Garth Mania.....

Last week’s press conference wasn’t even finished when you began to see the visible effects of the announcement that Garth was coming out of retirement. While members of the media sat inside the Encore Theater listening to Garth Brooks and Steve Wynn tell how their deal evolved, Wynn personnel updated the large lighted signs in the lobby with new signs proclaiming, simply, “garth” in white letters on a black background. Portable signs with posters announcing the start of ticket sales were placed in the middle of the theater lobby, in plain view of and just in time for the media representatives exiting the press conference. Garth’s picture was added to the Encore marquee; his image now looks out over Las Vegas Boulevard like those of hundreds of other perfomers who came to the Strip before him. The crowning touch came Thursday evening when the animatronic singing frog in Wynn’s Lake of Dreams donned a black cowboy hat for it's performance of “Friends in Low Places;" in previous performances, the frog had remained hatless.

Naturally, there’s been lots of excitement since Garth Brooks and Steve Wynn announced the terms of Garth’s 5-year deal to perform at Encore. The Las Vegas Review Journal reported that over 31 million people viewed various television news broadcasts of the October 15th press conference. If only one person out of every hundred who watched that press conference go to see Garth, the new Garth show will be sold out for every performance until almost the middle of its fourth year. And that’s if each of those people go by themselves, mind you.

Traffic to Wynn’s website has skyrocketed as a result of the announcement. Tickets for the first twenty shows go on sale Saturday morning at 8 a.m. That means 30,000 seats will be up for grabs. It’s difficult to predict how many people will be poised with computer or phone in hand come 8 a.m. Pacific Time on Saturday morning. Wynn’s Vice President of Public Relations and Advertising, Jennifer Dunne, told the LVRJ that they are gearing up to handle what will surely be “unprecedented call volume."

Norm Clarke speculated in his LVRJ column that this could be the beginning of “Garth mania.” There has been a lot of buzz on the internet. Some creative person with a sense of humor over at vegastripping.com posted this picture of Garth with a newly-shaped black cowboy hat that matches the swoop of the top of the Wynn and Encore buildings. Some internet observers express doubt that Garth will fit in at Wynn or that they have little interest in going to see Garth, but most comments come from loyal fans who are already making plans to see the new show.

It appears the stock market may not be as excited over the news as fans are. Thursday’s press conference was held after the markets had closed; Wynn’s stock had already closed that day at $64.98. Wynn’s stock price fell on Friday and has continued to slide down to $62.10 upon closing today. Steve Wynn has declined to comment on the cost of the deal with Garth Brooks, noting only that he had to buy Garth a jet plane to convince him (ka-ching!) and that the stockholders would probably fire him if he told what Garth is costing. So understandably, Mr. Wynn wants to keep the cost of the deal under his hat, so to speak. However, I hear that if the contract were large enough, Wynn might have to disclose some of those details in SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) filings. We’ll keep watching….

It's Official: Garth Brooks at Encore Wynn Las Vegas - Tickets on Sale Soon!

Today I attended my first press conference. I am an accountant by training, not a journalist. So I had no idea what to expect as I walked through the lobby of the Encore Theater just after lunch on an otherwise typical Thursday afternoon.

As I rounded the corner from the theater lobby and entered the long hall that leads to the Encore Theater, I was welcomed by a friendly staff of formally-dressed waiters, some with the proverbial white towel folded over their arms. Each one had a smile on their face and most of them nodded and smiled at me as I passed (like I was an important person). One of my favorite Garth Brooks’ songs, “The River,” played in the background as I made my way to the big announcement that was about to occur at the Encore Theater. I already knew it was a special day and it felt a little like I was walking the red carpet somewhere; it was pretty cool.

The setting on the stage was simple: just two stools with a red curtain for the backdrop along with a few artfully placed and spotlighted potted palms. And oh yeah, there was a huge bank of video cameras with t-shirt clad operators who kept pulling out light meters and punching buttons on their complicated-looking machines. But is was a press conference after all.

At the appointed hour, Garth Brooks and Steve Wynn took their places on the stage and told their story about how all this had come to pass. They talked about the two private performances, and in particular, the first one with just Garth and his guitar. I was at that performance and can tell you that it was amazing, a very unique once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. My full report of that first performance, written that same evening, can be found here. Today, Garth said that night was a magical evening to him. Steve Wynn echoed the same feelings and offered that Bette Midler, who had been sitting to him, said “Have ‘ya booked him yet?”

