Dallas Stars!

If you followed my Twitter/Facebook feed at all on Tuesday, you know how insane I went when I got to experience my first NHL game. And in a big way. We were on the front row right behind the Dallas Stars' bench. I can't even describe the awesomeness of that evening.

We arrived at the arena when it opened and watched warm up. Every time the Stars came out, I'd lean over the railing and solicited the fist bump from the team (which I would say about half the team acknowledged), screaming my encouragements to them.



My next statement is rather obvious: watching the game on TV is nothing like being there. But to describe what I mean, you can't get an appreciation for how fast these guys skate on TV. While our seats were amazing for their proximity to the bench, it did make it a bit difficult to watch the game. I've never wiggled around in a seat so much in my life...trying to see. But that didn't matter...I WAS THERE!

The Stars ended up breaking the Predators' 7 game winning streak, winning 3-1. Goals were very weird; I really only saw one of them occur. The first goal came in the 2nd period, by Trevor Daley, just kind of happened all the sudden. The Stars fan we sat next to didn't realize it had happened either. Ha. The Preds tied it 1-1 by the end of the 2nd. In the third, the Stars scored 2 back-to-back goals off some horrible turnovers by the Preds. The goals were scored by Loui Eriksson and Matt Niskanen.

Also odd were penalties and stoppage of play. I guess being directly behind the glass, we couldn't hear the whistle. We'd just see a player head off to the penalty box across the ice.

Here's just a few photos of warm up and of my favorite players. I took as many as I could during media time-outs, but I didn't want to watch the game through my phone during play; by the end of the game, my battery was 10%. LOL (Click on the photos to see them big.)

Warming Up:

Face-Off:

Brenden Morrow (10; Team Captain), Stephen Robidas (3), and Kari Lehtonen (32; recently acquired during mid-season waivers):

Steve Ott (29):

Jamie Benn (14; 5th highest scoring rookie in the NHL):

Kari Lehtonen (32):

If you wanna see the rest that I spruced up, head to my gallery.


Also next to us was a couple...they actually had seats on the rail.  I wanted to try to get an autograph or 20 after the game.  I had brought a pen but lost it, so I asked the lady if she had one and told her why.  She offered to get the autograph for me, and as attractive as she was, she would stand a MUCH better chance of getting them than I would.  Kids and hot chicks...that's how you get things from athletes.  I eyed Marty Turco, the long time goalie of the Stars (but he sat out this game) and motioned to see if he'd sign the program I handed her.  He nodded.  I wanted to get several and asked as they left the arena, but no one stopped.  But I'm pretty pleased with what I got:

I have this bittersweet problem where when I go to things like this--so rare because of where I live--I get a little star struck.  I think how amazing it would be to have the resources to do this all the time; or even have a job where I could be around the team.  Heck, I even envied the bench-squeegee guy.  I know it looks more glamorous on the outside though, and I've got a pretty good deal going here, but it sure was one of the highlighted experiences I've had.  I'll end this post by repeating what I said in one of my tweets:

considering im not married this is the most epic night of my life!

The Life I Want to Live

I've been on the "do it my way" track for a while now. It started last year with a pretty devastating loss to me. Actually, 2009 kinda sucked all around. I lost a lot of security and contentment. A lot of insecurities came blaring out and I was suddenly sensitized to things that I haven't been in a long time. To counter that, I made choice to fit in to the mold of my social world. I made other choices that provided immediate (but temporary) gratification. And thus the degeneration began, and my fellowship with God waned...and waned...and waned. The good things either dropped off or became meaningless routine. And I found myself in a place not even having the want to change.

I knew I was on the fast track to losing my communion with my Creator, but by that point, I couldn't let go of some things that I had begun. A wise man told me, when I asked how to get rid of them, that will power wasn't enough...that I had to replace those things with good. And so I took some steps to do that, yet to this date some of the old leaks back in. Our pastor has been leading a study on Philippians and how to fine true, inner joy through Christ. It is resonating with me. A conviction came over me so greatly this weekend, that I knew the time had come...I either needed to make the necessary changes in my life or I would be heading to a point of no-return; of doing things I would not be able to take back.

