Ants on the Melon
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Recently I spent a few days out in Las Vegas and San Francisco. It was my third trip to Vegas this year, and my first trip ever to San Francisco.

I flew out to Vegas to meet up with my dad, step brother and step sister, who were there for NACE, an autobody industry conference that my dad usually attends. We started the trip off by seeing Mystere, a Cirque Du Soleil show at Treasure Island. I saw Varekai earlier this year, so when dad asked about things we could do in Vegas I suggested that we see one of the Cirque shows. As expected, Mystere was incredible. I really have no idea how humans are physically able to do some of the things that are done in a Cirque show, its just amazing.

Scott flew in late that night and I met up with him at the Luxor, where he and I were staying (I won’t bother linking to thee Luxor website, since it is one of the most tacky and outdated sites on the Internet). They didn’t have wireless, but fortunately I brought along my Airport Express and saved the day.

The next day we made the requisite pilgrimage down the Las Vegas strip. It was the first time Scott and Kathryn had been to Vegas, so there was plenty to see, including the fountains at The Bellagio. Afterwards dad took us to his favorite restaurant out there, a little out-of-the-way place called The Tillerman. This was without a doubt one of the most impressive meals I have ever had. If you are ever in Vegas and do not mind spending a little extra on a fantastic meal then be sure to check out The Tillerman. Oh, and make sure to try their Creme Brulee.

Dad, Colin and Kat flew out early the next morning, and Scott and I spent the day roaming around the casinos on the strip. Around dinner we were at MGM Grand, so Scott made reservations for us at the Wolfgang Puck Bar and Grill. We had another terrific meal, and to top it off, Wolfgang himself appeared beside us just as we were finishing our desserts. He stopped long enough to speak to us and shake hands before hurrying off. You never know who you will run into in Vegas.

From Las Vegas I headed over to San Francisco, where I was originally supposed to meet up with this slacker friend of mine. I had never been to San Francisco, or California for that matter, so I was pretty excited about this trip.

You may remember back in July I went up to Austin to see Elana Fremerman play with with Cindy Cashdollar and Doug Davis. While I was there I met Mel Chapman, an extremely nice guy who seemed to be a living encyclopedia for the music that I love. He was visiting Texas from California, and offered to show me around San Francisco if I ever made it out that way. So, when I had secured my plane tickets, I sent an email to Mel to let him know about my trip. Mel pointed me in the direction of an inexpensive and clean hotel in SF, and told me about several music hot spots that he suggested I try to see. I am not sure how the trip would have turned out without all of Mel’s help, but I know I would have been much, much more lost.

On Monday night I decided to head over to Alameda and check out the bluegrass jam session at McGrath’s Irish Pub, which Mel had recommended. I arrived between 8:30 and 9:00, and by that time there were already around 20 musicians gathered in a circle. It had been a long time since I had seen anything like this, and it sounded absolutely terrific. I can remember 4 fiddles, 4 mandolins, at least 6 guitars, 2 banjos, an upright bass, and a guy playing harmonica. I pulled up a bar stool, grabbed a Fat Tire, and listened to some excellent music for the next 2.5 hours.

The next day I decided to drive down to Silicon Valley. I took Highway 101 down there, drove by the Google headquarters, and then found my way over to 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino CA. I went into the retail store they have there and bought some Apple swag, including a couple t-shirts, a mousepad and a pen. Yes, I know that I am a total Mac fanboy, so you can stop telling me now. On the return trip I drove up Interstate 280, which was a complete surprise. Where Highway 101 was mostly commercial, I-280 was almost entirely scenic. It was hard to keep focused on the winding road because I kept looking out the window at the foggy little mountains on the left, and the rolling pastures on the right. After getting closer to the city I spotted an In-n-Out Burger, so I had to stop for a snack. I spent about an hour driving around San Francisco, which only resulted in frustration. I stopped by a few stores, and later that night I walked over to the Fisherman’s Wharf to meet up with some other Rackers who were in town.

