Top Five Vegas Shows I Went To

Warning: This blog post is rated PG-13 by the International Super Secret Blog Ratings Board of America West of the Mississippi.

Sorry for the little warning but we are talking about Vegas shows and this will include video clips of the shows. Since the blog this week has been kind of a downer with bad news I decided to leave the week on a more positive note and that is a list of my top five Las Vegas shows I went to. Now to be fair I haven’t been to many shows but if I had to choose my top five these would be it. Please enjoy and let me know what your favorite shows you have seen.

5. Tournament of Kings

This show is actually pretty fun to go to. I mean you get to have a meal and watch a knight show right in front of you. You are split into sections where you cheer for the knight of the color section you are in and it is actually pretty entertaining. I went to this show a few times but actually went to it first when I was in the 8th grade on my 8th grade trip (that was a fun trip). Do any of my friends remember that week? Anyway it was a fun show and will always have a sense of nostalgia for me. Yes I did pull The Cable Guy routine on the waitress. If you don’t know what that is well you don’t get utensils while you eat (because they did not exist in medieval times) but then the waitress asks if you want Pepsi and then you mock her by saying, “So they had Pepsi in medieval times?” Regardless to say she was not amused by my comment and probably heard it a million times after the movie came out. Anyway here is a short clip I found of the show.

4. Amazing Johnathan

This is a comedy show with a little magic thrown into there. If you seen the his Comedy Central special you seen the show. However, it was fun being there live in person with my wife seeing it. It is humorous. I would recommend getting there early because he has a little entertaining feature that makes fun of people in the audience and it was pretty funny. Here is a little clip promoting the show.

3. Lance Burton Magic Show

This show is no longer going but it was a great show to see with my wife. He does magic on a grand stage and he is actually pretty funny while he does it. The kid in me loved the magic show and it was smooth and relaxing way to just release the stresses of life and enjoy myself. His tricks were pretty amazing and I don’t have no clue on how he did some of them. Here is an older magic segment he did long ago.


2. Bite

There were topless vampire chicks dancing to some nice classical rock. Do I even need to say more? Ok it also has a pretty good storyline that is told through the rock music with little to no dialogue. It is about a male vampire trying to find love even though he has many wives already. Well I will take this story over Bella and Edward anyway. The show has great visuals; they interact with the crowd and have some circus acts. It is very entertaining. Oh and did I mention it has topless vampire chicks dancing, just joking but it is a good show. Here is the PG-13 clip of a promo for the show.

1. The Phantom of the Opera

Yes my number one show I saw was this. The set was amazing, the actors did great, the music is good and it was entertaining. No there was no Gerald Butler but it was still good. What places this at number 1 is it has special meaning to me. I took my wife here on our 1 year anniversary. We did the whole limo, dinner, gondola, and show experience that night and we had a great time. It was a special time and that is what puts this show as number 1 on my list. It ends in September in Las Vegas so go see it before it goes. Here is a promo clip from the show. 

  
 

Well there you have it. I hoped you enjoyed reading my top five shows I went to in Las Vegas. I will randomly put some top lists in my blog ever so often. Have a happy Friday and a great weekend. 

An Upsetting Day

An upsetting day today but it is for the best. As some of you know we had issues getting our home loan approved due to the fact that I worked in Las Vegas and they didn’t want to approve a loan because they did not believe I would actually live there and they never heard someone living in Goldfield and working in Las Vegas. 

We decided to go ahead and rent the house to have proof I am living in the house and also working in Las Vegas. So that is going great and we love the house. So why do you ask it is an upsetting day but it will be for the best?  We discovered a great loan program with Nevada State Bank for the house that has a very low interest rate, low payments and will able to pay off the house in ten years instead of the usual twenty or thirty. Now that is something great and would love to do. However, this deal requires a large down payment. This is the part that is upsetting not because I have to save some money for the next few months but because I will have to delay my current projects I have for Goldfield and the projects my wife and I have. It will probably be delayed a year. The reason a lot of these will be delayed is because I would be investing my own money to see the good things to the community would happen and the projects my wife and I had. 

It is for the best though in the long run because once I save enough money I will be able to have that permanent feeling of living in Goldfield. I apologize about this as I was very excited for the near future. However, have no fear I will still be working on the projects in the background but just can’t implement them yet. I will of course continue to write in this blog and also of course pursue my goal of writing my books and stories and getting an agent. I will also still support Goldfield in any way I can at this time.  

Even though it is upsetting it is for the best and everything will come together. It will give me more time to plan the surprises and great things I have planned for Goldfield and Tonopah area. I apologize about this small bump but as people have bumps in their lives they have bumps in their plans.  

