Dinner at the Mexican restaurant in the Tuscany
It feels weird to be here without Fich. Seriously, just thinking of him makes me crave cilantro.
May 17, 2008
Sobering up in the 1/2 NL game
Probably not +EV but probably less -EV than our other options for killing time at the Tuscany
Mr. Lee
I met The Man himself! I told him how much we love his stores and the events he sponsors.
You don't buy beer
You rent it.
Monty Python beer
It turned me into a newt!
St. Pauli Girl also brought a Beer Wench
And she told us where to buy a similar outfit -- "Leg Avenue'
Johnson Brothers of Nevada brought their own Beer Wench1
Hubby says I need an outfit like this.
Second Utilikilt spotted
LOL beer people.
0517081419.jpg
The spread is pretty good. Stuffed potato skins, mini sanwiches. canapes. and these little cheese sausage dumplings, plus the usual cheese and crackers and vegetable tray.
Beer People
It's a very different crowd than at Lee's Wine Experience. 90% men and everyone is a bit chubbier. I see a lot of people here who look like they're from the Northwet.
You don't see a lot of utilikilts in Vegas
I bet he's from Seattle. Spotted at the Big Sky Brewery booth.
Lee's Beer Experience
We have arrived in the ballroom full of beer.
New blog title
I don't think "Bildungsroman" is an accurate descriptor of the second incarnation of my blog. I'm almost 30, happily married, settled in Las Vegas for the foreseeable future, and seem to have finally found a good education/career path for me. This blog is now more about my interests (science fiction & fantasy, movies, video games, beer, libertarian politics, things to do in Las Vegas, etc.) than it is about the drama and adventures in my life, because my life is now relatively drama- and adventure-free.
So this blog is now titled "Jacqueline Gets Her Geek On". I think it's a funny play on words and representative of the sorts of things I am most likely to write about here.
Burn Notice!
Thanks to Scorpius for reminding me of this show. Burn Notice is a an awesome show about a former CIA informant named Michael who receives a "burn notice" firing him and making him essentially an untouchable in the espionage community. He is stuck in his hometown of Miami where he works as a freelance private investigator helping people with their problems, while simultaneously trying to figure out who is responsible for his burn notice and how to get it undone.
The show is like MacGyver, in that Michael is constantly improvising spy tools and gear from ordinary objects. So, watching the show feels like taking spy lessons!
I really enjoyed the first season -- which is out on DVD
Daily Show?
How many of you watch the Daily Show? Now that I have a DVR I do. Would anyone be interested in a regular Daily show open thread for new episodes? Or we could make it a Daily Show / Colbert Report / Current Events open thread.
May 16, 2008
Battlestar Galactica 409: Guess What's Coming to Dinner? open thread (COMMENTS CONTAIN SPOILERS)
What did you think of tonight's episode? Please discuss in the comments!
Recommended: Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
HOORAY TALKING ANIMALS AND EPIC FANTASY BATTLES! (Yes, I am 5 years old.)
It was good! If you liked the first one, you should like the second one. So go see it so it makes lots of money and they make the other 5 before the kids get too old.
Note: Parents of small children should be warned that the second movie is darker and more explicitly violent than the first.
I realized this afternoon that I really don't remember what happens in any of the books beyond the first (I read them over 20 years ago). I think I'll order the boxed set
I want to take archery lessons. And visit New Zealand.
Have I mentioned how awesome Lee's Discount Liquor is?
We are here to buy tickets for Lee's Beer Experience tomorrow. This photo shows perhaps 1/10th of their beer selection.
At the Yard House again!
Having a Young's Chocolate Stout ice cream float while we wait for Narnia to start.
Yard House > Freakin' Frog (a comparison of two Las Vegas bars for beer lovers)
I was in a discussion recently about which bar is better, the Yard House or the Freakin' Frog?
We've been to both at least a half dozen times each and I think the Yard House is clearly better.
Selection: Both the Yard House and the Freakin' Frog court beer lovers by advertising the wide variety of beers available. The Yard House advertises that they have "the world's largest selection of draft beer". This is not true for the Las Vegas location, which only has 138 unique beers on tap, because my father and husband found a bar in Seattle that has ~180, but perhaps it is true for the chain as a whole (it has about 2 dozen locations around the US). The Freakin' Frog specializes in bottled beer and claims to have the largest beer selection in the Western US with more than 750 bottles.
