DLV 2005 / Review and commentary

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This posting is from: Michelle Jenkins
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Hi,

{Sorry for the tardiness in getting this through... After DLV Susan and
I went on to Europe for 12 days and we only got home on 17th May. We've
been somewhat pre occupied with other stuff since then}

My blow by blow account of DLV week....

Saturday

DLV week started with lunch at the Sahara coffee shop before getting our
nails done.

Aiko, "the friendly Utahian", had organised Susan and I to get our nails
done at La Rues. This was a first for me and so it seems for Susan as
well. (Susan is my SO).

This went real well and I ended up with these finger crippling devices.
For the next two days I had extremely sore fingers from accidental
knocks. It was all worth it though. I thought for sure that I would be
losing nails every day but it wasn't until the golf on Thursday that
first nail parted company.

Sunday was shopping day at the Outlet mall. More panties, support tops,
some shorts. Nothing extravagant.

Dinner: Sunday, April 24, 7:00pm, Hamburger Mary's.

The first of the various meals. We arrived fashionably late and missed
the happy hour by quite a bit. As we were so late we were given a table
away from the main group but Ginger, Kay, Susan and I had no problems
and we sat and talked without any issues. We ordered food but it seemed
that orders got mixed up...Ginger and Kaye got their food while Susan
and I were left foodless! Eventually they tried to serve up something we
didn't order and then the waiter realised that our orders had been
mis-delivered to another table. They reordered and tried to hurry it up
and ended up giving Susan a half cooked chicken which she returned to
the kitchen for proper cooking and in the meantime delivered her
salad...with wrong dressing on it.

Quite frankly, Service was, at best, a "D" here and the food didn't
really rate in my opinion.

Afterwards we went to Zingers, for the first time. Very nice little bar
and everyone seemed very friendly. Wasn't sure what to expect with all
the pre DLV outrage about their attitude to DLV but seemed like it was
all OK.

Valley Of Fire Tour, Monday, April 25. This replaces the previously
scheduled Death Valley Tour. Meet at Zingers parking lot, 11:00am sharp

Gingers SO, Kaye, joined Susan, Elise and I on the trip to VOF. This
turned out to a magically little trip with lots of photo opportunities
and no real issues with anybody / thing along the way. We took the
scenic lake side route home to find you actually only got to see the
lake for about 3 minutes out of a 60? minute trip!

Dinner, Bahama Breeze restaurant, Monday, April 25, 7:00pm.

The second of the various meals.

Once again fashionably tardy. Sat with Mary Beth, Elise, Kaye, Ginger
and Susan (and possibly someone else). Things were a bit confused (for
us anyway) about getting drinks ordered. We finally had our food orders
taken and got our assigned meals in due course. Although we were by no
means the last to order or be served we ended up having to wait for
20-30 minutes while all the other tables had their checks divided up.

This approach really doesn't work so well if the waitresses haven't done
the work for separate checks when taking orders. Ginger ended up being
late to host the Paddys Bar thing...which I didn't realise at the time
she was the host of!!

Paddy's Bar was low key and a pleasant end to the evening. Kay played
her bagpipes for a little while and seemed to be appreciated by everyone
there.

Sunbathing. Tuesday morning, April 26, Boulder Beach. Meet at 9:00am
Lake Mead Boat Cruise: Tuesday, April 26, 10:30am. Meet in the Zingers

Met Barbara in the Zingers car park just after 9:00. We waited round for
maybe 15-20 minutes for other sunbathers but no one showed so we headed off
to Lake Mead. On the way we stopped at Barnes and Noble for Susan and Kaye
to buy books and actually ended up leaving their about 9:55-10:00. Arrived
at the boat place at 10:30, bought tickets and then headed off to sunbathe.
Fall asleep and ended up with a painless but red back showing some strap
marks from my one piece suit.

Went back to the boat and expected to see our group crowding in but not
one to be seen. We boarded thinking that they were amongst the first on
but still no sign.

We cruised the lake on a very nice day. We took some pictures, although
most of mine were of certain person backside through a window from the
sit down area!

Barbara and I spent the last 20-30 minutes of the trip on one side of
the boat, and seemed to have most of the tourists come along and have a
look at us. Several went past more than once, and given the lack of
other interesting sights I think we were the centre of attention. No
drama though!

