Poorly Designed Logos

Thanks Bert, for sending me these poorly designed company photos.

This and That...and Some Other Stuff

I've spent the morning trying to figure out the hosting account at GoDaddy.com. I like their prices, but really, can someone tell me how you work your way through the confusing web hosting and email account instructions? I've been with GoDaddy for three years, maybe longer, and I'm still trying to figure things out.

I'm developing my web site at MitchellAiken.com, and this morning worked out the hosting and uploading of files. Over the next few weeks the site will begin to come together. I am choosing to design the site myself with Microsoft Frontpage, because I'm so cheap I don't want to pay for someone else to do it.

I'm going to try my best to make regular updates to my blogs: here at WriteFinger, at 1100 Miles to Vegas, and at Straight Talk from the 7 Seat. My travel writing will hopefully take off this year as I try to break into that business. I have found a couple of good books on travel writing and will work a plan to publish both online and in print.

I'm working on an outline for a novel, but it's slow going. I'm in no hurry. Novel writing takes time, and I'm learning as I go. The research and reading of background material is fun, but exhausting. My goal is to have a basic outline completed by the end of the summer.

When a Dealer Plays at Your Table

He sat down two places to my right and immediately began talking. He didn't stop talking until the table broke about an hour later. I noticed he was a dealer at the casino, off duty and looking to kill some time.

It's not unusual to find dealers playing at the casino in which they work. In Las Vegas, especially in the old days, playing at the table was part of their regular shift as dealers. They filled in the empty seats to keep live ones in the seats. The dealers would play until they were needed for work, or if business was slow, they would play awhile and then go home.

So when this dealer-talker sat down in the one seat it wasn't an issue. I must admit I feel a little uncomfortable about it, being naturally suspicious about cheating and collusion. Will the dealer be treated to some nice cards by his pal who is currently dealing the game? Does the dealer/player have an edge over the regulars at the table because he has seen them play for months, even years, and thus knows their tendencies and style?

When a dealer sits down to play, my radar goes up. I become more attentive to his play and if I get a sense that he has killed what was once a good table, then I'll get up and leave or change tables. It would be rare and very unusual for any collusion between dealers, but it's always a possibility. For the most part, casinos don't care about me--I have to look out for myself. So if I get any hint of collusion or cheating, I'll simple get up and leave.

In this particular case, the dealer was a big mouth. He would give running commentary after every hand, commenting on his reasoning for the plays he made. To make matters worse, he got on a rush and won numerous hands in a row. In one span, he showed AA, AQ, KQ, KK, QQ, flopped a straight and two-pair, and almost doubled his money in about 20 minutes. It wasn't long before the players at the table left, one after one, until there were only three of us left alone with this dealer-talker.

I was the next one to leave, then the table busted. Looking back on it, it was pretty obvious this guy destroyed the nice game we had going. I'm not saying he was cheating. More than likely, he got lucky. And since he was an employee at the casino, a dealer, and a big mouth, I understand why the players abandoned the table.

As I move up to the higher limits, when more money is at stake, these kinds of issues are going to become more important. Part of my education as a poker player is to consider more than the cards I play. I must also evaluate the players and the "texture" and "environment" of the game.

This and That

I have a routine when I arrive at a new city: find a Starbucks, find a grocery store, find the casino, and find the Laundromat. Yesterday, I finally found a suitable Laundromat.

After a Rangers game last week, I saw a Laundromat on Bell Road as I was driving back to Scottsdale. I pulled in, washed my clothes, then left in a hurry because I feared for my life. The location of this particular place was a little creepy. In fact, I left in such a hurry I left behind a load of wash which I didn't discover missing until three days later.

Finding a clean, safe, friendly Laundromat is key to survival on the road. Most wash-shops won't be located near the places I hangout. The location for the local Laundromat is usually in the lower economic strata of the community, thus can be in some creepy parts of town. This is not always the case, I have found very nice places in safer parts of town.

Northern Scottsdale is an economically upscale area, and I knew I would have to drive outside of the community and find a Laundromat elsewhere. Yesterday I found a nice enough place, just off Scottsdale Ave. south of Old Town. The one problem I had: this place uses a card system instead of quarters. You buy a plastic card for 50 cents, then add money to the card in an ATM-like machine. Each washer and dryer has a card slot.

