Verizon Blitz Review

I am a very picky person when it comes to certain things; one of those things happens to be cellphones. I got my first cellphone in 2004 as a necessity for my job and have had 5 or six phones in the past 4 years. Each phone has had different features and I have had issues with each one. I guess there isn't a perfect cellphone for me out there unless I design it my self.

Besides the flip phones I had the Audiovox XV6700 smartphone, the LG V (great phone), env2 and now the UTStarcom Blitz. I really hate flip phones since they are ergonomically uncomfortable for my hands but most phones with a full keyboard are kind of big. I liked the LG V because it had a full keyboard but you could to T9 on the front keypad and access 90% of the features on the front screen. I saw the env2 and really though it was great until I had owned it for a month or so.

Like another blogger, I too tried to like env2 but just couldn't. It's a sexy phone IMHO but biggest problem is the front screen. It's a messaging phone and you can't read or send messages of over 160 characters with T9 on the front screen. Nor can you read extended messages without flipping the phone open. This is ridiculous and seems pointless to have a front screen, at least with the people I text. My texting buddies (mainly my wife) send me mini emails via text and it got really annoying to open the phone every time to read it. I just couldn't open the phone easily and navigate with just one hand. Even if I could, I couldn't reply on the QWERTY keyboard with one hand.

The other beef is the fact that you can't read send messages from the front screen. Basically you can send short texts and dial with the phone closed. I'll just take this moment to state the fact that I HATE Verizon and think that Vcast and the mobile web is virtually useless. That said the env2s interior screen was of little value to me.

That rant leads me to my latest phone: the UTStarcom Blitz. I saw this phone on Verizon's website and decided to check it out. After watching and reading many reviews I decided against the common thought to give the Blitz a try. I had a mini fiasco buying the phone on eBay but that's another story. I have been using the phone for 3 days now and am very happy with it. 

My biggest two things are call quality and texting. The call quality is perfectly fine both with the handset and my bluetooth headset. I like that you can talk with the phone closed once you dial. It fit's in my hand nicely both open and closed.

Texting is a lot better than I expected it to be. I have rather large fingers and the QWERTY keyboard has the smallest buttons I have ever seen. I do make some mistakes but I am still getting used to the phone. The amount of mistakes aren't annoying enough to really bug me. I really like the fact that I can read incoming and sent messages all without opening the phone. If I do need to open the phone it slides open easily with one hand and surprisingly can send messages with one hand. Granted one hand QWERTY is probably not as fast as one handed T9 but it's not bad. 

The phone has dedicated camera and music buttons and Stereo Bluetooth capabilities. There is also a soft key shortcut to messaging. I do with the phone had video capabilities and allowed you to type peoples names in the message to box like the env2 but these things aren't enough for me to hate this phone. Overall it does what I need: allow me to make calls and text quickly and easily. 

I would recommend this phone for anyone looking for a good messaging and music phone as long as you don't plan to use the internet much (it lacks EVDO so browsing will be slow). It might be geared toward kids but it's a great phone for adults as well if you like to text.

Features at a glance:

1.3 Mp camera

VZnavigator

Mobile Email

QWERTY slide out keyboard

Music player

Speakerphone

Stereo bluetooth

I would rate this phone 4/5

Better Red Than Dead

I responded to a craigslist posting about 2 weeks ago looking for red heads to participate in a documentary. It piqued my interest with all the recent reports of red heads going extinct so I sent a picture and short email to the address on the posting. A few days later I received a phone call from the USC student/director doing the project. He also is red headed and wanted bring to light the myths surrounding red heads and the stories and experiences of SoCal redheads.

The director and his crew were very nice and capable. I had a great time talking about my experience being red headed and I think maybe felt some sort of vindication from the process. Red heads are supposedly the smallest minority in America but no one really thinks much about us.

