I just got back home, having walked up and over the hill from the Castro Street Muni station, and sat down in my boxers to read a bit of the New Yorker to unwind, and let some (slightly) cool breeze through the windows before heading to bed.
The covers are always fun to inspect – just like the cartoons, they challenge you to figure out what is going on. And sometimes, just like with the cartoons, you just don’t get it and are left wondering how many real New Yorkers do get it.
This issue the cover is a loosely drawn and vividly colored plate on a table, situated on a black-and-white checkered tile floor that could be a patio. I liked it so much the first thing I looked for was the cover credit. The information I needed turned out to be in a letter from the magazine editors introducing the first New Yorker iPad edition, talking about the role technology has and has not played at the magazine over the years. The connection with the cover – it was drawn by David Hockney, using an iPad.
So that is my shot at a bit of interesting trivia – but the point of the post and the relation to Las Vegas is the article entitled “What happens in Vegas” by Paul Goldberger about the development of City Center and its use of contemporary architecture. And by that is meant real architecture, not what we now identify as “Vegas Hotel” architecture.
See the picture below at the top of the post? It’s a gorgeous photo. The buildings are super hot. Frank Gehry springs to mind of course, a play on Disney Center but with pastels (I imagine done with lighting) and the tower in the back has its own energy and contrasts. I loved it, and as i was studying it saw the “LV” logo on pink-illuminated building that is front-and-center of the photo. I’m thinking – yep, Vegas now has a logo, just like any brand. And then I thought, gee are they going to get in trouble with Louis Vuitton, cause it kind of looks like a rip-off of their logo. And it still took a few more moments to notice the “Prada” on the building next to it and then the actual “Louis Vuitton” signage nearer street level (that can only be seen in the print edition – or maybe the iPad edition!).
Now, don’t take it badly Monsieur Vuitton, but I have to tell you your logo is now going to be indelibly linked in my mind with Las Vegas rather than you. And its your own damn fault.
Queeristan - everywhere you are 