Vegas Baby, Vegas

As you might guess from the headline, I just got back from my vacation/bachelor party in Las Vegas (Nevada, of course, not New Mexico) on Tuesday. I spent the next couple of days at work trying to get caught up, only to get very sick last night. If I were a betting man, I would wager that it had just a little something to do with the extreme lack of sleep from my trip. I've already gone to the doctor and got my medicine, I can't talk very well due to my illness, and I can't sleep any more, so I figure now is as good a time as any to do my Vegas update.

Las Vegas is Spanish for "The Meadows" in English. While it is definitely accurate in the sense that the city is an oasis/meadow in the middle of a whole bunch of desert, that's where the accuracy ends. Meadows are typically calm, open, breezy, etc., and Vegas is none of those things. For one thing, the heat is just stifling. My flight into Vegas touched down before midnight, and I got to my friend's apartment around 1 A.M., and it had just cooled down to 99 degrees. During the time I spent there, there was not a single drop of rain, and daytime temperatures hovered between 108 degrees and 116 degrees. "Dry heat" or no, it was still uncomfortable to the point that I would break out in a sweat walking from my friend's apartment to the car. Also, all the really cool stuff that anyone would want to do is mostly packed into a very tight area around the Strip, with a few outlying things of interest. Other than that, it's all desert all the time. I think a better translation for Las Vegas would be "the land of excess", because nothing there is done small. Everything, and I do mean everything, is bigger, taller, brighter, louder, more in your face, more revealing, etc. than anywhere else I have ever been. Perhaps most obvious of all the things in Vegas that are "more" and bigger" are the prices! My God, I paid anywhere from $3 to $9 for a simple bottle of water, most individual sodas were $2 to $4, potluck plates (i.e. rubber chicken and stale veggies) were $7 to $11, and deli sandwiches, DELI SANDWICHES were twelve freakin' dollars. I know Vegas is a tourist place and that some mark-up is to be expected, but that's just ridiculous. I would ask myself how these people sleep at night, but I already know the answer to that one...on a mattress(es) stuffed with $100 dollar bills.

Although there are dumpy parts and ghetto areas just like anywhere else, I have never in my life seen more money crammed into a smaller space than I saw there. Probably the biggest examples of this are the casinos and the condos. The casinos just seem to get taller and taller, with more hotel rooms, bigger gaming areas, and more clubs and other attractions as you look from place to place. And the condos, I mean, wow...I just thought the condo building boom in downtown Nashville was something. It's nothing compared to Vegas. I mean, in Nashville, I'm not sure how the upper end condos will sell because I just don't think there are enough folks who have the money for it and either want to make Nashville a permanent home or use the condo as an investment property. In Vegas, it's a little different. Even though most of the new condos going up out there START in the $500K to $700K range, I have no doubt that there's enough money floating around out there to get some of them filled. The condo problem in Vegas is twofold: 1.) Vegas is definitely a tourist spot, not a place to make one's home for the most part; and, 2.) the housing market is absolutely awful, with Vegas among the leading cities in the nation in foreclosure rates. I'm not sure how the issues with all the new condo construction in Vegas will be resolved, I'm just glad it's not my problem.

So, without further delay, let's get on with the trip recap. I flew into Vegas late Wednesday night (July 2). Mike met me at the airport, helped load my luggage, then, on the way back to his apartment, we stopped at Denny's for a light late-night meal because I hadn't eaten anything of substance all day. We got back to his place, unloaded my luggage, and went to bed. After sleeping in a little on Thursday (July 3) to recover from the jet lag and adjust to the time change, Mike and I got up and drove a few miles to the South Point Casino. I went to an old-school barber shop there, and got my first ever shave with a straight razor from a guy who is very good at what he does. It was a little pricey, but it was definitely worth it, because I came out looking so fresh and so clean-clean, setting the tone for my hotness for the entire rest of the trip. :) After that, we ate some lunch, and went to work out at the Las Vegas Athletic Club. It's a huge facility with multiple pools, sauna rooms, a hot tub, and tons of workout equipment. I really enjoyed working out there. After a quick meal at Carl's Jr. (Hardee's for the western U.S.), we went home, got cleaned up, and watched "Natural Born Killers". It was at this time I met Mike's new girlfriend, Kinderly. Kinderly is an interesting character, and isn't really like most of the women Mike gets serious about. In addition to being more physically attractive, it seems like she might actually be his peer intellectually. I was definitely interested to see how Mike dating someone who is his equal (or even superior in certain ways) would play out over the course of this trip.

