Wild Hogs Las Vegas Style

For years people have complained about the smell of the "Pig Farm". People including Steve Wynn have tried to oust the Pig Farm. Builders have built brand new homes up to and almost touching the pig farm, hoping to put the squeeze on the farm and force the farm out. These people fail to realize they(R.C. Farms) have been there for 40+ years .

Well today the shoe was on the other foot. Today the people of Las Vegas needed the pig farm's expertise. You see this morning there was an accident on the 215& 15 freeways, a semi truck overturned with.....a truck load of ..........pigs!

There were 160 pigs in the semi, about 10 of the pigs got out and were running a muck on the the freeway. The NHP had to call the folks at R.C. Farms to come & help them out.

Moral of the story, be nice to your local pig farmer.... you never know when you'll need his help!

The Juice is loose

Helicopters filled the Vegas Valley sky tracking the fallen ex-football star's release from jail and trip to the Palms and finally his Maccarran Airport departure.

The circus has left town for at least a couple of weeks. OJ's family has posted bail and he is back in Florida. Hopefully, most of the media will clear out until mid October when he is due back for the next proceeding.

His attorney Yale Galanter(flown in from Florida) is not licensed in Nevada, apparently he has to obtain some sort of special privileges. It will take him at least 5 days to secure them. He does have local attorney Gabriel Grazzo as well.I wonder if the Juice thinks Nevadans are a bunch of goobers, that's why he brought in his own hired gun.

It also makes me wonder how that will play out in the courtroom. Good luck picking a jury. You'd have to have your head up your ass to not know anything about this case.
I wonder if they will try to move the case to another venue. How about Petticoat Junction? Ooops, I mean Searchlight. The courthouse/police station is in a trailer/Quonset hut. I wish I could find picture of it.That would be an excellent place for his trial.

I was watching at video of his court appearance this morning, at the very end of the video the clerk sitting on the judge's left snapped a picture of OJ with his cell phone. That should be a great story for his grandchildren, "look kids here's a picture of a man who getting with murder wasn't enough for him. He now resorts to kidnapping and burglary (allegedly) for fun." Maybe he'll put it on his mantle. Maybe it too will be considered memorabilia.

Free OJ

Las Vegas gossip columnist Norm Clarke tied his column in today with the current OJ Simpson debacle. Norm's column which is appears in the Las Vegas Review Journal, featured a piece today about our beloved Mayor Goodman receiving a call from OJ's agent (back in the day) requesting then defense attorney Goodman defend him in the double murder case. Good ol' Oscar was apparently up to his elbows in alligators at the time with his own legal problems and had to decline.

While that is a very interesting story about our Mayor, I think the bigger story was overlooked.
The bigger story is under the Scene and Heard section of his column, Norm goes on to report that the Las Vegas Motor Speedway has a "Free OJ" promotion.If you stop buy the speedway and buy tickets for an upcoming event you will receive a free serving of orange juice.

Don't believe me check it out at www.lvrj.com/news/9847211.html

Who knew that OJ pairs well with cheese.

I love Las Vegas.

I see the OJ he be lookin' might scared....

Who can forget the those famous words, especially if you're a Howard Stern fan.

Football Star/Sociopath OJ Simpson was arrested tonight in Las Vegas and is being held without bail.

Hey OJ haven't you heard "What happens to in Vegas stays in Vegas", looks like you're staying in Vegas. Instead of staying at the Palms tonight looks like he will be staying in one of the Clark County Detention Center's finest isolation suites.

Charged with 5 felonies that range from 1-30 years a piece, it looks like the Juice maybe staying in Vegas for a while.

Apparently getting away with murder wasn't enough for this guy, robbing sports memorabilia dealers is his new thing. This guy has got to be the biggest moron on the planet.

LV Metro talking to the OJ........

Las Vegas Metro Police having a chat with OJ Simpson. Local News stations are reporting that Metro did confirm that they had a conversation with OJ about a robbery at the Palace Station Casino.

Apparently, there was of break in at the Palace Station and sports memorabilia.
Metro will not confirm if OJ is a suspect or if he was a witness. Hmmmmmmmmmm I wonder if gloves were involved?

The "lady on the car"

My 3 year old neice exclaimed "Daddy look at the lady on the car! " Dad's response "that's no lady." My brother has a way with the one liners.

I used to see this every day at the corner of Sahara and Paradise, and never had my camera with me to snap a shot. I finally captured the infamous "lady on the car" this week. not a great picture but you get the idea.

I read an article about Mayor Goodman in which he mentions the mobile billboard at the corner of Sahara and Paradise. He said something like she wants to meet you, but I'm not sure what she wants to do with you.

Well, Mayor I'm sure she doesn't want to sit around and read poetry.

Only in Las Vegas.

Healing Field

Last night we stopped by the Palm Mortuary to check out the Healing Field. The Healing Field is an amazing display of 3,000 American Flags memorializing the 2,996 lives that were lost on September 11, 2001.

Each flag has a memorial card with the victim's name an a short blurb about their life. As we walked around checking out the flags and their name cards for each of the 9/11 victims, you become lost in a "sea" of flags. It almost felt like being inside a maze.

