No Snivelling

Had a great Vegas weekend. Went with Peter, met/re-met some ex-Amazonians who were just delightful (Jeanne, Bettina and Maiken), and also got to catch up with some North Carolina friends (Bob, David, Robert, Robbie, etc).

Of course, I wouldn't be so happy with the weekend if I hadn't been incredibly luckly at the Bellagio Poker tables -- I sat down for four sessions, and won every time! I think I played fairly well, and modified my play based on table conditions (conservative or aggressive players), but in the end, I also caught some fairly good cards, and some great flops. And, one really bad play by a player... he had my straight beat with a full house, but he mucked his cards... I felt the tiniest bit bad for him... guess that's how you learn... the rest of his session didn't get much better though.

Highlights of the weekend were me were standing next to Daniel Negreanu, and peeking at Scotty Nguyen on one of the high limit tables.

Only complaint from the weekend was the tuna fish sandwich (Jim calls it my riskiest gamble of the weekend) at the airport that gave me a good case of food poisoning. I'm recovering nicely, but spent the better part of Monday in the fetal position.

Ah well... them's the breaks.

This week has been a whirlwind of professional energy. Early this week, I finally got around to updating my 3-4 year old resume. Why is that such a painful task? I think it is partially because most people do not generally like focusing on themselves, and to make matters worse, you are compelled to paint yourself and your experiences in the most flattering light. I made a comment to Brian yesterday that when I was done I felt like capping it off with "Yes, I did invent the Internet". After I was finished and thought that it was as perfect as could be, I sent it around to a few friends and asked for their comments. Suffice it to say that I'm not yet done.

Last night I went to a Pub Night for the Northwest Entrepreneur Network, where prospective entrepreneur's get 3 minutes of mic time to pitch their ideas, tell folks what their looking for, and then everyone mixes, mingles and drinks Hale's Ale (tasty, tasty). I wasn't sure what to expect, but I actually really enjoyed it -- hearing some of the ideas got that excited feeling going again. Of course, I quickly left so as to not interfere with the rest & relaxation of retirement :-)

If not a whirlwind, maybe a brief wind twister? A heady wind? A breeze?

p.s. OK, I didn't invent the Internet. But, I DID define e-tailing!

Karen and I saw a screening for Gunner Palace this evening -- it was a documentary of sorts by Michael Tucker that portrayed his experience living with the Gunner brigage in ~2003 in Baghdad, Irag -- they were based out of one of Saddam's son's (Uday) palace, hence the name. It was fairly powerful, as the film didn't really take a political position or voice; rather, it let the soldiers themselves describe what they were going through, interpret the experiences, and communicate their emotions.

Afterward, the filmmaker and one of the soldiers spoke to the audience about the making of the film and the audience was able to ask questions -- this is one of my favorite benefits of being a member of the Warren Report (if you live in Seattle, I highly recommend this).

I thought it was interesting that when the soldier was asked a politically leaning (i.e. democratic-friendly) question, that he had to explain that the soldiers on the ground don't really think that much about who the President of the United States is -- instead, they're more worried about how their families are getting by back in the States, how their insurance payments are being made, and whether they're going to return home safe.

I left the screening room (at the Seattle Art Museum) even more respectful for what our troops are doing on the ground in Iraq -- while I don't agree with how we were convinced to enter Iraq, or how Bush is handling/planning it, the soldier's themselves really are performing heroic work. Sadly, though, I don't think we're going to be seeing a quick improvement in Iraq -- I fear that the elections and eventual political situation will not go well at all, and that we're in an almost interminable situation over there.



One last thing -- Warren told us that the film has received an 'R' rating by the MPAA -- that is very disappointing, as I think it would be fantastic for high school students to see this film -- the vernacular is very much 'teenager', as many of the soldiers were 19-20 years old -- after seeing the movie, I was left puzzled by the rating, as there is very little actual shooting or violence -- there is a little 'bad language', but honestly folks, they've heard it before...

Okay, I'll state it for the record. The best gift that I ever received was the Atari 2600 that my parents bought for me for Christmas when I was about 10 years old. And my favorite games were Kaboom! (the explanation point is part of the title, sort of like Yahoo!) and Adventure. So, I couldn't have been more excited when I met the inventor of Adventure, Warren Robinett, in Chapel Hill, NC, totally by random chance. For game lovers, this is a pretty big deal, as he was the first programmer to insert an 'easter egg' in a video game; that is, he included a secret key that you had to pick up, and if you held that, you could then proceed through a formerly blocked wall to get to a hidden message (the message was 'Created by Warren Robinett'). Anyway, it was a pretty cool blast from the past.

Box for Adventure (from atariage.com site):


Castle screen shot (from atariage.com site):

I spent several days staying with friends John and Marchellina in Bynum, NC -- they live in a beautiful 1908 farmhouse. I could have done without the all-night rooster calls, but that was solved by a set of $2.29 Ear Plugs
rated at 29 decibels. Another solution would be by Smith & Wesson, as I truly think roosters are punishable offenses to mankind. Directly across the street from their farmhouse is the Bynum General Store, run by Jerry -- he helped discover Tift Merritt, and rumor has it that she still comes back to play the Bynum Music Series on the stage built to feature her talents.

Check out the store:


And, John and Marchellina's dogs, Bracken:


and Fern:

I had a pleasant flight from Orlando, FL to Raleigh-Durham, NC today. I expected to get some reading or ipodding done, but instead spent the entire one hour and 45 minutes talking with my 82-year old next door neighbor. She truly couldn't believe "how she got to be 82 years old" and "how someone who used to be so cute is now so wrinkled" I thought she was a hottie:

I enjoyed several days with my parents in their new retirement retreat in Winter Haven, FL... I guess this is where Pennsylvanians retire to play cards (Hand and Foot, primarily) -- I can't wait to be inducted to the playing circle in about 20 years :)

I spent a few days in Miami Beach... I brought the bad weather with me, but at least got to meet some stars while relaxing at the News Cafe in Miami Beach... Women who work with this guy at Circa 39 think he's a real Mustang Man... oh, if they only knew his checkered past...

Woke up this morning to a city blanketed in snow... really beautiful

Zach trotting toward me:


Zach bliss:


House blanketed in snow:


View from back of house:

Seattle was recently named the fittest US city by Men's Health magazine -- that's probably because for 5 out of 12 months it is so grey that we can't find the fast food restaurants :) Video (requires Real Player)

Strange coincidence that Sang's gym, Denali Fitness, is opening next week

After 5 days in Leesport, PA, we enjoyed another 6 in Hollis, NH with the Janoskys (and Milt's wine collection and big screen TV :) )

Karen training as ice queen (Video):


Karen, Milt and Sumner Janosky:


Lovely view from Janosky house (behind house):


Sunset view from Janosky house (front of house):