VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Armstrong signs a wheel deal

Friday, Jan. 31, 2003 | 4:25 a.m.

Not every big deal is made on a golf course.

Four-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong makes his big sponsorship deals at Las Vegas restaurants.

Armstrong, a longtime pal of Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group exec Tom Kaplan, rolled into town last week to patch together some new sponsors.

Armstrong spent most of Friday afternoon at Postrio at The Venetian with reps of Alloc Inc., a Belgian flooring company.

At the end of the meal it was set to be a main sponsor when Armstrong goes for his record fifth consecutive victory this summer. The 100th annual race through France begins July 6.

And the winning names in the contest to name Siegfried & Roy's three Royal White Tiger cubs are: Gandara (prince ruler); Akasha (wisdom) and Kuuma (love).

The respective namers were Tony Alamo Elementary School first grader Mackenna Ririe, Richard J. Rundle fourth grader Janelly Ramos and Jack Dailey Year Round third grader Fernando Fernandes.

Each winner has the honor of having a $1,000 check donated to their schools in their names.

The last surviving member of the Rat Pack, Joey Bishop, turns 85 Monday. He is now living a quiet life in Palm Springs.

The International UFO Congress and Film Festival, uh, takes off today at the Flamingo Las Vegas. About 500 attendees are expected at the weeklong event. Five hundred from this world, at least.

About 80,000 people are expected at the World of Concrete Exposition at the Las Vegas Hilton on Tuesday. Maybe even Jimmy Hoffa.

Swimming star and 1940s screen siren Esther Williams has inked a deal to create and co-produce a show called "Aquaria" for Bally's and Paris Las Vegas.

Next step is a worldwide search for a "Million Dollar Mermaid" to star in the production.

Williams was one of the top film stars of the 1940s and '50s when she appeared in a series of musicals with aquatic themes.

She was also married to Fernando Lamas from 1969 until he died in 1982.

Wayne Brady is doing a Vegas-themed week on his syndicated talker; guests include Charo, Wayne Newton, Robert Goulet and The Amazing Johnathan.

Johnathan taped his segment Thursday in Los Angeles. His new Flamingo Las Vegas engagement starts Monday. At the opening party, he plans to put a tape of a barking attack dog under the buffet table.

Also look for a dunk tank with an old, infirm woman on a respirator as the dunkee and a chandelier to fall from the ceiling onto his stage partner, Psychic Tanya.

Now, that's entertainment!

Media update: Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman was interviewed last week for a profile in the April issue of Maxim.

Thanks, James Brady. The Parade columnist and acclaimed novelist also writes a column in Ad Age, where he mentioned a terrific new book this week.

It is called, "Kerouac and Friends' A Beat Generation Album," from Thundersmouth Press.

It features hundreds of vintage photos of Beat-era personalities taken by my father, Fred W. McDarrah.

There are snaps of Kerouac (including a series where he is drinking beer and writing poetry with my mother Gloria), Allen Ginsberg, Norman Mailer, William S. Burroughs, Gore Vidal, Paddy Chayefsky, Larry Rivers, Art Blakey, Terry Southern, Charles Mingus, Anais Nin and Amiri Baraka.

It is now available at bookstores nationwide.