Day 3: Viva Las Vegas!

The third day of our Odyssey was one of the best days I have ever had in Las Vegas, and I have had some great days in LV. Started with the noon poker tournament at the Luxor; not my best poker (went out on the first hand I played when I went all in with top pair, and guy called me with a draw...which he of course hit on the river...unreal), but I'm not at work, so things are magic. The better half almost made it to the final table, but also felt the wrath of the dreaded river. After poker, we headed to the spa for massages; very nice after a couple days in the car.

The poker was still calling to us, so we headed over to the Excalibur for some low-limit fun; played for about an hour and a half, and we both walked away up. Nice. After that, we headed back over to our hotel for a fantastic dinner at Diego (some of the best guacamole I've ever had), and then wrapped up the evening with a show at the Tropicana. The show was as cheesy as we expected, and topless showgirls do not automatically equal "sexy" (Baywatch was wrong; naked people should not run). Still, entertaining, and one of the last Las Vegas review shows around, so glad we saw it.

On the way back to the room, I finally spotted a celebrity (one of my long-standing issues is that I never see famous people; I guess they don't hang out at the 1-3 limit poker tables?): Chris "Jesus" Ferguson and a woman I assume is his girlfriend were heading into Tabu. I gave Shari the camera and got ready to do the gushing "I'm a big fan" speech, but it was clear that Chris and his lady friend were arguing about something, and given that he was on a date and not in the best of moods, I decided against asking for a picture. Part of me thinks I did the right thing, but then again, Chris was wearing his signature cowboy hat and a Full Tilt Poker bowling shirt, so it's not like he was going incognito or something. Oh well.

A great day!

Day 2: Santa Barbara to Las Vegas

The second day started well: free cinnamon rolls in the lobby, which was filled with a mixture of rude Europeans and families, headed by Angry Dads that made it clear they didn't like my t-shirt. So sorry.

We headed down the coast, skirting LA (didn't see the Hollywood sign?) and heading off into the desert towards Barstow, the site of a planned pit stop hosted by another group of MINI owners.

Had lunch at an In and Out Burger (I don't like their religious messages, but MTTS gave us gift certificates for a free lunch...I put my feelings aside for a free lunch), and met Jim McDowell, president of MINI USA. Nice guy.

Drove on to Nevada, where we stopped at Buffalo Bill's Casino for a free ride on The Desperado. I sat next to Jim, and I am still kicking myself for not taking a picture of me and the president on the coaster...that would have gotten me on the website for sure.

Finally made it to Vegas and our hotel; got the sweet upgrade to the bigger suite (why? Because I'm Brendon, dammit...that's why! Seriously, I think it had more to do with it being mid-week in August, and therefore not a lot of guests), and then headed over to the House of Blues for the MTTS event. Not that exciting, but we're in Vegas, and that's all that matters.

Day 1: Monterey to Santa Barbara

Today we began our road trip with other MINI owners as part of the MINI Takes the States Road Rally. We drove to the kick off in Monterey while it was still very dark; as usual, MapQuest screwed up a pretty important left vs. right, and it took us a while to find the gathering. Once we spotted the parking lot with about 200 MINI Coopers, we were pretty sure we were in the right place.

The beach party was nice: coffee, donuts, coffee, bottled water for the road, and did I mention coffee? We took our photo with the cutest sand castle ever.



The drive down the coast is very windy; we stopped at a vista or two just to get out of the car for a minute.



Also stopped in Pismo Beach for lunch and a look at what the beach looks like without fog and wearing a sweater. Who knew?



Eventually got to Santa Barbara and our hotel on State Street (think Union Street in San Francisco, only everyone is tan and in shorts). The hotel was "historic," which is code for "small elevators." Still, a fridge and a comfy bed...nice.

"It's raw fish, SLICED!"

