You know you’ve made it when you work with a guy named ‘Ish.’ (Photo by Jacob Andrzejczak)

Pimp My Ride’s Mad Mike hosted a SEMA party last night at Hawaiian Tropic Zone inside Planet Hollywood Resort. MTV totally should’ve seized on this SEMA opportunity to do Pimp My Ride on location from Vegas because we’ve got this … uh, friend … who could use an Xbox 360 installed in their trunk for no good reason whatsoever because who in the hell has time to hang around in their car playing Rock Band?

Meanwhile, over at N9NE Steakhouse inside the Palms, Nick Hogan had dinner with a friend where he stuck to soda over booze; and Ludacris was in filming a segment for BET with five friends.

By Jason Scavone

It’s the Great Pumpkin Cocktail, legal-drinking-age Charlie Brown!

You like pie, right? And you like booze, right? Well problem solved, Skippy. Why waste all that time drinking Hot Buttered Rum while you spend countless minutes eating a slice of pumpkin pie when you can get your hooch-and-pumpkin fix together in one glass?

Hawaiian Tropic Zone at Planet Hollywood Resort kicks off the parade of seasonal cocktails with Perla’s Pumpkin Spice Margarita. It’s an ounce of Cazadores anejo, an ounce of Hiram Walker Pumpkin Spice liqueur, an ounce of orange juice, .75 ounces of simple syrup and a lemon wedge shaken together and strained on the rocks into a Collins glass, with pumpkin spice floated on top. This thing is so orange it looks like you should carve two triangle eyes and a goofy smile into the glass. Management, however, is likely to frown on that.

We expected this drink to be in the same neighborhood as the hyper-addictive Pumpkin Ice Blended from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, but it doesn’t have that same delicious, delicious pie-in-a-blender heaviness. Click for more words and pictures »

By Jason Scavone

You, too, can aspire to the ranks of Hawaiian Tropic International, where you’ll earn all the Red Bull you can drink.

The journey of wearing too much make-up and a sash while being serenaded by some Bert Parks stand-in begins with a single step. That step comes tonight at Hawaiian Tropic Zone inside Planet Hollywood Resort at 9 p.m. as the outpost of workaday model/servers is holding a beauty pageant where more than 30 girls vie for the title of Miss Hawaiian Tropic Zone Las Vegas and a solid $1,500 payday and a trip for two to New York City.

The runner-up will get $1,000 while third is good for $500. Guest judges include Randy and Kim Couture, Playboy talent scout Lorris Baker, Miss Washington 2007 Elyse Umemoto and Dr. Samir Pancholi of Cosmetic Surgery of Las Vegas.

By Jason Scavone

OMG! This is totally going on Facebook! (Photo by Jacob Andrzejczak | Getty Images)

Singer, dancer, comic book creator Dawn Richards of Danity Kane celebrated the big two-five Saturday night at Torrid inside Planet Hollywood Resort. Just the faintest whiff of “girl who’s involved with comics” brought nerds running from all across the valley.

By Jason Scavone

Oh, Dawn. You’re the Danity-ist. (Via myspace.com/dawnrichard)

Danity Kane’s Dawn Richard celebrates her 25th birthday at Torrid inside Planet Hollywood Resort tonight a full two weeks before the Danity Kane comic book hits the shelves Sept. 29. No, really. We’re not making that up. We’re sure the nerds are lined up at their shops in breathless anticipation. By the way, target market of 14-year-old girls: Enjoy your first trip to the comic book store. You won’t find it creepy or weird at all. Click for more words and pictures »

By Jason Scavone

One classy broad. (Via KristyMorgan.com)

The girl who broke soulless attention whore Tila Tequila’s heart on Shot at Love 2, Kristy Morgan, hosts tonight at Planet Hollywood Resort’s Torrid at Hawaiian Tropic Zone. The former Playboy model will be joined by DJ Direct before DJ Marc Thyssen takes over at 1 a.m.

By Jason Scavone

(Photo by Eric Ita | SpyOnVegas.com)

Proving once and for all that the “Thriller” zombies would have been that much better if they had bigger boobs.

By Jason Scavone

Red? Check. White? Check. Boobs? Check. All right, truth in advertising.

In an unbridled display of patriotism, Torrid at Planet Hollywood Resort’s Hawaiian Tropic Zone held Red, White and Boobs on Independence Day for a celebration of everything that makes this country great: Cutthroat competition, and the promise of fake breasts.

The silicone-hopeful competed for a breast augmentation courtesy of Dr. Pancholi of Cosmetic Surgery of Las Vegas. Joining the good doctor at the judges’ booth were Playboy cover model Tiffany Holliday and Playboy model, DJ Roxanne Dawn.

By Jason Scavone

In the radio business, headphones are called “cans.” (Photos by Jacob Andrzejczak/Getty Images)

Hawaiian Tropic Zone’s Torrid at Planet Hollywood Resorts did what it does best on Friday night — bring in beautiful women to host. Up in the rotation this weekend was Playboy playmate Rebecca Lynn, who attended to her hosting duties to the sound of DJ Direct and DJ Extatic.

By Jason Scavone

We initially assumed the Very Berry Mojito would be made with Crunchberries. We were sadly mistaken.

With summer cocktail season in full swing, the watchwords are light and refreshing. There’s something to be said for simplicity as well. The Very Berry Mojito at Planet Hollywood Resort’s Hawaiian Tropic Zone doesn’t stray far from its traditional counterpart, but rather gives a slightly different take on a drink already well known for its ease of consumption. To put it another way: Yup, they sure do go down smooth. Waitress? Another round.

“When it’s hot out, you can suck these down like crazy, like lemonade,” manager Joe Luera explains.

Luera starts it out like any other Mojito — muddling limes and mint together and adding simple syrup, then brings out the fresh raspberries for another round of muddling. Add rum, a little bit of Chambord and top it all with soda and a mint leaf garnish in a highball glass for a cranberry colored mix punctuated with flecks of green. Click for more words and pictures »

By Jason Scavone