I really suck at praying. I have to think about what I'm going to say and rehearse it like a speech in my mind, before bowing my head and closing my eyes. So the first thing I did this morning was ask God to teach me to pray. Then I asked Him to guard my heart against the temptations I've let slip in. And I prayed for this kind of life:

I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.

I'll hope you'll pray for me in this, and join me in this pursuit.

Sleep Cycles

Flipping through the top selling apps on the iPhone, I ran across an app named "Sleep Cycle". I checked it out. This app uses the phone's accelerometer (motion-sensor) to monitor the degree of movement while you sleep. You set an alarm time and, based on what stage of sleep you are in, it will wake you within 30 minutes of that alarm. The idea is you aren't woken during a deep stage of sleep.

As a physiology instructor, I was interested to see how well this app worked and how much of it was just novelty. So if you'll indulge me, let me speak briefly about sleep cycles.

We alternate between "non-rapid eye movement" (NREM) and "rapid eye movement" (REM) sleep during the night. For the typical person, it takes about 45 minutes to slip through the first two stages of NREM and into the latter two, when true deep sleep occurs. (Incidentally, nightmares tend to occur in the latter two stages of NREM.) After about 90 minutes, brain activity changes dramatically, our muscles become inhibited, and our eyes start flicking around (thus the name of the sleep). Most dreaming occurs in REM; the muscle paralysis keeps us from acting out our dreams, even though the eyes are following what is being seen. The brain activity is "more awake" during REM than when we are actually awake. The typical adult will re-enter REM about every 90 minutes; each time, REM lasts a little longer. NREM is thought to help physiological processes "reboot" (if you will), while REM is thought to work through psychological needs.

So in trying this app out, the graph is a little misleading. Since no motion occurs during REM sleep, the part of the graph that says "dreaming" is a misnomer. Perhaps a better term would be "wakefulness". However, "deep sleep" works okay for the lower portion, but keep in mind that REM is when we are dreaming the most, and true "deep sleep" occurs in the latter two stages of NREM. More motion likely means you are not in REM, but for deep sleep you could easily be moving or not. Being woken from deep sleep is what makes for the groggy feeling, so motion is not the best indicator. The app builds on ideas that actigraphy utilizes--where sleep technologist monitor motion--but should be used for novelty purposes only and to get a GENERAL idea of how you tend to sleep. The fact is, you could lay still during NREM just as you do in REM, so motion is not a true test of sleep cycling; only a brain monitor can do that. However, if you are really having sleep issues, a true sleep study is the way to go.

My first night with the app did show fairly consistent time frames for the typical sleeper that I described above. I entered a state of no-motion (which is REM) about every 90 minutes. I apparently had two such stages during my 7 hours of sleep, which by the way is arguably not enough cycles through REM, and the second was longer than the first. (I started to enter a third, but about that time my pet woke me up. Ha ha.)

2010 Winter Olympics

If you are as big a fan of the Olympics as me, you'll find yourself glued to the TV for the next two weeks. Well that may not be so easy, so I went searching for a complete TV schedule and found this. Maybe it'll help you pick out what and when to watch. TIMES ARE IN EASTERN.

NBC Universal's 2010 Winter Olympics Schedule
This is the NBC Universal Olympics Schedule from Day 1, February 12 until Day 17 on February 28. I have omitted overnight programming on MSNBC which starts at 3 a.m.

DAY 1 - FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12
NBC, 7:30 p.m. - midnight: Opening Ceremony, Ski Jumping: Qualification

DAY 2 - SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13
NBC, 2 p.m. - 6 p.m.: Ski Jumping: normal hill, Speed Skating: men's 5000m and Biathlon: women's sprint.
CNBC, 3 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.: Women's Hockey: Sweden vs. Switzerland
CNBC, 8 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.: Women's Hockey: Canada vs. Slovakia
NBC, 8 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.: Short Track: men's 1500m (live ET/CT). Alpine Skiing: men's downhill -- and women's moguls.
NBC, midnight - 1 a.m.: Luge: Men's Singles, Women's Short Track prelims: 500m, relay and medal ceremonies.

