Monday, January 31, 2011

Jan 29 - Harriet's Cabin



My cousins and I hiked La Madre Springs. It was my first time and I didn't know what to expect. I really don't like the first part, where you're basically walking up some rocky dirt road. I won't rehash my Yelp review, but for sure, the fun begins once you pass the dam and head toward the miner's cabin.

So who's Harriet? She's the dog in the photo below. We first ran into her and her owner on the section between the dam and the cabin. I actually didn't think she'd make it all the way up. There were some areas where she seemed to be having trouble. But she made it!







Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Jan 23 - Three-Pound Burger Challenge



I'm totally slacking on the photography, and it feels so nice. To be honest, these photos are pretty crap, but I feel strange that I haven't posted anything in a week.

A bunch of Yelpers got together to watch Anthony M tackle the 3-pound burger challenge at Tequila Bar & Grill inside Bally's. He only finished about half the burger, but Misti cajoled the manager dude to give him a sombrero for his efforts.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Jan 15 - Village Skaters



I've posted twice in the same day before, but now that I'm no longer doing Project 306, there really isn't a reason why I need to consolidate photos into one post. Also, since this is no longer the "photo of the day," I'm more inclined to post as many as I see fit.

After my morning hike, I went to Lake Las Vegas to hang out with my fellow Yelp peeps. I didn't ice skate - I was more interested in shooting - but everyone had a great time, despite the melting pools of water. It was a beautiful day out!

Jan 15 - Boy Scout Canyon



I went with a couple of Yelpers, Norm K and August C, on a trail I had never heard about before - Boy Scout Canyon. It was a pretty easy hike down a wash. We stopped when we reached the first 25-foot spillover. We then backtracked and made our way up to a ridge where you can see the Colorado River and the new Hoover Dam bypass bridge. A few bright red cactus caught my eye, so I was glad to find one on the edge of the ridge.

Norm posted the hike on EveryTrail.com with the data from his GPS. It's a pretty neat site.

Jan 10 - Blue Label



I've been wanting to try Johnnie Walker Blue Label ever since I heard Kevin Rose drinking some on TWiT a few months ago. I'm not even a whiskey drinker, but it just sounded so smooth and luxurious. I finally picked up a bottle from Total Wine & More (Boca Park) for $125. Before that, the cheapest I ever found it online was $140 + $18 shipping (I think MSRP is $200). Total Wine is the bomb.com.

As a side note, I was amused that Hannibal and General Morrison drink Blue Label in the recent A-Team film.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Jan 9 - 3D Printing



On the last day of CES, I was on a mission to find the MakerBot 3D printer. They only had a small booth and I had trouble finding it, but it was worth the search. That thing is just conceptually cooler than anything else at the show. The best thing is that it's open source. You could build your own MakerBot!

As for the other two photos, I was just trying to capture something artistic. The photo directly below was shot through an LED display wall at the Motorola booth (I think). The last photo is of my friend Elena at the Casio booth. Yes, I focused on the Harley; I was going for something different.



Jan 7 - Consumer Electronic TWiTs



One of the reasons I bothered going to CES this year was to check out the TWiT crew live on stage. I listen to This Week in Tech (TWiT) and Tech News Today (TNT) religiously. Unfortunately, they didn't have live audio like CNET does, but it was still great to see them at the show.

I got lucky with the photo above; I caught a funny TNT moment between Tom Merritt and Becky Worley. The photo directly below is my attempt at capturing Jason Howell producing TNT, with Tom and Sarah Lane hosting in the background. Then you have Leo Laporte being his usual goofy self. Finally, I went upstairs to the CNET booth and snapped a shot of 50 Cent talking to Brian Tong.





Thursday, January 13, 2011

Jan 6 - Freakin' Anti-Teetotalitarians



Someone came up with the brilliant idea of a get-together at the Freakin' Frog for some whiskey and beer consumption. I'm not much of a whiskey aficionado, but it was definitely worth going, if only to check out the insane Whiskey Attic and walk-in beer fridge that Jack maintains there. Wow. You can see some of the aftermath above.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Jan 3 - White Out



People in Vegas get excited when it rains. You can only guess how giddy we get when it snows. We had a nice little coating of the white stuff this morning. It was like powdered sugar on a donut - enough to make the experience memorable, but not so much that it ruins your day. Indeed, it had mostly melted away by noon.



Jan 1 - It's Knot Over



Here's the deal. I'm still in the habit of bringing my camera with me (almost) everywhere I go. If I happen to get a photo worth posting, I'll do so. I just won't be obligated to do this daily like I was for Project 306.

In this case, Jia and I decided to check out Biaggio's Pizzeria to catch some of the Rose Bowl. These are the Garlic Knots that we ordered as appetizers. I won't rehash my Yelp review, but let's just say it was a five-star experience. Biaggio is the type of owner that isn't happy until the customer is happy. We left extremely happy.