September 2009 Archives

The Light Group is promoting the 20th Anniversary at the Mirage and have said that Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine, Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee and former White Zombie frontman Rob Zombie are all no longer available to perform at the event because of scheduling conflicts.

With those three no longer available, three new acts will be taking their place: Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry and former "American Idol" contestant Chris Daughtry. But Slash formerly of Guns 'N Roses and Courtney Love are still in for the October 2nd poolside show hosted by Kiefer Sutherland.

I feel bad for the people who really wanted to see Tommy Lee and Rob Zombie because I'm not sure Nicole Scherzinger or Chris Daughtry are of the same level.

I know, it's still September technically but that means one thing: Halloween starts in a few days in Las Vegas! I'm not even kidding, events start kicking off on October 1st! Here's a run down of the parties and events that we know of so far - if we missed something let us know!

Texas Screams - The Asylum and Hotel Fear
October 1 to November 1

One haunted house considered to be one of the best in the country is impressive, but this is even better. Both the Asylum and Hotel Fear are considered two of the scariest, most impressive haunted houses in the country and both of them are located at the Texas Station Hotel!  The haunted houses are open Thursdays through Sundays starting October 1, and then every evening from October 27 until November 1. The hours of being open change a lot, so be sure to check out their website before making the trip. Admission is $12 a person for one attraction or $18 for a combined ticket for both.

The Las Vegas body builder, Jay Cutler, has joined the pantheon of six men who have every been called Mr. Olympia more than three times. Other victors include the legendary Arnold Schwarzenegger who won seven times, Ronnie Coleman and Lee Haney who both won 8 times.

His third win in four years, Cutler celebrated at Prive in Planet Hollywood with his drink of choice: Fiji water. To get to this point, he's been exercising for four hours a day and maintaining a 6,500 calorie diet - which includes 5 pounds of fish a day!

There's a great interview with Cutler over at Vegas Deluxe, you'd think someone who does this would be crazy but he's just dedicated.

Food in Las Vegas usually falls into two categories: endless buffet or more then you'd ever expect to pay for a steak. But that's been discussed to no ends, real excitement: milkshakes and hamburgers. Especially when they're made by Hubert Keller.

Located in Mandalay Bay, Burger Bar Las Vegas has recently redone their dessert menu. The dessert burgers are still there, like the Cheesecake burger (cheesecake on a donut, topped with pineapple) or the Chocolate Burger (fresh fruits and chocolate gnache over a donut) but the dessert drinks are where things have changed.

People watch Top Chef for two reasons: seeing crazy culinary feats and waiting for that moment when people finally snap - this episode had both. And boy was it juicy this time. The general feel of the group was basic: Robin shouldn't be there, Mattin should have stayed.

So wearing the red bandannas of their fallen comrade, the other chefs did their best to honor them. And Mike I reluctantly let Robin take one as well. With that, they immediately head to the kitchen for the quickfire challenge.

The guest judge was Michelle Bernstein, a regular guest judge known for her Latin-style cooking and favoring clean and simple dishes over complex ones. The challenge: in one hour, create an angel and a devil dish based off the chef'testants personal angels and demons.

With the sound off, the chefs bust out their dishes. By the time judging begins, only six minutes had passed. That means only one thing: there's some juicy drama coming up that's better then the food!

It was fairly uneventful for cooking but a few comments on the quickfire. Ash is starting to slip up, he only completed half of the challenge but claimed that it was "delicious in his head" when he tried to make a pair of custards. While Bryan and Laurine joined him, making this season very heavy on the highs and lows for certain chefs. Meanwhile, Michael V.'s salmon was done "perfectly" and Eli just used plenty of butter. But it was Robin, who's personally battle with cancer made for an excellent inspiration, with her salad and ginger crisp.

Thus cued the excellent editing of Jenn looking furious, so the one everyone wanted to get the boot next had immunity. That certainly changes the game. And Eli needs to be called out on claiming that the only reason Robin won was because she had cancer. I guess he's starting to channel Mike I.

But the real fun comes from the elimination challenge and special guest judges - Penn & Teller!

BAM! Looking for a different way to kick-off the game? Check out Lagasse's Stadium at the Palazzo until the end of September. It takes all the amazing skill of Lagasse and combines it with football. Over 100 HD TVs - one of which is the 9 feet tall by 16 feet wide! There's plenty of comfort too - luxury boxes with stadium-style seating, billiards to play before the game begins. There's even an outdoor patio (which won't be unbearably hot this time of year!)

Since you're in Vegas, that means there are places to play as well. Blackjack, craps, and video poker. There's also a sportsbook to put a few bucks on the game as well! But the real reason to be there is for Lagasse's Tailgate.

