What are some of the best conspiracies connected to the music industry? I'm interested in ones about music labels, artists and the industry in general. Some i can think of are: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Michael Jackson vs $ony
Back in 2003 while doing an interview with the tv show 60 minutes, Michael Jackson claimed there was conspiracy against him by the music industry to suppress his music in the United States.
When he brought it up his lawyer quickly hushed him not to speak about it.
Jackson later spoke on it publicly unravelling the conspiracy.
Michael had a long standing fued with Sony due to Michael's remarks that they kill music and unfairly treat their artists.
Michael Jackson was looking to start a venture where artists would own their art and be paid what they are due for it.
Michael showed up to press conferences with signs which read "$ony Sucks" and "$ony kills music".
Michael Jackson announced in 2002 he was leaving Sony, after this he started feuding with them because they would not give him his master records.
Master records are the original audio which every other copy is created.
He openly accused Tommy Mottola, President of Sony in 2002, that he deliberately sabotaged his album Invincible. Invincible was released in 2001 and sold about 10–13 million albums worldwide.
It topped in 13 countries but not in the US. It was thus considered a flop. Invincible was the top selling album then and 2001 was a very difficult time for the music industry as due to the events which occurred in the later half of the year most of the world was focused on the media storm of 9/11.
Sony sued Michael for the album’s failure in the pretext that he refused to go on a US tour to promote it after accusing them of sabotaging his album. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ P.Diddy put a hit on Tupac for $1,000,000
A few months after Tupac was killed in Las Vegas after being shot in a drive-by shooting while travelling in a BMW, Puff Daddy recorded this song with the lyrics being, "we got hits that will re-arrange your whole set and got a benz that i ain't even drove yet." It's believed this was an indirect diss toward Tupac hinting that he was responsible for getting him killed.
This isn't the only song Puffy has boasted about it.
On Black Rob's song Muscle Game released in 2000 Puffy says "Fuck with me i'll put a million dollars on your head".
One of the co-conspirators in the death of Tupac claimed he met up with Puffy in a restaurant in L.A. where Puffy asked how much would it cost to get rid of him and he was told a million dollars.
Somewhere between 1992 & 1993 Puff Daddy threw a party for black entertainment television known as BET at a club in Santa Monica in California.
While there Busta Rhymes almost got into a fight with Southside Compton Crip Keffe D, after the close fight Keffe D started speaking to Puffy and the two became acquainted.
Puffy kept in contact with Keffe D although he denied publicly that he ever knew him.
Keffe D and the southside crips started to supply security to Puffy while he was in L.A.
On March 29th, 1996 the Soul Train Music Awards was held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.
Death Row and Bad Boy attended the event, the South Side crips were supplying security for Bad Boy.
An altercation occurred between Tupac, Biggie, Suge Knight and Junior Mafia, a gun was then drawn by Biggie's friend C-Gutter. Security stopped the altercation before anything serious happened.
After this incident Puffy's former bodyguard called Eugene Deal claimed he heard Puffy shout out of frustration "i dont care if pac gotta die, i don't care if big gotta die, i don't care if Suge Knight gotta go to jail". Video (14 minutes 20 seconds in)
In May of 1996 Suge Knight gave Tupac the order to create a diss track aimed towards Bad Boy this spawned the infamous track "Hit Em Up" in the track Tupac called for death towards Bad Boy and East Coast rappers and also claimed to have sex with Biggies wife Faith Evans.
The music video included impersonators of biggie, puffy and Junior Mafia artist Lil Kim.
The diss track was released on June 4th 1996.
In the summer of 1996, some time between July and August, Suge Knights friend and Death Row affiliate Trayvon Lane had his death row chained snatched from his neck while in a Footlocker store in the Lakewood Mall in California. Trayvon Lane was a Piru Blood he had his chain taken by a south side crip called Orlando Anderson who was Keffe D's nephew.
There was a rumour that Puffy had put a 10,000 dollar bounty on Death Row chains as he wanted to include them in a music video.
In the summer of 1996 Southside crip Keffe D claimed he met Puffy at the GreenBlatts deli in Los Angeles, while there Keffe D claimed Puffy allegedly put a hit out on Tupac and Suge Knight.
Keffe D claimed Puffy asked how much it would cost, to which Keffe asked for a million dollars.
On September 7th 1996 Tupac Shakur and Suge Knight along with Death Row went to las vegas to watch a Mike Tyson fight at the MGM Grand, after the fight while in the lobby Blood gang member and Death Row associate Trevon Lane pointed out southside crip Orlando Anderson to Tupac.
Tupac attacked Orlando Anderson and Death Row associates then jumped him.
After the fight in the MGM Grand Tupac went back to his hotel room and changed clothes, him and some members of his group the outlawz along with his bodyguard Frank Alexander then went to Suge Knight's house in Vegas.
During this time the southside crips who were with Orlando Anderson were eating at a restaurant in the mgm grand, this included Keffe D Orlando Anderson's uncle.
Keffe D claimed at the restaurant were also New Yorkers and Eric Zip Martin a New York drug trafficker who introduced Keffe D to Puffy.
Keffe D claims someone came over to their table to tell them that Death Row and the bloods had just beaten up Orlando Anderson.
Keffe D claims Zip who knew about the million dollar bounty then said to Keffe D it was the perfect opportunity to kill them.
Keffe D claimed Zip then got a glock from his Mercedes and gave it to Keffe D.
Two vehicles then drove to the 662 club waiting for Tupac and Suge Knight to arrive as Tupac was set to perform there.
After it took a while for them to show up the cars left and drove to a liquor store.
After this, Keffe D, Orlando Anderson, Terrence Brown and Deandrae Smith got into a white Cadillac rented by Terrence Brown's mother-in-law.
They then drove around Las Vegas looking for Tupac and Suge Knight.
They then heard women screaming out Tupac's name and saw him standing out the sun roof of Suge Knight's BMW.
At 11:15 p.m. while stopped at a red light on East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane a white, Keffe D claimed they pulled up beside the BMW and Keffe D gave the glock to Orlando Anderson to which he leaned out the window and fired into the car hitting Tupac four times and Suge Knight once in the head.
The car then drove off and was chased by Suge Knights personal security blood gang members who opened fire on them.
They then escaped in the Cadillac parking it just a mile away from the scene.
6 days after the shooting Tupac died in hospital after his mother took him off life support.
Following the shooting the New Yorkers who were at the restaurant with Keffe D told Puffy's bodyguard Eugene Deal what went down in Las Vegas.
Yafeu Fuela who was Tupac's cousins who witnessed the shooting claimed he saw that the driver was wearing a white cap, Terrence brown who was the driver could be seen wearing a white cap in a photo taken shortly before the vegas trip.
The day after the shooting Keffe D and the southside crips returned to Los Angeles, while there Zip called him and asked him to meet at a restaurant.
While there Keffe D claimed Puffy called Zip and asked "Was that us", Zip told him it was.
He claimed Biggie Smalls wife faith evans called Zip too and asked was it them that done it.
Zip claimed he then told Keffe D he is going back to New York to get the money and he will bring it back.
6 weeks passed and Keffe D got no response from Zip.
He then met with Zip and Zip claimed he didn't receive any money.
It was later claimed that Puffy had given Zip 500,000 dollars but Zip kept it for himself.
An F.B.I. investigation into the case claimed Zip used the money to buy a nightclub.
Following this Keffe D never heard from Puffy again, as for Zip he tried to set him up in a police bust.
This investigation was carried out by LAPD cop Greg Kading who had Keffe D's confession on tape.
An investigation was also carried out by the F.B.I. who also questioned Keffe D.
Both agencies believe this is what went down behind Tupac Shakur's murder.
The F.B.I. claimed Puffy only ended up paying $500,000 dollars for the hit, also undercover F.B.I. agent Kevin Hackie claimed the F.B.I. knew for certain that Orlando Anderson was the shooter and even had the killing on tape.
LAPD Detective Greg Kading claims the F.B.I. and LAPD know that Puffy paid for the hit however they won't take action due to his celebrity profile because of the media attention that would come with it. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ F.B.I. reveal dirty LAPD cops killed Biggie
After Biggie Smalls death the F.B.I. investigated it and released their papers online.
They claimed the trigger man was a LAPD officer called David Mack.
Russell Poole was a LAPD detective who was the lead investigator for the murder of Biggie Smalls, from his findings he claimed Death Row Records head of security former Compton cop Reggie Wright Jr employed crooked Cops from the LAPD Rampart Divison to work for $75 dollars an hour.
A police report by Russell Poole stated some of these cops were David Mack, Rafael Perez and Kevin Gaines
Suge Knight went on record claiming that he didn't know any of the crooked cops and that Reggie Wright jr knew them.
A man by the name of Kenneth Boagni was arrested for a robbery and afterwards testified during the rampart scandal, he claimed to of been a cell mate of Raphael Perez.
Rapheal Perez was an LAPD officer and a main person invovled in the Rampart Scandal.
Kenneth Boagni claimed Rapheal Perez told him on the night Biggie was killed Rapheal was at the museum providing security for Death Row Records.
He claimed David Mack was with him.
Kenneth claimed on the television show "Who shot biggie & tupac" that Rapheal Perez told him shortly after Tupac was killed in September of 1996, David Mack was informed to get someone to quote "do what the boss wanted done".
This boss could of mean't the head of Death Row Records Suge Knight or David Mack's alleged employer Reggie Wright Jr.
Kenneth Boagni also testified in court, he was an informant who helped exonerate 5 police officers in the past.
His statement became known as "The Million Dollar Testimony", this was as the testimony was buried by the LAPD and as a result the judge in a 400 million dollar wrongful death lawsuit by Biggie's mother fined the city of Los Angeles 1.1 million dollars for suppressing the testimony.
In his testimony Kenneth claimed Raphael Perez told him Reggie Wright Junior and Death Row Records criminal defence attorney David Kenner allegedly set up a hit on both Sean “Puffy” Combs and Christopher “Biggie Smalls” Wallace with the bounty being a million dollars.
The killer was allegedly paid $250,000 upfront and owing them $750,000 afterwards.
Kenneth Boagni claimed Raphael Perez told him Reggie Wright was like David Mack’s sidekick at the time of Biggies murder, Reggie Wright denied ever knowing David Mack.
According to Kenneth’s testimony, LAPD cop Kevin Gaines allegedly failed to intercept Puffy’s car as it ran a red light in front saving Puffy’s life.
This has been corroborated by Gene Deal as he was the person who told the driver to run the red light.
Kenneth stated that Reggie Wright Jr and David Kenner informed David Mack and Raphael Perez that they would not receive the $750,000 as the hit was for both Biggie and Puffy.
On November 6th 1997 David Mack, Raphael Perez and a person called Sammy Martin robbed a bank#Bank_robbery) of America near the university of Southern California. David used his girlfriend who worked at the bank to get him into the vault where he robbed $722,000, which still remains unaccounted for.
David Mack was arrested a month later after his girlfriend told authorities it was him that robbed the bank with her help.
When police searched David Mack’s home they found a black SS Chevy Impala matching the description of the shooters vehicle in the murder of biggie smalls, they also found bullets which matched the rare type used in the murder.
These bullets were buried under the floorboards of his house.
Phil Carson of the F.B.I was ready to make to make an arrest based on this information but his superiors told him to back off.
Russell Poole was also ready to make an arrest, however his superiors at the LAPD told him to back down and stop making allegations.
In 2015 Russell Poole died while at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, he died of a heart attack while discussing one of Suge Knight's cases.
In 2006 Greg Kading was hired to solve the Biggie Smalls murder so the wrongful death lawsuit of 400 million dollars against Los Angeles by Biggies mum could be dismissed.
He claimed that Russell Poole's findings of dirty cops had evidence but were not the suspects behind Biggies murder.
The F.B.I. papers online dispute Greg Kading's investigation claiming the murder was too intricate to be pulled off by gang members and that a large contingency of officers were invovled using police scanners and diversion to get away with it. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
These are just some i know of, what are some more that are out there?

Introduction:

A few months before a trip I’m usually become pretty active on this sub, spending a decent amount of time helping people plan out trips. I figured for once I’d share one of my planned itineraries, what actually happened on the trip, how much I expected it to cost, how much it actually cost, changes since my last trip, and any highlights.

Demo:

Married couple, late 20s, 17th trip to Vegas.

