Meandering Missive: Las Vegas: MONDAY Oct. 17 (Part 2 of 3)

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Las Vegas: MONDAY Oct. 17 (Part 2 of 3)

Good morning! :) I'm not writing this in the morning, but that was my mood Monday, Oct. 17 upon awakening to my 8:08 a.m. (okay, so I like 'crazy eights' *grin*) wake-up call. It was my second day in Las Vegas for the SPJ National Convention (see previous entry for more info). Fortunately the first group of programs/workshops didn't begin until 10:45 a.m. -- I guess they figured everyone would be up late Sunday eating, drinking, dancing, gambling, shopping or just plain schmoozing at The Aladdin or elsewhere.

Like the captive audience I was, I decided to eat at the Aladdin's Zanzibar Cafe -- an expensive spin on a coffeeshop. I didn't venture outside the hotel to breakfast because of dreary rainy weather (which I hadn't expected) and I didn't walk through Aladdin's Desert Passage Mall because I just didn't think of at the time. And so I dropped $15.45 for juice and an entree (excluding the tax and tip) -- not an auspicious start if I want to emulate Rachael Ray, the travel and food savvy star of the Food Network's "$40 a Day" show. *grin*

I ordered the corned beef hash and scrambled eggs (with toast, of course) not only because I've enjoyed CBH at many other eateries, but also because the Zanzibar added an ingredient I've never seen hashed up before: sauteed celery! I know some folks are gagging right about now, but I love celery. Unfortunately, the CBH overall was a bit disappointing, due to the largeness and toughness of some of the corned beef pieces. But it was certainly filling. While breakfasting, I caught a keno runner and played one $2 six-spot keno game, but didn't win.

Here's my meal. The asparagus was VERY al dente, but the strawberry was good!

After breakfast I headed upstairs to the conference center. Each time slot throughout the day had several simultaneous programs running. Fortunately, it wasn't too hard for me to pick, since some of the programs didn't interest me at all, including those geared toward students, "newbie" journalists, sports writers, hard news hounds, etc. But "Interactive Journalism: Drawing in Audiences with a High Tech Approach" from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. was very interactive, interesting and timely. Its presenter was Jan Shaffer, executive director of J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism. (be sure to check out their cool website.)

An awards luncheon for excellence in college print, broadcast and online journalism took place from noon to 2 p.m., which I'd have enjoyed attending but passed on due to its $40 pricetag. I didn't really feel like lunching during this time anyway, since I didn't get done with breakfast until after 10 a.m.! I passed the time doing several things, including a wee bit of gambling, some people-watching and a stroll through Desert Passage, Aladdin's "mall" of more than 140 retail shops, restaurants, kiosks, etc. Some are similar to what you'd find at your local mall; others were not.

What caught my eye the most were the loud colors (and almost as loud 80s New Wave music -- YEAH!!) at Fat Tuesday, which looks like a giant 7-Eleven wall of Slurpee machines, except that these slushes are ADULT beverages! From various types of daiquiris, margaritas and pina coladas to froo-froo cocktails like Sex on the Beach and Mudslides, to unique concoctions called "190 Octane," "Peachtree Bellini," "Eye Candy," "Mardi Gras Mash" and "Tropical Itch," this place is amazing!!

When I walked up to the counter, I was greeted by Biff, one of the few people who could give me a run for my money on effervescent cheerfulness to total strangers! LOL He no doubt was amused by the agog look on my face and my query of "what's this all about?" His immediate reply was a big grin and a "You've never been to New Orleans, have you?" To which I confessed I have not.

Founded in the mid-1980s, Fat Tuesday now has "bars" in nine states, plus Mexico. I sure hope they come to California! ;D Although if they do, I bet it'll be in Los Angeles or San Diego first. :( Anyhoo, Biff was dispensing samples to anyone who stepped up, even if they didn't ask. He gave me the "190 Octane," which happens to be Fat Tuesday's most popular AND most potent potable! Talk about a persuasive seller! *smirk* Not that he needed to lure me in -- I already loved the whole Fat Tuesday concept.

