Steve Fey's Live From Las Vegas!

The Beatles

2009-11-05T07:25:00.000-08:00

The Beatles founded Apple Records, you may recall. The label still exists. You'll remember, maybe, that Apple Records had some issues with Steve Jobs and his Apple Computer and the Itunes Music store. So, with that background, I will mention that I just happened to notice that the remastered Beatles catalog, out on CD since September, will be released in a limited edition USB stick format in December. The USB sticks will be shaped like apples, as in Apple Records. Every so often that snobby little company in Cupertino gets some proper comeuppance, and I'm always glad to see it happen.

Long live Apple (Records)!

Steve

Eat Your Heart Out, Ralphie!

2009-11-03T21:37:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago we went to Cedar City to watch a few plays. I didn't review them because the season was almost over, but I will say that the bill was mixed. They did The Woman in Black, which came off as a very thin play, then we saw Tuesdays With Morrie, which showed that the two actors, and they were the same two actors, were much better than the material in the first play. Then we saw the new version of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged. If you've seen this play in the past, you might like to know that over half of it is all new, although they did keep the audience participation bit with Ophelia just as it was. Huh? If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry about it.

A play we did not see is A Christmas Story, which would be based upon the movie which was written by Jean Sheppard. It's an annual classic event, in which young Ralphie simply begs for a Daisy(tm) Red Ryder BB gun. Does he get it? Well, in spite of a cynical department store Santa and other misadventures, he does. Now, we live in a Vintage Vegas house, mind you, and we like to have various vintage items on display. We have a couple of authentic lamps, for instance, and a room dedicated to 50s and 60s kitsch, plus a bar and pool table of course. So, it was with extreme glee that we found, at a garage sale in Cedar City Utah, the item Tami is shown holding in this picture.

Click on the image and you can see a somewhat larger version. Read the stock of the gun. Yes, folks, it is indeed an air rifle just such as is coveted by Ralphie in the movie A Christmas Story.

Now I ask you, is that cool or what? Cedar City, I forgive you for The Woman in Black.

S.

H1N1, Seriously

2009-11-02T14:39:00.000-08:00

So okay, I made a joke about the swine flu last time, but that was before I went to a party where a pregnant lady said she didn't want the vaccination because it was all "new technology." My my, this flu, which is benign for almost everyone else, has a good record of killing small children and pregnant women. Like my joke said, it skips people over 50, not out of any respect for the elderly, but because we've all had it years ago. It was nastier last time. I remember thinking that it was no wonder it had killed all those people in 1918. But, it's just as deadly to people like my friend at the party as it ever was to the people ravaged by war and poor nutrition and other things ninety years ago. So, just in the hope that somebody will see sense and get that vaccination who otherwise wouldn't have done so, I offer this bit of truth and wisdom. And for once I'm not kidding.

In truth there is no new technology in a flu shot. The technology was first used in the Sabin oral polio vaccine in the 1950s. It works for polio virus, and it works for any other virus. For those who say, well, what about AIDS?, I'll tell you that the trouble with the AIDS virus is that it mutates so fast that it isn't possible to make a vaccine that will work on it's new form. It actually mutates not by chance, as do most living things, but by design. As design, you've got to admire it. As a potential victim, you've got to wish it gone. But, other than AIDS, the technique used in preparing the H1N1 vaccine is totally proven technology, and it works.

Every year the seasonal flu (you remember that, right, because if you don't you will in a month or two) is a new strain or two or three, and vaccines must be prepared from scratch to prevent infection. Usually older people are more vulnerable, because there are more strains of flu than a person is likely ever to be exposed to in one lifetime, so each year brings brand-new fun, so to speak. The same technique that prepares the seasonal flu vaccine every year is used to prepare the H1N1 vaccine.

And what is that? Well, I'll tell you. First, you find someone who has the virus so that you can collect a sample. Then you inject that sample into a chicken egg that you keep nice and warm so that the virus will grow and thrive on the egg until what you have is essentially an eggshell full of virus. Then you split the contents of that egg up among a whole bunch of eggs and repeat the process. And you do that again and again until you have run the virus through twenty-one separate eggs. That takes weeks, if not months, to accomplish, which is why sometimes there isn't enough vaccine to go around. However, unless you are allergic to eggs, the vaccination will not harm you in any way. The virus, although still alive, loses its ability to make a human sick while it grows on all those eggs. That makes it a perfect way to protect yourself against the disease, because your immune system doesn't know it's harmless, and not only kills the injected virus, but any other little virus particles of that type that you come in contact with, ever.