DAY 3 - SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14
NBC, 1 p.m. - 6 p.m.: Nordic Combined (live ET/CT), Speed Skating, Luge and Biathlon.
USA, 3 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.: Women's Hockey: USA vs. China
NBC, 7 p.m. - 11 p.m.: Alpine Skiing: Women's Combined. Figure Skating: Pairs Short Program. Luge: Men's Singles Gold Medal Final
NBC, 11:35 p.m. - 12:05 a.m.: Recap and analysis from Figure Skating's opening act: the pairs short program. Plus, medal ceremonies from Speed Skating and more.

DAY 4 - MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15
NBC, 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.: Women's Cross Country, Men's Snowboarding and Men's Cross Country
MSNBC, 5:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.: Women's Hockey: Canada vs. Switzerland
NBC, 8 p.m. - midnight: Figure Skating: Pairs Free Skate, Snowboarding: Men's SBX, Speed Skating: Men's 500 meters
NBC, 12:35 a.m. - 2 a.m.: Women's luge, Medal ceremonies

DAY 5 - TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16
USA, noon - 3 p.m.: Men's Curling: USA vs. Germany
NBC, 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.: Biathlon: men's 12.5K, women's 10K
USA, 3 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.: Men's Hockey: USA vs. Switzerland
CNBC, 5 p.m. - 8 p.m.: Women's Curling: USA vs. Japan
MSNBC, 5:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.: Women's Hockey: USA vs. Russia
CNBC, 8 p.m. - 10 p.m.: Men's Hockey: Canada vs. Norway
NBC, 8 p.m. - midnight: Figure Skating: men's short program, Snowboarding, Speed Skating: Women's 500 meters
CNBC, 10 p.m. - 12:30 a.m.: Women's Hockey: Finland vs. China
CNBC, 12:30 a.m. - 2:30 a.m.: Men's Hockey: Russia vs. Latvia
NBC, 12:35 a.m. - 2 a.m.: Women's Luge

DAY 6 - WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17
USA, noon - 3 p.m.: Women's Curling: USA vs. Germany
NBC, 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.: Women's Cross Country Skiing
MSNBC, 3 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.: Men's Hockey: Finland vs. Belarus
CNBC, 5 p.m. - 8 p.m.: Men's Curling: USA vs. Switzerland
MSNBC, 5:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.: Women's Hockey: Canada vs. Sweden
CNBC, 8 p.m. - 10 p.m.: Men's Hockey: Sweden vs. Germany
NBC, 8 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.: Speed Skating: men's 1,000 meters, Alpine Skiing: women's downhill, Snowboarding: men's halfpipe, Short Track: men's 5,000 meter relay & 1,000 meters.
CNBC, 10 p.m. - 12:30 a.m.: Women's Hockey: Switzerland vs. Slovakia
NBC, 12:05 a.m. - 1:30 a.m.: Short Track: men's 1,000 meters, doubles luge, medal ceremonies.
CNBC, 12:30 a.m. - 2:30 a.m.: Men's Hockey: Czech Republic vs. Slovakia

DAY 7 - THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18
USA, noon - 3 p.m.: Men's Curling: USA vs. Denmark
NBC, 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.: Women's Biathlon: 15K, Women's Snowboarding: Halfpipe
USA, 3 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.: Men's Hockey: USA vs. Norway
CNBC, 5 p.m. - 8 p.m.: Women's Curling: USA vs. Denmark
MSNBC, 5:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.: Women's Hockey: USA vs. Finland
CNBC, 8 p.m. - 10 p.m.: Men's Hockey: Canada vs. Norway
NBC, 8 p.m. - midnight: Figure Skating: Men's Free Skate, Women's Snowboarding, Speed Skating: women's 1,000 meters
CNBC, 10 p.m. - 12:30 a.m.: Women's Hockey: Russia vs. China
CNBC, 12:30 a.m. - 2:30 a.m.: Men's Hockey: Russia vs. Slovakia
NBC, 12:35 a.m. - 2 a.m.: Skeleton: Men's and women's 1st and 2nd runs, Biathlon: men's 20K, medal ceremonies.

