OJ OJ OJ

Off to court now to see what becomes of the charges against OJ Simpson. Try to glimpse me on the TV! Also, there's wi-fi in the courtroom, so perhaps I'll live-blog. Will see.

Also, don't forget my appearance tonight at UNLV at 5:30 pm. Read the info on that here.

Finally, the newest episode of "The Strip" is up, with Chuck Woolery revealing for the first time his 25-year feud with the late Merv Griffin. Hear it here or right-click here and save it to listen to whenever you wish.

Vegas' New $100K Man

We on "The Strip" never did manage to ascertain what act was first to earn $100K a week in Vegas, but thanks to the exclusive dinner I attended this evening at the Hilton, I can tell you who the new $100K-per-show performer is: Terry Fator.

Uhh, who? Fator is the 42-y/o ventriloquist who won NBC's "America's Got Talent" contest and $1 million this summer. He was promptly pegged to do a show at the Hilton in October that sold out instantly, as did the second show they added. Now he's doing a third gig in December, then New Year's Eve and then 15 dates through May.

In a rather unusual move, the Hilton released his salary, which is $1.5 million for the 15-show package. That's a nice chunk of change. Fator seemed like a very affable guy, extremely awestruck that after all these years of toiling in obscurity he's a Vegas headliner now. He gave a brief performance for a group of about seven journalists tonight and, yes, he's quite good, but I'm a sucker for this stuff. Also, he seems savvy enough to duck the answer to this question I asked: "So, just how drunk was Hasselhoff during the show?"

Did any of you watch "America's Got Talent?" Would you pay $49-$149 a seat to see him? Is he the next Danny Gans now that Gordie Brown seems to have turned out not to be?

The Strip is LIVE on WEDNESDAY This Week

Sorry, folks. I've gotta go to a reception at the Palms prior to a preview screening of Love in the Time of Cholera that I'm not getting to stay for because I've got to race to the Las Vegas Hilton for a dinner with one of their soon-to-be-announced new headliners.

Anyhow, our show will be live on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. with game show hosts Chuck Woolery and Bob Eubanks. Expect some breaking news from the Woolery chat. Plus, tons of Vegas news.

What I Did In Boise

The piece I went to Boise for, a profile of a deaf man whose life has been made into a biopic starring Ron Livingston and Michael Sheen, appears in USA Today tomorrow. It's already online.

Disabled war veteran's activism forges onto film

By Steve Friess
Special for USA TODAY

BOISE — His story was about to be told up on the big screen, but as Richard Pimentel stood to thank his friends and fellow activists for coming to this preview screening in his hometown, he realized his legacy was all around him.

There were people in wheelchairs who, a scant 15 years ago, wouldn't have had ramps to enter the theater. There were also people with hearing disabilities who wouldn't have had devices providing special amplification, and blind people wouldn't have been able to listen to an audio description of the Pimentel biopic Music Within.

Here's the rest.

The film also stars Michael Sheen, who played Tony Blair in "The Queen," as a man with cerebral palsy. It is an amazing performance. I may put out the audio of that chat and the one with Ron Livingston (Sex and the City's Berger), none of which made it into the USAT story, on the podcast feed.

Breaking: The de-S&R-ing of The Mirage

Here we go. This is the first step in the Mirage's moving on from its Siegfried & Roy era. Well, creating "Love" was clearly the first step. But now the free attraction, the Royal White Tiger Habitat, has been closed - effective immediately.

I have heard rumors that sooner or later the Mirage is going to shut down the Secret Garden as well, given that it takes up so much precious, pricey acreage. So far, though, that suggestion has been categorically denied.

Still, I suspect within 10 years, all that will be left of the Siegfried & Roy era will be the statue along the Strip sidewalk. I don't react much to hotel closures and the like, but this seems sad. I especially loved going to the Habitat and watching that cheesy video of a young, pre-injury Roy frolicking with the tiger cubs.

What goes into the space that was this free attraction? BLT Burger, a new joint from NYC chef Laurent Tourondel. It opens in the spring.

OJ's Got No Place To Go

Newsweek has now posted my piece on O.J. Simpson's challenge finding a place to stay this week when he returns for his pretrial hearing. It's a fun little piece that quotes MGM Mirage and Harrah's both rejecting the idea of having him on their properties.

Read it here.

Thank you, WSJ!

I'm sure by the time you read this, the moment will have passed. But right now, "Gay Vegas" is ranked #1 on Amazon.Com in the category of gay/lesbian travel, #2 in Las Vegas travel guides and #11 in all gay and lesbian nonfiction. Also, the book is at #24,593 overall. To understand the tremendous impact of Tammy Audi's Wall Street Journal piece that referenced the book, I was at #600,000ish on Friday morning. Wild. Keep it going. Buy yours now.

Now, how do we get WSJ to write about "The Strip" and "The Petcast"?