August 19-25, 2010
Life of the Party DJ Axis is among the dozen red revelers chosen for this year's Black & White beneďŹ t bash
Plus: Why Dutch DJs dominate Fusion cuisine meets its Match Seven questions UNLV's president
A CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT. 2010 MISS UNIVERSE ® PAGEANT SEE IT LIVE!
AUGUST 23
Hosted by Bret Michaels and Natalie Morales. Performances by John Legend & The Roots.
Be there live as more than 80 contestants from around the world compete for the title of Miss Universe 2010. Dress Rehearsal tickets also available!
Mandalay Bay Box Office 702.632.7580 mandalaybay.com |
800.745.3000 ticketmaster.com
Lost ’80s Live August 14 Michael Franti an pearhea Soun
f Sunshine Tour
August 21 Steel Pulse August 27 UB40 Septem er 24
ock n oll Wine Festival Featuring Thir
ye Blin
Septem er 25
Tickets on Sale Now MANDALAY BAY BOX OFFICE 632.7580 800.745.3000 mandalaybay.com ticketmaster.com
@redbullLV
JAY LENO August 27 & 28
For tickets, please visit mirage.com or call
702.792.7777.
Performing in the Terry Fator Theatre.
Contents
This Week in Your CiTY 13
seven days
The e.T. Full Moon Marathon and the Miss universe Pageants are among the out-of-this-world experiences this week. By Patrick Moulin
14
37
local newsRoom
69
Why hispanic voters aren’t feeling the love for gubernatorial candidate Brian sandoval, and re-sales from the crypt. Plus: David G. Schwartz’s Green Felt Journal and Michael Green on Politics.
national newsRoom
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.
77
aRts & enteRtainment
Past meets present at the Goldwell open Air Museum, and Rex Reed says Mao’s Last Dancer is an inspiration.
93 dining
the latest
Match fuses tapas and korean barbecue with delicious results. By Max Jacobson Plus: Max Jacobson’s Diner’s notebook and the perfect cup of coffee.
A new book rates local strip clubs, and henderson unveils a traffic-signal innovation. Plus: trends, Tweets, tech and gossip. The Latest Thought: The meaning of mainstream. By T.R. Witcher
100
20
tRavel
The Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival is one of many compelling reasons to visit seattle on Labor Day weekend. By Geoff Carter
society
Project Dinner Table helps the nevada Cancer institute, and Vegas Seven celebrates its “Best of the City” edition.
102
25
spoRts & leisuRe
This week’s Look, a few choice enviables and a peek at this fall’s fashion trends.
Vegas to reno in 534 gritty, kidneyshaking, teeth-chattering miles. By Bob Whitby Plus: in Going for Broke, bet the Packers to succeed and the seahawks to stumble. By Matt Jacob
45
110
style
nightlife
seven nights ahead, fabulous parties past and a Q&A with DJ Chuckie, the father of Dirty Dutch.
Above: rick McGough, one of AFAn’s staunchest supporters. On the Cover: DJ Axis. Photography by Francis + Francis
seven Questions
unLV’s neil smatresk on his first year, the budget and the university’s future. By Elizabeth Sewell
Feature 28
Red angels
Aid for AiDs of nevada salutes its biggest contributors at this year’s Black & White Party. By Laura Coronado August 19-25, 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 senior editor, Greg Blake Miller AssociAte editor, Melissa Arseniuk AssociAte 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/drinking contributing writers
Richard Abowitz, Molly Ball, Eric Benderoff, Geoff Carter, Laura Coronado, Gregory Crosby, Brooke Edwards, Elizabeth Foyt, Rosalie Miletich, Patrick Moulin, Rex Reed, Jens Rushing, Kate Silver, Jason Scavone, Elizabeth Sewell, Cole Smithey, T.R. Witcher interns
Mark Adams, Caitlin Bradley, Kelly Corcoran, Jazmin Gelista, Natalie Holbrook, Kathleen Wilson
art Art director, Lauren Stewart senior grAPhic designer, Marvin Lucas grAPhic designer, Thomas Speak stAff PhotogrAPher, Anthony Mair contributing PhotogrAPhers
Hew Burney, Sullivan Charles, Francis George, Brenton Ho, Roman Mendez,Tomas Muscionico, Amy Schaefer contributing illustrAtor, Jerry Miller
Production/distribution director of Production/distribution, Marc Barrington Advertising coordinAtor, Jimmy Bearse
salEs sAles MAnAger, Sarah Goitz 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
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 August 19-25, 2010
CoNTribuTors
leTTers
Billy Steffens Interactive content manager Steffens came to Las Vegas from the wheat fields of Kansas. He survived a tornado and claims to know Dorothy and her little dog, too. He got his start at the Lawrence Journal-World uploading content to the paper’s website. Three years ago, he joined the Greenspun Media Group and helped re-launch their flagship websites. Now he manages all of Vegas Seven’s online endeavors, from our website (weeklyseven.com), to our Twitter feed (@7Vegas) to our Facebook page (Facebook.com/VegasSEVEN).
Elizabeth Foyt Society, Pages 20 and 22 A “nearly native” Nevadan, Foyt has deep roots in Las Vegas and a keen awareness of the city’s nonprofit, charitable and fine arts groups. Foyt was the society editor for Greenspun Interactive, Las Vegas Life and the Las Vegas Sun. A latecomer to tennis, she enjoys time on the courts, and devotes her volunteer hours to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation and Catholic Charities.
In Defense of Bobby Berosini A lot of performers, before going onstage in front of an audience, need a few minutes to gather their thoughts. Some performers can suffer from nerves to some degree. Bobby [Berosini] didn’t let the situation control him, and was still able to walk on that stage with confidence, and reduce his orangutans’ anxiety in front of hundreds of people who were cheering and applauding. Actually, there are a lot of things [Ottavio Gesmundo] forgets, or doesn’t want to say, in the article [“Hear no evil. See no evil. Film no evil,” Aug. 12]. He never openly filmed a company meeting at which company manager Michael Bradshaw was terminated; he was caught hiding and secretly videotaping from high above the backstage. After that he knew he was not getting his dancer contract renewed and labeled a company risk and not eligible for rehire. Bobby never abused his orangutans before, during or after the show. No one can train or work with abused animals. Animals that are abused or hurt will not perform, or come to you when you call their name. The Berosini orangutans have worked on many feature films with stars like Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds and many more. I would honestly say if any star or director who has worked with Bobby’s orangutans in a movie could see any signs of abuse, production would have been stopped and it would have been reported long ago. – Adam Martinez
correction The woman pictured in last week’s story about Jenny McCarthy hosting Playboy’s Midsummer Night’s Dream party was not Jenny McCarthy, but an unidentified partier at the 2009 event.
Vegas Seven Mobile
Steffens photo by Anthony Mair
Try iT Now steP 1:
steP 2:
steP 3:
Visit getscanlife.com on your mobile device to download Free scanlife software.
as you scroll through Vegas seven, snap a photo anywhere you see a 2D barcode.
Your phone reads the 2D code and automatically loads interactive content.
Win Free stuFF ★ rsVP For eVents ★ 2D Mobile exclusiVe oFFers anD eDitorial
Visit the Vegas Seven website August 19-25, 2010 Vegas Seven 11
Seven DayS The highlights of this week in your city. Compiled by Patrick Moulin
Sun. 22 Thur. 19 The Crash Kings and Vertical Horizon are putting on a free show as part of Rio’s Poolside Concert Series at VooDoo Beach. Relative newcomer The Crash Kings (pictured right) will open for the veteran alternative rock group to finish off the summer series. Vertical Horizon has been rocking since 1991 with tracks “You’re a God” and “Everything you Want.” Print free tickets at 1079thealternative.com. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and you must be 21 or older to enter.
Student photo courtesy of UNLV photo services; Miss USA photo by Darren Decker
Fri. 20 There’s gonna be a Bigfoot sighting in Las Vegas, and we’re not talking about the smelly ape-like thing. This is the legendary monster truck coming to compete in a car-crushing contest against Ms. Bigfoot as one of several events at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s Back-to-School blowout. You’ll see jet cars go head-to-head with jet dragsters and people racing sideways in the Formula DRIFT series. It’s just the wild time you need before the school bell rings again. Check lvms.com or call 800-644-4444 for tickets and information.
Sat. 21 Our little desert is not known for producing abundant fresh food, so the Pear and Early Apple Festival is a rare opportunity for you to purchase homegrown, pesticide-free comestibles straight from the orchards of the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. The goodies will be on sale at the Whole Foods Market, 8855 W. Charleston Blvd., between 9 a.m. and noon. You’ll also encounter on-site demonstrations on drying, freezing and canning your precious finds, in case you get excited and buy more than you can possibly eat. Call 257-5516 for more information.
You never know what you might encounter while running the E.T. Full Moon Marathon on a stretch of state Route 375 near the outskirts of Area 51. You may also know that stretch of road by its other name: the Extraterrestrial Highway, as it was officially designated in 1996 due to the high number of UFO sightings reported near the town of Rachel. The midnight run will challenge competitors as they climb to elevations of up to 5,600 feet, and perhaps higher if they’re abducted by aliens. Be sure to dress warm as the temperature will dip to 60 degrees. Buses board at the Hard Rock Hotel at 8 p.m. Check calicoracing.com for more information.
Mon. 23 Bret Michaels will likely be on the lookout for new contestants for his popular dating show as he hosts the 2010 Miss Universe Pageant. Natalie Morales of NBC’s Today will be joining the award-winning singer onstage, as beautiful women from more than 80 countries descend on the Valley. The musical collaboration of John Legend & the Roots will set the mood for the evening at Mandalay Bay. Visit missuniverse.com for tickets and more information.
Tues. 24 You might hear a few Rebel yells this week as fall semester begins at UNLV. The Las Vegas campus welcomes back students to begin, or continue, their quest for a higher education. But if your kids are younger than college-age and still hanging around the house acting bored, take them for a visit to the Springs Preserve. Throughout August, all local kids under 17 receive free admission when accompanied by an adult. Take advantage of this deal before summer is gone. Visit springspreserve.org for details and ticket pricing.
Wed. 25 It seems like everything is free this week as the Southern Nevada Immunization Coalition holds back-to-school immunization clinics at no cost to all Clark County students. Shots for mumps, chicken pox and other hideous diseases you don’t want your kids to catch must be up to date before classes begin. The clinics will be held at schools and other facilities across the Valley, so call 933-7329 or visit snicnv.org to find the closest location. August 19-25, 2010 Vegas Seven 13
THE LATEST
?PI\¼[ PQX _PI\¼[ PIXXMVQVO _PI\¼[ OWQVO WV¸IVL _PI\ aW] VMML \W SVW_ ZQOP\ VW_
More Bang for Your Buck
Handy new guide rates the city’s strip clubs
?PMV XTIVVQVO I VQOP\ W]\ QV 4I[ >MOI[ [WUM\QUM[ \PM UW[\ QUXWZ\IV\ LMKQ[QWV Q[ ÅO]ZQVO W]\ _PQKP [\ZQX KT]J \W ^Q[Q\ <PM KPWQKM[ IZM UIVa" \WXTM[[ KT]J WZ \W\ITTa V]LM' ,W aW] _IV\ \W [XMVL TM[[ \PIV WZ IZM aW] _QTTQVO \W ]VTWIL I _IL WN KI[P' )ZM aW] IN\MZ TIX LIVKM[ WZ LWM[ I OWWL [\IOM XMZNWZUIVKM LW \PM \ZQKS' )TT WN \PM[M Y]M[\QWV[ IVL UWZM IZM IV[_MZML QV ;QV +Q\a )L^Q[WZ¼[ <WXTM[[ >MOI[ 8WKSM\ /]QLM 0]V\QVO\WV 8ZM[[ _ZQ\\MV Ja OIUJTQVO I]\PWZ )ZVWTL ;VaLMZ _PW XZW^QLM[ KIVLQL QV[QOP\N]T IVL ]X \W LI\M ZM^QM_[ WN KT]J[ \WXTM[[ MQOP\ V]LM QV \PM >ITTMa 1V PQ[ O]QLM ;VaLMZ ILLZM[[M[ M^MZa MTMUMV\ WN [\ZQX KT]J[ QVKT]LQVO KW^MZ KPIZOM[ Y]ITQ\a WN LIVKMZ[ JMMZ XZQKM[ PW]Z[ IVL \PM ¹;8? [KITM º [PWZ\ NWZ ¹[\I\Q[\QKIT XZWJIJQTQ\a WN _WWL º 0M IT[W JZMIS[ LW_V \PM XZW[ IVL KWV[ WN LMKQLQVO JM\_MMV I \WXTM[[ WZ V]LM KT]J <QX" 6]LM KT]J[ IZM UWZM TQSMTa \W NMI\]ZM ZMIT JWWJ[ IVL JM\\MZ LIVKMZ[ 0M KWUXIZM[ >18 ZWWU[ M`XTIQV[ \PM ÅVMZ XWQV\[ WN VMOW\QI\QVO _Q\P LIVKMZ[ IVL ML]KI\M[ ZMILMZ[ IJW]\ PW_ KIJ LZQ^MZ[ OM\ SQKSJIKS[ NWZ [\MMZQVO K][\WUMZ[ \W XIZ\QK]TIZ KT]J[ ?PQTM Q\¼[ XZWJIJTa VW []ZXZQ[M \PI\ PQOP XZWÅTM KT]J[ []KP I[ ;XMIZUQV\ :PQVW ;IXXPQZM 7/ IVL +PMM\IP[ ZMKMQ^ML PQOP UIZS[ ;VaLMZ [\QTT ÅVL[ XTMV\a WN OWWL \PQVO[ \W [Ia IJW]\ JT]M KWTTIZ RWQV\[ []KP I[ 4IZZa¼[ >QTTI \PM 4QJZIZa IVL 8TIa 1\ )OIQV ;IU¸IT\PW]OP PM []OOM[\[ [\IaQVO I_Ia NZWU \PM +IV +IV :WWU ?Q\P \PM [\ZQX KT]J [KMVM ZMUIQVQVO I ^Q\IT XIZ\ WN 4I[ >MOI[¼ QUIOM I[ IV IL]T\ XTIaOZW]VL I TQ\\TM QVNWZUI\QWV KIV OW I TWVO _Ia )VL _Q\P ;VaLMZ¼[ O]QLM I\ aW]Z ÅVOMZ\QX[ aW]¼TT TMIZV \W I^WQL \W]ZQ[\ \ZIX[ []KP I[ /TQ\\MZ /]TKP IVL UIaJM M^MV MVL ]X _Q\P MVW]OP UWVMa I\ \PM MVL WN \PM VQOP\ NWZ IV M`\ZI TIX LIVKM · ;MIV ,M.ZIVS
Finally, a guide to clothing-free good times that fits in your pocket.
(GXFDWLRQ
Book Smart 0MZM¼[ [WUM OWWL VM_[ aW] LWV¼\ PMIZ ^MZa WN\MV" KWTTMOM KW]TL JM OM\\QVO I TQ\\TM KPMIXMZ \PQ[ aMIZ )[ IVaWVM _PW¼[ JMMV \W KWTTMOM SVW_[ \M`\JWWS[ IZM ZQLQK]TW][Ta M`XMV[Q^M IVL ][ML WZ LQ[KW]V\ML KWXQM[ IZM PIZL \W KWUM Ja _PMV aW] LWV¼\ SVW_ _PI\¼[ ZMY]QZML NWZ \PM KW]Z[M <PQ[ aMIZ PW_M^MZ [\]LMV\[ UIa PI^M IV MI[QMZ \QUM JMKI][M WN I VM_ TI_ \PI\
9HJDV 6HYHQ )]O][\ !
\WWS MNNMK\ 2]Ta " \PM 0QOPMZ -L]KI\QWV 7XXWZ\]VQ\a )K\ <PM TI_ ZMY]QZM[ =64> IVL +;6¸ IVL IVa W\PMZ KWTTMOM ZMKMQ^QVO NMLMZIT ÅVIVKQIT I[[Q[\IVKM¸\W X]JTQ[P QVNWZUI \QWV WV \PM 1V\MZVM\ IJW]\ ITT \M`\JWWS[ IVL []XXTMUMV\IT UI\MZQIT[ ¹\W \PM UI`QU]U M`\MV\ XZIK\QKIJTM º ;W VW_ ZI\PMZ _IQ\QVO ]V\QT I KW]Z[M [aTTIJ][ KWUM[ W]\ IVL \PMV J]aQVO \M`\[ I\ \PM JWWS[\WZM [\]LMV\[ KIV [MIZKP NWZ JWWS[ WVTQVM 8]JTQ[PMZ[ IZM IT[W ZMY]QZML \W []XXTa XZWNM[[WZ[ _Q\P QVNWZUI\QWV IJW]\ XZM^QW][ MLQ\QWV[ WN MIKP JWWS IVL I LM
[KZQX\QWV WN ¹[]J[\IV\QIT KWV\MV\ ZM^Q[QWV[º JM\_MMV \PM XZM^QW][ IVL K]ZZMV\ ^MZ[QWV WN \PM JWWS ;KPWWT[ IZM VW\ ZMY]QZML \W QVKT]LM \PI\ QVNWZUI\QWV WV \PMQZ _MJ[Q\M[ \PW]OP [W [\]LMV\[ _PW _IV\ \W ÅVL W]\ QN I XZM^QW][ MLQ\QWV _QTT _WZS NWZ \PMQZ KTI[[ [PW]TL I[S \PMQZ XZWNM[[WZ )ZUML _Q\P \PQ[ QVNWZUI\QWV [\]LMV\[ [PW]TL JM IJTM \W ÅVL ][ML JWWS[ WV M*Ia WZ )UIbWV WZ QV\MZVI\QWVIT MLQ\QWV[ _PQKP KIV JM I TW\ KPMIXMZ ^QI [Q\M[ TQSM )JM*WWS[ KWU · ,I^QL ,I^Q[
Do your homework before you hit the bookstore this semester.
THIS WEEK IN YOUR CITY 2SHQLQJ
7HFK
PBR: Pretty Badass, Right?
Bigger Isnโ t Better
:WKS UMM\ +W]V\Za +W]V\Za 1 JMTQM^M aW] SVW_ :WKS' ?PMV Q\ IZZQ^M[ WV )]O 2WVI\PIV .QVMยผ[ 8*: :WKS *IZ /ZQTT 8*::WKS*IZ KWU _WVยผ\ JM \PM ร Z[\ >MOI[ ^MV]M \W KWUQVOTM \PW[M OMVZM[" ;\WVMaยผ[ +ILQTTIK :IVKP 4I[ >MOI[ +W]V\Za ;ITWWV :M^WT^MZ IVL \PM ZM^Q[QWV WN /QTTMaยผ[ PI^M SMX\ \PMU QV\MZ\_QVML 6MQ\PMZ Q[ 8*: TQSMTa \W JM \PM TI[\ \W LW [W <PMZMNWZM >MOI[ ;M^MV I[SML .QVM _PI\ UISM[ PQ[ JIZ [\IVL W]\ NZWU \PM PMZL .QZ[\ WNN .QVM [Ia[ PQ[ RWQV\ TMIV[ I TQ\\TM UWZM \W_IZL ZWKS \PIV KW]V\Za ?Q\P I VWL \W ^MV]M[ []KP I[ ?I[\ML ;XIKM IVL PQ[ W_V :WKSPW][M *IZ 6QOP\KT]J 8*: [WZZa PQX[\MZ[ \PI\ยผ[ \PM 8ZWNM[[QWVIT *]TT :QLMZ[ VW\ 8IJ[\ *T]M :QJJWV _QTT NMI\]ZM I UI[K]TQVM [WUM_PI\ OW\PQK UWLMZV KW]V\Za LM[QOV Ja 3QU ,IW][\ WN <IVLMUยธ\QZM [_QVO[ W^MZPMIL I UMKPIVQKIT J]TT TMI\PMZ ZMKTIQUML _WWL IVL KPZWUM [S]TT[ ยน8*: IVL KW]V\Za U][QK IZM ^MZa VQKPM ยบ .QVM [Ia[ ยน*]\ QN aW] ILL ZWKS IVL <WX aW]ยผZM [\QTT OWQVO \W OM\ \PM KW]V\Za XMWXTM J]\ aW]ยผTT IT[W OM\ I JZWILMZ [KWXM WN XMWXTM ยบ )[ I 8*: TQKMV[MM .QVMยผ[ [XW\ _QTT MVRWa PWUM JI[M [\I\][ _PMV \PM I[[WKQI\QWVยผ[ IVV]IT ?WZTL .QVIT[ KWUM \W \W_V 7K\ 1V JM\_MMV M^MV\[ _MยผTT R][\ PI^M \W [I\M W]Z[MT^M[ _Q\P KPMN *QTTa *WaTMยผ[ UWL )U KWUNWZ\ UMV] IVL [M^MV VQOP\[ WN ,2[ IVL [XMKQIT M^MV\[ 8*:ยผ[ 5QZIKTM 5QTM TWKI\QWV NWZUMZTa 0I_IQQIV <ZWXQK BWVM _I[ [MTMK\ML NWZ Q\[ NWW\ \ZINร K IVL ;\ZQX NZWV\ XI\QW _PQKP _QTT [XWZ\ I NWW\ ร JMZOTI[[ J]TT J]Z[\QVO \PZW]OP \PM J]QTLQVOยผ[ MLQร KM TQSM \PM 3WWT )QL 5IV UISQVO 8*: :WKS *IZ I UWV]UMV\ \W Q\[ VIUM[ISM [XWZ\ ยท @IVQI ?WWLUIV
0MZMยผ[ \PM Y]M[\QWV 1ยผ^M JMMV _ZM[\TQVO _Q\P ZMOIZLQVO )UIbWVยผ[ VM_ TQVM]X WN 3QVLTM M:MILMZ[" +IV 1 ZMKWUUMVL \PM 3QVLTM ,@ \PM \M`\JWWS [KZMMV [QbM UWLMT \PI\ KW[\[ ! _PMV \PM WVTQVM ZM\IQTMZ WNNMZ[ I [\IVLIZL UWLMT NWZ !' ) _MMS JMNWZM )UIbWV IVVW]VKML I^IQTIJQTQ\a WN Q\[ [TQUUM[\ 3QVLTM [PQX XQVO )]O Q\ [MV\ \PM 3QVLTM ,@ NWZ ZM^QM_ <PM 3QVLTM ,@ _I[ ZMKMV\Ta ZMUILM _Q\P I JM\\MZ [KZMMV NMI\]ZQVO M`KMTTMV\ KWV\ZI[\ 1\ Q[ JI[QKITTa \PM [IUM I[ \PM VM_ 3QVLTMยธM`KMX\ \PM ,@ Q[ ZMITTa JQO <PM 3QVLTM ,@ _MQOP[ XW]VL[ IVL PI[ I ! QVKP [KZMMV TQSM \PM )XXTM Q8IL <PM TW_M[\ XZQKML 3QVLTM _MQOP[ I PITN XW]VL IVL PI[ I QVKP [KZMMV 1\ PI[ \_W XZQKM XWQV\[" ?Q .Q WVTa NWZ ! IVL / XT][ ?Q .Q NWZ ! 1\ _QTT JM I PQ\ \PIVS[ \W \PW[M XZQKM[ 1 TW^M \PM 3QVLTM IVL I KWUJQVI\QWV WN I JM\\MZ [KZMMV \PQVVMZ XIKSIOM UWZM [\WZIOM IVL I OZMI\ XZQKM Q[ QZZM[Q[\QJTM 1 TQSM \PM 3QVLTM ,@ J]\ UW[\Ta NWZ Q\[ [PIZX KWV\ZI[\ IVL QVKZMLQJTM JI\\MZa TQNM /Q^M \PM 3QVLTM ,@ I N]TT KPIZOM IVL Q\ _QTT TI[\ VMIZTa I UWV\P M[XMKQITTa _PMV \PM _QZMTM[[ KWVVMK\QWV Q[ WNN 1V \PM UWV\P 1ยผ^M _ZM[\TML _Q\P PW_ \W ZM^QM_ \PM ,@ 1ยผ^M KPIZOML Q\ \_QKM" _PMV 1 ]VXIKSML \PM M:MILMZ IVL \PZMM _MMS[ TI\MZ JMKI][M 1 _I[ VMZ^W][ 1ยผL Z]V W]\ WN R]QKM QV \PM UQLLTM WN I KPIX\MZ ;PW]TL aW] J]a \PM JQOOMZ 3QVLTM' 6W 1\ Q[ \WW I_S_IZL \W PWTL _PQTM ZMILQVO QV JML IVL Q\ ILL[ KWV[QLMZIJTM PMN\ \W I JIKSXIKS WZ JZQMNKI[M AW] KIVยผ\ M^MV IZO]M \PI\ \PM JQOOMZ [KZMMV Q[ JM\\MZ NWZ IOQVO MaM[ I[ aW] KIV MI[QTa ILR][\ \PM XWQV\ [QbM WV \PM QVKP 3QVLTM 8T][ \PM 3QVLTM ,@ Q[ WVTa TM[[ \PIV IV Q8IL IVL LWM[Vยผ\ WNNMZ \PM M`XMZQMVKM WN \PI\ JQO KWTWZN]T [KZMMV 1N aW] _IV\ I JQO [KZMMV J]a \PM Q8IL IVL ][M \PM NZMM 3QVLTM IXX NWZ ZMILQVO 1 M`XMK\ \PM 3QVLTM ,@ _QTT KWUM LW_V QV XZQKM WVM LIa J]\ WVTa \W KTMIZ QV^MV\WZa <PM 3QVLTM ,@ PI[ I [PWZ\ [PMTN TQNM ยท -ZQK *MVLMZWNN *MVLIJTM 5MLQI KWU
Look for the big bull coming through the wall.
