Harrah's Metropolis Casino - Slots, Table Games & Poker

I think we're all aware by now of the conspiracy that's building in the background of 2077. Most of us know about the mysterious Blue Eyes who appears in The Sun ending to the game. He operates as The Stinger of sorts for (that) ending of the game; He and V discuss a job vaguely alluded to through out the ending sequence and then the ending cuts to V in space charging off towards The Crystal Palace. Cue DLC Hook and credits.
But, let's go back here. This is only the tail end of the conspiracy and where it actually intersects with V's story. Blue Eyes (and some connections to him) crop up multiple times through out the game and, when pieced together, start building a larger picture that runs deeper into Night City than the pockets of most corporats.
I've finished my second playthrough of the game and I've been drafting this post as I play and find more clues. I doubt I'll find everything or might completely dismiss some, but I want to be on the front lines of uncovering this mystery, especially if this will be our Gaunter O'Dim for Cyberpunk 2077. I apologize for the length of this post ahead of time, but I need to summarize a bunch of lore and at least 4 major side-quests; "I Fought The Law", "Dream On", "Full Disclosure", and "The Prophet's Song".
Here's a long essay incoming, but I hope you chooms enjoy and I hope you read through to the end because, oh boy, I uncovered some cool shit!
So, who is Blue Eyes? Who are his contacts? What is his role in the ecosystem of this city?
"I FOUGHT THE LAW"
Let's start with where he most appears in the game; Jefferson and Elizabeth Peralez, political family in the running for Night City's first family. Which I kinda have to summarize their questlines, including the first one which Blue Eyes never appears in. But I'd prefer to go in chronological order and not jump around, so stick with me.
Elizabeth first contacts you for the job "I Fought The Law". It's fairly basic, but the quest tells us she convinced her husband to hire V to look into the recent death of Mayor Rhyne. We get a BD of a cyberpsycho attack by Peter Horvath on Mayor Rhyne. Weldon Holt leaves the room before the attack and then the security gate crashes right before Peter walks in with billions of eddies worth of chrome. The attack is unsuccessful and stopped by Detective River Ward, who was only there because Peter went missing internally at the NCPD and he knew where Peter would go.
When investigating Peter Horvath, his previous boss describes him as paranoid that "probably thought Mayor Rhyne talked to him through the TV" and that the world was out to fuck him. She then mentions that someone "finally saw what he was worth" which cues into how Peter was thrown into this attack in the first place; he had a patron who funded his chrome and the attempt on Rhyne's life. Tellingly, River than goes into a little talk about how clues rarely make sense until put into the larger context, much like we're doing right now.
V goes to the club Rhyne died in; The Red Queen's Race. V sneaks through, takes out some Animals, and can investigate what actually happened to Rhyne. If we read the emails on the office terminal, we know that Weldon Holt arranged for Rhyne to be there. He initially mentioned this to Rhyne during the first BD; Rhyne asked Holt directly to arrange his usual room at the club. So, this doesn't inherently look too suspicious on it's own, but Holt knew where Rhyne would be. We also find out via the Animals Boss there that Weldon Holt is the one who hired them to smash up the club and they're currently waiting around for payment. Further, you can go to the room Rhyne died in, find the BD headset, and put it on... which INSTANTLY knocks V out and they need to be rescued by River (who, btw, takes out any Animals on the property you didn't get to! Ty bro!). They surmise that Rhyne was killed by a virus in the headset. Lastly, we find footage of Detective Han (River's partner) covering up the death of Rhyne. They confront Han, V goes off to the Peralezs, and quest ends.
Of note, finding the BD set is a hidden dialogue option with the Peralezes suggesting, yes, that's the correct deduction to make. You don't get that option otherwise. And V never actually comes to any real conclusion to what happened to Rhyne.
So, let's summarize what we know about the death of our Mayor. Peter Horvath was hired by an unknown Patron who spent a ton of money to turn him into a suicide bomb against Rhyne. They have connections internally to the corrupt NCPD which allowed Horvath to get access to Rhyne, both from escaping NCPD custody and for the security to give him access to Rhyne's conference room. That fails so our mastermind instead assassinates Rhyne at his usual sex club, one that we know for sure Holt knew about. Rhyne is assassinated via malware in a BD porno headset, NCPD comes in an Detective Han cleans it up. Later, Holt hires the Animals to take claim to the club and fuck it up.
Holt is looking suspicious AF rn, but we also don't have any direct evidence and V says as much if you accuse him. Personally, I think it's a little too clumsy if it's him. Holt leaves the room just as an assassination attempt goes down, sets up a sex club appointment for the Mayor where he's successfully assassinated, NCPD covers it up... and then he hires a gang to cover it up more? Something doesn't fit here.
My theory is Holt is innocent. He's a scum bag, but not the culprit here. Why would you EVER give your identity to the Animals you hired to cover up an assassination? The big dumb brutes of the underworld? A name they give up with almost no fight? No, I think someone hired them under Holt's name. And I think they hired them because they KNEW the BD Headset was left behind; Han dismissed it entirely as Rhyne dying of a heart attack brought on during sex. They needed that destroyed to cover the final footprints. It's the only piece of evidence that doesn't have Holt or NCPD's name on it and doesn't fit the narrative that both are pushing. If they're covering NCPD or Holt's tracks, why not delete the emails or footage of Han? And if Holt or Han were trying to push this false narrative, why leave the headset right there the first time?
And, while I have no evidence of this assertion, the Animals are only still there because they're waiting for payment to come in... I think our employer never intended to pay them and left them in the path of V, who is likely to shoot them and tie up the loose end for our mysterious entity. Animals destroy the BD set, V shoots the animals, no trace. And, even if he doesn't, Animals will point V to the wrong person.
No, we've got a third party here. But let's continue so we can finally let our lead actor take center stage.
"DREAM ON"
"Dream On" starts when Jefferson calls V and asks them to help in another case. Long and Short; Jefferson woke up in the night and found a man in a mask (or an implant) standing over him. Jefferson shot the man, only for his head to fry and knock him out. Coming to, he's back in bed with no evidence it ever happened. SSI, their private security, insists that there was nothing on the cameras, no evidence, and nothing happened. Elizabeth claims she slept through the whole thing event.
V investigates the apartment, with Elizabeth giving the tour, and finds a lot of evidence. Elizabeth is kinda dismissive at first thinking V won't find much. First small stuff leading into larger reveals. Let's start small and work our way up.
First room Liz takes us to is the campaign room. She talks about running the campaign entirely out of pocket and having to keep most of their supplies at the Penthouse; "It's cheaper that way". You find a picture of their daughter on the wall and Liz explains that she's off at university in Europe while Jefferson is running for office; "It's easier that way" she says. That phrasing again.
EDIT: A redditor in the comments pointed out that the Peralez are being controlled via drugs in their food as part of the tech. They mention they've been eating fast food lately, explaining why Jefferson was lucid enough to catch the agent and shoot him.
V can look at Jefferson's emails (which Liz slightly discourages them, saying there's nothing there) which reveals a bit more about their campaign. There's a video of the iconic commercial and poster of Jefferson pulling out a gun and shooting a bunch of paperwork. In the email, Jefferson HATES this commercial, but his assistant, Lea Patel, insists on it as it will air in television time slots with action-drama series and catch the attention of voters. Further emails have Eric Boucher, Jefferson's Campaign Partner (Manager?), saying Jefferson has been acting unpredictably lately; presumably referencing one of the next emails. Boucher is confused because they fired Lea Patel together, only for her to continue working and sent him a new ad for approval. When emailed, Jefferson is confused about Lea being fired at all and doesn't remember the event ever happening, even telling Boucher to be honest if he has some issue with her. A final email is from SSI Chief of Security, Wallace, discussing Jefferson's intent to hire a merc to look into Rhyne's death ("Dream On") and they suggest Jefferson drop it or have NCPD or themselves look into it. Private Security just... offering to investigate the former mayor's death? Huh... sounds more like they want to squash the issue to me.
We should now talk about the Peralez's campaign. As you explore the apartment, Liz explains that they're running on a corp free campaign; they want to get Night City out of the control of the corps and do so without ever owing any favors to them. She specifically cites "Night Corp, Militech, and Petrochem" as ones they've denied. Militech and Petrochem come up a few times in other quests but Night Corp is relatively obscure. And they choose that corp to be the first one she mentions? Stands out to me. It also isn't lost on me that we're talking about running a campaign out of pocket and refusing corp assistance... while walking on the fancy ass balcony of a penthouse in Charter Hill- North Oak.
Next room, we find Jefferson's office. Elizabeth and Jefferson both graduated with law degrees from Asukaga University in Berkley. V points out it would be extremely expensive for them both, but Elizabeth says that both got full ride scholarships from the Richard Night Foundation, run by Night Corp. To further fucking cement this moment, there's a Richard Night biography shard on the desk. But we'll drop this for now because I want to get to Night Corp a bit later.
The computer on the office desk has some emails on it sent by Elizabeth. One is between her and Judy where she's asking Judy for help on the original "I Fought The Law" quest and Judy is the one who gave her your contact in the first place. Another is from their daughter kinda asserting the same thing earlier; safer for her in Europe so she's not a target on the campaign trail. And here's the interesting one; Boucher emailed Elizabeth asking why Jefferson changed his mind on Lea Patel. Elizabth says Jefferson explained it to her that it "slipped his mind" and "circumstances changed in Lea's favor" and she asks him to drop the whole thing. She's dismissive and gives extremely vague details.
Next room, Bedroom. Elziabeth's gun is on the table. It's the one Jefferson claimed he fired and scanning it tells us that it has been fired recently. We also find the wedding photo of Jefferson and Elizabeth where she fondly talks about having blue roses because she loves them so much... except the photo's roses are red and V says as much. Elizabeth quietly corrects herself that they only had red roses instead and moves on.
In the hall, we find the blood trail and gun shots in the wall; both covered up hastily. Following the trail, we enter a tv room. The Smart Glass isn't working and Elizabeth says it stopped working recently; not like they use it much anyway. Passing a Tech Check lets us try and fix it... only to be quickly blacked out by it so hard Johnny felt it too. V asks Elizabeth about it but she doesn't know what V is talking about despite having been standing right there. We also find a hidden door in the wall. Unlike earlier, Liz is actually confused by the door but demands V try and open it.
Downstairs we have the security room. Liz says that it used to be her place but "Security had to set up somewhere" and that she had to make sacrifices for this campaign; "it wasn't the first nor will it be the last". One computer has a Welcome email from SSI to new recruits. It details that they have access to all areas except Section Zero, which is reserved for Blue or Black agents and that, should the encounter a Blue or Black Agent (SPECIFICALLY "in the night"), do not interact or acknowledge them. The next email from Wallace mentions an accident where there was a "behavioral anomaly" and "ALPHA" injured a Blue Agent (BLUE-66M) who is in critical and the SSI head is requesting access to Sector Zero to give medical aid. SSI gives Wallace the code to Sector Zero and sends a team to aid. SSI knew about the accident and lied. You go to the second computer, unlock it, and can unlock the upstairs door. On that terminal is a bunch of deleted files (presumably the security footage from that night) and emails discussing "normal maintenance procedure" and further informing security that ALPHA (Jefferson) hired a merc (V) and, should security encounter them, do not interact with them.
Small thing I found interesting, a shard called "You Are What You Slot" is found down here too. It details a fictional assassin who kills and then steals the identity of her victims. Small and doesn't mean much on it's own, but the shards are hinting at the story here; one of false identities and manipulation.
Now, let's get to the main event; the secret room. Inside is a control center. Elizabeth is horrified and feels violated. She shouts that she's not letting SSI anywhere near them, only for her head to start hurting and she tells V to do what he needs to do. She leaves him. Inside the control room is a box of bloody medical supplies. The computer discusses "behavioral norms" for ALPHA (Jefferson) and suggests amplifying "neural dampening". It discusses things similar to Wallace's terminal, but from the other side; ALPHA is displaying odd behavior by hiring a merc, the SSI teams avoided meeting the merc, and then the actual accident that occurred injuring BLUE-66M during regular 'maintenance'. The other side of the room also has another data shard, "Rewriting Synaptic Pathways", basically talking about using tech to rewire the brain a bit.
Following some wires from the control room to the roof, we find a signal dish. Johnny (replacing Elizabeth for conversation now that she's gone), joins in that the tech looks prehistoric but functional and that Militech used it in the war; it requires line of sight to transmit data but otherwise can't be intercepted. We can see the tower and go to investigate. V tells Liz the whole deal; V can suggest that the Van near the tower could be SSIs or that it might not be due to unconventional tech. Liz then itterates twice that it's a stressful campaign time for Jefferson and V should talk to her, NOT him. "Sure, whatever" V and the player dismiss.
(I SWEAR WE'RE ALMOST DONE WITH THE SUMMARIZING FOR DREAM ON, I'M SO SORRY.)
We drive after the van, Johnny is suddenly excited for smashing a corpo conspiracy and iterates that citizens do not choose their representatives, instead they're chosen by "key players" who watch the Peralezes for weaknesses or blackmail material. We arrive at the facility patrolled by Maelstrom and the occupants of our van park, get out, and climb ladders to the roof where they get into an AV that is cloaked to be near invisible (as shown in a couple of vids on YouTube and this subreddit).
At the place, Maelstom is explained; "UNKNOWN USER" contacted them while driving the van for protection to take care of V and then destroy the van. Van's data makes it pretty clear; the Peralezs' minds are being manipulated, new neural pathways are being created, and their memories are being created, changed, or erased. There are also a couple of other names of other test subjects. The data is then erased. We do see an almost flower like symbol before the data is destroyed.
The agents on the cloaked AV CAN be killed and do drop a shard, thought it doesn’t have many more details, merely that they’re contacting HQ to arrange extraction and that the Van’s data should be destroyed and echoing the arrangement with Maelstrom mentioned earlier in their shards.
