She's a Rancho High graduate and has a degree in biz management from UNLV. She's a high-powered mortgage company owner and a self-made millionaire. She also appears naked in the latest issue of Playboy, the section called "Women of Wall Street". From the sounds of it, Alicia Taylor has got her act together and, as we can see, the 37-year old has her bod together, too. Still. She was asked by Playboy nearly 20 years ago to pose for a "Women of UNLV" issue but she declined but she felt it might get in the way of her business career on down the road.

But now, in her current situation, she doesn't care and wanted to show that a woman can be successful, strong and beautiful. Alicia, we believe you. Page 40 of the May issue of Playboy is pretty strong evidence of at least the beauty part.

BTW: Alicia will be attending the "Playmate of the Year" party happening at the Palms this weekend at the Palms. It's the 50th anniversary of the P.O.Y. award and the first time the crowning will be done at the Palms.

A Few More Pics of Alicia (more)

MGM and Dubai World have made nice (after a Dubai lawsuit) and the lenders have agreed to fund the CityCenter project to completion so it appears that the massive resort will actually be completed. Woo hoo!

There's no telling what all the extra rooms will do to Las Vegas but a completed CityCenter has got to be better than a nearly-completed CityCenter.

During hard times, some sell their stuff on the cheap and those in a better position are able to take advantage of the situation and walk away with a killer deal. Phil Ruffin did that very thing recently with the TI and it looks like Steve Wynn now has similar intentions.

He says he is "tire-kicking" up and down the entire Las Vegas Strip. "I'd be interested, if at the right price, whether it's Bellagio or Circus Circus," said Wynn. While it would be hard to imagine the lowly Circus Circus fitting in with Steve's Encore and Wynn properties, it's no secret that the casino mogul always hated parting with his beloved Bellagio back in 2000 when he sold his Mirage properties to MGM for $6.4 billion.

MGM would certainly hate to part with their top-of-the-line resort but in order to complete CityCenter they will most certainly do something along those lines.

This Know It ALL has nothing to do with Las Vegas or sex/swinging--the top two topics we traditionally post here--but we're feeling a bit melancholy about some recent news and perhaps we still have a hangover from the Viva Las Vegas event of a few weeks back.

VLV was a big party at the Orleans that celebrated all things retro--music, fashion, old-style strip-teasers--and included a large classic car show. It was a simpler time when cars were chrome and metal-heavy.

Now, with the announcement that General Motors is shutting down its Pontiac division, with a bit of sadness our thoughts wander to the GTO, the first in the era of muscle cars. We're still kicking ourselves for not buying that pristine, bright red convertible GTO some 15 or so years ago. And yes, it really was sitting in an old lady's garage and had low miles on it.

So, with the just-announced news about the final nail being hammered in the Pontiac coffin combined with the VLV hangover and an extremely interesting article we ran across about how the GTO almost didn't get built (how Pontiac chief engineer John DeLorean had to literally sneak the first one past upper management because it violated a corporate rule about maximum horsepower) we decided to give our last regards to the GTO (although we may still buy a "goat" one of these days...).

"C'mon and turn it on, wind it up, blow it out GTO"

The complete lyrics to "Little GTO" and What the Letters "GTO" Stands For (more)

With all the beefcake shows in town, you would expect Las Vegas to have quite a few of the hunkiest males around and sure enough, we do. One of the local newspapers has gathered up ten of the best and is having a "Sexiest Male Dancer" contest. Men were chosen from shows such as American Storm, Chippendales, Men of X, Thunder From Down Under and the Olympic Gardens male stripper troupe (although not Men of Sapphire for some reason--sorry Russian Candyman) and you can view & vote on these fine specimens online at this link.

Ladies, quit drooling on the keyboard...

You know the epidemic has reached epic proportions when something like this happens:

"I knew my pigs had swine flu when they stopped wanting to cuddle."
-- From the Twitter site of Borat, played by Sacha Baron Cohen.

Or so it seems. Vanilla women, that is. According to an article on Oprah.com--and we all know that Oprah is the definitive word on all things sexual, especially alternative sex--women are ditching their men for other women at an almost alarming rate. Witness Sex In The City's Cynthia Nixon (dumped her dude after 15 years) and Lindsay Lohan (who always seems to make level-headed decisions). It's scary, I tell ya. Ya almost have to chain the wanton hussies down like that chick in the movie Black Snake Moan.

