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June 17-23, 2010

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Contents

This Week in Your CiTY 13

37

seven days

local newsroom

The highlights of this week.

By Bob Whitby

What the Gulf spill and Yucca Mountain have in common, and research shows modern dads are not so bad. Plus: David G. Schwartz’s Green Felt Journal and Michael Green on Politics.

14

69

90

Reports on culture, politics and business from The New York Observer.

Plus: The NYO crossword puzzle and the weekly column by personal finance guru Kathy Kristof.

Great gadgets for Dad.

By Eric Benderoff

national newsroom

the latest

tech

93 dining

The NHL Awards redux, and new places to raise a pint.

Plus: trends, tweets and gossip.

By Melissa Arseniuk

A few favorite culinary consequences of the Asian invasion.

By Max Jacobson Plus: Max’s Diner’s Notebook and the father-son teamwork of Guy and Franck Savoy.

20

100

society

Bishop Gorman alumni gather to taste wine and raise funds.

health & Fitness

The secret to keeping Le Rêve performers in such great shape.

By Jessica Prois

25 style

102

This week’s Look, a few choice Enviables and cool shopping in Chicago.

sports & leisure

45

Canucks star Ryan Kesler looks forward to this week’s NHL Awards show.

By Sean DeFrank Plus: Early thoughts on college football lines in Going for Broke.

By Matt Jacob

nightliFe

Seven Nights ahead, fabulous parties past and the Captains recap golden moments from Playboy’s 50th.

77

110

Above: Hotel deLuxe in Portland, Ore. (story on page 30).

On the cover: Artwork by Shag

arts & entertainment

A guide to summer music festivals, and Rex Reed gives insights on Joan Rivers.

Artist Josh Agle, a.k.a. Shag, discusses mid-mod cool.

By Elizabeth Sewell

Features

30

escape routes

seven Questions

Three great ways to beat the heat: Portland, Park City and Culver City.

By Ida Siverio, Xania Woodman and Geraldine Campbell

34

Fargo on my mind

Vegas Seven’s style editor takes on North Dakota.

By MJ Elstein June 17-23, 2010 Vegas Seven 9

Vegas seVen Publishers

Ryan T. Doherty | Justin Weniger AssociAte Publisher, Michael Skenandore

Editorial editoriAl director, Phil Hagen MAnAging editor, Bob Whitby AssociAte editor, Melissa Arseniuk news editor, Sean DeFrank A&e editor, Cindi Reed coPY editor, Paul Szydelko contributing editors

MJ Elstein, style; Michael Green, politics; Matt Jacob, betting; Max Jacobson, food; Jarret Keene, music; David G. Schwartz, gaming/hospitality; Xania Woodman, nightlife contributing writers

Richard Abowitz, Eric Benderoff, Dave Berns, Geoff Carter, David Davis, Mikey Francis, Geraldine Campbell, Jeanne Goodrich, Andreas Hale, M. Scott Krause, Caitlin McGarry, Louis Prima Jr., Jessica Prois, Rex Reed, Christopher Rosen, Jason Scavone, Elizabeth Sewell, Kate Silver, Ida Siverio, Cole Smithey interns

Mark Adams, Charlotte Bates, Kelly Corcoran, Jazmin Gelista, Natalie Holbrook, Sharon Kehoe, Patrick Moulin

art Art director, Lauren Stewart senior grAPhic designer, Marvin Lucas grAPhic designer, Thomas Speak stAff PhotogrAPher, Anthony Mair contributing PhotogrAPhers

Sullivan Charles, Barry Johnson, Roman Mendez, Tomas Muscionico, Beverly Oanes, Tony Tran contributing illustrAtor, Hernan Valencia

Production/distribution director of Production/distribution, Marc Barrington Advertising coordinAtor, Jimmy Bearse

salEs Account eXecutives, Christy Corda and Robyn Weiss

Comments or story ideas: comments@weeklyseven.com Advertising: sales@weeklyseven.com Distribution: distribution@weeklyseven.com Vegas Seven is distributed each thursday throughout southern nevada.

WenDOH MeDIa COMpanIes Ryan T. Doherty | Justin Weniger vice President, PUBLISHING, Michael Skenandore director, MARKETING, Jason Hancock entertAinMent director, Keith White creAtive director, Sherwin Yumul event coordinAtor, Richard Alexander

FinancE director of finAnce, Gregg Hardin Accounts receivAble MAnAger, Rebecca Lahr generAl Accounting MAnAger, Erica Carpino credit MAnAger, Erin Tolen

PublisHEd in association WitH tHE obsErVEr MEdia GrouP Copyright 2010 Vegas Seven, LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part without the permission of Vegas Seven, LLC is prohibited.

Vegas Seven, 888-792-5877, 3070 West Post Road, Las Vegas, NV 89118 10

Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

COntributOrs

Hernan Valencia Illustration, page 37 Founder and principal of the Construct Creative design agency, Valencia has been fascinated by the simple beauty of form and color ever since he was a small child in his native Peru. After earning a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from San Jose State University, Valencia left the Bay Area to settle down in Las Vegas in 2003.

Armed with an entrepreneurial spirit and a fistful of confidence, he spends his time using design, illustration and photography to support the arts district.

Mikey Francis “Ramble On,” page 77 Francis lives and breathes the sound of music. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s degree in the music industry program and has since become the vocalist and producer for the Las Vegas-based electronic band Afghan Raiders. Francis spends nearly all of his time DJing and digging for new music, so if you are ever in the market for some fresh listening material, asking him might be a good starting point. Read his blog at AfghanRaiders.com/Mikey and follow him on Twitter @MikeyFrancis.

Louis Prima Jr. The Latest Thought, page 16 When not performing in Vegas or across the country, Prima keeps things low-key at a local PT’s Pub with a dirty martini. Following his headlining show at the New Orleans Jazz Festival and a show at the Hard Rock Café on the Strip, Prima will spend Father’s Day in Florida with his mom, Gia Maione Prima. Then, it’s back on the road in July for shows in Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, New York and Atlantic City. To keep track of where he’s going next, visit LouisPrimaJr.com.

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Francis photo by Jorge Novoa

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Visit the Vegas Seven website June 17-23, 2010 Vegas Seven 11

Seven DayS The highlights of this week in your city.

by Bob Whitby

Sun. 20 Thur. 17 Last year, photographer Sharon Schafer traveled to Africa’s Great Rift Valley to take part in a study monitoring the area’s lions. While there she shot the wildlife and landscapes of the Masai Mara, a game reserve in Kenya, bringing an artist’s eye to the subject of conservation.

Schafer presents her work at 7 p.m. in the Paseo Verde Library (280 S. Green Valley Parkway, 492-7252). Or you could pick up some culinary tips courtesy of the ubiquitous Wolfgang Puck and his master cooking classes at Whole Foods in Summerlin (6-8 p.m., 8855 W. Charleston Blvd., 254-8655). The class features four Puck-property chefs, and it’s free.

Fri. 18

Lion photo by S.K. Schafer; Urbanizing photo by Nicole Huber and Ralph Stern

Freebie alert: Wear flip-flops into your local Tropical Smoothie Café today and get a free Jetty Punch smoothie. Pity the minimum-wage earner who has to verify all that footwear while you sip. Tip well!

Sat. 19 On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger and 2,000 soldiers rode into Galveston, Texas, to let residents know the feds weren’t kidding. That they were no longer property was news to the city’s black population, who understandably decided it was a good time to party.

Juneteenth has been a celebration of Africa-American food, culture, music and freedom ever since. Clark County has been throwing its own party for 10 years now. Tickets are $35-$45 and are available online at ticketweb.com or at the Clark County Amphitheater, 500 Grand Central Parkway. Entry starts at 3 p.m.

Mother’s Day is easy: flowers, restaurant, clean the house, done. Father’s Day is tougher. Most dads don’t clean the house anyway and they don’t dig flowers. But dads are big on death at sea, and sliced and posed cadavers, so here’s a good deal: Get free adult admission to both Bodies … the Exhibition and Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition at Luxor. Buy at least one child’s admission, mention Father’s Day, and the adult gets in gratis.

It’s manly stuff. Call 262-4400 for information on either exhibit.

Mon. 21 To see how our presence is changing the desert, check out the exhibit at the Clark County Museum (1830 S. Boulder Highway, 455-7955) titled Urbanizing the Mojave Desert: Las Vegas. We’ve all seen photos of Las Vegas, but these shots by architects Nicole Huber and Ralph Stern, displayed alongside historical photos, show the less obvious manifestations of development. The exhibit is open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through June 30.

Tues. 22 It’s a Tuesday in the summer, you’re home and the kids are getting restless. How to entertain them without spending a dime? Try the Regal Village Square 18 (9400 W. Sahara Ave.) where you’ll find free family movies every Tuesday at 10 a.m. This week’s offering: Hotel for Dogs. Look, it’s cute, the AC will be on and did we mention it’s free? Beggars can’t be choosers. Speaking of free, when it cools off this evening why not take a stroll in Henderson’s lovely Pittman Wash? Meet fellow strollers at the Silver Springs Recreation Center, 1951 Silver Springs Parkway, 267-5720, and off you go on a 3.3-mile walk.

Wed. 23 The Casino Chip and Gaming Token Collectors Club is a repository of gaming history. They are the keepers of the online Museum of Gaming History and the publishers of Casino Chip & Token News. Club members collect everything from casino towels to swizzle sticks, and they’re getting together at the South Point Casino for their convention today through Saturday. Conference registration is required for the shows and trading events, but you can check the website, ccgtcc.com, to marvel at all the info they have amassed for free.

June 17-23, 2010 Vegas Seven 13

The LaTesT

What’s hip, what’s happening, what’s going on—and what you need to know right now.

Compiled by Melissa Arseniuk

Good Eats, Good Cause They may have been rivals on Top Chef Masters, but Las Vegas’ Rick Moonen and New York chef Marcus Samuelsson are teaming up to fight hunger at a cooking demonstration and five-course meal benefiting Three Square Food Bank on June 23 at RM Seafood.

“The competition is behind us now,” says Samuelsson, the just-crowned Top Chef Master chef. Moonen finished half a point shy of Samuelsson, tied for second place with Canadian chef Susur Lee. The $125-per-person event starts at 5 p.m. with Samuelsson leading a culinary demonstration featuring the green curry prawns he prepared for President Obama at his first state dinner in November. After that, he and Moonen will take turns preparing courses for the sit-down portion of the dinner.

Samuelsson says the salt-cured duck and foie gras flan that he prepared on the June 9 episode of Top Chef Masters will likely be on the menu.

“I think it’s important … to give people a taste of the food that they saw on the show,” Samuelsson says. “I wanted to do dishes that were great dishes, but also dishes that people read about or saw on TV.” The Ethiopian-born, Swedish-raised Samuelsson created the dish to show judges on Top Chef Masters the flavors, textures and styles that inspired him to become a chef. He also prepared smoked char in a sweet horseradish and shellfish broth on the final episode of the show, and will likely include it on his portion of the June 23 menu.

In 2003, the James Beard Foundation named Samuelsson, 39, New York’s best chef. At the time, he was chef and co-owner of Aquavit restaurant, but today he is focused on opening an eatery in Harlem called Red Rooster.

Vegas Seven asked Samuelsson if there was a relation between the soonto-open restaurant and the Las Vegas swingers club of the same name, but he insists there is none.

“Are you kidding me?” he says, laughing about the coincidence.

“That’s hilarious.”

To reserve a spot at the Top Chef Masters’ table on June 23, call 632-9300 or e-mail melissa@rmseafood.com.

14

Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

Marcus Samuelsson

NHL Awards

Temperatures may be in the triple digits, but it’s hockey night in the desert, and the NHL Awards are back for a second round.

The awards arrived last year with much fanfare—Alexander Ovechkin and Ryan Kesler skated on imitation ice in front of Caesars Palace, the Stanley Cup was flown in for a pre-awards press conference and hockey fans flocked to the Palms as their favorite players arrived at the league’s most glamorous night.

Unfortunately, not many of those fans shelled out $300-plus to buy tickets to the show, so attendance was low. Organizers are hoping to change that this year.

Realizing last year’s headliners, Robin Thicke and Chaka Khan, didn’t exactly resonate with the hockey crowd, producers signed edgier and more relevant acts—rockers Shinedown and iconic rapper Snoop Dogg—for this year’s event. They also added performers from Jersey Boys and a three-minute Cirque du Soleil performance featuring the cast of The Beatles Love.

It’s too soon to tell if the enhanced lineup will translate to a sell-out crowd, but as of press time sources at the Palms say sales are outpacing the 2009 awards. “More [tickets have] already sold with still a week and half to go than we had last year total,” a Palms insider says.

Meanwhile, sources at the NHL reveal the league had been looking to move the awards to a larger venue, such as The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel, in an effort to raise attendance and lower ticket prices. Talk of moving the awards to L.A. also surfaced, but neither of those deals materialized so the awards return to the 2,500-seat Pearl at the Palms and tickets are again priced north of $300.

The 2010 NHL Awards red carpet starts at 3 p.m. June 23. Sidney Crosby will be there this year, along with Ovechkin, Duncan Keith, Ryan Miller, Martin Brodeur and others. Nine trophies will be awarded, and a poolside afterparty will follow at the Palms Pool and Bungalows.

If you want to party with NHL royalty for less, consider the June 22 pre-party at Lavo. Hosted

by Jeremy Roenick and Ovechkin, doors open at 10 p.m., and cover is $20 for men, $10 for women and free for all locals.

NHL photo courtesy Las Vegas News Bureau

Top Chef Masters finalist Rick Moonen at his eponymous Mandalay Place eatery, RM Seafood.

This week in your ciTy You’ll Be Watching Him

Although life in Las Vegas can leave you jaded when it comes to entertainment options, when Sting comes to town accompanied by a renowned orchestra, even the most hardened Las Vegas entertainment aficionados recognize it’s more than a concert; it’s an event.

The legendary Police frontman joins the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on June 18. Maestro Steven Mercurio—who has worked with the likes of Andrea Bocelli and the late Luciano Pavarotti—conducts the classical take on classic rock, while Dominic Miller (guitars), David Cossin (percussion), Ira Coleman (bass) and Jo Lawry (vocals) join Sting, Mercurio and the 45-piece orchestra.

The performance is said to include songs from The Police (“Roxanne,” “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” “Every Breath You Take,” etc.) as well as Sting’s solo hits (“If I Ever Lose My Faith in You,” “Fields of Gold,” “Desert Rose”)—all of which have been revisited, reimagined and reworked.

8 p.m., $51-$201, 891-7777.

Raise a Pint, Mate

Las Vegas’ only British-owned and operated bar, the Queen Victoria Pub, opens its doors on June 28 for pints, footy and bangers—just in time for the 173rd anniversary of Queen Victoria’s coronation. Eager Anglophiles and expats can try to stop in sooner; the pub hopes to open quietly and softly on or around June 21.

Whenever it opens, the pub will bear no relation to the well-worn Queen Victoria Pub on BBC’s EastEnders. The 7,000-square-foot Tudor-style Vegas tavern features exposed beams and whitewash, aged brick walls, a cobblestone patio, a dining room set against a backdrop of London attractions, a full kitchen and two bars. There is also a small stage tiled to look like the London Underground, which former Cult drummer Les Warner will fill with local and touring talent.

Adding to the authenticity is a trio of English owners: Coventry chef Mark McGarry, Portsmouth-hailing tattoo purveyor Nick Elliot and master London butcher Nick Jones, whose brilliant bangers can already be found in Las Vegas at the Crown & Anchor and Elephant & Castle.

McGarry says the 24-hour pub/gastropub hybrid menu will satisfy cravings for English-style steak pie, sausage rolls and breakfast. “The food is where it’s going to be most authentic,” he says.

Prior to the Queen Vic, the venue enjoyed a long life, most notably as Rat Pack clubhouse, the Lighthouse. During renovations, workers uncovered hand-painted seaside murals, flocked wallpaper and the phone jack that may have serviced Sinatra’s own booth, which a few longtime Riv employees identified as the one apart from the rest in a corner.

Pub photo by Anthony Mair

The Queen Victoria Pub opens June 28, if not sooner.

Open for Business A month shy of the five-year anniversary of Ermenegildo Zegna coming to town, the retailer opened its second location in Las Vegas.

The two-level storefront opened June 5 at Crystals, bringing with it 19 new jobs and 10,000 square feet of men’s suits, sportswear, leather goods and accessories.

The upscale boutique was designed by New York-based architect Peter Marino.

The Milan-based retailer’s first Las Vegas location in the Forum Shops at Caesars was the eighth location in the U.S. when it opened in 2005; now there are 15 stores and five outlets scattered across the country.

MGM Mirage says 64 percent of Crystals’ retail space will be occupied by the end of June. At least four stores—Brunello Cucinelli, Christian Dior, Social House and Philipp Plein—are expected to open next month, and officials expect about 74 percent of the CityCenter shopping plaza’s space to be leased by the end of the third quarter.

Logitech’s HD Pro C910 Webcam.

Higher-Def Video Do-it-yourself HD video is everywhere these days, from the waterproof Kodak PlaySport to the compact Flip Slide HD. Logitech recently reinvigorated the market with HD for the PC, a new line of high-def webcams designed for video calls or video chats. Just think: Chatroulette in HD. The HD Pro Webcam C910 records in full 1080p—an improvement over the hand-held products mentioned above, which typically record at 720p—but can only make calls in 720p. Announced June 10, it will sell for $100, while 720p models will sell for half the price.

Meanwhile, other brands of HD webcams (Creative Labs, Microsoft, Hercules, etc.) can be found for about $30.

Logitech also recently announced it is partnering with Google to offer a TV-top box that will work with Google TV. Announced in May and expected in the fall, Logitech’s Google TV Companion Box will allow users to access the Web and popular Android operating system on their TVs—essentially turning HDTVs into big computers—and, when used with a HD camera, will enable users to make HD video calls over their big-screen (or even modest-size) TVs from the comfort of their living room (or wherever it’s set up and equipped with a sufficient Internet connection).

Google TV appears to be more inclusive than Apple’s upcoming Internet-meets-TV initiative: Google is allowing outside phone manufacturers and the four major wireless carriers to create and sell Android apps, while Apple maintains its tight reign over the iPhone (still only on AT&T, sigh).

Meanwhile, Apple TV is intertwined with iTunes, but has yet to spark iPod or iPad-levels of excitement. – Eric Benderoff June 17-23, 2010 Vegas Seven 15

THE LaTEsT THougHT Father meets son, 1965.

sing, sing, sing Lessons my dad, legendary bandleader and Vegas staple Louis Prima, taught me

By Louis Prima Jr. Growing up in Las Vegas is an unusual prospect any way you look at it. Growing up in Las Vegas as the child of Louis Prima takes it to a whole new level.

I was born on Father’s Day in 1965, the last child and only son of the multitalented singer, songwriter, trumpet player, bandleader and legendary voice, Louis Prima. This isn’t hyperbole. My dad could do it all, and I’m not just saying that because he was my father. He had a career that spanned more than 50 years, starting when Guy Lombardo brought him to New York, where he defined 52nd Street as “Swing Street.” In 1936, he wrote “Sing, Sing, Sing” the biggest Big Band hit of all time (which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame).

Through the next 40 years he continuously reinvented himself as the musical times changed—from writing and recording his own music, to creating unmistakable sounds for others to emulate, to providing the voice for the pop-culture icon King Louie in Disney’s The Jungle Book.

But it was on stage, especially in Vegas, where he truly came alive, where he was the performer that the other entertainers of the day (and even current pop stars) studied to learn how to work a room, how to get a crowd on its feet and how to deliver a show that would stay with the audience.

But to me, he was more than that—he was Dad. He was a family guy. Whenever he wasn’t on the road, family was the most important thing. He insisted on dinners together every night and church on Sunday mornings.

During summers my mother, Gia Maione Prima, who sang with him from 1962 until his death in 1978, and my sister Lena and I would tour with Dad, watching him perform from New York to New Orleans, Chicago to Los Angeles. Dad had a huge following on the East Coast, something I didn’t really appreciate at the time. I knew he was famous, but it wasn’t until I played five sold-out nights of his music at the 16 Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

Atlantic City Hilton that I realized just how famous. I remember the meet-and-greets after the shows, talking to people who had flown in from England, or the guy from Canada who owned Prima’s Pizza, which was filled with memorabilia from Dad’s career. When he asked me to sign one of my dad’s records, it was like I was touching the past.

Elvis and my father opened the International and the crowds came.

In 1968, the first million-dollar contract in Vegas was signed at the Sands and awarded to Louis Prima, Gia Maione and the Witnesses. As a toddler, I watched Mom and Dad from the light booth. When I was old enough, the Sands was where I first sang onstage. My father would bring me out, and I sang “Joy to the World” by Three Dog Night, or “Your Momma Don’t Dance” by Loggins and Messina.

I was lucky enough (and old enough) to be with him in the studio while he was recording what would eventually become his last album, The Wildest ’75. To this day, I can’t sing “Leavin’ You,” his one and only ballad, without crying. I’ve only sung it once onstage, because I promised myself I would, and that was enough. The memories of watching him record it are still too fresh.

Recently, when I headlined the Italian Festival at the M Resort and got my son to come up onstage and sing “Just a Gigolo” with me, I was able to feel what my father experienced. It felt like my dad was there, watching us. I’m sure he would have been proud.

By the late ’70s, everything had changed. The lounges, when they weren’t removed altogether, were filled by one-man bands with drum machines and synthesizers, while the headliners were asked to rent the rooms where they were previously cajoled to perform. Shows even began to use taped music in the late ’80s.

But no matter how much I hate the business side of things, creating music

is, quite literally, in my blood. Whether I’m in a motorcade with a police escort to a performance in New Orleans, or I’m listening to my management team explain to some entertainment buyer who my father was (which is so frustrating), I can’t stop entertaining.

It’s the performing that still gets me up in the morning.

My mother taught me to play the drums when I was 5. I took piano lessons from my aunt, Sister Mary Ann, in the third grade. Guitar came when I was 10 and then trumpet, my legacy, in junior high. I graduated high school with my sights set on college and a business degree—a future in finance.

But sitting in with my father’s old band, the Witnesses, at the Four Queens on a regular basis quickly showed me that finance wasn’t the path I was meant to be walking.

Ultimately, it was singing rock songs with my sister Lena’s band that put me

in music full time. I put together my own band in 1986. With the onset of grunge music in the early ’90s, labels wanted me to write and perform in the vein of Pearl Jam, etc. I decided that rock and depression was not what I was about and opted to make a career of performing my father’s music in 1995. I haven’t looked back since.

Sure, the scene has changed—it’s nothing my father would recognize from a business standpoint. But there is one thing he would still get 30-plus years after his death: the feeling of being onstage and making people smile, making people forget the rest of the world exists, even if it’s for only an hour at a time. It’s my legacy, it’s my curse and it’s my privilege.

Thanks, Dad. Louis Prima Jr. is on tour playing his father’s music across the country. This year would have been his father’s 100th birthday.

THE LaTEsT Gossip Star-studded parties, celebrity sightings, juicy rumors and other glitter.

Got a juicy tip? gossip@weeklyseven.com

Business Booming at Madison Inc. Vegas’ second-biggest industry isn’t construction or transportation or government—it’s self-promotion. Holly Madison has been at the forefront of that growing sector for more than a year now, and unlike the rest of the local economy, there really hasn’t been a slowdown.

Madison recently had one of her biggest weeks. She returned to the rabbit warren June 10 for the 50th anniversary of the Playboy Club, where she served as celebrity dealer for the night and raised $1,500 in an hour for Three Square Food Bank. All charity aside, we’re thinking her crystal-encrusted bunny costume didn’t hurt the cause, either.