Planned Itinerary:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTwil88ghO5M8CLdwNaXSg8eOo5fqZwhXSZpv20K2TlYJEPzBdUqBvC8Dq7jmSfZ5uB6UE-SMu0zZ6n/pubhtml

Actual Itinerary:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSuckh6hJ-L7xM3wLBLgViIaMy1nUSQev53vIDN9N0F5rpynwDb_ziJfyraBYik2eu9EwpAVSaJ18Gd/pubhtml

Things to get out of the way:

Immediately people are going to jump at the fact that I have things planned down to the 5 minute mark. These are rough estimates, usually made in an attempt to make sure that we get to everything we are wanting to do in a day, or so that some deadline is reached on time, such as a restaurant closing or a club entrance cutoff. Typically we are somewhere between on time and an hour late depending on whether or not a deadline is involved. I didn’t change every single time to the actual time on the “Actual Itinerary” since that would have been way too much work, but if something got skipped, added, or things went drastically off the rails it was noted.
With regard to the cost predictions going down to the penny, before we go to a restaurant we typically look at the menu online and then we know what we’re ordering beforehand. It isn’t particularly hard to add tax and tip and then know the exact amount. We typically change things up a few times and that’s why I included the actual costs on the Actual Itinerary. Some of the predicted values are closer to guesses, but I typically added tax and tip to those to help keep it accurate as I could.
The next thing that people are going to question is the fact that we switch hotels 4 times in 7 days. I would never argue that it’s particularly convenient to do that but with the comped room I had at Bellagio, the comped/reduced rate I had at Wynn, and then the comped room my wife had at Wynn, along with our varied itinerary, it was worthwhile to hop around a bit. Bellhops are your friends, always tip them and they’ll treat you right, that is if they decide to help at all (looking at you MGM and Planet Hollywood). The reason for the Gold Coast was we were planning on checking out KAOS, but due to lineup changes we ended up changing our plans. We got a great price for the night, so we just kept it.
The final thing that I know people are going to jump at is the fact that we eat at McDonald’s 4 times during the trip. After 3am, when the clubs are starting to wind down, there are very few food options open in Vegas. Most are overpriced for what you get, or in inconvenient locations. Usually we are drunk, and dead tired, so spending lots of time or money to get food is just a waste. 3 out of the 4 times were at 3:45am because their dinner menu cutoff is 4am, and why go to McDonald’s when you can’t get chicken nuggets. The last one is because it’s literally right across the street at Palms. For the past few years we’d get delivery Thai Pepper, which was absolutely fantastic drunk food that was surprisingly cheap and available even later in the night, but they’ve closed, and I haven’t seen any particularly appealing alternatives.

Changes to Vegas since early September 2018

- Thai Pepper closed - Encore Beach Club’s poles were removed from the center island + Block 16 Urban Food Hall opened + Urth Caffé opened = KAOS opened

Stats:

Predicted units of alcohol to be consumed: 136.5 Actual units of alcohol consumed: Somehow more

Hotels:

Bellagio: Always thought of Bellagio as probably impressive until Wynn, CityCenter, and Cosmopolitan were built. Still think this. Room was fine, but not worth anywhere near the price point if it wasn’t comped. Maybe if you spring for a view of the fountains it’d be different, but at the price I’d still think Cosmo is a better option.
Wynn: Having stayed at Encore multiple times, and loving it every time, Wynn was actually really disappointing. I thought I’d just be complaining about the white and cream color scheme and the open layout with the weird TV placement, but the real problems were the room fragrance and lack of power outlets.
My wife didn’t find the odor particularly unpleasant but to me it had an uncanny similarity to cowshit. Almost decided to switch rooms, but was too tired and busy, and it turned out our later stay at another Wynn room on a different floor, facing a different side, had the same smell, so it seems to be property-wide. Looking online they seem to have a room fragrance that just isn’t compatible with me somehow.
The lack of power outlets made charging our phones, my watch, and her laptop practically impossible and was just something I hadn’t even considered could be a problem in a high-end hotel. The lack of power outlets anywhere even remotely close to the TV meant I couldn’t connect her laptop to the TV and power at the same time, even with a 10 ft. HDMI cable.
Having become used to Google Home at home, traveling is always a bit disappointing when you can’t just ask for the lights to turn off or an alarm to be set. This should be standard in all hotels, with very clear ways to disable it for the privacy conscious. Sadly Wynn’s implementation of Alexa is absolutely terrible. One room it worked about half the time, with me often resorting to their perfectly usable touch panel. The other room it never worked.
Gold Coast: Wish I had time to take advantage of the cheap bowling. Perfectly serviceable basecamp if you wanting to spend time at Palms or are using Uber to get around, although we could never get it quite to the right temperature. An absolute steal at $71.25 before taxes and resort fee on a Saturday of a summer holiday weekend.
Planet Hollywood: I’ve always been pretty harsh to Planet Hollywood, arguing why would you stay there when you can spend a reasonable amount more to stay at Cosmo or spend drastically less money and stay at either Harrah’s, Linq, or the Flamingo? For me the answer was when Cosmo is having some sort of event that causes the price to be 2-3x normal, and you were planning on hitting up Cosmo’s food options and Marquee Monday.
Our Ultra Resort Room was actually quite nice with a large layout, plenty of power outlets, and a bathroom with 2 completely separate mirror and sink areas. The only real problem was the cleanliness was the worst I’ve seen in Vegas since the Linq was the Imperial Palace. Every glass or mirrored surface had smudges, the carpet had a large stain in the middle, and the stack of ads and magazines was sticky. You’ll see one of those problems at almost any hotel room in Vegas that isn’t a luxury property, but it’s been years since I’ve stayed in a room that felt this unclean.
Ultimately it’s convenient access to Cosmo makes it occasionally a good option, but from what I’ve seen only if you have time to potentially request they deep clean your room. Had Cosmo had a more average price I’d still think the upgrade to there is worth it.

Highlights

Exodus Pass Usually we do guest list or presale tickets to pool parties and nightclubs depending on various factors. This year we were planning on July 4th weekend to take advantage of the day off work, and that happened to coincide with one of the Exodus Festival weekends. We bought tickets early, and it came to only $147.55 after taxes and fees and a promo code. With the later guaranteed entry and the quickness of entry, this was an absolute steal. 10/10, would do again. My biggest complaint is their wristband booth in MGM Grand is not the most convenient and quick location to pick up your wristbands. They should probably setup one at the hotel hosting their first event, and not just their first nighttime event.
Twilight Zone Mini Golf was fun and inexpensive, a growing rarity in Vegas.
Urth Caffe is now my northend recommendation for breakfast in Vegas. Great food, and generous size of their drinks.
While Caesars’ 4th of July fireworks show was great, the impressive thing was the sheer amount of illegal fireworks going off all over town. I know some of you have strong negative opinions about them, but having never seen anything like it, it was impressive.
Marquee had silent disco in the Library which is always a fun experience.
Block 16 has some fantastic food at great prices. Special shoutout to Hattie B’s seasoned fries, the perfect drunk food.
First time at an airport lounge. Free drinks after security, but before you fly is an absolute gamechanger.

Room for Improvement

LAS Uber Pickup The 2M Uber pickup floor at LAS is completely fucked. There’s just no other way to put it. It’s always been bad, but now there are concrete barriers that make it where far too many people are trying to move through the unblocked areas. Plenty of airports do this better, hopefully someone with some power thinks about the fact that this hard to find, hot, dark, congested place isn’t the best way to start off people’s trips. If I had time to go to Total Wine and Reef I definitely would have taken Presidential Limo, which picks up in a tolerable place.
Apex While Ghostbar always had a view going for it, Ghostbar Dayclub was well liked due to it’s personality. Apex still has the view, but the vibe was just completely non-existent. Hopefully now that Apex is under control by Stations/KAOS they can make it not just a generic bar with a great view, but from what I can tell it’s still being neglected.
Reef Weed Tender Don’t get all offended that I’m not wanting to chitchat. I called in the order, and am trying to make this transaction quickly, since I have an Uber waiting outside and don’t want to waste his time.
Drai’s Guest List We ended up skipping Drai’s on the 4th of July. $75/$50 for guest list for Big Sean seemed worth it to a lot of people who weren’t us. Got in line, found the price, got out of line. I had heard from a friend that Drai’s promoters have lately been advertising free entry and yet were charging even groups of all girls, so I wasn’t expecting free, but $125 for a couple was too steep for a week filled with as many pool parties as we had. Felt sorry for anyone expecting to get in for free and finding that mess, especially if they were on a shorter trip. Promoters should stop promising free if it’s only going to be reduced, accurate communication is key.
Masala 24/7 Indian food is a great idea in Vegas, and a location near Tacos El Gordo is even better. That said, I don’t find anything too oily, imagine the most deep fried thing you can and it’s soaking through 10 napkins and a paper bag and I’d be like “This tastes great,” and yet Masala was somehow too oily, Their naan also wasn’t crispy and had a doughy texture. My wife also found their food too salty. Overall not worth trying out, even if it should be good in theory.

Future

Originally when I was writing this I talked about not coming again for awhile, but somehow ended up with a trip August 22nd-27th.

I'm in Las Vegas, leaving tomorrow. I have been staying at Mandalay Bay and attending a conference here. I have been here during the terrible mass murder.
In the hope that this would be somewhat cathartic, I've written out what happened below. I'm not doing this to be a karma whore or to get reddit gold. Don't gild me. The text below is just a brain dump of what happened and how I feel - I haven't really tried to make it presentable or anything. Hope this is OK. Times aren't super accurate as I'm going from memory.
My manager, his son and I were finishing our meal at "The House of Blues" (a restaurant within the Mandalay Bay complex - just off the casino floor). At around 10:10pm local time, our waitress yelled out that we were to all evacuate immediately, that there was a shooting taking place in the hotel. At about the same time we heard screaming and saw people running past the front of the restaurant. We were evacuated to outside the hotel, to a loading zone or rear entry of some sort. While outside, we heard some gunshots and more screaming. It sounded like someone with a gun was pretty close to us. At this stage, we had no idea what was going on - people thought that there were gunmen shooting people in the casino and on the streets like an execution squad. As everyone thought we were in danger, we were then evacuated back into the hotel through a service entrance to another restaurant (RM Seafood), where we (about 15 of us plus a handful of staff) were sitting at tables in a function room towards the rear of the restaurant.
We sat with a pair of ladies who were attending the conference with us, from California. One of these ladies (we will call her "A") was becoming hysterical with panic, so I started talking to her and trying to calm her down; asking her about her family and pets, and trying to get her to think of something other than the situation we were in. I crouched in front of her and positioned my body to offer her some protection if shots were fired. At this point, police/military started storming the casino. We could see men with guns (who turned out to be police/military but it was hard to tell at the time with all the confusion) running past the restaurant shouting for people to get down. This was terrifying, as we expected bullets to start flying at any minute. "A" started going into shock/panic again. We all crouched around her to offer her some security/protection in case something happened and tried to put on a brave face to stop her from becoming more panicked.
After twenty seconds or so, we crawled under the tables back to a service area which led to the Michael Jackson Theatre. At this point I got separated from my boss. He (and some other people) had stayed in the restaurant and crawled behind the bar. The ladies we were with had also left their bags in the restaurant during the panic. We burst into the theatre and were told to find a seat. It was apparent that the people in the theatre had no idea what was going on - many of them were clapping and cheering as if us running in all panicked was part of the show. The people in front of us turned around and asked what was going on. We told them there was shooting going on and we'd been evacuated in here, but to keep it quiet so as not to incite panic. Three heavily armed police entered the theatre and instructed the theatre staff to lock the exit doors from the inside. They spoke over the public address system that they were responding to "an incident in the casino", and that we needed to all stay in our seats, keep quiet, and keep the exist clear. They asked that the lights be kept off.
Some people got up to see what was going on. The police yelled that they needed line of sight to the exits and for people to return to their seats. At this point, someone tried to open the door from the outside. The police officer yelled "GET DOWN NOW!" and raised his machine gun to the door. Everybody got down onto the floor in front of the seats, there was a lot of screaming. We expected a gunman to burst through the door an open fire. After a minute or so of nothing happening, we got back up. "A" started to panic again, and said she would feel more comfortable sitting near an exit, so we went with her and crouched down by one of the exit doors that led to the outside of the casino, next to the car park. I positioned myself in front of her to try and offer some protection and comfort her, and asked her to show us pictures of her children on her phone to try and help her calm down. At this point I think everyone in the theatre realised that something serious was going on, and started to take the situation very seriously. Shortly after, several more police officers arrived, and broke into teams of 2-3 per exit. They were armed with rifles, shotguns and machine guns. The police didn't seem to know what the threat was, and were acting like people with guns might burst through the doors at any minute. They kept the theatre in lock down for 2-3 hours. During this time we were not allowed to leave the theatre under any circumstances. People that needed to use the restroom had to urinate in plastic cups. We could overhear the radios that the police had on them, saying things like "reports of shots fired at New York New York, the Bellagio, the MGM Grand and several other hotels". We all thought that this was a coordinated terrorist attack. It was truly terrifying.
During the initial lockdown, the police made an announcement over the PA system along the lines of "we have heard some people saying they are carrying concealed weapons. If you are carrying a concealed weapon DO NOT DRAW IT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES OR WE WILL SHOOT YOU".
After 2-3 hours of lockdown, the police now thought that there were two shooters coming from the roof of the hotel, and that the reports of shootings on the streets and at other hotels were false. They secured the lobby of the theatre and assembled a strike team outside the lobby for our protection. They then allowed people to visit the lobby to use the restroom. At this point they moved the remaining people from the restaurant into the theatre. My boss was not allowed to bring the ladies' bags into the theatre, so he stashed them in a cupboard so they were safe. The theatre and lobby was kept under lockdown for another three hours or so while the SWAT team were clearing the casino floor and each floor of the hotel room by room. People from the conference who were still in their rooms were texting us saying that SWAT had burst into their rooms guns up, made sure there was no threat, and then left. This spooked many of the conference attendees who later required counselling (put on by the conference organisers).
We were told that the entire hotel had been marked as a crime scene, and that we would be unable to return to our rooms. The police arranged for busses to evacuate the 1500-ish people in the theatre to various places - a site near the airport, a local university, a local sports field. They asked that the elderly, people with young children, and people requiring medical attention please line up for the first lot of busses. During this time, one lady started going into a seizure as she did not have access to her anti-seizure medication. The police made an announcement over the PA system asking if anyone had any of the specific medication she required. That was the last I heard of that so hopefully she was OK.
As we were all able bodied and staying in the hotel, we stayed behind and did not evacuate during the initial rounds. The evacuation process took place over the next few hours. Over this time, through twitter, reddit and listening to the police scanner, we learned that there was only a single shooter, he was firing from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay to a country music festival "Route 91" that was over the road from the Mandalay, that he shot himself, that there was over 50 dead, they had found a bomb in the killer's car, and that, thankfully, we were never in any real danger (although I would later find out that the killer's car was filled with ammonium nitrate explosive, and it was parked metres away from the theatre in the hotel's car park).
Throughout the lockdown, people were sleeping in aisles, sleeping on the floor, trying to call and message loved ones, eating and drinking food/drink from the concession stand (we were told to help ourselves at no charge), etc. People were sharing phone chargers to try and make sure we could all stay in contact with friends and family. A lady ("D") in front of us was worried about her one year old, who was in a hotel room with her grandmother. She was concerned that when her child awoke in the morning, there would be no substantial food in the hotel room. The manager of the theatre did everything he could - people were cold due to the air conditioning - had nothing to offer but napkins but did everything he could to try and make people comfortable. The theatre staff (who must have been equally terrified) were handing out water. I had a chat to some of the police, who mentioned they were getting tired and hoping that a new shift would come to relieve them soon. They had been on shift for about 14 hours.
At around 6:30am, a new shift of police came to relieve the team that had been protecting us all night. We thanked them for keeping us safe and they promptly left, thanking us for being cooperative.
At around 7:45am, the evacuations had finished. There was about 12 of us left in the theatre. My boss, his son, the two ladies we ran into, and a few more people. We were told that the SWAT team had cleared the hotel, and that we could go back to our rooms (with the exception of people staying on level 32 - I would later learn they were given new rooms). We were locked in the theatre for a total of around 10 hours. We went to RM Seafood with the ladies to retrieve their bags. We made sure they were OK and then we all went back to our rooms.
From this point forward, there were guards posted in the lobby, many more guards patrolling the casino floor. Guards with sniffer dogs walking around the hotel and conference area. Impromptu metal detectors were set up at the entrance to the conference facility. Everyone entering for the remainder of the conference would be subject to airport-style security - metal detector checks and bags searched.
We found out through talking to the hotel security staff that:

• The killer had ordered room service, and then put the room service tray outside his room, camouflaging a security camera on the tray giving him a view down the corridor leading to his room.
  
• The killer had a camera set up in his room, capturing the entire murder.
  
• They knew the killer was on level 32, as the smoke from the machine gun set off the room's smoke alarm.
  
• They had found around 23 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition in the killer's hotel room. That the guns he used for the mass murder were mounted on tripods and fitted with scopes and "bump stocks", effectively making them into fully automatic assault rifles.
  
• The killer would use one gun and shoot at one side of the crowd. The crowd would run to the other side of the festival field. He would then switch guns/windows and shoot them on the other side of the field. Sickening.
  
• During the shooting, the hotel head of security went up to level 32 to try and evacuate innocent people. When the killer spotted him on the camera, he shot 200 rounds through the door of his room. The security guard was shot in the leg, but still managed to evacuate people.
  
• When the SWAT team breached his room (with explosives on the door), they found him already dead due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
  
• The SWAT team found a large quantity of ammonium nitrate explosive in the killer's car (apparently a black audi), which was parked sickeningly close to the exit of the theatre where we were hunkered down. They believe his plan was to perform the shooting, arm the car bomb and escape, meaning for the car bomb to explode and demolish part of the hotel. I'm very thankful this didn't happen as it would have probably killed me. I feel sick just thinking about it
  

My hotel room overlooks the concert area. I've kept my windows shut as I did not want to see the bodies of the victims. I was told that they were still there to allow forensic investigators to document the crime scene. The front entrance of the hotel has remained closed, and there are road closures in place still.
About half of the conference attendees left, including "A". Many have had counselling that was arranged by the conference organisers.
Since this, Trump has come and gone, and today the vice president has come and gone. The death toll is up to 58. The hotel and casino is very quiet. The hotel staff are visibly shaken.
That's my story. I'm so thankful that I'm alive and can come home to my wife and children, pet bird and the rest of my family. When I look back at the ordeal, the only thing that really happened to us was fear through misinformation and confusion during the shooting. I am not a real victim. The people at the festival that were shot are the real victims, and the people that were injured trying to help the fallen.
Through this tragedy, I have seen both how disgustingly evil humanity can be, but also how amazingly selfless humanity can be. The red cross have more blood donations than they can handle. Seeing everyone look after each other in the theatre was amazing - everyone was looking after everyone else. Seeing the footage on the news of people helping the fallen get to safety, while bullets were raining down on them from above ... Words cannot describe the bravery of these people.
The gun control debate is raging here. I have heard people say things like "after this, I will never leave home without my gun again", which to me is complete madness. I read in the news that sales of guns have skyrocketed, and that "bump stocks" have sold out of gun shops everywhere as people fear they will be banned. Again, this is madness to me. I will never return to America after this. I simply do not feel safe here knowing that people have access to these unnecessary weapons.
Take care of one another.
Love Mike.

I'm going in July and have done some research.
Plenty of this is from the sidebar, but other notes are from many of other sources.
The Vegas Degenerate Tour ( . ) ( . )
Things to do:

• Drugs
• Hookers
• Bellagio Fountains (free)
• Mirage Volcano Show (free)
• The lounge at the top of the Mandarin Oriental - Super Classy with amazing night time views, sexy patrons and great cocktails
• Wet Republic - Rent cabana 2 months in advance
• Las Vegas Helicopter Night Flight with VIP Transportation £65pp
• Grand Canyon Skywalk - Apparently Expensive and not that good - you have to take a bus to get there and it is $30 each. Go to Grand Canyon south instead.
• The Strip Gun Club Range
• Sapphires pool party - strippers pool party!!!
• Fremont Street Experience at night.
• Container Park, which is a few blocks east of the Freemont St. Experience, a 2 foot recycled steel praying mantis (acquired from Burning Man) spits giant fireballs to the beat of music A LOT. Lots of half naked men and women. LOTS (free)
• Ghost Bar at the Palms has amazing views. Check Groupon for deals. Happy hour 8-10pm
• Stratosphere rides
• Stratosphere bar at the top. Happy hour 2 hours after open
• High Roller observation wheel. Get a car with the open bar.
• Monte Carlo minus 5 Ice bar. Everything is made out of ice! Bar, glasses, seating - everything
• RiRa Irish bar with live music and good Guinness after 9pm
• The Foundation Room at Mandalay Bay, live music and amazing strip views
• Strip clubs: Spearmint Rhino, Hustler Club and Crazy Horse--those are our top 3 Rhino and Horse are high end and classy
• Top Golf location, just behind MGM. 5 levels of golf driving range, mixed with music, food and drinks. There are also 2 pools, free to use.#
• Dig This drive diggers and bulldozers.
• Spa in the ARIA is amazing with good treatments.
• Alibi show http://alibitheshow.com/ This experience throws the audience into an exciting adventure around the streets, restaurants, bars and other real-life locations on the Las Vegas Strip.
• BARE POOL AT MIRAGE: Go on Monday. At Bare, experience palm tree-enclosed seclusion as you relax and enjoy European-style sunbathing at Bare Pool at The Mirage. Read more https://jackcolton.com/las-vegas-dayclubs/bare-pool-mirage/
• Ride in a stuntplane! Actual vomiting everywhere http://www.skycombatace.com/
• Best price supercar rentals https://www.vegasluxuryrides.com
• Lake Mead boat rental boatbound.com
• Absinthe at Ceaser’s Palace amazing offensive comedy show http://www.ticketmaster.com/Absinthe-tickets/artist/802082
• There is so much free stuff going on up and down the strip though that you can just do all the free stuff and not spend a dime. From street dancers, people singing, or pictures with a grown dude wearing a diaper.
• Eclipse cinemas downtown for an over 21s only luxury cinema experience with cocktails and good food.
• The Linq promenade is a very nice area
• Treasures strip club: have a nice buffet and steak to go with your titty show http://www.treasureslasvegas.com/
• VooDoo Zipline at Rio Groupon $44 for two
• REAL BODIES at Ballys Groupon $35.50 for two

Tips:

• Hotel picker https://farm1.staticflickr.com/770/21800142824_6dddea1786_k.jpg
• $50 a night dining credit at ARIA somehow - research
• Do the $20 checking tip trick. Slip a $20 in between card and ID and ask to see if an upgrade is possible.
• Get player’s cards - sign up for the Player's Club (free) in each casino, they will usually give you some sort of incentive
• Buy water at a supermarket and keep at hotel
• Taxi from Airport request avoid the I-215 Airport Tunnel and go via Strip
• http://www.tix4tonight.com for tickets on the night
• Drinks are ALWAYS cheaper inside the casinos on Fremont than outside
• Harrah's has a "Million Dollar Pull" where you just go up and play a slot machine for free with the chance to win $1 million. Even if you don't win a million, you will always win something.
• If you want to go to top of the Stratosphere go to the desk to the right of the entrance and say you want to go to the bar. You won't have to pay the $15 to go to the top.
• Marketing manager for the Aria https://www.reddit.com/usetedistkrieg
• Have the clubs pick you up in their limos because all the cab/ubelyft/limo drivers get a kick back on anyone they drop off to the clubs and same with the VIP card guys! So if you don't use the free limo ... THE CLUB HAS TO CHARGE YOU A COVER!!! If you use the clubs FREE limo service they can sometimes wave that cover charge!! (that's like $20 a person!)
• Check for Groupon deals.
• Make sure you all download the Uber and Lyft app. Both offer new user signup credits. Free rides.
• A $400 Pre-Authorisation charge for resort fees and ‘amenities’ was taken as expected upon check in. I would recommend UK visitors to take a Cash Passport MasterCard (available in Thomas Cook and other travel agents)

Clubs

• Hosts contacts list for all major clubs: https://jackcolton.com/
• You can view hotel discounts at up to 30% as well as VIP table service for nightclubs at: www.VegasJames.com for strip clubs at: www.StripperKing.com
• XS Encore
• Hakkasan MGM
• Light inside the Mandalay Bay
• Tryst Wynn
• Vegas local youtuber and bouncehost Jacob Orth to hook us up with limo service to the Hustler club
• Places we personally recommend from experience:
• Hakkasan
• Omnia
• The Light
• XS
• XS does a nightitme pool party
• Gold Spike nightclub / hotel in Downtown is a bit more ‘Hipster’
• This list offers plenty more clubs to check out (many of which don’t require a cover).
• http://www.vegasvip.com/nightclubs.html

Food

• Alizé Tasting Menu - get groupon for discount £350 > $200
• Sage in the Aria has a highly rated tasting menu
• Aria buffet one of the best
• Joël Robuchon in MGM is crazy silly expensive but amazing food 16 course taster $425 each without drinks https://www.mgmgrand.com/en/restaurants/joel-robuchon-french-restaurant.html
• Guy Savoy at Caesars Palace a little cheaper 9 course tasting for $260/person or a $350/person 14 course tasting https://www.caesars.com/caesars-palace/restaurants/guy-savoy#.WI8vkRuLTIU
• é by Jose Andres inside Jaleo inside Cosmo. Only 8 seats, reservations by email only ([email protected]) starting 3 months prior to the res date, 23 courses. $190/person(?) without alcohol pairing
• Raku in Chinatown does amazing 8/12 course tastings for $70/100 a person
• The tasting, or "seasonal discover menu" at L'Atelier is up to $165 per person
• Eiffel Tower restaurant is a Must for dinner!!!!!!!! Fantastic view of the strip
• Good steakhouses serve food at the restaurant bar and the bartender has seen some shit. So much more fun for a party up to three and the service is over the top.
• Delmonico's in Venetian at the bar. The cocktails and food were amazing.
• Mushashi's dirty show (Japanese steak with a naughty show for the girls.) Midnight to 4am happy hour.
• Secret Pizza. A secret pizza place. Needs research! Inside the Cosmopolitan
• Bachi Burger – also to reunite with a previous memory. I still think this is one of the top 3 burgers I’ve ever had. The oxtail chili cheese fries are recommended by others to be a “must”, but I personally prefer the truffle fries.
• Monta Ramen – I’m a huge ramen fan and I understood this was the –best- ramen place in Vegas.
• Sweets Raku – in the same complex as Monta Ramen. They have some neat desserts that they make right in front of you, lovely experience.
• Wicked Spoon Buffet at the Cosmo. Everything was really good and the deserts were awesome.
• Brunch @ Bacchanal Buffet, Caesar’s Palace – This was awesome! We had the groupon deal and it was impressively cheap. Midway through our meal they switched to their lunch menu so we got the best of both worlds there.
• Gordon Ramsey’s Burgr – onion rings were incredible. The burger was pretty good as well.
• Earl of Sandwich - I could seriously eat these every day.
• Studio B Buffet @ M Resort
• The "Heart Attack Grill" lets you eat free if you weigh over 350 pounds.
• Marriage Can Be Murder - This is a dinner / theater / murder mystery / whodunit show at the D downtown. Includes tasty food, extreme audience participation and likely embarrassment. You may be called upon to dance, or play a character in the murder mystery. Comes with tasty food, cocktails available.
• For dinner, I highly recommend BLT Steak House in Ballys Hotel and Red8 in The Wynn - if you are a food lover, BLT’s is particularly worth the extra!

