Ah, a good song. I wish it were more possible. Personally, I think it would make a great theme song. So would "Dancing Through Life," but both those songs require an ability to break out of practical and realistic worries. Unfortunately, I am incapable of such.
If you remember, I went to see Wicked on Saturday. It was fun!! And a show like that had to be seen at something like the Pantages. It would have lost so much of its impact otherwise. Well, being able to squish people between your fingers from the balcony seats also loses impact, but not as much.
For those who care, I think "Defying Gravity," "No One Mourns the Wicked," and "No Good Deed" are my favorites. I liked the entire score, but those ones stand out the most to me. Probably because of the messages they send. For those that haven't seen it yet, or have no plans to, and are reading this for whatever petty pleasure they derive from it, I'm posting part of the lyrics from here.
Defying Gravity-I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game...
It's time to try
Defying gravity
I think I'll try
Defying gravity
And you can't pull me down!
the Wicked- No one mourns the Wicked
No one cries "They won't return!"
No one lays a lily on their grave
No Good Deed- No good deed goes unpunished
No act of charity goes unresented
No good deed goes unpunished
That's my new creed
My road of good intentions
Led where such roads always lead
No good deed
Goes unpunished!
"Defying Gravity"-Wicked soundtrack
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
King of the Road
Not quite. I haven't traveled enough in my NEWLY ACQUIRED FIXED CAR in order to call myself that. Even then, I'd be "Queen of the Road." In chess, the queen is more powerful. ^-~
So, I finally got to pick up my car yesterday (Wednesday). We stayed the night at my aunt's house in Bakersfield Tuesday night and drove to/from Los Banos yesterday to pick it up. It's very fun. As soon as I have taken a picture of it, I'll post it as my profile pic.
The auto shop did a wonderful job. If I didn't know my brother had wrecked it a month and ten days ago (who's counting?), I'd say it came right off the lot.
Anyway, my first big adventure with it will be on Saturday. My parents and I are going to see "Wicked" at the Pantages Theatre in LA, and we'll be taking my car since it's the smallest and therefore the most maneuverable.
Also, for those that care, it's definitely a Japanese name. I haven't figured out what yet, but I was trying different names while I was driving it and no other names "fit" unless they were Japanese. I HAVE MY CAR!!!!!!!!! I AM STOKED!!!!!!!
"King of the Road"-Roger Miller
So, I finally got to pick up my car yesterday (Wednesday). We stayed the night at my aunt's house in Bakersfield Tuesday night and drove to/from Los Banos yesterday to pick it up. It's very fun. As soon as I have taken a picture of it, I'll post it as my profile pic.
The auto shop did a wonderful job. If I didn't know my brother had wrecked it a month and ten days ago (who's counting?), I'd say it came right off the lot.
Anyway, my first big adventure with it will be on Saturday. My parents and I are going to see "Wicked" at the Pantages Theatre in LA, and we'll be taking my car since it's the smallest and therefore the most maneuverable.
Also, for those that care, it's definitely a Japanese name. I haven't figured out what yet, but I was trying different names while I was driving it and no other names "fit" unless they were Japanese. I HAVE MY CAR!!!!!!!!! I AM STOKED!!!!!!!
"King of the Road"-Roger Miller
Monday, June 16, 2008
Viva Las Vegas
So, this is a continuation of my trip to Vegas. Hopefully this one will be shorter than the last.
On Thursday, I hit the strip (Las Vegas blvd.) early. I took a cab to the MGM Grand and ended up at Circus Circus. Essentially, I started at one end and ended almost at the other.
Now, let me explain why I was starting at one end. When I booked my hotel reservation, they threw in a ticket for the LV monorail. Now, I thought it was a day pass thing, which meant I could hop on and off all day which actually would have been a lot of fun. However, when I redeemed it, I found out it was a one time thing. I could get on somewhere and get off somewhere else once and that was it. So I had to plan out my walking/monorail ride. My original intent was to start at the MGM where they start the monorail and just go from there. No such luck, but I wasn't too depressed about it.
In the area of the MGM, there is that casino (obviously), New York New York, Excalibur, Luxor, and Mandalay Bay. I hit all of those and took a free tram from Mandalay back to Excalibur, which saved me the trouble of walking back. This was all before about noonish. Excalibur is also where I had my second & last drink on the trip. The souvenir glass was pretty nice, so I got a drink in that.
