I always like to prepare for a trip to a new country, so when I was invited to speak at .NET Conf UY in Montevideo, Uruguay, I decided I should learn some Spanish. I taught myself how to say "Buenos Dias" and "Adios". Unfortunately, I neglected to learn the many things I should talk about between these two phrases. But it worked out. Most of the Uruguayans with whom I interacted spoke at least some English and the conference provided real-time translation of all presentations, so that I could understand the Spanish speakers, and the audience could understand me.

Arrival

I arrived Tuesday morning 2 days early. Originally, I thought I might deliver a workshop, but my first session was not scheduled until Thursday afternoon. It was an all-night flight from Miami to Montevideo. Fabian - one of the conference organizers - picked me up at the airport. He recognized me from my photograph, despite my disheveled appearance. Exhausted from the flight, I checked into the hotel and slept for a few hours; then spent a few hours catching up on work for my day job.

In the evening, I walked around the hotel neighborhood. I hoped to find some dinner, but I discovered that Uruguayans eat later than Americans and most restaurants do not serve dinner until at least 7PM. I settled for a salad in a nearby hotel restaurant.

I passed the Uruguayan World Trade Center - a cluster of office and retail buildings, tallest of which is about 40 stories. Then I made my way to the Río de la Plata - at 120km, the widest river in the world.

I did not realize until Wednesday morning, that 2 hotel reservations had been made for me - one by me and one by the conference organizers. I went to the Sheraton to cancel my reservation. They allowed me to cancel the week, but charged me for 2 (expensive) nights, so I decided to spend Wednesday night at the Sheraton. It was a nicer hotel, and I had already paid for it.

In the afternoon and evening, I walked around a different neighborhood and a different part of the river, exploring parks and side streets and beaches. Nearly the entire riverfront of Montevideo is public space, featuring beaches and parks, so one can walk for miles along the shore. I had heard of the fondness South Americans have for beef, so I ordered a filet in a nice restaurant.

Late at night, I stopped at a beachside tavern to try a Uruguayan wine. The waitress spoke no English, and I speak almost no Spanish, but she managed to recommend a good local wine as we typed our conversation into my phone and let Google translate for us.

.NET Conf UY

The breakout sessions of .NET Conf UY took place Thursday and Friday. I delivered 2 sessions - "Adding Image and Voice Intelligence to Your Apps with Microsoft Cognitive Services" and "Big Data Solutions in Azure". The first presentation went very well, and many attendees approached me afterward with session. A demo failed in my second presentation, but I managed to recover.

I met many new people at this conference. My teammate Shahed flew down from Virginia and I had corresponded briefly with Fabian, but I knew no other speaker, organizer or attendee before I arrived.

I recorded 2 interviews for my show, including one with keynote speaker Carolina Banales. The conference hired a video crew, and they interviewed me on camera.

Thursday evening, Kiezen - one of the conference's main sponsors - hosted a speaker dinner at their new offices. A brick grill graces the roof of this office and we were treated to Uruguayan asade, which is meat grilled over a wood fire. I ate too much.

Friday evening featured an attendee party high above downtown Montevideo. This gave me the opportunity to get to know a lot of new people. The language barrier sometimes slowed communication, but I found everyone I met to be very engaging.

Tour of Montevideo

The day after the conference, the organizers reserved a bus and took us around Montevideo to show some of the major sites. Highlights included:

Estadio Centenario, where the first World Cup tournament was held (and won by Uruguay)

The Montevideo sign, that spells the city name in letters 5 feet tall. The sign overlooks one of the city's harbors and is a favourite spot for photographs.

The Fortezza General Artigas, which sits atop a hill overlooking the city from across Montevideo Bay. The fort is primarily dedicated to General Jose Artigas, who led the Uruguayans in their battle for independence in the early 19th century; but it is also a museum of military history. As a bonus, it offers a spectacular view of the Montevideo skyline.

We finished with an asade lunch at an outdoor cafe in the Old City. A Brazilian band stopped by to serenade us while we ate. From there, we went to the Independence Plaza, where a parade was about to start.

Buenos Aries

I spent Sunday in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which is only 200 km from Montevideo. There are several ways to make this journey. I chose to travel by bus from Montevideo to Colonia, Uruguay to see some of the Uruguayan countryside, which is mostly flat farmland with a few rivers and isolated woodlands. Buenos Aires is a short ferry ride from Colonia.

I was only in Buenos Aires for a few hours, but I managed to visit Casa Rosado, where Eva Perrone famously addressed her people from a balcony; Iglesia de St. Ignatius, the oldest church in the city; and the towering Obelisca de Buenos Aires that commemorates the city's 400th birthday. Lunch at Cafe Tortoni - the oldest cafe in Buenos Aires - was very good. In between, I walked through numerous public parks, side streets, and riverfronts.

Buenos Aires is a beautiful city. The architecture reminds me of a modern European city. I hope to return when I have more time.

Final Day

My flight home was scheduled for Monday evening and I made no plans on Monday. After sleeping in, I enjoyed a leisurely lunch and checked out of my hotel. There is a small zoo just 2 blocks from my hotel, so I decided to spend some time there. Sadly, the zoo is closed on Mondays, as was the planetarium next door. Instead, I walked to a section of the riverfront I had not yet visited, took some photos, and stopped at a small cafe for a cappuccino and a light dinner.

Fabian was kind enough to pick me up and drive me to the airport.

A Few Facts

Here are some things I learned about Montevideo and Uruguay this past week.

• Uruguay is the second smallest country in South America.
• Over half the country's population lives in the Montevideo area.
• There are no giant skyscrapers in Montevideo. The tallest building is 35 stories - not much bigger than my apartment building in Chicago.
• I cannot verify this, but I was told that Montevideo comes from the following words:
       "Monte", meaning "small hill"
       "VI" for the Roman Numeral
       "deo", which is short for "de Este a Ouest", which means "From East to West"
  In other words, the city sits on the sixth hill from east to west.
• Many of the city's sidewalks are made of bricks, which is probably why so many Montevideo sidewalks are broken.
• Uber is available in Uruguay. I never had to wait more than 5 minutes and never paid more than $7US for a ride.

I am grateful I had the opportunity to come to South America and see the sights and meet so many kind people.  I enjoyed the experience, and I hope to return. And I even learned a few extra Spanish words.

