Monday, Sept. 30, 2002 | 9:19 a.m.
Is it still news that Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman does things that would embarrass the life out of real big city mayors?
Fiorello LaGuardia famously read the comics on the radio during a New York City newspaper strike, but it is hard to imagine he'd sign a six-figure deal with a gin maker.
And Chicago's legendary kingpin Richard Daley may have, uh, influenced an election or two, but it is impossible to visualize him high kicking it with raisins from a large Western state. And then boozing it up at a local bar.
As Felix Ungar would say, "Oscar, Oscar, Oscar!"
On Wednesday Goodman, the California Dancing Raisins and five Las Vegas chefs -- James Perillo (Caesars Palace), Grant MacPherson (Bellagio), Oliver Dubreuil (Paris Las Vegas), Bernard Ibarra (Mirage) and Kim Canteenwalla (formerly of MGM Grand, as faithful readers will remember) will introduce an ad they made together.
Then the entire posse will be joined by an Elvis impersonator and retire inside the Saloon Bar & Grill on Fremont Street to enjoy libations and hors d'oeuvres made with -- what else? -- raisins.
The public is invited to the 5 p.m. event to eat, drink and hobnob.
Then, as a mayoral aide described it to VegasBeat, Goodman is taking part in another alcohol-fueled event on Oct. 11, sponsored by Bombay Sapphire, with which he has signed the promotional contract.
Pfoot pfetish
Weatherman Mark Pfister of KLAS-TV Channel 8 may have too much free time during the week.
According to a fetching female publicist, Pfister is trying to make time over her ... feet.
Over lunch at Postrio the other day, the embarrassed young flack recounted his recent advances toward what was inside her Manolo Blahniks.
"At first it was funny, but after a while ..." she said, her voice trailing off as she picked at her lasagna.
Pfister hardly denied his podi-interest.
"I am looking forward to her piano recital -- I imagine her playing Chopin with her toes!" Pfister told VegasBeat. "Could it get any better? I don't think so!"
The comely object of his attention later added that she felt Pfister hadn't crossed that thin gray line from playful teasing to lawsuit.
"I don't think that any woman is safe in Mr. Pfister's sights," she said. "But somehow that is what makes him so endearing, right?"
Congrats
Rep. Shelley Berkley received a nice honor in Washington last week.
The Clark County Democrat was presented with an award from Susan Molinari's Century Council in recognition of her efforts to combat drunken driving.
Berkley, mother of two teenage boys, said: "It is critically important that teenagers today are reminded that drunk driving cannot only destroy everything they care about in life, but that it also endangers the lives of every other person on the road."
Also snagging a little recognition was Rep. Jim Gibbons.
The 2nd District Republican received the National Federation of Independent Business Guardian of Small Business Award for his small-business voting record.
Faking sincerity
Few afternoons are more entertaining than one spent with Las Vegas gadfly Michael Shulman.
With the force of a ghetto fire hydrant, he spews out a nonstop stream of hard information, gossip, backstory and color about all things Las Vegas.
The Vanity Fair magazine party promoter and local philanthropist says he is now on the Atkins diet -- he can't fit into any of his old dresses.
My favorite Shulman-ism so far: "This town is so phony that, to preserve the myth, they actually water the fake plants in some of the hotel lobbies."
Don't go changin'?
At a concert in New York's Madison Square Garden last week, Billy Joel -- fresh from a rehab stint -- altered one of his signature lyrics, perhaps to reflect his newfound sobriety.
In "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant," Joel sang: "Bottle of white ... Bottle of red ... perhaps a glass of Perrier instead."
Joel and Elton John's current tour should hit Las Vegas in the spring.
Fowl act
Dr. Scott Lewis, the practicing chiropractor who performs a hypnotist/comedy act at Riviera's Le Bistro Theatre each Monday evening, adds a new element to his act tonight.
The new sidekick is Nugget the Hypno-chicken. Lewis says the chicken will be a finalist in an "American Idol" parody he plans to introduce.
"I've never seen anything like it," Lewis said. "Nugget was hypnotizing the other animals (at Las Vegas Zoo) by staring at them, then making three complete circles while clucking and bobbing his head up and down.
"During the hour I observed him, he hypnotized four ducks, two monkeys and a salamander," he told VegasBeat from his Las Vegas office.
Recognizing the chicken's "extraordinary talent," Lewis arranged to borrow the animal from the zoo for his weekly shows.
He said his bird puts Tropicana's tic-tac-toe playing chicken Ginger "to shame."
Can't make this stuff up. After all, why would anyone want to?
Snake eyes
Kudos to Las Vegas writer Brian Rouff, author of the novel "Dice Angel."
His hard-luck tale of a Las Vegas bar owner named Jimmy Delaney is entering its fourth printing, and is inching up the amazon.com sales chart.
Does the "Dice Angel" -- a karma-spouting, planet-charting floozy -- save Delaney from himself by book's end?
Don't know. I haven't finish reading it. But even if I had, I hate when people give away endings.
The Hardway Press tome is available at bookstores locally and nationally.
Party down
Las Vegas has some pretty amazing party spaces.
But according to the Washington Post, the nation's most outrageous room available for rent is The Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas.
The former Texas School Book Depository -- yes, from where Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly fired shots at Pesident John F. Kennedy in 1963 -- is now available for your corporate or personal bash, though weddings and bar mitzvahs are not allowed.
"We try to be sensitive to the sanctity of the site," Sam Childres, the facility's marketing manager, said.
Too late for that.
The Asian-American Journalists Association recently held an event at the depository, as did pharmaceutical giant Merck.
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