It has been said that the Mountain West conference is “At the Peak,” and to me, nothing illustrates that more, than the fact that there are 12 teams competing in the only NCAA Division 1 conference that sponsors e-sports. Of course, since the matches are played head-to-head, Boise State has an advantage because they tint the monitors blue, and play with all blue avatars; an advantage that is confirmed in their winning of League of Legends and Overwatch, but with the Spring season being cut, next year the Mountain West has announced that they will be playing Mario Kart 8, for the Nintendo Switch. Due to the large amounts of people in the Mountain West cities suddenly having $1200 burning a hole in their pocket, every store that sells Nintendo Switch has sold out of their allotment; yes, even, Amazon. So, thus the conundrum becomes: How can these players, prospects, and ordinary people practice in order to “git gud” as the gamers would say? Well, that’s where I come in. For, you see, since I am allowed out on the streets again, finally, due to both my prison sentence being cut short, and my work being determined to be “essential,” I had the time to scope out some places. Alas, while my cough and fever are not improving as much as I had hoped since I last got back from Italy, I did manage to find some time to visit all of the Mountain West cities in order to find the easiest place to get a Switch and Mario Kart 8 location. For simplicity’s sake, I am going by the football stadium since it’s a well-defined point in most locations – San José State fans, the football stadium is that big ovoid building at the corner of E Alma Ave, and S 7th St… It’s the place where the people aren’t on Saturday’s is September. Should you get hungry during your travels, I have also managed to find a some breakfast locations in the same vicinity

Mountain

Air Force

Okay, so I lied a little; I tried to get into the university, but, unfortunately the men with guns wouldn’t actually let me get beyond the gate on S Gate Rd, and I was still a little jet-lagged having just gotten in from Frankfurt after having woken up for my 0610 flight for the Linate to Frankfurt leg (stupid weather prevented the flight from Denver to ABQ, but my loss is your gain). So, while this may not be the closest, it certainly will fit the bill. Tyler-Jay Rowland who lives at 3075 Navigation Drive, in Colorado Springs was more than willing to help out, especially since his son, Jeremiah, was grounded for a month for staying out after curfew two weekends in a row. As the falcon flies, this location is 5.2 miles away; in a car, it’s not too much further than that.

Boise State

Now, I don’t, technically, hate the way that Boise is laid out with the river running right through the center of town, but even though Maci Drew lives in the Clearwater Apartments, unit 323, which is in a straight line, only a quarter of a mile from the stadium, you will have to go the Exxtramile, to get to her apartment. Also, she would like me to point out, that times for a waitress like herself are a little rough, so please, if you’re hungry, skip Taco Bell, and eat at the Bar Gernika in downtown Boise, right next to the Central Plaza and Century Link Arena. “We have wifi” she said.

Colorado State

This is, by far, the most remarkable location; I had completely forgotten that they moved to an on-campus stadium, so I initially went to the Hughes Stadium location, and found a big pile of dirt. And not much else – well, if you exclude the trees that formed a nice line, that brought me back to my college days. Having corrected my too old Garmin in-car GPS, I found Tim Thatcher on 604 Balsam Ln; he’s a little deaf, so you might need to knock like you are ram-ing down the door. He bought the Switch after his wife of 35 years died to help him grieve and spend his retirement, “but it’s just making me too sad lately, and I’ve never been very good at vid’ya [sic] games. I still don’t know how I’m supposed to save the princess when she’s trying to beat me… That reminds me of my princess, who I lost last year. She was so kind, we met in high school, I had an onion on my belt as was the style in those days. They didn't have any white onions, because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones.” I’ll be honest, at this point I started zoning out because, again, fever. He honestly looked really sad as I was talking to him, so you might want to try to cheer him up, since he’s just a lonely guy bein’ a dude. In a straight line distance, you’re only going .3 miles, and it’s not too much further by car.

New Mexico

This is by far the closest location to the stadium. The UNM Lobo Club is a non-essential business in the state of New Mexico, and UNM and the Athletics Department realized that funding would need to be cut dramatically throughout the state, and with the sweetheart deal they got from the legislature this year, they decided to close all athletic facilities, including the Maloof building, home of both Eddie Nuñez’s office, and the Lobo Club. I suggest using the side door closest to the field level entrance of the stadium. That’ll take you to the weight room; an alarm will go off, the code is “1892” the year the football team first played (interesting tidbit: the marching band was founded in 1889, the same year as the university); from there enter the main hallway, and go to the first door on the left after you pass the restrooms. The last time I was there, they had a vending machine that dispensed free Mountain Dew; I was howl-ing with laughter after I found that. Also, if you see Señor Manta, say “Hola!” he’s been down on his luck since his family were killed in the accident, and now he wanders the street like a lone Lobo.

Utah State

It was like a bomb went off. No one was around; maybe they were busy playing Farmer, or having a bonfire out in the dirt behind the stadium, wit their brown-eyed girls, but Jeff Field’s dorm room, Aggie Village Community building 17, first floor, third window from the right (he leaves it unlocked, so don’t worry about access) has a Switch just sitting there on the bed, as though he borrowed it from someone, but never managed to return it before he left. Go on, take it, just say that it was yours and he left it, no one will check.

Wyoming

Cowboys and Cowgirls are just different, I guess; I could not find a Nintendo Switch in town for the life of me. I found many Switchblades, Light switches, and many wooden rods, so I took my horse down to Cheyenne, and found a recently laid-off Subway Sandwich Artist called Dom, who knew just where to look. He directed me to 803 West 21st St, Suite B. He told me, “yeah, the guy who runs this storefront, has a little son, about 6 years old. He keeps a Switch in his desk’s keyboard tray for when he picks his son up from school.” Because of the ordeal in Laramie, I asked him to clarify, and he did, “yeah… Nintendo switch.” He said as he looked around shiftily. If that doesn’t work you can always try Suite C, I heard they stock Switches… oh wait, not that kind.” I was going to ask him for more information, but he entered what looked like an abandoned brick building just passed the railroad tracks, “You didn’t see me,” he said. And I also didn’t hear the gunshots that went off as I walked back to my car.

Table View

School	Distance Driving (mi)	Straight Line Distance (mi)	Drive/Drone Difference	Variance (from all schools)^A
Air Force	8.44	5.22	3.22	0.047
Boise State	1.00	0.282	0.718	1.069
Colorado State	0.420	0.312	0.108	1.792
New Mexico	0.206	0.191	0.015	1.920
Utah State	0.444	0.305	0.139	1.751
Wyoming	47.90	40.69	7.21	4.894

A: Variance is calculated based upon DDD’s distance from the standard deviation of DDD… Why DDD? Because, DDD is King.

West

Note: SDSU currently does not field an Esports team; I am including them because it seems likely that they will in the near future

Hawai’i

Hawai’i is interesting because the Honolulu airport has a much better open air location than the El Paso airport; there’s a water path, it’s weird man, it reminds me a lot of the Tiki Room at Disn… oh, yeah, Hawai’i, Polynesia, that makes sense. Anyway, the stadium is home to the largest swap meet’s I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, I did not find any Switches, but I did find a guy swapping Macadamia Nut cookies for a few dollars, so naturally, I bought some. It started to rain, so even though many people are Rainbow Warriors or Wahine, as the women prefer to be called, I am not. I stopped in at the ‘Aeia Public Library for a spell, and my phone was dead, so I needed a place to charge for a bit. The nice librarian, Akela (“it means graceful,” I was told. After I asked, “like the wolf-spirit in Hindi myths?”), pointed out, that, “We loan out all sorts of stuff here; pots, pans, sewing machines. Believe it or not, we even rent out video game systems. Our most popular is probably the Nintendo Switch, but we also have a couple of Xbox’s and PS4’s.” I guess I looked very shocked because Akela continued, “with the military surrounding us, we, the library system, get a lot of goods from contractors who don’t want to have a lot of their goods shipped back to the mainland.” Seeing how much it cost to ship out, I completely understood, and bid ¬¬Akela aloha, and failed the Hawai’I test by passing out at the nearest Embassy Suites, in Kapolei, if I remember correctly (I probably don’t, I was tired).

Fresno State

A nice cow brought me to Clovis. Much like what happened in Las Vegas, it was not the cool one, but instead the one in California. She (I saw udders), brought me specifically to 264 Clovis Ave, and said, “what you seek, from my master, is in there.” I’m not sure if it was my fever, jet-lag, a combination of them, or something else entirely, but then the cow vanished as though she was just a thing on the internet. A stray puppy passed by me in downtown, so that was probably the highlight of the trip.

Nevada (Reno)

Look, I’ll be honest, Reno to me always makes me feel like I’m going to be leaving the city without one or both of my kidneys. I don’t know why I expect Renoirs to chew my body like a Pack of Wolves, but there you are. Diedre Thomas of 128 Keystone Ave, fell on hard times. She poured herself a glass of vodka, neat, and said, “you can have anything you want,” she paused briefly to wink at me, “for the right price.” I specifically enquired about the Switch, “Anything,” she replied. She pulled out what appeared to be a small glass bowl that looked like an incense holder, and a baggie of chalk dust, and… Oh my god, she was going to smoke cocaine. Anyway, as she pulled out the pulled out the baggie, I hastily took my leave. I then went to the airport and went to my next stop….

Nevada – Las Vegas

Can you believe parents still bring their children, like elementary school aged children to Las Vegas. And it’s not the cool Las Vegas, in New Mexico, it’s the one in Nevada; well, I guess, technically they bring their kids to Paradise, and not Las Vegas, but c’mon man, there isn’t that much difference. Anyway, head to the Excalibur hotels because Carla, the housekeeper said that on average 3 Switches get left by guests every day. I then felt really depressed while walking around the hotel, so I left to check out the Mirage, where I normally stay on these Mountain West trips. I also learned that if there’s one thing that freaks me out more than the throngs of people walking the Strip, it’s when there’s nobody around. Once the new stadium gets completed it will be vastly easier to get to the casino than at the current location.

San Diego State

I stayed with Dominic, at his house of Friars Road. I was starting to feel sick to my stomach with the lack of green chile, so it was so enjoyable to spend time with a fellow New Mexican (and my roommate junior year). He took me on a little tour: Balboa Park’s stadium (home of the former Harbor Bowl, and the first tie in UNM Football history), the USS Midway, and Ocean Beach. I had forgotten about the assignment until I looked down at my feet and found a working Switch. When it was still there after an hour, I borrowed a small boat, realised, I need a bigger boat and headed out to the Ocean. Having claimed rights, I then put it back, so you might also find it.

San José State

Look, there are a lot of people who depart from the San Jose Airport. The kids who travel on these flights are slightly scatter-brained because of the adrenaline of taking a plane ride (and passing through the checkpoint), and leave some of their electronics, and I found a shoe! A shoe! Who only puts one shoe on and then walks-off? It was an adult shoe, so it’s not like a child/toddleparent left it, no, someone made a conscious decision to leave their shoe… Maybe it was a protest? Anyway, just tell the guy that you left your Switch at the checkpoint, if he asks you what color it was say, it had yellow grips that slide off, but the screen was bounded by black.

Table View

School	Distance Driving (mi)	Straight Line Distance (mi)	Drive/Drone Difference	Standard Deviation (all schools)^A
Fresno State	4.46	3.28	1.18	0.644
Hawai’i	1.420	0.696	0.784	1.001
Nevada (Reno)	2.410	1.69	0.720	1.067
Nevada – Las Vegas (SBS)^b	18.426	8.93	11.258
Nevada – Las Vegas (NVS)^c	2.125	0.590	1.535	0.391
San Diego State	9.861	8.08	1.78	0.252
San José State	6.575	4.60	1.975	0.164

A: Variance is calculated based upon DDD’s distance from the standard deviation of DDD… Why DDD? Because, DDD is King.
b: Sam Boyd Stadium
c: New Vegas Stadium (Allegiant Field)

Conclusion

Even if the stores are sold out of Switches, there are always places you can go to get them, some are definitely within walking distance of your house, maybe even right next door. If you do choose to do that, there are a few things to keep in mind: 1. Milk 2. Eggs, specifically from Natural Grocers, if they still have member pricing. 3. Chicken thighs
Wait, that was my grocery list for last week.

Basque food is amazing.
The addresses are real, any businesses mention are real; the people mentioned or alluded to (with exception to the person who has an office in Clovis, CA; and Dominic in SD) are fake.
No, I do not know who lives at the addresses, and unless you can look it up in the phone book, I recommend that you don’t either. Please don’t bother them.
No, I am not sick… I have a lingering cough from allergies to junipemesquite pollen.
I have not visited Colorado Springs/Fort Collins/Laramie/Reno/San José/Honolulu, yet.
Information for the other cities comes from my memory
I remember when Park MGM was the Monte Carlo
Is Secret Pizza still at the Cosmo? I don’t remember seeing it the last time I was there, but that might have been because I was on the wrong floor.
Toss a coin to your witcher.
Normal people stop listing things at 10, but
This list goes up to 11.

