Thursday night I saw Simon & Garfunkel at the Oakland Arena.
The show was very scripted so you can read lots of different reviews of it and it'll probably describe the show I saw as well. I saw them once before, in 1981 when a bunch of us piled into a car and drove from Ithaca to New York City to see them in Central Park. "See" is a relative term -- we were present in the park as long with half a million people and we heard the singing, but that's about all. I went "for the experience" rather than for the show.
This time, I went for the music. And it was incredible music. Even though he sounded a bit off, Art could still hit a lot of those notes that reach right to your heart and leave a lump in your throat and a tear in your eye.
Was it worth $120/ticket? Or $220 for really good seats?
I don't know. It was for me. It's not every day you hear music that touches your soul. That's gotta be priceless.
I spent last weekend in Las Vegas.
It was fun, as always. There was gambling, too much eating, too much drinking, a bunch of funny shows, some intentional, some not so much. There wasn't enough sun/warmth for the pool which was a bummer.
Highlights:
- Rumjungle in Mandalay Bay has an impressive spread of food and an even more impressive spread of alcohol especially rum. Try the "fire pit" for your entree and you won't have to decide what to eat, they'll bring you a little bit of everything.
- Bellagio and Aladdin buffets. Be very, very hungry.
- The Comedy Stop at the Tropicana. Best value: $20 for a show, including two drinks. Much better than the lame drink-minimums and $80 overpriced spectacles.
- Monte Carlo suites. Super sweet! Especially the huge whirlpool bathtubs
- The Orleans poker room: now non-smoking!
Lowlights:
-Ah Sing, the asian restaurant at the Paris. $8 for a pot of tea? It's basically decent Chinese food for 5x the price!
- Zumanity. Yes, the dancing and some of the acts are as cool as anything else Cirque Du Soleil has put on. But nothing about the show is sexual or sensual to those of us over 17. I mean really, is the old drag queen MC'ing the show supposed to be somehow scandalous?
- Pedi-cabs on the strip.
- Porn flier peddlers on the strip
- Timeshare peddlers everywhere
- Bellagio poker. They are letting people get away with some very bad things and losing players every time they do that.
- The Orleans coffee shop for breakfast. Worse than could be imagined