Since I'm sure you've been worried, I just got a little piece of info that I guess I should've known but didn't. In chatting with Alan Feldman, the MGM Mirage spokesman and veep, he explained that it's difficult to assess how much the Monte Carlo fire and closure will cost per day because they have "business interruption insurance." Apparently, they also had that in 2004 when the Bellagio was shut down for four days because of an Easter-weekend blackout.
I'd love to find out what such insurance costs and covers and who provides it to businesses that lose MILLIONS a day when they're closed. Also, I can't think of another resort company in Vegas that's ever had to employ it. The MGM Mirage, after all, had to shut down the Bellagio and the Monte Carlo because of freak events. What other resorts have had such misfortune? Did they shut down the MGM Grand casino when they had that riot after the Tyson fight a while back? That, too, was an MGM Mirage property, unless it happened before 2000. I wonder if all those casinos on the Gulf Coast were covered -- and up to how much? -- after Hurricane Katrina.
Feldman also says there's no telling yet when the place would reopen, but he and I will speak later tonight after he goes to a briefing for a SPECIAL EDITION OF THE STRIP that I'm going to try to post much later tonight.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Convergence is Creepy
I'm in a Starbucks in Manhattan today, so I had to bite the bullet and pay T-Mobile for my Web access. But what really surprised me was that I just went to look at something in iTunes and I see that iTunes and this Starbucks are in some sort of freaky cahoots because the banner across the top indicates the name of the song playing right this second in this cafe. I mean, I can't hear it over the din of chatter, but I'll surely take their word for it. Do you think that all Starbucks are playing the same music everywhere at the same time?
How do they DO that?
OK, OK. I'm sure it's pretty simple. But it's also kind of stunning. I'm sitting in a cafe, I like the song and iTunes wants to sell it to me. Does Starbucks or T-Mobile get a kickback if I buy? And, also, how long have they been doing this?
Also, how come nobody else's iTunes playlists are available for me to browse? There are about 2,500 people here with laptops; surely someone else has iTunes? I always love looking at what other people have. Did they stop letting you do that at some point?
Live From, Uh, New York?
ABC News' billboard in Times Square, 1/25/08How does one cover a fire in a city 2,000 miles away? Well, if the fire turns out to be less than a holocaust (look it up - a "holocaust" originally meant a devastating fire), it's not that hard. Also, if you're able to tap into a huge network of Vegas people from the blogs and list-servs, it's also doable. Not ideal, but doable.
Here's what I ended up with. I got quite a ribbing from my family for the idea that I could write a piece in this manner. As I said, it's not how I'd normally do it. But in a pinch -- evidently the Times simply could not find another reporter in Vegas -- it'll do.
My Las Vegas Weekly column will discuss this further, but there was something else about this experience. Since I wasn't there, I was glued to the TV. And, while I was thrilled to see that KVBC logo in the corner indicating that CNN was using Miles' TV station's footage, it was just sickening to realize that even in its hour of trauma, Vegas just isn't taken seriously.
There I was, near tears watching the apparent destruction of a major structure and worrying about the pandemonium of thousands of guests and employees having to get out. I assumed that there were tourists in the upper floors who were trapped and possibly dead. That it all worked out OK does not minimize what it looked and felt like in the beginning of the crisis.
But the folks on cable news? They thought the fire was entertaining. One CNN reporter actually wondered jokingly in the earliest stages whether the Monte Carlo buffet comp he’d recently received in the mail was still valid. FOX News Channel, which carried every O.J. Simpson press conference live, didn’t bother to pick up its local affiliate’s feed from the briefing by Las Vegas Fire Chief Steven Smith. And, yes, some bozoette on one of those stations – can’t recall which – really thought she was clever muttering, “Like Paris Hilton would say, that’s hot!” Can you imagine such irreverence if this had been the Sears Tower?
Just as amazing was how quickly the story died the minute it turned out that no humans had. Were I not on vacation, I would be pushing editors to let me do the obvious follow-up: A 32-story building containing 5,000 or so people caught major fire and everyone got out calmly. And alive. Imagine that.
Notes From A Staycation at the Sahara
OK, OK. It's been several weeks and, even with all the news going on around here, I've really no excuse for not getting this up a little bit sooner.
Miles had often said "The Strip" that he wanted to try "the nicest thing they have at the Sahara." So, on the Saturday night after his birthday in early January, I shelled out a whopping $185 for this palatial suite. $185 was actually a bit of a deal because that weekend in January is especially dead in Vegas, but scouring the Sahara calendar I found that the most his suite in the Alexandria Tower every costs is about $400 during -- wait for it -- NASCAR Week in March. Poifect!
Anyhow, aside from the fact that the elevator stalled and went dark for about a minute somewhere around the 4th floor when I was first heading up, the stay was very nice. Here is the view from the hall outside the bathroom from the bedroom. Yes, that's me in my native pose, laying in my knock-around clothes with my laptop.
The bathroom, as you can see, is not much...
Here's the bedroom, which was also nice enough and certainly spacious. Note the pimple of a TV set. The armoir in the living room also had one of these babies...
One of the coolest parts was that each suite has an outdoor balcony. Since we were on the north end, though, that view was of the Stratosphere and such.
Our conclusion was that this was a pretty good value, especially right off the Monofail line, for the money. We turned it into the Jan. 17 Top Secret Tourist Tip of the Week on "The Strip," and Miles offers more of his own thoughts in that discussion, which is at the end of that episode as all TSTTotW are. Hear that here.
There was a wetbar and a fridge, too, although no minibar offerings. (Sorry but I left the photography to Mr. Smith and he's not as exhaustive in his coverage as I am!) And, despite the indication on the Sahara site that each room "comes with" wireless Internet, it's not free. That might've been a nice amenity, but operable elevators are also kind of fun.