Gracias, Montevideo.

Hasta la vista.

Episode 493

Merwan Hade on Microsoft Flow

Episode 492

Pratap Ladhani on PowerApps

Ethan of Athos is one of the few books set in Lois McMaster Bujold’s universe of Miles Vorkosigan that does not feature an appearance by Miles or any member of his family.

The story begins on Athos - a planet populated solely by males, because they banned females generations ago. The men of Athos reproduce by importing ovaries and cultivating babies in birth chambers. Dr. Ethan Urquhart examines a new shipment of ovaries and discovers that they are useless - some damaged and some from animals.

Much to Ethan's chagrin, the Athos government assigns him to travel off planet and find out what happened to their original shipment. This distresses Ethan, who has been conditioned all his life to be repulsed at the thought of women.

Of course, Ethan finds himself the target of a murder attempt and he is rescued by a female assassin - Elli Quinn. Together, Ethan and Quinn track down the reason the shipment was stolen and replaced.

The story has action and intrigue, but also some messages about culture. Athos holds deep prejudices against women; and others in the galaxy hold prejudices against Athos for their homosexual lifestyles. To succeed, Ethan must overcome his prejudices and work with Quinn.

While not one of Bujold's best novels, I still enjoyed Ethan of Athos.

Episode 491

Jay Harris on Web Development Tools

Mile Vorkosigan and his cousin Ivan of the Barrayar Empire attends the funeral of the empress of the rival Cetagandan Empire.

Shortly after landing, they are attacked by a Cetagandan servant and wrestle away a mysterious artifact. When the servant turns up dead shortly afterward, Miles and Ivan must figure out who is behind the murder, the theft of the artifact, why is the artifact so valuable, and the political plot they ultimately uncover.

Like all of Lois McMaster Bujold's novels, Cetaganda" combines action, political intrigue, and character development.  This one is primarily a detective story with Miles and Ivan uncovering clues that help them uncover the answers to the questions above.

This novel introduces the Cetagandans and provides details about their culture. It was written later than other stories that feature this race/empire and I'm told it helps to better understand their motivations.

Bujold has a talent for building rich characters and adding layers in each novel. In this story, we get a deeper look inside the mind of the carefree, womanizing Ivan and see the reaction of Miles, who is less smooth and less attractive due to his diminished size and birth defects. It's easy to cheer for Miles the underdog, despite the privileges being born to royalty.

Miles Vorkosigan is young and intelligent, but deformed and undersized, thanks to a failed assassination attempt on his mother a few months before his birth. He has the added pressure of being the son of the legendary Lord Admiral Aral Vorkosigan - one of the great military strategists of the Barrayaran Empire.

After graduating from Barrayaran Service Academy, Miles enters military service - first on an isolated frozen island under a corrupt commander, where he is falsely accused of treason. After clearing his name, he is given a security assignment far from Barrayar, where he is again framed - this time for murder. While trying to escape, he runs into the Emperor Gregor - only slightly older than Miles - who has run away to escape his responsibilities. Together, Miles and Gregor must prevent Cavilo - a femme fatal, who will kill, betray, and/or seduce anyone to gain power. She seeks to throw the empire into chaos and make herself empress. Amazingly, she has aligned herself with Miles's old corrupt commanding officer. Miles seeks the help of the Dendarii mercenaries with whom he worked under the alias of Admiral Naismith in The Warrior's Apprentice

The Vor Game advances the story of young Miles, who is an unlikely hero, thanks to his physical handicaps. Bujold establishes Miles's issues with following authority, which gets him into trouble; but also with his headstrong ways, which sometimes gets him out of trouble. We also get our first look into what makes Emperor Gregor tick.

Bujold does a very good job of mixing action, political intrigue, and character development into her stories. There are a few too many coincidences, as Miles keeps running into people from his past while at the far edge of the galaxy; but one can forgive this because the story is engaging, and the coincidences help to move it forward.

Episode 490

Jeremy Clark on Social Developers

Shea Ohmsford was living a quiet life, running a farm with his brother Flick. Shea knew he was adopted, but when the tall stranger Allanon shows up, he learns that he is half-elf and the last living member of the legendary Shannara family.

Allanon convinces the brother that their land is danger from The Warlock Lord - an evil wizard, who seeks the power of the legendary sword of Shannara; so, the three of them set out on a quest to find the sword. Along the way, they are joined by men and elves and attacked by gnomes, trolls, and black flying monsters known as "skull bearers". They are separated during their journey, but continue their mission to thwart the Warlock Lord.

This is the story of The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks. If it sounds familiar, it is because Brooks acknowledges J.R.R. Tolkien as one of his influences.

Comparison's with the Lord of the Rings are inevitable: A disparate group, consisting of men, elves, and dwarves travel across a mystical land to seek a powerful magic relic, preventing the evil wizard from acquiring it first. There is even a crazy gnome with a startling resemblance to Gollum.

If you can get past Brooks's obvious "inspiration" for his plot, he does tell a pretty good story. The narrative is more traditional than Tolkien's and more appropriate for the simpler story. I enjoyed it.

This week, I went to The Church on Friday night.

In this context, The Church is the Australian rock band and they were performing at Park West in Lincoln Park, Chicago.

It turns out that The Church has had a long career beyond their 1988 "Starfish" album - the CD my brother gave me decades ago that I played repeatedly in the 80s and 90s. "Starfish" was their most popular album, but they were almost a dozen songs into their set before playing the first song from this album - "North South East & West".

They filled the night with music from the early 1980s (lead singer Steve Kilbey joked that he was 2 years old when he wrote one of the songs) and from their latest album ("Man Woman Life Death Infinity", which was released today). In almost 4 decades, the band has released dozens of albums and they drew on many of them tonight They alternated between straight-ahead post-punk rockers and the ethereal music for which they are most well-known.

For me, the high point was hearing "Under the Milky Way". It was like a visit from an old friend and the emotion of the harmonies and acoustic guitar still speak to me after all these years.

My first visit to Park West was an enjoyable one. It was a good night to visit The Church. ie

The following articles walk the user through creating an ASP.NET application; storing source control history in a Visual Studio Team Services project Git repository; and automatically deploying to an Azure web app whenever code changes are pushed to the repository.