The next morning Mel drove down to give me a tour of the city. We started the day by driving over to Berkeley and visiting The 5th String, a music shop with an excellent selection of guitars, mandolins and banjos. We stayed for about half an hour and played many of the instruments before leaving. The 5th String is one of only 5 “Gibson Acoustic Instruments” dealers in the U.S., and with my visit to the Mandolin Brothers store in Staten Island earlier this year, I have now been to 40% of all the places in the U.S. where you can buy a Gibson Mandolin.

After leaving The 5th String, Mel and I headed over to the U.C. Berkeley campus. We walked along Telegraph Street for a while and stopped by Rasputin Music, Amoeba Music, Moe’s Bookstore and several other shops before grabbing a late lunch at an Ethiopian restaurant. Berkeley was pretty much exactly how I expected it to be.

It was 3:30 by this point so it would be getting dark soon. One of the things Mel had suggested that I see was Muir Woods, so we decided to head over there before the park closed. I’ve seen some impressive trees before, but nothing quite like these big boys. Even though the park is only a little over 10 miles from San Francisco, when you are out in the middle of these big trees there is nothing but complete silence. If you didn’t know better, you would never know that you were that close to a major U.S. city. We walked around the park for about 45 minutes (until it got dark), and then headed down to the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of those things that I had always heard about, but I had never really thought much about it. As we drove across the bridge, parked the car, and then walked back across it, I began to realize how incredible it must have been back when it was completed in 1937. The wind was blowing really hard, and there were people bicycling back and forth across the bridge. Every few hundred feet we would stop and look over the edge to see the city lights, and Mel would tell me another interesting fact about the city, or point out some building over in the lighted hills. What an amazing place.

When we left the Golden Gate Mel drove us back into San Francisco where he showed me a few more places around town, including Lombard Street, the “most crooked street in the world.” By this time it was getting to the point where Mel needed to leave to head back to his home. He had driven 2 and a half hours down from his home in Placerville that morning to show me around the city. Mel is one incredibly nice guy and I am truly thankful that he took time to come show me around. I would have certainly missed out on seeing a lot of fascinating things if I did not have him for a guide. Thanks Mel!

While at the Rackspace Halloween party the previous week, Annie told me that I needed to have sushi while I was in San Francisco. This sounded like an extremely good idea, so I asked if she could get the names of some good sushi restaurants. After reviewing the recommendations she gave me, I settled on Ebisu and started the drive over there.

And I drove.

And I drove some more.

And I got lost.

And I ended up on some hilltop.

And I backtracked.

And I got really hungry.

And I began yelling at stop lights, and curvy roads, and hills, and cautious drivers.

After what seemed like an hour, I finally found the restaurant.

Whew.

(According to Google Maps, this should have been a simple 11 minute drive. I would have taken this route if only I had known about it. The hotel did not have wireless, so I was stuck with only my imagination and a car — apparently a noxious combination in SF.)

Once inside Ebisu I sat down at the bar and began looking at the menu. The Itamae was extremely friendly and chatted with me the entire time I was there. I started with a Boston Roll, and it was without question the best roll I have ever had. The six pieces disappeared much faster than I was expecting, so I looked at the menu again and asked for the 49er Roll. From my seat at the end of the bar I could see everything the Itamae was doing and it was so fascinating. In the same way that I can spend hours watching construction machinery move materials around and dig holes, I could have sat there the entire night and watched him transform the raw ingredients into the works of art that everyone was enjoying. Even considering the expensive food I had the previous days in Las Vegas, this $16 dinner was one of the best meals I could remember.

As I left the restaurant and began walking back to the car, I thought that it would be absolutely perfect if I could find a little coffee shop to stop in for a while and check my email. Well, wouldn’t you know there would be an incredible little place called The Canvas Gallery on the next corner! As I walked by the window I could see several Apple laptops inside, so I knew I was at home. Outside the door there were couches with several people playing guitar and hanging out, and I wondered why you don’t see that in more places. Inside there was an area where a bunch of people were playing cards, and another area where lots of people were listening to a girl sing and play the guitar. I found a table near all the other computer users and opened up my laptop. In San Antonio (and most places, for that matter), I have become used to having to pay for wireless access at coffee shops, airports, etc. So, it was really nice when I joined the Canvas wireless network to see a message that simply said “The Canvas Network: Help Support FREE WiFi – Get a coffee once in a while.” I experienced the Apple brotherhood, stayed for about an hour, and then finally accepted that there was no way to avoid it: I was going to have to drive back to the hotel.

