Can Disney Create a Star Wars Theme Park?

Last year, when I wrote about the desire (at least mine, but I imagine it's widely shared) for a Star Wars theme park, I was hopelessly optimistic about the creation of such a fantastic place.  However, why would Star Wars decide to venture out and do such a thing when they wouldn't even create episodes 7-9?
     When I first heard about the purchase by Disney in October (see, for instance, this recent BusinessWeek article), I was shocked, but was certainly happy when I heard that episode 7 would be coming out in a few years :)  Nevertheless, I didn't imagine the possibility of a Disney Star Wars theme park at the time.  However, between the resources, capability and experience that Disney brings to the table with their theme parks and the immense draw and interest that Star Wars has for fans of all ages, it only makes sense that this wonderful idea could become a reality.
     Slashfilm broke the story yesterday that it seems even Disney is considering making it a reality.  Now, many websites are making mention of it, such as Slashgear, MovieFone, Mashable and more, so with all of this buzz, I can't wait for Disney to start making this dream come true!

Textually-Speaking: Why I Am So Into Using Texts

Although it may seem obvious that someone who is ordained as a rabbi and serves as a rabbi would be really into text study, since studying texts is the bread-and-butter for becoming a rabbi as well as the area of expertise for rabbis.  However, I have been surprised in my three-plus years of serving as a rabbi that I am quite text-heavy (apparently compared to others?).  (Although we can speak of a variety of media of texts, for the purposes of this post, I am referring to written and printed texts.)
When it comes to leading any classes or learning with people, my preferred style is "text-based discussion" whereby texts from the Jewish tradition are front-and-center and informing our conversation.  Although I happen to lean heavily on Talmudic texts, primarily since they are foundational (I also particularly happen to enjoy studying them), I do use other texts, as well.  Although one thing I have had to learn in my current position is that most Jews do not particularly enjoy going through texts of heritage, there are still those that actually do, and, amongst some of those, like going more in-depth.  Fortunately, I am still able to ply my trade with these Jews :)

Anyways, I have gotten a sense that there are those that don't use texts so heavily and prefer to simply speak about Judaism and about a variety of Jewish topics.  While I may avoid that method because I don't trust my memory as well as others may, I actually avoid it for two primary reasons.  The first reason is that by placing out a visual text that all may see, we have equal access to the text.  We can unlock that text together - it is all of our shared heritage - and I see my role as being the one who can furnish the text and provide a space for a conversation to take place around it.  One thing that this method does is allow the participants to engage with the texts in an intimate way and really wrestle with it, as opposed to hearing a [potentially] one-dimensional view of the text out of a rabbi's mouth.  Another thing that this does is actually selfish on my behalf: it allows me to show some neat textual approaches.
The second reason is that I don't like when other rabbis say that "Judaism takes a ____ approach to ___" or "the Jewish view on _____ is ____" because it makes it so simplistic, when, in truth, many topics are actually quite complicated.  By having texts in the discussion, it offers the audience an opportunity to participate in grappling with the texts and having a greater sense of personal ownership to them.  Moreover, I actually dislike it when other rabbis say that because I either don't like what they're saying, that they are lacking important nuance (making them kind of wrong), or that they are straight-up incorrect.  So, I am avoiding a method I dislike.  Another thing that avoiding this approach accomplishes is that if I say "The Jewish approach/view to _____ is ____", I may end up sounding somewhat flippant, but worse, it would be common for people to pipe up, "But, I thought Judaism says _____ about ____?"  I would then say, "Yes, but..." and a weird conversation would ensue.  Basically, it cuts out that uncomfortable conversation and allows them to see the complexity of the issue (and, of course, perhaps my view of the topic).
For those two primary reasons, I like to share the texts and, apparently, am considered pretty textual(?).

The Image of God Problem for Same-Sex Couples II: Chief Rabbi of France Agrees With Me

Last week, while using the elliptical machine, I read Rabbi Gilles Bernheim's essay that was translated as "Homosexual Marriage, Parenting, and Adoption" for First Things.  It was a fascinating essay, for sure.  It is really interesting.
Anyways, I am bringing it up here because he actually echoes a thought of mine about which I wrote in June that Genesis 1:27 describes the Image of God to be Male and Female.  Rabbi Bernheim writes not so dissimilarly from my thoughts that "It is significant that, in the Bible, sexual difference is mentioned just after the affirmation of the fact that man is in the image of G-d. This means that sexual difference is embedded in this image and thus blessed by G-d."  He also writes

The biblical account grounds sexual difference in the act of creation. The polarity of masculine–feminine pervades all that exists, from clay to G-d. It is part of what is given primordially and what guides the respective vocations—the being and the agency—of man and woman. The duality of the sexes is part of the anthropological constitution of humanity.

