For Sale: 2000 Honda s2000
Miles: 75,904
Color: Silverstone Metallic, Red/Black interior
Price: $17,000
Just in time for summer! The highly desirable first generation Honda s2000 convertible. This car comes in the very popular silver exterior and a red/black interior combination. 2nd owner, non-snoker, no accidents and garage kept, this car has been meticulously taken car of with routine maintenance happening far more frequent than the recommended intervals. In October, the car is put in to 'winter-mode' and stored until May. At that time, the oil, transmission and differential fluids are changed. All other fluids are examined and changed as needed. Oil is changed at least once more over the summer.
The car comes with minimal aftermarket parts. An Apexi VAFC2 with a dyno tune put over 200 hp to the wheels and has been integrated into the center console. I have a non-modified center console if desired that can easily be installed. There is a K&N intake filter (reusable) that is cleaned every spring. There is also a replica BYS rear trunk spoiler to add that little bit of style without being obnoxious. Everything else on the car is stock. The car is hardwired for a Valentine 1 radar detector, but it can be removed or hidden if wanted. Comes with a GoPro camera mount on the center windscreen that can also be removed. Optional custom made front bumper GoPro mount available too. Lojack is also installed in the car and comes with 2 key fobs and owners manual. Includes car cover and convertible top tonneau cover.
Brakes are still in good condition; front at about 75% and rear at about 50%. Tires are Toyo Proxes 4 and will probably need to be replaced at the end of summer depending on how much the car is driven. There is a small section in the driver seat that is common with the s2000. As the driver gets out of the car, the side bolster suffers the force. Leather cleaner and conditioner cleaned and repaired most of it. (Shown in picture). The front bumper has some paint chips along the bottom where the previous owner removed the front lip. There is a small crack starting to form in the soft top from keeping the top down for so long. It is the original top, but is conditioned frequently to keep it clean. Rear window is plastic with some minor scratches and fading, but has been polished out as much as possible.
KBB lists the car at 17,672 in Excellent condition and 17,222 in very good condition. I am listing the car for $17,000. Serious buyers only, no joy rides. This post is only for Facebook family and friends, so please forward along if you have anyone interested. I will wait for a while before going to craigslist. Please contact me on Facebook if interested. This post will be modified when it goes to Craigslist.
High resolution photos of the whole car can be found here: http://bcs127.smugmug.com/Other/2000-Honda-s2000-For-Sale/
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
December Vegas Trip - Part 4
While this part of the trip doesn't really fit chronologically in the post order, it fills in a bit of a back story. The last post talked about our dinner at Cut. Now I'd like to tell you about how we paid for that dinner and how the excitement continued after dinner.
A few hours before dinner, we had decided to hang out around some of the casinos and play a bit to kill some time. I wasn't having the best of luck, but I wasn't getting my butt kicked either. I was really only playing Pai Gow, 3 Card Poker and Let it Ride. I watched Kaitlyn play Roulette and slots quite a bit too. I have a rule with Pai Gow. If I lose 2 hands in a row, I get up from the table. Pai Gow is a very easy game to just sit for 10 hours and not lose much. On the other hand, it's also easy to sit for 10 minutes and lose $100. It's a game of pushes and losses, and an occasional win that you have to pay commission on. So when I lose 2 in a row, I call it quits for a while, otherwise you'll lose it all.
We had decided to stop by Harrah's and play there for a bit. I lost my 2 in a row at Pai Gow. In fact, I had only played 3 hands total. Push, loss, loss. It was horrible. So I watched Kaitlyn play let it ride for a bit and then I found an open 3 Card poker table for $5. I don't usually like playing at tables that have a lot of people, because the way they deal the cards can mess up other players hands depending on where you sit. Even though it's a $5 table, it can end up costing $15 per hand because you play the ante and the 'play' bet, and you can also play the optional 3 card bonus bet for another $5 (which I was). So pretty much $10 a hand if I decide to fold, $15 if I play.
Anyway, I was hitting a couple pairs and I think I hit 2 pairs once on the 5 card hand. I wasn't up much, maybe $40 or so. I had been playing for about 15 or 20 minutes. I looked down at my next hand and saw a 3 of hearts. I immediately began to write this hand off as a loss, because in order to really win you need to have jacks or better. Next card was a 4 of hearts. OOoooo, now this could be interesting. Last card. Sometimes I like to look a little slower. Adds to the excitement. So I slowly peek at the final card. It's red. My hope starts to grow a little. I peek a little more, and I can immediately see that it's a 5. So I at least have a straight which pays 6:1 on the ante bet and even money on the 3 card bonus hand.
The only thing that I don't know yet is if it's a heart or a diamond. I slide the card a little more, and a smile immediately appears on my face. The dealer looks at me like I'm a goon. It's a heart! I've got a straight flush. in my 3 card hand. HOLLLLLAAA!!!!! That's 40:1 on my ante bet and 5:1 on the 3 card bonus. $230 total on the one hand. Since Kaitlyn happens to be at the table next to me still playing Let it Ride, she hears the commotion and looks over and I let her know. The gals that were playing with her finish their hand and come over and sit with me. I play one more hand and it's crap and so I tip the dealer and get up and leave the table. Thank you very much, I'm gonna enjoy a nice dinner tonight on you.
