Jan's and John's Peripatetic Adventure

Vegas: The Desert from Above

No matter how much I fly I never get tired of the view from the window seat although it's not always very interesting or even visible because of the cloud cover. But on this flight from Las Vegas the view was spectacular! It was completely cloudless and was the most barren and beautiful landscape I've ever seen from above. There was desert literally from Las Vegas to about 50 miles east of Oakland, California. Here are a few of my favorite photos. I don't know what those circles that look like an alien city are. They looked like they were water. And then sometimes there would be a lake in the middle of nowhere, with nothing around it. It looked like an alien planet; I loved it.

Vegas: Outta Here

We had fun in Las Vegas but it's time to go back to Berkeley. We scheduled such a short trip because it was our first time to Vegas and we didn't know a thing about it. Also, we knew the heat was going to be terrible so we didn't want to deal with it for long. As it turns out, our visit was just the right amount of time and we really enjoyed it. Before we went, our impression of Las Vegas was that it was nothing but sleaze which, thankfully, turned out not to be the case. We saw a little bit of it which was disturbing enough and there were other reminders that we were in a very different part of the U.S., culturally. Vegas itself felt a lot like Disneyland, with creative and elaborate architectural replicas, often lovely, and is all about getting you to part with your money.

Are You Married?

Since we aren't interested in gambling our only contact with the smoke-filled casinos was walking through them to get from one place to another. One very interesting incident was Tuesday morning. We wanted to find a Starbucks because the breakfast in the Bellagio VIP Lounge looked like Safeway pastries and there wasn't a latte in sight. So we crossed the street to the Aladdin Hotel to go to Starbucks.

Afterward, on our way out of Aladdin, we were accosted and I mean ACCOSTED by a guy working for the casino: "Hey! You two!" We thought he was going to yell at us for using the exit in the mall that wasn't open yet. It was 8 a.m. No, he had questions: "Are you staying in this hotel?" No, we're staying in Bellagio. We could see the $ signs in his eyes. Then he blatantly looked at John's shoes. I guess that's a way of judging if people are posh or not? Well, John's shoes aren't so the guy continued: "Are you newlyweds?" No, we're not. I guess he could have thought my lips were chapped because I was on my honeymoon but really they were chapped because of the dry air. Good guess, though. Then his final question: "Are you married? To eachother?" Did he mean as opposed to married but to other people? Welcome to Vegas, baby. Anyway, we said yes we're married to eachother. Then he literally lept into the air and said he had a "comp" for us. We had no idea what that was but it sounded like a free something to entice us into doing and spending more in their casino so we declined and scurried out the door.

Outside the hotel, as we approached the stairs to the sidewalk another guy yelled: "Hey! You two!" We hurried down the stairs and back to the tranquility of Bellagio. I don't know if they do that at Bellagio but we didn't see any of it. Whew, a narrow escape.

The Airport

The line for taxis at Bellagio is a mile long all day so I was a little concerned about getting to the airport on time. So, this morning, we started to get in the line and some guy came over and announced anyone going to the airport could use the shuttle. It turns out most of the people standing in line for taxis are going elsewhere so the few of us going to the airport got into the shuttle, which was only $6 per person btw. We were at the airport in minutes since it's only about 3 blocks from the MGM Grand. I took the photo which shows the Pyramid from the shuttle so you can see how close the hotels really are to the airport.

After checking in, which was easy, the security line was very long, no surprise there. There were monitors showing pretty funny videos of security procedures, including some Kingons and Starfleet officers going through security. Hilarious. Then along came a security guy and pointed to a section of our line to move ahead to a different area. Uh, oh! We walked into a long narrow glass hallway which was, frankly, a little claustrophobic even for people who usually don't have a problem with it. Then we unfortunately got to witness some security behavior that made our blood pressure go up. On the other side of the glass hallway was the area where they examine people individually. Security people in surgical gloves were moving wands around men and women who had to be in their 80's and 90's! Then, they frisked them and actually touched them! I was furious. Those people were very old and some had trouble just standing upright for that long to be examined. There is no way this is intelligent security. It's just plain cruel and obnoxious, there is no other way to describe it. The security people didn't seem particularly nice and had that smug, superior expression on their face and body language that they often do. Damn, that was upsetting. And there were many security people just standing around doing nothing. I guess doing nothing is better than harassing senior citizens.

