The Shopping Issue

November 22-28, 2012

A personalized buying spree, led by the city’s experts

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The madness of Black Friday

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The dish that breaks chefs

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The next stage for online gaming

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Anthony Mair photographed a treasure trove of gifts—from Creed Aventus fragrance ($260, available at Neiman Marcus) to a shimmering bow tie ($362, available at Coterie on Fremont Street).

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November 22-28, 2012

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las Vegasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; weekly City magazine FounDeD February 2010

Publishers

Ryan T. Doherty | Justin Weniger assoCiate Publisher

Michael Skenandore

editorial

eDitorial DireCtor Phil Hagen managing eDitor Greg Blake Miller senior eDitor, nightliFe, Dining anD beVerage Xania Woodman senior writers Geoff Carter, Heidi Kyser assoCiate eDitors Steve Bornfeld, Sean DeFrank, Matt Jacob a&e eDitor Cindi Reed CoPy eDitor Paul Szydelko CalenDar eDitor Deanna Rilling eDitorial assistant Elizabeth Sewell

Contributing editors

Melinda Sheckells, style; Michael Green, politics; Max Jacobson, food; Jarret Keene, music; David G. Schwartz, gaming/hospitality

art

art DireCtor Christopher A. Jones senior graPhiC Designer Marvin Lucas graPhiC Designers Thomas Speak, Jesse Sutherland staFF PhotograPher Anthony Mair

online

DeVeloPer Billy Steffens eDitor Jason Scavone staFF writer, runrebs.Com Mike Grimala ProDuCer Hayley Sparre

ProduCtion/distribution

DireCtor oF ProDuCtion/Distribution Marc Barrington aDVertising CoorDinator Jimmy Bearse Distribution CoorDinator Jasen Ono

sales

sales DireCtor Sarah J. Goitz business DeVeloPment DireCtor Christy Corda senior aCCount manager Nicole Feely aCCount serViCe manager Nicole Bullis aCCount exeCutiVe Robyn Weiss

interns

Dayna Blackwell, Susanna Bouse, Paulina Dimaguila, Yasmin Kelley, Shawna Matsunaga, Molly Trucano

Wendoh Media CoMPanies

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FinanCe

ChieF FinanCial oFFiCer Kevin J. Woodward assistant Controller Donna Nolls general aCCounting manager Erica Carpino

November 22-28, 2012

letters and story ideas

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Just the other day I was saying to a friend, “Man, it’d be great if downtown Las Vegas could host a music and arts festival like San Francisco’s Outside Lands or Seattle’s Bumbershoot. At the very least, I wish Vegoose were still around.”

Well, you can’t utter those words into downtown airspace without Tony Hsieh’s long-range happyphones picking it up, and this morning, a billion-dollar quartet of events-marketing firms—including

Clearly, we haven’t heard the last from Geoff on this. Follow the developing story of Life Is Beautiful—and of the culture and business of downtown—at DTLV.com.

This week @ VegasseVen.com It’s Runnin’ Time at RunRebs.com

And now, things get serious for Mike Moser (right) and the Rebels. After two easy wins over second-tier opponents Northern Arizona and Jacksonville State, UNLV’s basketball team takes on emerging Pac-12 power (and frequent Rebel recruiting rival) Oregon on Nov. 23 at the Thomas & Mack Center, and on Nov. 24 the Rebels face either Cincinnati or Iowa State. (It’s all part of the bizarrely formatted Global Sports Classic, a “tournament” that also included the NAU and Jacksonville State games.) On Nov. 28, UC Irvine, which nearly knocked off UCLA, comes to town. The intensity is building, and you can follow all the action with our Mike Grimala at RunRebs.com.

Easy Reiding

With the election in the books, President Obama wasn’t the only big winner. Majority Leader Harry Reid also scored a big victory in the Senate with the Democrats picking up two additional seats. What does the Nevada senator do for a victory lap? Find out at VegasSeven.com/blogs/up-the-aisles.

Bike Rack Challenge

With just a little more than a week to go, you have just enough time to design the perfect bicycle rack to take watch over Commonwealth bar on Fremont Street. Show off your found art/industrial design/anarchic welding chops and check out DTLV.com/BikeRack for rules.

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November 22-28, 2012

At our sister website, DTLV.com, we’re keeping up with the pulse of Las Vegas’ rapidly evolving downtown core.

The recent news that a major music festival is headed for Fremont Street captured our Geoff Carter’s imagination. Here’s some of what he had to say when the story broke:

Outside Lands producer Another Planet Entertainment, a firm run by the former director of entertainment for the Cosmopolitan, and of course, Downtown Project—announced that not only does such a festival exist, but it’s coming to downtown.

Life Is Beautiful, a two-day music, art and culinary festival, is scheduled to debut in autumn 2013. That’s really all that’s been said about the festival at this point—no bands have been announced, no venues set—but you could probably divine a few predictions about the festival judging by the people who are staging it …

11 ®

Titanup.com

VEGAS SEVEN

How Beautiful Is Life Downtown?

Titan Insurance, superhero bobblehead and design are service marks of THI Holdings (Delaware), Inc. Nationwide Insurance is a service mark of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. Price based on March 2010 analysis of available national data for liability-only policies. Subject to underwriting guidelines, review and approval.

dialogUe

Vegas seVen

12

November 8-14, 2012

vegas moment

All HAil!  Erik Kabik/ erikkabik.com

Shania twain arrived for her new Caesars Palace gig with some first-rate percussion backup: the thunder of 160 hooves.

The 40-horse Strip procession on Nov. 14—Caesars called it an “orchestrated stampede”—promoted Shania: Still the One, which debuts at the Colosseum on Dec. 1.

That’s just in time for the less orchestrated stampede of the National Finals Rodeo.

Have you taken a photo that captures the spirit of Las Vegas this week? Share it with us at VegasSeven.com/moment.

EvEnt

Color Me rad

VEGAS SEVEN

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[ upcoming ]

Dec. 1 Hispanic Museum of Nevada’s Las Vegas Latino Short Film Festival (HispanicMuseumNV.com) Dec. 2 Las Vegas School of Dance & Music’s “Breaking Boundaries” (LVDanceandMusic.com)

Photos by Chad Carl

November 22-28, 2012

A vibrant, multicolored cloud hung over the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Nov. 17, but it wasn’t an act of Mother Nature. Rather it was a result of Color Me Rad, a 5K fun-run with more than 5,000 participants starting the race pristine and clean, then ending looking like a Phish concert washed in a sea of tie-dye. At key markers along the course, runners were pelted with powdered color “bombs” (nontoxic corn starch) to mark the milestones. The colorful spectacle was for a good cause, as the Las Vegas chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities received a check for $10,000.

“Why are we wasting this peak physical state on a post-dinner snooze?”

about town {page 18}

News, politics, media, essays and ravenous shoppers

A Culture Reshaped

By Heidi Kyser

VEGAS SEVEN

16

are. They’ve persisted through a storm of controversy that’s been slow to settle.

For instance: When I told my boyfriend I was writing this story, he asked if I would include the part about silicone implants and breast cancer. Actually, cancer was not the main issue. Of the many thousands of health claims and lawsuits filed by Americans

They started appearing in the stands at UNLV basketball games last season: Wayne Newton, Holly Madison, Jimmy Kimmel, Elvis Presley. These larger-than-life cutouts of Las Vegas icons are the work of the Rebellion, which has brought spirited coordination to the UNLV student section at the Thomas & Mack Center since forming last season. At the Rebels’ season opener Nov. 12, the Rebellion debuted cutouts of Prince Harry, Celine Dion and Bryce Harper, along with its own theme song. We spoke with UNLV student Ben Leavitt, one of the group’s founders, about its plans for this season.

How much preparation went into this season?

We’ve been preparing since the offseason started.

We have a new song, “The Battle Hymn of the Rebellion,” which we’re doing with the band. It

with problems they believed were caused by silicone breast implants, most had to do with autoimmune and connectivetissue disorders. After reviewing dozens of medical studies, the National Cancer Institute concluded in September 1997 that breast implants don’t cause cancer. Apparently, they don’t cause anything. Scores of medi-

economic necessity. Are we looking at the modern Western version of Chinese foot-binding? Not necessarily, says Jenni Whitmer, a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at UNLV who studies and writes about the commodification of beauty.

“In Las Vegas, we see that the decision to get breast implants is often a rational decision that has direct bearing on women’s earnings potential,” she says.

“And among women for whom breast implants help lessen selfimage problems, again, they’re making a rational choice to solve a problem in their life, and it’s a choice that works.” Nonetheless, Whitmer says, it’s important to understand that these decisions, however rational they may be, are made in a society that places disproportionate emphasis on women’s appearance as the source of their worth.

And if that’s not enough to make you think twice about the mainstreaming of breast implants, maybe this is: A 2007 study in the Annals of Plastic Surgery found that women with implants are three times more likely to commit suicide than women overall. The take-home from the study is not that implants cause anything at all—this industry has had enough hasty cause-effect reasoning—but that perhaps something is amiss in our culture: If we want to change ourselves enough to go under the knife, it may be that our dissatisfaction is more than chest-deep.

our Mozilla, but we’ve already moved on to bigger and better things.

stems from a soccer chant, and we’re hoping it’s going to become really big. We brought back all the fatheads [the character cutouts] from last year, and we’ve got five new ones, as well as some 3-D ones.

It takes about 50 to 60 hours of manpower to put those together. They’re going to be a big deal—bigger than Mozilla [the giant Mike Moser cutout with moving arms]. We’ve already seen people copying

Have you had help from the community?

Definitely. A lot of alumni wanted to see something grow, and they started giving us money and guiding us—that’s what really sparked it and helped it get to where it is now.

Are you surprised at how the Rebellion has grown?

It really took off right away. We had 1,000 Twitter followers in about a week. It’s crazy how everyone has rallied around it, and how it has unified everyone. We have 2,600 members now. Everyone is a part of the Rebellion. That’s the thing that we really stress: It’s of, by and for the students. – Sean DeFrank

Photo by Zackery Williams

November 22-28, 2012

Happy birtHday, fake boobs! This year, the silicone prosthetic turned 50, having been first successfully implanted in a woman in 1962.

Whether you love breast implants (I’m looking at you, strip-club owners), or hate them (hello, fathers of teenage girls), you have to admit, they’re tenacious. Or rather, consumers and manufacturers of them

cal studies over the last three decades have, for the most part, indicated no increased health risk from breast augmentation.

But that didn’t stop the Food and Drug Administration from yanking silicone implants off the market from 1991 to 2006, a period when they could only be used for breast reconstruction, and patients receiving them had to participate in research studies. For women looking to augment, saline implants became the go-to material.

Science ultimately carried the day, and the silicone implant is now deemed safe.

The redemption of silicone was welcomed by cosmetic surgeons such as Las Vegas’ George Alexander, who performs a couple hundred of the 300,000-plus breast augmentation surgeries done each year in the U.S. Alexander, the former chief of plastic surgery at Mountain View Hospital and Mike O’Callaghan Federal Hospital, started out doing breast reconstructions.

Today, about 99 percent of his practice is aesthetic.

“The Southwestern U.S. tends to be image-conscious, and Las Vegas in particular, so we tend to do a lot of breast augmentations here,” Alexander says. “It’s popular and culturally acceptable.”

Some observers wonder whether implants have crossed over from acceptable to de rigueur in some walks of life—a body transformation that’s become a cultural and

By Bob Whitby Thursday, Nov. 22: Unless you’re tucking into one of this town’s

signature Thanksgiving buffets or prix-fixe meals, you’re probably at home today watching football and eating fowl.

Which is what you should be doing because it’s Thanksgiving and there’s nothing else going on. Go ahead, spend a whole day with the family. It won’t kill you.

Friday, Nov. 23: OK, we’ve seen

[ hunger ]

Making the (Food) desert BlooM challenging in the desert.

Prices of locally grown products are caught between too expensive for locals to afford, and not expensive enough for the farmers to make a living.

Regulations, designed for industrial food production, shut individuals and small farms out of the process. Many politicians are ignorant of the issues involved. And while co-ops are scraping to make a living and people are going hungry, hotels are throwing tons of food into the garbage or donating it to pig farms.

Then, there’s the looming threat: Due to limited freeway access into and out of town, grocery-store shelves could empty out in as little as 48 hours following a major disaster, ac-

cording to a City of Las Vegas representative at the meeting.

Fewer than two dozen people were at the meeting, but they included big brains from the Southern Nevada Health District, Three Square, the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension and a smattering of farms and community gardens. The aim, said Thomas Coleman, director of community health for the Southern Nevada Health District, is to bring together creative thinking and resources from both the public and private sectors.

“The reality is, the government can’t do this by itself; the community has to get involved,” he said. “There is no Department of Food.”

– Heidi Kyser

[ success stories ]

Boulder City High School student Avalon Frantz was recently named one of 12 national finalists for the 2012 Wendy’s High School Heisman Award, which honors students who excel in academics, athletics and community service.

The senior, who competes in volleyball and track for the Eagles, could become the second straight Southern Nevadan to win the award, following The Meadows’ Garrett Gosse, who is a freshman quarterback at Princeton after winning the male honor last year. Frantz, who was selected from more than 45,000 senior nominees, has a 4.8 grade-point average, is the president of the National Honor Society and student body secretary. Frantz, who has not chosen a college, will fly with her parents to New York for the Dec. 7 announcement of the winner.

Her achievement punctuates what has been a stellar month for young Valley-based athletes.

Las Vegan Dylan Kwasniewski, 17, continues his development on the racetrack after being named one of NASCAR’s “Next 9” future stars earlier this year. Last month, Kwasniewski became the

out leaving the desert. The Wine Country display at Bellagio’s Conservatory—featuring a talking tree, an aged stone face and a 40-foot-tall cider mill—will be broken down tomorrow. Time to put up the Christmas decorations.

suNday, Nov. 25: Speaking of experi-

ences we don’t really get in Las Vegas but can simulate thanks to our ability to synthesize almost anything, it’s snowing at Town Square! In fact, due to some kind of weather anomaly, it snows there at 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Weird.

MoNday, Nov. 26: And now for a Public Service Announcement: Hey Las Vegas, don’t throw that used cooking oil down the drain. It’s bad for your pipes, and it mucks up the sewers. Instead, bottle it up and take it over to Springs Preserve and they’ll recycle it for you. Just feel good about your environmentalism and don’t ask what they do with it. The program began on Friday and ends today at 4 p.m.

SpringsPreserve.org.

Tuesday, Nov. 27: Another reason to

youngest driver ever to win the NASCAR K&N Series West season title.

Meanwhile, on Nov. 12, 19-year-old Las Vegas baseball phenom Bryce Harper was named National League Rookie of the Year following his standout season with the Washington Nationals.

And Bishop Gorman graduate Shabazz Muhammad received clearance from the NCAA to begin playing basketball for UCLA, this coming after Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea wore a “Free Shabazz Muhammad” T-shirt while playing the national anthem before the Bruins’ season opener Nov. 9.

As for the local kid who stayed home, Mojave High grad Anthony Marshall has evolved into a stellar senior point guard at UNLV—alas, no word yet from Flea on that. – Sean DeFrank

celebrate the re-opening of UNLV’s Barrick Museum: Storytime. Park the kids in front of a storyteller while you immerse yourself in art for a bit. The price is right: free. 4 p.m. Monday-Friday, 1 p.m.

Saturday. BarrickMuseum.UNLV.edu.

WedNesday, Nov. 28: There are about 6,000 homeless students in the Clark County School District. When school goes on break, many of them lose access to food. Project 150 was launched a year ago to address the problem, and helped 17 families get through the holidays in 2011. At 6 p.m. at Dom DeMarco’s Pizzeria and Bar, Project 150 holds a fundraiser featuring live music and a silent auction so it can do more. Tickets: $100.

Project150LV.org.

For our complete calendar, see Seven Days & Nights at VegasSeven.com.

November 22-28, 2012

Photo illustration by Thomas Speak

these kids can play

saTurday, Nov. 24: Today’s your last chance to tour a vineyard with-

17 VEGAS SEVEN

Some of the best minds in the food business gathered recently at the Springs Preserve to discuss a problem most citizens don’t even know we have: food security. It was the first step in the formation of the Vegas Valley Community Food Council.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 14 Las Vegas census tracts as “food deserts”—areas with limited access to affordable, nutritious food. Three Square Food Bank reports that in some areas of the city, more than 25 percent of residents experience “food insecurity,” which it defines as lack of access either to enough food or to nutritionally adequate food.

There are many challenges to overcome in the local food system: Growing produce is

enough of those people. Let’s do something about that nasty case of cabin fever. We recommend the Motor Trend International Auto Show, today through Sunday at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Drool on a new Dodge. Lust over a Lotus.

Get your paws on a Porsche. There’ll be dozens of manufacturers and hundreds of models on display. The ultimate Black Friday indulgence.

MotorTrendAutoShows.com.

The LaTesT

About town

Do people really eat at Vegas buffets on Thanksgiving? That seems sad.

Black 5:02

Smart holiday shoppers know when to jump the gravy boat and charge, charge, charge

November 22-28, 2012

By Geoff Carter

VEGAS SEVEN

18

we’ve been doing it all wrong.

Thanksgiving Day we’ve got down pat: We know it’s a day for gathering together with family and friends, nominating one of our party to spend a nine-hour day in the kitchen, and celebrating their achievement with a collective, gluttony-induced food coma. When we awaken from that sleep in the predawn hours—on the pull-out bed that Mom assured you was “super comfy” but is nothing of the kind—we run out the door to line up in front of big-box retail stores, waiting impatiently to shop for holiday gifts.

This shopping day is called “Black Friday,” and it’s the problem. According to Wikipedia, whose probably inaccurate word on the matter I’m prepared to accept, Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year and has been since 2005. (The name originated with Philadelphia police in the early 1960s; it described the traffic snarls that resulted from shoppers jamming downtown streets.) Retailers meet the challenges of Black Friday with discounts, “doorbuster deals” and toxic levels of Mannheim Steamroller. It’s an insult to the Pilgrims or Charlie Brown or whoever.

