Thursday, February 23, 2012

Proud Day

Proud day here at Downward Brent Lee for two reasons.

1. We've surpassed 7,000 page views. Sad little world, isn't it?

2. If you Google the phrase "world's largest rectal thermometer" this blog is the first result!

Wow, what an accomplishment. Thanks to Baker, CA for providing....this.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Getting Dapper *OR* Miami Vice Is Back....Again

Since the bachelor party is over I guess we have to focus on the actual wedding now and all of those last minute details. As a groomsdude, I am moderately busy making hotel reservations and trying to figure how to get to this wedding. I'm working on my spray tan and getting all juiced up for the pictures.
Greg and I did go today to get fitted for the wedding tuxedo. It has been a long time since I have had to rent a tux, so I was surprised that we didn't have to even try them on. The woman helping us though was not in the mood to deal with our rapid-fire humor. Basically she was a big downer. I think I'm going to have to go tanning to get over this depression.
Brent never told us what the tuxes look like, so guess what a shock it was to see this coat get draped over my beefy shoulders.
I look pretty good in a white coat and this should go well with green and it is a nice throwback to Miami Vice.

As Greg and I were checking out how awesome we would look in a few weeks, we decided that tuxedos are just so...plain. Basically you have a coat and pants with some shiny parts and a vest. There is no opportunity to be original or stand out in a crowd. Unless you look like James Bond and have an Aston Martin at your disposal, you need something extra. So while we were at the mall we may have done a little more shopping. I don't want to ruin the surprise, but I can tell you that we are going to stand out. It will be a delightful, if not dapper, addition to an otherwise boring ensemble.

In other news, I bought them a wedding present. Again, I can't ruin the surprise here (I'll tell you next week), but I may have found something not on the registry. And yes, it is something that every household needs. It certainly fills a void that you may not have known was there. I will give you a hint, it actually does appear in this blog in an earlier post. And no, it is not this:

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

We Survived, Sorta...

The good news is that everyone has made it home from Vegas. The bad news is that I think we broke Paul. Of course, now that I am home, I might be broken as well.

We had a good time and after realizing that the four of us had not been together like that in about 10 years, it has been decided that we need to do it again soon. But next time I might need some energy drinks to be able to keep up.

B hooked us up with some great rooms at the Aria hotel and we ate steak every night. Could there be anything worse for your heart? Possibly not, but you only live once, right? It goes without saying that we ate like kings. Fat kings, but kings nonetheless.

So here is a quick recap for those interested in living vicariously through some 30-somethings:
Day 1: Greg and I drove from LA while B and Paul drove from SLO. Greg and I pulled off at Zzyzx Road.
 There is some amazing stuff down there. A cool salt flat and some interesting views.


 Then, of course, you hit Baker, CA and the World's Largest Rectal Thermometer. It has seen better days it seems.
Here is where Greg and I made a horrible decision. We have always seen Bun Boy from the road and wondered what it was all about. So we took a risk and headed inside. Huge space and we were 2 of about 6 patrons in the place. We ordered hamburgers. Simple, right? Well, it took about 20 minutes for them to arrive. When they did they were about as hot as the surface of the sun and had been cooked to a near-hockey puck texture. Neither of us finished the world's worst burger and left feeling like putting an hot iron to our tongue would have been a better decision. 2 hours later and it still felt like I had a glowing ember in my gut. So here is our travel top tip: Don't eat at Bun Boy.


Arrival and hanging out. Dinner at Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak. Great space, great food. If you want to roll large, try the $265 wagu steak. What goes well with steak? Fireworks! So we head 30 minutes north of Las Vegas into the desert at around 11:30pm to the Moapa Travel Plaza to buy some fireworks. The great thing is that you can light them off just a few seconds down the road.



 We were there until about 1:00am blowing up about $200 worth of fireworks. We did not make all that mess you see out there, it was quite a mess before we got there.

Day 2: "Early" morning wake-up to get some old-fashioned straight edge razor shaves at the Art of Shaving.
Granted, in this picture it does kind of look like a doctor checking a corpse, but trust me, B and Paul are under those towels and very much alive. Afterwards we walked around for a bit and went back to the room to watch some football and relax. B made us get all dressed up and head over to Prime Steakhouse for night 2 of meat. After about 3 hours of expensive gluttony, we moved on and B danced for some Russian girls. That last part may be incorrect as I was not there.

Day 3 came a bit later and we grazed on a muffin while thoughts of grass-fed beef danced in our heads. We headed out to Boulder City. Why? To fly down 1.5 miles of cable dangling over the side of Bootleg Canyon. Yes, we did the Bootleg Canyon Flightlines! You get moving up to around 50 mph while you zip over your impending doom and death.
Your motley crew

Looking down at the first run

The brakes

B getting ready to fly

B is trying to cheat

Masters of the mountain

This was a lot of fun and there was no spinning around in circles involved (inside joke). We all agreed that this was something that we would do again. If you get the chance, head out and do it. It is very safe and a lot of fun.

Our last night was spent doing what else but eating steak! Yes, we did a trifecta of meat and finished off at Delmonico Steakhouse, one of Emeril's places. I really enjoyed the food there a lot and we had a nice time. The service was very warm and friendly. But B might rank some of the patrons as a 3...hard to explain.

We had a great time overall and are looking forward to doing it again before another decade passes us by. There are more pictures and some video out there and once I get them, I will put them on the blog for all 4 people who read this thing to check out.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

It's On Like Donkey Kong *OR* I Need A Fix Of Second-Hand Smoke

The time has arrived for the groomsdudes to accompany Brent Lee to his bachelor party in Las Vegas. Hours of planning has come to this. As with every good bachelor party, there will be some memorable moments. I can't tell you what they are yet because they are a surprise for B, but if you stay tuned to the twitter feed @DownwardBLee, you can stay on top of all the happenings.

In doing my research and trying to find things to do in Las Vegas, I have learned that the following things are required for a bachelor party. With any luck, we will be able to cross them all off the list.

  • B must wake up in a pool of his own bodily fluid. It turns out that the type of fluid is not very important.
  • Some place that features a neon sign that mentions "GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS!" must be frequented.
  • Hair gel must be applied in copious amounts.
  • Body spray should be substituted for showering.
  • Awkwardly sentimental moments must be shared.
  • The phrase "your life will never be the same" must be spoken often.
  • Grotesque references to private parts should be uttered. (I'm leaving that to Paul)
  • B must be humiliated in a public situation.
  • Physical violence must occur.
  • A moment will be shared where the party-goers will revel while purveying a vista.
  • Convertibles should be driven and the phrase "VEGAS BABY!" should be yelled out of said convertible.
  • The group must walk shoulder to shoulder in a line in slow motion in front of the Bellagio fountain while a swinging Frank Sinatra song is played.
  • B should wake up one late morning in a strange hotel room wondering why his back is so sore only to find out the name "Olga" has been tattooed on his back in very large letters.
I think with all the planning I've got  most of these things covered. And don't worry Corrin, we're only going to hit places with names like "Spearmint Rhino" and "Tropical Lei." I hear they have great buffets there. Oh, and we can't forget B's return to the stage that made his famous...as a member of the Thunder From Down Under. But I am trying to recreate B in this image:
In all seriousness, stay tuned to the Twitter feed, I will live-tweet the weekend and let you honestly know what is going on. It might be this...