NEW VEGAS TALE: THE SEVEN SINS

Producers Moritz Borman and Peter Graves have licensed film rights to Jon Land's action thriller novel "The Seven Sins: The Tyrant Ascending" says The Hollywood Reporter.

The story centers on a Sin City casino owner, Michael "The Tyrant" Tiranno, the adopted son of an Italian crime lord who is called upon to defend the gambling mecca from terrorist attacks.

The character is loosely inspired by Las Vegas entrepreneur Fabrizio Boccardi's life story and is designed as the first of a series of James Bond-like adventure tales.

We're stoked...

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IT HAD TO HAPPEN...

... Sin City is feeling the pinch. Being that I was there a year ago to the day getting hitched on 7-7-7, I feel this post in pretty apropos. Yup, the good-time capital of the U.S. has hit a losing streak. Check out Guy Adams' report on an epidemic of bankruptcies, foreclosures and mass lay-offs in America's fastest-growing city.

Down and out in Las Vegas

Since the day Las Vegas was created in the shimmering Nevada desert, visitors have been drawn by one simple promise: "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas". The motto adorns the city's road signs, and has inspired everything from its souvenir T-shirts to the local tourist board's seductive advertising campaigns.

These days, that motto is imbued with a worrying sense of irony. Because America's most outrageous city is facing a growing multitude of problems, and they all boil down to a single, unavoidable point: right now, far too little happens in Vegas, because not enough people are actually staying there.

The onset of global slowdown, high petrol prices, and a nation-wide housing slump is spelling disaster for a town that owes every aspect of its wealth – from that gaudy replica of the Eiffel Tower to those scale models of Venetian canals and the Pyramids of Egypt – to its ability to inspire free-spending hedonism.

With Americans cutting back on luxuries, and the price of transport rocketing, the so-called "Vegas vacation" is facing the axe. This week, as the nation celebrated Independence Day, major hotels were taking stock of a fall in all-important room occupancy rates from their usually impressive 95 per cent levels to nearer 80 per cent.

To read the rest of the story, click HERE.

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RICIN FOUND IN VEGAS HOTEL

Okay, so small traces of the deadly poison Ricin was recently found in a Sin City hotel but authorities claim it wasn't terrorist-related. Ha!! Here's the scenario: A terrorist cell holes away at some obscure Vegas hotel - not a dump, but not a strip resort either. In this case, the Extended Stay America. The group takes in the town, visits strip clubs and enjoy all the fruits of our freedom and democracy all the while mocking us. They videotape certain patterns, learn how things operate and the when the least expects it, hits hard with something unbelievable like a Ricin attack somewhere contained and confined perhaps on something like the Las Vegas monorail. It would kill the gaming and tourism industry single-handedly and bring the town back to its shit-kicking, tumbleweed roots. not terrorism-related... HA!

Here's the story via Reuters:

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Ricin, a deadly poison, was discovered in a hotel room in Las Vegas but is not thought to be terrorism related, police and FBI officials said on Friday.

A Las Vegas police spokeswoman said officers were called to an Extended Stay America Hotel on Thursday after a suspicious substance was reported in one of the rooms.

Preliminary tests indicated the substance was ricin, which can be deadly even in small quantities. Results from further tests were expected later on Friday.

Homeland Security and the FBI are investigating along with the Las Vegas police. "This event does not appear to be terrorism related," FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said in a statement.

Three police officers, three hotel employees and another person were taken to the hospital for testing and observation on Thursday but were released on Friday in good health, police said.

Ricin is made from castor beans and in proper doses can be used for cancer treatments. It attacks cells, preventing them from making necessary proteins, and an amount the size of a grain of salt can be deadly.

To read the rest of the story, click HERE.

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VEGAS WEDDINGS - TONIGHT ON 'NIGHTLINE'

The Marriage Pit: In Las Vegas — the wedding capitol of the world — the business of "I do" is quite the moneymaker. Second only to gambling, tying the knot rakes in an estimated $900 million per year for Sin City. With so much at stake, and so many competing chapels, the business of luring in love birds can be cutthroat. Outside the county courthouse, handbillers representing different chapels, wait in the so called "marriage pit," bombarding newlyweds, handing out flyers, and making a pitch for couples to get married at their chapel. It can all be a lot to handle as Chris Bury reports tonight on "Nightline."

Check it out and then check out my own experience getting hitched in Sin City back on 777.

Also check out this expose the LA TIMES ran a short while back.

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WEDDING CHAPEL WARS IN LAS VEGAS

I tied the knot in Vegas on 777. While the day was a frenzy because of the date, fierce competition for chapel wedding services has escalated into minor warfare between vendors, who are hiring packs of handbillers to stalk couples paparazzi-style and hurl frantic, Glengarry Glen Ross-like pitches at budding brides.

And even though weddings are still huge business in Vegas, a recent drop in marriage licenses has seen competition stiffen, and handbillers -- usually earning $10 an hour -- have been involved in scuffles ranging from fist-fights to stabbings. I DO remember seeing a segment on "Cops" about this and thought it was a wild notion - wedding chapel wars in Sin City. And although the Vegas industry of love is frequently commented upon, the sheer desperation is little-reported, making this an entertaining (if somewhat depressing) read.

Click HERE to read a recent probe at the LA TIMES.

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MONTE CARLO CASINO IN FLAMES

A casino near and dear to my heart is curently on fire ...

A three-alarm fire is burning on the south tower roof at the Monte Carlo Hotel & Casino. The fire is on the 32nd floor and higher. Thick, black smoke is pouring from the top of the building.

People are being evacuated from the Monte Carlo property to the Bellagio and New York-New York. Reports from local papers say four Monte Carlo employees were stuck on the roof. Let's hope they got out...

No cause for the fire is known at this time and there are no known injuries. Fire crews from Clark County, City of Las Vegas and Henderson are on the scene.

Las Vegas Boulevard is shut down between Tropicana Boulevard and Harmon Avenue. I-15 had not been closed by 11:45 a.m., but the northbound and southbound ramps at Spring Mountain Road, Flamingo Road and Tropicana Avenue were closed due to the fire. Nevada Highway Patrol spokesman Kevin Honey said the closures are to keep the general public out of the area so firefighters "with heavy machinery" can do their jobs.

The fire was reported by passersby shortly before 11 a.m.

Click HERE for more ...

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CARNAHAN SEES 'SIN CITY 2' TEASER (LOVES IT)

Get ready Sin City fans. It's sequel is coming.

Recently, "Sin City" director Robert Rodriguez showed his teaser trailer for the comic film's sequel and Joe Carnahan loved it.

For those not-in-the-know, "Sin City" is based on a series of comics by Frank Miller, told in his trademark Neo-noir style. The first story originally appeared in Dark Horse Presents comic book from April 1991 to June of 1992, under the title of Sin City, serialized in thirteen parts.

All the hard-boiled yarns take place in Basin City, with frequent recurring characters and intertwining stories.

For the scoop, check out the link below at Super-hero hype.

Carnahan Sees Sin City 2 Teaser - Superhero Hype!

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