The problem is, the Freakin' Frog does not have as many beers as they claim they have. They may have 750 different kinds of bottled beer listed on their MENU, but they certainly don't ever have that many IN STOCK at any given time. At least half the times we've been there we've been told that at least one of the beers we wanted to order was out. Whereas the Yard House has only run out of a beer on us once.
Prices: The staff at the Freakin' Frog also likes to play games with the prices. You order a beer priced at $6 on the menu and they tell you that they're almost out of it so the price is double the printed price, or they suggest a $20 beer instead. Whereas the prices at the Yard House are fixed.
Taste: Draft beer usually tastes better than bottled beer. It's usually fresher, especially when the bottled beer in question has a visible layer on dust on the bottles, as is the case with many beers at the Freakin' Frog. So the Yard House wins on this too.
Food: The Yard House also has much better food and a wider variety of food, from typical bar food (burgers, pizza, etc.) to gourmet appetizers and seafood dishes. The Freakin' Frog just has bar food. Everything we've eaten at the Yard House has been very very good -- tasty with excellent presentation -- whereas the food at the Freakin' Frog is just meh.
Happy Hours: The Yard House has great happy hour specials: $3.50 pints and 1/2 off most appetizers Monday-Friday 3-6pm and Sunday-Wednesday 11pm-2am. The Freakin' Frog also has a happy hour from 3-7pm but I don't remember it being anything special and it's only on a few of their beers.
Music: Which bar has the best music depends on whether you like loud live shows by crappy local bands or not. If you do, then Freakin' Frog is your place, because they host them often. The Yard House has piped-in rock music.
Atmosphere & Clientèle: The Yard House is brand new, sleek and shiny, with warm lighting. They have outdoor seating available. The crowd seems to be mostly 20's-40's and is a mix of singles, couples, and groups. The Freakin' Frog is your typical small hole-in-the-wall bar. There were never that many other people there when we've been there, but I've heard it draws a lot of UNLV students because of its location, as well as older beer snobs. (The Freakin' Frog also has a members-only whiskey attic upstairs that draws an older, more affluent crowd.) Both bars have TVs -- the Yard House has more TVs, always tuned to sports, whereas the Freakin' Frog bartenders play movies.
Location: Which location is better depends on where you're coming from, of course. The Freakin' Frog is right across the street from UNLV so if you're a student it's ideal. If you're coming from The Strip, start at the MGM/New York New York/Excalibur/Tropicana intersection and travel 2 miles east on Tropicana, then turn north on Maryland and it will be on your right.
The Yard House is in the new upscale Turnberry Town Center Mall, on the southwest corner of Las Vegas Blvd. and Sunset, about a mile and a half south of Mandalay Bay at the south end of The Strip. It's right next to the awesome new Rave Motion Pictures movie theater, so you can sober up in a movie afterwards if you drove.
Conclusion: If you want to pay $20 for an obscure beer that may or may not be in stock while listening to a loud crappy local band and don't care about the quality of the food, then you might prefer the Freakin' Frog. I think everyone else would like the Yard House better. If you're a beer-loving tourist from out of town, and don't have anything like this at home, then both are probably worth a visit, but as a local I think the Yard House is better as a regular place for dining/drinking out.
May 15, 2008
Many many beers
This is maybe 1/5th of them.
Hello beer
All the pretty kegs, waiting to fill our bellies.
Celebrating the end of the semester at the Yard House
The sign is a lie... there is a bar in Seattle with 180 beers on tap whereas Yard House only has 165. (Edit: They have about 165 taps, but fewer unique beers.)
Finished with spring semester
I just sent off the accounting project to my partner. Unless she objects to anything, we're done. I only need a C and she only needs a B on this project and I'm pretty sure it's good enough for that.
I'm so glad to be done with the UNLV MBA program. All I have left is to formally withdraw (I was already accepted into the MS Accounting program for the fall, but apparently I still have to fill out some paperwork to make my transfer official).
I don't have another butt-in-seat class until August 25. That does not, however, mean that I get to take the next 14 1/2 weeks off! I have a bunch of undergraduate accounting classes that I need to complete as prerequisites for the graduate-level classes in the MS Accounting program. Fortunately, I found a AACSB-accredited school (Louisiana State University) that offers them as inexpensive self-paced distance learning classes. So, I will spend my summer cramming through as many of those as possible. This should cut about a year off how long it would take to complete my Masters degree if I'd had to take all the prerequisites as butt-in-seat classes at UNLV.
