Legend of the Pit by Vegas Seven

September 16-22, 2010

Legend of the Pit Robin Hood 702 has become famous for giving his substantial blackjack winnings to the poor. Is he too good to be true? By Sean DeFrank

Plus: Seven lessons from Clean Energy Week Secrets from beyond Vegasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; velvet rope Teller's theatrical thrill ride to hell and back

Louis Vuitton tiffany & Co. ErmEnEgiLdo ZEgna robErto CaVaLLi tom ford Christian dior fEndi VErsaCE bVLgari CartiEr CaroLina hErrEra hErmÈs miu miu baLLy PauL smith bottEga VEnEta Kiton Van CLEEf & arPELs KiKi dE montParnassE marni nanEttE LEPorE assouLinE miKimoto brunELLo CuCinELLi LanVin h.stErn tourbiLLon PorsChE dEsign iLori dE grisogono thE gaLLEry fEaturing daLE ChihuLy thE art of riChard maCdonaLd PrEsEntEd by CirQuE du soLEiL ® rodnEy Lough Jr. CEntErPiECE gaLLEry bEso stEaKhousE EVE thE nightCLub mastro’s oCEan CLub todd EngLish P.u.b. soCiaL housE WoLfgang PuCK PiZZEria & CuCina

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Contents

This Week in Your CiTY 13

seven Days

An evening with Mozart, a fun opportunity for your dog and a taste of italy at the san Gennaro Festival. By Patrick Moulin

local newsroom

The dream of a future fueled by clean energy, and the nightmare of a potential nFL lockout. 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.

arts & entertainment

Teller and friend’s theatrical thriller is born in Vegas before heading off-Broadway, and a portrait of a jazz survivor.

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tHe latest

Two spicy restaurants represent a master’s course in Chinese. By Max Jacobson Plus: Max Jacobson’s Diner’s Notebook, and a proﬁle of southern Wine & spirits executive Michael severino.

Anticipating the release of Fallout: New Vegas and Eating Las Vegas, and a glistening new venue opens for torrid entertainment. Plus: trends, Tweets, tech and gossip. The Latest Thought: scholars often miss our city’s nuances. By David Wrobel

100

travel

Coastal sightseeing and farm-fresh menus among Ventura’s many charms. By Max Jacobson

society

Globe salon fans celebrate Elle honor at the Downtown Cocktail room, and a party for the release of Who’s Who in Black Las Vegas at the Flamingo.

102

sports & leisure

What you need to know about the defending uFL champion Locomotives. By Sean DeFrank Plus: Matt Jacob is conﬁdent the Packers will cover against the Bills this weekend in Going for Broke.

style

This week’s Look, a few choice Enviables and a peak inside the Veer Towers in CityCenter.

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Seven Nights ahead, fabulous parties past, and nightclub hosts offer tips to get past the velvet ropes.

On the cover: robin hood 702 and Lady Greice. Photography by Tomas Muscionico; postproduction Steve Krall of Digital Spinach; photo assistants Kris Mayeshiro and Chad Carl; styling by Jessica Galindo; assistant stylist Lissa Van Duzen; hair and makeup by Natasha Chamberlain for MAC Cosmetics; wardrobe provided by American Apparel, Buffalo Exchange and Gypsy Den; leather ring and belt (on her) by leather-couture.com; production assistance by Marina Nicola, Wagner/Junker Agency.

Features

110

seven Questions

MGM resorts executive Bill hornbuckle on 30 years in the city and how Vegas must address the future. By Elizabeth Sewell

Green-Felt Hero?

Whether he’s a tireless self-promoter or a big-hearted altruist, robin hood 702’s story transcends blackjack. By Sean DeFrank September 16-22, 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, 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/beverage contributing writers

Melissa Arseniuk, Eric Benderoff, Geoff Carter, Elizabeth Foyt, Mikey Francis, Jeanne Goodrich, Andreas Hale, Sharon Kehoe, M. Scott Krause, Patrick Moulin, Rex Reed, Jason Scavone, Elizabeth Sewell, Cole Smithey, David Wrobel interns

Candice Anderson, Kelly Corcoran, Carla Ferreira, Jazmin Gelista, Natalie Holbrook, Charity Mainville, Nicole Mehrman, Alicia Moore, Jill Roth, Kathleen Wilson

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

Sullivan Charles, Francis + Francis, Brenton Ho, Tomas Muscionico, Beverly Oanes, Ryan Reason, 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 September 16-22, 2010

CoNTribuTors

leTTers

David Wrobel “Higher Learning,” Page 20 A transplanted Londoner who has now spent half his life on this side of the Atlantic, UNLV History Department chair Wrobel has found in the American West not only a home but a passion. A specialist on the history of the region, Wrobel is the author of Promised Lands: Promotion, Memory and the Creation of the American West (University Press of Kansas, 2002) and The End of American Exceptionalism: Frontier Anxiety From the Old West to the New Deal (University Press of Kansas, 1993). He is working on a book that examines 19th- and 20th-century travel writings about the West. Wrobel has lived in Henderson for the past 10 years, and works actively to promote education in the Valley.

Jessica Galindo Stylist, cover and feature story photos

Wrobel photo courtesy UNLV photo services; Galindo photo by Angelina Galindo

Galindo, a native Las Vegan, moved to Los Angeles in 2000 to attend the Fashion Institute of Merchandising and Marketing. While in college, she launched a successful ﬁne arts career, then moved back to Las Vegas to pursue a freelance styling career. The city has been good to her, and she’s grateful.

east coast Values Regarding your article on Jon Bon Jovi coming to Las Vegas to perform here in a high-end hotel [The Latest Gossip, Sept. 9]: You seem to frown on that. Don’t you think he is a great singer, and his band is also great? The fact that they have been together for more than 25 years says it all. They sell out arenas and football stadiums around the world; apparently they can sing! Bon Jovi doesn’t ﬁt Vegas, where the attitude is everything that is wrong is right. They have morals and values that only East Coast people possess, and stand up for what they believe in. Is that what you don’t like about them? It would be an honor if they decided to perform here. At least he has talent, more than I can say for some of the singers that have performed here. Most importantly, Bon Jovi sings live and doesn’t lip-synch at performances. He believes in giving his audience what they pay for. Talent speaks for itself and to knock a talented singer like Bon Jovi shows a one-sided, warped mentality. Just wanted you to know others don’t feel the way you do, everyone has their own opinion, you just have the power of the pen and choose to abuse it. – Theresa Casa

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Visit the Vegas Seven website September 16-22, 2010 Vegas Seven 11

S E X Y

I N T I M A T E

B O U T I Q U E

702.823.2210 • 8665 W. Flamingo, Suite129 • Las Vegas, NV 89147

Seven Days

The highlights of this week in your city.

Compiled by Patrick Moulin

Thu. 16 Perhaps you haven’t noticed, but we live in the desert and water is kind of a scarce commodity. So here’s an idea: Try not to waste it. Learn water-saving tips and techniques at the Water Smart Indoors program, 6-7:30 p.m. at the Springs Preserve, 333 S. Valley View Blvd. Experts from the Southern Nevada Water Authority will be on hand to tell you how to conserve, which around here also means saving money. Admission is free, but reservations are required. Call 822-7786 to make them.

Fri. 17 You have your choice of ’80s music today, from two different centuries! Straight outta the 1780s comes the Henderson Symphony Orchestra’s Mozart Madness, 8 p.m. at the Henderson Pavilion. Performing the greatest hits from the German composer, the orchestra will repeat the performance at Lake Las Vegas on Saturday. Visit hsorch.org for information. For something slightly more contemporary, there’s Summerfest at the Sunset Amphitheater in Sunset Station, featuring the artistry of 1980s hairmetal band Warrant, and Kip Winger of Winger fame. Doors open at 6 p.m. for this free show, but you have to be 21 or older to get in. Not that anyone under 21 would know who Winger was anyway.

Sat. 18 Take a shot of Mexican spirit at the fourth annual Las Vegas Tequila Fest at the Rio. Patrons can sample a selection of the blue agave nectar, from the ﬁnest reserves of major labels to small, region speciﬁc boutiques. Tickets are $60, call 777-7776 for details. Option No. 2: take your dog for a swim at the Black Mountain Aquatic Complex (599 Greenway Road, Henderson), which is open today for Doggie Paddle and Play Day. The event is free for people, but your dog has to pony up $5 to get in the water. Call 267-5836 for more information.

Sun. 19

Could there be a more ﬁtting performance for UNLV’s Nevada Conservatory Theatre to kick off its fall season than a play about violence, lust and love in a seedy hotel room on the edge of the Mojave Desert? That’s a rhetorical question. Directed by Michael Lugering, Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love is a small production with large emotions, spinning a tale of two spiteful lovers who can’t live with, or without, each other. Sorry kids, mature audiences only. Call 895-2787 for ticket information and performance times. Or head over to the Silverton for the last day of the San Gennaro Festival. Featuring authentic cuisine, music and carnival rides, the celebration of all things Italiano has something for everyone. Visit SanGennaroFeast.com for tickets and information.

Mon. 20 Turn trash into a terrifying symbol of death in the Springs Preserve’s Scavenger Scarecrow Contest. Open to individuals and groups of all ages, the only requirement is that the birds have to promote recycling and sustainable materials while exploring the rich and varied history of Halloween. Entry forms are due by Sept. 27, but your scarecrow doesn’t have to be ready until the Haunted Harvest event, set for Oct. 15-31, when awards will be presented in youth and adult categories. Visit SpringsPreserve.org for details and the entry forms.

Tue. 21 Rita Mae Brown smells murder in the Valley, and she’s coming to Las Vegas to sniff it out. Visiting for the ﬁrst time, the activist/ novelist will be at the Clark County Library to promote her new book, A Nose for Justice (Ballantine Books, $25). At 7 p.m. in the main theater, Brown will answer questions about the popular series that usually involves a sleuth who gets a little help from a four-legged friend. A reception and book signing will follow. Visit lvccld.org for more information.

Wed. 22 Part game, part graphic display, the Get Lost exhibit at the Sahara West Library (9600 W. Sahara Ave.) is designed to encourage teenage literacy by using GPS technology to ﬁnd special book covers hidden in the stacks. Created by Mary Hill, a student at the Academy of Art University of San Francisco, the exhibit features photographs, an anime character and art based on the ideas of participating teens. Visit lvccld.org for more information. September 16-22, 2010 Vegas Seven 13

THE LATEST

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Our dystopian future, seen through the eyes of video-game programmers

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

Got a juicy tip? gossip@weeklyseven.com

Tweets of the Week

Not a Fair Fight

@rocknrollwine Boarding Virgin America for ﬂight 2 vegas. Very dark with purple neon & house music blaring. I think they are offering lap dances in aisle 12.

@[name removed] @StephenGHill Any employment oppurtunities coming up? @StephenGHill Yes. But sadly, they’re in the spelling dept.

@DJ_FRANZEN All these orange before saying, “I’m going to kill you and the man you are messing around with,” and “I’m going to have you both disappear.” When Harris called for the children to go to the security guard staMayweather Jr. in happier times (above), and in police custody. tion, Mayweather Mayweather was charged with Sept. said to the kids that he would “beat 10 at about 9:30 a.m., after he turned their ass if they left the house or called himself in. the police.” To be fair, though, before the Mayweather’s 10-year-old son, Koraun, got out of the house and jumped situation spun out of control, Harris told Mayweather that their daughter a fence to the guard station, where he lost a tooth, and so he gave her $200 told security his father was hitting and to put under the girl’s pillow. While kicking his mother. He also said his there may be some dark stuff associfather took cell phones belonging to ated with Mayweather in the wake of him, his brother and his mother. this incident, he will always be able to Harris’ phone was an iPhone 4, counter that he’s pretty much the best valued at $322, which makes the Tooth Fairy ever. mark for grand larceny. That’s what

cones in Vegas and no construction workers in sight!

@danie_d Life has handed me lemons. Screw lemonade or lemon drop martinis. I’m going to punch things. :)

@grayjon I shoulda been an usher backup dancer. FML.

@DavidKatzenberg At the gym, sleeping. Compromise. :) @DjQuira Reeses Pieces are good for breakfast!!! LOL! Well, they r good all the time. I should buy stock in the company…

@JVEGASB1C You really don’t realize how much a school teacher does unless u date one. Man, they are underpaid and overworked! @Lloydbanks “Don’t hate, be hated.”

@BrandOneCo Wow, DMV in Vegas is jumpin’ @ 8 a.m.! FML!

Dr. Feelgood Still Feeling Good Vince Neil, meanwhile, had his share of problems with the cops and the Las Vegas Hilton again this week. Jessica Radovicz accused the Mötley Crüe singer of pushing her in an elevator on Sept. 5, but by Sept. 9 a hotel spokesman said that after looking at surveillance footage, both the hotel and the police concluded that the allegations were unfounded. Either way, the Hilton is turning into bad juju for Neil. He got popped for a DUI in June after leaving the hotel where, according to the police report, he blew a .215 and .216 in two breathalyzer tests. Maybe it’s better if he starts keeping a low proﬁle when he has to head over that way. If you start seeing what appears to be an ’80s rocker walking around the Hilton in a hoodie and Groucho glasses, would you be surprised? Neil was back out on the town by Sept. 10 when he made the grand opening of Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club, along with Ron Jeremy, Nina Hartley and Bunny Ranch owner Dennis Hoff. Neil and friend at the Hustler Club. 16 Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

@mcswinn Must of woke up on the wrong side, cuz I’m super over it. @EmilyEllibee Dude, where’s my car?

@JackKetsoyan New line 4 ending a relationship: “I just can’t picture you being on my reality show.” @chelseahandler I just found a piece of lettuce in my belly button.

