10 Things to do in Vegas this summer (part one)

If you're in Vegas this summer (you lucky thing) you'll surely be in need of some forms of recreational fun between benders at the buffets and endless rounds at the tables. Our summer months here are especially toasty and the sun shines bright with little obstruction throughout most of the season. Given our sunny disposition, you might want to get outside and soak up some of that free-flowing vitamin D that proliferates here! 

1. Dive-in movies at the Cosmopolitan 

Like movies? Like swimming? How about floating in the cool, crisp water while classic films play at the Cosmopolitan hotel? Win-win, guys! There's a range of movies playing throughout the summer months, from a Star Wars triple feature (heck yes) to Ferris Bueller, Forrest Gump and other sentimental or cult classics. There will invariably be movie-themed beverages at the ready for your boozing up, along with lots of cool water to dip in should you find yourself growing warm. Isn't this what summer nights were made for?

2. Intergalactic Art Car festival

If you're into fancy vehicles and fantastic creations, but don't want to deal with the crowds, travel or cost of Burning man to see their freaky art cars, you're in luck! The giant flame-throwing Preying Mantis (doesn't every city have one?) at Downtown Container Park is teaming up with Lyft for this psychedelic festival. They'll do a parade down Las Vegas boulevard (aka the Strip) to show off for everyone, before returning to downtown for the festivities at 8pm. 

3. Stop in at the Springs Preserve

Get away from all the hedonism and debauchery of the strip and breathe in some fresh air and floral scents at this lovely oasis of natural beauty in the city. Only a short drive from Las Vegas boulevard, all the major casinos AND downtown, there's no reason to miss out! Much more open and less crowded than the Bellagio's conservatory gardens, you can check out their butterfly habitat (for a limited time) or check out the rotating exhibits in their museum! 

4. Catch a 51's game during their last season at Cashman field

After this season wraps up, Las Vegas's own minor-league baseball team will be moving to new grounds for their games, retiring the historic Cashman field. While all good things do have to come to an end, you'd definitely be missing out if you didn't try to catch one last game at this classic field before they move on to newer grounds. You can find their schedule here. Get you a helmet full of nachos while you're there, because you deserve it.

5. Ditch the city for the mountains, like Mount Charleston

If you enjoyed getting away from the tourist centers of the Strip by going to the Springs Preserve and are willing to go a little further out of the way, hop into your car (or rental, Uber, Lyft, or even a bus) and head out for the mountains. There's a lot of them to choose from, and while snow may be a rare sight during the summer months it'll still be many degrees cooler than the city itself. There are log cabins you can rent for an extra-special get away. They're only about a 40 minute drive from the heart of the city, and well worth the journey if you enjoy the outdoors!

Stay tuned for the second half of the list, dolls.

Thanks for stopping by!

💕

XOXO,

NAU

Deadpool 2 ((NO SPOILERS))

Antho got us tickets to see DP2 the first day we could go see it.... With the 7:20pm tickets in our possession, we went about the necessary nonsense of our day before walking our happy butts up to the Eclipse theater in Downtown Las Vegas. Thank the gratuitous advertising machines that are the entertainment industry, because even with our arrival being about 10 minutes behind the original "start" time, there were still ample previews and plenty of lighting available when we got into the theater. The Eclipse theater, by the way, is extra-fancy in that not only does it offer big cushioned reclining chairs to kick up your feet in, but you get a menu and in-theater service should you choose to take it. One guy in our theater got multiple beers throughout the film, and other's were getting sliders or nachos to nom on. Yes, you can in fact order cocktails to enjoy while watching DP 2. They missed an opportunity by not serving chimichangas, but so it goes. We, being artists of a moderate income, opted out of the $12 cocktails and $17 snacks, at least this time through, but they're definitely there should you want them. The servers are clad all in black and have pathways they navigate through during the film so as to be minimally invasive, but it's still a tad bit distracting in the midst of the action.

Shortly after our arrival, the lights went dim and we were on our way into the messy, raunchy, silly mess that is Deadpool 2. 

And don't get me wrong- I loved the first of this installation of Deadpool! I loved it so much I went for it and recreated Negasonic Teenaged Warhead's hairstyle, for crying out loud.  This two-films-so-far franchise has vastly outranked it's horrifying X-Men Origins bastard cousin, and is a fun ride all around. 