Starting at 3 pm Monday through Friday and running up until half an hour before the game starts, this tailgate party is the ultimate happy hour - $3 for domestic beers or get a bucket of six for $15! If you prefer cocktails, buy a pitcher of Hat Trick, Grand Slam or Slam Dunk for $20, Appetizers are only $5 ranging from cheesy bacon potato skins, mini chili dogs and artichoke dip.

You can call 702-607-2665 to reserve a semi-private Sky Box to be elevated amidst fans, or a private Luxury Box tricked out with billiard tables and video games.

In two weeks, The Biggest Tattoo Show on Earth will be happening in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center from October 2nd to the 4th. Self-heralded as "the ultimate and most powerful educational forum on every level-including tattooing, body piercing, body modification, jewelry manufacturing, reconstructive tattooing, permanent cosmetics, laser removal, the newest fashion trends and many more." There is bound to be something exciting for those of you who are inked.

They also claim to be "fun for the entire family" but I'm not sure that's the best idea, unless traumatizing your kids is your idea of fun. Any place that is known as being the ultimate forum on body modification seems like a place not to bring your kids. But for those of you into this, this is the place to be.

They expect to have over 1,000 different tattoo artists at the convention and last year almost 100,000 visited! To draw guests in, Mario Barth will be there. The owner of Starlight Tattoo, he's created one of the fasting growing clientele and his studio was named "the nicest tattoo studio worldwide" by the National Tattoo Association.

In addition to all the tattoos, there will be multiple other events, like several musical performances, the tattoo museum, even a charity slot tournament with PETA to raise money to fight animal cruelty.

Passes are $45 for a daily pass, while the full weekend pass runs for $100. Children under 12 get in for free!

Mindy Kaling, better known as Kelly Kapor, the bubbly customer service worker on the Office has uncovered a powder keg after referring to an area of Vegas as "he most dangerous and sketchy neighborhood I've ever been to in my entire life" when she was on The Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

After several recommendations of things to do on her 30th birthday, Mindy was told to check out Luv-It Frozen Custard. During their wait in line, she and her friends encountered drug addicts, a pants-less man, two apparent "murderers" who actually were undercover cops and some fans.

But even Mindy had to admit that the custard was good and worth the adventure.

This episode had to be good, seeing as last week's teaser showed Tom spitting out someone's food and the lovely Gail saying it tasted like chlorine. With that being the known factors, it was just a matter of the pieces falling into place. Between Mattin talking about his childhood, which was supposedly toyless and Ashley calling her brother, I knew one of them had to be the one to go. It's just one of the rules about Top Chef - talk about home, go home.

The Quickfire was supposedly selected by the audience... five months ago back when they were filming. I don't remember that ever happening, but the choices for the secret ingredient they had to cook with was going to be either cactus, rattlesnake or kangaroo. A resounding selection of the vote went with cactus because we're clearly sadistic and like watching the chefs deal with spikey things that probably can't be cooked. And to make it more fun, this was a high stakes challenge - the winner takes home $15,000.

After some extreme editing (or my cable box is acting up again), the chefs had their dishes which ranged from "I wouldn't feed that to my dog" to "surprisingly not a failure." After Ron expressed his concern about cooking with them (they're poisonous in Haiti), it wasn't surprising to see him on the bottom. Ash's "grilled cheese" didn't have much for cactus in it. Michael V's was compared to as two trains crashing together by Chef Love and Ron was told his crab was rancid.

Planet Hollywood recently tweeted the plans for the grand opening of Pink's Hot Dogs! While the restaurant has been open for a little over a month now, they haven't had a proper opening - one with celebrities!

The grand opening is at 9 pm on Saturday,September 19th and will include appearances by Kim Kardashian, Mel B (Scary Spice) and Holly Madison!

This isn't the first time Pink's has tried to open a location in Las Vegas, but this time is looking better. No longer just a cart, it will be a full-fledged hot dog restaurant with the same menu as their historical Hollywood location.

That means you can expect all of their legendary dogs including the Stretch Chili Cheese Dog, Bacon Chili Cheese Dog, Mild Polish Dog, and Spicy Polish Dog. I'm getting hungry just writing this.

Beautiful girls and exceptional food - what more could you want?

Two different reports have come in about Planet Hollywood's infamous topless burlesque show, Peepshow. Originally planned to be a show with a cast rotating every three months, it's looking like Holly Madison will be staying on board for longer then that. After taking over the main role from Kelly Monaco, Madison's new contract starts September 21st and will last a full year! Famous for being a Playboy Playmate and on the hit series The Girls Next Door, Madison is becoming a staple in the Las Vegas scene, where she will officially be moving to!

