Peccole Ranch Turf Conversion: Beautiful Common Sense

Las Vegas has been criticized over the years as a water-wasting community, and with good reason. For many years, our community landscaped like we were in Minnesota instead of the Mojave Desert; beautiful, green golf courses and water-hungry residential areas like The Lakes and Peccole Ranch. With the arrival of a prolonged drought, things are starting to look a little different around here.

Peccole Ranch has contracted with Par 3 Landscaping to begin converting turf in some of its common areas. The top two pictures are an area that has been converted to xeriscape. The bottom two pictures (at the end of the post) are an old original section of "greenbelt" just across the street from the new, water-friendly area. Last year during summer, Peccole paid $75,000.00 a month for water--yes, seventy-five thousand dollars, you read that correctly.

Turf conversion makes good sense, both monetarily and environmentally. As you can see, the converted areas are very pretty. The Peccole HOA made a wise decision in the face of increasing water rates and decreasing water availability. They're also taking advantage of the Water District's rebate program, which offers extra incentive to embrace more desert-appropriate landscape. The only drawback I noticed about the converted area was a significant temperature difference between it and the turf-heavy area, but we are in the desert, after all.

It’s Mater Time

Fresh tomatoes from the garden are one of the best things about summer. Last year, our garden went south due to neglect, but this year my hubby took over. Here's his first ripe beefsteak tomato, right before we ate it.

If you like to garden, tomatoes are a sure bet, even here in Las Vegas. Just remember to shade your plants from the most intense afternoon sun. Cherry tomatoes are the easiest to grow; it’s not uncommon to get a second crop of them in the fall. The larger varieties tend to split—they’re still tasty, just not so pretty. And be on the lookout for those well-camouflaged tomato worms/caterpillars. We captured one for observation.

You can visit a large Las Vegas vegetable garden at Gilcrease Orchard, at the corner of Tenaya and Whispering Sands Drive, in the northwest portion of the valley. Visitors pay $3.00 to drive in and pick their own vegetables and fruit.

Kid-Friendly Vegas in the Summer

A Las Vegas parent faces two dilemmas in summer. First, there’s the universal parental question that arises when a child is out of school for any extended length of time: “What the heck am I going to do with this kid?” Second, in the summertime heat of the Las Vegas desert, a parent has to come up with inside things to do. Outside activities are not always an option. Not unless you’re checking to see if you can fry eggs on the cement.

Make sure you have plenty of indoor activities on hand, but get out once in a while or you'll get cabin fever, Las Vegas style. If you’re looking for things to do, a little homework will uncover plenty of kid-friendly activities that involve air conditioning. Click on over to VegasParent.com for ideas, and be sure to check the Friday Review Journal. The Clark County Library District also hosts a variety of programs, most of them free. Of course, be sure to browse through my blog for ideas!

Visit outside destinations early in the morning or late in the day—after dark if it’s very hot. There’s a reason most desert animals are nocturnal. Pack a picnic dinner and make the drive to Spring Mountain Ranch for Super Summer Theater; this month it's "The Buddy Holly Story," next month, "West Side Story." Visit indoor attractions, like museums. I recommend the Atomic Testing Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Lied Children’s Discovery Museum, The Springs, and the Nevada State Museum in Lorenzi Park. If you’ve got a plump budget, check out some of the Strip’s attractions: Mandalay Bay’s Shark Reef, Circus-Circus’s Adventuredome, or Luxor’s Bodies: The Exhibit.
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Picture: My photo taken at the Las Vegas Natural History Museum

Old Mormon Fort Hosting Pioneer Breakfast June 13, 2009

Looking for some family-friendly Las Vegas activities? Visit the Old Mormon Fort, which is located in downtown Las Vegas's Cultural Corridor. Here you'll find the oldest non-native building in Nevada. On Saturday, June 13, the Fort is hosting a Pioneer Breakfast to commemorate the Mormon pioneers' arrival in the Las Vegas Valley. The breakfast will be held from 7:30 a.m. through 10:00 a.m., and there is $5.00 charge per family. Proceeds will benefit the Friends of the Fort, the non-profit group that supports the Old Fort State Park programs and special events.
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Picture information: My photographs taken on the grounds of the Old Fort.

The Interview

Times being what they are, I decided it would be a good idea to look into getting a part-time job. The Las Vegas recession-depression has hit most people I know really hard. My household is no exception. My husband’s construction-dependent trucking business has fallen to levels unlike anything we’ve previously seen. I’ve been self-employed as a writer for eight years, but freelancing can be unstable—and that was true even before so many publications started going out of business. When I saw a CraigsList ad for an evening or weekend receptionist at a retirement community, I applied. I manned a front desk for over ten years when I worked for Metro (and managed front counters and offices for another five years), and a great deal of my work as a freelancer is done on the phone. My writing group is composed of senior citizens, and I’ve been meeting with them once a week for seven years. I felt completely qualified for this job.

I know that to many people, “freelance writer” is synonymous with “creatively unemployed,” or to paraphrase one writer I heard speak, “another mother with a computer.” That’s why in addition to filling out an application, I’d also attached a resume and cover letter about what I’d been doing for the past eight years, with a specifics about my writing business. I’m not sure what the woman who interviewed me thought, but I got the impression she didn’t quite believe I’d written articles and press releases, despite my attachments. She asked me perfunctory questions about my writing, skimming over the first page of my application with a puzzled look and a disbelieving tone to her questions. She asked not a single question about my decades with the police department. She went all the way back to my college education. I last attended college in about 1992, 17 years ago. In my adult life after 21, I’ve had two employers: the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and myself. I thought I was a pretty stable-looking candidate. Of course, if she thought I was lying, that surely eroded the pleasant, experienced image I was hoping to convey.

