and.... we're back!

So we had a blast in Las Vegas. We didn't do much gambling necessarily, except to kill time between shows and eating. I made a 100$ sports bet on a baseball game and lost, then bet 100$ on a football game and won, so I broke even on sports betting. I may do a post just regarding sports betting later, sop not too much on that for now.

I played an electronic version of roulette that was awesome. I started with 100$ and worked my way up to 336$, for a handsome profit of 236$, all the while drinking tons of free beer and alcohol. The next day, I blew a little over 100$ of it messing around on slots waiting for a show to start.

Speaking of shows, we crammed in a bunch this time. here is a quick run down of them in case anyone is planning a trip out there:

Monday - Wayne Brady (The Venetian) : This was a good show, except for volume was about 150% too loud. Almost to the point of pain. I am old, but I am not that old, and I listen to heavy metal, so I am used to loud, but this was ridiculous. Wayne Brady was hilarious. It was not just comedy, it was a variety kind of show, so there was dancing and music as well. If you are just in it for the comedy, it is still good, but if you absolutely hate singing and dancing, don't go.

Tuesday - Amazing Jonathan (Sahara): As usual, this show was awesome. A lot of the same material as last year, but a few new things worked in as he prepares for his upcoming Comedy Central special. Good stuff, you can never go wrong with comedy and magic mixed together. The show is relatively cheap to attend, and every seat in the house is good.

Wednesday - Ka (MGM Grand): I had never been to a Cirque du Soleil show before, now I will see every single one of them. It was INCREDIBLE. The tickets were a little on the high side, but worth every penny. Do yourself a favor and see this show!

Friday - Love (The Mirage): This also is a Cirque show. It may have been better than Ka! It is based on the music of The Beatles, so that may be why I enjoyed it more, but again, it was truly AMAZING. I cannot really describe it in words, I could never do it justice. If you are a Beatles fan, see this instead of Ka if you have to pick one.

Friday - Hans Klok (Planet Hollywood): This show is at the Planet Hollywood, formerly The Aladdin. This show is called "The Beauty of Magic", so I expected it to be cheesy, but hey, Pamela Anderson is in the show so how bad can it be? Well, the cheesy factor was an 8 on a 1-10 scale. Hans Klok is a dutch magician, who sort of tells his life story through the show. He is "the world's fastest magician". I assume he gave himself this title, but it seems fitting because he is damn fast. His illusions are very quick. For example, he would do a switch, where he would lift up a sheet, and someone else would be there instead of him, and the sheet would only be up for maybe 1 second. Pamela Anderson does not do too much during the show, but she does jump around in skimpy clothing with her mega huge pieces all poppin out at the seams. I would say 35% of the show was dancing, not related to magic, but the tickets were really cheap, so if you want only magic, skip this one, but if you are into dancing and stuff, then by all means, check it out.

Additionally, we checked out "The Bodies" exhibit at the Tropicana, which is amazing. Some dude figured out how to put special polymers into human bodies in a vacuum, thus preserving them. http://www.bodiestheexhibition.com/bodies.html It is self explanatory I guess, bunch perfectly preserved dead bodies and parts. Highly recommended, and its cheap, and you walk through at your own pace.

Also, we went to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. This too is a go at your own pace tour, with a little audio tour device where you enter in a number on the keypad that is associated to the number on the tanks, and you listen to the tour guide that way. It was awesome as well: http://www.mandalaybay.com/entertainment/sharkreef.aspx. It too, is pretty cheap, so check it out as well.

I could go on and on about other stuff but I won't, because this is already too long. Vegas is a great place, and can be really cheap, or really expensive depending on what you do there. You can eat fast food and play penny electronic poker all week and get drunk for free, and just wander around the streets, or you can party like a rock star and spend thousands, the choice is yours.

Anyway, now I have to get back into the daily grind, which sucks balls. I prefer happy drunken Vegas fantasy land.