California/Las Vegas Trip - Day 8 (Flight/Drive Home)

After a terrible night of sleep (loud music @ 3am and unattended alarm clock @ 6am) I was up at 7am and showered, packed and ready to roll at 745am. Rob drove me over to the Flyaway Shuttle at Van Nuys and I missed the 8am bus by 2 minutes. No biggie. I took the 815am bus and was at Terminal 6 by 855am. Not bad for $4 each way.

I checked my bags and got my boarding pass printed at the kiosk and realized it changed my seat from an exit row. Grrrr!! Oh wait... that is 4E which is First Class. Woohoo!! Free upgrades both ways. Way to go, OnePass Elite! (If you fly a lot, you should pick an airline and use them all the time to gain your miles. They pay off. This is probably my 7th or 8th free upgrade.) After sliding through security (another thanks to OPE), I grabbed some egg sandwich and coffee at Ruby's Dinette and did some work on the laptop via Verizon Wireless. Neato!

I made it on the plane and ended up sitting next to Luke Perry and his son. (I saw on the IMDB that he's from Mansfield, OH.) The flight was fine and the drive was still long to get home. I pulled in at 905pm. It was so great to see Laura and Kaden!

"Brush With the Law"

Brush With the Law - Robert Byrnes and Jaime Marquart

I just finished Brush With the Law and found it to be pretty surprising. Usually you hear about law school being all study and no social life. Well, these two guys found a way to make law school at Stanford and Harvard the exact opposite and make it through. It was interesting, to say the least, to read about the other side of the spectrum from how I viewed it.

The story seemed to trail off for awhile and just told about all the fun they were having since most of it involved not being at law school. In the end, it told how they met and finally how things worked out.

California/Las Vegas Trip - Day 7 (Tonight Show Tickets, Denny's, Apple Store, Jay Leno Filming, El Torito)

Awake: 7am - bright and early again! Today we had a goal: tickets to the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. We made it over to the Customer Relations office (which is actually on S California St) with only about 10 people in front of us at 10 until 8 (they open at 8). There was a girl there talking about all the in's and out's. You'd think she worked there, but really, she has been to 259 tapings and tonight should be 260. Wow. We got our two tickets (which don't guarantee you get in) and headed off to Denny's for some Moons Over My Hammy breakfast and coffee. Yum.


After hanging out at the apartment for awhile, catching up on some e-mails and so forth, we headed to the Westfield Fashion Square for a little lunch (Sbarros) and another quick peek at the Apple iMacs. Niiiiiiice. We headed from there over to the NBC Studios in Burbank for our Tonight Show audience fun. We arrived there around 1:15pm and were about #52 in line. They sent out some people to start checking tickets, counting people and answering questions around 2:45pm and we headed in around 3:30pm and filming was to start at 4:30pm. They mentioned that 86 people did not get in and 381 did. Wow!

Watching them film the Tonight Show was pretty neat. You'll just have to see it yourself. You can't use a camera/cell phone for obvious reasons and the temperature is held at 55F. Bring something warm. Once they start filming, they do the full show in one hour like you'd see it -- no cuts. You should do it at least once. (Hey, and it's free.) You're leaving a little after 5:30pm.

After a little R&R, we headed to the Sherman Oaks Galleria for some dinner at El Torito Grill. I had the Santa Fe Torte which was pretty tasty. We came back to the house and pretty much crashed for the night. It's been a long week and I was beat.

California/Las Vegas Trip - Day 6 (Run, Jinky's, WB VIP Tour, Italian Food, Wilacre Park Run, The Amateurs movie)

Today started at 7am to Rob's roommate leaving for work. Since I had slept for a solid 6.5 hours, I figured I'd stay up and get my run done. I did a big loop around the neighborhood area and covered about 4.2 miles. Blech. It wasn't fun with loads of traffic, lots of road crossings and LA morning drivers. After a quick shower, I headed back to Jinky's for some coffee and breakfast.

After Jinky's, Rob took me over to the WB lot and I took the WB VIP Tour for $45. It was about 2h 15m and saw some sights such as the "ER" hospital exterior (and a small peek at the interior in a separate sound stage at the other end of the lot), NYC set, western set, props, the "Friends" set and "Central Perk" set-up. It was neat to see all the stuff for it, but it's not nearly as cool as seeing it happen live (a la "Scrubs" yesterday).

The entrance to the tour lobby (WB paraphernalia and pre-tour theaters with Starbucks):

In front of the exterior set of the "ER" hospital:

Room filled with cars from various movies:

In a room with the full "Central Perk" set from "Friends":

Rob picked me back up at WB and we headed to Mongolia Blvd to eat some Italian food at Pinocchio's Restaurant in Burbank. It is a select your food, get it on a tray, pay and then eat joint. I got baked penne and a meatball. It was pretty good. The price was certainly right (~$10). The small serving of gelato rounded it all out just right.