Do Not Live at The Pines Apartments in Henderson, NV

This may sound like a bitter rant and I apologize for it but I have to warn anyone about my previous apartment complex I lived in which is The Pines in Henderson, NV. This complex has to be the worst apartment complex I have ever lived in and I have lived in pretty bad places. This rant does not have to do with the community as it appeared to be safe and quiet. However, after analyzing the whole picture this place was actually a not so great place to live. Here are some points about the place that I will warn you about if you decide to move to Henderson: 

–They have the strictest rules that if you don’t follow you will be harassed. If you have a visitor you better make sure they know the rules or they will be really harassed also. Now my family and I never had a problem with the rules and followed them. You can never back up to your parking spot, you can’t have anything on your balcony that isn’t approved by the managers, and you can’t have any pets. My family and I witnessed someone who parked a little over the line where there was no other cars around and in the visitor’s parking and they were harassed by the managers. My three year old son at the time was present and they were cussing and threating police action just for being parked a little over the line. The managers always drive around the complex at night checking to make sure no one is breaking the rules. 

–Now it is one thing to have strict rules but it is different when they choose who to enforce the rules to. There was a no pet policy at this apartment complex yet some had cats and even dogs. People who talk to them regularly in the office got away with breaking the rules whether it is their car or pets. They have a no soliciting rule with signs even posted and yet they allow fellow residents to put flyers on my door soliciting. It they want to have these strict rules then they need to enforce it for everyone. 

–The deposit you pay when you move in is not a security deposit, it is a cleaning deposit. This means before you move in as it was explained by the office that you pay them to clean the apartment for you before you move in. This is not a security deposit so if you have issues with the apartment you will pay full price for anything that may go wrong. If three rooms of carpet are messed up they will charge you carpet for the whole apartment. This comes to around $1400 you will have to pay. I am all for paying for the carpet that is messed up but not for rooms that did not have an issue. I even have proof of the rooms that were not touched but I truly do not have the time and patience to fight it. 

–The facilities are outdated and old. They even require you to change the filter of your heating and cooler system and if you don’t and it breaks it is all on you. That is how old their system is. There were even some infestations of roaches a few times while living there and that is never good. If you could afford it I would pay for a newer apartment complex. Going along with that if you have an injured bird that defecates everywhere and you ask them to handle it and clean it they will refuse to do so. Not only is this unsanitary but it also can cause sickness and disease. 

–The managers always came off and unfriendly and rude. That of course is just a personal opinion and may not reflect their true character but that was what I felt talking with them. My wife especially did not feel comfortable talking with them. They also were hardly ever in the office. This should have been a sign to me when my wife and I were first looking for apartments and their stated hours were 8am-5pm and they were not in until 9:30am.  

 –The thing scares me the most about the management is they do not give receipts for rent payments. Their philosophy is that when you write the check that the bank statement will be your receipt. I have never had an apartment complex that did not deal with receipts. What if they got really mad at you one month and decided to not cash your check and then blame you for not paying rent? I can see that happening and I read a review on the internet stating that did happen to someone. To me that is unsafe and unprofessional.  

I can go on and on about this place but I don’t want to turn this into a thesis paper. I touched on some major points and hope you make the right decision and not move to the complex. I would recommend spending your money on a newer more professional facility that has a better management staff. That is my opinion of the complex and you can take it for what it is worth. Thanks for reading my rant. 

Yeah it is Friday

Don’t you just love Fridays? I sure do. Especially this Friday where I get to have a three day weekend. Anyway this will be a short blog post as I have a lot to do. There probably won’t be a post on Monday as I will be spending time with my family but check back anyway just in case I do.

For some updates I will be adding a new feature to my blog. I am going to read every Stephen King novel ever published and write a little review on it. Not only that, if there is a movie about the story I read I will also review that and post that up on the blog. That includes any official or unofficial sequels (wow I will be watching and reviewing a million Children of the Corn movies) and any remakes or made for TV movies. This will be a long feature on this blog and I will some good humor in my reviews and they will be exciting. I hope everyone will like them and you never read a Stephen King book maybe you will find a review you like and read the book or at least watch the movie. I will be starting with Carrie.

Thanks for the positive feedback on my last post. I would like some people to share their stories but maybe in the future you will. I plan on writing more posts like that in the future.

This week I will start getting some of my projects organized and long term plans scheduled. From my wife’s and I project, Goldfield project to my writing project it will be mapped out as much as I can. Things are really looking up and I can’t do it with you. I appreciate you reading my blog.

Anyway I will be heading home again. Have a safe weekend everyone and enjoy any time you have off.

