Monday, Dec. 8, 2003 | 10:37 a.m.
Nobody claimed to have seen pink elephants, but plenty of other unusual sightings were reported.
Was it something in the holiday season air that caused the flurry of strange sighting reports to VegasBeat from patrons leaving Curve, The Living Room, Elements and elsewhere in the Aladdin?
We received numerous calls and e-mails over the weekend: stories of floating Hummers, an airplane, a variety of power saws and all kinds of large feathered creatures meandering through the hotel.
We even got one e-mail from a local address claiming a late-night O.J. Simpson sighting at the Aladdin.
Had our witnesses' vision been blurred from too much partying? Nope. It turns out they were not just seeing things. It was nothing sinister, however.
It was just Steve Wyrick's crew bringing his illusions into the hotel for his show, which opens in his new Aladdin showroom Thursday.
A rep for the show confirmed there had been a late-night, weekend parade of props crossing the casino floor.
The only thing that wasn't part of the show, we think, was The Juice.
Horse player
Now we know how power defense lawyer James "Bucky" Buchanan deals with the pressure of his job -- or a jam-packed holiday party: The "311 Boyz" barrister rides one of his prize Arabian horses.
Several reside in the back yard of the majestic Sunrise Manor residence he shares with his socialite/lawyer wife, Gianna Orlandi Buchanan.
During the couple's annual Toys for Tots holiday bash Saturday night, Buchanan slipped out back several times to visit with his prize equines, momentarily excusing himself from such guests as fellow counselor Frank Cremen, who is representing former Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny; District Judge Michael Cherry; Ice Las Vegas club owner Ed Williams; Frances and Mac McDonald; Ruta, the Lithuanian supermodel who has appeared in Studio 54 ads; Family Court Judge Gloria Sanchez and Las Vegas ONE reporter Carol Wilkinson.
Announcement
Look for an announcement as early as this week from "Survivor" creator Mark Burnett about his new reality show. It will be called something along the lines of "The Casino" and based on last summer's NBC hit "The Restaurant."
Burnett and his staff have been in and out of town several times since Labor Day and as recently as this past weekend. A likely locale will be the Golden Nugget, which early next year gets a new ownership group, headed by Tim Poster and Tom Breitling, with minority partner Andre Agassi.
Cancel
Celine Dion canceled her weekend performances of "A New Day ..." at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace.
She flew to Montreal on Nov. 30 for her father's funeral. Thursday she flew back to Vegas for her Friday show, which was ultimately also canceled.
"She obviously did not get any rest" in Canada, rep Kris Lingle said, and Dion has gotten "very little sleep during these difficult days."
Her show, usually dark on Mondays and Tuesdays, resumes Wednesday.
Installed
A husband and wife pair were among the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce Board of Trustees inductees on Friday night at The Rio: communications pro Ira David Sternberg and Boyd Gaming exec Gina Polovina.
Timothy Cashman of Las Vegas Harley-Davidson/Buell is the group's new president.
Other new trustees include former Sen. Richard Bryan, Mark E. Brown, Tony F. Sanchez III, Hard Rock prez Kevin Kelley and Harrah's exec and former FBI agent George Togliatti.
VegasBits
Out: Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller, who finished a dodgeball-themed movie in Vegas last week, turned up at Drai's (Barbary Coast) late Saturday night. On Friday, Stiller, wife Christine Taylor and V Bar general manager Bronson Olimpieri dined together at Nobu (Hard Rock Hotel) ...
Hitter: Baseball's Jason Giambi dined at Crustacean (Aladdin) on Saturday night, then went upstairs to the Von Dutch party at Prana ...
High up: Donald Faison and Zach Braff from the NBC series "Scrubs" were at ghostbar atop the Palms on Saturday night. Simpson was spotted up there Friday night ...
Lasso: World champion cowboy Ty Murray does his "Horse Whisperer" show at Excalibur through Saturday. Some tickets remain; call (800) 933-1334 for more info. Remember the movie, with Robert Redford and Kristin Scott Thomas, and the novel by Nicholas Evans? ...
One week: "1964 ... the Tribute," hailed by critics as one of the best Beatles tribute shows in the country, opens today for a one-week engagement at the Cabaret Theatre at New York-New York ...
Snap: Nice photo of JC Chasez in the Sunday New York Times -- it was taken by Las Vegas Sun photographer Ethan Miller ...
Congrats: With a cowboy motif, Chaparral High School has won the Valley Automall's sixth annual Holiday Tree Decorating competition. The school gets $3,000. The trees, decorated by students from 11 area high schools, are on display at various Automall dealerships through the end of the year.
From Sun wires
Democratic presidential candidate Al Sharpton busted some James Brown moves on his "Saturday Night Live" debut, but many viewers didn't get the chance to see them.
Several NBC affiliates refused to carry "Saturday Night Live" with Sharpton as host for fear it would activate federal "equal time provisions" and compel them to offer air time to the eight other Democrats running for president.
Sharpton, a former tour manager for the soul star, sang a few verses of Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and even imitated some of his fancy footwork.
Fonda marries: Actress Bridget Fonda and composer Danny Elfman were married recently, Fonda's publicist said.
The wedding took place "near Los Angeles," with the reception at a downtown restaurant, the publicist said. The newlyweds are on a two-week honeymoon.
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