Opportunity seemed to be in the air at job fair on Monday, where the company names were recognizable — Wells Fargo, Walgreens, Home Depot, gaming technology company IGT and others.

All of them — 40 exhibitors — were recruiting for current openings. Heidi Wenzel from Walgreens described variety of open positions in some company’s 71 local stores. An IGT recruiter reeled off part of a list before concluding, “We’ve got 179 positions open.”

Down the hall, Workforce Connections was giving seminars on interviewing skills. Business Services Manager Janice Greer told KXNT just presenting your qualifications is no longer impressive. To be memorable in a struggling economy you have to answer the “what’s in it for me” question for the recruiter — tell them how you can help them achieve their goals.

The event was hosted by Nevada 3rd District Congressman Joe Heck.

First up was Vincent Powell, originally from Austin, Texas, who now makes his home in Houston, Texas. He is a praise leader. He chose B.B. King’s “Rock Me Baby.” Mariah was groovin’. He made it previously to the Hollywood week during season 11 but did not get through; then he thought it would be his last year to audition and make it through, but the rules have been changed. Will this be the time his star shines? I think so. He is top 10 material.

Vincent Powell

The Brothers Bacerott (Derek and David) took up way too much air time and time from the judges. They were trying to sing Mario’s “Let Me Love You.” David was trying to channel a bad Elvis imitation. He thinks he is hot. Not only could they not stay on key, they could not harmonize. The boys were very passive-aggressive. This is what they want to do. They want feedback, but apparently no constructive feedback that might save them a lifetime of pursuing something that cannot be theirs. Sometimes the truth IS a negative–the difference between what you want and what you have the talent to do. I could never build a house. But I am an excellent pet sitter. I would never attempt to build a house because it would never meet safety standards. But I have other talents and gifts I can give the world to make it a better place. Mariah tries to help but David will not be quiet. David: “But you guys were very negative.” Randy: “But it is the truth.” Then Nicki realizes they were in a state delusion. She says, “You guys were great, but it is a no from us.” Then David says, “Don’t lie to us.” Randy: “You have terrible attitudes.” Them: “We have great attitudes.” I liked Nicki intervening and said, “Your part of the audition is done.” Where is the Gong Show hook when you need it?

Savannah Votion has a lovely voice, singing, “At Last” by Etta James. Etta James seems to be real big this year at all the auditions. She will get to Vegas week I think. One comment: Watch what you wear. On the side view, you could see your abdominal fat hanging over your pants and that is just never attractive. But I’m definitely rooting for her.

Savannah Votion

Like a coyote, I was howling when Ricky Jo Garcia was singing. Randy was thoughtful: “It wasn’t good enough today.” I’m not sure it would ever BE good enough. Another person who has been deluded by people around her that she could sing well.

Cristabel Clack is another worship leader in the group. I had goosebumps. She sang, “If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys. I got goosebumps. I think we’ll see her move through Hollywood and onto Vegas. Mariah loves her. I adore her hair, too.

Cristabel Clack

Jordan Difani nominated his wife, Ann, a former Miss University of Arkansas. Randy Jackson surprised them at a football game. She sang, “Stronger” by Faith Hill. Her voice is good, but I did not like her performance. If I closed my eyes, it was better. Not sure exactly what was making me feel uncomfortable, but sometimes it is like that with me. Keith: “There’s a lot of faith in there.” Ann: “I hope you felt the passion.” Mariah: “He meant “Hill.” Randy Jackson: “Faith Hill.” Mariah said she liked that she had an anchor (referring to her love of country but she could crossover into pop per the contestant), and then Marian did a quick head-check to Nicki because it was this same topic that caused that big argument in Charlotte.

Ann Difani

Victoria Acosta spends a lot of her time singing in mariachi groups. She sang, “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” She has a good voice, but I thought it was not a good song choice. That is one of those songs that really need instruments behind it to sound okay. It did look forced. Randy asked her to sing in her style, which she did, and it was much better. Hopefully when she gets to Hollywood she can transpose that passion in that style of song into the choices they are given to sing.

Victoria Acosta

Stefan Jones, Ongela Clark-Falkquay and Carolyn Jackson were all branded outlaws. That was a cute segment.

Papa Peachez is an interesting fellow. He said he felt like a big black woman trapped in a little boy’s body (a little white boy’s body). He decided to perform an original song. I’m adoring what I’m calling “Keithisms” “Papa Don’t Peach.” I was 100% surprised they said yes. He is interesting, but he’ll be swallowed alive during Hollywood week and nothing but peach pits will be left.

