nerd’s eye view

Elvii

What’s the plural of Elvis, anyway? On the Las Vegas strip I saw three, two talking to each other. Frankly, that doesn’t seem right and it kind of blows the illusion. When the one in the baby blue jump suit is three blocks away from the one in the black rhinestone jumpsuit, it looks like a costume change. But when the one in the rhinestone jumpsuit is talking to the one in the white jumpsuit with the jujitsu jacket, well… Elvis can be in two places at once, sure, as long as they’re not right next to each other.

Also, the Alladin? Not so good. Cute, but no Venice. And Paris? Wow, that was impressive. The Luxor? Not bad. Excalibur? Craptasitc, as advertised. We took the monorail back to the hotel, walking past a place where you can test drive a Hummer over fake terrain to experience the challenges of four wheel drive. Nope, it’s not a dealership, you just get to drive a Hummer for the fun of it - for about ten minutes.

At the Greek restaurant where we ate dinner, Angelo, the waiter, got quite eloquent when I asked him why he would leave Greece’s beautiful coastline to come to Las Vegas, of all places. He told me that I would only understand if I knew something of the world, something of history, and then mentioned Nazis, civil war, crushing poverty…It was the realest thing I’ve experienced since arriving in Vegas.