Legacy of War

The STrip’S STrange and wonderful new bar and grill (Page 69)

December 6-12, 2012

As a decade of battle comes to an end, is our military town ready to care for its veterans?

A special report by Heidi Kyser

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69

16 | The LaTesT

Water agreement springs hope, a Bridger to tomorrow, Three Questions about school facilities and Comrade Grumpy on diabolical HOAs. Plus, Media, Tweets of the Week and Anthony Curtis’ The Deal.

18 | About Town

Librarian Tim McDonald is profiled in Character Study, and Ask a Native outlines the perfect 24-hour layover for a single 30-year-old woman.

22 | Green Felt Journal

“The Year of Hope and Holding Steady,” by David G. Schwartz.

A look back at a year of slow recovery and (mostly) measured dreams in Las Vegas hospitality and gaming.

24 | National

The New York Observer on the creepy-but-enduring appeal of NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

26 | Style

The Look with Carlos and Hugo Larios, tips to keep your skin healthy during winter and a holiday gift guide.

30 | cover

“The Darkness That Comes Home,” by Heidi Kyser.

Near the end of an epoch of war, post-traumatic stress disorder haunts the Valley. Are we equipped to win the peace?

37 | NIGhTLIFe

Seven Nights, Gossip, Q&As with Kayper and Cazzette, and photos from the week’s hottest parties.

69 | DINING

Max Jacobson on Rattlecan. Plus, Nicole Grimes shares her recipe for lobster fra diavolo, Dishing and Cocktail Culture.

77 | a&e

“Prostitution Provocateur,” by Danny Axelrod.

With Lust to Dust, an artist finds a fresh way to explore a controversial topic.

80 | Music

Jarret Keene’s Soundscraper, CD reviews and our concert pages.

84 | Art

“Devil’s Work,” by Jarret Keene.

Black Camaro guitarist moonlights as Satanic artist.

88 | Movies

Killing Them Softly and our weekly movie capsules.

The STrip’S STrange and wonderful new bar and grill (Page 69)

Departments 11 | Dialogue

December 6-12, 2012

12 | Vegas Moment 14 | Event

A special report by Heidi Kyser

Photo by Anthony Mair

on the cover

For Valley veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, the battle rages on.

Rattlecan at the Venetian.

102 | Seven Questions

9 VEGAS SEVEN

96 | Going for Broke As a decade of battle comes to an end, is our military town ready to care for its veterans?

December 6-12, 2012

17 | Seven Days

las Vegas’ 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

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

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Wendoh Media CoMPanies

Ryan T. Doherty | Justin Weniger ViCe PresiDent, Publishing Michael Skenandore CreatiVe DireCtor Sherwin Yumul

FinanCe

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

letters and story ideas December 6-12, 2012

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VEGAS SEVEN

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Vegas Seven, 888-792-5877, 3070 West Post Road, Las Vegas, NV 89118

On Vegas Seven’s Nov. 22 Dialogue page, columnist Geoff Carter asks, “How Beautiful Is Life Downtown?” I answer: It’s wonderful! It’s the epitome of “Beautiful,” creating arts/culture/music/entertainment experiences that uplift the spirit and bring joy to the soul.

As Carter says, he was envisioning a great music and arts festival downtown, as in San Francisco and Seattle. And lo and behold, in serendipity, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, Rehan Choudhry of Aurelian Marketing Group, First Friday director Joey Vanas, MAKTUB Marketing, the Downtown Project and Another Planet Entertainment have planned the Life Is Beautiful musical festival for next fall.

I predict it will be the biggest event of the year in Las Vegas and get worldwide attention. Let’s out-Woodstock Woodstock and shoot for attendance of 700,000 people. It can be done. Let’s do it!

– Clyde Dinkins

Good Grades

Just a note to say thank you and keep up the good work to the staff of Vegas Seven. This Las Vegas college English instructor appreciates your publication in so many ways: The information provided keeps me updated, and the good writing and grammar keep me assured we still care about communication!

In particular, “A Culture Reshaped” by Heidi Kyser (Nov. 22) gets my kudos. (And here I speak both as a writing/reading nut and as someone interested and involved in “women’s issues”—better said, “fairness issues.”) Great, balanced reporting. Thank you sincerely.

– Sheila Witte

This week @ VegasseVen.com Rebels by the Bay

The No. 21 Rebels hit the road for a Dec. 9 tilt at Cal. Follow Mike Grimala’s coverage and analysis as Dave Rice’s squad adjusts to life away from the Shark Tank. Plus, don’t miss our exclusive Rebel video series, The Mack. It’s all at RunRebs.com.

Comics Genius

Indie comics legend and Vegas resident Gilbert Hernandez celebrated the 30th anniversary of seminal work Love and Rockets at Alternate Realities on Dec. 2. Check out what he had to say about his highly influential publication, or get the inside track on chef Sammy D’s Rattlecan at VegasSeven.com/videos.

Where Less (Clothing) is More

The Burlesque Hall of Fame is the place for pasties, but Cha Cha Velour is instructing newcomers in the gentle art of taking (most of) it all off at the Las Vegas Burlesque Classes Studio in Commercial Center. Meet her at DTLV.com.

Pulse of the Strip

The curtains may keep rising and falling on the city’s myriad and sundry shows, but the one constant is Steve Bornfeld in the audience.

After getting your fill of the retro charms of The Phat Pack (Page 87), find out which gigs are worth your entertainment dime at VegasSeven.com/Showstopper.

Follow Us!

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December 6-12, 2012

High Hopes

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VEGAS SEVEN

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dialogUe

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December 6-12, 2012

vegas moment

Dragon racer  Elizabeth Wolynski

never doubt the fire in a half-marathoner’s belly, especially when the half-marathoner happens to be a glowing golden dragon.

An estimated 30,000 runners— most of them without scales or forked tongues—hit the nighttime streets for the Zappos.com Rock ’n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon and Half-Marathon on Dec. 2.

Kenya’s Jonathan Ndambuki won the men’s marathon in 2 hours, 32 minutes. Nuta Olaru of Longmont, Colo., won the women’s marathon in 2:51. The dragon apparently finished the half-marathon in 3:13, more than two hours off the pace.

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

EvEnt

Great Santa run Add “Santa Capital of the World” to our list of monikers, as Las Vegas and Opportunity Village have won the World Santa Challenge for the second consecutive year. Nearly 10,000 participants donned Santa suits Dec. 1 and took part in the Great Santa Run at Town Square.

The total amount of money raised for Opportunity Village was still being counted; last year’s haul exceeded $400,000. This year’s fun run included such notable participants as Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, Jeff Leibow from Jersey Boys, Lorena Peril from Fantasy, Robin Leach and Terry Fator.

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[ upcoming ]

Dec. 13-15 Winterfest at the Henderson Events Plaza (HendersonLive.com) Dec. 22 Holidaze in Hicksville with Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks at the Historic Fifth Street School (DanHicks.net)

Photography by Josh Metz

December 6-12, 2012

For more photos from social gatherings, visit VegasSeven.com/events

VOCALESE featuring The Manhattan Transfer, New York Voices and special guest Jon Hendricks – 1/17

Dave Koz and Friends Christmas Tour 2012 – 12/18

Drumline Live – 1/18 & 1/19

The Joffrey Ballet co-presented by Nevada Ballet Theatre and The Smith Center – 1/22 & 1/23

Natalie Merchant - In Concert with Orchestra – 1/29

A TRIBuTE TO ELLA, JOE AND BASIE featuring Janis Siegel, Kevin Mahogany and the Count Basie Orchestra with special guests Nikki Yanofsky and Nicole Henry – 2/3

Circus Oz – 2/21 - 2/23

Itzhak Perlman – 2/13

KODO – 2/1

BBC Concert Orchestra – 2/11

B u Y F I V E S H OwS FO R TH E P R I C E O F FO u R The more you see, the more you save. Now when you purchase five or more shows together, you’ll save 10% on each ticket price and you won’t have to pay any single ticket fees. It’s like getting a show for free.

TheSmithCenter.com | 702.749.2000 | TTY: 800.326.6868 or dial 711 | 361 Symphony Park Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89106 Certain restrictions apply.

Ray Kurzweil – 1/27

Paddy Moloney and The Chiefains – 2/18

“It was a year in which breakthroughs remained frustratingly out of reach.”

Green Felt Journal {paGe 22}

News, politics, media, essays and promising indicators

River of Hope

By Heidi Kyser

las VeGans who bristle at the occasional outsider’s suggestion that the city is doomed to die of thirst now have at their disposal a smart new rebuttal in the form of an international water agreement. Next time a Northeasterner makes you feel like a squatter in a condemned building, whip this out: Minute 319, the Interim International Cooperative Measures in the Colorado River Basin.

Those interested in really knowing what they’re talking about, however, should read on, for the deal is not what it seems in some headlines.

In the big picture, it establishes a new kind of cooperation between the United States and Mexico. The U.S. will help its southern neighbor save water, store it in Lake Mead during times of surplus and distribute it differently during times of drought.

Most water hawks agree it’s a good deal for many reasons.

It’s the first time since the Colorado River Compact was signed in 1922 that the parties

have made a cross-border deal for collaborative conservation and reallocation.

Although the agreement only covers five years, it sets the stage for extension, as well as similar new partnerships in the future.

Even conservationists are happy, because of provisions to generate water for the environment of the Colorado River delta in the upper Gulf of California. No substantial amount of water has reached this area, the river’s natural destination, since Glen Canyon Dam was completed in 1960, causing the ecosystem there to wither. But ecologists working in the area believe that even relatively small, sporadic inflows can revive indigenous species.

So, beyond marking Mexico’s meaningful entrée into the conversation, the new agreement marks the beginning of the discussion about the natural environment’s need for water, in addition to humans’ need for it.

This matters, in a big, existential way. It’s apparently safe to say, now that the U.S. presidential election is over, that global warming is here, and it’s coming to a desert near you. Drawing on his 2011 book, A Great Aridness (Oxford University), conservationist William deBuys recently showed a packed UNLV auditorium copious data indicating that rising heat

in our desert will sap what little moisture we have left in less than a human lifetime.

But one of the hopes deBuys offered for reversing the runaway train of deadly aridity was the preservation and restoration of ecosystems, which help retain moisture and reduce greenhouse gases.

He also mentioned the need to slow or halt development in dry areas—noting (drily, of

course) that a water manager he interviewed had likened this proposition to standing in front of another runaway train.

For now, it’s enough to know that our political and environmental leaders may be able to look beyond the rhetoric of allocation and conservation and talk about what’s really at stake: the possibility of a Las Vegas class of 2075.

VEGAS SEVEN

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Do you live in a neighborhood kept nice and tidy by a homeowners association? This is a good thing when it means little pocket parks for late-night dog-bladder duty. And a great thing when it means that the neighbor can’t permanently park his bug-spray van—the one with the ladder on top and the recluse-spider side mural—in front of your house. But it is a less good thing when it means that your children cannot play sports in their own backyard. One of the unfortunate things about the most American of American sports—that’s basketball, not baseball, pal—is that it requires a 10-foot-tall piece of equipment. And many of our family-friendly Southern Nevada communities believe that such equipment brings irrepa-

rable damage to the family next door—you know, the absentee retirees maintaining a vacant investment property. A common set of rules looks something like this: The hoop must be approved by both the association and the sub-association, which means the folks on all sides of your home must sign off, and that the hoop must be visible from nowhere in the universe, save from the sky directly above it. If it is visible, a “vegetation screen” not less than 10 feet tall must be planted to block out the offending equipment from innocent eyes. So if you plan on getting your little Rebel a hoop for Christmas, be aware that it may necessitate the planting of about $5,000 worth of mature trees in the dead of winter. Translation: Buy the kid a Wii.

Photo illustration by Thomas Speak

December 6-12, 2012

family-unfriendly Hoa’s

If you had a taxpayer who voted “No” in front of you now, what would you say to him or her?

The district has a real need to ensure all students have the opportunity to learn in the best facility possible. We asked for only about onefifth of identified needs, and set hard limits on time and caps on spending and rates. It was just not a good time to ask. It was our responsibility to take the question to voters, and I respect their decision.

– Heidi Kyser

[ Downtown ]

RebuilDing bRiDgeR

Bridger photo by Heidi Kyser; NFR photo courtesy of Las Vegas News Bureau

Longtime Las Vegans may remember paying (or disputing) parking tickets at the now-abandoned Bridger Building, one of a handful of high-rises downtown with marble tile and turquoiseblue façades. It may not seem like much of a monument—someone on SkyScraper.org even called it a “shameful monstrosity”—but to a band of influential locals on a recent Friday evening, it became a symbol of the city’s potential for sustainable preservation.

The nonprofit Preserve Nevada recently gathered a few dozen architects, engineers, investors, planners and students to brainstorm ways to save

the building. The group drew inspiration from former U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan, as well as attorney John Mowbray, whose family originally owned the building.

The Bridger, Mowbray said, was an important center for the city’s power brokers during its heyday in the 1960s and ’70s. But more important than the building’s past is that it was built for the future—that is, to withstand an earthquake, with steel-reinforced concrete throughout. The Bridger is not an easy teardown. “It’s built like a battleship,” Mowbray says.

This may be the most persuasive argument for keeping the building. It could take 30 years or more to recoup the embodied energy in such a structure, says Patrice Frey, director of sustainability for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Her case for the Bridger reflects the growing belief that new construction—even LEED-certified—is not always the most sustainable.

So when you hear discussion of whether the ugly old Bridger should be preserved as a historic building, don’t scoff: Sometimes preserving the past is really about sustaining the future.

– Heidi Kyser

By Bob Whitby

Thursday, dec. 6: Yee-haw! It’s that there time of the year again when the rodeo takes over town. The Nationals Finals Rodeo is all over the place this week, and you’ll need a program to figure it out. Go to NFRExperience.com, and you’ll find one.

We recommend Rodeo Way at the Cowboy Fanfest, an interactive experience heavy on history and light on getting your ass kicked by a bucking bronco.

Friday, dec. 7: If cowboys don’t do it

for you, maybe being serenaded by a chorus of ye olde madrigals will. The College of Southern Nevada’s Madrigal Dinner offers just such an experience at 7 p.m. today and tomorrow at the Cheyenne Campus. Your $30 entrance fee buys you a three-course meal in a castle, along with the aforementioned singing. CSN.edu.

saTurday, dec. 8: This year the Las Vegas Philharmonic’s Very Vegas Holiday concert is like a who’s who of city notables: two mayors (one past and one present), a Jersey Boy, a Broadway singer, four jazz musicians and a local high school drumline will make today’s show—at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. at The Smith Center—one for the books. LVPhil.org. sunday, dec. 9: What would Christ-

mas be without a ride on the Nevada State Railway Museum’s Santa Train? A holiday with less cheer in your cup, that’s what. Don’t underfill your cheer cup. Catch the train, and Santa, weekends through Dec. 23 in Boulder City.

NevadaSouthern.com.

Monday, dec. 10: Once again the beginning of the week is about art. And once again we’re sending you to Las Vegas City Hall. Las Vegas photographer Anita Getzler’s exhibit Arlee Celebration: A Montana Powwow is on display in the chamber gallery, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. through Dec. 13.

See a Native America celebration through the eyes of a gifted local photographer.

Tuesday, dec. 11: From the “who

knew?” desk comes this tidbit: We have a Vintage Race Car Museum in Henderson, and it’s got cars from the turn of the century to the present, along with historical racing stuff motor heads will deem highly viewable. Better still, it’s free.

250 SunPac Ave., Henderson, FabulousRacers.com.

Wednesday, dec. 12: Skateboarding is rad and all, but it’s also

about the laws of motion, force, gravity, and other things you fell asleep instead of learning about in science class.

Tony Hawk understands, which is why he’s put his name on the Tony Hawk Rad Science exhibit, through Jan. 20 at the Sahara West Library. LVNHM.org.

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

December 6-12, 2012

Do you have a contingency plan for making the necessary facilities upgrades?

At some point we will be faced with a choice of taking money from the general fund to pay for facility needs. That means money from education programs will go to keeping buildings functional.

We will do everything we can to avoid and minimize the impact. Overcrowded schools in the southwest will hurt a lot.

What’s the greatest need you face that’s not going to be able to wait for the next ballot measure?

Our greatest concerns are ensuring basic needs—heating, cooling and emergency systems. We will be taking a close look at remaining funds versus our highestrisk items and trying to craft the best strategy executable on remaining funds.

17 VEGAS SEVEN

It’s been a month now since schools lost the election. By a nearly two-to-one margin, Clark County voters answered “No” on Ballot Question No. 2, which would have raised property taxes in order to fund capital improvements in the school district. We recently asked Paul Gerner, the Clark County School District’s associate superintendent of facilities, what the district’s next move might be.

The LaTesT

About town

I’m a 30-year-old single city girl with a 24-hour morning-flight layover in Las Vegas. I have never visited, and I have some cash to spend. What should I do?

December 6-12, 2012

By Chantal Corcoran

VEGAS SEVEN

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“we hAve An outstanding library system here,” says Tim McDonald—he speaks in hushed tones; eight years working in a library will do that to a person—“it’s a place to really enrich your life in a lot of ways.”

He mentions the art galleries, museums and theaters that make up a part of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District—all things I knew about.

Then he tells me about things I wasn’t aware of: ESL and GED classes, citizenship classes to prepare immigrants for testing, and even adult basic reading classes—all for free.

After several years running the Children’s Department, McDonald was made the literacy services coordinator for the library’s CALL (Computer-Assisted Literacy in Libraries) program, where he oversees the above-mentioned courses—so now he’s working primarily with adults. “With kids you get that unconditional love. Adults are more of a challenge. You have to prove that you really are offering something that is going to benefit them.”

Proof is in the form of Julia Cordova, who began taking the library’s ESL classes in 2000. When her English was strong enough, she enrolled in the citizenship classes, too. Then, in 2005, she became a U.S. citizen, and the library hired her. Now, she works with McDonald as a full-time office assistant.

