September 24

Hello again!

So now that Summer is officially over (I'm crying a little about this) I'm getting back to serious work and I've got a lot to tell you about. I really intended to do some entries over the Summer, but as you may have heard we had the hottest Summer in years all over Europe (thankfully Slovakia didn't suffer the tragic deaths like in France, it was just pretty uncomfortable most days especially indoors without air-conditioning) and I was having such a good time playing outdoors I really didn't feel like working so much. So while I'm preparing some more elaborate Journal entries from the interesting things -that happened over the last few months I thought I'd tell you about some recent stuff first.

In a few days we'll be releasing "Personal Trainers 7," "Boywatch 3," the beautiful new "Summer Diary" GmA1nder book and two new 2004 calendars! Please look in our online store for previews of all these items except "Boywatch 3" -- a preview will be online Friday (26 September).

Marty Stevens is now filming "Personal Trainers 8" and George swears that'll be the end of the "Personal Trainers" series because it's too limiting a concept. He's conceiving a new series to replace it where they will still use a free-wheeling documentary style of filmmaking, but we can hire anybody, the famous stars, new boys, any combinations we want. And we'll continue with training episodes, but only on the web site. At least that's the plan now, as you all know, things can change by the minute around here.

Yesterday George was finishing editing "Alpine Adventure," which we hope to have ready in time to sell at the end of November. That was the film we did in the Alps a few months ago. There are six episodes and you already know about these, and who is in them, from my Journal entries when we were there.

Good. Now that I got business out of the way here's the fun stuff.

Some of our more diligent fans scooped us on the Forum board by revealing our renewed association with Freshmen Magazine. All Bel Ami fans know that Bel Ami and Freshmen gained prominence together in the early 90's, but then we stopped giving them new photo sets. Well we're happy to report that we have a new agreement with them and we've been supplying them with new sets. I know most of you won't believe this, but they don't alert us to what they're using when. We were just as surprised as you to find that our very own Sebastian Bonnet was going to be on the cover of the October issue and Matt Phillipe is going to be on the cover of November's. We'll be awaiting breathlessly to find out what they're going to do next; the agreement we have with them gives them a free hand and they are not contractually obligated to consult with us. This week we put up on our web site the same photoset of Sebastian that's in the magazine, and we'll continue to do that with the other models and their photo sets. But it's still nice to have actual printed copies of the pictures, so if you want to subscribe to Freshmen and not miss one of the Bel Ami issues, please go to their web site: http://www.freshmen.com. Tell them Bel Ami sent you!

Yesterday there were two different filmings going on. In our studio, Marty was shooting Yves Carradine and Sebastian Bonnet together in the first episode of the new series intended to replace "Personal Trainers."

Over at the "Bel Ami Mansion," Lukas was shooting and directing an internet episode. George told Lukas he could use anyone he wanted, so he selected Christian Bisset and Adrian Kinski. Poor Christian's tushie was itching to get fucked and Adrian was as limp as a piece of wet spaghetti. They tried all sorts of stimulants and nothing worked, he could just not get it up. Rather than waste the day, Lukas called in an understudy, his old friend Oliver Krist. Oliver took one look at Christian's beautiful rump and was hard as a rock. The resulting episode will be on the web site in a few months (we've got a lot of content already scheduled, that's why the delay).

I'll be a little busy the rest of this week. One of the manag

Photos - September_24

December 12, Lukas' Announcement

Since the middle of November, Bel Ami has been on a secret mission. We deliberately didn't tell anyone outside of the company about what we were up to so as not to jinx it. But now that we've all returned home, we can finally tell you what we were up to. Here is our special guest commentator, my best friend and an all--around-great guy, to tell you himself:

Yes, it's true. Lukas, voted the #1 gay adult star of all time in the Advocate magazine's competition several months ago, has made one more video, called "Lukas in Love." No, it's not the same "Lukas in Love" we tried to film several years ago, it's an entirely new project. We're not going to tell you the whole cast until the video is completely edited because many things can change before then. But I can tell you that Lukas filmed scenes with Matt Phillipe and Sascha Chaykin.

