Showing posts with label Las Vegas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Las Vegas. Show all posts

October 2, 2017

From North Korean ICBMs to the Las Vegas Mass Shooter

What do North Korean ICBMs and the Las Vegas mass shooter have in common?

They both target the masses for the maximum fatality count.

North Korea was shown targeting a nuclear attack on major U.S. cities--including San Diego, Austin, Washington DC, and the islands of Hawaii. 

The Las Vegas shooter last night targeted a concert crowded with fans to let loose his automatic rifle killing at least 59 and wounding 527 in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

How about the Boston Marathon bomber that killed three and wounded 260 at the crowded finish line?  

We are living in dangerous, dangerous times. 

And being in a crowd can seriously get you killed. 

Honestly, does it take a genius or a madman to target a large gathering to inflict great pain on the enemy?

Honestly, who hasn't wondered why we don't target the terrorists groups and rogue terror nation states--whether Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS, Al-Qaeda or Axis of Evil Iran and North Korea--when their militants are violently rallying, burning the American flag, chanting death to the USA, and boldly and defiantly raising their assault rifles high into the air. 

Why do we prefer to go after onesies-twosies in a virtual never ending battle to try and stop the terrorists of the day before they hit our cities and people again, when instead we can take out the evil bunch in more or less one fell swoop and send a no nonsense deterrent message. 

Are we too moralistic to do it to them before they do it to us and we have hundreds of thousands or millions of dead?

I'm not suggesting hitting innocent civilians, but how about an armed, military parade with tanks and missiles or a bunch of crazed terrorists just building up their gumption to do their next dirty massacre against masses of innocent men, women, and children.

The bad guys aren't asking any questions before they hit the World Trade Center or the Pentagon or London or Paris or Tokyo or Jerusalem with guns, knives, bombs, vehicular attacks or even attempted WMD--maybe we shouldn't ask too many questions before we invoke "fire and fury" on their evil ranks and protect our own once and for all. ;-)

(Source Photo: here with attribution to JTF News)
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November 26, 2015

ISIS Ruined Our Vacation

So we rolled the dice this Thanksgiving vacation and came up sort of empty.

We were supposed to go to Las Vegas, but then there is ISIS threatening to strike the U.S. 

Already, ISIS is claiming 71 soldiers in 15 states in the U.S., and the FBI is saying that ISIS terrorists are being recruited in all 50 states

Yet our leadership doesn't want to fight ISIS while they are still over there--instead, we are foolishly waiting for the next big terror attack over here, as if 9/11 with 3,000 dead wasn't enough!

We are stubborn, deaf to the terror threats, reactive, and refuse to wake up to the danger that is facing our country. 


Dancing around the issue with some drone and airstrikes--no matter how lethal--is not going to remove this enormous terror threat--coming from some of the most barbaric of enemies that we have ever faced. 

My sister told me from a lecture she heard recently about the terrorist threats we are facing, "We are used to fighting finite wars--there is a start/middle/end. [But] they [ISIS] fights infinite wars--not defined [by time or space]."

So how did we come to cancelling our Vegas holiday vacation?


Here is our story...

The number 613 in Judaism is very important--it represents the number of commandments in the Torah.

We have been seeing this number lately wherever we go: We look at the clock, it's 6:13. We are driving and look at the license plate in front of us--613. We go shopping and the receipt is for $6.13. We rolled a pair of dice (above), that's right 613, and much more. 

We asked what this means and were told it's a warning and to do teshuva (repentance) and follow the commandments more stringently. 

On Shabbat this week, I was reading the Wall Street Journal, and then saw an article on a new illustrative book of the commandments called, "The 613."

That night, I dreamed the entire night about 613--and the need to unlock the code of what it meant for us. 

The next day, my wife said "I have a really bad feeling about Vegas, let's go visit your parents graves."

When we got there, my wife touched the tombstone, and said she could hear my dad telling her not to go to Vegas--was this just playing on her imagination?

So she calls her father who is chasidic and he contacts a famous, pious and mystical Rabbi, the Vizhnitzer Rebbe--and without asking him about the trip--the Rebbe just pops out to my father-in-law that he should tell us not to go on our trip, and if we have to go, to take a different path.

My wife tells her father that we already made plans, have tickets, and don't want to cancel the trip, so we are instructed to give charity (so I immediately write a check for $613!) and do other deeds for repentance instead. 

