On December 1st, Cher will mark the 100^th performance of her ultra-glamorous show at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. To celebrate, AEG and Caesars Palace are offering special deals designed for pop-royalty, including $100 rear orchestra seats (regularly priced at $175) for performances from December 1st-16th. Use offer code “NV100” when purchasing, restrictions apply. For more information, visit Ticketmaster.com.

CHER features choreography by So You Think You Can Dance regulars Doriana Sanchez and Tyce Diorio, as well as Cher’s signature lavish costumes, designed by world-renowned fashion icon Bob Mackie.

I visited the show during a recent trip to Vegas!  Click on the video below to see some of the highlights and hear reaction from some of the legendary diva’s biggest fans!

(PRVegas.com) – November 5, 2009 – Bette Midler announced today that the final performance of her critically acclaimed Las Vegas show The Showgirl Must Go On will be Sunday, January 31, 2010. The final performance will mark the end of her two-year residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace which began on February 20, 2008.

Bette Midler

“What a fabulous two years this has been, and I thank AEG and Caesars Palace for the best partnership a showgirl could imagine. Who knows? These legs have had such a great run in the desert—it may be time to haul them to places with more humidity and fewer slot machines. But first I need to finish recording my album of the sexiest new love songs that only a showgirl could sing,” stated Midler.

“Bette is one of the most talented, hard working professionals in the business and we would have loved for her to stay longer, said John Meglen, co-CEO and President of AEG Live/Concerts West. “All of us at AEG Live thank Bette and the entire cast, crew and staff for a great two year run at The Colosseum.”

Tickets still available at Click2Vegas.com and NationalShowTickets.com and other ticket outlets.

_____________________

TOP 5 NATIONAL CONCERT EVENTS
Provided by NationalShowTickets.com
1 Taylor Swift
2 Lady Gaga
3 Miley Cyrus
4 U2
5 Bruce Springsteen

It’s day two and I’ve realised that what I’m doing in Las Vegas is basically the culinary version of Fear and Loathing. If he hadn’t blown himself out of cannon in Aspen, Hunter S. Thompson might be proud. This is gonzo food journalism, and any previous misconceptions I may have had about heavy food and booze weeks have been blown out of the water by what I’m experiencing right now. This is like the Michael Phelps diet, squared.

Scallop at Aureole

We arrived on Wednesday night, to an exquisite five course dinner of two ways with foie gras, scallops and lamb at Charlie Palmer’s Michelin starred restaurant Aureole at Mandalay Bay, where Master Sommelier and James Beard award winner William Shear plied us with delicious wines and regaled us with tales of the founding of Palmer’s restaurant’s exclusive International Sommelier Conspiracy wine label. He also said that despite the city’s 18 Master Sommeliers (who knew!?) some snooty wine suppliers still turn their noses up at supplying the desert city.

The wine tower at Aureole

These suppliers clearly haven’t been to Vegas lately. Over the last decade, some amazing chefs have moved in, and the Michelin Guide with them – with the city now boasting 13 starred restaurants – including Joel Robuchon’s 3-star at the MGM Grand. Last night we had the pleasure of eating at Paul Bartolotta’s eponymous restaurant in the stunning new Encore at the Wynn hotel, which specialises in Mediterranean seafood (a ton of which is imported fresh to the restaurant every week).

Said fritto misto. Look at those tenticles!

The fritto misto of calamari, flying squid, whitebait and delicious little soft shell crabs was divine, and I’m a big fan of Bartolotta’s concept of honest, family-style Italian food, served abundantly on the table with everyone encouraged to tuck in. It’s quite a brave move for Vegas, this brand of simple, rustic Med fare – and it really works.

The 'lake of dreams' at The Wynn hotel

Our table of journalists, which had been treated to a mixology seminar and several cocktails courtesy of Patricia Richards just minutes before the meal, and were feeling a bit on the full side, couldn’t resist tucking in to the salt-caked whole roasted bass.

If you think that sounds indulgent, I’ll put it into context for you. We started the day with tequila tasting after digging into guacamole that we made ourselves at Dos Caminos at the Palazzo. This little refreshment was followed by a HUGE Mexican lunch of vegetable and three cheese quesadillas, tacos and beef and seared tuna with deep fried yucca (it’s a root vegetable) fries. It was yummy, but my favourite part was making the guacamole. Here’s how we did it:

Mash some chopped chilli, corriander, onion and salt

Add chopped avo

Add the juice of half a lime, some more onions and chopped tomato

Give it a good mashing but leave chunks for texture, add a touch more salt and voila!

More installments on the way…

collected on Saturday, January 27, 2007

Even though just the word “Caesars” dominates the signage of this Atlantic City, New Jersey resort, it is usually referred to as “Caesars Atlantic City” so as to differentiate it from “Caesar’s Palace,” its better known cousin out in Las Vegas.

As I mentioned in the previous entry during my acquisition of Cup #43 at the Nordstrom Café, I spent a rare Saturday AWAY from Dud and rather WITH my FRIENDS Rengaw, Mrs. Rengaw, and Hightower. Our initial plan was to go to Harrah’s Chester, a then-recently-opened slots parlor practically in our collective backyard. It was Delaware County, Pennsylvania’s first-ever casino and, together with gaming halls north of Philadelphia in Bucks County and further south in Delaware, has since given longtime gambling mainstay Atlantic City a run for its money.

We stayed at the very crowded Harrah’s Chester for a grand total of about ten minutes. Its multi-level interior had maybe HALF of ONE of those levels covered with slot machines.

“Want to go to Atlantic City?,” Mrs. Rengaw asked.

“OK!” the rest of us said.

