Greetings from the Mojave desert!
In that paean to ostentatiousness, greed and distaste - LAS VEGAS! There have been changes in the few years since I last visited Vegas, unsurprisingly. It is somewhat eerie making this trip, since I had driven through Orlando a few days after the Pulse Nightclub terrorist shooting. The reactions are similar in LV as in Orlando. Signage in Vegas is much more prominent than Orlando, especially the high resolution programmable variety. #VEGAS STRONG is prevalent in all the signs, more so in the daytime than at night. Can't let anything interfere with the whole purpose of the city. Got to draw the people to the shows and gambling. Sometimes the signs include skylines, some times a heart. Local news is as scarce as the national reportage. The LV Sheriff's department isn't saying much to anyone.
I drive past the Mandalay Bay and the festival site, still taped off and police attended at least once a day since I am staying close by. The windows were replaced quickly but the investigation continues.
The iconic "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign is in it's own little park in the widened median in S. Las Vegas blvd. Memorials in tribute to the victims, along with other items - teddy bears, etc., fill the park. At one passing (at night, looking from a tour coach) it looked like an anarchists' symbol was displayed. It wasn't there the next morning, so even LV couldn't stomach that insult to humanity.
Security is increased, one news report showed interviews with casino security people about adding magnetometers and sure enough, everyone was screened at the Elton John show. Sir Elton and I have both picked up a few pounds since I had seen him perform, but he still provides a terrific show.
One of the noticeable changes is in the signs themselves. Very high resolution video displays - like watching a 4K TV - except being 20, 30, 40 feet tall. Elton has a video screen at least 80X30 in uhd. Incredible.
S Las Vegas blvd has long ago supplanted Fremont St. as the center of attraction, Fremont not having near enough space to accommodate the likes of Bellagio, NYC, Venetian, Mirage, Wynn, Encore and the dozens of other opulent casino/hotel/theaters/restaurant/fashion stores, and The Strip is outside of Las Vegas' property taxing authority. So rather than simply demolishing Fremont St, they have turned it into the "Fremont Street Experience." Five blocks are now a covered pedestrian mall. Covered with - what else - a programmable video screen. It arches over the length of the mall, complete with a two level multi-zip line, one set of four running the whole length of the mall, the riders flying in a superman position.
The FSE is complete with buskers, mendicants, casinos, bars, kiosks and the assortment of locals and tourists that only Vegas seems able to produce. Performance(?) artists included Batman, Spidey, Deadpool, half of KISS, a guitar player who wore only a fuzzy jockstrap with suspenders, a variety of almost naked women (painted pasties and thongs) and one guy who simply held a sign stating "Need $$$ for penis enlargement. 'I'm a little short'". He didn't state whether he was short on funds or penile length; fortunately he didn't offer proof of either. It was a bit distracting to watch a nearly naked female conversing with two cops while people streamed around them. As well as watching one of the throng walk by smoking a joint.
Recreational pot is now legal in Nevada. Signs of the conventional billboard type advertising dispensaries are frequent and curiously among the most sedate of all. I doubt that that will last, those will go the way of the liquor advertising soon enough. Money, after all, is the fuel of Vegas, alcohol the lubricant. Pot will soon move along side the booze.
Construction is booming; houses, casinos, hotels, restaurants, all of the usual Vegas attractions still multiplying.
Back in the day - pre-Luxor - gambling was the star, carrying the freight for everything. Cheap hotel rooms, buffets, and other near freebies simply greased the way to bring in the suckers. Then they discovered that by adding shows and other family attractions that the suckers would bring their families along as well. Now the hotel rooms and meals anywhere near the strip are expensive and the prices off the strip have followed suit. The list of performers is simply everyone in show business other than actors. Even Mike Tyson is doing a stage act. WTF? There are a few bargains, but you have to look for them, or ask a knowledgeable local. The advertising of the sex business has moved away from the thousands of cards thrust at every passing pedestrian. The internet is cheaper and cleaner....okay, less litter to clean up.
But the biggest change is in the casinos themselves. Just a few years ago the casinos rang with the sound of coins hitting the trays, bells and whistles going off, buckets of coins and chips being rattled around. But no more. Now bills are still acceptable in the slots, but the preference is for a gambling card backed up either with cash or credit card presented at the cashier's window. The whole scene is more sedate, less frantic, less invigorating. I don't gamble, other than flying, but enjoy watching the people - feeding the coins while a cigarette burned down to the knuckles, scrambling to pick up coins from the floor before they rolled under the machines, eyes glazed by the whirling lights as they fed their entertainment habit. It just isn't the same. Oh, they still feed the machines, but they aren't nearly as interesting as they used to be. This is progress for the house with greater security and less labor moving hundreds of pounds of money. Just less fun to watch.
Las Vegas is a fun visit, plenty to do and see without gambling. Only now it costs everyone rather than just the gamblers. Everyone is a sheep for shearing. And everyone gets fleeced.
ciao from the desert,
the Snark
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