I don’t remember the first time I went to a nightclub and fell in love with house music. I do remember heading to Utopia in the 1990’s with my buddy Chubb and we loved to dance to house music. Once, we even got invited to the VIP area since we were dancing. We weren’t really sure what to do there though since it was in a separate room with a clear glass so you could see the dance floor. We just danced around with our glow sticks for a bit and soon headed back to the dance floor.
Las Vegas has been slow to even grow to love house music. Any American club is way behind compared to European clubs where they have been raving for decades.
I do remember the first mega club C2K in the Venetian. Dance music definitely wasn’t as popular. I just knew I loved dancing crazy and enjoying the music. These days the clubs are divided with two types of people: people who like hip hop and people who like house music. I don’t like hip hop when it’s bump n’ grind kind… But, I do enjoy old school hip hop like Run-D.M.C., LL Cool J and The Sugarhill Gang. I’m definitely on the house music side. House music is a lot more popular these days and many big name DJs are in the clubs like Fat Boy Slim, Tiesto and Avicii.
My husband Ivan and I were talking about how different it is in Las Vegas clubs compared to Europe. In Vegas, even if you’re at a house music night, the DJ could still play some bad hip hop in the mix. In Europe, you’re guaranteed to hear just house music. Also, in Europe there’s a lot more variety to house music.
Tonight, we saw Indris Elba (His DJ name is Driis), Pete Tong and Fatboy Slim. Ivan said that Indris Elba’s music reminded him of 90’s house music in England. It was funky house with some deep house. Las Vegas seems to have house music with lots of vocals especially of current popular songs. If you’re lucky, you’ll hear about 10 minutes of dubstep or deep house… but usually nothing more than that. It’s sad really. I think European DJs should be bold and play a variety of house music even if it’s not the norm. I know Ivan and me would love it. I’m sure there would be others as well.
When my husband and I are at a club, we love to get as close as possible (usually in the front since I’m really short) since you feel the bass and hear the music better since it’s so loud.
I was thinking about how house music makes me feel while dancing tonight to Pete Tong in Ibiza, Spain. I feel so alive dancing. When the music is good, I get lost in the music. No, it doesn’t have to be trance music.. just any good electronic music makes me lose myself. I let the music move me. It courses through my body and makes me dance. The bass resonates in my body. I close my eyes and move my hands, hips, head and legs. It is like you’re letting go and losing control. The music just takes over. The energy that generates from a crowd of people dancing is amazing. I feel it and it just feels like love. I know that sounds cheesy.. but that’s how I feel. You feel energized and feel like you’re on a lovely high that you don’t want to come down from. Somehow, you feel connected to the DJ since he’s making you feel so awesome with his cool beats. I like to put my arms up to the sky while dancing. I’m not really sure why though.. maybe I’m trying to reach something like the lasers.. or maybe something even beyond that.
Thinking about how music makes me feel, made me think of what Billy Elliot says in the musical when the Royal Ballet School asks him “What does it feel like, when you are dancing?”
His response was a song which does describe how I feel.
I can’t really explain it, I haven’t got the words It’s a feeling that you can’t control I suppose it’s like forgetting, losing who you are And at the same time something makes you whole
It’s like that there’s a music, playing in your ear And I’m listening, and I’m listening, and then I disappear
And then I feel a change, like a fire deep inside Something bursting me wide open, impossible to hide And suddenly I’m flying, flying like a bird Like Electricity, electricity Sparks inside of me, and I’m free, I’m free
I was waiting for Fat Boy Slim to come on and I could feel the anticipation. I was REALLY excited like a little kid waiting to open their Christmas gifts on Christmas morning. Fatboy Slim is definitely me and my husband’s favorite DJ. He just plays the most fun music. His music just makes you want to jump around and dance. His funky music is filled with cool lyrics. He loves to throw in lots of classics and fun songs. I love DJs who are really into the music has much as you are. It just shows that they love their job and enjoy making their fans feel good. It’s also cool to think that a lot of DJs like Pete Tong, Fatboy Slim, Judge Jules and Paul Oakenfold are in their 50’s but they still love DJing. House music has no age. I even saw a lady in her 50’s tonight. I thought that could be me someday. Somehow I know that I’ll love house music for a long, long, long time. It only just makes me laugh, feel good and feel happy.
