TIME TO MOVE ON

 

Last night was a multiple celebration of sorts. For Jim and I, our last get-together with family before hitting the road. Son, Ken made his favorite brew, an imitation of Mirrorpond, one of his favorite commercial beers; good company while manning the Sunday barbequed chicken. It was a good copy, but for me, his pumpkin beer will always be the best.

Also, on this occasion, a family temporarily united. Kristanne's husband, Richard came with the help of his friend, Mike, and brought their household goods to the new place in Las Vegas, two loads over the mountains in the snow. The economy has leveled their former life in the same community. Now, Richard works in Irvine and Kristanne works in Las Vegas. Austin was excited to see his dad.

And Alec, giving his best vampire imitation, was happy to see his little brother and Kristanne.

It also happened to be Kristanne's birthday, so Laurie made a cake for the occasion.

 

 We helped Kristanne celebrate her turn to be 49 for a year.

 The kids played. (Their parents are friends of Ken and Laurie's)

 We enjoyed good food and conversation with Kelly and Jeff, the parents, and everybody had a good time.

And, we said our goodbyes.  Jeff, wrote and played a song about Walmart, and their 39 hour work week so they don't have to pay any benefits to their employees.

Unfortunately, my battery went out before the video was complete, so this is but a short sample.
It was a great to be able to spend several weeks in Las Vegas, spend time with family, and get my new computer off the ground. Today, we are headed for Palm Springs.

COUNTRY SINGER GEORGE JONES-LAS VEGAS

Texas Station in North Las Vegas featured country singer George Jones who is soon to be 80 years old. We were surprised to learn they do not forbid you to take pictures. The theater seating has no risers so visibility isn't the best.

Giant screens mounted on both sides of the theater project stills of Jones, his career, family life, as here with his fourth wife Nancy, and many other great performers he has come to be included among. 

The Jones Boys band is very good with a notable drummer and young fiddler. Singer, Britany Allen, does a good job and compliments Jones voice.

Jones fans hooted and hollered for him when he came on stage. His voice is long past its peak but occasionally the old Jones mournful bass came through and you had to admire him for keeping at it when retirement would certainly be more comfortable.

His music spans 6 decades and hes done some great stuff  that will never be forgotten. They sell "I Saw No Show Jones" message T-shirts that poke fun at his rampant alcoholic days when he'd simply not show up for his scheduled appearances.  We were glad we went and will play his hits this week on the old CD's we have and remember George Jones...
...he stopped loving her today....

COMPUTER GENIUS OF LAS VEGAS

I've owned a computer since 1983. You'd think by now, I'd be quite knowledgeable about computers. Nyet! It doesn't work that way.
Being a writer, I used it like a typewriter. I never put fancy scrolls around my Christmas letter, nor included pictures, or made a column...nothing- just typed. To type and correct errors without getting out the eraser and, later, the fabulous product, Whiteout?  Yahoo! Like throwing away the iron when perma press came on the market!

For what I paid for my Commodore 64, I could buy three far superior computers today. Who would ever have thought one would need more megabytes than 64?
Hah! Fast forward to 2011.  Now, I depend on that little black box and I use it every day. It functions like a phone, a camera, a typewriter, a video producer;  it brings me music, entertainment, and laughter. The list goes on and keeps increasing.  The catch is, they have to work efficiently.

 I bought a new computer Dec. 7th and hadn't been able to use it. It came without an email program and without many of the basics operating software we've become used to. It took my partner 6 hours to download an email program that I hated.
Enter computer genius Sam Valapp. First, he reconfigured my machine and customized it by loading my old program from my dying computer and added some new things. Then, he returned yesterday and got my web-cam and power point to work. When I asked him what type of computer he uses, he told Jim and I that he bought parts and built his own. Now that, my friends, takes genius. I'm sure there are others like Sam, but he came to the door, took the computer away and returned it like a new born baby. Ahh. I am a happy camper.
If you live in the Vegas area, I gotta tell you, Sam's the man: www.computerhighland.com

Just give him a call at 702-415-9996. 

SLOGGING OR BLOGGING?