DAY 8 - FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19
USA, noon - 3 p.m.: Women's Curling: USA vs. Russia
MSNBC, 3 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.: Men's Hockey: Sweden vs. Belarus
NBC, 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.: Women's Cross Country Skiing
CNBC, 5 p.m. - 8 p.m.: Men's Curling: USA vs. France
CNBC, 8 p.m. - 10 p.m.: Men's Hockey: Czech Republic vs. Latvia
NBC, 8 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.: Figure Skating: Ice Dancing, Women's Skeleton
CNBC, 10 p.m. - 1 a.m.: Women's Curling: Canada vs. Denmark
MSNBC, midnight - 3 a.m.: Men's Hockey: Finland vs. Germany
NBC, 12:05 a.m. - 1:30 a.m.: Medal ceremonies

DAY 9 - SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20
MSNBC, noon - 3 p.m.: Men's Curling: USA vs. Sweden
NBC, 1 p.m. - 6 p.m.: Freestyle Skiing: Women's, Ski Jumping: Large Hill, Cross Country Skiing: Men's 30K Pursuit
MSNBC, 3 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.: Men's Hockey: Norway vs. Switzerland
CNBC, 5 p.m. - 8 p.m.: Women's Curling: USA vs. Great Britain
MSNBC, 7:30 p.m. - 10 p.m.: Men's Hockey: Slovakia vs. Latvia
NBC, 8 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.: Alpine Skiing: Women's Super G, Bobsled: Two man, Short Track: men's
CNBC, 10 p.m. - 1 a.m.: Men's Curling: Canada vs. Great Britain
MSNBC, midnight - 3 a.m.: Men's Hockey: Belarus vs. Germany
NBC, midnight - 1 a.m.: Short Track: Women's 1,500 meters and medal ceremonies.

DAY 10 - SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21
MSNBC, noon - 3 p.m.: Women's Curling: USA vs. Canada
NBC, noon - 6 p.m.: Freestyle Skiing: Ski Cross, Biathlon: Men's 15K, Men's Hockey: Czech Republic vs. Russia
CNBC, 5 p.m. - 8 p.m.: Men's Curling: USA vs. Great Britain
MSNBC, 7 p.m. - 10 p.m: Men's Hockey: USA vs. Canada
NBC, 7 p.m. - 11 p.m.: Figure Skating: Ice Dancing (Original Dance), Alpine Skiing: Men's Giant Slalom
CNBC, 10 p.m. - 1 a.m.: Women's Curling: USA vs. Sweden
NBC, 11:35 p.m. - 12:30 a.m.: Biathlon: Women's 12.5K, Medal Ceremonies
MSNBC, midnight - 3 a.m.: Men's Hockey: Sweden vs. Finland

DAY 11 - MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22
USA, noon - 3 p.m: Men's Curling: USA vs. Canada
NBC, 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.: Cross Country Skiing: Men's and Women's team sprints
USA, 3 p.m - 6 p.m.: Women's Hockey: Semifinals
CNBC, 5 p.m. - 8 p.m.: Women's Curling: Canada vs. Sweden
CNBC, 8 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.: Women's Hockey: Semifinals
NBC, 8 p.m. - midnight: Figure Skating: Ice Dancing (Free Skate), Freestyle Skiing, Ski Jumping
CNBC, 10:30 - 1 a.m.: Men's Curling: USA vs. China
NBC, 12:35 a.m. - 2 a.m.; Men's Hockey: Elimination Round, Medal Ceremonies

DAY 12 - TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23
USA, noon - 3 p.m.: Women's Curling: USA vs. China
NBC, 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.: Biathlon: Women's 4 x 6K Relay, Speed Skating: Men's 10,000 meters
USA, 3 p.m. - 6 p.m.: Men's Hockey: Elimination Round
CNBC, 5 p.m - 8 p.m.: Men's Curling: Canada vs. China
CNBC, 8 p.m. - 10 p.m.: Men's Hockey: Elimination Round
NBC, 8 p.m. - midnight: Figure Skating: women's short program, Freestyle Skiing: Women's Ski Cross Final, Bobsled: Women's, Alpine Skiing: Nordic Combined
CNBC, 10 p.m. - 12:30 a.m.: Men's Hockey: Elimination Round
MSNBC, 10 p.m. - 1 a.m.: Women's Curling: USA vs. Switzerland
CNBC, 12:30 a.m. - 2:30 a.m.: Men's Hockey: Elimination Round
NBC, 12:35 a.m. - 2 a.m.: Figure Skating recap plus medal ceremonies

