Live Video Stream: NYE at the Whitney Villa

What do you get when you add 15 or so 20-something kids, two 40-something adults, and a variety of drinking games based on Rock Band and Wii Fit?

A visit from the police?

No.

Sounds more like a party to me!  And when I think party, I think Live Video Stream.  And so, for those of you who’ve decided to stay in this New Years Eve, but want to peek into what a bunch of Whitney VIlla guests will be up to over the course of this evening, take a visit to www.whitneyvilla.com.  For those of you into live interaction, there’s a chat feature available as well!

Have a fun and safe NYE!!

Popular Posts of 2008

Another year has come to an end. 2008 was pretty rough for businesses and consumers alike. Massive foreclosures, unprecedented fraud, huge bailouts and one crisis after another and yet we survived. Las Vegas has been pretty hard hit since tourism and construction are the main engines of our economy. The news isn't all bad though. The massive foreclosure glut has driven down home prices, making them affordable again for the average homebuyer. Steve Wynn decided to not stop development of the Encore resort and it opened on time and has done well. The following list of posts are based on traffic over the past year in no particular order. Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope you have a terrific new year.

• The Monte Carlo Fire The start of the new year news cycle started with this fire.
• Barack Obama Town Meeting This meeting was a harbringer of the effect Obama would have on Nevada voters. The venue was woefully undersized and staffed for the massive crowds that turned out.
• Spaceship House for Sale A short video about a spaceship home for sale as well as examples of other spaceship homes around the United States. Check out the Futuro, home of the future circa the 1960's.
• OJ Verdict America's fascination/disgust with Orenthal has died down a bit since his first criminal trial, but plenty of people were interested in the final verdict.
• Top Five Las Vegas Condo Communities Everyone loves lists. Lists my picks for the best condo communities Vegas has to offer.
• Spammed by a former "Apprentice" The repeated spamming by a former apprentice of the "Don". I doubt he advocated that technique. No wonder she was fired.
• Health Crisis The legal battle with this clinic is still ongoing. My father actually went there, thankfully he didn't contract Hep C.
• Renters Protect Yourself Earlier this year many renters were finding themselves thrown out due to foreclosure. Thankfully, many banks are realizing having a tenant in a property isn't a bad thing.
• How I spent my Summer This past summer I was diagnosed with a rare, progressive syndrome that led to full paralysis. Thankfully it was treatable and I am fully recovered.
• Rental Scam on Craigslist These scams are still going on, despite plenty of coverage warning people.

Here is last year's 2007 popular posts

TributePalooza New Year’s Celebration on Fremont Street

Just heard that the New Year’s Eve celebration at the Fremont Street Experience will be free to local Las Vegans who have a valid Nevada ID and are at least 21 years old.  They are calling this year’s festivities “TributePalooza” as there will be a bunch of tribute bands playing throughout the evening:

• Eagles
• Kiss
• Aerosmith
• Billy Joel
• David Bowie
• Queen
• Rolling Stones
• U2

If it wasn’t for the fact that we will be hosting 15 or so kids at the Whitney Villa, I think we’d be heading down that way.  We spent a NYE at Fremont Street a couple years ago and had a very good time (saw Cheap Trick. . .which was the least impressive part of the evening).  They will also be unveiling a new Viva Vision video, “KISS Rocks Vegas”.

Here’s the Fremont Street Experience website for all the details: http://www.vegasexperience.com/  For those traveling from out of town, tickets are $20.

Free, Cheap and Fun Things to do in Las Vegas

With travel at on all time low getting decent travel packages along with hotel accommodations is easy right now. Las Vegas is practically giving away rooms right now just to fill them with bodies. Many Vegas travelers are taking advantage of this but that doesn’t mean they have boatloads of cash to spend once they get here so we have put together a simple map for you to use in order to find things you can do for free.

1. The Bellagio Fountains: The Bellagio fountains attract thousand of tourists each year and remain one of the most popular free tourist sites in Las Vegas to this day. The Bellagio Fountains have been featured in hundreds of Hollywood feature films and were conjured up by Las Vegas real estate mogul Steve Wynn in 1995.

