Bleeding Neon

I meant to write a review of the Hard Rock Hotel’s new HRH Tower last week after staying there, but, um, got busy as usual (deadlines, blah blah blah), and then next thing I knew, there was a cantina opening over here and a restaurant opening over there, so … here’s the 10-day-old review. With pictures.

Last Friday, Team Awesome visited the Hard Rock Hotel to check out the new HRH Tower, which is basically the Hard Rock’s answer to other boutique branches of major casinos such as MGM Grand’s Signature and Mandalay Bay’s thehotel. The HRH Tower is fully pimped out in refined, ultra-modern luxury, with no suite smaller than 700 square feet. It boasts its own valet, entrance, check-in and services. One could, in theory, check into the HRH Tower and never step foot inside the casino (assuming you’re eating room service only and limiting your drinking to the juice bar outside the spa). But what fun would that be?

Our room was one of the Supreme City King suites, all decked in whites and cool grays, featuring  living and sleeping areas divided by a half-wall (with flat screen TVs on both sides), an over-sized bathroom replete with Roman tub and stand-up shower, an integrated jukebox system that also supports iPod/iPhone connections and a bunch of other stuff we probably didn’t use. It looks something like this:

In addition to the comped room (there’s your disclaimer, blog police!), we had a $50 dining credit, so we used that to make a dent in our bill at Rare 120º, the Hard Rock’s steaks-and-cocktails joint that overtook the space formerly host to retro-flavored AJ’s Steakhouse. Though I was sad to see AJ’s go, I have to admit Rare is pretty awesome. The cocktail menu is creative, the service doesn’t suck, and the food selections are a cross between tapas and traditional steakhouse fare — which means Sara enjoyed her filet mignon as much as I did my rice cracker tuna. At about $100 for both of us, it’s not the priciest dinner in Vegas, but it’s also not somewhere you’d eat every week, either.

Our room was KISS-approved

After dinner, we signed up for the Hard Rock’s Rockstar players club, and spent a few hours feeding bills to penny slots to earn enough points for a comp at Ago, a promotion the Hard Rock’s offering for a limited time. We didn’t win any money that night after dropping about $35. I’m sure the next stop for most people would be Vanity, the new club in the HRH tower whose very name ensures I’ll never set foot in there, but we opted to enjoy our plush room and some “Law & Order” on the 40″ TV. The bed was comfy, though being only five stories up, our room overlooked the roof of Vanity, so the pulsing beats coming from the club did permeate the sanctity of our chamber until about 3 a.m.

Overall, it was a fair reminder to me that, despite the proliferation of douchebags (of both genders) on weekend nights, there’s still something about the energy of the Hard Rock that appeals to me, even after 15 years. And the HRH Tower adds just a whole new level with its more mature new casino, spa and services.

Specifically, mine:

Yes, it’s January and after a minor mix-up at the printer, The Utopian #2 is finally available for you kids to get your grubby little hands on. I have to drop my usual humility here and say these look pretty friggin’ good. It’s amazing how much better this story reads as a complete comic book, as opposed to a one-episode-weekly webcomic. And those covers? Man, Steve Downer’s colors really made my art POP on the standard cover (left), and Hernan Valencia just knocked it out of the ballpark with the deluxe cover (right).

If you pre-ordered a signed copy from me, I’m dropping those in the mail today. And if you didn’t, you can click this link to have one shipped directly to your mailbox, or if you’re in Las Vegas, please drop by Alternate Reality Comics (4800 S. Maryland Parkway) and pick up a copy from Ralph, the world’s greatest comic shop owner.

Oh, and if you happen to be the world’s second or third greatest comic shop owner, you should be carrying this comic for your unwashed geek masses. They’ll love it. Contact me!

Buy this comic or the terrorists win.

I don’t need to tell you about the devastation that’s wracked Haiti (more than usual) in the wake of this week’s 7.0-scale earthquake. What I am asking is for you to help me help the survivors by donating to Save the Children, one of my favorite charities who does continuous work in the field there — and whose own staff in Haiti has been affected.

You COULD do that on your own, but I’m going to offer added incentive by tossing in a comic book. Yep. It’s simple: Pre-order the debut issue of Omega Comics Presents, the new comic anthology series I’m publishing starting next month, and I donate 100 percent of the proceeds to Save the Children. To sweeten the deal, I’ve knocked 50 cents off the cover price and am waiving shipping charges. So your $3 goes to Save the Children’s relief efforts in Haiti, and in a few weeks you get a signed comic book and letter of appreciation from me.

DO IT NOW. CLICK HERE.

Thanks.

Yes.

Muse + Silversun Pickups, April 10, Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Consider my mind blown.

Things have been … interesting since the end of Detox Week 2009 on Christmas Eve. Though I did quickly ruin my streak with liquor and baked goods that night (hello! It was CHRISTMAS EVE.), I actually maintained a fairly low-key consumption rate, and discovered I did, indeed, lose about five pounds over the course of the 10-day experiment.

Unfortunately, since then, things have been a bit hectic, between the holidays, a three-day getaway to Santa Barbara, and deadlines on so many projects, my head is spinning. I was also waylaid by an unexpected stomach flu of some sort upon return to Las Vegas on Sunday, which had me puking up most of two days’ worth of food all night and rendering any further eating less than desirable for the following day.

Now that I’m relatively back to normal, I’ve noticed a few things about my body that I assume to be a result of Detox Week, and hopefully not just because my stomach was doing acrobatics earlier this week. For one, my appetite is greatly decreased. I don’t seem to get annoyingly hungry all the time like I used to. While it’s good for one’s metabolism to eat something small every few hours, it seems like my body has adapted to going longer stretches without much sustenance, for better or worse.

And when I do eat, it seems that I now have an upper limit. It used to be I’d finish whatever I was eating and still be hungry. Now I get halfway through a sandwich and just give up. (Note: I have not tested this with Capriotti’s yet.) Again, I’m not sure if this is a result of the changes I self-created or my stomach’s rebuttal after being sick, but it’s something notable.

I also lost most of my craving for carbonated beverages. Not that I am or have ever been much of a cola drinker (though I had a nasty energy drink addiction years ago that led me to giving up caffeine altogether), but I do typically enjoy a Sprite Zero or Diet Hansen’s about once a day. Or at least, I did until Detox Week, during which time I drank only water and the occasional juice. Since then, I’ve stuck to mostly water. There aren’t tremendous health benefits since I was drinking clear, calorie-free, caffeine-free, sugar-free sodas anyway, but again, it’s just interesting that I’m kind of “eh” about it.

Of course, I’ve been under a lot of pressure lately, and did have that mini-flu-or-whatever, so all this could be circumstantial and within a month’s time, I’ll be back to having a bottomless pit for a digestive system.

But if not, I’m not sure what to do with all this. I feel … off. I have to admit: Something about my diet, my body, everything feels not quite right. I don’t know how to explain it. Not sure if it’s because I haven’t been able to get back to my regular workout regimen yet due to all the above-listed factors. Not sure if it’s the season, the weather, the stress load … I don’t know.

Oh, but one thing I do know: Don’t make oatmeal in the microwave. YUCK.