And that's how Harrah's paid for our lovely dinner at one of the best steak houses in Las Vegas, and allowed me to try Waygu beef for the first time.
After dinner, we went for a walk. A few weeks ago, I had found a stuffed plush of the Bumble from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Well after doing some research, I found out that it was part of a set. So now, I had been trying to find a Yukon Cornelius one and found out that they were only available at CVS. And there are none in Washington...or even in the Pacific Northwest. Well, there is on in Vegas, so now we were walking to see if they had one. They did not, so that walk kinda sucked. But we figured that it was too early to head to bed and since it was our last night we still wanted to play.
We headed to the Margaritaville Casino next to Flamingo. We had gone there the day before and the dealers were really fun and the atmosphere was great. Kaitlyn decided to try out Roulette and so I went to the Let it Ride table next to hers. It was empty and was $5. Let it Ride is a game that you put down 3 bets and you get 3 cards and the dealer gets 2 face down cards. The object is to make the best 5 card hand. You get to look at your cards and decide if you want to pull back one of your bets. Then the dealer turns over a card and you get to decide again if you want to pull back the second. If you do, you tuck the cards and the dealer turns over the last card. It's kinda confusing, especially to try and write about it.
This game can cost you up to $21 per hand at a $5 table. The 3 $5 bets mentioned above. A $5 3 card bonus bet and a $1 bonus bet (for 5 all 5 cards).
I had been doing pretty good, winging a few hands. I was probably up about $50. I had got a few decent hands that outweighed the bad ones. And then I got a great one. I got dealt 3 of a kind. In all the times that I have been playing this game, this was the first time that I have ever got a 3 of a kind. I let that ride so I was playing all 3 hands and was guaranteed a win. I don't remember what she turned over, but the dealer was excited and we were hoping she had a pair or perhaps the 4th card to give me a four of a kind. In the end, it didn't improve on the 5 card hand. So on my $1 bet it paid me $4. Yah yah, it's not a whole lot. But on each of my 3 $5 bets, it paid 3:1. $15 each on those. The big money was on the 3 card bonus bet. 30:1. $150. Not quite as good as the 3 card poker hand, but I'll take it.
We continued on and I had a vibe and the dealer kept saying that another big hand was coming. I was on such a run, it seemed like every hand I had at least a pair. I can't remember how many times we almost hit a big hand. I'd have 2 pair and we'd be one off on a full house. And then it happened again. Another 3 of a kind. This was only about 10 hands later. It didn't take long before the guys upstairs sent in a new dealer. She said thanks, I had probably gave her $40 or so in tips. I wasn't sure if she was coming back or not. I played 1 hand with the new dealer and then got up and left. I was up $450 from just that table. I watched Kaitlyn play roulette for a little while longer and was keeping an eye on that table to see if my dealer came back. They had removed her from the table completely, because when the next dealer change came it was a different person. Oh well, I'll take my winnings home then.
We kept playing for a little while longer getting some more $1 Jameson on the rocks. Eventually we called it a night. We had to leave for the airport at 11:30 the next day, so there wouldn't be any time to play in the morning.
All in all, it was a fun trip. I hadn't been this lucky in a while, so it was nice to hit some big hands. But, I think the best part was still the Michael Jackson show. I'm so glad that we decided to go. That's all for my trip report.
A few hours before dinner, we had decided to hang out around some of the casinos and play a bit to kill some time. I wasn't having the best of luck, but I wasn't getting my butt kicked either. I was really only playing Pai Gow, 3 Card Poker and Let it Ride. I watched Kaitlyn play Roulette and slots quite a bit too. I have a rule with Pai Gow. If I lose 2 hands in a row, I get up from the table. Pai Gow is a very easy game to just sit for 10 hours and not lose much. On the other hand, it's also easy to sit for 10 minutes and lose $100. It's a game of pushes and losses, and an occasional win that you have to pay commission on. So when I lose 2 in a row, I call it quits for a while, otherwise you'll lose it all.
We had decided to stop by Harrah's and play there for a bit. I lost my 2 in a row at Pai Gow. In fact, I had only played 3 hands total. Push, loss, loss. It was horrible. So I watched Kaitlyn play let it ride for a bit and then I found an open 3 Card poker table for $5. I don't usually like playing at tables that have a lot of people, because the way they deal the cards can mess up other players hands depending on where you sit. Even though it's a $5 table, it can end up costing $15 per hand because you play the ante and the 'play' bet, and you can also play the optional 3 card bonus bet for another $5 (which I was). So pretty much $10 a hand if I decide to fold, $15 if I play.
Anyway, I was hitting a couple pairs and I think I hit 2 pairs once on the 5 card hand. I wasn't up much, maybe $40 or so. I had been playing for about 15 or 20 minutes. I looked down at my next hand and saw a 3 of hearts. I immediately began to write this hand off as a loss, because in order to really win you need to have jacks or better. Next card was a 4 of hearts. OOoooo, now this could be interesting. Last card. Sometimes I like to look a little slower. Adds to the excitement. So I slowly peek at the final card. It's red. My hope starts to grow a little. I peek a little more, and I can immediately see that it's a 5. So I at least have a straight which pays 6:1 on the ante bet and even money on the 3 card bonus hand.
