Friday, February 29, 2008

Quick, get me a pencil and some paper!

I seem to get flashes of inspiration when:

1. I am in the shower.
2. I'm half-awake.
3. I took the cough syrup that was prescribed last week.

Of course the thought flits away long before I get a chance post it here. Today, I got nothing. The stream of ideas dried up at about 9:00 a.m.

I feel great. I have a pile of books to read, a backlog of DVRed television, and plenty of fun and interesting tasks to undertake. I'm reorganizing my computers and media. This is long overdue. I have a gigashitload of pictures and videos to get on DVDs or delete. I have to back up my iTunes. I actually broke my laptop and had use my hard earned Las Vegas winnings to replace it. Luckily I didn't have itunes on that machine, but I've had to dig through trays full of CDs floppies and jump drives to retrieve essential files. There weren't that many essential files. Mostly crap or redundant backups. My first DVD burner and a new USB 500gb Hard drive should speed the process along. Exciting, huh?

Patti just said something funny! Seems she forgot Cesar dog food for Bosco and Smooch. When she realized it, she let go with one of my favorites: "Well, shit the bed, Fred!"

I've corrupted the poor girl

Amazing Grace used to be her favorite song. Lord, where has my good girl gone?"
-Amazing Rhythm Aces -

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch Changes

Good lord! There were at least 7 or 8 known Mr. Sparkles lurking around the Internet. That, compounded by the fact that the Great State of New Mexico was on my ass about copyright infringement, led me to retire "Mister Sparkle's Land of Enchantment".

I put much thought into this change . When I launched MSLOE, I I just wanted to get it rolling and not thwart myself over thinking up a name and theme. The new theme is inspired by this.

There it is.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Better

Everything looks great when you've recovered from a malady. Doc gave me an antibiotic and some special cough syrup with potent ingredients. No coughing, nice little buzz.

Trouble is, so many niggling issues were neglected during my trip and annoying illness. MSLOE posts will have to wait for a few days.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Sick

Nothing looks good, including MSLOE.

I'm thinking of changing the name of this place to something more dour and feature even more pissing and moaning.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Poker Suit

He wore a Poker Stars hat. His black jacket also sported the Poker Stars logo. He could have safely arc welded with his sunglasses. He enjoyed poker music on his cheap MP3 player. He shuffled his chips with dexterity that comes from only months of practice. He executed every action as if he was on a televison show. Poker Boy was a sight to behold in his brand new poker costume.

This youngster reminded me of when I would dress like my favorite TV cowboy. I was nine at the time. This fellow had to be at lease 21 by law. He must have thought tht he projected an intimidating image. Frankly, he looked and acted foolishly.

Evidently he spent too much time striving to look like a poker player and neglected his play of the game. His session at The Mirage lasted only about an hour before he was drained of his chips.

I enjoy the game, but certainly have tired of the poker shows on television. Like any other game show, why should I care if a contestant wins money? None of it is coming my way.

What the hell's wrong with the blogger spell checker?

Step Right Up!

There's a little fellow working the traffic parading across the central stretch of the Las Vegas Strip. He plays a leprechaun of behalf of O'Shea's Casino. O'Shea's is one of the few remaining places where you can step right into the casino from the sidewalk. Oshea's makes good use of their colorful huckster. This guy is good. He isn't one of those sweet "follow the yellow brick road" diminutives. He has perverse, growling overtone in his speech and a patter that is suitable for promoting a county fair girly show.

Thirty-two ounce Miller Light. Only one dollar!
Right Here.
Right Now.

Hopefully, small charming casinos like O'Sheas's and Slots-A-Fun won't be removed for still another mega resort.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Leaving Las Vegas

Seven days and nights of Texas hold 'em primarily at The Mirage provide no copy of interest. Fellow poker players usually just feign interest in the bad beat stories or the detail of winning hands. Suffice to say I enjoyed playing and showed a meager profit. No poker stories will be found here.

My general comment about Las Vegas (the tourist aspect of the place) is that folks with different agendas gather and exist in parallel universes. This was most evident on Friday and Saturday night. The club crowd invaded and overran The Strip, While I was looking for a low stakes dice table and a Diet Pepsi that I could buy for under $3, others were hoping to get into a club so thy could (reportedly) spend hundreds, if not thousands just to be part of the human Jello mold on the dance floor.

The scene reminded me of the old Let's Make a Deal show where contestents would wear costumes to attract the attention of Monty Hall. The bunny suits and foil robot attire were replaced in LV with five inch heels, sparkly dresses and cheap perfume for the ladies. The boys wore whatever what was regarded as high fashion in their particular circle. It was a freak parade to my old eyes. The early evening was full of anticipation, although it appeared that 90% of the contestants would not get into a club let alone find themselves lucky in love.


The trip back to my room at about 3 a.m. saw girls too drunk and drugged to walk, let alone be of any sexual benefit, either being carried home or, in one case, sprawled on the sidewalk in a laughing fit. Small bands of defective men with beers in hand wandered about wondering how the evening passed them by.

I cared no more for an account of their club experiences than they of my telling of how I found a lucky queen on the turn to fill me in to beat a lower boat.

Friday, February 1, 2008

La la la - lah lah lah - ad infinitum

New Soul - Yael Naim

It's a cute little tune that I first heard on that thin Mac laptop ad. For 99 cents, what the hell? I downloaded it from iTunes. Like I said, it's a happy ditty with a catchy melody. It's a download you may like - but be warned, it will fill that 90% of your brain that supposedly is not utilized. You will think it, hum it, tap it out, bob your head, walk in cadence, mouth the lyrics. You will live in a music video.

la la la - lah lah lah - lah lah la la lah lah la lah - la la lah.