It’s a Saturday night in lockdown London and I have nothing better to do other than research some tea on our Bravo housewives and rewatch classic reruns of the Real Housewives of Atlanta (season 3 is HISTORY). Kim Zolciak became the subject of my research (well, more like digging) and I noticed she was consistently linked to rumours of having a gambling addiction. Unfortunately, the Daily Mail seemed to be the only other source which obtained a detailed amount of information, primarily from Don’t Be Tardy S08E03 ‘Nirvana, Nevada’ (I can’t believe this show has 8 seasons?). I was curious, so I streamed the episode. When the Biermann family first arrived on an RV road trip to Las Vegas, their suite was luxurious and spacious. Kim quickly went on to mention she’d barely be in the room because she knew she wouldn’t sleep and instead, spend all night long in the casino. Well, she was right. Long story short, Kim shows all signs of having a severe gambling addiction. She sacrificed 11 hours of sleep (and it didn’t seem like a sufficient amount of time for her) choosing to stay up all night (from an RV road trip with her family to Las Vegas) switching from the gaming machines, poker, cards — anything that was gambling. Brielle didn’t get any sleep either and kept Kim company all night. In the show, Kim was seen throwing $100 in the machines repeatedly. Kroy had a strict curfew of their RV to departure LV at 08:00 to visit the Grand Canyon. It was 07:58 and Kim’s eyes were hypnotised by the slot machines and she was snappy to anyone (Kroy) that reminded her that they’d have to leave soon. Understandably, he was getting frustrated. She referred to gambling as her ‘therapy’ and a ‘slice of heaven’. Kroy said he doesn’t know any therapist that would recommend 11 hours spent on an activity. Sources are saying she has spent about $250,000 on gambling and is therefore likely to be crippling in debt. Kim reportedly then went onto purchase thousand dollar scratch cards. The producers asked Kim’s younger children (sorry, I don’t know their names but they seemed maybe age 5 and 8?) if they knew what Kim was doing. Her child responded ‘yes, it’s where she goes to get money.’ At the end of the episode, the producers also asked if Kim managed to win big — or leave empty handed. She hesitated and then said neither, she’s more or less the same in terms of her financial status. Kroy snorted and then Kim looked away from the camera and drank from a red cup. Side note: Brielle questioned if a rock formation within the canyon was a volcano, to which her mother responded, “Just be pretty, honey.” TL:DR: Kim a history of a gambling addiction and this is evident on S08E03 Don’t Be Tardy. I watched, so you don’t have to. She’s fixated on gambling and spent 11 hours with Brielle doing it, it’s her main focus of the trip to Las Vegas. Her husband is finding difficulty controlling her habits and she cannot balance her family time and her gambling time. It seems as if she lost more than she won and reportedly has a debt of $250,000. EDIT: thank you so much for the award! 🤗❤️
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TEKK - Tekkorp Digital Acquisition Corp: Who's Who of Gaming Mgmt Teams!
Team has been involved in a substantial number of the digital media, sports, entertainment, leisure and gaming industries’ most significant merger and acquisition transactions, holding key positions at, and transacting with Scientific Games Corp, Inspired Gaming Group, FOX Bets, Ocean Casino Resort, Resorts International Holdings, PokerStars, DraftKings, Mohegan Sun, Caesars Entertainment Corporation, Harrah’s Entertainment,Tropicana Entertainment, Inc., TSG/Sky Betting & Gaming, Facebook, Inc, Wynn Resorts, Dubai World/MGM Resorts Here's all the Bios. These guys are stellar! TEKK closed at $10.30 today. Still cheap! If you don't like to read... you don't like to make money!!!! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matthew Davey — Chief Executive Officer and Director Mr. Davey has over 25 years of experience within the digital media, sports, entertainment, leisure and gaming ecosystems, as well as experience in the public sector. He is an experienced public company executive officer and board member. He has served in executive management positions across the gaming technology arena. Over the course of Mr. Davey’s career, he oversaw more than ten mergers and acquisitions and over $1.2 billion in debt and equity capital raised to support the companies he has led. Most recently, Mr. Davey was Chief Executive Officer of SG Digital, the Digital Division of Scientific Games Corp. (“Scientific Games”) (Nasdaq: SGMS). SG Digital was established following the purchase by Scientific Games of NYX Gaming Group Limited (“NYX”) (formerly TSXV: NYX), where Mr. Davey served as Chief Executive Officer and Director. The NYX acquisition provided Scientific Games with a vehicle to significantly accelerate the scale and breadth of its existing digital gaming business, including the strategic expansion into sports betting. In his capacity as Chief Executive Officer of NYX, Mr. Davey developed and implemented a corporate strategy that generated strong revenue growth. Mr. Davey shaped company strategy to focus on digital gaming supplier platforms and content that provided various gaming operators with the underlying gaming and sports betting systems for their online gaming business. In 2014, Mr. Davey oversaw the initial public offering of NYX, and his experience in the digital media, sports, entertainment, leisure and gaming industries helped NYX recognize momentum as a public company. After the public offering, from 2014 to 2018, Mr. Davey oversaw seven acquisitions which helped establish NYX as one of the fastest growing global B2B real-money digital gaming and sports betting platforms. These acquisitions included: • OpenBet: In 2016, NYX completed the $385 million acquisition of OpenBet. This was one of the more complex and transformative acquisitions that Mr. Davey oversaw at NYX. Through securing co-investments from William Hill (LSE: WMH), Sky Betting & Gaming and The Stars Group (formerly Nasdaq: TSG, TSX: TSGI), Mr. Davey was able to get the acquisition from Vitruvian Partners completed successfully, winning the deal against much larger and well capitalized competitors. By combining two established and proven B2B betting and gaming suppliers, NYX was well positioned to provide customers with exciting player-driven solutions across all major product verticals and distribution channels. This allowed NYX to become the leading B2B omni-channel sportsbook platform in the market and the supplier to over 300 gaming operators globally with an extensive library of desktop and mobile game titles, including more than 700 on NYX platforms and more than 2,000 on the OpenBet platform. • Cryptologic/Chartwell: In 2015, NYX completed the $119 million acquisition of Cryptologic and Chartwell. The acquisition provided NYX with more than 400 titles of additional leading gaming content, a broader customer base, and direct exposure to PokerStars and Intercasino, part of the Gamesys Group (LSE: GYS) — two of the world’s largest online casino offerings. • OnGame: In 2014, NYX completed the distressed acquisition of OnGame, a premier poker content, platform and service provider. This acquisition provided NYX with one of the best poker products in the industry, access to several regulated jurisdictions, and a valuable talent pool that was instrumental in the growth of NYX. The addition of OnGame further established a path for NYX to continue its growth in both European and U.S. markets. These acquisitions, together with meaningful organic growth, increased NYX’s revenue from $24 million in 2014 to $184 million annualized in 2017. During that time, Mr. Davey helped build NYX to have over 200 customers in the global gaming industry and a team of 1,000 employees. Mr. Davey’s success at NYX ultimately led to its sale to Scientific Games for $631 million in 2018. Mr. Davey joined Next Gen Gaming, the predecessor to NYX, in 2000 as the Vice President of Technology, was appointed as Executive Director in 2003 and named Chief Executive Officer in 2005. Prior to that, he was the Senior Consultant for Access Systems, a company that specializes in the provision of back-end software for licensed online casinos. Prior to joining Access, Mr. Davey worked for the Northern Territory Government specializing in matters pertaining to the internet and e-commerce along with roles in the Department of Racing and Gaming. Mr. Davey received a Bachelor of Electrical & Electronic Engineering from Northern Territory University, Australia (also known as Charles Darwin University). Robin Chhabra — President Mr. Chhabra has been at the forefront of corporate acquisition activity within the digital gaming landscape for over a decade. His prior experience includes leading corporate strategy, M&A, and business development at two of the global leaders in the digital gaming industry, The Stars Group (“TSG”) and William Hill, and a leading supplier, Inspired Gaming Group (Nasdaq: INSE). Mr. Chhabra served on the Group Executive Committees of each of these companies. From 2017 to May 2020, Mr. Chhabra served as Chief Corporate Development Officer at TSG and, from 2019 to August 2020, he also served as the Chief Executive Officer of Fox Bet, a leading U.S. online gaming business which is the product of a landmark partnership between TSG and FOX Sports, a transaction which he led. During that period, Mr. Chhabra led several transactions which transformed TSG into the largest publicly listed online gambling operator in the world by both revenue and market capitalization and one of the most diversified from a product and geographic perspective with revenues of over $2.5 billion. Mr. Chhabra’s M&A experience is extensive and covers multiple global geographies across the digital gaming value chain and includes the following: • TSG/Flutter Entertainment Merger: In 2019, Mr. Chhabra led the TSG M&A team that was responsible for TSG’s $12.2 billion merger with Flutter Entertainment (LSE: FLTR). The merger between TSG and Flutter Entertainment is the largest transaction in the digital gaming industry to date. The combination created the largest publicly listed online gaming company with approximately 13 million active customers and leading product offerings, which include sports betting, online casino, fantasy sports and poker. The combined entity includes some of the world’s most iconic digital gaming brands such as Fanduel, Fox Bet, Sky Bet, PaddyPower, Betfair, PokerStars and SportsBet. TSG/Flutter Entertainment is one of the most geographically diverse digital gaming and media companies with leading positions in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Germany and Georgia. • TSG/Sky Betting and Gaming (“SBG”): In 2018, Mr. Chhabra led the acquisition of SBG from CVC Capital Partners and Sky plc, Europe’s largest media company, in a transaction valued at $4.7 billion. At the time of the acquisition SBG was the largest mobile gambling operator in the United Kingdom and one of the fastest growing of the major operators having doubled its online market share in three years. The acquisition of SBG provided TSG with (a) greater revenue diversification, significantly enhanced expertise and exposure to sports betting just ahead of the judicial overturn of The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) by the U.S. Supreme Court, (b) a leading position within the United Kingdom, the world’s largest regulated online gaming market, (c) improved products and technology as a result of the addition of SBG’s innovative casino and sports book offerings and a portfolio of popular mobile apps, and (d) expertise in deeply integrating sports betting with leading sports media companies, positioning TSG to create more engaging content, deliver faster growth and decrease customer acquisition costs. • William Hill (LSE: WMH): At William Hill, from 2010 to 2017, Mr. Chhabra served as Group Director of Strategy and Corporate Development where he led several transactions which contributed to William Hill’s transformation from a land-based gambling operator in the United Kingdom to a leading online-led international business. Mr. Chhabra led William Hill’s entry into the U.S. sports betting and online lottery markets with the acquisition of four businesses, including the simultaneous acquisitions of three U.S. sportsbooks, Cal Neva, American Wagering and Brandywine Bookmaking, in 2011 for an aggregate purchase price of $55 million. These businesses ultimately led William Hill to achieve a leading position in the U.S. sports betting market with a market share of 24% in 2019. Additionally, Mr. Chhabra played a key role in structuring William Hill’s successful joint venture with PlayTech Plc (LSE: PTEC) in 2008. The combined entity created one of the largest online gambling businesses in Europe at the time of its formation and led to William Hill’s buyout of Playtech’s interest for $637 million in 2013. Prior to the transaction, William Hill had struggled in its attempt to establish a strong online gaming platform and a meaningful presence outside the United Kingdom. Mr. Chhabra has also successfully completed four transactions worth over $1.2 billion in Australia, the world’s second largest regulated online gambling market, and various partnerships in Asia. Additionally, he completed several technology and media related transactions, including William Hill’s investment in NYX, where he worked with Mr. Davey on NYX’s transformational acquisition of OpenBet. Prior to working in the gaming sector, Mr. Chhabra was an equities analyst and a management consultant. Mr. Chhabra received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Eric Matejevich — Chief Financial Officer Mr. Matejevich is a seasoned gaming executive with extensive experience in both the online gaming and traditional casino industries. From February to August 2019, he served as Trustee and Interim-Chief Executive Officer of Ocean Casino Resort (“Ocean”) (formerly Revel Casino, which had a construction cost of $2.4 billion) in Atlantic City, where he successfully led the management team through an ownership change and operational turnaround effort. Over the course of seven months, Mr. Matejevich managed to reduce the property’s weekly cash burn of $1.5 million to an annualized cash flow run rate in excess of $20 million. Prior to Ocean, from 2016 to 2018, Mr. Matejevich served as the Chief Financial Officer of NYX. At NYX, he focused his efforts on integrating the company’s many acquisitions and multiple debt refinancings to simplify its capital structure and provided liquidity for growth initiatives. Additionally, Mr. Matejevich was instrumental to the executive team that sold NYX to Scientific Games for $631 million. Prior to NYX, from 2004 to 2014, Mr. Matejevich was the Chief Financial Officer of Resorts International Holdings and later, from 2011, also the Chief Operating Officer of the Atlantic Club Casino, a property under the Resorts International Holdings umbrella — a Colony Capital (NYSE: CLNY) entity. As Chief Financial Officer, he provided managerial oversight for all finance functions for a six-property casino company with annual gaming revenue exceeding $1.3 billion, 10,000 gaming positions, 7,000 hotel rooms and over 11,000 staff members during his tenure. Mr. Matejevich led the transition effort to integrate a four-casino, $1.3 billion acquisition from Harrah’s Entertainment and Caesars Entertainment (Nasdaq: CZR). As Chief Operating Officer of Atlantic Club, he lobbied for and was successful in obtaining the first internet gaming legislation passed in the United States. The Atlantic Club was the sole New Jersey casino proponent of the legislation. Prior to serving in various gaming positions, Mr. Matejevich was a Vice President of High Yield Research for Merrill Lynch, where he managed the corporate bond research effort for the gaming and leisure sectors and marketed high yield and other debt transactions totaling $4.8 billion. Mr. Matejevich received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from The College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. Our Board of Directors Morris Bailey — Chairman Over the past 10 years, Mr. Bailey has been a leader in turning around Atlantic City, as well as being among the first gaming executives to embrace online gaming and sports betting in the United States. In his efforts, Mr. Bailey partnered with two of the largest digital gaming companies in the world, PokerStars, part of the Stars Group, and DraftKings (Nasdaq: DKNG). In 2010, Mr. Bailey bought Resorts Atlantic City (“Resorts”) and initiated a comprehensive renovation which allowed for the property to be rebranded and repositioned. In 2012, Mr. Bailey signed an agreement with Mohegan Sun to manage the day-to-day operations of the casino. In addition to Mohegan Sun’s operational expertise and ability to reduce costs via economies of scale, Resorts gained access to their robust customer database. Soon thereafter, Mr. Bailey and his team focused on bringing online gaming to the property. In 2015, Resorts established a platform to engage in online gaming by partnering with PokerStars, now part of the $24 billion Flutter Entertainment, PLC (LSE: FLTR), to operate an online poker room in Atlantic City. In 2018, Resorts announced deals with DraftKings and SBTech to open a sportsbook on-property and online. For 2020 year-to-date, Resorts has performed in the top quartile in internet gross gaming revenue in New Jersey. Mr. Bailey’s efforts in New Jersey helped set the framework for expansion of online sports and gaming throughout the United States. In addition to his gaming interests, Mr. Bailey has over 50 years of experience in all facets of real estate development, asset M&A, capital markets and operations and is the founder, Chief Executive Officer and Principal of JEMB Realty, a leading real estate development, investment and management organization. Mr. Bailey has notable investment experience within the energy, finance and telecommunications sectors through investments in the Astoria Energy Plant, Basis Investment Group and Xentris Wireless. Tony Rodio — Director Nominee Mr. Rodio has nearly four decades of experience in the gaming industry. Most recently, Mr. Rodio served as the Chief Executive Officer and director of Caesars Entertainment Corporation (“Caesars”) (Nasdaq: CZR), one of the world’s most diversified casino-entertainment providers and the most geographically diverse U.S. casino-entertainment company, from April 2019 until its acquisition by Eldorado Resorts, Inc. in July 2020. Mr. Rodio led Caesars through its $17.3 billion merger with Eldorado Resorts, one of the largest transactions in the gaming industry to date. Additionally, Mr. Rodio was instrumental to Caesars’ expansion into the digital gaming industry and oversaw the implementation of new digital segments such as its Scientific Games powered retail sportsbook solution that now operates in various states throughout the U.S. From October 2018 to May 2019, Mr. Rodio served as Chief Executive Officer of Affinity Gaming. Prior to Affinity Gaming, he served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Tropicana Entertainment, Inc. (“Tropicana”) for over seven years, where he was responsible for the operation of eight casino properties in seven different jurisdictions. During his time at Tropicana, Mr. Rodio oversaw a period of unprecedented growth at the company, improving overall financial results with net revenue that increased more than 50% driven by both operational improvements and expansion across regional markets. Mr. Rodio led major capital projects, including the complete renovation of Tropicana Atlantic City and Tropicana’s move to land-based operations in Evansville, Indiana. Each of these initiatives, among others, generated substantial value for Tropicana. Ultimately, Mr. Rodio’s efforts at Tropicana led to its sale to Eldorado Resorts in 2018 for $1.85 billion. Prior to Tropicana, Mr. Rodio held a succession of executive positions in Atlantic City for casino brands, including Trump Marina Hotel Casino, Harrah’s Entertainment (predecessor to Caesars), the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort and Penn National Gaming. He has also served as a director of several professional and charitable organizations, including Atlantic City Alliance, United Way of Atlantic County, the Casino Associations of New Jersey and Indiana, AtlantiCare Charitable Foundation and the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming Hospitality & Tourism. Mr. Rodio brings extensive knowledge of and experience in the gaming industry, operational expertise, and a demonstrated ability to effectively design and implement company strategy. Mr. Rodio received a Bachelor of Science from Rider University and a Master of Business Administration from Monmouth University. Marlon Goldstein — Director Nominee Mr. Goldstein is a licensed attorney with nearly 20 years of experience in the gaming space. He joined The Stars Group (Nasdaq: TSG)(TSX: TSGI) in January 2014 as its Executive Vice-President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary until his retirement from the company in July 2020 following the merger of TSG with Flutter Entertainment, PLC (LSE: FLTR). Mr. Goldstein also previously served as the Executive Vice-President, Corporate Development and General Counsel of TSG. Mr. Goldstein was also the senior TSG executive based in the United States and was one of the primary architects of TSG’s strategic vision for its U.S.