https://youtu.be/sN1AVSZyFbY?si=SOes-cn6TurjQpIa
2/21/11
quote of the moment
"you know, people will spend their last dime to be entertained. they'll
steal a meal and pay for their entertainment."
steal a meal and pay for their entertainment."
-- 'iron' mike tyson
2/18/11
message from solid G
Kutrate alert. Prince in oakland both monday and wed. Tix on sale now.
***
the problem is it's at the oakland indoor arena ... the 2nd crappiest
venue in N CA. so, yes, it's very kut-able ... but the venue is so bad
it's not worth it.
1/30/11
missed kut
at the oakland museum "white elephant sale," there was a woman selling
extras for $15 each ($20 face). in the confusion of getting in line, i
missed out on the chance of scoring that bargain.
extras for $15 each ($20 face). in the confusion of getting in line, i
missed out on the chance of scoring that bargain.
usually i'm the guy that makes other people miss.
1/18/11
the platters, cornell gunter's coasters and the marvelettes
really old skool combo show. most interesting part was lewis lyman (frankie's brother) was in the coasters. weird ... and he clearly got his part better than the other "coasters" ... which is also weird.
$50 face. free with ticket subscription.
$50 face. free with ticket subscription.
1/15/11
jubilee!
old fashioned vegas showgirls ... all you really need to know for how up-to-date this show is is that you get to see the titanic sink. i swear this is true.
ticket $80, free with ticket subscription.
ticket $80, free with ticket subscription.
1/13/11
kutrate food, sorta
i've started a fan-blog about SONIC drive-in. i mention it here as search engine rank fodder and much of the underlying tone will be kutrate in spirit.
1/9/11
pauly shore -- vegas is my oyster
one-off comedy jam at the palms taped for showtime. disorganized, amateurish. dumb in multiple spots. i'm sure as hell glad i didn't pay full price -- did it old time kutrate way through craigslist.
face value: $40; KKK price: $15.
face value: $40; KKK price: $15.
1/8/11
metal elvis
spectacular band ... an elvis impersonator (actually the biological son of elvis, according to the weekly world news) singing elvis songs to heavy metal standards. his band?
slush (slash of guns n' roses), who was found at a 7-11 slush machine. spectacularly good guitarist.
sticky lixx (nikki sixx of motley crue), discovered at the hilton buffet.
katman kelly (peter criss of kiss), found in the "hello kitty" section of toys r' us.
great song after great song. the two high points: "CC rider" mashed with the kinks "you really got me" and "suspicious minds" mashed with "enter sandman."
if you know metal, and you like elvis, you gotta see this band.
$10. free with my ticket subscription.
{note: i'm going back to old style and will not be posting reviews, nor crowd make-up, on this site anymore.}
slush (slash of guns n' roses), who was found at a 7-11 slush machine. spectacularly good guitarist.
sticky lixx (nikki sixx of motley crue), discovered at the hilton buffet.
katman kelly (peter criss of kiss), found in the "hello kitty" section of toys r' us.
great song after great song. the two high points: "CC rider" mashed with the kinks "you really got me" and "suspicious minds" mashed with "enter sandman."
if you know metal, and you like elvis, you gotta see this band.
$10. free with my ticket subscription.
{note: i'm going back to old style and will not be posting reviews, nor crowd make-up, on this site anymore.}
1/7/11
luchas las vegas
mexican wrestling combined with a minor amount of freak show antics. unprofessional, but entertaining.
$51, free with my ticket subscription
$51, free with my ticket subscription
12/27/10
a kutrate failure
went to kut the wranglers midnight hockey game by myself ... tickets were still on sale ...
the crowd was unruly and mean ... the regular ticket lines were long ... i just bagged it and came home. if i'd been with someone else to cover my back, i would have stuck it out.
this is extremely rare ... it's one of only three times in my life have i ever gone to kut an event and come back empty handed.
the crowd was unruly and mean ... the regular ticket lines were long ... i just bagged it and came home. if i'd been with someone else to cover my back, i would have stuck it out.
this is extremely rare ... it's one of only three times in my life have i ever gone to kut an event and come back empty handed.
