AIDS Walk Las Vegas 2009

The Aid for AIDS Nevada (AFAN) held its annual AIDS Walk event yesterday. For 19 years this organization has not only helped raising awareness of the disease and helping men, women and children affected by HIV and AIDS, but has also helped raising money to continue helping those in need of care.

George and I met our friend Margaret at the starting point of the walk to register and take in the festivities surrounding this event. It was the most gorgeous morning with lots of sunshine, blue skies and a gentle breeze. In other words...the perfect condition.

It was a huge gathering of people. There was plenty of free food, beverages and entertainment. The comedian/magician duo Penn & Teller kicked off the walk and off we all went. Hundreds and hundreds of people, if not thousands, coming together for a good cause. Families with children, friends, many had their dogs with them.

Along the route through parts of downtown Las Vegas, bands were playing a variety of music. Rock, country, even some Taiko drummers showed up. The Sin Sity Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence also showed their support. Of course. They are one of the most active volunteers and fundraisers.

All in all, it was another perfectly spent Sunday. Fun was to be had by everyone.

And not one single religious nutcase in sight, always wanting to condemn us “sinners” to the eternal flames of hell. But I’m sure they’re all going to be around when the gay community celebrates Gay Pride in just a few weeks.

And it’s already so hard for these religious folk to choose whom to save...uh...pick on first. This being “Sin City” and all.

The AIDS Walk started at the World Market Center in downtown Las Vegas

The World Market Center features the most unusual architecture

The Bonneville Avenue underpass

Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto

Here are some of the “Sisters,” posing with the walkers

George and Margaret

George and my humble self

The “Duke,” the mascot of the local baseball team...I think

One of the many rest stops for the many dogs, providing water to drink and play in and providing a chance to sniff each other out

Bill Maher Again

The following is from the April 3rd, 2009 broadcast of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher." Like I mentioned in an earlier post, we just love Bill Maher.


Of course, the other seemingly limitless expanse we've endangered lately is the ocean, which we are killing. Why? Because the Bible says God gave us dominion over the earth, which is taken to mean that God was saying, "This is your rental car. Taketh it and beateth the shit out of it!" "Who careth? It is a rental!"

Did you know that there is now floating in the Pacific Ocean a 3.5-million ton island of shit made up of all the indestructible crap we toss away, the stuff that will never break down, like Styrofoam and old Clorox bottles. And it's twice the size of Texas. That's right, the Pacific Ocean now contains more white trash than Texas!

Marine biologists call it the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch," and say it is so out of control that it can't be cleaned up, and it's going to be with us forever, just taking up space and killing wildlife. Like a giant Sarah Palin.

Our Easter Weekend

George and I had a wonderful long Easter weekend. We both took Good Friday off for running errands, getting the car serviced, making a heavenly quiche and a sinfully delicious devil's food cake. On Saturday we just dabbled around the house. George's mother invited us and his sister, along with one of her new neighbors, to spent Easter Sunday at her place. We colored eggs, had yummy sandwiches and other munchies and just enjoyed this amazing spring weather we're having in the desert right now.

Afterwards George and I strolled through our neighborhood park, the Pueblo Park in Summerlin, to take in the last rays of sun before it was setting behind the Spring Mountain Range.

Of course, pleasures like these had to come to an end eventually. So here we are again, back in the rat race. Oh, and me having to visit the dentist office for root canals and new crowns.

Oh joy!

Anyway, below are random photos from our Easter weekend.

The most amazing quiche...ever!

Above: early morning sunshine in the kitchen. The next three photos show flowers in our backyard and the glass hummingbird feeder.

Just driving around town. These two pictures below were taken while on the freeway close to the “Spaghetti Bowl” near downtown Las Vegas.

The photos below show George relaxing in the garden of his mother’s garden and her little chihuahua lady, Lucy.

The photos below were taken during our afternoon stroll through Pueblo Park. Everything is blooming and sprouting, including all these drought tolerant plants. It’s amazing how green and colorful the desert can get amid this arid climate.

This and that

Here again some snippets from our home and backyard. I took these photos sometime last week.

The first rays of sun in the early morning hours are starting to stream through the window in the family room.

Our outdoor patio lanterns are illuminated by the early morning sunshine.

George’s mother bought this Matryoshka looking doll of a Nubian woman on her travels through Africa last year. It’s placed on top of our refrigerator and the sunlight was casting these interesting shadows.

A little souvenir we brought home from our trip to Walt Disney World last fall. We loved the barely visible pattern of varnished Mickey Mouse profiles. Talking about “Hidden Mickey’s” galore! I’m such a Disney geek.

The three close-up pictures above show blossoms on the apple tree in our backyard. Many years ago I was sitting in the backyard and eating an apple. After I had finished eating the apple I flicked a few apple seeds all over the ground. Just for the heck of it, thinking nothing will grow anyway.

Well, one of seeds actually turned into an apple tree. And now, a few years later, it’s as tall as our house and we’ve had a great harvest of apples every fall. This still surprises me to this day, as the harsh desert climate and the arid soil are less than ideal to grow anything except joshuas, ocotillas, sage brush and the like. And yet we once had a large patch of huge and tasty watermelons (again, as simple as flicking some seeds), strawberries and tall sunflowers.

These types of fruits or crops normally don’t grow in this kind of dry desert climate but it just proofs to show what Mother Nature is capable of.

And we humans are doing our darndest to mess this mother up. Some “intelligent design” we are!