Black Friday has become such a big deal that other kinds of retailers have leveraged its success. We now

have Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday and, unsurprisingly, Black Thursday, which sees some retailers opening their doors at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving. (Good-ol’ Walmart, always first to the ball.) But even that doesn’t address the problem. As Leonardo DeCaprio said in Inception and Jenna Jameson said in nearly all her movies, we have to go deeper.

The Black Friday model is badly flawed. By waiting until Friday morning to call upon our lesser angels and summon us shopping, it fails to capitalize on the Thanksgiving-dinner carbohydrate boost and sugar rush. It can be argued that in the moments before food coma sets in, the human body is fueled for any challenge this world can bring to it. The carbs give you the strength and stamina to bust doors—and the sugar makes you crazy enough to do it. (And if you’ve had a digestif or three, so much the better: The alcohol will increase your pain threshold. Science.)

We need to ask ourselves: Why are we wasting this peak physical state on a post-dinner snooze? Oughtn’t we to be attacking the holiday-shopping problem stuffed with resolve?

Waiting until several hours after dinner isn’t good enough; we need to move Black Friday up to the second minute after we’ve pushed back from the table. We need a Black 5:02.

This is too important a thing to delay eight hours. Our entire economy hinges on this day: As goes Walmart, so goes America. Should we allow such generally extraneous things as “Thanksgiving” and “sleep” to cause us to falter at the peak of our buying power, acquiring only four doorbuster deals instead of six or eight? Don’t worry about overbuying; you can squirrel away the extras for birthdays.

Black 5:02 is the only way we can keep feeding the one sector of our economy that’s still kinda growing: the irresponsible holiday-spending sector. And it’s not like we’re losing a hell of a lot by skipping the postThanksgiving rituals. Forget doing the dishes; you’ll receive new ones from relatives in a month’s time.

Forget talking to your relatives; they’ll be busy parsing the Crate & Barrel circular. In fact, from now on, you really ought to put everything not directly related to holiday shopping out of your mind.

So, on this pre-Black 5:02 holiday formerly known as Thanksgiving, let us give thanks for the food and drink that give us the energy necessary to shop, and thanks also for shopping carts, which we can lean on for support because we’re so stuffed … with our love of commerce. The Pilgrims had their horn of plenty; it’s time to fill yours with great deals!

Of course they do, and it’s not necessarily sad. There isn’t a day on the calendar that folks aren’t lining up at our buffets. And why not, especially given the dramatic improvements we’ve seen in buffets in recent years? These aren’t your grandpa’s chuckwagons anymore.

Still, set up a retro carving cart loaded with a giant turkey and a heat lamp, and staff it with a chef sporting a hat as tall as his knife is long, and folks will line up all day and night to stuff themselves with a treat they may otherwise be too tired or too far from home to enjoy. Plus, not everyone who visits Vegas celebrates the American Thanksgiving tradition.

And while lining up at a Vegas buffet may not seem very “Thanksgivingy” to you, for many, it can be a great way to escape holiday responsibilities and family pressures for a day. One of the great things about our restless city is that you never have to be alone.

For people who just moved here and are far from family, or for others just passing through, the Strip provides a huge, dynamic family that anyone can join—bickering and petty grievances optional.

I remember a Vegas restaurant back in the 1970s that had a horse corral in the middle of it, but nobody else remembers it.

Am I crazy?

No, but you’ll need crazy good luck finding anyone else who can verify your story. Even my memory of Los Rancheros has a lot of holes in it. I recall it being located in the northwest, near Lone Mountain Road, west of Bob Taylor’s Original Ranch House (which remains open). Like Bob Taylor’s (and a host of other Western “ranch house restaurants”), Los Rancheros was situated in a converted house.

As you recall, it had huge picture windows in the main dining room that looked onto an equestrian arena where horses were often exercised during dinner. One detail that remains crystal clear in my memory is the ranch-style beans, served steaming hot in a small iron kettle.

If anyone out there can fill in my memory gaps, please e-mail me.

Questions? AskaNative@VegasSeven.com.

the latest

media [ VeGaS tech ]

The Doctor Can See You (Right) Now

@mitzula

”Professional” gambler telling my uncle his roulette system. I’m telling my uncle “professional table gambler” is Vegas 4 unemployed & broke.

By Brian Sodoma

PaTienTs have unfOrTunaTely come to expect long waits for a doctor appointment. On the national average, it takes about 20 days to get into a physician’s office, depending on specialty. Enter ZocDoc.com, a website and app (available for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry) that launched locally this month. The site uses a little insider secret to help patients get to doctors quicker, while also improving physicians’ bottom lines.

ZocDoc spokesperson Jessica Aptman says about 10 to 20 percent of doctor appointments are canceled.

Those are revenue holes for doctors and missed opportunities for patients. It’s what ZocDoc officials refer to as the “hidden supply of medical appointments.”

On the surface, ZocDoc comes across as just another search portal.

You can find a physician by area or specialty, and read his or her bio and some reviews. Yawn. You can also search by insurance carrier, but the online scheduling element is the real game-changer here.

The site is connected real-time to an office’s daily appointment calendar. Yes, some popular doctors show no immediate availability,

@franfraschilla

Just got done catching up on Anthony Bennett tape. If Dave Rice can keep him at UNLV another year, he IS a great recruiter. Explosive/skilled!

@GrayJon but there are also plenty who could get you in right away. Most ZocDoc users get an appointment within 24 to 72 hours, the company says.

The service is free to patients, and doctors pay a monthly fee to be listed on the site.

If you schedule and attend an appointment through ZocDoc, you can write a review afterward.

Anonymous third-party reviews aren’t accepted, Aptman says, explaining that the company is angling hard for legitimate, verified input on providers.

The Las Vegas rollout only shows a few specialties now, including primary care, dentists and OB/ GYNs. Aptman says the goal is to get to about 35. Creating alerts for smartphones or e-mail when

an appointment is canceled also would be useful, and may come later. Currently, if there are no shortterm appointments available for a particular doctor, users need to keep checking the site to find cancellations. ZocDoc is also testing an online medical-forms tool that houses general patient information that can be used by various offices, reducing the need to repeatedly fill out the same types of forms for each doctor’s office.

After its 2007 New York launch, ZocDoc spread to other major cities such as Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami and Philadelphia.

Las Vegas is its 33rd market. The site sees about 2 million monthly users, and Time put ZocDoc on its “50 Best Websites” list in September.

That awkward moment when you keep looking for the “C” button in the elevator of a hotel not in Vegas.

@theVinceneil

WORST NFL pregame song EVER has to be Cee Lo Green singing the Ramones on Thursday Night Football!!!

PLEASE STOP!!!!

@refriedBrean

With all the weeping on Twitter right now, you’d think Hostess made cigarettes and porn.

@Kenny_mayne

In my youth, when Ding Dongs were unwrapped from their aluminum, it made me feel we’d had a good harvest.

@willhines found material [ Site to See ]

Bang On The dOT November 22-28, 2012

(KoalasToTheMax.com)

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It begins with a dot—one giant dot. Earth-toned and massive, it just kind of sits there looking back at you, as if to say “Well, idiot?” There is no other navigation on the page. After staring at the dot for 20 seconds or so, you finally drag your mouse over it to see if it contains a link or any navigational elements ... and to your surprise, it splits into four dots, like an amoeba. The other dots do the same thing: You hover over them and they split.

Soon, you notice that a pattern seems to be emerging from your efforts, and you realize that you’ve spent several minutes on a site that, at first, appeared to warrant less than one. This is Koalas to the Max, a delightful callback to that halcyon time when new pieces of Web-based art landed in your inbox daily (subject line: “Mind: Blown”). Every once in awhile, it’s nice to have a site like this to remind us that the Web isn’t just for YOLO memes. Koalas to the Max is also, as my colleague Sean DeFrank noted, a horrible, horrible thing to inflict on someone with OCD. So there’s that. – Geoff Carter Follow Carter on Twitter @Geoff_Carter.

Taking It to the Streets With Nevada’s status as a swing state in the presidential election, hundreds of Californians came to the Silver State in the runup to Nov. 6 to contribute to President Obama’s “ground game.” Former journalist John Johnson was among those Californians who knocked on Valley doors in support of Obama, and he wrote about the experience for the Los Angeles Times. Of particular interest in his op-ed piece is his recollection of how the foot soldiers were reminded of the proper pronunciation of “Nevada.” Yes, we’re as weary of post-election analysis as you are, but this column gives some unique insight into the energy and organization that went into Obama’s successful re-election campaign.

Find the link at VegasSeven.com/found.

Las Vegas: a fatter, more sad Disney World.

@Jayfenster

If you’re going to attempt to be a Twitter philosopher, be sure you know the difference between your/you’re & there/their/they’re. #ProTip.

@eatdrinkVegas

Saw my new favorite dude at the gym today. Working out wearing gardening gloves. Pruning anyone?

@untreSor

Guy Fieri walks into a bar.

Bartender says, “What’ll it be?” They both laugh, knowing he’s having the wings.

This is a tale as old as time.

Share your Tweet. Add #V7.

Bill Cosby November 23

8 P M // T R E A S U R E I S L A N D T H E AT R E // T I C K E T S 8 9 4 . 7 7 2 2

the latest

Christmas in november

industry. What’s happening on West Harmon, on the other hand, is a hybridization of Las Vegas’ traditional strengths and its tech future.

Online poker involves more than slapping an off-the-shelf software package onto a casino’s existing website; it means the creation, development, testing and continuous improvement of a system that combines entertainment with ecommerce. These techies are as authentic as the ones found in any San Francisco walk-up. Derossi, for one, has impeccable tech credentials: A self-described “geek from birth,” he grew up watching his U.S. Air Force physicist father working at Vandenberg Air Force Base before launching a career that took him from Apple— where he was chief architect for the Macintosh operating system in the early 1990s—to his own online poker provider, CyberArts, which Fertitta Interactive bought in 2011.

What makes the Ultimate Gaming HQ’s location even more appropriate is that, a few years ago, its parcel was going to be part of Viva—Station Casinos’ planned behemoth off-Strip resort development that would have transformed much of the region between Harmon and Tropicana west of Interstate 15. The economy scotched those plans, but the convergence of tech and gambling savvy— particularly if federal legislation clears the way for Nevada companies to offer poker across state lines—may soon make the industrial zone a hotbed of economic development.

It’s a well-known and reliable rule of thumb that the holiday season is prime time for bargain hunters in Las Vegas. Every year, beginning right around now, casinos, restaurants, bars and other businesses begin unveiling their promotions. It’s early, and the juiciest of the gambling and drinking deals (last year Todd English P.U.B. ran the “12 Beers of Christmas”) haven’t been announced, so I can’t give you the specifics in these categories. However, several of the traditional free holiday events have already declared and are opening this month.

Christmas isn’t just for December anymore.

Already open is the Ethel M Holiday Cactus Garden. Located on Sunset Road in Henderson, the garden is decorated with more than a halfmillion lights. There’s no charge to walk it, and you can also visit the factory and get samples of the candy for free. Free Ethel M’s? That’s a deal.

For the second year in a row, Venetian/Palazzo is hosting Winter in Venice. This one is also open now. Fronting the resort is a 65-foot-tall LED Christmas tree and a skating rink made of synthetic “Ven-ice,” which doesn’t require refrigeration but still accommodates skating. The skating surface is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, and locals can skate for $9.95 for 30 minutes (down 15 minutes from last year). There’s a parade and a tree-lighting daily at 6 and 8 p.m.

Last year free hot apple cider and hot chocolate were handed out to onlookers, so that’s a possibility, though I haven’t seen this perk included in any of this year’s official releases.

As if one skating rink on the Strip wasn’t enough, a second rink will open at the Cosmopolitan on Nov. 30. Cosmo’s will be made of real ice and overlook the Strip. It’s $10 for locals to skate here, too, but the deal is a bit better, given that the fee is good for all-day access. (Off the Strip, the rink at Lake Las Vegas is open; $15 is good for an all-day skate.)

One more Christmas display opening this month is the Mystic Falls Winter Wonderland at Sam’s Town, debuting Nov. 21. Don’t underestimate this one. They do an awesome job of decorating the atrium, and there’s a cool laser light show that runs on the hour from 5 to 10 p.m. daily.

Other places to look for free holiday displays and events are the Bellagio Conservatory, the Fremont Street Experience, Four Seasons, Fashion Show mall, Lake Las Vegas, Town Square, Tivoli Village and the District at Green Valley Ranch.

And then there’s that distinctly Vegas form of holiday cheer provided courtesy of the Hard Rock and Palms. Every year for the past several, the cocktail waitresses at both have traded in their sleek uniforms for even sleeker Santa outfits. Christmas trees and skating rinks rock, but I’m kinda partial to this little tradition.

David G. Schwartz is the director of UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research.

Anthony Curtis is the publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor and LasVegasAdvisor.com.

November 22-28, 2012

The New Road Starts Here

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the best symbol of the slow-but-significant change taking place in Las Vegas isn’t on the 23rd floor of the Ogden on Sixth Street, or even in the SuperNAPs at Switch’s Data Center on South Decatur Boulevard. It’s in an unassuming warehouse in the shadow of Panorama Towers on West Harmon Avenue.

That’s where Ultimate Gaming, a subsidiary of Fertitta Interactive, is setting up its new headquarters.

Even before live cash games start online, it’s a major operation, with top executives, marketers, creatives and members of the company’s software-development team moving in. And despite the generic look of the exterior, there will be no mistaking what business the building’s denizens are in: The larger of two conference rooms is called the Big Blind, and a recreation area will feature, in addition to billiards and pingpong tables, a regulation-size poker setup.

“It’s a big investment in building and staffing up,” says Ultimate Gaming’s chief technology officer Chris Derossi. The operation, which now has about two dozen Las Vegas employees, is looking to add more than 100 jobs over the next several months.

The 20,000-square-foot converted warehouse’s history is just as interesting as its future. Before the new tenants started moving in, the building was the design center for the Cosmopolitan. The long, high-ceilinged expanse that is being reconfigured to host a few dozen work stations used to host mock-ups of the Strip’s last megaresort’s rooms: The very space where customer-service representatives will soon walk online poker players

through registration was filled with designers poring over Wraparound Terrace Suites and City Rooms.

The repurposing of that work area is a dramatic statement about where Las Vegas is headed. This used to be the proving ground for one of those elegantly designed machines that line the Strip, intricately balanced to put heads in beds and cash in the till. Those are the engines that powered the Southern Nevada economy for the past half-century, creating the tourism industry that, even after four years of suspended animation, still accounts for nearly half the jobs in the region.

And yet it’s impossible to ignore the last four years. There’s no denying that people still love Las Vegas; about 40 million of them—a likely record— will visit the Valley this year. But they aren’t spending the way they used to, and resorts have become much leaner, shedding about 12,000 jobs since their prerecession high.

To get those jobs back, Las Vegas would have to add three or four major resorts—about 10,000 hotel rooms. And with occupancy rates still lagging, that’s not happening soon.

Hence the urgency in trying to reinvent Las Vegas as TechTown, USA. Tony Hsieh and his fellow silicon avatars are building something that’s distinct from the hospitality

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Under the Streetlamp

Classical Mystery Tour

This pop quartet takes on the greatest hits from the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s Wednesday, 11/28 – 7:30pm

A tribute to The Beatles performed live with a 28-piece orchestra Friday, 11/30 – 7:30pm

VOCALESE featuring The Manhattan Transfer, New York Voices and special guest Jon Hendricks

The Joffrey Ballet co-presented

by Nevada Ballet Theatre and The Smith Center

A beautiful arrangement of Irish and Christmas classics Tuesday, 11/27 – 7:30pm

Dave Koz and Friends Christmas Tour 2012 A holiday spectacular featuring some of the biggest names in music Tuesday, 12/18 – 7:30pm

Thursday, 1/17 – 7:30pm

One of the most revered dance experiences in the world Tuesday, 1/22 & Wednesday 1/23 – 7:30pm

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Danny Wright: with special guests The Mirage’s Terry Fator & Mark OToole A night of holiday, classical, Broadway and film music from the veteran pianist Sunday, 12/2 – 2:00pm

Natalie Merchant – In Concert with Orchestra A symphonic, folk-focused concert from the singer of 10,000 Maniacs Tuesday, 1/29 – 7:30pm

Frank Wildhorn & Friends: Frank Wildhorn with Jane Monheit and Clint Holmes Wednesday, 11/28 & Thursday, 11/29 – 7:00pm

Visit TheSmithCenter.com to see the full lineup today 361 Symphony Park Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89106 TTY: 800.326.6868 or dial 711

the latest

NatioNal

The Amazing Race

How Hurricane Sandy scrambled the political landscape, upended the election and sent New York oácials running for cover

By Hunter Walker and Colin Campbell

VEGAS SEVEN

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Barack oBama woN a second term as president. But the biggest political player of the election cycle, it’s fair to say, was Hurricane Sandy, an 85-mph deus ex machina that provided a boost to Obama and gave Mitt Romney a steep hurdle to overcome as he headed into the home stretch. Karl Rove said so much himself Nov. 2, even as hard-hit communities were still without power.

“If you hadn’t had the storm, there would have been more of a chance for the Romney campaign to talk about the deficit, the debt, the economy,” he told The Washington Post. “When you have attention drawn away to somewhere else, to something else, it is not to his advantage.”

He would say that, of course.

He had to say something, after all, to pre-emptively soften the blow for disappointed donors who had funded his monthslong anti-Obama ad blitz to the tune of some $171.5 million. We thought it was in the bag, guys, but who can predict a hurricane?

Rove knows the game. He saw firsthand how an unexpected calamity can thoroughly alter the political landscape as well as the physical one. The 9/11 attacks offered President George W. Bush opportunities for optics both bad (My Pet Goat) and good (the Megaphone Moment). Years later, FEMA’s tragically failed response to Hurricane Katrina and Bush’s ill-conceived support for Michael “Heckuva Job” Brown seriously damaged his presidency. (Just in case we needed a reminder of that disaster, Brown appeared in the Globe and Mail just two days after Sandy hit, urging New Yorkers to “just chill.”)