-facing business. During his tenure, TSG grew from an approximately $500 million market-cap company to an approximately $7 billion market-cap company through a combination of organic growth and strategic mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Goldstein participated in numerous M&A transactions and capital markets offerings at TSG, including several transformational transactions in the digital gaming industry. Notable transactions in which Mr. Goldstein was involved include: • TSG/Flutter Merger: In 2019, TSG merged with Flutter for a $12.2 billion transaction value, the largest transaction in the digital gaming industry to date. • TSG/Fox Bet Partnership: In 2019, TSG entered into a partnership with FOX Sports to create FOX Bet in the U.S., a leading U.S. online gaming business. Wall Street Research estimates an approximate $1.1 billion valuation for Fox Bet post-partnership with The Stars Group. • TSG/Sky Betting & Gaming: In 2018, TSG acquired Sky Betting & Gaming, the largest mobile gambling operator in the United Kingdom at the time, for $4.7 billion. • TSG/CrownBet and William Hill: In 2018, TSG simultaneously acquired CrownBet and William Hill, two Australian operators, for a total of $621 million in a multi-part transaction. • TSG/PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker: In 2014, TSG acquired The Rational Group, which operated PokerStars and Full Tilt and was the world’s largest poker business, for $4.9 billion. Through his ability to legally structure large and complex transactions, Mr. Goldstein was integral to TSG’s vision of becoming a full-service online gaming company. Additionally, he assisted in structuring TSG’s capital markets activity, which generated liquidity for acquisitions and strengthened its balance sheet. Prior to joining TSG, Mr. Goldstein was a principal shareholder in the corporate and securities practice at the international law firm of Greenberg Traurig P.A., where he practiced for almost 13 years. Mr. Goldstein’s practice focused on corporate and securities matters, including mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, and financing transactions. Additionally, Mr. Goldstein was the founder and co-chair of the firm’s Gaming Practice, a multi-disciplinary team of attorneys representing owners, operators and developers of gaming facilities, manufacturers and suppliers of gaming devices, investment banks and lenders in financing transactions, and Indian tribes in the development and financing of gaming facilities. Mr. Goldstein brings experience and insight that we believe will be valuable to a potential initial business combination target business. Mr. Goldstein received a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in accounting from Emory University and a Juris Doctorate with highest honors from the University of Florida, College of Law. Sean Ryan — Director Nominee Mr. Ryan is a digital media and technology operator with extensive global experience in online payments, e-commerce, marketplaces, mobile ad networks, digital games, enterprise collaboration platforms, blockchain, real money gaming and online music. Since 2014, Mr. Ryan has been serving as Vice President of Business Platform Partnerships at Facebook, Inc. (“Facebook”) (Nasdaq: FB), where he leads a more than 500 person global organization that manages the Payments, Commerce, Novi/Blockhain, Workplace and Audience Network businesses. Prior to his current role, Mr. Ryan was hired in 2011 as the Director of Games Partnerships to lead and grow the global Games business at Facebook. While the Director of Games Partnerships, Mr. Ryan focused on re-shaping Facebook’s games and monetization strategies to derive more value for Facebook, its users and its partners, including the addition of a Real Money Gaming offering in regulated markets. Mr. Ryan’s team helped accelerate a major trend in engagement through cross-platform games and therefore the opportunity to increase users through establishing games on multiple platforms. Prior to joining Facebook, Mr. Ryan created the new social and mobile games division at News Corp, an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by Rupert Murdoch. While at News Corp, Mr. Ryan led the acquisition of Making Fun, a San Francisco social-game start-up, that created News Corp’s games publishing division. Before joining News Corp., Mr. Ryan founded multiple digital businesses such as Twofish, Meez, Open Wager and SingShot Media. Mr. Ryan co-founded Twofish in 2009, a virtual goods and services platform that provided developers with data analytics and insights for individual application’s digital economies. Twofish was later sold to online payments provider Live Gamer, where Mr. Ryan served on the board of directors. From 2005 to 2008, Mr. Ryan founded and led Meez.com, a social entertainment service combining avatars, web games and virtual worlds. The white label social casino gaming company Open Wager was spun out of Meez and was later sold to VGW Holdings, Mr. Ryan also co-founded SingShot Media, an online karaoke community, which was sold to Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: EA) and merged into its Sims division. We believe Mr. Ryan’s experience will be valuable to a potential initial business combination target and would provide an expanded perspective on the digital gaming landscape. Mr. Ryan received a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California, Los Angeles. Tom Roche — Director Nominee Mr. Roche has more than 40 years of experience in the gaming industry as a regulator, advisor and independent auditor. Mr. Roche joined Ernst & Young (“EY”) as a partner in 2003 and opened its Las Vegas office. He was subsequently appointed as the Office Managing Partner and Global Gaming Industry Market Leader. In 2016, Mr. Roche relocated to the EY Hong Kong office to supervise the expansion of the EY Global Gaming Industry practice in the Asia Pacific region. Mr. Roche has been integral to numerous transactions that have shaped the current gaming landscape, including: • Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN) initial public offering: Mr. Roche was the lead partner on Wynn Resort’s initial public offering, which raised $450 million in 2002. • Harrah’s Entertainment/Apollo Management Group & Texas Pacific Group: Mr. Roche headed the regulatory advisory services on the buyout of Harrah’s Entertainment, the world’s largest casino company at the time, for $17.1 billion. • Dubai World/MGM Resorts: Mr. Roche headed the regulatory and due diligence advisory services to Dubai World in its approximately $5.1 billion investment in MGM. Dubai World bought 28.4 million MGM shares, or 9.5 percent of the casino operator, for $2.4 billion. It then invested $2.7 billion to acquire a 50% stake in MGM’s CityCenter Project, a $7.4 billion 76-acre Las Vegas development of hotels, condos and retail outlets. • MGM Growth Properties (NYSE: MGP) initial public offering: Mr. Roche provided tax and structural transaction services to MGM Resorts in the creation of MGM Growth Properties, a publicly traded REIT engaged in the acquisition, ownership and leasing of large-scale destination entertainment and leisure resorts. MGM Growth Properties raised $1.05 billion in its 2016 initial public offering. Mr. Roche also directed EY advisory services to boards and management teams for profit improvement and technology related initiatives. In addition, Mr. Roche provided advisory support to the American Gaming Association on several research projects, including those specifically related to sports betting, the revocation of The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) and anti-money laundering best practices in the gaming industry. Equally, he has assisted government agencies in numerous international locations with enhancing their regulatory approach to governing the industry especially in the online gambling sector. Prior to joining Ernst & Young, Mr. Roche served as Deloitte’s National Gaming Industry Leader and as the co-head of Andersen’s Gaming Industry Practice in Las Vegas. In 1989, Mr. Roche was appointed by then Governor of the State of Nevada, Robert Miller, to serve as one of three members of the Nevada State Gaming Control Board for a four-year term, where he was directly responsible for the Audit and New Games Lab Divisions. As a board member, he spent a substantial amount of time assisting global jurisdiction regulators enact gaming legislation in the design of their regulatory structure. During his career, Roche has been involved in numerous public and private offerings of equity and debt securities. His background includes providing casino regulatory consulting services to casino licensees and to federal and state agencies including the National Indian Gaming Commission and the Nevada State Gaming Control Board, and industry associations such as the Nevada Resort Association and the American Gaming Association. We believe Mr. Roche’s highly regarded reputation as a gaming auditor and advisor in the gaming industry will be valuable for us and a potential business combination target. Mr. Roche is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and is licensed by the Nevada State Board of Accountancy and Mississippi State Board of Public Accountancy. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Southern California.
I read so many of these stories and can relate to almost all of them. I don’t know how many can relate to me because I literally lost thousands upon thousands of dollars all within weeks. A few weeks ago I won probably $20,000 and within two weeks ive lost it all plus several more thousands. Currently, my bank account is $4000 overdrawn! I have an entire Ziploc bag full of 1099 ‘s! For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s basically every time you win anything over $1200 you have to pay taxes on it. I live in Henderson Nevada which is right next to Las Vegas. I can literally walk to the casino from my house. Unfortunately, I’ve been gambling since I was 17 years old and I’m currently almost 55 years old! I started out gambling and my parents took me to Las Vegas when I was 17 years old. They told me is the greatest place and so much fun and they would give me money to gamble. I never got carded or anything I just got to play on my parents money. Typically, I would be the only one coming home with money at the end of each trip. My parents will often ask me for gas money to get home. It’s different when you’re not playing with your own money. Several years later after having children and getting divorced, I started playing bingo. I was living in California at the time where there wasn’t casinos nearby. I started getting hooked on bingo and then started frequenting an Indian casino within about an hours drive away. First it was bingo which I won $1200 the first time I was there. Overtime I started playing slot machines and then really got into video poker. Long story short, in 2008 I ended up moving to Las Vegas with my new husband. All of a sudden The opportunity to gamble was literally at my fingertips. I would have to spend my lunch hour from work at the casino across the street. In the evenings, my mom lives with me and is also a gambler and I would go to the casino. My husband, although when I met him didn’t really gamble much, really got into it too. Between all three of us we spend several nights a week at the casino. I am by far the heaviest better of all of us and I’ve gone from playing nickels to quarters to now dollars! At the beginning of the year I won $10,000 and one video poker hand. One night I won probably almost 20 grand just playing video poker. I’ve had stacks up on stacks of money to where I can’t even close my wallet! This was just a few weeks ago and now I don’t even have enough to cover All of the advances I’ve gotten from the casinos over the past week. I finally come to a place where I know this has to stop or I’m going to lose everything including my marriage and my gorgeous home! I have made a decision to finally get help! I really want to go to GA but right now there are no actual face-to-face meetings and I’m thinking that the virtual stuff probably wouldn’t work for me. My husband is fully aware of my struggles as well as my mother and they are both willing to help me even though they are both gamblers but not to the extent that I am. I’ve been listening to a podcast that directed me to Reddit And I’m hoping this is A form that will help me stay accountable by reading other peoples stories of gambling addiction as well as success and overcoming it. I welcome any advice anyone has to give and support because God knows I need it!
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If you qualify for these, then congratulations, you just got $100 free, minimum!! You use someone to refer you, which ALSO gives you a FREE 50$ (credit) bet to use. So after doing that through a link, you will have to create an account with SSN and all of that to make sure no one is abusing their promos and deposit $50. Once you deposit the $50, they consider you a depositor and will allow you to use the promotion of "$100 FREE BLACKJACK CREDITS". On the app you will find this promo button on the bottom right. Click OPT-IN. Once you opt in, it will bring you to the page with virtual blackjack BUT YOU NEED TO RESTART THE APP TO GET INTO THE RIGHT BLACKJACK! Reopen the app, go to the promotion again and click it.. scroll down to see the different poker games and you will see the one that says $100 Credit. After that, open it up, MAKE SURE IT SAYS $100 IN YOUR BANKROLL AT THE BOTTOM AND NOT THE $50 YOU DEPOSITED. After that, it is programmed to LET YOU WIN. Odds are you will get sereval black jacks or good cards and the dealer will bust.. I recommend betting $30 then $20, then $20 and then maybe $5 and $10s until the credit is used up. https://sportsbook.draftkings.com/sb/kanyeknievel/US-NJ-SB
$100+ Guaranteed and 100% RISK FREE with draftkings promo
DISCLAIMER: If you are someone with an addiction of any kind and feel prone to being addicted to gambling or are addicted to gambling .. BE CAREFUL! It is very easy to get sucked into betting, and this is exactly why they have this available.. they know people will get sucked in and spend money. Only applicable in certain states without gambling restrictions . Not available in Arizona, Alabama, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada and Washington State With that out of the way, I have discovered this promotion by myself and testing it with my co-workers, girlfriend, friends, and parents. It has work EVERY TIME and you do NOT have to risk any of your own money. The winnings vary, I won $180, some won just $130. THE REASON THEY DO THIS is because they are luring people in by making it seem like it is super easy to win money and to get you started into a gambling routine or addiction. The amount of money they lose to this promo is far less than the amount they make off of new customers and repeat depositors. So as long as you do this with the intention to cash out immediately, you have nothing to worry about. To Qualify:
You have to be NEW to Draftkings CASINO.
You have to be a depositor on Draftkings Sportsbook or DFS
You have to deposit $50 (Which is NEVER used and can be withdrawn at any time and directly after.
If you qualify for these, then congratulations, you just got $100 free, minimum!! You use someone to refer you, which ALSO gives you a FREE 50$ (credit) bet to use. So after doing that through a link, you will have to create an account with SSN and all of that to make sure no one is abusing their promos and deposit $50. Once you deposit the $50, they consider you a depositor and will allow you to use the promotion of "$100 FREE BLACKJACK CREDITS". On the app you will find this promo button on the bottom right. Click OPT-IN. Once you opt in, it will bring you to the page with virtual blackjack BUT YOU NEED TO RESTART THE APP TO GET INTO THE RIGHT BLACKJACK! Reopen the app, go to the promotion again and click it.. scroll down to see the different poker games and you will see the one that says $100 Credit. After that, open it up, MAKE SURE IT SAYS $100 IN YOUR BANKROLL AT THE BOTTOM AND NOT THE $50 YOU DEPOSITED. After that, it is programmed to LET YOU WIN. Odds are you will get sereval black jacks or good cards and the dealer will bust.. I recommend betting $30 then $20, then $20 and then maybe $5 and $10s until the credit is used up. Congratulations, you just won free money and can WITHDRAWL THE MONEY INSTANTLY! On top of this, you also receive a free $50 bet you can use to make even more free money. I have tested this and it works every time. The refferall code you can use it https://sportsbook.draftkings.com/sb/kanyeknievel/US-NJ-SB Again, this is 100% risk free, you never use any of your money, you can deposit the free winnings instantly and close the app forever. HOPE THIS EXTRA CASH HELPS EVERYONE FOR THE HOLIDAYS! SCREW VEGAS , THEY MAKE ENOUGH MONEY OFF OF PEOPLE, LETS TAKE IT BACK! Please post with you results so everyone can see and be confident in this
Instantly receive $100+ and free $50 bet on Draftkings. Zero Risk .