I later learned the hard way that guys with girlfriends like mine (at the time) do NOT do such things; only those with girlfriends like Rengaw’s (or non-existent girlfriend’s like Hightower’s (at the time)) may do these things. Upon casually informing her that extra time would be added onto our day trip, she became FURIOUS and didn’t speak to me for the rest of the day. Even though she was doing her own thing that day, she still became pissed that our plans changed. I’m pretty sure that I spent the remainder of that week trying to cool her down. Bitch. Whore. Fuck.

Anyway, a cup with the “Caesar’s” logo was sitting on the casino level of the resort somewhere on a slot machine. In fact, this was the case all over the place; people would consume their cups’ contents and just leave them there, often with cigarettes in them. Fortunately, the one I snatched was empty, though it still soaked in soapy hot water later on as a precaution.

“Dude…you’re really taking someone’s used cup?,” Hightower asked me.

Did he expect any other answer that was not “yes”?

Bloggers rip it up at The Bank at The Bellaggio. Priceless.

“What happens in Vegas stays on Twitter.”–catchphrase of BlogWorld ‘09

Thanks to my day job in PR and marketing, I recently had the privilege to jet to Las Vegas for BlogWorld Expo ‘09, a three-day conference on social media. Essentially, it was a wall-to-wall, nerdy lovefest (apparently there are elite bloggers with cult followings–who knew?), but there was a good amount of motivational energy regarding this brave new world of non-traditional media and user-generated content. It was hard to be stuck inside the Las Vegas Convention Center during 80-degree weather (I managed a couple of poolside breaks), but I did make some new connections and Twitter friends (yes, I said Twitter). Oh, and watching bloggers dance at the afterparties was pretty hilarious.

While I’ll save the nuggets of social media wisdom for my boss (and the future of this here blog), I will let my Vegas photos illustrate the highlights (’cause who really reads blogs anymore, anyway?!):

Bally’s in Las Vegas will host today a life-size monopoly game to promote the Monopoly Advance to GO game on the Las Vegas Strip  using a 25-foot by 25-foot Monopoly board set that uses human monopoly tokens (hat, dog, car, shoe, thimble, and more), complete with oversized Chance and Community Chest cards in play. 

The promotion will be held in front of Bally’s on Monday, Oct. 19 on the front sidewalk at the intersection of Las Vegas Blvd. and Flamingo Rd. from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for the Monopoly Advance to GO game, a nationwide promotion that selected 50 finalists to compete in the qualifying first round. Each finalist will be given a scroll. Five players will play for the $50,000 Advance to GO prize. The remaining forty five finalists will receive cash prizes based on the scroll they receive. Minimum prize is $500. 

The Monopoly Advance to GO game is a partner event between Harrah’s Entertainment and Hasbro in conjunction with the Monopoly World Championships 2009. The championships are being held at Caesars Palace in the Forum ballroom in Las Vegas on October 21 and 22. 

This marks the first time in 14 years that the games have been held in the U.S. the game is open to the public.  Championship play at Caesars Palace is from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on October 21 and 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on October 22. The first 600 visitors each day will receive a free Monopoly World Championships t-shirt.

Count one more event as a victim of the weakened economy.  After four years of bringing laughs and more laughs ad finitum to Las Vegas, The Comedy Festival at Caesars Palace will be “taking the year off.” 

Since the 2005 kick off of the hugely popular Las Vegas Comedy Festival, comedians including Dane Cook, right, Ellen DeGeneres, Dave Chappelle and many more have brought marquis value to festival tickets.  But the profit vs. cost profile and dipping economy imperatives have led TBS and AEG to opt out of the event, at least for 2009. 

In its media release TBS stated:  “This year, because of the uncertain economic climate, TBS has decided not to stage The Comedy Festival in Las Vegas.  TBS remains committed to the festival business, however.  We plan to be back in Las Vegas in the near future.” 

Caesar’s stage will not be going dark, by any stretch of the imagination.  Current Coliseum draw Cher will be performing during the festival’s normal November weekend.  And those comedy fans that just can’t wait a year to return to Las Vegas for their comedy fix can consider heading to Chicago, Illinois for the TBS sponsored ”Just for Laughs” festival in June 2010.

I’d never been to Caesar’s Palace before.

I noticed a man, about 5 and a half feet tall, whose silver whiskers poked through his bronzed, wrinkled skin. He trailed behind four friends, and he took extra steps to catch up.

One friend slowed for a second and turned back toward him. The first man grinned, then reached toward a stone woman stuck on a wall. And he grabbed her.

“Whoa, nice one!” his buddy sneered with approval.

And the old child’s grin widened as he skipped to catch up with his friends.

No daytime plans were made for the last day of vacation in Vegas. Lounging by the pool and relaxing was mandatory, but I didn’t have any strict rules for lunch. When hunger arose, we went walking in search of decent grub. We didn’t make it very far, and settled into the Caesar’s Palace Hotel (which was next door to our hotel) to scope out the scene. Within the Greek-inspired casino that was quiet, dim, and depressing during the day we came across the uber-bright Mesa Grill.

you wanna mesa with me?

So, I put on a happy face and dragged my feet through a torturous meal at an abomination of a restaurant, akin to a trucker rest stop on I-95. (Just kidding Lauren! – but the waiter was truly horrific…)

After finding out about a Prix Fixe Lunch, and talking myself out of tasting the salmon and tuna tartares, I went for it. $29 gets you a choice of an appetizer, entree, and the dessert of the day. Considering many of the lunch entrees were in the mid $20’s, I figured it was a wise choice. In addition, I have learned over time (and quite a few bad experiences) that it’s not mandatory to order a tartare just because it’s on the menu. Specifically, if raw fish appears nowhere else on the menu, it’s most probably not a specialty; just an addition or a filler. It’s okay not to try the tartare at mid-level restaurants, I told myself. Hey folks, I’m growing here!