@beckynlewis 2:45 and only 5 meltdowns. Sadly, this would be considered a good day for me.

Mayweather photo by Erik Kabik / Retna Digital; Neil photo by Hew Burney

You know how the little things start to add up and you just lose your cool? Sometimes that means you yell at the barista at Starbucks. Sometimes that means you spin out of control on the Internet and then a week later get arrested for stealing your baby mama’s cell phone, and maybe worse. Floyd Mayweather Jr. delivered a racially charged rant against Manny Pacquiao on Mayweather’s UStream channel Sept. 2, then later apologized. If that wasn’t enough, the news got even worse for the boxer in the midst of his self-proclaimed yearlong vacation. According to the police report, Josie Harris, the mother of three of Mayweather’s children, came home from Red Rock Lanes at 2:30 a.m. Sept. 9 to find Mayweather there talking to the kids. Mayweather was reportedly upset and loud because Harris was out with another man—identified in the report as “C.J.” and rumored to be Chicago Bulls point guard and Bishop Gorman High School graduate C.J. Watson. At first Mayweather wanted to evict Harris, but was told by police that he had to go through legal channels to do that. He returned about 5 a.m. to find Harris sleeping on the couch and woke her by yelling, “Are you having sex with C.J.?” She said, “Yes, that is who I’m seeing now.” Mayweather then allegedly grabbed her by the hair, punched her in the back of the head several times and twisted her left arm

Compiled by @marseniuk

CharaCter Study

At the kitchen table of her Henderson home, Olga Elliott puts down a “Z,” wraps up the word “razz,” and finishes me off. Triple word score. I can now add one more item to the evening’s list of lessons learned. 1) If you really want to learn, try teaching. 2) In the republic of letters, you’re never far from home. 3) Never challenge a fluent foreigner at Scrabble. Elliott, it’s safe to say, is the only Las Vegan teaching both the fine art of apartment management and the political philosophy of Montesquieu. As regional director of education and marketing for ConAm Management, she trains the management and staff for more than 8,000 apartment homes in the Las Vegas region. As an adjunct professor of political science at UNLV, she trains Nevada’s future leaders, or at least Nevada’s future Nevadans. Elliott was born and raised in Moscow, where she attended the prestigious Moscow State Pedagogical University. In 1994, a year after completing a graduate program in American studies at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., she moved to Las Vegas to join her future husband, Mark, a graphic designer. (Mark, who grew up in the southwest of England, has the knowledge base of an Oxford don and can make a homeimprovement project sound like Wordsworth. Olga generally beats him at Scrabble, too.) Soon after her arrival, Elliott found work as a leasing agent at Oasis Residential. Over the years, as she has climbed the property-management ladder, she’s seen everything from a vacated apartment filled wall to wall with dead bouquets —“It looked like a cemetery,” she says—to abandoned exotic pets. “The way people leave their apartments,” Elliott says, “sometimes tells you a lot about human nature.” She’s learned some good things about humanity, too. She has consoled weeping residents. She has been the first person they tell about marriage proposals, births, journeys. She found a way to make apartment-dwellers in a transient town feel like the leasing office is the family living room. “It’s one of those businesses where you see the full extent of elation, happiness and tragedy as well,” she says. “You become a psychologist and a philosopher.” In 2000, Elliott completed her master’s degree in political science at UNLV, and she has been teaching there since 2005. “I’ve had this insatiable thirst for knowledge since childhood,” she says. “Everyone in my family was highly educated— teachers, professors, authors. It was in my blood. Once you start learning, you can’t stop. That’s why this Scrabble thing is such a passion, where I’m constantly learning new words. If I don’t, I feel like I’m stagnating.” – Greg Blake Miller

18 Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

Photo by Anthony Mair

Resident Philosopher

Higher Learning When it comes to Las Vegas, sometimes the best and brightest just don’t get it By David Wrobel

During a recent conference trip to the East Coast, I was introduced to a young cultural historian who was fascinated to learn that I live and teach in Las Vegas. Since I’ve lived in the Valley since 2000, I am by now used to the generally earnest and misguided assumptions of fellow academics, but this was a particularly memorable moment. The young woman remarked that she could just not imagine living and working in Las Vegas. I asked if she had ever visited, and she replied, “No, I could never go to that place, on principle.” “What’s the principle?” I inquired. “Well,” she responded, “it’s so inauthentic and shouldn’t really be there at all.” Over the past decade I’ve been defending my new home region with great energy, and occasional success, against fellow academics from around the globe who imagine I live in the most unusual and lamentable place in America, or even on Earth. I remind them that desert societies are not anomalous in human history; that water comes to many places in the United States through engineered systems (Los Angeles comes to mind); that tourist-based economies are not unusual, and, like industry-based economies, experience occasional downturns; and that Las Vegas does not create simulacra of other famous places because it aspires to be like those places, but because themed structures provide visitors with stimulating diversions and pleasing reminders of cultural icons. It’s an interesting dynamic. Essentially, I offer a crash course—let’s call it “Actual Las Vegas, 101”—for those who’ve already taken the more well-known crash course called “Evil Las Vegas: Imagined and Reviled.” That course, perpetually streamed through popular culture, has an impressive syllabus, one that generally begins in the post-apocalyptic future of Stephen King’s The Stand, where the only remaining people live in two places: The good ones reside in Boulder, Colo., and those thoroughly disposed to evil reside in Las Vegas. I can, to a degree, empathize with the misconceptions about Las Vegas; I used to share them. In the 1990s, when I glimpsed the Strip from I-15 on my way to L.A., I imagined it as something best left behind—a bastion of cultural inauthenticity, consumer capitalist excess, the ultimate triumph of veneer over substance. Las Vegas was for me a geographical embodiment of the Gilded Age. Just as that late 19 th-century period, with its corruption and poor labor conditions, is a convenient historical repository for national sins—a cozy way to quarantine our

shortcomings in the past—so Las Vegas has become a comfortable regional punching bag, the supposedly exceptional place that helps the rest of America feel superior by comparison. I was myself the quintessence of everything I now find so irritating about outsiders’ perceptions of Las Vegas. Those perceptions so often arise from a foundation of absolute ignorance about the place. The most vehement academic critics of Las Vegas are often the ones who have either never been here or don’t stay long. Western writer Timothy Egan’s essay “Las Vegas: Chaos or Cancer” (the title says it all) in his collection Lasso the Wind: Away to the New West (1999) is a good case in point. Egan, like French cultural critic Jean Baudrillard, who lambasted Las Vegas a decade earlier in his book America (1989), didn’t really need to come here to arrive at his damning conclusions. Both Egan and Baudrillard spent so little time in Las Vegas, and their preconceptions were so deep, that their conclusions were virtually inevitable. A more recent example of the Vegas-hating genre is Bernard Henri Lévy’s American Vertigo: Traveling America in the Footsteps of Tocqueville (2006). Lévy clearly visited America to confirm his assumptions. Traveling through Southern Nevada, Lévy visited Spearmint Rhino, one of Las Vegas’ famous strip clubs; the even more renowned Chicken Ranch brothel in Pahrump; and the Southern Nevada Women’s Correctional Center in North Las Vegas. He interviewed, respectively, a lap dancer, a prostitute and a senior citizen on death row, ostensibly taking the pulse of the region. In the popular imagination, Las Vegas is America Gone Wild. So one has to consider the place carefully to move beyond the stereotypes. Shortly after I moved here, there were three contentious ballot issues in Nevada. You may recall that medical marijuana was voted up, along with fluoride in the water, and gay marriage was voted down. A colleague suggested to me that Nevada’s core electorate of pot-smoking homophobes with good teeth had carried the day. Las Vegas is a whirl of seeming contradictions. But wherever there are contradictions, the tendency, particularly among cultural historians, is to resort to irony in an effort to illuminate the essence of a place. So, for example: “Isn’t it ironic that Las Vegas, a desert town, has such flamboyant water displays, such as the Bellagio fountains and lake?” Well, quite frankly, no; there’s no irony whatsoever in this. Spectacular display has been a feature of city life, in places both arid and moist, for thousands of years. Engineered water is a fact of urban living. And so are fountains. To explain Las Vegas, one has to move beyond the Strip and focus on the fundamentals of life in the region, since there really are some remarkable developments to account for. Because of massive population increase, the majority of people who live in Clark County today did not live here a generation ago. How can we speak authoritatively about the essence of the Valley when its demographic makeup is in such radical flux? It’s unclear where the search for the Las Vegas essence will lead. But it begins with more imaginative thinking than I have encountered in the writings of fleeting visitors and the dramatic pronouncements of young cultural historians who could never come here, even for a short visit, on principle. David Wrobel is chair of the Department of History at UNLV, where he teaches the history of the American West.

20 Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

Illustration by Jerry Miller

THE LaTEsT THougHT

Society

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

From the top Globe Salon was recently selected as one of Elle magazine’s Top 100 Salons. The crew and clientele celebrated the award on Sept. 3 with a party hosted by Globe executives Staci Linklater and James Reza (pictured below) just up Las Vegas Boulevard at the Downtown Cocktail Room. Guests sipped “Golden Globes,” a gin-andChartreuse cocktail developed for the occasion by the DCR. Chef Andy Knudson of The Beat coffeehouse downtown catered the party.

Photography by Sullivan Charles

22 Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

Society

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

in the Book The launch party for the second edition of Whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Who in Black Las Vegas was held on Sept. 8 in the Savoy Ballroom of the Flamingo Hotel. Editor Wendy Welch presided over the festivities, which recognized individuals who have provided the community with civic, business and philanthropic leadership. A crowd of more than 200 attended the unveiling of the new book.

Photography by Brenton Ho

24â&#x20AC;&#x192; Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

284-7000 | 7200 W. Sahara Ave. | jplv.net *Jaguar Platinum Coverage includes all factory recommended scheduled maintenance for five years or 50,000 miles, whichever occurs first. Wear and tear items are limited to brake pads, brake discs, brake fluid changes and wiper blade inserts based on factory specified wear limits or intervals. All work must be performed by an authorized Jaguar dealer. For complete details on Jaguar Platinum Coverage, including warranty and maintenance coverage and exclusions, please visit your local Jaguar dealer or JAGUARUSA.COM. ©2010 JAGUAR LAND ROVER NORTH AMERICA, LLC.

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.

ENVIABLES

Style

SpAre Tire

Giving brand-new meaning to “pimp my ride,” this fresh wheel-cover design by artist Damien Hirst will add some major bling to your vehicle. $1,390, available at OtherCriteria.com.

The Cure-All

The spa at Monte Carlo has partnered with Cures by Avancé to introduce a new line of exclusive spa treatments. The Refreshed & Radiant facial uses the cérum vitamin C therapy, which repairs damaged skin as it creates new cells. $70, montecarlo.com.

The Look

Photographed by Tomas Muscionico

ALExANdrA EpStEIN

Executive manager and vice president of marketing, El Cortez Hotel & Casino and Cabana Suites; age 25. Style icons: Jenna Lyons, Lauren Conrad, Gwyneth Paltrow, my parents. What she’s wearing now: Prada purse, Forever 21 bracelets, Philip Lim dress from Barneys New York, the Shoppes at the Palazzo.

Gunn Time

Tim Gunn is coming to the Forum Shops at Caesars to promote his new book, Gunn’s Golden Rules: Life’s Little Lessons for Making It Work (Gallery, $24). At 1 p.m. Oct. 2 he will host a fashion show for Lucky Brand Jeans as well as give ﬁt and style tips on how to wear fall’s hottest looks. Simon.com.

Alex is known for being one of the bestdressed socialites in Las Vegas. How does she master dressing appropriately while still dressing her age? “I love mixing classic staples with trendy pieces, high-end with low-end items, boyish outﬁts with super girly accessories, or a simple outﬁt with a super bold necklace,” she says.

September 16-22, 2010 Vegas Seven 27

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Veer Towers at CityCenter have ๏ฌ nally opened and they offer a new kind of Las Vegas lifestyle By MJ Elstein

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Residents started moving into the condos at the Veer Towers in July. Amenities include rooftop pool decks and the ground-level urban vibe that surrounds CityCenter.

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Style

Tips From a Pro

The Products I Can’t Live Without Become more beautiful with some old standbys and a few new issues By Whitney Urichuk Dying to know which beauty products makeup artists favor in their off time? I want to take Vegas Seven readers inside my kit to share the items I can’t live without. These are the products I use on almost every photo shoot and the ones I turn to when I am in a rut. YSL Touche Éclat. Hands down the most sought-after concealer ever produced. I have tried every product imaginable, and nothing can compare to the range of colors and how the formula effortlessly blends into the skin. It’s a concealer that makes you look like you are not wearing concealer. It can be used on women of all ages and with all skin tones. It is pricey, but it’s worth every penny. This is the secret weapon for dark circles and bags. Too Faced Shadow Insurance. Do you ever feel like your eye makeup disappears at the end of the day? Or that you start to get creases on your lids? Never worry about that again. Apply a small amount onto your entire eye before you apply your eye makeup. This is the best eye primer to keep shadow on all day long. Chanel Ombre D’eau Fluid Iridescent Eyeshadow. Soft and iridescent, these are my favorite eye shadows. They have a liquid cream consistency and they buff into the eyes beautifully. Add a touch and it makes the eye makeup pop. Makeup Forever HD Elixir. This product is the answer to my prayers. It alleviates dry skin once and for all. It is a serum hydrator that rejuvenates the skin and does not leave an oily shine throughout the day. Apply this product before foundation. Especially in the desert heat, this is a must. MAC Fluidline Eye Liner. What can I say? Kim Kardashian’s wingedout eye liner has caused quit a bit of a frenzy in the makeup world. This is my favorite product to use for liner. The gel texture allows you to wing-out your liner with ease. This product also comes in a variety of colors and is waterproof so it won’t smudge or come off. Cargo Blush/Highlighter. My favorite blush to date. My obsession with this product lies in how it sits on the skin. It always gives a flawless cheek color to any age or skin tone and it is a great color to wear all year round. Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation. Whether your skin is dry, oily or combination skin, this foundation looks flawless. It can be worn sheer or layered for extra coverage. The best part about this foundation is that it doesn’t feel as if you are wearing makeup. I like to buff it into the skin with a light fluffy brush and then set it with a translucent powder. And last but certainly not least, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar. Lip Tar is the cream gloss version of lipstick with a matte finish. There is no need to reapply because it last for days. Polished Ivory and Coquettish are my favorites for a nude and soft pink lip. There is a huge color range, so you will not have a problem finding your perfect shade. Whitney Urichuk of OneLuvAgency.com makes Las Vegas beautiful one false eyelash at a time. E-mail her at whitneyurichuk@gmail.com.

