Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's 3-term stint as the head of our fair city is almost up and I do believe we miss the ol' gin-swillin', show girl-flouting rascal. Many of us thought he might make a run for governor as the incumbant is a doofus and there would be a good chance he could win that race.

However, the mayor recently said no to the idea, his wife doesn't want to move to Carson City (and who would, if ya didn't have to?). "I love my wife more than life itself," Goodman said. "I would not want to wake up without my wife next to me." There has been speculation that his wife, Carolyn, might run for mayor herself but there's been no further word on that.

If you want to do a quick read on the history of Mr. Goodman, this article does a good job of recounting his move to Las Vegas, how he got started legally representing mobsters, and how he got bored with it and decided to run, against all odds, for mayor. The article appeared in the Philadelphia Daily News as Oscar is an "ex-Philly guy".

Not only are we Nevadans fat and dumb but we're drunkards to boot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says we have the highest percentage of adults who drink heavily.

While we always make the list of highest alcohol consumption per capita, we usually just blame it on those partying tourists who, while in Las Vegas, act out scenes from the movie Hangover on a nightly basis.

But no, the federal agency says their statistics were gathered in nationwide surveys of residents only, so we can't hide behind the non-locals any longer.

Well, damn. I guess it's time to fess up, then. My name is Lowest and I'm a heavy drinker. There, I said it. Feels good. That was the first step, I guess. It's always tough to take that first step. Now, for the second step. Not sure what that is so, while I investigate the steps to an alcohol-free existence, I'm gonna have me another cup of Irish coffee.

But wait a minute! What's this I see? They define "heavy drinker" as someone who downs two beers or two cocktails a day? And a female gets tagged with that classification if she drinks one drink a day? Really? Man, by those standards I was a heavy drinker in junior high school (if I could find someone to buy me 6-pack).

But that's what they are saying--two drinks per day for a male and one drink per day for a lady. And we lead the nation in that stat with 8% of us considered heavy drinkers (only 8%? Seems low. Wonder what it would be if they did a lifestyle-only survey). But before you Californians do much finger-pointing you need to know that you guys were second in the West at 6%. So you guys are swiggin' louts, too.

Wait a minute, I think I know what the second step is--making amends. Now that I think about it, I need to do that. About the only amends I can recall (through this alcohol-addled brain of mine) is that there have been a whole lot of people who have bought me drinks and I never paid them back. I feel bad about that. Next advertising check I get I'm going to do something about that--I'm going to make amends. Woo hoo, amends are on me tonight! In fact, I think there's 2-for-1 amends at BJ's between 4 and 8. See ya there and thanks in advance for helping me through this...

(Note: The article also states we have the highest concentration of couch potatoes and we have the most smokers, too, so this is the place to live if you want to go to hell in a hand-basket!)

This Know It A.L.L. probably won't be of too much interest to most LowLifes considering that it's about a single male who isn't even allowed on this site for another year and it's also about baseball which, according to television ratings, lags far behind professional & college football, pro & college basketball, golf (when Tiger is involved and not otherwise preoccupied, if ya know what I mean), tennis (when hot Russian players-turned-models are competing), the winter X-Games, and poker (when Tiffany Michelle is in the mix) and is Nielson-rated just above curling, hockey (a derivation of curling, for those unfamiliar with that particular sport), and the professional bowling tour (well, bowling ranks higher than baseball when a female beats the boys for the first time--in a "major", in Las Vegas (Red Rock Lanes), no less).

The Bryce Harper Story Continues (more)

If you were planning on attending the Purrfect party this weekend (1/30) you'll need to consider Plan B. Iman, the hostess of the Purrfect get-togethers, has taken ill so the event has been cancelled.

She claims it's some sort of flu--and she does sound like shit--but we think it's the affliction that befalls many of her ilk--too much partying! (and we speak from experience here--it's called "burning the candle at both ends")

We're confident that with a little sleep and some chicken soup she'll be back on her back, er, I mean feet, next weekend (on Friday, Feb. 5th) in typical "party slut" form.

Here are your lifestyle party options for the upcoming weekend.

If you want to make your trip to Las Vegas all the more special, try getting up close and personal with a showgirl (and take pictures, of course).

While we've partied with a couple of showgirls in the lifestyle sense over the years, we're not exactly referring to that sort of intimacy at this time (although if you can get in on that action more power to ya!).

