willbenham’s blog

I kind of like this Vegas template and I kind of like Vegas; my girlfriend took me there as a birthday surprise last month.

In my daily life, I feel the constant need for stimulation - doing one activity is not enough that I need the comfort of the internet, television, music, and high speed internet to feel at home.  Vegas - with its constant bright lights and big television screens - is right at my level.  Now, you cannot stay in this stimulating environment for too long, as you may come to forget that the rest of the world does not move at the same pace.This stimulation is apparent the moment you get off the plane, as really, you don't even have to leave the airport.  There are video poker and slot machines all through the airport, along with an onslaught of posters for all the Vegas shows.  You can even see videos displaying the rules of airport security in the form of skits starring Carrot Top, the Blue Man Group and a host of impersonators.  Out of the airport, the extreme heat can be a little overwhelming for those of us accustomed to San Francisco weather.  After a brief cab ride, I saw our lovely hotel - Treasure Island, or "ti" as all the marketing materials refer to it.  Treasure Island is in a pretty central location for checking out the strip and I had a nice view of a constant iPod ad from our tenth story window.

On the strip, we first visited the Venetian. The Venetian is absolutely one of the finest hotels in Vegas, and it is easy to get lost inside its recreation of the streets of Venice.  After dining at Tsunami, we heading over to Madame Tussaud's where I got cozy with Hugh Hefner...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

got tough with the Rock ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and even reconciled with Mel Gibson...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The biggest surprise of all though was getting to see "Love" - the new Beatles Cirque de Soleil show.  It was brilliant and I blogged all about it at http://newusedrecords.blogspot.com/2006/08/vegas-re-cap-part-3.html.

My first vox post ... I think I'm just going to plug stuff.  I have a blog called "New and Used Records (which you can see at http://newusedrecords.blogspot.com/).  I also do a video and audio podcast - both of which are also called "New and Used Records" (see and hear them at http://willbenham.podomatic.com).  I'm at work at the moment, so I should get back to that.  I'll write more later.