Then the night before we are supposed to fly out, my daughter comes out with her iPhone and a news items on the State Department issuing a global travel alert "amid concerns that terror groups and individuals plan more attacks after the Paris massacres."

If all this wasn't enough, my back which has been hurting the last week, then completely gives out out on me--and in enormous pain, we simply can't go anywhere.

One warning, two warnings, three warnings...we can't be deaf to G-d's message.

So on this Thanksgiving, a sincere thank you to Hashem (and the Vizhnitzer Rebbe) for guiding us and keeping us from danger.

And a not so thank you to ISIS for implicitly spoiling our Thanksgiving holiday plans to Vegas. 

A small and insignificant, but nevertheless a casualty to our political disengagement, false appeasement, fearfulness to recognize the enemy, and war-weariness to take the bastards down and take them down hard and for good before something, G-d forbid, serious and much worse happens. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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December 27, 2014

Something Everyone Cares About

This was a funny Facebook post by someone from Las Vegas.

He bemoans that there are no virgins left in Vegas.

I tell my wife what he said.

And she says, "Well what does he expect in Vegas?"

I say, "I'm not sure, but I think he might be married and has kids."

So my wife says, "Then why does he care?"

I think for a second and answer, "It's someone everyone cares about like global warming."

And we both started to crack up laughing.  

My wife ends the conversation with, "Andy, you are a funny guy!"  ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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November 17, 2014

Balloon Mug

Love this new balloon mug from Starbucks.

Most of their tchotchkes are so ugly or cheap looking, but this mug rocks.

Got this for my daughter, but I want one too.

Reminds me when we went air ballooning in Las Vegas together.

Great memories and a really beautiful mug.

Too nice to drink out of. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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January 1, 2014

Ushering In 2014

As we usher in 2014, I thought this amazing Fendi Jewel Watch for women was a great timekeeping way to capture the moment.

I took this photo in the Bellagio Hotel in Vegas. 

There was a huge advertisement hanging by the lobby, and it immediately caught my eye. 

I like the different colored stones for each hour around the dial, as well as the overall white diamond ring around the face. 

I found it at their website for $3,000 and it is an absolutely gorgeous timepiece when you first see it.

But it's interesting to me that while it catches my eye, the more I look it, I find that I start to tire of it, and it is not one of those truly timeless jewelry pieces.

Maybe an important lesson for the New Year is that we need to look closely and carefully to avoid expensive buyers remorse, because not everything that glitters is gold--in fact, this watch is stainless. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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December 30, 2013

Up Up And Away



Had a wonderful time with Rebecca Blumenthal today.

We went air ballooning over Las Vegas. 

I was surprised at how large the balloons were and how easy the ride was--didn't even feel it when we lifted off the ground and before I knew it, we were 4,000 feet above sea level. 

I shot the video standing in the balloon as it was being inflated--never knew you could do that!

And I took the photo of the balloon with the Vegas Strip in the background--you can see the Stratosphere on the left along with the other fancy hotels and sites. 

The view from above was beautiful, the air outside was cool, but under the burners of the balloon we were warm and toasty. 

Sheldon Grauberger was a terrific aeronaut and guide today and you could see, completely, the total passion he had for this sport.

He told us how he actually trains others for free--he "pays it forward," since he was taught almost 20 years ago similarly. 

The sky, mountains, city, breeze, and peace and quiet floating overhead was so amazing. 

I sort of felt like the young boy, Pascal, in the movie, The Red Balloon.

He dreams of a better future and is carried off by the balloons into the wild blue yonder to live happily ever after, please G-d. ;-)

(Source Photo and Video: Andy Blumenthal)
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December 29, 2013

Andy Blumenthal With Harry Basil From The Laugh Factory

So Harry Basil was great at The Laugh Factory.

His costumes, impersonations, and audience involvement in his act was well done. 

In the course of about half an hour, Harry spanned the gamut from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Leonardo DiCaprio, Eminem to Michael Jackson, and from Batman to Superman.  

He was very animated and played with the people in the audience--so quick, spontaneous, and always in control. 

This morning, I took this photo with Harry Basil at Starbucks. 

As we started to walk away down the hall, my wife (who is wont not to take the greatest photos) says "Oh, I don't think the picture came out, it was too close."

