Before I begin, let me pitch a TV show for a few minutes. I have become addicted to 30 Rock this season. When it debuted a few years ago, I watch some episodes and didn't think much of it. I missed most of the first season and all of the second season. This year for some reason I decided to give it another shot— and I was instantly hooked. The writing is very clever, and the show is not afraid to stray into 'wacky' for laughs. At the heart of the show's success are the characters portrayed by Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin. Their relationship— completely non-sexual, not even at the level of Sam and Diane during the fighting years— is fueled by the smartest repartee on television. It reminds one so much of the repartee in Bringing Up Baby or any of Katherine Hepburn's comedies. It could also be straight out of the Bob Hope and Bing Crosby Road movies. The rest of the characters are smartly written, and, much to my chagrin, the Tracy Morgan character has really grown on me. (Although, I still dislike that he has adopted this same character as his off-screen persona as well.) I'm not exactly sure when it airs, but Hulu always has the five most recent full episodes available for viewing. Check it out!
I used the conversion feature of my Kindle last night. I was poking around the Kindle forums when I saw that Baen books distributes a number of their science fiction books for free. So, I went to their website and checked out what was available. Most of it was stuff I had no desire to read, but I found several that were intriguing. All I had to do was register their email address as one authorized to send to my Kindle account. After that, I had four books sent to me for free (from Baen). Amazon charges 10 cents per conversion so I ended up spending 40 cents total to receive the books. They are otherwise indistinguishable from Amazon's own books.
Meanwhile, back in New Jersey:
Russell and I had agreed in advance that after our day in New York we could sleep in the next day. So I did! I had a wonderful night's sleep up in the attic and didn't stir until after 9 AM.
Our agenda for this day, Friday, was to visit Atlantic City. I just wanted to see the city and drop a few quarters into the slot machines. Russell had a larger nostalgic agenda planned for himself as he used to work in Atlantic City for Resorts International. In addition to spending some time running a carnival booth on the Boardwalk, he also drove a little tram up and down the Boardwalk. Unlike Las Vegas, where the casinos are all next to one another (for the most part), in Atlantic City, they are spread along the length of the Boardwalk. From one end, you cannot even see the casinos at the other end. Thus, the tram that would take tourists and other visitors up and down the Boardwalk.
I related to Russell and his family over one meal my own dim recollections of the Boardwalk. When we lived in New Jersey, there was no legal gambling and, naturally, there were no casinos. There was an active Boardwalk, however, and we once visited. For west-coasters, the best comparison is Venice Beach and the Santa Monica pier mixed together. There were tourist-y shops and carnival attractions, including rides, all up and down it. At one spot there used to be one of those giant slides, all metal with three or four gentle bumps on the way down. You would pay your dollar (or whatever) and ride down on a burlap sack. Or, more often, you would get on the burlap sack, and quickly have it fly out from underneath you so that you were riding down on your pants and knees, clutching the burlap sack like a victory flag. For some reason, even though I was terrified of heights at the time, I agreed to ride down the slide once. I had not counted on the stairs one took to get to the top of the slide, however. Much like that slow clackety-clack ride up the first hill of a roller coaster, sliders had to hoof it up a narrow staircase on the side of the slide. There were rails, of course. On one side was the slide itself, and on the other side was free air. I was frightened long before I got to the top, and, to make it worse, in my memory the back end of the slide was a plummet straight down into the ocean. The bottom end of the slide deposited one neatly onto the Boardwalk, but the back end hung over nothing but Atlantic Ocean. At least, that's how it is in my memory. I've never been able to confirm that. Needless to say, after clutching my burlap safety blanket all the way down, I never rode another giant slide again!
We set out for the New Jersey shore an hour or so before Noon. It took us about 90 minutes to get there, plus a few minutes for refreshments along the way. When you are yet a few miles from Atlantic City, it is a beautiful sight to behold. Most of the coastline here is marshy and flat, so when you take the final bend of the road leading you to the shore, the city appears in front of you like a mirage. It is white and golden in the hazy sun. Casino towers jut upwards from various places around the city.
When you cross the marsh, however, and enter the city, it is far different. Though many neighborhoods near the Boardwalk and the casinos have been torn down and re-erected over the years, their essential seediness remains. The older, un-renovated neighborhoods are even worse. So, long before one even gets close to a casino and the promise of riches, one is hit by a wave of poverty and desperation. I have long heard that all the revenue generated by gambling and casinos was never shared with the city itself, and it would be hard to deny that charge.
The next shock we discovered was that we had to pay, in advance, to park at a casino. If you, like me, do most of your gambling in Las Vegas, this seems unnatural and wrong. Why should a casino charge for parking? After all, they're going to get the money anyway. This was my next big hint that I wasn't about to enjoy the same gambling experience that I do occasionally in Las Vegas.
We eventually found our way into the casino operated by Resorts International. Again, what a shock. It reminded me of the Indian casinos we have here in California— miles and miles of slot machines peppered with wheelchairs and oxygen tanks. The atmosphere was sad and desperate. I found several slot machines to throw my money into, but got little joy in return. Continuing through, then, we exited out the back side of the casino, on to the Boardwalk. It was chilly and windy outside. We passed by a few cats, several sea gulls, and a couple dozen other strollers as we walked north. We passed by Trump's Taj Mahal without entering.
There isn't much else to say about Atlantic City. Maybe, had we come at a better time of the year, there would have been more to do. One entertainment pier that we passed by, full of rides and attractions, was completely closed up for Winter. We quickly wandered back to our entry point, got in the car, and drove home again. I had been curious to see Atlantic City. I believe that curiosity has been forever satisfied.
Tune in tomorrow for Part 11.
Until next time!
"Everything dies, baby, that's a fact, but maybe everything that dies some day comes back. Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty, and meet me tonight in Atlantic City."— Bruce Springsteen
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