The next morning I awoke with the sad realization that my trip was over, and that I had 2.5 hours to get ready and to find my way to the Oakland airport. It felt like I had just arrived and that there was so much more that I needed to see and do. Sigh.

Oh well, one day.

My former home city is in pretty rough shape right now. I hope all my friends there are safe. If anyone from there reads this please comment here or email me and let me know where you are and the status of things.

There are a lot of news articles out there, but most are reporting the same stuff. Wikipedia has a page about Hurricane Katrina and one covering the aftermath; it is being updated as new information is available. I have not been able to watch any television footage, so when I finally saw a picture of the city it was shocking. Ken just sent me a link to some more pictures, I seriously can not imagine what the city must be like right now.

The Governor has declared martial law in Jefferson Parish to try to curb rampant looting. Quoting Wikipedia:

Though “martial law” doesn’t technically exist in Louisiana jurisprudence, the declaration of a state of emergency gives authorities wide latitude in suspsending civil liberties to mitigate the effects of a disaster.

I really don’t know what to say, this whole thing has be quite disturbed. The first time I ever felt “homesick” was when left New Orleans to move back home to Virginia. I love that city like my home.

Update 1: Apparently DirectNIC is based in New Orleans, and they are still online and operating. The company’s “crisis manager” has been keeping a frequently updated journal/blog of the situation in the city. He is also broadcasting a live webcam feed.

Update 2: Sarah sent me several links to pictures that her friends have taken of uptown New Orleans, mostly along St. Charles Ave: before and after pictures, uptown hurricane damage and flooding. Also, I am working with Robbie on shareyourhome.org, a site to help people find temporary places to stay.

Last weekend, after spending a few days working in Reno, I flew out to Las Vegas to meet up with Andrew, Gerard, and Ben. I was out there two weeks earlier, so I had a pretty good idea of the layout of the town, and felt pretty comfortable getting around.

We stayed at the MGM Grand on the strip, which was really nice (the water in the bathrub actually drained faster than it was coming in – a Las Vegas rarity!). I stayed there when I went to Vegas with my family back in 1995 a year or two after it opened as the largest hotel in the U.S..

Saturday night we had dinner at some ye olde restuarant at The Excalibur. It was an extremely good meal, and for the first time that I can remember, I was the only person at the table who actually finished eating everything I ordered. We finished out the night by wandering around, occasionally playing blackjack, and eventually crashing around 4:30 or 5:00.

The next day we decided to take a trip to downtown Las Vegas. We spent a some time at the $3 blackjack tables at Binion’s, saw the sights, and eventually caught a cab back to the strip. Simply put, don’t ask questions when you meet someone from Eritrea.

All of our flights were delayed that night, and I ended up getting home around 6:30 Monday morning, just in time to completely pass out on my bed. I’ve been struggling to recover all week, which is why I am just now posting an update.

Earlier this week Slashdot covered a story about technology and security in Las Vegas. Interesting stuff, and it really makes you wonder what they aren’t telling.

To sum it all up, I love Las Vegas and am ready to go back whenever you are.

I made it out to Reno today around noon, and will be very busy for the next few days. I’ll be here until Saturday, at which point I will be flying down to Las Vegas to meet up with Andrew, Gerard and Ben for a couple days. WOO!

Two years ago today I started work at Rackspace, it is hard to believe it has been that long.

After 3 days of talks and general craziness, DefCon 13 came to a close yesterday. After the closing ceremonies we headed over to In-N-Out Burger for dinner. I had never eaten there before, but I must say it was pretty good. Richard has a picture of my first bite of the burger. We spent the next half hour in the blistering sun trying to get a cab, and wishing we had skipped the milkshakes.