One tip for searching for Laundromats: look around the local college or university. A Laundromat is usually near a campus for college students and these locations are ususally cleaner and safer than your average wash-shop.

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A local Phoenix-area man was upset with Apple, Inc. because his laptop went belly-up. Apple said he spilled something on it, so it's not covered under his extended warranty. He told them he didn't spill anything on it. They refused to fix for less than $780. So he got his message across to them via YouTube and a sledge hammer.

After over 350,000 views, Apple replaced his laptop and apologized. See the clip below.




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Tomorrow I have another Rangers game in Surprise, then I'm driving back to Tucson for a couple of days to check on things there. I have a mailbox there at the UPS store, and I'll keep it for a while. My friends there will keep an eye out for important mail and will forward it to me. Once I'm back in Scottsdale it will only be a few days before I head west for southern California.

Scottsdale Arts Festival and Old Town Galleries

It's Monday morning and I'm trying to update by blog, though Blogger is having "upload issues", but I think I have finally finished adding the photos. They were uploaded to Photobucket instead of Blogger, so they may appear larger than usual (not a bad thing).

Yesterday was a beautiful Sunday, with the weather absolutely perfect. I had breakfast and coffee at the Plantation Coffee shop and most of the people were talking about doing something outside. It was definitely not a day to stay indoors.

Luckily I had plans to attend the Scottsdale Art Festival in Old Town Scottsdale. The festival is over 30 years old, and hundreds of artists from around the country were going to be there. I parked easily enough in the Arts District. The Arts District contains numerous blocks of art galleries in Old Town, all near Main Street. To the east of Scottsdale Ave. on Main Street, near the city offices and the Performing Arts Center, the festival was underway.

The corner of Main Street and Scottsdale Ave. in the heart of Old Town.

The Ancient Arts Gallery in the Arts District. Very cool statues out front.

Looking east on Main Street, the Arts District. Both sides of the street are lined with fine art galleries.

I saw this bronze sculpture in a display window. God bless America.

As you walked toward the Festival in the city plaza, you could window shop for fine art. Many of the galleries were open, though most were closed since it was a Sunday. I don't know why an art gallery would be closed during the Festival, even on a Sunday.

The plaza near the Scottsdale City Offices.

I entered the Arts Festival here, and paid my $7 for a ticket.

The Festival had two live performance stages. This one was near the Food Court, so many were eating lunch and listening to the live bands.

This particular group was playing music from around the world using all kinds of weird instruments from Greece, Egypt, and the Middle East.

After I took the above shot, I had to go the Men's Room for some relief. I asked a security guard for directions to the nearest bathroom and she told me the Performing Arts Center was the best place. So I walked there in a semi-rush, if you get my meaning.

As luck would have it, the Men's Room inside the Performing Arts Center was hard to access due to a live performance of "Audio Ballerinas" which had just begun when I arrived.

If you'll notice, the Men's Room is to the right of the small tree, in the above photo. The performers of this "artistic performance" by four cute girls were in mid-stride making there way through the foyer toward the exit doors leading outside. I asked the guy next to me, "How can we go to the bathroom when it's center stage in some act?" He laughed, and cringed, because we both had to "go".

To be honest, the performance was really cool. An artist (can't remember his name) came up with this artistic "dance" where four girls slowly walk a path from upstairs, then through the foyer, then outside into the crowd. The girls were wearing a contraption around their waist that produced a weird king of monotone music, like something you would hear from the soundtrack of the movie "Blade Runners". They each had a rake on their shoulder, too.

Once they cleared the Men's Room, I finally made it inside. Since the girls were walking very, very slowly, one step at a time, in rhythm to the music, I returned just in time to see them continue their "dance" outside. They dropped their rakes on the concrete, and began to drag them in rhythm. I noticed that the rake was actually wired to their waist, and producing a very loud "screeching" sound as they dragged it along the sidewalk.

Notice the wires running from the rake, the speakers around the waist.

Once outside, they continued their slow pace into the crowd. Watching the reactions of the people to the strange performance and music was entertaining. Some laughed, some were in awe, some covered their ears. I was just thinking, "This is really cool." Each performer was in perfect unison with the others, each had no expression on their face.

When I left the Festival, I visited some of the "tourist" shops along the way back to the Arts District.

