In February, about 50 dead rabbits were discovered on the
grounds of a mental health facility where bunny dumping has been going on for
years. Local rescue groups are still working to move any remaining rabbits off the grounds and are in need of animal carriers, water bottles, and
donations.
With Easter coming up this weekend, it seems like the right
time to talk about our rabbit problems.
Bunnies on the grounds of a local park
Bunny dumping has been a problem in Las Vegas for a long
time. I’m not talking about the wild rabbits you see when you’re out hiking.
The bunnies I’m talking about were once someone’s pet, right up until the point
when their person decided to abandon them. These bunnies aren't able to fend for themselves. For some time now, volunteers have been feeding and caring for rabbits at dump sites throughout Las Vegas and doing their best to adopt them out when possible (a rigorous screening process is involved).
Volunteers with Bunnies Matter were shocked to discover the dead
rabbits at the mental health facility last month. Poisoning initially was the suspected
cause of death, but autopsies revealed it was brunt force trauma, enough to
break ribs. Someone was unspeakably cruel to these bunnies, who were accustomed
to humans.
Two days before the dead rabbits were found on February 18,
the mental health facility passed around notices that the Nevada Department of Health had declared the bunnies a health hazard. (During the autopsies, the
bunnies tested negative for tularemia, one of the serious diseases the rabbits
were alleged to have. Prior to this point, there were no concerns voiced about
the rabbits carrying disease.) Further,
the notice said people were barred from feeding the rabbits and that the state
planned to relocate them. No one from Bunnies Matter had been told anything
about these new developments.
Interestingly, the facility itself had originally released
rabbits on the grounds, thinking it would be soothing for the residents. They neglected
to spay or neuter the rabbits, and so they wound up with a rabbit problem, exacerbated
by bunny dumpers.
After the dead rabbits were found, bunny rescuers sprang
into action, working diligently to move the remaining rabbits off the grounds. (At
its peak population, this dumpsite had about 1,000 rabbits.) When I spoke to
Stacey Taylor of Bunnies Matter a couple of weeks ago, her group was still
working hard to get all of the rabbits moved from the area. She said that baby
bunnies who had been in burrows waiting for their moms had started to come out,
likely looking for food since Mom had not come back.
With Easter right around the corner, there are unfortunately
a lot of bunnies who will wind up homeless after they become too big or too
much of a bother. That’s when a bunch of them will wind up being dumped
somewhere.
If you think a rabbit will make a fun Easter gift for the
kids, please rethink. Bunnies requite a lot of attention and care. They like to
chew on things. They get bored easily. If you’re thinking of getting a bunny, I
urge you to do some research on what’s involved with caring for them. Better
yet, I strongly urge you to reconsider and simply buy a stuffed animal instead.
Even better, visit some real bunnies at one of the adoption events Bunnies Matters hosts, and then make a donation. They're at the PetSmart on West Charleston every Saturday. Drop off a carrier and
a water bottle. Click over to the Bunnies Matter Amazon Wish List, and send
them something. Don't give bunnies as gifts this Easter--give the bunnies the gifts instead!
PETA is offering a$5,000 reward for the identification of the people responsible for the 50
rabbit deaths. The Nevada Capitol Police, a state agency, is also investigating
the bunny killing.
Have you seen the
dumped bunnies around Las Vegas? If you're not in Las Vegas, do you have a bunny dumping problem in your city? Unfortunately, many places do.
Last summer my son announced he wanted to find a place to
see the solar eclipse in full totality. Since last year’s eclipse was the first
one in 38 years and another won’t occur in North America until
2024, I agreed this was a great idea. Here in Las Vegas, you could only see the
eclipse with special glasses, but there was a swath across the middle of the
country where the eclipse would briefly turn day into night.
I thought about what
a fun trip it would be for the two of us, but August turned out to be a rotten
time for me to travel. Instead, I helped him plan his first trip alone. I mean,
it was time. He’s over 18, and the world awaits.
After checking on air fare to several cities in the path of
full totality, we settled on St. Louis, Missouri.
Next, we had to deal with a few age-related issues. Although
he’s over 18, he’s under 21.
For transportation, we quickly settled on a combination of
public transportation and Uber. Car rental was out of the question because he
doesn’t drive, and even if he did you need to be at least 21 to rent a car.
