Vegas & The Amazing Meeting (Part I)
Last weekend I went to Las Vegas.
That sentence should by itself be enough for a blog entry, shouldn't it? The images that it brings to mind are sufficient to stir the imagination without the need to expound further. It implies bright lights, gambling, drinking, drugging, hooking, and zero sleep. And by god, that's without a doubt fairly close to an accurate representation of what went down in my little Las Vegas world for four days.
But — and you knew there was going to be a 'but', didn't you? — this was not a regular Las Vegas weekend. This was a Vegas weekend that transcended the standards and expectations of the usual visit. It was a Vegas weekend par excellence, because though it included plenty of bright lights, gambling, drinking, drugging, hooking, and zero sleep, it also featured a little something called The Amaz!ng Meet!ng V.
What the hell is The Amaz!ng Meet!ng? you ask.
Well, for the uninitiated, The Amaz!ng Meet!ng (TAM, as it's commonly called) is a conference that promotes critical thinking, skepticism, and science and focuses on how they relate to the important issues of the day. It is sponsored by the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF), which is headed by one of the most revered, influential, and respected magicians since Houdini, James "The Amazing" Randi.
This year's gathering was the fifth installment, and was shaping up to be the best in the series to date. The panel of guest speakers featured well-known pop culture figures like Penn & Teller, the Mythbusters, Scott Dikkers (editor of The Onion), and Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame. Rounding out the lineup were prominent scientists, including Dr. Eugenie C. Scott, Dr. Neil Gershenfeld, the Bad Astronomer Dr. Phil Plait, as well as acerbic pundit Christopher Hitchens.
It was going to be a righteous groove.
Unfortunately, I had a little scare before things even got underway. As the day approached, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make the trip, because we had an unusual visit from Old Man Winter. He usually holds court well north of us, but for some reason decided to swing south to Houston for a how-do-you-do, and a couple days of frozen rain had airport traffic a bit sketchy. Luckily, however, the temperature climbed barely above freezing, my flight took off on time, and in less than three hours, I stepped out into the bright sunshine of a cool Las Vegas afternoon.
I quickly caught a cab to the Riviera where the conference was being held. The JREF apparently has a thing for vintage Vegas. In fact, the only reason it was held at the Riviera, which is at the far end of the strip and has been forgotten by time, was because the only hotel that is as old and disturbingly gauche as the Riviera, the Stardust, is currently being torn down. Fortunately, TAM had a strong two-year run at the Stardust. The amount to which that fact led to the hotel's demise is unclear, but TAM has now moved on to the greener pastures of the Riviera.
After checking in at the Riviera, just for fun and to kill some time, I walked down the street to the shell that was once the Stardust, and I swear I could hear the low strains of Steve and Edie still emanating through the rubble. Also just for fun, I called my friend, Rebecca, with whom I was rooming for the weekend, and said, "My god, I just got into town and I'm at the Stardust. The place is a wreck. What the hell did you all do last night?"
She played along and responded, "Well, it is Vegas."
Actually what she said was, "You're at the wrong hotel, dumb ass."
(Both responses make me laugh.)
Anyway, after a nostalgic look around, and some harsh words with the demolition foreman (man, those guys can curse), I went back to the Riviera, and checked in with the conference coordinators. They gave me a packet that included my name badge, which was pretty much my meal ticket, and a variety of inserts, along with a tote bag and a nifty T-shirt bearing the name of the conference. I was all set.
Next was the reception.
At this point, I had not seen any of my old friends; those folks who attend the conference with me every year. In fact, I had not even seen Rebecca. She was off fighting crime, or committing crime, or something, but I took the free time to get a shower, and head up to the top of the Riviera where the reception was being held.
Once there, I saw my friends Jay and Pam, stuffing their faces, so I did likewise. The reception featured finger food and a cash bar, along with a pretty decent view of the Las Vegas night. Soon, other friends filtered by, and before I knew it, I had shaken hands with and hugged about 30 people.
But I couldn't stay to enjoy the finger food long, as I was scheduled to play in a poker tournament down in the casino; some of the proceeds were slated to go to the JREF, some went to the Riviera, the rest would find its way into the winners' pockets.
On my way out of the reception hall, I ran into my friend Melissa. She gave me a hug, and said, "You’re bald and cute."
I took that to be a very fine compliment, and I wound up saying it to several people over the span of the weekend. Some of them weren't even bald — or cute.