Last night the director had a party at Eslyian park near Doger stadium. The goal was to bring as many red heads together as possible. I wanted to go just for the novelty of the whole thing, and to see how many people actually would show up (scoping out potential red head acting competition). When I first arrived I was shocked that most of the red heads there were legit red heads. I know I am kind of an asshole for saying that but so many people say they are red headed and are like strawberry blond or brown. There are a lot of shades of red that I would say fall into the category of red head, but some people I have seen show up for castings as red heads? - c'mon. Any way I told the camera so and then realized that the camera op was a light red head. Hopefully I didn't offend her because she has a nice shade of red and is really cute. I also had said in my first intervew that I generally don't find red headed chicks attractive so I kind of really stuck my foot in my mouth. There were several hot red headed girls there so it was nice to see my theory disproved (I am glad to be disproved about some things). I felt compelled to tell one of the women that I had to renege on my previous feelings after coming to the event tonight. I didn't mean to sound like I was hitting on her but my wife informed me that I was.

The best part of the evening was just before we left. I stood in a group with my wife and kids and three or four other red heads just talking about different red head things. It was really cool to hang out with people with a common part of their identity. I felt like I had known them all forever. I am usually good at meeting people and carrying on a conversation but this was different. Not that we have been repressed or persecuted much or more than other "minorities" but there are some common names we are called, things people say, (old people hit on us..gross) and the general experience of being red headed. I left the party with a feeling of camaraderie.

What shocked me the most was how it opened my eyes to minority groups and how they must feel and why they do many things they do. Again, I am going to sound like an asshole, but I used to think, "what is wrong with all these people who have to have groups for 'their people'? Can't they just be normal and get over it?" I know that sounds really harsh and I still think that much activism comes out of frustration and hatred for how that group has been treated. There is however, still something about being around people who have had common experiences, hardships and the same general outlook on life. I am by no means trying to compare being red headed with some of the things other groups go through in their lives, but red hair is still something we all share that is different from everyone else.

White Americans generally don't seem to understand because they are part of an established group that is enormous. I see a problem in America (many times for good reasons, but a large part is from resentment) where we are moving toward a segmentation of our society as we recognize every ones little idiosyncrasies and are rejecting having a common bond. (A side note about the state of our nation) I have discussed with several people recently how America seems to be losing it's defining character. 50 years ago there were certain things that were American: apple pie, cheeseburgers, patriotism etc. It now seems that the only common thread in America that I can detect is materialism and selfishness. An announcer on the radio stated that most people don't vote because you have to have a house, kids - things to protect to vote. This is appalling! What ever happened to people giving a fuck about their country? It's disturbing and does not bode well for the future.

Anyway, off my soap box, I would like to thank Michael the director of this documentary for getting red heads some attention. I am not going to start a red head club but it was nice to meet some of my fellow red heads and be pleasantly surprised to know there are attractive red head females.

Better Red Than Dead!

Assistant Camera (AC) - You do What?

Assistant Camera, AC
Non-Union, Union
Daily rate: $250-$300

Disclaimer: these posts are written from my experience and are not meant to be authoritative and are written with reality TV in mind.

ACs on reality TV do very little. I know that might sound offensive but it's true. Their job duties are as follows:
Cleaning lenses
Labeling tapes
Mounting different lenses on the camera
Setting up sticks (tripod)
Setting timecode on cameras
Charging and replacing batteries

While I probably left out a few things, that is the gist of it. It's really easy and you get paid a nice amount to do it. The great thing is that you get to work with the camera operators and at some point in a pinch probably get to run camera.

ACs in dramatic productions do a whole lot more and probably make more (I really have no idea). These ACs duties are as follows:
Measuring distances from the lens to the subject
Loading the film cassettes (not an easy task. It's done by hand inside a black bag entirely by feeling)
Marking and pulling focus - A delicate skill
And all the things in the first list as well.

The reason I say that being a reality AC is easy, is that generally once you have do your duty, there is nothing to do except follow the camera op around. ACs on dramatic productions are working throughout shooting and don't get as much time off.