Creating a Team Project in Azure

Creating an ASP.NET Web Project and Storing code in a VSTS Git Repository

Configuring Automatic Deployment from VSTS to an Azure Web App

This is Part 3 in a series of articles about integrating VSTS, Azure Web Apps, ASP.NET applications, and Visual Studio.

In previous articles, I showed you how to create a VSTS Team Account and Team Project linked to Azure  and how to create an ASP.NET Web application and link this to your VSTS team project in order to store the project code in the Team Version Control Repository.

In this article, I will show you how to automatically deploy code from your VSTS Team Project repository to an Azure Web App every time you push code changes to that repository.

This configuration is done in the Azure portal.

Log into your Azure account and navigate to the portal by clicking the PORTAL link at the top right, as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1

From the Azure portal, select

New | Web + Mobile | Web App

as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2

The Create Web App blade displays, as shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3

At the App Name field, enter a name for your app. This must be unique among Azure App Services. Although you can assign a custom domain to this later, the default URL will be

http://xxxx.azurewebsites.net

where xxxx is the name you assigned to this Web App.

If you navigate to this URL (or click the hyperlink in the Overview tab), you will see a default Azure We App page.

At the Resource Group field, select "Create New" and enter a name for your resource group.

At the "OS" field, select the operating system on which you want to deploy your Web App.

Click the [Create] button to create your Web App. This usually takes less than a minute. A message displays when the App is created with a [Go to Resource] button to quickly open your Web App. (Note: You can also find your Web App by selecting "All Resources" in the left sidebar.)

The Web App Management blade displays, as shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 4

Select "Deployment Option" on the left menu of this blade to display the Deployment Option blade, as shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 5

Click "Choose Source" to display a list of Source repository types, as shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 6

Select "Visual Studio Team Services".

You will return to the "Deployment Option" blade, but options specific to VSTS will now display, as shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 7

Select your VSTS Account and Project from the dropdown. (Note: Your account and project will only appear if you have linked your VSTS project to Azure, as described here.)

Click the [OK] button to configure this automation.

It should take less than a minute to complete.

Any code currently in the project's repository will be deployed to Azure. You can see this by once again navigating to the Web App's URL (http://xxxx.azurewebsites.net).

Future code code pushed to the Team repository will also be deployed automatically to Azure.

In this article, you learned how to set up automatic deployment to an Azure Web App each time code is pushed to a VSTS project code repository.

This is Part 2 in a series of articles about integrating VSTS, Azure Web Apps, ASP.NET applications, and Visual Studio.

In my last post, I showed you how to create a new Team Account and Team project linked to Azure.

In this article, I will show how to open this new project in Visual Studio, start working with it, and check your code into VSTS Git repository.

To view your account and project in VSTS, open a new browser tab and navigate to https://xxxx.visualstudio.com/_admin

where xxxx is the name of the account you just created. You can see my account displayed in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1

Click on the name of your project to display details about it, as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2

Click the Code link at the top menu. If you have already checked in code, you will see that code in your Version Control Repository. New projects will look like my project, shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3

Click the [Clone in Visual Studio button]. This launch Visual Studio (You will probably be prompted to switch apps)

In Visual Studio, you should see the Team Explorer, as shown in Fig. 4. If you don't see it, you can find it by selecting View | Team Explorer from the menu.

Fig. 4

Click "Clone this repository" to display the Clone Repository dialog, as shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 5

You have the opportunity to change where this new local repository will be saved on your hard drive. Whether you change it or not, you should note the location.

Click the [Clone] button. This will initialize a local GIT repository that points to your VSTS Team project.

You can now create a new Web App project in Visual Studio.

Select File | New | Project from the menu.     The "New Project" dialog displays, as shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 6

Under the "Templates" tree on the left, expand Visual C#; then select "Web". Select "ASP.NET Web Application" or "ASP.NET Core Web Application" as your template.

The location of your project is determined by the combination of the "Location" textbox and the "Solution name" textbox (assuming you have not unchecked "Create new directory for solution"). Verify that this points to the location of the local Git repository that was created above.

Uncheck the "Create new Git repository" checkbox.

Make any other desired changes and click the [OK] button to create a new button.

At the New ASP.NET Application dialog (Fig. 7), click [OK] to create the project. 

Fig. 7

A new project will be created in the repository directory similar to the one shown in the Solution Explorer (View | Solution Explorer) in Fig. 8.

Fig. 8

You can check this initial code into your version control repository from the Visual Studio Team Explorer (View | Team Explorer). Click the [Changes] button in the Team Explorer to display the Changes panel, as shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 9

Enter a comment, such as “Initial commit” and click the [Commit All] button. This will commit your changes to the local Git Repository.

To push your changes up to the VSTS repository, you will need to access the Team Explorer Sync panel. You can navigate to this panel by clicking to dropdown near the top of the Changes panel and selecting “Sync” from the menu displayed, as shown in Fig. 10.

Fig. 10

The Sync panel displays, as shown in Fig. 11.

Fig. 11

Click the “Sync” link. You should see a message indicating that the local and remote repositories are syncing, meaning that the local repository is merging any changes from the remote repository and your local commits are being pushed up to the remote repository in VSTS. The following message displays when this sync is complete:

Successfully synchronized incoming and outgoing commits.

If you return to the project code page in VSTS and refresh the web page, you should see all your code checked in. Fig. 12 shows my project after I checked in my initial commit.

Fig. 12

In this article, I showed you how to create a new ASP.NET project in Visual Studio and store the code in an existing Visual Studio Team Systems Git repository.

This is Part 1 in a series of articles about integrating VSTS, Azure Web Apps, ASP.NET applications, and Visual Studio.

If you want to publish code from your repository to Azure, the easiest way to do this is to create the account from within the Azure portal.

Log into your Azure account and navigate to the portal by clicking the PORTAL link at the top right, as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1

From the Azure portal, select

New | Developer Tools | Team project

as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2

The "New Team Project" blade displays, as shown in Fig. 3

Fig. 3

Enter a Name to identify this team.

Click "Configure required settings" under "Account"; then, click "Create a new account" and enter a name for your VSTS Account (Fig. 4). This name must be unique among all VSTS account, because it will be used in a URL to connect to the account.

Fig. 4

Click [OK] to close the "New Account" blade.

Review all the settings in the New Project dialog. You may wish to change the location, so that it is closer to your team members. (For me, this defaulted to Brazil, so I changed it to Central US). My completed blade is shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 5

Click [Create] to begin creating the Team Project.

