Robert Redford leaves souvenir and another warm memory of a good friend.
Pierce Brosnan visits the Playboy Club at the Palms.
Jewel tries food and drink at Mandalay Bay's Border Grill.
I've been loopier than the Norm lately.
I was heading to Denver on Monday for a funeral when the Leggy Blonde reminded me I left my luggage in the trunk. An hour later, inside McCarran International Airport, I lost her laptop, which she had loaned to me.
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Twice in an hour I've tried to put on my reading glasses, only to find I already had a pair on.
Losing one of your best friends tends to fog up one's focus.
Longtime Denver restaurateur Randy Rutherford died Saturday, five days after doctors diagnosed him with liver and kidney failure.
For months, he was told he had an eating disorder.
We're celebrating his life today, on his 50th birthday.
He was my best pal during most of Denver's roaring 1990s, when he was the frontman for the Larimer Square Restaurant Group and I was a sports columnist and, later, the man-about-town columnist for the Rocky Mountain News.
Shortly after I broke the story in 1991 that Denver was being awarded a National League franchise, Randy unveiled a Norm Clarke Sports Ale at the new Champion Brewing Co.
Think of the worst puns and off-color marketing slogans we came up with, and you would fall short. ("Consumer warning: Don't drink more than three of these or you'll be half blind.")
Among the dozens of sightings and items he sent my direction was the time Robert Redford dined at Tommy Tsunami's, one of the restaurants under Randy's purview.
Redford spotted an Irish pub across the street and asked if he could have a couple of glasses delivered. He got his Guinness.
The day after I wrote it, Randy called, angrier than I had ever seen him. The liquor board was threatening to yank the liquor license. I pleaded ignorance. I had no idea that went against the rules.
A year or so later, the two of us were having a brewski or twoski at the Irish pub Redford spotted.
A young man came over and insisted I remain at the pub for 30 minutes.
When he returned, he handed me a paper sack with something inside.
It was one of the Guinness glasses that Redford drank from, explained the young man, who had served him.
"Great," said Randy, sarcasm oozing. "I almost lose my liquor license, and you get a Robert Redford souvenir glass."
Funny, loyal and a connoisseur of the high life, he was the best wingman you could ever ask for. He always had my back and my blindside.
Thanks, pal.
My deepest condolences to his wife, Mary, daughter Taylor, 19, and son Max, 16.
SIGHTINGS
"007" star Pierce Brosnan, leaving some Bunnies shaken and stirred during a visit to the Playboy Club and Moon nightclub at the Palms Fantasy Tower on Saturday night. Also there: ZZ Top and actor Antonio Sabato Jr. ... Jewel, enjoying a margarita and Mexican food at Border Grill (Mandalay Bay). ... Mark Stoermer of The Killers and his girlfriend, Tristan Moyer, hanging out at The Freakin' Frog near UNLV, instead of taking in the band's Vegoose after-party at Studio 54 (MGM Grand). ... At Body English (Hard Rock Hotel): Jason Giambi, Barry Zito, Mo Vaughn, Eric Byrnes, TV car racing personality Jamie Little, Indy car phenom Dan Wheldon, former Playmate Brande Roderick and local actress Cerina Vincent. ... Angie Harmon and Jason Seahorn, in the crowd at Celine Dion's show (Caesars Palace). ... Fox News Channel's Shepard Smith, chowing down on stone crabs from Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab on the set after his show Monday from the fountains in front of Caesars Palace. He and pals partied at Tao (Venetian) over the weekend. ... NFL great Jerry Rice, at the bar in Eiffel Tower Restaurant (Paris).
THE PUNCH LINE
"Do I feel comfortable having a governor who oils his chest?" -- From David Letterman's Top Ten Questions to Ask Yourself Before Voting For Arnold Schwarzenegger
