As she famously pronounced in her twist on the Robert Palmer video the best thing about bein’ a woman
Is the prerogative to have a little fun… yes, it was E’er The Twain in Vegas.
And we agree to about oh, oh, oh, going totally crazy, forget I’m a lady, men’s shirts, short skirts, oh, oh, oh. Yes, man I feel like a woman.
Vegas, of course, is a time vortex where you can forget who you are for a while and channel your inner fantasy.
Whip you into shape
What happens in Vegas: With Cami
Which is what Cami from Utah was doing down in Harrah’s off the strip in Neon City.
Party people by the bar on bachelor parties were having shooters poured down their throats by barmaids.
While up on stage a burlesque cross-dressing band, The Whip-Its, were whip-crackin’ away and belting out the best Seventies and Eighties covers.
And we say, yeah, bring it on.
Shania’s journey
Oh, oh, oh, oh: Shania still rocks
Shania Twain is, of course, the Queen of Country Pop, and the great thing about Country is that it never forgets its stars.
The Canadian went stratospheric in the Nineties but Lyme’s disease, the loss of her voice (can you imagine?) and a marriage-go-round saw her disappear for 15 years.
She returned a more critically-acclaimed and considered choice than in her heyday.
Vegas, of course, had never forgotten her, just like they never forgot Ringo Starr or Marie Osmond.
Or anyone who shone brightest before but now is happy to just glisten.
Still the One
And on a theme: Female empowerment
Our friends at Cassidy Travel know as well as anybody how we all like to get our glad rags on and party with the Vegas set.
And they are offering a week in Nevada with Shania (56, really?) as the highlight.Travel on August 30 and take in the Shania concert on September 2 at the Zappos Theatre.
And all for under €1,000 (€969pp) which will give you €31 to bet on the tables.
Although maybe not ask me for craps tips.
As my attempts at rolling the dice, a la Ocean’s Eleven, ended with the cubes going over the table.
Hooray for Harrah’s
Whip it up: With the Whip-Its
The rounds were declared void and I was bestowed the nickname Hannibal.
You should also drop into Harrah’s or any of the Off Strip party bars and shake your stuff.
Drop into Cassidy Travel today or contact them on 01 8779853 to see a real singing superstar.
It’s just the way Neon City does it. Twas ‘E’er The Twain in Vegas.
The best in British and Irish Travel are building up to to pool their talents too for IPW, the American Travel Fair.
Vegas is a magnet for talent and dreamers with an act.
And it is the ideal destination for the filming of America’s Got Talent at the Luxor Hotel on November 4.
Simon Cowell and his pals are doing rehearsals there with the wannabes just now.
And in typical Vegas style there are back stories which will bring a tear to a glass eye.
Hoop dreams
Matt’s the way: Matt Mauser
Such as 51-year-old Matt Mauser who has gone viral after his heartrending rendition of Phil Collins’ Against All Odds.
Father-of-three Matt’s wife Christina taught school basketball which brought them into the sphere of superstar Kobe Bryant.
The legend: Kobe
Alas, the dream turned into a nightmare when Christina died in the same helicopter crash that killed Kobe, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and six others.
Matt gives the performance of his life in front of the judges and will have the public right behind him when AGT screens.
Surf dude
Dogg gone it: Snoop in Huntington
The Huntington Beach native also has that wholesome athletic SoCal look which is so endearing.
And we expect that it won’t just be this AGT season that his name and billboard will be up in lights in Vegas.
That’s a rap
Life’s a Huntington Beach
He’s already every bit as big a hit back home in Surf City USA as the likes of this rapper who just happened to put on a show for us two years back.
We’ll be planning to check out what else is happening in Vegas when we visit in September and reporting back on some of it
Because thanks to Mr President whatever happens in Vegas doesn’t have to stay in Vegas.
I’m betting on Vegas
Way to go Joe America reopening.
And a shout-out here too to the holiday providers who have been patiently and conscientiously keeping our dreams alive.