That's when I discovered M&Ms World. Keep in mind, I visited Vegas in January but I hadn't been to M&Ms World since before that. My last trip to Vegas prior to this year was sometime in high school. I had a blast. It's always cool walking around the casinos, but when I got to the World that was the most fun I'd had so far that day. And in deference to my die-hard Coca-Cola friends (or at least die-easy), I visited the Coke store which was maybe two doors down. The museum part was undergoing remodeling, but I did buy a bottle of Coke w/a cool label on it just so I could say I did things properly.
I hit part of Planet Hollywood next. I was getting tired and the awesome slice of pizza I had from the NYNY was wearing off. There was an indoor "rainstorm" thing at one of the fountains so I sat and watched that. It wasn't much, but it was still a break. And since I borrowing the table of the Ben & Jerrys right there, of course I was obligated to buy ice cream from them.
From there I meandered towards the Venetian, hit that, and the Palazzo, and made my way across the street. I made sure to catch the water fountain show, otherwise the trip across the street would have been wasted. I was originally trying to catch the pirate show at Treasure Island, but that didn't start until 7. I shrugged and went my merry way on the tram from TI to the Mirage. I had never checked out the Secret Garden (where the white lions & tigers are) (no white bears, sorry) so I figured I may as well. By the time I was done with that there was no way I could catch the TI show, so I went to the monorail station between the Imperial Palace and Harrahs. I rode it from there to the Hilton, and from there walked to Circus Circus. I caught a couple of the 15 minute circus acts going on, then decided I should probably get dinner and go back to the room. It was about 9:30 when I left Circus Circus via taxi, and I still had packing to do.
On Friday, my bus left for Bakersfield at 9:40. According to the ticket. We actually left about 10 minutes late but we still made excellent time. Although it was an adventure trying to get down to the first floor. There were about a baker's dozen worth of people all waiting for one elevator. The other 5 elevators were down. And of course each time the elevator went down there was people in it, so I ended up waiting about 30 minutes to get from the 11th floor to the reception desk. I lucked out though because the service elevator was working and one of the maid service ladies finally said "come on, go ahead and check out." I thought that was pretty nice of her. That and some of the the people I was with were complaining to her but I wasn't. Have I mentioned I'm a firm believer in karma?
Well, I hooked up with my friend in Bakersfield and pretty much chilled on Friday evening. "Chilling" included air conditioning, pizza, and a Miyazaki movie so that was fine. Saturday we hit a couple stores (father's day shopping) but that was about it. After almost a week in Vegas I wasn't going to complain about taking it easy. Met up with my parents Saturday afternoon, and came home.
That's pretty much the highlights of my trip. Obviously there's the more detailed version but you would have to get in touch w/me for that. Car update: the bodywork is done, and it should be repainted this week. Of course, I won't be able to get it until next week at the earliest due to parental unit full-time schedules, but I will at least have my car.
"Viva Las Vegas"-Elvis Presley
On Thursday, I hit the strip (Las Vegas blvd.) early. I took a cab to the MGM Grand and ended up at Circus Circus. Essentially, I started at one end and ended almost at the other.
Now, let me explain why I was starting at one end. When I booked my hotel reservation, they threw in a ticket for the LV monorail. Now, I thought it was a day pass thing, which meant I could hop on and off all day which actually would have been a lot of fun. However, when I redeemed it, I found out it was a one time thing. I could get on somewhere and get off somewhere else once and that was it. So I had to plan out my walking/monorail ride. My original intent was to start at the MGM where they start the monorail and just go from there. No such luck, but I wasn't too depressed about it.
In the area of the MGM, there is that casino (obviously), New York New York, Excalibur, Luxor, and Mandalay Bay. I hit all of those and took a free tram from Mandalay back to Excalibur, which saved me the trouble of walking back. This was all before about noonish. Excalibur is also where I had my second & last drink on the trip. The souvenir glass was pretty nice, so I got a drink in that.