DISCLAIMER: If you are someone with an addiction of any kind and feel prone to being addicted to gambling or are addicted to gambling .. BE CAREFUL! It is very easy to get sucked into betting, and this is exactly why they have this available.. they know people will get sucked in and spend money. Only applicable in certain states without gambling restrictions . Not available in Arizona, Alabama, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada and Washington State With that out of the way, I have discovered this promotion by myself and testing it with my co-workers, girlfriend, friends, and parents. It has work EVERY TIME and you do NOT have to risk any of your own money. The winnings vary, I won $180, some won just $130. THE REASON THEY DO THIS is because they are luring people in by making it seem like it is super easy to win money and to get you started into a gambling routine or addiction. The amount of money they lose to this promo is far less than the amount they make off of new customers and repeat depositors. So as long as you do this with the intention to cash out immediately, you have nothing to worry about. To Qualify:
You have to be NEW to Draftkings CASINO.
You have to be a depositor on Draftkings Sportsbook or DFS
You have to deposit $50 (Which is NEVER used and can be withdrawn at any time and directly after.
If you qualify for these, then congratulations, you just got $100 free, minimum!! You use someone to refer you, which ALSO gives you a FREE 50$ (credit) bet to use. So after doing that through a link, you will have to create an account with SSN and all of that to make sure no one is abusing their promos and deposit $50. Once you deposit the $50, they consider you a depositor and will allow you to use the promotion of "$100 FREE BLACKJACK CREDITS". On the app you will find this promo button on the bottom right. Click OPT-IN. Once you opt in, it will bring you to the page with virtual blackjack BUT YOU NEED TO RESTART THE APP TO GET INTO THE RIGHT BLACKJACK! Reopen the app, go to the promotion again and click it.. scroll down to see the different poker games and you will see the one that says $100 Credit. After that, open it up, MAKE SURE IT SAYS $100 IN YOUR BANKROLL AT THE BOTTOM AND NOT THE $50 YOU DEPOSITED. After that, it is programmed to LET YOU WIN. Odds are you will get sereval black jacks or good cards and the dealer will bust.. I recommend betting $30 then $20, then $20 and then maybe $5 and $10s until the credit is used up. https://sportsbook.draftkings.com/sb/kanyeknievel/US-NJ-SB any questions, just message me. This is literally RISK FREE.. you don't use your $50 deposit. You can withdraw money immediately after and still have a free $50 bet from referall
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6/17 Edit: Great info guys. Keep it coming! If something changes, please let me know. I reached out to the mods asking about putting together a post to collect minimums for craps tables in Vegas and other places. If this post gains traction, it may get a sticky. It may also help cut down on the amount of posts asking for this info. I'll try to keep the body of the post updated. If information is correct, let me know. Update 6/18 - Nevada Gaming Board announced masks required at table games in Nevada. I haven't heard that this is being enforced yet. 6/30: Keep reporting, especially any of you heading to Vegas. We would love to hear what the mins are on the strip Let me know what casino, day or night and the minimums:
Vegas Strip Casino
Day Min
Night Min
Dividers
Comments
Aria
15
25
Unknown
Bellagio
10
25
Yes, all tables
Poker tables open
Caesars
15
25
No
Poker tables open
Casino Royale
N/A
N/A
N/A
Table Games not open
Cosmo
100
50-100
Encore
50
100
Yes, on some tables
Updated 6/16
Excalibur
10-15
Unknown
10 crapless, 15 regular
Flamingo
Rare (5) - 15
25
Harrah's
15
25
No
Confirmed no dividers per 6/16 Youtube video
Linq
15
25
No
Luxor
10
15
Mandalay Bay
N/A
N/A
MGM Grand
10
25
Yes, all tables
NY/NY
10
15
Yes, all tables
Osheas
Unknown
15
Paris
N/A
N/A
No
Opened 6/18 - Masks required at tables.
Planet Hollywood
N/A
N/A
No open date announced
Rio
N/A
N/A
No open date announced
Strat
Day
10
Unknown
Treasure Island
5
15
Venetian
Unknown
25
No
Wynn
25-50
50-100
Yes, on some tables
Updated 6/16
Downtown Casino
Day Min
Night Min
Dividers
Comments
Binions
10
10
California
10
10
The D
10
15
No glass
El Cortez
10
10
Yes, some tables
2 tables
Four Queens
5
5
No
Confirmed thru 6/14 Youtube video
Fremont
10
10
Golden Gate
5
5
From 6/9 on Vegas Message Board (no carnival games)
Sams Town
15
15
1 table
Offstrip Casino
Day Min
Night Min
Dividers
Comments
Aliente
10
10
Boulder Station
10
10
Cannery
5
5
up to 2 tables, a mask was provided but not required
Ellis Island
5
5
1 table
Gold Coast
5
5
Green Valley Ranch
10
10
2 tables open
The Orleans
10
25
up to 4 tables, I was asked to wear a mask
Palace Station
10
10
Unknown
Palms
N/A
N/A
No open date announced
South Point
5
5
2-3x tables w/ only one $5 buy in
Strat
5
10
Sunset Station
5
5
Other NV Casinos
Day Min
Night Min
Dividers
Comments
Edgewater (Laughlin)
10
10
Harrahs (Laughlin)
10
15
no
Atlantis (Reno)
5/10
5/10
2 tables with different mins
Cal Neva (Reno)
5
5
Circus Circus (Reno)
Closed
Closed
Closed table game pit
Eldorado (Reno)
10
10
Grand Sierra (Reno)
15
15-25
Peppermill (Reno)
10
10
3 craps tables
Silver Legacy (Reno)
10
10
Hard Rock (Tahoe)
Closed
Closed
Currently closed
Harrahs (Tahoe)
25
25
Montbleu (Tahoe)
10
15
Non/NV Casino
Day Min
Night Min
Dividers
Comments
Foxwoods (CT)
15
25
Mohegan (CT)
10-50
10-50
2 were 10, 2 $15, 1 $25, 1 $50. Plus a high rollers table
Harrington (DE)
10
15-25
Must wear mask and face shield
Blue Chip (Michigan City, IN)
5
10
5 minimum prop bets, 5 min ATS bet.
L’auberge (Lake Charles,LA)
25/50
25/50
2 $25 min and 2 $50 min tables. 1 bubble craps $5 min
Harrahs (Shreveport, LA)
15
25
Margaritaville (Shreveport, LA)
25
25
Ocean Downs (MD)
10
15
Maryland Live (MD)
25
50
Yes
5 tables, 4 per side. Electronic craps 15 min
MGM @ National Harbor
50-100
Yes
4 craps tables 2 were $50 and 2 were $100 mins. Not bubble craps or low roller options.
Firekeepers (Battle Creek, MI)
10
15+
No dividers, only distancing
1-2 tables depending on demand, did see it at $15 during the day $25 on Fri/Sat night. Masks required, no smoking. $3 Bubble Craps.
River City (St. Louis, MS)
20
20
Unknown
4 players per side. $20 min. You have to have at least a $20 bet for every throw to "hold your spot"
Name: Jacklyn Anderson Blazkowicz Aliases: Kelly Maxwell, Slayer, Slasher Birthdate: November 19, 2016 Age: 18 Birthplace: Las Vegas, Nevada Theme
"Violence solves everything, every time." -Jacklyn.
Personality: Jacklyn is a very carefree adrenaline junkie. She’s extremely snarky and usually doesn’t care whose feelings she hurts. However, when she has a job to do, she can become extremely focused and almost unstoppable in the face of her goal. Despite her callousness, Jacklyn can be compassionate to people she is close to and will do almost anything for them.
Sexuality: Bisexual
Relationship Status: Single?
Hobbies: Playing games, watching movies, playing/listening to music, fighting/sparring, cooking/baking.
Height: 5’4” (1.63 m) Weight: ~125 lb (~56.7 kg) Skin Tone: Pale White Eye Color: Brown, Electric Purple (Right Eye, Contact Lens), Storm Grey (Left Eye, Contact Lens)
Hair: White, swept to the left, messy
Description: Jacklyn is fairly skinny and lean, with a smaller bust and somewhat wide hips. She usually has a mildly amused expression on her face.
Notable Features: Jacklyn’s ears have been surgically pointed, giving her a slightly more unnatural appearance. She also has tattoos of dragons snaking around her right arm (and the remains of her left arm), with their open maws parallel to the webbing between her thumb and index finger.
Notes: Her left forearm/hand is missing from below the elbow down, replaced by a wooden arm that doesn’t move. The hand can be detached and replaced with a blade, which was created after melting down her left gauntlet.
Equipment
Apparel: Jacklyn wears a black and pink motorcycle jacket over a dark grey and white Japanese-style school uniform with an exposed midriff and a white scarf/necktie. She wears a belt over the pleated skirt that has pouches attached to it. She wears black thigh-highs with garters, and black, high, leather, platform motorcycle boots, bringing Jacklyn to 5’7” (1.70 m). Jacklyn also wears a black leather collar around her neck. She has a small black bag slung across her back with a crowbar secured to it. She has a pistol holster (empty) under her jacket’s left underarm and a knife sheath strapped to her right thigh. Around her neck is a chain with a pair of dog tags, as well as a necklace with a pendant in the shape of half of a heart.
Weapons:
Hand Blade - A foot-long blade that can be used to replace a prosthetic hand. Available in celestial bronze or tempered steel.
Clawed Gauntlet - A celestial bronze gauntlet with sharpened claws designed for tearing through enemies.
Knife - A Buck 120 knife. A gift.
Crowbar - A piece of black, curved metal.
Sledgehammer - A large hammer designed for heavy blows. The head has been dipped in celestial bronze.
Collapsible Batons - A pair of high-quality metal collapsible batons.
Powers/Skills
Godly Powers
Passive: Combat/Weapon Expertise - Jacklyn can easily understand how to use and become proficient with any weapon in a short period of time.
Unique: Ability to Summon a Weapon - Jacklyn can summon a pair of celestial bronze gauntlets that automatically wrap around her hand(s), where the fingertips are sharpened to make it easier to grab an enemy and deal damage.
Ability to Disarm Opponents - Jacklyn can loosen her opponent’s grip on their weapon, making an opening for Jacklyn to either knock it out of their hand or snatch it.
Physically Enhanced - Jacklyn’s body is built to take and deal punishment, all while having high stamina and flexibility to dodge and weave around any fight.
Skills
Punch and Reave - Growing up fighting people on the streets has taught Jacklyn various things about fighting dirty and using nearly anything as a weapon.
Urban Evasion - Jacklyn is adept at navigating herself through the air, allowing her to travel somewhat vertically by using her environment, as well as allowing her to mitigate some of the impact when landing.
Stealth Girl - Late nights performing reconnaissance on rival gangs has conditioned Jacklyn to be able to sneak around and be nearly undetectable, as well as resist the effects of exhaustion.
Quick Fix - Jacklyn’s nimble fingers allow her to dress various wounds in the heat of combat which will help people get back into the fight, but not as a lasting treatment.
Backstory
Jacklyn was born to a single mother in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her mother, Nora Anderson, was an ex-soldier who was working in private security in a casino who met the war god Ares after settling an altercation. They dated for a period of time in which Jacklyn was conceived, and shortly after, Ares revealed who he was to Nora and what Jacklyn was. Ares informed Nora of a camp that Jacklyn was to be sent to once she was old enough, before leaving Nora to care for the then-unborn Jacklyn. Months later, knowing Vegas was no place to raise a child, Nora took Jacklyn and moved to Austin, Texas, where Jacklyn grew up.
Jacklyn’s childhood was incredibly average, where she made a few friends and attended public school. Despite her mother’s background, Jacklyn never had much respect for authority. At school, she would always challenge her teachers and any of the other students that dared stand in her way. This led to a slew of detentions, suspensions, and the occasional expulsion, which caused tension between Jacklyn and her mother. When Jacklyn was around ten years old, her mother decided that they were ready to accept another person into their family, someone for Jacklyn to help care for and hopefully become less oppositional because of it. They adopted a seven-year-old girl named Maxine, who Jacklyn immediately felt a bond with.
Jacklyn began to behave a little better after this, wanting to be a better example for her new sister. However, this did not necessarily mean she was well-behaved; her delinquency was less frequent but just as intense. Her continued rebelliousness escalated tensions at home, particularly with her mother. Despite this, not all of Jacklyn’s actions were purely selfish or to spite any perceived authority. She would make it a point to threaten anyone that would bully, harass, or otherwise bother her little sister, and she would occasionally follow-up with these threats. Jacklyn’s overprotectiveness helped strengthen the bond with her sister, leading to them becoming very close.
Jacklyn shared almost everything she enjoyed with her sister, and this made it considerably more painful when she left. At age fifteen, Jacklyn left home, finding herself dissatisfied with falling grades she didn’t care about, constant reprimands for her behavior, and general lack of action where she lived. Over the course of a month, Jacklyn traveled north, hitchhiking and sneaking onto trains and other large vehicles. She eventually found herself in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she lived on the streets for a few weeks.
Life on the streets was difficult, where Jacklyn had to constantly evade the police and find ways to make or steal money. What didn’t help was the constant threat of these various creatures that no-one else seemed to see. During an altercation with one of these creatures, Jacklyn accidentally summoned a pair of clawed celestial bronze gauntlets which she used to kill the creature. As the creature disintegrated, she collected one of the teeth, which could be identified as a hellhound tooth. One night, Jacklyn crossed paths with a young woman only four years older than her named Suzie who could also see the monsters.
Suzie was a college freshman with a feeling of restlessness she couldn’t seem to shake. She eventually invited Jacklyn to help form a gang, to give Suzie some form of purpose and to get Jacklyn off of the streets. Jacklyn accepted and met two of Suzie’s friends: Martin and Floyd. Martin had familial connections with a larger criminal syndicate and was desperate to strike out on his own; Floyd was an enigma, only known to be a discharged soldier just looking for an enemy to fight. Jacklyn, Suzie, and Floyd, led by Martin, formed a small gang known as the Saints. Other names were considered, but the name was agreed upon after several discussions and originated from one of Jacklyn’s favorite games.
Jacklyn’s first mission as a “Saint” was a simple stick-up at a convenience store where Jacklyn’s gun was loaded with blanks. However, this went south quickly as a few members of a rival gang arrived to collect protection money. Jacklyn barely escaped from the fight, only suffering a single bullet wound in the shoulder and a twisted ankle. Following this incident, Suzie helped Jacklyn recover and Floyd taught her basic medical skills to help treat injuries in the middle of combat. Jacklyn then received combat training to avoid a repeat of this incident.
Over the next two years, the Saints’ influence grew, as did its membership. Jacklyn grew more experienced with every new “mission” and got closer personally to the other founding members, Suzie in particular. Being Jacklyn’s first friend in Grand Rapids, Suzie was always different from the others in Jacklyn’s eyes. Jacklyn began to develop feelings towards her and eventually confessed. Luckily, Suzie reciprocated her feelings and the two became official. This closer relationship finally gave Jacklyn someone she felt comfortable being vulnerable around, the first one since her little sister. After a street brawl was interrupted by a manticore targeting Jacklyn, Jacklyn had her left forearm bitten off. Barely killing the monster, Jacklyn refused to see anyone besides Suzie while she recovered.
Months later, Jacklyn was ready to go out again and support the Saints. She received a wooden arm as a “welcome back” present, and found herself back on the “front lines”. However, Suzie being the only one Jacklyn ever interacted with caused some tension in their relationship, as well as some mistakes Jacklyn made during missions. Eventually, the tension rose enough for Jacklyn and Suzie to have a huge argument before a mission, which ended with Suzie expressing her desire to end the relationship.
The mission itself went decently well until a rival gang ambushed the Saints. During the resulting chaos, a distraught Jacklyn snuck back to the Saints headquarters and packed some of her things. Without leaving a note, she took her car and left. She found herself wandering, but felt something drawing her east. During her travels, she met a kid named Riley who accompanied her until they arrived at Camp Half-Blood.
A gunmetal gray Mustang drives down a back road in Long Island.
“Kel-ly, I have to go!” a young redhead whines to the driver.
The white-haired driver grits her teeth and clenches her hand on the wheel. “For fuck’s sake! Why the hell didn’t you go before we left!?”
“Buuut I didn’t have to go then.”
“Riley, I swear to fuck-” Jacklyn cuts herself off. “Count to four, inhale,” she mutters to herself, taking a breath.
Riley begins inhaling loudly, all the while squirming in their seat.
