Rabbi Friedman, shlita (term of respect/honor), wrote one of my favorite recently read books, Doesn’t Anyone Blush Anymore?, about modesty and relationships. When I saw the note in Likutei Peshatim, our community bulletin, that Skokie Chabad lined him up to speak, I decided to attend. I arrived at about 8:20 Sunday evening, just in time for Rabbi Friedman to begin. This was a wonderful speech, highlights of which I will try to summarize here. Rabbi Friedman almost convinced me to convert! I do not consider myself Lubavitch/Chabad, but I certainly admire the worldwide movement. Chabad did record the speech, so it is available by request:
http://www.skokiechabad.org/templates/articlecco_cdo/aid/302959/jewish/Contact-Us.htm
Rabbi Friedman’s speech was about Moshiach, and he also addressed the question of whether the last Lubavitcher rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, z”l, was Moshiach. Big questions, big rabbi, big speech, and I thought he handled these well.
Rabbi Friedman considered strict belief in G-d really inferior to knowledge of G-d’s existence. He compared belief in G-d to belief in idols; we can only believe in idols because they are not real. With G-d, on the other hand, we have that in us. We got our belief in the Torah at Natan Torah—the event at which G-d gave us the Torah. G-d said to Moshe Rabbeinu, “I will speak to you, the people will hear, and the people will believe in Me forever.” Well said!
From there Rabbi Friedman moved to Moshiach, the promise of the Messiah. How do we “get” our belief in Moshiach, he asked? It is one of Rambam’s 13 Principles of Faith. If you don’t believe in the coming of Moshiach, then you don’t believe in the Torah. Now that the Temples are gone, we temporarily observe 270 of the original 613 mitzvahs. But every mitzvah is eternal; every mitzvah will be (or has the potential to be) observed forever. “Temporary” is not true. The fact that there are mitzvahs we don’t/cannot keep simply reflects the fact that we are in golus, which is a temporary situation. Rabbi Friedman mentioned another mitzvah that has never been fulfilled—building cities of refuge. (I did not know this.) The last time period when Jews could keep all the mitzvahs, Rabbi Friedman said, was during the time of David HaMelech. For this to recur, we need world peace, all the Jews assembled together, and the Third Temple. If you believe the world will stay the same, as it is today, then you don’t believe in Moshiach or the Torah. Belief in Moshiach, he said, means belief in the permanence and eternity of the Torah.
Moshiach will not need to perform miracles. Miracles are exceptions to the laws of nature suggest that nature is unholy. Torah tells us “Make this world holy.” This world is holier than the Next one, he said. (This surprised me, and I had to reread my notes. For the past 10 years all I’ve heard is that all we’re doing in this world, Olam Hazeh, is preparing for the Next One, Olam Haba.)
There is a tendency to replace knowledge with faith. (And that’s bad.) Moshiach is a Halachic necessity and a physical inevitability. (I like Rabbi Friedman’s optimism. He sounded very confident.) Belief in Moshiach is a step back from that. To illustrate, Rabbi Friedman mentioned former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin shaking hands with the terrorist mass murderer Yassir Arafat on the White House lawn in 1993. Rabbi Friedman asked, “Why must I believe in Moshiach and shake hands with Arafat?” The implication was he would rather (falsely) believe in Arafat and shake hands with Moshiach.
Briefly, on the belief that Rebbe Schneerson is, was, or could be Moshiach: Rabbi Friedman said the rebbe wanted people to stop believing in him as Moshiach. Rabbi Friedman really considers the idea an insult to the rebbe. Rabbi Friedman called the rebbe the Moshiach of his time (and every era has a Moshiach). He mentioned the rebbe’s tefillin campaign, which persuaded many Jews to add one additional mitzvah. For the first time in 2000 years, he said, no country suppresses Yiddishkeit. He gives the rebbe credit for that, and I don’t disagree with him.
What would it take for morality to take over the world? Rabbi Friedman considered the power the pope has—the spiritual leader of about one billion people. The pope gave a speech at an orthodox shul when he recently visited New York. Rabbi Friedman said this was a missed opportunity; the pope should have gone to the shul and listened. To the pope, Rabbi Friedman said, “Keep the mitzvahs you’re supposed to keep: get married!” Rabbi Friedman said the pope has the power to move the world in the direction of becoming good overnight.