It may take a minute or two to create the VSTS Account and a project within that account.

To view the account and project in VSTS, open a new browser tab and navigate to https://xxxx.visualstudio.com/_admin

where xxxx is the name of the account you just created. You can see my account displayed in Fig. 6.

Fig. 6

In this article, I showed how to create a team project in VSTS and link it to Azure. In the next article, I will show how to create an ASP.NET application in Visual Studio and push that application’s code into this team project’s code repository.

Episode 489

Scott Addie on Migrating to ASP.NET Core

10/1
Today I am grateful to go to Kingston Mines blues club last night with Tim.

9/30
Today I am grateful for 2 days in Champaign, IL.

9/29
Today I am grateful for a drink with Rachel last night in Champaign.

9/28
Today I am grateful for some kind words from my manager yesterday.

9/27
Today I am grateful for Taco Tuesday at Flaco's.

9/26
Today I am grateful to arrive home safely yesterday.

9/25
Today I am grateful for:
-a visit with Diane yesterday;
-a place to sleep last night, courtesy of Sherree and family

9/24
Today I am grateful for a return to Spartan Stadium to watch the game with friends from college.

9/23
Today I am grateful I got out of a hackathon on a Friday night before 1AM.

9/22
Today I am grateful for:
-the opportunity to speak at VSLive this week;
-great feedback following yesterday's presentation;
-dinner at the spy-themed Safe House last night.

9/21
Today I am grateful for sushi last night with Rachel and Jim.

9/20
Today I am grateful for
-2 days in Seattle
-a chance to learn the basics of CNTK at yesterday's hackathon.

9/19
Today I am grateful for a company reception last night at Optimism Brewery in Seattle.

9/18
Today I am grateful for dinner and a movie with Glenn yesterday.

9/17
Today I am grateful to ask about software on social media and get help from the creator of that software.

9/16
Today I am grateful for free online learning resources.

9/15
Today I am grateful for my new (to me) Surface Book.

9/14
Today I am grateful to walk 5 miles yesterday.

9/13
Today I am grateful for healthy teeth.

9/12
Today I am grateful that I can walk to work.

9/11
Today I am grateful for the NFL Pass to watch all the games.

9/10
Today I am grateful to spend time with Chris this weekend.

9/9
Today I am grateful for dinner last night with Tim to celebrate his birthday.

9/8
Today I am grateful to successfully deliver a new AI presentation last night for the first time.

9/7
Today I am grateful I've made it to the gym almost every day for the past month.

9/6
Today I am grateful to teach at the University of Illinois yesterday.

9/5
Today I am grateful for a clean apartment.

9/4
Today I am grateful for a walk around LaGrange, IL yesterday afternoon.

The Warrior's Apprentice is the fourth book I've read in Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga; but it is the first one to feature Miles Vorkosigan, the protagonist of most of the series.

An assassination attempt on Miles's mother during her pregnancy resulted in Miles being born with extremely brittle bones. Despite this handicap, he attempts to pass the rigorous requirements of the military academy on his home planet of Barrayar. After breaking both his legs in a physical exercise, Miles travels to his mother's home planet to visit his maternal grandmother; but is sidetracked by the adventures he encounters when he buys one spaceship and captures another.  It all leads to political intrigue and an attempt to frame Miles for treason.

I really like the character of Miles - an unlikely hero, given his handicap and his sub-5-foot stature. He is especially disadvantaged because Barrayar is a planet that disdains imperfections, often aborting "inferior" fetuses. He is a great contrast to his noble father and his headstrong mother.

The Warrior's Apprentice advances the story of the "Vorkosiverse", introduces a significant new character, and stands alone as a good adventure story.

I have known Jim Holmes for years, and I have experienced many times his presentations and his writings about leadership skills. This year, he finally compiled that advice into a book - The Leadership Journey.

He draws on his experience in the US Air Force and  in the business world, providing examples of himself and others in a leadership role.

The book begins with 2 assumptions:

1. Most of us are not born with great leadership skills
2. We can each work to improve our leadership skills

Holmes lists the qualities needed to be a good leader:

• Integrity
• Respect
• Decisiveness
  
• Motivates those around them
• Delegates authority
  
• Remains Calm in storm
  
• Protects the team
  
• Knows what's really a crisis
  
• Leads from the front

It's no accident that Integrity tops this list. "Integrity is a coin you can’t afford to spend," he correctly asserts, pointing out the long-term damage when trust erodes.

Each chapter focuses on one key point of leadership and includes one or more exercise. Typically, each exercise asks the reader to write down some ideas; step away for a few minutes; then return and review what he wrote. They are deliberately time-boxed to keep the reader focused and to give her time to reflect on the ideas. For example, one exercise asks the reader to identify a few effective leaders from their own experience and identify traits they have in common.

The book advises a few things that I've been doing for years, such as writing down what needs to get done and keeping track of wins. But it also includes new (to me) ideas, such as recognizing small victories to foster success.

At 107 pages, this is a quick read (I finished on a flight from Seattle to Chicago); but it is dense with good advice.

Much of the advice may seem like common sense to you. But I've made many of the mistakes pointed out in this book and I've worked with many managers who have made these mistakes. Reinforcing these ideas is a step toward internalizing them.

Episode 488

Christina Aldan on Emotional Intelligence

I was recently introduced to the Developer on Fire podcast, hosted by Dave Rael. Dave has had an impressive list of guests on his show the past few years, which is one reason I was excited about being interviewed by him.

We spoke less about technology than about my experiences in my career and my philosophy toward work, education, and the community.

You can listen to the interview here.

Episode 487

Adam Freymiller on Interviewing for a Tech Job

Episode 486

Gael Fraiteur on PostSharp 5.0

If you would like to hear one of my presentations, here is my schedule:

Thursday Next is an agent working for the British Special Operations law enforcement agency in an alternate world where England and Russia are still fighting the Crimean War, where Wales is an independent country, and where time travel is possible.

The people of this 1985 England love their literature. They are so passionate that literary arguments sometimes erupt into riots and a special government police department exists solely to deal with crimes of literature. Thursday works for this department.

