John Katsilometes builds a column beginning with an appearance by architect Frank Gehry at a construction convention at the MGM Grand

Tuesday, March 28, 2006 | 6:49 a.m.

Anyone interested in how the mind of renowned architect Frank Gehry operates can hear from the man himself Wednesday at the MGM Grand.

Gehry's imprint on Las Vegas is reflected in his design of the Lou Ruvo Alzheimer's Institute (a model of the project was made public in February and every architectural critic in town has chimed in about its design). He'll be back this week and is scheduled to make an appearance at the Construction Specifications Institute's 50th Annual Show and Convention.

Gehry and Dennis Shelden, founder and chief technology officer of Gehry Technologies, are to give the keynote address at the five-day CSI show (which is not to be confused with the show, "CSI"). The presentation, which is open and free to the public, will be at 10 a.m. in Rooms 312-317 of the MGM Grand Conference Center.

According to a news release, the topic will be "building information models - computerized 2-D and 3-D models linked to databases that house the specifications, schedules, drawings and other information related to a construction project."

The address (which seems fairly advanced, no?) will be part of the Opening General Session of the CSI show. Introducing Gehry and Shelden will be the reclusive Oscar Goodman, mayor of Las Vegas.

NoteMart

Denial isle: Despite what was reported here Monday, the producers of "Hairspray" strongly deny that John Goodman is joining the cast and say any word of his involvement is purely rumor. Confirmed Monday were the additions of Paul Vogt (as Edna Turnblad) and Eddie Mekka (as Wilbur Turnblad) beginning May 1 ...

Interactivity: Opening at Krave (on the corner of Harmon Avenue and the Strip) on April 6 is the dinner show "The Sopranos' Last Supper," an interactive production that features a menu of eight kinds of salads and 13 entrees.

Meanwhile, the similarly Italian-themed dinner show "Tony n' Tina's Wedding" is still chugging along at the Rio; it celebrated its 1,500th show Friday night.

Ticket prices for the two shows are $95 to $150 (and $500 for line-jumping privileges, a private booth and bottle of wine or champagne) for "Last Supper" and $79 across the board for "Tony n' Tina." The difference is that the less-expensive "Tony n' Tina" has a 1,500-show track record, but "Last Supper" does seem to offer more food ...

The man who would be governor: Hollywood film producer Aaron Russo has plans to test screen his new film, "America ... From Freedom to Fascism," on April 9 at Tropicana Cinemas on 3330 E. Tropicana Ave. Remember Russo? In 1998 the political maverick briefly moved to Las Vegas and lost to Kenny Guinn in the Republican primary for governor of Nevada ...

Hotsie "Tsotsi": Occasionally an Academy Award-winning film reaches Las Vegas theaters weeks after it has actually won that Academy Award. That happens again this week when "Tsotsi," which claimed this year's Oscar for Best Foreign Film, opens Friday at Regal Cinemas Village Square 18 ...

Wrap act: Samsung is busy wrapping the Stardust (and hasn't the placed suffered enough already this year?) in vinyl for what is being billed as "The Largest Building Wrap in Las Vegas History." The project will be finished by April 4, in time for the CTIA Wireless trade show, which runs April 4-5. The wrap will display two of Samsung's slimmest mobile phones on the south-facing side of the once-proud resort ...

Pavilion rocks: The Henderson Pavilion hosted its first spring concert Saturday with a performance by Rita Coolidge. Up next, at 8 p.m. Saturday, is Mary Chapin Carpenter. On April 8 it's Don McLean, and the prices, $10-$30 for all shows, are reasonable ...

Of horses, gambling and Chachi: The license plate sighting from Monday, a convertible Mercedes-Benz with the vanity plate PICK 6 attached, has quite a back story. The car's owner, Steve Cuccio, contacted me Monday with his saga:

Cuccio hit a pick 6 three years ago on the day he was to move from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. The movers were late , so he ate breakfast at Santa Anita Race Park and played an $18 pick-6 ticket. Amazingly, he hit a pair of long shots - overachieving equines named Long Term Wish and Show Me the Moolah! - on a pick-6 ticket that paid $85,000.

That night a good friend of Cuccio's, Scott "Chachi" Baio (we are not making this up) told Cuccio he was selling his convertible Mercedes-Benz - the very car I spotted several days ago while driving to work. Cuccio bought Chachi's car, moved to Vegas and opened a gas station/car wash, the Country Club Auto Spa on Eastern Avenue.

Cuccio says he couldn't believe PICK 6 was still available when he asked for the plate at the DMV. He is also looking forward to publicity for his business, saying, "Maybe we can give 50 percent off to people with losing pick-6 tickets" ...

Oh, baby: Plate spotted on a black Lexus, EPIDRAL.