A joke in Israel: Ariel Sharon is fine. It’s Olmert who is in a coma! He continued talking about Israel’s ability to change the world: We are not here to export oranges. We are here to export Torah. We could say, “We’re going to live by Torah and fight by Torah.” The Israeli government is a fraud. It is afraid of winning “Because they’ll hate us.” Then Rabbi Friedman shouted, “Hello!” This was pretty funny coming from Rabbi Friedman. But his point was serious. He mentioned the recent prisoner swap, in which Israel gave up a living murderous terrorist and child-killer for a couple of corpses. Embarrassing.
On Moshiach, again: our responsibility is to bring him, not believe in him.
I wish my notes were more complete; I didn’t bring a pad with me, and I had very little to write on. I’ll be better prepared in the future.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
July 28: Cubs 6, Brewers 4
I bought tickets in February for the opening game of this week’s Cubs-Brewers series in Milwaukee’s Miller Park. I missed the first-day sale date, so we ended up in the 400 level, near the back of the section, between third and home. In Miller Park, that’s actually not so bad. I joined my friend Keith Rosenthal and his brother Scott. We try to make it up to Milwaukee for a Cub game once a year. It’s nice to get out of town, even if just to Milwaukee, and I think Miller Park is great. I don’t need to worry about the weather, unless it’s horribly hot, which hasn’t happened to me yet. If it’s freezing out (and it once was, for a mid-May Sunday game), the Brewers can close the roof and heat the stadium to 30 degrees warmer than outdoors. The weather for Monday night was picture-perfect. My rule is normally to hit the ballpark’s massive parking lot (east of the ballpark, Mets or Dodgers lots) about an hour before first pitch. Due to the size of the lots, distance to the ballpark, and size of the ballpark, it’s a 15-min. walk from the car to one’s seat. Alas, we hit traffic on our secret shortcut (ask me if you need it), and we were stuck waiting in line to get into the lot from 6:23 to 7:10 or so, right after Alfonso Soriano doubled leading off the game. The lot actually closed in front of us, and the parking attendants let us park in a cul-de-sac nearby. Ultimately, I think we were better off there, but I wish we had arrived on time. After all that, we really only missed the top of the first. The Cubs weren’t done scoring, and the excitement continued.
It was great that the Cubs were able to needle, rattle, and score on the Brewers’ recently acquired pitching ace, CC Sabathia. The Cubs’ offense certainly set a tone for the rest of the series. So did the pitching! The back-to-back home runs Ted Lilly gave up were terrible, but otherwise the pitching held up, and giving up four runs in a game isn’t bad. I just wish the game hadn’t run 3:21, making us very late getting home.
Miller Park reminds me how bad I think Wrigley Field is. To me, the ballpark in Lakeview (please, not “Wrigleyville”) is a dump in desperate need of renovation. The Cubs added the upper deck in the 1930’s, around the same time they installed the scoreboard. So the main-level concourses were not designed to handle the 38,000 fans (everyone except the bleacher fans) who use them every game day. This makes for extreme congestion and long waits to reach one’s seat, the restrooms (the men’s troughs—don’t get me started), and the exits. The views of the field are not terrific, and most of the main level terrace reserved—great seats through the 1980’s—have obstructed views of fly balls and the (pathetic) scoreboard thanks to the overhanging skyboxes the Cubs installed in 1989 or so. The Cubs added a few televisions in that area to compensate for the obstruction, but I don’t think the Cubs have replaced them in nearly 20 years. They’re not big enough, and they still have analog glass screens.
The Wrigley Field scoreboard, which everyone likes so much, doesn’t have room for all the out-of-town games. At least the digital board below the main scoreboard (added in early 2000’s, I think) compensates for the scoreboard’s inability to show detailed statistics for each batter and new pitcher. Still, I like to keep score during play-by-play, and the Wrigley board’s one-letter indication of the official scorer’s decision on a play (“E” for error, “H” for hit) is insufficient.
Miller Park has escalators to the upper decks. After the game, fans can use them to return to the main level. At Sox Park and United Center, the escalators are closed after the game. Pay attention, Mr. Reinsdorf! Miller Park has wide concourses, dozens of concession stands, and large gift shoppe areas. The Cubs would kill to have room for a gift shoppe. The Cubs just don’t have the room in their ballpark to soak every possible dollar from their legions of out-of-town fans. That’s why independent vendors outside Wrigley Field do so well, selling official and counterfeit merchandise. Miller Park’s seating layout makes sense. In a row, Seat 1 is not next to Seat 101, like it is at Wrigley Field. After using a manual out-of-town scoreboard along the outfield walls, the Brewers switched to a digital out-of-town scoreboard on the left-field wall that also shows ads during inning breaks. The out-of-town scoreboard shows the inning for each game and men on base at that moment. Miller Park’s main scoreboard shows detailed scoring for each play (e.g., “single, E-4”). It also has a very nice video board and shows each team’s lineup. Miller Park offers an overall superior experience for its fans. Thanks, southeast Wisconsin taxpayers who were forced to pay for the ballpark through a sales tax surcharge.
