Tuesday, June 3, 2003 | 10:45 a.m.
Sanford White, the famous 19th-century architect, and Brad Pitt , the famous husband of Jennifer Aniston, have a lot in common.
White was known for tossing outrageous parties full of champagne and scantily clad women, the details of which were breathlessly reported in the media.
In Las Vegas, Pitt is known for attending Rande Gerber's outrageous parties at Whiskey Bar, full of champagne and sexy UNLV sorority girls, the details of which are breathlessly reported in outlets such as Star magazine, the supermarket tabloid.
White designed the original Madison Square Garden, the famous arch in Washington Square Park, the ornate Renaissance-style Players, Metropolitan and Colony clubs and the vanished Fifth Avenue palaces of various Vanderbilts, Astors and Whitneys.
Now Pitt might soon design a hotel or nightclub, possibly in Las Vegas.
Seems that his time with Gerber is not only spent partying; the duo are having "serious talks" about having Pitt design a project, according to New York magazine gossip Marc Malkin.
And the only thing they have decided is Pitt's work will be on a property on the west side of the country. Gerber owns about 20 properties in the United States and overseas.
Gerber has said he is looking to expand his Las Vegas holdings and has spoken to other casino companies about new ventures.
The Pitt-as-architect news is nothing new. After making "Fight Club" in 1999, he took more than a year off to gut, redesign and renovate some buildings on his Hollywood Hills estate.
Pitt has no formal architecture or design training, but he is often spotted sketching out furniture and home designs on napkins and can speak authoritatively about giants in the architectural field, such as Richard Gehry, Frank Lloyd Wright, Rem Koolhaas and White.
Good news
"For my twenty-first birthday, I want to go to Las Vegas," Lance Cpl. Joshua Menard told Katie Couric when the wounded solider appeared on NBC's "The Today Show" in April.
His fairy godmother was watching.
Menard came to national attention when an NBC News crew gave him a satellite phone to call his mom, and broadcast the emotional moment live from southern Iraq. The young Texas soldier was recovering after having most of his left hand blown off.
When Las Vegas entertainment producer Jaki Baskow heard Menard and Couric, she jumped into action.
Long story short, the young man arrives in Las Vegas on Wednesday with his girlfriend, Kristin Douglas, sister Jade and mother, Elizabeth, for a four-day romp.
Bally's is putting them up gratis, and so far the group has invites from Siegfried & Roy, Wayne Newton, the "Jubilee!" show and the Casino Legends Hall of Fame.
Clothes matter
We don't know if Jennifer Lopez reads VegasBeat or if she hires someone to read it to her -- but she sure does know us.
Last week we reported that she was in town buying baby clothes. This week, responding to our item, she makes it clear she is not pregnant.
In an interview to be broadcast Thursday on Boston radio station WJMN 94.5-FM she said: "You know us Latinos, if I was pregnant I wouldn't buy anything until I was like six or seven months or until the baby was born.
"We're very superstitious."
She said the toddler items were for the young children of her sister, Leslie Lopez.
Get well
Steve Wynn rocks. At least he sure seemed to enjoy the Crosby, Stills & Nash show Saturday night at the Aladdin Theatre for Performing Arts, and he hung out with the band for a while backstage after the performance.
But what about his wife, Elaine Wynn? From the stage, the famous '60s trio sent Mrs. Wynn "healing wishes" and asked her to get well soon.
Her spokeswoman said she did not know if Wynn was ill, "and if she is, I imagine it is just a slight cold or something related to the heat."
Discipline
Thomas Knickmeyer, the bailiff for District Judge Donald M. Mosley, is off to anger management classes.
Mosley ordered Knickmeyer to go after Knickmeyer directed a vulgar term to a female clerk in the courtroom, multiple sources confirmed to VegasBeat.
Knickmeyer was in the news last year when he was investigated for allegedly using excessive force to subdue a man for making too much noise in a hallway.
A call to Knickmeyer at the courthouse was not returned Monday.
More 'Fear'
Last season's Las Vegas-based episode of "Fear Factor," the NBC reality show, was the season's highest rated, garnering more than 18 million viewers -- so the show is coming back for more.
It'll be a two-parter, producers say, featuring a $100,000 blackjack hand, and stunts to be determined.
Last time, contestants climbed the Luxor pyramid, among other wacky activities.
VegasBits
Song birds: Shania Twain saw Celine Dion perform at Caesars Palace a few nights ago. Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski caught Dion over the weekend, as did Loni Anderson. Coach K and Anderson also ate -- separately -- at Terraza ...
Happy: Vegas regular Tony Curtis turns 78 today ...
Celebrity Forum: Lots of notables have been keeping their credit cards busy at the Forum Shops at Caesars recently. Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks were spotted shopping at Roberto Cavalli; Reba McEntire was at FAO Schwartz; Louise Mandrell was at Escada; and Twain stopped in to DKNY and Max Mara before seeing Dion ...
Table for one: Palms owner George Maloof was having lunch by his lonesome at the Cypress Market food court at Caesars Palace on Monday ...
Double take: Tonight the Cloney Awards -- honoring the best in celebrity impersonators -- are being given out at a gala Treasure Island dinner. This one we've gotta see.
From Sun wires
The Council of Fashion Designers of America again named Narciso Rodriguez, a red carpet favorite of Sarah Jessica Parker and Salma Hayek, as the country's best womenswear designer.
Rodriguez, known for sleek, formfitting gowns, won for the second year in a row. Parker and Calvin Klein, Rodriguez's mentor, handed out the award at Monday night's annual CFDA gala in New York.
Parker, the host for fashion's equivalent of the Academy Awards, ironically didn't include a Rodriguez gown in her wardrobe for the evening. Instead, she wore a dress designed by each of the gala's three chairmen: a strapless pink-and-white polka-dot dress by Carolina Herrera, a nude-colored dress with a white sequin hem by Vera Wang and a black dress with spaghetti straps and a handkerchief hem by Klein.
archive
