Vegas, baby! Vegas!

[davidology]

I'm going to Las Vegas tomorrow for a conference for work.

This seems to come as a shock to everyone, but I've never actually been to Vegas, despite its close proximity. The truth is, I've managed to get out of it every time (both work and with friends traveling). I just don't think it's my place.

I hate cigarette smoke (allergic to it).

I don't gamble.

...Not really sure what else I can do there!

But, yeah, I'm stuck there from tomorrow night until Wednesday afternoon. Staying at The Venetian (which I guess is supposed to be a really nice hotel). Maybe I'll try to find where teh gheys hang out.

In other news, I had like 6 or 7 glasses of very strong iced tea at a friend's birthday dinner. There was no Splenda, and it was too strong to drink without some sort of sweetener, so I threw in like so many packets of sugar. Now, I'm bouncing off the walls now, and I really have to pee.

Comments

[elo-sf.livejournal.com]

lot's of good shows, the smoke is annoying. But there is lots of shopping and lots of shows..

[eviltickles.livejournal.com]

the alcohol is free and there are a ton of clubs...not so much gay ones tho...but the fact that you can walk around drunk out of your mind in public is GREAT!

[xorn.livejournal.com]

How no one has raved to you about the shopping there, I do not know. If you go there with the mindset that you're not going to have a good time, you're probably not going to. Las Vegas is grrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat! Go to Ice and dance your ass off.

[davidology.livejournal.com]

so far... i'm impressed in a tacky, cheesy kinda way!

Wow...

[lyte-reality.livejournal.com]

The Venetian is alright- you either love it or hate it. I think you'll be able to entertain yourself while you're there. There's plenty of shopping, even if you don't buy anything there's enough malls on the strip to look through. The clubs are alright from what I've heard (haven't been to Vegas since I was 18 last time). Plus there are shows during the day and night to look at, since you'll be on the strip, you can walk all around and look at all the gaudy sights!

[friendofjack.livejournal.com]

Las Vegas is the kind of place everyone should visit at least once. Personally, I like the seedier version of Vegas with the older 1970s era casinos.

The new version (Venetian, etc) is interesting and well done, despite its inherent artificiality, but it doesn't have the same vibe. It's mostly fat people in shorts and fanny packs.

[davidology.livejournal.com]

i'm coming from l.a., artificiality is a way of life. although the ppl are a little scary at times.

[mattachu.livejournal.com]

the shopping is good. it mught be cheesy, but i enjoyed the water/fountain thing at the bellagio. it was kinda cool.

[mrezkill.livejournal.com]

"I'm stuck there from tomorrow night until Wednesday afternoon"

lol I've never heard someone say that about being in Vegas. I haven't been there since i was 12 so I have no insights lol.

-ez

[ponfarr.livejournal.com]

Go see Thunder From Down Under!!!

[mamabrent.livejournal.com]

I used to live in Vegas years ago. Hated it. But it's fun to visit for the kitsch and the excess and stuff.

Thar be gays in a region called the "fruit loop." It's no WeHo... just a couple clubs. And there are bars scattered throughout the city... lots of neighborhood dive type places.

I say take advantage of some of the tacky things that make Vegas famous. The liberace museum is a little off the beaten path, and before it's last renovation, it looked like a 7-11 in a strip mall. If I remember correctly, there were three sections (cars, pianos, clothes and jewelry) but they were all in separate spaces, so there would be a laundromat or something between them. I think it's changed a bit since, but don't let the exterior fool you. It's one of the better things to see in Vegas.

Hoover dam makes a nice little trip. You get a little scenery, you can make a few nice architecture photos, if you are into that sort of thing.

Don't do the Ethel M Chocolate factory and Sewage Treatment Plant tour, especially not on weekends. It's quite a trek for a lousy free sample of mediocre chocolate, and there's not much to see. The Sewage Treatment Plant is actually the more interesting part.

Of course there is the glamour and glitz of the strip, but there's something to be said for the thread of apalling tackiness that runs through it all. If you have the time and inclination, it makes for some interesting sightseeing. The overwelming numbers of old ladies with big, cigarette-smoke-saturated hair with their hands turned black from playing nickle slots all night and who think they are really glamming it up in their gold lame and puffy paint sweatshirts with sequin appliques depicting terriers and giant dice... these ones STILL amaze me. The closer youget to downtown the more likely you are to also see some of the older, tackier wedding chapels. Also, for instance, there's this giant shopping mall called "Commercial Center," that is actually perhaps the world's biggest strip mall. It's like a strip mall fort. It's so strange and ghetto, but it intrigues me. It's got lots of little niches for certain kindss of business. One corner is primarily store-front evangelical churches. There are also Korean, Latino, and gay sections. They spill out into each other a bit, and there are lots of vacant spots, which also makes it all the more sketchy. But I find it interesting. The gay stuff there includes at least one bar, a bath house, the G&L community center, and a sort of coffee-house-video-store-internet-cafe-book-store-leather shop called The Pride Factory. My friend Billy works there. Again, it and all the other tacky stuff may take some doing to seek out, especially if you still have to get to the Mirage Tigers, the Bellagio fountains, the ritzy shopping, etc. (And even those you won't see without someone forcing hooker collector cards on you.) But at least The Pride Factory might be a good way to get a jump start on any gay stuff you might want to plan.

Aside from these things or anything marketed to tourists, Las Vegas is pretty much one giant Walmart populated my Mormons or transient crack heads. Enjoy!

[davidology.livejournal.com]

> Aside from these things or anything marketed to tourists, Las Vegas is pretty much one giant Walmart populated my Mormons or transient crack heads. Enjoy!


LOL!!

[xed-geek.livejournal.com]

...Not really sure what else I can do there!
Suede, FreeZone, Gipsy, GoodTimes, ICE, Krave, Seven.......

Would you like anymore reasons? How bout a town thats more then half tourists with nothing but a quick fling on their mind.

[xed-geek.livejournal.com]

Oh, Monday night you must go to GoodTime, you must. And if you see a tall guy with curly hair serving shots, his name is Nick!

[davidology.livejournal.com]

gah! it's 4 miles away... if i have the right place. is it in the liberace museum?

d'oh and I have to be up and ready by 8 am.

[xed-geek.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's it. It's worth the trip. Sleep can be had later (preferably with a cute boy :).
I also suggest the drag shows at Suede and Gipsy (the MC is fantastic)

[davidology.livejournal.com]

Good Times better than Gypsy? Everyone's said go to Gypsy (and it's closer!) =/

[xed-geek.livejournal.com]

Depends on the night. Most of the weekend I ended up bouncing between Freezone and Gipsy (with Suide's show in there too). But on Monday they were deadish and GoodTimes was packed. I went with some locals so they kinda knew the area.

[davidology.livejournal.com]

d'oh.. yeah these were friends back in l.a. saying this.

anyway, i ended up passing out shortly after i read this. tonight: definitely going out though!

[davidology.livejournal.com]

any recommendations for Tuesday night?

[xed-geek.livejournal.com]

Not really. I wasn't there on a Tuesday and from the locals its just another weekday night, so basically bounce from Gipsy and Freezone seems to be the general idea.

[orderinchaos.livejournal.com]

Wow! You're only the second other person I've talked to who shares my allergy to cigarette smoke.