I went up to Valley View Casino for a slot tournament this weekend. I believe I mentioned it here before, when I was first invited. The tournament had a $60,000 prize pool, and a $10,000 grand prize. They offered accommodations at Pala Mesa Resort, which unfortunately they booked up before I got a room, so I had to drive all the way up to Escondido both Saturday and Sunday for the tournament. So I felt that Valley View's reputation was on the line; they've treated me right in the past, but it was up to them to impress me with this tournament, or they might lose a player.

I got an early start to get up to the casino for my Saturday morning check-in time. It was the most pleasant drive I've experienced going up there, given the early hours, and I made in just under an hour, give or take. I saw a big sign for the "Viva Las Vegas" slot tournament over their special events room (a trailer, essentially), so I went there to check in, but there was no check-in there, just some sort of lounge set-up. So I went inside, and went to the Elite Players Club booth to get a card. I forgot mine, and I wanted to confirm that I had elite status there. They never officially informed me of my elite status, just started inviting me to elite events, like this tournament, and I did receive a letter explaining changes in the qualification requirements for elite status, but assuring me I had already easily met these higher point requirements. But a quick stop at the booth confirmed that I had elite status, and I got a new card. With the new card, I could use special elite club lines, which proved to be most useful throughout the weekend, as the place was busy. And if you've ever been there, you know the packed casino does not accommodate crowds well.

I found the tournament check-in, and got in line. Not a long line, but it seemed to move slow, as check-in took longer than it needed to. Cross your name off a list, hand you your tournament packet, and move on to the next. But before long, I got an envelope with my tournament times, and information on my free gift. The invitation promised me a free gift worth $1100, and I felt that the quality of this gift would largely determine how I felt about the tournament. When I first saw the gift, I was pissed. I was given a membership in the Aquaterra Dining Club, which entitled me to large discounts on all my dining at the Aquaterra Restaurant and Seafood Bar. My first reaction was, that the casino gave me an Entertainment Coupon Book, only it was good at only one restaurant. I was about ready to tell them where they could cram their free gift, but I decided to look at it more closely while I had brunch (they gave me four free buffets for coming up for the tournament). And upon closer examination, it's not a bad gift. In addition to discounts on dining (50% off a party of two), you receive a number of gift certificates, including breakfast or lunch for two, a free night in the hotel, a free round of golf, and other freebies, and some good bargains, as well. Their website shows that the membership is currently available on sale for $149. I don't know how much use I'll get out of it, but I'll use the free room, I'm sure, and the free meal, if nothing else. And the golf goodies will make a nice surprise for my boss who golfs. Basically, they gave me a nice enough gift, but they blew it by saying it was an $1100 value. They should have just said free mystery gift, or say it had a $149 value, rather than add up all the possible discounts to reach a hugely inflated number so you feel cheated. But as I say, upon reflection, I decided it was a nice gift, and that I would continue to have an open mind about the tournament as the weekend proceeded.

The promised gift was one reason I came; the buffet was another. I love their buffet, and this weekend I had brunch there twice. I'd never had brunch there before, and I was disappointed, somewhat. It looked a lot like lunch. I was in the mood for breakfast, and they didn't have much traditional breakfast fare. But in truth, selection has never been their strong suit, and I'm willing to let it slide (for free; if I was paying for the buffet, I would say the weekend brunch prices are way out of line). And once I found the bagels and lox, I was content. I generally would prefer that buffets have mini-bagels, as you don't want to fill up on them, but as there wasn't that much else that interested me as a main course, I was perfectly content to load a sesame bagel with smoked salmon. I munched on a few other things as well, that didn't really impress, then went to look at desserts, when I discovered that since my last trip, they'd added a strawberry shortcake station. I ended up having two of those, with strawberries, mixed berries, and whipped cream. Hard to mess up strawberry shortcake, I suppose, but I thought this an excellent addition to their buffet; this is probably my favorite buffet, anywhere, when it comes to dessert (Paris Las Vegas probably has my favorite buffet, overall, but shockingly, they really lack in the dessert department). I also had some cake and ice cream and cookies, but the lox and the strawberry shortcake are what mainly impressed me.

To get the buffet talk out of the way, I'll just quickly add that I also had the buffet for dinner Saturday night, and found it as I remembered it. I'm not as impressed with it as I first was, but I always find enough to eat to leave satisfied. The crap legs were really bad, though; tough and stringy. But to be fair, I wasn't very hungry, and only ate it because I had the free coupon. I mostly just wanted to eat desserts, and was more that satisfied there. I ate two huge strawberry shortcakes, and for dinner they had replaced the mixed berries with a heaping bowl of blackberries, which are one of my favorites, and I ate so many I gave myself an upset stomach on the way home. In fact, I thought I was going to puke, just as my car entered "the slalom," a four-mile stretch of road leading to the casino, where construction barricades force you to continue down your single lane of traffic, with nowhere to stop. So by the time I was able to stop, my stomach had settled down, and the crisis was averted.

Anyway, to get back to the tournament, there were three rounds in the tournament; two Saturday, one Sunday. Of course, they stager your tournament rounds, and the final round from the announcement of prizes, so that they can keep you in their casino as long as possible. My rounds on Saturday were at 1:15 and 5:45, and both were the last times in that round. They gave me a $25 match play coupon for showing up, so I used that at blackjack with no success, and later did okay at Pai Gow, and fantastic at Pai Gow. I ended up winning a substantial amount of money, so I was very glad I came, regardless of how I did in the tournament. Which is good, because I had no luck in the tournament, and it was obvious at the end of the day I had almost no chance of winning anything in the tournament. And as the day wore on, and I won more and more money, I was worried about losing all my money before the day was out. I killed some time driving up the road to Harrah's, cashing in my $15 coupon, and leaving. They cut me down to $5 coupons in my most recent mailing, so I saw no reason to play there, if they weren't going to treat me right. So I just ran the $15 through a slot machine, quickly won some cash at blackjack, and after about five minutes, headed back to Valley View. As I say, I'd won a lot of money, and just wanted to kill time until the second round of the tournament. Fortunately, the special events room was turned into a lounge for tournament players. They had baseball on a big-screen TV, and nice refreshments. I had lots more smoked salmon, and they had these fantastic cookies, with icing on top done up sort of like Easter eggs. The first one I grabbed resembled a stuffed lime, but turned out to be mint, and was just wonderful. It was someone frustrating, that I had all those free buffet coupons, yet there was so much food to eat in the lounge I wasn't hungry. But I suppose that's a good problem to have. So I hung out in there some, played a bit more in the casino (at lower stakes), and successfully preserved my winnings for the day. After the tournament, I ate the buffet, and went home.

Sunday I could sleep in, as I didn't have to be back until 1:15. I went back up with a friend, and we ate the buffet after my tournament round. Again, my elite card's status as a line pass really saved us; the lines for the buffet were horrendous (with the exception of Saturday morning for the buffet, when there was no line). I knew I had no chance in the tournament, but to encourage us to return, they were raffling off ten trips to Vegas, with a stay at the Las Vegas Hilton (no big deal, I get free rooms there all the time, and am in fact staying there in two weeks or so), and gave everyone $100 in free slot play for showing up Sunday. Unfortunately, by the time they announced the winners (as expected, I got nothing) and activated the free slot play on our slot cards, I had lost a fair amount of money. I was still up quite a bit for the weekend, but was kicking myself for giving so much of my winnings back. I went to play the video poker machine I'd been playing most of the weekend, but couldn't get a seat, so I just sat down at a random slot machine and decided to play my free play there. I played a few hands, didn't hit much, and was down to about $50 in free play left, when I got triple bar in the first space, a 3x pay wild symbol in the second, and nothing in the third. The machine started flashing lights and a ticket for a substantial amount of money was spit out of the machine. I stared at the machine for awhile, but couldn't figure out what I hit. I finally decided not to worry about it, and played the rest of my slot play without hitting anything. The huge win on this machine meant I was a small winner Sunday, as well, so I made a lot of money this weekend. Later, I showed my friend the machine, and he explained that the wild symbols on this machine counted even if they don't stop right on the line. So I got the three triple-bars payout x3, because of the bonus multiplier (the bonus multiplier only counts if it lands on the line, though).

So, what was my overall impression of the tournament? Well, had I lost money, I'd probably be less charitable, but I think it was a good tournament. There was only about 300 or so players in the tournament, so the odds weren't too bad. Though the $60,000 prize pool was somewhat exaggerated; I don't think they included the Aquaterra membership, but I think they included the $100 in slot play in that figure, and possibly the trips to Vegas. Only about $20,000 in cash, or less, was given out in cash prizes in the tournament. Still not bad, though. And the lounge was a nice little touch, with fantastic food. Overall, a nice way of rewarding their most valued players. It will be a tough call whether I'll go back for the next one, assuming I'm invited. It's a long drive; if I got the hotel room, I'd do it, but if I had to drive out there both days like I did this time, I don't know if I'd do it. But I'm glad I went this time.

The candy espionage that inspired Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

I saw Batman Begins last week, and was blown away. I was cautiously optimistic, hoping it might be an enjoyable summer blockbuster, but was shocked by how much I loved it. It's not a perfect film, but overall really captures the essence of the character; the sets are dark, and the subject matter is darker. A cautionary tale about how fear can destroy a society seems fitting for our time. And Michael Caine as Alfred is perfect casting. And Katie Holmes compensates for her miscasting enough to not ruin the film. I was really impressed.