Night Of The Soiled Doves II: Tuesday evening, April 26, 5:00pm SHARP.
Meet at Sahara surface parking lot, corner of Sahara Avenue and Paradise
Road.

Not as good as last year, with the girls of Chicken Ranch unfortunately
detained doing what they're there to do, whatever that may be! Food was
OK. I see that several ppl have complained about the amount and quality
of food. In my opinion and from observation there was a difference in
the quality of some of the plates and pizza's. Some of the early eaters
took heed of the go carefully call from Annie and probably really didn't
get as much as they could have. Was surprised to hear that some people
had arrived at CR without having registered or paid.

During the afternoon Gina had arrived in Las Vegas in her Hummer H1. She
took Ginger and I out to CR in the Hummer. Afterwards we ended up back
at Goodtimes.... I think, before going off down to Luxor cafi for a
midnight meal. Food was OK and the prices weren't too bad....as far I
recall. Good company again!

Air Tours, Wednesday, April 27, 8:00am. Please confirm with Tony as to

[Didn't happen cause of the lack of a plane.]

We started out by meeting Aiko and Yvonne at Makinos for lunch. We had
done this on the last day of last years DLV and this return trip proved
by just as good. Lunch here was $15 or $17. Its basically an all you can
eat Sushi buffet. If you like fishy stuff its a must go!

Eating Out option, Bertolinis. Forum Shops, Caesars Palace, Wednesday
evening, 6:00pm. Although you are signed up for Bertolinis, you may feel
free to choose any of the four Eating Out Night options.

This was my baby to organise. Earlier in the day we'd gone into
Bertolini's and booked for a table of 20 only to find that my 6:30 there
were just seven. Another arrived just as we sat down and two more
arrived a short time later followed by an 11th at some point.

This was a really nice meal in my humble opinion and once again we had a
good company of people. As far as I know there were no issues with other
patrons, restrooms, etc.

Afterwards was Show Girls of Magic at San Remo. Had it not been for the
fact that Susan hadn't seen this I would have given it a miss and gone
home for an early bedtime. As it was we ended up getting to bed just
after midnight.

Golf: Thursday, April 28, 9:00am, Desert Rose Golf Club Dress will be

Had to get up early for this and was away at 7:30 arriving just after
8:15. I paid my green fee but seems like we had no range balls this year
so adjourned to bar/cafi for a coffee and muffin to be joined by others
as they arrived.

Day started off very cold and the first few holes included some rain but
about the 6th or 7th, the weather cleared and the rest of the round was
in excellent conditions. The four I was with completed our round in
about 4 hours. We then spent the next hour or so in the bar waiting for
the 4 Utahians to finish, finally getting out of the place about 3:00pm.

Good day of golf and nice people to go round with. We should all do it
again!

Folies Bergere (production show), Thursday evening, April 28, 7:30pm.
Limousine Tour: Thursday, April 28, 9:20pm at the Tropicana main

We arrived early for this and sat in the coffee place and accumulated
other DLVer's seeing us on their way to the Trop theatre. We had a
booth, organised early on by Ginger. As Gina has said it was big enough
for five of us, but my SO, Susan ended up getting her neck twisted from
having to sit at a funny angle.

Afterwards I helped someone in distress to find a restroom and went in
with her (Since it was Kaye I figured I probably wasn't really doing the
group thing but who knows?).

We wandered off, apparently following someone to where we thought the
limo's were. We were wrong but somehow we were "found" and pointed in
the right direction.

Our limo was ready and waiting (no 3). Initially disappointed that there
was only champagne but at the end of the evening I have to say it was
probably a good thing not to have tokillu (tequila) instead!!!

Gina, as usual, took over driver education and we soon had Eugene in our
clutches. After visiting 4 Queens, Mirage, Ceasars and Bellagio we
carried on to Roberto's for the second (or is it third) annual post limo
tour Burrito feast. They seemed like they were as good as last year but
I wasn't necessarily sober enough on either occasions to pass critical
comment!

Not sure how but got back to the Bellagio ready for the Charles bar
thing. Had a few more drink and then headed off breakfast at the
Bellagio cafi around 4:00am. Finally got back to the room at 5:30 or so,
utterly exhausted!

Michael Cagle Show: Friday, April 29, 7:00pm at Steven Davids.

