I must first start with a sincere thank you.  Thank you Ellen DeGeneres. About 6 months ago I was lucky enough to be in the studio audience for one of the fantastic Ellen’s Twelve Days of Giveaways show.  If you’re not familiar — it’s basically Oprah’s favorite things — spaced out over 12 days and with Ellen instead of Oprah.  The taping was fun and I walked away with a new navigation system for my car, a nice gift card for Starbucks (mission accomplished — I now enjoy Starbucks!), a very expensive vacuum cleaner and a few other things… but the big prize was an all-expense-(save airfare)-paid trip to Vegas. I like Vegas.  I go two or three times a year, usually for a night or two and play it on the cheap.  A free room and a discounted buffet are all I need.  I love fine food but I usually go, see a show, have a decent dinner and write about it for some online publication.  I have never “done” Vegas… until now. The ride to Vegas was the usual mix of “that person is going way to fast” and “Ugh- why are there two trucks next to each other” to “I thought it was only 3 hours.”  After a plethora of show tunes and complaints from my BFF who joined me (she does not like show tunes as much as I do) we arrived in Vegas! Our first stop was check in at the brand new Cosmopolitan Hotel.  As the only hotel in Vegas with balconies I was going to do whatever I could to make sure I got a room with one of the coveted Bellagio Strip views.  After a very long check in (about 30 minutes) we were told that...

. a substitute blogumn by Michael Gutenplan Hi Boys and Girls. Ryan, from what I understand is somewhere in the mid Pacific trying to do what that young teenage girl couldn’t do… sail around the world… we’re all rooting for you Ryan! FIERCELY ANTICIPATING… My Show! Have you ever thought about doing something and actually done it.  I’m not talking about going to Vegas for a weekend or a random weeknight trip to a bar, no, I’m talking about wanting to do something for real and actually doing it.  A few years ago I wanted to be a professional magician, so I changed my life and actually became a professional magician.  It was really hard but totally worth it.  Every day I was doing something that I dreamt of and I was happy. I even accomplished my goal of having my own Off-Broadway show complete with an awesome New York Times review! Then I moved to Los Angeles to join the ranks of assistants and became one of the thousands of young members of the new Hollywood.  Now, while still being a member of the throngs of Hollywood assistants I have taken it upon myself to produce my own magic show! A few months ago I was unemployed and loving it!  I drove my motorcycle up the coast of California (stopping of course at the Artichoke festival), watched movies mid-day and started running again- but my life seemed to be missing something… purpose!  So without the prospect of a daily job to go to, I created on for myself… A magic show! NOT FIERCELY ANTICIPATING… The process and the stress! Putting together your own show is tough.  You need to book a venue, create a script, get an audience and hope… yes, hope that people...

. a substitute blogumn by Michael Gutenplan It is rumored that Ryan Dixon is trekking to the South Pole, tracing the steps of famed explorer Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen. So in his absence I will be sharing with you the joys and occasional sorrows of a family vacation to Costa Rica and the newfound joys of unemployment. YOU SHOULD FIERCELY ANTICIPATE Relaxation A few weeks ago I received word from my boss that my last day of work is going to be April 16th.  Let me clarify — I have been looking for a new job since August and have had a few good interviews, and I told my boss that I thought it would be a good idea to set an end date, but I was thinking a few months — not a few weeks.  Well, all good things must come to an end, so two weeks ago my replacement started and since then I have been enjoying my life. I am anxious to find my next job. After all, unemployment will cut my income in half and I actually like working, but I am making the most of my newfound life.  I have made a pledge to enjoy every minute of unemployment.  Whether it’s traveling California, catching up on TV and movies or exercising, I will not let this time go to waste… but right now I think I’m going to just relax and thank goodness I had a family trip to Costa Rica already planned- what a great way to start my pseudo-retirement. You should want to do this- it was awesome! A family vacation is never something to jump up and down about.  There is always going to be fights, frustration and (if you’re the only son that’s not married)...