V calls Liz, Liz wants to meet in person instead of over holo and send him to a Japantown Raman shop (same one that used to be Rainbow Cadenza, coincidentally). Odd choice for an upstanding congresswoman. She says her nerves are shot, the ramen shop is a quieter place to meet than the apartment, and she needs a moment to gather herself since she last saw V, with V even asking if something has happened since they last saw each other. Of note, Liz is stress smoking the entire scene, something she hasn't done until now. She then explains, no, it's been over a longer period of time. She's been watching her husband change and act differently for awhile; he stopped reading, his taste changed, and he even insisted he was an only child and never had a bother when Liz asks about visiting the grave. Of note, yes, Antonio Peralez has a Columbarium Vault, which proves Liz is correct on this. She confesses that she herself has been told by others she's been acting strangely. V says she knew what V would find and she asserts that she doesn't know the who, how, or why, but "they're changing us". Jefferson apparently went on in great detail about a trip she swears they never went on, but she doesn't know if the vacation is a fake memory or if she's the one that doesn't remember.
She saw a stranger in their apartment tinkering with a monitor, only for him to be missing when it was reported to SSI and they looked at the feeds. The next day, she got a phone call from a stranger (whom she refers to by "he") saying that she's walking on thin ice and Jefferson could have an accident. They later erased all data that the phone call had happened. Elizabeth claims she's terrified for herself and her husband's safety and doesn't want V to reveal the truth. V points out "they" could be telling her to say that but it doesn't really change how she feels since she just wants Jefferson to be safe. She tells V to tell Jefferson it was SSI spying for Holt. She asserts she wants SSI out of her roof if they're spying on their sleep. She will take responsibility for firing SSI, but wants Jefferson to be safe and out of that fight. She adds a meeting with Jefferson to his calendar at Reconciliation Park. But, ultimately it's V's choice (especially since she has no idea if she'll remember the conversation) and leaves. Johnny jumps and and talks and mentions that there were talks like this back in his day and worrying about the damage a puppet mayor could do.
V heads to Reconciliation Park to meet with Jefferson. Entering, V is called by an Unknown Number which blacks out V's optics. They claim to know who V is, *what* V is, and what V wants. It doesn't matter what V tells Jefferson, but "don't dare cross that line" and "you're playing with fire". Its a garbled male robo voice, so safe to say it's irrelevant to the owner.
Enter Stage Right, our missing lead; Mr. Blue Eyes. He is standing on a balcony watching the place where we meet Jefferson. In the Scanner, he is labeled "Mr. Blue Eyes", has no known affiliation, is wanted for "SC 370", and is wanted for "Classified". His eyes are electronically glowing blue you can even see from several yards away. You cannot injure him as grenades do nothing and you can't aim at him. Of small note, and I don't know if this ACTUALLY means anything, but his hair style asset is referred to as Morgan Blackhand in the files, but could mean nothing if this hair is actually used by other NPCs. MOST LIKELY THIS IS NOTHING UNLESS SOMEONE HAS FURTHER INFO.
(Plot twist: It meant something. But we'll get there.)
V sits with Jefferson and can reveal the truth; "SSI is on the take from an unknown group to control your lives". V can even point out the absurdity of Peralez being as successful of a politician as he is without any corp sponsors. "They want you to be *their* mayor. Molding you like clay". You can tell Jefferson how to proceed and additional details, but it doesn't matter. Later, Jefferson will send a text and delete your number and so will Elizabeth, who will call you out for telling Jeff. In the end credits voicemails, Jefferson has decended into paranoia about some vitamins Liz gave him which he didn't trust so he sent them to the lab, only to then not trust the lab results saying they're fine. Jefferson Peralez is confirmed the new mayor during Late Act 2 and the major difference is his state of mind at the end game; either hiring V to be on his security staff or descending into absolute paranoia over everything in his life.
Lastly, Johnny appears and cryptically talks about back in his day when they'd talk about rogue AIs. Personally... I kinda completely dismiss this? It comes out of nowhere, Johnny cites NOTHING for why he'd bring this up in relation to the case, and I can't fathom a motive. I’d also point out that this isn’t the only time Johnny is outright wrong. In fact, he’s wrong A LOT in the game. For example, he criticizes V for listening to the Netwatch Agent and that he’s bullshitting you. Except, the agent is 100% correct that VDB did spike V as a suicide virus and Johnny is actually wrong. He also claims he doesn’t know what happened with Thompson after Never Fade Away, but this is a lie because Thompson is flying the AV Johnny takes to Arasaka in 2023. The only connection I can find is "Who is controlling Blue-Eyes" which might make Johnny correct, if just not in the way 'Rogue AIs' initially implies.
So, what actually has happened?
The Peralez family has been molded for a very long time into being the perfect political couple. They got scholarships from the Night Foundation for two fancy law degrees, have successful political careers, and Jefferson is running for Mayor on an anti-corp platform, an insanity for Night City. And he's actually successful at it. During a maintenance service at night on the Peralez's apartment, Jefferson woke up and shot an SSI/Unknown agent making repairs. The Control Booth knocked Jefferson out and they pulled the agent out of the apartment into the secret room. SSI put the Peralezes back into bed and hastily cleaned up everything, but the damage was done and Peralez hired V who uncovered mostly everything.
Elizabeth seems to be initially very upset by the discovery, but wants V off the trail when we meet her next. However, she's not in on it as she's equally a victim to the brainwashing/gaslighting and that's for certain. I think she's a pawn who is either too scared or too programmed to break the rules of movement on this chessboard. It's worth noting that, while the unknown entity threatens Jefferson's life and V's well being, they do not make due on either of these threats. I call their bluff. They have put too much work into Jefferson to abandon or kill him.
But, where else have we heard of this gaslighting brainwash process before?
"FULL DISCLOSURE"
Ok, we're on the shorter end so I don't have to actually explain this quest in full. Sandra Dorsett is a netrunner and a very skilled on at that, actually collecting data from Night Corp. She was kidnapped by the savs we rescued her from at the beginning of the game shortly AFTER she stole this data, suggesting Night Corp was behind it. This data is on the shard she asks you to collect during the aforementioned quest. V has full ability to NOT read it, but let's look at it; "Operation Carpe Noctem" ("Seize The Night" in Latin)
Described in it is an experiment on Night Corp's own employees where they are quietly brainwashing them and getting them to do whatever they want. They specifically cite an empathetic and calm employee who they got to fight a co-worker and then jump from a 16th floor window. The shard ends on mentioning that they're ready to install CN-07 on "our actual target".
I think multiple quests discussing brainwashing and gaslighting is too coincidental to be utterly unrelated to each other. I think Night Corp's actual target mentioned here is Peralez.
So, what is Night Corp?
Night Corp is the most mysterious of the corps in Night City. It currently operates to better Night City via philanthropic ventures, fundraising, community support, and city infrastructure. Basically, while Militech and Arasaka and the others operate in the city, Night Corp basically RUNS the actual city. They're also noteworthy for the level of security they have that even the best netrunners can't get much from them and, since they keep to themselves and seemingly just do city infrastructure stuff, no one really super bothers them. It has been run by Miriam Night, wife of late-Richard Night, until recently and we currently don’t actually know who runs NightCorp.
Originally, they were the Night Foundation, but that requires explaining Richard Night... oh boy, Lore Drop. I'll make it quick as possible.
Richard Night is the founder of Night City. He started as a partner of a firm, but his ambitions grew beyond that to founding "Night International" to build his dream; a city that would be so grand it would make all other cities pale by comparison, Coronado City. A capitalist mecha of opportunity, Night City would be run by corporations and have next to no anti-business policies on the books. Arasaka, EMB, and Petrochem were his first backers and he came into claim of land on the central-California coast; Del Coronado Bay and Morro Bay would be the location of his dream city.
(BTW, irl, Morro Bay, California is a real place. Been there, have family there, go there regularly, kinda cool!).
Despite being a capitalist mecca city and run by corps, Richard Night also dreamed it to be "A sprawling metropolis, free of crime, of poverty, of debt. A place where people could live safely, peacefully, without having to worry about the dire situations that were growing around the world at the time".
However, due to the design plans, Night didn't employ local contractors and instead got expensive architects and builders from all over the world. Local builders didn't like that, they had mob connections, bloodshed started. And soon Richard Night was murdered by an unknown assassin, presumably a mob hitman. The city was renamed Night City in his honor and his dream utopia became to embody everything that was destroying the world. Mob took control and corps didn't give a fuck since it didn't hurt them any until they eventually had to take out the mob gangs, but not in any favor to Night’s dream either.
Miriam Night, Richard's Widow, founded the Night Foundation (later Night Corp) to stick to Richard's Ideal dreams of what he wanted the city to be. They invest heavily in ecological research, alt power sources, civic infrastructure, public works, and charities and scholarships for Night City youth. "They've even managed to stay out of the normal corporate power struggles which tend to plague every other corporation, both inside the city and out. Even the shadowy corporate rumors about them, like having underwater bases in the bay or access to orbital satellites, remain unsubstantiated despite extensive investigation."
So, where does this put us now? We have ONE last quest...
"THE PROPHET'S SONG"
Garry The Prophet is our local crazy man. He spouts off insanities to anyone who will listen near Misty's Esoterica in Kabuki. However, some of his ideas aren't quite as much off the mark as one might think. There ain't no technonecromancers from Alpha Centuri (or Spanish Inquisition) nor is Saburo Arasaka an immortal vampire, but he was correct that Saburo wasn't dead and in fact immortal; via Mikoshi and The Relic.
He send you on a quest to investigate a meeting; he says that his ripper mistuned some cyberware in his head and he can hear their communications. You show up to a meeting between corps and Maelstrom. They say some nonsense phrases and transfer a data shard. Reading it ("Destroy After Reading") it seems like nonsense. But does include the line "The cages of men melt as night descends". You can decode it via a Null Cipher; first letter of every line: “Project Oracle Command Execute Plans”.
We don’t know what Project Oracle is. In real life, secret project or operation names actually tend to be chosen at random and are unrelated to the actual project (you can google funny stories about names that ended up awkward to the actual project), so this could mean nothing. But, narratives tend to give meaning to everything. Oracles are mythical in references and could predict the future or see the unseen. Perhaps perfect prediction via behind the scenes manipulations? Not sure we’ll get answers on this one for now.
Going back to Garry, he's been kidnapped. His protoge is screaming he's been kidnapped "Black suits came by - blue eyes and all". Blue Eyes huh? Further, she claims that they threw him into an invisible AV... Huh, like the one we saw back during "Dream On"? "Night's comin... The eternal night"
So, it’s time to jump us to the final step in our Fool’s Journey: The Sun.
“THE SUN”
The Sun ending has V wake up in their new penthouse apartment (with their love interest if they have one). Checking the computer, we see emails from our dear Mr. Blue Eyes. He wants an answer from V as to the job to the Crystal Palace he has planned and that they’re on a tight schedule for “obvious reasons”. We meet with him at the Afterlife and he talks about the job; Casino security is going into maintenance and V mentions giving him the casino client list. V also asks him to “hold up your end of the bargain”. They never discuss eddies or payment. It’s all in such vague terms. “Your end” or “Obvious reasons”. Smaller point but an email from Vik on the space shuttle also tells us that he’s asked around about Blue Eyes and has nothing; either he works with people WAY above Vik’s paygrade or he’s shady as hell… or both.
I think Blue Eyes knows V is dying (the obvious reasons) and I think the unspecified payment is V’s survival. V always says that they want to come back to their love interest so it’s not a mindless suicide run and I don’t think V would risk it all for nothing but eddies; especially not after Reaper (both versions) paint suicide runs as a horrible terrible thing. To then glorify it in another ending… no, the game is smarter than that.
Your love interest doesn’t seem to be too upset about the situation either. Panam and Judy leave V in The Sun due to their lives taking different directions, but it seems mostly amicable and understanding. They even express desire to see V again because they know V needs to do this job. Kerry, who stays with V in The Sun and expresses worry and also a desire to settle down with V, also seems mostly understanding that V needs to go on this quest. I don’t think they’d be so calm and loving and understanding if this were a suicide run. They know more than the player does.
Further, I think Blue Eyes isn’t after the casino aspect of the Crystal Palace at all. While that’s the major commercial aspect of the station as marketed to the citizen world, the station also has embassies from every nation on earth, facilities from all the major corporations, and is pretty much THE place where all the dark corporate espionage goes down. There’s so much more to this location than ‘casino resort’. *EVERY* corp has space stations and hideaways in space because the Crystal Palace offers it’s own legalities and opportunities that are not allowed within Earth’s terms and conditions. If they want to do some research that would be frowned upon elsewhere and get up to some Top Secret shit, it’ll be in outer space. Night City is controlled by corps and has lax laws, but outer space’s are even more so.
I think the cure V wants is not only on the station, I think it’s what Blue Eyes himself is after, but I’ll get there when it’s time to theory craft about the future.
I think it’s worth noting; Blue Eyes IS IN THE TRAILER FOR THE GAME. Yeah, anyone remember that shot on a shuttle with a guy being burned out from the inside? Yeah, he’s there. In the foreground. *Smirking*. The shuttle also seems like they’re in space.
These events leading to the Crystal Palace and the conspiracy with Blue Eyes are blatant DLC Hooks for the future and suggest a post-game DLC. This isn’t the first CDPR has done so either; Blood and Wine takes place after the story of Witcher 3 and is explicitly incompatible with the worst endings of that game. I think, conceivably, other endings where V is still alive could be roped into this adventure; Blue Eyes merely needs to hire them with the same offer of survival. While The Star takes V to Arizona and away from Night City, I think that choice of location is appropriate as, to even get to space for The Crystal Palace, citizens go from LAX to Arizona for a space port to launch them off Earth’s surface. They could have chosen anywhere else to send Panam and V, but they choose Arizona, huh. I do think Reaper, Temperance, and Devil will be locked out of this future, however, as all make any point of Blue Eyes hiring V irrelevant; there’s no V left to hire/save. MAYBE a rejected Devil ending, but I wouldn’t blame them for not continuing that conclusion either as Devil is one of the bad endings.
So, it’s finally time to really compile a lot of this information into where I think this is going in the next comment below

