What happens in Vegas...Sunday

Sunday began well. I awoke feeling semi-rested and went about my morning routines. Breakfast was served at the conference, it was good (you really can't screw up fruit and pastries) and the first speaker got up. "Welcome to..." blah blah blah. Next came introductions of new companies in the organization. Brief descriptions of inventory and what areas they're seeking for their clients. Next came those companies who had purchased booth space so they got a few extra minutes to extol not only their inventory, but also the benefits of their companies and services that they provide in addition to travel services (travel insurance, accounting, property management software, etc)

Next came the keynote address. Dan Thurman (I highly recommend you watch the video) is a motivational speaker who mixed acrobatics (handstands, backflips, etc) with juggling and unicycle riding into his presentation. At one point he was riding his unicycle while juggling a coffee mug, a bowling pin, and a machete. Definitely one of the best presentations I've ever seen.

Lunch! Again, you can't go wrong with salad and cold cut sandwich buffets. Then came more introductions, these just of normal members. Again, what inventory we get, what areas we're looking for, etc. Then we "networked" and I was able to get in contact with several people that have inventory I'll be needing and with several that needed stuff that I have, mainly Tennessee.

That was it for the actual "conference" day, now came the entertainment.

Later that evening, we all met at 6 pm for cocktails at the Paris Casino at the Risque' lounge. Had a couple of drinks, some hors d’œuvres and some fun times with friends.

Moved on to dinner at the Le Provencal Restaurant within the casino. Bread was great, I always judge a restaurant by it's bread. In this case, first impressions were sorta wrong. The salad was absolutely horrible. I don't know what I ate, I know it wasn't the parsley sprig and that it was supposed to be part of the salad cause I noticed that several of the sprigs were mixed in with the rest of the greens, but it was the most bitter, horrible thing I've ever eaten. Salad was pushed to the side. Main course, some salmon (meh), chicken with capers (good) and some angel hair pasta (would have been perfect except it was drenched in tomato sauce and I don't like tomato sauce).

Then we moved to our scheduled show for the evening. We went to see Anthony Cools. To say that his performance was good would be true, he was good. To say that his show was shocking...would be understating the facts. JM would have died. Sean would have been in heaven.

The show was warmed up by a couple of girls from the neighboring show, "Oh la la", from the title, I'm sure you can gather what kind of show it is. The girls (Fifi and I can't remember the other) and were dressed in skimpy maid uniforms and by the end of their performance they were in thongs and bras only.

Then came Cool, he joked with the crowd, called for volunteers and then hypnotized them, weeded out those who didn't go under and then started the actual "show" by having all those still on stage (3 guys, 3 girls) believe they were in an orchestra playing the William Tell Overture. Some of them really got into it.

Next act, one poor fellow was picked by Cools to think that every time he heard Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire, he thought his....rear sphincter...was experiencing a burning pain that could only be extinguished by dragging his butt across the stage for the duration of the song being played.

Then one of the girls was told that ever time her name was called a voice yelled out some sort of intensely personal information about her that could be heard in the back of the room. Boy you never seen someone blush so hard...and damn if she didn't try and figure out where that voice was coming from.

Then another girl was convinced that she had completely forgotten her name unless she sang "Happy Birthday" first.

Then the...uh, colorful, things started. No nudity, even partial or "wardrobe malfunctions" were allowed, if any of the girls were in mini or short skirts, their laps were covered with a blanket.

The subjects were told they were all porn stars trying out for a film and they had to demonstrate their talents with a chair. I must say, one of the girls had to have a professional background in her past...not to mention, I can also say with complete confidence that she was not wearing a bra and that the room she saw herself in was extremely cold. If you need that further explained...don't ask.

Her husband was also a subject (didn't learn they were married until later) and boy they must have interesting weekends.

There were a couple of other similarly themed performances that I won't mention...unless asked ;)

He finished by telling the subjects that when he shook their hand, they would experience the most intense orgasm they'd ever had for as long as their hands were touching. Surprisingly the girls were mostly silent (though one did kinda moan)...the guys on the other hand....well, one was quiet, the other moaned then kinda straighted and exclaimed, "I'm done!" Professional lady's husband was yelling at the top of his lungs, he also happened to be Ring of fire guy and of course the song was played...so he's griping Cool's hand, yelling at the top of his lungs while scooting his butt across the stage. He wasn't the funniest though. The girl who'd forgotten her name...WOULD...NOT...LET...GO! No matter how hard Cool tried to disentangle himself, she would not let go, she even grabbed his arm with her other hand.

