The OFFICIAL Unofficial Achewood Message Board
Trivial Pursuits => Sports & Leisure => Topic started by: Carlos del Vaca on August 24, 2007, 01:29:57 pm
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(thread title source (http://www.achewood.com/raysplace.php?date=08192003&allnav=1), I am the asker of the Vegas question)
Smells posted elsewhere about her unrequited wish to win a Vespa, and that finally spurred me to post this. See, there's a message board I stop by occasionally for frequent travellers, FF mile junkies and such, and one of their forums is exclusively links to travel-related contests and sweepstakes. If I'm having a slow day, I'll bust through there and enter a bunch of stuff. And so it came to pass that I got a call last week that I'd won a trip for two to Vegas. We ended up buying two more plane tickets out of pocket so we can take the kids, but we figured it was worth it--we'll be staying at Caesars, and godDAMN but those rooms are expensive, so the math works out pretty well.
I am a bit of a Vegas fiend, having been out there eight times, but not since 2003 (the children obviously complicate such things). Normally we like to stay at the Flamingoooooooo, as it's reasonably priced, the rooms are fine, it's a great location, and it's got a fabulous pool. Caesars is right across the street, so that'll be fine.
My only specific gambling plan is to play in a poker tournament, probably a $50 jobby over at Harrahs. I played the $1-$2 beginner game at Excalibur last time out, so it's not like I'm a total Vegas poker virgin, but it'll be taking it up a notch. There's a $120 nightly tournament at Caesars, but frankly I'm scared to play there.
Vegas, baby, Vegas!
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Oh word! That sounds incredible. I've only gotten to go to Vegas twice. Once as an infant in 1979 when my dad got kicked out of a casino for holding me in one arm and trying to load a quarter into a slot machine with the other hand (apparently it was immoral to have kids in gambling establishments back then?). The other time was in December with a crap dude ex-boyfriend. We stayed at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay, and I shudder to think what the room must have cost. He really pulled out all the stops on that trip, and it was incredible. The lobby of the hotel was fragrant with jasmine, frangipani, and other white flowers. Even today when I wear Serge Lutens A La Nuit I get a little sad because it reminds me of him.
Kick much ass at your poker tourney.
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Yep, kids can walk through the casino (with parents, natch) but you can't gamble with kids in tow. On the 2003 trip, I pushed the stroller into the sports book at Bally's and tried to drop $20 on Monday Night Football. The guy was about to take the bet when a supervisor rushed over and said "Don't take the bet! No kids in the sports book!"
And of course, the Titans beat the Jets and I would have won the bet.
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My parents took me to Vegas for my 21st birthday. We landed at like 11:50 the night before my birthday. Naturally we went with my 4th grade teacher.
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I have never been or seen it. My best friend who is at the USAF Academy was stationed there for like a month over the summer. He said it was really hot, and the shows were cool.
I will see it, one day. What a crazy place (I think).
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I have never been or seen it. My best friend who is at the USAF Academy was stationed there for like a month over the summer. He said it was really hot, and the shows were cool.
I will see it, one day. What a crazy place (I think).
I might have posted this before, but I was astonished to see that Vegas actually ENCOURAGES open containers. We were about to walk out of the casino and I said, "Sweetie! You've got your beer! We can't take that outside!" He laughed and said, "That's nothing, we'll walk out on the street and I'll buy you a three-foot Margarita. They let you take alcohol anywhere in Vegas on foot!"
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oh my goodness, that is so fancy.
I imagine Roast Beef being really uncomfortable with Vegas. by which I mean, of course he would be. Actually, I would probably have the same reaction.
my dad always tells this story (or rather, I tell him to tell this story?) about this one week where he was working some ridiculous number of hours, and my uncle came to visit. he had promised my uncle (his brother-in-law) a visit to Vegas. He worked until some ridiculous hour, and then walked out and got in the car... they made it to vegas in some absolutely disgusting amount of time. I think he said that if you did the math, their average speed was like 70 mph. Of course, he is always sure to mention, this was through the desert.