As it turned out, that night, Mike had to work for a few hours at the club he has been working at for a while (which was/is not guaranteed money for its workers), then go audition at another local club that would be guaranteed money for him every time he works if his audition went well. Instead of going out by myself, Kinderly offered to keep me company, so after we dropped Mike off, we went to The Stratosphere, an extremely tall building on the Strip that reminds me a lot of the Space Needle in Seattle. We went to the bar located high atop the city and had a drink while enjoying a spectacular view of the Strip. Once our drinks were done, we went over and picked up Mike from work #1 and dropped him off at work #2. Then, Kinderly and I decided to roll on down the hill (1.5) to Club Tabu at the MGM Grand while Mike was working. Now, Kinderly and I talked about this (BTW, she is very smart, just as I suspected), and we were in agreement that life is a series of moments truly experienced and lived in the present. Don't misunderstand, Kinderly is my best friend's girl and I would never do anything to disrespect that, but that time we spent together at the club that night was just right. I don't think it could have been any better with anyone else in that moment. We acted silly, had some drinks, and totally danced our butts off for several hours straight. Eventually, Mike got off work and joined us, and we all danced the night away until the club closed at about 4:30 A.M. We considered going out somewhere else that night/morning, but ultimately decided against it, so we all went home and crawled into bed around 5:30 A.M.

On Friday (July 4), we were all a little tired, so I slept in until about lunch time, when my body just wouldn't let me sleep any more. Since the main mall in Las Vegas is right across the street from Mike's apartment complex, I went over there, walked around, did a little shopping, and shook the cobwebs out of my head. From there, I went to several other places to pick up some supplies (CDs, club party favors, cameras, etc.) that we would need for the rest of the trip, and I got a sandwich at a little Bulgarian hole in the wall dive for lunch. Although the sandwich wasn't that great, I figured I should at least sample some of the local cuisine while I was out in Rome, er, I mean Vegas. After that, I went home and got a quick workout in (swimming and martial arts cardio), watched some movies, showered, and dressed for what would be our latest night/morning of the entire trip. Since Mike didn't have to work, he was with us from the beginning this time. Thanks to my foresight and online research, we were able to get into Rain (a club) at the Palms Hotel and Casino without paying any cover. I had seen this club on TV many times, and I had always wanted to go. The club had some cool things (fountains and flowing water in multiple places, gorgeous woman dancing on these swings that dropped down from the ceiling but still hung many, many feet off the ground, and this equipment above the light fixtures that shot out fireballs in addition to the smoke and lights high above the dance floor), but it didn't really start bumping until later in the night (around 2:30 A.M.). Mike, Kinderly, and I were all dancing our butts off and having a great time, then we decided to roll on down the hill to an after hours club called Drai's, which stayed open until about 6 or 7 A.M. While there, we all danced some more, had some drinks, gave and received light shows, and had a great time. After that, we decided to roll down the hill just a little more (4 total) to a club called Seamless, which is open 24 hours a day, 364 days a year (only closed for Christmas). It was a great place to just hang out, talk, and calm down before time to go home. Since I was having such a great time, I called a couple of my friends (Charles and Terrance) to let them know all about it. On thing about Seamless though: the bartenders there were aloof and rude, so I complained to the manager and he gave us a card for 4 free drinks that would have otherwise cost $75 dollars if we had ordered and paid for them. The manager said we were a calm, cool, well-dressed party, unlike most of the coke-heads and X-heads he sees on a daily basis, so we had that going for us, which was nice. At that time of morning, my stomach wasn't really in the mood to drink any more, so I let Mike drink all the free drinks we got. At about 10 A.M., we all started to get tired, so we got a ride home. I will say this though...any place, even Vegas, is not nearly as cool in the hot light of the next morning when you're still wearing the samee clothes you had on last night as it was the night before. We all finally got into bed at about 10:30 A.M. on Saturday (July 5).

