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Prologue

June 30

July 1

Six Days in Sin City
Dedicated to the Memory and Spirit of Hunter S. Thompson
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Personal Note & A Warning:Okay, First off, let me say that I am sorry that it took so long to get this done. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I ended up getting behind. Stuff that I was working on before I went to Las Vegas got put to the side as I became consumed with preparing for the next Big Trip. To make it worse, I broke my right hand the night before we left. That story is explained later in this journal. As soon as the cast came off, I began catching up. A lot of time and effort went into writing the story and sorting through and editing the more than 1400 photos that Sven and I shot during our adventure. This story is edgier than anything I have ever written and more truthful to the details. I did what I did in the interest of Gonzo Jouralism. If some people don't like it, too bad. Like the saying goes, "You can't make an omelette without cracking a few eggs." What I did, I did of my own free will. It's MY Site, MY Story, and Ultimately, MY Life!
Get busy Living, or get busy Dying...? I choose to live.
I know the saying "What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas" is supposed to be the rule. But if I don't tell the story, what was the point of going?
What you have before you is the whole story... Six Days of Debauchery that includes Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll, Booze, Gambling, Roller Coasters, and FUN!

I OFFER ABSOLUTELY NO APOLOGIES FOR ANY OF MY ACTIONS!

Please Take Note: From this point on, certain identities or identifying characteristics have been changed. This was done with the intent to preserve the details of the story in their entirety without getting people into trouble with spouses, work, and local, state, or Federal authorities. Those names will be marked with an "*" the first time they are used. [ Example: Frank* ] (That idea was suggested by a writer friend of mine. He told me that it was akin to the modern literary equivalent of a wink, or those "finger quotes" people make. He said it would denote a name change rather than sarcasm; and would save me a lot of time by not having to type all the quotation marks. As I sit here writing, I notice it has taken me a considerable amount of time to type up the explanation. Much more time than it would have taken me to just type the damned quote marks… [Way to go, Bob*! Thanks for the "great idea."] But, when I tried it, I liked the way it looked. It reminded me of something from an X-Files episode. So I used it...)
Names have been changed to protect both the innocent and guilty alike. I'm not saying we pulled casino heists or anything like that, but due to the nature of some of our more illicit activities, some people would rather not have their business known.
My travel companion for the Las Vegas trip was my good friend Sven O'Neil*. His real name is Mike Trumble. We call him Sven because there are so many Mikes it is hard to keep track of them all. It all started one day when my dear friend Gina Stankovitz told me she had seen my friend at the Regional Market in Syracuse. I asked her which friend, and she didn't know his name and described him as the tall, "Swedish-looking" guy with long blonde hair.
I jokingly replied,"Oh, you mean Sven!" Well, later in the week, I told Mike of the story and we laughed. I began calling him Sven regularly, and the name stuck. Now, people know him as Sven and have no idea his real name is Mike. Sven has been one of my best friends for several years and has helped me out with the site on numerous occasions. He is a big fan of Death Metal and Industrial music. Followers of the site will recognize him from the KMFDM story and others. He was chosen to accompany me for several reasons. First off, he is a trustworthy friend that would have my back if there was trouble. Sven was also going through some pretty tough personal problems at the time,and I figured he could use a little time away from the situation to clear his head. Secondly, he gave me the coolest birthday present I have ever recieved from a friend. He got me a chromed Zippo lighter engraved with "I Gave Tom A Dollar To Go Away 2005." I loved it. The fact that he had taken the time to think up something so cool blew me away. I was overjoyed and showed it off to EVERYONE the night he gave it to me.

And last but not least, Sven's birthday was coming up and I wanted to return the favor and give him the best gift ever. I gave him the dates and he requested them off from work. He even agreed to help sell buttons and stickers to cover the cost of him going. He sold quite a few. His friends and family were all excited and helped out by getting buttons and spreading the word. Hell, we even made up T-shirts that had my logo and "I Gave Tom & Sven A Dollar to Go to Las Vegas" on them to help promote. It worked like a charm and within a few weeks, we had raised enough cash to buy our plane tickets. We plotted out our trip and I even snuck in a few surprises for Sven as part of my Master Plan for Sven's Most Memorable Birthday!

The other major player in this story is my buddy Big Rob Bowen. He is a former Blue Tusk bartender and a good friend. He moved out to Las Vegas over a year before. With a limited budget, the Las Vegas hotels were way beyond our price range. I decided to call and ask Big Rob if he was going to the show and it turned out that Rob was, in fact, looking for tickets. The 50,000 tickets for the Centennial Celebration were given away for free on Ticketmaster.com and were gone in less than twenty minutes, and I had gotten four of them. Many people were unable to get them, including residents of Las Vegas, which caused a small controversy. I told him that I had four tickets and asked him if we could stay at his place and crash on his couches for a few days in exchange for tickets. I told him that I had gotten two tickets for him if he needed them. He obviously didn't hear me say that part and asked if I could get him tickets. He said that if I could get him two tickets, we could stay with him. I told him that he he drove a hard bargin, but it was a deal. So, with everything in order we plotted out the rest of the adventure. I posted info on the site about the upcoming trip and recieved many notes of well-wishing and suggestions for things to do. A few weeks before we left, I had talked with my friend Pete* and informed him that I was doing the Las Vegas trip.

I explained that I wanted to have a Hunter S. Thompson "Fear and Loathing" gonzo style experience while I was there. Pete understood exactly what I was saying and gave me the number for his friend, Monty* who lives in Las Vegas. He told me to give Monty a call when I got there and he would take care of me. The weeks flew by and soon it was time to go.