The only thing that I don't know yet is if it's a heart or a diamond. I slide the card a little more, and a smile immediately appears on my face. The dealer looks at me like I'm a goon. It's a heart! I've got a straight flush. in my 3 card hand. HOLLLLLAAA!!!!! That's 40:1 on my ante bet and 5:1 on the 3 card bonus. $230 total on the one hand. Since Kaitlyn happens to be at the table next to me still playing Let it Ride, she hears the commotion and looks over and I let her know. The gals that were playing with her finish their hand and come over and sit with me. I play one more hand and it's crap and so I tip the dealer and get up and leave the table. Thank you very much, I'm gonna enjoy a nice dinner tonight on you.
And that's how Harrah's paid for our lovely dinner at one of the best steak houses in Las Vegas, and allowed me to try Waygu beef for the first time.
After dinner, we went for a walk. A few weeks ago, I had found a stuffed plush of the Bumble from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Well after doing some research, I found out that it was part of a set. So now, I had been trying to find a Yukon Cornelius one and found out that they were only available at CVS. And there are none in Washington...or even in the Pacific Northwest. Well, there is on in Vegas, so now we were walking to see if they had one. They did not, so that walk kinda sucked. But we figured that it was too early to head to bed and since it was our last night we still wanted to play.
We headed to the Margaritaville Casino next to Flamingo. We had gone there the day before and the dealers were really fun and the atmosphere was great. Kaitlyn decided to try out Roulette and so I went to the Let it Ride table next to hers. It was empty and was $5. Let it Ride is a game that you put down 3 bets and you get 3 cards and the dealer gets 2 face down cards. The object is to make the best 5 card hand. You get to look at your cards and decide if you want to pull back one of your bets. Then the dealer turns over a card and you get to decide again if you want to pull back the second. If you do, you tuck the cards and the dealer turns over the last card. It's kinda confusing, especially to try and write about it.
This game can cost you up to $21 per hand at a $5 table. The 3 $5 bets mentioned above. A $5 3 card bonus bet and a $1 bonus bet (for 5 all 5 cards).
I had been doing pretty good, winging a few hands. I was probably up about $50. I had got a few decent hands that outweighed the bad ones. And then I got a great one. I got dealt 3 of a kind. In all the times that I have been playing this game, this was the first time that I have ever got a 3 of a kind. I let that ride so I was playing all 3 hands and was guaranteed a win. I don't remember what she turned over, but the dealer was excited and we were hoping she had a pair or perhaps the 4th card to give me a four of a kind. In the end, it didn't improve on the 5 card hand. So on my $1 bet it paid me $4. Yah yah, it's not a whole lot. But on each of my 3 $5 bets, it paid 3:1. $15 each on those. The big money was on the 3 card bonus bet. 30:1. $150. Not quite as good as the 3 card poker hand, but I'll take it.
We continued on and I had a vibe and the dealer kept saying that another big hand was coming. I was on such a run, it seemed like every hand I had at least a pair. I can't remember how many times we almost hit a big hand. I'd have 2 pair and we'd be one off on a full house. And then it happened again. Another 3 of a kind. This was only about 10 hands later. It didn't take long before the guys upstairs sent in a new dealer. She said thanks, I had probably gave her $40 or so in tips. I wasn't sure if she was coming back or not. I played 1 hand with the new dealer and then got up and left. I was up $450 from just that table. I watched Kaitlyn play roulette for a little while longer and was keeping an eye on that table to see if my dealer came back. They had removed her from the table completely, because when the next dealer change came it was a different person. Oh well, I'll take my winnings home then.
We kept playing for a little while longer getting some more $1 Jameson on the rocks. Eventually we called it a night. We had to leave for the airport at 11:30 the next day, so there wouldn't be any time to play in the morning.
All in all, it was a fun trip. I hadn't been this lucky in a while, so it was nice to hit some big hands. But, I think the best part was still the Michael Jackson show. I'm so glad that we decided to go. That's all for my trip report.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
December Vegas trip - Part 3
So let's see, after the Michael Jackson show, we decided to walk around for the rest of the night. We stopped at the new Margaritaville Casino that is shoved in between Flamingo and the Margartiaville restaurant. This was actually a pretty cool place, and it would later turn out to be the place that we spent most of our time actually playing. More on that later.
Let's move to Monday. We woke up a bit later and needed to go eat. We headed to The Grand Lux cafe in Palazzo. We had been there before and it was great. I forgot how big the portions were. We had been in time for the lunch menu, but i was feeling hungry and thought I could tackle anything. I finally decided on the Chicken Parmesan. Kaitlyn got a chicken carbonara and a salad. The waitress convinced me that I only needed the lunch size, and thank goodness that she did. This piece of chicken was at least 12" long by 8" wide. And accompanied with some pasta. I did not finish it. I barely finished half of it. I guess my appetite isn't what it used to be. Plus we were going to have a really nice dinner later, so I guess I didn't need to be eating too much. The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out around in various casinos. Nothing exciting happened. I'd lose 2 hands of Pai Gow and get up for a while and walk around.
Fast forward to dinner.
Every time we're in Vegas, we try to visit a nice steak house. I think so far, we've done 5 out of the top 10 steak houses. Our initial reservation was for Delmonico at the venetian. Kaitlyn though really REALLY wanted to try this chocolate souffle at another place, so we changed our reservation to Cut which is at the Palazzo. Plus, we had tried Delmonico before, and while it was absolutely fantastic, we like trying new places. And...chocolate souffle apparently.
