I thought Las Vegas was fabulous as usual, but apparently my lungs didn’t share the same view, and as a result, I was unable to do the ET race.

I’m not sure if it was the desert climate or being exposed to the smokey environment of the Hotels and Casinos, but by Saturday afternoon I could definitely feel a change in my breathing. My peak flows were dipping below 300 and the stress of doing a midnight race would have probably put me back in the hospital , so I decided to do the smart thing and not do the race.

Of course I’m disappointed that I missed another event because of my breathing, but I think I made a wise decision. And from what I’m hearing from other people who did the race, sounds like I didn’t miss much anyway. They told me that the event was very disorganized this year and that the breakfast at the Lil alien was less than tasty. Hopefully they’ll work out the bugs for next year.

On a positive note, I got to see 3 Barry Manilow shows in a single week! His Saturday night performance at the Hilton was probably the best Ive ever seen him do. The audience consisted mostly of his die hard fans and you could tell he knew it, because he delivered…big time! He was awesome. His voice, his energy, his range and his incredible note sustaining lung power was nothing short of jaw-dropping. Man that guy can write some powerful songs. As a bonus, I managed to get , not one, but two handshakes at this show. I decided in advance that I wouldn’t be taking pictures at these shows, because I end up spending too much time fiddling with the camera, trying to get good shots, that I don’t really get a chance to enjoy show. I have a million photos of the same show anyway.

What was also kind of funny, is that there was a major Star Trek convention going on at the Hilton . The place was crawling with “Trekkies”. from all over the world. Every time I got on the hotel elevator, Id’ run into one of the crew members of the Starship enterprise . These people really get into it.

Next scheduled race for me, is the San Jose Rock & Roll half marathon in San Jose. Next scheduled Manilow concert for me , is Oct 16th at the Arco Arena Sacramento.

…. ” And would it be asking too much, if you could beam me up to your space craft and zap me a new pair of lungs?”

In just a few hours, this lung defective humanoid is off to Nevada to not only do the ET marathon, but also to attend a string of 3 Manilow shows. (Here’s some photos I took at last years shows)
As far as the race goes,I’m only doing the 10k event this year and I won’t be doing any racewalking at all…just plain old fast walking. My lungs, while doing extremely well last weekend, haven’t been behaving very well this week and I don’t to aggravate things by pushing myself to hard. That, plus it’s kinda difficult to racewalk in total darkness anyway.

Anyways, this is the shirt I’m gonna wear for the race. I purchased the decal at the Lil Ale Inn cafe after lasts years race and I already had this bright ass day -glow shirt, so I threw the two together…and wallah.. I have my costume!

It’s going to be an interesting weekend, because immediately after seeing Barry Manilow’s Saturday night show at the Las Vegas Hilton, I have to drive to Rachel Nevada to do the race. I thought I had the logistics worked out to make this tight schedule do-able, but somehow I miss calculated the distance from Vegas to the race sight. Turns out that its 150 miles from Vegas. Barry’s show starts around 8pm and is usually over by 9:30, so hopefully I’ll still have enough time to make it to the race site before 1am ,which is the start time for my race. The only problem, is that I have to be within 32 miles of my starting area before 12 midnight, because the Nevada state troopers are closing the road for 20 minutes to allow the 51K runners to get their race underway. If I get caught in that mess, I’ll be late for sure. I might just try to sell my ticket for Saturdays show, so that I can get an earlier start.

When you’re trekking through a silent desert, in the middle of nowhere, during the middle of the night, your imagination can run wild,but that’s what makes this event so special and worth all the hassle of getting there. Too bad the Las Vegas Hilton, which is where I’m staying during my trip, doesn’t have the Star Trek Experience Exhibit Thingy there anymore….would’ve been perfect for this kind of weekend.

Unless I’m allowed to use the communication device on board the spacecraft, I won’t be posting again until the middle of next week.
Have a great weekend my fellow earthlings!

This is what the ET course looks like during the day…YIKES!

…..How about sitting 6 feet away from your favorite performer in a classy Las Vegas theater?

Yup, it was another fantastic performance from this musical genius. I liked “Music&Passion” , but I like “Ultimate Manilow the Hits” …even more. A little less glitzy, with more music…and much more Manilow!!

There’s always something special and/or unique about every performance that Barry does. I think the thing that impressed me the most about Wednesday nights show, was his ability to hit and successively hold , every single high or sustained note, in every song that required it. A rarity for live performances. Absolutely incredible…Talk about a set of pipes ! (If you’re a “Fanilow” , you know what I’m talking about).

Anyways…here’s a few pictures for you hardcore fans. The quality of the pics didn’t turn out that great this time , as I was too caught up in the energy of the show to hold the camera steady (It’s difficult to take pictures and applaud at the same time).

Unfortunately, the video I took and posted on Youtube was yanked by Stiletto entertainment.

View Album

……..Oh , and I finally received the highly coveted “Barry Handshake”! ( but I confess, I already washed that hand).

For exercising hard and never allowing this disease to get the better of me, I occasionally reward myself with a trip to see the “Man”…..where ever he might be performing in the country!

Fortunately, he’s only one state away this time , so on Wednesday I head back to Las Vegas for my 36th show and pay homage to the master. May sound like a lot, but that number only averages out to about 1.2 concerts per year spread over a 30 year period. This one’s gonna be special though, because it will be the first time that Ive had a front row seat at the Hilton theater, that I didn’t have to give up at the last minute due of my health ( knock on wood).

My last Manilow fix was way back in February in San Jose , so I’m starting to have withdrawal symptoms (ie. irritability, excessive humming of show tunes, etc).

” Ultimate Manilow, the Hits” is an all new show for Barry, replacing Music& Passion, which has been headlining and selling out shows at the Hilton theater for the past 3 years. Among is fan base,the new show reviews are mixed. But, one thing’s for sure, if Barry’s in the show,you can bet it’s going to be good.

This will probably be my last big splurge for quite a while. I’ve spent way too much this year on out of town travel. I need to find a good lab-ratting gig to help me fund my next big trip , which will be to Italy in March preceded by another Barry fix in January.

Portland Marathon…..less than 5 weeks and counting.

Barry’s performance, as always, was awesome. Last night in San Jose, in front of 15,500 fans, he brought the house down. I had an incredible seat, but by the end of the show, I was totally deaf…(I forgot just how loud it can be up in the front row.)

Here’s some photos I took.

Here’s a short clip I took of the show opening…

See that tiny black dot in the orange section next to the stage? ….That’s my seat!

I lucked out and got a winning bid on front row center seats at two of Barry’s upcoming Music&Passion shows.The only way you can get “real” front row center seats for any of his concerts, is by bidding on then through his ticket auction company FrontRowManilow.com ( pretty shrewed marketing huh). One of the tickets is for his stadium concert in San Jose next week, the other is for his on-going Las Vegas show.
Pretty much the same show….but a totally different experience.
In Las Vegas he plays for the tourists, on the road….he plays for his fans!
Front row center sometimes brings with it, a handshake…or even a backstage invite!Yeah, I’m excited about the upcoming shows, Barry is probably my most favorite artist of all time. To make the San Jose concert even more special, my good friends and walking partners in crime, Brandon and Rachel (who weren’t even born when I attended my first Barry concert), are going with me to the show…. How sweet is that!

Yup, as it says in my blog intro, I’m a guy and I love Barry Manilow !!

Hey, there’s more to life than marathons and nebulizer treatments , right?