Althouse: Return to Madison...

November 4, 2017

Return to Madison...

... a very pretty city from the air.

From the ground too!

19 comments:

MadisonMan said...: It is a beautiful place to fly in to. What views. Not as good as Washington National, or LaGuardia, but better than just about any town of the same size.; 11/4/17, 7:01 AM
Curious George said...: "MadisonMan said...
It is a beautiful place to fly in to."

Otis Redding probably would disagree.; 11/4/17, 7:07 AM
David Baker said...: How much did you lose?; 11/4/17, 7:14 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "How much did you lose?"

I didn't put even one dollar at risk. I even tried to force myself to at least play a twenty, but I'm just not interested. It's like the way I'm not tempted to eat the leftover Halloween candy. I understand the idea of finding it fun, but I can't force myself.

I did spend a lot of money on the hotel and on meals and drinks inside the hotel, which was the Bellagio (where I paid extra for a view that faced the fountain). But it was good to be based there, and I used the swimming pool every day and enjoyed the café by the garden most mornings.

Also free, walking and window-shopping. The stores are so expensive, it would take a lot to tip me into buying anything, and that never happened, though I loved the purple suede shoes at Prada. The color was so good, but the shoes were the type that I'd need a special occasion and I don't do special occasions. I do normal. I considered buying a pair of man's shoes at Prada because they looked perfectly walkable. Combine those 2 pairs — that purple with that functionality — and I'd have paid $600 (which was the price point at Prada).

Anyway, I wish I'd spent more for the Britney Spears tickets and seen the show from the "VIP" area near the stage. Either go or don't go. That's a lesson for another day.; 11/4/17, 7:31 AM
MadisonMan said...: Otis Redding probably would disagree.

(laugh) True, true. He crashed in Lake Monona, though. Maybe within the Monona city limits, not the Madison City limits.; 11/4/17, 7:34 AM
JML said...: Madison is a great city - good food and views, and IMHO the best farmer's market in America. It is just too cold in the winter for me. Me and my wife are flying in next month to the Messiah concert that my son will be performing in. It isn't Brittany Spears, but it will be inspirational and uplifting and fun.

https://www.festivalchoirmadison.org/concerts/; 11/4/17, 7:36 AM
Hagar said...: Especially at night.; 11/4/17, 7:47 AM
mezzrow said...: My word of the day after that photo?

Isthmus.; 11/4/17, 7:57 AM
tim in vermont said...: "Go or don't go."

Yep. Same with live baseball and hockey. Football not so much.; 11/4/17, 7:59 AM
Lyle Smith said...: Turn those lights off! Save the Earth! We are way behind North Korea! Backwards Madison!; 11/4/17, 8:07 AM
tim in vermont said...: Bibi continued her relationship with her boyfriend, Shahid Lashari, after getting married. It was Lashari who provided Bibi with the poisonous substance intended for her husband. Bibi mixed it into some milk that her husband refused to drink. But her mother-in-law "used the tainted milk to make a traditional yogurt-based drink and served it to 27 members of her extended family who fell unconscious and were hospitalized." According to the district chief of police, Sohail Habib Tajak, 17 people later died from the poison.

This is why I say outlawing chemical weapons in favor of phallic rockets is misogyny.; 11/4/17, 8:20 AM
Original Mike said...: I can see my house from there!

(apologies to Tina Fey); 11/4/17, 9:59 AM
Michael K said...: The first time we went to Venice, a friend told me to fly into the city to see it from the air,

I did and it is breathtaking. In daytime, of course.

Pretty much like this.; 11/4/17, 10:08 AM
Howard said...: It's silly not to gamble some in Vegas. One should read up on the intelligent play of craps, the game with the best odds and the most social. For a hundred bucks, you can play all day and maybe all night, meeting meet all kinds of interesting and not-so interesting people from all over and be plied with free drinks by busty young females wearing low-cut tops and high cut bottoms.; 11/4/17, 11:43 AM
pacwest said...: Howard, remember to tip the waitresses. They are wearing those costumes for a reason :)

Agree, if you are going to gamble learn craps. Best bang for the buck. If you are going to Vegas to win, don't go.

I spend a lot of my time just watching people at the tables. There are some back stories at work there. I would love to know the details of some of them. I watched a young kid drop 5 1K bets in a row at the blackjack table. Looked like a farm kid in town for a wedding. He was crushed. I wonder how long it took him to save for that couple of minutes of excitement. I wonder how long that scar will last.; 11/4/17, 12:27 PM
Michael K said...: "One should read up on the intelligent play of craps,"

When I was much younger, I used to pay the craps table all the time in Vegas. The trouble was, that as much as it was fun, i tended to lose.

What I would do was win at blackjack, which I think is boring, and then lose it at craps. Once I was down to a stake, I would go to the blackjack table and run it up to enough to go back an play craps.

Zero sum games.; 11/4/17, 12:42 PM
tcrosse said...: "One should read up on the intelligent play of craps,"

I used to do OK at craps, but it got to be too much like work. I admired that craps dealers, who could quickly pay off all the odds bets correctly, and just as quickly clear the table.; 11/4/17, 12:48 PM
rcocean said...: All Craps and Blackjack do is reduce the house edge.

But the House still has an edge, unless you can cheat or count cards.

Here's my gambling tip that will win you money every time:

Quit while you're ahead.; 11/4/17, 3:39 PM
Bruce Gee said...: Welcome home, Althouse.; 11/4/17, 8:53 PM