dlv October-November update ...

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In this mailing:

October-November update
DLV on Rocky Radio
New LV e-group
Hotwire
Some sad news
Hoover Dam incident update
T* travel agency
Tentative schedule (updated)
Activity and event suggestions (updated)
Web Sites
Administrivia
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Only 181 days left, gang!
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October-November update:

As you will see from the schedule, many of the holes that appeared last
month have been filled. Also, several other suggestions appear on the
potential activity list. We're really doing quite well as far as getting
the schedule organized.

Looks like there will be some days and evenings where there will be
multiple activities happening, two "tracks" so to speak.

I would like everybody to please look over the schedule and activity
list and make suggestions as to what activities should happen when. We
want the schedule to be mostly put together by the time the DLVORG list
winds down in December.

Still no news about Kenny Kerr's new venue. Stay tuned.

A number of the items coming in this month (some good, some bad) are not
directly DLV related, but about everything is relevant to some extent.
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DLV on Rocky Radio:

>I wonder if anyone else noticed that Rocky Radio mentioned DLV in their
>latest web broadcast. Evidently we made a hit at RHPS. (See Cosmo's
>RHPS page for links)

Thanks. I assume you mean http://www.cosmosfactory.org

Looks like we made an impression, huh? :)
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New LV e-group:

Brandi writes:

>I host a relatively new egroup for transgendered folks in the Las Vegas
>area. I set it up hoping that I could bring together folks in the area
>and let them know about where to go, etc here in Las Vegas. I just
>wanted to let you know we existed.

>http://www.egroups.com/group/Trans-Vegas

Thanks, Brandi. I see we have mention on the site already. :)

I'll post the link to the group on our links page.
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Hotwire:

>Say, have you tried hotwire.com? Supposed to be sponsored by
>major airlines and like Priceline.com but without the
>bidding hassle.

Never heard of it, but just tried it out. It gave me a price of $226 round
trip OMA<->LAS for the DLV dates. Not too bad, but I'm sure I can get the
same approximate price without the restrictions right after the first of
they year.

With this place, you apparently can't specify time of day, but can lock
out redeyes. No changes, period, even with a change fee. No credit for
unused tickets, even for another flight on the same airline. This may be
an option, but what they quoted me is along the line of or slightly higher
than I can usually get thru a TA or the websites. We can keep this in mind
as the date comes closer.
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Some sad news:

>Here's some sad news I found.

>+Today: October 17, 2000 at 11:18:43 PDT

>+Authorities investigate Hoover Dam death

>+ASSOCIATED PRESS

>+A man dressed in women's clothing was killed Monday
>+when he either jumped or fell off the 726-foot-tall
>+Hoover Dam.

>+At least one tourist caught the fall on videotape.

>+"We don't know for sure whether he jumped or not,"
>+said Bob Walsh, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of
>+Reclamation.

>+Walsh said the man fell from the Nevada side of the
>+dam, which sits on the Nevada-Arizona border, about
>+3:45 p.m.

>+When authorities reached the body at the bottom of
>+the dam, they saw that the man was wearing women's
>+clothing. He had no identification on him.

>+Authorities were checking vehicles in the parking lot to
>+determine if one of them belonged to the victim.

>+The death is under investigation.

I sure hope that's not one of our people. :(

I wrote a note to somebody who is a bit closer to the scene, she said
she would let me know if she finds out anything.

Please let us know of any more details.
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Hoover Dam incident update:

>+HOOVER DAM SUICIDES: Deaths worry officials

>+Preventative measures considered in wake of jumps

>+By RYAN OLIVER REVIEW-JOURNAL

>+Walking toward Hoover Dam in a leopard-spotted, drag ensemble, Lance
>+Binkowski reportedly got the attention of at least a few tourists. But
>+what police believe he did next was even more shocking.

>+Still clutching his matching leopard-spotted purse, the 27-year-old
>+Milwaukee man climbed over the waist-high cement wall at the dam's top
>+and plunged more than 400 feet on Monday. He died instantly when he
>+landed on top of an eight-story building at the foot of the dam.

>+While Binkowski was seen walking along the sidewalk atop the dam and was
>+seen in mid-fall, no one actually witnessed the moment he went over the
>+edge. But police feel confident in determining the cause of death.

>+"It's apparent to me this is a suicide," said Las Vegas police Lt. Wayne
>+Peterson. "You can't just fall off the side of the dam on accident."