We weren't going to announce this at all this early, but a few days before we left Cape Town George Duroy gave an interview with a local publication, Detail Newspaper, in which he mentioned the project he was currently shooting. Detail reporter said they would publish the article in the February/March issue. But the day we were leaving Cape Town (8 December), we got an e-mail saying that they were going to put it into the December/January issue, going to print the very next day! In the Amsterdam airport on Tuesday morning, 9 December, Lukas quickly recorded his announcement.

At this time, the video isn't scheduled to be released until 2005.

In addition to the video, we also shot more than a dozen photo sets which we'll eventually publish in Freshmen, "2," and our own magazine.

I did a daily journal from the trip and we'll publish it in its entirety on the internet, complete with photos and video clips, sometime in the 2nd half of 2004.

Here are some of the boys who went to Cape Town this time. Not all of them will be in the "Lukas in Love" video, some only did photo shoots and some did special internet-only episodes.
Renato Amoroso, Mark Aubrey, Sebastian Bonnet, Yves Carradine, Chris Casablanca, Sascha Chaykin, Ethan Clarke, Josh Elliot, Rick Fontana, Tommy Hansen, Brandon Manilow, AndrA© Pagnol, Jason Paradis, Liam Phoenix, Marc Vidal, Lukas Ridgeston, Johan Paulik, Matt Phillipe

In addition to Marty Stevens, the wonderful Benno Thoma came along with us and took some more beautiful photos. Here are three he shot of Lukas on the beach. We'll be showing you lots more of his photos when I publish the journals, these are just to whet your appetite.

We had a great time in Cape Town, we worked very hard, but it was worth it. We all went home exhausted but happy. I can't wait to show you all of it.

DETAIL'S AFTERNOON WITH THE BEL AMI BOYS

It is not every day that one gets invited by Bel Ami, one of the leading international adult gay movie production houses, to come and spend some time with their cast and crew on location. We at Detail Gay Lifestyle Newspaper of course jumped all over this opportunity when Vince from The Glen Boutique Hotel in The Glen Road in Sea Point asked whether we would like to do so. Now, visiting a beautiful hotel setting and hanging around with some of the hottest international adult movie stars is not as easy task as one might think. You need to take into consideration how you will act and react to certain situations that you might get thrown into. Basically, you can't just rock up there in your tightest outfit and ogle all the boys while you prance around like a horny queen. I promised myself that I would act like a professional journalist in front of other people who were professionals in their own field.

Upon my arrival at The Glen Boutique Hotel, I could already hear the voices of the boys echoing over my head. The hotel was obviously a hive of activity with the sixteen or seventeen boys that were congregated inside it.

Upon entering the hotel, I had my first sighting of an adult gay movie star. Lukas Ridgeston, of the famous Bel Ami "Lukas' Story," was standing right in front of me. He stood there topless with a deep tan, with on

Photos - Lukas' Announcement

Shower Marathon

5 December 2003
I've been cleaning out my laptop and what did I find? Some unfinished Journal entries!
I'll post them all before the end of the year, I promise.

Here's the first:
26 June 2003
Today, on a warm summer's day in the middle of the town square, there was a working shower-head set up in public. "Fa," a popular liquid shower soap was sponsoring a marathon to try to break a Guiness record for the number of people who take a shower within eight hours. I rounded up all the boys who were in the office and we took part in this event. The Chaykin brothers, for example, didn't care about record-breaking, they just wanted to show off their bodies in public!

In addition to Roman and Sascha Chaykin, you'll see Joey Amis, Harry Radcliffe, Adrian Kinski and Lukas.
We actually have no idea whether they broke the record. We just went and had a few laughs.
In addition to the shower, there were also another attraction, a wall with velcro where you had to wear a special suit and see how high you could jump and stick. You'll see in the clip.