*Sorry if there are any typos I am writing this in a hurry.

Cheating

Yes this post is about cheaters and I am not talking about the ones that cheat at poker or on their taxes. I am talking about those who cheat on their spouses, boyfriend/girlfriend and any other close relationship. Why does someone choose to cheat on their significant other? It has had me wondering for years. As some of you know I have had been in a couple major relationships that the person decided to cheat on me. To this day I always wondered why as I never had a reason or closure to it.  Was it something I did or did not do? Is it because of my looks or lack of looks? Is it because the other person was intoxicated that they just did the deed? Did it only happen once that I knew about or did it happen multiple times? These are the questions that plague someone who was cheated on and sometimes you get the answers you seek but a lot of times you don’t. 

It is hard to be cheated on as you put so much faith into someone and love and care and they just take it all away in one fail swoop when the truth is known. Some people take it hard and never recover and have issues the rest of their life never trusting someone or giving their heart to anyone again. Others just shrug it off and move on with their lives. Then there are those that can forgive the person and take them back into their lives which could lead to them cheating on them again or they might actually have changed. Whatever the category you fall into above if you have been cheated on it will feel horrible. I don’t care how strong a person is it is the most horrible feeling in the world. As sad as this is cheating is everywhere. It could be your neighbor down the street, it is all over the tv whether it be a tv show or the new stating another celebrity or politician has cheated on their spouse, to yourself. Sometimes it is even glamorized which I personally find sad. However, that is the world we live in. It has been probably been like that throughout time but it is only more known now with the mass communications system we have now whether it be a social network, a blog, the twenty-four news channels or whatever it may be. 

How does one get over cheating? It is different for everyone and some never get over it. One of the ways I got over someone cheating on me was write a whole book. I always loved writing and always wanted to write a book but when I was so hurt I regressed and wrote a book. You can see that as a theme in my book and hear my pain. However, the hero of my book overcame everything and ended up happy. You can check out this book if you are interested by clicking here.   I actually gave a book to a friend of mine who was cheated on. She read it and saw the theme of the book that there is always hope and always a bright light and the end of the dark tunnel of your life. I believed that while writing the book that I wrote it through my eyes in my life. I was in such a dark place when I was cheated on but had hoped and knew that there was light at the end of the tunnel. It turned out there was a light and I haven’t been happier. That light was my wife who showed me happiness and love. Right now my life is great and will only get greater. There will always be rough patches in your life but you will find a way and find your path. You will find your light at the end of the tunnel. Being cheated on is not the end but it is a new beginning. You will see a new day in your life has come. Please leave some comments and feedback. Share some stories if you have been cheated on and if things ended up good in your life or worse after. I would love to hear from my readers. Just remember a new day will come even if you feel stuck in darkness. I know this may be girly of me but see the song below to illustrate a new day will come. Hope to hear from everyone and thanks for reading.

What the Future Holds

It has been over a week since I started writing in this blog again. I have noticed a few readers coming to the blog and I hope people enjoy it. I know this blog seems disjointed but as the title says it covers everything political, social and things in everyday life from my mind. There will be a lot of cool things coming so don’t you worry. 

As I mentioned I have a few projects on the works. You always know about my book projects which are still in the process. Don’t worry my Fifth Age fans there will be more books and I will finish the series. In fact I am in talks with agents to see if I can go that route. Please check the news section of my book website by clicking here. There you can see information on my book and future books. 

I am also writing a bunch of short stories with the setting of all over Nevada (especially Goldfield). These short stories are horror stories that integrate things in my life, urban legends and other things you see every day. They can be disturbing and others can be satirical as a dark comedy. There is also a lot of twist endings. They are pretty exciting and I might share a couple on this blog.  I also have a surprise about these stories that I will reveal in the future when the time is right. 

I have not forgotten about Goldfield. Like I alluded to earlier in my blog I am planning on some major changes in the town. It will help everyone in town, produce growth and jobs and back to the glory days. It will be glorious and fun at the same time. I hope to get the community to also get involved.  My wife and I have a project we will be starting soon and it will be great. I can’t give the details about it just yet because it will have a great unveiling and something the world can see and participate. We are very excited about it. Stay tuned for that. 

As a follow up to the Resort Fee posting I have found a link that lists the hotels with Resort Fees and how much they are. It is very interesting if you are going to stay at a hotel in Las Vegas to know that on top of paying for the room for your stay you will be charged the extra fees at checkout no matter what. Check out the website by clicking here. 

I started working out hard again to get back into shape like I used to be. It has been a hard week getting back into the flow of things but I have stuck with it and I am already feeling much better. I will update you periodically on this blog on my progress. I will also show you what I have been doing to get back into shape. 