Of course, one could experiment in the lifestyle and explore all sorts of varied sexual practices so ya could get the milk without having to buy the cow (and ditching the bull to boot). But that would be too easy, wouldn't it?

In the past, whenever waves of new hotel rooms have opened in Las Vegas, there's been a sense of excitement around town for it surely meant a bump in both visitors and room rates for all the resorts. It happened 20 years ago when Mirage and Excalibur opened, 16 years ago when MGM Grand, Luxor and Treasure Island debuted and a decade ago when the biggest cluster opened: Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, Venetian, Paris Las Vegas and the Aladdin’s remodeling.

But the trend took a hit last year when the opening of the Palazzo, Encore and Aliante didn't follow form. Room rates and occupancy levels both declined in the midst of an economic slump.

So, what happens this time around? We've got 12,500 new rooms opening during the remainder of 2009 including 6,000 at CityCenter, almost 4,000 at Fontainebleau (which, despite the resort's recent lawsuit against their funding sources, continues construction) and another 1,000 with the Hard Rock and Golden Nugget expansions. Will there be more bankruptcies? Will there be hotel closures? Will hotels shut down entire wings?

This article takes a look at the possibilities...

The Britney circus is coming to town for a show at the MGM this weekend. Besides being the name of the tour, "circus" seems to be an apt word to describe the all the happenings. Perhaps "monster circus" would be more accurate, considering this reviewers observations:
“A massive, ridiculous, over-the-big-top spectacle of bat-shit mega-pop ... Britney Spears does mad circus freaks, Bollywood hip-hop dances, gold cages with stripper poles, people pumping unicycles into the air, a floating, 360-degree wraparound Big Brother video-screen, old-time magic tricks, random nunchuck battles, midgets with guitars, ‘Toxic,’ stage-circles of fire, near-naked women hanging off of ropes, nonstop bondage, trapezes made out of men ... and, at the end, for ‘Womanizer,’ spinning surveillance cameras, police uniforms, and a waterfall of sparks."

The fallen-and-now-back-on-the-rise pop diva lips-synchs through the entire concert although she does have an open mic to say things like:
1. Britney in April to a San Jose audience: “Hello, Sacramento!”
2. To a Washington, D.C., audience last month: “Merry Christmas!”
3. To her dancers, on a live mike audible to a Tampa audience: “My shit is hangin’ out!”

But who cares? Certainly not the tour promoter as it has been said that Spear's Vegas visit is the highest-grossing on the tour.

More on Britney's MGM concert from the Las Vegas Sun and the Review-Journal (a bit more cruel, I would say), both of which seem to be really looking forward to the possibility of something crazy happening, which is why we pay attention to the girl these days anyway...
(Hey, at least the Pussycat Dolls are with her!)

Yep, you heard it right. Despite leading the nation in foreclosures, having an unprecedented unemployment rate, seeing most all of our casinos--big and small--on the verge of bankruptcy, having our once super-busy airport report yet another month of decreased traffic, and hearing that the owner of many of our most prominent shopping malls is filing Chapter 11 (only $27 billion in debt!), can someone in their right mind actually say that things are looking up in Las Vegas?

Only the most of the most optimistic (or, perhaps, slightly tipsy) could feel that way. And that would be, of course, the eternal Las Vegas optimist himself, Mayor Oscar Goodman. Hizzoner gave a speech earlier this week saying that, despite all the traditional economic indicators, Las Vegas has turned the corner. We're on the road to recovery. His sources--bellhops and valets and that sort of in-the-middle-of-the-action worker--are telling him that things are looking up and he's saying that a positive mindset is just as important as all those sickly facts and figures.

Hopefully, he's right. And hopefully the Las Vegas economy doesn't follow the path of Mr. Admin's sex life. Our intrepid LowLife ringleader always thinks his swinging fortunes have turned the corner but, alas, the poor fool can't get laid to save his life. But at least he's positive about it. That's the important thing, right?

No, ALL isn't holding a hot booty competition (although we should--we certainly have a lot of superfine butts on this site) but an underwear company named Sloggi did hold a "Best Bottom" competition and we thought we'd post a few photos from the event.

We hadn't heard of the competition, which was held in Paris late last year but, when Playboy Magazine printed a photo of the winner's booty in their latest issue, we thought the subject deserved a bit of research.