Papa Peachez

Sanni M’Mairura is a Pearland, Texas resident (a community south of Houston). For 16, he is adorable. If he does not make it through Hollywood week, he should definitely consider trying out for So You Think You Can Dance when he turns 18. He has a GREAT attitude. I liked his voice. He sang, “Who’s Lovin’ You” by Michael Jackson.

Sanni M’Mairura

Adam Sanders looked like Jimmy Kimmel with a wig on. I heard some on Twitter calling him a Latino Adam Lambert. This young man would have been completely happy if he just met his idol Mariah that day. He said he felt he was R&B, Soul or Pop. This was either going to be really, really good or bad, but given that he has the last spot for the day, it is likely going to be spectacular. He sang, “I’d Rather Go Blind” by Etta James. GOOSEBUMPS. He will be in the group going to Vegas after Hollywood. I have NO DOUBT. TESTIFY! He got a standing ovation.

Adam Sanders

The number of people who made it through to San Antonio was not given, but I would guess, if it is the typical amount, somewhere in the 40-50 range. Next up: Long Beach, California on the Queen Mary.

1903
The Sunset railroad depot opens in downtown San Antonio (right).

1949
The lowest temperature ever in San Antonio is recorded on this day.  The mercury plunges to a brutally cold 0 degrees Fahrenheit and the city shivers under a 4.7 inch snowfall.

1980
Peggy Kokernot, co-host of TV’s “PM Magazine” sets the women’s record in the Tower of the America’s run with a time of 7 minutes, 1 second.  Fifteen year-old Tommy Johnson, a student at Roosevelt High School, sets the men’s record with a time of 5 minutes, 28 seconds.

2001
The Northwest 14 and Galaxy 14 annexes and Westlakes 9 closed today, bringing down the curtain on 17 screens.

Are you a music lover?

Are you a beer lover?

Are you a lover of anything free?

Love, Hope & Strength presents The Most Interesting Academy featuring Girl In A Coma alongside Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears.  Don’t miss this exclusive event happening here in San Antonio.

Oh and by the way, I have free tickets available for you.  Message me for details if you’re interested in going.

Did I mention the beer is also free?  Because it is.

Sunset Station, originally built in 1902, is the renovated Southern Pacific Railroad Depot. Nestled in the historic St. Paul Square District of downtown San Antonio.

While in San Antonio, allow The Madison – San Antonio Riverwalk to be your home away from home. Call us at 210-544-5416 or complete our contact form.

After leaving our hearts in San Francisco, we spent the night in Barstow, California.  Ask our kids, and they’ll tell you that one of the coolest things about Leg 4 was visiting most of the cities mentioned in “Route 66″.  Then they inevitably will break into song – the Depeche Mode version.   They were a little disappointed that San Bernadino was not on our itinerary, but we promised visits to Chicago, St. Louis, Joplin, and Oklahoma City on Leg 5.

Las Vegas was up next.  Dad lived in Vegas for a couple of years back in the early 90s, so he was eager to play tour guide for the rest of the family.

We stopped at Hoover Dam for a quick tour, and found that all of that concrete can get really hot.   Unfortunately, we could not take the behind-the-scenes Dam Tour because the minimum age was 8, but the kids were still amazed at the size and scope of the dam.  Mom was more amazed at the size and scope of the crowds.

After our trip to the Dam, we headed to The Sunset Station Hotel & Casino.  We chose to stay off the Strip in the suburb of Henderson in hopes of avoiding the crowds.

Upon arrival, we almost passed out when we saw the Check-in line of several hundred people wrapping all around the casino. Luckily, it turned out to be a line to pick up tickets for the two upcoming concerts at the hotel.  The acts were Merle Haggard and Dokken w/Quiet Riot, so it was an incredibly diverse group of people sharing the same line.

Once we found the correct line, Dad checked in and surprised Mom by getting an extra room adjoining the room that we had reserved.  We had stayed in a couple of suites on this leg of our adventure, and once Mom “goes suite”,  it can be hard going back.  She was a little surprised (but VERY grateful for the extra space), and Dad assured her that he would pay for it with his winnings at the craps table. (And he did).

The rooms were very nice, and during our short stay, we took advantage of many of the resort amenities Sunset Station had to offer.

After unpacking, the kids enjoyed their first trip to a Las Vegas Buffet and were completely enamored with the seemingly endless Dessert Buffet.  Dad recounted a story of how his grandfather used to get 3 desserts at buffets and eat them under the glare of his wife, who watched his diet like a hawk.  The girls honored their Great-Grandfather’s memory by getting at least 3 desserts each.

