...are never dull.
I had already planned to mention and link to my appearance on KNPR yesterday in which I expressed extreme doubts about Wynn's plans to move the company to China. Fine. There it is.
Then I thought that this British blogger and filmmaker dude named Philip Bloom's digital diarrhea about how much he is owed by the Wynn Las Vegas because they failed to remove a feather pillow from his room was possibly worth taking apart in this space. He says his feather allergy was exacerbating his laryngitis and he told the hotel to remove all the feather pillows; they missed one, he didn't realize it until his last night and he now claims that he ended up unprovably sicker from it. This infraction, he believed, entitled him to loads of freebies!
Bloom acknowledges no responsibility to double-check the premises for potentially harmful allergens -- especially something as general as feathers that appear in pretty much every top-end hotel on the planet -- and is now angry because the hotel only refunded him half his food and beverage tab. He had received a Tweet from @WynnLasVegas promising him full a F&B refund, so on that count he's right that he should have gotten that. But his whole whiny and entitled demeanor in his blather suggests he probably didn't deal very politely with them, either.
But then Wynn himself went into somewhat shocking detail with the South China Morning Post last weekend about his relationship with Andrea Hissom. The R-J's Norm Clarke reported on it today, so I just read it through. (SCMP.Com has a firewall so I can't link to the piece, but they offer free 14-day trials, so you can sign up and then see it for yourself. It's possible this direct link could work, too.)
What we learn in this fascinating piece by Daniel Jeffreys:
* Wynn is an ass man. To wit: "When we were first going out she would make a comment about space and she'd be dead right. And I'd think, 'Don't tell me that, on top of everything else, besides having the greatest butt in the world, she also has the designer gene!' It's like God made a woman for me. The only thing that stops my world from being perfect is that Elaine is not happy."* Elaine's response: "I obviously needed a man like Steve for his charisma, passion and enthusiasm and I am sorry we don't have a personal relationship any more. But his character is a very demanding one and I am an alpha female. I found I had to compromise to maintain the relationship and I did that because of our children. ... I am thriving. I am in an enviable place - I have independence and that means I can make a difference, but am I totally satisfied? My dream for the endgame [living out the rest of her life with Wynn] was compromised. I am mourning the loss of the dream as much as the man but I do not feel like a victim in any way."
* Wynn claims to have been separated from Elaine when he met Andrea at a restaurant in St. Tropez and romanced her over the love-conquers-all flick "Gigi."
* Wynn suggested that if Elaine had a boyfriend, then the two couples could double-date. Elaine laughed and then responded: "First, no one should assume that I am not seeing somebody. ... I am not craving to learn somebody all over again. It has been great to be in this fanciful wonderful business but I want to have a more important legacy; I want to be known for elevating consciousness. My activities now [promoting continuing education and reducing drop-out rates] are noble."
* Ex-Gov. and Wynn Resorts Board Member Bob Miller on why Elaine Wynn did not attend the Encore Macau opening: "She's too elegant to be here."
* The reporter actually asked Elaine Wynn if she thought Andrea Hissom could take over Wynn Resorts after Steve's gone. Her answer: "She has no background in this business. So there would be a technical deficiency. To say more is too personal."
* Wynn on how he prevents doing business with mobbed-up Macanese junket operators: "I always have a former assistant director of the FBI on board, who does reports on all the junket operators. These are sent to the board in Nevada. So far 45 [operators] have been accepted and six rejected."
* Wynn is "incandescent with rage" on behalf of MGM Mirage for New Jersey's decision that Pansy Ho's connections to her father make her unsuitable as MGM's business partner. Could that be because there have been some who have suggested that Wynn himself had mob ties just because his own late father's dealings may have been unsavory?
* Paul Anka broke the news of 9/11 to Wynn.
Jeffreys never, in the course of the discussion on succession, notes that the most likely person to take over is Elaine Wynn's nephew, Andrew Pascal, who is actually running the Vegas operations already. He also doesn't reference Wynn's vision problems.
Still, that's quite a coup for Mr. Jeffreys. I'm just stunned he didn't ask Elaine what she thought of Andrea's caboose.