It was great that the Cubs were able to needle, rattle, and score on the Brewers’ recently acquired pitching ace, CC Sabathia. The Cubs’ offense certainly set a tone for the rest of the series. So did the pitching! The back-to-back home runs Ted Lilly gave up were terrible, but otherwise the pitching held up, and giving up four runs in a game isn’t bad. I just wish the game hadn’t run 3:21, making us very late getting home.
Miller Park reminds me how bad I think Wrigley Field is. To me, the ballpark in Lakeview (please, not “Wrigleyville”) is a dump in desperate need of renovation. The Cubs added the upper deck in the 1930’s, around the same time they installed the scoreboard. So the main-level concourses were not designed to handle the 38,000 fans (everyone except the bleacher fans) who use them every game day. This makes for extreme congestion and long waits to reach one’s seat, the restrooms (the men’s troughs—don’t get me started), and the exits. The views of the field are not terrific, and most of the main level terrace reserved—great seats through the 1980’s—have obstructed views of fly balls and the (pathetic) scoreboard thanks to the overhanging skyboxes the Cubs installed in 1989 or so. The Cubs added a few televisions in that area to compensate for the obstruction, but I don’t think the Cubs have replaced them in nearly 20 years. They’re not big enough, and they still have analog glass screens.
The Wrigley Field scoreboard, which everyone likes so much, doesn’t have room for all the out-of-town games. At least the digital board below the main scoreboard (added in early 2000’s, I think) compensates for the scoreboard’s inability to show detailed statistics for each batter and new pitcher. Still, I like to keep score during play-by-play, and the Wrigley board’s one-letter indication of the official scorer’s decision on a play (“E” for error, “H” for hit) is insufficient.
Miller Park has escalators to the upper decks. After the game, fans can use them to return to the main level. At Sox Park and United Center, the escalators are closed after the game. Pay attention, Mr. Reinsdorf! Miller Park has wide concourses, dozens of concession stands, and large gift shoppe areas. The Cubs would kill to have room for a gift shoppe. The Cubs just don’t have the room in their ballpark to soak every possible dollar from their legions of out-of-town fans. That’s why independent vendors outside Wrigley Field do so well, selling official and counterfeit merchandise. Miller Park’s seating layout makes sense. In a row, Seat 1 is not next to Seat 101, like it is at Wrigley Field. After using a manual out-of-town scoreboard along the outfield walls, the Brewers switched to a digital out-of-town scoreboard on the left-field wall that also shows ads during inning breaks. The out-of-town scoreboard shows the inning for each game and men on base at that moment. Miller Park’s main scoreboard shows detailed scoring for each play (e.g., “single, E-4”). It also has a very nice video board and shows each team’s lineup. Miller Park offers an overall superior experience for its fans. Thanks, southeast Wisconsin taxpayers who were forced to pay for the ballpark through a sales tax surcharge.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Gun buyback program in Chicago
Criminals are laughing about Saturday's gun buyback in 25 churches citywide.
My letter to RedEye about a former judge's own buyback program:
Hi Kenneth,Thank you for writing in to RedEye we'll keep your letter about the gunbuy-back program on file for possible future publication. Thanks for reading RedEye. -----Original Message-----From: Kenneth Salkover Sent: Monday, July 21, 2008 3:00 PMTo: ctc-red-
Dear Editor: As a former judge, Raymond Figueroa should know his gun buyback program is just a harebrained scheme that doesn't reduce street violence("Taking a Stand," July 21). Gun buyback programs simply create a sellers' market for handguns, giving criminals an incentive to trade up to more sophisticated weaponry. Some buyback programs even offer more money than guns are worth on the street, giving criminals a significant profit opportunity. Gun buyback programs don't work. Gun bans don't work. Criminals find both laughable. The best defense against street violence is a populace that can legally arm itself against its gun-toting criminal adversaries.