The winner in the female division was a 20-year old Brazilian (a Brazilian? With a good butt? Who woulda thunk it?) named Melanie Nunes Fronckowiak. She and her prize-winning butt walked off with an underwear modeling contract, $15,000 in prize money and an insurance contract for her bottom (we wonder what that covers--zits? welts from spanking?). A 27-year old French man won the male side of things. There were 45 finalists from 26 countries in the finals.

More of the Best Bottoms (more)

An editor at Casino City Times, an online publication about all things gambling, has compiled a Top 10 list for those that play--or are thinking of playing--blackjack while in Las Vegas.

Some of the tips are about basic playing strategy (like not buying insurance), much is about table etiquette (like not touching chips after the cards have been dealt) but some of the advice is really tough for the Lowest LowLife to follow like #6--Don't Get Drunk. What?! How does one not do that? I mean, c'mon!

And ignoring tip #6 seems to lead to violations of #3--Blaming Another Player (for my bad cards) and #2--Berating Another Player (for their bonehead plays which leads me to bust). I mean, I'm sure I would have won almost every hand had it not been for other players. Well, pretty sure. I think. And if I didn't constantly violate #6 I'm pretty sure I would know for sure. I think.

Anyway, here's the complete list of Top Things You Shouldn't Do While Playing Blackjack for those that want a more enjoyable BJ experience.

An hour and a half panty party sounds pretty good to us (although 9 minutes of panties and the rest pantyless sounds better). That's how Peepshow, the new tease production starring Mel B at Planet Hollywood, is described in one of the first reviews to filter out from the mainstream media.

Here are a few descriptive phrases the reviewer uses:
--At last, Las Vegas has a strip club you can take your wife to. (although we do that anyway)
--How much you’ll like “Peepshow” depends entirely on how much you like breasts. By my count, there are at least 20 pairs for your peeping pleasure.
--The evening is energetically, even aggressively, hosted by ex-Spice Girl Mel B, who looks and sounds sensational.
--“Peepshow” has just as much of a story line as it needs, which is scanty, as in those late-night “Skinemax” soft-core flicks.
--An aquarium filled with milk materializes and three near-naked beauties eagerly climb in, providing a peep by pressing their various parts against the glass.

Sounds like something LowLifes might like to take in, doesn't it?

Here's the link to the LowLife Peepshow listing with more of the review at the bottom of the page (and a few more photos).

Update: Lindsay Lohan to replace Kelly Monaco?

Has Criss Angel given Cirque du Soleil the excuse they were looking for to get rid of illusionist Criss Angel from the "Believe" show over at the Luxor?

Online gossip guy Perez Hilton was in town over the weekend to help judge the Miss USA pageant (his success still confounds us but that's another story) and stopped by "Believe", promising to Twitter his way through the show. His updates read "unbelievably BAD!" and "I would rather be getting a root canal."

Someone back stage must have been following along and alerted Angel as he came out at the end of the show and said--in front of man, woman and child--"I have to recognize someone special here in the house," said Angel, according to a witness. "Perez Hilton, please stand up.... We have the world's biggest douchebag asshole in the house!" Hilton's timely retort was reportedly "Thanks for the free tickets!"

"Criss Must Go!" (more)

After a weird week of weather--high winds, scattered light snow in some parts of town--the weather is suddenly hot (according to the never-wrong A.L.L. "weathercast" it'll get up to 95 degrees on Tuesday!) and summer is really here.

But the start of summer has nothing to do with the weather--that's only incidental. In Las Vegas, summer officially begins when Rehab at the Hard Rock opens. And today (Sunday), Rehab is now open: "Gentlemen, start your engines!" (but don't let the woody show)

Venerable rapper Snoop Dogg makes an appearance to kick off the new season.

The LowLife listing for Rehab.

Well, according to this article, the Hard Rock's Joint version 2.0 seems to be a success. Las Vegas' own rockers, The Killers, opened the place and The Joint received a nice accolade: "It's like to old Joint but bigger." And it sounds better, even in the restrooms, where the music on the stage is piped in. Sweet.

Saturday's show is Avenged Sevenfold and Paul McCartney comes in Sunday. Welcome back, Joint, we missed ya...

Louis Amundson was a popular member of the UNLV basketball team a few years ago and, while a pretty good player, was not expected to make the NBA. However, the pony-tailed high-energy shot-blocker and rebounder has not only caught on with the Phoenix Suns, he's averaging a decent 14 minutes per game.