She later cemented her return to cable—this time as the headliner (and

The Adult Video News Awards and Adult Entertainment Expo will always have a special place on our social calendar and in our hearts (and dirty minds), but the last two weeks have seen an influx of practitioners of the subtle and mysterious erotic arts in Las Vegas that rivals the longstanding January tradition. Translation: porn stars.

AVN held a Summer Kick Off Party for the 2011 Awards on June 4 at the Palms. Riley Steele was revealed to be one of the January awards show’s co-hosts, while contemporaries such as Kayden Kross, Courtney Cummz, Sara Sloane, Kirsten Price, Belladonna and Jenna Haze were in attendance. Still, it was the new, barely legal kid in town, the XFANZ Awards, that stole the X-rated thunder, handing out trophies on June 11 as part of a twoday expo at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Awards were given out across 10 categories, based on fan voting. The contest aims to keep the adult film industry honest, free of politics and on the up-and-up. Not that there’s ever any backroom action going on in porn.

An XFANZ afterparty at Wasted Space attracted starlets including Teagan Presley, Sunny Leone and Lisa Ann. The porn industry’s aging mascot, Ron Jeremy, also made the rounds, and in doing so made for the most ironic and giggleworthy celebrity sight of the weekend: Jeremy spotted eating at the Pink Taco.

18 Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

Solange Knowles Best?

Solange Knowles doesn’t want to be known as Beyoncé’s sister or Jay-Z’s sister-in-law.

She’s acted (but we never saw her onscreen), modeled (not that we saw her on billboards or in the pages of magazines), dabbled in fashion design (we’re still looking for her brand name in stores) and even put out a record. We remember that last one, only because it featured the worst title since Fiona Apple’s 90-word logorrheic mess in ’99: Sol-Angel and the Hadley Street Dreams.

Still, Knowles was at Tao Beach atop the Solange Knowles plays DJ at Tao Beach.

Venetian on June 12, where she joined the likes of Paris Hilton and other wannabe DJs, doing a short stint in the booth. While there, Knowles got her obligatory Biggie in with “Juicy,” a song about giving the kiss-off to everyone who said you’d never amount to anything. Aaaaand we’re over it.

Compiled by @marseniuk

@Jasonstrauss In-N-Out Burger is truly a gift from God.

@ToddWorz Just got scolded by my 4 yr old for using my phone and she threatened to take it away. LOL I’m in deep shit. :) @becomingLVlocal “Spill” is when the kiddo accidently knocks over a small cup of juice. Call it what it is, BP: an “oil catastrophe!”

@TravisGarland: It says Vanilla on the box, but I’m fairly certain this protein shake is Elmers Glue flavored. Flashback of kindergarten? @KaycieReyes You surround yourself with women, gambling, the #Vegas “High Life.” Quit kidding yourself, what you’re looking for isn’t in any of that. @point5 McDonald’s is recalling Shrek glasses due to toxicity risks.

Now, if only they’d recall 90% of their menu. @TorreyLV Tonight’s options: go to Surrender w @DanaLaur3n or stay in and watch a movie w Ben and Jerry. Hmmm.

@ryanmgreene People need to quit bitching about the #Vuvuzelas ... It’s part of South African culture.

Quit being so American. @Samurai879 I hate being

Timberlake 2.0

Mike Posner at Surrender.

Justin Timberlake is only 29, but he’s already being replaced. OK, there’s no replacing JT, but you can’t blame fresh-faced 22-year-old Mike Posner for trying.

After all, he kind of looks and sounds like JT—heck, maybe he can start dating Jessica Biel, too. OK, maybe not. Still, Posner certainly made the most of his June 12 stop at Blush. He performed his single, “Cooler Than Me,” from on top of the bar (hey, we all have to start somewhere), then did it all over again 45 minutes later, this time from a go-go dancer platform next to the owner’s table. Whether that’s a move up or a move down is up for interpretation.

The double-duty seemed like a lot of work for someone who has yet to release a full-length album, but we understand the need to hustle. Still, we’re willing to bet Timberlake, consummate professional that he is, could’ve fit XS and Tryst in, too.

bi-polar.... it’s awesome!

@KIMCESS Sorry granola, it’s eggs and bacon today!

@queenofhouseZ I think I’m obsessed w/the World Cup...I have crazy dreams every night. Maybe 2night my dream can include Cristiano Ronaldo & David Beckham. @lisaM_e I have to lay out, I don’t want to be the whitest white girl anymore. @AlexCordova Old woman dressed as snow white just stopped me asking if I saw 7 little guys running around—one that sneezes a lot. Only at the Rio.

Holly Madison photo by Eric Kabik/Retna

Forget Christmas in July; Try AVN in June

producer) instead of a mere co-star— when Holly’s World made its E! debut on June 13. Maddy hosted a screening party in the Planet Hollywood sports book, joined by troops from her ever-growing army: Peepshow co-star Josh Strickland, former Playmate Laura Croft, makeup artist Joyce Bonelli and a recently enhanced Angel Porrino. Also among the swelling ranks was Carrot Top, who was one of the celebrity judges who picked out Miss Playboy Club 50 earlier in the week. (Hey, every army needs its Pvt. Pyle.) Meanwhile, Madison’s regrettable former flame, Criss Angel, was nowhere to be seen. We guess his invite got lost in the mail, or levitated off course, not that anyone noticed or cared.

Tweets of the Week

ENJOY OUR PRODUCTS RESPONSIBLY. ©2010 BACARDI AND THE BAT DEVICE ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS AND THE TORCHED CHERRY DEVICE IS A TRADEMARK OF BACARDI & COMPANY LIMITED. BACARDI U.S.A., INC., CORAL GABLES, FL. RUM SPECIALTY – 35% ALC. BY VOL. MUST BE 21+ TO PARTICIPATE. STANDARD TEXT MESSAGING RATES APPLY.

Society

For more photos from society events in and around Las Vegas, visit weeklyseven.com/society.

First in class Graduates of Bishop Gorman High School gathered around the pool at M Resort on June 4 during the school’s 15th annual alumni wine-tasting. This year’s event featured a crowd-pleasing performance by Australian Motown singers and Imperial Palace headliners Human Nature, with proceeds supporting Bishop Gorman’s tuition assistance program.

Photography by Beverly Oanes

20 Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

Society

For more photos from society events in and around Las Vegas, visit weeklyseven.com/society.

A Nation’s Strength Rain Nightclub at the Palms underwent a transformation June 2 as Taste of the Nation took over. The foodie-pleasing party featured food from more than 30 of the city’s top kitchens, and benefited Share Our Strength, which strives to eliminate child hunger in America.

Local beneficiaries included Three Square Food Bank, Catholic Charities of Las Vegas and University of Nevada Cooperative Extension’s Chefs for Kids program.

Photography by Sullivan Charles

22 Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

Nike • Adidas • Elwood Stussy • New Balance New Era Emperial Nation G-Shock • Converse Travis Mathews Creative Recreation Kidrobot • Sneaktip Mandalay Bay Shops 3950 Las Vegas Blvd South 702.304.2513 Summerlin 9350 W Sahara Ave 702.562.6136 suite160.com

ENVIABLES

Style

DaDDy Dearest

The ideal footwear to go from pool side to lunch, Cole Haan’s red/navy plaid or black-crocodile sandals are for the dad who rocks the hippest looks. $98, Saks Fifth Avenue in Fashion Show.

Dinner for two

Set against cream-colored ceramic and etched in a refined sepia tone, La Table D’ Hermès presents a great way to enjoy a meal with Les Maisons Enchantées place settings.

Available at Hermès in Encore.

The Look Photographed by Tomas Muscionico

BrIttANy MorSE, 26

vice president, Valley Residential Services, and broker, Allure Las Vegas.

Style icons: Victoria Beckham, Rihanna and Kate Hudson.

What she’s wearing now? Chanel earrings, Baume & Mercier watch, Citron silk top, vintage black leather belt, Bebe miniskirt, Michael Kors T-strap sandals.

spain in the Usa

Barcelona-based retailer Desigual (meaning “not the same”) hosts an opening celebration on June 19.

Featuring funky attire for men, women and children, the fall/winter 2010 line (coming to stores later this summer) is themed “Happy: The Glass HalfFull,” with three collections aiming to “transmit positive energy to all.”

Fashion Show, 696-9027.

Conservative by day as a wheeling and dealing real estate broker, Morse indulges her sexy and playful side when the sun sets. “I love to get dressed up in short shorts and stilettos and go out with my friends,” she says. “One of the craziest outfits I have worn was to my friend’s Halloween party. I was half of Tweedledum & Tweedledee and wore suspenders, fishnets and red-sequined bikini bottoms.”

June 17-23, 2010 Vegas Seven 25

Style

Out and About

Shopping in Chicago For a look outside the Vegas norm, a jaunt through Chicago’s Wicker Park district offers a radically different retail experience

By MJ Elstein Beyond great hot dogs and hockey, Chicago is the Midwest’s ultimate shopping destination. Like Las Vegas, it has a high concentration of luxury retailers populating its chic downtown areas known as the Magnificent Mile and The Loop. But since sometimes it is imperative to “dig in the crates” to put together a well-curated wardrobe, a trip to Chicago’s hip Wicker Park neighborhood is a must. Glamorized in films such as High Fidelity with John Cusack and benefiting from a serious dose of gentrification in the late ’90s, Wicker Park is a haven for up-and-coming clothing companies, sassy vintage shops and other types of inventive retail concepts that you can’t find elsewhere. And since dressing well is about building a look one piece at a time, shopping trips to

destinations that offer styles different than one can find in Las Vegas, are highly advisable.

Talk a stroll through Wicker Park and don’t miss these four exciting stores, plus one that’s not in the neighborhood but worth a visit.

Connect. A sustainable apparel boutique and ecoconscious event space, Connect focuses on performance wear for the urban environment, selecting partnerships that focus on social, environmental and humanitarian solutions. Collections include Nau, Stronghold, FIN and Terra Plana, among many other progressive brands.

Don’t miss Nau’s Chrysalis deconstructed dress, shirt and jacket hybrid, a must for the fashion diva who respects Mother Earth and its bounty. Another favorite:

The shop’s skateboard wall and impressive men’s T-shirt collection are ideal for the haute urban gent. 1330 N. Milwaukee Ave., connect-chicago.com.

Lovely: A Bake Shop. Vintage aprons and accessories are just the icing on the cake at Lovely, a treat shop founded by pastry chefs Brooke Dailey and Gina Hartwig. For breakfast and lunch, Lovely is the perfect respite for an intense day of strolling through Wicker Park. To fuel up for a day on the mean streets, try the buttermilk scones with raisins and cream. For a mid-afternoon dessert, don’t miss the S’Mores pie. In its boutique, Lovely sells a divine selection of handcrafted items from Art Goodies and Oilcloth International, among others. 1130 N. Milwaukee Ave., lovelybakeshop.com.

Connect leads the sustainable clothing movement as an exclusive stockist for Nau apparel.

26 Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

Where to Stay The Elysian Hotel.

With a design palette blending Greek mythology and contemporary flair, this hotel has become the toast of Chicago since its opening in late 2009. Renowned architect Lucien Lagrange and Simeone Deary Design Group partnered to create a graceful 60-story tower, a mix of residential and hospitality.

Standout features include the Elysian art collection with 65 individual pieces from 30 international contemporary artists as well as unparalleled amenities such as afternoon lemonade and iced-tea service in the parlor.

Rooms start at $395. elysianhotels.com.

Bakeshop photo by Paul Strabbing

Clockwise: Lenny & Me, the lobby of The Elysian Hotel, the Lovely bakery and cream from Mojo Spa.

Lenny & Me. The owners love everything vintage, and now with two shops (clothing and home decor) and an art gallery in Wicker Park, there is a lot more Lenny & Me to love. On the interiors side, Lenny & Me specializes in 20th-century furniture, lighting and decorative arts, organized into thoughtful pop-up boutiques by trend and interest. Lenny & Me’s spinoff, Three Birds Gallery, has become a haven for showcasing local talent from painters to sculptors. 1459 N. Milwaukee Ave. Mojo Spa. This spa began Amanda Kezios’ quest for the perfect lip balm and it has since entered into a successful business for the former personal chef turned beauty product innovator. Today, Kezios creates more than 200 bath and beauty products inspired by comfort foods and nostalgic treats, using natural ingredients, aromatherapy blends, positive affirmations, healing crystals and sound therapy.

Services available at her Wicker Park store include manis, pedis and facials. 1468 Milwaukee Ave., mojospa.com.

Space 519. Recently opened inside the trendy mall known as the 900 Shops on Michigan Avenue in the heart of the Magnificent Mile, Space 519 markets itself as a refined general store that focuses on a variety of well-curated items for the home, personal accessories, hard-to-find music, books, apparel and apothecary. Space 519 features a section dedicated to seasonally rotating items that are on-trend must-haves. Some favorite items include technicolored GShock watches and a surprising grouping of canned enchilada sauce and bottled salsas, as well as bowls. The selection available at Space 519 is a true delight for those in search of a well-positioned shopping experience. 900 N. Michigan Ave., space519.com

The James.

The ultimate in innercity comfort, this hotel offers 191 guest rooms and 52 studios. But the real standout here is the 26 lofts, which feature a media room, separate bedroom and living area with a fully stocked bar.

Don’t miss David Burke’s Primehouse and JBar, with rotating art exhibits.

Rooms start at $250.

June 17-23, 2010 Vegas Seven 27

Style

The Modern Muse

Summer, Five Ways

By Jennifer Cornthwaite

What are your summer staples?

JH: A favorite pair of vintage jeans, cut off to above the knee, or a micro mini.

EW: Tank tops.

AE: Flowery dresses, skirts in geometric or bright colors, and lots of nautical stripes.

BO: Flat gladiator sandals by Dolce Vita; a straw, oversize fedora; and a onesie.

BC: Shorts—in all fabrics and shapes for day and evening.

What is the one thing that will make any ensemble summer ready?

JH: A collection of washable, short-sleeve blouses that can be thrown on with denim, or lightweight trousers for evening.

AE: A big Panama hat.

BC: Accessories—that’s what always makes me distinct.

BO: A onesie: short and strapless that can be pulled over anything.

What’s a big summertime don’t?

JH: Never wear vintage as a costume.

EW: Maxi dress with heels.

AE: No suede shoes, and anything not seasonally appropriate.

BO: Heels at a pool, too many accessories at once.

BC: Whatever you do, no ruched tube dresses—you have to have a specific kind of body for those, and let’s face it, most of us don’t.

When it’s crazy hot out and you just can’t deal, what is the outfit that requires the least amount of work?

JH: A simple lightweight dress, in a

28 Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

breathable fabric—it’s not a time for polyester.

EW: Denim shorts, tank top, hair up, flip-flops.

AE: Long Maxi dress, messy beachy hair and sandals.

BO: A onesie with flat sandals will get you through.

BC: Shorts and a loose tank top, always with some bracelets and chunky necklaces to avoid appearing average.

For a barbecue or a day at the pool, what is the go-to get-up?

BC: Vintage Donna Karan wedges, shorts and a gauzy ethereal tank, bamboo earrings and loads of bracelets.

AE: Cutoff boyfriend denim shorts, classic button-down shirt, big hat, sunglasses, and never under any circumstances, heels.

BO: Halter flower-print dress, in a light fabric like chiffon with flat sandals over a bathing suit. You can throw on heels if you head out for drinks after.

What is your go-to ensemble for a hot night out on the town?

EW: A simple body conscious dress. One piece and sexy.

BO: Always a black, simple banded dress. It’s still edgy thrown on with a blazer for a little sophistication.

BC: I’m kind of obsessed with BCBG’s off-the-shoulder dresses, in-between casual and dressy, cinched at the waist with skyhigh heels.

What’s in your summer handbag?

JH: Nude lip gloss, powder and a small mending kit—we are wearing less clothes; one button could be a tragedy.

AE: A scarf, some touch up makeup and a big bottle of water.

BO: Chanel powder, Burt’s Bees lip balm, Moroccanoil ordered from Amazon to avoid the summer shopping heat.

BC: My favorite new mascara, Revlon Lash Fantasy; Nars “The Multiple” stick in Lamu.

The queen of downtown Las Vegas, gallery owner and entrepreneur Jennifer Harrington is constantly scouring the runways for the hottest trends, styles and designers. For advice on how to look your best in the city that never stops partying, contact her at downtownjennifer@gmail.com.

Jennifer Henry sports one of her favorite summer ensembles.

Photo by Anthony Mair

The urge to scrap all sense of style after a brutal 110-degree day seems natural, but with a bit of planning and conviction, clothing can transcend Las Vegas’ climate challenges. For different approaches on dressing for summer, the Modern Muse consulted five of the city’s chicest ladies: Vintage: Jennifer Henry, owner of FlockFlockFlock, a vintage clothing shop at Emergency Arts.

Athletic: Erin Wood, VIP hostess for N9NE Group.

Classic: Alex Epstein, project manager and creator of El Cortez Cabana Suites.

City: Brooke Olimpieri, owner of Filthy Mouth Clothing.

Edgy: Bree Cohen, DJ 88.

Retail Locations: Boca Park 740 S. Rampart Blvd.

(S. of Suncoast Hotel) Phone: (702) 851-7474 Forum Shops at Caesars Palace (3rd floor across from Sushi Roku)

Phone: (702) 369-9192 Miracle Mile Shops 3663 Las Vegas Blvd S. (Across from the Gap) Phone: (702) 369-7394 Premium Outlets 805 S. Grand Central Pkwy., Suite 1945 (Near W. Bonneville Ave.) Phone: (702) 437-7932 Text AASTORE + zip code to 23000 to find American Apparel locations nearest you.

Meet Tesa, a store employee at our Waikiki store. Photographed on the beach in Hawaii, Tesa wears the Printed Malibu Swimsuit and Vinyl UV Visor.

Made in Downtown LA Sweatshop Free www.americanapparel.net

Escape Routes Three jaunts designed to invigorate the weary desert dweller

One of Portland’s memorable restaurants: Le Pigeon.

4-Day Trip: Portland

For a Real 180 …

Try an urban adventure in a place best known for its beautiful outdoors

By Ida Siverio

Le Pigeon photo by Lauren Coleman

When describing a great vacation to someone, do you tell them about it in the format of a day-by-day narrative, share only the trip’s highlights or include every little detail of the experience? Ultimately the idiosyncrasies of the place visited and the specific memories it created determines the style in which a journey is remembered. Which is why Portland, Ore., is the perfect getaway, where four days gives one plenty to talk about upon return.

Day One: Land. Southwest has multiple daily flights at affordable prices.

Check in. Choose from among multiple chic hotels, including the Hotel de Luxe (whose design theme is world cinema), the Jupiter Hotel or The Nines (a Starwood luxury collection hotel).

Eat. At Pine State Biscuits, indulge in The Reggie, a fried chicken, bacon and cheese biscuit sandwich topped with gravy. The food really makes waiting in line— which usually goes out the front door—worthwhile.

Go to the Pearl District. Get caffeinated at the Pearl Bakery before you head to the fantastic universe of words that is Powell’s Books. Be a witness to creativity at Oblation Papers & Press, an Old World letterpress print shop, European-style stationery boutique and urban paper mill. And then check out Cargo, an importer of handpicked antiques and artifacts.

Tonight try Le Pigeon for dinner, a small gem of cuisine accompanied by a similarly precious wine list and service staff where chef Gabriel Rucker creates dishes to savor and later tell stories about.

For an after-dinner cocktail and an elevated view of the “City of Roses,” go to the 30th floor location of Portland City Grill.

Day Two: “Of all flowers methinks a rose is best,” wrote Shakespeare, who would have loved a stroll through Portland’s International Rose Test Garden, which serves as a testing ground for new varieties. Continue your morning at one of the most authentic Japanese gardens outside Japan.

The Portland Japanese Garden is a 5.5-acre haven of tranquil beauty nestled in the city’s scenic west hills. Both gardens are great settings for a picnic.

At lunch head to Bunk, 621 SE Morrison St., for the best sandwich in town. I recommend you order the pork-belly Reuben and enjoy it with a bottle of Mexican Coke (made with sugar instead of corn syrup).

For some of the city’s finest boutiques and restaurants, roam NW 23rd Avenue, where you will fall in love with the vintage pieces at Gilt jewelry boutique and the fashions at Souchi.

Enjoy dinner at Wildwood, where executive chef Dustin Clark bases the restaurant’s menu on the wealth of premium ingredients found nearby in the lush Willamette Valley.

Need a nightcap? Welcome to the Microbrew Capital of America, starring the Night Light Lounge, Henry’s 12th Street Tavern, Widmer Gasthaus and Lucky Lab Brew Pub. Day Three: A day to explore! Start with Stand Up Comedy, a store that curates and presents selections by young, bright designers at their small Burnside Street location.

Two other stops: The Meadow, a store filled with some of the most desired and appreciated items known to man (i.e., chocolate, wine, flowers and gourmet salts), and Fourteen30 Contemporary, a gallery whose artist program is both avant-garde and elegant.

A charming spot for lunch is Foster & Dobbs, which offers a select menu of sandwiches, a ploughman’s lunch, and cheese and charcuterie plates to eat in the shop or take away. And for dinner, there’s Paley’s, where you will find Portland’s finest cuisine, whether it’s the rabbit ravioli or the Braised Belly, White Bean & Pork Stew with rapini and pork jus.

Day Four: Assuming this day falls on a weekend, a great

Portland highlights (clockwise from top left): the Cargo artifact shop, desirables at the Meadow store, fine dining at Paley’s and vintage gems at Gilt.

brunch spot is the “Screen Door” a celebration of Southern food in the corner of 24th and East Burnside Street. After brunch walk a couple of blocks to 28th to encounter some the coolest secondhand shops Portland has to offer.

This is the perfect time to add some cultural activities to your day. Head to either the Portland Art Museum or the Pittock Mansion, a house of historical and visual significance with spectacular views of the city.

Then take a drive over to the Columbia River Gorge and its cascading Multnomah Falls, off Interstate 84.

Or visit Oregon’s wine country for lunch at Dundee Bistro and then tasting at Adelsheim Vineyard or Scott Paul Wines.

Return to Portland for dinner at John Gorham’s Spanish-inspired Toro Bravo or make a reservation at Beast for one of its two dinner seatings.

For your final goodbyes to Portland, enjoy a cocktail at Thatch Tiki Bar or at Noble Rot. Both bars offer their own very personal style and ambience.

June 17-23, 2010 Vegas Seven 31

3-Day Trip: Park City

Sail Utah!

And other things we bet you didn’t know you could do in the Beehive State

By Xania Woodman

Day One: Assuming you fly Southwest (because sometimes rates are as low as $49), you’ll be in Salt Lake City before you can even boot up your laptop. Book a shuttle with Park City Transportation ($64 roundtrip, 1-800-637-3803) from baggage claim or rent a car at the airport. Thirty-five picturesque miles later and you’ll be delivered right to Park City proper, precious Old Town and beyond, the tony upper and lower Deer Valley condo and ski communities scattered amid high mountain passes (think log mansions).

If you’re watching your wallet, try the Yarrow, the Canyons Resort and Park City Peaks, all of which offer great deals. Or, if you prefer luxury at any price, the St. Regis, Stein Eriksen Lodge and the Sky Lodge can oblige.

