The Playground
Work is hard. Everybody needs recess.
01.29.09 · 7:19 PM
Celebrity NFL Picks: We’re propped up by a bevy of Super bets
Two hundred and ninety-three. It’s an unofficial count, folks, and I’m too lazy to go through all of that again without an abacus handy, so that’s the number I’m going with. 2-9-3. That’s how many different wagers are available for Sunday’s Super Bowl at the Las Vegas Hilton SuperBook. Some are as simple as whether the opening coin toss will land on heads or tails. Some are as complex as whether Pittsburgh tight end Heath Miller will have 14 more ... Read more...
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Facebook01.29.09 · 6:30 PM
Talk is cheap, UFC champs ready to back up words in ‘superfight’
Everyone knows the key to a good fight is the trash talk beforehand. And this Saturday’s megafight at the MGM Grand has had plenty of verbal barbs. Heck, the UFC thought so much of the rematch between Georges St. Pierre and B.J. Penn that they launched their very own countdown show, UFC Primetime, created in the same style of HBO’s popular boxing show 24-7. Penn (13-4-1), the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champ, told St. Pierre on the first installment of ... Read more...
01.27.09 · 6:14 PM
From an Imperial Wizard to a Pinball Wizard: An arcade game’s odyssey
What’s the saying? Every pinball machine has a story? Maybe that’s not a saying, but there is a story behind the 1949 Chicago Coins Million Football machine under restoration by Tim Arnold at the Pinball Hall of Fame on the northwest corner of Pecos Road and East Tropicana Avenue. When the restoration project is finished on the sturdy, wood-laden piece of entertainment furniture, it will be the oldest operating pinball machine among the 200 or so machines in Arnold’s warehouse. ... Read more...
01.27.09 · 2 PM
You betcha: Prop bets we’d like to see for Super Bowl XLIII
Every year come Super Bowl time, a fattened cash cow goes trotting down the Las Vegas Strip. The bovine goes by the name of Prop Bets, the lines based on certain occurrences that break down the game into the minutest details, and this weekend he’s about to take a money dump on Las Vegas soil. Tourists and locals alike will be betting on everything from who will score the first touchdown to how many rushing yards the second-string running back ... Read more...
01.25.09 · 3:37 PM
Competitive chili makes beans serious business
Beans, meat and a few chili peppers can do wonders. On Saturday the International Chili Society sponsored the Sonrisa Grill Inaugural Chili Cook Off to benefit Green Valley High School and Lake Mead Christian Academy, held at MonteLago Village at Lake Las Vegas. It was worth the drive to the outskirts of town for a sampling of the best that local chili cooks had to offer. Set up under white tents, restaurant chefs and unaffiliated chili devotees spooned out samples ... Read more...
01.24.09 · 9:22 PM
Hoosier hysteria! Miss America 2009 thanks the Lord
She said it over and over tonight: “I’m blessed. … So blessed. … This is a blessing. … I’m so very blessed. … I have the blessing of family. … The scholarship money is a blessing.” And who can argue? The new 2009 Miss America is Katie Stam, who wants to one day be a TV news reporter and anchor and seems at the very least to be … blessed … in the fame the Miss America tiara presents. In ... Read more...
01.24.09 · 9:22 AM
Suspense time: New Miss America just hours away
Memories of Bert Parks warbling, “There She Is, Miss America” might have faded, and the newly crowned Miss America now takes her first steps in her new sash and tiara on the Strip, but the tradition of Miss America remains powerful in the culture of beauty pageants. Tonight, a new Miss America – the 82nd — will be crowned at the Planet Hollywood Theatre for the Performing Arts. Current Miss America Kirsten Haglund, will performing the topping and the reliably ... Read more...
01.23.09 · 5:45 PM
Vegas Escort Idol — a game whose time has come
There are plenty of fun games to play in Vegas that don’t involve chips, cards or a dealer wearing a vest that looks like your aunt’s living-room carpet. You can play Musical Bars, in which you chug your drink and run to the closest bar holding your ears and screaming every time a Nickleback song comes on. Or, try The Tourist Trip, a nasty bit of fun that involves heading to the Fremont Street Experience and tying together the shoelaces ... Read more...