12/17/10
the stuff i don't talk about ...
... my ticket subscription gets me into several shows that i otherwise wouldn't even go to ... i don't mention them here, but the list is impressive ... 40 events/things since the middle of august ...
... and i was gone for almost all of september and october.
... and i was gone for almost all of september and october.
maybe, maybe not
i may quit writing the synopses of these shows ... it wasn't the original intent of what i was doing here and i'm not hearing anything back from anyone, including solid G, on the side ... i don't really enjoy doing it -- especially since i have my sights set on a bigger thing in this immediate world ...
... and if i wanted to talk to myself, it's easier if i don't type.
{this comment was originally posted on "sinatra" below [a couple of minutes ago] but i brought it up for anyone who may be following here without looking at the post-dated items.}
... and if i wanted to talk to myself, it's easier if i don't type.
{this comment was originally posted on "sinatra" below [a couple of minutes ago] but i brought it up for anyone who may be following here without looking at the post-dated items.}
venus yoga
again, not a true kutrate experience, but worth noting ...
as part of my ticket subscription, i had the chance to take a "venus" beginning hot yoga class at vegas hot! a truly diabolical idea, it's 90 minutes of work in 105 degrees and 40% humidity.
it was going to be a challenge for me, for sure, because although my cardio-pulmonary physique is about as good as you can possibly get, my flexibility has always been terrible ... and it's getting worse as i get older.
we went through all the expected twists, moves and convolutions. some i could sort-of accomplish with difficulty, others i had to substitute lesser moves for. after about 75 minutes, i had to sit out about four sets of moves, just to let my heart get back in the "merely extremely dangerous" zone.
as you'd expect, the class was mostly 30-something females ... although i wasn't the oldest, nor heaviest, guy there.
just dropping in and taking the class as a one-off would've been about $15. (i'm not marking it down in the financials.)
i'd sign-up for this over the longer term, but it's a tad pricey compared to, say, a gym membership. i might try and negotiate a kutrate price.
as part of my ticket subscription, i had the chance to take a "venus" beginning hot yoga class at vegas hot! a truly diabolical idea, it's 90 minutes of work in 105 degrees and 40% humidity.
it was going to be a challenge for me, for sure, because although my cardio-pulmonary physique is about as good as you can possibly get, my flexibility has always been terrible ... and it's getting worse as i get older.
we went through all the expected twists, moves and convolutions. some i could sort-of accomplish with difficulty, others i had to substitute lesser moves for. after about 75 minutes, i had to sit out about four sets of moves, just to let my heart get back in the "merely extremely dangerous" zone.
as you'd expect, the class was mostly 30-something females ... although i wasn't the oldest, nor heaviest, guy there.
just dropping in and taking the class as a one-off would've been about $15. (i'm not marking it down in the financials.)
i'd sign-up for this over the longer term, but it's a tad pricey compared to, say, a gym membership. i might try and negotiate a kutrate price.
12/15/10
blue man group - venetian
in yet another score from my ticket subscription, i was able to get tickets to blue man at the venetian. i've seen them two different times in abbreviated form -once in a summer concert jam, the other in periods between a wranglers hockey match- but i'd never seen the full-on real deal.
it's every bit as good and as weird as you could hope, although the show as an entire piece doesn't stick together very well.
we had great "poncho" seats, nearly dead center, three rows back. they should have been $103 apiece. (the row behind was $150.) although there was a fair amount of splatter and spew, we didn't actually need the ponchos.
the audience was mostly younger semi-slacker types. lots of whoopin' and hollerin' from the audience -- which, of course, draws those quizzical looks from the blue men.
it's every bit as good and as weird as you could hope, although the show as an entire piece doesn't stick together very well.
we had great "poncho" seats, nearly dead center, three rows back. they should have been $103 apiece. (the row behind was $150.) although there was a fair amount of splatter and spew, we didn't actually need the ponchos.
the audience was mostly younger semi-slacker types. lots of whoopin' and hollerin' from the audience -- which, of course, draws those quizzical looks from the blue men.
