Steve Fey's Live From Las Vegas!

Labels: Info, Reviews, Social Commentary

This book was written by Joe Gores, who isn't Daishell Hammett, but might as well be. It is a prequel to the famous Maltese Falcon, of Bogart movie fame. The last ten lines, in fact, are the first ten lines of Hammett's novel. The publisher is Alfred Knopf of New York.

This isn't one of my usual one-line reviews because I really liked this book. Besides, in order to have so closely duplicated (not quite perfect, but close) the style of another writer, Gores obviously studied Hammett's vocabulary, phrasing, even sentence length, and made quite a practice of duplicating those things.That could be a lesson to anyone studying to write fiction, I believe.

I did notice one thing that is different. Hammett refers to automobiles as "machines" in The Maltese Falcon, but Gores calls them "cars." The period references in the book that I know are all spot-on, and I wouldn't be surprised if "cars" is more accurate for the twenties, but not once does Gores use the term "machine" to refer to an automobile.

Other than that, it was damned near a perfect copy of Hammett's voice, and it made me want to read The Maltese Falcon again. In fact, if you've never read the Hammett work, you might start with Spade & Archer and go right into the earlier book when you finish. Even if you read them in publication order, though, you'll be sorry when you're finished. That's a promise.

Steve

Labels: Reviews, Writing

I got Tami a new computer for her birthday (yesterday.) I got it from Dell, and it was not particularly expensive. In fact it is a desktop and pretty low in cost, around $500 or so. It came with Windows 7 Home Premium on it. So, here's what I think so far of Windows 7.

Short story -- if I could upgrade my XP machine I'd do it right now. Yes, the sad thing is that you can only upgrade from Vista. I'm hoping that Microsoft gets the word enough that they put out some sort of patch to let XP upgrade to Windows 7. In short, it's fast, it looks good, it doesn't drive you crazy like Vista does, but it does let you know if something's trying to install a program on your computer. Tami's came with fifteen months of free McAfee. It took five minutes to set it up, then fifteen to install Office 2007, which I did myself since I had a legal copy already. The files and settings transfer process worked perfectly over the network, but since it's all wireless and therefore not as fast as a Cable Modem, it took four hours to move all of her stuff. But, and this is the great thing, it all moved, and the new computer looks and feels just like the old one, and all of her stuff is loaded, except for Adobe Acrobat and Dragon Naturally Speaking. At the end of the transfer I got a list of programs transferred, along with a short list of (those two) programs that I might consider installing on the new machine.

That was it. No muss, no fuss, and Tami has not had question one in operating the new machine. If you're an old techie like me, you should know that all of the old Windows tricks still work, and you can make it look just like Windows 2000 if you want to. But, the great thing is that you do not need to know a single Windows trick to operate the thing, it's fast, small and even slick. (Yes, they stole an idea or two from the Mac OS. Don't bother suing them -- it's been tried and it failed. The GUI is public domain.)

So there you go -- an excellent review for a Microsoft OS. I never though I'd live to see the day.

Steve

Labels: Reviews

Saw this movie yesterday. A romantic comedy, better than the ones on Hallmark for sure. One painfully funny scene with Alec Baldwin.

Labels: Reviews

You may have heard of the show Defending the Caveman. Saw it last night and thought it was good. It's in Vegas, but also I believe other cities. See it and you might learn something.

Steve

Labels: Reviews

Saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie yesterday. Good stuff!

Labels: Reviews

This is a literary film, not commercial fiction, so you may have to find an art house or something to see it. Nicholas Cage pulls it out, as usual. The iguanas are interesting, and the alligator POV is quite odd.

Steve

Labels: Reviews

Yes, this is information, and a review. The title link takes you to a video that explains evolution better than I ever could, but quite correctly. Which, come to think of it, my be why it's probably better than I ever could. Anyway, I like it. And, if you like, here's that link again:

http://www.wimp.com/niceinfo/

I am an actual biologist by training, after all.

Steve

Labels: Info, Reviews

Saw this movie on Friday. I liked it a lot.

Labels: Reviews

This is from a humor list called Mikey's Funnies. Mikey works with religious groups, and I subscribe because it's one of the few guaranteed clean humor sources on the Internet. I'm not against nasty bad taste jokes, quite the opposite, but sometimes it's nice to see the full range of humorous possibilities, dontcha know? Anyhow, here's the joke:

The tragedy of Canada: They could have had French cuisine, British culture, and American technology. Instead, they ended up with British cuisine, American culture, and French technology.

I'm not sure that's original, but I like it. You can find him on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/mikeysfunnies. Or just click the title above.

Steve

Labels: Info, Reviews

A couple of weeks ago we went to Cedar City to watch a few plays. I didn't review them because the season was almost over, but I will say that the bill was mixed. They did The Woman in Black, which came off as a very thin play, then we saw Tuesdays With Morrie, which showed that the two actors, and they were the same two actors, were much better than the material in the first play. Then we saw the new version of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged. If you've seen this play in the past, you might like to know that over half of it is all new, although they did keep the audience participation bit with Ophelia just as it was. Huh? If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry about it.

A play we did not see is A Christmas Story, which would be based upon the movie which was written by Jean Sheppard. It's an annual classic event, in which young Ralphie simply begs for a Daisy(tm) Red Ryder BB gun. Does he get it? Well, in spite of a cynical department store Santa and other misadventures, he does. Now, we live in a Vintage Vegas house, mind you, and we like to have various vintage items on display. We have a couple of authentic lamps, for instance, and a room dedicated to 50s and 60s kitsch, plus a bar and pool table of course. So, it was with extreme glee that we found, at a garage sale in Cedar City Utah, the item Tami is shown holding in this picture.

Click on the image and you can see a somewhat larger version. Read the stock of the gun. Yes, folks, it is indeed an air rifle just such as is coveted by Ralphie in the movie A Christmas Story.

Now I ask you, is that cool or what? Cedar City, I forgive you for The Woman in Black.

S.

Labels: Info, Reviews, Vegas Life

It still wouldn't be this good. If you don't normally care for ballet, here are a few points:

1. Swan lake has cool music.
2. These guys really are better than the folks in Cirque.
3. It's only six minutes or so.
   
4. It's free, for gosh sakes.

Labels: Info, Reviews

Over at Living Las Vegas, Tami has just posted a review of The World's Largest Gift Shop, so I'm not going to waste space reviewing it. I am going to waste space posting some of the pictures that I took but Tami didn't use. It's an interesting shop, although, at 40,000 square feet, it's a lot smaller than, say Wall Drug, which boasts 76,000 square feet. Still, they have a copyright on the phrase, so they can use it all they want.

Here's a view of part of the place, that Tami left out. It's not as good as the shot she used, but hey, she used it.  The General Store has some gift items, but mostly it's a place to buy convenience store stuff, plus there's a liquor store attached to it. Believe it or not, there aren't that many actual liquor stores in Nevada, because grocery stores can sell the stuff. Of course, there are no restrictions on hours of operation, either, so you can go to the local supermarket and get a case of booze any time you want one. So, the liquor store at Bonanza Gifts is a slight oddity.

You can also see a bit of the front of "Naughty Town," which is where bachelorette parties can be stocked with the naughty stuff that such a party requires. It isn't a full-blown adult toy store, which we do have a lot of in Vegas, but it is risque enough that they keep anyone under eighteen outside.

What you can't see is the Minnetonka Moccasin shop (yep) or the large gift shop that is just behind me in this photo. Try looking behind your monitor, maybe. It's humongous. To the right is a picture of a portion of the T-Shirt wall. This is just next to the CSI merchandise, which you can find pictured on Tami's posting.

A lot of what they have is pretty cheap, but not everything. For instance, a plastic replica of the iconic Welcome sign is over forty bucks, but I got one at Walgreens for thirty. Still, where else are you going to go for your bacon flavored mints? Your gag gifts? Your foul-mouthed parrots? Your seemingly infinite selection of Las Vegas themed merchandise? You can even get your picture taken with the King. You can't touch him, though. Being dead obviously makes one delicate.

The shop is on the Northwest corner of Sahara and Las Vegas Boulevard, on the North end of the Strip. If you want to read more, read Tami's post, or click the title of this post to go to the store's website.

Later, y'all

Steve

Labels: Las Vegas, Reviews

In 2109, film students will be studying Tarentino. See this film if you don't believe me. Better than reality.