His first hotel choice was a place that required guests to
be over 21 (no exceptions, he was told by a very unhelpful hotel manager), but
we found a much better deal on Airbnb -- $100 less per night. I also liked the
Airbnb because I thought it was better for him to have a homier place to stay
since he was new to the city and traveling alone. Plus, he could get some insight
from the hosts about St. Louis.
I asked him to write about his first trip, and here’s what
he had to say.
Myflight left at 0045
and arrived at 0830, with an hour layover in Minneapolis. The first leg of the
flight was miserable. For the first 30 minutes, I couldn’t figure out how to
recline my chair, and I was afraid to move around too much and accidentally
bump into anyone. After a while I was able to figure out how to get that extra
two degrees I so desperately needed. However, reclining the back of the seat
moved the seat bottom forward, making the situation worse. Essentially it felt
like holding the iron chair position for three hours and forty-five minutes.
He was not impressed
with the Minneapolis airport.
Low drop ceilings, unnaturally humid, whole place smelled
strongly of eggs, not in a good way. Rubbery, unseasoned, microwaved eggs. The
men's bathroom had not been cleaned in 81 days according to the counter next to
the door.
Next, onward to St.
Louis.
My flight into St. Louis wasn't much better. They had a guy
with just a crescent wrench and a pair of pliers fixing something on the plane
right before takeoff, and the intercoms only emitted static. Very comforting
when you're supposed to be flying 10,000 feet up and right before you take off
they have to send in someone who looks more equipped to fix toilets, not
airplanes. However, I lived with only minimal spinal cord injuries.
Upon arrival in St.
Louis, he walked for what felt like a very long distance before finding the
MetroLink train he needed. After successfully boarding his first public
transportation of any kind (in any city), he was underway.
As the train ran along right beside the freeway, I was
feeling pretty good. Then we got to our fist stop. A toothless woman, who was
either old or had a drug problem (I would guess the latter), covered in what
looked like a lot of surgery scars sat down across from me. She immediately
began talking loudly on a cell phone about how stressed she was because she was
trying to sell a bottle to Sarah, but Sarah didn’t show up. Or something like
that. During her conversation, she stood up and sat down repeatedly. After a
few rounds of musical chairs, she settled into what I would call an ambush
crouch. I was very happy to get off the train and find myself in a nice
university campus with bike cops and “no smoking outside” signs.
His Airbnb was in a
historic home, circa 1895, and he was excited to see it. The hosts had agreed
to let him drop his bags off before check-in time so he could go see the
eclipse without his backpack.
I walked to my Airbnb to drop off my bags, but I couldn't
get into the door for the floor with the storage closet. (Turns out it was
actually a push door with a very strong return spring, not a pull door with a
sh*tty handle like I thought. Apparently fire code regulations about which way
doors open weren't around in 1895). I had to get going, so I just took my bag
with me and called an Uber so I could go get some food before heading out to
see the eclipse.
He had lunch at a
place called Cafe Ventana, one of the restaurants recommended in his Airbnb’s
house manual. Then it was off to Jefferson Barracks Park for the eclipse viewing
party.
After a long walk from the Uber drop-off point, I got to the
music and food trucks and found a hillside to sit on for a while.
I eventually
found a spot right next to the stage, where two photographer dudes (PMT Photography) from Boston
were taking pictures of the sun. I asked one man about his camera and we talked
for a minute before I went back to the tree I had staked out. I relaxed until
the eclipse was at about 75% then I moved out into the clearing next to the
photographer. A random group of people gathered--a dude with a lot of tattoos,
a guy and his girlfriend, me, and the photographers. We all watched the eclipse
together.
Here’s Cameron’s video of the eclipse.
I headed back to Cafe Ventana for a cup of coffee and to
contemplate what I was going to do next. I sat down in one of their giant,
wonderfully comfortable leather chairs and looked down to discover I had no
watch on my wrist. Immediately, I opened the Uber app and got a hold of the
driver, who turned right back around and brought me my watch. That driver was
one of the nicest people I’ve met.
After some deliberation, I decided to go to Pi Pizzaria. It
was the best pizza I’ve had in my life. I looked out the front windows while I
was eating, and I saw a sedan drive past with a dude sitting on the front
passenger quarter panel, smoking a cigarette and pointing forwards. I wish I
could have gotten a picture.
