Diary

1 July 2006

Last time I was here I was writing a book about American subcultures, counting my pennies to make my advance go further. I stayed at a slightly raffish weekly hotel called the Holiday Royale. Now I’m back making TV, I’m at the marginally more salubrious Embassy Suites. The best part about the Embassy Suites is that they are showing World Cup matches on a big screen in the breakfast area. It is oddly disconcerting hearing American commentators. They stress the second syllable of ‘Gerr-ard’; they say ‘nothing to nothing’ instead of ‘nil-nil’. Stuart, my director, says he heard one say, ‘We’re 15 minutes into half number two’. The matches are shown on network TV, so is America finally falling for the beautiful game? Actually, no. The consensus is still that it’s too slow and low-scoring. An editorial in USA Today proposes changing the rules so that ‘long-range goals’ are worth three points and penalties only one. Other possibilities mentioned: playing with fewer men, and making the goal bigger. The hubris of reforming the world’s favourite game is striking. Is it a more anodyne version of the naivety of trying to transplant US-style democracy to the Middle East?

Las Vegas is in the middle of a $20 billion building boom. For the most part, these developments will cater to up-scale visitors. Among those planned: The Palazzo ($1.8 billion), the Encore ($1.7 billion), the Fontainebleau ($1.5 billion). Statistics show that visitors to the city are now wealthier, younger and spending more. There is also a new trend for residential towers. Donald Trump is building one. Still, old habits die hard. Just past the Venetian — where classical music pipes out across trees and artificial cascades — guys are handing out cards for sex clubs.