn't show up in photo spreads about the summer seminar. I'm not sure why he's not getting photographed. I'll tell you who does get photographed a lot, a lot more than me, and that's my daughter, Felicia. Well, she is better looking that me, that may have something to do with it.
But, Michael, never fear that people view you as a non-entity. It just ain't so! I, for one, think you're a great guy, and particularly admire you for making some real money in your chosen art form.
Limerick of the day:
Musical Michael Shapiro,
Could never be seen as a zero.
He's sharp and he's funny
And even makes money
Composing - so now he's my hero.
You can find a brief summary of his Star Wars Music talk here:
http://www.objectivistcenter.com/events/sem2004/seminars-monday.asp
(I chose to go to a discussion about whether Objectivism and Libertarianism were still sympatico. It was quite lively, but there was absolutely NO music in it.)