The problem is, can they cover any new ground? With a film like Deadpool, which was so groundbreaking upon its release (OMG,  a superhero movie that breaks the 4th wall! has an R-rating!), they're going to be confronting a lot of expectations. If it's too similar, fans will (maybe) hate it for being derivative,  because if it's not Star Wars that's not acceptable. If it charts whole new ground and veers into uncharted territory, leaving familiar faces and arcs behind, people will flip their shit, too. It really seems a difficult situation for the film-makers, who, ideally, just want to make a movie that's true-ish-enough-to-the-character-of-the-comic-book incarnation of the Merc with a Mouth. In the end, of course, it's all about money...but let's (try to) be positive here!

What we end up with is something that feels similar, has a lot of familiar faces, with some fun new additions and some shocking new developments. It's decidedly more fun than Infinity War, if not solely because I don't feel like I need therapy after watching it. I laughed. I cried. But I didn't feel particularly blown-away. This was, for the most part, familiar terrain. There were some new jokes and situations thrown in that made me literally laugh-out-loud and guffaw, but for the most part it felt like the movie version of slipping into that ratty old robe with the weird stains that you've grown comfortable with and loved for a while but aren't entirely sure why you still subject your naked and unprotected flesh to it's embrace time after time. The new ground was gratifying, but not mind-melting if you've got a cursory familiarity with the backstory. 

I didn't hate it. In fact, it was kind of fun. 

Did it break whole-new-ground and make me cream my pants with the sheer amazeballs of it? Nah. But it entertained and kept the spirit of the prior installation well enough. I think the inconsistency with the behind-the-scenes situation does come through to an extent, but that could be the result of the overall inconsistent tone of the movie. It hammers on some heavy topics, but it's in Deadpool's irreverent style so it can feel a little jarring at times, perhaps. We watched the first movie prior to seeing this one, and it was a noticeable change in tone. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's noticeable. I definitely felt like there was more of an intentional "take-home" message from this one. 

Overall, I'll be seeing it again. It's not the worst thing I've seen this year, and there were definitely some funny moments worth revisiting. 

Cheers.

💖

XOXO,

NAU

Vegas: Bonnie Springs

Bonnie Springs is a ranch resort only a short drive outside of Las Vegas heading towards Red Rock Canyon and offers a wide assortment of ways to stay entertained in the great outdoors! On this trip we did the petting zoo and Bonnie Screams, both of which we can highly recommend as we had a lot of fun but if you want to spend even more time at the ranch you can stay overnight in their motel and even take a horseback ride the following day if the stunning vistas bring out your inner cowperson. It's been ages since I've ridden a horse as it was typically the sort of thing I'd only get to do when visiting my family out in Ohio or Arizona back as a munchkin, but I'd love to check out their riding program sometime! Horses used to intimidate me when I was younger but now that I can literally look them in the eyes (being a taller version of myself these days) they're not so scary. Of course, there's a lot more available here to see and do than just the horses, like check out that great big ass up there! I've interacted with a lot more burros than horses and I'm quite fond of the critters. 

Every animal I've ever interacted with has had it's own personality- from tiniest of squeakers to the biggest of moos- one burro I knew growing up had a peculiar habit of trying to trick humans into climbing atop her back only to gleefully buck them off once they'd been lulled into a false sense of security. She'd come rushing to the gate to greet you and nuzzle your hand, then gesture to her back by flicking her head towards her shoulders with a mischief-addled grin until you either climbed aboard or grew wise to her ways. Another girl was shy, prone towards standing to the back and tentatively watching you interact with the others before she might graciously allow you a few pats upon her nose.  Food in the form of carrots, apples or hay were always greatly appreciated and their affection easily bribed for short periods with such gifts. There were a few years during my childhood where any approach to the house would be greeted with a chorus of breying burros from the back. It warms my heart. Maybe this is part of why I've always dreamed of having my own little cabin and animals someday, but who knows. The heart and what it dreams of are dictated by things beyond my ken. 