Sex/Swingers Clubs (Or; no, you filthy pervert - what's wrong with you?)

• The Red Rooster http://www.yelp.com/biz/las-vegas-red-rooster-las-vegas
• The Green Door http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-green-door-las-vegas
• Couple's Oasis http://www.couplesoasis.com/main/

Drive:
Drive along east CA down US-395 and crossing over to Nevada after Death Valley is one of the greatest drives I have ever done.
Guides:

• https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/welcome-to-las-vegas-travel-guide-cityguides
• https://www.vegas.com/traveltips/
• http://www.wikihow.com/Get-a-Free-Room-in-Las-Vegas
• http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/tipping.cfm

Edited to include corrections.

I went on vacation to Las Vegas with my wife from July 2nd-7th. This was my 5th trip and our 3rd together. Here's my (excessively long) trip report:
Hotel
This time we stayed at the Cosmopolitan, and we had a Terrace Studio Fountain View room. It was our first stay at Cosmo (I'd been to Wynn, Luxor, Aria Sky Suites, and Bellagio previously), and the hotel was great. I thought our room was nicer than the one we had at Bellagio last year and for a cheaper price (friend who is a travel agent got us a pretty good deal). Literally the only downside I can think of is not being able to listen to the fountain music on TV. We were in the Chelsea Tower (which is larger than Boulevard), and had a great balcony view.
Cosmo definitely attracts a younger crowd than some of the other casinos on the strip- lots of people in their 20s and 30s staying here. There are two main pools, one in each tower. When we went down to the Chelsea Pool around 11am on the 3rd, literally every seat was already taken. Note: Chelsea Tower is much larger than Boulevard, but its pool is much smaller. We hiked over to the Boulevard Pool and settled in. Great view looking over the strip with a livlier atmosphere than you'll find at the Bellagio's pools. Also worth noting the water is pretty shallow- no more than 4' deep. The most amusing part of our swimming experience was watching an Asian kid, probably 10 years old, swim all around the place, bumping in to every other group there, and saying hi. Seemed odd that he was basically on his own at that age, but he was clearly having a helluva time.
One of the best parts about Cosmo is its location- right in the center of the strip, which makes an easy walk to most of the other casinos. It has a great selection of restaurants (see below) and modern decor as well. One notable omission in my opinion is it doesn't have any shows/productions in house. The casino also doesn't have a poker room, but I didn't end up playing during this trip anyhow. Easy walk to the Bellagio or Aria poker rooms regardless.
Checkin to the hotel was very easy. Our flight got in to Vegas at about 8am on Sunday, so the room wasn't ready yet when we arrived. They took down all my info, and we left our bags with the bellhop. They sent a text message when the room was ready around noon, and they brought the bags up to our room. I used the online checkout on Friday morning. Easy peasy.
Uber
Side note- I'd never used Uber before this trip. Definitely recommend it for others in the same boat. Cheap/easy to use, and I liked riding with the average Uber driver more than the average cabbie. Each hotel has its own pickup/dropoff location for UbeLyft- just ask any employee, and they'll point you in the right direction. I never had to wait more than five minutes to get my ride.
Shows/attractions
The only show we saw on this trip was Ka at the MGM Grand. I'd pretty much recommend any Cirque du Soleil show on the strip- they're all pretty amazing. O at the Bellagio is probably my favorite, but Ka was great in its own right. Supposedly it's unique among Cirque shows in that it has a big storyline, but uh... I'd just say there's not much of one. Amusing moment before the show: I get a text message from my wife, who is sitting right next to me. "Am I sitting next to a drag queen?" I looked over. Yes, yes you are.
We also made a trip to the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay. I felt like the line for tickets was pretty absurdly long. I realized the reason for that when we got in- the whole aquarium was about half as big as I expected, so they needed to keep the flow of people in fairly slow. Having said that, the exhibits they did have were great, and there was no shortage of staff floating around to answer any questions you might have. Definitely a good spot to bring the family to in Vegas.
Food
The biggest reason we love Vegas is the food. Yes, my wife and I are the annoying people who post pictures of thier food on Facebook. The great thing about Vegas is there's multiple restaurant for just about any cuisine you can imagine right on the strip.
Wicked Spoon Buffet at Cosmopolitan (7-2-17 brunch): I like to hit up a buffet once whenever I visit Vegas, and none have disappointed. These places definitely aren't the Golden Corral. Our flight got in pretty early Sunday, so stuffing ourselves at the buffet and having extra time before dinner seemed like a good idea. To start things off, I'm a sucker for an omelette station, so I grabbed a Denver style omelette. Added some cheesy hash brown casserole (one of the best things I had), and a verrine. I have no idea what a verrine is, but it was basically a shot glass filled with mashed avocado, grapefruit, and a bit of crab. Good stuff. Had I stopped here, I would have had a normal sized brunch by most people's standards. Of course the entire point of a Vegas buffet is getting full value by stuffing yourself so full you can't walk, so I made more trips.
Next up I grabbed a jerk chicken thigh, a few pieces of spicy tuna sushi, some house-made italian sausage, and yogurt/fruit. The jerk chicken was perfect in that after the first bite I thought- that's not that spicy. 3 bites in, I'm feeling it a bit. By the end, I'm chugging my coffee/juice.
Finally it was time for dessert. When I first visited Vegas back in 2005, my friend informed me that the #1 rule of Vegas buffets is that you must try the bread pudding. You are not supposed to question the reasoning behind the rule, nor are you supposed to debate whether it's necessary. You simply do it. Wicked Spoon featured a bourbon white chocolate bread pudding. It was good, but I wasn't sure what to make of it since it tasted more like butterscotch than bourbon to me. I also had half a mango danish and some little chocolate tart. I thought I was done at this point until my wife brought back some gelato. I couldn't sit there and watch her eat, so I ended up getting some coconut-lime gelato for myself. The selection is pretty ridiculous- about 18 flavors to choose from. After the gelato, I finally waved the white flag.
Picasso at Bellagio (7-2-17 dinner): We've been wanting to visit Picasso for a while now. I was going to book a reservation here for our honeymoon back in 2014, but as it turns out they typically take a 2 week vacation in July every year. We ran into the same problem last year, but they were open on Sunday the 2nd this time before closing. Finally, we had our chance.
Picasso is basically fancy-pants French fine dining at its best. If you've ever seen the movie Ocean's Eleven, the restaurant scene was filmed there. We were seated at a table next to the window with the Bellagio fountain outside, and my wife had a real Picasso painting above her shoulder. So uh... not bad. I wore a suit and tie, but you really don't need to- wear khakis and a nice shirt, and you'll fit in fine.
We both ordered from the four course prix fixe tasting menu. My goal when eating out at nice places is to get stuff I don't cook myself / haven't tried much before. First course I got the poached oysters. The dish was basically smooth, melt-in-your-mouth like butter. Next up was the foie gras. This was the second time I've foie gras, and I've decided it's just not my thing. I could tell it was prepared properly, but I just don't think it has much flavor. The rhubarb chutney on the side was good, though. For the entree, I had the roasted milk-fed veal chop. After the first bite I literally started laughing, basically thinking, "Where has this been all my life?" Literally one of the best things I've ever eaten. If I had to nitpick, it was cooked a touch rare for my liking. But it was amazing. I wanted a lighter dessert given how much food I'd stuffed myself with that day, so I got a pineapple tart with prickly pear sorbet. Almost too pretty to eat.
Picasso is definitely the type of restaurant you take your date to if you're wanting to impress them. I like Le Cirque a bit more based on my two trips there previously. Le Cirque is a much smaller restaurant, just feels like a more intimate setting, and the service seemed a little more personal. But really you can't go wrong either way. Also, it was a nice touch seeing the chef, Julian Serrano, as we left the restaurant.
China Poblano at Cosmopolitan (7-3-17 lunch): The best way to explain China Poblano is that it seems like one person wanted to start up a Mexican restaurant at Cosmo, one person wanted to start up a Chinese restaurant, and then some executive asked, "Why don't we have both?" There are literally two different kitchens in the same restaurant, and the food is served tapas style- dishes just come out one by one whenever they're ready.
We started off with the queso fundido for an appetizer- pretty standard stuff. I ordered two tacos from the Mexican menu, one taco suadero (brisket), one carnitas. The brisket was good, the carnitas was great. Because if eating a taco with pork rinds on it is wrong, then I don't want to be right. I decided to get Mongolian beef lettuce from the Chinese menu, because I remember reading an IAMA from a Chinese restaurant owner a while back who said that was one of the best things on the menu that people rarely ordered. And he was right. We skipped dessert since our stomachs were still half full from eating the day before.
Estiatorio Milos at Cosmopolitan (7-3-17 dinner): Milos is proof that food doesn't have to be fancy to be fantastic. They just use high-quality ingredients, use a simple preparation, and let the food do the talking. The neat part about this place is that they really don't have specific fish on the menu. Instead you walk up to the fish case, pick out the one you want, and let your server know how you want it prepared. And marvel at the produce while you're at it.
We ordered the tzatziki as an appetizer, and at first I wasn't going to take a picture of it since it's just tzatziki. And then I tasted it. And I decided it deserved a picture- the best I've ever had. Next up was a Greek salad which was ridiculously good. Those definitely aren't the tomatoes you buy at Kroger. We chose lithrini, which seemed like a generic white fish, for our entree. Pan-seared with lemon, capers, and herbs. Some basic potatoes and broccoli for our sides. Milos is one of our top recommendations for people visiting Vegas.
Milk Bar at Cosmopolitan (7-3-17 dessert): We skipped dessert at Milos because we wanted to try out the Milk Bar. I grabbed one of the much-hyped compost cookies, which I actually thought was nothing special, and a spiked chocolate malt milkshake. The shake was awesome. I ended up coming back later in the trip and got a spiked coffee shake as well. Not sure they're worth $12 apiece, but you're in Vegas, so what the hell.
Eiffel Tower Restaurant (7-4-17 lunch): My wife had put this on the list of places to visit a month ahead of time, so we ended up going here for lunch. You enter the restaurant by going up an elevator in the main floor of the casino, and the doors open to give you a nice view of the kitchen. I always like restaurants where you can see people work in an open kitchen, so I thought this was a nice touch. We had reservations for when the restaurant opened, so we managed to snag one of the best tables in the place with a great view of the strip. We started off with the cheese tray as an appetizer, which was most notable for the honeycomb. I think that's the first time I've ever had real honeycomb, and it was delicious. I decided to go brunch-ish for my meal and order the lobster eggs benedict, which was easily the best eggs benedict I've ever had. We shared a frozen strawberry souffle for dessert, and the best compliment I can give about this is that we immediately began looking up recipes to make our own when we got back to our hotel room. Overall a great meal, and I think we'll head back here for dinner during our next trip to Vegas.
Tetsu at Aria (7-4-17 dinner): I'd wanted to visit a Japanese steakhouse while in town (especially since the favorite place in my town was run down by new ownership and closed), and I was a little surprised to find there weren't many options. Tetsu is actually a sectioned off portion of the BarMasa restaurant in Aria, and you can order sushi from BarMasa's menu while there. Which I did. I'm far from a sushi connoisseur, but I thought it tasted like a standard salmon roll- good, but I wasn't blown away by it or anything.
As far as the hibachi grill itself goes, the first thing to note is that the chefs basically just prepare the food in front of you but don't put on any sort of show. So if you're wanting to impress the family with a flaming onion volcano and eggs juggled on a spatula, this isn't your place. It's about the food, and the food was fantastic. I had the whole lobster, which is every bit as good as it looks. The chili shrimp cilantro fried rice was as good as the lobster, and I had some brussels sprouts on the side. My wife got the fingerling potatoes as a more photogenic side dish to her chicken. They also serve prime A5 Japanese Ohmi beef, but I couldn't justify spending $132 on a 4 oz steak. We had chocolate sesame ice cream for dessert, and the sesame was actually a lot stronger than I thought it would be (might actually put some people off).
Of course one of the fun parts of eating at these places is talking to people seated with you at the table. One of the ladies next to us teased a server, trying to get his name badge, Harvey (definitely not his given name), since apparently a guy named Harvey founded the golf club she worked at. Even went so far as to summon the manager to see if she could get the badge, but ultimately she failed in her negotiations. Everyone at the table had a laugh about the situation.
Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay (7-5-17 lunch): We were looking for a lunch spot down on this end of the strip before heading to the aquarium, and the Burger Bar (actually located in a walkway between Mandalay Bay and Luxor) came recommended by several people. To start with, they had a great beer menu. I ordered the classic bacon cheeseburger with onion rings. Great burger, cooked perfectly. I know there are several excellent burger joints on the strip, so it's probably not worth making a special trip far out of your way to come here. It's a great option if you want a burger and are on the south end of the strip, though.
Lemongrass at Aria (7-5-17 dinner): Next up, some Thai food. We had some pot stickers for an appetizer, which I thought were pretty average. Nothing to stand out here from your average takeout in either taste or presentation. My wife decided to order some wonton soup to share, and I'm glad she did. It was freakin' amazing- easily the best part of the meal. I wanted something light for my meal, so I ordered the garlic and lime steamed cod. The surprised reaction of the waitress seemed to imply that nobody ever ordered that. It was good, but you better love lime if you get it.
As luck would have it, the one time we received poor (exceptionally slow) service on the trip was when we had our meal before a show. We had to skip dessert so that we could make it down to MGM Grand in time to see Ka.
Olives at Bellagio (7-6-17 lunch): We thought about hitting up Lago for lunch, but since we were headed to Sinatra for dinner we wanted to avoid back to back Italian. Olives had a nice deal on a 3 course prix fixe lunch menu, so we ordered from that. I had the Caesar salad to start, followed it up with fish and chips, and finished it off with tiramisu. A bit of an odd combo, but a good meal. Nothing exceptional. Great server, though.
Sinatra at Encore (7-6-17 dinner): Another place we'd wanted to visit on previous trips but never had a chance to. There's tons of Frank Sinatra themed memorabilia in the place, including a Grammy, Emmy, and Oscar as you walk in the door. I'd describe the place as lively but classy as hell- which is pretty much what you'd want when going to a Rat Pack themed place.
To start off with, I ordered an Old Fashioned. It's one of my favorite drinks to order because everyone does it differently, and you never know what you're going to get. Well, it was the best Old Fashioned I've had in my left. I meant to ask the waiter what type of boorbon they used, but ultimately forgot. We ended up sharing the estiva for an appetizer, which is basically a watermelon salad. I ordered the gnochetti for my entree, which tasted great, but the portion size kind of left me wondering where the rest of it was. We shared the panna cotta for dessert, which was as good as it looked.
Eggslut at Cosmopolitan (7-7-17 breakfast): Eggslut is a casual stand at Cosmo that pretty much sells egg sandwiches all day long. I had the Fairfax with bacon, which is pretty much what they're known for. I think the reason why it was such a great sandwich was they kept the eggs inside creamy, whereas most breakfast sandwiches have the eggs cooked hard as a rock. When you walk up to the place your first thought is- whoa! Only $8... finally a reasonably priced meal. And then you realize they charge $5 for a cup of coffee or orange juice, and you remember you're still in Vegas. Regardless, this place is a good stop for breakfast or a late night snack.
Overall a great trip. Can't wait to go back again and try some different places.