D100 Futuristic Street Vendors

Anyone running a campaign knows the thrill of shopping episodes, and lining the streets of their cyberpunk metropolis with strange characters, interesting smells, and undercover police operatives looking to nab the party on racketeering charges.
Let's populate those streets!

D100	Street Vendor description
1	A man in a long leather overcoat beckons you into an alleyway. He looks back and forth, and then shows you his wares; the lining is covered head to toe in mewling robotic kittens and puppies.
2	The most delicious smell of fried food wafts your way, from a vendor selling tailored pheromones designed to attract anyone to even the dingy-est restaurant.
3	Vat-grown meat is harvested from the mycobaterial latticework in front of your eyes and blended, packed, and flash-cooked into a perfect, steaming chili dog.
4	The public VR booth is crowded with unpleasantly sweaty customers today. Better off stepping into a cafe...
5	Civil Cooperation Bureau operatives are conducting a "Random Cultural Integrity Sweep" in this hab-bloc today.
6	A bright, red-and-white sign catches your eye, along with the delicious smell of fried potato and something not-quite-potato. Pot-tine, THC-enhanced and ready to eat!
7	A bright eyed woman selling vintage Tamagotchi Keychains with real AI.
8	A group of 15 or so orange-garbed monks training in a courtyard. As you look over, each turns and steps in unison, and the footprints they leave in the concrete are distinct.
9	A friendly local Armadyne vending machine, graffitti'd and heavily used, still selling discount cybernetic replacement parts.
10	Quantum Casino lottery tickets are sold at a streetcorner stall. Randomness guaranteed or your money back!
11	A child missing a limb, or two, sits on a blanket covered with knock-off mindsense or holo-flicks. Most are the price of a meal or two. A dark looking man in the distance seems to keep an eye on how well the sales are going for some reason.
12	A chef runs a hovering meal truck. He's got two sets of smaller cybernetic limbs that come out of his sides and help him prep different meat on sticks. (Don't ask where the meat is from - it offends him).
13	An ice cream truck drives around town, with a old horn playing a static riddled tune. The song changes to tell buyers what he's peddling today. Most of the time it's guns of some type, but he'll sell ice cream as well... for the kids.
14	Julie Argomar - A blind woman that sells different knick-knacks and cheap jewelry. Her real trade is secrets for anyone that knows, and the jewelry is just how she keeps up looks.
15	Three men on a corner playing dominos. Anyone can join in the game. You just put down the right piece to indicate what you are buying (along with some creds to show you can cover the cost). One of the men will say "he's out," and give you his chair while he goes off and gets your package ready. You need to know the right domino and lingo to ask for something, or they will likely shoot you down.
16	A homeless man shows off knock-off robot toys. Some have almost the right name and the same features as the real thing. Each robot has a chip he can buy information off of and he's a well known data merchant, why he keeps up the homeless look is anyone's guess.
17	Shea Tolson - Corp from the look, through and through. Get's her hands on a lot of high end, second hand gear that she offloads cheap that she sells out of the trunk of her limo. Just don't say where you got it or you might get a follow-up from one of the wired guards that look over her at all times.
18	Mindy Loo - Cyber Geisha - She has attachments you've never seen for things you've never dreamed, or maybe you have? Always walking the streets when without a partner.
19	A burger joint that cuts off parts of the cow in front of you too use for their meals, and keeps healing them back to normal. (After awhile they retire the cow).
20	A ramen shop run by a large black robot with six spindly arms and a menacing red eye that rotates rapidly between different dishes. The sign on top simply reads "NOODLES".
21	A hacked and graffiti-covered tanklike military robot sits behind a vendor supposedly selling hacks/keygens for various types of robots. Just plug and wait. He may be lying. To his left and right, two guards wait, bored. This is a high-value good.
22	A man with dirt cheap cybernetics with a "Larry's Sanitation" jacket, beckons you into an alleyway. His left cybereye keeps scanning his surroundings madly while the right one is centred on you the whole time, he gesticulates enthusiastically towards his ancient van that he hid away. Inside the van are dozens of highest quality cyberdecks. Or at least they would be if not for the bullet holes, water damage and... other damages.
23	A man with a massive number of cybernetic arms sprouting from his back who will sell you any of them you want.
24	A short woman with a shaved head and an industrial-looking jumpsuit selling nutrient paste for surprisingly low prices. However, upon tasting the paste, you realize just why it's so cheap.
25	A robot selling "SenSations", small electronic components that allow robots, AI, and cyborgs to experience pre-designed scenarios, like a relaxing hour on the beach or a popular concert. They are not cheap, though.
26	Baxem LeBrot - A portly man with torn leather jacket and bowler hat calls out to you, his rough neck scruff is just as rough as his voice. His shop stall dwarfs in comparison to the nearby stalls. He sells "Lebrots" - hot-dog type food for cheap. You have no idea what they're made of, and he dodges questions relating to the matter. They smell good though.
27	A greasy looking potbellied bald man with unknown eye implants is standing in front of a crude sign reading " Vinny's Vintage Snuff Movies". A screen besides him is showing clips of the most gruesome and obscene videos he has.
28	A street busker plays in the middle of the way. If you pay him, he'll coyly play a few notes on an electronic instrument with purpose: decoding the sound pattern of that melody will reveal an unknown location in the city's underground. What could possibly be found here?
29	A broken Android is limping aimlessly through the streets. Repairing it's hardware and software will grant you his eternal gratitude, and he will serve you until death for that. However, he is so derelict it could be an expensive task.
30	A gorgeous woman with cats eyes and a neon Mohawk is handing flyers, inviting everbody and anybody to a STD fest (a swinger sex party to catch the most STDs possible, in order to develop imminuities to them. Very popular in certain circles)
31	Random bust by the police ( or equivalent) ! As they shut down an illicit street booth, three of them encircle you and demand to inspect all your wares, checking for anything illegal. They can easily be bribed for a hefty sum.
32	Some things never change. A portly, mustached New Yorker in a white apron selling hot dogs.
33	A short man with automated spectacles offering a series of crystals. He claims these alien rocks can do everything from charge your devices, to eliminate toxins from your body. Most of them are a crock, but a few of them feel almost electric to the touch.
34	A shady vendor that is trying to sell futuristic items of unknown purpose or origin, the items do look pretty captivating though. Upon buying the item and leaving the town, the item transforms into a block of wood. You have been swindled by an illusionist.
35	A custom knife maker operating out of the back of a cargo van. The blades are pre-fabricated in a number of lengths and styles, and the handles 3-d printed to be a perfect match for the buyer's hand. If you know the password, he'll make you a knife entirely from a special plastic; it won't take fingerprints, is biodegradable, and rapidly breaks down if exposed to common household cleaners.
36	An elderly man with a wide straw hat leers at you from a canoe floating in the sewerage canal on the side of the road. He probes amongst the floating refuse with a long oar while the vulture's head grafted onto his shoulder offers tiny paper parasols to passerbys.
37	An MLM lady on a bicycle selling individually packaged fetal animals in bespangled and see-through plastic uterus bags. You can request additional gen-mod customizations (purple, feathers, ports for electronic device interface) from a catalogue to personalize your eventual new pet.
38	A talking AI vending machine with human arms and feet (12 of them, no shoes or socks) that presses its own buttons when you tell it what you want to order. It makes nice conversation and keeps abreast of the current rumors in town.
39	A sex mod booth that sells exotic and extreme novelty body parts to make bedroom life more interesting. There's a black tent set up next to the booth.
40	A small rented corner shop bedecked with old-fashioned neon lights advertising beers that stopped production over a hundred years ago. The foggy-glasses vendor sells antique computers, vacuum tubes, adapter cables, long outdated data storage formats, and also knock-off watches. When not engaged with a customer or fixing old devices, the vendor plinks away making chiptunes on a soundboard that your great-great-grandfather would have considered out-of-date. Unsurprisingly the vendor can identify virtually any old computer part.
41	A floating sleek chrome hyper-fast food stand where you shout an order as you go by and a little robot chases after you and brings you your to-go bag and coffee and charges your card without you ever having to slow down. It's popular with the suited-up salary people who never separate from their business phones.
42	A small family running a hovering bright red pushcart overstuffed with giant fry breads, savory spices, kitsch lucky gifts, styrofoam containers of hard-to-find non-genetically engineered heirloom cooking peppers, chicken feet, and hanging whole roasted ducks. The food is delicious but absurdly spicy. The cart-owner family are part of one of those "amish-like" sects who don't believe in body modification or artificial foods.
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Lesson of the Day: Never Judge a Book by it's Cover (even if that cover is drunk and not wearing pants.)

Tonight has been... Tonight has been interesting. Metropolis was home to a concert that caters to a younger generation. And in the midst of this concert, we have literal hoardes of drunken twenty somethings.
But the start of this story doesn't revolve around them, specifically... A gaggle of drunk girls came in, and after finding out they left their room key in their room, we manage to figure out that, A) They also left their IDs there. But at least they have a friend who will let them in. They leave one outside, because she's smoking (Drunk Girl Alpha, or DGA)
A long term guest here in Metropolis comes down. She is... never a particularly pleasant woman, however due to the unique of her name, I'll call her Royal Snowflake (RS)... RS Comes down to take some play vouchers we have for a local casino. She also gets quite irritated when I fill them out with the information I need to. After getting what she needs, she stalks off outside to rain terror upon other people in the service industry I suppose...
Until she returns, and finds DGA sitting alone, smoking a cigarette. Now, DGA is clearly drunk, and RS takes it upon herself to help her up, into the foyer. Now, a normal person may have used her key to enter.
Or perhaps, they would have picked up the courtesy phone, to alert me to the drunk girl and find out if I knew about her.
But not the Royalest of Snowflakes, no. As a dark complexioned woman, in a dark coat, with the backdrop of NIGHT TIME, she waves her arms. emphatically, and for about half a minute, before I catch sight of the vaguest bits of movement. I stand up, smile, and simply state loudly enough to be heard....

NW: Pick up the phone?

Immediately, I knew I had done something wrong. I had offended the livelihood of RS's family. I have implied that her mother was a hamster, and her father smelled of elderberries. Everything dropped from her face at once, and she begins.

RS: EXCUSE ME. ARE YOU GOING TO DISRESPECT ME LIKE THAT?!

Now, I don't think I was disrespectful, but maybe I was wrong. However, in the coming storm, I would learn that this was simply one of RS's favorite phrases.

RS: I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW I HAVE BEEN DISRESPECTED. YOU DO NOT TALK TO A GUEST IN THAT MANNER. YOU ARE TO RESPECT ME.
NW: Ma'am, I was just asking you to pick up the phone so we could communi---

At this point, I've buzzed her through the doors, simply under the impression that she may have stopped yelling. I was wrong.

RS: I WAS JUST TRYING TO FIND OUT IF YOU KNEW WHO THIS POOR, DEFENSELESS DRUNK GIRL LEFT OUT IN THE DARK ALONE, AND I NEEDED TO KNOW IF YOU RECOGNIZED HER, BUT YOU WENT AND DISREPECTED ME. I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO SO DISRESPECTFULLY.

And then, she stormed off into the elevator, shouting about how I disrespected her... Leaving the New Security Guard and I baffled.
Oh! I almost forgot. We have a new Security Guard for the weekends. SecuriBitch was officially let go, and is no longer employed with that company anymore. So now I have to find a new name for this Security Guard... We'll call him SecuriGuy. He's very new, but seems sweet.
He was also the first person to encounter someone who I came to think of as Drunk Skank 1 (DS1).
DS1 is having a rough day. While she came here to surprise her friend (Drunk Skank 2) for her 21st birthday. They got concert tickets, and they all got wasted. At the time of me clocking in, DS1 is wearing a sweatshirt, and no pants, because she had been soaking in the hot tub.
DS1 also got distressing family news. Like, anticipate the loss of a loved one in the next 24 hours kind of news. So she is quite emotional. DS1 has become a fixture in the lobby. She's chatting with SecuriGuy, chatting with me. It's all pretty obvious that she's highly intoxicated, and highly vulnerable.
At one point, DS1 goes out to smoke, and asks SecuriGuy to accompany here. As he's quite new, he's unsure, but I tell him... She's a young, intoxicated girl. You damn sure can go out there and make sure that guest remains safe.
DS1 continues to come around, and eventually as she settles in to chat with me after SecuriGuy has left. After a few minutes of that, we finally meet the final player in this play... ChadBruh (CB). CB Is one of a group of about 7 military guys staying with us.
And the first thing CB Does, is ask DS1 to go up to his room with his friends. DS1 is adamant about hanging out with me, and at this point, I'm protective. Up until now, DS1 has been a mild nuissance. But now, ChadBruh has rustled my jimmies, and I am going into Momma Bear Mode.
So I stand up. As a large guy, I have a bit of a tendency to loom. He's continuing to ask her about things, and she continues to be... awkward, and more or less disengaged. During this hour of conversation, both DS1 and I have mentioned, repeatedly, her boyfriend. She's giving him nothing, trying to distance herself in the conversation. My personal favorite was when she simply told him...

DS1: Oh, you've never been to a music festival? Well I guess you don't know what fun is.
CB: leaning in slightly Yeah? How about you tell me what fun is?

Now to play Devil's Avocado, I don't think CB was intentionally creepy and pushy. CB was also intoxicated. But this was going on for quite some time. Honestly I'm just glad that DS1 is wearing pants.
Finally, DS1 ducks away for another smoke break, and CB Hits me with the big question...

CB: So what's your opinion, dude?

I could've said a lot of things, but at this point, I'm just tired. I've been delaying a lot of my Audit Shift work, because I'm trying to keep an eye on this situation to be there to defuse it, so I tell him...

NW: She's not going to fuck you.

At which point CB just kind of laughs it off, and asks about the bathroom... This is my chance. After directing him to the bathroom, I duck around the desk, grab her abandoned water bottle that I had been watching, and duck outside.
This is when I realize that Drunk Skank 1 is not nearly as Drunk as she's been acting. She immediately asks me if he's still in there, and I tell her no, he ran to the bathroom... And she jumps up, puts out her cigarette, and asks me to get her a room key so she can get to her room, and be done with this before he gets back.
Of course, midway through the process of making the key, he returns, and I could just see the excitement drain from her face. Drunk Skank 1 is back at the wheel...
And quite loudly, she recites the incorrect room number. I smile a little and nod, handing over her key. She heads off to the elevator, and CB is a little confused, and approaches me.

CB: Oh, where's she going?
NW: Oh, I think she's just grabbing something from her room, she wanted to get something...

I stretch the sentence out, waiting until I see the elevator door close, so he can't follow, and can't immediately find out she isn't on the floor she claimed to be on.

NW: ...But you know she's been having a rough night. she might've just hit that point where she needs to sleep it off.

CB Kind of shrugs it off.

CB: Well, is that her room, or her boyfriend's room?

