Granted, there’s no such word as “Maniversary,” but shouldn’t there be?

Music legend Barry Manilow recently celebrated his one-year anniversary (fine, not every word we make up is going to be a keeper) at Paris Las Vegas.

The popular show opened at Paris on Mar. 6, 2010, and has been winning over audiences, including this very discriminating Las Vegas blog, ever since.

Barry Manilow and his fellow performers have their anniversary cake and eat it, too.

Also pictured above are singers Kye Brackett, Muffy Hendrix, Melanie Nyema and Keely Vasquez.

Manilow’s show is directed by stage and film choreographer and director Jeffrey Hornaday, who lists “Flashdance,” “A Chorus Line” and “High School Musical 4,” among his many credits.

Congratulations to Barry Manilow on his first “Maniversary” at Paris! (Maybe repetition helps?)

Tickets to see Barry Manilow are available at Ticketmaster.com, in person at the Paris box office or by phone at (800) 745-3000.

CinemaCon, the convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), is currently being hosted at Caesars Palace.

On Mar. 30, actress Cameron Diaz appeared at the event to receive an award for “Female Star of the Year Award.”

Cameron Diaz works the red carpet at Caesars Palace.

Diaz was doing double duty at the event, also promoting her new film, “Bad Teacher.” The movie bows in June and co-stars Justin Timberlake and Jason Segel.

Insert gratuitous photo of Cameron Diaz here, as we look up the definition of "fete."

Thanks to Dave Proctor for the pics.

The National Association of Theatre Owners is the largest exhibition trade organization in the world, representing more than 30,000 movie screens. Read more about CinemaCon.

Other awards at CinemaCon include Helen Mirren receiving the “Career Achievement Award” and Russell Brand receiving the “Comedy Star of the Year” award.

By the way, “fete” is a fancy Hollywood way of saying “to celebrate or honor with a festival, feast or an elaborate entertainment.” Oh, yeah, this blog used to be in the business. As us about “skeins” sometime.

There are a good many things this Las Vegas blog does not know.

It does not know what an IBA is. It does not know what a “cruiserweight” is. It also isn’t sure it knows what a “haymaker” is.

But one thing this blog knows is a good deal when it sees one!

With our super-secret code (CB241) you can get 2-for-1 tickets to a boxing extravaganza at the pavilion ballrooms inside Rio Las Vegas on Apr. 1. That’s two tickets for $53.50 to the IBA Main Event Cruiserweight Championship of the Americas. Find out more.

Wait for it.

Again, use code CB241 for the hook-up.

Oh, and we don’t entirely know where the pavilion ballrooms are at Rio Las Vegas. But for a sweet $25 in savings, you’ll probably figure it out.

Pretty amazing, actually.

We don't make up the news, we just report it.

Vegas pool season is definitely here, folks.

Hot off the presses! Or whatever analogy works for the Interwebs. There’s a new club in town, and it’s all about Parrotheads, the die-hard legions of Jimmy Buffett fans.

You can be one of the first to join the Las Vegas Parrothead Club on Meet Up.

Fact: The lost and found at Margaritaville contains 471 shakers of salt.

Las Vegas is, of course, a mecca for Parrotheads. Flamingo Las Vegas is home to the popular Margaritaville restaurant, a non-stop party featuring food portions that could feed entire football teams, life-sized fishing boats and women in bikinis frolicking in giant margarita blenders. See more.

We just joined the Las Vegas Parrothead Club. And you?

Las Vegas headliners Donny & Marie are again taking their rightful place on the western (we’re 25% sure it’s western, anyway) side of Flamingo Vegas.

This photo is a mere 41 minutes old, and the building wrap at the Flamingo looks like it’s just a day or two from completion.

Ironically, "mingo" means "excellent teeth" in Spanish. (We just made that up.)

Yes, since you’re asking, we do care about such things. We are a Las Vegas blog. It’s our job.

Check back soon for further updates. And remember, in Vegas, it’s go big or go home. Not really, but doesn’t that sound aspirational?

It looks like the producers of “Two and a Half Men” have found a replacement for Charlie Sheen. It’s the Flamingo’s own Donny Osmond.

Let's just say this takes the show in a whole new direction.

Take a look at a promo for the wholesome new version of the popular sitcom, as featured on the Jay Leno show.

Donny always seems up for a challenge, that’s for sure. Remember, this is the Donny Osmond who won his season of “Dancing With the Stars.” Read more.

See “Donny & Marie” live at Flamingo Vegas.

For many people, a visit to Vegas means an opportunity to meet new and interesting people. Often, though, the most difficult part of meeting someone is breaking the ice.

At Rio Las Vegas, the ice-breaking is easier than you’d think.

When you visit iBar at Rio, several of the tables are equipped with Microsoft Surface devices. The tables have touch-sensitive screens that are a complete blast.