Susan and Kaye decided to go to Splash while Gina, Ginger and I turned
up at Steven Davids. The food here was really good, or at the least the
steaks that I had and then Susan had when her and Kaye arrived later,
were. Michael Cagle was not the same entertainer we've seen in past
years and the two Dean Martin songs from Steven David's were much
superior. We waited round for Stephen Davids later performance which
wasn't quite as good as his earlier two songs but still worth the wait.

We went on down to Zingers and caught the last 30 minutes of Lou
Martinez before heading off home about midnight.

Saturday.

Gina invited Susan and I on a Hummer Club 4 wheel drive trek through the
southern Nevada mountains. Several unfortunate things happened....the
first of which was that Gina was replaced by Rick and secondly about two
hours into the trek we hit a reasonable large hole that re-injured
Susan's neck. That aside this was a great experience although I was the
only T-girl there no one seemed to be too concerned although I was being
particularly shy.

Saturday dinner: Saturday, May 7, 7:00pm, Carluccio's Tivoli Gardens.

Actually Gina, Ginger and I had organised to go to Smith & Wollensky on
Saturday night but just as we were leaving I got call from Ginger saying
she was being pressured to stay at Carluccios. After some toing and
froing it was agreed that Susan and I would pick up Kaye and Ginger
would join us later at S&W. Gina meantime was on her way to S&W, albeit
in Rick mode!

Just as Rick arrived at S&W so too did Ginger who reported a poor
experience at Carluccios and so ended up having a complete meal at S&W's
anyway. This was a great meal, with good waiters and two very nice
bottles of red wine.

Afterwards we ended up back at the Bellagio, where I won $100 off the
bar poker machines. Ended up going home about midnight 'cause Rick had
to leave early the next day for more Hummering and the trip home.

Sunday started too early so I went back to bed and finally got up about
11:30, made contact with Ginger and Kaye to work out what we were doing
for the last day of their stay. We agreed to go to the new Wynn but
after an hour trying to park we ended up at Paris and had lunch at their
cafi. Actually it was a good little meal. Next we thought we'd walk to
the Wynn which as with everything in LV was longer than you expect.

Nice hotel. Similar to the Bellagio but looks like it has some nice
places to visit. The Girls will need to infest it next year at some
stage, especially in the photogenic areas for those special picture
opportunities.

We tried to walk to the Sahara to pick up Gingers car but lucked out and
got a taxi after 50 yards on LV Blvd. After we got their (Ginger and
Kaye's) car we headed off to Best Buy for some shopping before going to
NYNY for Zummanity. Kewl show with lots of T themes as well as
everything else sexual. Good show and worth some consideration for next
year although maybe a little pricey.

Afterwards Ginger changed into a man in the NYNY car park and we went
back into the ESPN cafi at NYNY for a last supper.

Monday after DLV Susan and I slept for most of the day. Tues I went to
N+I in girl mode and didn't really have any issues other than an almost
issue getting my badge because I didn't have a Michelle drivers license.
Maybe next year I'll learn to register early enough that they can send
the badge out!!! Susan and I spent my last night out as Michelle by
going to dinner at Mon Ami Gabi at Paris. We got a terrace table and
watched the Bellagio fountains do there thing while having an excellent
meal. After wards headed down to Wynn and managed to loose some money,
or at least enough to say (or continue to say) I've lost money in every
major casino in Las Vegas.

Commentary and Evaluation

What was good:

Seeing old friends again
Having my significant other with me (Susan)
Hummer Trek
Bertolini's dinner
Limo tour
Golf
Follies Begere
Having my nails done
Steven Davids
Dinner at Smith & Wollenskys
Zummanity at NYNY
Valley of Fire tour
Having Ginger bring Kay to DLV

What was mediocre:

NSD II - only 'cause we were really well served last year
Lake Mead Boat trip
Showgirls of Magic
Lou Martinez
Trying to get into the Wynn parking garage!

What was bad:

David Cagle (No where near as good as the last two years)
Hamburger Mary's (Service was atrocious and food wasn't that good in my
opinion, either)
Bahama Breeze (Food but they were so slow)
One persons dress at Bertolinis

What was missing:

Needed more activities on Saturday that kept people interested in DLV.
Seemed like things faded from Friday night.

