Philadelphia

Yesterday I flew into Philadelphia to visit my friends Tim and Jess. Last night we went out to a cool bar called Eulogy where I had mussels for the first time and damn were they good. They also had like 500 kinds of beers on their menu. It was a pretty cool place right in the middle of the old part of downtown. Here’s a pic of Tim, Jess, and I.


Our beers came with some weird plastic horse things around the neck of the bottle which Jess thought made nice earrings.

She made me try them on too.

After Eulogy Tim talked us into going to see the movie “A History of Violence”. It was terrible! It had the worst dialogue of any movie I’ve seen recently. And you keep expecting this big twist but it never comes. Thank god the movie just finally ends. Just for the record Tim is the same guy who forced me to go see “Van Helsing” instead of “Mean Girls”.

Today we visited Villanova and I was very impressed. The campus is gorgeous.

I checked out the Augustine Center, which is the Liberal Arts building, and picked up some info on the grad phil program. After getting something to eat we headed out to check out the Phillies’ game. The Phillies’s season was on the line so the park was packed and we had to get tickets clear up in the bleachers under the giant bell. Here’s a couple pics from our seats.


The seats were actually ok because even though we were far away we could still see everything. The Phillies owned the Mets 16 to 6 keeping their playoff hopes alive. It was a fun game to watch because there was like 7 homers altogether. Tomorrow I think we’re going to do some touristy stuff and then Friday we’re headed to NY for the Killers’ concert. It should be fun.

Lawrence part 2

I just got back from Lawrence and it was a little sad because it could be a long time before I’m ever back there. Friday night Deron, Haley, Scott, Jesse and I went to the Replay. It was surprisingly empty there... that is, until Matt W. arrived. Then the place was hopping.

Jesse, Deron and Haley


Scott, Jesse, Deron (behind Haley) and Haley


Matt, Jesse, and Haley


Saturday I went to J.B. Stouts with Yancy, Emily and Ryan to watch Iowa beat up on UNI, which they did (sorry Ryan). Later that evening we went to the phil dept party (excluding Nathan Cox who got into a fight with a car door on the way to the party and subsequently had to go home... don’t ask). I guess I don’t have any pictures from the party but as you would expect the grad students all hung out on the porch by the keg while most of the faculty hung out inside by the wine. It was fun though and thanks to prof Marquis for hosting the party. Afterwards several of us went to the Pig. Here’s a picture that I guess speaks for itself. I’m not sure who’s enjoying it more, Dusan or Yancy.


Deron was apparently camera shy saturday because in almost every picture he’s hiding behind Haley or covering his face with his cap.



Here’s Yancy, Ryan, Dusan, and Tamela


After closing out the Pig Scott invited everyone back to his place. At about three someone had the great idea to play trivial pursuit. We did almost play a whole game but shortly after four it dawned on us just how late it was and everyone headed home. It was a fun last visit to Lawrence and a good send off to germany. Thanks to Deron for letting me crash at his place on friday and Scott for letting me crash on saturday.

L.A. and Long Beach

I’ve just arrived back from L.A. and I had a lot of fun. Monday night Janet and I went to Hollywood and had dinner at the Hamburger Hamlet right across from Grauman's Chinese theater. Here’s a picture.

I’m not sure whether you can see them in the background but while we were eating we watched two Star Wars fans fight with light sabers while this crazy Elvis guy danced around. There’s a lot of interesting people down on Hollywood Blvd. It wasn’t as big as I was expecting and I was surprised to see that some parts of Hollywood are a bit sketchy at night.

Tuesday Janet left work early and we drove around Long Beach. We went down to the pier and had lunch. Here’s a few pictures I took while we were eating.



It’s hard to make it out but the Queen Mary is in the background of this one.

After lunch we drove up the pacific coast highway. It was absolutely amazing. You wind around these cliffs and hills that are lined up and down with multi-million dollar mansions. Here’s a few pictures of the ocean I took along the way.



