The lights change really fast here

Not too much to say about the morning in Las Vegas today.  I managed to wake up with my plantar fasciitis foot brace on the opposite foot, though, leading me to wonder what the heck I dreamed about last night.  Who knows!

The flight was short and easy, and our BART/Clipper passes worked like a charm getting us to Oakland and our Clarion with ease.  From there, we checked in and headed back to San Francisco to check in to the conference (I already have things I want to buy!), went to the Apple Store to get a USB to ethernet connector for my MacBook Air (we surprised Josimar as he was giving a class even though he TRIED to ignore us at every turn, and when I introduced Wayne and me as geeks, the saleswoman on the floor countered that she worked at Apple, so she had the market cornered on geek), and met Ivan Samuels for dinner at Buca di Beppo.

As we were walking around the city, I was remembering when we last stayed here with the family, and I punked dad at the airport in Vegas.  Ask him if he remembers some time...and we went back to Westfield Shopping Center to check out what we remembered as dining options in the basement.  They were still there, and there is now a booth where I will take my iPhone and iPad for armor covering to help prevent dings, scratches, and oily fingerprints.  It will be worth its weight in gold if it really works.

MacWorld/iWorld is a trade-show with conference tracks dedicated to the Apple platforms, and is held annually dating back to 1985.  There are hundreds of displays in addition to conference tracks taught by leaders in their fields (Wally and Don will be there this go round). The first Macworld Expo occurred in 1985 in San Francisco, where it has always been held at the Moscone Center. The Expo was also held in Brooks Hall near the San Francisco Civic Center from 1985 until 1993, when the expansion of Moscone Center allowed the show to be consolidated in one location.

The show has also taken place in other cities:

A Tokyo show, produced by IDG World Expo Japan, was held at Makuhari Messe and moved to Tokyo Big Sight in 2002. Macworld Expo Summit, a version of the show targeted at U.S. government customers, was held at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. as late as 1994. And in 2004, Macworld UK, part of the IDG UK division of IDG, created two Macworld Conference events on its own: one standalone conference, and one conference adjoining the MacExpo trade show in London.

From 1997-2008, the show was known for its keynote presentations (sometimes called "StevenNotes") by former Apple CEO, Steve Jobs.  Phil Schiller gave the last keynote address by Apple in 2009, after which Apple no longer presented at the conference, which has always puzzled me.  I am guessing that Steve was the dynamic face of Apple, and having someone else do the keynotes in his absence would be detrimental to the company brand and profit margin.

All that aside, I have to say that two things jump out at me about San Francisco.  First off, I have noticed that the lights change and pedestrian walk signs change VERY quickly.  I noticed this because that inadvertent change of foot of the brace last night had a bit of a painful impact upon walking today, and rushing across the street hurts more than a wee bit.  Second, the smell of cannabis oozing out of people’s pores is stronger and more frequent here than anywhere else I have been, with the exception of the drug park in Amsterdam.  And yes, I did go to college.  And I was in the Army.  Just sayin.

Anyway, we are here, have our badges (yes, we do need stinkin’ badges), have had dinner with fellow Mac Geek Ivan, and are now safely ensconced in our hotel in Oakland, looking forward to the conference tomorrow, in addition to a 6-8 happy hour with Eileen Lehmann, high school friend of mine, at the Science Academy in Golden Gate Park tomorrow night.

Time for a homework assignment

As part of my Treating Chemical Dependency class, we are tasked to go to AA meetings or NA meetings, so, having been to one in Hawaii, I decided that I would look for some while we were here on the mainland.  And where better to do it than Las Vegas?  I spent some time on the LV Central Office site to find an appropriately timed meeting that would allow me an experience here, and not interfere with the things that Wayne and I were doing.

The origins of Alcoholics Anonymous started with the Oxford Group, practiced a formula of self-improvement by performing self-inventory, admitting wrongs, making amends, using prayer and meditation, and carrying the message to others. Carl Jung referred Rowland H to the group in the early 1930s, and Rowland later introduced fellow Vermonter Edwin ("Ebby") T. to the group, and the two men along with several others were finally able to keep from drinking by practicing the Oxford Group principles. One of Ebby's schoolmate friends from Vermont was Bill W., a golden boy on Wall Street, enjoying success and power as a stockbroker, which was ruined by continuous and chronic alcoholism. He had sought medical treatment at Towns Hospital in Manhattan, but he was still drinking. Bill was, at first, unconvinced by Ebby's story of transformation and the claims of the Oxford Group, but after again landing in Towns hospital for treatment, Bill stated underwent a powerful spiritual experience unlike any he had ever known. His depression and despair were lifted, and he felt free and at peace. He stopped drinking, and worked the rest of his life to bring that freedom and peace to other alcoholics. The roots of Alcoholics Anonymous (also known as Friends of Bill) were planted.  From there, AA has spread globally, and there are millions who attend meetings daily, weekly, monthly, to gain strength from their fellow addicts, and to help those newly struggling with relapses or initial sobriety.