Jacklyn glares at Riley. “Riley, I am going to fucking kick you out of this car so hard that it’ll make Hereditary look like the damn Teletubbies!”
“Kale, PLEASE!!!” Riley gives Jacklyn a pleading look. “There are some trees right there.”
“Fine!” Jacklyn yells, exasperated. “You’re lucky I don’t want your piss on my seats-” She pauses, looking at something in the distance. “Hey look, there’s someone out there. Maybe they know where a bathroom is.”
The car cruises to a stop next to the person. Jacklyn rolls down one of the car’s windows.
“Hey!” she says. “You know where a bathroom is? This dipshit needs to take a piss.” Felix was out on another one of his daily walks around the camp. This time, he decided to venture a little closer to the camp’s gate than usual. With his luck, there were probably going to be more new arrivals that were going to arrive at the camp any second now…
His musings were answered rather quickly when he hears someone call out to him from outside the camp gate.
“Um, are you talking to me?” he asks, pointing a finger to himself. But he was inside the gate! They shouldn’t have been able to see him! Unless… Felix quickly walks up to one of the camp gate’s posts and leans against it, watching the new arrivals closely.
“Shut the hell up!” Jacklyn snaps. She turns back to Felix. “Sorry about that.”
“A-ah, I see,” he stammers out. Well, he might as well help them out since they oh-so-conveniently showed up right in front of him. “Uh, who’s the person that needs to go?” he asks, trying to peer into the car. Well, it’s not like he could see much anyway.
“Me!” Riley frantically waves their hand.
“Them,” Jacklyn jerks her thumb towards Riley.
“Please! I really, really need to go!” Riley stares at Felix trying to project their shear desperation.
Felix blinks a little in surprise due to the kid’s, uh, desperation. He opens his mouth to start giving the young red-head some directions, but he stops himself. Well, let’s test out if they really are demi-gods or not. He flashes a brilliant smile at them. “Oh, could you come up here to the top of the hill? It’s a lot easier if I just showed you rather than told you,” he lies smoothly.
“Fine. Whatever,” Jacklyn responds. She begins to drive her car up the hill.
Felix dashes off to the side when he sees the other girl start to drive up the hill. Shit, I didn’t mean likethat! he thinks, slumping a little against one of the gate’s posts. He takes a breath and walks back over to where the car eventually stops.
“Okay, so now what?” Jacklyn asks.
“No time! Bathroom now!” Riley shouts.
“Don’t piss on my seats!” Jacklyn yells.
Felix strolls over to the redhead’s window, pointing off to the cabin area. “Okay, you see those cabins over there? The bathrooms are in that building on the path to the lake over there. Did you get that?”
“Yup!” Riley shouts as they practically dive out of the car, sprinting off in the direction of the arena.
“No!” Felix yells out after him. “The other way!” he says while pointing again. Well, there’s that mystery solved, he sighs internally.
“Thank you!!” Riley shouts before changing directions, leaving a dust cloud in their wake.
“Fuckin’ finally,” Jacklyn grumbles as she steps out of her car and begins to rummage in the backseat.
Felix turns to look at the girl that just stepped out of the car. He couldn’t see her before, due to the car’s tinted windows-- Wait. He quickly covers the sinister grin that was growing on his face with his hand. He couldn’t believe it. It was this girl again.
Caught in her thoughts, a white-haired girl collided with Felix. She turned quickly and looked down at the person she had knocked over.
“Shit, my bad,” she said as she offered a hand out to the boy. “Sorry ‘bout that.”
“It’s no problem, really,” Felix replied, taking her hand. “I just wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”
“Nah,” the girl responded, pulling the boy up. “That was on me.” She quickly checked her watch. “Shit,” she muttered. “I gotta go. I’ll see you around.”
Jacklyn pauses, feeling somebody staring at her. She looks up at Felix. “What?” she asks. “What’s so funny?”
Felix gives her a warm smile. “Oh, nothing,” he replies as he walks over to her car. It’s her. It’s really her. I have to make her stay! She’ll be so useful again. “I was just admiring your car here,” he says as he drags his fingers delicately over the roof of the car. He then infuses the car with about as much bad luck as he could muster. Sure, he felt a little sorry for the kid that just ran off, but oh well. There were more important things at hand. “It’s pretty nice, where did you get it?” he asks casually, now leaning against the hood.
Fuckin’ weirdo, Jacklyn thinks to herself. “Watch the paint. It was a gift from my-” she cuts herself off. “Ex-girlfriend.” She looks wearily at the boy, knitting her eyebrows. “Have we met? You seem familiar.”
“No, I don’t think we have,” he lies smoothly. “I think I would have remembered someone as… interesting... as you.” Well, it was a good thing he had some experience at poker tables. He really didn’t want her to find out too quickly. Knowing what was likely going to happen next, he gets up and steps slightly away from the car.
“Uh-huh,” Jacklyn says, unimpressed. Suddenly, a loud bang! erupts from the hood of Jacklyn’s car. “Mother fucker!” Jacklyn shouts, dashing to the hood. As she pops open the hood, a pillar of black smoke billows out from the engine of the car.
“Son of a bitch!” Jacklyn yells, kicking the bumper of her car. “Stupid fucking piece of shit!”
Felix suppresses a giggle as he nonchalantly walks up to see the damage he caused. “Wow, that looks pretty bad,” he remarks. “Yeah, that might take a while to fix, huh? Well, lucky for you, there happens to be a few spare parts you could use for your car here in the camp!”
“Camp?” Jacklyn asks. “What camp?”
“You know,” he says, casually pointing a finger at the camp sign, which read “Camp Half-Blood”. “The one you just drove into?”
“Oh.” Jacklyn stared at the sign. “That camp.”
“Mhmm,” he hums in response, nodding his head. He looks off at the direction of the dining pavilion, coming up with an excuse to leave quickly. “Well, sorry to say this, but I promised I’d meet a friend over at the dining hall,” he says as he points and turns away. “Go ahead and ask around for directions if you get lost!” He then walks away, cackling silently to himself. Have fun, okay? he thinks as he glances back quickly. I know I will.
What a prick. Jacklyn slams her car’s hood shut. A camp, huh? she thought as she leaned against her car. She reaches into her bag and pulls out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. She lights one and brings it to her lips, taking a drag from it. As she blows out smoke, she surveys the camp before her.
Warning: this story will contain mentions of unhealthy relationships and adult themes. The main character also has some character traits that may differs from your own, please do keep that in mind. Review and comments will be appreciated (Customisation) There once was a dashing bachelor (That looked like )(uses the OH male feces) Face 1 Face 2 Face 3 Face 4 (Hairstyles) James Bond (black slick backed) Don Diego Vega (dark brown wavy hair slicked back long neck) Steve Rogers (Short blonde side swept hair) Agent J (Short kinky curls) Is this him? Yes No (go back to customisation) What is his name? (Default: George) (Surname) (Default: Bishop) There he meets A beautiful woman A handsome man A beautiful woman Face 1 (Asian; has pale skin, dark almond eyes, straight black mid-back hair with a mid-part) Face 2 (Hispanic: has tan skin, deep brown eye and over shoulder-length volumes wavy hair with side bangs.) Face 3 (Afro-American: dark skin, expressive brown eyes with long blackish brown chest-length kinky curly hair.) Face 4 (Caucassian: pinkish skin with freckles, clear blue round eyes, collarbone length layered dirty blonde hair) A handsome man Face 1 (Asian: pale skin, dark almond eyes, straight black hair put up in a pompadour style) Face 2 (Hispanic: tan skin, with slicked back wavy hair that always looks like it is coming undone.) Face 3 (Afro-American: dark skin, expressive brown eyes, with a crewcut with tight natural curls.) Face 4 (Caucasian: pinkish skin with freckles, clear blue eyes, dirty blonde hair in a Taper haircut.) As the two peoples eyes lock across the room. The sensation of a pull drives them to get closer to one another. As the dashing bachelor offered his hand his partner gladly accepted it. Leading into a dance that lasted the rest of the night. The whole world faded away to the sound of the Jazz band, their breathing and their dancing. As their lips moved to meet... ???: “Oh come now Joanna, you know that is no way that would ever happen.” (Record Scratch) Joanna: “Oh for craps sake, George I was getting to the best part.” George: “Forgive me for finding it uncomfortable that you have decide how my love life is going to go.” Lance: “He does have a point there sis.” Joanna: “Way to stand up for your sister Lance.” Lance “Look I’m all for love conquers and all that jazz but it is kind of difficult to make a love life for someone else.” George: “Thank you.” Lance: “I mean he isn’t a completely lost cause. I’m sure some desperate soul will take him.” Lance: “I mean he’s got dads looks, and he managed to get with mom when they were young.” Lance: “That might make up for his zero tact.” George: “Your faith in me is awe inspiring.” Lance: “Oh cheer up. With your upcoming trip to Vegas, maybe you’ll have luck in love and not just on the poker table.” Joanna: “Maybe you’ll meet someone special!” You snort, finding the idea silly. George: “I wouldn’t bet on it.” Chapter 1: One night in Vegas In an underground speakeasy decked out in old decor from the 20th centuries first half. You sit there nursing your drink. After a long day at the office you love nothing more than when you can enjoy your secret fancy. Dressed up in an old-fashioned pinstripe suit and a fedora. You feel like a king, this little piece of haven in Chicago that seemed to be frozen in time. You feel your friend beside you stir, he himself having to relax from work as well as dreading an upcoming event. After his fifth sight you opt to actually talk about it. You take a swing of your drink and decide to talk about the elephant in the room. Or more accurately you decide to talk about the issue in pre 1940’s slang George: “Your bear cat of a sister still giving you a hard time?” Jeremy: “Noneofya.” He mumbled. George: “Look Pally, I known you since we were scrubs and had squat. What's eating you?” Jeremy: “That dame will chisel me out of every dime I own.” George: “Stephie acting like a Big cheese cause she is getting hitched?” Jeremy: “She wants everything spiffy and I’m quite sure her ankle biters will be paying the bills. My folks are on my case regarding my dame.” You think for a moment. Jeremy and Katie had been together for four years. They got one another, they lived together. George: “Stephie’s lucky her guy thinks she’s the Cat's meow.” You said reflecting on everything you ever heard regarding Darren, he was a good guy. Definitely not the smartest but he loved Stephanie like she was the only woman alive. You just wondered why anyone would want to spend time with that woman. Jeremy: “Alright, real talk.” Jeremy said as he dropped ‘the act’, we were no longer hot shots in the prohibition era. We were now just George Bishop and Jeremy Jackson a financial advisor and a computer wizard. George: “In all do honesty I do not see why you need to go there? Aren’t bachelorette parties strictly female?” Jeremy: “They used to be, but I am quite sure I am not going with them to be pampered like the bridesmaids.” George: “Then your function is?” Jeremy: “If I were to guess, fall guy and pack mule.” Jeremy: “I think she is also doing it to brag, that ‘she did it first.’ To rub it in Katie’s face.” George: “You never really care what your sister does. Why now?” Jeremy: “Because they are pressuring me and Katie. Not just my family but next to everyone we know. ‘When is the wedding? What is the venue? How many guests? Are you going to have it this year?’ Look I love my girl, but none of us is in rush to walk down the aisle.” Yeah, you know, you were the first one Jeremy told about his plan to propose. You were happy for him but at the end of the day it was up to Katie and Jeremy. Not you or their families. However the rest of the world seemed to think differently. Mom: “Oh sweetheart, happy valentine’s day! Are you spending it with someone special?” George: “Mom, you know I am not looking for someone.” Mom: “Oh, don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll find that certain someone sooner or later.” Yeah, it isn’t enough your sister is married and your brother is utterly twitterpated with his boyfriend. You need to ensure your oldest is also with someone. Boss: “Mr. Bishop, I must say. I am impressed with your work ethics, but we have decided to go with Mr. Robinson as the face of the company.” Never minding the fact that you worked twice as hard as said college. George: “I understand. May I ask what made you choose him?” Boss: “We did research and found that your college would be favourable, due to circumstance.” Translation: we wanted a man that was married and not the workaholic bachelor. Stranger 1: “You see that guy over there?” Stranger 2: “You mean the one with the RBF?” Stranger 1: “Yeah, probably one of those loners, will never find anyone.” Stranger 2: “I mean who goes to a restaurant like this alone?” Honestly? You can’t have a meal alone? George: “Yeah, I know that feeling.” Jeremy: “Seriously.” Both of you take a sigh. Jeremy: “But in all honesty. Thank you for coming along, I really appreciate it. Would probably loose my mind if I went alone.” George: “Of course.”
It would be a shame to lose my partner in crime.
My boss would be pissed if I didn’t.
Who would turn down free drinks?