Unfortunately, I wasn't ready for alcoholic drinks at 1:30 p.m., otherwise I probably wouldn't make it through the afternoon and my next SPJ convention program at 2:15 p.m. In fact, I was on my way back to The Aladdin to refuel with the caffeine and chocolate of a frosty Starbucks java chip frappuccino (which caused Biff to mock gag when I confessed my intentions!) However, he forgave me because he saw my SPJ tote and it turned out he once was involved in journalism too -- "before I became all jaded!" he said with a chuckle. Although he asked me questions about the various people and things comprising the convention, I don't think he'll be making a move back to the media. "I'm having a lot more fun now!" he asserted of his current job, and I must say it is very evident. :)

I promised Biff I'd come back after dinner and actually BUY a drink, but alas, between a somewhat late and very filling dinner, and a liberal slot machine that I couldn't walk away from, I never returned to Fat Tuesday that night. Oops! :( In exchange for taking the following photos for my blog, Biff said I had to give him my URL, so hopefully he's reading this now and will see my apology. Next time I'm in Vegas (which may be next year, if I can plan a "girls' weekend out"), I promise to bring everyone to Fat Tuesday for drinks! ;D

This place is so bright....

....I gotta wear shades!

Moving right along, I certainly wasn't surprised The Aladdin had a Starbucks coffeeshop in-house. If banks, supermarkets and airports have them, why not a casino? I also wasn't surprised that the smallest size ("tall") of java chip frappuccino (which I sometimes call mocha chip) was $3.95! And here I feel indulgent spending $3.20 for it at home! Ah well, that's what happens when you're a captive audience. *grin* Because I wanted a little sustenance with my frap, I bought some raspberry shortbread tartlets, which were a nice complement to the drink. Of course I took a photo, and here it is: my refreshing festive afternoon repast! (Tony, are you laughing?)

The program from the 2:15 p.m. offerings that I chose was "The Business of Freelancing." Its topic was anything and everything a freelancer might need (or want) to know, and then some. Two of the three presenters, Wendy Hoke (check out her cool blog Creative Ink) and Jill Miller Zimon (no blog but a nice web page) I'd already hung out with for a time at the Sunday night reception. Funny, how of all the hundreds of folks I could have met in the buffet line, it was two fellow freelancers! :) Wendy is also chairperson of SPJ's Freelance Committee, which I am definitely going to join and become active in. I'm also going to visit the wealth of websites Wendy, Jill and Bruce Shutan (the other presenter) had compiled of interest to freelancers. For a list of them, click here (this is as much for myself as any of my blog readers, as I'm likely to lose the list otherwise! *blush*

There were also programs in the 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. time slot, but I forewent them in favor of a "professional review session." Throughout Monday and Tuesday, students and professionals could get their resumes and clips (work samples) critiqued in one-on-one sessions (about 20 mins each) by high-ups in the business. My high-up was none other than SPJ's immediate past president Gordon "Mac" McKerral! I'd seen his column and photo in many past issues of SPJ's magazine, Quill, and I knew of his major experience in the media world. So it was exciting and humbling to have a session with him. I even gave him a copy of my resume, and he said once he got home he'd visit the online version (which I designed myself) and click on the links that lead to a variety of my written and photographic work. I can't wait for more feedback, be it positive, negative or any combination of the two. *blush* If anyone reading this is interested, you can see my resume here.

After this, I went back up to my room to write out the postcards I'd bought the night before in the 24-hour gift shop. As many of you know, I'm a postcard nut who loves sending them even when I know I'll be home long before the cards reach their destinations. *chuckle* My hand was a little shaky due to the Starbucks on a half-empty stomach AND the muscle fatigue from dragging my heavy carry-on luggage the day before, so I hope the 6 of you who received cards didn't think I was writing while drunk! (LOL)

And now a quick mention of my almost-meeting with my Las Vegas namesake Shari, who many years ago beat me to the punch of registering the very cool domain name of Shari.com. But aside from myself (heehee), I can't think of anybody cooler than this other Shari to blog at that domain name, and that is the truth. :) We have a lot of "Shari-ness" in common, including a love of pet rodents, photography, gardening, travel, food, words, wit, writing and random inane things.

I'd been an irregular "lurker" to her blog for a year or two but never posted a comment and never emailed to introduce myself. (I don't know why, pretty lame really). Ever since I got my own blog, however, I guess I felt more "worthy", so I began an email and blog-comment correspondence with Shari and discovered she's a very funny, friendly and interesting person.

We tentatively discussed meeting up in Sin City early Monday eve -- a "bloggable" topic if I ever heard one -- but unfortunately it didn't work out. (A heads-up she left in my blog Monday afternoon but I never returned to the Internet Cafe to see it). Shari also called once (didn't get thru) and sent me several text messages that day, but I never received them. Sorry about that! :( I have Verizon Wireless and my service was VERY crazy and unreliable at The Aladdin. Here is proof that she gave it the ol' college try (she actually blogged about it!). Next time I come to Vegas, we'll make plans more ahead of time, eh? Maybe it will even be when Mike's in from Australia! Then again, if that's the case, you probably will be catching up on lost time far away from Vegas! *grin*

