Thursday, May 28, 2009

Oh, Craps!

I read this story today, and I really love it. A New Jersey grandma who had only played craps once before in her life kept a game going for over 4 hours in an Atlantic City casino. If I last for more than 4 minutes at a craps table, I'm happy. Kudos to her!

I do have a funny craps story to tell. About a year ago, I was in Vegas with my lovely wife, Martha, and my best buddy, Steve. Martha had stayed away from table games for various reasons, but she wanted to hang out with "the boys" and was tired of sitting at Wheel of Fortune (although she was winning a little bit of money - she's very lucky!). So I convinced her to take a larger chuck of cash and to plop it down at the craps table.

She was hesitant, but she finally agreed. She stood between me and Steve, and when the dice started flying, she just kept asking, "what do I do now?" and I would instruct. We made really simple bets - pass line and odds - but it's hard to block out everyone else yelling "four the hard way!" and "place the six" and so on. The table was fun, fast, and furious. A few people hit their numbers, and when they did, Steve and I would high-five over Martha, who hadn't realized that she just won some dough.

This went on for about 20 minutes, and we decided to call it quits when we were ahead. The result? Martha made about $70 and bought a comfy pair of shoes at Caesars Forum Shops later that day. When she wears them and someone comments on them, I tell the story.

I hope I have some more stories to tell in August, the next time I... Go to Vegas. It's that simple.

Viva,
Mike

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Vegas News and Notes

Hi Vegas Fans,

Here's some scoop on Sin City:
The Lion King debuted at Mandalay Bay this week. This is the Broadway-based show, which is based on the animated movie. It has lots of creative costumeness, singing, dancing and the like. It's received good reviews thus far. If you want to see this show, be prepared to sit for a while. For 2 1/2 hours, that is. Ticket prices do seem pretty reasonable, starting at $53 and going up to $168.50 (tax and fees included).

I'm think for my next trip to Vegas, I might see Blue Man Group at Venetian. Something about blue guys banging on percussion instruments sounds like fun to me. I've never seen them before, and my friends have suggested that it might be something they like, too.

In other news this week, Cher turned 63. 63? Yup, 63. She doesn't seem that old to me. She looks great for 63. Heck, she'd look great for 33. Kudos to you, Cher, and I hope your stint at Caesars is a long and healthy one.

Website redesign in the works:
Yes, I know I've said this before, but I'm looking at the website and figuring out how to update the styling and some other things. It's really challenging because I have a lot of code already jumbled up in the site (javascript is especially challenging to get right), so I don't want to break anything.

At the same time, I need to un-complicate it and make it much cleaner. This is not my favorite thing to do, but I figure if I build it once and keep it clean, it'll be much easier to manage going forward. And when I want to add tabs and update stuff, it won't be a hair-pulling event. Of course, this site is for your enjoyment. If you have any suggestions, please pass them along!

And remember, after you're done reviewing the site.... Go to Vegas. It's that simple.

Viva,
Mike

Friday, May 15, 2009

News n' Notes

Hi Vegas Fans,

A few quick notes...

Show updates:
Dirk Arthur's Xtreme Magic show at Tropicana is undergoing time changes, due to the closure of Folies Bergere. Check out his new schedule.


Lance Burton is pulling a disappearing act.... for May, at least. His shows have been rescheduled for June, but I don't know what's up with the May shows being cancelled.

Other Stuff:
I was really pleased with the Las Vegas Advisor Question of the Day on May 11th. It was really fun to write about daredevils in Vegas. Here's the post in case you missed it on the LVA on Monday:

In a city where you can carry your booze on the streets, where poll dancing is the norm, and where high rollers flash more cash than many of us make in a year, daredevils have to go the extra mile to stand out. Here’s a recap of some of the most memorable moments:

Probably the most famous stunt performed in Las Vegas was Evel Knievel’s attempt to jump 150 feet over the fountains at Caesars Palace on December 31, 1967. He cleared the fountains but fell a little shy of the target on the ramp. His head-over-handlebars crash was captured by his then wife, Linda, who was filming the event. The accident didn’t kill Evel, but he sustained numerous injuries and was in a coma for a month. Did it stop him from ever jumping over stuff in a motorcycle again? Nah. It actually propelled him to fame, and he continued to jump into the early 1980s. He passed away in 2007 but will forever be remembered his one and only attempt at Caesars Palace.

September 15, 1980: Different daredevil, same jump, similar results. Gary Wells tried his luck at Caesars, but missed the landing ramp completely and crashed into concrete wall. He broke his back, both legs and suffered a ruptured aorta. Ouch. But he, too, survived, and was back on his bike in (can you believe this?) five months! He never attempted Caesars Palace again, though, and these days he guides off-road riders through tours of Sonora, Mexico.

Hoping to avenge his father’s ill-fated crash, 22-year old “Kaptain” Robbie Knievel revved up his bike on April 14, 1989 to attempt the Caesars Palace jump. The third time proved to be the charm for the first successful motorcycle jump over the fountains at Caesars. Robbie benefitted from a lighter bike, but it wasn’t just technology that helped him. The elder Knievel said that his son was a much better rider than he ever was. Robbie continues to jump today (see the Mirage Volcano jump below), but not over those fountains!