12/14/10
sinatra -- wynn
twyla tharp has the choreographed the show sinatra that's been getting rave reviews in other parts of the world and the las vegas entertainment brain trust has decided to bring it here ... in typical vegas fashion (and unlike the lion king), they've chopped it down with no intermission.
the encore theatre (i assume they spell it the snooty way) is small with almost no passing room in front of you in the seats ... and the seats are also just a touch narrow. but the sight-lines, sound and static nature of the showroom are stunning. in row L i was about half-way back, and as the dancers are doing their thing it feels like they're right in your lap.
i guess most art types would call this show "dance" but to me it feels more like ballet. a live orchestra is playing with recorded sinatra. the dance "story," such as it is, is essentially couples going through the rigors of dancing and romancing in a bar setting -- with a little miming thrown in as well.
i'm not a fan of dance in general, but this show is stunning. the dress is cleverly modern sinatra. lots of women flying through the air. lots of men strutting in such a way that makes you realize you need to spend only about 12 decades more at the gym and then you'll be "in shape."
the lead female dancer, in particular, is so striking that it's hard to watch anyone else when she's on stage ... even if she's doing something as dopey as smoking an imaginary cigarette.
this is the opening week for the show and the audience was almost entirely white senior citizen types ... not surprising since nearly everyone there is probably on the casino comp list.
definitely something i would have tried to kut in the future, and i was happy to take the comp. $100 face.
the encore theatre (i assume they spell it the snooty way) is small with almost no passing room in front of you in the seats ... and the seats are also just a touch narrow. but the sight-lines, sound and static nature of the showroom are stunning. in row L i was about half-way back, and as the dancers are doing their thing it feels like they're right in your lap.
i guess most art types would call this show "dance" but to me it feels more like ballet. a live orchestra is playing with recorded sinatra. the dance "story," such as it is, is essentially couples going through the rigors of dancing and romancing in a bar setting -- with a little miming thrown in as well.
i'm not a fan of dance in general, but this show is stunning. the dress is cleverly modern sinatra. lots of women flying through the air. lots of men strutting in such a way that makes you realize you need to spend only about 12 decades more at the gym and then you'll be "in shape."
the lead female dancer, in particular, is so striking that it's hard to watch anyone else when she's on stage ... even if she's doing something as dopey as smoking an imaginary cigarette.
this is the opening week for the show and the audience was almost entirely white senior citizen types ... not surprising since nearly everyone there is probably on the casino comp list.
definitely something i would have tried to kut in the future, and i was happy to take the comp. $100 face.
12/12/10
leonard cohen - caesar's palace
i'd already seen leonard cohen this year in san jose.
leonard, probably the last great balladeer, is on an odd string of half-luck. he had success -really more as a writer, than as a performer himself- and then turn to hardcore buddhism in a monastery. it was at this convenient point that his manager decided to steal all his money.
mr. cohen comes out of the monastery, realizes he's broke, and, at the age of 73, immediately goes on tour to make money. in a heartbeat he's selling out show-after-show. the tour is hugely successful, lasting an interrupted three years.
the last night of the entire tour is his second night at caesar's palace. the first show selling so strong that they added a second ... but those sales languish.
vegas, being what it is in the 21st century, can have huge nights of entertainment. december 11th is one of these: it has three:
leonard, probably the last great balladeer, is on an odd string of half-luck. he had success -really more as a writer, than as a performer himself- and then turn to hardcore buddhism in a monastery. it was at this convenient point that his manager decided to steal all his money.
mr. cohen comes out of the monastery, realizes he's broke, and, at the age of 73, immediately goes on tour to make money. in a heartbeat he's selling out show-after-show. the tour is hugely successful, lasting an interrupted three years.
the last night of the entire tour is his second night at caesar's palace. the first show selling so strong that they added a second ... but those sales languish.
