Posterous theme by Cory Watilo

Filed under: trips

20 hours in Vegas

At the Foundation Room at Mandalay Bay. Yeah, the view's ok.

Even on a rainy and freezing cold Wednesday night in the middle of January, Vegas still knows how to have a good time. Kind of a not fun drive on the way back to LA though. Who knew that rain turns into snow at higher elevations?

I'd like to take a minute and thank the roulette tables at Mandalay Bay, Luxor, and New York, New York for taking care of my expenses this trip. There's a 52.63% chance they'll get my money next time I'm in Vegas, but who's the winner for now? This guy. Me. I'm the winner. I win.

––– Photos taken on 1/20/10 -1/21/10 at Foundation Room in Las Vegas, NV & Luxor in Las Vegas, NV & Nipton, CA –––

Obama-rama, aka Democratic National Convention 2008

Last week I was in Denver with Causecast for the DNC, and 'twas epic.

Highlights: watched The Fray do a small acoustic set at some random bar. Rode bikes with Matthew Modine the next day and ended up front row for Nelly that night (which I'm pretty sure will never happen again, either by choice or circumstance). Worked a Darfur event and a Jennifer Lopez fundraiser, during which I met Cameron Crowe, who only directed just about all of my favorite movies ever. And then of course there was one of the best parties in Denver during the DNC at the Shepard Fairey Manifest Hope gallery. Getting to be front row for Cold War Kids, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Silversun Pickups, Death Cab, Zooey Deschanel, and Jenny Lewis all in one night? Not too shabby.

One Denver blog's take on the Manifest Hope gallery:

By the way, if you’re hoping to nab tickets for Unconventional '08, tonight’s free street concert in front of the gallery with Silversun Pickups, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! and others, forget it. They’ve all been handed out, and the VIP show inside -- with Ben Gibbard, Jenny Lewis and other choice celebs -- is totally off limits to the uninvited. (While I was there, a suited, gray-haired man with neatly braided hair standing by a van in front of Andenken was heard to say, “I’ve got Spike Lee with me. And his wife.”) Sheesh. But the art is well worth a visit, and it’s also challenging to see how many of Fairey’s guerrilla installations you can spot while cruising around town. I’ve seen a few: An Obama w/Denver cityscape on the backside of the Ghost Building at 18th and Stout streets; plastered on a wall along north Broadway, near Firestone; and even a stone’s throw from our offices, near 10th Avnue and Broadway. Keep your eagle-eyes peeled, and don’t manhandle the art!

––– Photos taken on 8/25/08 - 8/28/08 at Benedict Fountain Park in Denver, CO & Denver Art Museum in Denver, CO & Andenken Gallery in Denver, CO –––