When we got to the end of the glass corridor we finally saw what was in store for us. It was one of those new machines you stand inside of and it examines you. Seemed easy and thankfully non-invasive. The woman at the security desk was very nice and smiled and was very pleasant to me. I stood in the machine and it shot bursts of high-speed air at me very quickly from head to toe. It's weird but not a problem. Oh, it's ridiculous, that's for sure. But at least it wasn't unpleasant.

My carry-on purse made it through the x-ray machine yet again without them asking to see inside. I guess the x-ray of my 2 ipods, camera, palm pilot, cellphone and dental retainer are easily identifiable enough that they don't need to see them. Hmm... ok! I'm not complaining, I'm just surprised.

The flight was quick and easy again, although there was a half-hour backlog of planes on the runway waiting to take off. I will say one thing though and that is my contempt for bad airplane passenger etiquette. This time here's one thing we saw: some guy put his bags on the floor at the head of the line to get on the plane and then sat down in the chairs in the waiting area. I wanted to report his bags to security as abandoned and suspicious luggage but was afraid it would end up just delaying our flight.

Mr. Cheater spent the whole time on his cellphone having one of those smug conversations that make you want to slap people. Anyway, I was furious until I noticed that he put his bags at the head of line B. Southwest Airlines is great. There are no assigned seats, you board the plane by the letter you have on your ticket; A, B or C. That way the plane boards more quickly and everyone is seated more quickly too. So, this guy thought he was cheating so he could be first on the plane (I guess so he could be first off) but the "A" ticketholders boarded before him. He barged in front of everyone in line "B" and on the plane he went, with us at the end of line "B". But when we left the airport in Oakland he was leaving at the exact same moment! So, for all his cheating, he didn't get out of the airport any faster than we did. So there. At some point I really should write up a little airplane passenger etiquette page because I fly a lot and am really fed up with the bad behavior I have to deal with. Cheaters and talkers are at the top of my list.

So, that's our trip to Las Vegas! Aside from the heat and the lack of much to do during the day, we enjoyed it and will probably go back in the winter when it's not 105 degrees and see some more shows. Maybe by then the current security looniness will be over and I can take some chapstick onto the plane.

Vegas: Ka

We're in Las Vegas continues...

Cirque Du Soleil's "Ka" was the main reason for our little trip to Las Vegas because our friend Beth Quist is one of the two singers.

We took the Monorail to the MGM Grand so we could arrive extra early. Perhaps to have a little... champagne, of course! So we went to L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon. Incredible! Exquisite cuisine, lovely decor and oustanding service. We had champagne and one small dish and then reserved for dinner after the show (which was another incredible meal).

In the lobby before the show, two musicians come out and played a giant harp (see photo) that is built into the wall of the theatre above the entrance. They are wearing gloves that are treated in some way so that they can stroke the harp strings which then sing and drone. It was gorgeous. Then we went to our seats in the large theatre, which appeared to be sold-out.

Seeing and hearing Beth perform in Cirque Du Soleil was an amazing experience. The show is a visual extravaganza, with an astonishing rotating stage. At one point Beth was on-stage, hanging from the ceiling, singing and playing her drum, while the acrobats climbed and swung around her. Truly spectacular.

After the show someone took us back stage so we could say hello/goodbye to Beth. She really is extraordinarily talented and we feel so lucky to know her. It was a very special evening. Thank you, Beth!

Vegas: Trekkin'

We're in Las Vegas continues...

Ever since it opened, we've wanted to go to Star Trek: The Experience. We took the Monorail which was easy and fun and went right to the Hilton where Star Trek is.