That's when I discovered M&Ms World. Keep in mind, I visited Vegas in January but I hadn't been to M&Ms World since before that. My last trip to Vegas prior to this year was sometime in high school. I had a blast. It's always cool walking around the casinos, but when I got to the World that was the most fun I'd had so far that day. And in deference to my die-hard Coca-Cola friends (or at least die-easy), I visited the Coke store which was maybe two doors down. The museum part was undergoing remodeling, but I did buy a bottle of Coke w/a cool label on it just so I could say I did things properly.
I hit part of Planet Hollywood next. I was getting tired and the awesome slice of pizza I had from the NYNY was wearing off. There was an indoor "rainstorm" thing at one of the fountains so I sat and watched that. It wasn't much, but it was still a break. And since I borrowing the table of the Ben & Jerrys right there, of course I was obligated to buy ice cream from them.
From there I meandered towards the Venetian, hit that, and the Palazzo, and made my way across the street. I made sure to catch the water fountain show, otherwise the trip across the street would have been wasted. I was originally trying to catch the pirate show at Treasure Island, but that didn't start until 7. I shrugged and went my merry way on the tram from TI to the Mirage. I had never checked out the Secret Garden (where the white lions & tigers are) (no white bears, sorry) so I figured I may as well. By the time I was done with that there was no way I could catch the TI show, so I went to the monorail station between the Imperial Palace and Harrahs. I rode it from there to the Hilton, and from there walked to Circus Circus. I caught a couple of the 15 minute circus acts going on, then decided I should probably get dinner and go back to the room. It was about 9:30 when I left Circus Circus via taxi, and I still had packing to do.
On Friday, my bus left for Bakersfield at 9:40. According to the ticket. We actually left about 10 minutes late but we still made excellent time. Although it was an adventure trying to get down to the first floor. There were about a baker's dozen worth of people all waiting for one elevator. The other 5 elevators were down. And of course each time the elevator went down there was people in it, so I ended up waiting about 30 minutes to get from the 11th floor to the reception desk. I lucked out though because the service elevator was working and one of the maid service ladies finally said "come on, go ahead and check out." I thought that was pretty nice of her. That and some of the the people I was with were complaining to her but I wasn't. Have I mentioned I'm a firm believer in karma?
Well, I hooked up with my friend in Bakersfield and pretty much chilled on Friday evening. "Chilling" included air conditioning, pizza, and a Miyazaki movie so that was fine. Saturday we hit a couple stores (father's day shopping) but that was about it. After almost a week in Vegas I wasn't going to complain about taking it easy. Met up with my parents Saturday afternoon, and came home.
That's pretty much the highlights of my trip. Obviously there's the more detailed version but you would have to get in touch w/me for that. Car update: the bodywork is done, and it should be repainted this week. Of course, I won't be able to get it until next week at the earliest due to parental unit full-time schedules, but I will at least have my car.
"Viva Las Vegas"-Elvis Presley
I Love Vegas
So, I'm thinking it will probably be easier to post about my trip to Vegas in two posts. Simply because I know people generally don't read longer posts.
I HAD SO MUCH FREAKING FUN!!! THE SHOW WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!!! Ok, now that that's out of my system...
I arrived in Vegas on Tuesday, and checked in about 7 pm to my hotel. It actually took longer for me to walk through the casino and to the reception desk than it did to walk from the greyhound station to the hotel. I was downtown, near the Fremont experience. I made a nice discovery when I got to the room though. Y'see, they had live music every night around 8 or 9. I could hear it from the table in my room. It was merely a matter of sitting in the chair, working on my computer (although I was lacking in internet), and I got to hear free, live music. A good amount of which was pretty good.
Wednesday I slept in...a lot...and pretty much hung around Fremont street and explored the hotel a little bit. Throughout the walk they had something called "the neon museum," which was the city/someone taking some of the old neon signs (the cowboy, Aladdin's lamp, etc) and they had them set up along the walk. there was one corner that was under construction, but the elevator shaft was covered in different signs.
I also won a teddy bear at the arcade they had down the way. It's dark brown and is holding a Junior Mint pillow. It's named "Jillian" after the casino/arcade I won her from.
