Elvis is Alive and Well in Las Vegas

The weekend before last we drove to Las Vegas to spend a fantastic weekend seeing the lights and sights of Sin City and meeting up with my sister J L and her husband who had flown in from Canada. I hadn't seen J L since 1992 and I'd never met her husband so we had a wonderful time catching up and spending a great weekend together.

Las Vegas is a total hedonist's delight; it's the city of excess, almost a Disneyland for grown-ups, with every imaginable theme, gimmick and piece of bling dished up in larger-than-life style for the paying customer. From the scale replica Eiffel Tower and Statue of Liberty, the copy of Central Park that even has manholes with steam coming out, the gondolas at the Venetian, to the erupting volcano and the sinking pirate ship at Treasure Island, it's all there to entice you inside the endless casinos, to be more dazzled and more entertained than at the establishment next door. Several years ago Vegas tried to clean up its act and became more family-friendly but now it has gone back to its raunchy former self and the focus is back on fun that's almost exclusively for adults.

We enjoyed checking out the lights and got an all-day bus pass so we could visit some of the more child-friendly attractions (while trying not to wear out the little legs): the pirate ships at Treasure Island, the amusement park at Circus Circus and M&M World (4 floors of M&Memorabilia, over-the-top) were all on the agenda. On the way back from visiting Luxor (the casino that is shaped like a pyramid) we saw Elvis posing for photos outside the Harley Davidson cafe. If he was going to be anywhere, he'd be in Vegas! Although we didn't gamble even a single cent, and didn't manage to see any shows (pretty difficult when you have a 3 year old with you), we had a great time and we will definitely try to go there again. I want to get one of those photos with Elvis...

Amusing Questions We Have Been Asked - Part 3 in an Occasional Series

"Aren't New Zealand and Australia part of the same country?"

(Not last time I checked)

Halloween

This October we celebrated our first Halloween in America. Halloween is a big deal here in the States and some people go to a great deal of trouble to decorate their house and prepare a mountain of candy for the children who come trick or treating on October 31. There was a Halloween carnival on October 27 at our local community centre, featuring a haunted house, costume contest and lots of games and prizes (almost all of them were edible) for the children. N dressed up as Superman (see the photo) and had a whole lot of sugar-fuelled fun of course. On the 31st there was a Halloween party at his preschool (he brought home 3 bags full of lollies) followed by trick or treating around the community centre with his classmates (more lollies), then that night I took him trick or treating (even more lollies) with his friend Peter and Peter's family. P stayed at home and handed out the treat bags that I had filled and decorated (I made about 70 of those; we were warned to expect "a lot" of trick or treaters). We had a great time walking in our neighbourhood, knocking on doors, avoiding the scary haunted houses (some of them were fully decked-out inside like a haunted house, complete with scary monsters and ghouls jumping out to try to freak the kids out), especially the one with the chainsaw-toting monster in the front yard... a real guy, with a real chainsaw. When we got home P had given out about 30 lolly bags and we thought we had got off pretty lightly but by the time we ran out of candy (we were told to turn off our outside light when the candy ran out, a signal that no more trick or treaters were welcome to knock on the door) the total was 110 kids coming to the house to ask for lollies. Yikes! Now we know that we have to be even more prepared next year!

Too Close for Comfort

This morning we had our monthly visit from the local pest controllers, who come to Bagdad and spray the houses for insects and other "bugs". Cockroaches in particular need to be kept under control as they are a favourite food of scorpions (so far we have had only one scorpion in the house but we have to be continually vigilant as they are a pale colour and can blend in with carpet, etc). The pest controllers came in and looked around, inspected the hot water cupboard (favourite bug hang-out) and said, "Oh look, you've got a TARANTULA"! To which of course the only logical response is "AIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!" (runs away screaming). Fortunately it was dead, having been caught in a glue trap placed last month. I REALLY HATE spiders but unfortunately this kind is endemic to Arizona and the current monsoon season is making them more active. They are not often seen indoors (although our local library has one captive in a glass case) but are common in backyards and of course in the desert. Thankfully they are nocturnal and not usually noticed in daylight. Needless to say that will be the last time that I check the hot water system!

