Biden finds rank has its privileges

Sometimes you make exceptions at a members-only golf club.

Especially if someone from the office of Vice President Joe Biden is on the telephone, calling back a second time with a more pointed request.

It happened Sunday morning at The Golf Club at South Shore, at Lake Las Vegas.

When the first call came in at 7 a.m., asking whether Biden could play the course, the PGA professional running the pro shop declined, citing the club's members-only policy.

A few minutes later, another call: a Biden staffer telling the club pro "you know the vice president would really like to play" and asked whether he could talk to a manager.

The club reversed its stand, and Biden arrived about 11 a.m. with a half-dozen Secret Service personnel.

"We came to our senses, out of courtesy of the position," said Mark Barrett, with a chuckle. He's the club's membership sales director.

Biden's visit "really created a buzz," said Barrett, a welcome boost after recent tough times at Lake Las Vegas.

Biden played 17 holes before heading to a fundraiser for Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev.

KIMMEL JOINS REGIS AND KELLY

Las Vegan Jimmy Kimmel returns home to join "Live! With Regis and Kelly" for a taping here. Kimmel attended Clark High School and attended UNLV before embarking on a career path that led to his late-night talk-show with ABC.

Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa tape four shows in two days, starting Sunday, at Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas.

The first airing on Monday will include Mark Harmon of CBS' "NCIS," Kelly performing with the cast of "Le Reve, the new "Project Runway" winner and "America Idol" winner David Cook.

Tuesday features Kimmel plus a segment in which Kelly revisits the chapel where she and Mark Conseulo got married May 1, 1996, after eloping.

On Wednesday, Kelly visits the cast of "Love" at The Mirage.

After taking Thursday off for Thanksgiving, Regis and wife Joy on Friday debut their new album "Regis & Joy: Just You -- Just Me." They celebrate their 40th anniversary in March. Also on Friday: Regis takes a helicopter trip along the Strip on his way to the Grand Canyon, several chefs engage in a cook-off with turkey leftovers and Uncle Kracker performs.

MEDIA UPDATE

Former KVBC-TV, Channel 3, weatherman John Fredericks has told friends he's moving to North Carolina. Fredericks recently came under police scrutiny, according to KLAS-TV, Channel 8, and was told by police to stop making calls to a woman he met through an Internet dating service. ...

UFC fan favorite Stephan Bonnar and Andrea Brown, public relations director at MGM Mirage, were married Oct. 30 at a villa in Tuscany, near Siena, Italy. They met nine years ago in Chicago when he became a personal trainer and she was his first client. Bonnar became part of UFC lore on April 9, 2005, when he and Forrest Griffin staged what has been voted the greatest fight in UFC history. ...

Karin Firmani, orphaned at age 4 in Yugoslavia and adopted by an Italian family from Kenosha, Wis., won the meatball/pizza cook-off Tuesday at Ciao Ciao Apizza Angelato, 4460 S. Durango Drive. Judges included comedian Marty Allen, Anthony Crivello of "Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular," KVBC-TV, Channel 3, morning show host Kim Wagner and yours truly.

THE SCENE AND HEARD

"Peepshow" star Holly Madison and a Lucille Ball impersonator will take turns stomping grapes about 3 p.m. today at the annual Paris Las Vegas Beaujolais Nouveau celebration. They will play out a scene reminiscent of an iconic "Lucy" scene. The event coincides with the start of the traditional uncorking of Beaujolais in France. ...

Deal of the Day: Happy hour at SeaBlue, a Michael Mina restaurant at MGM Grand. Sunday-Friday, 5:30-7 p.m., half-price lobster corndogs, half-price calamari, $1 oysters, $1 gulf prawns, $2 draft beers (Stella Artois and Fat Tire).

THE PUNCH LINE

"Nearly had to pull out of campaign after spraining her winking muscle." -- From David Letterman's Top Ten Surprises in the Sarah Palin book

Norm Clarke can be reached at (702) 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com.