picture of me and jessa in las vegas

memories.....

Missy and Jasons Wedding

After a fun filled week the trip to OBX culminated in the wedding of two of my best friends. Missy and Jason tied the knot on the front lawn of one of their beach houses. Originally the plan was for the wedding to be held on the beach but due to the high winds and lack of actual beach because of the high tides that didn’t work. The decision was made to relocate to a new area at the last minute and it was a great idea. I was fortunate enough to be a part of the wedding and also contributed to the music portion of the ceremony. There were several dinners/parties including a BBQ at one of the houses for the rehearsal dinner which resulted in a crazy game of flip cup and the creation of a ball bouncing game which seemed to entertain us for a few hours. We also taught Linas children about entrepreneurship. After the wedding ceremony and a million pictures (all of which turned out amazing) we had the reception back at one of the houses which was a great time. My only complaint was the catering staff that was slow and not really ready to deal with the amount of people we had. I did sing to the bride and groom who certainly haven’t lost that loving feeling. We danced until the wee hours and continued the party back at our house. I would like to personally thank Missy and Jason for including me in their special day. I have included a link to pictures below.

http://picasaweb.google.com/tomstover/MissyAndJasonsWedding#

OBX

I broke the Missy/Jason Wedding into to separate posts. The first of which is a highlight of the week we spent in the outer banks which brought about twenty of my best friends to a huge beach house for a week of hot-tub, yoga, swimming, beach football and of course partying. It was great to be there with everyone and I hear a reunion is in the works. I was the first one to arrive and spent the first 2 days basically by myself in this huge house exploring the outer banks which I had only been to one other time about 17 years ago. The weather could have been better but having everyone there made the crummy, rainy weather not really matter. The week was spent watching Chris Whong fool around with his remote controlled helicopter, eating good food, and Jessa took us through a fierce yoga session. And on the drive home I saw Gravedigger. Score. Below is a link to pictures from that week.

http://picasaweb.google.com/tomstover/OBX?authkey=GvcYSweGNMo#

Virgin Festival -- Post

This post is a lot shorter than I anticipated. The only thing I need to dwell on is that the Stone Temple Pilots were amazing and the rest of the concert was ok. Little Wayne, Offspring, Kanye, Foo Fighters were all pretty good but STP was the highlight of my weekend. I don't want to speak to highly of the capitalistic venture that me at V-fest was because that was expensive but I can't wait until next year. This post is a lot shorter than I planned. Oh and Lil’Wayne can’t play guitar and showed up 45 minutes late to his 60 minute set. Also Lupe Fiasco was pretty solid as well.

Below are some pictures.......

-TS

Virgin Mobile Festival 2008 -- PRE

It’s 10:00am and I’m waiting on Spada and Phil so we can go to Virgin Festival. The line up is pretty decent and includes Jack Johnson, Foo Fighters, Bob Dylan, The Offspring, The Black Keys, Duffy, Citizen Cope, Lil Wayne, Kanye West and Nine Inch Nails. It also includes the Stone Temple Pilots. I think STP is the band I’m most excited about. I’ve been a fan since their 1992 debut album “Core” but never got the chance to see them live. As I’m writing this I’m sitting on the couch drinking a sugar free redbull and listening to “crackerman” on my ipod. This concert will no doubt rock. Expect a long post-show blog entry with pictures from the show.

Eleanor

I’m in love. She is sexy, smart, slender and 4 years old. I have tossed around several names including Cherry and Red but settled on Eleanor. Eleanor was the name of the coveted Shelby GT 500 in the movie “Gone in Sixty Seconds” and is now the name of my red Infiniti G35.

After 8 years I traded in my civic. That car was reliable, fast/zippy and served me well. It was also a safe bet. But I realized that safe only gets you so far, sometimes you have to take a chance. I made a tough, rash decision and I couldn’t be happier. Mike will claim it was because of him but it has been an obsession of mine for a while.

She is my new toy and I love her. She is a bit pricey and she gets thirsty but she loves to run.

Meet Eleanor……

ohh....Jerome

How can I summarize the rollercoaster that was Las Vegas this year. I’m going to rant a bit, tell a few funny stories, do a play by play, I’ll include pictures and some memorable quotes. For some people I will be using “code names” to protect identities….If you know them you’ll figure it out. It all began on Wednesday night (the night before we left). Caveman, Asian-Jew and I went to Rylieghs for dinner and some drinks to celebrate the coming weekend. Turns out this evening would be the most agreeable of the “vacation” for caveman but we stayed until about 10:00pm and went home to pack.