Anyway, I sat down for the poker tournament, and finally ran into Rebecca. She was in the tournament as well, but seated at another table. We hugged, sat down, and the cards went into play. I started out slow, but hit a couple big hands that earned me enough chips to make it to the final table.
At the final table, I was pretty much card dead, but I scrapped and scraped and held on to finish in 6th place. It was fun and for a good cause, so I had no complaints. Plus, I was free to head over to the bar where my friends were starting to heat up, so I really had no complaints.
At the bar, I saw Evelyn and Kelly, and Kelly ran up and gave me a big hug. I like big hugs from Kelly. I also met up with Simon, Mike, Ed, Jason, and several other guys. I don't like big hugs from them so much, although I got one from Jason.
The service at the bar was pretty slow, which was probably a good thing considering the double whiskeys I was drinking were 12 bucks apiece. Remember, I didn't win any money in the poker tournament, and if you're not gambling you have to pay for your drinks. At any rate, we didn't have to put up with the service for long, as another compadre informed us of a pub crawl taking shape. So we all gathered with several more people, and went acrawlin'. We were about 25 souls at this point, and the Las Vegas night awaited.
The first destination was the Peppermill lounge just next door to the hotel. It turned out to be the final destination for many of us as we realized we hadn't eaten all day, and instead of just drinking, got a table and ordered some food to go with our booze. My friend and conference speaker Phil Plait and I split the Peppermill's delicious Mountain o' Nachos. Now that's not the official name of the dish, but it is certainly appropriate. The thing was huge. Phil was sitting across from me, and when the waitress slid it onto the table it blocked him out, like an eclipse. A salt shaker got trapped in its gravitational pull and went into orbit around the massive pile of gooey chips. I had to hire a Sherpa to get me some of the guacamole that was on top.
At any rate, the night progressed relatively slowly for a Vegas night out. But that was kind of a good thing. It gave us all an opportunity to relax and get caught up with folks we hadn't seen in a year. It was a chill evening to say the least, and when Phil and I had recited every line from the movie Top Secret to the point where Rebecca threatened to karate chop us in the Adam's apple, we knew it was time to scram. From the Peppermill we walked back to the Riviera, and turned in. I was out cold on my first night in Vegas by 2am.
But the conference was scheduled to start early the next morning.
Stay tuned for the next post about TAM and my Vegas weekend.
That sentence should by itself be enough for a blog entry, shouldn't it? The images that it brings to mind are sufficient to stir the imagination without the need to expound further. It implies bright lights, gambling, drinking, drugging, hooking, and zero sleep. And by god, that's without a doubt fairly close to an accurate representation of what went down in my little Las Vegas world for four days.
But — and you knew there was going to be a 'but', didn't you? — this was not a regular Las Vegas weekend. This was a Vegas weekend that transcended the standards and expectations of the usual visit. It was a Vegas weekend par excellence, because though it included plenty of bright lights, gambling, drinking, drugging, hooking, and zero sleep, it also featured a little something called The Amaz!ng Meet!ng V.
What the hell is The Amaz!ng Meet!ng? you ask.
Well, for the uninitiated, The Amaz!ng Meet!ng (TAM, as it's commonly called) is a conference that promotes critical thinking, skepticism, and science and focuses on how they relate to the important issues of the day. It is sponsored by the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF), which is headed by one of the most revered, influential, and respected magicians since Houdini, James "The Amazing" Randi.
This year's gathering was the fifth installment, and was shaping up to be the best in the series to date. The panel of guest speakers featured well-known pop culture figures like Penn & Teller, the Mythbusters, Scott Dikkers (editor of The Onion), and Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame. Rounding out the lineup were prominent scientists, including Dr. Eugenie C. Scott, Dr. Neil Gershenfeld, the Bad Astronomer Dr. Phil Plait, as well as acerbic pundit Christopher Hitchens.
It was going to be a righteous groove.
Unfortunately, I had a little scare before things even got underway. As the day approached, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make the trip, because we had an unusual visit from Old Man Winter. He usually holds court well north of us, but for some reason decided to swing south to Houston for a how-do-you-do, and a couple days of frozen rain had airport traffic a bit sketchy. Luckily, however, the temperature climbed barely above freezing, my flight took off on time, and in less than three hours, I stepped out into the bright sunshine of a cool Las Vegas afternoon.