The next morning, we headed down to the famous Las Vegas strip, and found the masses that we had been avoiding.  We explored the MGM Grand, New York-New York, The Excalibur, and the Luxor.  The kids enjoyed the sights and sounds that Vegas offers, but not the smells.

Excalibur

New York, New York

Sphinx at the Luxor

The intense, dry heat drove us back to our hotel for some much welcomed air-conditioning.  Later that evening, we had one of the best meals of the trip at the Capri Italian Ristorante located inside Sunset Station.  After dinner entertainment included some great people-watching from our window as concert-goers arrived to see Merle Haggard play outdoors.

After another cheap Vegas breakfast the next morning, we challenged the kids to a game of bowling in the on-site bowling alley.

On our way out of town, we made one final visit to the Strip.  We needed to stop at Caesar’s Palace to verify that it was “pager friendly” and to tour the Forum Shops.

Dick Butkus signing books at Forum Shops

Reviewing our Greek Mythology

Our trip to Las Vegas was short but sweet.  Next up – Utah!

In this post, I comprehensively compare the Player (P) and Banker (B) events statistics in several different data sets, live and computer generated.

An “event” is a repeating sequence of one side.  A 1s event is a single instance of that side with no repeats afterward, a 2s is two consecutive instances of that side (one repeat), a 3s is three on that side (two repeats), etc.  For example, in the sequence – P BB PP B PPP BBBB P B P – there were for P three 1s (a single P), one 2s (PP), and one 3s (PPP), and for B, two 1s (B), one 2s (BB), no 3s (BBB), and one 4s (BBBB).

I originally examined the ratio of successive events in my 102,600 shoe data set in my post My Baccarat Shoe Factory.  However, that analysis did not distinguish between P and B events, but considered the sum of both P and B events together.  In the following analysis, P and B events are considered separately.

Moreover, as generously provided by a colleague, a new data set of 2,361 live shoes which were manually recorded at land-based casinos is now a part of my data sets.  (We are in the process of collecting 10,000 live shoes.)  In the following analysis, three sets of data are considered:  1) 2,361 Live Shoes, 2) Zumma 600+1000 Shoes, and 3) Virtuoid 1,000,000 Computer Generated Shoes.

Note: for the 2,361 live shoes, all were hand recorded during live play from B&M casinos which use the Shufflemaster shuffle machine, except for a few of the shoes which were hand shuffled.  The B&M casinos are:  Horseshoe, Imperial Palace, Barbary Coast, Emerald Queen, Orleans, Gold Coast, Sunset Station, Tulalip, Green Valley, Harrah’s, Mohegan Sun, and Foxwoods.

The tabulated results of the frequencies and percentages of P and B events are as follows:

1) 2361 Live Shoes:

2) Zumma 600+1000:

3) Virtuoid 1,000,000 Computer Generated Shoes:

For ease of comparison, the B and P Events Percentages for the three data sets are summarized in the next two tables:

Graphical summary plots of the above results are presented in the following charts at various zoom levels.

Overall, the above results verify the following:

1.  Because the B outcome is more likely than the P outcome, longer B events occur more frequently than longer P events, while shorter P events (especially 1s P) occur more frequently than shorter B events.

2.  All data sets, 2361 Live, Zumma 600+1000, and Virtuoid 1,000,000 show significant agreement in event statistics.  This suggests that baccarat shoes played in live land-based casinos are statistically random.  In terms of events statistics, there is no evidence of persistent bias or other unique signature present.  Thus, randomly generated baccarat shoes (with realistic drawing rules) are completely statistically comparable to live shoes in terms of event frequencies.  Hence,  simulations performed with either live or realistically generated shoes should yield the same overall results, and either kind of data set is trustworthy when used as the basis of testing strategies.

Addendum:

The results in the tables of the above analysis counted all events in each shoe and considered each shoe as a closed, separate entity.  For the sake of comparison, the results in the following tables omit the count of the final event in the shoe (ref: see comment below by Rick):

1) 2361 Live Shoes, Omit Final Event:

2) Zumma 600+1000, Omit Final Event:

3) Virtuoid 1,000,000 Computer Generated Shoes, Omit Final Event:

The differences of the percentages of B, P and Total Events between the two cases are given below (Delta = percentages counting all events minus percentages omitting last event):

1) 2361 Live Shoes, Delta Percentages:

2) Zumma 600+1000, Delta Percentages:

3) Virtuoid 1,000,000 Computer Generated Shoes, Delta Percentages:

Addendum:

Following are the statistics for chop events.