That's how vaccinations work! No big, strange procedures. No esoteric formulae. No secrets. And nothing at all cutting edge or new. As I said, unless you're allergic to eggs, getting the vaccine injected is about the same thing as getting saline solution injected, except that the vaccine protects you against whatever virus it contains.

A bit more truth: if you get sick shortly after taking a vaccination, you were about to get sick anyway. No vaccine ever makes somebody sick. And the risks of vaccine, while present, are mostly far exceeded by the risks of not getting the vaccine. In the case of H1N1 and a pregnant woman, I'd say about a million times higher risk comes from skipping the vaccine than from getting it. Maybe more.

So, for Pete's sake, folks, please don't be such an idiot as to mistrust science in the case of H1N1 vaccine. If you're otherwise healthy, well it's just the flu. But if you're pregnant, or have small children in the house, ask yourself how badly you want a child, or yourself, to die from the flu? At all? I thought not.

S.

H1N1!!!

2009-10-28T07:57:00.000-07:00

Oh, my gawd! We're all gonna die! Help! Help! He . . . . .

What? It skips old people like me? Oh, never mind. And remember kids, it's World Kiss a Stranger day!

-- Steve

Insurance for Fun and Profit?

2009-10-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

Guess I'm in a political mood this week. Here goes another foray, but this time it's longer. It's also into a more discrete topic: health insurance. I am reminded of the need for the debate by the fact that one of my prescriptions is not, I found out by getting a phone call from a computer yesterday, available without prior approval. Never mind that I've gotten oodles of the stuff in the past, or that several competent medical doctors have declared the medication to be necessary. We changed insurance plans, so we need prior approval. De facto, insurance companies are allowed to make medical decisions.

Okay, for the record, I know that I could simply pay for the stuff with my own money and cut them out. That's the reasoning behind letting an HMO make medical decisions without meeting the patient: that they have a right to protect their financial interest in the situation. And, you know what? They're right, that they do. My issue is with the nature of the insurer's financial interest.

Most insurance companies, outside of Minnesota at least, who provide health coverage, are common stock corporations. In Minnesota, when HMOs first appeared, they made it illegal for an HMO to be for profit. That meant that HMO Minnesota, which I had while living there, was sort of like a free clinic for members. I never saw a bill, never had a hassle, got whatever treatment the doctor said I needed and no questions asked. Try that anywhere else, I dare you. The difference is due to the nature of common stock corporations.

Do not get me wrong here: I own common stock. A couple of gaming companies, Ford Motor Company, a sub-penny stock outfit called China Nuvo that we own enough of to influence the stock price if we wanted to, and some mutual funds as well. I like common stock companies, both in principle and in practice. Spreading the risk is a great way to get people to fund ventures they'd be crazy to put money into otherwise. Now, in a common stock corporation, you, as a responsible employee or executive, are required by law and ethics to maximize the value of the stock for the stockholders. That is entirely right, and proper, and for the most part, the way things are run. (I'm going to ignore things like that Enron scandal for today.)

If you are a common stock corporation offering health insurance then you are going to hire at least one person known as an actuary. An actuary is highly skilled in statistical analysis and accounting, and extremely valuable to anyone trying to minimize risk. The actuaries are the people who analyze the various risk factors of would-be policyholders and decide which factors deserve a higher premium, and which factors indicate that you should even get coverage. It's an actuarial decision to require prior approval for a medication. Or to decide that grandma doesn't get the aggressive cancer treatment that might save her life. That sounds like what some alarmist commentators are saying government health care would be like, but in fact that is precisely what private insurance is today, at least outside of Minnesota. The reason being that, in a common stock corporation, you are always looking to maximize value (read: make a profit) for your stockholders. The stockholders are mostly faceless and unknown to you, but you cater to them because legally and ethically that's what you have to do. If it were not for the legal and ethical requirements attached to a common stock corporation, the actuarial facts could be replaced, legitimately, with an overall view of probability, and the overall risk calculated, then spread amongst all policyholders, just the way insurance company ads suggest things are done today even though they aren't.

If anyone is suggesting that a public option for health insurance would be worse than what we've got, they're selling something. Probably something you don't need, in fact. A few pertinent facts include the Veteran's Administration health system, which most vets like, which is a government option from the start; plus, as others have pointed out, the simple fact that, for instance, Ohio State University has not put private colleges out of business. The private ones cost more, and maybe they provide a better education (don't get me started, please.) But my point is that Harvard and Yale and the others continue to exist, even thrive, with a great deal of "public option" education competing away with them. Just think which has more cachet: Ohio State or Yale? I can tell you that not many parents in Vegas worry about getting their kids into Ohio State. Or the University of Nevada, for that matter.