More immediately, I need to run errands and clean my house and do the laundry. I haven't done crap around here for weeks -- too busy with the end-of-semester death march.
I wonder when grades will be posted. I know that I'm getting an A in Accounting but I have no idea what my Marketing grade will be.
Congratulations, California gays
Your state Supreme Court is fabulous. I hope that many of you will soon be enjoying your honeymoons!
This one wants to say hi too
But he won't hold still and this is the least-blurry picture I can get of him.
Who needs throw blankets?
When you can decorate with wiener dogs!
May 14, 2008
Indians to Americans: Go on a diet!
International Herald Tribune: Indians bristle at U.S. criticism on food prices:
"NEW DELHI: Instead of blaming India and other developing nations for the rise in food prices, Americans should rethink their energy policy and go on a diet, say a growing number of politicians, economists and academics here."
...
"The food problem has "clearly" been created by Americans, who are eating 50 percent more calories than the average person in India, said Pradeep Mehta" ... "If Americans were to slim down to even the middle-class weight in India, "many hungry people in sub-Saharan Africa would find food on their plates," Mehta said."
...
"Americans eat an average of 3,770 calories per capita a day, the highest amount in the world, according to data from the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, compared to 2,440 calories in India. They are also the largest per capita consumers in any major economy of beef, the most energy-intensive common food source, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The United States and Canada top the world in oil consumption per person, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration."
Via Drudge.
May 13, 2008
Drowning my sorrows
with Guinness and liquidity ratios.
To the gallows
Update: It was brutal. I'm sure I flunked the exam. As soon as I saw the questions I realized that I'd studied the wrong material, in the wrong way. I could only answer half the questions and just wrote vague bullshit for the other half (if you leave it blank you're guaranteed to get 0 points, but if you at least write *something* you *might* get partial credit mercy points!).
I will be *lucky* to get a C in the class now. My only hope of a better grade is if everyone else did as badly as I did and he decides to curve the exam grades. UNLV has pretty low standards, so it's plausible that a professor would do that instead of giving out a lot of C's and D's. (Rumor has it that last semester after most of the economics class flunked the final exam, the professor threw the whole exam out and didn't count it for calculating grades.)
I don't know if procrastinating less and studying more could have even helped me in this class. The lectures consisted of him scrolling through one densely-packed PowerPoint slide after another without much indication of which of the hundreds of terms/concepts and thousands of details he presented were important, or how they related to one another and the big picture. The textbook wasn't much better. Apparently I have no aptitude for Marketing because I was never able to see the big picture or structure on my own, and without any outside help to figure that out I was left trying to brute force memorize what appeared to me as just a jumbled mess of crap. I will have to debrief with some of my classmates and see if they feel the same way -- did the class just suck, or do I suck at Marketing? I suspect the answer is probably both -- I bet that I did worse than average on the exam, but not by that much.
I'm pretty sure I got an A on the project (30%), and a C or B for class participation (20%). I got a B on the case analysis papers (25%). But with an F on the final (25%), the best I can do is around 77% for the class. If I've overestimated my grade for the project or class participation, I could even get a D.
I should have listened to my better judgment and withdrawn from the class six weeks ago like I wanted to. In the same amount of time (~150 hours) I wasted since then completing the Marketing class with a C or a D, I could have probably knocked out TWO of my distance learning accounting prerequisite classes with A's. Even the additional amount I'd have to spend on tuition later for a different elective for my MS Accounting program is far less than what I've probably lost now in merit-based grants by blowing my GPA.
:(
SUNK COSTS VS. MARGINAL COSTS, KIDDIES. Learn it, love it, live it! Ignore it and you will suffer as I have suffered. (If I can't be a good example, at least I can be a cautionary tale, right?)
(Edit: Hubby points out that withdrawing from a class mid-semester could have screwed up my financial aid in other, more costly ways than getting a C will, so perhaps he was right that completing the class was still the +EV move even after my realization that it was going to be a huge time and motivation suck and my chances of a good grade were slim to none. My reasoning about sunk vs. marginal costs in these situations applies when financial aid programs are not involved, though.)
...
Oh well. What's done is done. I'm going to go finish my accounting project now so I can put this semester and everything to do with the MBA program behind me.
