We just found out the address on the TWIST flyer is incorrect. The correct address is 3371 Westwind Dr.
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Gossip dude Norm keeps us up-to-date on the Elvis show:
The first look at Cirque du Soleil's Elvis show at the $7.4 billion CityCenter is weeks away. A storyboard outline presentation is scheduled for July 22, said Bobby Baldwin, president and CEO of Mirage Resorts. "We've already broken ground for the showroom," which will be in the 60-story CityCenter hotel and casino near the Monte Carlo pool area, Baldwin said.
The production is a collaboration involving MGM Mirage, Cirque and Elvis Presley Enterprises, which is owned by Robert Sillerman, chairman and CEO of CKX, Inc.
Cirque will start assembling the talent about 10 months before rehearsals start in the 1,800-seat theater in June 2009. CityCenter and the Elvis show will open in December 2009.

The Tropicana has new owners, a desirable location and big plans but the way they are laying off employees in an industry where these sort of extreme measures aren't usually seen, so-called experts are questioning the long-term prospects of the resort.

From a betting aspect, it looks as though college basketball's NCAA tournament has surpassed that of the Superbowl, which has traditionally been the largest sports handle. Of course, March Madness is spread out over several weeks and the Superbowl remains the most wagered single event, but the stats show how far the college hoops tournament has come in the minds of bettors.

With the Mirage having the Beatles-themed Cirque show "Love", the hotel has been taking the concept to extremes. This past week, Paul, Ringo, Yoko and Olivia Harrison were in town to celebrate Love's 1st anniversary and now, starting Sunday, there will be a Beatles-related music festival featuring the likes of their original drummer (Pete Best), members of Wings, a reunion of Peter & Gordon and much more at The Fest For Beatles Fans.
The Fest's LowLife Listing.

In news that is by far the biggest since Roy got mauled (or was it Siegfried? or was it the white tiger? or was it Steve Wynn--I keep forgetting--it was one of those) now comes word that the Spice Girls are reuniting and will play Las Vegas! Posh, Scary, Ginger, Baby and Sporty have relaxed their claws enough to realize that unless you are married to David Beckham your outside earning potential isn't what it once was. Look for the girls to hit Sin City sometime soon after they open in L.A. on December 7th (a fitting day, indeed, especially if they "bomb").

Rage Against the Machine has reunited and one of the stops on their current tour will be to headline Vegoose, our large, 2-day music festival happening October 27th & 28th at Sam Boyd Stadium. Also rumored to be performing are Dave Matthews Band, Tom Petty and the Killers.

At least we're not as fat...
More people smoke, binge drink and use hard drugs in Southern Nevada than elsewhere in America. Why do you think Las Vegas has been the fastest growing city in the country for over a decade? The Southern Nevada Health District issued a report and it looks like we're on the road to hell...

Getting naughty in Las Vegas seems like a safe bet, one where no one else will discover certain indiscretions. However, at least one local firm is making money off that false sense of security. A private detective firm called TruthFinder advertises on the Internet and in phone books across the country to pick up national business aimed specifically at spouses and other associates of those coming to Vegas for a few days of "innocent" fun.

Despite playing nearly 100 games this past season and also becoming a brand new father, NBA basketball legend-in-the-making LeBron James has committed to playing with Team USA when they try and qualify for the Beijing Olympics. There will be a mini-camp in Las Vegas for the team on July 20-22 and the Olympic qualifying America's tournament will run August 22 through September 2nd.
LowLife Event Listing

While not as big nor as bold (George Clooney was a partner) as the multi-billion dollar W Hotel that was on the drawing board for Harmon Avenue (where club Ice stands), demolition of an apartment complex on Paradise Road has begun and the new "Aloft" will be built in it's place (not too far from the LV Convention Center).
Aloft is part of Paradise Place, a $200 million development that will have four boutique hotels with about 800 rooms. A second 200-room hotel, also by W, is to be called Element.
Aloft should appeal to Generation X and Y travelers who might normally stay at the Hard Rock or Palms hotels.

All signs point to the former King of Pop leaving Las Vegas. There was speculation that when Michael Jackson moved here he was going to headline a Strip show but it seems nothing has worked out so he's packing up. Word is he's going to do a European and Asian tour to rebuild his image and, if he can make it through that, will figure out the next course of action.

