What Happens In Vegas Stays In Viva Las Fucking Vegas Baby

I think I got all the cliches/free associations wrapped up in the title, except maybe Fear and Loathing in and Leaving. I'm back, a little worse for wear - I've got a bruise the size of a grapefruit on my left calf with a hard thing the size of a golfball in the middle of it, and I can't remember for the life of me how it got there. Oh, and I lost all my gambling money, but I figured I would, so there you go. But it teased me, and I was left with the thrill of the chase and zero payoff, like the entire city exists to cause a massive case of karmic blue balls before it bends you over.

I think everyone has a "defining Vegas moment" where they realize what the city is and more importantly means to them. Mine came while I was still up at the tables, and I went to the Rio to catch Penn and Teller with some co-workers. We wandered through the lobby, and by the bar sat what looked like a gorgeous, backlit ice sculpture of the hotel's logo. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be nothing more than a piece of cheap (hollow) plastic designed to look like ice. They hadn't even taken the effort to remove the seams from the mold. And I thought - and verbally expressed to one of my co-workers - "this is Vegas, right here. Beautiful from a distance, as all shining artificial things are beautiful, but plain and even a little shabby when inspected."

Not like any of this is new, people have been saying this about Vegas for years, but Vegas may be one of the few unique places in the world that defy description and must be singly experienced in all of its sensory-overloading glory. I could tell you all about Stonehenge, and from my description, you'd pretty much understand what it's all about. Vegas may be beyond such. Perhaps that's why there's relatively few books/movies/etc. about Las Vegas as compared to say New York?

The long and the short if it are, I lost 60, was up 40, and then lost everything. The last part of that took about 25 minutes all told. I had the good sense to walk away, but damn.

I saw shows. I saw Zumanity, the "adult" Cirque du Soleil show, which meant it was Cirque du Soleil with a lot of nudity, male and female, and implied and not-so-implied sex acts of all kinds. I admit it was very good; it was also my first Cirque du Soliel show. The music complimented the performance perfectly. My recommendation is to bring a date, because it's something best experienced with a lover.

Penn and Teller was disappointing. Their TV specials are better, and free.

Vegas itself - I have no desire to go back, but perhaps it will grow on me again, when I have time to forget. It seems the entire city is based around the idea of encouraging negative karma; it has a tendency to wear on the soul a bit.