*A gazillion happy calories*
As you may have noticed, Vegas is a culinary treasure trove and/or feeding trough depending on your budget and tackiness tolerance. This is very good for me because I love the pleasure of eating. I don’t gamble, so food is the sin I claim in Sin City. Nonetheless, there are a few things money CAN”T buy in Vegas, and one of them is Chick-Fil-A. Perhaps it’s because the company is Christian and the whole being closed on Sunday thing didn’t vibe well with a modern-day Sodom & Gomorra. Or perhaps they refused to anchor a casino food court on moral grounds. Whatever it is, Las Vegas is missing out. So one of the many things I did in Texas was indulge in a little pseudo-healthy fried chicken goodness. And crispy, happy waffle fries. And Polynesian Sauce. The best.
Categories: Food & Drink
Tagged: chick-fil-a, Las Vegas, Texas
I’m in Texas trying to stuff my heritage, family, and friends from high school and college–oh and a few deadlines, too–into a two-week trip. It’s been tight. But tonight, I went with my family to “Light Up Arlington!” at the Levitt Pavilion (I’m so so so happy this has been built in my hometown). It’s my hometown’s Fourth of July Celebration one day early. And what a celebration it was:
6pm: Arlington Community Band (adults reliving their glory days of high school band)
7:30 pm: The Quebe Sisters Band (Three amazing fiddler-sisters with harmonizing my grandmother and I both enjoyed)
9:15 pm: Fastball (The band I liked in high school sounds like a softer version of Brian Jonestown Massacre)
9:45 pm: Fireworks (Go America!)
Categories: Music · This Writer's Life
Tagged: arlington, fastball, forth of july, levitt pavilion, Texas, the quebe sisters
Living in the desert tundra of Las Vegas, the only way I can tell the passing of seasons is by the theme of the conservatory garden in the Bellagio. This spring it was “Gardens of the World.” I’m not sure what part of the world the rose snail is native to.
Now that I’m in Texas for vacation, I can see real gardens outside. It feels nice.
Categories: Art · Las Vegas
Tagged: bellagio conservatory, garden, random vegas photo, snail, spring
Summer Heat in Vegas
I’m cheating. This is a photo from last summer. Further more, I didn’t even take this photo. So much for the grand showcase of my photography. But when it’s hot as hell, what’s a small little sin such as fibbing and plagiarism? Oddly enough, I’ve escaped the heat for two weeks by going home to Texas. Humidity, anyone?
Categories: Uncategorized
Serendipity 3 (outside Caesars Palace)
Since my life in Las Vegas often feels like a perpetual vacation, I’m always taking touristey snapshots.Those photos are doing nothing more than rotting on my hard drive, and I realized I might as well share them. I can only hope that you the interneter will be interested by a desire to learn about Vegas…or that you have some sort of stalker, prurient interest. I aim to please. So, without futher ado, see the above photo.
My dining buddy took this snapshot at the new restaurant Serendipity 3. According to my friend (who happens to be from Brooklyn), this restaurant is an expansion of the beloved New York institution. He said the veggie burger wasn’t as good as the ones at Serendipity I. But the hot dog (pictured above) and the famous frozen hot chocolate were still fabulous.
Bonus to tourists: Sit on the balcony and watch people walk the strip below. Also, the prices are reasonable and the portions are generous (see above photo). I challenge you to say that about any other restaurant at Casears Palace (excluding the food court).
Categories: Food & Drink · Las Vegas
Tagged: caesars palace, frozen hot chocolate., hot dog, random vegas photo, serendipity 3
Journalist Aaron Thompson helping me research the Red Hawk nachos.
For those of you who don’t yet know, I write a bar column for the Las Vegas Weekly. The premise is simple. Every other week, I seek out the new, the weird, the unusual and the forgotten. And alternately, the popular, the ritzy and the well-trodden. I try to mix it up, going intermittently on and off the beaten path.
Here’s the best part, the editors give me a very long rope with which to hang myself. They encourage creativity, and I, in turn, thank them by testing the limits of their leniency. For example, I think my editor nearly killed me when I turned in a recent column in the form of a movie script. Read it for yourself HERE and decide if the results are worth all the grief I put my editors through.
