A Plethora of Palabras

Wow. This will be a busy post. I have a lot to say.

First, this YouTube Video has me highly stressed. I've got a very low opinions of all politicians, but is this little clip (verified, thanks) a racist rant from Hillary Clinton? It's her but is what she saying racist? Interesting thing to wonder about. I have to wonder why you'd repeatedly point out why you're white thus drawing attention to the fact your opponent is black. I hereby officially throw my hat in the Obama ring -- my first public statement of support for any candidate (none of whom I am overly thrilled with). This hat contingent upon whatever fool he picks as VP.

Second, the evil empire, AKA Microsoft, has come public about COFEE. Yeah, the same company that sells many of you guys your operating system software and recommends and installs all sorts of security updates has given an all-access pass to your local law-enforcement agency. No joke. This is just absurd. And if there's such a simple back-door to get around your operating system protections, how long for the terrorists to figure it out? The USB thumb drive contains 150 Microsoft programmed special commands to allow the user to decrypt passwords, recover all of the computer's data stores, and read a complete log of the computer's Internet activities. It works on-site with any Windows-loaded computer, including PDAs. That means not only your desktop but your mobile device too. I'm glad I'm not using their programs -- the question is why are you?

3. Jesus Made Me Puke is the title of a Rolling Stone article. David Higgins gets credit on this. While I subscribe to Rolling Stone, I hadn't yet read this issue. Why should you read it? You want to know what evangelicals do behind closed doors? Actually, you probably don't want to know. But you should. You might just lose a little sleep at night after reading this.

4. Tina Turner is coming out of retirement. She'll be here November 2nd and I'm excited. I've put in for the ticket lottery and hope to score some. The tickets go on sale Monday. Oh PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. I wish the International Tina Turner Fan Club was still around and giving us the good seats. Damn. I love Tina. See my review of her final Florida concert here.

5. Cal Rugby once again dominates the Rugby universe.The California Golden Bears blasted out to a 40-0 half-time lead and never looked back against Brigham Young University, taking the 2008 national collegiate championship, 59-7, this past Saturday at Stanford’s Steuber Rugby Stadium. It was the fifth straight title for the Bears and 24th in the history of the Cal rugby program making them the most dominating team in any Division One college sport.

6. I've got Neil Diamond tickets for 10-26-08, which I am also excited about. Nobody cares but me, but, yes, I love Neil Diamond and am greatly looking forward to his concert. I am going with the Mann family.

7. Last, but not least, a brief review of a quirky book called "The Somnambulist" by Jonathan Barnes. This books is unusual. Very much so. I rather enjoyed it. It's set in London -- the Victorian one. It's got humour of the driest sort, often black at that. It's got adventure. If the title frightens you, this book isn't for you. It's got lots of big $50 words, all used properly and without any effort by the author. It's quite the entertaining piece, and if you're in need of something different, this book is for you. I mostly recommend this to readers who would enjoy light fantasy and light science-fiction. Others will not appreciate its charms.

8. Don't forget to read Little Brother. I'm serious. Read this book.

Vegas Trip Summary

As you know it was a trade show that brought me to Las Vegas on Saturday morning for a stay until Wednesday. The weekend was Greg and Gaby's 15th anniversary, and perversely, they invited me and Austri to spend it with them.

We met up with them around 5pm Saturday for an early dinner at Daniel Boulud's Brasserie at the Wynn. I'll take credit for the pick -- mostly because the menu looked good. Gaby and Greg were sceptical of the place because she isn't a fan of anything French. I had reasonable expectations as did Austri. To sum it up, this was one of the best meals we've ever had. We all agree. In fact, it may be the second best meal I've ever eaten. The food portions were reasonable -- not that art over edibility crap -- and the flavours were distinct yet excitingly blended. The food was succulent, tender, moist, firm, and every other texture all at once. We all shared each others' food (me skipping Gaby's mussels as I don't do shellfish) and they were all excellent beyond measure. The deserts were just as good. Although overpriced like most Las Vegas restaurants, we still came in at just under $100 per person with alcohol included. I cannot recommend this restaurant enough. On a scale of 1 to 10, it's at least a 15 and possibly a 20. Go eat here. Really.

Next up was the Wayne Brady show at the Venetian. It was funny. Good but not great. As an "improv" variety show parts were good and parts weren't. But when something fell flat, he didn't let it go. I wouldn't go back, but I didn't hate it.

Sunday was walk-around day, leaving Greg and Gaby to their devices. Austri went home today because she had work early Monday morning, so it was just the three of us for the 7pm Jersey Boys at the Palazzo. Gaby really wanted to see this but neither Greg nor I did. It's the story, in case you don't know, of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Gaby enjoyed herself. Greg and I were pleasantly surprised. This was a GREAT play. And unlike most plays in Vegas it wasn't a shortened, dumbed-down version of the Broadway play: this was the whole enchilada. The music, was of course, fantastic. But the play, which Greg and I thought would be dull and un-interesting sprang to life. It was a fantastic show and I'd even see it again.

After that Gaby booked us at Table 10 the new Emeril Lagasse restaurant at the Palazzo. We went in with extraordinarily high hopes -- after all his Delmonico's at the Venetian remains the finest meal I have ever eaten in my life. What a let-down. The service was the best part of the meal. The food was okay, but not spectacular. The ambiance was all right, but the food lacked the certain je ne sais quois that makes a great restaurant a legend. Almost as pricey as Boulud's but not even half as good.