He's got one more year on his pro contract but whether he plays past that is unimportant right now as the real question is, will he even live to see his next game.

Why the concerns about his life expectancy? Well, just as ya don't tug on Superman's cape and spit into the wind ya don't mess around with the biggest dude in the NBA, Shaquille O'Neil. Shaq is known as the ultimate prankster and doesn't like it when you try and pay him back.

The Prank and the Payback (more)

In a dilapidated part of Las Vegas, in between the Strip and Downtown and not too far from Olympic Gardens, lies a bit of history called Williams Costume Company. Now days, there are a bunch of antique shops in the area but in the days before the internet and A.L.L., we had a business there and shared an alley with the owners of the costume shop (they lived upstairs with a bunch of cats).

Over the years we had occasion to visit the shop now and then and, while the proprietors always seemed to be quite cranky (don't take our word for it--read some reviews), the shop was quite a place to visit. It was--and is--jam-packed with almost every costume item you can imagine. And, if you could get the old woman talking, she was a wealth of information about old Vegas.

The old lady's name is Nancy Williams Baker and she came to Las Vegas 60 years ago when she was 18. She was a dancer at the old El Rancho. She used to ride horses up the Strip and have lunch at the Flamingo. She never went topless, though, 'cause her mother would have killed her. "By that time, I was probably 22, 23. But I had already opened a dancing school," Baker said. "I taught all the mob's kids how to dance. And I was always making costumes, and it turned into this (shop)."

For yet another quick--and interesting--look at old Vegas, this one through the eyes of a former showgirl--well "Dice Girl", actually--check out this interview with Nancy Williams Baker.

With the closing of the 50-year old Folies Bergere a few weeks ago, the Las Vegas Sun dusted off one of their old reviews of the show, this one written by the then Sun Publisher Hank Greenspun.

He liked the show quite a bit: "From beginning to end this is the most dazzling entertainment which any city has been privileged to see. It’s saucy, piquant and racy in the splendidly provocative French way."

Besides giving the show two thumbs up, he also gets in a jab at our county commissioners who seemed to have not changed much in a half a century: "Every act is terrific and magnificently produced in rare good taste. There are nudes but not just the standing-around kind. These are occupied nudes guaranteed not to offend anyone’s sensibilities including our county commissioners who have rare talents of becoming offended at the most artistic of acts."

Greenspun also felt that Folies was the show that finally gave Las Vegas its identity: "London has its Palladium. In Paris it was the “Folies Bergere” and Le Lido de Paris. New York had its Ziegfeld Follies. Now Las Vegas — a small town nestled in the desert miles from anywhere — has them all and in greater splendor. Las Vegas, "the entertainment capital of the world", is now no idle boast."
Read the complete review

Ah, but what to do about the Las Vegas showgirl? The feathered lovelies are Las Vegas icons but they are a dying breed...

Well, damn. We were kinda hoping we could win the $33 million Megabucks jackpot. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be as a Reno mom hit the jackpot earlier this week while playing at a small Northern Nevada casino. $33 mil would have gone a long ways towards allowing me to lead the life I wish I was accustomed to. Even last year's paltry $21 mil won at the Palms would have helped clear up a few bills. And I know I was "this close" to winning the all-time record of $39.7 at the Excalibur in 2003. Oh well, better luck next time. Megabucks will now be re-set to $10 million (see the payout meter), although that amount is hardly worth my time...

The Nevada version of Megabucks has been around for about 20 years and is a progressive slot machine network created by International Gaming Technology to compete with the staggering sums won by those who play state lotteries. The special slot machines are in nearly 160 casinos throughout the state.

Megabucks Payout and Urban Legends (more)

Tao Restaurant is the grossest restaurant in the United States again. Gross revenue, that is. For the third straight year, Tao has topped the list of the Top 100 Independent Restaurants when it comes to yearly sales figures. In fact, it wasn't even close. Again. Tao had sales of over $68 million in 2008 which is double the next closest competitor (Tavern on the Green, NYC), serving an impressive 785,000 meals in a mostly recession year.

The NY Times looked at the Tao phenomenom awhile ago and offered this explanation for their overwhelming success.