But back to today. Garth and Steve Wynn (somehow I feel its okay to call Garth by his first name but not so for Mr. Wynn), spelled out the specifics of the deal: a 5-year deal with 15 weeks a year, 4 shows a week (one on Friday, 2 on Saturday, and one on Sunday). Oh, and Mr. Wynn agreed to buy a "jet plane" for Garth so that he can go easily back and forth to his home and family in Oklahoma. It will be an intimate show; there will be no band, just Garth and his guitar, just like his first private performance at Wynn back in early June. Ticket prices are $125 and all seats in the theater have the same price. Garth and Steve Wynn both acknowledged that coming to an agreement on ticket price was the hardest part of the deal. I noticed that both men fidgeted a little when asked his question by one of the media representatives in attendance.

As I anticipated, Garth’s opening will coincide with the National Finals Rodeo. Steve Wynn, when questioned about bringing country artists to Las Vegas, reminded the audience that he brought Willie Nelson and others to the Golden Nugget, and then added that at one point he had a PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) card (who knew??).

Garth talked about his long-standing commitment to be with his family until his youngest daughter, now 13, goes off to college. He talked about how Steve Wynn did something that nobody else has done: he didn’t just throw money at him - he found a way to allow Garth to be able to keep his commitment to his family and perform at the same time. Garth apparently takes his three daughters to school everyday and is there, he said, for soccer games, practices, etc. He said that his deal with Wynn will give him the opportunity to be with his family and still get to enjoy what he says is “easier than breathing.”

Garth’s wife, Trisha Yearwood, was at the press conference and he introduced her, always calling her “Miss Yearwood.” At the end, a reporter asked if his wife might perform with him occasionally. Garth prefaced his answer with the statement that she can sing better than he can and that she is better looking and then continued by saying “No” to the question while nodding his head “Yes.” It was about this time that Garth announced, “there are no rules” with regard to his performances. There is no set time length for the show. He said he will perform as long as he thinks the audience is up for it. He has always had this philosophy and noted that his shortest concert was one hour and five minutes and that his longest was three hours and 15 minutes, and that those two extremes were on back to back nights in San Diego.

In the news conference today, Steve Wynn did a good job of capturing the feeling that was in the theater during those private performances. The shows were intimate and one-of-a kind; Garth talked randomly about his musical influences and asked the audience for requests. It was like sitting in a room with a good friend who just happens to be Garth Brooks.

Having been to both of Garth’s private shows here in Las Vegas, I can concur with what both Garth and Steve Wynn said were magical evenings. Even my husband, a decidedly non-fan of country music, said that that Garth’s performances here in June were some of the best shows he’d ever seen. It was that special and unexpected and fun. Garth says that when he realizes the audience is singing louder than he is, he knows he’s got it right.

The setting in the Encore Theater is intimate and cozy. There are approximately 1,500 seats and as Steve Wynn noted today, the farthest seat is only 71 feet from the stage. Garth says that each performance will be unique, that he doesn’t know what he’s going to do or how long it will last until he goes out and meets the audience.

I think that Garth’s show is going to be a huge success. He has a talent and a passion for what he does. And he is a class act: a deeply-involved father, a devoted husband, and a gentleman. You notice it when you hear him talk. He not only is a great performer, he has a great sense of humor. I have to say that each time I’ve seen him, I grow to like and respect him more and more.

Welcome to Las Vegas, Garth!

Garth Brooks and Steve Wynn Plan Press Conference

Tomorrow we finally find out about Garth Brooks’ plans to headline in Las Vegas. This is the news that has been in the works since June when Garth held his surprise performances at Encore (at Wynn Las Vegas) which started the buzz that Garth was coming out of retirement.

Norm Clarke reported today in the LVRJ that there will be two news conferences tomorrow, one in Nashville and one here in Las Vegas. Norm says that Garth has a “surprise up his sleeve” for the news conference. Other sources say that the news conference will be “exciting” and “fun.”

