Excalibur Hotel Review By Rick Garman

It’s important to look at Excalibur in a historical perspective. When it opened in 1990 at the corner of The Strip and Tropicana there was no New York-New York, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, or MGM Grand a few feet away to compare it against so its giant medieval castle theme was both outrageous and impressive. If you’re able to look at it with a bit of tunnel vision, it still can be. Ignore the fancier neighbors and from the outside Excalibur is pretty cool – giant colorful turrets, a moat, and even a (non-functioning) drawbridge. It’s like something you’d expect to see in the theme park inhabited by a certain cartoon mouse.

When you talk about the heat in Vegas, the first jokes are always about the "dry heat." Sure, you don’t instantly sweat when you step outside like you do in the humid, "wet heat" of a Houston or Manhattan summer, but hot is hot.

When it’s 120 degrees at 6PM and you go to the store and every square inch of the parking lot is radiating heat and your lungs are cursing you, the dry heat jokes are not so funny.

For some reason, this last Vegas heat spell has been making national headlines with the issuance of an "excessive heat warning." Not all of Vegas is tropical and lush like the Secret Garden at The Mirage. This is the desert and deserts tend to be on the hotter side, especially during the summer.

If you dare leave the climate-controlled environs of your hotel room or the blackjack tables, here are five ways to beat the scorching, angry and yes, dry Vegas heat:

1. Snow Day Is Every Day
If Keegan-Michael Key were to describe Caesar’s new luxury spa Qua, he would say that they have taken "luxuriating to a whole ‘notha level."

Sure, there are the obligatory fitness rooms and spa treatments, but their unique, not-so-obligatory offerings include Roman Baths, a tea sommelier and the Arctic Ice Room (pictured) where snow falls indoors every day — yep, snow inside. Somebody should issue an "excessive cool warning."

As you may have experienced, casinos usually keep the air conditioning cranked in the summer so when you come inside from the heat, you risk pneumonia going from one heat extreme to the other. Not here — the glass-tiled interior promotes the cool vibe, but the floor and benches are comfortably heated so you don’t freeze your but off, literally. The room is kept at 55 degrees, which on some days, can be a 60 degrees jump from the outdoor temperature.

What better way to beat the heat than relaxing in a chilled room catching snow flakes on your tongue while folks outside are caught in a solar flare?

2. Night Golfing
In a town filled with golf courses and 24-hour bars, night golfing just makes sense. For decades, the casual Vegas golfer has had to decide between staying out until 6AM at a club or waking up at 6AM to catch a tee time. No longer my friends.

The Cloud Nine short course at Angel Park Golf Club lights nine of the holes for night golfing. There are some interesting layouts, but as in any short course, it’s not very challenging and not for serious golfers. But then again, serious golfers are hitting the early bird buffet, going to bed before ‘Letterman’ and waking up pre-dawn to make their $500 tee time.

3. Flying Inside
For adrenaline junkies, the heat doubles the dilemma. Unless you’re into indoor activities like glow-in-the-dark paintball or disco bowling, you’re often forced into the great outdoors during the heat of the day to find the adventure you so desperately seek.

At Las Vegas’ Flyaway Indoor Skydiving, you can have the best of both worlds: the adrenaline-releasing sensation of flying without the risk of paralyzing sunburn.

Suit up, take a short training class and then fly indoors on top of a column of air pushing speeds of 120 MPH.

4. The Vodka Locker
Fueled by body heat, even Vegas clubs and bars can feel like small ovens. Given the fleshy scenery, the club heat is a little more pleasant than street heat when crossing the Strip on a foot bridge.

The Russian-themed Red Square at Mandalay Bay addresses the issue with a frozen ice bar and a vodka locker. The ice bar has a frozen top so when you set down your cocktail, it stays nice and chilled. If you have a small group and you’re looking to beat the heat, grab a coat and book the vodka locker, a Siberian-esque storage facility housing vodka and a Lenin statue head.

