Friday, July 23, 2004

Mystery creature solution to budget crisis?

Unless you watch WBAL in Baltimore, WCAU (NBC-10) in Philadelphia, or get the local Philly news on msn.com, you don't know about the "mystery creature" that, for the past year, has been skulking around Maryland. Here's a photo:



This creature has been showing up in backyards in Maryland, and it has perplexed experts everywhere. It might be a bear or fox with bad mange, a coyote, a hyena, or a hyena/coyote mix. One person even thought that it was the Jersey Devil, apparently pushed out of the Pine Barrens and seeking refuge down south.

Read more about the story here: Name That Mystery Mammal! You can even take a quiz.

Anyway, I think that, instead of legalizing slot machines, Maryland might be able to plug some budgetary holes by running a public sweepstakes on the true identity of the mystery mammal. You could draw it out for months, letting more detailed photos out, encouraging and discouraging various theories to spread the betting around, before finally capturing the creature and, on live television, having a zoologist name its species.

At the very least, how about a "mystery mammal" slot machine? I can imagine the bonus screen--you guess at a species, and points for it.

UPDATE 8/4/04: The mystery is solved! The animal was captured over the weekend. It was a baby red fox with sarcoptic mange.
posted by Dave at 11:30 AM

1 Comments:

OK, and has anyone told Skeptical Inquirer about this? Yeaaaa....

By H. B. David, at 1:53 PM  

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What is Casino[ptz]?

In a sentence: "A weblog featuring news, notes, and opinions from the world of casinos and gambling."

Casino is self-explanatory; ptz refers to a surveillance camera that can pan, tilt, and zoom, thus offering the operator a better perspective and more detailed shot.

Casino [ptz] was maintained by Dave Schwartz, coordinator of the Gaming Studies Research Center at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

As of now, Casino [ptz] is not being updated. Instead, you can find Dave's wit and wisdom on his own website, www.dieiscast.com. \

Go there now, for casino carpets and more.

The opinions expressed are those of Dr. Schwartz and not those of UNLV or any of its students, staff, or faculty.

If you have any questions, please direct them to Dave at dgs@unlv.nevada.edu.

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You can't win money here, but you can take a quiz or two.

Quizzes

Test your knowledge with two quizzes I have devised for your enlightenment and entertainment.

1. Do you know gambling?

If you've read this weblog, I'll bet you do.

Take the...

Gambling quiz

(view the Scoreboard)

This quiz features ten questions about gambling, mostly in casinos.

2. Do you know casino history?

Take the...

Suburban Xanadu quiz

(view the Scoreboard)

This quiz features ten questions taken from the pages of Suburban Xanadu.

If you've read the book, the quiz should be a snap.

Or, take the quiz and see what you are missing.

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Read about strange slots and more.

Classic posts

Bashing the Donald

Betting on cheating

Las Vegas bites!

What happens in Vegas...

Porn or advertising?

New Jerseyans talk funny?

Mystery Creature from Maryland
Update: Mystery solved

Seven questions

Dave's book quoted in Parliament

Bird gets Trumped
(Fuzzy Zoeller unleashed)

Merger update, 7/04

A game called hope

Casino blocking monument?

Slots, urban design, and destination dreams

BJ by the sea

News of the Inane

Dogs not playing poker

My book is a buzz word

Mega merger mania

Stripped of dignity?

Of sleaze and goldmines

The Real Addicts

WSOP thoughts ('04)

Sweet Georgia busted

Secret to a long life

Don't be afraid, the clown's afraid too

Failed casino marketing

Out of this world?

It's a Hard Rock Life

Quitting to win

What's in a name?

Giving credit...

Pedicab follies

Always turned on !?!

Lake Las Vegas

Hastert blasts casinos/2 tiger tales

Russian Regulation?

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In Memoriam

Claude Trenier

Shannon Bybee

Si Redd

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These bloggers are in the Casino[ptz] club.

Other blogs

Alberta Gaming Research Institute Library

Bill Barol's Blather

Love and Casino War

Online Casino Legalization Blog

Poker Babe's
Game Journal

Presence of Mind

PokerProf's Pokerblog

Email Dave if you want him to add your blog.

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Who is Dave Schwartz?

Dave Schwartz is the coordinator of the Gaming Studies Research Center at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, which means that he spends most of his time at work doing three things:

1) Extending and improving the collection of books, journals, and primary materials about gambling known as the Gaming Collection.

2) Working on digital initiatives, such as this weblog and the GSRC site, that facilitate the understanding of gaming research and gaming issues.

3) Answering questions about gambling from media and researchers, or directing them to the answers.

Atlantic City, NJ-you can see Dave's home in this photo, but he won't say where.

Before coming to UNLV, Schwartz worked in the Atlantic City casino industry as a surveillance officer. He is also the youngest person known to have received a Ph.D. in History from UCLA.

Schwartz is the author of Suburban Xanadu: The Casino Resort on the Las Vegas Strip and Beyond, which is an intelligent, accurate account of the creation and legacy of the Las Vegas Strip. Click on the link for more information about this best-selling book, or just buy it from amazon.com.

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In his own words:

"To answer the biggest question I get, no, I don't gamble. I know the odds and, having spent more hours than I care to remember watching people gambling, it doesn't excite me at all. So why do I study gambling? Because the industry and the interactions fascinate me.

"Las Vegas is an interesting place to live, and my job gives me a good window on the city. In a typical day, I might go from talking about gambling books with a system player to answering a question from a reporter from a major newspaper to meeting with casino executives. So I think I can bring a unique perspective on the industry and the people who make it work."

To learn more about Dr. Schwartz, go here.

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The unofficial Casino[ptz] mascot

It's the mystery mammal, of course. Dave is currrently developing a "Mystery Mammals" cartoon idea. Hey, if "Father of the Pride" works, maybe animal cartoons will become the next big thing.

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Just because

Dave just likes these images, and hopes you do as well.

You'll find strange non-sequiturs in many Las Vegas casinos, but none as heart-warming (literally) as this dragon. He once belched flames and terrifying townsfolk, but now he stands watch over some nickel progressives.

It's always important to remember your roots. Dave has chosen this image to constantly remind him just where he came from. It is a heraldic crest gone wrong.

Oh yeah, Dave also likes to see his name in lights. This is a genuine, non-photoshopped image...or is it?

Casino carpet is almost (but not quite) abstract art. This is from a real casino floor in a real Las Vegas Strip casino. Guess where and win a prize!

Here are some closing thoughts from Orff's Carmina Burana, "Fortuna, Imperatrix Mundi" (Fortune, Empress of the World):

O Fortune,
like the moon
you are changeable,
ever waxing
and waning;
hateful life
first oppresses
then soothes
as fancy takes it;
poverty and power,
it melts them like ice.

Somehow I don't think you'll find that in any casino advertisements. But Carmina Burana would be a great casino show, particularly sectons 2 and 3, which deal explicitly with gambling, drinking, debauchery, and sex.

The opera is almost an adaptation of the 13th century version of "what happens in Vegas (or, in this case, Beuren), stays in Vegas. Certainly it has all the elements of a great revue extravaganza.