My room wasn’t quite ready yet, so I dropped off my
left-over pizza at the Airbnb’s fridge and walked over to the Cathedral Basilica. I wandered around their mosaic museum for a while, then went back upstairs
to take pictures of the mosaics on the ceiling, but mass started so I had to
leave. Lucikly, my room was ready by the time I got back.
My modest room had a Murphy bed, a desk, and a wardrobe. It
felt like I was in a Mark Twain novel.
Back at the Airbnb, he
took a shower and watched some YouTube before falling hard asleep. I woke him
up when I called at 8 p.m., and he was too groggy to chat for long.
His plans for the next
day included renting a bike to explore Forest Park and spending some time at
the St. Louis Arch before catching an afternoon flight back home. But, as
happens when you travel, his plans changed.
I woke up at 0630 the next day to heavy rain. I was a little
worried it might affect my flight back home, but the weather cleared up. It did
screw up my bike rental plans, though. So, Plan B. I went to see the Arch.
At the ticket trailer outside the Arch, they told me the
only tickets available were for 1700. I'd be long gone by then. Still cautiously optimistic, I went into the
Arch’s underground visitor center/gift shop. A greeter asked me if I was there
for a ride to the top. I explained that I couldn’t get a ticket, and he said
since I was early, I might be able to still get on since I’d shown up right
after they opened. So I talked to the ticket lady inside, who called the boss,
who apparently said “no.” Plan C was to go to the Arch’s museum, but it was under
construction. So I bought a horrendously overpriced umbrella in the gift shop and walked outside
to see that the rain had stopped for the most part. For a moment I thought
about throwing the umbrella in the Mississippi River, but decided against it
since it was still raining a little bit.
Next, he returned to
the comfy chairs at Cafe Ventana and came up with Plan D: visit the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park.
I took about 500 pictures there, so about 200 in focus. I hung out there as late as I could, and I still didn’t get to see everything in as much detail as I would have liked.
When it was time to leave, I walked around Forest Park for
about fifteen minutes before attempting to call Uber. That’s when my phone
decided to have no service, even after a restart. Luckily, public WiFi is
everywhere now, so I was still able to get an Uber to the airport.
When the hubby and I picked him up later that day, he was
tired and happy to be home. Returning home after an adventure is one of the
best parts of a trip. You’re tired but full of things to share. When you travel
solo, you also feel a sense of victory at having successfully made it there and
back. It’s one of my favorite feelings.
_______________
Did you get to see the eclipse in 2017? Have you ever been
to St. Louis?
Trying to keep your New Year’s fitness resolution? AquaMermaid
classes put you in a mermaid tail and are a fun way to
get a killer workout.
Anna Yatsko, AquaMermaid Instructor and former Silverton Aquarium Mermaid, making mermaiding look easy
If you’re diligently trying to stick to a fitness plan for
2018, let me give you a suggestion for any flabby middle parts you’re working
on: take AquaMermaid classes. Yes, you get to wear a tail (a.k.a stylish monofin), not only to stay
true to being a mermaid, but also because that tail is the key to really
working your core. Between the tail holding your legs together and the
resistance of the water, your abdominal muscles are in for a wake-up call.
I got to see the AquaMermaids in
action back in October, when their Las Vegas operation came online at the Municipal Pool on Bonanza in Downtown Las Vegas.
I had recruited a volunteer mermaid
to come with me as my appointed Person in a Swimsuit, but she cancelled at the
last minute. I briefly contemplated putting on the tail myself and getting in
the water, then I remembered that I never appear in a swimsuit in public. (Also,
it’s very difficult to take pictures while swimming and my Nikon isn’t
waterproof. Any excuse will do to keep me out of the water, honestly.)
Although I have a strict
no-swimwear policy, I’ll admit that when I met everyone at AquaMermaid, I wished
I’d brought a suit. Their merpeople come in all shapes and sizes, and everyone was
welcoming.
A local vlogger, Jacob Orth of the
YouTube channel Jacob’s Life in Las Vegas, was also at the class I attended.
Unlike me, he was brave enough to put on the tail and get in the water. As it
turned out, the biggest tail they had was bright pink, but Jacob was such a
good sport that he appeared not to mind at all. Watching him get lessons really
illustrated what a workout this is: he’s a very fit individual, and he was
definitely working hard.