One alarmist threat about health insurance reform is that it will drive up the premiums for those who already have insurance. Sure, and it will, too. Unless we have a public option. See? So take some appropriate action, already. You have one Representative and two Senators. They need to get re-elected. You don't need to be an actuary to see where I'm going with this.

Thanks!

Steve

Fox News

2009-10-19T15:48:00.000-07:00

Hey, it's a hot topic. And on the topic, I have two opinions.

1. The Obama people who say Fox is opinion masquerading as news are pretty much correct.
2. The only thing worse is CNN. Honest.

There, I've said my bit. Now go out there and carp!

Steve

Do You Know Where This Is?

2009-10-08T09:19:00.000-07:00

Here's a Photo of something around Las Vegas:

Over on the ezine that I write for, Living-Las-Vegas, they have a weekly contest called "Vegas Eye." This is the photo from this week's edition. You don't win any money for getting it right, but you do get all sorts of glory. Why not stop by and check it out? It's free and easy! And, there's a new contest each week. You do not, by the way, have to live in Vegas to figure out where the object is.

Steve

A Las Vegas First

2009-10-07T12:22:00.000-07:00

Today, believe it or not, the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard resort opened for the season. They're only the second resort to open this season, and they are ahead of Keystone, A-Basin, and Loveland Basin in Colorado. Those who think it's always hot in Vegas, take note: Winter has arrived!

You go, Dave!

2009-10-02T09:29:00.000-07:00

In case you've been dead, you might not know that someone attempted to blackmail Dave Letterman because he'd had sex with staffers in the past. Yeah, and he's gap-toothed, too. His wife, the mother of his kids, is a former staffer, so that wasn't much of a revelation. He did the one thing you can do to stop a blackmail attempt: he went public with the whole story. I know, these days, it's cool to be gay, but I'm here to state, right now, for the record, that I've only ever had sex with women! I know, it's shameful, but at least nobody will be asking me for a million bucks to keep it to themselves.

I put a link to a BBC story about the incident under the post title.

Steve

If Cirque du Soliel did Swan Lake

2009-09-30T16:21:00.001-07:00

It still wouldn't be this good. If you don't normally care for ballet, here are a few points:

Swan lake has cool music.
These guys really are better than the folks in Cirque.
It's only six minutes or so.
It's free, for gosh sakes.

The World's Largest Gift Shop

2009-09-30T12:18:00.000-07:00

Over at Living Las Vegas, Tami has just posted a review of The World's Largest Gift Shop, so I'm not going to waste space reviewing it. I am going to waste space posting some of the pictures that I took but Tami didn't use. It's an interesting shop, although, at 40,000 square feet, it's a lot smaller than, say Wall Drug, which boasts 76,000 square feet. Still, they have a copyright on the phrase, so they can use it all they want.

Here's a view of part of the place, that Tami left out. It's not as good as the shot she used, but hey, she used it. The General Store has some gift items, but mostly it's a place to buy convenience store stuff, plus there's a liquor store attached to it. Believe it or not, there aren't that many actual liquor stores in Nevada, because grocery stores can sell the stuff. Of course, there are no restrictions on hours of operation, either, so you can go to the local supermarket and get a case of booze any time you want one. So, the liquor store at Bonanza Gifts is a slight oddity.

You can also see a bit of the front of "Naughty Town," which is where bachelorette parties can be stocked with the naughty stuff that such a party requires. It isn't a full-blown adult toy store, which we do have a lot of in Vegas, but it is risque enough that they keep anyone under eighteen outside.

What you can't see is the Minnetonka Moccasin shop (yep) or the large gift shop that is just behind me in this photo. Try looking behind your monitor, maybe. It's humongous. To the right is a picture of a portion of the T-Shirt wall. This is just next to the CSI merchandise, which you can find pictured on Tami's posting.

A lot of what they have is pretty cheap, but not everything. For instance, a plastic replica of the iconic Welcome sign is over forty bucks, but I got one at Walgreens for thirty. Still, where else are you going to go for your bacon flavored mints? Your gag gifts? Your foul-mouthed parrots? Your seemingly infinite selection of Las Vegas themed merchandise? You can even get your picture taken with the King. You can't touch him, though. Being dead obviously makes one delicate.