“So, I see you were a Communications major. What happened there?” I was a bit taken aback by her question. We were going to discuss why I left college almost 20 years ago? What was next, questions about high school? Had she honestly not noticed all those years working for the police department? Perhaps she didn’t believe that, either. I told her that during my last year of college I was caring for an elderly parent and working full time, which had changed my priorities. She asked why I left my last job, and I told her it was to have work that was more flexible, since I’d had a small child at home (given that I was a Communications major, I thought it was obvious why I chose freelance writing). She looked at me disapprovingly, perhaps disbelievingly, kind of like I had just said that I left my last job to join the circus as a fire eater.

“Do you have any experience working with seniors other than your writing group?”

Other than leading a once-a-week writing group for seniors for the past seven years, which included helping three of them write books? Seriously? I smiled and politely said, “That would be the bulk of my experience.”

She had a lot to say about the importance of professional appearance, so much so that I wondered if I had something hanging out that I didn’t know about. The interviewee ahead of me had been wearing a denim skirt and hooker heels, and I was wearing a navy blue suit and white blouse. I thought I did look professional. Maybe Ms. Interviewer assumed that when I wasn’t out trying to deceive innocent retirement home directors, I wore Daisy Dukes and neglected to brush my hair.

I was doing my utmost to be honest, and since things seemed to be going so oddly (okay, badly), I freely admitted that it had been awhile since I’d been on a job interview. “My skills are a little rusty, I’m sure,” I admitted.

“The most important thing is to be yourself,” she said. Who else did she think I was being? That seemed to be the crux of the problem. Maybe she thought I was dishonest, or perhaps over-qualified, but whatever it was, I didn’t get a second interview.

The interviewer told me she had over 60 applications for her two positions, one full-time and one part-time. Apparently, I’m not the only Las Vegan out there looking for a little more stability these day.
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Image courtesy of Sundeip Arora at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1055976

Puppy Mills Are Bad News

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed protestors at Fort Apache and Charleston. They were protesting the pet shop that operates in Boca Park because the shop buys from puppy mills. What's wrong with puppy mills? Pretty much everything. Describing them as inhumane simply isn't enough. Read "Pup My Ride to the Rescue" by Las Vegas author Cathy Scott on the Best Friends Network (a publication of the Best Friends Animal Society) to learn more about puppy mills.

If you want a pet, check with local shelters; if you must have a purebreed, check with rescue groups. Scroll to the end of Cathy's article for links to groups that can help you find a pet.
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Picture by Sarah Ause, Best Friends photographer, from http://network.bestfriends.org/truth/news/34042.html

Hamilton Island Caretaker Announced

Here's Ben Southall, the lucky guy picked for that six-month dream job in Australia. What can I say? I'm speechless with envy.

When Vegas Family Visits

The past month has flown by without a post from the Vegas Girl because I’ve had family in town. I spent most of the month of May cooking, cleaning, and having fun with people I haven’t seen in a long time. When our relatives visit, most of them aren’t interested in going down to the Strip. They all used to live here. None of us are gamblers, nor are we impressed with the glitter of the Strip. If we can work in an evening doing touristy stuff, that’s great, but if not, no one is too upset about it.

During this visit, my niece, Chrissy, was here. She was in Las Vegas for the first time in 17 years, having driven here from Wisconsin with her parents for her brother’s wedding. She and I quickly decided we had to go out for an evening. Anyone who willingly drives thousands of miles across the country with her parents deserves an evening out. Maybe not a “what happens in Vegas” kind of thing, but we needed to get out and see the sights.

On a Friday night, we headed to the Strip and parked at the Treasure Island. Chrissy and I walked out of the front of the casino just after the pirate show had ended, and I was surprised to run into TI security personnel herding people back inside. “Too crowded for you to walk this way,” they told people, preventing anyone from exiting to the Las Vegas Boulevard sidewalk. I wasn’t the only person irked at being shoved back inside when my destination was right in front of me—and definitely not too crowded to navigate—but there wasn’t much we could do but follow the herd back inside the TI. Chrissy and I exited via valet parking and had a nice, long walk to the Strip, past the parking garages and side streets full of cabbies and limos.

We wound up in front of the Mirage just as the volcano was erupting, and Chrissy was thrilled. She left Las Vegas when she was 12, so it wasn’t like she got to spend a whole lot of time out on the town before her family moved to the Midwest. The two of us got busy snapping pictures right away. I don’t get down to the Strip very often, and it was great fun to play tourist in my own town.

Next, we went across the street to the Venetian. It’s one of my favorite new casinos, along with the Mandalay Bay (at the south end of the Strip). Chrissy and I roamed through the Venetian’s shopping mall to see some of Old World Italy alongside New Expensive Las Vegas. At the end of the gondoliers’ canal, a new section has been added to the mall. In the new addition, a collection of umbrellas hangs suspended, staggered below a domed sky light. On the way out, Chrissy and I stopped at photographer Peter Lik’s gallery. His gallery was the only shop we entered. We were drawn inside, mesmerized by Lik’s sharply focused, panoramic scenes that pull you into his landscapes. Looking at a picture of a wooden pier extending far out into a turquoise ocean, Chrissy said, “It looks like you could just jump off the end of that pier into the water.”

