Ant Attack

OK... so the ants are back in my room. Or rather they were... but I've now coated everything in my room with a thin layer of ant poison. I should be safe now. Wait a minute... why is everything growing dim?? Room spinning. Feeling nauseous. Light fading...

Las Vegas Drinking Game

My new video comedy troupe is going out tonight to play a drinking game we invented... a drinking game we will be filming on the Las Vegas strip! We have done the responsible thing, and recruited a designated driver from outside the troupe, so it should be nothing but good times... and hopefully a funny video too. I figured I'd better write this blog entry tonight, BEFORE I go to the drinking game!

Flying Saucer

YESS! Some guy on YouTube with too much time on his hands made a video for Brave Combo's excellent song "Flying Saucer"!! I still don't understand why more people don't dig polka music.

I want to see something not from Earth
Something new to understand
Something way beyond sex, death, or birth
Or playing music in this band

-Brave Combo

Rock Show!

I was sitting at work today, when I received a call from Dan, who is a guy from my new YouTube group. He said that he had free tickets to a show at the Vegas Hilton called "Rock Show". Since he said the magic word... "FREE", I was in. It turns out that the rock show is another celebrity impersonator show, like many that exist in Vegas. In this particular show, rock bands are impersonated. Led Zeppelin, Queen, Elton John, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Ozzy, and Van Halen. The impressive thing is that all the bands are impersonated by the same six guys, who actually play and sing with no backing tracks. I am extremely tough to impress when it comes to rock bands, and live theatre shows for that matter, but Rock Show was great! Even the guy who played Eddie Van Halen was amazing. It was the best I'd ever seen anyone play "Eruption" outside of Eddie himself. The show is not permanently based at the Vegas Hilton, though it does come through on a semi-regular basis. If you get the chance, go see the show.

After the show, Dan, Mandy (another person from my YouTube group), and I decided since we were already at the Hilton, that we'd go get dinner at Quark's Bar inside the Star Trek Experience. I've been to Quarks twice before, but it turns out there is a whole extra room that I had never seen. I ate "The Holy Rings Of Betazed"---which were the best onion rings I've ever tasted! It was a very cool Friday night, considering that I thought I was going to spend the evening alone at home playing PS2. Our first video shoot is on Sunday at New York, New York hotel-casino, so hopefully things will go well.

Actually Doing Something Creative (or Life Beyond Work & Sleep

I actually did it. I started a Las Vegas YouTube comedy troupe.

The first meeting was tonight. It feels great to be DOING SOMETHING again. It's also very cool to be doing something outside of my normal "box" (meaning something different than music/sound design). I've always thought maybe I have something to offer the world of comedy, and maybe video production as well... so now I'll get to find out. More details to follow.

Since 1984...

"When you have insomnia, you're never really asleep... and you're never really awake."

--Fight Club

Transformers

Some friends from work and I saw the new Transformers movie tonight at the Green Valley Ranch (hotel-casino). Transformers, much like Diehard 4, was surprisingly entertaining. Having been a Transformer fan since my childhood, I guess that's high praise. It was difficult to tell which Transformer was which sometimes during the battle scenes, but I still think the movie did the cartoon justice.

*The other really cool thing about going to see Transformers was that they played a trailer for "Rush Hour 3", which I didn't even know was being made!!

Penn & Teller

Major thanks to my roommate, Fernie, who got us FREE tickets to see Penn & Teller!! The show was excellent! Having worked with many magicians on cruise ships (sometimes even helping make the "magic" happen from offstage), I have trouble enjoying magic shows now, because I know how most of the tricks are done. This was not the case with Penn & Teller. I found their entire show (magic and comedy) to be very original and entertaining from beginning to end.

For Max - Tribute To A Fallen Friend

Our amazing Golden Retriever, Max, was put to sleep on Monday. She had gotten to the point where she could no longer walk outside under her own power. She had also dropped a lot of weight, and was barely eating. She was very old, and it was time.

Max had been a part of the family since 1992. She was by far the most human-like dog I have ever known. She had a very distinctive personality. She was full of energy and spunk, but she was also very gentle and loving. She could be trusted with the smallest of children. She loved people very much. Max would give you a four star welcome every time you walked through the door. She would follow you until you stopped moving, then she would attempt to lay as close to you as possible. She just wanted to be near you.

Max comprehended more English words than any dog I have ever known. She would listen in on our conversations. She also knew who we were. If we said, "Where's Scott?", Max would go to Scott. She knew us each by name. Max was also the only pet I've ever known who had her own pet! Our parents worried that Max would be lonely during the day while everyone was gone, so they bought Bailey (another Golden) to keep her company. Bailey truly was Max's dog. Bailey likes us too, but her first priority was always Max. I'm am worried about how she will deal with the fact that Max is gone.

Farewell, my puppy. I will miss your amazing greetings when I visit home. I will miss you plopping your head into my lap. I will even miss your never-ending quest for food. I hope you are no longer in pain, and are no longer suffering. I also hope you know how much we all loved you. Goodbye, my friend.

Police Brutality? You decide...

The Wedding and Rock

A friend from work named Casey got married tonight. The whole G3 (where I work) mafia was there. Nice ceremony and reception... though the actual wedding was outside, in 106 degree weather. It was mercifully short.

Most of the people I work with are paired-off. In fact, I've only worked there for 6 months, and this is already the second wedding I've attended.

I think Chris Rock put it best when he said, "You've got two choices: Be married and bored, or single and lonely... ain't no happiness anywhere."