Category: travel

Vegas, 2023 #Vegas #travel

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For this year’s annual Vegas trip, I stayed at Mandalay Bay for the first time. I’ve been doing all (or almost all) of my gambling there for a few years now, but this year I decided to stay there becomes my comps got me the room for $5 a night with no resort fee. I usually go on Columbus Day weekend, or maybe in September, but this year I spent the week before Christmas there (Monday, 12/19 through Saturday, 12/24). I went so late in the year because I had a couple of friends that were going to be there during that week, which is also why I spent six days there.

Mandalay Bay

My room was perfectly situated such that I had a view down the Strip . . .

. . . but also could watch the planes arrive and depart the airport.

The close up.
The broader view.

And now for some live action!

https://youtube.com/shorts/Go4mB_reaKg

Okay, not that kind of action. I love watching the planes arrive and depart, but even I find watching videos of it pretty boring. Sorry (not sorry) about that. Here’s a different video that’s probably just as boring, but it’s only 9 seconds long.

https://youtube.com/shorts/6VkOrGBihTg?feature=share

The Body Exhibit

The first touristy thing I did (besides looking out my window in awe) was the Body Exhibit at Luxor. I did that Wednesday. These are preserved corpses displayed to teach visitors about the mechanics of the human body. Some of it was bizarre. Don’t believe me? Take a look (or don’t if you’re squeamish).

Seriously, these are real bodies. They all come from China. We were told by staff that they privacy laws prevents them from knowing how these people died, but rumor has it that they came to this and other exhibits across the country through less than ethical means.

What follows are a series of circulatory system fragments injected with a colored polymer that hardens in place to help you see the detail and distinguish between different parts. Don’t believe me? Read the sign.

Other than the fetuses — which I didn’t photograph — this is the creepiest display. It’s a series of slivers of a human body.

Here’s a closer view.

This next one bothered me more than it should. I’m overly sensitive to knee pain. Drives me nuts too.

I have many more pictures, but I think you get the point.

Friday

Friday night brought me to the Penn & Teller theater at the Rio. Here’s Penn Jillette warming up the crowd playing jazz on his stand up bass.

https://youtube.com/shorts/f2iVt58ggIg

Every year, I say I’m going to go, but because I had friends there, this time I actually did. It was worth it. Not only is it a good show, but it may have been the best Penn & Teller show ever. Teller recently had quadruple bypass surgery, so he wasn’t able to do the show. Penn told us that we shouldn’t worry because he’s due to make a complete recovery and come back sometime around March 2023. A little later, they showed a video of Teller from home participating in the current bit, but his part was so generic, it’s clear this could have been a prerecorded video reused at every show.

All of this was a set up. Towards the end of the show, Penn excitedly introduced Teller! I started a standing ovation for him, and he had to wave to the crowd to get them to sit down. Once he did, he did one of his famous bits. Then he joined Penn and Carbanaro for their last bit, giving them a helping hand. It was stupendous.

Saturday

Saturday was my last day in Vegas, but my flight didn’t leave until 11:45 pm, so I had a full day to do as I pleased. My friends and I started with an incredible meal at Din Tai Fung, a restaurant at Aria famous for its dumplings. It absolutely lived up to the hype. Next, I demanded that we go to a sports bar and watch my Commanders lose to the 49ers. We went to Tailgate Social Sports Bar & Grill, and after going through two pitchers, we ordered this:

The beer is Modelo, and at Tabitha’s urging, I got a pint glass with the rim coated with salt, then squeezed some fresh limes into it. It was like a beer margarita. I had never considered doing that before, but as I’m not a beer drinker, I may never do so again. You might like it though.

After the pub, I did my first escape room. Remember all that beer from the previous two paragraphs? It didn’t go well. We took an extra 30 minutes to get out of the room, and only because we requested several hints along the way. On the bright side, I met a new friend.

Yeah. I know. The sweater. My friends made we wear it. I was raised Catholic, so my perpetual guilt makes me incapable of saying no to a gift no matter how foolish I look. After that, we took an Uber back to the Luxor (where Jim and Tabitha were staying) to wait out my departure. I took a nice shot of the skyline from the road.

