Thievery Corporation

Tuesday night Jerill and I were "cool kids" and went to a concert at the Paramount. We saw the band/group Thievery Corporation. This band has been around for awhile now and Jerill has had/played their music for many years as well.

Other than starting 45 minutes late, it was a good show to see live, which was a bit of a suprise actually since the two founders of the band are DJs who mix music electronically and basically stood behind huge (and expensive) music makers. The band is also comprised of a horn section, an extensive percussion section, a bass/setar player and a guitarist. Further, they have 7 different singers - 4 women and 3 guys, all from around the world and with varying styles (Reggae, French, Iranian, etc.). We didn't have high expectations so we were pleasantly surprised.

Their website is www.thieverycorporation.com - you can get all the specs/history there.
Here is a link to the music from one of my favorite albums they have put out. Just click on the song titles to sample the music: http://www.thieverycorporation.com/discography.aspx?item=0

And here is a video I found on You Tube that features one of their more popular, and "harder" songs (Reggae inspiration). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTVDjdnvg7c&feature=related

They are a bit of a political music group which I personally find annoying since this means that hippie types also show up to their shows (can we just say I saw more pot being smoked in the Paramount last night than I have ever seen/smelled at the Gorge Amphitheatre!). However, their political messages and voice are consistent over time and I do value that. I listen to Thievery Corporation a lot while I'm working. In fact, I am sure there have been many research reports submitted where my writing style was influenced by the jazzy tunes of this band (and Gotan Project, and Massive Attack).

Peace out.

You win some, then you leave

Who doesn't love to gamble, maybe just a little bit?

I'm not a big gambler at all but I do like to play the video slot machines at our local casino, especially the PENNY SLOTS! www.snocasino.com.

Last night, Jerill and I jumped into the Hybrid and headed off to gamble a little bit of dough at Snoqualmie Casino (it just opened in November 2008). We stopped by the bank and Jerill got $20 and I got $20 out - this was our allowance and budget for the evening. Basically, when you're playing the penny's, this means we had 2000 credits (sounds like a lot huh?!).

Jerill spent $8 on drinks to start - one red hook for him and one bud light for me. Then, we strolled along the slot-floor looking for the machine that was throwing off the right vibe, that is, that feeling that you will make a little bit of money tonight. We passed a row of 1/2 cent slots - yes, that's right; due to the economic downfall, the casinos are doing whatever they can to get people to part with their money, every one-half penny at a time if they have to.

We walked on by those 1/2 cent machines - even I'm not that cheap.

So, viola, I felt a draw toward a row of machines just past the cigar bar. The game: Cleopatra. The objective: to make money.

This game was awesome. You could hit bonus rounds where you touch the screen to win cash. I hit the bonus round 3 times! I won 600 pts, 1800 pts, and another 600 pts - each point being worth one penny. Then I won 20 free spins too that resulted in about 500 more points. So, in about 5-10 minutes of play at the same machine, I grew my Jackson to $55.45. Not too shabby I thought on penny slots.

I then got scared, thinking I would lose it all, so we went home. I will be using my extra $35 to pay for Pho lunches for the next few weeks - my coworkers and I go to Pho about once a week up in Mountlake Terrace / Shoreline (in fact, we just found a place that gives you the free cream puff for dessert! Okay, maybe I am that cheap!).

Jerill didn't fare as well. He spent his $8 on drinks, $1 on a tip, lost $5 at one machine in the high-roller section and pocketed the rest of the money (probably went to Starbucks today).

The secret, I've found, to slots is to play at lest 30-60 credits at a time. Wins will multiply by the variable of the credits you wagered. And, you can never win the adverised grand prize of $20K or more unless you bid the max, which is typically 100 to 150 credits (or more). Then those penny slots become a high roller type situation.

Here is the link to info about this particular machine that was quite fun to play. http://www.slotmachinefan.com/slot-machines/cleopatra/

Happy Gaming!

http://www.dshs.wa.gov/dasa/services/opplr/problemgamblingprgm.shtml

Snippets and Snowflakes

For some reason I've had a hard time finding free time to do things like update blogs and such, so here is a quick overview of the past couple weeks.

Easter came on Sunday. We had it at my house - 7 adults and 1 four year old and three dogs. A little hectic but ended up being a good time.

It snowed today - that's pretty crazy considering it's Mid-April! My camelias are not going to like this one bit. I hope my budding tulips will be okay...

Scott on our walk in the snow this morning

My flowering cherry trees and pink camelia bushes, in bloom with snow on them. Yikes.

I hope the snow melts off the Hybrid before I have to go out tonight!

Last week, for work, I drove to Spokane and back to give a 10-minute 7 am presentation to the Customer Service group over there. I stayed at the Davenport Hotel in downtown Spokane, which was a really nice place inside, and it's close to Nordstrom and allows dogs to stay there for no extra charge, so I took Lucky with me. The only thing is that the streets around the hotel feel like the U-district with regard to the personalities roaming around, and this happens to be in the "nice" area of the city. I'm a bit of a tough-nut when I travel alone so I don't get bothered, or haven't yet anyway, so it was all good. There was a great coffee shop next door as well who served great lattes - Blues Brothers Coffee I think. Here are some pics from that trip:

Lucky sprawled out on the King sized bed. He settles in quickly.

This is the view from my hotel room. Yuck. The FOX tv station sign was rotating right in front of me.

On the drive home through beautiful Eastern Washington. Sunny skies but still only about 58 degrees outside. Better than snow I guess.

A few Saturday's ago I helped Diane out with "processing" the new lambs that have been born this Spring on her farm. Basically, I was the lamb wrangler. This involved stalking them, grabbing them, holding them on my lap for their first immunizations, flipping them on their backs for their first toenail trimming and tail "banding" and then a hold-up for a nice spray of paint on their backs (red for girls, blue for boys). I did this 33 times and my muscles were sore for days. It is a total work out. The weather was great though and we didn't rush the process so it was actually fun! I fell in love with the littlest hair sheep she has there at the moment... so cute. And, one of her Doerfler sheep had a all black sheep too this year. I love black sheep and I beleive every sheep farm needs one black sheep ;)

This is a Katahdin hair sheep with her twins

The baby white sheep in the back is the Precious one. And you can see Blackie the black lamb in the foreground here. Maybe Diane will name them Yin and Yang ;)

Return of the Elk

I haven't seen the elk in awhile but today, about 9 showed up in the neighbor's yard. It appears this group consisted of moms with their yearlings. I think the pregger-elk are up in the mountains calfing right now. The elk looked like they were at peace. There is a movie of elk actually moving in the few pics below...

The little guy on the left has his tongue sticking out!

Also couldn't resist getting the dogs together for a non-bubble-headed picture... I have to say, it's hard to get them all to sit together let alone look at me when they're in the correct position. Mattie is actually gazing out the window watching the elk here but this was the best I could get! .