He slept the whole way. his only memory is of waking up to my uncle screaming "HOLY fuck*ng SHIT!" and seeing a car exploding on the side of the road-- apparently there had been a crash?
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I think there is an open-container law on the books in Vegas, but it's seldom enforced. So yeah, it's pretty frickin' sweet to be able to walk around on the Strip or downtown and take your drink with you.
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Here's some crazy shit. Caesars has several swimming pools (http://www.harrahs.com/casinos/caesars-palace/casino-misc/garden-of-the-gods-pool-oasis-detail.html) which are all swanky an' shit (no water slides, from what I can tell). The so-called "Venus Pool" has a freaking cover charge on the weekends, even if you're staying at the hotel. $20 for dudes, $10 for chicks. It also permits "European sun bathing," which explains why the guys have to pay twice as much to get in.
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Here's some crazy shit. Caesars has several swimming pools (http://www.harrahs.com/casinos/caesars-palace/casino-misc/garden-of-the-gods-pool-oasis-detail.html) which are all swanky an' shit (no water slides, from what I can tell). The so-called "Venus Pool" has a freaking cover charge on the weekends, even if you're staying at the hotel. $20 for dudes, $10 for chicks. It also permits "European sun bathing," which explains why the guys have to pay twice as much to get in.
I have heard about the Venus Pool, and nothing I heard was good. Let's just say if you charge people to go to a place and take their clothes off, you are going to limit the folks who show up to people that should have to pay a lot more than that for the privilege of walking around naked.
I'll just stay in Portland and go to Sauvie Island - you can get naked there for free!
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I have heard about the Venus Pool, and nothing I heard was good. Let's just say if you charge people to go to a place and take their clothes off, you are going to limit the folks who show up to people that should have to pay a lot more than that for the privilege of walking around naked.
I'll just stay in Portland and go to Sauvie Island - you can get naked there for free!
I have heard of this place. I will be investigating it more.
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I went to Vegas for about four hours and had hell of Roast Beef reactions.
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I go to Vegas in two days and dammit I am psyched.
Let's combine this with football discussions. The first bet I intend to place is on the Saints-Colts game, so if I end up in the hotel room with the kids while the missus goes to the spa or something Thursday night, at least I can watch football and have a rooting interest. The line is Colts by 6, give or take half a point. Who ya like?
I'm thinking the Colts, becuase for some reason I can't convince myself that the Saints will repeat last year's magic. But I could be wrong.
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Oh man, sports book for NFL opening weekend? There is going to be some serious money changing hands - no one has any idea where the lines ought to be.
Colts are hosting - I think you're on the right track.
Also:
Fans Encouraged to be in Seats before 8 p.m. for Opener
INDIANAPOLIS - When is a football game more than a football game?
A few answers . . .
1) When it involves one of the biggest names in music.
2) When it's not just a game, but a civic event, too.
3) When it involves last season's Super Bowl champions.
All of the above are true for the Colts’ 2007 regular-season opener against the New Orleans Saints on Thursday, September 6, at the RCA Dome. That’s why ticket-holders are being encouraged to arrive not at 8:30 p.m., but shortly before 8 p.m.
Because that’s when the show starts.
At 8 p.m., fans will see a live performance inside the RCA Dome by Indiana native John Mellencamp. There also will be a banner ceremony to celebrate the Colts’ Super Bowl XLI victory over the Chicago Bears this past February.
Johnny Cougar is one of the biggest names in music? What, one of the 500 biggest names?
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Johnny Cougar is one of the biggest names in music? What, one of the 500 biggest names?
"Mellencamp" does take up a lot of room on a marquee.
We fly out Sunday morning, otherwise I'd be all about an all-day NFL betting, drinking & football watching binge. (Theoretically I could bet Sunday's games, but it would be a hassle to collect.)
I will, however, look to place a futures bet on who will win the Super Bowl.
http://www.vegas.com/gaming/futures/superbowl.html
Gotta look for the right mix of: actually able to win Super Bowl, odds good enough to make coming back to Vegas to collect worth it, and can stand to root for them all season. My Philly Iggles therefore look like a good bet, though I realize putting money on any Philadelphia team to win a championshp is probably wasting money.
