Every year, you hear the same story over and over again. Some NCAA school is being investigated for breaking one of the many insane and stupid rules that have been created. The NCAA is the biggest joke, and somehow it is legal for them to exploit thousands of college athletes so that they can make billions of dollars every year. And exploitation is what is is. Spare me the “our kids are getting a free education” argument. That’s the biggest joke of all.
If they are making billions of dollars every year, why shouldn’t they pay their athletes? Its such a joke. Is there any other employer in the world that is allowed to pay their employees nothing? If they would just pay their athletes, then they wouldn’t have to police as often all these stupid rules about accepting gifts or crap like that. How much money do you think the NCAA spends each year just policing these stupid rules. Use that money for the slave laborers instead.
I know this if off tangent, but speaking of how stupid the NCAA is, I guess it only makes sense that they have the dumbest playoff system ever in the BCS. Can you imagine if the Lakers were determined the champions because the coaches and newspapers and a stupid computer said they were the best? Yeah, sounds dumb right? But, that’s the reality of the college football system, where money rules everything and skills/games are secondary. Guess it only makes sense that its the foundation of the NCAA’s college football system where money means everything, and athletes are just legal slaves.
Okay, let me start off by saying I would never, ever say out loud that any baby is not cute or pretty or beautiful or whatever. Its one of those things that you always answer one way, no matter what you are thinking. Is my baby cute. “Yes” without looking. Do I look fat. “No” without looking.
So, why am I blogging about the title of this post? For whatever reason, I was talking to my co-worker about babies. I don’t know why, but she asked me something like if I thought all babies were cute. I said something along the lines of what I started this blog post with. I will ALWAYS say yes or something positive if a mother asks me if her baby is cute. DUH! But, I won’t always think it. She was appalled! How could I not think a baby was cute! Its just a baby!
Firstly, just because I don’t think a particular baby is cute doesn’t make me an evil person or a baby hater. Let’s be frank. There are some damn ugly babies out there. There is a reason they have the phrase, “a face only a mother could love.” Don’t get mad at me, I didn’t make that up. Secondly, I think I got into deeper water when I told her that there has never been a puppy that I have seen that I didn’t think was cute. Now, granted I have probably seen more babies than I have puppies, and the only puppies I’ve seen are my own (and please don’t ever ask me to compare my puppy to your baby because in that case, I might just have to be honest!), my friend’s, and the ones in a store, but yes, I stand by that statement. I’ve never seen a puppy that was ugly or not cute. Babies? I definitely cannot say the same. It doesn’t mean that your baby won’t turn out to be a beautiful or smart or funny person. I’m just saying that right now, objectively and physically speaking, your baby is not cute!
I got into this much trouble just talking about this topic. So, please don’t ever ask me if your baby is cute. You already know what I will say. YES!
Anyone who knows me knows that my last name is also a very common first name. For years and years and years, whenever someone has asked me what my last name is and I tell them, they always say to me, “Your last name.” I’ve been going through this for years, and I’m like whatever.
It just happened to me yesterday again, when I went to Target to pick up some prescription meds. I go to the probably college kid and tell him pickup. He asks for my last name. I tell him. And what does he say? “Last name?” Hey dumbfuck, I speak English!!! I know what my last name is. If you ask me for my last name why the hell would I give you my first name! I don’t know if I was just tired after a long day of work and the gym or what, but that kind of bugged me for the very first time in a long time. Maybe was just in a bad mood or something. Anyway, I’m over it now. Just wanted to unload. I’m sure the next time it happens I’ll let it slide, and just think insdie that this person is a freaking moron.
After the Lakers won the championship this year, I knew that the real NBA excitement would begin. The victory parade? Heck no. All the NBA rumors about free agent signings, trades, etc. For the last few years, I’ve become very intrigued about all the rumors that have been printed and such, even though I know that 90% of them never come true. Were the Lakers really going to trade Bynum for Kidd? Was Kobe going to leave? Is Wade going to stay with the Heat? And the mother of all speculation, Lebron. With the exception of the Lebron talk, all of this interests me. I’ve never been a Lebron fan. I hate that the media instantly proclaimed him King from the start and handed him everything from the start. Yes, he’s a great player, but he should of had to earn that reputation and media love, but whatever. He’s like the Barack Obama of the NBA.