Woke up late, need this coffee

[HOUSING] Searching for a place in Los Angeles or Bay Area for January 1

I'm Rodney, and you can see my Roomie Match compatibility profile below. Besides the compatibility assessment attached below, I’ve included a great deal more information about myself after the assessment and interview. This includes an ad of my own with more details I ran on Craigslist and even more below that about me and who I am, including various links of projects I’m involved in to varying degrees.
You can reply to this email to get in touch with me. I hope to hear from you soon.
Here's a summary of the compatibility areas they assessed:

I am: One man
I would prefer my roommate(s) be: Any gender is a good gender.
My sexual orientation(s)? Heterosexual
I would prefer my roommate(s) be: I am universally tolerant.
How old am I, in calendar years? over 50
I would prefer my roommate(s) be: Age is nothing but a number.
Pets? I have no pets, but could probably live with yours.
Tobacco smoking? I do NOT smoke; I COULD tolerate an indoor smoker.
* How do I keep HOUSE?
How often do I do my dishes? Not right away, but before the following day.
How long does my takeout stay in the fridge? I remove anything that offends within 72 hours or so.
Recycling? If it's easy I'll do it, but not if it's a big fuss.
Personal items left in common areas shall be . . . Placed in the owner's bedroom after 48 hours
Common area household cleaning? Cleaning of common areas can be divided if needed.
* How do I keep COMPANY?
Where am I social? One or two friends occasionally, but I'll carouse elsewhere
Household noise? If it's not really loud in my room, it's not a problem.
How often should 'significant others' stay the night? It's cool, but they should be at THEIR house more than ours.
Roommate's potential promiscuity / 'one night stands'? Occasionally might be fine. Frequently may annoy.
My attitude toward out-of-town friends staying over? Overnighters are OK, if agreements are made in advance.
Family members stopping by? They may put in an appearance once or twice a year.
* How do I keep MY END?
My attitude toward money? All of my accounts are always paid on time, in full.
What household consumables would I like to share? Food and drinks separate, then share other household stuff
Personal security issues? Let's touch base every 48 hours, no worries before then.
Home furnishings? I doubt I'd ever damage anything. If I did, I'd pay for it.
Borrowing stuff? Borrowing some things sometimes, if agreed to in advance.
* How do I keep MYSELF?
Household clothing preferences? I will observe public decency laws indoors as well as out.
Consumption of alcohol and/or recreational drugs? I'm straight edge/clean and sober; what you do is up to you.
Dietary habits? I have an occasional craving for red meat.
Personal grooming habits? I'm clean and hygienic, but not compulsive about it.
* How do I keep BUSY?
TV? I tune in for a few more shows than I'd care to admit.
Educational level? I hung out in college for awhile.
Criminal activity? I'm completely law-abiding, and proud of it!
Personal cosmologies? I steer clear of any and all religions.
What do I usually wear on weekdays? Business casual
Political outlook? left-wing - liberal - social progressive
* My FREETEXT Q and A section:
(Q: Why are you looking for a roommate now?) Rent is significantly rising in a few weeks to a rate that is far and above current rate
(Q: What do you like to do in your free time?) I collect music and films. I have probably every hit record ever and roughly a thousand films and television shows -I'm kind of an expert on all of that-plus a 4K TV, 4K Blu Ray player, computers, iPads, iPhone, etc
(Q: What do you do for a living?) I work in music licensing and publishing as an artist liaison online. It's a full time legitimate job that pays decently and one in which I set my own hours. Consequently, I sometimes work very late, very early or all night. It's not something that requires loud volumes
(Q: Are you extra sensitive to anything?) Not that I know of physically
(Q: Anything NOT in the questionnaire, but important about you?) My health isn't the greatest. I am still self sufficient
(Q: Did you have a conflict with a previous roommate?) No I haven't had a roommate for years
(Q: What might be your ideal roommate situation?) Somebody understanding who realizes this is not unlike a job. There is no such thing as a perfect fit and even the most ideal situation requires adjustment, compromise mutual respect, and mutual effort
Music / Entertainment Pro - Need Housing starting January 1 or Earlier (Westside Los Angeles, Pasadena, Beverly Hills)
I am a Music industry professional behind the scenes. I work from home in a legitimate full time music job (publishing and licensing), so I can live anywhere that has a reliable high speed internet connection. I am very knowledgeable about certain aspects of the music, film, television and commercial industries, music placement and licensing.
I collect many films and television series on Blu Ray, 4K Blu Ray, 3D Blu Ray and DVD. Maybe a thousand or so thus far. I actually keep a complete list of them which I can send upon request.
If you love music, as far as I know, I have literally every hit record and classic album track ever, digital downloads, CD's, some vinyl. Many thousand titles of those, the iTunes library alone is nearly 30,000 tracks right now, and none of them are streaming. They’re all physically owned downloads, most of those which are not out of print are from Apple’s iTunes store. I am also interested in DJing and Broadcasting.
If you are an individual or couple in the industry, I could be of use to you creatively and behind the scenes. Or if you are also someone who enjoys music and films that's also a possible positive connection. I am a caucasian male in my early 60's, of at best average health. I have lived in the same place for nearly ten years and need to move by January 1st. Rate of pay is a little over $15 an hour currently, so it really isn't enough for another place of the type I'm in now, rent will be significantly rising in January.
Write for more information.
I'm also on Instagram and Twitter, and not active on either. I get a lot of negative feedback. This is why:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zR1rBjtwHI&t=5s
All of that is true. If you read my comments beneath, and there are many of them, you'll see that I've answered all the inconsistencies and reasonable objections anyone brought up. It is extremely frustrating not to get real traction on this part of the story being reported, and it seems to be a deliberate decision possibly made by people in power at various institutions that have an interest in not divulging these details – MGM Resorts and other casinos, for certain, which in turn have a large degree of influence over the FBI and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, as well as media outlets, especially the Las Vegas Review Journal which is owned by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.
Those efforts are ongoing, as is my writing about them.
Here is an example of a really fantastic artist I work with that I really don't understand why hasn't secured a real record label deal yet:
https://www.audiosparx.com/LaurenAnderson
I added to the track descriptions, which was fun to do with an artist with this level of talent. So I'm pretty knowledgeable about music and very capable of writing compellingly and creatively.
Another, and this one really blows my mind. She has it all:
https://www.audiosparx.com/AbbeyScott
There's this, very diverse cast, speaking of different types of people, and this is the third time she's made slight changes to the video to give it more of an urban pop vibe. It was always great, even in pure pop form, she seems to be determined to make it a hit no matter what:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLhLSiguLKc
And there's this. Young composers conducting their own music for a full 50 piece symphony orchestra at Abbey Road studios have to be extremely rare. Felix Carcone is an immensely talented composer and musician with the potential to be really great:
https://www.audiosparx.com/felixcarcone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWxBbSiKS9c

[HOUSING] Still looking for a place to live come January 1 - Employed in the Music Business

Music / Entertainment Pro - Need Housing starting January 1 or Earlier (Westside Los Angeles, Pasadena, Beverly Hills)
I am a Music industry professional behind the scenes. I work from home in a legitimate full time music job (publishing and licensing), so I can live anywhere that has a reliable high speed internet connection. I am very knowledgeable about certain aspects of the music, film, television and commercial industries, music placement and licensing.
I collect many films and television series on Blu Ray, 4K Blu Ray, 3D Blu Ray and DVD. Maybe a thousand or so thus far. I actually keep a complete list of them which I can send upon request.
If you love music, as far as I know, I have literally every hit record and classic album track ever, digital downloads, CD's, some vinyl. Many thousand titles of those, the iTunes library alone is nearly 30,000 tracks right now, and none of them are streaming. They’re all physically owned downloads, most of those which are not out of print are from Apple’s iTunes store. I am also interested in DJing and Broadcasting.
If you are an individual or couple in the industry, I could be of use to you creatively and behind the scenes. Or if you are also someone who enjoys music and films that's also a possible positive connection. I am a caucasian male in my early 60's, of at best average health. I have lived in the same place for nearly ten years and need to move by January 1st. Rate of pay is a little over $15 an hour currently, so it really isn't enough for another place of the type I'm in now, rent will be significantly rising in January.
Write for more information.
* My entire interview ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am looking for . . . a new place to move in with roommate(s) already there AND/OR someone to find a new place together
I do live/would like to live in or near: Los Angeles, California
Maximum rent I can pay? 1400-1499
Length of stay preferred? I'd prefer long-term, hopefully a year or more.
Am I currently near where I'd like to live? yes
* My ADDITIONAL MATCHING RESTRICTIONS
I am: One man
I would prefer my roommate(s) be: Any gender is a good gender.
My sexual orientation(s)? Heterosexual
I would prefer my roommate(s) be: I am universally tolerant.
How old am I, in calendar years? over 50
I would prefer my roommate(s) be: Age is nothing but a number.
Pets? I have no pets, but could probably live with yours.
Tobacco smoking? I do NOT smoke; I COULD tolerate an indoor smoker.
* How do I keep HOUSE?
How often do I do my dishes? Not right away, but before the following day.
How long does my takeout stay in the fridge? I remove anything that offends within 72 hours or so.
Recycling? If it's easy I'll do it, but not if it's a big fuss.
Personal items left in common areas shall be . . . Placed in the owner's bedroom after 48 hours
Common area household cleaning? Cleaning of common areas can be divided if needed.
* How do I keep COMPANY?
Where am I social? One or two friends occasionally, but I'll carouse elsewhere
Household noise? If it's not really loud in my room, it's not a problem.
How often should 'significant others' stay the night? It's cool, but they should be at THEIR house more than ours.
Roommate's potential promiscuity / 'one night stands'? Occasionally might be fine. Frequently may annoy.
My attitude toward out-of-town friends staying over? Overnighters are OK, if agreements are made in advance.
Family members stopping by? They may put in an appearance once or twice a year.
* How do I keep MY END?
My attitude toward money? All of my accounts are always paid on time, in full.
What household consumables would I like to share? Food and drinks separate, then share other household stuff
Personal security issues? Let's touch base every 48 hours, no worries before then.
Home furnishings? I doubt I'd ever damage anything. If I did, I'd pay for it.
Borrowing stuff? Borrowing some things sometimes, if agreed to in advance.
* How do I keep MYSELF?
Household clothing preferences? I will observe public decency laws indoors as well as out.
Consumption of alcohol and/or recreational drugs? I'm straight edge/clean and sober; what you do is up to you.
Dietary habits? I have an occasional craving for red meat.
Personal grooming habits? I'm clean and hygienic, but not compulsive about it.
* How do I keep BUSY?
TV? I tune in for a few more shows than I'd care to admit.
Educational level? I hung out in college for awhile.
Criminal activity? I'm completely law-abiding, and proud of it!
Personal cosmologies? I steer clear of any and all religions.
What do I usually wear on weekdays? Business casual
Political outlook? left-wing - liberal - social progressive
* My FREETEXT Q and A section:
(Q: Why are you looking for a roommate now?) Rent is significantly rising in a few weeks to a rate that is far and above current rate
(Q: What do you like to do in your free time?) I collect music and films. I have probably every hit record ever and roughly a thousand films and television shows -I'm kind of an expert on all of that-plus a 4K TV, 4K Blu Ray player, computers, iPads, iPhone, etc
(Q: What do you do for a living?) I work in music licensing and publishing as an artist liaison online. It's a full time legitimate job that pays decently and one in which I set my own hours. Consequently, I sometimes work very late, very early or all night. It's not something that requires loud volumes
(Q: Are you extra sensitive to anything?) Not that I know of physically
(Q: Anything NOT in the questionnaire, but important about you?) My health isn't the greatest. I am still self sufficient
(Q: Did you have a conflict with a previous roommate?) No I haven't had a roommate for years
(Q: What might be your ideal roommate situation?) Somebody understanding who realizes this is not unlike a job. There is no such thing as a perfect fit and even the most ideal situation requires adjustment, compromise mutual respect, and mutual effort
I'm also on Instagram and Twitter, and not active on either. I get a lot of negative feedback. This is why:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zR1rBjtwHI&t=5s
All of that is true. If you read my comments beneath, and there are many of them, you'll see that I've answered all the inconsistencies and reasonable objections anyone brought up. It is extremely frustrating not to get real traction on this part of the story being reported, and it seems to be a deliberate decision possibly made by people in power at various institutions that have an interest in not divulging these details – MGM Resorts and other casinos, for certain, which in turn have a large degree of influence over the FBI and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, as well as media outlets, especially the Las Vegas Review Journal which is owned by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.
PLEASE NOTE - There are now other stories that confirm other angles of this story related to my experience that are not being disclosed by MGM Resorts - This includes MGM gifting security guard Jesus Campos with Real Estate to sign an NDA and not talk about the events, including that management knew there was a huge quantity of guns in the room but chose to ignore them because of Stephen Paddock's High Roller Status. See
http://baltimorepostexaminer.com/exclusive-mgm-resorts-international-buys-mandalay-bay-security-officer-jesus-campos-silence-with-all-expenses-paid-trips-condos-in-exchange-for-nda/2018/12/09

Here is an example of a really fantastic artist I work with that I really don't understand why hasn't secured a real record label deal yet:
https://www.audiosparx.com/LaurenAnderson
I added to the track descriptions, which was fun to do with an artist with this level of talent. So I'm pretty knowledgeable about music and very capable of writing compellingly and creatively.
Another, and this one really blows my mind. She has it all:
https://www.audiosparx.com/AbbeyScott
There's this, very diverse cast, speaking of different types of people, and this is the third time she's made slight changes to the video to give it more of an urban pop vibe. It was always great, even in pure pop form, she seems to be determined to make it a hit no matter what:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLhLSiguLKc
And there's this. Young composers conducting their own music for a full 50 piece symphony orchestra at Abbey Road studios have to be extremely rare. Felix Carcone is an immensely talented composer and musician with the potential to be really great:
https://www.audiosparx.com/felixcarcone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWxBbSiKS9c