Once settled, stroll Main Street and ogle original local artwork, handicrafts, sweets and tempting menus. Dolly’s Bookstore, with its resident cats and caramel apples, is always a good place to start. Caffeinate at the recently relocated and revamped Alpine Internet 32 Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

Cyber Coffeehouse at the Kimball Art Center and shop hip clothing at Mary Jane’s and Olive & Tweed, and luxe denim at Upstairs at Muddy’s. This is also the time to make dinner reservations: Shabu for sushi and pan-Asian; Prime Steakhouse & Piano Bar or Butcher’s Chop House for steak; JeanLouis and Wahso for fancy; and Zona Rosa or Bistro 412 for casual.

After dinner, sample local brews at the Wasatch Brew Pub (I recommend the Summerbrau) or wine flights at Baccus Wine Bar. The Spur offers live music and a casual tavern experience. For a more complete nightlife experience, actor Danny Masterson’s Downstairs nightclub will happily oblige Las Vegans with Park City’s first legal bottle service. And of course, No Name Saloon and O’Shucks are always there when you simply must slum it with the off-season lifties.

Day Two: In summer the lush mountain setting is ideal for hiking, mountain biking and boating on the Jordanelle Reservoir.

John Sarbo of Beyond Limits (435-6406435, byndlimits.com) leads tours—private or semi-private small groups—that include breakfast and/or lunch plus all the Utahan knowledge you can retain.

If you have a need for more speed, the summer bobsled, world’s steepest zip line and alpine slide await at the Olympic Park.

Park City highlights (clockwise from top left): Wahso Asian Grill, the Park Silly Sunday Market, High West Distillery and the penthouse at the Sky Lodge.

No doubt hungry from a day of sailing lessons or trekking the Wasatch front, the place to be Saturday night is High West Distillery. Opened in December, the state’s first distillery since the 1870s (and the world’s only ski-in distillery) serves its own locally made rye whiskeys and vodkas aside robust, seasonal small and large plates, such as bison, trout and elk. After dinner, stick around and enjoy live music in the saloon with a tot of High West’s 21-year-old Rocky Mountain Rye or High West Silver oat whiskey.

Day Three: Summer Sundays bring the Park Silly Sunday Market, a daylong open-air festival along historic Main Street (10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 13 through Sept.

26, parksillysundaymarket.com) with food vendors, locally grown produce, arts and crafts, a beer garden for adults and a petting zoo for children. The hyper-recycling, zero-waste event (the bandstand is solar-powered) is a shining example of what happens when a frontier boomtown enters the 21st century with its thinking (ski) cap on.

Park Silly photo by Rebekah Stevens Photography

For a high-end Bohemian mountain retreat that defies any preconceived notions you may have had about Utah, book a three-night escape to Park City (locals not-so-jokingly call their mountain sanctuary “Park City, Colorado”) and prepare to be impressed. Friday through Sunday is best in summer—which is terribly short, mind you, at 7,000 feet elevation.

2-Day Trip: Culver City

L.A.’s New Act

This hip artists’ colony has risen from its Hollywood studio ashes

By Geraldine Campbell In its heyday, Culver City was the home of MGM and Hal Roach studios. Its streets were once lined with nightclubs, such as the Cotton Club and (later, during Prohibition) speakeasies. But, in the mid-20th century, studio sets became abandoned lots, and the city lost its sparkle. Driven by the relocation of Sony Pictures Studios to the former MGM headquarters, Culver City has once again become hip. Its main roads are packed with galleries, architecture firms and wine bars. It’s also become L.A.’s hottest restaurant row. The only problem these days? Where to park.

Paten Circle II courtesy Danielle Nelson Mourning and Taylor de Cordoba, Los Angeles

Day One: Catch an early morning flight to LAX, where you’ll want to rent a car and, this being L.A. (you are what you drive), the swankier the better. A Bentley GT convertible will set you back $999 a day, and while you’re splurging you might as well have Olympic (olympicrentacar.com) deliver your wheels directly to the airport. From there, it’s a 10-mile drive to Culver City, bordered by Santa Monica to the west and Beverly Hills to the north.

Book a room at the historic Culver Hotel, which dates back to 1924, when it was the place for visiting actors (including the entire cast of The Wizard of Oz). In 2007, the hotel came under new ownership and underwent a major overhaul, including renovations of the lobby, restaurant and rooms. If you’re looking for something a bit less

vintage, the two-year-old Hotel Palomar is a modern take on Hollywood glam in nearby Westwood.

Order a veal Muenster burger at Father’s Office II, a Santa Monica import in the historic Helms Bakery building, before driving to La Cienega for gallery hopping. It’s not a particularly scenic stretch of real estate, but the majority of the city’s artists have set up shop here (you can walk, but if you want to act like a true Angeleno, this is strictly verboten). Stop in at Taylor de Cordoba for San Francisco artist Danielle Nelson Mourning’s series of selfportraits, in which she portrays the evolution of woman in settings of ancestral significance.

You’ll need a reservation if you want to score a table at Ford’s Filling Station (yes, it’s helmed by Harrison’s son Ben), a gastropub that’s always packed with celebs and foodies—though the laid-back, dark-wood-and-leather feel is decidedly un-Hollywood.

If you’re looking for a night out, skip the nightclubs (Vegas has those in spades) and grab a chrome bar stool at BottleRock, a wine bar in a wine store. After two glasses ($5-$14), you can ask to open and sample any bottle of wine in the shop.

Day Two: Wake up with a cup of joe from the Conservatory for Coffee, Tea & Cocoa, where beans are roasted on the premises, then head to the Museum of Jurassic Technology, which, it turns out, is not all about technology in the Jurassic age. We can’t say more or we’d ruin the experience.

Architect Gregg Fleishman’s studio is a must for his geometric pieces, which double as works of art and ergonomically functional furniture. For less-modern wares, try Jefferson West, which stocks relics ranging from 18th-century English chests to 20th-century Americana. Break for brunch at Royal/T, a café cum gallery where waitresses dress as maids, Japanese comfort food is on the menu, and there’s Hello Kitty aplenty.

Culver City is the heart of screenland, and if you only take one studio tour it should be Sony Pictures, which includes its backstory as well as the ins and outs of modern film and television production.

Before heading to the airport, stop in for bento box with soba noodle salad and miso salmon at the macrobiotic M Café ( Jessica Alba and Anne Hathaway are fans).

Culver City highlights (clockwise from top left): the Museum of Jurassic Technology; “Paten Circle II,” a painting from Danielle Nelson Mourning’s series at the Taylor de Cordoba gallery; Ford’s Filling Station; and a collection of signature Sculpt Chairs at Gregg Fleishman Studio.

Bargain Hunting?

Experts share the travel-deal possibilities for summer Thinking that there must be some good in the bad economy, we polled the experts for great deals on summer vacations. But because travel deals are subject to change (scroll the fine print here) and because our deadlines prevent up-to-the-minute updates, we have to communicate the possibilities in generalities about when, where and why to go. But this report should give you a pretty good idea of what’s being offered.

By Sea Kevin Allen, owner and cruise travel specialist of Cruise Holidays of Summerlin (982-0268), suggested the following destinations: • alaska. Look for end-of-season deals.

Example: Roundtrip from Seattle, aboard Holland America, seven nights leaving in late August, ocean view with window, prices start at $699 (that’s the same price you’d pay for an interior cabin).

• europe. Take advantage of repositioning cruises (i.e., ships relocating at the end of season). For example, Holland America offers a 20-day cruise that visits Italy, Spain and Portugal before heading to the Caribbean.

Prices start at $1,899.

• Hawaii. Start booking holiday cruises now. Specials include three nights with rental car starting at $500.

By aIr We checked in with TripAdvisor.com, a flight search engine that pulls information from top online travel agencies and airlines, to highlight the best airfares available. Justin Drake, PR specialist for the company, chimed in with the best low roundtrip airfares out of Las Vegas starting in late June/early July: to Burbank, Calif., $125; San Francisco, $139; Los Angeles, $143; Denver, starting at $151; Vancouver, starting at $223; Seattle, starting at $261.

The experts at travelzoo.com have announced the destinations offering the best value for the summer, including … Las Vegas.

Because the lifespan of the site’s deals are only seven to 10 days, we opted to publish recent examples as a frame of reference: • Six-night Australia and New Zealand package, $999 including air and hotel.

• Resort savings of up to 50 percent in Orlando, as the city tries to make up for its seasonal depletion of convention business.

• “Shoulder” season (between high and low times) in the Bahamas, so great rates abound.

• Slashed rates in Las Vegas. Because the heat tends to repel tourists, resorts not only offer deals but tend to throw in freebies such as casino credits and spa discounts. It’s a great time to play tourist in your own city and take advantage of all those lush swimming pools.

And think of the airfare you’d save!

– Kate Silver June 17-23, 2010 Vegas Seven 33

Fargo on My Mind

With really cheap airfare and a serious case of wanderlust, Vegas Seven’s style editor takes on North Dakota

By MJ Elstein I think of myself as an adventurer. A bon vivant. A wanderer. I have been far and I have been wide, and each journey seems a little wackier than the former.

For example, there was the time I went all the way to the Rock of Gibraltar and forgot my passport, not realizing, of course, that it’s actually part of England and that my Spanish visa wouldn’t work when crossing the border. Sadly, I missed the monkeys that inhabit the Rock, but I ended up in an Iberian Kmart hunting for doodads and trying to make my traveling companion not hate me for getting so close to Africa (a mere 14 miles) with nothing to show for it.

And then there was Uruguay. When South American uber-chef Frances Mallmann chose to open a small inn and restaurant in the pueblo of Garzon, I couldn’t wait to side-trip it during a vacation to Buenos Aires. Unfortunately, the map on Hotel Garzon’s website was wrong and it led me on a wild goose chase until my rented Fiat was nearly out of gas, forcing me to ask a weathered gaucho for directions. Since I speak Castilian, my strain of Spanish must have sounded as foreign as English to him. After several panicky calls to Garzon, my trusty BlackBerry ultimately guided our fume-fueled car into 34 Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

the little country town to enjoy the very best meal of my life in a dining room lit only by candles.

After the aforementioned adventures (and others too numerous to mention), planning a vacation takes one of two routes: complex or obscure. I just don’t do simple.

Because I often get the itch to leave the city—and quickly—Allegiant Air has become a close friend. Based in Las Vegas, the company offers last-minute blowout rates for some really funky, random destinations. For my latest vacation, I decided to see just how far Allegiant could take me into the land of oddities. This was when I discovered that they fly to Fargo.

Why on earth would anyone ever want to go to Fargo, N.D.? My answer is, Why not? The mere parameters of my desired adventure were that I go via Allegiant and that I go to a place I didn’t have previous interest in seeing. Fargo seemed to fill the bill. And for $29 each way, it was an easy decision.

One of the things that attracted me to Fargo was Hotel Donaldson, a rather hip boutique hotel. This got me wondering: Does one quaint hotel make a city more accessible? To be honest, I never would have considered Fargo if my only option for accommodations

was a Motel 6. A fun hotel makes a foreign land less imposing. And indeed it became the central character in my Fargo experience.

The history of the Hotel Donaldson runs in tandem with the growth of Fargo as a city. Built in 1893, just after a fire destroyed much of downtown, it was the headquarters for the International Order of Odd Fellows, an organization in which members bonded through ethical values consisting of truth, love and friendship. After that incarnation, it became a workman’s hotel. Decades of neglect left the structure in disrepair.

In 2000, after a gutting and extensive renovation, the Hotel Donaldson was born as a haven to cultivate local arts, from performing to culinary. With 50 regional artists gracing the walls and common spaces throughout the premises, each guest room is dedicated to a single artist’s work. The building, its rooms and its walls have spirit. They have the same buoyancy and self-sufficiency that can be found in the casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, which are attractions all by themselves.

The city of Fargo bears a similar story. Working-class gives way to mild urban gentrification set against a backdrop of a winding river and the bountiful plains.

Guest Suite 13 featuring art by Mike Martin at Hotel Donaldson.

Fargo’s main drag (left), Hotel Donaldson (above) and Fargo-Moorhead (below).

Fargo is a place where values are still valued and community really exists, which provides a guest from Las Vegas, for example, a true vacation from her day-to-day life.

I like to feel the asphalt when I get to a new place. So, after dropping my bags at the Hotel Donaldson, I hit the streets in search of the essence of the city. On my walk downtown I discovered that Fargo is connected to Moorhead, a neighboring city, by three bridges that extend over the Red River. Fargo’s historic center has benefited in recent years from extensive redevelopment, including housing, shopping and entertainment.

With a population less than 100,000 and falling, Fargo has the same kind of urban dissipation that has affected much larger cities, such as Detroit and Cleveland. But the residents aren’t going down without a fight. They embrace tourism and service at a level I haven’t seen in my travels. I couldn’t seem to walk a block without someone pointing me to the two main sights of the city: the historic Fargo Theatre with its classic Americana-imbued architecture, and the Plains Art Museum, which celebrates the wide open field of possibilities that once attracted settlers to towns like Fargo.

And then there is the food: the benchmark by which I judge all experiences. Truck stops, diners, steak houses and a rather savvy mix of ethnic eateries make up the roster. Fargo basically has two nice restaurants: The HoDo at the Hotel Donaldson is definitely the hippest spot in town, followed by the locals favorite, Monte’s Downtown, where you can enjoy wild boar and walleye—two of the town’s specialties.

Did I stick out like a sore thumb being from Vegas? Well, the honest answer is yes. This is a real industrial kind of town, and I tried to tone down the showgirl as much as possible, but the thing about Vegas is that it won’t be shaken that easily; it likes to travel and make itself known.

Fargo, meantime, likes to stay put. For example, the novelty of the Coen brothers’ movie Fargo gave it a standing spot in popular culture, but it had little effect on the city and its residents, who don’t seem to get the allusion when I mention it in passing. That movie was really about Minnesota, dontcha know.

While not nearly as wildly anecdotal as my other jaunts, Fargo reminded me that it’s the special places that make a journey memorable and their relatability to that which you are already familiar.

Even when trying to escape the lights, it is nice to find a bit of neon in the Plains—courtesy of the Donaldson’s glowing signage.

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THe LocaL Newsroom The Great Unknown What can the spill in the Gulf teach us about Yucca Mountain?

Illustration by Hernan Valencia

By Dave Berns As we enter the third month of the disastrous BP oil spill, you can’t help but watch, read and listen to the coverage from the Gulf Coast and think of the links to Yucca Mountain. We’ve heard it before—the assurances of scientists, politicians and business executives that our collective knowledge is strong enough to validate a risky venture, one with potentially destructive fallout.

Deep-water drilling? Yes, it’s difficult, but it’s been studied forever and the technology is up to the task. Haul spent nuclear fuel rods to the Nevada desert on a train and reprocess them or bury them for at least 10,000 years? A challenging task, but research and government regulation will protect us. Knowledge and process are the high priests of a collective religion of state, one that’s based on reason and discovery—a kind of non-denominational approach to faith and wisdom that draws its roots from the scientific revolution of the past 150 years.

Yet Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, Hurricane Katrina and other worst-case scenarios and acts of God have shown us the folly of placing too much faith in very bright people with advanced degrees. What we’ve learned—or at least should have—is that the knowledge to build does not reflect the knowledge to control.

Yes, we can drill a mile down to the Gulf floor, but do we understand how to fix the unexpected?

We can build nuclear power plants, but how do we deal with the deadly waste that doesn’t break down for millennia? How do we deal with the unknown?

In his book About a Mountain (W.W. Norton & Co., 2010), University of Iowa English professor John D’Agata paints the story of the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear storage facility against the backdrop of the 2002 suicide of Las Vegas teenager Levi Presley, who jumped from the Stratosphere Tower. D’Agata sees the two as metaphors for the unknown.

“I’m kind of fascinated by this idea that we can surround ourselves with information. We can just pile up data after data after data and arm ourselves with facts and yet … still not be able to answer the questions that we have,” D’Agata said in an NPR interview. “And I think that suicide, not to simplify it, is the ultimate unknowable. And they seem connected in that way.”

D’Agata wrote his book after moving his mother to Southern Nevada. He began to explore the region, and the once-theoretical discussion of Yucca assumed a very personal relationship. In many ways, that’s the story of any potential threat. We regularly conduct cost-benefit analyses ranging from the small and immediate (I can make that yellow light) to the large-scale and long term (let’s build a nuclear waste repository and seal it for 10,000 years). We consider some of the consequences, but is it even possible to consider them all?

BP apparently determined that it was OK to cut corners on its petroleum facilities in Texas, Alaska, Southern California and the Gulf of Mexico, as numerous journal-

istic reports have illustrated. The fines levied against the oil giant weren’t enough of an incentive to change their practices; they were the cost of doing business.

So we really have no guarantee that federal, state and local governments will have the knowledge or the will to protect Southern Nevadans from a Gulf-style tragedy at Yucca Mountain, one that could be countless times worse because of the deadly nature of spent nuclear fuel rods.

President Obama’s proposed 2010 budget eliminates most funding for the Yucca project, effectively killing it. It is something he said he was going to do as early as 2007 when then-candidate Obama wrote a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer stating, “The selection of Yucca Mountain has failed, the time for debate on this site is over, and it is time to start exploring new alternatives for safe, longterm solutions based on sound science.”

Three years have passed, and Boxer faces a serious re-election battle against former HP chairman and CEO Carly Fiorina; Obama’s popularity has taken a further hit from the Gulf spill; and Reid is in the midst of the political battle against conservative Republican Sharron Angle, who has argued for the Yucca project.

“For nearly 20 years, Sharron Angle has been in favor of Yucca Mountain as a profitable center for reprocessing, not a nuclear landfill and dumping ground,” reads Angle’s newly updated website, sharronangle.com.

“Yucca Mountain and the Nuclear Energy Industry have long been demonized and demagogued by Harry

Reid. … Yucca Mountain has enormous potential for fulfilling the need in America for clean, cost-efficient energy, as well as economic diversity for Nevada and much-needed jobs for thousands.”

The Gulf Coast oil industry is one of that region’s chief economic engines, one that has created hundreds of thousands of jobs from Louisiana to Texas; and yet the Gulf spill has destroyed the region’s fishing and tourism industries—at least for this year—and there’s no telling what the long-term effects of the spill could mean for employment throughout the region.

Yucca has created thousands of construction and science-based jobs in this region for more than two decades. Its fortunes are on the wane, but that could change in this uncertain election year. And with that change could come a renewed Yucca project, more talk of balancing risk and benefits and further assurances that every possible scenario can be handled.

Ironically, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld might have summed it up best when discussing the early years of the Iraq War. “There are known knowns,” he said. “These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.”

Dave Berns is a frequent contributor to Vegas Seven and a longtime newspaper journalist who most recently served as the host of KNPR’s State of Nevada.

June 17-23, 2010 Vegas Seven

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The Local Newsroom

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Social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook have been invaluable tools for casinos. They can foster a sense of familiarity with guests, but they are anything but casual. Plenty of work goes into manning the new-media ramparts for Las Vegas casinos.

Harrah’s Entertainment took its embrace of new media to the next level by launching its New Media team in February. The group, directed by David Koloski, includes Eric Petersen, the manager of social media strategy, who takes the company’s interactive Tweeting and Facebooking very seriously.

“As a customerservice tool, it’s huge,” Petersen says. “This is free market research in real time.” But that research often comes with a price: When everyone has a digital audience, service hiccups such as long lines or poorly cleaned rooms can become PR nightmares.

New-media pros are learning to help minimize the fallout.

“It’s important to reach out empathetically, to identify the real issue and reach out to the right people to get it resolved,” Petersen says. Even when nothing can be done to “solve” a problem, like when Tweeters vent about poor service after the fact, the most important thing is often just to show that someone cares.

“There’s an evolution going on,” says Jay Fenster, Petersen’s “social media rockstar,” who is responsible for most of the Tweets for Harrah’s 10 Las Vegas properties. “Once, Las Vegas was all about personal relationships—between players and hosts, for example—but as it’s become more about databases, a lot of that human aspect has been lost.

“Social media lets us bring that back, interact personally with thousands of people at a time.”

“Twitter central” for Harrah’s is a few modest offices on the Paris Las Vegas’ mezzanine level, more nose-to-thegrindstone than technocratic looking.

In Petersen’s office, a hand-written memo, “Remember—you’re always auditioning,” fights for space on a dry-erase boards with the latest metrics,

evidence that the company—and the team—take their work seriously.

And it’s real work. The first hour and a half of the day is taken up by getting out initial messages for the properties, choosing what will add value to followers’ timelines. With a lot of competing points—gaming promotions, room specials, upcoming events—Fenster walks a line between giving followers useful information and giving them too much info. It’s as much an art as it is a science.

After that’s out of the way, it’s time to start responding to Facebook and Twitter comments, questions and concerns. Again, the most important thing, Fenster says, is to “let them know that someone is listening.”

A professional travel writer since the age of 16, Fenster first came to Las Vegas to write a “best of” guide for the city, and in 2006 parlayed his experience into a job writing marketing material for Harrah’s. This year, he jumped to the New Media team, and a guy who once spent his time describing the Stratosphere Tower or the MGM Grand’s Lion Habitat now talks up Harrah’s latest offerings, 140 characters at a time, building a “you’ve just got to be here” feeling by sharing news of recent jackpots and celebrity sightings, as well as also playing online concierge and answering questions about the properties.

It’s hard work, but there’s also fun involved. Fenster and Petersen are just about always on the clock, snapping pictures and sharing discoveries via their BlackBerrys late into the night. Their red-carpet antics led a rival photographer to dub them the “properazzi.” With official clearance, they cover the nightlife scene with the panache of freebooters.

In the end, it’s all about making connections and building interest. Increasingly, both can happen online. Social media is about meeting customers where they are.

You can bet that casinos are going to be doing more of it in the near future.

[Harrah’s] walks a line between giving followers useful information and giving them too much info.

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

The Evolution of Fatherhood

selling memories

A new book by a UNLV professor highlights how far dads have come

Professor links childhood experiences with consumer behavior

By Kate Silver

By Caitlin McGarry

Modern dads are more involved in their children’s lives than in any time in history, thanks to evolution (and perhaps a few armed and dangerous cavewomen).

That’s the subject of a new book by UNLV associate professor Peter Gray.

He and University of Oklahoma associate professor Kermyt G. Anderson co-authored Fatherhood: Evolution and Human Paternal Behavior, which was published last month by Harvard University Press.

Just in time for Father’s Day, Gray took a few moments to speak with us.

Here’s what we learned:

Baking cookies on a chilly autumn day. Eating Popsicles in the heat of summer. Riding in a station wagon on the highway to the beach.

Childhood memories such as these are triggered by scents, places and even brand names, associations that Kathryn LaTour, associate professor of hospitality, researches and teaches at UNLV. LaTour, who holds a doctorate in marketing from the University of Iowa, has studied a variety of topics ranging from online gambling and automobiles to In-N-Out Burger and wine consumption. But the driving force behind her research is finding out why consumers make choices and how brands can influence and capitalize on those decisions.

In her research, LaTour has found that childhood memories play an integral role in consumers’ purchasing decisions. In a recent Journal of Business Research article on Coca-Cola as a childhood icon, LaTour found that Coke is ingrained in the memories of Southern children in part because of the prevalence of Coca-Cola bottling plants in the region, and competing beverages must overcome the strong link in order to lure consumers away from the iconic soft-drink brand.

“It’s not just a brown, fizzy water for them; it’s a part of their family,” LaTour says. “Their mothers introduced it to them very early in life. One of our participants talked about going from the bottle [of milk] to the bottle of Coke. … They would never consider buying Pepsi or a competing product. It was part of their relationship with that brand. It gives some insights into how to tap into those feelings.”

