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Introduction
Every year without a new pandemic, I go to Las Vegas for blackjack. They say that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but that’s not really a problem for me. I usually don’t even drink when I’m there. This year was a little different, but still not worth hiding anything. These posts are an assortment of photos and videos from the Vegas Strip. Most of the videos are from an aquarium I visited. The images are pretty big, so if you blow them up, you should still get good resolution.
I always stay and gamble at MGM properties. My credit card doesn’t get me gas credits or airline miles; it gets me gambling comps, so everything but tips are paid for because I paid my car insurance bill, got gas, or bought food at the grocery store. The comps really add up, so I use that card for everything I possibly can. I started the trip with $1,327 in available comps ($200 added just for reserving the room, so you can get those), and that was before I sat down at a blackjack table to gamble.
In all my years of going to Vegas, I’ve been off-strip only twice before this trip. Once was to visit my cousin’s aunt, and the other was to play D&D. For the latter, I connected with my now-friend Stephanie via Facebook. She picked me up at the hotel, drove me to a gaming store, ran one of the early DDAL adventures, then took me to In-N-Out so I could see what the fuss was about (meh), and then took me to In-N-Out headquarters so that I could say I had been there and Erik never had.
The Millennium Fandom
This year, Stephanie had a free day Wednesday, so she took me on my third trip off-strip. This was the first thing I saw when I entered the bar:
After this, the owner (Alex) took us into a section of the bar that was closed that night.
Alex took another picture, but it was a bit poorly timed. However, Alex pointed out that it probably caught me at a moment I was using the Force. I think he’s right.
Next, I had to pick up a passenger. She’s why I crashed the Tie Fighter into a bunch of chairs.
After this, I toured the rest of the bar. I didn’t get some of the references, so please fill in the blanks if you can.
The Fifth Element‘s Water Stone.
Lightsabers, a helmet from The Mandalorian, a helmet from 300, the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones (top left surrounded by red light) and some big-ass sword I didn’t recognize. The bottom left look like bullets, and above that is a shield.
Well, sure, you can just look at these things, but ….
What’s that above me?
Beneath the Aluminum Falcon was this guy.
What’s that hanging above R2’s “head”?
Some Raiders of the Lost Ark stuff and stuff from video games I didn’t recognize.
The Air Stone, Pac-Man, and a mashup. I didn’t get the reference on the license plate.
Lots of masks, the Earth Stone, and a katana I don’t recognize. Is it from Highlander? Suicide Squad? Maybe it’s simply a katana.
Wall-E thinking the band would let him play that night.
I almost went back here thinking it was where the men’s room was. No reason.
Enough of this. Let’s have some more Star Trek. And what the hell? Some Hellraiser too.
Now we have the proton pack from Ghostbusters and some Nightmare Before Christmas stuff, as well as some other things I don’t recognize. It’s hard to see from this image, but in the top right corner is an archer with an eagle on its shoulder. I didn’t get the reference, but I’d love to have that in my home. It was pretty cool-looking. The reason it’s blurry is because the lighting in the room forced me to use a “night” setting on my camera phone requiring more than an instant of exposure, and the slightest movement blurred the picture.
Unless you had forgotten, you must have known that the Fire Stone had to show up. Also, we have references to Predator, Alien, Wonder Woman, and Nightmare Before Christmas (a movie, by the way, that I didn’t see until last year).
After the tour, I noticed a couple of other things around the bar itself. First, a Batman vs. Superman sign that was behind me as I entered the bar.
Remember what I said about the camera setting? In this case, the blur created a neat effect. This is a real image. These are real people, not a drawing or touched-up photo.
Okay, but what’s the crowd like? Well, the QAnon Shaman showed up!
Finally, as I was leaving for the night, I went to the men’s room and saw this hanging on the door to the bathroom stall. Brilliant. I love this movie.
As you can see, this is my kind of bar. If you’re reading this post, I’m guessing it’s your kind of bar as well. It’s worth the Lyft/Uber trip. Oh, and a self-delivered pat on my back.
If you think about it, between the mask and the shirt, I personally added to the nerd motif. Alex should put that picture of me on their website.
If you’re ever in Vegas, look them up. Their online store is here, though most of what I was looking for is sold out.
I bought a hat.
Follow me on Twitter @gsllc
Follow Stephanie @mortaine
Follow Erik Nowak @Erik_Nowak
Follow Kessel Junkie @kesseljunkie
Play What You Want 
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