A street side conversation in the City of Sin _ Royal Hopper

It’s not for the Money

By Royal Hopper

It is a typical week in the City of Sin. The sun was hot. The tourists plentiful and the weirdness all around.
As you drive down the sinful streets of Sin City you notice a considerably overweight man striding down the boulevard shirtless ..his purple and gold jogging pants hanging down well below his generous waistline showing off to public eyes what none of them want to see.

Mickie Ds in the afternoon in the City of Sin_ by Royal Hopper

Later in the week a woman with wrapped up like a Bedouin stood outside a Las Vegas complex occasionally looking at her watch like an impatient commuter while an SUV with Arizona tags drove down the boulevard with a camera on a stick ..poking through the sun roof as publicity shy City of Sin Citizens (Sinners) suddenly began slowing down top avoid the camera.
Gangs of tattooed tough women filled the City of Sin in preparation for this years Sin City Roller Derby Tournament.. . . And then there was L.

Lets talk about Ella and the dream of peace and prosperity.

Picture a place where there was daily fighting between armies desperate to kill each other _ where finding bodies in pieces on the ground from the previous nights fighting was a routine thing.
That is the place in El Salvador, a woman I recently talked to in a Sin City hotel _ lets call her Ella _ ( not her name and not even close) said she grew up and the reason she came to the City of Sin.

Just because the light was perfect _ Royal Hopper

L told me she remembers the way her grandfather, a colonel in the army of this far flung exotic land, looked and smelled in his uniform. He warned her to stay away because when the alarm sounded it meant the enemy was coming.

She never said what became of her grandfather but she made it to the US a her dream of working in a grand hotel in a land of relative peace.

Aside from keeping her daughter out of a local gang, a fight so intense it nearly cost her the custody of children. The trip to the City of Sin was worth all the heartache and trouble. She is proud to be an American and a Sinner ( Las Vegan) proud to work hard for the people who helped her stay here where the dream came true and where her children are living the American dream thanks to a hard working, fearless mother.

After listening to her story as she walked away I determined that Ella was the quintessential American dream or one of the best Bull Shi* artists. I have heard in a long time.

Standing a reading. The latest Sin City craze ??? by Royal Hopper

Either way she is a perfect for the City of Sin a city that welcomes survivors, drama queens and BS artists with equal facility.
Sometimes we herein the City of Sin forget how lucky most of us are. That’s life in the City of Sin.
Take Care Sinners
Love you all

Father and son shopping????by Royal Hopper

There is an old saying that goes something like Vegas is where old acts go to die. There is something about the City of Sin that makes people relive their glory days and sometime makes them believe they are in the glory days. If you pay attention you see it everywhere. Performers made up with inches of make up, gamblers dressed in the clothes of their youth and tourists dancing to tunes that were old when 

Sunny afternoon in Vegas – Photo by Royal Hopper

Van Halen was a hot new So Cal Rock act.

The energy of drama and looking good in desert sun

By Royal Hopper

You see a man walking down the street with a broad brimmed straw hat, head bent down under the glare of the oppressive desert sun _ his colorful black and yellow Hawaiian shirt flapping in the blast furnace summer wind of southern Nevada.
The man’s back is bent perhaps from a lifetime spent on his feet and his cargo rigged shorts haven’t been “In” since 1987 or so. Walking is an effort. He is not homeless or desperate just one of the millions of Sin City denizens. The man, lets call him Hawaiian shirt guy, is tired and worn down. He has seen better days.

Walking down the road of life. There were better days – Royal Hopper

Most days Sinners (residents of Sin City living her by choice) like me would barely notice a guy like this as we make the daily commute to work but something about him on this oppressive summer day catches the eye of bystanders.

The man stops perhaps suddenly realizing people are watching raises his hand to look at his stylish watch and then looks around confirming that passersby are watching him.

He straightens up with some effort and begins walking picking up his pace as he steps onto a crosswalk at an intersection. You can almost hear the obsolete golden oldie dance tunes playing as Hawaiian shirt guy shaking his head and body to some half remembered tune from his glory days steps up the pace of his dancing walk.

If only for moment he looks years younger soaking in the momentary attention as he “Be-bops” down the sidewalk of a Sin City back road. The light changes. Commuters step on the gas and continue on their to or home from work. Pedestrians turn their heads back down the sidewalk and continue on their way.

Hawaiian Shirt guy slumps as he realizes the attention he put the show on for is gone. He takes a deep breath stands a little straighter and continues on his way. The brief moment in the sun has energized him. For a moment he is again that man who drew every eye in the room to him when he walked in and the memory has made his day.

Vegas baby – Royal Hopper

Vegas is full of drama queens who live for the attention of their fellow Sinners, those that live vicariously through them and those that serve as the audience. Who just take it all in. Who drink in the sights and sounds of the neon jungle that is Sin City sigh and go to work every day in the City of Sin.

Ciao Sinners

Love you guys

discarded barbecue grill _ Royal Hopper

Summer is here Sinners _ Royal Hopper

The Liver is Evil or Noise Bright Lights and Nervous Dogs

By Royal Hopper

“The liver is evil,“ read the saying on the T-shirt of a man sitting at gaming table with a drink in his hand.. . .

