Who knew old home movies could be so cool

Getting ready for a trip to Vegas, and on a Message board I frequent these videos were posted. They're of the strip circa 1987 and 1993...

In this second video, take particular note of the Stardust. That it ended up being imploded and not kept around is a shame.

This video is great for the look at the current MGM Grand's initial interior

It's all in how you present it

Robin Leach talked about Gordon Ramsay and his new Las Vegas restaurant and Hell's Kitchen when he wrote this:

Hell’s Kitchen is now the longest-running, non-celebrity contestant, reality TV challenge program, surpassing Donald Trump’s The Apprentice.

My first reaction was to try to come up with a snarky comment about Survivor not counting because it wasn't filmed in the US, and American Idol not counting because too many people watch it. But then I started to think to try to understand exactly what he was saying. So, I went to Wikipedia to see if they had a reference for that "non-celebrity contestant, reality TV challenge program" line It has this to say:

Hell's Kitchen has surpassed The Apprentice (hosted by Donald Trump) in number of non-celebrity-contestant seasons

So, I have no clue as to what a "non-celebrity contestant, reality TV challenge program" is. If I had to guess, it's a show where the winner is determined by some sort of judging and not by any sort of calculated measurement.

The true question now is where did Leach get this line? Did somebody read what Wikipedia said and then give it a bit of a flourish? did a PR flack give him that line to add into his column? Or was it a simple misinterpretation?

No matter what the reason is, that line is one hell of a thin slice to make in order to puff up somebody whose ego doesn't need any more inflating. But that is Robin Leach's style - gush about his subjects and write puff pieces. He doesn't need to question something so specific sounding. Why would somebody lie about something as specific as "non-celebrity contestant, reality TV challenge program." What would be the benefit of being the longest lasting of such a niche group?

I don't think there's a benefit to being the longest running anything of a limited subsection of television; it's clear that others believe that being number one in something has to be a positive.

Rethinking Tropicana's layout

I am a bit surprised to hear that Bacio at Tropicana has cut their hours. As I said in my review of the restaurant, I think it's a solid restaurant (though I'd stay away from the Gnocchi.) So for it to cut its hours is a bit surprising, and an indication that something isn't working. So the puzzle for the Trop to solve is why this restaurant isn't working. I can think of two reasons:

1. Pricing My Gnocchi cost $24. Ignoring my feelings on the quality of the Gnocchi, it's not a difficult pasta to make. And considering the sauce was a simple meat sauce, I'm not sure what gave it the $24 price point. That's not all though - get Veal Parmesan, and it will cost you $42! If they set the price point about $5 lower, people would be much more likely to eat there.

2. Location First, a story. Last year during my Memorial Day trip to Vegas, there was a pool party held at the Tropicana pool. It went well, but one consisten complaint was that it was difficult to find the pool, with the signage being rather confusing. The signage for the pool has been fixed, but it remains for Bacio. To get to Bacio, you have to go through the casino floor, take an escalator to the second floor, walk around a promenade and the go down a hall until you reach Bacio. When you enter, there is no signage to indicate where to go for Bacio, so unless you head towards the general area of Bacio, you wouldn't know where it is.

What's a bigger issue is that these issues aren't just Bacio issues, but they are common to all of the restaurants in the Tropicana. Indeed, if you enter the Tropicana through the main entrance, the only food option within any sort of sight line is the sundry store. The restaurants aren't even readily visible as you move around in the casino, or when you head down the path to lead you there. Instead they are buried behind multiple turns and are very close to "out of sight, out of mind."

You want to go to Biscayne? It's right across from Bacio. It's also more expensive than Bacio - the prices are closer to Carnevino. It's one thing for Carnevino to charge these prices - they have the star chef, along with a reputation for being a top steakhouse. Biscayne has neither of these. And implicitly, both Bacio and Biscayne acknowledge this by offering a prix fix menu at a great discount. Bacio gives an app, main course, dessert, glass of house wine and coffee or tea for $33.99 when it would normally cost $45+ for all of this. Biscayne has a $39.99 4 course meal which also includes a wine pairing. By putting these menus out there, they send a message that the prices on he actual menu might be exaggerated a bit.

Cafe Nikki also suffers from a similiar price issue - the cheapest entree it has is $24. It does have sandwiches and burgers available, but those are in the $15-$18 range. Want something decent for breakfast? Too bad for you. Cafe Nikki only servesa breakfast buffet now. Even the pizza place in the food court is somewhat pricey - a $6 single burger seems like the best deal there.

All of this works against Tropicana. While thir rooms are refreshed and great (review still to come, honestly!), the lack of clearly visible restaurant options which are reasonably costed are sorely lacking. It's more than enough to drive somebody to MGM Grand and one of their multitude of options, or to New York New York and their All You Can Eat Pancake deal. If Tropicana doesn't come up with a creative way to drive foot traffic to their restaurants, they will find their other restaurants going dark for a couple of nights a week.

