As Fred Thompson gathers himself to enter the field of Republican presidential candidates, most national polls show him challenging and even leading part front-runner Rudy Giuliani. One poll, released today, shows Thompson leading among grassroots conservative voters, 28 percent of whom say they favor the former senator from Tennessee and “Law and Order” cast member. That poll, conducted by the conservative Web site Grassfire.org, also notes that Ron Paul has moved to third place among what it calls “real conservatives.”
But the local Ron Paul lobby is hardly impressed with the new entry in the Republican field. Says Paul’s Las Vegas campaign media liaison, Arden Osborne III, of Thompson’s Lancelot-like leap into the fray, “He’s another sock puppet. For God sakes, he's a former lobbyist! When will America wake up!? He stands for nothing of substance. He's lazy and he has no real experience. He was a very unsuccessful one-term senator. The thing to know about him is this: He’s an actor! Enough said.”
So in a single e-mail rant we’ve offended lobbyists (former and current), narcoleptics, lazy boys, one-termers, thespians and the famous entertainer Lamb Chop. Oh, and Reaganites across the country.
But the Paul Posse is making it interesting, at least. The national organization has grown to about 40,000 members, and those “Ron Paul Revolution” signs around town, with “Love” highlighted in the word Revolution, are becoming more common. Maybe he’ll work his way onto the ticket. Whatever, it’s going to be a wild campaign season around here.
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My real-estate philosophy is, when the housing market sags, turn to your left-fielder. So today I called Ralph Cenname of Omni Home Financing (where he is a mortgage lender) and King Tut’s Saloon (for whom he is a left-fielder in the Doc Romeo men’s D-plus City of Las Vegas adult softball league).
I’ve written about Ralph before; he’s the one who set up the financing for our new house. When I spoke to him today about the unsteady local housing market, he remarked, “When there’s blood in the street, it’s time to buy.” Which is to say, it is a buyer’s market, obviously, and will remain so for at least another year, in Ralphie’s view. It is a particularly good time to have good credit, especially in the 720-above range. Of those credit scores, Ralph says, “A credit score is a snapshot for how responsible a person is. If they make a lot of money but are in the 550s, you know they don’t pay who they owe. That’s pretty much how it goes. The people with good credit are going to be reaping the rewards of all these foreclosures.” So simple, this real estate game.
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On Tuesday afternoon, during a quick interview for a story I am writing for the print version of Las Vegas Weekly (which will be posted on LasVegasWeekly.com, in this nutty interactive media thing we’ve got going here), I asked Mayor Oscar Goodman about the first time he represented a reputed Mob figure. I silence fell over the conversation. Just as I was going to ask, “Mayor?” he said, “We’re having a pause. An eerie pause.” I responded, “This is what’s called a pregnant pause.” He finally said, “I don’t want to talk about reputed Mob figures. Contrary to the opinion of some, I was not brought out here by the Mob.” I think the mayor was playing it safe in the wake of some rugged treatment in a column by Bob Hebert of the New York Times that flatly accused the Goodman of presiding over a culture of degradation toward women. It was no time for shtick.
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This weekend, “Saturday Night Live” is releasing a CD of live performances. Featured are Avril Lavigne, Kelly Clarkson, Foo Fighters, Dave Matthews The Strokes, Maroon 5 and Franz Ferdinand. Absent are the Killers, whose October appearance was fairly doused by the show’s oft-lousy audio for music acts. NBC has been airing retrospective, by-the-decades “SNL” specials and the poor sound quality has been a problem since the show’s first season. If you can’t make Stevie Wonder sound decent, you gots a problem.
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Pure Management Group has shifted fields and will keep Tangerine at Treasure Island open through 2007 and begin its “major re-invention” project early next year. The initial plan was to shut down operations Sept. 1 (or, last Saturday) and re-open New Year’s Eve. “A decision was made to keep the venue open and allow patrons to enjoy several more months of great nightlife at Tangerine,” PMG Managing Partner Robert Frey said in a statement. “We are still committed to renovating the nightclub and can’t wait to unveil a new concept in 2008.” It’s business as usual until then.
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REI – both a development company and an outdoor recreation retailer. The developer, REI Neon of Michigan, is new to town and planning a $9 billion development to include a couple of casinos and a sports arena abutting the arts district. The retailer, REI Outfitters, sells kayaks, tents, bikes and all assortments of outdoor gear and attire at its vast store in the District at Green Valley Ranch. A spokeswoman for the REI retail chain said today there is not a problem with the REI developer because the company does not deal in outdoor equipment. Instead, the developer specializes in fancy renderings, fast talk, lofty promises and pixie dust.
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The film “Self-Medicated,” written by and starring Las Vegas native Monty Lapica and which opened in 14 cities over the weekend, took a beating on the most recent airing of “Ebert & Roper.” Two thumbs down. Richard Roper said Lapica’s script was self-serving, and added that the young film director should not have cast himself in the lead role of Andrew Eriksen because Lapica is “a bad actor.” Consider it motivation for Lapica, whose film – which debuted two years ago at CineVegas -- is nonetheless ambitious and shows plenty of promise.
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Vegas moment: An older couple, the type usually called “elderly,” taking front-row seats Friday night at Sunset Station’s outdoor concert series show at the hotel’s pool area. The band performing was Caress of Steel, which is a Rush tribute act (it is a fine band, but hardly in the class of Fly By Night). The couple probably received the tickets as comps, and were ambling back to the casino before the first song -- “Bastille Day” – was finished.
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PL8 in my head: Reader didn’t quite catch the make of the SV with the plate TTLBLND.
Fabulous Las Vegas appears at this Web site. John Katsilometes can be reached at 990-7720, 812-9812 or at [email protected]