DAY 13 - WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24
NBC, 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.: Men's Hockey: Quarterfinal Round
MSNBC, 5 p.m. - 8 p.m.: Curling: Tiebreaker Round
CNBC, 7 p.m. - 10 p.m.: Men's Hockey: Quarterfinal Round
NBC, 8 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.: Alpine Skiing: Women's Giant Slalom, Bobsled, Short Track Speed Skating: Men's 500 meters and Women's 3,000 meters relay
CNBC, 10 p.m. - 12:30 a.m.: Men's Hockey: Quarterfinal Round
NBC, 12:05 a.m. - 1:30 a.m.: Short Track Speed Skating: Women's 1,000 meters and Medal Ceremonies
CNBC, 12:30 a.m. - 2:30 a.m.: Men's Hockey: Quarterfinal Round

DAY 14 - THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25
USA, noon - 3 p.m.: Women's Curling: Semifinal
MSNBC, 2 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.: Women's Hockey: Bronze Medal Game
NBC, 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.: Cross Country Skiing: Women's 4 x 5K relay
CNBC, 5 p.m. - 8 p.m.: Men's Curling: Semifinal
MSNBC, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.: Women's Hockey: Gold Medal Game
NBC, 8 p.m. - midnight: Figure Skating: Women's Free Skate, Freestyle Skiing
NBC, 12:35 a.m. - 2 a.m.: Figure Skating wrap up plus Medal Ceremonies

DAY 15 - FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26
USA, noon - 3 p.m.: Women's Curling: Bronze Medal Match
NBC, 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.: Men's Hockey: Semifinal
MSNBC, 3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.: Speed Skating: Men's and Women's Pursuit
CNBC, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.: Women's Curling: Gold Medal Match
NBC, 8 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.: Alpine Skiing: Women's Slalom, Short Track Speed Skating: Men's and Women's 1,000 meters
CNBC, 9 p.m. - midnight: Men's Hockey: Semifinal
NBC, 12:05 a.m. - 1:30 a.m.: Snowboarding: Women's PGS Gold Medal Final plus Medal Ceremonies

DAY 16 - SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27
USA, noon - 3 p.m.: Men's Curling: Bronze Medal Match
NBC, 1 p.m. - 6 p.m.: Snowboarding: Men's PGS Gold Medal Final, Speed Skating: Pursuit
CNBC, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.: Men's Curling: Gold Medal Match
NBC, 8 p.m. - 11 p.m.: Alpine Skiing: Men's Slalom, Bobsled: Four Man, Figure Skating: Champions Gala, Snowboarding: Men's Parallel
MSNBC, 10 p.m. - 12:30 a.m.: Men's Hockey: Bronze Medal Game

DAY 17 - SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28
MSNBC, 6 a.m. - noon - Figure Skating: Champions Gala
NBC, noon - 3 p.m.: Cross Country Skiing
NBC, 3 p.m. - 6 p.m.: Men's Hockey: Gold Medal Game
NBC, 7 p.m. - 11 p.m.: Closing Ceremony
NBC, 11:35 p.m. - 12:35 a.m.: Wrap Up

The (In)Complete and (Un)Authorized Vegas Autobiography

I've never been on a real vacation on my own, so I had been looking forward to this trip to Las Vegas with friends since it was booked in October. We got a great fare for the flight and one of our buddies hooked us up with a free stay at a hotel. We had roughly 3.5 days to take in as much as we could, and I must say, it was just about the right amount of time. Click the links for pictures and video clips.

Tuesday: Our flight out was great! After having my traditional McGriddle before traveling, we headed to the airport and breezed through security. Well, actually, I got the full search. The metal detector went off on me, which turned out to be from the large metal buttons on my shirt. The TSA agent was very nice and professional, even explaining to me that if he needed to search a "sensitive area", he would use the back of his hand. He then asked if I needed him to define a "sensitive area." I think I had it pretty well defined. On the plane, the flight attendants really went all out for us; guess they liked the idea of a group of guys heading out to Vegas for a good time. They comped us a round a drinks and even made Ryan a crown of peanuts! Our flight arrived 45 minutes early and we embarked for the hotel. My buddy Craig and I stayed at MGM Grand, while Kyle and Ryan stayed at Caesers Palace. Not only was Kyle able to get the rooms comped, we got upgraded to suites, aka bungalows! Sweet!