I went to Tabby’s Bachelorette Party on August 29th, 2008. Tabby knew nothing about her bachelorette party. She did know we were meeting at the South Point. We were heading to Stoney’s Rockin’ Country for the big party. The theme was Tabby’s Last Rodeo. It’s a country bar. After work, I headed to South Point to meet Michelle in her room. Some of the girls got a room, so they could crash there after the party at Stoney’s. It was early when I got there around 4 pm. It was only Michelle and Taylor in the room. We were watching tv in the room. I also talked to Ivan since I couldn’t get online to chat to him on Skype. Karen called Michelle around 2:30 pm and said she was getting ready. It takes her awhile to get ready though. Michelle’s mom Debbie was getting off work soon. She was going to head over to the hotel after she got ready. Debbie got there around 5 pm. We were still waiting for Karen to get there. Everybody was hungry. We were trying to decide on two restaurants Baja Miguel (a Mexican restaurant) and the cafe.
We went downstairs to get a table at Baja Miguel. Karen was driving to the hotel. We told her to meet us at the restaurant. We all sat down and told the waiter that we were waiting for somebody else. We got two orders of chips. It came with three different dips: salsa, bean dip and guacamole. The bean dip was my favorite. It was really good. I think we were waiting for about 5 minutes or more and nobody came over to take our order. Finally, Debbie got a waiter to help us. He assumed we wanted to wait for the other person before we ordered. She was about to order and then the guy started helping a lady out with putting together two tables. How rude! We all ordered after we got his attention again. I got a combination plate with cheese enchiladas and a beef taco. Karen finally showed up when we got our food. The enchiladas were a little hard. So, I had to cut them with a knife. The food was decent. I ate so much food.
We all went upstairs to the room. Michelle set up all the details with the bachelorette party. There was a pre-party at the South Point room at 8 pm. Taylor thought it would be wise for us to get ready. Taylor is really good at doing hair and make-up. She said she would do our hair. She teases the hair and gives the hair volume. Taylor did Karen’s hair first. Karen started curling her hair afterwards. I was up next to get my hair done. It’s a process getting it done. But, it looks really good. My hair is fine so it needs volume. Michelle got her hair poofed up last. I got my make-up done by Taylor. She’s awesome at doing make-up. I had red eyeshadow and also some glitter. Taylor did Karen and Michelle’s make-up as well. Michelle wanted all the girls to wear matching shirts or something similar that said Bride’s Posse Yee Haw. Michelle made my shirt with a iron-on transfer on my black tank top. We all got ready for the party. I had a short jean skirt on with my tight black tank top and black boots.
Everybody looked really good in their outfits. Tabby got off work at 6 pm. She went home to shower and eat. She arrived at the hotel room after 7 pm. Taylor got started on teasing Tabby’s hair. She has really thick, long hair. Michelle gave Tabby a pink hat with a tiara that lights up. Also, she had cute false eyelashes for her. Other girls started arriving around 8 pm.
Michelle and her mum Debbie
Michelle bought champagne, beer and margarita mix. Tabby opened up the champagne and we had a toast. The champagne was a bit strong but tasted alright. Michelle made up this oath stating that we would keep everything that happened at the bachelorette party at the bachelorette party. It was printed on glossy paper. It was a cute idea.
We left the room to head to Stoney’s Rockin’ Country shortly after 9 pm. Michelle brought the beer in the cooler. The plan was we were going to drink some beers before in the parking lot. It’s down the street from the South Point. Debbie drove me, Tabby, Michelle and Karen there. I was thinking of taking my car in case I wanted to leave earlier. But, Debbie said she would take me back to the hotel if I wanted to come back. She wasn’t going to be drinking very much.
