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Oh...and one more thing. Happy Halloween!

Brains for Halloween

I think this is a great treat for kids. Instead of giving out candies...and eventually cavities...to the little trick or treaters this or any Halloween, how about giving them food for brains? There must be one or ten old children’s books floating around in your home that hasn’t been touched in years. Why not put them to good use again? I’m sure there are plenty of children out there who would appreciate a good read more than a visit to the dentist.

Check out this link: booksfortreats.org

Besides, it’s not like this country couldn’t use a few more brainy kids anyway. Gotta start somewhere.

My favorite Strip

And I’m not talking about the Las Vegas “Strip” here now.






I’m with Calvin on this one. Sometimes I wish George and I could just fly off to another planet.
This is a true classic “Calvin and Hobbes” comic strip that makes it...well...classic.



Okay, people, can we please get on with it and start saving this planet of ours? It’s not like there are too many of these floating around in space.

Halloween

We were invited to a big Halloween party on Saturday evening. It has been years for George and literally eons for me since we’ve both donned any kind of costume.

George decided to be a cool vampire. He got the cool look down but the fangs just wouldn’t bloody cooperate. He finally gave up on the biters. I told him to play some outcast vampire who has been stripped of his fangs for punishment of unspeakable crimes in the underworld realm.

Or something like that. I’m sure there’s a movie or a television series with stories like that out there.

Oh wait...aren’t we devout fans of “True Blood?” Well, duh!

I wanted to be “Whatever.” You know, throwing things on that doesn’t match and completely makes no sense whatsoever. A pair of fatigues, a flimsy blouse-looking thing, a monstrous over-the-top-gay feather boa, some shiny things there, a few sprinkles of glitter there.

And voilà...Whatever!

Our friends Al and Steve hosted one amazing Halloween party at their beautiful home. Well, their beautiful home was temporarily turned into some ghoulish place, somewhat resembling Disneyland’s “The Haunted Mansion.” Absolutely chilling. However, all the guest were in cheerful spirits and brought tons of food for the potluck.

And on this spooky note...Happy Haunts.

Getting ready.

Ready to strike and Strike a pose.

Count Cool.

Jim with the most gracious host Steve in front of the “Haunted Mansion.”

Homer’s Trip to the Strip

Here are the last few photos from Homer’s little getaway to “Sin City.” George and I took him to the “Strip” last Sunday to play tourists and do some people watching. He even won $10 on one of the slot machines at the Mirage.

Homer was flying back home to Tucson again first thing Monday morning to get ready for a new archaeological dig there.

All in all, it was one heck of a fun weekend and we were thrilled to have Homer as our guest.

Homer really enjoyed all the things which are “bad for you,” like ice cream, chips or M&M’s.

George in our kitchen.

Homer is also an avid reader.

Homer in Paris...Paris Las Vegas, that is.

At Bellagio’s version of Lago di Como.

He was impressed by the Bellagio Fountains.

Back in Paris again...with the half-size replica of the Tour d’Eiffel in the background.

Jim and Homer in front of Caesars Palace.

George and Homer under the Chihuli glass ceiling sculpture inside the Bellagio.

More on Homer's Odyssey

Here are a few more photos from our exploration into the Valley of Fire with Homer last Saturday.

George took this “behind-the-scenes” peek of the “photo shoot” with Homer. The final result can be seen here on Homer’s blog.

The two blogsters Homer and Jim.

One of my favorite spots in the Valley of Fire, the White Domes.

George and Homer in front of the Lost City Museum in Overton, Nevada.

Homer's Odyssey

We picked up Homer from the Las Vegas airport on late Friday afternoon and were heading straight to one of the casinos on the “Strip” for dinner. We spent the evening with a nice meal, great conversations and lots of laughs. Homer, George and I seem to have a lot in common and were hitting it off right from the start.

After a relaxing morning we drove to the Valley of Fire State Park, north of Las Vegas. The area is covered with mountains of red sandstone and bizarre rock formations. “Star Trek” fans may recognize the landscape from “Star Trek Generations,” where Captain Kirk dies at the end of that film. It was quite warm that day but the weather was perfect otherwise. One needs the sun and clear blue skies to experience the true beauty of this area. Homer enjoyed our little excursion out to the dessert.

Being an archaeologist himself, he also appreciated the archaeological exhibitions and artifacts shown at the visitors center and the original Native American petroglyphs one can still see carved into the walls in some of the canyons.

We also took Homer to the Lost City Museum in Overton, just a few miles away from the Valley of Fire. He seemed to like this little museum as well. He bought a present for a friend of his and even got himself a vintage-looking T-shirt that was on sale. There was some kind of problem trying to ring up the merchandise and it would eventually take five women to solve that mystery. Being the gentleman as he is, Homer patiently played along and humored them. This little episode gave these ladies enough material to gossip about for the next few days. It probably has been a while since they’ve had a couple of handsome studs in that little obscure store.

Homer is quite the charmer. And the photos here don’t do him justice at all. He’s far more good-looking in person and such a wonderful person to be around.

When we returned to Sin City we had to make a stop at a supermarket to buy a few things we still needed for our home cooked dinner. We had pasta with a delicious marinara sauce that George prepared from scratch with tons of vegetables. And after all this hiking and exploring we sure had a big appetite.

Below are some picture from that day.

Homer is enjoying a relaxing morning in our back yard.

Valley of Fire State Park, north of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Yo, it's Homy. Sup!

Blog buddies.

Ever the archaeologist. It's what Homer does for a living after all.

More of the fiery valley.

Chest out, stomach in...that's right, we're manly menz!

Reflections.

Inside the canyon leading to Mouse's Tank.

Here the canyon walls are still covered with ancient petroglyphs.

Huh? Who?! Me?

One Homerlicious Weekend

Fellow blogger and our new best friend Homer decided to pay George and I a visit and has spent this last weekend in Las Vegas. He has been staying with us and we had the immense pleasure to show him the sights in and around Las Vegas. We haven't had so much fun and such a relaxing weekend in a very long time.

Homer is one of the most most fun people we've ever met and such a kind soul. We envy his friends in Tucson to have such an amazing person in their lives. And we hope not to have seen the last of him.

We'll post more photos of the weekend with Homer in the coming days.

The White Domes at Valley of Fire, north of Las Vegas

L O L

That's all I have to say today.



See more of the hilarious LOL Cats on http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Strip Stroll

Last Thursday we were supposed to meet some people for dinner but due to unforeseen circumstances that never materialized. Even though we were a little bummed about it, we still managed to make the most of that evening. Below are some photos.

Homer is going to visit us on Friday. Yeah! We’re really excited and we can hardly wait.

Did I mention that we’re really excited?

The $2 billion Fountainbleau Resort. In the middle of the construction the company went bankrupt and it looks like another casino operator made an offer to buy it for under $300 million. Just pennies on every dollar already spent.

More of the Fountainbleau. This looks like the main entrance off the Strip. The Turnberry Towers can be seen in the background.

Classic cars.

Classic car details.

A new concept restaurant by McDonalds, more plush and interactive. Their so-called food and drinks are lousy as ever. Hey, McD’s, how about serving better food? Now here’s a concept.

The Riviera Hotel & Casino’s neon facade.

The new Encore Resort, the entry area with their lush gardens.

The Encore’s baccarat area.

The porte-cochère of the Circus Circus.

Detail of Circus Circus’ iconic marquee.