I'm in some small town in Virginia, parking with relatives until a business meeting this afternoon. It's all pumpkins and fake cobwebs, as here, Halloween is all about kids and tricks or treats. We left AC to go to DC, and I don't need any wise cracks from the peanut gallery. We are exhausted from our trip to the Borgata and its whirlwind '80s weekend. Everything was sold out, and people who read my Friday article were trying to hustle me for hookups. There are a billion reasons why Borgata sells out on these big weekends. Basically, as the only game in town, it refuses to rest on its laurels and continues to book great acts, events and DJs.

I don't need much of an excuse to visit Atlantic City. The Borgata - that glorious, golden monolith rising out of the Back Bay - offers enough distractions (without the comic relief) to make me smile. Yet this past weekend, comic relief was being offered in the form of Russell Brand, that confusing English dude (or is it bloke?) married to that very famous and fabulous Katy Perry. Some article pointed out how Mr. Russell was worth a piddling $5 or $6 million, while Katy was making gazillions.

Sometimes, part twos are better. Think Godfather 2, or The Empire Strikes Back. Friday’s story of the sad demise of Nublu seems to have a happy ending, a joyful part two. Hayne Suthon, the Grande Dame of Lucky Cheng’s, and before that a host of other fabulous places all located at 24 First Avenue, has provided shelter from the storm to the good people over at Nublu. On Friday, I reported liquor license troubles due to the not-so-sudden location of the venue near a church, and the resulting reign of terror from illogical and evil forces in the SLA and Community Board. Well, until things settle, the show will go on. They're calling it Nublu in Outer Place. Hayne enlightened me.

I love Atlantic City like a fly loves shit. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that I can indulge all my vices there at once: gambling, boozing, smoking indoors, and other things I shouldn't admit to as they would get me beat up or arrested. Believe it or not, it's not all trashy when I visit. There are great celebrity restaurants, awesome spas, and a tacky-yet-fun boardwalk to boot. However, the drinking and gambling is my primary pursuit. So you can imagine my best fist pump when it was recently announced that slot machines will start accepting drink orders.

Knowing the New York City gay community, I'd imagine most gays are, as I write this, already on the direct ACES Train to Atlantic City, perhaps a festive, on-board boozefest in progress. They are going to attend one of the most talked about gay events in gay history: Out in AC. This three-day event, sponsored by Harrah's Resort, Caesars, Showboat, and Bally's, is the casino equivalent of a circuit party, without the poppers and bad house music. Some of the community's most adored-slash-hated celebrities will be guests of honor, including Perez Hilton, who is hosting a party at the House of Blues, and legendary electroclash DJ Larry Tee, who's getting behind the decks at Club Worship at Showboat. Did I mention Margaret Cho, Sandra Bernhard, Jersey Shore's J-Woww, La Roux, Kelis, and Housewives of Atlanta's Kim are also performing?

My friends won't bother visiting Atlantic City unless outfitted with a stretch-limo equipped with bottles—notice the plural—of champagne, accommodations at the Borgata, and a little pocket money to lose at the Blackjack table. Mind you, my friends are broke, but if you're going to make the trek to Atlantic City, you have to do it right. Right? After all, Vegas in Jersey has lost that special, desperate seediness most people used to identify it with, becoming instead a seaside destination abuzz with celebrity-chef restaurants, boutique hotels, and high-end shopping (as well as a little camp). But what if, for a short time, you could blend the seediness and high-end into one package?

Nightclubs used to be all about “bookings”. Every year I would get a brand new calendar with nice blank dates and I would do my darndest to fill in the blanks. Even the best of joints needed daily events to fill time slots and weak nights, especially during the week nights. A Wednesday invariably needed an event to fill the room, especially early. Most clubs were jammed around 12:30 or 1, so it was necessary to have a party that would seed the room. Without these events, early arrivals (which were mostly tourists) would sit around an empty room, looking at each other while listening to lounge music. Their experience, and the tale they took home to their friends, would be negative. At Life we often booked concerts, or allowed corporate parties to stay on when the cool crowd came. The theory was that nobody who came at 10 would still be there at 2, when the action really started. Bookings at the big casino/hotels in Vegas and Atlantic City not only bring people into the room, but serve as a shout out to the world. An add announcing Sting, Jerry Seinfeld, or Stevie Nicks does much more than advertise that specific show. The ad tells the world that the Borgata has world class shows, and is the place to be. It is very much an association, directly linking to the resort brand. My visit to the Borgata this past weekend had me hanging with in-house public relations honcho, Noel Stevenson, and Gregg Coyle, who is the Borgata’s Director of Nightlfe,

I cant live without my AC during the summer, I just melt. I also need a fix of my other AC, Atlantic City, at least a couple of times a season. I’ve been enjoying Vegas on the Atlantic for decades. Every year, AC improves as it inches ever closer to some nirvana-like destiny, defined by the corporate entities that control the massive casino/hotel complexes, the banks that finance the whole affair, and the moods and quirks of the ancient beach town itself. Atlantic City has seen many ups and downs, and spent a lot of time sort of going sideways. Gone are the glory days, immortalized in Legend and Monopoly boards. There are reminders of these Traymore hotel days, and that horse jumping off the steel pier, and W.C. Fields entertaining tourists in beer gardens everywhere. There was that transition period underlined in Louis Malle’s art flick, Atlantic City, as gaming was to save it all. Bring back the action. The subsequent slow-growth era, where crime and general seediness stunted the modernization, lasted way too long. AC is notoriously slow on change.

Happy Holidays from Megabus. The Chinatown-bus-ring-busting budget bus company has spewed out 100,000 free bus tickets, on "sale" starting now, for use early next year. From January 6 through March 20, there's 100,000 tickets being sold for zero dollars plus a 50 cent booking fee. 40,000 of these free tickets are allotted for New York routes, while the other 60,000 are being spread across the Midwest and the Northeast. It's not a total free-for-all; the seats are spread out throughout the weeks, with a certain amount alloted to each bus, so you're gonna have to be a little flexible to get a good free ticket. For those of you who've never had the pleasure of riding the Megabus, you'll be pleased to know that the seats recline, and there's free WiFi and power outlets for those who'd like to catch up on some Hulu on the trip. Just remember to enter the code GETAWAY when you book so you can get the deal. However, what good is a deal if you're not sure where to go? Here's five places to check out for free on the Megabus NYC routes.

The last time I visited Atlantic City, my experience was inconsistent. On one hand, the room I stayed in was wonderful; on the other, service was so bad it was almost funny. The piece was not received well in "Vegas by the sea." A New York Times Sunday Business lead story coincided with this past weekend's revisit. I was there to scope out the Chelsea Hotel once again. I am doing the Halloween decor and needed to take photos and measurements and such.