Las Vegas

No matter how often I visit Las Vegas, I marvel at how the city was created out of, well, nothing but desert.  I think the mountains that surround Las Vegas are striking, even beautiful.  They are stark, appearing all but barren.  How was a city of several million created in such a place?

Perhaps it's a sign of my age, but I also still wonder how I can get in a narrow metal tube, travel at almost 600 mph, and be almost 2,200 miles away in just about 3 hours, a little longer.  And it wasn't just me, but just shy of 200 people on that same metal tube.

It's also unnerving to head into a grocery store in Las Vegas (one in the Kroger family) and see people gambling on the slot machines!!!!!!  Just drop a few bucks after shopping for the week......  And they gamble at the drug stores, too.

I was struck over the past week at the ubiquitous presence and use of cell phones--in what I think are/were inappropriate places.  At Michael's basketball banquet, parents couldn't even put away their cell phone for a couple of hours to see their sons honored.  I'll bet, at one time or another during the evening, at least half of the parents were texting away.  And at two concerts last week--Dancin' in the Streets at the Fox in Detroit and Rod Stewart at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas--it was remarkable how many people were texting during the music.  Surely it's a sign that the Apocalypse in nearly upon us.......   (And note how did even mention how close I came to getting side-swiped by a guy sliding over to my lane on the expressway while he was dialing or texting.  He never saw me until I laid on the horn after watching him not paying attention, well, not paying attention to driving.)  Is there anything that tells us "It's all about me" more than a cell phone.

Both concerts were wonderful.  I love the Motown sound and this concert (not necessarily featuring actual Motonw Artists) captured the essene of the sound. It was terrific.  Rod Stewart is 71 and put on a surprisingly good show.  They made up for, well, maybe just a bit, for not being able to see Human Nature in Las Vegas.  Those are the four white Australian guys, with a great band behind them, who do their own Motow show.  I have seen them once and am now convinced they are avoiding.  I think that last 5 or 6 times planning a Vegas trip Human Nature has been absent, for different reasons.  As  have said before, "Maybe next time.

More terrorist attacks last week.  I wonder if and when Western Europe and the US will finally wake up to the nature of Islamofascism.  We shoot mad dogs, don't we?  I think I also saw a headline announcing the crucifixion of a Catholic priest by the Islamofascists.  Again, we shoot mad dogs, don't we?

And, here we go again, a three-year old girl was shot in Detroit over the weekend.  She was hit when some idiots sprayed a house with gunfire.  We shoot made dogs, don't we?