Ryan Gavigan

a voting quandary...

2008-11-05T04:52:45Z

It's pretty hard to keep up to date with all the local and state ballot initiatives and races when voting. So when it's a case of a minor race I know nothing about, my strategy is to go with the more entertaining name. Thus this year's IN superintendent of public instruction race left me with a stumper (at least in juvenile humor form, putting some levity into the serious nature of political races the last year)...the vote was between:

Richard Wood
and
Tony Bennett

world loses one of it's most recognizable voices...

2008-09-02T13:34:04Z

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,414841,00.html

:(

the four dreaded words...

2008-06-03T04:55:40Z

red rings of death...(3rd time)...

shaky quaky

2008-04-18T10:57:38Z

wow, that was weird. living here in central indiana that was strong for an earthquake (a 5 something in southern IL), didn't even know what it was ^^;;;;; thought a truck had run into the building ^^

Burbank...

2007-12-21T14:59:18Z

Hm, today is garry burbank's final show...is there anyone down that way that might be able to record it for me? ^^;;

2nd best is second rate..

2007-10-02T03:23:16Z

even though it's fun to play, it still doesn't make it any better to finish second again, making it 0 for the last 97 events (with 7 seconds and 8 thirds)...at least a little victory in something? :P...

yay blood.

2007-06-12T04:38:36Z

damn, accidental self-inflicted gashes to the knee sure do suck :P, especially when hitting the edge of a door frame hard and fast enough to produce a nice oozing bleeding wound :P

random bar notes

2007-04-28T20:16:04Z

bizarrely random time at the local pub last night. went to relax a bit while away from the apartment and play some ntn trivia. ended up being pulled over to have a drink with four nurses (bday party, so i was summarily dismissed later, but what the hey), and ended up meeting former notre dame championship winning qb Tony Rice (sorry Crow). just randomness.

pulling material onto the new pc slow but good so far. borrowing a plextor convert-x for vhs capture without my camera (seems pass-through advc is harder to find in camera models nowadays...)
Luckily barriers seem to be down now to keeping the motivation up

course after the cons, I still have to figure if i really want to replace the 360 or ps2

gavv @ 2007-04-17T17:29:00

2007-04-17T22:31:12Z

apartment broken into, things taken, including everything i would use as hardware to put together Anime Hell, so as it's looking right now, I won't be doing it any more. just great when they take away the one thing i was really happy with..

Heywood in Indy saturday

2007-01-26T04:59:23Z

www.pikepac.org

things that make you chuckle for no real reason and you shouldn't when at your job

2007-01-03T14:46:00Z

I work for a software consulting company, and as such, we work with a variety of client companies to provide software or contract people to them to help staff their IT departments, well one client we have is called First Advantage. And it's somehow chuckle inducing to hear executive VPs of your company say "FADV".

cut down at the end..:/

2006-12-30T23:48:06Z

wound up 2nd in an online freeroll where 1st got a $1500 world series of poker seat (or $500 cash & a 1000 buy-in)...:(...

was the chip leader heads up, about 205K to 195K, got all chips in the middle with my A-7o versus J-Qs , flop goes Q-10-A, turn is blank...and river is K...

and of course 2nd place gets absolutely nothing. same old story...:/

ganked from kaori_knight

2006-12-25T23:17:37Z

First rule of Gavv Club is - you do not talk about Gavv Club.

Which movie was this quote from?

Hm. interesting new casting.

2006-12-06T19:40:18Z

Heard reports that Christopher Eccleston (2005's Dr Who) will be joining the cast of Heroes when it starts up again in January. interesting.

gavv @ 2006-11-13T23:28:00

2006-11-14T04:28:09Z

So i've caught up now with Heroes (including ep 8 tonite)...

I'm really enjoying Heroes, it's got enough (for now) lack of seemingly non-interference from network types (though i dislike the 'new' 'last time on Heroes' style narration), but it could easily go down the tubes if monkeyed around with (I'm looking at you Lost) too much. I enjoy the disparate yet seemingly interwoven plotlines device, and i really really hope it's an all planned out set of arcs and not a 'damn, we've got ratings and buzz, what'll we do now' story like the aforementioned ABC show. In that vein, i thought it was neat even though it was probably a complete coicidence that in one of his 'visions', Mohinder uttered together 'Who are you? What do you want?'..