vegas, being what it is in the 21st century, can have huge nights of entertainment. december 11th is one of these: it has three:
- leonard cohen's last show
- andrea bocelli
- and todd rundgren doing an entire night of robert johnson covers (in a super-intimate venue, not two miles from my place)
this is also dead season. it used to be that vegas went dark from the monday following american thanksgiving to boxing day. only in the last decade or so have they started having shows.
and this means that the ticket market is super-soft. soft enough, in fact, that all three shows are selling tickets below face in the days running up. i hold back and decide to see todd rundgren, having already seen mr. cohen and knowing i can probably catch mr. bocelli sometime in the future.
and then my ticket subscription offered leonard cohen.
i snapped them up immediately.
the show was great and long. leonard continually referred to the caesar's colosseum as "friends" and met his promise that the super-tight, white-hot band for doing their absolute best.
four hours long with one intermission. the only other performer or group i've seen that could run that hard for that long was george clinton.
the set-list was longer than san jose -- maybe as much as 30% longer. the band was tighter. mr. cohen was more eager and digging deeper within himself.
the audience was unusual for a strip big show. dressed a bit nicer. maybe just a tad younger. there was a large contingent of leonard cohen fans that went down to the stage and started singing in unison while laying roses on the stage during intermission.
the only people i could see in the second mezzanine were either white or asian. lots of italian nationals.
it's very possible this is the last large show leonard cohen will ever perform. i'm sure as hell glad i saw it.
$50 for the cheapest seats in the house. free for me.
12/11/10
jon anderson - green valley ranch
i'd been in the green valley ranch (GVR) original pancake house (OPH) a few days earlier and seen that jon anderson was going to play in ovation -- their small, 450 seat theater. i'd never been in there, but a venue that small has gotta be good.
JA was the lead singer for yes and i found it odd that he might play a venue as small as this -considering that he once fronted for 500,000 people in brasil- and at the bargain face price of $25 before fees..
there was a little bit of flexibility for tickets on CL, so it definitely looked to be worth a kut.
after posting a couple ads and making a couple calls, i was able to score a pair for $15 apiece.
the house comp tickets were the crappiest in the house -- far back and to the left ... but once the show started, my guest and i worked our way more toward the center and the seats/view were fine. the sound levels low enough that i didn't have to wear earplugs.
JA was very talkative -in that odd british kind of way- and the audience was very chatty with him, although it became fairly clear that he'd rather have an odd british monologue, than an odd british conversation.
hearing jon anderson play yes solo acoustic is like reading abstracts of highly scientific papers. it strips out the everything but the very essence ... turning fractals of sound into something closer to curves.
the audience was almost entirely white, slightly overweight, and just a touch older than me. lots of older geeks that looked suspiciously like they should be home playing chess instead.
there were two white women in the audience (not together), 30-somethings, that were nearly acting out every damn song that mr. anderson played.
very enjoyable evening.
JA was the lead singer for yes and i found it odd that he might play a venue as small as this -considering that he once fronted for 500,000 people in brasil- and at the bargain face price of $25 before fees..
there was a little bit of flexibility for tickets on CL, so it definitely looked to be worth a kut.
after posting a couple ads and making a couple calls, i was able to score a pair for $15 apiece.
the house comp tickets were the crappiest in the house -- far back and to the left ... but once the show started, my guest and i worked our way more toward the center and the seats/view were fine. the sound levels low enough that i didn't have to wear earplugs.
JA was very talkative -in that odd british kind of way- and the audience was very chatty with him, although it became fairly clear that he'd rather have an odd british monologue, than an odd british conversation.
hearing jon anderson play yes solo acoustic is like reading abstracts of highly scientific papers. it strips out the everything but the very essence ... turning fractals of sound into something closer to curves.
the audience was almost entirely white, slightly overweight, and just a touch older than me. lots of older geeks that looked suspiciously like they should be home playing chess instead.
there were two white women in the audience (not together), 30-somethings, that were nearly acting out every damn song that mr. anderson played.
very enjoyable evening.