We finished wandering through the Venetian just in time to make it back across the street for the Sirens of the TI show. Imagine the Pussycat Dolls with a dash of Pirates of the Caribbean, only with way more emphasis on the half-naked dancing girls. Fortunately, Chrissy and I were closer to the sexy-guy pirate side; oh, so sadly, I really didn’t get any useable pictures of the scantily-clad female sirens. This time we knew we were going to be ushered inside after the show ended, so we proceeded to the car for a drive downtown to see the Fremont Street Experience.

Down on Fremont, Chrissy and I were in pursuit of a Margarita when the casinos turned off their neon, and the overhead light show burst into life. The show featured Kiss, and most of the crowd stopped to stare up at the graphics running the length of the canopy from the edge of Fremont East to the Union Plaza. After the light show, Chrissy and I resumed our search for Margaritas and penny slots. First, we went into the Golden Gate. It’s a small place, and walking straight back takes you to the casino bar and the card tables, which come complete with go-go dancers on poles. Once we saw the dancers, we made a turn around the tables and walked right back out of the Golden Gate. Not the best place for unescorted chicks. We stopped at a bar outside the Four Queens, and we each got a $7.00 Margarita from a bottle-juggling bartender who looked barely old enough to be legal. He made a strong Margarita, though, and on the way back down Fremont, I had to stop drinking mine for fear of drinking too much to drive.

That was our only night out, and we were home not long after midnight. Pretty tame by Vegas standards. When Vegas family visits, we’ve got other things to think about: weddings, barbeques, and pot-luck dinners. I know, I know—most people probably think Vegas family visits are more like an episode of a reality TV show. In the real reality of Las Vegas, that’s just not the case.

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All photographs by Terrisa Meeks.

The Disappearing Loan Trick

In the current economic miasma in which we find ourselves, I take consolation in one thing: we’re all in this big mess together. Whether you are an individual or a business, if you’re in Las Vegas, the odds are that you’ve been hit hard financially. And the entire country is angry about the draconian tactics of many banks, who have decided to continue squeezing credit during the middle of a depression-like recession—despite receiving billions of tax-payer dollars to do just the opposite.

Take the Fontainebleau, for instance. They sued their lender, Bank of America, after it decided it no longer found them credit-worthy and refused to give them money it had previously agreed to loan. I was happy Fontainebleau sued them.

How many people and businesses right now are in this same position, only not to the tune of $800 million? And how many middle class families are in a position to do anything about it? Many individuals and small business are using credit cards to get through these rough times. In response, credit card companies are slashing credit limits without warning (then charging over limit fees) and raising interest rates on customers who’ve done nothing other than use the credit they thought they had. Even consumers whose credit cards have no balance are seeing their credit cut. Jim Randel at The Huffington Post has a great list, “The Ten Sneakiest Credit Card Tricks,” about a whole host of credit card company practices that rob consumers of millions of dollars a year.

John Stossel speaks for the other side, the you-should-have-known-better side. Credit cards, he argues in his recent editorial, “Increasing Banks' Costs Makes It Harder for the Poor,” are preferable to loan sharks, pawn shops, and other similar institutions that loan money to the poor. He says, “Late and over-the-limit fees are unpleasant, but they aren't charged until a cardholder's conduct triggers them.” I’ve got no problem with common-sense rules and regulations, but a $40 late fee and a doubled interest rate for being one day late isn't unpleasant. It's usury.

In the Fountainbleau’s case, their strangled credit line has resulted in lay-offs, which means some of their unemployed workers will be looking to their credit cards to get by this month. When will our financial institutions get a clue? If we fail, they fail, too.
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Picture courtesy of Alexander Korabelnikov at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1136586

Where’s My Crazy Eight Ball?

A great deal of conversation around Las Vegas these days centers on one question: Have we hit bottom? Reading our local newspapers isn’t much of a help, really, because our economy is in uncharted territory. Last Thursday, the Sun reported that Mayor Oscar Goodman has declared that the Las Vegas economy is on the rebound. Pretty much no one agrees with him, but let’s give him points for his positive attitude. On the same page as the story about Mayor Goodman, we have “Shortfall looms large as fire union holds out.” When you’re squabbling about money for firefighters, times are bad.

On Friday, the RJ’s business section wondered, “Could the median price for existing homes in Las Vegas fall to $100,000?” Could that mean people will begin buying houses again? Personally, I think that would be a good thing. Along with the $100,000 question, the RJ ran “Reports cool off hopes of recovery,” “IGT forges ahead despite second-quarter loss,” and “Penn National prospers; tries to quell LV rumors.”

I started looking for my magic eight ball, so I could get some clearer answers, but all I found was a note on the shelf where it used to sit. “Ask again later,” it said. Good grief, for that I could have read the newspaper.
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Picture courtesy of Rodolfo Clix at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/957145

True Las Vegas Ingenuity

Now that the construction business in Las Vegas has fallen to pre-Anasazi levels, we have a surplus of heavy equipment around town. One enterprising Las Vegan came up with a way to put some of it back to work. Michael Price’s new business, Big Dig, can help you connect with your inner construction worker. Last week Las Vegas Sun reporter Brendan Buhler reported on Price’s business in his article, “It’s just fun to crush things.”