You've probably seen some of those elaborate ice sculptures in various nightclubs, restaurants and hotels. This guy does a lot of them and the article gives some interesting background and a look at the process.

If you are looking for the art scene in Las Vegas, here's one writer's opinion on 5 places to find it.

There will be a mad scramble for jobs on the Strip over the next few years due to the opening of a bunch of new casinos. First out of the gate is Palazzo, the Venetian's new sister tower due to open at the beginning of the year and is expected to be followed by the $2.1 billion Encore, a sister property to Wynn Las Vegas, in 2009 and MGM Mirage's $7.4 billion CityCenter, also in 2009.
A recent report said the Las Vegas casino industry will need to fill some 113,500 positions by 2012.

About 5 1/2 million of Las Vegas' 43 million yearly tourists are from outside of the United States. Las Vegas has awarded several contract to companies in Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, France, South Korea and Australia in an attempt to lure more visitors from those countries.

Crazy Horse Too gentleman's club has a deadline of June 30th to complete a sale to a new owner. It appears that the proposed sale has fallen through and the CHT will be closing at the end of the month.

While bowling alleys in other parts of the country are shutting down, Las Vegas is opening more and more of them. Station Casinos spent a record $31 million to build its 72-lane center, which opened in April at Red Rock Resort and $26 million to add the 72-lane Strike Zone to Sunset Station in May 2005. Both projects broke records for bowling center construction costs. A look at the Las Vegas bowling phenomenon and a list of bowling centers at gaming properties.

Looks like people are thinking that getting married on July 7th of this year will be lucky for their marriage as the Las Vegas wedding chapels are jam-packed.

With the release of Ocean's 13, this article takes a look at the movie industry's fascination with Las Vegas
(Note: Smokin' Aces was set in Reno but the article is from a British publication so I guess we'll give 'em a pass.)

Perhaps the most concrete plan for the redevelopment of downtown is a $9.5 billion, 85 acre project around Charleston and Main Street involving 120 different landowners a state-of-the-art 22,000 indoor arena, 1,500 residential condominium units, 6,000 hotel rooms, 1,600 time shares, 1.2 million square feet of commercial space and 300,000 square feet of gaming space. Opponents of the project say it will kill the budding downtown arts district.
More development: Echelon breaks ground on the Strip.

The Producers, playing at the Paris, will soon be adding Tony Danza to its Las Vegas cast in the role of Max Bialystock, replacing Brad Oscar on August 13.
Danza was previously in The Producers on Broadway until it closed on April 22, 2007. “I love the part”, said Danza. “My take is, I think Max is a likeable guy. Sure he’s up to no good, but it’s almost like he can’t help himself.” Danza is best known for his work on classic TV show Taxi and Who’s The Boss.

Lindsey Lohan was supposed to party her birthday night away at Pure Nightclub next month but checked into the "Promises" treatment facility in Malibu on May 28th following an arrest on suspicion of DUI after she crashed her Mercedes convertible over a curb and into a tree.
So the birthday party is cancelled but she's still contractually obligated to Pure so expect the li'l vixen to show up at the club once she's out of rehab.

Caesars Palace new mega spa has a treatment room where it snows all year round, even when it's 110 out. Welcome to Qua's Arctic Ice Room, where "snow" gently descends from a domed ceiling through mint-infused air chilled to 55 degrees.
While 55 degrees isn't all that cold in reality, after baking in the 200-degree dry sauna, and cooking in a 112-degree steam room, the 55-degree ice room will feel plenty cold. More on the snow treatment.

We'll always have Paris. The currently incarcerated celebutante said recently, "I love Las Vegas."
While her move from prison medical facility to a step down unit with about 15 cells is making news, so is her upcoming "Get Out Of Jail" party. Looks like Las Vegas will play host to Paris and hundreds of her closest friends.
Paris' dad has been shopping for a venue to sponsor the bash. Unlike most pops, he is not paying for the celebration, rather ... the venue is paying for the privilege of hosting the privileged inmate.
Hard Rock Hotel and Casino is reportedly the winning host. How much will Paris get for serving her sentence and then partying in Sin City? A cool $800,000. Not bad for 23 to 45 days in the slammer.

If you are an art buff you may want to check out the new Picasso display at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art. Or maybe not. Late in life, after Picasso created most of his so-called masterpieces, he started dabbling in pottery. The pieces might be considered light and playful or perhaps just a joke on all of us as Picasso didn't throw his own clay. He played with broken pieces or softened vessels that he formed into his own creations, often maintaining the look of the functional vessel while turning it into the shape of an animal. If you want to make up your own mind visit the display between now and January.