Finally, all were released and allowed to remember everything. Again, blushes all around, coupled with a few laughs. Audience loved it, though several (including myself) bore stunned expressions of disbelief.

Following the show, those in my company stayed in the Paris and found a little bar/live show alcove and sat around chatting, dancing (I didn't), some drinks till around 1:30 am and we headed back to our condo, exhausted.

What happens in Vegas...Saturday

Up bright and early for my flight. Get to the airport and check in, get my boarding pass, go through "Security" and get to my gate. Wonder of wonders, our flight actually arrives on time, loads and takes off on schedule! Trips off to a great start. Enter Murphy. Storms over the Rockies, gotta detour around them. So I get a great view of Santa Fe, New Mex and then Hoover Dam as we fly into Sin City. Flight does land on time however, take that Murphy! We land, deplane, get our bags, and miracle of miracles, even my supervisor's (who literally was the last man on the plane just before the door was sealed) bag made it to LV unharmed. Murphy's pissed by now. He plots revenge, he runs down his list of options, target selected, locked...fire at will.

We spend the next hour in line at the rental car agency finally make it to the desk and get our car (and a discount) and head to the garage. Speak to the valets and they say they'll have our car up momentarily. 30 minutes later, we're still waiting. Valet supervisor goes and gets the car himself, pulls it up and hands us the keys, after writing on our paperwork we get an additional 15% discount. So, 90 minutes after landing, flight alone was only 3 hours mind you, we're off! Damn you Murphy.

My first ground level sight of the Strip was magnificent. Truly impressed, yeah, I've seen it hundreds of time on TV and all, but still, nothing compares to actually driving down Las Vegas Blvd and seeing the Mandalay Bay, Luxor, New York, Excalibur, Bellagio, Caesar's Palace etc. The conference I was there to attend was being held at the Flamingo and the majority of the delegates were staying there. My supervisor and I elected to stay at a condo resort our company offers called the Wyndham Grand Desert in a 2 bedroom unit. Room was awesome, as was the resort itself, though I admit all I did at it was sleep.

After we arrived, we registered at the conference, received our packets and then met up with the rest of our company's delegation. We have several offices scattered across the country and each had sent at least one person. Our group then headed to lunch at the Flamingo's Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville restaurant. Food was excellent (I had a rum and coke [yeah, it was 3 pm Vegas time, but it was 5 pm my time and I felt like a drink] mushroom burger and fries), and there were guys in costumes on stilts walking around joking with the patrons and tying balloons into hats for the ladies. We had a great time.

We left the restaurant and just meandered through the casino and the hotel's lobby/shops. I saw my first Elvis impersonator, he was okay...and I saw 8 separate brides in the lobby within one hour.

After that, my supervisor and I went to check into our resort, got to our room and changed into formal wear for the conference's reception/dinner. Finally got to meet many of the people I've been working with via email/phone for the past year. It was great. Dinner...was not. We had a meal catered by the Flamingo, I ordered the steak. It was a piece of shoe leather. Now, I admit I'm biased against well done meat, I like my steak rare, however, one of the people seated at my table prefers his steak well done, and even he said it was awful. *shrugs* What'dya do?

After dinner everyone was pretty exhausted since we'd all flown in on Saturday, so we headed home looking forward to tomorrow!

Viva Las Vegas!

Yeah, so I'm off to Sin City this weekend. I'll be boarding my cattle car, aka Southwest Airlines, Saturday morning and returning home late Tuesday night. Filling my days will be long lectures regarding the vacation resort industry as well as finally putting faces with voices and email addresses I've been working with for nearly a year now.

I'll be staying in a condo at a resort that we use for our customers so I'll finally be able to give a personal opinion on a resort in our inventory. I'll also be taking tours of a couple of other resorts. Should be somewhat interesting. I hope.

Needless to say, I'll post anything interesting that happens...at least anything that I'm allowed to share...ya know, that whole, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas thing... :p

So...yeah, wish me luck.

And, btw, I can't stand Elvis.

Not again...

I can kinda understand the fascination with OJ Simpson's arrest in Las Vegas. There is a feeling of justice denied whenever OJ's name is mentioned. So I can definitely understand the desire to see a guilty man finally imprisoned, even if it's not for the grisly murder of two people.

