Post #250645 by Cammo on Fri, Aug 25, 2006 5:37 AM

And here is Mickey Finz, across from Neonopolis, this is Tiki Diablo's work. I was there too early to swig some, but the inside looks very Californian-Pacific Beach surferish with some really nice Tapa Canoes hanging around.

This is the first thing you see there, it's kinda hard to miss;

And at the door, check out the detail, Diablo worked in little five sided shamrocks as an Irish/hibiscus hybrid, real nifty -

Here he is up closer,I love the dark stain and the unfinished forehead area. This is one of the nicest tiki carvings I've ever seen, actually;

And the outside firepit, with Fremont looming behind. I think this looks pretty cool, with the torches sticking up. It looks pretty comfy, y'know?

Hilo Hattie's at the Aladdin. We saw it at the start of the summer, and it's been really picked over now. All the Tiki Farm mugs are gone, they have about 1/2 the shirts they did two months ago, etc.

Here is the Aladdin story; it's CURSED. No kidding, it's an ancient Las Vegas curse, the whole property is cursed and has been since the horse and buggy days. Every local knows about it. The Aladdin itself spent hundreds of millions building utself into a perfect Middle Eastern replica, right before 911. It's CURSED, see. It's been in financial trouble since reopening, and has been sold to Planet Hollywood now, and is in the middle of redoing the whole casino as a PH design. Except they don't seem to be planning on adding any Hollywood memorabilia! CURSED! And the Trader Vics going in will be right at the Northern entrance, the second shop in and the first bar you see. But their space is SMALL! It may go up two stories, but I don't think so. They may be putting in a small bar instead of a whole restaurant, but again, from the planning drawings it looks about 1/3 the size of the clothing shop next door. Maybe that's good, a small Vics bar might be kind of cool...

More coming....