I chose the green chili/pea soup for my appetizer. Then I had fight #2 with my hideous waiter. (Fight #1 surrounded my brainchild of a mocktail. Not very important, but the conclusion was the dude was an arse. Don’t you hate waiters that pass judgement? Especially, when they tell me I’m ordering too much food. As Chris Farley would say, while dressed in women’s clothing on SNL, “Lay off me, I’m starving!” In the end, and after much unecessary discussion, I received an awesome mocktail.)
Back to Fight #2 – I asked if the soup could be made vegetarian, which is not an outlandish request in my book. He checked with the chef and said that it could not. The ham was incorporated into the broth of the soup and was also used as garnish. Fine, not a problem. I then asked if I could get the soup without the addition of the garnish. Me no want no hammy sprinklings. He tried to argue with me about this, attempting to blame the chef and explain how the flavor will be harmed without all proper elements. Listen buddy, you’re a waiter in Las Vegas and you can’t make me eat ham sprinkles. I don’t recall the details, just that the soup arrived without the garnish and the waiter remained an arse.

I hope you're not colorblind so you can see me and feel joy

mean (the waiter) & green (the soup)

One slurp of this soup and my inner ‘Debbie Downer’ vanished. The soup was Gooooood! Sweet tangs from the peas, with a spice element from the chiles, and a multi-layered flavor (prolly from the ham hocks in the stock). The texture was creamy and think without moving into pudding territory. An absolute winner.

For my main, I ordered the Grilled Sea Scallops with Blue Corn Tortilla, Avocado Relish, Jalapeno Pesto

don't topple over!

The Chef’s Dessert of the Day was a complete throwaway:

don't be deceived, this is crap

Lauren ordered 2 appetizers – both were excellent. (Consensus: appetizers are the way to go.)

not for you

again, not yours!

The tamale was the stand-out plate of food. Hot, steamy, creamy, corn with large, juicy shrimp. Notes of garlic and cilantro help level out the sweetness of the corn. It’s all about balance.

Overall, the food at Mesa Grill was good; definitely better than decent. The quality level seemed a tad bit low for the prices, but I assume we are asked to pay to eat food prepared by people who may have met Bobby Flay at some point or another. More often than not, the food kept me interested. Just try to stay away from the waiters and the desserts. Plus, you can walk down the hallway and visit Payard Patisserie & Bistro for a pleasant and distinctly scrumptious ending to your meal.

wonka-esque

Bette Midler

Bette Mideler returns to Caesars Palace – Colosseum on the Las Vegas strip beginning Wednesday 10/14 – 11/15 after Cher finishes her Saturday and Sunday shows 10/10 and 10/11 both sold out.  Leonard Cohen will perform 11/12 and Bette will do two more shows before Chelsea Handler steps in 11/14 and then Cher returns Thursday 11/19.

Click2Vegas.com says “We have tickets from $118 for all of Bette Milders performances at Caesars.”
Visit: http://www.click2vegas.com/ResultsVenue.aspx?venid=113&vname=Caesars+Palace+-+Colosseum

LXTV.com’s online bartending competition for season two’s On the Rocks, takes off from where season one left off:  bartender’s making a go at a $100,000 check (courtesy of Absolut Vodka) and the title of America’s Top Bartender at the two-time host city of Las Vegas. 

Where season one was filmed at bars throughout the MGM Grand, season two will take place throughout Caesars Palace over eight days, starting at the end of October and airing as three 30-minute episodes on NBC following Saturday Night Live, beginning November 7.   Up to three contestants may be voted off after each episode, making this both the shortest of the foodie reality television shows out there as well as that with the highest stakes for the competitors. 

Open casting calls were held in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Chicago and Las Vegas. 

Award-winning mixologist and Pernod Ricard brand ambassador Simon Ford will return on the show in the capacity as advisor on all things beverage. 

Among those made famous during season one were Las Vegas bartenders James “Franchise” Hadhazy, BarMagic of Las Vegas’ Kristen Schaefer and Stripsteak’s Amanda Gager, who, after outlasting and outmixing her competition, took home the check and the coveted title.  Gager is said to be returning this season as judge, as well as entertaining Italian playboy bartender Brienza. 

Among those called back this season was First Food and Bar bartender Mariena Mercer, 26, and a rare second-generation Las Vegas native.  Mercer has been bartending up to two jobs at once since she turned 21.

 “I really want to experience every type of bartending,” she says.  “I really would love to own my own bar some day.”

Cabanas at the Hard Rock (taken on a Tuesday morning.)

It’s no secret that Las Vegas pools are great for sunbathing, people-watching and (naturally) getting drunk in a chaise lounge. The downside: the places can be dirty madhouses, especially when the pool party scene is in full effect.

But that’s precisely what makes pool cabanas such a sensible choice. Though the pool party scene is winding down, these canvas “rooms” are still the ultimate choice for relaxing poolside. Besides, you didn’t escape the cold weather

For no more than a total of $400 a day (or no more than $200 for a half-day), you and your posse can luxuriate in the privacy of your own little fiefdom. Depending on how many people you’ve got, the cabana likely won’t cost more than $45 or $60 per person.

Most cabanas include a flat-screen television, house telephone, safe, a refrigerator stocked with non-alcoholic drinks and seating for six. On weekends, many also include complimentary snacks, such as fresh fruit or chips.