We arrived in the parking lot at Stoney’s. This bar is really packed on Thursdays since it’s Ladies Night. Ladies can get any drink for $1. I’m glad the parking lot wasn’t that full. I don’t like big crowds like that. It’s hard to move around and it takes forever to get a drink. We drank a beer in the parking lot.
Tabby, Michelle, Taylor, Karen and me
A few more girls arrived to the party. Everybody went in. There was a cover charge of $5. The bar had a lot of people but it wasn’t packed. The place is a huge place. There’s a realy big dance floor. In front of the dance floor, there’s two big screens that shows videos of songs that are playing. We decided to get a drink. Karen really wanted a few of us to do chocolate cake shots. It’s a shot that tastes just like a chocolate cake. You suck on the lemon that has sugar on it. Then, you down the shot. It’s soo yummy! One of the girls wanted to find a place to sit. There was a few couch areas and it fit almost everybody. So, it was a good spot to hang out in. Michelle brought a deck of Dare card games. Basically, you pull a card and do the dare. If you complete the dare, you get points. I don’t think anybody really was keeping track of their points. Everybody just thought the dares were fun. Everybody kept buying Tabby drinks. I had a Nuts and Berries next. It’s creamy and fruity at the same time. All the girls were playing the dare game. It was a lot of fun. I pulled two cards.. but I didn’t really feel like playing. One card said Get the bouncer to laugh at anything. I can’t remember what Karen had to do. But, she had to kiss a random guy. She picked a guy who was sitting at the next couch. I guess she liked him because she kept kissing him later on. Also, they talked a few times that night. Tabby had to find a guy to give her $10 to contribute to her party. She felt desperate doing this. But, she actually found her first boyfriend in the crowd. He gave her the $10. He wanted to keep the Dare card since he was giving her money. Tabby and Taylor went to dance a few times.
The bar plays music where you can do line dancing. The music is mostly country but sometimes they play some rock music.
Short Video of Tabby & Taylor dancing
It was hard taking the video above because the dance kept going backwards and then forward. I was a little confused. So, I only took a few seconds of video. Michelle’s dare was that she had to find a guy to say “I’m not a normal guy and sex isn’t important to me”. She actually found somebody to say that to all the girls.
Tabby & Michelle wanted to ride the mechanical bull. Michelle was up first. She had a difficult time trying to get on the bull. A big guy put her on the bull like she weighed nothing. It was funny. The guy shakes the bull to make the girl’s boobs shake. I was on the side so I didn’t have the best view. When, she fell off she tried to pull her skirt down really fast.
Michelle on the bull
Tabby rode the bull next. She was a bit drunk already. I think it’s hard to stay on the bull. You’re supposed to put one hand in the air and hold on to the bull with the other. Tabby was doing this. Unbeknownest to Tabby, her butt crack was showing. It wasn’t a lot. It was funny but everybody thought it looked cute. Tabby couldn’t hold on to the bull. It looked like she threw herself off. But, I think since she didn’t really try to stay on the bull she got thrown off.
Tabby riding the bull
Michelle’s mom previously said she would ride the bull. But, I think she changed her mind. A lot of people were watching the girls ride the bull.
Karen had to find a nerdy guy to do a shot with. We found one guy. He said he’d do the shot, but he’d be around and just find him. I think we might have scared him because we couldn’t find him a few minutes later. Karen found another willing guy. He didn’t look nerdy at all. But, it didn’t really matter on all the specifics of the game. She ordered a blowjob shot at the bar. She took the guy to the couch. I didn’t know what she was doing. I thought they were going to take shots together. I read the card wrong. She was going to take a shot with the guy. I’m almost sure the guy didn’t know what was going on. Karen was putting the shot between his legs. He must have gotten scared or something.. because he dropped the shot and only the whipped cream remained. Karen still went down and put the shot in her mouth and drank the whipped cream. She was pissed because it’s an expensive shot that was wasted. It was crazy though. The guy looked rather embarassed afterward.
