Lots of good stuff out there this week in the world of Vegas reporting and conversation, and I found a few things that have stuck with me.
Let's start with the Jeff Does Vegas podcast interview with Chris Hansen.
Hansen is not quite on par with Tom Brokaw, but his name is well known. During his years at NBC, he was part of several undercover investigations dubbed "To Catch a Predator." If you don't know: Adults seeking minors for sexual liaisons are busted in undercover law enforcement stings, which are recorded for broadcast to the masses.
There are clips from these stings all over YouTube. It's crime porn, almost literally. It's hard not to watch, and at times it's amusing because both the perps and Chris Hansen say things that aren't one-liners, but are funny. If you've seen it, ever, you know what I mean.
The point of the investigation, however, is anything but funny. Hansen's career seems to have become dedicated to busting the predators. After NBC cashed in on the concept, both at the mothership and via its cable outlets, Hansen has carried on the crusade, churning out new content for either a cable channel, a streaming app or both. I'm not sure on that part. But he's out there, proving that as the platforms evolve, the predators are still looking for victims nearly two decades after the predator stings began. (Not a surprise.)
All that said, Hansen is cashing in on his work catching predators through a behind-the-scenes presentation. In Vegas.
It seems odd to me that a showroom that exists primarily for comedy and musical entertainment is going to host ticketed presentations about baiting and trapping online predators, but that's the opportunity South Point Casino is offering you next month. I won't explain how and why my favorite Vegas podcast would up interviewing Hansen, but the host will if you listen to this discussion of both Hansen's career and his encounters with online predators. Great discussion, Jeff.
Jeff Does Vegas interview with Chris Hansen
As I have noted, I don't follow any Vegas YouTube channels closely. To my surprise, I was unfamiliar with Miles to Memories. YouTube recommended one of their recent videos, showcasing the sadness that is Primm, Nevada.
I've been to Primm. Once. Probably in 2018. On a weeknight in September, I believe. Not much was happening, as you would expect.
I get why Laughlin works. It's on the Arizona border and it's 100 miles closer to Arizona residents than Las Vegas. You want a night of casino action, or cocktails served with prune juice instead of orange juice: You go to Laughlin. It saves you at least three hours of travel time, valuable time if you're not making it a weekend getaway.
If you're coming from California, I can appreciate why Primm made sense for a weekend, at least back in its day. Between the three casinos and the outlet mall, it was a cheaper alternative to Vegas if your primary interest was casino action, and you didn't need all the eye candy a night in Vegas offers.
Whatever the reason, Primm made sense to a lot of folks in decades past. Now it's a sad relic full of testaments to the greatness that once was, and Miles to Memories does a great job of capturing a lot of that in a video that is well edited and narrated.
Too many "content creators" think they're doing great work by walking around a casino floor for minutes at a time, pointing out the obvious and chatting about some random memory. There's an audience for that, I guess, but I'm not that audience. Miles to Memories, at least for me, produces quality content that's rarely matched in the bowels of YouTube.
Like the channels I do follow on YouTube, I won't watch every video, but I will be sampling more Miles to Memories content in the weeks to come. They have another recent video from Primm that I have yet to watch, so I'll start with that. Based upon what I've seen in my introduction to their videos, I'll be checking out their content with some frequency.
The following story was not the most amazing thing I have ever read, but it was an entertaining little story from something called Robb Report. I am not familiar with it, but a wealthy Canadian podcaster certainly is, so I'll assume if he is reading Robb Report, it's a credible source.
The host of the Jeff Does Vegas podcast recommends a lot of great articles I'd never find since I don't scour the internet for Vegas news on a regular basis. This nugget he unearthed is the story about an airplane that Elvis Presley purchased late in his life. (It couldn't have been his first, could it?) So what happened to it after his death? Here's the answer:
And finally, I'll note two stories from the Vital Vegas blog that were memorable for one reason or another.
I'm probably not the only person who finds the saga of the long-delayed Fontainebleau casino/resort to be entertaining. I was certain the structure would be torn down rather than completed. Yet here we are, promised the latter.
A blog post this past week shared photos of construction progress toward completing the tower more than 15 years after it began. The photos do not come from Vital Vegas author Scott Roeben, but they were shared with him for use in his blog, and it was mildly interesting to see what's happening right now.
Exclusive: Photos Inside Fontainebleau Reveal Construction Progress
And finally, in-depth coverage of a "food hall," as the marketers like to say, isn't fascinating, but an overview of the new fast food dining options downtown at the Fremont casino pointed out something that greatly surprised me.
I can't name every restaurant in every downtown casino, but I have a pretty good idea of what's available, for the most part. With the opening of a food hall at the Fremont, it's Second Street Grill appears to have closed permanently. This grill was essentially the 24-hour cafe of the casino, as best I can tell. I had no clue it existed. I was slightly stunned to learn it was a thing.
Fremont Food Hall Opens, Second Street Grill Closes Permanently
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