Sunday, 3 August 2003
2:30am
I
  am such a doofus. Some time in April, the folks on the riceboypage message board held a vote to decide what day to have this year's Vegas Meet. The choices were August 2, August 9, and August 16. My Dad's birthday is on the 8th, and I missed it because of last year's meet, and I didn't want to miss it again, so I decided to vote for August 2. Of course, I did that without even thinking about the fact that my one and only truly regular work gig happens on the first and second of every month. And for some reason, it never occurred to me until about 2 weeks ago that I wouldn't be able to go.
So here I am, sitting at home, while everyone is partying in Vegas. Oh well. I plan to head up there tomorrow, and even though most of 'em are leaving tomorrow, quite a few of 'em are staying at least through monday, so I'll get to at least chill with them for a little while.

Thursday, 7 August 2003
11:59am
V
egas, baby, Vegas! Even though most of the RBP crew was leaving on Sunday, I still made an effort to get there by Sunday afternoon, to hang with the people who were left. And actually, by the time I did get there, quite a few people were still left, hanging out on the balcony bar at Fitzgeralds, downtown, and although a good chunk of those people were leaving shortly after, I still got to say hi to a few people who I hadn't seen several months to a year... or ever, for that matter.
Most of those that were staying ended up heading to the $5.99 prime rib special at the California that Scott and I went to on our $100 Vegas Trip back in February. I was actually surprised that we kept the whole group together, seating about 18 people, and although not everyone ordered that particular food special, we ended up feeding all 18 of us for under $140... not bad!
Afterwards, we tried a fun little stunt. With a number of rather professional looking video cameras, and a member of our group, David, dressed up in some semi-swanky clothes, we decided to try to pretend that he was somebody famous. Two video cameras and a huge entourage of people following him down Fremont street. It's amazing what you can accomplish with so little. I myself was struck with awe as I witnessed the croud literally part like the red sea as our group moved through.
Some chinese guy was following us taking pictures. I overheard another guy say "Hey, that's the guy from that one thing... I forgot what it was called..." so that he wouldn't look dumb in front of his friends for not knowing who this "famous" person was. It's rather strange, our obsession with cameras and fame. And its an obsession that's so easily fooled with so little effort. I just knew my little idea would work, even before we actually tried it. And it was some fun, and free entertainment for our group of internet geeks who didn't know what else to do at the time.


After that, a few of us went off to play some poker at Binion's Horseshoe, while others went off on their own way. By the next morning, most everyone was gone, so I ended up hanging out with Matt and David. We visited my favorite playground, the Gambler's General Store where I picked up a cool new souvenir -- a money clip that holds a casino chip in the middle.


Later we hit up the Palms, playing some blackjack, where I found another C.S.I. themed $25 chip... to go with the $5 one I already had at home. Woohoo, my set is complete! We also played a little bit in the poker room there. Later, it was dinner at the "Pink Taco" at Hard Rock. David left us there, and it was just me and Matt left. We went back to play some poker at Binion's. Hmm. Somewhere in there I missed that a group of us went to the Peppermill to eat. And that Matt and I hit up Quark's Bar at the Star Trek Experience.
I'm glad I headed out even though I missed most of the action. It was good seeing some people I don't get to see often, and of course, it's always great to be in Vegas! Woohooo!


The RBP Viper and Ferrari Club
L-R: David, Eric, Scott, Ben, Adam (back), Brian (front), Bryan, Jim, and Matt.