"Family and friends concerned about the RT91 festival massacre please share and spread this post for it is completely real and the news is not telling the entire truth. There was more than one shooter, I believe there was 4-5 shooters and I saw/heard 4 of them and there was one of their men down in the concert who lit fire crackers either to distract people and make them believe the rest of the popping sounds were fire crackers for at least 10 seconds to get more casualties before realizing they were gun shots or to decoy the Mandalay Bay shooter breaking the windows of the hotel without being noticed right away as the fire crackers went off twice because the second time the shooter at Mandalay Bay unloaded his first magazine. The person who lit the fire crackers was right next to me as it blew my eardrums (right side of the stage facing the stage closer to the front of the stage) The first shooter was at the Mandalay Bay, then MGM Grand and ExcalibuNew York New York and Tropicana. These are confirmed by me personally and the shooter from Mandalay I believe was shooting an LMG with 100 rounds each go. I will tell my story and hope to get shares and the truth spread as the news is making it out to be ONE shooter. So Jason Aldean was 5 songs in if I remember correctly and the fire crackers went off in the middle of his performance and people all around us were looking around dazed and slightly confused, then 15 seconds later the fire crackers went off once more (to break the second window where the shooter unloaded his first magazine) I saw the muzzle flashes as soon as the fire crackers stopped and there was a man who tumbled over my girlfriend and I and said there was shots and there was a guy in front of him who died right away. Then more shots started and we all dropped and at that time my girlfriend was frozen and still and had 3-4 people on top of her shot and wounded and possibly dead but I had all my focus on her and I believed at that time I had been shot in the lower back as I had the bleeding sensation and yelled "BABE I THINK IM SHOT WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE I NEED TO KEEP YOU SAFE" I pulled her out from under the bodies of people and ran for 5 seconds and then another series of shots came and more bodies went down with wounds and blood was all over the place and even on me at this point. That moment there was 3-5 people I saw completely unresponsive on the ground and even a girl with her head shot and people around her screaming. We got up and ran for around 15 seconds and I continuously checked my back to feel a shot wound and I was under great relief to find that I was not shot before more shots came but since everyone was running towards the entrance the shooter at MGM was shooting as everyone was running towards the entrances to exit. My girlfriend and I kept VERY low the entire time we heard any shot. We ran to the back of the venue and there was an Orange Gate pried up on the fence and people already on it climbing to get over. I got over and they were 2 girls on it who froze and I yelled "COME ON LETS MOVE... DOUBLE TIME!! LETS GO" and they raced up the gate and got over the fence and we proceeded as well and we ran across the street to Tropicana parking lot where more shots from Mandalay proceeded and we hide behind cars in the lot. We all proceeded through a hallway where everyone had their hands up and was proceeding through the hallway and then went into a common area with 3 exit points. One for the pool area where a gentlemen with a black polymer suitcase walked in and I frantically asked if he worked and he was entirely calm and said no and I asked to see what was inside the suit case and he scoffed and said no and another man yelled "YEAH WHATS IN THE SUITCASE IM WITH THIS MAN" and as he started to open the case everyone started yelling in the room where they were escorting everyone and they all scattered and ran through where we entered and there was a man bleeding out and I believe from what I saw he was dead. Unresponsive and on his back with his eyes closed and a pool of blood. I ran outside where the pool area was and my girlfriend stayed back as she froze again, 5 seconds passed as I ran out the door and I didn't see my girlfriend and I opened the doors and she was on the ground crying and I yelled and told her to come as I ran to grab her we got out and hid in a cabana that was closed and laid on the couch there for 30 minutes and she started throwing up and I kept telling her to keep her down and keep quiet as there was a shooter in Tropicana that was to my understanding still on the loose so we kept real quiet and at this time I contacted my brother to make sure him and his girlfriend were okay which to my relief they were. But we were split and they were too far and I didn't want to run out in the streets as the shooters were still loose. We then proceeded to an alleyway by the parking structure and saw muzzle flashes coming from Excalibur and New York New York and I pushed her to the pillar and she froze (every time shots went off she froze so I had to help maneuver her into safe positions) we then ran through a hallway and a guy grabbed my girlfriend and said to go down the hallway towards the Tropicana entrance and I was not going inside so we ran around back into the alley where I saw an industrial trash can and told her to jump in first and we laid in there and found cardboard boxes and I pulled them over us to keep cover and we laid there for 3 hours as the helicopters and police personnel were scavenging the area for the remaining shooters they know were involved but don't want to publicly announce. As we were in the trash can I posted a status on Facebook and contacted immediate family and friends to let them know my girlfriend and I were okay for the time being. We then figured running to Luxor around 1:30-2am would be fine and as we jumped out there was a police who helped escort us to the now locked down with police in tactical gear Tropicana and to escort us into the convention center and they made sure everyone was unarmed and we had water and blankets and everyone was waiting for the police to clear the rooms in the surrounding hotels to allow us back into our rooms. We personally didn't get released to go to Luxor until 4:20 am and we are now okay. I now have my firearm on my persons and will no longer be attending crowd filled events for the massacre we just lived through was devastating and we all can't wait to get back home and see our loved ones. My condolences to the families of everyone who lost their lives and couldn't get a call out to their families and make it back home like we did, I pray for peace and love through everyone's hearts involved in this massacre and I just wanted to share the truth and my experience as the Lord would want me to. We are currently at a restaurant and a woman came up to us as we are visually a mess and she prayed for us and we just came to find out she covered our tab. God bless her, we are incredibly grateful for her act of kindness and grateful to be alive and be able to share a real experience as a first person who attended the event this weekend in Vegas. I thank God for giving me the strength to keep pushing and keep my significant other and I alive as we were entirely as vulnerable as everybody else. God bless everyone who shares this to reveal the experience the news simply won't be able to share as they don't want this to seem like a terrorist attack but it was exactly that and the man behind it will be punished and damned to hell for this. Thank you for reading the entire post and I do want to thank the police officers on site that kept everyone safe from the violent acts that occurred last night. God bless everyone who was positively involved last night as well. Food for thought: Las Vegas can't afford to have people scared to travel the strip since that's the only entertainment in Nevada. Think about it, why would they scare everyone and confess multiple shooters when they have no clue who the active shooters really were? That would be detrimental for Las Vegas and they will do whatever they can to keep the public at ease from this massacre for the sake of their own State. Think about it, and the white 64 year old man could had been staged as a cover up for the real killers who actually got away with this whole thing, that I know was choreographed from the fireworks alone as the first cue. Please just keep your mind open and wait for more truth to be exposed. The video is from my Snapchat to provide evidence I was actually at the location I've pointed out in the photo. People are under the assumption I wasn't even there and so now I posted photos of my girlfriend and I and my brother and his girlfriend at the venue this weekend. Stop trying to come up with reasons to not believe my experience I felt needed to be shared because many people experienced the same thing I did, people in the same area. I've already got messages from 10+ people saying they heard the fireworks too and I know over 200 people did who were all near where we were. For all the non believers that want the police to tell them. Listen to their radios. It's the full radio scanner audio so don't be surprised it's an hour long and complain. But listen and you will hear what I've explained through my experience that I shared that some of you still don't believe. https://youtu.be/1xAcTKNpDeY "
I found this on https://pastebin.com/Zy1bYsjq

