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So, I have been in Las Vegas for a week. It has been so much fun. We went with 3 other couples who are close friends and stayed away from all the sports books during March Madness. It was great. On Tuesday, we went to the Star Trek Experience and did the whole backstage tour. We have some hilarious pictures of us on the bridge of the Enterprise where it looks like everything has gone terribly wrong. On Wednesday, we saw Spamalot. It is another hilarious example of how brilliant Eric Idle is. The big turning point for me, however, was seeing Penn and Teller. My friend John had bought us tickets in the fifth row, center for Chad’s birthday. If you do not know, that is Chad’s favorite place to sit in any theatre. He believes that it is the best seat in the house and we usually get to movies at least 45 minutes a head of schedule to make sure we have those exact seats. We have adored Penn and Teller for years. I personally fell in love with them when they made David Letterman squeal like a little girl and run from all the cockroaches but Chad knew their act from way before.

I won’t give anything away in their show, but I noticed something special in the beginning which most people in the audience do not notice. It is probably because I am a musician. Anyway, both magicians do some extra stuff for people who are a little more observant. It is like easter eggs for the clever. I felt very special. During the show, they did some neat new tricks and some great old ones including the clear cups and balls. I love how they tell you exactly what they are going to do and they teach you magic as they do it. Teller is so good at slight of hand that when he is showing you how to do something, it is hard to believe he is doing it even though he is standing there showing you that he is. They ended the show with a flag burning which was so well-worded that people who would have been offended by it could not be offended because they did NOT actually burn the flag and they proved it to you by wrapping the flag in the Bill of Rights (FIRST AMENDMENT PARCHMENT) and then setting it on fire. Then they showed you that they did not set it on fire by wrapping it in China’s Bill of Rights (CLEAR ACETATE) so you can see the trick. Those guys always have a message.

When we met them after the show, they were both very gracious and kind. I know they wanted to go home, but they believe in their fans and they greet them every single night. Penn tells every fan who asks for a picture that “he would be honored” to have his picture made with them.

So, I was lying in bed that night after watching this incredible magic show and hearing the song “Find Your Grail” in my head. I kept thinking that life is about doing what you choose to do and when you really look at it, the simplest explanations are usually the correct ones and something that had been hanging on just let go. I stopped being so scared and just relaxed. Finally.

Just got home from a week in Vegas with some of our very best friends. We missed everyone who wasn’t there, but we had a blast. There is a ton to blog about, and I’ll get it done this week, as pictures are circulated, I’ll be sure to post them here. In short, we drank too much, ate too much, gambled too much, saw too many shows, sat in the hot tub way too long, and definitely overstayed our welcome at Star Trek: The Experience. We have set the bar very very high for great awesome vacations.

So why can’t this guy be mayor?  Bush really lowered the bar for public office, huh?

Saying this here so I don’t have to admit I’m wrong to anyone, but can merely claim “I blogged all about that!”  In short, I mistakenly listened to a colleague who claimed that Ryan Reynolds was actually Burt Reynolds’s son.  I claimed this myth as truth, and it’s not.  Teach me to not look stuff up on IMDB…

Congress is finally holding the Bush administration accountable for its warrant-less and unethical (if not outright illegal) wire taps.  Congress also shunned Bush’s suggestion that telcom companies should be immune from lawsuits for their complicity in these wiretaps.

Bush said, “The American people understand the stakes in this struggle. They want their children to be safe from terror.”

It’s nice to see that Congress wants our children to be safe from Bush.

In an odd sequence of events, local great-grandmother Edna Altman continued to look the cover of a back dated Time Magazine instead of her great grandson Jason during his bris. No matter what her two sons said to get her attention on the baby, she continued to look at the magazine and announce “I don’t see a difference” as she stared at a picture of Presidential hopeful John McCain (R).

CM Reporting for BS Daily Record

I’m getting an average of a call an hour reminding me to vote.  In the primaries.  It’s pretty much going to determine whether Hillary or Barrack becomes the Democratic candidate for President.  So they’re asking me to choose between two people who have almost no discernible differences in platform when compared with the evil imperial incumbent party.  Besides, after the utter sham of the last two presidential elections, I’m wondering if I have any say anyway.  I one of very few people outraged when Bush stole the first election, and we see how well that turned out.  I’m bitter about our broken electoral process, and doubt our elections would withstand the scrutiny of the auditors we send to other countries to oversee so-called free elections.  Nope, I’m sitting this one out.  Good luck with that.

You may wonder why I do not paint you,
but there is no museum wall that could hold the beauty of you.
There is not paint bright enough, deep enough,
or resilient enough for the vision you hold in my head.
There is no canvas ever made as strong as your arms
or as pliant as your kiss.

You, my life-long lover and friend
are the greatest of all works of art
and if I had any hand in your making,
I hope that I have only left
my thumb print on your heart.

Colleen M. 2/14/2008

I have been terribly ill, I am afraid. It seems that the kidney stone passed, left me with a bad infection and now I have to see a gastro specialist which means I am gonna get the tube of joy. I can hear Hank Hill in my head (Baaaah!) I did manage to suck it up long enough for a job interview somewhere in between it all. It is exactly what I need right now. High volume. Good pay. Low responsibility. I kind of want to be invisible for a while. As Lut ze says, one must truly appreciate the joy of being a sweeper if he wants to be a master.

As someone who has traveled through Europe, Mexico City, Canada, Australia and the Orient, I can definitely say that there is nothing quite as desperate as an American with nothing to purchase. I have been that American. It has taught me a lot about who I am. A consumer culture really does give you a sense of emptiness which many Americans try to fill with food or designer trends. Chances are, if you are American, you want something right now. If you get it, you will feel fulfilled for awhile and then grow bored with it and need more. If you don’t want a material possession, there is something that you are craving. I personally love attention which is why I am specifically choosing things in my life which afford me none. Others still are questing for notoriety, fame or some sort of way to mark their life as different after it is over. The truth as I see it, is like waves in the ocean. We are all different and we are all the same. Albert Einstein was a brilliant man and he will be remembered for a while. He was the Stephen Hawking of his time. He is now a pop-icon with awesome quotes. Soon he will be as memorable as a greek philosopher and then he will be set back where only academics go. His memory will be eroded away the way all natural things do with time. My point with all this is that we as a society must recognize this void and find how to fill it ourselves.

Perhaps that was way too deep. Let’s sing a song about dog farts now.

I lose again.  Every year, Colleen and I have a running bet on who can go the longest without knowing who won the SuperBowl.  I hate working with football fanatics.  I lose again.