God Bless America - Happy 4th July

It was a beautiful (but very hot: about 40 degrees Celsius) day for our first 4th July in America. Even though Bagdad is a very small town, they still know how to celebrate and being as fervently patriotic as they are, what better excuse for a celebration than the nation's birthday. The photo at the top of this post shows the crowds of people waiting for the parade to start - I didn't know Bagdad had so many people (or so many fire engines; there were about 15 or so of them in the parade). The theme of the parade was "Saluting America's Heroes", which was interpreted in several different ways: Ben Franklin (aka Sharon the postmistress) riding a horse; a couple of floats with reference to the war in Iraq; kids dressed in Western gear for "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys", even Wonder Woman and her sidekick driving an ATV (that's American talk for quad bike). There were far too many lollies (thrown to the kids from the floats) for us to carry home, and for days afterwards there were crushed lollies all over the road.

The 4th July celebration coincided with the opening of Bagdad's new community centre, which is going to be an excellent facility for our little town. The centre has been built on the site of an old elementary (primary) school which was condemned because the buildings were derelict. The classrooms have been rebuilt and now there is space for all sorts of craft classes, a community orchestra, drama group, a new library, gymnasium plus a brand-new playground, skate park and two swimming pools. There is also a new preschool for 3 and 4 year olds, which N will start attending in August.

Yeee Haawwww - the World's Oldest Rodeo

Howdy again Partners, as promised, now an update on our July activities. First up is our afternoon at the World's Oldest Rodeo, in Prescott. This professional rodeo has been running since 1888 and is part of the annual Prescott Frontier Days festival, held the week of 4th July. The rodeo always draws a big crowd and is the highlight of the Frontier Days. We'd never been to a live rodeo before so we didn't really know what to expect. It was a hot day and the rodeo arena was very dusty but we enjoyed our few hours of entertainment there. The rodeo starts with the obligatory prayers and singing of the national anthem, the first time I had heard it in America which actually made me feel a bit emotional, and homesick for Australia.

There was plenty of traditional rodeo entertainment in the form of bronc riding, calf roping, bull riding, barrel racing and so on but a few other more unconventional "acts" as well, the strangest of which was definitely "Whiplash, the Cowboy Monkey". I kid you not, this is an actual 18-year-old Capuchin monkey that "rides" a Border Collie dog and rounds up sheep. The monkey is dressed in typical Western attire, complete with a cowboy hat. I still can't decide if this was really entertainment, or something else. I found the whole thing just a little bit disturbing actually! One of the more truly entertaining performers was a guy who rode TWO horses at once, standing on their backs circus-style, then jumped them both (yes, at the same time) over a convertible car. Sounds a bit cheesy but it was pretty cool to see it.

As far as the rodeo riding went there was a lot more action in the bull riding than there was with the broncs, that is to say that not one cowboy lasted the full 8 seconds on any of the bulls, but almost all of the bronc riders managed to stay on without getting chucked in the dirt. These guys make serious money from the rodeo - some as much as US$350,000 a season. I guess they can afford good chiropractors!

It was a fun afternoon out and another essential Western experience ticked off the list. See "What's Happening Around Here?" for a link to the World's Oldest Rodeo website for more info if you are interested.

You're the Meaning in My Life, You're the Inspiration - the Station where Chicago and REO Speedwagon Never Die

We have been going to (our nearest town) Prescott (about 60 miles or 90 minutes away) at least once a week and while we are in the car we listen to a certain Prescott radio station which shall remain nameless. At least once during each leg of the journey we hear a song by REO Speedwagon or Chicago. That station must have an impressive back-catalog of albums because it doesn't seem to matter what time we are travelling, night, day, it makes no difference, there is almost ALWAYS at least one Chicago or REO Speedwagon song. If we happen to fluke it and not hear one, we wonder what has gone wrong! Their other favourites that we hear EVERY time we go to Prescott are:

• Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars
• James Taylor - You've Got a Friend, or Fire and Rain
• Carrie Underwood - Before He Cheats
• anything by Elton John
• anything by Billy Joel
• anything by Fleetwood Mac