I had to be lined up for the dinner at around 5:30, so I returned to the hotel room and after a long soak went to the line in front of the Copa Room. For those that didn't know, I stayed in the same hotel as the one the show was playing in. I don't know if I mentioned that in a previous post or not, so I figured I'd better clarify. For dinner, we had the option of steak, pasta primavera, or Mediterranean grilled chicken. I chose the last option. At our table, I was sitting between a couple from the UK (London) and a couple from Kansas. The couple from Kansas was sitting across from a couple from Ohio, then a couple from Texas, and the last person at our table was a guy from New Jersey who admitted he was as close to a certified nerd as he could get. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I was 3 (that's 1,2, and 3) chairs from the actual stage. When they said VIP seating, they meant it.
It was the main three of the Rat Pack, Sammy Davis Jr, Dean Martin, and Frank Sinatra, but they also had a Joey Bishop impersonator. All 4 opened the show, then they all came on and did separate acts. If you want pics, check Facebook within the week or contact me some other way. However, what was really cool, is that they all did songs associated with the individuals. Dino did "Everybody Loves Somebody," Frank did "I've Got the World on a String" and "My Way," and Sammy did "Mr. Bojangles." Which is one of my absolute favorite songs. So when he did it, and the real Sammy had an entire routine worked out to it, the impersonator did it differently but I was stoked that he did the song at all. We met Yoshi Bishop (Joey in a kimono) and were treated to some of Joey's jokes. I was sitting in the fun side of the audience. There was actually a point during his routine that he dragged the mic over to the middle of our section and told the jokes. I think someone got mad at him though and told him to go back to center stage, because he eventually dragged the mic back to center. There were still a couple points in the show where he sorta turned his shoulder to the other side and talked to us though. That was cool.
There was also a guest by the name of Marilyn Monroe. She sang the birthday song. He was a much older gentleman by the name of Bob, but he was known as "Bobbeeeee" (trilled) by the end of the night. Not Bob, or Bobbie, but Bobbeeee. The gal playing Marilyn was having way too much fun.
The ticket I got included dinner, a free shirt, and VIP seating. It was definitely worth it. They didn't have any cds or dvds of the show, but I did get them to sign an advertisement poster though. Including Marilyn, who's not on the poster but gave it a kiss (bright red lipstick) and signed as well. The pic on the profile is not my actual poster (there would be signatures on it) but it is the pic they used. From left to right, Frank, Dean, Sammy, and Joey.
This is why I'm breaking up my trip-this is already an extremely long post.
"I Love Vegas"-Dean Martin
I HAD SO MUCH FREAKING FUN!!! THE SHOW WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!!! Ok, now that that's out of my system...
I arrived in Vegas on Tuesday, and checked in about 7 pm to my hotel. It actually took longer for me to walk through the casino and to the reception desk than it did to walk from the greyhound station to the hotel. I was downtown, near the Fremont experience. I made a nice discovery when I got to the room though. Y'see, they had live music every night around 8 or 9. I could hear it from the table in my room. It was merely a matter of sitting in the chair, working on my computer (although I was lacking in internet), and I got to hear free, live music. A good amount of which was pretty good.
Wednesday I slept in...a lot...and pretty much hung around Fremont street and explored the hotel a little bit. Throughout the walk they had something called "the neon museum," which was the city/someone taking some of the old neon signs (the cowboy, Aladdin's lamp, etc) and they had them set up along the walk. there was one corner that was under construction, but the elevator shaft was covered in different signs.
I also won a teddy bear at the arcade they had down the way. It's dark brown and is holding a Junior Mint pillow. It's named "Jillian" after the casino/arcade I won her from.
I had to be lined up for the dinner at around 5:30, so I returned to the hotel room and after a long soak went to the line in front of the Copa Room. For those that didn't know, I stayed in the same hotel as the one the show was playing in. I don't know if I mentioned that in a previous post or not, so I figured I'd better clarify. For dinner, we had the option of steak, pasta primavera, or Mediterranean grilled chicken. I chose the last option. At our table, I was sitting between a couple from the UK (London) and a couple from Kansas. The couple from Kansas was sitting across from a couple from Ohio, then a couple from Texas, and the last person at our table was a guy from New Jersey who admitted he was as close to a certified nerd as he could get. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I was 3 (that's 1,2, and 3) chairs from the actual stage. When they said VIP seating, they meant it.