We spent the afternoon checking out the strip. When someone tells you that the hotels appear to be close together but are in fact, quite far apart, they speak the truth. By the end of the week, my poor feet would be revolting! Seriously, most of our day time passed by walking. We checked out a few hotels then headed back to our respective rooms to get ready for the evening. On the way to our venue, we got to watch a fountain show at the Bellagio. The main feature of the evening: Penn and Teller's magic show at the Rio. Two words: Ah-mazing! I have no idea how they did the things they did. Their gimmick is to "reveal" how many traditional tricks are done, but as they are doing so, throw in a new twist that leaves you wide eyed and mouth open. The evening topped off with the "magic bullets" trick. If you haven't seen it, you have to! After the show, Penn and Teller signed autographs.

Wednesday: Today, we were up early because we had a bus to catch. We booked a Hoover Dam tour. This was a definite highlight. After about a 30 minute ride out to Lake Mead, in the Black Canyon, we arrived. Currently under construction is the largest arch bridge in the US. It is part of a new highway being built due to frequent delays this area deals with. The driver said that 30 minute trip we just took could take 3-4 hours sometimes. We took a tour underneath dam, standing over the huge pipes. The power of the rushing water flowing through that 30 ft pipe is quite overwhelming. We also got to see the generators by which the power is created. Returning to the surface, we got some free time to walk along the top of the dam and look around.

Heading back, we stopped at some casino (I can't remember the name) for a buffet. We were left there a long time. No doubt, the tour company was given a little incentive to leave us there for enough time to play, but I would have liked 30 minutes more at the dam and less at the casino. We got back to the hotel and once again got ready for the evening. Kyle made us reservations at a high-end steakhouse called Smith & Wollensky's. We all wanted to eat out nice once. I had one of the best, and definitely the biggest, prime ribs I've ever had. And no, I couldn't finish it. After dinner, we took a walk down the strip and visited some more casinos. The dress shoes I had bought and were wearing were killing me. I was pretty miserable. We ended up stopping at Treasure Island for a while...and by a while, I mean until 4 am! Time can certainly fly when playing and having fun! For some reason, my body just cannot sleep late, so despite finally falling asleep permanently at around 6 am, I woke up at 9 am.

Thursday: Today was to be our "touristy" day. Craig and I attempted to geocache for a little while. I don't know if the 3G was so congested or what the problem was, but neither of us could get our Geocaching app to work. It kept freezing. Pretty disappointed, we gave up. Instead, we visited more hotel/casinos. So far we had walked through Planet Hollywood, Paris, New York, New York, Venetian, Bellagio, and Treasure Island, as well as a few smaller ones. So this time we went the other way to visit the Mandalay Bay, Luxor, and Exalibur. Besides, we had to pick up our tickets for the evening venue.

That afternoon, we met up with Ryan and headed way down the strip to the Stratosphere. We stopped off so Ryan could do the indoor skydiving place. He said it was really fun, but short. Heading to the Stratosphere, it was a very windy day. We bought our tickets to the top of the observation tower and ride passes. Yup, there are three rides at the top of this 109+ story tower...the highest in the world. The Big Shot is the highest...it's like a reverse death drop, shooting you up the needle of the tower. The Xtreme is a teeter totter that tilts and slides over the edge of the tower. The last one, Insanity, is a spinning swing set, but it was closed due to wind. Craig isn't a fan of heights, so it was up to Ryan and I to complete this feat. And ride we did. So I can now say I've ridden the highest rides in the world! Sweet! To be honest, the rides themselves were really wimpy; 90% of the battle is just being on top of this tower (Big Shot is 1100 ft up). On the ride, we met this crazy girl who is self-described as a "weird ass adrenaline junkie". Her boyfriend wasn't so much excited (see previous picture to know exactly what I'm talking about). We gave her and extra ticket and rode the Xtreme, then headed down. Riding the tram back to our hotels, we got ready for an evening at the Mandalay Bay and the musical "The Lion King".