Crass as it is to point out, with the dust settling, Sandy has left more in her wake than 100 deaths and untold billions in

damage. The storm also upended the political field, offering elected officials and hopefuls alike a sudden array of unexpected risks and opportunities, scrambling the ideological calculus, reconfiguring alliances and laying bare much of the established rhetoric (particularly as it pertains to climate change and the proper role of government). President Obama was offered a gimme—the chance to act as comforter-in-chief and to demonstrate the beneficence of the federal government, while Romney was relegated to the sidelines, at least when he wasn’t being asked about his past suggestion that we eliminate FEMA altogether.

Meanwhile, Govs. Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., and Chris Christie, R-N.J., both widely regarded as potential presidential candidates for 2016, were able to demonstrate their ability to lead in a crisis, and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg got to erase any lingering memories of his Bermuda sojourn during the so-called “Snowpocalypse” of 2010. If only it weren’t for that marathon misstep—advocated, someone made sure to inform The New York Times, by his predecessor Rudolph Giuliani— he’d have turned in a pitchperfect performance himself.

All of them were working on instinct. On the national level, many years of careful preparation and billions spent on focus groups, push polls, talking points and microtargeting were suddenly gone with the wind.

Even with the lights flickering, the optics became high-def: Everyone went off-message— they had to—and suddenly what mattered was the human touch, bluster and reflexes.

And, of course, leadership.

That thing people elect them for in the first place. Sometimes it takes a perfect storm to

blow away all that hot air.

Around the time Rove was evaluating the hurricane’s impact on the presidential race, Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker was hosting more than a dozen of his storm-tossed constituents at his home in the Upper Clinton Hill neighborhood. This was retail politics taken to an extreme: After sending out an invitation via Twitter, Booker opened his home to anyone who needed a crash pad, then brought in heaping trays of chicken, fish, macaroni and cheese, potato salad, corn bread and candied yams from a local restaurant.

Families snuggled up wherever they could, and exhausted local children zoned out in front of a DVD of Happy Feet, ate Halloween candy and molded animals out of Play-Doh. If they’d had enough of the stuff, they might have sculpted a giant bust of the mayor and slapped it up on Mount Rushmore. He’d earned it.

“It meant—I can’t even explain,” Alice Bell, one of the neighbors who took refuge in Booker’s home, told The Observer, her voice cracking with emotion. “I mean, we were— I’m still overwhelmed that he would reach out to us like that.”

Booker has long enjoyed a reputation as a “supermayor” for his hands-on style. (Remember the time he rushed into a burning building to save a woman from a house fire?

His constituents do.)

But while Booker, who oversees a city of less than 300,000 citizens, is a master of the personal touch—and of Twitter—that option is less realistic for state and federal politicians and mayors such as Bloomberg, whose constituents number in the millions.

(Though, had he opened his Upper East Side townhouse, which is valued at more than

$30 million, it would have been quite a story.)

Booker’s response— apolitical as it seemed— was brilliant politics. “The best thing that a politician can do is keep away from politics and go volunteer, help out in giving out meals to the area, console the people that have been devastated and, in effect, give everyone a huge hug,” said political consultant George Arzt. “Don’t get in the way of first responders. You’re there as reassurance for people and inspiration.”

Christie, for his part, was so eager to avoid politics he wound up stumbling right into them. “If you think right now I give a damn about presidential politics, then you don’t know me,” he told Steve Doocy when asked about his extraordinarily warm embrace of Obama, prompting the New York Post to suggest that he make sure to reiterate his endorsement of Romney “or the Republican party will never forgive him.”

That said, given the widespread praise that has greeted Christie’s handling of the disaster, they might just have to.

While there is no real political playbook when it comes to handling disasters, politicians have been working on it for millennia now. Emperor Titus’ quick response to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius—and the massive fire that consumed much of Rome the following year—earned him approving shout-outs from the ancient press corps.

“In these many great calamities he showed not merely the concern of an emperor, but even a father’s surpassing love, now offering consolation in edicts, and now lending aid so far as his means allowed,” wrote the historian Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus.

Even unelected monarchs can be dethroned when they whiff on a major catastrophe.

Emperor Haile Selassie I’s perceived mismanagement of the Wollo famine led to his overthrow in 1974 in a Marxist military coup.

Former Chicago Mayor Michael Bilandic saw his hopes for re-election buried along with his city after what was consid-

Illustration by Zina Saunders

November 22-28, 2012

The New York Observer

self politically high and dry.

Like Obama’s team, Romney’s campaign made the decision to cancel several of his planned events as Sandy bore down on the East Coast.

Meanwhile, he and his aides hastily converted a planned Ohio “victory rally” into a “storm-relief event.” According to a report in BuzzFeed, the Romney campaign hastily purchased $5,000 worth of supplies for the recovery effort to serve as props for supporters to “donate” at the event. The faux donations and blatantly political elements of the “storm-relief event,” including a promotional

Meanwhile, though most of the media attention was focused on New York City and New Jersey, Cuomo played a central role in the response efforts—and stayed in front of the cameras. Having savaged predecessor George Pataki for his seemingly lackadaisical response to the 9/11 attacks— “Pataki stood behind the leader,” he said at the time.

“He held the leader’s coat …

Cream rises to the top, and Rudy Giuliani rose to the top”— Cuomo seized control of the response. The storm saw the typically media-shy governor sitting down for interviews with several national television news hosts including Anderson Cooper, Brian Williams, Diane Sawyer and Rachel Maddow.

On the topic of the state’s crisis-response efforts, Cuomo couldn’t help but sound, well, presidential. And he received national attention when, sitting across from Sawyer, he boldly addressed the elephant in the room—if not quite by name.

“I think Al Gore is right,” Cuomo said, raising the specter of climate change. “We have a ‘100-year flood’ every two years now! I think, at this point, it is undeniable that we have a higher frequency of these extreme weather situations. We’re going to have to deal with it.”

And where the mayor tended to shrug his shoulders at certain problems he described as beyond his control, Cuomo displayed a touch of aggression. After utility companies suggested it might take 10 days or more to restore electricity in some areas, he dashed off a letter to their CEOs threatening to revoke their licenses to do business in his state—then released it to the media.

“This is not just about effort,” he said at a press conference announcing the move. “This is about getting the job done.”

Political prognostication is a more inexact science than even meteorology. But it seems altogether possible we will be seeing that clip again a few years down the road, if Cuomo takes on Christie in 2016, Bloomberg endorses someone or other, and Booker solves the global-warming crisis, reversing time itself by racing around the earth’s axis backward, really, really fast.

November 22-28, 2012

Obama experienced sOmething Of a stOrm surge in publicOpiniOn pOlls. rOmney, On the Other hand, fOund himself pOlitically high and dry.

video and “victory rally” badges handed out to reporters, led to a deluge of bad press.

Initially, Bloomberg’s handling of the storm was deemed exemplary. He ordered an evacuation of the city’s lowlying areas and opened city shelters while aggressively sounding the alarm before the floodwaters rolled in. Later, his low-key if businesslike demeanor in a series of press conferences (enlivened by his intriguingly effusive ASL interpreter) was almost soothing in its professorial tranquility.

Calm in a storm can only take you so far, though, as Bloomberg discovered in subsequent days. Fuel shortages, looting and continued power outages led to angry residents and harsh headlines. Those emotions faded as the city’s infrastructure returned and lights started to flicker on, but Bloomberg’s convincing performance of nonchalance may have turned prematurely into the real thing: As part of his effort to maintain a sense of normalcy, he vowed to continue with the planned New York City Marathon. The decision provoked the outrage of politicians in the hard-hit outer boroughs as well as the city’s tabloids. “Like hell,” scoffed the New York Post, adding, “Mayor Mike’s trademark Manhattan myopia is back.”

The anti-marathon backlash reached such a fever pitch that, two days before the race, a person claiming to be an employee of the event’s host, New York Road Runners, sent a blistering, if anonymous, letter to the media calling for the marathon’s cancellation.

“I feel bad writing this,” the person wrote. “I have seen friends and coworkers work incredibly hard this year and in years past to put this event together … But for me, that is all gone … As an employee of New York Road Runners, a New Yorker, a runner, and a person I firmly believe that holding this race is wrong.”

Eventually, Bloomberg succumbed to the pressure and canceled the marathon. It was a rare walk-back for a mayor who rarely suffers from selfdoubt—and another sign that even the most skilled politician sometimes misreads the mood in times of crisis.

25 VEGAS SEVEN

ered a lackluster response to a blizzard. “In the end, God sent us 100 inches of snow in subzero weather, and I happened to lose an election because of it,” he would later reflect.

Bush’s job approval rating plummeted in September 2005, after his administration’s widely criticized response to Katrina— which included the misbegotten Air Force One flyover that led to one of the most damaging photo ops in history. The outcry was perhaps best summed up by rapper Kanye West, who proclaimed during a telethon that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” Five years later, in his memoir, Decision Points, Bush described the post-Katrina

criticism from West and others as an “all-time low” in his presidency.

“Emergency and disaster response is one of the most fundamental functions of government at every level,” noted Michael Tobman, a Brooklyn-based political consultant. “If it is bungled, as the Bush administration did with Katrina, it is never forgotten and never overlooked.”

No doubt aware of the experiences of his predecessors, on Oct. 29, as the storm approached, Obama canceled a planned campaign rally in the crucial battleground state of Florida and flew back to Washington. Even when the campaign resumed after a three-day pause, Obama’s traveling campaign press secretary made sure the public knew it was of secondary concern.

“I’ve spent the last two days with him … in between every single event, he basically walks off the stage, gets on a phone call with governors or mayors or first responders—he’s on calls in the car, he’s on calls in the plane,” Jennifer Psaki said.

Contrary to the imaginings of some right-wing conspiracy theorists, Obama didn’t engineer the storm to juice his candidacy, but he handled it magnificently, leading to a windfall of unexpected praise from one of his chief detractors, Christie. The hurricane also brought a late-breaking endorsement of the president

by Bloomberg, who had previously refrained from backing

either of the candidates.

“The devastation that Hurricane Sandy brought to New York City and much of the Northeast—in lost lives, lost homes and lost business—brought the stakes of the presidential election into sharp relief,” Bloomberg wrote in an op-ed on, where else, Bloomberg View.

Along with kind words from his political colleagues, President Obama also experienced something of a storm surge in public-opinion polls. Romney, on the other hand, found him-

The laTesT

style

the best deals From Black Friday to Small Business Saturday to Cyber Monday, retailers have amazing shopportunities for you to experience once the turkey is done.

Shoppers can score astounding deals for braving the crowd the day after Thanksgiving and beyond. Here is a roundup of the places you can’t miss to kick off the holiday shopping season.

Black Friday • Save 25 percent on your entire purchase at any Patty’s Closet location throughout the Valley.

• AllSaints in the Cosmopolitan has select merchandise such as biker booties and sweater dresses marked 20 percent off.

• At the Forum Shops at Caesars La Perla has select intimate apparel marked 50 percent off and Ted Baker is offering 30 percent off the entire store.

• The Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood gets in on the action with Chinese Laundry selling boots at 30 percent off and S.Y.L.K., a woman’s clothing store, promoting a buy one get one 50 percent off deal.

Small BuSineSS Saturday • Neon Holiday Bazaar, 600 Fremont St., is Las Vegas’ first pop-up market, opening at noon on Nov. 24 and featuring more than 40 local vendors such as Unicahome, the Cupcakery and Jessica Galindo Leather Couture.

November 22-28, 2012

cyBer monday • 6pm.com features 24 items on sale for $24 for each hour of the day on Monday.

• Purchase three scarves from designer ICJUK and receive the fourth for free at ICJUK.com.

VEGAS SEVEN

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For more deals, visit VegasSeven.com/blackfriday.

Nick Sakai

What he’s wearing now: Marc Jacobs denim shirt, SLVDR

Founder and owner of CRSVR hoodie, Scotch & Soda jacket, Five Four Indigo denim and Nike Sneaker Boutiques in the Cos- Air Trainer Safari. mopolitan and Santa Barbara, Calif., age 32. Fashion motto: “Overdress for lunch, underdress for dinner.”

Photographed by Tomo

Sakai’s self-described just-rolled-out-of-bed look is heavily dependent on casual staples such as jeans, T-shirts and sneakers. Hiding in his closet, though, is a secret to his life before he opened two sneakerand-street-wear boutiques with business partner Eric Aguirre, a.k.a

DJ Vice. Sakai spent college and the years immediately after wearing suits and ties as a wedding planner in Montecito, Calif. “I have 20 or more [suits] I haven’t touched in five years,” he says. But even in the jacket and tie his off-the-clock-style remained the same. “I grew up idolizing Michael Jordan, riding Powell Peralta Skateboards and listening to 1980s and 1990s hip-hop,” he says. “Those things have a strong presence in my personal style and at both CRSVR locations.”

Get an inside look at Sakai’s style, and updates on his boutiques on Instagram (@nickcrsvr).

the latest

style

Neighborhood Novelties In honor of Small Business Saturday, head to the Neon Bazaar in Jackie Gaughan Plaza on Nov. 24, when more than 40 local artisans and boutique owners will sell their wares.

NeonHolidayBazaar.com.

Lauren Moshi Canvas Bag

Totes featuring the work of L.A. artist Lauren Moshi are among the items you’ll find at Coterie, which offers casual wear and accessories for both men and women. $110, 515 E. Fremont St., 685-7741.

The Jeweler’s Daughter Silver and Turquoise Native American Feather Earrings

Designer Polly Weinstein took the family business (her father is Jack Weinstein of Tower of Jewels) and ran with it, creating a line of architecturally inspired gold and silver pieces. $50, TheJewelersDaughter.com.

Jerry Misko “Burst” 11 x 14 inch print, edition of 21

B Sweet Gift Basket

Crystal Quartz Lava Ring

Gypsy Den sells KT Cewe’s collection of handmade jewelry and modified vintage clothing. $34, 213 E. Colorado Ave., 684-1628; TheGypsyDen.Tumblr.com.

Filled with favorites such as Abba-Zaba, holiday gummy bears and chocolate coal, B Sweet candy baskets cure the holiday sweet tooth. $30, The Market LV in Tivoli Village, BSweetLV.com.

Misko’s ATM pop-up gives guests the chance to buy art costing from $20-$500. $30 for the print only; $60 framed, 845-7907; JerryMisko.com.

Painted Wicker Clothing Hampers

November 22-28, 2012

Discover vintage treasures, including these laundry room delights. $30, Patina Decor, 1211 S. Main St., 7766222; PatinaDecorLV.com.

VEGAS SEVEN

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Eugenia Kim Ziggy Beanie

A cozy beanie keeps the chill away. $162, 7024 W. Charleston Blvd., 477-0107; TheBungalowLV.com.

The

SHOPPING

ISSUe

Piled High A guide to covetable looks for him, her and home, curated by the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experts Photography Anthony Mair Styling Brian Primeaux Styling Assistant Molly Trucano

lIfe brIghT

November 22-28, 2012

Furniture, home accessories and even a dress or two populate the racks of downtown design boutique Patina Decor, which recently opened in the Arts District. Owners Kate Aldrich and Tim Shaffer and their unique brand of vintage housewares are the toast of the city.

VEGAS SEVEN

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Clockwise from left: 1950s KwanYin brass sculpture, $275; 1960s brutalist art sculpture, $395; Blenko glass vase, $220; and 1960s glasses and brass stand, $185; all available at Patina Decor, 1211 S. Main St., 776-6222; PatinaDecorLV.com.

Anything But BAsic BAsics The Bungalow sells brands not found anywhere else in Las Vegas. Owned by Meital Bronstein, a well-known name among the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fashionable clique, The Bungalow ensures its customers are always outĂ tted in casually cool clothing. Now through mid-January, the Bungalow and Unicahome will have a pop-up store in Tivoli Village, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 10-6 p.m. Sunday.

November 22-28, 2012

Clockwise from left: Current/Elliot jeans, $268; Current/Elliot leather legging, $682; Missoni shawl, $493; Rory Beca blouse, $244; John Eshaya jacket, $188, all available at the Bungalow Fiesta Center, 7024 W. Charleston Blvd. 477-0107; TheBungalowLV.com.

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boho chic The Árst high-fashion boutique to open on Fremont East, Coterie sends shoppers on a quirky journey from the moment they walk through the door of the former check-cashing depot.

In a true embrace of its urban surroundings, owners Hannibal and Sarah Nisperos kept the former occupant’s sign.

Find apparel for both men and women, and unique housewares and gifts.

Clockwise from left: Zanerobe men’s shirt, $120; Jarlo dress, $115; Jarlo faux fur jacket; Maison Scotch pink blouse, $160; Maison Scotch Tweed pants, $120; all available at Coterie, 515 S. Fremont St., 685-7741; Facebook.com/CoterieDowntown.

buttoned up

November 22-28, 2012

As an independent wardrobe consultant, Jacob Mitchell is the voice of reason when helping clients clean out their closets.

But in his vast closet, there’s an outstanding collection of vintage ready to wear and couture, all for sale. Here, he mixes some of his best pieces with current trends.

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Clockwise from left: Hugo Boss jacket, $895, Neiman Marcus in Fashion Show; Brocade dress, $700, personal collection; Aidan Mattox jacket, $295, Neiman Marcus in Fashion Show; Pierre Cardin eyeglass frames, $240, personal collection; Pierre Cardin snakeskin clutch, $300, personal collection; Vintage acrylic Chanel clutch, $600, personal collection.

For more information, contact Mitchell at TheDressMerchant@gmail.com.

The

SHOPPING

ISSUe

Black IS The new Black Fashion stylist and personal shopper Jenna Doughton organizes closets, resells unwanted items and then helps fashion devotees restock their wardrobes. She recommends staples in black—the color of every season—complemented by on-trend pops of color and dashes of metallic.

