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Xpressing Disappointment
March 31, 2010
Speaking of new transportation options in Las Vegas. Environmental approvals for the proposed $4 billion DesertXpress high-speed rail project between Las Vegas and Southern California are taking longer than expected, but executives with the project said Thursday they expect construction to begin this year. "It's all just process and working through the details," DesertXpress Enterprises President Tom Stone said in a media briefing on the project. "No environmental showstoppers have been identified." Last year, developers of the 185-mile rail line that would link Las Vegas with Victorville, Calif., said they hoped they would get final environmental approvals by the end of the first quarter of 2010 and that they would be able to break ground by summer. But Stone said the process is running three to four months behind what they had hoped, although they still expect a groundbreaking before the end of the year. Construction is expected to take four years, meaning that ... Read the full blog post...
I’m a Mother Lover
March 30, 2010
Last year, I attended the very first Las Vegas "Earth Hour". Even though I felt that the premise of the event was patently ridiculous, I had still hoped to be enlightened in some matter ... no pun intended. When all was said and done, the visuals were quite interesting and perhaps worth seeing at least once, but in my opinion, the social implications of the event itself were a bust. First of all, cars packed The Strip to see the massive power outage, and this contributed to a paradoxical increase in carbon emissions. Second, when the lights came back on, the entire event was immediately forgotten. Nobody hopped the first flight home to recycle their aluminum cans or compost their garbage. This being the case, I think the event planners should have taken whatever publicity they got in 2009, and left it at that. By the 59th minute of last year's spectacle, the novelty ... Read the full blog post...
Introducing The ACE
March 29, 2010
I spent the majority of the day doing what few people would consider fun. Riding the bus. Today was the very first day of operation for the new ACE ... a new type of bus transit that is supposed to revolutionize Las Vegas transportation ... at least on some level. Ever since the ACE was announced, I have more or less been counting the days until its arrival. People have been giving me a hard time over my level of excitement for a stupid bus, but I don't think they understand why it is such a big deal for me. The ACE is damn-near the municipal equivalent of a personal chauffeur for yours truly. It stops very near my home, bisects Rexville almost perfectly, goes to Fremont Street, goes to the Convention Center, goes to the Strip, goes to Town Square, goes to the Government Center, goes to both outlet malls, and everywhere in ... Read the full blog post...
Tipping Over (Part 2)
March 28, 2010
In my experience, a large percentage of tipped employees grossly overestimate their own level of competence. I don't believe that I have ever, and I mean ever heard a tipped employee say "You know, I think I got better tips than I deserved today." Instead, it's always the same tale of woe about the deadbeat customer who is incapable of comprehending just how difficult it is to carry a beer from point A to point B. I know a lot of tipped employees in this town, and almost none of them provide the level of service they think they do. Instead, they hang themselves on the cross while crowing about how they work soooooooooo hard to make people happy, yet get so little in return. Stop me if you've heard this one - "I provide excellent, superior service, and it's only reasonable to ... Read the full blog post...
Tipping Over (Part 1)
Tips. Even though Las Vegas is now little more than a corporate entity masquerading as a municipality, you still can't pick up a guide book or go to a Vegas website without being schooled in the art of tipping. We have the propaganda down to a science. "Tipping is the economic engine of Las Vegas." "Everyone you encounter in Las Vegas needs tips for their livelihood, so be sure to carry plenty of cash." "The rule of thumb is $1 for everyone you come in contact with, 20% for meals, blah blah blah." If you think about it, this whole campaign is brilliant. Every employer in this town has created a paradigm under which you, not them, are the villain when their employees can't make ends meet. Does anyone out there really think that Jim Murren would lose his house if he tripled the wages of his cocktail waitresses? Is there anyone reading this who believes ... Read the full blog post...
Woman’s Work
March 26, 2010
I hate to say "I told you so". From the Associate Press: America's first legal male prostitute has left a rural Nevada brothel after a two-month stint that generated plenty of attention but fewer than 10 paying customers. Brothel owner Jim Davis said Friday the Shady Lady Ranch had parted ways with the "prostitude" who worked under the name Markus. A replacement has been hired, but Davis hinted it was possible that Markus, a 25-year-old Alabama native, could be back. ... Markus, who like other sex workers has asked that his real name not be used, didn't immediately respond to an e-mail message seeking comment. He remained listed under the name "Markus Destin" by adult talent agency OC Modeling. Bobbi Davis, who co-owns the brothel with her husband and runs it as its madam, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal the departure of Markus was a mutual decision. She said the brothel would keep employing men to have sex ... Read the full blog post...
Overdriven
March 24, 2010
For the past week, I have been putting a relatively new piece of technology through its paces. That technology is called the "Overdrive". Unlike standard wireless modems and hotspots which people have been able to use for over a year, the Overdrive is actually a dual-band device which attempts to latch onto a 4G signal when first turned on, and if one cannot be found, rolls back to standard cellular data. While this doesn't sound exciting, it is actually very important for yours truly because regular cellular signals penetrate buildings far better than do 4G signals. Before this past week, I found myself in constant connectivity black holes in places such as Planet Hollywood and the Imperial Palace. I once had to endure an hour long wait in the Hash House a Go-Go with no data connection whatsoever. To me, this was the rough equivalent to being stuck in an elevator. With ... Read the full blog post...
Show Me The Money
March 23, 2010
I suppose this comes as no great surprise to anyone: A report finds that Las Vegas visitors spent an average of more than $50 less on gambling in 2009 than the year before. A Las Vegas Visitor Profile released by Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority found the average gambler budgeted about $481 per trip last year. That compares with almost $532 in 2008, more than $555 in 2007 and nearly $652 in 2006. The study found hotel spending per night was down 25% in 2009, to about $76; the average cost of a tour package was down 14%, to about $640; and the total spent on restaurants was down 8%, to about $250. Spending on shopping was down 16%, to about $102. Visitors spent an average of about $40 on shows, down 23%. According to recent stats from the LVCVA, the average room rate in 2009 was between $105 and $99, yet this release says ... Read the full blog post...
Forgotten, But Not Gone
This weekend, I spent a great deal of time inside of an old favorite. Your mother. I also visited the Tropicana several times. For whatever reason, the years 2000-2010 saw the Tropicana endure a particularly hard rap. I don't think it's a stretch to say that the property was the redheaded stepchild of the South Strip. It was the property of last resort when everything else was booked, and admitting you stayed in the joint was the Vegas equivalent of declaring that you had a small wiener. If people didn't snicker in your face, they did so behind your back. Hardly an online "next up for the wrecking ball" poll was posted without the Trop at least receiving honorable mention, and the stereotypical clientele of the resort was that of wig-wearing women sitting in front of slot machines while puffing on cigarettes, pausing only long enough to hock a loogie from their tar-encrusted lungs ... Read the full blog post...
Rex and the City
March 22, 2010
Sex and the City. I've never watched the show. Hell, I'm not even sure what it's about. From the conversations I've overheard, it sounds like a show about five over-the-hill hookers, but that's an uneducated guess. I suppose I could look it up, but the answer would probably just depress me. Anyway, before or during their visits, several of my visiting friends and family have made it a point to ask me where they could find the new Sex and the City slot machines, and my answer was always the same. "Why?" Their answers never made much sense. Apparently, there was a special on TV or some kind of other advertisement promoting the machines, and in the short amount of time that they have been available, a bit of a strange cult following has developed around this particular game. Even though this has been the case, I have never sought out the machines. I figured ... Read the full blog post...
