It's hard to live in the United States without being continually amazed at the country's contradictions. I've been here fourteen years now, and it's still one of things that most fascinates me about this vast place. You see the most gaudy, unpleasant side of life - the side that's so often portrayed by critics as the only aspect of American existence - but you also see the most soul-replenishing.
You see materialism run riot, but you also see intimate little corners dedicated not to money but to simply enjoying life. Above all, you see a refusal to accept limitations, whether they be associated with consumerism or with age. The good, the bad, and the ugly come together in America more than anywhere else I've been - and, I have to admit, this suits my temperament just fine.
It makes life continually unpredictable and interesting.
In many ways, it is in the American west that these contradictory traits play out most, in the towns and cities dotting the larger-than-life deserts-and-mountains landscape of states like Nevada and New Mexico.
There's a piano bar in , Nevada, that I love.
It's called , and is squeezed in next to an ornate water fountain at the end of a long covered arcade linking and , two of the largest casinos in town. The red neon sign outside has a "y" shaped like a martini glass, complete with a neon olive and stirrer. The (fake) brick walls are adorned with first world war-era Belgian and French patriotic posters.
And the grand piano is surrounded by a built-in marble counter. I've sat at that counter every time I've visited Reno on a reporting expedition, sat and read a book and had a couple drinks - always most generous in quantity - and listened to drop-dead-great piano and saxophone covers of practically every show tune and jazz standard under the sun. Gershwin, Sinatra, Perry Como - even Elton John.
The music provides an aural oasis, an escape from the constantly chirping slot machines that fill the floor space of the vast casinos, a get-away from the raucous nightclubs that provide most of the liquid refreshments along the arcade route.
Inside Roxy's, older men and women sit on chairs with red leather cushions, drinking martinis, beers, wines. Sometimes they dance.
I've seen strangers in their sixties and seventies pick each other up, spend time on the dance floor and then head off together. It's entertaining to watch. The joy of the seniors in action, dancing to Sinatra tunes from their youths, always kindles a sense of joie de vivre in me.
They seem to have no sense of having left their youth behind. Young women come in and sing songs with the obliging pianist. Occasionally, I'd guess, some of the gambling town's ladies of the night drop by to look for lonely hearts, and wallets flush with winnings.
But, taken as a whole, Reno doesn't really do it for me. Yes, it can be fun to gamble and go see the shows; yes, there's a fascinating car museum showcasing America's century-plus love affair with the automobile - one that last time I visited it was also hosting an exhibit on Nevada and the A-Bomb; and yes the Western landscape is spectacular. But at its core it's a tacky, seedy town.
A junior version of Las Vegas, it's a regional attraction rather than an international vacation destination. Its casino-hotels, buffets and concerts are okay, but they're a million miles away from the triumphant, utterly materialistic spectacle of the or in Vegas.
In fact, wandering the casinos of Reno usually ends up depressing me.
There are too many desperate-looking people mechanically feeding coins into machines, mechanically pulling down the machine arms or pressing buttons hoping for a miracle. There are too many people stuffing too much low-end food into their mouths in the buffets, eating to the point of satiation just because they can. There are too many kids mindlessly roaming the corridors while their parents lose their holiday money playing poker and blackjack and all the other games of chance, for suckers, that the place specializes in.
There are too many made-in-China baubles, useless little souvenirs that nobody really needs but everyone buys because the vendors are selling them for such absurdly low prices.
Sometimes I get angry after a few hours here. I start making assumptions about how Reno represents everything detestable in the human condition.
And then, if it's late enough, I head to Roxy's. I'm instantly soothed. It makes me content in a way that few places do.
I sit at the bar and stuff a few dollars into the musicians' tip jar atop the piano and figure I've paid my rent for the next couple hours. I order a glass of good red wine and take out a book and read. Nobody bothers me.
I put the book down and people watch. I listen to the music and I'm happy to be there and nowhere else.
Hmm - a fairly neutral article about the US, What's the matter?
Is the Guardian going soft?
Reno is indeed an interesting little place but I would not disagree that it is more than just a little tacky. The casinos of America offer fascinating, if depressing snapshots of American life and their contradictions are more apparent here than in, say, Vegas.
There are mini-casinos everywhere in the valley. Even the gas stations and supermarkets have their rows of poker machines. The smaller casinos here are much more intimate and it's easy to simultaneously watch the punters feed the machines with quarters and gorge themselves on the impossible buffets.
But as with many things in America it is a simple matter to lift your spirits just by going outside. The ride north from California along the 395 has to be one of the prettiest drives in the world. Full of surprises.
Bishop has some of the finest nature photography studios you'll see anywhere - and the best sandwiches at the Dutch bakers. Mark Twain's Virginia City is well worth a visit. Carson city is the prettiest State Capital in the US.
All this without going near the highest and lowest points in the contiguous 48 in the sierras and Death Valley.
I can't wait to return and will look out for Roxy's.
Yes Sasha, the USA is a land of contradictions - and not just the West - yet it is also a land of uniformity.
I've been in most cities from Boston to San Francisco (east to west) and Detroit to Miami (north to south) and have found the oasis of a Roxy's piano bar in them all.
The one I remember most vividly is a joint in Cicero (it could have been Berwyn) on the south-west side of Chicago. There I spent many happy moments in the company of Horatio "at the piano" (looked like Louis Armstrong - grin and all - though on a much slimmer side), filling up his two-pint brandy glass with dollar bills for every request he played - never could stump him on any song, he knew them all and cost me a well-worth fortune.