Probably the most beautiful (and I’m sure, expensive) area we passed through was Rodundo Beach. It was gorgeous. Here’s a pic of the main street.


Right after Redondo you hit Hermosa Beach and Janet and I decided to stop there for a break. We walked out by the pier and then along the beach. They were filming some sort of tv show or movie but the set was all blocked off and we couldn’t tell what exactly it was. There were lots of women running around in white robes which peaked my interest but I didn’t recognize any of them. Here’s a few pics of Hermosa Beach.



After stopping for a quick beer next to the pier we headed off for Santa Monica to meet up with a couple of Janet's friends. We arrived there just around sunset and checked out the pier.


Then we headed over to the promenade area which is full of shops, bars, and street performers. I was excited to see the dancing Yoda who dances to Britney Spears songs I had heard so much about from my sister but alas he was not there that night. After a nice dinner and a couple drinks we called it a night and headed back to Glendale. As we were leaving I asked this guy to take a picture of all of us. I think he was a little drunk because the picture didn't turn out so well. Here it is anyway.

Today we got up early and braved the traffic down to Cal State Long Beach. Here’s a picture of Janet in her office.

After she took care of a few things we grabbed some lunch and then headed over to the Long Beach airport. I couldn’t believe how small it was. Most of it was outside and there were only like 4 gates. It was actually very nice... fresh air and no crowds. I’m glad I flew out of there instead of LAX. There girl behind me on the flight to Phoenix was throwing up the whole flight and it was pretty gross to listen to. Fortunately it was only 45min flight. My whole trip was a lot of fun and now there’s just a two weeks before I go to germany. I will be heading down to Lawrence this weekend and I’ll be sure to report on my adventures.

Viva Las Vegas!

Well as you can see I’m in Vegas and having a good time. Actually at the moment I’m in LA at my sister’s place. We drove in from Vegas yesterday. I flew into Vegas on thursday and my brother in law Ben picked me up at the airport andtook me straight to the casino New York, New York. We watched the Pat’s/Raider’s game at the ESPN zone and walked around the casino a bit before heading over to the MGM. After losing $20 in a Pamela Anderson slot machine I vowed to never play another slot on my trip(I never win at slots) and I’m happy to report I didn’t. Instead I opted for texas hold ‘em. I think it’s more fun to play with real people. At least that way if you lose money you lose it to other people and not the casino. And plus, low stakes limit hold ‘em is a lot of fun because nobody plays it to win big; they play to have fun.

Friday Ben and I headed over to the Palms hoping to run into Jenny McCarthy... we didn’t. But we did play some craps. I had never played before but Ben coached me. I decided to stay conservative with my betting until I understood the game better. So I just bet the line, which was a good thing since shooter after shooter rolled sevens without ever rolling the point. After a couple of rounds of this I was beginning to think craps was crap. So I stopped placing any bets and watched as shooter after shooter hit their point and avoided a seven for a dozen rolls or so. Ben and everyone else was loving it but I stuck to my guns and decided to just watch. However, I could only hold out for so long and decided to again play the line. Once again the shooter rolled a seven right away and the table was cleared. Apparently I’m a cooler when it comes to craps because once again I left the table and the shooters got hot again. I took all of this as a sign and vowed to not play craps anymore -- and I didn’t. After Ben had his fill of craps we headed over to the Aladin to check out “X, an Erotic Adventure” -- a show Ben had won free tickets too. It was quite a show but I have to admit I found it to be more of an erotic sojourn than adventure. What can I say, I have high standards and a healthy imagination. The picture at the top is of me with two of the showgirls from X. Sorry, no pictures from the show... that was not allowed. After the show we played some more texas hold ‘em at the Aladin. They have a really nice poker room. I did pretty well for awhile but lost a big hand to this mouthy brit -- whatever. Aside from that Ben and I had a good time and didn’t leave the strip until 6am. The sun was coming up and we hit McDonald’s for breakfast on the way back to his place.