30 Vegas Seven September 16-22, 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

Green-Felt Hero Modern saint or clever fame seeker? Either way, Robin Hood 702 is a man of mystery.

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Photo by Tomas Muscionico; post-production Steve Krall / Digital Spinach; photo assistants Kris Mayeshiro and Chad Carl; styling by Jessica Galindo; assistant stylist Lissa Van Duzen; hair and makeup by Natasha Chamberlain / MAC Cosmetics; wardrobe provided by Buffalo Exchange and Gypsy Den; production assistance by Marina Nicola, Wagner/Junker Agency.

By Sean DeFrank

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Photo by Tomas Muscionico; post-production Steve Krall / Digital Spinach; photo assistants Kris Mayeshiro and Chad Carl; styling by Jessica Galindo; assistant stylist Lissa Van Duzen; hair and makeup by Natasha Chamberlain / MAC Cosmetics; wardrobe provided by American Apparel, Buffalo Exchange and Gypsy Den; production assistance by Marina Nicola, Wagner/Junker Agency.

Maid Marian: Robin Hood 702โ s companion, who goes by the name Lady Greice, was impressed enough with his intentions to leave her native Brazil and join his crusade.

The gift of hope: Jeffrey Martinez says Robin Hood 702 has contributed $30,000 to his ﬁght against cancer, allowing the Martinez family to remain in their Las Vegas home.

Photo by Anthony Mair

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THe LocaL Newsroom seven Policies for a Lowcarbon Diet Or, what I learned during Clean Energy Week

By Greg Blake Miller

Photo courtesy UNLV Photo Services

The problem with summits, as any world leader or mountain climber will tell you, is that you have to come down. Big inspirations have a way of getting lost in the workaday stuff of life. Revelatory visions wind up set aside or watered down in the course of implementation. So when the National Clean Energy Summit pulled into Las Vegas last week, along with the more locally targeted UNLV Clean Energy Forum, it was notable that the festivities were short on poetry and long on curmudgeonly common sense. And when, near the end of the first day, UNLV President Neal Smatresk essentially said, Nobody gets out of here until we have a real plan, you could almost believe it was more than good leadership rhetoric. I’m not sure whether the assembled grandees—including Sen. Harry Reid, oilman-wind-farmer-naturalgas-prophet T. Boone Pickens, tech pioneer and venture capitalist John Doerr, and former Clinton White House Chief of Staff John Podesta—had the chance to gather in the wee hours over some old Scotch and settle this whole energy-policy thing, so I’m here to help by throwing some of their most intriguing thoughts back at them. 1. Grow a home market Kevin Smith, CEO of SolarReserve, is planning a 100-megawatt solar thermal plant near Tonopah that deploys the killer app of solar technology—storage of the sun’s energy in molten salt. But cutting-edge American companies like SolarReserve often have to sell their products abroad, in countries such as Spain that have clear and comprehensive policies encouraging the development, deployment and use of renewable energy technologies. The problem, Smith said, is that the United States has “no home market” for clean energy. The big political-economic buzzwords of the past two recessionriddled years have been innovation, energy independence and job-creation. But if the U.S. cannot grow a robust domestic market for renewable energy, those words amount to little more than campaign fodder. Richard Kauffman, former CEO. of the green technology investment firm Good Energies, said that plenty of innovative American companies are ready to make an impact on the clean-energy sector. “They’re stacked up at the airport,” he said, “but they’ve got nowhere to land without a [home] market.” The consequences for U.S. businesses are stark: Without a home market, there’s little investment in American firms; without investment, the odds of a startup’s survival are long. And if the startup can’t survive and flourish, it isn’t going help us much in the jobs-and-diversification department. For American companies trying to absorb startup

Philippe Cousteau, grandson of Jacques, calls for a clean-energy future.

costs without sufficient startup capital, Kauffman said, the path to market “is not just a valley of death, it’s a Grand Canyon of death.” Meanwhile, investment dollars wind up with foreign firms doing business in countries with mature cleanenergy markets. But how can public policy help create a home market? Market-savvy panelists at both the summit and the forum said that the answers lie in tax and regulatory policies. 2. Institute a carbon tax It takes money, a lot of it, to get a clean-energy technology firm across the “valley of death” from product development to solvency. Startup costs increase initial prices (in the case of solar energy, virtually all of the major costs are up front) and reduce competiveness with established fossil fuels. That’s why we need a carbon tax. The carbon-tax alchemy is simple: If fossil fuels are more expensive, consumers will be more likely to turn to renewables. That is, the carbon tax would create, in a single step, a domestic market. At both the summit and the forum, people who make their living in the marketplace argued that a carbon tax is the best way for the government to give the market clear signals, reduce complex regulation, and let the free market get to work. “We need to put a price on carbon,” Doerr said. “That price signal would tell investors that renewable investments would be rewarded.” Elon Musk, the young founder of electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors, made a convincing case that innovation is expensive, and that if we really want it to take root we have to find a way to ease its path to the marketplace. And easing the path doesn’t have to mean politically unpopular subsidies. “Tax carbon,” he said, “and you won’t need subsidies.”

But wouldn’t such a tax mean that the government is intruding into the free market to play favorites? There’s a problem with the very premise of the question, which implies that there was ever a time when the government didn’t intrude into the energy market. “If you put together all the renewable incentives ever,” said Musk, “it still doesn’t add up to the oil tax credits just last year.” Kauffman said the problem is precisely that renewables are not on a level playing ﬁeld with fossil fuels. There is no way to sustain research and startup expenses and compete with established fuels on price without a carbon tax or targeted tax incentives. A 100-year head start, mixed with a legacy of supportive government policies (the interstate highway system, for instance, vastly expanded the national market for gasoline) has put fossil fuels in a virtually unassailable market position—at least until dwindling supplies cause oil prices to permanently skyrocket. By that time, the U.S. will have surrendered the renewables ﬁeld to China, and we will be as dependent on Chinese renewable technologies as we are on Middle Eastern oil. 3. Maintain targeted tax incentives Gary Hecimovich, an incentives specialist with Deloitte Tax, would like to see a carbon tax, but he doesn’t think we’re getting one anytime soon. The political will isn’t there, nor is the public understanding that a well-aimed tax can catalyze the free market. If we can’t get the carbon tax, he argues, we need to at least set clear and sustained tax incentive policies. If our goal as a nation is to decrease our dependency on foreign oil, reduce greenhouse gases and facilitate development of a job-creating clean-energy sector, Continued on Page 39 September 16-22, 2010 Vegas Seven 37

The Local Newsroom

Green Felt Journal

Making sure the kids are all right By David G. Schwartz

Southern Nevada has had legal casinos for a long time—almost 80 years, to be precise. So while other states that have just legalized slots are learning how to integrate casinos into their communities, we’ve got a head start. That can translate into big differences in what people believe is and isn’t appropriate at casinos. Take, for example, the recent flap in Bensalem, Pa. A whopping seven times this summer, parents or grandparents left minors unattended in cars at the aptly named Parx casino north of Philadelphia. A public outcry ensued, with legislation that would make leaving a child unattended in a car a third-degree felony proposed to provide a disincentive for this behavior. In Las Vegas, where knowingly leaving someone unattended in a vehicle outdoors in the summer is tantamount to murder, the issue is particularly urgent, but it’s a serious problem regardless of the weather. In 2009, 263 children died after being left unattended in cars nationwide, according to KidsandCars. org. None of the incidents is known to have happened at a casino. Regardless of where they’re abandoned, kids left in vehicles are prone to many hazards. Harrison’s Hope, a nonprofit group in St. Louis that educates the public about the dangers of leaving children alone in and around vehicles, has some sobering reminders about what can go wrong when kids are left by themselves in autos. They can suffer from hyperthermia, possibly fatal, after being left in a hot vehicle. They can be accidentally abducted if the vehicle is stolen, or abducted on purpose. They can set the vehicle in motion. They can start a fire. Despite the dangers, some parents continue to leave their children in harm’s way. So far this year, Metro responded to 59 incidents of juveniles left alone in cars, none of which (thankfully) resulted in a fatality. That’s a decline from 2009, when parents were caught leaving their children behind in autos 112 times. According to Metro spokeswoman Barbara Morgan, parents who leave their children unattended are charged with child endangerment. In less severe cases, this is punishable by two years in prison, though incidents resulting in a child’s death may be prosecuted as category A felonies, with a maximum penalty of life in prison.

38 Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

In addition, the children involved, if they can’t be turned over to a responsible parent or guardian, are taken to Child Haven, the division of the Clark County Department of Family Services that provides temporary shelter for abused and neglected children. Responsibility starts with the parents or caregivers, but there’s a great deal that casino security can do to prevent children from coming into harm’s way in parking lots. Active security patrols of the surface lots and parking garages, with foot bike, and vehicle-based officers, can find kids left alone before the situation becomes desperate, and officers can remind parents that leaving kids alone is not acceptable. As Pennsylvania casinos are finding, gambling establishments receive an inordinate amount of publicity in the wake of children being left unattended. It’s no defense to say that the problem is just as bad—or even worse—at supermarkets or shopping malls. That’s why Las Vegas Valley casinos do a better job, apparently, than casinos like Parx when it comes to making sure parents don’t abandon their children while gambling. According to Nevada Gaming Control Board enforcement chief Jerry Markling, the board’s agents don’t see many instances of kids left unattended outside. “When we see minors in a casino, it’s generally kids trying to gamble, not young children left unattended,” he says. Giving the area’s casinos good marks for making sure parents get the message, Markling says if local casinos piled up as many incidents as Parx did this past summer, they’d face an inquiry. “We would look at it quite seriously, he says. “We’d investigate to see if it was part of a pattern on the part of the licensee and, if so, what they were doing to address the problem. If we found that they were ignoring the problem, then we would take action.” Las Vegas casinos catering to locals seem to be doing a good job of making sure that parents get the message not to leave their children in cars, and states with newer casinos might want to take a look at what they are doing right. David G. Schwartz is the director of UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research.

of the nation’s rail system in the 1860s made it possible to get coal from one place to another. Federally built freeways, meanwhile, provide oil’s pathway from reﬁneries to retailers across the nation. In the same spirit, Nevada is currently planning its ON Line transmission line to connect northern renewables—geothermal and windpower—with southern markets. And the line is part of the larger Southwest Intertie Project that will extend from southern Idaho to Boulder City.

T. Boone Pickens made his fortune in oil. Now he places his bets on clean energy, which gives Harry Reid something to smile about. Low-carbon diet Continued from Page 37

then the tax code needs to reliably and consistently incentivize purchases of and investments in clean energy. Tax credits are in place for wind production through 2012, geothermal energy through 2013 and solar power through 2016. Hecimovich said that unless they are made unnecessary by a carbon tax, targeted tax incentives should be extended still further, ensuring that today’s investors know that the market they’re investing in will still exist tomorrow. For a startup trying to cross the valley of death, incentives that foster a market are nice, but incentives that attract venture capital are even nicer. Targeted investment tax credits for green investments, Kauffman said, not only drive crucial capital to young companies, but have the added beneﬁt of creating new stakeholders in the green economy. If the investor class becomes deeply concerned about the creation of a green economy, clean energy would be more likely to ﬁnd the legendary leprechaun of bipartisan support.

Photo courtesy UNLV Photo Services

4. Set clear standards Carbon pricing and tax incentives attempt to entice consumers and investors to renewable energies. In practice, though, the carrot of incentive has been made possible by the stick of state mandates for renewable energy generation.