This is just my observation, feel free to comment if I am wrong.

Reality TV, How it's Made - Pt. 5 Summary

I just wanted to sum up the other posts with a succinct bit of advice to all you wannabe reality TV stars.

The whole process comes down to creating drama and the show making money. Bottom line, the only thing most producers care about is getting a shot that will make money.

If you don't fit into the producers' pre-conceived characters or you don't show an amazing potential for creating drama, you will not be cast.

You will un-apologetically be made miserable if that's what it takes to make drama for the show.

Producers can and will make you appear in a way you wouldn't have if the viewing audience was there during the taping. Develop thick skin.

There will almost invariably be times that you have to act. Whether it be pretending to be surprised when the host shows up at your house, or acting like an event happened in the Big Brother House that didn't.

You don't fuck with the producers or they may sue you.

Your privacy will be invaded in ways you can't understand until it happens.

The viewing audience is very harsh and will likely rip you apart on message boards. Again, develop a thick skin.

If it still sounds like something you want to do, then go for it. There is a website http://www.realitywanted.com where casting notices are posted all the time for reality shows.

Reality TV, How it's Made - Pt. 4 Post Production (editing)

Disclaimer: these posts are written from my experience and are not meant to be authoritative and are written with reality TV in mind. The following processes may vary from one show to another but this is my basic understanding.

The final step of a show is post production. This is the editing and polishing of the story based on what was captured during production. If you read Pt.3 of this series, you may remember that I mentioned OTFs/Confessionals being shot months later. This would happen because during the editing of an episode, the producers realized that they didn't have enough footage to back up a certain story element. These gaps are filled in through post production OTFs/Confessionals.

A lot of shows such as Survivor, The Apprentice, etc., shows with a series wide arc, are being edited while the first episode is airing. I really don't know how often this really happens, but editing while the series is airing, allows for the producers to change the story mid-stream if the audience isn't responding to the characters they are creating. A lot of times however, it is the plan to have a certain individual start out to be annoying and transition into the hero or something like that.

You will notice on many TV shows that they will say "Portions of this program not affecting the outcome have been edited from this episode." If you watch a reality TV show you will probably see "Portions of this show were arranged for dramatic emphasis" or something of that nature. In essence it means, "we may have taken a shot from 2 weeks ago and acted like it happened the same day as what we just showed." The episodes are like a Mr. Potato Head, there are different elements that can be put together to get a specific outcome. Put those elements in a different order and you get a very different show.

I'll sum all these posts up in Pt.5 as advice to anyone wanting to be on reality TV.

Reality TV, How it's Made - Pt. 3 Production

Disclaimer: these posts are written from my experience and are not meant to be authoritative and are written with reality TV in mind. The following processes may vary from one show to another but this is my basic understanding.

I can't tell you exactly what will happen during production because each show is different. I would like to list a few things to note regarding production

1. You will have to re-shoot "spontanious" events. For instance, on Shot of Love with Teila Tequila, the hopefuls were all instructed to cheer when Teila showed up. They did several takes before they were happy with it. Some shows such as Survivor purportedly re-shoot from the sky, elements of challenges that weren't captured the first time. (I can't verify this nor would I for fear of losing my job).
   
2. Producers may stick an earpiece in the participant's ear and tell them what to say and do during certain parts of the show.
3. During OTFs (On The Flys)/Confessionals producers will ask questions to shape story elements. For instance they will say "Tell me about when Joe was upset that Sarah was flirting with Andy." Sometimes the questions are about stuff that never happened, which participants usually answer as if it happened.
   
4. OTFs/Confessionals may take place a month or two after the actual event. The participant has to act like it happened that day.
   
5. Cameras are literally in your face, most of the time only a couple feet away. There is an art to having 3 or more cameras running simultaniously without seeing the other operators in their shots.
6. Producers will purposely keep comforts (food, friends, family, etc) from show participants to keep them on edge and emotional.