12/9/10
kutting it close ...
not a kutrate per se, but worth noting ... as part of my ticket subscription, i was given a chance for a "quality grooming experience" at american male salon. this included a wash before, a haircut, a wash after, conditioning, scalp & face massage, hot towel treatment, "spritz of toner," "slash of cologne," and a neck shave.
i guess you should think "metrosexual," but it wasn't as bad as all that.
it also included a "styling," which, when you have 15 hairs on your head, isn't that big of a deal and "neck shave." now if you're balding, neck shave is a big deal. i told my stylist, "do you have a black and decker trimmer? or maybe just a weed eater? you're welcome to quit, you know. you can say, 'i didn't sign up for abusive work practices' and just walk out."
oh, AND, it included a paraffin hand dip. now WHY you'd want to cover your hands in lotion and plunge them in molten candles is beyond me, but if it comes with a "free" sign on it, you better believe i'm there (even if it was something like "hit yourself on the thumb with this hammer").
it was great.
the stylist was korean national, so we talked a lot about missiles -- something remarkably easy to think about as a totally hot asian runs fingers through your hair.
REPEATEDLY.
it would've run $40, which is reasonable considering the service, but not something i'd do constantly without something like a silicon valley day job and no spare time.
all the stylists were female. all the guys seemed "business-like" and not disco-y.
i tipped $10, which seemed fair on zero.
i'm not marking it on the master tally, but this is what kutrate is about.
i guess you should think "metrosexual," but it wasn't as bad as all that.
it also included a "styling," which, when you have 15 hairs on your head, isn't that big of a deal and "neck shave." now if you're balding, neck shave is a big deal. i told my stylist, "do you have a black and decker trimmer? or maybe just a weed eater? you're welcome to quit, you know. you can say, 'i didn't sign up for abusive work practices' and just walk out."
oh, AND, it included a paraffin hand dip. now WHY you'd want to cover your hands in lotion and plunge them in molten candles is beyond me, but if it comes with a "free" sign on it, you better believe i'm there (even if it was something like "hit yourself on the thumb with this hammer").
it was great.
the stylist was korean national, so we talked a lot about missiles -- something remarkably easy to think about as a totally hot asian runs fingers through your hair.
REPEATEDLY.
it would've run $40, which is reasonable considering the service, but not something i'd do constantly without something like a silicon valley day job and no spare time.
all the stylists were female. all the guys seemed "business-like" and not disco-y.
i tipped $10, which seemed fair on zero.
i'm not marking it on the master tally, but this is what kutrate is about.
12/8/10
lion king -- mandalay bay
T-day to xmas is the slow time in vegas, so my ticket subscription is showing up with some of the big ticket things.
i wasn't familiar with "lion king," but i have double hatred for musical theater ... one for being brainwashed by my wife -- who loves traditional theater, but hates musicals ... and the other for hating theater in general because i can't get over the fact that i'm watching a bunch of actors on stage (a side-effect from having to watch "the seagull" [GODDAMMIT] as my first theater experience as a 13 year old).
it was a great spectacle. wide ranging audience. solid performances from all the cast with exceptional work by the actor representing zazu. great puppets. nice use of perspective-within-2-D.
i'm sure you already know all this stuff.
something i would have kutrate sometime next year because of all the fuss, but thanks to my ticket subscription, i don't have to.
$114 face.
i wasn't familiar with "lion king," but i have double hatred for musical theater ... one for being brainwashed by my wife -- who loves traditional theater, but hates musicals ... and the other for hating theater in general because i can't get over the fact that i'm watching a bunch of actors on stage (a side-effect from having to watch "the seagull" [GODDAMMIT] as my first theater experience as a 13 year old).
it was a great spectacle. wide ranging audience. solid performances from all the cast with exceptional work by the actor representing zazu. great puppets. nice use of perspective-within-2-D.
i'm sure you already know all this stuff.
something i would have kutrate sometime next year because of all the fuss, but thanks to my ticket subscription, i don't have to.
$114 face.
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