&XOWXUH
,QQRYDWLRQ
Raise the Gloves
1N _M IZM \PM JW`QVO KIXQ\IT WN \PM _WZTL _PMZM Q[ W]Z U][M]U' 7V \PM LZI_QVO \IJTM IKKWZLQVO \W 8I]T .MTQ` 5WV\Mb \PM UIV JMPQVL \PM VI[KMV\ /TW^M[ 5WV]UMV\ ?WZTL .QOP\QVO ;XWZ\[ 5][M]U )[ LZI_V \PM MQOP\ [\WZa J]QTLQVO NMI\]ZM[ I ร W_QVO WZOIVQK ZWWร QVM _Q\P I \WX ร WWZ UMbbIVQVM IVL I XMV\PW][M ยน?M _IV\ML IV M`KQ\QVO ZWWร QVM \W KWUXM\M _Q\P W\PMZ \PQVO[ QV 4I[ >MOI[ ยบ [Ia[ IZKPQ\MK\ 0 ;\MXPMV 2IKS[WV _PW Q[ LWQVO \PM LZI_QVO[ Ja PIVL <PM J]QTLQVO _W]TL PW][M M`PQJQ\[ WV \PM PQ[\WZa WN JW`QVO SIZI\M _ZM[\TQVO IVL UQ`ML UIZ\QIT IZ\[ 8MZPIX[ I[ QUXZM[[Q^M Q[ \PM NWW\ \ITT [\I\]M W]\ NZWV\ WN \_W JW`QVO OTW^M[ JITIVKML MVL \W MVL KI[\ QV JZWVbM IVL [\IQVTM[[ [\MMT ยน<PM UWV]UMV\ Q\[MTN Q[ I ]VQY]M MV\Q\a ยบ 5WV\Mb [Ia[ ยน1\ยผ[ TQSM \PM 5W]V\ :][PUWZM TQSM \PM ;\I\]M WN 4QJMZ\a NWZ ร OP\QVO [XWZ\[ ยบ 8TIV[ IZM TWW[M 5WV\Mb [Ia[ \PI\ \PM U][M]U _QTT OW [WUM_PMZM QV \PM IZ\[ LQ[\ZQK\ IVL KW[\ IJW]\
UQTTQWV <QUMTQVM" ยน;WUM\QUM VMIZ \PM MVL WN VM`\ aMIZ 1N _M OM\ W]Z N]VLQVO _M _W]TL JM IJTM \W UW^M IPMIL IVL ZMITTa JM I LaVIUQK XZWRMK\ ยบ 5WV\Mb [Ia[ 1V \PM UMIV\QUM PQ[ _MJ[Q\M \PMOTW^M[ WZO LM\IQT[ XTIV[ NWZ UMZKPIV LQ[QVO IVL I UW^QM ยน1\ยผ[ R][\ U]KP JQOOMZ \PIV I U][M]U ยบ [Ia[ 5WV\Mb ยท *WJ ?PQ\Ja Boxing museum plans call for an iconic, 84-foot statue out front.
+HQGHUVRQ 6LJQDOV &KDQJH /ZMMV aMTTW_ ZML <PM KTI[[QK \ZINร K TQOP\ XI\\MZV Q[ NIUQTQIZ \W UW\WZQ[\[ IKZW[[ \PM KW]V\Za I[ Q\ [PW]TL JM PI^QVO JMMV IZW]VL NWZM^MZ *]\ 0MVLMZ[WV Q[ WV \PM K]\\QVO MLOM WN \ZINร K TQOP\ LM[QOVยธQN \PMZM Q[ []KP I \PQVO <PM KQ\a PI[ QV[\ITTML I VM_ ร I[PQVO aMTTW_ IZZW_ TMN\ \]ZV [QOVIT ZMXTIKQVO \PM ยนLWO PW][Mยบ OZMMV KQZK]TIZ [QOVIT aW]ยผTT [MM M^MZa_PMZM MT[M 4WKI\ML I\ \PM QV\MZ[MK\QWV WN 8IKQร K )^MV]M IVL >IV ?IOMVMV ;\ZMM\ \PM VM_ [QOVIT [PW]TL PMTX XZM^MV\ IKKQLMV\[ ยน<PM ร I[PQVO aMTTW_ IZZW_ _I[ ILWX\ML IN\MZ \_W LMKILMยผ[ _WZ\P WN ZM[MIZKP \W LM^MTWX I JM\\MZ [\ZMM\ TQOP\ ยบ /TMVV /ZIa[WV WN \PM :MOQWVIT <ZIV[XWZ\I\QWV +WUUQ[[QWV WN ;W]\PMZV 6M^ILI [Ia[ ยน<PM ZM[MIZKP PI[ [PW_V \PI\ \PM QV\MZ[MK \QWV[ _Q\P \PM aMTTW_ TQOP\ PI^M K]\ IKKQLMV\[ LW_V \W PITN ยบ <PM JQOOM[\ XZWJTMU I\ QV\MZ[MK\QWV[ Q[ XMWXTM VW\ aQMTLQVO \W WVKWUQVO \ZINร K _PQTM \]ZVQVO TMN\ IKKWZLQVO \W 3I\PTMMV :QKPIZL[ [MVQWZ X]JTQK QVNWZUI\QWV [XMKQITQ[\ NWZ 0MVLMZ[WV ยน5W\WZ Q[\[ _PW NIQT \W aQMTL OM\ LQ[\ZIK\ML Ja \PM C[WTQLE OZMMV ยบ :QKPIZL[ [Ia[ ยน<PMa I[[]UM \PMa PI^M \PM ZQOP\ I _Ia ยบ 0MVLMZ[WV Q[ \PM ร Z[\ KQ\a QV ;W]\PMZV 6M^ILI \W QV[\ITT \PM VM_ \ZINร K TQOP\[ IVL M^MV\]ITTa XTIV[ \W [XMVL X]\\QVO QV I \W\IT WN WN \PMU ยท 8I\ZQKS 5W]TQV
Kindle DX
)]O][\ ! 9HJDV 6HYHQ
THE LaTEsT THougHT The Moveable Middle When politicians say they’re mainstream, what are they really telling us?
Last month, Harry Reid accused his Republican rival for the U.S. Senate, Sharron Angle, of not being mainstream enough after she had voiced support for Yucca Mountain, speculated on ending Social Security and proposed the demise of the U.S. Department of Education. It was a nice bit of theater for Reid. The man Republicans say is out of touch with the mainstream got to castigate his Republican opponent for being out of touch with the mainstream. No doubt Reid’s thanking his lucky stars that he’s running against Angle. But it’s that word that grabs me. Mainstream. It has a nice, only slightly sanitized ring to it. It’s like vaguely scented dishwashing liquid. Not very sexy. And yet, who doesn’t use it? The idea of the mainstream was also apparent in the commentary on the passing of former Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn. One of the few things the increasingly partisan Las Vegas ReviewJournal and Las Vegas Sun could agree on was that Guinn was a good, straightshooting governor, a guy who could bridge left and right and get things done. In other words, a mainstreamer. Talking about the mainstream doesn’t make much sense unless we’re also talking about its opposite number, the extreme. The idea goes like this: The mainstream is where good sensible Americans live and work. The whack jobs inhabit the extreme. Republicans’ and Democrats’ basic rhetorical mission is to seize the mainstream as their own while casting the other party as zombieeyed extremists. When we’re in our “All politicians are lying sons of bitches” mode—which is pretty much all the time now—the center is a kind of refuge, a place above politics, a safe harbor from which we can dismiss people we disagree with as ideologues. This rhetorical tap dancing is part of the central con of politics: Play the game more ruthlessly than your opponent while convincing people you’re not playing the game at all. Once the middle becomes a political plaything, it’s no longer the middle, but “the middle.” What was once useful shorthand for “I’m open to good ideas, no matter where they’re coming from, just so long as they don’t turn the damn place upside down” has turned into a rhetorical dancing shadow. One wonders if “mainstream” has lost its meaning for 16 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
good. Perhaps each state should cook up a scientifically quantified political “zero point” and then allow conservatives and liberals to orient themselves within a set range to left or right of that point. It’d be a score, you know. Maybe you’d put it on your driver’s license, with recertification every four or five years. Maybe everyone would be assigned a political spectrum number the way those bed companies advertise sleep numbers — a 25 if you like a soft bed, 75 if you like a hard bed, or whatever. At rallies and campaign stops, social media would allow us to aggregate everyone’s score so that you knew that the ACLU convention was rocking an average score of +13 Left, and the Tea Party confab was hovering around a +10 Right. Imagine how much easier this would make assessing potential dates. It would, of course, be fashionable to have a high score on either end. The traditional center can be safe and dull, more beholden to deal making (or selling out) than principles, too wishy-washy—a place for fair-weather fans without that fighting spirit. But it’s a place constructive politics can hardly do without, the place of common sense and common ground. Unfortunately, we’re in a culture that values standing out, and to stand out it helps to be at the edges, preferably screaming your head off. The result is that the old center is being squeezed from both sides. Nowhere is this more visible than with Barack Obama. The president strikes me as an extremely pragmatic centrist, yet he is hated by both the right—where it has been decided that he is an emissary of Lenin, if not Satan—and the left, which fears that he’s sold his soul to The Man. The political-media sphere has set new rules for the game: A centrist is now the guy who both sides can call an extremist. Loudmouths make for good TV and Twitter feeds, but they’re doing us all a disservice by implicitly claiming that consensus is impossible, that America is riven by insurmountable differences, that we have less in common with our neighbors than we think unless they’re shouting the same bellicose tune. At some level, I think many Americans recognize it’s all bullshit, but all we seem able to do is respond with more bullshit. If the mainstream of Kenny Guinn
and Barack Obama seems bound to be compressed to oblivion, we may need a new notion of the mainstream. Maybe the new American center is the site of maximum contradiction. America’s center says Leave me alone, but look at me! It roots for the underdog, celebrates the top dog, longs for success and finds failure endlessly entertaining. It’s the intellectual who disparages falling education standards but loves tuning into American Idol, the public transit fan who can’t wait to get out of town and tear up the Mojave in a V8 Camaro. Maybe the mixed messages each of us sends out—the very attitudes that look like hypocrisy and
reek of the much-maligned flip-flop—are in reality the measure of our humanity, our inability to hold firm to a narrow and parched platform. They mark the map on which my world really does overlap with yours. This center coheres around the unending tension between, as David Mamet once put it, getting ahead versus getting along. It’s the place where we listen as much as we talk. Where questions count for more than proclamations. Where uncertainty is a celebrated fact of life. It’s the place, finally, where rival ideas can truly compete, because we’ve accepted their right to exist.
Illustration by Jerry Miller
By T.R. Witcher
THE LaTEsT Gossip Star-studded parties, celebrity sightings, juicy rumors and other glitter.
Got a juicy tip? gossip@weeklyseven.com
Dueling Divas
A lot can happen in two years. You could, say, watch your sisters start their own television empire, break up with your Heisman-winning boyfriend and still not make up with Paris Hilton. Oh, who are we kidding? Your sisters aren’t getting their own TV show anytime soon. Kim Kardashian, on the other hand, can and did do all of that, culminating in the Aug. 13 two-year anniversary of Lavo at the Palazzo. She was already at the party when Hilton turned up around 3 a.m. The dueling socialites were seated with co-owner Noah Tepperberg for his birthday without looking or speaking at each other. Hilton beat a hasty retreat. She could have loosened up like Stephanie Pratt, who was spotted making out with Redfoo, half of LMFAO. The electro duo did 20 minutes onstage for the occasion. The two-year anniversary, we mean. Not making out with Stephanie Pratt. That’s worth a 10-minute set, tops. Also at the party were Stacy Keibler, Robert Iler, David Spade, Kevin Farley, Rob Thomas and wife Marisol, Molly Sims, Jonathan Cheban and Eddie Cibrian’s ex-wife, Brandi Glanville. Thank God LeAnn Rimes’ invite got lost in the mail, or there could have been a really awkward situation. Kim’s got no time for Paris.
Tweets of the Week Compiled by @marseniuk
@kingsthings Why do people say something is “as cute as a button”? Why not as cute as a zipper?
@TorreyLV Had an erection that lasted more than 4 hours. On my way to the Doctor. Thanks for the pill @ELIPACINO. @VegasWhitey Just got on my flight on Spirit Airlines. It’s the closest thing to cargo. I’ve got two chickens and goat buckled in next to me. @Trayo I still woulda kept OJ over Eric Gordon.
Apparently Stephanie Pratt was in a lovey-dovey mood this weekend. After she was smooching her way through 50 percent of LMFAO earlier in the weekend, she was the official witness for a quickie wedding Aug. 15 at Tao Beach. Californians Giuliano Scortecci and Heather Leigh Sosaman were already in town to get married when they discovered that Tao’s Marklen Kennedy was an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church. So they had the ceremony then and there in the middle of the Beatport Beach Party, with Pratt as an official witness. Her name is even on the marriage certificate as “Stephanie Pratt Spratt.” That can’t be right, can it?
Underwear With a Message
Gaga tries on someone else’s clothes.
Never let it be said that Lady Gaga isn’t the kind of woman who will put on some random fan’s underwear onstage for a few songs. It’s probably not the grossest pair of underwear Gaga has ever put on. It’s probably not even the grossest pair of underwear in Gaga’s lingerie drawer. Fan Sam Faubert heaved a pair of white panties—scrawled with Faubert’s Twitter handle and e-mail—onstage during Gaga’s Aug. 13 show at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, and she pulled them on during “Telephone.” There was also the message, “Thank you for making the kid who felt like a freak feel like he belonged,” on the back, which is way, way more verbose than the traditional “Juicy.” Biggie’s fans would’ve been more succinct and stylish. On Saturday, for a change of pace, Gaga took in a performance of KÀ in a floor-length black veil.
18 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
@JustJroc At the movies, gonna watch Eat. Love. Pray. with mom!! How did she get me to agree 2 this? (BBM hand over eyes face)
@gennyelizabeth Can somebody please tell me why every time I get drunk in vegas Lady Gaga lyrics show up on my twitter feed? #hotmess.
@HueyBoonDocks The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn.
@J_Flynn #annoyingquestions “Did you get my text?” Obviously I got it. Why I didn’t respond is the real question. @JGoods242 Vegas x Lady Gaga concert = super freaks.
Kat and the Hats
@lesthuet My 6-yr old went to breakdance camp this week and I got to see him perform today! So cute. Watch out #jabbawockeez!
Kat Von D announced her split from Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx Aug. 12, then was spotted with Jesse James at N9NE Steakhouse in the Palms Aug. 14, because some people are incapable of learning from the very public, sordid and Emmy-ruining lessons of others. The following day, Von D and James toured Bodies: The Exhibition at Luxor, where they were holding hands. James ducked out of the hall when a staff member asked to take a picture of Von D, though she even helped fix the flash on the camera when it wouldn’t go off. By Aug. 16, Von D insisted that the two of them were just friends who shared an innocent relationship based on their mutual cable channel. Maybe, though, someone tipped her off to those pictures of James’ mistress in an SS hat. And James in an SS hat. That’s too many SS hats. Hook ’em Horns!
@JordanRubin Asking me to be friends with your dog on Facebook is the same as asking me to unfriend you on Facebook.
@DjMightyMi D.A.G.C.H.T.L.A.T.W = Drunk Asian Girls Cant Hold Their Liquor At The Wynn.
@IamCros1 Jazzy Jeff shit was cool but I just wanted to get my groove on not play name the hip hop sample all fuckin night #keepinitreal
@Seemeinlv Anyone know why Kat fixed the flash.
my shin is black and blue?
Lady Gaga photo by Erik Kabik/Retna, Kim Kardashian, Stephanie Pratt & Redfoo photo by Denise Truscello
pratt plays Witness
“THE STRIP HAS ANOTHER KING NOW!” – TIME Magazine
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY VINCENT PATERSON
EXCLUSIVELY AT
For ticket reservations call 877-253-5847 or visit cirquedusoleil.com/vivaelvis IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ELVIS PRESLEY ENTERPRISES AND CKX INC Viva ELVIS is a trademark owned by Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. and Cirque du Soleil is a trademark owned by Cirque du Soleil. Trademarks used under license. © The Cirque EPE Partnership. Elvis name and likeness used under license.
Society
For more photos from society events in and around Las Vegas, visit weeklyseven.com/society.
At the table Project Dinner Table is a both charitable event and a community-wide effort to reconnect while gathering at the dinner table. Each of the dinners is a one-night-only, six-course meal served family-style and inspired by local and regional purveyors. The Aug. 7 gathering at the El Cortez opened with a reception inside the Emergency Arts building, and beneďŹ ted the Nevada Cancer Institute.
Photography by Sullivan Charles
20â&#x20AC;&#x192; Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
2011 SLS AMG
It has wings for a reason.
925 Auto Show Drive s In The Valley Auto Mall s Henderson, NV 89014 702.485.3000 s www.mbofhenderson.com
Society
For more photos from society events in and around Las Vegas, visit weeklyseven.com/society.
Best of the city Vegas Seven celebrated its first “Best of the City” issue Aug. 5 with parties at Aria’s Gold Lounge and Haze Nightclub. Guests started their evening at Gold with celebratory toasts, music and appetizers. The action moved to Haze at midnight when industry leaders mixed with Vegas Seven’s staff. The event was planned by Keith White, Wendoh Media’s entertainment director, with support from advertising representative Christy Corda and sales manager Sarah Goitz.
Photography by Hew Burney
22 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 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
Wish List
Just in time for the holiday season, Trussardi 1911 will launch Red Camo, a limited-edition collection exclusively for TheCorner.com. The collection includes 10 accessories, including an iPad case.
Style The Look Photographed by Tomas Muscionico
JENNIfEr CurLANd, 26
Sales and marketing director, Bon Breads Baking Co. What she’s wearing now: Missoni dress, J.Crew belt, Balenciaga handbag, Diane Von Furstenberg shoes, Roberto Coin pendant, Banana Republic necklace and Cartier watch. Style icons: Blake Lively, Penelope Cruz, Gwyneth Paltrow and Nicole Richie.
Busted
Nip slips are a thing of the past thanks to the Bosom Button, which minimizes cleavage exposure and eliminates the need for unsightly safety pins. Available in 10 colors. $12 each; $25 for set of three. bosombutton.com.
A versatile wardrobe is what guides Curland through the somewhat perilous mission of dressing appropriately in a desert climate. “I would say travel and business have influenced the way I look at clothes and my everyday appearance,” she says. “I love color, patterns and layers. There’s nothing more satisfying than buying a dress in the summer and being able to wear it in the winter with leggings and with a cardigan or blazer.”
PoWWoW BroW
In four weeks you could have fuller, healthier brows thanks to NeuveauBrow from the creators of NeuLash. Available exclusively at Saks Fifth Avenue. $100, Fashion Show.
August 19-25, 2010 Vegas Seven 25
Style
Seven Very Nice Things
Fall Trend Report
2
3
Get into the swing of the new season with these seven must-have styles 1. Long and Layered Catherine Malandrino, at the Shoppes, the Palazzo 2. Structured Reed Krakoff, at Saks Fifth Avenue, Fashion Show 3. Fur Trim J.Crew, Fashion Show
1
4. Ponchos & Capes Sacai coat, at Saks Fifth Avenue, Fashion Show 5. Lace Valentino pumps, at Neiman Marcus, Fashion Show 6. Boots Sergio Rossi boots, at Neiman Marcus, Fashion Show 7. Retro White House | Black Market, Fashion Show –Compiled by tk
4
6 5
26 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
7
at Mandalay Bay Shoppes • Eateries • Fun
CLOTHING • Elton’s Men’s Store • The Las Vegas Sock Market • Metropark • Maude • MAX&Co. • Nora Blue Urban Outfitters • Paradise Island • SHOES • Flip Flop Shops • Shoe Obsession • Suite 160 SERVICES • ARCS (A Robert Cromeans Salon) • The Art of Shaving • SPECIALTIES • The Art of Music • Cashman Crystal fashion 101 • Fat Tuesday • Frederick’s of Hollywood • Jack Gallery • LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics • minus5º Ice Lounge Nike Golf • OPTICA • Oro Gold • Peter Lik Gallery • JEWELRY • Forever Silver • Le Paradis • TeNo • FOOD • Burger Bar Rick Moonen’s rm seafood • Starbucks Coffee • Yogurt In • Hussong’s Cantina Easy access from I-15, I-215 and Las Vegas Boulevard to our complimentary 24-hour valet.