I am so screwed Feeling less screwed now Nope, I was right the first time, I was screwed
My Marketing final exam is in 12 hours.
I've been awake for over 24 hours, and thus must spend most of the remaining time sleeping.
I still know NEXT TO NOTHING about "Marketing" as it was taught in this class, despite having studied for this exam for approximately 20 hours over the past 5 days. I wasn't a very good student in this class, but I did attend almost all of the lectures and discussions and read about half the textbook (yeah I should have read more, but I wasn't getting anything out of it except a cure for insomnia). I have not been able to find an effective way to study and learn this material.
What's really frustrating is I don't know if starting earlier or studying more would have even helped me here. I have prepared literally hundreds of little flashcards of definitions and assorted "facts", but neither the professor nor the textbook provided any sort of coherent framework to organize this information around. I'm not having any luck inventing my own framework either because... well... I think most of it is BS and I don't see how all the BS fits together. I really, really suck at memorizing large amounts of apparently unrelated, irrelevant information.
The exam is rumored to be quite difficult. IIRC, he said that it will be around 20 short answer questions. So, although I think I might have achieved a recognition-level knowledge on some of the material, there will be no multiple choice strategy games for me.
The final exam is worth 25% of the grade. So it is quite possible that I will get such a low score on this exam that I will only get a C in the class. Which is awful because so far, other than this class, I have a 4.0 graduate school GPA.
:(
(Note: I'm not asking for advice, suggestions, or other help -- it's too late for that now -- I'm just whining.)
Update: Also, I totally *knew* 6+ weeks ago that I should withdraw from this class since I was leaving the MBA program anyway, but I let my husband talk me out of it against my better judgment because the credits would still count as elective credits for my MS Accounting and he didn't want the time and money already invested this semester to be wasted. So now it's 150+ wasted hours of my life later and while I'll probably manage to pass the class and get those 3 elective credits it'll be at the cost of a fucked GPA.
So, I am sticking to my guns the next time we have a marital debate over sunk vs. marginal costs. :)
(Note: I'm not blaming Hubby for my decision, it was my call and I made the wrong decision. I'm just articulating my realization that one cannot let oneself be swayed by faulty economic reasoning, even if it's coming from one's spouse.)
Update II: Well, some good news: My afternoon study group canceled. This is good news because I've realized that my original idea to get together and quiz each other with flash cards wasn't a very good one and right now my time will be better spent organizing my notes into some sort of attempt at a big picture (and sleeping).
My first four approaches to studying this material were completely unsuccessful but I have high hopes for my new tack! I see a B in my future!
Update III: Long-time readers of my previous blog will recall that near the end of every school term I have a period of procrastination leading up to one of these "AIEE THIS SUCKS I'M GOING TO FAIL EVERYTHING I HATE LIFE ARGH" panic attacks followed a week later by, "Oh! I did much better than I expected, how nice," when grades are posted. So newer readers should not fret too much on my behalf despite all the dire-sounding whining above.
Update IV: OK, I think I am finally starting to get a grip on the material. I'm still pretty worried about the exam, but at least I'm no longer in a panic of I STUDIED 20 HOURS AND I KNOW NOTHING MORE THAN I DID AT THE START OMG FREAKOUT.
Update V: The sad conclusion to our tale of woe.
May 12, 2008
Heh
Hubby is sitting next to me drinking beer and playing World of Warcraft while I study.
He just caught a boat out from the Forgotten Coast, and was tipsily singing to himself, "Riding on a boat... riding on a boat... don't know where I'm going... riding on a boat..." Then, alarmed, "Isle of Dread?! This doesn't sound like a three-hour tour."
Frustrated blogger
I have over a dozen long, thoughtful, substantial posts that I am itching to write and can't because I REALLY MUST STUDY FOR MY MARKETING FINAL RIGHT NOW.
List of coming attractions (will be added to as brain itches):
- Analysis/endorsement of LP presidential nomination candidates
- My thoughts on this year's LP platform fight
- Cyber-bullying and suicide
- Comments/forums moderation and social norms on the internet
- Business idea for Indians
- Bad people & the poker community
- Bad people & Las Vegas
- How to recognize and avoid bad people (did you know that ~4% of people are sociopaths?!)
