Las Vegas Trip
A bit late in the coming, but here's a summary of my trip to Vegas last weekend. I wrote it while travelling, so it'd still be fresh in my mind.
January 29, 2010: 1:00pm, Pacific Standard Time
So. Vegas. To give you a brief picture of this city ... I arrive in the airport, and while waiting for my baggage, I’m accosted by an explicit video ad for a strip club, and a poster with a busty blonde woman toting a rifle which invites me to “fire a real machine gun” at their gun shop. Along the street there are what look to be newspaper receptacles. Except in Vegas, they’re catalogues for prostitutes. There also seems to be what I can only describe as hooker trading cards littering the ground everywhere. Also, drinking outside on the sidewalk is legal, which still seems weird no matter how often I see it. The buildings are almost cartoonish in appearance; sometimes I feel like I’ve stepped into a real-life ToonTown - it’s surreal, to say the least.
My poster arrived safe and sound, but Air Canada misplaced my suitcase in Montreal. *sigh* Well, I was most worried about the poster, so it could be worse. I just got my suitcase back 15 min ago, so kudos for them rushing it off to me, at least. Next time, I’m packing extra clothes in my carry-on.
The Riviera Hotel is ... kind of a dive, actually. It’s old, smells like musty smoke and the casino is pretty empty most of the time. And the serving girls are ... um ... not attractive, but very scantily clad. Awkward. Definitely wouldn’t recommend the hotel for anyone. I’ve been bumping into colleagues from Laurier all day (grad students, former supervisors, etc.) and chatting a bit. I was invited to go out for drinks with the Laurier crew; about a dozen people, all said and done. It was admittedly pretty fun to see my former supervisors drunk and letting loose a bit. Also, though it’s not on the menu, if you ask for it, they’ll make you a “Scorpion,” which is 6 shots mixed with fruit punch in a giant glass. I didn’t partake (beer was fine for me, even if it is American) but just knowing that they’ll serve you a veritable fishbowl of alcohol here warms my heart a bit.
Gambled a little bit on the penny slots so far; lost about $12 or so, which isn’t bad given that it killed about an hour and a half. I was up $6 at one point, but (naturally) lost it all shortly after. The machines with complex rules and the illusion of meaningful choice work best on me :p 4
Towards the end of the night, went to the “Grad student party” which was at the Blush Nightclub there was purportedly free champagne, but instead had $12.50 rum and cokes. It was also very crowded with dull music. We left quickly.
Buying new dress clothes so I can look presentable at the conference - $54
Money lost to gambling -- $12
Cost of two drinks at the Blush Nightclub -- $25
Hearing my former supervisor quote one of the GI Joe internet memes while drinking -- priceless
January 31, 2010, 8:10am Eastern Standard Time
I’m sitting in the Toronto airport waiting for my connecting flight to Halifax now after an all-night red eye flight. I haven’t slept at all, and I’m a bit out of it. All considered though, I’m doing alright.
Last night, I saw “Zumanity” over at the New York New York hotel. It was ... interesting, to say the least. The show was essentially a cross between burlesque and acrobatics. Plenty of nudity and lewd jokes, but also some pretty amazing acrobatic routines, which I probably couldn’t do justice in text. It’s really a “had-to-be-there” sort of thing. At any rate, I suppose I can add “saw a lewd Las Vegas show” to my list of life experiences, at least. Anyway, I caught a cab home back to the hotel from there. Flagging down a cab is surprisingly easy, even if you’re just on the side of the road, though you have to jump in quick because of traffic 0.o.
I didn’t really do all that much on the 30th. Went to a couple of good symposium talks (and one snoozer), and chatted with various people about their research in the poster session. I also talked to one of Dan McAdams’ students at length too, which was exciting. Dan McAdams is a researcher I really admire, and really inspired my dissertation research. It’s kind of like meeting a friend of a celebrity in my field :p Our specific research field is really very tiny, so it’s always nice to find someone doing similar work.
I also met up with another colleague that is working at St. Mary’s University as an instructor now, and we chatted and wandered the conference for a while, which was nice. I ran into so many people that I knew at the conference! It’s a nice change of pace. These conferences become more and more like social events as the years go on. Anyway, also did some gambling (penny slots again and some roulette) only losing about $1.50 total all day (I was rocking the roulette, and got out while I was still ahead :p). That puts me $13.50 in the hole for gambling, which, all considered, isn’t that bad given that it amounted to hours of entertainment.
After shopping for a few souvenirs, we took a limo back to the airport (there were 7 of us at the time, so it was cheap). Like everything in Vegas, it was over the top with light-up drinking glasses, a TV and pumping club music inside. Once we got to the airport, there were four of my colleagues left and two hours to kill because security was surprisingly quick. We wanted to find somewhere to get drinks, but there wasn’t even an open bar in the airport at 9:30pm! Evidently the loose social behaviour in Vegas doesn’t apply to the airport, because drinking in the terminal is not allowed except in the bars that close before elementary students go to bed (there are, however, slot machines in the airport, which I guess counts for something). To console myself, I bought a bottle of Myers Rum from the duty free shop for $15 to enjoy at a later date - pretty nice since I can’t buy it in Halifax.
So ... yeah. I was starting to feel a bit over-stimulated by the end. Yet, at the same time, I feel like I should have done more! Las Vegas is quite the place, nowhere quite like it. But I’ll be glad to get home.
