Down Memory Lainie, er, Lane

On Oct. 26, the erstwhile “Gossy Room” at The Palms will host a fundraiser for AFAN. Headlining the event will be Lainie Kazan, who — the press release informs us — is “widely known for her starring role in My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” However, one of the advantages of age is being able to remember back in the day when the pneumatic Ms. Kazan thought there was

“something about an Aqua Velva man.” That ad really fried my little synapses, it did.

Back when he went postal on management at the Tropicana, it was widely thought that Paul Rodriguez had blown his future in Las Vegas to smithereens. Not so. Rodriguez has popped up on the Riviera’s schedule as a Starlite Theatre headliner, playing Aug. 31-Sept. 11. He doesn’t quite square with the Riv’s blast-from-the-past approach and to go to the Riv from the Trop is definitely a comedown. However, when you’re booking acts like Gallagher and the Village People, landing Rodriguez probably feels like a coup.

WMS Industries drew my attention to this promotional reel for the latest iteration of its popular Star Trek slots. I’ve not played these but have heard differing opinions about them. My non-Trekkie wife, who loved WMS’ early Star Trek machines found Battlestations pretty “meh” (sort of the Search for Spock of slot machines). However, S&G guest blogger Augie Grant rates them a thumbs-up. The slots should go over big with the online role-playing-game crowd, whom WMS has astutely targeted with some of its recent entries, including its Lord of the Rings series. The masterstroke has been to incorporate functionality that enables customers to play online for additional bonus rounds (i.e., not for monetary value). For years, game makers have been trying to build the better mousetrap that will pull new slot players into the fray and/or further prolong playing time. WMS  has created the best mouse-catching device I’ve seen in quite some time.

Did you know … that the Silverton hosted a mermaid convention? Me neither.