I spent most of the week before last in Las Vegas (and this past week recovering from the trip). Yes. Las Vegas. In August. The last time I was in Vegas was (16 years ago and) in November. The last time I was there in the summer was circa 2000.
That said, I'm pleased to report that the Strip, while it has changed a lot, has also....not changed at all. Sure, some casinos have fallen and risen, some go by different names, but the Strip itself still feels the same.
The heat wraps around you like a living thing as strange, engineered scents blow from the mouths of the casinos. People on the sidewalks try to sell you on everything from Uber to Two-for-One drinks to girls who will be delivered right to your room like items from a mail order catalog and if you stay up and out late enough you encounter a number of people who are incapable — whether by birth or intoxication — of properly queuing to go up an escalator (or a set of stairs) and who gather in groups at the bottom of pedestrian walkways, minds lost in the miasma of heat and car exhaust, liquor and sweat, bovine eyes catching the colorful array of lights.
It's my kind of city.
For about four days...and then I'm ready to retreat to hide in my hotel room with headphones on until it's time to fly home.
Here's some of the music that kept me company when I was done dealing with people.
When You're Evil - Voltaire
Intertia Creeps - Massive Attack
Istanbul Not Constantinople - They Might Be Giants
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