We show up and this place is your typical high end steak house. I'm watching the people showing up and the guys are wearing suits and the ladies are in their nice dresses. I take a gander at myself and my awesome Old Navy jeans and costco polo and figure, eh, whatever. regardless, this place is really nice. We are led back to our table and out of nowhere three other people come and pull out our chairs and are already unfolding our napkins into our laps. At one point, when we went in to the restroom to wash up, someone came over super quick and snatched up her napkin and brought out a fresh one.
the waiter brought out an iPad for us to make our drink selections. I had to ask them for a good wine pairing, and he didn't make me feel too stupid when I told him that I hadn't actually picked out my steak yet. They brought us over a tray of bread selections that we could choose from. the pretzel bread...amazing. And they had this focaccia onion bread that was fantastic too.
Then our waiter brought out giant slabs of beef to show us the difference between the 100% Australian waygu beef and the American Waygu hybrid beef, and the Rib Eye, filet and NY Strip. Kaitlyn already knew what she wanted and ordered the 8oz Prime Filet. I went back and forth with trying the American Waygu beef or just sticking with Prime. But I figured that because of my really good luck at 3 card poker earlier (story to come later), that I would splurge. And I've never had Waygu beef anyway. But I decided to go with the 9oz American Waygu Rib Eye. (The Australian one was nearly 2/3 more expensive. I'm not splurging that much). Plus, this one would be 100% gluten free, which is good for me. We ordered both as medium. Kaitlyn joked that she was going to order hers 'blue'. I asked if that was when they just walk a cow to your table and you just start poking at it with your fork.
We finally pick out a nice wine to go with it, Cune Crianza Rioja. 2006 Tempranillo. Which is fantastic and if I can find some I will be stocking up. We're hanging out and taking in the ambiance of this really nice restaurant. I'll admit, when we first came in I was instantly expecting the typical high end restaurant. Where the staff doesn't really seem to care about you and everyone is all snooty. But then suddenly I hear something. It's kinda faint so I really have to listen. And then I hear it. "But Gollum at the evil wall crept up and slipped away with her". Holy Crap! they are playing Zeppelin here. Awesome. So throughout the night, they are playing all these classic rock songs. steely Dan, Zeppelin, Tom Petty. It was awesome.
And then you start to notice the staff. there were always at least two people at our table. And our water glasses were never empty. They were so attentive and they were always just standing at their position scanning the room in anticipation for when people were finished or needed something.
Oh yah, the steaks. It is actually quite amazing to eat a steak like that. I've never had anything higher than a Prime steak, and even then has been on special occasions. It's quite amazing at how tender and easy it was to cut. It was actually starting to rival the tenderness of Kaitlyn's filet. And I've never seen that with a rib eye. It was delicious, and since Kaitlyn wasn't able to finish her filet, I got to have a side by side comparison. Cost value, I'd probably still regularly go with a filet, but this was a nice little treat. I'll just have to try really hard to not compare all future rib eye's to this one.
We also ordered a side of some mashed potatoes which were really good as well. After getting through the meat, it was time for dessert. I was torn between a couple, but kept going back to a banana cream pie that they had listed. But then they made my decision easy, as Kaitlyn had told them that we were celebrating my birthday (we're a little early, but it's okay). And they brought out a slice of the banana cream pie. While we waiting for Kaitlyn's souffle to do whatever it is that souffles do that make them impossible to make, we at my dessert. It was fantastic. Even Kaitlyn loved it, and she doesn't really like banana stuff. Once her souffle came out, the waiter prepared it for us. They poured the chocolate sauce over it and the whipped cream. chocolate overload. My goodness. I seriously was only able to eat about 1 spoon. I don't know how she did it, but she ate about 2/3 of it.
It was an amazing experience at this place. Much better than some of the other steak houses down there. It's no wonder that it is regularly rated #1.
More later about how Harrah's paid for this dinner for us.
Let's move to Monday. We woke up a bit later and needed to go eat. We headed to The Grand Lux cafe in Palazzo. We had been there before and it was great. I forgot how big the portions were. We had been in time for the lunch menu, but i was feeling hungry and thought I could tackle anything. I finally decided on the Chicken Parmesan. Kaitlyn got a chicken carbonara and a salad. The waitress convinced me that I only needed the lunch size, and thank goodness that she did. This piece of chicken was at least 12" long by 8" wide. And accompanied with some pasta. I did not finish it. I barely finished half of it. I guess my appetite isn't what it used to be. Plus we were going to have a really nice dinner later, so I guess I didn't need to be eating too much. The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out around in various casinos. Nothing exciting happened. I'd lose 2 hands of Pai Gow and get up for a while and walk around.
Fast forward to dinner.
Every time we're in Vegas, we try to visit a nice steak house. I think so far, we've done 5 out of the top 10 steak houses. Our initial reservation was for Delmonico at the venetian. Kaitlyn though really REALLY wanted to try this chocolate souffle at another place, so we changed our reservation to Cut which is at the Palazzo. Plus, we had tried Delmonico before, and while it was absolutely fantastic, we like trying new places. And...chocolate souffle apparently.
