http://www.ChrisDerubeis.com

Well … I popped my cherry. They say the first time you buy a piece of art is the most difficult, and they were right. However, they also say that you shouldn’t buy a piece of art unless you love it the second you see it … they were also right.  As my Vegas trip wound down, Grant and I stopped into the Wyland Art Gallery at Planet Hollywood just for the heck of it and found a collection of paintings on aluminum slabs by a new upcoming artist named Chris Derubeis that took my breath away.  After two hours of deliberation (with 2 of the worst sales women on earth), we decided it was time to pull the trigger.  So, I am now an owner of the original piece above (Grant bought the same one with white wine).Derubeis was picked up a couple years ago by the manager of Michael Godard and is expected to be the next big thing to follow Godard’s martini/olive popularity.  Check out his website above, as he is called the “Father of Conceptual Movement” and somehow found a way to make the painting move and shimmer with light in ways no oil painting could.  As you look at the wine glass, it literally appears to pour!

Derubeis was picked up a couple years ago by the manager of Michael Godard and is expected to be the next big thing to follow Godard’s martini/olive popularity.  Check out his website above, as he is called the “Father of Conceptual Movement” and somehow found a way to make the painting move and shimmer with light in ways no oil painting could.  As you look at the wine glass, it literally appears to pour!

This iPhone jpeg does not do justice of the piece, but I hope you caught the shape of the splash!

“They’re little footballs!”

So I am back from Vegas and trying to fit back into the normal world again … easier said than done!  But after 4 days of NCAA basketball, footballs and yards of alcohol, passion pit blackjack, $3 craps, Mystere Cirque du Soleil, it is nice to finally be home again trying to get back in the swing of things.  Las Vegas is a helluva town though, and every state should have one. Until then though, I’ll see you at the tourney in 2010!

March Madness is upon us and another member of the MBR club is getting married, which means only one thing:  Bachelor Party in Vegas.  This time tomorrow I’ll be basking in the warmth of the Paris Hotel and Casino to kick off the greatest weekend I will never remember.  Since I undoubtedly will be on no sleep, a constant intake of watered down drinks, and a general malaise for the Vegas “”group mentality””, it’s probably good to relive the memories now when I’ll enjoy them more.  Therefore, here is what I can only expect will occur over the next 5 days…

• Buddy will lose $10 in the Las Vegas Airport casino slot machine and immediately hop on a plane to go home.
• Henry will go to Tony Roma’s alone, just to say he finally made it there.
• Ben will stop by the Luxor and pay his annual fee to relight the pyramid light for the year
• Grant will accurately and publicly identify all of the girls in the Paris hotel bar who are in fact “”ladies for hire””. (only to prove he can, then smile and walk away)
• Geoff will take the place of Brian Hage at the Lindee’s 4am dinner table … and eat my grilled cheese.
• Danny will convince everyone he does indeed want to go to a big name bar/club, only to sit at the table and watch ESPN on the television the whole time.
• Goldfine will emerge as the true MVP for 2009, dropping benjamins like chump change.
• Yanow will show up Saturday night on a last minute flight and steal Ben’s scooter.
• Berdass will disappear and come back a millionaire Monday morning.
• And I, of course, will lose all of my savings, inheritance, retirement, and dignity in a 72 hour binge weekend. I’m better off staying at the pool for 3 days straight … and to be safe, I may just do it!

http://www.ruminations.com

Ok, I apologize but this post is really just me bragging.  Four years ago a co-worker introduced me to the ingenious comedy of Aaron Karo (if you don’t subscribe to his newsletter yet, you are missing out!) and I’ve been reading his ruminations every since.  On his website though, he lets readers write their own quips on life and people can vote if they think it is “gourmet” enough to make it to his column.  I try to post whenever I think of something funny (that didn’t come from Ross, Jon Stewart, or Rothstein first), and something finally got noticed.  The funny thing is, it’s not even that funny compared to my other posts, but I guess everyone else at ruminations.com is sick of Larry the Cable Guy too.  Check out www.ruminations.com for more.   I know 26 gourmet points aren’t much, but if you think I’m mildly funny (aka not annoying), go check out my posts and rate them gourmet too!  This put a smile on my face, and hopefully yours too.  🙂

http://www.southbounders.com

I have always dreamed of taking 6 months off of work and life, grab a pack, and hit the Appalachian Trail.  Its very easy to get swept up in the daily routine of work and life and forget about your goals, but every once in a while something reminds me of this dream and reignites the flame to pursue it.  Yesterday I found out that a friend’s husband hiked the trail after college, went on to be a movie writer/producer, and created an award-winning film about the experience called Southbounders.  Seeing that this movie even exists inspired me to once again build the AT into my “5-year plan”.  Knowing this could be on the horizon for the future, it put a smile on my face … and hopefully yours.  🙂