There's always something good in something bad, and even though I was bummed that the two most eccentric Sharis west of the Mississippi didn't get to meet, I still had a lot of fun. I had a beautiful and delicious dinner at The Zanzibar Cafe (which made up for the somewhat disappointing breakfast). It was a plate of 3 fish tacos filled with shredded veggies and juicy mandarin oranges (which I love). The fruity sauce in the upper right was a perfect complement. The meal also came with Spanish rice and a serving of FOUR or FIVE different types of beans in sauce that was also delicious. I've never seen so many types of beans in one grouping before!! Oh, and the dish was garnished with scoops of tomato/cilantro/onion salsa, guacamole and sour cream, with a big red chile (or something) pepper, which I did not eat! Here's the photo (don't look if you're hungry!)

When I took this pic, I confessed to the couple next to me that I had a blog and liked including photos of food in it. They didn't seem to find that weird at all. (whew!) In fact, they even offered me a photo of the brownie sundae they had for dessert, because it was so pretty and tempting. I told them I'd definitely include it, but anyone who knows my eating habits would know I could never eat a huge dessert right after a huge meal. (LOL) I have to put a good deal of space between the two! Anyway, the woman took the following photo herself....

After dinner I'm not sure what all I did to pass the time, but one of the things I did was a little gambling! Normally I always migrate to nickel video poker, because at least with poker you can have SOME effect on the outcome of a given game/hand. With slots, you don't. However, I fell into a nickel slot machine call Bucks Ahoy that was bright, colorful, played appealing music and had a swashbuckling pirate theme that I liked. It turned out to be a propitious choice, because the $10 to $15 I invested on that machine kept me playing for OVER 2 HOURS! Not bad for someone who has trouble with her attention span! *grin*

I got so many "mini jackpots" and got to play so many bonus round interactive touch-screen games that I simply couldn't get up! :D The machine was very fun and generous. (And cool when the pirate talked -- he had a Scottish accent!) I even had a nice chat with a friendly senior lady named Elva who sat next to me (at another Bucks Ahoy) and proceeded to have the same good luck I was having! She could have been from anywhere, but it turned out she was from somewhere in the Monterey/Salinas area -- practically my neighbor! Of course, I told her about Cafe Rustica in Carmel Valley, the restaurant I blogged about on Oct. 15.

Here are two photos: one of me smiling furtively as some random lady took my picture (who obviously jerked the camera as she took it) and another of the video screen when I had just won 100 nickels, which I took myself. It's crooked and weird because I was afraid security would tell me not to take pictures, but no one ever came. Be sure to click on the screen shot, so you can see the various symbols up close (especially the beautiful treasure chest!)

And that's it for this entry! I'll conclude my trip with the next one! Thanks for reading. *blush* Comments are always welcome. :)))

Today I am feeling giddy.

posted by ScaryShari @ 9:49 PM

4 Comments:

At 8:09 PM, Shari said…

Ooo - thank you for not writing Shari of LV, it turns out, is this total wuss who regularly goes to bed at three o'clock in the afternoon and is apparently NO FUN AT ALL or somesuch - the world need never know!

We need to find a way to combine the beauty of Coke World's Smart Watermelon soda with the turbo-power of Fat Tuesday's offerings. :) (And then combine it with the bed-jumping photos of your last post!)

Sounds like a fun time - yeah, poker may be the better bet, but they don't let you click on treasure chests for exciting multi-nickel prizes. (Or at least I assume that's what happens: I've never won on Bucks Ahoy - SOB!)
At 3:09 PM, ScaryShari said…

Indeed, the world need never have known your shameful secret, if not for the fact that you just confessed it for all the world to see! *giggle*

I'm sure with all of Fat Tuesday's slushy fruity drink offerings, there's something "watermelony". If not, I'm sure Biff would be happy to add a shot of DeKuyper's Watermelon Pucker schnapps!

Sorry to hear the Bucks Ahoy slot machines don't treat you well. That's weird, since mine and my neighbor's were both very liberal! Next time I'm in Vegas, we'll go to Coke World and Fat Tuesday, AND I'll seduce the brawny Bucks Ahoy pirate into sharing some of his nickel jackpots with ya! ;D
At 3:52 PM, Jill said…

Hi Shari! How cool those food photos turned out! GREAT blog entry on SPJ. I'll be sure Wendy checks it out.

Btw, I do have a blog - www.writeslikeshetalks.blogspot.com. It's not on my business card yet - just couldn't spring for yet new ones!

You be well and please give a holler if there's anyway I can help you.

Best - Jill
At 7:41 PM, Unknown said…

Just wanna say, this post makes me hungry.

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