In this economy, McDonald says, there is a greater need for the library’s free services than ever before.

“People need to get into libraries to use the computers to look for jobs, or type up résumés, or send e-mails.” (The library also offers free job-search courses.)

Ever-advancing technology means the library’s function is changing. Sure, there are still stacks and stacks of books (“Books aren’t going away,” McDon-

ald says), but now the library also offers e-books as well. Students can even get online homework help from live tutors. “A lot of library use is happening online, 24/7, without people ever coming into the library,” he says.

When I ask the librarian how it is I didn’t know all of this, he explains that the marketing budget has suffered in the economic crisis. Still, he’s proud of the library district and that it continues to remain open seven days a week, even if hours are shorter; a lot of other libraries, in other cities, are not. “If you look at some other library districts throughout the nation, they’re in worse trouble than we are, for sure.” (He doesn’t have to look far; after Henderson voters rejected a modest revenue measure on the November ballot, the city’s library district closed two facilities.)

McDonald, 43, was born in Titusville, N.J., just north of where George Washington crossed the Delaware River—each Christmas the town reenacts the historical crossing—and graduated from Pennsylvania’s Swarthmore College in 1991. He began his career with a regional theater company where he did some acting, but more teaching. This led him to pursue his master’s in education from DePaul University in Chicago. He went on to teach fifth grade in the Windy City for seven years before his partner’s work brought them and their now-17-year-old beagle, Calvin, to Las Vegas. While he was working his way through the many hoops required to obtain a Nevada teacher’s license, McDonald found work at the library—and he’s never looked back.

“My job now—I’m surrounded by people who are learning to read,” he says. “My goal is to get them to a spot where they’re reading to learn.”

What’s the slowest time of the year in Vegas?

There are various ways of measuring our city’s “busy quotient,” but no matter how you slice the numbers, December is the slowest month, with the lowest hotel occupancy rates and lowest daily visitor counts. Still, it used to be that between Thanksgiving and Dec. 26 the city would almost shut down. I remember major casino restaurants closing for “renovations” during that period every year as recently as the 1990s. But thanks to the efforts of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (think National Finals Rodeo, and the courting of international travelers), December—while still “slow”— is busier than ever.

Questions? AskaNative@VegasSeven.com.

Photo by Andrew James

Librarian With a Future

Breakfast at the Four Seasons’ Verandah (on the gorgeous patio, weather permitting).

Morning shopping at the Forum Shops at Caesars (there are others, but this remains the place). Lunch with the power brokers at Spago. Post-Puck, check into a hotel, drop your bags and get straight to the spa for a couple of hours; both Aria and the Mandarin Oriental are center-Strip and renowned for their facilities. You’ll appreciate the relaxation later.

Despite its reputation, Vegas is a little less late-night oriented than you may expect, but the real action still happens after happy hour. Translation? Late afternoon is a perfect time for a disco nap. Time it so you can don that little black dress and hit the town around 8 p.m. Check out the urban/artsy Cosmopolitan for nightlife, including a manageably sized casino floor and a good selection of energetic restaurants where you can cool your stilettos at the bar and refuel with a solo meal surrounded by other fun people.

After eating, you can Cosmo-hop from craps table to cocktail lounge all night, or queue up for Marquee nightclub, whatever your taste. After this daylong taste of the Strip, by the time the clock hits 1 a.m., you’ll be ready to crash, and that morning flight won’t seem so bad. Get up early enough for breakfast at Eat. This new downtown diner is worth the cab fare, and should entice you to come back and check out our urban renaissance in progress. But that’s another itinerary altogether.

This season, the greatest gift is ours to give.

Join us for an exclusive holiday Festival only at The VenetianŽ. Enjoy skating on the Las Vegas Strip, festive food, musical performances by Mannheim Steamroller, sensational shopping and spectacular sights throughout Winter in Venice – where new traditions begin.

Visit Venetian.com for special suite packages.

Take a peek at our gifts to you.

the latest

Media [ Vegas Tech ]

Making It Happen

@TheFunnyJosh

By David Davis

Whether you’re a tinkerer or fancy yourself a serious inventor, the perfect opportunity to show off your creations is arriving early next year. The first Las Vegas Mini Maker Faire will be held at the Historic Fifth Street School on Feb. 2, celebrating the do-it-yourself dreamer.

The event, sponsored by Tony Hsieh’s Downtown Project, is a smaller version of the Maker Faires that take place around the world. The Maker Faire was created by Make magazine in 2006 to show off DIY art, engineering and science innovations. Maker Faires are now held around the world, and the largest ones—in San Mateo, Calif., and New York—draw up to 100,000 attendees. The Mini Maker Faire in Las Vegas won’t be nearly that big, but it should still be worth attending. One of the organizers, Zappos software engineer Pawel Szymczykowski, describes the Faire as “a little like a bite-size version of Burning Man where the creative spirit can flourish—but without all of the naked people and dust storms.”

The seeds of the Faire were planted in 2008, when a group of local hardware hackers, or makers, created a hackerspace called SYN Shop, which became a central place for them to meet, share ideas and help each other with projects.

Great, now I have to watch 2½ Men just to spite that fucking kid.

@Jamiehelmick

Just watched a woman wrap a $100 bill around her hot coffee cup to protect her hands.

Oh Vegas, never change.

@seriouslyemily

At the Hoover Dam pretending to be Ann Romney and calling it the “Hoover Darn.”

@PaulyPeligroso

“a little like a bite-size version of burning Man” SYN Shop now provides tools and hosts classes for anyone who has the interest but not yet the skill to make whatever they want.

Earlier this year, the shop’s organizers decided to work together on a larger project to introduce local makers and their inventions to the public, which led to the creation of the Mini Maker Faire. Most people think of the downtown tech community as a burgeoning place for Internet startups, but there are other kinds of technology being

crafted here using laser cutters, 3-D printers and blowtorches—just the kind of ingenuity for which the Maker Faire has become known.

There is no charge for independent inventors who simply want to show off their creations, but there is a $100 registration fee for those who want to sell their stuff. Booth applications must be submitted by Dec. 22. Tickets also go on sale this month for the all-ages, familyfriendly event. For more information, go to MakerFaireVegas.com.

[ siTe To see ]

i Pronounce thee December 6-12, 2012

(YouTube.com/user/ PronunciationManual)

VEGAS SEVEN

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I don’t have a good way of explaining what makes Pronunciation Manual, a YouTube-based parody of the sexless and robotic pronunciation guides that afflict our online dictionaries, funny or useful in the slightest—other than to say “ty-wy-woo-ley-guh-hoodey.”

According to the manual, that’s how you pronounce “twilight.” “Arianna Huffington” is “Nardo Fa-fa-fa-fa-fafa-fa.” “Schadenfreude” is “skooden frooty,” naturally. And the manual isn’t ashamed to tell you when it’s not sure about the correct way to say something, like “armoire.” (“You serious? Of course I know what it is. It’s a wood box for French people’s clothes—a mwah-mwah.”) Nor is it shy about expressing “conch” as a series of phlegmy sounds, bleating out “fax piss” for “faux pax,” or pronouncing “Gangnam Style” as “goozen doozen” only after a long, resigned sigh. – Geoff Carter Follow Carter on Twitter @Geoff_Carter.

I don’t mind getting popcorn tins for Christmas, but if you get any of the caramel in my cheese popcorn, I’ll murder everything you love.

@RichardMarx

I’m so drunk right now I’m strongly considering recording a new solo album.

@WilW

Dear Las Vegas, washroom attendants make us uncomfortable. It’s just weird.

Signed, Everyone.

@JoeVargas

Somewhere here on the Strip right now, someone is gambling and spending/losing all their Christmas money.

@WendyLiebman

I am at the airport in Las Vegas, and the song blaring is “Lonesome Loser.” Really?

@DennisDMZ FoUND MaTeRiaL

Words From a Wise Guy We’re told the days of the mob in Las Vegas are long gone, but they are resurrected every Tuesday night on CBS in Vegas. Michael Chiklis, who plays mobsterturned-casino boss Vincent Savino in the fictional TV drama, was profiled in the Dec. 2 Los Angeles Times. The Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning actor discusses whom his character is based on, how 1960s-era Fremont Street was re-created in Southern California and the legacy of gangsters coming to Las Vegas to become legitimized citizens.

Find the link at VegasSeven.com/found.

Congress is looking at doing away with the $1 bill. Probably just a backdoor way of getting rid of low-end strip clubs.

@cluedont

I see the @Pontifex username and can’t help but think that somewhere there’s a drum and bass DJ wondering why his login no longer works.

@UNLVRebelgirl

Just heard about girl marrying Edward Cullen cardboard cutout for thesis. I’ve decided to marry Mozilla. Lmao.

Share your Tweet. Add #V7.

Mickey Gilley Bill Engvall December 7 & 14

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

the latest the PeoPle who run Las Vegas casinos were expecting a lot in 2012: a return to prosperity on the Strip, a revival downtown and a federal framework for online poker. They didn’t get everything they wanted, but at the end of the year, they’re still in the game, which might be a victory in and of itself.

Many observers thought this would be the year when the Strip finally shook off the Great Recession gloom. But through September (the last month for which numbers are available), it seems that it’s been a year of treading water, with perhaps a 4 percent increase in revenues for the year if things break right in the fourth quarter.

There was some progress, to be sure: MGM Grand completed a massive expansion project, and Caesars Entertainment’s Linq broke ground next to the Flamingo. But

started dismantling the Fontainebleau yet, which is, in a sense, simply progress delayed.

Downtown Las Vegas made a little more headway in its revitalization.

The transformation of Fitzgeralds into The D is largely complete, and the Golden Gate’s renovation highlights the modern retro vibe Fremont Street is shooting for.

The Smith Center and the Mob Museum opened early in the year, two nongaming cultural attractions that aim to give downtown a stronger identity outside of its casino

December 6-12, 2012

Nobody waNts to be the oNe to take the first uNderage oNliNe bet from utah.

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as November turned to December, work on SLS Las Vegas—SBE’s justbelow-luxury resort planned for the former Sahara—was nowhere nearer starting than it had been in January.

Boyd Gaming announced that any development of the Echelon (former Stardust) site is years from commencing, and the property’s planned $4 million landscaping job confirms that it will be some time before the Strip returns to growth mode.

It almost goes without saying that the Strip’s other two recent busts, the Plaza (at the former New Frontier site) and the hulking, broken Fontainebleau, are still in development purgatory. Carl Icahn hasn’t

cluster. (This could benefit those casinos if visitors spill over onto Fremont Street.) But Binion’s hotel remains closed, and the renovation of the former Lady Luck seems to be moving along slowly—signs that true improvement hasn’t yet arrived. Yes, the announcement of SlotZilla is nice, but despite impressive crowds, downtown’s gaming numbers remain well off their peak. Downtown seems to be holding its breath, waiting for Zappos to arrive in full force and take up residence in the old City Hall. That will shake things up, to be sure, and it might be prudent to wait before making final judgments about what

role casino-hotels will play in the repurposed urban core.

Both locally and nationally, online poker was this year’s dog that didn’t bark. With no federal legislation, the game remains illegal on the national level, freeing states to legalize it within their own borders. So far, Nevada is the furthest along, but the rollout of the Internet card rooms has taken longer than expected. Back in January, insiders said rooms would be live by late spring. In September, South Point Poker COO Lawrence Vaughan was confident his pay site would be up by Halloween.

Testing continues, regulators are erring on the side of caution, and the industry doesn’t seem to mind. Everyone involved realizes that these are complex systems, and no one wants to be the one responsible for the decision to go live with a site that accepts the first underage bet from Utah. So both the operators and the regulators are proceeding with an abundance of caution here, which is why 2012 isn’t a year for the history books where online poker is concerned.

It now looks like (in the absence of federal action) Nevada-only online poker will be up in the spring. In that case, 2012 will be remembered as the year when the foundations were poured for the next stage of the state’s gaming history. Even that is a halfmeasure of sorts, since without bets flowing in from across Nevada’s borders, online poker will be more of a sandbox where operators prepare for a one-day influx of out-of-state bettors, rather than a robust contributor to the local economy.

And that seems to be 2012 in a nutshell: a year in which major breakthroughs remained frustratingly out of reach, and most operators looked to consolidate their positions and plan for the future rather than reach for the stars.

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

There’s been a lot of hype lately about the expensive buffets around town, and I have to admit that even I was seduced to some degree. But the classic buffet concept long synonymous with Las Vegas is the lower-priced all-you-can-eat spread— and the best of the bunch now are the “Feasts” at Station Casinos. These are regularly priced at $4.99 for breakfast, $7.99 for lunch, and $9.99 for dinner and Sunday brunch at Palace, Boulder, Texas, Sunset and Santa Fe Stations, while at Green Valley Ranch and Red Rock, dinner is $13.99.

But those prices apparently weren’t low enough, as Palace and Texas Station have dropped theirs even further, down to $7.99 for dinner and $6.99 for lunch. Station has also reduced prices in all Pasta Cucina restaurants and in several of its good steak houses, including Austin’s at Texas and the Charcoal Room at Santa Fe. • I’ve heard through the grapevine that the great drinking deal at Casino Royale may be on its way out. What makes it great? It’s a dollar for Michelob in the bottle or a frozen margarita, and both are available 24/7. That’s good at the dingiest of local bars, so it’s great when you can get it center-Strip.

• Thinking of drinking, lots of places are putting on the dog (and pony) for the rodeo. Of them all, I like Terrible’s deal, where you can get $1 PBR, $2 Crown Royal, $3 Patrón Silver and $4 Crown Royal Reserve around the clock through Dec. 15.

• Boyd Gaming has unveiled its new “Penny Lane” inventory of more than 1,000 one-cent slot machines at Gold Coast, Suncoast, Sam’s Town and Orleans. The machines are set up in designated areas of each casino and come from several different manufacturers, so all the latest games are available. Are penny slots a deal?

They can be if you don’t play 250 pennies at the same time! Plus, Boyd has been running some good promos alongside.

• The Mob Attraction at the Tropicana has lowered its admission charge for locals by $11, matching the $10 price of downtown’s Mob Museum.

• If you’re looking for a room in which to party on New Year’s Eve, 81 of them were still available when our researchers called around last week. Coming in at the best price in the whole Las Vegas area was the Hacienda (near the dam) for $80. In North Las Vegas it was Lucky Club for $90. On the Boulder Strip it was Eastside Cannery for $150. Downtown it was the Golden Gate for $150. And on the Strip it was Casino Royale for $280. I might opt instead for two nights at the Gold Coast for $288 or three nights at LVH for $300. Hurry, these go fast.

Anthony Curtis is the publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor and LasVegasAdvisor.com, a monthly newsletter and website dedicated to finding the best deals in town.

Photo illustration by Thomas Speak

The Year of Hope and Holding Steady

Buffets, Pennies and Party rooms

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The Sickos on the Sofa: SVU’s 13 years of bringing sex crime to prime time

In the TV business, a Law & Order drama that features raped and tortured kids draws killer ratings. This is its story.

By Drew Grant The New York Observer

December 6-12, 2012

Danny Pino and Mariska Hargitay explore the darkest corridors of crime on Law & Order: SVU.

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“i just saw Annie, and I didn’t look at Daddy Warbucks the way I would have 20 years ago,” Warren Leight told The New York Observer over the phone.

“The show has really warped the way we look at the world, at least those of us writing it.”

Leight, the showrunner for Dick Wolf’s last-standing Law & Order program, Special Victims Unit, was struggling to understand how people watch “marathon” sessions of the show he manages. “The chil-

dren episodes are disturbing, even to us,” Leight said.

He singled out one such episode, entitled “Friending Emily,” in which detectives go to an FBI office to view images of abused children. Leight sounded shocked, tired and a little bit horrified over a detail that he and his writers chose to put in the episode. He sounded a lot, in fact, like SVU’s former protagonist, Elliot Stabler.

“There is a kid in diapers whose photo we show,” Leight

said. “We found it on an Internet pornography site. It had 37,000 hits in the last four days.”

(Which, it turns out, is the exact line that a government official says during the episode.)

“I mean, a bunch of us on the writing staff have children,” he said. “Nobody really wants to write this stuff. It’s dispiriting.”

The show may upset its own writers, but Law & Order: SVU has outlasted every other show that Wolf created. It’s been two years since NBC nixed the

original Law & Order, after 20 seasons. Even after the cancellations of two highly promoted spinoffs, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Law & Order: Los Angeles (not to mention an ill-fated fourth spinoff called Law & Order: Trial by Jury), SVU is still going strong.

It’s one thing to say that violence sells. It’s another to say that gruesome sexual attacks on the most vulnerable members of society—children— can power the remaining show

in an unusually successful franchise. Even last season, when its ratings were at their lowest, SVU was still the sixth-most watched show on NBC, ahead of 30 Rock, The Office and everything else in the Thursdaynight lineup. At its peak, SVU was able to topple the original Law & Order when they were on the air together.

What’s clear: People love watching Special Victims Unit, especially young women and mothers. In fact, since the

counselors, crime survivors, detectives and other law-enforcement experts who advise the writers on plot points.

“Male-on-male sex crimes was just something that people were telling us was happening,” he said. “The show had never really tackled that issue in a substantial way.”

Is it possible that Wolf has succeeded where so many well-meaning educators and lawmakers have failed—at getting young people engaged with important but taboo subject matter? Friel works at T&M Protection Resources LLC, a firm that offers sexual education and investigative services to universities and corporations. She believes that SVU has helped blow up the myths of sexual assault— primarily, that it most often

takes place in a dark alley at the hands of a stranger. In fact, studies show that 80 percent of sex crimes are perpetrated by a familiar face, and that jumps up to 90 percent if the victim is a child. “Rape is most often perpetrated by someone the victim knows,” she said, “which is something SVU helped people understand.”