Youmacon's Anime Hell show and SugoiCon's the week before went very well. Amazingly, I was able to do Youmacon's show *without* a showing of Rejected, Forklift Driver Klaus, or Here Comes Dr Tran, which is a very good sign that audiences actually do like adaptation to new stuff. The new Otakurama bits worked well and we'll have plenty of use for the rest of the series doled out in meaty chunks.

some of gavv's tale of the tape of this year in TV (not like i've had much to do otherwise):
Stargate(s): meh. disappointing
BSG: picking up well after a not so hot end of season 2
world series of poker: definitely underwhelmed with 2006's ESPN coverage, though the live final table marathon was great.
CSI: very interesting new serial killer arc, but otherwise mediocre
Survivor CI: average, though i'm really rooting for the intellectual but tough big guy Yul to win.
South Park: Been more entertained by it on average than in a long time. The Halloween episode was just so good and wrong.
Lost: frustrating, nearing the ramp of sharkdom, if they draw this out longer than this season, they are idiots. Even beer commercials know to ask 'Why?'
..and it should be noted to the lovely Neilsen-folk, that i actually watch more History Channel and Science Channel than other networks combined ^^.

shows from the last few months of 'The Bruceman Show' (our friday nite anime watchings):
Moon Phase: gah. lousy cutesy vampire main character in contrived and overlymelodramatic plot. chose to ignore most of the time
Zipang: really really enjoying it. couldn't really stand Silent Service, but Zipang is surprisingly thoughtful and neutral so far (thru about ep 20)
Poirot & Marple: Nice NHK mystery procedural based on the famous lit. characters. nice change of pace to the 'crime solving kids' procedural (like Detective Q or Conan)
Fantastic Children: *finally* went somewhere after about 12 eps, somewhat interesting, but needs to make up for a slow start
Ryvius: went back a little for this, never watched it before. interesting Lord of the Flies take, but it too is starting to fall apart after about 20 eps, but still good.
Bleach: blahblahblah. wake me up when they get out of the 'bowling alley'
tactics: average. About like Samurai Champloo in terms of uneven but some good spots, but not as original in bits as SC.
Rozen Maiden: eh. so so. at least it was short.
AMG & AMG2: does the phrase 'couldn't get to third base with a bowling ball' mean anything to anyone? well executed and nice to watch, but sometimes doesn't get you over our hero's wussificationness.
Jinki Extend: Thought it had something wacky and light with the modeler gal being the heroine, but it has developed into the typical mecha freudian parental-sibling-etc angst show.
Futakoi: slightly better than what you'd think given the nature of how the 'story' is set up.
Master Keaton: just starting this up thanks to the big Geneon sale, I like it so far and it looks to have good potential.

shudder...

2006-11-01T21:44:30Z

you know what's frightening? ... That Man-Faye has his own section in Comcast On-Demand digital cable....

on the positive side, they have a whole section for Something Weird video...

meme-age...

2006-10-08T02:07:20Z

ganked from baratie

first, a bit about you:

1. Your Middle Name:
2. Age:
3. Single or Taken:
4. Favorite Movie:
5. Favorite Song:
6. Favorite Band/Artist:
7. Dirty or Clean:
8. Tattoos and/or Piercings:

and now, the 20 questions:

1. Do we know each other outside of Live Journal?
2. Whats your philosophy on life?
3. Would you have my back in a fight?
4. Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest?
5. What is your favorite memory of us?
6. Would you give me a kidney?
7. Tell me one odd/intresting fact about you:
8. Would you take care of me when I'm sick?
9. Can we get together and make a cake?
10. Have you heard any rumors of me lately?
11. Do you/have you talk(ed) crap about me?
12. Do you think I'm a good person?
13. Would you drive across country with me?
14. Do you think I'm attractive?
15. If you could change anything about me, would you?
16. What do you wear to sleep?
17. Would you come over for no reason just to hang out?
18. Would you go on a date with me if i asked you?
19. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together?
20. Will you post this so I can fill it out for you?">

random quote of the con...

