While Las Vegas Sleeps…

What the hell is a Doodlebop? Is it some new form of mind-altering drug ruining our youth? Does it make you dress in painfully-colored clothing and frolic like it’s Pride Parade Day in San Francisco? Why do I keep hearing about how “huge Doodlebops are” when I’ve never personally experienced a Doodlebop.  I mean, let’s face it, if something’s “huge” around here… I’d know about it!

I always thought I was in the loop on new drugs used recreationally for mind-altering purposes, but I have to say, if it makes you look like this, I don’t ever want one! Their color choices make the artist in me want to spray paint graffiti on a Van Gogh while chopping both ears off. The horror! “Ugly color” makes baby Jesus cry and makes me feel unhinged. Keep the Doodlebops far, far away from me! For the love of god!!

Apparently they are going to be creating public nausea at The Orleans Arena tomorrow. Here’s an article on the Las Vegas Sun, if you dare read more…

Last night I was at Bucks #1 and the adjoining Kinkos, drinking my ritual coffee and taking care of some printing stuff I had to do. I saw a sign on the door of the Starbucks saying they would be closed tomorrow (today) from 5:30-9:30pm. I was a little dismayed because I’m always in that area and get one to two coffee drinks there daily (or nightly, as it were, because that’s when I’m out on the prowl.) Yes, the Starbucks on Paradise Road in Las Vegas near Flamingo is my regular caffeine dealer! My C hook-up, baby… You know you got one too!

Early tonight I got a text message from Nick the Las Vegas Cabbie. He was freaked out saying, “Starbucks is closed! I’m going to die!” I knew right away it was at the Paradise Road Starbucks. It had to be…

I had just finished up my dinner and was on the way to get a coffee, myself, on the South Strip - being savvy enough to have planned an alternate, post-dinner caffeine hook-up. Wrong. They had the same damned sign on their window! It’s not just the Bucks on Paradise - it’s all Starbucks in the Las Vegas Valley! How could they so coldly single us out like that?? Don’t they know we have things to do all night??? That’s just mean!

Liz was incensed. She insisted we dial the number on the back her Starbucks card to complain about the hateful treatment Las Vegas caffeine junkies were getting. I called the number for her but it was after business hours, alas.

Only moments later, while suffering from acute caffeine withdrawal, I navigated my web browser to msnbc.com where I ran across this link. Dear god what have they done????

I need to see about doing some after hours stock short-selling. I bet you can chart a national dip in productivity levels amongst those working a swing shift on February 26th, 2008, across the entire nation due to Starbucks evil, tyrannical, bad bad bad cutting off of the coffee tit. I’m so sad. And twitchy.

Tags: cabbie, cabby, caffeine, cappucino, coffee, Las Vegas, latte, legal drugs, Nevada, Starbucks, withdrawals

Lately Las Vegas has turned into what seems like the damn pull-over capital of the West. I actually did hear that there was a police academy class that graduated recently.

I got pulled over - Liz did, actually, I was in the passenger seat - and this cop that was probably eight or ten years younger than I am asked every invasive, rude question he could think of that was irrelevant to why he claimed he pulled us over - a broken light on her license plate. He asked if either of us had ever been “in trouble,” where we were going, where we were coming from, how we know each other, why our driver’s license numbers are so similar, why our address is 7777 something - sounds fishy - what Liz’s vanity license plate meant??!

We were two free American citizens minding our own business, driving a legal car, and doing nothing wrong. It was ridiculous. When I answered him regarding having been “in trouble” a long, long time ago and that the charges were dropped he asked “how long ago?” I replied “1994.” “Yeah, that is quite awhile ago.” Yeah, pig, when you were in about 6th grade.

So after all this unnecessary, useless, intimidating harassment, he “let’s us go.” So at our next stop we got out to check out the license plate light he pulled us over for. It was working like the day she got it - not a single legitimate reason to pull us over - other than the fact that he wanted to and probably needed “practice” being a pig.

Since that night two weeks or so ago, I have seen an unbelievable rash of what seem like unnecessary stops by Las Vegas Metro - literally pulling people over and then letting them go without a ticket, in a lot of cases. They seem to be picking on smaller subcompact cars, oftentimes Hondas or Toyotas. If you’ve got the least little legal issue in your past I can imagine they’d give you unmitigated hell. This is Las Vegas, baby.. Most people have something in their past. Metro used to be the most laid-back police force in America, really not sweating the small stuff because they see some much crazy crap out here, but as far as I am concerned they are really ruining that reputation.

Tags: harrassment, Las Vegas, Las Vegas Metro, Nevada, police, The Strip

The Monte Carlo is now open again this weekend for the first time since the fire that burned a major portion of the roof and top floor facade. The outside no longer looks fire-damaged. It looks more like it’s just getting a face-lift - some cosmetic rejuvenation. For me it would be pretty creepy to stay in a hotel that was burned out and still showed some of the after effects on the building. I just wouldn’t stay there. I know it’s all psychological but it would be just plain weird.

Things seem to be more or less back on track, and in some ways, this will be good for the property. Where they’ve begun the repainting process, you can really tell how dingy the hotel was already looking. It needed some sprucing up, but, of course, they hadn’t planned on sprucing it up to the tune of $100 million dollars. That’s the cost of the repairs and gaming losses during the time it was shut down. Yipe!