What better words to describe 4 days in Vegas? We had moments of each, I think, last week.
Ridiculous would be the "security check-in" at Bellagio. I don't spend much time there… way too high on the pretentious meter for me. But there was an Ansel Adams exhibition in their art gallery that Dani wanted to see, so before we left town on Saturday, we stopped by the casino. Driving into the self-park tower, we were stopped at a security checkpoint, where we were asked to open the trunk so they could examine it. The car ahead of us was stopped and "examined" and it took them all of about 2 seconds. Our time was about the same. It almost took longer to stop and pop the trunk open then it did for the officer to "examine" its contents. I'm thinking that, unless terrorists are carrying boxes marked "Danger! Explosives!" that security check's unlikely to accomplish much.
La Reve may not be my favorite Cirque style show in Vegas (that would be Ka—see it. You won't be disappointed.) But it had moments when it verged on the sublime. Performed entirely in, around and over a huge tank of water, there's a story, of sorts, having to do with dreams and desire. But it's really about the acrobatics and precision of the dancer/swimmer/artists in the show. While it may never achieve the "oh my god" moments that most Cirque shows manage, this one had it's share of thrills and laughter.
As for the surreal… well…
We were in Vegas for our friend's birthday, and she likes to eat at one place on the Strip for lunch, every day. It's the Cafe Mon Ami Gabi, at Paris. The food is good and the service excellent, though I can't for the life of me understand how you can eat at the same place every day in that city, when there are so many places to choose from. Be that as it may, we had a lot of long lunches there and, during one of those lunches, we got onto the subject of past loves. T's (the birthday girl's) to be specific.
We were all pretty well lubricated by that point (what else is there to do over a three hour lunch in Vegas but drink?) and T's stories were entertaining, to say the least. Our favorite was when she regaled us with the tale of the guy she referred to as "the Stalker." His story was amusing and only mildly disturbing and we all had a good laugh about it, then promptly forgot about him as the next round of drinks came along and we eventually migrated to the casino.
Later that night, the group was having dinner and, shortly after we ordered, I discovered that we were in one of those places where the servers occasionally break into song. Now, don't get me wrong… everyone who sang that night was good—let's face it, it's Vegas. You don't have to try hard to put talented people to work in that city. But I've always had a thing about "singing restaurants," so I was nonplussed when I discovered we were about to get serenaded by the woman waiting on us (a good friend of one of our group) and another waiter on the other side of the restaurant.
As they announced that they would be singing a duet, the woman introduced her partner, and I thought to myself "I recognize that name." I figured it was because we had been talking about a lot of different people and performers that day (with a table full of actors and former actors, there's a lot of "do you know what so-and-so's doing these days" going on). But then I glanced over at T, who looked completely horrified and was trying her best to sneak under the table. When she caught Dani's eye, she mouthed the words "that's The Stalker!" and continued her attempted disappearing act.
Of course, once we all realized what was going on, we couldn't wait to get Stalker over to the table. T's totally out-of-character attempts at self-effacement simply encouraged our bad behavior and it wasn't long before we had our waitress in on the story and she was getting the whole gang together to sing "happy birthday" at our table. I've never seen T more uncomfortable, and it was made all the more entertaining by the fact that Stalker boy was unaware of anything going on and obviously had not recognized T. We determined at that point that, while utterly surreal, that evening's dinner was truly the high point of the week and may well have made the whole trip worthwhile.
Ridiculous would be the "security check-in" at Bellagio. I don't spend much time there… way too high on the pretentious meter for me. But there was an Ansel Adams exhibition in their art gallery that Dani wanted to see, so before we left town on Saturday, we stopped by the casino. Driving into the self-park tower, we were stopped at a security checkpoint, where we were asked to open the trunk so they could examine it. The car ahead of us was stopped and "examined" and it took them all of about 2 seconds. Our time was about the same. It almost took longer to stop and pop the trunk open then it did for the officer to "examine" its contents. I'm thinking that, unless terrorists are carrying boxes marked "Danger! Explosives!" that security check's unlikely to accomplish much.
La Reve may not be my favorite Cirque style show in Vegas (that would be Ka—see it. You won't be disappointed.) But it had moments when it verged on the sublime. Performed entirely in, around and over a huge tank of water, there's a story, of sorts, having to do with dreams and desire. But it's really about the acrobatics and precision of the dancer/swimmer/artists in the show. While it may never achieve the "oh my god" moments that most Cirque shows manage, this one had it's share of thrills and laughter.
As for the surreal… well…
We were in Vegas for our friend's birthday, and she likes to eat at one place on the Strip for lunch, every day. It's the Cafe Mon Ami Gabi, at Paris. The food is good and the service excellent, though I can't for the life of me understand how you can eat at the same place every day in that city, when there are so many places to choose from. Be that as it may, we had a lot of long lunches there and, during one of those lunches, we got onto the subject of past loves. T's (the birthday girl's) to be specific.
We were all pretty well lubricated by that point (what else is there to do over a three hour lunch in Vegas but drink?) and T's stories were entertaining, to say the least. Our favorite was when she regaled us with the tale of the guy she referred to as "the Stalker." His story was amusing and only mildly disturbing and we all had a good laugh about it, then promptly forgot about him as the next round of drinks came along and we eventually migrated to the casino.
Later that night, the group was having dinner and, shortly after we ordered, I discovered that we were in one of those places where the servers occasionally break into song. Now, don't get me wrong… everyone who sang that night was good—let's face it, it's Vegas. You don't have to try hard to put talented people to work in that city. But I've always had a thing about "singing restaurants," so I was nonplussed when I discovered we were about to get serenaded by the woman waiting on us (a good friend of one of our group) and another waiter on the other side of the restaurant.
As they announced that they would be singing a duet, the woman introduced her partner, and I thought to myself "I recognize that name." I figured it was because we had been talking about a lot of different people and performers that day (with a table full of actors and former actors, there's a lot of "do you know what so-and-so's doing these days" going on). But then I glanced over at T, who looked completely horrified and was trying her best to sneak under the table. When she caught Dani's eye, she mouthed the words "that's The Stalker!" and continued her attempted disappearing act.
Of course, once we all realized what was going on, we couldn't wait to get Stalker over to the table. T's totally out-of-character attempts at self-effacement simply encouraged our bad behavior and it wasn't long before we had our waitress in on the story and she was getting the whole gang together to sing "happy birthday" at our table. I've never seen T more uncomfortable, and it was made all the more entertaining by the fact that Stalker boy was unaware of anything going on and obviously had not recognized T. We determined at that point that, while utterly surreal, that evening's dinner was truly the high point of the week and may well have made the whole trip worthwhile.
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