The next day, Alex , Caveman, AsianJew and myself all flew from Baltimore to Sin City. We met Parul (rockstar) at the airport bar and hopped a cab to the hotel. We stayed at the Planet Hollywood which was pretty cool. We unpacked and I realized we brought way to much crap. Parul even brought an inflatable monkey which we called Jerome. We quickly changed and went down to the pool. I had a fruity frozen drink in my hand in no time and I was admiring the “talent” by the pool all afternoon. That night, Caveman, AsianJew, Alex, Parul, Amber and I met some friends at a Mexican Cantina called Diablos (turns out this was a bad choice). We had dinner and drinks and retired back to our hotel for some gambling and to meet up with another in our party Jessa. I should point out that this was the time when caveman’s trip took a horrible turn and he started to experience what we all figured to be food poisoning……note to self, never have pork tacos in las vegas.

We met up with Jessa and we all decided to go to Ghost Bar in the Palms. The night was rather mellow but we had a great time watching some slutted out white girls dancing with some nerdy dweebish d-bags…..

The next day caveman was in bed all day still very sick and the rest of us laid by the pool recuperating. On a whim we decided to get tickets to a show and decided on KA by Cirque Du Soleil. Before that though we split up for dinner. While some stayed at the hotel, Parul took Amber, our new friend from LA Raychelle (Rachel) and me to a local tapas place called Firefly for tiny food and lots of sangria. Dinner was amazing, and so was the show but I was so tired I almost passed out several times.

After the show we went clubbing and hit up Moon which is a 2 floor dance club at the top of the Palms fantasy tower. Without going into to much detail, the club was awesome and had go-go dancers, a retractable roof and an amazing view of the las vegas strip. Several things happened that night. We partied, Rachel “borrowed” drinks from some Persian guys table, Parul lost her shoe and then we lost Parul and Jessa while dancing made enough money in “tips” to pay for the cab ride home. Other stuff went on but basically this was one of the better nights I’ve experienced and we’ll leave it at that.

(Scene Missing)

We got to bed as the sun was rising and slept in the next day. When we did get up we went back to the pool. I checked on caveman who was improving after what sounded like a really rough night fighting off food poison. That night we had dinner reservations at Social House which were originally for 7:00pm but we pushed back to 10:00pm to give us more time. We were still almost late. While we were getting ready Parul was in the bathroom and Rachel, Amber and I decided to decorate our hotel room in celebration of our birthdays. In about 20 minutes we had hung up several banners and we blew up about 40 balloons which we stacked on Paruls bed. This made her happy, which in turn made me smile. Dinner was nothing short of incredible I had several sushi rolls, pan seared sea scallops served over eggplant and we shared a few bottles of Star Rabbit Sake…….mmmmm. Note: Alex tried a lot of new food. I was so proud I cried….pee’d a little too.

After that, Parul the rockstar she is got us on the list and a free table with bottle service at Blush which is an ultra lounge in the Wynn Hotel and Casino. The next 2 hours were a sloppy, loud, blur of fuggin awesomeness. I even wore my sunglasses because that’s what you do in a dark loud night club. I’m such a douche. We had been partying so hard that we started dropping like flies and decided to check out the other club Tryst before packing it in. Tryst is a massive dance club with a 2 story waterfall with a large dance floor which we put to good use.

The next morning we decided to sleep in and got a late check out. A few had already left and those who remained cleaned up, packed and grabbed food before our flights back to reality.

This was for me, one of the best times I’ve had in a while and fittingly I had turned 30 the Monday before. I cannot wait to do it again with the same group. Everyone brought something to the equation and I wouldn’t trade this weekend for anything. The only thing I regret was going to Diablo’s because that kept my best friend from sharing in the festivities.

PICTURES:
http://picasaweb.google.com/tomstover/LasVegas2008

Las Vegas Trip Players: TS, Parul (Rock Star), Alex (Puddin), Raychelle (Rachel), Jessa, AsainJew, Amber and our fallen soldier Caveman….

Memorable Quotes:
“I’m late…..No your actually right on time. No Doctor….I’m LAAAAATTE”
“When Jerome shows up, it’s gonna be a sh*t show”

Soundtrack:
Just Dance, American Boy, The Good Life, Dirrty, Low and Lollipop.

Celebrity Sightings:
Brianna Taylor (stripper from Hollywood Real World)
Computer guy with mashed face from 24.

