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I Write About Vegas and My Sources Ain't Samantha Fucking Brown

By MikeE on Friday, 19th February 2010 8:35am
  » filed under Las Vegas  comments: 8

   

So what happens when you're a professional writer and totally off base regarding Vegas? I get pissed off. And it happens far too often.

VT reader detroit1051 pointed me towards this piece (of shit). Penned by someone who obviously had his opinions formed before stepping into the place, Tim Abraham's criticisms on CityCenter are founded on his apparent lack of navigation skills and Travel Channel reruns. The first paragraph should have anyone with even a moderate level of Vegas knowledge chuckling.

Sunlight is kept out of casino floors so you can't tell how long you've been gambling. Hotel lobbies are difficult to navigate because they are crammed with slot machines. The casino bosses want you lost.

Seriously? Have you been to Las Vegas in the last five years or so to see how overtly these previous myths are being disproved? It's almost to a point of ridicule. Do people really say, "OMG! I'm fucking lost! Let's go play a slot machine!"? I'm surprised he didn't throw out the whole "pumping oxygen" spiel.

If you're going to write about Vegas, just remember that the next time you use Samantha Brown as a source, recall that in her shows she walks right up with no line to the front desk at Luxor where the receptionist greets her, "Good afternoon Ms. Brown! We've been expecting you!"

Oh suuuuurrrrrrre. Like I'm going to get the balls-fondlingly good service of Mandarin at Luxor. Apparently, people who write about Vegas - but have clearly never been - believe it.



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Comments & Discussion:

 tmPet posted on Friday, 19th February 2010 - 9:27 am

That kinda crap really cheeses me off. Reads like it was written by a guy who (a) loves to hate and (b) hates to travel. Probably bummed because all the Arthur Treacher's closed down years ago.

And hey .. I actually like Samantha Brown ...

 Dave702 posted on Friday, 19th February 2010 - 10:21 am

This is pretty much par for the course--I took it on in that Las Vegas Weekly piece a few months back. It's frustrating to see writers just dust off old cliches for the sake of convenience. There are some great stories unfolding in Las Vegas right now, so there's no lack of material for good reporting and writing.

 slimmy216 posted on Friday, 19th February 2010 - 1:33 pm

Yeah, I had to leave them a comment. Building Magazine actually paid that guy to write that piece. Way to be origional dude!! I could have written that article with the Vegas knowledge I had when I was 15.

 vespajet posted on Friday, 19th February 2010 - 1:45 pm

If you're going to write an article about Vegas and use the Travel Channel as a source, use Tony not Sam.

 Kagehitokiri posted on Saturday, 20th February 2010 - 6:51 am

with some pro-theme/disney/etc and anti-luxury thrown in for good measure.

 AccessVegas posted on Saturday, 20th February 2010 - 8:17 pm

Peter Greenburg recently pulled the same kind of crap. Said that Las Vegas casinos are ghost towns right now and hence the cheap rates.

85% hotel occupancy (last year) does not qualify as ghost town, and as someone who is out-and-about on The Strip on weekday evenings, I wouldn't call it a ghost town by any stretch.

 Koopa posted on Saturday, 20th February 2010 - 10:35 pm

I think these two sentences sum it all regarding the "quality" of the article: "Treasure Island by Steve Wynn opened in 1993. In front of the casino entrance was a volcano around which were staged nightly pirate battles.". I don't remember the volcano being very close to the boat, and "was" ? Didn't know TI was demolished either.

"Wynn decided to go for simple high-end luxury with the Wynn hotel, which has set a trend that others, including Donald Trump, have followed." Don't remember the casino from Trump, can anyone refresh my memories ?






 blissfulignoramus posted on Sunday, 21st February 2010 - 6:50 pm

That was a shamefully lazy piece of journalism.

But the guy does have some points. Especially about the LEED certification.



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