The Roger Thomas ShowS are UP!

I had some sort of bizarre problem with TheStripPodcast.Com just as Amy and I were heading off to Utah to take in some not-Shakespeare at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, so for the moment, the bare minimum is on the site. But I did manage to post the proper episode of The Strip with Roger Thomas as well as a narrated video slideshow of the tour I took of Wynn Design & Development last week.

There's lots of goodies in both, and you can hear by clicking on the links I just provided or save the files by right-clicking to watch/hear later.

Among those goodies, the real headline was Roger's reaction to the earlier leaked photos of the Bellagio room redesign that were posted on VegasTripping.Com. In the past, neither Roger nor Steve Wynn have been willing to critique the design stewardship of their first masterpiece resort, so I sent Thomas the VT pix with the identifying information cut off. I hoped Roger would say, "Holy crud, what is THAT?" but instead he recognized some of the architectural elements that he created for those rooms.

Then he critiqued them anyway. Here's the exchange:

Friess: I think a lot of people when they look at that are really surprised that that is Bellagio.

Roger: I’m not. I think it’s consistent with the design that their management always seems to pursue. It’s almost as if they haven’t noticed that they’re in Bellagio. When you're in a guest room, you can pretty much get away with that. I like our guest rooms to be a natural progression and part of the whole. If you can get away with ignoring where you are in a hotel, you can usually get away with that in a guest room. I don’t think they’ve done that as successfully at Bellagio with the buffet and with several of the restaurants that are kind of a slap in the face of the space they’re in. They don’t feel terribly well integrated to me. [But] when you go through a small door to enter a space, what's within can be a greater change than a very wide opening to another space.

Friess: When you look at these pictures, the Bellagio was such a personal project for you. Does it not rankle you to see what they've done with it?

Roger: No. I get to wake up every morning and make my dreams come true. If someone decides they have a better idea, I just let it go. I'm so busy and focused on creating new and better environments for Wynn Resorts, frankly if someone changes things and I'm not really a fan of what they've done, i just look at it as they've made themselves easier for me to compete with.

Friess: Boy, you're catty this morning.

Roger: It's not catty. Actually, having said that, I think there are some very comfortable things about this room. I notice for one thing that they're now using an intelligent service for the snack service that looks exactly like the way we designed ours with the stepped up presentation. And there are a lot of things, they've got a patterned sheer over a blackout which is, you know, something we started doing. I think there are a lot of things about this room that look very considerate and like they're very aware of what the guests needs. ... I haven't sensed the room 360-degrees, but it looks like they approached it in a fairly sensitive way and that there's good consistency in many of the design decisions that they made in terms of design style. Would I have made any of those decisions? Probably not, but that's besides the point.

Friess: You made the comment about the Buffet, and I haven't been in the buffet in quite a long time. They've redesigned it since you folks left?

Roger: They did, and the facade of it is kind of an extreme mismatch for the environment which surrounds it. I think that's intentional. I just don't think it was successful.

There's plenty more, including Roger's praise of Chuck from VegasTripping and the revelation that Jerry Beale, the designer brought in to replace Roger when Roger was supposed to leave the company, has departed for Los Angeles. So check out all the fun stuff.

P.S. I'm going to wait until after this Utah trip to get the 3-minute narrated slideshow up in which Roger explains the artistic significance and intricacies of the $12.8 million vases the company recently bought.

In Vegas, Woe Is Thee Who Relies On Google Maps

Take a good look at the images in this post. Click on them to enlarge and look closer. You'll be utterly amazed. I am.

I know others have taken note of strange glitches of Google Maps -- I believe Excalibur used to show up in the middle of the Wynn Golf Course -- but this is just insane. On the map above, Aria is north of Cosmo, the Crystals is south of Veer and there's a make-believe road called Business Lane.

At least those places are in the right vague vicinity on that one. Treasure Island...

...is north of Circus Circus! How unfortunate for them!

I feel for anyone who went out to this lonely spot to buy Lion King tickets...

...or thought they'd find the Las Vegas Strip east of Hooters...

...or looked for the Palazzo south of The Venetian...

...or tried to decide why there are two Wynn Las Vegases so they could get to their table at Alex:

Anyone else stumped as to where they got the name "Emerald Green Golf Course" for Bali Hai...