In The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, Thursday's uncle Mycroft invents a machine that allows people and characters to travel in and out of fictional books. If one enters a book and changes the plot, the story in the actual book changes. If this happens in an original manuscript, every copy of that book is modified. The Villainous Hades kidnaps Mycroft, steals the machine and some original literary classic manuscripts; then blackmails England, threatening to kill characters in the book, destroying England's most beloved literature. And only Thursday can stop him.
 
If you think this sounds like some serious suspension of disbelief, you'd be right. If you think it sounds somewhat silly, you are right about that as well. This novel is filled with weird science and over-the-top characters with names like Braxton Hicks and Jack Schitt. But it works. And not just as satire and humor. Although the story never takes itself too seriously, it never falls into the completely absurd, as with authors like Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett.

The Eyre Affair is a silly, adventure, detective, sci-fi, comedy story filled with action and memorable characters.

I loved it.

Episode 485

Miguel Castro on Building AngularJS Component-Based Applications

9/3
Today I am grateful to attend a Windy City Thunderbolts game last night.

9/2
Today I am grateful to go to the gym and dinner last night with my son.

9/1
Today I am grateful to see Tim McGraw and Faith Hill in concert last night.

8/31
Today I am grateful for a week of technical training in Chicago with my team.

8/30
Today I am grateful to finally replace my broken reading glasses.

8/29
Today I am grateful that, after staying up until 4AM completing the materials, my workshop yesterday was well received.

8/28
Today I am grateful for a walk around the Oak Park Arts & Crafts Show yesterday

8/27
Today I am grateful for lunch with Tim yesterday.

8/26
Today I am grateful for a Gary Southshore Rail Cats baseball game last night.

8/25
Today I am grateful for lunch with Jaidev yesterday.

8/24
Today I am grateful for a walk along the St. Joseph River yesterday.

8/23
Today I am grateful to work remotely yesterday in southwest Michigan.

8/22
Today I am grateful for: -a view of the solar eclipse from Grant Park yesterday; - Joe Healy's help with a PowerApps issue

8/21
Today I am grateful for dinner with Nick, Tim, and Adriana last night.

8/20
Today I am grateful for a drive/walk around Indiana's Heritage Trail yesterday.

8/19
Today I am grateful for an Amish dinner in Amish country last night.

8/18
Today I am grateful for: -seeing the Gaugin exhibit yesterday at the Chicago Art Institute; -attending the Chicago Polyglot Mingle last night in Old Town.

8/17
Today I am grateful for online music.

8/16
Today I am grateful that my parents saved their whole lives and left something to their children.

8/15
Today I am grateful to pair program with an inexperienced developer last night.

8/14
Today I am grateful for a Sunday walk around Oak Park, IL.

8/13
Today I am grateful to see Benny Golson in concert last night and to take my son to his first jazz club.

8/12
Today I am grateful for a successful surgery yesterday.

8/11
Today I am grateful to see Youssou N'Dour in concert last night.

8/10
Today I am grateful to the organizers and volunteers who worked so hard to make #ThatConference a success.

8/9
Today I am grateful for a visit to the water park last night.

8/8
Today I am grateful for: -lunch with Ondrej -a drive to the Wisconsin Dells. -Seeing old friends -Dinner with my team

8/7
Today I am grateful for an afternoon at Three Oaks Recreation Area in Crystal Lakes, IL.

Episode 484

Jimmy Bogard on AutoMapper

Garion was an orphan boy living on a farm with his Aunt Pol when Mister Wolf a kindly, old traveler - took the two of them on a quest to retrieve a stolen object of great value.

Mister Wolf turns out to be Garion's grandfather the ancient sorcerer Belgarath; and the stolen object turns out to be a magical orb forged by the god Aldur, and stolen by his brother Torak, who now lies asleep for centuries after the orb was re-captured by Belgarath. Prophecies surrounded the orb, including one that foretells a battle to the death between Torak and Garion (now renamed Belgarian).

The 5-volume epic fantasy The Belgariad by David Eddings follows the trio and companions they gather along their quest to both liberate enslaved lands and to fulfill the prophecies of the orb. Although the prophecy predicts a death battle between Belgarian and Torak, it does not predict the outcome of this battle. Along the way, they pick up the runaway princess Ce'Nedra, with whom young Belgarian has a love/hate relationship.

With 5 volumes to work with, Eddings does a good job of weaving a story of adventure and building a cast of characters and a relationship between those characters. The Belgariad is a coming-age-story for Belgarian, and also a coming-age-story for Ce'Nedra, who grows from spoiled princess to potential monarch in the latter two novels. Belgarian discovers himself, his magical abilities, and his destiny as he travels across the world fighting evil.

Each book begins with a brief story of the old gods and their battle for the orb during ancient times. This story is told in a more formal voice (as if read aloud from an ancient codex) than the rest of the book, which focuses on the story of Belgarian and his company. 

The story is much less complex than the Lord of the Rings (from which it draws obvious inspiration). The wizard-led fellowship traveling across a dangerous world of fantastic beasts and pitting magic against magic is similar enough to Tolkein's story, that I could not help reading the part of Belgarath in the voice of Ian McKellan. But Eddings makes The Belgariad original enough and adds enough action to hold my interest throughout.

My only complaint is how little time is devoted to the final, inevitable battle between Belgarian and Torak. We wait for it for 4.9 books and it is over too quickly.

It's not a classic, but The Belgariad is definitely worthwhile and is an enjoyable story set in an interesting world.

Episode 483

Riccardo Bennett-Lovsey on Digital Transformations

Last week, I took my son to his first jazz club. We saw Benny Golson at the Jazz Showcase in the South Loop. He liked it.

Golson has been performing tenor saxophone publicly for decades and has accumulated a number of stories of his interactions with many of the all-time greats - from Dizzy Gillespie to Eric Burdon. He spent much of this evening telling of his days with other musicians, preceding each song with the tale of how that song came to be. For example, he spoke of writing "I remember Clifford" after learning of the death of his friend Clifford Brown; and he talked about playing "Whisper Not" for Dizzy Gillespie and trying to remain cool after Gillespie asked if he could record the song.

At 85, Golson is showing his age. He no longer has the stamina to maintain the long slow notes that many of his melodies demand.  But on this night in Chicago's South Loop, he surrounded himself with some excellent musicians (piano, upright bass, and drums), who made up for that with their solos.

And Golson is best known for his songwriting prowess and nearly every song he performed was his own composition. And his melodies are still lovely.