Sincerely,
Kenneth Salkover
My letter to RedEye about a former judge's own buyback program:
Hi Kenneth,Thank you for writing in to RedEye we'll keep your letter about the gunbuy-back program on file for possible future publication. Thanks for reading RedEye. -----Original Message-----From: Kenneth Salkover Sent: Monday, July 21, 2008 3:00 PMTo: ctc-red-
Dear Editor: As a former judge, Raymond Figueroa should know his gun buyback program is just a harebrained scheme that doesn't reduce street violence("Taking a Stand," July 21). Gun buyback programs simply create a sellers' market for handguns, giving criminals an incentive to trade up to more sophisticated weaponry. Some buyback programs even offer more money than guns are worth on the street, giving criminals a significant profit opportunity. Gun buyback programs don't work. Gun bans don't work. Criminals find both laughable. The best defense against street violence is a populace that can legally arm itself against its gun-toting criminal adversaries.
Sincerely,
Kenneth Salkover
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Gun buybacks don't work
My thoughts exactly. From Eric Zorn's Change of Subject blog at chicagotribune.com.
Hard to find good reason to buy back guns
Here are six reasons I'm wary of gun buybacks, such as the one scheduled for Saturday in Chicago in which those who turn in firearms at any of 25 locations get a $100 prepaid credit card per gun, no questions asked:
1. I can't imagine criminals disarming themselves for a lousy $100.
Sure, they might dump their excess, scrap or stolen piece for the bounty. But if having a gun is integral to their criminal activities, it's absurd to think a buyback would inspire them to give up the tools of their trade.
2. I don't see the economic sense of offering law-abiding people a flat fee for their guns.
If you own a firearm worth more than $100, as most firearms are, the only reason to take less for it is if you have no use for it. In that case, your gun is probably not contributing to the gun violence these programs are supposed to address.
3. I worry about buyback programs subsidizing crime and weapons traffic.
When an evildoer offers up a junky old firearm that's worth less than $100, the money stands not only to help him purchase a better gun but also creates an incentive for him to hoard and steal cheap guns.
A regular buyback program (Saturday will be Chicago's fourth annual) "will actually raise gun holdings since it permanently lowers ownership costs," according to a March 2001 analysis in the International Review of Law and Economics. They will "therefore have the opposite effect of what buyback proponents intend."
4. I can't find much evidence that buybacks are effective.
I went searching and found study after study concluding, as the U.S. Surgeon General concluded in a 2001 report on youth violence, that gun buyback programs are "a particularly expensive strategy [that has] consistently been shown to have no effect on gun violence, including firearm-related homicide and injury."
The report added, "There is some evidence that most of the guns turned in are not functional and that most persons turning in guns have other guns at home."
Was I somehow missing studies that showed the opposite? The Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence and the Chicago Police Department, backers of the program, had nothing. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence didn't respond to a detailed query.
5. I'm not convinced that buybacks get "problem" guns off the streets.
Chicago Police Department spokeswoman Monique Bond didn't have any kind of statistical breakdown of the roughly 6,050 firearms obtained in last year's buyback. What percentage were actually functional? What sorts of crimes were they traced back to?
6. I hear in Mayor Richard Daley's arm-flapping jibber-jabber on this point an admission that the buyback is simply a feel-good program to make citizens believe the city is actually doing something to reduce gun violence.
"If someone takes that gun and fires at you, are you willing to take that chance?" Daley demanded of a reporter Tuesday when asked about the guns' quality. "Not many people are. Besides that, no one likes to have a gun placed in front of their face. So don't ever think that the guns turned in don't work."
He went on: "We're going to go over [to your office] and find out whether they work. We don't ask anyone to do that. They do work. These weapons are very significant. They do work."
You can read a longer transcript of Daley's defense of the buyback online at chicagotribune.com/zorn, where I'm building a webliography of sources on this topic.
My mind remains open, but I can't think of one reason why.
LINKS
A webliography of sources on the topic of gun buy-backs is here
An extended version of Mayor Richard Daley's discursion is here
Gun buy-back locations here
Post your comments on this issue on the thread here
Hard to find good reason to buy back guns
Here are six reasons I'm wary of gun buybacks, such as the one scheduled for Saturday in Chicago in which those who turn in firearms at any of 25 locations get a $100 prepaid credit card per gun, no questions asked:
1. I can't imagine criminals disarming themselves for a lousy $100.
Sure, they might dump their excess, scrap or stolen piece for the bounty. But if having a gun is integral to their criminal activities, it's absurd to think a buyback would inspire them to give up the tools of their trade.
