Las Vegas Electronics

Bright Lights, Big City

One of the huge advantages of living in Las Vegas is that it all comes to you. Las Vegans don't have to go to either coast to see the biggest stars entertain, or to see Broadway productions such as Mama Mia, or to witness a college football bowl game or the National Rodeo Finals, or enjoy the benefits of tourism dollars pumped into the economy to ease the tax burden on locals. But one of my favorite reasons for living in Las Vegas is the number of conventions that meet here. And where better? Groups as obtuse as the Association of Owners of Funeral Homes or as mainstream as Consumer Electronics Show all come to town for their conventions.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority keep space costs to a minimum in an effort to draw as many conventions as often as possible. Additionally, Las Vegas passed Chicago and Orlando in room count and now has more hotel rooms than anywhere else. In fact, 14 of the largest 15 hotels in the world are in Las Vegas. The granddaddy of all conventions in the pre-TSC days (pre-Tech Stock Collapse) was COMDEX which grew to some 300,000 visitors per year. These days the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) is the largest with more than 140,000 attendees.

CES convention attendees are beginning to straggle into town this weekend as the show begins Sunday. The big draws once again will be the new gadgets and the old Gates - Bill Gates, one of the many stars to appear in Las Vegas who traditionally opens the show. For the tenth consecutive year Microsoft Man will reveal cutting edge products and discuss the future of electronics. The CEO of General Motors will also speak. Vendors at the show will unveil their i-pod lookalikes, i-phone lookalikes, and i anything and everything else. Past shows have introduced many of the products that are taken for granted today such as GPS, HDTV, plasmas, CDs, as well as anything digital or lithium-powered.

So what's new this year? Flying cars? Maybe not but you can bet your bottom i-phone that alternative fuel-powered automobiles will be featured along with any other new item that addresses one's sense of sound or vision. The difference between CES and other conventions is that by the very nature of electronics, not only do the masses come to the mountain, but the Mountain (in this case Mount Las Vegas) is beamed to the masses. CES features Las Vegas in every medium in far greater numbers than does any other convention.

So what's a fella (or gal) to see in this cavalcade of electronics? Not much. Just about 1.8 million the highest definition television screens surrounded by stereophonic sound, TV cameras and at least one reporter for every square foot of space all trying to get a different slant. Tens of thousands of new items will grace the floors spread over at least three convention center venues, hundreds of semis toting items to and from the show and thousands of workers with hundreds of boom lifts, delivery vehicles and electric carts to do the setup and takedown one week later.

The very thought of the magnitude of this event makes me dizzy. A little blogging music Maestro... How about Blood, Sweat, and Tears "Spinning Wheel?'

Dr. Forgot

The Morning After

Romancing the Stone

In the movie, "Romancing the Stone," one bumbling would be thief castigates another for trying to steal a valuable object through sweet talk and deception rather than blatantly seizing it. Some might say that the two winners in the Iowa caucus romanced the stone from their opponents. Let's review what happened.

Several weeks ago Hillary Clinton was the heir apparent for the Democratic presidential nomination just as sure as the Bumbling Bush had been his party's favorite prior to the 2000 election. But that is where the similarities end. For month's even the tenor of Senator Hillary's speeches were flavored with "When I am elected..." It seemed she was ready, willing and able to accept the party's nomination. Some in her camp might have successfully predicted "Bye, bye Biden" and the end to the musical "Elect Sweeney Dodd," but aside from his wife, few would have recognized the political "Bam" in Obama. Senator Clinton had the pedigree (though Repubs would disagree), the big bucks, both in terms of money and the party stags who boosted her candidacy, and a hubby who is the apple of the eye of the Democratic constituency.

Obama had youth. Oh, and later he had the endorsement of Oprah. He was so young, inexperienced, and naive that he didn't know he couldn't garner more votes than the other candidates. His opponent was Casey at the Bat. And when the votes were tallied the mighty Casey had struck out. The verdict even favored Bygone John Edwards to pillory Hillary.

In the spirit of the just ended college football season, the opposing team had their own upset victory. The mayor who single handedly saved New York didn't bother to show up for the game and therefore forfeited with 3% of the tally. "Who the Heck is Ron Paul" more than tripled Rudy's votes and the actor, no the candidate, no, the actor, no the candidate tied the war hero with 13% of the total. The two top vote getters on the Republican side were "A Million Here a Million There and Eventually it will add up to Real Money" Romney who was forced to adMitt that he was skunked bu Mike Who-Kabee?

