An extended Thanksgiving Day weekend allowed my wife and I to partake of some random Sin City fare — helped greatly by her superior 
comp-getting abilities. Last Sunday, we spent the night at the Downtown Grand (not our first stay there). This time we were put in one of the smaller rooms, in the Casino Tower. Even having what I would imagine is a typical tourist experience is still greatly superior to The Linq, the most overhyped “new” hotel in town. (I actually turned down a free room night at The Linq, our first stay there having been so underwhelming.) The beds are so comfy-cozy that I must confess to dozing off while listening to my audiobook of War and Peace.
Breakfast at S+O was scrumptious — try the corned-beef hash — as had been an excellent dinner at Siegel’s 1941 in the El Cortez. The garish lighting could be toned down to good effect but I had no cavils with my tomato soup and iceberg-wedge salad, nor with the salted-caramel turtle pie we shared for dessert. Prices at both these establishments were scrupulously fair … OK, the desserts at Siegel’s are not in proportion to their cost but that is a minor complaint.
Last night, we took in Terry Fator‘s Christmas show — he is emphatic that it is not a “holiday” show — at The Mirage. Be advised that there’s a lot of political humor, so that Fator at times seems to be channeling Dennis Miller (only funnier). Although the focus is on 
Christmas, there is a nod to Hannukkah, as well as an extended ode to stoner culture. (I wonder if Fator took in the recent “Grateful Dead & Company” concert.) Except for a maudlin ballad — an admirable idea badly executed — to our men and women in uniform, Fator was in top form. One can certainly make the case that he is the most talented headliner on the Strip when you consider the high technical difficulty of what he does with seeming ease. Fator’s got brass balls: You can watch him in closeup on two video monitors, as though he’s daring you to catch his lips moving as he “throws his voice.”
His impressions are nearly as good. He’s not a Johnny Mathis or Nat King Cole soundalike, for example, but he captures enough of their stylistic tics to pull off the mimicry. He’s genuinely brilliant and Vegas is lucky to have him. We then went home and watched the new HDTV transfer of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It wouldn’t be an S&G Christmas without it (even if Santa Claus is portrayed as a self-absorbed bastard).