As evening set in more and more families arrived all filled with the same sense of awe. I watched a mother explain to her children the significance of the date. A toddler entertained herself, darting in and out of what seemed like the never ending rows of flags.

It's truly an amazing tribute to the people whose lives were cut short. The Healing Field will be on display through September 30th. You can sponsor a flag for $25.00 which you can pick up between October 15-31, 2007. The are also selling a Flag of Honor for $50.00 which has the names of all the victims who passed on that fateful day imprinted on the Flag. 100% of the proceeds will go directly to the Salvation Army.

The Healing Field is a the Palm West located 6701 North Jones Boulevard. It will only be there for about another 2 weeks, it really is a must see.

The 2nd Annual Freedom Walk

8:00 this morning Las Vegas' Mayor Oscar Goodman led about 150 Las Vegans on a 2 mile memorial walk, honoring the men and women who lost their lives on 9/11. The walk was held at a the Kellog Zaher Sports Complex. Walk was party of a National walk that honors the men and women who protect and serve our country.


In true Las Vegas style, entertainer Clint Holmes sang America the Beautiful, an honor guard made up of members from the Las Vegas Metro Police Department, Las Vegas Fire Fighters, Las Vegas Detention and Nellis Air Force Base.

The weather was ideal. Sunny with a slight breeze, the temperature as about 90.

The event piggybacked with the Mayor's healthy initiative campagin.

T-shirts, flags and American flag dog tags were some of the give aways for participants.

Juy Duty

I finally had the privilege of jury duty. I have to tell you it started out traumatic. I arrived at the assigned parking garage only to find that the meter was not working. Some poor woman was stuck handing out parking lot tickets to the hundreds of people trying to get in there for jury duty.

Actualy, jury duty wasn't so bad. The chairs were very comfortable. It was very quiet with the few exceptions of a couple of blowhards on their cell phones trying to feel important.

I knocked out about 50 pages of my novel that only gets my attention before bed. Life is good.

Always remember life is an adventure.........You never know what's around the corner, make the most of every moment.

Wine Tasting

I managed to stop by and check out Bella Vino about a week ago. It's a great shop. I bought a bottle of French Merlot that was reasonably priced. The owner was friendly and helpful.

Bella Vino is tucked away in the newCentennial Plaza shopping center at 2745 W Centennial Parkway #120, North Las Vegas 89084. Telephone #396-8700. Major cross streets are Aliante Parkway and Centennial. http://www.bellavinowinecompany.com/

Bella Vino has Complimentary Wine Tastings on Thursday evenings between 5:00-8:00pm. Tomorrow's tasting will be Perfect Summer Reds.

Cheers!

Not your everyday pole dancing story..........

A guy spends most of the night drinking and watching strippers pole dance, he then gets kicked out of the Palomino club and tries to run the security guard over.
Next the drunken fool gets into a high speed chase with the police.

Here's my favorite part....he wipes out and hits a truck with his SUV.....and then a pole!

I swear its true. This is what I woke up this morning on the news.http://ktnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6891532

I love the irony. Only in Las Vegas. I love Las Vegas.

Sweat in the City

This morning I woke up to hear on the 5am news that my City, Las Vegas ranked #2 on the Old Spice Top 100 Sweatiest Cities Report. Yes, folks Las Vegas is #2 on the nation's sweat-o-meter.

This year marks the 6th Annual report to be published by Old Spice. Yes, Old Spice the crappy after shave that you ran down to Kipps Pharmacy every December to get the Christmas gift pack for good old Dad. When did Old Spice become the sweat experts? I guess since they started making the "Red Zone" line of antiperspirant/deodorant. If the sweat report was written by Right Guard, Mitchum or even Secret it might hold water.

This changes everything. I have this feeling that my conversations with family and friends back east will become awkward at best. Will I still get the easterner's standard "but it's a dry heat" response to the "what's the temperature" question.
For year's I've been getting away with the old "stick your head in the oven" routine when I get hit with the "dry heat" comment.

Will I instead be peppered with sweat questions? How will I respond?

Looks like this girl has got to come up with all new one liners. Maybe, Sweat in the City or Don't Sweat the Small Stuff. OK, OK I'll work on it. Until I do remember "Never let them see you sweat".

Hot Time Summer in the City

Last week I polled my coworkers to find out what they liked best about living here in Las Vegas. I was shocked by the overwhelming response..."the weather". I had expected that response from the transplanted Alaskans I work with but not from the rest of the gang.

Today will be the hottest day this year. Weather forecasters are predicting the tempature will soar to 112. When I recite the tempature for friends and relatives back east I get the standard rebuttal "but it's a dry heat". Stick your head in the oven and see how that feels. "A dry heat," is that somehow supposed to make me feel better about the fact that when I go outside I feel like my brain is going to explode? A dry heat, does that mean that Las Vegans don't have to endure as much in the summer due to the lack of humidity?

I wonder how people the people I recently polled will respond to that same question in about two weeks. You see most Las Vegans suffer form short term memory, by mid July you begin to hear the usual weather related comments, 'it's hotter than hell", "it's friggin' hot out"and "its too hot".