When I left Ireland it was Barack Obama with Hillary Clinton his projected successor, only to learn on my arrival in Florida that Donald Trump would be the next President.
Washington DC may be where Americans inaugurate their Presidents but it is Florida where they get over the line.
Yes, he does love Mexicans… in Epcot Centre
And who can forget the shenanigans around the Florida vote in George W Bush’s Millennium election victory over Al Gore?
And they’re off and running
The Happiest Place on Earth was struggling to put on their famous smiles when they collected our party four years ago.
But just like tonight when we observe America’s decision on who to put in the White House I had prepared for both eventualities.
…. And in Florida
And I had decided that seeing that my hosts for the week were Disney World I’d frame my story on The Donald.
He’s got a big mouth, is a bit quackers, and all that.
It’s all showbiz
America’s President is an all-encompassing figure from the very moment you arrive in the States.
Leader of the country, king (or queen), Commander In Chief and showbiz icon.
Which is why we’ve had an actor, Ronald Reagan, lothario, Bill Clinton, and salesman and dealmaker Donald Trump.
I saw too the reverence in which they’re held first hand when I saw the outpouring of grief for George Herbert Walker Bush when I visited Fort Lauderdale in Florida.
Kennedy’sWashington
I saw it again in Arlington Cemetery where there is a constant stream of mourners at the Kennedys’ grave.
While George Washington himself has his Memorial and Abraham Lincoln his big chair in the country’s capital.
Down the road in Philadelphia they still hold it dear that they were the burgeoning country’s early capital, and will always be the City of Brotherly Love.
Way to go Joe
And of course Pennsylvania is the hime state of Joe Biden.
New York defined Donald Trump growing up and building his name and reputation in his ow image.
And you’ll see his gleaming hotels all over America, with the memory of looking down onto his palace in Vegas on my way to the Grand Canyon seared in my mind.
The greatest prize though is Washington though and who gets the keys we may have to wait around to find out.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” – 1 Corinthians 13: 4-5.
Which may have been your wedding reading – it was ours, but on theweekend we can finally marry again I’d rather do it differentlythis time.
No, not with a different partner though I can’t say if the same goes for herself.
I am, of course, self-censoring here and won’t be bringing you pictures of myself sticking dollar bills into the male dancer’s trunks on the podiums.
Frockie and Jocky in the Rockies
But I like the girls:With the Bandanettes at Denver’s Mile High Stadium
I climbed on to the pedestal myself when they were off on my break but with my body… all I got were nickels and dimes.
I was back for more in Denver http://www.denver.orghttp://Go West where myself and the multi award-winning and shots-drinking Isabel Conway and Portland’s finest Laura Guilmond formed the rock trio to beat all trios.
With rubber mics and guitars. And a warning here… there was sax too.
And then Anaheim where at last my man has come along… the jazz and old standards singer in the side bar to the main dance floor.
Lying with Mari
And I also managed to fit in a European Pride too in Barcelona before I went cruising… Steady I was a guest of Royal Caribbean and hopped on their ship for a bit of surfing.
That’s why it’s called the Strip
With Cami in Vegas
Now my friends in America where I should be now, Las Vegas to be more precise http://www.lvcva.comStrip… the light fantastic and already have Florida from just after the lockdown under my belt have been in touch.
And they have put more flesh on the bones of Virtual Pride from these great American cities.
Dogs in Drag, you say
Denver PrideFest, June 20-21 – Colorado: It is recognised as one of the top ten Pride events in the US, and I can believe that of Denver PrideFest.
It is a free, two-day festival that (usually) takes place in Denver’s Civic Center Park with the pick-out the Dogs in Drag Parade.
While there is also a Gay Pride Parade and a Big Gay 5K.
This year’s virtual event will include digital versions of the parade, 5Ks, concerts, dance parties and more. www.colorado.com
Say it big
Frothy Seattle
Flag day
2020 Seattle Pride Parade and Trans Pride Celebrations, 26-28 June – Washington: Seattle Pride is working with PrideFest and Trans Pride to put on the best show they can in late summer. Keep up-to-date here for the June Virtual spectacular. www.visitseattle.org
Man Diego
The bras and stripes
San Diego Pride, 11-18 Juy – California: And this way your Pride fun can go on and on.
