full recovery and full competition

Well, I am finally feeling better. No more sore throat, no more fever, no more fatalism. It's weird when you've been sick for a while and then you realize that you are better. "Wait a second! There is no pain in my body right now!" You don't trust it for a while, but then you sort of forget that you were ever sick. I'm back on coffee and beer again, which is a good or bad sign, depending on how you look at it.

I wanted to write an entry about a fun game we played in Las Vegas, but then I got sick and it didn't happen. So excuse the delay, but here it is anyway.

So, when I was in Vegas a few years ago filming a B horror movie I discovered I had a talent for one of the games at the Circus Circus arcade. You've probably played it- it's like Skeet Ball, only you compete against people, and the higher you score the farther your little guy moves across a board. Could be a horsey guy, could be a greyhound guy- whatever. It looks like this:

On that trip I won like, 4 times in a row and just thought I was the meanest thing to ever hit the Strip. So of course this time around I was talking a big game to Mike and Steve, "Oh, I'm so good at the racing game. I'm fast and I have good precision and I can win any plush prize in the place. Check me out!" I looked for the game at every arcade we hit, and finally found one at Excaliber. You raced knights and won plush felines. Mike, Steve and I played, along with a handful of other young enthusiasts (read: children). Steve won. By a lot. I immediately challenged them to a second game, and they agreed. Steve won again. By a lot. In fact, the second time around he waited a few lengths before the finish line and "smoked 2 cigarettes" waiting for Mike and I to catch up. Humiliating. Here he is with his winnings:

Was Steve a gracious winner? No. He rubbed it in my face. Was I a gracious loser? No. I sulked and made excuses. But we moved past it, and Steve gave me his prizes. Which I then released back into the wild.

You are a worthy competitor, Sir Schroederm but beware. One day I will rise up and reclaim the crown, and make an army of the plush animal kingdom!!!! Bwa ha ha!