Witness the end of awkward silences!

Why rely on charm to meet people in Vegas when you can rely on technology?

Talk about a conversation-starter.

We stopped by iBar to get some exclusive video of Surface in action. And, yes, this blog could moonlight as a hand model, thank you.

Microsoft describes its Surface device this way: “It enables experiences that change the way people collaborate and connect with a 360-degree interface.” Translation: Vegas hook-up, baby! Not that this blog condones that kind of thing. Necessarily.

With "Virtual Vegas," easily check out tons of things to do in Sin City.

Aside from the potential hook-up factor, the Surface tables at iBar also happen to provide some useful information (we hate when that happens). Guests can easily get a preview of popular Vegas shows and learn more about Las Vegas hotel amenities.

But mostly it’s about the pinball simulation thingy. It’s awesome.

The awesome pinball thingy.

Try out the Surface-enabled tables the next time you’re at Rio Las Vegas.

Las Vegas isn’t just the best place to play your favorite casino games, it’s also the place where new games are born!

Just a few days ago, a new table game, 3 Dice Football, hit the casino floor at O’Sheas on the Strip. O’Sheas is the only casino in the world that has this fun new game.

There's something great about a new felt layout. Thanks, 3 Dice Football.

The new 3 Dice Football at O’Sheas is a mix of three very popular things in Las Vegas: 1) Craps. 2) Sports. 3) Liquor. Granted, that last item is less related to 3 Dice Football than the game’s being at O’Sheas, but let’s not get bogged down by details.

Football fans will feel right at home.

Because this blog has so much Vegas mojo, we actually bumped into the game’s inventor, Jamie Abrahamson, at O’Sheas, so we cajoled him (translation: asked politely) into giving us his thoughts on the new game.

“I’ve always felt there should be a football-themed game in the casino,” says Abrahamson. “I think football partners itself perfectly with dice. 3 Dice Football a simple game to learn, so it’s accessible. Players can identify with the football theme, and in Vegas, football is a huge draw. People like to throw dice but are sometimes intimidated by craps.”

Security nearly tackled us trying to get this photo. See what we did there?

You don’t have to know football to enjoy 3 Dice Football, but it doesn’t hurt.

The basic bet is either for or against a touchdown, much like Pass and Don’t Pass in craps.

Three dice are used in the game, which is a fun twist for craps players, since tossing three dice in craps is often frowned upon by security. Two of the dice are green (representing positive yardage) and one red (negative yardage). Dice rolls advance the “football” down the field toward a touchdown. The green dice are added up and the red is deducted.

Adds the inventor, “There’s quite a bit of math involved in developing a game like this. I wanted to create a format that wouldn’t take too many rolls for an outcome. The average expected rolls per ‘game’ [before a result] is just under four, much like the downs in football. I also wanted to make sure the main bets come up as close to 50% as possible.”

There are tons of side (or proposition) bets to keep things interesting.

Of course, there are a good number of side (or “prop,” short for “proposition”) bets for variety and more action, called “Single Play Bets” in the game. Single play bets include things like “Trips TD” (all three dice match), which pays 33-to-1, or “No Gain” (if zero yards are gained), which pays 5-to-1 and the monster prop bet “Turnover,” which pays 66-to-1. A turnover occurs when a red 6 is rolled with either a green 1-1 or a green 1-2. Get more details.

From what we witnessed during our O’Sheas visit, 3 Dice Football is already winning over lots of die-hard fans. One player confided, “I love it. I played eight hours yesterday.” Some unsolicited love is always nice when you’re trying to launch a new casino game!

If you'd like to try 3 Dice Football, look for the schnazzy video monitor.

“We’re thrilled to see people are enjoying it so much,” says Abrahamson. “They’re really getting into it. As the inventor, it’s everything I could have hoped for.”

The game, “six years in the making,” according to Abrahamson, is a joint effort between FremantleMedia Enterprises (the “American Idol” and Price is Right Live folks), gaming specialists TCS John Huxley and Abrahamson.

Yes, actually, popcorn and hot dogs are available in the O'Sheas food court. It's a sports thing.

Read more about 3 Dice Football, a new game exclusively at O’Sheas Las Vegas.

Let it be said up front, this blog is politically neutral. (Closer to apathetic, but let’s not split hairs.) However, a celebrity is a celebrity.

The other night, cruising on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas, we caught mayoral candidate Carolyn Goodman taping a campaign ad. Naturally, we flashed our camera, and Mrs. Goodman (wife of Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman) was up for an exclusive photo.

Carolyn Goodman at Fremont East, an entertainment district in downtown Las Vegas.

As if there were any doubt she’s a celebrity, Carolyn Goodman also graces the cover of Las Vegas Weekly this week.

Note: Mayor Oscar Goodman is not pictured actual size.