And my son enjoyed his first jazz concert.

30 years ago, I received as a gift the album "Nelson Mandela" by Youssou N'Dour. I was hooked. N'Dour exposed to me an engaging style that combined traditional rhythms of his native Senegal with western instruments.

Thursday night at Millennium Park, I finally had the chance to see N'Dour in concert. He did not disappoint.

Throughout the show, everyone smiled and danced to the music. The audience enjoyed themselves, Youssou enjoyed himself, and the band enjoyed themselves. Except for the rhythm guitar player, who remained stoically stone-faced throughout the performance, despite being surrounded by smiling musicians and fans.

N'Dour shared the stage with about a dozen other musicians, including two keyboardists, 3 guitarists, 4(!) drummers, and 1 dancer.

They played danceable Afro-pop for over 90 minutes and came back for an encore to the delight of the crowd.

The show was a treat for those of us who love African music. Next to the stage, I saw people dressed in African garb dancing to the music. A few rows back, I saw middle-aged white Americans tapping their feet. Even though none of the songs were sung in English, Youssou and his band made a connection with an audience far from his homeland.

By the end of the show, even the rhythm guitarist had to smile.

More photos

Episode 482

Kent Alstad on Leadership

Episode 481

Matthew Renze on Data Science

8/6
Today I am grateful for:
-3 days in downtown Kansas City
-Lunch with Sara
-Pizza with Tim at Pequod's last night

8/5
Today I am grateful to attend my first PubConf last night.

8/4
Today I am grateful for my first time speaking at #KCDC.

8/3
Today I am grateful to meet so many old friends in Kansas City last night.

8/2
Today I am grateful for the past, present, and future MVPs who contribute so much to our community.

8/1
Today I am grateful to watch Game of Thrones each week with my son.

7/31
Today I am grateful for:
-breakfast with Tim and Ahmani yesterday
-a drink last night with Tim at the new outdoor café across the street.

7/30
Today I am grateful for the International Nodebots Day workshop yesterday.

7/29
Today I am grateful to spend a day with my team.

7/28
Today I am grateful I was able to help people multiple times yesterday.

7/27
Today I am grateful I got these web services working (mostly)

7/26
Today I am grateful for:
-Starting a new project yesterday
-Coffee with Thad -Dinner with Michael and Dave

7/25
Today I am grateful for a chance to sleep in this morning.

7/24
Today I am grateful for an afternoon at Warren Dunes State Park.

7/23
Today I am grateful for a week in Las Vegas with Microsoft folks from around the world.

7/22
Today I am grateful for a gondola ride yesterday with Jennifer and Matt.

7/21
Today I am grateful for:
-Lunch with Jeffrey
-Drinks with Scott and Brian
-Dinner with Shahed, Nickolas, Paul, Jeffrey, and Bret

7/20
Today I am grateful to see Lenny Kravitz and Ellie Goulding in concert last night.

7/19
Today I am grateful to reconnect with so many colleagues yesterday.

7/18
Today I am grateful for honest conversations.

7/17
Today I am grateful for the year that we had together.

7/16
Today I am grateful that Thad and I saw Pharez Whitted in concert at the Jazz Showcase last night - my first visit to the club.

7/15
Today I am grateful for a Pakistani dinner with Raj last night.

7/14
Today I am grateful to meet so many students and entrepreneurs from Africa yesterday.

7/13
Today I am grateful to the organizers, volunteers, speakers, and attendees of the first Detroit.Code() conference for making the event a success.

7/12
Today I am grateful for:
-Lunch yesterday with Mark
-Help from Ryan answering my JavaScript questions

7/11
Today I am grateful to see so many friends last night in Detroit.

7/10
Today I am grateful for a visit from my son Nick this weekend.

7/9
Today I am grateful to attend a Cubs game last night with Nick and Tim.

7/8
Today I am grateful to go to the gym and dinner last night with Tim.

7/7
Today I am grateful for dinner with Emilija last night.

7/6
Today I am grateful for lunch with Ondrej yesterday.

7/5
Today I am grateful for fireworks last night in Dawn and Bill's backyard

7/4
Today I am grateful to live in the United States of America.

7/3
Today I am grateful for the hospitality and generosity of Kevin and Judy, who opened their home to me.

7/2
Today I am grateful for yesterday's celebration of my mother's life.

Episode 480

Jonathan Mills on Angular CLI

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin is the story of the twin planets - Anarres and Urras that rotate about one another.

Centuries ago, a group of revolutionaries on Urras escaped or were exiled to the barren world of Anarres, where they have been working the mines and building an equalitarian society - a society in which all property is owned collectively, and everyone shares everything and the government controls nothing.

Urras is a world with a beautiful main city where everyone has plenty. But the ruling class of this city oppresses the lower classes outside the city and keeps them in their caste. An oppressive government keeps the rich and poor in their places.

Shevek is a physicist, who was born on Anarres; but he is one of the few from that world permitted to visit Urras. Shevek is invited to an Urras university in order to complete his work - a work that the Urrans hope can allow them to produce faster-than-light interstellar travel. He is overwhelmed by the beauty of his host city, unaware of the suffering outside the walls until local rebels try to contact him.

The story is filled with ambiguities: The 2 planets orbit one another yet each considers the other its moon; It's never clear if walls are built to keep people out or in; the anarchy of Anarres seems morally superior to the caste system of Urras, but Anarres's system is far from perfect and its people suffer much hardships.

LeGuin tells the story in a non-linear fashion, alternating chapters between recounting Shevek's early life and his pilgrimage to Urras. This narrative style can be hard to follow at times, but it revealed his character and contrasted the strengths and weaknesses of each society.

I had forgotten how much I enjoyed LeGuin's writing. She weaves within her stories multiple themes about society and economics. I will be reading her work again soon - maybe a second reading of this book.

Episode 479

Nancy Gaines on Productivity

Episode 478

Peter Leeson on Quality

Episode 477

Florin Loghiade on Testing PowerShell wit Pester

Assassin's Quest is the third, final, and longest book in Robin Hobbs's Farseer Trilogy.

It also the book with the most action.

Royal bastard Fitzchivalry Farseer was executed by his Uncle Regal, who has usurped the throne from its rightful heir. He escaped by using his Wit power to transfer his consciousness to his wolf-brother and living as a wolf for weeks. Fitz's allies manage to return his soul to his exhumed body following the execution, but he is become more wolf than man and struggles to resume his old life or to fight for his kingdom.