Next, my gracious tour guides took me to downtown Vegas where I was able to see The Golden Nugget, Binions, and eat a deep fried Twinkie. After watching for a while, I got in on a couple games of blackjack and ended up $40 ahead, which made it $80 for the trip, so I was happy. We saw some more sights and headed back to the strip, specifically to Mandalay Bay and The Luxor. The engineering and wow-factor of all these places is amazing, everything is enormous!

I’m heading back to the airport in about 4 hours, so the trip is almost over, but it has been a lot of fun. I will be back out here in 2 weeks to meet up with some friends from college and I can’t wait!

Yesterday at DefCon there were a few interesting sessions, but the my favorite of the day was the Introduction to Lockpicking and Physical Security. It was interesting to see how insanely easy it is for someone to unlock a lock within seconds. The only other session I thought was really interesting was the Be Your Own Telephone Company…With Asterisk talk. I’d like to try setting up an Asterisk PBX sometime soon.

Yesterday I ended up hanging out with Dirk and Richard for most of the day. We met up with some friends of theirs for dinner at Wolfgang Puck‘s Bar and Grill at the MGM Grand. I had the Mustard Glazed Salmon with Warm Potato, Granny Smith Apples, and Watercress, and it was excellent. I ate to the point of discomfort, which is not something I often say. After dinner we walked around for a while and saw the sites. Dirk and Richard taught me a lot about blackjack during the night and after several hours of watching and asking questions, I finally decided I was ready to give it a try. I decided that $20 was all I was willing to put on the line, so at a $5 table I got $20 worth of chips and began playing. I was never down, and after about 30 or 45 minutes I had $60 worth of chips. At this point I decided it would be a good idea to cash out and quit while I was ahead.

Las Vegas reminds me a lot of New Orleans because it is very easy to loose track of time if you are not paying attention. I made it back to my room around 5:30, and I didn’t even feel tired. I think I like this town.

So I arrived in Las Vegas today for DefCon 13. It’s been 10 years since I was last out here, and the town has grown quite a bit since then. We are staying at the Sahara Las Vegas, which seems pretty decent. I spent most of the day wandering around with some friends. After only 4 hours of sleep last night, I’m exhausted.

The conference starts tomorrow, and I am pretty excited. I registered today and bought a t-shirt. This will be the first industry conference I have attended, so I am looking forward to meeting some people. The conference ends on Sunday and we are heading back to San Antonio late Monday night. It should be an interesting few days…

So I played tour guide over the weekend while my mom and her cousin came to visit me from Virginia. I took them to some of my favorite restaurants in San Antonio, including Rosario’s, Blue Star, Liberty Bar, Chris Madrid’s and Adelante.

On Saturday I took them to Boerne, Gruene and New Braunfels, and then they wanted to shop at the San Marcos outlet malls, so I dropped them off there and went back down to Gruene for a while.

I was able to catch about 5 minutes of the Carper, Floyd, Wilson show at Gruene Hall on Saturday, but it was fantastic. The band was made up of a stand-up bass player, a guitarist, and a Grisman-like mandolin player. While I was there they played “Friend of the Devil”, which is one of my favorite songs anyway, especially the Garcia and Grisman rendition. These guys did a terrific job as well, but that was the last song I was able to hear.

Oh, and I finally bought my tickets for this years Austin City Limits Music Festival that is coming up in September. I’m especially looking forward to seeing Mofro, The South Austin Jug Band, John Prine, and Wayne Hancock.

Here I am at Starbucks, it’s 10pm on a Monday night, and some hippies are just hanging out with a baby here. It won’t stop crying. Wonder why.

Ok, so it’s been a week and a half since I last posted anything. I’ve been really busy, and haven’t been in the writing mood. Anyway, here’s the news…

Friday, June 1 was my last day with the CORE Team. I was with the group for almost 2 years and I enjoyed working there, but it was time for something new. Last Monday I started at my new position (still at Rackspace) where I will eventually be administering the DNS servers. This is much closer to what I am interested in, and I am excited to have the opportunity to work on something like this.