Sadly, I never took the time to ride that damn coaster because my friends weren’t into it. I should have. It’s a fun ride.

Going Home

I have just two more videos to show you: my take off from Harry Reid International Airport, showing off one of my favorite skylines . . .

. . . and my landing at Dulles International Airport.

We didn’t crash, so watching video of the arrival is just as boring as watching videos of planes taking off in Las Vegas. Not much to see here.

Oh, and I won $1,200 playing blackjack. Meh.

I love Vegas.

Follow me on Twitter @gsllc


The Little Guy #traffic #travel #psychology

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A while back, a Reddit post from three years ago began circulating again. It referenced that when the poster, and apparently everyone else, were little, they imagined a little guy that ran along fences, power lines, etc. while on a road trip. I did so as well, but my guy did something else that neither the tweet, nor the replies, discussed. My guy was a risk taker.

Passing Zones

On a long road, in addition to zones where no one may pass, lane dividers will occasionally create three zones in succession: 1.) one where only one side can pass, 2.) another where both sides can pass, and 3.) a third where only the other side can pass. In case it isn’t clear, I’ve edited an image I found to describe what I’m talking about, which I’m sure you’ve all encounters.

I’ve never seen lane dividing lines printed this way.

I’ve ridden across the country on many occasions and never seen the three zones painted in this order. I’ve always seen them in the order I presented them — 1, 2, then 3 — with no interrupting “nobody gets to pass” zone. YMMV, I guess, but my little guy always had to deal with them in this order.

My Little Guy’s Game

This is the additional game my little guy had to play. Like a passing car, he couldn’t switch lanes unless he had dashed lines. He’d switch from my lane to the other lane when he had the dashed lines on my side, then see how long he could last before switching back to my lane. The goal, as you might expect, was to make it all the way to the third passing zone, switching back to my lane at the last possible moment. However, if he got caught in the other lane because he couldn’t even make it to the second zone, he was killed. I also recall several instances where he’d bounce back and forth between lanes in the second zone. That was perfectly legal under the rules of the game.

My decision of when to move him over was dependent on how heavy traffic was and visibility. I had many instances where his ability to last was disappointing but remember only a couple where he died. Whenever that happened, I shivered.

Are any of you this crazy?

Follow me on Twitter @gsllc

Bull Riding #travel #rodeo #BullRiding

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On Tuesday of this week, I hinted at an interesting story pertaining to my visit to La Cruces, New Mexico.

I was visiting El Paso, Texas for — if you can believe it — the second of three times total. (Who wants to go to El Paso more than once?) At someone’s suggestion, we headed over to La Cruces for a bull riding event. It wasn’t a full rodeo. All of the competitions were bull riding. I didn’t expect to enjoy this show at all, but I’d absolutely see another one if it were ever convenient. Moreover, rodeo clowns are amazing. That’s not sarcasm. They’re remarkably good at what they do and save riders from serious bodily injury and/or death multiple times a night.

In an of itself, that would be interesting (though nothing to wake the kids over), but there’s more to this story. During the event, they held a customary game of “cowboy poker” or “suicide poker.” Everyone’s sitting around a table pretending to play poker, then they let the bull in. The last one remaining in their seat wins. The bull hung out for a few seconds. It appeared he wasn’t going to do anything. Suddenly, he charged the table. The one woman at the table was caught beneath him, and her life was saved not just by the rodeo clowns, but also by the other player who was “scalped” by the bull. Everyone survived. The scalped guy was on the radio later that week telling everyone that was complaining about the event to calm down. He knew the risks and accepted them. Whether he eventually changed his mind and sued, I don’t know. He really was a hero for jumping in and saving that woman. On the other hand, the two cowardly New Mexico University football players at the table bailed on her as quickly as they could.

The video of it made a bunch of “events gone horribly wrong” compilations over the years. Here’s an example video with a story on the event (embedding not permitted by YouTube due to age restrictions). It gets a little gory, so you may not want to watch.

Now, of course, you’re going to.

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Your US Level (Whatever That Means) #home #geography #USA

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A couple of weeks ago, a website tool started circulating social media. It produces a map of where you’ve lived, where you’ve stayed, where you’ve visited, etc. You can read the legend.