No, we're talking about getting to know Las Vegas showgirls where they work, change and get made up. And there's only one place to do that and that's backstage at the long-running Bally's show "Jubilee!".

If you want a taste of old-time Vegas that may not be around much longer ya oughta check out Jubilee! It's not the best show in town but it's the best--and only--show with a full compliment of that classic Sin City icon--the showgirl (now that Folies Bergere shut down in '09).

And if you want to get even closer to that showgirl mystique, you might consider taking the Jubilee! backstage tour Bally's offers. The tour is led by one of the show's principal dancers and she'll take you past the huge props, the big-ass feathery head-pieces and you'll get to watch the girls sit topless in front of a makeup mirror.

OK, so maybe we made that last part up but the tour leader does address the question about working with one's breasts exposed: "if you're going to work topless, this is the show to do it, because it's done absolutely beautifully. It's tasteful and there's nothing vulgar or obscene about it," she says.

"And, yes, the curtain goes up and, bam, holy cow, you've never seen so many beautiful tatas in one place at one time in your entire life."

And we have to agree. There are quite a number of very nice boobies on the stage at one time in Jubilee! Almost as many as at a lifestyle after-party except with a lot more feathers...

Hmmm... Not sure...just not sure. Apple boss Steve Jobs finally, after all sorts of information leaks and speculation, formally announced the company's latest gadget, which, he admits, has the future of the company riding on it.

It's called the iPad and it's a new "tablet" computer (see photo with Jobs, right, and enlarged iPad pic below) that will be hunky dory to use in checking out American LowLife profiles.

It's a 9.7-inch color multi-touch screen surrounded by a sleek black frame that's half an inch thick, weighs 1.5 pounds and is jam-packed with what Apple's new ad tagline for the product calls "the best way to experience the Web, email, photos and videos. Hands down." It'll cost anywhere fron $499 to $829 depending on features (which is less than expected).

So, whataya think? Is it a game changer like iPod and now iPhone were/are? Will you get one? We're on the fence on this one so far...
A Close-Up of the New iPad + iPad vs. MaxiPad (more)

While we continued to lead the nation foreclosures, quite a few of the homes are being gobbled up by cash-rich investors.

A couple of big Las Vegas homes have been purchased in the past few days including one that IRS-troubled actor Nicolas Cage had to give up and another where O.D.ed singer Michael Jackson lived after his overseas exile in 2006/2007.

The Cage house was a "mere" 14,300 square-foot shack--compared to Jackson's 15,400 sq. feet--has six bedrooms, seven-and-a-half bathrooms, a 16-car subterranean garage, an elevator and a theater room. It sold for around $4.95 mil. after one day on the market (down from the original $8.5 mil. he paid in 2005). See (more pictures here and also here).

The home Michael and family rented (at a rate of a million dollars for 6 months!) was purchased by a doctor-lawyer couple out of Orange County who paid $3 mil. cash. It has seven-bedrooms and 10-baths. See picture here.

Speaking of Nicolas Cage, here's an off-beat website where the actor's face is Photoshopped onto other celeb's bodies (see samples below). We need not ask why this is done because that, of course, doesn't matter. We do need to question every photo we ever see whether it's in a magazine, on TV or, perhaps, photographic "evidence" used in a court of law because these Photoshoppers are getting incredibly good and creative. We don't have to tell you how this might also apply to photos on a lifestyle connection site...

Nicolas Cage As Everyone Photos (more)

A couple of restaurant reviewers out of New York City--writers from the New York Post--went to a ton of restaurants and bars during a recent visit to Las Vegas and the pair gave their opinion on 10 can't-miss Strip restaurants, 10 Strip restaurants to avoid and 21 off-Strip restaurants & bars to make sure you check out.

From the "VEGAS: 10 top tables on the Strip", the NY Post reviewers love BARTOLOTTA RISTORANTE DI MARE at Wynn, SIMON at Palms Place and MICHAEL MINA at the Bellagio among others.

However, they didn't like quite a few Strip restaurants. The article starts out by saying "Because life — and most trips to Las Vegas — are too short to waste on less than excellent food, here are ten spots to knock off your list before you even step off the plane" and the not-so-good restaurants in their 10 Strip restaurants to skip" includes some surprising names such as Bellagio's PICASSO, the new BESO at CityCenter, and, surprisingly enough, "ANYTHING AT MANDALAY BAY" (although they do like Aureole still) calling the hotel overall "just too same old, same old". Not surprising was their inclusion of Tao on the list where they love the sexy scene but feel the food "basically amounts to a fancier and more expensive version of P.F. Chang’s."