For a mere $200, you can spend thirty minutes crushing cars with a bulldozer or excavator. Yuppers, you read that correctly. You fork over two Benjamins, and for half an hour you get to indulge those dreams (you know you’ve had them) of smashing other cars, only instead of plowing through jammed-up traffic on I15 (and then being escorted to jail), you get to crush cars in an empty lot in Henderson. Now THAT’s worth saving up for!

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Picture courtesy of Steve Woods at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1120070

The Las Vegas Sun Wins a Pulitzer

Last week, the Las Vegas Sun won journalism’s highest award, the Pulitzer Prize. Sun writers Alexandra Berzon, David Clayton, and Matt Huffington covered a story that might have gone unnoticed—the death of construction workers on the Strip. Here’s the Sun’s sub-head from last week: “53 stories, 21 editorials, no more deaths.” If you’ve been wondering what the big deal is about newspapers going out of business, then the story of these stories should help you understand. These three journalists saved lives because they wanted to know why nine people died in sixteen months on Strip construction jobs. Here’s what last Tuesday’s Sun said:

“Before the Sun exposed the problems, construction safety had been a nonissue in Las Vegas. Worker deaths were considered the cost of doing business along the Strip, which was in the heat of a $32 billion building boom. Berzon said there was a feeling at the time that there was so much construction happening so fast that ‘of course people were going to make mistakes and die.’ ” Thanks to these reporters, that’s no longer the attitude.

Congratulations to the Sun, and to these dedicated journalists.

The Vegas Girl’s Guide to Drinking

When you’ve lived in Las Vegas your entire life, you eventually learn that the things you accept as normal are often scandalous to people from the blander cities of our great nation. Billboards featuring mostly naked women don’t even register for me, but to a great many letter-to-the-editor writers who moved here from, say, Minnesota, a bare cellulite-free butt is very offensive. Another scandalous-to-others category is drinking, as in adult beverages. If you’ve just moved here from a more sedate state, please let me give you a native’s guide to what’s acceptable in Las Vegas.

Is it noon? Is it noon somewhere on the planet? Yes? Good. Are you working or driving? Responsible for explosives? No? Then you have permission to begin drinking. If you must begin drinking before noon (local time), a mimosa or a Bloody Mary (or a couple, depending upon the crowd) is perfectly acceptable. Downing shots of tequila with your brunch is frowned upon, unless you’re a night worker who has just gotten off shift. In Las Vegas, some people have worked all night and are ready for their daily quota of strong and highly alcoholic beverages at the same time other people are eating bacon and eggs. In our city, this is an acceptable loophole in the official drinking guidelines (which you only receive after living here more than thirty years, so don’t ask because you can’t see them). Also, during the holidays, a nice splash of Bailey’s or Kaluha in your coffee is allowed, as long as you’re not fixing your coffee for the morning commute to work (and as long as “splash” does not really mean “three shots.”)

So, what about the rest of the day? Well, are you having a meal?  Yes? Of course you may drink! (We're not talking about a meal break at work, by the way, tsk tsk!) In Las Vegas, any meal increases the alcohol-consumption acceptability quotient. "Meal," by the way, might be defined in several ways. Is there food available in the general vicinity that might be eaten? Yes? Then you've met the "meal" requirement. And a nice glass of Merlot goes with almost anything and is allegedly good for you. Of course, if you've already indulged in two or more mimosas/Bloody Marys (refer to the section above on whether it's noon or not), then you must subtract points and adjust your drinking downward. The Vegas Girl recommends a non-alcoholic beverage at this point, actually, unless there are extenuating circumstances (death, divorce, etc., in which case disregard everything I’ve said here and drink at will). If you are in the tequila-swilling group that worked all night, you won’t need to worry about the rest of the day because you will be asleep.

During the afternoon and evening, you’re on your own. It’s Las Vegas, after all, and we’ve got booze and slot machines at every corner. Does this mean that Las Vegans drink all day long? No, although I must confess I’ve known several who did. What it means is that if you’ve just moved here from some staid place and you’re shocked to see your Las Vegan neighbor drinking a beer at 3:00 in the afternoon on a Saturday, you’re likely to be shocked quite a lot. Really, though, if you’re shocked by anything, Las Vegas probably isn't for you.
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Picture courtesy of Roger Kirby at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/812039

Keeping Those Vegas Vibes Positive

Finding positive things to write about Las Vegas these days requires concentration. Here are a few of the topics I considered for posts and then discarded as too dreary and depressing: “Dear Credit Card Companies: We Hate You, Too”; “The Bill Collector’s New Approach: Just Don’t Speak English”; and “CraigsList Las Vegas: The Scammers are Alive and Well.”

Before you conclude that the Vegas Girl is steps away from a tent on Foremaster Lane, let me assure you that’s not the case. I don’t actually hate all credit card companies, only the ones who have decided to penalize their best customers before those customers are even late with a payment. I don’t have any bill collectors after me personally, but I had to pitch a huge fit (on paper) to get one of them to understand that the person they were looking for is dead. (Which really hinders your ability to return phone calls and repay bills, by the way.) And the back-and-forth exchanges on CraigsList Las Vegas between unscrupulous would-be employers/scammers and ticked off job seekers can be entertaining.

