That Brandon Flowers knows what he is talking about
"I get my glory in the desert rain" - Brandon Flowers - "Bling", Sam's Town
And ain't that the truth! I LOVED living in Las Vegas. Here are some reasons:
I had so much fun, and so much independence.
I was living with my best friend (and lets face it, I was really living with TWO great friends, cus Neeraj was there so much, he may as well have lived there. lol)
I had my own kitchen where I could reign free and run wild with recipes.
I could watch as much (or as little) TV/Movies as I wanted.
I could stay up late or walk around in grungy clothes.
I could drive down to the strip for dinner with friends at 4AM.
I happily went to the gym every day to do Yoga with the best Yoga teachers in Nevada (at least, in MY opinion)
I could visit my friends at the Studio when they were working on their own sessions.
I met great people (through Felice and Neeraj).
I reveled in finding new routes, and discovering Las Vegas and Summerlin.
I discovered the beauty of the desert mountains. (seriously.)
And last, but certainly not least, on a winter morning (before 9:30AM), if you drive south on Hwy 95 from the Durango exit, there is a point just before the next exit where you can see the whole strip silhouetted against the mountains behind it. With the beauty of the sunrise, the city literally looks like its floating on a giant cloud and surrounded by pink/purple/orange mist. It really is breathtaking.
The funny thing is, whenever I hear that drum roll and the first guitar riffs of "Sam's Town", the title track of the Killers' second album, I get very nostalgic for LV. (in fact, that is the reason for this post.) That album was my Las Vegas soundtrack. It was such a big part of my life there. First, Felice was working at the studio for ENDLESS hours while the album was being made. Neeraj spent ENDLESS hours at the studio working on it. I kept hearing how great it was, and how I was going to love it. Then they invited Felice to be in the album photoshoot, which in and of itself was FREAKIN AWESOME! (and when you're somebody's best friend, and you hear news like that, you get JUST as excited for them as they are for themselves. Trust me.) Then, to top it all off, Felice's picture was chosen for the main album cover, which was crazy because we never expected that. We joked about it because we thought it was so far-fetched that it would be funny if it happened...and then it did. Crazy. So anyway, Sam's Town and the Killers were a huge part of my LV life, and they now sort of, represent LV to me...which is great because I hear Brandon just loves his hometown, and has SO much pride in it.
Now, nostalgia aside, I'm aware that Las Vegas was my first "home away from home" after England, so my intense love for it could be attributed to my need for independence and my having found it when I moved out there. There were also some things that annoyed me while I lived out there.
1) It was SUPER dry...(but it was the desert)
2)There weren't a lot of pretty green things (aside from from Ft. Apache which, for some reason, had lots of grass along the road. I liked driving on Ft. Apache. :) )
3)Las Vegas and Summerlin roads are set up on a grid, and there aren't many roads (or freeways) that cut through. So, you really DO have to drive far to get to a place that could've been WAY closer had the roads and freeways been set up better.
Aside from that, its a great city...if you mostly stay away from the strip.
And ain't that the truth! I LOVED living in Las Vegas. Here are some reasons:
I had so much fun, and so much independence.
I was living with my best friend (and lets face it, I was really living with TWO great friends, cus Neeraj was there so much, he may as well have lived there. lol)
I had my own kitchen where I could reign free and run wild with recipes.
I could watch as much (or as little) TV/Movies as I wanted.
I could stay up late or walk around in grungy clothes.
I could drive down to the strip for dinner with friends at 4AM.
I happily went to the gym every day to do Yoga with the best Yoga teachers in Nevada (at least, in MY opinion)
I could visit my friends at the Studio when they were working on their own sessions.
I met great people (through Felice and Neeraj).
I reveled in finding new routes, and discovering Las Vegas and Summerlin.
I discovered the beauty of the desert mountains. (seriously.)
And last, but certainly not least, on a winter morning (before 9:30AM), if you drive south on Hwy 95 from the Durango exit, there is a point just before the next exit where you can see the whole strip silhouetted against the mountains behind it. With the beauty of the sunrise, the city literally looks like its floating on a giant cloud and surrounded by pink/purple/orange mist. It really is breathtaking.
The funny thing is, whenever I hear that drum roll and the first guitar riffs of "Sam's Town", the title track of the Killers' second album, I get very nostalgic for LV. (in fact, that is the reason for this post.) That album was my Las Vegas soundtrack. It was such a big part of my life there. First, Felice was working at the studio for ENDLESS hours while the album was being made. Neeraj spent ENDLESS hours at the studio working on it. I kept hearing how great it was, and how I was going to love it. Then they invited Felice to be in the album photoshoot, which in and of itself was FREAKIN AWESOME! (and when you're somebody's best friend, and you hear news like that, you get JUST as excited for them as they are for themselves. Trust me.) Then, to top it all off, Felice's picture was chosen for the main album cover, which was crazy because we never expected that. We joked about it because we thought it was so far-fetched that it would be funny if it happened...and then it did. Crazy. So anyway, Sam's Town and the Killers were a huge part of my LV life, and they now sort of, represent LV to me...which is great because I hear Brandon just loves his hometown, and has SO much pride in it.
Now, nostalgia aside, I'm aware that Las Vegas was my first "home away from home" after England, so my intense love for it could be attributed to my need for independence and my having found it when I moved out there. There were also some things that annoyed me while I lived out there.
1) It was SUPER dry...(but it was the desert)
2)There weren't a lot of pretty green things (aside from from Ft. Apache which, for some reason, had lots of grass along the road. I liked driving on Ft. Apache. :) )
3)Las Vegas and Summerlin roads are set up on a grid, and there aren't many roads (or freeways) that cut through. So, you really DO have to drive far to get to a place that could've been WAY closer had the roads and freeways been set up better.
Aside from that, its a great city...if you mostly stay away from the strip.