01.23.09 · 2:47 PM
Bonkerz for comedy at new Palace Station club
Sound Trax at Palace Station is no longer home to visiting musical acts or the magic of Jeff McBride. In the face of challenging economic times, Palace Station has decided that laughter really is the best medicine. The cabaret-style venue has been re-dubbed the Bonkerz Comedy Club, the first West coast location for the national comedy club chain. Already a popular stop in cities like Milwaukee and Orlando, founder Joe Sanfelippo prides himself on drawing top-notch acts to the club. ... Read more...
01.22.09 · 3:55 PM
Of Kathy Griffin and a well-seated tranny: A night with Bette Midler
A year after I attended the opening of Bette Midler’s production The Showgirl Must Go On at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, I still feel it’s a show worth seeing. I saw it again Wednesday night and, even in what seems to be the minority of straight men who were in the impressively near-capacity audience, found that Midler remains one of the city’s standout headliners. She’s funny, as you would expect – it’s hard not to laugh the stretch of ... Read more...
01.22.09 · 3:34 PM
Whatever, Oscar nominations
There really isn’t much of a point griping or rejoicing over Oscar nominations; every year the Academy picks mostly from a handful of preapproved awards-designated movies, which are often good but usually not the best of the year. Still, the nominations, announced today, are a big deal, so here’s my quick take on a few pleasant surprises and disappointing omissions. Pleasant surprises: I wasn’t as big a fan of The Visitor as some, but it was a nice, low-key drama, ... Read more...
01.21.09 · 2:47 PM
A gala mop-up: UFC star is light on his feet; Barrett muses about Phantom return
So many notes, so little time, so lacking in aptitude … I came away with a few noteworthy odds and ends following Saturday’s Nevada Ballet Theatre Black & White Ball at Caesars Palace. A lot of this material has nothing to do with lithe dancers in sequined costumes, as I culled most of it at the pre-ball reception at Cartier and at the cocktail hour before the program. The stuff follows: *Probably the least-likely guest was UFC combatant Frank Mir, ... Read more...
01.21.09 · 1:07 PM
A couple of lines to note, from a stranger and Carrot Top
Two pretty good lines from the past few days, worth passing along: *On the Caesars Palace elevator, after I boarded on the fourth floor of the parking garage elevator, the woman’s voice (as always) announces, “Going down.” There was a pause and a guy says, “Well, she’s pretty open about it.” *From Carrot Top, on the E! Entertainment show Chelsea Lately, during a discussion of how Dick Cheney wrenched his back moving a box of personal belongings and showed up ... Read more...
01.20.09 · 8:28 PM
After the curtain closes: Packing up Stomp Out Loud
When the curtain closes on a show for the last time and the cast members take their final bows, something dies inside a theater. With the last of the applause and the raising of the house lights the spirit of a show is sucked right out of the walls, sets and stage it has imbued with life. In the case of Stomp Out Loud, this sudden death was particularly graphic. In the days immediately following the production’s closing at Planet ... Read more...
01.20.09 · 2:41 PM
Toujours Paris (Hilton)
Fresh from the slopes of Park City, Utah, a flurry of gossip abounds. Everyone’s favorite little snow bunny, Paris Hilton, is in rare form this year, parading around in pink, bunny-inspired cold-weather gear (think floppy ears). Overheard amidst the luxury swag blitz at the Kari Feinstein Style Lounge on Main Street Sunday afternoon, a rep for the heiress’ says that Paris is planning yet another birthday celebration for herself at Body English just as she did two years ago on ... Read more...
01.20.09 · 1:02 PM
We pose a single, contest-caliber question to Miss Nevada
Today I played Miss America host Mario Lopez to Julianna Erdesz’s Miss Nevada. The difference being, I’m no Mario Lopez, while Julianna Erdesz is really Miss Nevada. The 24-year-old, brunette Renoite is representing our state Saturday night in the Miss American Pageant at the Planet Hollywood Theatre for the Performing Arts (the pageant starts at 5 p.m. local time and will be broadcast at 8 p.m. on TLC). After Julianna finished with her interview with my man, the ubiquitous Robin ... Read more...