Anyway, that’s off tangent. I find it kind of sad that I find all of these rumors and trades speculation so much more interesting than the actual NBA season and games itself. What does that say about the sport? I think its actually quite sad. Seriously. For any sport, the actual game should always be the pinnacle of excitement. But, I’ve been finding that I don’t even care all that much about regular season games anymore, unless its a “big” one like Lakers vs. Celtics or something. I think the Shaq-Kobe Lakers helped ruin this for me because they didn’t give a damn about the regular season and then only really tried in the playoffs. In fact, you can pretty much say the same about this recent Laker team as well. If they don’t care, then why should I as a fan care?
But, that’s just my opinion. I’m sure that there are some people out there who disagree with me and feel the actual game is more exciting. Me? I’ll read my rumors when they come along. I’ll be excited doing so, and it won’t cost me a penny.
Continuing my post from yesterday about going to Vegas for my cousin’s 21st birthday, I will talk about the hotel we stayed in, which was the Rio. For those that do not know, the Rio is off the strip, and is owned by the same company that owns Harrah’s, Caesar’s Palace, Bally’s, and I think Paris. I think that every room at the Rio is a suite, which was only confirmed with the 2 rooms that we got there. It had 2 queen size beds, a nice L-shaped sofa, and plenty of room and space. Back in the day when I was in college and going to Vegas, I used to get like 1 room between 8 people. Had I known about the Rio, I’d of gotten the room there instead as there is plenty of room. The bathroom is nice too in that there is a sink both inside where the shower and toilet is, as well as outside. It makes it easier to get ready while someone else is in the shower.
For one of the days too, we went down to the pool. The pool was super crowded, and is actually made up of like 3 different pools, maybe 4 if I’m not counting correctly. There are plenty of chairs to lie in and various places to get drinks throughout. I’ve definitely been to better pools than this, but it was not bad at all. If you are hoping to find a pool to exercise or do laps, then this is not the place for you. Its just there to relax, chill, and drink away. Towels are also provided for all, though I think that is the case for most hotels, right?
In the past, I have eaten at both the Carnival World Buffet and also the Seafood Buffet (I forget the name of the latter). We didn’t go to either on this trip as my cousins are all tiny Chinese girls who don’t eat a lot. The former I’ve never thought was very good. The latter is very good if you like seafood. I personally like the buffet at the Bellagio better. I like seafood, but I just think the food quality at the Rio does not compare to that of the Bellagio. That being said, if I’m going to spend 40 bucks or so on dinner, I think I’d rather go to a “nice” restaurant than a buffet. (I will talk about later this week the steak place we went to which was fabulous). On the last morning I was there, I went to a cafe with my brother’s friend because we were the only two up. Both ordered breakfast there. It was nothing special, and very overpriced. I could of gotten the same meal at IHOP for half the price.
Finally, the casino there. I primarily like to play poker and blackjack. For a large hotel like the Rio, I must say that they have the least amount of blackjack tables that I have ever seen. I was actually quite surprised as I always thought that blackjack was the most popular casino game. Guess I was wrong, or maybe the Rio customer base just likes the other games better. Regardless, there were pretty much no blackjack tables with a minimum bet less than 25 bucks. Many were 50, so I didn’t play as much blackjack as I had hoped to. I did play a little bit of poker. When I played on Friday night, the only hold ‘em games they had I think were 1-3 NL, 2-5 NL, and some pot limit game that I forget the blinds for. I played some 1-3 NL and the players there were just as good/bad as any other place I’ve been to. Poker room was alright, not great, but not bad either.
Overall, I had a good experience at the Rio. I have a rewards card there which is also good at any of the other hotels that I mentioned above. I might prefer to stay at Harrah’s because I remember them having more blackjack tables, and their poker room is just as good. I’ve never seen Harrah’s pool, so can’t comment on that. If I was travelling to Vegas with a bunch of people who didn’t want to get more than 1 room to save money and such, I’d choose the Rio just because their rooms are so much bigger.
The latest in the Harry Potter franchise is the penultimate book in the series entitled Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Following his 5th year in Hogwarts where the world discovered that Voldemort has in fact returned, the mood at the school this year is much more mellow and dark. Would the parents let their children back into school or keep them safe at home? Well, obviously you know the answer to that or else there would be no movie!
