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Last night I decided to do a little recon trip down at The Riviera. Here's what I found.
The most notable thing is that The Riviera really hasn't changed that much since last summer at DEFCON 17. It was almost as if they shrink-wrapped the entire hotel at the end of the last con, and opened it up again for my recon trip. To be perfectly honest, this is not what I expected. The fact that there weren't massive changes was comforting, especially with all the stories about The Riviera's financial problems, I was happy to see that everything was in good repair and that they didn't get rid of things in an attempt to cut costs. (But I still morn the loss of The Splash Bar, which is still gone.)
New for 2010 is the addition of a tattoo shop. It is across from Kristopher's Steak House and faces the pool, from within the retail area on the east side of the pool.
I predict we'll see some shiny new smiley face and crossbones tats at DEFCON 18.
This year you'll also have some new food choices. New are the “India Masala, Cuisine of India” and “Big Burger” food offerings.
On reflection, it is entirely possible that these are the same restaurant. I really couldn't tell.
Finally, as an example of addition by subtraction, the bees are gone from the pool area. But it looked like they painted the pool walls an unusually dark blue. Perhaps that was a chemical conditioner to remove the tell-tale blood from DEFCON 16?
See you this summer.
--bc,
The most notable thing is that The Riviera really hasn't changed that much since last summer at DEFCON 17. It was almost as if they shrink-wrapped the entire hotel at the end of the last con, and opened it up again for my recon trip. To be perfectly honest, this is not what I expected. The fact that there weren't massive changes was comforting, especially with all the stories about The Riviera's financial problems, I was happy to see that everything was in good repair and that they didn't get rid of things in an attempt to cut costs. (But I still morn the loss of The Splash Bar, which is still gone.)
New for 2010 is the addition of a tattoo shop. It is across from Kristopher's Steak House and faces the pool, from within the retail area on the east side of the pool.
I predict we'll see some shiny new smiley face and crossbones tats at DEFCON 18.
This year you'll also have some new food choices. New are the “India Masala, Cuisine of India” and “Big Burger” food offerings.
On reflection, it is entirely possible that these are the same restaurant. I really couldn't tell.
Finally, as an example of addition by subtraction, the bees are gone from the pool area. But it looked like they painted the pool walls an unusually dark blue. Perhaps that was a chemical conditioner to remove the tell-tale blood from DEFCON 16?
See you this summer.
--bc,
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