What I learned:

Long nails can be be quite crippling and very painful when accidentally
pulled or knocked. Various clothes I intended to wear became impractical
such as tight jeans (doing them up was almost impossible). But the up
side was that the nails made my fingers longer and more feminine.

Things are different when you bring your SO. When you're there by
yourself it's easy to pick and choose what to go to and when to go but
have a partner means there needs to be a lot more co-ordination.
Especially towards the end of the week it became apparent that last two
days activities were not really their thing and they wanted to do other
stuff like shows and meals out etc.

There continues to be a gap (growing in my opinion) between those that
want to go out and mainstream it, versus those continuing to try and
organise large scale activities. Seems like there were again more
comments on wanting to go mainstream bars but I have to say that I
thought both Zingers and Steven Davids were great places. The latter
deserves consideration for next year either as a dining location or for
their show.

While I realise that cost has a lot to do with it the old style shows
such as Splash and Follies are not the best available in LV. We need to
look at some of the alternatives such as the various derivatives from
Cirque de Soleil and others. Zummanity was worth seeing but quite
expensive at $95 a person.

The schedule needs end the week with a much more interesting set of
activities. This year Carluccios just wasn't it for some of us and I
think the by some to make sure there was a reasonable turn out made it
everything a little unpleasant.

Final comment:

Seems like there's a number of people who believe that they are so
passable that even being seen with a group of cross dressers, they are
still absolutely passable. Wrong !!!! Of the 100 or so people at DLV
there might be one or two that fit into this category and to my
knowledge they are both in or have transitioned. While it may appear to
many that because its a group and there's safety in numbers as far as
rest rooms and adverse commentary, the chances are substantially
increased.

As we increase the number of more mainstream options the potential for
incidents grows and those of us that can't pass as well need to be
especially mindful of the impact a group Cders can have. Those that pass
well normally need to be sure that they aren't over confident in these
situations.

Hugs
Michelle

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(This posting was entered by Michelle Jenkins, an external user of MyDLV.)

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This posting is from: annie
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>Seems like there's a number of people who believe that they are so
>passable that even being seen with a group of cross dressers, they are
>still absolutely passable. Wrong !!!! ...

>Those that pass well normally need to be sure that they aren't over
>confident in these situations.

Whenever a group of TG people get together, it will be very obvious to a
naive onlooker as to what's going on, regardless of how well those
present blend individually. (The formal proof will be an exercise for
the studii.) :)

This is one of the great tautologies of life, such as the Pope being
Catholic and bears going doodoo in the forest.

The whole group will get read. Even GG's in the group will get read!

I've seen this happen so many times ... She who is new and quite uneasy
feels a sense of soothing shortly after getting to know the group. This
leads to comfort and appeasement, and, when mixed with a few (or quite a
few) libations leads to false-confidence. Over hours to days I've seen
this newly-found confidence morph into overconfidence, boldness, and
ending with the newly-out person being brazenly cocky. (Remember that
"brazenly cocky" is indeed a guy thing!) (Nope, no smiley here.)

They are, themselves, oblivious to this. :( The confidence itself is a
very powerful intoxicant.

We've seen it happen, we know it happens. What do we do about it?

I don't know.

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This posting is from: JoAnn
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>We've seen it happen, we know it happens. What do we do about it?

>I don't know.

In response to "I don't know"----

I Know--- It is always easy 'to edit others' ! There are not perfect
Christmas Trees, and there are no perfect TG people, nor are there
perfect 'real people' !!!

Having said that... let us appreciate the time we sent together during
the week at Diva Las Vegas, let the comradeship of all those who
attended prevail in the memory of those who attended.

I thank all of those who attended and accepted me...JoAnn Marie

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This posting is from: annie
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>Michael Cagle was not the same entertainer we've seen in past years and
>the two Dean Martin songs from Steven David's were much superior.

I'm kinda feeling an urge to defend Michael Cagle, but I'm not going to.

As one who considers herself to be a fan of Michael, I know that it was
not one of his better shows, and I know he can do much better. This year
his show was "ok", but did not have the Charles Atlas Seal Of Approval.

I don't know what happened, or what didn't happen. I know there were
some technical problems (when the piano on the track for "Memory" sounds
like sleigh bells, you just suck it up and let the show go on) and it
was my observation that he didn't connect with the audience like he has
in the past.