All Bets Are Off Sports books and the NFL season are a Las Vegas tradition. But what happens if the ﬁelds go dark next year? By Sean DeFrank

Panelists at both the summit and the forum said that Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards—binding targets for how much electricity should be generated from renewable sources—are a crucial way to send a message to the market that states are committed to renewable technologies. These standards put power utilities on notice that they are going to need to generate power in a new way; in turn, the utilities work to develop renewable energy plants—thus creating an industrial market for renewable technologies. Meanwhile, utilities use rebate programs to foster local consumer markets for the renewables they are developing. Portfolio standards are in place in 29 states, including Nevada; several panelists said they hoped Congress would pass a federal standard that would create a truly national market for clean energy. 5. Invest in the transmission grid Even when clean-energy plants come online, they are relying on an antiquated and balkanized transmission system to carry the electrons to market. Without lines to send it eastward, Dakota wind energy tends to stay in the Dakotas. That’s why, as Podesta said, “The private sector needs to see a crucial public investment in transmission lines so we don’t have stranded renewables.” Public investment has always been essential to turning local power generation into regional and national power distribution. As Jon Wellinghoff, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, pointed out to me at the UNLV Forum, the federally enabled growth

Walking into a Las Vegas sports book on a Sunday during the NFL season is like visiting a shopping mall on the day after Thanksgiving. The bustle of activity can overload the senses with multiple games on TV screens overhead, fans living and dying with every snap of the ball as they consume hot dogs and beer, and bettors lining up at the windows to collect money or put down more. But the scene next year could be completely different. With a lockout by NFL owners a very real—even likely—occur- rence in 2011, local sports books could be slightly livelier than a mausoleum. “College football would still exist on Saturdays, so that would still be a good day,” says Johnny Avello, the Wynn’s executive director of race and sports book operations. “But those same

6. Consume less Amid all of the policy ideas exchanged at the week’s events—from Pickens’ eminently reasonable suggestion to put the nation’s ﬂeet of 18-wheelers on a natural gas diet to environmental advocate Philippe Cousteau’s equally reasonable call for a renewed national commitment to research and education—the quiet underlying reality was that we need to control our consumption. “The cheapest of all energy,” said Podesta, “is the energy you save by not using it.” Here, too, government has a role: The Home Star program, which is currently stuck in Congress, would fund energy retroﬁts for low-income homes, saving millions of megawatts across the nation with simple commonsense solutions such as improved insulation, lighting and windows. Meanwhile, smart meters—such as the EcoConcierge systems at Pulte Homes’ Villa Trieste in Summerlin—allow residents to track their energy use in detail and cut back on unnecessary and expensive use that overwhelms the grid at peak hours. But for these systems to bring massive energy savings, they need to be more than a boutique item. They need to be part of the fabric of residential and business life. And that means that in the beginning, at least, governments will need to offer sustained incentives for people to buy them and for utilities to install them. 7. Find the will The notion that public policy is crucial for the creation of new markets is politically uncomfortable in a climate where many Americans take the old Ronald Reagan maxim to heart with fundamentalist fervor: Government isn’t the cure; it’s the problem. Having been branded repeatedly in recent years as an irredeemable tax-andspend government interventionist, Reid understandably took pains at the summit to stress the market’s central role in America’s clean-energy future. “We need the political will,” he said. “We also need courageous investors.” But investors aren’t in the courage business. They’re in the business of placing good bets. And, for better or worse, it’s up to our politicians to help ensure that clean energy is one of them.

bettors are back the following day and [usually] betting more because the limits are higher in pro football. … It would be pretty devastating.” The total sports betting handle—the amount of money that changes hands—is about $2.6 billion annually in Nevada, with football, both pro and college, accounting for nearly half of that. The handle for the Super Bowl alone usually approaches $100 million statewide. Jay Kornegay, executive director of the Hilton SuperBook, says little could be done to try and compensate for such a tremendous ﬁnancial hit. “I don’t know how you just make up revenue not having the NFL,” he says. “People are betting the college ranks already. You possibly could try to enhance some of that, but you’d just be Continued on Page 40 September 16-22, 2010 Vegas Seven 39

The Local Newsroom

spinning your wheels a little bit. I think we’re at the mercy of the league. I might update my résumé.” The NFL hasn’t had a play stoppage since 1987, when a 24-day players’ strike shortened the regular season by one game and led to teams using replacement players for three games. That followed a 57-day players’ strike in 1982 that cut the regular season to nine games. “The public couldn’t bet on their favorite players and couldn’t get the most out of a game, so that created a problem [with the replacement players in ’87],” Avello says. “There was still some wagering, but nothing like when all the participants are there.” This time around, it’s the owners who are threatening to lock out the players. Owners opted out of the collective bargaining agreement in 2008, wanting a big slice of the 59.6 percent of designated revenues that players receive, and are also seeking to expand the regular season from 16 to 18 games. Players want to eliminate the salary cap, and would like bigger rosters and more money for a longer schedule.

Kornegay hopes that both sides realize that the stakes are too high to put the season at risk. “There’s really nothing we can do about it,” he says. “The NFL is the most powerful league out there, but during these tough times I’m not sure either side can afford a work stoppage, so we would just hope that they settle this thing and come to an agreement before the [deadline].” The current collective bargaining agreement runs out in March, and a new agreement probably wouldn’t be ﬁnalized until summer—if at all. If that happens, Avello says he will get creative and maybe add some new items to the betting menu, including expanding propositions on college games as a way to drive trafﬁc to the sports book. It’s a problem he’d rather not dwell on right now, especially with the handle from the NFL’s opening week improving over last year’s numbers. But it’s something he can’t ignore for too long. “I know [the lockout is] a possibility, but it’s not something that I’ve given much thought to,” Avello says. “But I’m going to now, that’s for sure.” Will the Hilton SportsBook be this busy on Sundays next fall?

Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

Photo by Anthony Mair

Sports books Continued from Page 39

Rock Tradition.

f i n e

j e w e l r y

I VA N K AT R U M P C O L L E C T I O N . C O M

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Politics

If they only had a conscience By Michael Green

After reading about Sen. John Ensign and now-former Assemblyman Morse Arberry, I’d rather talk about Ralph Denton. You’ll see why. For newshounds, Ensign is the gift that keeps giving. A recent New Yorker article on the C Street house where he and some fellow hypocrites live, called “Frat House for Jesus,” detailed how they dealt with discovering that Ensign regards the Ten Commandments as highly as he does the 10 amendments comprising the Bill of Rights. The New York Times mentioned the Republican in an article about members of Congress whose charities get considerable ﬁnancial help from companies and industries with business before them. Meanwhile, Ensign toured rural Nevada, claiming Democrats caused the recession, not only being dishonest but showing that his recent infamy did nothing to reduce his hubris or his hairspray use. Showing bipartisan spirit by diverting attention from Ensign, Arberry, whose Democratic registration must thrill the party, resigned from the Assembly seat he had to surrender anyway due to term limits to make himself eligible for a lobbying contract from Clark County. Commentators wondered whether he has any shame (no), begging the question of why the members of the district that elected him had no standards. At least the county commission did: It rejected him. With all of that going on, we went to a brunch for Denton’s 85th birthday. A few years ago, I did the interviews and editing for his oral history, and not merely because he is, next to my father, the ﬁnest man I know, or because he’s a good friend. Denton knows Nevada history and has lived it. He has practiced law in Nevada since 1951 after going through school on the patronage of the congressional delegation, most notably Sen. Pat McCarran. He ran twice for Congress and has been involved in numerous campaigns. Denton was one of the key people responsible for Grant Sawyer’s winning two terms as governor in 1958 and 1962. More than any governor with the possible exception of Mike O’Callaghan (1971-79), Sawyer dragged Nevada kicking and screaming into the 20th century by supporting stronger gaming regulation, civil rights, stronger social services and more streamlined state government.

42 Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

When a vacancy opened on the county commission, Sawyer and Denton discussed those seeking the appointment. Finally, Sawyer said, “Everybody in Clark County’s on my tail. The only person I could appoint that everybody would say, ‘Well, he’s entitled to it,’ is you.” So Denton took it but didn’t run for a full term. Why? “I was constantly hit with conflicts of interest,” he said, and he felt he couldn’t do justice to the public while also maintaining a law practice with clients who might have business before him. Later Sawyer said, “All those years, there was never one thing you ever did in my name that embarrassed me.” We carefully chose the title for Denton’s oral history: A Liberal Conscience. We meant it two ways: He’s a conscience among Nevada’s liberal community, and he’s a liberal with a conscience. Interestingly, when the book came out, some of his old friends declined to get it because the title was evil. Unlike them, apparently, Denton finds it possible to talk with people he disagrees with. That isn’t to suggest perfection on Denton’s part—he doesn’t. But during Sawyer’s tenure as governor, he was amazed to find so many trying to hire him as a lawyer because they expected him to use his connection to Sawyer or help them because he held office. He asked one, “Do you think I’m a political whore? I’m not a political whore; I’m a lawyer.” To which a friend said, “Are you crazy? Grab it while you can.” For Ensign and Arberry to grab it while they can—in one case literally—is a common human reaction. If we were perfect, laws would be unnecessary. Officeholders need a conscience, either inside their heads or in the form of a friend to tell them when they’re wrong. One night, Sawyer was upset when Denton disagreed with him, but then said, “Don’t change. I’ve got enough yes-men around me now.” Sawyer had plenty of conscience, not to mention intelligence, but he benefited from the give-and-take. Ensign and Arberry could learn from Denton about what to give and what to take—and in what order to do it. 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.

Presents

The Only Latin Night Under the Stars

WEDNESDAYS 9:30 PM

rhumbarlv.com

Nightlife

Entertaining options for a week of nonstop fun and excitement.

Compiled by Melissa Arseniuk

Thu. 16 It’s a special edition of Godskitchen, as the second half of Svast & Stellar—a.k.a. Dave Garcia—celebrates his birthday at Vanity. (At the Hard Rock Hotel, doors 10:30 p.m., $40 guys, $20 girls, local ladies free.) Meanwhile, L.A. Guns play across the casino ﬂoor, at Wasted Space (doors 9 p.m., $15 in advance, $20 at the door), and across town, Rio’s Crown Theater hosts a Bettie Page fashion show, featuring a performance by rockabilly rockers Omar & The Stringpoppers. Doors 9 p.m., $10 admission, $40 all-you-can-drink.

Fri. 17 Wrap up Mexican independence week at The Bank, as the club hosts the Most Beautiful Latinas in the World. The Bellagio hot spot has been searching for the loveliest Latina in the land, and tonight hosts the 12 ﬁnalists. Can you say, Olé? Doors 10:30 p.m., $30.

Sat. 18 Blush continues to celebrate its third birthday/ anniversary in true Las Vegas style—with multiple parties. Tonight, “Cooler Than Me” singer Mike Posner pops by the Wynn ultralounge to give a special performance. (Doors 9 p.m., $30 for guys, $20 for ladies.) Meanwhile, another birthday party goes down at another ultralounge, this time on the south Strip. Hard Times of RJ Berger star Amber Lancaster (pictured) blows out the candles at Tabú at MGM Grand, and former The Bachelor scandalite Vienna Girardi is heavily rumored (but not conﬁrmed) to be there. Doors 10 p.m., $20 women, $40 men.

Sun. 19 Start your Sunday slowly but right, with a well-balanced and very boozy brunch at Nove Italiano. High Society hosts a TweetUp from 2-4 p.m. and gives those who RSVP before Sept. 17 two free drinks and 10 percent off the so-called “dayclub” menu. (At the Palms, 1-5 p.m., $30 all-you-can-eat brunch, twtvite.com/NoveHighSociety to RSVP.) Afterward, keep the party—and summery spirit—going at The Bank, which hosts an Endless Summer Rally that gives the host who tonight brings the biggest group to the club a trip for 30 to San Diego via private jet. The contest is entry-by-invite-only, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be part of the prize-winning entourage. (At Bellagio, doors 10:30 p.m., $30 cover, free for industry and local ladies before midnight.) Alternatively, celebrate summer at XS, during the ﬁnal Sunday night pool party of the season, with DJs Manufactured Superstars. The vibe is great and the crowd is stunning—and now, with 100 percent less Paris Hilton! At Encore, doors 10:30 p.m., $30 men, $20 women, local women free.

SeveN NIghtS Mon. 20 Take a break from the club scene, and check out the view from the 23rd ﬂoor as Mandarin Bar hosts an evening with Rodney Lough Jr. The event is part of Mandarin Oriental’s monthly artist showcase, and this month highlights the master photographer’s vibrant images of wilderness and landscapes. Sip complimentary Ty-Ku cocktails and dazzle your friends by pointing out that Lough uses no color ﬁlters in his art. (Event 6-8 p.m., no cover.) For a higher-energy party, head to Jet, where Light Group marketing managers and career step-brothers, Mustafa “Moose” Abdi ( Jet) and Kozmoe Alonzo (Haze) celebrate their birthdays at Abdi’s home-away-from-home at The Mirage. Doors 10:30 p.m., $30, locals free.

Tue. 21 Saved by the Bell may have been canceled in 1993, but that hasn’t stopped Mr. Belding, a.k.a. actor Dennis Haskins, from collecting appearance fees. Everyone’s favorite bumbling principal returns to Caesars Palace to host a back-to-schoolthemed bash at Pure. Drinking with the former principal isn’t quite as cool as sleeping with your former teacher or high school crush (assuming your teacher/crush was and still is hot), but what the heck—we need something to do until Tiffani-Amber Thiessen (“Kelly Kapowski”) and Elizabeth Berkley (“Jessie Spano”) turn to VIP hosting to pay the bills. Doors 10 p.m., $30 men, $20 women, free for all locals.

Wed. 22 Solidifying September’s status as Las Vegas’ ofﬁcial birthday month, Blue Martini throws another birthday bash as it turns 2. The popular Town Square lounge features an hour-long open bar sponsored by Van Gogh Blue vodka at 9 p.m. What’s more, ladies in cocktail dresses get the chance to win a trip for two to San Francisco, Patty Janura takes the stage at 8 p.m., and things really get going at 11:30 p.m., when DJ Jace One kicks things up. Coincidentally, 11:30 p.m. is also when men stop getting in for free (it’s $20 after that). If you’re sick of birthdays, head to the Palms, where Phoenix plays The Pearl. Concert 8 p.m., $29-$49, all-ages.

September 16-22, 2010 Vegas Seven 45

Nightlife

The Bank | Bellagio

Upcoming SEPT. 16 | Bank Thursdays SEPT. 17 | MosT BeauTiful laTina

SEPT. 19 | indusTry sundays

46 Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

Photography by Amy Schaefer

Nightlife

Rain | Palms

Photography by Beverly Oanes

Upcoming sept. 18 | Xzibit’s birthday sept. 21 | baNG tUesday! With rOCK-it! sCieNtists

Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

Nightlife

Beauty Bar | 517 e. fremont st.