I hear that the press conference with be at the Encore Theater from 1:00 – 2:00 pm and that it will be broadcast live on Wynn Las Vegas’ website, wynnlasvegas.com. They apparently are anticipating a healthy media turnout. (I wonder if they’ll let unknown, unemployed bloggers in as media representatives?)

I don’t have any scoop about what will be announced tomorrow but it’s safe to assume a few things. First, it sounds like Mr. Brooks himself will be at the news conference. Garth is an showman and he always like to leave audiences happy. Besides, I don’t think he’d have some PR spokesperson stand up in front of the microphone in Las Vegas and announce that Garth is coming out of retirement after these many years; this news is too big to not do it in person.

Secondly, there’s a reason they’re holding this press conference now and not two months ago or two months from now. My guess is that Garth will be performing by the start of the National Finals Rodeo which is always held in early December. If not, I’m sure he’ll be here by New Year’s Eve, one of the busiest times in Las Vegas. Then there’s the three-day weekend in January for Martin Luther King Day, and then Super Bowl Weekend (which always turn Las Vegas into a party town regardless of where the actual game is or who is in it), followed by Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, etc.

Lastly, I think Garth will be here for more than just 16 weeks as has been previously speculated. I sense that he’s doing more than just dipping his toe in to test the waters; I think he’s jumping in big time. After all, the singing frog in the Lake of Dreams at Wynn Las Vegas now occasionally sings one of Garth's songs, "Friends in Low Places." Someone kindly posted this video, complete with a bouncing ball so you can follow along with the lyrics (as if anyone didn’t already know the words…)

Anyway, this time tomorrow we’ll know for sure and Garth fans everywhere can start checking flight schedules.

Steve Wynn Says He Hasn’t Made a Deal with Garth Brooks (Or Anyone Else, For That Matter)

It’s been about five weeks since Garth Brooks’ last private concert at Encore at Wynn Las Vegas. Since then, there has been a resounding lack of information about any possible deal between Brooks and Wynn for a Garth Brooks show at the empty Encore Theatre.

Today we finally got a little snippet of news. During a conference call this morning regarding Wynn Resorts’ second quarter earnings, Steve Wynn was asked about plans for the Encore Theatre. Steve Wynn replied with a broad statement that the entertainment at Encore is a “work in progress.” He also said they will “use the showroom intelligently.” (I must say that the accountant in me interprets this phrase as “we will not lose money on it.”) Steve Wynn said “There are a number of people we’re talking to.” It should be noted that Beyonce opens a four-night engagement tonight at the Encore Theatre, but Wynn described her appearance as a “special event” and not an ongoing one.

Garth Brooks recently performed two separate private shows at the Encore Theatre, to “try out the room” as Garth explained in the first show on June 8th. The concerts were well received by both audiences and rumors have circulated that a deal is being discussed but that there is a holdup over the ticket prices. There was no dispute over the cost of tickets for the two private shows, however: they were free to invited guests. Regarding these shows, Steve Wynn noted on the conference call that “Garth Brooks was here as a friend – he didn’t charge” for the performances.

Steve Wynn and Garth Brooks first met in May, but by all accounts, hit it off and became friends. They speak very highly of each other in public. This morning on the conference call, Steve Wynn called Garth an “extraordinary fellow, really extraordinary.” It turns out that Garth and his wife, Trisha Yearwood, and their three daughters, are accompanying Steve Wynn to Beyonce’s performance tonight at Encore. (Wonder if Garth’s getting to fly out to Las Vegas on the Wynn corporate jet again….)

So, the big Garth-related news from this morning’s conference call came when Steve Wynn announced “we haven’t made the deal, so we keep our cards close to our vest.” Steve Wynn closed out the Encore entertainment discussion by saying that they prefer to talk about deals they’ve made as opposed to deals they haven’t made.

Here’s what I take out of all of this. Wynn says they’re talking to a number of people, but in reality they would do that even if they are in active negotiations with Garth Brooks; Wynn has to have other alternatives if Garth ultimately says no. As savvy as Wynn's statement may be, it does nothing to suggest that they are not pursuing Garth as their #1 choice for the showroom.

Secondly, Steve Wynn and Garth Brooks are obviously on good terms. Out of all the well-connected people in the world, and I suspect Steve Wynn knows many of them, it is Garth and his family that have been invited to join Wynn tonight for Beyonce’s opening-night show.