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I will, however, look to place a futures bet on who will win the Super Bowl.
http://www.vegas.com/gaming/futures/superbowl.html
Gotta look for the right mix of: actually able to win Super Bowl, odds good enough to make coming back to Vegas to collect worth it, and can stand to root for them all season. My Philly Iggles therefore look like a good bet, though I realize putting money on any Philadelphia team to win a championshp is probably wasting money.
San Di-e-go . . . . Super-Chargers . . . .
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You missed the fine print, is all...
Cougar-Mellacamp-Tinkers-Ever-Chance-Baustein-O'Shanhan-Jones is one of the biggest names... in continuing Bob Dylan's lameass tradition of vaguely sucking up to the heartland in a completely insincere way but not even having Dylan's balls and just being non-offensive about it.
He is the second-biggest name in this regard.
Bruce "The Most Overrated Man in Rock History" Springsteen would be first.
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San Di-e-go . . . . Super-Chargers . . . .
They hit the first and third criteria, but the second one? At 6-1, I'd have to put down at least $50 to have a bet worth being excited about, possibly more. And I have a hard time putting more than like $10 on a futures bet like this.
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Bruce "The Most Overrated Man in Rock History" Springsteen would be first.
Get ready to have your ass kicked by a short woman wielding vicious rodents.
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N. Young? W. Nelson? No lameass performer ever went broke sucking up to the heartland.
This is myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy countryyyyyyyyyyyyy!
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Hey Mayor, maybe you wanta check the futures line on Baltimore.
Steve McNair. Kyle Boller.
I'm impressed that their odds are that good, but... no.
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I think I'll take the missus to Vegas for New Year's Eve this year. Richard Cheese (http://www.richardcheese.com/) is playing. Of course, I'll have a tough time making any money on SD@OAK (unless we're resting everyone).
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Get ready to have your ass kicked by a short woman wielding vicious rodents.
I wasn't even reading this thread but somehow it suddenly started calling out to me...
No, actually, me and the rodents are at peace with this sort of thing.
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I think I'll take the missus to Vegas for New Year's Eve this year. Richard Cheese (http://www.richardcheese.com/) is playing. Of course, I'll have a tough time making any money on SD@OAK (unless we're resting everyone).
I should point out that this is his final tour, as he has vocal cord issues.
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I think I'll take the missus to Vegas for New Year's Eve this year. Richard Cheese (http://www.richardcheese.com/) is playing. Of course, I'll have a tough time making any money on SD@OAK (unless we're resting everyone).
there is a good possibility ill be in the city o' sin at the same time.
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You missed the fine print, is all...
Cougar-Mellacamp-Tinkers-Ever-Chance-Baustein-O'Shanhan-Jones is one of the biggest names... in continuing Bob Dylan's lameass tradition of vaguely sucking up to the heartland in a completely insincere way but not even having Dylan's balls and just being non-offensive about it.
He is the second-biggest name in this regard.
Bruce "The Most Overrated Man in Rock History" Springsteen would be first.
Hush your mouth. I'm a big fan of both. I'll take either of them over everyone in this week's Top 40 combined.
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there is a good possibility ill be in the city o' sin at the same time.
Oh man, we got to keep in touch about this. Ache-con in Vegas for New Year's Eve? That would be so sweet!
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Oh man, we got to keep in touch about this. Ache-con in Vegas for New Year's Eve? That would be so sweet!
Words cannot describe how insane that would be.
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Words cannot describe how insane that would be.
What about 'off the hizzle'? I hear the kids saying that - would that describe it?
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fuck, that would be wicked dumb. that would be off the hizzle fo' sheez, yadadamean?
I ain't about to go out to Las Vegas, though. Fuck, n-word!
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See, the Ache-Con in Vegas gives me only one image:
TOUAMBies in Circus Circus, killing rats with a rake.
Not that I disapprove, mind...
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See, the Ache-Con in Vegas gives me only one image:
TOUAMBies in Circus Circus, killing rats with a rake.