There are probably other things I can add and may at some point, but these are the biggest that stick out in my mind. If you ever saw the terrible movie, The Condemned, with Steve Austin, it actually gives you a pretty realistic look into reality tv. Producers in general don't care about the show participants, it's all about making "good" TV. Producers will also do whatever they can that is legal to shape the story to what they planned it to be from the begining.

Read Pt.4 where I'll cover a little about post production.

Reality TV, How it's Made - Pt. 2 Casting

Disclaimer: these posts are written from my experience and are not meant to be authoritative and are written with reality TV in mind. The following processes may vary from one show to another but this is my basic understanding.

Casting begins. At the beginning of this whole process the show creator had an idea of the type of people who would participate in the show. This may stay the same or change somewhat depending on what the EP decides. A side note: Everyone thinks the director is in charge of a shoot. In reality it's the show's EP or EPs. What they say is law.

These days casting notices are put on several websites such as: craigslist.org, lacasting.com, etc. There are people called recruiters who go to spots the type of people they are looking for would stereotypically frequent. They basically pitch the show to you and try to reel you in with how perfect you are for the show and how fun it will be. Once the prospective contestant/participant shows up to the casting, they are put in a room with a casting director and a camera. The casting director will ask the individual some questions trying to draw a certain emotion out of them. Much of this is based on sterotyping of people.

If you have ever watched reality TV there are the types. The blonde babe, hunk jock, smart asian, obnoxious 22 year old girl, gay man, etc. These people are expected to provide a certain element of drama. The casting director asks questions to see if the prospective will respond the way they want. Sometimes they go the opposite of the sterotype to try and shake things up, but it's still based on a stereotype. Many people send in audition tapes to shows (I heard Survivor gets about 60,000 a season) but those are largly ignored because the casting directors have a lot harder time seeing what they need to on a tape.

Elizabeth Hasselbeck almost wasn't cast for Survivor Austraulia because she was young and had been in a long term relationship, ie. no flirtatious drama, etc. It's all about playing the character that will bring a certain type of drama but be able to still participate in the confines of the show.

Once they assemble the cast, the producers will try to create a story for each person with an arc they hope the contestants will follow. It's at this point that the contestants are put through physical and psychological evaluations and background checks. You may not pass some of the checks but will still make the first episode. For instance, some dating shows will start with say 30 contestants where the main person is instructed who they can keep out of the 30. The people who don't pass the background checks or whatever are shipped off after the first episode.

If you are "lucky" enough to make it through all the evaluations, it's off to production. You are breifed on the rules of the show, sign loads of releases, and pretty much become property of the production from there on.

Read part 3 for "On Set"'

Reality TV, How it's Made - Pt. 1 Developement

Disclaimer: these posts are written from my experience and are not meant to be authoritative and are written with reality TV in mind. The following processes may vary from one show to another but this is my basic understanding.

Almost all of the TV watching world has thought at one point, "I could be on that show. I should apply". Before you run out and do that, read the following description on how reality shows are made. I'll break it into a couple posts so it's easier to read.

The reality TV process starts with someone thinking "this would be a great idea for a tv show". They then pitch the idea to an executive producer (EP). If the EP likes the idea he/she will bring the idea to a production company and try to get funding. The production company and EP try to determine if the show will have viewers, and if those viewers will attract a network who will in turn attract advertisers. If one of these steps fails, the show is scrapped. Bottom line: ALL TV SHOWS ARE ABOUT MONEY!

As a whole, the industry doesn't really give a rat's ass about anything except ratings and revenue. Keep this in mind through out the rest of these posts.

Read Part 2 for "Casting"

Casting Director - Psychologists gone wild

Casting Director
Weekly rate: $2500 (? probably a lot more but really not sure)
Union/Non-union

Disclaimer: these posts are written from my experience and are not meant to be authoritative and are written with reality TV in mind.