01.19.09 · 2:17 PM
Amidst the costumed mayhem, a punk rock bowling tournament
Stepping off the elevator at the Sam’s Town bowling center on Saturday felt like entering Raymond James Stadium in Tampa for the Super Bowl. The noise was deafening as the elevator doors opened to a scene of wall-to-wall punk rock fans and bowlers, surrounding the lanes in team uniforms that put bowling shirts to shame. There was a team of seductive pirates in elaborate corsets and very short petticoats named The Pirates of Whore Island. Another team wore three dice ... Read more...
01.19.09 · 10:32 AM
Sinatra and The Cafe: A dueling review
Following is a dual review of Sinatra’s at Encore and The Café at the Eldorado Casino on Water Street in downtown Henderson. I ate at both restaurants last week, hitting Sinatra’s on Wednesday night and The Café on Friday afternoon. I mean, who lives like this? The following notes about each restaurant will be specified by an “S” for Sinatra and a “TC” for The Café. Ahem: You can’t go wrong with the pasta or the Ossobuco, though the latter ... Read more...
01.18.09 · 2:31 PM
Midler’s name, and brief appearance, a boon to Nevada Ballet Theatre
Metaphorically, it is the mantra of the recession: There is no dancing if there is no money. That is literally true at Nevada Ballet Theatre. All that staging, all those sequined-splashed dancing tights and the dancers wearing those costumes, do not pay for themselves. Not surprisingly, NBT has been pinched financially for at least a year leading up to last night’s Black & White Ball at Caesars Palace, celebrating the company’s silver anniversary and drawing on the super-famous name of ... Read more...
01.17.09 · 11:48 AM
Celebrity NFL Picks: After halftime, Steelers gave no quarter
My first paragraph this week is a little long, and kinda wordy, but I apologize in advance and it’s on purpose so please bear with me. There’s a method to my madness, and when you get to the end, you’ll see where I am going with this. Trust me. OK, almost there. Keep reading for a little while longer, please. Any second now. There, that should do it. If you read at an average page, the above paragraph should have ... Read more...
01.16.09 · 3:13 PM
In Le Reve’s revival, there is a lesson for Believe
As I watched the disco scene in the revamped Le Reve during a media performance last night, the scene where a dozen dancers step-to-it on a dance floor submerged in three inches of water while a disco ball hooked to a cable spins slowly overhead, I thought of Believe. Well, first I thought that I have probably forgotten all of the steps to the Hustle. Then, I thought of Believe. I thought of Believe, the regretful production at the Luxor ... Read more...
01.15.09 · 10:04 AM
Folies on its last legs after 49-year Strip run
In a knock-us-over-with-a-feather news break, a show closing for the ages has been announced today: The venerable Folies Bergere, a mainstay on the Strip since Dec. 24, 1959, is closing March 28. There is no announcement yet as to what will replace the city’s sequins-cancan-feathered boa spectacle at the hotel’s Tiffany Theater. Trop officials do have plans in the works for new, permanent production in the showroom and are in the latter stages of negotiations for that show. At its ... Read more...
01.10.09 · 7:25 PM
What is … “Celebrity Jeopardy” at CES?
The first game show to embrace hi-def technology made history again this week at the Consumer Electronics Show when it became the first TV series to film an episode at the convention. Five Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions episodes were filmed at the Las Vegas Convention Center on Thursday night after the first day of CES came to a close. The show will tape 11 episodes at CES using a new, 16,000-square foot set before the annual, 2,700-exhibit technology showcase closes ... Read more...
01.10.09 · 3:16 PM
No-sweat Schwinn makes for easy riding
What could be less high-tech than the humble bicycle? Especially a Schwinn bike? Electric bikes are not big news, says Schwinn spokesman David Politis, demonstrating the Tailwind, an electric bike, AKA a pedal-assist bike, at the CES Expo on Friday afternoon. To operate the bike’s motor, to help you get up a hill, for instance, you have to turn it on and you have to be pedaling. In other words, it’s not an oversized retro-looking moped. The new thing about ... Read more...