2006-09-25T08:40:42Z

random quote of AWA:

Dave Merrill: ..of course we always thought Pam Buck and Carl Horn would get together and create a race of atomic supermen...

Al...

2006-09-18T12:03:42Z

Al's in studio on Bob & Tom this morning...

Hm, new Heywood song...

2006-08-31T11:41:00Z

at least to me, a new Heywood song on his Bob & Tom appearance. Big Butter Jesus.

i am sudoku's bitch..

2006-08-22T00:30:35Z

been a few weeks and other than showing other people DS stuff, i've yet to be able to pry Sudoku Gridmaster our of my DS...think i'll play some Sports IQ trivia, must regain my hallowed champion's status..

gavv @ 2006-08-12T02:54:00

2006-08-12T06:54:50Z

won the late game at bw3's this wednesday ($20 gift cert) and hung out and got to disperse more of the free poker booty from vegas, and hang with a cool lady. all and all a decent night.

heading to the Video Games Live concert tonight, should be interesting to see the best troupe (indianapolis symphony orchestra) that's doing the performance so far (and in the symphony's home theater, instead of a convention/arena venue). kinda weird that it comes to this to get me to attend an actual symphony concert ^^.

The Vegas Gavvelogue

2006-08-06T02:47:38Z

The Vegas Gavvelogue
I'd headed for Vegas on vacation, really needing some personal
de-stressificating away from real life work and personal issues. Was
planning it for the Aug 6 (my bday) weekend but due to timing, my mom,
her husband Mike and friends of theirs were making their summer trip
there so i changed my plans to go about the same time, so at least
they were able to book my room at the same casino (Paris) and i'd get
a better room for a decent price.

Friday
flight out was pretty much as uneventful which was good, i hate
bad flights. though fuck, paying for 'snack boxes'. sheesh. I had a 500x
better Kolache (yum) at the Indy airport on the way out.

The first surprise of the trip was waiting for a cab at the airport,
where i saw a cab-sign advertising the The Price Is Right Live (stage
show), and hey, it was at the hotel (Bally's) directly connected to
the one i was in (Paris), and it'd be playing about an hour after i
get there (score!). Got in, met mom and got checked into my room.
(which was very nice, qutie large, good amenities, no complaints)

Bought my TPIR show ticket ($33), registered and got my signature
yellow name tag, got into the theater (very nice seat right near the
middle). each seat had a keypad (think 'Millionaire' style) where
audience members can play with games on the screen during the game
using classic and current pricing games from the show. They used that
in the show to narrow down who can be chosen to 'come on down!'. The
stage show version is hosted by Todd Newton, most known for being a
host on a variety of things for E!.
The production of the show was top notch, though it's really
amazing how close Greggo's con stage production of Anime PIR came in
most respects on a non-existant budget and how much the specific
changes for non-tv-ness were similiar.
The game started out with the first audience game, 3 prizes
from a certain year of TPIR were shown, A B & C, on the keypad the
audience has to put in what they believe are the cheapest, then the
most expensive of the three. Those who got it right were in the 'pool'
that were randomly chosen to go to contestants row. Each pricing game
had 4 new contestants called to contestants row, and those that
didn't get on stage got a t-shirt. When the first contestant won
(on a $1 no less), the curtain raised to ...omfg...The Race Game! The
innergeek of gavv became all aglow and a near tear came to my eye as
the contestant made the last second switch to pull the lever and get
the glorious '4' in the lovely neon blue to be declared a winner.
Second up brought a good but not a favorite pricing game of
mine, In the Bag. But next up, i didn't know it was coming but they
pulled out Cliff Hangers, by far my favorite TPIR game. Unfortunately
the lady was not up to snuff and the mountain climber fell to his death
in only two guesses. Next up was a round with the big wheel, and it's
cool to see the events and props live to feel the 'weight' of them.
The fourth out of 5 games (only did 5 games in the stage show and only
one big wheel, since it was only playing as a game itself, as it had
all new contestants) was the game i was born to play, Hole in One. (So
the stage show had my absolute 3 favorites ever) Unfortunately i never
got my name called throughout the show. the gentleman was even an avid
golfer from arizona but still missed on *2* attempts from the second
closest line, very disappointing. And last of course was you can probably
guess...Plinko..only difference being a factor of 10 on the money involved
($500 vs $5000 ie)...The showcase showdown was great too, and they did
a great tease of 'A brand new...motor scooter!', before pulling the double
switch and then doing the car.
It was a good way to start the trip (tho i still never got to
play, my lifelong dream will have to keep going on unfullfilled for now),
and one of the models, Lauren, was amazingly gorgeous, and the announcer,
Randy West, did a bangup job.