Sunrises and sunsets are often easily visible when you live in a motor home. I'm delighted that we get to see them so often, but the full moon rising over the mountain top is a rarer sight. Jim spotted it and we watched it until dark.

Jim is still slogging through his cold, but wouldn't you know, our little portable heater quit and the weather is decidedly cooler. He insisted we had to go out and find another. We did, but just getting out and about exhausted him and he slept for an hour when we got home. The common cold can sure put  dent in your day.

I managed to walk a mile around the complex, but I always wonder about blogging on a day when we do nothing, which isn't often. Sam Valapp from Highland Computers loaded Vista on my new machine since I couldn't tolerate Microsoft 7. Terrific guy, very talented. I managed to test almost everything but burning DVD's and the web cam. Guess we'll stick close to home again today, try out the machine and feel useful. Jim's feeling much better this morning. We have to be well for Saturday Night when we'll see George Jones's show. 

One last shot of the moon. Its come into its own in this shot and is shining from above.

A--- CBRECCD-- BLOG

Egads! Jim seems to have adopted my cold so we stayed home yesterday and read. We did manage a quick trip to the store for chicken broth to make chicken soup.

 Neither of us get bored because we are avid readers. I'm currently reading a Phillip Margolin, Ties That Bind.

Home, in California, is beckoning and I've made reservations on Amtrak. I have a bum shoulder and its looking like surgery is going to be my only option. Not something that can be accomplished from the road.

Drat!

Jim reminded me that I'm here and can complain. Something to think about. Anyway, I know this is a pretty  CRummy blog, but when you have excess letters, you may as well use them. Or, Can Break Ribs Easily Coughing, Coughing Dreadfully.   (Where's the damned Kleenex?)

KA, CIRQUE DU SOLEIL

Last night, we went to see the Cirque Du Soleil-KA show, one of several Cirque shows playing Vegas. I attended the original about twenty years ago and the differences are immaterial. The original was much like a fancy, musical circus with high fliers and acrobats. One particular acrobat act was stunning and unforgettable with one man balancing on the head of another moving with muscular precision in slow motion through all of their gravity defying positions.

KA is more of a story line with gracefully acrobatic fliers, and fast moving, dance choreography for the war scenes accompanied by thunderous music. The costuming was very original. The full theater aspects of the show, meaning acrobats running about the theater at every level, above and around you are unique to my experience and very exciting.

Several scenes, like a tragic opera, were so beautiful, and emotion rending, that even without words, the "play" is understandable. The special scenes, sinking a boat, the underwater rescue, the acrobats in the wheel and a war played out on a slippery perpendicular stage kept you glued to the action. The perpendicular stage is like nothing I've heard of or seen before. Just watching the machinery in motion was amazing.
Now, I want to see them all.

My son suggested we use valet parking to see the shows and we loved pulling up into valet parking with the old Bronco with a bike hanging off the back among all the El Dorados, Saturns, Mercedes, Rolls and other fancy cars. The looks we get when the valet brings us our vehicle are a riot. At MGM they have a lava heat to keep you warm while waiting for your vehicle.

INTELLIGENT BIRD

My cousin Emmy is a bird person. She has a talking, whistling bird that travels with her wherever she goes. Its quite a responsibility. The cage, that the bird can open and walk out of whenever he wants to, stands three feet tall and about two feet deep. He doesn't fly.
Even in the house, birds are difficult to photograph. He won't hold still long enough for a decent picture. Above, he is walking around Emmy's face. I never did ask what kind of bird he is, but he has a beak like a parakeet.

This bird instantly learned to mock the sounds of the house. When Marge's phone chirped, the bird immediately learned to immitate the sound. Much of one day, Marge continually answered her phone only to find it was the bird causing it to "ring".

He uses six  different, distinct whistles to communicate. Not that we know what he wants, but Emmy does if she is in the room. He seems to enjoy listening to his own voice.

Their intelligence is pretty amazing.

I love taking pictures of bird houses around the country. Many are clever, but I'm always glad there isn't a bird in them. Emmy's bird, of course, is an exotic creature and wouldn't be caught inhabiting any such house as these.