During a recent visit, we camped out with five friends in a cabana at the brand-new Garden of the Gods pool oasis at Caesars Palace. Over the course of the afternoon, we used the canvas hut to sleep, sunbathe, eat lunch and watch college football.

The cost: Roughly $50 per person.

Other Strip cabanas worth exploring are those on the pool deck at the Palazzo, the ones surrounding the dumbbell-shaped pool at Wynn, and the new swanky offerings at Tao Beach in the Venetian.

In Summerlin, the cabanas at Red Rock Casino Resort also are worth a try, especially if you like a more quiet an intimate pool experience overall.

Wherever you reserve your cabana, keep in mind the following pointers:

· Most cabanas do not include a restocking fee to restock the fridge after you leave. This is usually about $25.
· Gratuities for servers are included with cabana service, but tips for the cabana host are not (and are usually expected).
· The safe is there for a reason—use it or your buzz will be killed by theft.  by Whalehead – VegasChatter

SocialiteTravel.com – For Jet Setters, By Jet Setters!

Thinking to myself on my return flight from Los Angeles, I thought what better way to get my blog on then with a story about my recent travels to Las Vegas, Nevada and Redlands, California.

Las Vegas (the parts I’m allowed to tell that are more or less related to sports):

Yep, the madness actually started before I even landed. About two hours before landing (probably somewhere over Utah) the flight attendants decided to get the passengers involved in the game “Lucky Bucky” where each passenger would put their seat number on an $1 American (although at the time I believe it was close to parity with the Canadian bill so I was tempted to scribble 15A on a loonie, but let’s face it, it would have no chance against those soft, floating dolla bills) into a clear plastic bag and then they would bring the bag of money too the front and choose the winner.

So we all waited and the lady flight attendant who organized the whole thing went to the front (I believe there were 129 George Washington’s in the bag) and of course didn’t pull up my Georgie Peorgie (although the person who won it was within a couple rows so I got a good close up look at the bag of ones. Let me tell you this: hilarious! Such a ridiculous amount of bills in the bag.

So yeah. I lost money before even touching down in Vegas. Sick.

NIGHT 1

I arrive in Las Vegas a half hour earlier than scheduled. So far, so good.

Immediately, its apparent to everyone that the sterotypes that you can gamble anywhere in Vegas are 100 per cent. Slots as soon as you walk off the airplane, slots in the bars on your way to baggage carousel, slots beside the baggage carousel. I resisted. After a long day of travel I wanted to find my friends who were already in Vegas gambling away (although I later heard that the “Wheel of Fortune” slots the airport can turn $5 into $50 as soon as you step off the plane. I’m gonna try that next time for sure!).

I find my bags, which includes my set of golf clubs (which I thought might be a big pain in the ass to lug around the west coast, but later turned out to be a good idea) and make my way to the shuttle bus.

The bus driver let’s out a bit of a groan when he sees my clubs. I’m not sure if it’s a groan of not wanting to lift my clubs or a groan of jealously that I’d be hitting the links in the near future. Nonetheless, I promise him a good tip just to stop him from acting like a damn baby.

There’s only a handful of passengers on board so I think I’ve lucked out. Wrong!!! I’m, of course, last to be dropped off and not only that my hotel, the Palms, is a friggin’ 15-minute walk to the main strip (and hence and reason why I’m last off the bus)! Actually, on the way over to the Palms, I thought the driver forgot about me and was headed back to the airport because we had to cross over the highway to get to the Palms from the main strip.

Whatever, didn’t really matter. I’m in Vegas! I’m on vacation! I’m ready to rock out!

There's my hotel (left tower) and the strip beyond it in the background

I eventually track my boys down at Lawry’s steakhouse, a certified meat factory no more then a 20 minute walk from the main strip. Finding this place was actually a bit tricky for my cabbie as he ended up getting us lost approximately 50 feet from the restaurant.

I enter the place and notice right away, like everything in Vegas, the place is huge! High ceilings, huge rooms and the place is just bursting with activity. I mean gamblers have to eat eventually right? Anyways, I find the guys at the bar and right away we get seated.

I don’t know what to expect from the menu, but I’m starving and feel I can dominate any item on the menu. Or so I thought. I know one thing, I’m getting the steak so I ask for recommendations and get the unanimous decision: get the ‘Beef Bowl Cut.’

Here’s how Lawry’s describes this piece of meat: a double sized cut with the rib bone, as served to Rose Bowl and Cotton Bowl teams. Huh? I’m eating something that would satisfy a 300-pound linebacker? Wow.

Here’s how I would describe it: at nearly two inches thick with my dinner plate barely able to handle the sheer size of the monster. This cut could scare the flannel off a lumberjack!

When I finally finished having my way with my slab, the pool of blood that remained looked like I had sacrificed the beast myself over the table.

Believe it or not, it actually tastes better then it looks

Alright… I’m now fed, checked in, a couple beers deep and surrounded by men. Clearly time to gamble!
Ironically, I ended up at the Flamingo, one of the few casinos I gambled at the only other time I’ve been to Vegas back in September of 2002 (the other being Treasure Island, which was the hotel I stayed at).

Learning my lesson from that ‘time,’ I sat back and observed my boys take over a craps table while my buddy Matt filled me in on how to play. I think this started to annoy one of the dudes running the table to the point where he had to shove a “Rules of Craps” card in my face. Honestly, the card just confused the hell out of me. Besides I was learning a lot more by watching my friends as Matt explained. Eventually some hack rolled a sever, crapping out everyone.