...or when anyone has ever referred to Interstate 15 as...

...as either the Mojave Freeway or the Barstow Freeway?

As for Vdara, which is what I was looking up in the first place, it's particularly alarming that their own paid Google ad provides this map...

...putting the hotel, umm, east of Eastern Avenue. Also, Google thinks...

...Aria is there, too. Hmmm. That could explain a lot about the hotel's occupancy, doesn't it?

How Responsibly Do Casinos Want You To Game? Not Very.

Yesterday, I needed to look up when the Monte Carlo offers free gambling lessons for an upcoming update of my Random House/Knopf guidebook of Vegas. I went to the resort's website, then clicked on the tab for CASINO and found myself on a screen with many options.

This one intrigued me:


Huh. What exactly is a "Responsible Gaming Tour"? I clicked on it because I thought perhaps it would lead me to the dates and times for those free lessons. Knowing the rules of the games is certainly one way to play responsibly, no?

Well, no. When you click on that, you end up with this:


When you click on this video, you watch a lesbo-erotic scene at a craps table where sexy ladies score big on a bet.


That looks like FUN, right? Winning, duh!

OK. So imagine this. You think you might be an addicted gambler and you want to know more, and the first thing you see are the words "HIT THE CASINO." Awesome! Then, after being inserted in this girl-on-girl fantasy of gambling, you scroll down below to boilerplate about what a phenomenally altruistic place the Monte Carlo is. A variation of the the same screed appears on every MGM Resorts site that provides a responsible gaming section -- the sites for Aria and Circus Circus don't even bother, which is interesting -- and what is there is very poorly written, self-congratulatory hooey.

Go look for yourself; the first 260 words of the 400-word copy block is all about the things the resort does to combat problem gambling. Only near the end -- almost as an aside -- do they stick this little bit of useful intel:

If you feel you need help, please call the following 24-hour confidential national hotline:
Nevada Council on Problem Gambling 1 (800) 522-4700

Yeah. They're really trying to help you.

I became curious, so I went to see what the other casino sites do on this score. The results were fascinating and surprising. The Mirage, MGM Grand and New York-New York were reasonably straightforward and appropriately understated...


...but some of the others offered imagery that defeats the message. Mandalay Bay and Luxor, for instance, think happy hot babes aptly illustrate compulsive gambling...


...as did Hooters, although it's hard to understand why Hooters couldn't do a better job on this, uh, front:


I like how the Bellagio seems to suggest that the addictive-inclined may find alcohol a wonderful alternative to putting the college fund on the Steelers:


There's also the having-fun-and-getting-lucky approach of MGM Grand Detroit, Stratosphere, Foxwoods, the Tropicana, Treasure Island and all the Boyd resorts:



The Excalibur also seemed to imply compulsive gambling could lead to a happy relationship...


...although maybe they're making a subversive remark about this woman's impaired judgment seeing how her alleged paramour also appeared here:


The Caesars Entertainment properties all feed to the same place where, evidently, gambling makes you very happy and royal flushes are yours for the taking:


The trouble with Caesars is their sites don't even offer a responsible gaming tab under the heading for casino information. Instead, you must scrape the bottom of each resort's site to the fine print. Here's the whole Caesars Palace homepage...


...and way, way down on the bottom, look at what you find:


The Boyd properties pull the same gag:


Like MGM, the most important thing to Boyd and Caesars about responsible gaming is . . . how great Boyd and Caesars are about responsible gaming. Of the 2,200 words of blather on Caesars' site, it takes 900 before they get to what you should do it you think you're an addict. And even then it's all about them, see:

In 1995, Caesars Entertainment helped fund the creation and start-up of the first national helpline (1-800-522-4700) for problem gambling - providing callers with counseling and direction to local assistance in any state. Our funding to assist local health service agencies, councils, and seminars continues yearly through funding efforts by our corporate office and casino properties. Knowing gambling problems can potentially reach the "other side" of the table, Caesars Entertainment provides confidential counseling assistance for employees through our Employee Assistance Program.

Gosh, aren't they just the noblest?

The Palms and Cosmo don't dress up their RG sites. Look how plain and unadorned they are:


Meanwhile, the art on the Wynn site is at least appropriate, showing some manicured shlub forking over his dough...


...and this guy in the Station Casino image doesn't look like he's enjoying at ALL.