Labels: Reviews

It's Woodstock Weekend on Fremont Street. They've got a line up of the best tribute bands they could find. Jimi Hendrix couldn't make it. Bummer. The VivaVision shows are all customized for the experience. It's more like Las Vegas than the strip is anymore. Come see it if you can.

Right On!

Steve

Labels: Info, Reviews

Did you know that Fremont Street and Boulder Highway are the same? Small county, ain't it?

This post is for anyone visiting Las Vegas between now and Labor Day, plus anyone who lives here or near here. I'm talking about the Fremont Street Experience Summer of '69 celebration. I remember the summer of '69, and I really was there. There, in my case, being Boca Raton Florida, home of an incredible flock of blind retirees who insisted on driving as if there were no lanes, but I digress. The bad news is that you've missed some good stuff. The good news is that there is still time to get in on it.

Consider the Hippie Nation Gallery, if you will. It is owned by John Van Hamersveld, now of Las Vegas, who did a lot of album covers that people over 40 will most certainly recognize. There are some original ink works available for a lot of bread (get that '60's slang?) plus a lot of album covers for a whole lot less. Inside the album covers you'll find the original vinyl recordings. Talk about a bonus buy!


If you've seen the Fremont Street Experience you still haven't seen it this summer. It's the best I've seen so far, a heckuva lot better than that lame alien thing they run sometimes, and of course if you were there in '69 you've gotta like the music. On Independence day they ran Jimi Hendrix doing the Star Spangled Banner from Woodstock. Nobody to this day knows how he made his guitar sound like that.

My point is that you have five weeks, plus a few days, to get down to Fremont Street and check out the Summer of '69 activities. The place really isn't too crowded in Summer, you know. We were there most recently last night, to drop in on Mayor Oscar Goodman's 70th birthday party. Know what the "official martini of Las Vegas" is? The Good Man -- basically chilled Bombay Sapphire Gin. I had one with a touch of vermouth and an olive. Happy Birthday, Oscar! He's just over ten years older than I am, so I wish him many more years. If he drinks as much gin as they say, he'll look the same when he's gone, but that's another story.

Local or out of town, check out the Summer of '69 today!

Steve

BIG PS -- I don't often do this, but I am republishing this post to add this embedded video. It was shot by Jack LeVine after we'd left the party. Do check Jack's blog at http://veryvintagevegas.com, by the way. I'm stealing this, so don't tell him, okay? It shows John Van Hamersveld taking pictures of his own artwork as it is projected above. I've seen the show a couple of times and it is the best I've seen from Fremont Street to date. So, with only a smidgen of further ado, here's the video:



Groovy, baby!

Labels: Info, Reviews

Torchwood is a series from the venerable BBC. It is a spin-off of their Doctor Who franchise. The name is an anagram of the first program, and a character or two has been known to cross over from one to the other. I've never gotten into the doctor, but I've enjoyed Torchwood, which is generally billed as like "Dr. Who but for adults." Good enough.

Last week they aired a five-part miniseries titled "Children of Earth." Well, we all are, but in this case it was about how one of the main characters, who is, too bad for him, immortal, gave some children to an alien race once and how now they're back for a lot more. They love 'em. Not to eat, but to produce "chemicals." Yes, they use children (adults don't work, apparently) to produce drugs.

So okay, it's no lamer than a lot of science fiction plots. The reason I'm mad is because of the ending. Apparently there was some sort of political axe to grind or something. They had the immortal have to use his own grandson, who didn't survive the procedure, to defeat the aliens. See, the aliens were demanding ten percent of all of the children of Earth, hence the title. Having the immortal off his daughter's child was a lame, easy, and stupid ending. Why didn't somebody ask the aliens how they planned to get their drugs after they wiped out humanity? Why didn't they have the aliens actually start to attack, but then mess up due to their drug-addled state? They even could have ended up with Earth making a fortune off of the aliens by synthesizing the drugs some way that didn't involve sacrificing children. But no, they screwed it up. Thanks a lot, guys! If there's another season (or series as they call it across the pond,) try to do a better job of plotting, okay?

I'd appreciate it!

Steve

Labels: Reviews, Writing

Well, I'm back from Cedar City, Utah. Didja miss me? Didn't think so. Every year we go up at least once to the Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City. It's the three exits just around mile 60 on Interstate 15. This year we saw three Shakespeares and one Coward. Noel Coward, I mean.

The Shakespeares were As You Like It, A Comedy of Errors, and Henry V. All well done, although As You Like It isn't as funny as most of his other comedies. I read once that it was his "popular demand" play wherein he put all the stuff fans said they wanted more of. Okay, but it just isn't as good. Now, A Comedy of Errors is pretty outrageous, start to finish, and I'd recommend it to anyone. As for old Harry (the name people called Henry V,) his story is interesting, but it is, after all, a history lesson. A reasonably accurate one, but also one that paints Harry as one heck of a fine king. That St. Crispin's day speech is probably memorized to this day by English school children. Still, he did great things while he lasted, and the play is a lot more fun than reading about it in some moldy tome.

We also saw Private Lives by Noel Coward. It's funny as anything. See it if you can.

We've about done what one can do in Cedar City. Seen the museum, the stores, eaten at most of the restaurants (forgettable, mostly,) got gas at most of the stations, even driven up to Cedar Breaks National Monument a couple of times. It's pretty, and the entire atmosphere is as if a big chunk of the "old" America is still alive and kicking. The small town where I grew up isn't like that anymore, but Cedar City is.


They have a livestock festival in the fall. The picture to the right is from the one in 2008. The big parade features about a gazillion sheep, and every line shack ever occupied in Iron County, Utah. See? Told you we'd done it all in Cedar City! Next time we're going to check out Parawan, the original site of Mormon settlement in Southern Utah. There's a cafe there that's supposed to be pretty good.

Meantime, if you have the means, by all means check out the excellent productions in this years Utah Shakespearean Festival. Good stuff, Maynard! The title link will take you there.

Steve

Labels: Reviews

Johnny Depp doesn't make bad movies, in my experience. What more do you need to know?

Steve

Labels: Reviews

So, the complainers are out. Okay, here's an update. But first, allow me to plug my latest effort on Living Las Vegas. And then, Luvit Frozen Custard, on Oakey just east of Main. Yummy!

Now, the update. I've been working what's left of my butt off fixing up the old place. We have a tenant in there who is gathering roommates. Today I'm off to fix a wall that washed out in a bad rainstorm last fall. It's only 90 degrees or so, with a chance of rain, so it's a good day to work outside. (Yes, ninety isn't all that hot. It ain't the heat, it's the humidity that's making you miserable back in the unhinterlands.)

I'm going to be getting a teaching license the old-fashioned way. My dream is to be very successful and then go rub my old boss's nose in it. Wish me luck.

I was completely thrown by news of my brother-in-law having to go to chemo for recurring cancer. That sucks in every language I know (all three of 'em) and probably in every other language as well. Good luck to Tom! I know he deserves it.

Of course, he did get to marry my sister . . .

The new house is starting to look somewhat ready to live in in spots. I will say that a swimming pool is a lot of work, but if we get a cover on the thing life should get easier. Meanwhile, there is still much work to do, and lucky for me it's summer and I have the time.

Better?

Steve

Labels: Info, Reviews

So I'm a bit slow, but I saw UP over the weekend. My normal review would be: "It's an excellent movie." That's really all you need to know. But, as it is special, here's a bit more.

First, it isn't a movie aimed at children. Your kids will love it as there are a lot of dumb jokes and talking animals and a child hero, but it is an adult movie. A real adult movie, not simply people having sex. In fact, it's clean enough for Sunday School.

Second, the 3D effects are tremendous. It's not treated as a gimmick like the old 3D was. It is simply a movie in 3D. It's available normal too, but if you can, spring for the 3D. You'll be glad you did.

Steve

Labels: Reviews

Well, it's on Living Las Vegas. See above for my latest rant on this blog. As for Phoenix, click here!

Labels: Reviews

See my blog at Living Las Vegas for more on this topic. This is just my review. Went to see The Music Man as performed by the Nevada Conservatory Theater on Friday. It's college theater, and it's pretty good. I like musicals, and I especially like The Music Man. The crowd came to see their favorite scenes, and nobody looked disappointed. If you've only seen the movie, then maybe, like me, you've wondered about that song "Shifoofie," near the end. It sort of shows something about the Professor and how he's feeling, but it seems all alone out there. That always bothered me because, unlike most musicals, The Music Man never drags in the middle. It's good from beginning to end. The Shifoofie thing never really hurt it, but I always wondered why, in an other wise tight production, it seemed to be loose.