What a fun day! The large-scale replicas of the starships were amazing. As expected, I was all excited about the Enterprise-D. I took some photos in the museum of Star Trek props and stuff which was really great. There is Nomad from the original series. The level of detail throughout the Museum and other exhibits is incredible. We really really loved it.

Then we did the backstage tour, where they take you around the preparation areas and underneath the two rides and show you how everything works. It was really interesting, especially since we hadn't been on the two experience rides yet. After the tour we had lunch at Quark's Bar and Restaurant. The food was surprisingly good, although the restaurant didn't really look like the photos and was a little cheesy.

After lunch we were ready for the two rides: Klingon Encounter & Borg Invasion 4D. Wow! They were amazing. Even though the Borg one was 3D, I preferred the Klingon Encounter because you are in a moving shuttlecraft in front of a round movie screen. The visuals and movement of the shuttle are incredible. It reminded me of the Star Wars ride at Disneyland only this was better because it's Star Trek. They also walk you through a corridor and onto the Enterprise-D bridge. The bridge is awesome! It's exactly like the tv show and it's... it's... well, amazing. We loved every minute of it.

Then, I had signed up for the "Captain's Chair" photo. We waited at the place indicated and a staff guy took us to the Enterprise-D Bridge. John did not sign up and waited for me back at the entrance. So it was me and 3 extremely nerdy male Trekkers. One of the guys was in full Starfleet uniform. Sure. Why not. It was clear that they could not deal with the fact that a woman was with them and was also a Trek-Nerd. They ignored me completely. It was like I was invisible which, frankly, was fine with me. On the elevator they were discussing Star Trek trivia and were stumped when they tried to come up with the name of Spock's wife. When I told them it was T'Pring they looked like they wanted to strangle me. Then they continued to ignore me and we each went on our way to pick up our photos.

There I am in Captain Picard's chair. Damn, I wish I had one of those uniforms. Although even if I did, my feet still wouldn't have reached the floor. Hilarious! We had such a fun day, I'm so glad we got to see The Star Trek Experience. And I'm so glad I had John, my very own Trek-Nerd, to share it with.

Vegas: Dinner with Beth

We're in Las Vegas continues...

The entire reason we went on this little jaunt to Las Vegas was to see our friend and Magnatune artist, Beth Quist, who is one of the 2 singers in "Ka," a Cirque Du Soleil show at the MGM Grand. More about that later.

We met at Le Cirque, restaurant in Bellagio. It was so great to see her! She looks amazing and is as sweet, fun and interesting as ever. We had an amazing meal at Le Cirque, which was lovely, quiet and delicious. We ate and talked for hours. It was wonderful.

After dinner we walked through the hotel lobby where you can see the gorgeous glass ceiling sculpture. Then we went outside to see the water show at night, which was really gorgeous. There also is a photos of the Paris Hotel across the street, which is really spectacular at night.

It was a fabulous evening with a fabulous friend.

Vegas: Bellagio

We're in Las Vegas continues...

After our walk in the heat from hell, we arrived at our hotel: Bellagio and checked in. The hotel is one of the loveliest on The Strip. We've heard so much about it and have been really wanting to stay there.

The suite was bigger than any apartment I've ever lived in. I've never seen anything like it. However, we thought the decor was hideous. The fabrics didn't really go together and that green plaid sofa was awful. The chandelier looks like a high school wood-working project, as did some of the other furniture, like the desk and a couple tables. There it is in all its glory, so you decide.

The bedroom was also huge but strangely configured. There were no beside tables! Chessus, who's the genius that thought that up? There were 3 bathrooms total and separate showering and bathing rooms. The views were pretty spectacular, especially the one from the bathtub.