Without giving away any spoilers, Harry tries to find out as much as he can about the Dark One before his final encounter with him, he and his best friends Hermione and Ron all continue growing up and finding love interests, and we continue to wonder if Snape really can be trusted like Dumbledore says he can or if he is truly working for Voldemort.
I have already read all the books in the series, and for each of these movies, I have always liked the respective book better. For this movie, I will have to say the same. The book just has so much more in it that all cannot be put in the movie. The movie in fact is already 2.5 hours long as is. I will say though, that I did feel like it was long, as I have for some movies this summer. So, I guess that’s always a good thing. The movie’s plot isn’t overly complicated, which is as expected considering the source material. There were a few lines that were corny and scenes that have been done in many movies in the past, but overall, I thought it was a fairly entertaining movie. They definitely did take a lot out from the book, and as a result had to change some things. But, I had fun watching it, and I think if you liked the previous movies in the series, then you’ll enjoy this one as well.
Continuing my trip to Vegas, my family and I went to see the Cirque Du Soleil show O, playing at the Bellagio. I had actually seen it a couple years ago at the same location with my friends. It was my cousin’s 21st, so we let her choose the show and this is what she decided on. The difference this time? I bought the best seats that were available a few weeks back, and it turned out that we sat at the very front row! It was pretty tight because when the performers were at the front of the stage, you were literally a few feet away and could stare at every part of them in detail, their eyes, their hair, their costumes. You could hear their feet hitting the stage when they ran in front of you.
How was the actual show? If you have seen any Cirque show, you will know that it includes many types of acrobatics and gymnastics. The difference with O is that in the middle of the stage is a huge pool of water, with a floor that moves up and down such that when up, the performers are running literally on water, and when its down, they can dive into the pool from a hundred feet in the air. There are contraptions that hang suspended in the air and performers do their thing way up there. There were these 3 Asian performers who bent their bodies in ways that bodies were not meant to be bent. It was quite amazing, but kind of gross too.
What did I think the 2nd time around? I think its the same show, as I don’t really remember anything all that different. I will say that I think I enjoyed it better this time around just because I sat so close and being as how it was the first time ever that I ever sat in the front row of any presentation, was quite awed and amazed. I’ve never gone to any other Cirque show, so can’t really compare to any others. My friends did say, however, that they really liked this one compared to others, so you can take their word for it. Whether or not you like Cirque shows, I think O is definitely worth checking out. Oh, its worth mentioning that the one drawback I can think of to sitting in the front row is that sometimes you just don’t know what to look at. Unlike when you are sitting further back, you cannot take the entire scene on stage at once. Should I look at the performers on my left or right or up in the air? That being said, I’d still much rather sit up close than further back.
Finishing off my Vegas trip from the previous weekend, I wanted to talk about this steak place that we went to just off the strip on Paradise called Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House. Prior to the trip, I had asked my cousin to pick a type of food to eat and that we would pick the place. She told me she wanted steaks. I text my friend, and she said I had to go to Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House, and get the ribeye. My friend knows steaks, and so this is where we went.
So, my clan went over there, and I will say this. My friend did not disappoint me. I ordered the ribeye, medium, and it was fantastic. That’s probably the best I compliment I can give. It was tasty, tender, juicy. The sides were similar to things you can probably get at like Ruth’s Chris, like sauteed mushrooms, cream corn, and spinach. They were all good, but I love mushrooms, and how can you go wrong when you sautee them? The real story was the steak. My cousin got the filet mignon, and I thought that was very good too, though not quite as tasty to me as the ribeye that I ordered.
By the way, I also wanted to mention the service there, which also happened to be outstanding. The waiters and waitresses were always there to help, filled your drinks, made recommendations. We ordered sides for the entire party, and when they all came out, there were like half a dozen servers who came to our table and they each asked every person at the table if they would like a scoop of whatever side they had, whether it be the mushrooms, or corn, or whatever. It was kind of a funny scene to see, with all these servers and our beck and call. When we finished a side or drink, they’d be right there to offer to put more on our plate, or fill our drinks. I was quite impressed.
Overall, I thought it was great. If you are wondering about price, my steak was about 40 bucks. Sides were like 8 to 10 bucks. A bit pricey, but not out of line with other steak places. I’m going to have to put this above Morton’s. I’ve not had the ribeye at Ruth’s Chris, so can’t really compare, but I will say that the steak I got here at Del Frisco’s was better than the one at Ruth’s Chris, fair as that comparison can really be.
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