Romney, like Hill, had the money but lacked the honey to beat out the poorly funded campaign of two-buck Huck. Huck made a beeline for Burbank and the Leno show the night before the caucus. Given his campaign war chest he probably flew coach both ways and had to sidestep angry picketing writers. But what Jay's Mike realized better than any of his opponents is that more Iowans have color TV these days than unions. The move was brilliant. His "everyman" persona rang true to more Rebub voters than did the Mitt kit.

As high as the winners and as low as the losers are after the prom, one must remember that one caucus doth not a nomination make. You can bet that Hillary's team, bruised and battered, is back at the planning table, the Edwards camp is planning an appeal in Rhode Island, Mitt is regrouping with religious fervor, and Rudy is hoping for a quick New York crisis so his tail can wag the dog. One thing that was refreshing was the limited divisiveness by the candidates compared to recent elections. The next nominees, it appears, will become so not by bullying and mean spiritness, but by romancing the stone.

A little blogging music Maestro.... How about "Call it Democracy" by Bruce Cockburn.

Dr. Forgot

A New Century

Dr. Forgot's 100th Post

This is my one-hundredth post since Dr. Forgot blog began a couple of months ago. This post will step away from politics, Las Vegas and current events and reflect on other bits of banal activities. I grew up in Clairton, PA along the Monongahela River, just a short boat ride from Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle where the Monongahela meets the Allegheny River to form the Ohio. Such a meeting is called a confluence.

In the 1950s Clairtonians and others relaxed at Kennywood amusement park. I wrote of it in a post dated 12/27/07. From the post I heard from many for whom Kennywood had special memories. My old friend and classmate Donna L. wrote to remind me of the custom of families to take picnic baskets with them for the day. Baskets were placed on a picnic table under a shelter, then everybody went to the park to ride, swim, or to watch "The Amazing Cannonball Man" be shot out of a cannon and into a net. At lunch the families would return and their picnic baskets would be untouched.

Another classmate, Jim S. reminded me of great basketball standard caper. A group of young men played basketball in the church league. However the church had no gym for practice - which they needed desperately. Across town there stood a perfectly good basketball standard, complete with hoop, backboard, and net. It had been erected by the City for recreational use of the neighborhood kids. The boys church basketball team made some heady decisions: 1. they needed a basketball standard to become competitive, 2. The standard across town was hardly ever used, 3. why not dig it up and take it to the church.

In the dead of night (probably about 5 p.m.) the group, armed with shovels appropriated from their father's garages, stealthily crept up to the standard and began to dig around the concrete foundation to which the standard was anchored. Eventually the backboard, rim, net and pole, complete with what seemed like 500 pounds of cement were all liberated, transported to the edge of the church parking lot and replanted. The new practice facility looked so stalwart that even the blisters on the boys fingers didn't hurt.

While the team was busy digging up the standard, the neighborhood bitty (every neighborhood had one in the 1950s) watched in silence from behind her curtains and once the boys were gone, called the police to report a theft of city property and the names of each perpetrator. The next day at school each of the delinquents was hauled out of class and told to report to City Hall for punishment. At City Hall they faced a Star Chamber made up of the mayor, Wimpy, the pock faced policeman who struck fear into every Clairton teen, and a few councilmen. They were grilled, roundly humiliated, and threatened with banishment from society for the rest of their lives plus two weeks. Punishment included the return of the standard and community service. To the best of my knowledge none of the "shirts and skins" gang ever had another run-in with the law.

A little blogging music Maestro.... how about Nat King Cole's, "Ain't Misbehaving?"

Dr. Forgot

Leftovers into the New Year

Snapping up Snippets

Up Up And Away: Americans are a curious lot when it comes to flying. Over the past decade real tickets have given way to e-tickets, fares have increased, food service has all but disappeared, employees have disappeared (have you checked in at a kiosk lately?), flight crews have become surly, cops have been added, lines are longer, planes are more crowded and arrive later, and the employees who are left are overworked, underpaid, and anxiously awaiting retirement - hoping that their company does not join dozens of others already in bankruptcy.But we keep flying in ever increasing numbers. Atlanta continues as the busiest airport in the US with nearly a million flights annually. Hence the old saying, "If you're going to Hell you have to go through Atlanta," still holds true. Las Vegas had fewer flights but more people aboard. Chicago's O'Hare and Dallas Fort Worth, and LAX are also among the dizziest and busiest.

