Edward King
2015-03-14 19:26:10 UTC
EDWARD'S SUPER BOWL TRIP REPORT!
PART THE THIRD - SECTION THE SECOND
TOURISM!
As we ride back downtown in the Waltmobile we pass by several casinos
with the monicker "Dotty's". We're not quite sure whether that's a
remark on those who play there
As we get near to home base, we drive past the Gold & Silver Pawn
Shop, well known as the location featured in the show "Pawn Stars". It
resides in a very "salubrious" neighbourhood. Pawn shop; bail bonds*;
bail bonds; pawn shop; pawn shop; bail bonds; you see what I mean ;-).
However the normal queue outside the Gold & Silver is remarkable by
its absence, which I mention to Walt. Next thing, he's pulling into
the parking lot!
We get out, waving off some dodgy looking fellows in the lot, and go
into the fabled Pawn Stars Pawn Shop! Which, it has to be said, looks
nothing like it does on TV. However, there are some very impressive
things available for sale, including a couple of Super Bowl rings. One
of the rings is a Patriots ring. That's a good omen I think**.
Needless to say, none of the show's stars are present in the shop.
We depart, head back to the car and thence back to our residences
downtown.
The next exploratory trip is to see "Raiding the Rock Vault" at the
Trop. So the Three Musketeers***, Athos (Walt), Porthos (yours truly)
and Aramis (Thomas W) come together to get us some rock'n'roll! This
is the #1 rated show on TripAdvisor in Vegas, and we three each have
General Admission tickets. Walt and I drive into the Trop's parking
structure and walk on. We meet up with Thomas near the theatre; but
there's no box office! We head out across the casino and eventually
find the box office. Nice to see the Trop has retained the Tiffany
ceiling over the casino hall. Three general admission tickets later,
we split up to do various stuff. In my case just about break even at
VP. As the time comes we reconvene and plonk ourselves in seats
around half way to the stage on the mid-right.
Then the show begins! And, quite frankly, it's pretty damn good.
These guys aren't names you might recognise, but they're members of
bands that you definitely do. Good, solid, master-level arse-kicking
musicians. They play tracks from the 60s to the 90s and they're
pretty much spot-on. Not /too/ surprising since many of these guys
played on those tracks first time round. Vocally, they even manage a
creditable Freddie; which is about as hard as it can get.
It was a damn good show; no wonder it's #1 on TripAdvisor. Go see,
especially if you like last quarter 20th century popular music. Even
/more/ especially if the 60s to the 80s do it for you!
Next THE VALLEY OF FIRE!
Edward
* Information for non-USAns and others who've never heard of this. If
you get arrested in some states, to be able to go about your business
rather than rot in jail requires you post bail; a sum of money to
guarantee you will appear at future proceedings. If you don't, you
forfeit the bail. A fair number of people can't afford even to lay
the bail, which is where the bondsman comes in. He'll place the sum
for bail in the court, in exchange for 10% or so of the bail amount as
a commission. You show up, you clear bail and just have to pay the
bondsman his cut. You don't show up, then the bondsman is on the
hook; but he can get off the hook if he can produce the accused. So,
where state law allows, they'll send an agent to apprehend the
deadbeat in exchange for a fee. These men are called bounty hunters.
Needless to say, the presence of bail bondsmen is directly
proportional to the number of persons who need their services. Not
necessarily your choice of place to live****
** Turned out that it was
*** Seems to fit*****. Walt is Athos, our leader of impeccable
rectitude. I am Porthos, somewhat corpulent and fond of the finer
things in life, but I hope I'm worthy of keeping up. Thomas W is
Aramis; married as he is to TBWOTP, how could he be anyone else?
Cameron is D'Artagnan; he arrives last, he's the youngest, and he
definitely shows us old buggers how to have a good time ;-)
**** Errors and omissions excepted. I learned all I know of this from
"Dog, the Bounty Hunter" reruns. In other words, this could be
entirely wrong and I wouldn't know the difference.
