vegas baby... err...
As a neo-hippy, shallow-pocketed, non-gambling, health-food fan Vegas exists in my world-view as basically hell on earth.
My good friend Dr. DENI!! threw his bachelor party there over the weekend and i felt obliged to attend. I decided a good compromise would be to only spend 18 hours in the place, save money by not getting a hotel room, and basically just party with my boys and try to avoid the plastic-slime-coated-fake-boobied nastiness of sin city.
From the air Vegas looks like a true mirage. A gigantic swath of green trees and track homes plopped in the middle of absolute brown, crispy, lifeless desert. Scary!! Walking out of the airport the 111 (seriously) heat felt like a burly punch in the face. Fucking mega hot. Strait to the Mandalay Bay and my crew is just slinking out of bed at 3pm. I gather that folks got "tore up" the night before and scandalous late-night shenanigans went down. yo.
Hundreds of heat-shriveled hotel guests rode the 1 foot bodysurfing wave 20 floors below in the huge outdoor wavepool. A few dudes sat in the deep end on longboards, not really trying for anything.
5 hours later Styx rocked "Come Sail Away" to a crowd of hundreds while we began wandering the seemingly infinite, interconnected casinos/clubs/etc. of the strip. My friend and i dubbed the scene "Boobs on parade" as nearly EVERY SINGLE female, hot or not, felt some contagious compulsion to bear at least the top half of each boobie plus at least 4 inches of their midrift. We're talking white-trash, high-haired Arizona moms-of-four with leathery/wrinkled mammaries. But we're also talking about ridiculous hard-bodied latina temptresses who we're pretty sure were actually hookers walking through the slot machines. Vegas baby.
The night wore on and things got a bit loony. Dr. Deni had a great time.. still churning on crazy energy the next morning at 8am as he rallied the troops for Ecquadorian soccer bets. The crew of M.D.'s partied like N.A. bad-boys while brain-cells were thrown to the wind.
My friend and i limped to the airport for our 11am flight and then i crashed from 5pm until 6am this morning.
A few waves out there. Saw a kneelo connect some long ones.
Anyone have any good Vegas stories they'd like to share?
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Cool post by Bernie Spear:
power driving up the coast
camping and hooting and hollering
tales told of a cold liquid point
strumming and picking amongst the trees
dawnie awaken with truck riding madness
spot talked of last night peeling neverendness
5/4 suiting up when the wave tubes down the line
surfing and exploration and fresh new waves
with a few new friends met
around a
humboldt
campfire
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Also went to a bachleor party/wedding over the weekend. I hate weddings so much, but good to see my boy happy. All the fake-ass bullshit ceremonial staging and rehearsal can really suck all the energy and honesty out. Then there is all the "when are you getting married?. You are 30 yrs old and have had a girlfriend for so long. Don't you want to get married?"
I say "Fuck no! I need my simple life with my girlfriend and my dog and my ocean"
Posted by: toooshyNot my ocean, our ocean actually.
Posted by: toooshyhere here, to the simple life.
Posted by: humanzeeBaja Baby!
Posted by: searoomPossibly intoxicated pelican runs into windshield
Posted by: epfff. I drank ocean water and swam thru algae blooms all weekend and couldn't even catch a small buzz.
Posted by: KIXI had a productive weekend. Surfed Sat and Sun early in some fun junk waves. Sold a bunch of crap outta my garage on the GH Street Fair on Sat. Donated a Cherokee load of crap to Goodwill. Still have way too much stuff in the garage. Anybody need a free monitor of 5? Dell 21", Dell 19" a few, did I say free!
Posted by: DennisOB scrappy and occasionally pulling a decent set this weekend. I found a nice sandbar and put about 6 hours on it Sat + Sun. Not many peeps, mellow headz. Better than it looked. Feeling grommy.
Did anybody else notice that the ocean smelled like sliced cucumbers Saturday afternoon? Ha, yeah, I think so....
Posted by: Ancient Jettiessat. at ob i surfed the junkiest waves i've had in years. it was just like my days in florida - only better. and my wife had her first ever ob session. she took some beatings but kept coming back out for more. i was a proud husband. until on the way in i clocked her in the head with my board.
dennis, i think i passed by your garage sale. we may have some mutual friends....david and christine?
