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Decent Quality Since 1847

Two Good Things About Las Vegas

1/14/2014

2 Comments

 
Now that I'm back from Las Vegas in the safety and comfort of my home (as long as you don't consider the bed bugs...), it's time to pause and reflect.

It is not saying a great deal to note that I dislike Las Vegas.  Most people come for a few days, and bad as it is, you can leave reasonably unaffected.  But I worked on a movie here once (the original The Hitcher, not the remake) and had to stay for a week.  It was so hellish that crew members -- who'd been together in the middle of the desert in tiny town -- started snapping at each other.  It's not the glitz, it's just a cold, heartless place where most everything there says, "We don't care about you, we just want your money."

Staying at CES for 4 days is stretching things almost to their limit.  In fairness, I don't gamble.  In the 15+ years I've been at the show, I've never gambled as much as a nickel. So, I'm sure I'd like that part of the town if I gambled.  But the core foundation is still there.

There are some okay things about the the place, I don't want to dismiss all of it.  But overall, that's my very general impression.  BUT -- there are two things I particularly love about Las Vegas.

One is buffets.  I've noted previously my love o' buffets, and it's not exaggeration.  Mind you, I don't tend to pig out, though eating more than usual, to some degree, is required.  The main thing is that the food at the buffets is -- for a buffet -- pretty good.  And at some places, it's very good.  I tend not to go to those places though, like the Belaggio, they're very expensive ($35-40).  It's not so much the money -- you can pay that for a nice sit-down meal anywhere, or more.  But the point of buffets is not quality, but quantity.  And I'm fine with good quality for $13 of overeating, rather than $40.  After a while, as you stuff yourself, the quality just doesn't come through as much as with the first few bites.  But it's more than that, why I avoid the Big Ones.  I did go to one big buffet, at the Rio.  And it was great.  But people stand in line waiting so long that you can go for dinner and sit down for breakfast.

The other thing I love here is free parking at hotels.  I'm serious.  Most anywhere else in the world, if you go to a nice hotel and park for two minutes to sneeze, you can get charged $20.  Stay for hours, and you might have to take a loan out.  In Las Vegas, though, hotels want you there.  Plead and beg to get you to come.  And so, they all have free, self-parking.  Just on general principal, it's a joy.  And not just on general principle, but it's so exciting to find something in Las Vegas that doesn't involve you giving them money.  Mind you, the point is so that you'll be there to give them money, but that's up to you.

One other small thing I like about Las Vegas.  They usually do a pretty good job with putting out signs to get you around the place, both outdoors and especially at casinos.  The last thing they want are frustrated, lost tourists so annoyed that they leave early and vow never to come back.  So, Las Vegas gets a reasonable thumbs-up on that.

2 Comments
Arlene Paige
1/14/2014 07:08:13 am

I like Vegas. There's almost nothing I don't like about Vegas, except hot, strong swirly winds. They work hard with low pay there to give you a good time in my opinion. Why should they care about you? You should care about them. As for gambling, I don't do it lately, but for about 2 or 3 years, with luxury going so cheap on the strip, I was very often there. It requires on an hour in the air for me. I love to fly.

You might try the Blackjack tables with almost even odds to get a good look at what people really are under some silly stress, and if you're attentive to more than the cards, you can even see some very strange and sometimes touching attempts at bonding to beat the house. The higher the minimum bet, the greater the confidence and the cool, but it's always interesting to see how the players joke and play, and to feel what's going on. Actually cigarette smoke finally scared me away. Though it had already gotten better, there's was often a butt that came along and fouled the air, even dangling most of the time below waist level on request... about as vice-ridden as things get in recent times. Sidewalks as crowded as New York. So many kiddies and tourists looking at preserved animals, flower conservatories, special outfits, Roman facsimile statues, and what-not. You should have a look at the Mirage volcano... 8 amazing little minutes and you can feel the heat like the mini Roman epic drama by the Cheescake Factory at the Forum Shops. And the best buffet is probably at the Paris, authentically reproducing foods of the Provinces at different stations for different parts of the country. It's worth the price. The Mirage buffet has very small portions set out, so you can try quite a bit without stomach distress, including two-bite sized desserts. Their gourmet pizza is sliced in strips that are about inch thick and about 4 inches long, and they give you the smallest, choicest cuts of meat, like lamb with the best mint sauce I've ever eaten, somehow. If you're old-fashioned, the rib roast slices could choke a horse, but if the server doesn't get it on your plate too fast, you can request a fraction of what he's cut.

And have you seen one of the Cirque shows? The night I was there, "Love" got a standing ovation. I haven't seen that since George C. Scott in "Death of a Salesman" in NY, and I was the only one sitting down for that one. I didn't like it as much as acrobats and contagious joy, though old George actually rolled around on the stage a bit. I've got a Masters degree in dramatic literature, I've worked on an OBIE-winning play for best direction, and I know what's good.

I'm going to Vegas again for 3 days, including May Day.

Um... well... have a great day Elisberg! Nice chatting.

Reply
Robert Elisberg
1/14/2014 09:23:52 am

Seriously, you haven't seen a standing ovation since George C. Scott in "Death of a Salesman"??? In the last 20 years, I don't think I've seen a stage production that *hasn't* gotten a standing O. I'm not exaggerating. It's unfortunately become standard. Perhaps I'm mis-reading what you're saying.

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    Robert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 

    Elisberg is a two-time recipient of the Lucille Ball Award for comedy screenwriting. He's written for film, TV, the stage, and two best-selling novels, is a regular columnist for the Writers Guild of America and was for
    the Huffington Post.  Among his other writing, he has a long-time column on technology (which he sometimes understands), and co-wrote a book on world travel.  As a lyricist, he is a member of ASCAP, and has contributed to numerous publications.



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