Even though it was published last year, this book is worth a second look. The site of the day is Las Vegas Dreams which highlights the book. It might also have been a great TV series ( and hopefully one day it still will be!) but for a series of unfortunate incidents in the failed formation of the Las Vegas Television Network (LVTN), which was a partnership initiated in January 2005 by Robin Leach and Nathan Draige. I still think it was a great idea to start a television network covering "all things Vegas".
This site is still worth visiting for the profiles of people & properties, and the book, which took over two-and-one half years of research, writing and editing, is still timely & worthy of purchasing -- a nice addition to any coffee table. The site and book features interviews & profiles of Vegas' most fascinating people and profiles on the most exciting places to visit in Las Vegas:
Excerpt from their site:
 Hot off the press, Las Vegas Dreams, Where Anything Is Possible! (© 2006, American Dreams - Publishing, 176 pages, $20) features interviews and profiles with 70 of the most fascinating people in Las Vegas, from Clint Holmes to Mayor Oscar Goodman to Kirk Kerkorian. Also, profiles on the Fabulous 40 Most Exciting Places To Visit in Las Vegas, from the Bellagio to Caesars Palace to the new Wynn Las Vegas. Over 400 beautiful and current color photos are also included in this up-to-date book. Author Jim Bickford hopes his latest book will help shed a positive light on some of the most fascinating people and places of his adopted hometown of Las Vegas Nevada. Locals, tourists, and conventioneers alike all love this book.
Available through Amazon.com:
This is one of my favorite sites for Las Vegas deals & message board. They cover all kinds of topics and currently have over 4,700 active members!
2007 Readers Choice Awards From Las Vegas WeeklyThe site of the day is the alternative Vegas weekly magazine,the Las Vegas Weekly. From their site:
"Las Vegas Weekly is a high-quality, glossy-covered free weekly newspaper with an emphasis on arts, entertainment and popular culture. Each week, more than 70,000 copies are distributed, reaching more than 240,000 readers each month."
Here is a LVW article that lets you read the LVW reader's choice award results in PDF format ( Don't have an Adobe reader? Download the Adobe reader here . ) Interestingly, there was an entire award category for the best local MySpace site. I must admit that I was skeptical about MySpace for a long time because of all the negative publicity about sexcapades and sexual preditors, but I really believe that they have come a long way to clean up their act and take a preemtive role in banning known preditors and gross misuse of the sites. I recently changed my mind about MySpace, due to its power and pervasiveness. Some bloggers on MySpace are getting ratings that us "mainstream" bloggers can only be envious of. I've gone so far as to create my own rudimentary MySpace site (MySpace searchkey "mercurialmike") and I also created a fan site for a local Las Vegas lounge musician, Jimmy Limo (MySpace searchkey: "jimmylimo"). Xtreme Disorder MySpace Page won the Best Local MySpace page in Las Vegas Weekly’s Reader’s Choice Awards. It is a MySpace fan site for a show called "Xtreme Disorder" on the local FM station 107.5 (Xtreme Rock Radio), heard weekdays, 3-7 PM. The "jocks" at Xtreme Disorder are sighing that they didn't get the award for "Best Radio Personalities"! BTW, Las Vegas Weekly, not surprisingly, has their own site on MySpace.From The Las Vegas Weekly Masthead:
As We See It
Essays, analysis and on-the-scene reports that present Vegas from all angles.
A+E
DVD reviews, coverage of local bands' CDs and a grab-bag of fun items, from Judging Books by Their Covers to the One-Minute Critic.
Beyond the Rope
Get up close and personal with the city's most fascinating hostesses, bar-backs, door men and more.
Calendar
Comprehensive listings of the city's arts, entertainment and community events for the week ahead, opening with our Picks of the Week.
Classifieds
Buy it, sell it, advertise it.
DJ Trading Cards
Learn about your favorite local DJs the way God intended: in handy card form.
Line Pass
Hard news about Las Vegas' nightclub world, from projects on the drawing board to take-overs and renovations.
Mash-Up
A weekly blast of commentary, quotes and humor about the club scene, and the featured cocktail of the week.
Nights On the Circuit
Xania Woodman, the princess of Vegas nightlife, covers the clubbing capitol of the world.