Thus, every person is brought sooner or later to recognize that he possesses only one of the two fundamental versions of humanity and that the other will remain forever inaccessible. Sexual difference is thus a mark of our finitude. I am not the whole of humanity. A sexed being is not the totality of the species; it needs a being of the other sex to produce its likeness.

Although I am glad to have my ideas ratified by the Chief Rabbi of France, I am happier that he wrote them eloquently :)  Here are a couple further paragraphs from the piece about this topic:

Genesis finds the similarity of the human being with G-d only in the association of the man and the woman and not in each one taken separately. This suggests that the definition of a human being is perceptible only in the conjunction of the two sexes. Because of his sexual identity, each person is referred beyond himself. From the moment a person becomes conscious of his sexual identity, he is thus confronted with a kind of transcendence. The person is required to think beyond himself and to acknowledge the independent existence of an inaccessible other—that is, of one who is essentially related to himself and desirable yet never wholly comprehensible.

The experience of sexual difference thus becomes the model for all experiences of transcendence; it designates an indissoluble relation with an absolutely inaccessible reality. On this basis we can understand why the Bible so readily uses the relation between man and woman as a metaphor for the relation between G-d and man: not because G-d is masculine and man is feminine but because it is man’s sexual duality that most clearly manifests an unsurpassable otherness within the closest relation.

Intending What You Mean To Say and Not Just Direction: כוונה (Kavanah) and כוונת הלב (Kavanat haLev)

People all too often confuse kavanah with kavanat halev

All too often, I hear people saying it is good to have כוונה (kavanah).  What they mean to say is it is good to have intention.  They get this sense from rabbinic literature.  However, when the rabbis of the Talmud speak about כוונה, they mean direction.  
If one wants to say intention, one would say כוונת הלב (kavvanat halev), which means mental direction.  An easier way of saying that is intention.  
Thus, when people say kavanah is a good thing, they are actually saying having direction is good, which is true, but not what one is trying to impart.  They should really be saying one should have kavanat halev.
 

Snacking on Bread

Growing up, a not uncommon snack of mine - especially in the afternoon - would be to snag a piece of bread from the kitchen counter.  Although looking back, it clearly was not the healthiest of snacks, it seemed like a pretty snack-worthy item. 
    Imagine my surprise when I started observing more Jewish activities, including saying blessings regarding food, especially insofar as it pertains to bread.  With many foods, such as meat, chicken, fish, cheese, and most drinks, one says a one-line blessing prior to partaking of them and a one-line blessing following them.  For baked goods, one says a one-line blessing prior to partaking them, and a paragraph or two blessing following them.  
      However, for bread, although a one-line blessing is said, one is not only supposed to wash one's hands prior to partaking of it, but supposed to say a four-paragraph blessing following it!  It struck me as strange that one would have to go through all of that blessing for a snack!  However, for the Talmudic rabbis, upon which Jewish law is based, bread was a central component of one's meal and other things, such as meat and cheese, were ancillary.  
     It is an interesting deterrent for me (when my health-minded will power breaks down and I consider snacking on some bread lying around) for me nowadays and not have bread simply because it is a lot of blessing to say for a snack!

"Marriage Equality"? "Marital Equality"?

Marriage Equality: Are men and women equal in marriage?

Whenever I hear the term "Marriage Equality" or the term "Marital Equality", I think that it pretty plainly means having equality in marriage.  Raising the term in conversation seems to be about how equal is the husband to the wife in the marital relationship?  
     Of course, with last week's inaugural address by President Obama, that's not how it seems to be used in popular discourse.  It sounds strange to me for people to be using it that way (and, no, this is not a discursive attack on our president).  If for no other reason, marriage can be entered into by any man and woman.  But, then, that would be "Equal Access to Marriage" and not "Marital Equality".  
     Anyways, although I've been married for over five years and am good with it, I wonder what types of thoughts pop into other married people's minds about equality in marriage.  Granted, not only is everybody different, but the way (and even how far into the marriage) that people relate to each other within their own marriages matter.  Nevertheless, I wonder how often people think about or strive for "equality" within their marriages or they are fine with their status quo.