Seeing the play produced, which I have a couple of times now, I see what it's about. Shortly after that song comes a reprise of the Pick a Little song, only this time the ladies are inviting, nay begging, the librarian to join them, and proclaiming their love for her books, even Chaucer, Rabelais, and Balzac. So there it is: Shifoofie and the reprise of Pick a Little show how the two main characters are feeling! Aha!

Anyhow, it's still a great musical. If you get a chance to see it in a theater, by all means do. The only negative is that Robert Preston can't play the professor any more.

Steve

Labels: Reviews

Saw Star Trek yesterday. If you are even a little bit of a fan, and you haven't seen it yet, then finish reading this sentence, turn off your monitor (no Trek fan ever turns off the whole system,) go to the nearest theater and see it. Warning: They change the canon! Not that everything in the canon didn't happen, but they change it. Watch and learn. Best Star Trek I've seen in a very long time.

Labels: Reviews

Didja miss me? In the course of moving to the new house I lost the adapter to plug my PS2 keyboard into my USB port. I did post a review of Wolverine here, but that's all I could stand to type. Sorry for the delay. Assuming the Swine Flu doesn't kill me (ha ha) I'll be back to posting as usual.

Steve

Labels: Info, Reviews

So, like I said last week, I really liked New Orleans. I am now in a position to offer some pictures of that fair city. They're all digital, it's just that I've been very busy working and painting and such things. But, without further ado . . .

To begin with, if you've ever seen Streetcar Named Desire you may remember Blanche talking about a transfer at "Elysian Fields. Well, it's true. Here's the proof:

If you know your Greek Mythology, you may wonder why anyone would board a bus to the Elysian Fields, but here it is, if you ever want to.

I said last week that New Orleans reminds me of Vegas. There is an important difference besides the huge ass beers to go (picture to follow.) That is, Las Vegas is in reality a squeaky-clean city that sells sin. New Orleans is the real thing. As evidence, here are some t-shirts for sale, visible from the street, in New Orleans. Don't look at the picture if you're offended by the F-word, okay?

About those beers: not only beer, but any alcoholic beverage can be gotten to go. I don't mean in a package, I mean in a plastic cup with a straw, and a little umbrella if it's that kind of drink. The cops will tolerate tourists on the strip carrying drinks around, but it isn't legal, so don't try it anywhere else in Vegas. In The Big easy it, well, look at it:

So there it is. I don't know how huge the beers are because I don't drink a lot of beer, but as you see, if you like 'em big, Bourbon Street promises to deliver for you.

But New Orleans is not all dissipation. In fact, most of the city is a charming Southern town of lovely architecture and parades. Yes, parades. There are special parade parking restrictions along St. Charles Avenue, for example. We saw two parades while we were there, both for Easter. The first was mostly old ladies in fancy hats handing out little plush bunnies. Like this:


The second parade was a bit longer, and included music. They also handed out beads. Here's a jazz band on a float:









I also mentioned last week that we took a river cruise on the Natchez, a stern wheel paddle boat. Well, here's something we saw on that cruise. Can you tell what the letters on the roof of the building spell out? (Don't ask -- I can't.)








And I mentioned a sugar plantation tour. A good one, at the Laura Plantation. Want to see a real plantation house? It ain't Tara, but here it is:

The plantation owners were Creole, and of French sensibilities. In fact, no English was spoken in the house for a very long time. Each door led to a different room, and they'd invite you in to do business in their bedroom. An odd custom. The place was worth eighteen million dollars in the eighteen-eighties, when a million was still a lot of money.

Labels: Reviews

As promised, here's my report on New Orleans!

First, I really like New Orleans. I'm from Vegas, so I'm qualified to talk about fun places to visit. New Orleans is that, and no doubt. In fact, New Orleans reminds me of Las Vegas in a number of ways. For instance, there was a list of warnings in the hotel room. It said, amongst other things, that "if it's illegal in your home town, it's probably illegal in New Orleans." Did you know that nudity is always illegal in New Orleans? Even during Mardi Gras? Of course you did, you rascal you! Just as with Las Vegas, people apparently visit New Orleans thinking that they can do whatever viceful thing they wish without any worries. Nope, not so. Prostitution, as in Las Vegas, is quite illegal as well.

One thing you can do legally in New Orleans that you can't do in Vegas is drink in public. You can walk right down the street, Bourbon Street or any other street, drinking whatever you'd like, so long as it's in plastic. No cans or bottles allowed. For instance, there was a sign displayed on Bourbon Street at night that said, and I quote: "Huge Ass Beers to Go." Yowza! I don't drink a lot of beer in my old age, so I don't know how big they were, but I did see people with alcohol in hand wandering freely in front of the police assigned to keep a semblance of order on a weekend night.

Also in New Orleans the bars often have video poker machines. Not to the extent that Nevada bars do, with the machines built into the bar, but still, they're in there, and that made the place seem homey. There were no such devices in drug or grocery stores, however. (Sometimes in Vegas I think they're about to install them in church.)

So, what did we do? Well, we took a ride in a mule-drawn carriage around the French Quarter, which is a small but picturesque area by the river. We also took a ride on a riverboat, a stern wheel steamboat no less. We ate the best creole and Cajun food I've ever tasted (and I'm going to find out how to make gumbo.) We visited with my daughter Kate, who is there with Americorps helping get people back into their homes by cleaning and fixing the structures. They do a great job. She took us through the lower ninth ward, which is pretty sad to see. Lots of lots, and not that many houses. Some people are back, though, and some of the rebuilt homes are really pretty. Other sections of the city have recovered further, but still need a lot of work. The areas near the river did not flood.

That's because the river is the highest point in the city, at 11 feet above sea level. The city itself averages 6 feet below sea level. The river actually backs up from running into the gulf, 100 miles downstream, so what it seems should be a quiet estuary is actually the place where the river drops lots of sediment, and it actually has a channel above the surrounding swamplands. The floods were not due to the city filling up with water from the storm so much as from the failure of pumping stations and levees in one part of town. A tragic tale of human error, in fact. So, seemingly paradoxically, the riverbanks stayed dry while the outlying areas furthest from the river flooded out.

Back to our adventures. We also toured a creole sugar plantation, a tour rated tops by Lonely Planet, and for good reason. It's called the Laura Plantation. Unlike the tour I took at Mount Vernon there was no talk of "servants quarters." They were referred to as "slave cabins," and so they were. The owners, as our tour guide liked to say, made "boucoup d'argent," which is to say a lot of money. Many millions, and that was in the nineteenth century. Sugar really is gold, apparently.

We rode the St. Charles trolley to the end of the line and back to see the fancy houses. We ate a lot of food, including some great barbecue at VooDoo BBQ on St. Charles. We walked around the French Quarter and bought things. We saw two Easter Parades with people throwing small plush bunnies and beads. It was, all in all, a heck of a lot of fun.

Since I'm back, I can say that the thing I miss the most is the food. Our first night there my daughter took us to the Gumbo Shop on St. Peter Street in the French Quarter. Gumbo has been my favorite soup for a long time. It was my favorite food prior to eating the Crab Stuffed Lemon Sole at the Spice Buffet at the Aladdin (now Planet Hollywood.) It is a very close second. The Gumbo Shop served the best Gumbo I've ever had, almost good enough to be called a tie with the stuffed sole. I also had some decent jambalaya, and crawfish etouffe, which is also more or less a soup with rice. For breakfast on my last day I went out for some beignets and coffee. Yummy. I bought them at the Cafe Beignet on Bourbon Street. A beignet is sort of a cross between a sopapilla and a doughnut. They are served hot, greasy, and with powdered sugar. They are much better than mere doughnuts, however, and I miss them.

To recap quickly: I really liked New Orleans. I hope to go back and eat some more of the food. I highly recommend the city to anyone wanting a good time, especially people from Las Vegas who want a different over the top experience. And remember, What Happens in The Big Easy . . . . . . . all too often makes the national news.