Still, in all these cases, links to various entertainment and gaming options -- where you'll find happy images of lucky, sexy winners, no doubt -- are right there next to the wet-blanket message. Can you imagine a site for information about alcoholism that has links to all the best brands of beer and the nearest saloon? Or a sex addiction site adorned by images of really hot, undressed men and women? Or an overeaters anonymous site with fried chicken-and-Doritos wallpaper?

I do appreciate the simplicity of the copy on the Palms' page. This is all there is, and perhaps all that's necessary:

For most people gambling is entertainment
For others, it can be a serious problem. Report a problem.
Gambling is exciting, entertaining and should be fun, but for some it’s a serious problem.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, please call 1.800.522.4700 or visit the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling at www.nevadacouncil.org.

Two examples of better efforts stood out from my survey.

First, Borgata in Atlantic City. This is interesting because it's co-owned (for now!) by MGM Resorts, which does a poor job of providing Web information and often packages it with such defeating imagery, and Boyd, which makes visitors pull out a microscope to even find the RG link. The Borgata's RG tab is still hard to find -- the link is tiny and at the bottom of each page -- but then there is this pop-up:


There's a lot less of the we're-so-awesome crap; it's just straight advice on what to do and how to define problem gambling. But more importantly, it's disembodied from the rest of the site. Plus, they make it easy to print out, too. It's as if someone's thought about this or something.

But the folks who do this the best and most sincerely are . . . the Las Vegas Sands. I know, that shocked me, too. They make their RG section so prominent on their homepage that Google shows it as a top option...


...and they seem to have considered what sort of art to display with their message:


You wanna be that despondent fellow? I sure don't.

What's more, there's some brief blah-blah about what Sands does but much more prominent is the hotline phone number right there for where to call. And rather than littering the page with all sorts of advertisements and links enticing you to do the activity that you're concerned you can't stop doing, you see this rail instead:


Check it out. This is how it ought to be done. Given that LVS CEO Sheldon Adelson actually once told me that there's no such thing as gambling addiction in Asia, I'm further impressed that there's information and an organized program available specific for Macau and Singapore. Then again, Adelson's wife is an addiction specialist, so maybe it's her influence.

Bottom line is that it's clear from the material that MGM, Boyd and Caesars, among others, view this primarily as a feel-good public relations tool rather than information that could save someone's life. If they were serious about this they would:

* Skip all the yappity yap about how responsible they are and lead with how you can get help
* Make sure visitors don't have to hunt too hard to find the information on every page of their sites
* Choose imagery that does NOT whet one's appetite to do that which the visitor is attempting to abstain
* Set up a page separate from the rest of the site without alluring links

I didn't intend to do all of this -- I got on a kick and couldn't stop -- but I think this is a pretty important matter. Anyone who has ever had an addiction knows how hard it is to stop. If the casino industry actually wants to be taken seriously, they need to fix this today. Otherwise, their next "Responsible Gaming Week" will be a farce.

Vegas Media Shuffle: Wynn, Caesars & The R-J

The trouble with not trafficking in rumors is that when you get them right but you don't have official confirmation, you can often miss the boat. For instance, listeners of The Strip heard me mention as far back as early in the summer that Harrah's was going to finish its Caesars name switcheroo, long before anyone else in the press had it. But I didn't commit it to blog or print because I never could get the clear confirmation from sources over there. Then it happened.

Well, it happened again this week. On Tuesday, I learned that Michael Weaver, Caesars Entertainment's vice president for marketing, is leaving. Then I heard he would be following his old boss, Marilyn Winn Spiegel, who in November became Wynn Las Vegas president and promptly persuaded Steve Wynn to shut down the beloved Alex.

But if Weaver were heading to Wynn, where would that leave Jennifer Dunne, vice president for public relations and advertising? On Wednesday, I texted her, and we had this exchange:

Friess: Hey...Are you leaving Wynn?
Dunne: Where did that come from? Good lordy!!!
Friess: Well, Michael Weaver is leaving Harrah's and I'm hearing he's following Marilyn to Wynn. But he and you do similar things, so...
Dunne: I hear he is a great guy! Do you know him?
Friess: Yes. He's a very good egg. Interesting you haven't actually answered either question.
Dunne: You are so funny! I would look forward to working with him if he is coming to Wynn. :-)

Huh. Well, about a half-hour ago, Dunne sent out this email:

Wanted you to hear directly from me... I have resigned from my position
with Wynn Resorts, effective today. I do not have any firm plans but
intend to take some time off and visit family and friends. I will be in
touch once I settle in somewhere. I have really enjoyed working with you
on this exciting Wynn experience and look forward to crossing paths on
the next adventure!