Saturday my sister drove up from LA and drug Ben and I to this magician/comedian guy’s show. Ben and I wanted to go to Hooter’s and watch the Iowa/ISU game but Janet would have no part of that. It was probably for the best since Iowa lost, and the comedian turned out to be pretty funny. After that we headed over to the Venitian. Here’s a couple pics.

Janet and I

Ben and I

Inside the Venitian

From there we headed up the strip to the brand new casino the Wynn. It was unreal... very, very fancy. It has this really nice patio complete with waterfall. Here’s a picture of Janet and Ben in front of it.

Here’s another one from the Wynn.


After that Janet insisted that we go tour “ghetto vegas”. Somehow she convinced us to go tour the casino ‘Westward Ho’ -- home of the giant $1 margarita. Let’s just say you get what you pay for. Let us also just say that going from the Wynn to Westward Ho was a stark contrast. Ben and I sat down at the lounge in the back where “Super Shock” was putting on their ‘rock show’. It was something else. The people in the lounge were entertainment enough but Super Shock consisted of this dude with a mullet wearing tight (fake) leather pants doing lots of finger tapping and wammy bars on his cheesy 80’s guitar, and some blonde chick on the keyboard. They even had a fog machine in the back and some ‘hi tech’ lighting. Here’s a couple of pics.


Ben, enjoying Super Shock while drinking his margarita.

Some crazy old lady started dancing around at one point but unfortunately I couldn’t get a picture. But here’s one of some couple that started making out on the dance floor to some crappy Journey song.

Though I had had my fill of ghetto vegas, Janet had not and forced us to go check out Circus Circus.

Upon entering Circus Circus I realized that I had just hit my 48 hour mark with Vegas -- that’s the point at which people say you begin to have enough. Let’s just say that it was a nightmare in there. The first floor was full of people playing slots while the upstairs ‘midway’ babysat their kids. It was loud and obnoxious and full of screaming kids. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. We then headed over to the Paris casino, which was amazing. After briefly touring the casino we decided to have dinner on the front patio which sits directly across from the Bellagio and has a great view of the fountains and the strip. For some reason I find this picture really funny. That’s the Bellagio’s fountains in the background behind the ‘girls direct to you' truck... are the girls in the truck?

While we were sitting there enjoying our excellent food (it’s the place to eat on the strip if you want a good view and amazing food) I noticed the woman sitting at the table next to us with like 10 guys. She looked so familiar and suddenly I realized it was the comedian Kathy Griffin. I remembered seeing her on Too Late with Adam Corolla a few days ago and she was talking about how she had sold herself on Ebay to raise money for Katrina victims. She said she would tour Vegas with the group of gay guys that bid the most (I’m not sure why they had to be gay but that’s what she said). So the guys at the table next to us were obviously the winners. I tried to sneak a picture but right as I took it someone passed a plate right in front of her face.

I waited a bit and tried again. In this one you can tell it’s her.


From there we walked through Bally’s on our way to the Bellagio. I got some really nice picturess on the bridge over to the Bellagio. Here’s a few.




The Bellagio was spectacular. The casino the nicest one I think I saw anywhere. After walking around a bit we stopped for a drink in the casino’s club ‘Caramel’. There was quit a mix of people in there and it was cool but a bit loud. Here’s my sister and I.


We then went to our final destination, the Luxor (the giant pyramid). It was every bit as cool on the inside as you would expect from the outside. The inside is an open atrium all the way to the top and the rooms are staggered up the inside walls. Here’s a few pictures of us inside the Luxor.



Ben and I played a little more hold ‘em while Janet played a few slots. Ben and I were both up early and there were some fun people at the table so we had a great time. I probably should have quit while I was up but it was my last night in Vegas so I decided to press my luck. A little while later I found myself back to even but starring at a pair of Aces. The flop wasn’t anything special so with a pair of Aces I figured I was in the driver’s seat. Most of the guys folded right away but two others stayed in with me. I raised on the turn card and one guy folded. Things were looking good. And the river card didn’t look like it could help anyone. So I bet knowing this would be my last hand and then I’d cash out my winnings. I could hardly believe my eyes when the guy dropped a straight which he picked up on the river card! I couldn’t believe this guy had stayed in the game chasing a straight. Well that’s Vegas I suppose. After losing that hand I decided to call it a night... well actually a morning since it was about 5am at this point.

