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Las Vegas Travel Diary, Part 4: Drinking, Like a Boss

like a boss

John Bristowe took this pic at the lobby of the Cosmopolitan Hotel.

chandelier

If you ever pass through that hotel, do make a point of stopping by Chandelier, one of bars at the Cosmopolitan. Ask your server for the Verbena Lemon Bud, which doesn’t appear on the drinks list. You’ll get a translucent white liquid in a cocktail tumbler, and floating atop the liquid will be small flower bud with tiny yellow petals. Take the flower, pop it in your mouth, chew it and lets the bits spread all over your tongue. You’ll feel a tingling sensation, after which you’ll black out, wake up in a tub full of ice with a note telling you that they’ve taken one of your kidneys. It now takes me twice as long to pee!

No, not really. What you will feel is a tingly sensation all over your tongue; it’s like eating a packet of microscopic Pop Rocks. Then drink the drink: the flavour is something like lemonade and tequila, and coupled with the sensation from the flower, it’ll seem as if you’re drinking delicious lemon electric current.

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It’s the Final Countdown, Day 2

Officially, my last day as a Microsoft employee is tomorrow, Friday, April 22nd, 2011. However, that’s Good Friday, which means that today is effectively my last day on the job. After that, well…I’ll tell that story later.

I’m headed over to the Meadowvale office later this afternoon to meet with my fellow evangelist and Master of all Hardware Damir and drop off my Microsoft-assigned equipment, and wow, is there a lot of it! I’ll make sure to get a photo of it all and post it here for you to see.

I’ve been posting videos of various versions of Europe’s The Final Countdown all week in honour of my departure. Today’s version features a solo performer on the kazookeylele, a Frankenstein instrument that combines a toy piano, ukelele and kazoo. Enjoy!

This article also appears in Global Nerdy.

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It’s the Final Countdown, Day 3

It’s “Hump Day” in my final week at Microsoft, and in honour of these last days, I’m posting a different version of Europe’s classic ‘80s hair-rock hit, The Final Countdown, on each day. Hump Day calls for a hump-tastic cover of the song, and there isn’t a more hump-tastic one than this classic version by Deep Sunshine. You will not be able to un-hear it once heard.

This article also appears in Global Nerdy.

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Have a Good Passover!

Passover reminds me of a time when getting rid of crazy Egyptian dictators took a lot more creativity.

This one goes out to all my Jewish pals. Click on the card above to send it to a friend!

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It’s the Final Countdown, Day 4

This is my final week in my biggest, most influential, broadest-reaching job to date, and in its honour, I’m marking my last days with a different version of Europe’s classic ‘80s hair-rock hit, The Final Countdown. Today’s rendition: an orchestral version led by three cellos performed by an orchestra from Liepaja, Latvia, still with the head-bangin’.

This article also appears in Global Nerdy.

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That’s Not a Proverb; That’s a LIE!

weird al accordion proverbClick the photo to see the dirty, dirty lie at full size.

Don’t just stand there, Weird Al! Smash that window! WITH YOUR ACCORDION!

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Where to Stay in Minneapolis (May 6th–8th)?

minneapolisCreative Commons photo courtesy of Sri Dhanush.

I’m helping out with BarCamp Minneapolis, a.k.a. MinneBar, which takes place on May 7th. The event takes place at Best Buy’s headquarters out in Richfield, and we out-of-towner helper-outers are staying downtown. If you know any good and reasonably-priced hotels in an interesting but not sketchy part of downtown, please let me know in the comments or drop me an email!

This article also appears in Global Nerdy.