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  1. Whoa! Michelle, you make it sound much more fun! Let’s make it a party next time, and we can take in all the sights! I’ve been to the actual Madame Tussaud’s in London, but I had to skip Hoover Dam in order to make it to FL in time. Sounds cool! :)

  2. Vegas is a complex place of illusion, indulgence and beauty mixed with cautionary urban legends and gritty history.
    However, methinks you might have not found, well, enough beauty this trip.

    Saved up my cash and spent a weekend a few years ago.
    Took in the shows: Cirque Mystere, The Producers & Blue Man Group. Albeit expensive, mesmerizing is a great description for the theatrical offerings.
    Feasted: Paris Paris Mon Ami Gabi, Mesa Grill & the Mandalay Bay’s buffet. I could spend all day recounting the succulent cuts of meat, exquisite scallops, or perhaps the caramel apple pie? Sigh, another time.
    Big Cats: Now that their habitat is closed, insert mixed emotions here, you won’t see the ‘changing of the guard’ with those gorgeous descendants of the original Leo the lion at MGM. Rawrrr!
    Art: Unfortunately, the Bellagio fountains had been under construction, but their lobby has the MOST stunning Dale Chihuly ceiling-sculpture, known as Fiori di Como, that took my breath away. Thousands of huge, vibrant, glass flowers suspended overhead create an octopus’ garden as you check in or squabble over mini bar expenses.

    Next time I go, this is on my list:
    Atomic Testing Museum, Fremont Street, Neon Museum, Pinball Hall of Fame, Stratosphere Tower, Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum and getting out to the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead.

  3. One thing I’ve found is that it depends on the particular crowd (and perhaps how drunk they are.) If it’s a large, relatively known-to-each-other group, generally friendly, and not minding at all that they’re loosing fairly moderate amounts of cash, there can be the classic Hollywood depiction of loud, happy people without a care in the world, laughing and cheering each other as they loose, and occasionally win, some money.

    The other end of the spectrum is the dead serious gamblers, for whom gambling — especially in games like blackjack and poker, where the skills of your opponents are also a major factor — is Srs Bzns. It is intensely competitive; being friendly, being at all open, makes you vulnerable and you might loose it ALL. In this, I blame the Vegas conglomerate that tried to make things like Texas Hold ‘Em into a televised sport.

    To their credit, they did make it into an intense spectacle, with artificially inflated pots; whispered, urgent commentary; cameras positioned to show the players’ cards to the audience; and intensely staring men who are more wooden and stony than Don Fry in Godzilla: Final Wars. Somehow they made it into something popular, at least for a little while. And they did lure people to Vegas and Atlantic City and Reno and the Reservation casinos to learn the game and sit at the poker tables. It was a fascinating phenomenon to see how a corporate entity managed to completely manufacture a card game into a spectator sport (of sorts.)

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