But that’s an entirely different story altogether which I’d better not get into now. Otherwise this entry could turn into one ugly rant, with me being one of those darn “treehuggers” and a non-believing “sinner.”

Isn’t our “Mother” beautiful? We do live in a gay world.

Bette Midler

George and I saw Bette Midler’s show “The Showgirl Must Go On” last Saturday evening at Caesars Palace’s Colosseum.




Oh...My...God!

It was one of most incredible performances we’ve seen anywhere. Bette Midler is such an astounding and professional performer on stage. She’s a hilarious comedian. And an amazing singer, an actress and a dancer. All in one. She’s like this bundle of energy, waiting to burst out and filling up the showroom with electricity and ecstasy. She jumps, runs and dances from one end of the huge stage to the other with such vim and vigor that she gives those young so-called “Superstars” of today a run for their money. Even in a wheelchair.

Compared to Bette Midler, even Cher looks almost ridiculous with her over-the-top extravagant show, which is also being held on this very stage. The enormous stage, which was originally built for Celine Dion’s previous show “A New Day,” is being shared by Cher, Elton John’s soon to be closed “The Red Piano,” and Bette Midler and all three are rotating their schedule throughout the year.

And yet, it’s Bette Midler who keeps it real. Even with a surprising large number of very gifted show girls, called the Caesar Salad Girls, and an amazing live band, she’s delivering a perfect show. She never misses an opportunity to make fun of herself, pop culture or current affairs. It’s the right mix of a musical spectacle and comic relief. The kind of show one would expect to find only in Las Vegas. She is after all the “People’s Diva!”

George, who usually is very critical when it comes to performances of any kind and not necessarily the biggest Bette Midler fan, was even blown away. He said he has a newfound admiration and respect for the “Diva for the People.”

If there are two shows one must see when in Las Vegas, make it Cirque du Soleil’s “O” at the Bellagio and this one...Bette Midler’s “The Showgirl Must Go On.” The tickets for both shows are expensive but well worth the price. These two shows are definitely not to be missed.





Before the show George and I had an early dinner at the original Grand Lux Cafe inside the Venetian. He had an excellent Salisbury Steak with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and caramelized vegetables. I had an amazingly prepared Pasta del Sol with chicken and the finest vegetables in a creamy white wine sauce. And their freshly baked loafs of bread are to die for.

Afterwards we walked through the Grand Canal Shoppes inside the Venetian Hotel & Casino and the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. We were checking out the latest fashion at Barney’s New York and various boutiques and trying out some of the newest electronic gadgets at the Sony Style Store. And we did a lot of people watching. Las Vegas is perfect for that. Believe me, you can see quite some characters walking up and down the famed “Strip.”

Then it was time for Bette...and with that we experienced another wonderful weekend in the city of illusions. Below are random photos I took when we were on the Las Vegas “Strip,” before and after the Bette Midler show.



Inside the mall of the Palazzo


The piazza in front of the Venetian Hotel & Casino


You can find gondolas in front of and inside the Venetian


Shadow play on the mezzanine of the Venetian


Guests are streaming out of the Coloseum after the Bette Midler show


The usual busy traffic along the famous Las Vegas "Strip"


The two pictures above show the updated volcano attraction in action, in front of the Mirage


More traffic, lights, entertainment and people in Las Vegas

Gesundheit!

Just finish off this world already. Jeez, how many times do we have to do this?


Well, it looks like we all survived the Conficker computer virus. Remember, this thing was suppose to wreak havoc with every single computer yesterday. Creating another doomsday of sort. The end of the world as we know it. Again!



Yeah, right! Whatever.



Remember the Y2K bug? Wasn’t every electronic device imaginable suppose to shut down on December 31st, 1999 around 11:59 p.m.? And weren’t we all suppose to die just as the world was about to enter the new millennium?



We’re still here, people. It’s the year 2009. Isn’t it time to finally stop believing in silly superstition and buying into all the media and religious hype?



Yesterday was April Fool’s Day alright. And that computer virus joke just played right into it. Another stupid tradition I could very easily do without. I wish humanity would finally put the same effort into doing something more constructive and positive, as they do when they think up another prank.



Anyway...



Since coming home from our fabulous trip to California last weekend I’ve been coughing, sneezing and sniffling through this week. After having so much fun in Cali, this is definitely no fun at all. But then again, I have only myself to blame.



California State Route 1, also known as the Pacific Coast Highway.



You see, Saturday morning we were driving up northbound on the PCH. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. The clear blue skies and the abundance of sunshine just tempted us to roll down every window in the car to let all that fresh ocean air blow in. And that’s when I really should have known better. As great as it felt to have all that wind blown around my nose, the draft eventually caused me to catch this nasty cold.



This and these pesky allergies, which I seem to have developed over the last three years or so. I never used to suffer from any kind of allergies and never understood why everybody else seemed to be constantly complaining about them.



Now I do. Oh boy, do I ever!



Did I get allergies because I’m getting older? Or because I’ve lived in the desert for too long? Who knows? All I know is that I now have it. And suffering from allergies, along with a cold, just plain sucks!




The divine Ms. M’s extravaganza now plays at the Coloseum in Las Vegas.



But I’d better hurry to get rid of this annoying cold because we have another highlight coming up on Saturday evening. George and I are going to see Bette Midler’s “The Showgirl Must Go On” at Caesars Palace. We love the divine Miss M. and think she’s hilarious. Some of our friends, who have already seen the show, just raved about it. We’re definitely looking forward to this spectacle.



And what a spectacle it will be!



Bette... Las Vegas...



Need I say more?