[flickr id=”8025071963″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8025071498″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8025074329″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8025073638″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8025077483″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8025078630″ thumbnail=”thumbnail” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8025080248″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8025079176″ thumbnail=”thumbnail” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8025081989″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8025084667″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8025084634″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8025088829″ thumbnail=”thumbnail” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8025088829″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8025088296″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8025092149″ thumbnail=”thumbnail” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8025092635″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8025092156″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8025094785″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8025093276″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8025094674″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8021597438″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8021584577″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8021572874″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8021560165″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8021516215″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”] [flickr id=”8021497025″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”]

first off, fuck Chevy Chase, Vegas Vacation sucked.

another year spent at the Barrett-Jackson in Vegas with my dad. this time we weren’t down there for a whole week though, which was probably good considering that a week there takes a lot out of you when it’s averaging 36 above every day. plus, you know, you spend more money.

got there wednesday morning. we stayed at Bally’s this year after deciding that last year’s revelation that the Flamingo is basically turning into the trailer park of the strip meant we wouldn’t stay there anymore.

Not that we spent an inordinate amount of time there, but still, for sleeping and resting and eating quick food, it’s good and we’ll look at it again.

So Barrett-Jackson. BJ. you know why you could abbreviate it to BJ and have it make total sense? cause I bet for all the rich old white guys (and make no mistake, rich old white guys are the bread and butter audience of this) hurling hundreds of thousands of dollars at cars is like getting a mental beej that they aren’t getting from their trophy wife.

There are lots of smart looking vehicles there, but to balance that out, there’s lots of not so smart buyers. Like the guy at the auction who spent $46,000 on a 1996 Jeep Wrangler. Yes. you did read that right. fourty. six. thousand. on a 1996 Jeep Wrangler. you could buy one of those for a grand.

there’s also the ride and drives set up where everyone goes because they think they get to drive the hot cars. kind sorta. you get to ride IN, not drive. the thursday morning, I lucked into the only Mustang GT 500 that was there. you know, the 662 horsepower monster? Now, I’m not really a fan of Mustangs, especially new ones, but this was fucking mental. like, you can’t really see straight because you’re being shaken to the goddamn bone and trying to decide what your last thought should be before it gets hooned in to a wall and you explode.

seriously, the only noise I uttered that whole ride was “hee hee!” when the guy bombed down the straight. you just don’t have time to process anything else. I need to go to racing school so I can learn how to process that. also because someday I’ll have a Caterham 7, and it’s power to weight ratio (depending on engine) can be upwards of 410bhp per tonne, with a 0-100 time of about three seconds. so yeah. less passengering, more driver…ing…

Friday I rode in the new Camaro ZL1, mostly to make Dario jealous. I like the looks of the new Camaro better than the new Mustang, but once you sit in one, yeah, nah. you can’t see shit out of it, the seats are too low, and the instrument cluster is all over the place. Plus, the ZL1 is so not as exciting as the GT 500 was. there wasn’t the sense of instant death presiding over it. it’s not as loud, it’s not as fast. sorry dude, Mustang wins. plus, the redesign of the Mustang come out next year, and it’s supposed to look more like an Aston. and since I’m a sucker for an Aston…

so, right, car show. aaaand, we played lots of Pai Gow, which is like Chinese poker. slap down $100 and you can play for like 6 hours. My dad’s game of choice is craps, but since we were inadvertently introduced to Pai Gow two trips to Vegas ago, he’s taken a real shining to it. it’s a fairly relaxing game, you don’t get the tension from other games. and, since you can sit there for many hours just chilling, you get to have some pretty decent conversations with gaudy looking ladies from texas (you know, big hair, big baubles, rings on every finger) who’s playing the $5 table and you subsequently find out her husband owns 20 old cars with the likes of Rolls, Bentley, Packard, etc. See? The 1% can interact with the rest of us without issue sometimes.

[flickr id=”8021461378″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”center”]

my sister had told me in advance of our trip that the Evil Dead musical was playing in Vegas. When I looked, I thought it was playing the week after we were there. except when we were walking through Planet Hollywood, the poster boards were up so I double checked. and ended up with splatter zone tickets to the Friday showing. I missed seeing it in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. so needless to say, I was pretty pumped. My dad didn’t really have a clue what he was in for.

I can pretty confidently say at this point that no one I know who’s seen it has taken their 70 year father to sit in the splatter zone.

It was wellllllllll worth it. remember kids, ponchos are for pussies! I think I’ll hang my Splatter Shirt in the Blue Room. It seems fitting somehow.

we went to see Penn & Teller on saturday night. we saw them a few years ago, not much in the act changed. plus, there’s a fairly obvious libertarian overtone to it and they throw out catch words like PATRIOT and FREEDOM and RIGHTS a lot. and the republicans in the audience cheer and clap and the democrats look on disapprovingly and the Canadians in the crowd roll their eyes and wish they’d skip that shit. you don’t need to politicize a show of ILLUSIONS MICHAEL.

all in all, a good trip. next year we look to be in good shape to have my dad set up with a bidder card and pass, which means I get a bidder guest pass and we get to go on the floor and more places where the regular poor folk can’t go.

so we came back, and not it’s hunting season.

which means Aimée is a widow on the weekends. but that’s ok because I’ll bring home fresh meat for her to eat. after I clean it and smoke it of course. got into a really nice setup yesterday. when my uncle gets here next week for ten days, we’ll try for that setup again and it will be glorious. how glorious. the kind that makes you go THIS. IS. SPARTA!

except for the fact that we stocked up on ammo with a rather large amount of powder in them. and sustained shooting results in a massive fucking headache the next day because the recoil hits you in the shoulder so hard. Dario never believed about that. then he came out a few years ago and experienced it. now he believes me. so next week, recoil pad is being added to the kit.

my rule of thumb is that anyone who wants to learn how to shoot a shotgun with me will be allowed to do so, provided they agree that the first round they touch off is the largest shell in the box. no one’s taken me up on this yet…

so now we’re basically all caught up sort of.

now. I required bacon!