Where to Go, What to Do

Then and Now in Las Vegas

Came to Vegas in a Jaguar, Left on a Greyhound: Lots of jokes have been told about Las Vegas. Plenty of myths abound. Las Vegas had been called little more than phony glitter and tinsel. But I’m here to tell you that under all that phony glitter and tinsel lire real, live, Honest-to-God glitter and tinsel. But you’ll never know what’s happening if you don’t come to see us. And when you do, some of your options include:

Strike Gold at the Nugget: An old Sinatra standard croons, “Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars…” There are plenty of stars in Las Vegas and the Golden Nugget is doing their best to get you here on a comp. Continental’s One Pass mileage program turned 21 this month and since they are now old enough to play in a casino, the Nugget has decided to give away more than 21 million Continental One Pass miles. Awards were given August 9 as part of the winnings of the Golden Nugget poker tournament. Texan Bill Shiver won the tourney and walked, uh, flew away with 21 million frequent flier miles on Continental. Ten other winners in the poker tourney had miles added to their Continental One Pass portfolio as did another Texan who won a slot tourney at the same time. More info at jmcvay@goldennugget.com Book online directly at www.goldennugget.com.

Nugget Also Rides, and that’s no bull: The Golden Nugget has a history of supporting local activities. In that spirit they have agreed to partner with the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Association to be the host hotel for the PBR World Finals competition. The Hotel will house the competitors (the riders, no bull) as well as social events. The Championship will be held from Oct. 31 thorough Oct. 9. Bulls will be bucking at the UNLV Thomas and Mack Center but festivities will be at the Golden Nugget. Special packages for attendees are available. More info at jmcvay@goldennugget.com or book directly online at www.goldennugget.com.

Helping Las Vegas Homeless: A special benefit called “Listen to my Heart” will be preformed September 6 by a group of Las Vegas Strip performers. “Listen to my Heart; the Songs of David Friedman” will be performed by performers from such hit venues as Forever Plaid, Phantom, Mama Mia, Jubilee, and many other Vegas hit shows. The performance will benefit families who have become homeless and will help them get back on their feet. It will be held Saturday, September 6 at the Community Lutheran Church. More info at BruceEwing@gmail.com. Or buy tickets direct at www.FamilyPromiseLVTickets.com. Phone 702.245.0992.

Japanese Bomb Pearl Harbor: Sunday, December 7, 1941 in the lazy climes of the Hawaiian Isles Japanese bombers surprised residents of Hawaii and American sailors stationed there with a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Sixty seven years to the day another group will be running. But this time there will be no war, except perhaps among participants, no sneak attack, and the running will take place along a given route. The famed Las Vegas Marathon will be run December 7, 2008. Japanese companies will be among the sponsors and participants. The international Japanese marketing company will include Midori Uekusa and Roy Kawaguchi. Las Vegas Marathon 2008 Executive Director will continue the record setting legacy of the Las Vegas Marathon as it wends its way between the Strip and downtown Glitter Gulch. This time the only guns to be heard will be the starting gun as Elvis belts out “Viva Las Vegas st the Mandalay Bay starting point. Nissan will sponsor a 2-day Quality of Life Expo preceding the marathon. This promises to be one of the most fun events held in Las Vegas. If tradition follows, participants will include several Elvi (plural of Elvis), Santas, and costumed crusaders from popular movies. For additional information go to http://vegasbuzznews.com.


A little blogging music Maestro... Bob Seger’s “Against the Wind.”

Dr. Forgot
See me also at http://vegasbuzznews.com/
and http://drforgot.com

Gates to Las Vegas

Las Vegas Happenings

All Hail the Techies: They keep on coming - a flood, a plethora, a locust-like stream of people using every means of transport are coming to town. 300,000 New Years celebrants have returned to their homes and have been replaced by 140,000 Consumer Electronics Show attendees. They were led Sunday by Elvis and his guitar.... well, Elvis was played by King William of Gates and the guitar was played by an X-Box. The Gates Man played the big room as well as the other King, Midnight Idol, or Sigfried and Roy. Ok, he didn't make anything disappear, except perhaps anxiety over the next decade of technology, he did not play multiple instruments, at least not musical ones, and he didn't toss his scarves into the outstretched hands of crooning women. But he wowed his audience just the same.

His performance marked a decade as the headliner of the CES. Future performances might be less frequent as he soon will change his focus from all things Microsoft to philanthropic endeavors. He reflected on the success of technology's first decade and teased the audience with peeks into the technological future. Microsoft's sync technology for music and talk while in the comfort of your car is just around next model year's corner. Hollywood will come to the home theater (uh, the media room) room through the X-Box and allow for more interaction. Voice recognition and touch screens larger than life are but a few of the future ways of life. Bill Gates has become our Jules Verne.

Nugget Becomes More Golden: The Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino, one of the stalwarts among the Fremont Street Experience, has once again reinvented itself. I watched in the 1980s when then new owner Steve Wynn personally sat behind the wheel of a vehicle and crashed a wrecking ball into a Nugget wall as a symbolic gesture to tear down the old and replace it with a newer, better, more glamorous property. The Hotel-wrecker has since gone on to grander designs and the Golden Nugget has changed hands a few times.

Present owners have announced another expansion and makeover of the property to the tune of $ 60 million. A multi-purpose events center to be called the Grand and expanded gaming floor will complement the Red Sushi, a new restaurant and an even grander night life venue will be called, what else? The Gold Diggers. The dance floor will be bordered by bartenders to cater to the whims of the movers and shakers on the dance floor. The nightspot opens up on an over sized balcony to give party goers a grand 180 degree view of the Fremont Street Experience. Something about the Nugget seems to attract designers of vision.

A little blogging music Maestro... How about Ian Brown's "Golden Gaze."

Dr. Forgot