At this point I just plaster on my best, empty smile and state...

NW: Sorry sir, I can't give out that information.

While he seemed enthused to spend time talking to me when DS1 encouraged him to while she went out and smoked (To make sure she had alone time I assume), all of a sudden he has no drive. I have to wonder, TFTFD...
Do you think it might've been something I said? :)

SwanpJew's Sunday Showdown - March 26, 2017

It's been a minute. Your old friend SwanpJew had to lay low for a while, until the people he owed LockPoker chips to were bumped off by people they owed PokerSpot chips to. A few phone calls to Witness Protection later, and I find myself in Rose City. That's Portland, Oregon for my geographically-challenged readers. Let me tell you something about the coffee in Stumptown: it ain't no Dunkin Donuts. I went to order my usual 84-ouncer with extra cream and the guy behind the counter didn't even add the sprinkling of Adderall XR I've become accustomed to and highly tolerant of.
Things are different here, and it didn't take long for me to get homesick. I knew I had to find a game, fast, and get back into the swing of things. Lucky for me, there's a Sharrita's here. In the short bus trip from my $900-a-night room at the Portland Super 8, I saw a tall skinny white guy dancing in his bus seat like an urban mime, a tall skinny white girl with dreadlocks carrying a hula hoop, and at least a half dozen tweakers. I'm from Nowlins, so I'm used to that sort of thing. I thought it might be some sort of Mardi Gras celebration, but then I realized Mardi Gras was a month ago. And it got worse from there.
1/2 NL at Sharrita's PDX Strip Club, Microbrewery, and Poetry Cafe
Hero (SB): $300 Uncomfortably Close Fat Guy (BB): $175 Old Asian Nit (UTG): $34 Lanky Guy with Patchy Beard (MP): $105 Overweight Woman with Badly-Dyed Purple Hair and a Hyphenated Last Name (HJ): $42 Fat Guy with Absurdly Large Beard (CO): $87 [Villain] Some Guy from a Band in Portland -- You've Never Heard of Them (BU): $700
Background: Hero just sat down, and apparently this room has different rules about how much you can buy in with. At Sharrita's NOLA, you're welcome to buy in with anywhere from 10 BB all the way up to 100,000 BB, but due to Oregon's biblical stance on gambling, things at Sharrita's PDX are...different. Just so we have PDX logic straight: poker rooms bad, highest number of strip clubs per capita good.
I pulled out my Triple Bajunky Platinum Card and made sure my name was visible, and even tried explaining to the young lady in the cage who I was by showing her the wallet-size photos of my babies -- the 54 poker strategy books I wrote (now sadly all out of print). But she assumed "SwanpJew's Power Poker System" is a local band or a local beat poet or both and was consequently unimpressed. (Damn kids with your Apple PowerBooks and your DSL internet speeds.) So, even if it doesn't make any sense, there's a reason for my ridiculously small stack for a 1/2 NL table.
Preflop
UTG folds. MP, HJ, CO, and BU have the most insipid conversation ever about a brand of cruelty-free, fair-trade, organic salve for styling armpit hair. HJ recommends it heartily. Hero vomits in his mouth a little and surreptitiously dabs the corner of his mouth with a napkin. After what feels like an eternity, MP, HJ, and CO fold.
BU takes his sweet time pouring a bit more of his IPA, which is 105% hops. BU says, "The math adds up. They add more hops after it's in the bottle." BU swirls his beer around in a mason jar like it's a snifter and takes in the bouquet. Finally, BU calls.
Hero has Ah 4s and raises to $10.
BB folds. BB says, "Swanp, when am I ever going to be a legit part of a hand history?"
BU calls.
Pot to the flop: $21
Preflop Thoughts: I considered calling the clock, but then I remembered this is Portland and that beer probably cost the villain about 20BB plus tip.
Flop 8s 2c 5h
Hero: Bets $15.
BU: Raises to $42.
MP, HJ, CO, and BU all titter amongst themselves over the "obscure" reference to one of the three books they've ever read in their lives (one of the other two invariably being Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins, which girls in the PNW read to seem "deep" and guys in the PNW read to be "deep" in those girls.)
Hero: Raises to $666 and flashes the heavy metal horns.
Dealer says, "Ah, sorry, sir. You don't have enough on the table to make that bet."
Hero: Calls.
Dealer says, "Oooh. This is awkward. Unfortunately, since you said 'raise,' I'm afraid it's binding."
Hero: Sulks and raises to $84.
BU: Calls.
Pot to the turn: $189
Flop Thoughts: What, these people have never heard of Iron Maiden? Look, when someone raises you on the flop and tweaks the number of chips they put in the pot to match some novelty number, they're going to be weak 64% of the time. Don't believe me? The next hundred times you're at the table and someone raises a flop bet with some oddball number, take a note when they show up with the second best hand. You'll have 64 tallies. Bet on it. It's such a reliable tell, I can't believe I'm seeing it at a Sharrita's, even if it's one that has patchouli-scented soap in the bathroom.
I called (well, I WANTED to call) because I think I can get another street or two of value out of him by slowing down. In this spot, Ace-high is a monster here like it always is, and there's no rush. I wish the Ace was a spade, but sometimes life is hard.
Turn 2c
Hero: Checks. BU: Checks.
Pot to the river: $189
Turn Thoughts: Those of you with exclusive SwanpJew Power Poker Dot Net access passes may remember the secret lesson about checking down to spring the trap on sixth street. But since the SwanpJew domain was seized on what I like to call Black Wednesday, I'll give you a quick primer here. Y'see, when you're sure you're ahead and your opponent is such a buffoon that he-- wait a sec.
Hero says, "There's two deuces of clubs on the board.
Dealer says, "Oooh. This is awkward. Floor!"
Floor: Stalks over like he hates his life, glances at the board like poker cards nauseate him, and grabs the top card of the stub and lays it over the second 2c, then slinks off without saying a word. Really, it's some of the best customer service I've ever seen in Portland.
Turn 3d
Hero: Checks. BU: Checks.
Pot to the river: $189
River Qd
Hero: Bets $2. BU: Raises to $90. Hero: Raises all-in. BU: Calls.
Hero says, "I got the tranny hand."
Vinyl record: Scratches stopped.
River Thoughts: I am initially annoyed to see a dumb cliche in one of my strategy articles, but that's until I realized the sound was genuine. Because they actually have and USE vinyl here.
MP, HJ, CO, and BU cast baleful stares at Hero.
Hero says, "Y'know...because it looks like Aces, but instead, one of the Aces has a dick."
Aftermath
Someone describes the language as "problematic." I can't say who, because they all have the same condescending tone of voice and it's hard to tell them apart in this dark room.
I say, "What's wrong with calling it the 'tranny hand'?" But they clasp their hands over their ears and hiss like vampires exposed to a joke about garlic.
"It's just a funny name for a poker hand. Y'know, like 'Big Slick' for Ace-King or 'Big Chick' for Ace-Queen?"
"That's offensive to body-positive women," says Persephone Anderson-Gables-Lee, who isn't so much body-positive as she is exercise-negative.
"Uh. Okay. What about 'Gay Waiter' for Queen-Trey? That's not really all that offensive, is it?"
"We're called servers," someone says.
"No, you're called English majors."
No one has a pithy rejoinder for that; it turns out they all actually have English degrees.
"Okay, I got it. What's offensive about dog balls for pocket eights? It's hilarious!"
"I identify as a trans-species trans-person. I wish I had dog balls."
"Not in that hand, you don't."
My new tablemates look at me askance while I stack my chips and wait for the next hand.
"Look, I don't want to sift through my language and scruntinize every word I ever use to see if it might offend someone. A) That's no way to live, and B) the world has much, much bigger problems than how a flippin' word affects your insidey-parts. I just want to play poker and have a good time and forget how shitty everything else is, but I can't well do that if internet poker is banned, the nearest legit casinos are a thousand miles away in Vegas, and innocent poker clubs like this one are forced to act like speakeasies during Prohibition. Meanwhile, you can't pass a convenience store that doesn't have a gigantic Oregon State Lottery sign in its window.
I HATE PORTLAND.
Why would anyone play here? The people are rude, the sky is constantly doing an impression of the last few post-pee shakes in front of a urinal, everything costs 20% more because someone wrote "organic" on the label, the women are somehow both uglier and more picky at the same time, and everyone here is in love with the place. Nothing says, 'I've never lived anywhere else with a population greater than 25,000' like treating Portland as if it's some bourgeois metropolis instead of the equivalent of a trap house with a gloryhole in the kitchen. I suppose this is where you live if you want to feel urban but can't afford L.A. and wouldn't be able to stomach New York or D.C. without constantly fearing the 'dangerous minorities' you read about in a book once. But West Coast is best Coast, amirite? Now I get you donks staring at me like I'm Mel Gibson on a bender. And how much rake am I paying on top of all that?"
"Portland poker rooms don't charge rake."
Tune in next week for some more poker strategy, arugula- and kale-infused cocktail recipes, and mustache grooming tips with your old pal SwanpJewPDX_420_ACAB.
Good night, /poker!