Although we were pleased with the size of the suite, the other disappointment besides the decor was the internet. No wireless. Instead, they provided an ethernet cable in the minibar "which you get to keep." Keep? Why would we want to do that? We have a bunch at home and were very stupid to forget to bring one. Of course, we expected there to be wireless internet... The cable was only $11 (!) but it was the principle of the thing so we skipped it and did without internet, which was kind of nice. The minibar was also one of those with sensors so it was "you touch it, you bought it." I couldn't even check the calorie content of the M&M's so we skipped it. I had the $5 Diet Coke.

But aside from my silly complaining, overall we liked Bellagio very much and do recommend it, if you can deal with the fabrics. The hotel itself is elegant and lovely. We especially liked it once we found the VIP private elevators, so we didn't have to use the regular ones that emerge into the smoke-filled casino. Oh! One more little piece of silliness. When you get into the elevator it is quiet. Then when the doors close music starts. Some elevators had classical but not all of them. Then just as the doors opened at your destination the music stopped. Some overpaid MBA must have thought that one up.

Vegas: Arrival

We drove to Oakland Airport in the morning for a 9:15 flight. The security line was longer than usual but seemed to move pretty steadily. The only bad part was the security mutant marching up and down the lines screaming at everyone that we can't take any liquids, creams, etc. At one point someone in line admitted she had moisurizer in her handbag and he went postal. He is nuts and should be fired.

The flight was quick and easy. The other passengers were quite a mix, totally not our peeps, and included a woman who inspired us to invent a backstory that she was on her way to Las Vegas for CrackHoCon 2006: Come One, Come All! (John made up that last part. Really, he did.) After we landed, as people were waiting in the aisle to leave the plane, she said out loud, "Hurry up, I have to piss!" I'm not kidding.

In the Las Vegas airport we immediately noticed that there were slot machines, etc. which we thought was completely hilarious and more than a little pathetic. We got to Bellagio by (very expensive) taxi really quickly but it was too early to check in so we just checked our luggage in at the bell desk. I decided I wanted to go to the MGM Grand to pick up our Cirque Du Soleil tickets for Tuesday night so I wouldn't have to worry about picking them up last-minute. (Yea, I'm a worrier.) The heat was astonishing. 105 degrees. It was so awful we decided to see if we could walk the whole way by walking inside the air-conditioned hotels.

Starting from Bally's, we walked on through to the Paris Hotel. BTW, the Eiffel Tower is gorgeous and really dominates the whole Las Vegas strip. I think it's hilarious to compare it to my photos of the real Eiffel Tower from our recent trip in June.

There is a large indoor mall that has the ceiling painted like the sky and looks amazing. We walked around the mall which is full of a combination of posh and cheezy stores. By now we were desperate for lunch and found an amazing restaurant: Commander's Palace, a companion to the famous restaurant in New Orleans (which I actually went to in 1985). Yea, we had champagne. They tried to talk us into ordering the 25 cent martinis. 25 cents? We're in Vegas, baby! Everyone else was drinking them and they were bright and lovely colors. But we had champagne instead.

We walked through a few hotels but finally did have to walk on the street in the horrible, horrible heat. Wow, it was tough. We picked up our tickets at MGM and then popped over to the New York, New York hotel to take a look. The exterior NY skyline is pretty cool but inside it's cheesy, ugly and without any class whatsoever. We were surprised. The final leg of our walk from hell was past a large construction zone where they're building yet another hotel/resort. I guess Vegas needs another one? Ok. Then we arrived at our posh destination: Bellagio. As we were walking along the entryway to the hotel their famous water show started and it was really gorgeous. The water shoots in patterns and then sometimes incredibly high.

Isn't the sky gorgeous? Completely clear and incredibly blue. Now: imagine the temperature inside your car after it's been sitting in the sun all day. That's what it feels like walking around. Yikes.

Drunk on the Runway

We're in California continues...

Tomorrow we're going to Las Vegas for a couple days. I'm in a bad mood just thinking about what a nightmare the Oakland airport is going to be but I've got my fingers crossed the flight doesn't get diverted because some passenger has a tube of Poligrip in their carry-on.

