Vegas: Mr. and Mrs. Greenback

Wander the Las Vegas strip long enough and you may find yourself ducking into Harrah's to escape the heat. While it's not as famous or glamorous as some of it's higher-class (or at least shinier and newer) neighbors, it's a staple and excellent choice of location to stay in the heart of the strip. Easily walkable to the Linq, Caesar's Palace, Flamingo, Fashion Show, Bellagio, Venetian... almost every possible Las Vegas attraction short of downtown and the external attractions are right at hand when you're in Harrah's. There's a buffet to satisfy your quest to indulge in a smorgasbord of grub, an oyster bar for when you're feeling fancy, Toby Keith's upstairs for your country music fix, and gambling and shopping galore in the downstairs area... I've found myself growing quite familiar with Harrah's over the past few months. I'd popped in once or twice in the past prior, but given its relatively lower-key status compared to some of the aforementioned nearby properties, it's easy to miss. There's a certain classic Vegas stereotype embodied in Harrah's that's pretty legit, though.

Mr. and Mrs. Greenback are quintessentially the Las Vegas dream in manifested life-size caricature personas. They even brought their pooch along for the adventure, a manic cartoonish nightmare ready for their closeup all-day, every-day, not unlike the city of Vegas itself. Much like the city, though, they're not perfect- while Mrs. Greenback certainly has a remarkable figure, her age is evident in the jowls accumulating on her manically grinning jaw. Though their money overflowth, and spills from Mr. Greenback's hat even, they're careless- perhaps on some kind of high from winning all that cash in the casino earlier... or maybe it's another kind of high, which wouldn't be unheard of here. It's Sin City, baby, the city of temptation and vices galore, ready to entertain. Perhaps there's something dark in the gleaming, glossy eyes of their pooch, or forced in their meticulously shaped faces. A lot of time and thought went into the creation of these characters, after all, so it surely wasn't without some measure of consideration. 

All photos in this post were provided by Antho Jay! 💖

Vegas: Summer nights and nostalgia part 5

Late at night at some slumped shouldered corner in a bar somewhere in Vegas, definitely off-strip but not more than 15 or 20 minutes away from the epicenter of the city, you're quite likely to hear a cynical and begrudging local ranting about how this city is a black-hole: for money, your soul, your life. I've certainly been guilty of it myself from time to time, as the constant churn of consumption and rejection can wear on even the most resilient of psyches. There's a magnetism to Las Vegas, a certain sort of gravitational pull that seems to get its hooks into people and become exponentially more difficult to detach from as time goes on. Like the imagery of the charming devil at the crossroads, sliding his silky red hands tight around your most prized possession and coercing you into surrendering it before you knew what hit you. 

And then, the time starts to fly by. In the endless twilight of the casinos, day and night blur into a blanket of fuzzy edges, the poorly defined vignettes of interaction bleeding one into another.  The longer you linger, the harder you have to fight to crawl your way out of the desert sands and sin that threaten to engulf you in their ever warm, alcohol-numbed embrace. If you're one for indulgence, it's even easier to get lost and wind up just another hollowed out shell, baked into bitter acquiescence by the unrelenting sun. Not only do the casinos themselves offer near-bottomless booze to all players, there's a glut of dispensaries and free-lance substance slingers hawking their wares eagerly on the streets to satisfy any craving. Anything to take the edge off, to thrill and entice. Adventure and excitement are always on offer here. This is Las Vegas, after all, the entertainment mecca of the Mojave desert, and we'll be damned if we don't enthrall. Those fat American dollars (along with all currencies, readily exchanged) are needed to keep resources pumping into our little slice of oasis.  

Things keep moving, though. Ever-changing. Fluid. 

The only constant in life is change, after all, and the city of Sin can't ever let itself become too stale. 

All photos in this post were taken by Antho Jay!

Vegas: Summer nights and nostalgia part 3

Without any doubt, summer is the season that Las Vegas really springs into life! Kids get out of school and teachers are set free for a few months of unabashed adulthood, while parents suddenly have more freedom to haul their younglings off for a vacation getaway without having to write prodigious pamphlets excusing their absence. Whatever it is, there's just something in the air stirs a little extra energy into everyone. Maybe it's the longer days and/or the warmer temperatures, at least here in the northern hemisphere, but despite being extremely hot and arid (hey there, welcome to the desert, folks) the streets of Vegas flood with teeming hordes of excited tourists and locals ready to pound the pavement, and maybe some drinks, too. There's a constant buzz of excitement pulsing through people with an edge of uncertainty and potential danger, as the ever-present ambulances hovering at the periphery of most any casino properties would hint. When you're actively pumping booze and adrenaline into people to fuel their gambling or adventure, there are invariably going to be some people who can't hang.  

