The Hairless Cat Espresso Lounge

In the state of Massachusetts it is illegal to stable a mule on the second floor of a building, unless it has two exits.

Good to know.

Well, it was quite a convention this year. Here's the events of Gen Con 2005, the gamer's convention for all things role-playing, miniatures, and anime! No, I don't understand the Anime part either.

Day 1: I went as a lonely nerd! I got there just before 8 am and watched as hundreds filed in to their seats to play a three day marathon tournament of "VS." This game is similar to the collectible card game "Magic" except these cards are derived from a world of Marvel superheroes versus D.C. Comics superheroes. Yes, some of these players were still, mega nerds on Sunday. The Exhibits didn't open until 10 am so I hit a stand that proudly brewed Starbucks coffee and layed some footprints around the convention. I wanted to get an idea of how big the convention was for this year and how it was layed out. I stopped by an auction exhibit where old games were layed out for bidding on. There were no Cyberpunk related books, and my nerdy disappointment moved on. After checking the layout, I saw that it was now nearly 10 am and the exhibits were about to open. I headed straight in to the Wizards of the Coast exhibit to win some free games. I demo'd a game I truly loved, "Vegas Showdown". This would be my downfall on the final day. More on that later.

I demo'd the five other Wizards options and then found myself wandering around with hundreds and hundreds of nerds. People who have figured out how to use multi-colored magnetic chips with their miniatures to represent how damaged, prone, or high in the air, their character is, so that other characters will know their condition when they walk into the same area on the map. Now don't get confused, the player is in the room when all of this happens, so it shouldn't really be a surprise, but that's what I was told. Others had invented a way to beat each other with foam swords, halberds and sheilds. Don't think that's not a fun exhibit to watch. And I was surrounded by scantilly clad chicks who were brought in to get nerds to gather around other nerds displays.

I watched a table of gamers play Dungeons and Dragons at a table near the refreshment stand. I asked myself, "Why would someone pay $50 for a three day badge to play a game they can play in their kitchen?" Then I asked myself, "Why would someone pay $50 for a three day badge to watch someone play a game they can play in their kitchen?" And then I moved on.

The days events were mostly the same until that night when I entered the True Dungeon Tavern. I will write about that next.

Michael Jackson is an evil communist. Any questions, see the comments in my last post. Also, It's nice to have you back April. Full report of Nerdfest 2005 coming! Watch this space!

iTunes has no beatles, McCartney or Wings.

I am surprised and bewildered by how certain songs will make a frenzy. It was a quiet night at Martini Blues. Twelve or fifteen of us in the Karaoke room with maybe eight of us taking turns on two-fers (two songs each), while three old guys sat in the bar that has an open backbar facing the Karaoke stage. I get up for my selections as my first begins. Band On The Run. An obvious favorite from McCartney's Wings. I struggled through the first two or three lines while warming a voice not utilized in about two months. I then hit the first truly recognizable part of the song:

"Well, the rain exploded with a mighty crash as wel fell into the sun
And the first one said to the second one there I hope you're having fun
Band on the run"

The small crowd went nuts. Not for my singing, although I am truly proud of what the crowd's inspiration pulled forth from me as the song progressed, but because of the song. McCartney is pure genius! And while I've always enjoyed his work, this was the first moment I understood the universality of it. Old men cooling with a scotch at the bar, country women chatting Kathy at a table, and young men (nerds really) in their twenties rallied to cheer for me. To cheer for my choice! My choosing McCartney.

It was a fantastic moment.

The link above will take you to an article on the newly proposed Mexican border wall. The idea here is to increase national security, and cut down on illegal aliens (stop saying illegal immagrants, there's no such thing) by erecting a twelve foot wall at the cost of $2 billiion across the border with Mexico. I'm here to tell you that this idea will not work because it does not take into account the very industrious people we are dealing with here. These are a people that are intelligent, inventive, and determined to see this fail.

These people are the American employers who employ the illegal aliens. They will find a way to get people across the border. Why? Because we make it necessary for them to do so. What do I mean necessary? Because of our refusal to pay higher costs for many products in the U.S. (for example, a chili dog), we put business owners, who are simply trying to feed their families, in the position to keep their costs extremely low. You say that a chili dog shouldn't cost more than $3.50, right? Well, remember that this is approxiamatley what it would cost you to make the same chili dog at home, and you don't have to pay the tremendous overhead which includes the very costly American worker. I use this example because I actually know people that work in the many strip mall restaurants around the South Coast Plaza area here in the O.C., and I have discussed with them the illegal workers employed therein. We also all know that many illegals do the farmwork involved in producing the food for our tables. So what do I propose?

Let's address the problem and start an aggressive series of fines for businesses that employ illegal aliens. We'll give them some lead time to adjust, like a two year period, and then start enforcement. The fines should be restrictive. I suggest $25,000 per illegal employee to start. Obviously this will cause ripples throughout our economy. There are ways to address this. We could start employing our unemployed, (maybe they could get jobs making chili dogs, for example) and raise our poor class up through this program we would call, jobs. The increased spending of a larger working class could increase our economy. I used to manage a Starbucks where a group of homeless unemployed men would gather each day to sit. A few of them were very employable.

there would also be a residual effect in Mexico. I contest that when a people under the thumb of a corrupt government are forced to deal with their own governement for employment, we may see some changes to that government. Oh, and it might not hurt if it inspires some creative entrepreneurs in America to move to Mexico and create some industries down there where the labor costs will of course be lower. This may raise the economy in Mexico up. This may over the long term create a safer border on it's own as well.

You may suggest that it's not humanitarian of me to put people through the suffering that is almost unavoidable in the early stages of my proposition. Mexicans and other nationalities that cannot come here to work will invariably suffer through unemployment and hunger where they live. To this suggestion, I ask, is it humanitarian for us to keep ourselves uninspired to employ and train these people and our own unemployed, legally. Imagine the drive we would have to create job programs to employ people at the minimum wage, instead of say $3 an hour or worse, and give these same people the dignity of a real job. You see, it would only be logical to create a program to bring in aliens legally for work.

Lastly, let me add that having talked to a good many homeless people, there are actually no jobs that "Americans don't want". So, please leave that argument at home.

I love Doctor's offices. Called at 1030 am and asked the nurse if the doctor could sign a note saying I can work without my psoriasis keeping me at home. I explained I would come and pick it up because I needed it quickly. The nurse called me at 438pm to let me know it is ready. They close at 5. I live about thirty to forty five minutes away in traffic.

Thanks so much nurse.

I've come to the realization that no one reads this. Probably because no one writes here. Meaning me. So I thought I would get to it.

Lots of realizations lately. I have been unemployed and that has created a lack of life for me. The couch, T.V., and video games have become increasingly important. Sad.

So no more. I will endeavour to increase my life. What does that mean? Well, it certainly doesn't mean increasing my waist anymore than I have. In fact, quite the opposite. I also need to come to grips with this Psoriatic pain I am in. I'm not sure Psoriatic is a word, but I suffer all day due to this Psoriasis I have been afflicted with. It generally feels like a perpetual tearing of flesh around my waist. I can't tell you how much that makes Levi's fun! Especially withy a belt. And me with my metal studded punk belt rubbing away on the fat that hangs there. . . even better.

Increasing my life means less T.V., less food, more exercise, more plans (and more importantly more action on those plans), and more connection with those around me. Like my parents.

Also, it means making sure the business ideas I have come to life. I will not promise to keep you all informed, because I keep failing at that. I will instead see for myself the results. Hopefully you'll be here. And yes, if anyone is reading this at all, I am talking to myself. Make sense of it, or don't.