What’s the good news around Las Vegas? Well, if you believe the growing trickle of we’ve-hit-the-bottom stories, that’s actually a good place to start. Buyers who have funds can get terrific deals on houses; heck, anyone who’s got cash or available credit can get incredible prices on just about anything these days. If we’re sliding backwards in terms of population, does that mean less ugly traffic? Since so much commercial space is open, can we get a Cracker Barrel Restaurant in town so I don’t have to drive to Utah? I admit these are very small points within a larger picture that still needs much improvement. But since we’ve got to start someplace, pick something: Shorter lines at almost every store. Vegetable gardens coming into vogue. Sunny weather. Come on, you can do it. Get your Vegas Vibe back on track.
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Illustration courtesy of jaylopez at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1108723

Las Vegas Twitters

Have you discovered Twitter? Good grief, it's addicting and frustrating, all at the same time! It's the new micro-blogging phenomenon that kept me up late last night figuring it out.

Here's the idea. You create an account and then search by whatever trips your trigger--Las Vegas, politics, gossip, pets, whatever. Other micro-bloggers (twitterers?) who match your keywords will appear. The big names are in on this--you'll find CNN, The New York Times, etc. Once you find a twitteree (I know I'm slaughtering the Twitter-ese here, but I'm still learning) you click on the "Follow" button under that person's name. Now when you go to your home page, you see all of the bloglettes you are following in one continuous list.

Why Twitter? It's a quick way to get updates on a huge variety of topics, for one. If you are promoting anything, Twitter allows you to broadcast to large numbers of people simultaneously after you've become twitter-rich with followers. If you have a blog, Twitter's gadgets enable you to create your own little sidebar news-feed with your Twitter posts. Twitter subscribers can also opt for updates on their mobile devices, with the Twitter-limited posts of 140 characters arriving via text message.

The only problem, as far as I can see, is that it's habit-forming and has a bit of a learning curve. Twitter-addiction is next. With Twitteranon following soon after, I'm sure.

Puddles and Pet-A-Palooza

Animal lovers were appalled in January when the City of Las Vegas’ animal pound erroneously euthanized a pet (Puddles the cat) after it had been identified by its owner. You can read and watch KTNV’s coverage, or read the LV Sun article, “When owners bark or bite.” Read the article to find out why the management at Lied wants improved security features for its staff. In a nutshell, people get really pissed when they find out their pets have been killed after 72 hours (three days) at the pound.

Before I go any further, let me suggest that we re-name Lied to exclude the word "shelter" from its title. (It is actually operated by the Animal Foundation.) If you look up synonyms for “shelter,” you find “protection,” “refuge,” “cover,” “haven,” “sanctuary.” How about Lied Animal Center, or Lied Animal Processing Facility (LAPF)? Lied may be a lot of things, but “shelter” is stretching it. They're doing the best they can, I know, but let's be honest.

What happened after Puddles died? Has Lied made improvements? Has an outpouring of community interest changed the conditions at our dumping ground for the four-legged unwanted? Yeah, right. I’ve been waiting to hear any kind of follow-up, but the news is too busy with our economic apocalypse to have much time for the animals. If you think this recession/depression/etc. has been hard on the humans in Vegas, what do you think these animals are going through?

Support your local animal shelters, pounds, and rescue groups. If you’re looking for a pet, bypass the pet store and adopt one instead. It costs less and can save an animal's life. The Las Vegas SPCA operates a no-kill shelter, and several other worthwhile animal groups work in Clark County. Lied takes animals for the City of Las Vegas and Clark County and obviously needs people to give homes to them. If your pet is lost, begin checking with Lied immediately; if your pet is taken there, you must act promptly. Consider micro-chipping your pets.

You can also support animals by having a good time at Pet-a-Palooza this weekend, April 4, 2009. The fesitval is at Sam Boyd Stadium and features music (Gavin Rossdale, for one), food, and loads of stuff for critter lovers--admission is only $5.00 and a portion goes to support the animal organizations who will be at Pet-a-Palooza.
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Photo courtesy of Sande Hamilton at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/984684

Earth Hour in Vegas: The Strip Goes Dark

The Las Vegas Strip will go dark tonight at 8:30 p.m. in honor of Earth Hour, proving once again that the city people love to hate has some sense of morals. (Not to mention it might also have something to do with good PR.) If you get a chance to watch this astonishing event from a distance, take it. In 1990, my hubby and I watched the Strip go dark in honor of Sammy Davis, Jr.'s death. Back in the pre-boom days, we easily found an excellent vantage point on Decatur just south of Flamingo. Today you'll probably have to look a little harder, but it's worth the effort. The Strip going dark is a sight you won't forget; the jewels of the city don't often acquiesce to the darkness of the Mojave.

Read more about Las Vegas and light pollution in AP Reporter Alicia Chang's article, "Death Valley works to preserve night sky; Las Vegas neon threatens to steal the view from renowned stargazing spot."

Update: on April 3, 2009, the Business Section of the RJ reported that the valley's energy usage dropped 3% during Earth Hour.

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Photo courtesy of Chad Mathews at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/545561

RIP, Las Vegas Art Museum

On March 12, 2009, the Las Vegas Art Museum ceased. LVAM was 59 years old at the time of its death. LVAM is preceded in death by droves of Las Vegas businesses and organizations, including the Guggenheim, The Neverending Story (our only independent children’s bookstore), and Cheesecake & Crime (Henderson’s last locally owned bookstore). LVAM is survived by the Arts District, the Art Center at Neonopolis, and by all of Las Vegas’ determined and talented (if often also ignored) artists.
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Photo Information: My picture of LVAM's exterior

The Las Vegas RJ: Every Day Whether You Want It Or Not

In case you haven’t heard, the media has pronounced the daily newspaper dead. Last month, Time proposed that newspapers charge for their online content to increase their sinking profits. Late-night host Bill Maher wondered where we’re going to get our news once all the reporters are gone, a sentiment that local Las Vegas Sun editor Brian Greenspun echoed in his editorial, “If there’s no paper, where will news come from?”

