The Latest Thought
The Latest Thought
To Run With the Pac
UNLV should dream big and do everything it can to get into the Pac-12 Conference. Here’s why.
January 5th, 2012
In the hallowed tradition of unrealistic New Year’s resolutions, I am proposing the following gem for UNLV: Win admission into the Pac-12 Conference. In fact, take a friend, or even an enemy along with you—say, that biggest-little-city school up north that calls itself simply “Nevada,” or that freshly minted beast of the Big East, San Diego State. Call it the Pac-14. Read more »
The Latest Thought
Do You Speak Vegas?
A practical guide to the Sin City lexicon
December 22nd, 2011
Remember when you grew up in your relatively normal town before you came to the City of Delectable Sin? Remember when the word “industry” didn’t exist in your lexicon, apart from when you were referring to building ships or cars? Words like “shift,” “section” and “line” all had slightly less dramatic clout before you moved to Vegas. Words had their customary meaning rather than some bastardized definition used within the walls of gargantuan entertainment banks with an endless capacity for deposits you will never see again. Las Vegas, you now well know, changes everything, including the English language. A night out, for instance, requires a dictionary all its own. Never fear: We’re here to help. Read more »
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Sports Fans, Be Careful What You Wish For
For Las Vegans dreaming of a big-time sports franchise, a cautionary tale from Cleveland
December 15th, 2011
Is it truly better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all? When it comes to your hometown sports team, I’m not so sure. Many Las Vegans have long held out hope for a big-league sports franchise, and as a transplant to the Valley, I probably ought to hop on that bandwagon. But my status as a lifelong fan of Cleveland’s teams gives me the duty to issue a warning: Where I come from, sports fans lead lives of quiet desperation. Read more »
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The $25 Question
You’ve got some spare cash or one hour of your time to give. How can you make the most profound impact on our civic life?
December 8th, 2011
Here’s a holiday quandary: You’d like to give some money and time to charity, but you want to make sure it will be well spent—in other words, that it will really make a difference in someone’s life. I understand where you’re coming from. I read detailed grant proposals every day and pride myself in being of sound mind first and compassion second. It has to be this way, because I have the honor of giving someone else’s money away. Read more »
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Preoccupied
Why the Occupy Las Vegas movement is fading—and how it can make itself relevant again
December 1st, 2011
So the Occupy Las Vegas protesters are well-behaved. Good for them. In addition to a gold star and a few extra minutes of recess, their behavior earned them a small, painfully balanced story from the Associated Press, which set the meme local TV and radio have faithfully followed: While other cities are plagued with civil disobedience, it’s all quiet on the Paradise Road front. Subtext: Feel free to go about your lives, Las Vegans, because Occupy Las Vegas is a meaningless curiosity. Read more »
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Designs on the Creative Class
Can we galvanize a troubled Las Vegas by making it look cooler?
November 24th, 2011
Las Vegas has deep roots in the good-design business: We all know that, as a tourist destination, Las Vegas doesn’t need to be re-branded. The greatest success of this city is not its casinos or even the taming of the Colorado River. It’s the complete mastery of the mechanics of building a brand. That is a necessity in a post-industrial, information-oriented economy, where perceptions and sensations are among the chief commodities. We nailed that from the start—or at least since Betty Willis finished her “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign in 1959. Read more »
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The Arrival
In an excerpt from his new Vietnam War memoir, a Las Vegas writer recalls the day his battle began
November 10th, 2011
The Caribou zipped over the coastal floodplain a couple of miles inland, nine of us packed inside along with a half-dozen pallets, nine footlockers and crates containing food and weapons. The tailgate was down. Already temperatures at ground level exceeded a hundred degrees; a mile above, cool air flowed into the craft. I lay near the edge of the ramp and watched the plane progress. The shadow of the aircraft skated across the shimmering ground. It seemed the plane was stationary and the land was slipping away. Read more »
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A Fighting Chance
A detective, a victim and the grim satisfaction of justice served
November 3rd, 2011
One spot in my city offers little hope for redemption. This place, so desolate and dreary, is my hunting ground. Souls can sink below view here, lost within the shadows. These are the ones I aim to reclaim. I’m a man consumed by hatred of an uncommon kind, and it only grows. Read more »
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A Money Tree Grows in Vegas
If this memo from the future is an indicator, the school district’s budget woes are soon to end
October 27th, 2011
The following post-dated document, hand-delivered to the Vegas Seven offices by a man who identified himself only as “a sworn enemy of Milton Friedman,” was apparently written by an internal committee at the Clark County School District. “Pay special attention to the section on revenue generation,” the shadowy figure whispered as he slipped out our front door. Read more »
The Latest Thought
Bound for Glory
Why the humble book has a future, after all
October 20th, 2011
Books put their arms around us and help carry us over the inevitable. They provide the gentle, slow companionship of those who have been there already. Books are permanent group therapy writ large across the face of centuries. Their characters confide moments of weakness, the rush of power and crush of defeat. They provide us a crowd of people who have fought, despaired and desired, who have wondered and wandered, lost something and found it again. Read more »