Tabby seemed really drunk. I guess one of her friends said that she would make sure Tabby had a drink in her hand at all times. Actually, she would have like 5 drinks at a time.
She would give some to Michelle or Taylor to drink. How nuts! Tabby was having a great time. She was posing, laughing, dancing on the table and talking to random people.
I was a bit drunk myself. I had a Sex on the Beach. I forgot how good those drinks taste! I was dancing to country music. I didn’t know what the heck I was doing though. Karen and I would go out there. I tried to follow the steps. I really didn’t care if I was doing it right. I just tried to do it. It was actually a lot of fun!
Tabby pulled another Dare card. She had to find a guy to take off his shirt and show his muscles. Michelle, Tabby and I were trying to find a guy who would actually do this. At one point, Tabby said what about that guy. I went to go grab the guy. Michelle and Tabby had moved on because they wanted to find a guy with some big muscles. I told the guy he should do something for me. I brought him to the girls. We told him he needs to take off his shirt. He took off his shirt but not all the way. I said we need to see your muscles. He took it off and flexed his muscles for us. It was too funny.
It was a really good night. A few people left. Michelle told me we were going to leave. It was only about 12:20 am. Tabby was hungry. Debbie drove me, Michelle, Tabby, Taylor and Karen to Del Taco. I ordered two small green burritos. Michelle ordered a bunch of food for Tabby. She was really drunk. We went back to the hotel room. I think everybody was really tired at this point. Taylor went home even though she was welcome to stay in the room. Tabby ate her food real fast. She said she felt better. I ate my food as well. I was just really tired. I didn’t want to drive yet since I was still a little buzzed. Tabby and Karen were on one bed. Michelle and Debbie were going to sleep on the other bed. I laid down on the edge of the bed. It was perfect for me sleeping sideways. I didn’t have a blanket though. They had this decoration thin blanket but it didn’t really cover me much. I was watching tv.. and I got really tired. I was planning to get up and leave but I just couldn’t get the energy to do that. So, I finally put some of the blanket on me and fell asleep.
I believe we woke up around 10 am. Most of the girls decided to take showers. We were trying to comb our hair out. You have to do it with a wide toothed comb to make the hair smooth after that hair teasing. It took a little while. We all decided to go eat in the cafe for breakfast. There was a little line. Tabby waited in line. Debbie, Michelle, Karen and I walked to our cars in the parking garage to put our bags in our cars. I came back and Tabby was at the front of the line with Karen and Debbie. Michelle was checking out of the room. It was nice to hang out and get some food in our stomachs. I had a nice scrambled egg and bacon croissant sandwich. It was pretty tasty. Almost everybody was having coffee to wake up. I only drink french cappuccino at work to wake up every now and then. I don’t like the taste of regular coffee. We finished around noon and then all went home. What a great, fun night!
I met Mel and her friend Moe at Goodtimes on August 9, 2008. It’s a gay nightclub normally. Saturday night is an Industrial night called Vector 21. The music was pretty good. I didn’t recognize any of the music though.
Mel & Moe at Vector 21
Mel & I spotted a guy we knew named Chris. Back in the day, we were on a bbs called MC. We knew him from that bbs. We chatted with him. I invited Joseph (the guy who changed my tire) to join us as well. He arrived shortly after with his friend Omar. I was watching a Japanese movie the club was playing on the tv. It was rather humorous to me. The movie is titled The Machine Girl. The main character lost her arm. Later, she installed a machine gun where her lost arm was. She kept killing people. The movie would show the person’s head come off and blood splurted out like a fountain. I just thought it was too funny. I knew the first time that we met Joseph that he liked my cousin Charisse. I know they’ve been hanging out lately. He told me that Charisse encouraged him to go out with me and my friends. I knew that from an e-mail she wrote to me. He said that he finds that very weird. He’s never had a girl encourage him to go out. I said what do you mean. He said I guess it’s because of insecurities. I didn’t figure out what he meant. I asked him if he liked Charisse. He said I like her more than that. I asked Oh, does she know this? He said Yes. I said are you guys together? He said Yes. He didn’t say that they were an item to Charisse.. but when it works out, then both people just know. I didn’t know any of this. I think they look cute together. Joseph is a sweet guy. There was a good number of people in the club. It wasn’t crowded though. Mel really wanted to dance. Mel, Moe, me and Joseph started dancing. The music was actually upbeat industrial and goth music. I was enjoying myself. I kept watching the movie and laughing at it while I was dancing. Joseph said that maybe we should check out Diablo. It’s a goth night over at the gay nightclub Flex. I asked Mel if she wanted to head over there. We couldn’t decide what to do. Mel brought up that we should go to Freezone. The club plays a mix of regular music. Joseph’s friend called him and said that Flex was dead. I told Mel we should go to Freezone (another gay nightclub). Joseph and Omar wanted to stay at Vector 21.