LaTour finds links between childhood memories and consumerism by conducting group interviews that combine psychoanalysis and yoga. A certified yoga instructor, LaTour leads groups in stretches and meditation before asking questions about their childhoods. After the group portion of the interview is finished, she conducts individual interviews.

“We’re trying to understand how their life history has evolved to bring them to where we are today, [which] gives insight to why they buy what they buy,” she says. “It is very much consumer psychology.”

The influence of childhood memories on consumer behavior is not a solely American phenomenon. While studying the cultural influence of gambling in other countries, LaTour interviewed French and Chinese gamblers, and found that though the types of childhood experiences varied, the effect of those memories on buying choices was consistent.

“You would think that everyone had a different kind of childhood, but when you get to a really deep level you start to see some commonalities between people,” LaTour says.

As part of the larger theme of consumers’ motivation, LaTour examined online gambling, the legalization of which is being debated on both the state and federal levels.

When LaTour interviewed online gamblers and casino gamblers to determine why a consumer would choose one over the other, she found that online gambling could benefit from legalization to make it more legitimate.

“We found that the casino gamblers obviously have a different relationship LaTour with gambling than the online gamblers,” LaTour says. “The online gambling environment was chaotic; there were no rules and regulations. ... We thought that this experience online could benefit a lot from regulation.”

While her previous research studied how advertisers can use consumers’ earliest memories to market their products, her latest work focuses on how advertising is used to manipulate consumers’ minds and even create false memories.

“What I’m trying to show now is that actually the people who are the most manipulated are the ones who process the most deeply,” she says. “So maybe it’s not such a bad thing that they’re creating these false images, memories and experiences, because it’s just part of the way the human brain processes information.”

Gray photo by Marsh Starks / UNLV Photo Services; LaTour courtesy UNLV Photo Services

Fathers Have Evolved If you look at the closest living relatives to human beings—bonobo monkeys and chimpanzees—you’re not going to see a lot of father-son or father-daughter bonding. That’s because the male primates’ sole role in fatherhood is, to put it bluntly, knocking up a fellow simian and continuing through the trees, searching for a new place to hide the banana.

Human males have evolved to the point that they not only stick around, they are increasingly involved in providing for and nurturing their children. “We’ve got some of the most invested fathers probably in human evolutionary history spending a remarkable amount of time with their young kids,” Gray says.

Fatherhood Changes Men Physiologically Studies have shown that men who are married and men who are fathers have lower testosterone levels than their single counterparts. It also changes the way that men allocate time, having less leisure time to spend with other men, and it impacts the relationship with the wife. “You often see a decline in marital relationship quality once you have young kids,” says Gray, pointing to lack of sleep and less time for emotional and physical intimacy, all of which take a toll on a marriage.

Dads Get Postpartum Depression, Too Gray’s book points out that it’s not only mothers who get postpartum depression; dads do, too. “The best predictor is that your wife suffers from postpartum depression,” Gray says.

Because husbands and wives share the same environment, economic reality and emotional outlook, they can also share the same depression. “Men often pick up emotional cues from their partners. And if your wife is depressed, that’s going to rub off on you.”

Men and Women Have Learned They Need Each Other It’s hard raising a family. As our society becomes more transient and mothers find

Peter Gray looks at the changing role of dads in society.

themselves farther away from their own mothers, they need help. Fathers are filling that role, helping out around the home with cooking, cleaning, changing diapers and more.

The flip side of that coin, Gray says, is the deadbeat dad. In those situations, the woman may be better off on her own, evolutionarily speaking. “It’s hard having kids; it’s expensive to raise kids,” Gray says. “A lot of men’s incomes and educations don’t make them worthwhile mates. They’re not even worth having around, and they would be net drains if you did keep them around.”

Economy Impacts Fertility If you look over annual numbers of kids born throughout the 20th century, Gray says, you’ll find declines in challenging economic times, such as during the Great Depression. “I think it’s as simple as taking the day-to-day realities people face economically and emotionally and so forth, tallying it up and realizing, ‘Hey, it’s just not the right time to have the kid.’” Gray says he expects to see similar declines during the current economic slump.

Stay-At-Home Dads Still Have It Hard We’ve come far enough that in some moms’ clubs you might even find a stay-at-home dad.

However, Gray says studies show that males still have it pretty hard when it comes to full-time child care. It can be harder for them to fit into mom circles, which can be isolating. He says dads have a better shot at success if they start caring for kids who are a little bit older (the younger the kids are, the harder it is). He says it also helps if the dad is caring for a son.

June 17-23, 2010 Vegas Seven

39

The Local Newsroom

UNLV School of Architecture director optimistic despite numerous challenges

By David Davis The director of the UNLV School of Architecture has a tall task ahead of him. David Baird has spent much of his first year on the job juggling resources to make the best of an understaffed and financially strapped department.

“We’re trying pretty aggressively to become more efficient and streamlined,” he says. “Everyone here is working harder, putting in longer hours and getting paid less.” Nonetheless, Baird plans to make the school more exclusive, and establish a national reputation for it in the architecture industry.

Baird, 45, moved with his wife and two sons to Las Vegas last July from Baton Rouge, La., where he taught at Louisiana State University, founded the PLUSone Design + Construction company and won two American Institute of Architects design awards for his buildings. Baird says he’s glad to get back to the desert, though. “I spent the first six years of my architectural career in Tucson [Ariz]. We really love the Southwest; we’re better suited for it. We love the feeling and the attitudes here. Architects and academics come from all over the world to study Las Vegas because it’s such a unique city, and it’s a fantastic design laboratory. So for

40

Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

me it’s just a wonderful place to teach architecture.”

He has taken control of the school during a particularly difficult time. “This town got hit extraordinarily hard by the economic downturn,” Baird says. “Over 65 percent of architects locally are out of work.” Since 2008, the School of Architecture lost five faculty members. “Our staffing is way below the national standards,” Baird says, “At LSU we had 14 faculty to teach 250 students in one discipline; here we have 12 faculty to teach 650 students in three disciplines. Every year we get cited for not having a good full-time faculty to student ratio.”

As part of recent budget cuts, UNLV considered eliminating the landscape architecture program.

Fortunately, during Baird’s first semester, he helped that program receive the highest level of national accreditation from the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board for the first time in its history. On June 7, the Board of Regents backed UNLV President Neal Smatresk’s recommendation to keep the program.

Baird has had to find creative ways to get the most out of the school’s tight budget. “We’re trying to find what classes we can share, rather than offering discipline-specific courses,” he says. The school also recently arranged for the College of Southern Nevada to provide some courses.

Despite the school’s limited resources, Baird likes what it offers. “Our students and faculty are being recognized nationally and internationally for the work they’re doing,” he says. “This year we had four students win national design competitions. We need to do a

David Baird has had to work around budget constraints at UNLV.

better job of letting people know who we are and what we do. I think once we do, we’ll start being recognized nationally for the excellence that’s going on here.”

In the long term, the school will have to reduce its student population to about 200. “We’re just not going to get the resources we need to continue to serve the number of students we have,” Baird says. So the school will become smaller, but also offer higher quality. Baird is exploring the possibility of offering new concentrations in educational design and design and construction.

Despite the many obstacles Baird faces, he is optimistic about the school’s future. “I’m glad it’s happening on my watch.”

Photo by Anthony Mair

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The Local Newsroom

Politics

Coloring in the primary results

By Michael Green

In the wake of my pre-election prediction column that had mixed results, let’s quit dealing with the future to consider the recent past: the primary.

• Political experts are hailing Sen. Harry Reid’s campaign for making chicken salad out of Sue Lowden’s chicken droppings. Consequently, they wound up with the most extreme Republican in the Senate primary, Sharron Angle. That gives Lowden too little credit for mangling her campaign, but suggests Reid learned a lot from previous botched campaigns, especially his 1998 re-election bid, when John Ensign came within a mistress’ eyelash of beating him.

But everyone should have seen Lowden’s demise coming early on.

The base turns out in a primary, and Angle’s extremism appeals to GOP true believers, who were already mad at Lowden. In 2008, as party chair, Lowden kept the far right from taking over the state convention, and they never forgave her. Further, Angle could appeal to Southern Nevada’s far right while taking a sizable chunk of northern and rural Republicans. Two years ago in a primary, Angle almost unseated Bill Raggio, the legendary Washoe County state senator who has made anti-Angle noises recently, showing she can obtain support from her base but perhaps not those who are rational. Extremists don’t easily win statewide, but Reid clearly takes her seriously, as he should.

• Jim Gibbons won more votes in his statewide primary than Lowden did.

That also shows the Republican far right turned out—or that the far out turned right.

• Angle’s victory may help get out Democrats for Reid, not to mention moderate Republicans (all eight of them). More interestingly, it may have a symbiotic effect on Dina Titus’ re-election bid. Republican Joe Heck has run to the right, and it will be interesting to see how and whether he and Angle feed off each other—and how much Reid and Titus thus benefit each other by painting their opponents as extremists, as both undoubtedly will.

• One of the less-noticed losses for the Republican establishment involved House District 1. For some reason, many GOP leaders decided they had a shot at defeating Shelley Berkley, who is seeking her seventh term and pondering a Senate run in 2012. They persuaded

42 Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

Michelle Fiore to give up her run against Dennis Nolan in state Senate District 9 to go for the House because she’s a mother and businesswoman who likes guns. Fiore lost to Ken Wegner, who has challenged Berkley to no avail before.

Meanwhile, Nolan, a presumed beneficiary of Fiore’s departure for greener electoral pastures, lost his primary to Elizabeth Halseth, thanks mainly to his deciding to intervene with a phone call on behalf of a friend accused of rape, followed by a website post explaining that the alleged victim was a sexually active 16-year-old.

• One bit of bad news is that David Parks—consistently one of the most thoughtful, hard-working legislators whose opponents even respect him— won’t be a Clark County commissioner.

That’s no knock on Mary Beth Scow, who beat Parks by fewer than 100 votes after being term-limited from the school board, the group everybody allegedly hates for supposedly destroying education. The perception is that Parks started campaigning late, and the commission boundaries may have overlapped better with Scow’s old district than with his.

The good news for his constituents is that Parks returns to the state Senate.

There he figures to be joined by Mark Manendo, who beat Kathy McClain by more votes than expected, if he was really expected to beat her at all. Their campaigns turned vicious, but it helped Manendo that his dedication over the years to grass roots appears to have been deeper than McClain’s.

• For all the talk of Reids on the ballot, Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure (a former district judge’s son) ran unopposed, state board of education member Gloria Bonaventura lost her bid for county clerk, and her husband, John Bonaventura—the judge’s cousin—won the Democratic primary for constable, a job his father had. Another interesting point: The incumbent constable, Democrat Robert “Bobby G” Gronauer, seemed popular, begging the question of whether he struck voters as too flamboyant for his job, although the Bonaventures have attracted ample notice over the years.

Too flamboyant for the job? Funny, no one says that about the Reids.

Michael Green is a professor of history at the College of Southern Nevada and author of several books and articles on Nevada history and politics.

Nightlife

Entertaining options for a week of nonstop fun and excitement.

Compiled by Xania Woodman

Thur. 17 The Spin Doctors kick off the weekend and the Cruzan Campfire Concert Series at the Palms Pool (doors at 8 p.m., show at 9 p.m., $30) while funnyman Dom Irrera plays a slightly more intimate venue, and brings his comedic stylings to the Playboy Comedy Club. (In the lounge, 9 p.m., $40, $20 for locals.) Another option: Henry Rollins and his Frequent Flyer spoken word tour come to Wasted Space at the Hard Rock Hotel. (8 p.m., $25 floor seating, $30 booths.) If hardcore poetry isn’t in the cards, cross the casino floor for Godskitchen at Vanity, with guest DJ Paul Harris of Dirty Vegas and an open bar from 10:30-11:30 p.m. Doors at 10 p.m., $40 for men, $20 for women, local ladies free.

Fri. 18 D is for Ditch Fridays, so fist-pump to the beat as Jersey Shore’s DJ Pauly D spins a pumped-up set at the Palms Pool. (Noon7 p.m., $25 cover, local ladies free, out-of-town ladies free before 1 p.m.) Later, dads can “Tie One on the Rack” and trade in their unwanted neckties for a free lap dance at Discreet Gentlemen’s Club. While there, enjoy $3 drink specials courtesy of KOMP 92.3-FM. (4636 Wynn Road, party at 9 p.m., locals and industry free, $30 for non-locals.)

Rounding out the night, The Offspring perform at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel (8 p.m., $35.50), and Ghostbar goes Ruskie as a lineup of Russian-American DJs, including Serge Devant and Purple, present From Russia With Love. At the Palms, doors at 10 p.m., $20 cover, local ladies free, as is anyone who says “DJ Purple” at the door.

Rollins photo by Maura Lanahan

Sat. 19 The Hard Rock’s pool lounge, Skybar, hosts an intimate edition of Rock ’n Roll Wine’s monthly tastings featuring a live performance by the Makepeace Brothers. (7-10 p.m., $40 in advance, $45 at the door.) Or, if you prefer cheesy ’80s metal to wine and cheese, tease your bangs and shred your leggings, then head to Green Valley Ranch as Steel Panther resumes its residency at the Ovation showroom. (Doors at 11 p.m., free.) Over at Tao, “McLovin,” from Superbad (a.k.a. actor Chris Mintz-Plasse) forfeits his fake ID and finally turns 21. At the Venetian, doors at 10 p.m., $30 for men, $20 for women, local ladies free.

SeveN NIghtS

Sun. 20

The Bank presents its annual “Who’s Your Sugar Daddy” Father’s Day party, where the Sugar Daddy who spends the most money at his table before 2:30 a.m. gets to give $2,500 to the lady of his choice. (At Bellagio, doors at 10:30 p.m., $30 for men, free for ladies and all locals.) Meanwhile, legendary DJ Frankie of NYC joins forces with DJ Hollywood and special guest Rob Base for the inaugural Roller Boogie ’70s/’80s roller-skating party at Crown Nightclub. Guess it actually takes three to make a thing go right! At the Rio, doors at 10 p.m., $10 cover.

Mon. 21 It’s simple: $2,500 goes to the girl who can best Shake It Like a Salt Shaker at Jet’s during this week’s industry night party. (At The Mirage, doors at 10:30 p.m., $30 for men, $20 for ladies, locals free until midnight.) If that doesn’t melt your face off, try the Emerging Faces of Metal Tour at Wasted Space, featuring Howitzer, Blinddryve, Lost Point and Anesthesia. At the Hard Rock Hotel, 9 p.m., $10 cover.

Tues. 22 Vegas’ only traveling speakeasy, Social Mixology, returns this week and convenes by the pool—but you have to join the club to find out where to go, and what password will get you in (don’t worry, membership is free). Before then, we can tell you that the event features Cuervo Tradicional Silver cocktails and two guest mixologist/bartenders from Miami.

(6-9 p.m., socialmixolog yvegas.com for details, no cover.) A more mainstream party goes down at Moon as DJ Jazzy Jeff plays Bang! This week’s installment gives away a trip for 12 to party at the Playboy Mansion with Diddy. (Doors at 11 p.m., $20 cover, local ladies free.)

Meanwhile, Lavo welcomes the stars of the NHL past, present and future as retired San Jose Shark Jeremy Roenick and current Washington Capitals All-Star Alexander Ovechkin host a pre-NHL Awards party at the Palazzo. Doors at 10:30 p.m., $20 for guys, $10 for girls, locals free.

Wed. 23 Jermaine Dupri may not have a residency in Las Vegas, now that Privé closed its doors (or was forced to close its doors) at Planet Hollywood, but the acclaimed DJ and producer returns to the Strip this week to take over for DJ Hollywood and play industry night at Eve. At Crystals, doors at 10:30 p.m., $20 for girls, $30 for guys, local ladies and industry free.

June 17-23, 2010 Vegas Seven 45

Nightlife

Liquid | AriA

Upcoming june 19 | Mario Lopez book signing

46 Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

Photography by Roman Mendez

Nightlife

Surrender | encore

Photography by Tony Tran

Upcoming June 23 | Surrender Your WedneSdaYS local ladieS night With dJ Bruno MarS

48 Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

Nightlife

the Bunkhouse | 124 s. 11th st.

Upcoming june 18 | Vietnam Cowboy with Dj LaDyfingers june 19 | bLaCk VeLVet DeLuxe, Down the bouLeVarD, unConfineD, jaCk anD the b-fish, anD missing bLinD june 22 | open jam session with LipZ anD the bunkhouse bLues banD june 23 | mob shop entertainment presents “weDnesDay night hype”

50 Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

Photography by Sullivan Charles

Nightlife

Tao | The VeneTian

Photography by Roman Mendez

Upcoming June 17 | Worship Thursdays, plus plaTinuM Models June BirThday CeleBraTion June 19 | 21sT BirThday parTy for Chris MinTZplasse (a.K.a. “MClovin” froM The Movie superBad) WiTh dJ viCe

52 Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

SPECIAL GUEST

PERFORMING THE HIT SINGLE “BILLIONAIRE”

FA C E B O O K . C O M / B L U S H N I G H T C L U B | T W I T T E R . C O M / B L U S H N I G H T C L U B W Y N N L A S V E G A S | L O C A L L A D I E S A L WAY S F R E E | D O O R S O P E N A T 9 P M T U E - S U N | D R E S S C O D E E N F O R C E D 702.770.3633 | BLUSHLASVEGAS.COM | MANAGEMENT RESERVES ALL RIGHTS

Nightlife

The Captains’ Log

The Playboy Club Goes Gold DJs celebrate 50 years of bunnies, blackjack, boobs and bourbon

By Graham Funke As a college student, I found the only reason to watch the Playboy Channel was on the slim chance that an episode of Playboy After Dark would air. Of course, other programming might have caught my eye once or twice, but that’s not my point.

Although filmed in a television studio, Playboy After Dark gave me a taste of what it must have been like inside the legendary Playboy Clubs of the day, the first of which was founded in 1960 in Chicago and the last of which closed in 1991 in Manila, Philippines. I was too young to be there, but not too young to dream.

At the time, a Playboy Club membership was a sign of status. The venues were architecturally exquisite, full of scotch and pipes and elevated dialogue, and rife with those iconic bunnies. They were the blueprints for modern-day nightlife; an empire planned by Playboy’s visionary, Hugh Hefner, an idea man named Victor Lownes, and hospitality extraordinaire Arnie Morton.

Considering this foundation, imagine my excitement when, in 2006, Arnie Morton’s son, N9NE Group president Michael Morton, asked me if I would commence a DJ residency at the soon-to-open Playboy Club in Las Vegas. I jumped at the chance, and have yet to look back, still excited riding the elevator to the 52nd floor of the Palms every Sunday.

The club atop the Fantasy Tower remains the only Playboy Club on the planet. There are plans to open three new clubs this year (in Miami, Cancun and Macau), but until that happens does, the Las Vegas legend remains the one and only.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first Playboy Club, and to celebrate, Playboy Enterprises teamed up with DJ management powerhouse S.K.A.M. Artist (which represent The Captains of

Industry, among other fine DJs) to throw 50 bashes in 50 cities. The anniversary events were held in premier international venues, the music was supplied

by S.K.A.M. Artist DJs, and the entertainment was provided by an army of Playboy playthings. As S.K.A.M. owner Sujit Kundu put it, it was designed to be a night of “A-list brands matched with A-list DJs at A-list clubs”—and that it was.

I performed at Harrah’s in Lake Tahoe where a packed Thursday crowd enjoyed the sights of six bunnies onstage, MTV Real World alum Theo Von on the mike, and yours truly on the turntables. Meanwhile, everyone’s favorite former Girl Next Door, Holly Madison, dealt cards at the Las Vegas installation.

“Being in the bunny outfit was like a dream come true,” says Madison, who appeared in Playboy, dated Hugh Hefner, and lived at the Mansion for years.

Of course, Ms. Madison and I were not the only ones who enjoyed ourselves June 10. I reached out to my fellow S.K.A.M. Artist DJs to ask how things went down in their respective cities.

Did your night unfold like a raging celebration or civilized soiree?

Lil Jon (Houston): It’s always a party if I’m involved!

StoneRokk (Windsor, Ontario): It’s difficult to create a party atmosphere for 1,000 straight men trying to philander three Playmate arbiters.

Roctakon (Atlanta): It was more like a wild party with subtle hints of pageantry.

Eric Cubeechee (Kansas City, Mo.): The word “Playboy” brings out the animal in everyone Would you agree that your respective cities embrace the ideals of Playboy?

Ross One (Miami): I think Miami, for better or worse, really sums up the whole Playboy aesthetic of boobs and leisure—minus the articles.

StoneRokk (Windsor, Ont.): When your point of reference is Detroit, Windsor would appear to be Monaco of the Great Lakes.

Skratchy (Fargo, N.D.): Fargo only has one venue in the whole city where they hold concerts. Everyone in town came out for this event.

Some of the venues hosted bunny searches, with the finals taking place soon at the Playboy Club. How were the prospects?

Turbulence (Hollywood): Pretty hot! I would’ve let them take me home.

Skratchy: The girl who won the contest in Fargo was the only girl who flashed her boobs.

OB-One (Hammond, Ind.): They all seemed to possess the proper “assets.”

Sam Young (Shanghai): I didn’t even know there were contestants! Blame the Jägermeister shots.

Roctakon (Atlanta): They were average to me, dude.

But I live in NYC, the pussy capital of the world.

Besides the kind of mayhem one would expect when S.K.A.M. Artists collide with Playboy Enterprises, did anything noteworthy occur?

Mr. Choc (Louisville, Ky.): Seeing a Playmate do the “stanky leg” was the highlight for me!

Skribble (Tunica, Miss.): I’m not allowed to talk about that.

Vice (New York): I think the best thing was when host A.J. Calloway asked me to turn off the music to announce that Usher was newly single.

Since Playboy appeals to both men and women, what was the male-female ratio like?

Ross One: There were at least two fake titties for every man in there.

StoneRokk: Because Playboy caters to the nonpareil male, you’d expect there to be a huge assemblage of women interested in finding such a man.

How were the Playboy models? Did they let their hair down or did they remain poised as objects of desire?

Vice: They were dancing all night long, mostly surrounding Usher, celebrating him being newly single.

Ross One: I actually didn’t see any of them; they tend to blend in with the commoners in Miami.

Sam Young: They were dancing on the stage next to the DJ booth during the night. I got a good view of some bunny tails shaking!

Graham Funke and StoneRokk push the boundaries of what it means to be a DJ, determined to restore the once-glorious luster to their craft. In addition to contributing to Vegas Seven, The Captains of Industry (thecaptainsofindustry.com) entertain audiences at clubs across the country and maintain weekly residencies at Moon and Playboy Club.

Holly Madison, left, and another bunny blackjack dealer at the Playboy Club’s 50th anniversary party at the Palms.

60 Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

Nightlife

Cocktail Culture

By Xania Woodman

1. AmAruLA InduLgenCe ½ ounce dark crème de cacao ½ ounce Disaronno Amaretto ½ ounce Amarula Cream 2. B-52 ½ ounce Kahlua ½ ounce Amarula Cream ½ ounce Grand Marnier

1

3. PenALty KICK ½ ounce espresso ½ ounce Amarula Cream, shaken chocolate shavings or ground coffee to garnish

2

4. SPrIngBoK ½ ounce green crème de menthe ½ ounce Amarula Cream 5. VAnILLA CreAm Shooter ½ ounce Disaronno Amaretto ½ ounce Amarula Cream ½ ounce vanilla vodka

3

4

Amarula Cream Liqueur

Amarula Cream mixes well with just about everything—from vodka and other liqueurs to espresso or even cola. The versatile spirit can be enjoyed neat or on the rocks, makes for velvety cocktails and stands up to blending and in hot drinks, too. It’s also perfect for crowd-pleasing (and surprisingly easy to make) layered shots.

Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

• Drink your way through the monthlong World Cup (through July 11) at Lagasse’s Stadium at the Palazzo, where the diverse menu features Peroni Italian lager, Newcastle Brown English ale and good ol’ American Bud Light.

Worldly “kicked-up” pub grub is also available while you watch, wager and wail in favor of your team.

• Also at the Palazzo, SushiSamba serves as Team Brazil headquarters with Samba dancers and drummers fêting Brazil’s game days. Daily World Cup parties start at 11:30 a.m. and feature game-day menus and specialty cocktails such as the Keeper, which is made with mango and guava juices, simple syrup and sparkling wine.

• Team USA fans can flock to Planet Hollywood’s Playing Field Lounge, where Jose Cuervo celebrates USA’s June 18 and 23 matchups with Cuervo tequila specials such as the Breakaway and the Yellow Card. Guests at both parties are entered to win passes for a private viewing party for the July 11 championship, plus a two-night stay at Planet Hollywood hosted

by Guinness and Jose Cuervo.

• For those of you unable (or unwilling) to venture forth at 7 a.m., MunchBar at Caesars Palace will show all early morning games later that afternoon, in addition to all afternoon/evening games. Meanwhile, happy hour during the games makes the time adjustment easier to handle.

What better way to toast the World Cup (and cheer on Team USA as they compete in South Africa) than with its exclusive spirits sponsor? Amarula is a native South African cream liqueur, made from the tart little yellow stone fruit of the marula, or elephant tree. To make Amarula Cream liqueur, amarula juice is double-distilled, oak-matured and blended with cream to give it a smooth, caramel-like flavor with a hint of exotic fruit.

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A World Cup party itinerary

• Agave (10820 W. Charleston Blvd.) makes those early 7 a.m. games a little more palatable with a “Wake Up for World Cup” menu for the duration of the tournament. The special breakfast menu ($5.95-$8.95) is enhanced with $2 Modelo drafts, $3 Bloody Marias and $5 pub cans of Guinness.

Go SHot-for-SHot witH teAm USA

To create the Amarula shooters described above, layer the ingredients in order, as listed, by dribbling each onto the previous layer over the back of a spoon to ensure perfectly striped shots.

Party Like a Soccer Hooligan— South African Style

5

• The early bird award goes to the NASCAR Café at the Sahara for opening daily with Scotch eggs, bangers and mash, and a variety of English beers on tap at the wince-worthy hour of 4 a.m. for ESPN remote broadcasts featuring local celebrity and soccer hooligan John Barr.

The NaTioNal Newsroom This week in the New York Observer

skim, Freak, Purge Reader’s Despair Syndrome spreading; symptoms include self-loathing and sustained panic

By Leon Neyfakh Justin Wolfe gave up on the London Review of Books this weekend. The experimental blogger, known to his New York fans as Firmuhment, had been subscribed to the feed for about six months, starting when he saw one of their articles linked to on The Awl. By subscribing to the feed, using a piece of free software called an RSS reader, the 24-year-old Wolfe was making sure that articles from the LRB would appear before him on a regular basis while a little counter kept track how many new bits of content had been delivered to him.

It was, for Wolfe, an aspirational subscription: He wanted to be reading the LRB, and he was going to try to make it a habit. It didn’t work. Before long, the “unread count” next to the LRB feed started climbing—first, five new items to read. Then seven, then 13, 29, 37 …

Every once in a while Wolfe would notice it and wince. “It would just kind of creep up on me at intervals, usually when I had cleared other things out, and so the fact that I hadn’t cleared it was more apparent,” he said. “Maybe I did read it a handful of times, but then as it piled up, it became more and more of a chore.”

Sometimes the unread count would overwhelm Wolfe, moving him to hit the “mark all as read” button that disappears all the new content one has missed and restores the feed to a pristine state.

On Sunday morning, Wolfe finally unsubscribed from the LRB feed. Just like that, no more LRB. Wolfe is not the only one going through such convulsions. Legions of jittery, media-conscious people are eating themselves alive signing up for feeds they never end up reading in hopes of becoming better people—more knowledgeable, more fun to talk to, more in control of their Internet consumption.

They subscribe to dozens, sometimes hundreds of news sources, each of them added to the list with the best of intentions, motivated by the knowledge that, if they really wanted to, they could know everything there is to know. And so these poor balls of anxiety walk around with a constant awareness of all the hundreds of unread news stories, essays, reviews, and blog posts waiting for them on computers.

Call it Reader’s Despair Syndrome, a condition that is afflicting young and old with equal viciousness, but which tends to produce the most dramatic symptoms in people in their 20s and 30s, who retain hope that they will one day become more productive in their Internet reading habits.

“It makes me very sad, obviously, when I face the fact that there are like 115 items and I know that I’ll never read them,” a 25-year-old hedge fund analyst wailed. “And it’s like, why can’t I be a good enough person to know things about anything? Why am I so pathetic that I can’t even read, like, 100 words a day? And then I have to hit the ‘pretend everything is read’ button, which is basically like hitting the ‘lie to yourself’ button. It’s embarrassing. I hate myself when I do it.

It’s like the biggest possible failure you could have in your entire life, basically.”

While “information overload” is nothing new, actively trying to take control of one’s online reading habits and being able to sustain a consistently rewarding pattern of media consumption has come to be seen as an essential aspect of functional, healthy adulthood.

“A sign of maturity is knowing what you don’t know,” said Maura Johnston, a 35-year-old professional blogger. “Wanting to know more all the time is a sign that you’re still intellectually curious.”

Registering for an RSS reader is perhaps the most common coping strategy employed by those suffering from Reader’s Despair. Though Google Reader is the most popular one, there are lots of competing tools for RSS, such as Netvibes, Bloglines and NetNewsWire.

Do a good job with one of those services, and you’re living in the black, keeping up with everything you want to be keeping up with and not missing a thing. As a life choice, starting an account represents an aggressive step toward organizing one’s online reading—a wisely built and properly maintained set of RSS feeds epitomizes discipline and rigor—but often it just ends in more misery.

“It makes me feel pretty awful—there’s a whole mess of emotions behind it, and they’re all caused by this concept of

read versus unread,” said Matt Langer, who has been building an RSS reader he hopes will spare users the private anguish he thinks other software, Google’s especially, inadvertently encourage. “It gets this Protestant work ethic thing attached to it—you have to complete these 578 unread items in order to be done.”

Along with other features, Langer said, the unread count “creates this mindset that you’re not done doing something until every single thing has been consumed.” The system he is building, he said, which has been in development for two years, “has no concept of it at all.”

Brendan Curry, an editor at W.W. Norton, has a baroque system in place that has taken him some years to achieve. He goes through the feeds in his reader every morning, skimming blogs and tabbing open links that appeal to him. Once he’s done opening everything, he goes through and tags the stuff he’s really interested in using a service called Delicious; at the end of the week, an intern from Norton compiles everything tagged “to+read” in one file and sends it to Curry’s Sony Reader so he can read it over the weekend.

Curry, who used to suffer from RDS, is proof that change is possible. But be

warned: Most people should not dream of achieving his high level—statistically, it just does not happen that often. Most recovered RDSers finally cope by merely unclenching, and by giving up their completist inclinations along with their impulses toward rigor and cultivation.

Many people who have arrived at that stance justify the adjustments they have made to their standards by portraying it to themselves as the pragmatic option— the only thing that will keep them sane.

“For a long time, I would acknowledge, you know, ‘I didn’t do well this week,’ and say, ‘I’m gonna do better next time.’

Now I don’t even bother,” Newsweek blogger Mark Coatney said. “I had that compulsion of looking at everything, to make sure everything was not bold. I’ve kind of given up.”

As for Wolfe, he recently re-subscribed to the London Review of Books feed—the proximate cause was a desire to check how many others were signed up—and then found that he couldn’t make himself get rid of it again.

“I still haven’t read any posts,” Wolfe said. “They’re talking about the World Cup, and I have even less interest in that than their usual offerings.”

June 17-23, 2010 Vegas Seven

69

The National Newsroom

Two earnest new-media ventures attempt to atone for a Maxim-ized culture—and Ms. approves!

By Alexandria Symonds According to Michael Rideout, the 37-year-old founder of Rideout Media Group, magazines have it all wrong. “I actually saw a 30-second ad for someone to subscribe to a magazine the other day,” Rideout said recently. “I was like, ‘Wow, that company does not get it at all.’”

Rideout, meanwhile, is so convinced he “gets it” that he’s funding a new men’s print magazine with his erstwhile retirement fund (accumulated in part at Time Inc., where he was the publisher of custom corporate magazines).

The project, called MadePossible is one of two such ventures debuting this summer, both of which purport to offer a completely new kind of content, with a completely new kind of profit mode: No cheesecakey, Maxim-style spreads of near-naked women, and no subscriptions.

The other, an online publication called the Good Men Project Magazine, is helmed by Benoit DenizetLewis, the 34-year-old New York Times Magazine writer notable in past years for exposing “down-low culture,” in which straight black men meet other straight black men for sex; for writing a Modern Love essay about his sex addiction; and for being a “Gawker Hottie,” for whatever that’s worth.

With a lean editorial staff, the Good Men venture is based in Boston and will focus on, among other things, relationships, ethics, health and parenting.

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Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

Rideout (left) and Denizet-Lewis believe they have an alternative to men’s magazines like Maxim.

Rideout has similar concerns about MadePossible, which launches in July.

With a credo partially informed by Benjamin Franklin—“BE AT WAR WITH YOUR VICES, AT PEACE WITH YOUR NEIGHBORS, AND LET EVERY NEW YEAR FIND YOU A BETTER MAN,” reads its founder’s e-mail signature—it has already been labeled “the anti-Maxim” by MediaWeek.

“I don’t want to be called that,” Rideout said. “There’s room for Maxim, and everybody needs entertainment … but what they offer is ubiquitous. You can find it in a lot of places right now.

And what is not offered out there is this type of substantive stuff.”

It might not seem like an auspicious time to launch a magazine—particularly a men’s magazine. As of this time last year, sales of GQ , Maxim and Men’s Health are all down more than 30 percent. Men’s Vogue was folded back into Vogue after just three years. But all three of these fellows suggest that they are presenting something revolutionary. “We’re not focused on selling sex; we’re not focused on celebrity; we’re not focused on, kind of, men as entertainment,” Matlack said.

“We’re actually focused on men’s issues and on men’s stories.”

Rideout is specific about his goals.

“We will offer a much higher percentage of substantive articles around their career and money management, specifically for young men,” he said. “We will not offer lurid content of women. We will not celebrate misogyny. We will not have Britney Spears, ever, in this magazine, unless she turns around and does something great about her career. She’s a young business leader? She’s in.” He laughed. “The other stuff is everywhere.

There’s no lack of how to get L-A-I-D.” MadePossible will be totally funded by brands who want to market their content to his demographic. The magazine will be, in his words, a free “gift of content,”

with the initial circulation comprised of current 25-to-34-year-old male subscribers to The Economist, Fortune, GQ , Details and Maxim. In July, one million American men will find MadePossible in their mailboxes, without ever having asked for it.

It’s hard not to wonder whether the same 25-year-olds who spend their discretionary income on Judd Apatow movies will be interested in content about ethics and parenting—especially without the promise of bikini-clad supermodels on the next page.

Both the Good Men founders and Rideout seem absolutely convinced that men want something different. In 2008, Matlack said, his former venture-capitalist and investment-banker friends began calling him up, one by one, saying, “We think we missed out on what’s important, as guys”—inspiring him to abandon the 10th draft of what he calls “a long and miserable memoir” and instead start work on The Good Men Project book.

“One thing to think about young men is, right now, manhood is not clearly defined,” Rideout said. “Women, in general—you individually may have issues with other women, but it’s largely believed among men that women are united,” he said.

Rideout’s voice gets louder when he’s excited about what he’s saying, and this could clearly be heard by two men sitting nearby. One, a thirtyish AfricanAmerican man, leaned over. “Sorry to bug you,” the man said, “but that—what you just said, about manhood not being defined?—that’s a conversation that a lot of people are having.”

Rideout told the man he was about to launch a platform to address that conversation. “I’d be interested in that, whatever you’re doing,” the man replied.

Rideout gave him a business card.

A plant? No way, Rideout insisted to The Observer. “You don’t understand,” he said. “This happens every day.”

Benoit photo by Patrick Lentz

A Few Good Men

Denizet-Lewis hopes the content will “take the best parts of magazines like GQ and Esquire.” MadePossible, meanwhile, aims to be a sort of Forbesslash-Economist hybrid pitched at young men, according to Rideout, but with an additional emphasis on fatherhood and men’s mental health. Its eight-person board of advisers includes directors at J. Crew and Merrill Lynch, along with sociologist Michael Kimmel, who is often called the foremost authority on contemporary American masculinity.

The lineup for the first issue of MadePossible includes a feature by Rebecca McReynolds, a Bloomberg reporter, about micro-lending; a profile of FiveThirtyEight statistics wunderkind Nate Silver by Martin Johnson, who has written for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal; an article by the former deputy editor of Men’s Journal about the Obama administration; and a column about redemption written by James Frey.

The launch issue of the Good Men Project Magazine is already online at goodmenproject.com, where readers can find a mother’s account of her son’s premature puberty; a feature, written by Denizet-Lewis, about a secret court at Harvard that expelled students suspected of homosexuality in 1920; and a letter of apology, in essay form, by a man who set his fiancée’s hair on fire.

Responses to the inaugural issue have run the gamut. “Without directly referencing feminism, the editors take a stand against patriarchal, authoritarian, heterosexist, racist masculinity,” Ms. raved. Toronto’s Eye Weekly, on the other hand, speculated that the magazine might be a “conservative culty thing.”

These diverging impressions aren’t a source of concern for the Good Men guys— quite the contrary.

“Benoit e-mailed [those articles] to me and my response back in e-mail was ‘Perfect!’” said Tom Matlack, the founder of the Good Men Project and an eighth-generation descendant of Timothy Matlack, who handlettered the Declaration of Independence.

“We’re definitely not a conservative culty thing,” Denizet-Lewis clarified.

“I think it’s unfortunate that if you have an article that talks about ethics and morals and what it means to be a good man, that some people are going to have a knee-jerk reaction.”

Wall Street’s Do-Gooder Summer The big banks are cleaning cats and helping blind people to ice cream socials

By Max Abelson On July 1, eight Goldman Sachs employees will meet outside the bank’s new Manhattan skyscraper and head to the BARC animal shelter on Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg, Va.. They’ll walk, bathe and play with homeless dogs; brush and play with Amid public distrust, big banks are embracing charity. homeless cats; help with cleaning til there’s not double-digit unemployment, the cat loft; and change litter boxes. until things get better in the economy and Six days later, according to a schedule people are not so concerned, as well they for what the bank calls its Community should be, about their own livelihood, TeamWorks program, there’s an ice that’s when we can be more proactive cream social at a Jersey City, N.J., home about repairing the damage. But now it for the blind, where eight more volunwould just peeing into a windstorm.” teers will decorate a large space with an It is almost summertime in New York Americana ice cream parlor theme. A City, a season of Wall Street philanweek after that, 25 Goldman volunteers thropy, volunteerism and charity all will go fishing with children in Prospect over town. On June 16, JPMorgan has Park: On an outing last year, nothing was caught, an associate said, because of the first day of its Corporate Challenge road race in Central Park, promoting a layer of algae or something covering workplace fitness, goodwill, camaraderie the pond. One kid fell in. and environmentalism.

Just as criticism of the banking system Earlier that day, Morgan Stanley holds as entirely diabolic gets silly quickly, Wall Street still has an awfully hard time the main event of its second annual Social Enterprise Strategy Challenge, fitting into the role of bighearted comrun by a bank wing called the Environmunity leader. Even as financial reform ment, Social Finance and Community enters its final round in Washington, Reinvestment Group. “It’s a terrible D.C., when the big banks talk about name,” said Audrey Choi, the Morgan their special compassion and generosity, Stanley managing director who heads let alone the social usefulness of daily it. “We need some branding help, if you financial services, they mostly sound have some ideas.” shallow, pompous or just awkward.

The participants, associates and vice “While consumers provide the fuel presidents mostly in their 20s and early for the company, we provide the oil,” 30s, were nominated by their bosses. said the lobbyist Scott E. Talbott, senior “We asked if they wanted to be involved, vice president of government affairs and there were people who said, ‘You at the influential Financial Services know what, I’m too busy in my day job,’ Roundtable. “We make lives better. We but the vast majority did want to,” Choi make dreams happen. I don’t want to said. “What we found more and more, wax poetic—there were some abuses, and corrections that are being made and especially with Gen Y, is that people don’t want to just write a check. They’re have been made. But we are the oil.” really interested in engaging.”

It was pointed out to Talbott that the A dozen teams of four were matched oil imagery was unfortunate. “Maybe I with nonprofit groups eight weeks should say lubricant, but that brings to ago and told to spend five to 10 hours mind other metaphors.” He chuckled. weekly working on analyzing efficiency, According to a BrandIndex chart growth and financial sustainability. “In posted by Reuters last week, Goldman some cases we are helping organizations ranks lower than BP when 5,000 interviewees are asked about current buzz. “As that would never engage the likes of us, an investment bank, to help,” Choi an industry, we’ve never done a good job said, “and they probably wouldn’t even at communicating exactly what we do,” be able to afford a boutique firm that said a senior executive at one of the big specializes in nonprofit consulting.” banks. “And my personal view is that unContinued on page 74 June 17-23, 2010 Vegas Seven 71

The National Newsroom

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ACROSS 1 Don’t agree 7 Rob ___ (Scotch Manhattans) 11 Area meas.

15 Back-ordered?

17 Put on cloud 9 19 Old cry of despair 20 What Dad the CEO occupies?

22 Regan’s dad 23 Sell with a yell 24 What Dad the investor is after?

26 Simple 29 Part of an immigrant’s educ.

30 Covert org.

31 Dusk-dawn insert 32 “Meet the Press” guest, perh.

33 Affirmatives 35 Lorenzo or his actor dad 39 Tampa Bay players 41 What Dad the artist uses?

45 His dad is Atticus Finch 46 Titusville discovery 47 Bumper sticker, “That was Zen, this is ___’ 48 Words from Dad the game show host?

53 Greek letter 55 Where Octavian beat Antony and Cleopatra in 31 B.C. 58 Light or dark subject

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59 WWII pinup girl 60 Issue for Dad the professor?

63 Rehab of a sort 64 Coin-___ 65 Greek letter 66 Fab Four’s fifth?

67 Imitate 69 Infamous African 70 Hammer parts 72 Window sign for Dad the dry cleaner?

78 Radius companion 79 Seed covering 80 Brando, by birth 81 Old recorder format 82 Purchase by Dad the art teacher?

85 LAX news 86 First Republican prez 88 Removable floor covering 89 Concern of Dad the cashier?

95 Mrs. in a ghost story 97 From Iran or Iraq 98 Bosun’s ___ 99 Stanwyck film, “The Lady ___” 100 Aero finish 101 Salon stuff 103 In favor of, to a Clampett 106 Royal tomb of a sort 108 Job for Dad the doctor?

114 The Graf ___ 115 A fan of

Answers found on page 74 72 Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

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By Merl Reagle

116 Father’s Day reminder?

119 Knotted 120 Knot 121 Intersecting points 122 It’s nothing 123 He played Tony on “NYPD Blue” 124 Previously, previously DOWN 1 They’re under blotters 2 Henri’s here 3 ___ farm 4 Pinball hitter 5 Time-travel race 6 Actress Taylor 7 Used car of a sort 8 Sweden’s Palme 9 Loud, harsh cry 10 Howard and Isaac 11 Lone 12 ___ keyboard 13 Raccoonlike carnivores 14 Sophie’s portrayer 15 Ivanhoe’s love 16 OR people 18 Love god 20 Discussion group 21 “The Most Happy ___” 23 Place to see 16 Down: abbr.

25 Kitchen tool 27 “Play Time” actor-director 28 Peeper protector 34 ___ voce

36 Artist Jean 37 Tony Rome’s home 38 Some brayers 40 Plenty of 42 Deeply felt emotion 43 Evenhanded 44 Grey ___ 45 Write quickly 49 Where siroccos blow 50 Around 11 p.m., perhaps 51 Oxidation sites 52 Graph line 53 Elvis’s birthplace 54 Away 56 “Journey Into Healing” author 57 Diverti or penti ending 60 3-D, as some books 61 Return address?

62 Lodger 63 “Dose guys” 68 Infraction reaction 71 Supermodel Campbell 73 Talks like Daffy 74 Mongolia’s ___ Mountains 75 Warsaw Pact counterpart 76 Drugstore: abbr.

77 Currier’s partner 79 Likely 83 Coen Brothers classic 84 Watcher of the skies: abbr.

87 Boxer Max 90 Ablaze, in French 91 Tahitian port 92 Lures 93 College climbers 94 Surrender 95 Mass-wedding participant 96 Northern Irish province 97 ___ skiing 100 Dog with a saliva problem?

102 Actor Omar 104 1999 Ron Howard comedy 105 Indian coin 107 Good ___ 109 Controversy 110 Some TVs 111 Louisiana veggie 112 E. ___ 113 Siren sound, in the comics 117 Sloth, for one 118 Friendly introduction?

!!! VOLUME 16 IS HERE !!!

To order Merl’s crossword books, visit www.sunday crosswords.com.

6/17/2010 © M. Reagle

Show me the funny

By Richard Siklos For the recent MTV Movie Awards, pop culture aficionados were delighted to see the resurrection of Les Grossman, the feral, vulgar movie producer from the Ben Stiller film Tropic Thunder, as the purported producer of this year’s awards.

It’s worth remembering that when Thunder was released in 2008, the word was that Grossman was some kind of revenge caricature concocted by Stiller and Tom Cruise—who was brilliantly transformed into a bald, aging, Diet Coke–swilling mogul with oversize hands and hairy forearms—against Sumner Redstone, the billionaire who ultimately owns the Paramount movie studio. Redstone trashed and ostensibly booted Cruise publicly in The Wall Street Journal two years earlier from his long and profitable relationship with Paramount, citing Cruise’s public championing of Scientology and seemingly over-the-top behavior on Oprah when he was promoting War of the Worlds.

The Grossman character bears little literal resemblance to Redstone physically, but it was not hard to infer that Cruise enjoyed a poke at the old man while cutting loose from his usual role as intense leading man.

At the same time, Cruise was in fact trying to be a Grossman-level movie mogul himself, having struck a deal to effectively run the United Artists movie label owned by MGM in tandem with his longtime producing partner, Paula Wagner.

Fast-forward two years: Wagner is long-gone from UA; Cruise has not much to show for his time as a suit; and the fate of Cruise’s career remains one of the most-chattered-about subjects in town. His trajectory faltered at a time when the whole business changed and the notion of mega-stars who can open movies big has been called into question. Not one for small measures, Cruise’s own website crows that his movies “have earned in excess of six billion dollars worldwide—an incomparable achievement.”

Now Cruise is attempting something of a career backflip. For years, comic actors have tried to evolve into serious thespians, something at which Tom Hanks succeeded handily but others have largely faltered. As part of his purported comeback, Cruise is doing the opposite—rather than chasing an elusive Oscar, he’s showing he can lighten up and have a laugh.