Steve

Labels: Reviews

Earth Hour is on March 28th this year, at 8:30 PM PST. If you'll click on the title of this post, you'll be taken to a page explaining how Las Vegas is planning to celebrate. My editor over at Living Las Vegas wants a post from everyone about it, but I don't think I can provide one. Not that I don't think it's a good idea if we stay aware of how we impact the environments on this planet. In fact, I teach Biology, and I've been aware of such things since the late sixties. The reason I probably can't is that LLV tries to always put a positive spin on things, and frankly, this event seems to me to represent all of the things I dislike most about "everybody" doing something.

In short, if "everybody" is doing something, it makes me extremely suspicious.

Maybe Earth Hour will spur more people to be conscious of the possibility of using renewable energy sources, in which case it's a good thing. Maybe I should not complain about it, but I just have this inherent suspicion that people will enjoy the moment and go back to watering their over-fertilized lawn by the light of security lights at 500 watts a pop. Okay, I'm cynical. So sue me.

All of the talk about environmentalism, from both staunch advocates as well as from conservative poo-pooers, is mostly hooey. As a biology teacher, I do know a few things that maybe might bring some perspective into the room, except of course nobody ever reads a little blog like this one. Okay, I didn't mean that the three (maybe four) of you are nobodies. Sorry. Now, here are a few things that are true about biology that maybe you wouldn't learn from listening to the debates on global warming.

First, global warming was first reported in the scientific literature in 1854. That is one-hundred fifty-five years ago. Anybody who tells you that there is controversy over global warming amongst scientists is lying. There isn't. I learned about it in college. So, if he had gone to college, would have my grandfather. It's a fact, pure and simple.

Second, a lot of information gets made up by columnists, particularly those vehemently opposed to the idea of global warming. Think John Stossel. John exemplifies the tendency we all have to study until we find something that reinforces our prejudices, then to stop and study no more. John notes (correctly) that CO2 levels increase following an increase in global temperature. He uses this as an argument that the idea that our putting more carbon into the atmosphere raises global temperatures is false. What John doesn't say is that, while higher average temperatures do tend to increase carbon in the air, due to more life expelling CO2 at higher latitudes, CO2, along with Methane and other gasses, really do contribute to a "greenhouse effect" that raises average global temperatures. The effect can be a viscious cycle.

No less than the folks on Mythbusters, a series about science that's on Discovery Channel, have tested whether CO2 and Methane cause atmosphere to warm more rapidly. Guess what, both gasses do. You can hate Al Gore (because you listen to guys on Fox, I suppose) but he wasn't wrong when he noted that the amount of carbon in the atmosphere is higher than it's been in about a billion years. The record high levels started developing right at the start of the Industrial Revolution. That could all be a coincidence, but it stretches credulity a bit to think so. We are, as a group of scientists reported not too long ago, about ninety percent certain to be the cause of the recent acceleration in the rate of global warming.

Then there's the cold winters. Yes, some places have gotten colder lately. The key word is average. The average is what weather guys like to call normal, which it may not be. But what it is is what you get if you add up all of the temperatures all over the planet and divide that sum by the number of temperature readings you just added up. That's an average. It can be colder than heck in one spot, but the average temperature could be rising steadily. In fact, a warmer planet tends to make more snow in the winter, because the extra heat evaporates more ocean water. Not that one season means anything, on average. (A little statistical humor there.)

It is a fact that the ice on Greenland is melting faster in summer than it refreezes in the winter. Eventually, if that keeps up, the arctic ocean will be open in the summer, and Greenland might be, well, green. To the south, it is true that some ice sheets on the continent of Antarctica have gotten thicker, but in general the amount of ice in the surrounding sea has thinned out considerably. Again, the reports you hear are the result of incomplete research.

It is a fact that sea levels will rise eighteen inches to three feet or more if all of the ice on the poles melts. Simple arithmetic can do that calculation.

Now, since I've been beating those who would deny global warming, let me turn my attention to the doomsayers. You know, those predicting the end of life as we know it if global warming isn't reversed.

Mostly global warming is a problem if it happens too fast. Already some parts of the world support cities and agriculture in areas that are below sea level and coastal. If the sea level rises slowly, we can deal with it. If it goes up two feet over next weekend, we'll have a disaster on a global scale.

Too much fresh water in the North Atlantic at one time moves the gulf stream far to the south. That shuts off a lot of the heat transfer from the equator to the polar regions, and when it has happened in the past, it has set off an ice age. No kidding. It's true that global warming could result in an ice age. And, if the ocean currents cut off completely, tremendously violent weather would result, because that energy would still want to get from the equator to the poles. It's the first law of thermodynamics that energy travels from hot places to cold ones.

However, again this is only a problem if the ice melts really fast. If it takes it's time, we can deal with it. Climate will change, but globally speaking, we can deal with it. It is highly unlikely that the ocean currents will be stopped by melting ice. The last time it happened was when an ice dam let a huge freshwater lake in central Canada drain into the ocean all at once. That would take probably more melting than is even possible on the Greenland ice sheet. While doomsday could come as a result of global warming, that scenario really isn't very likely. But, it wouldn't hurt to slow down the amount of carbon building up in the atmosphere, just in case.

Which brings us back to the Earth Hour. I suppose getting Americans, who are the best there is in putting carbon into the air, to slow it down a tad is a good thing. For the record, I hope it works. I remain, however, skeptical as always.

So, good luck to us all. Until next time,

Steve

Labels: Reviews, Social Commentary

Saw Watchmen yesterday evening. An amazingly strong and entertaining movie.

Labels: Reviews

I've had a cell phone for years. I always liked the look of the iPhone, but I don't like the network of ATT. Drops a lot of calls around where I live. I prefer Verizon, which drops virtually no calls anywhere. At least, that's been my experience. So, imagine my joy when Verizon began offering the Blackberry Storm. They're the first wireless company do offer it, but I doubt that they'll stay exclusive forever. It's just too cool.

Okay, we paid $150 for two of them. On top of that, since I'm a teacher, I get %35 off my monthly bill for my phone. When you add in that our youngest just started paying for her own phone (and removed herself from our plan) we now have added unlimited web surfing for about the same money we were paying for three lines. Nice.

The phone is touch screen and works like a charm. I loaded the Blackberry desktop software and discovered that I can put all of my music on the Blackberry as well as on the computer. It's a really nice music player, and it plays all formats. It even has an application that syncs with your ITunes folders, but as I generally use Media Player (laziness, really) I probably won't load it. The player sounds really, really good through headphones (I can't use ear buds due to hearing aids) or through the stereo I normally plug my computer into. All of my music, and all of my playlists, are available in their normal configuration. Is that cool or what?

There are other applications too, of course. For instance, when I turn off my copy of Outlook I get my email on the Blackberry. And I can surf the Internet all I want, the real Internet just like the iPhone talks about, plus there are quite a few, and getting to be more, applications available for downloading. It came with two games: a word game and a brick breaking game. There is a GPS application included, but Verizon charges extra for it, so I'll probably never use it. There's also Visual Voice Mail, plus you can view and edit common MS Office documents using the Blackberry. Honestly, I don't recommend editing, because of the small keyboard, but you can do it. I tried it and it worked. With the desktop software you can transfer any sort of application or data easily between the phone and your desktop. For instance, I dragged an mp3 file into the Ringtones directory, and was able to choose it with no editing or tweaking involved.

The Storm has a couple of gig of built-in memory, and comes with a 7 gigabyte mini SD card. There's also a SIM card, so if you travel to Europe, you've still got your phone. Or, if you're going to be staying there a while, you can put a different company's SIM card in and use their network. Try that with your iPhone! In America, it's a very good CDMA phone by default, but you can use another network at the same time if you want to. Again, try that with your iPhone!

The Blackberry Storm once again demonstrates, for me, how Apple depends more on slickness than substance to sell it's products. In terms of features, this one is actually better because you can use different networks. And the cost isn't even in the same neighborhood. By the way, Blackberry Storm works with a Mac, if you're interested.

Steve

Labels: Reviews

My favorite movies, with biased commentary and no thought other than what I like.