And as we were going to start bickering, it was so funny...Harry pops up right behind us, and goes "Was it too close--let's take it again."

Another thing that happened that was interesting at The Laugh Factory, was when we were about to be seated, I said sincerely to the host "How are you doing this evening? Happy holidays!"  

He goes to me, "No one ever asks me that. You know what? I'm going to give you seats right up by the front," and he did. 

It was a lesson for all of us about talking and treating people nicely--what goes around, comes around. ;-)
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Fremont Street Light Show Las Vegas By Andy Blumenthal


Fremont Street has a cool free outdoor light show.

It is in the "downtown," which is actually at the north end of the Strip (go figure). 

The high-tech light show of 2.1 million bulbs is on a canopy covering 5 street blocks. 

The show lasts about 5 minutes and is beautiful.

I tried to combine the overhead show with some of the faces of the people walking down the street. 

Enjoyed the experience - like an IMAX and very creative. 

Interesting...on the way over, took a cab and talking with the driver, he told me how one of his colleagues found a box of chocolates in his cab this week.

When he opened the box, there was $300,000 inside!

Like Forrest Gump's mother told him, "Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you are going to get" - in Vegas and beyond. ;-)

(Source Video: Andy Blumenthal)
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December 28, 2013

Rock The House


Alright, this Jewish kid from the Bronx is not the biggest club guy.

But, we had a special event at the Light Club in Vegas and it was pretty awesome. 

The Great: the lights, dancers, special effects, and overall venue at the Mandalay.

The Okay:  Prefer an even higher tempo and energy from the music for more of the time. 

One amazing human element that I saw at The Light was someone in a wheelchair on the dance floor surrounded by his friends, all having a good time. 

Overall, I am finding Vegas better than what they advertise...guys, for almost $10B in gambling revenue, you can certainly find a better marketing and branding firm.

As DC is to politics, Vegas is to entertainment, but DC gets all the news coverage (more often bad than good), and Vegas needs something more than Sin City. ;-)

(Source Video: Andy Blumenthal)
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December 27, 2013

Gondola Ride At The Venetian



(Source Video: Dannielle Blumenthal)
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10 Vegas Fun Facts

(A lot of poverty in Vegas too, but this guy had a sense of humor about it.)

10. Vegas has 2 million residents, but 40 million visitors a year.
9. MGM Grand is the 2nd largest hotel in the world with almost 7,000 rooms.
8. The Bellagio hotel (with the amazing fountain in front choreographed to music) cost $8.5 billion and is one of the top 10 hotels in the world. 
7. The light from the top of the Pyramid at the Luxor Hotel can be seen from the moon.
6. A church on the way to the Grand Canyon from Vegas in painted in Mary Kay pink.
5. There are a pair of mountains called the Dolly Parton Mountains (at least that what our "wise-guy" tour guide called them)
4. A range of mountains looks like the face of Abraham Lincoln lying down.
3. The Hoover Dam, one of the largest government projects of the time was completed nearly two years early and a few million under budget (can you believe that?)
2. There are 600 Elvis impersonators, including a midget and a 450 pound man.
1. You can get married at the Say I Do Drive Thru for only $45!

And one for good luck...prostitution is illegal. ;-)

Last one...the Democrats and Republicans fought over naming the "Hoover Dam" after President Hoover, a Republican (what a surprise?). 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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December 22, 2013

Favorite Hypnotist Act


This is my favorite comedy hypnosis show with Marc Savard.

He suggests under hypnosis to this big guy that whenever he hears the Mexican Jumping Beans music, the guy will become active and his shoes will go 100 mph dancing an Irish Jig. 

And sure enough, this guy dances away...and he does it well. 

The music stops and the guy settles down. 

Marc Savard scolds him that he is interrupting the show with his wild dancing.  

The big guy is embarrassed, says "really sorry," and that "it won't happen again."

But it does! 

Savard threatens to have the troublemakers escorted out by security.

The big guy says "don't do that."

Savard says, I'm watching you.

Each time the music comes on and the big guy can't control himself and starts dancing, and when the music stops and he realizes what he's doing, he is visibly exasperated with himself.

It's also funny, when Savard goes "you wouldn't go to the Blue Man Group (another competing act in Vegas) and do that Sh*t!"

I am a skeptic when it comes to hypnosis, but overall, this act gets an A+. ;-)
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