I named this blog after the Jimmy Eat World song not only because it's Vegas-related, but because I listened to them on the entire drive to Nevada and it's embedded in my head.But to the point: we're back! And I lost money!
Here's how it went down...
We left at around noon and got there in about three hours. We checked into the Excalibur hotel and then met up with Agent J and his folks to watch the Cirque du Soleil show LOVE.
Impressions of the show: It started out spectacular-like. Really in your face, curtains dropped, and people literally flying in every-which-way. It was amazing. But the funny thing is, the show, to me, doesn't live up to Cirque. Now I don't consider myself a Cirque du Soleil expert. I'll leave that role to Erico Suave and MacArthur. But the problem I had with this show is that there was just way too much dancing and not enough Cirque acts. There were big sequences where an acrobatic act was happening, but it was either drowned out by so much dancing around (you had no idea where to look) or it was such a miniscule acro-stunt that it barely registered as an act. Was it just part of the choreography?
And then most of the acts consisted of girls climbing ropes, wrapping themselves, and then dropping. There's only so much of that I can take before I start to fall asleep, which was very well the case. However, the music was perfect and the visuals are outstanding. The use of lighting and projections is phenomenal.
The next day, we went to dinner with the co-workers for the ex-Big Boss's 4th retirement celebration. We just can't let go, it seems. We had the buffet at the Bellagio and I ate entirely too much food. It wasn't even that great of food either. There was some interesting white-people's take on Sweet and Sour Soup and some dry ass sushi. But what made up for it were the two plates of desserts I had; the best strawberry tart in the world and some other stuff.
After the dinner, a bunch of us went to the new Palazzo to our very own reserved Craps table and played. And boy did we play the casino! Tim and I hit pretty awesome hot streaks on the dice and made a nice chunk of change. By the end of the night, my pockets were full of $5 chips. Added all up though, it only came out to around $150. I would have had more too, but I have this problem of not knowing when to walk away. But this was the most fun I've ever had gambling.I also played some Pai Gow Poker, which pretty much sucked. The asshole next to me was uber-rich and decided to play as dealer. He got a straight as his best hand and a pair of 8's as his second best and won everyone's money. I walked away after that crap. I played some Roulette, but wasn't nearly as lucky as the last time I played. Video poker was good to me this time. And I still have no idea how I lost $15 of a $20 bill from one spin of a slot machine.
After the exhilarating Craps game, I was done gambling. The next day, we stayed at the Rio and ate some amazing barbecue from a new place called RUB BBQ. Then Timotei and I went to see Penn & Teller. They are hilarious and pretty cool. They sometimes show you how they do tricks, but even when they show you, it's amazing how carefully choreographed the tricks are. The best thing though is that they met with the audience after the show for autographs and pictures. Penn is a freakin' monster!
There you have it! There are already plans in place to make this co-worker Vegas trip an annual thing. I'd love to go back with them soon.
Money mooching,
Ricky