The Carver

Two years ago, I took a look back on my life and thought, was the work I was doing really something I was proud of?
As a kid, I was moved from one foster family in Vegas to another. My parents died before I can remember. My daily routine was as such, no matter what home I was in. I worked out my body during the day and read at night to educate my mind.
As life went on, when I was old enough to work, I started out as a floor sweeper outside of a casino. Later, I made my way up to become a blackjack dealer, eventually working my way up to mechanic—a blackjack dealer who is so good with his hands, he can pull any card from the deck. Since I was one of the best, the house only brought me out to handle the players suspected of card counting. It was good money. But, as most jobs, it got boring. One evening, I decided to tell my boss that I would like to move up; do a little something different. He gave me the once over, saw how tall I was along with how much muscle I had, and asked if I would be interested in security. I told him I was indeed.
That’s when I met the man himself. The one and only, Dana White, the modern day Godfather of Las Vegas. Say what you want about the guy; but to me, he has a mind like no other. He had heard good things about me and partnered me up with a guy named Vino. Vino was an ex-navy seal, who had specialized in combat and torture. He taught me a lot. Some of the things I still have nightmares about to this day. Even though the guy scared me, he was honest. As an example: there was this one guy—Jimmy, I think his name was—who owed the house $75,000 and couldn’t pay. See, if you’re staying at a hotel in Vegas, you can walk into the hotel casino and ask for $25,000 in chips. They will ask for your ID, making you sign a paper, and charge it to your hotel bill. At the end of your stay, if you don’t have the cash, that’s where we have a problem. You deal with people like me.
When Dana found out this Jimmy couldn’t pay, naturally, Vino and I were brought in to settle the dispute. Mediators, if you will. We did our thing and got him to sign his car to us, a Mercedes-Benz convertible SL. Since the car was worth about $100,000, the guy walked away with a good $15,000 in cash. See, we were good people. Honest-like.
Toward my early thirties, I had done a lot of things I wasn’t proud of. I felt myself, getting darker and darker. I was getting too desensitized. I also tortured people for a living when they couldn’t pay. Towards this point in my career, their screams of pain became more of an annoyance, but I couldn’t gag them because I needed information. If they had a stash in a safe somewhere, etc.
Also, I wasn’t enjoying it anymore. It wasn’t fun like it used to be. It became “just a job.” I tried spicing up my torture sessions by adding more of a variety. See, I have this potato peeler, right? Only I replaced the standard blades with sharped razors. Believe it or not, that works. Human skin peels just like a potato. You can shave over and over again, and thin layers of skin will peal right off. It’s a very effective method of torture. You should try it sometime. Dana loved the tool; even wanted one as a Christmas present. As a joke, he named me, “The Carver.”
But, anyways . . . not only did I do torture, I was also in charge of disposals. That’s exactly what it sounds like. If somebody needs to be . . . “handled,” I would take care of the individual and dispose of the body by burying it in the desert. Believe or not, this happens all the time in Vegas. And I was the guy who got it done. But, like I said, after all of these years of committing horrible acts, I didn’t like what I was becoming.
That’s when I talked to Dana and told him what was up. I told him I needed a break. Surprisingly, he was quite understanding. He told me I always had a job waiting for me if I ever wanted to return. I told him thank you.
For the next couple of months, I enjoyed my retirement. I had a lot of money saved up. To thank me for my work, Dana had given me a decent sized house and car. I always suspected that he never wanted me to leave town, that he wanted to keep a close eye on me, and I was fine with that. I didn’t even mind the extra app on my phone that monitored my GPS, or the security system Dana had installed in my house with the cameras constantly recording in every room.
Since I knew a lot about the business, I understood how things worked. I even checked in with him every so often, competed in a couple of poker tournaments to keep up appearances, and went to all the UFC events. I finally felt like I had some sort of happiness, but there was always a void in my life, and I wasn’t sure how to fill it.
Then, one night, everything changed. I happened to be leaving the Luxor when I heard a cry of pain from the main road. It was sloppy. Too many tourists around to hear. When I moved to the alley to investigate, I saw a mugging. Two guys. One girl—one of the prettiest I’d ever seen. Then I realized it wasn’t a mugging when I saw one of the guys undoing his belt buckle.
I took a step forward. “Everything alright?”
With sheer terror on her face, the girl begged for my help. That’s when I noticed who the two guys were. Two small-time dealers who used to work for me at the Mandalay Bay. When they saw who I was, they took off running. It didn’t matter. If I needed to, I could easily find out where they lived.
I approached the lady and handed her my cell. She called the police, and an ambulance arrived. I gave her my number and said if she needed anything to let me know.
A few days later, she called. She told me she wanted to take me out to dinner as a thank you for saving her life. Cassidy was her name. At first, I was a bit reluctant. Guys like me don’t tend to have working relationships. I was more in the nature of buying a whore for the night and calling it a day.
Somehow, she convinced me, and we went out. It actually turned out a lot better than expected. Not getting sex on the first night was kind of a turn on. Not only that, she read a lot and was pretty smart. At the end of that night, I went home with a genuine smile on my face and realized that had not happened in a really long time.
We saw each other a couple of times after that, with each date getting better and better. Two years later we were married, which brings us to the present.
Early February of this year, my world was rocked. Unbeknownst to me at the time, the UFC was negotiating to be bought by some group called the WME-IMG. They put in a bid for 1 billion whereas Dana wanted 5. It was then that Dana came knocking on my door and told me it was time to get back to work. Being that it was going to be at least a billion dollar buy out, he needed me there; somebody he could trust to make sure everything stayed in line. I told him honestly I wasn’t interested in torturing or killing anybody anymore. I was married and I wanted to put that life behind me.
He said that was fine. Because of my size, I was only to be there for presence only. He asked me to do it as a personal favor for him. I agreed. So I went back to work, and was there for everything. For the next five months, seven days a week, I would leave at seven in the morning and not come back until almost midnight on some days.
One night, I came home and found Cassidy snuggled up in our bed. I undressed and gently climbed in only to find that she wasn’t sleeping. She asked how much longer I would be working these hours. I told her the truth. I had no idea. She rolled over on her side, showing me her back. She was pissed, and I knew it.
I sighed and made a silent promise. After this was over, I would make it up to her. A trip—just her and I—to the Bahamas or something. The next day, during my lunch break, I walked over to Victoria Secrets and picked out a lovely black bra and panty set. From the lacy design, I knew they would be perfect on Cassidy. For an extra price, I could have it same day delivered to our house. This was perfect, because I had to return back to the office after lunch.
With a smile that my gift would make things right, I paid, and it was sent to my house.
That night, I went home and found that she was dressed and going out for the evening. Not only that, she was talking on the phone. As soon as I entered the room, I heard her say, “I’ll talk to you later,” and abruptly hung up on whomever she was talking too.
That gave me pause. She had never done that before.
“Everything okay?” I asked, setting my keys on the wall table.
“Y-yes,” she said. Her lip twitched. “It was my mom. She’s considering coming down for the weekend.”
My training from Vino took over. Her demeanor told me something. She was nervous about something. About what though?
“That was your mother on the phone?” I asked.
She cleared her throat. Another sign of lying. “Yes.”
“I see. Heading out?”
“Only for a couple of hours.
“Shopping?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Yes.
Verbal/non-verbal disconnect. She said one thing and her body did another. Another lie.
“Want me to I go with you?”
“It’s okay, you don’t need to worry about it. I shouldn’t be back too late. Promise.”
I smiled. “Okay, I’ll be here when you get back. Love you.”
She approached me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Love you too.”
That was suspicious. Too suspicious. I waited ‘till she left then hopped into my own car and followed her. I knew how to tail people; I’d done it many times. Besides, it was too dark out. She would only see my headlights in her rearview. For the first time in a long time, my heart pumped fast and hard. I just didn’t know what to expect. Light raindrops dotted my windshield as cars whipped pasted.
We drove for about 15 minutes before coming down in front of the MGM. I waited as the valet took her car. She entered the hotel.
I followed, giving my car to the valet as well. When I arrived into the entrance hallway, I saw her talking to another man. He was tall, though didn’t have nearly as much muscle as I did. He was dressed in a tailor made suit and carried a briefcase. Who the hell does that now or days? Carry a briefcase.
He removed his hat then leaned over and kissed her on the lips. She opened her mouth and tongue was exchanged.
My jaw tightened. A spike of anger flowed through me. I clinched my fist. My wife. She was having an affair. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my rising temper. If I was going to deal with this, I needed a plan. It didn’t take long to formulate one.
After they left, I approached the reception lady. She looked at me with a smile as I approached. I told her who I was, that I was a dear friend with the owner of the MGM, which was true. Then I bribed her with all of the cash I had in my pocket. $1200 later, I had the information I needed. The room number: 712. I also asked for the room directly across from them. It was empty. That one I paid with my credit card.
The next twenty minutes were the most agonizing, longest minutes of my life. I paced back and forth the whole time, my head filled with dark images of what was happening on the other side of that door of room 712. I only hoped they were talking. That was it. That had to be it. They were just talking. I would find out soon. Afterward, I settled on cleaning my gun.
When I was ready, I put my gloves on. Tight. Black. Leather. I picked up my gun and slammed the magazine clip into the well. I pulled back the slide release and let it go. It clicked that familiar sound I was used to hearing. It was calming. Blissful. I screwed in the silencer.
I took a breath, readying myself for what I was going to find. I opened my door and stepped to the one across from me. Without a second thought, I kicked the door open, ripping apart the frame. I stepped into the hotel room and closed the door behind me. I took my hat off hung it on the coat tree. I rolled my neck. Chills ran down my arms.
“What the hell is this!” the man yelled, coming into the main room, his focus dead set on me.
He wore a pink, silk robe that hung down to his mid-thighs. The top half with parted open to give me a full view of his hairy chest. One thing I had to say, though: he had a distinct face, with perfect features. Light eyes, dark hair. Striking jawline. A small, strong nose. Quite handsome indeed.
Without a second thought, I shot him in the face. The back of his head exploded. Blood spattered on the door frame behind him.
My wife screamed. The same fearful screams I heard the first night I met her.
I heaved a sigh and walked into the bedroom. When I entered, I paused at what I saw. The room screamed luxurious with mirrored ceilings, a Jacuzzi in the center and a bed that looked the size of two king sized beds pressed together. Glitter pearl wallpaper was on every wall. And it smelled like sex and cigarette smoke. Cassidy laid on the bed, most likely naked behind the blanket, which she used to cover herself.
She stopped screaming. Her eyes widened. “Benny?”
I didn’t say a word. The anger on my face told her all she needed to know. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something. On the floor, was a pair of black, silk panties. Same style as the ones I bought her that day. My mouth went dry. An emotion swelled in my chest that I don’t know how to describe. Like a heart attack without actually having one. I swallowed. Gently, I leaned over and picked them off the floor.
“Benny, I can explain,” she said.
Anger swelled with me. It was them. I gripped the panties in my hand and crushed them. Though it wasn’t physically hurting them, it made me feel better; an outlet for my anger.
“Benny?” she cautiously called out again.
At that, I walked up to her and hit her in the head with the butt of my gun. She was knocked out cold. I lifted her naked ass out of the bed and slung her over my shoulder, fireman style. With my opposite hand, I called Vino. Told him I needed a favor. A clean up in room 712, MGM. He told me it would be his pleasure.
I left the room and waited outside for the valet to retrieve my car. Even though I had a naked woman slung over my shoulder, nobody said a thing. “What happens in Vegas,” is actually a thing. The locals were used to seeing things like this all the time.
When I got home, I handcuffed her and zip tied the chain to the shower head. Then I broke out most of the lights, only leaving the one that shone directly above her. The rest of the bathroom was cloaked in darkness. I grabbed my work bag out of the closet. In it was my tools. Something I hadn’t used for years. Then I walked back into the bathroom, put the lid down to the toilet and took a seat, leaving half of my body bathing in the shadows. I patiently waited for Cassidy to wake up.
An hour later, I heard her groan. It was close to 2:00am.
As soon as she was decently conscious, I began to speak, “I never told you about my life before you.”
I smiled to myself. “Honestly, I thought it would scare you.”
Her jaw twitched. “Benny, what is this?”
She tried to move her hands, clanking metal of shower head echoed.
I continued. “I never told you about the things I had done, about the acts I’ve committed.”
“Benny? Why am I handcuffed?” Her lip quivered.
“I didn’t want you to think differently of me. That I wasn’t the person who you fell in love with.”
Her voice broke. “I-I do love you.”
I smirked and shook my head. “No. Because if you did, you wouldn’t have cheated on me.”
“Are you going to kill me?”
My smile broadened. “Do you think I'm that boring?”
"What does that mean?"
"Don't worry. You'll soon find out enough . . ."
Her panicked gaze met mine. “Please. I-I can explain—”
“You know, when I first met you, there was a void in my life. And I thought that you were the one who filled that void.”
“Benny, pl-please . . .don't—”
“But that wasn’t it. You were not it.” I paused. “I understand now,” I said, more speaking to myself.
Tears streamed down her face. “I don’t know what that means!”
“See, that void was my old job. I loved doing what I used to do. The only thing I needed was a break is all, not stopping altogether. I-I’ve missed it so much. It was calling to me the whole time and yet, I didn’t answer.”
“Wh-what are you talking about!” she yelled at me, shaking her hands violently.
“Shh, ssh, it’s okay. It's okay,” I soothed. I stood up, shushing her by putting my finger to her lips.
“Let me show you,” I said softly. “Let me show you exactly what I am talking about . . .”
Then I took out my potato peeler and got to work. She cried, screamed, begged for me to stop. I heard her pleas, assuring her that it would be over soon, just to let go. She didn’t. I continued. In some places, I even shaved it down to the bone. After I applied the rubbing alcohol, she screamed so loud, her voice gave out.
It was interesting, as I was doing this, I found true happiness once again. The blissful pleasure calling out to me to do what needed to be done. I cried that night. Why? Because I was happy. It was like making love for the first time, and I was ready to release it all.
Four hours later, it was done. I held her in my arms as she took her last breath, a brief shutter before going still. On the shower floor were hundreds of slices of flayed flesh.
Truthfully, she should have been proud of herself of lasting as long. Most people don’t, though I’d never tortured a woman before. I guess it is true what they say. They have a better tolerance to pain then men. From experience, I can tell you that is a fact. Even in torture.
When I was done, I called Dana. I told him, “I’m ready to come back to work full time. To help you with anything you need.”
I heard him smile on the opposite end of the phone. “Good to hear, I knew you’d back home eventually. They always do.” He paused. “How about I send along Vino in the morning and have him clean up that bathroom of yours. Free of charge.”
I knew he would be watching from the security camera. I didn’t care. Dana was a good guy. I knew he had my back. He probably already had taken care of the security footage at the MGM as well as made sure the staff kept their mouths shut.
“Sounds good. Thanks, Dana.”
I hung up the phone. Afterward, I took a shower, directly next to my wife’s body and cleaned myself up. It had been a long night and I was tired. If I was going to get back to work tomorrow, I needed to be well rested. Then I went to bed with a smile on my face. Everything was great. Perfect even.
As I look back, at the beginning, I asked if this type of work was something I could be proud of. The answer is yes. Yes, it is.

