Vegas, Baby!

Hey, look, a new post in this blog (couldn’t let a WHOLE year go by could I?) Just got back from my third trip this year to Las Vegas. Before you start thinking I’ve turned into a complete degenerate gambler these three trips were all for work and only one of these trips was on my dime, the other two were paid for by clients.

I had visions of cruising the Strip with Sammy, Dino and Frankie. The reality was a bit more eye opening.

The first trip in April was to attend NAB the National Association of Broadcasters annual convention and trade show. To say it was enormous would be insulting to enormous things everywhere. There was every conceivable toy and gadget for our profession. It was a true, geeks paradise. The audio hall alone took up one wing of the Las Vegas Convention Centre and had every mic, transmitter, accessory and mixer known to man. I was in gear overload and used that time to actually play with the toys I’d only ever heard about or seen on the web. It was great to actually talk with the manufacturers of equipment that you are about to make a purchasing decision on. Discussing pros and cons and future design ideas with the guys who actually make the stuff rather than dealers who have a vested interest in selling you the stuff, warts and all, was intellectually refreshing.

My second and third trips were for the TV show Guinea Pig, produced by Frantic Films out of Winnipeg. How shall I describe Guinea Pig? The host, Ryan Stock (a circus performer by profession) explores the extremes that a body can endure in the name of science. Let me tell you, this guy has put his body through a lot for this show. We were in Vegas standing in a parking lot for 10 hours in 91 degree heat while he attempted to set a World Record pulling a car with a sword down his throat (I won’t tell you if he does it or if he gets hurt, it’s up to you to watch the show) Some of the things he’s done in the past however are getting hit with a taser, 36 hours in the desert without food or water, immersing himself in an ice chest for extended periods of time, parachuting and the list goes on (the show is in it’s third season on Discovery) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztUhRpBAU3g&feature=related

My trips to Vegas aren’t done though. I am in the process of producing a ringette tournament there http://ringettedestination.com and so I’ll be back next April (making a fourth trip in just over a year) and I may have to go for a quick planning trip down there in March just to tie up some items. Perhaps I should just rent an apartment there…

As a quick vacation destination it can’t be beat. There are more shows and attractions per square mile than in Disneyworld (my personal favourite vacation spot). Las Vegas has slowly grown southward from the old downtown (Four Queens, Binions, Golden Nugget and others which is now commonly called the ‘Fremont Strip’ or the ‘Fremont Experience’ as it is now closed off to car traffic and completely covered by a large LED display that plays shows every half hour; to the area around the old Dunes and Frontier (now both gone) Circus, Riviera, Sands etc to further south and the major resorts now of Treasure Island, Wynns, Venetian, Mirage, New York, Paris, Mandalay Bay, Flamingo, Bellagio, Luxor and others. The strip is even beginning to spur off sideways at Flamingo Boulevard with the Rio and the Palms. For non-gamblers a walking tour of Vegas at night provides ample amusement.

The thing about Vegas though is that I can only seem to take it for about three or four days at a time before my mental circuit breakers trip over and I just gotta get out of there! Its not the gambling, I can handle that in moderation and never gamble beyond my means ($50 at the penny slots does me fine although I am learning the finer points of blackjack) but it goes beyond that. Vegas is a pretty woman that you don’t want to meet without her makeup on. In the daytime the city looks decidedly seedy. This is definitely a nighttime city. I definitely would not want to live there. The first time I went I stayed at the Imperial Palace and what a dump that was! If you do stay there and are offered an upgrade to a strip-view room do NOT take them up on it! You don’t see much and outside your window is a nightclub that blasts music until 4 am! I had to sleep with earplugs in. The next two times we stayed in Circus Circus. People had warned me about this hotel as well (the word ‘dump’ being thrown around again) but I found it quite pleasant, although a bit off the ‘Strip’

One of the best stories of Vegas for me is what my friends started calling the $20 story. I got grifted. I was playing the penny slots waiting for my friends to show up when this disheveled guy reels up to me and sits down. He starts in on how he was at the tables and won big but was so drunk he just had to get out of there and go home. Unfortunately he didn’t have cash for a cab. He handed me a $100 chip and asked if I’d trade it for $20 for a cab (telling it here doesn’t do this guy’s act any justice, I’d award an Oscar to him any day, he was convincing in his ‘too drunk to know what I’m doing’ act.) Ironically, I fell for it and bought his magic beans for $20, discovering later on that the chip was a worthless souvenir sold in the shops of Vegas for $1 or $2. Far from being all that upset about it though I just chalked it up to the old maxim of “When a man with experience meets a man with money the man with experience will get the money and the man with money will get the experience.” I still have that chip and kept it in my pocket the rest of the trip. I’d touch it every time I made a bet as if to say, “Make sure you’re not being foolish.” I may have it made into a necklace or something. Someone once said, “When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.”

Loud and clear.