I don't know if I'll be blogging from there but I will definitely blog when I get back. I plan to take a zillion photos. We were pretty upset today to discover that it's going to be 100 degrees. That kind of heat is really scary but there's lots of air conditioning so it will be an adventure, for sure.

I've been spending the last few days watching my new favorite show, Project Runway. Since Kathy Griffin's My Life on the D-List season 2 is concluded I don't have anything to watch so I thought I'd give Project Runway a try. I love it!

I don't know a thing about fashion and I'm not particularly interested in it, as anyone who has seen my clothes can tell. But I got all swept up in the likability of some of the designers and was surprised that I even like a lot of the clothes. But some of those people are nasty and so are their clothes. I think it's pretty obvious that the producers have a loud voice in who gets voted off and who stays because the worst people are there week after week. I guess they think it makes for good television. I think Tim is fabulous and completely hilarious.

Since season 3 is currently on I downloaded season 2 from iTunes. It was really fun. And it goes great with champagne.

Won't Get Fooled Again

There's an excellent airport security article in Salon. And the reader response letters are even more amazing, especially this one.

Here's another great article in Wired News.

And another detailed and informative article here.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen an emperor yet who reacted positively to being told he was naked. It all makes me feel like I live in a combination of 1984 and Brave New World, with a little Animal Farm thrown in for added flavor.

Dinner with Two Perls

We're in California continues...

Last night, John and I went into San Francisco to have dinner with harpsichordist Kathy Perl and her delightful husband, Mark.

Kathy's recording of Bach French Suites was recently number 1 at Magnatune for several weeks! We were really excited to have the opportunity to release her music on Magnatune but to have it jump immediately to number 1 was very exciting.

We had dinner at Jeanty at Jack's which is a really fabulous restaurant. Amazing French cuisine in an elegant but friendly atmosphere. Kathy and Mark are incredibly nice and the evening was filled with intelligent conversation, lot of laughs, and fabulous food.

Kathy has a concert series in her house and I'll be attending the one in September and will be blogging that for sure.

A Collection of Cats

We're in California continues...

Clyde did something odd and different today. After sleeping on the sofa for several hours, which he does all the time, he got down, stretched and then just sat there on the floor in the sunshine. Just sat there. Adorable. There he is squinting his eyes as I tell him what a pretty boy he is. Or because the sun was too bright. One or the other. The patterns of sun on the floor were lovely so I had to a take a photo. Or 2. Or 10.

Our next door neighbors have 10 cats. Yea, 10. The cats wander the local neighborhood and are a combination of skittish, friendly and lovey-dovey. Several spend a lot of time in our garden.

Rego is Clyde's mom. She was the first of the group to discover us and initially spent a lot of time inside on the sofa with us. She's one of the most affectionate and happy cats I've ever seen. But she's really rambunctious and I used to have accidental but sometimes bad scratches on my arms, legs and shoulders from her exuberant affection. So I stopped letting her in as often and her demands to come into the house diminished. Then I discovered Clyde in our garden and the rest is history. Rego's been turning up more lately and I play with her and today I let her in. Ever since she's been visiting us her favorite activity is to rub against the legs on my harpsichord. She goes nuts. She rubs her head against it and rolls over and over and grasps it with her paws and rubs her face against it some more. It's a mystery but completely adorable.

Below are Blackie (the stub tail) and Stan. They are sometimes friendly but not all the time. Sometimes they sit to have their ears or back scratched, other times they run away as fast as they can. It's kind of annoying. But they are adorable and I'm happy to let them sleep under a bush all day if that's what they want.

They are the regulars but there are more and there can be as many as 6 cats in the garden at once. I love it.

Birthday Bitch

Yea, that's me.

Today is my birthday. I can't believe I'm 53. I never thought I'd make it this far and be having so much fun. Later we're going to a special dinner at Venus, one of our favorite Berkeley restaurants. It's Venus' birthday too!