Jacob Orth getting instructions from AquaMermaid founder Marielle Chartier Henault
In an interview with the RJ, AquaMermaid’s
founder, Marielle Chartier Henault, said that there’s a swim test before people
can participate. Based on what I saw, that’s a good idea. The fun factor could
easily convince you to overlook the physical demands of the class. While it
becomes immediately obvious that mermaiding works your core, it’s worth noting
that this activity will work your entire body plus provides what looked like butt-kicking
cardio workout (or should I say tail kicking?).
AquaMermaids in action
Anna Yatsko, AquaMermaid Instructor
Classes for kids and adults currently are offered on
Saturdays, and you can sign up online. Single classes are listed on the website,
but ask about monthly subscriptions if you’d like to make putting on the tail a
regular thing. They also do parties for kids and adults.
On September 26, 2017, the first RC model of a Vietnam Era EB-66C
made its maiden flight on the dry lake bed in Eldorado Valley, Nevada. The model’s
flight was the culmination of nearly two years of work by a volunteer team of
13 people, a labor of love created in tribute to the veterans who flew the
actual planes in wartime.
The first thing you notice about the EB-66C model is its
size. Second, it's incredibly detailed.
On launch day, I walked up to the model as Tony Accurso, John Morgan, and their team were busily working on last-minute preparations. This 1/8 scale model has a wing span close to ten feet and a
body length of nine and half feet--it's big. Every part of the model is astonishingly
detailed, especially the cockpit. The team had only photographs to go on and used
them to make a 3D printing of the cockpit, which was then hand painted. It even
includes tiny maps of Southeast Asia. Tony and John led the team
who built the model, and they describe themselves as “a little obsessive.”
With the launch imminent, it was an all-hands-on-deck
moment. While the team worked on the final adjustments, USAF pilot and retired
Lt. Colonel Robert Stamm looked on. He flew reconnaissance missions in the
EB-66C in Vietnam, and he and his wife were both there to see the model take
flight. He commented on how accurate the model was.
When the model was ready, the team positioned it for takeoff
on the lake bed. “Everybody step back,” Tony told the assembled group. “I don’t
want to be distracted by the cameras clicking.”
All of us dutifully retreated, and the EB-66C taxied along before
lifting itself into the air. The desert mountains in the background had just
started catching light, and the solar array in the distance almost looked like
a lake.
***
Tony became fascinated with the EB-66C when he saw the 1988
movie “Bat*21,” which was based on actual events. In the movie, the main character (Lt. Colonel Iceal "Gene"
Hambleton, played by Gene Hackman) is the sole survivor when his plane is shot
down in North Vietnamese territory. A massive operation takes place to rescue
him. It was a film (and an airplane) that stuck with Tony as a young airman--and remained with him.
Years later, retired vets Tony and John discovered there were
no RC models of the EB-66C. An 18-month project was born, and it was completed
entirely with donated time and funds. The team decided not to accept corporate
funding because it wasn’t in tune with the mission they’d given themselves: to
honor the men who had flown the plane.
The entire model plane world followed the build, but they
weren’t the only ones interested in the storied airplane. Tony contacted the B-66
Association and found Vietnam vets like Lt. Colonel Stamm. I heard about the flight from friends of mine, Diane Ciz and her husband, retired Major George Ciz, who flew 144 missions as an EWO (Electronic Warfare Officer).
Retired Lt. Colonel Robert Stamm in background. He was an EB-66C pilot during Vietnam.
***
“You lost a wheel,” someone said right after the takeoff,
but Tony was too busy steering the plane through the sky to say anything.
Tony said he had to remember to fly the model just like the
real plane, with a long, shallow climb. The real EB-66C was not a powerhouse of
speed, and neither was the model. It was, however, an incredible sight.
The plane slowly circled around us twice, then bounced down in
a touch and go, soared back up into the sky, and made one more loop before
setting back down roughly, skidding a little before coming to a stop. After the
dust settled, the team walked out to retrieve the plane, which was sitting
slightly askew because of its missing wheel, but that was the only damage.
The flight was a success and truly met its mission to be a tribute to those who served on the EB-66C.
You can see the entire video of the flight here:
_________
Special thanks to Tony Accurso for allowing me to be there
for the flight and to George and Diane Ciz for letting me know about the EB-66C
model project.
