Sometimes pigs fly and once a year there’s the Vegas Valley Book Festival. I bent over backwards to attend Friday’s event called the Sin City Sonneteer Spectacular hosted by local writer Jarret Keene.

Dayvid Figler, Mayor Oscar Goodman & Tuba

The event started with Mayor Oscar Goodman and local poet-lawyer Dayvid Figler reading haiku to tuba accompaniment. Somebody donated the haikus, and by now you should know better to look too closely at the donation bins in Las Vegas. What I mean is that all the poems were about strippers, hookers, drinking, neon and 900 numbers.

Ms. Las Vegas Holly Madison & Reporter Becky Bosshart

To make the poetry better, Jarrett was passing out cans of Schlitz from a magical hidden cooler. Also, Holly Madison showed up; I guess she loves poetry. My friend and reporter Becky Bosshart is a secret fan of Ms. Madison and thus the above photo was born. I wonder how many tourist photos of Ms. Madison include cans of Schlitz.

C. Moon Boarding the Sin City Sonneteer

Once the Mayor’s haiku was finished, all the cool, famous people disappeared and the local nerds (myself included!) got on the trolley and rode around Downtown Las Vegas taking periodic poetry stops

Sin City Sonneteer (aka Poetry Trolley)

For all you non-locals, Downtown Las Vegas should under no circumstances be confused with the Strip. Jarret our tour guide pointed out the bail bond places, not the grand casinos. And the hotels we did pass looked like the one below.

Creepy Downtown Hotel

But mainly it was a unique and wonderful community experience. What with all the communing with fellow lovers of the written and spoken word.

Atop the Poetry Trolley with Journalist Michael Mishak

All in all, it was one of the most artistic nights I’ve had in all my time in Vegas. Also, the idea of being driven around an art walk is super appealing for its sheer stupid luxury. Thank you, Nevada Arts Council!

Fallout Gallery as seen from the Poetry Trolley

Only in Vegas can you find a bar with real, live mermaids. And shark and stingrays and fish, lots of fish…

Read about my trip to Mermaids Lounge at the Silverton Lodge in the latest installment of my bar column for the Las Vegas Weekly.

And I took this photo from the bar. Huzzah!

Hey, who you calling seedy? That’s what the imaginary Davy of Davy’s Locker would say if he were a real human capable of reading blogs instead of a mythical pirate. In Las Vegas (as opposed to under the sea), Davy’s Locker refers to a spirited little dive bar. As an example of this spirit, note the halloween tree in the corner.

Read all about it in the latest edition of my bar column for the Las Vegas Weekly.

As you may have noticed my long absence from the blogosphere, things have been crazy for the last few months. But I’m back and better than ever. Friday night, I celebrated my return to the writing world with a trip to restaurant/club LAVO at the Palazzo Hotel & Casino.  On that very special day, I made my writing goal official by writing it on a cocktail napkin and taking a picture of it. In case you can’t read the napkin, it says that I will be finished with my novel in six months (April 2010)… or ELSE!

Bobby Flay's Top Secret Vegetables

Right now I’m working on my next bar exam. But I’m having difficulties, so it’s time to procrastinate!

I bring you, Random Vegas Food Photo stolen from somebody’s plate whose dinner I crashed. The restaurant was Mesa Grill. The person was a vegan. I am not. Nonetheless, I was so jealous of his dish that I just had to take a picture.

Now back to my regularly scheduled writing assignment.

The Ghost of Birthdays Past

Today is my birthday. Three years ago, I thought it would be fun to buy a ’50s prom dress from Goodwill, chop it up into something “hip” and don a tiara. Did I mention the birthday party with red cups and a special stirrer for the birthday girl? I can so no better way to bid farewell to youth.

But now I’m a grown up and seem to be waving to youth in the distance as it slowly backs away. The best way to celebrate? With the knowledge that this year didn’t see my novel completed, but next year will, damnit! Hoozah! Now go buy me something!

NOTE: With 10 minutes to spare before my birthday, I hit the 150-page mark on my novel!

The resemblance is eerie. My favorite line: “Every slot machine is a robot amputee waving hello.”

This “fan video” was made by filmmaker Ross Ching looking to get his stuff seen. I’d say it worked. You can see how he made the cool video HERE.

Dam, Hoover!

Since so many people seem to be interested in photos of the Hoover Dam and the progression of the bypass bridge, I decided to post another photo. I took this one while fly from El Paso to Las Vegas in Southwest about a month ago. Notice that the Bypass bridge looks impressive even from the air. You may also see the low water level. Ahh, the good and ill of technology. This is why I always ask for a window seat.

My friend and journalist Richard Abowitz suggested I read this book. Since he has been writing about Vegas forever, I took his advice. The book was so good that I now want you to take his advice.

Despite the fact that Winner is non-fiction I couldn’t put it down. Christina Binkley, a columnist for the Wall Street Journal, achieved what every high school history teacher dreams of: She made history exciting. Sure she may have misspelled Danny Gans’ name once and there are rumors that she mixed up a few dates, but the book is indelible.

Basically, it explains what happened in the last 10-odd years to make Vegas what it is today. But mainly it’s a psychological portrait of the title’s three moguls. I’ve lived in Vegas for a year now and I’ve always felt like I arrived in the middle of a conversation. This book gave me an understanding of what I’ve been missing.

The only complaint I had was that this book didn’t have a satisfying conclusion. It seemed to stop instead of end. Certainly, the fortunes of Vegas has shifted since the book was published in 2008. If you’d like an update, check out this fascinating article in the Las Vegas Sun, which interviews three retired casino execs about the Big Crash.

I’d recommend this book to people who like: Las Vegas | business and development | a fast-paced non-fiction book | wheeling & dealing | an understanding of modern American pop culture

But don’t take my word for it, read these reviews:

- Liz Benston in the Las Vegas Sun

- David G. Schwartz on his Vegas Blog, The Die is Cast

-Steve Friess in USA Today

- Tara McKelvey in the New York Times

I’m freaking out about a few deadlines and trying to work solid without taking any breaks, which of course, leads me to taking a blog break.

For this reason, you get to see a photo of the Hoover Dam bypass bridge that I took about three weeks ago. I believe that the gap between the two sides of the bridge is much smaller now.

While it’s an inconvenience to drive over the Hoover Dam when traveling from Phoenix to Vegas, I think I’ll miss the charm of it when the bridge is finished.