Casting directors are the people who provide talent for tv shows and movies. When it comes to episodic shows, casting directors look for someone who embodies the character portrayed in the script. Actors come in, read lines and that's about it: it's pretty straightforward. Reality shows are similar in the sense that the producers have an idea of the type of people that they are looking for but the difference is that there aren't any lines, and they have to convince "normal" people to be on their show.

A good casting director can see into a person's personality and character by asking them a few questions and observing them. With reality casting this is especially important because the contestant isn't generally coming into the casting trying to play a character - they are playing themselves. Casting directors are like psychologists in a way because they innately know how to dig into a person and get behind their walls. Good casting directors (and producers but I'll cover them later) can make you angry, cry, laugh etc. with one or two questions. Many times the way the individual will be portrayed is not necessarily who they really are but extremes that the casting director saw in their personality being highlighted and shown to the world.

A reality casting session will go something like this - Prospective contestant walks in and sits or stands in front of the camera. Casting director says "oh you look so cute" or "nice to see you" blah blah blah. Then they ask you to talk to the camera while they ask you some questions. One key thing a good casting director does is to have you incorporate their question into your answer. So if they said "why do you think you are perfect for this show" the prospect would reply "I am perfect for this show because xyz." Now, again, they are looking to bring out certain traits they need for the show. If they sense an edge of pride, or hurt, whatever, they will push that until they see a reaction. It may not be in a barage of questions about your childhood for instance, but they will revisit the topic later until they get a reaction.

To be a successful reality casting director, you have to be a very dynamic, high energy person. In both reality and non-reality casting, you have to be able to analyze a person in an instant. Reality casting feels a little dirty to me because you are trying to excite prospective contestants about your show and make them feel like it will be a great experience. By now most people know that reality isn't really real, but I think by and large people get sucked into the "this will be fun" and "you'll get to be on TV" speil.

Another thing casting directors do (although mainly passed on to their assistants) is make lots of phone calls. It normally takes a lot of phone calls to get people into the casting. Like I stated before, you have to sell the show like it's going to be a grand old time.

Basically a casting PA just does all the shit the CD doesn't want to do. Makes lots of phone calls explaining the show over and over. If you get to work on the actual set, you will probably end up trying to calm down show participants and keep them on set.

If you don't have lots of energy, don't like to sell to people or dealing with people period, then casting is not for you. If however, you like to meet new people and do not feel bad about knowing there is a good chance they will regret the day they met you, then you can make a good living in casting.

Production Coordinator/Manager - The Job from Hell

Production Coordinator/Production Manager
Union/Non-union
Weekly Rate: $1200-$1800 (I think)


Disclaimer: these posts are written from my experience and are not meant to be authoritative and are written with reality TV in mind.

I am not entirely clear as to the difference between a Production Coordinator and a PM other than the PM is higher on the chain than the PC. Basically the job entails hiring crew, making lots of phone calls, booking locations, procuring filming permits, doing lots (and I mean lots) of paperwork.

Basically these guys report to the EIC (executive in charge) of production and help him/her out with making the production happen. They pretty much hold all the money for the production and sign off on crew time cards and the like. It's a thankless job, for nowhere near the pay that they should get for the amount of shit they have to deal with. Since this job is a weekly rate, you have to stay till the job is done and you don't get overtime pay from what I understand. I have heard one PC say that after calculating all the hours vs $ they were earning less than the PAs on their show.

If you don't know what you want to do in production this is probably where you will end up if you are a responsible person that has a brain. My advice is figure out what you want to do so you don't get stuck as a PC or PM for 3 years like a guy I just met. 3 years ago he had an interest in camera and actually got the chance to shoot some B-roll footage for the show he was working on. They liked what he had shot but he was offered a gig as a PC and ended up doing it for 3 years, hating it the entire time. Now he is getting back into the camera track.

Unless you like paperwork and long hours...STAY AWAY.

Productions Assistant - AKA production's bitch

Production Assistant
Non-Union
Daily rate: $100-$175


Disclaimer: these posts are written from my experience and are not meant to be authoritative and are written with reality TV in mind.

