Still, when certain bands come to town we always touch base. Since I did not go to the New York Dolls on Saturday night, I made George Lyons promise to give me a ring to report on the concert.

 

Sure enough, yesterday afternoon my phone rings as I am walking to lunch and a quiet voice says, "Hi, it is George."

 

"Can I call you back, George? I am on my way to pick up  food."

 

"Well, I am about to go into a meeting," George said. He seemed a little surprised at being put off by me: "Perhaps you can call after an hour? I think I have some time. Things are very busy now."

 

Lyons happens to be one of those lucky people who is not burdened with having to work daily at a job, and he is able to focus his creative energy on his radio show. Lyons lives for music, and the idea that he had a meeting on a Monday afternoon that was too important to be interrupted to talk New York Dolls was absurd. And I started to tell him so. But when I mentioned the New York Dolls, George interrupted and said wistfully, "I wish I had time to see the New York Dolls."

 

A bell rang in my head; I knew something was really wrong at that point. I began to backtrack my thoughts and wondered if I had actually said "lazy trust fund brat" (in a teasing, convivial way, of course) or just thought to say that. By the time I asked "Who is this?" I had figured out what was going on with George: This was not George Lyons but George Maloof, owner of the Palms.

 

Maloof is very informal by casino executive standards. Early in the morning I had e-mailed the Palms public relations office to request an interview with Maloof. The next step is for the PR office to write me back with questions about my deadline and story. Eventually an interview gets arranged and Mr. Maloof is patched through to me by the public relations office. It never occurred to me that he would just pick up the phone and call me. How did he have my number? Oops.

 

Thankfully, Maloof was very understanding, if a little befuddled. And George Lyons never did call me with a report on the Dolls show! (Photo by Sarah Gerke)