All I gotta say is, it's amazing how quickly things can change around here. When we got here, there were lots of bullriders and fight-lovers, and now, due to a Microsoft conference all week, all we see are techie types, many of which look exactly as their sterotypes depict (sorry, mini-hate there). I'm sure the casinos were happy to see them, too, as they had money to burn and unbeatable systems of gambling to follow (there's a reason casinos make money). Good luck, guys.
Last night The Lovely Mary and I went to our first show, modestly titled "The World's Greatest Magic Show", in one of the more remote hotels on (well, sorta on) the strip, the Greek Isles. The theater was small, and the ushers were all shady throwbacks from Vegas days gone by. We bought "preferred" seats which turned out to be chairs at tables we shared with other people. But, for another $20, the grizzled usher could "take care of us" and seat us in a private booth a whole 5 feet closer. Ah, Vegas.
The actual show was amazing, truly, and I happen to love magic shows. (BTW, thx to The Lovely Mary for agreeing to it!) The MC of the event was a comedian/magician named Kozak who was great with the traditional slight of hand and even better handling the crowd. The highlights for me were specifically two illusions. One was when Dan Sperry seemed to rip a bird into two birds (which Bugman and I had seen once on TV and were both amazed), and another was when Kevin James (no, not "The King of Queens") sat out right in the middle of the audience with a young girl volunteer, took a napkin, scrunched it up, then appeared to make it flutter and fly and levitate, etc. In person, this was impressive, believe me. He had another trick, though, that was sort of disturbing, as he pretended to cut a man in half, then had the top half of the man walk around on his hands "magically". This was obviously someone with no legs or lower torso (who I found out later was born that way), and though it didn't make me upset, it didn't really entertain me, either.
Anyway, I got re-excited about illusions and The Lovely Mary even bought me a trick from the Houdini store. As if there wasn't enough magic between us....
Today was a day full of walking, eating, and getting The Lovely Mary to spend a dollar here and there trying her luck at video poker. We were also absolutely inundated with those people standing by the sides of the road handing out porno-related ads, constantly slapping them onto each other to make sure you heard them. It definitely seemed to be a requirement of the job and these little porn cards were everywhere.
Don't believe anyone who says Vegas is more family friendly now. Vegas is not for kids.
The Lovely Mary has a conference this week in good ol' Las Vegas, and so I took the week off to tag along. We left this morning, and as I looked across the aisle at a woman reading "Slots Today" ($1.95 an issue, I kid you not), I thought of the last time I'd been to the Sin City. What happened in Vegas wasn't the only thing that stayed there; a good amount of my money did too. Though I was temporarily distracted by an in-flight showing of "You, Me and Dupree" (which turned out to be a not so bad movie at all, if not a little long), I eventually got back to thinking about how much fun we were going to have, and how most of it was to not actually involve blackjack tables.
Soon we arrived and got off the plane. Ah, it had been a while. A while since I'd heard that constant drone, that electronic dissonance that was so characteristic of the city into which we'd just arrived. All we could hear was the beeping and chirping of slot machines...and we hadn't been off the plane but five minutes. We were surrounded by flashing lights, huge LCD ads for shows, and lots and lots of tourists (yeah, I know, we are too...but just way cooler).
We jumped in a cab, and once the driver heard where we were staying, the Mandalay Bay, he says something like "Do your parents know you're staying there?", implying at least two things: something potentially scandalous is going on over there and my parents somehow shouldn't know about it. Well, if there was something scandalous over there, they probably shouldn't, but hey...
It turns out tonight is the big Mayweather - Baldomir fight at our hotel. Promo material for this thing was everywhere, from billboards to spotlights to a specially made fight promotion carpet laid out at the entrance. We expected the place to be mobbed...then we find out the hotel is also hosting the Professional Bull Riders World Finals too. Ah, boxing enthusiasts and tons of people in cowboy hats and chaps...together at last.
Well, when all was said and done, the Lovely Mary and I successfully avoided all the hoopla from both events and went to the Shark Reef attraction (which was kickass). We'll find out who won the fight tomorrow.
Yes, it's true. There is in fact such a thing as "Sandwich Day", another one of the food holidays, and it is today. The day is the anniversary of the birth of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich who is credited with inventing everyone's favorite two-slices-of-bread-with-something-inside snack. Does this mean Mr. Montagu is indirectly the inventor of Oreo cookies as well?
We ordered them back in the beginning of last month, and in spite of Apple's vague shipping date of "sometime in October", they came through and both arrived today. Damn they're small...
Oh, and on a completely unrelated note, happy(?) Day of the Dead for all of you in Mexico...
So The Lovely Mary tells me about this National Blog Posting Month thingee and I thought it was a cool idea, so here's my official first post for the month (with not too much time to spare). Now I almost have an excuse for wasting time writing these things...
On to the topic for today:
One of the shows in our current cycle right now is Bravo's culinary reality show, "Top Chef". Last season was decently entertaining, with enough inter-chef drama to keep our attention. There is something to be said for bantor between a sommelier and a short order cook. Oh, there was a bunch of cooking competition too, I think...
Anyway, the second season of this show started this week, and I can already say with certainty that the producers of the show have spared no expense in bringing another diversly eccentric cast of characters to the kitchen. My early favorite for most controversial is Marcel, the young know-it-all with a degree in molecular gastronomy and a Japanimation haircut.
This week's episode brought some other personalities to the forefront. Specifically, Marisa's. My early assessment: she sucks. There was some challenge where the contestants were split up into two teams and had to go to the markets for ingrdients (cooking show, right, I keep forgetting). After checking out, one of Marisa's teammates, Otto, thought that maybe they had gotten some extra something-or-other, and mentioned it in passing. He didn't steal them. All he did was notice that they hadn't been payed for.