This performance blew me away. The staging, acting, and costumes were absolutely phenomenal. Many lines were word-for-word from the movie (my favorite Disney, by the way), with a few added scenes that I'm sure were to complement the different medium. The show was only slightly spoiled by two things: 1) After the second scene, we noticed the sound guy started moving frantically and talking on two phones; then the curtain went down and the lights came up. They then announced that the performance would be delayed due to an actor taking ill suddenly. After about 20 minutes, we resumed. 2) A couple of foreigners behind us felt the need to comment about EVERYTHING going on to each other. A couple in front of us turned to shoosh them once, then I finally turned around and asked them to be quiet as well. I really can't stand rude audiences. Craig and Ryan were equally as impressed as I; it was definitely worth the ticket. I was wiped from only getting about 3-4 hours of sleep, so I opted to head to the hotel; the others stayed out a while longer.

Friday: No agenda today; just finish out the things I wanted to see. We played a table during the day before the stakes would go up. Did some shopping at the Coca-Cola store. Visited some more hotels, including Caesers Palace. Stopped by the Apple Store in there. We watched the Treasure Island pirate show and the Mirage's lava show. The night's agenda was to hit a club for one last night of frivolity. We hit up "The Bank" in the Bellagio. It was an exquisite club! First of all, there were tons of security. To sit in this place would cost you about $400, which would include a bottle and table service; otherwise, the cover was $20. The cheapest thing at the bar was like $10! It was crazy how this one guy and (what I'll call his) slave-boy would run up and down the club. The first guy would shine a light on something and yell at his fellow to pick it up. I'm talking a piece of lint on the carpet! If you took your hand off your drink, it was gone. Match books were replaced within seconds. These guys were serious about keeping it clean! The place was so packed; it was hard to move. Although it was fun to let it loose for while, I was done in about 1 am and headed back.

Saturday: Up in just enough time to pack, grab coffee, grab some souvenirs and head to the airport. It was an awesome, unforgettable vacation shared with some great friends. If/when I ever go back, there are still some things I'd like to do. Unfortunately, Cirque de Soleil was taking a production break and the NY, NY roller coaster was down for maintenance. So those would be on tap. I think I'd be up for hitting more clubs in the evening too. But overall, I did it all, saw it all, and had a blast.

Sports Broadcasts Rants

I'm a hockey fan. Huh??? you say? It's true. It happened back around 1999-2001 when the Stars won a couple Stanley cups. Being from the Dallas area, I got caught up in the hype and watched. But I came to really enjoy the game. It is a non-stop battle. It's so hard to score that when it finally happens, I think it is the most exciting score of any sports. Now saying all that, I've pretty much self-taught myself the rules. And there are plenty I'm still not familiar with.

And that brings me to the point of this rant. Fox Sports, the channel Stars games are featured on, is really bad about not explaining anything, particularly when it comes to penalties. Well they all are bad about it, really. Sometimes they'll say something like "2 minutes for high sticking" but they rarely show it again. I need to see the penalty so I know what constitutes it. Sometimes it can be as bad as just saying "2 minute minor"...no indication of what foul was committed. It's hard for me to see penalties at the high rate of play most sports are, so it would be nice if broadcasters would take a second to show the penalty while play is stopped. The other day, I saw my first "misconduct" penalty...a 10 minute one! No explanation.

Explain a rule every so often! I'm not asking for something unreasonable like explain everything every game (more on that in a second). That would suck for the fans that know what is going on. But every few games, when something happens, just take a second to explain it. For example, icing. This was hard for me to figure out. If a commentator had simply said "and the puck travels across the lines without being played so icing will be called"...I'd have known. That's a non-invasive way of slipping in an explanation, I think. (Incidentally, icing is a rule so that players are forced to play the puck across the rink and not just shoot it down the ice. If called, the puck comes back to the other side for a face-off.) They all list season records with 4 numbers, as in something like 10-4-2-0. Okay, win-loss-tie?-??? What the crap are those numbers? They never say! What are these "points" a team accumulates that determine who gets into playoffs? How are they different from points an individual player gets? How the heck do either EARN the stinking points??? Frustrating!

There are still plenty of other things I don't understand, like what exactly constitutes interference or the technicalities of where a face-off happens...but the internet has been helpful to some extent. I've even downloaded the NHL Official Rule Book. Haha. In summary, I think broadcasts would benefit from this notion because it would pick up new viewers long term by keeping them interested (because they are learning) and informed. Finding a balance for the pro-viewers and the new viewers is win-win!

