The Las Vegas Report

We had a fun time with my mom at the Paris hotel last week.  I have to say, after reading some mixed reviews on the net; I was quite impressed with the place.  It has a certain elegance that I have only seen in very upscale places, and yet it did not break my bank to stay for 5 nights.  The decor was lovely and, even though it had a pretty large casino, the lower level was not "loud and obnoxious and full of lights and smoke."  Paris is actually attached to Bally's, which is much more of a typical casino, so you can get the noise and lights if you want that sort of thing.

The three of us wandered in and out of some other hotels on the strip, which was pretty cool.  I had stayed at Caesar’s for business a few months ago, and wanted Ang to see the life-sized recreation of the David they have in their casino.  I think he was more impressed with their casino than the statue.  We were also awed at the luxuriousness of the Bellagio, and watched their Poker Room for quite a while.  (I will sheepishly admit that I was looking for any famous players, but I didn't see anyone I recognized.)

Since I don't gamble, most of my time was spent relaxing at the pool, or in the room (which had an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower and the strip), or at any one of the little cafes along Le Boulevard.  I'm not much of a people watcher, but it's an event not to be missed in Vegas.  For those of you keeping track, I did bring the laptop, and spent about 6-8 hours analyzing my data.  Afterwards I had my first Swedish massage.  I'll take data analysis in Vegas over Houston any day.  ;)

Ang and I were also fortunate to be able to spend some time with an old high school friend of his who lives in Vegas doing lighting tech work for conventions and other shows.  Matt took us out to Valley of Fire State Park, which was definitely the highlight of the trip for me.  We climbed up Atlatl rock to look at the petroglyphs, saw the seven sisters, watched the sunset over the cliffs, and tried to help a couple of women who had gotten their car stuck in the sand.  Oh, and if you've never seen a wild burro, you need to go hang out in Nevada for a while.  But don't try to feed them.  Wild means WILD.

All in all, I believe the gamblers had a good time (in fact Ang turned $100 into $750 in one night!) and I had a good time without gambling, so Vegas gets the thumbs up from this savvy traveler.

RIP Christopher Reeve

Many people are remembering Chris Reeve as Superman, and yes, he was the iconic Superman as far as I'm concerned.  But what really turned me on to Reeve was his work in Deathtrap.  This was a man who was born for the stage.  Sure, he could play the Man of Steel in all its cheesy glory, but until you've seen him playing a psychotic homosexual playwright up against Michael Caine, you ain't seen the man act.  I loved this movie to the point where, when I was first given my first scene to direct in college, I chose a scene between Sidney and Clifford (and had two women performing -- what the heck!).  The man was certainly no stereotype.

Later, after the accident that left him paralyzed, I was amazed that he worked so hard to regain the use of his body.  I don't think I've ever heard of determination like that.  I know I couldn't keep it up as long as he did.

When I was young, I believed a man could fly.  But as an adult I really believed that this man would someday walk.