RED ANGELS Meet seven of the key characters who lend extraordinary support, as well as some extra color, to AFANâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual Black White bash By Laura Coronado <PM KWTWZ[ UIa JM [\IZS J]\ \PM *TIKS ?PQ\M 8IZ\a Q[ VM^MZ JWZQVO 1V[\MIL \PQ[ UIRWZ N]VLZIQ[MZ NWZ )QL NWZ )1,; WN 6M^ILI ).)6 ZMUIQV[¸M^MV IN\MZ aMIZ[¸WVM WN \PM PW\\M[\ M^MV\[ WV \PM 4I[ >MOI[ [WKQIT KITMVLIZ )VL \PM ^MZ[QWV ! X U )]O I\ <PM 2WQV\ QV \PM 0IZL :WKS 0W\MT INIVT^ WZO TWWS[ \W JM IVW\PMZ [XMK\IKTM WN NI[PQWV IVL NZWTQKSQVO .ZWU ,2[ \W JIVSMZ[ \W [MTN LM[KZQJML š_QVW[ Âş XIZ\aOWMZ[ KIV M`XMK\
Photography by Francis + Francis
\W [MM \PM ]VM`XMK\ML _Q\P I LQ^MZ[M IZZIa WN KPIZIK\MZ[ KWUQVO W]\ \W []XXWZ\ WVM WN \PM KQ\aÂź[ UW[\ JMTW^ML WZOIVQbI\QWV[ )UWVO \PQ[ aMIZÂź[ KZW_L WN JTIKS IVL _PQ\M ZM^MTMZ[ JM XZMXIZML \W [MM I TQ\\TM ZML I[ [XMKQIT I\\MVLMM[ IZM JMQVO OQ^MV \PM XZQ^QTMOM WN [\IVLQVO W]\ <PM PWVWZ Q[ KITTML \PM š:QOP\ \W ?MIZ :ML Âş IVL Q\ [QOVQĂ&#x2026;M[ I XMZ[WVÂź[ šPQ[ \WZQKIT []XXWZ\ WN ).)6 IVL \PMQZ _WZS _Q\PQV \PM 01> KWUU]VQ\a WN ;W]\PMZV 6M^ILI Âş [Ia[
2MVVQNMZ 5WZ[[ M`MK]\Q^M LQZMK\WZ WN ).)6 )VL I[ I XZM^QM_ WN \PQ[ aMIZŸ[ XIZ\a PMZMŸ[ I TWWS I\ [M^MV WN \PQ[ aMIZŸ[ :ML UMUJMZ[ 6W\ XQK\]ZML" )V\QWKW +IZZQTTW +WUU]VQ\a +W]V[MTQVO +MV\MZ LMX]\a LQZMK\WZ# ,MVQ[M )UTQM )1,; ?ITS š<MIU ?QVW[º KIX\IQV# 5IZK +MLZQK ;UQ\P 8PIV\WU¸<PM 4I[ >MOI[ ;XMK\IK]TIZ KI[\ UMUJMZ# 0IUQT\WV *IQLMV \PM )XW\PMKIZa ;PWXŸ[ ^QKM XZM[QLMV\ WN [ITM[ IVL UIZSM\QVO# IVL <WVaI 0IZ^Ma XPW\WOZIXPMZ
GRETA CHANIN
OWNER/PARTNER OF VALLEY PRESS OF LAS VEGAS How she earned the Right to Wear Red: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Greta, we have another job for you â&#x20AC;Śâ&#x20AC;? Morss says with a laugh. Despite the economic climate and the constant requests from the organization, Chanin and Valley Press still manage to donate thousands of dollarsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; worth of printing for AFANâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s events. Why she supports AFAN: â&#x20AC;&#x153;It has been there before any other organization to ďŹ ll a gap and be the voice for those unable to speak for themselves. â&#x20AC;Ś It is important to me as a member of this community to give a deserving organization like AFAN a voice through print to deliver their message.â&#x20AC;? Chanin and her company have been an integral part of Las Vegas and the small business community for more than two decades. She has witnessed the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growth and subsequent struggles, but remains optimistic, never losing sight of the silver lining. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As a community we are stronger since the 1980s,â&#x20AC;? she says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is more of a sense of local pride.â&#x20AC;?
9HJDV 6HYHQ )]O][\ !
EARL SHELTON
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER OF QVEGAS
Styling by Whitney Urichuk
How he earned the Right to Wear Red: The former AFAN employee never misses an event and works to get AFAN the best media and marketing exposure. “His commitment to our mission is obvious through his passion for our organization,” Morss says. “He’s always sending people to us, telling them they have to support us and get involved.” Why he supports AFAN: “They understand that by keeping AIDS in the spotlight they can propel the community to continue to work together to beat the disease.” Regarding the Black & White Party, he says, “You never leave without a whole new cache of great memories because it’s always an over-the-top party with amazing entertainment, fantastic food and a crowd full of friends or soon-to-be friends!” “This is actually a really special Black & White party for me, and not just because of the honor of being asked to wear Red,” Shelton adds. “Eleven years ago at the Black & White party, I met my partner, and in November we’ll celebrate our 10th anniversary. So while the Black & White Party is always a special event, this year makes it just that much sweeter.”
)]O][\ ! 9HJDV 6HYHQ
DJ AXIS (A.K.A. JOHNNY RANDALL)
Styling by Cassie Coleman
How he earned the Right to Wear Red: “DJ Axis is always the life of the party!” Morss says. “He supports AFAN by always bringing the most current and cuttingedge music. Plus, he never says no.” Why he supports AFAN: “Almost everyone I know has a personal story related to HIV/AIDS. Because of the stigma and a long-standing ignorance about it, we have unnecessarily lost so many people.” With nearly 10 years of experience as a professional disc jockey, Axis has played at six Black & White Parties. Last year’s event was monumental. “My parents and siblings, who all live out of state, flew in to attend,” he says. “Having them there let them see just how close to my heart this cause is.” Taking inspiration from the past, DJ Axis always injects his own personal spin into everything he does, from his personal style to his career. “With my music I always play a mix of what I feel is comfortable and recognizable to the public but also make sure to introduce new, unexpected sounds and artists to them.”
9HJDV 6HYHQ )]O][\ !
EDDIE ROBERTS
Styling by Whitney Urichuk
OWNER/PRESIDENT OF CDI STUDIOS
How he earned the Right to Wear Red: CDI regularly donates its creative services to AFAN. “Eddie and his team at CDI have re-branded our events and brought AFAN to a more modern, hip and engaging arena that keeps us moving forward in today’s fundraising/nonprofit world,” Morss says. Why he supports AFAN: “My staff and I have dedicated countless studio resources toward the awareness and support of charitable organizations. My support for AFAN is important to myself as well as my staff.” The word “creative” doesn’t begin to describe the amazing work done by Roberts and his team at CDI. This year is the seventh they have been dedicated AFAN supporters. “Helping to raise millions of dollars toward the fight against HIV for the past seven years is a truly gratifying experience,” he says. This is his first Black & White Party, and he is looking forward to making some lasting memories. A Las Vegas resident since 1979, before anything was developed past Jones Boulevard, Roberts describes Las Vegas as eclectic with a dedicated gaming workforce. “But I believe it’s also a very giving community,” he adds.
)]O][\ ! 9HJDV 6HYHQ
LAURA FOLEY EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO PENN & TELLER
Styling by Cassie Coleman
How she earned the Right to Wear Red: Spearheading the Penn & Teller Challenge for the annual AIDS Walk. “Laura gives so much of her time to make sure that each year the Challenge runs smoothly and gets bigger,” Morss says. Why she supports AFAN: “Because AFAN supports the community I call home. They do so much for so many people here in Southern Nevada.” Foley has an extra reason to celebrate at this year’s Black & White Party: “My brother David is gay,” she says, “so the overturning of Prop. 8 [in California] is especially significant because it means that he would be afforded the same civil rights as myself. I love and respect him more than anyone I know, and no one has the right to take away his or anyone else’s civil liberties.” Her favorite Black & White Party memory came last year. “AFAN did an amazing job transferring venues at the last minute. They had to move the party from the pool into The Joint due to weather. Walking into the event, you’d never know it hadn’t been planned for The Joint all along.”
9HJDV 6HYHQ )]O][\ !
)]O][\ ! 9HJDV 6HYHQ
TERRI MARUCA
VICE PRESIDENT OF KIRVIN DOAK COMMUNICATIONS How she earned the Right to Wear Red: The PR goddess, who has been with Kirvin Doak for 10 years, constantly finds new avenues for AFAN to market itself. “She has a hip attitude and knows the pulse of this great city and how we should be spreading the mission of AFAN,” Morss says. Why she supports AFAN: “I believe in their mission and admire the work that they do for those that are affected with HIV and/or AIDS in our community. They also treat those with HIV and/or AIDS with dignity and respect, providing them with the services they need with ease and convenience for no or nominal fees.” Maruca looks forward to the Black & White Party each year and says it is a fundraising event unlike any other. “It isn’t stuffy, it isn’t traditional. It’s out-ofthe-box. It is wild and entertaining.” Describing Las Vegas, she is quick to point out an attribute that often goes unnoticed: “It is one of the most giving communities that I have been a part of—something I don’t think we get enough credit for.”
9HJDV 6HYHQ )]O][\ !
RICK McGOUGH
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF CREDIT ONE BANK
Styling by Sung Park
How he earned the Right to Wear Red: “He understands how, even in this economy, there is still a need to give back,” Morss says. Why he supports AFAN: “A fair segment of the population is not informed enough to take interest and, more importantly, support the cause through the contribution of money, time or resources. I continue to be an ardent supporter of AFAN’s mission and encourage anyone and everyone I know to follow suit.” “Being honored in this manner is foreign to me, in that myself or anyone like me gets involved for the benefit of mattering a little in peoples’ lives and not for the recognition,” McGough says. Through his work as the community reinvestment officer for Credit One Bank, plus the many positions held on various boards, he discovered his passion to give and help. “I live by a motto, ‘Leave it better than you found it.’ I like to think that each day I am successful in some way at achieving my personal goal. Sometimes in a big way, sometimes in the most simplistic of ways.”
)]O][\ ! 9HJDV 6HYHQ
THe LocaL Newsroom Is sandoval Losing Hispanic Voters? Some supporters think the gubernatorial hopeful is taking them for granted
By Molly Ball Hispanic voters wanted to love Brian Sandoval, the Republican who would be the state’s first Hispanic governor. But it’s starting to seem like he’s doing his best to turn them off. This was vividly illustrated by the recent controversy over a stunningly insensitive remark Sandoval supposedly made at the Univision television studio. It’s not at all clear whether Sandoval actually uttered the comment in question, but the accusation has reverberated widely in Nevada’s Hispanic community. According to a column Univision’s news director, Adriana Arévalo, wrote for the Spanish-language newspaper El Tiempo in July, Sandoval was asked how he would feel if his children were stopped by the police and asked for proof that they were in the country legally. “He answered, with a note of pride in his voice, ‘My children don’t look Hispanic,’” Arévalo wrote. The supposed exchange never aired on television. In the uproar that followed, it emerged that the alleged comment was made to an anchor who interviewed Sandoval and not to Arévalo, and the video of the comment that the station possessed didn’t include any sound. Univision nevertheless stood behind Arévalo’s claim, while Sandoval, who had initially denied making the statement, equivocated, saying he couldn’t remember having said it but certainly didn’t mean it if he had. “I am proud of my heritage and my family,” he said. For Nevada Hispanics, the issue brought home growing doubts about whether Sandoval deserves their votes. It was not the first time he appeared all too willing to alienate the Hispanic community. During the Republican primary campaign, Sandoval, facing a challenge from the right, came out in support of Arizona’s restrictive anti-illegal immigration law— the one that critics say would result in Hispanic-looking children getting asked for their papers. The move shocked and dismayed Hispanic activists who had been excited about Sandoval’s historic run. “I have known Brian Sandoval for many years and supported his candidacy,” Otto Merida, the Republican head of the Las Vegas Latin Chamber of Commerce, said at the time, in a statement in support of Sandoval’s Democratic opponent, Rory Reid. Merida said he was “disheartened when Brian Sandoval turned his back on the Hispanic community and spoke out in favor of the recent Arizona immigration legislation.” Like Merida, Fernando Romero, president of Hispanics in Politics, supported Republican John McCain for president in 2008. He is a Democrat, but his nonpartisan organization endorsed Republican Jim Gibbons in the 2006 gubernatorial race. Like Merida, Romero had hoped to vote for Sandoval, but changed his mind: “When I saw what he said [about the Arizona law], there was no turning back,” he said.
Romero understood that Sandoval probably believed he had to act tough on immigration to placate right-wing Republican primary voters. But Sandoval could have finessed the issue, as Republican Hispanic candidates in other states have done, instead of coming out fully in support of the Arizona law. The Hispanic community, Romero said, saw the move as arrogance on Sandoval’s part—taking Hispanic voters for granted. Sandoval’s campaign says it has not ignored Hispanic voters: A Spanishlanguage ad that aired during the World Cup was his first television commercial of the general election. Reid’s camp points out that that’s the only time it aired, calling it a “publicity stunt.” Sandoval’s campaign plans to bring the ad back eventually, advisers say, but is not currently airing any TV ads, in English or Spanish. Reid, who trails in the polls, has moved aggressively to cut into Sandoval’s built-in edge with Hispanics. Reid came out strongly against the Arizona law the day it passed, with a statement that said, “This ill-conceived law opens the door to racial profiling and the violation of the fundamental civil rights of all Americans.” His campaign never tires of pointing out that Reid, who was as a Mormon missionary in Argentina, speaks Spanish, while Sandoval, whose mother and father were born in Mexico, does not. On Aug. 9, Reid began airing an ad that featured him speaking in Spanish. Supporters saw it as a terrific showcase of his linguistic abilities; opponents saw an awkward-looking white guy with a schoolboy accent, shamelessly pandering. In Nevada and elsewhere, Hispanics are a growing swing group. In 2006, 37 percent of Nevada Hispanics voted for Gibbons, one of the highest proportions of the Hispanic vote won by a Republican nationwide, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. In 2008, Hispanics were 15 percent of the Nevada electorate, and they
Will Sandoval’s hard line on immigration hurt him at the polls?
swung the other way, voting overwhelmingly for Barack Obama, according to exit polling. If Sandoval continues to lead Reid by double digits, as he has so far, the Hispanic vote won’t be enough to turn the tide. But if the contest between Sandoval and Reid becomes closer, as most involved in the campaign expect, the difference between a good and bad showing with Hispanics could mean a crucial point or two in the overall vote tally. Hispanic voters respond strongly to Hispanic candidates, studies show, but Reid hopes they can be swayed. Whether or not Sandoval ever made the disputed remark about his kids, it continues to resonate in the Hispanic community because it cements the suspicion that he doesn’t care about their votes, Romero says. But there’s another problem with the supposed insult, he notes. “The night of the primary, Sandoval’s family was gathered around him at the podium,” Romero recalls. “I’m looking at them, and his boy looks like my 12-yearold who, obviously, looks Hispanic.”
August 19-25, 2010 Vegas Seven 37
The Local Newsroom
Green Felt Journal
El Cortez gets creative with design competition By David G. Schwartz
Most casino executives view renovating hotel rooms as a necessary but disagreeable process. Room remodels are doubly expensive—they pull rooms out of the rental pool and incur labor and materials costs. It’s easy to see why few property owners look forward to them. The El Cortez, however, has found a way to use the renovation process to put the spotlight on itself and four Nevada design teams via its Design-a-Suite Downtown competition, showing again how it’s carving its own niche on Sixth and Fremont streets. On July 29, the competition’s judging panel, which includes design notables such as Todd-Avery Lenahan, Brian Thornton, Kurstin Schmitz, Cary Vogel and Ann Fleming, narrowed the field of 18 submissions down to four finalists, with an additional four semifinalists selected should one of the finalists drop out. Each of the finalists is preparing to build out a 650-square-foot suite with a budget of $20,000. Once all four are finished early next year, the public will get a chance to stay in them, and their input will help the judges pick a winner, whose design will be used for the six remaining suites. While the goal of the competition is to spruce up the El Cortez’s suite product, the hotel is also lending a helping hand to two community organizations. Keep Memory Alive, the downtown-based charity that supports the research and treatment of neurocognitive disorders, was the beneficiary of $2,700 in entrance fees that the El Cortez donated, and all of the furniture taken from the suites will be donated to Opportunity Village. The finalists include: • Patrick Gardner, of Worth Group Architects, whose “Rec Room” concept features a charmingly retro design, with saturated red accents and a custom linoleum inlay. • Tina Enard, of Urban Design Studio, whose “Big Sleep” features a bright, airy look and contemporary lines, with a striking wall-size photo of a desert landscape. • Patrick Peel and Michael Thieme, of MP3, whose “El Contempo Suite” is a study in gold (ceilings and floors) and subdued cool tones. • Charles Mais and Nidia Settembre, of Free Lance Design, whose “Hint Suite” offers a modern and clean take on classic Vegas style.
38 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010 38
There’s a great deal of variety in the projects, a result of the competition’s freewheeling approach. No structural changes—tearing down walls, installing new plumbing—were permitted, but besides that, the teams were free to take any approach with furniture, wall coverings, lighting and accessories. With relatively few limitations, the contest let designers get creative in presenting new ideas for some old rooms. “We started from scratch,” Peel says, “though we kept in mind some of the retro elements downstairs. We didn’t want to mirror what was going on in the rest of the property; we wanted to push it forward.” The contest has had a few pleasant surprises. Since all submissions were anonymous, the judges had no idea whose work they were looking at. Alexandra Epstein, the El Cortez’s executive manager, was pleased to learn that one of the finalist designs came from Thieme, who is a tenant at Emergency Arts, the rehabbed former medical center that’s become a true bright spot on East Fremont Street. That happy coincidence symbolizes the efforts that the El Cortez is making to reach out to both downtown and the design community. “The idea came out of the discussions about our 70th anniversary, about how we have to be adaptable and forwardthinking,” Epstein says. “We also want to be good neighbors. And with so many great resources right around the corner, we thought we should try to get more people involved.” Looking at the El Cortez’s history, showcasing new designers makes perfect sense. When the hotel-casino opened in 1941, the conventional wisdom was that it was too far from the train station (on the site of today’s Plaza). But while supposed stalwarts of downtown such as the Northern Club, Boulder Club and Exchange Club were closed or renamed, the El Cortez kept on going, until it became not only a survivor but a historic landmark. The key to staying in the game has been listening to customers and trying new ideas. With the design competition, the El Cortez has taken both to the next level. David G. Schwartz is the director of UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research.
Logging on to Learn Online schools are free, flexible and getting more popular each year
Photography by Anthony Mair
By Kate Silver Bailey Saint-Marc has an easy commute to school every day. All the fifth-grader has to do is roll out of bed, turn on the computer and begin his daily lessons. Although it might sound like home schooling, it’s not. Saint-Marc is in the gifted program at Nevada Connections Academy, an online charter school—a free public school—that’s part of the growing field of online learning institutions in Nevada, including Nevada Virtual Academy, Odyssey Charter Schools and Silver State High School. In addition, the Clark County School District has Virtual High School, with more than 1,500 students. At Nevada Connections Academy, students receive their lesson plan at the beginning of the year and have weekly expectations. Teachers are available online and via phone during “regular” school hours (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), and also teach video classes at least once a week. Saint-Marc’s mother, Stacey, says that the school gives her son the flexibility to work at his own pace. Stacey has been so impressed by the school that her kindergarten-age daughter, Paris, will also attend the online school this year. “The reason I ended up choosing Connections Academy is because they actually allowed my children to be assessed and work at the level that they needed to be at,” Stacey says. Both her kids are active in sports, she adds, so they’re able to balance those activities with school. Jennifer Nelson teaches gifted students, such as Bailey, in grades three through six at Jennifer Nelson Nevada Connections Academy, and in the last three years has watched the school grow from 500 students to 2,200, the anticipated enrollment for 2010-11. She says it’s ideal for working teens, students with health problems and those living in remote areas. “I think parents are also pulling them out because of the problems they have in public schools with behavior, crime and bullying,” Nelson says. Kendall Hartley, associate professor of educational technology at UNLV, says the growth of online charter schools in Nevada and across the country is “explosive.” He compares most the schools (with the exception of the CCSD Virtual High School) to higher-education options such as University of Phoenix and DeVry University—forprofit entities with an increasing presence. Hartley notes that online charter schools are not charitable entities. “These aren’t nonprofit groups that are coming in. They’re backed by equity investment firms, so they’re looking to make a dollar,” Hartley says. “They get public money as a charter school so the students don’t have to pay, but the state is paying them the same amount they would pay any public school. … They’re going to try to spend less on the education than they get from the state.” In Nevada, the state pays charter schools such as Connections Academy $5,000 per student per year. Connections is based in Baltimore, and has state offices in Reno. Hartley says there are pros, cons and a whole lot of variability to online schools. “Like a face-to-face classroom, you can have a really good experience or a really poor experience.”
Final resting places are showing up for sale or trade on places like Craigslist, eBay and PlotExchange.
Dying to Get Out Like all real estate, cemetery plots are a hard sell these days By Brooke Edwards When Laura Connelly’s sister-in-law hounded her and her husband about being responsible and buying cemetery plots 40 years ago, they gave in and bought two at Palms Mortuary for $986. Now the 84-year-old has enlisted a friend’s help to sell the crypts on Craigslist for $4,000— $2,150 under what she’s told they’d go for at the mortuary park today. The Connellys are opting for cremation instead. “I don’t want a place my kids have to come put flowers on,” Connelly, who’s admittedly “not very sentimental,” says with a chuckle. “And it’s time to get rid of stuff.” Dozens of Las Vegas cemetery plots are listed for sale on Craigslist, eBay and sites like PlotExchange. com. And just like any other piece of real estate, final resting places can be subject to foreclosure, refinancing, short sales and other fates that have become common in today’s market. Loren Bayer with Bayer Cemetery Brokers believes the economy has been a major factor in helping his business jump 20 percent in the last two years, with some people simply desperate for cash. But Bayer also credits more people changing their mind about burial and choosing cremation instead — some because it’s typically a fraction the cost of burial and others because of a shift in philosophy. “I feel like cremation is the more logical option,” says Robert Malin, who’s selling the plot he bought at a Vegas cemetery in 1998. Though the mortuary offered to trade his Vegas plot for a similar one in his current hometown of Tucson, Ariz., Malin wasn’t interested. The number of Americans opting for cremation has been growing steadily for decades, according to statistics from the Cremation Association of North America, more than doubling from nearly 15 percent in 1985 to 34 percent in 2007. And CANA estimates more than 55 percent of Americans will be choosing cremation by 2025. Even some people who chose cremation years ago are moving away from more traditional plans to bury their urns, selling off niches they’d purchased at
cemeteries in favor of having their ashes spread in a meaningful spot. That’s how cremation niches Stacey Ranieri and her husband bought at Memory Gardens Memorial Park ended up for sale for $2,200. “We bought them probably in 1981, back when we were much younger,” Ranieri said. “We had a baby girl and just didn’t want her to have to deal with that stuff. But we decided we’re not going to be stuck in a black niche in a hole.” Bayer also attributes the rise in cremations to the fact that people are more transient now and don’t have generations of family in a hometown grave like they used to. Allice Carlo’s grandparents likely thought they started a family tradition when they bought four adjoining plots in Palm Memorial’s Garden of Peace in 1973 for around $700. Carlo’s grandmother passed away first and was buried in one spot, followed by her grandfather in another. But when his second wife died a few months back, Carlos said the family was a bit amused by grandma No. 2’s wish not to be buried alongside grandma No. 1. “So she’s on my mantle,” Carlo says, and her spot is up for sale on Craigslist. “We decided to keep one just in case something happens and we need it, but sell the other one.” The ads get interesting, with one seller willing to accept a motorcycle on trade for a Vegas plot next to his dad and another promising that a cremation niche at Palm Memorial Park “has not been used.” But it turns out that final resting spots are not the easiest sell. “I guess that’s something that nobody thinks about or even wants to think about,” Connelly says. Even though the Garden of Peace is sold out and Carlo was told her two spots are in high demand especially for pilots and the like, since they’re in the flight path for the nearby airport, she hasn’t had many bites. “I have had no luck with Craigslist,” Carlo says. “I only get spam e-mails and really weird e-mails. There are some strange people out there.”