Like most of the characters he’s played, he’s going full throttle. A Grossman feature is being developed by Paramount. And Cruise and Stiller are developing a comedy in which they play the teen sleuths of The Hardy Boys as middle-aged brothers, called The Hardy Men— though word is that it’s a long way from production.

More pressingly, June 23 is the release date for Knight and Day, the comedy-thriller distributed by Fox that stars Cruise and Cameron Diaz, in which he plays an intense and possibly insane secret agent. It’s the first time Cruise has been in a marquee role since the middling Valkyrie, which was done at UA. And once again his role involves large helpings of winking self-caricature.

The inside word on how the film will fare at the box office is mixed—no one seems quite sure who Cruise’s audience is anymore. What’s clear, and actually kind of admirable, is that he is willing to do whatever it takes to try to find out.

The National Newsroom

Personal Finance Wall Street Continued from page 71

Goldman gives a day off for Community TeamWorks, and expects its employees to use it. Every year, a site lists the official options, like next month’s ice cream social decoration for the blind.

A video commemorating the program’s first 10 years is posted online. “When I think of Goldman Sachs, I think of energy, enthusiasm, willingness, teamwork, professionalism, people thinking of how they can do it as a team,” says Emma Turner, a firm charity executive. She left for Barclays last year.

In this week’s Times, Andrew Ross Sorkin asked if Goldman’s reputation for deception and darkness matters if its clients remain steadfast. Does Wall Street have to be adored?

“Look, I think it’s a tough environment, people are frustrated with the financial services sector, and some of that is very justified. So I don’t think this is an issue [that] is going to turn around over night with a few grants or a few announcements about volunteerism,” said Andrew Plepler, the global corporate social responsibility and consumer policy executive at Bank of America.

Outside of a Bank of America program to give $2 billion in grants over a decade, and a million-hour volunteer challenge to its employees this year, the idea is to embed benevolence into the bank’s business practices, Plepler said. Its goal is to invest $1.5 trillion in low-to-moderate income communities and finance $20 billion in environmental initiatives over the next decade.

“Wall Street actually produces some valuable benefits for the economy, including allocating capital to the places that really need it,” professor Raghuram G. Rajan at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business said. “I’m one who is suspicious of corporate social responsibility programs. It seems to me that the ones who speak the loudest have the most to hide.”

The cover of last year’s sustainability report from BP calls the firm, in large letters, “innovative, efficient and responsible.”

“What’s important is that they do core activities in a way that has value to the customer,” Rajan said, “and is not a tax on society.”

The Origins of Fatherhood

by Merl Reagle

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Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

SQC E OWO R L E A OP E R T S A T I R A Y S J EM OR P L A T L A N D E T O P E I D EM I S E N V H S A B E L A S T I T E E V Y R AM I S P E S E N T S I C E S N OW

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Vigilance is key to protecting your credit

By Kathy Kristof, Tribune Media Services

If you’re even slightly concerned about the privacy of your personal information, Jim Stickley is your worst nightmare.

The chief technology officer of TraceSecurity, a risk management firm based in Louisiana, breaks into banks and steals their customers’ most confidential information, such as Social Security numbers and the details of their banking transactions. He could take your cash too, but says you probably have less money in your account than he could get by starting new credit in your name.

Lucky for you, Stickley is honest and doesn’t use your information to apply for credit. Instead, he gives the stolen data back to the banks he’s taken it from with a stern lecture about security procedures. So what makes him such a nightmare?

His company has been hired by more than 1,000 banks to test their security measures, and there wasn’t one that he wasn’t able to break into.

He generally doesn’t employ complex measures to do it, either. It can be time-consuming, he says, but easy.

His methods read like a scene out of the movie The Italian Job. He will call the targeted bank office, often posing as a pest control technician, fire inspector or electrician. It might take a few phone calls, but he’ll eventually find an unsuspecting bank employee willing to give him plenty of information about the real provider of the office’s pest control or electrical services. He uses that information to further break down the bank’s defenses.

If he knows who provides pest control services for the bank, for example, he can find out when they last serviced the branch. His next step is to come up with a plausible excuse for coming back—maybe a free review of the company’s past work or a semiannual inspection.

“The hardest part of robbing a bank is getting in,” Stickley says. “If they don’t expect you to come, they’re on their guard. But when you come in with an appointment, wearing a uniform, they’re not.”

Once in, the main goal is to get the bank employees to leave him alone.

“When they go away, I start stealing everything I can,” he says. “If you can get the backup tapes, you throw those into your little gear bag and you have everything you need. If I can’t find that, I can drop a CD-ROM in a computer drive and Trojan their computers. Now we can control that computer from our corporate offices.”

Another gizmo in Stickley’s bag of tricks bypasses the bank’s computer firewall, allowing him to get around all of its Internet security.

On occasion, bank employees do what they’re supposed to and keep an eye on him the entire time he’s in the branch, he says. More often, they leave him to do his “ job.”

“If the employee truly escorts us, there is nothing I can do,” Stickley says. “But if I can get access to

one location, they’re all networked, so I can get whatever I want.”

Where does that leave you, the bank customer? At risk, Stickley says.

If his firm can break into your bank without breaking a sweat, others can too. And unless you’re ready to turn into another Unabomber and hide all traces of your identity, going without a bank account is impractical.

So what can you do?

Watch your accounts: If you’re an online banking customer, check your account each day and just make sure there’s nothing amiss. If you don’t bank online, make sure you read through every monthly statement. The same holds true for credit cards. If you see a transaction you don’t recognize, call and find out whether it’s something you forgot or if it’s a sign of fraud.

Look for warnings: If you get a big spike in mail offering financial products, such as credit cards, mortgage services or personal loans, that can also be a warning sign, Stickley says. If you haven’t checked your credit lately, a surge in financial offers should tell you that it’s time.

Monitor your credit report: There are companies that do this for you for a fee, but you can do it yourself for free. Federal law requires that each of the three major credit reporting bureaus—Experian, TransUnion and Equifax—provide one copy of your credit report to you for free each year.

You can get this free copy at annualcreditreport. com. If you’re nervous, go to the site every four months and just alternate the company from which you request the report. Signs that somebody’s misusing your personal information include unfamiliar home addresses on that report or credit accounts that you don’t recognize.

Issue a fraud alert: If you see either of those problems, call the credit bureaus and place a fraud alert on your file. This requires credit grantors to call you at whatever phone number you specify before issuing new credit in your name.

Call the cops: If you see signs of fraud, call the police and file a report. That’s the first step that you need to take to have inaccurate items removed from your report and stop crooks from using your identity to charge it.

The price of convenience is eternal vigilance, Stickley says. “You’ve really got to pay attention.”

Kathy Kristof’s column is syndicated by Tribune Media Services. She welcomes comments and suggestions but regrets that she cannot respond to each one. E-mail her at kathykristof24@gmail.com.

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Arts & Entertainment

Stop pining for Coachella: The Flaming Lips delighted at 2009’s Pitchfork Music Festival. This year, Modest Mouse, Pavement and LCD Soundsystem headline.

Music

Ramble On

Our summer music travel guide takes you around the world and back again

By Mikey Francis Amid the sheer amount of summer travel options, a “music festival marathon” might be the most exciting and fun way to escape the desert heat. Planning a trip like this is quite a task, but that’s where I come in. Think of me as your personal musical travel agent. From L.A. to Japan, I handpicked some of the best music festivals and have pieced together the ultimate summer music travel adventure for your reading pleasure.

ITINERARY: Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury, England (June 23-27). This is one of the largest, most intense musical festivals in the world, with an expected 150,000 people. Check out the famous Pyramid stage or dance your way on over to the Dance Village for an unforgettable start to the summer.

Bands: Stevie Wonder, Muse, Gorillaz, Vampire Weekend, the Flaming Lips, LCD Soundsystem, Phoenix, the Dead Weather, Hot Chip, MGMT, the xx and Dirty Projectors.

Roskilde Festival Roskilde, Denmark (July 1-4). Danish music fans know what’s up. More than 140 bands and 25,000 volunteers will give the approximate 75,000 festival-goers a more

intimate festival experience while still having access to major artists.

Bands: Prince, Muse, Gorillaz, LCD Soundsystem, Pavement and Patti Smith.

Optimus Alive! Lisbon, Portugal (July 8-10) Although the Optimus Alive!

Music Festival is only on its fourth year, it has become one of the most popular in Europe. Everybody who buys a ticket gets a free “Alive!” T-shirt, and of all tickets sold, there are five “Golden” tickets. Lucky winners will get V.I.P. entry and backstage access, a guided tour and a chance to meet the bands.

Bands: LCD Soundsystem, Faith No More, the xx, Girls, Florence and the Machine, Gogol Bordello, Devendra Banhart, Gossip, Crookers, Pearl Jam and Deftones.

EXIT Festival Novi Sad, Serbia (July 8-11) Deep in Eastern Europe, on the lands of Novi Sad, Serbia, is home to one of the more impressive and eclectic lineups of the summer.

Bands: Yeasayer, Crystal Castles, LCD Soundsystem, Faith No More, the Chemical Brothers, Missy Elliott, Klaxons, A-Trak and Chromeo.

Pitchfork Music Festival Chicago, USA (July 16-18) Curated by the popular music website Pitchfork Media, this festival takes place in Union Park. The P4K Festival is one of the most reasonably priced—$40 for single-day passes and $90 for three-day passes.

Bands: Pavement, Modest Mouse, LCD Soundsystem, Broken Social Scene, Panda Bear, Major Lazer, Continued on page 78 June 17-23, 2010 Vegas Seven 77

Arts & Entertainment

Music

Sweet Package

Soundscraper

Crystal Castles with Sinden, Rusko and Destructo

After massive amounts of touring around their self-titled debut, electronic cult icons Crystal Castles are back on the road again, supporting the new release of their sophomore record, Crystal Castles II. The band is currently on a tour of the U.K. and Europe, which includes everything from the staple music festivals, such as Glastonbury in Scotland ( June 27), to the more exotic festivals, such as Exit in Serbia (see the summer music travel guide on page 77).

But if catching a plane overseas to see Crystal Castles doesn’t top your list, rest assured knowing that you have an option to watch them perform a little closer to home.

They will be heading back to the States for a special two-week run of dates. While they don’t hit Vegas, you can see them in Oakland, Calif., on Aug. 6 or in Denver on Aug. 9 (for more dates, visit crystalcastles.com).

Supporting Crystal Castles are three very talented up-and-coming DJ/producers who are sure to get the kids feeling hot ’n’ ready to dance. Sinden, the UK-based DJ and producer will be bringing down the house with his rather extensive catalog of electrohouse remixes and originals. The human bass tornado Rusko will be slowing it down and thickening it up with a more dubstep-

oriented set, and the Los Angeles-based DJ and the disco-house producer Destructo will be showcasing his notable remix work and impeccable DJ skills. Bystanders beware, the sounds from the underground will be shaking things up and the kids will be losing their minds.

Fuji Rock Festival Niigata, Japan (July 30 – Aug. 1) The Fuji Rock Festival takes place high up in the mountains in an atmosphere that is isolated from any metropolitan areas.

Bands: Belle and Sebastian, Vampire Weekend, LCD Soundsystem, MGMT, !!!, Them Crooked Vultures, Broken Social Scene, Dirty Projectors, Yeasayer, Hot Chip and Air. HARD Summer Music Festival Los Angeles (Aug. 7) This is my personal favorite festival of the summer. It’s only a five-hour car ride from Las Vegas, and my band, the Afghan Raiders, has recently been added to the lineup. With legendary electronic acts such as Soulwax, Crystal Castles and Digitalism, and hot up-and-comers Tiga and the Twelves, this is the best electronic music lineup that I’ve seen in the U.S. Bands: Major Lazer, Diplo, Erol Alkan, Green Velvet, Sinden, Breakbot and Rory Phillips. Øya Festival Oslo, Norway (Aug. 10-14) One of the most environmentally sound festivals in all of Europe, Øya will host more than 60,000 attendees and 80 bands.

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Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

By Jarret Keene

London Electronic Dance Festival London (Aug. 27-28) The final stop on our summer music adventure is back in London for the London Electronic Dance Festival. Two days of pure dance-friendly madness, the L.E.D. features the absolute best of the best in electronic dance music. I can’t think of a better way to spend the final days of summer.

Bands: Soulwax, Goldfrapp, Calvin Harris, Tiga, Boy 8-Bit, Afrojack, Friendly Fires and Die Antwoord.

This is one of those weeks when I fall head over heels in love with Vegas and its music offerings all over again. Younger readers may want to avert their eyes from the sight of an old man waxing nostalgic, but I must say I love ’80s punk, and three of my heroes are performing in strikingly different formats in the next few days. Interestingly, they each released their best work in the same year.

First, ex-Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins. His old band’s 1981 album Damaged, sporting a cover photo of Rollins shattering a bathroom mirror with his bloody fist, is without a doubt the first great American hard-core-punk full-length album. After the Flag fell, Rollins went on to form his own eponymous group in the ’90s and develop into a compelling spoken-word/stand-up artist (also actor, radio host and TV personality). He does his first performance at Wasted Space in the Hard Rock on June 17, as part of his “Frequent Flyer” tour.

Angry, funny, passionate, a Rollins appearance shouldn’t be missed for any reason—except maybe a Black Flag reunion. For more info on this show, go to hartswastedspace.com.

Eighties mega-band The Police gravitated to the poppier end of the punk spectrum, sure. But I’m surprised at how little credit Sting and Co. receive for the absolutely stomping 1981 classic Ghost in the Machine. What other rock trio could blend the work of Arthur Koestler (hence the album title), the Troubles in Northern Ireland (“Invisible Sun”) and the teachings of GreekArmenian mystic G. I. Gurdjieff (“Secret Journey”) into a seamless, rocking whole? Intellectually, Sting is more curious these days about established musical forms like, say, classical. On June 18 at MGM Grand Garden Arena, he teams up with the Royal Philharmonic Rollins Concert Orchestra for “An Evening With Sting,” featuring symphonically arranged interpretations of tunes like “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” and—get this!—“Next to You,” a furious three-chord ripper from The Police’s debut, Outlandos d’Amour. Stoked!

Visit mgmgrand.com for tickets.

The least commercially successful yet most exciting of the three aging punkers to play Vegas this week is Mike Palm and his California post-surf-rock-band Agent Orange. A triple threat (fiercely talented singer, songwriter and guitarist), Palm is criminally overlooked. I saw him tear the roof off the old Emergency Room Lounge in ’07 with still-vital tracks from his 1981 masterpiece Living in Darkness. I haven’t seen a punk show as good since. His lyrics are every bit as thoughtful as Sting’s; his dim view of existence rivals that of Rollins. On June 19, Agent Orange will likely demolish the Cheyenne Saloon. Admission is $10 at the door. Head to myspace. com/thecheyennesaloonlv for more info.

OK, so I’ve dated myself with this column. I don’t care, because 1981 was a great year in music, and so is 2010. At least it is in Vegas this week.

Mikey Francis is the lead singer of the band Afghan Raiders. Read more at afghanraiders.com/mikey.

Is your punk band going on a reunion tour? Does your baby band not suck, and are you guys releasing a CD anytime soon? Better contact jarret_keene@yahoo.com.

Alice Glass and Ethan Gath.

Music Travel Continued from page 77

St. Vincent, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Liars, Raekwon, Lightning Bolt, Beach House, Girls, WHY?, Neon Indian and Sleigh Bells.

A tale of three (or four) old punkers

Bands: Pavement, M.I.A., LCD Soundsystem, Iggy & the Stooges, Panda Bear, the xx, Major Lazer, Raekwon, Air, Girls, Fucked Up, the Gaslight Anthem and Sleigh Bells.

Lowlands Biddinghuizen, Netherlands (Aug. 20-22) In addition to seeing live music, festival-goers can experience street theater, movie tents, comedy stages, visual arts, literature arenas and multimedia stages. The lineup is diverse and solid.

Bands: Queens of the Stone Age, Massive Attack, the xx, A-Trak, the Specials, Snow Patrol and Air.

Rollins photo by Maura Lanahan

By Mikey Francis

Arts & Entertainment

Music

The Beat Goes On A vinyl record store is the newest (and oldest) addition to Emergency Arts

By Richard Abowitz The unmistakable sound of a needle tasting vinyl and digging into a groove may be forgotten to some—and unknown to others. But it’s an integral part of The Beat Coffeehouse, precious enough to render vivid the otherwise inauspicious occasion of hearing Side Two (another lost sensation) of The Who’s lamentable 1981 vinyl release, Face Dances.

The coffeehouse is part of Emergency Arts, the new downtown “creative collective.” And while diverging slightly from the The Beat’s literary-hip theme, the turntable is a perfect tie to the adjoining vinyl shop, Heritage Poster and Music.

Record-store owner Jerry Keogh runs a successful vinyl shop in Calgary, Alberta, and expansion to Vegas is natural to him.

“We had a sample opening at a First Friday, and it was fantastic,” he says.

“Downtown Vegas has no vinyl store.”

Some might argue that vinyl is obsolete (CDs aren’t doing too well, either). But Keogh sees vinyl as part of a culture that transcends nostalgia and boutique collectibles: “Kids today have nothing to collect,” he says. “MP3s are compressed music. ... They discover Mom and Dad’s records in the basement, and they realize this is how music is supposed to sound.”

In the end, it isn’t only the sound that Keogh thinks has helped vinyl. “It is hip.

It is cool. And people develop a passion for the object.” And downtown Las Vegas—East Fremont, specifically—is where hip and cool can be sold now.

The appeal of vinyl is not just for classic rock, which Koegh euphemistically prefers to call rock “that has stood the test of time.” Many current bands choose to offer vinyl issues.

One album that has both stood the test of time (and was just reissued last

month, including in vinyl) is the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street.

Exile cover designer John Van Hamersveld recruited Robert Frank (famed for his austere photos of worn-out Beat writers) to shoot the Stones. Van Hamersveld then tarted up the result to symbolize the decadence of the ’70s.

Frank’s participation was pure chance, or at least as much as can be involved when a famous photographer happens to be ambling past the world’s most famous rock band. Van Hamersveld recalls: “[I] was sitting with Mick Jagger on this ottoman and I just looked up and saw Robert Frank coming down the carpet into this beautiful villa they were renting. He had a camera. And so I leaned over to Mick, and I said, ‘Why don’t you have him do the cover?’ They went off to L.A. to do the photos that were recycled into the album.”

On June 18, Van Hamersveld will appear at the record store to sign his Exile cover as well as advance copies of his new book (pending availability), and any of his other vintage work. He created the cover for The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour and a Jimi Hendrix concert poster, for example.

As for the shrunken art of CDs and MP3s, Van Hamersveld is not impressed: “It takes a beautiful cultural symbolic thing and turns the box into a tiny disc. ... It’s not the same thing.”

So, vinyl is hip again in 2010, and amazingly, in the midst of the Great Recession, downtown has its own version of urban Bohemia, complete with vinyl soundtrack.

June 18, John Van Hamersveld Signing at Heritage Poster and Music inside Emergency Arts, 520 E. Fremont St.

Self-portrait collage of Van Hamersveld, during Pinnacle Dance Concerts in ’68.

80 Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

CD REviEws

By Jarret Keene

LO-FI POP

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti Before Today (4AD) After years of releasing his music on cassette and vinyl via underground labels (Animal Collective’s own Paw Paw), Ariel Pink develops a higher-resolution version of his patented lo-fi psyche-pop on the 4AD label. This time, Before Today toggles between ’80s synth pop pastiche and punky Sgt. Pepper approximations. An example of the former, “Round and Round” starts out like a Thompson Twins cover before unfolding in the style of a gorgeous lost Hall & Oates B-side classic. (Pink cites them as an influence.) “Butt-House Blondies” is the closest he’s come to crafting a full-on rock anthem. Indeed, the production here’s much fuller than Pink’s previous outings. But he’s lost none of the effervescent sense of melody, the knack for hooks that distinguishes his work from the many “indie” imitations currently populating the genre. Off-kilter pop doesn’t get any better. ★★★★✩

ELECTRO-TORCH

How to Destroy Angels How to Destroy Angels EP (Self-released) Taking their band’s name from an old Coil single, Trent Reznor, wife Mariqueen Maandig and programmer Atticus Ross have created the prime electronic-rock album of the year, a series of simmering, doom-laden torch songs that drape Kraftwerk’s harshly atmospheric clothing over Julie London’s sensual approach. Warning: HTDA doesn’t grab you by the throat, instead slipping behind you to press a cold, post-industrial blade to your neck. In some ways retro, in others futuristic, a song like “The Space in Between” (“All our blood lying on the floor/Sense the crowd expecting something more”) features noisy blasts of effects-drenched guitar that build to white-hot intensity, even as Maandig completes her dark confession. “The Believers,” on the other hand, takes on religious extremism: “Hands and knees, we all atone./ Path is paved with blood and bone.” Those angry Galaga-sounding missile blasts? Icing on a goth cupcake. ★★★★★

RON PAUL-ROCK

Sons of Liberty Brush-Fires of the Mind (Century Media) Just in time for primary voting in the libertarian stronghold of Nevada, Iced Earth guitarist/ songwriter Jon Schaffer made his debut album with side project Sons of Liberty available for free download at the band’s website. (Get it in its digital form now at sons-of-liberty.net or wait until July 13 for a proper physical release by Century Media.) Brush-Fires of the Mind is pure Ron Paul-inspired freemarket, limited government, hard-rock propaganda, which isn’t a bad thing unless you’re allergic to conspiracy theo… er, I mean different viewpoints on, say, the Federal Reserve (destroying our currency), state sovereignty (undermined by the U.N.), and the Constitution (constantly ignored). Songs are pleasingly catchy, even if the lyrics are too liberal for Ted Nugent, too conservative for Tom Morello. Titles like “Don’t Tread on Me” say it all, but don’t dismiss the Sons as being red-state kooky. This is solid rock with something unique to say about the reasons for America’s decline. ★★★✩✩ June 17-23, 2010 Vegas Seven 81

Arts & Entertainment

Art Woodward gallery’s Great Outdoors exhibition.

Staycation or Vacation A summer travel guide to the Big Apple’s diverse art community

By Andreas Hale

82 Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

Not just confined to designated walls, New York is home to some incredible rogue street art. A stroll through neighborhoods such as Chelsea, Dumbo and the Lower East Side in Manhattan will expose you to the video game murals of France’s own Space Invader (space-invaders. com), Gaia’s (gaiastreetart.com) black-and-white people drawings and the robot-obsessed artist Stickman (so mysterious “he” has no website).

It’s also a must that you familiarize yourself with British street art legend Banksy (banksy.co.uk). His signature “Banksy Rats” can be seen all over NYC with larger murals in Soho. To find out more about the man who’s become famous for combining graffiti with a distinctive stenciling technique, check out his critically acclaimed documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop, which has been billed as “The World’s First Street Art Disaster Movie.” Unfortunately, with no Vegas screenings, you’ll have to go to Banksyfilm.com for updates on where the movie can be seen.

Street art doesn’t come with docents or helpful gallery directors, but you can find all the info you need via other forums. Street Art New York (Prestel USA, 2010), a new book by Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo will get you started. If you are an iPhone user, the application All City Art is a user-generated GPS catalog for street art around the world. The application will give you information on the artist and the piece that is in your location, like a Wikipedia art navigation system.

It’s perfect for cities such as New York which have massive amounts of art scattered throughout.

Jeff Soto, “Broken,” Jonathan LeVine Gallery.

No iPhone, no worries. Go online to Wooster Collective (woostercollective.com) or Streetsy (streetsy. com) to familiarize yourself with some of the more prolific street artists and their work.

