Sunday, Dec. 18, 2005 | 8:08 a.m.
Fabulous Las Vegas runs Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in the Las Vegas Sun. Reach John Katsilometes at [email protected] or at (702) 259-2327 or (702) 812-9812.
I first wandered into Bonanza, the world's largest gift shop, four years ago. It was at the urging of one-time Las Vegas Sun film critic Geoff Carter, a similarly twisted Earth inhabitant, after I mentioned that I needed some knickknack Christmas gifts for my family in Idaho.
Geoff, who today lives in Seattle, was a big fan of the immense gift shop on the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara Avenue (just across from the oddly slow-of-business Ivana Trump condominium tower headquarters). "Run a lap through the place," he said. "You won't be sorry."
After spending about an hour and purging my bank account of $217 I'll never see again, he was right. I needed an amyl sulfate capsule cracked under my nose to recover, but I still smile when Mom dusts off the plastic green Las Vegas poker visor I bought her in that magic winter of '01.
I make periodic trips to Bonanza these days -- Fabulous Las Vegas joke contest winner Barbara Bolling was awarded a coffee mug from Bonanza -- and did so again Saturday morning. For you last-minute holiday shoppers, especially those buying for family in far-away locales such as Boise, some highlights:
An Elvis Presley gold-record antenna topper: $6.99.
A red T-shirt sketched with the image of Che Guevara: $18.99. A light-blue women's T-shirt proclaiming, "You Can't Afford Me -- $Las Vegas" $10.99.
A pair of fuzzy dice to be hung from a rearview mirror, reading "Las Vegas": $2.99.
Post cards of Wilbur Clark's Desert Inn, with an ominous smoke plume from an atomic test in the background: Three for $1.
Personalized Las Vegas shot glass, with names such as "John," $2.99. Same price for a personalized lighter.
Famous dice clock with the "Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas" sign painted on the face: $19.99.
Sadly, the life-size plastic Elvis statue near the front of the store is not for sale. A sales clerk referred to it -- I mean, him -- as "our pride and joy," and (thankfully) scoffed at my offer of $2,000 for the hauntingly lifelike figure.
NoteMart
Waiting for Kristen: On Tuesday night Las Vegas Sun reporter Kristen Peterson took in a performance of "The Nutcracker" at Imprints Day School as part of her reporting for a story she wrote for today's paper. The kids noticed the unfamiliar face in the audience and thought the worst, or best.
"They're all nervous," Susan Forestieri, art teacher at Imprints, told Peterson. "They think you're a theater critic and I haven't told them otherwise."
To see how the kids coped, check out Peterson's story on page 10.
All you need is blood: From Monday through Dec. 31 the aggressively zany comedy-magic team of Penn & Teller are awarding to anyone who donates blood at United Blood Services two tickets to their show at the Rio. That's a $150 deal for one pint.
Penn & Teller are dark Tuesdays; for information about how to make an appointment call 233-9620. Donors must be at least 17 years old and weigh at least 110 pounds. UBS is located at 6930 W. Charleston Blvd.
Robuchon: More from Joel Robuchon at the Mansion, the swank MGM Grand restaurant featured in this column on Friday. The restaurant has been named by DiningFrance.com, an online guide of the great restaurants of France, on its 2006 List of the 10 Best French Restaurants in the World Located Outside of France.
Joel Robuchon at The Mansion was listed fourth, after Robuchon's Chateau Restaurant in Tokyo; Domain de Chateauvieux in Satigny, Switzerland; and The French Laundry in Yountville, Calif.
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