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Written by John Palmer
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Thursday, 29 September 2011 00:00 |
We tend to get used to all the goings on around here as locals. For many of us, it isn't unheard of to meet famous people more than once just by being in Las Vegas on a daily basis. I have seen Justin Timberlake buying lunch at Subway and Christina Aguilera has been known to drop into the local BBQ to bring food back to her crew. It's all part of the Las Vegas lifestyle we know so well. Like Hollywood, this is where the stars live and play. Movie stars. TV stars. And sports heroes too. Legends live in Vegas. In and amongst all the glitter is a side of Las Vegas few people know. This is actually a very small town. Although the larger valley tally is currently somewhere in the neighborhood of two million, if you ask many of the locals they will tell you. It's as if everyone knows everyone in Las Vegas. We are a tight knit desert community surrounded by hundreds of miles of desolation in every direction. We are literally a desert island here, except that the water that separates us from everyone else is sand.
Las Vegas is one of those places that is unique in the world. Not only for its gambling and neon lifestyle, but also for who lives here and how they relate to life in general. One of the reasons people come here to begin with is the pioneer spirit of the place. You could say it is more permissive in some ways, but it is also quite conservative and traditional in others. On one hand we have a tremendously large Mormon community here. On the other hand there is gambling and sin everywhere. We even have legal prostitution within reach of anyone staying in Las Vegas. |