But the show hasn’t always been an easy sell. When Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premiered in 1999, starring Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay as detectives Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson, it was criticized for sensationalism. There was just no TV precedent for a series that tackled not just the rape or molestation of adults, but also, with disturbing frequency, of children as well. It wasn’t

unusual to have a scene in which a small boy or girl was found wandering around the city, dazed, with blood running down his or her legs.

The most brutal episodes violated yet another TV taboo: Some of the kids were murdered as well. Longtime viewers of the show may have seen a 15-year-old found in the bushes, a dead baby discovered in a cooler and a 14-year-old war refugee with a slit throat.

Lisa F. Jackson is one of the show’s critics. “SVU portrays a universe of sexual violence that doesn’t really exist,” said Jackson, director of the HBO documentary Sex Crimes Unit.

To make the film, Jackson spent two years inside the Manhattan District Attorney’s office with the prosecutors of sex crimes.

December 6-12, 2012

There was no TV precedenT for a series ThaT Tackled noT jusT The rape or molesTaTion of adulTs, buT also, wiTh disTurbing frequency, of children as well.

“SVU shows a universe that people prefer over the reality of rape and sexual violence,” she said. “In real life, most victims don’t show physical signs of assault, and it’s a lot harder to identify victims because they don’t come forward.”

Especially during the final Christopher Meloni years, SVU seemed intent on pumping up ratings with increasingly outlandish crimes and plot twists.

Stabler’s own children were kidnapped, a hackneyed plot recycled from 24.

“I think people are remembering stuff from Season 10, Season 11,” Leight said carefully, when asked about the more exploitative aspects of the show’s storylines. “I think toward the end of the Meloni era, it got a little ... fetishistic.

It was like anything else: You had these great writers on the show for 10 years working with the talented [original showrunner] Neal Baer, and they keep pushing the limits, pushing the limits. When we came in two years ago, our whole idea was to bring the show back to the basics.”

SVU has sailed past its 300th episode, is well into its 14th season and has survived the loss of one of its two stars. It might be worth considering that there is something in it besides cheap thrills. It’s hard to think of SVU as entertaining.

Riveting, perhaps.

Leight would have us believe that SVU exists as a public service, and that the writers get no pleasure in creating these dark stories, especially if they involve children. Like SVU’s relation to real-life sex crimes, his contention probably has some element of the truth, but isn’t the whole story.

During our interview, Leight asked us what we thought of the recent accusations that Kevin Clash, the voice of Elmo, had once been sexually involved with an underage teen.

We said we thought it wouldn’t be too long before an episode about a child-molesting puppeteer would make it onto SVU. Leight coughed and was quiet for a moment. “Yeah ... probably not for a while.”

That night, Leight would write on his @warrenleightTV Twitter account, “Memo to: FBI/CIA/NATO/SesameStreet From: SVU Writers’ Room— Please slow it down, we’re having a hard time getting this all down.”

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show launched 13 years ago, females age 18 to 34 have been its most consistent viewers.

“Two-thirds of our audience are women,” Leight said. “I honestly don’t understand why, completely. I don’t get it when parents say they watch the show with their kids, either.”

Lisa Friel, a lawyer who spent nearly 30 years in charge of sex-crime prosecutions in the New York City District Attorney’s office, understands the impulse. Friel, who actually oversaw SVU-style prosecutions at work, used to watch the show with her high school-age daughter, now 18 and a college freshman.

Some of the subject matter they may have encountered: an episode titled “Consent,” in which a young girl is drugged with GHB; the aforementioned “Friending Emily,” in which an older frat brother conspires with a newer pledge to kidnap and rape a high schooler and then broadcast the videos of her molestation on the Internet; and “Brotherhood,” in which a pledge master is murdered after raping several women as well as the fraternity’s own pledges.

“It wasn’t like I was watching it with her when she was 7,” Friel told The Observer. “But when the time was right, when she was old enough and when I thought it was appropriate to start dealing with these issues, it was another way to open the dialogue.”

The writers’ lunchroom is plastered with New York Post and Daily News front covers, enough to extinguish one’s creative juices ... or appetite. Every Law & Order installment has a noted “ripped from the headlines” element, and at times the show has even presaged the news.

During Leight’s tenure, for instance, SVU had an episode (“Personal Fouls”) about a basketball coach using his charity as a conduit for kids he could molest. The show aired “two weeks before the Jerry Sandusky story came out,” Leight noted, with a hint of pride.

As the weblog Gothamist asked its readers at the time, “Not to pull a total conspiracy theory here, but this particular story scales pretty high on the ‘just a coincidence’ scale, don’t you think?”

Leight explained that the storyline wasn’t based on any inside information, but that it wasn’t a complete coincidence, either. SVU has a team of rape

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style [mirror, mirror]

Keep Your SKin HappY in Cold WeatHer

By Dr. Jeannie Khavkin Every local knows Las Vegas can get frigid. Exposure to harsh elements—wind, cold air and indoor heaters—can leave skin dry and irritated. But by following a few tips, you can protect your skin and maintain a healthy glow throughout winter.

• Apply sunscreen. As the adage goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Even on cloudy days, sunscreen is one of the best antiaging defenses and essential year-round for healthy skin.

• Moisturize. When it comes to moisturizer in the winter, oil-based is better than waterbased. Oil creates a protective layer on the skin that retains more moisture, which is needed in the dry winter months. Apply while the skin is still damp, just a few minutes after getting out of the shower or bath. Try PCA Skin Silkcoat Balm (pictured below) available at my office.

• Avoid hot showers and baths. It’s hard not to dream of a long, hot bath on a cold winter day, but bathing in hot water breaks down the lipid barriers in the skin, causing loss of moisture. It’s better to take lukewarm showers or baths and stay in the water for a shorter period of time. Your skin will thank you later.

December 6-12, 2012

Dr. Jeannie Khavkin is a boardcertified and fellowship-trained facial plastic surgeon. Her practice, Khavkin Facial Plastic Surgery, offers surgical and nonsurgical procedures for the face and neck. 242-3223; EliteFacialSurgery.com.

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Carlos and Hugo Larios

Carlos: Senior graphic designer for Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, age 36. Hugo: age 7 Photographed by Tomo

What they’re wearing now: (Carlos) Banana Republic shirt, Zara tie and Pal Zileri suit.

(Hugo) Nordstrom shirt, tie, blazer and shoes and H&M pants.

Fashion Motto: Fashions fade, style remains.

The Larios boys are a dapper father and son duo. They keep their minds sharp with their

favorite pastime—chess. Just don’t expect Hugo to show up somewhere wearing a mini version of Dad’s favorite sweater. “We have the same interests,” Carlos says. “But we don’t dress alike.” For now, Hugo is content frolicking in his school uniform even after the final bell rings. “He wears it for most of the day, and changing time takes away from playtime.”

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Instant Gratification Snap up one of these cool and clever gi達s

5

(1) Knotty and Ice Ties, Starting at $400, Lior in the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian, 650-9005; KnottyAndIce.com; (2) Street Fighter x Sanrio T-shirt, $26, Sanrio.com; (3) Jake Joseph Boxer Briefs, $33, HisRoom.com; (4) Bedol Squirt Water Clock, $26, Bedol.com; (5) Hasbro Furby, $54, Target, multiple locations.

1 3 4

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Photo by Anthony Mair

December 6-12, 2012

2

9

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(6) Maison de Morgana Star Ring and Star Pendant Necklace, $58 (ring), $60 (necklace), Amari Boutique, 10271 S. Eastern Ave., 476-3900; AmariBoutique.com; (7) Call of Duty: Black Ops II Hardened Edition, $130, Gamestop, multiple locations; (8) Lolita Las Vegas Ornament Ball, $16, DesignsByLolita.com; (9) Sofia Fenton Jumbo Swarovski Dice, $22, SofiaFenton.com; (10) By Chari Lola Rings, $35, Square Salon, 1225 S. Fort Apache Road, Suite 160, 255-7050; ByChari.com.

!0

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December 6-12, 2012

8

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Photo by TK

Near the end of an epoch of war, post-traumatic stress disorder haunts the Valley.

Are we equipped to win the peace?

December 6-12, 2012

By Heidi Kyser

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Photo by TK

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Laura Stephens pauses for her umpteenth drag off a cigarette and flicks ash onto a growing gray pile in a glass ashtray on the coffee shop’s patio table. Her hazel eyes sparkle as she tells of the midnight robbery at her Henderson apartment.

“They were lucky they ran out, because I would have shot them and had no problem with it,” Stephens says, raising an eyebrow slightly. She rattles off what the thieves managed to steal anyway. “That was very traumatic for me,” she says.

Trauma has become part of Stephens’ life, a phantom roommate to replace the ex-husband and the daughter she now sees only during custody visits.

After two tours of duty in Iraq as an Army medic, she came home with severe post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Department of Veterans Affairs doctors have declared her 70 percent disabled and 100 percent unemployable. Smoking isn’t the only reason Stephens sits outside. In the small, half-filled coffee shop, she’s likely to suffer a panic attack. To her, it feels like too many people, too many unknowns, and nowhere to hide.

This is a textbook case of PTSD—a condition that

Photo by by Bryan Denton

December 6-12, 2012 VEGAS SEVEN

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“ … So, I grab my shotgun and brace my foot against the bedroom door... and I start hollering, ‘I know you’re out there. I’m gonna shoot you!’ And they just stand still, like, ‘Oh, it’s just some girl. She’s not gonna do anything,’ right? … So, I’m hollering. My voice is getting hoarse, and finally I say, ‘I’m gonna shoot you,’ and I chamber a round into my shotgun. As soon as I do that, I hear them run through the vertical blinds to my patio.”

affects people who have experienced great danger and an accompanying sense of helplessness or horror. In the aftermath, the disorder can cause flashbacks, emotional withdrawal or hyper-arousal. These states, in turn, can lead to agitation, insomnia, irritability, paranoia and many other problems.

Research suggests medics are among the military personnel most commonly afflicted with the disorder, and more women—civilians or military—have it than men.

The reasons seem to be contextual: Medics, for instance, are regularly confronted with gruesome death. Stephens recalls holding a friend mortally wounded in combat.

Unable to do anything to help, she just watched him die.

•••

Served in: Marines, 2002-2008. deployed to: Iraq (2005). the trauma: “I drove big rigs, taking tons of

ammo, fuel and food from the main base to other bases. The insurgents learned from their mistakes.

They started using IEDs [improvised explosive devices] around the time I was there. A trip that was only supposed to be a few hours could take 30, because we’d spend so much time waiting for the bomb squad. When we’d stop, you didn’t know what to expect—if the bomb was going to detonate.

Sometimes, insurgents would fire mortar rounds while we were sitting there. It was horrible.”

the aftermath: “You start with a couple of drinks, and a month later, you realize you’ve been drunk every night. At my worst, I was drinking a fifth a night. When I was sober, I hated being around crowds. I was jumpy all the time. I’d sleep on the floor by the front door, getting two to four hours of sleep a night.”

the treatment: “I had a great counselor at the VA, but the appointments were limited.

When I’d want to talk to someone, they weren’t available. I tried meds, but they made me feel numb, so I decided not to take them. In 2007, I started staying up late at night and writing and drawing. Whatever was inside me went on the canvas. That’s good, but the bonus is, then I’d talk about it. I saw some of Danny Roberts’ work at a First Friday, and it really inspired me. He mentored me, taught me some tricks.” today: “I’m such a different person. I have an art show coming up at the Sunrise Library from Jan. 31-April 31, and early next year I’ll get my bachelor of science in animation. I also got married in April; my fiancée has been through a lot with me.” am i recovered? “No. It’s ongoing. Coping with

the things in my head is a process. Art is a process.”

To see more of Gabriel’s artwork (shown behind him in photo), visit VegasSeven.com/PTSD.

December 6-12, 2012

CHRISTIAN GABRIEL

33 VEGAS SEVEN

Photo by Checko Salgado

EvERy SToRy

, every case of PTSD is unique, but there are more Laura Stephenses out there than you might think. The disorder is a growing public-health problem, suggested by a 35 percent rise in the number of veterans receiving mental-health services since 2007.

And it’s a national problem with strong local resonance. Nellis and Creech Air Force bases are out of sight, out of mind for many Las Vegans, but this is a military town. Nellis employs a workforce of 9,500 and counts a total military population of 40,000.

Nearly a quarter-million U.S. veterans live in Nevada, including 66,500 who served in recent wars, from Desert Storm through Iraq and Afghanistan. The VA estimates that 10 percent of men and women who served in the Gulf War and Afghanistan have PTSD, and 20 percent of those who served in Iraq do.

“This is a big issue,” says Dylan Wint, a neurologist and psychiatrist at Las Vegas’ Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. It could, he says, be the second-biggest problem—after Alzheimer’s—that professionals in his field face. (Wint spent two years working at a VA hospital in Gainesville, Fla., and half of his University of Florida residency focusing on psychiatric problems in veterans.) In addition to the high volume of cases, he says, problems stem from the disorder’s unpredictability. Symptoms may emerge any time from a few months to several decades after the trauma; elderly veterans still show up at medical centers seeking treatment for sudden bouts of sleeplessness, uncontrollable crying and other effects of experiences as far back as the Korean War, when PTSD was still called “shell shock.”

The disorder is hard for laypeople to understand.

This can have tragic consequences, as in the case of Stanley Gibson, a disoriented Gulf War veteran who was shot to death by Las Vegas Metropolitan police in December 2011 when he, according to reports, didn’t respond appropriately to their commands.

The profoundness of that tragedy is matched by the day-to-day struggles of victims and their families.

Last summer, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies released an initial assessment of treatment for PTSD in military and veteran populations. It reported that veterans with the disorder have higher incidences of domestic violence, divorce and aggression than those without it; they also have higher rates of underemployment and unemployment. Posttraumatic stress is associated with drug abuse, alcohol abuse, anger and aggressive behavior.

Beneath the community and family tension, there’s the individual pain. A study published in the July issue of Injury Prevention found that suicide among veterans is on the rise, increasing 80 percent from 2004 to 2008. Researchers noted a correlation between suicide and mental-health issues, including PTSD; 40 percent of the suicides in 2008 were linked to combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Everyone agrees that soldiers such as Laura Stephens, who put their lives on the line to defend our country, deserve to be taken care of when they come home. But is Las Vegas doing enough to help those who are suffering in our midst?

•••

Learning from its failure with trauma-

Served in: Army, 2002-2007. deployed to: Iraq (2003, 2005).

the aftermath: “There was one incident where I went with my ex-husband to a drawing that he was having at his gym. We were only supposed to be there for a few minutes, but I didn’t realize how many people there were going to be. It was elbow to elbow. This poor girl fell and bumped into me, and my instant reaction was, I swung at her. Thankfully, I caught myself right as I was going to hit her, and I just ended up tapping her on the shoulder. But it was enough that I got so embarrassed, and I didn’t want to get into trouble, so I just said, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ and ran out and sat in the car.”

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today: “Once I get settled into my house, I want to go to school to be an auto mechanic, so that way

VEGAS SEVEN

December 6-12, 2012

the trauma: “On my second deployment, I was the only medic who had combat experience, so I was the one taking care of the unit. Every single day, six days out of the week, I was going out on missions with EOD [explosive ordnance disposal], infantry, tankers, the military police, to make sure they were cared for. Engineers and EOD are the ones who go out and find the IEDs and destroy them. So, working with them, I got blown up on a daily basis.”

I can work on my own car, help my friends out and use my GI bill for something productive. … I actually am an avid knitter. That’s how I met most of my friends here. We have a knitting group called Sin City Hookers, because there’s knitters and crocheters. I found them on Meetup.com, and I have made some really good friends who I think that, even if we move, we’ll still remain in contact. They all are aware of my PTSD, and when we meet in public places, they let me pick my seat and vent about things that bother me. They’ve been really, really good to me.”

one remarkabLe

example of forward thinking in the West is Dewleen Baker’s research on risk and resiliency. Baker, a doctor at the VA’s Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health in San Diego, is studying 4,000 Marines to learn why, after being exposed to the same situations, some combat veterans get PTSD while others don’t. A dozen other studies are under way at the San Diego VA as well, including research on the usefulness of telemedicine, therapies for older veterans and treatment during combat.

The center’s work has resulted in the VA’s wide-

Photo by Checko Salgado

LaUra STePHenS

tized Vietnam soldiers, the VA made dramatic changes to provide better care for the 2.4 million men and women who have served or are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. It has set up crisis lines and 300 centers across the country that offered mental-health services to 1.3 million veterans in 2011. It has a separate call center dedicated to teaching friends and family how to encourage vets to get help. The government is pouring millions of dollars into research and treatment for mental-health issues of its military service members.

The hub of public assistance for local veterans is the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System, which includes the new $600 million, 1.3 million-squarefoot hospital on North Pecos Road. The 90-bed facility offers treatment for mental health, along with inpatient services, surgery, clinical support and other programs. It also has a 120-bed nursing home.

Besides the hospital, the VA operates five primarycare clinics, four specialty clinics and a handful of other facilities—such as a center for women’s health and one for the homeless—throughout the Valley. The Las Vegas Vet Center on Jones Boulevard and Sahara Avenue offers counseling services for combat veterans and their families.

Despite the improvements, the VA is still falling short in reaching all former soldiers with PTSD. The Institutes of Medicine study found that treatment was only received by a little more than half of the U.S. service members and veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and have been diagnosed with the disorder.

Jacqueline Casey, a Kuwait and Iraq war veteran living in Las Vegas, says she waited as long as six weeks to get appointments when she looked to the VA for help with her PTSD in 2008. She ended up finding a therapist outside the system.

Part of the problem is a local shortage of mentalhealth professionals trained to deal with PTSD, says Dr. Lesley Dickson, a psychiatrist who has worked with Veterans Affairs throughout her career. Veterans prefer clinicians with some military background, and there are even fewer of those.

In March, the VA began hiring 1,900 new clinicians and support staff nationwide specifically to deal with mental-health cases, but only 26 of those positions are for Las Vegas. Even if enough personnel were hired, Dickson says, the Valley would not have the space for them to work. Of the new hospital’s 90 beds, only 22 are in the mental-health unit.