Not that I disapprove, mind...
I was gonna say, "Man, if I had some scratch I'd totally head out to Sin City for New Year's! Fuck yeah!"
Then I realized that with my cash situation I'd be staying at Circus Circus if I was lucky. Nooooo thanks.
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I was gonna say, "Man, if I had some scratch I'd totally head out to Sin City for New Year's! Fuck yeah!"
Then I realized that with my cash situation I'd be staying at Circus Circus if I was lucky. Nooooo thanks.
Oh there's room at the inn, certainly.
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... in continuing Bob Dylan's lameass tradition of vaguely sucking up to the heartland in a completely insincere way but not even having Dylan's balls and just being non-offensive about it.
Give me one example of that in a song, besides Only a Pawn in their Game....he was proving a point there. Also, only from the start of his career to the motorcycle accident. After that, he was not Bob Dylan.
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Vegas trip summary:
- The $20 upgrade works wonders. HUGE fuckin' room, with a view of the Bellagio fountains.
- This was a busy freakin' weekend. Along with the beach volleyball thing, the VMAs were this weekend (no good celebrity sightings though), and Wisconsin at UNLV in football, which meant a bazllion Wisconsin people in town.
- There are many, many attractive people in Vegas. Not least of all, beach volleyball players.
- I miss the cheapo, $1.99 late-night steak 'n' eggs Vegas of yore. Seems like everyone wants to be high-end these days (downtown is still cheap, I guess, but we didn't make it there this trip). They're building building building, and you'd think that at some point supply would exceed demand.
- Four buffet meals in three days. Gluttony! Paris gets an A, Harrah's an A-, Bally's a B-, Flamingo a C-.
- It is hard to discipline one's children properly when on vacation. But they (and we) mostly had fun.
- I won fifteen dollars, that's right FIFTEEN BUCKS! WHOOOO!
- Got home at 1 AM last night, and I am frickin' tired.
More on the blog later. Will post pictures at some point too.
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(http://www.bigfool.com/vegas_03_files/venetian.jpg)
Pictures here. (http://www1.snapgiraffe.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=159531483/a=15531555/t_=15531555) Try bugmenot.com if you don't have an account at Snapgiraffe and don't want to register.
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When I was in vegas people were taking pictures of the dancing fountains. Not video mind you.
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(http://www.bigfool.com/vegas_03_files/venetian.jpg)
Pictures here. (http://www1.snapgiraffe.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=159531483/a=15531555/t_=15531555) Try bugmenot.com if you don't have an account at Snapgiraffe and don't want to register.
OMG, Carlos, your little girls are frikkin' ADORABLE. I love that picture. Tiny can.
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OMG, Carlos, your little girls are frikkin' ADORABLE. I love that picture. Tiny can.
Now I'm curious if he had a matching outfit, too.
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Well, given that the White Stripes canceled their tour, so I won't be going to Chicago next month, I'm pretty sure the Vegas trip is on.
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Well, given that the White Stripes canceled their tour, so I won't be going to Chicago next month, I'm pretty sure the Vegas trip is on.
GASP! They canceled their tour? Suck!
So when is everybody gonna be in Vegas? New Years?
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That's when we're going to be there, anyway.
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My long overdue and excessively detailed Las Vegas trip report is now up on ye olde FoolBlog (www.bigfool.com/foolblog).
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Instead of visiting Vegas, everybody should go visit Reno! You can't get authentic Shanghainese OR authentic Guizhou Chinese food in Vegas, can you? And who needs fancy dancy fountains when you can go visit a REAL LAKE surrounded by trees. Yeah, RENO!
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Instead of visiting Vegas, everybody should go visit Reno! You can't get authentic Shanghainese OR authentic Guizhou Chinese food in Vegas, can you? And who needs fancy dancy fountains when you can go visit a REAL LAKE surrounded by trees. Yeah, RENO!
Also: their cops are HILARIOUS.
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I would like to go to Reno. I'm told it's what Vegas was like before Vegas went completely apeshit.