But at the same time, it can't be taken to the other extreme, which is to over-explain a procedure every stinking time. And the overly glaring offender here comes from football and the video review. How long have we had reviews now? WE KNOW THE EVIDENCE HAS TO BE INDISPUTABLE! Do you have nothing else to say? Yes, it must be conclusive enough to overturn. Thank you! We got that the first year. Gah!

And just while we're on this subject, can I just say how useless coach and player interviews are? Just play a record that says "we need to work harder, score more points than [the other team], and come out ready to play", etc...because that's basically all these interviews amount to. Well, duhhhh! Can I get the last 5 minutes of my life back please? If you didn't do those things why show up? How about some substance. Call out some specifics! I know they don't want to point to individual players, but come on! What about the "running game" do you need to work on? HOW do you work on not turning over the ball? Substance! Amirite?

Unprecedented Movies of the 2000's

I loooooove movies. I've invested quite a bit in my home theater and enjoy a good experience in the theater (of which I'm quite picky about.) I guess I'm an escapist at heart; I love to get involved in a good story. So I thought it would be fun to look back at some of the game-changers in movies from the last decade. I probably won't remember all of them, but these are the ones that stick out in my mind and why. Random order.

1. Batman Begins/Dark Knight - I put these movies together because they spawned the "reboot" era of movies and added that word to our movie lingo, once it was shown to be a success. Thus we get such successful franchises like "Star Trek" once again. "Dark Knight" is there because it was one of the first--if not THE first--feature films to be shot with IMAX film, albeit just parts. But it was those parts that made going to see a movie in "IMAX" cool...even though nothing has really be shot in IMAX since. The actual cameras to do so cost several hundred thousand dollars and only 4-5 are in existence. (They accidentally destroyed one in the making of "Dark Knight".)

2. Lord of the Rings trilogy - this was the first time a studio foot the bill for THREE movies to be filmed at once. It was a massive undertaking. I believe the typical movie can shoot in a period of 3-4 months. These guys filmed on-location and in studio for about a year. Not to mention the 7 or so years it took to plan the movie, then do post-production work. There hasn't been anything quite like it since, though some successful first outing movies have filmed two sequels together. Also, their revolutionary detail of a complete CGI character in Gollum spurred the technology to make movies like "Chronicles of Narnia" possible. (We won't give that credit to JarJar Binks, okay?)

3. Harry Potter franchise - it is unprecedented for one main reason, in my opinion: they kept the same actors for all 8 films. Okay, well Dumbledore's actor changed but that was because the actor passed away. But this is seriously unheard of...actors don't like to be type-cast or nailed down to one project for so long, typically. (Of course, Daniel Radcliffe is doing his best not to be type-cast by appearing in the play Equus between filming.) But not only is this fact unprecedented, but the turn-around time for such a special-effect driven film pretty remarkable. They were turning them out about once a year in the beginning, then lengthened it to once every 18-months. And now the last film (due Nov. 2010) is coming out in two-parts (2nd part July 2011). They say it is because they can't get it all in one film. Bah. They did okay with books 4 and 5...they just want to milk that money. Hopefully the Blu-Ray will have them together? (Yah right.)

4. Avatar - Come on, you really didn't think I'd leave this off? The 3D craze was a gimmick to draw in crowds until this movie. But James Cameron just did "something" different here that made 3D viewing the only way to see this movie. That's amazing, but at the same time Hollywood is going to make EVERYTHING in 3D now which is really gonna suck...because without a visionary person like Cameron, it will still be only one thing: a gimmick. But Cameron shot Avatar with this new 3D tech that made you feel like you were there. You seriously can't get any closer than actually going. It is hard to put into words, but I have never visually experienced something like that ever. And it just wasn't about the 3D, it was about the new, innovative motion capture technology. The facial movements for speech and expression is unsurpassed and sets a new, high bar in motion capture. And it begs the question, who should win an award for motion captured roles? The actor; the special effects team? This is new territory.

5. Shrek - I thought of this one late into this post. Actually, I wasn't sure it was from the 2000's, but it is. I think this is the computer animated movie that put computer animated movies on the map. Hardly anything has been hand-drawn since. Pixar and Dreamworks exploded on to the scene after this movie.

If I think of others, I'll add them. But chime in with your own and why you think it changed the movie industry.