That’s what merriment looks like, right there.

If you’re still undecided about what you want to do tonight (nice going, procrastinators), we already told you about all that. Remember? The concerts, the celebs and the rest. So we’re not going to go over it all again. It’s time you started this new year on the right foot, with a little self-reliance. We think that should be your resolution anyway, so get to it.

On that note, we’ll see you on the other side. Of 2009, we mean. Not death. We hope. That would kind of suck. So stay safe. Ish. We’ll cut you some slack on the liver abuse.

By Jason Scavone

Michael Phelps’ “Hey, I’m not Michael Phelps” disguise from a couple months ago. (Photos by Al Powers | SpyOnVegas.com)

Michael Phelps was part of a big contingent celebrating New Year’s Eve Eve at Lavo inside Palazzo last night. The Olympian was there with Caz Pal and 20 friends, scoring four bottles of Dom along the way from a mystery benefactor.

Antonio Sabato Jr. and Nicholas Gonzalez of True Blood and Maksim Chmerkovskiy of Dancing with the Stars all shared a table while the ladies were beating down the doors. Jesse McCartney sent a shot of Patron to DJ Five from his table next to Phelps. Elias Koteas drank champagne at the club after having dinner. Michael Bush, Darren McFadden and Justin Farga of the Raiders were at a table on the floor while Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma, with his sister and friends, drank Hennessy XO.

A coupel of days ago, Wilmer Valderrama was there on Sunday at 3 a.m., toasting a customer who dropped $90,000 on table service. That’s … that’s a lot of table service. Seriously. There’s no way that dude ordered 180 bottles, although if he did: Mazel Tov. You sir, win at life.

By Jason Scavone

Denai Thompson, left, is quite talented at being in a bikini. (Photos by Tony Tran | SpyOnVegas.com)

You know what’s awesome? Girls in bikinis. Sorry, girls not in bikinis. That’s just the way it is. Last night, Hawaiian Tropic Zone put 15 girls on display for a chance to win $500 and appear as a ring girl during the Jan. 10 Vegas and Islands MMA fight at Planet Hollywood Resort.

First, they had to get through us.

Which was surprisingly easy, all things considered. Click for more words and pictures »

By Jason Scavone

(Photo by Ray Alamo | SpyOnVegas.com)

Old man 2008 just saw baby ’09 looming in the corner of the club.

By Jason Scavone

Not a great predictor of the future.

Cowboys and Redskins are out, Eagles are still alive. Two NFC East rivals down, one to go. Clinton Portis, secure in the knowledge the ‘Skins never could’ve beat the Giants in the playoffs, was content to have dinner at Nove last night at the Palms before heading up to the Playboy Club where he played a little blackjack and then sat around smoking cigars and drinking Hennessy.

Over at Moon, dancers from Supercr3w and Chris from Jabbawockeez showed a little inter-breakdancing squad love, spending a few hours with a bottle of Ketel and shots of Patron.

By Jason Scavone

We thought out on the street was where we’d meet. No one said anything about Mandalay. (Photos by Scott Harrison | Retna)

As promised, it was time to Ratt & Roll at the House of Blues inside Mandalay Bay last night. Did these guys ever tour with Poison? They absolutely needed to go on the Ratt Poison tour. Even Bret Michaels had to be clever enough to work that one out back in ’87, right?

By Jason Scavone

As has been previously noted, he is NOT the rapper.

You may have just woken up to realize it’s New Year’s Eve and you don’t have plans. Slowly coming out of a rum-induced walking blackout just in time for fireworks will do that. It’s OK. We’ve all been there. We’re here to help, though. We have three pairs of tickets to give away to go see Robbie Maddison jump up to the top of Paris Las Vegas’ Arc de Triomphe, and then back down again using what we can only assume will be some sort of motorcycle that turns into a helicopter.

Not only will you get to see the jump, but you’ll also be cleared to attend the New Year’s Nation party at Risque and Ah Sin where DJ Jazzy Jeff will spin along with DJ Spin Diesel, DJ Mark Mac, DJ Crime and DJ Poun, plus a live feed of Travis Barker and DJ AM tearing it up in L.A.

Of course, that also comes with open bar, hors d’oeuvres and a champagne toast. You realize all this is going to be better than the sad, lonely New Year’s we spend nursing a warm bottle of Cook’s and falling asleep before midnight, right? The first three people to e-mail win@dailyfiasco.com come away the lucky winners.

By Jason Scavone

Get in their way, they’ll put you on their shelf. (Via TheRattPack.com)

Well, there’s one more day of relative quiet before the storm tomorrow night. Then it’s on to a low-key weekend before things return to whatever passes for normalcy around here next week. So while we don’t expect you to be doing much (unless you’re coming to stare at bikini girls with us), we do feel obligated to point out that you can get your yearly dose of Ratt & Roll at the House of Blues inside Mandalay Bay. Of all the ’80s metal bands, they’re still the only one to ever put Milton Berle in a video, and that’s got to count for something, right? Click for more words and pictures »

By Jason Scavone

We’re getting a satellite, too. Ours is going to have space lasers.

LAX at Luxor kicks off two days of live sets from BPM Radio jock Joe Bermudez, that will be broadcast on the Sirius XM station’s Air BPM show. Tomorrow night, Bermudez goes up to sister club Pure at Caesars Palace to do it all over again. Can a live Artie Lang broadcast from a spot equidistant between the In-n-Out on Dean Martin and the Deja Vu on Trop be far behind?

By Jason Scavone

That ’70s beard.

Wilmer Valderrama hit up The Bank at Bellagio after eating at Fix. Valderrama is set to play Ponch in the upcoming movie version of CHiPs. Weirdly enough, though, Larry Wilcox is still going to play Baker. That was the original plan for David Soul and Owen Wilson in the Starsky & Hutch movie until Ben Stiller came along and shoehorned his way into it.

Meanwhile, AL Rookie of the Year Evan Longoria was with a group of eight at the Playboy Club inside the Palms, while American Idol David Cook bounced from Playboy to Ghostbar.

By Jason Scavone