After dinner, we came back, had a change of clothes and then (eventually) headed to Wilacre Park in Fryman Canyon. By the time we got there, the sun had gone down and the park was officially closed. The rebel runner in me didn't care and started my way up the hill. And up it was. That was the steepest thing I've ever ran up for exercise and the bumps didn't help. Over two miles later, I ended up in a cul-de-sac of a neighborhood with a 1 mile walk ahead of me (which I managed to turn into 1.5 by getting lost). Apparently I missed the point of the trail which was a beautiful view of the valley since I was too busy running and looking for a marked vantage point. (There was none.) Oh well.

A terrible shot from the trail at night. Blah.

Post-run waiting for the rest of the group:

We came back to the apartment and watched a movie (screening copy) called "The Amateurs" which had a DP whom is one of Rob's friends. It's due on DVD soon. It's 11:45p -- time for bed.

California/Las Vegas Trip - Day 5 (LA, Hugo's Tacos, Scrubs Set, Pineapple Hill, Putt-putt)

Today, we head back to LA. We got up and made our way down to the sandwich shop, Wichcraft, in the MGM Grand. I had the fried egg sandwich with blue cheese and bacon. Yum! We headed out into the desert around 1130am and, after a long, boring 90mph jaunt through the Mojave, we arrived back in LA 3.5 hours later. We stopped for some lunch at Hugo's Tacos, which is right off the 101 at Coldwater Canyon Ave. I had the fish tacos with pico de gallo and wasn't too impressed. Oh well.



We left Hugo's and Rob wanted to show me the Scrubs set on Riverside Drive. We drove down and parked to walk down in front of the hospital they use. After walking down, snapped some pictures and talking with a guard, Rob's clout and contacts got us on set. In the spirit of not saying too much, I'll just say that I got the nickel tour of the whole area they film, saw three main actors and watched them film a few scenes. After about two hours on set, we decided that we'd leave before we wore out our welcome. Big thanks to John for the hospitality! I was lucky enough to snap a few photos of me around the set (me at Coffee Bucks, me on the 4th floor and the main show entrance).





Back at the apartment, we gave Tim B a call and he headed up from USC for a little night on the town. We loaded up in his car and headed to Pineapple Hill Saloon & Grill for some food and then over to Sherman Oaks Castle Park for a round of putt-putt. I layed down the law on that game. We headed back to Rob's place and hung out on the roof until a little past midnight and then Tim headed back to his place.

It was an interesting day, to say the least.

California/Las Vegas Trip - Day 4 (Starbucks, Monorail, ASIS, Swimming, La Salsa Cantina, Rob/Guitar)

The morning started at Starbucks at 11am. Rob and I grabbed a coffee and pastry there and chowed down before parting ways for our respective itineraries. I was off to the ASIS security trade show at the Las Vegas Convention Center. I opted to take the $5 Las Vegas Monorail ride as opposed to a $15-20 cab ride since it was cheaper and ended up being quite fast. They did a great job with it. I met up with Jason S and Dan M from work and we walked around a bit, chatted it up with folks and then grabbed some lunch.



I headed back to the hotel around 3pm and did some reading and e-mails while Rob continued to wander around The Strip, doing the self-guided casino walking tour. I've been there too many times and wasn't interested. I ended up going to the MGM Grand swimming pool complex for a solid hour. I read most of the time and did a little swimming. It was 80F and sunny out, so it was just perfect for a little baking in the sun with a book.

He got back around 6pm and we headed out to search for bodily nutrition. We walked through the New York New York, but all the middle-of-the-road restaurants (not cheap, but not too much) were closed for private functions. Ah well. We headed out to the strip and over to La Salsa Cantina - a stand alone Mexican restaurant only 100 yards down from the MGM Grand. I had some fish tacos and a yard of beverage (whatever a "yard" is in liquid measurements). They had some guys playing the guitar there, table to table, and Rob jumped in and jammed with one of them. It was pretty impressive, although I think they were more impressed - especially when Rob taught them a song he wrote.




We came back after eating and crashed. I read a little more while Rob texted on his phone. I think the desert is making me tired. (Yeah, that's it. I'm not getting older.)

California/Las Vegas Trip - Day 3 (Jinky's, Vegas, MGM Grand, Diablo's, Wolfgang Puck's)

Day three. I feel like I've been here for five since we're doing quite a bit every day. Today is a "travel day" to get to Vegas. I wake up at 7am to the sound of Rob's roommate leaving for work, so I'm up. I shower, read and check some e-mail until 8:30am and decide I'm doing breakfast at Jinky's solo. I pack up my bag and head out the door.