I quickly caught a cab to the Riviera where the conference was being held. The JREF apparently has a thing for vintage Vegas. In fact, the only reason it was held at the Riviera, which is at the far end of the strip and has been forgotten by time, was because the only hotel that is as old and disturbingly gauche as the Riviera, the Stardust, is currently being torn down. Fortunately, TAM had a strong two-year run at the Stardust. The amount to which that fact led to the hotel's demise is unclear, but TAM has now moved on to the greener pastures of the Riviera.
After checking in at the Riviera, just for fun and to kill some time, I walked down the street to the shell that was once the Stardust, and I swear I could hear the low strains of Steve and Edie still emanating through the rubble. Also just for fun, I called my friend, Rebecca, with whom I was rooming for the weekend, and said, "My god, I just got into town and I'm at the Stardust. The place is a wreck. What the hell did you all do last night?"
She played along and responded, "Well, it is Vegas."
Actually what she said was, "You're at the wrong hotel, dumb ass."
(Both responses make me laugh.)
Anyway, after a nostalgic look around, and some harsh words with the demolition foreman (man, those guys can curse), I went back to the Riviera, and checked in with the conference coordinators. They gave me a packet that included my name badge, which was pretty much my meal ticket, and a variety of inserts, along with a tote bag and a nifty T-shirt bearing the name of the conference. I was all set.
Next was the reception.
At this point, I had not seen any of my old friends; those folks who attend the conference with me every year. In fact, I had not even seen Rebecca. She was off fighting crime, or committing crime, or something, but I took the free time to get a shower, and head up to the top of the Riviera where the reception was being held.
Once there, I saw my friends Jay and Pam, stuffing their faces, so I did likewise. The reception featured finger food and a cash bar, along with a pretty decent view of the Las Vegas night. Soon, other friends filtered by, and before I knew it, I had shaken hands with and hugged about 30 people.
But I couldn't stay to enjoy the finger food long, as I was scheduled to play in a poker tournament down in the casino; some of the proceeds were slated to go to the JREF, some went to the Riviera, the rest would find its way into the winners' pockets.
On my way out of the reception hall, I ran into my friend Melissa. She gave me a hug, and said, "You’re bald and cute."
I took that to be a very fine compliment, and I wound up saying it to several people over the span of the weekend. Some of them weren't even bald — or cute.
Anyway, I sat down for the poker tournament, and finally ran into Rebecca. She was in the tournament as well, but seated at another table. We hugged, sat down, and the cards went into play. I started out slow, but hit a couple big hands that earned me enough chips to make it to the final table.
At the final table, I was pretty much card dead, but I scrapped and scraped and held on to finish in 6th place. It was fun and for a good cause, so I had no complaints. Plus, I was free to head over to the bar where my friends were starting to heat up, so I really had no complaints.
At the bar, I saw Evelyn and Kelly, and Kelly ran up and gave me a big hug. I like big hugs from Kelly. I also met up with Simon, Mike, Ed, Jason, and several other guys. I don't like big hugs from them so much, although I got one from Jason.
The service at the bar was pretty slow, which was probably a good thing considering the double whiskeys I was drinking were 12 bucks apiece. Remember, I didn't win any money in the poker tournament, and if you're not gambling you have to pay for your drinks. At any rate, we didn't have to put up with the service for long, as another compadre informed us of a pub crawl taking shape. So we all gathered with several more people, and went acrawlin'. We were about 25 souls at this point, and the Las Vegas night awaited.
The first destination was the Peppermill lounge just next door to the hotel. It turned out to be the final destination for many of us as we realized we hadn't eaten all day, and instead of just drinking, got a table and ordered some food to go with our booze. My friend and conference speaker Phil Plait and I split the Peppermill's delicious Mountain o' Nachos. Now that's not the official name of the dish, but it is certainly appropriate. The thing was huge. Phil was sitting across from me, and when the waitress slid it onto the table it blocked him out, like an eclipse. A salt shaker got trapped in its gravitational pull and went into orbit around the massive pile of gooey chips. I had to hire a Sherpa to get me some of the guacamole that was on top.
At any rate, the night progressed relatively slowly for a Vegas night out. But that was kind of a good thing. It gave us all an opportunity to relax and get caught up with folks we hadn't seen in a year. It was a chill evening to say the least, and when Phil and I had recited every line from the movie Top Secret to the point where Rebecca threatened to karate chop us in the Adam's apple, we knew it was time to scram. From the Peppermill we walked back to the Riviera, and turned in. I was out cold on my first night in Vegas by 2am.
But the conference was scheduled to start early the next morning.
Stay tuned for the next post about TAM and my Vegas weekend.
posted by Sam Ogden at
4:06 PM
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