This is really a toughie for me. Weaver and Dunne are two of the most consummate professionals I've dealt with as a Vegas journalist. After my initial surprise at Dunne's announcement, it dawned on me maybe she didn't know this earlier in the week. Of course, there's no official confirmation that Weaver's going to Wynn, but it does seem likely.

(UPDATE: Dunne tells me she left Wynn of her own volition and made the decision, which had been percolating in her mind, after our text exchange. Also, she confirmed Weaver starts at Wynn on Monday in a new VP position created for him.)

Also today we learned that Jacqueline Peterson, a top corporate spokeswoman for Caesars, also is leaving the company. So perhaps Jacqueline is taking Dunne's gig? Time will tell. Wynn's publicist in charge of food and beverage, Katie Conway, also left last month. She followed her husband, a chef who had gotten a big job in L.A. So there are openings.

This all may seem like inside baseball, except that it is interesting that there's this shift of executives from Caesars Entertainment to Wynn and what that could mean for how the company is actually managed on a day-to-day basis locally. Moving from the Pascal/Poster/Breitling/Dunne world to a Winn/Weaver world is a distinctive change. Weaver's biggest contribution to Caesars Entertainment was as the innovator who went aggressively after such niche markets as gays and Hispanics. I'm not sure Wynncore needs much help with the gays.

The big question is, does all of this imply Steve Wynn is emotionally detaching from Wynncore Vegas to the point that he just wants very highly skilled people who will maximize profits? If so, it's fair to ask at what cost to the property and its image this may come.

* * *

While I'm on the media kick for this Friday, I ought to take note that Michael Hiesiger, the longtime business editor of the Review-Journal, was let go yesterday. No immediate replacement has been named, but it's interesting because this is the first big staffing change under the new regime of publisher Bob Brown and new editor Mike Hengel.

It's also surprising because if I had to pick a department in need of an overhaul at the R-J, the business section isn't one that would instantly spring to mind. I'd make a beeline, as loyal readers know, to the online division, which is an inane operation run by clueless people as frequently noted here, and then to a features section desperate for new life and purpose.

The business coverage is fine and often exemplary, as is the local news division. The only way these sections could be made substantially better would be to hire more reporters, but the editors of each do pretty well with the small set of overworked scribes they're allotted.

One theory: Has the new publisher, formerly the advertising director, been getting earfuls from advertisers about how they're covered? That might explain why Hiesiger's the first head to roll. Other department heads are understandably nervous, but I just can't make a whole lot of sense of why Brown and Hengel would take aim at this area first if they're taking a full inventory of their strengths and weaknesses.

Meanwhile, I'm also hearing that Review-Journal subscriptions have surged in the past three months since Sherman Frederick and Thomas Mitchell were ousted from their publisher-editor jobs. I had heard they're up 8,000, and I asked Bob Brown about that in an email before the Hiesiger thing came to onto my radar. Brown wrote back:

Circulation is up, not 8,000. You'll have to wait for the March 11 audit report from ABC.

Honestly, any circulation increase is impressive in these tough times for print media. I am, indeed, looking forward to those new numbers.

Wynn, Caesars Tchotckes Sales This Weekend!

This weekend if you're in Vegas, you've got a chance at scoring some awesome swag at ridiculous prices:

* The Wynn is doing its Wynn Warehouse Fri-Sat 9 am - 6 pm and Sun 11 am - 5 pm in the LaTour Ballroom. You might recall I covered this last year. It's a massive expanse of Wynn-branded stuff of all sorts.

* Paris is hosting the Caesars Entertainment Holiday Retail Blowout Sale, which I also covered last time. This one (see graphic) is in the Concorde Ballroom on Friday and Saturday 8 am - 7 pm and Sunday from 8 am to 2 pm. Again, it's a fantastic opportunity to get Bette Midler ornaments, Harrah's Joliet shotglasses and other odds and ends.