Photography by Sullivan Charles

Upcoming SEPT. 17 | ImagIne Dragons SEPT. 19 | neon reverb: Jeff the brotherhooD anD the Walkmen SEPT. 24 | sleepy sun

50 Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

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Nightlife

HARD ROCK POOL, “SKAM SAtuRDAyS” | HARD ROCK HOteL

Photography by Amy Schaefer

Upcoming sept. 18 | S.K.A.M. SAturdAyS: dJ HoMicide, eric cubeecHee sept. 19 | reHAb sept. 25 | S.K.A.M. SAturdAyS: dJ Five, ob-one, dJ ecHo

Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

Nightlife

Insider

Ryan Perrings on Getting Past Ryan Perrings

#VIPFail

The VIP host shares a few secrets from other side of the velvet rope

Director of VIP Services at Lavo at the Palazzo

The best (and worst) VIP attempts. Ever. By Melissa Arseniuk

Robert Chiti

The line: “I’m Clark Kent, and this is Lois Lane. We have reason to believe there is a good story inside, and we need to get in right away!” Did it work? “Yes! The host laughed, and we all thought it was pretty original.”

By Natalie Holbrook “I knew XS was going to be The Big Thing when we did our nightlife walkthrough,” says XS, Tryst and Botero VIP services manager Ryan Perrings. “I’d bring people that worked at other clubs, they’d step back, and their mouths would drop. I was like, ‘OK, we have something special.’” And XS is special indeed. So much so that the award-winning club’s pearly gates are assailed on all sides by thousands of party-hungry would-be patrons just about every night XS is open for business. “I’ve seen the line go in 30 minutes, and I’ve seen it be a two-hour wait,” Perrings says. Psst! Want to sail past them? Then look, listen and learn the velvet ropes with one Vegas’ best:

What do people do to slip past you? “People try everything. They sneak in; we’ve caught people faking the stamp. People will climb under the ropes, go through the back, use other people’s IDs. A guy did 50 push-ups [in front of the ropes]. We let him in. Everything you can imagine, they’ll do to get past. Girls are crazy, too. They’re all nuts.” Wear this (not that) Guys: “Grab a GQ , emulate it, copy something out of there and you’ll look good. Wear what you’re going to be conﬁdent in. Be stylish, but bring your own ﬂair to it. Mix it up, you’re going to get in.” Girls: “Minimalist, sexy, dressed-down, L.A. style. The over-the-top, bling-y, Jersey Shore-esque look is not a great look. The model look is a great look right now.” Everyone: “At this point, [clubs] don’t even wanna say, ‘No Ed Hardy.’ People should know by now, but you still see it! No rhinestones, for guys or girls.” 60 Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

The line: “One time at Lavo a guy literally shouted at me, ‘I just have to go in for a second. I’m scouting locations for a Kevin Spacey movie! Don’t you want your club to be in a Kevin Spacey movie!?’” Did it work? “Yes—Kevin Spacey visits the hotel a lot.” Did Lavo end up in a Kevin Spacey ﬁlm? “No.”

Justin Crews

Executive VIP Host at Vanity at the Hard Rock Hotel

When is it my turn? “In the course of a night at XS, there are 7,000 people coming in, and all of them have their own issues and reasons why they think they should be getting in. You can’t keep coming at me like, ‘Oh man, I have to get in right now!’ I understand that but so do all these other people.” Why do some people get in and others don’t? “If you carry attitude, you’ll get attitude back. Be friendly, be respectful, be courteous; treat people how you want to be treated at your job. These jobs are awesome and can be a great time, but also there’s also a lot of stress.” How can I get noticed at the velvet ropes? “Being different in Vegas is a great thing. If you dress like all the tourists, you can’t tell the difference between them and the local girls. Developing an identity is the best thing you can do.” XS is inside Encore. Doors open 9:30 p.m. Friday: $30 men, $20 women; 9 p.m. Saturday: $50 men, $20 women; 10:30 p.m. Sunday and Monday: $30 men, $20 women (local women admitted free).

The line: “People will come up to the door holding my business card and say, ‘Yeah, I met Justin in Kansas City and he told me the next time I come to Vegas he’d take care of me.’ I’ve never even been to Kansas City, so I’ll tell them, and they’ll be all confused. Apparently people pretend to be me in another city, to get hooked up [at bars], and then the [club owners] come here expecting to have the favors returned.’ It’s happened, like, three times.” Does it work? “Yeah. I’ll let them in, just because I feel bad for them, getting duped.” The ploy: Two girls walked to the front door, and they were having their IDs checked. The problem was, they both had the same ID. Like, exact replicas of the same ID. And they freaked out when we called them out. The girls were, like, ‘What are you talking about? This is us!’” Did it work? “Of course not.” The line: “Morgans Hotel Group [which owns Hard Rock Hotel] has a CEO named Fred Kleisner, and people will come up and totally slaughter his name. They’ll be, like, ‘Yeah, I’m good friends with Fred Klee-isner’ or ‘I know Fred Kl-eyes-er-ner and he told me to come by,’ or whatever. It’s kind of hilarious.” Does it work? “No!”

Photo by Francis + Francis

Who are you letting in? Time vs. Money: “If you don’t want to wait, you basically have to know someone on staff that is willing to walk out and accommodate your entry. That’s how it goes.” Comp vs. Paid: “We are really hard on comps; you have to be very afﬁliated with something. Industry [equals] Ryan Perrings nightclub, strip club, casino, restaurant. And good locals are always taken care of, too.” Girls vs. Boys: “If I accommodate any girls on a Friday or Saturday, it’s all girls, no guys. Guys are just not an ideal demographic for a guest list. If it’s a personal relationship, I always accommodate them myself.”

The line: “It’s us four dudes. Our girls are already inside.” Did it work? “No. It never does.”

Nightlife

Cocktail Culture

By Xania Woodman

The Aerolatte: A girl’s other best friend? As served at Blush inside Wynn Las Vegas, $15 Ladies, ladies, ladies. Face it: You rule nightlife! Daylife, too, for that matter. Lights dim and the hottest music cues up in sheer anticipation of your arrival. Velvet ropes crack like whips to jump out of your highheeled, polished, coiffured and brightly adorned self. Now that is something worth toasting to, and with something as fresh and effervescent as you are. We have to admit, we have a bit of a crush on the Crush, a refreshing, handcrafted take on orange Crush soda created by Southern Wine & Spirits sales consultant Jeff Blake. Getting major points for balancing taste, freshness, attractive presentation and practicality in the highvolume, high-tension environment of a boutique nightclub, Blake’s Crush also earns high praise from the boss. “Jeff is the best-kept secret,” says Pauly Freedman of Blush, Encore Beach Club and Surrender. “[It] takes spirit knowledge and a background in operations to create cocktails that are volume-friendly, not labor-intensive and yummy.” Here’s to yummy! 1½ ounce Grey Goose L’Orange vodka ½ ounce rock candy syrup 3 to 4 small segments of fresh orange ½ ounce fresh lemon sour Splash soda water A few orange slices In a mixing glass, muddle the orange slices with the rock candy syrup. Add ice, vodka and lemon sour. Shake well and roll into a highball glass or strain into a chilled cocktail glass to serve up. Top with a splash of soda and garnish with a few orange slices.

Behind the wood with Marie Maher

Marie Maher: Renaissance lady.

In the late ’80s, then-bartender Marie Maher (it rhymes with “bar”)—now Renaissance’s director of F&B, known for her all-fresh mixology programs—survived the rather Dark Ages of American cocktailing, when “men didn’t dare drink pink drinks,” Maher says, referring to Cosmopolitans, “and women were ‘barmaids’ who worked in local taverns or pubs serving shots and beers at best.” And she lived. “That same courage, I hope, is still evident today in the beverage programs I foster and the menus I design.” On house-made products: “I’m very much in awe of guys like Tobin Ellis [of BarMagic of Las Vegas], making their own syrups. That is a true throwback to the Jerry Thomas days, the preProhibition cocktail days. It’s very nice to see the guys inventing their own, making their own and

Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

using their own. That shows great pride.” On simplicity and consistency: “You can’t put together workable drink programs with complicated drinks that have little value in their execution. They need to make sense and be delivered consistently every time.” On oddball ingredients: “Modern mixologists seem to be looking to ﬁnd different and esoteric ingredients just to be ‘new.’ The real truth is that great libation satisfaction is rare, but found more often when the simplest ingredients are given comfortable homes in well-balanced drinks that make sense to the consumer on the other side of the wood! Life is complicated, drinks shouldn’t be.” On women excelling in the beverage world: “We have more taste buds, so why not?!”

No larger, heavier or more complicated than a common household screwdriver, the Aerolatte steam-free, handheld milk frother is an absolute must behind every elegant home bar. More than a mere aide de cappuccino, “This is a fun tool to have in your kit. It’s gotten me through some hard times,” says newly ordained Cosmopolitan resort mixologist and Bond bar GM Kristen Schaefer about one of her most cherished bar tools, which whips up a mean espuma or frothy cocktail garnish and is available at Aerolatte.com/US starting at $12. The newest addition to the Cosmo’s mixology Dream Team (BarMagic’s Mariena Mercer and Noir Bar’s Andrew Pollard are making the move as well, to be GMs of The Chandelier and Vesper bars, respectively), Schaefer says her Aerolatte has gotten her out of a number of scrapes, including when her nitrogen-charged dessert whipper has malfunctioned and, most notably, during her appearance on the second season of the bartending reality show On the Rocks when she had to go into a challenge with just four bar tools. Schaefer also broke out her trusty Aerolatte on Aug. 30 when she represented Las Vegas in the Bombay Sapphire GQ “Most Inspired Bartender” competition’s national ﬁnals, ultimately bringing home second place for Sin City with her awardwinning cocktail, the Don Harlow. Maher photo by Ryan Reason

Crush

The NaTioNal Newsroom This week in the New York Observer

in Facebook’s Crosshairs A lot hinges on Foursquare’s response to Zuckerberg’s location play

Photo illustration by Josue Evilla; photograph by Laughing Squid

By Leon Neyfakh It was not an invitation that Dennis Crowley could have been thrilled about. Mark Zuckerberg wanted him to do what, exactly? Fly to California and stand onstage while Facebook unveiled the launch of a new location-sharing check-in feature that tech pundits had been saying for months would decisively put Crowley’s young start-up out of business? Apparently the idea was that Facebook Places would be introduced, and then the little guys who were already working in the same sector of the social networking business, including Crowley’s Foursquare, would come forward and offer some brief remarks about how excited they were to integrate their services with Facebook’s. Such a gesture of cooperation would send a mutually beneﬁcial signal to reporters, bloggers and the rest of the tech scene, telling everyone that Facebook, with its half-billion users, wasn’t trying to hurt anyone with its new feature, and that none of the start-ups they’d be competing against were feeling all that threatened about it. Facebook Places was just a new friend arriving at the party! Of course, Crowley, who co-founded Foursquare in March 2009 with Naveen Selvadurai, had known for some time that Zuckerberg and his team were preparing to march into his territory sooner or later and adopt his company’s most basic feature, which allows users to tell their friends where they are by “checking in” on their mobile phones. But he didn’t think it was going to happen this early. And now he was supposed to play along with this Sili-

con Valley hand-holding ceremony? It was as if New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller had been invited to say a few words at the launch of The Wall Street Journal’s Greater New York section! And yet … “It seemed like the right thing to do,” Crowley said recently, when asked why he decided to participate in the Aug. 18 event, even though doing so could be seen as an act of submission to a mightier foe. He didn’t make the trip himself, sending in his stead Foursquare’s new VP for mobile and partnerships, a fellow named Holger Luedorf, who spoke at the event for only a few minutes and made clear that Foursquare was not yet sure about the nature of its “partnership” with Facebook. Later, in a post titled “Facebook Will Crush Foursquare,” PCMag.com described Luedorf as looking “downright depressed and [speaking] wistfully of how the company pioneered the category.” Foursquare could very well have a bright future as a relatively modest check-in service that is fully integrated with the Facebook Places platform. It really wouldn’t be so bad. The company could still operate as a perfectly handsome tool, and lots of people on Facebook would probably use it and have a ball keeping track of where their pals are, getting tips on places to go and competing with each other for special deals. Assuming there were enough people using the service to attract the interest of businesses, Foursquare would still be able to sell ads and set up promotional partnerships the way it does now.