If the Bellagio can be bought (Kirk Kerkorian has made a bid) maybe others can be, too. If you are looking for a casino of your own perhaps this list of possibilities can help...

Tommy Rocker has been around the block here in Las Vegas. His one man band act started years ago in clubs near UNLV and eventually he got his own place on Industrial Road (a.k.a. Dean Martin Drive). Now, after 12 years, Tommy Rocker's Cantina & Grill will close and become a strip club. Tommy said the strip club's motto will be, "Fun for the whole family, except your wife and kids." He'll keep his name on the venue and the club should re-open in a week or two.

If you are a local and are a golfer, you can take advantage of some pretty good rates during the hot months. Of course, you might have to battle 110+ degree temps but a few cold beers will make it seem better. A list of courses with discount pricing.

While we've always had some of the worst tasting tap water in the country, from a contaminant standpoint they say it's of excellent quality.
Because most of the supply washes down from the Rocky Mountains in the silt-laden Colorado River, Las Vegas has some of the hardest water around, and the amount of chlorine used to treat it doesn't help much with the flavor. And, with the lowering water levels in Lake Mead, we can expect the taste to get even worse.

Looks like we won't have those pesky union workers "unintentionally" blocking our path to the slot machines as Harrah's Entertainment and Culinary Workers Local 226 reached tentative agreement on the new collective bargaining covering roughly 15,000 workers. The agreement needs to be ratified by the union-backed employees at Paris Las Vegas, Bally's, Caesars Palace, Flamingo, Harrah's Las Vegas and the Rio. Contracts covering more 60,000 hotel and casino workers at Strip and downtown resorts expired June 1 after months of negotiations. However, the expired contracts were extended while negotiations continued.

The struggling Fremont Street area received another blow when it was announced that the Poker Dome would leave Neonopolis this summer as Fox has decided not to televise any more poker tournaments from the complex.

Actress Tori Spelling's millionaire mom Candy has boosted her personal fortune thanks to a lucky streak in Las Vegas. The widow of TV mogul Aaron Spelling hit the jackpot while playing the $100 slot machines at the Bellagio Hotel and won $100,000.
But, according to TMZ.com, Spelling's lucky ride didn't end there and she continued winning over the weekend, netting a reported $200,000 by the time she left Sin City.
And, adding to her luck, Spelling, whose fortune is estimated at $300 million, also won a car at a raffle she hosted. Spelling held the raffle for her afterschool charity L.A.'s Best on Sunday, and claimed the grand prize, a Toyota Prius.

Phil Hellmuth won a record 11th World Series of Poker championship, breaking a three-way tie with poker legends Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan for the most individual wins in World Series of Poker history. The event was a no-limit hold 'em game and was the 15th of the 55-event WSOP, so there is still a chance Brunson or Chan could match or surpass Hellmuth before the overall tournament is over.
The ALL Event Listing

As part of a $600 million renovation, the Hard Rock Hotel is upgrading their 64 suites to have an "elegant, young vibe" look. The designer is conceptualizing the new suites under four separate feminine mystiques; domme girl (dominatrix), glamour girl, biker girl and party girl. Got that?
The article with some photos.

The Mirage's Dolphin Habitat got a new member on Monday as Duchess, the 30 year old mother, gave birth to a 25 pound calf. While successful births in captivity are rare, the Mirage is optimistic on the chances of survival as the little one is exhibiting strong survival signs, swimming step-for-step with it's mother. You can visit the as-yet-unnamed baby at the Mirage from 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. daily.

Las Palmas on Paradise Road used to be a pretty happening, upscale apartment complex back in the day. A Florida real-estate developer saw the property and felt the time was right to tear it down and build Las Palmas Hotel and Residences, a $2.5 billion project consisting of four 55-story glass towers with 800 luxury hotel suites and 1,000 condos. The first phase of the five-star, nongaming hotel would include themed shops, upscale restaurants and designer boutiques. The developer thinks Paradise Road is gonna be THE new address in town.

