I’m at LAX, waiting to get on the plane for Vegas for the second Blog World. I don’t like to gamble (hate to lose), so I go to Vegas for the camaraderie (in this instance) and the food. Weird to think that Las Vegas is a culinary destination now, but it is. It’s also strange to be going to Vegas in the midst of an economic meltdown (or not). It was always hard to figure where all those people got the cash for their stacks of hundred dollar chips that disappeared – for almost everyone – into the great maw of the big casino. I wonder if they will be there now. So far we haven’t had any trouble booking at the good restaurants. It wasn’t always that way.
If you’re going to be at Blog World, look me up at Pajamas Media booth – or stop by after my panel… something about politics around noon on Saturday. [I can see you've been boning up. -ed. I've got an hour on the plane.]
UPDATE: Here’s the real reason I’m going to Vegas.
Roger, why don’t you fly out of Burbank and avoid the hassle?!?!
If you believe the AP, cities such as Las Vegas and Reno (featured in the link below) are likely to attract more homeless would-be croupiers than tourists before long — each one forced to live in makeshift “tent cities.”
http://tinyurl.com/3uz6m2
“What you’re seeing is encampments I haven’t seen since the 80′s” as one “advocate” puts it in the article. Pssst, you see, Reagan was in office at the time. Coincidence? Jay? Anybody?
Another executive director of blah-blah-blah bears witness to homeless “acts of militancy” not seen since George H.W. Bush’s term in the early 90′s. Hmmm, I’m sensing a pattern here. Apparently, from Jan. ’93 to Jan. ’01 we all lived in a kite-flying paradise filled with high-paying casino jobs for everybody who wanted one, but now we’re in an “unofficial recession.” It’s “chaos,” really.
More “advocacy” groups will surely turn things around right quick.
Those tents all look like they were purchased at REI with year- end credits. Tell ya what, no self respecting, old-school, hobo would ever spend a night in one of those…regardless of the high-tech fabric.
What Minerva said. Roger, you’re just a hop and a skip away from Burbank. Why fight the 405 south and the madness that is now LAX?
I’ve lived in the eastern half of the San Gabriel Valley for 15 years now, and there is nothing like the relief factor of knowing that I can fly out of Ontario if I need to travel.
Lightnin’, I can believe that the casinos aren’t hiring like they used to, but you are correct to be skeptical of that article. The casinos in Reno have been anemic for a while, and the locals will tell you it’s because of the Indian casinos opening up in Northern California. If those “advocates” want to get militant at anyone, they ought to go all Phil Sheridan on the tribes with card clubs.
As for Vegas, I find it a wonder that the bubble didn’t burst over a decade ago. The infrastructure is taxed to the limit (heavy traffic on I-15 to and from Los Angeles), and rapid growth could not continue indefinitely into the future. They’ll run out of water sooner or later. New casinos in Macau will keep the Asian high-rollers at home. If there are casino workers being laid off now, well, I’m sure a lot of them came to Las Vegas during the boom years just because there were jobs there, from places where there weren’t enough jobs. They’ll just have to repeat the process, leaving Vegas for somewhere else.
Roger, I’m in Vegas for the Blog World Expo and the place is jammed. We drove and it took an hour to get from the I 15 off ramp to the hotel (Venetian). I will see you tomorrow. At least I know one other guy over 30 will be there.
Doug, thats it exactly. Of course I believe there are problems (hell, I live in Michigan…) – just like with the economy in general, indefinite expansion is just not possible. I just hate the way the MSM peppers us with hype about “recession” before we’re actually in one. Also, how the AP only presented views from the socialists who perpetuate and feed off the misery of the underclass they purport to help so selflessly. Many – not all, but many – of these organizations merely exploit the poor in the same way that race hustlers like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton do.
I couldn’t agree more about Burbank and LAX. Normally, I prefer Burbank even if I have to change planes six times. But the Pajamas offices are in El Segundo. I was coming from work.
Roger, having just come home from Blogworld Expo and having met you in person, I can’t wait for Blogworld III. Great time, the Pajamas Booth was exceptional including your interview with Rick Calvert, the organizer and CEO of Blogworld.
If you are a blogger or new media aficionado, you really ought to put this on your calendar for next year.