life in vegas

Real life vs. reel life

I found this courtesy of Stiffs and Georges. Take a look at these transcripts, then tell me that this scenario wasn’t a lot funnier when Jon Favreau did it in Swingers. John Fredericks Voicemail Transcripts – Las Vegas Now. That’s one of the greatest single-actor scenes I’ve ever watched. The transcripts are just…awful. We don’t […]

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life in vegas

Column in LV Weekly

I’ve got a new column out today in the Las Vegas Weekly. It’s an essay about why there’s such a stigma against Las Vegas visitors: Three outside opinions, one conclusion: Las Vegas is the shallow end of America’s gene pool. Could they have a point? After all, casinos offer negative-expectation games. Mathematically, it’s a certainty

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life in vegas, what's new, writing

Mental illness is goth clean fun!

I heard an ad for this place on the radio driving to work today and started thinking about how odd it is that a nightclub on the Las Vegas Strip seems to be glamorizing mental illness. Live from Las Vegas, it’s Skizofrenia, the Nightclub: Skizofrenia features “dark alternative music” every Friday at the Harmon Theater.

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life in vegas

Is Vegas really doomed?

I want to write about something I said but (I don’t think) got on the air in the KVVU story last Friday. Since everything about Las Vegas has to run to extremes, it’s almost impossible to have a realistic discussion of its evolution as a city, both economically and socially. With doom-mongering the current rage,

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life in vegas, news about gambling

More recession discussion: Vegas goes national

For those of you in Las Vegas, I’m (probably) going to be on KVVU-Fox 5 news at 5 this afternoon, commenting on a new Time magazine cover story about “Fabulous Less Vegas.” Basically, it’s yet another example of what Hal Rothman called “carpetbagger journalists” blowing through town and trying to pass off their insights as

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life in vegas, what's new

Loco in Las Vegas

The Las Vegas UFL team finally has a name that draws on the city’ history. Check out the press release: At a press conference today, United Football League Commissioner Michael Huyghue announced the Las Vegas franchise will be named the Locomotives and unveiled innovative team uniforms showcasing the Locomotives’ “Premiere” season colors of silver, blue

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life in vegas

Never. Recession. Proof.

Here’s more evidence that Las Vegas never was recession-proof. This is taken from Parry Thomas’ biography, Quiet Kingmaker. As the most important banker to the gaming industry from 1955 to the 1980s, he knows what he’s talking about: In my first twelve years here in Nevada [1955-1967] we went through at least three depressions locally

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news about gambling

If a red flag is flying, brazen bold against the blue…

Taking a minute from the grind of analyzing the April Nevada gaming revenues, I figured I’d post this story, which surprisingly hasn’t really been picked up by the Vegas blogosphere. From KLAS: The Raelian Movement is announcing plans to build a UFOland in Las Vegas where visitors can attend a Happiness Academy and see a

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haphazard world, life in vegas, news about gambling

ALL IN: THE POKER MOVIE at Cinevegas

If you’re a local or will be in town for Cinevegas, you definitely should check out the world premier of All In: The Poker Movie. Here are the details: Director: Douglas Tirola Cast: Features interviews with features interviews with some of the biggest names in poker today, including Humberto Brenes, Annie Duke, Antonio Esfandiari, Chris

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life in vegas

March revenue thoughts

The March gaming and tourism numbers are out, and it doesn’t look pretty, though only time will tell whether the bottom is near or somewhere in the distance. Statewide, all nonrestricted locations won 11.61% less this March than they in March 2008. In Las Vegas, visitor volume declined by 6.5%. Clearly, fewer people are coming

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life in vegas, news about gambling

Rock and Roll Las Vegas Deal

I got this is my email the other day–if you are thinking about running the RnR LV Marathon this December, this might be the time to sign up: ROCKIN’ Summer Deal Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon enthusiasts unite Join us for the Inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon & Half Marathon – the REAL DEAL

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life in vegas

Always check your door

As a former casino security officer, I take a greater concern than some with people keeping themselves safe while on vacation at a casino resort. Often, carelessness and lack of vigilance can lead to burglaries or worse. Since most crimes committed in casinos are crimes of opportunity, you can be proactive and prevent most, but

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life in vegas

The personality of Nevada

Having picked up this personality study from Marginal Revolution, I followed it through to a handy interactive map that will help me share with you the aggregate personality of Nevadans. The United States of Mind – WSJ.com. Here is where Nevada ranks: Extraversion: 37 Agreeableness: 48 Conscientiousness: 24 Neuroticism:42 Openness:9 So your typical Nevadan is

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life in vegas

Mission statement inn

I guess this is what’s going to become of the Cosmopolitan. from the LV Sun: Hilton Hotels Corp. of Beverly Hills, Calif., said Tuesday its creating an eclectic brand called Denizen Hotels and is working to bring that brand to Las Vegas and other major destinations. "Denizen Hotels, a lifestyle brand that will attract business

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haphazard world, life in vegas

An approach they won’t use

Sheldon Adelson’s drive to find America’s most boring city notwithstanding, most people agree that Las Vegas’ tourist strategy might need a little tweak. Should the town emphasize value, or carefree fun? It’s a serious question. Here’s one approach that I don’t think we’ll be dusting off anytime soon: Las Vegas, home of weapons of mass

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life in vegas, news about gambling

Biff’s Vintage Vegas casino

Some of you might remember how, in Back to the Future II, Biff owned a casino that was an obviously-redressed Union Plaza. I’m sure there are people out there who can’t look at the Plaza today without thinking about Biff and his sports almanac. Well, I was perusing the photo archives when I found this,

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life in vegas, news about gambling