So, you wanna go to SHOT show? You think it's all fun and games? Get to play with guns? See Jesse James and R. Lee Ermey? SHOT show is the annual pilgrimage of the unwashed masses to Las Vegas to rub elbows with youtube celebrities, bloggers and overseas businessmen copying US made equipment and share infectious disease.
If you love guns, gambling and gonorrhea - SHOT show is for you! It is not my typical idea of a good time. I am not a big fan of Las Vegas.
However: I do attend for a few reasons. First, I do enjoy travel and I'm platinum on AA so I can usually score an upgrade. Second, industry people are in there that I do hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars with business with so it's nice to put a face with the name and see what deals are out there. SHOT for me has been a bust for the past few years. Being a value guy, I want to buy at $1000 and sell at $3000 and as of recently the gun business is more like buy for $1 and sell for $1.10 if you get what I mean.
We used to do business at SHOT and now it's just checking in on foursquare, instagram and rubbing elbows with bloggers and the like. I want to make money, not spend money so this is very annoying to me.
Anyways, onto the play by play.
Monday, January 16th. One day before SHOT show.
http://imgur.com/a/HoFUm
Every time I've been rejected by a woman, I move $1 from checking into savings and I take the bankroll down to the Wynn for some play. Lets do this.
The TSA line is a shitshow thanks to, well TSA.
I slog my way to the lounge, as shitty as it is to wait for my winged chariot to DFW. I have gone from being in an abusive relationship with Delta to being in an abusive relationship with AA. Although if you really want to experience the battered spouse feeling, UA is a few gates over. This trip's light reading is trying to finish "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell. Such a good book as well as "Outliers" if you want a good read.
I walk up to the podium to find out that my upgrades do not clear, even as an AA Plat thanks to the addition of a FOURTH elite tier. Goddamn fucking W. Doug Parker. Asshole. I gate check my bags to make life easier for me and the rest of the folks. The gate agent calls concierge key and executive platinum passengers. I look down and realize I'm wearing a suit and board with the executive platinum folks because I do not care and I look the part. If you walk with a purpose and are dressed reasonably well, you fit the profile. I settle into my window seat and try to finish outliers. I pass out before takeoff and I'm awoken by the dulcet tones of the flight attendants preparing for landing. We land at Dallas a few minutes early and I hightail it to the Centurion for a quick bite to eat. I grab a plate and help myself to some of the excellent brisket, pecan encrusted chicken and some roasted jumbo asparagus. Yes, my pee is going to smell funny. No, I do not care. The lounge is packed. The bar is full and I grab a quick single malt as I have my meal since American's not going to feed me. They begin boarding to Mccarran as I walk out of the lounge. No time for a stop in the spa on this trip. I make it to the gate just as the call group 2 boarding.
I bypass the main line and walk up through the priority line giving no heed to the people that have been waiting there before me as I hold up my paper boarding pass with PLATINUM to the gate agent. I board and take my usual seat - the exit row without the seat in front of it. I'm aghast to see this sight.
http://imgur.com/a/dygil
The savages. Literally. The savages.
I put my loathing away for a moment and look down at the exit row. I have the window. The aisle is a large middle aged man and in the middle is what I believe to be a formecurrent linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys wearing a 52 regular sports jacket. He's not a fat guy in a little coat, he's a big fucking hulk of a man stuffed in an exit row seat that is already an inch narrower due to the tray table. I grimace as I take my seat and give him the manly nod. He does not look happy about the fact that his knees are in the seat in front and I'm stretched out like a Cheshire cat in front of a fireplace on a cold January afternoon.
The boarding door closes for an on time departure and Stephanie the FA takes her seat. He leans over and asks if he can take the empty row across the aisle and she takes one look at the three of us and gives him the nod. I bail out to give him a path of egress and suddenly the trip to Las Vegas has just become way more comfortable. I finish The Tipping Point somewhere over west texas, so I pop a xanax and dr pepper and zone out for the rest of the ride. I awake to feel one of the FA's jostling me awake telling me to put my seat up. I do so and we have a ride so smooth that not even the Delta guy behind me can complain about light chop. We catch the TYSSN4 arrival and the next thing I know it the Messier Dowty landing gear of the A321 touch the paint at Mccarran for a smooth rollout down 25L.
My phone battery is approaching grim death since this seat has no power plugs and I find bartman383 has sent me a message. He has been enjoying LV with his wife and their due to bad weather they are in the city of sin for a few extra nights. He invites me to dinner. I'm still pretty full from DFW and I tell him I'll be over there once I get my bags and the car and I'll see him when I see him. He gives me the info for the hotel as we pull up to the gate.
First stop: Centurion lounge. AA's app tells me bags being unloaded. I grab a quick bite of fried chicken and brussels sprouts since they are good for you and a chocolate pudding. The brisket and pecan encrusted chicken from DFW still has me full but I'm well aware of the speed of a union baggage handlers nowadays and who doesn't like chocolate pudding? Terrorists. That's who. Want to know how to screen for terrorists TSA? Set up a table of free chocolate pudding at the airport. The people who don't take any are members of ISIS. It's just that simple.
I grab my bag and hoof it to Hertz. I'm an idiot and I am an hour late for my pickup. Oops. Will an Audi A3 suffice? I sigh and I accept my Teutonic quattro chariot. I do a burnout in the parking garage and hightail it to the exit. I flash my #1 card and my ID and the gatekeeper gives me the go ahead. I get onto the the strip and traffic is awful. I'm going to be late for dinner. I make a left onto Russell Road and hightail it up the 15. I manage to get the car up to 100 as I pass the Luxor. My phone is dead so I can't message Bart about being late. Fuck. The exit approaches quickly as I put the 4 wheel disk brakes to work and sling the car around and head south on Las Vegas Bl. I accidentally turn into the Bellagio and I'm now running even more late. Fuck. Eventually, I get the car into the garage at the Cosmopolitan and head upstairs. I cannot remember the name of the restaurant but I head up to the third floor where all the restaurants are and I see this sign that's reminiscent of my days in retail.
It says RESTAURANT - LOUNGE - PAWN SHOP.
I laugh. I walk in. It's literally a pawnshop. I look around puzzled.
FC: Is this a restaurant?
Bald Headed Guy: Yes, through that door.
He points towards a door. I walk in to find a bustling restaurant, lounge via the entrance of pawnshop. This is insane. I pass a mirror and check myself out. I adjust my tie, after all it is YSL and the ladies LOVE YSL. Remember that. I find the hostess and inform her I will be joining some friends for dinner. They probably do not have me on the reservation though but I turn on the charm and she smiles and says no problem at all. She asks if my tie is from Hermes. I say no, I'm a YSL guy. She looks impressed as I tell her I'll make a quick lap of the room to see if they're there and surprise them. She gives me a nod and tells me to go right ahead. Still got it.
I spot bart and his wife who I can only remember vaguely from gunnitlive after party video and I pull up a chair. Bart is surprised to see I made it and they are in the middle of dinner. They offer to ply me with food and beverage but I decline as I'm driving so no booze for me and no food since I am stuffed from Dallas. We chat about life and liberty over libations. Bart's wife thinks I am hysterical. She's had a few drinks and they are already into their main courses. The brussels sprouts are way too salty and we have to send it back. No bueno.
Bart invites me up to his suite on the top floor of the hotel where we are to meet Brogelicious later in the evening. I say, when in rome......we head to the top floor of the hotel tower where Bart shows me his view from the balcony and cracks open the mini bar for some more libations. He asks if I want a drink and I say I better not. I'm driving.
Not 30 seconds after arriving, brogel shows up. Bart's wife hugs brogel. She's infatuated with him. We start shooting the shit and bart opens up the minibar and tells us to take anything we want, it's on the hotel. I laugh and I look outside as bart opens his yeti 110 for some silver bullets. Apparently he is so baller the hotel will send up a yeti 110 filled with beer to make him happy. His wife is apparently such a baller. I ball on a budget. They just ball. Hahaha.
We shoot the shit some more about guns, gun stuff and people on the reddit for a while. I get a little thirsty and I crack open bart's cooler. I ask him how long the stuff in the cooler is supposed to last and he says until Wednesday.
I look down and I am agape at what I see.
We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls. Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge, and I knew we'd get into that rotten stuff pretty soon.
I mentally prepared my butthole and I decided to help myself to a coors light against my wishes but Bart, Bart's wife and Brogel are all drinking so I let peer pressure take hold as I cracked open a beer with them. We head out to the balcony to smoke some cuban cigars together as bart's wife takes a photo of all of us. We all look like hell. Haha.
As bart downs his second beer, he asks me a question.
Bart: ever go hunting?
Me: Ducks a little bit but not much
Bart: ever want to hunt some deadly game?
Me: Like on african safari?
Bart: No, I mean like.........man.
Me: Hahahahhahaaha you're just fucking with me. Hahahahahhaa. That's really funny.
Bart: No really, the concierge here at this hotel will set it up for us. It's amazing. I remember my first hunt......
Brogel starts laughing and I realize they've been doing a bit. I've been had.
We bullshit about SHOT and Barrett's shotguns and other things and next thing I know, it's late but bart hands me a mixed drink. I sip it a bit and I was in the middle of a tirade complaining about my customers. Suddenly, there was a terrible roar all around us, and the sky was full of what looked like huge bats, all swooping and screeching and diving around the city, and a voice was screaming: Holy Jesus. What are these goddamn animals? Nobody seems to understand what I'm talking about. It's cold on the balcony. Our cigars are done. We head indoors. No point in mentioning these bats, I thought. Poor bastards will see them soon enough.
Back indoors I realize Brussels sprouts and coors light is a bad choice. Seriously no bueno. I excuse myself to the bathroom and drain the vein. The asparagus funny smelling pee and the side effects of beer and brussels sprouts is a noxious combination that a defense contractor should weaponize it. It's pretty bad and not even cuban tobbaco can mask the smell.
I sit back down and continue to talk about guns and stuff with bart and the gang and bart asks who ruined the bathroom. I apologize as he sprays a bunch of febreze around and opens the balcony. I apolgize to brogel. He is not accepting my apology. (sorry :( )
Nearly 11, it's about time to pull chocks and mosey on down the dusty trail. I don't want to prompt an evacuation of the hotel due to noxious odors so I decide to leave and bart seems to be kinda mad that I've ripped ass and polluted the sanctuary of his hotel. Half a coors light and brussels sprouts are no bueno in my book now. Bart decides to party hard with his wife and I offer brogel a ride home. He seems skeptical to share a confined space with me after I have just destroyed bart's hotel room. The car has 4 windows and the Uber will cost him a few bucks he can put towards ammo. He relents as we head down to the garage to find my car. Thankfully we find it quickly and I manage to contain the weapons of ass destruction for the 16 minute ride off strip to casa de brogel.
He says I'm not that bad a dude and I agree as I hightail it to my hotel. I cannot find my hotel reservations so I call my travel agent to see.
Apparently the Wynn was not in my travel budget this year. I have come to find out I have been booked at Circus Circus, much to my chagrin. How bad could it be? I've stayed at the Wynn. I've stayed at Encore. I've stayed at the hotel that Elisabeth Shue's character got raped in in Leaving Las Vegas - but Circus Circus? Did I mention that I HATE CLOWNS? I HATE CLOWNS. Fuck.
I pull into the parking garage and the check in line resembles something straight out of the TSA line at Mccarran. 45 minutes to check in. The clerk is friendly and says he's also from Louisiana which is neat. He asks if I've stayed there before and I, being a connoisseur of old vegas history I decide to make a joke and I tell him the last time I was there, Jay Sarno owned the place. He got a laugh. I head up to my room and unpack. The lobby is clean as an old vegas casino can be, the room is clean and there's no way to plug anything in since the hotel predates personal electronic devices. I plug my phone into my external battery and collapse on the bed. I message Bart and chugbleach instead of falling asleep about show tomorrow and I offer to pick bart up early since there is no shuttle from the cosmo.
Tuesday, November 16th SHOT Show Day One
I awoke several hours later in a daze......the clock said 10AM. The show opened at 8:30. Fuck me to tears. I hurry up and get dressed and down to the sands convention center. The parking lot is FULL. The entire complex is a mess. When my man Steve Wynn built his joint he didn't build enough parking. So people would park at the Venetian and now FUCKING NOBODY CAN GET A PARKING SPACE. Holy shit. I eventually say fuck it and park over at the Wynn and walk over to the Sands. I meet up with a few of my regular suppliers and I see nothing interesting at all. Bart went to bed at 6AM after spending all night partying with his wife over at the palazzo. I joke and say that he just should have stayed there. Bart is amazed at the size of the show and we have lunch at the most disgusting place in las vegas - the convention center bistro snack bar. Bart is a wise man as he grabs a powerade and a fruit cup. I decide to try an "italian beef" and a fruit cup instead of fries to stay semi health conscious. The "italian beef" is the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten. It is flat out depressing. They give me fries with it and I demand a fruit cup. The sassy black woman working the stand asks me "DID YOU ASK FOR FRUIT? CAUSE RIGHT HERE SAYS FRIES" and I channel my inner Louis CK from the "this is how I talk" bit from SNL as I shoot back "WHY YOU FRONTIN ON ME I ASKED FOR FRUIT AND YOUR ASS BETTER BACK UP AND GET ME SOME FRUIT" so she goes back and gets me some fruit.
The "italian beef", my fruit cup, bart's fruit cup and powerade comes to $81. My platinum amex comes out and I treat bart to "lunch". We bullshit about guns and stuff in the Springfield booth as we wait at the world's worst concession stand. We eat and Bart is so hungover that he thinks he is in need of physical therapy and a wheelchair. There is no way he is going to party tonight before his trip home. Or so I think. Haha.
I meander around the show a bit more and I find this, the most USELESS PRODUCT OF 2017. It's made by a company called radetec.
http://imgur.com/a/GOiCB
It's a shot counter. For your gun.
A digital odometer, for your gun.
The only person that would buy this is the guy like my dad that kept a spiral bound notebook in his car where he documented how many miles he traveled per tank, gallons dispensed, PRICE, service station and whether they had a different price for cash/charge, oil consumption, tire rotations, alignments, all services - scheduled or otherwise, and a running odometer. Does anyone know the gun owner who asks for a round count when they are looking at a used gun? The question I always shoot back is "do you want to be lied at a little or do you want to be lied at a lot?" because that's what you're asking for when you ask for round count.
UNLESS YOU BUY THIS PRODUCT!
I roll my eyes so far back into my head that I nearly lose my balance. This is idiotic. I cannot fathom anyone willing to buy this. What a waste of perfectly good exhibition space.
Bart heads back to his hotel after visiting SHOT show for a few hours, not getting any swag and to get an IV of fluids since he looked like he was rapidly approaching grim death.
I wrap up visiting prime vendors and checking out the new products, or lack thereof because I have something on the schedule. At 4:30 there's a suicide prevention for retailers seminar hosted by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. As many of you know this is an issue that is important to me and perhaps we as retailers should be doing more. The keynote was from their chief medical director talking about the accessibility of firearms and the mindset of the "typical" suicide. Mostly men. If you are a veteran you are at a significantly larger risk. The information was presented very not surprisingly and one of the things discussed was that we only spend around 21M a year on suicide prevention.
A few take away facts from the keynote:
When suicide barriers are put up on a bridge, suicide rates for the entire area drop. The key to preventing suicide is getting people to talk about their problems. Once you can get someone out of that mindset, they are statistically less likely to do it and live productive lives afterwards. There are certain terms that they are trying to get away from - for instance, they are not saying "committed suicide" they are now saying "died by suicide" in order to bring awareness and tell it like it is.
One thing that really was interesting to me was my reading on the flight in from Dallas. In The Tipping Point, Gladwell discusses how things stay the same and suddenly they all change. One of the things that he discusses is in micronesia - where teen suicide was practically unheard of became an outright epidemic. One teenager did it, for reasons passing understanding to me as an outsider and then all the other kids realized that they too could escape their pain by hanging themselves as well and suddenly the suicide rates in micronesia became so high to where it became a public health issue. I wish I could show you all the article I wrote on TTAG about my friend's death but it has been lost in the cloud and I am unable to find the last draft I sent to print, but it echoes some of the problems we have with suicide and mental health in the firearm industry.
After the keynote, the good doctor opened the floor up for questions. Her keynote posed a lot of statistics but not a lot of answers. I am a detail oriented granular data guy and I did not get a solid grasp of the AFSP solutions posed, if any.
Several firearm dealers discussed the lack of a cohesive solution and the takeaway was they're trying to develop awareness for the suicide problem. Their goal is to lower suicide rates but how they get there is yet to be determined. I didn't like hearing that and the comments from the crowd reflected the lack of a "here's what you can do TODAY to help this problem" part of the initiative.
Going around the room, one dealer who used NICS said that if a customer was just flat out acting funny - he'd lie to the customer and say there was a delay with NICS even though there was an approval just to get them to not be able to have a gun for a few days. The crowd applauded this initiative, however I'm not sure lying to customers is the best way to run a business and treat them with respect. Another dealer brought up an interesting point. When someone comes in looking to buy a gun and they don't know what kind of gun they want, what caliber, and are generally clueless - they're either buying a gun to kill themselves with, OR perhaps they are a very uneducated prospective customer - and there is no clear way of finding out which is which.
The problems presented by the AFSP are real. The solutions aren't there though. Yet. Ideally I'd like to see some change to that. However, there's some problems.
I hung around and asked the good doctor and her staff some questions and I am in no way denigrating her life's work and her dedication to preventing suicide since she has dedicated her life's work to the issue, but the conversation went something like this.
Did you do any research on the accessibility of firearms from a retailer from the legal standpoint?
"No, we haven't"
Do you know how the NICS or state POC background systems work in regard to mental health holds, etc?
"No"
One of the problems that I foresee right off the bat is that you talked about how you are fighting time, and if you can get someone out of that suicide mindset - even for a few hours, you can get them into that higher survival bracket. If we apply a one size fits all solution to it like California and put a 10 day wait on everything with the goal of protecting someone from their own life, how do we balance that with the needs of the woman who has been hiding from her abusive spouse and needs a gun right away?
"That's a good question that I don't have an answer for."
Their initiative, I admire - the lack of solutions is a little off putting however. I tell the doc about how my friend's suicide has impacted me and she seems to be sympathetic to the situation as does her colleagues. I am given her cards and told to call the next time I'm in New York so we can get together and discuss things within the industry. I'll give them a buzz in a few weeks when I'm up there on business. On my way out of the hall, I run into Massad Ayoob. Nice guy. I've admired his work over the years. Bart invites myself and chugbleach to dinner, I can't reach Chug and even though I am beat I decide to hang out with Bart and Mrs Bart
Bart: What do you want to eat?
FC: Let's find a nice seafood restaurant and eat some red salmon, I feel a powerful lust for red salmon.
I begin vomiting.
God damn mescaline. Why the fuck can't they make it a little less pure?
We eventually head downstairs and order too much food. We are tired and not very hungry. Bart is still hungover and barely able to process food. His wife is grazing on all sorts of meat products. I am in awe of how they are both still upright after six nonstop nights of partying. I've only been here one day and I feel like I am about to die.
Dinner concludes with an awkward hug with bart's wife - I don't know how other men feel about wife hugs so I have just avoided the prospect entirely. Like flying through Denver on Frontier. Or flying on Frontier. Ever.
I drive over to the Wynn to set up my markers and the poker room is full. I draw a $2500 marker at the craps table and watch the game a bit. I have never played craps before in my life but the three people there seem to be having fun.
I look down at my phone and I realize a plane has landed. fluffy_butternut has landed in Las Vegas on business. I had lost a bet and offered to pick him up from the airport. I cash back in my chips against my casino credit and head back to my car. I cannot find my car. Fuck. I wander the wynn garage which is covered in construction debris. I eventually find it and haul ass to the airport. Now, I didn't know this but fluffy has the WORST SENSE OF DIRECTION AT ALL. Seriously. I have no idea how he even made it to the correct city. He lands and has to get his bag and stuff and I circle the airport. He lets me know he's at door 77 wherever the fuck that was. I drive into the pickup portion and I see no sign. He then says he's coming up a level, and I tell him that I'll be there shortly. I park the car and Metro PD starts yelling.
Metro: You can't park your car here.
FC: Why not? Is this not a reasonable place to park?
Metro: Reasonable? You're on a sidewalk! This is the sidewalk!
I give the man a $20 and tell him to keep it running as I wander Mccarran screaming FLUFFY! HERE FLUFFY! I message fluffy to let him know I am the car parked on the sidewalk. I instantly figure out who he is having never seen a photo of him and I throw his bags into the car as we head for his hotel. I haul ass out of the airport and get the A3 on the highway.
Now this was a superior machine. Thirty nine grand worth of gimmicks and high-priced special effects. The rear windows lit up with a touch like frogs in a dynamite pond. The dashboard was full of esoteric lights and dials and meters that I would never understand.
We check in at the Rio where the desk clerk is friendly and flirty. I express amazement there is no line. Fluffy checks in and we take his bags upstairs and he offers to buy me food for driving him to the airport. I decline. We head to the bar anyways. He orders two beers and we decide to call chug. He's staying out in Summerlin or something because his company is apparently run by cheapskates. He asks if we want to hang out and shoot the shit. I say sure and ask if he wants us to pick up food or anything from CVS or something since I have the car and I'm able to do anything I want. He asks for some toothpaste. No problem. I may be an asshole on the internet but I have a heart of gold. We get some toothpaste get to the hotel.
Arriving at the lobby, we have no idea where he is. It turns out he gave us the address for the hotel across the street. We laugh and go to that lobby and shoot the shit till 3AM much to the chagrin of the hotel clerk. Fluffy has some beers and we plan on dinner the next day. I drive fluffy back and arrive at the hotel at 4. Fuck me to tears.
Wednesday, January 18th. Day 2 of SHOT show.
Alarm goes off at 7:30 AM. I wash up, eat and get breakfast. In the garage by 8:15. Nice. I get some dillo dust and check out the new Sig 220 DA/SA and SAO legions. Daddy likey. I go to a competing firm and I piss of my state sales manager by telling him his newer designed triggers suck ass. He says the company tested them and they're the same in every way. I ask him why the triggers have two different part numbers in the catalog and how come they're not interchangeable and if that's really the case, how come there's X changes in the supposedly identical pistol parts that he's holding side by side. He gets mad at me and says I'm not an expert on their product and perhaps I should take his job since I'm so smart. I agree that I'm smart and I hold firm that if he didn't want me to complain about the shitty trigger, they should stop selling guns with shitty triggers. I am nearly kicked out of the booth.
I meet up with some of my wholesale reps and I'm mid convo when I see Itsgoodsoup and his friend walking around the show. I yell SOUP but he does not hear me. So I grab his friend and find him and I tell him we should get together at dinner with fluffy and chug. He agrees.
The show winds down, I get some business done and nothing much else. We break for a shitty gunnit live lite and I take a few questions from the crowd in fluffy's suite at the Rio. Dinner is at 8 and we arrive at the restaurant late to find soup and his friend sitting at one table and chug and his girlfriend sitting at another. Perhaps we should have gotten here a little earlier. Hahaha. So, fluffy said the place is really good and I order a few of the specialties of the house. Apparently according to yelp they do a kickass peking duck. Soon to be mrs chug is a vegan. But we can eat meat in front of her. I wonder how it's served and Soup's vancouver raised asian friend tells me that they normally carve it tableside. Our vegan says as long as there's no head she's cool. We're not sure if they can fulfill that request. So we order and food starts coming out and we tell tall tales of shot show BS and other stuff. Sure enough, the duck comes out with the head. No bueno. Haha. But I decide to treat us to vegan donuts at the vegan bakery across the street later. Seven courses later we are full. Vegan bakery closed. I am committed to getting her some vegan donuts though. We head to Fremont street to gamble. Fluffy wanders about and we try craps and we're not impressed. We hit some slots and eventually I hit the craps table where chug explains the game to me. We start betting on dice. And somehow we start winning. I find that the house allows you to take 10X behind the line. No idea what this means so I plop $5 on the pass line and the point hits 6. I drop $50 behind it and it hits. We go a few rounds and leave ahead. It's 2:30 AM. Fuck. I drive everyone back to their hotel. I get to sleep around 4.
Thursday, January 19th. Day 3 of SHOT show.
Wake up at 10AM feeling like crap. Debate whether to head straight to show and wander about. Fuck it. Went to halal guys for some halal. Delicious. Got vegan donuts. Dead drop them at the Palazzo lobby for chug and his girl. Show is a bust. Literally nothing exciting. Fluffy offers to buy me dinner. One of my customers who lives in Summerlin offers to take me to dinner. I pass on fluffy and he destroys the seafood buffet at the rio. I head to Sinatra at the Wynn for dinner with my customer. All good in the hood. Chug has been invited to the Glock dinneafter party and I'm not so we all go our separate ways. I call foghorn5950 and due to some weather, he's flying home early and our plans to hangout are fucked up unless I go tonight. I grab fluffy and we head to Whiskey Down. He orders a makers and I give him a funny look. I tell the waitress make it a bulleit. Everyone laughs. I talk shop with Jeremy also from TTAG and we shoot the shit over cigars and talk about useless products. Next thing we know, chug is out of the dinner and wandering the strip. We decide to meet up at the Linq. It takes us nearly 30 minutes to get out of Whiskey Down at MGM because the waitress was awful and messed up everyone's tab. It was a fucking disaster. To boot, MGM is now charging for parking.
FC: What a bunch of fucking jews
Fluff: You should just tailgate that lady in front of you out and screw them out of the $7
FC: I should
We pull behind her and watch as she gets flustered at the awful parking machine. Her nevada license plate says VETERAN. As the gate goes up we haul ass and screw MGM out of $7. I shout "THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE" out the window as we blow right by her up to the Linq. Through fluffy's awful navigation, we wind up at the loading dock for the Linq. Eventually we find chug and gf hanging at the penny slots. They are holding vegan donuts, which she is very appreciative of. Least I could do after showing her the head. Fluffy plays the House of Cards slot machine.
He stuck $100 in, played for 6 minutes and then got really mad and hit the cash out button and $80 was left after 5 minutes.
ITS EXACTLY LIKE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT!
Chug's gf asks to play a special slot machine called kitty glitter. We ask and the linq does not offer it but Harrahs next door does. So we head over there and the slot tech finds the kitty glitter machine. Fluffy sticks a C note in there and tells her to play and have a blast. So she's banging away at the one armed bandit WHEN SUDDENLY I HEAR THE SOUND.
It's PUTTIN ON THE RITZ in shitty .wav file internal speaker format. Hahah. She's just hit the progressive jackpot on the penny KITTY GLITTER machine. THIS PLACE IS AWESOME! We cash out after some play and a good time was had by all. I dump off fluffy at the rio since it was very close and drive everyone else back. It's late, I'm tired and the Palace Station oyster bar is open 24 hours......I head over there and there's a 45 minute wait.
So, I pull out my backup bankroll and using everything chug and fluffy have taught me about craps I belly up to the $3 min table where they let you take 10x behind the line. I'm still learning and the table is slow so one of the boxmen start explaining the game to me.
Box: So if you place the 6 or the 9 or individual numbers you can bet those but you gotta pay a little juice on it like a commission
Me: Like when you buy the hook?
short pause
Box: Yeah! Exactly like that! You got this!
So I played a little and went up a bit and down a bit. As you do. Plunked $5 down on the pass line and took full odds and the point hit. This game is pretty cool! So I hung around and watched for about an hour and finally decided to eat my winnings. I take $5 off my stack and, drop it on the pass line and announce dealer bet - $5 to pass. It hits. The dealers love me.
Maybe Vegas isn't so bad after all.
http://imgur.com/a/LGhDj
I have the pan roast at the oyster bar. No line. It is DELICIOUS. I get back to the hotel at 5AM. I don't care when I wake up.
Friday, January 20th. Day 4 of SHOT show.
Wake up around noon feeling like crap. Go to show. Debate destroying milk cart with wheels with an ax borrowed from fire station. Decide against it. Gas up car and find myself out by palace station again. Played some craps, hit the buffet and went for an early sleep.
It's midnight. The neighbors in my the hotel are having sex. A LOT OF SEX. I can hear everything. I gently knock on the door. No answer. I knock slightly harder. No answer. I head back to my room and close the door just as I hear their door open. I zoom back out to find a puzzled middle aged stocky and perhaps sticky Latino man looking both ways.
I get in his line of sight.
Me: Hey. I'm next door. It sounds like you're having a lot of fun. I get it. I really do. In fact I haven't had sex since the bush administration so I'm gunning for you man I really am. But it's midnight and I have a 6am flight and a rental car to return. So trust me when I say I'm really happy for you but if you don't mind I really need to get some sleep tonight okay?
The awkward silence is deafening. He nods without saying a word and mouths okay. I give him a manly nod and thumbs up.
Me: thanks. I'd shake your hand or fist bump but well you know.....
I give him a peace sign as he goes back into his little pleasure palace and I turn to realize that I have just locked myself out of my room. I am wearing boxers, a tshirt and barefoot. I head downstairs to the lobby. The check in at the front desk resembles the TSA line at Mccarran. Normally I would not be this rude but desperate times call for desperate measures.
The line is 50 people deep. I walk past every person. Fuck your queue. I approach the desk where someone is helping a guest and I raise my right hand as if I were in a deposition to get them to stop. The staff and guest looks puzzled as the angry barefoot man clad in nothing but boxers and a "uzi does it" tshirt approaches the desk.
Me: excuse me. I don't mean to interrupt. I have an emergency. I'm up on 8 and my neighbors are having a lot of sex. I mean a LOT of sex.
(This is the same front desk clerk who actually checked me in Monday night by coincidence looks back at me very awkwardly and puzzled.)
Me: this isn't your regular sex. I'm talking this is your (I begin air humping the front desk and slapping the granite counter with my palm and grunting loudly) sex. You could hear the plan B packaging open.
At this point - the ENTIRE FRONT DESK STAFF HAS STOPPED CHECKING IN GUESTS. The people in line and are watching the show. The clerk is stunned. Speechless. Shock and awed. Crapped out and busted. The women are covering their children's eyes and ears. The men are wondering if this show requires a 2 drink minimum.
Me: now I get this is Vegas. Everyone wants a good time. It's midnight. My flight leaves at 6 which means I have to be up by 4. And this just isn't working. So I asked them to keep it down and I locked myself out of my room. So if you can make me another key or move me I'd appreciate it.
The clerk nods.
Clerk: of course. may I see your ID?
Years of ballet have prepared me for this day. I step back to make sure my genitals are still ensconced in my boxers as I pirouette and gesticulate wildly.
Me: DO I LOOK LIKE I HAVE ID?
The floor manager steps over and asks me to head down to the end of the desk where she will make me a key. I give her the room number and thank her after she offers to have security sent up to shutdown the best little whorehouse in Vegas. I tell her it may not be necessary. As I take my keys and walk away the people in line break out in raucous applause.
I take a bow and miraculously my boxer shorts don't rip. These people are my subjects and I have been crowned the the king of the three ring circus that is the circus circus lobby. Im offered a $1 tip from a kind soul but I decline.
My walk back to the hotel elevator bank is uneventful. So much so that I realize it is going too well. The other shoe, if I were wearing one felt as if it was about to drop. Suddenly a dumbass in a rascal scooter is heading toward me at flank speed as his head is turned to look at everyone BEHIND HIM. There's no way this will end well.
For you gentle readers joining us mid conversation - it's midnight and I need to be at the airport in 4.5 hours. I can just see it now. (Cue the harp noises)
Scene: Emergency room
Nurse: Allergic to anything? Me: NKDA Nurse: cause of injury? Me: what's the IC10 code for "run down by drunken buffoon on motorized wheelchair?"
I saw my life and confirmed upgraded first class seats home being given away by the Mccarran gate agent flash before my eyes and my catlike reflexes kicked in and I jumped to my left into the wall, mid 1960's Las Vegas union construction being the path of least resistance. Think "The Bodyguard" with Kevin Costner.
The buffoon barely realizes what happens. Children are amazed. "HEY MOM! Look! That guy just ran into a wall!"
Me: it was that OR GET RUN DOWN BY SOME JACKASS ON A GODDAMN SCOOTER GOING FULL SPEED DRIVING LIKE A....
I look down and a midwestern nuclear family with two children of formative age are waiting for the elevator. I change my last word.
Me: LUNATIC!
I look over to the parents.
Me: I'm really sorry. This is a family joint and I shouldn't have cursed the drunken scooter driver like that. Sorry kids.
Parent: no big deal. They've heard fucking worse.
I crack a smile at her word choice. Fucking worse. Yeah. That sounds like my evening.
After jumping into a wall, I'm now wide awake and unable to go back to sleep. I make the plane and push on time. The 737 comes to a stop short of the runway and holds. Something is wrong. The pilots come on and say that they loaded more cargo and passengers than planned so they have to redo their numbers. We're waiting on the taxiway with both engines running as they do this and the waiting music comes on. What's the first song?
Whitney Houston - "I Will Always Love You"