August 19-25, 2010 Vegas Seven Seven 39
The Local Newsroom
Here Comes the Rain Again Monsoon season is here and the Clark County Regional Flood Control District is still waging war with water By Kate Silver rising so quickly they were referred to as 100-year storms. Since 1960 there have been 31 deaths from 21 flash floods in and around Las Vegas. The Clark County Regional Flood Control District was created in the mid-’80s to address flooding issues, Valley-wide. A representative for the flood control district says it’s a work in progress. “That master plan is like a road map,” says Betty Hollister, public information manager for the flood control district. “And so it’s being built in a logical order with detention basins, channels and storm drains, to get all the water from the west side of the Valley to the east side safely and out to Lake Mead.” The flood control district is working on 18 projects with a combined price tag of $150 million. The projects include flood channels, storm drains and retention basins, like those under construction near Tule Springs. These projects, when
Clark County resident Cheri Fisher’s contest-winning license plate neatly summarizes the danger.
finished in December of 2011, will also serve as multi-functional parks. Those detention basins will add to the total of 83 detention basins and 550 miles of channel and underground storm drains in Southern Nevada. That puts the flood control district more than halfway through the master plan. Hollister says that when it comes to flooding, everyone is at risk.
“It depends on where it rains to determine where the risk would be,” she says. So Valley motorists should keep the flood control district’s catch phrase in mind: “Turn around and don’t drown.” “Flood water can rise really quickly,” she says. “If it is raining hard and there’s a flash-flood watch or warning, stay inside and wait for the flood to be over.”
Who would ever put pickles on a pizza?
Pizza
Crispy Stuff Yum!!!
5 Consecutive Zagats Best Pizza Awards & Best Pizza R-J Readers Poll America’s Neighborhood Pizzeria 1395 East Tropicana Ave. 4001 South Decatur Blvd. 1420 W. Horizon Ridge 4178 Koval Lane
702-736-1955 702-362-7896 702-458-4769 702-312-5888
(Inside Ellis Island Casino)
4111 Boulder Highway
702-247-1980
(Inside Boulder Station Casino)
www.metropizza.com Also visit us at:
40 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
We’ll do it when pigs fly. BBQ pulled pork, fried onion rings and chopped pickles. Sounds really weird...Tastes really great!
Photo by Anthony Mair
Last week the Clark County Regional Flood Control District unveiled its newest billboard: an image of a blue car caught in a flash flood with the words “H2OTRAP” spelled out on a Nevada license plate. The winning phrase, submitted to the billboard license plate contest by Clark County resident Cheri Fisher, couldn’t come at a better time. The months of July through September are called “monsoon season” for a reason. When the skies open up, the desert soil sheds water. Add to that the fact that the Valley is shaped like a bowl tipped on its side, with 2,800 feet in elevation difference between Red Rock and Lake Mead, and it’s easy to see why Las Vegas turns into a veritable Wet ’n Wild when it rains. In 2007, the waters rose throughout Red Rock Canyon and The Lakes neighborhood. Moapa was deluged in 2005. Storms that swept through theValley in both 2003 and 1999 had water
The Local Newsroom
Politics
Campaigning on a (right) wing and a prayer By Michael Green
Redefine the way you live with music and movies. Entertainment Design Group crafts personalized solutions for people who are surround sound system, or simply want us to create a new environment, our staff has more than 28 years of combined experience to get you there.
Lutron and many more...
For more info, email
42 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010 42
702.204.5149.
In 1998, a Promise Keepers website included some anti-Mormon commentary. When word of that spread, it took away traditionally conservative Mormon votes from the Promise Keepers member running for the U.S. Senate—Republican John Ensign— and helped Democrat Harry Reid, a Mormon, squeak to a third term. Two elections later, Reid now faces Sharron Angle, a devout Baptist. When Mitt Romney, a Utah Mormon, ran for president, some Baptist leaders tied themselves in knots over how to view him, with descriptions of his church ranging from a major non-Christian faith to “a cult.” Nothing clears out a dull party faster than discussing religion or politics; in tandem, they can end a party before it starts. That would make inviting Angle risky, since she accused Reid of violating the First Commandment by trying to make government an object of idolatry while also claiming God has a plan for her to run for the Senate. Setting aside whether God wants the elderly, the disabled and Angle’s husband to starve by dismantling federal agencies that help His children, Angle’s professed religiosity creates an interesting problem for her, her party and Nevada voters. George Will once explained George W. Bush’s major political accomplishment as balancing socially conservative Republicans with libertarian conservative Republicans. Does Angle risk losing support from libertarian conservatives for being socially conservative? Like most Westerners, Nevadans long have considered themselves libertarian and their region a colony of the eastern U.S. They still resent how much of their land is under federal control. Whatever one thinks of their solution, it’s rooted in the idea of limited government. Yet Nevada has changed. In the 1930s, it legalized gambling, eased residency requirements for divorce and drank its way through Prohibition. The leading opponents of Nevada veering toward sin were religious groups, which state officials duly ignored. Then more than now, gambling was an evil, but Nevada’s economic need and desire to be left alone—a central libertarian tenet, right?—triumphed. With growth has come an ironic change: Northern and rural Nevadans often gnash their teeth over Southern
Nevadans, but they are much closer ideologically to casino workers than they are to many more recent arrivals to the state. The Nevadans who rejected legalization of marijuana and banned gay marriage in the early 2000s included many supposed libertarians, but social conservatives drove the bandwagon. Throughout, a key factor in Nevada politics has been the Mormon Church, once excoriated as sinful and libidinous, now a conservative bulwark. Three Mormons from Nevada have served in the Senate: Berkeley Bunker, appointed in 1940, defeated for a full term in ’42, and later elected statewide to the House; Howard Cannon, who served four terms starting in 1959 before his defeat in 1982; and Reid—all Democrats, interestingly. Mormons have become increasingly Republican as the party has both benefited and suffered since the late 1970s from the rise of the religious right, which has been more closely tied to Christian fundamentalists. When Nevada went wild for Ronald Reagan, those connections had far less appeal than his Westernness and anti-government views. Consider Steve Wark. In 1988, he made his name running the Nevada presidential campaign of evangelical Christian Pat Robertson, winning a majority of national convention delegates for him and becoming party chairman. In 1990 and 1992, Wark nearly won Assembly races against Chris Giunchigliani, now a county commissioner, in a traditionally Democratic district. Since then, Wark has been a highly respected Republican operative, known for solid work on several campaigns. This year, he worked on the gubernatorial campaign of former North Las Vegas Mayor Michael Montandon, a Mormon who campaigned as an overt social conservative in the primary. Montandon ran far behind moral exemplar Jim Gibbons in losing to Brian Sandoval. If Sandoval becomes governor, it probably won’t be due to religion. If Angle defeats Reid, it could be because of religion but more likely in spite of it. And an Angle victory would threaten religion; it could even create a lot of atheists. 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 Melissa Arseniuk
Thur. 19 The men of My Boys come to town, as funnymen Jamie Kaler and Mike Bunin (pictured) use their comedic prowess to impress and entertain during their first of three nights at Playboy Comedy at the Palms. (9 p.m., $40.) Meanwhile, another comedy duo—Geoff Keith and K-VON—get their three-day laugh-on under way at L.A. Comedy Club in Wasted Space at the Hard Rock Hotel. (8 p.m., $29.) Back on the Strip, the go-to Thursday night party goes down at Tao as Worship Thursdays takes over the Venetian hot spot— and for once, there’s no celebrity host (or celebrity host’s entourage) taking up the prime table space. (Doors at 10 p.m., $20 for guys, $10 for girls, all locals free.) And before that, Caramel blends art and art-inspired cocktails at Expose, which features original works by Jessica Galindo. At Bellagio, doors at 7 p.m., no cover.
Fri. 20 Aussie rockers Wolfmother sound nothing like Australian headliners Human Nature, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Check out the rock ’n’ rollers from Down Under as they play by the pool at the Hard Rock Hotel (along with special guests J. Roddy Walston and The Business) as part of the Friday Night Live concert series. Vegas Seven sister company Spy On Vegas presents the show, along with an open bar starting at 6 p.m. RSVP for free admission at spyonvegas.com.
Sat. 21 DJ R.O.B. is a walking, talking institution in the Las Vegas nightlife community, but that doesn’t mean the talented turntablist is totally old-school. The pioneer embraces modern technology, and tonight he hosts his second Summer Facebook Party at the Copa Room. Still, don’t let the cyber-talk fool you (or your online avatar); this is a real party for real people. R.O.B. treats the new media crowd to old-school beats, along with some new joints, and someone will go home with a new iPad. (7700 Las Vegas Blvd. South, behind the Bootlegger Bistro, doors at 10 p.m., RSVP via Facebook for free entry before midnight.) Or, if you prefer modern rap and hip-hop, head to Caesars Palace, where Chingy and Mims (pictured) perform at Pure. Doors at 10 p.m., $30 for men, $20 for women.
SeveN NIghtS Sun. 22 After a brief hiatus, Kaskade returns to his eponymous party at Encore Beach Club. (Doors at 11 a.m., $40 for women, $50 for men, local ladies free.) LGBT party guru Eduardo Cordova brings West Hollywood’s The Abbey—Best Gay Bar in the World, if you ask MTV—to Vdara’s pool, featuring DJ Derek Monteiro. (Noon-6 p.m.,$20 out-of-towners, $10 locals). The hairspray will fly as Ghostbar hosts a “Candy Shop” edition of Hair Wars with DJ Mikey Swift. (At the Palms, doors at 9 p.m., $20 cover, local ladies free.) Or trade hot irons for the hot guitars of Hot Hot Heat performing live at Wasted Space. At the Hard Rock Hotel, doors at 9 p.m., $15.
Mon. 23 Considering that they both work for Light Group and manage two of the hottest clubs in town, Kozmoe Alonzoe and Mustafa “Moose” Abdi are practically step brothers. The dynamic duo host a joint birthday party at Moose’s second home, Jet, while the self-proclaimed “Mayor of Miami,” DJ Irie, joins DJ Hollywood in the booth. The ad warns the event is rated “E” for epic, so we’re in. As if that wasn’t enough, local dance troupe Super Cr3w will be there as well as Meister. At The Mirage, doors at 10:30 p.m., $30 for guys, $20 for girls, locals and industry free.
Tues. 24 Tuesdays at the Palms always go out with a Bang! This week, Moon welcomes Tankfarm to its popular and industry-friendly party. (Doors at 11 p.m., $30 cover, locals and industry free.) Also tonight, Vanilla Ice heats things up with a little ’90s revival at Pure. Doors at 10 p.m., $30 for men, $20 for women, all locals free.
Wed. 25 Today marks the one-year anniversary of the last time anyone heard from DJ AM, a.k.a. the late Adam Goldstein. The occasion will be marked with melancholy across the city, from the places he used to play to the people who knew him best. The Las Vegas Nightlife Group remembers AM tonight at Surrender with a celebration of his life. His mentor, Jazzy Jeff, will be playing. Proceeds support his memorial fund and Phoenix House, which supports drug rehab and recovery programs. At Wynn, doors at 10 p.m., $30 cover, locals free. August 19-25, 2010 Vegas Seven 45
Nightlife
Blush | Wynn
Photography by Brenton Ho
Upcoming aug. 20 | A. ChÉ SwimweAr FAShion Show aug. 25 | we Love houSe wedneSdAyS aug. 26 | BLuSH THuRSDaYS
46 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
Nightlife
LoLita’s | town square
Photography by Amy Schaefer
Upcoming aug. 25 | Industry LoLLIpop Wednesdays WIth dj Ikon aug. 28 | CeLeBrIty saturdays LaunCh sept. 1 | Industry LoLLIpop Wednesdays WIth dj Ikon
48
Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
Nightlife
Rain | Palms
Photography by Roman Mendez
Upcoming AUG. 20 | Z-Trip’s revoluTion AUG. 21 | perfecto presents ATB AnD Zen FreeMAn AUG. 28 | perfecto presents DJ scoTTy Boy, DonAlD GlAuDe AnD ATB
50 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
Nightlife
MOOrea Beach cluB | Mandalay Bay
Upcoming aUG. 21 | SaturdayS at Moorea Beach cluB sept. 25 | FIFth aNNual WINe aMPlIFIed FeStIVal FeaturING thIrd eye BlINd
54
Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
Photography by Amy Schaefer
Nightlife
DJ Profile
Is Dirty Dutch an event or an entire sound? Dirty Dutch started as a party, as a concept—the way I saw the music as representative of Dutch clubs—but eventually … people started associating a certain sort of music with it. … So some people see it as a genre. Why has house music been huge in Europe for a while but only recently caught on in America? In America, the big music genres you have are hip-hop and rock music. … It took guys like David Guetta to produce big records for big artists so the mainstream could see it. You’ve playing European festivals all summer. What’s the difference between those crowds and Las Vegas nightclub audiences? When I do the big festivals in Europe, I focus on playing the big-room kind of stuff, less vocal stuff, and try to play more big-room house music. Whenever I play in the nightclubs in Vegas, it’s more about vocal effects and music. … I try to find the right balance between entertainment—records people know—and education—some new stuff that I might pick, or some new records that I know will hit the clubs really good.
The Dirtiest Dutchman
DJ Chuckie gets set to kick it up at Tao Beach By Melissa Arseniuk
DJ ChuCkie At tAo BeACh Aug. 22. Doors at 10 a.m. $20 for out-of-town men, free for everyone else.
Clyde Narain grew up listening to reggae, soul and calypso in Suriname, a South American republic sandwiched between French Guiana and Guyana. But when he moved to Holland, he met MTV and fell in love with pop music—Depeche Mode, A-Ha, The Bangles, Culture Club and The Police—and further expanded his musical horizons with hip-hop. Today, he is better known as DJ Chuckie, the father of Dirty Dutch. The filthy talented DJ braved Ibiza’s spotty cell reception and staggering international long-distance charges to talk with Vegas Seven about the past, present and future of house music from Holland. From Tiësto and Laidback Luke to Sander van Doorn and Ferry Corsten, Dutch DJs are dominating the electronic music scene. What’s the secret to your collective success? Is there something in the water over there? In general, Dutch producers have been working hard, and finally the sound is being heard in the right way, so there’s a market there for all of us. What other country is producing top-notch DJ talent? I think about Sweden. The Swedes have been killing it, too.
60 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
“Let the Bass Kick” was a huge hit for you. Do you think the follow-up will be as successful? Oh, for sure, for sure. At the moment I’m working on my new album, and it’s going to be with a lot of different features … a lot of effects and big surprises on there. And I’m sure there’s going to be [a single] that’s just as big, if not bigger. You’ve remixed everyone from Lil John to LMFAO. Who else would you like to work with? I’d love to do a Jay-Z record—a remix or an original track. He’s one of my favorites, as hip-hop artists. I’m a big fan of hip-hop; I think that’s why my music works in the States. The recession is lingering in the U.S. How has the down economy affected the mood during the summer festivals over there? You don’t see anything about the recession in Ibiza. It’s really crazy, because … you buy a vodka Red Bull [and it] is, like, 36 Euros, and that’s only one vodka Red Bull—so if you do that for two weeks, you will come back broke. … [But] I wouldn’t say Americans have less money because the people who go to Vegas have something to spend. The last time I was in there, there was a guy who spent $500,000 in two days. It’s just crazy. What’s one thing you’d like to tell your fans? Follow me on Twitter! Twitter.com/djchuckie.
Nightlife
Cocktail Culture
By Xania Woodman
Tales of the Cocktail, Part 1
The Bitters Truth No trip to Tales of the Cocktail would be complete without smuggling home an unlabeled bottle or two of someone’s pet project. Of the many Las Vegas bartenders tinkering with tinctures, three are making a mad dash (pun intended) to market with their original bitters, those potent elixirs of herbs, spices and aromatics that put the fashion in your Old Fashioned and the “Oh!” and in your Pisco Sour.
The Black Shrubb Created by Darby Kelly, bartender at Wynn Las Vegas
of a ripe nectarine, sliced 1½ ounce Jim Beam Black 8 Year ¾ ounce Clément Créole Shrubb ¾ ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice 2/ 3
½ ounce D’arbo elderflower syrup 2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters 1 slice jalapeño plus one extra for garnish 1 slice nectarine for garnish
Method: In a mixing glass, muddle the nectarine with the elderflower syrup. Add the remaining ingredients, ice, and shake vigorously. Double-strain over fresh ice into a double Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with slices of nectarine and jalapeño.
Mise en Place: Rhum Clément Créole Shrubb The special guest at Richards’ and Kelly’s Spirited Dinner, Rhum Clément’s Créole Shrubb (Lee’s Discount Liquor, $33), blends white and aged rums with macerated Creole spices (cinnamon, clove, vanilla) and sun-bleached bitter orange peels to make a moderately sweet Martinique rum-based orange liqueur. At home with dark spirits or light, Créole Shrubb appeared in Kelly’s Black Shrubb as well as in Richards’ first place-winning Milagro tequila margarita, the Fiesta Fatale.
64
Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
D.M. Kelly’s Fine Bitters and Fancy Syrups An apprenticeship at Tales of the Cocktail two years ago “re-sparked my passion for cocktails,” says Wynn bartender Darby Kelly (a.k.a. “the Bitter Barman”—he loves his bitters!). But, finding today’s bitters too bitter or, alternately, too saccharine sweet, he set about creating a happy medium, not to mention a unique bottle design (you’ll just have to see it). Kelly has just submitted for federal approval four of his 10 formulas: goji, elderflower, orange and pomegranate. “Clove, you’ll find with almost all of my bitters, will sneak into the picture,” he says. Kelly’s entire bitters line as well as his syrups (one with zero calories!) will be available through TheBitterBarman.com (under construction) as soon as spring. Six Sense by Alex Velez The Las Vegas-based head mixologist for Heritage Hotels & Resorts’ Plaza Real (Santa Fe, N.M.), Velez is inspired—dare we say, obsessed?—with flavor, aroma and texture as is evidenced by his Six Sense bitters and coordinating line of infused agave nectars and soda waters: Pistachio Pie, Bamboo, Aztec Fire, Lavendula, Smoked Salmon and Bangkok Lemongrass. Says Velez, “There are no flavors like it on the market.” Likely arriving with the new year, Six Sense will be available through ChefsWarehouse.com for $25.
Cocktail photo by Anthony Mair
The eighth annual Tales of the Cocktail spirits conference in New Orleans recently brought some of Las Vegas’ shiniest bar stars together with other industry luminaries and influencers for a week of hands-on seminars, rollicking parties and the Spirited Dinner series, where the menu revolves around the libations. Wynn bartender Darby Kelly and Wynn-Encore property mixologist Patricia Richards joined forces with a native New Orleanian, chef Chris Brown, for a five-course, six-cocktail dinner at Zoë Restaurant at the W Hotel. Richards and Kelly paired the Black Shrubb cocktail with Brown’s pan-seared grouper, jambalaya couscous and wilted greens. “I thought the nectarine and elderflower would add delicious flavor notes to the mild grouper while the couscous would complement the spicy notes of the cocktail,” Kelly says. And did it ever! Making exceptional use of Creole Shrubb orange liqueur and going so far as to incorporate it into the cocktail’s name, the Black Shrubb displayed a perfect balance of sweetness, acidity and heat. The drink’s intriguing complexity simply rolled out the red carpet for Brown’s refined regional cuisine. How’s that for Southern hospitality?
John Hogan & Tobin Ellis’ Lavender Spice Organic Aromatic Bitters by Bar Code Winners in the spice category of the 2009 Tru Spirits Barmade Bitters Challenge, Hogan and Ellis of BarMagic of Las Vegas are at once modern and traditional in their approach to their bitters: an exciting, modern flavor combination presented in a traditional, venerated product. The prize? Hogan & Ellis’ bitters will be distributed through the GreenBar Collective (GreenBar.biz, $20). Naturally, “it likes to be with gin,” Ellis says. But the wild lavender, English cucumber and chamomile flavors and aromas “also give vodka some botanicals and depth vodka doesn’t normally have.”
The NaTioNal Newsroom This week in the New York Observer
Poor little rich Girls How a charismatic success guru beguiled two heirs to the Seagram’s fortune and squandered more than $100 million of their inheritance
Illustration by John Ritter
By Maureen Tkacik The heiress wanted to meet the Dalai Lama. She wanted the Dalai Lama to be her friend. She had been obsessed with him for two and a half years. “I was literally in my bedroom one day listening to his tapes and thought to myself, ‘Wow, this guy is amazing!’” Sara Bronfman told an Albany, N.Y., AM radio host last year. When His Holiness arrived in town the next day, Bronfman could take credit for his presence. During her dilettantish early 20s, Bronfman continued, she never would have conceived of such an ambition, but for the previous five years she had been immersed in Executive Success Programs (ESP), a self-help regimen administered by the local organization NXIVM (pronounced Nex-ee-um). It was an experience she found singularly emboldening. Bronfman sensed a connection between the Dalai Lama’s teachings and her training. “The way he looks at things is very scientific and very much in line with the philosophy of NXIVM,” she told the host. “I said, ‘Well, that kind of sounds like what we do!’ And I thought, ‘Maybe I could introduce myself, and bring him here and introduce him to Keith.’ Because I think Keith is a scientist and also a great philosopher.” Bronfman was referring to NXIVM founder Keith Raniere, a bespectacled 49-year-old with graying, shoulder-length hair. Raniere, who goes by the moniker Vanguard, bills himself as a “leader in human potential development” and has trademarked a philosophy he calls the Rational Inquiry Method. He is what you would get, said one former associate, “if David Koresh and Bernie Madoff had a child.” Over the past seven years, Raniere has earned the devotion of Sara Bronfman and her sister Clare. In that time, according to his former girlfriend and financial adviser Barbara Bouchey, Raniere has also squandered more than $100 million of the Bronfman liquor fortune, destabilizing one of New York’s most prominent business and social dynasties.