2. Freemont Street Experience: Freemont Street is filled with twinkling lights, sidwalk shows and a plethora of free enjoyment. Every year 19 million visitors come to experience Freemont Street and all its free perks. Freemont Street has become an amazing Las vegas site if you are on a budget. The Freemont Experience host it’s signature attraction the canopy which lights up overhead to present onlookers with an amazing display of electronics.

3. Las Vegas Strip: The Las Vegas strip is where most Vegas tourists eventually want to make their way to see. Filled with all the goodies Las Vegas has to offer this is a premier destination for most visitors. Home to many incredible shows, intense nightlife and some of the most luxurious hotels.

4. Imperial Palace Auto Collections: For the auto fan in your group the Imperial Palace has one of the most extensive auto collections in Nevada. Home to some of the most rare antiques in the world you will be in amazement. Vintage cars from all manufactures and all era’s. Everything from vintage race cars to modern exotics.

5. Gondola Ride at Venetian: For those looking to relax and have someone else do the work a gondola ride at the Ventian will offer a relaxing tour through the waterways of Italy. Sit back and listen to the sounds of the falling water while weaving your way through shoppes and cafes. Take a look at Vegas from the inside out.

Guess What? Change is a-coming to the Living in Las Vegas Podcast Website

On January 12, 2009, the Living in Las Vegas Podcast will celebrate its three-year anniversary. Over these past three years, Melissa and I have enjoyed sharing our lives with our podcast listeners and blog readers, meeting local and far-away LivinginLV.com visitors for a drink (or two), and helping folks learn more about what it’s like to call Las Vegas your home. We never expected to turn anonymous listeners into real friends but this too has been an unexpected bonus to reaching out to y’all via our website, podcast and blog.

The feedback we’ve received during the life of this website has been heart-warming. From the good-natured teasing comments left on the website to the “thanks for helping me find a job” emails, Melissa and I want to thank all of you for sharing your thoughts with the two of us.

Now, it’s time for me to share something with you.

In reviewing the LivingInLV.com website and what it delivers to our visitors, it occurred to me that while it certainly provides some insight into the Las Vegas lifestyle, it was the insight of just two people. As I’ve had the opportunity to meet other interesting people here in Las Vegas, I thought this would be a good time to expand the editorial voice of the LivingInLV.com website to include others whose expertise are beyond mine. And so. . .

Beginning in 2009, we will be adding new LiLV Contributors to our website!

I am VERY excited about hearing from these new contributors!

Each LiLV Contributor will have a “beat”, or special focus. To begin, Cheryl Hill (a long-time LiLV listener) will focus on all things Summerlin. Brandie Feuer will keep us up-to-date on special locals-only deals found on the Strip and beyond. And Doug Geinzer will help us better understand the Las Vegas employment environment. I’m pleased that these smart folks will be joining the fun and further enhancing what the Living in Las Vegas Podcast & Blog website offers our visitors. I hope you like it as well.

If you have ideas/tips for Cheryl, Brandie or Doug, feel free to shoot them an email: Cheryl[at]livinginlv.com, brandie[at]livinginlv.com, doug[at]livinginlv.com. I’m sure they’d love to hear from you!

In the meantime, here’s hoping the rest of 2008 is a fun and safe one for you and yours. We’ll be adding other LiLV Contributors to the mix and welcome any suggestions you might have regarding other “beats” we should be writing about. Any ideas?

Thanks again for playing along these last three years (and stay tuned for another fun announcement).

Findlay Chevrolet’s Drive For Toys Today

Free oil change offered for toy donations

In an effort to give added support to the local Boy's & Girl's Clubs in Southern Nevada, Findlay Chevrolet is conducting its first-ever "Frank Findlay's Drive For Toys" today.

To help make the toy drive a success, anyone who brings in a new toy with a value greater than $10 will receive a voucher for a free oil change on their GM vehicle at Findlay Chevrolet. The toy drive began at 7 a.m. and will continue until 8 p.m. tonight.