Clockwise from left: Thomas Wylde scarf, personal collection; Balenciaga Florabotanica perfume, $125, Saks Fifth Avenue in Fashion Show; John Hardy Necklace, $325, Saks Fifth Avenue in Fashion Show; Chloé ballet flat, $450, Neiman Marcus in Fashion Show; Vince leather legging, $1,250, Neiman Marcus in Fashion Show; VBH clutch, personal collection; Hervé Van Der Straeten necklace, $1,135, Neiman Marcus in Fashion Show. For more information, visit JennaDoughton.com.

anImal InSTIncT

33 VEGAS SEVEN

Clockwise from left: Leopard shoes, $110; Skinny Chino, $68; Taxonomy T-shirt, $55; Suit pants, $200; Taxonomy jacket, $150; Leopard dress shirt, $60; Suit jacket, $400, all available at Topman in Fashion Show, 866-0646; Topman.com.

November 22-28, 2012

British transplant Topman advocates for trendy casual wear in boldly purrfect patterns. Don’t miss their signature slim-Át suits, which can be picked out with the help of an expert from their personalshopping department.

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November 22-28, 2012

The

SHOPPING

ISSUe

Vegas Seven style editor Melinda Sheckells, with her Pomeranian Dior in tow, goes on an around-the-city adventure in search of winter’s must-have items.

Eat Downtown

707 Carson St., 534-1515; EatDowntownLV.com.

The Score: Chicken-fried steak with gravy, the best in the city, $11.

ElEctric lEmonaDE

220 E. Charleston Blvd., 776-7766; ElectricLemonadeShop.com.

The Score: Emerald City gown, $138.

onE man’s trash

1300 S. Main St., Suite 140, 778-7988; Etsy.com/Shop/OneMansTrashLasVegas.

The Score: Vintage mid-century yellow and white ceramic table lamp, $100.

h&m at thE Forum shops at caEsars

207-0167; HM.com.

The Score: Martin Margiela coat, $349.

KiDrobot at thE cosmopolitan oF las VEgas

698-7670; KidRobot.com/LasVegas.

The Score: Chris Ryniak Apocalypse Dunny, $10.

nEiman marcus caFé in Fashion show 731-3636; NeimanMarcus.com.

The Score: A Delicious Popover, free.

marni in crystals at citycEntEr

726-9360; CrystalsAtCityCenter.com/Marni.

The Score: Marni resin necklace, $480.

suitE 160 in thE shoppEs at manDalay placE 304-2513; Suite160.com.

The Score: Maharishi X G-Shock, $185.

sanrio at town squarE

6659 Las Vegas Blvd. South, 270-0161; Sanrio.com.

The Score: Tokidoki X Hello Kitty travel pillow, $24.

amari boutiquE

740 S. Rampart Blvd., Suite 11, 750-0550; RNDHipsterEmporium.Tumblr.com.

The Score: Jen’s Pirate Booty cuff, $30.

artiFact in thE marKEt lV at tiVoli VillagE

Illustration by Ryan O’Rourke

420 S. Rampart Blvd., Suite 150, 570-7400; TheMarketLV.com; ArtifactLV.com.

The Score: Acoustic iPad/iPhone speaker dock with a vintage antique gramophone phonograph horn, $799.

35 VEGAS SEVEN

r+D hipstEr Emporium in boca parK

November 22-28, 2012

10271 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 114, Henderson, 476-3900; Facebook.com/AmariBoutique.

The Score: Huntnomore bodysuit, $92, and Minkpink faux leather skirt, $79.

“The crowd lit up with excitement.

There were even a few people holding signs that read, ‘Eat Me.’”

Eats EvErything {pagE 44}

Your city after dark, hot gossip, party pics and Dutch duo Bassjackers take on 1 Oak thu 22

sun 25

Stuck in Las Vegas for Thanksgiving? Tao is here to help with its annual Terminate the Turkey party. DJ Five will wake you up from your tryptophan coma as you shimmy and shake off those extra few pounds you just consumed. (In the Venetian, 10 p.m., TaoLasVegas.com.) For another way to avoid your drunk uncle, Carpe Noctem celebrates its three-year anniversary of bringing industrial, EBM (“electronic body music,” i.e., industrial dance—add that to your glossary), power noise and more for the most delightfully dark Turkey Day you could ask for. DJs Style, Karnage, Bataluer, Cybernetic Shredder, The Mad Hatter, Spidersilk and Desolous are on the docket for the no-cover, 21-and-up festivities. (1775 E. Tropicana Ave., 10:30 p.m., Facebook.com/carpenoctemvegas.)

4

Fri 23

The great post-Thanksgiving debate: To work off the extra pounds or just keep packing ’em on till Christmas? For the fit crowd—well, as fit as you can be if you feel like boozing—GBDC offers its Sweatin’ to the ’80s Turkey Burn-Off today, so get those leg warmers and Richard Simmons short-shorts ready. (In the Palms, 1 p.m., Palms.com.) The turkey-tastic events continue with Gobble Gobble’s Animal House as the New Galaxy/Sounds of the Underground crew hosts another teen-friendly EDM event (18 and up after midnight) at the Fort Cheyenne Events Center. (2428 E. Cheyenne Ave., 8 p.m., Facebook.com/soundsoftheundergroundlv.) Downtown at Las Vegas Country Saloon, the fourth helping of Bass Gravy will be underway with the annual post-Thanksgiving calorie burn to bass music, featuring drum-n-bass legend Dylan from the U.K. along with Protohype and more. (425 Fremont St., 9 p.m., Facebook.com/frequencyevents.) In non-turkey-related news, the Double Down Saloon is celebrating 20 years of ass juice and bacon martinis all weekend, including tonight with The Objex (3). For more details, see Page 72.

(4640 Paradise Road, 10 p.m.)

3

Got balls? The competition between Team Edward and Team Jacob has reached a new level as the new Meatball Spot not only celebrates its grand opening tonight, but also holds a Battle of the Balls through Dec. 15 for Twilight fans hitting up nearby Rave Motion Pictures. Wait, what does that mean exactly? Turns out Edward’s balls taste like spicy meat sauce, whereas Jacob’s are garlic Parmesan. But if you’re not hungry, there are also cocktails inspired by the movie, such as the Vampire’s Kiss and Werewolf Bite. (In Town Square, MeatballSpot.com.) Make More Mondays at Marquee as the barrage of neon and animal print returns with Redfoo (4) 1 and the Party Rock crew! (In the Cosmopolitan, 10 p.m., MarqueeLasVegas.com.)

tuE 27 If you post a picture of a bacon turkey on Facebook, you just might get an offer from someone to cook it. That’s the case for the next Nickel F---ing Beer Night, assuming you aren’t sick of stuffing your face. Plus there’s an I.S.I. art show and a Calamity of Noise takeover. (At Beauty Bar, 9 p.m., Facebook.com/vegasnickelbeers)

WEd 28 2

Get your Monster and 5-Hour Energy drinks ready: Eric Forbes (5) is on DJ duty. The local spinner is taking a break from his regular gig, Forbes Fridays at Tabú, for a guest spot at Gallery and some midweek quick mixing to keep people on their toes. (In Planet Hollywood, 10 p.m., GalleryLV.com.)

November 22-28, 2012

sat 24

Mon 26

37 VEGAS SEVEN

Cue the Chipmunks’ holiday CD: It’s Black Friday! But what nightlifer wants to be caught waiting in line with the People of Walmart? We couldn’t resist letting you know that on the way home from partying, Urban Outfitters on the Strip is opening at 3 a.m. with 50 percent off until 10 a.m.! Hey, we were stoked. (In the Miracle Mile Shops, MiracleMileShopsLV.com.) On the same tip, get ready to wear All Black Everything to Pure as the theme for Eric D-Lux’s (1) DJ-riffic birthday. (In Caesars Palace, 10 p.m., AngelMG.com.) Sidney Samson (2) is one busy guy these days.

Recently, he released “Torrent” on Tiësto’s label, dropped “Better Than Yesterday” with Will.i.am and “Change Your Life” with Far East Movement and Flo Rida. The Dutch DJ/producer returns to Las Vegas with a gig at Surrender. (In Encore, 10:30 p.m., SurrenderNightclub.com.)

A few weeks go, I left a strongly worded note on my neighbor’s door when I couldn’t take much more of their subwoofer shaking tchotchkes off my mantle. I suggested that if they needed that much bass in their life, they should check out DubChurch. Judging by the persistent noise, they didn’t like my advice. But if you’re a lover of things that go “boom” in the night and aren’t my neighbors, stop by for 5 the next installment of bass worship with a Collective Records takeover with Rob Philth, DJ Scruff, Kill OG and more. Look sexy—they’ll be filming a music video, too. (At the Artisan, 10 p.m., Facebook.com/dubchurch.)

nightlife

Alex Meraz makes a grab for chef Carla Pellegrino’s hot toppings at Meatball Spot.

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Kellan Lutz got to go to a party with a bunch of actual, real-life wolves for the premiere of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn—Part 2. (And really, a colon and a long dash in the same movie title? Why not just throw an emoticon in there, too? Twilight—SMILEY FACE.) But for the cast members who couldn’t master the wooden nuance that Kristen Stewart brings to the big screen, it was a decidedly more conventional weekend.

While every 15-year-old girl was busy squealing in movie-theater lobbies around the world, Angela Sarafyan and Rami Malek—the film’s Tia and Benjamin, who we’re going to assume are some kind

of mopey vampires, or mopey werewolves, or mopey Creatures from the Black Lagoon, or whatever goes on in that series—went to Tabu to celebrate after dinner at Craftsteak.

They got there about midnight and spent some time dancing on their table, presumably to keep determined middle-schoolers from throwing themselves around their ankles.

Earlier, Malek took in Bodies and Titanic at Luxor, where he told a staff member, “You know I’m not Bruno Mars, right?” Well played, Rami Malek. Well played, indeed.

Though you might want to consider a different haircut if everyone keeps bugging you to

sing “Grenade” in public.

Alex Meraz, who plays Paul in the series, was at Meatball Spot on Saturday with his wife, Kim. And a bunch of screaming girls were waiting to take photos with him.

That must be so much fun for his wife, knowing that out of every eight underage fangirls, there’s probably one impressionable 18-year-old just waiting to strike.

Britney Spears’ manager Larry Rudolph was also there that night, though no 16-yearolds were screaming for him to take a closer look at their contracts or restructure their assets to maintain a more solid position on the ongoing crises in the European markets.

A-Rod is shy Alex Rodriguez and new girlfriend Torrie Wilson were at Yellowtail on Nov. 17, where fans were trying to take pictures. So A-Rod covered up his face like he was being perp-walked. We’re sure he’s just embarrassed about how he hit in the playoffs. … That same night saw Mickey Rourke at Fix, former Disney CEO Michael Eisner at Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria & Cucina, and Courtney Mazza and Mario Lopez celebrating her bachelorette party at The Bank. We hope that means she made him carry around a bunch of dong-themed party favors, because that’s what you get for crashing your fiancee’s bachelorette party.

Angela Sarafyan.

Tyga takes the cake.

Tyga, MeeT Tiger (Lady) When Tyga popped into Tao to celebrate his 23rd birthday Nov. 17, he did it the way we all do—with some cake, a little champagne, some chick airbrushed to look like a tiger and stuffed in a cage, a few friends and some music.

Well, at least by putting a woman in a cage, it kept PETA off his ass for the night.

Tyga rapped along with “Rack City,” “Faded” and “Make It Nasty,” while the girl was, tragically, sold to poachers on the Indian black market.

Jason Scavone is editor of DailyFiasco.com. Follow him on the Las Vegas gossip trail at VegasSeven.com/blogs.

Tyga photo by Al Powers

November 22-28, 2012

Twilight Kids Celebrate One Last Go-Round

nightlife

Do You Know Jack?

Bassjackers are a Dutch duo pulling double-duty

By Deanna Rilling

Dutchmen Ralph van Hilst (left) and Marlon Flohr are Bassjackers.

November 22-28, 2012

Some DJS are jetsetters. Others prefer to be studio-dwellers.

Bassjackers do both. Longtime best friends Marlon Flohr and Ralph van Hilst have disctinct roles: Flohr handles DJ duty, reporting back to van Hilst the producer what tracks garner the biggest response from the dance floor. Their hits include “Beat Cut,” picked up by Fedde le Grand, and “Mush Mush,” released on Tiësto’s label. Vegas Seven caught up with Flohr while touring Asia before the next Bassjackers gig in Las Vegas, Nov. 27 at 1 Oak.

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Fans can score the original version of “Let’s Get Weird” for free via SoundCloud. Are the days of expecting fans to pay for tracks over, or is it that producers are giving some songs away in hope fans will pay for others?

It’s not that we just wanted to give away a track; it’s more that the labels right now are really busy in their releasing schedule. “Let’s Get Weird” is one of those tracks that’s been sitting on the shelf. The first time we played it was in Miami at the [Winter Music] Conference [in March], so it’s really old. We’re like, “If you’re going to release it, it has to be now or we’re going to give it away.” We’d rather do something for our

fans, because people were requesting that track since Miami, and we didn’t want to wait another few months.

So, we decided to just give it away and build up our social media. We have a lot of stuff coming up, we were happy [to do it]. We gave away bootlegs before, but giving away an original is a different game. People really appreciate it. We were like, “Here you go. This one’s for you!”

You mention other releases planned in the near future.

We have a lot of collaborations finished already. We have one with Showtek called “Hey” that we think is going to be huge. Also one with Dyro, a new kid on the block,

and he’s really talented; he’s done a lot of stuff with Hardwell. The track we did with him, for us it’s the nextlevel, because it was an old track we were working with and he brought a new vibe into it. There’s another guy called Loopers; he hasn’t put out a lot of stuff yet, but it’s a really fucking cool track.

Kenneth G, his first track was on Bingo Players’ label. He’s one of our good friends from when we all started DJing. He just lately got into producing and he’s getting really good at it, so we made a collaboration and we’re probably going to release it on the Bingo Players’ label, but that has no date yet. We’ve also got a lot of remixes coming out. Nowadays, you’ve got to come out with tracks basically every month.

You’ve recently launched your JackinDaBass radio show, airing monthly on Tiësto’s Club Life Radio (SiriusXM). With so many

electronic-focused shows and podcasts, why should people tune in to yours?

This is the thing: Of course people always want to hear the new stuff, but we’re the kind of DJ/producer that also wants to bring the old stuff.

So we’re going to bring some of the new releases and keep up with the promos we get, people we’re working with, new tracks, our own mashups, really exclusive stuff that no one’s heard before, and we are also going to play really old stuff like the classics. I’m pretty sure that if we play a classic, that the new kids will be like, “What the fuck is this?” We came a long way, and we want to play at least one track that has an influence on today’s dance scene. I hope people will love it. I have a lot of those classics.

While you’re touring the world, does Ralph ever get jealous when he’s holed up in a studio?

It’s the other way around. I get jealous when he spends a lot of time at home because I’m always touring—I’m just kidding, but he’s not the kind of guy that wants to tour all year long. He just loves to be in the studio. He’s not a DJ. It’s not his dream to tour around the world. It’s his dream to make new music and I’m the one that gets it into the crowd.

Do you bring him souvenirs or send postcards?

Almost every time. I don’t get a lot of time to buy souvenirs, but I always buy stupid stuff like key chains, a “What Happens in Vegas” bottle opener. It’s nothing special, it’s just: “I’m thinking of you.” [Laughs.]

Find out who is Bassjackers’ musical hero at VegasSeven.com/Bassjackers.

nightlife

Eats Everything Meet the up-and-coming veteran

November 22-28, 2012

By Liz Ohanesian

VEGAS SEVEN

44

For Daniel Pearce, the Bristol, U.K.-based DJ and producer best known as Eats Everything, his big moment on the dance floor came in early 2012.

In January, Bugged Out Weekender went down in a British resort. It was a massive, three-day event in the dead of winter, weeks after the New Year’s parties had ended. Yet, the world’s hippest DJs padded the lineup. Claude VonStroke was there. So was Maya Jane Coles. And Eats Everything, still riding a wave of success from his breakthrough hit “Entrance Song,” was on the bill, too. He played early, sometime around 8 p.m., but this was no warm-up slot. He dropped his own tracks, and the crowd lit up with excitement. There were even a few people holding signs that read, “Eat Me.” This was the first gig where Pearce could—and did—remark, “Wow, these people have actually come to see me.”

It’s an important moment in any DJ’s career, the one where you realize you are a draw, and for Pearce, who plays XS on Nov. 25, this was a long time coming. Despite his status as an up-and-comer (“Entrance Song” came out in 2011), Pearce has spent years behind the decks. The 32-year-old picked up DJing before he hit his teens. By the time he was 16, he was playing at the Bristol clubs he frequented. This was back in 1996, at a time when dance music was fragmenting into hyper-specific subgenres and Pearce landed in the middle of the club scene at a crucial time. “It was like a dream come true,” he says, by phone, while traveling from Bristol to the British seaside.

Pearce scored residencies, the regular gigs that DJs need to establish themselves. He played with some of the top names in the field. But, there was something holding his career back. He wasn’t a producer.

“You can’t just be a DJ, unfortunately,” Pearce laments.

In fact, the biggest DJs, the ones who headline festivals

and play gigs at top clubs from Las Vegas to Ibiza, are almost always producers. They don’t just drop the jams; they craft them on laptops and in studios across the world. The bigger the hits, the better gigs they will get. If Pearce wanted to move up through the ranks, he would have to bring everything he knew from the clubs into the studio. He began experimenting with production techniques a decade ago, but it wasn’t anything serious until 2005. Even so, another four years passed before he could say, “Yeah, I know what I’m doing.”

Pearce’s strength as a producer is his versatility. His tracks have enough of a banger bounce to keep even the most mainstream crowds on the floor, but lack the flashiness that would alienate the hardcore house-heads. Pearce can cram so many rhythmic peaks and valleys into a sixminute stretch that a single Eats Everything track can sound different as it’s passed on from set to set. Take “Hevvie,” his first release to make waves in the underground, for example. Pearce jokes that even his buddy VonStroke—the heavy-hitting DJ/producer who releases some of Eats Everything’s work on his label, Dirtybird—has trouble recognizing it. “To this day, when I play it, he says, ‘What’s this?’”

Pearce says with a laugh, “and I’m like, ‘Dude, it’s a record you turned down.’”