Posted by: rzaVegas- all about the people watching there. A funny place where people try waay to hard, but always enteraining for a weekend.
Had my new Ripcurl suit delaminate after 1 month, the elastomax I guess- hopefully trade it in before fall.
Stumbled across this one... Frankentiki
Posted by: artifactI broke a dry spell this morning. Foggy, breazy at the end but felt great.
Dennis, I'm interested in the 21" monitor. Could I pick it up later this week? Free please!
Posted by: #3rza - Yes! Was that you coming out of the water with Dave and Christine on Sat? Looks like dave snapped the nose on his board.
Posted by: Dennis#3 You got it - free. email me at jdmcquoid at msn dot com. or just repost here.
Posted by: DennisHad an awesome couple of days of down south this weekend near the home of a famous neoprene innovator. The waves (even though there were waits between sets) were beautifully shaped, chest high with loooooong walls and plenty of room for everyone. I had some of the best rides I can remember; zipping and rolling up and down the line from the outside all the way to the cliff. The sun never really came out in full force so it stayed nice and glassy, the tide shift was only a couple of feet so it was good all day. I had a brand new longboard to try out and most everyone out was feelin’ good and playing nice. When I closed my eyes last night, all I could see were waves stacked to the horizon on the backs of my eyelids! Peace & surf y’all
Posted by: still newFinally got my typepad login.
Anybody got a surf trip planned?
Posted by: steveyep, that was me. they had us over for a sweet little bbq. maybe next time we all go out you can join us.
Posted by: rza
Posted by: s.s. sharkbaitAnyone know why all the starfish have been washing up on the beach? Someone told me they tend to move closer to shore during heatwaves, maybe they got stranded...? No idea they came in so many colors around here.
I have given up surfing, my entire quiver is getting dumped like Dennis' monitors:
- 6'4'' bonzer egg
- 6'4'' bonzer pad
- 6'6'' Hobie egg
- 6'6'' shortboard
- 6'5'' Coffey modern tri-fish
- ...............
- YEAH, JUST FUCKING WITH YA!
I don't surf anymore though, seriously. The main reason for this is our world is out of whack. This weather is about as predictable as global warming is going to recorrect itself: IT ISN'T! I thus claim 2005-2006 as my "reset" button.
So, with this rant I finish by saying props to CK for marrying his lovely dame in one of the most organic settings in the world this weekend. Delighted I could attend. Next time you see Mr. and Mrs. CK out in the lineup, hook 'em up with a peeler.
Bring on the Weas.........
Posted by: KaiserFact #1 Sea-stars are the preferred name of starfish now-a-days. I hear it all the time from the teachers of youngsters in all manners of educational facilities.
Fact #2 Sea-stars are echinoderms....'toothy skin' I think is the literal translation of that word.
Fact #3 Sea-stars come in many colors (not to mention their morphology) when they are alive, or freshly dead.
Fact #4 I have been to Las Vegas 4 times.
Fact #5 I have paid for a room there twice.
Fact #6 I have never been there for a party of any sorts...just passing through and/or was in need of a shower after some days camping in the hinterlands.
Fact #7 I won a stuffed animal at Circus Circus when I was 13 for my older sister at the basketball toss...such a tiny rim meant it was 90%luck and 10% skill I made the shot.
Fact #8 Last time I was there (in Las Vegas), I met Jurgen and his new wife, Somethingoranother. We were swimming in the pool when we met because the air conditioning in the cheap motel rooms all sucked and it was 117 at 5 PM. They were most happy to have their honeymoon in Las Vegas and didn't look forward to their return to Germany.
Fact #9 That hotel with the lousy A/C was across the street from the pirate themed place that once had pirate shows in the big pond out front every hour till 11...I did like mist walkways out front of that place.
Fact #10 I once bought 1000 shares of LVEN. It was a property ownership firm who owned property on the trip that was going to be redeveloped into a Country Western themed casino. It spiked to 4 shortly after I bought it at $3.125. Thought I was a genious. Bounced around for a while plus or minus $.25. Then it dropped to $.50 in a day. Next day I found out why: The owners were crooks and frauds. Read all about it here:
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/comp17779.htm
Posted by: duncankaiser- if you are serious about selling any of those boards, i am very interested. Been looking at those eggs to replace my over-sized longboard that i cannot control.