Mel, Moe, Chris and I drove to Freezone. The area where Freezone is called the Fruit Loop since there’s 3 gay nightclubs, one gay bar and a gay bookstore in that area. It was so crowded in all the parking lots. We drove down the street and found a spot in a strip mall. The bouncer checked our id and told us there was a 2 drink minimum. We went inside to get a drink. I bought a rum and coke for me and a water for Mel. We all went on the dance floor to dance. There was a ledge where we could put our drinks. Chris was getting drinks and roaming around the club. Mel, me and Moe were dancing. The music was alright at first. It was a mix of hip hip and top 40 music. Then the DJ started playing Latin music, which I didn’t like. I told Mel how would they track the 2 drink minimum with a club filled with people. A waitress came over and asked if we wanted a drink. We said we didn’t need one. She told us that there is a two drink minimum. We said we already bought our two drinks. We were dancing even more. Then, the bouncer comes over to Moe and says he wants to talk to him outside. Mel and I said to each other what the heck is going on. We went outside to find out what was happening. The bouncer said that we didn’t buy our 2 minimum drink. He said Moe was kicked out because he didn’t buy anything. Mel said we did buy drinks. He said he was watching us and he KNOWS that Moe didn’t buy anything. Mel said can’t we just buy more drinks then. He said no, he can’t come back in. He said Mel and I could stay. Moe seemed mad about it. They wanted to leave. I told Mel that I would tell Chris that we were leaving. I was mad about it. Why were they watching us like hawks? Now, I know how they track the 2 drink minimum. Were they singling us out for some reason? I told Mel we should check out the Double Down Saloon since it was crowded outside earlier. I was mad and saying those rascist mother f’ers as we crossed the street to the Double Down Saloon. I just don’t know why they would kick Moe out. Mel and Moe didn’t really seem that mad. Mel didn’t understand since she’s been there previously and nothing like that has happened before. I’ll never go back to Freezone.
The guy at the door of the Double Down said there’s one more band and they would start in a few minutes. I asked Mel if she ever tried Ass Juice. Mel said she’s never had Ass Juicie. I said You’ve never had Ass Juice and you’ve been to the Double Down? Ass Juice is an original drink at the Double Down. I couldn’t remember what it tasted like. I asked the bartender what was in it. But, he said he couldn’t tell me the ingredients. I asked What does it taste like? He said it’s sweet. We each had one. It was very sweet and it had a kick to it! The band was called No Nothing Party. I think it was the sound setup. I could not understand what the singer was saying at all. I didn’t really care for their music. We stayed for a little while just listening. The Double Down is a kewl bar with artwork on all the walls even the ceiling. At one point, there was a couple dancing to the music. Somehow, the girl fell into a mike stand and fell on the floor. I wanted to go home because I was tired.
It was a good night. I wished we stayed at the goth club where the music was good.
We got picked up early on the morning of July 2nd at 9 am. Some of us wanted to catch the boat on the Loch Ness, so we started earlier than usual to try to make it on time.
It had gorgeous views. We also saw Fort Augustus. We made it for the boat ride. We took the Royal Scot boat on the Cruise Loch Ness. The boat ride was an hour long.
