Las Vegas, NV

I sometimes forget (read: block from my mind) that Vegas has some peculiar sights. The monorail by the strip is one of those.

Now, I remember when I first heard about it I was thinking, “Awesome! A light rail system that runs to and fro throughout the city making transit efficient, cheap and easy.” And then I found out it runs like three blocks around the strip. Hurray.

So yeah, apparently I’m not the only one who thinks it sucks.

Oh and O.J. got arrested. I’m sure the gloves won’t fit.

I often wonder if the people that make up the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority must have some sort of contest where they attempt to come up with more revolting and eye rolling slogan for the city.

The new slogan “your Vegas is showing” is meant to show potential tourists the products Las Vegas has to offer them.

Your Vegas is Showing? Unbelievable. I mean, whoever threw that one out ought to be given a diamond ring and allowed to retire.

Next up, “Vegas is the full frontal nudity of America.”

…if it can be done and it’s wrong, you can almost certainly do it in Vegas.

Las Vegas City Council members are considering a new law to ban short-term home rentals for big parties in residential neighborhoods.

This makes perfect sense. Just rent out the house for a weekend and then let a horde of people trash it. I wish I could say this surprises me or makes me angry but it sounds like par for the course so far.

The real question will be, “Where will they go now?”

Las Vegas has new Hydrogen fuel cell buses! The environment is saved!

Oh, wait, you mean there’s only two? For the whole city? And it doesn’t even begin to touch the hundreds of regular diesel buses? Or the hundreds of construction vehicles that run day and night here? Or the millions of cars that run the roads ragged twenty four hours a day?

“These buses represent part of Ford Motor Company’s strategy to deliver transportation solutions that emit less CO 2 and reduce our dependence on oil,” said Sue Cischke, Ford senior vice president. Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering. “We are pleased to partner with the city of Las Vegas to place these buses into service so that Las Vegas residents and all its visitors will be able to experience this unique form of clean transportation.”

So basically Oscar Goodman and Ford are making a drop in the bucket for a photo-op and publicity stunt. Awesome. I can feel the air getting fresher by the moment!

And for bonus points, Harry Reid secured the earmark that spread this cost to every person in America so that Las Vegas isn’t actually paying for this. Hurray!

Those Wacky Las Vegas Judges!

Seriously, since moving here I have heard more inane and almost unbelievable crap about Las Vegas judges than I have heard about any judiciary, anywhere, ever.

Take today’s fun for instance:

Jonathan MacArthur, a 34-year-old criminal defense attorney, listed among his interests beating prosecutors and used a graphic phrase that he said was common “among blacks, people who associate with blacks or in a sports context.”

I am not entirely sure what exactly that means, but this guy, who is a temp judge and works for the city, has a MySpace profile wherein he uses graphic phrases that are common ‘among blacks’.

They decided not to use MacArthur’s services any longer, March said.

“A judge’s job is to be unbiased in all matters, and on that MySpace page, it appears he definitely has a bias against prosecutors,” March said.

Yeah, those wacky judges and their bizarro biases. Just so you know, I plan to never get arrested and have to go before a judge in this town.

“When did we, the residents of this city, vote to turn it into a Pakistani version of Las Vegas?”

That quote comes from Sorin Ionita in Bucharest, Romania. Apparently you can somehow be tricked into turning your city into a place of waste, sin and cheap thrills.

Clearly no politician would ever do this all on their own, right? Right?

Las Vegas is a concept and soon it will be one of those ubiquitous verbs. Like Google.

Yeah, so, I was going to build an addition on my house for the new baby but I decided to Vegas it instead. I figure the baby will only need three of the four walls and he likes the bright hot sun right? Oh and the hooker- I mean nanny, will help out tremendously.

I’m just getting this thing started so bear with me. My intent is to post news and happenings in and around Vegas as well as local interest points and news that might be, well, newsworthy.

To begin, I think I’d like to drop my two cents about the now pummeled and much maligned reporter for NBC, Michelle Madigan. Honestly, having been a bit of a white hat hacker in a previous life, I know enough about both black hat and white hat to know, definitively, that you do not mess with them.

They can be petty, jealous and downright vindictive. Michelle Madigan might have gotten off easy with just a humiliation and having her face splattered about the interwebs.