>+`While police are trying to figure out why a man from Wisconsin,
>+apparently with no ties to Southern Nevada, drove here only to end his
>+life at the bottom of one of its most renowned landmarks, Hoover Dam
>+officials say they're left with their own questions as well. Bob Walsh,
>+a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, said that with three
>+suicidal jumps since June, he wonders what's drawing people to end their
>+lives at the dam and whether there's anything that can be done to stop
>+it.

>+"We've looked at and talked about different things that might be
>+considered," Walsh said. Among those, the agency is considering hiring a
>+suicide prevention specialist to make specific recommendations over the
>+next few months. Walsh said anything added to the dam, such as suicide
>+barricades, would have to conform to National Historic Register
>+standards and must allow the public as much access to the dam's
>+different levels and views as they have now. "This is a public
>+facility," he said. "But at the same time, we have concerns. It's really
>+a tragedy when something like this happens." Not to mention bad
>+publicity, Walsh said, and a disturbing event for tourists to witness.
>+The dam gets about 4,500 visitors each day.

>+Compared with other national landmarks, however, the dam's problems
>+might seem trivial. Walsh said suicides at Hoover Dam number in the 20s
>+since its completion in 1936. San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, which
>+was completed a year after the dam, has logged more than 1,000 suicides,
>+according to the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District.
>+That doesn't include suicides that weren't witnessed or bodies that have
>+never been recovered from the bay, a number many believe vastly exceeds
>+the official tally.

>+Niagara Falls officials report about 20 suicides occur there each year.
>+The Associated Press has reported about 30 suicides at New York City's
>+Empire State Building in the structure's 69-year existence. The
>+building's most recent suicide came earlier this month when a man
>+wearing a clown outfit scaled the gates of its observation deck. In
>+the valley, the Stratosphere logged its first suicide in January, and
>+Las Vegas police believe a man jumped from the resort's parking garage
>+to his death on Thursday. The Luxor has seen two suicides from inside
>+its pyramid since its construction. But Petersen said for an unexplained
>+reason, it's the parking garage at Binion's Horseshoe that seems to get
>+the most jumping suicides.

>+Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District spokeswoman Mary
>+Currie said that it was only in the past decade that bridge officials
>+began implementing measures to curb suicides at the bridge. In 1971, a
>+number of proposals for suicide barricades were rejected as either
>+ineffective, too costly or just too ugly, Currie said. "In 1992, we
>+began discussing ways that would deter suicides and not be a barrier,"
>+Currie said.

>+The district now relies on a suicide patrol, using a bicycle and
>+vehicles, improved video monitoring and maintenance workers specially
>+trained to identify suicidal individuals to curb the number of jumpers.

>+Emergency road phones on the bridge were also relabeled to in 1993 to be
>+"suicide hot lines," which can quickly patch a caller through to a
>+counselor at an existing suicide prevention center. Currie said the hot
>+line has never been used. When gate workers get a call from an
>+incoherent or suicidal person, they immediately locate the person and
>+intervene. She said the measures have allowed workers to intervene in
>+about 30 potential jumps per year.

>+Psychology professor Alan Fruzzetti, with the University of Nevada,
>+Reno, said people who jump off the Golden Gate Bridge might have
>+slightly different ideas than those who jump off a structure like Hoover
>+Dam or the Empire State Building. People at the bridge can fall into the
>+water and be swept away without notice, he said. But at the dam, where
>+their remains stay until they're removed, people inevitably notice.

>+"It's possible some people have the thought to flourish their death,"
>+Fruzzetti said. "It's also possible some of these people are severely
>+psychotic and believed they could fly." Still others, he said, could
>+simply be drunk or under the influence of drugs. Nevada has the highest
>+suicide rate in the nation. There were 268 suicides in the Las Vegas
>+Valley in 1999, down from 286 in 1998.

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T* travel agency:

Mindy from Las Vegas is now associated with a travel agency and has
offered her services to DLV attendees. Rather than paraphrase her note
to me, I'll copy most of it here.

What I did is ask her for example rates, stating that DLV people tend to
be frugal and "the bottom line is the bottom line". I asked her to quote
as an example, roundtrip air OMA<->LAS and 7 nites at the Sahara (where
I stayed last year and known to be t-friendly), arriving on May 1 and
returning on May 8.

>sorry this took a few days but you know how it is job and trying to get
>the new offices open at the same time.. havent even been out in almost a
>month. anyway here we go worst case situation (i am on my access at
>home so do not have access to all the booking programs.

