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LemonSky

I'm going to surmise that the surly attitudes of so many casino drones have alienated patrons to the point many now say, "no thanks, I'll take my entertainment dollar elsewhere".

You see it deep in the eyes of nearly every dealer, cocktail waitress, pit boss, sportsbook wager taker--the contempt, the hatred, the condescension for the customer.

I really and truly don't know if the abysmal economy has affected their attitudes to take such a misanthropic turn, but I for one, am done with Vegas. When I took my first jaunt here eight years ago, I had a grand time that parlayed itself into nearly 75 visits (easy since its a relatively short drive from LA). But over the past three years, I've noticed the aforementioned ugliness more and more.

And the coup de grace came last week at the M. The M! The new cool kid in town. I swear I was subjected to the worst service I've ever experienced. I enumerated these (too long to list here) in an e-mail to customer service, which has yet to respond, and I guess it won't. I guess the mere $3000 I've spent in stays and gambling at their resort in the last year makes me irrelevant in their eyes.

But I know this just isn't me making these observations about Vegas. Within the circles I run in Los Angeles (some would call it the douchey entertainment industry) alot of people have said more and more, over the years, how they can't stand Vegas. The whimsical charm that initially captured us all eight years ago is gone and will most likely never return.

@ atdleft

It's funny you mention the rescinded offers. I got one for two comped nights until July 31st, so when I called several weeks ago, the reservations person told me all the weekends were booked already, but that plenty of Sundays to Thursdays were remaining. Early last week, I decided to take a one night visit for Thursday (I figured I'd just use one of the comped nights), but when I called reservations, the M guy said the promo offer ended because all the spaces were taken. Fair enough, since one of the stipulations was that the offer was good based on availability. Still, I had 2 free $25 freeplay coupons and wanted to get away from Los Angeles for a day, so I booked my room anyway. It was only $55 plus that inane $25 "resort fee" (you get free internet wifi access and get this, a complimentary USA Today! Wow, what a splurge).

So I got there Thursday and I could tell the offer was 86'ed because the place was hardly bustling with activity. There's no way they could have booked the allotted rooms.

Still, I like the place and am looking forward to many excursions this upcoming football season.

Oh, and the cocktail waitresses are hawwwwwwt!

Ensign ought to team up with Larry Craig, Newt Gingrich, Jim Gibbons, Ted Haggard and David Vitter for a new reality show, "I'm a Self-Righteous Serial Adulterer, Get Me Out Of Here!"

If I'm going to partake in the inevitable squandering of my money in a casino, I want to do it in a vibrant, fun-filled milieu. Unfortunately, Encore's aura has all the charm of a dank yet gaudily-ornamented Italian family restaurant. The casino's chambered design suffocates any energy that can arise and makes me think it'll someday make a great mausoleum for Mr. Wynn.

No one should begrudge John for leaving Stern. He, like most staffers on that show, was grossly underpaid and underappreciated by Howard, but in any event, he would have never moved beyond being a call screener and on-air personality.

That said, I think Leno hired him to be a comic foil and on-location "monkey" (going to some eccentric show or gathering and interviewing the eclectic patrons, for example) in addition to being the announcer. Unfortunately, Jay and John never established any chemistry, and it shows. I think Jay realizes it hasn't worked out like planned, but he doesn't want to be the ogre and fire John, but he's using passive aggressive tactics (like not informing him of his future) to get John to resign.