And lastly, the NY boys list their top don't-miss neighborhood hangouts in "VEGAS: 21 essential off-Strip bars and restaurants" which include some downtown bars like FRANKIE’S TIKI ROOM, the DOWNTOWN COCKTAIL ROOM, the GRIFFIN LOUNGE, a few China Town restaurants, the venerable PEPPERMILL, Commercial Center's LOTUS OF SIAM, ROSEMARY'S on West Sahara and other places like LUV-IT FROZEN CUSTARD and the MOUNT CHARLESTON LODGE.

All in all, some interesting takes on our restaurant, bar and, um, frozen custard offerings...

So, I was looking through this magazine the other day and came across one of those ads for a prescription medication--in this case Lunesta, a pill for insomnia--which has quite a few pages of warnings about the drug's side effects.

When there are so many pages of so-called "patient information" I automatically scan them just to see what the heck this particular drug might do to you while trying to help something that ails ya.

While Lunesta didn't list a couple of side-effects that are always of interest to lifestylers such as "four hour erections" and "uncontrollable anal leakage and bloody stools" (note: watch your drug interactions. As you might suspect, when concoctions such as Viagra and Olestra are combined it can really be a mood killer at an orgy, despite the never-ending, raging hard-on. It gives new meanings to the terms "party pooper" and "wet blanket"), the warning pages did list some interesting side-effects I hadn't heard before.

Side Effects Include "Sleep-Driving" and No-Memory Sex (more)

If you're a fan of country music then there's a good chance you're a fan of singer Kenny Chesney since he's country music's biggest ticket-seller these days and, according to the L.A. Times, he's the 2nd biggest artist of the decade for record sales, touring impact and hit singles of any musical genre (we're pretty sure Miley Cyrus is #1).

Chesney is taking 2010 off from big show touring so, while others around the country may not get to see the four time consecutive CMA Entertainer of the Year, Las Vegas will have that chance.

The Hard Rock Hotel has signed Chesney to four dates--May 14 & 15 and July 2 & 3--so if you've only seen him in 60,000 seat arenas you'll probably like the intimacy of the 4,000 seat Joint.

You'll also hear some material that he doesn't normally perform on tour. “The beauty of The Joint is that not only is it a great rock and roll room, but they’ll let us get up there and play… and play… and play," said Chesney. "We have so much fun, because we can throw in all kinds of stuff we don’t get to play in our regular show, and the audiences are diverse enough that no matter what we throw at them, they know the songs!”

Last time he played The Joint (April '09), he played for over three hours and threw in a lot of unexpected covers by U2, Steve Miller, Van Halen and Tom Petty. We would expect more of the same this time. Who knows, maybe his good friend Dave Matthews will show up and the pair will perform their "I'm Alive" duet.

(More pics of Chesney and Miller from their Sports Illustrated Swinmsuit Edition photo shoot.)

It was bound to happen. What, with two of the former Playboy Bunnies from the "Girls Next Door" reality show already having their own individual television gigs you would think that it wouldn't be long before Hugh Hefner's main ex-squeeze and Las Vegas icon-in-the-making, Holly Madison, would have hers, too.

So E! decided to see what the interest would be and put together a pilot for the show and ran it last month. Seems that those that saw the preview gave it a thumb's up so the network is going full speed ahead with "Holly's World" this coming summer.

The plot is extremely complex and intricate and will require Madison to use her well-honed acting chops to their fullest. Or not. According to E! Online Holly's World will show the star of Planet Hollywood's Peepshow as "she lives, works and plays in her new home in Las Vegas." Some of the episodes lined up involve Holly shooting her pinup calendar in Mexico, and even meeting Las Vegas mayor Oscar B. Goodman.

It's gonna be tough waiting until the summer to watch the series so I guess we'll have to be content with viewing our "Girls Next Door" DVDs (the Director's Cut Ultimate Edition, of course) over and over until then...

If you were visiting Las Vegas this past week and expected a nice, dry, high desert climate well, you were probably a little surprised, possibly thinking you were in Portland or London or some other oft water-logged location.

Last week was definitely out of character for us as we've received more precipitation in the past four days than we did the entire last year! In '09 we saw 1.59 inches of rain and this week we've received 1.69 and wetness probably ain't done yet as we've got a 70% chance of more rain--and snow in higher elevations--today.