In a film viewing more relevant to my recent life, I received the DVD of The Browning Version in the mail a little while ago. I'd seen it on TV years ago, and was looking forward, in the midst of summer school, to watching the pathetic tale of a retiring classics professor, who looks back on his life and realizes he wasted his life. Andrew Crocker-Harris, known as "the Crock" when his students are in a good mood, or "Himmler of the Lower Fifth" when they (or the headmaster, for that matter) aren't in such high spirits, has a reputation of terrorizing his pupils, as he drills them in rote translations that suck the joy out of the ancient texts he so reveres. Forced to retire due to illness, he is struck by a realization of how badly he's failed as a teacher, which, along with a sham marriage and the unexpected kindness of a student, overwhelms him. Every review seems to describe it as the anti-Goodbye, Mr. Chips (which is itself mentioned, sarcastically, in the movie), and it seems an apt description. The Crock doesn't get redemption at the end, but he gets self-realization, which is something, I suppose. The film lived up to my memories of it, and Michael Redgrave is fantastic as Crocker-Harris. The film builds to a climax in his retirement speech, a powerful moment, yet it is merely a reflection of the powerful emotions he unleashes throughout the film in smaller touches: reacting cruelly to a student's polite laughter at a joke (is he too cold to recognize the gesture as a courtesy, or his he angered at being the recipient of a young boy's pity?), breaking down after receiving another kindness from a student, or taking in the news of his nickname of "Himmler" (in a post-war Britain where the name certain stung more than we might appreciate). The film is old-fashioned, perhaps, and perhaps feels a bit stage-bound, but the minimalist direction is used masterfully (as someone remarks on the DVD extras, you can really appreciate the direction when you think of how various directors have ruined great plays). And as the number of films that really express the subject of failure well is fairly slim, I am very thankful to now have this film on DVD.

I'm sure many of the MST3K fans out there have been wondering just how much The Island resembles Parts: The Clonus Horror. The director of that film has also noticed the similarities, and is considering his legal options.

Polanski wins libel judgement. The reputation of a pervert valued at 50,000 pounds. The UK's contempt for freedom of the press is again on display.

So, Bush has announced his Supreme Court nominee. I must admit, the right-wingers might have had a point when they said the left would turn nasty against anyone Bush put forward. I mean, no, I don't like the guy, but for someone W picked, it could have been a lot worse. He's a solid conservative, and when he worked for Bush I, he argued against abortion rights (which was part of his job). My main complaint is he's so young; knowing Bush would pick someone I don't like, I'd like to have some comfort in the fact that they will be dead long before myself. In any event, though, I can settle for this guy, whom at least doesn't appear to be mentally ill, like a few of the people W has put forth for judgeships.

Of course, the announcement of the nominee was overshadowed here in San Diego by the announcement of Councilman Zucchet's resignation after he and that jackass Inzunza were convicted of extortion and corruption on Monday (Inzunza is so full of himself, he was refusing to resign, and only caved after Zucchet resigned). It seemed pretty obvious they were guilty of something, but it's hard to draw the line between a bribe and a campaign contribution these days, so I was just waiting to see what the jury decided. Hopefully this will have a sobering effect on local politicians, and perhaps give Donna Frye a boost, considering her sometimes adversarial role on the council. The best part, though, is that this is a huge boost to U.S. Attorney Carol Lam, whose next target is Randy "Duke" Cunningham.

In further local news, it's hot as fuck. It's been hot for awhile, but today some tropical monsoon or something brought rain and hellish humidity today, making it the first really miserable day. I spent part of the afternoon in Solana Beach, which wasn't too bad. I went up to buy tickets for Pink Martini at the Belly Up Tavern. I had thought of going up to see them in San Jose, but as my sister will be 8 1/2 weeks pregnant at the time, I thought maybe I better not get underfoot. But then last night, I got an e-mail newsletter from the band, which mentioned that the San Diego gig was almost sold out. That there was a San Diego gig was news to me, so I decided to drive up and buy the tickets, to save the service charge, and scout out the place (I've never been, nor do I think I've ever even been in Solana Beach). Grabbed a bite to eat in some hole in the wall place, bought my ticket, and went to some pet store, and bought tanner a thing to chew on that's supposedly good for his teeth (he sniffed it for awhile, then hid it, first underneath my pillow, then, when he saw me find it, under a chair cushin). Unfortunately, I forgot that today was opening day at Del Mar for the horseraces, so it was not a pleasant drive. Not as bad as it could have been, though. So I'll be seeing Pink Martini in September, which is very exciting.

James "Scotty" Doohan moves on to the final frontier at the age of 85. The current health of "Welshie" is unknown.

I noticed that some new Saturday Night Live DVDs are coming out, from some of the earlier episodes. There are some "best of" DVDs, like the Best of Gilda Radner, as well as a SNL: First Five Years DVD, which I am unclear on, whether this is another compilation DVD, or just the documentary special that aired recently on NBC. Anyway, I'm not particularly interested in these, but got me wondering again about why they don't release a best of SNL short films, including the Albert Brooks films. So I took a look on-line, and it turns out Albert Brooks has a website, and while it's not overloaded with information, I did notice this interesting tidbit: "Stay tuned, because you never know when [the SNL short films] be offered right here on DVD. We’ll be providing screen shots and more descriptive information shortly." Good news, indeed! I hope they throw in some nice extras, like some stand-up clips, like his See-and-Say ventriloquism act (it actually wasn't a see-and-say, I don't think, but a similar device I've forgotten the name of), or really any of his Johnny Carson appearances.

So, if you deduced that I was full of crap when I said I wouldn't go to Comic-Con this year, you were correct. I couldn't just stand idly by while such an event went down in my own backyard without being a small part of it, so I went ahead and got a one-day pass, and took in the excitement Thursday. There wasn't too much specific going on that day, as most of the exciting panels and whatnot are on the weekend, but I still had a good time.

The nice thing about Thursday is, the place isn't too crowded, and since you don't have to worry too much about navigating the crowds, you can really cover the floor. I probably saw everything in about 90 minutes. I ended up walking the length of the convention center and back at least five times, always remembering something I wanted to see on the other end. Yet I still felt rushed, just because I only had one day, so I didn't tend to dilly-dally at booths for unfamiliar properties. But I managed to hit everything I wanted to see, and spend all my hard-earned money. The Peanuts booth had two Comic-Con exclusive T-shirts, which I will post pictures of when I get a chance. Old school images from the new Fantagraphics anthologies, with Charlie Brown on one shirt, and a cast of characters on the other a la The Brady Bunch. I don't generally wear brown T-shirts, but they are pretty keen, with some glittery writing and all. They had other shirts available, including a Peanuts/Mutts crossover shirt for the museum's new exhibit, which was pretty cool, but since I hope to make it up to the museum sometime relatively soon, I passed on them. I bought the new collection at the Unshelved booth; I was wearing their "Mad About Reading" shirt, so that got me some street cred there. I also bought the new K Chronicles collection. I learned later that his "I'd Rather be Masterbating" bumper stickers were not going to be reordered, so I missed my chance to pick up one a few of those collector's items. I also bought a Comic-Con exclusive Princess Leah action figure for my sister, and some Krazy and Ignatz collections, including some out-of-print books for which I think I got a good price. All in all, I spent just over $100 on stuff, which isn't bad considering the number of options one has to blow money at Comic-Con.

I attended a total of three panels, only one of which I was really excited by. First, I decided to attend the panel for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 2005, just to see what they hell they were thinking. Apparently, they decided the problem with the film is the lack of dialogue, so they digitally removed the original actors and placed new, talking actors into the original sets. It sounds like a terrible idea, but watching clips, it just seems unnecessary. Visually, it looks fine, and in the small, unfinished clips, the dialogue seemed to add nothing. I was offended by the repeated claim by the director that silent films, by their very nature, lack character development, because you can't have fully-rounded characters without dialogue. That's news to me. I am fairly certain I will pass on seeing the finished product, but it hardly seems worth getting too worked up about.

Later, I attended the Bruce Campbell session. I'm not a huge Campbell fan; I liked Bubba Ho-Tep, and vaguely recall watching Army of Darkness. But Campbell is a charismatic guy, and I anticipated he might be fun to hear. And I was right; his session was the highlight of Comic-Con for me this year. He shared some clips from upcoming projects; Disney's Sky High (which I will probably pass on, but which actually looks pretty good), an Evil Dead videogame, and the audio verison of his new book. But most of the time he reserved for Q&A. I have remarked in the past that the questioning at Comic-Con can be quite painful to listen to (my sole comfort in missing the rest of the Con is that I didn't have to listen to the Q&A at the Adult Swim panel...though I am curious if someone asked, "Why did you get rid of Captain Murphy, he was great!" without being aware that the actor died, for the third year in a row), but fortunately Campbell was up to the challenge of keeping things moving. CineSchlock-O-Rama already has a recording of the entire presentation on-line, so I won't go into too much detail. But he was more than willing to state the obvious, and respond to one question with a succinct, "You, sir, are a moron." He was constantly being asked when this or that property would be on DVD, and though he stock answer was, "I am an actor they don't tell me shit," he sometimes would expand a bit; for instance, when asked when Alien Insurrection would be on DVD, he asked, "Why, because it was so good? Are you being a smartass?" He tore into one questioner who asked about the paperback version of his new book, asking how such a cheap bastard could pay to get into Comic-Con. And near the conclusion of the panel, he was asked about his worst experience with Hollywood. Rather than discuss his experiences on a set, he discusses this summer's movie output. The A-pictures of today are yesterday's B-movies, he claimed. "If aliens invade earth in War of the Worlds, that's a B-movie." That may sound like an odd insult, almost a compliment, coming from a man so successful in the world of B-movies, but the B-movie formula doesn't mesh well with Hollywood egos and pomposity. And along with Hollywood, he also went after the exhibitors, and urged the audience to support their independent theatres and revival houses. Which was nice to hear (though our local indie theatre was so on-the-ball in promoting Campbell's new movie, that Campbell himself didn't know Thursday where it was playing...I had to go on the web that evening to find it was a midnight movie at the Hillcrest). Of course, Campbell concluded his call to arms to not support the Hollywood dreck by adding, "But see Sky High." It was a very fun hour of hilarity, and I highly recommend hearing the man speak if he ever is out your way.

The third panel I attended was Keith Knight's, obstensibly celebrating his tenth anniversary (he's been at it much longer than that, but he figured he could only get a panel if he said it was his big 1-0). He, too, was a funny guy, and gave an engaging presentation, more low-key than Bruce Campbell's, but still appealing in its own way. He showed a bunch of slides, talked about the odd controversies that have plagued the strip; a strip about crack whores was censored because a paper's white liberal readership would object to the supposed implication that all black people like crack (yet a Viagra-inspired series of penis jokes ran without comment). He also discussed his long history with Comic-Con, crashing Artist's Alley for several years, then running afoul of Con organizers with his afore-mentioned "I'd rather be masterbating" apparel (he told a funny story about a little girl noticing the bumper stickers, and pointing it out with glee to her mother, who decided it was just perfect for her 12-year-old son). He showcased a wide variety of his work, from the more bizarre and silly to the overtly political. He also disucssed some non-comic work, such as a flier he put up in San Francisco, offering the service of renting out black people for corporate events (he is at work expanding this idea into a larger project, he said). This panel is the reason I decided, if I could only go to Comic-Con one day, to go on Thursday, and it lived up to my expectations.

