Midas Machine

M I D A S M A C H I N E

Our plane cruised westward, flying high over Colorado and the Rocky Mountains. In the fading light, the snow tipped, granite range stretched far below us. The jagged, snow-laden outcroppings looked like great white capped Atlantic rollers, as they passed beneath us. The effect is decidely nautical, looking down from 35,000 feet.

We soon changed course and headed south over the barren mesas and red clay canyons of Utah. Far off into the southwestern sky, we began to see a glow rising from the dark of the heat blasted, lunar desert. As we draw nearer, the brilliance, from millions of candle power of illumination, radiates off into space. Our sense of expectation heightens.

As we begin our descent, the neon outlines take the shape of huge castles and multicolored edifices of imposing proportions. We are on final approach to Las Vegas, Nevada. It is the former sleepy, desert stop over for the military. It now glitters like the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz.

To our left, we see out the porthole an enormous pyramid guarded by an equally imposing Sphinx, surrounded by Palm trees. What manner of wizardry is this? Are we landing in Egypt? It is the fabled Luxor Casino, we are told. The nearby castles are the Excalibur Hotel. From the sky, it looks like a Disneyland in Neon.

After we deplaned, we walked through McCarran Airport, busy even at this late hour. The slot machines are everywhere. They brightly announce the source of the city's prosperity. We retrieve our bags and walk out to the ground transportation area in search of a Taxi.

The cab takes us over Paradise and onto Flamingo Road, as we head into the heart of this exciting city. Now, in front of us, stands an apparition. It is, we are told by the cabbie, Caesar's Palace. But, it appears much more in all of its' evening illuminated grandeur.

The complex stands like a gilded Acropolis, with sculpted white marble pillars, sheathed in golden trim. The neon, emerald tinted, multi- storied hotel serves as a backdrop and an impressive frame for the imposing facade. Tall, swaying arborvitae line the colonnade that leads up to the main entrance. Taxis, Limosines and all manner of passenger vehicles continuously load and unload vacationers from all points of the compass, at all hours of the day and night.

On the left side of the complex, like a covered rainbow, arches a lengthy span that holds a moving walkway. It ferries in strollers from the busy intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road. The walkway flows like an animated river of humans and empties into the heart of the building. Like the vias of Imperial Rome, all roads lead into the Casino.

From the right side of the complex, in perfect symmetry, extends another covered and moving walkway. This one ferries visitors from the adjoining mega complexes, of The Mirage and Treasure Island resorts, into the innards of Caesar's Forum.

Here, we find an airy mall of expensive shops and restaurants, like Spago and Planet Hollywood. The Mall also features an animated sky dome, replete with moving cloud formations, that continually changes the hue of recessed lighting. It simulates the passing hours of the day. At one end of the Mall, sits an ornate marble fountain. Amidst the swaying waters, are full sized statues of Bacchus and other Roman gods of antiquity. The figures come to life hourly, in a musical and laser studded presentation that dazzles and amuses the audience. The watchers stand in rapt attention, viewing an exotic oddity that might well have been transported from another time. From here, past trendy shops like Gucci and Louis Vuitton, the mall eventually empties its contents into the busy hive of the casino. All roads lead through the casino!

The gambling resort of Caesar's Palace is a massive complex of of hotel rooms, banquet and exhibition centers, restaurants, boutiques and endless rows of slot machines, roulette wheels and crap tables. It is a kaleidoscope of aromas, colors, sounds and activity that dazzles the unsuspecting, twenty four hours a day. The visitors are as rural outlanders, wandering awestruck through the Emerald City of Oz.

The allusions to Imperial Rome are everywhere. Heroic gilded statues of Roman Gods and a replica of Cleopatra's barge, set the stage. Waitresses and attendants, attired in togas and Centurion's garb, are the supporting cast. One can easily believe that a time warp has transported you into a massive gaming hall in ancient Rome. The revelers, as in Rome of old, are from many lands. Orientals, Indians and South Americans give it an international flavor. A score of languages float by, in a confusing verbal array of exotic linguistics.

Each of the visitors seems eager to service the thousands of small and colorful electronic slot machines. The new arrivals enthusiastically feed into the noisy monsters, the metal nourishment that keeps them alive and humming. Some of the machines gorge on a diet of quarters, others demand silver dollars. The machines consume the metal voraciously and only occasionally regurgitate some of the fodder. The handfuls of coins are scooped up quickly and refed into the hungry electronic maws. The gamblers can't seem to feed them fast enough. The hum from their feeding is a noisy electronic symphony that adds to the overall drama of the spectacle. It is a fever and a form of mass hysteria that affects all who enter.

Toga clad attendants sell the electronic worshippers rolls and rolls of silver fodder, to feed into the hungry monsters. They also serve, without charge, intoxicating beverages to the gamblers. It seems to increase their mania and willingness to feed the waiting machines.

The little machines inhale the silver, masticate it and pass it along into the bowels of the larger money machine that is Caesar's Palace. Other attendants daily empty the silver stomach of its contents. They arrange to have the lucre carted off in fierce looking armored cars, replete with gun toting security guards.

There seems to be no end to the activity. It is a great silver river of cash that flows like a liquid Eldorado, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week and three hundred and sixty five days a year.

Occasionally, a great shout of joy erupts from around the crap tables, as some lucky visitor makes a point on the dice. The enthusiasm is electric and exciting. Everyone cheers the winner. The losers leave quietly to arrange for another stake. For, this is the fabled city of dreams, where a roll of the dice or a turn of the card can change your life forever.

Caesar's Palace is but one of the many money temples that line the neon canyon, that is the Avenue of broken dreams, Las Vegas Boulevard. Massive brightly lit edifices, like the Flamingo Hilton, are the electronic sirens that lure in the curious. Huge hives of activity like the Mirage and Treasure Island, with their fiery, erupting volcanoes and cannonading pirate ships, attract great throngs of the money laden tourists. Each seems determined to leave some or all of his money in this glittering desert oasis. It is a man made silver bonanza of staggering proportions. Bugsy Siegel could never have imagined what he started.

Nightly, there are star studded spectaculars at the casinos. They amuse tens of thousands with aerial circuses, disappearing elephants and high stepping showgirls. It is the Emerald City of legend. All who come here are bewitched.

Monorails, moving sidewalks and connected walkways propel the great throngs by and into the many attractions. Nightly, six lanes of traffic are jammed solid into a river of steel that inches up and down Las Vegas Boulevard. The people themselves become the attraction, in their many guises and curious behavior. P.T. Barnum was right.

It is Mardi Gras, St. Patick's Day and the Fourth of July here everyday. People can't seem to get enough of it. It is Las Vegas! Even the name conjures up the aura of fabled Spanish treasure. Myth and legend, the borders merge here in a surreal fantasy that is larger than life. You can lose yourself in this neon phantasmagoria. Many visitors return time and time again, to resume their ongoing battle with the laws of probability. Only some few seem to win. The cynical suspect that they are shills. Still, the myth has a powerful attractivion. It is uniquely American in its' appeal. Come west and you will strike it rich. You will find the fabled Eldorado! And, at least you will have gone in search of a dream once in your life.

The thousands who leave Las Vegas daily are wistful and half/sad to be going home. For always, in their mind's eye, they can see the vision. They can see that one roll of the dice, or that one turn of the card, that will change their lives forever. Maybe it will happen next time! And Tomorrow, tomorrow is another day!

Joseph Xavier Martin