If you are visiting this weekend then you should see a fairly dry couple of days but we're due for more wetness early next week...

You could say, uh oh, it's the guys who run some of those usually-shady, rent-by-the-week hotel/apartment complexes who have taken over one of our favorite places, the Artisan Hotel. Or, you could look at the other side and say, hey, cool, the team that now owns the St. Tropez near the Hard Rock (where a Lifestyle Organization convention was held) and the Mt. Charleston Resort (a cool--literally--getaway about 45 minutes up US-95) just acquired the boutique hotel so maybe there's hope that the "Artisan attitude" won't be ruined.

Of course, the Artisan attitude has been severley shaken by the original owners misfortunes whose overzealous expansion plans unfortunately coincided with a serious economic downturn leading to property neglect, health code violations, tax problems and unpaid employees. A News-13 expose' sped up the resort's inevitable demise.

But maybe, as they say, happy days are here again. The Siegel Group, headed by the young and dapper Stephen Siegel, has snatched up the property and vows to not only keep the funky, alternative atmosphere but to improve on it. We hope so. The Artisan Lounge was a great place to connect with lifestyle buds before heading to a club, party or even a Cal king. We'll be doing a bit of investigative reporting of our own to see how this plays out.

A club with some lifestyle connections and a place where we've had quite a bit of fun is in a bit of financial trouble. Krave, the only alternative (i.e. gay, bi, transgendered, lifestyle couples, lesbians, etc.) nightclub on the Las Vegas Strip, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Krave has seen several lifestyle parties held at the venue--either in the main dance club or the lounge--including those by Lifestyle Lounge, Fusion, BiTheWay, PurrfectLV and several ALL events. Krave's Harmon Theater was also the original--and final--home of the sexy, BDSM-themed "Fashionistas--The Show"

The filing shows that Krave has $153,000 in assets and $3.5 million in liabilities and cites the temporary closing of Harmon Avenue due to the construction of CityCenter as the reason. However, it was rumored long before CityCenter construction even began that Krave was in financial trouble so maybe that's just the excuse they are using.

While Krave states they are remaining open during the Chap-11, we've heard other rumors that the landlord--the Miracle Mile Mall at Planet Hollywood--has long wanted that sort of "nefarious element" out. And now that CityCenter is finished and the Harmon intersection is open, well, they'd like to do something different (i.e. more mainstream) with the prime location. We suspect that then end of Krave is probably quite near.

Should the club ultimately meet its demise we'll miss not only the easy in and out location and excellent dance music but the sexy, anything-goes attitude. Most clubs on the Strip market themselves as an hedonistic hotspot where one is seemingly encouraged to get oh-so-naughty. In reality, nearly all are just big teases and should you try and put too much dirt into your dirty dancing, you'll find a bouncer tapping you on the shoulder asking you to either cut it out or exit the premises.

A recent article in Las Vegas Weekly echos this sentiment. "Why does the entire nightlife industry—nightclubs, bars, strip clubs, casinos—encourage you to do certain things … but then punish you for doing too much of those things?" And this one: "(Las Vegas) bars and clubs and strip joints push people to the line and then kick out them for crossing it." Our LowLife sentiments exactly.

We never experienced that sort of hypocrisy at Krave. Through the years, we had all sorts of decadent fun on the dance floor, in the booths, in dark corners and in the rest rooms of Krave. I guess this is as good as time as any to spread some thanks to Krave's long-time head of security, a cool dude who, along with his hot babe, have a profile here on American LowLife. Thanks for everything, my man. We couldn't have done it without you...

Luckily, you don't need all that many clothes when you come to Las Vegas. And what you do need doesn't weigh all that much. I mean, considering that yet another major airlines has initiated extra fees on your baggage, it's a good thing from a personal economic aspect that our lifestyle women hardly wear much of anything when they hit the nightclubs and pools and house parties in Sin City.

Now it's going to cost you even more as nearly all the major airlines--American just announced it today--have raised the price of what they charge for checking bags. And, maybe because there's safety in numbers, they have all decided on the same amount.

Delta, United and Continental airlines, and US Airways all are charging $25 for the first bag and $35 for the second bag checked in at the airport and American is following suit starting February 1st (you can save a couple of bucks by doing on-line check-in).

About the only thing you can do about it besides traveling very light, wearing the same shoes multiple times and not packing so dang many sex toys is to use McCarran's #1 airlines--Southwest--since they don't charge anything for first or second bags.