2. I don't see the economic sense of offering law-abiding people a flat fee for their guns.
If you own a firearm worth more than $100, as most firearms are, the only reason to take less for it is if you have no use for it. In that case, your gun is probably not contributing to the gun violence these programs are supposed to address.
3. I worry about buyback programs subsidizing crime and weapons traffic.
When an evildoer offers up a junky old firearm that's worth less than $100, the money stands not only to help him purchase a better gun but also creates an incentive for him to hoard and steal cheap guns.
A regular buyback program (Saturday will be Chicago's fourth annual) "will actually raise gun holdings since it permanently lowers ownership costs," according to a March 2001 analysis in the International Review of Law and Economics. They will "therefore have the opposite effect of what buyback proponents intend."
4. I can't find much evidence that buybacks are effective.
I went searching and found study after study concluding, as the U.S. Surgeon General concluded in a 2001 report on youth violence, that gun buyback programs are "a particularly expensive strategy [that has] consistently been shown to have no effect on gun violence, including firearm-related homicide and injury."
The report added, "There is some evidence that most of the guns turned in are not functional and that most persons turning in guns have other guns at home."
Was I somehow missing studies that showed the opposite? The Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence and the Chicago Police Department, backers of the program, had nothing. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence didn't respond to a detailed query.
5. I'm not convinced that buybacks get "problem" guns off the streets.
Chicago Police Department spokeswoman Monique Bond didn't have any kind of statistical breakdown of the roughly 6,050 firearms obtained in last year's buyback. What percentage were actually functional? What sorts of crimes were they traced back to?
6. I hear in Mayor Richard Daley's arm-flapping jibber-jabber on this point an admission that the buyback is simply a feel-good program to make citizens believe the city is actually doing something to reduce gun violence.
"If someone takes that gun and fires at you, are you willing to take that chance?" Daley demanded of a reporter Tuesday when asked about the guns' quality. "Not many people are. Besides that, no one likes to have a gun placed in front of their face. So don't ever think that the guns turned in don't work."
He went on: "We're going to go over [to your office] and find out whether they work. We don't ask anyone to do that. They do work. These weapons are very significant. They do work."
You can read a longer transcript of Daley's defense of the buyback online at chicagotribune.com/zorn, where I'm building a webliography of sources on this topic.
My mind remains open, but I can't think of one reason why.
LINKS
A webliography of sources on the topic of gun buy-backs is here
An extended version of Mayor Richard Daley's discursion is here
Gun buy-back locations here
Post your comments on this issue on the thread here
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Theft from auto
Just a note and a warning--really a follow-up from a news article I read about a surprising number of thefts of GPS units from vehicles. Driving south down Lehigh from Touhy to Devon Avenues this morning, I approached Devon and noticed two vehicles parked on the west side of the street, near the fire station, with piles of broken glass on the street next to them. I pulled over and parked (had to pick up a RedEye newspaper anyway), and noticed the driver's window broken on each vehicle. Impossible to say what had been taken, but the stereo systems appeared to be intact. Were GPS units gently removed from the windshields? Word to the wise: when you leave your car, take your GPS with you. Wipe off the windshield so the suction cup mark doesn't show. Don't leave it in the glove compartment as thieves will look there. I think we need to start printing "No GPS--I took it with me" stickers (with the "no" circle and a red line through it sign) similar to the "No radio" stickers once ubiquitous on parked cars in Manhattan and elsewhere. The thief can break the window and leave a "just checking" note--I read about that happening once--but most would move on.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Funk it Up About Nothin' (Much Ado About Nothing)
Just wanted to post a note about guys doing rap Shakespeare. I saw their Hip-Hop Comedy of Errors in 2003, and I could not stop laughing. Except to listen to the d.j. spin while they rapped, and to enjoy hilarity ensue onstage. In the trailer, they channel the Beastie Boys classic "Paul Revere" to hilarious effect. I hope I'm able to catch this before it closes Aug. 3. $25, runs just 1:05, at Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier. (Where else?)
 an "ad-rap-tation" of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare | |||||
     From the minds and rhymes behind The Bomb-itty of Errors comes the world premiere of Funk It Up About Nothin’. The Q Brothers transform the Bard’s romantic comedy into an exuberant hip-hop extravaganza, rapped to the rhythm of six MCs and a DJ. See it on Navy Pier this summer, before Funk It Up heads to Scotland for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Recommended for mature audiences (contains adult language) Approximate Running Time: 65 minutes (no intermission)
" –Time Out Chicago "Downright irresistible!" –Chicago Sun-Times "Wildly energetic and likably clever!" –Variety "A bawdy and fun remix!" –Chicago Tribune "A def, deftly imagined, exuberant bit of theater!" –Daily Herald Funk It Up About Nothin' is presented in The Carl and Marilynn Thoma Theater. |
"The next big 5 events for Las Vegas
Not sure why I can't link directly to FB from this blog. I'm reprinting this from my favorite part of L.A.T.