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I would like to go to Reno. I'm told it's what Vegas was like before Vegas went completely apeshit.
It's a lot less crazy than Vegas, and if you like outdoor activities, Lake Tahoe is close by. Reno also has a river that is good for kayaking and a fake pond full of assorted waterfowl. If you eat one teaspoonfull of Reno every day, your liver and kidneys will be healthy and your hair will grow full and luxurious.
This message brought to you by the "Visit Reno Instead of Vegas Tourism Board of Washoe County."
Also: their cops are HILARIOUS.
I watched Reno 911 once and it was very confusing because there were lots of shots of Reno, but none of the actual show took place in Reno.
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Reno 911 is actually mostly filmed up in my neck of the woods...
The grungy burnt-out northern suburbs of Los Angeles. Like Sun Valley and shit.
So are The Office and My Name Is Earl. Basically these are the cheapest places to film at where you are still within a reasonable drive of Rich People's Houses in the Hollywood Hills and Santa Monica and The 'Bu.
It was hilarious when The Office was trying to pass off Van Nuys and North Hills as Utica, this week.
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It was hilarious when The Office was trying to pass off Van Nuys and North Hills as Utica, this week.
Utica, New York? That must be a challenge. I guess they figure no one knows what Utica looks like and hey, maybe it's a little bit of SoCal in the frozen wastelands?
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Actually, they just shot everything REALLY REALLY tightly.
Basically, every shitty business park looks the same and every shitty highway looks the same.
So unless you know BOTH the place they're filming AND the place they're supposed to be, suspension of disbelief covers everything quite nicely.
Problem is, I know both those places. I live in one and grew up a half hour from the other.
I am the perfect storm of rejected suspension.
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It was hilarious when The Office was trying to pass off Van Nuys and North Hills as Utica, this week.
I have often wondered what Korea really looks like. Because my current impression is the LA foothills. My wife is from 'round there, and when her parents were living there and we'd go visiting - the drive in seemed like the opening sequence from M*A*S*H (without the helicopters of course).
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A surprising number of inhabitable planets across the galaxy look just like those foothills, at least if you watch Star Trek: The Next Generation.
"Captain's Log, Stardate 32034.7: we are in orbit above Santa Clarita."
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I thought all inhabitable planets across time and space were just british quarries with a police box in the middle.
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I realize it's one of the most run-into-the-ground jokes ever, but it astounds me how we could evolve on a totally different planet than everybody else, and yet the only difference we have with most of them is that they have funny ears, ripples on the nose, a hossshoe crab on their head, or a skintone that is still feasible on our planet.
Maybe the Scientologists were right about where we came from after all.
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Sadly, I am a big enough nerd to tell you that there was an explanation attempted in a Next Generation episode, an explanation to that very question.
Apparently, all of our planets were seeded by the same space-douches billions of years ago.
Lonely space-douches sick of living in an empty universe.
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Sadly, I am a big enough nerd to tell you that there was an explanation attempted in a Next Generation episode, an explanation to that very question.
Apparently, all of our planets were seeded by the same space-douches billions of years ago.
Lonely space-douches sick of living in an empty universe.
Lonely space-douches who then attempt to conquer the now-populated universe. I don't remember how they were fended off but I think non-linear wormhole ghosts had something to do with it.
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picard or someone: "hmm, look at this picture of a klingon from back when Kirk was captain of the enterprise. Wait... why didn't you have the head-ridges back then!"
worf: "we don't like to talk about it."
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"Enterprise" had an explanation for that one, too, Nev.
There was genetic tampering and a plague and... oh man... it was so convoluted and so bad.
Don't these people get that some parts of stories work BETTER kept mysterious?
Everything has to be explained away in minute detail as continuity porn for the sticklers, doesn't it.
Man, I don't need to know the story of Wolverine as a foppish sickly rich child in the late 1800s, man. Fucks up the whole thing. I had a better story in my own head, you sons of bitches, and so did most interesting people.
Running out of ideas? Explain away magical holes in the story that we've filled with our imaginations, explain them full of marginal ideas just to kind of take up space, like baking soda in cocaine. Assholes and fiends, all of them.
