So...here we go. We were to leave for Las Vegas last Sunday, as in 8/26. Our plane arrived Sunday around 3pm, where we would proceed to the convention hall to set up our booth. GROUND CONTROL CLEAR says M.A.G.I.C. production crew the night prior, saturday, Im having a reception at my studio for the models and other well wishers before we head out. We get a call around 10pm, after a few drinks, from our contact in Vegas. The fuckin teamsters are threatening to remove out 10ft x 4 ft crate from the hall to storage, and it would cost us another $1500 just to get them to consider bringing it back on sunday. They dont care waht M.A.G.I.C. production told us, they are teamsters, its their convention hall. Fucking teamsters! GROUND CONTROL HALT!!! We MUST get to Vegas by 7am to stop them from taking our booth back to storage!!!!!! ITS A GO! What a mission: so here it is midnight, Im kicking people out of my studio...trying to sober up. We race home to finish packing, 1:15am...head to diner throw down food and 15 cups of coffee. 2:15am 10 Freeway east 80mph GO!!!!! Its dark, there is no one around, we literally have one pipeload left. At first I thought..yeah around Barstow I'll hit that....after 30 min....i think...no, I wont hit that. Sobriety is my jet fuel, as well as a big jug of gatorade. Chug a lug through the desert at 4am. Doesnt it sound kind romantic? A pickup trip to Vegas, overnight. Gotta be there by sunrise. Romantic. We did it. Nothing like watching the sunrise over the desert mountains while the trucks sleep. The road was mine. Brightlights and all. Goodmorning Vegas! Head to the hall. I send the foxy red head to bribe a teamster (thats all they understand is money and negotiation) to get our crate/booth. Turns, they had just set it at the backdoor. They will bring it over, for no charge after their "break". Wait, its 7am, didnt you just start work? Teamsters break every chance they can. Its in their contract. Just pay note, the asswipers who scrub floors and hammer nails make more than you, mister modest middle income...their bellies are fat from catering and breaks. Their contracts make them fat. Anyway, we set up the booth, at least enough to satisfy them. We will come back later in the day to finish. NOW we need to bribe the hotel to let us into our room early if possible. Our reservation wasn't until Sunday...which its only Sunday 9am. We are dizzy, seeing spots, the ching ching ching of the casino is prompting hallucinations. Finally, around 11am, we get a room. Crash. 3pm we finish the booth. Other than a few minor kinks, the show went great. We took a few orders, but didnt expect a whole lot being the new kids on the block. Attendance was down from the previous year, or so we heard. No biggie. Nico was interviewed by the Apparel News who indicated a small feature. We hope. Press is good, we need the press. Did a lot of gamblin. Lost a bit of money, but my wife is pretty good she won it right back. My problem was knowing when to quit. At one point I was $300 ahead of the game. I should have stopped but winning is addictive. We had our Lucchese bud with us. Being akin to a well known mafioso family, we realized why we were getting star treatments at dinner every night, especially at the Italian joint. Reservations were always made under his name...Vegas is a mob town. Hmmmmm. Not the usual service either. Im talking about the chef personally coming to talk to us about his veal after we were served, about the waiter escorting my wife to and from the bathroom, the waiter walking right out in to the parking lot to open out cab doors, the cab he insisted he call for us. One night at a hotel gambling, were got word there was a stripper convention there. Upon looking around...HOT DAMN....strippers everywhere. One night after my pal won $400 he took me to Club Paradise. A premier strip club i was thoroughly bored at. We had decided to suit up that night....and i must say we looked damn fine, and well that seemed to only draw the strippers to us. I wanted to go home, but he wanted to enjoy his winnings, plus he's single. It was 113 in Vegas at one point. 113!!!!!!!! I dont care where you are from or what you think you know....THATS god damn hot!!!!! REgodamnDICULOUS hot!!!! we got back friday night, only to have a pal from out of town visit. This week , we settle. If anyone, whose address you dont think I have wants a catalog, email me. Its mass mail time.

i kind of skimmed through that and now i don't remember what i just read. i'm bad that way. you made an appearance in my subconscious last night, patrick. this disturbs me. all i remember now is that you and nico lived in a 3-story, pagoda-style home. i think it must've been something i'd seen on tv or in a magazine about japan. it looked like japan - beautiful, green countryside. i was trying to get to you in order to deliver a glass pipe for smoking some mystery drug. i was being chased - somebody out there didn't want you to have the pipe. this was one of those dreams where i'm neither walking or not walking, just moving along with sort of a camera-lense of things. i can't remember whether i ever got it to you or not. if i didn't, sorry.

sorry to crash your conscious like that. the post deems skimming over. its a story ive told 10 times already so I rushed through it here. but we did hype up our big trip before leaving, so I figured I should dehype it.

Patrick, that was awsome I've been wondering how the trip went. I saw the cataloug you sent TBone and I was hoping to get one for myself if possible. I'll email you my address and the like, but from what I saw of the one you sent TBone, you married an extreamly talented woman my friend, and if you took half the photo's in that book then god damned you are talented also.

I wondered what happened to you, forgot your deal was this weekend. Sounds like all in all, a good experience.

i think so. its all about exposure. our line relies heavily on organic and natural fibers. We used this to push our line alot. We didn't realize the potential with some of the knits with yoga folk even. Nico went to a seminar at the convention where they talked about trends for next couple of seasons. Guess what they are...muted, flat colors, unfinished seams and natural fibers. HELLO!!!!!!!! we have all of that. as you will soon see we have a line of "sunday morning" knits which would be ideal for that kind of exercise. Nicer than sweats, but more comfy than jeans or other pants. hal thanks, and yes I took all the photos. I didnt realize nico mailed that out already. I need to put together an order form for friends and family. They will then be added to the retailer orders. Expect delivery sometime in December, January. I will contact you with that form shortly. I tell ya though....at the show there were beautiful people everywhere!!!! I mean everywhere, but if I see another girl who needs to eat a few hamburgers and milk shakes wearing low rise hiphuggers with a tattoo in the small of her back im gonna fuckin puke!!!! Or some bloke whose pants are wayyy to tight in the arse with pimpdaddy 70s kmart glasses....WHAM!!!! right in the kisser. We were a surly bunch in booth 51335.