Well, as mentioned, I'm back in the New York Groove. I know I was only gone for a couple of days, but it feels like I've been away for fookin' weeks. In any event, for those even passively curious, here's the low-down on the Alex in Las Vegas trip.
Vegas was.....well....Vegas. Let me just say this: the golden nugget days of the Rat Pack are gone, gone, gone. Were they to rise from their martini-soaked graves, Sammy and Dean simply wouldn't recognize the place. Vegas' new watchword is, incongruously enough: FAMILY! I've never seen so many children in my life. Why the fuck would anyone bring their offspring to Las Vegas? Well, because the Glitter Gulch has been remodeled as a Candy-Colored Canyon of Wholesome-Flag-Wavin'-All-American Fun-For-the-Whole-Fat-Fuckin'-Family. Like Disney's sickly refurbishing of Times Square writ large, Las Vegas has been re-styled and largely de-fanged. The older casinos of yore have either been squeezed out or "updated" (read: castrated and lobotomized) to accomodate some freakishly revisionist
rendition that puts the emphasis on "shopping & entertainment" rather than any semblance of sinful swagger. Imagine my disapointment.
Anyway, we made the best of it. The wife and I were staying at the comparitively new hotel/casino, MANDALAY BAY (right next to the thoroughly silly Luxor). It seems the concept of "theme" hotels has gone riotously out of control on the Vegas Strip. Where the costumed tomfoolery was originally limited to Caeser's Palace and Circus Circus, it seems every prominent hotel now must have some utterly ludicrous theme, be it cutlass-weilding eye-patched pirates, merlin-capped wizards & knights, jingoistic charactures of Egyptians and Italians or even fuckin' Star Trek. Mandalay Bay, as it turns out, is a little on the nicer tip, but it's theme has something to do with an Asia-Pacific vibe that is comparitively understated. We drank loads, hung out in the sweltering dessert heat by an inexcusably silly "beach" (featuring real, live waves and sand!! GAWRSH!) and ate very well (neither the wife nor m'self are exceptionally big gamblers to begin with). We did blow some significant coinage on the slots, but walked away without any serious wins (the wife won ninety bucks on one pull of a quarter-slot, but we tore through that again in under an hour). Didn't goto any shows....although briefly toyed with the idea of going to see Sheena Easton for a derisive laugh, but chalked said fleeting dalliance up to a dose of hungover heat-stroke. The first two days were basically spent wandering around thinking aloud: "What in blazes are we doing here?" By the time we got into our "Vegas head" (read: acceptance of the inherent ridiculousness of our surroundings by way of lots of alcohol and a sense of humor), we were pretty much ready to come home. It was fun in a stupid sorta way, but I sincereley doubt I'll ever go back there.
Your thoughts on the place?
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 6 June 2003 17:12 (twenty-two years ago)
never been Alex, I get tired out going to Mohegan Sun in Connecticut I can't imagine Vegas.
― Chris V. (Chris V), Friday, 6 June 2003 17:17 (twenty-two years ago)
But god-damn Alex has a way with words! M'hey!
So how does this nu-Vegas v2.0 Family Flavored Fun accomodate the hookers-are-legal-here aspect of it's legacy into it's Murkinization?
― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 6 June 2003 17:43 (twenty-two years ago)
I AM SICK OF SEEING MANDALAY BAY FROM THE INSIDE. IF I NEVER SEE THAT HOTEL EVER AGAIN IN MY LIFE, I WILL DIE A HAPPY WOMAN.
*ahem*
Sorry. This is what you get when you go for general admission for concerts at the House of Blues and end up spending several hours waiting in line just to ensure a 1st or 2nd row spot.
As a native of the Big Apple, what did you think of New York New York? Spent a couple of hours there once. I also once stayed at the MGM Grand Hotel. It was awe-inspiring. But I hated the Excalibur. It felt very cheap, so you may have a point there re: the theme hotels. (The MGM Grand isn't a strongly thematic hotel.)
I'm not big on gambling, but I did like catching a couple of shows. I also liked how Vegas is a huge smorgasboard of food that would please the biggest of gluttons. One thing I missed while there was Coca-Cola. Practically everywhere I went had Pepsi there (I walked everywhere I went, so it wasn't as though I could pop into a Walgreen's and buy Diet Coke.)
I think it's neat how they have a huge dialysis place really close to the strip. Because of that, my parents will probably do the Vegas thing next year -- once Medicare kicks in and Dad can stay there for a measurable length of time.
Glad you had fun.
― Dee the Lurker (Dee the Lurker), Friday, 6 June 2003 20:21 (twenty-two years ago)
Chaki, you're playing Sunday at Sasha's? Really? Did DJ BJ set that up for you or...?
― Chris P (Chris P), Saturday, 7 June 2003 06:29 (twenty-two years ago)
yeah, that ad campaign is real family entertainment. Randy Newman's "Happy Ending" to thread.
― gabbneb (gabbneb), Saturday, 7 June 2003 15:36 (twenty-two years ago)
Vegas is going back to hookers and sex and getting away from the family angle or so this article (and at least one other one I read recently) claims. There's supposed to be some massive sex club that just opened up out there. So I think Alex got there at the tail end of the Disney era. FWIW, I like Vegas, the place is all candy colored and the hotels are really funny, and the roller coaster at New York New York is scary as shit.
― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Saturday, 7 June 2003 15:58 (twenty-two years ago)