After a few more hours of sleep, I got up, watched a couple of more movies, made some phone calls, showered, and had Mike drop me off at Mandalay Bay. This was probably one of the biggest highlights of my trip. The Ultimate Fighting Championship ("UFC") was having a pay-per-view event at Mandalay that night. I had originally hoped to be able to get a ticket to see it live, but the only tickets left by the time I was ready to purchase a ticket were $800 ringside seats. I just didn't have that kind of budget for this trip, so instead, I opted to pay $50 to see it on closed-circuit TV in one of the ballrooms there at Mandalay. I'm not sure exactly where the Events Center (where the fights took place) is in relation to the ballroom in which I watched the fights, but sometimes the rumbling and the noise in that place truly made it seem like the fights were happening right on the other side of the wall. The ballroom itself had four of the largest movie-type screens I have ever seen arranged in a square, back to back with one another so that, no matter where you sat, you would have a perfect view of the fights. I ate before I came in, but I did bring a couple of drinks, and the experience was so much better because I ended up sitting next to a couple of very knowledgeable UFC fans with whom I discussed fights throughout the evening. Right before the fights started, everyone in the ballroom was in for an awesome surprise. The UFC had three fighters come down to the ballroom to meet and mingle with the fans: Stephan "The American Psycho" Bonnar (the "Ultimate Fighter" Season 1 runner-up to Forrest Griffin), Amir Sadollah (the winner of the most recent season of the "Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest", and also the guy I was rooting for to win the whole show), and Jon Fitch (the #1 contender in the UFC for the welterweight title who is set to fight the current champion, Georges St. Pierre, at UFC 87). I got cell phone camera pictures (I didn't have a real camera because I didn't know this would happen) with all three fighters, but picture disaster would strike later. Jon Fitch is a welterweight, and I outweigh him by almost 70 pounds, but when he and I squared off for our picture, I was struck by the distinct feeling that he could thrash me without mercy in the Octagon. Even so, the 2 pictures of us squaring off turned out great, but when I tried to show them to Mike later, I accidentally deleted them both! :(

After the fighters left, it was time for the show to begin. The preliminary fights were OK, but the main event, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (the UFC light heavyweight champion) vs. Forrest Griffin (the #1 light heavyweight contender and winner of the "Ultimate Fighter" season 1), is what everyone was waiting for. This fight did not disappoint, and may be a candidate for Fight of the Year honors. Each round was very competitive (except for Round 2, which Forrest dominated), the action was back and forth, and I lost my voice yelling at the screen during the fight. In Round 1, things were pretty much even until Rampage decked Forrest with a hard right uppercut to the jaw and laid some decent ground and pound on him...Round 1 to Rampage 10-9. In Round 2, Forrest found his range with leg kicks, and one kick to Rampage's lead leg looked like he almost kicked the man's kneecap out of place. Rampage was hobbled, so Forrest took him down, laid on some ground and pound, and tried a couple of submissions until the end of the round...Round 2, 10-8 Forrest. In Round 3, Rampage seemed to have recovered, and while he took some more leg kicks, he got a little better of the stand up exchanges, so score Round 3 a close 10-9 for Rampage. Rounds 4 and 5 were virtually identical...neither fighter went down, and Forrest was the aggressor, landing slightly more leg kicks and more punches. Also, in Round 4, Forrest caught Rampage in a triangle, but he powered out of it. I gave Rounds 4 and 5 to Forrest 10-9, leading to a score of 48-46 Forrest. The judges' cards come in, and it's a unanimous decision, 49-46, 48-46, and 48-46, and Forrest Griffin is the new UFC Light Heavyweight champion. The crowd in the Events Center and the ballroom went absolutely nuts, Forrest was elated, and Rampage was gracious in defeat. I had a great time. After that, Kinderly came and picked me up, then we went to pick up Mike from work #1 and dropped him off at work #2. We went back to the apartment, took naps in separate rooms, then went and picked up Mike from work #2 at about 4 A.M. No one was in the mood for further partying that night, so we went to bed.

Sunday (July 6) was mostly a day of taking it easy. I slept in, watched some movies at the apartment, then did some more internet research on restaurants. I wanted to eat at least one great meal while I was there, so I looked through just about every big-time, big-name steakhouse in Las Vegas before settling on N9ne at The Palms Hotel & Casino. Over 90 percent of those who reviewed it gave the place a 4 or 5 star rating. Mike, Kinderly, and I had 7 P.M. reservations, and due to his girl running fashionably late, we made it just in time. The place wasn't that crowded, but I did run into Josh Koscheck (a UFC contender at 170 pounds/welterweight who is on a good winning streak but not very popular with the fans). I did say hello and congratulate him on his win from the night before at UFC 86, but I didn't ask him for a picture because he was eating with his family. As for dinner, we had a great shrimp appetizer with a sweet and spicy sauce that was wonderful and unlike anything I have ever tasted, and they brought us multiple kinds of bread, all of which were great (except the Italian parmesan bread, too hard and not fresh). Mike had the surf and turf (with crab legs instead of lobster, and the crab meat was fabulous), Kinderly had the organic chicken with a glass of Shiraz, I had the filet mignon, and the table shared some grilled asparagus and cheesy potatoes with a spicy kick. All of the food was wonderful, and the portions were big enough that we had leftovers to take home. After dropping off the food at home, the three of us went to see a show called "Bite" at The Stratosphere Theater. The theme of the show is a vampire who has a harem of vampires that he adds to as time goes by, but he is still looking for his long lost true love to complete him. I know it sounds silly, but somehow, it worked. I paid a little extra and was able to get us seats within arm's length of the stage. All of the dancers were incredibly sexy and talented, and while it wasn't Cirque de Soleil or anything, it was definitely entertaining. I actually thought about my Dad once, thinking that, only in Vegas could (sometimes) topless dancing vampires be dancing/writhing/flying around to Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven"...good times. After the show ended, we took some pictures, then went home to bed at about 2:30 A.M.

