Change to Pay-for-Parking Underway

Visitors to Las Vegas have long been used to and expected free parking at casinos as one of the perks that casino operators offered to attract customers. However, the era of free parking is ending as MGM Resorts International’s properties start to charge for parking this week.

Monte Carlo, New York-New York, Bellagio, Aria and Vdara are the first ones to implement the controversial paid parking program on Monday June 6, 2016, charging customers up to $10 per day. Luxor, Excalibur, and Circus Circus followed on Tuesday June 7; MGM Grand and Mirage are joining in today. Visitors to Mandalay Bay and Delano customers will lose their free parking privileges on June 13, 2016.

Local residents can still park for free until the end of the year. Members of MGM's M Life loyalty program who earned the Gold, Pearl, Platinum and NOIR status will receive free self-parking. Short term parking up to one hour is also complimentary.

While customers can book other properties that do not charge parking for now, the worry is that all other resorts on the Las Vegas Strip may soon follow the trend.

Postcard US-2002271 to Australia shows many MGM properties on the Las Vegas Strip that are affected by the changes, with MGM Grand on the left, and Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur, New York-New York, and Monte Carlo on the right.

Layla Plays Netball

Postcard US-3971361 to Taiwan is one of the Skypixel series that features Australian drone operator Alex Coppel's daughter Layla playing netball.

Alex Coppel explained on a Facebook post: "My daughter Layla plays netball whilst patiently waiting for me to finish playing with my Phantom drone, in the last of the light on a perfect day."

Purple Carpet, Pacific Grove, California

I sent out postcard US-3975289 to Australia early today, which shows a "purple carpet" of blossoms brightens this Pacific Grove coast in California with photo credit by James Blank.

Then the news came with the superstar Prince's passing at the age of 57. Soon the City of Las Vegas has turned purple to honor Prince. Mayor Carolyn G. Goodman directs the Las Vegas City Hall exterior to be lit in purple tonight. So do the Venetian and Palazzo hotels and casinos, and the High Roller at The LINQ Promenade on the Las Vegas Strip. Fremont Street Experience also honors the pop singer with a tribute at their Viva Vision canopy tonight.

I found a  video on YouTube showing Prince performing “Purple Rain” during downpour for the Super Bowl XLI Half-time Show, where producers described how Prince met the adverse weather head on and owned the show. (Update: unfortunately, that video later went private.)

Then and Now: Chinatown in San Francisco

Outgoing postcard US-3373239 to Australia shows a then-and-now street view of the Chinatown ( 唐人街) on Grant Avenue in San Francisco, California.  Establishment in 1848, it is the oldest Chinatown in North America and the largest Chinese community outside Asia. It is also a major tourist attraction with more annual visitors than those to the Golden Gate Bridge.

When I walked around the Chinatown a few days ago on May 27, 2015, I ran into a bronze sculpture at Portsmouth Square (花園角) on Kearny Street, where many "dancing grannies" were performing exercise routines called plaza dancing (广场舞), originally popular with middle-aged and retired women in China. It was a replica of the Goddess of Democracy, a statue created during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in Beijing, China that was destroyed on June 4, 1989 by soldiers who took over Tiananmen square from protesters.

Designed by Thomas Marsh and dedicated in 1994, the replica is 10 meters tall, same as the original, and weighs approximately 600 pounds or 272 kilograms. It bears the inscription, "Dedicated to Those Who Strive For and Cherish Human Rights and Democracy." Today marks the 26th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Student Protest.

Water and Sustainable Development

The United Nations designated March 22 as the World Water Day in Agenda 21 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992. The first World Water Day was observed on March 22, 1993. 22 years later, the theme for World Water Day 2015 is Water and Sustainable Development.

With a tag line "a day to celebrate, a day to change, a day to prepare," World Water Day is a day to celebrate water; a day to make a difference for the members of the global population who suffer from water related issues; and a day to prepare for how we manage water in the future.

Postcard US-2680017 to Australia shows a swamp view of the Everglades, a tropical wetlands ecosystem in South Florida. Sustainability was a major component in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan approved by Congress in 2000. A first-of-its-kind economic impact report has detailed the benefits of Everglades restoration that results in an increase in job creation, real estate values and water quality.

The theme for 2014 World Water Day last year was Water and Energy.

The Millennium Project

To commemorate the 69th anniversary of the 1945 Charter of the United Nations, President Barack Obama proclaimed October 24, 2014 as United Nations Day.

Postcard US-1779034 to Australia features Meg Bonenfant at age 20, to highlight one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),  Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education. The goals were a series of time-bound and quantified targets, set out in the Millennium Project at the United Nations' Millennium Summit in September, 2000, aiming to reduce extreme poverty in the forms of income poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter, and exclusion while promoting gender equality, education, and environmental sustainability, with a deadline of 2015.

The postcard was obtained at the World Urban Forum III in Vancouver, Canada during June 19-23, 2006. Another copy of the card was recently sent to the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) in New York City for a postmark on the United Nations stamps in September, 2014.

Happy New Year of the Horse from Christmas Island

Postcard AU-342883 from Australia commemorates the first-day-of-issue Year of the Horse 2014 stamp by Australian Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island. The island, named as such because it was discovered on Christmas Day, has a population of 2,072  as of 2011 with 70% Chinese, 20% European/Australian, and 10% Malay.

The island's isolated location and minimal human disturbance in history have resulted in a high level of endemism among its flora and fauna where many species are unique. Currently 63% of its 135 square kilometers or 52 square miles total area are protected as an Australian National Park. Primary monsoonal forests are the major eco-systems.

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) operates one of the Australian immigration detention facilities on Christmas Island that has attracted a lot of attentions during the on-going refugee and immigration controversies.

Human Nature

Postcard US-2452490 to Norway is an advertising card for Human Nature, an Australian pop music vocal group. It was originally formed in 1989 as the Four Trax by four schoolmates in Sydney. After signed by Sony Music and renamed as Human Nature, it released the debut album Telling Everybody in 1996. In Australia, the group has seventeen hits in the country's Top 40 music chart, and five hits in the Top 10; three of their albums reached multi-platinum certification, and four reached platinum; and sales of over 1.6 million records. After transitioning from a boy band to a Motown tribute group, they are currently performing at the Sands Showroom in the Venetian Hotel and Casino. (Human Nature will be DARK from November 28, 2013 to December 26, 2013)

Polar Bear in a Bank

Polar Bear at First Interstate Bank

I am sending this postcard US-2359330 I bought at the Las Vegas Natural History Museum to Australia. It shows a 1600 lbs or 725.75 kg and 11 ft or 3.35 m tall Polar Bear on display in the lobby of the Main office at First Interstate Bank of Nevada, Reno, NV. It says on the back of the postcard that the bear was shot by A.M. Smith 50 miles north of Cape Uelen, Siberia in Russia. However, it didn't say when it was shot and how it ended up there in the bank. If you have additional information on this bear, send me an email.