Overall, Las Vegas restaurants had 25 of the Top 100 money making restaurants.
Below is a list of all the local restaurants on the list with LowLife links to each (more)

The sexy new show at Planet Hollywood called Peepshow is currently in previews and one media dude who popped in for a look-see seems to like it a lot. A couple of excerpts:

--"The adult-themed show uses the tease to great effect -- most of the dance numbers use a now-you-see ’em, now-you-don’t approach to up-top nudity. The naughty parts are alternately concealed by hands, pompoms and paint, and flashed ever so briefly."

--Co-stars Kelly "Monaco and Mel “Scary Spice” Brown are both sizzling, Monaco usually clad in a light-blue negligee number and Brown in a black-and-red bustier."

--LowLifes should particularly like this part of the show: At the end, Mel B demands, “Good night, everybody, thanks for coming, now go home and get laid!”

The full review (of a mini peek) of the show.

The LowLife listing for Peepshow.

Has it been that long? 30 years--really? Gosh, it seems like just yesterday...

Liberace--the self-proclaimed "Mr. Showmanship"--was a flamboyant, over-the-top piano man who was, at one time, one of the biggest things in Las Vegas. Which, considering the homophobic nature of mob-controlled Vegas, was no small feat for a very out-there celebrity.

His costumes, pianos and cars were all ostentatious to an extreme and many of them were put on display in a museum on East Tropicana 30 years ago. If you're interested in a glittery and kitschy side of Las Vegas history, this is a good place to go, especially if you want a souvenir that is sure to generate some double-takes.

(Personal note: Liberace's mansion is available for special event rentals and, I'll have you know, the Lowest LowLife has had sex--and not solo sex either, surprisingly enough--in one of Liberace's gaudy bathrooms. Who's da man, baby? Oh, yeah...)

Las Vegas will be featured on the prime-time news magazine show, "60 Minutes." Steve Wynn will be the focus of this Sunday's show, which is described in a press release:

"Steve Wynn--The casino mogul most responsible for taking Las Vegas to new heights of gaming and glitter talks to Charlie Rose about his spectacular success and the eye disease that's slowly robbing him of his ability to see the fruits of his labor."

More Wynn: In an interview on a local news discussion program, casino magnate Steve Wynn says he disagrees with Obama's economic recovery plan for Nevada, discusses how he would fix the employment situation locally (he's "the only person in Nevada" to create jobs this past year, don't ya know), and would lend a helping hand to those fellow casino owners who find themselves in financial trouble by taking some properties off their hands:

“Hopefully taking advantage of our proper balance sheet, our cash reserve, our low interest rates and our lack of short-term maturity… we are in a position to be helpful to people on the Strip who would be better served by unbundling,” Wynn said. “I think the unbundling of The Mirage company is a good idea. I thought that the putting together of those two companies was a bad thing.”

So, what he's really saying is "Despite the fact that MGM made me a billionaire by buying all my Mirage properties (which allowed me to build the Wynn), I thought it was a bad idea. But, to show what a nice and helpul guy I am I'd be willing to take a few resorts off their hands for cheap, especially the Bellagio 'cause I always liked that place. Jus' tryin' to help..."

No, the title isn't just the name of an oft-played Elvis song about our fair city, it's also the name of what has become one of the largest--if not the largest--event of it's kind. Viva Las Vegas is a trip back into the more carefree '50's where cars with fins ruled the streets and Buddy Holly was rockin' the AM dial.

Viva Las Vegas started 12 years ago at the Gold Coast as a small gathering of people who liked to dress the dress, listen to rockabilly music and swoon over restored hot rods. It has grown into one of our largest car shows of the year--a four day event--complete with over 50 bands, a classic burlesque show and sold-out rooms and vendor spaces. Viva LV has moved to the larger Orleans Casino for the first time and seems to attract quite a few of our fellow LowLifes.

Here's a look at the event and below is an excerpt from the article on what the hep-cats and cool kitties will be lookin' like:
"The ladies tend to be a curvy, well-tattooed amalgamation of Betty Boop, Bettie Page and Rosie the Riveter, pinups from another era, with big curls, form-fitting dresses and flowing skirts.
The fellas often sport towering pompadours or pomade slicked hairdos -- think a young Johnny Cash or Buddy Holly, two of the towering figures of the genre -- accompanied by bowling shirts and black leather jackets worthy of a motorcycle gang from some old Roger Corman flick."