. a guest blogumn by Michael Gutenplan . [EDITOR’S NOTE: Ryan Dixon is in the midst of revamping and rethinking his blogumn and will be back in a few weeks. Til then we’ll have a series of guest bloggers. Please give them tons of love!] FIERCELY ANTICIPATING The Cruise! A few months ago a friend of mine had the idea to get a group of guys together and go on a cruise to Mexico for seven days. After a moments thought I sent in my deposit and started preparing.  I don’t know about you but I like to do some research and prep work before I go somewhere, so before I set sail I made some calls and checked out some websites.   I was a bit nervous about a few things, mostly the amount of food onboard and the boredom factor, i.e. will my only options for entertainment be bingo and playing bridge with some old ladies — though, mind you, both options are actually very appealing to me! My first destination was cruisecritic.com, an all-powerful website that has user-based answers for any and every question about cruising.  We were going on Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas ship and cruisecritic.com had a ton of information including ship plans, things to do and past reviews of the exact itinerary I was about to take.  It seems that in a world where everyone has a complaint about something, most of the reviews were positive and actually glowing.  With most of my questions answered from the website I made a quick call to Royal Caribbean directly to get the rest of my questions answered.  Here is what I learned from my conversation with Royal Caribbean… they do this every week and I shouldn’t worry about...

. a substitute blogumn by Michael Gutenplan Hello all.  I know you were expecting to read a blog from our dear friend Ryan Dixon but even the greats have to take a break now and then, so just like Joan Rivers filled in for Johnny, I’ll be filling in (yet again) for Ryan this week. This will be a short article but something that I am very excited about… FIERCELY ANTICIPATING … The Rain! Southern California is an amazing place for many reasons but for those of us from other parts of the country there is one thing that will always amaze us more than anything else… the weather, or should I say lack of weather. For 10 months out of the year, when someone asks me what’s the weather’s like in LA I simply say “same old, same old- 75 and sunny.”  Don’t get me wrong! I ride a motorcycle and love the weather of LA, but sometimes I long for the smell that comes right after it rains on a hot summer night or the excitement of a giant snowstorm that causes everything to come to a standstill. So with the start of December, I am very excited, not about the holiday season but about what I like to call The Weather Season. This past week was the first substantial rainfall of the season.  LA got a little over one inch of rain.  For those of you in just about any other part of the country, an inch of rain is nothing, but for the parched earth of the LA basin, an inch of rain is the equivalent of a monsoon or a giant blizzard.  All the LA news stations called it a “winter storm” and I’m pretty sure I saw people...

. a substitue blogumn by Michael Gutenplan Hello all!  This week I’m filling in for Mr. Ryan Dixon.  For those of you who don’t know, I’m a professional magician, work in TV, was born an Aries and love New York— especially Broadway.  So here’s a little article to hold you over until next week when Ryan can return with his usually witty blogumn. You Should Fiercely Anticipate The Big Apple! Start spreading the news!  If you have never been to New York City or haven’t been in a while, smack yourself a few times and get your tickets now!  New York is better than ever and this is the perfect season to take a little trip to the Big Apple.    My trip to NYC was a mixture of pleasure and obligations. I was originally going for my fraternity brothers wedding (yes, I was in a frat- but it was not like other frats- it was a dry, Jewish fraternity- enough said), but I thought it would be a good idea to take the entire week and see some family, friends and of course, Broadway.   With my return ticket booked- oh, that’s right- I FORGOT to book a plane ticket TO New York! How does this happen?  I don’t know, but I guess I booked a one way ticket coming home but not going, so, with a last minute ticket to New York booked (thank you Jet Blue for having an affordable last minute ticket) I was finally on my way- but what to pack?     It always amazes me that autumn in New York City creates a unique weather phenomenon.  During the days (when it’s not raining), the temperature is often in the mid to high sixties, sometimes going in to the...