SHARKS IN A CASINO!

Yes, last night was by far the coolest party of the festival. I mean, who throws a party in a casino with huge shark-filled aquariums!?! I got to stare down some hammerheads, man! But I still don’t get jellyfish. Sure they look neat and all, but… what’s their deal, really? Just… don’t… get… it…

The second half of the night was at Forty Deuce (as Mike said below) and it was pretty chill when we got there. Dark and moody, the techno and hip-hop was at a decent level for conversation, easy access to the bar… just nice. After about a half hour of this relative calm, the music stopped and the back of the bar spun around to reveal a small band (yes, with Don Lewis on drums) playing all these saxophone-friendly standards. Then the burlesque dancers showed up, danced all around the bar (the first one could contort herself in ways that humans should be incapable of doing… she may’ve evolved from the jellyfish I mentioned above) and Doug from Damn Yankee Day kept shouting “OH MY GOD!” in amazement.

When the ladies were done, and the band left, people began climbing onto the bar and grooving. Mike looked at me and… the rest is in the pictures below (and possibly floating around the ‘net as I was dancing close to Dennis Hopper’s kid, and he was getting lots of pics taken). I do have a good pic from my spot on the bar of Mike grooving when he decided to get on the bar too:

I don’t know how you could top this party, but the festival still has tonight through Saturday to show us. Mike and I took some other pics during the day that he’s holding onto for a different blog entry, so I won’t ruin that for him by posting them now, but they’re very apropos for Mike, s’all I’m saying…

And I’m in the festival HQ and… they’re playing Snoop Dogg while Showgirls is on the main TV in the middle of the room. Yes, Showgirls… showing in Vegas… I think I left reality a week ago and I don’t know how I’m supposed to get back.