Jinky's - a strip mall breakfast joint that's been open for decades and is locally owned. They specialize in breakfast and the food is quite tasty. I opt for a carafe of coffee, eggs, sausage, toast and some oatmeal. After another carafe and then another, my gauge is over FULL and I'm ready to go. I got a lot of work done on the laptop/cell phone so I jet.

I get back to Rob's apartment and we finally get out of town around noon for Vegas. We head down the 101 which turns into several other highways and finally into I-15 which brings us all the way to Vegas. Two stops for food and fuel (Hesperia, CA and Primm, NV, respectively) later and we're looking for a parking spot in the MGM Grand self-park. Sweet.



We get checked into the room (15-441) and relax for solid five minutes before heading out. After navigating our way through the casino area (all 500 acres of it), we find ourself out of Las Vegas Blvd (a.k.a. "The Strip") and walking towards the week old Mexican restaurant in front of the Monte Carlo known as Diablo's Catana. We scarf down some chips and drinks and make our way further down The Strip.

We make stops in front of the new casino being built, the Cosmopolotin Resort, watch one go of the fountains at the Bellagio, walk through Paris a little and then head to some wacky little Aloha Village which is a low-budget outdoor stripmall. After a little hanging out there, we head back to the MGM Grand where we take in some pizza at Wolfgang Puck's Bar and Grill. I maintain that they have some of the best pizza anywhere. I had the garlic chicken, roasted peppers and parsley pizza. Yum!




We were both beat after this and headed back to the room to crash. It was around 10:30pm.

California/Las Vegas Trip - Day 2 (Run, Indian Food, Apple Store, The Habit, Movie Night at "The W")

After being up for exactly 24 hours, I slept a solid 8 hours on a floor mattress and felt ready to take on the smog another day! I decided to get my running in early so I didn't have to think about it the rest of the day. I laced up and hit Google Maps to find my route. With some "help" from Rob and five revisions later, I settled on heading south to run up the "hilly" road called Beverly Glen Blvd. My goal was to do 8 total miles, but I only ended up doing 6.4 since the "hilly road" ended up being a 900' altitude gain in about a 2 mile stretch. Ugh.

After a shower and shave, we hung around the apartment for some laundry to finish and then headed off to Taste of India on Ventura Blvd about a block or two east of his place. They have a Sunday champagne brunch buffet for $10 and is FANTASTIC. This is another culinary first and I'm happy to announce that I'm ready for another Indian restaurant visit. We had rice, curry chicken, and a load of other food I can't remember right now.

After lunch, we headed to the apartment to let the food settle. Rob napped for awhile and I read and surfed around the net. Around 4pm, we headed to the mall down the street to check out the Apple Store and play with the new iPod Touch, iPhones and some new iMac computers. Wow -- very sweet. I liked all three and could see myself buying a Mac next. We grabbed a burger at The Habit. Yum.



After picking up Rob's roommate, Vassia, we all headed south towards Westwood Village in LA (where the UCLA campus is located) to meet up with Tim B for an evening at the W Hotel. Every Sunday evening, they have a movie night at the pool area with a large projector set up. Tonights film -- Flashdance. We all had some beverages and took in the movie under the stars. Pretty nice way to spend a beautiful, cool summer night in California.




In bed by 11pm.

California/Las Vegas Trip - Day 1 (Flight, Malibu/Point Dume Beach, Sushi Dan)

So the day started out right with a free upgrade to First Class on Continental. Way to go, Elite Access! I got up at 4am to head out by 4:45 and head to Cleveland. Now, you're probably saying, "Why would you fly out of Cleveland when there are five airports closer?" Well, Cleveland offered a directly flight to LAX for cheap on Continental. For an extra hour of driving, I get to skip out on flying out of my way and sitting for an extra 2-4 hours. Sweet!


Well, after a 4.5 hour flight in seat 3E (aisle) reading a book (Brush With the Law), listening to the iPod and watching "Fracture", I end up in LAX on-time. After grabbing my bag (5th to come out -- thanks again, Elite Access!), I caught the Flyaway Shuttle to Van Nuys so Rob could pick me up.

After a quick change in the bathroom, we headed to the company party for Rob's brother, Doug, in Malibu. It was your typical company party with food, drinks, egg games and a DJ. We stayed for a couple hours and then made our way down to Point Dume Beach in Malibu. We hiked around the sharp beach rocks to a hidden cove and then up a scenic trail to several lookout points that gave a great vista to LA and surrounding area.





We headed back to the apartment and chilled out for awhile, did some grocery shopping at Trader Joe's and snacked. Tim B came over from USC and we all headed out to Sushi Dan on Ventura Blvd in Studio City for my first venture into that culinary world. I'll say that the cold fish and seaweed wasn't my favorite, but I'd probably eat it again if someone wanted to have it. We also had some Saki and stayed at the restaurant until 1030p or so. Good times.

Friday dNeero Action

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