Quick notes on Las Vegas. I wrote them very quickly in text for a friend in 2018. Putting them here in 2022, lightly abridged, as a better way of sharing them than forwarding the WhatsApp thread each time.
Went to Vegas for a week, which was really remarkable – by far one of the most interesting urban experiences I've ever had, perhaps the most interesting.
A few things, concentrating on the Strip:
There is almost no commons; everything is privatized. Security, use of force, etc etc. You can't get water without paying for it (in one of the hottest, dryest cities in the US), or even a seat. Amazing.
Complete surveillance states.
It's the middle class, not the uber-wealthy. Despite that, people behave as though they're uber-wealthy, spending thousands on designer clothes, food etc. The stores are incredible. The Apple store is at the bottom of the pack; it seems drab and rather rundown, compared to many of the others.
What's being sold? At first, I thought money and sex were the keys. But increasingly I think it's glamour.
In particular, the Strip is about some very definite notion of what the good life is. It's a kind of revealed preference notion of utopia.
I started writing notes at one point on my trip, as fast as my hand could move, and realized I could write hundreds of thousands of words. Every minute on the Strip was just a bombardment with novelty, beyond my ability to process. Absolutely amazing place!
A few more observations:
All the casinos are owned by a tiny handful of companies. The net effect is of a war between 3 or 4 absolute dictatorships, each run autocratically and with remarkable control within. I don't understand the supply chain well: to what extent do they own the restaurants etc? Not entirely: brand name restaurants and shops (Spago, Versace etc) can act as differentiators.
The casinos qua casinos have only minor differences. The shows seem to act as the main differentiators (maybe the restaurants too?) I don't understand the economics at all around that. Does Caesars pay Celine Dion to perform? Does she pay them? How does it work out?
The first 20 minutes of Cirque du Soleil Mystere are one of the glories of the world. I realized at one point tears were running down my face, totally unconscious. Goosebumps. The later bits of the show are good too, sometimes very good. (I worry I've oversold it, I'm afraid; this is just unfiltered opinion.)
There's a great interview with Werner Herzog where he is asked about lowbrow pop culture - Anna Nicole Smith, Wrestlemania etc - and he replies with all his passionate driven intensity: "you must not avert your eyes. This is what is coming at us. You must not avert your eyes." That line kept running through my head the whole time. Although in my case it was more like I could not avert my eyes, it was so interesting.
Penn and Teller were really great. I saw one other magic show (David Copperfield), and the contrast was huge. Penn and Teller seemed to be having the time of their lives. Copperfield looked bored. An interesting thing about Penn and Teller: Penn claimed that almost every element in their routine is changing all the time. They turn things over extremely rapidly, experiment in all sorts of ways, return to old ideas. It shows: it felt extremely fresh and just plain fun.
In SF I'm taller than perhaps 95% of people1. In LV it was more like 99%. I tried to estimate it, and actually got bored – the first 77 people were all shorter (or at least no taller) than me, and I gave up. I have no idea how to account for this – I have several theories, and none I believe.
Funny coincidence: I deliberately went on my own, and am glad I did (I did a lot of reflection). But I tweet-replied about it to [a friend], and [mutual friend] saw it. She was visiting with her family, and pinged me to have brunch and walk around Vegas. It was a very interesting few hours, and left me with a lot of thoughts about the social experience of Vegas. (I've been there socially many times before, but not nearly as self-consciously.) It's really designed to elicit performances from friends for each other.
Lots more thoughts! Very, very worth visiting. And just plain fun, too, never mind all this analysis!
That's what I wrote in my text, but it's both inaccurate and a poor comparison to what comes next. A better comparison and more accurate thing to say is that "In the US, very roughly 10% of people are taller than me". Last time I was carefully measured I was 185 cm, in my early 20s; I'd guess I'm now a tiny pip over 6 feet, with the 1-2cm decline that tends to accompany middle age.↩︎