While you can get by packing light for Las Vegas, it's next to impossible to avoid checking bags for a cold-weather destination--gasp! think of the luggage for a ski weekend!--so we suggest you just book a SWA flight and come here 'n' party, instead. And leave your panties at home...

The Palms recording studio is really building momentum as a great place to not only lay down tracks in a state-of-the-art facility but to stay and play at the Palms resort while you're doing it.

Artists seem to be responding to the combination as recent Grammy nominations would indicate. Three of the nominations had ties to the Las Vegas studio.

Albums by both Jamie Foxx and Eminem were worked on at the hip recording studio which has seen the likes of past GRAMMY winners such as Maroon 5, Tony Bennett and Mary J. Blige.

Here are the 2010 nominations which were recorded at the Palms:
--Best Contemporary R&B Album – Intuition/Jamie Foxx
--Best Rap Solo Performance – Beautiful/Eminem
--Best Rap Album – Relapse/Eminem
(The actual awards ceremony takes place in L.A. on 1/31)

We would be the following paragraph from the Studio at the Palms website would be very appealing to many recording artists:
"Enter a world where work and relaxation can intermingle seamlessly. Imagine a recording environment where all your recording needs are attended to 24-hours a day and where you choose the hours you want to play."

Sounds pretty appealing to me. Let's party and gamble and dance and have sex and then pop into the recording studio now and then. What a life!

O'Shea's has never been considered your typical Las Vegas Strip casino. It's a small, non-ritzy joint (even dingy, maybe, but we say that with affection) known for its beer pong tables and the leprechaun host running around the casino floor greeting visitors . It was also home to perhaps the strangest show in Las Vegas history (next to Wayne Newton's latest entertainment attempt). "Freaks" was a production which featured nightly body piercings, sword swallowing, glass eating, you know, that carnival side show stuff that is hard to both watch and not to watch.

So, it should come as no surprise that O'Shea's was chosen by parent company Harrah's to be the location where a glass box has been set up filled with 50 venomous snakes and the dude from Animal Planet's "Wild Recon" program. Show host Donald Shultz will live in the 16' x 20' enclosure (which also has a bed and a restroom) right along side the forked-tongue creatures for 10 days. The show started yesterday (Sunday) and each day the Animal Planet crew will dump 5 more snakes in the Plexiglas pit just to keep thing interesting. If you stop by the display, you can watch Shultz extract venom from the cobras and rattlesnakes and maybe get squeezed and swallowed by a giant Python.

The purpose of the whole thing is to draw awareness to snake bites which, it sounds like, kills an alarming number of people each year. According to Shultz more than 5 million people are bitten annually and of those over 120,000 die. Zounds! Who knew?! We would suppose that most of those deaths happen in non-DirecTV and cable-free markets like the jungles of Africa, Asia and South America but maybe the O'Shea's sideshow and resultant Animal Planet episode will raise awareness of just how deadly these critters are and, with the correct anti-venom, how to live through the ordeal.

While you won't see anything as sexy as ALL's SnakeBabe should you visit O'Shea's this week, it might be fun to check out Shultz and his slithery friends for a change of pace attraction.

Is it real or is it simply a result of good marketing? Is there really a spot on the front wall of the vagina--commonly referred to as a g-spot (named after it's so-called "discoverer" Dr. Ernst Grafenberg) that enables women (at least some women) to have an internal vaginal orgasm?

There's a new study suggests that there is no genetic basis for the G-spot and that environmental or psychological factors may contribute to whether a woman believes that she has a G-spot. Then again, the study appears to be flawed as it was more of a survey than an actual physical examination.

The study expressed correlations with personality components in women who did report having G-spots: For instance, these women tended to be more extroverted, arousable and open to experience (like many lifestyle women, for example), which may indicate a psychological component to the G-spot.

We think the subject needs much more study we're hoping that funding will be made available through the new national health care program to worthy organizations such as American LowLife to thoroughly research this important topic. Whether we receive a check from Uncle Obama or not, we'll be conducting tests starting tonight so please, ladies, if anyone identifies themselves as LowLife Orgasmic Census Bureau employees, please allow them unrestricted access to the research area you are carrying around with you. This important stuff. Thank you for doing you part.

A couple of years ago, magician David Copperfield, 52, met an attractive 27-year old lady (a former Miss Washington and fashion model) after one of his shows in Washington and thought enough of her that he invited the woman to come and play on his private $50 million Caribbean island with him. She accepted his offer and that's where the trouble began.