Kisses, Johan

Sebastian Bonnet, Club Bel Ami chat, 18 September 2004

On Saturday, 18 September 2004, Sebastian Bonnet made a return appearance in the Club Bel Ami moderated chat room. The chat was practically an impromptu affair, arranged just 72 hours before the event. The late notification meant that many members who would have loved to be there didn't know about this chat, but the ones who did attend asked wonderful questions.
A week after the chat, Sebastian looked over the transcript, revising and clarifying some of his answers. Then came a little editing, some grammar-smoothing, some spelling corrections, re-ordering the questions and answers, and voila! here it is. Now that the chat is published, everyone can get a better understanding of what goes on behind Sebastian's ear-to-ear smile.

PERSONAL
Q: It's been over a year, I guess, since the last time you chatted online. What has changed most in your life since then?
Sebastian: I'm two years older, and I met Elton John.

Q: Were you surprised to be voted "Man of the Year" in the Freshmen magazine poll (Bel Ami members weren't)? Did you know you were nominated?
Sebastian: I was really surprised. Nicely surprised. I was not even thinking that someone like me could win, because I don't think I'm so "Fresh" anymore. But it's a great show of support from the public.

Q: Do you ever check your rating in the Top Model Voting? Do you know that you are rarely out of the top three?
Sebastian: Actually I don't check it or even pay too much attention to all that. I know that I'm popular right now and I also realize that in one month (or 6 months, or 1 year) I won't be so popular. Of course, it's nice to know it, but I just want to do the best I can and not let myself be affected by my ratings in a poll or by any honors.

Q: Your greatest quality seems to be your boundless friendliness. It's a thread that runs through most of the comments about you in the web site Forum boards. I admire that.
Sebastian: Thanks. It's just the way I am. I'm happy it comes through on film.

Q: Are you a cat person or a dog person?
Sebastian: Definitely dogs.

Q: I received a pet Burmese cat for Christmas (normally I'm a dog person!). I named him Sebastian!
Sebastian: Thanks. I'd be surprised to know if he's as horny as I am!

Q: Howâ??s your health overall?
Sebastian: Really good. I'm happy about that.

Q: Do you still jump out of airplanes for sport?
Sebastian: Never did it. Maybe that's why my health is so good.

Q: I noticed in one of your first scenes for George Duroy, in "Wide Open," you did not shave your armpits. I would love to see you unshaven in all the places where you now shave yourself.
Sebastian: I shave under my arms because it feels better. If I'm comfortable, it makes me better on camera.

Q: Who shaves your balls and around your butthole, and how often?
Sebastian: I do it myself. Do you think I would trust anyone else with a razor in that area? I do it when I feel I need it.

Q: Were you involved in any big summer project this year, like "Greek Holiday" last year?
Sebastian: We filmed one entire movie this summer, but all indoors. We didn't do too much outdoor shooting. The weather here was completely unpredictable, changing not only from day to day, but changing three times within 24 hours. Not even one day stayed consistent.

Q: "All About Bel Ami" is coming out on DVD, which is terrific. Is Mel Roberts coming out with "More About Bel Ami" sometime in the future?
Seb

Matt Phillipe, Club Bel Ami chat, 31 January 2004

On Saturday, 31 January 2004, Matt Phillipe made his first appearance in the Club Bel Ami moderated chat room. The chat started, as usual, at 22:00 CET (10:00 PM) in Central Europe to accommodate Club Bel Ami members from all over the globe.
This is the complete text of the chat, nothing was deleted, presented with just a little editing; some grammar was smoothed over, spelling corrected, a few points clarified, and the order of the questions moved around so that the follow-up questions actually follow the questions they are supposed to follow-up!

PERSONAL
Q: How old are you?
Matt: I will turn 22 in one week.

Q: Where are you right now? Which city?
Matt: Bratislava. In the Webmaster's lavish apartment.

Q: What are your plans for your birthday?
Matt: There will be three celebrations. But first, my mother's birthday is tomorrow. I'm taking a train in 5-1/2 hours (6:00 AM) to visit her.