Perhaps Garth Brooks wants to “try out the room” from the audience’s perspective. Perhaps Wynn just wants to keep the dance going and apply a little more pressure to an ambivalent Garth (remember, it was Garth who said at the second private show that he didn’t know if Steve Wynn was trying to “make his life better or worse”).

Whatever the reason, they’re still talking to each other. I think the negotiations are still underway and perhaps a deal is still possible. So while Garth indeed returns to Encore tonight, alas, it is just to see the lovely Beyonce perform.

If you’re willing to register your name and email address with Wynn’s Investor Relations department, you can listen to the recorded conference call. Click here for the link. The relevant piece about Encore’s entertainment starts after the 46-minute mark, in response to a question by analyst Bill Lerner from Union Gaming Group.

A Collector's Favorite (Recipe, That Is)

I love to cook. I am something of a recipe collector. I have 20 years worth of Gourmet magazines (and any number of Fine Cooking, Food & Wine and Cooks’ Illustrated magazines) lined up in my pantry.

I even used some down time between my last full-time job and my journey into motherhood to set up an Access database for my recipes. I have over 700 recipes entered. With this database, I can browse my recipes to plan a menu for the next few days or week or whatever, print a checklist of ingredients needed for the meals, check my pantry for needed staples and ingredients, and print out a complete shopping list, all organized in the order of the aisles at the grocery store. So you can see that I take food and eating seriously.

In our pre-kid days, I would come home from work, roll up the sleeves of my silk blouse (I wouldn’t even take time to change) and get started on dinner. Then we would sit down at the little table in our little kitchen with the stark overhead lighting and enjoy our dinner and talk about our day. Often we spent the whole evening just sitting at that little kitchen table. Good food led to good conversations and time well spent together.

I’ve wanted to write about cooking in my blog on several occasions but by the time I got around to writing, cooking got preempted by other topics. I suppose I’m not sure if anyone will be interested in yet more recipes and food info. On the other hand, of all our household chores, cooking takes up more time than anything else when you take into account meal planning, grocery shopping, meal preparation, cleaning up, etc. Cooking and eating is a central part of family life. It is something that we all enjoy. It is obvious why there is a cable channel called the “Food Network” and none called the “Laundry Network.”

So at the risk of having your eyes glaze over, I’m offering one of my favorite recipes which I made last night. “Chicken with Chilaquiles and Salsa Verde” was originally published in Gourmet in November, 2005. It is a Mexican dish that is similar to chicken enchiladas with green chile, but it is much quicker and easier.

You mix together chicken broth and salsa verde (a.k.a. green chile salsa) and bring to a simmer, add some shredded chicken, and then dump in a bowlful of tortilla chips. Stir the whole thing for a minute or two, pour onto a serving dish and top with cheese and cilantro. It’s that simple.

If you keep chicken broth, salsa and tortilla chips in your pantry, you can make this on a moment’s notice if you have leftover chicken or when you bring home a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. Add a green salad or a side of black beans and dinner is done.

This is an unusual recipe and it invariably inspires low expectations from those I give it to. All I can say is, you just have to try it. I grew up in New Mexico eating great green chile enchiladas and I love this dish, both for its flavor and its simplicity. Gourmet’s introduction of the recipe sums it up: “This dish was the surprise of the year. The ingredients might seem ordinary, but trust us — it's fantastic.”

Click here to link to the recipe on Gourmet’s website. I make a couple of minor changes when I make this recipe. I cut down a little on the quantity of chips, to reduce calories, and I use either cheddar or a Mexican cheese since I don’t like feta. That’s it.

Let me know if you think it sounds weird, or, if you’re adventurous enough to try it, let me know what you think.

Life's Just a Bowl of Cherries

We all know the saying, “Life is just a bowl of cherries.” People use that saying when they’re happy, when things in life are going their way. And why not? A bowl of cherries just seems like a bowl of happiness.

Cherries are a sweet treat, nurtured to maturity by warm summer sunshine. Plump red cherries are practically synonymous with summertime. They make us think of backyard barbeques and the 4th of July and running around barefoot on a cool green lawn. We associate a bowl of cherries with things that make us smile.

