Blog

I spent my first full day at the Red Rock Resort for the Objectivist Conference (OCON) meeting friends, sizing up the property and registering for OCON. The Red Rock is modern, the hotel room is spacious, and resort staff are courteous. I have a few gripes (poor cafe service, a broken music player in my room, understaffing) but in general I am impressed. Walking through the casino is interesting (haven’t gambled yet). I saw three babies, and this is no place for children of any age, with parents who were drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, and gambling, and not really minding their kids. I also observed an overwhelming majority of women working the slot machines while the $60 buy-in Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournament was a room filled with what I estimate was 99 percent men, mostly drinking and smoking and all of this during daylight. As I noted on Twitter, with tattoos, sleeveless shirts, long, gray beards, walkers, and lots of cleavage, the casino is like a ZZ Top music video and Red Rock isn’t even located on the strip. The whole place hums with 80s pop music and the sound of gambling machines and is populated by people on the prowl. Back at the adjacent hotel, the opening reception and banquet went off without a hitch, with friends, colleagues and scholars mixing, reconnecting, and discussing this summer’s exciting conference program.

Posted in Travel