Free Republic

My readers are well-read folks. So, y’all know that there really was a streetcar named Desire that ran to a down-at-the-heels neighborhood in New Orleans, where Tennessee Williams’ set his play. So, even though most streetcars have, alas, done the way of the Dodo, you might have surmised that Goats on the Roof is real. Ding. Ding. Ding. No more calls, please. There IS a place called Goats on the Roof. At the time that “Flashdance” came out, with it came a phrase, “high concept.” What that meant was the whole idea – remember charades, when you’d make a global...

Most people consider Las Vegas the most outlandish city in America. On its 100th anniversary, I argue the opposite. It’s the “All-American City.” In one of those kids-say-the-darnedest-things segments, a young boy said about skin, “It keeps us from having to look at our insides.” That insight applies here. Las Vegas is, ironically, a view of human nature with the skin removed. It shows our insides: power, money, ideas and sex. These are largely interchangeable. What brought up Las Vegas is an upcoming trip for my wife and me, which we’ll take shortly. It’s something of a “do-over” for a...