5. Don’t Be a Fool, Stay in Pool
So I saved the obvious for last. While emotionally hot due to the sexy atmosphere, Vegas pools are physically still one of the best ways to beat the heat. I’m not a doctor, so the last statement is not a scientific fact. It just seems with the cabanas, frozen specialty drinks and all of that water, the pool is a good way to stay cool.

Golden Nugget’s pool (pictured above) is the perfect example of an aquatic paradise with waterfalls, sharks, a water slide, an outdoor bar and outdoor blackjack. Check out the Vegas Pool Guide for more pool info.

If you go to one of the topless pools (politely known as "European style sunbathing"), just be sure you bring the SPF 125.
Source:www.vegaspopblog.com

The sawdust has yet to settle on the future of Gilley’s, the New Frontier’s biggest attraction.

Phil Ruffin owns the country-western club’s franchise rights for Nevada and remains tight-lipped about where or when the nightclub will reappear on the Las Vegas landscape.

The boot-scootin’ comes to a halt and the mechanical bull throws its last patron around 5 a.m. Sunday morning, when Gilley’s ends a run that began Dec. 3, 1998.

"I would love to see it relocate at South Point," said long-time customer Joanna Maestro-Smith, referring to the Michael Gaughan property eight miles south of the New Frontier on the Strip.

If hanging hundreds of feet in the air sounds appealing, you might enjoy teetering on the edge of the Stratosphere, 866 feet above the street.

The X-Scream, an extreme experience even by Las Vegas standards, propels riders over the edge of the hotel’s observation deck, seemingly onto the Strip below. Luckily, it’s just an attraction and riders return to solid ground after about two minutes.

The ride operates from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays, and 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays at 2000 Las Vegas Blvd. South.

Tickets cost $16 for tower admission and one ride for locals with Nevada identification. Admission and one ride for nonlocals is $16.95. An all-day package with unlimited rides costs $30.95.

For more information, call the box office at 380-7711.Strip Tips is a weekly feature by Sonya Padgett that highlights attractions and activities on the Las Vegas Strip.
ReviewJournal.com – Living – STRIP TIPS: GO OVER THE EDGE

Leave it to Madame Tussauds here in Las Vegas to come up with a new attraction. This time it’s giving you a chance for a wedding service at its location in the Venetian. Services will be held within the "In Your Dreams" wedding chapel inside Madame Tussauds, which is the current location of the attraction’s "Marry Clooney" experience. In addition to guests being able to slip on a wedding dress to "marry" Hollywood’s most infamous bachelor, couples will now be able to reserve the chapel for actual wedding services.

And here’s the best part. Madame Tussauds is offering one lucky couple the opportunity to win a free wedding. If you’re interested, you have to fill out an online registration form at www.MTvegas.com . The deadline for entries is Sunday, August 12, with the winning couple announced online Monday, August 13. The free ceremony will include all items listed in the wedding package on the Web site. This includes customary items such as the minister, floral arrangements and videotape. The newlywed couple and guests will then be able to tour the attraction for additional wedding photos with the over 100 wax celebrities from the worlds of film, television, sports and world affairs.

It gets even better. Following the theme "With These Stars I Thee Wed," wedding parties may incorporate two Madame Tussauds wax celebrities into the wedding service as witnesses or celebrity guests from a pre-selected list. The wax celebrity couples that may be selected are Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Elizabeth Taylor and Tony Bennett, or Elvis and Marilyn Monroe. For more information on pricing and availability for weddings among the stars call 1-800-292-1177 or email weddings@madametussaudslv.com.

In addition to the wedding package, you can hold your wedding reception (up to 130 guests) in its Spirit of America Room. To include a reception, contact the Madame Tussauds Las Vegas Events Department at 702-862-7805.
ReviewJournal.com – Living – LENNY’S LAS VEGAS: Wed in Wax

First came "Dirty — Rock Hard Comedy Hypnosis," the new weeknight attraction at the House of Blues that pairs hypnotists Terry Stokes and Michael Johns with a rock band.

