Vegas

World Market Center, Las Vegas (CC)

Las Vegas was God’s test of your self-control crammed into a couple of blocks. It was everything to excess and if you haven’t managed to kill yourself, you could return to normal life. Though you may wish you were dead to avoid paying off your debts. The big hotels were all replicas of historied cities from Venice to Paris. While the facsimiles was spectacular, there were no locals from the respective cities going about their everyday lives to carry the illusion you were immersed in another culture.

What did convince me I went through a rip in the space time continuum was time didn’t exist in Vegas. The interior rooms had few windows and blue skies were painted onto the ceilings. In the span of an hour, you witnessed, depending on your views, three sunrises or sunsets. It wasn’t unusual to see someone at the bar by six in the morning. The sadder possibility was they started drinking the night before and haven’t stopped. In addition to having little light, dirt was quickly brushed away, probably because the people themselves were grimy enough.

The maintenance work was constant so you could really snort a line off every surface. That everything was a show extended to the cleanup to. Scuba divers scrubbed the aquariums, steelworks mended fences with sparks flying.  Appearances were what mattered and Vegas was fantasy roleplay for the 99% to get a taste of la dolce vita. To give people of modest means the moxie to order dishes without prices. Haute cuisine, designer brands, luxury car rentals and barely legal Asian girls were all a stone’s throw away. After you played your part, you would be wise to use the intermissions to play the slot machines so you could pay down your bills.

Los Angeles

Pathway leading to the Hollywood Bowl (CC)

From high above, LA’s illusion of glamor holds, with rows and rows of cars reflecting the sun, resembling crystals. On the ground, poorer areas surround pockets of wealth. In one neighbourhood, Jewish and Middle Eastern stores stood side by side, a model for peaceful coexistence. Then again, good food can rise above anything, even ethnic conflicts. Commuting in LA was no walk in the park. It must be a good city to commit crimes in since a freeway is never far away for a quick getaway.

Maybe the West Coast has many startups because it takes a genius to navigate its  freeway network. GPS was a life saver because you typically had to switch freeways at least three times to get from point A to B. You couldn’t walk anywhere even if you wanted to since some sidewalks abruptly ended in freeways. Of course if it’s a hot day, you could always keep going and cool off with the wind from the cars whizzing by.

Once you  arrive at some famous spots, you’d find it overrun with tacky souvenir shops. If all you can afford to bring home is a tie-dye “I Love LA” shirt, it really says “I love LA but it doesn’t love me back”. Universal Studios was worth a one-time visit to catch a glimpse of where the magic is made. Hollywood must save their creative talents for blockbusters because the lines for the rides and shows were often cheesy.  Since amusement parks make a lot of their money selling overpriced food, the storylines only existed to maintain the pretence the rides are for fun. Really their violent jerks are designed to induce vomiting so you have to eat again.

Living up to stereotypes, the one about Mexican gardeners was largely true. Sad to consider the highest some of them may go is up the palm trees they have to trim. Overall, the most beautiful sight was the beaches. The waves crashing ashore, the surfers dotting the horizon and the turquoise waters. Perhaps our enthrallment with open waters is homesickness, recalling man’s humble origins as creatures of the sea.