TwoPennies

Booze Quiz

Missed the first question on "Mojito", alas...  (hat tip to Bog):

97%ALCOHOLIC

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Every office needs a Swear Jar...

OK, two videos in a row is a bit excessive... but this web commercial for Bud Light is pretty funny!

They eat WHAT????

Big hat tip to Jack Bog for this video, which explains a lot:

TOD: Nanny State?

New York City has become the first city in the country to ban trans-fats from restaurants, while other cities consider similar measures.

What do you think?  Does the state have a legitimate interest in regulating things that are merely "bad for you" when those things do not directly infringe the rights of others?  If so, does that interest take precedence over individual "pursuit of happiness"?  What other sorts of bans might be appropriate (or inappropriate)?

Playing Catch-Up

Man, it's amazing how quickly three weeks can pass by!

It's been a pretty busy three weeks, for sure.  There was the election, of course... then a number of work and personal milestones.  Then the annual international gaming trade show here in Vegas, so more work deadlines and general busy-ness.  Got rear-ended by Kenny, part of a four-car incident at lunch time during the show.  Very exciting that, I was lucky enough to escape with barely a scuff on my car, while Kenny's car has been in the shop for a couple of weeks now.  The guy behind him fared poorer still, as he got smooshed between Kenny's car and the BMW in the tail end that apparently started the whole thing.

And last week was Thanksgiving, of course, and my parents decided to come down for the holiday this year.  Which was nice, I got to hang out with them for four days, without work responsibilities (normally they show up mid-week, rarely on weekends, so I've got to juggle schedules).  We had Thanksgiving Dinner at the top of the Stratosphere, which is the tallest building in Vegas.  I believe it's twice as tall as Seattle's Space Needle.  The restaurant is located at the 106th floor, about 860 feet above the Strip.

After dinner we visited the outdoor observation level, where Dad snapped a fuzzy picture of me with my phone (for quick distribution to a couple of friends). 

(Click image to enlarge)

It was a lovely clear night, a bit cool but not cold.  I was able to take a few pictures with my regular camera as well, and I learned some important lessons about taking nighttime pictures of bright lights from a distance.  Mostly I learned that one of the settings on my camera takes decent shots, while all of the rest of the settings take complete crap shots.  And I also learned that next time, I really need to be organized about figuring out which of those settings is the right one, because apparently just changing settings randomly while snapping shots is a somewhat ineffective technique.

(Click image to enlarge)

So anyhow, in all that time there have been numerous important stories to talk about, issues to consider, and a whole sea change election to cover.  Hopefully I'll be able to put a little more time into that now.  I'd like to welcome Jason on board, and I look forward to his contributions moving forward.

On with the show!

Dining in Vegas

One of the great things about living in Vegas is that people from back home are always happy to pop down for a visit.

I met my aunt and a family friend for dinner this evening at the MGM Grand.  Those of us who actually live here rarely go anywhere near the Strip if we can help it (traffic just flat sucks) so about the only time I go to the major casinos is when somebody's in town.  Thus, the only time I generally experience the finer dining Las Vegas has to offer is when I get visitors.

Anyhow, we went to Emeril's.  Fantastic.  It's a spendy place to eat, but the food is amazing.  I had the sweet barbeque grilled Atlantic salmon, served on a bed of country potatos with buttermilk onion rings on top.  Wow.  Highly recommended if you ever find yourself down this way!