We show up and this place is your typical high end steak house. I'm watching the people showing up and the guys are wearing suits and the ladies are in their nice dresses. I take a gander at myself and my awesome Old Navy jeans and costco polo and figure, eh, whatever. regardless, this place is really nice. We are led back to our table and out of nowhere three other people come and pull out our chairs and are already unfolding our napkins into our laps. At one point, when we went in to the restroom to wash up, someone came over super quick and snatched up her napkin and brought out a fresh one.
the waiter brought out an iPad for us to make our drink selections. I had to ask them for a good wine pairing, and he didn't make me feel too stupid when I told him that I hadn't actually picked out my steak yet. They brought us over a tray of bread selections that we could choose from. the pretzel bread...amazing. And they had this focaccia onion bread that was fantastic too.
Then our waiter brought out giant slabs of beef to show us the difference between the 100% Australian waygu beef and the American Waygu hybrid beef, and the Rib Eye, filet and NY Strip. Kaitlyn already knew what she wanted and ordered the 8oz Prime Filet. I went back and forth with trying the American Waygu beef or just sticking with Prime. But I figured that because of my really good luck at 3 card poker earlier (story to come later), that I would splurge. And I've never had Waygu beef anyway. But I decided to go with the 9oz American Waygu Rib Eye. (The Australian one was nearly 2/3 more expensive. I'm not splurging that much). Plus, this one would be 100% gluten free, which is good for me. We ordered both as medium. Kaitlyn joked that she was going to order hers 'blue'. I asked if that was when they just walk a cow to your table and you just start poking at it with your fork.
We finally pick out a nice wine to go with it, Cune Crianza Rioja. 2006 Tempranillo. Which is fantastic and if I can find some I will be stocking up. We're hanging out and taking in the ambiance of this really nice restaurant. I'll admit, when we first came in I was instantly expecting the typical high end restaurant. Where the staff doesn't really seem to care about you and everyone is all snooty. But then suddenly I hear something. It's kinda faint so I really have to listen. And then I hear it. "But Gollum at the evil wall crept up and slipped away with her". Holy Crap! they are playing Zeppelin here. Awesome. So throughout the night, they are playing all these classic rock songs. steely Dan, Zeppelin, Tom Petty. It was awesome.
And then you start to notice the staff. there were always at least two people at our table. And our water glasses were never empty. They were so attentive and they were always just standing at their position scanning the room in anticipation for when people were finished or needed something.
Oh yah, the steaks. It is actually quite amazing to eat a steak like that. I've never had anything higher than a Prime steak, and even then has been on special occasions. It's quite amazing at how tender and easy it was to cut. It was actually starting to rival the tenderness of Kaitlyn's filet. And I've never seen that with a rib eye. It was delicious, and since Kaitlyn wasn't able to finish her filet, I got to have a side by side comparison. Cost value, I'd probably still regularly go with a filet, but this was a nice little treat. I'll just have to try really hard to not compare all future rib eye's to this one.
We also ordered a side of some mashed potatoes which were really good as well. After getting through the meat, it was time for dessert. I was torn between a couple, but kept going back to a banana cream pie that they had listed. But then they made my decision easy, as Kaitlyn had told them that we were celebrating my birthday (we're a little early, but it's okay). And they brought out a slice of the banana cream pie. While we waiting for Kaitlyn's souffle to do whatever it is that souffles do that make them impossible to make, we at my dessert. It was fantastic. Even Kaitlyn loved it, and she doesn't really like banana stuff. Once her souffle came out, the waiter prepared it for us. They poured the chocolate sauce over it and the whipped cream. chocolate overload. My goodness. I seriously was only able to eat about 1 spoon. I don't know how she did it, but she ate about 2/3 of it.
It was an amazing experience at this place. Much better than some of the other steak houses down there. It's no wonder that it is regularly rated #1.
More later about how Harrah's paid for this dinner for us.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
December Vegas trip - Part 2
The Michael Jackson Immortal tour - by Cirque du Soleil.
We decided a couple days before leaving that we were going to go see the Michael Jackson Immortal cirque du Soleil show at Mandalay Bay. When we were searching for tickets, we found some in the 100 level initially. These tickets were over $100 each so we decided to look in the next lowest price tier (around $70). We found some in section 210 so we decided to go with that. We've been to other shows in the past (Viva Elvis and Terry Fator) and sat in the near back and the seats weren't terrible. We figured these couldn't be that bad.
I am a huge MJ fan. He is the one concert that I had never been able to see in person, and I will always be sad about that. So at least being able to see this, makes me feel a little better. We missed it when it came to Seattle, and this show will only be in Vegas for about 5 weeks.
We got to Mandalay bay a few hours before the show to go pick up our tickets at will call. Figured we would just hang out at that end of the strip until the show. We did some people watching, which I usually love. But people watching at that end of the strip isn't nearly as fun as around O'Sheas or Planet Hollywood. But anyway, we hang out and play a few slot machines and wait until about 6:15 and head back to the event center. There were so many people heading to the show...it was nuts.
The will call line was easily 100 deep, so I was glad we came earlier and already got our tickets We heard over through the metal detectors and decide to get in line for some snacks. Shock Top on tap and a 32oz glass later, we found our way to the seats. Amazing seats. Granted, you aren't going to see the costume detail or facial expressions of the performers, but the overhead view of the entire stage makes up for it. When we saw the Beatles Love show, we were in row 3. Amazing seats, but you kind of miss some of the higher acrobatics.