Rangers Lose (Again) and The District Marketplace

The Texas Rangers once again found themselves behind early after giving up six runs in four innings today. So far the Ranger pitching staff seems to be struggling. But this is nothing new, unfortunately.

It was another beautiful day at Surprise Stadium, with very little wind, 74 degrees, and bright sunny skies. Below are some pictures from today's game.


Ian Kensler, Michael Young, and ? taking a pre-game walk. The Homerun Party Deck behind them is a "bar and buffet" place for postgame tomfoolery. They usually have a live band on hand, plus plenty of suds.

One of the numerous photogs who are here to cover the games. I think he dropped his hotdog or something.

A young Rangers fan trying to ponder the question, "Why can't we ever find some pitching for this team?" Answer: Tom Hicks is a tightwad.

A Hippie and his companion singing the National Anthem. How groovy.

Either the National Anthem is being played...or, they are watching highlights from last year on the Jumbotron.

"Look, Daddy, the Padres just hit another homerun."

The scoreboard says it all. The Rangers scored some runs late (five), but it was too little too late. Kevin Mench's 3-run homer wasn't enough. Final score: Padres 9, Rangers 5.

This guy gets the "Dumbest Hat Award" for 2008 Spring Training. I think he let his love of baseball go to his head.

After the game I drove back east via Loop 101 and stopped off at a nice outdoor shopping mall, The District at Desert Ridge.

I'm at my "office", it's a Thursday night, and the place is a little strange tonight.

Just across the room from me is a group of people with Middle-Eastern accents discussing a new church they are starting--an evangelical church, not a Muslim one. It's a reminder of the "melting pot" our country is known for, and has renewed my faith in freedom. God bless America (hand over your heart, please).

Then, a woman approached a man drinking his latte and gave him a small button that said, "Accept Your Success." She tells the guy, "I'm with a group that believes to have true success you just have to believe in yourself. Tonight, our members were given the challenge to see how many buttons we can sell. Do you have a dollar? The button is free, but we are trying to sell them for a dollar." The guy sheepishly reached into his pocket. "Sure, I'll give you a buck." If she had approached me I would have said, "I'll give you two dollars if you'll go away and leave me in peace." She ignored me, however, because I quickly put on my headphones in order to send the messsage, "Leave me alone."

Just a recap of yesterday. I spent most the morning and early afternoon at the Fine Arts Expo (where you can hang out with artists while they work on stuff and you can basically bore them to death with questions like, "How do you make that shadow on the horse's head look so real?) I then drove further north to Carefree and the neighboring community of Cave Creek. At Cave Creek, a new western-themed retail and office development is almost completed. They call it "Stagecoach Village" and the development seeks to mimic an old western town.

So far, the only offices currently in use belong to real estate agents. A ReMax residential office is open, although I saw some agents still unloading their wagons and it appeared they were still moving in.

According to the newspaper, it will be another six to nine months before all of the offices and retail spaces are occcupied. It's a beautiful setting among the foothills of Black Mountain.

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That was yesterday. Today, my plan was to take a walking tour of Arizona State University, home of the Sun Devils. I spent about three hours on campus and in the area retail shops nearby.



Sun Devil Stadium is just a couple of blocks north of the main campus.


College Ave. Marketplace (above) is located between Sun Devil Stadium and the main campus further south. The mountain with an "A" on it is in the background. The University of Arizona in Tucson also has an "A" mountain. Why do colleges in Arizona feel the need to place big ugly letter A's on nearby mountains?

The best place to go shopping and have lunch is the Mill Avenue District just to the west of the campus. I found all kinds of places to eat, drink, buy stuff, and just hang out. (Photos below.)

I took the above shot of ASU head football coach Dennis Erickson, his face plastered on banners around the area. He's smiling because he makes over $2 million a year.

I took the photo above from the second floor of an old bookstore that specialized in out-of-date and collectible books like you find in most garage sales. They were going out of business (big surprise since there is a Border's Bookstore just down the street). The owner said I could rent the 1900 square foot retail space for $24 a foot. I told her, "I think I'll just buy these books." I found a drawing book published in the 1950's teaching how to sketch protraits, and a Civil War book of Mathew Brady's photographs.

Photos from my walking tour of the ASU campus:

The palm trees above are called Mexican Fan Palms (Washingtonia robusta). They come from Mexico and are very popular in Arizona for landscaping. The one drawback: they grow so tall you can't trim them without a very tall ladder.