Monday, October 11, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

NORM: Bachelor scandal about to unfold

Gregory Smith of "Everwood" onstage at Krave, the new alternative club at the Aladdin, to promote early voting. Flatley casino deal not a done one yet. Simpson could usher in new stores. Kravitz plays for contest winners.

The clock is ticking on a local high-profile bachelor whose world is about to unravel.

Once the details start spilling, expect the sordid scandal to go national.

I'm told the prize catch is in seclusion, avoiding what soon will become a media frenzy once his unsavory background is revealed.

Well-known at local strip clubs, he and his former wife could write a book on their bizarre lifestyles.

The Scene and Heard

Ireland's Sunday Times is reporting Michael Flatley has closed the deal on a 16-acre site for his giant Irish-themed casino between the Frontier and Stardust. Not quite. My sources tell me the deal is still pending, and it would involve a joint venture on the land, which is owned by Phil Ruffin, owner of the Frontier. ...

Jessica Simpson is close to finalizing a deal that would have her perform an Oct. 21 miniconcert on the lawn in front of the Phase III Forum Shops expansion at Caesars Palace. The concert would kick off the grand opening of the new shops. ...

Boston star chef Todd English, whose Olives restaurant at the Bellagio just might be the most picturesque patio lunch spot in town, tells me he's got something cooking with the MGM Grand. "Got to make hay when the sun's shining," said English, a fellow judge in the Mohegan Sun oyster-shucking competition at the Global Gaming Expo last week. William "Chopper" Young Jr. of Cape Cod, Mass., was a speed-shucking sensation, prying apart 24 oysters in a minute and 56 seconds. ...

KTNV-TV has added Las Vegas attorney Al Lasso, former law clerk of Judge Joseph Bonaventure during the first Ted Binion murder trial, as legal analyst in the retrial of Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish, which starts today in Bonaventure's court. Murphy's lead attorney, Michael Cristalli, was Bonaventure's law clerk in the late 1990s.

Sightings

Comedian-actor Adam Sandler, dining at N9NE Steak House (Palms) among a party of six on Saturday. He's filming a remake of "The Longest Yard" with Burt Reynolds, Chris Rock, Nelly, Goldberg and former NFL stars Michael Irvin, Bob Sapp, Bill Romanowski and Brian Bosworth. ... Lenny Kravitz, performing a private show Sunday for 60 Infinity Broadcasting radio contest winners from across the country in Rain, the Palms nightclub. Afterward, the crowd, which included KMXB-FM winners, moved to the "Real World" suites, where Kravitz' chef cooked up a storm. ... Alex Kerry, daughter of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, onstage at Krave, the new alternative club at the Aladdin, on Saturday to urge early voting. She was accompanied by Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson of Fox's "The O.C.," and Gregory Smith of "Everwood."... Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker, partying it up with his Playmate fiancee Shanna Moakler and pals at his bachelor party at the Hard Rock Hotel on Saturday night. After a memorabilia dedication ceremony and unveiling of Blink 182's display, the group dined at Nobu, attended Beacher's Madhouse and bowled in front of MTV cameras at the Penthouse.

The Punch Line

"Man is a complex being; he makes the deserts bloom and lakes die." -- Gil Stern

Norm Clarke can be reached at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com.COMING TUESDAY