01.10.09 · 1:10 PM
Techies know how to party at LAX
Adult starlets were scattered across Sin City Friday night at various soirees and nightclubs for pre-AVN award fun, but the techies from the other convention in town seemed to have more substantial star power in their corner. While Diana Ross was belting out tunes at the annual Monster Cable’s Retailer Awards (they could really use some help on these names), a handful of other celebs mingled with invite-only Consumer Electronics Show attendees at the PC.com/Intel party at LAX at the ... Read more...
01.10.09 · 10:53 AM
The loneliest booth at CES
Surrounded on all sides by blinking, bleeping objects in matte metallic finishes, the homey, homely wooden media storage units look like the chunky, low-slung stereo “console” your parents bought for the rumpus room in the early ‘60s. For Signature Home Furniture, being stranded in the “new technology” section of the expo showroom is like Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree: “They’re all going to laugh at you!” “Yeah, we’re probably showing in the wrong place,” laughs Albert Lin, vice president of the ... Read more...
01.10.09 · 6:43 AM
Celebritiy NFL Picks: Cold weather hardly a concern for soaring Eagles
Weather could play a factor in this weekend’s NFC divisional playoff game between the conference’s top seed, the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants and their rival Philadelphia Eagles. The conditions in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sunday are expected to be pretty nasty come kickoff time, including freezing temperatures, wind gusts of 25 mph, and possibly some snow. But I’m betting Andy Reid, Donovan McNabb and the rest of the Philly faithful couldn’t care less about the chance of ... Read more...
01.10.09 · 12:38 AM
Girls gone slightly wild at CES
Spotted at the CES Expo on Friday: The daytime shades-sportin’ cameramen from “Girls Gone Wild” was marching a little squadron of girls-on-the-verge-of-wildness through the hallways of the Sands Convention and Expo Center, stopping them in front of recognizable signage every once in a while in order to videotape a half-hearted chorus of “Girls Gone Wild Vegas Style!” So far, so ordinary for a Vegas afternoon, until I looked behind me to see a long trail of entranced nerds following the ... Read more...
01.9.09 · 7:19 PM
The robot with the mostess
Unlike the AVN Adult Expo down the hall, there’s not very much that’s soft and pettable at the tech-centric CES Expo. Maybe that’s why grown men were crowding around the PARO booth, jostling to get their time with a plushy baby seal toy. Here’s the great part: this plushy white-furred seal with the heart-rending big black eyes is a ROBOT. A Japanese robot, of course. PARO is an “advanced interactive robot which provides psychological, physiological and social effects to human ... Read more...
01.9.09 · 5:04 PM
I hate CES. Sorry.
So all over the Internet blog posts are telling you about the big new products and trends at CES this week, right? I’ve noticed that no one has told you what it’s really like to be there. I just got back from spending 3 hours walking the expo floor, and — although I’m as much of a gadget-hound as anyone, maybe more so — I kinda hated it. Imagine a nightmarish massive multiplayer version of The Office. For hours, you ... Read more...
01.8.09 · 11:10 PM
Yes He Can: Will.i.am video takes top prize at Global Media Awards
Barack Obama said it, a handful of celebrities repeated it, and tonight Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas won an award for the video he produced titled, “Yes We Can.” The pro-Obama video won a statuette forOutstanding Short Format Informational at the first-annual Global Media Awards, which were presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Consumer Electronics Association. “Yes We Can” outdid short-format nominations from CNetTv.com, Chow.com, mtvU and CBS Interactive/BNet.com for the prize. The ... Read more...
01.5.09 · 3:57 PM
Beer! Money! Scandal?
It’s been a few years since beer pong left the frat house basement for the greener pastures of neighborhood bars, pubs and regular tournaments, and this past weekend the favorite collegiate extra-curricular landed in full force on the Las Vegas Strip. Offering a $50,000 grand prize to the pair of players to win the tournament, the fourth annual World Series of Beer Pong brought over 800 players to throw ping-pong balls at plastic cups during three days of competition. In ... Read more...
01.5.09 · 12:39 PM
So long, Mamma
As the final curtain dropped on Mamma Mia! at Mandalay Bay on Sunday night the lyrics from the title track – one of the 22 ABBA anthems featured throughout the production – took on new meaning: “Mamma Mia, even if I say bye bye/leave me now or never. Mamma Mia, it’s a game we play/bye bye doesn’t mean forever.” The fact of the matter was that Mamma Mia! was leaving now – and for forever. The show will be replaced ... Read more...