Irro Seppanen proved the sky’s the limit when he and two friends base-jumped from the Stratosphere. They hid their parachutes from security inside large stuffed animals sans the filling. After a trip to the restroom, they quickly emerged from with their chutes on their backs, hopped over the fences, and jumped in broad daylight off the tower. All three landed successfully in a nearby parking lot and hurried into getaway cars. I don’t know if they asked for ½ their ticket price back for only using the elevator once.

Robbie Knievel just couldn’t stay away from Las Vegas. So he agreed to jump the Mirage Volcano on New Year’s Eve, 2008. Well, sort of. You see, Fox promoted it that way, but there was some disagreement over moving some trees in the parking lot, and when the casino wouldn’t do it, Robbie couldn’t jump over the volcano. So he did the next best thing. He jumped next to it!

Robbie Knievel’s New Year’s Eve jump was pretty spectacular but may have been trumped by an Australian with the same name. Robbie Maddison’s stunt was unlike any other in Las Vegas. He didn’t jump over anything… he jumped on top of something. The Arc de Triomphe at Paris, to be precise. That’s right, Robbie jumped 120 feet in the air and landed on a very small patch of the Parisian replica. And, according to him, that was the easy part! The rest of the stunt involved physics; what goes up must come down. Robbie hit the landing ramp successfully but hard and tore his hand (not badly). This was exactly one year after Robbie broke the Guinness World Record when he completed a 322 foot jump at the Rio.

You’ll flip over these two stunts. On New Year’s Eve 2008 (what is it about New Year’s?) Rhys Millen, a New Zealander, performed an off-road truck back flip at the Rio. The landing wasn’t perfect and he rolled his truck, but fortunately he was uninjured. The other stunt was performed by Mike Metzger, who completed a world record 125-foot backflip over (you guessed it!) the Casears Palace fountains on May 4, 2006.

And finally, Steve Wynn, no stranger to danger, sat on the corner of his newest resort (Encore) 675 feet above ground and dangled his feet over the edge for the filming of a promotional video. A helicopter flew to the top of the building to film the shot. All that and not a hair out of place. It’s no wonder he’s so successful in the casino business… talk about taking a risk!
Happy landing!


Viva,
Mike

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

The Lighter Side of Vegas

Hi all,

There's been a lot of seriousness in the news lately, and I would like to take a break from all that. After all, Vegas is really about having fun. Here are two items that I thought you might enjoy this week:

My friend John Wilson (http://www.whereisjohnwilson.com/) sent me this tidbit, which pokes fun at VP Biden's recent comments about crowded places. If you're in Vegas, more than likely you're dealing with crowds.

So it was a good idea for the ad campaign, which will alleviate some concerns and have fun at the same time. Vegas advertisers are really top-notch in my opinion, and the whole www.visitlasvegas.com site is highly entertaining (check out their interactive maps of the city - bar none the coolest web maps I've ever seen!)

The other item is brought to you by the Las Vegas Advisor. They currently have a poll for the worst hotel/casino website. Not to influence your vote, but I picked www.Nightlifestation.com.

Now, I've been trying to be a more positive person. You know, "live and let live," and "if you can't say anything nice about anyone, don't say nothin' at all," that type of stuff. And in general I feel like I've been doing a good job of that. Basically, I don't like to bring no hate on nobody.

Now, all that being said, this Nightlifestation site sure confuses me. Oh boy is this goofy. What exactly is this? Why is there a "person" with a boom box for a head? Why do the ladies seem to love him so much? I know I'm getting old, and I'm not as cool as I used to be, but then again I don't think there is an age gap with this site. If someone can explain it to me....

Maybe I can report back on this hotel/casino the next time I... Go to Vegas. It's that simple.

Viva,
Mike

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Dany Gans' Death

It's still a mystery, and it may take several weeks for the coroner to find the cause of Danny Gans' death. His death is still shocking to me and to those who loved his show and admired the kind of person he was. He was only 52, which is much too young. He lived a healthy lifestyle and stayed away from sin in Sin City.

I never saw his show, but I know this. Danny worked hard, he loved his wife and children, and he loved Las Vegas. My heart goes out to his family and friends.

Take a look at the comments on the Las Vegas Sun article about him. I think they say it all...

Viva,
Mike

Friday, May 1, 2009

Danny Gans dies

Hi all,

Just heard some shocking news: impressionist Danny Gans, who was headlining at Steve Wynn's Encore, has passed away. He was 52 and is survived by his wife, Julie, and 3 children. There's not a lot of details about this story yet.

Many loved his show, and although not everyone was a fan and some thought ticket prices were a too high, there was no doubt that Danny loved entertaining in Las Vegas. He had become as much of an icon of Las Vegas as anyone. For many years, his image was pictured on the huge marque outside of the Mirage, where he was the headliner. He moved to Encore a few months ago after the new hotel/casino opened.

More later as this develops...

Mike