Rocket Man

I was an 8-year-old child growing up in Saigon when Elton John's song Daniel came out in 1973.  I remember my brother Tuong singing it — and I've been in love with Sir Elton ever since.  And just now, as I look up the year of release for Daniel to write this post, I learn that EJ's songwriter partner Bernie Taupin wrote Daniel to tell a story about a Vietnam veteran returning home from the war.  Serendipitous, that is.

We saw Elton's "The Million Dollar Piano" performance at Caesars Palace this past weekend.  It was my 6th Elton concert (two with Billy Joel, one with Leon Russell) — I'm his biggest fan, he just doesn't know that yet — but this time was extra special because the kids came with us.

Gabe wanted to drive.  The flat monotony of I-15 might be the death of me, but it's good practice for a teenage driver.

If you ever head this way, I highly recommend a meal at The Mad Greek in Baker (80 miles from Vegas).  We stopped there both ways for lunch.  The selection is extensive, but we always order the lamb gyros. 

 

When we checked in at Caesars Palace, the hotel receptionist said the wrong thing to me, "We do not have connected rooms for you and your kids, but both rooms are on the same floor."  Try again, I told her.  After five minutes on the phone with the manager, our receptionist came back with a much better answer, "We have two connected rooms in our newest tower, the Octavius Tower."  Turned out the spanky new Octavius Tower just opened last month. 

 

Elton's Your Song is my all-time favorite, and it's fun to know that it's also one of his — he normally saves it as his last song of the night.  Elton looks wonderful.  His voice is better than ever.  He calls his piano "Blossom" after jazz singer Blossom Dearie. 

Yamaha.com says this of the piano:

The Million Dollar Piano is based on a state-of-the-art million-dollar instrument hand crafted by Yamaha. Four years in the making, Yamaha Entertainment Group and the designers and engineers from the Yamaha Design Lab in Hamamatsu, Japan worked with Elton to bring his vision to life. The piano encompasses a nine-foot, highly modified, hand assembled grand piano, surrounded in a high-grade acrylic body lined in 68 LED video screens and lights. The result is a spectacular, visionary work of art that can respond to Elton's touch and can be programmed by Elton's world-class video experts to transform he piano in an ever-changing array of images, patterns, lights and colors.

Elton put on an amazing performance that we'd always remember.  He dedicated Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me to Whitney Houston.

**********

We'd never had to board Mandy until this Vegas weekend.  I checked out a couple of recommended places and decided on The Barkley for peace of mind.  Although I couldn't bring Mandy's toys or blanket for her, I wanted the ability to view Mandy through their live streaming webcam service.  Using an iPad app and the password they gave me, I checked in on Mandy Sunday evening.  (I waited for over 24 hours before I used the webcam because I knew I would only miss her more if I saw her; the same goes with my kids when they are with their father — I always break down after I talk with them on the phone.)

What I felt the instant I saw Mandy in her room must be similar to how a mother feels when she sees her child in prison.  I started crying and couldn't stop.  I brought the iPad over to show Gabriel and Sabrina in the adjacent room, still sobbing, "There's no blanket or bedding for her!  There's not even a toy!"  I really don't know what I had expected to see, but what I did see — the blank walls, the bed devoid of dressing, the lack of everything familiar, my Mandy retreated to one corner of the room — were all too much to bear.  Gabe kept saying, "She's fine, mom.  She's fine..."  I then called Ted who already made it home (he and Nicolai left on Sunday because they had work and school on Monday), he too repeated what Gabe said to comfort me.  At least Nicolai understood how I felt because when I sent him these snapshots of Mandy, he texted me back: That is the saddest thing I've ever seen.  His next text said: Are we suing them for negligence?

 

I pretty much cried myself to sleep that night.  Ted picked up Mandy promptly at 4:00 PM on Monday.  He sent me this picture of her when he got her, with the subject line: She's fine!

Posted by fawnnguyen at February 15, 2012 4:06 PM
Categories: None of the Others
Tags: Million Dollar Piano Elton John Bernie Taupin Caesars Palace The Mad Greek
Previous Post
Next Post

 
Trackbacks
Trackback specific URL for this post
  • No trackbacks exist for this post.
Comments
Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

  • February 19, 2012 10:35 PM Peter Price wrote:
    Fawn, I may be turning into *Your* biggest fan. This is another beautiful post.

    Having visited LV in 2008 I can imagine some of your trip. And having a dog with serious separation issues, I can relate also to your feelings when seeing Mandy in the pet hotel. Mind you, I see she was in the Hollywood suite :)

    What a memorable trip for you and your family. Thanks for sharing.
    Reply to this
    1. February 20, 2012 1:23 PM fawnnguyen wrote:
      You're funny, Peter.  I think you've been to more places in the US than I have and I live here!  You must know Doug and Barbara Clarke (Australian Catholic University); I went to two of their workshops when I lived in Oregon. 

      Oh, that pet hotel had everything, from bedtime stories and tummy rubs at night to limo rides around town, if you're willing to pay for the extras.  My husband said he now knows where to go if he ends up in the "dog house." 

      Thank you, Peter.
      Reply to this
Leave a comment

 Name (required)

 Email (will not be published) (required)

 Website

Your comment is 0 characters limited to 3000 characters.