Q: Is the Webmaster's lavish apartment ever used as a filming site?
Matt: Yes, it has been.
[Webmasterâ??s note: my apartment could not be considered lavish, except by dorm-room standards.]

Q: Who is going to be staying with you in the loft tonight?
Matt: There's no loft. That's in George Duroy's house. Models sometimes sleep there when they travel from out of town. I live here in Bratislava.

Q: Sorry to be so silly, but where is Bratislava?
Matt: Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia. Slovakia is 1/3 of what used to be Czechoslovakia.

Q: I am from Slovenia. Do you get angry if foreigners make a mistake and confuse our countries? Once I remember our sportsmen had to listen to your national anthem.
Matt: I havenâ??t really experienced that confusion, but my sister was in England and when she said she was from Slovakia someone asked her if her parents were alive. She found the question curious and asked why shouldn't they be? And the other person said, "Because there is a WAR there." When I was in America I met many people who were geographically-challenged.

Q: Where did you learn English for you write it so well?
Matt: In school, I studied English for 10 years. I already spoke fluently and comfortably before my trip to the United States last summer, but that certainly solidified my fluency. But I must admit that the Webmaster is cleaning up my grammar and spelling as he types.

Q: How many languages do you speak?
Matt: Slovak, Czech, English, German (a little). I also understand a little Russian and Polish.

Q: Are you in school now?
Matt: Yes. Iâ??m attending a university, studying business management.

Q: Do you live alone, with family or with a roommate?
Matt: I live in a college dorm, with roommates.

Q: Do you have sex with any of your roommates?
Matt: No. If you saw them, you wouldn't even ask me.

Q: Do they know about your work?
Matt: I hope not. But if they do they haven't said anything.

Q: Have you tried to recruit any friends from school to film with Bel Ami, or do you keep your modeling work private?
Matt: I try to keep it as private as possible.

Q: What to you do for fun?
Matt: Good question. For fun I shoot films! I also play sports, like basketball, swimming, tennis ... I also enjoy playing with computers. And I go out with friends to bars to meet potential partners!

Q: What do you film?
Matt: Episod

Las Vegas 2004, Part 5: Adult Video Show

PART 5: ADULT VIDEO SHOW

If Internext seemed crazy and wild, it was a church picnic next to the four days of the Adult Video Show. This expo was for the "industry" only in the morning, but in the afternoon the flood gates opened and fans came swarming in by the hundreds to meet, talk to, take pictures with, and get autographs from some of the most famous adult video stars in the business. Again, it was probably 98% heterosexual. This time we were in the "gay ghetto" in the very back, far right corner. Several video companies shared a medium-sized "booth," (really a long series of cabinets behind which the stars and company reps stoodâ??or sat). Anyone who wanted to meet stars from Falcon, Colt, Titan, CitiBoyz, Studio2000 or Bel Ami had to push and fight their way through a sea of silicone breasts and gawking fans with cameras flashing every second to get to us. Once the intrepid souls made their way to us, I'm sure they were happy because they got to meet some of the most handsome, muscular men we've ever seen like the super-sweet Falcon lifetime exclusive, Matthew Rush. We looked like little boys compared to Falcon's ultra-studly Maxx Diesel or Colt's Tod Parker. There was a nice camaraderie between all the performers (it's hard for us to call ourselves "stars&quot from all the different companies.

Johan: "It came as a bit of a surprise to me that even though it's been several years since I was in any video, I'm still recognizable. I really went on the trip just to shoot documentary video, take pictures, and meet with our business partners, but I signed tons of autographs and posed for hundreds of pictures. During our five-hour-layover in New York on the way back to Europe, Lukas, Sebastian and I were walking on Seventh Avenue and an awestruck young fan came running up to us and only recognized me and wanted my autograph. Lukas was the one who was in New York to be photographed for a book of famous porn stars, but I was the one the fan noticed."