(goin down to Rio..)
Went over to the Rio casino where today they started the main
event (the big one) of the World Series of Poker, 8,775 people paid
$10,000 to play in it, with the winner coming away with over $12Million.
Surprisingly (to me) there was a free 'Gaming Life Expo' that was being
put on at the same time as this tournament (yay me, swag galore). Every
poker site and magazine & dealer were there with booths and 'suites' and
it was very cool (and unlike the now dear departed E3, many many hot booth
babes.) Was able to get Antonio Esfandiari's autograph which was very cool,
and happened to stand and play on a machine right next to wil Wheaton, and
briefly talked to him about the evils that is G4, which was very cool.

Saturday

stratosphere
Went up the monorail to the last station, 'right near' the Stratosphere.
and by Right near i mean damn far. Get in and get my ticket and head toward
the tower, through a mall like hallway of shops. Nice place where you can get
a nice rum runner smoothie, walk five feet into the 02Breathe oxygen bar
(so, oxygen is the key?). Make it up to the top and walk around and see the
sights. I head up to the 'big shot' ride, get up and watch the people ahead
start up on the ride. About .041 seconds later, my brain is shouting 'Fuck No'
as i head past and to the exit. Apparently WussyGavv wins out this time.
Well played, Stratosphere, well played.

On the way back i stopped at the Hilton to try out the STar Trek
Experience. I did the Borg Invasion 4D one (the newer one). The museum portion
was pretty cool, though being alone the whole attraction was less appealing in
that it seemed to easy to just breeze on by and not really take it all in.
The ride/event was pretty neat, though after all is said and done it's not
the best bargain in the world.

On the way back I wandered through some of the Strip casinos near
the Paris. Barbary Coast, Harrah's the Flamingo, Imperial Palace, and some
of the smaller 'local' ones like Casino Royale & Oshea's. Nice to catch the
variety of ambience with everything, saw a couple table game variation's i
hadn't known of before, like Blackjack Switch.

first 'real' gambling, poker tournament
finally was able to enter a poker tournament at the Paris,
the $50 5:30 event, with 40 total players. Played smart and played
my good hands very well, and worked my way to a win. (slight chip
lead at the end where the last 3 of us chopped (split) the first
three prize money, $400 each, would have been 512-400-288, easy
call to split it). Not bad for 3 hrs work. won about $50+ on the
Price is Right penny slot. (netted about $30 or so over the weekend
on slots)
dinner
Had a nice dinner with the whole crew at a steakhouse in the
Paris (Mon ami Gabi?), where i had a nice filet with a tasty
merlot butter sauce. I think part of the good taste was of
course the addition of the fact that i wasn't paying for the meal. Plus
the addition of very hot young ladies at the table was quite nice, though
in our group being both more than 15 yrs younger than half the group, and
being 10+ years older than the others, it was a tad odd :)

After dinner i went to check out some of the Bally's poker room
tables and sheesh, double digit waiting lists for the 2/4 limit
tables i was looking for, oh well. Later would talk to one of the
poker room hosts and he said the weekend was crazy with people in
for the WSOP (players or others) wanting to play on the side all
around town and was busier than usual all hours...
I walked across the street to check out the Bellagio.
I'm going to have to re-watch Ocean's 11 again now to see
if i can recognize any of the spots that were
depicted (i know the climactic scenes were taking place there,
but don't know how much was actually filmed there or not), very
posh, the casino a nice lush huge open space, and the poker room
was extremely packed at some big stakes games.