The woman said she thought she was going to the island to perform modeling and promotional duties but, instead, was allegedly smacked around and sexually assaulted. She said she was held captive and unable to leave the island and when she finally returned to civilization she claimed to have had bruises and scratches and, because of her "kidnapping" and sexual assault, she filed a lawsuit against Copperfield.

While it sounds pretty scary to be held captive on an island--images of "The Island of Dr. Moreau" complete with half man, half animals running around come to mind--it turns out that the situation just might have been a little different than the woman claimed.

The "Prison Island", The Case Dropped, etc. (more)

It seems the lovely ladies who came to town for the porn convention last weekend weren't the only things loose in Las Vegas. Looks like our slot machines are loosening up also.

Since the end of December, there have been four fairly large jackpot payouts: $12.2 million at the Bellagio, $1.6 mil on Wheel of Fortune at Paris, $1 mil. at Silverton and $4.1 mil at the Venetian (the latter two were on penny slots, the hot new trend in one-armed bandits).

In Las Vegas we like loose women, bartenders who loosen their grip on drink pours and loose slots. Hopefully, these jackpots portend a kick-ass 2010. Happy Loose Year!

It's neck and neck between Balloon Boy (and family) and the White House state dinner crashers as to who the biggest publicity whores are right now. Looks like the party crashers are gonna win this contest. If only Baloon Boy's mamma was better looking.

Michaele and Tareq Salahi, the nightmare for the secret service, will make an appearance at Pure nightclub this Saturday evening at a party called "White House Crashers". We're not sure exactly what the appeal is other than Michaele, 44, is still fairly decent looking, a leftover from her fashion model days.

It seems Michaele also lied her way into a Washington Redskins Cheerleaders Alumni get-together and actually performed--or tried to perform--during halftime of a Redskins football game. The other girls thought something was wrong as she didn't seem to know even the basic moves. Hopefully her moves are a little better on the Pure dance floor.

Anyway, if meeting wanna-be--I mean really, really wanna-be--celebrities is your thing, check out Pure this weekend for a sure-to-be fun-filled night of almost-celebrity impersonations. Maybe you can sneak into the event and share in the true spirit of the celebration.

Some More Photos Of Michaele Salahi (more)

Former Alaskan Governor and newly- hired Fox News commentator, Sarah Palin, will be coming to Las Vegas for a liquor convention.

There's no word if she will compete in the "Wine and Spirits Tasting Competition" that the convention will host but she is scheduled to be the keynote speaker for the opening of the Wine and Liquor Wholesalers of America conference in early April.

We haven't heard if she's hitting Vegas as a single fem with a hall pass or with her husband Todd but you can be sure you'll see them at one of the party houses in town as those two are well-known swingers with a bit of kink to them (at least, I'm pretty sure I heard that somewhere).

See her AFF profile picture to the left and another one below. (more)

While casino execs certainly won't be breaking open Champagne and running around blowing horns and firing off those little popping confetti thingies, they are in a better mood due to news that statewide gaming revenue in November was up over 4% (8%+ on the Strip), breaking a 23-month streak of declines.

Along with that was the news that Las Vegas home sales increased a whopping 37% over December of last year. Most of those were cash purchases by investors but getting rid of so much inventory is a necessary component of a hopefully stabilizing local housing market.

The recent Consumer Electronic Show also saw an increase in both attendance and enthusiasm. While there was a 6% increase in the number that visited CES, the big excitement came from the buzz surrounding the 2010 show that wasn't present last year.

Excitement centered around the new product releases--including 3-D TV and, for the first time, an exhibit of Apple products in something called the iLounge--but also in the increased confidence that consumers will actually buy the gadgets once they are made available to the public.

Hopefully, the good news will continue for Las Vegas as we need all the positive vibes we can get these days.

UPDATE: Visitor counts up for third straight month, too.

We knew it was going to be a whopper of a settlement but when we hear the actual numbers it's pretty mind-boggling. While there are a lot of other assets to divvy up including houses and yachts and artwork, Wynn Resorts Head Honcho Steve Wynn has transferred half of the company stock he owns to his wife, Elaine, which, at current prices, is worth more than $741 million.

When the divorce was announced last year, it was speculated that it would be one of the larger, if not the largest, settlements in Nevada history because Steve and Elaine were close business partners--she was and remains a Wynn board member--and also good friends so there wouldn't be a big battle by Steve to try and keep as many assets as possible.