Grave

Trip Report- Dirt Cheap Vegas Trip with Hooters Review and Naps!

TLDR; 20 something couple who has been to Vegas before stayed at Hooters Hotel and Casino 4 nights, 5 days with airfare and resort fee for $887 and it was worth every penny.
Hooters Hotel and Casino: With the flight, hotel and resort fee we paid $444 a person which we thought was too good to pass up. The hotel wasn't as bad as I expected it to be but it was pretty old. It is located a short walk to the strip which accessible by going into Tropicana located next door and using a bridge. When we booked this trip we only expected to be at this hotel to sleep at night and we ended up staying there for a lot more since it beat our expectations.
Some parts of the hotel are "nice" and newish and some aren't. The new parts will NEVER be comparable to many of the casino's listed in the faq(even the budget ones) but that doesn't make it bad. If you are a regular person that doesn't need fancy shit or all you plan on doing is sleeping here(bachelobachelorette party or 21st birthday) it's great. The casino was small and never crowded, it was great for gambling a bit at the end of the night since it's almost impossible to get lost or lose whoever you are with. There was a cafe area with a coffee place, Krispy Kreme donuts and a Pizza Hut. There was also a pool bar, Hooters, and Steak n' Shake. They boasted about free parking, $15 buckets of bud light, and $1 margaritas inside the casino bar. The room service seemed incredibly cheap but we did not use it.
Our room was average and as far as we know it was not one that was recently remodeled. The bathroom wasn't very nice and the safe was busted. It looked as if the Bathroom had been done about 10 years ago and the glaze was coming off of the bathtub corners. The room was clean and it had two awkward chairs that belonged in the 70's around a small table. We both thought that a reclinechair was missing from the room due to empty space. The bed was very comfortable and we slept amazing. The AC was ice cold and we had a tiny balcony overlooking the pool. It was $25 a night for a mini-fridge which we decided against and I kept filling up bags of ice and moving it from the sink when needed. If you are not flying in, bring a cooler and save yourself the money or go buy a cheap cooler at Walgreens on the strip for $8. The pool was very clean and quiet, it felt like we were the only people there most of the time and I got a ton of reading done. You couldn't bring your own alcohol or food and the security was tight. The menu seemed decently priced for a pool in vegas.
If you stay at Hooters I highly recommend purchasing the Hooya One Pass, it comes with two different show tickets, a coupon for a free margarita, buy 10 wings get 10 wings, and a 1 hour open bar with wings NIGHTLY between 5-6 pm. At the same bar the drinks cost $5 during happy hour and we watched numerous hotel guests spend more than $20 on drinks in just that hour. I must've eaten about 100 wings and had over 30 drinks the entire trip because of this pass. The bartenders were really great to us during the open bar and we always had a drink in our hand. It saved us a ton of money on dinnelunch but I would've liked to have done one more nice dinner. It also would have been nice if we didn't have to go back to the hotel for 5pm every day but, my GF and I really enjoyed the happy hour, a nap, and a shower before going out for the night(not always in that order).
It seemed like a lot of teenage kids were staying in the hotel for a basketball tournament or something and I never saw any parents. I observed a bunch of people staying in some rooms and the kids would sit outside of the room to charge their phones in the hallway. We had one issue with the kids, we were trying to go down and two girls got off our floor, when we got in the elevator all of the buttons were pressed to go up. It wasn't a big deal to us but it could be to people looking to make a show or relax and not have to deal with that crap. The elevator was also kind of shady and it seemed like it skipped our floor or something a few times when trying to go down. I don't know it it happens a lot but both of these things probably don't happen at places on the strip.
Monday: We left my house at 3:30 am and flew Spirit Airlines from Newark to LAS which landed at 8:40 am. I'll never fly spirit again if I can help it. It was a $14 taxi to the Hotel where they wanted to charge a $25 early check in fee, we debated and decided to drop off our luggage and explore the area so that we could stay up a little longer before crashing since we got roughly 3 hours of sleep. While walking the strip we decided to get a quick bite to eat at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company since there is one in NYC and we've always wanted to go. We each got a flavored margarita which we normally don't get and they were pretty good, she got a shrimp po' boy, and I got calamari and a gigantic bucket of french fries. We mostly went to some shops for gifts and got supplies like shampoo, sunscreen and water for the week at Walgreens and the Liquor store. We checked in at 2:30, unpacked and took a nap. Between 5-6 we had an open bar(well and domestic drafts) at the pool bar with complementary wings and vegetables because we purchased the Hooyah One Pass for $20. At 7pm we took a Lyft to Freemont for a tour at Bangor Brewing. We had a flight and 2 or 3 beers. The guy giving us the tour waited patiently for us since our driver didn't follow directions and we were late. We were the only people on the tour but the place was pretty packed for a while. We explored Freemont Street for the remaining of the night which was very fun and interesting. If I had a kid under the age of 9 I wouldn't bring them but it honestly wasn't that bad besides some girls in thongs, pasties, and dominatrix looking girls(if your kid has an Instagram they have seen worse). Security walked a beat like they were riot cops and one came up to us and told us we couldn't drink in cans on Freemont and that we could drink out of plastic cups instead. He was really cool and I swore he was a cop until we saw real cops. Heads up to anyone. I really liked the vibe of Freemont but the light show was honestly terrible, I may have been spoiled by light shows at concerts and sporting events from a previous job, my girlfriend thinks that the show just needed different music...
Tuesday: We woke up around 8:30 am and went to breakfast at the Steak n' Shake in Hooters. The food was average but service was slow(we never went back). We went to the pool for an hour or two before we went to a timeshare sales pitch for fun and free stuff(buffet and freeplay). I did the math and the $9,999 timeshare came out to be $33,000 over seven years. Once I gave the numbers and said no the guy became a HUGE dick. Sadly, one person bought one. Once the timeshare pitch was finished we went to the liquor store again. We got lunch at Taco's and Tequila where we split nachos and each had a few margaritas. I think they were some of the best margaritas I've ever had. Later we napped and went to the open bar before going to use my freeplay. After we finished loosing $100 in freeplay and getting tons of free drinks, I decided I had to go and see what a dispensary was like. I don't know the rules about posting about this so I will answer questions in a PM. I will also elaborate with a mod's approval since I think it could be really helpful. After getting back to the hotel we went to Hooters for some more wings and went to bed.
Wednesday: We hung out at the pool for a few hours and we went exploring again. We walked around 15 miles this day and I wish we'd had gotten a light rail pass or Ubered to the end of the strip and walked back. We both like exploring things though so none of us mentioned it until it was too late. We didn't have anything planned for this day until we got back to the hotel and looked at all of the comedy clubs. We decided on the late show to see Jimmy Shubert at the Laugh Factory in Tropicana because it was close by and I actually knew of the opening act, Jason Lawhead, because of Bill Burr's Monday Morning Podcast. It was a pretty good show for the price we paid, and we got to see the worst heckler ever get thrown out. The night got hazy for me and I think we went to Hooters for some wings, fries, and onion rings before going to our room and passing out(probably with my shoes on).
Thursday: We actually had plans! We woke up with purpose and got breakfast at Coco's Bakery, a short walk from where we were staying. It was cheap and some of the better breakfast food I've had in a while including some of the diners here in NJ, I wish we could've gone again. After breakfast, we went to the pool before heading to the Mirage for a late lunch buffet thanks to Tahiti Village. Next, we used MyVegas rewards at New York New York for buy one get one crepes at 48th and Crepe which were amazing and we cashed in a ticket for buy one get one 40 oz beers at Tom's Urban. It was happy hour so the beers were under the voucher limit and we basically got them for free + tip which was great considering their somewhat decent selection of draft beer. We went back to the open bar for 5pm, napped and got ready for dinner at Black Tap in the Venetian which was everything I thought it would be and more. I wish I had room for a Crazy Shake but I could barely finish my burger and I only ate 3 onion rings, luckily there is one in NYC. At 10pm we saw John Caparulo at Harrah's. The show was average and I think he could've really used an opening act to get the crowd going instead of awkwardly walking on stage. It was pretty empty, we got GA cheap seats and got moved up to the 5th row. We gambled pretty late and made fun of all the people waiting in line at the club at MGM Grand at 2:30 in the morning, these people looked miserable and hadn't even been in the club yet. I don't miss those days.
Friday: We laid in bed for most of the morning since there was not an option for a late checkout and we weren't leaving for the Airport until 8 PM. We double and triple checked for everything and I swear I packed a few things that I can no longer find(it's not a vacation until I've lost something). We checked out around 11am and stored our luggage with the valet. We went to the M&M Store and did the free 3d movie which was pretty entertaining since I don't think I have ever seen a 3d movie before. We decided on going to the Bodies exhibit at Luxor which was pretty cool but probably not worth $30 with an MLife card. We also took the tram to Mandalay Bay which was pretty nice but very empty and kind of eerie. It also smelled like a funeral home or church or something. We cashed in another couple of MyVegas rewards and went to Tom's Urban again for 40oz beers(on happy hour). We also ordered the two way fries which consisted of shoe string and sweet potato fries. They were out of this world! Finally we went to Coyote Ugly for buy one get one drinks(MyVegas). My GF has always wanted to go here but none of her friends ever would go with her. We both fell in love with the bartender and we talked for about an hour about life in Vegas before heading back to the open bar and did some last minute gift shopping.
In all we did a lot of gambling, walking around, and exploring. We also talked with a ton of locals and tried to get a feel for the place. I'm not a fan of most shows and she had seen most of them in her previous travels. I really wanted to change the hotel after booking it and she kept insisting that it'd be fine. Besides using MyVegas a trick we learned was to use your Mlife card for anything you purchase inside an MGM casino, it doesn't matter if you are buying show tickets or a frozen drink, you'll get points from your purchase. I expect to get a ton of comps to use at the Borgata and I think we are coming back for the Golden Knights/Devils game in January.
My total expenses for the trip came out to be $1190.75 based on all of my credit card statements and cash that I had left over in my wallet. This includes my half of the hotel, resort, plane and all of the booze, rides, and gambling I did.

