In this edition of the original Las Vegas podcast:
- Tropicana sells (finally)
- Flamingo signs Toni Braxton
- A challenge to our listeners regarding Web site comments
- Prince to appear with Morris Day and the Time at Rio
- Our first walk through Hooters Casino Hotel
Five Hundy By Midnight 5/21/06 (25:21 min, 23.7 MB)
So – what was the name of the AUDIO RECORDER that was almost mentioned ?
Oh yeah. Forgot about that. The Marantz PMD660 PMD.
Short cut-off jean shorts? Is Mike from Roseville a nevernude?
I think Michele should wind up with the dog and her Silent But Deadlies…
Found this about the Toni Braxton show: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060520/music_nm/braxton_dc_1
Cool recorder Tim, but how do you conceal such a device while doing your “soundscene” tours of the casinos? No problem during the cooler months (under your trenchcoat), but makes quite a bulge in your pants pocket during the hot summer nights. I suppose you can use Michele’s fanny pack, or do you just carry it in your hand in plain sight?
You made it through the Hooters casino without commenting on the “Blazing Hooters” machines… maybe they’ve been re-themed?
I agree with your assessment of “Nine Fine Irishmen” at NYNY. Good food, good drink, and a nice atmosphere.
34 days and counting. This time I’m staying at Barbary Coast because of your favorable comments about it. (Not to mention that Barbary Coast and I have the same initials).
The pants bulge setup is just too easy. I’ll behave and let it go.
We just came back from LV, and spent the last night @ NYNY- my favorite for all the bars and restaurants. Nothing quite like having a few pints on the 2nd floor overlooking the activity below…
I’m not a nevernude!
That’s it. I’m running away to audition for the Blue Man Group.
Where are you in Hooters, Michelle?
Tim seems to be answering your unheard questions. Definitely need a second mike.
Win a Hooters girl (hesitate) bobblehead. Nice pause.
You don’t seem impresssed.
Dan
Quick trip report to compare to your Hooters experience:
My wife and I were in Vegas last week and she said she wanted to check out the new Hooters hotel and casino. I replied, “Say it isn’t so”. It proved pretty lucky though as my wife pulled out the biggest bonus I have ever seen playing max coins on a Gambler machine. That really made Sarah smile and as we walked away she really felt like a rich girl. Things weren’t as good at the dice table though. It seems my favorite middle aged Asian box lady from the Gold Coast has made the move to Hooters. I hit a dollar yo and let it ride. On the next roll, the dice took a funny bounce landing in a 5 and a 6 sending me into euphoria. It was short lived though. The old bag waved it off saying, “It hit the rail. I can’t go for that. No can do.” i argued and added “You’re outta touch.” She told me if there was one more outbursts, I’d be 86ed and that the private eyes were watching me. Wow! Whatta maneater! Just like that big, bam, boom we blew off Hooters! On the way out. I griped to a floor manager. He said don’t worry. It won’t be long and she’s gone.
P.S. Tim don’t ever try substitute teaching. The second you tell juveniles not to do something, you will be inundated. I am just proud to be the first to post such juvenile rhetoric.
That’s the Comment Of The Year right there…
I just want Tim to know that I am mature enough to respect his wishes and not mention Hall & Oates on the website comments.
OK, since we have the ban on mentioning that “other band”, I nominate “ABBA” for “bad band of the week”.
“ABBA, ABBA, ABBA”
As a girl who experienced part of the ’70s, I must say I have a soft spot in my heart for “Dancing Queen.” And “Knowing Me, Knowing You.” And “Waterloo.” And most of ABBA “Gold,” for that matter. And “I Know There’s Something Going On” by Frida, but not so much Agnetha’s duet with Peter Cetera “I Wasn’t the One Who Said Goodbye.”
Well then, Michele, you should reserve your seats now for the ABBA musical, “Mamma Mia”, at Mandalay Bay.
http://www.onlineseats.com/las-vegas-tickets/mamma-mia/index.asp
I can just imagine Tim and you singing along to some ABBA hits on your next roadtrip to LV. Or, maybe NOT!
If you hate ABBA, you’ll really hate the movie Muriel’s Wedding.
I’d rather take the $5 bucks you’d spend on the movie out of a clearance rack and start saving for a bottle of rum. They’ll both make you sick, but the annoying feeling in your head from the rum will go away in a day or so. ABBA tends to have longer term effects.
Sparky, damn it, you stole my band of the week idea, although I was going to suggest we discuss Styx.
Since we’re on the subject, two questions:
Mike, do you have a jersey-style Styx shirt to go with those jean shorts? (you’ll make up for you hatred of Oates if you do)
Which is the better song – Mr. Roboto or Dancing Queen? (my vote if obiously for Mr. Roboto)
ABBA – Great Vegas band choice Sparky!
“Money, Money, Money”
“The Winner Takes It All”
“Gimme!, Gimme!, Gimme!”
“Rich Girl”
Oops!
Oh, you mean “Rich Girl” by Gwen Stafani. She will be my nominee for next weeks “bad band”.
Good save Sparky. We don’t want to piss off Michele. I hear she is a real “Maneater.” I will try be more careful next time.
Sorry Aaron, my only remaining concert-wear from the old days is a Springsteen T-Shirt with a pink Cadillac on the front. Got it during the Born in the USA tour; of course that was the eighties and it’s much too valuable to wear.
