64 hours in Las Vegas

After the wedding in Denver, we zipped off to Las Vegas for 2.5 days, courtesy of cheap accommodations man (thanks, Lerrin) and cheap flights via Ted.

It was a hoot -- even if we had terrible luck on the tables.

We had pretty much figured out ahead of time what shows and activities we wanted to see/do while we were there. We arrived fairly late Sunday night, and stayed at the Planet Hollywood (otherwise known as the Aladdin).

The first of two shows we had tickets for ahead of time was Cirque du Soleil's Love, a Beatles homage show. It was almost indescribable -- a cavalcade of talented acrobats, dancers, artists coupled with stunning sound, gorgeous, dynamic set work and intense technology. Neither of us has ever seen a Cirque show before, but I would love to see more, if the quality is similar. I especially liked the portrayals of Father Mackenzie and Eleanor Rigby. We chuckled, however, at what a fitting focus for a show it is, marketing-wise. It's like an arrow straight at the heart of the boomers with the disposable income -- and the crowd demographic reflected that.

Regardless of their target market, if you are at all a Beatles fan, this show is amazing, and will not disappoint. And, there isn't a bad seat in the theatre, so cheap tickets would be fine, though better seats are, well, better.

The second day, we attempted to catch the free shuttle to the Liberace museum. We saw the ass end of the bus and, over an hour later, had not seen it again. So, we scrapped the museum and instead went to the Bodies exhibit at the Tropicana (one of the few casinos to have all-day/night $5 Blackjack tables available, for those interested). Bodies is a presentation of cadavers that have gone through an amazing plastination process, which removes the water from flesh and replaces it with a liquid silicone rubber. The bodies have been dissected, posed, and used in a wide variety of displays. Not for the really squeamish, but is a fascinating look at just how complex the human body is. No photography allowed (which, for $26 a ticket, is crap), but *cough* someone was able to *cough* find a picture of one of the bodies:

There has apparently been some controversy about the acquisition of the cadavers for the exhibit, but the presentation was unbelievably respectful and tasteful -- even the section on fetal and neonate physiology, which included specimens of different stages of fetal development.

Finally, Tuesday night, we had tickets to see Lucky Cheng's "All That Drag" dinner and show, at the Krave Theatre just off Las Vegas Blvd. It was hilarious. The girls in the show, who are also the servers are funny, rude, blunt and a hoot -- and pretty damn good looking (mostly), for someone tucking their twig and berries out of sight. The funniest point was when they grabbed a 71-year-old woman there for her birthday, groped the heck out of her, and then made her participate in a pole dancing competition with three other dinner guests. Mondo fun, and exquisite food -- almost worth the price of admission in and of itself. Make sure and bring dollar bills for the dancers, and your camera. Hopefully, you can take better pictures than we managed:

Oh, and try booking your tickets through Gold Star Events -- we saved 50% off the ticket price when we bought them from Gold Star.
The Blackjack tables were a disaster for us. Frances did better on the penny slots than either of us managed at the tables the entire time. Damn you, Four Queens Casino....

[From the 'Frances' Section]