JayRo in Vegas - Day 4

Love - still good

Yesterday I went and saw Love for the second time. It was just as fantastic as the first time. It helped to have a bit of an understanding of what they were trying to tell us, but even without that, it is fantastic to watch. I went in a group of eleven, and everyone was impressed and loved it. I think I liked it more than Absinthe, but I'm not entirely sure. I'll have to think about it some more.

JayRo in Vegas - Day 3

My new home base

Yesterday I moved to Mandalay Bay after spending two nights in the Tropicana. The Trop was a fantastic place to stay (with review still to come), but I kinda feel like I'm home now.

Just yesterday, I was thinking about the places I have stayed the most. If I'm counting right, I have stayed at Excalibur the most, with Mandalay Bay the next in line. The next time I stay at Mandalay Bay, it will tie Excalibur. But I haven't stayed at Excalibur for 4 years, while my stays at Mandalay Bay have been more recent. I don't know why, but it just feels more comfortable now. Maybe I'm just used to it, and know what I'm going to get - a standard room which is nice and comfortable, and slightly luxurious as well.

I will definitely stay at Tropicana again, but I will always start with Mandalay Bay when considering a place to stay.

A brief review of Absinthe

This is the best show I have seen in a long time. It's an acrobat/circus based show with a lot of humour built in. It should be noted that the show is definitely adult, with both female nudity and rather raunchy humour being told. So be prepared to offended. At the same time, the acrobatics being displayed are incredible, and are emphasized by the size of the "tent" - at worst you are about 25 feet away from the action, which is about an 8 foot diameter circular stage. I can not recommend this show strongly enough.

JayRo in Vegas: Day 2

Quick thoughts about the Cosmopolitan

I went to the Cosmopolitan for the first time yesterday, and gave it a once over. Some thoughts about it:

• The first view I saw was this:
  
  
  I have to admit it that is a great first impression.


• Next order of business was to sign up for my new Identity rewards card. The clerk was extremely nice and knew some things about Ontario which I did not know.
  
  One thing I didn't like about the process was that the clerk had to enter your secret pin number, as opposed to having a number pad where you could enter the information yourself. Granted, it was only a pin number, but how many people would use the same pin number for that and, say, their debit card?


• Once I got my card, I parked myself at a $0.25 Video poker machine and played my free play through, along with another $40. This lasted me about 45 minutes, during which I was never offered cocktail service. There was at least two cocktail waitresses walking by, but neither seemed to have my section. When I subsequently moved to another machine, all was good in the world and I got my drink.


• The atmosphere during the day was a bit non-existant. No real energy or excitement on the casino floor. So I came back at night. The first thing I did was head to the secret pizza shop and had a decent slice of pepperoni for $3.75. The pizza joint is a cool idea, and is sorely needed for a place to get a quick snack.


• I walked the casino floor after and as I figured, it was like night and day (no pun intended). The table games were relatively active, but the bars had the most action in them. One thing I did notice about the table games were that the minimums were pretty high. I saw as many $50+ tables as $25 tables, and a sparse amount of $15 tables. There was a $10 Casino War table, but otherwise you needed to be betting a quarter to be playing at those tables. I can't say as that was good for my plans to play a couple of hands of blackjack to acquire some chips, but if it works for them, so be it.


• One other thing I found interesting was the attire of the people who were there at night. A lot of suits and cocktail dresses - not what I would expect from the "curious class", but closer to the convention types that you would expect.


• Random final note: I had my first celebrity sighting of the trip - Brad Garrett was at the Cosmopolitan with a woman who I presume was his girlfriend. (I didn't ask.)

I'll probably visit Cosmopolitan again, and there is a chance that I will stay there for a few nights the next time I am in town. While the table limits at night are a non-starter, the hotel still has amazing views in it's rooms, and some interesting restaurants as well. I can always gamble at another casino.

JayRo in Vegas - Day 1

As I've mentioned once or twice, I'm in Vegas this week. I'm hoping to put up a post a day about my various adventures and tribulations along the way. So, let's get this started...

Eating at Bacio

For the first couple of nights, I'm staying at the newly renovated Tropicana. A room review will show up, but I will say that the renovations look fantastic. I love the room and the look of the casino.

With all this said, I also wanted to make sure I ate at some of the restaurants being offered here. I was torn between Bacio and Biscayne (which are convienently located right across from one another). As it turns out, a passerby would end up making the decision for me by handing me an unused $27 comp for Bacio. To that person, I thank you again for your generousity.