The question everyone asks is, “What’s the difference between stayed here and visited here?” My answer is that stayed here requires an overnight stay, whereas visited here requires that you went there to visit a particular place for the day, then returned home at the end of the day/evening. For example, I went to Wisconsin twice: Once for a day of paintball, and the second time to visit Lake Geneva, home of Dungeons & Dragons. When I was finished, I went home to Chicago. Likewise, I attended a bull riding competition in La Cruces, NM while visiting El Paso. Once the event was over, I went back to El Paso. The bull riding event was more entertaining than I expected, but there was an aspect to it that was even more interesting. That’s a story for another day.

For the record, stopped here means I stopped to use a rest area or eat, and passed here means I drove through without stopping. In no event am I including layovers at airports or flyovers on a commercial flight from one place to another. Otherwise, I could say that I passed here with one of the Dakotas, Wyoming and/or Montana, and Idaho when I flew between Minneapolis and Seattle. I don’t think that should add to my score.

I seem to have a higher score than most of my social media contacts, but the highest I’ve seen is 191. That guy’s been everywhere. My mission remains to stay (here) at the four purple places.

And for the record. . . .

Someone on Facebook asked me, “Why Germany but not Austria?” For the most part, I have no touristy reason for picking one country over the other. I’ve never been overseas. In fact, I’ve never been outside the continental United States except for Juarez (twice), Montreal, and Vancouver. My family tree has four distinct branches: German, Irish, Italian, and Scottish. All but the Italian portion has a nonnegligible amount of Dutch in it. Hence, I chose those five countries. I added Iceland because I hear it’s incredible.

What’s your score?

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Vegas, 2021, Part 3 of 3: The Millennium Fandom @mortaine @Erik_Nowak @kesseljunkie #Vegas #travel

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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.

| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |

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:

The Nationals World Series championship cap makes me feel like an outsider at this bar.

After this, the owner (Alex) took us into a section of the bar that was closed that night.

Suck it, Kessel Junkie!

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.

Star Trek >> Forgotten Realms >> Star Wars

Next, I had to pick up a passenger. She’s why I crashed the Tie Fighter into a bunch of chairs.

This post is becoming a slam against all my friends.

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 ….

Pretty sure this is a vorpal lightsaber.

What’s that above me?

I know you knew.

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.

He told you he’d be back.

Wall-E thinking the band would let him play that night.

Wall-E was wrong.

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.

The TV is blanked out for copyright reasons, which seems silly considering what I’m posting.

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!

Not really.

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


Vegas, 2021, Part 2 of 3: The Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay #Vegas #travel

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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.

| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |

Shark Reef

Normally, I don’t do much more than eat, sleep, and gamble, but I added this stop to my itinerary on Wednesday. Here are a bunch of pictures and videos presented in the order I took them (to the best of my recollection). There’s a small bit of commentary, but these are mostly just for your viewing pleasure.

Gator? Caiman? I didn’t read the placard.

This next one freaked me out. Mostly, he kept his eyes closed but occasionally opened them. I caught him with eyes opened. Seemed annoyed.

Komodo Dragon

This one was just weird looking. I thought it looked prehistoric, so it was worth a photo.

Next up is the touch pool. You’re permitted to reach into the water (maybe 1-1/2 feet deep) and, using only your index finger, lightly stroke the rays or horseshoe crabs. These were clearly juveniles based on size.

This guy was gooey.

At this point, I realized I should be taking videos rather than taking pictures.

Why haven’t these turtles been eaten?

What the hell is the evolutionary basis for developing a saw-like appendage?

What the hell is the evolutionary basis for developing a hammer-like snout?

Tomorrow, the entire post will be dedicated to a single locale: The Millennium Fandom.

I love Vegas.

Follow me on Twitter @gsllc


Vegas, 2021, Part 1 of 3: The Luxor and the Strip #Vegas #travel

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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.

| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |

Luxor

I stayed at the Luxor, which has a pretty cool design. Here are a few views from the elevator lobby.

