Last night's showcase of Simon at Palms Place was mostly par for the course or better for such events: prompt and friendly service; generous servings of lobster, oysters and shrimp; more desserts than you can shake a diet book at; beautiful vistas of Las Vegas under the stars, and comfy couches, plus seemingly every would-be Derek Zoolander in town.

Unfortunately, nobody in charge of the event seems to have bothered to check the morning weather forecast, which predicted "GUSTY" conditions come nightfall. Sho' nuff, when we arrived the winds were roiling the waters of the wraparound swimming pool something fierce and causing us to hold onto our flimsy plastic plates for dear life (and to ultimately no avail).

But the best part involved the towering ice sculpture. It was a thing of beauty and accomodated two tiers of seafood. Unfortunately, this being Las Vegas in mid-May, it manifested a not-unpredictable tendency to melt. Not only were shrimp splattering onto the floor as the quickly melting serving station reverted to pure H2O, nobody had thought to install any sort of base in which to capture the inevitable runoff. Instead, City Life Arts Editor Mike Prevatt, I and our respective dates were nearly swept away in a flash flood. (OK, I exaggerate ... but not by much.) Quick-thinking waitstaff quasi-solved the problem by wrapping big, white towels around the base of the disintegrating sculpture.

Again, you'd think somebody would have anticipated such an eventuality. But it at least it provided quite a conversation-starter the remainder of the evening.

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