Jeremy: “Yeah sounds about right.” *Choice 1* George: “Remember how we got back at Marcus Thatcher?” *Choice 1* Jeremy: “Oh, I remember. Too bad he didn’t check the file we sent, it might have saved him some embarrassment.” *Choice 1* George: “Big tough football star being fooled by ‘two scrawny’ freshmen.” *Choice 1* Jeremy: “And we were hailed as heroes for a month.” *Choice 1* Jeremy: “Wait, don’t tell me HR department has been on your case.” *Choice 2* Geroge: “Yep, too much overtime.” *Choice 2* Geroge: “Never mind I make sure that everything is quality controlled.” *Choice 2* Jeremy: “Geesh. Well glad to know I could be of service.” *Choice 2* Jeremy: “Ah there it is, I knew you had a hidden agenda. *Choice 3* George: “Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy, when have I ever hid something from you?” *Choice 3* Jeremy: “Alright fair, you are honest to the point of insult.” *Choice 3* Geroge: “You asked for my opinion, besides those shoes where ugly as sin.” *Choice 3* Both of you laugh, you had been in each other’s life since kindergarten. You where the odd ducks, most kids and adults always considered you to be cold or judging. Even if neither of you had that intention. Jeremy raises his glass. Jeremy: “To intellectual companions.” George: “To intellectual friends.” You said as you raised your own drink in a toast. The weekend finally arrived for the trip. You arrived at O’Hare airport with a good three hours to spare. You crack open the book you brought with you. It was a supernatural detective story you received as a gift on last birthday a few months back. While you applaud your sister for trying, it was still jarring to follow all the supernatural deus-ex-machinas that discarded real detective work. So that is how a 31 year old was reading a supernatural book in broad daylight. George: ‘ with gun drawn, Duskraven made her way down the basement, the surroundings smelled of blood and muck.’ Geroge: ‘Romano’s empire was now in full display in front of her. Fae, lined the walls, eyes hollow and only the movement of their chest indicating they were still alive.’ George: ‘Duskraven took out her polaroid camera, it was a risky but if this would ever have a chance to justice. Her leads and information would need to be solid if she wanted to take down the vampire cartel. She just hoped the light for the camera would be noticed.’ George: ‘With a blinding light the entire basement lit up temporarily blinding her, when she regained her sight again a new horror met her eyes. Multiple pairs of hungry red eyes.’ Jeremy: “George!” You tear your eyes away from the book in your hand. There is Jeremy and Katie, hand in hand. Seeing them together was always a happy occasion. Katie and Jeremy met at your favourite speakeasy a few years back. You didn’t blame your friend for becoming interested in the ICU nurse. Curly red hair and big blue eyes. Even if the courtship had started out rocky due to both of them being so shy. They overcame that hurdle and found something they wanted. Sometimes however you wished you didn’t feel like you were interrupting them. George: “Good morning, is Stephanie and her friends also here?” Katie: “No they had a sleep over at Daria’s house. So they will be carpooling.” You look at your clock and it was about two hours before the plane would take off, your bags where checked in and you were ready to leave and get to the section where the gates would be. But there was still no sign of Stephanie. As you though you heard a rumbling sound. Both you and Katie looked at Jeremy as a sheepish grim grew on his face. Katie: “Told you, a ham sandwich wouldn’t hold.” Jeremy: “It will hold till lunch, which is a few hours away.” George: “You sure that is a good idea?” Jeremy: “Tell you what, I’ll go if you come with me and Katie.” Katie: “So what do you say?” McDermott's · Sure, I could have a bite. (💎12) · Perhaps we shouldn’t Diamond Choice: George: “Alright, let us have something to eat.” Jeremy: “Good! Airplane food leaves much to be desired.” Katie: “You always think with your stomach.” Jeremy: “Yet you love me.” Katie: “Yes, odd isn’t it?” You make your way inside and stay in line. You look at the menu and order · Breakfast burrito · Bacon and scrambled eggs · Fruit and oatmeal You order your food along with a big coffee. You all slide into the booth, Katie had her yogurt in hand both of you looked worryingly at Jeremy’s breakfast. (Tilting tower of pancakes) (Holy crap!) You swore for a moment both you and Katie was reading each other’s mind. ‘He is going to puke.’ George: “Hey Jeremy, think you can get some napkins?” Jeremy: “Sure.” As he left you plied a few pancakes away, making sure that you saved the top one so he wouldn’t notice. Katie making sure the tower didn’t fall. She gave a thumbs up, thanking you. George: “So Katie, how have you been?” Katie: “There is always a lot of things to do at the ICU, sometime I wonder where humanity is headed.” George: “Really, that bad?” Katie: “How would you explain having a locomotive lodge up your rectum?” George: “How did that happened?” Katie: “They claim they fell on it, if I had a dollar every time this happened I wouldn’t have any student debts.” You shake your head, you have been thinking a bit about what Jeremy said at the Speakeasy. You had also noticed that something was up with Katie, she was on edge. George: “Katie…” 1.“Did you want to go on this trip?” 2.“Has Mr and Mrs Jackson been pressuring you?” 3.“Do you want to get married?” Katie: “In all honesty no, but Stephanie has made me a bridesmaid. I need to partake in these things. Even if I wish I didn’t.” *Choice 1\* George: “Why?” *Choice 1\* Katie: “I wish I could care as little about protocol as you do, but she is Jeremy’s sister, if I say no it might affect my relationship with Jeremy and his family.” *Choice 1\* Katie: “Yes, I mean no, I mean… it’s complicated.” *Choice 2\* George: “How come?” *Choice 2\* Katie: “I’m 30 years old George, time is ticking. They want grandchildren to spoil.” *Choice 2\* George: “And you have to be married to do that?” *Choice 2\* Katie: “Of course I love Jeremy.” *Choice 3\* George: “That wasn’t the question, do you want to get married?” *Choice 3\* Katie: “It is just so big, all those expectations. I… it scares the crap out of me.” *Choice 3\* George: “Listen, I will tell you something.” You said using your stern voice. George: “Jeremy loves you, he chose you. You chose him. That is the truth at the end of the day.” Katie looked at you, a shy smile graced her lips. She mouthed a thank you. Jeremy made his way back to you with a great pile of napkins. You all begin to take part of the meal. During the entire meal Katie and Jeremy’s shoulders touched and they looked as content as they could be. (‘Loving it’ you had breakfast at McDermott) None diamond choice: George: “Let us just sit down and relax, we should be in Las Vegas at 1 am. Knowing Stephanie we will probably eat something there before heading to the hotel.” Katie: “Maybe, I’ll get some water at least.” Jeremy: “Good idea.” (‘Not hungry’ you didn’t have a McDermott breakfast) As all of you wait for the supposed ‘bride’ you hear commotion. Sure enough you see a brunette with a close to permanent scowl on her face. Followed but two very flustered women. “There you are! WHERE have you been?!” Her tone is as pleasant as you remember, nails on a chalkboard. Jeremy: “We have been here waiting for you.” Stephanie: “You aren’t even going to help me with my bags. What type of brother are you?” Jeremy: “Well we are here, we have about half an hour before the plane leaves. So let’s get to the gate.” Stephanie just huffed. Storming away. George: “Wow she is in a good mood.” You state sarcastically. Jeremy: “Yeah she gets like that some time.” Jeremy: “Just try not to set her of, she can be a handful.” Katie: “I mean how bad could it possibly be?” You were never the very superstitious type, but you were quite sure that Katie just opened Pandora’s Box. From the time the plane touched ground in Nevada everything that could set of Stephanie did. Stephanie: “URRGH!!! where is that shuttle! He is LATE!!” Jeremy: “They told us like five minutes ago there is traffic jam.” Stephanie: “Then he should have planned it earlier!” Stephanie: “I will not wait an hour! WE have a schedule to follow!” George:’ This coming from the woman that almost missed the plane to her own bachelorette party.’ Daria: “They say it is only another 15 minutes.” Stephanie: “I DON’T CAREEEEE!” Stephanie: “What do you mean that our suits where not booked?” Receptionist: “You never sent in the deposit for your stay.” Stephanie: “THAT WAS GEMMA’S JOB!” Gemma: “I told you, the suits needed to be paid for by the same person that booked them.” Stephanie: “You are a bridesmaid, you are supposed to make things work!” George: ‘Honetly…’ George: “Sigh…” Stephanie: “THIS ISN’T WHAT I ORDERED!” Waitress: “Yes it is, you wanted a calamari.” The poor waitress looked exhausted and probably wanted to be anywhere but here, not that one could blame her. Stephanie: “NO IT ISN’T! I wanted the pasta with bacon and cheese.” Katie: “A cabonara?” Jeremy: “Stephie we are at a seafood restaurant.” George: ‘IS she ever satisfied?’ All of us where back at the hotel, Stephanie insisting that they ‘needed’ a new set of clothes for the casino and club they were planning on hitting. Jeremy looked ready to just give up. George: “You know, you could simply say no to her.” Jeremy threw an exhausted glair at me. Jeremy: “If it was so simple neither me, you nor Katie would be here right now.” George: “And you wouldn’t be here doing this Sisyphean task, which obviously brings you missery.” Jeremy: “Yeah well, I still want my parents in my life, if I didn’t do this, they would never let me live it down.” What to wear to the casino? · Tuxedo 007 (💎 15) · Basic black Diamond option: Jeremy: “You look like James Bond.” George: “I’ll have a martini, shaken not stirred.” You said and an amused smile spread across Jeremy’s face. None diamond choice “I Think I’ll stick with this.” “Fair enough, I am too exhausted to care anyway.” Jeremy said with a tired smile. You both left the room, making our way to one of the pulsing centres of the strip. There in the golden casinos you thought finally your luck would finally turn for the better. That the glamorous atmosphere would rub off on the soon-to-be bride. Causing her to stop doing her impression of a screeching barn owl and let ALL of them enjoy Sin City. Well it seemed to have worked, for now. Both you and Jeremy where at the black jack tables, enjoying yourself. While the ladies were back at the slots machines. Jeremy folded a while ago, it is just you and one more. You looked down at your cards a jack and an ace. You opponent opposite you had this confident smirk on his face. But you saw how the sweat was running down his face. He was bluffing. George: “Hum…”
Act as if you have a bad hand
Act arrogant and self-assured
Do not react at all and watch the man squirm
You decide to let your brows furrow in what would look like frustration. The man opposite you lets the edge of his mouth turn in a smirk. His confidence boosting with every minute. *Choice 1* You decide to put on the theatrics, giving a smile like the cat that ate the canary you look at your opponent. That is growing more and more agitated by the minute. *Choice 2* You keep your face natural, a lot of people often comment that you look angry whenever they see you. You could only assume it was true because your opponent was practically squirming in his seat. *Choice 3* When he reviles his hand, you pause for a moment before reviling yours. You won. George: “I’ll be taking these.” You said as you dragged them back chips and split them evenly between you and Jeremy. You had started with the same amount of tokens. Even if you did work with money daily, this was one of those occasions you allowed yourself to be a bit more relaxed regarding that subject. Jeremy: “Nice one.” George: “All in a day’s work.” Jeremy: “So what next?” Before you could answer you hear commotion from the opposite side of the casino. The screeching voice meant that Stephanie was somewhere in the middle of it. Both of you sigh, knowing that your happy hour was over. Sure enough there at the era leading into one of the shows where Stephanie and her entourage, all of them except Stephanie wearing baby pink dresses and Stephanie herself wearing a sash reading ‘all hail the bride’ along with a tacky tiara probably worth a five dollar bill at most. She was screaming at a bouncer, while all the others tried in vain to calm the soon-to-be bride. Stephanie: “You are an idiot! What service is this!?” When we had arrived there was already an audience forming. Yeah this was common whenever Stephanie was involved. ‘Drama Queen’ had been your nickname for her during high school for a reason. Jeremy: “What happened?” Bouncer: “Your friend here slapped one of your dancers, something about them stealing from them.” Stephanie: “I am the BRIDE! I am not supposed to have to pay for anything during my bachelorette party.” Jeremy: “Stephanie, what about we get some fresh air, okay?” Jeremy said as he tried to deescalate the situation. He gently grabbed her arm, but Stephanie was having none of it. It felt like it all happened in slow motion, Stephanie turned around and a closed fist and rage connected it with Jeremy’s face. Your friend flew back and hit his head on the floor pretty hard. Stephanie didn’t even care to check what state her brother was in. Katie flew to her fiancés side and the sight of your friend’s bleeding face was enough to make you see red. George: “Alright enough.”
Scold her
Embarrass her
Give her the evil eye
George: “Stephanie, you are way out of line.” *Choice 1* Stephanie: “No I am not!” *Choice 1* George: “You have taken no responsibility during this trip, you have been rude to every member of the party, you have caused a scene at every place we have been to. Do I need to keep going?” *Choice 1* Your voice is like ice, you swear the temperature just dropped a few degrees. As you pointed out everything she has done during the less than 24 hours you been together. *Choice 1* Stephanie looks angrily at her bridesmaids as is she is waiting for them to defend her. *Choice 1* They do not, they know you are just stating the truth. *Choice 1* George: “Your own brother did not want to be on this trip, he begged me to come along. Doesn’t that tell you just how vile you have been acting?” *Choice 1* Stephanie: “You listen here…”*Choice 1* George: “No you listen for once in your life!” *Choice 1* You rarely let your emotions out but Stephanie was a special case. *Choice 1* George: “If this is how you treat people, do not be surprised when Darren leaves you at the altar. He deserve better than this.” *Choice 1* With that as a closing line you left, Jeremy might need to get to the hospital. He was worth more than Stephanie would ever be in your eyes. *Choice 1* As you leave you are quite sure you hear someone applauding. *Choice 1* With determined steps you made your way to one of the waitresses. *Choice 2* George: “Excuse me.” *Choice 2* You hand her a 50 dollar bill as you grab a big jug glass filled with beer and briskly walk back to Stephanie that is still screaming profanities. Because of her back being turned to you she didn’t see you. You saw how people began to take out their cameras and phones. No one made a move to stop you. *Choice 2* With one quick movement you had poured it over her and a shriek of surprise entered your ears. *Choice 2* Stephanie: “What the fuck is wrong with you!?” *Choice 2* George: “Are you done with your little temper tantrum?” *Choice 2* Stephanie: “What!? How dare you!” *Choice 2* George: “You have been acting like a spoiled five year old since the moment we landed. I am surprised no one has done anything until now.” *Choice 2* Stephanie: “You are so not coming to my wedding!” *Choice 2* George: “It isn’t a loss, I was never here for you. Now excuse me I have more important things to deal with.” *Choice 2* You left Stephanie to deal with the people that had gathered for the ‘show’ and she began to scream at them and calling them all sorts of names. But no one was intimidated, they found it hilarious. *Choice 2* You grab hold of Stephanie, until she has no choice but to look at you. She is screeching, calling you every slur and bad name in the book. Your hands are firm on her upper arm, you just hold no squeezing, no pushing. You keep your eyes locked on her, you must have stood there quite a while until finally her defiant stare became weaker and weaker. *Choice 3* You kept hold of her until she burst out into tears. At that point you let her go. Knowing you had knocked her down a peg. *Choice 3* But Stephanie wasn’t your main concern, Jeremy was. You moved to stay with Katie and Jeremy, the crowd parted as the red sea as you walked by. All in stunned silence. *Choice 3* George: “Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Jeremy grimaced at the questing, blood still trickling down his face from where he had been punched. Luckily the nose would heal, the only question was what colour it would be in time for Stephanie’s wedding. Jeremy: “I’ll be fine, Katie is here too. She knows what she is doing.” Katie: “Having your fiancé being a nurse does have its perks huh?” Jeremy: “Yeah one of many.” The two of them smile at one another, before Jeremy turn back to you. Jeremy: “Think you can manage your own?” George: “I think I can stay out of trouble for one night.” Jeremy: “Maybe, see you tomorrow George.” Katie: “Have a nice night.” With that the two of them made their way up to the hotel rooms. You decided to check out the hotel bar. Despite being 10 o’clock it was surprisingly empty. Some people where there, some having already had a few to many. But what caught your eye was a stranger sitting at the end of the bar. There sitting in a knee-length ocean blue dress was a woman, leaning over resting her elbows at the counter. She had a faraway look in her face as she absentmindedly stirred her drink. *♀* There sitting a young man, nursing his drink. His blue vest and slacks combo suited him well with the crisp white shirt. His attention seeming being elsewhere. *♂* You sit down by the bar and is about to call on the bartender when I noticed a man, clearly intoxicated made a move on the man/woman at the end of the bar. Drunk Idiot: “Hello there, did it hurt when you fell from heaven?” The person in question just rolled hehis eyes. Clearly not in the mood to be the object of drunk admiration. Drunk Idiot: “How about you and me go up to my hotel room and get to know each other a bit more.” Haven seen the man/woman in question do every none-verbal que but slapping the idiot you decide enough was enough. He had disturbed you and the rest of the bar enough. With the smoothest and coolest tone of voice you could muster you cleared your throat to get the drunk man’s attention. It wasn’t appreciated to say the least. Drunk idiot: “What the hell do you want prick.” The smell of alcohol radiating off him, one would think he had bathed in vodka. It was surprising no one had tossed him out from being a nuisance earlier. George: “I do believe that you are bothering him/her. Please stop.” George: “Look we are old friends, its noneofya business so bug off.” George: “Oh really, then what is your friends name?” Drunk Idiot: ”What?” George: “What. Is. your. friend’s. name? If you are old friends you should surely know it.” Drunk Idiot: “It’s ummm… Terry.” ???: “That is not even close.” With both of you staring straight into him, mentally cornering him. Drunk idiot: ”Screw this.” The man declared in frustration and with that the idiot stormed off leaving both of you alone. After making sure the guy was out of sight you turned back to the stranger. He/She gave you a grateful smile. ???: “Thanks’ I really appreciate that?” George: “It was nothing.” You said making yourself ready to go back to your seat. ???: “Wait!” The stranger called after you, out of sheer politeness you turned back around. He/she Seemed a bit nervous, what now? ???: “Can I at least buy you a drink?” You thought for a moment. You were on your own, Jeremy was probably nursing the bruise with some painkillers and you did not want to risk running into Stephanie or any of the bridesmaids. It also felt wrong to not take the opportunity to experience Vegas however. So you accepted. ???: “Well What’s your poison?” He/she asked in a joyous tone.