After the Keith Knight panel, I was ready to go home. I spent a lot of time on the floor, and when it's not too crowded, you can see everything pretty quickly.  I was actually getting a bit bored. I think you're lucky, sort of, if you have to wait in line. Last year, I spent about 90 minutes in line to get autographs from the cast of Freaks and Geeks. That sort of thing sort of splits up your time, so you don't overdo your time on the floor. I also think it hurt that I didn't really have a plan, because I didn't think I was going to make it to Comic-Con this year. So once I bought the few things I knew I wanted, I didn't really have a mission. And basically Thursday isn't the most exciting day at Comic-Con. So the convention did drag at times. And looking over the entire schedule of events, there wasn't a whole lot that interested me this year. There were some things I would have liked to see, but nothing that pained me too much to miss. Still, I had a pretty good time, and am definately glad I went. Next year, I'll do Comic-Con right.

Two weeks of summer school is over. That roughly corresponds to one quarter during the academic year. And I'm still standing. Did horrendously on the last quiz, but I knew that going in. I just wasn't prepared. And one quiz grade will be discarded, so I still have a good grade, though I assume things will only get harder going on. But I am still currently optimistic of my chances of passing. But only time will tell.

Comic-Con is in two weeks, and I will not be attending. I agreed to work that weekend, not realizing it was Comic-Con weekend. And I don't feel like paying $20 or so just for a one-day pass, when I can't make it on a school day before 2:00 or so. I haven't had time to peruse the schedule yet, so if there is something really cool Thursday or Saturday afternoon, I still might go. But I think I just need to focus on Latin this year.

I am gaining more experience with on-line poker. I learned the danger of the "blackjack" option at Paradise Poker. You can open a window with a blackjack game while you play poker. I've had good luck at it, while playing for modest stakes, mostly. But last night, I was playing a $0.50/$1 Hi-Lo Stud game, and lost $30, which pissed me off (lost a bundle with three Queens rolled up). I was just taking a little study break, so I didn't have time to play a tournament to win the money back, so I decided to make my stand at blackjack. And in ten minutes, I had no money in my Paradise Poker account. And I'd built it up pretty nice, winning some $20 buy-in tourneys. So that was an expensive lesson for me: no more blackjack on-line. I'll just stick to poker. I've done pretty good at poker; I've moved up to the $20 single-table tournaments ($100 first prize), and I came in first twice today, helping me start building up a poker bankroll again.

Tanner had another seizure Saturday night. He was lying down around 10:00, and got up and fell over, and started having seizures. It seemed most prevalent on his left side, but all four legs were stiff, but he could still walk somewhat. He even managed to walk outside through his doggie door, so he was apparently conscious during the attack. It didn't seem too severe, but lasted what felt like a long time, but probably was about two minutes, maybe less. It's hard to tell when the seizure ends, exactly, and when he's just confused and disoriented and unsure on his feet. So we called the vet and she didn't ask me to bring Tanner in, but suggested we put him on phenobarbital. The vet said that they don't really need to medicate if seizures are more than a month apart, but that in Tanner's case it might not be a bad idea. I had researched the topic on an on-line canine epilepsy resource, and wasn't surprised the vet suggested phenobarbital, but I am concerned about the side effects, namely lethargy and increased appetite. It's been enough of a struggle keeping Tanner's weight somewhat controlled, without making him sleep and eat more. And once you start the drugs, it's basically a lifetime regemine. So I think we're going to pass on the drugs, unless he has another incident in the next two or three months. However, I should note I made this decision with the belief it had been about four months since Tanner's last seizure; turns out his last seizure was only about two and a half months ago. So while I hope this won't come up again, it would be naive to think this will just magically go away. But before starting Tanner of a lifetime of drugs, I'd like to wait and see a little bit.

I've been looking for good poker resources on the web, and found Poker Tips to have a fair amount of very good information. Both the site reviews and strategy tips are quite useful.

One week of summer school down, five weeks (and one day) to go. So far, so good. Got an A on my first quiz, and while I didn't do as well on today's quiz (forgot a few vocab words, like "high" and "deep"), I certainly passed. Monday's quiz should give me a better idea where I stand. There is a lot of material to cover in a short time, but I think I may be better off than in a traditional year-long Latin course, where I would be more tempted to put things off and not study as much, and just hope I pick things up as I go along. Here I know I can't get away with that. And the new textbook does seem much better than the tradional text.

One annoying thing: Parking is as bad in the summer as it is all year. There's hardly any student parking lots left on campus. The first day, I tried parking in the Gilman parking structure, and while I knew it was mostly staff and faculty parking, I was shocked just how little student parking there is. There is a dorm parking lot not far from there, where I had luck parking the first couple days, but it was full on Thursday, and for the last two days I've parked over by the La Jolla Playhouse. I paid almost $100 for the parking permits (we run a week longer than the traditional summer session, so I had to buy an occasional use permit as well), and ended up parking a five-minute walk away from free street parking for almost half the week. At least I learned a valuable lesson to never again buy a permit for school (I still need occasional use permits to park at work, but at least there's plenty of spaces available).

Today I didn't even try to get a good parking space, seeing as the drive to school was bad enough. I spilled coffee all over myself, and didn't have time to go home and change. What was odd was, I managed to really up-end the coffee mug, so that I spilled some on my lap, but most of it wound up in my face. I had to pull over and get a rag out of the trunk to wipe my face and glasses clean. I don't quite understand just how I managed to pull that off. Guess it's just part of the bad luck I've been having playing poker on-line (I lost almost everything I won, but now I've won a good chunck of it back).

It's Tuesday evening, and I've survived two days of my intensive Latin course. It's actually not too bad. It seems like, if you really get down to it, we're probably only covering about twice as much material as we would in one class, but without the dead days for quizzes and tests, when we probably wouldn't cover much in a regular class. In this course, we have to cover two new chapters the night before the quiz on the last chapters. But if you've sucessfully navigated two chapters beyond what you're being quizzed on (though he says some of the material in that night's homework will turn up on the exams), you should be pretty well-prepared. And the new textbook does seem a lot less overwhelming than Wheelock's Latin, the definative textbook of the subject, which the professor explained was being temperarily abandoned both as an experiment to see if the summer course's 50-75% attrition rate can be improved, as well as the existance of sites like the one linked to above, giving the answers to every homework assignment in the book (which doesn't seem particularly helpful when exams are almost your entire grade, and you are required to read and discuss the homework assignments in class).

Overall, I'm cautiously optimistic of my chances in the course. And I've already booked my post-school Vegas vacation. I had hoped to take a more leisurely trip, along the lines of my last trip, but I forgot Mom was going up to Michelle's for the baby shower, so I have to stay home with the dog. So my trip was cut short, and now I have to fly. $118 round trip with taxes, more than the last time I flew (years ago), but the price seemed reasonable enough to me. Fly in Sunday after work, stay three nights at the Las Vegas Hilton, and fly back that afternoon. I hate flying, but when the destination is Vegas, I'll face down Satan himself to get there. I get off work at 5, and my flight is after 8, so I should have plenty of time to get hammered before I get on the plane. Looked into renting a car, but that's a lot more expensive than I anticipated, so I think I'll just take a shuttle or taxi.

The on-line poker's going okay. Since I mentioned my big poker wins here, I haven't had much luck, just treading water. But that beats losing. Breaking even isn't bad at all, considering I fully admit I'm not that great a Texas Hold 'Em player. But that's obviously the way the wind is blowing, so I should learn. And I am improving. I've carefully considered why I lost the tournaments I've lost, and while there are other holes in my play, it seems like at least half the tournaments I've busted out of, the pivotal hand that killed me involved my misplaying of middle pairs. I'm pretty comfortable throwing away low pairs, but 77 and 88 have killed me quite a few times. So I've been much more cautious playing those hands, and seem to have noticed an improvement in my bottom-line (I've also been watching how others play the hand, and it seems like improving one's skills in playing such hands can give one a big advantage over a lot of fairly decent players). Of course, I just now (and I mean just now, I was playing in one window while typing here between hands) got knocked out of a tournament with AQ when someone went all-in with 22 and made trips, so what do I know?

I don't think I've mentioned my summer reading. I've been reading Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America. From what little details I knew, the story of the flood and its aftermath sounded fascinating, and I was eager to learn more about it. Also, as a Randy Newman fan, it seemed a good opportunity to gain a deeper appreciation of the song "Louisiana 1927." The book is quite interesting, taking its time in telling the back story of the river. I wasn't sure how interesting 100 pages on the arguments of engineers on how best to manage the river would be particularly interesting, but it is. I've just now gotten to the actual flood, so I can better judge the book after I've gotten through the heart of it, but just from the set-up, I give it a thumbs up.

A storm is brewing over dice-based craps-style games in California tribal casinos. It demonstrates the awesome power of the California state gaming regulators that half the casinos with the game in San Diego have no qualms ignoring their edicts.

My host at Valley View Casino just called me back. They signed me up for the slot tournament, but explained that the resort was booked up, so I wouldn't get a room. The offer clearly stated, "rooms based on availability," and I don't doubt they were in small supply, but it still sucks, because that is a long drive. I might look in to a room at Harrah's, they no longer like to give me free rooms, especially on a weekend, but I wouldn't mind paying a reasonable amount. Unfortunately, a quick check on-line reveals a quote of $99 for one night and $149 for the other, so I don't think I'll do that. I don't look forward to driving up to Valley View early in the morning, two days straight. If the tournament turns out to be a bust, they may have a disillusioned player on their hands.

I was at the mall last weekend, and I ducked into Target, to see if they had the new WarioWare game for the Game Boy. I enjoyed the previous installment in the series, and was tempted to plunk down a bit of my gambling winnings on a new game. Target did have the game in stock, but I noticed it was on the wrong shelf, where some old game was being advertised for $14.99. So I asked the clerk if she could tell me how much the WarioWare game was, since it was misshelved, and she said, since the wrong price was posted, she would give me that price. Turns out the game was $30, so I saved 50%. Pretty sweet, especially since it turns out to be a pretty cool game.