Posted by: toooshyTooshy, I have a 6'10'' Hobie I picked up a bit ago off another guy. I have a 6'6'' Hobie but added the 6'10'' anyway. I may offload it as I much prefer my 6'6''. Its in pretty good shape and I have only ridden it 3 times but I am the second owner.
If you are interested, you are welcome to take a peak at it.
Otherwise, my quiver is very much on lockdown. I consider Quiver building an art. I take the act very seriously.....Ask my surf collegues!
Posted by: KaiserKaiser, wanna swap a board for a nice monitor ;-)? I'll throw in a desk.
Posted by: DennisGavin's great idea: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/06/25/MNR.TMP
Posted by: Kaiserfound a great spot friday for a nice, long evening session. shoulder+ high on the sets with some bigger, not many long rides but a ton of waves. skipped sat, hit ob on sunday - lots of rides and nice just to get out but small uninspiring waves. boo.
the guys in the deep end at mandalay are lifeguards they never try for waves. they told me that that pool can get cranked to 6ft+ for contests but otherwise it never gets turned up.
Posted by: vonsrza - sure thing. Shoot me an email and we'll grab some waves. jdmcquoid at msn dot com. Please don't hit me on the head with your board though OK ;-)
Posted by: DennisVegas eh?!
I’ve got quite a few stories I could bore you with.
Not a big fan of the place myself (except for conferences, does make sense for those), and actually find the place a bit frustrating, I don’t gamble and chasing women is pretty tough there unless you are willing to pay. I think on a bad day it’s an over priced bore, although the eye candy in terms of dressed up starlets, and insane buildings, and malls in pretty much a one off.
Usually results in my going on an all round intoxication fest and getting pissed off when the place has shut down at 3am other than strip joints and losing gamblers in hotel bars. Never fails to amaze me how dead vegas gets late at night. I always kid myself it’s 24hrs but ever since they cleaned it up and built all the big family style hotels I think it’s lost it real seedy character.
That said I think it’s best to bring your own women, drugs and booze get a massive suite in one of the hotels and make your own entertainment and perhaps invite a couple of pay guests.
I’ve done that a number of times and had some very memorable times. Had a suite directly beneath the rolling stones in the MGM when they were playing there once. Was there a few weeks ago for a BP and we had a 2000sq ft suite with huge wrap around windows with a view of the strip. Nearly sent the huge projection screen TV through one of them. Also had a central display hot tub – which we got two pay guests into for the usual routine…
So I guess I’ve had some fun times there at least…have some pics but I think posting them might come back to haunt me.
Any a different subject – got some glassy small tubes in a south spot last night. Anyone see that MASSIVE flock of birds off the coast? Biggest I think I’ve ever seen at a US coast. Guess there was a huge bait ball or something similar going on….
Posted by: ankorsankors, let me know next time you go to vegas.
Posted by: bajelbuggy...3 waves today at the beach, marginal at best...but so wet and so fun!
Posted by: andrew mAnd so Fun!
Lighting, air, pressure, Bay Area land and sea, cars and egos expressing the frustrations of life and what it all means, energy moving faster than you can equivocate and thieren make it your own and finally arriving to the sea after hours of toil....DAMN this flow goes sooo fast....crazy, out of bounds...fears coming forth, death and all, don't ya know...."Kali Yuga" as they say...what are you holding?
The inbreath/outbreath of creation...the first and the last breath that is the only breath that you have...that is all end-all be-all one breath...a lovely hope and certainly natural hunger
come "EAT" amigos, sup, repast, go forth....dine and think about what you've ate
and then surf
and reflect on that expression (a paen to the fact that I so duly seek a fine Goddess to administrate...to be my emiss)...again
an ode to her
kaiser? an ode to her please
to the Mother
to our lust of her?
to our repsect for her?
to the all of the above
damn, women are so fine
oh shit! does that mean we have to read that crap for the next 432,000 years?
Posted by: anon localThe only good thing to do in Vegas is packing your bags and getting the fuck out of Vegas.
Posted by: MSGHoover Dam is pretty cool.
Posted by: obroTROPICAL BLISS
Posted by: toneman