The OFC wraps up today and, though our hangovers have not yet worn off, we're pleased to present some of the sights of this year's show. (As usual, thanks to the ban on cameras on the show floor, it wasn't easy.) First, some observations:

Judging by the number of times we journalists were asked for our industry predictions, it's clear that the industry is in a perpetual state of status checking and is clueless as to what's coming next. (Why would we know? Aren't you the ones talking to service providers? Or maybe you're not and that's what you're letting on.)

Kamelian Ltd. CEO Paul May had it right: What the industry needs is fewer companies, not more. Yet, somehow, components companies littered the ground like confetti on New Year's morning.

But they do get credit for trying. As the smoky-voiced Wendell Weeks, president of Corning Inc.'s (NYSE: GLW) optical communications business, says, "The only people in telecom who look smart are those that didn't do anything – and that's not the way you win."

On the trade show floor, the companies were more subdued and the event much better organized than last year.

Indeed, company executives were contemplative. Some of their booths, however, still defy explanation.

All that booth watching made us hungry. So we ventured into the wild and frightening world of Jody Maroni's Sausage Kingdom.

Back in the pressroom, thirsty journalists enjoyed some chilled tap water, fresh from the City of Anaheim.

At Light Reading's annual Light Drinking event, held at JT Schmid's Brewery, attendees schmoozed with their favorite Light Reading editors.. or with Scott Raynovich.

Okay, it's time for Light Reading's OFC drinking game. Here's how you play: Each time you see a picture without Light Reading Founding Editor Steve Saunders, take a drink. When you do see Steve in a photo, take two drinks. When you see Steve without a drink in his hand, call your optometrist.

Uh-oh, there's Steve.

And there's Steve again.

Oh, dear. The room is spinning.

Meanwhile, several startup executives and VCs convene with Light Reading's marketing manager to see whether they, too, can have a photo taken with Steve Saunders.

(Blythe really does have red eyes.)

What sort of message does it send when a company sends its entire OFC delegation along, uninvited, to a press junket, apparently so that they can pull up a chair to the free buffet and get a hot meal?

We don't know, but Teem Photonics probably does. Teem's appearance at the party brought dust bowls, depression eras, and families called Joad to mind. Are they based in Oklahoma? Are they travelling to California in search of better times? Are they planning to change their company name to Hobo, Inc.? Go Teem! No, really. Go. Now. (Not the two charming women pictured front and center, mind you. Jenny Gilcrest and Cathy Summers hail from the Ardell Group. They were most certainly invited, though they seem to have been boxed in by the wrong crowd.)

Whoa. What's this? Did Light Reading's VP of sales just throw a gang sign? Pictured with John are some folks from (The Missing) Lynx Photonic Networks, a Precambrian-era manufacturer of optical caves.

The folks from Chorum Technologies Inc. take the "Most Drunken" title this year. Of course, we have no official way to measure this. We're just going on anecdotal evidence, such as number of times caught singing aloud, skipping, and calling editors by the wrong name.

Others at the Light Reading party, though not pictured, included executives from Bandwidth9 Inc., who came and left so fast we thought they had double-parked in an ambulance zone. In addition, the execs from White Rock Networks had a few beers and some food before making a comment about "switching to the hard stuff" and driving off in the direction of Las Vegas.

…That's all folks!