Watching my friends lose money actually kind of made me want to lose some. Strange feeling once the power of Vegas starts to grip your wallet. But I just wasn’t feeling it inside the Flamingo. So I took off for next door at crazy Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall and Saloon. Definitely not the nicest casino on the strip and probably one of those places where the main players in Vegas couldn’t wait for the lease to run out so they could blow Bill’s up and build some 80,000 room place made of actual gambling chips. But seriously, there was a dive bar selling dollar beers right by Bill’s that had a sign that read “Still 19 years left on our lease.” Hilarious!

Drop a little $$$ around this area

Funny story while I was losing my chips at Bill’s. At this one blackjack table, this 40-something-year-old lady sat next to me and a buddy. Right away I thought she was your run-of-the-mill cougar (more about them in my Redlands section) waiting to prowl on my bones, but she was actually spoiling her newly turned 21-year-old son with a trip to Vegas. Not a word of a lie, this kid actually waiting until 12:01 a.m. and then sat down beside his mom at the table. He was immediately carded and that’s when everything was revealed.

Next few hours went something like this:
-I would bet some chips
-get dealt some cards
-would either (i) bust or
(ii) lose to the dealer’s frequent hands of 20 and 21
-bet more chips
-eventually lose all my chips through the sequence described above.

Good times. I guess.

Anyways, we all eventually made it back to the Palms for a couple more drinks and eventually called it a night around 3:30 a.m. (which of course felt like 6:30 a.m. to my east coast ass). Needed my beauty sleep for the next day.

LOVIN’ LAS VEGAS: Don’t know why I thought that Lily Tomlin and Sin City were not a natural fit. Turns out they are. La Tomlin premiered her new

TOMLIN & WAGNER: Viva Las Vegas

one-woman show, Not Playing With A Full Deck, at the MGM Grand, and reportedly loves Las Vegas! Lily’s partner and personal muse, the unabashedly brilliant humourist Jane Wagner, is the mighty pen behind her new show as well as such previous Tomlin megahits as The Search For Signs Of Intelligent Life In The Universe and Appearing Nitely. Lily’s new show is a mix of Greatest Hits – the characters her fans still can’t get enough of, like Ernestine and Edith Ann – and new characters, and

SHORT: Damages control

new technology. Tomlin’s new show ‘try-out’ played in MGM’s Hollywood Theater, which seats about 2,000 people at each performance. And when Tomlin isn’t hanging out with her Big Business co-star and Caesars Palace headliner Bette Midler (The Showgirl Must Go On) or trying to coax Jane (“it’s come down to begging, really,”) into writing a new Broadway show for her, she’s commuting to New York to shoot her scenes in the new season of Damages with Glenn Close. In it she plays the matriarch of a powerful family determined to destroy shady legal eagle Close. Assisting Lily in this mission are Martin Short as her high-powered attorney and Campbell Scott as her son. And yes, she confesses, she and Marty did misbehave one day on the set, when

MIDLER: The show must go ... off

she read her lines as Ernestine and he did his as Ed Grimley. “But never when the cameras are rolling!”

THE SHOWGIRL MUST GO OFF: P.S. for Vegas-bound Bette Midler fans: Your heroine ends her two-year residency at The Colloseum – aka The House That Céline Built – on January 31. Says Bette: “These legs have had such a great run in the desert, it may be time to haul them to places with more humidity and fewer slot machines.”

GET OUT YOUR HANDKERCHIEFS: Yes, it’s true, the latest YouTube sensation is a recent audition for Simon Cowell’s British talent show The X Factor. The singer is a 40-year-old cabinet-maker named Daryl Markham. Markham has his own website now, and is now a household

MARKHAM: YouTube sensation

name for millions of people all over the world. But can he sing? You be the judge. To see his now-historic audition, just click here.

NO BIZ LKE SHOW BIZ: Leave it to Reg Hartt to find a copy of the sumptuous MGM musical Kiss Me Kate, with Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel and young hoofers Bob Fosse & Tommy Rall competing for Ann Miller’s machine-gun taps., in — wait for it — 3D, its screen original format. Cineaste extraordinare Hartt unspools the classic Cole Porter musical this Sunday and next at 5 pm at his Cineforum HQ at Bathurst & College. Adds Reg: “Bring your own popcorn and we will zap it for you.”

WILLIAMS: ReelWorld decade

Hmmmm, wonder if Stratford’s Kiss Me Kate star Juan Chiorian, now on stage at the Factory Theatre in The Madonna Painter, has ever seen this version? … fan faves Colin Mochrie & Deb McGrath guest with Ron James tonight at 8 pm on CBC Television …  the Kate Rogers Band performs live tomorrow morning on CBC Radio One’s GO! Show. “Tickets are free and everyone is welcome!” sez Ms Rogers … speaking of tickets, you can still snag some for this weekend’s performances of the National Ballet’s spectacular Sleeping Beauty revival before it closes Sunday .. and can you believe that Tonya Lee Williams’ ReelWorld Film Festival, the little movie marathon that grew, celebrates its 10th anniversary next spring? Ms Williams, of course, is currently stationed in Washington, D.C. — on screen, at least — in The Border. And BTW, the ReelWorld call for submissions has already started. So if you have a feature, documentary, short, music video or animation from the Aboriginal, Asian, Black, Latino, Middle Eastern, South Asian or other multi-racial community, click here and fill out the submissions form.

Happy weekend!

-/-

http://reelworld.ca/

  P3 Populär tar hjälp av lyssnarna för att lista 00-talets bästa svenska låt. Första omgången ska man välja ut 10 av 200 låtar. Det är svårt. Verkligen jättesvårt. Försök själv här.

