left in las vegas

so, sweet ray took me to las vegas this past weekend. this was my first trip to "sin city." i definitely enjoyed it - more as an observer than anything else. i lost $2 in a slot machine before completely losing interest in the whole gambling thing. we went into most of the major hotel/casinos: mgm, paris, venetian, bellagio, new york new york, luxor, mandalay bay, excalibur, tropicana. my favorites were definitely the design of paris las vegas (even the few halfhearted words of french the staff spoke were charming in a sad way), the street scene inside new york new york, and the pyramid and sphinx at luxor. truly an adult disneyland. the brunch at bellagio deserves a special mention in and of itself - the best brunch buffet ever! among other things, the salmon sausage and polenta were splendid!

speaking of delicious things, i really enjoyed zumanity - it was pretty hot! i wish the audience were looser, though. i felt like i was sitting in the middle of a bunch of non-clapping republicans who were secretly getting off but didn't want to show it. or maybe i was feeling the effects of the electric blue "zumanitini" that i had...

of course, i was struck by the contrast between the opulence of the newest hotels and the decaying downtown. that's the economic spectrum of america, right there on the strip. also noteworthy were the (presumably) immigrants handing out porn starlet newsletters and call girl handbills, hitting the paper against their wrists before thrusting the papers at passersby, regardless of whether the man was with a woman or family.

whatever happens in vegas stays in vegas.