SoCal-Style Thanksgiving

I don't think I will ever get used to sunshine, warm days, beaches, and palm trees for the holidays but this year we did get the pleasure of celebrating Thanksgiving with my sister in Los Angeles. After hearing horror stories of 11 hour drives on the I-15 during holiday weekends, we decided to leave early on Wednesday and make the drive early in the morning. I drank a little too much coffee and needed a pit stop, which isn't really as easy as it sounds when you are driving through the Mojave Desert. We finally pulled over somewhere about 40 miles past Baker at a desolate-looking mini-mart. It turns out that this isnot just a clean bathroom, but some kind of official Ron Paul mini mart. There was a sign in the bathroom asking people to please buy something, so I ended up perusing the sodas, only to discover that they specialized in vintage soda. Yay for Dad's root beer. Not much else was available, so we also bought a Ron Paul marketing kit and hit the road. Some interesting reading material, including: "Why Methamphetamine Should be Legal"!

Once in LA, we navigated the maze of freeways and made it to Woodland Hills. This is a northwestern suburb that is really close to Topanga Canyon and then over the mountains, the Pacific Ocean. We drove through the canyon checking out camping at Topanga State Park and then drove south to Santa Monica on the Pacific Coast Highway. We got trapped in a crazy traffic jam and reversed to go north to Malibu. There was a fabulous park across the highway from what's got to be one of the mosst beautiful campuses in the world belonging to Pepperdine University with views of the beach. Pocky enjoyed a walk on the bluffs and we got to experience the wacky California doggie-poop bags (amazingly complex!) After Malibu, we met my sister and went out for a fabulous dinner in the canyon at Abuelita's and I got to FINALLY PLAY Wii!!!!

On Thanksgiving, we all got up early and had bagels and coffee to get us ready for the big day of cooking. We then proceeded to inventory whether or not my sister actually had enough pots, pans, and dishes to cook a turkey and numerous side dishes. It is hard to believe that three people, two cats (hi Honu and Velzy!), and a dog in a one-bedroom LA apartment were able to pull off an organized, well-timed feast, but we did! The turkey was really great and we had my Mom's oyster stuffing, my Nana's blueberry Jello salad, and Aaron's family's Eastern European cucumbers. There were two kinds of pie for desert and plenty of wine and beer. We played a friendly game of Texas Hold-em while the bird cooked and I got my first four of a kind! After dinner we drank more, and played the strangely addictive game Taboo. (Where else can you ponder which beast your relative considers to be the "yin and yang of animals"? That would be the panda.) My sister even updated her Facebook page and verified that we really are siblings.

On Friday, we had breakfast in the canyon at a great dog-friendly place and then took a trip to Muscle Beach in Venice. It was amazing. I have definitely seen some freaky people on the Lower East Side, in Vegas, and across the country- but Venice certainly has an inordinate amount of weirdos. We saw this super-tanned troll-like bodybuilder with nary a piece of clothing on jogging to the workout pen, several folks conversing with themselves, and a rich guy with a herd of dogs. Aaron got his fortune done and we invested in a few well-chosen bumper stickers as souvenirs. After picking Andy up from the house we headed to Ventura to check out their favorite break, Surfer's Point and to get my national park passport stamped at Channel Islands National Park. We couldn't leave without sampling some of the local microbrews at Anacapa Brewing Company who had an awesome nut brown ale and fabulous asiago cheese dip with beer bread that we noshed on. We even called one of our favorite uncles to spread the Thanksgiving cheer. A great night even though some us drank more than others!!

Saturday, we needed to head back to Vegas, but what is life without a little disc golf? We couldn't leave without getting out butts kicked at the Sylmar Disc Golf Course where we played 18 holes. I am still the worst driver on the planet- but I think my putting has improved. With a little exercise under our belts we left for Vegas and made it back to the I-15. We were SO glad we were driving the opposite way from LA because from Barstow to Baker (about 100 miles) it was nearly bumper-to-bumper traffic. What a mess. With a full moon rising over the desert we headed back into Nevada and into the neon of Vegas. Home from a great weekend.

Finally an E-Book Breakthrough?