Sunday

Took the monorail down to saunter through the MGM Grand on the
way to New York New York. Now why was i doing this first thing? Well I
talked to a certain person back home and she didn't think i'd go on
the NYNY roller coaster and so i was determined to do so. MGM Grand is
a rather lavish place, lots of 'neon blue' to the ambience, probably need
to come back on a future trip when it's not 9ish in the morning ^^.
NYNY is a very interesting place, quite the semi-chaotic layout,
but done so in a way that tries (naturally) to capture the ambience of
the real thing. Not so bad. Might have to try staying there sometime
in the future. The arcade (based around a Coney Island theme, natch) was
actually very nice, and since the coaster ride didn't open for an hour, i
was able to get some playing in on both some classic machines, and an
Ultracade (MAME like emulator machine) and a dragon's lair machine before
getting on the ride. The coaster was pretty neat, though damn, it is a
lot more hardcore than you'd imagine at first glance, and it's pretty bumpy
and your head can get knocked around quite a bit, but ultimately good. I
got a souvenir pic to give to the doubting rachel back home.
Sauntered over through the Monte Carlo casino and then grabbed a
cab back to paris. As of this point, i can't believe how much i've actually
walked this weekend, and damn, that really hasn't even started yet.

Headed back over to the Rio for more WSOP/gaming expo goodness.
More goodies to bring back to the local poker guys, got a couple books/DVDs
i'd been meaning to get, and walked right past Penn & Teller as they came
down the hall after they'd been around to start the tourney day with
'shuffle up and deal!' (poker variety of 'gentlemen, start your engines').
Chatted with a couple amateur qualifiers who'd been playing earlier. Boy, i
need to try to make it next year ^^

An entertainment venue at one of the monorail stations is
Test Drive, which is a race track and an offroad track where you
can drive 2 different vehicles for two laps each for $10. On a whim
i tried it and got to drive a Corvette convertible and a Cadillac STS.
it's always fun to hear someone say "so you can gun it as hard as
you want, just start braking at the cones".

Zipped back over to the Rio and got in line for Penn & Teller
tickets, got up there and wow, there were lower level tickets available.
Glad i didn't buy them earlier in the day when they said only upper
level ones were left, as the hotel released ones that were held for
hotel/business use. $85, but well worth it, my seat was in the 12th
row, dead center, almost a perfect viewing angle as possible. Amazing
show. Still trying to wrap my head around Magic Bullets and the Rose
silhouette ^^. Got Penn's 'autograph' on the ticket on the way out
(and of course some merchandise), and headed to home base.

Gavv's impromptu one-man late night casino pub crawl...

After returning to Paris after the Penn & Teller show, i went
to the main casino lobby bar for a drink and figuring out what i
wanted to see before leaving. Logically determining that it was
still equivalent to a shitload (metric shitload), i figured hey, it was
only midnight-ish, i'll just walk around some more now...took a
cab (irony!) to the Venetian. walked inside, wow, quite the architecture,
definitely a place my friend Kevin would like (once told me that no
matter where you go you should 'look up' to notice what's there. Vegas
definitely full of places you should do that with). The casino floor
was even more ornate than Bellagio but still had more low limit tables.
(War! they actually had "War" as a table...didn't spot a roushambou table
though).
Anyway, i decided what the heck and stopped at a bar and
asked them to suggest something (for my fruity not so great drinking
abilities) and they made me a Blue Hawaiian, quite nice.
I walked around, saw the Blue man theater area, walked outside
over the canals, and across the street to the place that started the big
'attraction' casino boom in the late 80s, the Mirage. I liked the lobby
large domed atrium, but didn't care much for the island decor (the next
night i saw the volcano fountain show out front) in the casino, but
checked the place out and decided to stop at the sports bar (why break
the streak?) and tried something different, a raspberry vodka & red bull.
not all that bad but probably something i wouldn't try again. Sooo,
I walked down the sidewalk and the next place down is the huge Caesar's
Palace, so i check it out and whew, the decor and architecture is amazing.
Stopped by the forum casino bar and had a midori sour figuring it'd be
the finale of my trek on the circular route back to Paris....
Leaving Caesar's i walked across the walkway and the place along
the way was the Barbary Coast, and in my happy mood i decided HA HA
i was going to have a Sex on the Beach at the Barbary Coast. So i head
back across to the home base but decide blah, i needed to chill a bit
before heading to bed, so i stop at the bar i started at and tried a
Miller Lite. Not so bad, and I meet a pretty cool couple at the bar
that had just arrived that day from Edinborough (allison & James,
a scot and his english wife). Quite fun, and i told them jokingly that
most of what i knew about the UK was what i learned from watching
Doctor Who. they laughed and mentioned they were into ST and were going
to try the star trek experience at the Hilton. Seeminly TipsyGavv is
a bit more conversational. dunno.