The shop is on the Northwest corner of Sahara and Las Vegas Boulevard, on the North end of the Strip. If you want to read more, read Tami's post, or click the title of this post to go to the store's website.

Later, y'all

Steve

Things About Vegas I Bet You Didn't Know

2009-09-23T12:26:00.000-07:00

Actually I'm not writing this one. I'm just pointing you to an article by Megan Edwards over on Living Las Vegas about charity work by the Variety Club Tent 39, which is located in Las Vegas. It's a different side of Vegas, and maybe even of some of our, um, less than upstanding founders. Check it out!

Steve

The Las Vegas Track Club

2009-09-12T09:35:00.000-07:00

If you've followed me over on Living-Las-Vegas you may have read my report about running the Pittman Wash. Even if you haven't read that article (although you really should, of course) you might be interested in the existence of the Las Vegas Track Club. That there would be a running club in the blazing Mojave desert is probably a surprise to some. But, like any people who live in a less-than-hospitable climate, there is a determination amongst valley residents to soldier on with the run even when it's too hot to take a walk. It's sort of like the Winter Carnival in St. Paul, Minnesota: to Hell with the weather, we're gonna have fun, dammit!

Here, for instance, is a picture I took of a fellow club member running along a trail called the Pittman Wash Trail, in Henderson. I know, I've moved to the big city, but I still return to Henderson every Sunday morning to run this very trail. Of course, there's no thermometer visible in this picture, but I can assure you that the Pittman Wash experiences temperatures in excess of 110 degrees during the summer. Yet, my friend, and I, keep putting one foot in front of the other.

The track club sponsors a number of events during the year. As I write, for example, the web site is advertising the annual "Forest Run Challenge" on Mount Charleston. That's one way to get by in the desert heat, of course: escape it by going up. I've run a race on that mountain, on a July morning when it was chilly as all get out. Trust me when I say that the cold alone is worth the entry fee. That race was the annual Notch Run, a four-mile grueling ascent at altitude that should be experienced if you want to believe it. (They used to run it downhill, until multiple injuries persuaded them to reverse the course.) They also sponsor a regular series of training runs, from informal to marathon level, that many runners take advantage of simply to stay in condition for a race now and again.

So if you're a runner looking for some companions for our essentially lonely hobby, or if you're considering moving to our valley and wondering if you can keep up your routine of sprints and fartlek, you may rest assured that the Las Vegas Track Club is here to serve you.

A Hairy Situation

2009-09-11T09:16:00.000-07:00

A hairy me, I mean. I noticed this phenomenon the first time I trained for a marathon run, in 2006. This year I'm running the Las Vegas Marathon for the third time, and back on the street for many miles per week. Seventeen miles next Sunday morning is what the schedule calls for, for instance. There are weekday runs, too. That first year, just about this time of the training program, I noticed that I looked more hairy than I had. In fact, I wasn't more hairy, but the hair that I had was regaining it's color. The first thing I noticed that time was that my lower legs looked like they belonged to a chimpanzee! Well, last year I didn't run, and apparently I faded out again, because now I again notice that all the little hairs on my arms and legs have darkened up wonderfully. Eeekah, bro!

Now the odd thing is that it's not just dark again, but it's darker than it ever has been. I have no idea what is happening internally to cause such a thing. I do know that I was a tow headed little kid, so maybe it's just part of an ongoing process of darkening hair that's been interrupted by age-related bleaching. It's odd, I'll tell you that. Even my beard is back to being more grizzled than white as the dark strands are coming to dominate. Somebody told me once that exercise stimulates human growth hormone (HGH) so that may be the reason. Under the title of this post is a link to an article about a study that found that running keeps older people healthy longer. I think I read a few years ago, but can't find it just now, that intermittent heavy exercise has an effect on the signs of aging.

So, if you are a member of my age obsessed generation, how willing are you to jump up out of the recliner and pound pavement for your health? A little bit? I started running again when my doctor threatened me with another half-century of life, when I was already fifty-six. I had no intention of living so long, but I figured that I might as well stay healthy if I was stuck with being here. I mention that just to say that I had no intention of looking younger than I am, nor any idea that I would. Still, it's a nice bonus, innit? So come on, you aging, youth-obsessed boomers out there: get up and do something!

There, that's telling 'em.