Las Vegas Trip Numerology:
“7” “1734” “1183” “17” and “11” oh and of course “30”

Websites:
http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/showstickets/ka/home/intro.htm

http://www.lasvegas.net/Moon-Nightclub-Las-Vegas-info.htm

http://www.palms.com/playboy_club_1.php

http://fireflylv.com/

http://www.lasvegaslogue.com/what-to-do/las-vegas-eats/diablos-cantina-lends-spice-to-monte-carlo.html

Daves Wedding...

Me and some friends were fortunate enough to be invited to an old friends wedding in New Orleans and we descended on the Crescent City for the festivities. I'd only been there one time prior to this trip. It was about 1 calendar year before Hurricane Katrina devastated the area. About 1500 people lost their lives in the storm. The most amazing thing is that years later there are still signs of damage. While the rebuilding is still going on the resolve of the people and the spirit of the city is definitely back. The music, food, and culture are what defines the area and unlike anywhere I'd ever been.

We stayed at the St. Louis Hotel which was about 500 feet off of Bourbon Street and were the wedding was being help. Our days were filled with walking around, site seeing, picture taking and lots of eating. I think the first 10 meals I had included some sort of Gumbo or Jambalaya.....soooo good.

The nights were filled with partying and good friends. We stayed out until nearly 4am each night and I was shocked at how energized we were just by being there. I met professional wrestler John Cena who was in town filming a movie. The day of the wedding our friend Laura Lee who live in the area toured us around some of the areas that were damaged by the Hurricane. All I can say is that we are really fortunate.

The wedding itself was beautiful and included Dave and Andrea and the bridal party dressed in traditional 1920's formal wear. The reception was great and included lots of food, drinks and dancing (I did the centipede on brick....ouch). After the wedding Dave's mom arraigned for a "second line" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_line ) which was a jazz band processional who march us all down bourbon street. This was really cool and we showered all spectators with beads as we passed by.

I have to thank Dave and Andrea for having me and look forward to getting back down to New Orleans because I had way to much fun to not go back.

It's not over.....

Willie and I went to a Washington Capitals Hockey game. They were playing the Philadelphia Flyers in the playoffs and needed to win to continue the series. They won and it was a great game/experience to share with my brother who is the worlds biggest hockey fan. ONe of the coolest things was to see a sold out hockey game with diehard fans. The energy in the building was amazingly infectious. I'm certian I'm a Cap's fan now. Although they lost the next game and their chances for the Stanley Cup ended they played with intensity and would not quit. Word. Go Caps.....always next year.

Hello World

Hello World, meet Nicholas Michael Getz.....he is my new nephew. I'm a proud uncle once again. He was born April 9th, 2008 at 9:07pm weighing in at 8 pounds and 2 ounces, 20 inches long kicking and screaming.....He's incredible. Mother and Baby and family are doing very well. This is a late post but better late than never.

What the EFFFFFFF?!!?!!?!!

This is not safe for work or for children. (profanity) Here are three videos spoofing David Blaines street magic.....(heh)

PART 1



PART 2



PART 3

God Save The King of New Orleans......

Hello;

I'm exhausted, my feet smell and I've been working for 6 weeks in Las Vegas averaging 14 hour days and I'm in need of some serious vacation. What a coinsidence that this weekend me and some friends are going to New Orleans to attend the wedding of our friend Dave. His whole family will be there and I cannot be more excited. I have only had one other expereince in the Big Easy and it was another friends wedding about a full calendar year before Hurricane Katrina devistated the area.

The New Orleans I remember should be mostly rebuilt but there will certianly be signs of the Hurricane's damage. We are staying in the French Quarter at the St. Louis Hotel (www.stlouishotel.com)which is where the wedding/reception/debotchery will take place. I'm looking forward to getting a chocolate milk (because I'm childish and not grown up enough for coffee) and a "beignet," taking a stroll along the mighty Mississippi and then hit up Bourbon Street (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourbon_Street)for some well mannered frivolity.

I'm excited because I love the culture, music, food, architecture (graveyards), history and nightlife that Nawlins has to offer. These next 5 days should be amazing.

I have "borrowed" the pictures below from wikipedia but intend to take a bunch of my own. Those will be posted upon my return.

It's been a while....

