Forgot to mention yesterday that I went to a private commercial art gallery in the Mall which had the most remarkable collection of artwork I have ever seen in a commercial gallery. Pieces by Renoir, Picasso, Chagall, Dali and so much more. Some a mere $250,000 while others much more reasonable. They have been there for 30+ years so likely reputable (http://www.centaurgalleries.com/). One artist that the Americans adore is Leroy Nieman but he is so overdone everywhere I go that it doesn’t do it for me. An artist I hadn’t seen before and quite liked was Mark Lewis – modern commercial but appealing to me (http://marklewisart.com/html/gallery.html).
I woke up and spent some time looking at Grand Canyon Tours. Many are eight or ten hour affairs which isn’t too interesting but there are some for four hours which is fully helicopter and includes the skywalk. It is very expensive but hey seeing one of the seven natural wonders of the world (as compiled by CNN) it’s probably worth it along with: Great Barrier Reef, Harbor of Rio de Janeiro, Mount Everest, Aurora, Parícutin volcano and Victoria Falls
Buying plane tickets on the fly is an interesting game. I needed to book a flight Los Angeles Miami and was quoted $129 online. Went back a few days later tried again and same quote. When I went to book it jumped up to $659. So I was forced to book a 01:40 flight with a stopover in Memphis for $136 but I can probably save $100 in accommodation costs as I have a car so can live like a gypsy for half a day.
Friday was the type of holiday day that I really enjoy – mindless nothing. I decided to take a drive around North Las Vegas (Summerlin 15km out) which I had never seen. The mortgage distress is palpable with large housing estates looking like they have been unlived in for some time. A few stops here and there but nothing too meaningful. Before I know it the sun is setting and I head back to the The Strip. It is very active as one would expect on a Friday Night and I head back to my hotel for a brief rest.
Around 20:00 I head to the food court and have a nice stir fry with my own choice of veggies from the 30+ offered. I definitely 100% absolutely got somebody else’s fortune cookie – “Don’t accept that others know better than you do” p-u-h-l-e-a-s-e.
I then decide on some spieling (is it i before e in Yiddish too) for a few hours. I meet a guy from New York who now lives in Vegas and we have a coffee while I learn about Las Vegas. He works at the Cosmopolitan Hotel/Casino just near here where he runs the café from midnight to 08:00 – he says he is a night owl. He earns around $15 an hour and another $5 an hour in tips. So for his 40 hours he received $700 after tax and claims he can save $200+ dollars a week as living costs here are quite cheap.
All of the casinos on the strip are closed shop or union controlled except for Cosmopolitan. After four owners failed to complete the Cosmopolitan Deutsche Bank stepped in and completed it and are the current owners. His big concern is that if one of the other casinos buys it then it will become union. How this happens is that the casino sacks every single worker without notice or redundancy and then re-employs only union employees. What his concern revolves around is lower salaries, $120 a month union fees, and none of the current extras he has negotiated. He gets 13 days a year holiday with a right to earn another two days. As graveyard workers are hard to find he can earn another 5 days taking him to four weeks. Anyway it’s interesting to see life from the inside in Vegas.
Anyway I go to sleep a little more in front against the casino and with only two days to go am expecting to declare a small dividend to the “Yerusha”. The good dynamics about where I am staying and the casino is that if I leave the room with a limited amount of money and go to the casino and lose it, the 800 metre schlep each way is enough to deter a lazy man from going back to the room to get some more money and back to the casino. Must remember this for future visits.
For some reason in Vegas I never seem to be up and ready before midday which is a little irritating for an early riser but…..I decide today to do something new, walk from one end of the strip to other on one side and back down the other. While I have been to all the mainstream casinos I haven’t had much of a look in at the secondary ones like Flamingo, Bally’s, Harrah and Imperial Palace. And what an eye opener it was with a totally different crowd of people best described as redneck bogans - I think would cover it. One example will let you know all. In these establishments they play BeerPong where you set up paper cups as you would a set of bowling pins and from the end of a long table which seems purpose made you fling down a ping-pong ball to try and get it into the cup thereby scoring. Oh well the amusement of the masses who have lost their money or don’t gamble I guess.
I had spent close to six hours walking so am feeling happy with myself. An hour of resting and off to see Human Nature at the Imperial Palace. I discover that there is a monorail from my hotel to the venue so I hop on that and am there in no time. I am now early so I throw twenty dollars into the slot machine and collect over $500 which feels good – temporarily only as I lose that on the way home.
Anyway the concert was sensational enhanced by being just two metres from the stage in long trestle table seating. I love the old Motown songs and Human Nature does them the ultimate justice. They had the audience, around one third Aussies, fully engaged the whole time and the evening exceeded my expectation. I would strongly recommend this to anybody coming to Vegas and it is relatively cheap compared to other shows being just $80. As I noted above some serious and losing gambling until about 02:00 but am still in front which is all I hope for when in Vegas. And like just about every good act I have EVER seen they were backed by a seven piece band of unbelievable musicians with the 110kg black rhythm guitarist and the 65 year old pianist (brilliant) and brass section all of whom were loving being there.
Next morning I decide to have a jacuzzi (in my suite) and sit there for about forty minutes which again delays my departure to around midday. I have nothing planned and decided no more gambling on this trip – report to follow.
I simply mooch around some places I know including Saks off Fifth Avenue, their outlet centre where I fall in love with a jacked reduced from $600 to $80 but at the end of the day I decided I really didn’t need it. Yes folks who know me well that usually isn’t a deterrent but I am getting older and more conservative.
As I have a coffee at the Coffee Bean a weird thing happens. They have available the Jewish Times so to speak called David. I read it while having my coffee and see this advertisement. Rabbi Yehoshua Fromowitz, Certified Mohel (for my non Jewish follwers that is a person who conducts circumcisions). Now practicing (the word practicing alone scares me but read on) Reference Available on Request. Now think about that “References Available on Request”. What does he do send you a portfolio of his works, give you the phone numbers of babies and kids and adults whom he has circumcised. WTF!!!
Anyway back to the hotel where I finish this blog and get ready for the show.
Tomorrow I am off driving to Los Angeles (and a meal at Nobu) for four days before one night in Miami and CRUISE TIME. Will share the itinerary in the next blog.
My cold is much better but still coughing and a cold sore has taken a long time to heal as I bought some instant magic tablets to cure cold sores before I left and didn’t take them in time – how dumb is that. Apart from that am having a really good time being footloose and deciding what to do day to day.
Hope everybody is well and love to all
David
No comments:
Post a Comment