You want a few things to rent that you’ve never seen but should? Here:

Number One is Casablanca. We’ll always have Paris. I am shocked to find gambling going on in this establishment. That (my heart) is my least vulnerable part. You’ll have to do the thinking for both of us. Here’s looking at you, kid. Oh, I could go on. Yes, I do know most of the dialogue. Why not? It’s great. Great, I tell you. There is no better movie. Don’t think so? Then you’re wrong, and that’s all there is to it. It’s romantic, noble, thrilling, exciting, musical, comedic and it’s got great dialogue. If you’ve never seen it, shame on you! I haven’t ruined a thing for a newbie, so go and rent it right now. Come back here after you’ve made up your shameful lack of cultural knowledge. I’ll wait in La Belle Aurore, if Rick’s is closed.

Number two, unless I’m watching it, is Citizen Kane with and by Orson Welles. It’s too intellectual to be the best ever, but it’s a damned close second. When I’m watching it, I’m intellectual enough to think it’s my favorite, but when I’m not watching it the truth about “Casablanca” overshadows it. But not by a whole lot. If you’ve never seen it, you’ll be transfixed by the development and deterioration of Charles Foster Kane, or was that William Randolph Hearst? Hearst never showed the movie, is all I know, but it’s a great one. Just one last word: Rosebud.

Number three, but it deserves better, is The Princess Bride. Tami does characterization workshops and likes to point out that the hero, Westly, goes through every character archetype for a hero that there is in the course of this short movie. All I know is that it has everything “Casablanca” does and it’s funnier. Rent it, but watch out for the R. U. S.’s. “You keep using that word, but I do not think that you know what it means.” Ouch.

Number four is Blazing Saddles. There’s so much more to this film than the famous campfire scene with the farts. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It is screamingly funny and scathingly sarcastic of racist attitudes and small-western-town bigotry. And don’t forget Mongo, because he won’t forget you. Mongo (after all) have deep feelings for Sheriff Bart. “That’s ‘Headley!”’

Five? Gotta have a five. Number five is something by Christopher Guest. A comedy. Maybe it’s Waiting for Guffman, but I’m not sure. It could be, it really could be, Best in Show, which has Parker Posey doing a scene I can’t believe she kept a straight face for, involving a rubber bee and a pet store (you have to see it) plus It’s got Ron Levy with two left feet. Really. Yeah, it’s Best in Show. Mr. Guest may make fun, but he never belittles his heroes, and that’s what makes it okay to laugh. Check out the color commentary from Fred Williard. Really.

Labels: Reviews

I've been a fan of Penn & Teller for years. The fact that they have a show on Showtime named Bullshit! is just a bonus. The duo are hard-core rationalists who are happy to tell you how their illusions work while they're performing them. Most of them, anyway. They do recite, quite clearly, the seven rules of magic, and the techniques for performing illusions. They illustrate them as well. So, no fun in a show that tells you how it works, is there?

Well I saw them last night. Paid in blood, and I mean that literally. A big reason I'm plugging them is that every December, if you donate to United Blood Services in Southern Nevada, you get a voucher for two free tickets to Penn & Teller. They're not the only celebrities to donate tickets, but they are the only ones to do it year after year and to connect it to blood donation. In Colorado I used to donate and all I got was a lousy T-Shirt! In Vegas I've seen a number of shows for free by donating, but not the same performer twice. Except Penn & Teller. So, by all means, when you're in Vegas, see their show. They deserve the audience for that reason alone.

But, back to the review. I'd seen about half of the tricks before, including a bit with the US Flag that makes some good points about flag and country (Old Glory is entirely unharmed by the experience.) At the very end they do the "magic bullets" bit, which you can sort of see how it could be done if you remember all they've told you. They don't explain it, though. After the show you can take pictures with either or both of them out in the lobby. Penn, by the way, is bigger than me by a noticeable amount, which makes him an unusual man. The most impressive thing about the show is that, even though they're telling you what they're really doing a lot of the time, you still mostly can't see it happen. (I did figure out how they put a bunny in a wood chipper the first time I saw them live, though.) They obviously practice, practice, practice, and have been doing it for so long that, if they wanted, they could probably be the world's best con artists. Lucky for us, though, they charge an honest admission fee (modest by Vegas standards) and give value for the buck.

Or, of course, you can pay in blood.

Labels: Reviews

Okay, Warren Zevon is, like, not recording any more. This is only because Warren Zevon is, like, dead. Other than that, he's still as lively as always.

I happened to catch his last public performance, on The Late Show With David Letterman, when he did a cover of Dylan's Knockin' on Heaven's Door. It was maybe the most poignant musical performance I've ever seen. He knew he was about to die when he did that song. I'm glad I wasn't in the band, because it would have been a damned hard evening to end.

But, long before that time, Mr. Zevon put out one heck of a collection of music. Not too long ago I got one of those "best of" collections, called Genius: The best of Warren Zevon. Well, the man was a genius and no doubt. I first heard his "Werewolves of London" back in the 70s, when Warren Zevon was one of a few shining exceptions to a decade of pretty awful pop music. My favorite line is "I saw a werewolf drinking a piña colada at Trader Vic's. His hair was perfect." I imagine so. That song is on the album, along with "Lawyers, Guns & Money," another example of how Warren Zevon might not have always been entirely serious with his writing.

A song I formerly ignored that I've been playing a lot is "Mr. Bad Example." Believe it or not, this is not a rock song. It's a march. John Phillip Sousa is probably spinning in his grave, but a march is a march and this is a march. I'll probably listen to it next March. On the march.

So this is an unusual post for me. I just wanted to put in a good word for the late Mr. Zevon in case anybody out there hasn't heard his fine, funny compositions. I'm sure you can get single tunes on Amazon. Or, what the heck, buy the whole record. I wish I could say Warren will be grateful, but there's that being dead thing.

Well, nobody's perfect.

Labels: Reviews

Saw Taken yesterday. Not a bad thriller. Not the best, but it's okay. People behind me really liked it.

Labels: Reviews

Saw Le Reve at Wynn Las Vegas Thursday evening. It is a beautiful show, with lavish production values, and excellent performances from the entire cast. I used to work graveyard at Wynn, so it was interesting to see those oddly dressed people actually at work, instead of just eating in the same lunchroom. However, it has absolutely no discernible plot, which for me is a deal breaker. Good spectacle, so if you're into that, by all means go. If you want a story, meh!

Labels: Reviews

It's my wife's fault that I was at Sapphire, the World's Largest Gentleman's Club. She represented the owner is an involved case a while back, and he wanted to show his appreciation. So, free admission and a bottle of vodka. Six of us from Living Las Vegas attended. There is, or shortly will be, a composite review of the club on that site. Please check it out. Meanwhile, here is a more complete version of my take on the venue.

First off, it isn't a seedy place like I was expecting. My only experience with a place of this nature had been in Saint Paul, where the dancers are behind glass for the protection of, well, the glass I guess because I really don't know. It makes it seem much more seedy, smarmy and shameful when they do it that way. The Saint Paul girls did get completely naked, which you can't do in Nevada if you serve alcohol, but somehow that didn't make it any more enjoyable. Rather than seedy old bar decor, the main entrance hallway at Sapphire is decorated in tasteful artwork and the main room is spacious.

We didn't buy the bottle, thanks to the owner, but we did pay a service fee to have the mixers kept up at our table. We also spent a bunch on tips for the limo driver who delivered us to and took us away from the club. We were there for about three hours, long enough to get a good feel for what the place is like.

There are nubile young women everywhere, not just on the stages. The club features two stages downstairs plus a VIP stage upstairs, as well as a separate room where male dancers perform for the ladies. Speaking of whom, there were a lot of women customers in the club, including three of our party. The nubile young women were, for the most part, just as friendly toward the ladies as they were toward the gentlemen.

The friendliness is all aimed at getting a customer to buy a table dance, of course. They were exactly the sort of dances you'd expect from a gentleman's club, particularly if you watch HBO. You're not allowed to touch the girls, but they can do whatever they want with your hands. It was an interesting experience. On the stages the dancers didn't exactly do striptease. What they did was come out with some sort of top on, which they removed half way through their routine. There was a great variation in how good the dancers were, both from an artistic and from a teasing perspective. For what it's worth I once saw an HBO special about strippers, which featured re-enactments of acts from famous women. The best, so far as arousing male interest went, was a woman who recreated the routine of Little Egypt, a famous stripper of about a century ago. At the end, she was street legal. There is more to sexual attraction than nudity, is what I'm saying. The most conventionally "sexy" dancers were not necessarily the best ones to watch. Again, an interesting experience as well as a curiosity to observe.