It was the main three of the Rat Pack, Sammy Davis Jr, Dean Martin, and Frank Sinatra, but they also had a Joey Bishop impersonator. All 4 opened the show, then they all came on and did separate acts. If you want pics, check Facebook within the week or contact me some other way. However, what was really cool, is that they all did songs associated with the individuals. Dino did "Everybody Loves Somebody," Frank did "I've Got the World on a String" and "My Way," and Sammy did "Mr. Bojangles." Which is one of my absolute favorite songs. So when he did it, and the real Sammy had an entire routine worked out to it, the impersonator did it differently but I was stoked that he did the song at all. We met Yoshi Bishop (Joey in a kimono) and were treated to some of Joey's jokes. I was sitting in the fun side of the audience. There was actually a point during his routine that he dragged the mic over to the middle of our section and told the jokes. I think someone got mad at him though and told him to go back to center stage, because he eventually dragged the mic back to center. There were still a couple points in the show where he sorta turned his shoulder to the other side and talked to us though. That was cool.
There was also a guest by the name of Marilyn Monroe. She sang the birthday song. He was a much older gentleman by the name of Bob, but he was known as "Bobbeeeee" (trilled) by the end of the night. Not Bob, or Bobbie, but Bobbeeee. The gal playing Marilyn was having way too much fun.
The ticket I got included dinner, a free shirt, and VIP seating. It was definitely worth it. They didn't have any cds or dvds of the show, but I did get them to sign an advertisement poster though. Including Marilyn, who's not on the poster but gave it a kiss (bright red lipstick) and signed as well. The pic on the profile is not my actual poster (there would be signatures on it) but it is the pic they used. From left to right, Frank, Dean, Sammy, and Joey.
This is why I'm breaking up my trip-this is already an extremely long post.
"I Love Vegas"-Dean Martin
Monday, June 2, 2008
All That Jazz
I promise I'll start updating. Really.
So, what has happened since the last time I updated? Since I'm sure you're all dying to know. Although not really dying, hopefully, since that means I'll have to attend funerals. *shudder* Anyway, the day I actually finished updating was the day of my cousin's wedding. With the exception of my immediate family, the rest of my mom's family lives in Bakersfield. They were married in a church, and the reception was held at my aunt's house, since it was her son getting married after all. The ceremony itself was very nice, and the reception afterward was actually kinda fun. Those of you that remember, I am NOT a big party/get-together-with-more-than-3-or-4-friends person. The dinner was delicious, and I was actually partially in charge of pictures so that got me away from most of the dancing.
This past Friday I went to Hesperia to meet up with a friend of mine. The main purpose was to pick up my cat, but also to help her move out of her house into the new one. My cat, Figaro, was born last August and my friend has been holding her for me pretty much since I started talking about getting a cat again. I also plan to move in with my friend, hopefully by the end of next year but nothing's certain.
Finally, an update on my car. I am hoping to have it by the 20th of June, Friday. My mom called the auto shop last Thursday and they had apparently just gotten the parts in that day and were to start working on it Friday. It would be awesome if I could manage to have the car the weekend I get back from Vegas, but I think that's asking too much. I think that's it for now.
"All That Jazz," Chicago soundtrack
So, what has happened since the last time I updated? Since I'm sure you're all dying to know. Although not really dying, hopefully, since that means I'll have to attend funerals. *shudder* Anyway, the day I actually finished updating was the day of my cousin's wedding. With the exception of my immediate family, the rest of my mom's family lives in Bakersfield. They were married in a church, and the reception was held at my aunt's house, since it was her son getting married after all. The ceremony itself was very nice, and the reception afterward was actually kinda fun. Those of you that remember, I am NOT a big party/get-together-with-more-than-3-or-4-friends person. The dinner was delicious, and I was actually partially in charge of pictures so that got me away from most of the dancing.
This past Friday I went to Hesperia to meet up with a friend of mine. The main purpose was to pick up my cat, but also to help her move out of her house into the new one. My cat, Figaro, was born last August and my friend has been holding her for me pretty much since I started talking about getting a cat again. I also plan to move in with my friend, hopefully by the end of next year but nothing's certain.
Finally, an update on my car. I am hoping to have it by the 20th of June, Friday. My mom called the auto shop last Thursday and they had apparently just gotten the parts in that day and were to start working on it Friday. It would be awesome if I could manage to have the car the weekend I get back from Vegas, but I think that's asking too much. I think that's it for now.
"All That Jazz," Chicago soundtrack