Friday's Follies

Super Summary

Super Bowl Sunday: This weekend's game in Arizona will be another boon for Las Vegas. From the prop bets - Hilton alone offers 50 pages worth - to betting on the outcome of the game (Pats are hands down favorites but will they cover the spread?), to packages that go through Las Vegas, this will be one of the biggest sports weekends of the year. Beer and snack sales are up, big screen TV sets and recliners are being lugged out of stores, and pizza makers are bracing for an onslaught. A call-girl cal has even gone out since there are not enough escorts to escort fans. The big bowl helps to keep Las Vega$$$ green.

Slip sliding away: Taxable sales slipped in November - a whopping 1.3% according to those who report such things. Can't help but wonder why they did not report that November sales were at 98.7% of last year's record? Still, the weekend should boost sales taxes as well as casino spending. The Valley of the Dollars is usually considered a destination but many Super Bowlers stop here for a few days then mosey on down to the game. Those without tickets opt to stay and see it locally. It is cheaper that way and they get to see replays and those fancy new commercials.

Are candidate debates de bait? It is looking more and more like both parties have their two finalists for the pageant. The Republicans had their debate the other day on the right side of the left coast and Mitt and John seem to be the emerging candidates. Last night the Democrats had their Kodak moment on the left coast as Hillary and Obama continue to be center stage. Seems like it should be a movie - actually two movies. The Rebub debate was cast as "Grumpy Old Men" and the Dem debate was cast as "Love Story."

Where have all the flowers gone? We don't know about the other flowers but if a Rose by any other name (as in Thomas Rose) doth appear as a Peter Piper of Paradise Plumbing, he may have pilfered a peck of palettes from the public pavilion. Police partook plenty of packages from the pigeonhole that belongs to the owner of Paradise Plumbing. Problems persist pursuant to pilferage of University Medical Center property that has pitfallen into places where they should not be perched. Paradise Plumbing was paid 50 grand to replace valves without the benefit of a bidding process. That is perplexing.

Won't you be my friend? It wasn't Mr. Rogers but President Bush who flew into the Valley of the Dollars looking for friends. But most of the Republican officeholders were conspicuously absent to greet him for photo ops. In fact, members of the media were kept at such a distance that it was nigh impossible to get a photo shot of him. The Pres was able to dig up a few supporters including the Guv, who is having many of his own problems that are not unlike those of the Prez. During a 30-minute speech the hand picked audience that gave the biggest round of applause to his correctly pronouncing "Nevada."

New meaning may come to The Strip: Like Rodney Dangerfield, some people just don't get no respect. Take strippers for example. Wait, let me rephrase that. An estimated 10,000 strippers - uh, exotic dancers, actually pay for the privilege of getting naked as independent contractors. But a group of the ladies have sued to become employees and be paid wages by club owners for whom they work. When they say "minimum" they are talking about attire, not wages. A recent ruling cleared the way for a class action lawsuit that some may consider no-class seeking to change the work status. One might say the new law would cover the uncovered.

A little blogging music maestro..."Your Mama Don't Dance" by Poison.

Dr. Forgot