Word on the Strip is, once the sale of his hotel is complete New Frontier owner Phil Ruffin is going to move Gilley's to an off-Strip location. The C&W dance hall is, perhaps, the most popular attraction the resort offers so it looks like it's cultural offerings of bikini bullriding and female mudwrestling will be salvaged when the resort is demolished. The farewell is sad at Gilley's, however.
Gilley's LowLife Listing including bullriding and muddy wrestling photos.
UPDATE: If Gilley's does reincarnate, it will have major competition from a brand new club being built close to the South Point Casino. Stoney's Rockin' Country, soon to be the biggest single-level club in the state, will have a dance floor that will be bigger than any in Nevada. It'll also have a "cowboy ultralounge", if such a thing is possible.

Las Vegas has been an also-ran for landing a top-tier professional sports team for several years now as our city has either been used as a negotiationg ploy for teams to get better facility deals from their current cities or the group wanting a team in Las Vegas has been better at dreaming than coming up with the cash.
Now, with names like movie man Jerry Bruckheimer and billionaire Phillip Anschutz (Qwest, MLS, Staples Center) involved, things are starting to get interesting. This time it's the NHL (NHL??).

The downtown casinos were hoping the Grand Prix street race that closed off the streets for a long weekend in April would help the city reverse it's losing trend. While the crowds were supposedly around 120,000 for the three days, analysts say the downtown casino win was still down 3.3 percent. The casinos say it's because no one could get in or out of the Fremont Street area.

While we've had the event listed on ALL for awhile, we thought it was socially important enough to mention it here (and we need all the good karma we can muster). There's a different kind of attraction opening up in Las Vegas that is unique to Sin City.
The grand opening of the Springs Preserve is going on this weekend with an acoustic performance by that little hottie Jewel. The Preserve is a actually a tribute to water conservation but done in a cool way, specifically with an 1800 seat outdoor amphitheater and a restuarant operated by ol' Wolfgang Puck that has a view of the Strip.
LOWLIFE CONCERT LISTING
LOWLIFE VENUE LISTING
REVIEW OF THE GRAND OPENING (Check out the Jack Daniels Girls!)

Here's the story on how, despite lots of pressure to do otherwise, the owner of the New Frontier held out many years on selling his property and why he is doing so now.

About 11 miles South of the Mandalay, at the site of the current Last Call Tavern truck stop, a $700 million casino has broken ground. Las Vegas Boulevard and St. Rose Parkway is the site Anthony Marnell III decided to build his M Resort. Marnell, of the Anthony Marnell family that has built numerous resorts around town (including the Wynn and the Bellagio), has a bit of a headstart on the $1.3 billion 1,050-room Southern Highlands Resort that will break ground later this summer right across the street.

(Ooops! She's back in jail so the party's off!)
Join Paris Hilton this weekend at Pure for her "Got out of Jail (almost) Free" party. And then, after Paris has celebrated several hours at the nightclub, she'll then head up to Las Vegas Motor Speedway to demonstrate how she is actually a good driver under the influence.
OK, I'm lying through my teeth. But she is out of jail after only serving 5 days of a 23 day sentence. And, despite the fact that she is now supposed to spend 40 days under house arrest, ya just never know what she'll do next.
So, if you see a skinny blonde chick drinking "slippery nipples" at a trendy Vegas hotspot wearing an electronic ankle bracelet, give Norm the Gossip Dude a call...

If you are a baseball fan and visit Vegas and think you might be able to watch your team on TV, well, you will find there are many times you can't, even in a sports book. We've all heard of sports "blackouts" but Las Vegas is worse than pretty much any other city when it comes to blackouts, especially with MLB.
While we can get every NFL game and nearly every NBA game on DirecTV, six Major League Baseball teams - the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels, the San Diego Padres, the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A's - claim Las Vegas as their territory, so Las Vegas quite often gets the short end of the stick.
Like we could drive to the Bay Area for an A's game on a regular basis...

It'll be a hot time in the ol' town this weekend as burlesque superstars from around the world converge on Las Vegas for a four day festival of stripping. You can see the 17th Annual Miss Exotic World Pageant and the 50th Annual Striptease Reunion Showcase not to mention a whole bunch of strippin' an' teasin' an' pastie twirlin' in between. There's also the world record attempt at spreading the World's Longest Boa down Fremont Street which you can be part of! Only in Vegas...
The LowLife Event Listing