Philanthropic Considerations #5: My Takes on Certain Philanthropic Terms

For a while, I have been bothered by the use of certain terms in philanthropic discourse. Not the terms, themselves, mind you, but rather the way in which they're used. Although I've made brief references to them before, I finally wanted to address these terms here. 

Term #1: "Planned Giving" - As mentioned elsewhere, I consider this term to refer to one looking at one's giving for a certain time period (typically, a year, but could both be longer (e.g. 5-year plan) or shorter (1-month, 3-month, or 6-month plans))) and figuring out not only how much to give, but also whither the allocations would go. For the past two years, I have worked on our planned giving at the beginning of the Gregorian calendar year to determine where we will give (working within a certain amount of money budgeted that my wife and I have negotiated) (granted, we also set aside some money for things that come up (e.g. emergency relief funds)). 

Term #2: "Development" - As mentioned elsewhere, I am horrifically bothered by the use of this term in reference to raising money. Frequently, organizations will reference their fundraising activities as "development work" or have a "development officer" who mainly serves to raise funds. Just call it what it is: fundraising! What is, then, to my mind, development? It's primarily either expanding an organization or creating a new route/initiative/etc. Just as in "Research & Development" of technology companies, the 'development' is creating and advancing the products that the company is producing. The first time I came across a 'development officer' (during my first year at YCT), I thought her job was to work on developing the curriculum or on professional development of the students. It could also have been organizational development, which is streamlining or making the organization more efficient. I was shocked when I discovered the position wasn't meant to improve the organization, but merely to raise funds. If one is raising funds or endeavoring to do so, that's fundraising; if one is seeking to affect development of one sort or another, that is actually development. 

Term #3: "Creating a Legacy" - A legacy is something one creates that endures - not only in one's lifetime, but also following their lifetime. However, I somehow seem to encounter this term primarily as only leaving a post-lifetime gift (maybe I'm encountering a very limited body of literature). Nevertheless, one can create a legacy whilst one is still alive, which can benefit those even in one's own lifetime. Obviously, this legacy - whether financially or otherwise - should hopefully endure to survive the giver's/creator's lifetime. 

Thus ends my little rant on philanthropic terminology. If I have any future semantic gripes, I'll be sure to share them....

Working to Also Develop Employees' Jewish Identities

Since last summer, my approach to working with employees or others working with me was affected by reading a post on eJewish Philanthropy, which has changed my perspective on this matter greatly.  Previously, I thought that the staff/employees of an organization, such as a Hillel (as I work with) were there to serve, work with, and focus on developing & ameliorating the Jewish lives/journeys of the students.  (Of course, this can work in a variety of contexts, I'm just going with the example of a Hillel, since that is what I frequently see.)  However, after reading the piece, I realized that one can strive to help the employees in not only helping them along in their professional journeys (which directors and executive directors (and any other supervisors) should be doing anyways to not only be seeking to professionally ameliorate their employees while in their organization, but also since they want to help develop talent, which ultimately helps everybody in having more developed and aware employees), but also in their Jewish journeys.  

     Although this immediately manifested to me in working with our programming associate at Beach Hillel, I realized that this is true in other contexts, such as when I worked at a BBYO summer leadership program this summer, that the college students who were working there with us were not only fellow staff, but still very much on their own Jewish journeys who could use some shepherding in their own growth.  This is, by the way, totally not obvious.  In the way that the operations work there, all of the staff is focused on the participants. That's not a bad thing - it churns out great results!  However, why not take it a step further and develop those working in the Jewish organization?

      Okay, with all of the above, one thing that has struck me is that I wanted to simply link to the post in question.  However, I realized that my reading of the article (as I wrote above) was my take-away (my דרשה, if you will) of it (thus, why I'm writing this post, so I can explicate it).  The post was written by Jaime Walman, in the aftermath of the [shocking] closing of JDub (as part of a slew of posts on eJewish Philanthropy bemoaning its surprising demise (just search for JDub there)), describing some of her takeaways along the way working for JDub.  The piece, "Former JDub Professional Addresses Real Issues in Closing", includes her very important line, "JDub is an integral part of my own Jewish journey".  That line is important not only for Ms. Walman, but also in considering anybody's working with Jewish organizations, particularly for young adults (I know she brings up other issues, but I'm not getting into them [here]).  It comes at an important time in one's life for young adults, which is all the more true for emerging adults, many of whom - the Hillel world - work as engagement or even programming associates.  
     In sum, it is important for those working in Jewish organizations, especially those focusing on serving particular young people as their target audience/end-users to not lose sight of the bigger picture: developing and ameliorating the talents of the Jewish people.  If one has already hired someone (especially a young/emerging adult), then one is already committed to this person and believes in their talents, skills, and passion, not to mention investing the efforts of their organization in having this person work for them.  Moreover, the director/executive director (or whomever) are hopefully also endeavoring in seeking professional development and training them to be better professionals in their line of work. However, it is also important to invest in seeking to ameliorate that [young] person's Jewish identity in that process, since this person (it is fair to presume) chose to work in a Jewish organization because they appreciate what the Jewish communal world has to offer in ameliorating and helping them and other Jews along in their lives.