Original post was deleted by ...
The original had over 22K shares and 20K comments before it was taken down. It's important we try and keep this up.
Family and friends concerned about the RT91 festival massacre please share and spread this post for it is completely real and the news is not telling the entire truth. There was more than one shooter, I believe there was 4-5 shooters and I saw/heard 4 of them and there was one of their men down in the concert who lit fire crackers either to distract people and make them believe the rest of the popping sounds were fire crackers for at least 10 seconds to get more casualties before realizing they were gun shots or to decoy the Mandalay Bay shooter breaking the windows of the hotel without being noticed right away as the fire crackers went off twice because the second time the shooter at Mandalay Bay unloaded his first magazine. The person who lit the fire crackers was right next to me as it blew my eardrums (right side of the stage facing the stage closer to the front of the stage) The first shooter was at the Mandalay Bay, then MGM Grand and ExcalibuNew York New York and Tropicana.
These are confirmed by me personally and the shooter from Mandalay I believe was shooting an LMG with 100 rounds each go. I will tell my story and hope to get shares and the truth spread as the news is making it out to be ONE shooter. So Jason Aldean was 5 songs in if I remember correctly and the fire crackers went off in the middle of his performance and people all around us were looking around dazed and slightly confused, then 15 seconds later the fire crackers went off once more (to break the second window where the shooter unloaded his first magazine)
I saw the muzzle flashes as soon as the fire crackers stopped and there was a man who tumbled over my girlfriend and I and said there was shots and there was a guy in front of him who died right away. Then more shots started and we all dropped and at that time my girlfriend was frozen and still and had 3-4 people on top of her shot and wounded and possibly dead but I had all my focus on her and I believed at that time I had been shot in the lower back as I had the bleeding sensation and yelled "BABE I THINK IM SHOT WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE I NEED TO KEEP YOU SAFE"
I pulled her out from under the bodies of people and ran for 5 seconds and then another series of shots came and more bodies went down with wounds and blood was all over the place and even on me at this point. That moment there was 3-5 people I saw completely unresponsive on the ground and even a girl with her head shot and people around her screaming. We got up and ran for around 15 seconds and I continuously checked my back to feel a shot wound and I was under great relief to find that I was not shot before more shots came but since everyone was running towards the entrance the shooter at MGM was shooting as everyone was running towards the entrances to exit.
My girlfriend and I kept VERY low the entire time we heard any shot. We ran to the back of the venue and there was an Orange Gate pried up on the fence and people already on it climbing to get over. I got over and they were 2 girls on it who froze and I yelled "COME ON LETS MOVE... DOUBLE TIME!! LETS GO" and they raced up the gate and got over the fence and we proceeded as well and we ran across the street to Tropicana parking lot where more shots from Mandalay proceeded and we hide behind cars in the lot. We all proceeded through a hallway where everyone had their hands up and was proceeding through the hallway and then went into a common area with 3 exit points.
One for the pool area where a gentlemen with a black polymer suitcase walked in and I frantically asked if he worked and he was entirely calm and said no and I asked to see what was inside the suit case and he scoffed and said no and another man yelled "YEAH WHATS IN THE SUITCASE IM WITH THIS MAN" and as he started to open the case everyone started yelling in the room where they were escorting everyone and they all scattered and ran through where we entered and there was a man bleeding out and I believe from what I saw he was dead. Unresponsive and on his back with his eyes closed and a pool of blood.
I ran outside where the pool area was and my girlfriend stayed back as she froze again, 5 seconds passed as I ran out the door and I didn't see my girlfriend and I opened the doors and she was on the ground crying and I yelled and told her to come as I ran to grab her we got out and hid in a cabana that was closed and laid on the couch there for 30 minutes and she started throwing up and I kept telling her to keep her down and keep quiet as there was a shooter in Tropicana that was to my understanding still on the loose so we kept real quiet and at this time I contacted my brother to make sure him and his girlfriend were okay which to my relief they were. But we were split and they were too far and I didn't want to run out in the streets as the shooters were still loose.
We then proceeded to an alleyway by the parking structure and saw muzzle flashes coming from Excalibur and New York New York and I pushed her to the pillar and she froze (every time shots went off she froze so I had to help maneuver her into safe positions) we then ran through a hallway and a guy grabbed my girlfriend and said to go down the hallway towards the Tropicana entrance and I was not going inside so we ran around back into the alley where I saw an industrial trash can and told her to jump in first and we laid in there and found cardboard boxes and I pulled them over us to keep cover and we laid there for 3 hours as the helicopters and police personnel were scavenging the area for the remaining shooters they know were involved but don't want to publicly announce. As we were in the trash can I posted a status on Facebook and contacted immediate family and friends to let them know my girlfriend and I were okay for the time being.
We then figured running to Luxor around 1:30-2am would be fine and as we jumped out there was a police who helped escort us to the now locked down with police in tactical gear Tropicana and to escort us into the convention center and they made sure everyone was unarmed and we had water and blankets and everyone was waiting for the police to clear the rooms in the surrounding hotels to allow us back into our rooms. We personally didn't get released to go to Luxor until 4:20 am and we are now okay. I now have my firearm on my persons and will no longer be attending crowd filled events for the massacre we just lived through was devastating and we all can't wait to get back home and see our loved ones.
My condolences to the families of everyone who lost their lives and couldn't get a call out to their families and make it back home like we did, I pray for peace and love through everyone's hearts involved in this massacre and I just wanted to share the truth and my experience as the Lord would want me to. We are currently at a restaurant and a woman came up to us as we are visually a mess and she prayed for us and we just came to find out she covered our tab. God bless her, we are incredibly grateful for her act of kindness and grateful to be alive and be able to share a real experience as a first person who attended the event this weekend in Vegas.
I thank God for giving me the strength to keep pushing and keep my significant other and I alive as we were entirely as vulnerable as everybody else. God bless everyone who shares this to reveal the experience the news simply won't be able to share as they don't want this to seem like a terrorist attack but it was exactly that and the man behind it will be punished and damned to hell for this. Thank you for reading the entire post and I do want to thank the police officers on site that kept everyone safe from the violent acts that occurred last night. God bless everyone who was positively involved last night as well.
Food for thought: Las Vegas can't afford to have people scared to travel the strip since that's the only entertainment in Nevada. Think about it, why would they scare everyone and confess multiple shooters when they have no clue who the active shooters really were? That would be detrimental for Las Vegas and they will do whatever they can to keep the public at ease from this massacre for the sake of their own State. Think about it, and the white 64 year old man could had been staged as a cover up for the real killers who actually got away with this whole thing, that I know was choreographed from the fireworks alone as the first cue. Please just keep your mind open and wait for more truth to be exposed.

