Bella Knocks Vegas Right Back

Yeah, so I had a relatively crummy time in Las Vegas, through no fault of the city itself. Various friends have reminded me that it would only be just to give the fair city of addictions and shamelessness another chance sometime, under different circumstances.

Go back, Bella, they say. Check into a reasonably priced gaudy Gomorrah, allot yourself a certain amount of "I'm going to lose this" money, sketch on a little more eyeliner than usual, and let your freak flag fly. Relax, partake, indulge. Dizzy yourself with unceasing exposure to shiny things. Whatever.

Since I left Las Vegas (cue Sheryl Crow), a few news items have caught my eye. Apparently my influence is even greater than I realized. Several weeks after I left:

MGM Mirage, the nation's second-largest casino company (its trophy properties include the Bellagio and MGM Grand), reported disappointing results in late October, and the stock was hammered. MGM Mirage was hamstrung by the loss of properties in the Gulf Coast, which was no surprise. But the company also warned that things aren't quite as hot as was thought in its core market of Las Vegas.

Fear my power!

Then there was my non-encounter with the Governator of California. I was overworked, exhausted, and crabby, in front of a hotel with a bunch of co-workers, trying to catch a cab back to my hotel, when WHO saunters out the front door, waving and smiling like Miss America?

His car went right by us with the window down, and he looked expectanctly at me, perhaps anticipating a big reaction. My first (and morally correct) instinct was to flip him the bird, because I think he's a creep, but it occurred to me that since he's an elected official, that might be a crime or something.

I was so exhausted I just sort of looked at him and said "See ya." (Ohhh...burn!)

A few weeks later, his big special election initiative gets the California SMACKDOWN. Read it now, and thank me later.

The vote he called shaved 20 points off Schwarzenegger's popularity rating in polls over the year and cost $300 million in campaign spending, including $7 million of his own money.

All eight initiatives on Tuesday's ballot were defeated, including four that Schwarzenegger actively supported.