The VA designates certain facilities for certain specialties, and Las Vegas is not funded for research and development related to PTSD, according to psychiatrist Ramanujam Komanduri, the VA Southern Nevada’s chief of staff. He says local patients who need intensive or long-term care are usually referred to facilities in California.

Another problem is the city’s lack of a medical research university, which would help support robust research programs. The cutting-edge work, Dickson and Komanduri say, is being done at VA-affiliated university hospitals in cities such as Los Angeles and San Diego.

•••

The next frontier in mental-health studies of veterans is the relationship between PTSD and traumatic brain injury, or TBI, signaled by $100 million in research funding set aside for that subject by Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense in September.

Researchers call TBI the “signature injury” of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. A neurodegenerative disease, it can result from abrupt and/or repeated blows to the head, such as those caused by improvised explosive devices, which were used often in both wars.

A recent study at the Boston VA indicates that more than 75 percent of patients with TBI have co-occurring PTSD. Because of the somewhat confusing overlap in causes and symptoms

the aftermath: “I was terrified of everything. I didn’t trust myself. … Everything seemed volatile and unpredictable. Apart from the nightmares—that was the worst thing—I’d be obsessive, checking and re-checking things. The agoraphobia was pretty bad, too. I didn’t want to go out by myself.

I couldn’t let anybody else drive a vehicle I was in. You have to be in control; you’re in fight-or-flight response …

One of my dogs passed away recently, and I was retriggered. I had to make sure everybody was still alive, or I couldn’t sleep.”

JACQUELINE CASEY Served in: Air Force, 1999-2008. deployed to: Kuwait (2001), Iraq (2004). the injury: “We were attacked by insurgents

on a mission. I was shot in the chest. I had my flight vest on, so it didn’t penetrate, but I was in

between the two diseases, medical and psychiatric doctors caring for veterans have to communicate in new ways.

“Psychiatrists who are seeing military patients with PTSD need to be on the lookout for TBI, because it’s going to affect not only a patient’s life in general, but it may affect what we do to treat them,” says Dylan Wint of Las Vegas’ Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. “And the same with the medical doctor who’s seeing someone who’s had brain trauma. You want to be proactive and ask them about PTSD symptoms and make sure they get help for those.”

The Ruvo Center specializes in integrating care of multiple issues for single patients, and it plans to bring this skill to bear on the problem of PTSD and TBI. The center has already been studying TBI in athletes, says director Jeffrey Cummings, and is now discussing the possibility of extending that work to veterans.

– Heidi Kyser

the treatment: “All kinds … talk therapy, group therapy, medication, EMDR [eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing].” today: “I’m working on my Ph.D. in evolutionary

psychology at UNLV. In Iraq, I had troops that would go out to different areas and experience the same situation, but maybe one would come back completely traumatized, and the others would be fine. I found this perplexing. The research I’m doing now is looking at ground combat soldiers to see why that happens. I’m studying a group of vets locally, and I have a paper coming out soon.”

December 6-12, 2012

The Other Lasting Trauma

the back of a deuce and a half [a truck with removable sides that you can put canvas over]. I fell off when I got shot, and sustained injuries because we were going 45 mph. I ruptured parts of my liver and intestines, had internal hemorrhaging, broken ribs.”

35 VEGAS SEVEN

spread adoption of two treatments: cognitive processing therapy and prolonged exposure. Skilled in both, San Diego VA psychologist Carie Rodgers is part of a team traveling around the country, including Southern Nevada, to train other providers in the methods.

She describes it as the nation’s largest-ever organized effort to train psychotherapists.

“In cognitive therapy, what we do is figure out what they’ve been telling themselves that makes them feel so rotten and teach them how to challenge their own thinking,” Rodgers says. This method helps patients become aware of what they’re thinking and how it impacts what they feel.

Prolonged exposure is more action-oriented. Say, for example, a vet was traumatized by a roadside bomb explosion and is now afraid to drive. Given that driving is pretty safe in San Diego, Rodgers might send that vet out to drive. If it triggers anxiety, then she would have him talk about the details of the traumatic memory repeatedly, so he can process the feelings and lose the fear.

Therapists are also experimenting with nontraditional approaches. For instance, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing uses controlled eye movements to shift thoughts and feelings from one side of the brain to the other. Another method, hypnotherapy, helps patients relax sufficiently to let down the psychological barriers preventing them from confronting and resolving their trauma.

Meanwhile, yoga, meditation, acupuncture and similar Eastern practices are getting a lot of attention as tools for dealing with symptoms such as sleeplessness, hyperventilation and difficulty focusing. “When I couldn’t see my therapist all the time at the VA,” Jacqueline Casey says, “they would at least send in a Shaolin monk to do tai chi with us.”

Another local Iraq war veteran, Christian Gabriel, tried many styles of therapy and found them annoying. He learned to cope with his depression, drinking binges and sleeplessness through painting and sketching. Now a successful artist, Gabriel is helping set up an art therapy program at the VA hospital.

Of course, PTSD is not just a scientific, or even medical, issue. It’s a community issue. Several nonprofit programs are striving to fill gaps in the VA’s available care. The Veterans Consumer Advisory Council connects vets, their families and caregivers with the mental-health support system and advocates for better service from the VA and other providers. The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, meanwhile, has created a special bus line to the new VA hospital and offers reduced fares for veterans.

The influx of veterans returning from Afghanistan continues, and the VA predicts that the number of new PTSD cases will keep growing. The availability and sophistication of PTSD treatment in the Valley will have to grow with it.

[ By Deanna Rilling ] “There are so many girls DJing out there who just do it for the gimmick, not really for the love.” ‘Gimme Some’ {paGe 40}

Your city after dark, hot gossip, party pics and a convo with Cazzette

Fri 7 First Friday time! The holiday spirit will be in the air downtown with “snow,” carriage rides and carolers. But over at Cowtown Guitars, Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum holds a debut party for the Hold Fast documentary films highlighting three local businesses: Pick Your Poison Bake Shop (1), Cowtown Guitars and Studio 21 Tattoo. Complimentary cocktails, cupcakes and live music round out the evening. (1009 S. Main St., 6 p.m., CowtownGuitars.com.)

SaT 8 Technically, the first dance remix album I owned was Paula Abdul’s Shut Up and Dance: The Dance Mixes, which included the “1990 Medley Mix” from DJ/producer Chris Cox (2), whose first remix release the year prior was Abdul’s hit “Opposites Attract.” Needless to say, Cox has a knack for remixing artists ranging from divas to dirty rockers and has amassed a catalog of more than 400 productions, more than 40 Billboard No. 1 dance club hits, a Grammy nomination and two IDMA Awards. Whew!

Catch him rocking the dance floor at Gallery.

(In Planet Hollywood, 10:30 p.m., GalleryLV.com.)

Expect a lot of tourists snapping pics for the folks back home as a mob of drunk Santas stumble up and down Fremont Street singing carols as loudly and off-key as possible. Yes, the Santa Rampage is back, celebrating 10 years of donning festive costumes and spreading general tipsy merriment. (8 p.m., SantaCon.info.) And either before or after you marinate your liver in liquor, check out the latest Vegas StrEats and a food truck-palooza. (Jackie Gaughan Plaza at El Cortez, 6 p.m., VegasStrEats.com.) Wait, there’s one more place you should stop downtown while the Santas are a-stumbling: LVCS welcomes the Bass Garden party, featuring DJs Bare, Fei-Fei, Dani Deahl (3), Captain Panic, Ashtrobot and Frenetic. (428 Fremont St., 10 p.m., LVCountrySaloon.net.)

Downtown seems to be where it’s at this weekend. The Night Owls Tour stops by Insert Coin(s), featuring sets from Flinch, AC Slater (4) and Harvard Bass, plus an opening set from Las Vegas’ own HavocNdeeD. Get tickets in advance at WantTickets.com for $10. (512 E. Fremont St., 10 p.m., InsertCoins.com.)

mon 10 Keep kicking it around downtown for Modified Mondays at Vanguard Lounge. Expect things to get bass-y with some downtempo, hip-hop, old-school dirty rap and trap music courtesy of FreshmodeKore, Rick Remixx and The Snarks. But head’s up, according to the Facebook event page you better bring $10 for a cover and there’s “no exceptions.” Hmmm, not sure how well that’s going to work for local DJs spinning downtown on a Monday, but good luck with that.

Might be a good idea to hit them up in advance to get on the guest list via Facebook.com/modifiedmondays, since the fan page says there’s no cover.

(516 E. Fremont St., 10 p.m., VanguardLV.com.)

Tue 11 Shameless vote-begging begins now: In hopes you’re reading this before the actual party.

Jack Colton’s 2012 Nightlife Entertainment Awards will pack Pure with the who’s who of the Las Vegas party scene vying for accolades, including yours truly. If you could take a moment and go to JackColton.com and fire off a couple votes for Senior Editor Xania Woodman and me, nightlife writer Deanna Rilling, that’d be super rad! Other accolades include the hunt for favorite VIP host, Life of the Party, Favorite Main-Room DJ, Favorite Photographer, the best club and more.

DJ Shift spins for the festivities. (In Caesars Palace, 10 p.m., AngelMG.com.)

Wed 12 Drumroll please ... The moment downtowners have been anticipating is finally here. Commonwealth celebrates its official grand opening. In Commonwealth fashion, the majority of the evening will be a surprise, but we can confirm Adam 12 (also known as Obama’s official DJ and part of She Wants Revenge) will spin along with VanVille. Stop by for a craft cocktail or slip into the attached Laundry Room speakeasy … if you can figure out how. (525 E. Fremont St. time 6 p.m., Facebook.com/commonwealthlv.)

Congratulations to anyone getting married today with the cool 12/12/12 date that hopefully makes it easier for guys to remember their anniversaries. In honor of the large number of folks expected to get hitched today, LAX is throwing a Tie the Knot Party with complimentary admission and an open vodka bar until midnight for all wedding parties. (In Luxor, 10 p.m., AngelMG.com.)

December 6-12, 2012

Frustrated that you can’t create cocktails more complicated than a vodka-cranberry?

Milagro Tequila has partnered with Tao for a multi-course dining and cocktail pairing led by tequila ambassador Gaston Martinez.

As part of the evening you’ll learn how to re-create the featured drinks at home. All guests receive a goodie bag with a shaker, recipe book and cocktail instructions so you don’t have take notes. Participants also receive complimentary admission to Tao Nightclub afterward. Cost is $75 per person, and a limited number of seats are available.

Visit TaoLasVegas.com to make reservations.

(In the Venetian, 7 p.m.)

Sun 9

37 VEGAS SEVEN

Thu 6

nightlife

Kate Gosselin at the Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon (left), and Shania Twain performs at Caesars Palace.

December 6-12, 2012

You can’t have a Rock ’n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon without a gaggle of Elvii running down a closed-to-traffic Strip. You also apparently can’t have one without suspended Saints coach Sean Payton running the halfmarathon Dec. 2 (in 2 hours, 18 minutes—apparently he realizes how desperately New

VEGAS SEVEN

38

Orleans needs a cornerback and is working on his speed).

Payton wasn’t the only one with time on his hands.

Kate Gosselin also ran the half-marathon, finishing in 474th place with a time of 2:10.

Maybe Payton should’ve spit out a few more kids.

Also running were Nikki

Reed of Twilight, American Idol Season 10’s Paul McDonald, Cougar Town’s Nicole Sullivan and Sean Lowe, from The Bachelor’s Season 17. So “not being able to drive near the Strip on a Sunday night” is one more thing you can blame on Twilight, American Idol and The Bachelor.

Tyson DiD Hangover HigH In an interview with Yahoo Sports, Mike Tyson copped to being coked out of his mind while filming The Hangover. “The first Hangover, the guys had my back so much. They carried me real good. I was a mess. I was overweight, 280 pounds, 380 pounds. I was a pig,” he said. “High on cocaine. They had to know—I had the cocaine talk. Those guys are just beautiful people.” It must have been absolutely terrifying for Zach Galifianakis to do the scene where Tyson punches him. The last thing you want is a coked-up champ looking at you and seeing Francois Botha, then forgetting it’s all supposed to be pretend-time. … Nadya Suleman has been nominated for AVN Awards in the Best Celebrity Sex Tape, Best Solo Release, Best DVD Extras and Best Marketing Campaign categories for Octomom Home Alone. The Kim Kardashian sex tape doesn’t sound like such a terrible idea now, does it?

Parading up the Strip with a herd of horses, Shania Twain finally kicked off her Caesars Palace residency, Still the One, on Dec. 1, after which she opted to move away from her traffic-ruining ranch-hand style and go back to the drawing board that gave us head-to-toe skintight leopard print.

In this case, we believe her new style could best be described as “Sexy Baked Potato.”

Twain came out in a shiny, silver one-piece that looked like she was either a refugee from an early ’80s metal video or was soldering glitter to leftover Cats costumes. And that’s before we even bring up the Mad Max-if-he-had-to-cross-dress-to-escape-Thunderdome boots.

BiLL’S Soon to Be no More; drai to heLM niGhtLife The long-gestating overhaul of Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall & Saloon (which really should feature the term “old-timey” in there somewhere) is finally coming to pass. Caesars is shutting it down Feb. 4, proceeding with a $185 million overhaul and opening it up under a new name in early 2014.

The building will be topped by a 65,000-square-foot rooftop pool and club helmed by Victor Drai, late of Tryst and XS, later of Drai’s Hollywood. The club won’t open up until later in 2014, giving you a full two years to start speculating as to what kind of water feature will be incorporated into the club space.

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

Photos by Erik Kabik

Even Famous People Want to Run on the Strip

Shania iS the Country Lady GaGa

nightlife

‘Gimme Some’

U.K. turntablist Kayper takes the ‘she’ out of ‘she-jay’ and earns respect from her peers

By Deanna Rilling

Kayper may be soft-spoken, but the turntablist’s skills speak for her, hands a blur as she juggles beats and scratches up a storm.

The U.K.-born Kaajal Bakrania (or Kayper, as she’s known on the club circuit) has been racking up the praise and awards since she started spinning in the late ’90s, including Best DJ at the 2012 London Bar & Club Awards. Kayper returns stateside Dec. 15 for her first gig at Lavo.

You started out as a hiphop DJ, playing clubs in London at age 15. But now you’re dabbling in a bit of … everything?

I pretty much play everything now, from house to dubstep, drum and bass— whatever kind of style I can get into doing open-format and mash-up.

December 6-12, 2012

What first piqued your interest in spinning?

I used to have a Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince album from the ’80s. My brother bought it, and one day I found it lying around, put it in the tape deck and heard “Live at Union Square,” a track of them doing a performance in New York. There was a part where the Fresh Prince tells Jazzy Jeff to break it down, and he goes into scratching. That was the point where I was like, “I have to learn that. This is what I want to do.” I tried to emulate that for months and months, trying to figure out how he was doing it. That was a turning point for me, when I realized this was something I really want to do.

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Were you self-taught?

I used to use my cousins’ [turntables], who were a bit older than me. They used to DJ in the ’90s, and whenever I would go to the house they’d be practicing. I was always curious, but didn’t really know how to DJ and they’d show me. My older brother tried to get into DJing and wasn’t very good at it, so he left it and went off to

university. I was left alone to sneak into his room and practice whenever I could after school. It did kind of happen by accident, but then I realized it was something I was good at and kept at it.

Years later, Jazzy Jeff said you’re the best female DJ he’s ever seen in his life.

What was it like to get such praise from the man who was responsible for first inspiring you?

If you ask any DJ who one of their main influences are, a lot of them will say Jazzy Jeff as a DJ idol; he’s one of the only [early] DJs who is still around, still relevant, still DJing, still touring—he plays in Vegas as well. It was amazing because I learned a lot of what I do from watching him. To have him acknowledge me was pretty cool.

What’s been the biggest hurdle to overcome for you in a male-dominated industry?

There are so many female DJs—I hate that term—but there are so many girls DJing out there who really just do it for the gimmick, not really for the love. Maybe someone told them they could make a lot of money out of it where all they have to do is show up, wear sparkly headphones and press play. But I’ve obviously been doing this for a long time, and when I started DJing that didn’t exist.

I feel like I’m always kind of underestimated, and I have

to win the crowd over a lot more than the average guy.

Maybe it’s just one of those things where I’m paranoid, but I get the feeling that every time I get on the decks, everyone’s like, “Oh, God. What she going to do? Play house? She’s gonna suck and do a Paris Hilton, and is probably not really DJing.”

But as soon as I get at least 10 minutes into my set, I know they’re going to change their minds. That’s the biggest thing for me is to get people to see me as a DJ rather than a female DJ. It would be nice one day if I wasn’t called a female DJ, just a DJ.

Your track “Gimme Some” with dubstep producer Engine Earz was signed to Diplo’s Mad Decent label, but it’s been awhile since you’ve released a track.

Anything on the horizon?

I’m working on my first EP, which is supposed to come out in February. I’ll be hibernating as much as I can over the next couple of months to work toward that.

The last thing that I had out was quite awhile ago, but a lot has changed musically. In

the States it hasn’t, because that whole genre of hard, aggressive dubstep is still around, but in England we’ve moved on. Being a DJ, it’s really hard to not get influenced by what’s going on musically because I have to hear other people’s music every day. So I have to take a break and think about what I actually want to make rather than being influenced by everyone else. So, that’s what I’ve been doing—sitting in the studio every single day.

Listen to Kayper’s sounds, and watch videos of her skills at blog.djkayper.co.uk.

nightlife

You guys and Avicii share the same manager, Ash Pournouri. How did that come to be?

Furrer: I was sitting at home one night and just e-mailed him. I saw interviews with Avicii, and he was talking about Ash all the time. I was like, “Who is this Ash guy?”

Avicii has called Pournouri his unsung force. Is that also true of Cazzette?