Miles had often said "The Strip" that he wanted to try "the nicest thing they have at the Sahara." So, on the Saturday night after his birthday in early January, I shelled out a whopping $185 for this palatial suite. $185 was actually a bit of a deal because that weekend in January is especially dead in Vegas, but scouring the Sahara calendar I found that the most his suite in the Alexandria Tower every costs is about $400 during -- wait for it -- NASCAR Week in March. Poifect!
Anyhow, aside from the fact that the elevator stalled and went dark for about a minute somewhere around the 4th floor when I was first heading up, the stay was very nice. Here is the view from the hall outside the bathroom from the bedroom. Yes, that's me in my native pose, laying in my knock-around clothes with my laptop.
The bathroom, as you can see, is not much...
Here's the bedroom, which was also nice enough and certainly spacious. Note the pimple of a TV set. The armoir in the living room also had one of these babies...
One of the coolest parts was that each suite has an outdoor balcony. Since we were on the north end, though, that view was of the Stratosphere and such.
Our conclusion was that this was a pretty good value, especially right off the Monofail line, for the money. We turned it into the Jan. 17 Top Secret Tourist Tip of the Week on "The Strip," and Miles offers more of his own thoughts in that discussion, which is at the end of that episode as all TSTTotW are. Hear that here.
There was a wetbar and a fridge, too, although no minibar offerings. (Sorry but I left the photography to Mr. Smith and he's not as exhaustive in his coverage as I am!) And, despite the indication on the Sahara site that each room "comes with" wireless Internet, it's not free. That might've been a nice amenity, but operable elevators are also kind of fun.
Friday, January 25, 2008
SOURCES NEEDED *NOW* FOR NY TIMES
Folks - I'm handling the Monte Carlo fire from NYC, where I'm on vacation. If you are in Vegas and/or have a Monte Carlo story, please EMAIL ME as soon as possible. I'll need a # to call you back at so we can talk.
Thanks,
Steve
Thanks,
Steve
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Scrabble: PRISSING For 149!!!
Remember the thrill I got last year when one of my stories became a joke on NPR's "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me"? Well, here's another one: I just got 149 points on one Scrabble move.
Many of you know I'm a bit of a computer Scrabble nut. I don't play Scrabulous, the Indian site that could be offline by the time you read this because Mattel and Hasbro are after them. Instead, I found something called the Internet Scrabble Club, or ISC, and for a few years now Miles and I have played. Don't know why the companies aren't after them except that ISC is nonprofit and there's no advertising or fees. Who knows, we may be next.
I usually play a few times a day when I need a work break. We play fast games, with both sides getting about 3 or 4 minutes total, so the game doesn't usually take but 7 or 8 minutes. When I'm not playing Miles, I play random players with ratings close to mine, usually with minimal conversation. (I have, however, recruited two Petcast guests, a trainer and a vet student, from the ISC.)
Anyhow, I was playing tonight while editing our newest episode of "The Strip" podcast. And holy mother of God, I laid down the word "PRISSING," hit two triples at once and hit a jaw-dropping 149. I had been losing pretty badly at that point, but I did end up eking out a win 404-394. Here's the board:
This is actually the completed board after the game was over. I was wondering what exactly PRISSING meant, so I went to Scrabble.Com to look it up. It turns out to be, duh, the act of acting prissy." But I figured I'd provide that screenshot, too, since I've always wondered what a woman and a baby had to do with Scrabble.
In case you're curious, the known record for the most points in a single Scrabble move was QUIXOTRY, which landed a fellow in Lexington, Mass., a whopping 365 points en route to a record game score of 830. Read that fascinating tale (no, really, I found it fascinating!) by Stefan Fatsis here on Slate.Com.
Many of you know I'm a bit of a computer Scrabble nut. I don't play Scrabulous, the Indian site that could be offline by the time you read this because Mattel and Hasbro are after them. Instead, I found something called the Internet Scrabble Club, or ISC, and for a few years now Miles and I have played. Don't know why the companies aren't after them except that ISC is nonprofit and there's no advertising or fees. Who knows, we may be next.
I usually play a few times a day when I need a work break. We play fast games, with both sides getting about 3 or 4 minutes total, so the game doesn't usually take but 7 or 8 minutes. When I'm not playing Miles, I play random players with ratings close to mine, usually with minimal conversation. (I have, however, recruited two Petcast guests, a trainer and a vet student, from the ISC.)
Anyhow, I was playing tonight while editing our newest episode of "The Strip" podcast. And holy mother of God, I laid down the word "PRISSING," hit two triples at once and hit a jaw-dropping 149. I had been losing pretty badly at that point, but I did end up eking out a win 404-394. Here's the board:
This is actually the completed board after the game was over. I was wondering what exactly PRISSING meant, so I went to Scrabble.Com to look it up. It turns out to be, duh, the act of acting prissy." But I figured I'd provide that screenshot, too, since I've always wondered what a woman and a baby had to do with Scrabble.
In case you're curious, the known record for the most points in a single Scrabble move was QUIXOTRY, which landed a fellow in Lexington, Mass., a whopping 365 points en route to a record game score of 830. Read that fascinating tale (no, really, I found it fascinating!) by Stefan Fatsis here on Slate.Com.
"The Strip" is LIVE tonight - with Sheldon!
Join us tonight for extended excerpts from my 2-hour chat with the third richest American! Hear him talk about Steve Wynn, his legacy... and bowling!
Come on down at LVRocks.Com at 7 pm PT! Or wait till the podcast.
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