Betting Against the House I- On Tilt

On Tilt: Casino terminology referring to player(s) reacting to a losing bet with wild play afterwards.
Theme
"Come let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
"Mr. Cross, we regret to inform you that The Cajetan-"
"I know what happened to The Cajetan." Barrett mutters darkly into the phone. Who didn't know what happened to that blasted boat? Damnable thing was blown up, in harbor.
"Investigators reported it to be an electrical-"
"How the bloody hell would busted lamp blow up an entire pleasure yacht Gabriel? Huh?" The second comment with the second cut-off by the young and increasingly frustrated Mr. Cross. "Did the cameras capture anything? What about any of the men aboard?"
"...No, sir. There were no men aboard... that we found alive, of course. We only found half the stationed guard, the rest we haven't been able to contact at all. There is no camera footage, either."
"Damn it..." Barrett swears, frustration slowly mounting. Men defecting, and his profits quite literally going up in flames before his eyes; what could possibly make this worse? A half-finished painting sits before him, the brush being slowly twirled in between his fingers. The portrait of a woman with flowing chocolate tresses stares back at him with a blank, empty face; a blizzard of white her background. "Was, anything, and I mean anything unusual found near or in the wreckage?"
"Actually, yes." Fucking finally.
"Well, what is it?" Despite being on a phone, Barrett finds himself leaning forward as he asks the question, eagerly waiting for the forthcoming answer.
"A violet sheet of cloth about the size of a scarf, like a-"
"Hijab." Barrett knew the answer the second he said cloth, cutting off his follower with a single word. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it!
Her. Wasn't it enough that she had tried to kill him, and broke him emotionally as well as she did physically? Now she has to destroy his finances and everything he worked to build. What took years is being undone in days, by the hands of someone who is not interested in vengeance, nor wealth or prestige; but by someone who simply enjoys causing mayhem and poking the bear. Well, we'll have to just see how that goes for her...
"Find her."
"Mr. Cross, we've been on the lookout for her like you said..."
"I know what I said, and what I told you to do, Gabriel. I'm tired of waiting, though. Every day we do so, she ruins our business, and any chance of us salvaging whatever reputation we have left in the Seattle underworld! We won't be trusted to spray tags at the rate this is unfolding!"
"How, sir? How can we find her?! She has no address here, no name, no haunts beyond our own! She's a ghost in the machine at this point. You shouldn't have let Fati-"
"Finish that name, I dare you. Finish it, and I'll tell Francesco to send a few men and-"
"Fine, do it. I'm out. Fight your own fucking battles, you spoiled brat."
The line hums it's death knell as Barrett stares at the phone in his hand, incredulous at this turn of events. No ships, his men are defecting... Damn it all to hell!
The Barrett of a month ago would've lobbed the phone across the room, shattered it to bits with his walking stick. This new Barrett instead manages to force his bilious rage to yield to him. Rather than seeing red, he sees icy blue. Let the anger work for you, he reasons. One Zen-like moment later, and he's dialing a second number.
Three rings and several connections later, a familiar voice lilts through the speaker of Barrett's phone.
"Hello Mr. Cross, a long time since we've talked. Since my birthday, I believe?" An aged voice carries through the speaker, heavy with an accent that promised a youth spent in sunny vineyards... or perhaps the seedy underbelly of a booming metropolis. Francesco Carazzo, leader of one of the Italian Families of West Coast. Careful to watch his words, Barrett's reply is careful and measured.
"Yes, Don Carrazzo. My companion and I, we had a most wonderful time at your celebration."
"That is good to hear, Mister Cross. I am... relieved to hear that. Though I am afraid that time is in rather short supply here in Seattle, so I must simply ask your business."
"Of course, Don. I... I need your help to find someone."
"Did your regina bionda run off on you?" A wheezy laugh can be heard through the receiver, only to be punctuated by a sharp cough. Barrett seethes, but doesn't retort sharply, choosing to take the safer path.
"No, but I am looking for a different woman who did. I was hoping that you could ask your men, and perhaps others, to be on the lookout for her?"
"Why not use your own men, Mister Cross? Surely they're looking for ways to get into your good graces."
"My men... are having a crisis of conscience." He saids through gritted teeth.
"That's why I work with family, Mister Cross. Family will never betray you."
"...I must respectfully disagree, Don. My Mother was responsible for this, for having this woman stab me and destroy my enterprises."
"...Ah, I see." There is a pause, and Barrett can just faintly hear the sound of a pen scritching against paper through the line, accompanied by labored breathing, before Francesco returns to the line. "Very well. I will help you... In exchange for a favor."
"Oh, of course, sir! What will it-"
"You'll know it when it happens." Finally, someone cuts Barrett off mid-line. The Child of Momus is silent for a moment, the very shock of it rendering him mute as the Patriarch of the Carrazzo Family continues speaking. "My men will look out for your Minx, have no worries."
"Wait, how did you know it was her?"
"Mister Cross, when you have been in the business as long as I have, you end up learning how to keep an ear to the ground. Several, if you can spare them. Which I will be doing for you. Family helps family, remember that. I look forward to fruitful cooperation between the Saints and the Carrazzo Family for many moons to come. Allessandro will call when we find out more information. Arrivederci, Mister Cross."
"Goodbye, Don Carrazzo... and thank you." With that, the phone dies once more, leaving Barrett quiet staring mutely into an unfinished painting. It is not relief that fills his heart, but a slowly mounting dread. He may have called in a favor, but whether or not he can pay the cost for such a thing, he's not sure. Time will tell. All he knows for sure is that between Fatimah Minx and Allesandro Carrazzo, he'd take the girl who stabbed him in the chest any day of the week.
[Storymode] Hey all! This is a re-post of an earlier storymode from before I went inactive on this account. This is being done to both provide a full picture of the arc, and to help motivate me to continue writing the story arc. Enjoy!

Betting Against the House I - On Tilt

The Week In Review: Suburban News of the Past Week (5/8/16)

A city, a girl, a missing child, and a house.

[Table] IAmA: Jason Bentley, host of KCRW LA radio's Morning Becomes Eclectic, Metropolis, and EDM pioneer. AMA.

Verified? (This bot cannot verify AMAs just yet)
Date: 2014-02-05
Link to submission (Has self-text)