Fremont Street Redux

2009-09-07T10:14:00.000-07:00

Last night I took both daughters and one boyfriend down to Fremont Street for one more look at the Summer of '69. The elder daughter had never seen the place, that she could remember (she had, really) and she was tremendously impressed with the show. I said the last time how the shows this summer were the best they've ever presented. One reason is the new, higher definition screen, of course. Also, I actually paid attention to the show about Don McClean's American Pie this time, and I'm impressed with the amount of research and work that went into the production. That particular show will still be playing for a couple of weeks yet, I believe. You can check the schedule on the experience site, under the title of this post.

The picture above is of my daughter Kate watching the show. Here below is a sample taken from the middle of the production. The images are of actual menu pages from Las Vegas restaurants of the 1960s. The resolution is better than my cell phone picture would indicate. You can actually read the selections. The original Las Vegas is coming back, and if we keep getting productions like this summer's "Summer of '69 Returns," it will come back even better and faster. Kudos to the Experience for a great production!

Boom!?

2009-08-26T09:12:00.000-07:00

Recently we took my mother-in-law, who was visiting from Phoenix, to visit the Atomic Testing Museum, located about a mile East of the Strip on Flamingo Road. That's the road that crosses the Strip next to the Flamingo, in case you're wondering. The actual address is 755 East Flamingo Road, Las Vegas. Hours are 9 to 5, except Sunday's, when they open at 1 PM. It costs twelve bucks, unless you're a local, a senior, or under 17, in which case you get a three buck discount (only one, unfortunately.) When I showed my local ID, we all got in for the locals' price, so if you're from out of town but have a local friend, get them to come along and give them the money to pay your way in.

The museum is associated with the Smithsonian Institution. It was really chilling in parts for me, because I remember the days when the threat of nuclear holocaust seemed more imminent with each passing day. Honestly, looking back, it really wasn't very likely because the Soviets, who may have been evil, and certainly were misguided, weren't stupid. And neither were we. But, it was a time with no need for reality TV, and that's a fact. Truth is, the cold war ended with the good guys in the lead, Reagan got more credit than he deserved, and the world probably got a titch more dangerous as a result. But that's a topic for others. As for me, I was truly amazed at the casual approach people had to atomic radiation in those days.

During a test, those "without goggles," welder's goggles, that is, were told to "face away from the blast." Those with goggles could watch it directly. Other than the goggles, the people witnessing the testing wore no protective gear at all. Soldiers were positioned in trenches as the shock wave from the blast blew over them. After, they were swept off with brooms, and maybe hosed off in some cases. There's no reason to wonder why some people who were there are now dying of cancer. You can get a sense of what it's like to witness a nuclear explosion in the Ground Zero Theater, right smack in the center of the museum. Every twenty minutes or so a multimedia presentation opens with video (film, I suppose originally) and sound in a simulated viewing site. Believe me, it's an experience like no other. And I live in Las Vegas, so I oughta know.

There are also exhibits covering the history of the development and testing of nuclear weapons, drilling the tunnels where underground tests were performed, and the town of Mercury, Nevada, which once boasted an amazingly large population of people all dedicated to testing atomic weapons and other devices. Other devices? Sure, how about an atomic powered rocket motor? Well, why not, if you're going to stand there and let an H-bomb shock wave wash over you, use that same power source to go into space? That rocket motor worked, by the way. Still would, but you know how wussy people are these days. Afraid of a little death and destruction!

But, really, the people testing the weapons believed that they were keeping the world safe for democracy. The thing is, they probably were doing just that. Luckily they didn't know exactly what they were doing to themselves, or they'd have bailed out. They were American heroes; front-line soldiers in a cold war. And, as I said, we won.

Wanting America Back

2009-08-24T08:28:00.000-07:00

One of the signs I see flashed at protests in the last month or so is one reading "I want my America back!" Bill Maher and others I have noted saying "America never went anywhere, what the f*** are they talking about?" (Bill Maher talks like that, unlike myself, who would never use a blue word out loud. And I sell bridges.) The thing is, Bill's America never went anywhere. For that matter, my America never went anywhere. But, in truth, a lot of people's idea of America has been blasted badly in recent years, and it isn't likely to return, ever. Rather than scorn them, I think it would be a good idea to help those poor folks through a difficult time.

This is the flip side of a post I put up last November about why the Sarah Palin conservatives lost the election. Read it here. They really are a minority, which of course they never have been before. That can't be easy. And I'd be an idiot if I didn't think there were some racist overtones to it. Some people can't be anything but upset by having a "picaninny mau mau coon nigger" (their words) in the White House. And, they can't even say those things out loud any more. Oh, the agony. Mostly, though, there is a huge complex set of unspoken assumptions about America that people took for granted for a very long time that no longer hold true.

