So anyway, Vegas was fun. I had to attend a midterm Monday morning (I ended up with a B), and then pack (I forgot to get my luggage out of storage until after it was locked down Sunday night), and hit the bank, so I didn't hit the road until close to 11:30. The drive wasn't too bad, traffic was light, but the wind around the pass was real bad, to the point that it was difficult to control the car. Stopped in Torrance for lunch, and could barely open the car door into the wind. It was cold in the desert, mid 50s, and when I stopped for gas (Barstow, if memory serves), I went for my jacket, and realized I forgot it (I was wearing it when I packed, so somehow in the two minutes before I left the house, I took off my jacket and forgot it). Knowing it would be cold in Vegas, that was disappointing. But I made good time, was in my room by 4:30. I took a shower and a nap, and then went down and lost a fair amount of cash playing blackjack at Bally's, where I was staying. Had their buffet, which was disappointing, except for some excellent ribs, and decent bananas foster (probably would've been better, except that I got there right before closing, and all they had left was sugar-free vanilla ice cream). Played at the tables with some german woman; the dealer and I entertained her with stories of cheating dealers. And I, fatigued, hit a hard 17 on accident. But I won a little bit back at the end, so I suppose staying up gambling to 4 AM was a good plan.

Tuesday I played a bit at Paris, ended up down a little, then walked all the way to the Stardust, checking out the construction on Wynn's new casino along the way (coming right along). Played at the Stardust about three hours, won a small amount. The place was uncharacteristically jumping, because of a blackjack tournament, apparently. Ate their buffet, which I've never had before. It was actually very good for the price (it was comped for me, but if you're paying, its not a bad deal). Played at the Flamingo on my way back, lost a ton, then won it all back, with a small profit. Then I had Paris' buffet for dinner. Second time I'd eaten there, not as amazing as I remembered, but still quite good. Made-to-order crepes and seafood buillabaise were the best things. One disappointing change since I last dined there, the bananas foster was no longer made to order, and instead of the premium ice cream one would expect from a $30 buffet, they only had frozen yogurt. I still ate it and enjoyed it very much, but still it's sad that the desserts at Paris' buffet pale in comparison to those at my local home-town casino, at only about 2/3 the price (I think Barona's might be the best buffet I've ever had). I still think Paris is one of the better buffets in Vegas, but it still is debatable whether rich French food is the best thing for an all-you-can-eat restaurant. But again, it was free for me, and having a comp, I was allowed to cut to the front of the line, which gives one a feeling of power.

I gambled a bit after dinner, lost a bit, and then took my seat for Jubilee, Bally's showgirl spectacular. I'd never seen a real Las Vegas showgirl show, so it was quite a treat. I had a great seat, first row in the theatre seating, behind the dinner tables in the front. Level with the stage. Unfortunately, there were occasional things above the audience, and I had a bad vantage point for that. The show opened with a woman directly above me, and from my perspective, her nipples looked like lug nuts, and it was comfortably warm in the theater. The show was quite a spectacle, lots of topless women, some not topless, dancing, men singing. I enjoyed picking out the women who were actually pretending to sing, rather than just half-assedly flapping their gums in rhythm to the music. I puzzled a bit over why the tons of naked women were not slightly erotic. I had some theories, the most likely that the women, with their feathered outfits and huge headdresses, resemble the women in '50s stag films too much, and so its like being aroused by women long dead, even though, it being live entertainment, one knows by definition they are not dead old women. I still haven't puzzled out why they felt the need to use topless showgirls to tell bible stories, but nevertheless they did, the tale of Samson and Delilah being the first big production number in the show. Samson didn't have much hair, which was puzzling. Later, they told the story of the Titanic, but now the showgirls had tops on, out of respect for the dead. (Apparently the philistines were crushed long enough ago that their story could be told with nudity). On deck, however, the guests were dressed more like they were on a showboat on the Mississip' than on an atlantic ocean liner. I also didn't understand why the drunken floozy from the Captain's ball was later wandering the boiler room, and yet still found her way to a lifeboat. In addition to these big set pieces, there were other numbers, a nice medley of Cole Porter tunes (a favorite of mine), as well as Gershwin, and some other variety acts, the contortionists being the only act I really enjoyed. It was a long two hours at times, but I was glad I went. Sort of thing I could never sit through outside of Vegas, but it really puts one's Vegas vacation into the proper perspective. And I was impressed by the spectacle of it all, a huge cast, elaborate sets and all. And a showgirl fell down (I was looking the other way, but turned my head when I saw people pointing, and just caught her pulling herself back up). So a fun time was had by all.

Gambling late into the night at Bally's again, ended up a little bit, but still down a lot for the trip. But I felt like I was slowly pulling myself up by my bootstraps (which, in retrospect, was probably setting myself up for trouble on Wednesday). I got up around 9:45 and took care of my bill. I can take some consolation, thinking about my losses, that my room and all my expenses were taken care of, I never had to spend money on anything while I was in Vegas. Meals, show tickets, room, incidentals, all taken care off. And I still have a $30 balance in my comp account, apparently. Before leaving, I had the breakfast buffet at Paris (the line pass was a real godsend, as it looked like the wait for a table was close to thirty minutes). I'd never had the buffet there for breakfast, and it was quite good. The highlight was the fresh waffles, which I topped with berries and a very gently-whipped cream. They had made-to-order seafood omlettes, a wide selection of smoked fishes, lots of pasteries, and some other, richer, food, which I avoided (cheese blintzes, for instance). I'm not a big breakfast person, and much of the food was a bit too heavy, but I'd say the waffles and berries alone were well worth it.

On my way out of town, I hit Green Valley Ranch. Not a good idea. Blackjack went well for about an hour, then it got ugly, fast. I played with a blind woman who is going to be on the World Blackjack Tour. Premieres in March on the Game Show Network, which I don't get, but I have a friend who does. Rumor had it they were going to film it at Barona, but apparently this round was at Mohegan Sun. Perhaps a future episode will be at Barona. She was contractually forbidden from saying how she did. Later, two seperate women would both get very annoyed at me for hitting a soft 18 against a 10. In case you're interested, that is the correct play, and most people play it correctly. Yet the first woman was incredibly annoyed with me, and was downright hostile, which is fine by me, because it gives me some consolation when the dealer makes a hand, knowing she loses money, too. One can't control one's feelings, but you can at least make an effort not to take out your frustration at losing on others; no one put a gun to your head and made you gamble. So she annoyed me. The other woman wasn't as bad, it was just somewhat funny, the way she asked me, "Do you realize you hit an 18?" as though it was the most shocking thing she'd ever seen. Apparently, she wasn't at Bally's when I saw the guy take insurance, then surrender his bet (for those not up on blackjack, this means the 2/3 of the time when the dealer didn't have a natural 21, he would be guaranteed to lose his entire bet). But she wasn't actually hostile to me for hitting it, seemed more to pity me than anything. To cut to the chase, blackjack at the Ranch wasn't friendly, and I realized I had to hit the road soon, so I decided to move to video poker, try to hit a quick royal flush and get out of the hole. Turned out to be a bad idea. Earned enough on my players card to get some pizza comped for an early dinner before leaving vegas, but ended up deep, deep in the hole. But I figure my comps were worth about $500-700, depending on the going rate for hotel rooms that week. And I had fun, so I got a good vacation at a decent rate, all things considered.

I joined Friendster. Feel like a heel, but that's okay. If you wanna be my buddy, just let me know.