Pearce flew under the radar for ages, until superstars such as VonStroke and BBC DJ Pete Tong, who is headlining the XS gig (“America Is Finally All Gone,” Nov. 15), began championing his work. Soon Eats Everything was one of the hottest names in dancemusic circles, a presumed newcomer, even though he has paid his dues many times over. Pearce headed out to the U.S. for a few dates in connection with Miami’s prestigious Winter Music Conference. He had planned to tour the States a few months after that, but

was sidelined by back troubles.

“One morning, I woke up and I literally couldn’t move,” Pearce says. “It’s the most painful thing I’ve ever had in my life.”

It’s also, he says, a common ailment for people in his line of work, where lugging around gear is often part of the job.

Pearce says that he’s “not 100 percent” recovered, but he’s at a point where he can manage the pain. “I’ve got the smallest record bag in the world now,” he says, only half-kidding. Pearce travels with his music collection

stored on two USB sticks, something that will certainly lighten the load as he heads across the U.S. this month. The excursion isn’t just his first proper tour of the States; it includes his debut Las Vegas gig and his first trip to the city.

“It’s taken me a long time to get where I am,” Pearce says.

Right now, though, he’s sitting comfortably between the underground and mainstream realms of dance music. It’s a good place to be. Pearce can rock the megaclubs and festivals as hard as the smaller gigs and right now, he’s ready to bring the bass to the party capitals of the United States.

Listen to Eats Everything on SoundCloud at Soundcloud.com/EatsEverything.

nightlife

parties

stONeY’s rOckiN’ cOuNtrY In Town Square [ Upcoming ]

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See more photos from this gallery at SpyOnVegas.com

Photography by Teddy Fujimoto

November 22-28, 2012

Nov. 22 Ladies Night Nov. 23 KWNR presents Black Friday Nov. 24 Wild Turkey Saturday

nightlife

parties

the bank In Bellagio

[ Upcoming ]

VEGAS SEVEN

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See more photos from this gallery at SpyOnVegas.com

Photography by Josh Metz and Tony Tran

November 22-28, 2012

Dec. 1 Sia guest DJ set Dec. 14 Sinatra guest DJ set Dec. 15 Krysten Ritter celebrates her birthday

nightlife

parties

trYst

In Wynn Las Vegas [ Upcoming ]

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See more photos from this gallery at SpyOnVegas.com

Photography by Danny Mahoney

November 22-28, 2012

Nov. 22 The Affair, Thanksgiving edition, with DJs Derrick Anthony and Mike Carbonell Nov. 23 Along Came a Spider with DJs Spider and Derrick Anthony Nov. 24 DJs Derrick Anthony and Dave Fogg

dining

“Bakers have patience, [but] chefs, we’re always ‘Go! Go! Go!’ ... This dish makes you slow down.”

Cooking With ... {page 64}

Reviews, Diner's Notebook, Dishing and your dessert (cocktail) is served

Spago at 20

Our food critic happily goes back to the ’90s to sample Puck’s special throwback menu

By Max Jacobson

[ Continued on Page 62 ]

VEGAS SEVEN

Photo by Sabin Orr

November 22-28, 2012

Say What you like about Wolfgang Puck, but the über-celebrity chef—whom I have known since he first came west 36 years ago—is a game-changer.

Twenty years ago, on Dec. 11, 1992, Puck made a bold move, opening Spago a branch of his successful Hollywood In the Forum restaurant, Spago, Shops at Caesars, in the Forum Shops 369-0360. Open at Caesars. I came 11:30 a.m.-10 later that month, p.m. Sun-Thu, and the restaurant 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. was empty. The chef Fri-Sat. Dinner for recalls standing at two, $69-$102. the podium with his managers, wondering if he had made a big mistake.

But soon, the crowds came to eat dishes such as smoked salmon pizza and Chinese duck, and the Las Vegas food scene was never the same.

Where there had once been just steak and the chuckwagon buffet, the floodgates were open for a parade of top American chefs to follow suit.

Wolf was the trailblazer, and we owe him. Big time.

Menu-wise, Spago today 61 is very different from the original, save the location.

But next month, from Dec. 10-14, the restaurant will serve

DINING

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ColICChIo makes hIs move, Fu moves IN, aND mIlos has wINe For you

a special 20th anniversary menu with throwback pricing, which I urge you to experience. Dishes from the original Spago menu will be served, prepared by executive chef Eric Klein, and, on Dec. 11 only, by Puck himself. I’m not being nostalgic when I tell you that all the dishes are terrific and also that I can’t understand why they are no longer available.

Klein was kind enough to invite me in for a preview, and it was memorable. Since the smokedsalmon pizza is the one dish from this menu available on request, I skipped it. (For the record, though, it’s a cracker-thin pie smeared with dill crème fraîche, and is one of the most delicious items in the food galaxy.)

There was, fortunately, lots of compensation. Klein started us with sashimi of sushi-grade tuna dressed lightly with soy-lime vinaigrette and a plate of charcuterie, which he makes daily (not on the anniversary menu.) That was followed by crisp tempura shrimp so light and greaseless you could have sat on one without getting a stain on your pants. I also recommend that you look for the house-smoked sturgeon with crisp potato galette and horseradish cream. It wasn’t served at my tasting, but I’m still savoring it from the original menu.

Klein then dazzled us with an impossibly rich wild-mushroom risotto with caramelized shallots and Italian parsley. I had to push the dish away from my wife in order to save room for what was coming.

(Usually, it’s the other way around.)

Then my resolve melted when a

Spago at 10 in 2002 (above) and Puck’s famous smoked-salmon pizza.

second pasta course arrived—Maine Dessert was Wolfgang’s Kaiserlobster with spinach linguini and chmarrn, a buttery, soufflé-like Chinese black bean sauce. (Buoyed pancake, served in a hot pan with by the success strawberry sauce of the Santa and whipped Monica, Calif., cream on the max’s meNu pICks fusion restaurant side. For those Chinois, Puck old enough to be Smoked salmon pizza, $14. was heavily into fans of Gordon Wild mushroom risotto, $12.

Asian flavors Gekko in the Maine lobster, spinach linguini and then. This is one film Wall Street, Chinese black bean sauce, $18.

I wish he’d bring who famously Cantonese-style roasted back.) said, “greed is duck, $20.

We had two engood,” here’s Kaiserschmarrn, $9. trees: Cantona dessert that ese-style roast proves it. duck with wild There will be huckleberries, ginger and stir-fried occasion to go back for Spago’s baby bok choy “Chinois Style,” and current favorites such as chousome Colorado lamb chops with a croute royal garni (a sort of deluxe cilantro-mint vinaigrette and sweet- sausage platter) and red wineand-sour eggplant—both Chinese in braised short ribs on another day. spirit, but Puck-ian in taste.

Seize this one.

There are usually interesting rumblings on the local food scene, and this week is no exception.

Tom Colicchio, one chef who moves smoothly between the kitchen and your television (Top Chef, Craftsteak and other projects) is planning a new restaurant at The Mirage. Colicchio’s team has been quite hush-hush about plans for the new concept, but given this chef’s fertile imagination and cutting-edge mentality, expect something innovative.

Milos, the peerless Greek seafood restaurant at the Cosmopolitan, is doing a small promotion to entice locals to come in for dinner as well as for the restaurant’s incredible $20.12 lunch. Parties of four will receive a bottle of high-end, boutique Greek wine, such as an Agiorgitko or Assyrtiko, (and if you’ve not tasted either of these varietals, you’re in for a treat). The wine is gratis, and all that’s necessary is that one member of the party produce a Nevada ID. The offer will run through the year’s end.

Most of you have already made plans for your Thanksgiving feast, hopefully to be shared with friends and family. If you’re still in a quandary, though, perhaps a visit to First Food & Bar in the Palazzo will settle the issue.

The restaurant’s ever-creative chef Sammy D—who has just opened his eccentric burger joint Rattlecan in the Venetian—has put together a very appealing menu for $42, including items such as hot mulled apple cider, pumpkin corn bisque, roasted beet with frisee goat cheese and traditional turkey with giblet gravy and all the trimmings. Dessert is a self-service pie bar.

Seatings are at 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 p.m. Call 607-3478 to reserve.

Meanwhile, Fu, a new pan-Asian concept, has opened at the Hard Rock Hotel (693-5000). The restaurant will feature authentic Chinese cuisine, with additional dishes inspired by an impressive variety of other Asian cuisines, including Korean, Thai and Vietnamese. The chef is Ming Woo, who had the legendary Mayflower Cuisinier, a longtime locals’ favorite, as well as the short-lived Woo at Palazzo. Her food is Chinese Western fusion, and traditional favorites as well, and the contemporary design—a showcase of bamboo, metal and golden accents—is from the Westar Architectural Group.

Speaking of Vietnamese cooking, what had been my favorite restaurant of that genre, Bosa 1, formerly on Jones Boulevard, has resurfaced with a new name and a new location (3355 Spring Mountain Road), but with a similar menu with the same excellent specialties. The shrimp cha giò (spring rolls) are amazing, served hot, with lettuce leaves in which to wrap them as well as several condiments. Don’t miss the broken rice plates with various toppings as well.

Hungry, yet?

Follow Max Jacobson’s latest epicurean observations, reviews and tips at VegasSeven.com/blogs.

Spago photo by Robert Mora/Getty Images; salmon pizza photo by Sabin Orr

November 22-28, 2012

Dining

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dining

cooking with ...

gordon ramsay’s roasted Beef wellington Yields 1 serving

1 6-ounce prime filet of beef (Ramsay’s is aged 28 days) ½ tablespoon Dijon mustard 2 tablespoons mushroom duxelle (recipe at VegasSeven.com/dining) 1 slice prosciutto 1 herb crepe (recipe online) 1 5-inch-by-5-inch piece of raw puff pastry Egg wash (with a pinch of brown sugar)

Beef Wellington has undone many a Hell’s Kitchen contestant; the latest winner shares her secret

November 22-28, 2012

By Cate Weeks

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Patience does not run strong in chefs, says Christina Wilson. That’s clear in her as she strides across the Gordon Ramsay Steak dining room at Paris Las Vegas as if her kitchen is on fire. She landed the chef de cuisine job after surviving—er, winning the Hell’s Kitchen reality show.

Temperament, she explains, is why so many chef-contestants failed so spectacularly at Ramsay’s roasted beef Wellington challenge. The cooking of the pastry-wrapped filet with mushroom duxelle itself isn’t complicated, but this is a dish that cannot be rushed. “Bakers have patience, [but] chefs, we’re always ‘Go! Go! Go!’” she says in her rapid-fire New Jersey accent. “This dish makes you slow down.”

One rookie mistake is an uneven sear on the meat; that’ll lead to “a lopsided half-well, half-rare mess,” Wilson says. The crepes are tricky, and Wilson admits she still burns them occasionally. Season each component of the dish well, she advises, because once the Wellington is wrapped there’s no chance to adjust later. Also, allow the components to cool before assembling. If you rush and use warm ingredients, the mustard will slide off the beef, or your pastry will look as if it was prepared by a toddler.

The Wellington appears on the restaurant’s new four-course limitededition tasting menu that debuts this week ($145 per person; $75 for wine pairings), served with root veg-

Photography by Bryan Hainer

Christina Wilson

etables, potato purée and a red-wine demi-glace and paired with a 2009 Faust cabernet sauvignon. Also on the menu is the equally contestantannihilating scallop risotto. “This being a gambling town, I’d be willing to bet that if we had the risotto on the regular appetizer menu it’d be our biggest seller,” Wilson says. “People who watch [Hell’s Kitchen] get truly invested in the contestants and in the food. Eating dishes they’ve seen makes them feel a part of it.”

So does watching Wilson on display in Steak’s open kitchen. Now that she’s done training, she’s learning to juggle requests from fans for pictures with the need to operate her 10-man line. “It’s a funny business in that you spend four or five hours prepping a meal that people get down in less than 40 minutes.

It’s like a roller coaster. You take all that time to get to the top, and then it’s over just like that.” And yeah, it’s a little clichéd, but it thrills her to see the diners’ reactions to her work.

“It’s the narcissist in me. I gotta get that feedback—good, bad or indifferent.” The Wellington, she says, always makes them happy.

Sear the beef on all sides, leaving it raw.

Cool and paint with Dijon mustard. Roll the pastry out large enough to wrap around the meat and set aside. Place the cooked, cooled crepe on a clean surface. Spread 2 tablespoons of mushroom duxelle into the middle of the crepe. Place a slice of prosciutto on top of the mushrooms. Place the seared beef on the far end of the prosciutto. Roll to form a cylinder. Trim any excess crepe from the sides of the roll. Wrap the roll in the puff pastry. Seal the open ends with egg wash.

Bake for 20 minutes at 200 degrees, then 15 minutes at 180 degrees. Allow to rest for 10–15 minutes before slicing. The meat should be medium-rare.

Dining

Dishing

sTicKy Fingers, cupKaTes

Tivoli WrappeD DaTes, vieW Wine Bar & KiTchen

This now-familiar tapa dish captures the essence of View Wine Bar, with its local feel and simple, small plates. The dates themselves are plucked by chef Johnny Church from trees close to Tivoli Village.

The sweet little packages serve as vehicles for almonds and goat cheese, while salty prosciutto hugs each bite. $5, 529-0090, ViewWineBar.com.

canDy, B sWeeT canDy BouTique

You: kid. This place: a candy store.

The brightly lit space is compact, but has shelves upon shelves of glass jars filled with more sugary confections than you can shake a Pixie stick at. There’s old-school candy, new-fangled gooey candy and lots of gummies. Our favorite?

The gummy techno bears, which are fruity, iridescent and sold by the pound. 798-2979, BSweetLV.com.

3-piece cheF’s cheese plaTe, vieW cheese shoppe

The counter top at this cheese shop across from View Wine Bar is the ideal spot for a quick nosh and a chat with some folks who know their Comté from their Camembert.

A perfect snack is the three-cheese platter, which usually features samplings of goat, cow and sheep’s-milk cheeses, and is served with water crackers, raisin bread and homemade fig jam. $9.

gnocchi graTin WiTh Bacon, vieW Wine Bar & KiTchen

It’s just getting to be the right time of year to enjoy gnocchi, thanks to their naturally hearty disposition.

These handmade pillows of dough are fluffy and light, not dense, which is refreshing, considering they arrive in a pool of creamy cheese sauce nuanced with bacon. $7.

Got a favorite dish? Tell us at comments@vegasseven.com.

November 22-28, 2012

The newly opened Market LV at Tivoli Village is a unique concept featuring cute, local vendors, boutiques and restaurants that are off the beaten path. We ate our way through the place to track down the best items.

65 VEGAS SEVEN

Compiled by Grace Bascos

The tiny cupcake storefront also serves as a room for tea parties, which includes not only threecourse high tea, but also instructs in table manners. Which just might fly out the window as soon as the kiddies (or you) dive into Sticky Fingers, a mini caramel cupcake topped with vanilla frosting and caramel drizzle. Just remember to put your pinky up. One dozen mini cupcakes, $12; tea parties start at $20 per guest, 439-3266, CupkatesLV.com.

Season’s Treatings Santa clauS iSn’t the only guy around who loves his milk and cookies. Sushi Roku manager Gary Min is also a big fan, with butterscotch and gingersnaps being his personal favorites.

That notion provided the inspiration for this sweet and creamy after-dinner cocktail, which combines all of Min’s preferred flavors with just a touch of cinnamon and is available through Dec. 25.

In the spirit of giving, Min gladly shares his recipe with guests, as it was specially designed to be recreated at home. Looks like Santa’s in for a treat this year.

Milk & Cookie

As served at Sushi Roku in the Forum Shops at Caesars, $14

November 22-28, 2012

In a mixing glass, combine 1½ ounces Ketel One vodka, ¾ ounce butterscotch extract-infused maple syrup, ½ ounce Frangelico and 1½ ounces milk. Add ice, cover and shake. Strain into a cocktail glass and top with whipped cream infused with butterscotch extract and ground cinnamon, crumbled gingersnap cookie and one whole cookie.

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[ Scene StirS ]

Scarlet SweepS in, and we get into the holiday Spirit(S) • 9Group this week announced the December arrival of Scarlet, a speakeasy in the dainty 200-square-foot former Stuff Store next to N9NE Steakhouse in the Palms. Southern Wine & Spirits mixologist Francesco LaFranconi has a hold of the menu, so your next drink is in capable hands. 9GroupVegas.com.

• If you’re looking for a gift for a bourbon lover, turn to another bourbon lover for guidance. Gaetano’s Ristorante heir Nick Palmeri is throwing a four-course Wild Turkey Bourbon Tasting Dinner on Dec. 11 at the Henderson restaurant, hosted by associate master distiller Eddie Russell. After Rare Breed with braised veal cheeks you should be primed to hit the liquor store for that gift-buying frenzy. $75, 7 p.m., call 361-1661 for reservations.

• Wine aficionados can’t deny the appeal of receiving the best wine of 2012. Now that Wine Spectator has named Shafer Vineyards’ 2008 Relentless Napa Valley syrah blend Wine of the Year, the bottles have started to fly. If you are unable to track one down, take a chance on the 2009 for $70 at TotalWine.com. And if you do find the 2008, buy two bottles and call me! ShaferVineyards.com.

• Treat the cocktailian in your life to a two-hour mixology session with the Monte Carlo’s beverage director, Michael MacDonnell. The experience is $78 per person and is available to all members of MGM Resorts International’s rewards club, M Life, regardless of tier. All participants receive a 33-page book about mixology history and technique.

MLife.com.

• It’s not hard to get into the holiday spirit with a cold glass of Ellis Island Egg Nog. The secret family recipe “with a kick” lives on—they expect to make as much as 600 gallons of the creamy, addictive stuff this year!—at Ellis Island Casino or any of the Village Pubs located in Las Vegas, Henderson and now McCarran International Airport Terminal 3. $6 glass, $30 bottle, EllisIslandCasino.com.

For more scene stirrings and shake-ups, visit VegasSeven.com/cocktail-culture.