Great opportunity, and how nice of them to do them the same weekend conveniently before Christmas. Somebody in our house is getting a Caesars Atlantic City track suit!

[h/t @BlogMike for the second item.]

The show is UP: Wayne's World!

The beauty of podcasting is that we're not constrained by time. This week's episode is one of those when that leisure is certainly an advantage. Wayne Newton was loose and chatty, and there was no reason to leave out much of anything. The result is a fascinating experience hearing him answer many questions he's never been asked and giving him the chance to really explain himself, for better or worse. You can click on the date below to get it to play or right-click on it to download it to listen at your leisure. Or, of course, subscribe for free in iTunes or Zune. -sf

Oct. 25: SUPERSIZED! Wayne's World

Wayne Newton is not broke. Really. Just ask him, and he’ll tell you all about it. We did so, as you’re about to hear, and Mr. Las Vegas is surprisingly forthcoming about all those recent lawsuits and much more. Steve visited Newton this week at his ranch, Casa de Shenandoah, to hear all about the plans to open his home and property to tours along with a nearby museum for Las Vegas entertainer history. Also, how does the Wayner keep his hair so darned black? Why does his left eye shimmer? Has he ever influenced a president? And how will he know when his voice has given out to the point he can't perform anymore?

In Banter: Sinatra dances with Wynn, Harrah's dances with an IPO, the Cosmo dances with pets and TV ads and the Gift of Lights banishes itself to the Speedway.

Links to Stuff Discussed:

Wayne Newton’s home pix on Flickr and on VegasHappensHere.Com
Wayne’s official site
News about Wayne’s tumultuous meeting with neighbors and the “abandoned” plane
Twyla Tharp’s Sinatra Dance With Me coming to the Wynn
Robin Leach’s Cirque scoop
Howard Stutz of the R-J on Harrah’s plans to go public
BMX Superstar TJ Lavin’s latest condition
Gift of Lights moving to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway?!?
Comparing The Cosmopolitan’s first TV ad to Aria's
VegasTripping.Com on the Cosmo announcing they will be pet friendly

Wynns, Murrens MIA On List of Pro-Reid Business Leaders

The Reid campaign just released a letter to the media signed by "nearly" 100 business leaders in Nevada arguing that Sen. Harry Reid's re-election is vital to the state. It's really just a re-configuration of other material that's been out there -- there already were "Businesses For Harry Reid," "Republicans For Reid" and others groups that featured some of the same names.

But there are a few peculiarities here that make it baffling they'd even bother to trumpet this thing. For one thing, by "nearly 100" they mean 90, which is, sure, close to 100, but they couldn't get even 100? There must be tens of thousands of businesses in this state!

Second, the headline is "Nevada Business Leaders Sign Letter Supporting Reid, Denouncing Angle on Economy" and it references Sharron Angle's "hemorrhaging support" even though Angle really never had any significant support from the business community to begin with.

And finally, this list may actually be more notable for the names that are NOT on it. Here are the gaming/Strip-related folks listed:

* Marybel Bayter, Harrah's
* Jan Jones, Harrah's
* Gary Loveman, Harrah's
* Karlos R. LaSane II, Harrah's
* Michael Morton, N9NE Group
* Blake Sartini, Sartini Enterprises (bro-in-law of Fertittas)
* Steve Cloobeck, Polo Towers developer
* Steve Nightingale, Club Cal Neva (Reno)
* John Farahi, Monarch Gaming (owns Atlantis in Reno)
* George Maloof, Palms

And that's pretty much it. No Steve or Elaine Wynn, no Tim Poster or Tom Breitling, no Jim or Heather Murren, no Bobby Baldwin or Phil Ruffin, no Fertittas or Thomases or Macks or Boyds or Gaughans. No Zappos or Ethel M people, either. Not even a Wayner, this week's most famous Nevada entrepreneur!

So, Reidites, why bother? You can't claim this is only a list of small business people because Maloof and Loveman are on there. You might say it's not an all-encompassing list, but what stopped you from producing one? Some of those who I just mentioned do appear on some of those other pro-Reid lists I referenced, but you couldn't get them to sign on to this letter?