Well that is a little idea of the future. I know it is a little vague but that is half the fun which is the anticipation. This will be an interesting year and hope everyone is ready for it. That is if the world doesn’t end in December but that is another story for a different time. Be prepared for some exciting stuff both locally and across the world as this year will be very exciting. Stay tuned…

The Ring Movie Good Luck Legend

I was told this by a friend at work a couple of days ago. I decided to put this on my blog because I always like a good old urban legend or something paranormal. Who knows this might bring something good into your life or it is just an urban legend. Let me know if you tried it and something good did happen in your life. Give me your comments below if it worked or didn’t and if you know any other good urban legends. 

Here is what my friend told me and others in which he stated that because of this urban legend he was able to have his wish and desires happen within one week. On the 7th day, he met the girl of his dreams and also made a business deal that netted him a large profit. This happened seven days after he did the steps of which I will detail below. 

How many people hear remember the movie The Ring? If you don’t remember the movie you can read about it on here. Well the premise of The Ring is that someone views a videotape and a bizarre video plays and you will die in seven days after viewing it. The movie is a pretty basic premise that was a hit during the Japanese horror remake era of filmmaking. Yes The Ring is a remake of a Japanese horror film which you can read about here.   

Here is the urban legend: both the Japanese version of The Ring and the American version’s videos that play are infused with some mystic power that if you follow the following steps you will be blessed with positive energy and on the 7th day you will have all or your desires and wishes come true. So I guess instead of dying in seven days watching both videos will cause you to have a great day. I tried it yesterday so I have a few more days to find out if it works but give it a shot and let me know what happens with you. Here are the steps: 

1.       This must be done after 9:30pm and before 11pm.

2.       All lights must be turned off in the room you are in and try to make the room as dark as possible besides the mechanism you are using to play the videos.

3.       You must be alone in the room with no distractions.

4.       You need to turn your speakers up pretty loud.

5.       Watch the American The Ring video below (first video).

6.       After the video has completed turn completely around and stare at a dark place for 30 seconds.

7.       Turn back around and watch the Japanese version of The Ring video below (second video).

8.       After the video has completed turn completely around and stare at a dark place for 60 seconds.

9.       Turn off your computer or TV that you are watching the videos and sit in the dark for 90 seconds.

10.   After the 90 seconds you may continue on with your night as usual. When you go to sleep you should have a normal dream but in the dream an image of two red rose and three sunflowers will stick out in your mind which will indicate that the mystic energy from the videos is in you and that you will not have all your wishes and desires happen seven days later.

It is a Monday Type of Day

Well it is Monday. A day that is usually associated with a bad day. If you are having a bad day someone will come up to you and ask are you having a bad case of the Mondays. There is a song called “Blue Monday”. What makes this day a bad day? Is it the fact that most people have to return to work after having time off during the weekend? That sounds like a good reason to me. I am having one of those “Mondays” today. First I had to wake up at 3:30am this morning to get ready to drive to Las Vegas to go to work. It is the start of the week so I won’t see my family again until Friday. Then to top that off my car would not start. I hope it isn’t anything expensive that is wrong with it but knowing my luck it will be. I am a little down today but not as crazy as some people can get.

To celebrate Monday and my theory that it is usually bad because of people having to return to work, take a look at a couple of videos where even though you are having a bad day they look like they are having a worse day. Some of these videos are old but still funny:

Hope you enjoyed the videos and it brought a little smile to your face on this Monday. Be happy you aren’t that stressed out (maybe you are though) and always keep an eye out to the person next to you that you work with. Especially on a Monday.

As a bonus video even if they are crazy it would be pretty funny to work with this type of guy:
 

Hotel Resort Fees

Let’s say you went to stay at a Vegas hotel for the week. You found a cheap deal online and booked your hotel thinking you are not going to break your bank with a hotel. You have a nice stay in Las Vegas and you go and check out. The person at the front desk says, “Thank you for staying with us, here is your charges for the resort fee that is charged per night for services.”

The person looks down at the charges and there is about $60 worth of extra charges added on to what you already paid for the hotel. Has this happened to anyone? Well if you stayed in Las Vegas then I am sure it has. I have always known about the extra fees they tack on at the end. Especially since I have been traveling a lot and sometimes stay in a hotel in Vegas during the week when needed. However, even though the front desk tells you upfront about the charges people are still outraged about the fees. Especially when the fee is about the same price you paid per night for the room.

On the other hand I can see why people get mad because it does add up and the “services” they say they charge you for a lot of times are not even used. Let’s take a look at a recent stay I had and what they charged me for in the resort fee.