But for the love of everything sacred and holy, not another OJ trial!!!!!

If you think the news networks, both broadcast and cable went overboard with Britney/Paris/Natalie, you ain't seen nothing yet!

On the plus side...there aren't any prime time TV shows that I'm currently hooked on that could be interrupted by an hours long white Bronco chase, unlike last time.

"Come see the violence inherit in the system!"

By now you've seen or heard about the University of Florida student who was tasered after asking questions of former Democratic Presidential Candidate John F. Kerry*. If not, here's some video of the incident.

Now, what's not caught on video is what happened prior to his questioning Kerry*. On Fox News Radio morning show Brian and the Judge, several eye witnesses called in to describe the event and their accounts jive with emails recieved by bloggess Michelle Malkin sent in by additional eye witnesses. They describe an event far different from the impression given by the videos.

Mr. Meyer, convinced that his specialness meant he got to ask questions despite the Q&A time period having ended due to Kerry* having ran overtime on his speech, (He droned for two hours, you wanna talk about torture!) rushed the microphone. Officers attempted to subdue him (you don't rush politicians of any stripe in this day and age) but Kerry* called on them to desist. Additional accounts state he (Meyers) was taunting the police at this time. He began his questions.

"Why didn't you contest the '04 election?" Simple answer: Kerry* lost fair and square (as did Gore in '00 but why left facts interrupt a good rant?)

"Why hasn't Bush been impeached?" Simple answer: No crimes or misdemenors committed.

Then some ridiculous question about the Skull and Bones society at Yale that both Bush and Kerry* were members of. Simple answer: College boys and secret societes go hand in hand, usually involving hazing/booze and women. They do not involve secret plots to rule the world.

By this time, event organizers had decided enough lunacy was enough, next I'm sure would have been a question about how fire doesn't melt steel (tell that to blacksmiths throughout the ages) and motioned for the mike to be cut (You can see this in the video, watch the man in the black-ish suit on the right side). Meyer wouldn't shut up despite this and campus police moved in. At this point, many people instinctively begin to get a real Rodney King-vibe, but anyone who looks at it objectively and with the knowledge that liberals protestors such as Mr. Meyers appears to be like to make marytrs of themselves aka "civil disobediance" (and since they sympathize with Palestinian and Al Qaeda terrorists that's no surprise really) can recognize that the guy was smiling when the cops moved in and he began to tussle with them.

Repeated breaking away, shrieking (and not for the benefit of the cameras he was definitely not aware of I'm sure) about "What did I do?!" Hey moron! Simple answer: You didn't leave a mike when your time was up and you caused a disturbance in what was supposed to be a serious lecture/Q&A.

His taunts continued until the cops after warning him to submit or be tased, were left with no choice and the rest is history. He enters the public arena as a victim of policy brutality. Personally, I think he got off too easy, then again, I don't suffer fools well.

Meyer was determined to create a disturbance and he succeeded. It will be interesting to see how the MSLM (mainstream liberal media) spin this incident since it took place at a Kerry* speaking event. Had this been President Bush, K. Ubermoron would have broken into regular programming proclaiming that the facist police state has been born and Bush has proclaimed himself Emperor.

In the grand scheme of things though, all this breaks down to is this, a young college skull full of mush awash with BDS confronts a politician he believed would bring about American retreat from Iraq about his failures to force change on an administration the student despises. He sees a chance at fame and flings himself happily on the "sword", or in this case, taser.

He's no different from the peasant in Holy Grail determined to bring about he is sure already exists. You can almost hear him yell, “Come see the violence inherit in the system. HELP! HELP! I’m being repressed! Did you see him repressing me? You saw him, didn't you?”


9/19 Update: He was acting for the benefit of the cameras

Officer Nicole Mallo writes that Meyer would only resist officers when cameras were present.

"As (Meyer) was escorted down stairs (at the University Auditorium) with no cameras in sight, he remained quiet, but once the cameras made their way down stairs he started screaming and yelling again," Mallo wrote.

Mallo was one of two officers who actually rode in the vehicle as Meyer was escorted to the Alachua County jail, and she said said he told them during the ride: "I am not mad at you guys, you didn't do anything wrong, you were just trying to do your job," according to Mallo's account.



