TV Ads

Hi there

When I was in America I noticed there was a real difference between American tv ads and NZ tv ads.

In the American ads there's no wind-swept hair, no floor mess, no peeling paint, no cluttered kitchens, no mis-matched clothing.  No naughty humour.

The actors look and act as if they're all in Coca Cola advertisements - so perfect.

Here's a couple of kiwi ads -

I don't think the above ad would make it in America?

What is it about kiddies in advertisements that makes it so difficult to understand them?  And coupled with a kiwi accent, would overseas viewers know what the heck the kids in the above ad are talking about?

My American Flu

Hi there

On my seventh day back from America I dragged myself out of bed to visit the doctor.  Struggling with a runny nose, five days of total laryngitis, innumerable aches and pains, gummy-closed eyes, losing 6kg in four and a half days, and a hacking killer cough ...

"It's going around", said the doctor.

Wait-  what-?  Going around?  I drew myself up tall to my full five feet height, and looked snootily across the desk to the man.

This - my illness - was most definitely not 'going around'.  "It's American flu," I haughtily declared.   "I caught it in America."

'My' flu was so obviously an advanced strain, a strain not included in the NZ 2017 winter flu vaccination programme, of which I had fully partaken of prior to my American visit.
Obviously I truly did have this advanced strain of flu.  I was most probably in the first wave of carriers, if not, in fact, numero uno.   Respect please where respect was due.

After googling symptoms on his computer, the doctor sent me away less $45, with no prescription to make me feel I was, at least, getting my money's worth, but with plastic reassurances that I wasn't in the last throes of some terrible life-threatening illness.  However he did have a lovely bedside-whoops-I-mean-deskside manner.

I'm now in the 10th day of American Flu, my eyelids only clump together now if I close them for over half an hour, and my barking cough is still scaring off every cat in the neighbourhood.  Looking on the bright side, my laryngitis bout is over and I can now talk to my friends about my trip - I know they were so looking forward to hearing me nattering on about that for hours!

America's Got Talent

Hi there

Above:  Here's a pic of the fountain outside Wynn Casino in Las Vegas.  That flying saucer thing behind the fountain is Fashion Show Mall - love that mall!  I have read that the Bellagio Hotel and Casino people are going to fill in their famous fountains and gardens and also put in a mall.
...

In Hollywood, I bought a ticket at the Dolby Theatre box office to go on a 3 pm tour of the theatre.  The Dolby is where the Oscars are broadcast from.  Anyway, just as I  almost  reached the upstairs doors, ticket clutched in hand, the security guys put up a barricade blocking my way.

"But I should be going in there now," I shouted.  I could see my group being led in the main doors.

"No, you're not allowed..."

I rushed over to the other side where another barricade was being put in place.  Again, I was refused, regardless of my telling them over and over again that I was on a tour.

A security woman continually told me that I couldnt go in.  She passed the message on to others. 
Several security guards told me to go away.  I did.  I rushed downstairs to the box office and was given a box office security guy, plus a ticket for the next tour as I had missed the first one.  So now, it was security guys arguing with each other.  The box ofice guy gave up with a shrug, and the barricade guys started erecting security beeper doorways, and tables for the future checking of  people and bags.

I moved from one barricade to another. Noone helped me....

...until the box office security guard came back and spoke to some bald barricade guy who looked like he was in charge.

The bald guy was the producer, or director, or whatever to do with the tv show "America's Got Talent" and he thought I was one of the hundreds of shouting fans dangling over the barricades.  His live tv show was due to start in the theatre in a few  hours. He apologised to me, said he'd seen me but didn't understand that the theatre was conducting tours at the same time as he was setting up for his show.

By now five others had joined me for the tour.

Ending: inside the theatre,  we got to see a singer on America's Got Talent in full rehearsal mode, complete with lights, lasers, settings.  He was 17 year old Christian somebody-or-other and he sang "Make it Rain".  He had about ten mirrors behind him and before he got to sing, ten mirror polishers came on and each polished a mirror (why on earth couldnt one man have done the ten mirrors?).  After Christian sang, some woman in a bathrobe and fluffy slippers (Tyra Banks?) came out and told Christian how magnificent he was, and - out of sight - we could hear judges gushing over the singer.  They weren't the proper judges, just a rehearsal panel.

The theatre was so beautiful, and there were dozens of Americas Got Talent people bustling everywhere.  The full show would have gone out live that evenng (Monday of last week) before a live ticket-holding audience of thousands upon thousands who would all be waiting behind the barricades for that night-time show.

  

I'm back!!

Hi there

I'm back from my overseas holiday.  I arrived two days ago.  As I emerged from the plane in Wellington, I had a headache.  By the time I got home, my nose was running.  As I got into bed (it was midnight), my throat started to hurt.  The following morning, I felt ... yuck!!!! 

I had a great time in Las Vegas but I don't think I can handle the heat there anymore.  It's time to say farewell, I figure.  When I'm happily on holiday I forget to eat and drink and I got totally dehydrated one day.  I felt so awful!

Other days, of course, I did remember to eat -

I went to Universal Studios in Los Angeles and saw the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction - the butterbeer was sooooo delicious:

 and I visited Paramount Studios where I got transported .....  Yep, Star Trek.

...

I saw Cher singing her classic hits in the same costumes as her early videos.  She arrived on stage riding an elephant (fake).  Here' a very blurry picture -

I had lots of nice meals and some terrible ones.  I met many lovely people -  I've said it before and I'll say it again, Americans are so-so-so polite.

My plane from Australia to Los Angeles had to deviate to Honolulu to get our toilets fixed, adding three hours to the schedule.  Ugggghhh....