In NXIVM’s arcane system of ranking members by colored sashes and stripes, Bouchey ascended to the fourth stripe of the group’s green-sash tier. (In ascending order of rank, the NXIVM awards yellow, orange, green, purple and blue sashes.) As such, she is the highest-ranking of Raniere’s disciples to defect publicly from the group. “For years I was telling them that the scarves, the stripes, all the weird stuff needed to go. I mean, come on, the bowing? There were a lot of good things about NXIVM, and we were turning people off with the weirdness.” A restraining order bars Bouchey from speaking publicly about the Bronfman sisters, who have sued her for breach of fiduciary duty and invasion of privacy. But in an affidavit made public in January, she said the sisters had ceded more than $100 million to Raniere and his executive success operation. The pair remain staunchly loyal to NXIVM and Raniere, who appears to have curtailed his most profligate spending habits. (A roster of NXIVM coaches lists Sara, 33, and Clare, 30, as having received the organization’s orange and green sashes, respectively.) But they continue to spend what one former NXIVM associate estimates is $2 million a month waging Raniere’s and NXIVM’s numerous legal and public relations battles with various enemies. With their trust funds drained, Bouchey said, the sisters have started borrowing against the inheritance they expect to receive upon the death of their 81-year-old father, Edgar Bronfman Sr. Forbes pegged Bronfman’s fortune this year at about $2.5 billion. That number would be larger by a few orders of magnitude if not for the dismemberment of the Seagram liquor cash cow—including its divestiture of a near–25 percent stake in DuPont—at the hands of the sisters’ half-brother Edgar Jr. in his quest to become an entertainment mogul. The costly antics of the wayward sisters are but another in a series of blows to the
Bronfman legacy the past four decades. In 2007 Edgar Sr. was forced to retire after almost three decades as president of the once mighty World Jewish Congress, the liberal philanthropic organization known as “the diplomatic arm of the Jewish people,” after evidence surfaced that his trusted deputy, Rabbi Israel Singer, had embezzled more than a million dollars. Three decades ago, the clan suffered public humiliation when, on the eve of Edgar Sr.’s wedding to the sisters’ mother, his eldest son, Samuel II, who had just graduated from Williams College, was abducted by a pair of kidnappers, one of them a New York City firefighter, and held for a $4.6 million ransom. The next year a jury acquitted the duo of
kidnapping charges on suspicions that young Sam had been attempting to extort money from his father in retaliation for the anointing of his younger brother Edgar as heir to the Seagram throne. But none of these shames match the strange contortions of the tale of Sara, Clare and the $100 million they gave up to the “philosopher” they call Vanguard. Sara and Clare Bronfman are the products of Edgar Bronfman Sr.’s second marriage, to an English nightclub receptionist 21 years his junior. He met Rita Webb in Marbella, Spain, and like a lot of men, he fell hard for her fair-haired beauty and disarming guilelessness. The daughter of pub owners, the young Miss Webb was an unapologetic social Continued on Page 70 August 19-25, 2010 Vegas Seven 69
The National Newsroom
climber. Renaming herself “Georgiana” after Edgar Sr. took to calling her “George,” she married him in 1975, gave birth to Sara the following year and had Clare two and a half years later. In one of his three memoirs, Edgar Sr. wrote that Georgiana asked for a divorce “shortly after Clare was born.” The couple remarried for a brief stint in the early ’80s, a decision Bronfman termed “really naïve.” After the second divorce, she began a brief but tempestuous affair with Lorenzo Ricciardi, an Italian filmmaker in his 60s. He was arrested in 1990 for trying to kill her. In 2007, she married the British television actor Nigel Havers. While Georgiana divided her time between New York, London and Kenya, the girls spent most of their childhood in England. They make scant appearances in Edgar Sr.’s memoirs. Susan White, a family friend, recommended an ESP course to Sara. She enrolled in a seminar, as did Edgar Bronfman Sr. Sara was instantly hooked, and Clare, an amateur equestrian with ambitions to be an Olympic show jumper, followed soon after. In 2003, the sisters settled near Albany, working as ESP trainers. By October 2003 Edgar Bronfman Sr. had decided the group was a cult, an assessment he aired to a Forbes reporter, but it was already too late. NXIVM is headquartered in a modest suburban office park on the outskirts of Albany. On a Friday afternoon in July, I visited the center with John Tighe, a 53-year-old retired waste-management worker for the city of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., who has been chronicling NXIVM on his blog, Saratoga in Decline. Tighe frequently mocks NXIVM on his blog, and a few concerned Saratogians have started a legal defense fund for him. Tighe marvels at the paranoia the organization has instilled in many former associates but remains unbowed. “My son, a cult leader …” James Raniere said. “It’s just not so.” The elder Raniere is a retired advertising executive. He responded to my inquiries, he said, primarily to defend his deceased wife, Vera. Many in the NXIVM community believe that Keith Raniere’s mother was an abusive alcoholic, and this, James contends, could not be farther from the truth. “She was the best mother I’ve ever come across,” he said. Keith’s first five years were spent in Brooklyn before the family moved to Rockland County for better public schools. By coincidence, James handled his agency’s Seagram’s account and said he knew Edgar Bronfman Sr. professionally during the 1970s. Records indicate that Keith graduated in three years from Troy’s Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1981. James told
me his son spent the ’80s “drifting.” Bouchey believes that Keith toiled for much of the decade as a salesman in a series of “multilevel marketing” operations, a business he learned about from a girlfriend whose father was an Amway salesman. In 1990 he founded his own multilevel-marketing firm, Consumers’ Buyline, reselling $14 annual memberships in Purchase Power, a Texas discount club, for more than $200 a year. He was forced by authorities to shutter the operation in 1993 amid widespread allegations that it was a pyramid scheme. NXIVM is a potent cocktail of ideas derived from selfhelp, therapeutic hypnosis, Scientology and the writings of Ayn Rand—all delivered through the classic mechanisms of the pyramid scheme first employed with Consumers’ Buyline. Its origins date to 1997, when Raniere met Nancy Salzman, a registered nurse. Their relationship was initially romantic, but, in Bouchey’s telling, he cut off their physical relationship abruptly over an apparent “ethical breach.” Still, Raniere saw potential NXIVM founder Keith Raniere uses ideas derived from Scientology and the writings of Ayn Rand in his teachings. in Salzman’s expertise in things to be controlled by successful, “cult of personality” referred to his “disneuro-linguistic programethical people.” armingly warm smile.” Over the years, ming, a therapeutic form of mind control Bouchey said Raniere’s libertarian he has left the day-to-day operations of used to hypnotize patients out of habits ravings are a “sideshow,” but the wealth his various enterprises to his revolving like smoking and binge-eating. within the NXIVM network is formicast of disciples-cum-girlfriends while From the jargon-loaded worksheets dable. It includes former Enron executive devoting his own time to an assortment of and grammatically scattershot texts that Stephen Cooper, Black Entertainment projects with male collaborators. make up Raniere’s 240-page “Rational Television co-founder Sheila Johnson, Bouchey said she was “creeped out” by Inquiry Method” patent application, it former U.S. Surgeon General Antonia Raniere when he first began pursuing her. is hard to tell what so many have found Novello and actress Goldie Hawn. “On the last day of class, he presented me life-changing about NXIVM. Many extol Richard Branson has hosted a NXIVM with his personal copy of Atlas Shrugged the method for its supposed “mathematicourse on the Caribbean island he owns. (Random House, 1957), with all his highcal” elegance. Skeptics are more likely Branson is listed along with Sara Bronflighting and everything, and he looked to credit its appeal to a combination of man as one of the two “benefactors” of at me very seriously and said, ‘You’re long classes, the heavy repetition of key the 2008 Albany A Cappella Innovations Dagny,’” she remembers, a reference to concepts, the twisting of language and a conference, the culmination of Raniere’s the Ayn Rand novel’s heroine. Dagny cannily calibrated sequence of attacks on brief obsession with a cappella singing. is dragged down by an endless string of participants’ emotional vulnerabilities. losers before she submits to the industrial Raniere has consistently presented NXIVM is much like its forebears in superman John Galt. “It was obvious that himself as a child prodigy. In 1988, he that it has attracted zealous devotees and he was supposed to be John Galt.” was inducted into the Mega Society, a sort equally vehement communities of apostates. Like Rand, Raniere divides the popuof ultra-Mensa for individuals with IQs But perhaps no group has succeeded as thorlation into “parasites” and “producers.” of 176 and higher. An Albany Times-Union oughly as Raniere’s at peddling the promise No. 11 of NXIVM’s 12 “commandprofile repeated Raniere’s dubious claims of “executive success” to people with so little ments” requires all followers to “pledge that he “tied for the state record in the actual need for success in any conventional to ethically control as much of the 100-yard dash” and required “only two to sense—the scions of the wealthy. money, wealth and resources of the four hours of sleep” each night. There is a certain genius to targeting world as possible,” since “it is essential Then there is his notorious charisma. such people for a “success” program, for the survival of humankind for these Even the 2003 Forbes investigation of his since it eludes any requirement to help Continued on Page 74
70 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
Photo by Patrick Dodson / Courtesy of Albany Student Press
Poor little rich girls Continued from Page 69
Hollyworld
The Porn Identity By Richard Siklos called Star Star Wars XXX—which will be XXX directed by the same guy who did Ain’t Avatar Avatar, Axel Braun, who is sort of the Jim Cameron of his milieu. But Hirsch cautioned that 3-D won’t be an instant or easy success: “I think people like to take their glasses off when they watch adult movies, not put glasses on.” It was interesting to confirm with Hirsch that porn did not have much of an impact on the rollout of highdefinition DVDs, either. This, he says, was in large measure because media giants such as Blu-Ray inventor Sony made it difficult for porn peddlers to get Blu-Ray discs manufactured. In fact, Blu-Ray only accounts for a small portion of Vivid’s DVD sales today, and the argument might be made that HD could have been a bigger hit if it had let Hirsch and his peers lead the way. But Hirsch says the bigger issue is that DVDs are “over” and distribution of video is moving largely to the Web and the television set, first via cable (videoon-demand, etc.) and soon by so-called smart TVs that connect directly to the Web. It’s not so much that the porn industry is not the technological gamechanger in gadgetry that it once was, but that the game has changed. Hirsch said that as much as 40 percent of the company’s revenues come from subscription and video-on-demand sales on the Internet—and his company works hard to shut down pirate content when Vivid has a hot release, like, say, the headline-grabbing porn debut of Laurence Fishburne’s daughter. They’ve also had to re-code their films so subscribers can reach them via Vivid’s website on the iPad—Steve Jobs’ portrayal of it as a porn-free device notwithstanding. And take heed big media: Hirsch said that the biggest stars in his business are also savvy cross-platform entrepreneurs who can make more money from operating their own websites and chatting live with their biggest fans than from making films. The biggest make as much as $1,500 an hour, based on $25 a minute for one-on-one video-cam chats. “Now wait for smart TVs where you’re going to be able to get that experience right on your TV—and that’s going to be massive.” A 3-D porn send-up of Avatar is set to be released next month.
Avatar Avatar is returning to movie theaters next week in the hopes of reversing a disturbing trend in Hollywood: 3-D is fading at the multiplex. After some big hits like Alice Alice in Wonderland Wonderland and Toy Story Wonderland and Toy 3, recent 3-D offerings including Cats and Dogs and Step Dogs Dogs and Step Up 3D have withered. 3D But perhaps a bigger question for the 3D future of 3-D is how This Ain’t Avatar 3D is going to perform when it comes out next month. If you haven’t heard of the latter, it’s a porn send-up of the James Cameron hit from the good people at Hustler. Google it. There are serious implications behind the prospects for 3-D porn. The history of modern media is that the adult industry has shaped how mainstream entertainment is consumed. Porn drove consumer adoption of the videocassette player, and the DVD, and was certainly ahead of its time in building online business models, as detailed in the new Luke Wilson film Middle Men. TV makers from Sony and Samsung to Panasonic have now bet their future on 3-D home entertainment. Porn auteurs in Hong Kong, Japan and Italy have all announced 3-D projects aimed to capitalize on the expectation that 10 percent or so of new flat-screens sold in the next year or so will be 3-D capable. Now, we shouldn’t underestimate the power of 3-D to enhance more mainstream types of programming—from movies to live sports and video games. And having struggled with a slumping economy and a plethora of free stuff online, is porn still the killer app it once was? To get an inside view, I rang up Steven Hirsch, the founder of Vivid Video, probably the biggest adult entertainment company. Hirsch says 3-D is going to be a big deal for his industry, and he is in production on Vivid’s first film in the format: another parody,
August 19-25, 2010 Vegas Seven Seven 71
The National Newsroom
S-Capade 1
2
3
4
5
6
By Merl Reagle
7
8
18 22 27 31
32
33
46
28
34
11
53
66
60 67
76
61
62
56
103 107
115 116 117
57
80
81
98
99
92
100
93
94 101
112
113 114
119
120
122
123
124
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
125
64 Loaf end 65 Actress Joanne 66 Punch actor George? 69 “If you cut your hair that way, Alice, you’re goin’ straight to the moon!” 71 One way to turn? 72 Wapiti 73 Courtroom VIPs 74 Reset setting 75 The real thing at southern diners? 79 Tool with many uses? 84 “Alley ___” 85 Ages and ages 86 One on a quest 87 Drain pain 88 Take a chance 90 “Mystery solved!” 91 Driver’s club 94 Boozehound 95 English school 96 What Dad the fisherman is tired of getting every Christmas? 102 Newbies 104 Building wing 105 Calendar pgs. 106 Grafton’s “___ for Alibi” 107 Arrest 109 Whence rock-androll came? 115 Cookie Monster’s usual newspaper request in New York?
Answers found on page 74
72 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010 72
83
106
110 111
118
ACROSS 1 Popular ocean liner name 8 Vietnam’s ___ Dinh Diem 11 Word before go or “go!” 15 Canadian prov. 18 Artist’s community 19 First Dog of the 1940s 20 Suggestion 21 Coffee container 22 Q: “How did you know I was a tea connoisseur?” A: “___” 24 Wins at cards, perhaps 25 In the past 26 Choice: abbr. 27 Mac’s intro 28 Glasses for really, really sensitive eyes? 31 Raft? 36 Drum site 37 Carte opener 38 Swiss river 39 Capek play 41 Meditation techniques 45 What the preacher’s kid likes to play? 52 Birds and snakes do it 53 Mugful for Muggeridge 54 School near PHX 55 Monorail relatives 56 Harry who does many voices on “The Simpsons” 58 Type of spy 60 Polite refusal
82
87
105 109
44
65
91
104
43
74
79
97
108
42
70
90 96
17
52
86
89
95
41
64
73
78
102
40
69
85
16
30
51
63
72
77
88
25
50
68
71
84
24
55
59
15
36
49
54
58
14
21
39
48
13
29
38
47
12
20
35
37
75
10
23
26
45
9
19
121
126 127 128
119 Great weight 120 Grad topper 122 Kimono closer 123 Furthermore 124 Filmin’ Jeremy? 129 “You rang?” 130 Wolf describer 131 High schooler 132 “Happy Days” malt shop 133 Feller’s tool 134 Some merinos 135 Tearful 136 Most cunning DOWN 1 Recedes, as the tide 2 Pitcher Jamie 3 Animal kingdom divisions 4 Speedwagon maker 5 Flightless bird 6 Knight’s title 7 Epsom product 8 Part of sonar: abbr. 9 Early orbiter 10 Camel stop 11 Start to smoke 12 Shorten a sentence? 13 In need of a massage 14 Walk in a showy way 15 University square 16 Implore 17 Slugger Slaughter 19 Co-star with Kate and Jaclyn 23 Really bother
Style & Culture 29 Ladies, first 30 Cafe emanation 32 Golfer Se Ri ___ 33 Casablanca visitor 34 Roasting platform? 35 Art, nowadays? 40 Gone up 42 Astronaut Cooper’s nickname 43 Last Oldsmobile model 44 Play the uke 45 Door feature 46 Medicinal herb 47 Room on the block? 48 Ex-senator Sam 49 Potpie morsels 50 Einstein’s birthplace 51 Republicans 57 It shines on Mejico 59 Raison d’___ 61 “Golden Boy” penner 62 TV diner 63 Floater on the Flood 64 Impulsiveness 67 “Like a Rock” singer 68 Skillful 69 Pitching error 70 Meso finish 73 Expected 75 Hard ___ (rare) 76 Like turnip fields 77 Ready to face 78 ___ pink 79 Corn-coction? 80 Where Yazd is 81 Other than this 82It’s on the house 83 Some noncoms 86 Elle, over here 89 Hiking cue, often 90 “... and pulled out ___” 92 Rhyme scheme 93 Seed covering 97 Plaza waif et al. 98 World finance org. 99 T-shirt material 100 ___ in the dark 101 Terre Haute sch. 103 Taste 108 Downstairs, at sea 110 Lab work 111 Entertainer Tessie 112 Early computer 113 French school 114 Smooths, in a way 115 Spanish painter 116Wild goat 117Workshop squeezer 118 Adjust, as a lute 121 (“Hey you ...”) 125 Big ref. 126 Org. under FDR 127 End for end? 128 Louis XIV, par exemple
8/19/2010 © M. Reagle
How Snooki Got Her Gucci: The Dirt on Purses By Simon Doonan There is a wicked new marketing strategy currently sending shock waves through the high-stakes competitive world of luxury fashion. It’s devious, delightful and deliciously dirty. Here’s the deal: Remember how Snooki, drunk or sober, was never seen without that Coach bag dangling from the crook of her arm? Snooki and her Coach were as synonymous as The Situation and his six-pack. But then the winds of change started blowing on Jersey Shore. Every photograph of Guido-huntin’ Snooki showed her toting a new designer purse. Why the sudden disloyalty? Was she vomiting into her purses and then randomly replacing them? The answer is much more intriguing. Allegedly, the anxious folks at these various luxury houses are all aggressively gifting our gal Snookums with free bags. No surprise, right? But here’s the shocker: They are not sending her their own bags. They are sending her each other’s bags! Competitors’ bags! Call it what you will—“preemptive product placement”? “unbranding”?—either way, it’s brilliant, and it makes total sense. As much as one might adore Miss Snickerdoodle, her ability to inspire dress-alikes among her fans is questionable. The bottom line? Nobody in fashion wants to co-brand with Snooki. As the Snookstress odyssey continues, it will be interesting to watch her bag evolution. Will Gucci send her a truckload of Goyard? Will Goyard then deluge her with Valextra? Snooki’s meteoric and lucrative ascent means that she will soon be able to sidestep the whole issue and buy her own Birkin, thereby precipitating a mass Jonestown suicide over at Maison Hermes. I feel a certain solidarity with Snooki: I too have been a pawn/victim of preemptive product placement, or PEPP. Let me explain: For a number of years now, I have been a loyal devotee of the Gucci shoe. They are comfy and classy, and the commitment to prominent logo placement appeals to my unapologetic nouveau riche sensibility. Wherever possible, I purchase these sneakers and slipons at Barneys, enjoying as I do after 25 years of loyal service an anesthetizing discount. However, being small of foot, I am often forced to patronize a Gucci flagship in order to acquire the requisite size. Earlier this year, following a series of full-retail purchases at the Fifth Avenue store, I took it into my head to request, by repeated e-mail, a “press discount.” These attempts have been totally unsuccessful: No discount has been forthcoming. When Snooki PEPP rumors began to fly, it suddenly occurred to me that I was in the same boat as the reality mega-star: The Gucci folks would clearly prefer to discourage my loyalty rather than foster it. Snooki and I are the Typhoid Marys of the luxury branding world. Oh! There’s the doorbell! Must dash! It’s probably a Fed Ex package of Crocs—anonymously sent by Gucci—in a desperate attempt to release my corrosive death grip on their sacred image.
The National Newsroom
Personal Finance Poor little rich girls Continued from Page 70
followers achieve material results: They are already rich. Yet the program clearly filled a gap in the lives of Sara and Clare Bronfman. A former NXIVM employee familiar with both told me that Clare struck him as withdrawn and awkward with people, whereas the more sociable Sara’s malaise was a more typical case of someone with too many parties to attend and too few responsibilities to uphold. Both sisters likely suffered from an inferiority complex in the shadow of their self-made socialite mother. The Bronfman family has of late exhibited a rapidly diminishing ability to control its own wealth. In 2003 Edgar Bronfman Sr., who initially encouraged his once directionless daughters’ journeys of personal growth, said he believed Raniere was operating a cult. He has since remained silent about Raniere. Until Sara and Clare Bronfman bolt from NXIVM, anyone who flees Raniere’s discipleship risks legal hell. Several have been bankrupted, and few have escaped unsued. The defection, meanwhile, of Bouchey, who retained power lawyer Nathan Goldberg (of Allred, Maroko & Goldberg) to represent her in court against the Bronfmans, could prove to be Raniere’s undoing. Bouchey controlled the purse strings of Raniere’s operation for a decade, until she left abruptly with eight other followers in April 2009. In a deposition taken that summer, she detailed how the sisters handed over their wealth to Raniere. When the sisters’ trust funds ran out, Bouchey took the pair to Citibank to open two $20 million lines of credit using their future inheritance as collateral—a move that first required a change in trustee. Because Edgar Sr.’s father, Samuel, structured the Bronfman family trust to favor younger generations, there was little any concerned party could do to stop them. It is no accident Sara and her sister were ripe targets for Raniere’s capitalist mysticism. The Bronfman family has floated for generations on a fortune amassed by bootlegging Canadians during Prohibition. Its scions can hardly be blamed for losing their grip on reality. And who, without a tether to reality, could be expected to hold on to money? Lucky for the Bronfmans—and for Raniere— they have plenty more to lose.