He divorced Elaine once before--married first in 1963, they divorced in 1986, only to remarry five years later--and it appears they are handling the current split in a civilized and amicable fashion. They will continue to work together and, in theory, vote as a block when it comes to company issues.

Elaine, on her part, is putting on a good appearance with the new-found personal wealth by donating a cool mil to the Three Square Food Bank, an organization that feeds hungry children.

Perhaps those cheapo fees at some of those Las Vegas resorts aren't so cheap after all. We've heard quite a few complaints about those extra little--and sometimes not so little--fees being automatically tacked onto one's bill when they stay at some Las Vegas resorts.

You know, the charges that show up on your final bill for things that you may not have known about in advance--and maybe didn't even use--like internet access, telephones, athletic facilities, newspapers and perhaps just the nebulous "resort fee".

While many consumers are complaining about this practice, Strip big boy Harrah's Entertainment says they aren't charging these fees at their resorts so you should stay with them. It doesn't mean you can't use their gym or net access or whatever, it just means you will get charged ala' cart instead of via a hidden item on your bill.

We just wanted to give you a little head's up on this as we've had a good stay at a hotel soured by fighting with the desk clerk over this type of thing. Maybe the other hotels in town will follow suit.

Due to circumstances that were well within our control, at least initially, the daily LowLife News & Timely Information post that we've all come to know and love will be temporarily delayed.

While we won't get into specifics, we'll just say that there are quite a few lifestyle ladies who get every bit as down and dirty as the porn stars that are currently in town. And, once we take our aspirin, our nap and spread that Lubriderm on affected parts, we'll be posting the latest LowLife Know It A.L.L.

The sex industry has long been thought of as recession-proof but maybe that's not so accurate these days.

All-nude club Sheri's Cabaret (on Highland Drive near Sahara & I-15) says they have been hit hard by the recession and have filed for bankruptcy protection stating they just don't make enough to pay both employees and the $30,000 rent per month. Basically, the club has filed plans to reduce their rent nut.

We've never been big fans of the place as the girls were some of the most aggressive and the help generally unfriendly but we haven't been in the place for quite awhile so maybe you have more recent experiences.

Another area in the sex biz that is feeling the pinch is the adult video industry overall. This doesn't mean sex isn't selling, it just means that the porn people have run into a monster called the internet and are having difficulty mastering both a profitable delivery of content and the billing for services.

Since there is so much sex available for free online and it's so easy to pirate content in a digital world, the adult biz is feeling the pain. It seems to be the number one concern on the Adult Entertainment Expo floor this year.

Awhile back, we posted an article about how the recession had hit the prostitution business, too. Tough times, indeed.

One good thing, though. Swinging, a relatively low cost sexual activity, should remain strong through all of this so let's all just keep having sex and hope those others can work out their issues...

In the lifestyle, we get to see the "tramp stamp", that tattoo on the lower back of many females, up close and more personal than many other people do. Part of that is due to the fact that swingin' fems tend to wear less clothing at most of the functions we all attend and also because the good ol' doggie style position affords us with a much better--and hopefully more frequent--inspection oportunity than many vanillas experience.

Many of the stamps are classy or cute or fun but every once in awhile we've seen can be a little distracting due to the extreme size or message conveyed.

Luckily for us, we've never run across--or cum across--any over-the-top back tats that were posted on a web site we ran across recently.

Not sure what some of these gals were thinking but we thought you'd enjoy the photos, some of which are posted below.

More Tramp Stamps (more)

As we mentioned in an earlier Know It A.L.L., the huge C.E.S. show is in town and will be hogging most of Las Vegas' hotel rooms and restaurant space. But the show that is of more interest to LowLifes, at least from a party perspective, is the annual Adult Entertainment Expo (AEE).

AEE is sponsored by the Adult Video News Magazine (AVN), is the largest porn industry trade show and is a mixture of industry-only events and a fan-appreciation show. There should be around 25,000 - 30,000 attendees and most of the top porn stars will at least make an appearance at the show with many of them taking their turns at various porn company booths greeting fans, posing for pictures and signing posters and 8 x 10 glossies.

AEE is capped off by the AVN Awards Show which is the Academy Awards for the porn industry. The usual movie awards categories such as Best Actor, Best Director, etc., are represented along with only-in-porn designations such as Best Oral Sex Scene, Best Anal-Themed Release, Best All-Girl Three-Way Sex Scene and Best Big Butt Series (see all categories and nominees here). An associated convention that runs immediately after the AEE/AVN show is the Internext Expo which is an industry event specifically for those in the adult internet business.

