And since I should be working right now (hi boss!) this is just a quick post. I’ll try to write more later this evening.

Apparently the economic downturn is even taking its toll on the land of luxury and excess. I can’t pinpoint why that surprised me, but it did. Vegas is immune to everything except overhyped movies (Ocean’s 13 anyone?) and extreme heat waves.  But the DOW Jones is reporting that the strip only took in $474 million in December – that’s down a whopping 24%.

You can read more about it here… Viva Las Vegas

(I apologize now for the incredibly annoying Vibrant Media ads on that site when you get there. Blech. Guess everyone’s got to make a buck though.)

In one of today’s newsletters, there was an article from Page 6, about Lydia Hearst speaking out against her own company’s practices.

LYDIA Hearst is trashing her own family’s media empire for continuing to live large during the financial meltdown. “Hearst Corporation, which my family owns, continues to host parties even as it folds magazines like CosmoGirl,” the blond heiress writes in her Page Six magazine column in this Sunday’s Post. “It seems excessive . . . At least Hearst recently cancelled the company Christmas bash. It’s time to work through this crisis, not party through it.”

I’m glad that she understands that in these tough economic times, we need to be cognizant of helping each other maintain a basic standard of living, not holding elaborate parties which cost more than 5 employees annual salaries.

From Page6