THE GRISWOLDS HIT VEGAS

The entire Wright clan invaded Vegas for a week to celebrate the 65th anniversairy of my grandparents on mom's side: Byron & Nancy Houseworth. This was an unprecidented event, not only because my ENTIRE family went (including Jessie & Josh & Tanya)
but because most of us haven't seen Grandma & Grandpa Houseworth in over 10 years, haven't seen my uncle Jim (who also lives in Vegas) in over 20 years & some of the Wright kids hadn't even met their cousins, Colin & Ian Houseworth. So, yeah - it was a big deal.
We spent a lot of time hanging out on the strip, shopping, sightseeing... friday, saturday & sunday were spent with Grandma & Grandpa - hanging out & eating, going to church... but their days end relatively early, so we were usually back downtown at night. The highlights of the trip were seeing the grandparents (first time for Angelene) they are the cutest couple ever. My grandmother is EXACTLY like my mom- you have no idea, they even sound the same... Angelene could not get over how uncanny it is... also, Angelene couldn't stop talking about how blue my Grandmother's eyes are - they're actually quite piercing. I finally realized where I get them. So it was pretty spcial to see them again, I really love them. The other highlight was: Angelene & I got to go to the Cirque du Soleil Beatles show "LOVE" (thanks to Doc & Alice Rogers). I'm realizing that it is literally impossible to describe or explain this experience to people. I was just unbelievable. Unfortunately, they don't allow photography during the show so we don't have any pictures of it. Overall the trip was a blast, an average of 105 degrees daily, though it was so dry it didn't feel like it at all- plus we drove over to Hoover Dam on the last day, which was also breathtaking. Here are some pictures of the trip.

The Crew


The Houseworths


Out on the strip & the fountains at the Bellagio






Vegas at night

FARM VISIT

We need to take Scooter to the farm more often, he needs the exercise.









Considering this is the extent of his life in the city:



& here's his official farm portrait:



& this is one of my favorites from the weekend farm visit- Uncle Daddy Steve & Cousin Benjamin surveying the land:



*Farm photos by Aunt Stacey Thurman

MORTAL COMBAT

This weekend I went to the World Combat League tournament at the Expo Square Pavillion. Winnercomm is involved in the production side of the events & Jason- the producer I worked with on the poker tournament at Sundance is the producer & director of these WCL events, so he hooked me up with some press passes. I didn't think I'd dig it that much, but it was actually pretty cool. Joseph & I went in the afternoon & then Paule & I went back that night. The WCL was created by Chuck Norris & it's a much better format than any kind of fighting sport I've tried to watch. The fights are only 3 minutes long & there are penalties for "holding" & "passivity" - (backing up or basically being wimpy) that encourage pretty continuous action. So it's not like boxing, where guys are just dancing around saving their energy. I took some pics & video on my digital camera, so I thought I'd try to edit something together on the new version of iMovie '08 that I've never used (& read so many terrible consumer reviews about).
Turns out I don't like it either- they took away the standard linear/timeline look that people who edit on normal digital editing systems might be used to. I think it was created for regular people who never edit video & somehow the interface is designed to be simpler for those kind of people. Regardless, I didn't like it & didn't want to try to figure it out- so luckly, Apple provides a free download of iMovie HD '06 for people who bought a Mac after iLife '08 was released with iMovie '08. So I downloaded it & threw together this little piece for you all.

Sidenote: I was standing backstage after the fights were over talking to some friends, when security started clearing a path through the small crowd of people. I stepped aside thinking that the last team to finish was coming through- when lo & behold, in all his glory, Mr. Chuck Norris was walking by. The guy standing in front of me stuck out his hand & shook Chuck's hand, then Chuck offered his hand to me. Terrified for my life, I did shake it. I can't believe I lived, I consider myself very lucky & strangely, I feel a little more powerful.

Oh, & my camera battery died halfway through the fights in the evening & Paule had already left- so I have no evidence of my Chuck Norris encounter.

DID YOU KNOW...

When Scooter's thirsty & the water bowl's empty, he moves it out to the middle of the floor & waits for us to notice.