S-Capade by Merl Reagle
E B B S
M O Y E R
P H Y L A
J A M B
A L O E
C E L L
T O G E T
R O O T Y
U P F O R
G O Y A
I B E X
V I S E
R E S S EM I A OUR L T P I D S A L A K S I N A S U E N T S A N R E D EGR I EON OR I T N T H OS E N A B EME T P L U L ON EWE
E A T A T O D E T S E L O I S E S
F A R R A H M E L S A P L U M
NGO A L A V E S N I G A N S I R R E P U L E L S A AM R S B K D A MU L S E E K H A E L I C MO T O F T E S T S HOO T E E N S A D
74 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
L I G H T U P
E D I T
R I S H E A N S T I E R A A N S H E ON T I A C
T E N S E T H E G O P A B A B N R A
S Q A U S A H A D A R YOG MO E A R L D S Z O OO L I E C L A S R I E I S L U E C I RO NO L G I E
U R G E
E N O S
A L E R O
S T R U M
R O O F
S G T S
S A N D S
P S S T
Strategies for avoiding new bank fees By Kathy Kristof, Tribune Media Services
It may be time to revamp your banking relationships. With financial reform choking off a variety of bank fees and other traditional sources of bank revenue, consumers are likely to see their financial institutions shift costs and service charges to areas unaffected by regulatory reform, said Adam Levin, co-founder of the credit-shopping website Credit.com. That means your checking account might cost more, your credit-card reward program might provide less and your best bet for borrowing may not be the neighborhood bank. “The landscape is changing radically,” Levin said. “You have to look at this whole thing like a chessboard. You can’t watch only one piece and think you’re seeing the whole picture.” In an environment where banking wisely can be a strategy game, how do you set yourself up for a win? There are new options to consider these days. Shop around. You need a checking account, but do you need a local bank? The answer to that question pivots on whether you bank in person. If the last time you saw a teller was 1967, you may be the perfect candidate for a “reward checking” plan, said Gregg McBride, financial analyst with BankRate.com, a rate-comparison site. What’s reward checking? It’s a free account with strings. Specifically, you must agree to have your checks directly deposited, use your debit card several times a month and pay your bills online. If you do that, you earn interest on your checking balance that rivals CD rates, which are about 10 times higher than the typical rate paid on interestbearing checking accounts. A recent BankRate survey found more than 40 institutions offering these accounts, McBride said. The banks were predominantly small community banks, credit unions and banks that did business solely over the Internet. Customers can get cash through automated-teller-machine networks and the use of their debit cards, but the banks don’t have convenient branch networks. “It’s not a fit for everyone, but for those who like banking electronically, you get paid for doing stuff you’re already doing,” McBride said. “You can earn 2.5 percent to 3 percent interest on your balance for having direct deposit, getting your statements online and using your debit card 10 times a month. For a lot of people, that’s like getting up and tying your shoes in the morning. It’s nothing that you wouldn’t do anyway.” Connect your accounts. There are two reasons to connect your savings and checking accounts. One involves overdrafts; the other offers a potential for free checking. By connecting accounts, you can avoid fees for careless errors, such as when you overspend by $5 at the grocery store and get hit with a $35 overdraft charge. If you connect your checking account to a credit card or savings account, you’ll pay a fee to transfer money from savings to checking when necessary, but
it will be a lot less than the standard overdraft charge for so-called automatic overdraft protection. Banks must get you to “opt in” to this costly overdraft protection under new rules. Don’t. Connecting your checking and savings accounts gives you the same protection at a fraction of the cost. The other benefit of connecting accounts is to vault over minimum-balance requirements that determine whether you can get your checking account free. In the new environment, it’s likely that minimumbalance requirements will rise, Levin said. That may make it smart to put more accounts under one roof. In many cases, banks will look at your entire “relationship”—mortgage, checking, savings and credit cards—to determine whether to charge a fee for any given service. And it’s common to aggregate the deposits you have in savings, checking and certificates of deposit to figure whether you meet minimum-balance requirements. Banks aren’t paying great rates on checking or savings accounts. But if having $2,500 in checking means you avoid a $6 monthly fee, that’s the equivalent of a 3 percent return, which isn’t half bad in today’s rate environment. Manage rewards. If you’re a good credit risk, now is the time to shop for a rewards credit card, McBride said. Fair Isaac Corp., which developed the ubiquitous FICO score, says that roughly one-quarter of Americans are now in the ratings basement with scores below 600. But more than half of the population have enviable scores of 700 or more. That makes them attractive to card issuers, which are competing for business again. Half a dozen banks have lengthened the duration of low-rate “introductory” offers, allowing customers to enjoy 12 to 18 months of cheap or free credit, according to Bill Hardekopf of LowCards.com, another rate-shopping site. Several issuers have also revamped their reward programs. These new programs can help careful users get more points for their purchases, but they also give banks potentially valuable information about you. “Credit card companies have always had a lot of information about what you’re buying,” said Murali Subbarao, founder and CEO of the website Billeo. com. “With these reward programs, they get some new information on how responsive you are to offers.” Airline reward cards, the traditional favorite, are looking less attractive these days, McBride said. The reason: The cards provide as many “points” as before, but the airlines are making those points more difficult to redeem. “If you are a good credit risk, now is the time to shop around,” McBride said. “There’s a lot of innovation going on in this space.” 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.
Presents
The Only Latin Night Under the Stars
WEDNESDAYS 9:30 PM
rhumbarlv.com
Arts & Entertainment art
Ghost Town No More
The Goldwell Open Air Museum uses the desert as a canvas and the ruins of a past society to create a new one
By Gregory Crosby
Photo by David Lancaster
“The Last Supper,” by Charles Albert Szukalski.
The ruins of the once-bustling mining town Rhyolite aren’t a surprise to travelers in Nevada—the state is dotted with the remains of minings boom and bust—but those strange figures in the foreground, just down the slope from the shell of the bank building and the abandoned train depot, are a different story: a pinkand-blond cinderblock bombshell beauty; a big-hipped wooden figure with arms thrown wide to the sky; the iron silhouette of a miner and his, uh, giant penguin; a convocation of hooded white ghosts whose arrangement eerily recalls the composition of Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” These incongruous sculptures at the foot of a ghost town make up the core of one of Nevada’s most vibrant arts institutions: the Goldwell Open Air Museum. Just outside Beatty, “the Gateway to Death Valley,” about 115 miles north of Las Vegas, the Goldwell Open Air Museum began with those plaster ghosts. Belgian sculptor Charles Albert Szukalski created “The Last Supper” in 1984; the eerie white shrouded figures almost glow supernaturally against the dark mountains. Szukalski was later joined by European artists who wanted to create site-specific works in the desert. Dr. Hugo Heyrman created that pink bombshell (“Lady Desert: The Venus of Nevada,” 1992), Dre Peeters contributed a female version of the Icarus myth (“Icara,” 1992), and Fred Bervoets is responsible for that miner and his penguin (“Tribute to Shorty Harris,” 1994), which sup-
posedly represented Bervoets’ feelings of alienation. Szukalski and his fellow Europeans (plus one American, David Spicer) loved the backdrop of Rhyolite and the Amargosa Valley, finding it a perfect setting for evocative, large-scale sculptures. Szukalski later added two more sculptures: “Ghost Rider” (a shrouded plaster ghost contemplating a bicycle) and “Desert Flower” (an explosive assemblage of found metals and car parts that blooms upward like a yucca plant). The pell-mell development of Goldwell means the site doesn’t feel like a traditional sculpture park; rather, it feels as if the works are relics of the ghost town that forms their backdrop. For several years, however, Goldwell was only a setting for an admittedly eclectic group of pieces; chances were high that the sculptures, exposed to the constants of sun and wind, would suffer the same slow decay as the ghost town behind them. It took the interest and dedication of two Las Vegas artists, Charles Morgan and Suzanne Hackett-Morgan, to transform an aesthetic oddity into a full-fledged arts center. Both had loved the site since the mid-’90s, when they curated a show about Goldwell at the Contemporary Arts Collective Gallery (inside the Arts Factory) and set up a website devoted to it; when Szukalski died in 2000, his partner donated the site to the nonprofit organization the Morgans created to preserve it. Beyond preservation, they sought to establish a
studio and residency program for artists to work in and be inspired by the Amargosa desert in the same way it inspired Szukalski. “Before Albert died, he said to me, ‘Keep it going,’” Hackett-Morgan says. “He loved it out there and wanted others to experience the creative energy of the place, which is inexplicably present. Everything we’ve done out there over the past 10 years has been based on that generous idea.” Incorporating an existing structure on the property into their vision, they created the Red Barn Art Center, a facility for artist residencies, workshops and exhibitions. Starting in 2007-08, Goldwell hosted its first three residencies: Phoebe Brush, Maria Arango and Eames Demetrios (whose “Rhyolite District of Shadows” plaque is part of an ongoing, large-scale conceptual piece titled “Kymerica.”). The following year, it hosted nine artists in multiple disciplines from around the country. The most recent residencies included a fascinating light installation by mixed-media artist Paul Catanese and “Ghost Music,” a sound installation and performance by Matt Sargent and Chris Kallmyer. “We have been very fortunate to have had incredible, top-flight contemporary artists as part of our program,” Hackett-Morgan says. “They’ve been a nice blend of established professionals, like Andrea Polli and Chuck Varga (the ‘it’ arts couple of the moment), and emerging talent. Giving Nevadans an opportunity to see what is Continued on Page 78 August 19-25, 2010 Vegas Seven 77
Arts & Entertainment
Reading
Two Epics of Epic Epicness
Book or movie?
From book to movie, one child of the ’80s reviews the Scott Pilgrim Gen-Y franchise By Jens Rushing
Scott Pilgrim is the quintessential indie slacker: occasionally employed, bumming off others, obsessed with video games and comics, but basically a good guy. He’s living with his friend, not doing much with his life, when he meets the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers. She’s got dyed hair, aviator goggles and the ability to travel the subspace highways through Scott’s brain. But if Scott wants to date her, he must first defeat her Seven Evil Ex-Boyfriends. This battle for true love is complicated by Scott’s own exes, ambitious bandmates and Knives Chau, Scott’s clingy high school sorta-girlfriend—but mostly by Scott himself.
The Book:
It’s been six years since we first let Scott Pilgrim (Oni Press) into our hearts. Like Scott himself, the sixth and final installment of this graphic novel series is energetic and lovable. Without the fight-to-the-death twist, the series would be a standard (albeit sharply written) romantic comedy, a story of nice young Canadians struggling toward identity through dating and playing in bands with each other. But the addition of the “video game fiction” elements gives cartoonist/writer Bryan Lee O’Malley extra allegorical power: The battles with the Exes are fantastical spectacles, and the protagonists’ psychological struggles take place in their actual headspaces. This supra-real video gaminess not only makes for a constant nostalgia-fest for anyone born between 1980 and 1985, it also intensifies the characters’ emotional tribulations. It’s one thing for two girls to argue over Scott, quite another for them to fight with giant magical hammers. In the beginning of Volume 6, Ramona has vanished in a flash of her own guilt, all Scott’s friends hate him, and Gideon Graves, the enigmatic final Evil Ex, is asking Scott when it “would be convenient for him to die.” Scott must overcome his PSP-fueled daze, defeat Gideon and win back his true love. Readers of the previous volumes know what to expect: pop-cultural references, rapid-fire jokes and O’Malley’s hyperkinetic Amerimanga art style. The pleasant surprise is how much O’Malley’s skills have improved over the course of the series. The execution of the book seems effortless. The final confrontation, which takes almost half of the 250-page book, is flawlessly written and backed up with some of O’Malley’s best art yet. Compare the final pages of this volume with the first and it’s remarkable how far O’Malley has come. Remarkable, too, is the quality of his dialogue. O’Malley’s ear for dialogue perfectly captures the rhythms and slang of Generation Y. If you’ve followed the books, this volume delivers payoff after payoff. If you haven’t, you should start with Volume 1.
The Movie:
If you were raised by your Nintendo, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a nostalgic bacchanal; for anyone else, it’s a very good action-comedy with a decent romance at the center. Scott and his peers interpret their private emotional struggles through the metaphors of video games, comic books and rock ’n’ roll. And because it’s a movie, these metaphors become real. When Scott fights Ramona’s Evil Exes, they rocket through the air like Mortal Kombat characters, delivering brutal combo attacks straight out of Street Fighter and Killer Instinct. When he defeats one, they burst into coins, à la Final Fantasy and any number of other games. This style is a new kind of expressionism—the characters’ emotions physically distorting the world around them. The technique works because of Edgar Wright’s supremely assured direction. Anyone who’s seen Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz knows that he delivers on action as well as comedy, and Pilgrim is a sublime blend of the two. Wright retains a lot of visual elements from the comics: Sound effects and subtitles fly across the screen, and comic panels sometimes break up the action. With the frenetic pacing and the wild but appropriate use of CGI, the experience is dizzying and delightful. An excellent soundtrack rounds it out. Beck wrote many of the original songs, returning to the fuzzed-out garage rock of his early days. Francis Black and Broken Social Scene contribute tracks as well. The cast is a treat, too. Say what you will about his extended cinematic adolescence, Michael Cera captures Scott’s oversized emotions. Newcomer Ellen Wong is a joy as Knives Chau, flipping from hyperkinetic to despondent and back again. Alison Pill is perfect as Kim Pine, a prickly ex-girlfriend and drummer for Scott’s band, Sex Bob-omb. And Kieran Culkin steals scenes as Scott’s roommate. The only flat note is Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona, who errs on the side of deadpan. Scott Pilgrim is destined to become a cult favorite. It pops with sharp jokes and spectacle, and is just intelligent enough to stay interesting through repeat viewings.
Plot: Cartoonist O’Malley hadn’t finished the final volumes before the movie wrapped; he sent director/ co-screenwriter Wright his notes, but said that, ultimately, “their ending is their ending.” It shows; the ending of the books is psychologically complex and deeply satisfying, while the film boils down to a conventional—though wellexecuted—action-movie finale. Edge: Book Character: The books are renowned for their subtle character development. The film had to cram six novels—taking place over a year—into 112 minutes of screen time and one week of plot time. The central romance suffers, and peripheral characters are simplified or removed. Edge: Book Spectacle: O’Malley’s Amerimanga style develops over the course of the six years in which he wrote the series, graduating from juvenile to masterful. It’s always expressive, though, and his use of paneling and format is innovative. But Wright’s realization is much more than a simple adaptation. He adds a new layer of creativity to something that was already fresh and unique, and the result is one of the most visually interesting films of the year. Edge: Film Winner: The book! But, fortunately, you don’t have to choose. Like 2001, the movie is one of those adaptations that forges a new identity for itself, complementing rather than merely reproducing its source material. Consume them both!
Goldwell Openair Art Musem Continued from Page 77
going on in other places and to see their familiar landscape interpreted through another’s experience and approach is really an important part of what Goldwell does.” In addition to the supported residency program, the experience Goldwell offers is available to the public through both workspace residencies and its new 78
Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
Goldwell Gatherings series: workshops and art/design symposia featuring prominent national and regional talent. The first will be the “Gathering of Desert Photographers,” a three-day event on Oct. 14-17 bringing together photographers, curators and writers with an interest in the desert as an artspace.
What distinguishes nonprofit groups such as the Goldwell Open Air Museum from the merely out-of-the-way art oddities that dot the West is its dedication to an ongoing dialogue between artists and the landscape. More than merely preserving Szukalski’s vision, Goldwell extends it, giving artists from across the
spectrum the chance to experience the Nevada landscape and incorporate it into their own art, turning the seed of Szukalski’s “Last Supper” into an everlasting feast of artistic possibility. For more information, call 497-6816, or visit goldwellmuseum.org.
Sites to see By Geoff Carter FORWARD INTO THE PAST (paleofuture.com) Yes, I wonder what happened to the flying cars we were once promised. I wonder also what became of the space colonies, plastic skyscrapers and the robot armies that would subjugate humanity and force it to build more robots. Answer: They all moved into Paleo Future. It’s a forward-looking journal of all the predicted futures that failed to materialize, beginning in the 1870s and continuing through to the 1990s. (In 1995, for example, Newsweek ran an article by Clifford Stoll that reads in part, “Nicholas Negroponte, director of the MIT Media Lab, predicts that we’ll soon buy books and newspapers straight over the Internet. Uh, sure.”)
ALL THE SINGLE LADIES, PUT YOUR DUKES UP (myfaultimfemale.wordpress.com) If you’re among the ever-dwindling minority whom still resolutely believe that a woman can’t change a tire, haggle with a repairman or run the State Department, there are a few ladies at My Fault, I’m Female standing with fists ready to have a meaningful exchange with your face. MFIF is a user-populated journal documenting the last days of sexism (one hopes), and it’s loaded with rants against bosses, sales clerks, boyfriends, mechanics and meddling mothers that would be kind of funny if the situations that inspired them had happened in a sitcom … from 1955. There hasn’t been a site that cuts this sharp since DisgruntledHousewife.com pulled the plug on The Dick List in 2008. Want to stay off MFIF’s radar? Then don’t be a dick, man. It’s not complicated.
YOUR VEGAS CAMERA (nickleonard.tumblr.com) At the top of Nick Leonard’s Tumblr blog is a terse declaration of self and purpose: “17, Las Vegas native. Document everything.” He’s not being rude; judging from his prolific photographic output; short sentences may be all Leonard has time for. His blog overflows with brilliant street photography—pictures of Vegas’ people and places whose stylishness and inventiveness make you proud to live here. He makes this city look like what it is: a wholly unparalleled civic miracle. Journalist Geoff Carter is a Las Vegas native living in Seattle, land of virtual titillation. August 19-25, 2010 Vegas Seven 79
Arts & Entertainment
Music
His highness at his club in The Mirage.
King of Kings Guitar legend and Las Vegas fixture B.B. King dishes on his musician peers
B.B. King claims residency in Las Vegas. He also has a club that bears his name that opened in November at The Mirage. Still, don’t expect to find him lounging at home. At 84, King still tours much of the year, including two shows Aug. 16-17 at the B.B. King’s Blues Club. Vegas Seven caught up with him and collected some stories from the blues god about his fellow musicians:
main showroom, he had to want you to come. And my manager sent Frank Sinatra a telegram asking if I could come in. And he sent a telegram right back to us that said, ‘Hell yes.’ He was at Caesars Palace then. We used to be in Nero’s Nook. It was a boat. That is where I could play. And we did well when Sinatra was there. We met, and I would see him occasionally until he died.”
On Willie Nelson: “Do you know what my favorite song is? You ain’t going to believe this. It is by Willie Nelson. It is called ‘Always on My Mind.’ That song says a lot of things I would like to say to a lot of my old loves and a lot of my old friends. … When I first met him, I was in Nashville. I believe the place was called Exit Inn. This particular night I was feeling good, I was still drinking then and I was just about to sing ‘Nightlife,’ and I raised up and looked right into Willie’s face, and my knees started wobbling. I had the St. Vitus Dance. I said his name, and he was really nice. He came up and shook hands with me, and treated me like he’d known me for years. We’ve been the best of friends since that night.”
On Keith Richards: “Keith and I used to argue all the time. They were friendly arguments. We argued about guitar playing and girls. You name it, he has been on my case about it. He is a great guitar player. He and the Edge of U2 are two of the greatest rhythm guitarist alive. They are different. Edge is one guy that plays a whole orchestra behind U2.”
On Frank Sinatra: “How I got into Vegas was through Frank Sinatra. I don’t know how it is now, but it used to be if you were coming to Vegas, whoever the star was in the 80 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
On Eric Clapton: “Eric is a good friend of mine. I didn’t have an electric guitar until I was like 16 because we did not have electricity. So, when I got an electric guitar I stuck with it. I still do. But when we did a record together, ‘Key to the Highway,’ he wanted me to do acoustic sound, and I didn’t want to do it. And had it not been for him, I wouldn’t have. The album is called Riding With the King. We both play acoustic guitars on ‘Key to the Highway.’ Eric is not just a great guy, but he is very wise when it comes to music and recording.”
Photo by Denise Truscello
By Richard Abowitz
with Corinne Bailey Rae with Tift Merritt
AUGUST 21
AUGUST 22
SEPTEMBER 3
PLUS! NOTRE DAME CHAMP MIKE LEE
SEPTEMBER 4
SEPTEMBER 10
SEPTEMBER 11
SEPTEMBER 16
with Beach House & The Very Best
with Anthrax with Neon Indian
SEPTEMBER 17
SEPTEMBER 22
SEPTEMBER 29
OCTOBER 20
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 Tickets available at .com Pearl Box Office | 702.944.3200 | palmspearl.com 4321 W. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, NV 89103 | 702.942.7777 | palms.com
©2010 Fiesta Palms LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Arts & Entertainment S E X Y
I N T I M A T E
B O U T I Q U E
Music Soundscraper
Zines, crushed dreams and spooky things By Jarret Keene
702.823.2210 • 8665 W. Flamingo, Suite129 • Las Vegas, NV 89147
82 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
For the first time in the seven months I’ve been writing this column, I’m profoundly disappointed in you, dear readers. The Swell Season, the celebrated folk-rock duo comprising Irish singer/songwriter Glen Hansard and Czech pianist Markéta Irglová (who together starred in the best rock ’n’ roll film ever made, Once), was set to play this weekend, with ads targeting KNPR listeners. The Swell Season’s sophomore record, Strict Joy, was a highlight of 2009, earning uniformly positive reviews. And like more than a few really cool shows slated for Crown Theater in the Rio this year, the Season’s show was canceled due to poor ticket sales. Same thing happened last month to country-rocker Shooter Jennings, Waylon’s son, who just released his career-defining album, Black Ribbons. (This show has yet to be rescheduled.) Actually, just about every Crown show I wanted to see has been canceled. Now Crown has a new booking agent, Case Colcord, who replaces the departing Joe Rinaldi and is bringing in fewer indie-rock and more mainstream acts. Look for a Sept. 15 UFC event hosted by Five Finger Death Punch and a Sept. 16 Bettie Page fashion show to be announced this week. In sum, let me get this off my chest: Dear indie-rock brethren, please kill your bullshit, sad-sack $150 per month cable bills and invest in live-music tix for cool bands. Otherwise no one talented will come to Vegas, and the Crown will degenerate into featuring Steel Panther weekly. Seriously, heed my advice: You’ll thank me later. OK, now for sunnier news. Local spoken-word bard/ graveyard-shift cab driver Jeff Grindley has done the community a service by installing the LV Zine Library inside The Beat (the new downtown coffeehouse located inside
Emergency Arts). For those who’ve never heard of zines, they were big in the preInternet-saturated ’90s, when everyone in their teens and 20s worked at Kinko’s and had access to photocopiers and colorful paper and self-published their thoughts, writings and comics. Grindley’s library has already grown into the hundreds in the few weeks it has been open. But local punkers will get a particular kick (or Mohawked headbutt) out of the selection of music zines. Twenty-year-old copies of Flipside and Maximumrocknroll are neatly arranged inside adorable shelves, and last weekend I spent much time flipping through their pages and waxing nostalgic. The lost treasure in this library is Tippy Elvis #2, a zine created to promote the Dayvid Figler-fronted punk-rock polka band of the same name. A lot of imagination went into this publication. (There are comic-book interpretations of Figler’s lyrics courtesy of artist and Tippy teammate Sean Jones.) Not to get grumpy again, but to fully understand what bands lost by submitting to the homogenized promotional fascism of Facebook, you really need to see this thing. Please don’t take zines home! It’s not a lending library, more like special collections. For more info, go to lvzinelibrary.blogspot.com. Got an extra ZZ Top ticket? Contact jarret_keene@yahoo.com.