Noise
The best music coverage in the city -- from interviews with today's hottest groups and DJs to concert and CD reviews.
Pop Culture
Rants, raves and ruminations on everything from entertaining politics to political entertainment.
Screen
Reviews and essays on the latest movies, plus theater showtimes.
Sore Thumbs
Matthew Scott Hunter, Las Vegas' top video-game critic, gives you the low-down on the week's latest offerings.
Taste
Dining reviews by the city's top food writer, Max Jacobson, plus listings of the city's best restaurants and bars.
The site of the day is Nick Christenson's Las Vegas Casino Death Watch page. Here he tracks the hotel/casinos that he feels are most likely to close their doors in the near future.
Makes for very interesting reading. Hats off to you, Nick, for a very informative web site!
Oh, BTW: the photo above is (left to right) our friend Carmen, my wife, and yours truly taken over two years ago at the Lady Luck Casino. (click photo for a very large, unflattering image) We are still waiting for the re-opening of the Lady Luck!
Las Vegas Las Vegas convention authority's (new?) official web site and "Official Las Vegas Tourism Web Site" has adopted this new character, Vic Wonder: Vegas Visionary, a licensed psychic. So far, he has not given me the next Megabucks machine to win - maybe you will have more luck than I did.
Click here for your free psychic "reading" (not for faint of heart or small children!!) Vic delivers tantamount to what he charges!
Actually, I must confess that there is a huge bandwidth problem with the Flash animation and sometimes (Lord knows why anybody would release an ad campaign with such glitches!) it sometimes does not even transfer you to the proper site! I guess this makes it the site of the day that needs improvement. Nobody ever said that my "site of the day" was a good site or even a "great" site. Just a site that is unique and may even need some more work!
For anybody ( you in the last row )still interested in exploring the psychic world, here is the direct link to Vic at vegasvisionary.com
Any negative comments should be directed to webmaster@vegasvisionay.com, not me!
I think the concept of a Vegas psychic is a cool idea - too bad it was executed in such a poor way.
Related link: Las Vegas Logue Article
They say a picture is worth a thousand words - well, continuing with that logic, a map is worth at least a million words, and cuteness counts! Cute Vegas Map uses innovative technology to present lots of information in a compact form quickly and easily! Bookmark and revisit the Cute Vegas Map site frequently to answer many of your Las Vegas queries, as new features and information about Las Vegas are constantly being added. Your feedback about the site is welcome!
Recommended Vegas site of the day - Cute Vegas Map! - Interactive Map Showing Las Vegas Attractions!
From the site:
"Cutevegasmap uses an exciting new technology developed by Macromedia that makes web browsing easy, fast and fun.
You will notice that our clickable map is highly interactive. You don't get lost in the web site or sit waiting for a new page to load.
Only the information you need is changed - and quickly.
We are excited about this new web site and would like to hear from you."
I am somewhat of a computer geek, and I found this method of presentation to be unique and innovative, avoiding much of the page jumping associated with conventional sites. See if you agree!
MSN travel has compiled a pretty good list of the top 10 attractions and things to do when you've run out of luck or you need to clear your head before the tables clear your wallet. Or, more optimistically, when you want to hold on to your winnings! Another side of Las Vegas that may be worth exploring.
Did you know that Las Vegas has a Chinatown? ( Great variety of restaurants on West Spring Mountain Road near Valley View. ) If that is not your cup of jasmine tea, then how about touring a chocalate factory, or visiting a top notch museum? Or visiting one of the city's great parks (Sunset Park is my favorite place to walk and watch the ducks.)
Link
My favorite Las Vegas site of the day (or any day), Five Hundy By Midnight, is actually a podcast. I admire anybody that is able to put together a consistently alluring, professionally produced weekly show, especially about my favorite place, Las Vegas! ( Said with all the humility possible from my proud Leo nature, which compels me, as always, to obsessively promote anything that is this "top notch" . )
"Las Vegas podcast about Vegas travel, hotels, gambling, video poker, shows, entertainment, casinos and Las Vegas Strip news. The original Las Vegas podcast."
The first time I listened to the show, I was hooked - just from the opening music and introduction.
Five Hundy By Midnight You can download each week's episode directly to your computer from the weekly blog entries that summarize each show, or you can subscribe to all the podcasts using a media /podcast player such as iTunes.
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