Whats goin on?

It has been a long time since I have wrote in here. I got back from Vegas but that was almost a week ago and really can't be used as an excuse. Work has been good.


It is amazing to me how much more recharged I feel after coming back from a vacation. Speaking of that, all was good. Didn't really follow the itinerary I had on her all to much and that is to be expected.



Thursday we arrived and spent most of the night at the Rio. It was ok. It seemed like it was for more of an older crowd. The masquerade show was cool though. After that, me and Rach walked to Excalibur and took the tram to Mandalay Bay and Luxor. We were so exhausted I paid for a cab back and we finished the night playing in our home base, Bally's.

Friday we got up early but didn't go to the breakfast buffet. Instead all visited the south portion of the strip. First was MGM. It was cool but rather empty. At 10AM there were almost no table games set up. Next, we went to the Tropicana because they were advertising low minimums. The Tropicana may not have tigers on display or be in the shape of a pyramid, but we had a ton of fun there. The waitresses always come around for drink orders and, with low minimums, we could play for quite a while. Next, we went to Mandalay Bay to the Shark Reef. It was alot of fun too. After that, me and Rach seperated from her parents and went to a gourmet burger place called The Burger Bar. It was fantastic.


We went back to our room and rested for an hour and a half and then went to see KA at the MGM. It was a cirque show with an Asian story to it. It was just as fantastic as Love was last year. I would probably go back and see it again next time over even seeing a new cirque show. Once the show was over, me and Rach went back to the room, relaxed, and then went out with Rachel's parents to some mid strip locales.


First was Cowboy Bill's. It was Barbary Coast last year but is in the middle of a rebranding to Harrah's. It is really small and old but the place is always fun and a big favorite. Next, we stopped in Flamingo and O'Sheas. Flamingo kinda sucked and so did O'Sheas although it had some fun dealers and games. Next was Harrah's. I was never a big Harrah's fan but I liked going there this time. The waitresses were quick with the drinks and the games were fun. It isnt that nice of a casino but it is nice. Finally, we went to Casino Royale. It is a little bit shady but fun overall. Once that was done, we all went back to the room and the day was over.

Saturday we did go to the breakfast buffet. Once that was over, we all played in Bally's till the early afternoon and then went exploring. First was the Bellagio. Everybody was taking forever so me and Rach moved on to the Mirage. All of us won big at the Mirage so me and Rach enjoyed a nice meal at CPK. After that we went to TI and the Wynn. Next, we went downtown to Freemont Street. Freemont Street is kind of the downtown area of Vegas. We really didnt have a ton of fun there so we went back a little early and went to bed.

Sunday we woke up at 4:45 and took a super long bus ride to the Grand Canyon. On the way there we stopped at this shitty indian guest stop place. It had an Imax in it and some people signed up to see it. I really feel that the company who does the tour does an awesome job but should just forget about stopping there. The Grand Canyon was fantastic. The first stop was at Mather's Point. The view there was fantastic. The nest stop was at Bright Angel Lodge. It was a little more commercialized with a walkway and stuff, but was still fantastic.

After a long bus ride back nobody felt like sleeping. Me and Rach ate a sandwich and then went downstairs to gamble. It was a late night for all.

Monday was the last full day. Me and Rach ate at the breakfast buffet one last time and then went out on the strip. We started out at the Star Trek area of the Hilton for only like 30 minutes and then moved on to Slots A' Fun. The casino is tiny and crowded but for the cheapest possible minimums, Slots cant be beat. We then went to Fashion Show mall and did some more exploring. That night we went to Planet Hollywood Casino. I was expecting it to kinda suck but the place was amazing. It hasnt even officially opened yet but has gotten rave reviews. Everything about the place is absolutely fantastic. We finished off the night by going to the Hard Rock. We all won except for Rachel's Dad and they got to go to the gift shop. After that we all went to bed.

Tuesday me and Rachel woke up late and had to get ready quickly. Then we went to the Paris casino to have lunch. We then kind of sat around and waited for it to be time to go to the airport. Me and Rach went to the gift shop and to the pool.

All in all, it was a good trip. I'd like to think we would be able to go back next year but with grad school and all, it might be the last trip in a few years or so.