Five Finger Death Punch
Arts & Entertainment
CD Reviews
By Jarret Keene
RETRO-POP
Magic Kids Memphis (True Panther) Lots of yesteryear-sounding pop being produced these days, from the Paul Simon-homage of Vampire Weekend to the Jesus & Mary Chain-style surf-rock of Best Coast. Now we have Memphis’ Magic Kids, who seek to bottle the old lightning generated by Southern soul-pop geniuses such as Van Dyke Parks and the late Alex Chilton. Magic Kids almost succeed, and not for lack of trying. The naïve, skip-inthe-Sesame Street-sidewalk piano/synth chords of “Phone Call” are pure pleasure, as singer Bennett Foster pledges to wait as long as it takes for his girl to ring him. The Brill Building construction of “Candy” is another sugary knockout, with Foster artlessly boasting of a certain girl’s sweet kisses. By the third diabetes-inducing song (“Superball”), however, the innocence becomes exhausting, to the point that the listener may even long for the complex nuances of, say, a Carole King tune. Nothing wrong with looking backward for inspiration, but silly lyrics can’t be forgiven. ★★★✩✩
TRUE-AMERICANA
Dylan LeBlanc Pauper’s Field (Rough Trade) How in hell does a 20-year-old singer/songwriter—a mere baby—from Shreveport, La., manage to create such gritty, mature music? Genes help apparently, as LeBlanc’s dad was a sideman for the legendary Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama. Plus, the young buck gets a little help from the Queen of Country herself, Emmylou Harris, on the stark, haunting “If the Creek Don’t Rise,” a metaphor about love, in which if you’re not careful, can wash everything away. Any country star—Merle Haggard, Ryan Adams, Taylor Swift—could benefit from covering a literate, lovesick song penned by LeBlanc. He even brings back the antihero folk-ballad with “Death of Outlaw Billy John,” a dark and powerful narrative to stoke the fire of envy in the Boss. And when a penitent murderer ponders his fate in “No Kind of Forgiveness,” you’d better be prepared to have your soul shaken and stirred. Damn these kids today! ★★★★✩
EMO-GAZE
Constants If Tomorrow the War (Science of Silence) Is the world ready for a diabolical blend of eardrumstomping shoe-gazing and melodic emo-metalcore? It’s here in the form of Constants, a Boston trio whose full-length sophomore effort, 2009’s epic The Foundation, The Machine, The Ascension earned raves. This time, Constants convinced Godflesh/Jesu mastermind Justin K. Broadrick to produce, his artsy yet visceral touch pushing what could’ve easily become a pale Isis imitation into something more fractured and ambient-inclined. The shimmering, synth-smeared, fever-dream instrumental “Halloween in New Orleans” could fit on an M83 record, while the majestic “Maya Ruin” is hook-laden enough for the Hot Topic crowd without discouraging those of us (people over 30) who loathe the sight of kids who stretch their ears. The indie-metal brigade, meanwhile, will suffer plenty of headbanged-up injuries courtesy of the walloping “Spiders in White.” Something different for those loitering on the heavier end of the musical spectrum. ★★★★✩ 84 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
Arts & Entertainment
Movies
They met at a barre: Amanda Schull and Chi Cao as Elizabeth Mackey and Li Cunxin.
Let Freedom Ring
This wonderfully choreographed film tells the gripping true story of Mao’s Last Dancer By Rex Reed
At last, a highly recommended experience you must not miss. A giant hit at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival, Mao’s Last Dancer, by the great Australian director Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy), is a feel-good film bursting with courage, energy and overwhelming inspiration. Based on the best-selling memoirs by dance sensation Li Cunxin, it’s the epic saga of a poor Chinese peasant boy under the dictatorship of Mao Zedong, plucked from a crude one-room schoolhouse in the remote rural province of Shandong at age 11 and sent to ballet school at Madame Mao’s Dance Academy in Beijing, eventually becoming a principal dancer with the Houston Ballet and ending up a celebrated international star. Unbelievable but true, it’s as entertaining as it is astounding. In the cherished tradition of heartbreaking movies about personal triumph against impossible odds, it’s a combination of Billy Elliot and Rocky. The extraordinary journey of this remarkable young man that Beresford and award-winning screenwriter Jan Sardi (Shine) bring so memorably to life in overlapping periods, begins in obscure poverty when he is taken from his home, family and the villagers who love him and plunged into a
86 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
strange world of rigorous training to perfect a pure technique he never quite understands. His ironic discovery by Ben Stevenson (the artistic director of the Houston Ballet and part of the first American cultural delegation to communist China), who saw potential in Li and became his mentor, advanced the boy another step up the ladder to success. At 19, granted unheard of permission from Mao’s regime as one of the first exchange students to travel abroad on a three-month student visa in 1980, Li faced new hurdles. His parents expected him to bring honor to their humble station, his country expected him to represent China like a good, loyal and cynical comrade, drawing attention to communism while trusting no one. Terrified and confused, he was the first boy from his province to travel to Beijing, much less the world beyond. Landing in the United States in a stiff, outdated Chinese government-issued suit, he was like Dorothy arriving in Oz. Housed and guided by the kind but flamboyant Stevenson (wonderfully acted by Bruce Greenwood), it didn’t take long for Li to overcome culture shock, adjust to alien Chinese restaurants, and realize the communist propaganda drummed into his head about America as a place of deprivation and darkness was a lot of hokum. The more he experiences of Texas cook-
ing, kung-fu movies, kitchen appliances, American hospitality and tennis shoes, the more distanced he grows from the ideals of communism and the rigid dogma of Chairman Mao. (Against the rules of the Cultural Revolution, he also discovers the thrill of admiring political defectors such as Nureyev and Baryshnikov without fear of arrest.) Capitalism, he confesses, is groovy. The plan was to return home after three months, but no amount of bureaucratic red tape can trump the power of talent, love and artistic freedom. Through Stevenson’s faith and encouragement, Li made a career-changing debut as a principal soloist dancing Don Quixote to great acclaim, fell in love with another dancer and married her. Then, when all attempts to extend his visit were denied, he refused to leave, making international headlines with a wrenching defection that got him kidnapped and held hostage inside the Chinese Embassy in Houston. Facing world outrage, the Chinese finally granted him the freedom to seek political asylum, causing cruel repercussions for his family in China. Distilling so much drama and turmoil into two hours is not easy, but by the time the film completes Li’s long and arduous journey in 1986, when his parents were finally allowed to fly to the United States to see him dance for the first time, you will marvel at how much is accomplished. I predict the highly charged emotional finale will leave you cheering. Cunxin also danced in his native China with the Houston Ballet in 1995, bringing joy and redemption to his family in a performance broadcast to 500 million people. Today he lives with his second wife, dancer Mary McKendry, and their three children in Melbourne, Australia, where he has changed careers to become a senior stockbroker. Beresford gets it right. A no-frills traditionalist who knows exactly what he’s doing, he does not monkey around with lap dissolves, incomprehensible time frames, computerized special effects, fast cuts and other smart-aleck camera tricks, yet always keeping the audience fluidly involved. The beauty of Beijing and the rugged, sweeping Chinese sequences, filmed on actual locations, are the real deal. The choreography in the ballet numbers is magnificent. Three fine actors play Li Cunxin at different stages of his life: Huang Wen Bin as the child, Chengwu Guo as the teenager, and Chi Cao, a handsome principal with England’s Birmingham Royal Ballet, making an impressive film debut as the grown-up Li. They are all awesome. Veteran actress Joan Chen, as Li’s mother, Kyle MacLachlan as Li’s lawyer, and a number of ballet luminaries as Li’s wives, friends and partners, are exceptional. Beresford gives them all resonance as characters while never losing the emotional arc of the narrative. As this first-cabin director returns to top form, his best film in years is a revelation. More than that, Mao’s Last Dancer is a masterpiece. Rex Reed is the movie critic for the New York Observer.
Resized 9.0 by 11.0 to 9.875 by 11.875 and Adjusted to 98.9% Vertical and 98.9% Horizontal
Arts & Entertainment
Movies
A Good Crone Atones Children’s franchise recovers with polished sequel By Cole Smithey A vast improvement over the 2005 franchise introduction of co-writer/actress Emma Thompson’s Mary-Poppinsish household savior, Nanny McPhee Returns finds modern-day meaning in its World War II-era English trappings. Gone is the garish fluorescent neon color palate and mean-spirited themes that attended the poorly contrived initial installment. Where Nanny McPhee was based on the first of Christianna Brand’s Nurse Matilda books, the sequel departs from the series to find the diabolically ugly nanny coming to the aid of struggling farmowner Isabel Green (excellently played by Maggie Gyllenhaal). Her husband (Ewan McGregor) away at war, Isabel has her hands full with three children and two visiting hoity-toity London cousins. With her handy magical cane and unsightly unibrow, McPhee arrives to make good on her promise to teach the unruly children her “five lessons” that will leave the family members “wanting,” but not “needing,” her continued service. A constant threat of foreclosure is conveyed daily by Isabel’s shady brother-in-law, Phil (Rhys Ifans), whose unpaid gambling debts include his half of the farm. Pursued by two dubious “hit women” debt collectors who threaten to relieve Phil of his kidneys unless he pays up, Phil tries desperately to get Isabel to sign away her half of the farm. The circumstances are right out of 2010, when families are losing their homes while family members serve in far-away wars. Director Susanna White sculpts rather than hammers the themes that magically remove McPhee’s
Not Mary Poppins: Emma Thompson as Nanny McPhee and Maggie Gyllenhaal as overwhelmed mother Isabel Green.
unsightly features one-by-one as her lessons are gradually adhered to by the children. Gooey-eyed reveries of talented piglets that climb trees and do synchronized swimming give the movie an innocent flair of magical influence. Simon Elliott’s production design is beautifully detailed and allows the viewer to savor everything that cinematographer Mike Eley (Touching the Void) allows into the frame of largely Oxfordshire locations. The story’s emphasis is as much on children taking responsibility for their actions as it is about adults owning up for theirs. The film’s defining
sequence finds newly bonded cousins chaperoned to London’s War Office in McPhee’s trusty sidecar motorcycle to meet with Lord Gray (Ralph Fiennes) about Mr. Green’s war status. The boys speak with a disarming sincerity that melts your heart. Braveness too is on McPhee’s list of must-have qualities, and it isn’t exhibited in a way that you might expect. There’s more than a little movie magic here and some very tidy performances from Gyllenhaal and Thompson to boot.
Nanny McPhee returns (PG-13)
Short reviewS
★★★✩✩
By Cole Smithey and Sharon Kehoe
Movie tiMeS
Step Up 3D (PG-13)
★★✩✩✩
Spectacular dancing couldn’t save the embarrassingly awful story and acting that is Step Up 3D. But if you’ve seen the first two, then you already know what this one’s about. Cast purely by Abercrombie good looks and dancing alone, the actors brought nothing to the characters. Although director Jon Chu executes the dancing and 3-D astoundingly, this dance flick is a total dud. Gene Kelly would surely be pissed. 88 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
eat Pray Love (PG-13)
★✩✩✩✩
Stuffed with navel-picking excess, the movie adaptation of the best-selling book is just as crass as Sex and the City. An unintended indictment of everything wrong with Americans’ sense of entitlement, the narrative follows Liz ( Julia Roberts) as she travels to Rome, India and Bali, where she eats, prays and loves, respectively. Money shots of iconic landmarks are reduced to blinks while the film runs 40 minutes too long.
the other Guys (PG-13)
★★✩✩✩
Co-writer/director Adam McKay (Step Brothers) gives absurdist humor to a buddy film that never quite finds its pitch. Detectives Allen (Will Ferrell) and Terry (Mark Wahlberg) attempt to fill the shoes of their doomed predecessors (Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson). Good comic chemistry goes a long way toward masking the film’s subpar script. This action comedy would’ve worked better with more comedy and less action.
Scan here for up-to-the-minute movie listings delivered directly to your mobile device.
Arts & Entertainment
Movies
Robert Duvall‘s Felix Bush wants to go to his own funeral.
Get Low Gets Astoundingly Real
Duvall’s quiet film puts all the shallow summer special effects to shame By Sharon Kehoe First-time director Aaron Schneider is at the helm of the Depression-era Get Low, which tells the story of Felix Bush (Robert Duvall), an ostracized Tennessean who wants to throw himself a living funeral so he can hear all the gossip that’s been said about him. He makes a deal with local funeral director Frank Quinn (magnificently played by Bill Murray) and his angel-on-his-shoulder assistant, Buddy Robinson (Lucas Black). But as the story unfolds, dark quirks and demons gradually seep from Bush’s hardened exterior—and nothing is quite what it seems. The plot is oddly funny, and Schneider, along with screenwriters Chris Provenzano and C. Gaby Mitchell, pace the story arc with ease. But the cast is the element that elevates this simple story to subtle excellence. The actors embrace quiet moments and fill them with humanity. Black holds his own onscreen amid heavyweights Sissy Spacek and Bill Cobbs, both a pure 90 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
joy to watch. If only the latter two had more onscreen time. But of them all, Duvall is the standout. His nuanced behaviors and exasperated breaths become qualities of his character that you hold onto and use as clues to the truth behind the pain—and twinkle—in his eyes. The town may have pinned Bush as a bitter, murderous old man, but you can’t stop your heart from swelling for him. And this is absolutely credited to Duvall’s genuine approach to Bush’s subtleties. So when the climax comes, Duvall nails it and your heart is pounding for Bush. Get Low proves that the classic movie formula of good story writing and even better acting still lives, and this film’s pulse is strong with it. Not all films need explosions to feel explosive or 3-D glasses to feel dimensional. Take some notes, summer flicks, because Duvall and company just schooled all of you.
Get Low
★★★✩✩
Dining
Fusion’s Evolution
At Match, the dishes range from Korean barbecue to Russian stuffed cabbage, and somehow it all deliciously works together
By Max Jacobson Fusion restaurants have become a way of life, and if you have any doubts, check out Match, a cosmopolitan tapas bar and Korean barbecue. At first, the concept seems a little goofy. But strangely enough, it works. The restaurant belongs to Gregory Arianoff, who has a Russian/Spanish background. He shares his kitchen with two chefs: One is Chinese; the other Japanese/Korean. Their take on these ethnic cuisines has a ring of authenticity rarely found in the ’burbs. Photo by Anthony Mair
Continued on Page 94
Jalapeño puffs, stuffed with spicy tuna and cream cheese.
August 19-25, 2010 Vegas Seven 93
Dining
Diner’s Notebook
A new dinner treat, sausage heaven and a wholesome Elixir
Match Continued from Page 93
Match features tables with built-in burners, to make your own Korean barbecue (above). One of the star tapas: Dragon Balls.
Match is a handsomely appointed place in a typical Vegas strip mall in the southeastern part of the city. You enter through a bar, into a large room where tables have marble tops, stainless steel hoods and built-in burners, like in a traditional Korean barbecue restaurant. There are three fully equipped private karaoke rooms in the rear, which serve up to eight people. Spend more than $75 on food and the use of the karaoke room and machine is available at no extra charge. On my first few visits, the menu was all over the map, but Arianoff recently cut it down to size, to eliminate repetition and confusion. The selection remains as eclectic as the law allows, though. How about an appetizer like monkfish liver, followed by Spanish potato croquettes, a Russian stuffed-cabbage entrée and Portuguese/Hawaiian doughnuts (malasadas) for dessert? I have to admit being more impressed by the Asian fare. Possibly my favorite dish on the menu is kimchi fried rice, a festive, wok-fried dish made with fresh white marble pork, napa cabbage, egg and just enough of the red chili that makes kimchi so intimidating to give it a nice kick. Match’s biggest seller, though, is Dragon Balls. They’re wonderful, if you can get your mind around the name. Picture golf-ball-size, crunchy nuggets coated with a flour and egg batter. Inside, there is chopped tuna, onions and green pepper, and the whole shebang is drizzled with eel sauce.
94
Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
Monkfish liver, in pink slices, is what some people call “Japanese foie gras,” for its creamy texture and mild, rich flavor. Don’t be afraid to try some. It’s a wonderful beer dish. Tortilla Española is like a stiff potato omelet served cold, in wedges—a credible if not interesting version. And I’d come back for cabbage with bacon, but it was cut from the menu. As to the larger plates, I can’t recommend the roast duck. Match, like so many Vegas restaurants, deep-fries its duck and calls it roasted. How about more truth in menu, boys? And galoubsis, which is Russian for stuffed cabbage, was bland, in a milky white sauce I didn’t care for. If you opt for Korean barbecue, you can cook it at your table, or take the low road and let the boys in the kitchen do it. We got low, and the beef short ribs, a.k.a. kalbi, were delicious, nicely grilled and redolent of sesame and garlic, with good Korean sides such as yellow bean sprouts. If you opt for dessert, I’d go for the strawberry mochi ice cream, in tiny New Age cubes with a pounded rice shell. Match’s freezer really works, by the way; I had to wait 10 minutes for them to thaw. And, lastly, if you use the karaoke machine … please, no Elvis impersonators. 1623 E. Silverado Ranch Blvd., 629-4444. Open from 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Monday-Saturday; until midnight Sunday. Dinner for two, $42-$75.
Even in the dog days of summer, the food scene here is as lively as it is during the peak tourism season. François Payard, the pastry and chocolate genius who has a venue at Caesars Palace, recently unveiled a dinner menu in his tiny, wedding-cake-like dining room, and it’s killer. Payard Pâtisserie & Bistro has been open for breakfast and lunch since it opened, and it reopens for dinner in early September. Just a few dishes you will be eating include a minicheese soufflé and quenelles de poisson Lyonnaise (fish dumplings in lobster sauce with a cloud-light texture). Main courses will include roast chicken on a bed of Yukon Gold potatoes with leeks and olives, and fall-offthe-bone-tender short ribs. Call 731-7110 near month’s end to make a reservation. Oppressive prices on Strip wine lists can be discouraging, but there are a few ways to get the best out of them. I was recently at Aureole at Mandalay Bay, for example, and there are wine bargains if you know how to look for them. Generally speaking, the markups are stiffer on the lower-end wines, so skip that section. You can also contact the sommelier ahead of time to get the list e-mailed to you, so you can comparison shop. Or just ask the somm to find you a good deal. A guy like William Sherer, Aureole’s wine director, loves to find wines that are good and affordable. Meanwhile, I’ve been spending a fair bit of time at the Polish Deli, 5700 W. Charleston Blvd., a clean, bright place stocked with a staggering variety of breads, chocolates and dry goods from Poland. It is also a wonderful place to buy fresh sausages, some that need to be cooked, such as classic Polish sausages from a Chicago butcher, and ones that don’t, such as kabanos, a dry sausage resembling a giant Slim Jim. I’m totally hooked on this stuff. You get about four feet of meaty, garlicky sausage, and at $5.95 a pound, it’s an incredible deal. Healthier eating is what you’ll get at Elixir (9550 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 180, 565-2233), a new organic café that has just opened in Richmar Plaza. The menu features salads, wraps and sandwiches, natural teas, and fruit smoothies made with a base of either ice or probiotic yogurt. All recipes rely on organic ingredients. There are options for vegetarians, but the café is non-vegetarian. Meats are from Applegate Farms and produced without preservatives, hormones or nitrates. In addition, this large complex offers a full line of products promoting a healthy lifestyle, including beauty and wellness items, herbs sold in bulk and whole-leaf teas. Hungry, yet? Follow Max Jacobson’s latest epicurean observations, reviews and tips at foodwinekitchen.com.
Photography by Anthony Mair
By Max Jacobson
Dining
Dishing
Shrimp-Stuffed Fried Avocado Salad at Hussong’s Cantina
This festive cantina has some great creations, starting with the margarita, invented in their original Mexico location. Our favorite summer fare is this salad, which contains a fried avocado stuffed with shrimp over romaine lettuce, pico de gallo and hominy in a tomatillo and avocado dressing. $15, in Mandalay Place, 553-0123.
96 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
Spaghetti & Meatballs from Montesano’s Sure, it seems like a simple dish, but the chefs at Montesano’s make it worth the trip. The al dente spaghetti comes with two meatballs cooked in a red sauce, so they stay nice and juicy. The rest of the recipe involves magic. $13, 9905 S. Eastern Ave., 870-3287.
Mac & Cheese at Rare 120
This sleek, contemporary take on the American steak house has become one of the Hard Rock Hotel’s premier dining spots. Among the classics on the menu is the Mac & Cheese, which features four cheeses, perfectly cooked pasta, plus smoked bacon and sautéed onions. You’re better off not knowing the calorie count. $12, in Hard Rock Hotel, 693-5000.
Caramelized Sea Scallops at Society Café
This new dish has all the tastes of summer. In a fabulous presentation, pancetta is delicately placed upon caramelized sea scallops alongside watermelon and an arugula salad with Minus 8 vinegar. It tastes just as good as it looks! $29, in Encore, 248-3463.
Shrimp photo by Denise Truscello; Meatball photo by Anthony Mair
Got a favorite dish? Tell us at comments@weeklyseven.com.
Dining
Drinking
The Perfect Cup Social House pairs Nevada’s first siphon coffee system with artisan micro-roasts By Xania Woodman
The Perks From mild to bold, Social House has a coffee for every cup
vapor forms, it vacuums into the upper chamber, fully immersing each ground, saturating and swelling it for precisely 45 seconds. Using a tiny bamboo paddle, Vongdala gives the mixture four to five gentle swirls: “It’s a delicate process,” he says. “You don’t want to overdo it.” Thirty more seconds of infusion (oh, the aroma!) and then the “kick-back”: With the heat off, the water quickly drains back into the bottom chamber, leaving a perfectly rounded lump of grounds. The ritual concludes with Vongdala inhaling intensely from grounds like a sommelier deep in his glass, then offering it to the patron. “I smell, you smell,” he says. “It’s a great interaction process with the guest.” What’s left is but to slurp—yes, slurp—which introduces air into the coffee and spreads it over the entire tongue. This coffee experience is decidedly “third wave,” a somewhat controversial artisanal movement. Prior waves brought us from canister coffee to Starbucks. Around the millennium, wave three would send us flocking to coffeehouses for organic, socially responsible, artisan micro-roasted and small-batch coffees, the fairly traded beans picked ripe by hand and roasted lighter to retain the subtleties that darker roasting obliterates. In case coffee’s not your cup of tea, Social House offers that, too: whole-leaf, organic teas from L.A.-based Art of Tea ($7) and three boba (bubble) teas. “I wish people would start to experiment more with teas,” says Vongdala, who recommends the caramel pear tea with (or even instead of) dessert. But don’t tell Vongdala’s third-wave comrades—they’ll just get bitter. Inside Crystals at CityCenter. The coffee bar is open daily, 5 p.m. till late. Locals receive a 20 percent discount Sunday through Thursday.
Nicaragua Rio Coco: A mild, single-origin coffee. Like all of True Beans’ specialty coffees it is 100 percent organic, roasted in an environmentally friendly way in Long Beach, Calif., and either Fair Trade- or Rainforest Alliance-certified. Nose: strong citrus fruit zest up front with mild, wild nut essences. Palate: familiar and homey with a sweet honey finish.
98 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
Jonah Vongdala delicately stirs the grinds in Social House’s Bonmac brewing chamber.