If you're unfamiliar with the original game, the idea was to advance as far as you could on various levels, by playing a variety of games. The gimmick is that each game lasts only five seconds. You're given a one-word instruction, and you have five seconds to figure out what you're trying to do, and do it. I got a lot of mileage out of the very addictive game, probably as much if not more than any Game Boy game I've ever owned. The best part of the game was trying to figure out just what you were trying to do in some of the odder games, but even once you're well-familiar with all the games, it still holds up to repeat play. So I had high hopes for the sequel, even though it sounded a little too gimmicky. In WarioWare: Twisted, the twist is that you literally have to twist the game. The cartridge has some sort of centrifuge in it, which detects motion, and so the only way you can control the game is to tilt the entire Game Boy (some games also use the "A" button, but that's it). I feared this would just be another example of a failed attempt by Nintendo to introduce some new bizarre gimmicky device they can use to justify higher game prices, and I also feared that the controls might be too difficult. I am pleased to say I was wrong, and the tilting controls work great, and are fun to play. The game includes a rumble pack, so in addition to the screen, the vibrations give you good reinforcement as you twist the game. Sometimes it's hard to see the screen when you're really frantically twisting, but that's part of the challenge of the game. And the graphics and sound are very reminiscent of the first, so if you liked the look of that game, you'll have no complaints. Only time will tell if this game's replay value is as high as the original. But so far, I've been very impressed.

So, I've just been squandering time, waiting for summer school to start this week. I got my textbook and parking permit today, so I'm all set to start the fun of Intensive Latin. Should be a hoot.

In anticipation of lots of homework, I've been looking for ways to waste time, and so I've been playing poker on-line again. I've been leery of on-line poker, because I'm an okay poker player, and tend to win more sessions than I lose, but on occasion I get upset and lose far more than I ever win, and very rarely do I actually cash out any money from on-line poker rooms (I've had better luck in brick and mortar establishments, but the poker rooms around here aren't all that great, and with the large rake and lousy comps, not worth the long drive...especially since Viejas almost never spreads 3-6 Stud/8 anymore). I'm playing at Paradise Poker, a site I've played at before. I chose to play there primarily because they will cover your Neteller fees for an instant transfer, so I could start playing right away and not wait a few days for the funds to clear (or pay the 8.5% instant transfer fee). It also looked like the site was still doing well, though maybe not quite as busy as it was a few years ago. Or it could just be that the non-Hold 'Em games have lost players, so it just feels that way. In any event, in hopes that things will be different this time, I'm pretty much sticking to tournaments. That way, if I go on tilt, the most I can lose is the tournament entry fee. So I've played quite a few tournaments this week, and to my surprise, I've won quite a few. I've mostly been playing the $10+1 single-table tournaments, so the wins haven't been huge ($50 for first place, or lesser amounts for the rest of the top three), but it's added up pretty well, so that I've made about $130 this week. And that's including the losses I suffered when I tried moving up to $20+2 tournaments (I got third place a few times, but that doesn't really help much, you lose one tournament, finish third in another, and you're still down money after the entry fee). So that's not bad at all. I'm not a great hold 'em player, but I'm not bad, and seem to do well in the single-table tournament structure.

I figure on-line poker for low stakes will satisfy my gambling urges between Vegas trips, but it looks like I will be making one stop by my local indian gaming establishment. I got an invitation to a slot tournament next month at Valley View Casino. Unlike their standard offer, a monthly $6,000 tournaments, this one has a $60,000 prize pool, with a $10,000 grand prize. Also included is a weekend stay at Pala Mesa, a posh golf resort up in Fallbrook somewhere (this is a pretty nice offer, being what is called in the business a "hard" comp...Valley View doesn't own a hotel, so putting me up in a room involves them paying cash for a room, and while I'm sure they get a good deal since they're probably renting out most of the resort, it's still a bigger coup comp-wise than a free hotel in Vegas, say), four free meals, and a gift valued at $1100. I am sceptical as to the true value of the supposed eleven hundred dollar gift (my guess is some sort of crystal vase, that seems to be a popular gift at high-end slot tourneys...or possibly jewelry...probably nothing I want), it's still a great offer. I had decided I wouldn't be going up to Valley View much anymore because the long drive offsets the value of their very generous comps. But an offer like this reminds me that they really do treat their players right. A stark contrast to Harrah's, down the road from them.

Unfortunately, it is not confirmed 100% that I will attend the tournament. I've taken a lot of time off work due to summer school, and I felt really bad asking for another weekend off. But I called work today, and while Ross has to check with the big guy, it looks like we're adequately staffed that weekend, and it should be fine. So I think I shall attend. Also, my next Vegas trip has morphed a bit. I was hoping to go Monday-Thursday, but it turns out Mom is going out of town Wednesday afternoon for Michelle's baby shower. So I need to be home to take her to the airport and be with the dog while she's gone (Tanner's sick today...I was concerned until I learned Mom gave him a hot dog...well, gee whiz, Mom, you think that has something to do with the vomiting?). So I've decided that I need to do what I hate to do, and fly to Vegas. I can get the Southwest "Fun Fare" of $49 each way, and fly out after work on Sunday, so by getting a little extra time Sunday, and being able to gamble longer on the days that would mostly be taken up by driving, I don't think I'll miss the extra days. And I'll only have to take one day off work, which should make them happy. Mom will fly out Wednesday, drive herself to the airport, leave the parking ticket in the car, and I'll drive the car home myself when I get in. A plan so perfect, it just might work. I hate flying, and hate not having a car (though between the deals on rental cars and the rising expense and hassle of taxis and shuttles, maybe I'll rent a car), but this will work. I have a good offer to stay at the Las Vegas Hilton those days, which includes $100 in promotional chips (you can't cash them in, but you play with them until you lose...I got a $25 promotional chip at NYNY this last trip, and turned it into $150). I'll probably go ahead and book that, but I'll keep a close eye on my mailbox in case the Venetian or Wynn sends me any juicy offers.

I'm home (well, at this very moment, I'm actually at work), resting and recuperating after a fun and profitable Vegas vacation. I won a fair amount of cash, enough to offset the money I won't be making during summer school, when I'll be down to working one day a week. And I had fun, playing in some new casinos and checking out the sights of the Strip.

I attempted to post a second time from my hotel room at Green Valley Ranch, but my two hours ran out right before I finished the post. As I suggested in my last post, I wasn't as impressed by Green Valley Ranch this stay. Partly, I may just be growing complacent, not appreciating the luxury of the hotel now that I've stayed there many times. But there were definitely problems with my stay. My first night there, I woke up at about six in the morning with a sharp pain in my right calf. I don't know why, but for some reason the leg was suddenly seized by an excruciatingly sharp pain. I got up and walked around, and it gradually got better, and I went back to sleep, planning to sleep in. Instead, I was awoke at 10:00 by the sound of drilling outside my room. Apparently they were replacing the light fixtures in the hallway, even though this wing of the hotel is only months old. The next night, I was awaken even earlier, by hammering before 10:00. No hotel should allow work in the common areas before 10:00 AM. So that annoyed me.

My other main complaint occurred moments after my previous post. As I said, I concluded my post and went downstairs to dine at Il Fornaio. I wasn't hungry earlier, so planned on a late dinner, as the in-room guide said they close at 11:00. But lo and behold, I go downstairs and they were closed. They close at 10:00, just as virtually every place to eat at Green Valley Ranch does. The only place still open was Fatburger, so I ate there, even though I don't really get the appeal. But they don't take room charges, so I had to pay with my slot club points, and I still owed a dollar. The upshot was, I had close to $50 to spend on breakfast the next day. So I ordered room service, and was really blown away. Yes, it was expensive, but it was top quality. I ordered the french toast, which was corn-encrusted, with a cream cheese filling and bananas foster sauce on the side. I really liked it, and the sausage and toast I ordered on the side were pretty good, too, though there's not much you can do to toast. I also ordered a double latte, just because I had the funds available; it was fine, but with the in-room coffee-maker, not worth $6. Service was real good, too, arrived a few minutes early, and the server was all class. I've never ordered room service before, so it was a nice little thrill, and I'm sure I'll do it again. That used up about half my remaining credit; I spent about $15 in the gift shop, and that got me pretty close to the $100 mark.

I checked out of Green Valley Ranch around 11:00, down a small amount of money, and drove to the Las Vegas Hilton to play for awhile until I could check in at New York-New York. Sadly, my luck was pretty sour at the Hilton, so I left, to go explore the Wynn, via the Riviera. It was hot, and the cocktail service at the Hilton was poor (I couldn't get a bottled water to save my life), so I was dehydrated, and the walk across the asphalt just from the Hilton to the Riviera was unpleasant. I got some water at the Riviera, and planned to sign up for a players card there, to get the $10 free slot play they give new sign-ups, but the line was too long, so I left for the Wynn. The walk from the Riviera to the Wynn was longer than I thought, and rather unpleasant. I wouldn't recommend the walk. Also, coming from the North, I had some difficulty finding the entrance to the Wynn. I personally confirmed reports that the front of the casino was poorly designed, as the traffic circle in front seemed woefully inadequate for a resort of this size, with quite a backlog of taxis. Once I gained entry, however, I was instantly impressed. Entering through the central entrance, one immediately faces a beautiful garden, with tons of flowers and natural light. Later on, I would go to the conservancy at the Bellagio, a monstrosity with animatronic eaglets as part of a gaudy 4th of July patriotic theme. A comparison of how the Bellagio is currently managed and how the Wynn is being run puts Steve Wynn in a much better light than many of the Wynn Casino reviews have suggested. There are certainly aspects of the design in which, yes, the understated qualities are overstated, but this garden, for instance, is simply understated elegance. I especially would appreciate the natural lighting when I returned that evening, and discovered it was now evening in the garden, as well. What other casino actually notes the passage of time? True, once you're in the gambling hall, natural light is replaced by 24/7 brightness, but still it's a nice touch. I walked around, checking out the sights, and was suitably impressed. Then I got a players club, and took a seat at a blackjack table. I heard reports they often have $25 limits at double-deck, but I didn't see any. I did find a $50 minimum table, which was raised to $100 shortly after I sat down (I was grandfathered in at the lower limit). I had good luck, mostly, and won back what I lost at the Hilton. Played with a couple rich Texans, who were splashing money around just like everyone else in this joint. I didn't mind gambling there, but I must admit not feeling really comfortable there. Not that anyone working there made me uncomfortable; service was top-notch all-around. Drink service was excellent; for those who are interested in such things, my cocktail server looked more like a stripper than a waitress. But despite the ample silicone on display, the service was superb, the sort of service you expect from the older waitresses in town, who know they have to depend on their service for good tips. I played almost two hours before cashing out. I'm hoping the action I gave them, as well as a little bit of video poker play the next night, might get me some mail. I'd be surprised if I got a free room, but I wouldn't mind paying a fair price to stay there. I wasn't looking forward to walking back to the Hilton, but fortunately, I noticed a sign pointing to a monorail shuttle. The pit boss explained that it takes to you to the convention center stop, which is one stop away from the Hilton. So I was excited by that. The wait for the shuttle wasn't long at all. It turns out, the shuttle just takes a loop along the back end of their property, dropping you off on the edge of their lot, across the street from the convention center shuttle. I was now fully hydrated, and decided to save the $3 and walk back. A much more pleasant walk than the crowded walk along the strip, and in no time I was at the Hilton. I chose not to gamble here again, got my car, and headed to New York-New York, hitting a drug store to get food and water for the room.

