Miss Sunset Tan, HILLARY FISHER

Man- The Palms pool was the place to be this week!

HANSON- I LOVE THESE GUYS

HANSON is touring, but I gots to wait until November to see my boys, here at Beauty Bar.


I love these guys.

LEONARDO DICAPRIO

He doesn't get bad press.

And he keeps his private life private.

All the while, he's becoming the best actor of his generation. For sure.

And here's another thing- he's a great man. Proudly wearing the TAG Heuer watch and quietly donating handsome funds to environmental projects around the world.

He's a hell of a guy.

FIVE FOR FIGHTING

A couple years ago I found myself in Branson, Missouri where I was reviewing shows for a ticket website.

(100-plus shows. Many of them good. Some, not very. And a few, like Jim Stafford's, excellent).

It was a rainy day inside a coffeehouse owned by a very pretty girl, a talented musician and good friend. And I was feeling kinda lost and far from home. You know: blue.

So the girl joins her handsome and talented guitarist brother in a moving, '100 Years,' the timeless Five for Fighting song. And on that day, I felt the song for the very first time, and maybe felt love a little, too.

Now, whenever I hear that falsetto vocal, I stop and remember feeling kinda low and then immediately high. That's what music does to me.

Songs are my drug of choice.

ROCK ON

MICHAEL DAMIAN is a cool guy and a fine director.

Several years ago, while starring in THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS, Michael came to Las Vegas to host a 'Just Say NO To Drugs & Alcohol' concert at UNLV that I helped produce. The show was aimed at teens and Michael rocked out Las Vegas.

I am proud of Michael and admire his continuing efforts to help fund school music programs.

LET THE RECOVERY BEGIN! (It's gonna be Just Incredible)

The first time I saw sexy Jessie Payo on stage it was with Billy Bushwalla and I kinda fell in love a little. Now (and wow!) they're together again!

A few years ago, a famous friend of mine commented that Steven Wright was the only modern comic guy to successfully establish his own authentic voice. Then, we were blown-away by DAN MINTZ, who took the Steven Wright thing into newer, darker corners. He's something!

Micahel DuBois of Tonight Show fame, is the most creative juggler since Michael Davis.

All this hosted by comic conjurer JUSTIN KREDIBLE.*



What a lovely way to spend an evening---I just hope that they take this show ON THE ROAD.


*house of h2o-THE place to find out what's poppin' in pop culture, predicts that Justin Kredible will become a major television star within the next year. And when it happens, please remember who said it first. No, it wasn't Nostradamus. It was H2o.

CAESARS PALACE, THEN

WHAT HAPPENS IN LAS VEGAS

FRANK MARINO starred on the Strip, in An Evening at La Cage at the Riviera, longer than any other Las Vegas performer. I know because he and I first met on his opening night, many years ago. The colorful show producer Norbert Aleman retained me for several years to help keep his many successful Las Vegas and Atlantic City shows running smoothly. Being close to Norbert and his talented wife allowed me to learn what it takes to maintain a long running successful-and profitable-production.

So last night, Frank calls and says "Pick a place, I'm buying and I've got some news." So, we end up at Sinatra's at Encore and Frank tells me that his dream has come true, that he's staging his very own show on the Strip, at the Imperial Palace, Labor Day weekend. If things go as well as I think they will, Frank will be back on the strip for another long run.

Almost anybody can get their name in the paper (all some of us have to do is screw-up, offend someone or just be outrageous) but to make a career at what you love doing, to hang-in there when others have dismissed you takes a special kind of talent, a belief in yourself that all of us can learn from.

I love FRANK MARINO. I admire his boyfriend and respect them both for making things happen.

On March 28, 2008, here in the House of h2o, I predicted that Frank Marino would produce his own show.

If you wanna know what happens in Las Vegas, you gots to keep an eye on those who make stuff happen.

Willie Watters' Pop Music Prediction: JASON MRAZ- will set the record!

On April 10th, I first called it, right here in the House of H2o---

Now, it's pretty clear: by the end of summer:


The simple-and simply beautiful single from JASON MRAZ- 'I'm Yours,' will set the record for longest song listed on the top 100 charts.

His record has already broken records with the happy 'I'm Yours, a version of which was originally released on an EP, by crossing-over, hitting all of the charts.

Now, after more than one year on the Top 100 list, I predict JM will set the ALL TIME HOT 100 RECORD.

JASON MRAZ sings "I'm Yours," but, let's face it: We're HIS.

THOMAS KINKADE DOES LAS VEGAS

Thomas Kinkade is an artist who has built a loyal following. And good for him!

There are some (read: snobs) who are quick to crticize Kinkade's always warm but often banal paintings, and their well marketed limited reproductions. Me? I'm slow to criticize. In fact, my first instinct is to defend the artist- all artists. And it has been my pleasure to de-snob a few elitists along the way. (I may be slow to criticize but not too slow to clock a wanna be tough-talking big mouth. Not proud of it; my hand still hurts from a recent schushing a prick in mid anti-semetic sentence.)

Now I'm not much of an art expert, but let me please share my review of 'Viva Las Vegas,' Thomas Kinkade's most recent effort:

It stinks. It stinks on ice.

Why? Well, because he got it wrong. So very wrong. Now if he wanted to melt a clock or otherwise get his Dali on, I'd say right on but no- Kinkade is known for painting pictures of places that make people feel all warm and fuzzy. Regular people. Me included, especially right when the Valium kicks-in. But in his Viva Las Vegas, he's changed things around. And that's just weird.

Have you ever noticed films shot in Las Vegas, or maybe, in episodes of TV's "Vegas," that often filmed car chases on the Strip? How the MGM is, say, on the right side of the car, and, in the very next shot, they are downtown, with the Union Plaza blazing in the background and, moments later, there's the Riviera right in view? That's weird. And- that's how Kinkade's stupid new painting makes me feel- it makes me feel weird.

Now THE artist associated with Las Vegas is another sometimes criticized painter: Playboy's own LeRoy Neiman. Him I love.


LeRoy Neiman did a series of oversized portraits for Wingy's Place at Caesars Palace. Wingy Grober was a great friend of mine, a guy who kept an eye on me when I wasn't old enough to be fucking around the palace of the Caesars. He taught me many-many things, including not to be afraid to speak my mind. So, In Wingy's memory, I say: Viva Las Vegas sucks. It sucks balls.


Maybe I'll give Kinkade's painting another look... right after another Valium.