Dateline: Las Vegas, NV. What can you say about "Lost Wages" that hasn't been said before? It has been "over the top" for decades. It still is, so much for that.
I just surveyed the entertainers performing here and was struck by how self-referential Las Vegas has become. In addition to the usual has-beens (Cher, the Osmonds, Barry Manilow), there are lots of performers doing retrospectives of former greats (the Jersey Boys, the Rat Pack imitators) as well as a number of nobodies being touted as somebodies. Frankly, except for a couple of current comics, the only first class stuff being done are the various companies of Cirque de Soliel, entirely too many magicians and a couple of companies doing hit Broadway shows (Phantom of the Opera, Lion King).
I suppose part of the issue is that with a bad economy there are fewer high rollers here to support the first-class acts. Another issue is that this is a traditionally flat time for Vegas, the snowbirds have gone home and the summer visitors haven't shown up yet.
The temperature is already nearing 100 degrees, but, as they say here "it's dry so you don't suffer too much." That is true up to about 105, above that "dry" doesn't cut it, the heat is miserable.
We got out of the tourist area and into the normal part of the city this evening. If you weren't paying close attention you could mistake it for a reasonably new suburb in Southern California. The town has mushroomed in the last decade.
We spent Wednesday night near Mojave, and the wind blew a gale, actually rocking the RV. It made very clear why there were a whole bunch of wind generators in the pass between Bakersfield and Mojave. When we awoke on Thursday you'd wonder if it had been a dream, no wind at all. Interesting weather patterns....
