I was reading The Count of Monte Cristo on the plane during the flight to Las Vegas. In the book there is a scene set in Rome during a carnival. Everyone is wearing masks. These masks allow people to do whatever they desire — even if it is outside what is morally or socially acceptable in Rome. They are emboldened due to the anonymity provided by the mask.
Las Vegas reminded me of this carnival. Instead of putting on a mask to hide your activities from your neighbors, you are traveling to a different city. The atmosphere was very similar to the carnival. People are encouraged to throw aside their inhibitions. It is a place where it is completely normal to see “hundreds of thousands of rhinestones, covering practically nothing.”
Comments
We were in Vegas in May (we both have family there) and were constantly struck by the waste of money--how much it must have taken to build even just the outsides of the casinos (of course they have paid for themselves several times over by now), and by how easy it is to throw your money away there even if you aren't gambling. It is a fantasy world of sorts, but pulls in millions that in reality could be used to do so much good. It's a very sad place, really, a striking example of the deception and allure of the world that satan uses to draw our attention away...nevertheless we had a great time there!! Hope you did too, when you weren't pining away after your lovely wife...
Posted by: Jess on Monday, June 27, 2005
I was there for two evenings (one on either end of the field test). The expense they went to build these hotels/casinos certainly is amazing. I stayed at the MGM Grand. There was a flat screen television built into the mirror of the bathroom so that I could watch the news while brushing my teeth. It's a nice feature for anyone who likes to shave while watching Katie Couric be perky in the morning.
Posted by: CJ Costello on Monday, June 27, 2005
I was down close to New Orleans a couple of summers ago (about the time of Mardi Gras) and was similarly amazed. Everything is just out in the open...no guilt or conscience or anything.
Posted by: David on Tuesday, June 28, 2005
how apt these words are! i had to look up "hundreds of thousands of rhinestones"--it's ad copy, isn't it? and 'carnival' is just the right word...
i think places like that are examples of evil overplaying its hand...
Posted by: kiki on Tuesday, June 28, 2005
In the lobby of the hotel there was a giant television the size of the ones you would see in a baseball or football stadium. On it they were constantly playing ads for different shows and amusements - at a sound volume level you might expect at a sports stadium also. I think this might have been from one of the ads on it.
Posted by: CJ Costello on Tuesday, June 28, 2005