sen_no_ongaku: (Shigure)
sen_no_ongaku ([personal profile] sen_no_ongaku) wrote2006-08-17 02:15 am
Entry tags:

Vegas

Random observations:

So here's the odd thing about Las Vegas. (Yes, the only odd thing.) It doesn't feel like a city. It just...doesn't. And after wandering around the Strip, wondering why there weren't "You Are Here" signs all over the damn place, I realized what it does feel like: a giant amusement park for adults. Everyone you see is there to entertain or be entertained. Like nobody comes here to live; just to consume. That's not necessarily bad; but it is, certainly, weird.

It also occurred to me that the ostentation and variety and spectacle of the big casinos: The Bellagio, Caesar's Palace, The Paris, etc., etc., is there to disguise their essential sameness. And once you get off Las Vegas Boulevard, this town is ugly: nothing but strip malls, cheap apartments, and Levittowns.

105+ degrees Fahrenheit is so hot that your skin hurts.

At some gas stations, as you fill up, you can pass the time by ducking inside for a round or two of video poker.

Speaking of which, I noted a sign that offered 100.8% VIDEO POKER! Huh?

Also, a sign exhorting us to remember 9/11...sponsored by local morticians. My brother's response: "Yeah, that's totally tasteless. It should have been sponsored by crematoriums."

I played in my first live tournament today, a $40 buy-in with about 40 players, but crapped out early when my queens were outdrawn by sixes. Gnurgh. I'll play in another couple of similar events tomorrow morning. The Paris has small no-limit tournaments every two hours. Word.."

There is a large Filipino population in Vegas, such that there are storefronts that don't bother translating the Tagalog they display into English. After tooling around in a Filipino grocery, I decided to bring home a particularly choice snack to brandish at Boston folks...but I decided to stick with something vaguely edible, and not pick up the "Headless Ching-Chang Anchovies with Sesame" -- imagine honey sticks coated with sesame, only with, well, headless anchovies instead of honey.

[identity profile] shellaby.livejournal.com 2006-08-17 02:26 pm (UTC)(link)
I've got to say - as a future architect, I feel like I ought to be interested in Las Vegas (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/026272006X/104-4863103-2592721?v=glance&n=283155), but when I hear people's descriptions of the place, I find that I am not interested in going there. Since I don't care for the entertainment that the place offers, Las Vegas doesn't sound like a compelling place to visit, except maybe for the legendary gobs of free food...

[identity profile] sen-no-ongaku.livejournal.com 2006-08-17 03:40 pm (UTC)(link)
It's been a fun place to visit just for its alien quality, wandering around and gazing at the pure spectacle. It's just that without [livejournal.com profile] sigerson around, I tend to be a bit more negative about things.

And if you're coming solely to examine the architecture, it's probably worth it.

[identity profile] thomascantor.livejournal.com 2006-08-24 04:19 am (UTC)(link)
That would be my main reason for going — seeing the spectacle, and the alienness that you describe (esp. at night, I'm guessing). I have some relatives in the area as well, but we don't often get together.