Perhaps it was my British citizenship that prompted me to write this entry about how much I detest Las Vegas one year ago. Because now, Chris Ayers has expressed his dislike – for the same reasons – in an article for the London Times:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,20910-1977597,00.html
It includes the following quotes:
In reality, there is nothing remotely edgy about Las Vegas. The place is one giant leisure/retail megaplex, populated by has-been celebrities, owned by a handful of entertainment conglomerates, and patronised by men in corporate-sponsored polo shirts who feel more interesting when surrounded by waitresses in bunny suits. There is more counter-culture to be found at Alton Towers.
He goes on to say:
- …we need to believe there is a place where you can load up a Cadillac with booze, guns and drugs, and entertain yourself with impunity…Las Vegas is our collective fantasy; a virtual reality of Americana.
Or, it has occurred to me, perhaps there is simply a disconnect between Vegas and its history, or Vegas and its reality. The typical white-middle-class existence in Vegas these days is to be isolated within a climate and population controlled environment, a Strip hotel complex or a taxi travelling around the city. Most L.A. visitors to Vegas only see the city through the windows of a car, because the Strip is so spread out as to discourage foot traffic, and the old “real” city isn’t trendy enough, doesn’t match the image, the newest incarnation of Vegas in the current consciousness. Doesn’t seeing the world through glass give you a more bland, controlled perspective of it? This is why I love seeing the world from my bike, after all, or on foot when I don’t have the bike with me. (And I tend to walk a lot when on vacation someplace new.)
Anyways. There you go. I am not alone in my hate of Vegas. Being there doesn’t make me feel glamourous or fabulous, as the new incarnation is supposed to provide. It just makes me feel sick. Or drunk, as the case may be, to cope with it.
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