Björklund: Yes, no doubt.

There is so much work he put into us. He comes up with ideas and helps with the tracks. He helps out with everything. It’s almost like having a third band member.

We will bounce ideas off one another until all three of us are happy.

Furrer: People see an artist and think the music is everything, but there is a lot of work behind that which people don’t see at all. It’s a lot of hard work, and without him [Cazzette] is nothing.

So that’s what they look like under those cassette-tape masks: Sebastian Furrer (left) and Alexander Björklund.

Crazy Cazzette

An oÞ-beat convo with the oh-so-candid duo

December 6-12, 2012

By David Morris

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46

AlexAnder Björklund And Sebastian Furrer have some serious expectations to live up to. As Cazzette, they are the second act to be managed by Ash Pournouri (the other being Avicii), and the first single off their debut album, Eject, has already garnered some serious buzz. Vegas Seven caught up with the down-to-earth duo in advance of their Dec. 10 show at XS to chat about everything from Alex’s special mushroom sauce to hooking up with Pournouri.

Alex, your dad used to blast techno in the car. And Seb, your dad was a DJ. My parents don’t even know what house is!

Björklund: My parents are pretty young. It was all right for him to be listening to that kind of music compared to my classmates’ parents, who were older.

Furrer: But trance and dance

music has always been popular in Europe—not necessarily huge on the radio, but people always listened to it.

I heard you guys met on MySpace?

Furrer: I was just beginning to make music and saw Alex’s page. He was making cheesy techno music like me back then.

I contacted him, and he said,

“I stopped making that kind of music, and am making house music now. You should do that, too, because it’s going to be the thing.” Then we didn’t talk for two years until I sent him a demo I had made. He thought it was cool, and that we should collaborate. After that we really started working together and became Cazzette once Ash flew us up to Stockholm to meet.

You’ve already done a number of remixes for Avicii and Swedish House Mafia and have now debuted your own song, “Beam Me Up.” What sound are you going for on the new album?

Furrer: It’s really hard to say, because every track is very different. We have this dubhouse signature sound, but also some melodic tracks.

Björklund: And indie stuff. It’s going to be a very mixed CD, where it goes from calm tracks to ones with very outward fades. Each track has its own charm. Some are more progressive, and others are more suitable for the radio—not in a cheesy way, but with catchy vocals and melodies.

Favorite track?

Björklund: “Surrender.”

Furrer: “Beam Me Up.” The album is titled Eject (Part 1)? Any plans for a follow up?

Furrer: We are doing a collaboration with Spotify. The album is exclusive on Spotify worldwide before iTunes or

Beatport. It helps the album stay active longer than just a simple release. If we release it in parts, it keeps our fans active in the process.

Björklund: The album is actually spaced over three parts, but in the end it’s the same album.

Did you guys actually post one of your phone numbers on Twitter?

Furrer: [Laughing.] We posted a friend’s number.

How pissed was he?

Björklund: He was pretty pissed.

Furrer: He had phone calls for four days.

Björklund: I think he woke up with 600 missed calls. That’s not too bad; we have 20,000 followers! But, it was a joke, and he thought it was funny.

Seb, what’s with the pet rat?

Furrer: It’s mine. I just got it.

Björklund: It’s not a rat; it’s a hamster!

Alex, explain your “mushroom sauce?”

Björklund: Yes, that’s what I do. I like it; it’s good sauce.

Wholesome mushrooms?

Björklund: I buy them or my parents pick them, because I don’t pick them myself. Wait, [laughing] good mushrooms, I mean; food mushrooms, not trippy mushrooms!

Do you cook for Seb? Björklund: I cook for friends; he’s not my friend [laughing], he’s my co-worker.

How was it to spin for Avicii’s birthday party held in New York City in September?

Furrer: It was really cool, a great night. It was crazycrowded. A crazy girl told us off. She was like, “You must leave this place! What are you doing here?” She was so drunk.

We were about to go on and were standing right next to the stage after [Avicii’s] mini set and she starts yelling at us, “Get off the stage.” We were like, “No, we are going to play.”

She was like, “Get off.”

Follow the guys’ Twitter hijinks @Cazzette, and check out Eject at Open.Spotify.com/app/cazzette.

nightlife

parties

Moon

The Palms [ Upcoming ]

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See more photos from this gallery at SpyOnVegas.com

Photography by Teddy Fujimoto

December 6-12, 2012

Dec. 6 Moon Thursday featuring DJs Exodus and Benny Black Dec. 7 Attack Fridays with DJ M!keAttack Dec. 8 Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas spins

ACM CONCERT STAGE AT COWBOY FANFEST PERFORMANCES AT

1:30 P.M. & 4:00 P.M. DAILY

Tracy Lawrence

David Nail

Aaron Watson

Chris Janson

Ryan Beaver

Chris Young

Sarah Darling

Bucky Covington

Jack Ingram

Brett Eldredge

Plus, Flint Rasmussen is back with his “Outside the Barrel” show and a battle of the bands competition each day.

Interactive booths to entertain fans, including King of the Reach and Slicks and Sticks.

Presented by Wrangler, this replica of the Wrangler NFR arena features daily mutton bustin’, customized cowboy obstacle course and more.

An experience featuring a customized menu and specialty drinks.

Presented by Lucas Oil, an “Old West” setting featuring the “Best of Rodeos”, Miss Rodeo America and additional exhibits.

Presented by Cuttin’ Up Radio, the second stage hosts additional live acts and programming, fashion shows and much more.

LAS VEGAS CONVENTION CENTER NFRexperience.com

nightlife

parties

ping pong palooza Sapphire Gentlemen’s Club [ Upcoming ]

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See more photos from this gallery at SpyOnVegas.com

Photography by Bobby Jameidar

December 6-12, 2012

Dec. 8 Fight Night: Pacquiao/Marquez 4 Dec. 10 Monday Night Football Dec. 13 10-year anniversary party

nightlife

parties

Haze Aria

[ Upcoming ]

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See more photos from this gallery at SpyOnVegas.com

Photography by Amit Dadlaney, Chad Carl, and Teddy Fujimoto

December 6-12, 2012

Dec. 6 Scoop NYC $10,000 holiday giveaway Dec. 8 Nikki Benz birthday celebration Dec. 14 Macklemore & Ryan Lewis perform

dining

“Grimes keeps her holiday patrons happy with a recipe that’s one part youth, one part experience and about 116 parts history.” Cooking With ... {page 72}

Reviews, Diner's Notebook, Dishing at Koi and great news from Great Bao

Shake, Rattle and GO!

Sammy D does it again, and gets himself into a [rather tasty] pickle

By Max Jacobson

What would you do for a pork-stuffed doughnut?

[ Continued on Page 70 ]

VEGAS SEVEN

Photo by Anthony Mair

December 6-12, 2012

First Food & Bar’s Sam DeMarco, a.k.a.

Sammy D, virtually launched the small-plate concept in New York, and he might have the most creative mind of any chef on the Strip. Now add the talents of noted set designer Antonio Ballatore (the wacky host of HGTV’s The Antonio Treatment), visual graffiti artists such as Tokyo’s Aiko and iconic street artist Defer, and then shake— violently. The result: Rattlecan, the strangest rattleCan restaurant to open on the Strip since Ben Siegel In the Venetian, walked the casino floor at 414-2220. Open the Flamingo.

11 a.m.-11 p.m.

Imagine if the Neon Sun-Thu, 11 Museum went 21st a.m.-midnight century, grew wings Fri, 11 a.m.-1 a.m. and splattered itself Sat. Dinner for on the walls of a newly two, $39-$65. developed space at the Venetian. Rattlecan has machine guns sticking out from its walls, Jackson Pollock-on-steroids wall art, and an abundance of sculptured, colorsplashed pieces that defy description. Rattlecan refers to those spray cans that street artists use to deface— er, adorn— bridges in large cities, or paint Diego Rivera-like murals. This place, simply stated, is a trip. Members of my generation would just call it psychedelic.

My Rattlecan experience was the chef’s version of Girls Gone Wild.

Sammy sent me just about every 69 dish on the menu, in waves of three or four dishes at a clip: a dozen burgers, pickled vegetables of assorted color and shape, variations

DINING Server Brittney Sweetin brings on the MoonPies.

max’s meNu PICks aPPetizerS

Sammy’s Pickle Sampler, $8 Red Hot Chili Poppers, $18 BurgerS

Burner, $14.

All-City, $16.

SideS

Crispy green beans, $8.

in the key of fried potato, a box of MoonPies.

Things got a bit complicated by the fact that one of my guests was a strict vegetarian. But after the fourth burger or so, he’d just shout a hearty “Oh, yeah” every time another one hit the table. That Sammy is some jokester.

I see what he’s trying to do here. This is, first and foremost, a bar—one where patrons can ride a mechanical pickle, sort of like Debby Winger did in the film Urban Cowboy. The pickle plays a major

role on the menu, as well, but the creativity is a sneaky vehicle to get customers to try cocktails such as the Rattlecan Pickleback, a hipster staple consisting of a shot of Jameson Irish Whiskey with a pickle-juice chaser. But try as he may to make this restaurant crazy and fun, DeMarco is a serious chef, so be prepared to go where no burger joint has taken you before.

Burgers begin with a customblended Angus beef patty, griddled to pale pink. And they are utterly delicious. My favorite is The

Burner, with roasted green chilies, jalapeños, pepper-jack cheese and spicy sauce, slapped onto a sesameseeded brioche bun. Another good choice is the All-City, topped with Nueske’s bacon, aged white cheddar (or Maytag blue), onion rings, homemade ketchup, pickle and the option to add a fried egg, Eurotrash style.

Did I mention that there are also turkey, veggie and ahi tuna burgers here? There are, all done with various and sundry toppings. The best pickle could be a delicious green tomato with a long finish, or perhaps the pickled cauliflower, which is sneaky sour. Try them all by ordering Sammy’s Pickle Sampler, if you dare.

If you fancy an appetizer, the barbecue pork-filled doughnut is just plain evil. Red Hot Chili Poppers are bacon-wrapped shrimp with jalapeños and a cool ranch dip on the side. The best fries might not be fries at all, but the crispy green beans. And if your server offers you something called the Hot Mess—not on the menu—run, do not walk, to the nearest exit. There’s a sensory deprivation chamber just down the hall.

Well, not really. But there is Brioschi antacid at the Walgreens on the Strip side of the Venetian.

[ a SmaLL Bite ]

December 6-12, 2012

EurEka! ShEridan Su to opEn Fat Choy

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Remember when chef Sheridan Su sold bao, Chinese steamed buns filled with pork belly and roasted duck, from his Great Bao stall in a nail salon? If he can lure the masses in with two hot plates and a steamer, imagine what he can do with a full kitchen. Coming in the second week of January, Su will have just that, when he teams up with the Eureka Casino on East Sahara Avenue to open Fat Choy, with what he calls an “expanded menu, with a lot of cool appetizers, and then a lot of composed plates.”

Teddy’s, the classic coffee shop named for Eureka owner and Lee family patriarch Teddy Lee, will quietly shut its doors to make way for the new venue. The moniker, which means “prosperity,” may be Asian, but Su’s menu will encompass both the Asian fare for which he is best known, plus a few Teddy’s holdovers. “We’re going to keep the burgers, and the Philly cheesesteak, which was the No. 1 seller at Teddy’s,” he says.

The rest of the breakfast, lunch and dinner menu stems from Su’s Chinese and Asian background. “Really, they’re foods I’ve been cooking my entire life, they’re foods that I grew up with,” Su says. “For me, growing up in Los Angeles and living in New York and Boston, it’s those places and those tastes. They all make up what the menu is going to be.”

And have no fear: Su has reassured us that what catapulted him into our culinary consciousness will still be featured prominently on the Fat Choy menu, plus he’s still got his gourmet food truck. “We’re still going to have the bao. This is the evolution of Great Bao.” – Grace Bascos

CrItICs wrIte the book oN VeGas, PLus brIaN howarD DIshes aND PoPPy DeN Dreams Cookbooks and restaurant guides make excellent and practical Christmas gifts, and this year, there are two I wish to plug. The first is Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery ($50, Artisan), a large tome that the chef wrote with pastry chef and Frenchman Sebastien Rouxel. This is both a coffee-table book and a practical guide to baking both bread and pastry.

Keller told the press last week that the best thing a home baker can do to improve results is to buy a gram scale. “Baking is precision,” he told a crowd at Bouchon Bistro, his Venezia Tower restaurant. The second best thing, though, is to buy this beautifully illustrated and designed book.

I’d be remiss, then, if I didn’t plug my own book, Eating Las Vegas 2013, ($13, Huntington Press) by John Curtas, Al Mancini and me, with a foreword by GQ restaurant critic Alan Richman. The three of us go at it with our usual acrimony, yielding this year’s list of the 50 essential Las Vegas restaurants, each one taken apart separately by three very biased writers. The book also features a Top 10 restaurant list, and extensive information in the back of the book with regard to Chinatown, pizza, burgers and many other categories.

Meanwhile, chef Brian Howard has been busy at Comme Ça (in the Cosmopolitan, 698-7910), developing a new fall menu with his boss, chef/owner David Myers. (Howard is also marrying his girlfriend this week after a 10-year courtship; congratulations on both fronts.) I stopped in for a few dishes, as Howard again demonstrated why his restaurant is one of the Strip’s most innovative. Appetizers included slow-braised tongue, buttermilk-fried frog legs, duck confit with house-smoked bacon and cippolini onion, and a salad of pear and endive.

Entrées showed even more imagination. Leading the pack was a spice-rubbed pork Porterhouse from the Pahrump farm Howard shares with Nove chef Geno Bernardo; and a tender, glazed lamb shank accompanied by roasted butternut squash, currants and toasted hazelnut. The restaurant is doing seasonal side dishes as well: Creamed corn with chicharróns, Espelette pepper and lime is quite unusual; and charred Brussels sprouts with maple bacon and Banyuls (a sweet red wine from southeast France) is an inspired creation.

Many of us are looking forward to an end-of-theyear opening for Poppy Den, an Asian gastropub in Tivoli Village. The chef, Angelo Sosa, is quite a creative fellow. Things finally appear to be hopping at Tivoli. Bravo!

Finally, Bryan Forgione has been appointed executive chef at Society in Encore, replacing mentor Kim Canteenwalla, who is concentrating his efforts on Honey Salt. Bryan is the son of iconic American chef Larry Forgione, and Iron Chef Marc Forgione’s brother, so it’s all in the family. He’s a terrific talent, and I can’t wait to try his food.

Hungry, yet?

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

Photo by Anthony Mair

Dining

[ Continued from Page 69 ]

Dining

cooking with ...

lobster fra divolo

Makes 4 servings

Nicole Grimes

Upholding more than a century of tradition, Rao’s young chef de cuisine summons her family’s food history to keep the Feast of Seven Fishes alive

December 6-12, 2012

By Jen Chase

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➧ holiday food traditions don’t

discriminate. They crisscross the globe and resonate with anyone who has ever looked forward to a oncea-year dish. So when Nicole Grimes became chef de cuisine at Rao’s, memories of her Hungarian and Polish grandmother’s Christmas baccalà (salted cod) wafting through her Pittsburgh home compelled her to make the restaurant's holidays just as unforgettable. “I know, when I go out to eat, that feeling of disappointment you get if a meal doesn’t meet expectations,” Grimes says. “I want to make sure that Rao’s meets whatever expectation [diners] have in their head.”

Rao’s is the iconic ItalianAmerican restaurant whose flagship New York City location is so popular, Grimes says, that people come to Las Vegas thinking it’ll be easier to land a reservation—she then laughs while saying it isn’t. Known for its yearround Christmas decor that someone allegedly put up but never took down, Grimes keeps her holiday patrons

wine Pairings When it comes to matching wine to this dish, Grimes says a smoky, spicy, or even briny Oregon pinot noir is your best bet considering the heat from the peppers, the acid from the tomatoes and the richness of the lobster. She suggests the 2010 Torii Mor, $80 by the bottle at Rao's and $20 at Khoury's Fine Wine & Spirits.

happy with a recipe that’s one part youth (she’s 27), one part experience (the Cordon Bleutrained chef started at Rao’s in 2006 and was named chef de cuisine in 2009) and about 116 parts history. That last stat represents the years Rao’s has served its Feast of Seven Fishes, the Italian tradition of preparing a menu of seven seafood dishes (sometimes more) on Christmas Eve to commemorate waiting for the birth of Jesus.

Rao’s has historically offered

a prix-fixe feast, but because of its seafood-laden yearround menu, Grimes is keeping things au courant this year by adding a set of feast-worthy seafood specials for Christmas Eve along with Rao’s regular offerings. They include a spicy cioppino that’s a specialty of Grimes’ sous chef Fatimah Madyun. A pan-seared sea bass with a cous cous medley, wilted spinach, and zucchini and cherry tomatoes in a white wine-butter sauce is also recommended. For dessert there’s a chocolate pistachio yule log and a chocolate-covered cherry crème brûleé.

But the true fan favorite is Rao’s lobster fra divolo.

“It’s something special,” she says. “It’s something you put on the table, and everyone shares.” A subtle twist that might make Rao’s rendition a new tradition in your own holiday rotation is the bright bite of cherry peppers. They offer a one-two punch of heat and tang that is unmatched by chili flakes alone. As if all those garlands and bows weren’t enough to get you in the spirit.

Process the live lobsters by cutting each in half lengthwise from head to tail (hit YouTube if you’re never worked with live lobster before). Remove all of the meat and leave the tails whole. Discard the organs and the shell. In a large pot, heat 1 gallon of water to a rolling boil. Add salt to taste.

Cook the pasta until it’s al dente; drain and set aside.

While the pasta is cooking, heat a sauté pan over medium heat and add the olive oil and the garlic slices.

When the oil starts to shimmer, add the lobster tails; the remaining meat can be used in another dish such as lobster cocktail. Season with salt and black pepper, and cook the tails on each side for one minute. Deglaze the pan with the wine, and add the chili flakes and the diced cherry peppers. Let the wine reduce slightly, then add the stock and marinara sauce.