5. Downtown's return (ongoing). There is a little optimism kicking in with this one because people have been talking about the return of downtown since I moved here with little apparent results. Well, things are now happening. The Fremont East entertainment district and places like the Beauty Bar are finally pulling in tourists. I can feel the greater numbers of people under the canopy of the Fremont Street Experience, the single best bit of weirdo brilliant entertainment Vegas has to offer. Certainly as much as any of the offical plans to revitalize downtown the bargains available became the biggest pull in making the older properties and areas more desirable to new generations of tourists. But a lot of money has gone into preparing for this moment. And while some casinos are more ready for their spotlight than others, I can highly recommend the Golden Nugget as one casino downtown that has put money into making the property the jewel of downtown again. This remains an uncompetitive category. But I think Golden Nugget still has applied gusto to winning.
4: Aliante Station (opening in November). It used to be that a locals casino was of interest to only locals. There were key ingredients like a movie theater, a food court an arcade and gambling. Certainly properties like Palms and Rio had locals as costumers But both were within blocks of the Strip. With Green Valley Ranch (which I live across the street from), a locals casino truly proved able to offer an alternative to tourists searching for a high-end experience away from the bustle of the Strip. When Green Valley Ranch proved a worthy alternative to a nice Strip hotel to a certain segment of the travel market, locals casinos finally found a way to get tourists away from the Strip who few even aspired to reach before Green Valley Ranch opened. It probably helped with tourists that a cable television show was made about the casino. After Green Valley Ranch, Stations perfected this approach with its next offering, Red Rock Resort. Red Rock offers among the most scenic locales in Vegas, and nature aside, there is even a beautiful view of the Strip in the distance. People from out of town love the exclusive feel of the place while, like all Stations casinos, the property also services its neighborhood with a food court and movie theater. But Red Rock Resort has also offered talent competitive with the Strip, including Kanye West's most recent concert in Vegas. I also wrote on the Buffet about the principals of Jane's Addiction playing together this weekend at Red Rock. That said, Aliante Station seems a more modest affair. But it is telling that even a modest affair in Vegas these days includes a bar with bottle service and a 700-seat showroom and six restaurants. There is also a value to all these new showrooms because even at a local casino they need acts of national stature to sell that many seats. The new showrooms (the Hard Rock, see next item, is opening another one) are the primary engine behind the increasingly unpresendented concert diversity of the offerings in Vegas.
3. Hard Rock renovations (ongoing). At one time the Hard Rock was the rare off Strip casino that carried the prestige of the Strip. Even tourists not staying there wanted to visit and see the memorabilia or play the Sid Vicious slot. In fact, back in 1999 the Hard Rock was easily the coolest resort in Vegas able to enjoy strong local support while becoming a first-choice tourist destination too. Then the Palms opened in 2001 and simply did a far more sophisticated and impressive job at understanding and marketing to the best elements of the Hard Rock's clientele both locally and with tourists. After "The Real World" aired, the Palms pretty much aged the Hard Rock overnight into a Boomer place while the young and hip began migrating to the Palms. Then the nightclub revolution happened, making the Strip a much cooler destination for L.A. elites than the old days. And even the Rio of late has made a play for what was once the audience of young too-cool-for-Vegas types that made up the Hard Rock's core audience. That few now object to Vegas in the way the Hard Rock could wink at while capitalizing on in 1999 has also been a factor. There is little irony anymore in there being the rock casino. But while all the Hard Rock's competition caught on to how to market to the next generation, little changed at the venerable property. Now finally the results of $800 million in planned renovations are beginning to show. A rock concert bar called Wasted Space already has its doors open, with a grand opening on the way. More openings in retail, a new nightclub, a revamped concert venue and numerous other improvements not yet announced are all set to open in the 12 months. The result, one hopes, will again make the Hard Rock one of the best destinations in Vegas. This is a property all Vegas benefits from keeping at the top.
