The Show is UP: Cheech & Wilson

We're finally offering up the elusive, strange conversations with the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson and Cheech Marin. Hooray! Also, we mull a lot of news and much more. To your left, here's the results of my own personal application of this week's Top Secret Tourist Tip. Just a reminder that all the old tips are archived on the site here. Anyhow, hear the show by clicking on the date or right-click to download it and listen whenever you want. Or subscribe via iTunes here or via Zune here.

Dec. 4: Brian Wilson, Cheech Marin

We never know quite what to do when Steve emerges from his office after an interview and says, ‘Well, that sucked.’ Usually, he’s wrong. And tonight, we’re going to find out. This fall, Steve chatted with Cheech Marin and Brian Wilson and, each time, he was initially dissatisfied with the outcome. But in reviewing them later, decided the conversations were Strip-worthy after all, perhaps because of their weirdness. So, this week , we let ‘em rip.

In Banter: Viva McDonalds is a McDonalds, Copperfield's still great, the gingerbread house display is pretty cool, R is for what?!?! and Wynn's doing it Sinatra's way.

Show links:

See Brian Wilson’s website here
See Cheech Marin’s website here
See pictures of Steve and Miles’ dogs, originally named Cheech and Chong, here
Read about the first new smokefree casino in Nevada here
See the website of the Blue Moon Resort here
See Steve’s column about David Copperfield here
Get tickets to the David Copperfield show here
The MGM’s Mastercard promotion can be found here
The Encore website is here
Norm’s reportage about the Sinatra restaurant is here
Norm’s scoop on Wynn’s effort to buy the Guardian Angel Cathedral is here
Doug Elfman’s report on how hard it was to interview Brian Wilson is here

The best newspaper sentence I've read lately

I'm being a tourist host and don't have that much time, but I just read this and was so amused I thought I'd share.

Benjamin Spillman of the R-J wrote a piece about Binion's resurrecting the old $1 million-in-a-case attraction at its casino. And here's how he starts:

Binion's newest owner is bringing back a renowned tradition at the downtown Las Vegas casino, and it isn't swift and thorough beatings for people dumb enough to get caught cheating at cards.

Funny, right?