Viva Las Vegas
Finally took a vacation to the wonder that is Vegas, plus did you know they rebooted Fraggle Rock?!
I hope you are getting through your weekend well, even though….the world. Phew, boy. My heart breaks for those who are suffering from such senseless acts of violence and escalation. I don’t know what more to say, especially on this newsletter where I share all my couch-potato insights of what I’m digging on tee vee and and what I’ve seen on the internet, but I send all my prayers to the universe that peace and love will prevail.
I didn’t post last weekend, so I do have a lot of recommendations built up for this week’s newsletter. The reason for my break is that I got to escape on my first vacation in more than two years. The destination was Las Vegas, Nevada for a weekend getaway, and let me just say, I have been to Vegas a handful of times but never have I been more thrilled to see the lights, the bustle, the dub step music, the casinos, the fumes of cigarettes and cannabis, and the street peddlers dressed as copyright-violating and more demented versions of Disney characters on The Strip of Sin City. On our short trip, my husband and I decided to stay at the Bellagio because it is a beautiful hotel with gorgeous Dale Chihuly glass floral art in its lobby and fine dining… and it’s also the set of my favorite heist movie, Ocean’s Eleven.
Here are a few highlights.
Vegas Food
Since we stayed at the Bellagio and I am a fan of Steve Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven, we had to eat dinner at the Picasso, the location in the 2001 film where George Clooney’s Danny Ocean confronted his wife Tess (played by Julia Roberts) and first came face-to-face with his nemesis Terry Benedict (played by Andy Garcia). It is a really lovely restaurant because it offers a fine dining experience with a great view of the famous dancing fountains outside the Bellagio. There are also works of Picasso featured throughout the establishment.
Vegas really is a super fun place to visit, though I would recommend staying only two or three nights maximum. In my limited experience, any more than that can make you feel like you have overstayed into oblivion and are transforming into Nicholas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas. I also find the draw of going there is not so much the gambling but the great food. One evening we dined at Heritage Steak in the Mirage, with wood-fire cooked steaks and an enjoyable Manhattan with hickory-smoked cherries. Yardbird is another restaurant that I enjoy visiting when in Vegas. Located in the Venetian, I highly recommend sitting at the bar and ordering one of their delightful mixed drinks. The charcuterie board there is especially excellent, served on a tiered lazy Susan combining southern fare of smoked sausage and pimento cheese with typical board fare of pâte, fresh milk cheeses, and pickled vegetables. It is a meal in itself. The Water Grill at the Forum in Caesar’s Palace was another standout for its raw bar— definitely get the oysters if you visit (and get at least a dozen if you are sharing them).
Vegas Shows
Besides dining, my other favorite part of visiting Vegas is for the shows. O by Cirque de Soleil at the Bellagio is the best thing my eyes have ever seen. It is a gorgeous, watery production combining acrobatics with extraordinary diving stunts. I love the whimsy of Cirque de Soleil’s O, and this time thought it’d be fun to check out The Beatles LOVE. And I loved LOVE. I read that the show has since been revamped since its debut in 2006 to keep up with technological advancements (Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison attended the opening of its new iteration in 2016). I don’t know what the first version was like, but all I can say is that this show is a great interpretation of what it feels like to be within a Beatles song. It was gorgeous and vibrant.
Vegas Football Stadiums
And since we were in Vegas, we had to visit the stadium of their new football team The Raiders. My husband is a longtime Raiders fan, and while we never saw them play in Oakland, we did visit their former hometown stadium for an Oakland A’s game. And all I can say is that their new home is Allegiant Stadium is a grand improvement. I haven’t been on any arena tours before, but I believe most stadiums (especially the newer ones) offer them, and it was really interesting and fun. I even got to pretend I was capable of being a Raidette, the Raiders’ Cheerleaders, by posing in front of their locker room. We also saw owner Mark Davis’s viewing box, which reminded me of the set of a Stanley Kubrick film. The stadium is so sophisticated, though, that even though it’s indoors, the field is real grass. There is an elaborate system which transfers the turf between the stadium to an outside holding container so that it receives natural sunlight (it is similar to the Arizona Cardinals’ roll out field, but supposedly the Raiders use a more improved and advanced system, as we were told by multiple people throughout the tour and Las Vegas city limits). The best part of the tour though was at the end when we could have a drink on their new upper-level concourse which has retractable windows that open toward the Vegas Strip.