Cocktail photo by Kin Lui

Dining

drinking

A&E

Sure you ogle some of the best breasts in the West, but it’s also a genuine variety show, a round-robin of singing, comedy and hotness with a vaudevillian vibe. ShowStopper {pAGe 77}

Music, movies, books, concerts and all you want for Christmas

Illustration by Lex Cannon

By Jarret Keene

Santa’s sack: (clockwise top from left) 2Pac doll by Tanya’s LAB at Vegas Vinyl Invasion; JabbaWockeeZ School of Dance instructional DVD; Beach Boys’ Surfin Safari 10-inch black double vinyl album available at Zia Records; Earbud Yo-Yo and Nevermind jigsaw puzzle.

FOR THE INTELLECTUAL AUDIOPHILE: It’s one thing to test your sweetie’s knowledge of classic albums.

It’s another to challenge said person’s spatial memory of classic album covers.

This is why RedisCover Jigsaw Puzzles make a nice gift for the music nerd who has everything. These double-sided, 300-piece puzzles feature the original front and back cover of iconic records, including David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, Rolling Stones’ Let It Bleed and Johnny Cash’s At Folsom Prison. Each puzzle contains “ArtiFacts” about the art’s creation, plus behind-the-scenes info on the making of the album. Moreover, nothing says satisfaction like clicking into place the final puzzle piece of that nakedswimming-baby penis on Nirvana’s Nevermind cover. $22, ImaginationGames.com.

Stocking Stuffers: Zia Records’ Thanksgiving weekend sale Nov. 23-25 with limited-edition indie-vinyl exclusives available on National Record Store Day/Black Friday, Nov. 23. … Keep your iPod/iPhone earbuds from tangling with a cord wrapper called Earbud Yo-Yo. Camo, checkers and neon-green designs. $10-$15, EarbudYoYo.com.

FOR THE SHOP-LOCAL COMMUNITY BUILDER: We all know a person committed to transforming downtown into an art and commerce mecca. So why not take this person to the inaugural Neon Holiday Bazaar for what’s being billed as “Vegas’ first pop-up market”? The event features more than 40 mega-cool vendors. Highlights include art prints by Ninjabot (we described their awesomeness in our July 5 issue) and Naked City Sweets, known for its specialty caramel apples such as The Amazing Elvis. Another hip local vendor to look for: clothing line Black Cloud, for your gothic darling or anyone into retro-horror and the End Times. Noon-8 p.m., Nov. 24, Jackie Gaughan Plaza across

[ Continued on Page 70 ]

November 22-28, 2012

StuÞ your special someone’s stocking with ideas from Vegas Seven’s arts and entertainmentthemed holiday giã guide

69 VEGAS SEVEN

Gifts for Creative People

when it comeS to holiday celebrations, Las Vegas is a city of putting out. And by putting out, we mean giving presents to people you love—really love, perhaps in the biblical sense. Lucky for you, we at Vegas Seven have provided an assemblage of ideas for the special someone(s) in your life. No matter whom you’re married to, in love with, or feel obliged to pity post-breakup with a token of merriment, this guide will make you seem human, at worst, and, at best, get you laid.

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A&E Gift GuidE

A&E

All He WAnts For CHristmAs Downtown tastemaker GeoÞ Carter open-sources his wish list I’m tough to shop for. I’m not particularly ostentatious, but I like well-made things as opposed to cheap knockoffs. I live in cheap jeans and T-shirts, but I’ll pay tall money for good shoes and sunglasses. I hold Disneyland and classy smut in separate but equal regard.

For these reasons, I’ve given you a holiday gift list—and if you know anyone like me, I hope you’ll crib from it. And maybe throw some love back my way.

Make it rain: (clockwise from top left) Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy Camp, Lil’ Art Bodega’s Hello Kitty painting, Ninjabot iPhone Case and Juan Muniz coloring book.

November 22-28, 2012

from El Cortez, NeonBazaar.tumblr.com.

Stocking Stuffers: While you’re downtown, pop over to the third annual Small Business Saturday on Nov. 24, where various local businesses offer discounts. Two highlights: Hiptazmic Studio (Hiptazmic. com), a maker of steampunk jewelry in the Arts Factory, is offering 20 percent off. Gaia Flowers, Gifts and Art is offering 10 percent off all art.

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FOR THE WANNABE STRIPPER WHO ONLY NEEDS A NUDGE: You’ll be doing yourself a favor with this one, actually. Las Vegas Burlesque Classes is the only Vegas studio dedicated to the art of vintage striptease. I mean, where else can you learn to make your own G-string and pasties? Workshops by burlesque legends and bachelorette burlesque parties are also offered. Drop-in classes $10, LasVegasBurlesqueClasses.com.

Stocking Stuffers: In Stripper 101, Vegas strippers instruct students—i.e., ladies in a bachelorette party—on the finer (and perhaps unrefined) aspects of lap-dancing, pole-spinning and striptease. Carpe stake—seize life by the pole! V Theater in Miracle Mile Shops, $40 Stripper101.com. ... Learn to dance sans pole with the JabbaWockeeZ School of Dance Instructional DVDs. Get the five-disc set at JbwkzDVD.com for $60.

FOR THE CHRISTMAS-FRIENDLY METALHEAD/SANTA-WORSHIPPING GUITAR-SHREDDER: Nothing gets the holiday blood pumping

like a pyro-crazy, laser-ripping, heavy-metal hyper-medley of reindeer-humping jingles crossbred with arena-rock insanity otherwise known as Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

The sonic and theatrical avalanche, which makes KISS look and sound like mini-KISS, has everything—a headbanging Nutcracker tribute and a fretboard-racing Beethoven’s “Fifth.”

This year, new songs are built around a new narrative: The Lost Christmas Eve. Buy a ticket online and get a free digital copy of Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s five-song EP Dreams of Fireflies (On A Christmas Night). Orleans Arena, 3 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2, $33-$70, OrleansCasino.com.

Socking Stuffers: There’s a “Cyber-Monday” offer on Nov. 26 for two-for-one tickets to Rock of Ages, which launches Dec. 18 at the Venetian. Use code CYBER when calling 414-9000, or visiting RockofAgesVegas.com. … Mannheim Steamroller Vegas started a six-week residency at the Palazzo on Nov. 20. Palazzo.com.

FOR THE TOY LOVER: Vinyl toys that you scribble, pierce, paint and pose are all the rage. What better place to get stoked about a pop-culture fad than Vegas Vinyl Invasion? The show, hosted by Get Up Gallery and Lil’ Art Bodega and sponsored by Happy Panda Toys, runs through month’s end in the Emergency Arts common area.

Vinyl Invasion features customized figures (Munny, Foomi, etc.) created by 25 local artists, so it’s a chance to see what Vegas creatives can do with items easily found at Michaels.

While you’re in EA, you’d do well to check the galleries inside, including Get Up, which offers a great show

by U.K. duo Static—they execute a clean, graphic design-influenced street-art-style—with prints and originals starting at $65. Lil’ Art Bodega is also doing a holiday painting series that pays homage to Keith Harring. LilArtBodega.com/blah.html.

Stocking Stuffers: The awesomest comics shop in Vegas, Alternate Reality (4110 S. Maryland Parkway, Suite 8, 736-3673, AlternateRealityComics. net) has a rad assortment of vinyl toys, only these are all comics-related and superhero-focused. For serious nerds only. … The only brick-and-mortar DIY and designer toy shop is Happy Panda (HappyPandaToys.com), in the Arts Factory. All the template figures are here: Foomi, Munny, Raffy and more. It also offers the Almost Doesn’t Count coloring book ($15) by local artist Juan Muniz.

FOR THE ROWDY CLUB-HUMPING, DIRTY-LITTLE-ROCK STAR: Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy Camp gives amateur musicians a chance to jam onstage and write and record original tunes with iconic rockers such as Jack Bruce (Cream) and Alice Cooper. The camp offers both a three-day or five-day experience ($7,499-$11,999), and a “Rock Star for a Day” package, which starts at $299. A great gift idea for someone who dreams of being the next Hendrix or Beiber. RockCamp.com.

Stocking Stuffers: The Art of Punk: The Illustrated History of Punk Rock Design (Voyageur Press, 2012) chronicles the art and style of punk rock. With 900 color photos, the book reveals the influence that punk rockers had on art, fashion and style from the ’70s until now. $40, Amazon.com.

art BY JSKa PrieBe. Ideally. I’d love a painting by this cool, pop-cultureobsessed local artist. Perhaps one of her Stellar: The Women of Science Fiction series pieces, which mix Catholic imagery with Leeloo Dallas Multipass.

But I’ll for settle for a few of her prints, which run $10 to $100 each, or for a few of her $1 stickers crammed into my stocking.

JskaPriebe.com. d23 memBerSHiP. Yes, I really want a year’s “Gold” membership to the official Disney fan club; don’t bust my balls. I want it for the quarterly magazine, gen-u-ine membership card and the numerous opportunities to go behind the scenes at Disneyland.

Have you been behind the scenes at Disneyland? Have you, you filthy liar?

D23.Disney.Go.com, $75. fiat 500. I ride a bike and take the bus, and that’s fine. But I can’t deny that there’s times when one of these Italian bumper cars rolls stylishly by and I think, “Gee, I’d sure like one of those.”

I dream of squeezing it into dinky downtown parking spots and rocketing out to the Valley of Fire with the moon roof open, blasting old-guy techno and inviting an alien abduction. And then the light changes, and I am alone. On my bike. MSRP starting at $15,500, FiatUSA.com. niKon d600. My Nikon D80 is getting up in years (though it still performs brilliantly), and it may be time to replace it with this 24.3-megapixel digital SLR. This camera is pure sexysauce with its 1080p HD video capability, 5.5 frames-per-second continuous and oh-so-much more. I know $2,100 is a lot of money, but if I’d had one of these on me when I rode in the Las Vegas Halloween Parade, you might like me better today. NikonUSA.com.

Sandman SLiPCaSe Set. I never read the middle issues of Neil Gaiman’s acclaimed Sandman comic—only the beginning and the end. Now I can read all 75 issues in a box set of 10 softcover volumes. I’m not a Goth, by the way. I wear all this black because I’m bodyconscious. VertigoComics.com/Graphic-Novels/ The-Sandman-Slipcase-Set, $200.

Music

sci-fi skatepunk, funereal pop, feMale r&B

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Double DecaDe

mer. It all happens at 8 p.m. Nov. 23 at Las Vegas Country Saloon.

“Funereal pop” is a tag I don’t see often. So I’m eager for the Casket Girls (pictured) to open up their veritable box of creepy, grainy melodic textures at House of Blues at 8 p.m.

Nov. 24. Casket Girls is comprised of Savannah, Ga.-based sisters Elsa and Phaedra Greene and Black Moth Super Rainbow guitarist Ryan Graveface.

Together they craft Ouija-summoned tunes like “I’ve Got a Secret,” a girlgroup hit from the other side, as well as the electro-dirge title track from the band’s new CD Sleepwalking. Cure your sweet tooth with these Southern coffin queens’ sugary, spectral hooks.

Now for a different genre. R&B/ blues singer Nikki Hill might be based in St. Louis, Mo., but she grew up in Durham, N.C., so she comes by her Southern-gospel-soul roots honestly. Hill offers smoky sides of rockabilly, Memphis blues and even Motown pop. Her originals, such as “I Got a Man,” have such a classic sound that I had to double-check to see if Otis Redding had written them. Hill just released her eponymous debut disc via Deep Fryed Records, and she’s touring the country in support of it.

She plays Bikini Bar (the old Sand Dollar Blues Lounge) at 8 p.m. Nov. 28.

My fave Thanksgiving prayer is the one William S. Burroughs recites on his Dead City Radio album. E-mail your favorite words of gratitude to jarret_keene@yahoo.com.

The Heiz at Double Down.

Double Down Saloon is 20 years old?

Damn, that’s a lot of Ass Juice. And on Nov. 22-25, it’s also a ton of live music.

Four nights, in fact, featuring international and national acts such as the straightoutta-Japan, retro-rock trio The Heiz (10 p.m. Nov. 23-24) and Seattle’s Boss Martians (10 p.m. Nov. 24). Eight great local bands will also perform, including the Nines (10 p.m. Nov. 22) and Vegas punk stalwarts The Vermin (Nov. 24). Don’t miss Bloodcocks R Us (Nov. 24), a tribute band performing tunes by Double Down owner P Moss’ naughty-punk group Bloodcocks UK (a band that refuses to play the States). No cover charge! See the complete schedule at DoubleDownSaloon.com. – J.K.

Heiz photo by Jesse Nabers

November 22-28, 2012

Word on the Fremont Street is a twoday music festival, Life Is Beautiful, is coming downtown next fall. The promoter is Another Planet, known for its successful stages (Jack White, Skrillex) at Outside Lands in San Francisco. Life Is Beautiful also involves the Downtown Project’s marketing arm MAKTUB and Aurelian (which launched the Cosmopolitan’s live-music offerings).

There’s a website, LifeIsBeautifulFestival.com, but no lineup. Coachella downtown? Let’s hope.

I’m old enough to recall classic ’80s skatepunk, which I discovered by attending all-ages shows in Florida. An O.C. band I never caught live was D.I., led by Casey Royer, who used to drum in Social Distortion and the Adolescents. D.I. released two gothy, post-apocalyptic records—Ancient Artifacts, Horse Bites Dog Cries—that were hugely influential in punk and metal circles. (Slayer covered a couple of D.I. tunes.) The band’s familiar tracks are “Richard Hung Himself” and “Johnny’s Got a Problem,” but I prefer Cold War-wounded, doom-laden “Purgatory II,” in which Royer intones: God’s creation has reached insanity/All the world’s leaders are such liars/They’ll be doomed, burning flesh/Into the fire. Over the years, D.I. has only released the occasional album, most recently On the Western Front (2007). I’m looking forward to local openers Cherry 2000 (three-piece pop-punk) and American Buckshot (hardcore trio). The latter features Gilbert Estrada, this town’s best drum-

music

cD reVieWs

By Jarret Keene AmericAnA

Dusty Sunshine Deer Paw, EP (self-released) From the moment the a capella harmonies of “Intro,” the lead track on this six-song release, wash over you, you know this is exceptional folk music. “Jailbird” is a chainganged, cell-rattling, banjo-and-violin prison blues, in which Heidi Guinn imagines guards cracking, Aren’t you a pretty bird?/Welcome to your cage. “Devil’s Choir” is a gospel-tinged, pastoral plea for redemption uttered by a lost soul who’s been praying to my Jesus/hoping He comes again. If you dig Grammy winners the Civil Wars, Vegas sextet Sunshine is every bit as bright, gritty. ★★★★✩ Lounge

2. Soundgarden, King Animal 3. The Weeknd, Trilogy 4. Lana Del Rey, Paradise 5. Green Day, ¡Dos! 6. Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city 7. Crystal Castles, III 8. Mumford & Sons, Babel 9. The Rolling Stones, Grrr!

Greatest Hits 10. E-40 & Too Short, History: Function Music According to sales at Zia Record Exchange on 4225 S. Eastern Ave., Nov. 12-19.

Frankie Moreno (Bermuda Records) The Stratosphere headliner’s new disc is a tourist-pleaser that any Strip entertainer would be proud of. But it takes an additional artistic step—he and his brothers wrote all the songs. Indeed, Moreno has mastered the art of popcraft, evidenced by opener “A Million Roads,” with its horn section-enhanced midtempo hooks and polished sheen. But it’s when he pushes things—as with sexy, rocked-up Mexi-bolero “Black Mascara”—that he earns his white-hot spotlight. Buy it after Moreno’s Strat show, 8 p.m. Wed-Sat. ★★★✩✩ PoP-rock

Almost Normal I Shot the Moon EP (self-released)

Dang, where’d this six-track release come from? Vegas alt-rockers Almost Normal have been around for years, but their new EP sounds like a quartet high on the energy that comes from having just discovered how to write punchy, tuneful songs. Singer Ashley Lampman has the perfect power-pop voice, conveying adolescent angst without sounding like bad teen poetry. More than the last word on a bad ex-beau, synth-shaded standout “Hear Me Out” is a reminder that to give up is to die. ★★★✩✩

Disc scan

Upcoming albums on Jarret’s radar … noV. 19: British prog-rockers Porcupine Tree shed a double-live album and DVD called Octane Twisted, with most tracks recorded at a 2010 Riviera show in Chicago, and a few others captured at Royal Albert Hall. JAn. 8: L.A.’s prettiest, poutiest, mascarawearing leather-boys Black Veil Brides unveil their third album, Wretched and Divine, produced by John Feldmann (Neon Trees). JAn. 22: California synthpop/indierock duo Foxygen, who played Neon Reverb in September, release sophomore disc We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic on the Jagjaguwar label. JAn. 29: Connecticut groove-metal marauders Hatebreed foment another studio album, The Divinity of Purpose, on Nuclear Blast.

November 22-28, 2012

1. Deftones, Koi No Yokan

Frankie Moreno

73 VEGAS SEVEN

What We’re Buying

Deftones

House of Blues, Nov. 18

November 22-28, 2012

Whether it was the recent release of the Deftones’ seventh studio album, or the sold-out venue, Chino Moreno seemed a new, reinvigorated front man. Amid the hot and sweaty atmosphere of bodies packing every spare inch of the House

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of Blues, Moreno was a burst of microphone-swinging energy while guitarist Stephen Carpenter’s long locks waved in the breeze of a footof-the-stage fan.

As the show kicked off with “Diamond Eyes” and a precision light show, the audience became one being with hands pumping in unison to the beat, singing along as loud as possible—so much so it was some-

times difficult to hear Moreno’s vocals. The sound on the lower level seemed muted and muffled, but was much clearer on the upper balcony areas; those who may have been bummed they weren’t in the thick of the mosh pit may have been at an auditory advantage.

The vibrant energy remained high during the entire concert, which touched upon Koi No Yokan

tracks “Swerve City,” “Poltergeist,” “Tempest” and “Rosemary.” But the set was less about highlighting the newest material and more about dosing out fan favorites including “My Own Summer (Shove It),” “Knife Party” and “Passenger.” Mostly refraining from chatting with the audience and focusing on the music, the band did give a nod to original

Wiz Khalifa

Thomas & Mack Center, Nov. 15 I was just about to turn the lights off in my Jeep when a guy approached my driver’s side window, holding up a black Wiz Khalifa T-shirt for sale. I shook my head no, grabbed my Gucci bag and made my way to will call.