Check in at New York-New York was fine, and in a matter of minutes, I was on my way to the room. The front desk clerk was helpful, and gave me a map to find my way to the elevator. To use the elevator, you need to insert a room key. My hands were full with my luggage and shopping bags and paperwork, and on top of that, the technology didn't work very well, so I had to just ride the elevator a little while with other befuddled guests, until we finally got it working and selected our floors. The layout was a little strange, with twisting halls, which was just slightly claustrophobic, but not too bad (which is to say, not like Imperial Palace). My room was not far from the elevator, and my first impression upon entering was how small the room was. It was nice, though. I settled in a bit, then went into the bathroom, which was fairly nice, with lots of marble. I then admired the various toiletries offered in the room: shampoo, conditioner, lotion, used bar of soap, half-roll of Rolaids. I was a bit peeved that they did such a poor job cleaning my room, when a few minutes later I discovered the previous occupants trip itinerary. I thought that was odd, but on closer examination I realized they were not due to check out until Friday. After verifying that their luggage was not in the room, I called down to the front desk and explained that I found some possessions of the previous guest, including a flight itinerary they might need, and that I believed they might still be in the hotel in another room. Rather than appologize for doing such a poor job cleaning my room, they seemed annoyed I was wasting their time, and at first denied that anyone moved out of my room, but then verified they were in fact still in the hotel. So I brought it down to someone at the front desk, who seemed confused but said she would pass it along. The poor housekeeping service, and the overall unimpressive room, made me fairly certain I wouldn't stay here again, so I had no problem gambling elsewhere, and not worrying about future comps here. I ended up playing a little video poker one night, and playing some pai gow the next, with a $25 promotional chip they gave me, but played very little here. I did play some video poker at Bellagio as well, which uses the same players card as New York-New York.

I did eat two free meals at New York-New York. As part of my stay, they gave me a $25 credit at Nine Fine Irishmen or whatever they call their Irish Pub. I ordered meatloaf, an odd choice for me, as I don't think I've ever ordered meatloaf in my life. I wasn't particularly hungry, so it was probably a poor choice, as I got a huge block of meat. It was pretty good, though. It's just not the kind of food I like. But I ordered it partly because it had been so long since I'd had meatloaf, and partly because I figued it would be a good thing to eat cold in my room later, and I was right (though it did give me horrible heartburn around four in the morning). The pub is overpriced, and the atmosphere didn't do too much for me, but if you like pseudo-authentic Irish pubs, and you're on the South Strip, you might like it.

I had lunch the following day at the ESPN Zone. This comped meal had nothing to do with gambling, but rather was the result of a great promotion they have on their website. All you have to do is join the ESPN Zone MVP Club, and you'll receive a $20 gift certificate, a $10 game card for the arcade, and a free six-pack cooler. Sadly, I would leave the six-pack cooler at the Pai Gow table (which is actually a shame, as it was pretty nice, much nicer than I expected), but I took full advantage of the other two gifts. $20 will barely cover a meal in the overpriced restaurant. Actually, as all I wanted was a cheeseburger, I got off cheap, and probably could have squeezed in dessert, too, though I might have owed a dollar or two. But you can't complain about getting $20 in free food for just signing up for an e-mail newsletter you can cancel anytime (the free magazine offer they tout is something you have to opt-in for, so no need to worry about cancelling it unless you want to receive the free issues). I forgot the menu said burgers served well-done unless requested, so I found the burger rather dry. But not bad, and the fries were good. The arcade was okay. Not a lot of stuff I like to play, but they had two pinball machines. I also managed to score respectably on the golf simulator, for a first-timer. I didn't want to waste much precious gambling time in an arcade, but it was a nice little break.

So concludes my impressions of New York-New York. While I generally spend a lot of time in the hotel I'm staying at (I never went outside during my two days at Green Valley Ranch), this trip I moved around a lot. I set food in the Monte Carlo for the first time (wasn't impressed). I gambled at Bellagio for the first time (won $100 on video poker). I rode the monorail a lot (which meant trekking through the MGM Grand a lot--another casino that really doesn't impress me at all). I spent most of my time, however, on the North Strip, especially the Venetian and Wynn, and a fair amount of time at the Las Vegas Hilton.

While at Green Valley Ranch, I read an odd and disturbing article about the Venetian gondola attraction's duck infestation. It was distressing that the ducks would be left to starve, but the article seems to suggest the ducks will soon be able to leave on their own, or that they could very easily be relocated. So it seems like it's gotten rather blown out of proportion. But still, I was tempted to pick up some cheerios to feed to them, but decided not to. When I made it over to the Venetian, I looked for the ducks, and sure enough, they were chilling on some gondolas, not looking like anything was wrong. I intended to buy a bagel or something to feed them on my way out, but soon it was late, and the ride was running, and I'm sure security would have frowned on me feeding them. And it's my vacation, and I was a bit self-absorbed, nothing wrong with that. I'm sure the ducks will be okay.

I don't know if the Venetian is feeding the ducks, but they fed my wallet pretty good. I had some small wins on a few visits, and my last night, I really cleaned up. They have a pretty good game, and I was surprised by the low limits. Considering the place was fairly busy, I was surprised I could consistently get a seat at a double-deck game with a $25 minimum. I imagine the situation is different on weekends, but compared to their neighbor the Wynn, the limits were completely reasonable (I never found a $50 table at the Wynn again; my last visit, the limits on the three open double-deck games were $100, $200, and $300 respectively). Their are better games in town, but for a property of its caliber, I was surprised by the availability. I played here a fair amount, and am hoping some good offers. I would really like to stay there, especially as I found myself feeling more comfortable than I thought I would there. It always seemed a bit too ritzy, with well-dressed executives mingling with trendy eurotrash, and I figured I'd feel out of place. That's why I like Green Valley Ranch, with an ultra-swank hotel partnered with a locals casino with a more down-to-earth clientele. But I didn't feel too out of place at the Venetian. Money talks, and any slob in a smelly tee-shirt is treated fine if he's playing enough. I don't see it becoming my home casino anytime soon, but with the Harrah's/Caesar merger ruining my last home casino (I played three hours there this trip, and earned a whopping $3 on my card), maybe I shouldn't have a home casino anymore...move around from trip to trip. But I would like to stay at Venetian sometime, check out their rooms. Pictures on-line sure make them look nice.

Incidentally, I thought I might have played blackjack with Stephen Spielberg at the Venetian. I think I was mistaken, though. Looked a lot like him, though. But maybe I'm just doubting myself too much; I would be more certain, but I was pretty sure I was playing with Quentin Tarentino the night before, but it turns out it was just a real ugly guy.

I won't go on about every single time I gambled. I'll just say the North end of the Strip is showing a lot of potential. I liked Venetian, liked the Wynn. Stayed away from the Stardust, just because the offers they've been sending me in the mail are an insult. $39/night for that dump? But I can get free rooms at Green Valley Ranch, which go for $250/night or so? Get real. I think they're just trying to trim the riff-raff from their database before they level the place to build Borgata Las Vegas, as the rumor has it.

Beyond the gambling, I didn't do to much. Went to the Bellagio, saw the conservatory, which was crappy, as I've noted. I never did see the dancing fountains there this trip, though...which is a shame, I really enjoy watching that. Saw a little bit from a distance, but that's it. I was over near TI, but the pirate show was cancelled due to technical difficulties. I've never seen the revamped show, would like to know if it's as bad as everyone says. I guess seeing the Wynn was the main spectacle for the trip. I enjoyed the common areas. I also enjoyed the outside approaching from the south side, from the Venetian. The mountain doesn't seem like much, just a bunch of waterfalls, but the effect is quite nice. More understated than the Mirage volcano, and as a result much less ridiculous. All in all, the Wynn doesn't reinvent Las Vegas or anything, it just shows that Steve Wynn has learned his lesson from the Golden Nugget/Mirage/Bellagio/etc., what works and what doesn't work, and produced a pretty neat place. Next time, I'll have to eat there, see if he got that right.

So in the end, I earned a not insubstantial amount of money. I figure it's easily more than I will be missing out on when I'm only working one day a week during summer school, so that's a plus. My last day in Vegas, I checked out of the hotel, had lunch at Paris, riding the monorail one last time (I got a good value out of my $10 one day pass, and passed it on to some guy outside the MGM Grand station before I left, to enjoy the last few hours left), and used up my credits in the ESPN Zone arcade, then hit the road. I hit the road a bit later than usual, and had some traffic along the way. I didn't stop much, just to get gas, and later to use the bathroom at Target, where I got Tanner a toy (a pink flamingo he really seems to enjoy) and myself a Mint Mocha Chip Frappachino at Starbucks (hated it). Hit traffic, but was home by 6:30 or so. All in all, a profitable and enjoyable trip. Green Valley Ranch disappointed me, but is still a pretty nice place. Wynn was nice to see, exceeding my expectations, lowered as they were by negative reviews. My opinion of the monorail improved, as it does seem to be a good value if you're staying on the North end of the Strip (I forget just how far apart some of the casinos are). I see no reason to stay at New York-New York, but at least I can add one more hotel to the list of Vegas hotels in which I've stayed. I saw a duck, which is always exciting to me, even if it was under uncertain circumstances. And Tanner got a new rope and plush toy to destroy. A fun vacation and a well-needed refresher. Now I just need to book a vacation for the week after summer school ends (I figure if they can do without me at work for six weeks, one more won't hurt).