It's been a while since I've posted anything, and basically I've been spending my weeks in Las Vegas recruiting my little heart out on a tough project which might be my last as a traveling recruiter. We've had some good times and some tough times recently and I'm always assessing if I could have done things different or been a "better friend." My soul searching has brought me to a conclusion. It's not complicated. Just honest. I'm human. I'm no different than anyone else. People react to situations in their own natural way. My intentions (I'd like to think) are always good and focused on the happiness of my family or friends. Sometimes I can be a d-bag and so as we all know TS isn't perfect but I will never stop trying to be there for people who I feel have deserved the effort.

That being said I've been feeling really nostalgic latley and found myself having lunch with my oldest friend Pat. I say he's my oldest friend because I don't have any memory of before I knew him. I think we meet when we were two years old and 27 years later we still find merit in keeping each other around. We have been through a lot, he was there for my when my dad passed away, I was there to meet his wife and new baby. A far cry from when we use to go creek-walking through Thunder Hill and built a treehouse in the woods behind my house. These kind of friendships are either hard and take work or effortless. Ours is the latter.

I'm going to a wedding for another friend who I grew up with and that should open up a pandora's box of memories which I am only too happy to revisit.

I'm not gonna call this posting "pointless" but it was really just a stream of thought and I decided to share.

-TS

Dashboard Confessionals: As Lovers Go.....

Playlist

So here are a couple more songs I've been into recently. Some new, some old but all good.

1.) Dashboard Confessionals -- As Lovers Go (acoustic)
2.) Santana and Steven Tyler -- Just Feel Better
3.) Glen Hassard -- Falling Slowly
4.) Flo Rider -- Low (dumb but really catchy)
5.) Smashing Pumpkins -- 33
6.) Chris Brown -- With You

Powerthirst 1 -- Warning Slightly Offensive

Manana -- Warning Slightly Offensive

FOMO

I'm gonna touch on a phenomenon that happens in larger groups of friends. It's called FOMO, fear of missing out. I have it and many of my friends experience it to a degree. It's the fear that if you choose to do something different than others that you will be missing out on what they do. The problem is that while you are off and suppose to be enjoying yourself, you are constantly thinking about what might be happening elsewhere. For example if I chose to go to a house party rather than meet my friends out at a bar, I get the feeling that my friends are having the time of their lives at said "bar," and this makes it hard to enjoy my house party.

FOMO is pretty stupid and really boils down to self confidence and honestly feeling like you are more important than you really are.

I guess I'm arrogant and that sucks. But it's ok because I am everywhere....always. And recently the things I miss out on is by choice. -ts

I'm going to see dead people.....

Mindy keeps talking about the Body Worlds exhibit at the Maryland Science Center (http://www.marylandsciencecenter.org/ ), so much so that I feel she works for their promotions department. All conspiracy theory aside it sounds rather interesting and I’m going to see it next Saturday if anyone is around. I’ve talked to Sherry about it and mentioned it to Christine and will try and pull off a “day-date” with both of them which will be harmless as I am certainly in their friend zones however both are good company. Not to worry, my interest is purely scientific. The amazing thing about Body World is that each “exhibit” is a real human body. Some just body parts. And there's a horse. And I’ve heard it can be rather disgusting/intense to see. I was even told they give out vomit bags. I hear there is even a pregnant woman almost full term. So I’m a little hesitant to see this thing but again, next Saturday I’ll be buying tickets and going to see dead people on display. Word.

Official Website:
http://www.bodyworlds.com/en.html

2.5 Hours at Panera

I usually don’t do anything on Sunday besides sit on the couch, download music/videos and prepare laundry for the following week. Today was different. It might be because I didn’t go out last night and therefore wasn’t tired so I agreed to meet Mindy and Sherry at Panera for lunch. We met up at 1:00pm and sat/ordered our food. Then over our soup/sandwiches and salads we talked for 2.5 hours. It was nice to not be in a bar and see your friends. The table next to us changed 3 times during our conversation which ranged from relationships to music to art and the notion that this particular Panera sucked compared to other we’ve been to. That’s all I got for this post, but it was a nice change from my regular lazy Sundays……

so please remember me.....

One of the most calming songs ever. Great for plane rides and falling asleep.

