It's Not A Bender, It's A Lifestyle.

Found an interesting little nook in the Mlife consumer site called "Tax Info". Basically it's a breakdown of how much you've won, or in my case lost, at all the various MGM casinos. For all quarters of 2014, which is 2 full trips, I'm down a total of $1688 and change. Being that I did pretty well in the July trip slots-wise, that means I pretty much took a bath in March. Most of the casinos are pretty consistent, have lost between $2-300 at all the casinos I tend to spend much time at, MC, NYNY, Luxor. Lost a little at MGM but I'm rarely ever in there. Mirage was only $38 down despite my gambling heavily there the last two days I was in town in July, which makes sense as I did pretty well in there. Where I took a beating this year thus far is Bellagio. I've been trying to get noticed by their comp program there by spending money, and boy have I, to the tune of a little over $600 lost just in two trips.  They haven't sent me so much as a ...

http://www.vegastripping.com/features/feature.php?feature_id=246&page=1 Think this post from the often annoying but usually correct vegastripping.com seems to say it all. The place looks like an unfinished warehouse. I can't for the life of me understand why a place that's trying to be posh/hip wouldn't spring for fucking ceiling tiles. Floor-20 ft looks colorful and retro-modern, fitting the "boutique" feel they're going for, but then above that it becomes fucking Blade Runner, and not in a good way. I'm no architect, but apparently the designer of this place isn't either. Sure, you will draw in crowds in the first few months b/c "ooh, shiny new thing!", but after that you have to have some hook to get people to come back. The Cosmo truly IS hip/posh/retro chic, it has been since opening, it doesn't have to put on airs. It's a destination because it's beautiful and decadent and is full of beautiful and decadent peo...

Next up: Xmas in Vegas. Flight and room booked, I'm staying at Mandalay Bay. 4 nights, 3 days. All nights comped, and $100 of resort credit and $50 of Freeplay. One of the better offers I've gotten this year. Doing the fly in the night before thing again and will be there the night of the 23rd through the afternoon of the 27th. Will have plenty of time to save up for this one, will start in October and have around $4500 like last time. This will technically be the first stay at Mandalay, I stayed at THEhotel once last year but this will be the first time at Mandalay proper. Its a little far away from everything but with the tram from MB to Excalibur it shouldn't be too big of a deal getting around. I had a great time last Xmas in Vegas, the crowds are smaller over the holiday and I'll be getting out early enough to not see the real ramp up to the NYE bropocalypse. May stay an extra night again this time but I'm not likely to plan it ahead of time unless ...

2nd trip of 2014 done. The flight in was delayed (Southwest screwing the pooch on this trip will be a theme) first by 45 minutes, then by over an hour. As a result I didn't even get into town until one in the morning. Dropped off the bag, had one at Nine Fine and headed out. Hit a bar at Aria on the way to the Cosmo. The "stay up all the first night" thing worked out as planned, no real issues getting through the night. Spent a good part of the evening at Cosmo and then worked my way back to NYNY and was able to check in early by asking the casino host there to arrange it. Was in room by 11a-ish and asleep by noon. Probably will do this going forward to squeeze in an extra night on trips. Saturday evening, after 3 (4?) shots on the way, got to PH and the Soundgarden/NIN show. Both bands were great. SG sounded better than I thought they would, and NIN was typically amazing. The Axis venue had good acoustics and the light show from NIN was awesome. So glad I was able ...

...the night before Vegas, and all through the - oh never mind. The 7-day work stretch is done, the laundry is done, I'm all groomed up, it's time for 5 nights/4 days in a little town called Paradise. The above photo will be the primary haunt starting tomorrow at around midnight, from NYNY to Bellagio. And of course a little Planet Hollywood action for NIN/Soundgarden. Will be finalizing the Vegas playlist tonight, have a pretty tight 35-song group on tap right now. Some NIN, some Soundgarden, some Sinatra (of course), and even some (yes) Justin Timberlake. Gotta stay up super late tonight so I can sleep the bulk of the day tomorrow and be nice and slept up for going overnight tomorrow night. Stay up til 5a or so, wake up around 9a to go get the last cash out of the bank, back to sleep hopefully until around 6p then it's off to the airport and wheels down around 11:30p. Kinda of have a relaxed hype going for this one, it's becoming a bit routine for me ...

On most of my trips to Vegas, I've taken along "enhancements". Generally blow. One time molly and another time Oxycodone. But generally blow. I don't do a lot of drugs in life anymore...I had a decent weed habit going for a while but I never really got over the feeling of paranoia it causes (or the amplification of my natural paranoia it causes) and I got out of it. For me it's the kind of drug that you have to have your own house to do comfortably. Never gotten high in Vegas, wouldn't want to. It's not a social drug for me. I had a decent little E/molly habit going for about a year when I was living in San Jose and coming up to the City every weekend. THAT is a fun drug, and tailor made for Vegas. I had a supplier that had really good, pure shit that just made you feel like dancing and fucking. That connection dried up after I moved and I only tried it again last year on the THEhotel trip in October. This was some very different shit...it did...

1 week from the moment I write this post I will be on the ground in Vegas and probably already a couple drinks in at the first bar.  Nine Fine at NYNY, probably, as I will be heading there first to drop off my bag before starting the all-nighter bonus night. Going to try to avoid doing much gambling on night one so as not to cut into the funds too much on the first night of a 5-night trip. Just going to wander that first night, eat, drink, and soak in being back at the one place that feels like home for me. At least the one place I'd rather be more than anywhere else, (when I have cash to blow). I'm sure I'll end up at the Cosmo Friday night; have a history of being able to spend a whole night going from 24-hour bar to 24-hour bar in there. Nothing like the Cosmopolitan on a weekend night, the vibe is like no other in Vegas, and Vegas is a town that is not hurting for vibes. I've been trying to contact casino hosts to set up an early check-in Saturday s...