The view from my room wasn’t so great, but very few rooms get an unobstructed view of the strip. In all of my trips to Vegas, I’ve gotten that kind of a view only once. This time, however, I got a partially view of the T-Mobile Arena (I almost bought a ticket to the Monday night game between the Ravens and Raiders), as well as my former preferred spot, the Excalibur.

Don’t knock the Excalibur. I always get what I want there. Whenever I’m down, I walk away from the table, head over to Excalibur, and win it all back. I was up $1,000 this year but headed there anyway because I know I could do better. I started with $900 and played for 4-1/2 hours, bouncing between $650 and $910, never gaining ground. Then I went on a run of about 15 straight winning hands, jumping from ~$700 to $1,900 (as explained, I gradually increase my bet as I win, and with ~15 straight wins, my chips explode). Once I finally lost a hand, I walked away. The Excalibur is always awesome to me.

Back to Luxor, one thing bothered me. I stayed at the Luxor once before, but my room was on the first floor. This year, I was on 17, and, well, I’m not sure why more people haven’t fell to their deaths at the Luxor.

If you click through to You Tube, I cite a story about strange deaths at Luxor, but that includes things like a UNLV player dying after a fist fight. Few of the deaths that occur are from falling over these ledges. Considering how short they are, and how drunk may guests are, that’s surprising to me.

Bellagio

Tuesday night, I took a walk down the Strip, stopping at Bellagio for the fountain show. I’ve done that four times before, so it wasn’t a new experience, but it wasn’t as good this time.

I had to wait another 15 minutes for the next song. All Night Long by Lionel Richie was next up. I thought the choreography was a bit weak, but I’m a child of the late 70s and 80s, so I can live with that. The copyright holder is allowing the video to stay up, but there will be ads.

Why What Happens in Vegas Need Not Stay in Vegas

On the walk back to Luxor, I passed a few shops and knew I had to tweet about them.

Even the ATM is green.

Sorry, hippies, but this just ain’t my sort of thing.

On Wednesday, I visited Mandalay Bay‘s Shark Reef aquarium and virtual reality show. To keep these posts short, I’ll post those photos and videos in a separate post tomorrow.

I love Vegas.

Follow me on Twitter @gsllc


My Bucket List #music #travel

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With far more years behind me than I have ahead of me (absent a game-changing nanobot breakthrough), I’ve made a modest bucket list for myself. There isn’t much I want to do before I die, and I likely have plenty of time to do it. Unfortunately, the pandemic kept me from starting this year, but we’ll eventually get .

Experiencing My Heritage

Like most Americans, I’m a mutt. According to my family tree, my ancestors had five primary nationalities: Dutch, German, Irish, Italian, Scottish. I’m not one to believe in pride in your heritage. I shouldn’t get credit for any of the accomplishments of my ancestors, so in what exactly am I supposed to take pride? However, I know more about those cultures than I do any others, but have plenty more to learn. With no other reason to choose any other destination than another, I’m going with those five countries. Here’s my thinking.

The Netherlands: Amsterdam, because of course Amsterdam.

Germany: Dachau, because of its historical importance.

Ireland: Dublin, because my maternal grandmother’s mother was born there. This may require some more research to confirm.

Italy: Rome for the Corso family, and Sicily for the Matai family. This is my maternal grandfather’s portion of the family tree.

Scotland: Lochgilphead, because that’s where my father’s mother’s father was born. I’ve also been told of distillery tours where you can sample much of the scotch that country has to offer. Seems like my kind of trip. 

All of this is subject to change if 1) my research uncovers a specific reason to visit a specific site; 2) a DNA test uncovers a significant degree of influence from another nationality; and 3) any of you give me a good reason to choose a different location within these five countries. 

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Simply put, I’d like to attend an induction ceremony for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Most of my favorite bands have already been inducted, but I’m such a music nut that it’d be hard to choose a class that wouldn’t appeal to me in some way. In particular, I’d like to attend when Warren Zevon eventually gets inducted. Here’s a small example as to why.

The class of 2020 snubbed Pat Benatar, Dave Matthews Band, Soundgarden, Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy, and Motorhead, any of which I’d love to see get inducted.

That’s it. I’m not asking for much of myself. 

Follow me on Twitter @gsllc