Another entertaining aspect of the evening was watching the outrageous table dances going on around us. A couple of customers apparently were, as they say, made out of money. The girl would stop every five minutes to stuff some more money in her purse, then remove her top again and go back at it. It got to be plain old funny for me after a while.

I can't speak about the male revue, although all three women in our party took it in. Their reviews were mixed.

If you're from out of town and want to see the biggest Gentleman's Club in the world, then you need to check out Sapphire. If you're local and want a different sort of an evening out, ditto. If you're prudish, I'd say check out Cirque du Soliel.

For more information, check out the club's website. Remember, this is an adult entertainment venue and the site reflects that. If that's okay with you, then click here.

Later,

Steve

Labels: Reviews, Social Commentary

Long time readers will recall that I rate Presidents by speaking ability. That means that, for instance, Kennedy, Reagan, and Clinton count as good ones in my ratings, while Nixon, Ford, and (gasp) W. Bush count as bad ones. Oh, there are other criteria of course, but right now I'm talking about speaking ability.

I was working at my job teaching the youth of Las Vegas when Barak was sworn in, so I read his speech during a break and thought it was a pretty good one. Then I came home and took advantage of my DVR to watch the proceedings in living high-definition. Well, I think we may actually have a new all-time winner for good Presidential speaker. Holy cats, the man has a way with words. 'Course, I never heard FDR live, nor TR, nor Lincoln, all of whom were reputedly excellent behind the podium. But of the ones I've heard, Obama wins the cup, hands down. I hope that this is an auspicious thing, I really do.

Steve

Labels: Politics, Reviews

Being a famous local writer (nudge nudge, wink wink) I attended the Las Vegas Business Press premier of their 2009 Book of Lists last evening. (As of this writing, the link took me to a page about the 2008 book, but I can't imagine that will be true for long.) It was a fun time, partially because it was held in the show home for Marquis Las Vegas, which is as they say an Estate Development. An Estate Development is a place where the neighborhood is crammed full of top-of-the-line housing. At Marquis they start at $1.2 million and go up to the tune of $235 per square foot. That sounds expensive, but if you've got that sort of money to spend on a house, this would be one I'd definitely recommend.

For one thing it is a totally green house. The demo model, at (I believe) 10,000 square feet, produces more power than it consumes. The entire roof is solar electric panels. Also, as you might expect, it is a very nice place to hang out, with amenities to spare. I personally saw two laundry rooms, for instance. There are spaces to socialize in, wonderfully designed bedroom and bath suites, and a couple of garages for the Bentley. Great kitchens, too, and a pool that, frankly, is larger than the house we're going to be moving out of. This isn't the kind of house you buy to sell later, it's the kind of house you live in and enjoy for as long as you can. My wife and I just made a deal on a new (to us) house, and we're thrilled with it, but it seems a small and chintzy thing next to the model at Marquis. It also costs a bit less, but so do I, apparently. For those who can afford the very best, I can honestly say that I've never seen a nicer dwelling place than the one I was in last night for the Book of Lists release party.

Got money? Need a house? I say go for it!

Steve

Labels: Reviews

I'd like to review all three Dexter books by Jeff Lindsay, but I've only read one of them so far. I'm a big fan of the Showtime series Dexter, so when I got the first book for Christmas I was happy. If you're a fan of the show, you'll love this book a lot. If you've never seen it, I still recommend it to you.

Dexter Morgan is a serial killer who obeys a code he received from his foster father. He only kills people who deserve it. A priest who murders little children, for example. Other serial killers, certainly. But never an innocent person. He would never harm someone he didn't know for certain deserved to die. That's what he learned from his foster father, and that's how he operates.

The first book of the series was covered in the first two seasons of the Showtime production. And the first season pretty much followed the first half of the book, except for a couple of characters that were portrayed a bit differently. That didn't mean much to me, and I confess that I almost didn't finish the book because it looked to be the same thing I'd already seen. After all, the main mystery of "Who is the bad guy?" was solved with the same basic information on television as in the book. I knew who the bad guy was and how he related to the hero. But, I've got to tell you, from the middle on, the series, great as it is, trails the book a great deal in suspense, action and creepiness.

Dexter gets a girlfriend in the book and on television. He works with the same people, doing the same job. But the climax of the book is way, way more exciting and suspenseful, Dexter is himself much more interesting (but just as sympathetic) and other characters take on quite different roles. This book, which I finished while donating blood platelets when there wasn't much else to occupy my time, is as satisfying as any I've read in years. Oh, dear reader, do read this one. You can go to the Amazon sales link by simply clicking the title to this post.

I can't tell you more or you'll be mad at me for spoiling things. Just read it, okay? You'll be glad you did. So, for that matter, will Mister Lindsay.

Steve

Labels: Reviews

Ralph Bellamy wrote a book published in the 1890s about the year 2000. He foresaw people ordering items from a central store using pneumatic tubes to convey their orders. The store would then deliver right to your door. If only he'd known how close he came, huh?

Well, I'm not talking about 2100; I'm talking about 2008. A wonderful year all around. Since I want to make one last post this (that) year, here it is, my look at 2008 in review.

The year began early in January when people watched things explode and yelled out their encouragement. Away from Iraq we watched fireworks and oohed and aahed a lot. People were glad that this was going to be almost the last year where we say "two-thousand-and." One more to go, then it's "twenty-ten" and good for it!

By a little later in January we were all oohing and aahing at the political situation. Hillary was obviously going to win the nomination for the democrats. On the Republican side of things, it wasn't as clear. There was some guy that wasn't from Utah but polled well there, along with a couple of other guys, but most people knew that McCain, nice as it would be, was just too darned old to run. Most people can't be wrong, right?

The economy was slipping a bit early in the year, but it wasn't anything to worry about because the fundamentals of our economy were strong. Of course, the fundamentals of Pompeii were made of solid rock, but that's another story. Much like Pompeii, the nation was swamped with hot economic news later in the year. We're looking forward to drawing and quartering the executives at GM after they fail to repay our loans. Maybe we can repossess a local dealership while we're at it and turn it into a handball court or something.

On a personal note I became a staff writer for an online magazine, which of course shows how desperate some online magazines are for staff writers. They actually pay me for writing, which is a nice change from what happens to my fiction. I'd tell you what happens to my fiction, but there are no age controls on this site. Sorry.

By April or so it became apparent that Hillary wasn't going to win the nomination. Unlikely as it seems, a person who could never ever have stood a chance at mid-century actually became the front runner. That's right, an Hawaiian looked good to take it all. Not only that, but there's a rumor that his father might have been from Africa. Heavens! And on the other side of the contest, old John and his "Straight Talk Express" made it all the way to the convention, at which point the famous bus was pulled in for service and not seen again until after the election. That might have been okay except that he stood up Dave Letterman. Better you insult your mother if you're running for office. Katie Couric, of course, liked the interview a lot.

Of course the economy continued to make news over the summer as the price of gasoline rose to new heights. Highways emptied of oversize, unnecessary hardware, leaving drivers of ordinary sized cars somewhat dazed and confused. Meantime, as the price of oil rose, so did the price of everything else. In fact, by October, Everything Else was selling for record high prices, while the price of oil was dropping like a rock. The airlines, typically unaware that they might need to explain a price policy to someone wanting to, oh I don't know, fly on an airplane, redoubled their efforts to extract extra money out of passengers even as their expenses fell.

With all due respect to business schools everywhere, and that ain't much, I must confess that I am confused how somebody can work for a month overseeing a company's demise, and walk away with twenty-five million dollars! No kidding, there's been a lot of that sort of thing going on this year. It seems especially bad when you consider that I offered, publicly, to do the same job for only three million on my funny pages a few years ago. What ever happened to saving the stockholders' money? I tell you, ethics is just a word, huh? Well, I'll repeat the offer now, although inflation has upped the price to five million dollars. I will take your company in any condition and run it into the ground within two years. Half up front, half upon liquidation/acquisition. Call today before the twenty-teens are all booked up!

Tonight, in the first seconds of 2009, they're going to blow up the Strip again. They have lowered the launch points, which might make it interesting for those on the ground. It will also make it harder to see the show from anywhere but the strip. Downtown there will be a show on Fremont Street featuring tributes to performers from the last century who for the most part simply refuse to die. Well, this century is young. We've hardly had time to make any meaningful mistakes yet. One or two maybe, right George? Yeah.

