Being still deeply enmeshed in CityCenter-related materials (Kirvin Doak must be getting paid by the word, judging from the plethora of press releases it’s generated), I have to be a hit-and-run blogger today.
Can’t go to the strip club? No problem! The strip club will come to you. What’s newsworthy here is not the presence of exotic dancers on wheels but the degree of neediness to which clubs are sinking if they have to resort to such promotions. This kind of abject supplication would have been unthinkable five years ago. And to think people actually find this shocking. The only thing in the TV report that offends my sensibilities is the notion of a double-length Hummer limousine. Now that’s obscene.
Now here’s a crisis to which a Vegas casino executive can relate: Macao is on the brink of water rationing. Smallish town grown big virtually overnight? Insufficient infrastructure or forethough? Unsustainable levels of growth? Yes, those who ignored history in Las Vegas appear doomed to repeat it in Macao.
Too bad about those “thousands of luxury bathtubs,” those canals and lagoons at Venetian Macao, that wave pool at City of Dreams. It’s also a reminder of how the Chinese government could tighten the screws on the enclave if it perceives the casino industry to be out of control.
But once the immediate crisis has passed, this could prove to be a valuable “teaching moment” for the industry. As Lake Mead continues to sink and Southern Nevada Water Authority potentate Pat Mulroy tries to suck the cow counties dry via a monster pipeline, the notion of Vegas experiencing a Macao-like water crisis is not far-fetched. After all, if God meant people to play golf in Nevada, he’d send them to Reno.
If you can’t come to Las Vegas and see Lily Tomlin‘s Not Playing with a Full Deck at the MGM Grand … well, you’re probably missing something great. But if that’s the case, here’s an extended colloquy with Tomlin for your reading pleasure.
Crazy from the heat? Back when John Fredericks was a Vegas weatherman with a peculiar on-air preoccupation with his dog, many of us thought he had a screw loose. Boy, we didn’t know the half of it. Be warned: It’s creeptastic stuff.
Speaking of which, our long national nightmare is over. Americans have finally succeeded in voting spasmatic Aaron Carter off Dancing with the Stars, after several tries. Flamingo headliner Donny Osmond and his sparkling partner Kym Johnson are still very much in the hunt but Donny’s age is taking a toll and he’s no cinch to win the coveted Mirror Ball Trophy. But he really should find a way to work that Adam Ant-inspired routine into his Flamingo show.