The security was much tighter at the Adult Video show than at Internext and there were huge, long lines (surprise, surprise) to register and enter. The longest line of all was the one to meet the beautiful Jenna Jamison (more on her later). At Internext we only had to show our IDs and we got name-badges which we had to wear every day to be admitted. At the Adult Video show, they took our pictures at the registration desk and the security guards at the entrances had portable scanners. They scanned the bar-codes on the badges which brought up our pictures on their hand-held devices, this way no one could share badges.

Lukas: "We didn't stay put at our booth for eight hours every day. We took turns, in two-hour shifts. We would go in and out of the exhibition hall, sometimes to eat, sometimes to go to our room, sometimes to just see daylight. But every time I would attempt to re-enter the expo, for some unknown reason, my picture didn't show up in the guard's scanner. The guard would say, 'It's not you. Take that badge off and go away.' So a few times every day I had to go back on the registration line, show my ID and take another picture. No matter how many times I did it, it never worked for me. Sometimes a fan recognized me and told the guard I was actually the name on the badge, but most of the time it was a royal hassle."

As you can imagine, if the expo was wilder, the parties were also wilder. We heard there was going to be a good party at the disco in the Paris Hotel, so we went there even though we weren't on the guest list. We stood on a long line (!) and planned to try to talk our way in. Suddenly, a man dressed in a tux recognized us, picked us out of the line and ushered us directly into the disco. It was a great, fun party. In the picture to the right, below, Sebastian met a girl whose feet hurt from dancing in her sandals. Ever the gentleman, he traded shoes with her.

Through the windows of the disco we could see the entrance to the hotel. We were shocked to see about 32 police cars with their lights flashing, sealing off the entrance. A Filipi

Photos - Part 5: Adult Video Show

Las Vegas 2004, Part 4: Internext

The Internext Expo was on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Long, long lines to register, but by now we were realizing that long lines were the norm. Inside the expo were people from hundreds of adult web sites, networking, socializing and forming alliances. Nearly all of the exhibitors were heterosexual web sites, but there was a little corner near the front where the gay web sites congregated. Lots of webmasters and other personnel from gay sites attended the expo without having their own exhibition booths.

Belamionline is starting an affiliate program, where other web sites can share in the revenue if they refer paying subscribers to us. We walked around the expo wearing Bel Ami tee-shirts trying to make people aware of and interested in the new program. All three of us were recognized, many people asked to take photos with us and some just wanted autographs. A few webmasters talked to us about belamionline and asked if the three of us are exclusive to Bel Ami. When we said that we are, those conversations ended.

Every night there were several parties, hosted by various web sites or groups of companies. There were gay parties, straight parties and mixed. We wanted to sample them all. Sunday night, when we arrived, we were completely exhausted from the long trip, but being the troupers we are, we decided to check out the party in a suite on the third floor of our hotel. The party was well under way by the time we arrived and most of the food was gone. In the living room, a woman was sucking off a man, then another guy started jerking off and the man who was being sucked originally lay down on the floor under the one jerking. When the jerker finally came, the one on the floor swallowed all his cum. We heard that just before we arrived, people were fucking on the couch. Another night there was a bondage party (one girl was kissing another girl who was was tied up) and more dick-sucking. In every party we finished off all the Jack Daniels we could find; we made sure there were empty bottles when we left.

One of the fancier parties was given by Hustler.com (we saw Larry Flynt briefly at the convention). Hosted at a nightclub on the strip called "Seven," it was a real disappointment. People there had a lot of attitude. In one area overly-made-up girls with enormous, watermelon-sized breasts were sitting. We imagined that they were waiting for rich men to buy them drinks.

Another night there was a gay party at a disco next to the Aladdin Hotel. When we entered, the security man at the door asked for our IDs to prove we were old enough to enter. He took one look at the Webmaster and waved his hand, indicating that our Webbie didn't need to show his ID. The Webmaster said, "You don't need to see my ID?" and the guard said, "Why, do you think you qualify for the Senior discount?" We left the party briefly to walk around the Aladdin hotel. One of the slot-machine prizes in the casino was a brand new Mini-Cooper, so you know we had to try to win it. We didn't. But we did walk through the Aladdin's shopping arcade, called the &quotesert Passage." Fantastic ambiance and attention to detail. Well worth a visit, no matter what hotel you stay in.

