Thoughts on Vegas
Sorry I’ve been a stranger at my own blog. I’m currently curled up in bed at the Snow Bear condos at the Taos Ski Valley. Today we have been treated to thunder, snow, sun, snow, and a bit of rain. I’m attending the Rio Hondo Writers Workshop and it’s intense and wonderful. More on that later. I thought I ought to give a report on the mirage pretending to be a city in the middle of the desert.
I can report that despite the downturn in the economy the Zombie Apocolypse is alive and well, the membership are still clutching their beer bottles and shuffling down the Strip in search of their luck.
The City Center is going to be an amazing site. Carl took me up in the construction elevator to the 22nd floor of the Mandrin Hotel, and we watched the cranes swinging gigantic buckets of concrete through the air and onto the floors of the other buildings under contruction. The bleat of the air horns, warning us that a crane was moving a load was like the hoarse, mournful cry of some great animal. We then walked down 22 flights of stairs while Carl showed me the spa area, and the restaurants and the ballroom, and he made notes of mistakes and problems he located.
After a day wearing a hard hat and a bright orange vest, it was fun to put on a slinky “Little Black Dress” and go to the MGM theater to see Ka. I’ve never seen the Cirque live, and it was an overwelming sight. This is more of a ballet than a circus act, but it was just stunning. The gymbol stage is a stunning piece of engineering, and watching the performers negotiate this moving surface was utterly amazing.
I also saw IRON MAN while I was in Vegas and I really liked it. I’ll write a review at another time. I wanted to do a few tourist things so we drove out to see Hoover (Boulder) Dam on Sunday. I just loved it. I have this affinity for large superstructures, and big machines. We signed up for the short tour, and got to see the turbines and generators, one of the diversion tunnels and the museum.
It was impressive, but also depressing because it started me wondering what has happened to the United States. After the waters of the Colorado were divereted the workers constructed this monumental dam in _Two_ years. How long did it take L.A. to dig the few miles of their subway system?
Before I get jumped on, let me hasten to say that I’m glad we have safety standards, etc. that weren’t in place in 1933, but we ought to be able to do more than we’re doing. We could solve global climate change if we had the strength of will an purpose that existed when that dam went up.
I think we can have it again. I think we just have to believe in ourselves again, and not be afraid.
May 15th, 2008 at 7:10 am
I am looking forward to your Ironman review. I want to see the film but as yet have not had a chance.
May 15th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
While I didn’t get to see City Center from the angle you did, it was extremely impressive (from the street, from the fake Eiffel Tower and from the 50th floor of the Rio).
I did the “geek tour” of Hoover Dam, too. I think they said at least 96 men died on site in construction-related accidents, something else to think about.