  • Shuttle service to the strip (I have my own car so this is never needed)
  • Use of the swimming pool (I won’t be using this and besides it is not even opened)
  • Use of the hotel gym (I won’t be using this and besides I have a gym membership in Las Vegas)
  • Use of their phones (I believe most people have cell phones so this isn’t something I would use)
  • Use of the internet (Here is something I use. They give the price as $5.99 but is already charged in your resort fee)

Of the five items listed above I would only use internet. I can see why people get mad when they are being charged for services they are not using. Just the fact when you check out after having a nice stay and see all these charges that add up can just get people upset and depressed. My thought is why doesn’t the hotel just give you an option of what services you want and then pay for those instead of a lump sum? If the person doesn’t want the gym but wants the pool they charge them a price for use of the pool and give them a card key for it or someone at the pool checking if they paid for the service. It makes sense and at the same time doesn’t make the customer upset. Then again these hotels are used for people who are on vacation and not like me and used to stay during the work week if I need to. So from a business standpoint it gets the hotel some extra profit.

I don’t know but I just feel if they want to charge for the use of something they should charge for the services the customer is actually going to use. What’s next, charging to hear the couple next door have sex because their walls are too thin? Yes I had to listen to that this past week while I was eating dinner in the room. Anyway moving on from that, what is everyone’s thought on hotel’s charging resort fees? Do you think they should just charge for services that you use or am I way off base and what they do now is good? Let me know and comment. I would like to hear from you.

On a side note this Sunday is the Super Bowl. Since the Patriots destroyed the Broncos in the playoffs, I will have to go for the Giants. Sorry.

I’m Coming Home

“I’m coming home, I’m coming home. Tell the World I am coming home…”  Diddy-Dirty Money 

As with the first lines in the song I am coming home. My wife and I recently established a home in Goldfield, NV. Even though my job is still in Las Vegas and I spend Monday through Friday either in Las Vegas or on the road, Goldfield is now my official home (again). Many people ask me why I would want to move back to Goldfield. There are a few reasons which I will outline: 

  1. This is the town where I grew up. I am familiar with it and the culture. Even though things have changed since when I left back in 2001 it still has the same qualities that I loved about it.
  2. My wife and kid love the area. They are closer to a support system. This is good because I travel a lot for my job. We all can be closer to family and friends.
  3. The school would be way better for my son then a Vegas school where he would just be another face in the crowd.
  4. Along those lines, the crime and overall state of the town of Goldfield it way safer then Las Vegas.
  5. I have a lot of plans for the town as I have always been drawn to it. 

To go along with point five I do have some major plans for the Goldfield/Tonopah area. I look back to the days when I was growing up in Goldfield and remember how much life it had. 

I remember during Treasure Days (called Goldfield Days now or the Land Auction) there were vendors everywhere from all walks of life. Major politicians would be in the parade even if it wasn’t an election year. I remember so many games and fun stuff to do for kids and adults alike. Does anyone remember that?   

I remember in the evening time after school kids, adults and all would meet at the gym and have a basketball game. I remember the gym would get so packed that people were waiting on the benches to come in to play. That is how full it was. Does anyone remember that?  

I remember a lot of events would come to Goldfield. There would be magic shows, plays and a lot of community picnics. I remember there was a Memorial Day picnic at the park. I remember every year bikers would come to a park for an evening every year. I remember summer programs for kids. Does anyone remember that? 

I remember the school would hold book fairs. There would be theater companies coming to the school to get the kids to do a play. I remember huge turnouts to the annual Halloween carnival. I remember when the school cafeteria was packed for school lunches. I remember a lot of dedication and many games to the basketball program.  I remember the track meet that happened every year was something to train for a month or two. Does anyone remember that? 

These are some of the changes that have happened since I left Goldfield. There are more but these come to mind. I am sure there was even more stuff before I was even born. Why did all these changes happen? The obvious answer there is not as much people as there was when I was living there, money and the economy is very low, and a different way of life for kids where pickup games are not as important as it used to be. 

This is where point five comes along. I plan to help revitalize the community. This just does not include Goldfield but all of Esmeralda county and the Tonopah area. I have some ideas, plans and some connections to help do this. I know I can’t do it alone and will need the communities help also. However, soon people will start seeing these plans come to pass. It will probably take a couple of months to get started but if time allows and it pans out things will start looking up. 

What does everyone think? What changes would you like to see in Goldfield or do you not want anything to change? What memories do you have of the past that you would like to see come back? Share your memories and your thoughts. Register and comment below because I want to hear what people think and if there is even an interest of changes.