Not Ranked

So you were upset I couldn't name any good times...here are 100

1. Going to KA
2. Seeing "The New Guy" at the theatre
3. Going to Albano's for Valentine's
4. Going to the mall for the first time
5. Going to see "Joy Ride" at the theatre
6. Going to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
7. Seeing the Cubs play the Padres in freezing weather
8. Going to Carraba's in South Bend
9. Going to Q&A at church
10. Going to Les Miserables
11. Playing Uno on Xbox Live
12. Going to the mall for the first time, it being too late, going to BK and you taking the wrong Whopper and making a mess
13. Playing Rapid Roulette at the Tropicana
14. Your senior prom
15. You trying to look older to get into a dance club in Florida
16. The small school dance at PNC
17. My car breaking down on the way to Hacienda but it all being free and us going anyways
18. Going to Buffalo Wild Wings
19. Going to Tabu
20. Playing You Don't Know Jack
21. Seeing the White Sox play the Rangers
22. Going out the day after Thanksgiving to Gelsosomo's
23. Driving around Michigan for hours
24. Seeing "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"
25. Going to the Shedd Aquarium
26. Going to Kelsey's for my birthday
27. Watching Peyton Manning on SNL
28. Going to see "Freddy vs. Jason"
29. Watching you smuggle cigars across the border
30. Watching Super Bowl XXXIX
31. Going to the Four Winds for the first time
32. Having a party at your house
33. Going to "Cats and Dogs"
34. Watching "Final Destination" at my house
35. Watching The 2005 VMA's at your house on the new tv
36. Going to see "American Wedding"
37. Seeing the Pacers play the Heat
38. Spit war
39. Going to Pesto's for the first time
40. Renting "From Dusk till Dawn" from the library
41. Going to your brother's for New Year's
42. Playing Goldeneye 64
43. Watching the Cubs play the Reds
44. Flying to Florida and watching TV
45. The First New Year's Eve
46. Watching the Pistons win the NBA Championship over the Lakers
47. Watching Deja Vu on the bus
48. Going to Broadway, Northside and watching LeBron on SNL
49. Going to Giordano's
50. Seeing "Garden State" in Shererville
51. Going to Fashion Show Mall
52. Shopping for your Dad's birthday presents at Wal Mart with your Mom
53. Watching Entourage
54. Seeing U2 in Chicago
55. Watching "American Beauty" with your friends
56. Going to the CHS talent show
57. Going to Vivo
58. Seeing "Mr. Deeds" with Casha and Bob
59. Meeting Billy Williams
60. Drinking heavily before the Dane Cook SNL
61. Going to Love
62. Watching Super Bowl XLI and seeing the Colts win
63. Seeing "Ocean's Thirteen"
64. Looking for Wii Boogie
65. Going to Marquette Mall for the first time
66. Winning at Big Six
67. Chilling with your brother during the Oklahoma upset in late 2004
68. Winning at the Mirage and going to CPK
69. Seeing "Domestic Disturbance" with Jenny and Jesus
70. Watching Taylor Hicks win American Idol
71. Going to the Cleveland Zoo
72. Trying to catch the cats in the computer room
73. Going to the Valentine's Dance at VHS
74. Seeing "Anchorman"
75. Going to Bodyworks
76. Going into the Apple store on Michigan Avenue
77. Playing the Wii for the first time
78. Seeing "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle"
79. Going to the Cat Circus
80. Going to the post 9/11 VHS vs. CHS football game
81. Laying on a beach bed on Clearwater Beach
82. Seeing "King Kong" with Stephanie
83. Looking for memory cards at Best Buy for you and your brother's cameras
84. Walking around Cofee Creek
85. Going to the top of the Eiffel Tower
86. Going to the Watertower after the Cubs/Reds game
87. Going to the Olive Garden on a mid September Sunday as school was begining again
88. Skipping Trio to drive around Westville
89. Seeing the Journey cover band
90. Playing at Harrah's
91. Going to Options with your comps
92. Going to Gino's for the first time
93. Going to Circus Circus
94. Taking pictures of sea gulls outside the Long John Silver's in Chesterton
95. Having your first birthday dinner with your family and Danielle who got you a butterfly balloon
96. Going to see "Mummy 2"
97. Going to the Grand Canyon
98. Eating cofee ice cream and pretzels in our hotel room
99. Going to our math class and then to see "Spiderman 2"
100. Meeting at the Grand March

Heat, Vegas, playoffs...

So the Cubs are about to play. I am excited and oddly confident in them. I feel like Carlos is going to go up and pitch a gem of a game. Here are my playoff predictions...