Kudos to the team who put the EB-66C together:
Tony Accurso, Evelyn Accurso, John Morgan, Brenda Morgan, Kirby Morgan, Wade Joos, Birger de la Pena, Scott Ramirez, James Klassen, Chris Wolfe, Chad Veich, Gary Gioia, and Karen Gioia.
All pictures by Terrisa Meeks. I'll be posting more pictures from the flight on my Flickr page soon.
I’m surprised someone hasn’t created an app yet to track
sightings of O.J. Simpson, who was recently released from prison and is now
living near the Red Rock Country Club.
Allegedly, O.J. Simpson wants to move to Florida, but while
he’s trying to get that figured out, he’s taken up residence in Summerlin.
While I commend O.J. on his taste in neighborhoods, I have to say it was bizarre
to see him strolling around the Tivoli Village Farmers Market last Saturday. I
totally forgot to buy half the things I needed.
He’s just as gracious as you’ve heard. When I first saw him,
I spotted him because of the small group of people standing around him taking
pictures. I recognized O.J. immediately. While I could’ve easily walked right up
to him and asked for a photo, I didn’t... because: a) I was raised not to
bother celebrities in public, regardless of how infamous they might be; and b)
it just felt wrong.
Instead, I snapped a pic from a distance--but he had seen
me and smiled and waved for my picture. And yes, I smiled and waved back. He’s
charming, even from a distance and even if you know all about his history.
Now, the new game in town seems to be who can spot O.J.
while he’s out and about. If I had spent nine years in a prison in Northern
Nevada, I would be outside every chance I got, no matter how many people took
pictures of me. Apparently O.J. feels the same way because social media and
local news have had a steady stream of O.J. Sightings. Apparently he likes
Grape Street up in DTS and Wahoo’s over at Boca Park. Considering how many
great restaurants Summerlin has, I imagine he’ll find plenty of places to try.
I’ve heard from at least one person who plans to go out this
weekend in pursuit of an O.J. Sighting. I don’t think he'll have to
look too hard.
Summerlin and Brentwood could be cousins, ambiance-wise, which makes me
wonder if that’s part of the reason O.J. seems to feels so comfortable here. We even have a Rockingham Drive. (Random Factoid: Simpson’s L.A. home on
Rockingham Avenue--the house we all saw on TV--was demolished in 1998.)
While it’s incorrect that the Las Vegas jury or judge had
any “payback” in mind with the robbery verdict, O.J.’s incarceration for robbery was related to the murders, if you think about it. While he was acquitted of the criminal charges, he was
found liable in a civil lawsuit and was ordered to turn over assets to go toward the $33.5 million the Brown and Goldman families were awarded. O.J. and his
pals hid his assets to avoid turning them over. He claimed the items he was “recovering”
here in Vegas were stolen from him, which is obviously debatable considering his scheme to hide property. Pursuing legal actions to get the items back would have subjected them to the dreaded turnover order. Had he not been trying to
avoid the order, he probably wouldn’t have had a reason to rob anyone.
And if he would have taken the plea deal he was offered for
the robbery, he would have been sentenced to about 30 months.
He could have been out working on his golf game a whole lot
sooner.
###
Would you take a picture with O.J? Leave your answer in the
comments.
I was downtown today and stopped at the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health to take photos of its signature twisty Frank Gehry design, including inside its incredible event center.
________________________ All photos by Terrisa Meeks
Visit a farmers market and you’ll never want to buy
tasteless grocery store produce again (I’m looking at you, tomatoes).
I believe the old truism, “Food is medicine,” and as a
result I’ve been spending more time at farmers markets lately. Eating more fruits and veggies is a good idea
no matter where you buy them, but if you want produce at the peak of its taste
and nutritional value, farmers markets are the way to go.
Tivoli Village Farmers Market
You can find farmers markets throughout the week at a
variety of places in the Las Vegas valley. While most of the produce comes from
California, you’ll find locally produced honey, eggs, herbs, and micro-greens. These
markets are small in comparison to what you’ll find in greener areas, so if you're looking for something on the scale of a farmers market in California or Oregon, dial down your expectations.