It felt really good to get away last weekend. We have limited ourselves these past couple years to travel within driving distance, so it was especially nice to finally be on a flight again and leave the midwest. Like, it made my heart flutter to see a palm tree, that is how long it has been.
Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I wish you and your loved ones well. Everything in the news is…a lot. It is important to stay informed and mindful, and it is also sometimes quite necessary to take a break from it, whether in big or small ways, spending it by doing something we love and/or with the people we love.
Take care and talk soon.
And now, here is a plethora of things that might be fun or interesting to check out.
TV
There is a lot of TV to talk about….
Currently, I am watching Severance on Apple TV. This show is a fascinating dark comedy and dystopian sci-fi series. I’ve only watched the three episodes available, but am enjoying it so far.
I also started watching the newest rendition of the 1980s classic muppet show FRAGGLE ROCK (also on Apple TV). And I genuinely love this show, not just for the childhood nostalgia, but also because it imparts messages and lessons that resonate so well with today’s audiences.
I also finished the new series Inventing Anna on Netflix and found it a really interesting retelling of the New York magazine retelling of the fake heiress Anna Delvey (aka Anna Sorkin).
Speaking of famous scam artists, I am interested in watching The Dropout, starring Amanda Siegfried as Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes— it comes out March 2nd on Hulu.
And another show about another Silicon Valley rise and fall—Super Pumped, a series about Uber’s CEO Travis Kalanick, debuts Sunday (tonight) on Showtime.
I am excited and nervous for this weekend’s finale of Season 2 of Euphoria. I enjoyed this A24 podcast where Angus Cloud (who plays Fez, who is personally my favorite on Euphoria) talks with Simon Rex.
The series Better Things begins its final season on FX/Hulu February 28th. I really like this show a lot.
And the third installment of the HBO series based on Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels, My Brilliant Friend, begins its third season also on February 28th. I really enjoyed these books and am loving how the TV show has adapted the novels so well.
And the final season of Killing Eve begins. I really enjoyed the first season of this show, and I love Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer, but I found the last couple seasons have been rather trying and honestly I am ready for it to be over. (Sure, I could just give up on watching, but I feel like I’ve done so much work watching it this far!)
MOVIES
I love the play Cyrano de Bergerac, and I really want to see the newest film version starring Peter Dinklage in the title role. ( I do enjoy the 2008 Broadway play starring Kevin Kline and Jennifer Garner).
The Batman is coming! (I’m already swooning over Zoë Kravitz as Cat Woman)
This weekend I watched the 2013 documentary Antartica: A Year on Ice and it is so fascinating. I would love an opportunity to visit Antartica, especially in how isolated it is from the rest of the world and to brave its severe environment, but definitely not in its winter month.
MUSIC
Our local music festival here in Des Moines 80/35 just announced its initial line up and I am really excited. My favorite Charli XCX is coming! Some of other faves Father John Misty and Future Islands will also be there, and I am also excited to see Japanese Breakfast and Jamila Woods.
Regina Spektor released a new single Becoming All Alone ahead of her newest album due out in June.
Tears for Fears released its first new album in 18 years.
I am enjoying listing to this compilation album Ocean Child: Songs of Yoko Ono
I recently started listening to Music for Psychedelic Therapy by composer Jon Hopkins and find it is really great chill out music.
WEAR
Fashion weeks are still happening, which means a lot of things happened at the happenings.
First of all, the Miu Miu Miniskirt.
And the Miu Miu miniskirt’s instagram.
Telfar is the fashion show people are still talking about
Rihanna and her beautiful baby bump and A$AP Rocky appeared front row at Gucci
London Fashion Week looked fun
And Kim Kardasian has officially fashionably moved on from Kanye by trading Balenciaga for Prada and its leather boiler suits.
Speaking of Kanye and Balenciaga, the two forces are collaborating for Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga and just released the first eight looks of the collection.
READS
The Year America Broke seems like it might be a very compelling read.
I want to check out The Esopus Reader which features a series of “New Voices” of fiction writing from never-before-published authors.
Erik Larson has a new nonfiction work out, The Splendid and the Vile, about Winston Churchill.
I’m looking forward to reading How High We Go In the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu (it is also Roxane Gay’s Audacious March Book Club pick).