Do we really think that if the printed daily newspaper dies—which looks pretty imminent, by the way—that all the reporters will move to… Mars? Are we afraid that they’ll all jump off the nearest cliff, lemming-like, following their managing editors into the sea? Come on, folks. Newspapers aren’t going to die. They’re just going to change.

People may have to get over their terrible Blogger Fear, for instance. Here’s the gist of what I’ve read and heard: since bloggers get their news from newspapers, after newspapers die and all the journalists throw themselves upon their… their… oh heck, journalists don’t even own anything sharp they can throw themselves upon. Anyway, in the post-newspaper world, the unreliable and untrained bloggers will swarm in to fill the void and spread rotten news to the masses. Can’t you just see all the professional journalists reaching for a paper bag to breath into?

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Not every blogger is an untrained writer. Yes, many lousy blogs exist. The last time I checked, we had an abundance of lousy printed material as well. Even if newspapers did cease and bloggers did rush to fill cyberspace with garbage, the real journalists will still be here. Really. All the same people who currently bring you the news will still be here when the news changes. They might be out of work at the moment, but I doubt they'll sit idly by when the opportunites arise for them to report again. Newspapers and magazines have been hit hard in this economy, along with many other business. They aren't the only ones losing money and jobs. Papers are already migrating content onto the Web, and even reporters and editors are writing blogs. People want to get news, and a whole bunch of us like writing about it. I believe that some forward-thinking person(s) out there will find a new way for newspapers to exist. Will that future include a daily piece of something printed and delivered? That’s a good question. If the Las Vegas Review Journal has its way, you’re getting a paper every day, whether you want it or not.

After I switched my subscription to weekends only, the RJ kept calling to ask about delivering the paper every day. At first I was nice, but after the fifth or sixth call, I had to get firmer. No, nothing was wrong with the paper, I assured them. I just didn’t want to get one every single day. “Why do I want to pay for something I’m putting in the recycling bin?” I told the caller. In February, the RJ sent me a letter that extolled the virtues of the daily paper. They wrote, “We want all subscribers to enjoy and utilize the newspaper seven days a week, not the weekend. Therefore, as of February 25, 2009, your current subscription will become a 7 day, full week subscription at no additional cost to you.”

What would we call this strategy? Woo and Wham? Court and Coerce? Persuade and Persist? Newspapers have a long and colorful history, full of scrappy and inventive people, and I don’t think that will change. Obviously, journalists will find a way to report the news, even if they have to make you read it.

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Photo courtesy of Johnny DiBiasi at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/662518

Spring in Las Vegas

Today has turned out to be a beautiful spring day here in Las Vegas, as you can see from these pictures taken in my backyard. I’m not sure what kind of bird this yellow fellow is (I think he’s a finch). He was busily snatching the blossoms from the plum tree, eating whatever it is he likes, then letting the pink and maroon petals swirl to the ground.

The lovely day helps make up for the fact that I didn’t make the Hamilton Island shortlist (See “The Aussie Job,” below). Now, all hope is not lost. One lucky person out of the 33,000+ who didn’t make the first cut will get a Wild Card spot based on votes received on the website. Here’s my link:

http://www.islandreefjob.com/#/applicants/watch/D8rOg45_hig

While you’re there, check out the short-listed applicants’ videos. I like my video, and I know I’d do a wonderful job for those nice Australians, but I must say that the 50 people they picked were pretty dang impressive.

I think I’ll go out and enjoy this amazing spring day.

Six Hours From Las Vegas

When I worked on my Australian Job Application video, I looked at a lot of pictures before I picked the shots that made it into the video. Some of the pictures on this clip were shots I considered for my video, and some are just pictures I love. Every one of them is a place within a six-hour drive of Las Vegas. Take 30 seconds to enjoy a clip of Travels with T!

The Australian Job

No, The Australian Job is not the new Mark Wahlberg movie or a euphemism for activities that might take place in a Nye County establishment. It’s a six-month caretaker/blogger job on Hamilton Island, which sits on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Queensland, Australia. I just uploaded my video application to their website, but since the job posting closes on Saturday, I’m not sure when (or if) my video will be viewable.

To learn more about Hamilton Island and this incredible job, check out their website at:
http://www.islandreefjob.com/#/home

UPDATE: My application has been accepted! Please visit my page on the Tourism Queensland website--you can vote for my video: http://www.islandreefjob.com/#/applicants/watch/D8rOg45_hig

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Music in my video is courtesy of http://www.purple-planet.com/

Presidents’ Day Weekend at Dumont

My son and husband are getting ready for their end-of-the-season trip to the Dumont Sand Dunes, that place where ATV lovers of all types converge in the cooler months. The Presidents’ Day weekend is the last three-dayer between now and the blistering summer heat. After early spring, it will be October before the temperature cools enough for riding.

Last year I spent the day hiking in China Ranch before I met my men at the Dunes, but this year I’m staying home. I’m applying for a job in Australia, and I’ve got a book to finish editing. Besides, I prefer my sand dunes on the quiet side. Dumont is a lot of things, but quiet is not one of them.

(Hopefully, my hubby will take an occasional break from zooming over the dunes to snap a few pictures for the blog.)
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Photo information: my pictures last year (2008) from Presidents’ Day weekend at Dumont.

