My Happy Place

By the time most of you read this, I’ll be on a plane heading back East. The first stop is to see my family in PA, then it’s off to the famous Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City on Thursday. I’ll be there for 11 days. I love Borgata and it’s not just because they pay me. It is hands down, the nicest place in A.C. and I’m really excited to see the debut of their new tower.  Plus, they’ve got a great staff and I love working with them.

I’ll have more on Borgata later.

The Magic of Red Rock Canyon (Part 1)

I first moved to Las Vegas in 2006 to take a job with a Card Player magazine. All I knew about Vegas was that it was a landmine-filled landscape with vices on every corner that could end your stay in the blink of an eye. Having traveled and lived in many an East Coast city, I thought I would be prepared. I wasn’t.

 

Vegas easily lived up to my expectations. With a motto like “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” I knew I was in for a show and Sin City did not disappoint. From the moment I arrived, I could hear the slot machines and their bells and my “Spider-senses” could almost literally feel the force of the house rake as they take a little piece of every hand played on the Strip.

 

Having survived my introduction to Las Vegas, I was now settled in to a house and working regularly, but I couldn’t find a sense of peace as most of my time was spent on the Strip watching poker players battle for millions of dollars. I missed the outdoor environment of the East and I felt like I was on an episode of the “Twilight Zone” as I was now in a valley that was surrounded by desert.

 

One day I was explaining my restlessness to a co-worker who was from Colorado and he told me about a place that was outside of Las Vegas that was supposedly magical. At first I didn’t buy it. I was spending most of my time at the Rio working the 2006 World Series of Poker and had very little time for play because the temperatures were just about unbearable and I was working the night shift.  This left a small margin of time when I could actually get outside and enjoy myself.

 

Finally, after having one of those days where you just want to crawl back into bed, I ran into my friend and he repeated his story about the National Conservation area. At was at this point that I took my first trip to Red Rock Canyon. The sun was beginning to set and I figured I would go take my friends advice and explore the area. He had repeatedly said that the place was magical, so I instantly began thinking of the remote nature spots from my early days in Pennsylvania and my more-recently traveled ocean landscapes of Byron Bay, Australia. I wondered how could a place on the outskirts of Las Vegas even come close to these places?

I Pwn You

Image details: Virgin Festival By Virgin Mobile 2007 – Show – Day 2 served by picapp.com

When most people think of Hip Hop, the image of people playing chess doesn’t typically come to mind. That stereotype is about to change thanks to a new website from Wu Tang Clan member Rza.  Called Wuchess.com, the site is a place where the hip hop world meets the chess community.

 

Having learned the game at 11, Rza is no stranger to the sport and he has infused the game into the lyrics of Wu Tang songs. “The way you have to think in chess is good for everyday thinking, really. Especially for brothers in the urban community who never take that second look, never take that second thought,” said Rza in a recent New York Times article by Dylan McClain.

 

The new site lets fans play chess online, chat, and find out information about Rza and the Wu Tang Clan. Membership costs $48 per year and although there has been some concern over the initial fee from industry-based websites, it hasn’t stopped the close to 5,000 people from preregistering.

 

Although he once dropped lyrics such as “Cash moves everything around me,” Rza is donating a piece of the profits to finance academic scholarships that will be given by the Hip-Hop Chess Federation.

Gut Instinct

I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.

Michael Corleone, The Godfather II

 

There once was a man who was forced to relive his day over and over again. No matter what he did during the day, he started at the same spot the following morning and seemed to make no progress. After a short period of time, the man became dissatisfied with this life.

 

One day, he bean feeling this strange sense of urgency. Something inside of him began bugging him, but he couldn’t quite figure out what it was. He heard a repeating voice in his head that kept telling him that he was wasting his days and he was choosing to do this. It took him a while, but he eventually began to see that his situation wasn’t made by someone outside of his life. It was his choice and he now knew it. After accepting this and deciding that this was no longer they way he wanted to live, he finally broke free of this repetitive life.

 

Once the man slowed himself from his daily rituals and habits, he saw a future free of the shackles that kept him chained to his false reality. Finally conscious of his situation, he realized that things would never be the same again. Change was taking place in his life  and all he had to do was trust that he was no longer going to repeat his actions and he would be free of his self-made vision of suffering.

 

After the man listened to his instincts, everything began to change. He could finally see that it was his blind submission to what he thought was reality that kept him enslaved in a life of needless repetition. As soon as he trusted himself enough to be open to new possibilities, his experience quickly developed and his concept of reality was forever changed.

 

There is no turning back once you listen to yourself and start acting upon your universal wisdom. Keep in mind that by listening to your inner voice, life becomes easier and more enjoyable. It takes some time to develop these instincts, but when you do, it does is like a sonic blast that will shake up your future. In other words, you have to cultivate your inner voice and be willing to change your circumstances. In essence, you just have to be willing to pay attention and trust what your soul has to say.