SHOT 2017/My tales of adventure in Las Vegas

So, you wanna go to SHOT show? You think it's all fun and games? Get to play with guns? See Jesse James and R. Lee Ermey? SHOT show is the annual pilgrimage of the unwashed masses to Las Vegas to rub elbows with youtube celebrities, bloggers and overseas businessmen copying US made equipment and share infectious disease.
If you love guns, gambling and gonorrhea - SHOT show is for you! It is not my typical idea of a good time. I am not a big fan of Las Vegas.
However: I do attend for a few reasons. First, I do enjoy travel and I'm platinum on AA so I can usually score an upgrade. Second, industry people are in there that I do hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars with business with so it's nice to put a face with the name and see what deals are out there. SHOT for me has been a bust for the past few years. Being a value guy, I want to buy at $1000 and sell at $3000 and as of recently the gun business is more like buy for $1 and sell for $1.10 if you get what I mean.
We used to do business at SHOT and now it's just checking in on foursquare, instagram and rubbing elbows with bloggers and the like. I want to make money, not spend money so this is very annoying to me.
Anyways, onto the play by play.
Monday, January 16th. One day before SHOT show.
http://imgur.com/a/HoFUm
Every time I've been rejected by a woman, I move $1 from checking into savings and I take the bankroll down to the Wynn for some play. Lets do this.
The TSA line is a shitshow thanks to, well TSA.
I slog my way to the lounge, as shitty as it is to wait for my winged chariot to DFW. I have gone from being in an abusive relationship with Delta to being in an abusive relationship with AA. Although if you really want to experience the battered spouse feeling, UA is a few gates over. This trip's light reading is trying to finish "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell. Such a good book as well as "Outliers" if you want a good read.
I walk up to the podium to find out that my upgrades do not clear, even as an AA Plat thanks to the addition of a FOURTH elite tier. Goddamn fucking W. Doug Parker. Asshole. I gate check my bags to make life easier for me and the rest of the folks. The gate agent calls concierge key and executive platinum passengers. I look down and realize I'm wearing a suit and board with the executive platinum folks because I do not care and I look the part. If you walk with a purpose and are dressed reasonably well, you fit the profile. I settle into my window seat and try to finish outliers. I pass out before takeoff and I'm awoken by the dulcet tones of the flight attendants preparing for landing. We land at Dallas a few minutes early and I hightail it to the Centurion for a quick bite to eat. I grab a plate and help myself to some of the excellent brisket, pecan encrusted chicken and some roasted jumbo asparagus. Yes, my pee is going to smell funny. No, I do not care. The lounge is packed. The bar is full and I grab a quick single malt as I have my meal since American's not going to feed me. They begin boarding to Mccarran as I walk out of the lounge. No time for a stop in the spa on this trip. I make it to the gate just as the call group 2 boarding.
I bypass the main line and walk up through the priority line giving no heed to the people that have been waiting there before me as I hold up my paper boarding pass with PLATINUM to the gate agent. I board and take my usual seat - the exit row without the seat in front of it. I'm aghast to see this sight.
http://imgur.com/a/dygil
The savages. Literally. The savages.
I put my loathing away for a moment and look down at the exit row. I have the window. The aisle is a large middle aged man and in the middle is what I believe to be a formecurrent linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys wearing a 52 regular sports jacket. He's not a fat guy in a little coat, he's a big fucking hulk of a man stuffed in an exit row seat that is already an inch narrower due to the tray table. I grimace as I take my seat and give him the manly nod. He does not look happy about the fact that his knees are in the seat in front and I'm stretched out like a Cheshire cat in front of a fireplace on a cold January afternoon.
The boarding door closes for an on time departure and Stephanie the FA takes her seat. He leans over and asks if he can take the empty row across the aisle and she takes one look at the three of us and gives him the nod. I bail out to give him a path of egress and suddenly the trip to Las Vegas has just become way more comfortable. I finish The Tipping Point somewhere over west texas, so I pop a xanax and dr pepper and zone out for the rest of the ride. I awake to feel one of the FA's jostling me awake telling me to put my seat up. I do so and we have a ride so smooth that not even the Delta guy behind me can complain about light chop. We catch the TYSSN4 arrival and the next thing I know it the Messier Dowty landing gear of the A321 touch the paint at Mccarran for a smooth rollout down 25L.
My phone battery is approaching grim death since this seat has no power plugs and I find bartman383 has sent me a message. He has been enjoying LV with his wife and their due to bad weather they are in the city of sin for a few extra nights. He invites me to dinner. I'm still pretty full from DFW and I tell him I'll be over there once I get my bags and the car and I'll see him when I see him. He gives me the info for the hotel as we pull up to the gate.
First stop: Centurion lounge. AA's app tells me bags being unloaded. I grab a quick bite of fried chicken and brussels sprouts since they are good for you and a chocolate pudding. The brisket and pecan encrusted chicken from DFW still has me full but I'm well aware of the speed of a union baggage handlers nowadays and who doesn't like chocolate pudding? Terrorists. That's who. Want to know how to screen for terrorists TSA? Set up a table of free chocolate pudding at the airport. The people who don't take any are members of ISIS. It's just that simple.
I grab my bag and hoof it to Hertz. I'm an idiot and I am an hour late for my pickup. Oops. Will an Audi A3 suffice? I sigh and I accept my Teutonic quattro chariot. I do a burnout in the parking garage and hightail it to the exit. I flash my #1 card and my ID and the gatekeeper gives me the go ahead. I get onto the the strip and traffic is awful. I'm going to be late for dinner. I make a left onto Russell Road and hightail it up the 15. I manage to get the car up to 100 as I pass the Luxor. My phone is dead so I can't message Bart about being late. Fuck. The exit approaches quickly as I put the 4 wheel disk brakes to work and sling the car around and head south on Las Vegas Bl. I accidentally turn into the Bellagio and I'm now running even more late. Fuck. Eventually, I get the car into the garage at the Cosmopolitan and head upstairs. I cannot remember the name of the restaurant but I head up to the third floor where all the restaurants are and I see this sign that's reminiscent of my days in retail.
It says RESTAURANT - LOUNGE - PAWN SHOP.
I laugh. I walk in. It's literally a pawnshop. I look around puzzled.
FC: Is this a restaurant?
Bald Headed Guy: Yes, through that door.
He points towards a door. I walk in to find a bustling restaurant, lounge via the entrance of pawnshop. This is insane. I pass a mirror and check myself out. I adjust my tie, after all it is YSL and the ladies LOVE YSL. Remember that. I find the hostess and inform her I will be joining some friends for dinner. They probably do not have me on the reservation though but I turn on the charm and she smiles and says no problem at all. She asks if my tie is from Hermes. I say no, I'm a YSL guy. She looks impressed as I tell her I'll make a quick lap of the room to see if they're there and surprise them. She gives me a nod and tells me to go right ahead. Still got it.
I spot bart and his wife who I can only remember vaguely from gunnitlive after party video and I pull up a chair. Bart is surprised to see I made it and they are in the middle of dinner. They offer to ply me with food and beverage but I decline as I'm driving so no booze for me and no food since I am stuffed from Dallas. We chat about life and liberty over libations. Bart's wife thinks I am hysterical. She's had a few drinks and they are already into their main courses. The brussels sprouts are way too salty and we have to send it back. No bueno.
Bart invites me up to his suite on the top floor of the hotel where we are to meet Brogelicious later in the evening. I say, when in rome......we head to the top floor of the hotel tower where Bart shows me his view from the balcony and cracks open the mini bar for some more libations. He asks if I want a drink and I say I better not. I'm driving.
Not 30 seconds after arriving, brogel shows up. Bart's wife hugs brogel. She's infatuated with him. We start shooting the shit and bart opens up the minibar and tells us to take anything we want, it's on the hotel. I laugh and I look outside as bart opens his yeti 110 for some silver bullets. Apparently he is so baller the hotel will send up a yeti 110 filled with beer to make him happy. His wife is apparently such a baller. I ball on a budget. They just ball. Hahaha.
We shoot the shit some more about guns, gun stuff and people on the reddit for a while. I get a little thirsty and I crack open bart's cooler. I ask him how long the stuff in the cooler is supposed to last and he says until Wednesday.
I look down and I am agape at what I see.
We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls. Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge, and I knew we'd get into that rotten stuff pretty soon.
I mentally prepared my butthole and I decided to help myself to a coors light against my wishes but Bart, Bart's wife and Brogel are all drinking so I let peer pressure take hold as I cracked open a beer with them. We head out to the balcony to smoke some cuban cigars together as bart's wife takes a photo of all of us. We all look like hell. Haha.
As bart downs his second beer, he asks me a question.
Bart: ever go hunting?
Me: Ducks a little bit but not much
Bart: ever want to hunt some deadly game?
Me: Like on african safari?
Bart: No, I mean like.........man.
Me: Hahahahhahaaha you're just fucking with me. Hahahahahhaa. That's really funny.
Bart: No really, the concierge here at this hotel will set it up for us. It's amazing. I remember my first hunt......
Brogel starts laughing and I realize they've been doing a bit. I've been had.
We bullshit about SHOT and Barrett's shotguns and other things and next thing I know, it's late but bart hands me a mixed drink. I sip it a bit and I was in the middle of a tirade complaining about my customers. Suddenly, there was a terrible roar all around us, and the sky was full of what looked like huge bats, all swooping and screeching and diving around the city, and a voice was screaming: Holy Jesus. What are these goddamn animals? Nobody seems to understand what I'm talking about. It's cold on the balcony. Our cigars are done. We head indoors. No point in mentioning these bats, I thought. Poor bastards will see them soon enough.
Back indoors I realize Brussels sprouts and coors light is a bad choice. Seriously no bueno. I excuse myself to the bathroom and drain the vein. The asparagus funny smelling pee and the side effects of beer and brussels sprouts is a noxious combination that a defense contractor should weaponize it. It's pretty bad and not even cuban tobbaco can mask the smell.
I sit back down and continue to talk about guns and stuff with bart and the gang and bart asks who ruined the bathroom. I apologize as he sprays a bunch of febreze around and opens the balcony. I apolgize to brogel. He is not accepting my apology. (sorry :( )
Nearly 11, it's about time to pull chocks and mosey on down the dusty trail. I don't want to prompt an evacuation of the hotel due to noxious odors so I decide to leave and bart seems to be kinda mad that I've ripped ass and polluted the sanctuary of his hotel. Half a coors light and brussels sprouts are no bueno in my book now. Bart decides to party hard with his wife and I offer brogel a ride home. He seems skeptical to share a confined space with me after I have just destroyed bart's hotel room. The car has 4 windows and the Uber will cost him a few bucks he can put towards ammo. He relents as we head down to the garage to find my car. Thankfully we find it quickly and I manage to contain the weapons of ass destruction for the 16 minute ride off strip to casa de brogel.
He says I'm not that bad a dude and I agree as I hightail it to my hotel. I cannot find my hotel reservations so I call my travel agent to see.
Apparently the Wynn was not in my travel budget this year. I have come to find out I have been booked at Circus Circus, much to my chagrin. How bad could it be? I've stayed at the Wynn. I've stayed at Encore. I've stayed at the hotel that Elisabeth Shue's character got raped in in Leaving Las Vegas - but Circus Circus? Did I mention that I HATE CLOWNS? I HATE CLOWNS. Fuck.
I pull into the parking garage and the check in line resembles something straight out of the TSA line at Mccarran. 45 minutes to check in. The clerk is friendly and says he's also from Louisiana which is neat. He asks if I've stayed there before and I, being a connoisseur of old vegas history I decide to make a joke and I tell him the last time I was there, Jay Sarno owned the place. He got a laugh. I head up to my room and unpack. The lobby is clean as an old vegas casino can be, the room is clean and there's no way to plug anything in since the hotel predates personal electronic devices. I plug my phone into my external battery and collapse on the bed. I message Bart and chugbleach instead of falling asleep about show tomorrow and I offer to pick bart up early since there is no shuttle from the cosmo.
Tuesday, November 16th SHOT Show Day One
I awoke several hours later in a daze......the clock said 10AM. The show opened at 8:30. Fuck me to tears. I hurry up and get dressed and down to the sands convention center. The parking lot is FULL. The entire complex is a mess. When my man Steve Wynn built his joint he didn't build enough parking. So people would park at the Venetian and now FUCKING NOBODY CAN GET A PARKING SPACE. Holy shit. I eventually say fuck it and park over at the Wynn and walk over to the Sands. I meet up with a few of my regular suppliers and I see nothing interesting at all. Bart went to bed at 6AM after spending all night partying with his wife over at the palazzo. I joke and say that he just should have stayed there. Bart is amazed at the size of the show and we have lunch at the most disgusting place in las vegas - the convention center bistro snack bar. Bart is a wise man as he grabs a powerade and a fruit cup. I decide to try an "italian beef" and a fruit cup instead of fries to stay semi health conscious. The "italian beef" is the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten. It is flat out depressing. They give me fries with it and I demand a fruit cup. The sassy black woman working the stand asks me "DID YOU ASK FOR FRUIT? CAUSE RIGHT HERE SAYS FRIES" and I channel my inner Louis CK from the "this is how I talk" bit from SNL as I shoot back "WHY YOU FRONTIN ON ME I ASKED FOR FRUIT AND YOUR ASS BETTER BACK UP AND GET ME SOME FRUIT" so she goes back and gets me some fruit.
The "italian beef", my fruit cup, bart's fruit cup and powerade comes to $81. My platinum amex comes out and I treat bart to "lunch". We bullshit about guns and stuff in the Springfield booth as we wait at the world's worst concession stand. We eat and Bart is so hungover that he thinks he is in need of physical therapy and a wheelchair. There is no way he is going to party tonight before his trip home. Or so I think. Haha.
I meander around the show a bit more and I find this, the most USELESS PRODUCT OF 2017. It's made by a company called radetec.
http://imgur.com/a/GOiCB
It's a shot counter. For your gun.
A digital odometer, for your gun.
The only person that would buy this is the guy like my dad that kept a spiral bound notebook in his car where he documented how many miles he traveled per tank, gallons dispensed, PRICE, service station and whether they had a different price for cash/charge, oil consumption, tire rotations, alignments, all services - scheduled or otherwise, and a running odometer. Does anyone know the gun owner who asks for a round count when they are looking at a used gun? The question I always shoot back is "do you want to be lied at a little or do you want to be lied at a lot?" because that's what you're asking for when you ask for round count.
UNLESS YOU BUY THIS PRODUCT!
I roll my eyes so far back into my head that I nearly lose my balance. This is idiotic. I cannot fathom anyone willing to buy this. What a waste of perfectly good exhibition space.
Bart heads back to his hotel after visiting SHOT show for a few hours, not getting any swag and to get an IV of fluids since he looked like he was rapidly approaching grim death.
I wrap up visiting prime vendors and checking out the new products, or lack thereof because I have something on the schedule. At 4:30 there's a suicide prevention for retailers seminar hosted by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. As many of you know this is an issue that is important to me and perhaps we as retailers should be doing more. The keynote was from their chief medical director talking about the accessibility of firearms and the mindset of the "typical" suicide. Mostly men. If you are a veteran you are at a significantly larger risk. The information was presented very not surprisingly and one of the things discussed was that we only spend around 21M a year on suicide prevention.
A few take away facts from the keynote:
When suicide barriers are put up on a bridge, suicide rates for the entire area drop. The key to preventing suicide is getting people to talk about their problems. Once you can get someone out of that mindset, they are statistically less likely to do it and live productive lives afterwards. There are certain terms that they are trying to get away from - for instance, they are not saying "committed suicide" they are now saying "died by suicide" in order to bring awareness and tell it like it is.
One thing that really was interesting to me was my reading on the flight in from Dallas. In The Tipping Point, Gladwell discusses how things stay the same and suddenly they all change. One of the things that he discusses is in micronesia - where teen suicide was practically unheard of became an outright epidemic. One teenager did it, for reasons passing understanding to me as an outsider and then all the other kids realized that they too could escape their pain by hanging themselves as well and suddenly the suicide rates in micronesia became so high to where it became a public health issue. I wish I could show you all the article I wrote on TTAG about my friend's death but it has been lost in the cloud and I am unable to find the last draft I sent to print, but it echoes some of the problems we have with suicide and mental health in the firearm industry.
After the keynote, the good doctor opened the floor up for questions. Her keynote posed a lot of statistics but not a lot of answers. I am a detail oriented granular data guy and I did not get a solid grasp of the AFSP solutions posed, if any.