I was seated by the hostess (who is sure to be featured on Eating LV's Hot Hostess Watch), and once seated was asked by Glenn if I would like water and what kind. Being a simple person, I asked for regular/tap water, and it was brought without problem. Then my main server Manny appeared, asking me if I had any questions about the menu or wine list, and making recommendations of his choices from both. For the small berth in the actual Bacio restaurant, there were 3 teams of two servers, a main who handled orders and delivery of the meals/alcoholic drinks, and a secondary (junior? What's the correct term here?) who served the non-alcoholic drinks, bread and did some cleaning of the tables as well.

I ordered a Chianti (which Manny said was the house Chianti), and received my bread basket.


I'm going to be honest and say I don't remember what the breads were. There was a foccacia, some sort of olive bread, a cheese something (the thin large wafer). An olive oil/balsalmic vinegar combination was served along side for dipping. The breads were fine, and the oil/vinegar combination complimented the breads nicely.

Manny came back and I made my order:


I started with the Vongole Oreganate, which are described as "Broiled Bread Mixture Stuffed Littleneck Clams". This was on the recommendation by my mysterious benefactor, the hostess and Manny. These were pretty good, and surprisingly light considering that the bulk of the food is just bread mixture. The one downside of this dish was that the clams played second fiddle to the breading. The breading was quite tasty and definitely carried the dish. The broth was lemony; if you put some on top of the clams it would have added another dimension.

For my main course, I selected the Gnocchi al Ragu, which is a "Potato Gnocchi in Slow Cooked Ground Beef, Veal, Pork and Tomato Sauce".


This was a disappointment. The problem was the Gnocchi. The gnocchi stuck to me, but to my teeth instead of to my stomach. This ended making the gnocchi feel more heavy than it should have. The sauce was good, not good enough to elevate the dish, but it was good enough.

In all, I think I would come back. I'm willing to give the gnocchi a pass and try something else (I am eyeing up the Pollo Scarpariello), as the service was a strength and the ambience was suprisingly nice.

The bill came to $46

I hate having to do the right thing

I played a lot of video poker yesterday, and came across this dealt hand:

What an unfair choice - take the guaranteed $6.25, take the the 1 in 47 shot at the $1000 Royal Flush, or the 2 in 47 shot at the $62.50 Straight Flush.

The Jacks or Better book says you have to keep the 4 to the Royal Flush instead of the open ended straight flush draw or even the flush. So that's what I did, to this result:


Ah well, maybe next time it will actually hit.

Monday Musings - July 5, 2010

• The rumour of Pacquiao/Mayweather happening at the Thomas and Mack arena is mindboggling if true. You would think that they wouldn't want what might be the major Vegas sporting event of the year somwhere which is awkward to get to from where 90% of the hotel rooms are. But hey, I'm not a genius, like Steve Wynn.


• Puck Daddy has the breakdown of when Jonatha Toews met Snooki


• I'm not sure what Chris Selley's point is with contrast and compare. The situations are nowhere close to similiar.


• Trolls on the internet: Read this and learn lessons from a master.


• And finally, I prove my immaturity by giving you this video:
  

May is UFC Month

I mentioned yesterday that I had two trips coming up which might affect my ability to followup with the "Manic May" plans. Both are essentially for the same reason, though they have different circumstances around them.

Next Friday, I climb onto the Via Rail train once again and travel to lovely Montreal. I'll be enjoying spring there, but my main reason for going is to watch UFC 113 - Machida vs. Rua. I hadn't really expected to be going, but the timing and main event was enough to bring me to Montreal. As well, I get the opportunity to see Kimbo Slice in his first UFC PPV match (because that's a reason to see him live...)

While I'm looking foward to seeing the show, I'm also looking forward to just being in Montreal during spring. My last two trips have been in not so lovely November, so it will be nice to walk around Montreal and not worry aout losing any extremities to coldness. As well, the patios should be open for some fun lounging/people watching. I'm really looking forward to this.

Then, at the end of May, I will be in Las Vegas for UFC 114 - Rashad vs. Rampage. It's a fantastic main event, with an intriguing semi-main (Forrest Griffin vs. Little Nog). That's not the only reason why - that weekend is the weekend for the annual F4W~! Convention. I'll be able to catch up with a lot of friends that I haven't seen since last year, as well as catch up with a city that I haven't seen in 8 months. I'm really looking forward to visiting CityCenter for the first time and making my own judgements on the properties. I'm also really looking forward to meeting up my friends from F4W for the conversation, meals and debauchery.

All in all, a busy month of travel and other stuff. Another reason tht the Manic May tag is oh so appropriate.

A new career launched

The lead singer of the Spin Doctors provides his reviews of the Stratosphere, Tournament of Kings, penny machines at Excalibur, Jersey Boys and other Vegas attractions.

