Sunday, April 5, 2009 by Alexandria Harper.

If you were ever in doubt about the power of the Presidential office, what I’m about to discuss will convince you. One off-hand, irresponsible comment has set off a chain of reaction so severe that our city is in jeopardy. [Please note that “irresponsible” pertains to the comment made only. No mail bombing me for saying Obama is an irresponsible president, and if you do you’re only proving the point I’m trying to make in this post.]

On February 9, 2009, President Barack Obama was speaking at a town hall meeting in Indiana about the state of the economy and, specifically, the role of financial institutions in its downturn. He chastised the institutions involved in the Bail-Out and stated that they shouldn’t take trips to “Las Vegas…or…the Superbowl on the taxpayer’s dime”. He also called for them to practice “accountability and responsibility”.

As a taxpayer, I agree wholeheartedly with companies focusing on accountability and responsibility for their actions and, above all, not wasting my hard-earned money. Also, I do not dispute that American public have misinterpreted what President Obama said. Somehow, his statement regarding the misappropriation of funds by troubled financial institutions became “stop going to Vegas for any reason whatsoever.” Clearly, that is not what Obama meant to happen, but the average American isn’t going to examine what he said closely. They take what the President says as gospel and if he says, “don’t go to Las Vegas,” they’re going to drop this city like a hot potato. He’s new to game and we all make mistakes. However, he should know that most people regard the President as an authority on all subjects, faulty logic or no.

The sad fact is that our city was singled out in the statement and our major sources of revenue, tourism, conventions and meetings, thrown into suspicion. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman felt so strongly that he penned a letter the very next day asking for an apology. He later rescinded the request stating he was satisfied that the word is out there and that the President wasn’t trying to “disparage Las Vegas”.

On March 12, the White House issued a “clarification” stating that the President recognizes the importance of business travel to the tourism industry and encourages business travel for meetings. According to Metro Networks Communications, Obama is also planning a trip to Vegas for a fundraiser for Senator Harry Reid during which he is expected to talk about “talk about the importance of leisure and business travel.”

I commend him for making an effort; however, I don’t think Harry Reid is the path to winning back the hearts and minds of Las Vegans. I personally wouldn’t align myself with him. I’ve met the guy and I would say you’d be hard pressed to locate a more arrogant, self-interested waster of taxpayers money. Chalk it up to Obama’s newness once again. But I digress…

Now, we must ask ourselves, is it too little too late? Is the damage is already done? Some damage is evident at least.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that 340 conventions have been cancelled in the last 90 days, costing our city $131.6 million in non-gambling projected revenue. What does that mean? More than just trouble for our economy, it means that thousands of people are going to lose their jobs.

As of February, the unemployment rate in Nevada was already at a staggering 10.1 percent. The last time it was that high was 1983 due to the recession in the early 1980s.

So what can we do to turn it around? Get the word out and I’m about to give you the ammunition in my next post. I’m splitting the post because this one is long enough and I’d like to highlight the next individually.

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Monday, March 30, 2009 by Alexandria Harper.

I know, it’s been a thousand years since I’ve blogged. I’ve been rather busy. I promise to be more diligent in the future…

I did a lot of traveling last year–LA, Waikiki Beach, Catalina Island and Ensenada–which is something I probably should write about. And I will…a little now, more later and some photos. I’ve been so busy I haven’t even downloaded the photos from my camera! With the recession going on I won’t be travelling much this year. I am going to ComicCon (finally!) so I’ll be writing about that.

On another note, I’ve gone back to school to get my Master’s degree. I think that’s why I have the writing bug again. I’m strangely more productive now that I have a goal and purpose for my future. Funny how that works.

I went through a period of time where I didn’t want to do much of anything which culminated in copious amounts of TV watching. This in turn led to a mild depression due to the impending doom of the end of Battlestar Galactica.

*SPOILER ALERT*

Now that the end has come and gone I can say that I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with the last episode–and maybe the ones that led up to the end too. I don’t like the fact that Anders sat in a tub for the last few episodes, though I have admit that him becoming like a hybrid was clever. I just love that character so much, and Michael Trucco who plays him, I hated having him take a back seat. Also, a few of the last episodes felt like filler and didn’t have the substance I was yearning for with the end being nigh. Also, Starbuck fading away was sort of weird. I get the whole “angel” angle but the whole *poof* she’s gone thing was odd.

I do have to say the final battle between the “bad” Cylons and the Colonials, assisted by the “good” Cylons, was awesome! Well worth the wait there. It was also nice that they found our Earth and that it wasn’t 1980. I didn’t agree with everyone splitting up but I know what Moore and company were trying to say–we’re all descendants of the Colonists and Cylons, can’t we all just get along and stop perpetuating our destructive cycle? Soapboxy but intriguing.

*END SPOILER ALERT*

On a final note, I saw “Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D” yesterday and I really enjoyed it. It’s well worth watching in 3D–the effects were spectacular. Take your family, or just yourself, and go see it. I hadn’t laughed that hard in a while.

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Sunday, November 18, 2007 by Alexandria Harper.