When the mixture comes to a boil, add the cooked pasta and garnish the dish with chopped parsley to finish.

Photography by Anthony Mair

2 1-pound lobsters 2 cups marinara sauce K cup lobster stock (or vegetable stock) N cup dry white wine Pinch of chili flakes 2 mild cherry peppers, diced 1 clove garlic, sliced 1 ounce olive oil K pound tagliolini pasta Salt Freshly ground black pepper Flatleaf parsley, chopped

Dining

Koi at Planet Hollywood recently launched its omakase, or “chef’s choice” menu, available through Dec. 25. The eight-course meal features the greatest hits of Koi’s contemporary Japanese menu, from both the sushi bar and the hot kitchen, for the holiday-friendly price of $50 per person.

454-4555, KoiRestaurant.com.

Crispy riCe wiTh spiCy Tuna

One of Koi’s signature items, small sushi rice cakes are browned on all sides to create a crunchy, golden-brown crust. A concoction of minced tuna accented with lots of togarashi shichimi (ground Japanese red pepper) tops the crispy rice for a great contrast in flavors and textures.

unagi anD Foie gras nigiri

Gorgeous salmon is sliced paperthin, such that it almost melts when it hits your tongue, and releases the essence of the fragrant black truffle that tops it. A bright, briny dash of citrus soy cuts into the richness of the truffle and salmon.

This isn’t your typical nigiri served from a Japanese sushi bar, considering that the proteins atop the sushi rice are, well, cooked. Unagi (freshwater eel) is slightly sweet and meaty, and topped with a small but noteworthy bite of foie gras for lots of decadent umami flavor.

Tempura KaboCha squash

DuCK breasT

salmon CarpaCCio

Koi dips into the season’s bounty with these thin slivers of orange kabocha squash, which turn tender and almost creamy after they’ve been cooked. Those who may be afraid of autumn gourds have nothing to fear—this squash is dipped into an airy tempura batter and

Another of the season’s favorites, pan-seared duck breast is cooked to the proper temperature to maintain is juiciness and intense flavor.

The accompanying pomegranate ginger glaze adds a nice touch of acidity and bite that pop for this luscious duck.

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

December 6-12, 2012

Compiled by Grace Bascos

deep fried, then served with a classic tempura dipping sauce. Which of course makes everything better.

73 VEGAS SEVEN

Dishing

Exotic, to a Tea The Marrakech–Bangkok it’s an interesting proposition: Create a menu of three truly

memorable specialty cocktails that can also be served without alcohol and still stand on their own. These drinks would be offered at the newly opened Delano Marrakech in Morocco, a city where for some, alcohol is out of the question. But as taste is never negotiable, Emilio Tiburcio, a Las Vegas mixologist, accepted the challenge.

During his visit, Tiburcio was inspired by the markets, with their profusion of intense spices, vibrant flowers and exotic fruit, and by the mystery of the desert at nighttime. To further infuse a sense of place, Tiburcio incorporated a teapot—typical of Moroccan tea culture in the Maghreb, where it is used to pour tea from a distance to create a layer of foam in the tea glass— to serve his infused syrups and noncarbonated mixers. In particular, the Marrakech-Bangkok marries Tiburcio’s Moroccan-inspired ingredients and service style with lime and ginger, borrowed from Thai culture—international hospitality at its most delicious.

desert diamond distillery, stV Wnn opns Vdka, and prohibition 101 • Serendipitously enough, I spent Small Business Saturday in Kingman, Ariz., where the familyowned Desert Diamond Distillery is making a complete portfolio of Gold Miner rums available at Khoury’s Fine Wine & Spirits for $33. Using the first semi-automated distilling system in the U.S., two generations of Patts are putting out a mixable silver; the sippable Barrel Reserve; the complex, awardwinning dark; and a sweet blue-agave flavored rum.

Their holiday barrel program lets you gift someone very special their own 5-liter barrel of rum, which ages at Desert Diamond until it’s time for the recipient to help with bottling, labeling and waxdipping ($375, yields 8-10 barrels). The Patts also periodically make vodka, and their first whiskey will come on line in about one year. Established in 2009 and opened in 2012, the tiny, high-tech distillery and tasting room are a day-trippable 112 miles from Las Vegas. If you go, tell Deborah Patt I’m loving the chocolate-nib notes in my bottle of dark rum, and can still taste the orange peel and eucalyptus in reserve barrel No. 2. DesertDiamondDistillery.com.

• Francesco Lafranconi is staying busy this winter.

Not only is the Southern Wine & Spirits of Nevada executive director of mixology/spirits educator doing the menu at Scarlet, opening this month in the former Stuff store next to N9NE Steakhouse in the Palms, he is also mixing for Mr. Wynn. VDKA, a martini and infusion outpost operated by Las Vegas Nightlife Group, will open Dec. 28 along with Andrea’s just outside Surrender, capping off the trifecta of nightclub/dayclub, hip Asian supper club and now a bar. Bartenders will serve more than 150 flavored vodkas straight up from the city’s first Shock-A-Vodka speed-draft system (read: chilled vodka on tap) or in an original Lafranconi cocktail.

December 6-12, 2012

• Once the proof of your Repeal Day revelry has left your system, you might be itching to give it a go yourself. Comme Ça in the Cosmopolitan is happy to oblige. Learn the secrets of Sam Ross’ recently updated 18A cocktail program (try the Apple Sizzle!) during a one-hour Prohibition Bartending 101 class, where you can create your own throwback creation, enjoy paired hors d’oeuvres and keep the cocktail recipe book and bar kit. $150 per person, call 698-7910 at least one week in advance to book for up to six people.

74 VEGAS SEVEN

[ Scene StirS ]

Find the recipe for Tiburcio’s Marrakech-Bangkok at VegasSeven.com/cocktail-culture.

• Following a two-year sojourn in Maui, the only bartender to both open and close Body English will reappear along with the beloved Hard Rock Hotel nightclub Dec. 28, although this time instead of slinging cocktails from behind the stick, Sean Charsley will be moving them in bulk as a VIP host. “Body English holds a special place in my heart,” he says. “It closed before its time.”

Indeed, welcome back—both of you!

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

Photo by Kin Lui

Dining

drinking

A&E

Featuring a tag team of talents, they couldn’t put more ya-ain’t-seen-nuttin-yet verve into pleasing audiences if they were all Al Jolson reborn. shOwstOpper {page 87}

Music, movies, books, concerts and satanic art

By Danny Axelrod

ists, ranging from locals (Sean Russell, Chris Bauder and Vegas Seven contributors Pj Perez and Jarret Keene) to legends (R. Crumb and Peter Bagge) to 17th-century artist and social critic William Hogarth. It is also a mixed bag of historical and metaphorical perspectives on the industry within the Silver State.

The book itself is substantial both physically and culturally: The pink hardcover encapsulates the contributions of 34

artists and writers. The cover art by Texas-based illustrator “Miggy” Aguilar sums up the topic in succinct (and hallucinogenic) fashion. In Lust’s universe, johns are revealed to be lewd beasts who aren’t the only things “prickly” out here in the desert. And courtesans are diminutive-yet-irresistible objects of desire.

Each piece in the collection elucidates the theme of life and

[ Continued on Page 78 ]

December 6-12, 2012

With Lust to Dust, an artist ßnds a fresh way to explore a controversial topic— all he needed was a venue

Michael Ogilvie is making a habit out of exploring grown-up themes through comics. In 2009, the 35-year-old writer and illustrator self-published Drunk, a comic anthology that meditated on barroom and drinking culture, and the book drew plenty of attention locally and nationally.

His latest effort, Lust to Dust, follows the same blueprint as Drunk, this time focusing on prostitution in Nevada. It has an impressive collection of art-

77 VEGAS SEVEN

Photo by Marcos Rivera

Prostitution Provocateur

The art in Lust to Dust ranges from primitive-style drawings to leather-clad photography.

reading

A&E

[ Continued from Page 77 ]

From Lust to Dust: (clockwise from left) art by Jay Bailey, panels by Orlando Montenegro and the book cover.

VEGAS SEVEN

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death, both real and imagined, was published, Ogilvie lost his in Nevada’s brothels. Seen in a job as a cultural leader at the Las kaleidoscope of drawing styles, Vegas Office of Cultural Affairs, the oft-ignored subject matter and then his house. He stayed gains a sort of visibility. If it in motels while trying to find can be seen and reinterpreted work, eventually resorting to through so many eyes, then the sleeping in his truck. “It’s those marginalized characters must kind of circumstances that push exist and, by consequence, must people into those decisions matter. For example, the work where it may not be something of artist Victor Moya (written by that they want to do, but they Keene) in “Celeste Shade, The don’t have a whole lot of opParanormal Prostitute” tions,” he says. is quite recognizThe experience able as being in ended up being the mainstream the beginning of vein of Marvel an impetus for or DC ComLust to Dust. “I ics, while started thinkPopeye the ing about Sailor makes what my oprepeated tions were as a appearances male,” Ogilvie Ogilvie as the muse for says. “I sort of more than one saw them as to eiartist, including ther become a soldier Ogilvie. The publisher’s or possibly a criminal.” collaboration with Nani Laura As a joke, he even contemplated and artist Noelle Garcia, “Drink prostitution, which led him to and Always Be,” is a tale of consider what his options might doomed love between two sad be if his gender were switched. souls that stays with the reader.

As a longtime Nevadan who grew Although its tone ranges up with an awareness of the from humorous and bawdy to state’s unique vice laws, Ogilvie heartbreaking and macabre, had an optimal subject for his Ogilvie has imbued the collecnext project. tion with an overarching sense “My goal for any project is of loss and desperation that to just break even,” he says, comes from his own personal “and just to do something that experience. Not long after Drunk isn’t daft.”

He eventually found employment for a year at an arts center in Wisconsin, moved back to Nevada, was homeless for a while and then worked in snow removal—spending every free moment on the book for almost a year. Ogilvie was able to draw upon many of his contributors from Drunk, and had everything in place by the end of 2011.

Once the book was ready, Ogilvie procured bids for a limited-edition printing. “We were all set to have the books printed in China, but then the Chinese government deemed it as pornography,” he recalls.

I tried to explain that it wasn’t pornography, but there were already some translation issues. They basically said it was forbidden.” Undeterred, Ogilvie secured a competing bid from Singapore for printing in Hong Kong, which, Ogilvie says is “awash in pornography.”

When the book was ready for release, Ogilvie planned an exhibit of the book’s art accompanied by a book-signing event. CSN Fine Art Museum photo exhibit manager (and Lust contributor) Christopher Tsouras obliged with an engagement through November.

The exhibit’s promotion caught the attention of a CSN economics instructor, who

objected to the provocative Lust to Dust cover image (a cactus doubles as a phallus, for one thing). The complaint traveled quickly up his artists marketing the idea the chain to the regents. The that censorship of Lust to Dust exhibit was allowed to continue, didn’t end with China, claiming but a new legal question was it had been banned at CSN. exposed: Would Tsouras and “Mark your calendars and tell local artist Russell (also a CSN your friends to come see the instructor) be breaking state show that was banned in Vegas guidelines by deriving monetary and buy the book that was gain from sales that occurred banned in China!” during the on-campus signing?

Friend, Lust contributor and In answer, both the book and Photo Bang Bang owner Marbook-signing were cos Rivera volunruled out. teered his space. The Lust to dust “For me, [the book] exhibit, including all at Photo Bang Bang was the whole heart 34 artists’ original of the thing,” Ogilvie works and the cover Dec. 7 First says. And after only that launched a Friday receptwo weeks of being CSN instructor’s tion and by on display, Ogilvie wrath, runs through appointment, pulled down the exDecember. A recep224 E. Imperial hibit. He had found a tion and signing Ave., 527-2264, new space that would featuring all of the PhotoBangBang. give him everything artists took place on com. Purchase he wanted.

Nov. 30, and another the book at LustHere’s where event, open to the ToDust.com for things get a little PT public, is scheduled $25.

Barnum. Ogilvie sent for the Dec. 7 First out a Nov. 9 e-mail to Friday.

Ogilvie photo by Marcos Rivera

December 6-12, 2012

Each piEcE in thE collEction ElucidatEs thE thEmE of lifE and dEath, both rEal and imaginEd, in nEvada’s brothEls.

Music Dead Prez play LVCS on Dec. 9.

Mercies, WhaMMies, Presidents

December 6-12, 2012

I’ve been petty about something and need to come clean.

I intentionally ignored Vegas singer/guitarist Brendan Scholz’s new one-man acoustic project, Mercy Music, for this reason: Scholz essentially sidelined his band Deadhand to make time for his new tunes. Since Deadhand is my favorite rock outfit, I didn’t want to encourage him. I can’t deny it anymore: Mercy Music is a sonic blessing. I love it.

Scholz launched his power-pop/ folk venture in October. He recently completed a short West Coast tour and will be playing a few East Coast dates in January. Meantime, he’s recording tracks for the Hurley clothing company’s spring sampler and hopes to release a debut EP, Captain of the Men of Death, before the new year.

Tracks you can expect to hear on the EP are on Mercy Music’s Bandcamp and ReverbNation sites. There’s the irresistible melody of “Bird of Death,” the staccato-strum of “With Love,” and the Elvis Costello-grade lyrics of “Fine.” (All I know is self-destruction/Fail to keep myself in line/You’re free to the assumption/That everything will be just fine) Not everything on the EP will be solo-acoustic; Scholz has three full-band tracks in the works.

I chatted with Scholz about his influences, which range from Graham Parker to Paul Westerberg. Clearly he has elite taste for a 26-year-old!

Mercy Music plays Hillary Salon in

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the Arts Factory at 8 p.m. Dec. 7, and is free.

Other shows for which you should scrape together cash: Newly assembled rockabilly supergroup The Whammy wallops Vinyl in the Hard Rock Hotel at 9:30 p.m.

Dec. 8. The band features Stray Cats skinsman Slim Jim Phantom, Polecats front man Tim Polecat and Guana Batz bassman Jonny Bowler—each an allstar vet of retro-rock. The Whammy doesn’t have an album out, so catch ’em live and working out the kinks before they enter a studio in the spring.

The band performs covers (from Elvis to the Cats) and originals, which means many songs will be familiar.

One of the best rap acts of all time? For my money, it’s the politically conscious, underground hip-hop group Dead Prez. The duo, consisting of stic.man and M-1, released a couple of albums on Columbia/Sony in the early “aughts” to massive acclaim. The Prez’s bestknown jam is probably 2004’s “Hell Yeah,” with the lyric: Fuck welfare/ We say reparations. They laid low for a while until busting out this year’s magnificent Information Age, which features club-slammin’ track “Dirty White Girl.” Dead Prez enliven LVCS at 8 p.m. Dec. 9.

Your Vegas band set to release a debut EP/ album? E-mail jarret_keene@yahoo.com.

[ Videography ]

“BaBy Man,” the Mad Caps Director Ryen McPherson of Shoot to Kill (a Wendoh sister company) produces arresting videos for Las Vegas bands. Who can forget Dude City confronting bikers in a desert tavern in “Technology”? Or Candy Warpop battered by a sadistic birthday princess in “Smilefucker”?

Or Deadhand blowing up the Magic Kingdom in “Places”? Add to that the image of twin pregnant blondes belly-bashing each other until one births a disco ball in blues-rock duo the Mad Caps’ “Baby Man.” Framed by a hilarious Masterpiece Theatre-esque host, the video is set in an abandoned warehouse. There, drummer Jon Real and singer/guitarist Ted Rader churn out a gutbucket ode to virile manhood as the siblings synchro-gyrate and grind.

“Nothing short of despicable art,” the host concludes. Yes, the best kind. – J.K.

music

cD reVieWs

By Andreas Hale Progressive West-Coast raP

Pac Div, GMB (RBC Records) The major-label ups and downs for Cali trio Pac Div haven’t diminished their musical prowess. Gabe (Like), Mike (Mibbs) and Bryan (BeYoung) release their second studio title GMB, an acronym of their names, so fans can know the men behind the music. Humorous punch lines, California swag and rumbling production stuff these 17 tracks. The Mac Miller-assisted “Black Acura” and the collaboration with Kendrick Lamar and Blu, “Cross Trainers,” will rumble trunks and snap necks. But the finest moment on the album is the heist narrative, “Bank,” where they unleash their frustrations of not “making it” by plotting a Reservoir Dogs-style bank robbery. They should have made it by now—they’re just too damn good not to. ★★★★✩ reality raP

1 . Led Zeppelin, Celebration Day 2. MGK, Lace Up 3. Alicia Keys, Girl on Fire 4. Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d. city 5. Deftones, Koi No Yokan 6. Mumford & Sons, Babel 7. Rage Against the Machine, XX (20th Anniversary Edition) 8. Soundgarden, King Animal 9. Rihanna, Unapologetic 10. The Weeknd, Trilogy

Freeway’s scraping grunt has been a staple in hip-hop for the past decade as he’s survived the fall of Roc-A-Fella to carve out his own lane. Even without Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel and the rest by his side, the bearded rapper proved that he’s able to stand on his own. With a stellar production team and mostly Philly guests, Diamond in the Rough is yet another solid album from Freeway.