The parking lot reeked of marijuana smoke and college kids who were definitely living “Young, Wild & Free.”

My night was about to get very interesting.

In town for his 2050 Tour and promoting his new album O.N.I.F.C., which drops on Dec. 4, rapper Khalifa opened with “Cabin Fever.” Fans stood, girls shrieked and cellphone cameras flashed continuously. “I need y’all to make some mothafuckin’ noise in here,” Khalifa said. With the

bassist Chi Cheng with “Rivière.”

And no Deftones show would be complete without “Change (In the House of Flies).”

The musical explosion culminated with the band and fans rocking out all the way into the rafters for a three-song encore, punctuated by “7 Words.” Count the Deftones back in full-force. ★★★★✩ – Deanna Rilling

crowd hyped, he asked, “How many y’all got high before you came here? I need to know.” It was the perfect segue into his weed-smoking song “California.”

Best parts of the show included a special guest appearance by rapper 50 Cent, who performed his charttopping tune “I Run New York”; dancers dressed as a giant yellow lighter and joint hopped around onstage during “Work Hard, Play Hard” (Khalifa even hugged the blunt while performing “Young, Wild & Free”); and when he said, “Let’s take ’em home” before rapping the lyrics to his Billboard Hot 100 beat “Black and Yellow.”

As the show came to an end, Khalifa said to the crowd, “You guys are the shit. I love you guys, man. Real shit.”

Then he kowtowed to the audience, and all I kept thinking was I should’ve bought that damn T-shirt. ★★★★✩ – Laura J. Downey

Deftones photo by Bryan Schnitzer; Khalifa photo by Linda Evans

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concerts

REVIVAL REVIVAL: The Faint play their 2001 album Danse Macabre from start to finish at the House of Blues on Nov. 24 ($32). Here, now, are a few fun facts about the Faint. One: The Danse Macabre album is a new-wave throwback—which means that when you celebrate this decade-old record, you’re actually getting nostalgic for nostalgia. Two: The Faint used to include among its members one Conor Oberst, who left to form Bright Eyes. And three: Tickets to this show are actually only $23, but Ticketmaster adds a $9 service fee.

Styx

The Pearl at the Palms, Nov. 16

Styx photo by Denise Truscello; Buckley photo by Glenn Brogan

There’s been a growing trend in recent years of bands eschewing the traditional hit-packed concert format in favor of playing an album in its entirety. It’s a marketing strategy that’s as brilliant (“Hey fans, come hear songs you haven’t heard live in decades—if ever!”) as it is dangerous (“Oh, shit, do we know what we’re doing here?”) That danger quotient is multiplied when the set list features not one, but two albums. It’s multiplied yet again when three-fifths of the band’s current lineup wasn’t around when the original tracks were slapped on vinyl decades ago.

Needless to say, before Styx took the stage to perform The Grand Illusion (1977) and Pieces of Eight (1978)—breaking from their regular tour routine to do so—I was a little curious. And by that I mean rubber-necking-a-car-crash curious. Looking back, I should’ve known longtime members Tommy Shaw

and James “J.Y.” Young never would’ve attempted this if they weren’t certain they could pull it off. And pull it off they did, not only nailing the usual classics (think “Fooling Yourself,” “Come Sail Away” and “Miss America” from The Grand Illusion and “Blue Collar Man” and “Renegade” from Pieces of Eight) but also scoring high marks with such lesser-known songs as “Superstars,” “Great White Hope” and “Queen of Spades.” (Had any of the band’s trio of lead singers forgotten the words to these obscure tunes, the hard-core fans in the first several rows surely would’ve saved them.)

Perhaps the best part of the two-hour show was that Shaw, Young and the rest of the band—which included occasional appearances by original bassist Chuck Panozzo—genuinely seemed to enjoy the experience as much as those hard-core fans. Makes you hope Styx digs into their deep catalog and tries this again next time they roll through town—that is, as long as the atrocity that was the “Mr. Roboto”-anchored Killroy Was Here isn’t among the offerings … ★★★★✩ – Matt Jacob

Betty Buckley

Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center, Nov. 16 On the first of a four-show run, the Broadway legend tackled with aplomb the gender-bending task of performing songs traditionally written for men. The result was fun and fluid as she engaged the audience in a master class of great American songwriting. Backed by a flawless trio, including French pianist and arranger Christian Jacob, Buckley culled from a variety of sources, beginning with “I Can See It” from The Fantasticks. It quickly became an intimate affair, as Buckley shared her connection to each song from her album, Ah, Men! The Boys of Broadway. Her childhood love of Fred Astaire inspired her rendition of “I Won’t Dance” from the film Roberta. Then the times she fell in love with a song’s performance by a male co-star, as in “Venice” from Elegies and “Corner of the Sky” from Pippin.

Standouts included both a West Side Story medley of “Tonight,” “The Jet Song,” and “Maria” (a version Buckley turned into an admiring, “girl power” sort of thing), and A Hymn to Her, a brilliant take on My Fair Lady’s “A Hymn to Him” with Buckley starting out as Henry Higgins and ending up as Jean

Valjean. Pianist Jacob’s arrangements for standards such as “Luck Be a Lady” and “Hey There,” the latter of which seemed to channel a George Winston/Windham Hill vibe, rounded out the evening’s theme of different takes on familiar material. All in all, Buckley threw one heck of a boys’ night out. ★★★★✩ – Danny Axelrod

LIMELIGHT RUSHES IN: I remember when Rush—at the MGM Grand on Nov. 23 ($68-$171)—released its synthesizerheavy album Signals, in 1982. Can you guess what the consensus opinion was among my friends, nearly all of whom were pot-smoking, 12-sided-dierolling Rush fanatics? They thought that the Canadian trio was creatively bankrupt. And at the time, I thought they could be right. I liked Signals fine, but it was no Moving Pictures, no 2112. Since then, Rush has released 10 studio albums, which sounds like a lot until you consider that the band cut nine records in its first decade.

But the engine at the band’s core hasn’t died. What we thought was Rush losing its teeth back in 1982 was really the band finding its humanity. Rush has recorded some great albums in the intervening years, from 1984’s Distant Early Warning to this year’s Clockwork Angels, and they’ve done it without sacrificing bombast or chasing trends. The melancholy fact is that someday, Rush really will give up and retire—but they’ve yet to go bankrupt creatively, and I doubt they ever will.

NOW ON SALE: We sure love our divas here, you know?

We’ve had Madonna, we’ve had Axl, and now we’re getting Lady Gaga at the MGM Grand on Jan. 25-26 ($70-$230). By then, she’ll have cut a jazz record with Tony Bennett—true story; I just read it in Billboard— which means that Axl should probably think about cutting a big-band record while he’s in town, just to keep things even.

reading [ Book Jacket ]

a Working Theory of Love shoWs innaTe and WhoLLy human inTeLLigence

By M. Scott Krause

November 22-28, 2012

Scott Hutchins’ A Working Theory of Love is all about artificial intelligence, but virtually everything in this novel rings true. The characters are rich and fully drawn, the premise feels timely and plausible, and the plot is layered and emotionally satisfying. This first novel (Penguin Press, $26) manages to be smart and funny while asking serious questions—“What does it mean to be human?” and “What does it take to maintain a loving relationship?”—and challenging readers to consider the emotional weight of words and the repercussions of silence.

Neill Bassett Jr. is a thirty-something bachelor who works at Amiante Systems, a three-man tech company in Silicon Valley devoted to perfecting a computer program capable of simulating intelligent conversation.

To that end, Neill works alongside Henry Livorno, the company’s brilliant founder, and Laham, an Indonesian programmer. Neill has no background in science or computers, though he is an integral part of the team. Much of the program’s “human” personality is based on two decades of detailed diaries written by Neill’s late father, a Southern physician. Ironically, the real Dr. Bassett was emotionally distant; the conversations Neill conducts with the “Dr. Bassett” computer program are much more involved than any he experienced while his father was alive.

The team’s goal is to have their “Dr. Bassett” program pass the Turing test, long considered the litmus test of artificial intelligence. During the test, humans and computers “talk” to each other while judges identify which speaker is human. Any computer program that can fool the judges 30 percent of the time passes the test.

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When Neill isn’t working on “Dr. Bassett,” he’s juggling women: a 20-yearold high school student named Rachel; his ex-wife, Erin; and Jenn, an attractive programmer who works for Neill’s competition. One of the subplots focuses on Rachel’s involvement with “Pure Encounters,” a cult-like group devoted to “sexual reprogramming.”

Another subplot revolves around the real Dr. Bassett’s clinical depression, his relationship with Neill’s mother and a rumored infidelity.

Passing the Turing test is all about fooling judges and saying the right things. In his quest to make “Dr. Bassett” more human, Neill is obsessed with getting the program—a digital version of his father—to say all the right things. Neill uses a similar strategy on his girlfriends, with mixed results.

I approached A Working Theory of Love with zero expectations and got so engrossed in the book I was sorry when it ended. This is an enormously promising debut, and Hutchins is most definitely a writer to watch. ★★★★✩ Keep warm with “Book Jacket,” our cool-weather reading series.

Becoming Santa Is there a company drone with idle plans of greatness on your Christmas list? Don’t answer that. But if there is, you could do worse than gifting him or her the novel Becoming Bobby ($12) by L.A.-based gambling journalist Michael Konik. He’s the author of seven nonfiction books, including Man With the $100,000 Breasts and Other Gambling Stories (Huntington Press, 1999) and Telling Lies and Getting Paid: More Gambling Stories (2001). Konik’s foray into fiction will be out on Dec. 15 (with 10 shopping days to spare), and is the second release on Huntington Press’ new fiction imprint, Vegas Lit. Described as a “surreal satirical fantasy,” the book tells the story of a “humdrum working stiff who suddenly finds himself the highest of high-rollers.” Sounds like our type of fantasy. – Cindi Moon Reed

stage

Fantasy still a smart skin show moving into its teen years entertainment excitement married

STRIP POSTSCRIPT: Christmas in Vegas? That explains what Santa, wearing his (fat) Elvis jumpsuit, driving a neon-lit sled and sipping a frozen strawberry margarita, has for us in his goodie bag as the holiday season descends: Shania Twain opens at Caesars Palace on Dec. 1; Faith Hill and Tim McGraw open their semi-residency at the Venetian on Dec. 7; Rock of Ages blasts into the Venetian on Dec. 18; and as a holiday I.O.U., there’s Million Dollar Quartet, set to be unwrapped Feb. 4 at Harrah’s.

Remember to thank St. Nick if you see him trying to shimmy down a casino chimney.

What’s your “fantasy”? If it’s worthy of a late-night movie on Cinemax, e-mail it to steve.bornfeld@vegasseven.com.

Someone you know needs affordable health care.

Planned Parenthood offers women the choice of getting most birth control without a pelvic exam Call 1.800.230.PLAN for the health center nearest you www.pprm.org

November 22-28, 2012

ass” over there, making herself right at home in your libido.

When she growls, shouts and barrels through “It’s a Man’s World,” it’s like being in church of a different sort.

Rotating through also is Cooper, a comic live wire. With sexually charged riffs and impersonations of James Brown and Michael Jackson— the latter not only hilarious but more Jax-accurate than some others on the Strip—he actually diverts us from the fact that the breasts are on a break.

Fantasy wisely spreads the show equally between the gals, Peril, Cooper—the host and comic appearing multiple times—rather than weighting it toward the skin parade, as most others do, creating as much of a variety show as this genre can muster.

X-actly the way to go.

77 VEGAS SEVEN

to skin-show X-citement—a smart philosophy for an erotic revue that Luxor’s Fantasy follows to a T&A. Amid new implants in Vegas’ topless entertainment scene— openings of Shades of Temptations and iCandy Burlesque, a refreshed Crazy Girls and Coco Austin about to co-star with her über-jugs in Peepshow—we drop in on this Strip staple celebrating its 13th birthday while still trading on its natural charms.

Fantasy’s greatest asset is not relying solely on its obvious assets.

Sure you ogle some of the best breasts in the West, but it’s also a genuine variety show, a round-robin of singing, comedy and hotness with a vaudevillian vibe.

Puuuurdy gals and merry mammary-shaking are the central lure, and it’s everything you’d expect and nothing you wouldn’t, tricked out with smoke effects, strobe lights and Excedrin-worthy music blare.

Pole-writhing? Check. Country cuties in a yee-haw! number?

Check. Frolicking on a bed with sapphic suggestiveness to “Nasty Girl”? Check. Sensuous strip-tease to “Why Don’t You Do Right”?

Check and (double-D) check.

Bursting with wit? Hardly, but it gets the job—i.e., flashing the flesh—done.

Credit hostess/dynamo Lorena Peril and her comic cohort Sean E. Cooper for quickening the pulse of Fantasy, which without them would be a routine string of wriggle-andjiggle exertions.

Blending an exuberant personality with power pipes that could strip the varnish off a foot locker, Peril plays the sassy Latina to the hilt, pulling patrons into the spirit of the sex—um, show. “You’re gonna get laid tonight!” she tells a woman, who breaks into a blush. “Hey, don’t act like you just came out of church.” Yes it’s standard sex-show shtick, but Peril sells it well thanks to pitch-perfect audience interaction. Striding through the crowd, she winks, giggles, wheedles and cajoles, rubbing her butt on a bald head over here, coaxing hands to “spank my

A&E

Movies

Rocky Road to a Happy Ending This romantic comedy isn’t afraid of a little mental illness

By Michael Phillips

November 22-28, 2012

Tribune Media Services

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Hollywood Movies Have long encouraged us to empathize with psychologically troubled characters only if they’re “kooky” for a little while, as a prelude to more palatable, normalized levels of craziness. You know.

The charming kind. Happy ending, followed by a fade to a sunny shade of black.

A lot of filmgoers get nervous about spending money and time on serious head cases, unless they’re Bond villains. David O. Russell’s pungent romantic comedy Silver Linings Playbook takes some risks en route to its own happy ending. And I say good for Russell for risking a protagonist who requires some patience and forgiveness.

This is Russell’s first picture

since his fine film The Fighter two years ago. It offers many of that film’s strengths: local color; working-class authenticity; a disarming mixture of moods and tonalities; and performances that are a tiny bit larger than life, but in a convivial, lived-in way.

Russell has adapted Matthew Quick’s clever first novel so as to make the story’s deeply embedded quirks his own, or rather, his characters’ own.

For a while there in the Philadelphia-set Silver Linings Playbook, the unruly protagonist played

by Bradley Cooper, by Russell’s admission, is an off-putting guy on which to hang a feel-good Oscar-season hopeful. We meet Pat Solatano (Pat Peoples in the novel) as he’s finishing up eight

Love in the time of restraining orders: Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper.

months in a state mental-health institution. Slowly we learn the circumstances: He is married to a fellow high school teacher, though Pat himself has lost his job, owing to a violent incident alluded to early on and revealed in full later.

For better and for worse Pat goes back to living with his folks, a father (Robert De Niro, excitingly, fully engaged) obsessed with the fortunes of the Philadelphia Eagles, and a mother (Australian native Jacki Weaver, right at home in the land of cheesesteak) long used to coping with hot-headed, punchthrowing temperaments. Pat longs for a reunion with his estranged wife, Nikki (Brea Bee), but there are little roadblocks, including a restraining order.

Then, into this bipolar man’s uncertain life, comes Tiffany, a deceased policeman’s widow played by Jennifer Lawrence.

Clearly in novelistic and movie terms these two were made for each other. But her reputation in this tribal Philly neighborhood precedes her: She’s a “slut,” burying her grief in a string of bantamweight affairs. She and Pat become running partners (she’s more

like his runner-stalker), and although the feelings that pass between these two hard-shell characters are genuine, they relate in terms of pure expedience. She needs a dance partner for an upcoming ballroom competition; in exchange for his services, Tiffany will act as a go-between for Pat and Nikki, aiding his quixotic quest to get back to his elusive old life.

Like the family scenes in The Fighter, with all that immense hair and tangled loyalties, the family scenes in Silver Linings Playbook are just exaggerated (or distilled) enough to work as character-based comedy, yet staying this side of caricature.

De Niro’s patriarch doesn’t know what to make of his angry, delusional son, nor what to make of his own past behavior.

They’re brawlers, and if the brawls in question are Eaglesrelated, what better cause?

For the movie to work, which it does, Russell needed to make Pat and Tiffany more than cogs in a rom-com wheel. Happily Russell’s skills as a writer and a director are roughly equal; each time, for example, Tiffany zings into the frame on another one of Pat’s purposeful morning jogs,

the timing is spot on. Lawrence is a remarkable actress, tough and forthright and, well, unactressy. The “local color,” the people onscreen who clearly aren’t professional actors, blend in with the ensemble seamlessly.

Russell’s primary concession to a popular audience, I suppose, comes in the relocation (from the book’s two-thirds point to the film’s climax) of the ballroom-dance sequence.

It’s shameless in its way, but its way is both time-honored and, here, cornily effective. Russell, it must be said, goes easy on Pat’s behavior, past and present. But Cooper’s performance is his best yet. As is Lawrence’s (the more crucial role, in fact).

Chris Tucker as Pat’s fellow institution resident, newly sprung, works in a different key (thank God) than he did in the Rush Hour films. And it really is a pleasure to be reminded of De Niro’s range and instincts when he’s stepping up. That range may not be expansive but it is wholly, truly expressive, much like this eccentric ode to family itself.

Silver Lining Playbook (R) ★★★★✩

A&E

movies

toying with tolstoy This oddly frantic and theatrical twist on the Russian classic is a half-success

By Michael Phillips

Tribune Media Services Like most aLLeged love-it-orhate-it propositions, the new film version of Anna Karenina is neither. Rather, it’s a halfsuccess—a baldly conceptual response to the Leo Tolstoy novel, with a heavy theatrical framework placed around the narrative of girl meets boy, followed by girl meets train.