Questions	Answers
As the music director for a non-profit public radio station, do you ever feel a duty to expose KCRW’s listeners to “important” music which may not be popular among your listeners? Or does the station’s reliance on listener donations necessitate the dumbing-down of music programming to ensure sufficient funding? Is that why more eclectic, but less popular, DJs such as Tom Schnabel are no longer on the air?	Well, you always want to strike a balance between things that are familiar, and things that are going to be a new discovery. A lot of our listeners tune in for music discovery specifically, so that's a priority for us. And over the years, we've been able to present many many artists with their first airplay in the states. So whether it's Adele, or Norah Jones, or whomever, it's almost like the list runs really long. So that's an honor and a privilege, but to your question, you want to strike a balance between things that are accessible and things that are just much more progressive. I still think that our sweet spot is pretty far left of center. I mean our world is far more independent and in most cases unfamiliar to the mainstream.
	Specifically for Tom, he's still at the station and he hosts an online music blog called Rythm Planet (Link to blogs.kcrw.com so he is still with us. He was our very first music director in the late 1800s.
Jason, thank you for doing this. You've been my favorite DJ for as long as I can remember. Morning Becomes Eclectic is the best show on the radio. What are your favorite small clubs to see bands in LA? What is the coolest place you've ever DJ'd at?	Good questions! For local venues, I like the El Rey and I like the Fonda (even though it's a little bit bigger) and for nightclubs, I think Sound is best. And there's a new spot called DBA which is great too. As far as favorite DJ sets, that's really hard to say because it's like 2 decades of playing. Sometimes if I imagine a map of Southern California in my mind, I could drop a flag at so many locations over the years. But I would say a special honor was playing the Governor's Ball, which is the Oscar's after party, which I've played twice. And also Coachella is a personal favorite because I haven't missed a single Coachella and I've played there 3 times now.
As a person who has pretty much been a part of the Los Angeles "EDM" scene since the get-go, what aspect of this recent boom in popularity has been the most surprising for you? Also, any crazy story you care to share about the old school warehouse days??	Well you know to see EDM on Superbowl commercials, major motion pictures, basically the highest level of popular exposure is pretty remarkable. And also these events, whether it's EDC or Hard or Ultra in Miami, it's pretty astonishing. I didn't expect that it would become as big as it has gotten. But it's certainly validating for those of us who had a sense of its potential very early on, the power of connecting and a different way to experience music unlike rock n roll. As far as the old days, lots of very funny stories. One time I was at a rave and I stumbled down the wrong hallway and came upon a Quinceneara that was happening at the same time. We threw a rave on Catalina called Gilligan's Island in the casino that's out there and I just remember people as the boat was leaving the next morning running down the dock trying to jump on the boat at the last minute. I remember a rave in a bullring in east LA and the Orb played. Fond memories of a really influential event called Organic in 1996, probably the ultimate lineup of any rave, it had Underworld, Orbital, Meat Beat Manifesto, The Orb and the Chemical Brothers. And actually I really hope that we can get a 20 year anniversary of Organic event together. So that would be coming up in a couple of years. Countless memories, breaking into warehouses. I knew these promoters that would go downtown and they would put padlocks on different doors and they would come back a few weeks later and if the padlock had been cutoff they knew they could not use that warehouse, but it was a great way to test whether people were actually using the space. Sort of a reverse psychology there. So if the padlock was still on, they knew it was open season. Map points were also a really big part of the scene. Before everybody had a cell phone, the party would have a voicemail and you would call the voicemail number and you would get directions to a map point. You would go there, pay your money and get a map to the rave. There was always a sense of adventure in the scene. It needed to be illicit and sort of dangerous. That was a big part of it. So you and your friends would drive for hours trying to find these places, and you get there and it would be a giant room or giant sound system, something very special about all of that. I don't run around looking for underground parties anymore, so I don't even know if that scene exists. But I'm sure it does.
Hey Jason! Long time listener, first time writer. How much would it cost for you to DJ my wedding? And for the follow-up, will you be the groom at my wedding?	I do not play weddings, it's just potentially a minefield with music, so I steer clear of that. We should probably have dinner first.
My question is, what is a common thread you've seen in bands/artists who have started out small/unknown and have broken into wider success? What advice would you give to the struggling independent musicians out there that hope to gain wider exposure?	As far as common thread, I think you just need to love what you do, playing music and making that connection to people. Look at a band like the National right now. Their trajectory is over multiple albums, they are from the midwest (Cincinnati) and now they are headlining festivals. I like that trajectory where it's a slower build, you work to establish an audience over time and over multiple records. It's tough when you go big on your first record. Look at MGMT. They clearly don't like their early success. They have been trying to get away from the music they wrote in college ever since they put the album out.
I love KCRW and listening to it in my car is one of the top 5 things I miss about not living in LA anymore.	Yeah, Henry really is crazy. He's outta control, he's a special individual. I recruited him and he's been great. One thing I really appreciate about him is how he has so much passion in what he does, and when you hear that in his voice, you're pretty much going to give anything a chance, no matter what he plays, you're going to sit there and go Ok, if you're that into it I'm happy to check it out.
Can you really put on anything you want (that's not cursing)? Like could you find some random band from anywhere and put them on the air, or do you have certain sources that you're 'allowed' to choose from?	Well first, to quote Peter Parker's Spider-Man, with great power comes great responsibility.So I can play anything I want, but I need to be mindful of the audience and the radio station's reputation, and our credibility, so I take all of that very seriously and my goal is to play the best music possible. I jokingly say sometimes that I listen to bad music so you don't have to. And KCRW is an important filter for people, and you know, in a pop culture landscape where there's more choices and access than ever before it can really make your head spin. But that puts KCRW in a more important position.
Hi Jason, thanks for coming here. What bands from the past decade or so do you think will hold up as classics of the era? By that I mean the bands that will remain the most culturally and musically important in the coming decades.	Wow. That is a tough one. I'll say that it was great to see Daft Punk receive 5 Grammys just a couple weekends ago. That for me was special because i presented their first DJ appearance in Los Angeles and have worked closely with them over the years, specifically on Tron: Legacy, so to see them validated at that level was pretty special. People know me as a real pioneer for electronic dance music, and they are obviously such a part of that too. The EDM movement over the past couple of decades has been my most significant genre and is my sort of "British Invasion" if you will.
	As far as other bands, it's really hard to say who will endure, especially these days it seems like you know pop music and culture moves so quickly now because of digital and the internet, you are just seeing things turning over more rapidly. I think that when record labels were in more of a powerful position, they would really help to refine artists over time, but now when artists break on the internet, it's a little more disposable.
Jason I've been listening to you and KCRW since I was 15-16 and it has become the soundtrack to my life, I'd first off like to thank you and the staff for everything you guys do! 1st question: How is your voice so smooth and soothing? Rumor has it, it sends men and women alike into states of delirium. 2nd question: What is your favorite 90's 1 hit wonder, I'll go easy and let you pick 3 :]. Lastly if you were to be stuck with 5 albums to listen for the rest of eternity what would they be?	1st question: Proximity effect, look it up. 2nd question: Blackstreet's No Diggity, Eels' Novocaine for the Soul, The Breeders' Cannonball. 3: I'll take a shot. I would say The Who's Quadrophenia, The Clash London Calling, Kate Bush's Hounds of Love, Radiohead OK Computer, and Massive Attack's Blue Lines.
THANK YOU JASON AND KCRW FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO FOR LA!! RADIO ISN'T DEAD.	You're totally right, I consider those proprietary.
P.S. You always have the best background tracks/interludes between sets or when you talk, I'm beginning to think you keep all those instrumentals as your own little gems, and are sending me on a musical scavenger hunt. P.P.S. Please start doing audiobooks.	And people call about the interludes and I either ignore them outright or give them the wrong information.
If you could have been apart of any movie to provide music for what would it be? Do you think you could improve it?	Well earlier I mentioned wanting to hang out with Stanley Kubrick. I guess a bunch of his films, but A Clockwork Orange definitely changed my whole worldview when I saw it as a teenager. I think that being involved in that process would have been pretty amazing. I think the genius of Kubrick is that he is a complete filmmaker. I think it really was a case of Kubrick appropriating and placing the ideas, not a traditional film score. But any of Kubrick's films would have been great to have worked on. I really liked There Will Be Blood in more recent times. Gotta credit The Social network and Trent Reznor because it was so unconventional and represented the film so well.
	One of the things that people don't realize is that composers will come onto a picture when there's already a temp score in place. And the effect of that is usually limiting creatively. Because the direction and the sensibility has already been set in place. And so the conversation is usually with the director saying something like do something like this, I know it's the temp, it's from another film but we're used to that. It's a negative spiral. Sometimes you have directors like David Fincher for instance who involve a composer very early on and there is never a temp. Because a director like Fincher will appreciate the pitfall of doing that. So he involves someone in that process from even the script phase, getting ideas going. That's what we did with Tron: Legacy and Daft Punk. Daft Punk were on that project for 2-3 years wire to wire. On the set we were playing demos they had made. It helped to inform a scene and inform actors on a mood. So not everybody has that luxury because it doesn't make sense for a working composer to set aside 3 years for 1 film but the great films and the great directors (back to Kubrick), these are people that are approaching it with a holistic vision and that's when you get great results.
JB! Long time listenesupporter of KCRW and MBE. I have built a lot of my music library around your selections and have a great amount of respect for what you and your KCRW colleagues do for artists. That said, what genre(s), if any, do you have your eye on for 2014 and who's albums are you anticipating most?	Good question. New music trends are trancehall and gravewave (a mix of witch house and chill wave, it's the next thing). No I'm joking I just made that up.
	The Beck album is superb. So is the Broken Bells record. Those 2 albums are early candidates for the best of the year when all is said and done.
I went to a PACKED sold out Tame Impala show one time, and you stood right next to us. There was a good 2 foot radius of space/respect around you so you were not crowded.	Practice.
How did you get so cool?	Stay in school.
How do you line up your music supervision gigs ... do producers/directors reach out to you directly, or is it vice versa? Also, how many of movie/tv/game projects per year can you ideally work on?	Well the music director position here at the station is my priority and takes up most of my time. The other projects such as films, commercials, video games, I will consider on a case by case basis. Honestly they are really about relationships. Directors that I've worked with over time, projects that I feel have a certain creative reward, in other words I'm not just looking for anything to pick up. I don't have a set number I try to do, it's just about interesting opportunities that come up that I'm excited about and working with good people.
You play incredible music, and your voice is as soothing as Bob Ross'. Those are the highest compliments I've ever given someone. Are you just constantly listening to new music or do you have interns helping out? What do you think of the Broken Bells new album? Who's your favorite band of 2010+?	Love the new Broken Bells. I listen to all the music. I don't know how I could assign someone like an intern to do that for me. It does not really compute for me. And as far as a favorite band post 2010, let's say M83.
Jason, I need to know. Who cuts your hair, player? And can I walk in and say give me the Bentley?	I go to Yuki Sharoni in Beverly Hills, the mecca of hair salons.
Hi Jason! Love the show and glad to have discovered it. Thanks for all the music you play. You've really opened my ears! What made you pursue the music life? Was it an artist or a DJ that you listened to when you were younger?	When I was young I was totally fascinated with radio and subculture. By that I mean style and graffiti and music in the city. And so I think without having a set plan I have always known what excites me, what interests me and have naturally been drawn to music and culture. I have always loved radio as a medium. I think partly because it engages the imagination. I think music videos and video in general it establishes too much. It tells you too much. I always liked radio being theater of the imagination and that's what drew me to KCRW originally because there was this exotic music programming and really unusual radio drama that I had never heard before. I'm not talking about the BBC presents Shakespeare, it was weird radio drama like an intimate conversation that you should not be listening to. So I think KCRW always drew my interest from just being very young.
1) How does one become a KCRW DJ, is there anything specific that you look for?	1 well I started at KCRW as a phone volunteer in the main office and traditionally that's how people get involved and find their way and many of our DJs had their start as volunteers so that's certainly 1 way. We don't really go out and recruit people so much. Henry is an exception but he's an exception in a lot of ways. Get involved is the easy answer. It's public radio and there's a lot of ways that you can.
2) What was the inspiration for bringing back Metropolis?	2 When I became music director my responsibilities broadened significantly. While my passions for electronic dance music remained, I didn't really have the outlet. It was by popular demand, enough people over time asked me about it and ultimately our general manager brought it up and asked me to bring it back. And so we devised a saturday night program and that's my forum for just pure unadulterated Metropolis.
