That is EXACTLY the way I felt when we went....just don't get it?!

The remaining smokers are all standing in front of bars and office buildings in NYC. If we can ship them all to Foxwoods, I'd be happy.

(And yeah, slot machines = mindless and boring.)

i'm about to head to the wacky world of Viva Las Vegas on wednesday....please, don't ask...i'll fill you in when i return next week...ugh...

Fun! I think I'm being treated to the casino experience on my 21st this September. I've eaten at the buffet at the casino though lol. Those places are so loud, not noisy really, but bright and loud. Like a clown exploded or something.

I felt the same way about Ocean's 12.

Yeah, not a casino fan. Haven't been down to Foxwoods, but I have some male friends that go all the time. Everyone does smoke there.. even non-smokers it seems. I think there is some link between gambling and smoking. You can't do one without the other? Weird. Thanks for the pictures... Glad you had a good Mother's Day!

I hear you.The first and only time I went I lost 20 dollars in half a sec,I wasn't sure about putting my last 20 in the slots but I did,at first I thought I was going to lose that money too,yuck and wouldn't you know I won triple it back.Then I had all my friends asking me to loan them money for the slots...and the smoke yuck

Heh!! It's so good to see something familiar. I used to live by the sea not far from Foxwoods. Good times. :) 'back in the day' we used to sit in the all-night cafe and waste our money away on Keno. Beware, it's addictive! Have you ever been to Mohegan Sun?

Maybe this will help you with the movie you saw:
http://www.themoviespoiler.com/Spoilers/oceans12.html
We are watching the movie tonight but now I'm scared I won't 'get' it so I checked the spoiler. LOL! ;)

i love slots!

My family dragged me there once for a "family reunion". One woman, in a man's tshirt, cigarettes rolled in the sleeve, was monopolizing three slot machines. She sat at the middle one. Her left arm was in a cast and sling. She sequentially fed the one on the right, the center one, and then REACHED OVER with her right hand to pull the lever on the left hand slot machine. Now they have buttons, so I'll bet it's faster. I don't get it, either.

Oceans 12 had some type of heist-ish plot but was more a mind game. To watch for was Brad Pitt's character's snazzy outfits (very enjoyable) and Matt Damon's rather confusing role in it all.

So. They're out to heist a fabrege egg, challenged by a mysterious thief who wants to prove he is the best. Mysterious thief evidently studied under Catherine ZJ's father, a super master thief, and now mysterious thief is having inferiority complex. Hence, they go through song and dance where mysterious breakdancing thief is keeping close tabs on the rest of Ocean's 12 via spycams. 12 tries to lift the egg only to get caught with the assistance of Catherine ZJ's need to get even with Brad Pitt for dumping her by jumping out a window (she was the cop, he the thief. they were sleeping together in the early years before his snazzier outfits) and of course some friendly sabotage from breakdancing mysterious thief. Oceans gang gets stuck in jail, only to be transferred to the FBI who happens to be Matt Damon's mother masquerading as FBI (he's from a great crime family but is trying to prove himself and now his mommy has bailed him out). Ocean (George Clooney) and Tess (Roberts) go to see the mysterious breakdancing thief (some super-rich guy) and they have to admit "he's the better thief" except that, plot twist here, they have the original egg. They stole the original egg with the help/information of the supercriminal mentor of mysterious thief before they even started the "game". Supercriminal mentor helped him because Brad Pitt knew that guy was Catherine ZJ's dad and wanted to re-unite them (Cath. ZJ thought her dad was dead ) and because the mysterious thief was a schmuck. So to sum it up, they won the game, Ocean's crew escaped jail time, Brad Pitt and Catherine ZJ go to some sunny part of the world where Catherine ZJ reunites with her father she had presumed dead. Papa didn't tell her he was alive because her mother didn't want her to know (or something along those lines). The defeated thief is off plotting his rematch.

That's what I got out of it anyhow. Don't know if that confused you further... If all else fails, enjoy the outfits.

My husband is from CT, so every time we go to visit his parents, we make sure to make a trip to Foxwoods. We always head right to the non-smoking rooms. Did you leave with slots ringing in your ears? The first time I ever went, I swear, I heard slots in my sleep.

it's such a beautiful area; the casino is the least interesting attraction. but if you are stuck there, they have a nonsmoking room of slots...in the basement. i used to live on that shoreline as well, i miss it terribly. happy mother's day.