It seems to me like those who had never seen Michael before enjoyed the
show better than those who had. Maybe we're just spoiled. :)

If there are to be peaks, they must also be valleys, and about all I can
say is that he had a bad night. I haven't done the tally for EOTY yet,
but I do think it will be a challenge for him this year, unfortunately,
because he does normally put on a very good show, and our group has
always liked him.

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This posting is from: kumiko yvonne watanabe
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> I Know--- It is always easy 'to edit others' ! There are not perfect
> Christmas Trees, and there are no perfect TG people, nor are there
> perfect 'real people' !!!

> Having said that... let us appreciate the time we sent together during
> the week at Diva Las Vegas, let the comradeship of all those who
> attended prevail in the memory of those who attended.

> I thank all of those who attended and accepted me...JoAnn Marie

I totally agree. Thank you JoAnn...very well said. It is also one of my
main reasons for going to dlv each year. DLV provides the venue to meet
new friends and re-connect with other friends that I haven't seen or
talked to for one or more years - and we see each other ONLY during DLV.

This is just a observation but this last dlv I'm seeing several strong
conflicting and can be destructive trends...or confusing in the
direction people are going....

Due to some bad experences - will never do that event or go to that a venue.

Doing to the same thing every year - will not attend a event or not go
that venue.

Even though I signed-up as a head count - at the last minute go
elsewhere rather than stay where one signed-up for a head count and give
a good showing I will follow the guidelines of dress code and conduct,
or I don't give a [ ] about guidelines and either reject it or go
and test its boundries.

Flexibility and many options or no options or just one option I want a
safe place to go out as a beginner or I am at a point where safe is not
a concern and want to go mainstream more.

I want better control or organization or I want less control or
organization Volunteer organized by some for the first time and are
novices at it, or perfectly planned and executed with perfect service
or food.

Overwhelming a venue, or being embarassed when its far less than
reserved. Quiet venue for conversations and socializing or Loud music,
dancing, and karaoke Vacation or Modified Convention

I have no answers to this.... it feels like what attracts people to DLV
is also now beginning to de-tract. Where there was once one single
place to meet new people, there may be times when one doesn't see them
any more for they are doing other things or at other venues .... or what
was once fun, is no longer that.

> Seems like there's a number of people who believe that they are so
> passable that even being seen with a group of cross dressers, they are
> still absolutely passable. Wrong !!!!

Its basiclly the classic being read by association. I've experienced
first hand that several ggs that are with our dlv group have also been
incorrectly read as guys...

But at the same time, I've seen alot of improvement in many that
attended dlv. Where if alone or in a very small group, can be very
passable. I see also many improving themselves towards that too.

-Yv

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This posting is from: Diana
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Bottom line to me is DLV is what you want out of it.... period. It's
not to be considered organized and structured but rather 'hey, you're in
town... a bunch of like folks are here too.... if you want to meet up
with us we'll be at (wherever on whenever)... oh, it may cost a few
bucks for the show or dinner or whatever but you're on your own for
that.... unless it's something that needs to be paid in advance so check
your mail for those instructions. Anyway, they'll be a bunch of us in
town and it sure would be nice if you could join up with us while you
are here." BTW, please respect the others that would be there and dress
appropriately for the venue, that's all we ask.

That's always the way I saw it anyway..... <s>

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This posting is from: Denise McCracken
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> They are, themselves, oblivious to this. :( The confidence itself is a
> very powerful intoxicant.
>
> We've seen it happen, we know it happens. What do we do about it?

We could just shrug and say, "I don't know him."


-densie

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This posting is from: Rosada
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Oh JoAnn,

You speak straight (no pun intended) out from your good and noble
heart. And you do it so well. What you said should be enough to put an
end to the arguing back and forth about the subject matter. Take care.

Rosada

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This posting is from: JoAnn
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Rosada--

Thanks for your supportive comment.

It was nice to see you 'when passing at one of the events' at DIVA and
meeting your partner, but really missed having the time to visit 'at
length' with you.

Keep in touch during the year [jo@cdmre.com]

Hugs.. JoAnn

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This posting is from: Rosada
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Hi JoAnn,

Yes, by all means. Sorry for the short "popcorn" visit. Promise to
stay longer next time.

Might even get a chance to get up to Las Vegas more often now that we
are moving up to Lake Havasu City.

Hugs,
Rosada

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