Styx peaked with Paridise Theater…their famous rock opera. The Grand Illusion album was good drinking music too.
I’d like to publicly complain about ‘The New Cars’. Todd Rundgren’s got balls to take someone else’s music and tour with it. He should be tried and convicted by a jury of his peers. Where do you find 12 has-been, B rockers who can’t get out of jury duty?
Where else, Mike? Vegas!
Dancing Queen is far superior to Mr. Roboto, but Come Sail Away, even when not sung at breackneck speed by Cartman, blows the doors off anything ABBA ever recorded. Tommy Shaw kicks ass.
It’s really not a fair comparison. Dancing Queen was as good as ABBA ever got; Mr. Roboto was Styx last attempt to survive. Dave is right about Tommy Shaw, but not his solo crapola.
Hey ABBA fans; disco didn’t die of natural causes, rock and roll killed it!
Stand tall.
Don’t think small.
Don’t get your back against the wall.
Want to talk about the truly worst band ever? I nominate the Black Eyed Peas. Evidence: “My Humps.” Discuss.
And there’s room for both ABBA and Styx in a music collection. “Come Sail Away” vs. “Dancing Queen” is a tough, tough call.
the worst band ever: The John Mayer Trio
if you don’t think that’s a band Ill go with Wham!
Other honorable mentions include Culture Club, the new INXS, and the Black Eyed Peas.(I agree with Michele).
Somehow it’s not surprising that a discussion of a show entitled “A Stroll Through Hooters” would morph into a disussion of a song that includes the line, “You love my lady lumps”.
This beats a discussion about the-duo-who-must-not-be-named, hands down.
In a different age, My Humps would have resulted in several high-powered record company executives losing their jobs.
My friends and I have been intermittently compiling a Worst Songs Ever list. My personal least favorite from that list is Watching Scotty Grow by Bobby Goldsboro.
FYI, the Hooters Casino Video Tour is now available on their web site.
http://www.hooterscasinohotel.com
Click on “Play Here” and then click on “Video Tour”
Michele was right, there is a lot of “wood” there.
Now you can replay the soundscene tour while strolling through the virtual casino.
Tim and Michelle,
The audio is good. I also use and iRiver for several things on my show. I have live in Las Vegas for 11 years this weekend and I am starting utilize Vegas in my poetry but I must say I get some pretty good inspirations and Vegas specific ideas from your show. So thanks. The next time you two come into town let me know, I would love to meet you both and as long as we do not venture back to Hooters I am sure we can find something to do.
Tairy “Little Red”
I’m really not sure where Tim is quoting from. He’s a bit of an enigma wrapped in a riddle. I was thinking it was a Gloria Gaynor or Survivor lyric. It sounds like one of those annoying self-righteous anthems of self-worth. It could be Ann Murray or Sally Fields too. I’m not familar with the genre.
I’ve packed my jeans shorts and will be leaving town for the weekend so I leave you a song some of you may have something to say about: Tubthumping by Chumbawamba
It’s so bad it’s actually good. My favorite line, ‘pissing the night away’. Outside of Lonesome George’s catalog, it may be one of the top ten drinking songs of the past twenty years.
Lyrics are from Styx, “Girls With Guns”.
Sorry Sparky- Styx didn’t sing “Girls with Guns”… Tommy Shaw FROM Styx sings it…
Tim, do you utilize the griffin stereo lapel mic?
I should have known that. I believe that was the closest thing to a hit the Shaw had while he was Styx-less.
I have a Griffin mic but haven’t used it. I instead use a Radio Shack lapel mic. Maybe I should give the Griffin mic a shot. The reason I don’t like it is its size, shape and color (white) make it stand out more than the small, black mic I normally use. Although I’m not really trying to hide that I’m recording, I don’t want to draw attention to it in case the casinos have a problem with it.
Have seen the latest version of Styx live with Lawence Gowan a Canadian replacing Dennis De Young , who of course is touring by himself.
Gowan is very good and the band is outstanding.
However, the show is no “Mamma Mia” which my wife and I saw three times in Toronto.
Dan
Michele,
I agree with you about “My Humps”. Truly awful. I have just listened to my first ever five hundy by midnight. Really enjoyable. Thankyou.
My partner and I are planning to get married in Vegas September next year. We were going to stay at the Flamingo. We are taking both sets of parents and my brother and partner. The trouble is we can imagine them getting a bit fed up of Vegas quality buffets and wanting a ham sandwich (English style, i.e. boring) after a few days. Do you know of any shops where we can get bread and stuff for cheap? We don’t mind travelling a bit off the strip if we know where we’re going.
Rose.xxx
Michele must be shopping. If you asked about where to pick up a good pair of shoes, she would have been all over it.
If you go out of the Flamingo towards Barbary Coast, take a left down Flamingo Road, there’s a little store a few blocks back. I don’t know if they have meat, but lots of snacks, beer, etc. They may have it and I haven’t noticed.
On the other side of the Flamingo is O’Shay’s. In the back of O’Shay’s there are several little resturants including Subway sandwiches, Burger King, and a pizza place. That’s an easy place to get a snack. One buffet per day is enough for me.
The Flamingo is a nice place to stay, but the food’s not the greatest. Skip the buffet and go to Alladin’s if you want one.
Hope this helps!