Anyway, this Marisa gets more and more twisted into ethical knots as the day goes on, and when one of the judges comes to visit, she not only tells him about the food not payed for, but implies that Otto was the one responsible, causing the judge to cast Otto off to return said items. Later, when standing before the judges, Marisa really throws Otto under the bus, referring to his "act of dishonesty" as a reason the "team is in jeopardy".
Mind you, Marisa knew about the unpaid-for items for as long as Otto did, and Otto was the only one with the wherewithal to even notice. Oh, and the dessert Marisa was in charge of was called a "substandard product" by the judges. But did she go home? Nope. For some inane reason Otto bowed out of the competition, letting Marisa off the hook. Good job, Otto.
In the previews for next week there looked to be a lot of swearing, and maybe even a stabbing with all the knives around...
This holiday (today) commemorates the broadcast of the radio program "War Of The Worlds", based on a book written by H.G. Wells and "reported" on live radio by Orson Welles back in 1938.
This broadcast, a stunt now very illegal I'm sure, made millions of people think they had been invaded by hostile aliens. Ooops...
In retrospect, however, I wonder if Mr. Welles wished he hadn't done that after all the dust settled. In a way, he shouted "fire" in the largest theater imaginable (the whole country) and got away with it...
For a downloadable version of the broadcast, visit http://www.mercurytheatre.info/. It takes a while but is pretty fun to listen to.
At approximately noon people are encouraged to go outside and have a nice, stress releasing scream, something I'm sure many of us need to do more than once a year.
Happy Mad Hatter Day! I just found out about this one and after such a ridiculous compliance of Talk Like A Pirate Day, I couldn't resist. Take a guess as to why this celebration of silliness is observed today (10/6)...
Trivia: Who was the last Red Sox pitcher to throw a no-hitter?
Answer: Devern Hansack, October 1, 2006 against the Orioles.
But wait, that's not what MLB says. Even though Hansack pitched a complete game without allowing a hit, which in the eyes of many is what defines a no-hitter, he does not get credit for one in the eyes of the powers that (ML) be. Ah, semantics, how I love thee.
You see back in 1991 Fay Vincent et. al. decided that the definition of a no-hitter as it always had been was no longer satisfactory, and tacked a small but meaningful addition onto the list of conditions a game was required to meet to be considered a no-hitter: the game had to be at least 9 innings. This decision wiped out almost 50 no-hitters from the books and made it so that (for some as of yet unknown inane reason) baseball writers had to describe such games as "5 innings of no-hit ball" or "a complete game without getting a hit". Anyone else think this is cumbersome?
So why do it? Why change what a no-hitter is? I can think of 2 reasons.
The first is probably the more obvious of the two; many consider a 9-inning no-hitter as being more of an achievement as a less-than-9-inning one. We have seen this type of argument before in other areas of baseball stat-land. Baseball nation in general feels compelled to constantly qualify achievements (um, asterisks next to home run records, anyone?). The problem here is that sometimes the inverse is true. For an example look no further than one-time Boston Red Sox pitcher Matt (sigh) Young, who in 1992 somehow managed to pitch a complete game no-hitter and LOSE. Since Boston was away and the home team Cleveland Indians were up 2-1 in the final frame, no bottom of the 9th was required, leaving Young with only 8 innings pitched and thus no "official" no-hitter. Way to go Matt. Why'd you ever leave us?
The second reason I could see is that by shorteneing the no-hitter list you increase (or reenforce) the prestige with which throwing a no-hitter comes. Note that this change in definition came after a year (1990) with an unbelievable 9 no-hitters thrown (7 in the AL and 2 in the NL). Might the fact that 2 of those were less than 9 innings have been a factor in the sudden want for redefinition? Maybe. All I'm pointing out is that it was a time when no-hitters seemed more common (if you can believe it, another 7 were thrown in 1991).
Let's say for a moment that this second reason did act as some sort of impetus for taking away all those no-hitters. Why, then, when the home run totals started to pile up did MLB not redefine what a home run is (which has been done before, by the way. Before 1931 balls that bounced over an outfield fence were considered homers, not ground rule doubles.)? The answer is simple: MLB execs believe that fans like big scoring games, not well-pitched ones (for more on this argument see any article about the sudden post-strike surge in power hitting and think back to the Brady Andersons of the world. Musta been the sideburns.).
Well, whatever the case may be, Devern Hansack, you pitched a hell of a game out there yesterday, gave up 1 walk and no hits, and became the most recent Red Sox pitcher to throw...dare I say it....yes, to throw a no-hitter.
It also means you'll probably be traded soon to the Pirates.
Happy "Ask A Supid Question Day". Although this holiday was started by teachers to encourage students to ask questions "no matter how stupid they may seem", I feel like lots of people are celebrating it today outside of school. Then again, come to think of it, it seems like lots of people celebrate it every day.
Some really are stupid (I'm referring to the questions here, not the people who ask them). Classic examples include "What year did the War of 1812 start?" and "Is my skeleton inside or outside of my body?". Others are just plain funny, and the asking of them are in part what made comedians like George Carlin famous. My personal Carlin favorite: "What was the best thing BEFORE sliced bread?".
Many stupid questions are asked more often than we'd like to admit (like "Did that hurt"?). Here is a list of witty responses to some of them.
Did anyone ask you a stupid question today (and no, this question doesn't count)? Post away with today's best.
Content found on The Neoteric is of no particular genre, topic, or focus, other than it was all at some point, in some way, interesting enough to me to write about.
We jumped in a cab, and once the driver heard where we were staying, the 
