Just returned from a brief stint in Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show. While it's true that what happens there stays there, here's what I can tell you:
Sunday...
10:06 Flight lands in LAS from SFO. I proceed to check my phone for the kickoff announcement and score updates that Yahoo! promised me. They never come. I'm forced to check the Web version which isn't optimal but suffices as a backup. And I'm not complaining too much since by the time I get to the Palms, we're tied 10-10.
11:00 Can't check into my room until 4pm so I camp out at the Sports Book to watch the rest of the game. By now you've heard that the Jets lost to the Patriots, 37-16.
1:00 - 7:00 Lament the fact that the Jets' season is over, and try to get some work done.
7:30 Dinner at L'Atelier Joel Robuchon with Candace and Tom. Had such a phenomenal meal there last time, I had to go back -- and they did not disappoint the second time around. Tried a few different dishes this time, including the Frog Leg Ravioli and Spaghetti L'Atelier (with pancetta & cream). The best part of the night, however, was when Drunk Guy (DG for short) approached us and struck up a conversation...
DG: Whrrre yuh fruumm? (slurring)
Tom: Detroit
Candace: Chicago
Laura: San Francisco
DG: So yur a Democrat then?
Laura: Yes
DG: Whut about you?
Candace: I don't belong to a particular party.
DG: Yuh mean other than loookin' gooood?
I love it. Candace for President -- Looking Good in '08!
11:00 Ghostbar with Greg. Spectacular view. Glass terrace a few hundred feet above ground that I stood on for a few seconds - that's all I could manage in spite of having jumped off a bridge and a plane before. By the time we left around midnight the place was just getting started. Had to save up for the next night though!
Monday...
7:00 Haul myself to the hotel gym. Feel hung over even though I only had 1/2 a drink at Ghostbar. Somehow manage to run 6 miles, and it feels like it's all uphill even though the treadmill has zero incline.
9:30 - 5:30 Get my real exercise of the day at CES. All those years of frat parties really come in handy when you're booking through the Convention Center, navigating around 140,000 people. Unfortunately nothing truly spectacular at the show to write home about. Went to Robert Iger's keynote and it turned out to be just one big commercial for Disney, complete with in-person celebrity endorsements. I'm sorry, but Evangeline Lilly and Matthew Fox telling me how the Internet has changed their lives as stars of Lost is interesting, but not newsworthy. Supposedly Iger's big announcement was the unveiling of the new Disney.com. Maybe I'm just jaded and this is big news to the CE industry, but....
Contrast this to the announcement being made back in San Francisco by my BFF Steve Jobs at MacWorld. The widely-rumored and much-anticipated (at least by me) Apple iPhone is going to be a reality in June. Now that's what I call great news!
For the most comprehensive coverage of the show, click here.
7:00 Dinner at Japonais. New Vegas outpost of the popular Chicago & NY Asian/French fusion eatery. Pros: Fish was delicious and very fresh. At the end of the day, that's all I should really care about in a sushi restaurant. "The Rock" (700-degree stone on which you cook your own Niman Ranch beef) was also quite tasty.
Cons: The Spicy Mono (Octopus) Roll was not very spicy. The restaurant's look and feel reminded me way too much of Nobu in Vegas. I had to keep reminding myself where I was, rather than thinking I was having a distinctly new experience.
9:00 CNET's Off the Record Party in the Hefner Villa at the Palms. True to form, the CNET party was the hot ticket. Great turnout, and once the dancing got going, there was no stopping us.
Here's the photo album from the party...
And here's the album from the after-party...
by laurajf1
(Click on links to view full albums.)
Tuesday...
There will be no working out this morning. Not happening.
1:09 Fly back to SFO. It was a Las Vegas miracle - perhaps the first time ever - that my flight back from CES was not delayed. The other Las Vegas miracle was that I didn't shop the entire time I was there!
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