But Holly isn't the only one with news about their role in Peepshow, Aubrey O'Day will be joining the show starting September 21st in the role of Peep Diva. O'Day is best known for her singing in Danity Kane after being discovered by MTV on Making the Band 3. You might also recognize her from the cover of March's Playboy this year.

With a rotating cast like this, it may be worth seeing the show more than once.

Looking for a sweet photo to post on your Facebook page (or MySpace)? Head over to Binion's poker hall for your chance to pose with some lovely ladies and a stack of one million dollars. This returned last year after being taken away. The old million was all made up of $10,000 bills and the new one is even more impressive of a site: it's all $100s! I'm hoping someone takes it a step further and has a million dollars in ones.

Head on down to Binion's any day between 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. to get your free photo taken, as long as you're a member of their slot club. Sorry kids, you have to be over 21 to get your photo taken.

Oh, and you can touch it.

This episode had two major themes: raising the stakes and bacon is a double-edged sword. The whole episode was marinated in French themes, starting off with Mattin's birthday. The guy's turning 29 and acting like a frat boy but at least everyone followed the cardinal rule of Top Chef.

The quickfire was all about escargot, those delicious snails that the French love. But it's never as easy as just cooking. The guest judge, Daniel Boulud, told the chefs to cook him something he's never experienced before - so long garlic and butter! And Tom, no idea where Padma was, let everyone know that this was a high stakes quickfire. The winner would get something even better then immunity and the loser, well, they would have to leave the show right there.

The oddest part about this challenge was that the escargot was already prepared, it had been cooked properly and the chef'testants only had to season it and work it into a meal. What happened to the days when the chefs were given a whole cow and had to butcher their own steaks?

The regulars claimed the top three spots as always: Michael I., Jennifer and Kevin. Kevin won by using the most powerful weapon in Top Chef - bacon. His use of candied bacon jam is so impressive, Tom even ended up adding it to his menu. His award was absolutely amazing - immunity, doesn't have to cook and gets to eat with the judges which included such legendary French chefs as Joël Robuchon, Hubert Keller, Laurent Tourondel, Jean Joho, and Boulud. In the best fanboy moment so far, Kevin admits to owning all of Robuchon's cookbooks in French - which he doesn't even know!

If you're anything like me, dodgeball always started out fun before your older brother decided you were the best and easiest target and would "forget" the rule about no head shots. One head shot later, you're down on the floor crying and probably bleeding. But there's a place in Las Vegas that may help the recovering process: dodgeball. Played on trampolines at Sky Zone.

At first, that sounds abolsutely absurd but after watching the video of people playing on their website, you'll quickly be in the that is absolutely awesome camp. In an arena made up of 65 trampolines, with special covers to prevent yourself from falling into those nasty springs. The whole space is the size of a football field - 45 on the ground and the remaining ones make up the walls.

Yes, trampoline walls.

Sin City Brewing Company, best known for having the logo of the girl with a tail, is opening up a third location in Las Vegas. Currently at the Flamingo and Miracle Mile Shops, they're now adding a location in the Venetian's Grand Canal Shoppes which should be opening on September 10th. The Flamingo bar opened this year around six months ago.

This week's episode of Top Chef had some highs, lows and a big reveal that the rules of the game have changed. At the same time, some of the chef'testants still haven't grasped the first rule of Top Chef - make one dish, make only one dish and make it excellent. The second rule is if Top Chef was rock-paper-scissor, bacon beats everything. Always.

The quickfire could have been a pun filled fiasco, but thankfully the producers didn't unleash that upon us. Mark Peel was on Top Chef Masters and had a better idea of what the chefs had to deal with having been on the other side of the table and the quickfire was about making something "out of this world" using potatoes.

Kevin really stepped up in the quickfire by helping out Preeti by letting her use his blanching water - but she accidentally used Ashley's boiling water for gnocchi. Then she dumped out Ashley's water and somehow wasn't flayed on the spot. Though Preeti should consider herself lucky, because I think Jennifer would have inflicted bodily harm on anyone who did that to her.

Now that Paula has somehow escape her confinement chambers of American Idol (or was she set free...?), she's begun looking for other opportunities - mainly Las Vegas. Looking to have her own singing and dancing show, several casinos are interested in her talents.

At the beginning of the summer, there were rumors that the Venetian wanted her on one of their stages but last week Norm Clarke reported that some of Abdul's people were seen at the Hilton. She told Access Hollywood "That will be more... really announced later, when everything's worked [out]," she says. "It's going to happen, but the details have yet to be ironed out."

Will this be Paula's chance of redemption or will she instead end up on another reality TV show? My bet's on her ending up on So You Think You Can Dance.