2. Cirque's Believe starring Criss Angel (October at Luxor, grand opening). Angel has become quite a controversial local presence since the show was announced. As a result, there is a lot less good will toward this show than one would expect from such an interesting combination of talents. Angel's edgy performance art is a lot closer to the street performances that the Canadian circus troupe left behind decades ago in its ascent to becoming the leading entertainment company on the Las Vegas Strip. When Believe opens, the Angel vehicle will be the sixth permanent show Cirque has sandwiched between a couple of miles of Las Vegas Boulevard. Yet no one seems concerned if Believe will oversaturate the market because of the star: Criss Angel. Few entertainers have that impact. This show fails or succeeds based on Angel. And Angel has proven to be fantastic at pulling in an audience. Also, the Angel opening must be seen compared to what the rest of the Strip is up to doing. Other shows set to launch include Donny and Marie at Flamingo and Danny Gans at Encore. In terms of excitement, Believe is truly opening without competition. 
1. Encore (end of year). The online system will not accept reservations before February. But Encore is set to open by the end of this year. Las Vegas has a lot of new Strip resorts being planned and built right now as part of the latest construction boom. The most impressive is the six-tower CityCenter under construction as a partnership between MGM-Mirage and oil rich Dubai. The first of this new wave of resorts to open was Palazzo at the start of this year. Since Palazzo is physically joined (especially for back of the house functions) to the Venetian, the two combine to make Venetian/Palazzo the structure with the most hotel rooms of any resort in the world. But for locals the real excitement is saved for the opening of Encore near the end of the year. Why? Steve Wynn. From Mirage to Belagio to Wynn, no one has a better track record at amazing openings to even more amazing resorts. Steve Wynn is his own category, and he has set the standard for decades. Encore, Wynn's latest, will be examined by his competitors and customers as a measuring stick of the possible for all the other resorts. (Photos by Sarah Gerke)
The Movable Buffet: Dispatches from Las Vegas by Richard Abowitz
5 things worth waiting for
11:01 AM PT, Jul 17 2008
These are uncertain times even in a city that has such unbreakable optimism that others have always called it foolhardiness. But now even the relentlessly positive conversations one has in Vegas have been breached by headlines from outside town. There was a time, just a few months ago, that was truly not the case and it was said by casino executives, though not for attribution, that Vegas doesn't have recessions. A low dollar meant only more foreign tourists. But the majority of our tourists statistically come from Southern California. And the obvious has hit home: Hard times for them mean hard times for us. Now people do not say that the national economy won't impact Vegas. Local giants Harrah's and MGM-Mirage have had layoffs. And locals who once scoffed at the idea that Vegas could ever overbuild with hotel rooms now take that notion seriously as 20,000 to 30,000 more rooms head toward completion in a city that expects occupancy rates to stay above 90%.
But even in a time of doubt there are plenty of exciting things on the horizon. Sorry for that transition. I mean only that there is a lot happening here and, speaking truth, Vegas is all about money, and hard times here usually mean everything is cheaper for tourists. This is a time to fight for a bargain, and you will get it no matter what range you shop. Here are five things worth coming to town to check out in coming months.
5. Downtown's return (ongoing). There is a little optimism kicking in with this one because people have been talking about the return of downtown since I moved here with little apparent results. Well, things are now happening. The Fremont East entertainment district and places like the Beauty Bar are finally pulling in tourists. I can feel the greater numbers of people under the canopy of the Fremont Street Experience, the single best bit of weirdo brilliant entertainment Vegas has to offer. Certainly as much as any of the offical plans to revitalize downtown the bargains available became the biggest pull in making the older properties and areas more desirable to new generations of tourists. But a lot of money has gone into preparing for this moment. And while some casinos are more ready for their spotlight than others, I can highly recommend the Golden Nugget as one casino downtown that has put money into making the property the jewel of downtown again. This remains an uncompetitive category. But I think Golden Nugget still has applied gusto to winning.4: Aliante Station (opening in November). It used to be that a locals casino was of interest to only locals. There were key ingredients like a movie theater, a food court an arcade and gambling. Certainly properties like Palms and Rio had locals as costumers But both were within blocks of the Strip. With Green Valley Ranch (which I live across the street from), a locals casino truly proved able to offer an alternative to tourists searching for a high-end experience away from the bustle of the Strip. When Green Valley Ranch proved a worthy alternative to a nice Strip hotel to a certain segment of the travel market, locals casinos finally found a way to get tourists away from the Strip who few even aspired to reach before Green Valley Ranch opened. It probably helped with tourists that a cable television show was made about the casino. After Green Valley Ranch, Stations perfected this approach with its next offering, Red Rock Resort. Red Rock offers among the most scenic locales in Vegas, and nature aside, there is even a beautiful view of the Strip in the distance. People from out of town love the exclusive feel of the place while, like all Stations casinos, the property also services its neighborhood with a food court and movie theater. But Red Rock Resort has also offered talent competitive with the Strip, including Kanye West's most recent concert in Vegas. I also wrote on the Buffet about the principals of Jane's Addiction playing together this weekend at Red Rock. That said, Aliante Station seems a more modest affair. But it is telling that even a modest affair in Vegas these days includes a bar with bottle service and a 700-seat showroom and six restaurants. There is also a value to all these new showrooms because even at a local casino they need acts of national stature to sell that many seats. The new showrooms (the Hard Rock, see next item, is opening another one) are the primary engine behind the increasingly unpresendented concert diversity of the offerings in Vegas.