I cannot say that I subscribe to the religious aspect of the program, but the belief that you need to have faith, rely on friends and mentors, make amends, and just live the life one day at a time knowing that you have help should you slip is a good thing.  And that being said, I really, really enjoyed being invited in by this group today, and listening to them share.  They came across all walks of life, and were filled with gratefulness, humility and humanity.  We should all be like that.  I am seeing, that unlike some of the meetings in Hawaii where participants are only there as part of parole, these folks really wanted to be there.  And it works.

After the meeting, I walked down from the Riviera to the Aria to meet Wayne for lunch at Social House, where we had an awesome Japanese style 3 course lunch, $50 off courtesy of New York New York.  It was totally awesome!  Back to the hotel we went, I worked on this blog and some school work, and then we collapsed into naptime for a while.  Dinner was later, this time in the Cosmopolitan, at the Wicked Spoon.  I got to talk with my high school friend Eileen on the way over - we will be seeing her in San Francisco, and I think the last time we saw each other was at our friend Elizabeth’s wedding.  Long time coming!

There was a moment of angst getting to the Spoon - we passed by Holstein’s, where the most enticing aroma of hamburgers I have smelled in two weeks wafted across the hallway.  And it followed us for a while.  The buffet, although pricey, was worth every penny paid.  There was so much wonderful food, and even though I had to avoid the pork, steak, lamb and veal, there was enough of everything else to make it worth while. And, get this, Wayne and I both indulged in dessert - limoncello gelato for both, sweet potato flan for Wayne, and chocolate mousse with fresh berries for me.  You have to try it if you are here!

Dinner was followed by one of the strangest theatrical events I have ever seen, Zarkana, which is the newest Cirque du Soleil permanent show in Vegas.  It’s at the Aria, and, in theory, follows a storyline.  The show has been marketed as a reinvention of the variety show, with a story about a magician in an abandoned theatre who has lost his love and his magic. As he cries and begs the gods for her return, he is plunged into a world inhabited by surreal creatures. The title Zarkana is a fusion of the words "bizarre" and "arcana", which refers to the strange aura and atmosphere of this place and its inhabitants. After surviving attempts at seduction by various strange,  mutant women, Zark the magician is reunited with his lady love/assistant.                               

Hocus and Pocus, the clowns, were probably the best part of the show, and their antics even got Wayne to giggle.

Then it was back to New York New York to get ready for sleep - tomorrow it is off to MacWorld/iWorld in San Francisco!  Quite a memorable day.

They don't want you to stay in your room

So we’re staying at New York New York here - and for a song.  We’re in a room that is about half the size of our house for an obscenely small amount, especially when you compare it to our trip six years ago.

Opened January 3, 1997, New York-New York’s architecture evokes the New York City skyline; with several towers configured to resemble New York City towers, including the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and the Statue of Liberty.  A replica of New York Harbor is in front as well, and replicas of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the main immigration building on Ellis Island, and Grand Central Terminal.  Inside the casino/hotel, everything is modeled after NYC neighborhoods like Central Park and Greenwich Village.  And the buildings connect to the Excalibur and the MGM Grand.

All that aside, I can tell you that things are just a bit off.  One of the first things you notice in this gigantic room is that the carpets are worn, torn, stained, and pulling from the walls.  The floors in the bathroom and its shower have moldy/missing grout.  The four seater tub has no easy entry/exit.  And the walls are so thin that you can hear the kids in the next room who were left unsupervised for three hours, along with the subsequent screaming match held by their parents earlier, which might have led to the 3 hours without supervision.  And the sink doesn’t drain properly, and both water knobs turn counter clockwise to open, and clockwise to close, something you might not expect.  And, waking up we noticed that there are no clocks in the room.  And no hot water/coffee devices of any kind!

And it hits me - not for the first time either.  They don’t want you in the room, they want you on the floor losing your money.  Blessedly, gambling is not my thing, but even if it were, the open smoking in the casinos is enough to make me thrilled that I don’t gamble!

