Tuesday, March 08, 2005


Crisco Disco Posted by Hello

Blogger Campfire Games

Blogger-Extraordinairess A** passed this little get-to-know-your-blogger-friends-better-campfire-slash-pajama-party game along to me. Apparently, these questions originated deep in the blogiverse, so it seems only right that I should attempt to keep it going.

Alright my Cyrian friend your questions are as follows:

1) If you lost every single material possession what would you miss the most?
My photos. Good photography allows us to re-connect neural pathways that may have, for one reason or another, been incinerated. And that's nice. Close runner-up: The clock that I bought on the street in San Francisco made out of a '70s disco record album cover with a hairy man's arm grabbing a fistfull of "disco".
2) What is the most important life lesson you have learned thus far?
Anything can be snorted...but it doesn't always feel good.
3) You get to have 5 minutes with the "Powers Above" what would you talk about?
I'd ask to see the power point presentation called "The Big Bang and You."
4) If a book was written entirely about your life what would it be called and why?
Nibbled By An Okapi .... a personalized version of Touched By An Angel.
5) (James Lipton Alert!)Cyrus ... (dramatic pause) what sound or noise do you love?
The sounds of the cloud forest in Monteverde, Costa Rica. Especially the deeply haunting call of a three-wattled bellbird. And yes, I am completely comfortable with my level of eco-nerdiness.

And now....Totally copied and pasted from A**'s blog:

Your turn! (if you want)I'll offer to interview the first three people to respond to this post just:
1. Leave me a comment saying *interview me*
2. I will respond by asking you five questions here on "9th Circle" in the comments section. They will be different questions than the ones above. Oh Goddess let's hope they are as good as these..
3. Then you update your blog/site with the answers to the questions.
4. If you want, include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. Then you ask 5 questions! :-)

Thursday, March 03, 2005

Crib Notes From The High Rollin' Okapi

I have finally pretty much caught up with the train wreck at work caused by our company conference in Las Vegas last week. I've been all over this country of ours, but Vegas has always eluded my adventures. To be honest, Sin City was never really that high on my list of necessary destinations. This was certainly not due to its sinfulness, per se, but more due to my perception of the way the sins are packaged. I think I must have been rebelling against a perceived commodification of sin, which, all too often dilutes the fun.

I stand corrected. Vegas fucking rocks. I was there officially for an unreal estate conference, I didn't get drunk and I gambled really minimally....and I still had a BLAST! I'm still kind of reeling from the sensory overload of it all, but here are some highlights...

* The Blue Man Group at the Luxor. This was possibly the coolest show I've ever seen. It is my opinion that truly great post-modern art can be defined by its ability simultaneously touch the primal and the futuristic, its abililty to provoke both complex introspective thought and childish giggles, and its ability to be interactive. Blue Man epitomizes great post-modern art.

* Cirque du Soleil Zumanity at New York New York. For a good time, definitely call Zumanity. This adults-only version of Cirque du Soleil was beautiful, funny and completely entertaining. Of course, for my jaded acquaintances, the man on man jail scene, the woman on woman water acrobatics scene and the high-flying dwarf man on leggy naked woman scene wouldn't raise one cynical eyebrow...but it's sure fun to watch the straight Kentucky tourists squirm.

* The rides on top of the Stratosphere tower. At the top of the 120-some story tower are three cute little relaxing rides called the High Roller, the Big Shot and the X-Scream. Yeah, um, if you just want to take a load off and relax a bit after a long day of walking from casino to casino, then, um, this is the place to be. The Big Shot is exceptionally relaxing if you don't have a lot of leisure time.

* Pai Gow Mania. It apparently takes a four year degree in Asian gambling to understand the rules to this Chinese poker, but it takes only a sense of the absurd to enjoy watching the craziness.

* I also took a little time out to check out the Stardust Casino. As it turns out, in my continuing archaeological dig of my genetic history, back in the day, Uncle Milton Jaffe was a co-owner of this lovely Las Vegas landmark that now features the Wayne Newton Theatre. I took a picture.

I took lots of pictures.