Back from Sin City

Me in the NYC Simulacrum

Spent a long weekend in Las Vegas celebrating our anniversary.  While there I thought of fellow blogger Terrell and his work.  I hope one day we can meet up when I get down there again.  As for this trip, every moment was hot, full and fantastic.

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas*

 The is one of the cleverest ad campaigns ever.  It was so effective that the saying is worn out, yet still holds cache both in the hearts of those visiting, and the feeling the city promotes to those of us visiting it.  Nothing happened to me while I was there that needs to be kept secret or compares to the antics of the bachelor party from one of my favorite recent movies, The Hangover.  

I took over 500 photos while bouncing about.  That is not much for me when I am traveling to take pictures.  That is a ton when traveling to celebrate an anniversary.  I intended to try and capture the simulacrum of the city, and in particular the resort we stayed in, New York New York.  Along the way though I found many other parts of the city that made me reconsider it as more than glitz, facade, avarice and vice.  I left this morning with both an appreciation and soft desire to live there. 

I am going to work on the photos over the next few weeks and write about Las Vegas - my interpretations, my growing love for it and the issues I have about it.  Without going into details now though, the people (not just those working in the casinos or entertainment world) were kind, helpful, and very interesting.  Thanks Las Vegans... Veganians, Vegasonians... or how ever you label your selves.

 
* Heard a spoof on it.  "What happens in Reno... is greatly exaggerated."

Side notes -
One major positive of Las Vegas - no asthma.  Even in the smoky casinos I had barely, if any, asthma.
One major negative of Las Vegas - the heat.  For the past month I've enjoyed an SF cool summer of highs in the upper sixties and lows in the fifties.  It didn't get below 77 in Vegas.  It was around 105 yesterday.  It is a dry heat though.  I found that if I followed the same rules that got me through Burning Man (also in a NV desert) I did well.  I grew to enjoy the heat, or at least to function in it.  II moved slowly, drank lots of water, and stayed in the shade if I had to be outside for long periods of time.  I really liked rolling down the car windows in the hot evenings and cruising around the city, bathed in the hot moving air.  On the other hand though, it was a smack down when we would leave a hyper-air conditioned casino and appear in the direct sun on broiling concrete.  It felt like a gut punch.