King Shrewd and King-In-Waiting Chivalry (Fitz's Father) are both dead.  Verity has left the kingdom to seek the help of the legendary Elderlings, hoping they can rescue his kingdom from the attacking Red Raiders.

Fitz has 2 quests in this story - the first to find and assassinate King Regal and the second to find his Uncle Verity in hopes he can restore order to the kingdom.

Most of this book follows Fitzchivalry's odyssey across the world, seeking Verity and the dangers he encounters along the way. He is reunited with The Fool - a jester he befriended during his days at court. The Fool reveals himself to be more than he showed before and they seek Verity together.

This is the most complex and most satisfying of the 3 Farseer novels. The storylines weave in and out as Fitz travels across the world and out of his own kingdom. Magical powers are used just enough to keep them plausible in this world; but not so much that they are an easy escape from any danger.

Assassin's Quest completes Fitz's transition to manhood and brings the story of Regal's power grasp to a conclusion. The ending felt a bit rushed, but Hobb managed to tie up each of the plot lines. Overall, I very much enjoyed this series.

"Royal Assassin" continues the saga of FitzChivalry, the bastard son of king-in-waiting Chivalry, who is raised to be an assassin.

Fitz recovers from the assassination attempt by his Uncle Regal at the end of "Assassin's Apprentice". He grows to manhood at a court engulfed by the rivalry between his two uncles: the noble Verity and the wicked Regal. Regal and his minions plot to poison the mind of King Shrewd by drugging and isolating him from anyone else. Meanwhile, Verity is devoted to the protection of his people (most notably from the invading and pillaging Red Raiders).

This story mostly involves political intrigue as Fitz is caught in the middle of a battle between his 2 uncles. But there is also much action and character development, most notably of Fitz himself, who is growing to manhood and attempting to harness his mental powers.

Fitz is prosecuted for practicing the feared and illegal Wit power and must find a way to hide it while also using it to protect himself, his king, the kingdom, and his woman.

I enjoyed the story on its own, but it also convinced me to complete the Farseer Trilogy. So, I am now on to book 3!

My mother - Joyce Ann Gill Giard - had a lot of idiosyncrasies.

There were phrases she would repeat often. "and what not" meant she could not think how to complete her current thought; "so anyway" meant she was ready to leave; and "You're special" meant that she wanted to say something nice about you but could not think of anything specific.

There was her inability to tell a story properly. So many times, she would tell a nonsensical punchline; then remember that she had forgotten an important bit from earlier in the story.

And there was her habit of re-telling the same story to us, as if we hadn't heard it a hundred times already - maybe just yesterday. Maybe earlier in the same conversation.

We used to make fun of my mother for these idiosyncrasies. We would smile, and roll our eyes, and we would laugh about it later.

But I began to rethink this attitude a few years ago. That was when my mother's life was struck with a series of tragedies.

It began when my father - Norm Giard - was diagnosed with skin cancer. He recovered, but it cost him his entire nose, which had to be rebuilt.

Next came the following events, which happened in rapid succession.

• My mother had open heart surgery
• My sister Denise (Mom's oldest child) died suddenly at the age of 50.
• Someone my mother trusted betrayed the family and tried to steal an inheritance left to my sister's daughters. This ordeal lasted nearly a year.
• My father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He ultimately had to be placed in a nursing home when my mother was unable to care for him.
• My mother was in an automobile accident. She was in the hospital over 6 months and never fully regained the use of her legs.
• My father passed away after a long illness.
• My mother's health deteriorated, leaving her deaf, confined to a wheelchair, and losing her memory.

It was her loss of hearing and memory that my mother found most frustrating. Mom was a very social person. She loved people; she loved spending time with her friends; and she loved to start conversations with strangers. I was once driving her around our old neighborhood when she spotted the current owners of our former home. I had not fully stopped the car before she had opened the passenger door to get out and introduce herself.

As her memory faded, she found it difficult to recall the names of close friends and how she knew them. She once called me in a panic because she could not remember where she had met my father.

When she lost her hearing, she found it nearly impossible to engage the new people she met. And when she moved into an assisted living facility in Michigan, everyone was new.

It was this string of tragedies and the dignity with which my mother faced them that caused me to re-think her and my behavior around her. Her idiosyncrasies became for me unique aspects of her personality, rather than a reason to roll my eyes.

I would visit her, and she would tell me "You're special" and I would respond "No. *You're* special!".

She would tell me a story I've heard before and I would listen and nod as if I were hearing it for the first time.

And I laughed at her jokes.

These struggles and these tragedies did not break her. I admire that she maintained a positive attitude and a strong faith throughout all this. She did not blame anyone for her fate. And she remained positive that she would eventually be reunited with her husband and daughter.

We still sometimes laugh at my mother's idiosyncrasies; but now we do so with the appreciation that these are the things that set her apart; that made her unique; that made her the woman we loved.

Joyce Ann Gill Giard passed away last week at the age of 84. Yesterday, I returned from her funeral in Florida.

If she were here with me right now, I would tell her in no uncertain terms: "You are special!"

Episode 476

Boris Hristov on Technical Presentations

7/2
Today I am grateful for yesterday's celebration of my mother's life.

7/1
Today I am grateful to make it safely to Florida.

6/30
Today I am grateful
-to finally make it to the dermatologist yesterday
-for sushi with Tim last night

6/29
Today I am grateful for the support of my family.

6/28
Today I am grateful for the overwhelming outpouring of love and condolences these past 2 days.

6/27
Today I am grateful for my mother and all that she did for me during her life.

6/26
Today I am grateful for a bbq lunch with Tim yesterday.

6/25
Today I am grateful for a day in Sawyer, MI.

6/24
Today I am grateful for an afternoon at 1871.

6/23
Today I am grateful to see J. while he was in town yesterday.

6/22
Today I am grateful for good health insurance.

6/21
Today I am grateful for my camera, which has preserved so many memories over the years.

6/20
Today I am grateful to see Jean Luc Ponty in concert last night.

6/19
Today I am grateful to spend Fathers Day with my son.

6/18
Today I am grateful that I finally got back my lost luggage.

