Howdy everyone

Been rather tied up at this conference, which is finally winding down.

Salt Lake is a rather nice little town. I had forgotten how close it is to the picturesque Wasatch range.

Got in late Friday. Took a walk downtown from about 8 to 9 and was amazed how empty the restaurants and "clubs" were - due to the dominant cultural influence, there aren't bars per se and you have to be a club "member" to get a drink. S
Sunday morning was even more of a ghost town on the way to Mass and back. Today I took a walk during the middle of the morning when I would have expected more commotion and there was none. Lots of empty retail and commercial space. Today, though not on Friday or Sunday, ran across an alarmingly large number of beggars, some of whom were likely homeless.

The former Hotel Utah is a beautiful building. It's not a hotel anymore and it's been renamed after the ur-heresiarch of these parts. The state capitol doesn't look so hot, but it's got scaffolding up for repairs so it will eventually look a bit better. The City Hall is a cheap knock-off of the Mormon Temple, so it's nothing to see either. The Cathedral, of which more later, is far and away the best piece of architecture here - and is the nicest building I've seen between SFO and Denver.