For a while now, I’ve been dropping hints about an article on resort fees that I’ve been working on. I’ve been a little more mysterious than usual because the magazine I wrote it for hadn’t been published yet. Well, it’s out at last, in the debut issue of Vegas Seven magazine.
It’s the first in a weekly column series that I’m writing called “Green Felt Journal.” My beat is gaming and tourism generally, with a mix of current issues, historical perspective, and coming trends. It’s different from the column I write for the Business Press every two weeks, because the LVBP column is more reflective and observational, while Green Felt Journal is drawn more on statistical research and interviews.
The best way I’ve found to read the resort fee article is to go to the digital version of the magazine and flip ahead to page 34, where you’ll see the inaugural edition of the Green Felt Journal in all its glory. Vegastripping.com forum members will be glad to see that I used the topic thread on resort fees in the article, with users rockchickx51 and donnymac66 getting quoted in print. Thanks, guys!
But that’s not all. I’ve also got an essay in today’s issue about how the Wonder Pets can save Las Vegas. Yes, in all seriousness I wax philosophical on how Las Vegas should take some tips from a toddler TV show. Here’s a sample:
In a recent episode, the Pets fly to Las Vegas to aid the Rat Pack, a trio of bumbling performing rodents named Blue Eyes, Dino and Sammy who can’t get their act together. In honor of this mission, the heroes replace the mast and sail on their intrepid vehicle of choice, the Fly Boat, with a construction inspired by neon signs and showgirls’ headdresses. Just like that, the Fly Boat is reborn as the “Vegas Boat.” After departing the schoolhouse to a slot machine’s jangle, the Vegas Boat zooms past the Wynn and down into a pint-size re-creation of the Strip. There, in a makeshift rehearsal space, the Pets give the Rat Pack a lesson on working together when they dance. This works like a charm. To celebrate, they join Dino for some pasta and, though their work is done, Blue Eyes refuses to let them leave without having some fun.
Can the Wonder Pets Save Las Vegas?
Maybe I’ve been watching toddler TV for too long, but the show really says a lot about how most people view Vegas.
If you’re in Vegas, look for a copy of Vegas Seven on the street–I believe you’ll find them where 944 is distributed. [UPDATE: You can find them at 7-Eleven, Albertsons, Fresh N Easy, Whole Foods, Golds Gym, Hard Rock Hotel, the Palms, Lee’s Discount Liquor and Blockbuster]
If you don’t live in Vegas, you’ll have to content yourself with browsing the contents online. There are several great articles in there, including one about how Las Vegas is courting China.
For those of you who want to keep up with the rest of my work, I’m still writing a monthly historical column for Casino Connection, and have occasional longer pieces in Global Gaming Business–one about the mainstreaming of gambling should be out soon. In this month’s issue, by the way, there’s an excerpt from Eadington and Dolye’s Integrated Casino Resorts that is definitely worth reading. There’s also a look inside Aria’s surveillance room that is interesting, and much more.
As the Wonder Pets might say, it looks like my work here is done. How about some celery?
UPDATE: OK Schopenhauer, you asked for it. Here it is:
My favorite is the one at about 1:14. If you want a good introduction to the Wonder Pets, try this video from Parents magazine.
Dis is sewious!
And it’s not an excerpt… it’s what we in the business call a “rehash.” I spent many agonizing minutes making it not an excerpt.
Pop culture portrayals of gambling, Las Vegas, etc. are fascinating to me–I think these so-called philosophers nowadays have some theories about “particularity” or something–like what is it about, say, Nevada, that is particularly Nevada to non-Nevadans? When Nevadans NOT from Las Vegas ever leave Nevada, and say they are from Nevada, the automatic response is, “Oh yes! I know Las Vegas!” (Or Orange Countians are categorized as gun-toting Birchers, and so on.)
When overseas I found it more productive to say I was from Disneyland, which is close enough.
Jordanians, for example, think of America as Florida, California (which is half Disneyland, half San Francisco), Texas, New York City, Detroit, Las Vegas, and the Grand Canyon. And they think it is all not much farther away than the far tip of Saudi Arabia.
That’s actually pretty good, though, seeing as most Americans couldn’t name that many things in Jordan.
These ‘Wonder Pets’ are even cuter than The Teletubbie characters (which I’m still not sure if it was a Japanese production or what).
It was good to read your article and looking at Vegas from a kid’s happy perspective.
BTW. Earlier today I read your (‘Suburban Xanadu’) concept of the “green felt jungle” being more like a “green felt garden”. How appropriate. And now your column is called the “Green Felt Journal”
This ‘Vegas Seven’ Magazine did a good thing by placing the full contents on-line. It’s definitely a good way of getting their magazine “known” by those of us who might not have seen it on news-stands or have been likely to purchase it.
Their zooming feature allowed me to also read that good article about Lake Mead & the El Nino effect. Who would have known that this weather pattern (named after a “little child”) might be the thing that keeps Vegas from drying up.
As self-sufficient as our city seems (trucking in goods, etc) we still need to rely on Mother Nature’s providence to a high degree.
One thing I’ve always thought of as sort of a miracle is the fact that Earth’s temperature never goes higher than 137 degrees. What if we couldn’t depend on that consistency?
Here’s a fun fact (from my ‘Dunlop Illustrated Encyclopedia of Facts’):
The hottest place (‘mean temperature’) in the USA is in Key West, Florida (76.6F). The hottest in the world is Somalia (88F).
Highest USA temperature on record: 134 degrees in Death Valley on July 10, 1913.
……..
That link to Aria’s Surveilance System was good to see and should be of interest even to people involved with video production. It surprised me to find out that Aria opted to use analog cameras.
You definitely need to get out more! Wonderpets??? LOL!
Very good article Dr. Schwartz. I think one thing Las Vegas definitely has going for it is that the people who visit Las Vegas love to talk about it.
When I am out with my friends at a tavern called Rossi’s on State Street in Chicago I occasionally wear my Las Vegas t-shirt (the only one I have has a picture of Frank, Dean and Sammy on it in front of The Welcome to Las Vegas sign) and people will see my t-shirt and start talking about Las Vegas. Rossi’s customers include a mix of locals, restaurant and hotel workers who work near by, conventioneers and tourists. When I tell them I lived in Las Vegas for 4 years they tell me where they stayed, how much money they won, how the mob still runs Las Vegas, etc., etc. It’s pretty funny and almost always entertaining.
Reading ‘Suburban Xanadu’ the second time around has been a real pleasure. I just completed my second stretch of reading (this last stretch was from 10am yesterday till 5 am this morning). I’m now at page 137. This is great writing. There is so much research and info to each page. It’s like an encyclopedia of Las Vegas history…plus gives a great over-all picture of what gaming means in current times. The chapter on ‘Organizing Luck’ really provides a good look at the accounting aspects of casino operations.
I’m now at the Rat Pack chapter and the early 1960s.
Reading this a 2nd time proves (to me) how much of this book entered my sub-conscious the first time I read it.
I’ve read a few hundred books about Las Vegas & gaming since 1995. I have five favorites. I would place this book and ‘Viva Las Vegas: Architecture After-Hours’ as (IMO) the two most important Vegas books to take to a deserted island (and the two most packed with well researched information, unique observations & inspired assements).
I’ll probably finish this book by Saturday and can then get back to a project I was working on…with a clearer perspective than I had before.
From ‘Wonder Pets’ to the ‘Suburban Xanadu’, Dr. Davenschwartzer covers it all.