I call giant foam head Mark Twain!

I drove through Virginia City (and Gold Hill, and Silver City) today. These remnants of the Comstock boom comprise one of the greatest places on earth, in my opinion. Let me walk you through this. All the buildings are cool old buildings, or else super-crappy new buildings sort of half-assedly made to look "old" (TV old). There are multiple fudgeries, drinkeries, and crip-a-crapperies. OK, it's a tourist trap. But who among us would not love to be ensnared in such a deliciously ridiculous, sticky Victorian trappe? The answer is none!

What's really great about Virginia City is the people who actually live there. They're either a) archaeologists; b) actual modern-day miners; or c) 24-hour old-timey reenactors. Obviously, the third group is the best. I love that there are people who love the 19th century so much that they effectively live their whole lives in it. 21st century be damned! There are fellows with suspenders and giant beards, and ladies wearing chaps with fringe--even a prospector fellow who wanders about with his stubborn burro (he had to replace it last year when it died). The only thing that could make Virginia City better would be if all the residents were like characters at Disneyland and walked around with huge foam heads that are just giant versions of their real heads. Let's see what we can do to make that a reality.