As you might’ve guessed by now, I came home a little over a month ago. I was only going to stay in Orlando for one week, so I left Orlando on Monday afternoon (July 27, local time), and arrived in Ålesund at around 2pm the following day. And that’s just with 2 flights, each with an hour or so of waiting time between flights.

The American trip was fun, and I’m definitely going back there some day. Both Las Vegas and Orlando were lots of fun, and I felt just one week at each location was maybe a few days or up to a week too short for everything I wanted to experience. Like I said, I’m definitely going back. Hopefully next year, if my economy allows it (maybe with a few days extra at each location, and perhaps even an extra location or two added, if possible). I’ll have to check back with my economy around springtime, I suppose.

Oh, and pictures from my vacation is up on Flickr. Just go to the Summer Vacation 2009 set to see all photos, or you can go see the photo sets just from Las Vegas, just from Orlando or even just from the Blue Man Group fan meet I attended in Orlando. In the vacation photos from Orlando, I’ve also included 9 of the photos taken by Disney’s PhotoPass service (when I visited the Walt Disney World parks), two videos from the Blue Man Group sound check (which we attended as part of the fan meet), and one video of a lightning storm in the distance the night before the fan meet (a smaller group of us fans was hanging out for a few hours on the night before). The lightning storm was nothing like anything I’ve seen before. We only get a few lightnings a year where I live, and then it’s only between sky and the ground, and always followed by thunder. Seeing lightning just strike the sky like that was an extraordinary sight, to say the least.

Speaking of that, I felt I connected mostly with Joe and his fiancé Alex, their close friends Jacob and his wife Melissa, and Mike. We all hang out the night before the fan meet (we were the entire “smaller group of fans” I mentioned earlier), and had a few drinks and a late snack. Just basic hanging out, more or less. No biggie.

When I landed in Oslo after a long flight from Philadelphia, though, I woke up with something that felt like a cold. Who knew that would last for a week or two? Maybe it was this “swine flu” thing, maybe it wasn’t. As a guy of average health, I don’t really bother to buy into the panic around swine flu created by the mass media. Frankly, those who have died or will die from swine flu, are also about the same people who would’ve died from the common flu. Period. There’s no need for the panic. The same goes for avian flu, too. Those who did contract it, basically lived in bird feces 24/7, and those who died from it, wouldn’t have survived the common flu, either. That’s my perception of the demographics on it, anyway, and if my memory serves me correctly, that’s close to the perception from health administration organizations around the world (CDC, WHO, etc) as well.

To be honest, I don’t think the demographics surrounding the flu deaths are publicized and emphasized enough in the mass media (or media in general). You’d almost think the media want a widespread panic regarding trivial things. I mean, look back at the major pandemics “predicted” by the media over the last decade or so. How many of these has actually come true? I think all of these need to do their research properly and perhaps re-read the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf.

So there.

And if you’ve seen my Flickr photostream, you might’ve noticed the wall of DVDs and my new working area. I had the three dark gray towers seen in the photo from before, and I bought another 10 towers (the BENNO CD tower shelf from IKEA, to be exact), each able to hold 88 DVDs. By my calculations, I now have room for 1144 regular-sized DVDs, and considering my current DVD collection now counts a little over 880 DVDs (and Blu-ray discs) of various sizes, I’m going to need it. Actually, the picture shows all my DVDs aside from a few TV show season boxes I temporarily had on another shelf. As you can see, I started filling the shelves from the right end of the wall, as I’ve yet to alphabetize them, and that’s not yet a priority. I know where most of the ones I like are, anyway (or at least the general area). The media shelf below that TV is also in the BENNO series, matching the design of the others, which will contain 1 Blu-ray player, 1 DVD player (which is also the surround sound base unit), 1 digital satellite tuner and 1 PlayStation2 (which I’ve had stored in a box for a couple of years now). Nothing is hooked up just yet, as the general area is still a bit of a mess. I’m a slow tidyer, but I know what I want it to look like.

My new working area doesn’t really need any explanation, though (the picture text really says it all).

I’ve gotten back on track with my dental treatments, and it looks like it’s going to take a while (as well as a chunk of my parents’ bank account, since they promised to cover the costs of getting my teeth up to good standard).

Oh, and to sum up my Blue Man Group attendance, I now have attended 1 rock concert (last October in Copenhagen, Denmark), 3 shows in Las Vegas (their flagship show, so to speak), and 2 shows in Orlando (one of their “minor” shows), and I still haven’t gotten enough of them! I noticed that they’re now going on a tour with the theatrical show around North America starting in late 2010, so maybe there’s a minor glimmer of hope that they’ll do the same across Europe, too. I know they already have a steady show in Berlin, but I know that show is entirely in German, which I think isn’t quite the same. But don’t think that’s going to stop me from seeing it if I ever pass through Berlin, though.

After yesterday’s headaches, I finally arrived at my hotel in Orlando this afternoon (around 3pm), almost a full 15 hours after I originally should have. At least I got my off my sweaty travel-wear and into cleaner clothes (after a quick shower).

Now it’s going to be fun time all around! I’ll probably do Disney World on Thursday and Friday (I have a two-day pass with the ParkHopper option added), and Universal Studios the remainder of the days. Saturday will anyway be pretty much used for the Blue Man fan meet, but I suppose I will get a little out of that day as well.