Although many in the tech industry are predicting the death of Foursquare at the hands of Facebook, Crowley seems committed to outgunning the behemoth and turning his fledgling service—currently at some 3 million registered users and growing by about 18,000 new users per day—into a social-media juggernaut. At the heart of Crowley’s vision for Foursquare’s future is the idea that the check-in will become one of the primary ways people express themselves and their preferences online, just like status updates, Tweets and likes already are. In this scenario, people will be able to check in not only to indicate their presence at physical places but also their participation in group events and real-time consumption of TV shows, books, movies, etc. By all accounts, Crowley wants Foursquare to transcend its status as a niche mobile check-in tool, and to become the platform upon which all other check-in tools are built. “As a platform, Foursquare would control the underlying infrastructure of most location-based applications. It’s a very powerful position to be in,” said Hilary Mason, chief scientist at bit.ly and a cofounder of HackNY, a group that steers college graduates to careers at start-ups. “The market motivations are pretty clear—if you control the infrastructure, you control the market. We see the same thing with Twitter and with Apple.” Crowley doesn’t want Foursquare to be a train running on someone else’s tracks, in other words. He wants to own the tracks. The question now is whether he has a fighting chance of doing so with Facebook leveraging its user base in pursuit of the same thing. Crowley made clear the scale of his ambition earlier this summer when he and his co-founders rejected ninefigure acquisition offers from Yahoo and, yes, Facebook in favor of going it alone. In June, Foursquare announced it had raised $20 million in venture capital in a series B investment round led by the venture firm Andreessen Horowitz that valued the company at $95 million. And still, one hears it all the time: What is Foursquare actually for? How is it useful? Currently, the service delivers location-specific ads and tips while letting users play an entertaining but frivolous social game in which they check in to venues in exchange for points and other virtual rewards, some of which lead to special deals from businesses that have partnered with Foursquare. Some detractors scoff at the idea that Foursquare will ever become anything more than a faddish amusement. Crowley, 34, who pioneered the notion of sharing one’s location with friends via mobile phone as the cofounder of Dodgeball six years ago, insisted that Facebook’s apparent desire to become the dominant platform for check-ins did not worry him. “Our thinking is a little more evolved than theirs,” he said. “We’ve been in the space a little bit longer. We’re developing this really deep and rich road map for what we’re going to do—putting engineers against it, putting a timeline against it. The fact that Facebook is now in the location space doesn’t change that. We’re still doing the same stuff in the same order.” Crowley recently indicated on his Twitter page that the launch of Facebook’s feature had coincided with a record number of new Foursquare users. The idea, it seemed, was to illustrate Crowley’s contention that the implementation of Places would be good for Foursquare in the long run because it meant Facebook would be doing the hard work of popularizing the hard-to-grasp concept of check-ins while the Foursquare crew was left to innovate Continued on Page 74 September 16-22, 2010 Vegas Seven

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Inside the Worldโ s Deadliest City Drug-related violence has torn apart Mexicoโ s Ciudad Juรกrez By Jeremy Gantz

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Since 2008, more than 6,000 people have been murdered in Ciudad Juรกrez as drugs have become a part of daily life.

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Photo by Jesus Alcazar/AFP/Getty Images

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The show is unabashedly ambitious, large in scope and lavish in set.

;MX\MUJMZ 9HJDV 6HYHQ

The National Newsroom

Let’s See What This Baby Can Do 2

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ACROSS 1 Eccentric 5 Puccini opus 10 Actor Tamiroff 14 “Misery” star 18 Dr. Pavlov 19 Run ___ of 20 Come-on 21 Plump 22 Continued 23 Result of getting too close to a happy baby? 25 “No Time for Sergeants” playwright 26 Remnant 27 More stale-smelling 28 Other, to Orozco 30 “___ takers?” 31 Engine type 33 Stopping temporarily, baby-style? 37 Ingredient from Mars 40 Mu ___ pork 41 Automatic door opener? 42 Cannes canful 43 Robt. ___ 45 Sacred river in Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan” 48 In the least 51 Elaborate verse forms 53 Brand of teething ring sold only in L.A.? 56 Nobelist Wiesel 57 It has cup-shaped ﬂowers 59 “Norma ___” 60 Ref. giants

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61 Skilled in 63 See 25 Across 64 Aquarium buys 66 Dancer Reinking 67 Famous actor as a baby? 71 Audit rep 74 Northern 75 Received 76 Of an air element 78 Where Goliath fell 81 Do something 82 Most unsettling 85 Baseball’s Sandberg 86 Hurry, baby-style? 89 Whodunit roster 91 Word before sing or dance 92 “The ___ Love” 93 Brooklyn pronoun 95 Galley propellers 96 Sicilian hothead? 98 Ultimate 100 Constancy 102 Result of some digit-sucking? 106 “Gil Blas” author 109 1960s style 110 Turner who turned heads 111 Well-meaning type 114 Pump content 115 Kirkuk native 117 Maternity ward? 120 Sailors 121 Second showing 122 Sol’s opening 123 Mortise insert 124 Undercover apparatus

125 “Puppy Love” singer 126 Rhyming word in “Light My Fire” 127 “Awake and Sing!” penner 128 Cameo stone DOWN 1 Rode, in a way 2 “___ know that” 3 “This baby needs a rest,” for example? 4 It levels the playing ﬁeld 5 ___ rasa 6 Just the two ___ 7 Do a laundry chore 8 Dilbert workspace 9 To go, in Bordeaux 10 Tirane’s land: abbr. 11 Sorento maker 12 Under one’s control 13 Conductor from Mumbai 14 Prompt 15 Edge 16 Purview of a President’s council 17 Woody’s home: abbr. 21 Level area on a chart 24 Distinctive times 27 Manhattan Project member 29 Fit out 32 Like some nuts 34 Starbuck’s quarry 35 Temporary calm

36 Openings 38 Nasty companion 39 In addition 42 Lawbreaker 44 City just east of Lisbon 46 Shimon of Israel 47 Hilton rival 49 Law prof ’s degree 50 “___ Liaisons Dangereuses” 51 Nintendo rival 52 Kin of organic 54 Sedaka’s “Next Door to ___” 55 Managers, formerly 58 Grain grinder 62 Blood-type trio 64 Director Jacques 65 Bush spokesman Fleischer 68 Right-hand page 69 “Cry, the Beloved Country” author 70 Prepared, as apples 71 What a baby does if it doesn’t succeed? 72 Ice cream amounts 73 “Cloud hoppers” 74 Pakistan’s first female prime minister 77 Dog rewards 78 Urge (on) 79 Elton’s john 80 At night 82 Head of Paramount 83 Old brand of 114 Across 84 Chop ___ 87 Cosmetic ingredient 88 Rear end problem? 90 Propelled, as a gondola 94 Nudged rudely 97 Atticus Finch’s state: abbr. 99 Beyond successful 101 Adjusts, as wheels 102 “Quiz Show” figure Charles Van ___ 103 Scheduled 104 Blues guitarist John 105 Slogan 107 Activist-chess star Kasparov 108 Elizabeth I’s favorite 109 Actress Sorvino 112 Sup in style 113 Sheepshank, e.g. 116 Sine ___ non 118 Miss an easy fly 119 Heartache 120 Tango minimum

!!! VOLUME 16 IS HERE !!! To order Merl’s crossword books, visit www.sunday crosswords.com.

9/16/2010 © M. Reagle Answers found on Page 74 72

Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

Curious George Clooney By Richard Siklos For the past several years, media business models have been under siege. Music and newspapers get a lot of the attention, but what about the business model of the classic American movie star? Like everything else, this model has recently come into serious question, as big-time stars such as Tom Cruise and Harrison Ford and Julia Roberts don’t open films the way they once did. Recently, the question of value was revived again with the debut of George Clooney’s The American. Clooney occupies an unusual perch among Hollywood glitterati—he’s the A-lister who doesn’t appear in many A-list films. According to The Hollywood Reporter, of the 10 films he’s worked on since 2005, only one—Oceans 13—has earned more than $100 million at the domestic box office. His latest effort is a stylish and respectfully received R-rated international thriller that, if not for his presence, might be on the art-house circuit. And yet Clooney remains a mega-star, raising the question: Is the box office as powerful a draw as it once was in determining an actor’s stature in Hollywood? It was curious to review Forbes’ new list of the “best actors for the buck.” Essentially, Forbes divided a star’s pay by the amount of profit that star’s movies have generated, thereby coming up with a pecking order for commercial success. At the George Clooney is a big star who doesn’t top of its list: carry much clout at the box office. Shia LaBeouf, who has generated an estimated $81 in profit for every dollar he’s been paid. Second place, Anne Hathaway, at $64, and third place, Daniel Radcliffe, at $61. Further down the list, Meryl Streep generated $21; and at $17, Nicolas Cage is only a dollar behind the more widely revered Johnny Depp. In the case of LaBeouf and Radcliffe, it’s clear that being attached to big special-effects franchises and being hired at a relatively young and inexpensive age have contributed to their success. Hathaway has had a more diverse and impressive career, though of course her high placement in this exercise is similarly skewed by her recent role in Alice in Wonderland (whose chief star was Depp), and the fact that females are still struggling for pay parity. And Clooney? He doesn’t even make Forbes’ Top 10, making his ability to be both iconic and eclectic seem even more impressive.

Photo by Kirkland / Retna Digital

By Merl Reagle

The National Newsroom

Personal Finance Foursquare and Facebook Continued from Page 69

and figure out new ways to make them useful to people and the businesses that want to sell them things. One thing Foursquare supporters like to point out is that its “social graph”—the map of connections between its users—is more valuable than Facebook’s because its users tend to friend only people who are actually close to them and with whom they would want to share their location. On Facebook, by comparison, where the threshold for accepting a friend request tends to be very low, many people end up connected with hundreds of “friends” whom they barely know. Having a more authentic social graph, in which users are only linked to people they know and trust, means that Foursquare will be better equipped to provide reliable recommendations for things to do and places to go. Another advantage Foursquare has over Facebook for the time being is its robust and popular application programming interface (API), which allows thirdparty developers to build applications on top of the platform and integrate Foursquare into other services, thus expanding the range of its possible uses. Where Foursquare has an admired API, Facebook has so far released only a read-only version of theirs, which severely limits what developers can build on top of it. Furthermore, whereas Facebook naturally has an enormous community of third-party developers building apps on top of it, Foursquare might have a better reputation in the tech community. There are those who believe that if those engineers do a good enough job creating new features, and the company continues to engage businesses with popular marketing partnerships, then Foursquare will be able to survive and flourish as a service even if Facebook Places, rather than Foursquare, prevails as the Internet’s dominant check-in platform. “You can own the platform, like, say Microsoft has with Windows. Or you can own the things that sit upon the platform, like Adobe has with Photoshop,” said the media consultant Rex Sorgatz, who counts Crowley as a longtime friend. “Either thing can be huge. As long as the check-in actually does win, they’ll find their spot.”

Let’s See What This Baby Can Do by Merl Reagle

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C A A K I M U L L I N E B L E B A T H I E R O T CR AWLWA ME L S HU E L E E A L P H A S V A L L E Y N EMON E R A I R A T E T R P L A NC A S T E A L GO T C T E E R I E S T ODD L E S U ON E I D E S E N T H L OY O F T HUMB N A GOOD K T H EWE TW I N A E RO T E NO P Y R E OD E T

Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

R I G G E R E N T S A L I G N S

C A A N UDGY E V I N A N Y I NG N T T A L L RG L E OE D S A S R C P A I T R I C R Y N E P E C T S OA R S L T Y E S AGE D GA S T A R S W I R E ON Y X P L A T E A U

More consumer protections on bank overdrafts may be coming By Kathy Kristof, Tribune Media Services

Last month, Federal Reserve rules went into effect that barred banks from automatically charging existing account holders overdraft fees on ATM and debit-card transactions. But more consumer protections concerning overdrafts could be on the way. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has proposed guidelines that would result in sweeping changes to the standard way banks handle consumers who habitually overdraw their accounts. If enacted, the measures would in effect eliminate “gotcha” practices that result in some hapless consumers paying hundreds of dollars annually in penalties. “American families, especially those most vulnerable financially, could save millions of dollars a year in costly overdraft fees if guidelines the FDIC proposed” are adopted, said Michael D. Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending in Washington. “The guidelines would encourage the banks the FDIC oversees to offer customers lower-cost overdraft alternatives, rather than charge unlimited, high-cost overdraft fees—as many banks do—even on small debit-card transactions.” Unlike the new Fed rules on ATM and debit-card transactions, the proposed FDIC measures would also affect traditional check and automatic debit transactions. Two aspects of current overdraft policies concern the FDIC, said Sandra L. Thompson, director of the FDIC’s division of supervision and consumer protection. One is that some overdrafts are essentially undocumented loans. A 2008 FDIC study found that people who had five overdrafts or more per year accounted for 90 percent of all overdrafts. Those chronic overspenders were not simply making errors; they were using overdraft plans as short-term loans, Thompson said. But contrary to prudent bank practice, such transactions are not evaluated and approved based on bank lending standards. They could put bank deposits in jeopardy, Thompson said. “We want to make sure that when a person goes into a bank, they know their money is safe,” she said. “Our mission is primarily public confidence.” Second, there’s a perception issue. If people believe banks habitually trick them out of money through sneaky fees, it undermines confidence in the entire

banking system, Thompson said. The FDIC proposals could be altered after a 45-day public comment period. But here’s what the agency would expect banks to do: — Review the marketing and disclosure of their overdraft programs to minimize potential customer confusion. — Train bank tellers and customer-service representatives to explain overdraft program features and other, less costly options that a bank offers. — Monitor overdraft programs for excessive or chronic use. If a customer overdraws more than six times in a rolling 12-month period, the bank should take “meaningful action,” including contacting the customer to discuss less costly ways to have overdrafts covered. These could include linking a savings account or credit card to the customer’s checking account or offering an overdraft line of credit. — Place a cap on the number of overdraft fees that could be charged in a single day, or create a daily limit on the total amount that could be debited in overdraft charges to a single account. — Suggest low-cost financial counseling for those whose overdraft activity indicates they may need remedial help. — Eliminate misleading balance information that results from including the overdraft credit limit in the “available balance.” The FDIC also wants banks to review their checkclearing procedures to ensure that the order they’ve selected is not designed to maximize overdraft fees. Currently, the bulk of the nation’s largest banks clear the largest checks first. They say that this reordering of checks ensures that a customer’s most important payments, such as on a mortgage or car loan, are paid when the customer is most likely to have sufficient funds. But consumer advocates maintain that the practice is a thinly disguised bid to boost overdraft fees by wiping out an account balance faster, making every subsequent transaction subject to an overdraft fee.

