Health Care in Vegas

I just got back from doing an event in the fabulous town of Las Vegas. The event was a a presidential forum on health care. Both parties where invited, but only the 7 Democratic front runners accepted the invitation.
It may not sound exciting, but if you think that one of those 7 people is going to be the next US president it actually was. One thing about it that was really cool is that I hired my of one old college buddies (from Junior college mind you) to be my head electrician. Below is a picture of Vince hard at it.



The event was televised, and web cast so it was mainly about TV style lighting. I've become much better at it, but I still need to develop in that area. considering I've had no training other than trial and error I think I'm doing pretty good. The venue was the Cox Pavilion adjacent to The Thomas, and Mack Arena on the UNLV campus. Below is the rig starting to come together.


We had a really tight load in as there was only one day for install, focus, and rehearsal. The morning went well. I'd flown in the day before, so I was well rested, and ready for what ever might pop up. We used union labor for most of our installers. That's IATSE Local 720, but the venue provided the riggers, and they where not very good, and as such the install didn't go as rapidly as I'd have liked. Actually all the departments, lighting, video, audio, and scenic where behind so at least I wasn't holding anyone else up. Below the rig is finally up off the ground.


We ended our day at 11:30pm which was at least an hour, and a half later than hoped, and I hadn't really accomplished much as far as programming goes, but the rig was up, focused, and ready for the show. Below is what it looked like when it was too late to think anymore.



I got to the venue extra early, like 7am, to finish up some programming, because I just wasn't satisfied with where I had left it, and the press was being let in at 8:30am. I had noticed a small dark spot downstage center, and there wasn't anything I could do about it, as the light hitting that area was directly over a seating area that had already been occupied by some early press arrivals. I told myself it would be fine, but I should have forced the point, and made them move to get the scissor lift out as Hillary Clinton decided to park herself squarely in that dark spot. Lesson learned.


John Edwards, there where more people taking pictures of his wife than him.

















Obama





























Hillary













I have more pictures, but they all start to look the same, just different candidates. It was an interesting event to be apart of. There was definitely an air of excitement from everyone involved. I like doing gigs like this. Thye have much more meaning than just making a party look good. Later that evening instead of partying it up with my old college chum, I'm old, I crashed out in my hotel room, and I watched the event on the local news. It looked pretty damn good I thought.

Rumble Fish

I don't like fish. I don't know why really. Perhaps it was the fish sticks growing up.
I keep trying it, and I keep not liking it. I think it's the "fishy" taste. So why the hell do I like sushi so much? I know that doesn't make any sense at all. It's true though. And when the sushi is good it's really good. In other cuisines the difference between good, and OK can be subtle. Good Italian is fabulous, but so-so Italian is not bad. It's so not that way with sushi. Anything other than really good sushi is awful, and when it's good. It's really really good.

This little sushi joint opened up near my house, awhile ago. I walked by it for months, without going in. It had been a sushi restaurant before, but it changed hands, and was renovated. It looked modern, and fancy inside, and I thought it didn't fit in the outer Richmond sleepy neighborhood so I didn't really pay it any mind. There are many good sushi places out here. I don't know why there is such a concentration of good sushi joints. People come from all over the bay area to eat in this neighborhood. I don't know where they park when they come here, but come they do. I don't remember what motivated me to first go in, but I thought it was pretty decent the first time around. I've now been back several times, and each time I walk away thinking "I can't believe I live this close to great sushi" This place could bankrupt me.

What is it that makes a great sushi joint. Simply put: fish. You can make a place look great with fancy art work, and pretty decor. You can make a place stand out with themed settings, and sassy waitresses, but in the end if the fish isn't fresh the place isn't any good. So When I say Rumble Fish is a great sushi joint it's because first off the fish is fresh. The first couple of time I went there I wondered how could this little neighborhood joint get access to such fresh fish. In case one didn't know there is a whole world of politics when it comes to getting access to the highest level of fish. You see fish is graded when it comes off the boat. There actually a group of people that touch and smell every fish, and give them a rating. The higher the rating the more expensive, but there usually aren't very many in the highest level. So who gets to buy those highest rated fish? That's where the politics come in. If I wanted to open a sushi restaurant, and I went to the fish market not know anybody I'd be lucky to buy fish that was worthy of BBQ. So how was it that this start up no name restaurant was serving delicious fresh fish? Last week when I was at Rumble Fish I met a lady that gave me the dish. The new owner had worked, and trained at Ebisu, and that restaurant is like the sushi training grounds for the bay area. So that explained the fish.

Beyond the freshness is the style. I'm told it's very Japanese style but
California cuisine. The chef uses minimal rice, and large portions of fish, unlike other restaurants where the opposite is true. Everything is very delicate and lite.

At first I didn't want to go there because there wasn't anybody in there, but now I know the food is so good it doesn't matter if I'm the only person. Besides I'm starting to like listening to old 50's rock and roll while eating sushi. You see the chef plays these oldies tunes while making the sushi, and the music spills out of the kitchen into the dinning area. You can see his reflection in the window rocking out to oldies. It's fun.

Another Fine Day

On Monday March 19th I spent the day circulating Thunderhill Raceway (http://www.thunderhill.com/) flogging my little EX500.