Hello, in what I do believe is my first ever posting live from Las Vegas! I am currently in my room at Green Valley Ranch, where I have paid $6 for the priviledge of accessing the internet for two hours in my room on my hotel TV. I forgot, the lastime I used one of these, I vowed, never again, because the technology and keyboard are crap. I hope this is relatively error-free, but I appologize if it is more typo-laden than usual, and blame my keyboard and the ridiculous display.

So yes, I'm in Vegas. I forget if I got out a quick goodbye post, but yes, I did leave, and yes, I'm here. The drive was uneventful; getting past Barstow was a bit hairy, and while it didn't seem like I was stopped that long, the total drive took about 5 hours and 40 minutes, which is pretty slow for me, espeically since I didn't stop much. I checked in to my room at Green Valley Ranch around 3:30. Nice room, but not particularly thrilling, just what I expect from them, which is pretty high quality. I have a view of the parking garage, unfortunately, but nothing else to complain about. After checking in, I immediately headed down to gamble, and immediately got slaughtered. Some splits and double downs really turned ugly. I took a breather up in my room, then gave it another try, and did even worse (though it took me longer to lose this time). So it was on a sour note that I went to dinner.

I had an early lunch, and was hungry, so I decided to have the all-you-can-eat sushi the first night, rather than Il Fornaio. I was on the fence about the sushi place, so this would be a good chance to make up my mind. I must say, the all-you-can-eat deal is a solid value. The sushi didn't really blow me away, but it was quite reasonable for the price. Except for some market price items, the menu was pretty inclusive, including expensive rolls and non-sushi appetizers, as well as soup and noodle bowls. But I stuck to sushi. They post slightly intimidating rules, which were fairly reasonable, mainly that you have to eat the rice, too, you can only order one roll at a time, and you will be charged for uneaten portions. This being my first time there, I think I felt too much pressure to get top value for the cost, and ordered too many rolls, which aren't my favorite, necessarily. The Alaskan roll was pretty good, but the Godzilla roll (eel and fried shrimp, and I think some other form of seafood as well as avocado) was just too much. But if you enjoy this kind of thing, this buffet is a great value, since those rolls can be close to $15 there. My first order of Unagi was fantastic, but a follow-up order was some of the grittiest eel I've had. I understand this happens with Unagi, but it was still disappointing. The Mackeral was pretty good, too. I got there just after opening, and they weren't busy at all, so I was impressed by how fast I got my made-to-order sushi. Again, on straight quality, while it's not bad, I'm still not real impressed. But for the value, the all-you-can-eat weekday special is something I will return for.

I really need to go get dinner, so I'll keep this short. Gambling was uneventful, pretty much; I won most of my money back. Will take one more stab at break-even after dinner; it would be nice to be even or ahead before I begin my strip vacation, but in any event, I've done well enough that my bankroll will still be respectable when I get over to Las Vegas Blvd. and check out the Wynn. I had breakfast at The Original Pancake House. It was okay; I ordered french toast, and wasn't as impressed as I had been by their pancakes, so I guess I'll stick to their specialty in the future. The coffee was good; don't know how good it was, but I'm not one to rave about coffee, so if I noticed it, it must be pretty good. I had lunch at the buffet. I wasn't very hungry, but felt like I got a decent value. I wasn't impressed in the past, and was even less impressed this time; I mostly just ate some decent chinese food. But the desserts are impressive. Most notable is the real hot fudge (not hershey's syrup, or even real chocolate sauce), something I don't think I've seen in a buffet before. Since I often move on to dessert quite early in my buffet dining experience, this alone moves the Green Valley Ranch buffet way up on my list.

And now I will be getting dressed and heading down for a late dinner at Il Fornaio. This is the only restaurant at Green Valley Ranch that really impresses me, so I'm sure it will be a fine meal. All in all, I'm having a good time. I like the hotel here, and I enjoy the colorful characters you meet in the laid-back casino. I just wish I hadn't paid for this crappy internet (especially since I didn't have any good e-mail)--though with my hotel credit from the marketing department, I shouldn't have to pay my own cash. I should even have enough after dinner to order room service for breakfast (though the 20% gratuity on the inflated prices cuts down on the value, although I usually tip high as a percentage for breakfast, especially when dining alone). But I'll wrap this up now, and post any stories that occur to me when I get home. I realize it's a boring post, but I just wanted to let you know Las Vegas has not yet devoured me and spit me out.

For the second year in a row, I have coincidentally booked my Las Vegas vacation to coincide with the Las Vegas film festival. Last year I was trying to rush over to see a documentary on Billy Joe Shaver (who was profiled in a rather bland piece on 60 Minutes last week), but hit about the worst traffic I've experienced on my way to Vegas (the drive back is usually the bad one) and missed it. This year, the only thing I see that I'd really like to see while I'm there is The Aristocrats, which plays the evening of my first night in town. Might be hard to pull myself away from the tables to be on stand-by for a movie that just involves telling the same dirty joke over and over again, especially since it appears to be sold-out and I'd be in the stand-by line, but it is something I've been wanting to see for some time. So we'll see how the tables treat me at first, and if I'm ready for a break, I might check it out.

Work has begun on The Simpsons: The Movie. Of course, based on some recent episodes, it's hard to get too excited. Like that god-awful episode where Bart becomes a rapper. God, how many times have they re-run that piece of crap?

Not invited to Governor Schwarzenegger's conference calls? Why not invest in a product placement in his latest television campaign?

Penn Jilette has named his daughter Moxie CrimeFighter.

Apparently, John Coleman, local San Diego weatherman and founder of The Weather Channel, won some sort of meteorological award. I just caught the tail end of the news report, and having become obsessed with him for some reason I can't quite say (and a few interesting stories I've heard, which libel law forbids me repeating here), I tried to find a news story on-line, but no luck (KUSI doesn't have a web site to speak of). But I did find this interesting article about Mr. Coleman's ability to polarize our fine city.

Read the shocking story of comic legend Gallagher's latest tale of woe here and here. Gallagher apparently turned violent when waitresses selling alcohol became, in Gallagher's words, "distracting to the magical moments I'm trying to create." And truly, has a better discription of the genius of Gallagher ever been uttered? It's a shame for poor Gallagher, but the true victim here is audience member William Edwin May III, a Gallagher fan for 20 years, who believed, before the assault, that Gallagher is "here to the truth." Amen, brother...now what is he supposed to believe in? Gallagher 2?

The Museum of the American West in Griffith Park is opening an exhibit on Sergio Leone in July. Sounds exciting.

So, school is just about done. Friday was the last day of instruction. I have a paper due Monday, and a paper due Friday. The Friday paper is something I should be able to crank out in an hour or so, so I'm hoping I can turn it in Monday as well, save myself a trip to the literature building. I was supposed to have another take-home final, but the professor surprised us on Friday by saying there would be no final after all (not a huge shock, since it had occured to me, were there to be a final, she probably would have given us some details before the last day of class). She just wanted to keep us motivated, so we'd all go see Head-On in film lab the last week of class.

The only substantial piece of work I still have to do for the quarter is an eight-page paper on Benjamin Franklin and Gerrard Winstanley on their conflicting notions of citizenship, with Winstanley rebelling against the enclosures and demanding an end to private ownership of land, while Franklin is attempting to define a notion of business ethics and how to be a good citzen within a capitalist system. Or something like that. I intended to compare Winstanley with Margaret Cavendish, with a similar thesis regarding the role of a citizen in forming a utopian society, but it was a stretch, and in the course's pentultimate lecture, on Franklin and business ethics, among other things, it seemed a more interesting and less forced argument to compare him to Winstanley. I have yet to write a word of the paper, but I am confident I can write a tightly-argued paper to the satisfaction of the requirements laid out for the assignment. Our grade is basically two papers, I got an A on the first, so as long as I don't self-destruct on this paper (which I have done before), I'll be fine.

I had hoped to make substantial progress on the paper today at work, being a Sunday, which means I'll be in the office most of the day. Unfortunately, I forgot Sir David Attenborough is going to be speaking here today, receiving the Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest. I don't know how many attendees of his lecture will also be coming to the aquarium (the lecture is free, but does not include aquarium admission), but we'll probably be busy, and even if we're not, they'll probably need me to man checkpoint and do other duties. But even if I just get a page or two written, the first page is always the hardest, and if I can get a little momentum going before I get home and finish the paper, maybe I'll get to bed at a decent hour, and be able to get my other assignment completed in time to turn in Monday, as well. Of course, the fact that I'm writing this post rather than the paper shows I'm allowing myself to get distracted. But I'm sure it will all work itself out somehow.

I had dinner last night at East Buffet on Miramar Road. It purports to be the largest buffet in San Diego, and after eating there, I'd be hard-pressed to argue the point. The selection was quite broad, and while the food was not of the top quality, it was certainly adequate, and at $12 for dinner on weekends (weekdays and lunch prices are even more of a bargain), you can't beat the value. The sushi station was quite good by buffet standards, with the various rolls you expect, but also plenty of nigiri sushi options, including salmon, tuna and mackerel. Again, not the best selection or highest quality fish, but for the price, better than I expected. I definately recommend it, especially if you like seafood and sushi. The mongolian grill looked good, but always had a long line. Desserts were actually pretty good, by asian buffet standards. It was pretty busy on a Saturday night, and I understand the wait to be seated for lunch can be long.