Before we left, John thought it would be nice to have some champagne, so he popped open some Pop. It's cute, trendy little champagne by Pommery. Wow, it is yummy. And so cute!

Grounded

Of course I am appalled and upset about the recent terrorist threat to London's airports. I am grateful to the government for uncovering the plot before anything happened and I totally understand the need for additional security. However:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4784225.stm

My favorite reader comment is:

"I am a security guard at Heathrow. If you don't like it, don't fly. This is happening for a reason and you're quick to forget it. If we were not doing this and a bomb did get on a plane, you would be quick to complain that nothing was being done about it. Get real, there is more to life than music."

If we were to wonder why things are so fucked up at Heathrow we now have our answer. If you don't like it, don't fly? The security people's contempt for the passengers has never been more obvious.

We've heard shocking horror stories of destroyed instruments from our musician friends. Don't fly? That means, "don't work" for a lot of people. We have traveled with John's lutes many times in the past without a problem but I guess they're staying where they are for the time being. The idea of putting them in the cargo hold is unacceptable.

Sure, x-ray the violins, take away the shampoo: that makes sense. But ban all carry-on, including precious musical instruments, expensive and fragile photographic equipment, etc.? That's not security, that's stupidity with a big dose of desperation.

So, we're dreading our trip to and from London in the coming months. Hopefully things will have calmed down by then and we'll be allowed to take an iPod onto the plane. Or a book. Or a mobile phone.

"... a British Airways flight from Heathrow to New York has been turned back because a mobile phone - banned at the time - was on board."

OK, maybe not the phone.

San Francisco Salon 2

We're in California continues...

Last night, John presented Magnatune at the monthly Creative Commons salon in San Francisco.

The pictures are all blurry because our new digital camera sucks at taking photos in low light but I still thought they're fun in a sort of drunk/psychedelic way. John loves talking about Magnatune; we're all really passionate about it.

Shannon dj'd the music which was all Magnatune music, including me. Yay! The crowd was very enthusiastic about Magnatune which is always exciting.

"Hey, when are you going back to London?"

I'm going back to London October 1. John is traveling in Europe and Japan during September and we're going to meet in London a few days after I get there. In a couple weeks we're going to Las Vegas for 3 days. It's our first time there so I'll be blogging that too.

Books Be Found

We're in California continues...

John launched his new project yesterday: BookMooch.

He's been working on it for almost a year and really intensely for the last few months getting it ready. It's really amazing. Of course, everything John does is amazing. That's my humble opinion '-)

BookMooch is not about making money, it's about community and sharing books. We have piles and piles of books that we love but realized we will probably not read again. We tried giving them to the local library which didn't want them and suggested we put them out on the sidewalk for people to take. That really didn't seem like a good solution. We wanted people who actually wanted our books to have them. So John created BookMooch.

There you see a pile of books on my desk waiting to be typed into the system. Yea, that's Kathy Griffin on my computer screen. I love watching her shows over and over; I laugh every single time. Now I can watch and laugh while I type my books into BookMooch. It's moochalicious!

It's a bird, it's a window shade...

I know, I know, this is boring but, dudes, I'm in California where not a lot happens. Sometimes the big event of the day is flat-ironing my hair.

Clyde has been spending a lot of time with me which I love but sometimes he gets a bit feisty. I have to remember that he is an animal, after all, not a stuffed toy.

Like today, he jumped off my lap and lept to the window. Yea, it's a bird. Whatever. No, not that bird, it finally gave up and went away. I think.

This was a hummingbird and hovered right in front of Clyde on the other side of the window. Just hovered there, like it knew he was behind glass and wanted to torment him. And torment him it did. Clyde snatched at the glass several times and made that chirping/hunting noise that cats make when they see some prey.

The hummingbird finally went on its way so Clyde vented his unused hunting aggression on the window shade pull which was pretty cute. Then he settled back down on the sofa for another 5 hours of napping while I read my book.

He also still drinks from the faucet every time he comes into the house. Every. Single. Time.