In terms of Cirque shows, this isn't the best...by far. Beatles Love is the best I've seen. I'd even have to rate the Viva Elvis show better than this one. Again, only in terms of it being a cirque show. But I'd be hard pressed to really classify this as a cirque show. It was more of a tribute show I think. Yes, they had some of the crazy Cirque performers and they were amazing. But a lot of the dancing was MJ dancing. It definitely was to pay homage the amazing performances that Michael Jackson produced.
When we went to the Beatles show, it was all the dancing and performances done to Beatles music; where the Beatles were actually singing the songs. when we went to the Elvis show, it was the performers that were singing the Elvis songs. That show would have been leaps and bounds better had they had actual Elvis tracks playing instead of the performers singing. So I was a little weary about this show, and really hoping that it was MJ songs being performed by him. And that it was.
They had a few songs from the Jackson 5 days, and some of his earlier songs. But all the hits were done. And I'll tell you what, it was really hard to not cry at a couple of the songs. Heal the World...forget about it. I cried. The way this show was put on, it really forces you to listen to the songs. Everyone knows his songs, but not everyone really listens to the words and message he was trying to portray through his music. When there are some performers out there and video clips playing, you really just absorb everything and the true song comes out. And some times, it's just too much. At one point, I looked over and Kaitlyn had lost it. Even glancing around at the rest of the crowd you could see people wiping at their eyes.
There would be zero hesitation on my part if I had the opportunity to see this show again. And I would tell anyone who is even slightly intrigued or inspired by his music to see this show if you have a chance. This was 100% completely worth the money.
This was quite possibly my favorite part of this trip (and I had some very good luck at the tables too, but more on that later). I know he has always been the 'weird' one in the music industry. but hey...all the great ones are, right? But all that aside, you can't deny the amazing artist that he was. And really listening to his songs, all he ever wanted was to make the world a better place. Say what you will about the man, but there will never be another Michael Jackson.
We decided a couple days before leaving that we were going to go see the Michael Jackson Immortal cirque du Soleil show at Mandalay Bay. When we were searching for tickets, we found some in the 100 level initially. These tickets were over $100 each so we decided to look in the next lowest price tier (around $70). We found some in section 210 so we decided to go with that. We've been to other shows in the past (Viva Elvis and Terry Fator) and sat in the near back and the seats weren't terrible. We figured these couldn't be that bad.
I am a huge MJ fan. He is the one concert that I had never been able to see in person, and I will always be sad about that. So at least being able to see this, makes me feel a little better. We missed it when it came to Seattle, and this show will only be in Vegas for about 5 weeks.
We got to Mandalay bay a few hours before the show to go pick up our tickets at will call. Figured we would just hang out at that end of the strip until the show. We did some people watching, which I usually love. But people watching at that end of the strip isn't nearly as fun as around O'Sheas or Planet Hollywood. But anyway, we hang out and play a few slot machines and wait until about 6:15 and head back to the event center. There were so many people heading to the show...it was nuts.
The will call line was easily 100 deep, so I was glad we came earlier and already got our tickets We heard over through the metal detectors and decide to get in line for some snacks. Shock Top on tap and a 32oz glass later, we found our way to the seats. Amazing seats. Granted, you aren't going to see the costume detail or facial expressions of the performers, but the overhead view of the entire stage makes up for it. When we saw the Beatles Love show, we were in row 3. Amazing seats, but you kind of miss some of the higher acrobatics.
In terms of Cirque shows, this isn't the best...by far. Beatles Love is the best I've seen. I'd even have to rate the Viva Elvis show better than this one. Again, only in terms of it being a cirque show. But I'd be hard pressed to really classify this as a cirque show. It was more of a tribute show I think. Yes, they had some of the crazy Cirque performers and they were amazing. But a lot of the dancing was MJ dancing. It definitely was to pay homage the amazing performances that Michael Jackson produced.
When we went to the Beatles show, it was all the dancing and performances done to Beatles music; where the Beatles were actually singing the songs. when we went to the Elvis show, it was the performers that were singing the Elvis songs. That show would have been leaps and bounds better had they had actual Elvis tracks playing instead of the performers singing. So I was a little weary about this show, and really hoping that it was MJ songs being performed by him. And that it was.
They had a few songs from the Jackson 5 days, and some of his earlier songs. But all the hits were done. And I'll tell you what, it was really hard to not cry at a couple of the songs. Heal the World...forget about it. I cried. The way this show was put on, it really forces you to listen to the songs. Everyone knows his songs, but not everyone really listens to the words and message he was trying to portray through his music. When there are some performers out there and video clips playing, you really just absorb everything and the true song comes out. And some times, it's just too much. At one point, I looked over and Kaitlyn had lost it. Even glancing around at the rest of the crowd you could see people wiping at their eyes.
There would be zero hesitation on my part if I had the opportunity to see this show again. And I would tell anyone who is even slightly intrigued or inspired by his music to see this show if you have a chance. This was 100% completely worth the money.
This was quite possibly my favorite part of this trip (and I had some very good luck at the tables too, but more on that later). I know he has always been the 'weird' one in the music industry. but hey...all the great ones are, right? But all that aside, you can't deny the amazing artist that he was. And really listening to his songs, all he ever wanted was to make the world a better place. Say what you will about the man, but there will never be another Michael Jackson.
