As Far As You Know

By the time my delayed flight arrived in Las Vegas, my luggage got to the baggage carousel, the shuttle deposited me at the rental car center, I picked up my Chevy Cobalt, I drove it across town and through the heavy traffic on The Strip, I checked in at The Mirage, and finally made it to the 18th floor, it's almost 2 a.m. (actually 5 a.m. East Coast time). So, this city's world-renowned nightlife aside, I am gonna crash!

This is The Boss doing a famous old Elvis number, "Viva Las Vegas."

On the second flight last night--which was over 3 hours long--I took a break from The Wire episodes to watch the DVD included with the latest James Taylor release, One Man Band. He presents a concert in his hometown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts with lots of storytelling and easy banter in between songs. Having seen him perform live at least a half dozen times, it's clear J.T. is in good form in this show.

I stopped at one of the local In-N-Out Burger establishments for lunch. As usual, the place was PACKED. Folks back east don't know what they are missing.

I walked most of The Strip today, taking in the splendor of all the major resorts that have been developed here in the last 20 years or so. Some evoke historical places (Luxor, Caesars Palace, The Venetian), others modern cities (Paris and New York, New York), and others fantasy locales (Treasure Island). Lots of places to lose your money: in the many shops (some of them very upscale), and of course on the casino floors.

Vegas is clearly more family-friendly than it used to be. Most major casinos on the strip have some big attraction to lure people in. The Mirage, where I am staying, is featuring the Cirque Du Soleil show about The Beatles, which I am seeing tonight.

Wow. I just returned from the 10 p.m. show of Love, the Beatles-themed Cirque Du Soleil presentation here at The Mirage. This was my first Cirque performance and Love was a big part of my reason for coming to Vegas. I was not disappointed. The music was amazing: over 2000 speakers created a lush soundscape in the custom-designed theater, using Beatles master tapes prepared especially by George Martin and his son. And the show itself was a visual spectacle incorporating dance, acrobatics, aerial wire work, costumes, make-up, masks, props, video screens, animation, projections, lighting, sets, and very impressive gymnastic stunts of all sorts. The stage constantly shifted on hydraulics to accommodate different set-ups between and within songs. The athleticism of the performers and imagination of the designers were great fits for some of the best of the Fab Four's music. An amazing 90 minutes. Highly recommended.

Vegas = Elvis. This song is "Can't Help Falling In Love."

I spent a few hours this afternoon at the Las Vegas Hilton at the Star Trek Experience. This attraction added a new show--"Borg Invasion"--since the last time I was here in 1999, a companion piece to the original "Klingon Encounter." The former has some interesting 3D visuals involving the Borg cube and the U.S.S. Voyager. I also did the "Behind The Scenes" tour, which was an intriguing way to kill an hour.

Tonight was my second Cirque Du Soleil outing, Mystère. Another beautiful theater, with state-of-the-art equipment. This performance was more like the acrobatic show I saw in Beijing than it was like Love last night. A lot more gymnastic stunts, for one thing. I guess it was more of a traditional "circus" show. There were musicians playing live, though the New Age score got to be grating after a while. Impressive, I guess, but a bit disappointing in the wake of the Beatles-themed show the night before. Maybe I should have seen this one first.