True Blend: With more acidity than the Nicaragua Rio Coco, this medium blend is bright, fresh and well-liked by the newcomer to world coffees. Nose: bright citrus and nuttiness. Palate: fresh acidity, luscious floral sweetness, spice and earth. Ethiopia Harrar: Like most African coffees, this medium-bold
brew is complex enough to satisfy the seasoned coffee drinker. It’s a single-origin roast comparable to a big, tannic cabernet sauvignon, and Vongdala says the “real” coffee drinkers he meets are excited to see this selection. Nose: dark chocolate, with distinct blueberry notes. Palate: medium to mild acidity with dark chocolate, blueberry and long sweet finish.
Bold Safari Blend: The Asian Pacific component is grown in mostly volcanic soil, which gives it a bit of earthiness and spice, but with little acidity, making it perfect for pairing with dessert. Nose: earth, dark chocolate, a bit of smoke. Palate: bold dark chocolate with spice and smoke. For more info, visit TrueBeans.com.
Photo by Anthony Mair
To watch Social House barista Jonah Vongdala toil over the intricate designs in his silken latte foams is to watch a craftsman at work. But while the 26-yearold self-proclaimed coffee fanatic from Hawaii is perfectly at home in the driver’s seat of Social House’s La Marzocco— “the Bentley of espresso machines,” he calls it—the real horsepower comes from the Bonmac Hikari siphon coffee system, one of six of the Japanese imports operating in the U.S. and the first in Nevada. Part chemistry set, part coffeemaker, siphons use water vapor and carefully controlled heat to transform freshly ground beans into a terrifically crisp, aromatic cup served tableside from the vessel in which it was made. Of course, such luxury comes with a price for the proprietor (think down payment on a home). But for you, it’s only $5 per cup, with each serving being three cups. The siphon’s total immersion brewing and extraction process is a highly technical procedure, but one that still requires the finesse of a passionate disciple. Each cup bears the mark of not only the terroir and the roaster but the barista as well. Even to appreciate the result takes a little learning. Refrain from dosing your coffee with cream and sugar. Instead, enjoy it black: bright, aromatic, smooth. But not bitter. Bitterness, Vongdala says, comes from over-extraction of the grounds. Your server can steer you through the four True Beans coffees on the menu, but the real show happens at Vongdala’s coffee bar up by the front door, where you can follow your coffee from whole bean to cup. Here’s how it works: In just 10 seconds, the three cups of water in the siphon’s bottom vessel reaches a boil. Vongdala freshly grinds and adds 10 grams of coffee per cup of water to the brewing chamber. As the hot water
POWER LUNCH
NO BUSINESS LIKE MONKEY BUSINESS. LUNCH SERVED DAILY
Travel Bumbershooting to Seattle
Labor Day weekend in the ‘Rainy City’ features a blast of a festival and one last burst of summer
By Geoff Carter
If you imagine Seattle as a dank, gray place where residents trudge through flannel and sweat coffee, I’m not about to take the grunge out of your sails. I won’t bother telling you about its perfect summer days, with swimming-pool-colored skies and cool, sweet breezes curling in from Puget Sound. However, I will say that the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival, an annual three-day event that brings together a mind-blowing array of artistic and musical talent, is coming up this Labor Day weekend, and you should take that opportunity to visit. Bumbershoot generally falls on the last of Seattle’s improbably epic summer weekends. Ten minutes after your plane takes off, the leaves will turn and the clouds will roll in. You may have attended other music and arts festivals, but none like this. Bumbershoot isn’t so much a concert as an exposition, fittingly held at Seattle Center—the city campus better known as the site of the 1962 World’s Fair. You wander from stage to gallery to pavilion, using the Space Needle as a kind of compass, and every turn yields a new and unexpected discovery: a hilarious short film, an awesome band you’d never heard of before, an artist whose work makes your eyeballs jump out. This year’s musical headliners include Bob Dylan, Weezer, Neko Case and the Decemberists, but even if you miss any or all of these performers, Bumbershoot is worth the price of admission. You’re not paying to see the headliners; you’re paying to see the things you don’t yet know you’re paying for. Over the years, I’ve lucked into seeing the late Spalding Gray talking off-the-cuff about his life and work and hearing the Foo Fighters take a shambling, woozy pass at Prince’s “Purple Rain.” I’ve met top rock poster artists in the Flatstock pavilion, I’ve watched daylong roller derby bouts, and I’ve even simply sat on the grass by the International 100 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
Seattle at dusk (left) and during Bumbershoot, featuring a pedal-powered carnival called Cyclecide (top right) and a concert poster exhibit (above).
Fountain and read a book as the festival happened around me, noshing on delicious street food (get a Cajun Blackened Salmon Burger from Ballard Brothers, I beg you) and occasionally looking up to appreciate a city drunk on sunshine and civic pride. Having said all that, to best enjoy Bumbershoot you need to spend some time away from it. Try not to spend more than one day total at Seattle Center, and use the extra time to explore the city a bit. Seattle’s best-known attractions—the open-air Pike Place Market, the Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum and the aforementioned Space Needle—are worth seeing in spite of their touristy vibe. You should also run to see Discovery Park, a 534-acre swath of pristine Northwest wilderness in the heart of the city; Capitol Hill, an energetic neighborhood loaded with great bars, restaurants and clubs; Archie McPhee, the world’s premier retailer of the whimsical and bizarre; and the Olympic Sculpture Park, an adjunct of the Seattle Art Museum that features pieces by Alexander Calder and Louise Bourgeois, as well as a waterfront view that will make your heart ache. So, you see, Seattle is much more than can fit on the fairgrounds. But Bumbershoot is one hell of a great summer party— and it’s happening in the last place you’d expect. Much like its premier arts festival, Seattle is all about the surprises.
Accommodations: Hotel Max (hotelmaxseattle.com) is a top-rated boutique hotel in the heart of downtown; it’s trendy, posh, abundantly stylish and, at more than $200 a night, kind of goldplated. The historic Moore Hotel (moorehotel.com) is a more affordable option at $74-$97 a night (only $71 if you go “European style” and share a shower with others). And the Moore is in an even better location than the Max—Pike Place Market is just steps away. Seeing Bumbershoot: Advance tickets are available at the festival’s website (bumbershoot.org). Admission to the festival is $40 per day, or just $22 if you skip the headliners on the main stage. Getting around: Link Light Rail runs from Sea-Tac Airport to downtown Seattle, and the bus network puts Vegas’ to shame. Download the free One Bus Away app (onebusaway.org); it’s amazingly helpful.
Cityscape courtesy Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau; Cyclecide photo by Christopher Nelson
Getting there: Flying Alaska Airlines (alaskaair.com) is your best bet; the Seattlebased carrier has round-trip fares as low as $240.
SportS & LeiSure taking the Long Way Vegas to Reno off-road race cuts 534-mile path through tough terrain By Bob Whitby The trip from Beatty to Reno is 331 miles, and there’s a perfectly good road—U.S. Highway 95—that will get you there smoothly and quietly while you fiddle with the radio, scan the empty desert, note the high peaks and hope you don’t run out of gas or get a flat. It should take about six hours, plus stops. If that sounds dull, there’s an alternate route: 534 miles of dirt, rocks, sand washes, a 9,000-foot mountain, sizzling dry lake beds, a ghost town and a stop at a brothel. Instead of fiddling with the radio, you’ll be choking on dust, trying not to catch a tire on a rock and flip. It should take about nine hours, but it may take twice that if you break down or smack into a cow. Go as fast as you dare; there is no speed limit. It’s a route that could only be laid out in Nevada, and not just because of the brothel stop. This alternate is also known as the TSCO Vegas to Reno race—even though it starts in Beatty—and it’s the longest off-road competition in the United States. Nevada is the only state in the nation with enough open land to allow such a mad dash across the hinterlands, race organizer Casey Folks says. “This is the last frontier of the Wild, Wild West,” Folks says, sitting behind a desk in his cluttered office, a room off the sales floor of a motorcycle shop on Boulder Highway. “Every other state is locked down. In Arizona, you are lucky if you can get a 20-mile course. In California, forget it. They’d shoot you.” Folks is one of those lucky guys who followed his passion until it paid off, one way or another. In his case, the love was racing motorcycles off-road over long distances. In 1980, he was the first rider to finish the
Trick Truck class drivers Rick D. Johnson (above) and Tavo Vildosola (right) are among the 250 entries for the TSOC Vegas to Reno offroad race, which is organized by Casey Folks (top right).
102 Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
Baja 1000 solo, and in 1995 he rode 3,000 miles during a five-day rally in Tunisia. In 1996, he resurrected the Frontier 500 off-road race, named for the since-demolished New Frontier hotel-casino, and renamed it Vegas to Reno. The Frontier 500 was for motorcycles only, but Folks opened up his race to cars and trucks. In the 14 years since, Vegas to Reno has gone international. This year’s race, which starts at 5 a.m. Aug. 20 in Beatty, has 250 entries from 25 states, as well as Canada, Mexico, France and South Africa. They’ll run in everything from $500,000 custom trucks that top out at 130 mph and float over bumps with three feet of suspension travel to solo riders grinding out the course on motorcycles just to say they did it. Vegas to Reno has also gone high-tech, with racers tracked by satellite, alarms that tell course workers if someone has crashed and Internet coverage from start to finish on Best in the Desert Racing Association’s website, bitd.com. While the California 200 off-road race ended in tragedy Aug. 15 when a race truck flipped and rolled into the crowd, killing eight spectators, the Vegas to Reno race should not have such danger since the track is not a loop, meaning there is no centralized
viewing area. Instead, the race can be watched from 16 designated areas, most of which are near U.S. 95, and maps can be found on the website. The logistics of the race are daunting, Folks says: 450 volunteers manning the course; 32 permits from federal, state and local governments; medical teams; communications teams; helicopters and a bus loaded with electronic scoring equipment and computers. Not to mention the toilets. “I’ve got $10,000 in Porta-Johns,” Folks says. “You have to have one at every pit; it’s required” The race is run primarily on roads otherwise open to the public, and last year Best in the Desert spent $62,000 fixing them afterward. Folks says he will spend about $125,000 putting the race on, including $50,000-plus just for the permits from the Bureau of Land Management. He’s got a standing agreement with ranchers that Best in the Desert will pay for any cattle racers run into on the spot, no questions asked. “We have only had one incident where we had to pay for a cow that a truck hit,” he says. But the question remains: Why bother when there’s a perfectly good paved road running from Beatty to Reno? If you have to ask, however, you’ll never understand.
Going for Broke
With or without Favre, Vikings will still fall short of Packers in NFC North By Matt Jacob Will the Jay Cutler-Mike Martz experiment in Chicago thrive or spontaneously combust? Will you-know-who show up in Minnesota and finish the job he started last year? Will the Lions and Rams continue to, well, be the Lions and Rams? And what to make of Pete Carroll’s return to the NFL sidelines? Plenty of questions, and I’ve got the answers as I conclude my breakdown of NFL over/under season win totals with the NFC North and West divisions. Once again, my recommendations are rated from 1 ( just flip a coin) to 5 (hello, college fund for the kids!). Also, my bankroll remains at $5,605 with no plays last week.
NFC NORTH BEARS (over/under 8): When Chicago acquired Cutler some 24 hours after April Fool’s Day in 2009, the team and its fans figured they finally had their franchise quarterback. Turns out the joke was Cutler, who threw a league-high 26 interceptions last year. Cutler’s generosity contributed greatly to a 7-9 record and a third consecutive nonplayoff season. The Bears were big players in free agency, but the biggest offseason fish they reeled in was offensive guru Martz, whose intricate system places a premium on the one area in which Cutler has always struggled: accuracy. Either way, the Martz/Cutler combo will be must-see TV, but with a schedule that includes the Packers (twice), Vikings (twice), Cowboys (road), Giants (road), Patriots, Jets and Dolphins (road), the losses figure to outnumber the wins in the Windy City for the third time in four years. Recommendation: UNDER (2). LIONS (over/under 5): In 2007, the Lions roared to a 6-2 start and it looked like this sad-sack franchise had finally turned the corner. Too bad there was a 500-foot cliff waiting around that corner. Since the middle of the 2007 season, the Lions have three wins and 37 losses. You read that correctly: 3-37. That means in order to clear this year’s over/under number, Detroit must double its victory
total from the previous 40 games. Thing is, I do believe the Lions are headed in the right direction under second-year coach Jim Schwartz, and they definitely upgraded their roster in the offseason. But barring something extraordinary, they’re still going to be favored in just one game this season (at home against the Rams in Week 5). Also, only twice since 2001 has Detroit finished with more than five victories (6-10 in 2004; 7-9 in 2007). Recommendation: UNDER (2). PACKERS (over/under 9.5): Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers spent more time on his back last year than Jenna Jameson did in the last decade, as he was sacked 50 times. However, the majority of those sacks occurred in the first half of the season, when Green Bay stumbled to a 4-4 start. From there, Rodgers led the Packers to a 7-1 finish before a heartbreaking overtime loss to Arizona in the playoffs. And while Rodgers and the offense exploded down the stretch, the defense did its part, too, holding six of those nine opponents to 14 points or fewer. Simply put, the Packers are as complete a team as there is in the NFC, and if Rodgers (32 straight starts) stays healthy, they should at least match last year’s 11 victories. Recommendation: OVER (4). VIKINGS (over/under 9.5): Will he or won’t he? That question as it pertains to Brett Favre remained unanswered at press time. So let’s focus on what we do know: First off, the Vikings will be tested early with road games at the Saints, Jets, Packers and Patriots and home contests against the Dolphins, Lions and Cowboys. With or without Favre—and I’d bet my remaining bankroll that No. 4 will come back—Minnesota will be lucky to be 4-3 after seven games. And while the post-Thanksgiving schedule is weak, the Vikings play just four games (two vs. Detroit) against teams projected to finish with fewer than eight wins. Note this, too: Minnesota went 10-6 in 2008 and 12-4 last year, but only once since 1976 has this franchise had three straight double-digit win seasons (19982000). Recommendation: UNDER (1). Continued on Page 104 August 19-25, 2010 Vegas Seven 103
Sports & Leisure
Going for Broke Continued from Page 103
49ERS (over/under 8.5): The betting public sure is bullish on the 49ers. How else do you explain an over/ under number of 8½ for a squad that last had a winning season in 2002? The upside for San Francisco: It has showed steady improvement the last three seasons, going from 5-11 to 7-9 to 8-8, and it is playing in arguably the weakest division in the NFL. The downside: Alex Smith is still the quarterback. True, Smith went 5-5 as a starter last year, but he’s still just 16-24 in four seasons. The good news for Smith is he’s got a ton of weapons on offense, and for the first time in his pro career he’ll have the same offensive coordinator in consecutive seasons. Also, in addition to six games against division rivals Arizona, Seattle and St. Louis, the 49ers have winnable games against the Raiders and Bucs at home and Carolina and Kansas City on the road. Recommendation: OVER (3). CARDINALS (over/under 7.5): How much did QB Kurt Warner mean to this one-time NFL laughingstock? The Cardinals improved their win total each of the last three years—from 8 to 9 to 10, and yet Vegas projects the Cardinals as a sub-.500 squad in 2010. That’s both a tribute to Warner and an indictment on his likely replacement, fifth-year pro Matt Leinart. Granted, Warner isn’t the only key player the Cardinals must replace (safety
104
Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
Antrel Rolle and Pro Bowl WR Anquan Boldin are among the departed), but Arizona’s season really rests on the left arm of Leinart, who is 10-17 as an NFL starter with 14 career TD passes and 20 interceptions. For Arizona to get to .500, a fast start is a must. However, with five of the first eight games on the road and early season contests against the Falcons, Chargers, Saints and Vikings, that seems about as likely as Mel Gibson hosting an anger-management seminar. Recommendation: UNDER (2).
likes of the Redskins, Raiders, Lions, Broncos, Buccaneers and Chiefs? Recommendation: OVER (2).
SEAHAWKS (over/under 7.5): After five straight seasons of nine or more wins, the Seahawks have won just nine games over the past two years. Enter Pete Carroll, who left Southern Cal right before the NCAA hammered the Trojans. Carroll’s first tour of duty as an NFL head coach has been widely portrayed as a failure, but that’s not fair. Yes, he Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart. went 6-10 in one season with the Jets (1994), but he followed that with three solid years in New RAMS (over/under 5): While Arizona has improved England from 1997-99. Carroll should have a successful by one win in each of the last three years, St. Louis has run in Seattle, but that success won’t come overnight, gone the opposite direction from 3-13 to 2-14 to 1-15. especially since the Seahawks will be favored in just one This begs the question: Are the Rams primed to become of their first seven road games (at St. Louis) and also face the NFL’s second winless team in the last three seasons? stiff home tests against the Chargers, Giants, Panthers You’d think it would be a strong possibility since the and Falcons. Recommendation: UNDER (3). Rams’ options at QB are career backup A.J. Feeley and No. 1 overall draft pick Sam Bradford. Then again, when you look at the schedule, you see only three games that Matt Jacob is a former local sports writer who has been in the sports St. Louis has no shot at winning (Chargers, Saints and handicapping business for more than four years. For his weekly Falcons). You’re telling me the Rams can’t steal a couple column, Vegas Seven has granted Matt a “$7,000” bankroll. If of divisional games, and also get some wins against the he blows it all, we’ll fire him and replace him with a monkey.
Leinart photo by Icon SMI / Retna
NFC WEST
this week
mandalay bay
aug. 20 | 21+
aug. 21 | 18+
sept. 17 | 18+ | on sale 8/20 @ 10am
oct. 2 | all ages | on sale 8/20 @ 10am
nov. 14 | all ages | on sale 8/20 @ 10am
on sales
aug. 19 | 18+
upcoming shows
nov. 27 | 18+ | on sale 8/20 @ 10am
8/26 :: eNVy ShowcaSe (local baNdS)–18+ 8/28 :: play for keepS–all ages 9/4 :: roger clyNe & the peacemakerS–21+ 9/7 :: apocalyptica–all ages 9/11 :: willy chiriNo–18+ 9/18 :: mike poSNer–all ages 9/22 :: ratatat–18+
10/1 :: atmoSphere–all ages 10/3 :: aNberliN–all ages 10/10 :: tech N9Ne–all ages 10/21 :: joNSi (from Sigur roS)–18+ 10/31 :: ap fall ball tour with briNg me the horizoN aNd auguSt burNS red–all ages 11/20 :: 3oh!3–all ages
RescheDuleD! – 11/21 :: black label society– all ages
check us out on facebook: house of blues-las vegas
FOR ADDITIONAL TICKET INFO OR VIP CONCERT PACKAGES CALL 702.632.7600 FOR LATE NIGHT VIP SEATING AND TABLE RESERVATIONS CALL 702.632.7699
House of Blues® at Mandalay Bay I 3950 Las Vegas Blvd., South I Las Vegas, NV 89119 I houseofblues.com/lasvegas
SeveN QueStioNS Neal Smatresk As UNLV’s president begins his second year on the job, he reflects on Nevada’s attitude toward education and where the real work of universities gets done
By Elizabeth Sewell
How was your first year on the job? In many ways, except for the budget cuts, it was an absolutely terrific year. We closed out our capital campaign, brought in the Brookings Institution, got a huge gift to start the Lincy Institute, which is going to really help us engage in service around this community by supporting the nonprofits in the region, we had our accreditation visit, and of course it culminated in the budget cuts and the fact that we had to eliminate some programs. And as soon as I hit the campus, we lost our athletic director and were somewhat embroiled in a controversy not just to hire an athletic director, but a football coach. I learned what the public really cares about; the public is very invested in the sports and athletics programs of this university. How did budget cuts change your vision for UNLV? Like it or not, they have challenged the university because it’s a little harder to do business. But we can’t spend a lot of time wringing our hands over that. On a more detailed level they’ve forced me to ask a question: Why is Nevada the lowest in educational support in the country and what do we need to do to build a better future? Are we content that we’re going to keep cutting? Can we cut our way to greatness? Or will we have to rethink how we fund something as fundamental as education? 110
Vegas Seven August 19-25, 2010
Why is education on the back burner in Nevada? When you come to our state and look at a map, 87 percent of our land is owned by the federal government. It’s empty. We’re a frontier. You’ve got Las Vegas, then you have a whole bunch of nothing and then you have Reno and Carson City. There isn’t much else. … In a frontier state what is valuable? What you can pull out of the land? And while you need some technical force for that with engineering, a lot of it is not a technical work force. And then the business that we built here, which was gaming and entertainment, and that is a service industry. It hasn’t traditionally required a large number of highly educated people. … I understand the old paradigm, but I think anyone who is leading industry in this state, or anyone in government has to realize we have to do something different to get to the next place. How do you pitch this paradigm shift to the average person in Las Vegas? I don’t know anyone who doesn’t want their children to have a good life, so if you want that, you know that education has to be part of it. It’s a simple question. Where would you like to see UNLV in 20 years? I’d like to see us with a much better national reputation, but what president wouldn’t? No one wants to take over a company and make it worse. We all want to make things better. I would like to see that UNLV is able to bring in freshmen and graduate them at a very high level. … If you’re accepted into UNLV, I would like to make sure you have the services, attention, care and counseling that
it takes for you to reach your career goals in a short period of time, so that you can graduate in four or five years and go out and get that job that you really wanted. I would like to see that UNLV is a valued player in the community, that we’re not only helping to provide the work force to make a booming economy in this town, but that we’re considered an integral part of it. How can UNLV attract top students when Nevada isn’t willing to fund education? I believe that the cost of our education will rise and along with that what we need to do is to change our behavior to be a little bit more like a private university. I’m not saying we’ll be private, but what do private universities do? They offer a great freshman experience. They offer more customer service. It’s up to us to create a higher quality educational experience and we’re working hard on
that. What we’re trying to create is a top-tier experience and be an institution of choice. What has UNLV taught you? I think what UNLV has taught me most is that the value of higher education is being done at places like UNLV, in cities like Las Vegas. How old is Harvard? How old is Boston? When you look at the students who go to Harvard, what you have to ask is did Harvard add to their life? Did it change their lives? Harvard could fill its class with valedictorians 10 times over, so the kids they take are terrific; they’re going to be leaders. Does Harvard really make them better, or does it just put them with a bunch of other pretty smart kids, give them a pat on the back and send them out the door? … I actually think that the real work of American higher education is being done at the UNLVs of this country, not at the Harvards.
Photo by Anthony Mair
Neal Smatresk’s journey from zoologist to UNLV president wasn’t the smoothest ride. His tenure began under the cloud of former president David Ashley’s abrupt departure and amid UNLV’s worst budget crisis in its history. Smatresk earned his Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Texas and served 22 years on its faculty, followed by a stint at the University of Hawaii, before landing in the desert in 2007 as UNLV’s executive vice president and provost. After being named president following Ashley’s departure in 2009, Smatresk is looking ahead to his second year as UNLV president. With budget cuts nipping at the university’s heels, he is determined to keep UNLV afloat and help it adjust to the “new normal.”