---- - On JDub's demise, see the pieces of Tamar Snyder in the Jewish Week, Jacob Berkman in the Forward, and Dan Brown in eJewish Philanthropy.
- Ms. Walman also brings up other issues at the end of her piece which are very important for Jewish communal organizations and Jewish communal professionals to consider.   She brings up "the question of sustainability of this type of work, and the aging-out that seems to inevitably be happening", continuing: "the salary, the hours, the lack of stability and the inability to have any separation between my personal and professional life … was not sustainable for me in the long run. The cost of Jewish living, if one chooses to do so, is astronomical and, at some point, the balance between my love and passion for my job was outweighed by the reality that I wouldn’t be able to support my family or have any time for them."  She pertinently queries: "How do we ensure that professionals working within these innovative organizations can continue to pursue their passions, inspiring other young Jews like themselves while also having sustainable careers?", concluding that "it’s an important point to consider as more and more founders move on from the organizations they started and staff changeover continues to increase."  I do not have the answers, but she raises deeply significant issues for the Jewish community to consider.

Tribefest 2012

With other rabbis at Tribefest

With 2012 almost over, I realized I hadn’t yet written about one of the most memorable events I experienced this year. Nine months ago, I attended the second ever Tribefest in Las Vegas and it was a great time. I remember thinking on the drive back, that it was sad to think that the event was already over, seemingly almost as soon as it had begun (especially since I had been looking forward to it for a while). However, another person in the car pointed out that there was so much going on that it seemed like it had lasted a whole week and not just the few days it took place. 

A.J. Jacobs speaking hilariously in the opening "main event"

      TribeFest 2012 was the second such event produced by the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), with TribeFest 2011 preceding it, and, as much as it would be great for it to occur next year, it was announced recently that the next one will take place in 2014. But even though it was only the second such event, anyone there could tell it was well done, thought-out, and it had a sizable budget to match.  
     According to Jackie Menter, who wrote an article describing the first such Tribefest,

TribeFest is part of a profound shift in philosophy at JFNA toward engaging young adults in their 20s and 30s. Now, more than ever, a top priority at JFNA is outreach and engagement to maintain a steady flow of vibrant young Jews into the Federation movement. “JFNA has moved away from leadership development as a single agenda item,” Katz explains. Rather than jumping into leadership development, the new approach focuses on first attracting and engaging potential young leaders—a step in the process that Federations didn’t really have to work hard at in the past.

She continued: "JFNA realized that without the steady flow of new young adults being inspired to become Jewishly involved, the future of Cabinet, and Federation itself, would be bleak."  Basically, in order to have committed donors to the Jewish Federations, Jews need to not only understand what the Jewish Federations are and do, but also to understand the need and importance of giving to them and supporting them.  But, in order to do that, they need to appreciate the work of the Federations, which results from the appreciation and understanding of Jewish life and helping out one's fellow Jews.  However, before even that is reached, one needs to want to be involved in Jewish life and like being Jewish.  Thus, the work in reaching out to young adults: if these young adult Jews aren't connecting with Jewish life and/or Jewish Federations, it does not spell out a great future for Jewish Federations.  Thus, Tribefest is one such manifestation of this effort: exciting young adult Jews about Jewish life. 

With some other Long Beach folks

     The venue for Tribefest 2012 was the Venetian Conference Center, which was a very nice place and most of the attendees stayed in the attached Palazzo, which was also quite nice (and for all the people who had never stayed there before, were sure to look into staying there again and telling their friends about it). We've stayed there before, so we knew what to expect, but for those who hadn't been there before, were pleasantly surprised (it's amusing just to think about all the Jews who show up at a Jewish convention and are stifled in their complaining about the accommodations(!)).