(On that note, I'll be going to Vegas tomorrow for a week. So updates might be sporadic.)

Random Stories from Vegas: Jason vs. 100 or Nothing

On Monday night (the night before I was to leave), I was walking through the New York New York casino. My goal was to buy some rolls of quarters (for reasons to be explained at a later time). As I was walking to the cage, I came across it.

Mike and I had discussed it before. This was the only slot that Mike would play. Rumor had it that this was a positive EV game, which would make sense only if the expectation is that people would put in a $20 and then lose it. Nonetheless, I decided to play it in honour of Mike. I put in a $100 bill with the intention of playing it until I had won $100, or my $100 was gone.

And so it began. $1, no 7s.
$5, no 7s.
$10, 1 seven had appeared.
$20, I had got a couple of 7-blank-7's, but that's all.
$40, the tease came a couple of times with 7-7-blank.
Finally, after $43, it happened.

No sirens going off, just the digitized "bing bing" of the machine adding 100 credits to my total.

I sat there for a minute, absorbing what had happened. I'm not exactly sure why. It was only a $57 win; I had won more in one shot before. Heck, I had won more in one shot on this trip. But for some reason this win felt bigger. Maybe it was because I was willing to risk $100 to win $100. Maybe it's because it felt like my luck had once again swung to the good side of the ledger. I'm not sure. But for some reason this win had affected me more than any other.

I soon snapped out of it, and walked to the taxi stand to go back to the Venetian, happier than before. The Vegas feeling had come back, and just in time for me to enjoy my last night there.

La Plus Ca Change

As you might have figured out, I'm going to Vegas soon. By soon, I mean today. So do not expect a flurry of posts until I get back, in about 10 days.

Things to do this trip to Vegas: The List

The final list of items to do in Vegas in September:

• Craps lesson


• Brazilian steakhouse


• Flare bartenders (Carnival Court?)


• Flaming drink for Mike


• Acquire 'Girls Direct To Your Room' shirt.


• Go to the Gun Store to shoot some guns.


• The Wild Kingdom day:
  
  
  • The Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay,
  
  
  • The Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at Mirage,
  
  
  • The Wildlife Habitat at the Flamingo
  
  


• Absinthe (at the Palms?)


• Try electronic poker at Excalbiur


• Play poker at:
  
  
  • MGM Grand
  
  
  • Luxor
  
  
  • Hard Rock
  
  
  • Monte Carlo
  
  
  • Mandalay Bay
  
  
  • Venetian
  
  


• Shows:
  
  
  • LOVE at Mirage,
  
  
  • Lance Burton at Monte Carlo

Who knew

So, I've been in Vegas for the past week (and random thoughts will come as I get a chance to post them). As I've come back I've been catching up on my favourite sites, and ran across this post by Steve Friess at The Strip Podcast blog. What struck me as odd was that I wasn't aware of any power outage on the Strip. There was a water main break, but that's it.

But sure enough, there was a power outage on Tuesday. And it affected the place I was staying, the Excalibur. There was no hint of anything having occurred when I got back later that night, and I had no clue it has happened until I got back.

I guess I should have read the RJ instead of USA Today on Wednesday.

Demographic: 18-20

The latest offering from Midway: Welcome to Vegas. That's right, you too can purchase a game where you go to Las Vegas to do adult stuff. As opposed to, you know, actually going to Las Vegas.

(Shameful admission: I will probably end up owning this game when it inevitably hits the $10 bin.)

Not much of a casino though

Jimmy Eat World + Neon Boneyard in Las Vegas = Fun video for Big Casino

(Link taken from Five Hundy by Midnight)

A fitting 250th post

Blogging will be intentionally non-existant (instead of the normal unintentional lack of posts). I am in Vegas until the 19th (see the countdown timer on the side).

Where my gambling money is soon to go

PONG!

(h/t: Vegas Tripping)

This just in: The awesome is back

No longer just a rumour: MTV figured out the only way to top the ridiculous season of Real World: Denver. Reunite the Real World: Las Vegas cast in Las Vegas and film it!

You know, if gambling was legal, you might be able to make some money off of Bill Simmons for such bets as the over/under on how long it takes for Trishelle to hook up with somebody and the number of times Frank awkwardly makes advances at a woman.

(Huge props to Norm for breaking the news first.)

The Maloofs do it again

While I owe a Survivor post still, I thought I'd point out this post from the fine folks at Vegas Tripping. The Palms resort and casino have opened The Pearl at the Palms, their new concert venue. And they are also launching a new service on iTunes, which allows people to purchase and download the concerts that occur at the Pearl. I'm not sure why more venues have not tried to do the same, but this is a fantastic idea for everybody involved.