Almost everyone who works in production started off as a production assistant, or PA from here on out. There are a few ways to avoid this fate, such as being hired as a personal assistant to an exec (still almost the same deal). I think it's good to have to be a PA and pay your dues. First, it helps you stay humble and second, it lets you be involved with the broad scope of production to help you determine where your skills would best be suited.

An average PA day is 12 hours (normally on set that's 13 because of a forced 1 hour lunch break). The ironic thing about being a PA is that production is normally a stickler for making sure that you don't work over 12 billable hours so that they don't have to pay extra overtime even though they are paying PAs the least of anyone on set. Most productions work by having a daily rate say $130/12 hours. The overtime from 8hrs-12hrs is calculated into that rate so in essence you are earning about 9.20/hour. Now $130/12 is probably a median rate for a PA with the rate being as low as $100/12 and as high as $175/12. There are two kinds of PAs, set PAs and office PAs.

Basic requirements of a PA:

• Be on time
• Have reliable transportation
• Don't be a douche
• Accept orders without complaning
• If you screw up don't make excuses, say "I'm sorry. I'll take care of it."
• Don't take shit personally.

Set PAs jobs consist of driving people around and picking up packages and food. Driving can be nice if you get to drive the talent. I have met some cool people while driving, and it's not that hard as long as traffic doesn't stress you out. One cool thing about driving is that if it's your vehicle you currently get $0.585/mile. If you have a car that gets over 10 miles to the gallon, you are making money and it's tax free. There have been weeks where I racked up 500 miles!

Other job duties include cleaning up the set, keeping talent from mingling (on reality shows), grabbing lunch or anything for that matter for everyone higher up than you. Reality is a lot more relaxed than union shows so occasionally you may get to help the grips, gaffers etc. In general on a union show, only the grips touch grip equipment and so on. If you are shooting in a public area, you will have to get people to sign releases. On one of the last shows I worked on, I drove a truck with a camera crew and spent half the day driving the truck slowly back and forth using the bed of the truck as a camera dolly.

Office PA
An office PA does mainly what you would think - office work. Filing papers, photocopying releases and other paperwork. You'll probably end up calling people to hunt down receipts or releases that some other schmuck lost. You will probably end up driving cuts of the show to producers which is a good way to rack up miles. That's how I got my 500 mile week. In the office you will probably have to shop for crafty (short for craft services - snacks) and pickup lunches for EPs (executive producers). There is a big difference between working set and office. On the set you will probably bust your ass a lot of the time but when there is nothing to do, there's nothing to do and you can chill and hang out. In the office if there's nothing to do it means you probably aren't needed and are going to be let go. The office is more stressful to me because you have to look busy even if you aren't at the moment. The one perk for working in the office is that you generally work 9-6/5 days a week but still get paid a 12hr rate.

Some last advice: Be excellent in everything you do as a PA. You will not believe how people will remember your name and your reputation goes with it. If you are a slacker or have a bad attitude it is noticed. On the other hand, if you have a good can-do attitude, it will be noticed as well and you will get calls for more work. Be friendly, introduce yourself to people, and do your best to remember their names. If you can land your first job and follow this advice, your career will unfold in front of you.

You want to make movies or tv shows?

Disclaimer: these posts are written from my experience and are not meant to be authoritative and are written with reality TV in mind.

Have you ever watched the behind the scenes on a movie or tv show and thought "that would be cool, I would like to do that"? That's exactly what happened to me about 4 years ago and I have been trying to get into the production world ever since.

2 years ago I naively up and moved out to Los Angeles with my family, thinking it would be easy to get a job as a production assistant and break into the industry. I couldn't have been more wrong. I was so naive in fact that I actually walked up to Sony studios with my resume and asked if I could apply for a production job. I was shocked when security wouldn't let me through the front door without an appointment and even more shocked when I couldn't find anyone to talk to, to get an appointment. That whole experiment lasted about 4 months and cost me about $10,000. I learned a lot and here I am two years later working in production.

