Las Vegas

As the launch of the second season of the History Channel's “Counting Cars” nears, Danny “The Count” Koker can likely expect an increase in visitors to Count's Kustoms , the Las Vegas garage where he restores and sells classic cars and motorcycles. Koker's shop is where most of the filming is done for “Counting Cars,” which returns April 9. In this garage, “The Count” and his team have been working with Ziggy Marley on the restoration of the last vehicle owned by his father, reggae star Bob Marley.

The story of one of the greatest jam sessions in music history comes alive in “ Million Dollar Quartet ,” the latest Broadway show to arrive in Las Vegas . The musical opened this month in the Harrah's Showroom. The production tells the true story of the December 1956 gathering of four legendary musicians - Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley - at Sun Records in Memphis . Sun founder Sam Phillips, often referred to as the father of rock 'n' roll, helped launch the careers of each of the recording artists.

LAS VEGAS - In the land of casinos, it may be jarring at first to see a small box-like robot creeps across the floor as it stops, readies itself and catapults about 30 feet into the air. Nearby, a basketball-sized drone with whirling rotors hovers 5 feet above the floor. Walk a little farther, and there is a large water tank with an underwater robot darting from side to side. Welcome to the Assn. of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International's North America trade show, an increasingly diverse collection of unmanned technology.

Move over, Scully and Mulder. Some of the secrets of Nevada's mysterious Area 51 will be revealed Feb. 9 at the National Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas . As "The X-Files" TV show told us, “The truth is out there.” But don't expect tales of alien spacecraft and little green men during the Saturday evening lecture. The two speakers - T.D. Barnes and retired Air Force Col. Gail Peck, not Scully and Mulder - have worked at the installation known as Area 51, possibly America's worst-kept military secret, but their remarks are expected to focus on aircraft from Earth, not outer space.

One of the best deals in Las Vegas -- the $2.99 shrimp cocktail at downtown's Golden Gate Hotel & Casino -- will be an even bigger bargain on Friday. From 2-5 p.m., Du-Par's restaurant will sell the dish for 50 cents. That's how much a shrimp cocktail sold for in 1959, when Italo Ghelfi, a founding partner in the Fremont Street property, introduced the San Francisco specialty to Las Vegas. Since then, the hotel has sold more than 40 million shrimp cocktails containing a combined total of more than 1 billion of the crustaceans.

Greyhound will roll out its new Express service between Los Angeles and Las Vegas starting Wednesday with five round trips daily and two added round trips on Fridays and Saturdays. And seats start at just $1 each way. Sound familiar? It should. Megabus jumped into the L.A. market in 2007 with super-cheap fares from L.A. to San Francisco and L.A. to Las Vegas. The company, which continues to operate in the East and Midwest, left the L.A. market less than a year later, saying ridership was too low to continue.

LAS VEGAS -- Police here took a brief walk on the wild side Thursday, tracking down two escaped chimpanzees -- shooting and killing one animal and tranquilizing  the other, officials said. Several panicked residents called dispatchers shortly after 10 a.m. to report that the chimps were acting aggressively in a northwest Las Vegas neighborhood. Officers moved in to find a male and a female in "an agitated state," said Officer Laura Meltzer, a spokeswoman for Las Vegas police. "The male, which was estimated to weigh 170 pounds, was pounding on cars and damaging vehicles," she said.

Big hair and big '80s rock hits are what makes the musical " Rock of Ages " so retro fun. The show is set to come to the Venetian in Las Vegas starting Dec. 18, and Cyber Monday brings this box-office sale: two-for-one tickets for future performances. The deal: The musical will be performed at the Sands Theatre at the Venetian Tuesdays through Fridays and on Sundays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. The show, which has a play list of rock anthems including "We Built This City" and "Don't Stop Believin'," tells the story of the quest for musical success circa 1987.

It's Mardi Gras every day inside the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino , but on Fat Tuesday -- Feb. 12 -- a variety of Vegas headliners will join the regular cast of colorfully costumed characters in the Show in the Sky , the resort's nightly free attraction. At 6 p.m., the floats suspended from the ceiling above the casino will carry performers from several resorts. The Rio's own Chippendales will be there (although the troupe's best known members -- James and Jaymes from CBS-TV's “The Amazing Race” -- won't be among those tossing colorful bead necklaces to the crowd)

At first I thought it was too early to look ahead at the new attractions coming to U.S. theme parks in 2013, but then I realized a number of big rides have already been announced and many more are already in the planning stages. > Photos: Most anticipated new U.S. theme park rides for 2013 It already seems like 2013 is shaping up as a good year for ride enthusiasts and theme park fans. Big industry players have announced major projects, and several smaller parks are planning to roll out significant additions.