But in reality, life is not always “a bowl of cherries.” Life is not always full of happiness. The truth about life is that, although there will be thousands of good days (we hope), there will be some number of bad days and we never know when we’re going to have them. So if we go along believing the whole “life is a bowl of cherries” mantra, we’re setting ourselves up to be disappointed by real life.

I’ve spent some time thinking about this because I’ve had some bad days of my own recently. Last month, a good friend died suddenly and tragically, leaving behind her 9-year-old daughter with a single father in his sixties and no other family. A couple of weeks later, my mother suffered an adverse reaction to some medication and nearly died. Last week, my husband’s brother died of complications following surgery. Now, my cousin’s wife, the mother of their two young children, has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Enough already! I’ve had my fill of sadness and tragedy and grief. And on top of that, I am angry about the injustice of it all. If life were really a bowl of cherries, I’d throw mine out and wait for the next batch.

I am coming to terms with my recent spate of bad news. I am trying to offer love and support to those who need it. I am beginning to put things into perspective.

I am realizing that perhaps life is more like a real bowl of cherries than we admit: there are sour cherries lurking amidst the sweet ones and we have to learn to live with the bad ones when we pick them. There is no “cherry-picking” in real life. You can’t choose just the good days. We can’t stop bad days from happening by being “good” or responsible or doing all the right things. I am realizing that we have to savor each of the good days because they give us the strength to handle the bad days.

I am accepting that life is just a bowl of cherries after all, it’s just that the cherries are not always sweet.

Note to my readers: Thanks for your patience while I’ve been away from my blog and dealing with life’s struggles. Please continue to check back - I'll be posting again on a more regular schedule.

Blast From the Past

Every once in a while, by pure chance, you hear a song or see an image that triggers a distant memory in your brain, opening a tiny window into your past. In an instant, you’re transported to another place and time, as surely as if you had been Captain Kirk in Star Trek and said “Beam me up, Scotty.”

This happened to me the other day. My daughter and I were going to Petsmart for a dog bed for an upcoming road trip (more about that in a later post) when I saw something that took me back thirty years.

In the Petsmart parking lot, we saw a replica of the “General Lee,” the car driven in the 1970’s tv show “The Dukes of Hazzard.” (I assume it was a replica - it had Nevada plates.) It was parked among other cars so I couldn’t get a great picture of it. Plus I didn’t want to linger around, lining up multiple shots and running the risk of getting extremely embarrassed when the car’s owner came out. (There is a better picture, plus tons of information about the show, on Wikipedia.)

Just seeing that car brought back memories. In my mind, I could hear Waylon Jennings singing the Dukes of Hazzard theme song, "Just a good ol' boy, never meaning no harm...."

I remember many Friday nights watching the Dukes of Hazzard and Dallas with my younger brother in our Albuquerque home. It seems like I was in high school but since the Dukes of Hazzard apparently aired from 1979 – 1985, I would already have been in college and I was surely spending my Friday nights at fraternity parties and football games instead of watching tv. So this memory must come from the summers at home with my family.

My teenage years saw an ever-changing line-up of Friday night tv shows: the Brady Bunch, the Partridge Family, the Donny and Marie show, Love American Style, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat (or was that on Saturday??), MASH, and the aforementioned Dukes of Hazzard and Dallas. Now I’m not saying that I was overly influenced by all that tv-watching, but it is worth noting that my first job after college was in Dallas, in the very office building where J.R. Ewing had his office on the show Dallas.

I don’t know when those Friday nights of faithful tv watching ended. I suspect it coincided with either turning the legal drinking age and/or moving away from home and family. Things go full circle though. Now it’s my family, just the three of us, watching tv on Friday nights. Our typical Friday schedule starts, much to our daughter’s dismay, with a half-hour of “Nevada Week in Review” on our local PBS station, and then we watch more family-friendly entertainment. I wonder if my daughter will remember any of this someday when she stumbles upon a blast from her past.

If you want to have some fun hearing sound clips from the past, from tv show theme songs (like I Dream of Jeannie and I Love Lucy) to great one-liners in movies (including what remains to me the most terrifying sentence ever spoken in a movie: “I’ll get you my pretty, and your little dog too”), check out this website, which I learned about from one of my favorite bloggers, Ro.