Several firearm dealers discussed the lack of a cohesive solution and the takeaway was they're trying to develop awareness for the suicide problem. Their goal is to lower suicide rates but how they get there is yet to be determined. I didn't like hearing that and the comments from the crowd reflected the lack of a "here's what you can do TODAY to help this problem" part of the initiative.
Going around the room, one dealer who used NICS said that if a customer was just flat out acting funny - he'd lie to the customer and say there was a delay with NICS even though there was an approval just to get them to not be able to have a gun for a few days. The crowd applauded this initiative, however I'm not sure lying to customers is the best way to run a business and treat them with respect. Another dealer brought up an interesting point. When someone comes in looking to buy a gun and they don't know what kind of gun they want, what caliber, and are generally clueless - they're either buying a gun to kill themselves with, OR perhaps they are a very uneducated prospective customer - and there is no clear way of finding out which is which.
The problems presented by the AFSP are real. The solutions aren't there though. Yet. Ideally I'd like to see some change to that. However, there's some problems.
I hung around and asked the good doctor and her staff some questions and I am in no way denigrating her life's work and her dedication to preventing suicide since she has dedicated her life's work to the issue, but the conversation went something like this.
Did you do any research on the accessibility of firearms from a retailer from the legal standpoint?
"No, we haven't"
Do you know how the NICS or state POC background systems work in regard to mental health holds, etc?
"No"
One of the problems that I foresee right off the bat is that you talked about how you are fighting time, and if you can get someone out of that suicide mindset - even for a few hours, you can get them into that higher survival bracket. If we apply a one size fits all solution to it like California and put a 10 day wait on everything with the goal of protecting someone from their own life, how do we balance that with the needs of the woman who has been hiding from her abusive spouse and needs a gun right away?
"That's a good question that I don't have an answer for."
Their initiative, I admire - the lack of solutions is a little off putting however. I tell the doc about how my friend's suicide has impacted me and she seems to be sympathetic to the situation as does her colleagues. I am given her cards and told to call the next time I'm in New York so we can get together and discuss things within the industry. I'll give them a buzz in a few weeks when I'm up there on business. On my way out of the hall, I run into Massad Ayoob. Nice guy. I've admired his work over the years. Bart invites myself and chugbleach to dinner, I can't reach Chug and even though I am beat I decide to hang out with Bart and Mrs Bart
Bart: What do you want to eat?
FC: Let's find a nice seafood restaurant and eat some red salmon, I feel a powerful lust for red salmon.
I begin vomiting.
God damn mescaline. Why the fuck can't they make it a little less pure?
We eventually head downstairs and order too much food. We are tired and not very hungry. Bart is still hungover and barely able to process food. His wife is grazing on all sorts of meat products. I am in awe of how they are both still upright after six nonstop nights of partying. I've only been here one day and I feel like I am about to die.
Dinner concludes with an awkward hug with bart's wife - I don't know how other men feel about wife hugs so I have just avoided the prospect entirely. Like flying through Denver on Frontier. Or flying on Frontier. Ever.
I drive over to the Wynn to set up my markers and the poker room is full. I draw a $2500 marker at the craps table and watch the game a bit. I have never played craps before in my life but the three people there seem to be having fun.
I look down at my phone and I realize a plane has landed. fluffy_butternut has landed in Las Vegas on business. I had lost a bet and offered to pick him up from the airport. I cash back in my chips against my casino credit and head back to my car. I cannot find my car. Fuck. I wander the wynn garage which is covered in construction debris. I eventually find it and haul ass to the airport. Now, I didn't know this but fluffy has the WORST SENSE OF DIRECTION AT ALL. Seriously. I have no idea how he even made it to the correct city. He lands and has to get his bag and stuff and I circle the airport. He lets me know he's at door 77 wherever the fuck that was. I drive into the pickup portion and I see no sign. He then says he's coming up a level, and I tell him that I'll be there shortly. I park the car and Metro PD starts yelling.
Metro: You can't park your car here.
FC: Why not? Is this not a reasonable place to park?
Metro: Reasonable? You're on a sidewalk! This is the sidewalk!
I give the man a $20 and tell him to keep it running as I wander Mccarran screaming FLUFFY! HERE FLUFFY! I message fluffy to let him know I am the car parked on the sidewalk. I instantly figure out who he is having never seen a photo of him and I throw his bags into the car as we head for his hotel. I haul ass out of the airport and get the A3 on the highway.
Now this was a superior machine. Thirty nine grand worth of gimmicks and high-priced special effects. The rear windows lit up with a touch like frogs in a dynamite pond. The dashboard was full of esoteric lights and dials and meters that I would never understand.
We check in at the Rio where the desk clerk is friendly and flirty. I express amazement there is no line. Fluffy checks in and we take his bags upstairs and he offers to buy me food for driving him to the airport. I decline. We head to the bar anyways. He orders two beers and we decide to call chug. He's staying out in Summerlin or something because his company is apparently run by cheapskates. He asks if we want to hang out and shoot the shit. I say sure and ask if he wants us to pick up food or anything from CVS or something since I have the car and I'm able to do anything I want. He asks for some toothpaste. No problem. I may be an asshole on the internet but I have a heart of gold. We get some toothpaste get to the hotel.
Arriving at the lobby, we have no idea where he is. It turns out he gave us the address for the hotel across the street. We laugh and go to that lobby and shoot the shit till 3AM much to the chagrin of the hotel clerk. Fluffy has some beers and we plan on dinner the next day. I drive fluffy back and arrive at the hotel at 4. Fuck me to tears.
Wednesday, January 18th. Day 2 of SHOT show.
Alarm goes off at 7:30 AM. I wash up, eat and get breakfast. In the garage by 8:15. Nice. I get some dillo dust and check out the new Sig 220 DA/SA and SAO legions. Daddy likey. I go to a competing firm and I piss of my state sales manager by telling him his newer designed triggers suck ass. He says the company tested them and they're the same in every way. I ask him why the triggers have two different part numbers in the catalog and how come they're not interchangeable and if that's really the case, how come there's X changes in the supposedly identical pistol parts that he's holding side by side. He gets mad at me and says I'm not an expert on their product and perhaps I should take his job since I'm so smart. I agree that I'm smart and I hold firm that if he didn't want me to complain about the shitty trigger, they should stop selling guns with shitty triggers. I am nearly kicked out of the booth.
I meet up with some of my wholesale reps and I'm mid convo when I see Itsgoodsoup and his friend walking around the show. I yell SOUP but he does not hear me. So I grab his friend and find him and I tell him we should get together at dinner with fluffy and chug. He agrees.
The show winds down, I get some business done and nothing much else. We break for a shitty gunnit live lite and I take a few questions from the crowd in fluffy's suite at the Rio. Dinner is at 8 and we arrive at the restaurant late to find soup and his friend sitting at one table and chug and his girlfriend sitting at another. Perhaps we should have gotten here a little earlier. Hahaha. So, fluffy said the place is really good and I order a few of the specialties of the house. Apparently according to yelp they do a kickass peking duck. Soon to be mrs chug is a vegan. But we can eat meat in front of her. I wonder how it's served and Soup's vancouver raised asian friend tells me that they normally carve it tableside. Our vegan says as long as there's no head she's cool. We're not sure if they can fulfill that request. So we order and food starts coming out and we tell tall tales of shot show BS and other stuff. Sure enough, the duck comes out with the head. No bueno. Haha. But I decide to treat us to vegan donuts at the vegan bakery across the street later. Seven courses later we are full. Vegan bakery closed. I am committed to getting her some vegan donuts though. We head to Fremont street to gamble. Fluffy wanders about and we try craps and we're not impressed. We hit some slots and eventually I hit the craps table where chug explains the game to me. We start betting on dice. And somehow we start winning. I find that the house allows you to take 10X behind the line. No idea what this means so I plop $5 on the pass line and the point hits 6. I drop $50 behind it and it hits. We go a few rounds and leave ahead. It's 2:30 AM. Fuck. I drive everyone back to their hotel. I get to sleep around 4.
Thursday, January 19th. Day 3 of SHOT show.
Wake up at 10AM feeling like crap. Debate whether to head straight to show and wander about. Fuck it. Went to halal guys for some halal. Delicious. Got vegan donuts. Dead drop them at the Palazzo lobby for chug and his girl. Show is a bust. Literally nothing exciting. Fluffy offers to buy me dinner. One of my customers who lives in Summerlin offers to take me to dinner. I pass on fluffy and he destroys the seafood buffet at the rio. I head to Sinatra at the Wynn for dinner with my customer. All good in the hood. Chug has been invited to the Glock dinneafter party and I'm not so we all go our separate ways. I call foghorn5950 and due to some weather, he's flying home early and our plans to hangout are fucked up unless I go tonight. I grab fluffy and we head to Whiskey Down. He orders a makers and I give him a funny look. I tell the waitress make it a bulleit. Everyone laughs. I talk shop with Jeremy also from TTAG and we shoot the shit over cigars and talk about useless products. Next thing we know, chug is out of the dinner and wandering the strip. We decide to meet up at the Linq. It takes us nearly 30 minutes to get out of Whiskey Down at MGM because the waitress was awful and messed up everyone's tab. It was a fucking disaster. To boot, MGM is now charging for parking.
FC: What a bunch of fucking jews
Fluff: You should just tailgate that lady in front of you out and screw them out of the $7
FC: I should
We pull behind her and watch as she gets flustered at the awful parking machine. Her nevada license plate says VETERAN. As the gate goes up we haul ass and screw MGM out of $7. I shout "THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE" out the window as we blow right by her up to the Linq. Through fluffy's awful navigation, we wind up at the loading dock for the Linq. Eventually we find chug and gf hanging at the penny slots. They are holding vegan donuts, which she is very appreciative of. Least I could do after showing her the head. Fluffy plays the House of Cards slot machine.
He stuck $100 in, played for 6 minutes and then got really mad and hit the cash out button and $80 was left after 5 minutes.
ITS EXACTLY LIKE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT!
Chug's gf asks to play a special slot machine called kitty glitter. We ask and the linq does not offer it but Harrahs next door does. So we head over there and the slot tech finds the kitty glitter machine. Fluffy sticks a C note in there and tells her to play and have a blast. So she's banging away at the one armed bandit WHEN SUDDENLY I HEAR THE SOUND.
It's PUTTIN ON THE RITZ in shitty .wav file internal speaker format. Hahah. She's just hit the progressive jackpot on the penny KITTY GLITTER machine. THIS PLACE IS AWESOME! We cash out after some play and a good time was had by all. I dump off fluffy at the rio since it was very close and drive everyone else back. It's late, I'm tired and the Palace Station oyster bar is open 24 hours......I head over there and there's a 45 minute wait.
So, I pull out my backup bankroll and using everything chug and fluffy have taught me about craps I belly up to the $3 min table where they let you take 10x behind the line. I'm still learning and the table is slow so one of the boxmen start explaining the game to me.
Box: So if you place the 6 or the 9 or individual numbers you can bet those but you gotta pay a little juice on it like a commission
Me: Like when you buy the hook?
short pause
Box: Yeah! Exactly like that! You got this!
So I played a little and went up a bit and down a bit. As you do. Plunked $5 down on the pass line and took full odds and the point hit. This game is pretty cool! So I hung around and watched for about an hour and finally decided to eat my winnings. I take $5 off my stack and, drop it on the pass line and announce dealer bet - $5 to pass. It hits. The dealers love me.
Maybe Vegas isn't so bad after all.
http://imgur.com/a/LGhDj
I have the pan roast at the oyster bar. No line. It is DELICIOUS. I get back to the hotel at 5AM. I don't care when I wake up.
Friday, January 20th. Day 4 of SHOT show.
Wake up around noon feeling like crap. Go to show. Debate destroying milk cart with wheels with an ax borrowed from fire station. Decide against it. Gas up car and find myself out by palace station again. Played some craps, hit the buffet and went for an early sleep.
It's midnight. The neighbors in my the hotel are having sex. A LOT OF SEX. I can hear everything. I gently knock on the door. No answer. I knock slightly harder. No answer. I head back to my room and close the door just as I hear their door open. I zoom back out to find a puzzled middle aged stocky and perhaps sticky Latino man looking both ways.
I get in his line of sight.
Me: Hey. I'm next door. It sounds like you're having a lot of fun. I get it. I really do. In fact I haven't had sex since the bush administration so I'm gunning for you man I really am. But it's midnight and I have a 6am flight and a rental car to return. So trust me when I say I'm really happy for you but if you don't mind I really need to get some sleep tonight okay?
The awkward silence is deafening. He nods without saying a word and mouths okay. I give him a manly nod and thumbs up.
Me: thanks. I'd shake your hand or fist bump but well you know.....
I give him a peace sign as he goes back into his little pleasure palace and I turn to realize that I have just locked myself out of my room. I am wearing boxers, a tshirt and barefoot. I head downstairs to the lobby. The check in at the front desk resembles the TSA line at Mccarran. Normally I would not be this rude but desperate times call for desperate measures.
The line is 50 people deep. I walk past every person. Fuck your queue. I approach the desk where someone is helping a guest and I raise my right hand as if I were in a deposition to get them to stop. The staff and guest looks puzzled as the angry barefoot man clad in nothing but boxers and a "uzi does it" tshirt approaches the desk.
Me: excuse me. I don't mean to interrupt. I have an emergency. I'm up on 8 and my neighbors are having a lot of sex. I mean a LOT of sex.
(This is the same front desk clerk who actually checked me in Monday night by coincidence looks back at me very awkwardly and puzzled.)
Me: this isn't your regular sex. I'm talking this is your (I begin air humping the front desk and slapping the granite counter with my palm and grunting loudly) sex. You could hear the plan B packaging open.
At this point - the ENTIRE FRONT DESK STAFF HAS STOPPED CHECKING IN GUESTS. The people in line and are watching the show. The clerk is stunned. Speechless. Shock and awed. Crapped out and busted. The women are covering their children's eyes and ears. The men are wondering if this show requires a 2 drink minimum.
Me: now I get this is Vegas. Everyone wants a good time. It's midnight. My flight leaves at 6 which means I have to be up by 4. And this just isn't working. So I asked them to keep it down and I locked myself out of my room. So if you can make me another key or move me I'd appreciate it.
The clerk nods.
Clerk: of course. may I see your ID?
Years of ballet have prepared me for this day. I step back to make sure my genitals are still ensconced in my boxers as I pirouette and gesticulate wildly.
Me: DO I LOOK LIKE I HAVE ID?
The floor manager steps over and asks me to head down to the end of the desk where she will make me a key. I give her the room number and thank her after she offers to have security sent up to shutdown the best little whorehouse in Vegas. I tell her it may not be necessary. As I take my keys and walk away the people in line break out in raucous applause.
I take a bow and miraculously my boxer shorts don't rip. These people are my subjects and I have been crowned the the king of the three ring circus that is the circus circus lobby. Im offered a $1 tip from a kind soul but I decline.
My walk back to the hotel elevator bank is uneventful. So much so that I realize it is going too well. The other shoe, if I were wearing one felt as if it was about to drop. Suddenly a dumbass in a rascal scooter is heading toward me at flank speed as his head is turned to look at everyone BEHIND HIM. There's no way this will end well.
For you gentle readers joining us mid conversation - it's midnight and I need to be at the airport in 4.5 hours. I can just see it now. (Cue the harp noises)
Scene: Emergency room
Nurse: Allergic to anything? Me: NKDA Nurse: cause of injury? Me: what's the IC10 code for "run down by drunken buffoon on motorized wheelchair?"
I saw my life and confirmed upgraded first class seats home being given away by the Mccarran gate agent flash before my eyes and my catlike reflexes kicked in and I jumped to my left into the wall, mid 1960's Las Vegas union construction being the path of least resistance. Think "The Bodyguard" with Kevin Costner.
The buffoon barely realizes what happens. Children are amazed. "HEY MOM! Look! That guy just ran into a wall!"
Me: it was that OR GET RUN DOWN BY SOME JACKASS ON A GODDAMN SCOOTER GOING FULL SPEED DRIVING LIKE A....
I look down and a midwestern nuclear family with two children of formative age are waiting for the elevator. I change my last word.
Me: LUNATIC!
I look over to the parents.
Me: I'm really sorry. This is a family joint and I shouldn't have cursed the drunken scooter driver like that. Sorry kids.
Parent: no big deal. They've heard fucking worse.
I crack a smile at her word choice. Fucking worse. Yeah. That sounds like my evening.
After jumping into a wall, I'm now wide awake and unable to go back to sleep. I make the plane and push on time. The 737 comes to a stop short of the runway and holds. Something is wrong. The pilots come on and say that they loaded more cargo and passengers than planned so they have to redo their numbers. We're waiting on the taxiway with both engines running as they do this and the waiting music comes on. What's the first song?
Whitney Houston - "I Will Always Love You"

