Dining and Culture in Las Vegas

Having a bit of free time yesterday morning, I made my way to the lobby of The Venetian, where I'm staying, and laid down my $15 to visit the Renoir to Rothko exhibit at the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum here in the hotel. It's kind of like a junior college survey course in modern art from impressionism to expressionism. Most of the collection are somewhat minor works by major artists. A van Gogh, a Cezanne, a couple of Braques, several Picassos, one Severini, 2 or 3 Legers, a few Kandinskys and a Rothko, accompanied by one of those little speaker phones with a Guggenheim curator explaining Kandinsky's religious symbolism in soothing tones.

Later in the evening we had imitation French food, in the imitation Paris, with an imitation snooty waiter, who I managed to score big with, getting at least a half dozen very good sirs. It was like a scene in a Woody Allen movie where each diner did their utmost to gain the waiter's approval and a jury of judges held up signs, scoring each interaction. "Ahh, sir, the 2000 Pinot, an excellent choice". 8, 7.5, 9, 9. "The sole, very good indeed". 7, 8.5, 9, 8. By the time dessert rolled around I was feeling the pressure. I really only had room for the chocolate mousse, but that seemed too mundane and I knew that I could blow the whole thing with a fall at this juncture. So I took the plunge, "The pear and chocolate crepe, please." A smile and a nod was all I needed to know that I had nailed the triple Lutz.