Now get ready for the Hypnotic Hotties. The dancers, thus billed in a press release, come to Harrah’s Las Vegas on Aug. 10 as part of "Marshall Sylver Presents: The World’s Funniest Hypnotists." Though the title suggests Sylver has bowed out of performing the show in favor of producing, Harrah’s officials say that’s not the case.

They’re still not sure exactly how much Sylver plans to perform versus how much he will rely on other hypnotists, billed as "some of the most amusing … from around the globe." They have time to find out, because the first month is considered a "soft" opening.

Sylver incorporated female dancers and even magic illusions into the show when he performed at the Sahara and Stratosphere in 1996 and 1997. His name popped up more in the news pages than the entertainment section in late 2003, when a jury trial considering charges that he had bilked customers for a financial self-help program ended in a mistrial.
http://www.lvrj.com/living/8869412.html

Tim Gabrielson is a self-admitted dork from Minnesota.

"When I first started in this business I was very arrogant," the 34-year-old magician of "Keep It Funny" says. "I didn’t know who I was. I was insecure and so was arrogant to cover up the insecurity. I’m a dork now. I’m just having a bunch of fun and people accept it."

His humor is natural, spontaneous and unforced as he performs his sleight of hand to the amusement and the amazement of an audience of men, women and children.

Within minutes of taking the stage, the laid-back entertainer has the audience in his power. Even though some of his jokes are corny, no one seems to notice.

Gabrielson creates an origami figure out of rice paper, burns the paper, and out of the flames produces a pingpong ball. Then he seems to turn the ball into an egg.

He makes effective use of an old bit, taking a volunteer’s $100 bill, seemingly destroying it and then waiting until near the end of the show to produce it from an unexpected source.

The show is only an hour and is packed with fun.

Gabrielson’s been amusing audiences for 18 years, the last 12 full time. He’s been working in Las Vegas for five years.

Gabrielson admires illusionists such as Lance Burton, but for himself he prefers the smaller bits over the grand illusions, which allow him to be closer to the fans.

"I love this because my act fits in that trunk that’s onstage," he says. "I don’t have to have a truck.

"I wouldn’t mind doing a bigger room with bigger screens, but no matter how good a big illusion is, it puts some distance between you and the audience."
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/do/2007/aug/02/566614993.html

From clean to dirty, the House of Blues is covering all bases.

While the atmosphere in the magic show is wholesome, bright and untainted by four-letter words, the hypnosis show is laced with profanity, provocative and adult on every level.

"Before we came here our show was very risque," says Michael Johns, whose co-star, Terry Stokes, was performing out of town. "This show, ‘Dirty,’ has taken that to a whole other level."

The first 25 minutes of the show – the part where Johns prepares the audience and the volunteers for what to expect – involves a lot of comedy.

"I come from a stand-up background," Johns says. "In my show you’ve really got to pay attention because I’m always throwing out one-liners."

He says because of his unusual background the show is a blend of hypnotism and stand-up.

"The combination of the two makes it different from anything else in Vegas," Johns says.

Also making a difference is Stokes. He isn’t as raunchy as his partner and carries a different air about him – sophisticated to Johns’ streetwise persona.

When Stokes is out of town Johns carries the show. When Stokes is in town the two usually rotate nights. In the past they have sometimes shared the stage, playing off of one another.

"It’s a good partnership," Johns says. "Sometimes we do a two-man show … we try to outdo each other onstage."

Johns says adding a live band to the mix has been a big improvement. The group plays several rock numbers while the audience is being seated.

"The energy level in the room is unbelievable," Johns says.

A dozen or so people are brought to the stage and hypnotized. They simulate smoking pot, watching porn, sitting in vibrating chairs and performing other actions of an adult nature.

"But there’s no nudity," Johns says. "We don’t humiliate anybody. A lot of shows will get somebody onstage and trash them. We never have and never will, but we do step over the line of good taste."

What: "Dirty: Rock Hard Comedy Hypnosis"When: 11 p.m. Sundays through Fridays.