While I don't think I was in the right place in my life 2 years ago to work in the industry, there was one key thing I was missing to be successful - YOU HAVE TO KNOW SOMEONE. Yeah, it's that important. Now, I attribute much of my success to God this time around (I'll write about all the crazy things that happened this year sometime) but it still comes down to knowing someone. In my case I thank God for helping me meet the right person.

This spring I became friends with a guy who was the assistant to an executive at Fremantle Media, the company that owns American Idol, America's Got Talent, Farmer Wants a Wife and many other shows. My friend kept his ears open and gave my name to the EIC (executive in charge) of the Janice Dickenson Modeling Agency. This kind of reccomendation can be a blessing and a curse. Many times execs will give an EIC a must hire, one of their friend's kids, who ends up being a real fuckup. So when my name was thrown in the ring they kind of ignored me as long as possible. I followed up with an email to try to stir the pot a little and was blessed with the production being in a crunch and needing an extra PA.

When I showed up on set the crew was struggling with some computer problems, which I happen to be pretty good at fixing. I kept my head down, fixed the problem, worked hard the rest of the day and made an impression on the EIC and have been working ever since. I don't think it's coincidence.

Almost everyone starts off in production as a PA, unless - again, you know someone. But to get a job as a PA you still generally need to know someone. Very rarely are PA jobs posted online and if they are, they are for student films etc. If this is your only option, take it because you never know who you will meet on set. I worked a short film with a grip from Dirty, Sexy, Money. While that didn't lead to any work, it just proves my point - it's good to network.

Once you are in the door, try to scope out the production process and figure out where you fit as quickly as possible. Make friends with everyone but try to make relationships with the people in the department you want to work in. Don't be a brown noser though, people hate that unless they are a particular stuck up douche and not going to be good to work for anyway. If you don't figure out what you want to do, I can almost guarantee that you will probably end up coordinating production, which really sucks.

I'll write about some of the jobs I have wittnesed in my next blog so you can have a good idea of what different jobs are available.

Viva Las Vegas...whatever

A friend got married in Las Vegas this past weekend so I drove the 4.5 hours there for the 10 minute ceremony because he is a really good friend. The other reason was because I have never been to Las Vegas before. I'll just start off by saying I wasn't impressed. My impression is something like this, "let's build lots of nice fancy buildings and fuck the rest of the city", or something like that.


First off, I would never want to live in LV because is so damn hot. It's a perfect place to have casinos and entertainment because people want to stay inside just to get away from the heat. Secondly, if you don't spend your life working in one of the many establishments, the city is really freakin' ugly.

I know I am kind of a kill joy, party pooper, etc. but c'mon. Fremont street? whoo hoo. It's a giant tourist trap with drunks walking around everywhere. And don't get me started on the light show. It's a giant tv. BIG DEAL! Are they trying to make all the drunks fall over when they look straight up? I guess the light show was cool years ago when it was actually lightbulbs but now it's LEDs that are what make up any major sign these days and are most likely going to replace all lcds in the near future.


I wouldn't mind going back to play poker and relax for a weekend but I could do without most of the shows. WTF is Cirque De Soleil? A crazy LSD trip or something. The other thing that sucked was that you have to walk so far for everything. I am normally a proponent of getting exercise but it's just a pain in the ass when you are pushing two kids in a double stroller.

We wanted to try and let the kids see something cool so we went to Circus Circus to watch the acrobat show. I guess my oldest daughter inherited my personality because in the middle of the show when the performers were flipping around in the air (which I did think was pretty cool. I'm not a complete square) my daughter says "look daddy, McDonalds" oblivious to the amazing talent in front of her. I thought it was hilarious.

Do I plan to go back to Vegas? Sure, someday when I have a babysitter, entire weekend unobstructed and some money to spend.

I guess the moral of this story is, don't go to Vegas and try to see everything in one day with two children and no money. It just sucks!