Back From Vegas

My family and I spent 8 days in Las Vegas and we just returned home late last night. While in Vegas, we stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, which turned out to be one of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed at either in the US or overseas.

While there, we attended two Cirque du Soleil shows (Mystere and O), saw Frank Caliendo, attended the John Mayer Trio New Year’s Eve concert (see picture above taken with my iPhone for some idea on what great seats we had!), and generally had a ball exploring this amazing city. My wife’s iPhone 3GS and my iPhone 3G were used constantly during our stay there. We used the G-Map and the built-in Maps application to find our way around, AroundMe and Nextstop to find restaurants and points of interest near us, and Point Inside to guide us through the many shopping malls we visited while shopping. Dragon Search provided us with more detailed information on points of interest and the shows we were to see. I even shot some videos using the ShowTime application, which is a phenomenal video application for my iPhone 3G.

No doubt about it, our iPhones really enhanced our enjoyment of our vacation.

Setting Up My Wife’s Web Site

My wife Rosemarie (that’s her above!) recently received her certification as a professional make-up artist, and so I’ve been helping her set up a Web site for displaying her portfolio of work (Fabulousity). In the process of doing so we’ve discovered two amazing freeware programs for performing image manipulation and processing: GIMP and FastStone Photo Resizer. If you need to do any kind of image work and have zero budget for software, be sure to check out these two programs!

On Honeymoon

Right now I’m on my honeymoon in Grand Cayman Island! We’ll be back next week.

Where Have I Been?

Well, it’s been almost a month since I’ve posted here on my blog. I do have some good excuses, though.

First of all, I was on vacation for the last three weeks of the year. Rosemarie (see picture above) and I went to Shepardstown (the oldest city in WV), New York City (we were in Times Square on New Year’s Eve!), and the Turf Valley  Resort and Spa in Ellicot City, MD (where we received the most amazing massages and Vichy showers you can imagine!). During our vacation I proposed to Rosemarie, on one knee, in Tiffany’s – where I bought her an engagement ring.

Then last Friday we were married in a civil ceremony in Charleston, WV. We’re still planning on a church wedding in the spring. My new step-children, Hunter and Lee, were able to attend the ceremony and smiled approvingly at our marriage.

So, I’ve been pretty busy lately. I’ll be posting more regularly again now that things have settled down – oh yeah, and I’m really, really happy now!

Billy’s Closes!

Billy’s, the wonderful new restaurant off Corridor G and near the Southridge Center, closed yesterday. Only open since July, we had only just gotten around to eating there for the first time this past weekend. My girlfriend and I absolutely loved the place and vowed to return frequently, but alas, that will no longer be possible. This is a real loss to the Charleston, WV restaurant scene and a sad commentary on what tough economic times we face today. Goodbye, Billy’s, we’ll really miss you!

The Producers

Last night I attended a performance of The Producers by the Charleston Light Opera Guild. The Producers is a personal favorite of mine – I loved both the original 1968 film and the 2005 film version of the Broadway musical. I was really looking forward to seeing the musical comedy live and in an intimate venue like Charleston, WV’s Civic Center Little Theater, especially since I had a third row aisle seat.

I wasn’t disappointed. The cast was universally superb, and the production first-rate. John Marshall was great as Max Bialystock and sang with a wonderfully gravelly voice perfectly suited for this character. Paul Shannon was equally great as the wimpy Leo Bloom – finally brought out of his shell by his association with Max. However, my absolute favorite performance was given by Ted Brightwell – completely over the top, but incredibly funny as the wacky Broadway director and actor, Roger DeBris.

Really, the entire cast was great, even the chorus. The dancers were wonderful. All-in-all, it was an extremely funny and very enjoyable evening out at the theater!

On The Road Again

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Of course, nothing is ever 100% certain in the consulting business until it actually happens, but it looks like I’m going on the road again to a client in Indianapolis starting on Monday. This will be my second time working there and I simply love working in Indy because I can drive there and not have to fly. I’ll drive out Monday morning and drive home Thursday evening (I work at home on Fridays). Avoiding the hassles of flying is always wonderful and it makes it much easier to take a whole bunch of stuff with me, if I want. When flying, I’m constrained by what can fit into a carry-on bag (I never check luggage!). Also, when driving I get to leave for home on Thursday whenever I’m ready to go and not have to wait for my flight. So, all-in-all I’m really looking forward to this assignment on the road again!

This Month’s Underground Kitchen

Last night I attended this month’s Underground Kitchen. It was held at Ferguson’s Kitchen and Bath Gallery – an unusual and interesting venue. One huge advantage it had was the massive kitchen it provided our chefs. We were served a very substantial 5-course meal: soup, appetizer, salad, main course (ginger pork), and an amazing dessert (coconut pumpkin mousse). I had the opportunity to dine and converse with a very interesting group of people, including a teacher, lawyer, marketer, and the owner of Charleston’s Bluegrass Kitchen (a very well-known and respected restaurant). If you’re in the Charleston, WV area, I strongly suggest you consider attending this wonderful monthly gourmet dining event.

Caught Up in the Charleston Social Whirl!

One of my big reasons for moving to Charleston, WV was that in spite of its small size (and lack of congestion!!), the city has an extremely vibrant social life. For example, there are four theatrical groups, a first-rate symphony, a ballet, and two chamber music groups of which I’m aware. The picture above shows just some of the tickets I’ve got for upcoming events – a musical comedy, a play, and two classical music performances. In addition, this weekend I’m going to be attending the Underground Kitchen, a monthly gourment dining event. I actually go out more since moving to Charleston than when I lived in NJ – and I lived just an hour away from New York City!

Montclaire String Quartet + One

Last night I attended a performance of the Montclaire String Quartet entitled “The Fifth Element”. The fifth element referred to in the title was the addition of a bass to the quartet, through the participation of a guest artist: Joseph Higgins. This allowed the group to perform a string quintet by Dvorak, along with a string quartet by Shostakovich, and a unique cello-bass duet by Rossini. The performance was held in the sanctuary of the beautiful Kanawha United Presbyterian Church – which offers excellent acoustics and an intimate venue. I greatly enjoyed the performance from this resident chamber ensemble of the WV Symphony Orchestra and look forward to the three remaining performances of this season (I have season tickets).