LAAA

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Yeah, that makes sense. For those of you not from California, here's my problem with that title. Los Angeles and Anaheim are two different cities in two different counties. I mean, I would sort of understand if they were the Los Angeles Angels of Beverly Hills since Beverly Hills is a city within L.A. County. But, you might as well have the Los Angeles Angels of Boston as have the Anaheim. All these sorts of titles do is convince all of you who don't know about L.A. that L.A. is this HUGE city that stretches from the Pacific into Arizona. Nope, we're big, but we're not that big. So all ya'll who say you live in L.A. but live in Santa Clarita, San Bernadino, etc... you're not helping either. Stop it. Or pay higher rent & live in L.A. Then you can claim occupancy. When you're living 30 miles from downtown, you're not living in L.A. Just be ok with that and move on.

But I digress.

I saw a very sad game yesterday: Angels v. Twins. Here's why (in order of appearance):

1. Food - wow - how do you mess up a hot dog....over and over. Four of us had hot dogs; 4 of us were disappointed. My personal opinion - the bun. I think all the buns were stale. Pretzels were dry. No garlic fries. Mexican looked really good but the line was MILES long. Very upsetting. I feel I've wasted all those empty calories. Damn. Dodger Dogs so kick these sorry Angels hotdogs @ss.

2. Game - teams played badly...both of them. They both deserved to lose but I'm told that can't happen in baseball. Stupid sport.

3. Fireworks - dude, you're owned by Disney. Disneyland has ROCKIN' fireworks. Go borrow one of their people. They can do the music, the display, everything. Lets hope they take me up on my suggestion for future games.

Every cloud has a silver lining:

1. Traffic - Flew there & back. More evidence that Jesus loves me.

2. Weather - this is what we pay for in L.A. High 70's with a cool breeze...nothing better than watching baseball outdoors in perfect weather in a big hat. I rule.

3. Seats - If you're going to a single game and your team offers it, I highly recommend buying tickets that season ticket holders have put up through the team's website. (I know the Dodgers do it too.) We got great seats at the Angels game this way without paying the brokers fees.

So yeah, that was my day, behind the orange curtain, at the ol' ball game. Stay tuned for reviews on the Metrodome and Petco Park.

Ok, so here's the deal

So, I've *really* wanted to post for the last week. But everything I've wanted to talk about, I really shouldn't because....

Back in the 7th grade, a note I wrote was intercepted by the wrong person and I'm yet to recover. And, of course, that spills over into my happy little place on this great big world wide web. You pour your soul into cyberspace convinced no one will ever read it. Like, when you wrote that note, the person intended would be the ONLY one to EVER read it. They'd never show it to their friends. They'd know how dear & precious your feelings were that they'd never drop it on the ground for someone to find. But ya know, all that can and does happen. You're putting thoughts to paper (or keyboard in this case) and therefore putting it out there. And it has the amazing potential to bite you in the @ss. And I'm very much aware of that.

I'm DYING to write about two people I call the Wonder Twins, but I can't. I could blog about them everyday. They're full of classic blog material. The sort of material that would be sent and forwarded and pointed and laughed at. I would be a blogging god. And, you know I could start a new blog and dedicate it to them. But I'm lazy. And that would take away from the whole point of this blog. I'm not willing to make this blog the sacrificial lamb to the WT blog. Sorry. So, T will have to listen to me rant about the wonder twins daily and the rest of you can ask me about them, if you're so inclined.

But, you're right, I've been absent. I'm sorry. I'll be better about that. I know, I met someone and that's really not a good reason to leave my other responsibilities to the side. I need make time for everything. So, my apologies for the absence and sporadic nature of my posts.

I'll be better.

Really.

I'm not just saying that.

Seriously.

Don't look at me like that.

I mean it.

Fine, I'm not talking about this anymore. You'll just have to take my word on it and see that I mean it through actions.

Vegas Baby, Vegas - Hotel Reviews

Hotel San Remo - Now Hooters Hotel & Casino:
I stayed at this hotel when it was San Remo. The location is great, right across from the MGM Grand, the price was right, the rooms were fine, the pool was nice, and the staff was very friendly. Now, I'm scared. And I think I'm scared because of the HUNDREDS of families I saw carrying Hooters bags from this hotel. Mainly I saw uninspired wives carrying bags after what seemed to be lunch with their husband. But, no one looked very happy when walking down the street with their Hooters bags. I saw some groups of guys coming out of there, but I guess I expected more guys and less families.

"Hey Honey, look...we can stay at Hooters!"
"Sounds great dear, book it!"

I don't know, I just don't see that conversation happening. And, from what I've heard, its the same staff working at the hotel, not your fantasy of fabulously endowed women responding to your every beck & call.

Stratosphere
I've stayed here a few times purely motivated by price. It was BY FAR the cheapest deal I found on the strip. However, in exchange for that super cheap price I was not within walking distance of ANYTHING. So, prepare to cab or drive if you stay here. The rooms are fine, nothing to rave or rant about. The view from the top of the Stratosphere itself is the best in Vegas. So, if you do want a spectacular view, I definitely recommend stopping in and having a drink on your way to downtown.

The Venetian
Being Italian, I'm fairly partial to those sorts of themes. The hotel is beautiful, the rooms are HUGE and I secretly want to go on one of the over-priced gondola rides. However, the rooms are a wee bit more "lived in" than I'm looking for at those prices. And when I say "lived in" I mean, we're really sticking with the what happens in Vegas stays on the bedspread in Vegas, if you know what I mean. So, if I'm spending mad cash I'm going to...

The Bellagio
No, I haven't stayed there but my mom has and when mom says "That's the nicest suite I've ever stayed in" we listen. Mom has stayed in some pretty fantastic suites so if you're looking for posh, I'd go no further. (But I still stick with my statement uttered MANY times in the last week: If you're spending real money on a hotel room, go spend it in a real city, like New York or Chicago or Boston or something.)

New York New York
Looking back on it, the pool is nice and at the time the eye candy (both male & female) was pretty spectacular. I mean, a nice lady (I wouldn't say she was a stripper but I have my suspicions) gave our group discount passes into O.G. And, looking back on it, that's pretty cool. But, discounts to strip clubs aside, didn't love the hotel. The "suite" was a joke and we downgraded to double rooms. And, that cool roller coaster that runs around the hotel. Yup, it runs past the rooms. Good luck sleeping with a screaming roller coaster tooling by.

The Tropicana
Ok, as seen above, I've done cheap, expensive and now cheesy. I so vote for cheesy. If you're going to do Vegas, do Vegas. Its not a real vacation. I mean, if you want a spa go to Canyon Ranch. If you want a city go to Chicago. If you want Vegas, then do Vegas. I will admit, the hotel isn't the best on the strip but everyone I talked to either really enjoyed the Follies Bergere or goes to the Japanese restaurant whenever they're in town. (And you know who you are.) I ask you, where else are you going to get a tub that fits 2 normal sized people comfortably? I'm serious, the room rate was worth it JUST for the bathtub. Besides, the location was fantastic for getting around town and out of the strip traffic, the room was big enough so that we never stepped on each other or didn't have our own space for our luggage and there was a mirror over the bed. I was laughing so hard when I walked into the room, again, worth the room rate. I don't think the significant other was an enamored with the hotel but damn, I was pleased!