At another party at the gay disco, Gypsy, Chi Chi LaRue (the esteemed, prolific adult-video director) made her grand, glittery entrance. This was the second time that Lukas and I met her (previously they met at the 2000 GayVN Awards in Los Angeles), the first for Sebastian. She recognized us immediately and was friendly, warm and funny, as if we'd been friends of hers for years. We saw her several more times throughout the week and enjoyed every interaction.

Also at Gypsy we met a man who owns a string of adult bookstores around the country and produces his own films. He asked us, "How long does it take to shoot one of your films?" We told him, "It depends. Sometimes it takes a few weeks, sometimes filming is done over a period of months." He said, "I shoot five films in one week. And I also release five videos every week." We smiled and nodded as if we admired his efficien

Photos - Internext

Las Vegas 2004, Part 3: Las Vegas

PART 3: LAS VEGAS

Admittedly we didn't see much of Las Vegas as a city. We spent almost all our time on The Strip. That's the way everyone refers to Las Vegas Boulevard, the street on which stand all the major hotels. The Strip is what you think of when you picture Las Vegas. During the day you can admire the architecture and the vastness of the resorts, but at night is when the magic happens. There's no way to adequately describe all the neon and the riot of color and lights and movement that characterize The Strip after dark. Every turn of the head brought another amazing sight into view. Just walking out of the hotel and seeing rows of limousines picking up and discharging passengers was thrilling. It felt so glamorous, especially for Sebastianâ??Las Vegas was the first American city he saw. Even though we were there for the first time, we still realized that Las Vegas is not "real." It's all for show, and every light, every sound, every tree, every everything is put there to lure visitors to the gambling tables. But to us non-gamblers, the whole place felt like one giant adult playground.

Most of the major hotels have gone out of their way to be "family-friendly," and they have attractions to keep the children occupied while the adults, presumably, try to win their fortunes. Because we were attending the conventions all day, we could only visit the other hotels in the evenings. One night we went to the Stratosphere, the northernmost hotel on the strip. On the ground level are the casino and the restaurants, but on top of a 400 meter tower are three thrill rides. Of course, there was a very long line to get to the top. While waiting, Lukas and I went into a fun-machine which took our pictures and then made a photo of what our "love-child" would look like!
When we got to the top we paused at the windows to get a 360Âo degree look at the city and the surrounding area (see the picture below). Naturally we could have seen more during the day, but the lights spread all around us were beautiful to behold. One of the three rides was a rather lame roller-coaster, encircling the top of the tower. The second ride, the X-Scream, was 12 seats in groups of two which hurtle forward giving the illusion that you're going to fall off the top of the tower. At the most terrifying moment, the ride pauses, the passengers seemingly suspended in air with nothing underneath them but 400 meters of air. Johan and Sebastian were in the first car where the illusion is the strongest. Sebastian says, "I will never forget Johan's face. He was completely white with a cold sweat, screaming, 'I want my mommy! I want to go home!' I wish we had it on film." The third ride was a series of seats, side by side, in 4 groups of 4 forming a square around the steeple on the tippy top of the tower. When we were all buckled in, the seats shot upwards at warp speed, then paused for a split second at the top, then did a free-fall down. What a sensation! We did it two times in a row.

The "New York, New York" hotel and casino had a great roller coaster. Really fast. After the initial climb to an impossible height and then a sharp drop almost straight down, the coaster hurtles through the track going sideways, upside down, in a loop, and around corners with adrenaline-pumping speed. It was really scary. So we also had to do it twice.