The Trees of Lorenzi Park

When my writing group moved from the Northwest Senior Center to Derfelt in Lorenzi Park, I noticed two things about our new home in historic Lorenzi: the trees and the construction. The large, old trees are rare finds in Las Vegas. People fish from the shore of a large pond and ducks beg for handouts. This area was purchased in 1911 by David Lorenzi and later developed into a resort; its waters originally came from a natural spring, although I'm not sure if that's true today. Despite its historic status, Lorenzi Park has been subjected to a lot of redevelopment recently. Many of the mature trees were destroyed to make way for tennis courts, although it looks like an effort was made to save some trees around the playground. I was appalled to find neon pink blazes all over the trees in the senior center’s courtyard, right outside the room where my group meets. According to my sources, no one will say exactly what the blazes are for, only that “desert landscaping” is being planned. Almost every tree in these pictures is marked for whatever it is they have in mind. I suspect it has something to do with a chain saw.
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Photo information: My pictures at Lorenzi Park, taken on Wednesday, February 4, 2009.

The Vegas Girl Ventures Back into the News

The Vegas Girl is not alone in her opinion of the daily news--namely, that it contributes to Prozac sales. But I like to be informed, at least somewhat, so I resolved to find a way to keep current on the news without becoming clinically depressed. Today, I bravely skimmed the Friday edition of the RJ/Sun as well as the weekly View, then I took a trip to Barnes and Noble (what a hardship, I know) to pick up some of the alternative/freebie magazines—Las Vegas Weekly, CityLife, Home News, BLVDS (clean, crisp, professional layout) and Las Vegas Woman. I’m happy to say that I feel informed, but not terrified of any impending apocalypses. Here are some of the stories I found:

From Las Vegas Weekly: “The Museum We Can’t Use.” The Springs Preserve, a project Las Vegans should be proud of, is home to the almost-complete new Nevada State Museum. All that stands between it and completion is about $7 million dollars. Wouldn’t this be a project that might benefit from some of the controversial programs in the current stimulus proposal? Like that NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) money everyone is so up in arms about?

If you want the inside Vegas scoop, don't miss the Knappster (aka George Knapp) in CityLife. This week his column discusses the monorail and the Nevada Water Authority's revisionist memory about its stance on global warming and drought. Seems that 1,000-foot bathtub ring is impossible for even bureaucrats to ignore.

Every Friday the RJ runs an automotive section, Drive. Today, I read that the Mint 400 is back in town, and Tech Inspection will take place on Fremont Street March 27. My son and husband are marking their calendars. They love the smell of high octane racing fuel in the morning.

The proposed cuts to Nevada's educational system have enraged and shocked many residents. I thought it was interesting to read Geoff Schumacher's commentary, "Schools blame game" in today's RJ. How are we ever supposed to attract a more diverse economic base if our school system can't do its job? And it was so. . . interesting to read that Higher Education Chancellor Jim Rogers feels that rotten parents are to blame for our failing students.

The Summerlin Home News reports that the Summerlin Art Festival has been cancelled this year due to the poor economy. This is truly a loss for festival season; the sidewalk-chart art of La Strada dell'Art sets it apart from other Las Vegas festivals. They plan on resuming in 2010.

Years ago, when my husband and I climbed to the peak of Mt. Charleston, near the summit we passed the site of a 1950s plane crash. I had no idea at the time that the passengers onboard were working on the U2 spy plane. Now a local group would like to commemorate the victims of the crash. Summerlin South View carried a story on the crash and the effort to memorialize the passengers and crew in "Honoring silent heroes."

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Photo information: My picture of the 2008 La Strada dell'Arte (September). See my post from October 2, 2008, for more photos and information about the festival.

Las Vegas Recommended Reading

If you want to understand Las Vegas a little better, plenty of authors have written books to enlighten you. I’ve been working on a reading list of books about Las Vegas, and here’s what I’ve come up with so far.

Many things may affect our future as a city. A strained educational system. Sinking gaming revenues. A precarious economy. A devastated construction industry. Virtually non-existent social services. The elephant in the room, however, is water, and that’s a good place to begin. Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner is an well-written examination of water issues throughout the Southwest, not just Las Vegas, and it's incredibly readable. (The book inspired a companion documentary series.) Take a look at that 1,000-foot bathtub ring around Lake Mead, and you should see exactly why this is an important issue for all of us.

The late Hal K. Rothman wrote and spoke about Las Vegas with a depth and insight that is still missed. Get a copy of his book Neon Metropolis: How Las Vegas Started the Twenty-First Century to read his observations about Las Vegas and what’s in store for her.

Las Vegas can be a city of tremendous opportunity, but she’s cold-hearted when you’re down on your luck. Matt O’Brien writes about the people who are currently living under the City of Neon in our flood channel system in Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas.

Are you for or against the Mob Museum? Organized crime has spawned a whole sub-genre of Las Vegas books to go along with the public's fascination with La Cosa Nostra. You probably know about Ben Siegel, but do you know who Dave Berman was? Susan Berman, his daughter, grew up in a young Las Vegas when the Mob truly did run things. She later wrote Easy Street, the True Story of a Gangster's Daughter, and became well-known as an expert on Las Vegas. Years later, Berman was the victim of a murder (still unsolved), which Las Vegas author Cathy Scott wrote about in Murder of a Mafia Daughter (Also see Scott's books on the Ted Binion murder and the Tupac Shakur murder.)