Didn't get to bed until 4ish.

Monday

...lesson #27...don't enter a 9:30am $60 poker tournament the morning
after Gavv's impromptu one-man late night casino pub crawl...busted
out early and was a bit ticked...went to check on perhaps some more
places yet unseen..Mike ended up coming in 3rd for about $360 (which
as he said about paid for all the entry fees for the tournaments he
didn't do so well in)..

...lesson #27b...don't go to a unknown thrill ride the morning
after Gavv's impromptu one-man late night casino pub crawl. Went up
to the Sahara to check out the Nascar Cafe (nice place for nascar
gearheads, and the sportsbar portion would be great on race days.
didn't find a gift i'd been looking for, and besides, i'm an indy car
guy), and they're thrill ride, Speed. Not exactly knowing it's
contents i tried it out....um...not exactly knowing it was one of the
roller coasters that immediately launches you at 60+ mph before going
through its routine...a few high-Gs later i was feeling quite the
not-so-hot, but i feel that if i

back one last time to Rio..

One last visit over to the WSOP to find free swag and take some
pictures. Got some lovely pics taken with some beauties (and the
decidedly not 'beauty' poker pro Howard Lederer). Booth babes may have
been toned down and out at E3, but hell no at the Gaming Life Expo ^^.
Made sure to fill up on more free promo material and gear to take back
as freebies for the guys in the league. Got to briefly meet Freddy Deeb,
and get pics of Doyle Brunson & Phil Hellmuth.
Came back to the hotel, putzed around a bit, then went over to
the Forum Shops at Caesar's in order to watch the Fall of Atlantis
fountain show, which was pretty cool. Walked out and over to the Mirage
to watch the Volcano fountain, which was also pretty cool. The sidewalk
there had also been invaded by about 30 hot women dressed up in black wigs
and low cut sheer black bodysuits promoting PartyPoker.

limit time..

Went over to Bally's and *finally* got signed up to play some
2/4 limit holdem at one of the cash game tables. only waited about 5
minutes before buying in for $60. 2/4 limit means 'blinds' are $1 and
$2 and the maximum you can bet or raise is $2 before the turn (4th card)
is dealt and $4 afterward. Played alright for my first ever casino
cash game, only had a couple bad beats, and after about 2 hours or so
left the table with $97.
Before it closed that night i decided to actually take the ride
up to the top of the Eiffel Tower at the paris, and wow, it was actually
more impressive than the Stratosphere, since it's nearly as high, but
centrally located to get even better views. None of the pictures came
out however :P...

Tuesday

Not too much happened Tuesday on my out day, tried to cram the
extra stuff obtained (free booty n such) into the luggage, and
make a few wanderings about after checking out. I would have gotten
up earlier and checked out a couple places, but blah i needed sleep.

(things not yet partaken of, save for another time and trip)
the Luxor/MandalayBay/Excalibur buildings,
Treasure Island
The Palms
Vegas buffets (lines were always ungodly)
perhaps Blue Man Group

gavv @ 2006-08-03T21:56:00

2006-08-04T01:56:32Z

less than 48 hours after getting back from a good trip, and 3 days from my 35th birthday, am now feeling even more alone and just been in a fender bender

you know...

2006-07-26T03:21:27Z

you know, when i'm 3 days away from going on a (hopefully) emotion-erasing trip to Vegas, is it some kind of bizarre freudian-nietzchean-sanrioan-cybertronian stream of consciousness dream that i'm playing in a free poker tournament out at a bar tonight and i get busted out of the game by Jared Fogle?....(yes, that Jared)...