If you like your art a little more contemporary, head over to the P.P.O.W. Gallery (551 W. 25th St., Room 301; Ppowgallery.com). Catch Ben Gocker’s first solo exhibition (now through July 16) titled There Is Really No Single Poem, which features the University of Iowa graduate’s wall-mounted sculptures and drawing series inspired by his MFA degree in poetry.

For those Las Vegans who still mourn the loss of the David LaChapelle-designed Elton John show Red Piano, you can get your fix of the outrageous photographer’s candy-colored images at his new exhibition, “American Jesus” at the Paul Kasmin Gallery ( July 7-Aug. 14, 293 10th Ave., Paulkasmingallery.com, Lachapellestudio.com).

With the aforementioned locations as well as popular museums such as The Museum of Modern Art (moma.org), the Met (metmuseum.org) and the Guggenheim (guggenheim.org), New York is the perfect place to expand your artsy side.

Andreas Hale is the editor of StreetLevel.com and has written for publications such as 944, XXL, The Source and many others.

He spent a year in NYC while working for BET Networks and returned to Vegas with an even greater appreciation of art.

Broken by Jeff Soto courtesy of Jonathan LeVine Gallery

If you are a lover of art, Las Vegas may not have quite enough to satisfy your appetite. Sure, First Fridays are great, but a sensory overload awaits you in New York. If you consider taking a trip to the Big Apple this summer, you’ll want to check out some of these exhibitions. Or if you’re stuck at home, you can enjoy an armchair art tour by reading along and then visiting the listed websites.

Arguably one of the best galleries featuring contemporary and street art in NYC, the Jonathan LeVine Gallery (529 West 20th St., Ninth Floor; Jonathanlevinegallery.com) showcases work from a plethora of artists who were schooled in fine art but inspired by hip-hop, science fiction and tattoos. LeVine—who represents 35 artists—opened the gallery in 2005 to high acclaim and has been featured in The New York Times. Solo exhibitions by California-based Pop surrealism street artist Jeff Soto (web-surfing art lovers should visit his blog, jeffsotoart.blogspot.com, which offers insight into his creative process) and cartoonist Dave Cooper (featuring somewhat disturbing “new drawings and paintings of twisted ladies”) will be running June 26-July 24.

The Woodward Gallery (133 Eldridge St., Woodwardgallery.net) has The Great Outdoors exhibition (now until July 24), which features pieces from renowned outdoor artists Royce Bannon, Darkcloud, Michael De Feo, Lady Pink and others. These artists adapt their artwork to weather, space, people and situations.

Taking the great outdoors outside, this gallery also has the Woodward Gallery Project Space, which is a “rotating exhibition of street art” located across the street from the gallery.

Arts & Entertainment

Reading Bookini

The LIbrarIan Loves ...

Poignant middle-aged slackerdom packaged in a great graphic novel

Selected by Jeanne Goodrich, executive director for the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.

By M. Scott Krause Daniel Clowes has come a long way since the debut of his much-beloved comic Eightball (Fantagraphics,1989). After producing 23 critically acclaimed issues in just 15 years, Clowes shifted his focus to movies inspired by his earlier work: Ghost World (Fantagraphics Books, 2000), which earned Clowes an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Art School Confidential (Fantagraphics, 2006). His latest graphic novel, Wilson (Drawn & Quarterly, $21.95), unfolds like a smart, independent film and is definitely worth a look.

The story is the very of literary fiction. Wilson is a middle-aged underachiever with only his dog for company. Wilson’s ex-wife left him 16 years ago. When Wilson learns she put their daughter up for adoption, he hires a detective to locate her and promptly inserts himself into his daughter’s life. What follows is both funny and tragic, with the very best parts lingering in your head long after you’ve finished reading.

Wilson is a complicated character. In “Fellowship,” the book’s opening strip, Wilson claims to be a real “people person.” Of course, once he encounters an actual human being and is treated to an earful of her banality (“My computer just crashed and I lost all my preferences!”), he wishes she would just shut up. Still,

Wilson is no mere misanthrope; he clearly needs people. It doesn’t take long to realize his anger and impatience are a result of his disappointment with people who simply can’t communicate.

Clowes tells Wilson’s story in 70-odd one-page strips, most of them no more than six panels, with titles such as “All Alone,” “Cheap Motel” and “ Hard Time.” He employs a number of different graphic styles that complement the individual strips the way a director might use subtle lighting changes. Though the content is admittedly downbeat, the artwork can be downright whimsical. Too many contemporary graphic novels lack depth and it’s easy to overlook or dismiss them. Clowes—like Chris Ware, Adrian Tomine and Seth—is a storyteller of the first order, and his strips have a kind of compact elegance to them.

If Wilson was prose instead of a graphic novel, bookstores would have no problem shelving Clowes between Chekhov and Dostoevsky. Don’t let the funny pictures fool you: Wilson packs a solid emotional punch.

Because reading is more fun in less clothes, Bookini is the name of our summer reading series.

I’ve had Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” stuck in my head all weekend … and now I know why. Daniel Levitin explains earworms (the stuck-in-your-head tunes) and much, much more in his fascinating book, This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession (Dutton Adult, 2006).

His credentials are uniquely stellar: He’s been a rock musician, sound engineer and record producer, and he ultimately became a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience. Music, he points out, is omnipresent in all human history and cultures. Moving from inside our ears to inside our brains, Levitin explains it all in an engaging, understandable way.

June 17-23, 2010 Vegas Seven 83

Arts & Entertainment

Movies

A Piece of Work gives an honest look at a comedy icon.

simply Ageless A review of a film about Joan Rivers by someone who knows

By Rex Reed Why are we here? For what reason do we exist? In Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, the indefatigable lady clown provides the answer: to laugh! She laughs at everything, even if it’s vulgar and tasteless and funny as cancer.

Nothing is off-limits, and God help the meekest audience member who offers even a mild complaint. Nobody else could, as reported in the press from Sundance, say “I would have laughed at Auschwitz” without getting stoned or accused of being a borderline mental-clinic outpatient. But Joan Rivers gets away with murder because she is just plain lovable in spite of everything, including herself. I like her. I always have.

This movie, co-directed by Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg, is likable, too, because it forces you to see a complex, multi-faceted and courageous woman who will do anything at least once to get a laugh. I have a feeling people will take away one of two reactions. They will think of Joan as a dynamo, a human whirling dervish who never sleeps, and an object lesson in what to do to achieve success and stay running in place. Others will see the desperation to search for new ways to re-invent herself and breathe 84

Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

a sigh of relief, happy in their own skin. She’s 75 now, but she has never smelled the roses. I left this movie with the impression that if she ever sat down in an easy chair to read a book, she would implode.

A good documentary about a beloved celebrity should reveal the true nature of the subject and share something poignant the world doesn’t already know without jamming in a needle that draws enough blood to turn the fans away in disgust. Neither darkly compelling or crisis-riddled, this one has a rough time being either. No alcohol or drug addictions to overcome. No painful memories of years in rehab. No life-threatening illnesses to survive. It’s all about personality and Joan’s inimitable style, which fills every second of its 84 minutes.

You see the one-night stands in saloons and dumps no grandmother should be caught dead in (much less one who makes millions on QVC), the all-night flights to nowhere, the frustration when there’s an empty page in her date book, the terror of a phone that does not ring.

Nobody is a barrel of laughs all the time. She’s experienced it all, but I know this woman. Trust me when I tell you she’s suffered her share of blows, private moments of fear and panic, and real emotions nobody sees. Dismissed for life by Johnny Carson, who blackballed her from NBC, fired in front of millions by Fox, a husband who committed suicide—she’s been forced to pull herself out of debt and keep going.

And you see how she survives with a smile, how she keeps comedy fresh and laughs to stay in

show business at the age when most female comics have retired, found a better life or died. She has a magnificent New York apartment where she rarely entertains, and a Connecticut house that belongs in Architectural Digest, where she never goes without an entourage because there’s no audience there.

She’s the Material Girl, with Medicare. I love her in spite of all that (or maybe because of it).

But I wish A Piece of Work had included other aspects of Joan Rivers the camera doesn’t capture—philanthropist, humanitarian, care-giver for people in trouble, the first crusader on network television who fought the battle against AIDS and endorsed the use of condoms. That took courage, not punch lines.

Always looking for the next four-digit deal, her current plans are to sell everything and move to Los Angeles to live with her daughter, Melissa, and her 9-year-old camera-ready grandson, Cooper, the cutest kid since Margaret O’Brien and destined to someday be the kind of star who supports them both. I don’t believe a word of it. She’s a New York icon, and this is where the laughs are.

It makes me sad to hear her say, “When I am onstage is the only time I am truly happy.” But see A Piece of Work anyway. You don’t get winsomeness, innocence and cuddle-me charm. Nobody will ever tap her to play Doris Day. But you do get one unique dame with a love she doesn’t sell cheap, and a hidden heart bigger than her Botox budget.

Rex Reed is the film critic for the New York Observer.

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Arts & Entertainment

Movies

The Toys Are Back In Town

Third time’s still the charm in the gracefully sweet Toy Story 3

By Sharon Kehoe Going into Toy Story 3 was a bit nerve-wracking considering the awful pattern most threequels have (Spider-Man 3, I’m talking to you). Disappointment is not the legacy that the imaginative and heartfelt Toy Story franchise deserves. Fortunately, Pixar defies the odds of three and delivers a winner to its audiences of young and old.

The story follows Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen) and the rest of our favorites as they’re all thrown into a state of panic with Andy packing up for college. Will the toys be trashed or sent to the attic? Mishaps ensue and the whole clan winds up at Sunnyside Day Care, where something isn’t quite right. The leader toy at Sunnyside, Lotso (Ned Beatty), goes from cuddly to ugly when the truth is unveiled.

Woody and company then concoct an edge-of-yourseat prison break plan in hopes of getting back to their beloved owner.

Benefiting from 15 years of technological advances since the first film, vibrant colors and close attention to the tiniest details are once again showcased among the toys and the landscape. At times you’ll forget you’re watching animation and you’ll believe you’re one of them, eager to be included in the family adventure.

And that’s always been one of the brightest themes of the Toy Story films. Phones, computers and iPads clutter our daily lives, but Pixar plunges audiences into the most prevailing accessory of them all: the power of the imagination. The ending sequence of this film will surely bring tears as well as memories to viewers who’ve grown past the age of Woody and Buzz toys and into the realm of tech toys as college-bound Andy clutches his friends, maybe for the last time.

But before that moment is met, new faces grace the screen, voiced by such talents as Michael Keaton,

Bonnie Hunt and a hilarious Timothy Dalton. Meanwhile, Hanks, Allen and Joan Cusack take us all back to ’95 and once again give fantastic life to these beloved toys. In fact, the amount of heart and friendship shown in these characters make many real life performances seem more plastic than the bodices of those toys.

Lee Unkrich (co-director of Finding Nemo and Toy Story 2) handles the direction here with ease. It’s smooth, solid, and moves with an excellent pace.

Toy Story and Toy Story 2 writers John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton are back with some help from Little Miss Sunshine’s Michael Arndt. The team has constructed a story that is fun, thrilling, emotional and even a bit dark. Lotso’s chief cronies Big Baby and a madeyed, screeching monkey are creepy and downright scary. The G-rating flexes its power here, but Toy Story 3 remains kid-friendly.

But for this threequel to hold up to the brilliance of Pixar’s colorful palette—and then some—is thoroughly impressive. The animation geniuses always seem to hit the right sentimental tone on subjects such as friendship, family and the purpose of life—whether it’s an old, senile man seeking closure (Up), a rusty robot looking for love (Wall-E), or a father desperate to find his son lost at

Animation can’t age: Tim Allen and Tom Hanks together again.

sea (Finding Nemo). Here, toys just want to be played with, and they will remain true to their loving owners until the very end.

But Toy Story 3 matures in this and understands that sometimes, you just have to let go. And although it’s set up for a possible fourth installment, its ending is sweet and final. So perhaps it’s time to finally let go of Toy Story as well, but Woody and the gang will continue to live on … to infinity and beyond.

Toy Story 3 (G)

★★★★✩

By Cole Smithey and Sharon Kehoe

ShoRT ReviewS

Movie TiMeS

Killers (PG-13)

★★★✩✩

Despite a story driven by Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl that doesn’t pick up until the halfway mark, Killers provides this summer with some good ’ol entertainment. Ted Griffin supplies a decent enough script with great thrills and even a few laughs, but Catherine O’Hara and Tom Selleck carry much of this movie through their supporting roles. It’s no masterpiece, but Killers is an unexpected fun ride.

86 Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

The Karate Kid (PG)

★★✩✩✩

Adhering to the 1984 original, this Will Smith-produced remake goes to China.

Jackie Chan is Mr. Han, a martial arts master who mentors the young Dre ( Jaden Smith). The film feels bloated and yet unsatisfying: Director Harold Zwart (The Pink Panther 2) doesn’t dig deep enough into his characters’ motivations.

For all Dre’s training (Smith studied with stunt coordinator Wu Gang), we never see the learning process take seed.

Splice (R)

★★★✩✩

This promising sci-fi thriller loses steam in an underwhelming third-act climax.

Co-writer/director Vincenzo Natali gives us romantically linked biochemists Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley), whose DNA-splicing experiments birth a bald female creature.

Despite glaring plot, Delphine Chanéac is mesmerizing as the adult creature whose physical abilities provide the story with intriguing plot twists.

Scan here for up-to-the-minute movie listings delivered directly to your mobile device.

First a MacGyver spoof and now with The A-Team, 2010 is the summer of ’80s TV.

From TV Schlock to Movie Schlock

Joe Carnahan and company do the dishonorable honors in The A-Team

By Cole Smithey The once-promising director Joe Carnahan (Narc) has succumbed to Hollywood excess. While Carnahan might wax poetic about the “gravitas” of his A-Team lead actor (Liam Neeson), the only thing weighty in this mindless smash-it-up picture is the amount of money squandered on something so instantly forgettable.

Inspired by the ’80s-era television series, four Special Forces vets are forced to go rogue after being imprisoned for a vague crime involving counterfeit money. Neeson chomps on cigars in dyed gray hair as team strategist “Hannibal” Smith, while Bradley Cooper provides toothpaste charisma as “Face” Peck, a charmer with romantic ties to U.S. military heavyweight Charisa Sosa ( Jessica Biel). Mixed-martial-arts star Quinton “Rampage” Jackson fills Mr. T’s shoes as the Mohawk-wearing B.A. Baracus, leaving Sharlto Copley (District 9) with the short straw as the company crazy Murdock. Patrick Wilson plays goodguy-bad-guy CIA officer Lynch, who at turns helps the team escape separately from prison before attempting to frame them right back into the pokey.

Bullets fly like so much oil from a British Petroleum drill site, and giant steel storage containers explode as if they were Legos being tossed around by a caffeinated 10-year-old. If you prefer stupefaction to satisfaction, then The A-Team is the movie for you.

There’s a disconnect between Carnahan’s self-perceived serious treatment of his spoof-logic source material and a movie that seems to not take itself seriously at all. In interviews, the director

talks about playing to audiences that are much more savvy than viewers were 20 years ago. Whether or not that’s true does little to distract from the obvious subtext being smuggled into a war film like The A-Team, for it is first and foremost a movie about a militarized movement that operates anywhere, anytime.

Certain societal parameters are a given: The CIA is an openly corrupt and ruthless organization driven by greed; and the Iraq and Vietnam wars are interchangeable. Even seasoned military generals aren’t above betrayal of everything they supposedly believe in when money is involved. It’s with these accepted quantities that The A-Team, like the recent rogue-team-smash-em-up flick The Losers, takes its place as a cinematic confirmation of a world run by corporations whose militaries take everything from everyone.

The A-Team makes this lack of political and military accountability go down like a fast-action TV commercial. Cinematically that’s exactly what it is—an eyecandy sales pitch for war. Why bother to worry about the fallout when destruction is so much fun to watch. The heroes of The A-Team are nothing more than a narcissistic bunch of louts who “love it when a plan goes well.”

Substance is the missing ingredient, and the thing that separates a crappy movie like The A-Team from a truly inspired piece of complex filmmaking like Inglourious Basterds. Both movies are about a rogue team of vengeful men, but only one has anything to say.

The A-Team (PG-13)

★✩✩✩✩

June 17-23, 2010 Vegas Seven 87

Gadgets & Tech

What’s on Dad’s wish list

By Eric Benderoff

It’s Father’s Day and you’re probably searching for a great gift. Not sure what to get him? Well, here are some ideas for the gadget-loving dad in your life.

A Wi-Fi Blu-ray player, $200: Upgrade his DVD player, especially if it’s attached to an HDTV. A Wi-Fienabled Blu-ray player turns a TV into a multimedia powerhouse, with access to download movies from Netflix and music from Pandora, among other content. And don’t forget the fantastic picture and improved sound that will come from watching a Blu-ray movie.

The Amazon Kindle, $259: Call me old-fashioned, but the Kindle is still my favorite e-reader. Sure, the iPad is fancy, but it’s made for multitasking, Web browsing and watching baseball games— and costs twice as much. The Kindle takes a no-nonsense approach to reading.

I like its simplicity and black-and-white display, and it’s light, easy to operate and entire books download within 30 seconds.

The Sonos S5, $399: This wireless iPod dock connects to your computer’s music collection, no cables required. It also streams Internet radio, from Pandora and Last.fm to obscure stations, such the all-Flamenco station I found in Spain.

Oh, and it has an old-school AM/FM tuner, too—but also gets HD radio, and can be controlled from an iPhone.

Powerstick 8GB, $99: For a pocketsize charging device, the Powerstick universal charger can’t be beat. Although it’s probably overpriced at $99 (it’s $20 less on Amazon), it doubles as a thumb drive and stores up to 8 GB of data. It comes with nine charging tips, which handle most iPhones, Blackberrys and MP3 players—so if Dad buys himself an The Sonos wireless iPod dock, the stillrelevant Amazon Kindle and Hyperion by Dan Simmons.

90

Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

iPhone4 for Father’s Day, this charger will have it covered.

Old-school stuff: Dads love stuff, and sometimes its better to buy physical products. The digital era makes for less stuff to collect, but sometimes we just want to read the liner notes or turn a printed page. Remember, this is stuff is for Dad: The Marx Brothers collection: A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races and five other silly films.

Road Warrior: I could watch this movie once a week—get him a copy on Blu-ray DVD. Sean Connery James Bond flicks: Buy these individually because the Bond movie packaging people throw Roger Moores and George Lazanbys into box sets to frustrate Connery fans.

Sci-Fi reads: John Scalzi may be may the sci-fi writer de jour, but modern classics like Dan Simmons’ Hyperion (Spectra, 1990) or Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon (Avon, 2002) make for great summer reads—and Cryptonomicon is available for the Kindle, too.

New music for the old-but-still-hip dad: LCD Soundsystem, New Pornographers, Broken Bells and a fabulous new Ella Fitzgerald collection, 12 Nights in Hollywood.

That last one is pure old-school cool.

The Last Resort: What Dad wouldn’t like a gift card and an hour of free time to pick up something you both know he wants and will actually use?

Chicago-based technolog y columnist Eric Benderoff writes about consumer electronics and runs BendableMedia.com, an editorial services firm. He frequently discusses tech trends and new gadgets on various national radio and TV programs. Follow him on Twitter @ericbendy.

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Dining

Chef Yu Li stretches the dough into his magic creations at Beijing Noodle No. 9.

Photo by Anthony Mair

Asian Ascent

Three tastes of the Far East’s epicurean emergence in Las Vegas

By Max Jacobson

The Pacific Rim is slowly inching across the Mojave, and the invasion is making Las Vegas a destination city for Asian cuisine. Here are three stunning representatives: Tamba Indian cuisine is generally disappointing in Vegas, though there are exceptions. Origin India has a creative menu, and MOzen Bistro at the Mandarin Oriental has a wonderful tandoori platter on its menu. But Chef Om Singh, who first came here as a bodyguard for the Bollywood movie industry and most recently cooked at Namaste in the Commercial Center, is my favorite Indian chef in the city. He now works the ovens at Tamba, in the Hawaiian Marketplace, 3743 Las Vegas Blvd. South (798-7889), just below Harmon Avenue on the Strip.

Tamba is known for its massive $12.99 lunch buffet, but Singh’s food—such as spice-crusted green tandoori chicken, delicate fish pakoras, and a cashew- and sultana-studded lamb biryani—are beyond reproach.

Tamba is on a mezzanine, above an abandoned food court.

To get there, you have to run the gauntlet of cheesy souvenirs and bad street performers. The journey is rewarded, though, with Goan chicken curry, fiery lamb vindaloo and a full bar.

Dinner for two here is $45-$69.

Yagyu Yakiniku I recently went to a famous barbecue place in Seoul, Korea, South Korea, where I paid $50 for about four ounces of Kobestyle beef. I did like my meal, but after eating twice as much American Kobe beef for $19.95 at Yagyu Yakiniku, 4355 Spring Continued on page 94 June 17-23, 2010 Vegas Seven 93

Dining

Diner’s Notebook

Asian Ascent Continued from page 93

A toast to Taste, The Beat and some new summer wines

Mountain Road (868-5635), I’d never pay Korean prices again.

Those familiar with barbecuing at a Korean restaurant will recognize this format, where you grill your own meat on a brazier built into the table. The only thing different here is that this is primarily a Japanese restaurant with a mostly Japanese clientele.

In addition to the Kobe, my dining companions and I had Korean-style short ribs for $9.95 and a Japanese fried chicken appetizer in bite-size pieces.

One of my friends ordered a tonkatsu pork cutlet with steamed rice and salad, and we also sampled a delicious seaweed and egg soup. I heart Yagyu.

Overall, dinner for two here costs $28-$49.

The Lamb Biryani at Tamba (top) and beef with macadamia nuts at Beijing Noodle (above).

The Grape Nut

Just George

By Xania Woodman In his well-worn T-shirt, George Wine Co. owner (and sole employee) George Levkoff was probably not what the attendees of Rock ’n’ Roll Wine’s Reggae Pool Party at M Resort expected to find in the posh VIP tasting enclave. But there, bathed in the light of a giant Lexus light balloon, was Levkoff in all his casual, personable glory, serving up his 2008 Sonoma Coma—a toothsome, unfined, unfiltered pinot noir with hints of cherry cola, sandalwood and brown spice—to a who’s who. And they were lapping it up. After 14 years selling bonds in the high-stress financial industry, the subsequent decade’s foray into hands-on viniculture has been a pleasant revelation for Levkoff. Sometimes life is a comfy tee and a supple pinot like the Coma, which, he mentions, goes well with seared ahi or roasted chicken. $50, georgewine.com.

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More picks froM rock ’n’ roll Wine’s chris hAMMond And sonny BArTon La Capilla Vineyards “Old Vine” Reserve Zinfandel, Lodi, Calif., ‘06.

Belle Glos, “Meiomi” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, ‘08.

Rodney Strong, Russian River Reserve Chardonnay, ‘05.

Barone Fini “Valdadige” Pinot Grigio, Italy, ‘08.

Craneford Grenache, Barossa Valley, Australia, ‘05 Apothic Red Blend, California, ’08

Rain Nightclub at the Palms recently hosted Taste of the Nation, co-chaired by the Wynn’s Carlos Guia and Jen Lasala, featuring more than 30 of the city’s best chefs.

The event went better than last year, I felt, although the turnout was not as large as anticipated. But the $75 admission was quite reasonable given the fact that there seemed to be a bar for every four food booths.

How much rum and tequila did I drink? I’ll never tell.

