Spankblog

Quality Time: The Life-Size Wii is Here!

Fri, 2 May 2008 13:46:47 -0500

The cherry on top of Spank’s new look:
Remember the Love-Sack chill room?
Now it’s got a Life-Size Wii !!

Full-scale game play on the giant projection screen is a blast.

Brian and Tony are both working toward their “Wii-hD” in Nintendomics.

Vegas

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 11:31:47 -0600

Garibaldi here - back from yet another trip to Vegas. I go there a few times a year and I never get tired of it! The reason being : It's a totally different trip every time I go. It all depends on where I'm staying, what events are going on, what season it is and what the weather is like...and um...how much $$$ I have to play with!

I do have my favorite locations that I try to visit often:

I love staying at The Wynn. It's a very classy, comfortable hotel and the staff pampers you like no other! Also, their pool area is arguably the best in Vegas. Our casino host was none other than Joe Esposito. Joe was the best friend, right-hand man, road manager and best man of the one and only Elvis! He was the highest ranked "captain" in the King's Memphis Mafia for almost twenty years - and also a fellow Chicago native. It was nice to sit down with Joe for awhile and hear some great Elvis stories!

Margaritaville: This is located in the middle of The Strip at the Flamingo hotel. Good food and drinks, great people watching and also a great house band! My cousin Glenn plays keyboards and sings for the house band Senergy - which plays there 6 nights a week. Go check them out!

In 'N Out Burger : This is always my first stop after landing at the airport! These burgers are addictive! Unfortunately they aren't available in Chicago (and looks like they're not coming here anytime soon) so I always need to get my fix when I go to Vegas. The one closest to the airport is on Tropicana and Maryland - by the UNLV campus....

The Pinball Hall of Fame : This is a pinball player's dream with about 200 pinball machines from the 50's to today, and all of them are turned on for you to play!

Other favorites of mine are: Ed Roman Guitars (a HUGE warehouse-sized guitar store), Top of the World at the Stratosphere tower (at 100 stories high, it's the best view of Vegas) and the newly opened Red Rocks Casino. It's away from the Strip (which can be a good thing!) and it's a very nice casino with a cool gaming area, great nightclubs and good restaurants. (I highly recommend stopping by Capriotti's by the casino and gettng their "Slaw B Joe" sandwich. It's roast beef, cole slaw, provolone cheese, mayo and russian dressing - it will change your religion!)

I always see some great shows while I'm there. This time it was Spice Girls at Mandalay Bay, The Improv at Harrahs and Monty Python's Spamalot at the Wynn!

I can go on and on about my favorites in Vegas but these are just a few. Maybe you can check some of them out the next time you go...

Oh - and that "What happens in Vegas" catch phrase may be totally old and cliche by now.....but it still holds true and I stand by it......! : )

South Beach

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:31:16 -0600

Just blew back into Chi after a few days at the Art Basel art festival in South Beach. As usual, Miami was crazy.

Saw Iggy Pop & the Stooges. The concert was on the beach behind my hotel. Iggy still goes full blast--no holding back. Also heard some good live salsa, and giant helpings of Reggaetón.

Did I mention Reggaetón?

According to Alexander, an artist from Bulgaria, this is the world series of art festivals. It’s also described as the place billionaires go to buy art. There are plenty of conferences, followed by all-night partying, then a day lounging in the sun--which according to our Spank medical authorities, allows the excess alcohol from the night before to safely evaporate into the atmosphere.

This actually counteracts the greenhouse effect, removes the body’s harmful toxins, and benefits mankind.

So check out this festival next time around, www.artbasel.com

And don’t forget to grab a “Midnight Sandwich” from that window across Collins Avenue from the Delano. You’ll sleep like a baby.

Chicago Film Festival

Wed, 3 Oct 2007 11:53:13 -0500

What’s the best way to rob a bodega?

Come see DDB Creative Director Brian Billow’s short film “BODEGA,” produced by Nathan Brown, with music by Mat Morse of Spank! –and find out.*

http://www.chicagofilmfestival.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CIFFSite.woa/wa/pages/Shorts

See you there!

(( * Spank! Music & Sound Design does not endorse robbery, extortion, theft, burglary, larceny, or any type of heist. ))

THOR Rocks Chicago

Mon, 1 Oct 2007 16:59:52 -0500

Saturday Oct. 6 at the Beat Kitchen.

Brian Grady, Creative Director at Draft FCB--and Metal Drummer--will be hammering home the beat with strongman, singer, artist, comeback king, and Rock Warrior-- THOR ! ! !

Hear Brian’s monster grooves whip, twist, & lock the larger-than-life rock idol Thor into submission.

Be There!

go to www.myspace.com/thorrockwarrior