It's the "red man's revenge". Indian gaming was approved by Congress in 1988 but has really taken off the past several years, out-pacing Las Vegas gambling revenue. Indian casinos brought in $12.8 billion from gambling in 2001, $22.5 billion in 2005 and $25.1 billion in 2006, according to the National Indian Gaming Commission.
In 2006, Nevada casinos had $12.62 billion in gambling but Nevada casinos make a lot of money with restaurants, hotels and other entertainment, so their total 2006 revenue was $24.08 billion.
Complete Article

From Norm, the gossip dude:
David Hasselhoff is in talks to bring a Rat Pack-style, cabaret-style show to Las Vegas.
During his red carpet appearance on the opening night of "The Beauty of Magic" at Planet Hollywood Resort, Hasselhoff said his stint with "The Producers" was such a hit that he has approached several properties, including Planet Hollywood, about doing a "Vegas cool" show.
"I think there's a niche to bring back the old Vegas,'' Hasselhoff told me. "I've seen the rooms, I've talked to Robert (Earl, owner of Planet Hollywood) about opening a theater in November, and I like it here. But I am coming back, and whether it's here or another hotel, we'll see."

Update: The Festival has opened
CineVegas, Las Vegas' up and coming film festival held at the Palms, always attracts it's share of movie stars to the intimate affair. Perhaps it's our proximity to Hollywood or the fact that the stars can combine business with Vegas pleasure or maybe it's just the sheer magnetism of theatre-chain owner Johnny Brenden but whatever the reason, the stars show up in droves.
This year should be no different as the festival opens in a big way with the Las Vegas debut of Ocean's 13 featuring Clooney and the rest of the rat pack getting the red carpet treatment on Wednesday.
A look at the festival.
The LowLife Listing

Las Vegas has always had an interesting relationship with jazz. We have lots of talented musicians and singers who like to jam but we just can seem to sustain a top jazz club for very long. We usually get our jazz in small doses where various clubs experiment with a weekly jazz night.
Well, Just Jazz, modeled after the legendary Philadelphia club by the same name, has opened on East Sahara and is offering smooth jazz 7 nights a week. Hopefully, its sexy, sensual stylings will attract a following which will allow financial success.
LowLife Listing

The latest figures from McCarran Airport show there’s no shortage of travelers coming to Las Vegas. The airport welcomed just over 3.9 million passengers last month, a 0.9 percent increase over April, 2006.
So far this year, 15.2 million people have passed through the airport, a 3.2 percent increase over the passenger count a year ago.
Southwest and US Airways continue to dominate the market with over half the passengers in April flying one of those two airlines. (US Airways total reflects its own flights and those under the old America West brand.)
United and American have seen their shares drop over the last 12 months but Delta boosted its April count by over 10 percent to 207,000 passengers.

Slot machine manufacturers, sometimes slow to respond to technology, are catching up to America's love affair with faster computers, wide screen TVs and communal play on the Internet.

The company that owns licensing rights to the names and images of Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali, and operates Presley's Graceland estate are seriously interested in an Elvis-themed hotel/casino here in Las Vegas. New York-based entertainment group CKX invested $100 mil. to get a piece of the Riviera and some other acreage on the Strip so Elvis who, of course, "has left the building" may soon be returning.

This week Google Web rolled out Street View, a program that offers 360-degree street-level images of Las Vegas and four other cities, allowing users to virtually tour the cities from a ground-level perspective. It's not real time (images are at least a couple of months old) and the ACLU says it will pass legal muster regarding privacy concerns so, if you see a Google person shooting video, we strongly suggest you flash 'em the goods!
Check out Las Vegas on Street View.

Hundreds of items from rock 'n' roll history are up for auction this weekend in the Mardi Gras Ballroom at The Orleans, 4500 W. Tropicana Ave.
The Fame Bureau's Rock 'n' Roll Circus begins at 6 p.m. today (Friday) with a preview of the items, ranging from Ozzy Osbourne's billiard table and Stevie Nicks' velvet cape to Paul McCartney's left-handed violin-shaped bass guitar and Elton John's green jumpsuit from the 1982 "Jump Up" tour.
Auction sessions will take place Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m. and 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Registration is required to bid on the items. For more information, see www.thefamebureau.com or call 702-561-0830. Admission is $20, the cost of a catalog.

On the North end of the Strip where the water theme park Wet 'n' Wild once stood, the tallest building in the Western hemisphere is being planned. A Texas-based businessman is proposing a 142 story, 1,888 hotel condo tower to Clark County. And with the richest man in Australia getting involved in the casino end of it the project just might happen.