The guidelines “ would encourage

the banks the FDIC oversees to offer customers lower-cost overdraft alternatives, rather than charge unlimited, high-cost overdraft fees—as many banks do—even on small debit-card transactions.”

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.

Arts & Entertainment Stage

Spook Show Todd Robbins and Teller resurrect the dead in their titillating, artistic off-Broadway-bound thriller

By C. Moon Reed

Photo by Tomas Muscionico

You start in Las Vegas. Safe on the Rio’s casino floor. Milling about, idly watching the “flairtenders” until Teller grabs a group of your friends and personally leads you through an unmarked hallway, beyond the casino, outside, through a giant tent known as the Calypso Room, and into a small theater in New York City. The Players Theatre on 115 MacDougal St., to be exact. It’s an intimate theater, about the size of a living room in a Summerlin. And like most New York buildings with a long past, the 103-year-old theater is said to be haunted. Somewhere along the surprisingly short journey, Teller tells you and your friends (yes, the famously mute half of Penn & Teller uses vocalized words) that there will be moments when the theater is pitch black. And that no matter what happens, no matter what you may feel or fear, that you must absolutely stay in your seat. And if you don’t, then the lights will come on and the show will end and you’ll no longer find yourself in New York, but in Las Vegas. You nod, wishing you had gone pee in advance, and just as he deposits you in your seat, he says that he hopes you’re ready to confront evil. So, you sit and stare at the set, which is mostly the theater’s exposed brick wall. There are also shelves of cold-case files and a stuffed blackbird. Except for the piano, it looks like the basement of a morgue, or worse. Pretty typical of those morbid New Yorkers, you assure yourself. The music is creepy. Your blood warms, your chest flutters and your breath quickens. Then the show starts, and a tall, thin man in a white suit walks onstage. He looks harmless, if not friendly. “Oh? That’s all?” you say to yourself, and you relax. But not for long. According to the flier, “Play Dead is a 75-minute theatrical thrill ride to hell and back.” It’s a one-man show (with a few otherworldly helpers) created by Teller (director and co-writer) and Coney Island guru Todd Robbins (actor and co-writer), which opens Oct. 21 off-Broadway at The Players Theatre. But first, it’s giving a few workshop performances in Las Vegas, which allows invited locals the rare chance to catch an off-Broadway show before it opens. After the show, I asked Teller to elaborate on the show’s premise. He said, in a beautiful, melodious voice like that of an old-time radio star: “In the 1930s and ’40s, at midnight on Saturday nights, some movie theaters would have what they called a spook show. After the regular movies had stopped playing, some creep—usually a magician, but a magician who is an alcoholic or an insane person—would do horrifying shows that would please the local teenagers because they’d want to have the joy of having a gorilla come at them and squeezing each other in the dark. Given the state of the world, Todd and I thought this would be a

Carnies, not con artists: Todd Robbins and Teller.

Continued on Page 78 September 16-22, 2010 Vegas Seven 77

Arts & Entertainment

Music

Dreams in the Key of Jazz After a lifetime playing music, Bobby Barnes ﬁnds a home on the Strip By Elizabeth Sewell

Play Dead Continued from Page 77

nice kind of show to revive, but to revive it for adults and with a bit more sophistication. Taking the idea of death, both as the standard horror movie and as … Excuse me for one second. Todd! Bravo!” At that moment, Robbins joined us. He seemed to be wearing a red Jackson Pollock painting splattered on the canvas of his formerly pristine white suit. After introductions were made and compliments paid, Teller resumed his explication—“So that was our starting point”—but he never named that second idea about death, leaving it open to the imagination. Now I’d established the “what” of the play. It’s a modern-day spook show. But what about the “why?” “It’s very much like a roller coaster,” Robbins said of the show’s purpose. “You scream, and then you laugh. You get the shock, the surprise, the creepiness, and then the laughter that follows it. And the joy. Because [fear] makes you feel alive.” 78

Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

The reason behind the show is to have fun. But there’s also a deeper reason, which is to debunk spiritualism, mediums and all that psychic mumbo jumbo that seem to surge anytime economies crumble. In short, Robbins tricks you, so that others won’t. “That’s the difference between what we’re doing here and what’s being done outside of these walls,” Robbins said. “There are people that will take your trust and hurt you with it for their own beneﬁt. That’s the real evil and scariness. It’s not ghosts and demons and goblins; it’s the real people who will stand there and look you in the eye and steal your soul.” Robbins and Teller produce quite the visual aid with the use of magic—the wonderfully insidious kind. The narrative, which at its most basic level is a spirited exploration of that dark basement set, offers plenty of opportunities to sneak in magic. “I don’t think people are really aware it’s magic,” said magic director Johnny Thompson (whom Teller describes as “the Yoda of magic”). “It’s

Barnes had taught music lessons and played in Detroit for 58 years before he and his wife moved to Las Vegas in 2004 to be closer to family after she was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Barnes, who at ﬁrst wasn’t keen on moving to Las Vegas, began teaching music lessons at Sam Ash music store and playing at the Seven Seas. That’s when his meeting with Frey brought him a standing gig at Rhumbar’s Jazz Under the Starz. Playing live jazz is Barnes’ passion, and Frey’s offer to play weekly on the Strip helped fulﬁll one of Barnes’ goals. “My intentions were to be able to play somewhere on the Strip,” he says. “If you keep pursuing some venture, eventually that’s what happens.” Barnes comes alive when it’s time to crank out jazz classics such as “My Funny Valentine.” The seasoned professional easily wins over the crowd frequently changing the pace and using breaks to mingle and joke with an unmistakable performer’s charm. Although he spent the majority of his life in Detroit, Barnes is content with his life and work in the desert, and wouldn’t consider going back to the Motor City. “It just so happened that I left at the time that was right for me and coming here was an ideal thing,” he says. Even with all the change his passion for music hasn’t waned and Barnes plans on playing as long as possible. Jazz Under the Starz, 9 p.m. to midnight Tuesdays, Rhumbar at The Mirage, 792-7615, rhumbarlv.com.

more supernatural, and I think that’s the element we’re trying to create.” Even though I only watched their first audience run-through, the creative project works. It’s an incredible, amazing, fun, scary and intelligent show. And the most exciting part is that it’s happening in Las Vegas. Teller happily agrees. “The crazy thing is that we’ve been supported enthusiastically by the Rio, which seems like a strange place for a laboratory theater,” he said. “It’s also really exciting for us to develop something in Vegas that’s going to New York instead of the other way around, which is the way it usually happens. Usually some musical cuts itself down to an hour and a half and … condescends to the tourists.” We can all revel in reversing the New York-to-Vegas flow of culture, and if that flow has a distinct graveyard stench, then all the better. Find out more about Play Dead and read Teller’s blog at playdeadnyc.com.

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Photo by Anthony Mair

Riding the blue train: Bobby Barnes.

Michael Frey, owner of Rhumbar at The Mirage, decided that he wanted to add a jazz night to his Strip bar’s weekly schedule, but the question of who would be the resident jazz master lingered. Then one night, Frey walked into the Seven Seas and chanced upon the musician he had been seeking. At the historic venue Frey heard a 78-year-old saxophonist play. Hearing his music, Frey knew that he’d found the man to helm Rhumbar’s jazz night. “They were such great musicians, it was like walking into a time warp into Vegas in 1958,” Frey says. Bobby Barnes’ authenticity sprouts from 50 years of playing jazz in one of America’s great music cities—Detroit. “[Frey] decided to pick someone who was old enough to have played it,” Barnes says. “Because you have a lot of young cats that profess to be playing jazz, but they don’t necessarily do the authentic thing that I do from way back in the time that I started,” Barnes says. Barnes grew up in Motor City and started playing music at 14 after his sister bought him a clarinet for his birthday. The aspiring musician cultivated his talent while stationed in Berlin during a stint in the U.S. Army Band in World War II. Back in post-war Detroit, Barnes leapt headﬁrst into the burgeoning music scene, collaborating with names such as Don Burrows, Curtis Fuller and Paul Chambers before they became well known. “I had no idea that these people were going to be famous musicians,” Barnes says.

TONIGH T

TOMORROW with Beach House & The Very Best

with Neon Indian

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with Sleigh Bells

OCTOBER 1–3

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with Anthrax

OCTOBER 20

DECEMBER 1

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Arts & Entertainment

Music Soundscraper

Grow a Fu Manchu and crank up some stoner rock! By Jarret Keene

The French foursome Phoenix (Laurent Brancowitz is in the pink sweater).

Out of the Ashes

Like the mythical bird, Phoenix rises to fame from the remnants of a lost chance By Melissa Arseniuk we were having success,” says Brancowitz, 36. Imagine you’re part of a band, but you leave “What’s happening in recent years is really cool and join a different one. Now imagine the group you left goes on to become Daft Punk and because we’ve gone on to discover a new territory ... we’re really ambiachieves super-stardom tious in terms of trying two years later, when their to make good music. But single “Around the World” in terms of commercial becomes a hit … well, Tour Buzz triumphs, we’ve always around the world. been kind of hands-off. That’s what happened to What did other stops on He and his bandmates Laurent Brancowitz. Phoenix’s tour think? (including his brother, “This new movement Joe Shearer’s Aug. 25 concert Christian Mazzalai) of rave music, of dance review in Gateway, the Univerwere raised in Versailles, music … was really sity of Nebraska newspaper, France, and as Europeans something that I didn’t expressed mixed opinions: are apt to do, they speak like,” the drummer-turneda collection of languages. guitarist says, recalling the “Though their time onstage was “Between of the four of amicable parting of ways brief, they performed passionus, we can travel to a while speaking over the ately and expressed thanks many lot of countries and ﬁnd phone from Paris. “There times throughout the show. Also, the good restaurants,” was really no drama, and they had a visually stunning—and Brancowitz says, with a when they made their ﬁrst blinding—light show.” heavy French accent. record, I was really proud Nonetheless, Phoenix of them.” writes and records songs Things worked out for him, in the end, too. The other band he joined is in English, and stays true to their faux-Anglo roots when they perform non-English-speaking the pop-alt-rock sensation Phoenix, and nearly 15 years later, the group is a success in their own countries. For the most part. “When we are in right thanks to their fourth studio album (2009’s Italy, we make exceptions,” Brancowitz says. Grammy-winning Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix) and “We really love to sing in Italian.” its catchy singles “Lisztomania,” “Girlfriend” and “Fences.” Phoenix with special guests Holy Ghost, The Pearl at Meanwhile, Brancowitz never languished the Palms 8 p.m. Sept. 22, $30-$50. After-party at in Daft Punk’s shadow. “We always felt that Ghostbar, doors 10 p.m., $20 cover, local ladies free.

Many fans of stoner rock insist that Queens of the Stone Age’s Rated R (2000) and Kyuss’ Blues for the Red Sun (1992) mark the high point of the genre. But there’s another SoCal desert band that has been quietly (in terms of press, loudly in terms of amplifier volume) releasing album after album of downtuned, mightier-than-prehistoricsandstone-formation riffs that make you want to reach for a bong or maybe pack blotter acid for a road trip into dune-swept highways. I can certainly vouch for the roadworthiness (though not the psychedelic qualities) of Fu Manchu’s most recent album, last year’s sensesshattering Signs of Infinite Power. I blasted it all the way to and from Valley of Fire State Park, and never tired of experiencing the massive, boulder-crushing “Gargantuan March” and the dwarf star-smashing “Bionic Astronautics.” It doesn’t get any heavier than that. Catch the band’s Sept. 17 show at Cheyenne Saloon. The bill includes Savannah, Ga.’s crusty sludge-metal trio Black Tusk (whose Taste the Sin album, released by Relapse Records in May, is also incredible) and Vegas thrash-punk act Life’s Torment (featuring pro comics artist and local hard-core vet Vic Moya on drums). This show is going to kill my eardrums, but I don’t care. Eardrums are made for killing! On a more indie-rock note, you’ll need to save some hearing for two competing Soundscraper’s-boner-is-showing-through-hisskinny-jeans shows. On Sept. 22, you must choose between The Pearl (Phoenix and Neon Indian) and House of Blues (Dom, Ratatat and Bobby Birdman). I realize my music-loving peers will likely opt for the Phoenix show. But the French synth-poppers are a tad too fey for my taste, but the brilliant Neon Indian has my sonic taste buds salivating. Besides, I think Dom and Ratatat released the superior albums this year. (I reviewed the latter’s excellent new electro-rock fulllength in the June 10 issue.) Worcester, Mass.’s pop-rock quartet Dom’s Sun Bronzed Greek Gods EP (released earlier this summer) is one of the best things I’ve ever heard, especially the absurdly catchy “Living in America,” which corporations such as McDonald’s and Coca-Cola should be scrambling to license for ads. Too bad they’re not that cool. But you clearly are, fellow Soundscrapers. And hey, if you happen to be at House of Blues on Wednesday night, come say hello. I’ll be the guy wearing a Hugo Boss suit and dancing rather insanely during the Dom set. On second thought, you may want to keep your distance. So far this year, only a measly five—just five!—Las Vegas bands have mailed me their CDs for review consideration. What’s the problem? Don’t want to be famous? Make it happen. Contact jarret_keene@yahoo.com.