San Diego Pride runs across a week in July with a burst of activities. Using the #TogetherWeRise, She Fest launches it all off recognising the talents and contributions of women, followed by Light Up the Cathedral with a ceremonial rainbow lighting.
As CSW Executive Director Madonna Cacciatore said: ‘Pride is not just about a specific month or weekend in June. Los Angeles’ LGBTQ+ community lives and breathes Pride every day’ and therefore, celebrations will span through to 2021. www.visitwesthollywood.com
Nobody likes their passport pic, particularly now we can’t even smile.
Mine’s looks like it could have been taken more than 100 years ago when they were first introduced.
But we don’t even flinch at being asked now for it and I suspect we’ll quickly get used to the technology being rolled out by the Canary Islands to get us back travelling.
The Canary Islands (Spain) and the World Tourism Organisation have agreed a flight in July for the world’s first ‘safe’ flight using the Digital Health Passport, developed by Canarian firm Hi + Card
I can just taste that Tenerife Shakespearean wine Malvasia.
If your family is driving you up the wall you may be taking sanctuary in a TV family… me, I’ve been a fly on the wall at the Pritchards and the Dunphys in LA.
Back then, and it’s only a year ago, I would call on the services of the finest freelancers who never let me down.
Star women: The Irish at IPW
On the other side
Now I’m on the other side of the fence I have been glad to say that the holiday providers I cultivated then and many writers and editors remain the best of friends.
Because I’d often be deep in rough when my playing partner was down the fairway – yes, golf is the best sport for social distancing.
And also because nothing makes you want to keep your distance more than having to listen to your boss on the course talk about his share options or his new car.
Ir’s not that I dislike golf, or professional or amateur golfers. In fact I used to cover golf.
And was happy to revisit the Open when it returned to Northern Ireland www.discovernorthernireland.com last summer for the first time in neatly 60 years.
And even joined the legendary Gary Player around Royal Liverpool, Hoylake, as he played a round of golf for Japanese television.
North Berwick
It’s just social golfers that I try to avoid like the, er COVID-19.
Not the social golfers like my Dear Old Mum and Dad, you understand, who used to play on my Dad’s half-day.
The Golf Coast
Not that my Dad seemed to enjoy it all that much… he’d mutter away to himself and shake his head all round.
There was little that my Dear Old Mum and Dad liked better than playing golf in my Mum’s homestead of Co. Donegal www.visitdonegal.com and www.tourism.com.
While my old stomping ground of Co. Wicklow www.visitwicklow.com is more than a match.
If you like your golf then join me as I swung my way through…
I’ve always hung on the words of the old because they’ve got more, not less, life than the rest of us, and that is even more so abroad.
Where the elderly retain more respect than we give our senior citizens in the Ooo K.
And so as the UK wrestles with what to do with its Seventysomethings – and locking them away at home is being proposed…
Here are some of the older people who this energetic 54-year-old struggles to keep up with.
The Tobago touche
Auntie Ali and Uncle Kenneth: Tobagonians have more uncles and aunties than the rest of us on account that everyone who is old is… it’s a form of respect.
Auntie Ali and Uncle Kenneth run the Blue Crab in Robinson, Scarborough where Ali wiggles her bum-bum and Uncle Kenneth (and me) make the chicken curry.
Geraldine and Betsy; The American sitcom King of Queens has Carrie’s pal Holly walk Arthur… for us itat Club Barbados it was Angelaaround the Platinum Coast.
That’s me and Betsy from the Virginia Ski Club of America.
Czech your stride, Prague: I’m just getting feeling back in my legs after My guide had walked the bones off me and my colleague Elise in Prague.
She also had a typically Americanised and underplayed way of describing those who had left a trail of destruction through her city… Stalin, for example, was a ‘bad guy’.