“The liver is evil,” the T-shirt said. “It must be punished.”

You look like you need a hug Sinners. This guy did.._ Royal Hopper

Shortly after that a woman skipped across the floor of a local casino with a beer in each hand.

On the 4th of July People drank, gambled, swore and had rendezvous with people they did not know sometimes got into fights. In other words it was a lot like any weekend in the City of Sin. It was business as usual.

There is no city in world that has a more casual attitude to the juice of fermented fruit and grain as the City of Sin and no more fans louder about stating their love of the chemical known as ethanol.

I once had a conversation with a man who had a drink in each hand. He stepped up to me with an intense and questioning look on his face forming a question in his mind. As is proper in the modern customer service oriented business environment in the City of Sin I asked.. “My name is Royal. How can I help you?”

Remember this guy Sinners _ Royal Hopper

The man who was wearing an oddly mismatched collection of clothing including what I hope was his wife’s tiara and his sons cartoon T Shirt ( Big Bird I think) looked at me with an intensity difficult to describe.

“I.m sorry I didn’t catch your name,” I asked fully prepared for the classic junior high comeback ..”That’s because I didn’t throw it.”

Instead the man waved his finger a bit at me and then shook his head in triumph as if he had scored some big points in the debate he was certain we were having.

“I have to go. If there is something I can do just let me know. Have a good man ..good luck,” I said being as helpful as his limited conversation would allow.

“All right then,” he muttered shaking his head in triumph at the debate that had apparently occurred in his head. A few minutes later the man was seen a drink in each hand staring at another guest who looked over at me and shrugged.

I shrugged back and smiled in the universal Sin City sign language for “I don’t know.. . .tourist Bro’”

Sidewalk drama in the City of Sin–Sinners _ Royal Hopper

I have three dogs..One is called Reddy. Reddy hates holiday fireworks so much so much she jumped in the shower while it was running to escape the noise she hates and fears.

She is a lovable, slightly neurotic Emo red head mess. Because she has a circle of black fur around her eyes we call her our little Goth Dog. Every noise _ every stranger makes her bark and when the firework for this July 4th. She actually jumped in the shower when it was running as my wife was showering before work She refused to lave the safety of the shower. Kuma is a dopy, happy American Bull Dog we saved from a local shelter. She is afraid of nothing and utterly clueless about the dangers around her.

In the dog world Kuma is the winner because she is too clueless to be worried. Reddy is adorable and loving pet but she is a mess in the dog world. In the City of Sin Reddy is a survivor because she notices everything and warns it away.

A Sinners takes a walk _ Royal Hopper

In a way July 4 is the perfect holiday for the City of Sin. Bright colors loud noises and lots of alcohol. Now that this year’s Fourth is fading from the alcohol laden minds of a City known for its short memory. Not a damn thing has changed.

It just life in the City of Sin Bro’ every day
I hope you had a glorious or serene July 4th whatever suits your inner Sin,,,,, Sinner.

Take care Sinners

The City of Sin on a summers day _ Royal Hopper

Sitting on the steps in the City of Sin- Royal Hopper

Money is Sin City, Sin City is Money

By Royal Hopper
There are rules in the City of Sin. Always look both ways crossing the street when the police are chasing you.. . . . . Never take a girl with three false names to your hotel room _ if you don’t have money stay in Idaho and don’t come to Vegas run out of money and fall asleep on the sidewalk when it is 106 degrees in the shade.

One of many sidewalk sleepers seen in the City of Sin last week _ Royal Hopper

The other day I saw a man lying on the ground on Las Vegas Boulevard. He was half dressed and unmoving _ his dirty blue button up blowing in the wind as his unmoving body sprawled on the gray concrete of the Sin City sidewalk. For a split second I thought he was dead, one of the victims of Sin City you seldom hear much about in the news. The ones found in hotel rooms, in bars and yes in hotel rooms.

Then my Sin City BS detector clicked on and I realized he was like just drunk and sans money for a hotel room _ he was as the old song goes sleeping on the sidewalk..

There is a phenomenon perhaps not exclusive to the City of Sin but certainly more noticeable. People who come here sometimes just flop down on a convenient section of Sin City sidewalk or landscaped corner and sprawl on the ground in plain sight of passersby and the local constabulary and directly under the glare of the harsh desert sun.

A City of Sin sidewalk sitter – Royal Hopper

For whatever reason this time of year you see people laying on the grass flat out unconscious some of them dirty and hopeless some in expensive shoes and recently cleaned $ 150 shorts _ all just sleeping on the ground.

Down the block a couple laid on a section of landscaped grass a few yards apart their possessions in a pile against a nearby light pole the male flopper had propped himself up. Heading further into the suburbs you see the three amigos. Three bearded ner do wells in their usual spot drinking beer and toasting the sunrise and waving at commuters as they drive by.
Three more floppers are sitting on sidewalks as you head down Tropicana further into suburbia. Just another day in the City of Sin, just another commute home from the comfortable neon salt mines called casinos that dot the City of Sin’s highways and byways.

walking in the City of Sin – Royal Hopper

Just another day in the City of Sin
Take Care Sinners

Love You guys

lounging at a Sin City bus stop – Royal Hopper