01.19.12 · 11:17 AM

The Monti Rock swag bag

Monti Rock III just gave me the, uh, somethingist swag bag in history. But before we discuss its contents, let me explain the context: My new book, I Get Paid For This: Kicking Ass and Taking Notes in Vegas came out this week. It includes an essay I wrote about Mr. Rock (a former disco superstar/celebrity hairdresser) two years ago. Monti was a fan of the essay. So I invited Mr. Rock to the book release party. He was the ... Read more...

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12.22.11 · 10:29 AM

A not so merry Christmas

Everybody’s wishing me “merry Christmas” this year. It was “happy holidays” last year and “happy holidays” the year before that, but now we’re back to “merry Christmas.” I don’t celebrate Christmas. I’m not a Christian. I don’t feel upset when somebody wishes me “merry Christmas”; I just feel frustrated. Mildly frustrated. A factual mistake has been made. The well-wisher assumed I was Christian, that I will have a merry Christmas, and she was wrong. (Or maybe she was wishing herself ... Read more...

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11.27.11 · 5:37 PM

A (semi) traditional Vegas Thanksgiving

There’s no right way to celebrate Thanksgiving. There’s a traditional way, but tradition is relative. Take Charles. He was my family’s Thanksgiving day waiter at Wynn’s Country Club. Charles works Thanksgiving every year. He gets off at midnight, heads home, crawls into bed and wakes up his wife. They reheat Charles’ mother-in-law’s turkey and chow down. Or take chef Carlos Guia—he cooked our Thanksgiving dinner. Guia moved from New Orleans to Venezuela when he was one. They don’t celebrate Thanksgiving ... Read more...

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11.3.11 · 6:29 PM

Behind the “Behind the Scenes” story

If you picked up this week’s Las Vegas Weekly, you probably saw that I spent a night hanging out backstage at Absinthe. Gotta say: I’m proud of the way the story turned out. No, I didn’t capture 100% of the stuff that went down that night, but I think I captured the feel. The mix of silliness and professionalism. (The Absinthe performers are far more serious about their various art forms than they let on.) If you liked the story, ... Read more...

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10.22.11 · 1:35 PM

Shopping carts and philosophy

I don’t always return my shopping cart. Sometimes, I leave it in the parking space next to mine. Like, when the shopping cart corral is really far away. My friends think I’m a jerk. I think I’m a job creator. If everybody put their carts in the corral, the supermarket wouldn’t pay somebody to gather them from around the parking lot. I’ve been making that argument for years, and it doesn’t seem to convince anybody. Yet, people’s disagreements are purely ... Read more...

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10.17.11 · 8:35 PM

The glory, the woe…of this one card trick

I’ve been quietly creating magic tricks for a couple years now. I’ve had a couple of them published in MAGIC magazine, which was every bit as rewarding as it was nonpaying. On Monday I released my first commercially available trick, through Theory11.com. It’s called “Vertigo,” and it’s fooled lots of clever people. But it’s also managed to piss off a small handful of magicians. So far, I’ve gotten lots of really positive comments…and a handful of really negative ones. I ... Read more...

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10.15.11 · 8:01 PM

This gave me pause

For a couple years now, I’ve been planning on skydiving for my 50th birthday. Here’s why: I want to go skydiving, but I’m too chicken to do it any time soon. (Also, I figured, this gives me something to look forward to. Most people dread turning 50; for me, it’d be an adventure.) Well, I just read about Claudette Porter. One of the saddest stories I’ve heard in a long time. Porter went skydiving for her 75th birthday. Her tandem ... Read more...

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10.11.11 · 1:45 PM

No broken jaws here

The Mirage Poker room is messing with my head. In a good way. I’ve had 8 winning sessions in a row. When you win that much, you start thinking, Maybe I have what it takes to make it as a professional poker player, after all! Even though you don’t. I don’t, at least. But, yes, I’ve been playing a lot of poker lately. And here’s the most interesting thing that’s happened at the tables this past week: I was sitting ... Read more...

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10.6.11 · 8:43 AM

Leftover questions from the G2E gaming convention

1. I’ve got no problem with a slot machine button that lets you to bet 270 credits at once. I just wonder, what’s the cap? Will we soon be looking at a button that lets you bet 46,000? Seriously, when did the U.S. gaming industry become Zimbabwe? 2. What are the Rotor Concept Inc. remote controlled helicopter toys doing here? Didn’t they leave after CES? Or are remote controlled helicopters the next big thing in the gaming industry? (Not sure ... Read more...

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09.27.11 · 1:50 PM

The opposite of a free lunch

Mayor Goodman wants to make it easier for potential overseas tourists to obtain Visas to travel to Vegas. But that sounds like a lot of work. Here’s an easier way to get people to spending their money in our casinos: Sell southern Californians $55 round-trip bus tickets, bring them here, and then don’t drive them back. That’s what LUX Ground Transportation was doing through Groupon, at least. NBC San Diego reported the story over the weekend. The scheme didn’t last ... Read more...

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Featured Cocktail

Cocktail of the Week Feb 1, 2012
by Sarah Feldberg

Foundation Room’s Glazed Pear Martini is more than meets the eye

The view is still stunning, the ambiance warm and exotic, but the cocktails at Foundation Room have gotten a bit of a face-lift in recent months. The lounge, which crowns ...
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