And since I’m staying at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort hotel, I can use the express lane for a good deal of the rides at Universal. I did Shrek 4D today (which was all I had time for before the park closed for the day), and noticed that it’s still a waiting line, but it’s a much shorter waiting time in that line (I think I only stood in line for about 15 minutes).

So anyway, I managed to get my ass out from the hotel so late, I also missed the last check-in for my flight at McCarran Airport (the Las Vegas airport, for those of you who don’t already know). United Airlines was kind enough to put me on standby for the next flight to Denver (which was my stop on my way to Orlando) at around 3:30pm, no extra charge. Not too shabby, as I would have 1 hour waiting time in Denver rather than 3. That is, if I actually got on that flight. Problem was, that one was fully booked and fully checked in, which also meant that I would completely miss my connecting flight to Orlando, which is also today’s last flight to Orlando from Denver. Oh, joy.

The next flight to Orlando leaves in the morning, at 8:04am, which means I’ll have to be back at the airport by 6am. I’m still on standby for that flight as well, but at least there were 19 unused seats on that flight at 9pm, so there’s still hope. People may say bad things about United Airlines, but I’ve found them to be quite accommodating for all my delays (which was originally my own fault). They even gave me a half-off voucher for a hotel stay near the airport, and the shuttle ride between the airport to the hotel(s) are complimentary, so it’s a small cost (the hotel I picked – SpringHill Suites near the Denver Airport – was $59 for the night, I believe).

Of course, on the taxi ride from The Venetian, I was intensely watching the time pass by (and pass the latest check-in time), and right there, I wished I had made use of the Bags to Go / Airport SpeedCheck Advance service which was available at my hotel. That would’ve saved me a lot of inconvenience for today, and I would’ve been all ready to go once I arrived at the airport (leaving me only with passing the security checkpoint and going straight to the gate). But, noooooooooooooo, I just had to save $20 on doing it all myself.

But, anyway.

I loved the Blue Man Group show so much, I went ahead and saw it two more times during the next few days. If you’re a big fan of nutsy stuff, I can absolutely recommend it. But, from the comments I’ve heard from others, Blue Man Group isn’t for everybody. You’d have to enjoy subtle physical comedy as well as a certain level of audience participation to fully enjoy a Blue Man Group show. There, I said it.

Also worth noting, each show is a little bit different (in nuances), depending on the audience composition.

I also caught a show with Wayne Brady, who was doing an improv show (with a short concert at the end) right across the hall from Blue Man Group at The Venetian. And, since I selected a VIP seating, I was seated at the very front row, and got to meet Wayne after the show. I tell ya, he’s a great guy. I got me an autographed CD (I bought the CD in the lobby, he signed it afterwards) and got my picture taken with him. Sadly, only with my mobile phone camera (even though it’s quite a good one), since I forgot my digital camera back at my suite.

And on Sunday, I went over to the Rio to catch a show with Penn & Teller. It was truly a great one, even though I hoped they would do their “Liftoff To Love” act, but still. And with a meet-and-greet (autographs and picture-taking) in the lobby after the show, I got me an autographed souvenir program (from Penn and Teller, and even Mike Jones, their musical director) as well as some snaps of me with each them (except for Mike Jones, which I forgot to take a good picture of until it was too late – ah, well).

I’ll get the latest round of photos up on my Flickr account once I’m checked in and chilled out enough in Orlando.

A little late for an update, but I finally arrived in Las Vegas 3 days ago. It’s now Thursday morning, and I still have a lot of time left for fun. If someone has any tips for my remaining 4 days here, call or text 202-375-3409. That’s the number of the cell phone I’ve rented for my time in the U.S., so I’ll only be available on that number until July 27. Also, I’m leaving for Orlando on Monday, so if you have anything for Las Vegas, now’s the time. 🙂

Also, I experienced my first full Blue Man Group show last night. It was all I hoped for. Previously, I’ve only seen short clips from the shows, in addition to attending the Megastar rock tour when it was in Copenhagen in October last year. I tell ya, it’s nothing like the rock tour. If you’re near a Blue Man Group show, I can definitely recommend seeing it at least once.

I’m not sure what I’ll do today, but I might try a little blackjack downstairs. We’ll see what else comes along my path.

I’ve already planned (and paid for) most of my summer vacation this year. This time, the trip goes to….. (drumroll)…… USA!

That’s right, I’m going overseas to spend one week in Las Vegas and one week in Orlando. I’m excited already! On July 12, I leave the comfort of my home for connecting flights to Orlando, just to spend one night at the airport hotel while waiting for another flight that takes me to Las Vegas on the 13th (via Denver), where I’ll be spending my first week (checking in on a Monday and checking out on the next Monday). I then have a return flight back to Orlando, where I’m also attending the Orlando Monster Meet for Blue Man Group fans on the 25th. My return flights back home are on the 27th, so technically, I’ll be spending a total of 15 days in the US.

If you’re in any of these areas, do give me a signal in advance so we can meet up.

Between the 13th and the 20th, I’m staying at The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas (where there’s a big show with Blue Man Group as well).
Between the 20th and the 27th, I’m staying at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort in Orlando (right next to Universal Orlando).

I can hardly wait!