Moshav Band performing one night during dinner

     Most of the elements of TribeFest were three: plenary sessions (which they called "main event" sessions), break-out sessions, and meals. There were also receptions and a service project, where attendees could read to young elementary school students. Of course, at nighttime, there were some parties, etc.   
      In the lunches, they had food, etc.; during dinners, they had musical performances on-stage along with booths of sponsoring organizations while dinner was served with open bars with quality spirits (vodka: Grey Goose, gin: Bombay Sapphire, tequila: Patron, Scotch: Glenlivet, Bourbon: Maker's Mark, etc.), which made for a great evening atmosphere.  What was really nice about the dinner schmoozing time was that it was a nice way to end the evening's activities as part of Tribefest, while allowing people plenty of time to go out and experience Las Vegas for the night.  Well done!
     In the break-out sessions, there were four time slots that offered ten different options as part of individual tracks. One of the tracks that was new was the clergy track, which was designed for rabbis and cantors. Although I initially was going to attend all four clergy track sessions (being a rabbi), I decided that the first couple ("Federations and Clergy: An Important Relationship" and "The Clergy's Voice") seemed lame, so I went to "Generation Change: How to Occupy Your (Jewish) Community Now!" and "NextGen in the Shark Tank" instead.  

David Cygielman, Miryam Rosenzweig and Stephen Hazan Arnoff

Shark Tank presentation with Sarah Lefton

      The first of these was really interesting, in which we got to hear from Stephen Hazan Arnoff of the 14th Street Y, David Cygielman of Moishe House, and Miryam Rosenzweig of NextGen Detroit speak about their respective organizations, which was great.  For me, Rosenzweig was really enthralling and I was shocked at how vibrant Detroit's Jewish Federation was for young people - that was inspiring to know that Jewish Federations can be relevant, exciting, and vibrant for young Jews!  The "NextGen in the Shark Tank" was okay: it featured organizations that were doing neat stuff, but I think it was mainly for people who hadn't heard of what they were doing, so it wasn't that fascinating for me.  I think the highlight for me of that session was seeing William Daroff tweet while being up on the panel.
     When I did attend the clergy track sessions, the first was  "Engaging those in their 20s and 30s" - no doubt, the perfect place to discuss this topic: amongst rabbis at a conference for 20s, 30s, and young 40s.  While I was expecting a discussion where mostly rabbis could get together and discuss challenges and opportunities with engaging Jews in their 20s and 30s, instead, the rabbis were a minority in the room, with a fair amount of engagement professionals there.  That was a shame - what I tremendously enjoy from rabbi-only conversations is that there is a higher level of discourse and a certain perspective that one seldom gets with non-rabbis. Moreover, the presentation was very synagogue-centric (by someone from Synagogue 3000, which makes sense) and there really wasn't much of a conversation about best practices for rabbis engaging with Jews in their 20s and 30s. So, I came away disappointed from that session, especially since part of the presentation was about how there was a young adults social group that got together and had some interaction with a rabbi and, on occasion, met at a synagogue.  One of the problems of making it synagogue-centric was that 20s and 30s are not only reticent to go to synagogues (unless they are married and/or have children), but that it didn't offer models for rabbis to go out and engage 20s and 30s nor did it offer some suggestions as to content to be discussed with them.  I was greatly frustrated with that session.

With Rabbi Jason Miller, who led "How To Get Our Message Out" session

      The other clergy track session I attended was "How To Get Our Message Out", which was primarily about social media: primarily Twitter, Facebook, and blogging.  It had primarily two groups of people in the room: people who were curious and/or newcomers to social media and those who used it a lot.  The conversation ended up taking place in two spheres: those who were curious asked questions, while those who used it a lot had a separate conversation on Twitter.  I think I was disappointed from the session, because I was hoping it could be about writing op-eds or other ways of really getting our message out there in the public sphere, rather than just social media posting.
      There really weren't many Orthodox/observant Jews there; I mostly saw them gather at davening, but most of those in attendance at the minyanim were the YU presidential fellows (which, by the way, was a good thing on the part of YU to send them, so congratulations to YU for having the vision to expose their fellows to a broader swath of young North American Jewry), which isn't a bad thing, but greatly reflects the lack of Orthodox attendance.  Obviously, one shouldn't expect Haredi, Yeshivish, or Hasidic Jews to be in attendance, but I would have expected more Modern Orthodox to be there.  I wonder what the factors are for the lack of my fellow Modern Orthodox Jews at Tribefest were, but I'm sure it makes for some great conversation....