Matrini
Old Fashioned
Red Wine
With a quick wave they called the bartender over. ???: “So what brings you to Vegas?” George: “Bachelorette party.” ???: “Did it have anything to do with that brunette that slapped one of the dancers and had security physically lift her out?” George: “Bingo.” ???: “No one got seriously hurt?” George: “Thankfully no.” With that the bartender served the drink and the stranger slipped a 50 dollar bill. You lift the glass in a gesture for a thank you. And let the beverage slip down your throat. It was nice, it was a good year and the taste was strong but not overpowering. You noticed that his/her eyes were on you, almost as if they were trying to decipher your character. George: “What are you doing?” ???: “Trying to get a read on you, some say what you order is often an indication of who you are.” George: “Really? Then what can you say about me?” You asked, deciding to humour them. ???: “I can say that that you are a man that know what he wants and how you want them.” *Martini* ???: “You are an old soul, you probably know your liquor well. My guess you have a great library at home.” *Old fashioned* ???: “You are quite classy, and you can find a way to get drunk before noon.” *Red wine* With that you give an amused chuckle. George: “Well there is some truth to that statement.” You take a look at the drink they self are nursing. (Dark n Stormy) (Humm...) George: “If I were to do the same to you, I guess you have a sweet tooth and might have wanted to be a pirate at some point.” At that comment the stranger began to laugh. It was the infectious kind of laugh that made someone warm form the bottom of their stomach. ???: “Alright you got me there.” He/she then stuck out their hand. (My name is..) (Default name: Skyler) George: “‘Skyler’ it is a pleasure to meet you.” You said as you shook it. You take in Skyler’s look. You had to admit that they were an attractive specimen of a man/woman. George: “The name is George Bishop.” Skyler: “George Bishop, how professional sounding.” He/ she said as if they were tasting your name in their mouth. George: “Well I do hope so, would be difficult to be an advisor if people believed I was a joker.” Skyler: “Ah, so you are one of those people that look at you and stamp ‘rejected’ on every paper?” George: “I believe that I am fair in my judgement.” George: “How about yourself?” At that their eyes fell. Skyler: “Right now, I’m a 30 year old trying to figure out my next move.” George: “How come?” Skyler: “Lost my job due to relationship issues between my manager and her boyfriend. Apparently, me being friendly was mistaken for flirting.” Skyler: “What, they want a grumpy Greeter at the door?” George: “That is unprofessional.” Skyler: “Yeah, well relationships are messy.” George: “Agreed.” Skyler: “I must say the way you handled that woman, it was surprising.” Skyler said in a genuinely impressed voice. George: “You were watching?” Skyler: “Kind of hard not to, I’m surprised half the hotel didn’t hear her.” George: “Someone had to show her she isn’t the Queen of Sheba.” Skyler: “What are your thought on marriage?” You shoot up a bit, a bit startled by the blunt question. George: “My thoughts?” Skyler: “You seem like a guy that know what he thinks. I want to pick that brain a bit.” It had been a while since someone had so blatantly flirted with you. To be fair you were a bit surprised. Dating had often been a minefield for you. George: “Marrige…”
It’s an institution
It’s a partnership
It’s indescribable
George: “Historically it was a way to ensure land, money and heirlooms where added into a new household.” *Choice 1* George: “It was also a safety for children back in the day, since basterds often faced quite a few challenges from being born out of wedlock.” *Choice 1* George: “It is a symbol of trust, that you do have someone that you can count on.” *Choice 2* George: “But at the end of the day, if you are unfair to that partner hey might not stay.” *Choice 2* George: “To describe marriage is like trying to describe oceans and water. Even with similarities we can see, gathering it all in an explanation would probably not give a fair judgement.” *Choice 3* Skyler: “To me it’s a promise. ‘To have and to hold’ it is silly in this day and age were people divorce left and right for trivial things.” Skylers eyes became dark, falling into deep thoughts. You had never been the poetic kind, but there was a sweet sentiment in Skyler’s view on things. Your parents where still married over 30 years now. Your sister was due some time in December, your brother was off celebrating a two year dating anniversary and your paternal grandmother still loved her deceased husband dearly. To you it just never happened, perhaps it wasn’t for you. George: “That we can agree on, people are so afraid they will settle. At the first sign of trouble they leave.” Skyler: “So that woman form before… how long do you think her marriage will last?” George: “If she acts like she did tonight, I wonder if her husband will even stay for the ceremony.” You looked at your new companion and in an unusual turn of events you called the bartender over. George: “Can I buy you a drink?” With that Skyler smiled, deciding to keep you company. Sometime later you awake to the sound of your alarm clock. You feel a splitting headache, you drag you hand over your face as you do you feel a cold metal band around your finger. Pulling back as your eyes focus you see that it is a plain sliver coloured band. (is that?) · Oh no… Feeling more sober than ever before you realised just what a mess you got yourself into. George: ‘I just got married in Vegas.’ Well, you’re screwed.
You asked for it, here it is: Meeting McCarthy (1992)
Meeting McCarthy by Garry Wallace Southern Quarterly, 1992, 30(4), 134-139 In March of 1989, while traveling to El Paso with Betty Carey, I was afforded the opportunity of meeting Cormac McCarthy. Betty Carey, of Las Vegas World Series of Poker fame, was writing a book about her adventures as a professional gambler. She had arranged to meet with McCarthy to discuss her current writing, as well as to rendezvous with their common friend, Frank Morton, another gambler. What follows is my best recollection of the several conversations that took place over three days of our visit. I made no tape recording or notes during these informal, quite friendly talks, but wrote what I remembered in a journal after returning from El Paso. This account is recreated from chapters in my unpublished novel based on my year-long writing partnership with Betty Carey, and is as accurate as memory allows. Where I felt reasonable confident about actual words, I have used direct quotations. Elsewhere, I have paraphrased. On a bright spring Sunday morning, Betty and I awaited McCarthy in a quaint family restaurant on Mesa Avenue in El Paso, where Cormac suggested we meet to have brunch. Betty clutched a handkerchief to absorb the perspiration from her hands. She was nervous, as was I. Each time the entrance door opened, we glanced in anticipation. Finally a man, nondescript—medium build, short hair, a dull plaid shirt—walked down the short flight of stairs, his eyes searching the lower tier where we seated. It was Cormac McCarthy. Betty smiled and we got up to greet her friend. McCarthy asked about Betty’s book. He had been privy to her very first draft, written three years before. Her stories were about life as a gambler. For thirteen years she had won and lost fortunes, sitting at poker tables across the country with men like Jack Strauss and Amarillo Slim, risking life to hijackers, still able to spirit away tidy sums unknown to anyone but herself. Betty told McCarthy that so much had happened since that first draft that she was in the process of rewriting the whole story. Betty had allegedly been cheated in a Las Vegas casino scam. There were allegations of Gaming Commission and FBI coverups. Her case was then on appeal before the Nevada Supreme Court, ultimately to be thrown out because of the statute of limitations. She asked McCarthy if it was common for writers to do so much rewriting. He said he knew a few writers who would compose a hundred pages of a novel and then have to start over, but that he usually knew where his own novels were going from the start. Betty told McCarthy that she and I had written the screenplay of her story, and that ICM of Los Angeles had said it possessed some of the same appeal as Silkwood. She failed to mention that the agent had turned it down for being “awkwardly written,” because we’d portrayed Betty as an “arrogant and unsympathetic character,” and because “the authors seem inexperienced in mapping out dramatic framework.” She said, “I’m writing my book in a suspense format. I want it to be a best seller.” “I don’t read best sellers,” McCarthy said. Feeling responsible for the latest direction the book had taken, I explained, “What she means by ‘best seller’ is that she wants the facts of the casino scam to reach as many people as possible.” With a curt nod McCarthy indicated that he had understood that to be Betty’s meaning. He acted friendly yet cool toward me, a stranger. McCarthy asked if there was a particular author that Betty was patterning her novel after. I mentioned Ken Follett. McCarthy nodded and said that Follet (sic) was good. He mentioned also that Stephen King was a good writer. From his earlier comment on best sellers, I wasn’t sure if McCarthy had read these authors or if he was speaking from hearsay. “What do you read?” I asked. McCarthy said he read mostly nonfiction, although he did enjoy Hemingway. Betty and I had a conversation the day before with Irving Brown and his wife, proprietors of a used and rare book store on Mesa Avenue. An acquaintance of McCarthy as well as a professor of philosophy at the University of Texas, El Paso, Brown told us that McCarthy—an unpretentious man who often did his laundry right next door—considered Melville the greatest author, and that he read books about astronomy and physics. Brown especially liked the part in Suttree where Cornelius sees his reflection in the glass door and thinks, “Suttree and anti-Suttree.” Brown said that in his opinion McCarthy had over-read Plato. Betty mentioned how hard it was to find the time to write. When I said, “You have to be selfish,” McCarthy agreed, but substituted the word “ruthless.” Betty listed a few of the interruptions she had to put up with, eliciting McCarthy’s remark that he could write in a train station if he had to, but not if somebody kept asking for directions. McCarthy said that he wrote in the morning, every morning. “Why not write every day?” he asked rhetorically. “In the afternoon I visit friends. You can’t write all day long.” When Betty said she wished she could just run away from her obligations and be free to write, McCarthy recalled that once he had spent an entire year doing little more than playing pool with his friends. Betty and McCarthy talked about their lives, the consequences of their successes. Betty said that no more would she consent to interviews because so often they changed the story, often sensationalizing her life beyond reality. McCarthy agreed, saying that he would not do interviews.1 He told Betty that J. D. Salinger had given only one interview throughout his career as a novelist, to elementary children. “Do you teach?” I asked. Looking at me sternly, McCarthy said that he did not, and he seemed not to want to discuss it further. He mentioned an author, Robert Fulghum, who had published a somewhat humorous book about learning all you need to know by the time you graduate from kindergarten. McCarthy gave a few examples: “To tell the truth. Not to hit each other. To be fair.” Betty laughed. “I like that,” she said. From the things McCarthy said about academia, I understood him to believe that many of human beings’ problems arose from pursuits in education. In a later conversation about spiritual experiences, McCarthy said that education often got in the way of understanding. He added that in certain Eskimo cultures, art, of both high and low quality, was seen as good. Art was a personal expression. Nobody went around telling children how to do theirs differently. Betty said she felt different from most people in our society, that she was very much a loner and that her friends would not be considered mainstream. McCarthy referred to himself and Betty as “outlaws.” He gazed at her and said, “Look who we are. We’re desperate people.” They had both lived such uncommon lives that their spirits were easily kindred. I felt that my own life had been too sheltered. Again I asked McCarthy if he could recommend any good books or authors that a beginning writer should read. He said, “All great writers read all other great writers.” Upon further prodding, he mentioned several of John McFee’s books and The Song Lines by Bruce Chatwin. McCarthy said that he knew Larry McMurtry; because McCarthy loved the television movie “Lonesome Dove” so much, he said that he would never read the book. Betty mentioned her love of traveling and said that some people had suggested she write a book about her travels, or a how-to-on poker, and forget the nonsense about exposing the alleged casino scam that had cheated her out of many thousands of dollars. Betty asked about what she could and could not write about other people. McCarthy said that writers had great latitude in their writing and, on a question about other people’s ideas, said, “If you like it, use it.” I believe this came under the axiom that everything had already been written and that most ideas were neither unique in themselves nor original. Brunch ended and the coffee pot went dry. I picked up the bill. Betty and I drove the camper back to the motel with McCarthy following in his old beater. The exterior of his car had been sandblasted to the metal and touched up with primer paint. It looked prepped for the body shop. Even with my untrained ear, I could tell the engine ran well. At the motel Betty dug into her briefcase for her most recently drafted chapter, which she handed to McCarthy, apologizing for its not being typed. McCarthy said, “That’s all right. We’re friends. We do things like this for each other.” The next day, Betty and I met McCarthy at an out-of-the-way health food store that served frozen yogurt and sandwiches. We ordered at the counter and took seats at a small table next to the front window. After we were served, the conversation turned to writing. Betty asked which person it would be best to write her story in, and McCarthy said that was always a hard question to answer. He asked which person she felt most comfortable writing in, and Betty said that both the first and third had their benefits, but that she just couldn’t decide. She wanted McCarthy to tell her which to use, and he could not do that. He offered suggestions quite sparingly. To a question about how descriptive to make Betty’s book, McCarthy said that the point of most novels could be told in a paragraph. The reason they’re longer is so the author can tell a story. And he said, “Don’t ever treat your audience as if they’re stupid. Your reader is smart.” “Have you read Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying?” McCarthy asked. She had not. He explained that each chapter of the novel had been written in the first person from the perspective of each of the different characters. When he suggested that Betty might try something like that, I could see hopelessness on Betty’s face. She had been working on her book for over three years. McCarthy mentioned that Faulkner had written the novel during his spare moments while working on a manual labor job at night. He said that Faulkner had even used a wheelbarrow on which to compose the story. McCarthy said that Faulkner never expected the novel to become great, and that the novel had a certain amateurish quality that gave the book its great appeal. He said that Betty should not be overly concerned if her writing was not professional, and that she should try to retain the natural quality that her writing had, as that was often the mark of literature. Because Betty was having trouble getting the most recent draft of the novel started, McCarthy suggested that she could try writing the ending of her story first, then the beginning. He told her to get a tape recorder and tell her stories into a microphone and then play them back. Betty talked about the most recent developments of her story, but even with McCarthy she was hesitant to reveal many of the specifics. McCarthy became curious when Betty described the four levels by which she categorized poker players. She explained that the top two levels involved the reading of “tells” (short for “telegraphing”), and the ability to send out misleading “false tells.” She mentioned how she tested people by asking “set up” questions and viewing their responses. She would often ask questions to which she was sure a person would lie, and then remember what behaviors accompanied those responses. “Fascinating,” McCarthy said. “Do I have any tells?” Betty laughed and studied him more closely. “I haven’t noticed any yet.” That night, in a freak blizzard, Betty and I drove to a motel across town where Frank Morton was spending the night on his way home from Los Angeles. Frank was the classic itinerant gambler, as well as a somewhat unorthodox evangelist. He was the liaison who had initially brought McCarthy and Betty together. A tall man with graying hair, Frank spoke with a voice that was garbled with years of cigarette smoking, and his breathing was labored. I found him friendly and rather opinionated, but he would listen to your ideas if you could break into the stream of his talk. After McCarthy arrived, we all climbed into Frank’s car. The snow and sleet moved on, leaving a violent sand storm in its wake. Frank followed McCarthy’s directions to a Mexican restaurant, and by the time we got there, the wind had died. Frank talked on about the hate among the races in L.A., about people’s lack of trust and the general downfall of the human condition. Each of us added opinions now and then, but it was Frank who monopolized the conversation and filled the air with smoke. We were his congregation. McCarthy sat and listened, offering few observations of his own. Back at his motel room, Frank related a number of personal religious experiences that he had had over the years, pointing out the flaws in other people’s lack of faith. I challenged him, saying that one day science would understand these unexplained phenomena for what they really were. McCarthy commented that some cultures used drugs to enhance the spiritual experience, and that he had tried LSD before the drug was made illegal. He said that it had helped to open his eyes to these kinds of experiences. Betty recounted having seen the image of Christ on a bus while in Costa Rica. This had been at a time following the casino scam when Betty had been on the run. She said that her experience was as real as our sitting together in the motel room. It had not been a dream or hallucination. Always the skeptic, I said, “But how does that prove Christianity? Why not Buddha or Allah? You saw Jesus because you were raised in Jesus-land.” I looked to Frank and McCarthy. Their expressions were sympathetic. McCarthy was slumped into one of the chairs with his left leg slung over the arm rest. He appeared a very patient listener. He said that he felt sorry for me because I was unable to grasp this concept of spiritual experience. He said that people all over the world, in every religion, were familiar with this experience. He asked if I’d ever read William James’s The Varieties of Religious Experience. I had not. His attitude seemed to indicate that in this book were the answers to many of the questions posed during our evening discussion. I was nonplussed. “Truth,” McCarthy said about what writers must accomplish in their writing. “But what exactly is truth?” I asked. “Truth,” he repeated, his implications tacit. The next morning, Betty and I were at the motel when McCarthy arrived to go over his response to Betty’s chapter. He had written his critique on separate, smaller pieces of paper. Point by point, he went over his comments, offering occasional praise while not sparing the rod. Afterwards, I listed the three qualities I believed necessary for a person to become a successful writher: “To read a lot. To write a lot. To experience a lot.” McCarthy said that we all had experience enough from which to write. Months after our visit, I wrote McCarthy, completing a few thoughts I’d been unable to that night we discussed spiritual experiences. Some time later, I received his reply. He said that the religious experience is always described through the symbols of a particular culture and thus is somewhat misrepresented by them. He indicated that even the religious person is often uncomfortable with such experiences and accounts of them, and that those who have not had a religious experience cannot comprehend it through second-hand accounts, even good ones like James’s Varieties of Religious Experience. He went on to say that he thinks the mystical experience is a direct apprehension of reality, unmediated by symbol, and he ended with the thought that our inability to see spiritual truth is the greater mystery. NOTES 1 He has recently made an exception to this rule, granting an interview to the Richard B. Woodward of the New York Times Magazine on the occasion of the publication of All the Pretty Horses. My account of our visit with McCarthy, neither intended nor conducted as an interview, is published here with his knowledge.