January 29, 2010: 1:00pm, Pacific Standard Time
So. Vegas. To give you a brief picture of this city ... I arrive in the airport, and while waiting for my baggage, I’m accosted by an explicit video ad for a strip club, and a poster with a busty blonde woman toting a rifle which invites me to “fire a real machine gun” at their gun shop. Along the street there are what look to be newspaper receptacles. Except in Vegas, they’re catalogues for prostitutes. There also seems to be what I can only describe as hooker trading cards littering the ground everywhere. Also, drinking outside on the sidewalk is legal, which still seems weird no matter how often I see it. The buildings are almost cartoonish in appearance; sometimes I feel like I’ve stepped into a real-life ToonTown - it’s surreal, to say the least.
My poster arrived safe and sound, but Air Canada misplaced my suitcase in Montreal. *sigh* Well, I was most worried about the poster, so it could be worse. I just got my suitcase back 15 min ago, so kudos for them rushing it off to me, at least. Next time, I’m packing extra clothes in my carry-on.
The Riviera Hotel is ... kind of a dive, actually. It’s old, smells like musty smoke and the casino is pretty empty most of the time. And the serving girls are ... um ... not attractive, but very scantily clad. Awkward. Definitely wouldn’t recommend the hotel for anyone. I’ve been bumping into colleagues from Laurier all day (grad students, former supervisors, etc.) and chatting a bit. I was invited to go out for drinks with the Laurier crew; about a dozen people, all said and done. It was admittedly pretty fun to see my former supervisors drunk and letting loose a bit. Also, though it’s not on the menu, if you ask for it, they’ll make you a “Scorpion,” which is 6 shots mixed with fruit punch in a giant glass. I didn’t partake (beer was fine for me, even if it is American) but just knowing that they’ll serve you a veritable fishbowl of alcohol here warms my heart a bit.
Gambled a little bit on the penny slots so far; lost about $12 or so, which isn’t bad given that it killed about an hour and a half. I was up $6 at one point, but (naturally) lost it all shortly after. The machines with complex rules and the illusion of meaningful choice work best on me :p 4
Towards the end of the night, went to the “Grad student party” which was at the Blush Nightclub there was purportedly free champagne, but instead had $12.50 rum and cokes. It was also very crowded with dull music. We left quickly.
Buying new dress clothes so I can look presentable at the conference - $54
Money lost to gambling -- $12
Cost of two drinks at the Blush Nightclub -- $25
Hearing my former supervisor quote one of the GI Joe internet memes while drinking -- priceless
January 31, 2010, 8:10am Eastern Standard Time
I’m sitting in the Toronto airport waiting for my connecting flight to Halifax now after an all-night red eye flight. I haven’t slept at all, and I’m a bit out of it. All considered though, I’m doing alright.
Last night, I saw “Zumanity” over at the New York New York hotel. It was ... interesting, to say the least. The show was essentially a cross between burlesque and acrobatics. Plenty of nudity and lewd jokes, but also some pretty amazing acrobatic routines, which I probably couldn’t do justice in text. It’s really a “had-to-be-there” sort of thing. At any rate, I suppose I can add “saw a lewd Las Vegas show” to my list of life experiences, at least. Anyway, I caught a cab home back to the hotel from there. Flagging down a cab is surprisingly easy, even if you’re just on the side of the road, though you have to jump in quick because of traffic 0.o.
I didn’t really do all that much on the 30th. Went to a couple of good symposium talks (and one snoozer), and chatted with various people about their research in the poster session. I also talked to one of Dan McAdams’ students at length too, which was exciting. Dan McAdams is a researcher I really admire, and really inspired my dissertation research. It’s kind of like meeting a friend of a celebrity in my field :p Our specific research field is really very tiny, so it’s always nice to find someone doing similar work.
I also met up with another colleague that is working at St. Mary’s University as an instructor now, and we chatted and wandered the conference for a while, which was nice. I ran into so many people that I knew at the conference! It’s a nice change of pace. These conferences become more and more like social events as the years go on. Anyway, also did some gambling (penny slots again and some roulette) only losing about $1.50 total all day (I was rocking the roulette, and got out while I was still ahead :p). That puts me $13.50 in the hole for gambling, which, all considered, isn’t that bad given that it amounted to hours of entertainment.
After shopping for a few souvenirs, we took a limo back to the airport (there were 7 of us at the time, so it was cheap). Like everything in Vegas, it was over the top with light-up drinking glasses, a TV and pumping club music inside. Once we got to the airport, there were four of my colleagues left and two hours to kill because security was surprisingly quick. We wanted to find somewhere to get drinks, but there wasn’t even an open bar in the airport at 9:30pm! Evidently the loose social behaviour in Vegas doesn’t apply to the airport, because drinking in the terminal is not allowed except in the bars that close before elementary students go to bed (there are, however, slot machines in the airport, which I guess counts for something). To console myself, I bought a bottle of Myers Rum from the duty free shop for $15 to enjoy at a later date - pretty nice since I can’t buy it in Halifax.
So ... yeah. I was starting to feel a bit over-stimulated by the end. Yet, at the same time, I feel like I should have done more! Las Vegas is quite the place, nowhere quite like it. But I’ll be glad to get home.