Chef Zach Allen of Carnevino stole the show with his homemade Italian-style cold cuts that he learned from Mario Batali’s dad, Armandino, who operates the excellent Salumi in Batali’s hometown, Seattle.

Proceedings for this event went to the University of Nevada Reno Foundation/University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Chefs for Kids, Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, the Three Square Food Bank and Project MANA. Plan on being there next year.

I cleared my head the following morning at downtown’s new The Beat Coffeehouse, the coolest place to open in some time. If you fancy a Hopperesque atmo with an Old Vegas feel, here is the ticket.

The room is sparse, decorated with photos of Ginsberg and Kerouac, and there is a long counter. The chef is Andy Knudson, formerly with Guy Savoy, and he makes his salads and sandwiches from scratch.

Coffee is from Colorado River Coffee Roasters, a regular at the Molto Mario Farmer’s Market. I recommend the cappuccino.

The Beat is in the Emergency Arts, 520 E. Fremont St., and it’s open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Summer wines and new products have arrived at Valley Cheese and Wine, 1770 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway, in Henderson (341-8191). I love the pink rosé wines from Spain and France, such as Castano ’09 from Yecla, in southern Spain, a peppery, earthy wine redolent of wild berries $14.99, or the delicious Mourgues du Grès Les Galets Rosé ’09, $19.99, which is more fruit forward and food friendly.

Owner Bob Howland always stocks his shelves with surprises. Effie’s all-natural Corncakes are great with cheese, wine or eaten alone. A $7 splurge will net a Barre Infernale Lait from French chocolatier Francois Pralus, an amazing chocolate bar filled with whole hazelnuts.

Finally, there are several new cheeses, the most impressive of which (and the most expensive, at $36.99 per pound), is a Star Thrower Farms sheep’s milk Camembert from Minnesota, perfect with a nice rosé.

Hungry, yet?

Follow Max Jacobson’s latest epicurean observations, reviews and tips at foodwinekitchen.com.

Photography by Anthony Mair

Beijing Noodle No. 9 Dozens of good Chinese restaurants are on Spring Mountain Road, but Beijing Noodle No. 9 at Caesars Palace (731-7110) has a special niche and an ambience you won’t find in Chinatown.

The restaurant is housed in a laser-cut metal box, projecting thousands of glowing flowers. Designer Yukichi Kawai modeled it after the Bird’s Nest, the main stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

Beijing native Yu Li is the chef, and many staff members, such as General Manager Shelley Yu, are from mainland China. Ms. Yu is from Szechuan, and she touts a boiled beef and vegetables in red chili and Chinese spices—the hottest Chinese dish in town. Most non-initiates, myself included, sweat profusely after a few bites of this stuff.

As you walk in, chefs are making hand-pulled noodles, rolling, twirling and stretching dough until it turns magically into long strands. You can eat them with sauces, such as pork with mushroom.

I love to come here for the dumpling and dim sum selection as well. The Special Beef Pancake, which is shaped like a hockey puck, is a soft dough stuffed with a spiced minced-beef patty.

For dessert, try the sweet sago soup, a cream soup with tapioca and cubes of taro. Trust me, this isn’t anything like an ice cream sundae.

By Max Jacobson

Dining

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

Original Pollo Bowl at El Pollo Loco

The Pollo Bowl is a relatively healthful, not to mention delicious, alternative to most fast food. The popular chicken, flame-grilled right before your eyes, is served over Spanish rice and pinto beans and topped with onions, cilantro and your choice of salsa. Eating well (and cheap!) has never tasted so good. $4.29, multiple locations.

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Kalbi Burger at Bachi Burger

Lorin Watada’s Asian fusion burgers are taking Las Vegas by storm.

This one, ground beef and pork with soy, garlic, ginger, chili paste, green onion, kim chi’ and ko chu jang (a potent red bean paste), is one of his best. $8, 470 E. Windmill Lane, 242-2244.

Chilled Maryland Crab Salad at Steakhouse 46

This classic steak house is one of the best kept secrets in Las Vegas. A prix fixe locals menu features this appetizing dish for the first course. The salad contains chilled Maryland crab with frisée lettuce in a citrus vinaigrette. It also includes your choice of entrée and a tasting of three of executive pastry chef Olivier Carlos’ desserts. $29.95 for one person, in the Flamingo, 733-3333.

Pescado Veracruzano at Dos Caminos

Yes, enjoy the restaurant’s famous made-to-order guacamole ($13), but make sure to save room for this delish dish. You’ll savor every bite of the Chilean sea bass, marinated in a flavorful sauce of tomato, garlic, olives, jalapeño and oregano. $29, in the Palazzo, 577-9600.

Dining

Profile Seven Things Franck Savoy Can’t Live Without Cold milk with Nesquik.

Nutella on toast.

Skiing.

Discovering new cultures and traveling.

Oven-roasted chicken with gratin dauphinois—potato gratin from my region in France, next to Lyon.

Scuba diving.

Dining with friends.

Seven Things Guy Savoy Can’t Live Without Work.

My cabine in the mountains.

Kung fu—every day!

My horrible turtleneck T-shirt.

(It keeps him warm at the cabine.)

Sabot clogs (like a traditional wooden clog but with a leather top).

Guy Savoy (left) and the general manager at his Vegas restaurant, Franck Savoy.

Sardines on toasted country bread— my little late-night snack!

São Tomé chocolate from Patrick Roger [a famous Parisian chocolatier] around 5:30 p.m., before or after a cup of Jasmine tea.

Raising Star

Franck Savoy’s road to culinary success wasn’t easy, but being the son of Guy Savoy has never been an obstacle

You’d think a chef with five Michelin stars and credit as a founding father of nouvelle cuisine would cast a big shadow in the kitchen—especially when it is his son following in his considerable footsteps. However, the second-tothe-throne and general manager at Restaurant Guy Savoy, Franck Savoy, says that’s not the case.

“I don’t live in his shadow, nor would he say he casts one,” the 31-year-old says. “He creates the world-renowned cuisine we all know and love, and I make sure the restaurant and staff runs as efficiently as possible. We are one team and we’re in this together. We have the same philosophy and vision of what need to be done.”

When asked how they differ, he laughs and says, “I am 26 years younger.”

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Still, having his father’s name on the door does add a certain degree of pressure. “It is so special, [yet] very challenging, because I don’t want to disappoint him,” he says. “It is harder because I don’t want to disappoint a dad and a boss.”

Earning both his father’s and employees’ respect has been a lifelong task for the younger Savoy. While he probably could have ridden the coattails of his father’s kitchen whites to a job in the family business, Franck worked his way up.

“When I was 12 years old, my father made me work in the kitchen peeling vegetables,” he recalls. “I was so proud.”

He eventually graduated from vegetable peeling to far more serious roles within the family empire, but not before

taking several entry-level positions in the hotel industry. He worked as a bellman at a Hyatt hotel in Paris, then as a receptionist and a housekeeper, among other blue-collar jobs.

He also attended college, achieving a bachelor’s degree in hospitality and hotel business management.

In 2004, Franck helped his father open Le Chiberta, a restaurant next to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and it earned a Michelin star. The next year, he and his then-wife came to Las Vegas to prepare to open Guy’s first and only restaurant in the United States.

Guy did not hesitate to ask Franck to move halfway around the world to open and run a restaurant for him.

“I have and will always trust his qualities,” Guy says. And he insists there is no

nepotism afoot. “There is no difference between Franck and other executives.”

Geographically speaking, the father and son live opposite lives: Guy makes the trip from Paris to Las Vegas just two weeks a year, in May and November, and Franck lives here full time, traveling it back to France just a few times a year.

When they’re not working, Guy says their time together is as precious as it is unpretentious. His favorite thing to do with Franck outside of the restaurant is barbecue. “He puts on the grill, and I cook the meat,” he says.

“Because food runs in the family, the impression may be that it’s some grand meal,” Franck observes, “but really … just being able to be together and spend time is special enough.”

Photo by Barry Johnson

By Melissa Arseniuk

HEALTH & FiTnEss Regimen Le Rêve Workouts for these performers are pretty intense, but there’s a variation that can benefit your body

By Jessica prois In a corner of the Le Rêve gym, a Herculean athlete does a handstand and splits his muscular legs into a completely level, horizontal line, toes pointed. With perfect form, he bends his elbows and does a “push-up.” It’s just part of the warm-up for the performers, as they train for moves requiring strength and agility, such as balancing on a wireframed globe or doing an upside-down tango underwater in the aquatic theaterin-the-round performance at the Wynn.

The gymnasts, aerialists and synchronized swimmers do what’s called a Four-Point Workout, spending equal time on their necks, abs, lower and upper bodies. This workout targets the major muscle groups, creating a strong foundation— and it’s not just for high-diving acts.

Steve McCauley, head of health services at the Wynn, says the basics of this workout are for everyone because

it lays the groundwork for any other exercise regimen, ensuring strong performance and less susceptibility to injury.

“Every person who seeks to do a certain activity—whether that be recreational or professional sports—has to have a certain basic foundational strength.”

The key is to forgo weight machines. This allows you to work your muscles in more of a 360-degree fashion whenever possible, such as pairing a lunge with a counterpart reverse lunge, yielding those perfectly proportioned, chiseled muscles the performers have, McCauley says. “Machines just teach you to be good at machines,” adds Matt Miller, strength and conditioning coach.

The show’s 80 performers train about 12 hours a week to prepare for more than

Neck

Lower Body

Le Rêve: Head lift. With weighted head straps, performers lift up to 10 pounds in all four directions.

Le Rêve: Weighted squats. Performers complete squats holding as much as their own body weight overhead.

You: Head lift. Lie facedown on a bench or your bed with your head and back hanging off, your shoulders just at the edge.

Place your tongue on the roof your mouth, which tightens the muscles in the front of your neck.

Lift your head as far as you can without causing pain. Hold for five seconds.

Slowly lower your head to starting position.

Switch to lying on your back, left and right side and repeat.

“Many times the neck and movement of the head is ignored,” McCauley says.

“The benefit is going to be postural, providing an improved baseline from which you can do other activities.”

You: Lunge and reverse lunge.

Stand with feet shoulderwidth apart.

Leading with left leg, slowly lower into a lunge, keeping knees at 90-degree angles (make sure left knee doesn’t go past toes).

You: Kettlebell sit-ups.

Lie down with 18-pound Push off with heel to bring An ab workout, left foot back. pound kettlebells in each Le Rêve style. hand if you’re a man, eight Touch floor with left foot, and then push left leg back pounds for women. The balls of the kettlebells should be touching into a reverse lunge.

Push off toes to come back to your wrists.

Stretch out with both arms and legs return to start position.

Repeat with right leg. flat on the floor.

Besides strengthening Using your abdominals, raise your muscles, this exercise body to a sitting position, keeping back also helps with balance, straight, legs flat and arms outstretched.

Miller says.

Slowly roll down to starting position, one vertebrae at a time, keeping abs tight.

100 Vegas Seven June 17-23, 2010

450 performances a year. “They’re being slammed down, hanging upside down and falling into water,” McCauley says.

“We are training their body to withstand trauma and abuse.”

That’s probably not one of your

ABs Le Rêve: Extreme leg lift. Performers hang by their hands from a stationary bar and lift their legs to their chest using their abdominals. Up to 20 percent of their body weight is added to increase difficulty.

personal goals, but you can still work Four-Points exercises into your fitness program.

Note: For all the movements below, do 12 to 15 repetitions and three to four sets to build muscular endurance.

Upper Body Le Rêve: Handstand push-ups and extreme pull-ups. For the former, they balance in a handstand position using extra weight, then engage their arm muscles to push up and away from the floor. For the pull-ups, they use various grips and attach weight at the legs or waist.

You: Push-ups and pull-ups.

For the former, place hands flat on the floor, shoulder-width apart and extend legs behind you with feet together.

Bend arms to where chest is six inches from floor and hold for two seconds inhaling. Then raise your body for two seconds exhaling. (Modification: Keep knees on floor.)

For the latter, stand below stationary bar with feet shoulder-width apart and grip bar with palms facing you. Bend knees and cross ankles for balance, then pull up so your chin is at bar. Lower yourself so elbows are straight. (Modification: Use a step to lift into the “finish” position.)

Hold chin at bar for five seconds. Slowly lower yourself in a controlled motion.

“The best exercises are universal and tried and true,” McCauley says.

Photography by Anthony Mair

A Le Rêve neck exercise.

Steve McCauley, Wynn fitness guru.

SportS & LeiSure Hitting His Stride NHL Awards finish off monumental season for Canucks star Kesler

By Sean DeFrank

Las Vegan Carter to take powerful swings against 51s The Oakland Athletics are hopeful that Chris Carter is their first baseman of the future, but the Las Vegan has been inconsistent in his first season at the Triple-A level.

Carter, a 2005 Sierra Vista High School graduate, will be back in town June 2225 when the Sacramento River Cats play the Las Vegas 51s at Cashman Field. While the 6-foot-4inch, 230-pound slugger leads Sacramento with 14 home runs and 45 RBIs this season, he is hitting just .243 and leads the Pacific Coast League with 70 strikeouts (through June 14).

Carter, 23, was named the top player in the Oakland organization the previous two seasons, when he combined for 67 homers and 219 RBIs, but he also struck out 289 times in those two years.

While the A’s are lacking power in their lineup, Carter’s inconsistency has kept them from calling him up to the majors. Carter missed the River Cats’ game on June 13 after getting hit by a pitch the day before, but he should be ready to go against the 51s. – Sean DeFrank

Ryan Kesler, center, set a personal best in points this season, but his defense got him nominated for an award.

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Kesler action photo by Bob Frid / Icon SMI / Retna Ltd.; Carter photo by Jason Wise/MLB Photos

Staal, Kesler believes he has a good shot at leaving the Palms Although we’re not even halfway through 2010, it’s already with some hardware this time. been one hell of a year for Ryan Kesler. The Vancouver “I like my chances,” he says. “Last year, I probably wouldn’t Canucks star played for the U.S. Olympic hockey team in his have bet on myself. I probably would have bet on adopted NHL hometown, is going to be on the [Datsyuk], but this year I like my chances. And if I cover of EA Sports’ NHL 2K11 video game and is don’t win, it’s still a great event.” a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy, given to the The highlight of Kesler’s trip to Las Vegas last league’s outstanding defensive forward, at the June year was skating on synthetic ice along the Strip 23 NHL Awards show at the Palms. with Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin as Despite all the accolades, however, Kesler is still they did motion capture for NHL 2K10. With the trying to shake his disappointing performance city’s popularity among NHL players, Kesler says during the Stanley Cup playoffs. After setting a Las Vegas would have a built-in advantage if it ever personal best in points during the regular season landed an NHL team. for the third consecutive year, tallying 25 goals “I think they’d have the best home record in the and 50 assists, his production dropped off in the league for sure because I know players love coming postseason, where he had just one goal and 10 Kesler here on their off time, so they’d love coming here assists in 12 games as Vancouver was eliminated when they’re playing,” he says. “It would be good. There are a in six games in the second round by the eventual Cup chamlot of snowbirds that come down here, and a lot of hockey fans. pion Chicago Blackhawks.

Just walking around there’s a lot of hockey fans in Vegas, and “I did a lot of soul-searching,” he says. “It’s hard. It’s a lot of you kind of don’t expect that.” sleepless nights, and I still rack my brain on why I didn’t have it Some of the other awards being presented at the Palms include [in the playoffs]. I’m still trying to find that answer.” the Vezina Trophy (outstanding goaltender), Calder Memorial At the age of 25, though, Kesler is a player on the rise and Trophy (outstanding rookie), James Norris Memorial Trophy should get other opportunities to hoist the Cup. The oppor(outstanding defenseman), Jack Adams Award (outstanding tunity to play in the Vancouver Winter Games, though, was a coach) and Hart Memorial Trophy (most valuable player). For unique experience. the complete list of awards and nominees, go to nhl.com.

“I’d never imagine in a million years that I’d be playing The awards show will be broadcast live at 4:30 p.m. on Verin the Olympics in a place I call home,” he says. “I’ve been sus, and tickets for the show can be purchased at ticketmaster. playing there for seven years, and I was fortunate enough to com. All tickets are $304, which includes access to the cocktail have 14 family members the first week [of the Olympics] and reception afterward, although you must be at least 21 to attend a new 14 come the next week.” the post-show party.

While Kesler, who was born and still lives in Livonia, Mich., has been embraced by Vancouver fans, he had to withstand getting booed by many of the same people who usually cheer his name during the Olympics, especially when he clinched the Americans’ 5-3 victory over Canada in the preliminary round when he scored an empty-net goal, which he called the greatest moment of his career.

In a rematch between the squads in the gold medal game, Kesler scored again, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Canada from coming away with a 3-2 overtime victory.

“To be able to play in that gold medal game, it’s something I’ll always remember,” he says. “It’s definitely the best game so far in my career.”

Kesler is up for the Selke Trophy for the second straight year at the NHL Awards show, which will be held at the Pearl Theater inside the Palms. Kesler finished third last year behind winner Pavel Datsyuk of Detroit and Philadelphia’s Mike Richards. While he is surely no lock for the honor this year going against Datsyuk and Pittsburgh’s Jordan

Going for Broke

College football lines gain early attention

New Insalata AOC.- Arugula, Cool Orange Slices, Cranberries Toasted Almonds and Goat Cheese topped with Tangy lo-cal Citrus Dressing

By Matt Jacob Forget about the game of musical chairs that college conferences have been playing. And forget about the NCAA’s heavyhanded smack on the backside of USC’s football program (although I haven’t seen a more just and overdue punishment since, ironically, former Trojan great O.J. Simpson finally moved into the pokey).

No, the most exciting and important college sports happening of the summer occurred on June 11. On that day Golden Nugget race and sports book director Tony Miller put nearly 200 college football games on his betting board. Despite capping wagers at $1,000 and limiting bettors to three bets at a time, Miller says the Nugget’s handle reached six figures within the first hour. By day’s end, Miller had taken about $150,000 in wagers.

Most of the money that poured in that first day came from “sharps” (i.e. professional bettors), and much of the action focused on three teams. “We got a lot of anti-Tennessee money, and a lot of people like Texas A&M and Oregon,” Miller says.

Not so coincidentally, one of the biggest line moves centered on a Sept. 11 matchup between Oregon and Tennessee. The visiting Ducks were installed as a 3-point favorite, but when bettors loaded up on Oregon, Miller pushed the number to 6 even though Ducks QB Jeremiah Masoli was kicked off the team this month after repeated run-ins with the law.

In all, Miller is taking action on 185 “Games of the Year.” All games involving USC (recent NCAA sanctions) and Clemson (first-string quarterback might not return) were taken off the board, but after studying the three pages of matchups, I still managed to find a few nuggets: Wisconsin (-23) at UNLV (Sept. 4): As always, this will be a virtual home game for the Badgers, whose fans flock to Las Vegas when their team plays here.

Wisconsin (18 returning starters) is loaded this year—one preseason publication has them ranked sixth in the country—while UNLV is rebuilding yet again under new coach Bobby Hauck. If this game was played in November—when Hauck and the Rebels had several games under their belt—I’d give the hometown team a chance of competing. But since it’s being played before Labor Day, well, let’s just

say anything less than a 30-point defeat should be considered a victory for UNLV. BYU at Air Force (+7) (Sept. 11): Air Force always fields a competitive, disciplined team, and this year will be no different with 11 returning starters.

So even though BYU is clearly the thirdbest team in the Mountain West Conference (behind TCU and Utah), to be getting a touchdown with the Falcons at home is too good to pass up. This is also a very dicey “sandwich” spot for BYU, which opens the season at home against improving Washington, then faces Air Force before traveling to Florida State the following week for a revenge battle with the Seminoles, who crushed BYU, 54-28, in Provo, Utah, last year.

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Alabama at Arkansas (+3½) (Sept.

25): Barring key injuries, you can bet this will be one of my bigger plays of the college campaign. The Razorbacks are a legit top-20 team entering the season, thanks in large part to the presence of quarterback Ryan Mallett, who bypassed the NFL Draft to return for his junior season after throwing for more than 3,600 yards with 30 TDs last year. This is a perfect spot to back Arkansas, which will be coming off a game at Georgia while Alabama plays rival Florida the week after traveling to Fayetteville.

Tennessee at South Carolina (-6) (Oct. 30): Early money poured in on South Carolina in this one, as the Gamecocks opened as a 4-point home chalk. South Carolina returns 17 starters and is a fringe preseason top-25 squad.

Meanwhile, Tennessee breaks in a new coaching staff (thanks to Lane Kiffin bolting for USC), a new quarterback (Phil Simms’ son Matt) and a new offensive line. South Carolina figures to be laying more than a touchdown by game time, and you know that Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier isn’t afraid to run up a score, especially against the Vols.

Matt Jacob is a former local sports writer who has been in the sports handicapping business for more than four years. For his weekly column, Vegas Seven has granted Matt a “$7,000” bankroll. If he blows it all, we’ll fire him and replace him with a monkey.

June 17-23, 2010 Vegas Seven 103

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SEVEN QUESTIONS

Josh Agle, a.k.a. Shag

The master of mid-mod cool discusses his inspiration, hedonism in Las Vegas and why he’d name a bar after himself

By Elizabeth Sewell

Why does the mid-century inspire you?

I started incorporating that in my work because I was playing in 1960s garage bands and surf instrumental bands and got captivated by the look of the record covers back then. From that I got into the furniture and the furnishings and from that the architecture. I’d always loved that and when I painted I knew that’s what I wanted to paint.

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What is it about art that excites you?

I like the magic behind art, that mysterious thing that allows an artist to take $15 worth of art supplies and turn it into something much more valuable, not just financially, but aesthetically and symbolically. That ingredient that makes those art supplies something more than just the ingredients is what makes art, and it’s the thing that captivates me.

Is there anyone you would like to work with?

I’d like to work with street artists like KAWS or Banksy. The idea of taking my art, which is tightly controlled, and allowing artists all over the world to turn it into graffiti or paste-ups would take it to a different place and might lead to some unexpected things.

What inspires you?

That has changed over time. My earliest paintings were based on my own experiences, places I had been, things that had happened to me and from that I moved onto trying to tell stories with my paintings. I’ve kind of come full circle where the paintings have gotten more personal and related to things that are going

on in my life. Recently the influences have been internal and psychological things as opposed to external influences.

How does Las Vegas influence your work?

There’s a big under-trend of hedonism in my work and I think Vegas, the idea of Vegas or the concept of Vegas more so than the reality of it, that it’s this sinners’ playground, I definitely wanted to capture in my own paintings.

Would you ever design another venue?

I’m definitely open to designing another club. I have a whole storehouse of ideas—things I’d like to see in a bar, or things that might make the experience more fun and memorable. I spend a lot of time in bars, so I know what I’m talking about!

What would this place be called?

A bar called simply “Shag” would be a cool name. It has a lot of meanings, many of which are applicable to a nightclub or cocktail lounge. And people remember that name.

Photo by Mark Berry

Classic cocktails, tiki masks and Rat Pack cool cats live on in the mind of artist Josh Agle, better known as Shag.

Agle’s quirky pieces are filled with women sporting beehive hairdos and wolves in Wayfarers, and have earned exhibitions from Tokyo to Las Vegas. Agle, 47, grew up in Hawaii and Southern California and has been painting for as long as he can remember, but it was 15 years ago that he made art his full-time job. His interest in all things mod gave birth to Shag. His aesthetic has manifested itself in more than paintings; Agle designed the menus, glassware and other adornments of Venus nightclub, formerly at the Venetian, and is lending his skill to a line of men’s wear due out in the fall. He also applied his unique style to this week’s cover of Vegas Seven.