Semi-enjoyed the season finale last night of Hell's Kitchen, a reality show on Fox that was (like a lot of reality tv) good, dumb fun. I say "semi-enjoyed" because I had been hopeful that Kevin "K-Grease" would pull out the win, but I also thought Heather was the clear favorite from the second week or so. Glad Virginia didn't smile her way into her own restaurant.


Here's a surprise: this is the restaurant where Heather is now the executive chef. How do I know this? Certainly not from the casino or show websites; not a single mention anywhere on either. Doesn't that seem odd? I guess if the Red Rock is trying for upscale, maybe they don't want to advertise that their exec chef is a reality contest winner, but still...I would think they would advertise this a little bit?

So how did I figure it out? I called the Red Rock Casino reservations line and asked; the woman who answered had no idea what I was talking about, nor had she ever heard of the television show, but put me on hold while she asked her supervisor. She came back on the line to tell me that it is the chop house, and then added, "But sir, you know that Hell's Kitchen isn't a real restaurant, right?" I appreciate that the Red Rock is concerned about my ability to differentiate between fiction and reality. I'll remember that when I go to their pool and can't figure out where all the half-naked models are, the ones I see cavorting (that's right, cavorting) on their commercials.

Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto

If you don't know me very well, here is a small window into who I am. One, I love sushi. Two, I love robots.

So why does this disgust me so deeply? I guess I was hoping for something a lot cooler, like the one in Runaway that Tom Selleck orders from, the one that says (with a horribly un-PC accent), "You want sushi? HA HA HA!"

Now that would be cool.

Your chance to do the Hump

Silly. Juvenile. Wrong. And yet, funny. If you own a Hummer, check out this site to see if anyone has violated it recently.

And by the way, especially if you own a Hummer, go see An Inconvenient Truth. I saw it last weekend, and I thought it was very interesting. It is fascinating that there are still people out there who doubt global warming. Maybe the sand smells nice?

Not fun

Among the many things you don't want to hear from the train operator on the way home, when the train is stopped and the doors are closed:

"Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for the delay...the police should be here shortly."

iPod, take me away.

Good shake

Felt a good-sized shake last night when a 4.4 quake hit north of the City. We get little trembles now and then, most indistinguishable from the train or a big truck going by outside. However, this one was a little more than that. It started light, but then went up a notch so our bookcases started shaking for a couple seconds, and then got even heavier for a few more seconds, and then finally went away.

It was that second crescendo that got me nervous; a little shake now and then, okay. But when it lasts for a while (in retrospect, ten seconds isn't that long, but when you are in the middle of it, and you don't know if/when it is going to stop, and it is getting stronger...trust me, that ten seconds is l o n g ...), and is getting stronger, that's when I start noticing I'm not wearing shoes and I have only a vague idea of where and how to shut off the gas and water.

Not a good feeling.

And by the way: the cats? Completely useless. I thought they were supposed to feel things coming, but they both were completely normal until it started, and then their tails got all poofed out, they hid in the corner until it was done, and then slunk around all night, all freaked out. Useless.

Casino Express, take me away...

On certain mornings, I am walking to work right when the River Rock Casino Express bus pulls in to pick up loads of lucky people, off to the hills of Sonoma for a day of gambling fun.

On certain mornings, it takes a lot of willpower to keep walking to work.

Hanging out with Barry

We went to another Giants game today; for two people who don't really care for baseball, we've gone to an awful lot of games this season. The picture I took of Barry at bat (with Mike Piazza playing catcher; if that means very little to you, join the club, but the real baseball fans around us seemed to get very excited about it) shows how good the seats were, which is why we go. That, and a good excuse to eat a hot dog. Nice.



One of the best parts is that I did not get sunburned this time, a rare feat for me when I am outdoors, let alone in direct sunlight. However, the sun did manage to bleach some of the hair in my beard white...yeah, that's it...the sun...

I'm drunk and phlegm free!

I had a kid tell me yesterday that it was no big deal that she had been drinking so much cough syrup, because she was "just sippin on sizzurp, you feel me, like Three 6?" I proved my level of hipness by recognizing that, although the words she spoke were in English, I had no idea what she was saying.

