An Appealing Way

Why is the sky blue? What’s the meaning of life? What came first—the chicken or the egg? Indeed, some questions are impossible to answer. Here’s another: What’s B.J. Thomas’ most impressive career accomplishment? Some might point to the American singer’s crossover appeal, as Thomas has enjoyed five decades of success in the pop, country and Christian music realms. Others might say it’s his deep catalog of hit songs, the three most iconic being “Hooked on a Feeling” (which reached No. 5 in 1968); “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” (the No. 1 hit from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid that won the 1969 Oscar for Best Original Song); and “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song.” (the longest-titled No. 1 track in the history of Billboard’s Hot 100).

Or perhaps it’s Thomas’ five Grammy Awards. Or his commercial appeal (Coca-Cola and Pepsi have sampled his songs in jingles, while the theme to 1980s sitcom Growing Pains was Thomas’ “As Long as We’ve Got Each Other”). Or maybe, just maybe, Thomas’ most impressive accomplishment is that, at 76 years old, he still possesses the vocal chops and stamina to perform dozens of shows across the globe each year. –Matt Jacob

Golden Nugget, 8 p.m. Nov. 30, starting at $29 plus tax and fee. 800.745.3000 Ticketmaster

The Ride Stuff

The northeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Fremont Street has been transformed from a run-of-the-mill parking lot into a park with a purpose. The Lyft Art Park was created to alleviate congestion and confusion out of hailing a ride downtown.

“We don’t need parking lots, we need to get rid of parking lots downtown,” said Yacob Girma, Lyft Nevada general manager. “We did a pop-up during Life is Beautiful and we thought it was time to do a more permanent space.”

Vehicles don’t travel through the art park. Rather, rides are organized in an alleyway that runs adjacent to Fremont Street between the neighboring businesses and a parking lot behind The Ogden. Rides are offered between 6 p.m. and 4 a.m., working around delivery times for the businesses. The space serves as an easy spot to locate your ride.

“We do thousands of rides per week just out of this lot on a weekly basis, so this area gets a little bit hectic,” Girma said. “So, there is a designated area where passengers know to go and we have a staging area for them and it makes the operation a lot smoother.”

Visitors are instantly greeted by “Long View,” a 35-foot-tall polar bear statue by DKLA Design made from salvaged white car hoods. A cartoon pink taxi and a three-story Victorian house and other items join the bear, in addition to oversized games of chess and cornhole to play while you wait for your ride. –Mick Akers

Line Up

SlotZilla’s takeoff platform is 74 feet above the ground and the zoomline launch pad rises 40 feet higher to enable guests to hurtle horizontally for 1,750 feet. The lower level places the rider in an upright, seated position that can rotate, but the upper level is a head-first experience. Now that’s a rush! –Matt Kelemen

Fremont Street Experience, 1 p.m.-1 a.m. Sun.-Thurs., 1 p.m.-2 a.m. Fri.-Sat., $20-$25 for lower zipline, $40-$49 for upper zoomline. vegasexperience.com