I have every intention to keep my personal life and my professional life separate with this blog. That’s not always easy, especially for me as my work is a big part of my life—it’s sad, I know. It’s just good practice to keep work out of the picture in my cyberexploits. I will be omitting some details on situations that concern work. This is deliberate to CMA. It’s a necessary evil. I’d like to keep my job—I’m sort of fond of it and paying my bills on time in general.

That being said, I recently went to Seattle on a business trip and I have to say I love that city. First of all, I can breathe there. There’s something in the air in Las Vegas that makes my sinuses unhappy on a regular basis. I didn’t have any of those issues up in the Emerald City. Second of all, they have water (which is probably a factor in my First-of-all). Most desert dwellers get punch drunk over seeing water and trees and I am no exception to this rule. Third of all, it’s just a beautiful city. Seattle has lots of great old buildings, rolling hills (which I was not aware before going there) and loads of things to see and do.

You can’t go to Seattle and not see the sights. It would be a travesty not to visit at least some of the attractions that downtown Seattle has to offer. When I got there on Sunday it was lunchtime. After checking into the hotel we went to Rock Bottom Brewery. I had Salmon Fish and Chips. I didn’t even know you could get that anywhere! The food was great and they had Root Beer Barrels instead of mints! I haven’t seen Root Beer Barrels in years. I grabbed a handful for the road.

The first place I went after lunch was the Seattle Aquarium because I love otters. I can watch them for hours; they’re some of the most graceful creatures on Earth. Unfortunately it was getting dark when I got there and the otters are outside (obviously, because they live in water and that’s where the water is). I did get to see them but it was too dark for photographs. I liked the Seattle Aquarium immensely; they really have some great exhibits.

For instance, they have an exhibit where you can actually pet some of the animals there. I got to touch a starfish, something a land-lubber like me was unlikely to do anytime in the future. They also had puffins which I had never seen up close.

What’s a trip to Seattle without going to Pike Place Market? Unfortunately I got there too late to see any fish-throwing but it was still neat to see where they filmed “Sleepless in Seattle” and look at some of the vendors wares even as they were pulling up shop for the night. This is something I’ll have to check out again at a later date.

I had to go to the Space Needle too. The Space Needle is the Seattle skyline. It was so great to see the city from 500 feet up. I, of course, had dinner at the Sky City restaurant because I was a wide-eyed tourist. It was REALLY expensive and not worth the price but your paying for the view, I suppose, and that was really great. I could see Qwest field where the Seattle Seahawks were giving the San Francisco 49ers a beating Monday night.

Tuesday night I had dinner at Anthony’s Pier 66. It’s a beautiful restaurant with a terrific view of Elliot Bay. Their salmon chowder is excellent. After that I was treated to a ride through Capitol Hill which is a really neat part of the city. Very hip and trendy. Some of the houses there are huge! They also have several beautiful churches there, which is ironic since this is a counterculture hotspot of Seattle.

I had to leave Wednesday night to come back to Sin City. I wasn’t in Seattle as long as I wanted to be and I wish I was still there (breathing is highly underrated). I will be going back next month on another business trip. I can’t wait!

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Thursday, November 8, 2007 by Alexandria Harper.

So, Tuesday night I was watching last Sunday’s “Robot Chicken” episode and in one of the skits I’m positive that it’s Nathan Fillion’s voice I’m hearing. I figure either I’ve eaten some bad mushrooms or he truly is one of the coolest guys in Hollywood.

Turns out I’m not suffering from food poisoning. He really did the voice over for the “It’s the Law…” skit. Anyone that does voiceovers for Seth Green and Co.’s comedic masterpiece must not take themselves too seriously and are therefore the cream of crop in my book.

For you dyed in the wool “Firefly” fans I’m going to post the link so you can experience it yourself with a disclaimer. “Robot Chicken” is not for the feint of heart, my friends. It is rude, crude and socially unacceptable but also freaking hilarious. If your not easily offended, click the link. If you think swearing, clever dialogue and stop-motion animated people getting billy-clubbed can’t possibly be entertaining, keep on reading and forgot I even mentioned it.

Here’s the link: http://www.adultswim.com/video/?episodeID=8a25c39215fcb0f90115fcfa634200a3.

Speaking of Nathan Fillion, my friend Rani and I attended Creation Entertainment’s “Firefly/Serenity Salute” October 27 and 28th in beautiful Burbank, CA.

Nathan crashed nearly everyone’s appearance. He sure likes to talk and I have to admit I love to listen to him. He is one of funniest actors in Hollywood and I’m sad to say underrated. Someday he’ll be more than a household name to we faithful “Browncoats”.

Check out the ”Firefly/Serenity Salute 2007” page for photos from the convention.

The convention was my first trip to the greater Hollywood area and I now am a SoCal convert. I totally get why people live there despite experiencing every natural disaster known to man, power shortages and a tax structure only a schizophrenic could possibly agree with.

We had a celebrity sighting in Studio City. We ate lunch at this great little pizzeria called Ciaotti Pizza Café. While we were waiting for our food to arrive, Rani noticed a little girl who had come in with her mom. She’s asked me if I recognized her and I surely did. It was Adair Tishler who plays Molly on ”Heroes”. She was dressed in her little Judo outfit. So adorable!

That’s all for today kids. Keep it real!

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