Much as I'm a dork, you can't let the dorks run the show.
Everything falls apart soon after that. PETER DAVID I'M LOOKING AT YOU.
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Not that I disagree with you in any way shape or form LFM, but you have to consider the media involved. Comic books and episodic TV. They've gotta come up with several plots, sub-plots and character quirks each and every month/week. That's a lot of airtime/page space to fill. When you spend decades exploring the same "world", you can't be surprised if some barrel scraping, nit-picking, panty-sniffing gets thrown in there.
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There was panty sniffing on star trek. Damn I don't remember that at all.
All I remember is that big girl with the black hair. She was a psychologist or some shit. Yeah, she was hot.
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True enough, Mr. West.
However... it SHOULDN'T be that way. It shouldn't HAVE to be that way.
Awesome people like ME should be in charge. haha.
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Jeez, another lame-ass bump, but I just wanted to gush that Vegas is on for this weekend, bitches!
Richard Cheese, Reverend Horton Heat/Nashville Pussy/Hank III, and I'm seriously, seriously considering renting a Ferrari 348, (http://www.dreamcarrentals.com/cars-ferrari348.php) because how often will I get a chance to drive one?
Also, Van Halen is playing on the 30th, so maybe before the show I'll catch David Lee Roth mixing drinks at the House of Blues or something.
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Jeez, another lame-ass bump, but I just wanted to gush that Vegas is on for this weekend, bitches!
Richard Cheese, Reverend Horton Heat/Nashville Pussy/Hank III, and I'm seriously, seriously considering renting a Ferrari 348, (http://www.dreamcarrentals.com/cars-ferrari348.php) because how often will I get a chance to drive one?
Also, Van Halen is playing on the 30th, so maybe before the show I'll catch David Lee Roth mixing drinks at the House of Blues or something.
Heh, did you know that DLR is a paramedic in NYC? Talk about crazy.
Also, that is a frikkin' great car. If I had money, I'd be in Vegas to party down with all the TOUAMBies who are gonna be there. Have fun! Drink on the Strip for me!
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My favourite riff on David Lee Roth is, of course, the "Metalocalypse" variant...
"Dr. Rockso the Rock-and-Roll Clown".
His catchphrase is "I'm Dr. Rockso the Rock-and-Roll Clown and I do cocaine."
He did so much cocaine that even rock-and-roll kicked him out and he became a rock-and-roll-themed party clown. Imagine how much cocaine it would take for rock-and-roll to kick you out, just imagine.
At that point, there are only two options other than death, party clown or stock-broker.
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"hey, sarah, do you mind if we go outside? I need to smoke a cigarette."
"oh. Um, normally my parents don't like people smoking at their house..."
"that's why I said we should go outside. on the deck. *doesn't get it*"
"Um."
"I really need it. I have a headache, man."
"OK, fine."
*we go outside*
"So, man, you said you have a headache?"
"yeah, I did a ton of coke last night. You know, it numbs your face?"
"uh huh"
"yeah, so I was clenching my jaw all night... it hurts like a bitch."
"oh! and nicotine helps??"
"no, man. it just kills me a little bit."
That kid. Wow. He is the intersection between damn-it-all cynical rock and roll awesome kid who doesn't give a shit about anything but has a heart of gold and I like him, and... complete jackass who's going to work for minimum wage until he ends up in jail.
He is one of those guys that... is so straight-forward about not giving a shit that it's kind of endearing? if that makes sense?
I mean, he is like Todd. Except, you know, he won't be able to come back from death, i guess.
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Hell yeah for Hank III.
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Jeez, another lame-ass bump, but I just wanted to gush that Vegas is on for this weekend, bitches!
Word. Where you stayin?
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Word. Where you stayin?
The Hard Rock. Last couple times that I was there I stayed at the Aladdin, which will tell you something about the interval in between. The time before that I hung out with Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford.
Also, my Reverned Horton Heat, Nashville Pussy and Hank III bill has changed. No more Hank III, but they've added Lemmy.