Jag satt länge med min lista. Beslutsångest, nostalgi och värdighet bråkade med varandra. Tillslut lyckades jag göra alla tre sidor nöjda. Listan går i bokstavsordning. Jag gillar att Ola och Silverbullit kom så nära varandra på listan. Kontrasten är stor, men båda låtarna lika älskade. På sitt sätt…

1. Broder Daniel  When we were winning
2. Caesars Palace  Over for it started
3. Cardigans You’re The Storm
4. Håkan Hellström  För en lång lång tid
5. Håkan Hellström  Känn ingen sorg för mig Göteborg
6. Jens Lekman You are the light  
7. José Gonzalez Crosses
8. Ola  Natalie    
9. Silverbullit Run
10. The Soundtrack of our lives Sister surround

Extremely popular Korean superstar Rain, 27, promoted by J-Tune Entertainment, has announced he will play his first American concerts in three years when he headlines The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas Dec. 24-25. 

Rain is one of the very first Asian pop singing stars who has a rapidly growing fan base extending beyond Asia. 

Rain’s last American concert also took place at The Colsseum in December 2006. The Caesars shows will be the first in the U.S. since the end of the lawsuit brought against the singer for canceling concerts in Los Angeles and Hawaii in 2007. 

This concert marks be the U.S. leg of his “Legend of Rainism” tour that took place in Japan in August and in South Korea last month. 

Rain is also on an American press junket to promote “Ninja Assassin,” a Hollywood extreme action movie produced by James McTeigue, in which the South Korean-born star, whose real name is Jeong Ji-hoon, plays the lead role of Raizo, an orphan who is trained by a secret ninja clan to become a deadly killer. 

Amazingly, Rain pulled off 90-percent of the stunt roles, using minimal wire support. He was hurt on many occasions, and though he didn’t break any bones he bears “many scars of honor.” 

It is also the first time a Korean star is playing the title role in a major Hollywood franchise. 

The modern martial arts flick is the South Korean superstar’s second collaboration with the creators of  “The Matrix” series. He made his Hollywood debut in “Speed Racer,” which was directed by the Wachowski brothers. 

Before playing in Las Vegas, Rain performs a two-night stand at AsiaWorld-Arena in Hong Kong Nov. 28-29, followed by a Dec. 3 gig at Jakarta International Event & Convention Center in Jakarta, Indonesia. 

Links:  Web  http://www.rain-jihoon.com/main.html  and http://www.rainism.com and MySpace http://www.myspace.com/officialrainusa

Caesars Palace in Las Vegas is losing its Colosseum headliner in a few months and has had to hustle to replace her. 

Bette Midler is wrapping up her two-year run in “The Showgirl Must Go On” in January. Cher has stepped up to fill the void and has added to her contract shows in April and May. 

“What a fabulous two years this has been, and I thank AEG and Caesars Palace for the best partnership a showgirl could imagine.  Who knows?  These legs have had such a great run in the desert—it may be time to haul them to places with more humidity and fewer slot machines.  But first I need to finish recording my album of the sexiest new love songs that only a showgirl could sing,” stated Midler. 

“Bette is one of the most talented, hard working professionals in the business and we would have loved for her to stay longer, said John Meglen, co-CEO and President of AEG Live/Concerts West. “All of us at AEG Live thank Bette and the entire cast, crew and staff for a great two year run at The Colosseum.” 

“Like every one of her performances, the approaching finale of Bette’s two-year engagement leaves us applauding for more,” said Gary Selesner, president of Caesars Palace. “Bette always will have a home at Caesars Palace.” 

The Showgirl Must Go On will perform November 7 through 15 and December 30 through January 31, 2010. The show is dark Monday, Thursday and occasional Fridays. Tickets for these final performances are on-sale now at Ticketmaster.com, keyword “Bette Midler”, by calling 1-877-7BETTEM, or in person at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace Box Office in Las Vegas, which is open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

University of Southern Nevada’s College of Nursing, in partnership with University Relations and Marketing, is a Diamond sponsor of the 2009 March of Dimes Nurse of the Year Awards for Southern Nevada. The gala event takes place at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. The university is sponsoring this event to show its support for Southern Nevada area nurses.

Also with the March of Dimes, the university will showcase its academic programs and community outreach efforts at the March of Dimes Women’s Health Symposium II: “Pregnancy and Beyond” from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13 at the Tuscany Hotel & Casino. The event is open to the public.

I’ve been trying to write this bad boy for the last couple days. Just a simple blog. Sum up my feelings of the events of last week. However I haven’t been able to. You see, for the last 3 days I’ve been hung over. My mind has been shot. Creative juices. Zero. Motor skills. Non-existent.

(This brings me to my next point… I would like to remind my audience that if there are any spelling, or grammatical errors in the next few paragraphs, it is indeed because I am still drunk. As are most of these post here at Sarcasm.)

For those of you who don’t already know, I was in Las Vegas for the last weekend and apparently tried to commit suicide via drinking as much booze as my poor little liver and kidneys could handle.

It all started when my friend JDub informed me that her work was providing her with a hotel suite at the Mirage hotel in Las Vegas for one week. She was to work a show and be done Friday afternoon and have nothing to do the remainder of the weekend. So the logical choice was to ask me and a number of other friends to join her for some much need binge drinkingrest and relaxation. I immediately agreed for the thought of some time away from The Gym got me all giddy inside. Although the invite was extended to a many of peoples, the one confirmed attendee would be none other than Mr. Thompson.