Thanks to Wikipedia and YouTube, I now know. I now "feel" her. (And by the way, that's "Academy Award winners Three 6" to you, thank you very much)

When I was in Basic, I remember guys buying cough syrup at the PX so they could get drunk. Those guys were known as "morons." Who knew they were so far ahead of their time?

Road trip...kind of

We needed to get out of the house on Sunday, so we took a drive to San Jose. You may be asking: why San Jose? I am not sure I can answer that, but it was good to get out of the house, and out of the land of fog and actually see the sun again. It is good to remember that "July" and "warm" go together for most of the country.

We did some shopping (specifically for shirts), some eating (we shared the lasagna, and were not impressed...but how much do I love the photo of that guy on their website?), and even got the baby cleaned (they even took out the mats and washed them...nice!).

Good day. Not an exciting day, but a good one.

Brendon to Breakers, part two

Here I am with my brother and uncle running the Bay to Breakers 12K. My smile was purely camera-driven, I can assure you.

I finally figured out how to scan photos with my printer. Like many other features on my Mac, it is so ridiculously simple that I was over-thinking it and didn't try the easiest solution first. Damn you, William of Ockham.

Damn you, Poindexter!

I enjoy Tim Busfield as an actor.

I did NOT enjoy losing to Tim's pocket Queens in poker.

The guys and the Mus aren't clapping along in my head anymore, Tim.

Mmmm...pride...

If you're going to a barbecue during Pride Week, what else could you make? Had a fantastic visit at the house of good friends, with other good friends in attendance. Nothing bad about that.

This marks the beginning of photos on my blog, and I want to thank Jen for helping me realize how important it is to share the visual as well as the written.

I also need to thank Verizon, my new cell provider, and the people who sold me my fancy new phone with the built-in camera. Should be lots of fun.

Kyrie elison...

We went to the symphony last night for their production of Verdi's Requiem. I thought it was...okay. I read the notes ahead of time, and if I understand them correctly, this was intended as a "holy" mass, written for a dead poet, and written by an atheist. Huh. We went to the symphony a few times when we lived in Atlanta, and while this group seems technically more proficient, the music we listened to in the ATL was a lot more interesting. This looks like it would be more fun.

They played it all the way through without an intermission (we were almost late from dinner, and I had thought we'd maybe miss a movement and then get seated...glad we got there at the beginning, I guess), which was hard on the ol' glutes. Not the comfiest seats in town.

Game over, man...game over...

This headline epitomizes how idiotic it is to think that you can fight a "war" on terror. Did someone in the Defense Department think that Iraq is a game of Stratego, and al-Zarqawi was the flag?

The Number of the Beast...sort of...

Hey, if you go in for the apocalyptic, then today should be a fun one for you. Not only can you now see the remake of The Omen (which, based on ads I've seen, was made purely to use today's date in advertisements...well, that and to save money on a script), but according to this site, you should spend the day blowing out your eardrums, as well as the eardrums of those around you. Enjoy!

Ahhhh...

My wife gave me a wonderful surprise this weekend: a trip to San Francisco! It's a fun city; I highly recommend it.

What was great about playing tourist for the weekend was that the simple act of getting out of the house made all the difference in the world. We checked into a swanky hotel, did the tourist thing, relaxed, and then had a fantastic meal before calling it a night.

Very relaxing, very fun, and after the last few weeks (which have involved a car accident and our hot water heater going kaput), very appreciated!

Lost?

If you enjoyed the season finale of Lost as much as we did, and if you are equally as confused as we all are, the Lostpedia is a fantastic way to get sucked into the twists and turns of your favorite passengers of flight 815. If nothing else, it's a great way to catch up over the summer while we await season three. Also, the official website of the Hanso Foundation is a lot of fun, too. Namaste!

BTW, if you work at our Thai delivery place, and were wondering why we didn't call this past Wednesday, it's because the season is over. I promise, we're okay.