With an impeccable ear for production, his voice traverses over soulful offerings from Jake One (“The Thirst”), Bink (“Dream Big”) and longtime collaborator Just Blaze (“Early”). Although it doesn’t offer anything new, Freeway’s latest is still entertaining. Surely, Jay-Z is nodding his head in approval somewhere. ★★★✩✩ soulful Christmas Cheer

Cee-Lo Green,

Cee Lo’s Magic Moment (Elektra) It’s hard to accept that Cee-Lo Green was part of Atlanta hip-hop group Goodie Mob in the ’90s. When you consider the strides he has made since (Gnarls Barkley, a judge on NBC’s The Voice), the alienation of his original fan base springs to mind. His Christmas album is just as polarizing: Cee-Lo’s Magic Moment is more Mariah Carey than OutKast. Longtime fans will scoff at collaborations with Rod Stewart and the Muppets. Still, Cee-Lo manages to craft a groovy Christmas album packed with old-school soul. Yes, it can come off extraordinarily cheesy but when you hear “The Christmas Song,” mostly all is forgiven. ★★★✩✩

Disc scan

81

DeC. 11: Before game goes all “reality TV” on us, he’ll drop Jesus Piece with its highly questionable album cover. Here’s to hyping up your marriage show! DeC. 18: Not that I’m a fan, but the belligerence of Chicago rapper Chief Keef is captivating as he’ll drop Finally Rich and the countdown will begin as to when he’ll go back to jail (or do something really stupid).

VEGAS SEVEN

According to sales at Zia Record Exchange on 4225 S. Eastern Ave., Nov. 26-Dec. 3.

Diamond in the Rough (Babygrande)

December 6-12, 2012

What We’re Buying

Freeway,

Upcoming albums on Andreas’ radar ...

aerosmitH

MGM Grand Garden Arena, Dec. 1 When four well-dressed elderly ladies rolled into the arena—and I mean literally rolled in, on Rascals, not braking until they reached their floor seats five minutes before opening act Cheap Trick hit the stage—my first thought was: “Aww, how sweet. They heard Steven Tyler was performing and think this is going to be like American Idol!”

My second thought, after scanning the arena and spotting many more sexagenarians: “Oh, shit—is this going to be like American Idol?”

After Cheap Trick’s heavy, fastpaced 60-minute set—followed by a 30-minute stage-change break—Tyler and career partner-in-crime Joe Perry emerged from underneath the long catwalk that extended from the stage, and I got my answer in the form of the opening bars of “Mama Kin,” the hard-rocking song that kicks off the “B” side of Aerosmith’s self-titled debut album. It wouldn’t be the only classic that the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers would pull from that 1973 release—they performed half of the eight-song disc (including, of course, “Dream On”). The crowd was also treated to three songs off 1973’s Toys in the Attic (including “Walk This Way” and show-closer “Sweet Emotion”), two from 1976’s Rocks (including “Last Child,” on which co-lead guitarist Brad Whitford shared six-string duties with his son, Harrison) and later-career hits such as “Love in an Elevator,” “Rag Doll,” “Livin’ on the Edge” and “Dude (Looks Like a Lady).”

The most noteworthy (and refreshing) part of the two-hour

show? The decision to leave such cheesy ballads as “Crazy” and “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” on the cutting-room floor. It was as if the band—speaking of sexagenarians— wanted to show that after nearly four decades they could still rock

as hard as they once partied. And that they did, with the 64-year-old Tyler’s voice and the 62-year-old Perry’s fingers, in particular, belying their birth certificates. That’s not to say that age isn’t catching up to the band. For instance, a

teleprompter scrolling lyrics at the edge of the catwalk was there for Tyler just in case, while a keyboardist barely visible at the back of the stage supplied most of the background vocals. But those were minor infractions on what was a

night that proved to fans young and (very) old that Tyler’s popular—if inexcusable—two-year stint as an Idol judge didn’t kill one of America’s greatest rock bands. In fact, dare I say, it may have made them stronger. ★★★★✩ – Matt Jacob

Big Bad Voodoo daddy’s swingin’ Holiday party December 6-12, 2012

Orleans Showroom, Nov. 30

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In the hands of someone else, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy front man Scotty Morris’ aping of the conventions of the Swing era—not only the sounds and styles, but the showmanship, too—could come off like a ball of Brie dipped in Velveeta with shredded mozzarella on top. But Morris has such a palpable affection for his influences, it’s hard to read the nine-piece band’s style as anything but charming.

Tack on uptempo holiday fare and it’s a double dose of quaint winsomeness that powers through its knowingly cheeseball premise into something genuinely, unaffectedly convivial. Also, they all have really nice hats, and haberdashery always toys with our affections.

The only knock on the band is they’re so polished, there was little room for improv. Although that made the cacophonous “Zig Zaggity Woop Woop” stand out like a rumpled pocket square on a well-pressed pin-striped double-breaster.

Dipping into their 2004 release Everything You Want for

Christmas for about half the show, the Daddies gave the Mannheim Steamroller-fatigued set something to remind them that holiday music need not be dreary. They used the other half of the concert to showcase old hits and a selection of jams

off newest release Rattle Them Bones, which sees the outfit trading in their straight swing for a little hot jazz. But the heat was second fiddle on a night of boozy, brassy snow. ★★★✩✩ – Jason Scavone

Aerosmith by Mikey McNulty; Big Bad VooDoo Daddy by Bryan Schnitzer Classical

a&e

concerts

Alice cooper The Pearl, Nov. 30

Alice Cooper by Denise Truscello; Classical Mystery Tour by Glenn Brogan

Even the architect of shock rock himself could sustain a career for only so long if it were based solely on outrageous stage theatrics and gimmickry. Ultimately, it’s a catalog containing some of the greatest teenage anthems of all time that has kept Cooper entertaining audiences for more than 40 years.

Sure, there was plenty of macabre vaudeville and nightmarish spectacle during the tightly crafted show: A shower of sparks rained down across the stage for opener “Hello Hooray”; Cooper wielded a money-bearing sword during “Billion Dollar Babies,” was bound in a straitjacket before “Ballad of Dwight Fry,” had a boa constrictor draped around him for “Devil’s Food,” and was strapped to an operating table and “transformed” into a giant monstrosity in “Feed My Frankenstein.” The band’s threeguitar lineup was highlighted by Australian hottie Orianthi, who provided a perfect foil for Cooper during songs such as “I’ll Bite Your Face Off” and “Hey Stoopid” while also showing off her virtuosity.

This being the Raise the Dead tour, Cooper, 64, paid tribute to some of his fallen friends with sincere renditions of “Break on Through (to the Other Side),” “Revolution,” “Foxy Lady” and “My Generation” as tombstones for Jim Morrison, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix and Keith Moon were shown on the backdrop.

Following the flurry of “I’m Eighteen,” “Under My Wheels” and “Poison,” Cooper closed with the timeless “School’s Out,” weaving a bit of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)” into it. Unlike at most veteran bands’ concerts with a seated floor, the audience chose to stand for the entire 90-minute show, demonstrating that even on the verge of being eligible for Social Security, Cooper is still capable of instilling teenage rebellion and youthful spirit into his aging fan base. And that never gets old. ★★★★✩ – Sean DeFrank

clAssicAl Mystery tour The Smith Center, Nov. 30

As strings gently played “Let It Be,” four musicians took the stage in trademark Beatles black suits and mop tops.

They could have been the real thing if your eyesight was poor—as was likely the case for the majority seniorcitizen audience. The guys had clearly studied every nuance, particularly John Brosnan, who channeled George Harrison (it was a disappointment that Tony Kishman didn’t play his bass left-handed). In short, this is what The Beatles would have sounded like if they had gotten the chance to perform onstage with a live orchestra.

Though Reynolds Hall was packed, there was little sign of Beatlemania. The subdued audience politely clapped after each song, which included “Magical Mystery Tour,” “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Yesterday.” Despite the quiet, it was a strain to hear the music at times. The banter woke everyone up a bit, from jokes (“Here’s something The Beatles never said: Check out our website!”), to costume changes (including satin Sgt. Pepper uniforms and long wigs).

Despite best efforts from the stage, you couldn’t fully appreciate

the scope of the orchestra until the second set on “Live and Let Die,” when it seemed that someone turned up the volume. “Imagine” was another standout. It was surprising they didn’t take full advantage of the orchestra. A few songs simply had the orchestra fill in on handclaps, and it was generally obscured behind the drum shield. Ideally, the band would’ve focused more on those perfect for arrangement, such as the absent “Eleanor Rigby” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” ★★✩✩✩ – Deanna Rilling

AN EXPLETIVE GIFT: I could plant a huge, wet kiss on the Palms for inviting the Supersuckers—the world’s greatest rock band, self-appointed—to dirty its sheets. The venerable cowpunk band, scheduled to play the Lounge at the Palms on Dec. 8 ($15, $13 in advance), has maybe three to five songs that don’t have the word “fuck” in the title, and even those songs are loud, raucous and profane—in other words, they’re everything rock ’n’ roll used to be before we left the door open and Matchbox 20 wandered in. It’s tough to predict just what kind of show that Thunder, Chango, Metal Marty and Eddie Spaghetti are planning to give us; they don’t appear to have any new music coming out any time soon, and according to the band’s Facebook page, they keep going only because “we have absolutely no other skills.” But here’s the thing: It doesn’t matter why the Supersuckers are coming here. Their live show is fun like nothing else is fun.

And they’ll earn that $13-$15 ticket price, and then some, halfway through “Born With a Tail.”

EVERYBODY IN THE JOINT: The Shins play The Joint at the Hard Rock on Dec. 6 ($39)—and this being a rock radio package show, they’re bringing All The Indie Music with them. Let’s say that the Shins alone aren’t enough for you, despite the fact that the band remains the emo standard-bearer. That’s fine, bro—because this show also features Passion Pit, Youngblood Hawke and AWOLNATION. It’s practically an entire frigging iTunes Genius mix for the price of one mopey, but likable folk-rock ensemble from Portland, Ore. NOW ON SALE: I believe it was Warhol who said, “In the future, every fading buttrock superpower will have a nine-show residency at the Hard Rock Hotel.”

On March 22, it’s Def Leppard’s turn. The English pop-metal band follows Guns N’ Roses and Mötley Crüe into The Joint with VIVA Hysteria, a one-off series of shows in which Def Leppard will play its 1987 album Hysteria in its entirety. (They’ll also play “a greatest hits segment,” the idea of which baffles me: What is Hysteria, if not a self-contained greatest hits segment?) Tickets are $46 to $121—actually not a bad deal.

ART

GRIMM Dec. 6-21, Blackbird Gallery.

Blackbird has proven itself again and again as one of the most adventurous galleries in the Arts District. Most recently, it turned a show of Su Limbert’s work into a giant storybook. With a yearend group show themed to Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Blackbird takes another step toward the sublime: Gallerist Gina Quaranto promises the show looks like “some kind of enchanted forest.” Believe her. 1551 S. Commerce St., 782-0319; BlackbirdStudiosLV.com.

[ Faces oF First Friday ]

Devil’s Work

Black Camaro guitarist moonlights as Satanic artist December 6-12, 2012

By Jarret Keene

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STepping inTo cozy Kleven Contemporary, an adorable gallerynook nestled in downtown’s Emergency Arts, I’m curious to meet the Vegas artist responsible for the acrylic-and-wood pieces on the walls. T.G. Miller, I think to myself. I wonder who he or she is and why I’ve never heard the name before.

Imagine my surprise when in saunters a rock ’n’ roll animal,

Black Camaro guitarist Tom Miller, whom I’ve seen and heard play onstage many times with his psyche-pop band in situations as bizarre as a sweet-16 party in an Arizona Charlie’s ballroom.

“Tom?” I say. “You’re an artist?”

“You’re a writer?” he quips.

Turns out T.G.—middle name: Gilbert—graduated from UNLV

in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in art, studying painting with professors Jim Pink, Tom Holder and Bill Leaf, and with art and culture critic Dave Hickey (who then taught at UNLV). Hickey’s influence is apparent in Miller’s clean, attractive, design-heavy works that comprise his first solo Kleven exhibit, Acrylic Satanic. Miller is a punked-up, black-metal version of Hickey protégé Tim Bavington, whose stripe paintings, titled after rock tunes, translate song dynamics into color bands. Miller, by contrast, blends the synthetic (acrylic) and the organic (wood) to evoke clean decay, tidy aggression, pretty chaos.

“When Hickey joined UNLV, he saved me,” Miller says. “He’d tell me, ‘Just make art, make it look cool and don’t worry about what you’re saying. And, God,

PRISMA: SECOND SIGHT Dec. 6-24, Trifecta Gallery in The Arts Factory.

The PRISMA Artist Collective includes 30 painters, sculptors and illustrators from all over the world, a proud association of individuals representing some of the most gifted pop surrealists working today. And this month, Trifecta presents works by 14 of them, including Rod Luff, HsiaoRon Cheng and Casey Weldon.

107 E. Charleston Blvd., Suite 135, 366-7001; TrifectaGallery.com.

–Geoff Carter

don’t write a long-winded artmurky hues suggesting sepsis, ist’s statement that’s full of shit. failure. “Anesthetic Satanic,” with Make what you make, make 10 its gangrenous ends, reminds us of them and move on.’ Then that the structure that contains he’d flick cigarette ash on me.”

Kleven was once a medical The advice was liberating. clinic, the room we’ve gathered Acrylic Satanic sports four roughly in formerly used to examine 15-by-40-inch works—a triptych, patients. a diptych and two single-panel All of it ominous, yet hardly works. Miller’s decadelong devilish. Then again, it could stint as a print-shop employee be argued that the wood, while is evident in the commercialpurchased cheaply at Home signage traits. Indeed, in print Depot, signifies pagan nature, jobs for hotel-casinos, photos even as the neat, vibrant acrylic are mounted on or framed by elements symbolize forbidden acrylic. Miller intended to make fruit, decadent candy. synthetic polymer the subject “The title sounds poetic,” rather than a carrier. says Miller, who, as the son “Few use acrylic as a medium,” of a helicopter pilot, grew up he says. “It’s something to put on military bases in Southeast your prints behind. I wanted a Asia. “This wouldn’t work with way to present acrylic differa bunch of pentagrams.” ently. Since I’ve been working Miller’s previous shows with it for 10 years, I thought I were more painting-focused could figure it out.” and were displayed in venues He did. Each of his resulting such as Hillary Salon and the works is simultaneously unique common area of Emergency and familiar. “Infantric Satanic,” Arts. Satanic marks his debut for instance, emanates military- in a proper gallery. Because his green aggression with a Red work here cuts across artistic Army-toned, Stardust-sign flake tags—sculptural, conceptual, glowing in the center, a pulspainterly, photographic—it ing wound. The piece’s overall seems Miller has reached a new shape and design plateau. He isn’t recall the iconic likely to remain on it.

AcRylic SATAnic: new Atari “Fuji” logo, “Sometimes you woRkS by T.g. MilleR adding a nostalgic want to put things touch to what might to rest and move Through Dec. 15, be a soft critique of on,” he says. “Finish Kleven Contempowar-gaming. your set and get to rary in Emergency Then there’s the next gig. When Arts, 520 E. Fremont “Neocitric Satanic,” it’s over, you don’t St., 501-9093, Klevwith a blood-orange want to hang out.” enContemporary. aura of citrus-based Spoken like a tumblr.com. evil, and “Pantrue rock ’n’ roll Creatic Satanic,” its animal.

Photo by Krystal Ramirez

A&E

Two More Can’T-Miss shows in DeCeMber

stage

Phanning the flames of showmanshiP at the Plaza

STRIP POSTSCRIPT: Chatting up cast members and director Kristin Hanggi of the about-to-open, ’80s-crazed Rock of Ages at the Venetian revealed they were unaware of their modest, but musically similar competition, Planet Hollywood’s LegWarmers: An 80s Musical.

Several vowed to take in the show. Not to ignite a feud, but hey, LegWarmers cast, they’re probably out there in the crowd, so hit ’em with your best shot.

Starting Dec. 18, they hit back.

What shows do you think are “phat”? E-mail your picks to steve.bornfeld@vegasseven.com.

December 6-12, 2012

gling harmonies. Separately, they lead us on journeys through their offstage lives and onstage loves, punctuated by music and photos. As much as you can initiate friendships with performers over 75 minutes, you can here.

Highlights: Keith’s rich, power baritone on 1776’s “Is Anybody There,” the passion freedom cry of the John Adams character, and Les Miserables’ achingly gorgeous, “Bring Him Home”; Ewing’s sentimental “I’ll Be Seeing You,” sung to a photo of his late dad, and his galloping “It’s All Right With Me” set to Singer’s furious bass-plucking; Hale, previewing his Cash on a growling “Folsom Prison Blues”; and refreshingly offbeat selections including “Pretty Lady” from Pacific Overtures, The Beatles’ “I Will,” the self-deprecating “Men of a Certain Age” and the puckish, “I’d Rather Be Nine People’s Favorite Thing Than a Hundred People’s Ninth Favorite Thing.” Plus more, sprinting by at a brisk clip in a damn-happy-to-be-here atmosphere.

While the word “retro” is often soaked in camp and irony, The Phat Pack embraces it with winning sincerity, a reminder of why, when executed this skillfully, yesterday’s let’s-give-’em-a-show! ethos should survive for endless tomorrows.

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fabulous beyond words —though those that follow will have to do.

Thrice-weekly (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays) in the modest Plaza Showroom now dwells The Phat Pack, the standard-setter for Vegas variety entertainment, throwback division.

Featuring a tag team of talents, they couldn’t put more ya-ain’t-seen-nuttinyet verve into pleasing audiences if they were all Al Jolson reborn.

Even with a cast substitution at last week’s soft-opening night, this old-time/good-time feast of standards, show tunes, clever originals, impish humor and enough showman’s electricity to power all the neon on Fremont Street hums with joy.

Comprised of Bruce Ewing, Randal Keith and Ted Keegan, the trio having met as cast members of now-closed Phantom—The Las Vegas Spectacular, the pack is beautifully assisted by Debbie Reynolds’ longtime musical director, Joey Singer. Missing this night’s show because of his dad’s death, Keegan was replaced by super-stand-in Benjamin Hale, who will co-star as Johnny Cash in Harrah’s upcoming Million Dollar Quartet—and hopefully can make return appearances. Crackling musical-theater firepower here: Ewing was a veteran star of Forever Plaid, while Keith essayed Jean Valjean in Broadway’s Les Misérables and Keegan’s invested a dozen years portraying the Phantom in New York and on tour.