I never knew that the Loch Ness was so deep. It’s 620 feet deep (189 m). We took some pictures and we found some monsters in the picture.
Nessie sighting
Woah, Nessie is actually real! I can’t believe it!!
I bet she hides at the bottom of the Loch Ness to avoid the tourists. The boat ride was very cool. We drove some more. We stopped to see the Commando Memorial. We made a stop at the Spean Bridge Mill again. Of course, we got more free whisky samples. The shop had some free cookie samples. Ivan thought the cookies tasted like dog food. We drove on and stopped to see the Strathmashie Forest. We saw a gorge there. We were driving along more. We made a stop at the Strath Gary in Pitlochry. Ivan and I had tea and a a scone. We were dropped off on the Royal Mile around 7 pm for the end of our tour.
Ivan and I checked in again at the Smart City Hostel in Edinburgh. We went to an Indian restaurant to eat. But, unfortunately it was too busy. We didn’t want to wait, so we left and walked around. We saw a Thai restaurant called Ayutthaya. Ivan looked at the menu and thought it looked good. We got the fish cakes to start off with. The fish cakes were dry and didn’t have much taste. We were hoping the rest of the meal would be better. We ordered Singha beers. We shared the Guey Teow Pad Se Ew with Chicken and the Goeng Massaman Curry. The Pad Se Ew was really tasty. The curry was great as well. The Massaman Curry had potato cubes, peanuts, onions and chicken. It was a good dinner. After dinner, we walked around. We were thinking about listening to some music at a bar. We couldn’t decide which one to pick though. Finally, we found some good music playing at The Tass bar on the Royal Mile. There was a lot of people playing Scottish folk music. We had some whisky and a Cream Cutie. We stayed to listen to the music for a little while. It was really good music.
Ivan and I woke up on the morning of July 3rd. We packed all our stuff and put it in luggage storage. We proceeded to Chocolate Soup to get some breakfast. We each got a fruity smoothie and a raisin bagel for us to share. We walked to Camera Obscura. It’s a cool museum. We saw optical illusions, lighting tubes, holograms, 3D pictures, bendy mirrors and other great things.
We went on the rooftop and it had great views of the city.
I had never seen the picture in the Magic Eye pictures. The museum had a few pictures of the Magic Eye. it was framed so I could see the light on the glass. I looked at the light and looked beyond the picture. I actually saw it! It was amazing to see those pictures.
Oh I am tiny!
This was a really cool museum. There was so many interesting things to see here. We were so hungry at this point. Ivan read that the best restaurant on Tripadvisor was the Wedgwood We headed there for the pre-set lunch menu. It included 2 or 3 courses at a reasonable price. Ivan got a beet dish for his appetizer. I got the chicken yakitori. It was good. Ivan got the soused salmon for his main dish.
He thought it was good.
My main course was the tomato, asparagus and spinach penne pasta. It was quite tasty. The service was a little slow. After lunch, I did some souvenir shopping. Ivan wanted to try deep-fried pizza. We went to Clam Shell to try some. We thought it would be covered with batter. But, it turned out to look like regular pizza.
It wasn’t very good either. We caught our flight back to London City Airport. We walked from the airport to Ivan’s flat.
The area where Ivan lives is so beautiful. I really like walking around the docks. It’s a pretty quiet area. We went to Nakhon Thai for dinner. It has a great view of the docks. We got the Fish Cakes for our starter. It was delicious.
We had a glass of wine. Ivan had the white while I had the red. I usually like the reds better since they’re usually milder.
Ivan ordered the Yam Woonsen. It’s a clear noodle salad with chicken and prawn. He also got the Pak Boong, which is a vegetables mixed in chili and yellow bean.
My main course was the Ped Phad King. It was roasted duck mixed with mushrooms, ginger, pineapple and spring onions. It was great. I wanted to try the mango sticky rice. I’m glad we ordered it. It was sooo delicious and sinful.
Jen's Thoughts 