So anyway, I hope you enjoy 2009 as much as you've enjoyed 2008, maybe even more. One thing, though, I am not asking if it can get any worse! Oh, it can, it can, and I don't want to be the one to spit in fate's eye. 2009 will be wonderful, just you wait and see!

Write you next year!

Steve

Labels: Politics, Reviews, Social Commentary

Saw Marley and Me a couple of days ago, when a couple of offspring were still visiting. If you truly hate dogs, you maybe could watch this movie and not shed a tear. Otherwise, it's a fine story told well, heartwarming and all that. If you hate dogs, avoid this one like it was Despereaux.

A side note about the multiplex where I saw it -- In the hallway the sign just said "and," but on the sign above the theater door it said "arly and Me." I found the "M" on top of a countertop inside the door as we were going out.

Labels: Reviews

Just for the heck of it, I've condensed my reviews, brief as most of them are, into one posting so that you can look back over the year 2008 and see what I thought of some little parts of it. In order, no less.

January 1st: American Idol Loved it, apparently.

April 9th: KA Good Show!

May 2nd: Windows Vista Much better than many seem to believe. Not worth an upgrade from XP Professional, however.

May 8th: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Sheesh! Enough already!

May 24th: Iron Man Damn good movie.

May 26th: Star Trek: The Experience Who cares? It's gone. It may relocate downtown. When it does, you can read this review to enlighten yourself.

July 2nd: Get Smart A surprisingly good movie!

July 5th: Dark Knight "I don't think it lives up to the hype, but it's a good movie."

July 19th: Ballreich's Potato Chips The world's finest potato chips. Hands down.

July 23rd: The Utah Shakespearean Festival It's good. You should check it out.

July 27th: Mummy 3 If you liked the other two, you'll like this one.

August 2nd: An Obama Campaign Ad Oh, Please . . .

August 14th: Tropic Thunder Funniest movie in years.

August 26th: Ford Focus and Other Cars Not too crazy about them.

August 26th: Lavo Nice club. Didn't mention it then, but Paris Hilton was there. Woo Hoo!

September 6th: The Front Fell Off Funny video.

September 14th: Lavo Again. Oh, yeah, this is the party Paris was at. Sorry about that.

September 21st: Tina Fey Does Sarah Palin Funny video.

September 28th: Securities Analysis Hey, this isn't funny . . .

September 30th: Burn After Reading ??????????

October 5th: Bill Engvall Funny guy.

October 18th: The Henderson Super Run Cool cars!

November 15th: Hillerman Conference It was okay, but not great.

November 22nd: Quantum of Solace Heck, I liked it. What's with the bad reviews?

November 22nd: Funny Signs Ahead Buy it! Buy it! Buy it!

December 20th: Barry Manilow Good show. Any tourist would love it.

December 22nd: Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort Good times, close by.

December 25th: Despereaux Oh, what a waste of film.

December 29th: Marley and Me You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be glad you went.

Labels: Reviews

Plot? We doan need no steenkin' plot! Lame-o.

Labels: Reviews

I'm going to write an article for Living Las Vegas on the place, so this will be quick. Check there in January for the full story.

Went up Lee Canyon today to check out the conditions. It was blustery and windy, but it was also a hell of a lot of fun. I forget, between trips down the hill, just how much I enjoy skiing. Yeah, the runs aren't as long as in Summit County, but what the heck, it's only sixty-two miles from my driveway. Took me an hour and ten minutes coming home. Really, if you live in Vegas and just can't stand the thought of driving up past Cedar city again, you should check out the local hills. They can't ever duplicate a ski resort on the Strip, no matter how hard they try, but the real thing is just outside of Summerlin. Really.

Steve

Here's a quick pic from the top:

(Yes, non-residents, that's in Southern Nevada.)

Labels: Reviews

Just got back from Barry Manilow at the Las Vegas Hilton. Elvis used to play there. But anyway, if you're visiting Vegas and want to take in a show, you could do worse. Big explosive finish. Also, it looked at first like he'd hired the Vandellas, only young ones. Saw him last week on Graham Norton's show (now there's somone I could review, I can tell you) and the chance came up to attend for free, so we took it. Good show. Our seats retail at $104.00, which is not at all bad by Vegas standards.

Labels: Reviews

You may remember back in my series about England about a year ago I posted a road sign or two that was (were) sort of "odd." One of the signs I talked about, one mentioning "humped zebra crossing," made it into a new book from my friends Mark and Megan. Tami took the picture as I was driving. If you want to know what it really means, you can write to me and I'll tell you. It's really pretty mundane, but the sign certainly looks odd. If you click the title of this post you'll be taken to Amazon, where you can look inside the book and order yourself a copy. Or two. Three, maybe. They make good stocking stuffers, you know.

The book has 201 odd photographs taken along the highways of North America and other continents as well. (Leicestershire isn't technically on a continent at all, come to think of it.) There are some excellent dirty jokes (and I wonder if the sign-maker knew.) Check it out: there's plenty of time to get one or more for holiday giving! G-head! You'll be glad you did!

Labels: England, Reviews

Just got back from seeing Quantum of Solace.

This movie has gotten bad reviews, but I don't know why. Fights, car chases, explosions, much angst, I mean, what the heck do you want from a Bond flick? I liked it.

Labels: Reviews

The reason I wimped out, er, failed to post last week was that I was in Albuquerque attending the Tony Hillerman Writers' Conference Focus on Mystery in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I've been a fan of Hillerman ever since I read the first of his Navajo stories. He died a month before the conference, which is a crying shame, but he leaves a wonderful body of work for fans to enjoy for a long time. I can say that he was remarkably accurate in his portrayal of both the place and people of the four corners area. I've visited the Navajo in their homes, and found them to be funny, generous, and reserved, not necessarily in that order. All of which is by way of background to me going to that particular conference.

At the conference I won a book by Louis Bayard titled Mr. Timothy. Now that is one fine book, and Mr. Bayard signed it for me while I waited. That was a highlight. If you like a good thriller and have an interest in Victorian London, you owe it to yourself to read this book. Mr. Timothy is Tiny Tim, all grown up and still having issues with his dead father. And it's a good thriller, too.

The conference was good, but I'm not sure it was worth all the fuss and expense of going all the way to Albuquerque for. Not that Albuquerque is not a nice place, because it is, but it is a long way from Las Vegas Nevada. (It's not far at all from Las Vegas, New Mexico.) It was interesting to ride on Interstate 25 again, as for many years that was the North-South main road through my town. And New Mexico is a beautiful place, to the point of feeling sort of weird. The workshops at the conference were good, but not as nuts-and-bolts as I'd expected, or would have liked. I did learn some things, especially about publishing mysteries, and also about making villains sympathetic, which is an important thing to do, of course. I mean, who doesn't love Doctor No? Exactly, nobody. He's a popular, if consummately evil, guy, and a fitting foil for Bond, James Bond.

Still, for the money, I'd have liked more hands-on instruction, but if I'd gone down from Denver I'd have probably loved it. Denver is closer to New Mexico in several important ways than is Las Vegas.

Albuquerque is a small town of 850,000 people, many of them surprising. For instance, the driver of the shuttle taking us to the airport after the conference, when I said "Eh voila!" just like in Fractured Fairy Tales on Bullwinkle, made the proper response, which is "Nous Avaunt Arrive'". Of course in the original that's all one sentence uttered by a magical French talking duck. Then he told me, in beautiful French, that he'd studied French and lived there for a time, and learned the language well. Indeed he had.

Well, I did have a good time, although the hotel featured Starbucks coffee, which I've never liked, but other than that, I did learn some things and enjoyed the company of like-minded literary fools. It's a small conference, but nicely done. I probably won't attend next year, but I am planning to enter their contest. Why not? A man from Vegas won this year, so I'll go for two in a row.

As for Albuquerque, they love books. Just look at this picture I took with my phone on Central Avenue if you don't believe me.










Steve

Labels: Reviews, Writing

I wrote two articles on this topic. One is on Living-Las-Vegas and you can go right to it by clicking the title of this post. Do it after you read, of course. This is the other one.

The Super Run is a classic street rod show in Henderson Nevada every September. I waited to post this because Living-Las-Vegas actually pays me, so I thought they should have the first thing posted. I'm not entirely heartless, or entirely stupid, either. Just mostly, huh?