VALENTINES DAY

For Valentines Day Angelene decided to make me some homemade tiramisu, so I realized I'd better do something pretty special for her, too. So while she was at Ida Red with Joseph & Jeremy in the afternoon working (btw, BIG stuff happening there, more on that to come soon) I decided to get cracking at setting up her art studio/design office. A big task -for those of you who had seen that room- but I decided to try, wasn't sure I'd actually be able to do it. So I moved the couch into the "Fitness Room" (funny, huh...?) cleared out a lot of junk... etc, etc, etc. So yeah, I did it! She had a piece of glass cut to the size of her desktop, so with a little help from mommo, I assembled a highlight batch of about 60 photos & had prints made. These went under the glass. Top it off with a dozen red roses (of course) & it looked pretty sweet. So if it sounds like I did a lot of running around & worked up a sweat, you are correct. Especially because I had no idea how much time I had before she came home... But now Angel has her own studio with her computer moved in there- (the colors & atmosphere in mine were proving to be a little uninspiring for her). So hopefully the lavender & white & sunlight will inspire some cool things... & she'll enjoy it a lot more for sure.







P.S. - she was totally suprised & blown away.

WHAT THA HECK IS GOING ON??

So, no sooner do I post a blog about a new doggie- then we get another suprise.
Last night, we were cuddled on the couch watching a movie after a delicious & romantic Valentines Day dinner at home...
Angelene says: "hey, did you hear that? Pause the movie" So we stop the movie & then hear a scratching & whimpering at the front door. My first thought was "how did Ricky get out of the backyard?" So I go to the door & there before us, waiting to come in is a little poofy brown pomeranian. We were speechless. Angelene was laughing so hard she started crying. We seriously are a lost dog magnet. I guess the word's out-they just come right to us now! Erin says we need to get some government funding for our little dog rescue operation... Anyway- so now we have two lost doggies in our backyard & I think Scooter's going to loose his mind- he can't figure out what's going on. So now I gotta make some posters because there's no way this dog's a stray- he's more like a show dog. & he acts a little spoiled, if you ask me. But he's nice.
We haven't named him yet. Any ideas?





SO HERE'S THE SCENE IN OUR BACKYARD NOW...

CRASH UPDATE

So here's a guerilla-style update since last year:

ANGELENE DOWNTOWN (OCTOBERFEST?)


WIDE-ANGLE PICS OF THE STUDIO (& SCOOTER)






SCOOTER WAS A BEE FOR HALLOWEEN
IN HONOR OF "BEE MOVIE"


YES, HE'S STILL CUTE


ANGELENE GOT HER ELLIPTICAL MACHINE!


SCOOTER GOT SOME PJ'S...


ANGELENE WENT TO LA TO VISIT JENNIFER & ADAM & PICKET WITH THE WRITERS




STANDARD "SCOOTER SLEEPING CUTE" PICS






"DIAMOND JACK'S" - THE BEST SANDWICH & SATURDAY NIGHT ENTERTAINMENT IN TOWN!





3D MOVIE NIGHT AT ELVIS'S


GOT NEW LIVING ROOM FURNITURE...



...THAT SCOOTER SLEEPS LIKE A CAT ON...



...& GETS SOME REALLY FUNNY STATIC HAIR.



THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LEAVE A BAG OF RAWHIDES IN SCOOTER'S REACH - (THIS PICTURE WAS NOT SET UP OR POSED AT ALL!)



GLOSOUL CHANGED TO "LIGHTWORKS" & PLAYED A FEW SHOWS...



JONNY GOT HIS MACBOOK PRO!



& LOTSA STUFF HAPPENIN' AT THE FARM!!

OTHER STUFF

Well, I got to go to Park City, Utah last week during the Sundance Film Festival, co-producing a celebrity poker tournament that will be airing on a major network this spring... Probably shouldn't say who the "celebs" were (although many of you already know). That was fun & COLD. But Park City is beautiful right now & I only wish I could've done more while I was there, but I was very busy the whole time.













There are other celebrity poker tourneys that I will be working on this year that are in talks right now that will be based around other high-profile events like Sundance & also a few other fun opportunities for me this year that I'll have to wait & see what happens with as well.

Angelene has also been extremely busy working on opening " IDA RED " - a "Cain's Ballroom Rock 'N Roll Boutique" that will be open soon on Brookside!
This has been a very fun project for her that she's been doing for Alice Rodgers & she will be very involved in the store after it opens as well. The location for the store is on Brookside next to Senior Tequila's.