Mid July we start to defend our life here in the desert. We start to get the inevitable question, "how can you stand living in that heat?" I will tell you what I tell everyone else. "It's really not that bad you go from your air conditioned house , to your air conditioned car, to your air conditioned office or air conditioned store (repeat).

So there you have it, another (repeat) summer in the desert.

Ice to meet you

Today we witnessed magician Nathan Burton in 15 tons of ice in the shape of a giant letter M.
Nathan Burton will be camped out in his ice house for 24 hours he will be joined by 96 showgirls 4 showgirls at time. Nathan will be in his palace until 10:00 am tomorrow, at which time they will use a chainsaw to remove him. This is all taking place outside of the new Planet Hollywood Casino. The M is promoting the Miracle Mile shopping area.

Get Movin' with Oscar G

This morning several hundred Las Vegans joined our beloved Mayor, Oscar Goodman for a walk. This morning's 2.5 mile walk kicked off the Mayor's Healthy Lifestyle Initiative.

Currently, Las Vegas is ranked the 42nd healthiest city to live in. ( I'm not sure about these rankings, remember just 2 weeks ago Las Vegas was the number 1 fattest city in America!)

Mayor Goodman's Healthy Lifestyle Initiative 3 point plan is to Get Smart, Get Up and Get Out. He wants to educate Las Vegans about proper diets and exercise. He wants Las Vegans to use and enojy our city's parks and recreation areas to help achieve their fitness goals.

Today's event was held at Kellog Zaher Park. The walk started at promptly at 8:00 am, before the temperature gets out of hand. The route included several water break stations for participants and their 4 legged friends as well.

To learn more about the Mayor's Initiative go to http://www.gehealthylasvegas.org/

63 Million Dollars Later

What's got all of Las Vegas a buzz? Is it the sale of the New Frontier? Horse drawn carriages downtown? Perhaps it's the up and coming Movin' with the Mayor walk? No, its bigger than that! Not even 7 footer Beas Hamaga can eclipse this one.

Believe it or not its the I95 /Rancho interchange! Yes it's true you can enter and exit the I95 at Rancho!! (63 million dollars later) Life is good again. Closed since January this year the Rancho short cut is now open and we are back in business. The opening ceremony was 11:00 am today.

From the Land of the Buffets......

Driving home today I kept thinking about how to follow up on my last post about Las Vegas being the America's fattest City. I then spotted the $6.99 all you can eat buffet billboard which gave me inspiration. I then made a stop at Walmart which confirmed we were America's fattest city.

I t made me think back to the days when I was a just a tourist here on the weekend trying to make back all the money I had lost gambling, attempting to ensure that Caesar's Palace didn't turn a profit on me. (I saw David Hasselhoff and his Ex there once)

I then came across the LVRJ's page that has this great photo of the Palms Marquee "Free Paris" first thought is free Palms party girl Paris Hilton but it is actually a promotion for the Palms new Bistro Buffet. Check out the Marquee at http://www.normclarke.com/

I guess I will still have to investigate how and why Las Vegas is America's fattest city.

Fattest City in America

This is a strange post especially as my last post was about Dunkin' Donuts.

I was watching TV tonight Extra was on and they said that Las Vegas is the fattest city in America. I got to thinking, just why are we the fattest city? How could that be? Did everyone quit smoking since the smoking ban in restaurants went into effect and now their taste buds have gone wild? Is it the endless buffets? Could it be the thousands of people who man our slot machines consider that to be their upper body work out?

I will have to investigate this further and let you know what I learn.

Time to make the donuts.....

One more great reason to live in Las Vegas, Dunkin' Donuts will be here in August. They will be opening in 62 stores through out the Vegas valley. They have good reasonable coffee and the donuts are great. Sure to be a hit with all east coast transplants.

For years starting in '82 Dunkin' Donuts had Fred the baker as there front man. He was the face of Duncan Donuts, kind of like the Maytag repairman. Two ad campaigns come to mind when I think of Fred the baker one is time to make the donuts, the other is Fred dressed as a blond woman spying on a competitor with his full mustache asking the question "like Dunkin' Donuts?" Fred of course concealing his mustache with his index finger.

Donuts are not a regular part of my diet but I will be certain to have a chocolate kreme filled donut for old times sake.

I want my...I want my... I want my MTV

More to look forward to at the Palms' new Pearl concert arena... the MTV VMA's will be hosted here in Las Vegas. The awards show will be held on September 9th. This show will be the 24th annual. The show has historically been held in New York City, twice in Miami and Los Angeles. Las Vegas will be the fourth city to host the event.

It's hard to imagine that MTV is turning 26 this August. ( I feel another rant about the 80's coming on!) Back in '81 that was the only reason to sign up for cable television.We always watched it or had it on in the background. We knew all the VJays. Hell, I even went to high school with Martha Quinn. Who could forget videos like Pat Benatar's "Love is a battlefield", Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and Madonna's "Borderline". I even had a friend who worked on a couple of MC Hammer's videos. (How cool was that.)

Whenever I channel surf it seems like the only thing on MTV is bunch of reality shows. I never see any music videos. Do bands even make them anymore for MTV?