In typical format I was up at 4am, the truck having been loaded the night before, then over to my friend Craig's to pick him up, and the bikes, which where loaded onto his trailer the night before, and off we went. It's a 2 1/2 hour drive, but it goes by quickly as we catch up on each others stories.

Once there we where set up quickly, and after a short riders meeting we where out on track.

It was a great day of riding for me. The early sessions I spent reacquainting myself with T-hill as I had not been there in many months. I was stiff, and for some reason not super confident. So I took it slowly, and built up speed as the day went on.
I had some suspension issues in the first session. I had left the settings as what Phil from Aftershocks had preset them at, and it wasn't working. Under braking I could feel the front tire push, and when I checked I could see that I wasn't using all the travel in my forks. I checked my notes from last season, and made some adjustments, and that helped.

The time spent down at Willow Springs definitely changed by perspective of what is fast. I used to think T-hill was, and there are fast parts, but it's not the same. So when I got my confidence up I really started attacking corners that used to spook me.
I know for sure I was going through turns 1, 2, 8, 9, and 10 faster than I had before.

One fun aspect of the day was working with my friend Craig.

I went out in 3 or 4 of his sessions and we worked on things for him. It was fun. I would lead for a couple of laps showing lines through turns, and body positioning, then I would follow him, and see what he picked up. By the end of the day he had really picked up the pace. I think I rode in something like 11 or 12 sessions. I did 7 A group sessions, and I think 3 or 4 B group sessions with Craig. I am sore today!
But my fitness training is really paying off. I didn't get fatigued at the end of the day, but I need to work on my mental fitness so I can stay totally focused for 6 laps. Baby steps



It's a long day getting up that early, driving 2 1/2 hours, riding all day, then driving the 2 1/2 hours back, and then unpacking, but damn is it good fun!

The Fastest Road in The West

3 Mondays ago I strapped by trusty EX500 onto my beat up Pathfinder and went down to Willow Springs International Raceway, dubbed "the fastest road in the west" I can say one thing for sure, they ain't kidding!

I started off by driving down to my parents house on Sunday. For some reason I was in a hurry, and bombing down I5 at 85mph with my bike on the back. That was not good on the gas mileage, and I think I was getting something extra awful like 13mpg. My trip home I kept it under 75mph, and I got a better 16mpg. When you're traveling 400 miles 3 mpg can really add up. I hung out with mom and dad, and that was cool. Considering that they only live 8 hours away I don't see them very often. When I got to Bear Valley Springs there was snow on the ground. By the time I got up to their house at 6000' there was at least a foot of snow. It was a little hairy getting up, and down their driveway with my bike wagging on the back, but made it none the less.

I got up at 5am on Monday morning, and followed my dad down the mountain. I got to the track just before 7am, and the gates where closed. I was a bit shocked. Up here in NorCal the tracks usually open the gates at 6:30am, and bikes on track by 8:30am.
I would find this to be a theme for the rest of the day. I don't know if it's best to call the atmosphere laid back, or unprofessional, but the guys I normally ride with are a lot more polished.

I rolled out onto the track around 9am. WSIR, also called the big track as they have several different tracks at the facility, is 2.25 miles long with only 9 turns, and two of those are actually one really long turn. It is really amazing how long you go really fast. Turns 1,2, and 6 are taken in 5th gear, and Turns 8and 9 are taken in 6th gear. Turn 9 exits onto the front straight. With the way my bike is geared 5th is something like 90-100mph, and 6th tops out at 120mph. I'm not kidding. I was taking turn 8 with 6th gear topped, and bending it in, nothing flicks at 120mph, getting all the way over on the side of the tire, and staying there for what seemed like ever. I even bounced my knee off the ground a couple of times. Over the course of a lap I would down shift only twice, and up shift three times. That's a really long time to be holding the throttle wide flat open. It's so different for me. At Sears Pt I down shift at almost the entrance of every turn, and up shift at the exit of every turn. It's something like 24 shift movements per lap, and at willow it was 6.

In my second session I had a bit of an altercation with another rider. He'd come across my front wheel on the brakes, and I almost ran into the back of him. I hate it when riders on big horse power bikes pass me, then park it in the turn. I went and found him in the pits and we had a "discussion". It ended with the track promoter separating us. We shook hands and essentially said stay out of my way. One thing that had come up was I said it was my first time at the track, and I was still learning, and he'd said I didn't belong in the A group. In my 5th session of the day I passed him on the outside of T2, and he passed me back on the front straight. When I went around him again in 2, I made sure to keep up the pace all the way through the rest of the lap to try to gap him enough so he couldn't motor me on the straight, he didn't. After that session he found me in the pits, and said to me, "I guess you learned the track" with a big smile.

It was a great day of riding. Of course I had gone down there to do my evaluation for the California Superbike School. I didn't get in. I didn't know the curriculum well enough. Oh well. They said if I took a couple of their schools I could make a good instructor as I ride really well. We'll see. It was a long drive back, but nice watching the sunset over the mountains.

Tomorrow I'm headed off to Thunderhill Raceway where I used to think Turns 7, and 8 where fast. I curious to see how that plays out. I've been going to the gym pretty often, and I saw my personal trainer again yesterday. I think I'm making some good progress, and tomorrows bike flogging will let me know for sure.