Since
we’re in the desert, much of the food at our farmers markets comes from further
away than the locavore’s gold standard of being produced within 100 miles--but
the 400 miles between Vegas and Fresno is far less than the miles most produce travels
before hitting the grocery store shelves. It’s also been allowed to ripen
before being picked, which is why it all tastes so good.
Summertime’s bounty of fruits has just passed us, but we’ll
soon see apples and citrus (as my favorite fruit vendor told me a couple of
weeks ago). Can’t wait. My family is so excited to find out what fresh apples
taste like.
Another way to get fresh produce is to pick it yourself at Gilcrease Orchard, or sign up for
a CSA,
which is a subscription-type service from a community farm. You can pick up
local eggs and honey on weekends at The
Farm, which is also an animal rescue, and you can check with the Vegas Roots Community Garden to
see what they have for sale.
I have to warn you: if you start shopping at farmers markets
and local farms/gardens, be prepared to work it into your weekly schedule.
Grocery store produce will start tasting like cardboard in comparison. Trust
me. I tried to make pico de gallo with grocery store tomatoes, and it just made
me sad. They were tasteless, watery, sorry excuses for tomatoes. Once your
taste buds get used to fruits and veggies with actual flavor, there’s no going
back.
* * *
Here’s my current list of Las Vegas farmers markets. Keep in
mind that hours and locations may change, and weather is a factor for most
markets. Some markets may also close for winter and/or winter holidays. If you have corrections or additions, please leave them in the comments:
On the night of October 1, 2017, a gunman unleashed the
equivalent of machine gun fire into a crowd of 22,000 people who were gathered
on the Las Vegas Strip for a country music festival. For 10 minutes, he fired in bursts. At the time of this post, 58 people are dead and nearly 500 injured. Some remain in critical condition.
The gunman, Stephen Paddock, used his suite on the 32nd
floor of Mandalay Bay as a sniper’s perch to carry out this mass murder. He
killed himself before Metro’s SWAT team blew the door open. His motives are
still unknown. Details continue to emerge at each new press conference.
In the aftermath, the city remains in shock.
Like many people in Las Vegas, I woke up on Monday to
messages from friends and family who wanted to know if I was O.K. Their
messages sent me to the television, and from that point on, everything has felt
very weird.
The magnitude of this crime is hard to get your mind around.
I’m still struggling.
Many people want to know what they can do. The blood banks currently
are stocked due to an overwhelming turnout of donors (although it's worth noting that United Blood Services has pointed out that blood will be an ongoing need). Ditto for donations of
water and food to the Red Cross and the assistance center set up at the
Convention Center, but you can visit Clark County's Emergency Information Page to find out where else you can donate and volunteer. Vegas Seven's page also has a listing of needs--Metro's Enterprise Area's Command is "In needs of lots of coffee," for instance. You can donate to the GoFundMe that Commission Chair Steve Sisolack and Sheriff Joe Lombardo started. Its initial goal was to
raise a few hundred thousand dollars for the victims and their families, and it's now close
to $10 million dollars. That’s not counting the $3 million that MGM Resorts
has pledged.
Because I, too, like to be helpful, I’m going to suggest two
things everyone can do that are free and can be done from the comfort of your home.
#1 - Don’t contribute to the spread of fake news and
conspiracy theories.
By early afternoon on Monday, I had to go for a walk to take
a break from the news. While I was walking, I overhead a woman on the phone
telling someone she was sure the shooting was some kind of government
conspiracy. I’ve seen stories online insisting there was more than one shooter.
I even heard conjecture about whether or not the gunman was actually dead, but
that was before the crime scene photos were leaked. Please, don’t spread these stories.
I don’t personally know the people who are investigating
this heinous crime, but I know the kind of people they are because I worked for
Metro for 22 years. I know every piece of evidence is being carefully collected
and cataloged. I can’t even imagine how long the crime scene analysts must have
worked on the concert grounds. It’s mind boggling to think of the size of the
scene and how many locations were involved. The pictures I saw of the concert
grounds reminded me of a debris field from an airplane crash, although not as
large and with one notable exception: instead of body pieces, there were whole
bodies littering the grounds. It’s incomprehensible.
The authorities are working as fast as they can to piece
this all together. In the meantime, don’t spread disinformation. Make sure
you’re posting from a credible news source. Better yet, take a break from
social media and the news--it’s too easy to get sucked into the coverage of
this story and become overwhelmed.