Artist: Iron and Wine
Song: The Trapeze Swinger

Please, remember me
Happily
By the rosebush laughing
With bruises on my chin
The time when
We counted every black car passing
Your house beneath the hill and up until
Someone caught us in the kitchen
With maps, a mountain range, a piggy bank
A vision too removed to mention

But Please, remember me
Fondly
I heard from someone you're still pretty, and then
They went on to say
That the pearly gates
Had some eloquent graffiti
Like 'We'll meet again' and 'F*ck the man' And 'Tell my mother not to worry'
And angels with their gray
Handshakes
Were always done in such a hurry

And Please, remember me
At Halloween
Making fools of all the neighbors
Our faces painted white
By midnight
We'd forgotten one another
And when the morning came
I was ashamed
Only now it seems so silly
That season left the world and then returned
And now you're lit up by the city

So Please, remember me
Mistakenly in the window of the tallest tower call
Then pass us by but much too high
To see the empty road at happy hour
Leave and resonate
Just like the gates
Around the holy kingdom
With words like 'Lost and Found' and 'Don't Look Down'
And 'Someone Save Temptation'

And Please, remember me
As in the dream
We had as rug-burned babies
Among the fallen trees
And fast asleep, aside the lions and the ladies
That called you what you like
And even might give a gift for your behavior
A fleeting chance to see
A trapeze swing as high as any savior

But Please, remember me
My misery
And how it lost me all I wanted
Those dogs that love the rain
And chasing trains
The colored birds above there running in circles round the well
And where it spells
On the wall behind St. Peter's
So bright with cinder gray
And spray paint 'Who the hell can see forever?'

And Please, remember me
Seldomly
In the car behind the carnival
My hand between your knees
You turn from me
And said 'The trapeze act was wonderful
But never meant to last
'The clown that passed
Saw me just come up with anger
When it filled with circus dogs
The parking lot had an element of danger

So Please, remember me
Finally
And all my uphill clawing
My dear
But if i make the pearly gates
Do my best to make a drawing
Of God and Lucifer
A boy and girl
An angel kissing on a sinner
A monkey and a man
A marching band
All around the frightened trapeze swingers
Na-na Na-na-na Na-naNa-na...

gameplan

So I'm working on a couple things.

1.) Possible new role at my company
2.) New Car G35 or something else
3.) Maybe new place to live.
4.) Dog?

Jason Mraz -- I'm Yours

New Favorite Song

gotta keep the devil down in his hole.....

Short note: The Wire is simply the best show on TV.

Cancun Mexico

So in brief I spent last week in Cancun Mexico at the JW Marriott with my co-workers on our annual incentive trip basically rewarding good work. In a nutshell we ate great food, had a few beverages by the pool, I deep sea fished (caught 2 barracuda) and networked until the sun went down. Then networked some more. I had a great time and can't wait to see if I get to go next year.

Let me tell you about Kevin...

Let me tell you about Kevin. Last Friday night I was on my way home from a week in Brunswick, Maine. I stepped up to the bar at the Seadog Brewing Company's Portland Jetport (Airport) Pub and ordered a light bottle of Seadog Brew Ale. I remember we were all watching tennis and I was bored, simply killing the time before my flight home.

A guy sits down next to me and instantly I start to feel anxious and annoyed as I'm feeling there's no chance this guy will let me sit in peace. He orders chili and a draft of a darker lager. The proceeds to make a big stink about whether or not the chili will be served with sugar and cinnamon. I already hate him. Then he turns to me and says, "where you from buddy?" I say Baltimore and his eyes light up. He goes into how much he loves Baltimore and how he and his wife and a couple of friends caught a Jackson Brown concert in Baltimore once and bar hopped around the city absolutely loving the experience.

Turns out he is a traveling programmer/technician for Seimens and he was on a business call. Seems as if he travels a lot more than I do and usually at a moments notice. We immediately had struck a bond because we both travel and have to deal with the calamity that is united states airports. He tells me about his life, says he's been to 80 countries, every continent and served 15 years in the Navy. He also turned out to be one of the more vivacious and friendly people I've ever met. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina and has a wife and 3 kids. Our conversation is seamless and a comedic masterpiece if I may be so bold. He was probably about 50, but acted like he was 25 with the energy of a 19 year old.

I asked him about the "chili thing" and he explains that he once lived in South Carolina and there is a county where they put sugar or cinnamon on everything. "Burgers, Steaks, Sandwiches and Cereal.....It don't matter they put sugar on all that crap." He was probably exaggerating but it was kinda funny to hear him go on about it. We got on the plane (which was tiny) and he struck up a conversation with the woman next to him. Then I looked back at him and jokingly told him to "settle down." He then turned to the woman and said, see that guy, that there's Tommy, he's the nicest guy I've ever met.

I don't think I'll ever receive a more sincere compliment.

I also don't know if I'll ever see him again and odds are I won't but just knowing this guy is out there.....it's a good thing.

His name is Kevin.