Blow 'em up, knock 'em down, build 'em up: Las Vegas has a history of blowing up and replacing hotels. Dunes. Boom! Bellagio. Sands. Boom! Venetian. Castaways. Boom! Mirage. Mirage parking lot. Boom! Treasure Island. Desert Inn. Boom! Wynn. And the booming beat goes on. Sometimes buildings just divide and expand like so many amoebas. The old Nevada Palace on Boulder Highway has blossomed into a Cannery that is such an awesome blossom that an Aussie bought it. The Hard Rock is bursting its seams to the tune of a $ 750 million 950 room addition and the Venetian recently spawned Palazzo. The building boom has changed Las Vegas from Little Lulu to Baby Huey.

Pssst... Hey buddy, wanna buy something?: Retailers are not happy about flat sales this holiday season. Sales are off a couple of percent compared to last year's. What's a marketer to do? In the spirit of making every holiday more commercial some retailers have figured out that Hispanics still have loose change in their pockets so several campaigns have started to target shoppers for the "Three Kings" celebration of the Magi which is celebrated January 6. It is surprising the retailers have not yet figured out that Russian, Greek, and Serbian Orthodox church members follow the Gregorian calendar and celebrate Christmas January 7. But I'm sure they will. After which they can boldly announce, "Only 36 shopping days left until Valentines. Day"

Da place for wise guys: If pink flamingos are soooo south Florida, what is soooo Vegas? Elvis? Garish homes decorated in "Early Pit Boss?" Neon and more neon? Yes to all of the above, but move over chic shtick, there's a new attraction coming to town. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is robbing the post office. Well, not actually. The old downtown post offices closed a few years ago and Oscar has proposed turning it into a Mob Museum. It is logical. If Washington D.C. can have a spy museum (which they do), why not a mob museum in the Entertainment Capital of the World?

A little blogging music Maestro.... anything by Guns and Roses.

Dr. Forgot

Predicting the Future

Is it Just a Bunch of Bull?

The old saw that bad news sells newspapers and drives electronic news seems to prevail. If it bleeds it leads. Bad news on the doorstep- I couldn't take one more step. Such is the state of the fourth estate. But dust away the shocking headlines and the Whitehouse banter and the spin doctors and what is left are cold hard facts. Will 2008 find the economy continuing to hurtle down the tubes?

What's that you say? The picture is not all bleak? During the past five years Standard and Poors 500 has rocketed more than 17%. It is true that came on the heels of a 25% increase in 2003 balanced a bit by a mere 3% increase in 2005 and little better in 2007, but that is a five year run of the Bull. That beats the running of the bulls at Pamplona Spain, which only occurs once each year but gets much more coverage because there is much more blood to report about. Many money strategists predict 2008 will also be a good year for the stock market and make a rare six-year run of positive growth.

But how can that be with sub-prime mortgages, credit problems, falling home prices, tighter loan standards, etc. Those folks supposedly in the know are predicting a brighter market in 2008 for several reasons. Much of the bad news cited above is over and things are settling down. Sort of like when FEMA finally arrived in New Orleans. As housing prices appear to be "bottoming out" more families can afford homes and more investors are willing to get back into the swing. Also, central banks around the world, including our own Federal Reserve, will continue to lower interest rates to encourage investing.

With the dollar at an all time low against the Euro and many other currencies, foreign investment is pouring into the US like two-for-one night at the local pizzeria. Cash rich economies such as those in China, Singapore, and the Middle East are snapping up investments in the US. AS the price of oil continues to rise and OPEC countries become awash with cash, they need a place to park it. As global growth continues US companies abroad benefit from the global boom.

Although stock prices rise, many have low valuations, which allow them to rise. Compared to bonds, stocks are considered a good buy. And although we have been CNNed and Foxed, and even Mainstream Media-ed to death with candidates who want to be your president, stocks in election years typically do well, especially in the third and fourth quarters.

Remember, the housing market values have dropped double figures - homes in some areas have lost up to 12% of their values. But during the run-up of the past few years, home market values have doubled and even tripled in some areas. So let's see... a $ 100,000 home rises in value to $ 300,000 over a few years. Then a "housing crisis" causes it to drop in value to $ 260,000 - and the sky is falling? Apparently that's what sells.

A little blogging music maestro.... How about "Bad Moon Rising?"

Dr. Forgot

7-7-7 You're a Winner! And a Loser

Ka-Ching... ker plop

Californians are the biggest liars in Las Vegas. Years ago when I first arrived in Las Vegas as a young, struggling schoolteacher I took a second job as a taxi driver and later as my wardrobe improved, a limousine driver. Whenever people would get into my cab or limo I'd always chat with them - "Where are you from? How are the casinos treating you?" etc. Most fares were from California. That is not a surprise as more than half of the visitors to the Valley of the Dollars come from San Andreas by the Sea. What surprised me most is that they would nearly always answer, "I broke even."

