Las Vegas Is America

it's come as a surprise to some of our friends that jm and i spent last weekend in las vegas ("you don't seem like vegas types" at least two people said). we were there to celebrate the birthday of ryan, jm's nephew, who turned 21 and finally could realize his long-standing dream of going to las vegas. he wore his xmas and birthday gift harley vest every day and had a great time and even a little luck playing the penny slots.

my observations of the scene are hardly original: it seems that many of the worst aspects of american culture are on display everywhere. but is there anything wrong with rendering the statue of liberty in jelly beans? at the casino new york new york, of course.

"chinese" or lunar new year is coming, and the fancier casinos had some sort of display associated with that. here's the god of wealth at the bellagio.

easy money, shopping: all very american. the high end casinos are full of high end stores which were very empty, except for a single employee chatting or playing games on a cell phone. prada, gucci, ferragamo, chanel, max mara, burberry, tiffany, barneys, and a purveyor of diamond jewelry at every turn.
"who buys all this stuff?" i asked a helpful security guard as i tried to find the spa at the venetian. "they'll be here next week," she answered, "the chinese."

caesar's palace goes all out for sculpture, fountains, decorative motifs in the style of ancient rome. but when they designed their colosseum, they copied the one in el jem, tunisia: three stories, not five as in rome. score another one for tunisia, trendy now. "vive la revolution!" emailed mamdouha, our suave guide to the country last spring.

i've had such trouble accesing this blog that i will post now but more to come...