A few thoughts about Las Vegas:

• I expected Las Vegas to be characterized by 1970s glamour gone to seed, kind of grimy and slightly dangerous. But really its aesthetic is more like a giant shopping mall. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not looking down my nose at the city. It’s just not what I expected.
• The Las Vegas monorail may be a quick and inexpensive way to get from one end of the strip to the other, but it does so by taking you by the most visually uninteresting parts of the city. And the pre-recorded tour information is gratingly chipper.
• The Star Trek bar at the Las Vegas Hilton is a great place to get a Romulan martini. Okay, I made that drink up, but the bar and the whole Star Trek Experience thing is pretty cool. Every once in awhile, someone goes walking by in full costume and makeup, talking in character with the patrons.
• I had hoped to sleep on the flights home–I left at 1:15 a.m. and got back to the apartment at 10:00 a.m.–but alas, this was not to be. For the first time in over thirty years of flying, however, I was bumped up to first class. Very nice. I tried to watch Pieces of April on my laptop to pass the time, but I didn’t think it was that good and gave up after about 45 minutes: too many indie film cliches. The movie they showed on the flight–and why show a movie from 1:15 to 3:45 in the morning?–was Spanglish. Even without the sound on I could tell that movie sucks.
• The Alexis Park Resort is a nice place to stay, but I had a frustrating time with my reservation and billing. Mistakes were made and apologies were not. I may blog about this in more detail, if I have the time and inclination