I'm here to tell you that if every visitor to a casino broke even, Las Vegas would still be more desert and gulches than concrete and neon. Of course, SOMEBODY has to win a jackpot occasionally. That's one of the things that keeps visitors returning to our oasis. With that in mind, the favorite of all government agencies, the IRS reminds us this time of year to read their Bulletin 419, "Gambling Income and Expenses."

A CPA friend of mine tells me that ALL income is taxable, even the change that you pick up in the parking lot because your kid is too lazy to bend over. Your kid might be lazy but he might not be so stupid since he will not have to declare the parking lot change as income. Although the casual gambler rarely reports casino or track or even internet gaming winnings, the IRS requires it. Three sevens might turn out to be lemons. Be careful how loudly you yell, "Bingo!"

The IRS allows you to deduct losses as long as those deductions don't exceed your winnings. And they want you to keep a log if you plan to deduct. No, not those tallys that casinos provide you. You know, the ones that have disclaimers printed on them? Nope, Uncle Sam wants YOU to keep detailed logs of how often, how much, when and where. Kind of takes the fun out of impulse gambling, but the more information you can provide the better your chances you'll be believed when the tax man cometh.

Want to be a professional gambler? That doesn't mean you place a bet on the Raiders for your brother-in-law. The IRS has recently established a designation of "professional gambler" for those whose frequent gambling activity serves as their primary source of income. The pros get to deduct related expenses such as hotel stays, car rentals, etc. But most gamblers are simply weekend warriors or day trippers upon whom Lady Luck occasionally smiles. If you fall into that category, the IRS wants you to share that information. And when your auditor asks you how you did at the tables, don't say you broke even. He'll know you're lying even of you're not from California.

A little blogging music Maestro... How about The Gambler, Luck Be A Lady, or even Camptown Races?

Dr. Forgot

Happy Gnu Ear

Ohhhhh, my Head!

Fortunately I do not suffer the ill effects of a night out partying New Year's Eve. I let the 300,000 revelers revel on the Strip and Fremont street and wherever else they chose to revel. I also chose to let the drunks run into each other by not getting in their way. These days a big night for me on New Years Eve is to watch the fireworks in Times Square at 9:00 PST on an HDTV. Then, if I am able to last another three hours, do the same with the Las Vegas celebrations. Each local station has their spot staked out from which to broadcast but crowd noise prevents them from being heard.

This morning I am not among the legions who staggered from the bed to the bathroom moaning, "My tongue is asleep and my teeth itch. Honey, is the coffee ready? I need lots." But I am among the legion of pundits who is ready to make predictions for the upcoming year. Are you ready?

The Los Angeles jail will be purchased by a well known hotel family that will build a resort on the property. It will have a French theme and be called the Paris Hilton.

2007 found Oprah endorsing presidential candidate Obama in hopes of bringing support from women. Not sure if they have a slogan yet, but how about, "Ladies, you know who to vote for if you want the Big O."

My prediction for 2008 is that the trend of celebrity endorsements of presidential candidates will continue. I'm going out on a limb here, but my prediction is that Hillary has now become too nice to engage in a bare knuckle campaign. She will seek the endorsement of (and this was close....) Donald Trump? No Rosie O'Donnell.

Mitt Romney is spending millions and millions of his own money on his campaign and still can't get traction among his co-runners. Hence I predict he will bring Drew Carey on board as his finance manager. Drew can tell him exactly when "The Price is Right."

Mike Huckabee is doing very well on his own but I predict he will add Kevin Federline to his to his staff just because the poor guy needs a job.

Call me overly optimistic, but it just seems to me that Brittney Spears is a natural to join the Rudy Guiliani camp. Look out Mrs. Current Guiliani.

John Edwards will seek the endorsement of Lindsey Lohan. That way if he wins the election she will be in charge of getting the liquor for the celebration party. If he loses, he has another challenging client to represent.

John McCain will add Caitlin Upton to his staff. Don't remember her? She's the Miss South Carolina Teen who blew it when she tried to answer a simple question about geography during a pageant. He is a veteran pilot who has been everywhere and from the looks of his campaign he'll be going nowhere so he can spend his time tutoring the poor gal and giving her geography lessons.

Dennis Kucinich, who will forever be linked to his comments on UFOs will ask Tom Cruise to join him in going after the offbeat constituency.

Finally, Ron Paul will ask Angelina Jolie to adopt him in hopes of getting more media coverage.A little blogging music maestro... try "Who Do You Love?" by Max Lipscomb.

Dr. Dorgot