>OMA to LAS 1 adult in a room at the sahara for 7 nights including round
>trip air is $769.00 however if you share the room you can cut $230 off
>of that. Room cost alone is $459. and that is added on to the air.
>This program did not find any non-stop but the layover in PHX is less
>then an hour each way.. I will try to find some additional info at the
>office on monday. Anyway the price works out ot around $66 a night for
>the room. I am also trying to negotiate a 10% discount for my groups so
>would be around 59 a night if i can get that worked out. Total pack if i
>can get the discount would be $699 if you were in the room alone. but
>like i say i might find better air at work monday.

The $769 price is more or less in line with what I get by quickly punching
in those dates to Travelocity for air and Travelscape for hotel. The $699
price beats them if it can happen.

Last year I got air for $220 and change (nonstop, Southwest) and the LA
Times rates at the Sahara which were $39.95/$59.95. (This was a bit more
than the casino rates at Stardust or Riviera, but both of them were sold
out for some days in the combined N+I and DLV period.)

I'm assuming history will repeat itself again and air fares will dip just
after the holidays, and that Mindy's prices will reflect any such dips.

>The one thing i
>would like you to mention when you post this in the newsletter is that
>as far as i know this is the only TG owned travel and tour service in
>the country. At least it is the only admited TG travel and tour service
>in the country *LOL*

There is a local agency which caters to the GLBT community as a whole, but
yes, I'm unaware of any who target the t* community exclusively.

>NEWS... our site is now up and running and shop will open up to the
>public Nov 3rd. site is http://www.lvfantasytours.com.

Excellent.

Please keep us in mind and keep the group updated as to specials on air
and hotel as the date approaches. Concensus is that we want an "official"
or "strongly recommended" hotel this year. I would say that candidates
for that might be Sahara, LV Hilton, and Imperial Palace from the feedback
over the years.

>stopped by goodtimes today after work and they are looking forward to us
>dropping by again. seems we are real popular there *g*

Well, yes, we give them quite a bit of bar business. :)
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Tentative schedule (updated):

Asterisks (***) denote suggested/nonfirm items.

Wednesday: 5:00pm Dinner Someplace casual
May 2 8:00pm Pre-DLV thingy LV Lounge?

Thursday: Morn
May 3 Aft
Eve
After Keys ***

Friday: Morn
May 4 1:00pm Matinee movie ***
5:00pm Din-din Buffet
7:30pm Welcome Goodtimes
11:00pm Dance Night Gipsy, et. al.
2 AM Late Night Gambling Location tba

Saturday: Aft
May 5 Eve Kenny Kerr Show {new venue}
Midnite RHPS Paradise 6
After Barhopping

Sunday: Aft Dam tour
May 6 Eve 10 PM Folies Bergere ***
After Limo Tour of Strip ***

Monday: Morn
May 7 Aft Side trip - Rhyolite ***
Eve Bibi get-together
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Activity and event suggestions (updated):

Those not already on schedule.

Please feel free to suggest others, and to suggest times and specifics for
any of these, either on the main DLV list or the DLVORG list.

In no particular order, what has been suggested.

* Official group photo(s)
* Golf (Michelle's personal fave :)
* Shopping
* Mary Kay open house
* Sight Seeing
* Liberace Museum
* Strat tower
* Casino Hopping
* Comedy club
* pedicures
* massages
* shopping for shoes
* dancing
* costume parties
* live music
* gaming supply stores
* Jewelry shopping
* Caesar's shopping mall.
* Star Trek ride at the Hilton.
* neon sign junkyard.
* Mock wedding
* Monday Night Football - cheerleaders
* Makeovers
* Wig shopping
* Late Night Gambling
* Grand Canyon
* Trip to Rhyolite
* SO get-together
* "straight" dance club
* Symphony concert
* Rock concert
* Group breakfast
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Web Sites:

DLV main page http://www.geekbabe.com/dlv/

Michelle Jenkins http://www.idis.com/mpj
Tina http://home.att.net/~tinatawdre/
annie http://www.geekbabe.com/annie/
Julie http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Park/9289/
Rickie's Place http://www.freeyellow.com/members2/rick121
Margeth http://www.geekbabe.com/margeth/
Melissa's Magic Realm http://www.geocities.com/melissa_t17
The Cactus Rose Club http://www.geocities.com/crc_az
Debbie Sage http://intermind.net/~sage/
Vicki's Little Page http://hometown.aol.com/vickits44/myhomepage/index.html
Mindy http://www.fortunecity.com/village/freedom/785/
Bea http://BeatrizZ.tripod.com/
Lorraine http://members.tgforum.com/lorraineadams
Julie Anne http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Chelsea/8576/

Any others? If so, send them in (just hit REPLY).
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Administrivia:

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