Part of last night -- too much of it, in fact -- was spent dancing attendance upon the BestOfVegas.com launch party. I came away with a headache and little else other than the distinct impression that this is another "me too" Vegas portal, launched at the oddest possible time, when Vegas' fortunes are in an ebb tide.

Actually, if you had to attend one lame media event all year, this was the one, as it was had every worst-of feature, all rolled into one craptastic excuse for a party. Rude bartender? Check. Cold drink served in a hot glass? Check. Go-go dancers writhing cheerlessly? Check. Pointless "celebrity" appearances? Check. Conversation-drowning house music? Check. Lack of a press kit or any other info on the site (except some B-roll, endlessly looping on video screens)? Check and check.

Both Best of Vegas.com and its feeble rollout have already gotten the back of the hand from Steve Friess. There's not a lot more to add, save that whatever money was $$$pent to ship second-string Hilton and Kardashian progeny (plus the host of The Mole, I was informed) to Vegas for a run-of-the-mill media event would have been far, far better spent on building brand awareness of Best of Vegas.com. What I've seen so far looks decidedly cut-rate.

Admittedly, I wouldn't know any of these alleged celebrities if I ran over them, so maybe I'm not the star-struck target crowd -- although the lot of us in the back room of Sushi Samba (an exceptionally good restaurant, by the way) was dominated by local PR people, with a few press mixed in, all of whom are probably fairly celeb-inured by now.

If we were meant to be impressed by Best of Vegas' ability to draw "names" and thereby reinforce the image of Las Vegas as a magnet for the glitterati ... well, there are bigger stars right here in town, even in that very casino complex -- people of real accomplishment, at that. So color me doubly unimpressed.

Like I said, Best of Vegas.com has better ways to spend its money.

Between laughing my ass off at Tropic Thunder and having dinner at Adam's Ribs, the "Best of" non-event was just a speed bump in an otherwise enjoyable evening, and another brick in my growing wall of resistance toward showing the flag at such hootenannies (although I'm guilty of being the dragger and not the drag-ee in this instance). Honestly, an anonymous casino visit as a simple customer is usually a lot more fun, if you ask me.