Monday (July 7) was my last partial day in Vegas, and I spent most of the day packing and taking it easy. Once the packing was done, after bidding an emotional farewell (with instructions to take care of Mike) to Kinderly, Mike and I had a quick lunch at In & Out Burger, a Vegas institution, then spent the rest of the afternoon taking pictures, most notably at the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign. That should make for some good memories. When the picture taking was done, it was time to go to the airport. I checked my bags, hugged Mike, and thanked him for a great time and for being a great host. I spent my last bit of time in Vegas at the airport shopping for gifts for Grace (Althea's daughter) and Shanice (Althea's niece), reading, and talking to Kinderly and Althea on the phone. The flight home was relatively quick and uneventful (I read one entire book and started another), and before I knew it, I was back in Nashville, hugging and kissing Althea, and happy to be home.

In sum, my trip was a lot of fun. I saw some sights, went to a lot of cool, fun, and unique places, went to a show, saw some great fights, worked out and swam a lot, took lots of funny pictures, and busted all kinds of moves on the dance floor at some of Vegas's hottest clubs. I started this trip with 2 goals: no run-ins with law enforcement, and don't do anything to cost me my upcoming marriage. I am proud to say that I had a fantastic time while accomplishing those goals.

If I had to pick a theme song for the trip and for Vegas overall, it would be "Hollywood's Not America", by Ferras. I picked this song because I can see how someone could easily get caught up in the lights, glamor, money, sex, and excess of a place like this, and even if they made a lot of money, it would be very easy for anyone to forget who they are and where they came from and/or to lose themselves here. Here are the lyrics:

Born Helena Jane
With a restless soul
She moved west to California
Became a centerfold
But once you change your name
Well the pieces fall
Now she hardly recognizes
Herself at all

And there’s never any rain
When you want it
A hollow little game
And you want it
Looking for a thrill
But you’ve done it all

So long
Put your blue jeans
Back on girl
Go home
Remember Hollywood’s Not America
So long
Put your blue jeans
Back on girl
Go home
Remember Hollywood’s Not America
Oh, yeah

And everybody here
Is from somewhere else
You can make a million dollars
But you might lose yourself
And you can take the heat
But will your heart grow cold
They say acting’s just pretending
But even that gets old

And there’s never any rain
When you want it
A hollow little game
And you want it
Looking for a thrill
But you’ve done it all

So long
Put your blue jeans
Back on girl
Go home
Remember Hollywood’s Not America
So long
Put your blue jeans
Back on girl
Go home
Remember Hollywood’s Not America

And I know
What you’re doin’
I know that you
You can be
Anything you want to be

So long
Put your blue jeans
Back on girl
Go home
Remember Hollywood’s Not America

So long
Put your blue jeans
Back on girl
Go home
Remember Hollywood’s Not America
So long
Put your blue jeans
Back on girl
Go home
Remember Hollywood’s Not America
It’s not America

In closing, to my host and homeboy and his awesome girl, thanks for showing me a great time, and to Vegas, thanks for being, well, Vegas...I'll definitely visit again. What else is there to say? Oh yeah, to quote Trent from "Swingers", "Vegas baby, Vegas."

July 2008 Resolutions

I am glad to report I kept up my workout schedule throughout the month of June, working out every other day just as I did in May. Two months in and building momentum, just have to keep it up.

I fly out tomorrow to Las Vegas for several days for a vacation/bachelor party. I am extremely excited and look forward to a great time. Just like I have told my friends, I have two resolutions for this trip: 1.) no run-ins with law enforcement; and 2.) don't do anything that could ruin my relationship with Althea and/or our upcoming wedding. Pretty much anything else is fair game, so it should be a blast.

Finally, with all the upheaval at work over the last couple of weeks, it has been somewhat lost in the shuffle that my annual review is upcoming July 23, one year from my actual full-time hire date. Originally, the review was supposed to be April 23, 2008, which would have been one calendar year from my start date. At first, I was upset that it didn't happen then, mostly because I could have used the extra cash from the anticipated raise I am likely to receive. As it turns out, God has a plan even when we don't see it. I think I am probably more valuable to the company now than I was even a few short months ago, which should mean a better outcome at my review. My resolution until then is to work as hard as possible and do everything I can to remind my employer what an asset I am to the company.