I was going through Paul's archives and found out he had thought my "big hair" from the old days was cool. Thanks Paul! Okay, I guess that's another justification for putting up the infamous wedding pix! As soon as I have that free time I'll definitely put them up.

Paul and Cyn both have nice photo galleries. And now I'm inspired to redo my current photo galleries again. Gotta find the time somewhere... maybe after the Yosemite trip.
10:26 AM ~


Living It Up At Caesar's Palace
A few years ago, on arriving in Las Vegas for a weeklong stint at Caesar's Palace with my previous band, Nathan and I had arrived at the hotel, and much later than the others. We checked in at the main desk and we were told that there were no available rooms for us. The hotel had no vacancies... But the desk clerk said that we had a temporary alternative until a regular room was available. And with that we were given keys to a room which would be our temporary room.

Upon arriving at the 24th floor in one of the hotel's towers, we wearily made our way down the hallway to our room.

Our first clue that things were going to be VERY different was that we noticed right away we had double doors! And a doorbell. We were thinking to ourselves, "what is this?"

Well, upon opening the double doors, we found ourselves in what looked like a penthouse suite or some sort of presidential suite. Whatever it was... it was definitely a hotel suite for the "high rollers"!

As we stood in the marbled foyer, we gazed across a huge living space with bay windows that extended from the carpet to the ceiling, and from wall to wall. There was a huge living room area where a 50" TV and sophisticated stereo system was located. There was a beautiful kitchen area with wetbar, and there was a huge dining area with very long dining table. We peered out the huge bay window and noticed that the Bellagio Hotel was just across the street. The main living area had a wall console for controlling the lighting.... lights everywhere from hidden recessed lighting to ceiling fixtures. We could set the lighting to created many moods. And the window curtains opened and closed electronically at the touch of a button.

On the right side of the foyer was a small hallway that led to a marble-tiled bathroom. To the left was a hallway that led to the right and ended at the Master Bedroom, with its own 32" TV. Next to this room was a bathroom with a jacuzzi tub, and next to this bathroom was another bathroom with a walk-in shower, meaning that you could walk in one way and walk out the other. There were two openings to this shower and four showerheads, and it was like a large corridor.

Also in the hallway were walk-in closets on either side with robe, slippers, ironing board... and other goodies...

Well, you could see that we lucked out with this room. What total opulence, as this room was decorated with exquisite art and beautiful furniture. It's sad that we both hadn't brought our cameras to capture the kind of suite we had stumbled into.

Anyway, for two whole days, we lived like we were kings, Nate and myself. Too bad it couldn't have been with our spouses. We had such a great time for those two days. And when we finally transferred to a regular room, the bubble had burst, and it just wasn't the same. We were spoiled beyond belief, and we got the opportunity to play Caesar's Palace, too!
2:51 AM ~


My Continual Source Of Debt
Whoa! I just sorta threw that one pic out at you readers. My apologies, and I hope you didn't get the wrong impression. Perhaps a little story behind the photo will do well to remedy any misconceptions.

Back when I was with my previous band, there was a point in time where we were almost certain that we were going to "make it". We were a highly successful swing band, performing all over the country at enviable spots other musicians only dream of playing, and we were quite busy performing 18 to 26 shows a month... a lot for one band, especially nowadays. And it seemed the "chemistry" was just right.

Then the lead vocalist decided to take matters into his own hands, decided he was the entire show, and systematically began firing everyone, one by one! What a tragedy for something that seemed destined for success.

Anyway, during the highpoint in my career with the band, I decided it was time to buy a vehicle that was big, safe (especially for coming home from L.A.), and with lots of room for my drums... enter The Behemoth, my oversized, black, 4x4 Expedition. It's a menacing vehicle (although now there is the Excursion) and I wonder sometimes why I made the decision to purchase this thing. It's oversized and guzzles a ton of gas each week. At one point we were very close to selling it, but the kids had grown fond of it and would be devastated if we were to sell it now.

With the expensive monthly payment and the gas consumption, we are still debating whether to keep it or not.

Anyways, we're currently stuck with it until we can think of a better way to make an easier transition to another vehicle, one not so expensive!
1:39 AM ~


The Derby In Hollywood
I feel the same way as Cyn does about politics. Just the mere word makes me want to puke my guts out. Well, maybe that's a little too extreme in describing my feelings. But it feels just about right.

The only connection I will have this weekend with the Democratic Convention is that the band will be playing in Hollywood tonight. Meaning, it might be a hectic drive up to L.A. But, because of it we might get a bigger crowd than usual at The Derby tonight. We'll see what happens.

I love The Derby, and can't wait to get there tonight. This is the same place we did the HBO thingy back in May.
1:15 AM ~

thursday, august 17