Goodman is one of 18 candidates for Las Vegas mayor. Hey, it’s Vegas, who wouldn’t want to be mayor? She currently leads in the polls.

Read the profile at Las Vegas Weekly.

Man, alive, how time flies! On Mar. 23, Flamingo Las Vegas headliners Donny & Marie celebrated their 500th show at at the famed Strip hotel.

No matter how you slice it, 500 shows is a smashing success on the Strip.

The tireless team celebrated the 500-show touchstone with a cake and kudos from their fans and entertainment industry peers.

The duo took the opportunity to announce some substantial changes to their popular show, including “eight or nine songs being replaced.”

Read more about the big night, as well as talk of wardrobe malfunctions and a contract extension, at the Las Vegas Sun. See more photos of the 500th-show-iversary (not a real word) right here.

“Donny & Marie” fans will be excited to hear the duo will (again) grace the side of Flamingo Las Vegas with a giant wrap that’s currently being installed. The building wrap features a new photo (below) that debuted on the Flamingo Las Vegas Web site. Take a look.

Donny and Marie will be larger than life on the side of Flamingo Vegas.

Congrats to Donny & Marie, named one of the funniest shows in Las Vegas by this very blog.

See, when regular people wander around Caesars Palace, they encounter this sundries stand and they don’t give it much thought.

Just inside the casino as you exit the self-parking garage elevators.

This blog, however, thinks two things: 1) What is a “sundry”? 2) Isn’t this a great opportunity to discover something about the human condition?

So, we asked the attendant a simple question: “What are the items most frequently purchased at your kiosk thingy?”

The very scientific answers to our inquiry were revelatory.

Men buy gum most.

The Pulse of Vegas Blog: "Providing the information you will never, even remotely, need to know."

Women buy chocolate most.

Actual chocolate, in its native habitat.

What do these startling results tell us about the human condition? How should we know? We are a Las Vegas blog, not a social anthropologist.

This blog has recently become enamored by a show on Animal Planet called “Pit Boss.” The show features a group of little people who divide their time between rescuing pit bulls and performing in various capacities (one’s an actor, one’s a comedian, etc.).

How in the world did we miss a special appearance by one of the show’s featured members, Sebastian Saraceno, in the Chippendales show at Rio Las Vegas earlier this month?

Sebastian and Ronald Lee Clark from "Pit Boss" pose with the men of Chippendales.

In the episode that originally aired Mar. 5, Sebastian hit the stage with the world-famous Chippendales, and even had his chest waxed for the occasion. Little in stature, but a big tolerance for pain!

Thanks to the Interwebs, we can take another look at Sebastian’s triumphant stint onstage at Rio Las Vegas.

During the episode, Chippendales favorite Jace Crispin (pictured below) shared the tip of using cocoa butter to give one’s muscles “a little shimmer on the stage.”

Jace shows off his jewelry at a car wash for charity outside Rio.

In case you haven’t seen it, “Pit Boss” features Shorty Rossi, owner of Shortywood Productions, a Hollywood talent management company for little people, and also Shorty’s Rescue, his pit bull rescue group.

“Pit Boss” Bonus: The “Little Chippendales” episode wasn’t without some scandal. Amanda the casting assistant was fired at the end of the episode. She let Hercules, Shorty’s pit bull, go onstage during the Chippendales show, then copped to the fact she’s not a dog person. Let’s just say that didn’t fly with Shorty.

Catch an episode or two of “Pit Boss” and you’ll be hooked! Visit the official site. And, of course, catch the Chippendales undulating their moneymakers at Rio Vegas.

Rio Las Vegas magicians Penn & Teller will again take part in AIDS Walk Las Vegas on Apr. 17.

How has Teller not burst a vessel yet?

They’ve invited individuals to sign up for the walk under the “Penn & Teller Challenge.” The duo matches every dollar raised by participants who take part in their challenge.

In 2010, Penn and Teller matched a hefty $93,000 in donations.

The event benefits AFAN (Aid for AIDS of Nevada), a nonprofit that provides support and advocacy for adults and children living with and affected by HIV/AIDS in southern Nevada.

Find out more about AIDS Walk Las Vegas and the Penn & Teller Challenge.

We have a good reason to hate the Cabo Wabo Cantina at Planet Hollywood right now.

Here we are. Going about our work day. Happy to be toiling away in our luxurious cube. Then, without warning, Cabo Wabo posts this to their Facebook page.

We hate you, we hate you, we hate you.

We have to try and work with THAT in our head? (Note: Salivating can irreparable damage to a computer keyboard.)

Did we even know there was such a thing as a Coconut Margarita before now?

If you’d also like to be tortured by the temptations of Cabo Wabo Cantina Las Vegas in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood, catch them on Facebook or visit the official site.

Oh, and it should be mentioned, clearly, that we would never be on Facebook at work.