Having honed it in community venues—its name a split salute to Phantom “phans” and the Rat Pack— they’ve delivered an intimate dazzler to the Plaza that will knock out older patrons and, if there’s justice, rope in, and clue in, the young’uns.

Tuxedo-clad, but with undone ties fostering a casual vibe befitting the cozy room, they’re more charming musical raconteurs than mere singers. Together, they create skin-tin-

A&E

movies

the art of assassination

Brad Pitt plays a killer with a soã touch in this compelling black comedy

By Michael Phillips

Tribune Media Services in an ugly economy, murder becomes the last beautiful act.

That’s the state of the nation in Killing Them Softly, a harsh and stimulating black comedy set in the recent past, starring Brad Pitt as a hit man hired to eliminate, in his own inimitable style, some underworld thieves in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Taking place in 2008, the film comes from the New Zealandborn, Australia-bred writerdirector Andrew Dominik. He teamed with Pitt five years ago on The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Following that difficult but often magnificent elegy, which went nowhere in financial terms but already looks like a modern classic, Dominik had the devil’s own time getting his next project together in Hollywood.

You can tell. Much of the dialogue in Killing Them Softly concerns financial difficulties experienced by contract killers as well as the shady characters employing them. At one point, conversing in the car where they conduct their meetings,

Pitt’s Jackie Cogan tells his overseer, played by Richard Jenkins, that he’d like to bring in a second assassin to help out.

Jenkins’ character replies: “They are not gonna OK anything major here.” Surely this is a line Dominik heard in one studio executive’s office or another.

There’s a mob movie in there somewhere, too. Dominik freely adapted the 1974 George V. Higgins novel Cogan’s Trade.

It begins with a nervy idea for a robbery that, miraculously, works: Johnny Amato (Vincent Curatola, who played Johnny Sack on The Sopranos) enlists a couple of addled punks (Scoot McNairy and Ben Mendelsohn) to rob a high-stakes poker game controlled by Markie.

He’s played by Ray Liotta, whose part may have been curtailed in the editing; the film runs a tight 97 minutes.

The stolen money is mob money, which means retribution must be exacted. Jackie, costumed for maximum ’70s cool, sub-contracts some of the work to his old pal Mickey

This hit man (Pitt) is just trying to get by in a down economy.

(James Gandolfini), an alcoholsoaked has-been with a thing for prostitutes. Much of this is familiar; most everything interesting in Killing Them Softly couldn’t care less about the primary narrative line. This is a talkative picture, allowing time and space for comically preoccupied and quirkily pathetic exchanges between all sorts of strays and losers.

The title refers to a clichéd romantic notion of Jackie’s approach to his job—nice and easy, exemplified by a key killing depicted by Dominik as a gorgeous slow-motion blur of shattered glass, flying bullets and aesthetic perfection. A little of this creamy slaughter goes a long way. Some of the dialogue in Killing Them Softly bonks

you right on the schnozz. The thesis line, spoken by Jackie, couldn’t be more direct in its opinion of a land on the verge of defaulting on everything in sight. “America,” he says, “is not a country. It’s a business.” And Americans aren’t making what they used to.

The atmosphere of fiscal panic is heightened by the way Dominik frames the action against news of the U.S. banks bailout of ’08, as well as cable TV snippets of then-presidential campaigner Barack Obama’s idealistic stump speeches. (Hardly subtle, these recall the way Nixon’s visage was deployed in the 1968-set Shampoo.) Dominik is two directors in one, really: He’ll sit back and content himself

December 6-12, 2012

short reviews

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Life of Pi (PG) ★★★✩✩

Based on Yann Martel’s beautiful little book about a young man and the sea and a tiger, this film transforms into a big, imposing and often lovely 3-D experience. Ang Lee directs and while not all of it works, there is a lot to admire. Pi sets sail with his family on a freighter, accompanying a slew of zoo creatures. Terrible weather. The ship sinks.

All die except for Pi, a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker. The adventures and astonishments keep on coming.

Red Dawn (PG-13) ★★✩✩✩

In the not-too-distant future, North Korea has invaded American soil. Our only hope is a gaggle of high school kids who form a guerilla army calling itself the Wolverines, after the local football mascot. Chris Hemsworth takes on the old Patrick Swayze role, and there’s enough to like about him and the general reworkings of the 1984 cult-classic.

There’s plenty of righteous kills, explosions, patriotic speeches and righteous kills. It’s not a disaster. Just drab.

Rise of the Guardians (PG) ★✩✩✩✩

This, unfortunately, is the worst animated movie to ever wear the DreamWorks logo.

Based on a children’s book series, it’s about a team that includes Bunny (Easter variety, voiced by Hugh Jackman), North (a.k.a. Santa, Alec Baldwin), Tooth (Fairy, Isla Fisher) and the silent Sandman. They need the help of newcomer Jack Frost (Chris Pine) to defeat Pitch, short for Pitch Black, the night-terror voiced by Jude Law threatening to rid the children of the world of the belief in magical figures. It’s harmless enough, but not good.

with framing simple, clean two-person verbal sequences when called for. He’s also skillful in staging violence on the move, as in the scene where Liotta’s bantamweight bigwig is dragged through and then out of his office trailer by extreme force. The picture offers some easy, brutal laughs and some harder ones, and now and then, it finds a way to make the laughter stick in your craw.

Jenkins’ line applies to the film as a whole. Killing Them Softly isn’t anything major. But it’s a pungent minor film only vaguely resembling the one the Weinstein Co. is advertising, and that’s fine with me.

Killing them Softly (R) ★★★✩✩

[ by tribune media services ]

Anna Karenina (R) ★★★✩✩

This heavily theatrical take on the old Russian classic is only a half-success. Directed by Joe Wright, it’s mostly staged inside a lavishly constructed playhouse, except when it’s not. And we watch the drama unfold between Anna (Keira Knightley), her pill of a husband (Jude Law) and her cavalry officer lover (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Its well-written script leaps between high comedy and piercing drama, and the film has its moments, but it’s a bit too frantic at times.

movies

Lincoln (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.

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) ★★★★✩

Flight (R) ★★★★✩

Wreck-It Ralph (PG) ★★★✩✩

Cloud Atlas (R) ★★✩✩✩

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.

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.

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.

December 6-12, 2012

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 (Javier Bardem), perhaps the most memorable Bond villain in a decade. Sam Mendes directs stunning action sequences, and the return of Dame Judi Dench and various other recastings works well. While Quantum of Solace largely failed, this installment returns Bond to its rightful, highly entertaining place, while also exploring new territory.

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

Promotion

TRIPS /TRENDS /ADVICE

The cleverly designed multifunction power-retractable roof, combined with the tailgate, gives the C3 a highly compatible personality.

gouge is kept intact, adding character and making them truly original, each with its own story. They’re alive with texture, shape and color.”

Smart design meets urban style when Hyundai unveiled its Veloster C3 Roll Top concept at the Los Angeles Auto Show on Nov. 28. Expanding the qualities that have made the Veloster a sales success, the C3, which stands for convertible three-door, combines open-air freedom with the style of a coupe and the functionality of a tailgate. The efficient coupe design with hidden passenger-side third door introduces an innovative dual-function roll top and tailgate, adding unique utility to a convertible.

In convertible mode with the top rolled back, the C3 is a free spirit. Roll the top forward, open the tailgate, fold down the rear seats, and the C3 goes into recreation mode. The simple top is the answer to adding flexibility in your life.

While an official launch date hasn’t been released yet, the new Veloster, which combines a futuristic design to compliment an active, fun lifestyle, will be easy to recognize once it hits the streets.

“We were inspired by the proverb, ‘A rolling stone gathers no moss,’” says Chris Chapman, chief designer of Hyundai Design North America. “The Veloster C3 Roll Top concept offers the no-strings-attached freedom of a roll top convertible and customizable utility that fits an everydayto-a-play-day dual lifestyle.”

“Each year, we visit several shows and events, like the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York City, to find new, exciting and interesting materials,” says Liz Curran, Hyundai color and trim expert from Hyundai Design North America.

What’s Old is New Again Hyundai Unveils the Concept Veloster C3 Roll Top

Designed by Hyundai Design North America, the Veloster C3 Roll Top concept offers a distinctive canvas roof that opens either to the rear or windshield of the vehicle.

Inside the C3, the cargo floor is lined with broken and old skateboard decks that have been repurposed to create a unique mosaic.

Facts Repurposed skateboards line cargo floor Dual-function convertible roof that rolls backwards and forwards

“This year, we uncovered Art of Board, a company that makes hand-cut tiles from 100 percent recycled skate decks. The decks are very durable and repurposed into art, shelves, benches and chairs. Every scratch, scrape and

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MARKETPLACE People have always come here looking for a sign.

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Betting

December 6-12, 2012

oddsmakers get into late-season groove, making nFl winners diFFicult to Find

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warning: we’ve entered that juncture of $330 on Redskins -2½ vs. Ravens: the year when antacid consumption, Of Baltimore’s dozen games, four blood-pressure readings and profan- were decided by exactly three points ity are on the rise while cash reserves (including the last three in a row), and are on the decline. No, I’m not refertwo others by a single point. Meanencing the pitfalls of the holiday seawhile, the Redskins are coming off an son, but rather that point in the NFL emotional one-point Monday-night campaign when the betting public is victory over the hated Giants. Given at the mercy of locked-in oddsmakthose facts, I ordinarily wouldn’t touch ers. Take a look at some of last week’s this game. Except the Ravens just lost money-swinging shenanigans: at home … to the Steelers ... whose QB Patriots (-7½) vs. Dolphins: Trailing was a corpse named Charlie Batch.

23-13, Miami kicks a field goal with Now Baltimore travels down the high31 seconds left (on second down!) to way to D.C. to face Robert Griffin III, trim the deficit to seven and secure who’s led Washington on a three-game the backdoor cover. winning streak (both straightJets (-6½) vs. Cardinals: up and against the spread).

With Mark Sanchez $110 on Bengals chained to the -3 vs. Cowboys: bench and New Cincinnati is riding York clinging to a a four-game SU 7-6 lead, Jets backup and ATS winning QB Greg McElroy streak (winning by bankroll: engineers a 73-yard an average of 17.8 $2,009 drive to the Arizona points). Dallas (as 1 … where he kneels noted above) was Last week: 6-5 (+$170) down twice to end mere minutes away NFL seasoN: 36-30-1 the game. from losing to the (-$2,875) Bears (-3½) vs. free-falling Eagles as CoLLege FootbaLL Seahawks: A Seattle a double-digit home seasoN: 48-35 (+$1,118) touchdown and a chalk. The Cowboys In February 2010, we gave Chicago field goal in have been a decent Matt “$7,000” to wager. When the final half-minute road bet (4-2 ATS), he loses it all, we’re going to turn a 14-10 Bears lead but the Bengals own replace him with a monkey. into a 17-17 tie. The edges in talent (on Seahawks get the first both sides of the ball), overtime possession momentum and and go 80 yards for the winning TD. coaching. (Speaking of, do you realize Lions (-7) vs. Colts: Indianapolis the Bengals in the last three weeks scores two TDs in the span of 2:39— faced Romeo Crennel, Dennis Allen the last one on the final play of the and Norv Turner, and now get Jason game—to turn a 33-21 deficit into a Garrett? That’s right: Marvin Lewis miraculous 35-33 victory. In doing so, has been the superior coach in four the Colts give the sportsbooks—who straight games—uh-oh, maybe the opened the game Lions -4½—one of Mayans are right!) their biggest cash hauls of the year. $110 on Colts -5½ vs. Titans: TenCowboys (-10½) vs. Eagles: Trailing nessee is 4-8 SU and ATS (including six all night, Dallas gets two late TDs losses by double digits). Indianapolis (including one on defense) to grab is 8-4 SU and ATS, with four straight an 11-point lead. But with 31 seconds home wins and covers. The Colts have left, the Eagles return a punt 98 yards Andrew Luck at quarterback. The Tifor a TD. Final score: 38-33. tans have Jake Locker at quarterback.

There were plenty of other exThe Colts are playing for a head coach amples, but here’s the overriding who’s battling leukemia. The Titans point: You’ll have better luck finding are playing for a head coach who will an open bar at an Amish wedding be unemployed in a month. than you will finding a chink in the $110 on Saints +5½ at Giants: Last oddsmakers’ armor down the stretch three meetings between these teams: in the NFL. Which means the odds of Saints 127, Giants 58. Drew Brees’ me extending my five-week winning numbers in the three Saints wins: 864 streak are slimmer than Kate Moss in passing yards, nine TDs, no INTs. Eli a fun-house mirror. That said, on to Manning’s numbers: 658 yards (406 in this week’s selections (Note: all point one game), four TDs, three INTs. Hell spreads are as of Dec. 4) … yeah, I’ll take the points.

For the rest of this week’s picks, as well as Matt’s “Best Bet” Monday-Friday, visit VegasSeven.com/GoingforBroke.

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7 questions

um has been good for our bowl game, because it’s not very big.

But when it fills up, we’ve had the restrooms back up; we’ve had the lights flicker. It’s not built for [40,000] people, so the infrastructure just doesn’t work. I’m really proud of what we did for the city, but unless we get a new stadium it’s going to be very tough to [continue] what we have done.

Luckily, for six out of the last seven years we were sold out. We transformed Sam Boyd Stadium from kind of a hapless-looking place, dolling it up, putting on some lipstick, and it looked pretty good with a full crowd. But anybody who’s around college football understands the importance of building an on-campus stadium, and the UNLV Now project is going to be the biggest game-changer in UNLV’s history if it happens. It could transform the whole university.

The Maaco Bowl Las Vegas’ former director on resigning her post, the downside of a college football playoÞ system and the challenges of working in a man’s world

By Sean DeFrank

➧ Few people have experienced the breadth of college athletics like Tina Kunzer-Murphy. The Las Vegas

December 6-12, 2012

native and Valley High School alum played tennis and volleyball at UNLV, coached the university’s women’s tennis team, directed its cheerleading program and worked in administrative capacities within the athletic program, including the Rebel Football Foundation and the Women’s Sports Foundation. In 1999, she was hired to run ESPN’s regional office at UNLV, and the following year was named executive director of the Las Vegas Bowl (now Maaco Bowl Las Vegas), only the second woman in the nation to fill such a post. However, for the first time in a dozen years, Kunzer-Murphy won’t be presenting the winner’s trophy Dec. 22 when Washington meets Boise State at Sam Boyd Stadium, having resigned her position on Aug. 8 (this after also stepping down as the first female head of the Football Bowl Association). Now exploring her career options, don’t be surprised to see the 2007 Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame inductee resurface in a new capacity at UNLV.

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Why did you choose to resign from the bowl?

The last two years have been a very trying time in the football bowl world. When I stepped into the chairmanship [of the Football Bowl Association] two years ago, the Fiesta Bowl [financial scandal] broke nationally the next week, and we found ourselves having to defend our system every step of the way. So many things were going against the BCS [Bowl Championship Series]—the Death to the BCS book came out—and all of that stuff reflected on all of the bowls.

And as I look back, I was really

just tired of it. I had two really great years, but I also had two really tough years defending what I felt was the integrity of what we did.

Did you encounter many obstacles being a woman in a male-oriented industry?

All the time, but that’s part of the deal. When you’re in college athletics, and especially in college football, it’s very traditional. As my husband, who’s an ex-football coach, says it’s the one area that us women haven’t broken into yet—and [the men] like it that way. But, you know, it’s 2012, fellas. Being a college

athlete, being a college coach, being a college administrator, I got to see it firsthand. There were some bowl directors who, after I would [suggest] something, 15 minutes later they would say [the same thing], and that was the greatest idea in the world. But that’s just life.

Even though the Maaco Bowl isn’t part of the BCS, you don’t support a playoff system in college football. Why? We fought so hard against the playoff, and now we’re just singing its praises, because that’s what the public and the media wanted. Now even every

What do you make of all the conference reshuffling?

It’s total arrogance, and it’s all about money, specifically TV money, and we all know that.

Those traditional rivalries that existed for years and years that have been broken up—how sad is that? And the fact that San Diego State is going to the Big East, to me that’s the most ridiculous thing ever. I understand it, but it’s sad. The big conferences have been running things this whole time, and they’re just going to get stronger. But it’s a business, and those of us who have worked in college athletics and in college football realize that the only way you’re going to manage today’s programs is by having a lot of money.

Can our local bowl game continue to grow without a new football stadium?

First of all, Sam Boyd Stadi-

What do you see as your legacy in Southern Nevada?

That you can do anything you want to do. My father was a butcher, my mother was a waitress, and they had fifthand eighth-grade educations.

You can do whatever you want to do as long as you are true to yourself and don’t try to be anybody you’re not. And I never have. I sometimes talk way too dirty and I laugh too loud, but I like to have fun, and I like to work hard. But you can’t do it by yourself. I’ve had so many great friends and been associated with so many great people. I’ve been very, very lucky, and I don’t take anything for granted.

Photo by Anthony Mair

Tina Kunzer-Murphy

bowl director is saying that’s the greatest thing for us. For the two years I was with the Football Bowl Association, all we heard was, “If we go to a playoff, it would be the demise of the bowls.” Is it going to eliminate them? No, but it will greatly diminish the bowls’ presence in postseason play. …

You’re going to see that playoff grow and grow, and it’s not going to include every [bowl].

And those who aren’t included are going to be left in the cold.

You’ve previously expressed interest in becoming UNLV’s athletic director. Is that a position you still desire?

Absolutely, although UNLV has an athletic director, and I would never talk about somebody else’s job; I know what it’s like when somebody wants your job and talks about it. It’s not a fun position to be in. It’s important that I get back on a campus first and get a feel again for being in that environment. For the past 15 years I’ve worked closely with football coaches, athletic directors, conference commissioners and the NCAA, and knowing that it is a business has helped me to cultivate what I want to do.

“Yes” is the answer when that time strikes, but right now I’m just ready to go back and make a difference somewhere.

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