6/17
Today I am grateful that my son Tim will be staying with me for a couple months.

6/16
Today I am grateful for my first visit to the Czech Republic.

6/15
Today I am grateful for a day in Cesky Krumlav, Czech Republic with Gael

6/14
Today I am grateful for:
-coffee with Britt yesterday morning in Prague
-lunch with the Microsoft Prague DX team
-a drive across the Czech Republic with Gael last night

6/13
Today I am grateful for a visit to Prague Castle yesterday.

6/12
Today I am grateful for dinner and a walk around Prague last night with Gael and Britt.

6/11
Today I am grateful for a brewery tour and beer tasting at Fjäderholmarna yesterday.

6/10
Today I am grateful to the organizers and volunteers of #devsum for an excellent conference in Stockholm this week.

6/9
Today I am grateful that my lost luggage finally arrived at my hotel.

6/8
Today I am grateful that I made it safely to Stockholm, despite many delays along the way.

6/7
Today I am grateful for an opportunity to teach at Xamarin University yesterday.

6/6
Today I am grateful for a couple nights in my own bed.

6/5
Today I am grateful that I have the privilege to travel the world and to come home to recharge.

6/4
Today I am grateful for a visit to Nashville and my first time speaking at the Music City Code conference.

Episode 475

Radu Vunvulea on Surviving in the IoT World

Traveling to Stockholm was an adventure. I was impeded by heavier-than-usual Chicago traffic, lost luggage, delayed flights, and a passport that I stupidly left at home on my kitchen counter.

But I made it in time for DevSum 2017 and it was worth the trouble.

I was returning to DevSum for the first time since 2015 and the event has moved from the city center to the Münchenbryggeriet conference center - 2 islands to the south.

After a long trip, I arrived at the conference feeling anything but refreshed. But the staff made me feel at home. They retrieved a lunch plate for me, despite my arrival after mealtime. And I presented that afternoon on Cognitive Services in front of a full room. I had heard that European audiences tend to be more reserved than their American counterparts, but I did not experience that. The crowd laughed where I hoped they would and remained engaged throughout. I drew energy from them.

The speaker lineup at DevSum was really impressive this year. Speakers came from all over Europe and North America, including people like Richard Campbell, Michael Feathers, Markus Egger, Kent Alstad, Tess Fernandez-Norlander, Dino Esposito, and Gil Clereen.

For me, this was not only an excellent opportunity to learn from smart people, but also a chance to interact with many people whose work I respect - either through their articles, books, podcasts, or Pluralsight courses.  The collective knowledge at events like this is always high, but it's even more so when the speaker homes span continents. I was able to meet Michael Feathers and personally tell him the impact his book had on my life when I was a consultant.

The day after the conference, the speakers were invited to a special outing - a boat trip to nearby Fjäderholmarna, lunch, a tour of a local brewery, a beer tasting, and a walk around the island. It was yet another chance to interact with the other speakers.

One difficulty about traveling to Sweden in June is the long daylight hours. The sun does not set in Stockholm until almost 11PM and it rises at around 3AM. This can be disruptive of one's sleep schedule, especially if one is already suffering from jet lag.

But I powered through this issue. And now I am home and paying off sleep debt and dreaming of next year's DevSum.

Links

DevSum home page

My photos

In the province of Calderon in the land of Aleron, there are furies. Furies are magical beings with the power to control air, fire, earth, or water. Every person in Aleron can control at least one of these elements and at least one fury.

Everyone except Tavi.

Tavi is an orphan shepherd boy who lacks the basic powers of every other citizen of the realm. But it is Tavi who is thrust into the center of a battle for dominion of the realm.

Rebels led by Aldrick ex Gladius and assisted by the traitor Fidelias launch an attack against the reign of First Lord Gaius Sextus. Tavi, his uncle Bernard, and those loyal to the First Lord must fight off the invading usurpers

At the same time, warlike Marat are also invading and attacking and the sadistic rival landowner Kord is attempting to crush Bernard's family and enslave those around him.

The story builds to a climax as multiple factions clash during a siege that lasts for days. Sometimes, it is difficult to tell who is fighting whom and where alliances lie.

Jim Butcher builds a world and weaves an adventure that keeps the story constantly moving forward. He drew me in with his characters and he kept me going with the action.

This is the first novel in Butcher's 6-volume Codex Alera series and he does an excellent job of creating a tangible universe. The story stands on its own; but, in the end, not every villain is defeated and not every question is answered. One still wonders about the true identity of Tavi and a few others. I'm looking forward to the sequels.

I was in college when I discovered Jean Luc Ponty. My friend Tom had a copy of Enigmatic Ocean and he played it for me and I loved Ponty's style of jazz-rock fusion.

Shortly thereafter, I headed to the local used record store to add Enigmatic Ocean, Cosmic Messenger, and Imaginary Voyage to my vinyl collection.

I spent many hours replaying these albums and others over the years; but I never had the chance to see Jean Luc in concert.

Until last night.

Jean Luc Ponty and his band played 2 sold out shows at Chicago's City Winery Monday and Tuesday night. I was lucky enough to get a ticket to the Monday night show.

Ponty is focusing this tour on "The Atlantic Years" - performing the songs he recorded in the 1970s and 1980s - exactly the time that I discovered him.

Ponty, now 74 years old, brings the energy of a much younger man to his performance. He played 2 sets and 1 encore over more than 2 hours, drawing music from the 1970s and 80s.

As one would expect from a craftsman like Ponty, he surrounded himself with top-notch musicians for this tour: Jamie Glaser on guitar; Wally Minko on keyboards; Baron Browne on bass; and Rayford Griffin on drums. The group was talented and tight and matched Ponty's energy.

Jean Luc did not speak much between songs, which allowed him to focus on the music; but it was good to hear he retained his accent from his youth in France.

He closed his second set with an amazing version of Enigmatic Ocean, which began slowly and ethereally before building to a rocking frenzy.

Local violinist Edgar Gabriel joined the band on stage for an encore to match Ponty's and the band's intensity for one extended song.

Jean Luc Ponty changed the way we view the violin in jazz music and he continues to turn heads today. I was happy to finally catch his energy in concert.

Links:

Jean Luc Ponty homepage

My photos

Episode 474

Ben Armstrong on Containers and Virtualization

Episode 473

Bob Waltenspiel and Dave Phillips on IT In The D