Aside from that, it’s been a good day!  Today was the day that we really came for - dinner at the Palm.  I had my birthday gift certificate for the free meal (either a 3 pound lobster or a surf and turf option), so the only plan for the day was the Palm.  We did go to the gym in the morning, followed by a decent breakfast at the restaurant downstairs, and then we headed out to Mecca - the Apple Store - where we looked at the new iMacs and the Mac Mini and displays.  Oooh, pretty.  Good thing we can’t buy those and take them home from MacWorld next week!

After that, it was lunch at the Indian restaurant at the Hawaiian Marketplace on the Strip.  Really excellent food!

When we got back, I arranged for tickets to see another Cirque show tomorrow night - it’s a new show that opened late last year, called Zarkana.  We shall see how it is!

From there, it was study time, work time, and relaxing before heading out to the Palm.  Oh my goodness, was dinner fantastic!  We were surrounded by familiar and unfamiliar caricatures, and a familiar menu.  Lobster bisque, a 3 lb lobster and crab cakes ensued.  Nirvana, although a very filling one. 

On the way home, we walked by Bellagio and Paris, which always reminds me of Grandma.  She and Wayne met for the first time here, and for the last.  Sigh.

Good night, everybody!

Six years later, we're back

After a successful whale count yesterday, and less than successful nap, Wayne and I packed up our bags and headed out to the airport for the redeye to Los Angeles, where we waited for about 3 hours to catch a flight to Las Vegas.  The plane to LAX was one of the older ones, so far less comfortable, and we could tell that the flight attendants were the ones who had started with United vs Continental.  I have to tell you, the disposition, service and overall grace between the two is markedly noticeable, with Continental staff coming out far, far ahead.

There were incoming fronts, so the ride was extremely turbulent, and there was only about 3 1/2 hours worth of time where we might have been able to sleep, but weren’t.  So you had a couple of really tired puppies at the LAX airport, followed with being at the LAS airport.  But we got here!  And immediately, my hair went flat and straight!  Don’t know that that serves as a benefit....

For those who don’t know, the name Las Vegas comes from Spanish for "the meadows". The land was originally the home to the Navajo and other nomadic native Americans.  In 1829 a Mexican trader by the name of Antonio Armijo came across what he called a grassland meadow, hence the assignment of the name Las Vegas for that area. In 1855, the Mormons sent a small group of settlers to help the local natives plant crops and set up a safe way station between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, but by 1857 the way station was abandoned.

In 1905 the city of Las Vegas was established, and in 1931 two things happened that would forever change Las Vegas and help to shape the city's future path: construction began on the Hoover Dam, bringing thousands of workers into the city; and casino gambling was legalized. For years the city struggled as a small town until Bugsy Siegel opened his Flamingo Hotel in 1946. 

Today, Las Vegas is home to more hotel rooms than any other resort city in the world, and that number just continues to grow. The greater Las Vegas area is made up of the cities of Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Boulder City and a substantial portion of land that is managed by Clark County. 

Besides gambling, one of the biggest draws to Las Vegas for tourists is the entertainment. From the beginning of the casino era, some of the top talents in show business have performed in Vegas. Stars like Barbra Striesand, the Rat Pack including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis, Jr., Tom Jones, The Rolling Stones, and Wayne Newton have all thrilled audience and casinos alike with sold out shows and record breaking concerts. Just today, we walked past where performers from my childhood (Donny & Marie Osmond) are on stage, and we went past Caesar’s, where Rod Stewart is on until mid/late February.  You can find almost any type of entertainment here!

We planned this trip before I began my Treating Chemical Dependency class, centered around two things:  birthday dinner certificate from the Palm, and MacWorld.  Well, as part of the class, I have had to give something up for 15 weeks.  Since wine with dinner has been gone since pre-LSAT, I had to pick something else.  So I picked red meat and potatoes of all kinds.  So, no pork, steak, veal (not so much a problem) or lamb for 105 days.  And no potatoes, chips, fries for the same 105.  I’m now 15 days in, and doing well health wise, but this trip is going to be a challenge.

Take, for instance, lunch today.  We went to the Hofbrauhaus, which is an exact duplicate of the one in Munich.  This is the menu:

 What on earth is a girl to eat?  Well, after searching, it came down to chicken bratwurst

Blessedly, the chicken brats were good, and we had a good meal.  Since the plantar fasciitis was really kicking in, we took a cab back (yes, I have p.f. thanks to all the running I did just before the LSAT), had a bit of a nap, and it was time to see Love, a Cirque du Soleil show which combines the re-produced and re-imagined music of the Beatles with an interpretive, circus-based artistic and athletic stage performance.                      

