GRAY MATTERS

"The monorail itself would not be considered a public forum, even though it's got public money in it. Not every entity is a public forum," says Allen Lichtenstein, ACLU attorney. "It's like the airport. Even though there is public money in there, it's not intended as a public forum. The stations might be. But there's no right (to free speech) as there would be on a free street or sidewalk."

"The Gaming Control Board has made it clear that we cannot offer free bingo for crappy prizes any longer," reads the July 20 e-mail from local scenester (and former Weekly columnist) Poizen Ivy. Ivy has been hosting the monthly Punk Rock Bingo night at the Double Down Saloon for nearly a year, but the law finally caught up with her on the cusp of the event's first-anniversary party. "We didn't think of it as being bingo along the lines of casino bingo," she says, but the Gaming Control Board apparently doesn't make that distinction. The Double Down operates under a restricted license and is not authorized to host bingo. Bar owner Moss refused to comment, not surprising given his reported past troubles with the board over risque videos and a mechanical pony (since removed). Ivy is looking at an undisclosed location to host the return of Punk Rock Bingo, but for now the event's first-anniversary party will continue as scheduled on August 2, with the Bargain DJ Collective, LA rockers the Kite-Eating Tree and—note to regulators—absolutely no actual bingo. She encourages everyone who has one to wear a "Got Lube?" T-shirt from event sponsor ID Lube because, as she puts it, "we feel we got screwed."

From Family Christian Stores advertising: "Metal Bible: Plain and simple and totally unexpected—this small, plain-text, New Living Testament metal-cover Bible is about giving teens something totally unique without directly saying it's for them."

"... Style-conscious teens will find this lightweight, compact edition of the Scriptures irresistible!"

Writer Marc Cooper is making a cottage industry of decrying the demise of Old Vegas. Last year, he published a book-length lament on the subject, The Last Honest Place in America. Its premise: Corporations are ruining Sin City! But there's more to say on the subject, so he wrote an op-ed piece for Sunday's Los Angeles Times. Its premise: Corporations are still ruining Sin City! Mixing anxiety about the Strip's recent merger-mania with references to "corporate bean counters," "corporate suits" and "computer whizzes," Cooper despaired for the Valley's soul. For hard evidence, he visited the Horseshoe, which he used to love for its shabby authenticity. Now, though, after financial failure led to its assimilation by Harrah's, the place has gone all to hell in a blaze of 409: "The old drink-stained felt tables had been replaced with bright new models. The paisley carpet had been cleaned. And the dealers had been given fresh uniforms." Worse, Cooper says, is that single-deck blackjack (which gives players the best advantage) has been replaced by the six-deck game. While it's hard to imagine Benny Binion uneasy in his grave over clean carpet, there's probably something to the blackjack argument. On the other hand, there's the unintended comedy of Cooper scolding the casino for failing to continue doing the things that led to its finacial problems in the first place.

Now, we at the Weekly are not in favor of corporate domination in any area except those dominated by our parent company. Hey, we want to stick it to The Man as much as the next free newspaper. Still, corporations aren't unequivocably evil (except those owned by Australian media moguls, of course), and also, Vegas never prospered like this under its previous landlords, the mob.