It's a fun event so if you're not doing anything you might, at least, stop by one of the Orleans' bars and soak up the atmosphere (and a few Pabst Blue Ribbons, one of the event's sponsors).

The Viva Las Vegas party listing

Joints, in general, are designed with the specific intent to create a buzz, deliver a high. The cleaner and purer the better. The Joint at the Hard Rock was never the best concert joint in town. Sure it was our first intimate concert hall that featured top notch bands in a hip and happenin' setting but, besides the great atmosphere and the generally fantastic talent in an up-close-and-personal environment, one thing always detracted from catching the ultimate buzz from this joint: the sound quality.

The New Joint will be Acoustically Improved (more)

In a LowLife kinda way, we like some of the quirky things about not only Las Vegas but also Nevada in general. For example, no other state in the country can say their state legislators have debated whether to tax prostitutes on their, um, "transactions". But that's exactly what's been going on up in Carson City lately.

With a budget shortfall slated to be around $3 billion, some of our senators are talking about something they would prefer not to publicly discuss: our legalized prostitution industry.

The proposal is to levy a $5 tax--can we call it a head tax? maybe a pole tax?--on each of a prostitute's services. And, with some 365,000 patrons per year, that could amount to so a nice little bit of change to help fund, say, education.

The funny thing is, the brothel owners are all for the proposal as they say it would add legitimacy to their industry and act as an "insurance policy" towards ensuring someone doesn't try and outlaw the practice.

We're all for the concept, too. Anything that makes us feel good about paying taxes is a positive step in our eyes...

We just can't give 'em away. Rooms, that is. Even though the average daily rate for Las Vegas hotel rooms in February dropped a whopping 23% from last year (down to $99 from $129), the number of visitors to the valley still fell 8% (to 2.8 million people) and the gaming revenue on the Strip decreased a corresponding 23%, too.

It's the lowest citywide occupancy rate since 1991, although back then the city had fewer than 75,000 available rooms compared to an inventory of 140,729 today.

People are still driving here as the vehicle traffic passing through Primm was just about the same as last year with people opting to take advantage of the relatively inexpensive gasoline prices vs. flying to town. McCarran traffic was down about 15%.

Heaven help us if gas prices rise again....

We had heard about the infamous Halloween parties thrown by comedian Amazing Jonathan but it wasn't until this past year we actually had the pleasure of attending one. "Pleasure" might not be the right word to describe the event. "Weird", "strange", "gross", "twisted" or maybe just a "ewww!" or a "yuck!" might better describe the show Jonathan puts on.

Mr. Amazing likes the weird and the wonderful and assembles an ensemble of out-there performers designed to produce shock and awe in the audience. It's a freak show, plain and simple, held at a very large storage unit in an industrial warehouse section of town east of the airport. When you arrive you'll be mingling with a diverse lot including Strip entertainers (Criss Angel, Anthony Cools, Penn & Teller--you know, the off-beat ones), the goths, the heavily tattooed and pierced, the lookie-loos like us and, of course, the actual show performers who appear to be carnies in a very sick John Waters movie.

"Freaks" are On the Strip! (more)

The University of North Carolina plays Michigan State for the NCAA Division I championship basketball tonight and we just wanted to give a big "Go Tar Heels!" prior to the game. The Mrs. is a huge--perhaps too huge--UNC fan (she grew up just down Tobacco Road from Chapel Hill) so, in an attempt to strive for the most harmonious household possible (and the best chance for sex tonight), A.L.L. is officially, and publicly, getting rid of all semblance of partiality and pulling for the Baby Blue!

The Bandage on the Big Toe, and Where "Tar Heels" Came From (more)

Back in the day before all the mega-resorts were built Las Vegas was considered a very inexpensive town, a very good travel bargain. Then came the multi-billion dollar resorts, the $40 million dollar nightclubs and the celebrity chefs with the budget-breaker menus.

Now comes the recession and Vegas is trying to figure out what to do with its 141,000 rooms, expensive restaurants and chic hot spots.

For now, the answer has been deep discounting. For example, rooms at the brand new Trump are going for under $100, a multicourse tasting dinner at one of our most expensive restaurants--L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon--for $75, free caviar at Red Square and car rentals for $8.95/day.

Sounds like a good time to get the Vegas party started!