OBLIGATORY FILLER MATERIAL – Just take a hard left at Daeseong-dong…9
Continuing... “I say that you’re way the fuck out of line, Chuckles. Are you an educated, experienced, fully licensed and internationally renowned master blaster?” I asked. “No, but…” he tried to continue. “But nothing, Scooter.” I said, “What, other than your insane xenophobia and nationalism, causes you to come to such unfounded, not to say stupid, conclusions?” He looked down at the deck. Evidently, he was not used to being challenged in such a manner. He realized he walked face-first into a metaphorical wood chipper. “I’m waiting for your answer, pally.” I continued. Still nothing. He was either deep in thought or ill at ease from newly soggy undergarments. “Want to know why I chose what I did? Fine, meet back here in 15 damn minutes.” He looks at me with a most perplexed, and ignorant, look on his face. “Dax, Cliff? I need you.” I say. We go back to the weapons locker and I explain my idea. “Let’s load a case of typical, TYPICAL Chinese-made dynamite. Then let’s load a case of American C-4. Be very careful with that leaky Chinese shit. Wait one. I’ll do it if you want and you can handle the C-4.” I say. “Ah, Rock; yeah. We’d appreciate it. You being the Pro from Dover, after all.” Cliff agrees. “No worries”, I say, “I got this. You make me up a nice, tightly packed case of C-4. For demonstration purposes.” I find a near-empty case of dynamite and begin to judiciously fill the thing with random samples of shitty and leaky Chinese manufactured and Korean not-too-well-cared-for dynamite. This stuff was so incredibly shitty and poorly manufactured that even when leaking and nasty, it was nowhere near as dangerous as its Western counterpart. It was loaded with so much and many interstitials, like sawdust, diatomaceous earth, literal horseshit, and shredded newspaper, the nitro denatured itself to some degree as it oozed out. Plus, in the non-climate controlled weapons locker; the high humidity, salt air, and poor circulation from the small open grate facing the sea, the nitro had desensitized somewhat and evaporated. It left only sticky, thin, fly-ridden films rather than the usual ‘waiting for a good reason to explode’ puddles. It was in no way as twitchy as that locker back in Nevada. Oh, but be assured, it was still a shit show. If I really wanted to, I could blow myself, this boat and all occupants into the next dimension rather easily, but it was nothing like that old locker back in that disused Nevada mine. I still needed to be scrupulously careful as there could potentially be puddles of the pale yellow, viscous liquid explody stuff, instead of the thin films I was mostly finding. Either way, it required caution and judiciousness. Nitro’s twitchy as fuck and the last thing I need is a dropped nail, blasting cap, or hunk of the rotten box falling into an errant nitro wet patch… Extra attention was exercised. Dax and Cliff are halfway through, and I’m still picking through the leaky, smelly bundles. “Next time”, I mused to myself, “I‘m writing in a ‘Handling fucked-up explosives”-clause in my contract. No matter how much I’m being paid for this, it ain’t enough…” We find a couple of expendable, dry-rotted ‘life preserver’ floaty-rings, upon which we secure both cases of explosives. They’re tethered with a rope and primed with a number of blasting caps. I let the head local Korean crank examine both to ensure that I’m not trying to pull a fast one. He did not notice the 3-pound bag of Tannerite (an impact-actuated explosive) I snuck in the middle of the box of Chinese TNT. “Now. Satisfied that they’re equal?” I asked. “Nothing fishy here. Just dynamite in bundles, with caps. Then, over here, C-4 blocks with cap. OK?” He was satisfied; but only after letting a couple of the shiny suit squad check as well. “Well”, I smirked,” So much for your ‘covert observation’, asshole.” This guy was DPRK secret service or equivalent. “Holy cold-pack cheese-food product fuck”, I cogitate, “They are so goddamned suspicious”. I ask Dax to go over to the pilothouse and borrow the mauled AK-47 I saw hanging on the bulkhead there. They keep it for run-ins with cranky sharks, walruses, and lovesick blue-footed boobies evidently. “OK, here’s what we’ll do. We’ll float each out, and I‘ll trail with demolition wire. Once we’re a few hundred meters out, you can press the big, shiny, green button and detonate your dynamite. I even used 6 blasting caps, to give each bundle its own. You saw that. We green?” I ask. He was, although suspicious of what I had in mind. He agreed although he refused to use my terminology, the stodgy prick. So float away the dynamite case we did. The case of Chinese dynamite floated out and away from the boat, leaving an oily slick in its wake. As it got to around 200-225 meters or so, I requested a rendition of the Korean version of the Safety Dance, as it was just too fucking hilarious to watch. Once completed, I handed Doubting Korean Thomas the detonator. “Your turn, Tweedles”, I said, “Hit the button to spark off your “much-better-than-the-West’s” Oriental dynamite.” He grabbed the detonator, gnashed a tooth in my direction, and mashed down on the big, shiny, green button with a vengeance. PFftt!PAH-foof!fuff There was a cheery little pop, a puff of acrid smoke, and not much else. Let it be said from the onset that I just selected examples of the Oriental manufactured dynamite at random. I didn’t look for the worst or leakiest. Though truthfully I really didn’t have much too choice in the matter. “You! You swindled me! You knew the dynamite wouldn’t explode! Somehow you knew it!!” he swore in my general direction. “Try it again”, I said after retrieving the detonator and doing a quick re-wire to another bank of blasting caps. “Gumeong-e bul!” [“Fire in the hole!”]. MASH goes the big, shiny, green button anew. Pfffft!” *Pop. Poooof! Piffle. Blerp. Nothing but a cute little pop, a poof, and a few acrid puffs of smoke. He was crestfallen. He had taken on the Motherfucking Pro from Dover in a necessarily explosive subject, with inevitably disastrous results. I asked if anyone here was weapons trained. A couple of Coasties raised their hands. “And you are? “ I asked the closest one. “Lt. P'an Tae-Hyun, Sir”, as he snaps a snappy salute. “Groovy.”, I reply and retrieve the AK from Dax. “Can you squeeze off a couple of shots and hit that floating box of dynamite?” I asked. “Yes, sir!” he replied, smiling. “OK then”, I replied and turned to the crowd. “Dynamite is usually pretty stable stuff and won’t detonate without a blasting cap or impulse source. A bullet will most certainly not detonate it. However, I’ve stuck in 3 pounds, imperial, of Tannerite, which is a type of binary explosive used for targeting. Tannerite will most definitely and energetically explode when impacted by a high-velocity bullet. I think we can agree that an AK-47 round is high-velocity?” I asked. There were nods and a buzz of general agreement. “Now, there’s the better part of a case of unexploded dynamite out there. That’s what we in the business call very, very fucking dangerous. Now those three pounds of Tannerite should vaporize everything within a 10-meter radius if it detonates as designed. Agreed?” I asked. Again, there were nods and a buzz of general agreement. “Lieutenant P'an?” I asked, “At your discretion. Fire at will. Or the dynamite case, as it were.” He nodded. He walked over to the furthest point on the stern, checked to see everyone was back and out of harm’s way, as he was a consummate professional. He futzed around with the old AK for a bit and took a shot. It was low and outside. “Ball one”, I snickered. “Sights are off. Not any problems.” He remarked. The next round found its mark. The Tannerite exploded adeptly. It threw sticks of unexploded Chinese dynamite over a 20-meter radius. They each sank into the briny deep leaving only an oily spot to mark their entry and eventual watery grave. The top of the case of dynamite was blown off, but the floaty ring remained. We reeled it back in to find a few more scorched, but unexploded, sticks of fine Oriental manufacture explosive on the bottom of the case. These were motherfuckingly dangerous. Cantankerous dynamite has no place on a ship. I remarked, however, that this would be no problem. Dax and Cliff brought up the case of C-4, which I had wired with one single blasting cap and booster. We had Korean Doubting Thomas and his shiny suit buddies give it the once over to ensure I wasn’t trying to pull a fast one. He agreed, it was nothing but C-4 as advertised. One of the more expendable Coasties jumped down on the stern transom-rack which is just above the waterline on the back of the boat. He wired the two rings together and set them adrift, tethered by a good nylon rope with my nasty, silky demolition wires trailing. Dax was working the rope and I was handling the spool of demolition wire. I had a good 350 meters of the stuff on the spool and wasn’t about to return a single centimeter. Old habits and all. As they floated away, Mr. Kwan asked if we’d like a bit of refreshment, as, gosh, it sure was dusty out here today. Of course, we agreed in unison. Good old Mr. Kwan. So, we’re unspooling our lines slowly, drinking our end of the day refreshers, smoking cigars, and watching our Oriental colleagues getting antsier every minute. I knew what a case of C-4 was going to do when detonated. It would be one hell of a show. I was so confident with my design I had Lt. P’ay return the AK to the pilothouse. Wouldn’t work here anyways if the C-4 failed to detonate. But that’s not going to happen. Dr. Pro from Dover Rocknocker has spoken. Finally, I’m almost out of demolition wire, and Dax has tied off the tether. I motion over to Herr Doubting Thomas and hand him the detonator. “For ye of little faith”, I smiled, recalling the entreaty that even Satan quotes the Bible for his own nefarious uses. But first, an encore of the Korean Safety Dance. They're guaranteed to raise a smile. I look to the character fumbling with the detonator. “At your convenience, good sir”, I say, dripping insincerity. “Gumeong-e bul!” [“Fire in the hole!”]. Mash goes the big, shiny, green button. KA-MOTHERING-FUCKINGLY-HUGE-BOOM! Even over 300 meters away, every one of us not only saw but felt that shock wave. It was like a solid Savate kick to the chest. The boat even rocked a bit in appreciation. I smile, retrieved the detonator, safe it, and reply: “And that is the singular reason why I used good old American manufacture C-4 as a sonic seismic source rather than shitty, leaky Oriental dynamite. Any further questions?” He shook his head in agreement, bowed slightly in my direction, slunk away, and that was the very last we ever saw of Mr. Korean Doubting Thomas. The Captain saw and felt the detonation. He put the boat in park, actually, he handed it over to the sub-pilot for station keeping and came back to the fantail. He wanted to know if we were now officially finished with our project. We maintained that we were and it had come off very, very successfully; in no small degree because of his boat handling abilities. He came over to me and shanghaied one of the translators. “Doctor Stone?” he asked. “Hrmph. Close enough.” I smiled. “May I be first to congratulate your team. In eight sorties, you and your teams are the first to fulfill mission parameters. I am pleased to say that this will go on all our permanent records. It will mean bonuses for all present. I salute you.” And does with a naval flourish. “No shit? Well, thanks, Cap”, I reply, “But I’m just the den mother for this special education class. Without them, and all their hard work, it’d never have happened.” “I knew you would say this”, he smiled, “You are leader of men. We see that. You are teacher, but also not afraid to work. You should do this more often. Use your education and experience to train and teach others.” He says, shaking my hand. Now it’s time for me to wonder. Did he hear of my offer back home? I don’t think he did, I’ve been playing those cards very close to the vest, as it were. I am now officially confused and bebothered. But, since I don’t believe in anything, much less coincidence, I’m going to chalk it up to happenstance and just gratefully consider the source. He asks that we wait here and he’ll return forthwith. “On a boat this size, there are not too many places we can sneak off to…” I chuckle. He returns with a very, very old bottle of something quite unidentifiable since it appears to be lacking a label. He yells something in official Korean and suddenly, a tray with little, itty-bitty demitasse-style glasses appear along with some smoked fish, I think, nibbles of some kind. He pours a dram for all present. No one dares take as much as a preemptory sniff until he’s finished with the ceremony. Everyone thusly charged, he begins a toast. “Shoo-buddy”, I think, “I’ve been down this road before.” It was quick, succinct, brief, and laudatory. According to him, we had ‘hung the moon’. I liked this style of toasting. Left more time to drink and for camaraderie. The project thus finished, as we were running out of potables, especially freshwater, victuals, and toilet paper; we were headed back to base. That is, back to the hotel to see what our comrades who chose to stay onshore had developed. But, that was going to be for another day. First, we needed to chug our way back to port, both literally and figuratively. Ahem. Before which, though, there were some housekeeping and paperwork chores. Dax, Cliff, and I did a quick reconnaissance of the explosives locker and created a ‘used’ manifest; which all three of us signed. They may be officious, they may be obtrusive, but damn, they certainly love their goddamned paperwork over here. We gave copies to the head shiny suit, one for the Captain, and we retained copies for our records. Along with notes that we expended two rounds from the pilothouse AK, as we were trying to out-officious these officious paper-pushers. We made certain the keys were returned and logged in the proper logbooks and the explosives locker was locked securely, solidly, and soundly. Before which, we policed up the weapons locker and actually offered to the gods of the briny deep, quite the quantity of unsafe, leaky dynamite, and other ordinance that was more a disaster waiting to happen rather than inventory. Seawater would neutralize the nasties and in the case of anything metallic, it’d be gone within a fortnight. and the phosphates might provide some nice fertilizer for some lucky passing Cnidarians. We were in water of near 45 fathoms. This stuff would never hurt another living thing. The Captain was very pleased that we had taken that task upon ourselves. He wasn’t allowed to do anything about what was in the locker, but he was responsible for it and keeping the wrong people out of it. I commented that was a fairly stupid way of handling things, and he mentioned that he’d appreciate it if I made an official note of it to the powers that be once we go feet-dry, i.e., get back to shore. I assured him we most certainly would. From then on, all we had to do was putt-putt our way back to port. It was going to take some hours and we’d end up berthing during the wee hours. This would not be a problem as our bus and driver would be waiting for us no matter what the time. He would briskly and without fanfare, return us to our hotel. That we were actually looking forward to bunking back in the old hotel sort of gave one an idea of the Spartan arrangements we had endured for the last three days. Most of the Westerners groused and complained in a humorous manner. Hell, it was only three bloody days. Some of our Oriental friends were so totally aghast they vowed to lodge formal complaints once they returned to dry land. Landlubbers. Odd that once we hit the beach, they all scattered to the four winds and not a single letter nor either a peep of protest was ever forthcoming. Yes, this is an intensely weird place. We wandered down the gangplank, cigars a-fume, and drinks recently and for one last time, refreshed by Mr. Kwan. The shiny suit squad was supervising the offloaded of the seismic data we had collected and had seen it soundly sealed and concealed in the very living bowels of the bus. It was to return with us to the hotel, where we’d demand a receipt. Then it would be off to the ‘Technological Center” on Scientific Street for processing. They assured us that they’d handle that themselves. Evidently we were good enough to acquire the data, but not good enough to see the finished product. Ack, Volna, and Ivan chuckled. “OK, you pirates. What did you do?” I asked “They can try with all their might. But without the decryption key, they’ll spend years processing encoded compressed nonsense.” They snickered. “We did offer to come and help set up the decryption for the decompression of the raw data, but they said they could handle it themselves. Oh, well. We tried. Seriously, we did.” Ack and Volna snickered. “Well, keep it handy in case they come to their senses before we get out of here,” I said. “Always our intention, Herr Denmother”, Volna chuckles. “Oh, you heard that?” I snickered quietly. Back at the hotel, the majority of us sent our sea-gear to our rooms via the on-site laundry. That being settled, the majority of us retired to the catacombs of the basement. We needed strong drink, decent, non-tinned food, and seats that didn’t slop around every time you sat down. Well, with the acquisition of our sea legs, two out of three wasn’t bad. Since the hour was much too late, I decide that tomorrow, well, later today, would be a day of R&R for everyone. Moreover, I was informed that tomorrow would be the “Day of the Sun” celebration, the insanely earnest celebration birth anniversary of Kim Il-sung, founder and Eternal President of North Korea. It’s supposed to be some sort of big, hairy nationwide deal. But aside from a couple of small posters, we heard little and knew less about the holiday and its celebration. Everyone’s being even more uncharacteristically low key. It’s odd like there’s something weird going on here. “What? Something weird and covert and sneaky going on in Best Korea? Pshaw, you old fart. You’re letting the paranoids get to you!”, I mused to myself. This place will do that to you after a while. I asked the front desk to place a note that made the rest of today a day of R&R in everyone’s mailbox. After another cigar, some decent prawn stir-fry, and a couple-twelve really stiff drinks, we were all ready to invade the land of Nod for a few hours. I went downstairs for a drink, a nosh, and a smoke. I ran out of NK won as we tend to use them in Western Expat high-stakes poker games, so I needed to trade some of my weird Middle Eastern currency for weird Best Korea currency. I was used to the 900:1 won:US dollar (equivalent) trade-off, but after cashing in the equivalent of US$500 in Middle Eastern dinero, I walked off with 650,000 