In the spirit of the season, I have been thinking of others. Once again, I offer my suggestions for those of you beset by family or friends who have learned to their surprise and horror that losing money is unpleasant, and thus have nothing better to do than disturb your peace and generally erode goodwill among men.
If you read this column, you're probably interested in art, and regardless of whether your guests share that interest, you should have no qualms about steering them gallery-ward. Who knows, they might return improved in mind and spirit. Or they might be so shamed by your urbane taste that they determine never to visit you again. Win-win.
But send them first to a guaranteed pleaser, even if their idea of an impressionist is Rich Little. The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art has extended its popular Monet: Masterworks from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston through the 23rd century. Or so it seems to us locals. Actually, the show's long run ends May 30. Even if you saw it earlier, go again, because the show since has welcomed additional works by master impressionists Pissarro, Renoir, Manet and Danny Gans. (Yeah, scratch that last one.)
If your guests have yet to sate themselves on the city's sybaritic offerings, perhaps a show with a title like The Pursuit of Pleasure will intrigue them. The popular Guggenheim Hermitage Museum exhibition comprises works from its two namesake institutions, along with the Kunsthistorisches Museum of Vienna, all on the theme of catching kicks over the ages. Paintings and sculptures range from the 16th century to the 20th, and include works by such masters as Titian, Velazquez and Picasso. The good times roll through February 13 in the museum lodged at The Venetian.
But, you say you have a house full of rowdies for whom Monet and Picasso are a little stilted? Then dispatch them to Gallery Au Go-Go, 4972 S. Maryland Parkway, Suite 12. Here they might be pleased to find the wall-gracing works of people whose canvas usually is human skin. Tattoos and Trash 3 is the third incarnation of the show that launched GAG-G, the funkiest little gallery in town. Proprietor Dirk Vermin, whose Pussykat Tattoo Parlor is adjacent, has provided a much-needed alternative art space for Las Vegas.
Or perhaps nuclear devastation is more to your household's holiday taste. In that event, stop by the Charleston Heights Arts Center Gallery, 800 S. Brush St., to examine documentary photographs of what nuclear weapons research and development hath wrought upon the Southwest. The six photographers in the show vary in viewpoint and style, but you can't escape the common conclusion that the Nuclear West is a dreadful place. And how's that for Christmas cheer?
For an excursion slightly more lighthearted, round up the posse and head downtown. But first click on www.neonmuseum.org/pages/2/index.htm to create your self-guided tour of the Neon Museum's open-air "gallery" of restored vintage-Vegas signs, scattered on and around Fremont Street. These include the famed "Hacienda Horse and Rider" and "Andy Anderson," the Anderson Dairy mascot. If you've got as many as 10 on hand, you can schedule a tour for $5 each (or a $50 donation for smaller groups) of the Neon Museum's Boneyard, where it stores its collection of has-been signs. Contact the museum at 387-NEON.
And you could cap your day by a visit to the Fremont Street Experience, the canopy longtime locals love to hate. But Viva Vision, the barrel-vault array of 12.5 million LED modules stretching from Main Street to Las Vegas Boulevard, really is quite amazing. Some of the shows, like Area 51, are corny, but otherwise the sweeping visual effects are great. The on-the-hour shows start at 6 p.m. and end at midnight.
And yes, you can call it art if you want.