With the pressures of school reaching their peak in the final weeks of the quarter, and with the daunting task of taking intensive latin in summer school casting its dark shadow on my soul, how do I find relief? I booked four nights in Vegas the week after finals, two nights at Green Valley Ranch and two at New York New York. The trip will give me a chance to recharge before summer school, but the real value is in the anticipation, keeping my eye on the prize as I struggle through the quarter's endgame. Of course, the trip itself will be nice. I've never stayed at NYNY before, and as I probably won't gamble much there for reasons I'll leave unsaid, I can expand my horizons along the strip. I got a decent offer in the mail from the Venetian, for $99/night rooms weeknights, with just a minimal amount of slot play, so I intend to play some blackjack there and see what mail that generates. I hate paying for rooms in Vegas, but if I can get them down a little bit more, I'd pay to check out the Venetian, given all the great things I've heard about their rooms. I also will be checking out the Wynn, of course. I was surprised that the blackjack limits there were lower than I thought; I figured you'd be SOL looking for anything below $100 in double-deck. But I was wrong, apparently, and I intend to play a bit there, too, see if I can generate any room offers, or maybe get a buffet comp (though reviews of the buffet sound rather underwhelming). The japanese restaurant is also supposed to be more affordable than I thought, so I might give that a try. But I will be having the sushi buffet at GVR, and I do have several free dining offers to take up on while on the strip, so I don't know if I'll pay for sushi this trip (or if I do, it will be to take advantage of happy hour at the Fashion Show Mall across the street from the Wynn). I also am toying with the idea of seeing Gladys Knight this trip, which I consider almost every trip. The one time I finally resolved to see her, she was sick. With a four night stay, making time for a show shouldn't be too hard. I'll probably leave it up to fate, and go if the 1/2 price ticket outlets have any tickets for her. But I definately will see her sometime; "Midnight Train to Georgia" is one of my favorite songs. Beyond that, my goals are to make a bunch of money, see the Wynn, have some good food, relax, see the Bellagio Conservatory (it was closed for the seasonal change-over last time I tried), try to have the Paris buffet for tradition's sake, and just have a good time. I can hardly stand the wait. If you would like to recreate my anguished websurfing while waiting for the week to pass, check out Las Vegas Advisor (though there's not much for free here, and I'd have a hard time recommending a membership since I'm less and less certain as time goes on I'll renew) and Cheapo Vegas, one of the best websites around on Vegas, and funny enough to entertain those not that familiar with Vegas (it's a labor of love, mostly, but they do update fairly regularly, and already have some comments on the Wynn).

Sean Hannity coaching a guest during the Shaivo fiasco.

Local Self-Storage Facility a Museum of Personal Failure.

Pentagon announces plans to close Camp Snoopy.

Deep Throat's identity revealed. Rather anti-climactic ending to the mystery.

Way back in March of 2002, I got a letter from a collection agency, claiming I bounced a check to Papa John's the previous month. I knew I didn't write a check to Papa John's, and was particularly surprised that the check was drawn on an account I closed well over a year prior. As I had just moved, I figured it likely that I threw out some paperwork with my old account number, and someone produced counterfeit checks (I would have surely destroyed any checks, but might have been careless with other paperwork, since the account was closed). I wrote to the agency telling them I did not write the check, and would assist them in the fraud investigation. According to the letter they sent, they would contact me within 30 days regarding the debt, but I never heard from them again. So I considered the matter closed.

Today, I get a letter from a New York-based "lawyer" offering me a generous settlement for the outstanding debt. If I send them just $190, they will consider the matter of the $40 bad check closed. So very generous of them, since the most they could collect is triple the amount of the check, $120, plus a $25 fee and court costs. So it might cost me slightly more if I went to court and lost, but they're still asking for more than they would get if they sued me.

What I found galling was the mention of my failure to respond to multiple inquiries regarding the debt. I received exactly one letter, to which I responded, and received no reply. I was worried I might be screwed for not using registered mail, but apparently my failure to reply would not preclude me from denying the debt in court. But I quickly drew up a reply to this letter demanding proof of the debt, and sent it registered mail.

After writing the letter, I started looking around on-line, and had my suspicions confirmed that this collection agency seems to be all about sending out threatening letters and hoping people will just cut them a check. I have a feeling I might not hear from them again. If I do, I think I will just write them again, and demand that they not contact me again. By law, they have to respect my request; the risk of such a request being that, if they are serious, you basically force them to bring a court action against you. But I really don't see a New York firm coming out to San Diego on the off-chance of making $100 or so. But we'll see what happens.

Lawn bowling thrives in San Diego. But what of the shuffleboarders?

Try Harvard!

I signed up for eMusic yesterday, and have been impressed with their selection. I will be continuing as a paying customer once my 50 free downloads are up. I got a Ray Charles song from his last album, an early Willie Nelson album, some Dead Milkmen tunes, a Robbie Fulks album, and some CCR, among other things. I was excited to see they have the Bloodshot Records catalog. I already have most of the albums I want of theirs, but there are a few I don't have, including some of the compilations they've put out. The nice thing about the subsciption model is, though you're still somewhat pressured not to waste downloads, you can be more experimental than when you are paying for every track, and I'm more willing to download an entire album then just cherry-pick a few tracks (though you can still do that, of course). They have some good comedy albums which I already have, including both of Mitch Hedberg's (they have all the Comedy Central Records releases, as well as Eddie Izzard and Bill Hicks, and probably more--though it's hard to tell since the comedy records are lumped in to the "soundtrack/other" category).

As for the site itself, it's pretty straight-forward to navigate, though it could probably be improved a bit on that count. You can download their download manager or use your own (or just download the tracks yourself one at a time). I have the GetRight download manager, but I'm using theirs, since if you don't, you have to manually change the file extension of each file, and since their program works perfectly fine, why not use it? The main disadvantage is that they only deal with indie labels, so it's hit-or-miss whether they have the music you want. But I've been happy with what I could find, though often I've just confirmed they have CDs I already have. I've even found several tracks I've already purchased off of iTunes (some Etta James, for instance). So I don't think I'll have any trouble using up my monthly quota of downloads. I highly recommend giving the trial membership a try (50 free downloads, credit card required...if you e-mail me, I'll send you a referral...I'll get ten free downloads, though I think you get the same free trial offer everyone else gets, so there's really nothing in it to you to get referred, but hey, help a guy out, ok?)

Pauline is in an assisted-living facility now, though she doesn't sound happy about it. She says she hears voices screaming at her at night. And she claims she has only days to live, though the doctors say she is physically quite strong for a woman her age (though knowing the family history of suicide, statements like that are off-putting, to say the least). And it seems like some of her friends are feeding off her delusions, and just making her more nervous. Bob actually seems to be doing a good job of taking care of things, though he seems a bit clueless sometimes, about things that happened in the past (he seemed only dimly aware that he owns half of Pauline's home, and apparently was unaware the home was uninsured). And the social worker and everyone seem to be on the same page, that she is delusional and unable to live on her own. So I think where she's at is where she'll be. Which is sad as I don't see her being happy there, but one must keep in mind the conditions she was living in (Bob says he's seen several rats in the house, and there is no working toilet--I will leave the puzzling and unsettling question that raises unexpressed).

Emusic seems to have a pretty good selection of songs, all available in MP3 format, so they can be played anywhere. It appears you have to sign up to see their whole collection (I haven't yet, but plan to when I have time to browse), but they apparently just posted a large collection of Sun Records early tunes, and they have Tom Waits new album, some CCR, Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, and apparently Frank Zappa is well-represented. The free-trial seems to genuinely have no strings attached, so I'll soon be giving it a try.

6 pension fund trustees indicted for felony conflict of interest. About time.

Dave Chappelle gives Time an interview from South Africa.

Paul Collins reflects on a simpler time when global warming was only a happy dream.

Wal-Mart apologizes for using Nazi imagry in campaign commercial.

So, I've gotten some more details about Pauline. It appears she was only down about two days. She pulled the phone out of the wall when she fell, so her line was busy, which isn't unusual. But when her neighbor came over, she heard her screaming for help, and called 911. They took her to the hospital, where she claimed her other neighbor beat her and knocked her down and left her without water. This is the same neighbor she blames for everything that she sees going wrong, who spies on her and causes her gates to rust and is responsible for strong winds, and anything else she perceives as being done to her. To the best of my knowledge, he is unaware of her existence, but now that social services is on the case, he soon will. The plus is, she's now in the system, so they will see her mental state and the filth she lives in. Of course, she is an adult, and as long as she is seen as being of sound mind, there's nothing anyone can do, and she wasn't very polite when my parents went up years ago, when she kicked them out of her house just for asking her to let a cleaning crew come in. And regardless, Uncle Bob has power of attorney, so he's the only one who could do anything. But hopefull this might put her in a better place. Her neighbor said the paramedics had to scale fairly substantial piles of garbage to get to her (and the cats being trapped in the house for days couldn't have made things more pleasant). I imagine a medicaid nursing home isn't the happiest place on earth, but her current situation ain't all that great, either.

Anyway, hopefully Bob will step up to the plate and things will turn out okay. Things like this make me want to cash out my IRA and buy a dune buggy. Why put money aside on the hope that you'll reach a ripe old age, when it seems like for every contented elder, I can name about a dozen stories of prolonged misery. Of course, being broke in your golden years would just make things exponentially worse, so I guess I have to still sock aside a few bucks from time to time. Besides, I've been alive for 27 years and not gotten old yet, why should another 27 or 54 years make a difference?

Apparently my Great Aunt Pauline fell and spent the last three days trapped in her house. I don't know anything about her condition, as we haven't been able to get in touch with anyone. Mom and I were going up tomorrow, but now she's talked to Ace who's talked to Bob, who has said he will take care of the matter. I don't exactly have great confidence in Bob, so God help Pauline, but Bob has his own problems, so I should be understanding and give him the benefit of the doubt. But past experience indicates her siblings will end up puting the responsibility on Mom, as they have in the past. But time will see. For now, it's not our problem, and unless she's dying, I won't be heading to Santa Paula just yet.

Jon Langford has developed a multimedia show entitled The Executioner's Last Song. Though the name comes from the series of albums he worked on to raise money for an anti-death-penalty group (I highly recommend the first, and vol. 2-3 aren't that bad), the stage show seems based more on his own artwork than just the album.

Murder conviction reinstated in San Francisco dog mauling case.

The good people at Cheapo Vegas have their review of the Wynn Casino up.

Wong on dice. I've only been sporadically following the developments in craps recently, but I think my basic concern is the same voiced in the article by Fezzik: I believe Stanford Wong can beat craps, but can I? I don't know that I'm prepared to put the time in to practice. Also, I think you'd probably need some hands-on tutoring; I doubt this can be learned easily from a book.

