Why is it that I have all the good ideas...

It's no secret that I am a heavy World of Warcraft player; it's fun, social, and a really well designed game... The thing I wonder is when are we going to see MMORPG sports games... Think baseball, you could have minor leagues, majors, people can go to training, you can find a team, play, could be similar to PS3/2 games... I feel like there is a large untapped market here. EA - get your head in the game!

Party minus one

JT had a party tonight, and while it was going, We started having a little jam between Jon, myself, and Jon's buddy Pete. We had two guitars and we kept passing them around. Pete is a really solid guitar player... and Jon and I are ok, but we don't have either the knowledge or the flair to be really impressive. As we were playing I thought about how, when playing with Pete, Jon and I filled similar roles as when we played with Fred.

Then, inspired, I thought about things from what I might consider Fred's perspective. Here's this guy who spent several years always playing beneath his level. Fred taught Jon and I a lot about music through jams and conversations.

Later, I thought about how I've recently been considering taking guitar lessons; I took group lessons as a kid, but I'm mostly self taught. I'd mentioned to Lila that I'd never really had a real guitar teacher, but then I just realized, I have, and he's Fred.

Thanks man.

Went fishing

Had a pretty good day today in the Catskills... In the morning, went fishing in the ashokan reservoir...

Video from Trip

if you want to see any of the photos in a larger, higher quality format, click the link in the sidebar to my picasa web album.

Photos from Trip

I tried taking a lot of planned panoramic photos... I combine them in photoshop, although I'm not totally competent with the photomerge command. Here's one of Bryce Canyon that turned out well.

Las Vegas

We spent our last night of our trip in Las Vegas, staying at "The Signature at MGM Grand." The Signature is a three tower complex attached to the MGM Grand that is just a little nicer... We had a suite with a giant jacuzzi tub, and a king size bed, kitchen, living room, multiple tvs; it was great.

We ate at Wolfgang Puck Bar and Grill which was amazing. On the MGM Grand website, it is listed as casual dining, but I can tell you, there is nothing casual about the food.

Afterwards we saw Ka, a Cirque du Soleil show. I have to say, it was one of the best things I've ever seen in my life. Truly amazing. Most of the stuff the performers do, you wouldn't think possible. Ka only shows in Las Vegas, so probably you should buy an airplane ticket and get out there.

This morning, we spent a bunch of time at the Grand Pool, the outdoor water enjoyment complex at the MGM Grand. It was nice, but not the best aquatic experience of all time. Then we went and gambled a bit. I was pretty nervous about it... there is something intimidating about all the semi-drunk young people and slightly serious old people. So we played some slots and then a video blackjack game. We lost $11 bucks, but had a half hour of fun.

Finally, we hopped onto our Virgin American flight (interior is like a disco) and came back. Pictures will follow tomorrow as well as a little video. Fred: I really will make a little video this time!

Early Morning

Lila and I woke up this morning at 5:30, got dressed quickly, and drove out to watch the sunrise over Bryce Canyon... It was amazing. The rocks were impressive looking enough in the dim light before the sun climbed above some of the mesas of the Colorado Plateau, but once the sun peaked through, the Canyon looked as if it was on fire!

Naturally, I took many photographs, none of which have made it to the web yet as I didn't bring my own laptop... all these posts have been through kiosks at hotels.

After a short breakfast, we are going back to the Canyon to do a hike, the 1.4 mile Navajo loop, which will bring us down into the canyon. The trail winds around hoodoos, arches, windows, and natural bridges.

Then, we'll clean out the car a bit (We already shipped home two giant boxes, just to lighten our load for the return trip) and drive to Las Vegas. En route, we'll cross out of the Mountain Time Zone and into the Pacific Time Zone, gaining an hour. One more hour to gamble and live it up in Las Vegas! We are going to a Cirque du Soleil show as well as eating dinner at Wolfgang Puck Bar and Grill.

Bryce Canyon

This morning, we departed Zion Canyon. Zion National Park is wonderfully run, with a very environmentally modern visitor center, to a fleet of propane powered park buses, the park is easily accesible and beautiful. Additionally, unlike other parks, it has a great town, just right outside! We ate lunch today in a restaurant called Oscar's Cafe. There, I had the best ribs I've ever had. Lila had fish tacos, also delicious. They played such classics as "Mr. Roboto" as well as "Don't you, Forget about Me..." Also the fish tacos were spelled "Phish" Tacos... so obviously I liked the place.

After a two hour drive to Bryce Canyon, we checked into the local Best Western and went to look at the Canyon. Skipping the obvious viewpoints, we continued to Bryce Point, less crowded with better views. Geologically, Bryce is easily my favorite canyon we've seen. Tall sandstone strucutres protrude from the canyon floor, Hoodoos they are called. Tomorrow, we plan to wake up to watch sunrise over the canyon and then to do a short 2 mile hike before we jump in the car and drive the 4 hours back to Las Vegas.

Zion National Park

Today I'm posting from the Zion Lodge, its about halfway up the Zion Canyon... It is a beautiful national park although it is oppressively hot outside. I've been drinking a ton of water and I'm still sure that I'm dehydrated.

Although the scenery is great, our campsite is not. We had to rent an RV site, because of limited availablity, and it was infested with ANTS! Litterally, everywhere you looked there was an ant... We've readjusted our travel a bit to stay in some inexpensive motels for the next two nights, mostly to avoid the ants. A nice result of this is that we are going to get to actually stay by Bryce Canyon.