10.01.11 Kings vs. Avalanche @ MGM Grand Garden Arena - Las Vegas, NV

Kings arrive. Boys in suits! 

Just realized it's been a long time since I've posted. Lots of stuff happening in my personal life but no one but me cares so I'll try and back-post the events since Groban.

The past weekend we had the boys of hockey. The LA Kings vs. the CO Avalanche. I actually hate hockey as a sport. Zzzz. And I'm from Minnesota so I realize that's sacrilegious but man, do I LOVE the hockey players. Those boys are beautiful human specimens... and the best part, they arrive and depart in suits. Good suits. And they're so polite.

The guys from the Kings exec office are great to work with too. Every year it's a pleasure. No coincidence their home is Staples Center, my 2nd favorite venue on earth. Of course the MGM Grand Garden Arena is #1. They direct deposit money into my account twice a month. 

The team making ice.

Sprinkler-thingy.

Once of the coolest things is to watch them make ice. We went from on of the biggest nights in music history with iHeart Radio the weekend before to freezing water and driving Zambonis @ the arena. We have a system in the concrete floor that chills it enough to freeze water. We have this sprinkler-type thingy (yep, that's the technical term) with white paint mixed in and they just spray it along the perimeter of the dashers and work inward. Much like the route the Zamboni takes. Couple of layers of that, then they paint on the logos, then more ice. In total it takes about 4 days for us. 

George Bennett on the ice

Look closely. See the cracks?

1 perk of my job is access & having fun when I can so I brought George Bennett in to play on the ice. 1st mistake, I walk out onto the ice with him IN heels. Yeah, I didn't think that one through. I take 2 steps and c-r-a-c-k! My heel dug in and a series of massive spider cracks split the ice just as if I walked out onto Lake Calhoun in spring in Minneapolis. I freaked out. I thought for sure I screwed up the ice and Matthew Ball, our resident ice guru would hate me. But the damage was already done so I tried to get George Bennett to play. He had no interest. The hair on his paws were sticking to the ice. It was funny. Anyhow, turns out the ice cracks all the time. We have to keep it so cold that it is prone to cracking. They fix it before the game. Whew. Crisis averted. But in my apologetic email trail they managed to fuck with me and tell me they'd have to start all over. I love my guys. Wouldn't be any fun if they didn't fuck with me. 

I wanna drive a Zamboni...

So meanwhile, as we're doing hockey in the arena, we're also doing a boxing event in the Marquee Ballroom at the same time. Luckily hockey and boxing are manageable or I'd be out of my mind. There's only 1 of me and it's hard to be in 2 places at once. I'll post Nishioka vs. Marquez separately. 

And on top of it all, my big brother David came into town for a couple hours. He flew in from the Twin Cities for 8 hours, primarily just to accumulate miles but also to have dinner with his favorite (only) sister. So after getting doors open for boxing and then hockey, I meet him at my Happy Place, Seablue and we had a great night of goodies.

We love the hockey fans!

Next up @ the Grand Garden is Journey with Foreigner and Night Ranger but Chris Botti is playing @ Green Valley Ranch the same night so the plan is to get doors open for Journey, head to GVR for Botti and head back to the arena to close the show. That's the plan anyhow. It's the end to the Year of Botti so I hope nothing goes wrong at the arena or I'm hauling my ass to Phoenix to see him @ Danny Zelisko's joint with Mick Treadwell. I'd actually go just to see Mick and skip Botti. Love Mick. To death. 

Not sure what I'm gonna call this blog after the Year of Botti is done but I'll think of something. Or maybe it will just have to remain the Year or Botti. I kinda like the sound of it. And his music really did inspire me to travel, live and forgive. All things worthy of a girl's blog title. 

Love

George Bennett

Furry friends make life better, don't they?

I brought the pooch into work with me today. I like bringing him when it's quiet and we don't have any shows in house. Hey, if parents can bring their rug rats to work with them, I can bring my dog. I guarantee he's cuter than 90% of your kids.

George Bennett is a good dog & pretty laid back. (Of course he is, he's my dog.) I like to let him run around on the floor of the arena. Because we have carpet down he can tear off in a full sprint after the ball. It's pretty funny actually, like his own personal playground. I used to take him to dog runs but most here in Vegas are dirt - and me being me I can't take a dirty dog. Gross. He gets plenty of exercise with me on my walks though. The summer is going to be brutal on us both. It's up & adam at 6.00a to walk or by 9.00a it'll be 110 degrees. I can handle the heat it but poor GB's little doggie paw pads can't. I refuse to put clothes or dog boots on him. I'm not THAT kind of dog owner.

GB taking a break in the arena

When he's in the office he usually sits on the corner of my desk facing the door. Sometimes he sprawls out in the doorway to see who might be coming around the corner. It's cute actually. I know when he wants to go home because he'll sit right in front of me between my chest and the keyboard. I just rest my head on his back and type around him.

Like most dogs they tend to reflect the personalities of their owners - so in the spirit of full disclosure he likes air conditioning, HBO & Seablue. Yes, my dog eats better than most people. Spare me your judgements about feeding dogs people food. I guarantee my dog is more healthy eating NY Strip bones from Seablue & sake (salmon) sushi from Sumo II than your dog who eats gluten free, organic kibble from some boutique dog store.

About 3 years ago I made the best decision of my life, to date. I adopted George Bennett. My friend at work, Yvette, emailed around pics of 2 baby Shih Tzu puppies that her mom just delivered. Of course they were cute, puppies always are. I toyed around with the idea of getting one. Everyone said it was a bad idea. "You can't have a dog with your lifestyle," they said. "You work 16 hours a day and then go out at night." Only one person said it was a good idea - Trubes. She was the only one who didn't hesitate. And she was right. Dead on.

Hey, get off my keyboard.

After about a week of hemming & hawing over the email of the puppies I went over to Yvette's to see them. There was a black & white one and a liver & white one. I knew right away if I was going to get one it would be the black & white guy. He was not interested in me whatsoever. He didn't want to leave the vent where the AC was coming out. My kind of dog; choose comfort over distraction. But I was smart. I didn't make the decision there. I left and went home to think about it for a week. I did excel spreadsheets on my budget, I make a pros & cons list, I researched the breed to make sure I could train him to go on a puppy pad for those days I had to be at work for 18 hours. In the end all of it was just an exercise in futility to make myself feel better about my decision that I already made 2 weeks ago. I knew the minute I saw his picture come across my email he was the dog for me.

GB at the park

My friend Trubes helped me name him. He went without a name for about 10 days after I brought him home. People suggested cutesy names like Oreo & Panda. Clearly they don't know me because I'm not a cutesy kind of girl. I love the name George and he looks like one to me so that seemed an easy choice. But I also wanted a name that had some sort of meaning to me too. Trubes suggested I name him Bennett after Tony Bennett, arguably my favorite standard singer. I couldn't name my dog Tony Bennett - now that would be weird - so I landed on George Bennett. It totally suits him and I can't imagine his name as anything else. 

Adopting George Bennett is by far the best thing I've ever done. Every day when I leave for work I tell him, "I Love you. I'm grateful for you. You make me very happy." I do. I am. He does.