What about you? What's your nomination for the Vegas Girl's Recommended Reading List?
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Photo courtesy of Tijmen van Dobbenburgh at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/384772

Man Bites Dog

As I was sorting old Vegas Girl posts from 2008 into categories (known in Blogger-speak as labels), I noticed that the News category was pretty slim last year. In previous years, News would have been as full of posts as Travel, but in 2008 I decided I couldn’t take the daily news anymore.

Last year, I switched to the weekend-only edition of the Las Vegas Review Journal/Sun, and cancelled my subscriptions to USA Today and The New York Times. The old newspaper adage that “If a dog bites a man, that’s no story; but if a man bites a dog, that’s a story,” just wasn’t working for me anymore. I shudder to think what I paid each year for those three newspaper subscriptions, but in my former days as a news junkie, it was well worth it. In 2008, however, as gas prices rose, housing prices fell, unemployment grew, and the stock market tanked, I could no longer tolerate my daily triple dose of death, disaster, destruction, and despair. Let’s not even talk about the election, that incessant stream of maddening commentary on the candidates’ personalities instead of upon their policies.

The weekend edition of the papers is just enough news to keep me in the loop, along with the free community papers (the Sun's Home News, the RJ's View News--in my opinion, they're a good preview of newspapers' future--smaller, more focused, less frequent.), Time Magazine, the occasional "Charlie Rose Show," and Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show." My favorite part of the weekend RJ is Margo Bartlett Pesek's Sunday Travel column, "Trip of the Week," which is a wonderful source of information about the kinds of places I like—unusual, out-of-the-way, and lightly visited.

I do check the news from time to time, just to see if things have changed, and invariably it’s the same message: we’re all gonna die. Either we’re going to be kidnapped and pushed off the deck of a cruise ship, we’re going to fry in the cataclysm of global warming, antibiotic superbugs will slaughter us, or the economy will be the Depression Version 2 and we’ll all die unemployed, uninsured, and broke (as the ice caps melt and the bird flu kills off whoever is lucky enough to find a patch of land).

Looks like the Vegas Girl’s News category may remain a little anorexic in 2009.
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Photo courtesy of Sanja Gjenero at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/953849

Under Construction

Like many streets in Las Vegas, the Vegas Girl is under construction. I’ve re-designed the blog’s look so you can cruise thru categories (aka labels)—just scroll down and check on the right hand side of your screen. I’ll be adding more features, including links to other Vegas-based blogs, in the weeks to come.
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Photo Information: Photo courtesy of Zern Liew at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/800090

The Kelso Sand Dunes

A few months ago, I got an e-mail from a gal who was wondering if she could hike at the Dumont Sand Dunes. No. It’s an ATV area (aka OHV Area), which is great if you like quads and sand rails, but it’s not a place to do any hiking. Fortunately, Dumont is only one set of sand dunes in the vicinity of Las Vegas. If you’d rather hike the dunes than ride over them, head south from Dumont into the Mojave National Preserve and check out the Kelso Sand Dunes.

In the summer months, Kelso is too hot to explore, but from about November through May, hikers can explore sand dunes that are closed to off-road vehicles. The hike to the top of the 700-foot sand dunes is one of my favorite hikes because you can slide down the face of the dunes when you start your journey back to the car. If you’re lucky, you’ll hear the dunes “booming.” Kelso is one of only 30 sand dunes world-wide that create this rumbling vibration that you can hear and feel.

Last spring I saw the Kelso Dunes in bloom, right at sunset. The evening primrose perfumed the air, and the afternoon light put shadows on the dunes’ faces. While the other desert flowers were closing, the primrose covered the ground in big white blossoms.

Photo Information: My pictures at the Kelso Sand Dunes in April 2008.

Zzyzx: The Spa in the Mojave

When the Mojave National Preserve was created in 1994, I remember being a little unsure about what, exactly, we were preserving. (This was before I discovered the MNP.) Then the urban landscape overtook the desert around Las Vegas. I’m glad now that something was set aside before the entire Mojave Desert was covered in Wal-Marts and tract homes.

Last year, my family visited Zzyzx. Today it’s home to a desert research group, but the remains of the former spa built by Curtis Howe Springer still stand. In 1944, Springer filed a mining claim on the land and proceeded to build several buildings, including a spa and hotel. The only problem was that the land was never officially his. The BLM took the property back in 1974.

The abandoned buildings on the edge of the dry Soda Lake are slowly being claimed by the desert. A boat embedded between two palms sits next to the horseshoe pit. The vast dry lake bed sits white and flat for miles, just beyond a spring-fed pond ringed with palms. The old spa’s outdoor pools still hold water. Through windowpanes without walls, the Providence Mountains rise in the background.

This was my favorite photo trip from 2008, but the pictures were never posted because about ten days after these pictures were taken in April, my mother got very ill; on May 6, she passed away. On this particular day, however, my only concern was how to find the best photograph on a beautiful spring day.

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Photo Information: My photographs of Zzyzx.

Christmas in Las Vegas

Christmas in Las Vegas
Is the weirdest time of year.
You see Elvis in a Santa suit
And the elves are drinking beer.

Christmas in Las Vegas
Is only the opening act.
New Year’s Eve gets top billing
Booze and fireworks—THAT’s where we’re at.

Christmas in Las Vegas
Is unlikely to be white with snow.
But we’ve got neon lighting up Santa’s sleigh
And making Rudolph’s nose glow.

Happy Holidays!
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Photo courtesy of Chad Mathews at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/545561