California is an all-minority state. No ethnic or racial group constitutes a majority of Californians. Here in Southern Nevada we good old white folks have until 2020, roughly, to enjoy our majority status. After that, we join California. To me, that's just the way it is. I upgraded my Spanish skills, learned not to prejudge anybody by appearances, and I'm getting on with life. I'm a smart guy, or so the tests tell me. I'm good at languages. Not everybody is smart. In fact, the average American is simply average. Half of Americans are below Average in intelligence, and we're all below average in something. My point is that, for me, a guy who does that sort of thing relatively easily, it wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done to shift my world view to include all these strange people as being "my" people. For an average person, it must seem just about impossible. Why, if you haven't had the experience dealing with lots of different people, you could think that somebody has stolen your country! Yeah, like that.

Well, the truth is that our founding fathers set up a country that, sooner or later, will include absolutely everybody as worthy of respect. You could argue that that's a bad thing, but it's the thing we've got. The fruits of our founding fathers' labors are becoming obvious as California leads the nation in feeling the effects of an actually multi-cultural society. It isn't easy, but there's no real alternative but to get on with it. And of course, it's bad enough that the children of children of slaves can now aspire to high office, but there are all these other people, who don't even speak English sometimes, with their Spanish TV, and their Spanish newspapers, and their odd foods and all the rest. How do you cope with all that?

Well, once you get over the hump, it's easy. They're just trying to get by, like the rest of us. Previous waves of immigrants have met with the same sort of attitude from the people already here. The Italians, for example, brought all sorts of strangeness with them. The food was especially foreign to most Americans. Now, spaghetti isn't even considered an ethnic food: it's mainstream America. The Irish were roundly condemned when they first arrived. Irish? Yeah, green beer notwithstanding, people hated the damned Irish. Well, consider the taco. I remember when you couldn't buy Mexican food anywhere. Now, you ever been to Taco Bell? Del Taco? A neighborhood Mexican place? See? Already they're blending into society. Someday being Mexican will mean about what being Italian does now: good food, great times.

Well, it's easy for me to write that, but my real point is that instead of just laughing off the demonstrators as nut cases or ignorant fools (although probably some of them are) it would be better to be sympathetic and helpful. Nobody who isn't a nut case really expects things to go back to how they used to be, but everybody wants to think that they've been taken seriously. So, the best way for those who don't like the demonstrators to get them to stop and go home is by simply listening to them. You don't necessarily have to do a thing other than that, but just really take them seriously.

That's not too much to ask.

Steve

Inglourious Basterds

2009-08-22T22:06:00.001-07:00

In 2109, film students will be studying Tarentino. See this film if you don't believe me. Better than reality.

Peace, Love & Music

2009-08-14T12:02:00.000-07:00

It's Woodstock Weekend on Fremont Street. They've got a line up of the best tribute bands they could find. Jimi Hendrix couldn't make it. Bummer. The VivaVision shows are all customized for the experience. It's more like Las Vegas than the strip is anymore. Come see it if you can.

Right On!

Steve

Fremont Street

2009-08-02T21:41:00.000-07:00

Did you know that Fremont Street and Boulder Highway are the same? Small county, ain't it?

This post is for anyone visiting Las Vegas between now and Labor Day, plus anyone who lives here or near here. I'm talking about the Fremont Street Experience Summer of '69 celebration. I remember the summer of '69, and I really was there. There, in my case, being Boca Raton Florida, home of an incredible flock of blind retirees who insisted on driving as if there were no lanes, but I digress. The bad news is that you've missed some good stuff. The good news is that there is still time to get in on it.

Consider the Hippie Nation Gallery, if you will. It is owned by John Van Hamersveld, now of Las Vegas, who did a lot of album covers that people over 40 will most certainly recognize. There are some original ink works available for a lot of bread (get that '60's slang?) plus a lot of album covers for a whole lot less. Inside the album covers you'll find the original vinyl recordings. Talk about a bonus buy!

Photo by Tami Cowden

If you've seen the Fremont Street Experience you still haven't seen it this summer. It's the best I've seen so far, a heckuva lot better than that lame alien thing they run sometimes, and of course if you were there in '69 you've gotta like the music. On Independence day they ran Jimi Hendrix doing the Star Spangled Banner from Woodstock. Nobody to this day knows how he made his guitar sound like that.

