In the case of an earthquake hitting Las Vegas, be sure to go straight to the Keno Lounge. Nothing ever gets hit there.

I miss Vegas. What a great couple of days. I worked a full day on Thursday and then Andrew and I were off to Vegas. We got pumped up by watching the Kevin Spacey movie, 21. Which I think is actually quite under-rated. Once we arrived to Vegas, we met Nimit and Anay in the MGM Grand lobby and it was almost time for the festivities to begin. We checked in, went up to our room, admired the nice view of The Strip, and despite being exhausted from waking up early, working, and it being about 1:00 am, we were ready to go see the sights. We ended up going to a bar called Coyote at the New York New York hotel. It had good music, a fun MC, and drinks weren’t that outrageous. We got back to our hotel at about 3:00 and I knew it was late when I turned on the TV and shows like Headline News with Robin Meade and other morning shows were on. Because of course 3:00 Vegas time is 6:00 Eastern time. We slept in for a while Saturday and then headed to The Paris buffet. I love French food so I thought the buffet was fantastic. We spent the rest of the time sight-seeing and checked out the new hotels. I really like the new Pallazzo and Planet Hollywood hotel. And classics like The Venetian and Bellagio were as elegant as ever. Friday night we went to this new steakhouse called Pampas at Planet Hollywood Hotel. The food was pricey but good. Friday night we went to this bar/nightclub at The Mirage Hotel called Jet. Serendipitously, not only did we stumble across free passes, but we also got VIP status and went to the head of the line. I would estimate the wait to get in was between 60-90 minutes. It was probably longer for four men with no women on their arms. The normal cover charge is $30 a person. However, they still made money off of us. A rum and coke there was $11. I could only afford two before I said it’s not worth it. After that, Andrew and I were tired and walked back to the hotel and Anay and Nimit went to the Hawaiian Tropic Bar for a while. Saturday was a day just to relax for the most part. We slept in, then headed down to the sports betting book for a while. Nimit and I both made some money. We did a little shopping, watched some TV, before eating dinner and heading over to UNLV’s stadium to watch ISU lose a heartbreaking overtime loss. After the game, we went to this tiny bar in MGM called Zuli for about 45 minutes before going to bed early because Andrew and I had to wake up at 6:30 am to catch our flight. All in all, it was a great weekend. I got home Sunday, caught the last bit of the Vikings win and then rented Season One of Weeds. So far, I am only so-so on the series but I will give it a fair chance as I only have seen a few episodes.

1. According to The Washington Post, it's been 40 days since Sen. John McCain held a press conference, "despite having promised to hold weekly Q&A sessions with the press if he's elected." Sarah Palin has never held a press conference since being asked to be McCain’s VP selection. Interesting. If you are wondering what I will be doing on a Friday night, I will be all snuggled up on the couch, with popcorn on one hand, the remote control on the other, and the first debate on the TV. 40 days and 40 nights until the election!!

2. I am heading to Fargo for the next three days. Wish me luck.

3. Fox News just continues to amaze me. As you know, I am become fanatical in daily tracking the polls in some key battleground states. Almost all of the polls show states like Virginia, Ohio, and Florida to be statistical ties. Except for Fox News. In all of their polling, McCain has at least a five percentage point lead. That must be a strange coincidence. Speaking of polls, Barack Obama has pulled advertising in all but 11 states. One major mistake he was making was spending a lot of money in states like North Dakota and Georgia which will never go for him. I wish he would have pulled out much sooner. The good news is he is catching up, albeit slowly, to McCain in battleground states like Missouri where he is only down five, and has made other states like Virginia and Ohio a tie. However, McCain is no slouch and he has made New Hampshire a statistical tie and he is only about three percentage points behind in states like Maine, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. If I were Obama, I would have Joe Biden spend all of his time making sure those states remain blue. Okay, so here is an update of the battleground states as of this morning regarding Obama vs. McCain.

States that George W. Bush won:
Colorado – Statistical Tie
Nevada – Statistical Tie
New Mexico – Obama has a seven point lead. He should pick up these five electoral votes.
Iowa – Obama has a seven point lead. He should pick up these seven electoral votes.
Missouri – McCain has a five point lead.
Indiana – McCain has four point lead.
Ohio – Statistical Tie
Florida – Statistical Tie
West Virginia – McCain has a four point lead
Virginia – Statistical Tie
North Carolina – McCain has a five point lead


States that John Kerry won:
Minnesota – Obama has a four point lead
Wisconsin – Statistical Tie
Michigan – Obama has a four point lead
Pennsylvania – Statistical Tie
New Hampshire – Statistical Tie
Maine – Obama has a four point lead

If Obama picks up New Mexico and Iowa, he will have 269 electoral votes. He needs 271 to win. Basically, there are myriad situations win which Obama could win and myriad situations in which McCain could win. McCain could give up Virginia, New Mexico, Iowa, Colorado, and Indiana but if he takes Pennyslvania and keeps the other states he will win. Obama could lose Minnesota, Wisconsin, Maine, and New Hampshire but if wins in Florida he will win. I guess the bottom line is at the point the election is WAY too close to call. It’s amazing this whole election will come down to 17 states.