3) How do you think the electronic music scene in Southern California has changed in the last decade, and where do you see it going in the near future?	3 Well Los Angeles has always been a beacon for dance music culture. It's probably a combination of reasons (weather, the aspirational spirit, interesting venues, British expats) and so from the early 90s we really picked up from a lot of what was happening in Europe. Over the years it has evolved and we have made it our own in lots of ways. There have been growing pains where the rave scene has had major issues with people being injured, dying, it's just a matter of managing the masses and safety. There have been growing pains. But we do have the biggest dance music promoters in the country whether it's Insomniac who do a number of events including the Electric Daisy Carnival which is the largest single event in the country (used to be in LA for many years), also the Hard Festival, and then megaclubs like Avalon and Create. And also a lot of the leading Djs have relocated here like Tiesto and Zedd. So Los Angeles is undeniably the US capital of dance music. As far as where it is going, it's hard to predict the future but wherever it's going I will be there.
Boxers or Briefs?	Briefs.
Jason! Awesome job all the time, love MBE!	There are so many different ways to do this nowadays. I think it's very important for an artist to have a strong aesthetic. It's more than the music which needs to be great, but it's an artistic statement that extends beyond that in terms of whatever imaging or affiliation they make. It's really important. And it's definitely not lost on me the effort that is made. I can't really offer a magic bullet in terms of what a solution is for people across the board. But aesthetics are important. For instance if you send me a CDR with some writing and a sharpie, I would prefer to find you based on a compelling statement musically and artistically. So be careful about the partnerships that you strike. Generally people are more forgiving of commercial endorsements and brands, people understand that it's a necessary evil of sorts. But try to be discriminating of who you get in bed with. There are lots of opportunities out there. Music is a special magic that connects all of us. As human beings it's our connective tissue. So if you are able to make that magic, just protect it and respect it and you might have to turn some things down if you don't feel good about it. As far as great marketing, it's more about respecting your craft and finding the right people to help you get the word out.
Since you're neck deep in the industry and see a lot of musicians moving towards more innovative ways of making money (due to the old ways not working as well), such as utilizing themselves as brands and integrating alongside partners such as movies (Pharrell + Despicable Me 2 and his 24 Hours of Happy website or even Bieber getting the digital video makeover from addidas) and more - What have you seen in the digital music marketing world that you feel has been really effective in spreading awareness of the artist, brand and getting listeners and fans excited?
Hello, Have been a KCRW member for a while, listen to you in the morning at work, and very excited for this summer's line up at the bowl. anywho, living behind the orange curtain, there aren't many shows down here. KCRW did an event at the Segrestrom Center a couple years back, and that was it, no mas. Any chance it might happen again? Or any KCRW events in Orange County for that matter? Thanks and keep up the good work :)	I totally hear you. And it's really a matter of limited staff and resources. We would love to do more events down there, it's just about finding the time and the energy honestly. We enjoy coming down there and also the reception that we get is always terrific. People really appreciate the effort and that is an important audience for us. But sometimes all we can do is focus on the more immediate community in central LA, but please know that we definitely are trying to find more opportunities down there.
When would be the most convenient time during a DJ set to approach you and ask questions?	Never...
Hello Jason, I was wondering how it was working on the music for the Matrix? And also, what is your favorite fruit?	I love raspberries. But on the Matrix, amazing project, a good 3 years of my life working with the Wachowskis. Just totally inspiring. A long time ago. Wonderful to be around such creative people. The first Matrix was such a game changer. I also got a Grammy nomination for that soundtrack. Unfortunately I lost to Phil Collins for Tarzan. It's true, I was on the edge of my seat when they made the announcement and then they said Phil Collins.
	The funny thing about working on a film is that you are too close to it. You see a film in pieces and at the end of it you've seen it 50 times or more so it becomes really difficult to even tell anymore. I knew it was great but it's so hard because your perception is so off. I don't think I knew it would have the kind of pop culture impact that it did. It's just impossible to say that. But amazing group of people, visionaries, and it changed my life.
MBE is hands down my favorite way to discover new music. Thanks so much for all that you do. Probably a hard question, but which in-studio guest session surprised you the most?	Hmmm. Well, I think I hope for surprise every day in terms of what people are bringing to that stage. It's a rarity that any radio station would allow live bands nearly every day to play their hearts out live for the radio audience, it's almost old timey, it doesn't happen anymore. So I hope for the sense of surprise and excitement for everybody. I think the last band that really made me kind of stop and my jaw drop was White Denim. They've been in studio a few times, they're from Austin, Texas, and they are just so good as musicians, they are completely in a zone when they play. It's almost startling to watch. Probably the best live band I know that I've played at KCRW. I mean, everybody's good, but there's something about White Denim, they take it to another level. Oh, and they're at the Troubadour on Friday!
Jason. As a curator for the KCRW world festival shows @ the Hollywood bowl, have you thought about bringing house music to the bowl? Something like say Masters at work? a Reunion of Nuyorican Soul? With some contemparies to show the evolution? I think 30 plus years on House music is having a revival currently. Any thoughts on this?	House music is definitely having a revival, largely due to Disclosure, 2 young brothers from England. Their Grammy nominated album Settle is a nod to classic soulful house music. As far as the Bowl, booking is not easy and it has to be done so far in advance so a lot of times ideas will go on a back burner but it's a good one, house music night. We did have the Basement Jaxx from London there 6 or 7 years ago and that was a great night of house music. But the genre has definitely seen a resurgence and that's just the cyclical nature of the dance music world. I think it's down to move in a different direction in time, probably Trance will make a comeback.
Hey Jason! You've played Coachella 3 times, and even did the voiceover for their trailer. How did you first get involved with the festival? What were your thoughts on the introduction of the new Yuma tent last year?	Yuma is very cool. It's the result of the Sahara tent getting overblown. The EDM takeover of Sahara, Yuma is the answer to that. And it puts music first. And low on spectacle. It's very much an environment where you can feel the sound. I think it's a brilliant innovation on Coachella's part, and Coachella is a very influential festival. I would guess that other festivals like ACL or Lollapalooza or Sasquatch will probably follow suit. But it's basically an answer to the EDM bombast of Sahara.
Hello Jason, what did you have for lunch yesterday?	I went to The Counter (location undisclosed but I love The Counter).
Jason, hi. Listening to your show on KCRW for a long time ... nearly 20 years. I volunteered during a few membership drives during your shift too. I'm sure you've had many offers to accept jobs elsewhere. What's kept you in the KCRW studio for all this time?	It's more of an extended family, and you know, it's home. It's like a big house of crazy people and you know the little secret place where you can sneak off and get a little work done, and the place where you're going to run into somebody, it's just sort of a touchstone over the years. So I'm just totally a KCRW person, I listen to the radio station when I'm not here, and I'm here every day. I have been here a really long time. It's really strange, I didn't think I would be a lifer, but it's sort of working out that way. As long as I wake up and I'm excited to come here and excited to play that first record and that first set and figure out how I'm going to inspire people and do something special on the radio, I just don't see a reason to stop. It's really special to find a purpose and a calling. Not everybody finds that. We all make sacrifices here to do what we do, we take less money than we might make or we have to make other compromises in our life but it's worth it.
What are your current favorite restaurants in LA?	I love inc. because it's a culinary adventure. I also like Scopa on the west side for italian, and Tar & Roses is also good. We definitely have it good in LA for food.
Hi Jason, do you have any advice for an aspiring produceDJ?	Probably find your community. When I think back to the days when I was just getting started, you're naturally gravitating towards your friends and like minded people, whether it's at your college radio station or a live music scene. But don't take any of that for granted. It's amazing to me, looking around at some of my peers today who are successful, are friends I've had for a long time. And you know you really never know. If you find people with a shared passion for something… music, a club scene, a live music scene, everybody has a skill set. And so you probably know a person who can act as a manager or as a promoter or as an art director or as a lighting person, there are so many different ways to express your talents and your passion. I feel like it's easy to overlook these people who are right in front of you a lot of the time, especially when you're hanging out with your friends.
Hey Jason, really appreciate you doing this. I'm a huge fan of KCRW and a member.	We host roughly 150 live musicians every year, so it's difficult to pinpoint a few. But personally I loved Underworld. They're a british electronic act and they were just great. But I have a chance to speak with a wide range of artists from Neil Young to Broken Bells. It's pretty crazy. So I really just want to facilitate a good conversation and provide a little insight into an artist's creative process. And there are good and there are bad, but I think my goal ultimately is just a solid conversation. Nick Cave, he's an intimidating figure and an amazing artist, but if you just sort of listen to his music, he seems like a pretty serious customer. That was a real triumph getting a better than good interview with him. It's funny because he is someone who during our conversation talked about the importance of creative tension, and sometimes when you step out of your comfort zone, you bring your best effort, because of the anxiety, because of the tension. And I thought a lot about that when he talked about that and it's true. Having those butterflies really means that you care about something going into it. A lot of artists have dysfunction or they have a certain reputation and from my position you're thrust into a place with someone you don't really know and you have to try to get this conversation done so whether it's Sigur Ros or Ryan Adams, everybody is complicated. So some of my main principles are to be gracious and welcoming. For us, the art is the most important thing. We all rally around the art and the artist. So one of the most important things is to just show our respect for that and our care for that.
Just wanted to ask, in your time as host of Morning Becomes Eclectic, who has been your favorite in studio performance and any good stories from the people that have played?	Also as an addition to that, if I can promote our fundraiser tomorrow, we have a very unique place here, we have a very unique philosophy here, and that is only made possible by listener support. We don't answer to a corporation or a boardroom, we are free to share our passions for music and art and culture, and really, honestly the only way we are able to do that is that individuals decide to pick up the phone or go online and support us. It's a very 1 to 1 relationship. So if you want to keep that spirit alive here at KCRW which has made such a huge difference for artists over the years, we hope you will make a pledge starting tomorrow.
Thank you for the years of great interviews and not dumbing down electronica and having such a great taste and ear for great music! Who would you say are your favorite all-time electronic music artists that influenced you in the biggest way? Also, if you could open for any electronic music act, who would it be?	I don't know who I would want to open for. Maybe Daft Punk just for the sake of it? Also the year they have had. It would be great to open for them.
Long time listener here, loved Metropolis for years, glad it came back. How do you find some of your tracks? Great selection as always.	I'm a fan, first, so I'm always on the lookout for leading indicators, whether it's producers or labels or different recommendations or things that are buzzing online. It's sort of a lifestyle. You're just immersed in a music scene that you love. So I think that when you're approaching it that way with an open mind and excitement for what you do that really helps. Also maybe people will mention things and I will pick up on that and pursue it. Also I review a lot of music, people send me music constantly, I'll get hundreds of submissions a week so I try and go through as much as possible, typically in the evenings.
Speaking of listener support, could you break down, roughly, how is the money from donations distributed in order to keep KCRW on air?	Roughly 70% of our operating budget comes from listener donations. The rest of it is from major donors, corporate grants, things like that. people can hear that on the air, it's not quite a commercial but you will hear credits for different people. It's like our version of an advertisement. But 70% is a lion's share. Also we are working on a new building which is part of Santa Monica college but hopefully in a couple of years we will have that finished. That's a huge commitment, but there is something called a Capital campaign where we go to more institutions, organizations like the Annenberg foundation and things like that for support. So it's not so much the listeners for that one. But we are excited to move into a new facility in a couple of years in Santa Monica. It's a big deal and it's been taking a long time.
Where do you get all those awesome t-shirts?	I am photographed a lot, so I have to be thinking about my shirt selection. I really like All Saints. I know it's just a mall store, but I think it's because they are from England that I really like them. For more unusual fashions, I like Opening Ceremony. But I have to keep mixing it up, it's true, because I take photos with all the bands that come through and I can't be seen wearing the same shirt every day.
Ready for torturous question? Your favorite LA taco spot. Go Bentley! Haha.	El Galleon.
Why did you leave KROQ? I first heard you on KROQ on weekends, but I forgot what show you did… Edit: I remember KROQ gave your Silversun Pickups remix a lot of plays back in the day...	Well when I became music director of KCRW it would have just been weird for me to carry on at KROQ. But I love those folks, they do great work and we're still friends.
Yay hi Jason! Is there a particular artist you have not yet had the pleasure of interviewing that you would just love to talk to?	Maybe that will be my fallback career if this radio thing doesn't work out, I will do yoga and meditation tapes.