The Stadium: What we know so far and how to voice your opinion.

[HOUSING] Still looking for a place to live January 1 - Employed in the Music Business

Music / Entertainment Pro - Need Housing starting January 1 or Earlier (Westside Los Angeles, Pasadena, Beverly Hills)
I am a Music industry professional behind the scenes. I work from home in a legitimate full time music job (publishing and licensing), so I can live anywhere that has a reliable high speed internet connection. I am very knowledgeable about certain aspects of the music, film, television and commercial industries, music placement and licensing.
I collect many films and television series on Blu Ray, 4K Blu Ray, 3D Blu Ray and DVD. Maybe a thousand or so thus far. I actually keep a complete list of them which I can send upon request.
If you love music, as far as I know, I have literally every hit record and classic album track ever, digital downloads, CD's, some vinyl. Many thousand titles of those, the iTunes library alone is nearly 30,000 tracks right now, and none of them are streaming. They’re all physically owned downloads, most of those which are not out of print are from Apple’s iTunes store. I am also interested in DJing and Broadcasting.
If you are an individual or couple in the industry, I could be of use to you creatively and behind the scenes. Or if you are also someone who enjoys music and films that's also a possible positive connection. I am a caucasian male in my early 60's, of at best average health. I have lived in the same place for nearly ten years and need to move by January 1st. Rate of pay is a little over $15 an hour currently, so it really isn't enough for another place of the type I'm in now, rent will be significantly rising in January.
Write for more information.
* My entire interview ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am looking for . . . a new place to move in with roommate(s) already there AND/OR someone to find a new place together
I do live/would like to live in or near: Los Angeles, California
Maximum rent I can pay? 1400-1499
Length of stay preferred? I'd prefer long-term, hopefully a year or more.
Am I currently near where I'd like to live? yes
* My ADDITIONAL MATCHING RESTRICTIONS
I am: One man
I would prefer my roommate(s) be: Any gender is a good gender.
My sexual orientation(s)? Heterosexual
I would prefer my roommate(s) be: I am universally tolerant.
How old am I, in calendar years? over 50
I would prefer my roommate(s) be: Age is nothing but a number.
Pets? I have no pets, but could probably live with yours.
Tobacco smoking? I do NOT smoke; I COULD tolerate an indoor smoker.
* How do I keep HOUSE?
How often do I do my dishes? Not right away, but before the following day.
How long does my takeout stay in the fridge? I remove anything that offends within 72 hours or so.
Recycling? If it's easy I'll do it, but not if it's a big fuss.
Personal items left in common areas shall be . . . Placed in the owner's bedroom after 48 hours
Common area household cleaning? Cleaning of common areas can be divided if needed.
* How do I keep COMPANY?
Where am I social? One or two friends occasionally, but I'll carouse elsewhere
Household noise? If it's not really loud in my room, it's not a problem.
How often should 'significant others' stay the night? It's cool, but they should be at THEIR house more than ours.
Roommate's potential promiscuity / 'one night stands'? Occasionally might be fine. Frequently may annoy.
My attitude toward out-of-town friends staying over? Overnighters are OK, if agreements are made in advance.
Family members stopping by? They may put in an appearance once or twice a year.
* How do I keep MY END?
My attitude toward money? All of my accounts are always paid on time, in full.
What household consumables would I like to share? Food and drinks separate, then share other household stuff
Personal security issues? Let's touch base every 48 hours, no worries before then.
Home furnishings? I doubt I'd ever damage anything. If I did, I'd pay for it.
Borrowing stuff? Borrowing some things sometimes, if agreed to in advance.
* How do I keep MYSELF?
Household clothing preferences? I will observe public decency laws indoors as well as out.
Consumption of alcohol and/or recreational drugs? I'm straight edge/clean and sober; what you do is up to you.
Dietary habits? I have an occasional craving for red meat.
Personal grooming habits? I'm clean and hygienic, but not compulsive about it.
* How do I keep BUSY?
TV? I tune in for a few more shows than I'd care to admit.
Educational level? I hung out in college for awhile.
Criminal activity? I'm completely law-abiding, and proud of it!
Personal cosmologies? I steer clear of any and all religions.
What do I usually wear on weekdays? Business casual
Political outlook? left-wing - liberal - social progressive
* My FREETEXT Q and A section:
(Q: Why are you looking for a roommate now?) Rent is significantly rising in a few weeks to a rate that is far and above current rate
(Q: What do you like to do in your free time?) I collect music and films. I have probably every hit record ever and roughly a thousand films and television shows -I'm kind of an expert on all of that-plus a 4K TV, 4K Blu Ray player, computers, iPads, iPhone, etc
(Q: What do you do for a living?) I work in music licensing and publishing as an artist liaison online. It's a full time legitimate job that pays decently and one in which I set my own hours. Consequently, I sometimes work very late, very early or all night. It's not something that requires loud volumes
(Q: Are you extra sensitive to anything?) Not that I know of physically
(Q: Anything NOT in the questionnaire, but important about you?) My health isn't the greatest. I am still self sufficient
(Q: Did you have a conflict with a previous roommate?) No I haven't had a roommate for years
(Q: What might be your ideal roommate situation?) Somebody understanding who realizes this is not unlike a job. There is no such thing as a perfect fit and even the most ideal situation requires adjustment, compromise mutual respect, and mutual effort
I'm also on Instagram and Twitter, and not active on either. I get a lot of negative feedback. This is why:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zR1rBjtwHI&t=5s
All of that is true. If you read my comments beneath, and there are many of them, you'll see that I've answered all the inconsistencies and reasonable objections anyone brought up. It is extremely frustrating not to get real traction on this part of the story being reported, and it seems to be a deliberate decision possibly made by people in power at various institutions that have an interest in not divulging these details – MGM Resorts and other casinos, for certain, which in turn have a large degree of influence over the FBI and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, as well as media outlets, especially the Las Vegas Review Journal which is owned by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.
PLEASE NOTE - There are now other stories that confirm other angles of this story related to my experience that are not being disclosed by MGM Resorts - This includes MGM gifting security guard Jesus Campos with Real Estate to sign an NDA and not talk about the events, including that management knew there was a huge quantity of guns in the room but chose to ignore them because of Stephen Paddock's High Roller Status. See:
http://baltimorepostexaminer.com/exclusive-mgm-resorts-international-buys-mandalay-bay-security-officer-jesus-campos-silence-with-all-expenses-paid-trips-condos-in-exchange-for-nda/2018/12/09
Here is an example of a really fantastic artist I work with that I really don't understand why hasn't secured a real record label deal yet:
https://www.audiosparx.com/LaurenAnderson
I added to the track descriptions, which was fun to do with an artist with this level of talent. So I'm pretty knowledgeable about music and very capable of writing compellingly and creatively.
Another, and this one really blows my mind. She has it all:
https://www.audiosparx.com/AbbeyScott
There's this, very diverse cast, speaking of different types of people, and this is the third time she's made slight changes to the video to give it more of an urban pop vibe. It was always great, even in pure pop form, she seems to be determined to make it a hit no matter what:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLhLSiguLKc
And there's this. Young composers conducting their own music for a full 50 piece symphony orchestra at Abbey Road studios have to be extremely rare. Felix Carcone is an immensely talented composer and musician with the potential to be really great:
https://www.audiosparx.com/felixcarcone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWxBbSiKS9c

Looking for a place to live (share) in the Los Angeles area January 1

(also open to Bay Area)

I'm Rodney, and you can see my Roomie Match compatibility profile below. Besides the compatibility assessment attached below, I’ve included a great deal more information about myself after the assessment and interview. This includes an ad of my own with more details I ran on Craigslist and even more below that about me and who I am, including various links of projects I’m involved in to varying degrees.
You can reply to this email to get in touch with me. I hope to hear from you soon.
Here's a summary of the compatibility areas they assessed:
I am: One man
I would prefer my roommate(s) be: Any gender is a good gender.
My sexual orientation(s)? Heterosexual
I would prefer my roommate(s) be: I am universally tolerant.
How old am I, in calendar years? over 50
I would prefer my roommate(s) be: Age is nothing but a number.
Pets? I have no pets, but could probably live with yours.
Tobacco smoking? I do NOT smoke; I COULD tolerate an indoor smoker.
* How do I keep HOUSE?
How often do I do my dishes? Not right away, but before the following day.
How long does my takeout stay in the fridge? I remove anything that offends within 72 hours or so.
Recycling? If it's easy I'll do it, but not if it's a big fuss.
Personal items left in common areas shall be . . . Placed in the owner's bedroom after 48 hours
Common area household cleaning? Cleaning of common areas can be divided if needed.
* How do I keep COMPANY?
Where am I social? One or two friends occasionally, but I'll carouse elsewhere
Household noise? If it's not really loud in my room, it's not a problem.
How often should 'significant others' stay the night? It's cool, but they should be at THEIR house more than ours.
Roommate's potential promiscuity / 'one night stands'? Occasionally might be fine. Frequently may annoy.
My attitude toward out-of-town friends staying over? Overnighters are OK, if agreements are made in advance.
Family members stopping by? They may put in an appearance once or twice a year.
* How do I keep MY END?
My attitude toward money? All of my accounts are always paid on time, in full.
What household consumables would I like to share? Food and drinks separate, then share other household stuff
Personal security issues? Let's touch base every 48 hours, no worries before then.
Home furnishings? I doubt I'd ever damage anything. If I did, I'd pay for it.
Borrowing stuff? Borrowing some things sometimes, if agreed to in advance.
* How do I keep MYSELF?
Household clothing preferences? I will observe public decency laws indoors as well as out.
Consumption of alcohol and/or recreational drugs? I'm straight edge/clean and sober; what you do is up to you.
Dietary habits? I have an occasional craving for red meat.
Personal grooming habits? I'm clean and hygienic, but not compulsive about it.
* How do I keep BUSY?
TV? I tune in for a few more shows than I'd care to admit.
Educational level? I hung out in college for awhile.
Criminal activity? I'm completely law-abiding, and proud of it!
Personal cosmologies? I steer clear of any and all religions.
What do I usually wear on weekdays? Business casual
Political outlook? left-wing - liberal - social progressive
* My FREETEXT Q and A section:
(Q: Why are you looking for a roommate now?) Rent is significantly rising in a few weeks to a rate that is far and above current rate
(Q: What do you like to do in your free time?) I collect music and films. I have probably every hit record ever and roughly a thousand films and television shows -I'm kind of an expert on all of that-plus a 4K TV, 4K Blu Ray player, computers, iPads, iPhone, etc
(Q: What do you do for a living?) I work in music licensing and publishing as an artist liaison online. It's a full time legitimate job that pays decently and one in which I set my own hours. Consequently, I sometimes work very late, very early or all night. It's not something that requires loud volumes
(Q: Are you extra sensitive to anything?) Not that I know of physically
(Q: Anything NOT in the questionnaire, but important about you?) My health isn't the greatest. I am still self sufficient
(Q: Did you have a conflict with a previous roommate?) No I haven't had a roommate for years
(Q: What might be your ideal roommate situation?) Somebody understanding who realizes this is not unlike a job. There is no such thing as a perfect fit and even the most ideal situation requires adjustment, compromise mutual respect, and mutual effort
Music / Entertainment Pro - Need Housing starting January 1 or Earlier (Westside Los Angeles, Pasadena, Beverly Hills)
I am a Music industry professional behind the scenes. I work from home in a legitimate full time music job (publishing and licensing), so I can live anywhere that has a reliable high speed internet connection. I am very knowledgeable about certain aspects of the music, film, television and commercial industries, music placement and licensing.
I collect many films and television series on Blu Ray, 4K Blu Ray, 3D Blu Ray and DVD. Maybe a thousand or so thus far. I actually keep a complete list of them which I can send upon request.
If you love music, as far as I know, I have literally every hit record and classic album track ever, digital downloads, CD's, some vinyl. Many thousand titles of those, the iTunes library alone is nearly 30,000 tracks right now, and none of them are streaming. They’re all physically owned downloads, most of those which are not out of print are from Apple’s iTunes store. I am also interested in DJing and Broadcasting.
If you are an individual or couple in the industry, I could be of use to you creatively and behind the scenes. Or if you are also someone who enjoys music and films that's also a possible positive connection. I am a caucasian male in my early 60's, of at best average health. I have lived in the same place for nearly ten years and need to move by January 1st. Rate of pay is a little over $15 an hour currently, so it really isn't enough for another place of the type I'm in now, rent will be significantly rising in January.
Write for more information.
I'm also on Instagram and Twitter, and not active on either. I get a lot of negative feedback. This is why:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zR1rBjtwHI&t=5s
All of that is true. If you read my comments beneath, and there are many of them, you'll see that I've answered all the inconsistencies and reasonable objections anyone brought up. It is extremely frustrating not to get real traction on this part of the story being reported, and it seems to be a deliberate decision possibly made by people in power at various institutions that have an interest in not divulging these details – MGM Resorts and other casinos, for certain, which in turn have a large degree of influence over the FBI and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, as well as media outlets, especially the Las Vegas Review Journal which is owned by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.
Those efforts are ongoing, as is my writing about them.
Here is an example of a really fantastic artist I work with that I really don't understand why hasn't secured a real record label deal yet:
https://www.audiosparx.com/LaurenAnderson
I added to the track descriptions, which was fun to do with an artist with this level of talent. So I'm pretty knowledgeable about music and very capable of writing compellingly and creatively.
Another, and this one really blows my mind. She has it all:
https://www.audiosparx.com/AbbeyScott
There's this, very diverse cast, speaking of different types of people, and this is the third time she's made slight changes to the video to give it more of an urban pop vibe. It was always great, even in pure pop form, she seems to be determined to make it a hit no matter what:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLhLSiguLKc
And there's this. Young composers conducting their own music for a full 50 piece symphony orchestra at Abbey Road studios have to be extremely rare. Felix Carcone is an immensely talented composer and musician with the potential to be really great:
https://www.audiosparx.com/felixcarcone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWxBbSiKS9c

r/StockMarket Daily Discussion - Wednesday, Oct. 31st, 2018 [Happy Halloween!]

