… would it effing kill ya to send CFO Jonathan Halkyard down to Home Depot and pick up some Sherwin-Williams to slap on the old Paris-Las Vegas balloon? (If you think she looks bad from this angle, you should see her from the West Flamingo Road side.) I was going suggest buying the paint at Walmart, what with Harrah’s Entertainment being thrifty and all, but — as a good Democrat — you wouldn’t hold with shopping there, I’m sure.
Not amused. “Which of these un-honored notables deserves a star on the Vegas Walk of Stars,” asks Steve Friess‘ latest Stripper Poll. Amazingly, Steve Wynn only holds — as of this writing — a narrow, two-vote lead over Danny Gans. The late Gansmeister one fewer vote than Debbie Reynolds, Joey Bishop, Judy Garland, Peter Lawford and Tom Jones combined. I do not find this funny. Thank god it’s an informal plebiscite, otherwise we might have to topple Elvis and Sinatra from the Vegas pantheon, and install the maudlin Gans in their place. But just imagine the gasket Wynn might blow if Gans slips in ahead of him and wins. Hey, maybe there’s a funny side to this after all.
The good news is that my candidate of choice, Bob Stupak, is making a strong third-place showing. No Sin City entrepreneur lived a more colorful life (as chronicled by John L. Smith in the aptly titled No Limit). However, it has not taken Las Vegans — myself included — long to forget ex-MGM Mirage CEO (and diversity pioneer) J. Terrence Lanni, who got but one vote. Sic transit gloria mundi.
Here at LVA, our poll question of the moment asks, “As you may have read in LVA, we’ll have a big new gourmet dining guide to Vegas coming out later this year; so, in the meantime, we figured we’d canvas your tastes in the culinary department. It’s a simple question: What’s your favorite type of food when you’re in Las Vegas?” This is proving even more popular than our resort-fees survey, notching 5,400+ responses to date.
Under Gary Loveman HET doesn’t even own a paintbrush, just look at Rio. If you were selling a cheap house you would at least slap a coat of paint on it. Anyone who walks through the Flamingo parking decks would see that they don’t have a broom either.
Gary Loveman cares nothing for his properties and looks down with disdain at the players. He is the evil businessman in every bad Disney movie.
The phrase “diversity pioneer” suggests that Lanni was running the Moulin Rouge while the NAACP was trying to get rights for black entertainers.
Were they really turning away dealers and bellhops for being minorities before Lanni joined the company in 1995?
Gary Loveman actually has more in common with Disney management of the Eisner era more than any Disney character. I was going to compare him to Superman’s industrial antagonist Lex Luthor, but I think Luthor has more pride in his work.
So sad on Paris.
After staying at the Flamingo in late April I can confidently say the inside of this property is a mess as well. The elevators when they didn’t contain empty beer bottles, had tarnished, gross looking panels. Public areas still need a major refresh including the ‘cockroach’ oops Bugy’s Bar, and the Garden bar floor is a wreck as well. There’s a ton of room stuff too, but that might have been luck of the draw, no hot water in afternoons, some serious wear on furniture and carpet, etc.
Bob Stupak definitely delivers a star in the Vegas Walk of Stars. Vegas World might have been kind of bizarre but it was still a lot of fun, especially if you were intoxicated.
So sad on Paris.
After staying at the Flamingo in late April I can confidently say the inside of this property is a mess as well. The elevators when they didn’t contain empty beer bottles, had tarnished, gross looking panels. Public areas still need a major refresh including the ‘cockroach’ oops Bugy’s Bar, and the Garden bar floor is a wreck as well. There’s a ton of room stuff too, but that might have been luck of the draw, no hot water in afternoons, some serious wear on furniture and carpet, etc.
I agree with Paul: “Bob Stupak definitely delivers a star in the Vegas Walk of Stars.”
I admit I had my [insurance] suspicions when the Stratosphere Tower burned while under construction, but I wish there had been a way for it to have been built to the gigantic height that Stupak planned.
Yeah, I know that airplane safety had to take precedence, per FAA rules, but still…
Stupak was the king of marketing when it came to LV. He knew how to drag people in on a budget. He should definitely get a Star.