I would recommend it to you, if you are ever in that neck of the woods, but it has probably been pulled down by now and, besides, Hortatio would be about 100 years old and retired if still alive.
Thanks for bringing back some memories.
Okay, let's assume that gambling is not a pure waste of money.
Let's assume that the wealth accumulated in Las Vegas and Reno is put to a worthwhile use. Let's assume that state lottos are useful in funding necessary programs. Let's assume that Indian casinos are revenue enhancing and promote the welfare of the Natives.
Oh, wait - I go into a couple of Indian casinos every week and who do I see gambling? Why, Indians of course. Zoned out on poker machines.
Hoping that the 80% payout will favor them. Just what any community needs, a government sponsored business sucking the lifeblood out of the locals, in a supposed context of providing jobs and acquiring revenues. At least, the cigarettes are cheap.
If one is willing to donate his/her wealth as a form of entertainment, then so be it, but promoting gambling as a means of funding government is not sound public policy.
I comment without firsthand knowledge of Indian gaming other than in my immediate region, so conditions may be entirely different elsewhere. I must also comment that the ostentatiousness on display in Vegas brought to my mind visions of an over-extended consumer society crumbling at the next real estate market correction.
But . . .
the impersonator at the 'Elvis Chapel' did a helluva fine job when my wife and I renewed our wedding vows recently and the roller coaster at New York New York was worth the fee, even if I did end up feeling green for a while afterwards.
This comment is prompted by the posting above about the Indian casinos. I read that Chinese are very fond of gambling, but casinos are prohibited by their government.
The Chinese do seem very superstitious and prone to believing in lucky charms, fish, numbers, etc. though I'm not claiming to be an expert on the subject. If the American casinos could open up business in China it might be very lucrative.
The Indian casinos in CT cater to Asian customers, and there are lots of buses on the main highway here with Chinese and Korean characters on the side taking gamblers to Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun.
The gamblers seem to prefer these cheaper ethnic buses. Alternatively, recent immigrants who have heard years of Communist propaganda may be reluctant to take the main line which must seem like the Yankee Imperialist Running Dog bus line.
It was recently bought by a UK company.
tommydog: Every time I go up or down 395 the entry road to Bodie seems to be closed. It's very seasonal.
Last time I tried winter was actually coming on but I struck out across country from Mono in my SUV (yes - I own one and it's great). I gave up when the snow got too heavy. I'll follow your recommendation and try again.
Mono is indeed extraordinary and the view down on it when the road starts to climb toward Bridgeport is a sight to behold. My friend in the valley is a keen fisherman (catch and release) and he makes a point of taking me out when I go there. I've been float fishing (in a dry suit) in the Sierras at 10,000 ft and chasing those red trout in Pyramid.
Truckee, the railway museum and the extraordinary views of the railroad are worth a visit. Tahoe of course and the wonderful Tioga Pass. I've only driven parts of the 50 - what's it called, the loneliest road in America?
But I will return, it's beautiful country.
bessaroth: Is that the best you can do?
My dear Ivan cubed,
So the next time I swagger into a bar in downtown Baghdad or Gaza, there will you be - propping up the bar, slamming down your frothy quart of Lemonade, holding forth about the evils of Islam, whilst the Muslim barman cleans a glass and eyes wistfully his Kalashnikov hung beneath the bar?
How do you do it? A thread about bars in smalltown USA and you manage to relate it to your bugbear..
. You are quite priceless. Is no thread safe from you?
I am beginning to warm to you, Ivan. This mildly disturbs me.
O.
CiF is inversely proportional to the time spent in the Great Satan.
of U.K.
media, wherein the stains on one's collar
are somehow Yank induced. Irony is rampant.
Meanwhile, if you want a good lay, head to Nevada.
As my handle suggests, I know Reno fairly well. By far the best thing about it is its proximity to Lake Tahoe. The drive along I-80 to Sac is pretty spectacular too, and of course you've got San Francisco at the end of it.
I've had some really good times there (and no, I don't gamble or visit prostitutes), but overall, as a town, it's not that spectacular. It's enclosed by mountains so it gives the strange impression of being cut off from everywhere else. One of my friends who lives there calls it the "black hole" because of its general drabness and because it seems to suck people back.
It's obviously quite prosperous, despite the bursting of the real estate boom which saw houses rise from, say, $200k to $450k, then fall to $350k, all in five years. There's a real shortage of good professional jobs, though, from what I understand.
There's a pleasant river walk along the Truckee and you can go rafting in the river, though the Truckee is mostly snowmelt, so you have to pick your season carefully.
Overall, there are plenty of worse towns in America.
Reno's twin town, with which it shares the basin, far more suburban and not as wealthy, is called Sparks, which leads to the excellent local joke: "Reno - so close to hell that you can see Sparks".
## A thread about bars in smalltown USA and you manage to relate it to your bugbear.
.. Is no thread safe from you?
I am beginning to warm to you, Ivan. ##
This does not surprise me at all.
IVAN is charming.
. I have watched him pretty closely.
But to turn a thread on Reno into Gaza is indeed a feat.
I had missed it..I had thought maybe it somehow related to the thread.
I no longer think he is bad..I had been angry at what he said but its not right.
I had called him a paid propagandist and I apologise.
Heres to Ivan.
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