Good morning traders of the StockMarket sub! Welcome to Wednesday! Happy Halloween! Here are your pre-market stock movers & news this AM-

(CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL SOURCE!)

Frontrunning: October 31st

Indonesia's military chief believes the fuselage of the crashed Lion Air plane has been found. The aircraft carrying 189 people, including crew, from Jakarta crashed into the sea off the island of Java on Monday, shortly after take-off. (Reuters)
One of the Alphabet (GOOGL) executives accused of sexual misconduct in a bombshell New York Times' report resigned on Tuesday. Richard DeVaul, a director at Alphabet's research lab X, left without an exit package, CNBC confirmed. Axios first reported the news.
Robert Mueller, special counsel investigating Russia influence on the 2016 election, has referred to the FBI allegations that women were "offered money" to make "false claims" about him. A conservative commentator tweeted about revealing a "victim" tomorrow. (CNBC)
Kanye West said he's "distancing" himself from politics. The controversial rapper, who has become one of Trump's highest-profile celebrity supporters, tweeted: "My eyes are now wide open and now realize I've been used to spread messages I don't believe in." (USA Today)
American automaker Ford (F) and Chinese internet giant Baidu (BIDU) announced a tie-up today that will see the two firms jointly test self-driving vehicles in China for two years. Autonomous vehicles developed by the two will not require intervention from a human driver. (CNBC)
CVS (CVS) is piloting a membership program called CarePass, which includes free delivery on most prescriptions and online purchases, among other perks. At $48 annually or $5 monthly, the program is less than half the price of an Amazon (AMZN) Prime membership. (CNBC)
Bitcoin celebrates its 10th birthday today. The world's first cryptocurrency spawned a multitude of others, brought blockchain technology to global attention, and vexed regulators worried about its misuse. Bitcoin prices have fluctuated wildly. (Reuters)

STOCK FUTURES NOW:

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YESTERDAY'S MARKET HEAT MAP:

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TODAY'S MARKET HEAT MAP:

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YESTERDAY'S S&P SECTORS:

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TODAY'S S&P SECTORS:

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TODAY'S ECONOMIC CALENDAR:

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THIS WEEK'S ECONOMIC CALENDAR:

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THIS WEEK'S UPCOMING IPO'S:

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THIS WEEK'S EARNINGS CALENDAR:

($FB $AAPL $BABA $GE $IQ $MA $BIDU $EBAY $CHK $XOM $EA $TEVA $GM $UAA $TNDM $BP $SPOT $ON $FDC $ADP $CVX $KO $AMRN$SBUX $X $ABBV $PFE $FIT $PAYC $YNDX $OLED $ABMD $WTW $ANET $WLL $LL $FEYE $DDD $RIG $SNE $KEM $NWL $STX $BAH $FTNT)

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THIS MORNING'S PRE-MARKET EARNINGS CALENDAR:

($GM $ADP $S $GNC $ANTM $YUM $EL $TAP $EPD $GRMN $ICPT $CVE $CLX $HES $K $HFC $CRTO $ICE $AIT $BAX $ARQL $BG $CAMT $DBD$IGT $TEL $WEX $CG $APO $APTV $BCOR $SNY $LFUS $HSC $IART $DIN $CIM $ACOR $SAIA $MAXR $OMI $SC)

(CLICK HERE FOR THIS MORNING'S EARNINGS CALENDAR!)

THIS AFTERNOON'S POST-MARKET EARNINGS CALENDAR:

($FIT $NXPI $XPO $ZNGA $WTI $AIG $APA $ESRX $BDLP $NLY $CF $AXTI $ALL $SOI $QRVO $MIC $MOH $SSNC $WPX $SU $WMB $STAA $NE $CRY $NFX $FRAC $PRAH $PEIX $AWK $CACI $MTDR $FISV $HGV $O $OTEX $RGLD $WHD $TYL $TPVG $TUSK $OMF $CDE)

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EARNINGS RELEASES BEFORE THE OPEN TODAY:

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EARNINGS RELEASES AFTER THE CLOSE TODAY:

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THIS MORNING'S ANALYST UPGRADES/DOWNGRADES:

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THIS MORNING'S INSIDER TRADING FILINGS:

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TODAY'S DIVIDEND CALENDAR:

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THIS MORNING'S MOST ACTIVE TRENDING DISCUSSIONS:

FB
IQ
GM
ACAD
FEYE
S
DXR
YUM
CLVS
ICPT
TMUS
EBAY
GRMN
ESRX
HES
BAX
K
SPR
ANTM
WEC
ICE
SAIA
EL
EA
DIA
NTLA
BG
ACB
NVDA
IGT

THIS MORNING'S STOCK NEWS MOVERS:

(source: cnbc.com)

General Motors – The automaker reported adjusted quarterly profit of $1.87 per share, well above the consensus estimate of $1.25 a share. Revenue also beat forecasts, and GM expects to hit the top end of its projected earnings outlook for the full year. GM's results were helped by higher prices in North America.

STOCK SYMBOL: GM

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Anthem – The health insurer earned an adjusted $3.81 per share for the third quarter, 11 cents a share above estimates. Revenue also cam in above forecasts and Anthem increased its full-year forecast amid a rise in medical enrollment and favorable medical cost trends.

STOCK SYMBOL: ANTM

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Clorox – The household products maker earned $1.62 per share for its latest quarter, 4 cents a share above estimates. Revenue also topped forecasts, however Clorox lowered its full-year outlook, citing cost pressures and unfavorable currency trends.

STOCK SYMBOL: CLX

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Estee Lauder – Estee Lauder beat estimates by 19 cents a share, with quarterly profit of $1.41 per share. Revenue also came in above Street projections. The cosmetics maker saw stronger demand for its luxury skincare products, and also raised its quarterly dividend to 43 cents per share from 38 cents.

STOCK SYMBOL: EL

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Garmin – The maker of GPS products earned an adjusted $1 per share for its latest quarter, beating the 76 cents a share consensus estimate. Revenue also beat expectations and Garmin raised its full-year earnings forecast amid sales growth across all its product segments.

STOCK SYMBOL: GRMN

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Yum Brands – The parent of KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut beat estimates by 21 cents a share, with adjusted quarterly profit of $1.04 per share. Revenue also came in above estimates. Pizza Hut sales fell, but KFC and Taco Bell saw better-than-expected same-store sales growth.

STOCK SYMBOL: YUM

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Facebook – Facebook reported quarterly profit of $1.76 per share, beating consensus estimates by 29 cents a share. Revenue came in slightly below forecasts, as did its user growth, but Facebook also showed better-than-expected expense control in its latest quarterly numbers.

STOCK SYMBOL: FB

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Electronic Arts – Electronic Arts earned 83 cents per share for its fiscal second quarter, well above the consensus estimate of 58 cents per share. The video game publisher's revenue also came in above forecasts, however the shares are being pressured by weaker-than-expected guidance for net bookings — a metric combining physical and digital sales.

STOCK SYMBOL: EA

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T-Mobile US – T-Mobile beat estimates by 8 cents a share, with quarterly profit of 93 cents per share. The mobile service provider's revenue also came in above forecasts. T-Mobile's results were driven by the addition of 774,000 postpaid phone customers during the quarter.

STOCK SYMBOL: TMUS

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Amgen – Amgen reported adjusted quarterly earnings of $3.69 per share, 24 cents a share above Street forecasts. The biotech firm saw revenue beat estimates as well, and it also raised its full-year guidance. However, Amgen is also seeing lower-than-expected sales of drugs like cholesterol treatment Repatha because of price concessions.

STOCK SYMBOL: AMGN

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MGM Resorts – MGM came in 5 cents a share ahead of estimates, with adjusted quarterly profit of 24 cents per share. Revenue also came in above forecasts and the casino operator saw better-than-expected revenue in Las Vegas, but its China revenue did not meet forecasts.

STOCK SYMBOL: MGM

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Yum China – Yum China reported quarterly earnings of 51 cents per share, 6 cents a share above estimates. The restaurant operator's revenue missed forecasts, however, as comparable-store sales fell by one percent compared to a year earlier. Yum China also announced a 2 cent a share dividend increase to 12 cents per share, and also increased its stock buyback plan.

STOCK SYMBOL: YUMC

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Cheesecake Factory – Cheesecake Factory beat estimates by 4 cents a share, reporting adjusted quarterly profit of 62 cents per share. The restaurant chain's revenue came in below Street forecasts, however, as comparable-restaurant sales increased by a lower than expected 1.5 percent.

STOCK SYMBOL: CAKE

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EBay – EBay reported adjusted quarterly profit of 56 cents per share, 2 cents a share above estimates. The online marketplace operator's revenue was in line with forecasts. EBay saw a 5 percent increase in gross merchandise volume, and a 7 percent revenue jump at its StubHub ticket selling unit.

STOCK SYMBOL: EBAY

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FireEye – FireEye earned an adjusted 6 cents per share for its latest quarter, tripling the consensus estimate of 2 cents a share. The cybersecurity company reported better-than-expected revenue as well, as it signed up more subscribers.

STOCK SYMBOL: FEYE

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Baidu – Baidu issued a lower-than-expected sales forecast for the remainder of the year, with the China-based search engine operator citing uncertainty over the economy, trade issues, and tougher regulations.

STOCK SYMBOL: BIDU

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Arconic – Arconic is in advanced talks to be bought by private-equity firm Apollo Global, according to sources quoted by Reuters. The reported price for the aluminum products maker would be more than $11 billion.

STOCK SYMBOL: ARNC

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FULL DISCLOSURE:

bigbear0083 has no positions in any stocks mentioned. Reddit, moderators, and the author do not advise making investment decisions based on discussion in these posts. Analysis is not subject to validation and users take action at their own risk. bigbear0083 is an admin at the financial forums Stockaholics.net where this content was originally posted.

DISCUSS!

What is on everyone's radar for today's trading day ahead here at StockMarket?

I hope you all have an excellent trading day ahead today on this Wednesday, October 31st, 2018! :)

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[HOUSING] Searching for a place in Los Angeles or Bay Area for January 1

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Trip Report- Dirt Cheap Vegas Trip with Hooters Review and Naps!

SHOT 2017/My tales of adventure in Las Vegas

The Stadium: What we know so far and how to voice your opinion.

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r/StockMarket Daily Discussion - Wednesday, Oct. 31st, 2018 [Happy Halloween!]

Good morning traders of the StockMarket sub! Welcome to Wednesday! Happy Halloween! Here are your pre-market stock movers & news this AM-

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Frontrunning: October 31st

STOCK FUTURES NOW:

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YESTERDAY'S MARKET HEAT MAP:

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TODAY'S MARKET HEAT MAP:

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YESTERDAY'S S&P SECTORS:

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TODAY'S S&P SECTORS:

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TODAY'S ECONOMIC CALENDAR:

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THIS WEEK'S ECONOMIC CALENDAR:

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THIS WEEK'S UPCOMING IPO'S:

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THIS WEEK'S EARNINGS CALENDAR:

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THIS MORNING'S PRE-MARKET EARNINGS CALENDAR:

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THIS AFTERNOON'S POST-MARKET EARNINGS CALENDAR:

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EARNINGS RELEASES BEFORE THE OPEN TODAY:

(CLICK HERE FOR THIS MORNING'S EARNINGS RELEASES LINK #1!)

(CLICK HERE FOR THIS MORNING'S EARNINGS RELEASES LINK #2!)

(CLICK HERE FOR THIS MORNING'S EARNINGS RELEASES LINK #3!)

EARNINGS RELEASES AFTER THE CLOSE TODAY:

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THIS MORNING'S ANALYST UPGRADES/DOWNGRADES:

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THIS MORNING'S INSIDER TRADING FILINGS:

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TODAY'S DIVIDEND CALENDAR:

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THIS MORNING'S MOST ACTIVE TRENDING DISCUSSIONS:

THIS MORNING'S STOCK NEWS MOVERS:

(source: cnbc.com)