Last Saturday I went to see War of the Worlds with some friends. I was really disappointed with the movie. That’s all I’ll say about that.

On Sunday Brandon and I went over to Pepper and Ethan’s house to play nickel-and-dime poker. I had never played poker before, but I can totally see how that could become addictive. I think I ended the night down a dollar or two, which bothered me enough to know that I would never want to seriously gamble. Speaking of that…

This week I bought plane tickets to go to DefCon, which is in Las Vegas from July 28 – August 1. DefCon is the big hacker conference where all sorts of interesting ideas make their way to the public. I know of 6 friends that will be out there for the conference, so it should be a good time. I’ll be back in Vegas 2 weeks later for my college roomate’s bachelor party, after spending 3 days in Reno to work. On the subject of travel, I bought plane tickets this week to go to Tampa, Fl to visit Sarah. I’ll be out there Sept 9 – 12.

On July 4th I played music with Evan and Issac for a couple hours, and then headed over to Brett‘s house for the pool party. After 5 or 6 hours in the pool and hot tub, I was exhausted. I went home and crashed early that night.

Tuesday Brandon come over for cigars and movies. We watched two more episodes of Band of Brothers. We have watched through episode 7 now, and I’m really into it. Winters and Spears are my favorites so far, and Lipton is pretty cool as well. We’ve got 4 more episodes to go.

On Wednesday I went over to Issac’s for the Wednesday Night Dinner and had a great time. I took Crawfish Etouffee and rice, which tasted pretty damn good if I do say so myself. Evan, Issac and I played music for the crowd for almost an hour, including a soon-to-be-famous acoustic version of “Ice Ice Baby.”

Thursday I had to relax after being social for like 10 days straight. But it started all over on Friday night…

A few months ago when Chris was in town a bunch of people showed up at Rebar to hang out and catch up with him. I ended up talking with his friend Isaac quite a bit that night, and I remembered that he mentioned something about Wednesday Night Dinner. That was all I had heard about it until last night.

Chris is back in town this week, and he got a bunch of people together at Gruene Hall last night for the live DVD that Two Tons of Steel was recording. Isaac was there again and was telling us the story behind the WND. Apparently some people in Austin started the original Wednesday Night Dinner as a way to meet friends of friends, enjoy music, art, and of course, good food. Isaac started up the WND thing in San Antonio earlier this year, and last night he invited us to come over. Everyone brings something: food, drinks, supplies, or if you are Brett, cigarettes. Music is also a big part of the night, so he suggested that I come prepared to play something.

Lately I’ve been trying to make an effort to meet more people outside of work, so this sounded like a good opportunity. After work I stopped and bought some red beans & rice mix and a jalapeno smoked sausage, headed home and cooked it up. I showed up at their place around 9 (when things were supposed to get started) with the beans, my guitar, and my mandolin. Pretty much everyone was there by the time I arrived, which was great because I only knew like 3 or 4 people to begin with. Immediately it was time to eat, and let me just say how great it was to see some real food on the table. Green bean casserole, another type of bean casserole, and about 6 or 7 other types of casseroles (it was casserole night, if you didn’t pick that up). I ate a plateful of casserole and loved it. I topped it off with some sort of Oreo and whipped cream dessert, at Richard‘s recommendation. Whoa, it was all good.

Once the eating slowed down it was time for music. There were several guitar players there, so I grabbed my mandolin and handed my guitar to someone else. We played some Gourds songs (El Paso, Gin and Juice, and Ants on the Melon, of course), Friend of the Devil, and a few other things for about 20 minutes or so until some of the other musicians wanted to play stuff from other genres. That was cool too, because I wanted to hang out with people anyway. The rest of the guys continued to play on and off for the next 3+ hours, and it was fantastic. I really enjoyed just sitting back and listening to the music.

I guess around 20 people showed up this week, maybe more, but overall it was a great night. I hope to attend the WND as often as possible from now on, it’s just the type of social gathering I like: laid back with good food, good music and good people.