Whereas the above events are based on the number of consecutive repeats, the chop event is based on the number of consecutive opposites.  For example, in the sequence BBB PPP, there is one chop event of length 1, since there is one occurrence of an opposite.  As another example, in the sequence BB PP B P B PPP B PP, there is one chop event of length 1, one of 2, and one of  4.

Note: if a chop event at the end of a shoe has not fully completed, it is not counted in the statistics.

Chop event counts:

Chop event percentages:

Follow-opposite set wins are next examined.  For every set of 6 player-banker decisions, there are 5 follows-opposites.  (Follows is synonymous with repeats.)  Either the number of follows or opposites will dominate in each set.  The following table tabulates the number of sets in which follows or opposites dominate (wins).

Statistics for follow-opposite set wins:

Disclaimer: The betting strategies and results presented are for educational and entertainment purposes only. Gambling involves substantial risks, and the odds are not in the player’s favor by design. The author does not state nor imply any system, method, or approach offers users any advantage, and he shall not be held liable under any circumstances for any losses whatsoever.

Talke Photography Settings:

• Camera:  Nikon D300
• Lens: Nikon 12-24 F/4
• Setting: Aperture  Mode
• Focal Length: 13.0mm
• ISO: 200
• Exposure:  HDR 7 exposures (+3 to -3)
• Aperture:  f/11
• Gear:  Tripod
• Post Process: Adobe CS5, HDR Efex Pro, onOne Software Photo Tools 2.6, Nik Silver Efex Pro, Textures

Besides having killer PBR specials all weekend, the girls of Hooters were decked out in PBR swag and Punk Rock Weekend Hooters shirts.

Nice Tattoo…..

Cheers!

Enjoying PBR on the Patio.

We hosted our own Locals Stage on the Patio at Hooters.



The Epitaph Bowling Team…

Be safe out there… enjoy.

Last Saturday I was at the Sunset Station amphitheater for the “People Are Crazy Musicfest” featuring Country Artists, Billy Currington, David Nail, and Mark Wills……The audio rig was from PRG (Production Resource Group) and they brought out the VDOSC rig with a several Yamaha PM5D Consoles and some of the L’Acoustic monitor wedges……..was a long day but everything went well…….below are some picture from throughout the after noon during the soundchecks I took with my Iphone………you can click on the Images to see the full sized pictures…….

This coming weekend, I will be back at The Orleans Showroom on the Monitor Desk doing the Monitors for the legendary R&B group “The Four Tops” for 4 nights, Thursday thru Sunday……..

“(Vocalist) Jani Lane choked the whole show, he was drunk & was boo’d after every song. Severe disappointment. Sunset Station is refunding money from concert because of such a bad show.”

However, nothing on the club’s site indicates this.

Sleaze Roxx, a site that dutifully covers Glam rock, states that Jani Lane was piss-ass drunk and piss-poor on performance. The site reviewed the show this way:

“…not only did Jani Lane fall off the wagon, he smashed the damn thing into a brick f*cking wall and summed up his career in a shaken, drunken, word forgetting debacle that was just embarrassing.”

Wow. All this from their loyal following! Not a good place for the Down Boys to go.

The disgruntled fan’s videotape below shows the proof of Jani’s bad state. It’s a shame. The band itself sounds tight.

Hopefully, Jani Lane will clean up his act. We always liked him here at Powerline. But it looks like there is no Cherry Pie for Jani Lane coming anytime soon.

We started at Sunset Station (where I was this past Christmas), we wanted somewhere with low table minimums that wasn’t going to be crowded and where the dealers wouldn’t mind that I was such a noob.  And it was perfect for that.  Marty gave me some of his money to play and by the end of our time there we were wayyyy ahead.  And it was his money, so he got to keep it all.

Then we thought we would check out similar off-Strip casinos, so we checked out Sam’s Town and Boulder Junction, both on Boulder Highway.  Lame.  Seriously.  No drink waitresses anywhere, so what was the point?

We ended up back on the Strip at Slots-O-Fun, the diviest casino on the strip, where they even had $1 minimum tables.  We played at a $3, and now that I was using my own money, I lost. But I lost my money a lot slower than I would on a slot machine.  And had I played slots or video poker the whole time Marty was there, I would have lost a LOT more.

We were there for hours, drank our money’s worth, ate our 99 cent hot dogs, and our table was filled with Sconnie folks (everyone except the dealer and Marty were from Milwaukee! yay!).  Marty came out ahead, again.

I might try it again, but I’m sort of getting tired of losing money.  But really what else do you do here?  Oh yeah… shopping… and at Target of all places… I had ran in there just to pick up some makeup and maybe a different pair of pants than the ones I brought along, and ended up $140 less but with a sweet brown yummy soft cropped lightweight leather jacket.