Much of this Anna Karenina takes place inside a 19th-century Russian playhouse, on the stage itself, in the wings, up in the fly loft above the stage, in the auditorium itself.

The notion is to examine Tolstoy’s theatrically extravagant characters so that they all appear to be starring in separate and gradually intersecting operas.

Director Joe Wright’s treatment of Anna, her officious pill of a husband and her desperate love affair with a caddish cavalry officer locates the Moscow and St. Petersburg high society scenes in and around the old playhouse, with fanciful sets aiding the storyline. (For the steeplechase scene, in which the attraction

between Anna and Vronsky is detected by Anna’s husband, charming 2-D horses trot across the stage, in effect braying: “It’s only a play!”)

Then, when Anna Karenina retreats to a country estate or some other rural setting, Wright pulls in another style entirely, that of realistic scenery and atmosphere.

Wright directed Pride & Prejudice and Atonement, and works here from an adaptation

by Tom Stoppard, a world-class wit and a frequent collaborator with various deceased Russian authors. The actors are encouraged by Wright, and by Stoppard’s text, to alternate currents quickly between high comedy and piercing drama.

Keira Knightley’s Anna, who makes a very good case for the female fashions of the day, suggests a society woman both pampered and suffocated.

Jude Law, as her steely but heartbroken cuckold of a husband, provides the film with its strongest emotional connection to the audience. Other players (such as Matthew

Keira Knightley is the lovely and doomed Anna Karenina.

Macfadyen, as the philandering Prince Oblonsky) are there for dashes of brio and comic zest. “Paperwork is the soul of Russia!” Oblonsky announces.

Maybe so, but theatrics are the heart of this Anna Karenina. Now and then, in clever and visually enveloping ways, Wright’s two realities blend together seamlessly, and the movie becomes more than

a concept. My resistance to much of Anna Karenina has to do with Wright’s antsy quality as a director, which wasn’t the case with either Pride & Prejudice or Atonement. At its most frantic the cutting and staging here veers perilously too close to Baz Luhrmann Moulin Rouge! territory for comfort.

Or for Tolstoy. I’d rather have seen Wright’s carefully elabo-

November 22-28, 2012

short reviews

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The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (PG-13) ★✩✩✩✩

Please let this be the last. The final installment of the Twilight franchise, hopefully, is strictly for the fans. Newly vampired Bella (Kristen Stewart) is adjusting to her new powers, new life, new child and the uneasy truce with the werewolves led by Jacob (Taylor Lautner). There’s some Edward (Robert Pattinson) of course, and a bright-spot turn by Michael Sheen as Aro, head of the undead Volturi, but largely this comes off as a particularly smug fashion shoot.

Lincoln (PG-13) ★★★★✩

Steven Spielberg returns with this impressive biopic about our 16th president, complete in almost every way. Based on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book, the film focuses tightly on the final four months of Lincoln’s life and his political maneuvering in support of the 13th Amendment’s abolition of slavery.

It’s a fascinating backroom movie, hushed and intimate. Daniel Day-Lewis is magnificently human as Lincoln, and the supporting cast almost as impressive. It is a fascinating and careful examination of an incredible figure and time.

Skyfall (PG-13) ★★★★✩

Bond is back for his 23rd installment, and this is more like it. Daniel Craig returns as 007, charged with rescuing the world from a computer savvy adversary, perhaps the most memorable Bond villain in a decade, played

by Javier Bardem. Sam Mendes directs stunning action sequences, and the return of Dame Judi Dench and various other recastings works well this time around. While Quantum of Solace largely failed, this installment returns Bond to its rightful, highly entertaining place, while also exploring some new territory.

rated production on a stage, instead of in a movie partly on a stage. See it for yourself. You may fall under the intended spell. Or you may voice an opinion very much like Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Vronsky, who tells Anna early on: “I’m getting out of this operetta and going home.”

Anna Karenina (R) ★★★✩✩

[ by tribune media services ]

Flight (R) ★★★★✩

Filmmaker Robert Zemeckis is back with this exciting and terrific film. Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) is a pilot who, after a night of drinking and snorting cocaine, crash lands a routine flight to Atlanta, rescuing most of his passengers and crew. An instant hero, Whitaker knows that other people know what was in his system, and the dynamic dance plays out from there. It’s sophisticated storytelling, with the audience unsure of how to feel about such a conflicted protagonist, but Washington is marvelous, as usual, and it’s a highly entertaining flight.

movies

Wreck-It Ralph (PG) ★★★✩✩

Cloud Atlas (R) ★★✩✩✩

Chasing Mavericks (PG) ★★★✩✩

Fun Size (PG-13) ✩✩✩✩✩

This film is about surfing the legendary and mysterious secret break the Mavericks, off the coast of Northern California, and teenage Jay Moriarty who became famous there. Jay (Jonny Weston) gets the surfing bug from his next-door neighbor, Frosty (Gerard Butler). Jay lionizes Frosty and stows away when Frosty sneaks off to Mavericks, of which only a quartet of veteran surfers are aware. Frosty mentors the kid, training him to survive and ride the break. It’s an entertaining story with awe-inspiring surf footage.

This Halloween film concerns a Cleveland high school senior (Victoria Justice) who misplaces her preteen brother (Jackson Nicoll) on trick-or-treat night. This film is a soul-crusher, completely devoid of any humor, point, quality or value. The narrative shape recalls other more successful one-crazy-night comedies such as Adventures in Babysitting, but it fails magnificently. I don’t know for whom the hell this bell tolls. Maybe it will toll for Nickelodeon-fed offspring, but I doubt it.

Alex Cross (PG-13) ★★✩✩✩

Seven Psychopaths (R) ★★★✩✩

Tyler Perry makes a go at being a conventional action hero in this reprisal of Morgan Freeman’s role in previous film adaptations of James Patterson’s novels. A murderer, known as Picasso (Matthew Fox), is killing people and leaving Cubist-style drawings at the scenes of his crimes. He appears to have his sights set on a multinational industrialist (Jean Reno). But not if Alex Cross (Perry) has anything to say about it. Revenge is game here, and while Perry does OK, the film just isn’t very interesting.

Filmmaker Martin McDonagh (In Bruges) brings us this black comedy romp. Colin Farrell plays Marty, a blocked screenwriter, who’s blown past his deadline for his screenplay of Seven Psychopaths. His friend Billy (Sam Rockwell) and his accomplice Hans (Christopher Walken) make a living kidnapping dogs and returning them for reward money. Fatefully, they take the wrong dog, a shih tzu belonging to a murderous gangster (Woody Harrelson). The humor is dark and razor-sharp.

November 22-28, 2012

This adaptation of David Mitchell’s spinning top of a novel exists to vex, intrigue and discombobulate audiences. Six storylines spanning several centuries, from an 1849 Pacific Ocean voyage to the year 2321, provide the narrative webbing.

Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving and others play many roles apiece. Some of the stories work, but others fall flat. It’s a fascinating look at some very large themes, but it’s a bewildering effort that doesn’t really work.

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The latest from Disney Animation is an exploration of a video-game fantasy, i.e., what happens to our favorite game characters when we’re not playing them? Ralph (voiced

by John C. Reilly) is weary of his prescribed lot in life: He’s not a bad guy, so why does he have to play one in the game Fix-It Felix Jr.? Ralph goes on the run, teaming up with Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) to traverse the video-game world and grapple with the modern-era game soldiers led by Sgt. Calhoun (Jane Lynch). It’s fun, but hectic.

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Betting

November 22-28, 2012

hoping for a little luck from the iriSh for a Second time thiS SeaSon

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SometimeS the BeSt bets in life are the ones you don’t make.

This is one such story: Back in mid-July when college football’s season win totals were released, I instantly locked in on Notre Dame and its posted number of 8½. My eyes bugged out; drool streamed down my chin—you’d have thought I was looking at a website devoted to Kate Upton’s greatest wardrobe malfunctions.

8½? WHAT? Did we travel back to 1989 and someone not tell me?

How are the Fighting Irish—who have about as many NFL-ready skill-position players as UNLV and who scored 16, 14 and 14 points in their final three games last season (losing the last two)—going to reach nine victories in 2012?

How could the oddsmakers be oblivious to Notre Dame’s mid-September to late-October gauntlet that featured Michigan State, Michigan, Miami, Stanford, BYU and Oklahoma in successive weeks?

Oh yeah, I was all-in on Notre Dame “under” 8½ wins.

Then mid-July turned into late August, and on the eve of the Irish’s season opener against Navy in Dublin, I finally went to the book to place the wager. One problem: A few hundred bettors

with a similar opinion of Notre Dame beat me to the window, and the juice on the “under” had ballooned from minus-120 to minus-180—meaning for every $100 you wanted to win, you had to lay $180. I couldn’t bring myself to pull the trigger.

By now you know the rest of the story: Thanks to some incredible luck that’s been both direct (20-13 controversial overtime win against Stanford, plus a trio of three-point victories over Purdue, BYU and Pittsburgh, the latter in triple overtime) and indirect (unbeaten Kansas State and Oregon suffering shocking losses within an hour of each other on Nov. 17), Notre Dame enters Thanksgiving week at 11-0 and needing only a season-ending victory at USC to secure a spot in the BCS Championship Game.

Which brings us to another bit of good fortune for the Irish: USC, which was ranked No. 1 in the preseason media poll, is 7-4, including 1-3 in its last four games after last week’s loss to rival UCLA. Not only that, but Matt Barkley—the Trojans’ fouryear starting quarterback—suffered a shoulder injury late against UCLA and won’t play against Notre Dame.

That means USC’s offense is now in the hands of redshirt freshman Max Wittek.

The good news for Wittek?

He’s 8-for-9 for 95 yards passing this year in mop-up duty.

The bad news? He’s facing an Irish defense that leads the nation in scoring defense (10.1 points per game), ranks sixth in total defense (288.3 yards per game) and has allowed just six TD passes against 14 interceptions. Put it this way: USC has faced exactly two above-average defenses this year—Washington and Stanford—and was held to 24 and 14 points, respectively … and that was with Barkley!

So, yes, less than three months after I nearly bet the house that Notre Dame wouldn’t finish better than 8-4, I’m backing the Irish to complete a 12-0 regular season—and do so with a convincing road win against this year’s preseason No. 1. Give me $330 on Notre Dame minus-6 at USC (which, by the way, is 3-8 against the spread this year, with three of its outright losses by a touchdown or more).

On to the rest of this week’s selections (Note: all point spreads are as of Nov. 19) …

bankroll: $1,451 Last week: 4-3 (+$48) NFL seasoN: 31-26-1 (-$3,095) CoLLege FootbaLL seasoN: 41-29 (+$780) In February 2010, we gave Matt “$7,000” to wager. When he loses it all, we’re going to replace him with a monkey.

$220 on Fresno State -16½ vs. Air Force: In this space a week ago, I mentioned that the 10 most profitable college football teams were a combined 85-15-1 ATS. Now, those same squads are 90-19-1 ATS, having covered in five of nine contests last week. The only team that was idle was Fresno State, which comes into this season finale at 10-1 ATS (tied with Northwestern for the best

spread record in the nation).

Here’s why the Bulldogs will improve to 11-1 ATS: They’ve defeated their last four opponents (Wyoming, New Mexico, Hawaii and Nevada) by the aggregate score of 188-92. Air Force also defeated those same four Mountain West foes … by the combined score of 125-88. And while Fresno is 5-0 straight-up and ATS at home (winning by an average of 31.4 ppg), the Falcons are 1-4 SU and ATS on the road. Overall, Air Force has cashed in just three of 11 games (1-6 ATS in its last seven). $110 on Rutgers +2 at Pittsburgh: Rutgers is 9-1 overall, 5-0 on the road (including three outright upsets) and 5-0 in Big East play. Pitt is 4-6 overall, 3-2 at home and 1-4 in conference. Rutgers has given up 38 total points in its last five victories. Pitt has given up 53 total points in its last two games (both losses). And while the Panthers did have Notre Dame pinned to the mat three weeks ago, since upsetting Virginia Tech 35-17 on Sept. 15, they have just three victories against the following opponents: GardnerWebb, Buffalo and Temple. And yet, the Panthers are favored?

OK, I’ll bite … $110 on Bengals -7½ vs.

Raiders: Since back-to-back wins over the Chiefs and Jaguars—and, boy, is that impressive—Oakland has dropped three in a row to the Buccaneers, Ravens and Saints, allowing 135 points in the process! Now they make their fourth trip to the Eastern Time Zone, this time to face a hot Bengals squad coming off consecutive blowout victories over the Giants (31-13 at home) and Chiefs (28-6 on the road).

What’s more, Cincinnati’s five victories were all by at least a touchdown, the last three by margins of 17, 18 and 22 points.

Meanwhile, take out a 23-20 loss at Atlanta, and the Raiders’ other six losses were by eight, 22, 31, 10, 35 and 21 points.

Best of the Rest: LSU -12 at Arkansas ($77); Penn State -3 vs.

Wisconsin ($55); Oregon State +10 vs. Oregon ($55); Oklahoma State +7½ at Oklahoma ($44); Packers +2½ at Giants ($66); Rams +2½ at Cardinals ($55); Broncos -10 at Chiefs ($44).

For Matt’s “Best Bet” Monday-Friday, visit VegasSeven. com/GoingforBroke.

ON SALVE23 FRI NO

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Charles Ressler

The First Friday advocate on the importance of giving, acting on Broadway and how the arts community can pave the way to economic diversißcation

By Matt Jacob

November 22-28, 2012

➧ In March 2011, Charles Ressler packed up the car he had just learned how to drive a month earlier,

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took one last look at his lifelong home of New York City in his rearview mirror and began the crosscountry move to Las Vegas—a place he had never seen nor ever desired to see. “It was the bottom of my list of places to visit,” he says. “Right above that was probably Dubai.” Some 18 months later, Ressler not only still calls Las Vegas home, but he’s thrown himself completely into the downtown revitalization movement, believing the burgeoning arts community at the city’s core is the main piston that will power economic redevelopment. Which is why Ressler recently joined the First Friday Foundation, the charitable arm of the monthly downtown festival that aims to support and advance local artists.

Ressler’s involvement with the foundation is the latest addition to a fascinating résumé that includes Broadway child actor; business science liaise for a two international scientific corporations; public-relations/special-events/marketing manager for Manhattan’s renowned Bergdorf Goodman department store; owner of a music-production/management firm; and Tony Hsieh associate (he works for several of Hsieh’s brands, including helping to launch the Delivering Happiness clothing line)—all by the age of 27. These days, though, Ressler is channeling much of his energy and passion to raising awareness and funds for the First Friday Foundation, which has attracted an unnamed donor who through year’s end will match dollar for dollar all contributions to FFFLV.org.

What’s your sales pitch to someone who has never experienced First Friday?

You have to go! I have a unique perspective, because I am a New Yorker, and I saw my neighborhood—which is the East Village—start with little arts festivals on Astor Place and grow into one of the most expensive real estate markets in the world, whereas in the ’80s, it was squatters and heroin addicts in parks. So we’re a lot further along [in downtown Las Vegas] than New York was, and I saw that change happen rather rapidly.

Also, we talk a lot about the [economic] pendulum swing of Las Vegas—when real estate is good, Las Vegas is in the top 10 nationally, but when it’s bad, Vegas is one of the very few cities that will swing all the way in the other direction and be at the bottom. Things [like First Friday] stop that from happening. It creates other business.

Where does your philanthropic nature come from?

In a few words, I believe wholeheartedly—and it’s been proven to me time and time again—that you only get to keep what you give away. I just understand that giving is the best way of receiving.

I saw growing up in the ’80s in New York that it was the artists who paved the way for everyone else to figure out that certain neighborhoods were viable. Here, I really see that opportunity where the arts are going to pave the way for major business and technology to come in. My mother always told me that when the gays move into a neighborhood, buy real estate. It’s sort of this idea that art drives creative thinking, which drives cool things just popping up. … Artists are always the first to take over an area.

You’ve seen it in Berlin, you’ve seen it in London, you’ve seen it

in downtown L.A., you’ve seen it in Minneapolis. If you look at these places, the indicators [for successful economic redevelopment] are, is the philharmonic a top 10 to watch? How many art galleries are opening?

Is this why The Smith Center was so important?

Between The Smith, the [Las Vegas] Philharmonic, the ballet [Nevada Ballet Theatre] and what’s happening with First Friday—all of it kind of comes together. This comes from my science background, but it’s really impossible to break things into parts and then try to understand them. You can’t separate The Smith from the philharmonic from First Friday from the ballet—it’s all kind of congealing and working together. That’s really what it’s about: a common goal.

How would you compare The Smith Center to a performing-arts venue you’d see in New York?

It’s incomparable—it’s apples to oranges. [The Smith Center] is absolutely stunning—it looks like it could be a part of the Lincoln Center buildings. But it’s hard to compare because it’s a very new thing here. …

But the idea that I can drive three minutes and go see Yo Yo Ma in Las Vegas—and not in a casino—is pretty unbelievable.

You were a Broadway actor from age 7 to 19. Was there a point where you thought acting would be your career?

Oh, for sure. I thought I’d have a Tony Award before I turned 22—and that’s when I was 8! … But I had a sort of an out-of-body experience while performing once, and I got fired from a show, and it subsequently led to me not getting into Juilliard, which had also been a dream of mine. Michael Kahn, who was the head of Juilliard’s School of Drama, was the director of that play. So [that] really turned me off [to acting]. Also, I really don’t like other actors!

There’s a real drama to everything. … Actors tend to make everything much bigger than it is, and I got real tired of that.

Do you have a hobby or interest that might surprise people?

I’m actually learning to be an aerialist, something unique to Las Vegas. Four or five days a week I do silks and hammock, and I’m about to start straps.

Photo by Lucky Wenzel

7 questions

You clearly had some preconceived notions of Las Vegas. How quickly were they dispelled?

Ten days. Within 10 days I realized I really belonged here. I just had this [initial] feeling of Las Vegas that probably the majority of people who I know outwardly look at it—as sort of a vacuous city for gaming and debauchery.

But the people here are very kind and very welcoming to new [residents]. It really is a city where dreams come true.

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