Marv's Random Ramblings

I haven't posted anything here in such a long time, I just wanted to test to see if this quick message posted ok.

Sadly, the news from Las Vegas this morning is that magician Roy Horn of Siegfried and Roy suffered a stroke following the tiger attack on him. As a result, Siegfried has come out and stated that their magic show, a staple on the Las Vegas Strip for years, will not reopen. He is due to be interviewed on NBC's Today Show this morning regarding the whole situation.

As everyone is no doubt aware, Roy of the magic duo Siegfried and Roy was attacked by a white tiger in one of their shows last week at The Mirage in Las Vegas. Its good to hear, at least from what I hear on the local news here in Cleveland, Ohio, that Roy has been upgraded to serious from critical condition and has shown some movement in his arms and legs.

Unfortunately, I am hearing more and more in the news that this attack may very well spell the end of Roy's performing career. What is interesting about this is the added tidbit I heard on the morning news today. It was reported that Siegfried and Roy have a pact between them (they didn't say if it was written or just verbal), that if one of them can no longer perform in their show, that the other would not continue the show, either alone or with another partner.

Let's hope we don't have to worry about whatever pact Siegfried and Roy have between them going into effect. Instead, let's just hope that Roy recovers fully, and that their show is up and running again soon.

Ever go to a movie and after it was over you weren't sure whether you liked it or not? Well, that's how I felt about Lost in Translation starring Bill Murray.

It is billed as a comedy, but it is a dark comedy at best. There are no huge belly laughs here. It's more a study of an aging movie star (Bill Murray) who goes to Japan to be the centerpiece of a whiskey ad campaign. He has his troubles with his wife at home and meets up with the bored young wife of a rock photographer. It is around this relationship that the movie revolves.

Murray does his usual fine job in this movie, proving he can be both an excellent dramatic as well as comedic actor. I have even seen some critics say that he should get Oscar consideration for this role. I agree that that is a strong possibility. Indeed, it is Murray's engaging presence that keeps this somewhat slow-paced movie intersting.

But did I in fact like it? Well, after giving myself a day to think about it, I would have to say "kinda." For my $7.50 (actually $15, since my wife saw it with me), if I knew when I bought the ticket what I know now about this movie, I would have opted for a "real" comedy, since that was what I was in the mood for. Stiff, if I were rating this flick, I would give it two and a half stars out of five stars.

However, would I recommend it to my friends? I would have to say a qualified yes. If you are expecting a comedy, the kind that Bill Murray is most noted for, you are going to be disappointed. However, if you are more into character development rather than the story line, you will probably find Lost in Translation an enjoyable, maybe even thought provoking, evening of entertainment.

Since Apple is giving away blogging software "iblog" for free for .mac subscribers through the end of November, I downloaded it and have been playing around with it.

For right now I am going to keep this blog going here at blogspot.com, but I am tempted to start a new blog using my .mac account depending on how my experiments with iblog work out.

I'll keep you posted (as if you care--haha).

I just spoke with a magician friend of mine who happened to be in Las Vegas the same week as I was with my wife. While he was there, he saw the third Cirque du Soleil show, Zumanity, at New York, New York.

Zumanity is a departure for Cirque du Soleil. It is not a family oriented show. It is strictly for the adults in the family. Well, to make a long story short, my friend has seen all three Cirque shows, and he also thinks Mystere is the best of the three. In fact, he rated Zumanity above O.

If you are looking for a family oriented show, I highly recommend The Mac King Comedy Magic Show (or is it Magic Comedy Show?) at The Improv inside Harrah's. It's an afternoon show and a bargain at only around $17 a ticket. I could tell you how much I enjoy watching Mac's show, but suffice it to say that Mac is my wife's favorite magician (I'm third on her list behind Mac and Daryl), and believe me, you can't get a higher endorsement than that. It's one show she enjoys seeing over and over and over and still wanted to see again.

Unfortunately, to my wife's dismay, Mac was on vacation when we were in Las Vegas. Fortunately, Michael Finney was filling in for Mac and did an excellent job. His act is also family oriented and I highly recommend seeing him if he is ever performing at a local comedy club in your area.

Last time the wife and I were in Las Vegas a couple of years ago, several people recommended that we attend one of the Cirque du Soleil shows, of which there were two at that time--Mystere at Treasure Island and "O" at The Bellagio.

The general consensus on which show to see if we had a choice was "O", because its stage was basically a giant pool of water, and there was nothing else like it anywhere. Unfortunately, we did not make reservations for any shows before arriving in Las Vegas, and of the two Cirque du Soleil shows, only Mystere had tickets available. Needless to say, we went to see Mystere and enjoyed it immensely.

The artistry and athleticism exhibited by the performers was nothing short of spectacular. Both my wife and I thought, if Mystere was this good, we could hardly wait to see "O". So on this trip to Vegas, I made sure to make reservations in advance to see "O".

Well, I must say that we both enjoyed "O", however, I don't know if it was due to the buildup that our expectations were so high, or that Mystere was the first Cirque du Soleil show that we had seen, but after "O" was over, my wife and I agreed (a rarity to begin with--haha) that we both thought Mystere was the better of the two shows.

So that's our opinion, and you can take it with a grain of salt. Certainly, you can't go wrong seeing either one of these shows, and now there is a third Cirque du Soleil show in Vegas to choose from. Not having seen that one and now having seen both Mystere and "O", if you can only see one of these shows, we both give a big thumbs up to Mystere. For the money conscious, it is also substantially cheaper (on the order of 40 to 50 bucks a ticket) than "O".

Last week the wife and I vacationed in Las Vegas. We had a great time--saw some terrific shows got some sun, and as might be expected, we dropped a few bucks to help keep the city's economy rolling along.

Both before and after we were in Las Vegas, almost everyone that we told about our trip had a recollection for me about how they won money when they were in Las Vegas. Are all these people telling me the truth? Are they all winners? Can it be that my wife and I are the only ones losing money in Las Vegas? If so, I want my name on a brick in the foundation of the next hotel to go up there in thanks for my generosity in helping build it!

I received a 30 gig iPod (Apple Computer's popular mp3 player that holds up to 7500 tunes) from my wife's side of the family in June for my 50th birthday. It was (notice I said "was" not "is") their top of the line model.

Now on Monday of this week, Apple Computer announced updates to their line of iPods. Wouldn't you know it--the 30 gig iPod was updated to 40 gig just three months after I got my 30 gig model.

Well, it was fun being on top while it lasted, but time marches on and so do Apple's frequent updates to their product lines. So now I am "stuck" with second best, but to be honest second best is not all that bad in this case. I still have a good 10 gig of space left on my iPod. And besides, the 30 gig model isn't made anymore, so now I guess my iPod qualifies as a collector's item.

Well, I decided to jump on the weblogging bandwagon upon discovering this free service called Blogger. So I guess with this first post I am now officially a "blogger" myself. I bet you just can't wait to see what I will post next.