My point is that you have five weeks, plus a few days, to get down to Fremont Street and check out the Summer of '69 activities. The place really isn't too crowded in Summer, you know. We were there most recently last night, to drop in on Mayor Oscar Goodman's 70th birthday party. Know what the "official martini of Las Vegas" is? The Good Man -- basically chilled Bombay Sapphire Gin. I had one with a touch of vermouth and an olive. Happy Birthday, Oscar! He's just over ten years older than I am, so I wish him many more years. If he drinks as much gin as they say, he'll look the same when he's gone, but that's another story.

Local or out of town, check out the Summer of '69 today!

Steve

BIG PS -- I don't often do this, but I am republishing this post to add this embedded video. It was shot by Jack LeVine after we'd left the party. Do check Jack's blog at http://veryvintagevegas.com, by the way. I'm stealing this, so don't tell him, okay? It shows John Van Hamersveld taking pictures of his own artwork as it is projected above. I've seen the show a couple of times and it is the best I've seen from Fremont Street to date. So, with only a smidgen of further ado, here's the video:

Groovy, baby!

Torchwood, you *!#$(&^!

2009-07-27T15:17:00.000-07:00

Torchwood is a series from the venerable BBC. It is a spin-off of their Doctor Who franchise. The name is an anagram of the first program, and a character or two has been known to cross over from one to the other. I've never gotten into the doctor, but I've enjoyed Torchwood, which is generally billed as like "Dr. Who but for adults." Good enough.

Last week they aired a five-part miniseries titled "Children of Earth." Well, we all are, but in this case it was about how one of the main characters, who is, too bad for him, immortal, gave some children to an alien race once and how now they're back for a lot more. They love 'em. Not to eat, but to produce "chemicals." Yes, they use children (adults don't work, apparently) to produce drugs.

So okay, it's no lamer than a lot of science fiction plots. The reason I'm mad is because of the ending. Apparently there was some sort of political axe to grind or something. They had the immortal have to use his own grandson, who didn't survive the procedure, to defeat the aliens. See, the aliens were demanding ten percent of all of the children of Earth, hence the title. Having the immortal off his daughter's child was a lame, easy, and stupid ending. Why didn't somebody ask the aliens how they planned to get their drugs after they wiped out humanity? Why didn't they have the aliens actually start to attack, but then mess up due to their drug-addled state? They even could have ended up with Earth making a fortune off of the aliens by synthesizing the drugs some way that didn't involve sacrificing children. But no, they screwed it up. Thanks a lot, guys! If there's another season (or series as they call it across the pond,) try to do a better job of plotting, okay?

I'd appreciate it!

Steve

Greetings, Shakespeare Fans

2009-07-26T13:40:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back from Cedar City, Utah. Didja miss me? Didn't think so. Every year we go up at least once to the Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City. It's the three exits just around mile 60 on Interstate 15. This year we saw three Shakespeares and one Coward. Noel Coward, I mean.

The Shakespeares were As You Like It, A Comedy of Errors, and Henry V. All well done, although As You Like It isn't as funny as most of his other comedies. I read once that it was his "popular demand" play wherein he put all the stuff fans said they wanted more of. Okay, but it just isn't as good. Now, A Comedy of Errors is pretty outrageous, start to finish, and I'd recommend it to anyone. As for old Harry (the name people called Henry V,) his story is interesting, but it is, after all, a history lesson. A reasonably accurate one, but also one that paints Harry as one heck of a fine king. That St. Crispin's day speech is probably memorized to this day by English school children. Still, he did great things while he lasted, and the play is a lot more fun than reading about it in some moldy tome.

We also saw Private Lives by Noel Coward. It's funny as anything. See it if you can.

We've about done what one can do in Cedar City. Seen the museum, the stores, eaten at most of the restaurants (forgettable, mostly,) got gas at most of the stations, even driven up to Cedar Breaks National Monument a couple of times. It's pretty, and the entire atmosphere is as if a big chunk of the "old" America is still alive and kicking. The small town where I grew up isn't like that anymore, but Cedar City is.

They have a livestock festival in the fall. The picture to the right is from the one in 2008. The big parade features about a gazillion sheep, and every line shack ever occupied in Iron County, Utah. See? Told you we'd done it all in Cedar City! Next time we're going to check out Parawan, the original site of Mormon settlement in Southern Utah. There's a cafe there that's supposed to be pretty good.