December Vegas trip
Kaitlyn and I took a little trip to Vegas this last weekend. Here's a little review of what we did.
Kaitlyn had a comped room at Bally's for us, and we were able to find relatively cheap airfare, so the trip was going to be pretty cheap for us. We flew in Saturday morning. We just kinda walked around most of the day and later met up with some friends for dinner at Holsteins at the Cosmo. They have some amazing burgers. I had the Rising Sun burger. Kobe beef with a teriyaki glaze and some deep fried avocado. It is amazing. I don't usually rave about burgers, but this one was quite amazing. There was also a burger that had a giant chunk of brisket on it.
After dinner, we walked around a bit more and ended up at Bellagio to check out their Christmas display. It was pretty nice. A giant tree and all their displays are made out of fresh flowers. They really do a nice job with it. Nothing much more that night.
The next day, we got up and went to Bellagio at a place called Jasmine for their fountains brunch. It's a buffet place that is situated right in front of the fountains. So that was pretty cool to watch while we eat. The buffet is more expensive than your typical buffet, but the service was far better. And the food wasn't all that bad either. Typical brunch food, and they had a pho type of station, although having the broth just being chicken soup doesn't count as pho. The cuisine was Cantonese inspired, and there was a rolling cart that had fresh roast duck. Fresh omelet station and a bunch of other stuff. All in all, it was good, but I don't think I would go back. For the price, I'd rather just go to a regular buffet.
The rest of the day was spent just walking around and playing while we waited for the main attraction of the evening.
The Michael Jackson Immortal tour...
Kaitlyn had a comped room at Bally's for us, and we were able to find relatively cheap airfare, so the trip was going to be pretty cheap for us. We flew in Saturday morning. We just kinda walked around most of the day and later met up with some friends for dinner at Holsteins at the Cosmo. They have some amazing burgers. I had the Rising Sun burger. Kobe beef with a teriyaki glaze and some deep fried avocado. It is amazing. I don't usually rave about burgers, but this one was quite amazing. There was also a burger that had a giant chunk of brisket on it.
After dinner, we walked around a bit more and ended up at Bellagio to check out their Christmas display. It was pretty nice. A giant tree and all their displays are made out of fresh flowers. They really do a nice job with it. Nothing much more that night.
The next day, we got up and went to Bellagio at a place called Jasmine for their fountains brunch. It's a buffet place that is situated right in front of the fountains. So that was pretty cool to watch while we eat. The buffet is more expensive than your typical buffet, but the service was far better. And the food wasn't all that bad either. Typical brunch food, and they had a pho type of station, although having the broth just being chicken soup doesn't count as pho. The cuisine was Cantonese inspired, and there was a rolling cart that had fresh roast duck. Fresh omelet station and a bunch of other stuff. All in all, it was good, but I don't think I would go back. For the price, I'd rather just go to a regular buffet.
The rest of the day was spent just walking around and playing while we waited for the main attraction of the evening.
The Michael Jackson Immortal tour...
Thursday, October 6, 2011
BEER!!!!
So I've started something new. Every Thursday, my wife has been playing volleyball after work. Because I am kinda limited on the hours that I can work (being an hourly employee rather than a salary), I have to kill a few hours before she's done. A couple weeks ago, I went up to Bothell and hung out up there until she was done. So tonight, I decided to go to the Tap House Grill in Bellevue and hang out. Well, they have a membership program that you can sign up for. It's just a little loyalty club type of thing.
Well, Tap House is known for boasting their 160 beers on tap. Part of their little club thing is that if you can try 160 distinct beers, then you can end up with a plaque at their bar. They give you a loyalty card, and when you pay the bill it will keep track of the beers you tried and stuff like that. Plus you get a bunch of other perks depending on how much you spend and the frequency that you go to the bar.
Anyway, tonight I started on my journey quest to 160 beers. And now, I shall talk about them.
For my first beer I decided to go off of their rotational list. I figured there were quite a few on there that I would like to try and since they are likely seasonal I should probably try them first. First up was a beer called Leavenworth Oktoberfest. It's a beer made by a local company called Fish Brewing Company out of Olympia. I have had Oktoberfest style beers before, and I generally enjoy their flavor. This particular one is a American Amber / Red Ale beer, which don't really make it a true Oktoberfest beer. Amber/Red ales are generally a very balanced beer that focus on the malts and are classified as a red ale simply because they cannot be classified as a dark ale. Whereas true Oktoberfest (or Märzen) are typically on the darker and much more full bodied, often resulting in a higher alcohol content.
Regardless, this particular beer was very good. It was a very smooth and light bodied beer and had a very nice flavor to it. It has a 5.5% abv, which puts it right in line with most typical ales. I would have no problem ordering it again. It's a very enjoyable beer, not too light but it isn't going to knock you on your ass either.
My second choice they were out of and now I can't remember what it was. So I went with one called Sound Dubble Entendre. This was absolutley amazing. It blew my mind. This beer is from another local brewery called Sound Brewery based out of Poulsbo. This beer is a Belgium style dubble. These are very rich in malty flavors and often have minor hints of fruits. They are also very mild in the hops area. When this came out, I immediately thought it was a stout. It is a very dark beer. It's an 8% abv beer as well, which means you're probably not going to chug it.
Sound Brewery Dubble Entendre.