01.4.09 · 11:47 AM
$50,000 on the line today in beer pong playoffs
The smell of Pabst Blue Ribbon filled the air the past two days at the Flamingo as mostly college-age competitors whittled their challengers down in the opening rounds of the fourth-annual World Series of Beer Pong. A grand prize of $50,000 drew nearly 800 participants from 45 states to Las Vegas to play in a game made famous by college students. The winners of the prize money will be determined today with the final rounds of the three-day competition. Beer ... Read more...
01.3.09 · 11:26 AM
World Series of Beer Pong: The contenders
They come wearing matching sweat suits, team t-shirts and sweatbands. Ear buds channel their favorite pump up music right into their ears. Coaches scream advice from the sidelines - looks of joy and horror alternately splayed across their faces. After months of rigorous training, late nights and exhausted mornings - 414 teams have descended on the Flamingo for the pinnacle of competition in their sport: The World Series of Beer Pong. The three day tournament will award a $50,000 grand ... Read more...
01.3.09 · 10:13 AM
Celebrity NFL Picks: Wild-card weekend invites favored visitors
One of the general safeties of the NFL playoffs – not the two-point kind, I mean things that you can consider to happen safely – is that home teams win a high percentage of their games. After all, it makes sense. Teams with home playoff games earn that position by winning a division, and having a high playoff seed. Then, toss it the obvious advantages of playing in your home stadium, with the crowd and familiarity, and home teams generally ... Read more...
01.3.09 · 2:04 AM
Dr. David Spade can cure what ails ya
They say laughter is the best medicine, so what better to cure a nasty hangover than a 75-minute session with doctor of comedy David Spade? While a big greasy breakfast and a fistful of Emergen-C are common fixes for the morning after blahs, spoonfuls of Spade’s situation humor proved to be an adequate remedy on New Year’s Day. The comic’s set at the Venetian ballroom didn’t actually cure any of the headaches that followed the sleep-deprived, booze-addled night before, but ... Read more...
01.2.09 · 12:09 PM
A night in photos: NYE ‘08 at the Palms
Oh, what a night. New Year’s Eve is the biggest party night of the year and despite a shaky economy, New Year’s Eve 2008 was an action-packed, alcohol-fueled evening of Vegas-style fun and revelry. While a handful of VIP-studded parties, three death-defying daredevils and a fireworks display happened elsewhere, the Palms, too, saw its fair share of celebrities and NYE-caliber shenanigans. The Palms is often referred to as the place to party by both young Hollywood types and party-loving common ... Read more...
01.2.09 · 8:43 AM
Brunch is a sight for sore … everything
Around Hour 27 of sleepless New Year’s Eve coverage at the Palms, I dragged myself up to the entrance of Simon restaurant at Palms Place and paused. Just inside the door a trio of pajama-clad hostesses in boxers and too-big sleep shirts kept watch over a sugar high inducing candy buffet and a platter of over-the-counter hangover helpers like Pepto Bismol and Tums. Behind them, pretty people were sipping cocktails from the make-your-own bloody Mary bar and snacking on honey ... Read more...
01.1.09 · 10:35 PM
Motorcycle stuntman takes home injury after New Year’s jump
Robbie Maddison may have cheated death on New Year’s Eve but he didn’t walk away from his motorcycle jump and freefall stunt unharmed. The 27-year-old thrill seeker tore the flesh between his thumb and forefinger while landing a 50-foot freefall from the top of the Arc de Triomphe at the Paris Las Vegas hotel. On Thursday evening, he downplayed his torn flesh injury. “I’ve broken my neck, knocked my teeth out, broke my collar bone, punctured my lung, broke my ... Read more...
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SMS Alerts
Featured Cocktail
May 15, 2013
by
Sabrina Chapman
The Golden Pillar: An architectural cocktail built for XS
This Sunday, XS nightclub celebrates the grand reopening of its after-dark pool party, Night Swim. Along with the bash comes a new offering of signature cocktails served by the pitcher, ...
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