• Donald Trump speaks at an ACN Convention - This video is from Trump's visit to the September 2006 International Training Event.  Trump has spoken at other ACN events, including his latest in June 2008.
  
• Robert Kiyosaki gives personal endorsement - This video was put together by ACN and Mr. Kiyosaki as part of the promotion for his visit and speaking at the ACN International Training Event in Phoenix, AZ, in February 2008.

1/1/2008 6:43:13 AM UTC      Comments [0]Trackback

Val came up with an idea for a night out, and that was a visit to Red Wind Casino (the Nisqually Tribe casino) to listen to an Elvis impersonator!  I almost could not contain my dismay at the idea, but inasmuch as I know that she is a big Elvis fan, how could I refuse to attend?  I wanted to find some excuse, but this seemed unwise.

I am glad I didn't.

The first interesting thing was the casino itself.  We've seen it before, though we've never gambled, because one of our daughters worked there when it first opened, but it is now enormous. It's also a lot more impersonal looking -- it was homier when smaller. 

The Elvis impersonator was Danny Vernon, and he was very good and quite an entertainer.  I was not sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised.  When he took a break, another impersonator took the stage, but not another Elvis impersonator, but a Billy Joel tribute artist.  This was Brian Lloyd, whose apparent usual stock in trade is New Age, but he did an excellent set of Billy Joel hits.  I really enjoyed listening to him, more than Vernon, as Billy Joel is more my cup of tea.  I've always thought of Elvis as fairly cheesy. 

5/8/2007 4:02:51 AM UTC      Comments [0]Trackback

In what amounts to a matter of Why Is This Important? (to which the answer is, It Isn't) I happened upon Amicable Numbers (see Wikipedia on this) and apparently this was some project that the great mathematician Leonhard Euler devoted some time to.  Euler discovered 59 pairs, adding to the three that were then known to exist.  But there are now apparently 11,446,960 known amicable pairs, and the largest of these has 24,703 digits!  See the website devoted to giving all of them: http://amicable.homepage.dk/knwnc2.htm.

While fascinating to a certain extent, one has to wonder what use amicable pairs are.  A paper I found on the net, at http://ftp.cwi.nl/CWIreports/MAS/MAS-R0307.pdf discusses amicable pairs in depth, but never says anything about any possible practical use of research on the subject.  Mathematics at its purest, I suppose.

Just as an interesting exercise, I built a program to discover, by brute force, all amicable number pairs smaller than 20,000.  I let the program run to completion and at the end it had found the following pairs:

• 220, 284
• 1184, 1210
• 2620, 2924
• 5020, 5564
• 6232, 6368
• 10744, 10856
• 12285, 14595
• 17296, 18416

Which check out nicely on the AP website.

3/16/2007 4:04:05 PM UTC      Comments [0]Trackback

That was an experience.  The wife and I came down with the flu and for past couple of weeks have been miserable.  I got it first, but recovered last.  I am still way down because of it.

Yuck, next year I am definitely getting a flu shot.  It will be the first time.

And on top of the flu, spending so much time horizontal put my back out, too!  I am staggering and limping everywhere, and heaven help me if I have to walk any distance, like fifty yards.

3/3/2007 1:09:02 AM UTC      Comments [0]Trackback

I am pleased to announce that this morning, at 9:20 AM, our new granddaughter, Summer Ruth Clark, made her entrance into the world! 

She was not really as red in the face as the photo seems to show, in fact she is quite the lovely little lady.  And she was so very alert and observant!  It is sometimes said that girl babies tend to want to connect, and it surely is true in her case.  She would hear the voice of someone talking to her, and she would turn towards the sound already.  Just two hours old in this photograph.  It's also a good shot of Daddy Jason's ear, by the way.

I do note that I can see her great grandmother Ruth's eyes in her, so she is well named.  She was a most healthy baby, too.  Vital Stats: 8 lbs 11 oz; 20 inches long.

1/1/2007 6:52:07 AM UTC      Comments [0]Trackback

Well I have great news!  And that news is a new Grandson.  He was born to my son Daniel and his wife, Linda, this morning at 5:40 am.  A nice weight, 7 lbs 3 oz, length 21 inches, and the docs couldn't find a single thing wrong with him.  His name?  Oh, yes:

Daniel John Clark

When your children start having children, THAT's when the fun begins.  And a few weeks from now, maybe right at Christmas, our son Jason and his wife Larene will be presenting us with another grandbaby, this time a girl, whose name has already been picked out: Summer Ruth Clark.  I can't wait!

12/3/2006 8:39:15 AM UTC      Comments [0]Trackback