Industry Parties, Swinger Parties etc. (more)

It's a good thing Wynn Resorts and Las Vegas Sands don't have to rely strictly on revenue from their Las Vegas casinos to survive. The Chinese seem to be in an upbeat mood these days and have been showing that by visiting Macau in droves this past month.

With gaming up in December over 48% (following jumps of 53% in September, 42% in October and 59% in November) in the Asian city and financial analysts feeling the future is bright for both companies in 2010, investors have pumped up shares of both stocks this week.

If only the other Las Vegas gaming giants had the same kind of cash cushion to rely on...

Palms owner George Maloof is in love with pop singer Lady GaGa and has offered her a multimillion dollar deal to sign a residency deal ala' the one the Hard Rock worked with Santana.

Maloof was "blown away" by her perfromance at the Pearl last month--"You know you've just seen a superstar" he said--and feels she is a "perfect fit" for the casino's image.

He was also impressed that she declined to join him for a concert after-party at one of the Palm's nightclubs. Maloof is convinced that the reason she said no is because of her drive to be the best and not because she knew he was going to try and jump her bones. "She was just so professional," he said. "She's not a partier. That was really refreshing. She's dedicated to being the top artist in the world."

The Palms recently licensed Lady GaGa's song "Poker Face" for a marketing campaign for the property. You can see the commercial here.

While most LowLifes think of this time of year in Las Vegas as the time the Adult Entertainment Expo comes to town (because you're pervs!), Strip businesses are looking forward to the full hotel rooms and the packed clubs and restaurants that the massive Consumer Electronics Show brings to town annually.

CES opens Thursday and should bring around 2,500 exhibitors, approximately 110,000 attendees and truckload after truckload of the latest electronic gadgets and home entertainment devices. Hot products include 3-D televisions, netbooks and e-book readers.

Electronic manufacturers are in a more upbeat mood this year compared to last year as the 2009 show was full of doom and gloom reflecting the then-bleak economy. Here's an article explaining what to watch for at CES this year.

If you are coming to town for the porn convention or other Vegas fun, expect longer lines at all Strip venues and more traffic than usual on I-15.

Click here for the ALL event listing for CES.

The Ultimate Fighting Championships are back in town with a Saturday night card at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The headline bout is a fight between light heavyweights 'Suga' Rashad Evans taking on Brazilian powerhouse Thiago Silva.

Here is the LowLife event listing complete with the entire fight lineup including those televised on Spike TV. Looking to bet on the fights? Check out this fight breakdown and pay particular attention to the pics of Kevin Iole, an MMA writer for Yahoo.com who knows his stuff.

If you want to hear UFC President Dana White discuss UFC 108, click here. Speaking of the ever-controversial Mr. White, here's his take on where the UFC will be in 10 years. Essentially, he predicts that the UFC will be the biggest sport in the world by then.

Wanna watch with a group of fight fans but don't have a ticket? Here is a list of Las Vegas bars and lounges where the fight can be viewed.

2009 rolled out without any major incidents as the estimated 315,000 crazies on the Strip and the 35,000 revelers on Fremont Street said goodbye to a year that wasn't too kind to Las Vegas.

2010 will be a very interesting year for Las Vegas as we watch and see what happens to all the multi-billion dollar casinos trying to make a buck at a time when the resorts are all deeply discounting their rooms.

Hope y'all had a good New Year's Eve and we look forward to continuing to provide assistance in allowing you to get in touch with your inner LowLife. We have several new site features planned for the upcoming year and, if all goes according to plan, you'll see a speedier and sassier website.

Since we've only got a couple more years until the unprecedented catastrophes that will surely befall us because the Mayan leaders were lazy and didn't order their IT department to create calendars past 2012, we all have to get serious about having fun and partying like there's no tomorrow, because, of course, there isn't. (Note: The Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority has announced that the city's 2012 New Year's celebration will include not only fireworks but a synchronized display of imploding buildings, massive resort fires, and the Stratosphere crashing to the ground, all to the sounds of the terrified screams of tourists on the Strip. Book your rooms now!)

But I digress.

If you want to check out what happened on the Strip and Downtown during the Vegas' NYE celebration, you can read the following accounts from the Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun.

And, of course, Happy New Year!