Mr. Thompson and I go way back to our radio days. We worked very hard on a radio show being awesome and funny. No seriously. Awesome and funny. We were like John Stockton and Karl Malone(minus the short shorts). Or Rob and Big. Or Sammy Davis Jr. (minus the eye thing) and Frank Sinatra (or any of the other white dudes in the Rat Pack.) Basically what I’m trying to get at is we were the perfect tag team comedy show and qualified for equal opportunity employment.

It’s also worth noting, that before my friend Mr. Thompson moved to LA, he, JDub and I had formed a coalition of sorts. This coalition of sorts, was based around the three alcoholic beverages that we so gladly devoured and worshiped. Mine, was, and still is to this day, Mr. Jack Daniels. Mr. Thompson’s was Crown Royal. (it’s changed) and JDub’s was none other than Jose Cuervo. There may actually be a picture of the three of us chugging straight from the bottles of these fine spirits on one of my birthdays. The Coalition was a force to be reckoned with (and a driving force in sales of said liquors. Mr. Thompson and I had been known to get black out drunk Wed-Sundays. Ahhh radio.)

So we were destined to meet in the City of Sin.

I flew all by myself (a point that shall be very important later on) Mr. Thompson drove in from LA, and JDub was already there. As I was the second to arrive I made the executive decision to purchase the first bottle of booze on the trip. It was indeed JD and it was glorious. JDub still needed some to finish up the event, so I took it upon myself to sit and watch Leave it to Lamas in my bathrobe. And get drunk.

Mr. Thompson arrived and the decision we all came up with was to go to Pure at Caesars Palace. We got ourselves dolled up, and there was an actual conversation between Mr. Thompson and I regarding pant length, shoe choice, and which shirt looked best. I believe there were numerous comments from the JDub camp regarding our sexuality, to which we decided to ignore and continue said conversations until we looked smashing!

We made our way to Pure and upon paying a ridiculous amount to get in found our way to an open spot on the dance floor. Were we got our groove on to many of today’s hottest hits. At one point, some dude was grinding on a honey in front of me when I noticed a giant eagle on his back that reflected off the lights in the club. I quickly took it upon myself to start the Napoleon Dynamite Happy Hands club motion behind him in a mocking maneuver. To which the nice Asian lady to the right of our group saw, and began to giggle. Pretty sure there was a mental high five given, and received.

The night wore on, as did our intense drinking. At one point, Mr. Thompson was getting the eye from a classy girl dressed in a Zebra print dress standing in the VIP. Somehow or another, she got Mr. Thompson into the VIP area, which he in turn got me, which she in turn got JDub. So there we were, all in VIP. Having a good time, not buying bottle service. Not buying drinks from the bar, and in actuality, having drinks spilled all over my pants. Like ALL over. Right in front. Pretty much where my junk was. It was also very awesome of the bouncer to flash his flashlight right on my crotch. Allowing everyone in VIP to see my junk, and that it looked very much like I’d wet myself. Awesome.

During our time in VIP I learned that Zebra, was just a girl looking to make it big in Sin City. She moved out here from Arizona, and was just hanging with a group of her “friends” in the VIP area. Indeed her friends were dressed as “classy” as she was, and things began to dawn on JDub and I. Mr Thompson had moved his attentions away from Zebra to some dude I believe he met in the VIP area. I’m not sure what the exchange was all about, however Mr. Thompson was the only one who left the VIP area with a number.

It must be said, that while Mr. Thompson did leave the club with a number, it was JDub that could have left with much much more. After we all stopped paying attention to Zebra, she moved on to a new group of gentlemen. We decided that VIP was not our “scene” so we luckily enough were able to retrieve our previous spot on the dance floor and “posted up.” While posting up, we made it out to the dance floor a number of times to dance to a delightful ditty or two. On one said ditty, JDub were out there busting some moves and generally making people jealous of our awesomeness. So jealous that a bouncer came up to JDub grabbed her arm, and escorted away from me. Mid-Maneuver!! In most cases, I probably would have been concerned and been all what the fuck! where are you taking her. However Jack had indeed been invited and was beginning to take over the party. So instead of getting indignant and protective, I merely said… meh.

Apparently, Mickey, one of PURE’s finest bouncer, took a liking to our friend JDub. So much so, that he removed her form the dance floor and took her up to a stage area, where low and behold, only females were up there dancing. With one exception. Chris Angel was also up on said stage and there were throngs of women around him. Including our own little JDub. Mr. Thompson and I knew it was only a matter of minutes before America’s Douchiest Man got wind of our JDub and would be Mindfreaking her all night long. It was at that moment, we decided to act. And act fast we did. Mr. Thompson and I put our minds together, and worked out an ingenious plan. We pushed our way through the crowd, got as close as we could….. and ordered another round!

The night wore on, JDub got away from Mickey’s evil clutches, I was essentially blacked out, and Mr. Thompson had gotten a dudes phone number in the VIP of PURE. We decided to call it a night and began the walk back to our hotel room where some much needed sleep was in order. However, along the way, as we walked past the tall bushes that line the front of Caesars Palace for some reason or another, I fell into the bushes. Which actually prompted Mr. Thompson to start sprinting down Las Vegas Blvd. beacuase he didn’t want to be caught by the cops. Of course, as JDub described that next afternoon, “walking home with you guys was like trying to herd wild cats.” Mr. Thompson and I high fived. Excellent.

The next afternoon, we all awoke de-hydrated and damn near dead. Some of us were worse for wear. I, because of my alcoholism, looked at the half bottle of Jack Daniels left in the room, and realized, “I’m not hung over. I can’t remember many of the events from last night. Half a bottle of Jack is gone… maybe now would be a good time to address actually having a problem.” Little did I know that that statement would come much later in the trip. Upon everyone waking up, we had a little chat about the nights previous events. Mr. Thompson and I began a dazzling display of insults and jabs directed at JDub about her time with Chris Angel.