“No sympathy for the devil; keep that in mind. Buy the ticket, take the ride...and if it occasionally gets a little heavier than what you had in mind, well...maybe chalk it up to forced consciousness expansion: Tune in, freak out, get beaten.” 
― Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Intentional sensory overload, a brash and unapologetic tackiness and, often times, desperation, clings to the veneer of everything in the city, the way condensation gathers on a glass on a hot day. The Las Vegas strip is awash in any and all forms of sin, titillating and tantalizing any taste buds with a smorgasbord of nearly unimaginable variety and the temptation of delights. Whether you're looking to splash your cares away in a VIP cabana (for the right price, of course, as they don't come cheap) or have a wild girl's night out with the ladies hooting and raving at Thunder from Down Under (or Magic Mike, or any of the other shows out there), take in a show (or five) or do some serious plastic-melting shopping at any of the different shopping centers (be it more middle and high end at Fashion Show or one of the two outlets)... there is something for everyone. And the city pulses with that liveliness of thirsty visitors looking for excitement, entertainment, or enticement just around the bend. It's hard not to get a rush from the palpable energy, when the street is a teeming mass of sweat and shorts and awkward heels stumbling around.  It's a real trip, man. One you should take at least once in your life. Once you scrape past that greasy sheen that covers the majority of Vegas, there's some genuine beauty hidden under the warpaint, too. 

All photos in this post were graciously taken by Antho Jay. 💗

Vegas: AJ's Day Out part 1: Harrah's

Have you ever been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras? We certainly haven't, at least, not as far as we're aware. I might have popped down to Louisiana for a visit as a very small child, but I don't think that really counts since I can't remember it. It's on my bucket list, though, especially since I have several friends online who've lived there and expressed quite clearly their affections for the city and it's people and culture. Anyway, this post isn't about Mardi Gras or New Orleans, not really- it's a collection of photos from when Antho recently set loose on the Strip with my camera and not much to do. You see, Antho is such a sweet, doting boyfriend that on his days off or the days he get out of work early he'll typically head down to the region of the Strip I happen to be working and hang out and explore until I get off. That way, if something comes up (like I get ravenously hungry but can't rush off to get food somewhere) he'll be there to help me out, and can head back out to enjoy people watching where he'll be out of the way until I'm free again. Recently he borrowed my copy of Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut for a casual afternoon of reading in the pavilion, enjoying the sunshine and background sounds of human conversation as throngs of tourists passed by. Me? I was resolutely inside for the duration of this lovely day, as ya girl's got bills to pay and work to be done. Antho volunteered to take my camera along, though, for posterity's sake and to share his adventures with me in hindsight. It's pretty humbling, too, for me to go through these photos as he's a pretty good photographer for someone who spends the vast majority of his time around a camera in front of the lens instead of behind it modelling our tie-dye, though he is required to play photographer part of the time. It's fun to go through and see things from his perspective, though, which is one of the greatest gifts photography has to offer. It's the best way to put yourself into someone else's shoes, and the old adage about how "a picture is worth a thousand words" will indubitably ring true for as long as humans have the capacity to view and reproduce photographs.  

Harrah's hotel and casino here in Vegas is geared towards a Mardi Gras theme, I think. To be fair, I've never been to Mardi Gras nor put any exceptional amount of effort into researching the meaning behind the casino's aesthetic. That being said, it's an extremely convenient place to stay for any visitors as it's right in the midst of some of the most popular tourist spots. The Linq Promenade and High Roller are literally right next door, and the Flamingo is next to that. Across the street is Caesar's and not far from that are Mirage, or Bellagio, depending which direction you go. Vegas is, of course, geared towards being exceptionally tourist friendly in the main corridor here, so the pedestrian access is pretty good though if you have mobility challenges you may need to plan ahead. There's constant construction going on around the area, so there's always some new obstacle or thing to look out for. This translates to there almost always being something new or exciting to do, though!

When you aren't tripping over stray traffic cones or getting elbowed by large packs of people, you'll see just how much detail goes into these buildings. Vegas is basically a theme park for adults, after all.