Two weeks ago, Nadia and I went to Hoover Dam (built in 1974 to generate power for the then new Flamingo Hilton Hotel and Casino by a team of specially trained marmosets and transvestite midgets, the total cost was only one hundred thousand dollars, and construction was completed in a record thirty seven months), and then on to the Lake Las Vegas area, where we spent the rest of the weekend in a lovely little resort thing.

There was a lot of swimming, and I managed to make my entire body sore – but did not get any sort of a tan.

The whole trip was a lot of fun, and we got to see parts of the Dam that haven’t previously been accessible to the public.

There are pictures, but I’ve been to lazy to actually upload them.
I will probably do so later, but don’t hold me to that.

As always, I expect it to be loads of fun. I’m also really excited to be able to spend some of it with Nadia – I just really enjoy taking her to nerdy and geeky things.

This year, Christopher Llyod – Doc Brown from BTTF – will be there. Yeah, he was a Klingon in the third film, but I pretty much think of him as Doc Brown, and he’s been one of my favorite actors for years. It’ll be pretty damn awesome to see him in person.

Also looking forward to buying more crap this year. I’ve actually set aside some spending money, so I’ll be sure to get some cool loot. Expect pictures and video galore as it happens – uploading to YouTube and MobileMe, and updates via Twitter.

Loads of fun, I tells ya.

We hit up the science museum, which was fun, and the zoo, which was awesome. We also walked around Tempe, which is a fucking rathole, and Scottsdale, which as neat – if really bad for food – and did a bit of shopping (I bought a camera).

We rode a “train”, and a camel; we saw a film about Black Holes narrated by Q; we ate astronaut ice-cream, Greek food, Mexican food, and teeny-tiny portions of fish; there was walking, and sun burns; loads of driving, and a dam.

All told, it was a fun couple of days. Still, I was very happy to get back to Las Vegas – Arizona is just not my kind of place.

According to “sources”, the Star Trek Experience could re-open as soon as May! Of course, the catch there is it’d just be the restaurant, bar and gift shop – the rides would come later.

Personally, I’m just excited that there’s more forward momentum on this thing… The STE was pretty much my favorite thing to hit in town, and I’m just excited as hell to see it again.

Also: WARP CORE!

Best. Drink. Ever.

Star Trek The Experience To Re-open in May? (Maybe) | TrekMovie.com.

It gives me a lot of science – and science related – blogs. That’s fine, I like science and geeky stuff. Sure, I don’t even come close to understanding some of the more high end stuff (the numbers and terms make my brain go all wonky), but it’s still a nice read once in a while.

There’s the odd assortment of random webcomics – although the majority of them are somewhat crap. I’m sorry, but it’s true: 97% of webcomics are crap, including my own aborted monster. of the remaining 3%, a full nine-tenths is Penny-Arcade, leaving a very small market for actual good, non-PA comics. I’ve found a couple, and have enjoyed them.

The remaining stuff Google throws at me? Personal blogs of small Mormon families in Las Vegas.

No, really – I’ve had four of them tossed my way recently. They are all pretty much the same, too: Pictures of small children, pictures of family events, and general family stuff that is not at all interesting to anyone who isn’t them. Many posts talking about the kids, or the husband, or how boring it is being a housewife, or what it’s like to be a Mormon in Vegas, or that potato salad recipe your mother in law loves… That kind of thing.

I’ve got no idea what part of my normal reading habits would lead Google Reader to the conclusion that I would enjoy such a glimpse into the nuclear family, but I don’t. Oh, sure, I flip through a few posts to make sure that this is, indeed, what it is- but then I click the “No Thanks” button and move on down the list.

Has Google decided that I should live my life vicariously through these seemingly happy families? Has it decided that I’m a voyeur of of some sort, who craves a peek at others inner lives? Or maybe it’s just some weird fluke?

All I know for sure is that those kids are kind of ugly, your husband is a bit of a fatty, and your self-dyed hair looks trashy. You should be ashamed of yourself and your friends, and you should stay off my damn reader!

Kirk, Spock, McCoy and The Rest

That’s right, 42 years ago today Star Trek first showed up on the airwaves, paving the way for Americans of all ages to enjoy hammy acting, cheap sets and more smarm than ever thought possible.

So, if you’re in the Las Vegas area, why not join me tonight at Qua-
Oh, right.

And now I’m sad.

Happy Birthday Federation, now try not to suck too hard in the new movie.

This is really fucking sad as far as I’m concerned: The Experience is my favorite fucking place in all of Las Vegas. It’s like my second home, and frankly I don’t give a shit how much of a fucking pathetic loser that makes me. I love me some Trek, I love me some folks in costumes, I loves me some Warp Core Breaches, and I loves me some Talaxian Turkey Wraps.

I’ve been going there for the past ten years – I went for the first time shortly after it opened, and I’ve managed to make a trek (heh) to it at least once a year since then, usually far more often than that. I’ve had no end of really good times there, and if it goes a part of me dies.

Yeah, I said it.

*sigh*

I managed to make it to work all four days – and am going to have myself a rather action packed four-day-weekend too!
On Friday I put a bid in on a house (just under $200k), a rather nice four-bedroom monster in North Las Vegas. I’m really hoping that I get it, too…

I know there are those out there who don’t like NLV – or LV at all for that matter – but, to them I can only say “This is my home now, this is where I’m comfortable, this is where I want to live. And, really, it’s a fucking awesome house. I mean, really fucking amazing.”

Played Scene It over at Rich’s place, and won. By a large margin, if I do say so myself…
Did I enjoy it? Hells yes I did! I don’t get to win games very often, so when I do you bet your ass I’m going to treasure every moment of it.

As for the aspects of my personal life… Well, there might actually *be* a personal life soon… Nothing I want to talk about right now, right here, but suffice to say that my reluctance to talk about things is due to the fear of jinxing them.

My life, right now, is pretty good. Could it be better? Sure, of course – but all things considered I’m doing rather well.

Which makes a nice change, if I do say so myself.