won, not 450,000. “Pardon me, Ms. Cashier”, I said to the nice little local woman behind the bird-cage security wires, “I do think you gave me too much.” She took my stack, re-counted it, and proclaimed it correct. “I thought the exchange rate was 900 to the dollar?” I asked. “No”, she remarked, “Now 1,336.” “Any idea what’s causing the fluctuations?” I asked. She just smiled and shook her head ‘no’. I smiled back and tipped her 50 UAE dirhams for the information. “Weird. Now what?” I mused. Little did I know… The next morning dawned dim and early as there some sort of something going on outside. Oh, yes, it was ‘The Day of the Sun’ celebration. I discovered it was is an annual public holiday in North Korea celebrating the birth anniversary of Kim Il-sung, founder, and Eternal President and local Poobah-in-Charge of North Korea. It is the most important national holiday in the country, and is considered to be the North Korean pseudo-secular equivalent of Christmas. “Well,” I thought to myself, “I picked a damn good day to call for an R&R break.” Then I found out, why no one told us about any of this is still unknown, that the next two days after the holiday would also be considered a holiday. Come to find out, there are all sorts of intrusive, inconvenient, and wholly unnecessary nonsense that accompany these high holy days here in Best Korea. There are exhibitions, fireworks, song and dance events, athletics competitions, idea seminars: “Think about it!”, and visits to places connected with Kim Il-sung's life, including his birthplace in Mangyongdae. Shops close, the hotel televisions block any other ‘programming’ and show only ‘special’ movies. Either ridiculously fake documentaries on the life of the also ever so ronrey Kim Il-sung or movies he especially enjoyed. People parade to his statue on Mansu Hill to deposit flowers; later in the day, it resembled a pollinated glacier. There’s general obviously forced elation, all of which is extraordinarily strained and appears fake. People are trucked by the groaning busload to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun where the dead maniac lies in state. “Fuck this”, I said in the exact spirit of international amity, “I’m going to the bar.” I go downstairs to the basement bar, and even though it’s a high holy day, it’s open early. It didn’t used to be open until the afternoon, but since we’ve arrived, they have adjusted their hours for us. They have also doubled their daily receipts. So they’ve got that going for them, which is nice. One of my favorite barkeeps was station keeping that morning. I greeted him in the usual style and expressed to Mr. Ho Gun the best holiday wishes. “Hi! Ho!”, I said, “Annyeonghaseyo”, which comes out ‘Annie young eez-yo!’ in my Baja Canuckian dialect. Mr. Ho laughs at my attempt at Korean, but he does appreciate the effort. “Doctor Rock”, he says, “Dawn greetings. You will drink what?” Nice and direct, I like that. “Ye’ ken Greenland Coffee, me ol’ mucker?” I asked in a swirl of different dizzying dialects. Koran confounds me, so I thought I’d return the favor. “No, but I’m sure it’s coffee with some of your usual high-proof liquors, correct?” he smiles as I hand him a nice, oily Oscuro cigar. “For Best Most Happy Returns: Day of the Sun”, I said, waggling the stogie, as I hand it over. “However, you are correct. Normally, ‘authentic’ Greenland Coffee is a paltry 1/3rd ounce each of Whiskey, Kahlua, and Grand Marnier with excess coffee. Well, I don’t cotton to those liquors or measures. So my Greenland Coffee recipe, really from Greenland, by the way, is Siku Vodka, or any other high-octane vodka, as long as it’s premium. Then Immiak, which is Greenland’s version of Jagermeister, so let’s just go with Jager. Then finish it off with a shot of Tia Maria or Kahlua, if available. Oh, yes, then hot coffee. Silly me, almost forgot…” I conclude. “And measures?” Mr. Ho asked. “Whatever fills the cup”, I replied, in a bastardization of an old Russian toast. “OK, how about a 35 mils (~1 ounce) stiff shot each booze, then hot coffee to fill your mug? With a chilled vodka chaser, as per usual?” He asks. “Make it so, Mr. Ho,” I say. “No whipped cream or crème liqueurs, please. I’m lactose intolerant, and, well, no one wants to hear that…” He laughs and whips together a very nice morning sunriser. It’s a real day off. In a very, very weird land. It’s Festival outside and I stayed up most of the night calling people back in the world, creating and updating dossiers, doing explosives-tracking paperwork, worrying over logistics, and how and when the fuck we’re going to eventually get out of here. Fuck it, double front. I’m doing my ‘people watch’, perched high on Mahogany Ridge. I’m taking, for the first time since, hell, I left the Middle East, some real downtime. I figured I deserved it. I was the only one at the bar, but after a short time, there were festival-goers who infiltrated down into the hotel's subterranean catacombs. They didn’t know of the bar’s recently expanded hours and when they saw me sitting high up on Mahogany Ridge, smoking my ubiquitous cigar, they rejoiced. Obligatory Festival and alcohol! Better than beer and power tools. In the Baja Canada time-honored tradition, I have a pile of the local currency sitting on the bar. At the new exchange rate of 1,386 won to the dollar, I’m making out like a bandit. Drinks here are cheap, really cheap, to begin with. With this fluctuation in exchange rates, which I figured reflected the holiday, I was flush. In the chips. Well-heeled. I've got a lot of what it takes to get along. So, I was feeling magnanimous. I was tipping people very well. “Paper?” one local asked. “Sure. How much for a week-old English version of the Daily Worker’s Manifest and Pork Belly Futures Digest? 100 won? Here’s 1,000. Keep the change.” Not wanting to become over-caffeinated, I switched from Greenland Coffees after a couple to my usual potato juice and citrus concoction. Each one came in a tall, frosted gimlet glass, a very nice touch, and was expertly made my Mr. Ho after I showed him once when we first arrived. Each one, with the current exchange rate, was about 500 won; an exorbitant sum for any local. It was about US$0.40 for me. I bought several for people who bellied up to the bar and tried to engage me in conversation. I was used to handing out business cards, hell, one never knew where contacts could lead; and not receiving one in return. Today, I collected four new business cards; two from various European ex-pats, and two from locals. I guess Festival! time brings out the best and least paranoid in people. It’s only 1000 hours in the AM and people here are already seriously lubricated. This will be a fun few days. I decided to get a rather tall drink in one of my 100-ounce Kum-n-Go travel cups. With all the hoo-ha going on around here, I haven’t seen a handler, translator, or guide since we got off the boat. I decide with all the shenanigans and goings-on around the place on this festival day, no one would give me nor my wardrobe a second look if I were to venture outdoors for a walkabout. Besides, we’re on a bloody island. It’s not like I can go too damned far. So, quicker than a bunny fucks, I get my drink, fire up a cigar, and walk around the lobby of the hotel. There are the usual comings and goings of tourists, local workers, the security forces, and all that allied tat. I wait until a tour bus pulls up and all eyes are somewhere besides me. Pfft! And I’m standing outside the hotel, looking at all the sights. Which, truth be told, weren’t much. Yanggak Island is a slovenly-manicured island with shrubberies, tracks, trails, and assorted support buildings. The river is basically hidden behind stunted shrubs and nevergreens, and the remains of the defunct golf course. There’s a stadium on the island, which was thronging with festival-goers today. I don’t know what sport, if any, they play there, and didn’t care enough to ask anyone. There was a cinema hall, which was currently empty and looking in need of some dire repair. There’s some sort of Chinese health complex in the process of being built or torn down, it was hard to tell which. Needless to say, the scenery paled almost immediately. I did, after a concerted effort, find a small platform that overlooked the Taedong River. It was a very nice little observation platform with a couple of new-Tudor-esque electrical replica gas lights and two concrete benches where a weary traveler could sit and just watch the river. So I did. I was interested in the fish of the river, and wondered if any of the locals did any fishing; or if it was forbidden, as are so many ‘proletariat’ activities are in town. I did see a few locals, huddled out of plain sight, down by the shores of the river fishing with long, 10 meter, reel-less poles. In Britain, they would call this type of fishing ‘noodling’. I didn’t see them catch anything, but in the bar later, I spoke with a local who told me that they catch various species of fish here. These include Asian Aroana, Blue Guppy, Catfish, Crab, Eel, Halibut, Hucho Perryi, Octopus, Orange Guppy, Pacific Flying Squid, Rainbow Trout, Salmon, and Tuna. I’m not saying my informant was lying or embroidering the tale, but from the nasty condition of the river, I think Coney Island Whitefish, Cotton River Horse, Dumpster Trout, and Bugle-Mouthed Salmon would be the more common species. I had enough perambulation and even though I wasn’t given the least look, I felt a bit uncomfortable out here. That unfiltered sun and equally unfiltered air. After that, I wandered back to the hotel and went to enter to go to my room. “HALT! Who goes there?” some door guard yelled at me. “An American tourista who was out on a walk”, I replied. “Impossible!”, he replied, “Tourists are not allowed out without their guides.” “Look, Herr Mac”, I said, “I’m Dr. Rocknocker, and I am an invited Western Petroleum Scientist with the UN special-invited group here to evaluate the country’s oil and gas potential.” “You are not allowed.” He replied loudly. “My good man”, I replied, equally loudly, "Not allowed? Not allowed? I’m a geologist, I’m allowed everywhere.” With that, I grab the handle of the ornate door, take a slurp out of my drink, and sally forth into the hotel. Of course, he goes non-linear. He follows me and is making all sorts of bad noise. He is almost literally dancing around me, pointing, and exclaiming that I’m not allowed. Then, he made a bit of a mistake. He grabbed my arm. Really, really poor career move. I switched my drink to my left hand and executed a pretty spiffy opposite-side wrist grab on the noisy little nerf herder. He was so shocked by this turn of events, he went slightly white and was rendered mute for a short time. I frog marched the little irritant up to the front desk and asked the head clerk there to explain to my captive audience who I was and why I was here. The clerk smiled and gave the character whom I was dragging around a quick background on the guy who was currently holding him captive. When I heard “닥터 락 노커” [dagteo lag nokeo, “Dr. Rocknocker”], I dropped this guy’s hand and just took a few steps back. After a minute or two, he comes over, very, very abashed. He apologizes as he wasn’t told that any Americans were allowed outside the hotel. I told him ‘No problem’, as I really didn’t have any special permission and didn’t want to get the guy into any trouble. I offered him a cigar, which he refused, but he readily accepted the half-pack of Sobranie pastel cigarettes I had in the pocket of my Hawaiian shirt. I decided from that point to just stay inside the hotel to smoke, drink, and avoid any further Imperial entanglements. I wandered on down to the casino because I was bored and it was unusually quiet. Too hepped-up to sleep, too tired to work, it was that odd interarea between “should I be giving a fuck” and “who the fuck cares?” Leaving the basement, I wandered around the ground floor, just taking in the sights, and looking at the “Festival Specials” at the hotel shops. I found an empty, unlocked conference room that looked inviting. About two dozen chairs, a large wooden table, TV monitors, and a southern view of the city from slightly above ground level. I walked in like I owned the place, as it is always monumentally easier to get forgiveness than permission, sat down at the head of the table, propped my feet up, found an ashtray, and began playing with the remote to see what was available. Evidently, these rooms were available for rent by various factions, cadres, and other sorts of like-minded individuals. However, whoever was here last forgot to re-set the filters on the satellite television. There was real the BBC, real-time. There was German TV, Russian TV, Japanese TV, and even some American TV; all the best of the absolutely prohibited hit parade. I shut it down and left immediately. I went to find my comrades. They simply had to see this. I located Dax first, as he was losing won at a rapid rate down at the basement casino. He said he’d spread the word to any of the team members down in the tunnels and we’d meet at Conference Room #1. I had taken the precaution before leaving to move the “Occupied/Unoccupied” placard to indicate it was in use and that if you hadn’t reserved the room, you’d do best to stay the fuck out. I waited the obligatory 20 minutes for the elevator and went up to ‘our’ floor. I knocked on all the doors where I knew they were occupied by our occupants. I found a few of our team and informed them that if they were so inclined, there would be an unannounced, impromptu, and wholly illicit meeting down in Conference room number 1; complete with refreshments and real, uncensored television. They all agreed and said they’d rouse the rest of our team on the floor. I was feeling so brazen, that when I went down to the ground floor, I stopped at the front desk and ordered lunch and drinks for my team in Conference Room #1. “Oh, sir”, the desk clerk responded, “We don’t have any reservations today for Conference Room #1.” “Well”, I replied, “We are in there and if it wasn’t reserved, how would that have happened? The room would have been marked as unavailable, which it clearly was not; as it was open and available and we are now occupying it. Therefore, it wasn’t marked unavailable so it must have been available; not unavailable as you postulate. It’s almost a simple example of the single equation theory of universal containment. So we are meeting there now and requiring refreshments. It’s simply a logical progression of the facts of the matter.” “You are, of course, correct”, she immediately responded, distracted by all the Festival goings-on in the hotel, “Now, you said you’d like to order 4 dozen assorted meat and cheese sandwiches, two cases of beer, and a mixed case of bottled liquor?” “Yes”, I replied, “You see, it’s only going to be a brief meeting. I’ll also need ice, carbonated and non-carbonated mixers, sliced citrus fruit, and an on-call bartender if you have one available.” “Oh, yes sir,”, she replied, “That will be immediately arranged. Anything else?” “Yes”, I replied, “I’ll need about a dozen ashtrays, of the larger variety. Also, I am going to leave explicit instructions with you to disseminate to hotel staff that we are not to be disturbed. This is a very high-level meeting of the scientists of the IUPG. We will be discussing, umm, ‘sensitive information’”. I used the international ‘don’t-even-think-of-bothering-us’ buzzword to let her know were being very serious indeed. “Oh, yes sir”, she stiffened. “Marvelous”, I said and slipped her 1000 won for her troubles. All sighs of nervousness instantly disappeared. “Excellent. Excellent service.”, I said, rubbing both hands together most Mr. Burnsly. I go over to the conference room and see that our order has begun to already arrive. Have to hand it to them, you call for room service and you get room service. Especially if you’re well known around the hotel to be free with imported cigars, pastel cigarettes, and lavish tips. One by one, my teammates filtered in. There was everyone from out earlier pleasure cruise, and most of the force that remained back in the hotel to prepare the paperwork for our ground assault. Cigars, cigarettes, and pipes were lit. Sandwiches consumed and drinks were downed. After everyone had a chance to see their home-town, or at least home-county, version of the news, I decided that it would indeed be a good time to have a bit of a meeting. It was going nuts outside with the Festival, and as long as we were in here, we were being left alone. After the obligatory facilities break, I returned from a 40-minute round trip to my room to get a couple of my field notebooks. I wanted a record of the proceedings, no matter how spur-of-the-moment. When I returned, I thought the room looked a bit spare. I did a quick headcount and I noted we were missing someone. I glanced through my notes and saw that our Bulgarian geomechanic, Dr. Iskren Dragomirov Dinev, or ‘Iskren’ was not present. “Hey, guys”, I asked aloud, “Anyone seen Iskren lately?” There was a brief conclave and the answer was a solid negative. I called the front desk and got his room number. I asked them to ring his room for me. His room phone rang and rang and rang, but no answer. “Who last saw Iskren?” I asked the assembled crew. The Finnish PT, Joon, recalls drinking with him at the casino the night before last. He seemed normally jovial as was normal for him. “Anyone else? Or since?” I asked. Again, the answer was negative. “Something’s not right”, I thought, my rock sense was tingling. “Dax, Cliff, you’re with me.” We all left, stopped by the front desk, and asked for medical assistance. We explained where we were going and the sudden absence of our Bulgarian friend. We expressed deep concern. 25 minutes later, Dax, Cliff, me, the hotel security chief, and hotel doctor were standing outside Iskren’s room. We had pounded on the door for a good 3 minutes. He certainly wasn’t in the shower. No answer. “Fuck this. Open it”, I said. “Under whose authority?” the chief of hotel security asked. “Mine. Dr. Rocknocker. I’m the team leader of the IUPG crew. Do it.” I said. The door was laboriously opened, as both door bolt locks had to be breached. The room was dark, silent, and entirely unnerving. In the gloom, it appeared that there was a human form, unmoving, on the bed. “I’m a rock Doctor. I think we need a medical doctor here.” I said to the hotel sawbones. The hotel doctor went in without switching on the lights nor touching anything. He examined the mound on the bed. Apparently, it wasn’t a pile of dirty laundry. “Was the occupant of this room a large Caucasian male, approximately 60-65 years of age?” He asked. “Yes”, we all answered together. “I’m afraid he’s dead.” The doctor replied. Dax looked at Cliff who looked at me. In unison, all that was heard was a tripartite: “Oh…fuck.” To be continued...
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