Trip to Las Vegas and Other Things

This is Eli--since I haven't posted in a while (long enough for Sheena to call me a "guest blogger" in her last post, ouch) I thought I would clear that up first.

vh-1 is now showing the 100 greatest songs of the 80s, which is awesome. It has graphics from the original Pole Position game for Nintendo in the intro. It's on #64 right now (Paula Abdul, Straight Up) and favorites so far include Gary Numan's "Cars", Lionel Richie's "All Night Long", The Pretenders "Brass in Pocket" and Chaka Khan's "Ain't Nobody." You can also watch videos on the site (you have to watch the "Whip It" video at #63). Also, apparently Thomas Dolby ("she blinded me with science") later went on to start a company in silicon valley called Beatnik, which is involved with wireless music licensing or something like that. Maybe he lives in Cupertino and shops at 99 ranch (he has a crush on an asian girl in the music video, so not unlikely).

Highlights from our trip to Las Vegas this weekend:

1) Sheena parlayed a $5 investment in nickel slots into a profit of $14.20, all within 90 seconds. This equates to an annualized net profit of eleventy billion dollars. Sadly, this profit was lost in five minutes while waiting for a restaurant to open for lunch in Mandalay Bay.

2) Cirque de Soleil's "O", the water-themed acrobatic extravaganza, which we saw at the Bellagio. We sat in the "limited view" seats way off to the right, and although we didn't get sprayed with water, we did have trouble focusing on the real center of the action because it was easy to be distracted by people on the side doing things that were mostly ornamental.

3) The Sterling Brunch at Bally's on Sunday was really great. They had an endless pile of lobster claws that were precracked so you could just pull out the meat, and they also had an omelette station where they added Hennessey to the pan and set it on fire for good measure.

4) Since it was halloween we saw some people with costumes on the strip. The most creative was a group of girls dressed with headlamps and skimpy outfits, all spraypainted in gold (they were golddiggers!).

5) The Wynn, the strip's newest hotel/casino which opened up earlier this year apparently, was amazing. It was the only place in Vegas that made me feel like I was actually in Ocean's Eleven, and not at a cruise ship buffet.

6) This isn't a highlight, but a complaint. Sheena didn't want to take any pictures in Vegas--not one. I would have put some up, but because she didn't want to seem like a tourist (where else is it more acceptable to seem like a tourist? do you really want to seem like a local in Vegas?), I have none. Sorry. Instead I will give you this horrible, impersonal link.