Plus, the Wynns are a pretty glaring omission, and they also don't appear on the Republicans For Reid list, either. It was only last year that both of them were loud and clear that replacing Harry Reid would be a grave error. But then recall what Mr. Wynn said to me in August:

"I am so confused, Steve, about what’s going on in America. I’m so deeply concerned about the shape that our government has allowed our economy to get into and it precedes this government, it precedes Harry’s role as majority leader. ... [long discussion of problems of debt and entitlements] ... And that means Nevada is at risk not whether it’s Sharron Angle or Harry Reid, but whether our government in Washington can somehow reverse the course it’s been on, the juggernaut of reckless, irresponsible spending and borrowed money without destroying the economic health of the country permanently. ... [more economic discussion] And I don’t blame anybody, I don’t blame Harry, and I don’t know if Sharron Angle’s election of defeat is the issue or our time. ... I support Harry Reid. I support Harry Reid in the sense of 'Harry, make it go away, make it stop.' Something’s gotta be done, it can’t go on this way. … Am I conflicted by my ideological differences with what the Congress has done and my friendship with Harry? My answer to that question is yes and I’ve expressed frustration over that conflict to my friend Harry over the phone."

It strikes me that the omissions in this list say more than the names on it. At this stage, the Reid people ought to be aiming a little higher than "nearly 100," no? If they actually tried, you'd think they'd be able to say "more than 1,000." That would be news, perhaps. This is a backfire.

The Show is UP: Blooperpalooza!

In honor of our fifth anniversary as podcasters, Miles and I drew back the curtains so those who don't listen live can hear the nutty stuff that goes on before I edit this thing. Enjoy. Click on the date below to listen or right-click to download and listen at your leisure or subscribe via iTunes or Zune.

Aug. 22: Our FIFTH Anniversary Blooperpalooza!
SPECIAL REISSUE: The 2008 Blooper Show

Fights! Celeb Outtakes! Singing! It’s been FIVE years! Five years of brilliant, revealing interviews, witty banter and… oh, who are we kidding? It’s been five years of fuckups, stumbles, confusion, arguments and a whole lot of fucking cursewords. But most of that is behind the scenes except for once a year when Steve edits together the best outtakes and we revel in how badly we do this job. If you’re in the chat room weekly, you’ve heard most of this, but if not, this is your shot. Some of this is new, though, including outtakes with Jon Voight, Steve Wynn, Englebert Humperdinck, Daniel Negreanu and others. We’re blowing out show this week – no tourist tip, no interviews – so sit back, relax and enjoy the circus.

In banter: Madonna for $1 billion, veganism at Wynn and hula hoops on "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me."

Links:

Robin Leach writes of Madonna’s possible $1 billion Caesars deal, and Norm Clarke explains why it doesn't add up
Veganism, it’s what’s for dinner at Wynn Resorts
Al Mancini of CityLife provided a full list of Wynn eatery vegan dishes
Steve’s AOL News piece on the Hula Hoop ban
The full, very funny 6-minute Vegas segment from “Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me”
Our last blooper show, in 2008

Wynn Gets Lukewarm On Reid

I've got an AOL News piece examining some Angle-Reid news that will post on Friday, but here's a quick preview that also provides more fuller quotes than I'm capable to use in a news story. The topic of my Monday chat with Wynn, by phone as he vacationed in an undisclosed location abroad, turned to Sen. Harry Reid, whom Steve Wynn has spared from his diatribes against the Obama Administration. Well, until now. Check it out:

Friess: I’m curious to know what you think would happen to the state if Sharron Angle beat Harry Reid.

Wynn: I don’t know. I am so confused, Steve, about what’s going on in America. I’m so deeply concerned about the shape that our government has allowed our economy to get into and it precedes this government, it precedes Harry’s role as majority leader. ... [long discussion of problems of debt and entitlements] ... And that means Nevada is at risk not whether it’s Sharron Angle or Harry Reid, but whether our government in Washington can somehow reverse the course it’s been on, the juggernaut of reckless, irresponsible spending and borrowed money without destroying the economic health of the country permanently. ... [more economic discussion] And I don’t blame anybody, I don’t blame Harry, and I don’t know if Sharron Angle’s election of defeat is the issue or our time.

Friess: Are you still supporting Harry Reid?

Wynn: I support Harry Reid. I support Harry Reid in the sense of 'Harry, make it go away, make it stop.' Something’s gotta be done, it can’t go on this way. I don’t know Sharron Angle, but I know Harry and I complained to him over the phone.