I'm fighting a cold and still hanging close to the motor home, reading a book. Tonight, we go to a spectacular Las Vegas show.

GENERATIONS, MARRIAGE, RITUALS OF LIFE.

Marge and Gary Rowe celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with friends and family Saturday night. Gary's older sister celebrated her 50th a couple years back and his youngest sister will celebrate her 50th next year. Not only admirable but quite unique for a single family where every sibling is still with their original spouse.
Reminds me of a story when my oldest son was dating. He brought a girl home to meet we parents and Ken explained that she was quite nervous about meeting us because among her friends and acquaintances, (this was high school age) she didn't know anyone whose parents were still married to each other.
 
At the celebration, I also took a five generations photo. My cousin, stands next to his 94 year old mother, his son to his left, and his grand-daughter and her new baby complete the five generations. What a wonderful message of stalwart peoples, who have learned to take on life and play the hand they are dealt without caving in along the way.

Another sign of the test of time is Marge with her oldest friend-from kindergarten.

The DJ changed the music from hits of the fifties to more current tunes and the young people taught us some new, wild and crazy dance steps, kind of like line dancing.

With some serious moves on the dance floor, it was time to remove the spikes and get into it.

Like an Italian wedding, even the baby got a chance to dance, with Mom's help Sisters, and nieces...

 Son-in-laws and brothers..

 First cousins and second cousins..

and sons and daugthers,  all gather to honor their relative or friend in common, but also to share fond memories, and re-aquaint. and catch up with each other's families.

These rituals of life are an important element of family and thank goodness we had such a wonderful occasion to bring us all together.  Congratulations Marge and Gary.

LUXOR,EXCALABUR, LAS VEGAS

Visible from the freeway is the famous Las Vegas Strip, the new Las Vegas, across town from the old glitz and roar of main street type, side-by-side casinos where you walked out the door of one and into the next. The doors never closed on Fremont St., and you went there to pay your dues. The booze flowed, food was practically free and you played the slots, craps, roulette, keeno, cards, or dice. It was exciting and memorable. You were there for one thing and one thing only, to gamble in the only state in the U.S. that allowed you to do so legally.

The new strip is ponderous, huge, magnificent, with many themed casinos that take your breath away.  and accommodate a lot more people. MGM Grand, Luxor and Excalabur were once the first of these giants.A real chariot race with live horses was one of the shows, the main attraction,  at Luxor.
Now, they are surrounded by thirty story, and forty and  higher, luxury hotels and casinos with twenty-five story high flashing billboards. They offer so many things to do, why gamble? You can't walk from one to the other easily, so you tram, or drive, or mono-rail, or get a room and stay.

The Luxor Pyramid had just opened for business when my husband and I stayed there. The rooms are reached by a funicular since elevators only rise straight up and down. The huge Sphinx, the marvelous accoutrements of historic Egypt gave it  magic and mystery. By our second visit, several years later, the river Nile ran through the lobby with small boats moving through the living reeds. It was beautiful and realistic. I kept looking for the baby Moses.

 The Excalabur, too, with its charm of historic England with King Arthur's knights so bold. The famous show at Excalabur actually had knights on horseback galloping at each other with their lances, a full blown jousting match for the benefit of us all, and, a ladies silk scarf. The rabble, (us, the audience) were served a dinner on a board where you had to ask for salt. You ate with your hands and chewed your meat off the bone. Crude and fun.

 There isn't much left of the Excalabur's exiting past but a few stained glass windows, a phony aluminum piece of armor and some heraldic flags.
The Luxor was built to last, so the remnants of its former glory remain, the huge cement statuary, hieroglyphics, and Egyptian tiles in the walls remain, but the once lovely river is gone. The inside no longer resembles anything related to Egypt. 
I confess I was saddened and disappointed by the changes,  but grateful that I got to see it in its hey-dey. The new casinos are all about sophisticated luxury.  The themes are being phased out. But, the Luxor would take a lot of dynamite to remove, so hopefully it will be around for a long time to come.

If they demolish the building, I'm going to rescue the tiles and bring them home with me.