"This is the kind of thing we feel is important for our community," General Manager Justin Findlay said. "If we can make just one child's holiday a little brighter, then we've succeeded."

Findlay Chevrolet, along with toy drive sponsors Collision Authority and Perini Building Company, hope to collect several hundred toys that will then be turned over to local Boy's & Girl's Clubs.

Findlay Chevrolet is located in the southwest part of the valley, between Rainbow and Jones just south of the 215 beltway. For information on Frank Findlay's Drive For Toys or on Findlay Chevrolet, call 982-4444.

High Speed Train from California to Las Vegas

With Las Vegas tourism numbers at their lowest they have been in a long time, Governor Jim Gibbons of Nevada would like to get California visitors here quicker and easier with a high speed train. For many years this idea has been nothing more than that, an idea. But Gibbons has recently met with Barrack Obama about applying the stimulus package to this idea.

If constructed this new high speed train would take southern California residents to Las Vegas in about 86 minutes and would avoid drivers to have to use interstate 15 to make the trek across the desert. The train travels at around 300 mph and sits on magnetic levitation technology. Currently this type of train has been used in Japan since 2003 and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gibbons have agreed to the project. This would stimulate local tourism for people not really willing to make the car ride but would enjoy taking a train ride to Las Vegas. Since more and more people are trying to stay closer to home for vacations this would be a great way to put some pep back into the Las Vegas economy as well as California’s. Certain steps have already been made to free up room for the project like a $45 million dollar study on the environmental impact for this project. Totals numbers to build the train would be in the ballpark of $12-$13 billion and would create many new jobs along with it. Nothing has been approved but officials are getting together to discuss options on how to allow this dream to come true.

Free Holiday Music from SantaScott

It may be last night’s Hot Buttered Rum talking (best holiday drink ever?  YES!) but this morning your buddy SantaScott is opening up his TwitterGifts (of which I wrote about here) to all Living in Las Vegas Podcast & Blog listeners/readers.  To date, I’ve made available five Christmas songs for those following us at twitter.com/LiLVPodcast and now I’m sharing these same songs with you.

To download these songs (which come from my ChristmAcoustic and ChristmAcoustic II CDs), go the the Twitter website and search for LiLVPodcast TwitterGifts (or just click the link).  It will list each TwitterGift and provide a link to each song.

Hope you enjoy!  Merry Christmas everybody!

Our Geo URL

We’ve just added ourselves to the GeoURL website.  Here’s our link: http://geourl.org/near?p=http://www.livinginlv.com/ for those interested.

Clark County Water Reclamation District project to impact traffic near Sam Boyd Stadium during the Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl

The Clark County Water Reclamation District (District) will be continuing to repair the collection system on Broadbent Boulevard at Frances Celia Avenue, near Sam Boyd Stadium. Traffic in this area will be impacted through at least the end of the year.

The bypass pumping, that is the cause of traffic impact in this area, works to protect the public and environment from any spills during the critical repair work being done.

Travel advisory for fans attending the Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl:

Expect the following traffic impacts on Broadbent Boulevard at Sam Boyd Stadium:

- Prior to the start of the game two lanes will be open traveling into the stadium.
- Once the game has started, lanes will shift so provide two lanes for traffic exiting the stadium.

“We appreciate the patience of the community and of fans attending Saturday’s football game during this project. Rest assured, we are working as quickly as possible to have traffic back to normal in these areas,” said Sam Scire, assistant general manager of the District. “Due to the nature of this work, we are unable to avoid some lane restrictions for events at the stadium this month.”

Scire suggested those attending the Las Vegas Bowl use alternate routes, including Boulder Highway to East Russell Road, which leads directly into the stadium.

For more information and traffic updates, drivers can call the project hotline at 702-853-1333, or visit www.cleanwaterteam.com.

About the CCWRD

The Clark County Water Reclamation District was created in 1954. It services the unincorporated portions of Clark County within the Las Vegas Valley, as well as the communities of Blue Diamond, Indian Springs, Laughlin, Overton and Searchlight. The District collects and treats more than 100 million gallons of wastewater each day utilizing more than 2,000 miles of pipeline and eight treatment facilities.