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?

Hoorah,Hooray its the 1st of May and smoking starts outside today!

Last November Nevada voters passed Question 5 which prohibits smoking in public places which mainly effects restaurants and taverns that serve food. Bottom line you if your serving food you can not smoke.

Many Pub owners have had to make a choice to either abide by the new law or stop serving food. There are some Pubs that are challenging the new ordinance. Business' that violate the new law face a $200 fine.

Smokers who are caught will be subjected to a $100 fine for each offense. I don't know about you but that's an awful lot of my just for a ciggy butt. I smoked for years so I understand the nicotene addiction. I think I would just step out side if I really need a drag that bad!!

The Blue Seats

With the New York Rangers in the play offs got me thinking about the old days back in New York the 80's. We were young and went to as many games as we could. We were crazy for the Rangers. Trish and I went all the the games we could.

Mike Arco (the gas station guy) used to skate with them. Trish's brother Boulder used to detail their cars. We used to go to their open practices at Rye Beach Playland. We all owned a copy of Thin Ice "a season in hell with NY Rangers". ( I bet my brother still has a copy of it.)

Three players made a Sassoon jeans commercial oooh laa laaa sasson. Ron duGay, Phil Espisito and Dave Malone. I can still hear the song. Those were the days.

Playboy ran article about the die hard Rangers Fans.... Wild in the stands the Blue Seats. The infamous Blue Seats, these seats were cheap and at the very top of the garden. To say the that fans in the Blue Seats were hard core is an understatement. There were almost as many fights in the Blue Seats as there were on the ice. Forget about rooting for the other team they would let you know that MSG was the Rangers house.

We took my sister in law to her first hockey game and sat in the blue seats. She didn't run off and is still married to my brother.

I read that MSG no longer has color coded seats. They are now the 400 seats, but to those of us from back in the day they will always be the Blue Seats. The Blue Seats were not just a section but a state of mind. A New York state of mind.

25th Annual Laughlin River Run

Their back!!! The 25th annual Laughlin River Run is under way. Even with Laughlin is a 2 hour drive from Vegas we get out share of bikers passing through. It's pretty cool to see the different clubs riding together on the freeway. I was on my way home and watch about 20 Harleys coming in from Utah heading to the Strip.

This year organizers are expecting 60,000 people. That's quite a few for a small town like Laughlin. Rooms are all sold out.

The 5 day event began Wednesday and ends on Sunday. For more info on events check out www.laughlinriverrun.com/events.php,

Far out casino comps

Zero Gravity Corp. is betting Las Vegas casinos will "comp" their big time gamblers with $3500.00 weightless flights. The company took several Las Vegas movers and shakers on a flight to experience the thrill of zero gravity.

The modified 727 took 28 people on a 90 minute flight which had roughly 7 minutes of zero gravity. Passengers included a casino resort president , Teller the silent magician (of Penn & Teller fame) and Astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

Zero Gravity estimates the company will be profitable by the end of this year. They made the front page of the Las Vegas Review Journal today http://www.lvrj.com/news/7183296.html
they may very well be on their way.

Only in Vegas

Driving to work this morning on the southbound I 15 a billboard on the left caught my eye. It said "Pull your head out of the asphalt". This play on words was enough to get my attention during my early Monday morning commute. I must admit this billboard piqued my curiosity.

My first reaction was wow ,this has got to be one of the those public service announcements that will soon be as popular as the "don't be a dusthole" or "call before you dig." Was the Nevada Department of Transportation behind this? How cool is this? You've got to love Vegas.

The website was listed in the lower right hand corner http://www.fixnvroads.com/ when I saw that it was a dot com address I immediately knew it wasn't the Nevada Department of Transportation. Still I had to know who was behind the billboard.

The group behind the billboard is the Nevada Highway Users Coalition (NHUC). This group was formed "to advance the rights of Nevada's residents and visitors to travel on safe, reliable public roads; for the efficient transport of goods and effective public safety; and to hold government accountable for ensuring financing is transparent, motivated by public good and dedicated to transportation purposes."

You see living in Vegas is great but ask any Las Vegan about driving in Vegas and you will get a resounding "it sucks." 10 years ago you could get anywhere in the Vegas valley in a 1/2 hour now that time has doubled. With our population exploding, we don't have the infrastructure to support it. I have met many people who won't even drive on the freeways they only use streets. Yes, these people do exist.

NHUC got my attention, I hope that they will be able to help push through new projects that will make driving the freeway a little less frustrating. I will "pull my head out of the asphalt". I will check their website often and I will contact my legislator with my concerns.

If you have a Nevada highway horror story you can contact them at tellus@fixnvroads.com and get your head out of your asphalt.

The Pearl

The Maloof brothers have done it again... Tomorrow night the Pearl the Palms' new concert theater will open with Gwen Stefani. The Palms will have 160 skytracker lights to mark the sold out Gwen Stefani Show. They will attempt to break the world record for skytrackers to gain entry into the Guinness Book of World Records.

According to reports local Las Vegans should be in for quite a show tomorrow night! Let's see what happens.