Wandering the grounds you'll find deer, doves, goats, peacocks and many more beautiful beasts. It's a fairly small zoo and some of the exhibits might be on the smaller side, which is unfortunate... but if more visitors and volunteers offer their services or donations it might make it easier for the zoo to expand their space and provide better environments for those animals. Many of the animals roam freely throughout the zoo and will approach you at their discretion- please be respectful of the animals and don't go charging after them! A lot of the animals walking around are going to be herbivores, creatures who are preyed upon in the wild and will have the instincts to react to any perceived threat by fleeing. It's really not nice to stress the poor things out! Just as you wouldn't necessarily want someone coming in to your home and chasing your dog or cat around upsetting and terrorizing it, these animals are effectively in the same situation. Be kind and conscious of the fact you are a guest here and enjoy your stay! Antho and I had a blast interacting with the critters and the volunteers, who would tell us back stories or personality information on some of the animals. The affection with which they interact with and speak about the critters says a lot.

There are also live shows, gift shops and all sorts of things to idle away the hours! Like I said, we had a lot of fun while we were here and after partaking of the day-time entertainments we opted to stay and see what Bonnie Screams had to offer... the post on that will come soon! For now, photos below...

Vegas: Springs Preserve Haunted Harvest 2017

For the record, we love Halloween. I don't know if I've spoken about this enough in previous posts, but Halloween really is THE best holiday in my opinion. It's one of the only times of year that it's socially acceptable for you to dress up and personify yourself as someone else- whether that means channeling Frank'n'Furter and not just dreaming it but BEING it, or cramming yourself into the tightest sexiest attempt at bombshell you've got in your armada, it's that magical time of year when you can be the spookiest personification of yourself... AND eat candy. Lots of candy. And the day after Halloween? ALL the discount candy! Woohoo!!!! While we've had a couple of rough years- last year I spent Halloween alone in Korea, for example- we are definitely making up for lost time by making the best of it while it's here now. I was really happy with this Halloween season and we spent it with some really good people and at some fun places. It was a good year.

The Haunted Harvest at the Springs Preserve is a family friendly affair that would kick into gear after the sun goes down. The gardens would be open during daytime hours as usual for all guests to partake of the non-spooky fun, then after closing time they'd switch over for the spooky spectacular and re-open a few hours later. This gave us time to eat, relax, take a breather and freshen up before venturing back out into the cold and spooky fun. There was a petting zoo, several haunted houses, funnel cakes, goats, free candy, a train ride and so much more! 

We were both happy to have gone and had a lot of fun. We're both members of the Springs Preserve and go fairly often...there's always something new and exciting to discover or see and with all the holiday themed events it's always changing. It was pretty neat seeing the preserve at night since we typically only ever get to explore the grounds during the day. It's a whole different vibe, especially with all the spooky decorations! While it wasn't too bad during the day, it might be a -wee- bit spooky for the youngest ones at night. To take some of the edge off there were live performances with young musicians and dancers on the main stage along with friendly volunteers aplenty to put you at ease if need be. We had fun and definitely enjoyed the free candy since at our age we're not really able to trick or treat anymore without a small child accompanying us... since we don't have any munchkins yet, it's a lot of fun to be able to channel that nostalgic joy of Trick Or Treating with the accompanying sugar high again. There were also funnel cakes and plenty of food vendors for when you need real food, too! Antho even discovered that goats, much like puppers, enjoy a good scratch behind the collar and will raise a hind foot in fake-scratchies to show their appreciation. Now we know!

More photos after the cut!

Japan: Girl's day out in Odaiba 2012-02-08

On one of our days off together, the girls and I ventured out to Odaiba for a fun filled day of goofing off together. Odaiba is a really fun area with beautiful beachfront views of Tokyo and Rainbow Bridge, a small Statue of Liberty, tons of arcades, restaurants and shopping centres. It's a hot spot for dates! 

Japan: Shin-Urayasu Arcade

Taiko no tatsujin!!!

One of my favorite arcade games in Japan, it's essentially a rhythm music game except you get to wield drum sticks as big around as hot dogs and pound away on an oversized drum. It's a blast and the psychedelic animations that adorn the screen as you play just add to the experience. To be fair, Japanese arcades, often located near or on the top floor of multi-level shopping and entertainment centers, are pretty trippy on their own.