Meantime, if you have the means, by all means check out the excellent productions in this years Utah Shakespearean Festival. Good stuff, Maynard! The title link will take you there.

Steve

NO TOADS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS POST

2009-07-21T09:51:00.000-07:00

I live where it doesn't rain all that much, but it does rain a lot when it does rain. (The preceding sentence was deliberately left obtuse.)

What I'm saying is that we had a really great thunderstorm last evening. It thrashed the trees, sent sheets of water blowing down the street, left all sorts of crap in my swimming pool, and, most importantly, gave us a good dose of water for free.

We have toads in the yard. Mostly they hunker down in moist spots and look at me sideways when I notice them. Sometimes I see them hopping around the edges of the house, which is where the bushes are that get watered. With water on the bushes comes a place for a toad.

Toads apparently aren't all that bright. We've had a series of storms this week, although mostly they didn't provide any significant rain. When the storm winds pick up all sorts of trash gets dumped into the swimming pools in the area. Trash from places you've never visited in your life winds up in your skimmer. Then, the past couple of days, so did the toads.

I found my first swimming toad yesterday morning. They swim really well, just like frogs (there's a surprise, huh?) What they can't do, of course, is hop up eight inches out of the water to get out of the pool. Some pools have ramps leading in and out. Ours has steps. Several sets, but every top step is firmly under water. The toads are, sad to say, screwed.

Today I found a toad swimming in the skimmer when I went to clean the debris out. I flipped him into the garden. Then I saw another one along the edge of the pool, so I flipped him out. Then I saw yet another one, this one looking sort of tired. I flipped him out. Then I went and emptied the debris basket at the pump (if you have a pool you know what I mean.) When I returned I noticed a fourth toad valiantly kicking himself along the edge.

Now, really, I don't mind toads. They eat bugs, after all. But I wish they'd stay out of my pool. Like I want to go for a dip at bedtime (which I sometimes do) and end up with a dead amphibian next to me in the water. Or maybe I'll pull a dead toad out of the skimmer basket. I mean, come on, guys, I don't call the exterminator, now do I? Have some courtesy, okay? Sit under the bushes in the dampness and enjoy life. Eat all the bugs you can catch. Just, please Mr. and Ms. Toad, resist that urge to go for a swim. Leave that to the frogs. I mean, humans.

Thank you,

Steve

Weather Bragging

2009-07-17T13:24:00.000-07:00

I just checked the current conditions on the nearest weather station to my house. It's less than two miles away. It is, and I quote, 111.6 degrees, and the humidity is 2 percent. It is cooler, of course, than it is down where I lately lived, so that's nice. But, I just thought I'd brag a bit about the remarkably harsh weather we're having in Vegas.

Maybe I'll go shovel something, for old time's sake. But what? The streets are clear!

Steve

I'm Rich!

2009-07-14T08:29:00.000-07:00

A while back we visited England. Somewhere I listed my email address. I know this because I now get spam like this:

Microsoft Award Team
20 Craven Park, Harlesden
London NW10, United Kingdom.

Attention: Winner,

This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUND (£500,000.00) for the New Edition 2009 Lottery promotion which is organized by YAHOO LOTTERY INC & WINDOWS LIVE in conjunction with a few other internet providers.

YAHOO & MICROSOFT WINDOWS, collects all the email addresses of the people that are active online, among the millions that subscribed to Yahoo and Hotmail we only select five people every Month as our winners through electronic balloting System without the winner applying, we congratulate you for being one of the people selected.

you are required to contact our fudiciary agent with the below contact details:

CONTACT PERSON: SIR. Chris McCormick
Email: chris_mccormick@w.cn
Tel :+447045763429

Wowzers, huh? Five-hundred thousand pounds! That's almost a lot, innit? What's interesting is the way that the scammers don't bother to edit their lists. And why should they? For one thing, the domain w.cn is not anywhere in the United Kingdom. The UK uses, well what do you think they'd use? .uk. .cn is from China, but, and this is also interesting, anybody can buy a .cn domain extension because China likes making money off of stuff (for supposed Communists they're pretty money grubbing.) So, it could be anywhere, but one thing for sure, it ain't Microsoft or Yahoo, both of which have domains in the UK ending with .uk.

If you'd like, feel free to call the number above. Let me know who answers if you do. In North America the + represents 011, by the way. I have no idea what other places use as an international code. But do go for it. Say you're me. You can have one hundred percent of the profits from the prize.

Ain't I the generous one?

Steve