Three of the hotels have attractions outside, which the public can watch for free, at regularly scheduled intervals. The only one we were able to see was the "dancing waters" in front of the Bellagio. For about 3 minutes, the fountains adjust their height, direction and intensity, moving, swaying and pulsing in sync with music playing over the loudspeakers. It was a beautiful display.

Our favorite play-day was when we went to "American Shooters," a place where you can practice firing hand guns, machine guns or rifles in an indoor shooting range. Sebastian had experiences with guns when he did his military service, but Lukas and I did civil service so this was the first time for them. We went with a man who used to b

Photos - Las Vegas

Las Vegas 2004, Part 1 and Part 2

Every January in Las Vegas there are two conventions back-to-back. First is the Adult Internet Expo, called "Internext" and the other is the Adult Video Expo. While he purpose of these conventions is for businesses to interact with each other, it's common for adult video performers to attend, to call attention to their various companies and their latest projects.

Two years ago Julian Armanis came to the Internext Expo with George Duroy, but only as an observer. This year, Lukas Ridgeston, Sebastian Bonnet and I were Bel Ami's official representatives at both events. It was Sebastian's first trip to the U.S.A. and everyone's first time in Las Vegas.

PART 1: IMMIGRATION

We arrived at New York's JFK airport on Sunday, 4 January 2004. News reports said that American immigration was putting a new, more intensive screening procedure into place on Monday, 5 January, but in fact, they were trying it out the day before. When we stepped up to the admitting officer's desk it was the first time he was using the camera (to photograph our faces) and the fingerprint machine. He called over the supervisor, and for a moment the Webmaster turned pale, thinking that they were going to challenge our entry. In the end, he didn't even ask us any questions, so engrossed was he in working the new machinery. We entered the country without undue hassle.

We were only at JFK to change planes. Because we were flying JetBlue to Las Vegas we couldn't use the connecting flights desk at the international terminal, we had to shlep (a great new word the Webmaster taught me) our stuff to the Jet Blue terminal using the new, (sort-of) convenient monorail system.

We had plenty of time (3 hours) between flights. At Jet Blue there was a huge line inside the terminal to check-in, but we discovered the shorter, curbside check-in line. We waited on that line longer than we thought we would, and when we finally got to the front and presented our identification to pick up our e-tickets, the attendant told us that the computer "randomly" selected for a special security check-in and we had to go inside to a special check-in location. There, we waited on ANOTHER long line, chipping away at the extra time we thought we had to eat. Finally we were standing in front of a bedraggled, besieged airline employee who accepted our luggage and gave us our tickets. Heading to the gate, we finally felt the impact of the "special" security treatment. We, and our carry-on bags, were thoroughly searched. No strip search, though (the Webmaster was particularly hoping for this until he was approached by a 475 lb. security officer with a stomach so big he must've eaten someone's duffel bag instead of examining it). Eventually they did what they had to and released us in time to grab a bite to eat before the uneventful flight.

PART 2: VENETIAN HOTEL

If you're going to spend the better part of a week locked in a hotel, you couldn't do better than the Venetian. The major hotels in Las Vegas are like mini-cities complete with every convenience and comfort. Nearly all of the hotels are constructed around a "theme," like Caesar's Palace (ancient Rome), Excalibur (Merrie Olde England), MGM Grand (the movie studio), New York, New York (the city), or Paris (the city). The Venetian Hotel is a fantastic evocation of the atmosphere and architecture of the real Venice. The entrance, reception area and main hallway are decorated with Venetian-style marbles, ancient maps, and painted frescos. On the floor above the casino is a shopping arcade on both sides of a real-live, honest-to-goodness canal, complete with gondola and singing gondoliers!

At one end of the canal is a large open space built to give the feeling of the Piazza San Marco with outdoor cafes and "street" entertainers. The ceiling on the canal floor is painted to look like a crystal blue sky with scattered fluffy clouds. It's a nice, liberating look from the rest of the public spaces in the hotel which are hermetically sealed to block out the real-world. There are no clocks anywhere, especially important in the

Photos - Part 1 and Part 2