So anyway, what this show is is hundreds and hundreds of shiny cars, some as old as single-digit twentieth century years, some brand new, most of them pretty cool rides, and virtually all of them legal.

For instance, here's one from a famous TV series of yore:

If you'll look at the full-sized version of this picture, you might, if you're classy enough, recognize the license plate. I'd seen this car a lot, of course, but never in person.







Now, here's a car Tami would like to own. Really. It's a 1966 Mustang Convertible, with beautiful paint and an original power plant not unlike, no kidding, one I had in a '64 Mercury Comet I bought from my Dad in 1976. Of course, this car looks a lot better than a Mercury Comet, and sounds better, and, well, nobody is going to pay twenty grand for a '64 Mercury Comet and that's enough said about that.



Now, for something more traditional, is this "blown hot rod." That's what it is, it says so right on the radiator.

They used to do drag racing with this show, but that isn't done any more, which is too bad. I spent a few illicit hours in my youth helping friends prove something with their automotive hardware. (My dad's Rambler never got entered, if you can believe it.) They do, each evening, have a one hour open-header cruise. Open-headers means no exhaust manifold at all, much less anything resembling a muffler. It's illegal, but not for what you might expect. There's no pollution controls on an open header setup, so there's no legal place to use one other than a track or in a show like this one. The noise is, as you might imagine, quite remarkable. Loud, even.

The thing is that a lot of these cars are cars from my high-school days. My friend Russ had a '58 BelAire wagon that he burned the clutch out on more than once. Another friend had a little Plymouth that could out-accelerate almost anything. We were high-school kids, so you can see that cars weren't really expensive in those days, and neither was fuel for them.

Now, cars are better. As cars. I have a little thing from Korea that gets almost thirty miles per gallon and I drive like a maniac. They didn't make 'em like that back in the day. But they sure did make 'em cool, and that's the truth.

Click here to visit the SuperRun web site.

Mahalo,

Steve

Labels: Reviews

Caught Bill at the Silver Legacy in Reno over the weekend. Not only is he side-splittingly funny in person, but it's all suitable for regular TV, too. One fine show.

Labels: Reviews

If you liked Fargo and O Brother, Where Art Thou? you may find yourself, like I was, wondering where the heck this movie was going.

Labels: Reviews

Economics in college starts with a course numbered 101. Since apparently those in charge of some of our largest financial institutions never had that course, I offer herewith a short overview of the topic. And no, economics isn't really dismal at all. It's fairly simple. I give you Economics 001.

The link under the title of this post takes you to the Amazon listing for the newest edition of the famous book Securities Analysis, by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd. There was no field called "Securities Analysis" before this book appeared. That there now is speaks volumes for how influential this volume has been. (Amazon has special re-issues of older editions for collectors, by the way.)

The book includes a long-term analysis of real value increase for various types of investment, tracked over a period of seventy-five years. This is real increase in value, not simply stuff that costs more dollars to buy.

Hey, you'll say, real estate, right? No, sorry. Real Estate, long term, appreciates a teensy-tiny bit, but not very much.

Oh, then bonds and other debt, right? No, actually, over the long term, if you want to lose money, then debt is the way to go. Not giving other people loans directly, like a bank, but investing in debt securities, like Wall Street has been doing so much of the recent decades. In a word, neither debt securities or real estate will do much for you long term.

Real estate will preserve value, but not increase it. Debt won't even do that.

What has been going on during this wonderful "Ownership" decade? Speculation in real estate and debt! Wowie! Can there be a connection between that fact and our current economic problems? Maybe? Could be? The book Securities Analysis came out in 1940. Maybe the war took people's mind off of the simple facts it presents. I couldn't say, but obviously the business schools aren't using this volume for anything more serious than a doorstop these days.

I'm not entirely kidding when I say we should consider shutting down Harvard and Yale and other prominent business colleges. Just look at the damage they do!

But, back to the topic at hand, you might ask, "What does appreciate in terms of real value over the long term?" The answer is productive industries. That is, factories that make things that people want to buy. Automobiles, for instance, or steel, or lines notebook paper, or corn chips or any thing that someone is willing to pay for. How much do stocks in manufacturing appreciate? Over seventy-five years the total gain in value was twenty-five percent. Put another way, over three-quarters of a century, making things people want to buy returned 125% of the investment it took to start the enterprise in the first place.

[That may sound like a small amount, but remember that over those decades many, many people made a good living producing the manufactured goods.]

So, if you want to make money and keep on making money, the thing to do is to produce something that people want to buy and keep selling it to them. Great googley-moogley, General Motors can't even seem to figure out how to make an automobile that people want to buy! How in heck can we expect to make money off of General Motor's debt? We can't, that's how. There's no way, no how, nada to be gotten from a company that has forgotten how to make items of value.

Oh, they can sell them. The automakers convinced Americans to buy SUVs because the SUVs are cheaper to make (fewer regulations for safety and fuel economy) and more profitable. Unfortunately, compared to most foreign automotive products, the average US-made SUV is like a poor cousin that looks like a car, but is so poorly put together that, sooner or later, and these days it's sooner, people are going to quit buying them. Still, the success of marketing SUVs and other products of, really, questionable value, led GM and others to put money into marketing and promotion that should have gone into making the product better and better. That, in short, is why GM is in trouble, and why Toyota sells so many pickup trucks these days.

GM's troubles are a part of the larger problem of not sticking to the fundamentals of a sound economy. Those fundamentals are, according to the guys who literally wrote the book, producing things of value and selling them for more than it cost you to produce them. All the slick marketing in the world won't overcome a cheaply made truck. And, all the wishful thinking in the world won't turn a debt security into a good investment.

Got all that? Okay, then.

Class dismissed!

Labels: Politics, Reviews, Social Commentary

Believe it or not, I'm not Tina Fey's biggest fan. We might even be related for all I know, but there are comedians I like better. However, I did watch her portrayal of Sarah Palin on SNL, and I was amazed at how well she channeled the appearance and mannerisms of the Governor.

As for the commentary from both sides, screw 'em. It's really funny, and for the record it hits Hillary just as hard. "I didn't want a woman to be president, I wanted me to be president!"

The link in the title is a Google search. There are many places to view this video. Pick one. You'll be glad you did.

Steve

Labels: Politics, Reviews

Well, I am getting hip at last. Yesterday evening Tami and I went to the Grand Opening Party of Lavo, in the Palazzo, on the World Famous Las Vegas Strip and Wallet Cleaning Facility. Only our wallets were safe. In fact, I took Sheldon Addleston for $6.42 on a penny slot machine while waiting for Tami. Two bucks isn't a big win, maybe, but as a percentage on a penny bet it ain't hay!

Anyway, Lavo was too crowded to see properly when we went for the Press Party a couple of weeks ago. Now I can report more fully on the amenities.

They have a dance floor above which is an inverted bowl ceiling with figures apparently swimming around in it. Nice touch. There were a couple of ladies in the dance club doing things to each other with what looked like feather dusters, and a couple more downstairs in a bathtub using sponges. Those ladies, of course, reinforce what I've been saying for years about how you can get paid for doing absolutely anything. (They all would have been legally dressed on the street, and get your mind out of the gutter!)

There is a midget waving an ostrich plume over a woman who looks a bit like Queen Latifah. They were there before, too, so I think maybe they're permanent.

There are what amount to go-go dancers all over the club upstairs. The dancers and the cocktail waitresses wore the identical peach colored cocktail dresses and oddly shaped heels. I tried a mojito, which wasn't bad, but I have no idea what they'll charge you at retail. The food was good, too, and for us the same price as the liquor.

On the dance floor were lights moving around and coming up and going down that looked to me like Klingon text from Star Trek. Maybe it wasn't, but that's what it looked like to me. The truth is, if I were in my twenties I'd love the place a lot. I am, of course, too old for that ***t, but if I weren't, I'd be there all the time.

S.

Labels: Reviews

I just got a copy of this video from my brother in Ohio. Besides getting the brunt of the brutal campaign ads this year, Ohio is fighting a nasty economic downturn, so anyone living there can use some entertainment. Click the title of this post, or this link, to see an Australian politician talking about an oil tanker. One of which "the front fell off." It was towed . . . oh, well, just click the link and you'll see. It's a funny one, for sure!

Labels: Info, Politics, Reviews, Social Commentary