A bunch of Long Beach folks at Tribefest

     My wife made a great observation: she noted that there was a noticeable lack of fellow Hillel staff.  This is particularly striking since not only are most Hillel staff members are perfectly situated in this age demographic, but they are also interested in the Jewish community.  Moreover, they could network with other young people serving in the Jewish communal world and the energy would have been perfect for them.  What serves to make this lack of Hillel staff attendance even more stark is that Hillel has made a big push for college students to be in attendance at recent JFNA General Assemblies (examples: 2010, 2009, etc.), but somehow the ball was dropped with regard to encouraging Hillel staff to attend JFNA's Tribefest, which would have been really tremendously helpful in recharging one's personal and professional batteries.  Moreover, why restrict it to encouraging Hillel staff?  We actually brought along two of our students to attend and they had an incredibly amazing time!  For future Tribefests, Hillels should be thinking about encouraging their older students and graduate students to attend.

Meeting a fellow tweeter in real life!

    I thought it was great having all of that Jewish energy there, albeit the tribal type, but one knew what one was signing up for.  It was entirely devoid of anything "Jewish" per se, content-wise, but I think that was to be expected.  Sometimes, it's nice to celebrate one's people.  Perhaps that's what also made it more enjoyable: it was certainly a lot less contentious than would it have involved discussions around Jewish content!    Also, there was some great weather – best that I’ve ever been there for, too bad we were mostly inside.  I am not usually given over to complaining about fabulous weather, but since we were inside for the most part, we could have had it any time of the year and, for that matter, it could’ve been anywhere in the country/continent.  Well, except that it wouldn't have had the Vegas excitement.  To be honest, Vegas is THE PLACE to have Tribefest - there's such a wonderful energy and there's always booze (which is great).  However, in speaking with someone else, she actually pointed out that having it in Vegas is strange with the gambling for two reasons: what does it mean that a Jewish organization is having an event take place where a lot of gambling takes place?  And, two, a fair amount of people leave the convention to take part in gambling or go there when not in the convention.  To be honest, I hadn't thought of these considerations (I don't care about gambling; I enjoy Vegas for other reasons).
     Lastly, it was also cool meeting other tweeters, some for the first time in real life and some to catch up with. It was good having parallel twitter conversations with the others there and beyond.  And, apparently, I enjoyed it so much that I ended up being one of the top tweeters there!
     I really enjoyed Tribefest and hope the next one is also another great experience!  It really fulfilled my high expectations :)

What I Enjoy Most About Visiting Las Vegas

In Las Vegas with Eiffel Tower replica behind us

Before moving out to Southern California, my wife and I had never been to Las Vegas. After spending the majority of our first year here, we finally ventured out to Vegas. Although the temperatures were 100 degrees and above, it was still a great time. It wasn't the gambling though: we did play the penny slots, but we actually broke even (or came out ahead (ended up $2 ahead from the penny slots, but used each of those dollars for tips for drinks from the waitresses who came around to the penny slots)). 
        We've been there several times since then, including four visits within the first eight months of this year (but none since).  Since neither my wife nor me are interested in gambling, the question comes up in conversation: what do we enjoy about visiting Las Vegas? 
       I can pinpoint three primary reasons: 1) The energy, 2) The aesthetics, and 3) The alcohol. There is such a great energy in Las Vegas and one can feel it just walking around. Perhaps some of it is carried with someone as they think back to the movies and television shows they've seen, and perhaps some of it is "in the air".  The aesthetics need very little description except to say that there are so many wonderful looking hotels and malls around - it's a great place just to look at the architecture.  Needless to say, these buildings add a great deal of energy to being there.  

Holding a really excellent bourbon-based cocktail

     Lastly, since I am not into gambling, nor do we go to the clubs (I've only ever been there as a married man (and a father) and have always gone to Vegas with my wife), nor do we go to shows much there (which cost a pretty penny), I enjoy Las Vegas for the alcohol.  While the alcohol there is no different than anywhere else, there are three primary things I look for: 1) I play a game called 'Find the Cheapest Booze' - I am not into finding just any alcohol, so let's look to see what competition does and see how it can benefit me, the customer.  2) It's nice to look for fun alcohol containers, such as the half-yards, yards, etc.  3) Lastly, Las Vegas is the place to go for new and exciting cocktails.  On our last trip to Vegas, I discovered a really excellent cocktail.
      Although I am missing going to Las Vegas, my wife says she is tiring of it, but there will be a time when I get to return :)