Questions answered

LJ wondered: "Did you notice if there were fewer tourists there? A few of my coworkers who have went to LV & love it have wondered if the economy is affecting LV yet."

Whew boy, you'd better believe it, Lisa. Things still seemed to be hopping by our standards, but everyone from our cab driver to several of the dealers told us that 2008 was a bad year for Vegas. We noticed a lot of empty tables, but then we were there during the week. When we checked in, they asked us if we wanted to upgrade to a suite; Marty writes that they tried to get him to stay another night at the Bellagio. We had heard that some of the construction was being suspended, and I just read yesterday that the big new CityCenter complex (it's huge!) is slowing down construction. The Harmon hotel (part of that complex) is halting construction for a few months, and I believe it was the condo portion that they have completely halted, and will give the money back to those investors.

So by all accounts, Vegas is hurting. Casinos and hotels are offering deep discounts on their room rates, and show tickets are easier to get at a discount. Perhaps it will put a halt to the almost out-of-control building that went on for the past few years. Caesar's Palace, of all places, was putting up another building. If you've ever seen Caesar's--or been caught in the seemingly endless twists and turns of the place--you'll know that it's this huge network of buildings and underground shops. I'm not even sure how many buildings there are in Caesar's, but it seems like a couple of dozen! (I'm exaggerating. Probably no more than half a dozen.)

I just saw an ad online for cruises, and I told Ken that if we had the money for another cruise right now, it would be a great time to get a deal. Ken said he has a feeling it will be that way for a while, and I suspect he's right. Tourism would be a tough trade to be in right now. Did you hear that several Broadway shows are closing early? I think I heard "Hairspray" and "Jersey Boys" are going dark a few months before scheduled. So yeah, it's a tough time, and I think destinations like Vegas will be hurting for a while.

Question Two: I mentioned that the Golden Gate had the first phone number issued in Las Vegas, and said that anyone who guessed it would get a gold star for the day. I suppose I need to up the ante, so to speak, because only one person, Laurel, hazarded a guess. She guessed "7," and that's a pretty good guess. She realizes that this was long before the seven digit phone number, or area codes. Remember when phone numbers consisted of a word and a few numbers? For instance, if you were told to dial "CIrcle-842", you'd dial the corresponding digits to C and I, then 842. Maybe the most famous example of this was Junior Samples on "Hee Haw" and his phone number "BR-549," which I believe later was used as the name of a country group.

But I digress. The Golden Gate's phone number (and this was before it was called the Golden Gate--I think at the time it was the Hotel Nevada, or something like that) was even simpler than that. Their phone number was "1." That's it. If I were a marketer back then, I would say that a good slogan would have been "Dial 1--for fun!"

I'm Vegased out, Baby!

We're back, and still on Vegas time, so we're working on getting tired enough to go to bed! It's after 4 AM here, but in Vegas, it would still be early, with a few hours before Snoozeville! We'll get back into the swing of things soon enough.

Sheeba was very happy to see us (although his Uncle Shane always takes excellent care of him), and seemed happy with his Vegas bling! We all got tons of coupons, and one of them was for a free medallion at Caesar's Palace, so all four of us got one! It's fairly hefty, and on a gold chain, and after Sheeba modeled for a while, we hung ours on the ceiling fan, along with our New Orleans beads. They look pretty cool hanging up there...we cracked up over the medallions, and I think Ken and Steve need to wear them with their silk shirts with the big collars, opened halfway...isn't that how you're supposed to wear a big honkin' gold medallion?!

I have lots to write about, and plenty of pictures to edit, so I'll split it all up into a few entries. For this entry, the topic is "Love." Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves.

I mentioned in my entry from Vegas about how remarkable the show was. I don't know if I can put it into words, but I'll try. The Beatles and their music is obviously legendary, and although they had already split up before I got really into music, I had always had an interest in them and other 60's bands because of my big sister, Diana. She was a Beatlemaniac--still is, actually--and I remember she had all the 45's of their singles, as well as all their albums. When I was maybe 6 years old, she taught me how to do the Monkey to Beatles songs. Ha ha! So I've listened to British Invasion music since I was a little girl.

There is something special about Beatles music that you tend to forget if you don't hear it for a while. How many times have you heard the songs? Hearing them in this venue brought a whole new dimension to the music (and I believe the songs were remastered for this show). The complexity and variety of the music is amazing, whether it's something as lovely as "Here Comes the Sun" or a flat-out rocker like "Revolution." This Cirque show was all about the music. The performers were amazing, but they complemented the music rather than overshadowing it. The previous Cirque shows that we've seen have been heavy on amazing feats of gymnastics and strength. Those were present in this show as well, but I thought they did a great job in letting the music be the star of the show.

The sound system was incredible, and it was so cool to be in the front row, because we were basically at stage level. I'm including a few videos that I found on the Net (I didn't take any of these), with some of the really cool parts. "Octopus's Garden" has never been one of my favorite songs of theirs, but I loved the choreography and costumes in that one! Very creative and fun. The video with the white parachute cloth was neat to see from above, because at the show...we were under it! It billowed out over the lower level, and we all raised our arms to keep it afloat and hovering over the audience. It was fun! Videos follow at the end of the entry.

I think that's part of why I loved this show. It was just so damn much fun. The music, the groovy 60's garb, the close-to-overload visual stimuli, being able to sing along with some of the songs...it was wonderful, and I'm so glad we went and sprang for the extra $$$ for the front row! (Although it looked like a fairly small theater, and I bet there isn't a bad seat in the house.)

Ken and I got drinks to take into the show: he got A Hard Day's Night and I got a Can't Buy Me Love! Ha ha! Basically a punch-type drink made with vodka, but his had a shot of Cointreau in it, too. Very tasty to sip on during the show, and who knows? Maybe they made the pretty colors a little brighter!

Miss Ginger, we didn't stop in Revolution that evening, but we went back Wednesday night and had a drink there. I had told you that I'm not really a martini gal, but I figured what the hell? I'm a trooper, and I was willing to take a bullet for Miss G! Well, turns out that their special that night was a Blueberry Martini, and I was all over that! It was fairly sweet, and went down as easy as a Vegas Strip workin' girl! Ken had a Lemon Drop, and Kim had one that was just Sapphire gin and olives. We all tried each other's, and I have to say that I like martinis! Although I was calling them martoonis (that seemed appropriate, considering it was the Revolution Bar), which I think I must have gotten from some movie. I don't know, but it was fun to say!

Coming tomorrow later today: Meeting Marty! Stay tuned!