Las Vegas-CitiCenter Design

CitiCenter in Las Vegas is an 8 billion dollar sprawing complex that has and is still under construction. Three towers opened by New Year’s 2010 and I toured the area that is banking on the futuristic architecture and design to draw a new generation of tourists. Here are some pictures taken one afternoon. The above shot is a picture of a tiled floor from a balcony.

The spired entrance to Aria.

The monorail between towers.

Reflection of a tower within a tower.

Part of a massive waterfall.

A full wall advertisement in the Crystals Mall.

Crystals in the Crystals Mall

Steps detail

Partial front view as it is impossible to get all of CitiCenter in one picture.

Claes Olderburg’s Eraser

Ceiling detail.

Floral strip in Crystals Mall

Mandarin Tower

Showroom detail.

Water tornado garden.

Underside Restaurant detail.

THE LAST SNOWSTORM OF THE SEASON

NIGHT AND DAY THROUGH THE STORM’S EYES

 

SNOWFALL AT “LITTLE FALLS” IN MT. CHARLESTON

THE SNOW SQUALL MOVES IN

IT APPROACHES CATHEDRAL ROCK

THE HAND OF THE SQUALL COMES FROM BEHIND

IT OVERWHELMS AND CONQUERS THE MOUNTAIN

THE WHITEOUT FINALLY ARRIVES

THE MIGHTY SUN BREAKS THROUGH

LOOK OUT OF ANY WINDOW

Dedicated to the memory of Frank Peteani – January 4, 1925 to  August 31, 1995

Look out of any window any morning, any evening, any day.
Maybe the sun is shining birds are winging or
rain is falling from a heavy sky…
What do you want me to do,
to do for you, to see you through?
This is all a dream we dreamed one afternoon long ago.

Look into any eyes you find by you, you can see clear through to another day. I know it’s been seen before, through other eyes on other days while going home –    What do you want me to do, to do for you to see you through?   It’s all a dream we dreamed one afternoon long ago.

Walk into splintered sunlight.  Inch your way through dead dreams to another land.  Maybe you’re tired and broken. Your tongue is twisted with words half spoken and thoughts unclear. What do you want me to do… to do for you to see you through?  A box of rain will ease the pain and love will see you through.

Just a box of rain….wind and water.  Believe it if you need it, if you don’t just pass it on… Sun and shower… Wind and rain… in and out the window, like a moth before a flame.

It’s just a box of rain, I don’t know who put it there. Believe it if you need it or leave it if you dare… But it’s just a box of rain, or a ribbon for your hair.  Such a long, long time to be gone, and a short time to be there………

Photos by Nick Oliva (looking out my window) 

Lyrics by Robert Hunter-1971

I SEE DEAD CELEBRITIES….

On the 56th floor of The Palms Casino on Flamingo Road, the Ghostbar has become the ultra-slick social spot for celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Ashlee Simpson, the Kardashian family, Mario Andretti, Kid Rock or Pam (never at the same time), Avril Lavigne and more.  The modern furniture outside and the incredible view of the city from all points is breathtaking.  If that’s not enough, walk over and stand on the glass floor and look 55 stories straight down.  It’s a rush whether you’ve had a few or not.  The fun part is you, yes little old you, can go there and hang with your friends and enjoy yourselves drinking the special “Ghostini” to prepare you for an enchanting experience. 

The name of the joint derives from the ceiling over the lounge by the bar, that has an intended ghostly appearance.  You might see Bruce Willis or Halley Joel Osment without a ‘sixth sense.’  It’s a hip place that fills up on the weekend so if you are not into crowds go during the week, however the ‘stars’ come out at night and one will never know who you will see.  Across the street, the Rio’s Voodoo lounge was the hotspot years ago, but the change in ownership years ago turned a hot property with many firsts (first dance club, first wine bar, first ‘Show in the Sky,’ and many others) into a ho-hum sorta place.  The Palms is the new hot spot, but no matter where you go here in Vegas, there are so many deals with vouchers for food, gaming, and hundreds of dollars for return trips, the time to come here is now while they are discounting everything because of the credit crunch.  Just go online to Vegas.com and they are all there. If you’re in for a vacation no matter what the economy is doing, this is the place for value for your dollar.  And one last word; if it really is the end of the world, well this is the place to party into oblivion.  Hopefully, it will just be fun and worth the trip without the angst of reality.

It the words of Jeff Spicoli;   Party on, Dudes!

Too Close For Comfort

           

Pictures from my balcony deck

I was standing on my deck overlooking the mountains when a small plane, a Piper-Cherokee, came in over the tree tops not 100 feet away from my house.  It was apparent that they were attempting to make an emergency landing. If they had been able to travel another 300 feet they might have made it to the Mary Jane Falls trail parking area, but the left wing hit an electrical pole and that pulled the plane left and down into the ground and it exploded instantly.  Fuel went into the air and started fires over a hundred feet from the crash site.  By the time a fire truck was on the scene many more were needed and it got out of control quickly.  Metro police didn’t arrive until much later, and there was chaos everywhere with tourists running through the woods right next to the fire.  The plane was completely charred and almost unrecognizable. The heat from the fire was oppressive and I could feel the intensity over 300 feet away.  I watched as 90ft. pine trees went up as if they were doused in gasoline.  

It is apparent we are not prepared as well as we should be up here in Mt. Charleston on the weekends with the large increase in visitors and no local authorities patrolling. I gave up complaining at town meetings years ago.  Nothing was ever done because there were too many entities that thought the other ones should be responsible, so essentially no one did anything. The Forest Service, the Metropolitan police, the State Parks person, the Mt. Charleston committee, the Clark County Commissioners..etc. (Get the idea?) In the snows of winter, utter chaos ensues. Why?-No patrols.  In the summer, an overload from the Vegas valley below.  Families will pull into vacant houses and use them as if they were their own, setting up a barbeque and using the outdoor patio, tables and chairs.  If we neighbors didn’t police ourselves no one would. 

Eventually, we were told to evacuate the scene at approximately 6pm and I left rather than chance the possibility of smoke inhalation if the wind had shifted in the night.  There were no survivors of the four people in the plane. 

Only in Nevada do we allow unpatrolled large recreational acreage that is also extremely fragile and extreme fire hazards as well.  Only in Nevada do we allow the sale of fireworks in a dry desert on the week preceding July 4th, and allow airspace above impossible terrain to maintain, to be used by anyone that can fly a plane.  This one came within a hundred feet to have destroyed my home and many others around me.  So where’s our protection?  You can’t smoke in a bar without the health police fining the establishment, but you can destroy an entire fragile environment with the government’s blessing.  It’s a wayward cowboy mentality.  Use it, abuse it, and the hell with anyone else.  If there was a single desert tortoise involved, holy hell would break loose and there would be a bevy of BLM busybodies bitching and bellowing.

Ah yes, the twisted contemporary attitude of the New West.

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