- Neghitting the neghitters and other defenses against stupid dating tricks
- Burning fat and building muscle while keeping a nice round butt
- The aforementioned mostly-written post about UNLV's MBA program (will not be posted until after my grades are!)
- Update on Hubby's experiments with manipulating the World of Warcraft markets
- What to eat
- Review of 4-Hour Workweek
- Caffeine sensitivity
- Online matchmaking & my goal to get at least one smart single female blogger happily married off
- Las Vegas economy / real estate market
- Why accounting
- What to rename my blog (I'm married, settled in Las Vegas for the foreseeable future, decided on an education/career path, about to turn 30, etc... "bildungsroman" no longer seems to be an accurate descriptor)
- Which Sex and the City characters I identify with most and why (OK, so we're moving out of the realm of "thoughtful"/"substantial" now...)
- Idea for a potential innovation for grading students' eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil papers (you can't swing a dead cat in the professoblogosphere without hitting a post complaining about typical college students' atrocious writing skills)
- Oxytocin and casual sex
- Review of Crossing the Tracks for Love
I will be done with my most pressing deadlines on Thursday so expect the good stuff to start flowing sometime next week. (That is, assuming that I still feel like writing once it's no longer a form of procrastination! :) )
Bob Barr?
When I heard this morning that he'd announced his candidacy for the Libertarian Party nomination my initial reaction was one of WTF?! and anger, because the last time I'd read anything about Bob Barr he was very clearly NOT a libertarian.
However I've done a little more reading today and it appears that he's recently reversed his previous positions on medical marijuana and the Patriot Act, as well as done work with the ACLU.
So what do y'all think of this? Is he really a libertarian now, or is he just a conservative who can't get along inside the Republican Party?
Also, how much of a shot does he have at winning the nomination, given that the convention is in just a couple of weeks? I haven't really been following the LP nomination process since after last year's LP Nevada convention (when I stirred up shit with my "Two whackjobs, a convicted felon, and George Phillies" post). I understand that George Phillies and Steve Kubby are still in the race and the "two whackjobs" have dropped out but I don't know anything about any of the other candidates running. I used to check Hammer of Truth for all the hot Libertarian Party gossip but that site has been down and under construction for years now! :(
Ron Paul campaign's guerilla convention tactics
Los Angeles Times Blogs: Ron Paul's forces quietly plot GOP convention revolt against McCain, via Drudge.
I am delighted to read about this. There's no chance of them changing the nominee, of course, but Ron Paul delegates (now disproportionately higher than their original votes because of their clever tactics at state and county conventions) could be the swing votes on deciding platform planks (voting with the conservatives on economic issues and the moderates on social issues) and thus nudge the Republican Party platform in an overall more libertarian direction.
Does anyone still remember when the Republican Party at least gave lip service to small government? How did we go from Ronald Reagan's (unfulfilled) campaign promise to abolish the Department of Education to George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind Act in just one generation?
May 11, 2008
Henderson Art Fest
I went this afternoon with Sarah -- she posted a few photos on her blog. It was pretty nice -- much bigger than the Green Valley Art Walk and although there were several of the same artists there, there were some better artists as well. If it wasn't so hot out we would have probably spent more time looking at art.
The food court was small and not very appetizing, though -- I snacked on teriyaki beef on a stick and one of Sarah's yucky onion rings -- so we ended up having lunch at a Mexican restaurant instead.
I didn't end up making it to the San Gennaro Feast this weekend. Hubby and I were planning to go after I got home from the Art Fest, but he hurt his foot and didn't feel up to walking around on it. Oh well, they'll have another one in six months.
Most of the next 46 hours will be spent in panicked studying for my Marketing final exam. :(
Little-known value in Las Vegas: Bill's Gambling Hall & Saloon
If you are looking for an inexpensive room in Las Vegas but don't want to stay off-Strip or in a total dump, check out Bill's Gambling Hall & Saloon. Although the casino part is kind of dumpy, I'm told the rooms are nice (my mother has stayed there) and the location can't be beat -- it's at the intersection Flamingo & Las Vegas Blvd., which is the same mid-Strip corner as Caesars Palace, Bellagio, and Bally's.
Read the reviews on Trip Advisor for more information.
No movie this weekend :(
Speed Racer got 35% (it still sounds pretty, though) and What Happens in Vegas (which didn't interest me to begin with) got 28%. :(
Which is too bad, because we totally could have gone and seen either of those at 3 AM.
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