On the other hand, one new hotel owner says "room rates are too damn low" citing estimated costs at TI of about $30 per day to clean a room, $18 to $20 for third-party vendors plus costs for utilities and other overhead. Instead of a profit center, rooms are becoming simply a promtional item for the company, much like they used to be for most of the latter part of the last century.

And, according to this article, pricing rooms too low can have a negative effect on down the road.

19 Las Vegas dancers from 'Le Reve' will give a special performance on ABC's hit show 'Dancing With The Stars' this coming Tuesday night. Every Monday night DWTS features the actual dance competition between the celebs and Tuesday night is the results segment where ABC mixes in other entertainment acts to stretch out the show in order to add drama and, more importantly, additional commercial time.

The performers from the Wynn Resort production will present "a blend of ballroom dance, acrobatics and athleticism." It was reported that the shiny chrome domes of the male dancers were creating havoc for ABC's lighting technicians...

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has announced that NASCAR is moving their annual awards show to Las Vegas after being held 27 years in New York City.

We seem to do awards shows pretty well and have hosted most everything at one time including Miss America, the ESPY's, the American Music Awards, the AVN awards, the Country Music Awards, the Miss Hooter's awards and, of course the Lowest LowLife Awards.

Now that we've landed the NASCAR awards show it's only a matter of time before the Academy Awards gives Caesars a shot.

Well, maybe we shouldn't get too carried away by the euphoria accompanying LVC&VA's announcement...

In past Know It A.L.L.s we've mentioned several ways to release tension in and around the Las Vegas valley--besides all the sexual releases we post about--such as bombing down the slopes of Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort or racing performance cars at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch. But maybe you need something more brutish, more kick-ass. Maybe you need something like getting behind the controls of a giant Caterpillar bull dozer or digger and showing that expanse of earth in front of you who's the gawd damn boss! Right fuckin' on!!

At a new Las Vegas attraction called the Big Dig! you can rent giant construction-sized tractors, earth-movers and excavators and, after just 30 minutes of instruction, you'll be ready to push big shit around like it's your little bitch. Big Dig! only asks that you are "18 and sober" which isn't too much to ask, is it? (which is all we ask of our single females. Well, sorta sober. And, well, almost 18...but I digress)

And if you really need to let off some steam, try their Aggression Session and maneuver those jaws of death around a couple of automobiles and chuck 'em around like a dog does a rope toy. Perfect after a hard day at work takin' shit from the man! And bachelor parties, of course...

(Note the "big boys playground" is a few minutes away from the city (although the way things are going in Las Vegas these days they might be able to use one of the aboandoned Strip construction sites for a closer location) but they'll pick you up at your hotel if you want.)

Another Toy to Play With (more)

A friend of ours used to be a fairly big name in the television industry back when New York City was probably its most decadent. While much of what he experienced at out-there clubs like the original Studio 54 remains shrouded in a drug-induced fog, he does remember enough to know that the times were crazy to an extreme and he can't stop smiling every time the subject is brought up, even though he wishes he had some of those destroyed brain cells back.

His stories were always wild and wonderful and we always wished we could have spent just one lost summer doing anything and anyone in 54, the punk haven of CBGB's and at Max's Kansas City where all the artists, musicians and poets congregated. When he casually mentioned that he had been at Plato's Retreat, the original swingers club, we just had to hear his tales of debauchery that only a true LowLife would love. He had only visited Plato's a few times--after all, they had orgies right there at Studio 54--but we always wanted to hear just a little bit more about the place.

Plato's Retreat: The Full Story (more)

A couple of weeks ago we mentioned that the Hard Rock was adopting the concept of rock 'n' roll residencies for concerts at their soon-to-be-opened The Joint v. 2.0. The extended-stay performances would be much like Caesars Palace does with Cher, Bette Midler and Elton John (and Celine previously and, rumor has it, Celine again) which makes sense since AEG also books the Colosseum shows, too.

While there was much speculation on who the artists would be, some of that guessing is over with the announcement that Carlos Santana has been the first one signed. Santana will perform 36 shows per year in the two-year deal which starts May 27.

Santana realizes he's considered a "legacy performer" so his show will be called "Supernatural Santana: A Trip Through the Hits" and he says he'll play all his top songs like it was the first time he has ever played them. He plans to "go there each night and play all those songs like it's the first day you ever played them and it's the last day you're ever going to play them. Like you're 17 and it's your first French kiss."

More on Santana's recurring gig at The Joint.