May 2008: Vegas, IRON MAN, SPEED RACER, Babies and Birthdays

May 1-4, Thursday - Sunday - Las Vegas. This is the hotel where we stayed. It's way at the north end of the strip and the Las Vegas Hilton is behind it. Daryl didn't get into the money finals, but he did play two games more than he thought he would. He was actually playing beautifully but then scratched on the 8-ball. Twice. Arg. Poor D. I checked out the spa at the Hilton and I think I may actually like massages after all. I got a massage, a seaweed scrub, and a facial. The massage was great, the seaweed weird, and the facial was more money than I think I should have spent. Also, I went to town at Sephora. I should really not spend any money anymore. Sigh. I visited the Star Trek store at the Hilton and it was a hoot. I bought a communicator! I really wanted a Tribble, but didn't have the guts to actually get one. We had no idea they vibrated and made noises. Daryl actually touched one and nearly fell back after it "spoke." Later on, we actually ate at Quark's bar. It wasn't that bad, but it did not compare to the buffet at the Wynn. Daryl and I went there three times, it was so good. What other buffet has crab legs? It was super expensive, but totally worth it. We also ate at the Burger Bar in Mandalay Bay (Kobe Beef Burgers!) and at Bouchon at the Venetian. The pastry chef even gave us a tour of the restaurant. Seriously, go to Bouchon. It's the best food and the staff is excellent. The pastry chef told me to call ahead next time I'm in Vegas and he'll make me something special! It is so on. Otherwise, Vegas is like one big obnoxious frat party. I just wanted to see the scenery and I feel like I don't need to go back. Although I've heard that they're shuttering the Star Trek Experience , so we may need to go back just for that. I mean, the casino in there is Star Trek themed. It's like you're on the set of Deep Space Nine. Oh, and I have to mention the smoke. Everyone smokes there. It's weird and smelly. Yuck.

May 10th, Saturday - IRON MAN. Robert Downey, Jr. was perfect as Tony Stark. I really hope they make a sequel. I loved him, I loved his Arabic doctor friend (Did you notice that when he shot the machine gun, he fired in to the ceiling. He didn't want to shoot at anyone!), I loved his suit, and I adored his robots. They really got a fantastic cast for this one. And Jeff Bridges is entirely creepy as a bald guy. Who knew?

May 15th, Thursday - Wedding Anniversary. 8 years! Apparently we have to give each other something bronze. I really don't understand that custom.

May 17th, Saturday - SPEED RACER: IMAX. Visually, this movie was amazing, but I couldn't believe how much people were talking. Really, I just wanted to see racing, with the spikes coming out of the hubcaps and the jumpers making the cars leap over each other. Seriously, I've never heard so much dialogue. They tried to make it interesting, sure, with lots of flashbacks and such, but it didn't help. I also was not entranced by the monkey and the little brother. Susan Sarandon and John Goodman were fantastic as usual. Christina Ricci was cute as well as Trixie. The movie was kind of meh, but any movie that makes John Goodman the winner in a ninja-fight is OK with me. Oh, and if any of you know COUPLING, Patrick's head is huge on the IMAX screen. (Oh, and I didn't get dizzy at all, which was a fear, considering how I reacted to THE BOURNE SUPREMECY.)

May 21st, Wednesday - A dog tried to attack me as I was walking home. It was a German Shepard. A big German Shepard. I am now afraid of all dogs.

May 31st, Saturday - Amy's Baby Shower and Matt's Birthday. Daryl and I went to Amy's baby shower. It was huge. Must have been 100 people there. And the decorations were, well, I never knew they had decorations like that for baby showers. I've only ever been to ones where people just open presents and have cake. But this one had Cuban pork roast in the catering and not one, not two, but three diaper cakes. I am in awe. I also didn't know it would last so long, we had to leave early to go to Matt's birthday party picnic. We missed the message that would have told us the party moved to an entirely different location, but we eventually got there and had a good time. It was a park in what looked like a dam on the outside. You'd never know there was a lake and trees and picnic tables there.