Amazon has recently revealed its new wireless reading device. It is called Kindle and it sounds very cool. it's light and portable, it works wirelessly like a cell phone, so there is no need to find a hot spot or to do that annoying syncing with cords and software (like my least favorite technology combo- the iPod + iTunes), and it has this crystal clear "electronic paper" screen. In addition to never needing an actual computer, there is no service plan! Access is good- to 100 out of 112 of the New York Times Bestsellers and it provides newspapers, international news, access to Wikipedia, and popular blogs. So what does it cost? Well, $399. Not cheap, but perhaps this is the e-book breakthrough that has been talked about for so long. Could Kindle do for books what Apple did for music as mentioned in this review? I know I will never truly give up my paper books and the comfort factor, but for a portable and highly accessible device, the Kindle looks pretty sweet.

Democratic Debate Tonight at UNLV!

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Originally uploaded by nicetry30

Yes, that is right! All day CNN has been broadcasting live from the field outside the library building. Free t-shirts, Express Yourself booths, press, press and more press! We faculty were just glad to get a parking spot and not be harassed too much by security.

Today at lunch there was a suspicious package that shut down Maryland Parkway, but all in all it has been a relatively smooth day. There are about a million people from the various candidate's supporting groups out in full force with signs and banners. I guess we should have made something like, "Librarians for the Cat-Friendly Candidate" to wave around!

Only about 1,000 seats in Cox Pavilion were open to the staff/faculty/student lottery, and I did not get a ticket. Too bad. But, there have been cameras and press crawling all over, so keep your eye peeled, I may yet make it on the national news!!

Las Vegas in the limelight for something besides OJ and lead-infused poker chips? I'll take it! Watch the debate and hopefully we can get this country back on the right track!

Rocking Out with the Old Crow Medicine Show

So, as most of you know, I complain a lot about living in Las Vegas. But this post is not going to say one darn bad thing about Sin City because I got to see one of my most favorite bands in the entire world live for the first time, right here!

Last night was the show, and after calling all the hard core bluegrass junkies I know (unlike Denver, in Vegas that is basically two people), we made plans to meet at the Canyon Club at the Four Queens Resort and Casino on Fremont Street.

We walked around the casino, but we weren't in the mood for slots, so the club itself seemed like the nicest place to be. We settled into a table and ordered dinner and beer. Lots of beer. The place was dead for the first hour we waited at the bar before the show, so we got primo seats with a great view of the stage. There was this slightly crazy cocktail waitress that waited on our table and kept asking us repeatedly every time she brought our beers, "Are you mad at me?"

It was merely odd at first. Then, I got some cash out at the ATM (in Vegas your choices are $5000, $2000, $1000, or $500 at a time- unless you try hard to find the $20 screen. Even so, I still never get used to the fact that if you ask for $100 you get one bill) and I paid for a round of drinks. The waitress took 30 minutes to come back with my change! I think she honestly thought she might just "tip herself" with that big bad Benjamin. She couldn't have been too bright though, people in a club in Vegas who choose to drink Pabst Blue Ribbon are not the types to forget about their change!

At 8:00 the lights dimmed and the band came on. They started off with "Big Time in the Jungle", which got the crowd going strong right out of the shoot. Then they played a bunch of new songs and hits like "Down Home Girl" and "Tell It to Me". I think they were jazzed on playing in Vegas and kept riffing on the casino/Vegas/Gram Parsons theme during the between-song banter. They played two full sets and it was obvious after the first break, that they would be going out with a full on bluegrass mosh pit. These guys could ROCK! With the exception of a couple Modest Mouse shows deep in my memory, I have never seen a band play so fast! It was awesome.

The place was packed after the intermission with all varieties of rocks root weirdos, alternative cowpunks, and crunchy granola types. Where did these people come from? It's not like you seen these folks on the Strip or shopping at Prada! Apparently, they might have all been from out of state because Aaron determined that the couple next to us flew all the way from Billings, MT just to see the show.

So, bottom line is that I have satisfied one of my life goals by hearing "Wagon Wheel" performed live and I actually had a really fabulous time hanging out with friends in Las Vegas. Amazing. If you haven't been here before, I highly recommend Fremont Street. It is the Strip alternative and it is the Old Vegas. The Canyon Club was a good venue, the tickets were affordable, and the band was in fine form. Yes, I bought a t-shirt to commemorate my first OCMS performance and it is a gem! (Plus, I had a lovely hangover today, as an additional souvenir)

What are you waiting for? Go download some music!