#2 - Be a little extra kind.
While this might seem like a suggestion that applies pretty
much always, it’s particularly relevant in Las Vegas right now. We’re all in
this one together, folks. This tragedy has touched an immense number of people
in the valley and beyond. For all you know, that less-than-efficient grocery
store clerk you got today might have a loved one in critical condition. Or worse.
Anyone on the Strip on Sunday at the time of the shooting
was affected, even those who weren’t at the concert.
One of my husband’s friends was at the Bellagio on Sunday
night when the first wave of 40 or 50 people fleeing the massacre burst into
the casino. A second wave hit, and the Bellagio prepared to put the property on
lock-down, but this man wasn’t having any of that. He’d heard the shooter had a
machine gun, and he had no intention of being herded into a ballroom, which was
in the process of happening. People thought the shooter (or shooters--no one
knew) was on foot and headed in their direction. “I wasn’t going to be a fish
in a barrel,” he said, and he and his friends started looking for ways out of
the hotel.
He and his pals wound up searching for an exit through
employee-only areas, surprising (and scaring) groups of employees they
encountered in the process. Finally finding an exit, he and some of his friends
made their way to the Rio, where he called someone to come get him. Some other members
of his group were separated in the scramble to get out, and those folks spent
the night hiding in a pool-side cabana at Caesars Palace.
Impressively, he still made it to work on Monday morning.
Las Vegas, keep standing strong. In the immortal words of
Chumbawamba:
I get knocked down, but I get up again You are never gonna keep me down
Nothing will keep our city down, not even this heinous
attack.
Keep that middle finger attitude, my friends.
#VegasStrong ____________________ I'm not sure who to credit for this graphic. If anyone knows the original source, please leave it in the comments. You can visit these pages for for more information and resources:
If the neon boulders at Seven Magic Mountains remind you of the colorful rock formations found throughout the Southwestern United States, you understand what the artist had in mind.
Ugo Rondinone’s Seven Magic Mountains inspires strong reactions. I’ve read both derisive comments that question its artistic merit and enthusiastic reviews extolling the giant land art. I recently visited the piece one Sunday afternoon and found the area full of happy people who were snapping pictures and exploring the stacks of boulders. Whatever the detractors may say, the people I saw were enjoying the sight of Seven Magic Mountains, situated with the dry lake bed of Jean on one side and I15 on the other.
So, is Seven Magic Mountains “art”? I’ve read plenty of comments from people who think it’s not. That begs the question: What is art? To me, it’s creative work that inspires, enlightens, informs or delights. For some people, it’s all about technical mastery or technique, and they only see art in things like a Renaissance painting or a Rodin sculpture. That’s the thing about art: it’s subjective. Rondinone took five years to create Seven Magic Mountains, which is built from locally-sourced limestone boulders. According to an interview with the artist in Art News, he took inspiration from hoodoos and the “meditation practice of balancing stones.”
Some of the most striking pictures I've seen of the piece were taken at sunrise or sunset when the towers are standing alone in the desert. But on the day I visited, the presence of people made it feel like a mini-festival. My hubby, our dog Gigi, and I walked from a crowded parking lot down a short desert path filled with a stream of people. A woman in front of us was carrying a little drone, which we later got to watch fly as we walked around the boulders.
Not long after we arrived, a tour helicopter flew in, buzzing in a quick arc around the towers before turning and zipping back toward town.
Nearby on I15, the cars and trucks were speeding by. Despite their 30-35 foot height, the stacks are dwarfed by the vastness of the Mojave, which appeared an obvious metaphor for Las Vegas. I loved seeing people wandering around in the desert, taking pictures of not just Seven Magic Mountains, but of the landscape around them. Whether or not you like Rondinone’s artistry, you have to acknowledge the magnificence of the place where it sits.
Seven Magic Mountains is planned to be on display for two years. It opened May 11, 2016. Background Note: For those who are concerned about taxpayer funds being spent for the project, don’t worry--Jane Ann Morrison at the RJ reported that of the $3.5 million it cost, only $100,000 came from taxpayer monies via the Nevada Commission on Tourism. That makes sense to me, considering the international attention the installation has drawn. The rest of the funds were raised from donations. Have you been to Seven Magic Mountains?