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Online slots The staple of Metropolis Casino Phone Number the casino is also the basic in the online gaming site. Slots have become popular enough to invade virtual bingo halls and sportsbooks. Get in on the excitement of Metropolis Casino Phone Number the one-armed Metropolis Casino Phone Number bandit and big payouts at a quality online casino. ... A stay at Harrah's Metropolis Hotel & Casino places you in the heart of Metropolis, within a 15-minute walk of Harrah's Metropolis and Americana Hollywood Museum. This casino hotel is 10.4 mi (16.8 km) from Shawnee National Forest and 0.9 mi (1.4 km) from Superman Statue. 70 reviews of Harrah's Metropolis Casino And Hotel "I sat down with $40 and walked away with $200. On top of that, I have never, ever in my life played Blackjack with such amazing people or dealers. When I was losing I needed to double down but didn't have the money to do so. The old guy next to me actually spotted me the money. Talk about Southern Hospitality!" The Gestapo guards in casino need to be taken outside and taught some manners, 3 Short fat guards in casino, not social distancing, yelled at my wife and I telling us to put up our mask. We are old it takes a few seconds to take a drink and set it down then put up the mask!! Casino at Harrah's Metropolis: Address, Phone Number, Casino at Harrah's Metropolis Reviews: 3.5/5 Harrah's Metropolis Casino & Hotel is located at: 100 E. Front Street Metropolis, Illinois Telephone: 1(800) 929-5905 or (618) 524-2628. To contact us by email, click on this link - Customer Service. Complimentary parking is conveniently located within easy walking distance located at the rear of the hotel and adjacent to the main entrance to the casino. Nos clients nous ont dit qu'ils avaient particulièrement apprécié Harrah's Metropolis Hotel & Casino pour son personnel aux petits soins. Lors de votre séjour, vous ne serez qu'à quelques minutes de marche de Harrah's Metropolis (casino). Dans cet établissement, vous profiterez de prestations de choix comme l'accès Wi-Fi à Internet gratuit et un parking gratuit, sans oublier 3 ... The casino is quite small and with several machines closed due to Covid-distancing, not really much to play on. Cant drink any more either-which was a huge let down for us as we like to sip and play. Cant bring any beverages into the casino either from the room, etc. Wasnt crazy about having to show drivers license just to enter the place either. Machines were tight. Overall, not a very fun ... Stay at this 3.5-star business-friendly hotel in Metropolis. Enjoy free WiFi, free parking, and 3 restaurants. Our guests praise the helpful staff and the spacious rooms in our reviews. Popular attractions Harrah's Metropolis and Americana Hollywood Museum are located nearby. Discover genuine guest reviews for Harrah's Metropolis Hotel & Casino along with the latest prices and availability ... Harrah's Metropolis Casino Slots When it comes to slot fun, Harrah’s Metropolis is the reel deal, with traditional spinning reel slots as well as all the newest, hottest video slots, plus progressives and video poker, in denominations ranging from pennies to $25.