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It's sunny in Lake Mead, a gentle 106 degrees under a cloudless and sweltering sky as the buses pull up in front of Wayne Brady. I'm so excited when I see him; I've watched every episode of Who's Line is it Anyway? about 400 times and I've never seen anyone come up with rhyming witty songs so consistently and so fast.
Wayne has us out here to talk about water conservation. We can all see the enormous drop in water level by looking at the rocks that frame the lake. There are bathtub rings at many points where there was once water lapping at the shore and as he tells us how fast the water is receding I feel a little knot in the pit of my stomach.
We always hear about natural resources running out or drying up someday and we feel like we should do something but it doesn't seem all that real. Someday is always in the future and it's not immediate so we'll be fine. But to see this, actual evidence with a clear timeline, is very sobering.
We leave the lake and meet up with Wayne again at Hawaiian Tropic in The Miracle Mile Mall. It's much cooler here in both senses of the word. Wayne is surrounded by beautiful ladies in bikinis and its amazing anyone is able to follow what he's saying as he issues the challenge - to spread the word about being green to all of Las Vegas.
But first our boys and girl will start with a mini-challenge - a water filtering obstacle course. Luda and Tommy don't feel like playing when the company's so hot so they come up with the ultimate solution to lady gazing and game playing - they have the women do the work while they watch. After that we finally hit a few tables at Planet Hollywood.
Day 2
The next morning no one has any idea how to spread the word about being green. I follow along as the teams talk to anyone who will listen, people on the street, Penn & Teller... Penn & Teller don't believe in the green movement and Penn regales them with the reasons why he thinks its bull$#i!. It's good to have a reminder of other perspectives, we are buried 24/7 in green thinking on this tour and whether or not we agree with Penn & Teller their points make us stop and think. If your convictions can stand up to opposition then you know they're worth holding. Willie gets Planet Hollywood to turn their marquee and casino lighting green. The guys start hitting the shows - Tommy jams with Stomp! and 4-ize jams with Toxic Audio. Nina has the male revue at the Polyester Nightclub switch to tighty greenies and at the end of the day everyone is partying at Prive, getting people to re-use their drink glasses.
Taylor Swift beckons Tommy and Luda to her side. She wants them to think globally and tells them that what they've been doing to get the word out about going green is small potatoes. So they throw a huge party in a suite at Planet Hollywood. It may not seem like taking the message to a bigger crowd, but when you see how many people were in that huge suite... it's a definite start.
The enormous shower in the Planet Hollywood suite bathroom is soon filled with wet people and Tommy gets an idea, an idea that will take the message of water conservation to new heights. And it'll be hot at the same time. Luda and his team are very much on board with this idea and they team up to make it happen in a big way.
Tommy calls his friend Criss Angel for help and before we know it the world's largest group shower is taking place on the roof of Planet Hollywood and the Guiness Book of World Records presents them with an award for making the book. That's all just gravy on top of the fun we have in the world's largest group shower. CNN and Extra cover the event - the word is heard in a big way.
Sometimes being green can be fun as well as inspiring. I'm now ready for the next stop, as long as its as much fun as I've had here in Vegas.
~Roadie T
Get more info on this episode of Battleground Earth.
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