Phillies over Rockies in 5
Cubs over Diamondbacks in 4
Red Sox over Angels in 4
Indians over Yankees in 5

2nd Round
Cubs over Phillies in 6
Red Sox over Indians in 7

World Series
Red Sox over Cubs in 7

I watched Heat last night. If you havent seen it, it is a movie directed by Michael Mann (who did the original Miami Vice show, Collateral and the Miami Vice movie). Basically, the story is about a career criminal (played by DeNiro) and his crew of superstar thieves (made up of Danny Trejo, Tom Sizemore and Val Kilmer). They are being chased by a cop played by Al Pacino who is alot more like De Niro's criminal character that either would admit. There is like a trillion other backstories involving DeNiro's character becoming attached to a woman, Pacino's character's marriage falling apart, his step daughter's emotional problems, some criminal who kills prostitutes, a parolee who works in a cafe and a banker whom DeNiro has made it his personal vendetta to kill. Oh also, Ashley Judd plays Kilmer's characters wife and there is a whole story there. I'm not kidding, that is why it is three hours long. Alot of stuff going on.

It was one of those movies everyone says you gotta see like Scarface. It was just ok. First off it was like 3 hours long. I felt like it was really predictable. Alot of the secondary characters (and there are like 100 secondary characters) are one dimensional and the minute they step onto the screen you know what their whole story is going to be from start to finish. I felt like also for a three hour movie, they half assed alot of secondary story lines. Finally, it was confusing. Alot of the time I was wondering what was going on. When you have three hours to tell a story, you should do a damn good job of explaining what was going on.


For what was good, first off the action and violence was insane and realistic. Secondly, the star power was out of this world. Pacino and DeNiro acting side by side is like Babe Ruth and ARod playing on the same team. It is beyond incredible. Surprisingly, Val Kilmer does the best acting job in the movie. It surprises me about how much he stood out even though he was a secondary character in a movie filled with tons of the best actors in the industry.


Overall, the movie I give a C to. It tries to prove a point and tell an epic story and the problem is that despite being given three hours, it falls frustratingly short of its goal. It is better than the "what the hell is up with this movie?" Miami Vice but nowhere near as good as Mann's best crime thriller in Collateral. That movie is amazing and one of my absolute favorites.


So I am going to Vegas tomorrow. I don't feel "emotionally" ready for the trip. I mean I have been looking forward to it for like 11 months but now it is here. Staying at Bally's for the trip. I love Bally's. It doesnt try to be cool by having a river in the lobby or anything. It is what it is, a fantastic casino.



Looks like the trip is going to go like this...
Tomorrow-Going to Rio for the night. It is off the strip but still a nice casino with a unique feel.
After that we are going to hit some other places and go to bed late *I HOPE*

Friday-Hitting the South Strip during the day. At night we are going to see KA, a Cirque du Soliel show. After that we are going to Mandalay Bay.

Saturday-Going to hit some other mid strip locales and at night we are going to Freemont Street.

Sunday-Going to the Grand Canyon and the Hoover Dam. Coming back and going to Hard Rock and Margaritaville at the Flamingo.

Monday-Hitting the North Strip all day. Mirage at night

Tuesday-home


Quite a busy week. I will see most of you next week. Hopefully I win some money. It would certainly be nice-

Jake

PS-2 batters into the game and Zambrano sucks and is all worried and flustered. This may not be good.

Isiah Thomas...

Started a blog on here to air my mind, going to Vegas on Thursday, I'll talk about that later.


So the thing under my skin today is Isiah Thomas. I don't think there is a classier piece of trash in pro sports. Seriously, the guy is a complete moron. As if his tenure wasn't already the biggest debacle in the NBA, this is added on top.


I love how he said that black people call their women bitch, so, in return, it is ok for him to call an employee of his "bitch" in place of her name. That is funny, because if I was to walk up to Isiah and his wife which he is attempting to commit adultery against and call his wife bitch to her face, I am sure he wouldn't be too thrilled. I'm sure he would be pissed. I'm sure if I was his daughter's teacher at whatever private school he has her enrolled in, and I called her bitch in front of the class, he would sue me just he got sued.


By making that statement, he just put down his whole entire race of people to better his own lost cause. In some ways, I am happy it is the Knicks that have to pay. And by "the Knicks" I mean James Dolan. The guy has ruined a cornerstone franchise of the NBA. I remember when the Knicks were the most dangerous team in the league. I didn't say best, because they were never the best NBA team, but the most dangerous. They were dangerous because you knew that you had to get through Pat Riley, their coach and Ewing and Mason and Oakley and Starks and Harper and in the latter years guys like Camby and LJ and Chris Childs just to have a chance to beat them and in many cases, to beat them, you would have to lose blood and leave the court battered, brused and bloody. Now the Knicks are a joke. Isiah Thomas and Dolan are to blame.


I really think that Dolan needs to get his team taken from him. There have been rumblings and it has happened before.

Oh well, nothing more to type. All for now.