3. Hard Rock renovations (ongoing). At one time the Hard Rock was the rare off Strip casino that carried the prestige of the Strip. Even tourists not staying there wanted to visit and see the memorabilia or play the Sid Vicious slot. In fact, back in 1999 the Hard Rock was easily the coolest resort in Vegas able to enjoy strong local support while becoming a first-choice tourist destination too. Then the Palms opened in 2001 and simply did a far more sophisticated and impressive job at understanding and marketing to the best elements of the Hard Rock's clientele both locally and with tourists. After "The Real World" aired, the Palms pretty much aged the Hard Rock overnight into a Boomer place while the young and hip began migrating to the Palms. Then the nightclub revolution happened, making the Strip a much cooler destination for L.A. elites than the old days. And even the Rio of late has made a play for what was once the audience of young too-cool-for-Vegas types that made up the Hard Rock's core audience. That few now object to Vegas in the way the Hard Rock could wink at while capitalizing on in 1999 has also been a factor. There is little irony anymore in there being the rock casino. But while all the Hard Rock's competition caught on to how to market to the next generation, little changed at the venerable property. Now finally the results of $800 million in planned renovations are beginning to show. A rock concert bar called Wasted Space already has its doors open, with a grand opening on the way. More openings in retail, a new nightclub, a revamped concert venue and numerous other improvements not yet announced are all set to open in the 12 months. The result, one hopes, will again make the Hard Rock one of the best destinations in Vegas. This is a property all Vegas benefits from keeping at the top.
2. Cirque's Believe starring Criss Angel (October at Luxor, grand opening). Angel has become quite a controversial local presence since the show was announced. As a result, there is a lot less good will toward this show than one would expect from such an interesting combination of talents. Angel's edgy performance art is a lot closer to the street performances that the Canadian circus troupe left behind decades ago in its ascent to becoming the leading entertainment company on the Las Vegas Strip. When Believe opens, the Angel vehicle will be the sixth permanent show Cirque has sandwiched between a couple of miles of Las Vegas Boulevard. Yet no one seems concerned if Believe will oversaturate the market because of the star: Criss Angel. Few entertainers have that impact. This show fails or succeeds based on Angel. And Angel has proven to be fantastic at pulling in an audience. Also, the Angel opening must be seen compared to what the rest of the Strip is up to doing. Other shows set to launch include Donny and Marie at Flamingo and Danny Gans at Encore. In terms of excitement, Believe is truly opening without competition.
1. Encore (end of year). The online system will not accept reservations before February. But Encore is set to open by the end of this year. Las Vegas has a lot of new Strip resorts being planned and built right now as part of the latest construction boom. The most impressive is the six-tower CityCenter under construction as a partnership between MGM-Mirage and oil rich Dubai. The first of this new wave of resorts to open was Palazzo at the start of this year. Since Palazzo is physically joined (especially for back of the house functions) to the Venetian, the two combine to make Venetian/Palazzo the structure with the most hotel rooms of any resort in the world. But for locals the real excitement is saved for the opening of Encore near the end of the year. Why? Steve Wynn. From Mirage to Belagio to Wynn, no one has a better track record at amazing openings to even more amazing resorts. Steve Wynn is his own category, and he has set the standard for decades. Encore, Wynn's latest, will be examined by his competitors and customers as a measuring stick of the possible for all the other resorts. (Photos by Sarah Gerke)
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