Also, one argument about why casinos shouldn't react so vehemently against card counters is, for every card counter, there are ten people who think they're counting cards. I think the potential for self-delusion would be far stronger at craps than at blackjack, at least in the short-term. One can easily quiz oneself at card counting, just count down a deck and make sure you end up at a count of 0. At craps, you only have the results of the dice to judge by, and could easily discount bad results as a statistical anomoly. It might be an interesting skill to learn, if I was sure the casinos aren't going to turn ugly on advantage crap players in the near future (the comp potentials seem strong). But I have always found cards far more intriguing than dice.

Ry Cooder's new album sounds exciting.

I probably would have left out some juicy details had I written about Saturday night's Dr. Demento program on Sunday, but now that a few days have past, I'm sure I'll be even more vague. But I hope I can at least capture the tone of the evening, and a few of the highlights.

After a long wait for dinner, and some compulsive gambling afterwards, I arrived at the California Center for the Arts right at 8:00. I made a mad dash from the parking lot, up the stairs, and took my seat, sweaty and out of breath, just as the lights dimmed. The show opened with a short montage of clips, starting with a clip from Bobby's World and concluding with a great clip of "Weird Al" Yankovich, showing his gratitute for making his career skyrocket, by giving Dr. Demento a piggy-back ride. The audio wasn't very good for these clips, a warning of what was to come. Dr. Demento took to the stage to riotous applause. The format of the evening, it soon became clear, was about what I expected; Dr. Demento would talk a bit, give some backround on the songs and acts he would present, and then play some songs, some with video clips, some without. The first song was Yankovich's "Dare to Be Stupid." I hadn't seen the video in some time, but unfortunately the sound was horrible. A technician took the stage, and by the end it sounded pretty good, but sound problems would plague the entire first act. The pure audio clips were fine, but apparently the DVD player wasn't hooked up quite right, and feedback and static really marred that aspect of the performance.

But it was still enjoyable, even the marred first half. Along with Yankovich, Dr. Demento peppered the first half with clips by Tom Lehrer, Frank Zappa, and more old favorites, as well as a montage of songs popular in the past year on the Dr. Demento Show (which the good doctor acknowledged most of us would be unfamilar with, as the show is not carried by any San Diego station, thanks to the good people at Clear Channel--whose mention warrented a spirited razz from the crowd). I can't remember what video clip preceded intermission ("Fish Heads," perhaps, or was it "Jurassic Park"), but the sound for the last clip was almost unbearable. Fortunately, after Dr. Demento was drug off-stage to the accompaniment of "There's Coming to Take Me Away," the tech people pretty much took care of the problem during intermission.

The second half of the show was more enjoyable, both because of the sound quality and the quality of the material. He played some vintage recordings of early comedy albums, going back as far as 1910. A Spike Jones clip was a highlight of the evening, featuring Billy Barty as Liberace (and he really looked the part!). He performed a group of songs with a San Diego connection (though this might have been in the first half, I don't really remember), including Country Dick Montana's classic "Lakeside Trailer Park" (Dr. Demento introduced this as a solo work of his, though it seems to have appeared on a Beat Farmers album). And a segment of songs that can't be played on the radio gave the libertarian doctor a chance to mock the FCC, playing Monty Python's "Sit on my Face," and "Penis Envy," featuring the lines, "If I had a penis/I'd still be a girl/but I'd make much more money/and conqueor the world" (both tunes have resulted in substantial fines when played on the radio, though of course neither sit, face, nor penis are in fact dirty words).

There are songs I'm forgetting, that I enjoyed (a recent clip of Boris Pickett performing "The Monster Mash" just sprung to mind, as did the very short film "Bambi Meets Godzilla"). Dr. Demento was dropped from 91X a long time ago, and even when it did air in San Diego--confession time--I only listened to "The Dr. Demento Show" sporatically. So for me, a casual fan, this was a great mix. I heard the classics I expected to hear, and a good number of songs new to me. The show concluded with a performance by the good doctor himself, his only (that I know of) hit, a cover of Benny Bell's suggestive chart-topper, "Shaving Cream." I had been forewarned that he adds new, topical verses to the song in performances, and this time was no exception. As I can't remember the exact wording, I won't attempt to share any bowlderized versions here. But he sang a verse about the lovely sewage off our coast, a rather awkward verse about Governor Schwarzenegger, and a funny verse about our soon-to-be-ex mayor, who was striken by the California sun, apparently, and fell face first in the sh....aving cream. That went over well with the crowd, as did the whole evening. Well, at least portions of the crowd. It was an odd mix; there was a younger crowd, not many kids, but college students and a fair number of high schoolers, it seemed. But there were also a lot of seniors. It reminded me of many of the Randy Newman concerts I've attended, where most of the people seem to be there because they attend every concert, not out of a fondness for the music. There were older couples on either side of me, and neither returned from intermission (to be fair, I think one was more turned off by the sound quality, and seemed to enjoy the songs). Which helped out with the leg room situation for me.

Dr. Demenot signed autographs after the show. I decided I would buy his greatest hits CD and have him sign it, but apparently they sold out of CDs at intermission. So I didn't get a chance to meet him personally and name-drop an aquaintance of mine who is a friend of his. But no worries. I had a really good time, and having gotten the ticket on sale, it was a real bargain. I wasn't sure what a live Dr. Demento performance would entail, but I wasn't disappointed. The show served up some numbers I've always loved, a lot I've never heard before, rarities from artists I've long admired, and some things, well, a bit demented (a farting contest from, I believe, the 1940s was quite amusing). If Dr. Demento is ever live in your neck of the woods, check out the show. Until he comes my way again, I'll be downloading some classic Dr. Demento shows and joining his fan club.

More wisdom from Paris Hilton. I saw the trailer for House of Wax for the first time recently; was I the only one wondering why Leatherface is in this movie? Are they just too cheap to make a new costume for each film?

Paris Hilton thinks she's sexier than Vincent Price. I disagree.

I was discussing the Lemony Snicket movie with some people at work, and started wondering about a sequel. According to The Quiet World, a Lemony Snicket resource, a script is in the works for a sequel based on The Austere Academy, though there have been script problems (scroll down, I don't see a way to link direct to the post). You can see Mad Magazine's take on the movie. Of course, criticism from Mad is the highest compliment, but also, of course, Mad Magazine is not as it once was. I did enjoy their comment that only in Hollywood can reading be seen as a personality quirk. But their comments about young actresses "hitting the wall" was slightly disturbing.

I had a full day yesterday, with a Dr. Demento engagement topping off a full day of adventures in Escondido. I'll post about my day, and post seperately about Demento (bizarrely enough, this site gets an average of 15 visitors a day--it shocked the hell out of me to think people actually read this--most looking for photos of the Birch Aquarium or Comic-Con, not my navel-gazing comments, but still, makes me feel like I should say something interesting from time to time...but anyway, my point being I know mention of Dementia will cause that hit count to soar, no doubt, so I will post the review seperately for easy reference).

The concert wasn't until 8:00, but I figured I'd make a day of it with a trip to the Wild Animal Park and a trip to Valley View Casino. First I drove up to the Wild Animal Park, and renewed my lapsed membership. I got there around 2:00 or so, so I didn't have a full day to spend, but I managed to see the new (to me) Lion Camp exhibit, which was mildly depressing, and the Heart of Africa, which had a lot of birds, both on exhibit and those just visiting. I rode their new (to me) motion ride, which was midly entertaining, but not worth the price. I took the tram last, which worked out well, as the animals were pretty active. I actually saw the lions and tiger, which I never see. I saw the antelope head-butting for the pecking order, a giraffe that climbed up a cliff and seemed confused how to get down (they're top-heavy, and don't generally climb things). Lots of babies, a few rhinos, a wild horse, and lots of others. And there was still plenty of color from the wildflowers surrounding the park, though I imagine it would have been more impressive a month ago. All in all, I had a pretty good time.

I left the park around 5:00 and headed over to Valley View Casino. I had a free buffet coupon, which was a $36 value, had I used both buffets, but it was just me. Still a good deal, though. I was concerned, because I'd been there before on a Saturday and the line was horrendous, but I hoped I'd get there early enough to get in without too much of a wait. But no luck, had to wait over 45 minutes to be seated. It was worth the wait, though; I really love the buffet. The weekend buffet features Alaskan King Crab. I don't care for crab legs, really, which was a good thing, since there was always a line for them, which blocked off a bit of the buffet. I skipped that corner and ate what I could get at more easily. Sushi, fried chicken, chinese food, dim sum, and lots of desserts, including their signature chocolate fountain. The buffet is the best thing Valley View has going for them. But I would recommend avoiding it on Saturday night.

I got there with plenty of time, but once I ate, I was a bit strapped for time. I played video poker for a few minutes, with little luck (one straight flush at deuces wild kept me going for awhile, but other than that, I couldn't hit anything). So I moved over to the tables, hoping to play a few quick hands of blackjack and hit the road. I got on a nice streak right away, and didn't want to leave, but the clock was ticking. I won back what I lost at video poker, and was starting to make a nice profit. I placed a fairly large bet, and the dealer called out "checks play," which was odd, because I wasn't betting more than I had been. I won the hand, and the dealer went to pay me, removing the red ($5) chip from the top of my bet. I thought I bet one green ($25) chip with a stack of reds, but apparently I actually grabbed a stack of greens with a red chip on top, and inadvertantly bet about $150. So that was a nice surprise; had I lost the hand, I probably wouldn't have realized what I'd done, but just been confused why I was down more than I thought. But as luck would have it, I won the hand, got a nice boost, and ended up winning a substantial amount. Given that I was the only person I saw betting substantially, I imagine my little win really hurt their Saturday night bottom-line. The blackjack game isn't very good, so I wouldn't go there just for that. They have the horrible 6:5 single deck, you should never, ever play. But the video poker isn't bad, and the table games aren't terrible, considering the comps they send out (I get a free buffet for two coupon every month; after I went there the first time, and barely gambled at all, I started getting free lunch buffet coupons). It strikes a nice balance, knowing they can't compete with the fanciest places, but not being as ghetto as, say, Casino Pauma.