Mr Thompson or I: “JDub how did it feel getting Mindfreaked?!?”
JDub: “I didn’t get Mindfreaked!“
Mr. Thompson: “We saw you inching your way toward him! It was impressive.”
JDub: “I don’t even like Chris Angel. He’s a douche…”
Me: “No way, I saw you put the head bob, fling the hair, jazz hands move on him.”
Mr. Thompson: “mmmmmhmmm.”
JDub “You guys, stop. I did not get Mindfreaked.”
Me: “Mr. Thompson, guess what the best thing about getting Mindfreaked is….”
Mr. Thompson: “What?”
Me: “You don’t even know it’s happening so when you get up the next day, you can tell all your friends you met Chris Angel but didn’t get Mindfreaked…”
JDub: “I. DID. NOT. GET. MINDFREAKED*!!
Mr. Thompson and I: *laughter*
JDub: FINE! You guys want to do this!?!?! What about you Mr. Thompson getting worked over by a HOOKER!?!
Mr. Thompson: “WHAAAAA?!?!”
(*At some point, we stopped saying Mindfreaked, and started saying “done in the ass.” We figure a douche like Chris Angel would do something like that. If you re-read this exchange, I’m pretty sure it’s funnier with “done in the ass.” However here at Sarcasm, I at least attempt to show some tact and class in the beginning.)

The mere mention of the Hooker brought Mr. Thompson on the defensive. “What hooker?!?” “There was no hooker!”And then JDub and I began replaying the nights events out loud. The more and more we described a hooker, the more and more Mr. Thompson got defensive.

Mr. Thompson: “She was not a hooker! She was just a small town girl trying to make it big in the city.”
Me: “Dude, she was a hooker. Even “I” knew that. (This statement was indeed powerful because on one of my trips to Vegas, I got to know a nice young lady, only to find out she was a hooker by some friends the next day. I just thought she was being polite.)
JDub: “Mr. Thompson, she was totally working you. She got you into VIP hoping you’d buy shit and the club would get a percentage.”
Mr. Thompson: “No way, she just knew the bouncers. She said she goes there all the time.”
Me: “Dude.”
JDub: “Did you not see her with her friends? They were hookers too!”
Mr. Thompson: “It was just girls night.”
Me: “Duuude.”
JDub: “And PLEASE! You know of ANY classy girls that rock a short ass Zebra dress into the VIP?!?”
Mr. Thompson: “Maybe Forever 21 was just having a sale.”
Me: “DUDE!”
JDub: “She moved on to the next dude, who bought shit, after you stopped paying attention to her!”
Mr. Thompson: “She felt dejected after I turned her down.”
Me: “Dude. Seriously. Hook. Er.”
Mr. Thompson: “She wasn’t a hooker. She was a nice girl.”
Me: “Hooker man.”
Mr. Thompson: “I don’t believe you.”

The best part of this whole interaction is through out the rest of the day, at random times, Mr. Thompson would just say “She wasn’t a hooker.” Which made both JDub and I laugh a bit, and repeat, Dude, she was a hooker. The battle was finally given up later that evening after Mr. Thompson had a conversation with his sister. To which she replied, that she would have had to have seen the girl, and other details before she could make and informed decision, however…. it was most likely a hooker.

To Be Continued…

Until Next Time…

Email Me…
SarcasmAsAWeapon@gmail.com

Bette Midler Now – 11/15

Cher 11/19 – 12/20

Santana 11/11-22
Leonard Cohen – 11/12
Neil Sedaka 11/12, 13 
Pacquiao v Cotto 11/14
Chelsea Handler 11/14
So Think You Can Dance
The Four Tops 11/20-22
UFC 106 – 11/21
Avant 11/27
Vicente Fernandez
KISS 11/28
Stevie Wonder 11/28
Black Crowes 11/29
Source: Click2Vegas.com

Upcoming Events at
Caesars Palace
Mandalay Bay
MGM Grand Garden
Palms Casino Resort
Sam Boyd Stadium
The Joint – Hard Rock
The Orleans Hotel

National Finals Rodeo Thu, Dec 3 2009 – Sat, Dec 12 2009

TICKETS FOR ALL National Finals Rodeo Events CLICK HERE

Quem nunca teve uma ressaca épica, resultante de uma noite de copos ainda mais épica? Eu já e sabe bem. The Hangover é uma comédia, que consegue acertar onde muitas outras falham, em não exagerar. Ok, quando virem a suite do Caesar’s Palace destruída e com uma galinha a solta e um tigre na casa de banho, talvez pensem que é um exagero, mas na realidade, a seu tempo, tudo será explicado. Doug (Justin Batha) vai com os seus dois melhores amigos, Phil (Bradley Cooper) e Stu (Ed Helms), e com o seu futuro cunhado Alan (Zack Galifianakis) passar uma última noite de loucuras em Las Vegas, antes de se casar. No dia seguinte Doug desapareceu e ninguém se lembra de nada do que aconteceu. Mais uma vez, sem exagerar, é uma comédia que passa num instante com excelentes momentos, e que vale a pena ver até ao fim (os créditos acho que ainda são a melhor parte). Recomendado a todos os animais que festejam noite dentro e que passam as manhãs na cama, não conseguem almoçar e têm que usar óculos escuros durante o dia seguinte.

Oh fáchabor, é um quarto com jacúze para trazer as miúdas do baile, depois do concerto (Marante e os Diapasão na sua digressão mundial em Las Vegas)

Arranje um emprego como vendedor de pipocas para ver o filme no cinema