Words of wisdom for Christmas Day
On this Christmas Day, let us all be happy and get along. If the heroes and villains on soap operas can come together once a year, every Christmas, so can we.
If you have had a hard holiday season, please hang in there, reach out to friends or even strangers. I have suffered very sad holidays, too. But things got better. My Nana always said, "This too shall pass."
If your holidays have been good, please consider my mantra: "I know what I have, and I'm grateful. I know what I have, and I'm grateful."
ANOTHER VEGAS FILM
The new trailer is out for the upcoming Vegas-ish comedy "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone." Steve Carell portrays a very tan magician competing for attention against a more popular magician portrayed by Jim Carrey, who seems like a cross between Criss Angel and David Blaine. Check out the trailer on my blog.
NEXT: NEW YEAR'S EVE
Dutch producer Afrojack, who performs Saturday at Tryst, gives me good reasons why he loves Vegas.
"People are nice. Fans are nice. Security is nice. Sound systems are great. Everything is pretty. You can drink everywhere," he says.
"It's the most hospitable and open people in the world. Even the cleaning ladies are nice."
Afrojack now considers his homes to be Holland, Vegas, Hollywood, Miami and New York.
"What I love about Vegas is people let go. That's a beautiful thing," he says.
"When they're in their hometown, they're a bit more careful. When they go to Vegas they go, 'I can just be myself so completely.' That's why I like Vegas so much."
Afrojack is known as a party animal. He's planning to party more often with fans here.
"I'm serious about seeing the fans more, like meet-and-greets beforehand - and not necessarily like, 'Hello, I'm Afrojack, it's nice to meet you. Let's take a picture, OK, bye-bye.'
"But I actually want to talk to them because I make my music for them," he says. "It's not about me. It's about having a great party. We're just gonna create a big party together."
VEGAS PLAYMATE POKER PLAYER
Playboy model Nicolette Shea moved to Vegas three years ago from Northern California, but she started here as a clothed poker player.
"I actually fell into modeling because of poker. My fellow poker players were telling me to do it," says Shea, who will meet fans at Crazy Horse III on New Year's Eve.
Sometimes, she disguises herself at the poker table to keep rivals' attention focused on the game at hand.
She says being a female poker player is very advantageous because women are thought of as passive players.
"I try to play very aggressive," she says. "I get away with bluffing a lot, because when I put a lot of chips in the middle, they think I definitely, definitely have it."
But then she will stop bluffing to mess with rivals' brains.
"It's the ultimate mind game. That's why I love poker."
Shea has photo shoots up on Playboy's site. She does a lot of modeling at conventions here.
She is planning to wear something see-through with sequins at Crazy Horse III. And she's friendly:
"Anybody who wants to come can come party with me all night."
SIGHTINGS
Ice-T and Coco met fans at club Lavo on Sunday night. ... DJ-producer Tiesto on Sunday joined friend Gareth Emery on stage at Marquee and posed for photos with clubbers.
Doug Elfman's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Email him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.