* Who served in Vietnam

Pilgrim in a unholy land

So, Saturday morning, wife and I are out and she has to stop to use the bathroom. What's the nearest place that's open? Starbucks. Will someone please explain to me why that company still exists?

First let me say (for those of you who don't know me) I hate coffee and I don't like liberals, hippies or their hangouts. So it was with great trepidation that I entered the Starbucks.

First off, I don't want a "tall" or a "venti"...I want small, medium or large. And no, I don't want a "latte" or a "expresso" but I will compromise, so I ordered a Chai tea, btw, Panera's is better tasting. And why should I spend 3 bucks on something I can get for a dollar (and which tastes better) at Quicktrip!?

Not to mention I live in Kansas City, I don't give a flying imam about what the New York Treason has on its front page...but I can't escape it since Little Seattle Coffehouse has it RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE REGISTER!

We paid almost 10 bucks for a chai, a hot chocolate (it was about 60* F, rainy and cloudy Sat morning) a croissant and a glazed pecan cake of somekind. The croissant was decent though again, QuickTrip's are better.

Making a long (and painful) story short...Starbucks, overpriced crap. I'll take QT's cappuccino anyday!

Comrades in Arms

The door to the command post silently opened and the officer walked in and saluted. I returned the salute the immediately returned my attention to the master display. The officer came to stand beside me.

“Reminds me of Arneb 4.”

I scoffed, “We had more troops are Arneb, Major.”

“We were still outnumbered. At least here we’re fighting on our own ground.”

“True.”

Then, in a more sober tone, “How bad is it sir?”

I shook my head, “Not nearly as bad as it seems. When the colonists first set up here, they wanted to ensure that their capital city would be heavily defended against anything. We have a full defense field, fabricators and fully independent power generation contained within the city.”

“Support?”

“Minimal. We have one regiment of regular Army, one artillery battery, a small naval contingent and no air or orbital support. Chain of command consists of you in charge of the infantry, Colonel Michaels commanding the artillery and myself commanding the naval group. I have overall command despite being outranked by Michaels since he’s Army and I’m Navy. Navy’s senior service and I’m the senior naval officer.”

“What about our opposition?”

“Oh, they have at least one division of infantry with one regiment of artillery supporting. They have air support, but the shield will be able to handle that. The good news for us is their orbital forces have withdrawn to intercept the Coalition response fleet.”

“What’s our battle plan?”

“The shield perimeter extends to about ten meters beyond the outer defense ring, but it stops three meters above the ground. I’ve had three sets of concentric trenches dug. They’re all connected to each other, though those cross trenches can be secured at will and all are rigged with mines and other assorted surprises we can arm if we’re forced to fall back. Spaced between those rings I’ve had larger bunkers dug out and I’ve placed the artillery pieces in there. I’ve yanked the cannons out of the artillery unit’s spotter craft and had them rigged as fixed emplacements. The spotters are spread throughout the higher buildings in the city. I’ve got snipers and shoulder mounted munitions similarly placed. Army will hold the trenches as long as possible, fall back as needed and finally withdraw to within the city walls. There, they will be augmented by militia and security forces. Protection of the shield generator and power supply is paramount.”

“Are we going to have to fallback through the city gates?”

“As we speak, the city’s engineers are finishing access hatches in the wall’s foundations. If you and your people have to fall back to within the walls, we’ll make sure you get there under cover.”

“We appreciate it. How long till we engage?”

“Unknown. Could be hours, could be minutes.”

“Well, I should get to the line.”

“We only need to hold until the response fleet breaks through the blockade. Once they achieve orbit, we can evacuate within an hour.” I turned and faced her directly, “Be careful Dara, we made it through Arneb, I don’t want to lose the best soldier I ever worked with.”

She gave me a smile, “I don’t intend to buy it today Commander. I still have to give you grief for transferring to Navy.” She saluted and left the room.

I glanced back at the display before keying the intercom. “This is Commander Rogue, all forces report to combat stations. Enemy forces approaching.” I walked over to my desk and picked up my rifle. I might be the commanding officer, but with thousands of lives depending on me and the rest of my fellow soldiers, I’d be damned if I was going to observe this fight from the safety of the command center. I left the room and waved my aide over. “Lieutenant Yofin, please keep me upraised of enemy movement. I’ll be on the line.” I walked out before she could protest. My comrades were waiting.