Friess: And what did he say when you complained to him over the phone?

Wynn: He said, well, he doesn’t actually respond directly. [long discussion of the health care bill.] You don’t get any response from the Congress through Harry or anybody else to this debate. I think these politicans are trapped on a runaway train that is controlled by the next election cycle. I think none of them know what to do except to say I can’t do anything unless I’m here. And if I don’t do this, I won’t be here, and if I don’t do that I won’t be Senate Majority Leader.

Friess: Does the conversation about the Harry Reid race get difficult for you because while you ideologically oppose a lot of what Harry has done, he is your long-term friend?

Wynn: Yes. In a word, yes. I think that applies to almost everybody in the upper end of the business community in this state. … Am I conflicted by my ideological differences with what the Congress has done and my friendship with Harry? My answer to that quesiton is yes and I’ve expressed frustration over that conflict to my friend Harry over the phone. I've expressed it to our two [Democratic] congresswomen, too. I’m a health care provider. I know what that bill is going to do. They don’t, they do not understand it. And it’s exactly the opposite of what they tried to do. How it happened is the President got them on a track and they all lost control of the process and they produced a piece of shit bill and they were faced with the idea as Americans revolted, they were faced with either giving up and admitting they’d made a terrible mistake or passing something that would have a few talking points to it. And Nancy Pelosi convinced them it would be better to have the talking points for the November election. And Harry did, too.

Not surprisingly, Angle's folks loved this and Reid's folks spun it. I'll post the link to the AOL News piece when it's up.

The M's Limp Top Chef Catch-Up Try

Now that it's universally agreed that the M Resort has blown its moment in the spotlight by not doing anything Top Chef-ish and places like Mandalay Bay and the Wynn are heavily promoting their involvements, someone over there decided to do this:


That's pretty much it, though. From the home page of the M Resort's site, there's now a link to a page where there's essentially the most minimal information:

"Behind every great show there is a great backdrop. Affirming our commitment and passion for great dining, your very own M Resort Spa Casino served as the production location for BRAVO'S "Top Chef: Las Vegas" Season 6."

And tha-tha-tha-tha-that's all folks! The page has no music, no video, no indication of why you ought to visit the resort if you're a foodie or a Top Chef fan other than this bland blather:

"Come and see why people rave about our food. No matter what your taste, you're sure to find something to satisfy your cravings. M Resort Spa Casino offers a variety of dining options with some of the world's leading chefs at the helm. From our state-of-the-art Studio B Buffet, with live action cooking studio and over 200 daily dishes where beer and wine are included with lunch and dinner, to Terzetto for the finest steaks and seafood."

Wow. We've got a buffet and a steakhouse. You know, like every Vegas hotel since time immemorial. That breaks the mold.

Now that they've done this...


...it doesn't seem as though they ever were yoked by their Bravo deal in the first place. That's what I'd heard, that they didn't do any blogging or Tweeting or viewing party events or Web mentions of their unique tie to the hottest cooking show on TV because they weren't allowed to do so. Well, the season's still not over yet -- there's about four more shows left -- and there they are going up with this half-hearted effort at capitalizing.

That never made any sense, anyway. There's nothing about the M saying they're the host property that was (a) a secret by the time the show aired or (b) would give away anything about the outcome of the show or even any information about the challenges. If the M was as hamstrung by its deal as they claim, they made a terrible deal. And meanwhile, the Wynn folks have happily told the press that Paul Bartolotta and Alex Stratta are guest judges well in advance of their episodes and I've known for weeks what food the Stratta episode -- airing this Wednesday -- involves. (I don't like to spoil plots, so if you want to know, email me.)

So rather than the M folks being ticked at me for drawing attention to this failure as they did when they called me up after my Las Vegas Weekly column a month ago, they should quit with the excuses and host some events, invite some of the cheftestants to do special nights, offer up menus inspired by the show.

In that vacuum, of course, is the Top Chef Las Vegas Viewing Party that VegasHappensHere.Com and the Las Vegas Weekly are co-hosting on Wednesday from 9-11:30 pm at the Freakin Frog on Maryland Parkway. Admission is free, we'll have prizes and several chefs including Rick Moonen, Alex Stratta, Paul Bartolotta and Jet Tila will be there to watch along.