Or you can read this week’s Bar Exam HERE. After the craziness of writing a script, my editor kindly suggested and I graciously agreed to do something a little more normal. I wrote about a nice little bar in Henderson called Red Hawk.
What do these two articles have in common? The assistance of my friend and journalist Aaron Thompson. Sadly, he’s leaving the country in a few days. Emily, my first “research assistant” moved to Texas. Now Aaron’s leaving, too. Why does Vegas have to be so dang transient? Anybody want to help me research bars in Vegas?
Categories: Las Vegas · My Latest Publication
Tagged: bar exam, henderson, las vegas weekly, red hawk tavern, the nice place bar
I was recently reading an article in USA Today about author Dean Koontz. I don’t believe I’ve ever read one of his books, but I must be missing out on something because he’s sold 400-odd million copies, as much as JK Rowling. To me, the thing that really stuck out about his interview was when he said that he’s a homebody with basically no desire to ever leave his house. As you can imagine, that frees up a lot of time for writing. Little suprise, Koontz is incredibly prolific.
On the other hand, the thought of ever missing the party, any party, just kills me. Problem with living in Vegas: There’s always a party to miss. Little suprise, I’m having trouble making the progress I would like on my first novel.
Today was the opening party of Cinevegas, our local film festival. Today I missed the party. I missed the opening film screening. I missed the red carpet. And I missed the after-party at Prive nightclub. It hurt inside. I spent all night checking Twitter and Facebook and the Cinevegas website to see what I was missing. Since I was already on my computer, I decided I might as well write. While I did miss the party, I also happened to breach 100 pages on my novel. Double spaced. It’s only 50 pages single spaced, but let’s be positive. ONE HUNDRED PAGES! Onward! Of course, the Cinevegas party goes on for a week. Will I be as productive tomorrow?
Categories: Las Vegas · Writing Process
Tagged: cinevegas, first hundred pages, novel progress
Steel Panther the way I know them best: with girls on the stage
My latest article for the Las Vegas Weekly was months in the making. Way back in February (Friday the 13th to be exact. Thank you Google calendar), my friend Brandy took me to see Steel Panther for the first time. As soon as they finished their first set, I had a fully formed article in my head. Perhaps it’s dangerous to have a solidified idea that quickly. Or perhaps I was right on track. The world may never know. Each time the article got pushed back, I decided the article couldn’t do without the inclusion of more research. In the business world, this phenomena is known as “scope creep” and is to be avoided at all costs. The same seems to be true for the writing world. While my hours upon hours upon hours upon hours of research turned up some fascinating results, I ended up with enough vital information to write a book, which I then had to cram in a cover story. My original concept could no longer work with the vast amount of info and had to be dumped in a last-minute rewrite. Three bands I researched didn’t even make the cut because I ran out of room. And even worse, in the crossfire, I mixed up the guitarist with the bass player for one of the bands I mentioned (Sin City Sinners). For the record, Brent Muscat plays the guitar and Mike Szuter plays the bass. They are both really awesome guys and I throughougly enjoyed getting to know them. And I’m very sorry for the mistake. Oh yes, and Rob Cournoyer (formerly of Raging Slab) plays the drums.
So there ya go. If you would like to read this article, you can read it here.
Categories: My Latest Publication
Tagged: cover story, las vegas weekly, scope creep, steel panther
Like yoga and like my writing? Hate yoga and like my writing? Either way, check out the new blog I’m writing for Yoga Sanctuary.
Here’s how the yoga studio describes my new masterpiece in motion:
Our Yoga Rants and Raves blog pushes the envelope even more. We like to think of it as a nice mix of the irreverent and relevant. The topics and content will be far-reaching: offbeat videos, yoga news, things we love and things we don’t, the yoga lifestyle and beyond. If our blog proves to be provocative, entertaining or sometimes controversial, we couldn’t be happier. So if you are looking for a conventional commentary on how to start a yoga practice, this is probably not the right blog for you.
Categories: Blogosphere · My Latest Publication
Tagged: blog, Las Vegas, yoga rants and raves, yoga sanctuary
