SHOT Show #4: And the lights...go down in the city...

OK Vegas, bone to pick with you. How is it that a city based on its lights and its flashing brightness could have so many burned out bulbs? Is this the city's version of SADS? Have tough economic times taken their toll on the letters and words spelled out on the sides of giant buildings and signs? You be the judge!











Even the convention center...expecting 50,000 hunters with automatic guns...


Let's get with it! Get some of those new-fangled fusili-shaped light bulbs that last 20 years...in your case, they will only last 10, but what the hey, it's going to be an improvement.

SHOT Show Post #3: The Naked Gun

At one point during the SHOT Show, I looked over and noticed that our bison looked a little nervous...why was he a little nervous? Can you see between his legs? (NO! That's not why he's nervous, dirty mind!)


Here, I'll focus it for you...


Still can't really see it? Here, let me zoom in...


Yup...just your standard naked sniper, nothing really.


And then, staring down the barrel of the naked gun...not sure you can see that he is pointed RIGHT at our bison, but there he is...


Naked gunman. Definitely NOT what I expected to see at SHOT Show...AT ALL!

SHOT Show Post #2 - SHOT Show Cuisine

Everything is better....
dehydrated?




Scrambled eggs...YUM!
From a can?


Buffalo...It's what's for dinner.


Caroline modeling the latest in cookbooks for our shelves...


At least there is a dessert section:

SHOT Show Post #1 - New Products

Well, at least new to me!

1) Game Management Systems - aka deer feeders, molasses licks, vitamins syrups and apple and peanut butter flavored pellets. These feeders are touted as nutrient rich. My question was, does the hunter really care to nourish his game? My mistaken assumption about these feeders was that they were only for luring the deer to be shot. Well, actually they are feeding systems that start in the fall and keep the deer around for the spring hunt. Their main goal is to maximize antler growth. Bizarre and, to me, a little like cheating!


2) The Game Sled - When you have bagged your kill, you then can pull it home on a tarpaulin-fashioned sled. My favorite thing about this product, beside the lovely graphic pictures of dead animals being pulled home in slings, was the slogan. Tag it! Bag it! Drag it! (I have to admit it's catchy and sticks with you...it could be heard being uttered around the booth during moments of excitement and frustration).


3) Camo Diva - Yes, ladies, camo is not just for boys anymore. On the off chance that you would like a prom dress, wedding dress, lingerie or swimsuit in camo, check out Camo Diva. Well, even if not, check it out anyway! www.camodiva.com

4) Stag Arms - I have to admit, there is nothing at all special about this product, except that when I first encountered its name, I had no idea what it was. I seriously thought it had something to do with hanging the deer after the kill. My booth mate thought it had to do with the antlers (aren't those the stag arms after all?). Can you tell we are not hunters? Stag arms is merely a hunting gun maker. OHHHH! THAT kind of arm!

5) Burnham Brothers - While not the catchiest named business, the products they make were interesting to me because I never would have conceived of a market for them. They made calls. Not only the traditional duck and goose calls you would expect, but dying rabbit calls and hurt animal calls that would attract the predator to become prey.

Las Vegas...You are a strange bird...

So, you want to have an out of body experience? Go to Vegas...It's unlike anything else in the world. Bring thousands of dollars, because buying even a caramel apple is $13.99 (yes, SERIOUSLY). Expect to be buzzed on lights, hopped up on smoke, mingled with the pure oxygen I am told they pump into the casinos. The overstimulation continues.

Now, when most people go to Vegas (which means meadows, I wikipedia-ed it), they are expecting to become night owls, nay, vampires. Up all night, exploring their dark sides and sleeping all day in small closed up caves. We are not among these people. We do not enjoy the lights and craziness and the hedonism, frankly makes us sick. But, more practically, we are forced to get up at 5:30, get ready to be on our feet all day at the trade show. This does not a night owl make. I may be the first person to visit Vegas, not do any of the traditional Vegas things and go to sleep before 10 every night.

Coming tomorrow...posts on the other strange bird...SHOT Show.

Kiki Does Vegas

Vegas is definitely a place you can poke fun at. You can laugh at the two women who you are pretty sure are hookers (or is the modern accepted term escorts?) when you arrive in your hotel lobby. You can cringe at the signs vasectomy.com – It’s easier than you think…and Babes Delivered to your Door. Excess is everywhere. Rome called, they want their hedonistic culture back.

When you fly into Vegas, it is as if it has sprouted up out of the arid soil like some radioactive mushroom patch. As you get closer, you see the skyline of New York City, a pyramid with a column of light shining straight up from it, drilling into the clouds, a roller coaster spiraling through and around buildings, and everywhere lights…so many lights. I could say it looks like Christmas, but that would be to sanctify it too much…it’s more like a two-year-old’s Lite Bright play – clashing, cacophonous, and acidic. Overstimulation has a rapid onset. I imagine there aren’t many who can sleep here, like children on the night before a big event, but I do not have that problem. I am a bit out of place as a morning person, one who longs for trees, nature and blue skies. It’s a very interesting place to peep at, but I will be happy to head home and see Vegas in my rear-view mirror.