The first sip of this was crazy. Totally not what I expected. It's a very light beer for being so dark. It has the characteristics of an amber ale, but with the ABV of a stout. And i could definitely feel the effects of this one. Because of its darkness, it has a hint of sweet caramel flavor to it. I'm not typically a fan of dark stout style beers, but this was a surprisingly good beer. Again, at 8% you're not really going all night with this one. But it's worth getting at least one.
Final beer of the night was simply Stella. Stella is a light pale lager, typically at 5% ABV. There's not really much to say about Stella. It's a light beer with good flavor. It's more of a malt beer than hops (which seems to be the trend tonight). This is a good beer if you want a lighter beer without it being a lite beer (IE: Bud Light, Miller Lite, Etc.).
Well, that is my report for tonight. At most, I'll probably be there once a week. But perhaps we'll make a special occasion visit with some friends or something like that. They have great food too, so I have no problem eating there as well. So until next time, that's my beer report.
Well, Tap House is known for boasting their 160 beers on tap. Part of their little club thing is that if you can try 160 distinct beers, then you can end up with a plaque at their bar. They give you a loyalty card, and when you pay the bill it will keep track of the beers you tried and stuff like that. Plus you get a bunch of other perks depending on how much you spend and the frequency that you go to the bar.
Anyway, tonight I started on my journey quest to 160 beers. And now, I shall talk about them.
For my first beer I decided to go off of their rotational list. I figured there were quite a few on there that I would like to try and since they are likely seasonal I should probably try them first. First up was a beer called Leavenworth Oktoberfest. It's a beer made by a local company called Fish Brewing Company out of Olympia. I have had Oktoberfest style beers before, and I generally enjoy their flavor. This particular one is a American Amber / Red Ale beer, which don't really make it a true Oktoberfest beer. Amber/Red ales are generally a very balanced beer that focus on the malts and are classified as a red ale simply because they cannot be classified as a dark ale. Whereas true Oktoberfest (or Märzen) are typically on the darker and much more full bodied, often resulting in a higher alcohol content.
Regardless, this particular beer was very good. It was a very smooth and light bodied beer and had a very nice flavor to it. It has a 5.5% abv, which puts it right in line with most typical ales. I would have no problem ordering it again. It's a very enjoyable beer, not too light but it isn't going to knock you on your ass either.
My second choice they were out of and now I can't remember what it was. So I went with one called Sound Dubble Entendre. This was absolutley amazing. It blew my mind. This beer is from another local brewery called Sound Brewery based out of Poulsbo. This beer is a Belgium style dubble. These are very rich in malty flavors and often have minor hints of fruits. They are also very mild in the hops area. When this came out, I immediately thought it was a stout. It is a very dark beer. It's an 8% abv beer as well, which means you're probably not going to chug it.
Sound Brewery Dubble Entendre.
The first sip of this was crazy. Totally not what I expected. It's a very light beer for being so dark. It has the characteristics of an amber ale, but with the ABV of a stout. And i could definitely feel the effects of this one. Because of its darkness, it has a hint of sweet caramel flavor to it. I'm not typically a fan of dark stout style beers, but this was a surprisingly good beer. Again, at 8% you're not really going all night with this one. But it's worth getting at least one.
Final beer of the night was simply Stella. Stella is a light pale lager, typically at 5% ABV. There's not really much to say about Stella. It's a light beer with good flavor. It's more of a malt beer than hops (which seems to be the trend tonight). This is a good beer if you want a lighter beer without it being a lite beer (IE: Bud Light, Miller Lite, Etc.).
Well, that is my report for tonight. At most, I'll probably be there once a week. But perhaps we'll make a special occasion visit with some friends or something like that. They have great food too, so I have no problem eating there as well. So until next time, that's my beer report.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Insanity update
Once again, I am slacking on the blog updates. It's been a hectic last few weeks. We were in Vegas back in June, so we only did a partial week...only Monday and Tuesday. That was technically supposed to be the first week of part 2. We figured we would go to Vegas and then come back and pick up again with the first week of part 2. Only got a couple days into that one and then it was 4th of July weekend. We didn't really do much of the workouts that week either. So now, we're into the 3rd attempt of the first week of round 2. We're doing it though.
We did the first day on Monday (4th of July). And now we're back on schedule. But man, yesterday was crazy. The workout itself was only about 45 minutes including warm up and cool down. But it was literally 30 minutes of straight cardio workouts. There is usually a water break or something after each 3 minute interval. But not this one. Granted, you stop when you need to and get some water, but you have to hurry and get back into it or you'll miss the whole exercise.
We made it through...barely. This was one crazy workout. I think next week we have to do it twice. We'll see how that goes. So anyway, we're back on track now. Even though the workout was nuts, I still feel great after completing it.
We did the first day on Monday (4th of July). And now we're back on schedule. But man, yesterday was crazy. The workout itself was only about 45 minutes including warm up and cool down. But it was literally 30 minutes of straight cardio workouts. There is usually a water break or something after each 3 minute interval. But not this one. Granted, you stop when you need to and get some water, but you have to hurry and get back into it or you'll miss the whole exercise.
We made it through...barely. This was one crazy workout. I think next week we have to do it twice. We'll see how that goes. So anyway, we're back on track now. Even though the workout was nuts, I still feel great after completing it.
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