I've seen a few posts (1,2,3) mentioning or asking about an event called Summer Splash Las Vegas. I attended this year and thought I would provide a full review and AMA since I couldn't find any reviews elsewhere online. It's a multi-week event in (you guessed it) Las Vegas, Nevada in the US featuring a variety of different EDM artists performing at various pool and club venues.
I attended Week 2 this year (2017 for those reading in the future) and had a great time. The lineup can be found here for now but I'm sure it won't be around long so here it is:

• Diplo
• Tritonal
• Tiesto
• marshmello
• The Chainsmokers
• Brillz
• Zedd
• Cash Cash

The schedule consisted of 2 performances per day, one in the morning and one in the evening. The morning events usually opened their doors around 10 AM and the evening events did so around 10 PM. However, as you might expect, the headliner did not perform until several hours after the doors opened. Typically, the morning events had the headliner start anywhere from 2 PM to 4 PM with the venue closing around 6 PM and the evening events had the headliner start around 2 AM with the venue closing around 4 AM.
Summer Splash lists recommended arrival times for each event and I found them to be both helpful and accurate. It's not necessary to arrive when the doors open because Summer Splash has a separate entrance for every event allowing you to skip the normal entrance lines which were sometimes dozens of people long. However, the venues reach capacity quickly as Summer Splash states and arriving about 2 hours after the doors open is usually as far as you can go before risking the doors to close as the venue gets full.
The cost of the package for myself was about $600 including taxes and fees for 5 nights (Wednesday - Sunday). I was staying with 1 other person and they paid about $100 less because the rates for women are discounted. The price goes down for each person with more people in your group and the longer you stay. You can choose anywhere from 2 to 5 nights and up to 10 people (in which case you get a much larger room of course). My room had 2 queen beds and was perfectly adequate. The stay was at the MGM Grand which I could easily write a separate review about but suffice it to say it's an impressively large hotel with some great restaurants contained within. You can easily get everything you need in the hotel including drinks, snacks and meals.
The package includes the stay at the hotel as well as admission into all of the events on the schedule. The events are open to the public but this is where you really get a lot for your money. I asked several people at different events how much they paid to get in and depending on the event, I heard anywhere from $50 to $100+ just to get into one event. The nightclub events are particularly expensive. The ticket price for Zedd was about $115 according to the Omnia nightclub website on the day of the performance.
Finally, everything in Vegas is obnoxiously expensive. A Bud Light (pretty much the cheapest beer most places) was $11 - $13 depending on the venue. Bring cash and expect to pay $50 or more for a large mixed drink, often sold in a souvenir cup. Buy some drinks in the hotel or along the strip to pregame before the events. The performances were a blast and it was probably the closest I've ever been to these artists performing so it really is worth it.
Some tips:

• Each venue has lockers for rent to store your things but I found it just as easy to buy a waterproof phone bag/case and keeping everything with me to save a little bit of money. Find a well-reviewed one on Amazon and buy it before arriving or grab one at a pharmacy.
• The dress code as explained by Summer Splash is pretty accurate. The venues weren't as strict as I was expecting. For guys, a bathing suit, t-shirt and sandals is fine for the pool venues. For girls, a bathing suit, cover up and sandals are fine. The nightclub venues were fine with jeans and a polo shirt for guys and a short dress for girls.
• Bring sunscreen to the morning pool events or you will probably get burned.
• The temperatures were about 105 F each day so even though it was a dry heat, it's still ridiculously hot and you need to be in the pool most of the time not to overheat
• The venues get pretty crowded and unless you rent an obnoxiously overpriced VIP couch or booth, there's almost nowhere to sit at most of the venues. Get there a couple of hours after the doors open and camp out at a good spot. The pool parties were fairly crowded but there was definitely more than enough room to move around which I cannot say for the nightclub event at Omnia where I did not feel safe because of how packed it was.
• If you have a spare phone, bring it and keep it in the room. I managed to destroy mine in the pool and I'm glad I brought a backup.
• MGM has a designated UbeLyft pickup spot in the garage. Go to the lobby and follow the signs. Don't reserve your car until you're in the pickup spot because it's a really long trip from the room or even from the lobby. Some of the venues are close enough to walk if you don't mind the heat and it's not half bad doing that to save some money on a ride.
• Skipping a performance or two is fine. You don’t have to go to every performance to get your money’s worth and you’ll end up saving money on drinks at the events if you skip any artists that you don’t really care to see.
• With the previous point said, go to the first performance when you arrive so you get an idea of everything I’ve tried to explain in this review.

Here are some pictures to get an idea of the crowds and venues: https://imgur.com/gallery/VRLMn
Feel free to ask me any questions and I’ll do my best to answer them.