A word about the Palazzo while I'm on it. I've stayed at the Venetian twice before both as a paying customer and invited guest. Great hotel. The Palazzo is the sister property in the back and they're connected. It was designed to be a second Venetian -- same standards. The hotel is new, only a few months old.

Upon check in, I noticed the room was warm. I called maintenance who eventually came and fixed the AC which was broken. He was unable to fix the burnt out bulbs as he didn't have any with him and promised he'd send someone up -- indeed he called down while we were there. For two days nobody came to fix that burnt out bulb (my reading light over the bed, dammit). The clock was wrong when we checked in (about 5-1/4 hours off). Sounds simple enough. I was unable to figure it out. The alarm was easy enough, but not the time. I called down to ask how to fix it. They said you need a screwdriver to take it apart to set the time! Really! So they had to send someone to fix it. Nobody showed up, so the aforementioned AC repair guy fixed it for us after he called for instructions because he couldn't figure it out. That earned him a nice tip :) Walking over to the blinds to look out at the view, I noticed a few moths flying around inside the sheer Roman curtain. Looking down, there were dead ones. Not that I care, but I was there from Saturday until Monday. They were never cleaned up. Further, and again, I don't care but the buttons on the couch in the room were coming off. I picked one off the floor and left it on the table. Another was missing. For that amount of money, these problems are inexcusable especially in a new hotel. Oh, and video check-out doesn't let you type in your fax and/or e-mail to get a copy of your receipt. You have to stand in line at the counter to get one defeating the purpose of video checkout. Never again.

Ah well. Monday was a boring day and I didn't do much. Switched over to Planet Hollywood (formerly the Aladdin) which I am sad to report has a great casino but the rooms now suck. I won't be back. Half the room was broken. That evening I had dinner with a friend from LA who flew up. Arrived at 4, we ate at Kokomo's at around 6, and he left at 8. Turns out Greg's evening plans were cancelled so I sat with him while he ate some stuff and then we gambled.

Tuesday was the show. The show was a big waste. I was surprised as the show's usually good. So much for that and I'll skip boring you with the details. That evening we saw Louie Anderson at the Excalibur. Very funny but for $60 you think he'd go longer than 70+ minutes. We gambled more. I got up at 345am and flew home, arriving at 130pm followed by my luggage at 230pm. Then, trooper that I am, I went to work.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (Book Review)

This part is spoiler free. I was with Adrian at Barnes & Nobles a few weeks ago while helooked for a copy of the new Vladimir Tod novel. when I saw a book sitting there. I wasn't going to pick it up because it just didn't seem interesting. But, on the cover was a very large blurb by Neil Gaiman. Now, if he says he'd recommend it over anything else he's read this year (which he did), then I am obligated to look at it. I needed a "plane book" so I bought it for my trip to the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas (see next blog post for that write-up).

The book in question is "Little Brother" by Cory Doctorow. I read it, and I recommend this book to anyone with the mind to grasp it. It's a very interesting book set in approximately present-day San Francisco. The story revolves around W1n5t0n a cyber-hacker who happens to be a teenager in a local high-school. It's tech-heavy; so although you probably don't need to understand too much to enjoy the book, it certainly would help. It doesn't drift far-off reality and it's not really even science-fiction except for the detail that it isn't a true story. It's frighteningly close to reality and there's not much separating it from truth. It's hard to pinpoint it to a specific genre -- though the Tor imprint pretty much implies sci-fi.

Before I get to the review with spoilers, I must say this book is FANTASTIC. And it's IMPORTANT. You need to read this book. Seriously. It blurs the line between fiction and reality so strongly, you'll begin to wonder. Forget the conspiracy nuts, this book will actually make you wonder how nuts those theorists really are.

Mr. Doctorow is a former director of the EFF, so his facts are tight. Apart from an unhealthy love of the evil X-box, he's blown me away with Little Brother. And if the recommendation by Neil Gaiman isn't enough, how about Mitch Kapor, Ray Ozzie, or Tim O'Reilly? This book is amazing. And the even the giants of technology agree -- the list of kudos is impressive.

The book is a quick read, tightly packed, well edited (I only found two typos), and fascinatingly entrapping. A good mental exercise and a release at the same time. Buy it. Read it. Then tell your friends. This book should go viral.

This italicized part is NOT spoiler free. Specifically, Marcus (W1n5t0n) lives his life as a cyber-geek and cyber-genius. Unrelated to that, a terrorist attack hits San Francisco. This is the story of Marcus and his girlfriend in their quest to reclaim San Francisco when the Department of Homeland Security takes over. They turn San Francisco into a mini-Gitmo and while they never impose marital law, rights are slowly taken away just like is happening in real life. Alone that would make the book possibly interesting. But that's not all.

The book explains, in detail, why all those little RFID devices everyone carries aren't such a good idea. RFID? They're in your SunPass (toll booth transponder), Passport, and so forth. They couple that with data in the traffic camera, and data mined from government records. All of a sudden they know more about you than you care to think. Might sound like science fiction but it isn't. This part is all current, working, installed technology.

W1n5t0n goes into hiding and his ultimate goal is to survive his imprisonment, torture (yes), and take back what is slowly being taken away. He could be a hero if he can only succeed. Nothing I write here will do this book justice. You need to read this book. If you think you're living in a free America, you probably should read this work of fiction. Because although it's fiction, that story is delivering a message. Freedom is not free. What would you pay for yours?

Please buy this book. I really can't reiterate this enough: buy this book. BUY IT NOW.

As for my friends: you're all getting this for Christmas if you don't write me and tell me you've read it before then. You don't want to wait. Trust me. You're going to have thoughts after you read this book. Be afraid. Very afraid.