by Liza Gershmann

Complete with everything you need for your nightclub and bar, the Nightclub and Bar Convention and Trade Show in Las Vegas is just as eccentric as the city hosting it. The convention’s main stage event was the Shake It Up Cocktail competition with more than 30 of America’s top bartenders, including five of San Francisco’s own mixologists.  The six hours of riveting competition for the coveted title of “Best Cocktail”  had onlookers transfixed, rooting for their favorite drink.

Keynote speakers included Dan Aykroyd, Kevin Brauch (a.k.a The Thirsty Traveler seen on Iron Chef America), and Justin Timberlake, who made a short appearance to promote his own brand of 901 Tequila. Meanwhile onlookers were entranced by performances by Timberlake’s friends, the Dan Band, as seen in “The Hangover.”

Some of the more bizarre items the convention had to offer were  stand-alone stripper poles, Hello Kitty Wines, and Dream Water.

Dream Water, the antithesis of an energy drink, is actually made to put you to sleep. “Many people do have Jet Lag issues, trouble sleeping on planes, or trouble sleeping in hotels,” said creator, Joseph Lekach, “Dream Water can help with this.”

The Whizometer is another invention on the weirder side of the convention’s displays. It can be installed into a men’s room so gentlemen can measure their speed of urination. The Hook-a-lime, another new invention on the bar scene, keeps your lime in the neck of a Corona bottle in order to give an even amount of flavoring for the entire beer drinking experience and prevents that sour residue in the last inch of your beer.  ”It was the lord” Hook-a-lime creator JB Hook says helped him come up with the idea, which may or may not someday be served in a Corona in a bar near you.