Ahhhh Foxwoods...the world's biggest casino, or something like that. Since I'm from Connecticut, I almost *have* to go to one of the casinos every so often. LOL We prefer to go to Mohegan Sun. It's a bit better organized. They have more non-smoking areas. And, I think, more interesting architecture. Not to mention the parking nightmare that is Foxwoods.

Just as I'm reading your blog, the commercial came on! I'm with you.........I don't see the fascination. I have to say that I prefer(ed) Foxwoods to Mohegan because the former had more to do than just gambling but I hear in 5+ years that I've headed that way Mohegan has expanded quite a bit! In any event, I hope you enjoyed your Mother's Day!

Living in CT, I used to visit Foxwoods every so often. Always thought it was so sad with the people with a cigarette in one hand and oxygen tanks all around. I never seemed to win in the non smoking sections.

Haven't been to Mohegan Sun yet but it looks huge when going by on the highway.

Glad you had fun.

The best part of casinos is the people watching. Depressing, but interesting. I don't understand the need to throw money away on a game where the odds are against you.

Thanks for all your thoughts! And thanks for the Ocean's Twelve summary. We just felt like we had to be missing something, since every plot point seemed to be discarded, but apparently not. What a bad movie.

Yes, casino's are odd places. I really enjoyed playing poker though. I don't think that Mohegan Sun has poker tables where you can play Hold 'Em. On their site, they only mention the "against the house" poker games, which I'm not really interested in. Too bad! I would have liked to check it out. But besides poker, I don't know what else I'd be interested in playing in a casino. Of course, I'd much prefer to play poker without gambling, but that just doesn't seem to be possible. Even the few people I know IRL who get together for home games every now and then insist on "buy-in"s and what not. I don't get it!

I live in CT, but haven't been to Foxwoods in ages. I tend to prefer Mohegan a bit more, and I always stick to the non-smoking sections. My 4 year old niece though thinks that the Foxwoods jingle is her song though.

And, the whole point of pulling off the heist in Ocean's Twelve is that Terry Benedict, the casino owner, located Danny Ocean and his cohorts and wants his money back. The arrogant thief from France dares them to beat him in the heist and if they do, he will pay back Benedict's money. The whole thing is a little confusing because the scenes jump all over the place. If you miss one footnote in the movie that says "three months ago" then it takes a long time to figure out what's going on and why. It was a funny concept but was filmed in such a way that made it way more complicated to follow.

The theme song started up in my head as soon as I read the title; and for hours it stayed stuck in my head! (didn't help that they have a new campagin out and the commercials run during the shows I typically watch...)

I haven't been to the casinos here on the East coast, but I've been to Las Vegas and Reno and it's pretty much the same as you described. Though out there I often saw several older folk attatched to oxygen with drinks slotting away their earnings. I enjoy the slots, but usually stick with the nickel/quarter slots and walk away when I break even (has happened 2 of the 3 times). I can't explain it, other then when I was a kid we always wanted to pull the handle and see what happened...perhaps it's just always been my goal?

I know that all of the smokers were in Las Vegas at the beginning of April. That's when I went for 6 days. And I had quite a few "fits" about not being able to find an area that was smoke-free so I could sit down and read my book, or knit for a while. They have chairs lining the hallways but most of the people sitting are smoking. I could have cried!

Slot machines - I like them! Sorry.

Casinos aren't for everyone. That's the way life is.

Oh! And I came home "ahead" in money.

I'm another one who likes Mohegan better...but I go to casinos less for the gambling, more for the amazing looks, food and shopping.

Cool Laurie, what do you like about them exactly? Do tell! Is it the pull of the handle like Kristen says? Or do you just get excited about the possibilities of winning? Maybe since I've never seen a slot come up a winner, it seems so unlikely that I'm missing the exciting part of it?

Tehe. In the end it was an 'experience'. I have pretty much the same questions about gambling dens, but mostly: why?

I thought Ocean's Twelve was fun. A bit confusing, but the large group of entertaining actors was enough for me. You would definitely have to see Ocean's Eleven first, and it is a better movie, but I liked Ocean's Twelve.

As for the casino scene... never done it. Doesn't sound like I'm missing much, but I'm glad you had a good time.