***** It was a good choice! The only other one I could think of was
the Three Stooges and I rather think I was heading to be Shemp. Not
good.
PART THE THIRD - SECTION THE SECOND
TOURISM!
As we ride back downtown in the Waltmobile we pass by several casinos
with the monicker "Dotty's". We're not quite sure whether that's a
remark on those who play there
As we get near to home base, we drive past the Gold & Silver Pawn
Shop, well known as the location featured in the show "Pawn Stars". It
resides in a very "salubrious" neighbourhood. Pawn shop; bail bonds*;
bail bonds; pawn shop; pawn shop; bail bonds; you see what I mean ;-).
However the normal queue outside the Gold & Silver is remarkable by
its absence, which I mention to Walt. Next thing, he's pulling into
the parking lot!
We get out, waving off some dodgy looking fellows in the lot, and go
into the fabled Pawn Stars Pawn Shop! Which, it has to be said, looks
nothing like it does on TV. However, there are some very impressive
things available for sale, including a couple of Super Bowl rings. One
of the rings is a Patriots ring. That's a good omen I think**.
Needless to say, none of the show's stars are present in the shop.
We depart, head back to the car and thence back to our residences
downtown.
The next exploratory trip is to see "Raiding the Rock Vault" at the
Trop. So the Three Musketeers***, Athos (Walt), Porthos (yours truly)
and Aramis (Thomas W) come together to get us some rock'n'roll! This
is the #1 rated show on TripAdvisor in Vegas, and we three each have
General Admission tickets. Walt and I drive into the Trop's parking
structure and walk on. We meet up with Thomas near the theatre; but
there's no box office! We head out across the casino and eventually
find the box office. Nice to see the Trop has retained the Tiffany
ceiling over the casino hall. Three general admission tickets later,
we split up to do various stuff. In my case just about break even at
VP. As the time comes we reconvene and plonk ourselves in seats
around half way to the stage on the mid-right.
Then the show begins! And, quite frankly, it's pretty damn good.
These guys aren't names you might recognise, but they're members of
bands that you definitely do. Good, solid, master-level arse-kicking
musicians. They play tracks from the 60s to the 90s and they're
pretty much spot-on. Not /too/ surprising since many of these guys
played on those tracks first time round. Vocally, they even manage a
creditable Freddie; which is about as hard as it can get.
It was a damn good show; no wonder it's #1 on TripAdvisor. Go see,
especially if you like last quarter 20th century popular music. Even
/more/ especially if the 60s to the 80s do it for you!
Next THE VALLEY OF FIRE!
Edward
* Information for non-USAns and others who've never heard of this. If
you get arrested in some states, to be able to go about your business
rather than rot in jail requires you post bail; a sum of money to
guarantee you will appear at future proceedings. If you don't, you
forfeit the bail. A fair number of people can't afford even to lay
the bail, which is where the bondsman comes in. He'll place the sum
for bail in the court, in exchange for 10% or so of the bail amount as
a commission. You show up, you clear bail and just have to pay the
bondsman his cut. You don't show up, then the bondsman is on the
hook; but he can get off the hook if he can produce the accused. So,
where state law allows, they'll send an agent to apprehend the
deadbeat in exchange for a fee. These men are called bounty hunters.
Needless to say, the presence of bail bondsmen is directly
proportional to the number of persons who need their services. Not
necessarily your choice of place to live****
** Turned out that it was
*** Seems to fit*****. Walt is Athos, our leader of impeccable
rectitude. I am Porthos, somewhat corpulent and fond of the finer
things in life, but I hope I'm worthy of keeping up. Thomas W is
Aramis; married as he is to TBWOTP, how could he be anyone else?
Cameron is D'Artagnan; he arrives last, he's the youngest, and he
definitely shows us old buggers how to have a good time ;-)
**** Errors and omissions excepted. I learned all I know of this from
"Dog, the Bounty Hunter" reruns. In other words, this could be
entirely wrong and I wouldn't know the difference.
***** It was a good choice! The only other one I could think of was
the Three Stooges and I rather think I was heading to be Shemp. Not
good.