What I do, I do badly

I believe that, sometimes, the middle is the best place to start.  Not because it leaves room for lots of misty-eyed, reminiscent flashbacks, but because sometimes it really isn't necessary to have pages and pages of uninteresting background and buildup to what is going to be just an expression of ideas and thoughts.  Besides, I always think its kind of conceited to assume that people would want to wade through all that, anyway.

Ok. For those of you who don't know, ( which, lets face it, is anyone but me reading this)  I am currently in the US.  For my 4th visit: . I didn't want to start any kind of blog with the first few - I always get so stupidly over-excited and gushy, and sound like an idiot, enthusing about everything (don't ask... )

Its also that things are a little more involved than just a couple of weeks doing the tourist thing and looking at the sights. I don't just want to talk about how new and different everything is to me. That's an obvious given. I actually like this place, despite its flaws, problems, and reputation:  it reminds me very much of some of the places I've been back home: and while I accept that there are differences that could make it more .. not dangerous, but risky, perhaps:  I actually feel safer here than I have back home at times.

So.. where am I?   New York?  Los Angeles?  Detroit?

Nah.  Not for me.  I hit the real fleshpot, and I'm exploring a little more each visit.  Las Vegas:  Sin City?    trust me:  no more than Soho, or any other place in the UK that I have visited, Yes, Vegas is big, loud, brassy and blousy:  kind of the 'Bet Lynch' of the US, IF you take it at face value, and only read/listen to the hype and tourist brochures. I just think that there is more to this city than just The Strip.. and even that gets a poor press, in my opinion.  Yes: it is pretty touristy:  but in a place that makes so much of its revenue from visitors, what else would you expect?  And yes, there are sooo many casinos along it:  but they vary so much in style. decor and appeal;  visiting The Strip is NOT like walking along Blackpool seafront and popping into a couple of the amusement arcades.  I have visited a few of  those casinos, many of which have hotels attached (and some extremely nice ones at that) and they offer such a variety of entertainment. Gambling (of course)  but also, live music: bars, cafes, coffee shops:  quality shopping, fine dining:  you can even catch a show or two if the mood takes you. And that is all fine and good, if that is what you want.  But that isn't ALL there is to Las Vegas.

I'm not going to pretend that Vegas is a cultural capital; it's not. But it does have a growing arts quarter: there are writing groups, arts groups:  music, theatre...  and yes, Freemont Street is a focal point for that: but if you care to look a little deeper, its easy to find venues beyond the arts district, (like, for instance, the Freaking Frog) which hold open mic events not just for musicians, but poets, writers, other performers. There are city parks, lakes, mountains:  areas of natural beauty that should draw visitors just as powerfully as the bright lights.  And yes, I know I'm making this post sound like an advert for the Las Vegas Tourist Board so far:, but there is a point to this.

Most visitors to Vegas only ever see the Strip, or the other areas geared for holidaying.  That makes it all too easy to forget that there are people who live and work here every day: that this is a working, living city, with all the same flaws and failings as any other. There are people sleeping on the streets here, just as there are in London. There are less privileged areas:  Crime, poverty and deprivation haven't bypassed Vegas: people here struggle to pay mortgages:  there is unemployment: there are neighbourhoods considered less 'safe', or savoury.  I grew up in a city in the UK, in an area very much like those... fewer guns, perhaps: but with no fewer problems.  My point is, that the more I visit: the more I explore and learn about this place, the more I like it. maybe, as I have been told, I'm a little weird:  but for all its problems, this is a vibrant, unapologetic, in-your-face, take-it-or-leave-it town, and I can't help but be drawn to it.