The red flashes represent lightning bolts. And not just twice, it can strike eight, nine, 10 times a minute in the same area, and here is Nick Middleton, with his laptop and his special lightning software, to show us. Which is a stupid expression, because it does, as clearly demonstrated in Britain's Worst Weather (Saturday, Channel 4). Lightning, they say, never strikes twice. Sol Kerzner, the South African who'll probably be running Britain's first supercasino, must be rubbing his hands if he's watching: there are plenty of Marthas in Manchester. 'I could just say I'm not coming in any more, and that's the end of it.' Four million dollars she's put into those machines.
Of course they treat her well: she comes in every day and pushes her savings - her son's inheritance - into their machines. But what about Martha, a retired doctor, who's at the slot machines in the Hilton? They treat her well, she says, even comped her a memorial service for her husband when he passed away. The rich guys, the mattress moguls, the salesmen, jetting in and blowing their bonus over a weekend, I guess that's OK.
The picture of Vegas that emerges is not a pretty one.