It is a joint venture between Cirque and The Beatles' Apple Corps Ltd. The project arose from discussions in 2000 between George Harrison and his friend Guy Laliberte, one of Cirque's founders.  The loose story of the production traces the Beatles’ biography in broad strokes from the Blitz, through the band's founding and climb into superstardom, their psychedelic and spiritual works and their break-up in 1970. The finale is a joyous celebration of the Beatles' "reunion" that the show itself represents. Love traces this path without relying on literal or historical representations of individual people, but rather by fictional characters plucked from their lyrics. Sgt. Pepper, a central figure, encounters many familiar faces, including Lucy in the Sky, Eleanor Rigby, Lady Madonna and Mr. Kite. In an exception to this stylistic choice, the “Here Comes the Sun” scene features a character resembling Krishna. Similarly, several scenes include mop-topped, dark-haired figures of varying ages in black suits (even one scene where they are on roller skates!).

The show was absolutely FABULOUS, and different than we had remembered.  All in all very enjoyable.

I did almost slip at dinner tonight - we ate in Caesar’s at Trevi, and Italian “outside” eatery after we discovered Carmine’s was not yet open (but take heart, it will open in Spring 2013).  A young many was eating a plate of linguini with two fabulous looking meatballs.  I was discussing my food options with Wayne, and said that I could always order that -- and about 2 seconds later, realized what I had said.  Luckily, Wayne has my back, at least for as long as he can find me.                               

We limped back in the not so bitter or windy any more cold to New York New York, and fell asleep near midnight with the screams of people on the roller coaster finally dying down around a quarter past midnight. 

Good first day of passing the meat test in Vegas!

Oh, for my waterbed

If the beds in this country don’t kill me, a side trip to the Manuel Antonio National Park just might.  Don’t get me wrong, I used to love a really firm bed, rock hard, granite slab.  But then we got the waterbed, and my body happily adjusted to that.  Most nights sleeping away from Darien’s casa have been a little hard on the body.

We started out the morning getting ready to go to the Manuel Antonio National Park.  Manuel Antonio National Park, named by Forbes as one of the world’s 12 most beautiful parks, is a small national park in the Central Pacific Conservation Area on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica.  It was established in 1972, and is 4,014 acres, making it the smallest Costa Rican national park, it is the destination of as many as 150,000 visitors annually and well known for its beautiful beaches and hiking trails, and is the second most visited park behind Volcan Poas, which we visited early on in the trip.

Although Manuel Antonio National Park is the country’s smallest national park, the diversity of wildlife in its 3 square miles boasts 109 species of mammals and 184 species of birds. Both brown-throated three toed sloth and Hoffman’s two toed sloth (perezosos) are a major feature, as are three of Costa Rica's four monkey species — the mantled howler monkey, Central American squirrel monkey, and capuchin monkey. Black spiny-tailed iguana, green iguana, common basilisk, white nosed coati and many other snake and bat species also are here, along with 184 bird species that include toucans, woodpeckers, potoos, motmots, tanagers, turkey vulture, parakeets and hawks.                       

All that being said, going there this morning was like pulling teeth without Novocain. I had been upset with myself for not booking a hotel closer to the park; however, when we got there, I was not unhappy with my choice.  From the minute we arrived, there were hawkers trying to score $120 guided tours through the park, paying for parking, diverting you away from the lots closer to the park.  And it was bloody hot.

Wayne and I made our way through the den of iniquity to the desk where you buy your entry tickets with difficulty.  Not only because of the people harassing us, but also because my plantar faciitious was really flaring up.  I could feel every bump on the pavement.  And, when we neared the front of the line, Wayne realized that most of our cash was back in the car, so he went and retrieved it. 

By now it was 8:30, the sun was blazing, and I was on my third coat of sunscreen.

We were herded like cattle into the park, and then walked along a path that was in pretty bad condition.  The foliage was beautiful, and we saw some gorgeous creatures, but the overwhelming number of tourists, trail conditions and heat were making it truly unpleasant.  I hobbled out of the park holding onto Wayne around 1 1/2 hours later.  I did see some cool critters like howler monkeys, different kinds of lizards, and sloths, but somehow the day was lost.  I was happy that we went to Corcovado two days prior.

From here it was back to San Juan, with a stop for lunch at Nambi along the crocodile river. 

From here it was time to turn in the rental car, go to our hotel, and get ready for our last night in San Jose.  We ate dinner at RostiPollos, a chicken chain developed by a Nicaraguan couple.  The food was good, the service was so-so (they forgot to bring out Wayne’s dinner, I think they forgot to put in the order to be honest), and the sound of airplanes taking off and car alarms going off was priceless!  And the price of the meal was definitely a plus.

And now time for bed after blogging.  Ciao Costa Rica, we enjoyed our time here!