The rule I kept hearing over and over was that three days is enough for Vegas and I think it’s exactly right. While I had a great time I was ready to go. After sleeping in ‘til 12:30 we hit the In ‘n Out Burger (two thumbs up!) and then the road. The traffic wasn’t too bad at first but it started getting a little congested and we got into a fender bender. The car in front of us stopped real fast and Janet couldn’t stop in time. She barely tapped the guy but then a minivan hit us from behind. Everyone was ok but the minivan’s front end was all bashed in. Amazingly Janet’s rear bumper barely had a scratch while her front end took some noticable damage. It was a little scary (I’d never been in a car accident before) but could have been a lot worse. After exchanging info we got back on the road and the traffic actually let up a bit. We got into LA (Glendale) around 7:00 and met up with a couple of Janet’s old friends from her U of Illinois days. They seemed pretty cool and one of the guys is going to be Johnny Depp’s sidekick in the next two Pirates of the Caribbean movies but after a couple drinks we decided we’d had enough and met up with a friend of her’s from St Olaf named Kurt who’s going to be in a couple of Reno 911 episodes next season. We had a good time and I decided to sleep in today and rest from all the running around in Vegas while Janet went to work. The power was off for awhile this afternoon throughout most of LA but it’s back on now. Well I’m not sure what we’re going to do tonight and tomorrow but I will be sure to report on it.

Lawrence

I just got back from a fun weekend in Lawrence. And thanks once again to Yancy and Emily for letting me crash at their place friday and Dusan for letting me crash at his place saturday. Friday night was Haley's 21st birthday and she threw, in Deron's words, an almost too successful party -- meaning, so many people and good friends of Haley's showed up that it was hard to leave and go hit the bars. Everyone seemed to be having a good time but I think Yancy, Emily, Jesse and I all felt a bit old. Some of the kids there were clearly freshmen. Eventually we made our way to the Replay.

Emily, Yancy, and Jesse having a good time.

Deron, Jesse, and I

This one's my favorite. It's a good one of Deron and Haley with Yancy and Emily trying to escape the frame.

All things considered it was fun and eventful night. Especially for Jesse who had a conversation with some classical radio guy at the Replay about a composer he completely made up, nearly got into a bar brawl with a very large Irish guy and his friend by innocently (in a way only Jesse could) calling him Scandinavian over and over again and asking him how he felt about being Protestant in Scandinavia when the guy was very very catholic. All the while Jesse was insisting that he should buy him a beer because that's what Jesus would do. When they got pissed and walked off Jesse yelled to them "there's no reason to be ashamed about being a protestant from Scandinavia". It was all quite amusing. He then had a brief conversation with a former student of mine, who I ran in to at the replay, about spanking, before ending the night at Yancy and Emily's impromptu after hours party with an unintentionally (I think) very funny story I'm still trying to figure out. The only thing that was clear was that Jesse was "so serious!" about it and was definately "not making this up!"

Saturday Yancy, Emily, Deron, Haley and I went to the new Bill Murray movie "Broken Flowers". I think we all agreed it was pretty good. We then went to Quinton's for dinner and later met up with Dusan, and Scott at Louise's.

Here's Emily, Yancy, Scott, Dusan, Deron and Haley

Haley and I

And here's Yancy, Emily, Scott, and I

Then we headed over to the Pig and met up with Matt W. Everyone had a good time. Here's a couple pictures.

There's Matt on the right.

I plan on heading down to Lawrence again in the 16th for the phil dept party but that will probably be my last visit there for quit some time. Right now I'm searching around for a cheap flight to Vegas for this thursday. The plan is to fly into Vegas on thursday and hang out with Ben (my brother in law) until sunday and then I'll head over to L.A. to visit my sister in Long Beach for a few days. It should be fun.