Grow your own: Southern California’s Fu Manchu. 80 Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

Arts & Entertainment

CD Reviews

By Jarret Keene

INDIE ROCK

The Walkmen Lisbon (Fat Possum) This is one of those ramshackle though much ballyhooed NYC indie-pop acts that never did much for me. But Lisbon takes a different, more accessible tact. “Juveniles,” for example, boasts guitars that are effects-laden in a way that makes them hit like steel drums, all of it over a swinging bass-and-clanging drumbeat that’s full of raw, loose emotion. “Angela Surf City” hurtles forward, again with an interesting rhythmic pattern leading textured, layered guitars across a simple but powerful chord movement. From there, things get even better. The brief, sweet “Follow the Leader” plays to the band’s strengths—nifty six-string attack and fractured lyrics—so that hearing the song feels like dipping into someone else’s afternoon fever dream. By the time the spare, lovely ballad “While I Shovel the Snow” arrives, it’s clear: The Walkmen have fashioned a minor opus. If, like me, you’ve dismissed these guys, give Lisbon a shot. (The Walkmen perform at Beauty Bar 11 p.m. Sept. 19 as part of the Neon Reverb Music Festival.) ★★★★✩

PUNKFESSIONAL

The Thermals Personal Life (Kill Rock Stars) Five albums into a mostly celebrated discography, this Portland trio seem more determined than ever to outdo Green Day and compose the best punk concept album of all time. Hell, they almost succeeded with 2006’s near-masterful The Body, the Blood, the Machine, which despite its rousing energy fell short in the lyrics department. Personal Life succeeds mainly because it doesn’t try as hard and simply lets the brilliant melodies carry the message of relationships and their inherently ﬂawed purpose—the fostering of intimacy through constant (ugh!) intimacy. A doomed enterprise that vocalist/guitarist Hutch Harris really delves into, especially on opener “I’m Gonna Change Your Life,” where, addressing a lover, he imagines he “wants to know your feelings/I want to know your shame.” There’s requisite Thermals-style fullthrottle tracks, such as “I Don’t Believe You,” this time Harris in creepy denial that his attentions are suffocating. But it’s the pounding, anthemic “Power Lies” that sums up the problem: “How did I ﬁnd myself on top?/How will I ever know when to stop?” Obvious answer to the latter: You’ll never know. ★★★★✩

DOOM ROCK

Boris & Ian Astbury BXI (Southern Lord) The announcement of a team-up between The Cult frontman and Japanese drone-metal trio Boris raised eyebrows, sure, but it makes sense once you consider Ian Astbury’s roots in the discordant British goth-punk scene. Still, it’s a long step down from cock-rock to dirty, experimental doom, which is what (Dave Grohl’s Probot project aside) the L.A. label mostly focuses on. BXI is an intriguing four-song teaser EP for what will hopefully develop into a larger, sustained endeavor. One track in particular, the transcendent crescendo of “Magickal Child,” opens up a whole new vista—call it ambient torch-song doom, call it whatever, it’s brilliant. Astbury steps back to let Boris guitarist Wata assume vocals for an old Cult classic, “Rain,” pushing it into a deﬁnite shoegazer direction. “Teeth and Claws” and “We Are Witches,” meanwhile, provide conventional rock foundations for Astbury to unleash his usual Ian Curtis-meets-Jim Morrison post-punk shaman persona. While not mind-blowing, BXI is deﬁnitely momentous. (Astbury performs with The Cult Sept. 16 at The Pearl in The Palms.) ★★★✩✩ 82 Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

Arts & Entertainment

Reading

Sites to see By Geoff Carter FOLLOW THAT CUISINE (taxigourmet.com) Challenge: You are parachuted into an exotic locale—Shanghai, Tel Aviv or perhaps Milwaukee—and given less than an hour to find one of the best restaurants in town and secure a table. Here, you might be tempted to dig out your smartphone and Yelp it, or you might rack your brain trying to remember what Anthony Bourdain said when he wasn’t talking about himself. Or you could simply ask your cab driver, who knows the city well, doesn’t follow trends, is not impressed by fancy glassware and has no vested interest in the local restaurant industry (well, no legal one, anyway). Layne Mosler, a food writer and a taxi driver herself, provides proof of this travel axiom in the Taxi Gourmet blog, in which she finds the best burrito in Spanish Harlem, pokes at grilled intestines in Buenos Aires, and discovers a great Argentine steakhouse ... in Berlin. Unfortunately, Mosler’s food writing is confined to those three cities for now, so we won’t know where a Las Vegas cabbie might take her until she finally gets the urge to gamble.

HAUNTED TOONTOWN (animationbackgrounds.blogspot.com) Rob Richards’ Animation Backgrounds blog is at once shrewdly technical and quaintly old-fashioned. The Los Angelesbased animation buff, a musician by trade, uses image-editing software to remove the characters from the handdrawn animated movies and shorts we grew up with, leaving only the backgrounds. It’s almost the same thing as removing the vocals and guitars from a classic song, as “Rock Band” does. Seeing the backgrounds from Beauty and the Beast and Bugs Bunny cartoons without princesses or wascally wabbits dominating the frame is not a little bit weird; it’s as if some sort of cartoon apocalypse wiped all the ink and paint from the cels. Beautiful, but haunting.

SOLE CONTRIBUTOR (toemailers.blogspot.com) “I tried taking pictures, but they were so mediocre. You know, horses ... taking pictures of your feet,” says Scarlett Johannson in Lost in Translation. So true—and yet I can’t deny that the Toemail blog wrenches art from these unloved foot photos, mostly by presenting them en masse. These foot soldiers are well-traveled; there are images from Macedonia and Minneapolis and Singapore kicking back on Toemail’s pages. It’s a cute site and a must for foot fetishists who need to get their softcore jollies while in the ofﬁce. Journalist Geoff Carter is a Las Vegas native living in Seattle, land of virtual titillation. 84

Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

Each year, tens of thousands of seals, many of whom are still babies, are massacred. It’s time to demand a permanent end to Canada’s cruel seal slaughter.

END CANADA’S SEAL SLAUGHTER

Arts & Entertainment

Movies

shotgun Wedding

First comes love: Josh Duhamel and Katie Holmes.

The Romantics fails in its attempt at emulating the success of Rachel Getting Married By Rex Reed

Hard to know what to make of a hack job called The Romantics. Seven post-grad friends dedicating their lives to the question, “Is there life after campus sex?” gather near the sea for the weekend wedding of two of their most popular pals. The bride (Anna Paquin) and her sister/maid of honor (Katie Holmes, who unwisely co-produced) have both slept with the groom (boyishly handsome TV heartthrob Josh Duhamel). The sibling rivalry leads to a drunken fiasco that covers one night of nudity, alcohol, drugs and husband-wife swapping in which they plunge into the surf and return without the groom. Couples divide up to find him, and before dawn breaks, discover a lot of dull secrets about their darker sides that would be hard to see with a flashlight. The all-night orgy of stupidity that follows is so contrived that instead of testing friendships and love, it only made me wish they had all drowned, saving us from 95 minutes of wooden, boring and inconsequential embarrassment. 86 Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

Written and directed without a megabyte of pace, rhythm, intelligence or fresh observation by Galt Niederhoffer, whose only skill appears to be talking otherwise talented people like Paquin, Duhamel, Adam Brody, Elijah Wood, Jeremy Strong and Dianna Agron into making fools of themselves for money (and from the cheesy, grainy look of it all, there wasn’t much of that to spare). Empty dialogue, clumsy camera angles, and acting that can only be described as hysterical uncertainty don’t add up to much pleasure. Rarely have so many people been so misguided. Holmes is trying hard to sharpen her acting chops, but she still comes off like a bus-andtruck Michelle Williams. And if at all possible, do spare yourself the horror of seeing with your own eyes what has become of Candice Bergen in the role of the Waspy, washed-out mother of the bride. She’s played obnoxious, overbearing, baggy-eyed matrons before, but the one thing she has never been able to do in her checkered acting career is hide her perception. When a

script, role or movie she’s in stinks, she smells it and it shows. Her range has always been narrow, but she’s a smart cookie, so doesn’t she know enough by now to hide her disgust? I guess we’re all changing, but by making her look 10 times fatter and older than she really is, she should sue the cinematographer. Come to think of it, so should Jonathan Demme. There is nothing vaguely romantic about The Romantics. With its poorly chosen pop songs, its almost shameful copying of wedding party cliches and its frantic cross-cutting between vignettes, the whole thing comes off like a witless rip-off of Demme’s hilarious, innovative, colorful and profoundly touching 2008 wedding pastiche, Rachel Getting Married. And nothing in it reaches the heights of Jenny Lumet’s rich, complex screenplay for that gem. Instead of originality, The Romantics recycles the same material with a lot of noise masquerading as style, and no substance whatsoever, producing a grotesquerie of caricatures from central casting that are dead on arrival.

Arts & Entertainment

Movies

The Moral Dilemma of a Bank Robber Tale of a reluctant career criminal is alarmingly good—despite obligatory stunts and violence By Cole Smithey Ben Affleck has so thoroughly reinvented himself as an actor that it’s tempting to take for granted his commendable skills as a director even after his notable debut with Gone Baby Gone (2007). Affleck straightforwardly plays Boston criminal-with-a-heart-of-gold Doug MacRay, in The Town, which he co-wrote with Peter Craig and Aaron Stockard. Although the story—based on Chuck Hogan’s 2004 novel Prince of Thieves (Scribner)—dips into fantasyland on more than one occasion, the direction is precise as clockwork and tempered with plenty of stylistic flourishes. Set in the distinctive Boston neighborhood of Charlestown, a largely Irish-American breeding ground for more bank and armored-car robbers than anywhere else in the country, four well-acquainted thieves commit a bank heist that necessitates taking into hostage the bank’s manager Claire Keesey. Up-and-comer Rebecca Hall (Vicki Cristina Barcelona) is alluring as Claire, the unfortunate bank administrator left traumatized after her release by the masked bandits. The drama ratchets up once FBI Special Agent Frawley (well-played by Jon Hamm) launches a soup-to-nuts investigation that puts the cozy burb under a microscope. The Town operates on the believability of its workingclass criminal characters and their long history together. These are career criminals who come from generations of thieves. They operate like a kind of mini mafia overseen by Fergie, a menacing neighborhood florist played by Pete Postlewaite. Affleck’s casting of Jeremy Renner as Jem Coughlin, a tight-lipped childhood buddy just out from serving nine years in the big house, proves a masterstroke. There’s

City of Champions: Ben Afﬂeck (second from left) and his thugs.

just enough of an oil-and-water dissimilarity between Renner’s and Afﬂeck’s physicality and temperaments to give their scenes together a scratchiness of harmonized clashing. Doug wants to do one last big job and leave Charlestown forever, while the bullying Jem has a determinedly more aggressive idea about pursuing a life of crime with Doug as his partner. Jem is keen to leverage over Doug the fact that his family took Doug in after his mother “abandoned” him and his dad (Chris Cooper) got thrown in the pokey. Doug’s romantic past with Jem’s drug-dealing sister Krista (Blake Lively) adds one more pesky catch in Doug’s side that will come back to haunt him as Agent Frawley closes in on his prey. Doug needs a romantic liaison to help him focus on his secret plan to escape his life of crime. After discovering that Claire is a Charlestown resident, Doug goes on a recon mission to scope out exactly who she is and how much she knows about the gang. In one of the ﬁlm’s best scenes, Doug meets an emotionally fragile Claire in a

Laundromat. She needs quarters; he isn’t helpful, and yet there’s an authentic romantic gravity that occurs beneath Doug’s strategic maneuvering. In these nuanced scenes Affleck and Hall pin the movie down with a dramatic hook you could hang your hat on. For all of the film’s exciting chase sequences, the action goes too far into the predictable realm of shoot’em-up silliness. A third-act heist finale dips into stunt filmmaking territory before veering wildly into an alltoo-graphic death. Thousands of rounds of obligatory gunshots discriminate against who they punish. Even the FBI’s effectiveness is brought into question before the final credits roll. Some of the fault could be put on Hogan’s source material, but it’s clear that for all his obvious gifts as a director, Affleck still needs to learn where to pull his punches. He certainly seems to be a quick learner.

the town (r)

By Cole Smithey and Sharon Kehoe

Short reviewS

easy A (PG-13)

★★★✩✩

Emma Stone (Zombieland) plays high school student Olive who goes along with her best friend’s incorrect assumption that she hooked up with an older guy. After Olive gets a reputation for being the school slut, she agrees to pretend to have sex with every boy in school in exchange for cash and coupons. Stone’s sustained sardonic tone and unconventional beauty makes Easy A a provocative teen comedy. 88 Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

★★★✩✩

resident evil: Afterlife (r) ★★✩✩✩

Everything after its striking opening sequence is downhill in this predictably sad addition to the flawed video-game franchise. Unintentionally campy, the ridiculously plotted dystopian story makes marginal action movies look genius by comparison. Ali Larter perpetually acts with her mouth agape like she’s trying to attract flies, but Milla Jovovich has held on remarkably well to her good looks and zombie-fighting agility.

Legendary (PG-13)

★★★✩✩

Legendary is a about the ability of a youngest child to reunite his family through his commitment to a sports tradition. Patricia Clarkson is a small-town mother of two polar-opposite sons. Devon Graye is Sharon’s skinny teenaged son Cal, who wants his athletic big brother ( John Cena) to tutor him in wrestling. Extraneous voice-over narration and a heavyhanded musical score are the weaknesses in this balanced family drama.

Flipped (PG)

★★★★✩

Although larded with voice-over narration, Rob Reiner’s wholesome teen romance gels into a sturdy drama. Junior high student Bryce (Callan McAuliffe) has been pinned over by his cute neighbor Juli (Madeline Carroll) since second grade. But a crash course in character judgment leads Juli to reconsider. Flipped renders an emotionally authentic coming-of-age reality. Parents and children alike will enjoy it.

Arts & Entertainment

ShORT REviEWS

By Cole Smithey and Sharon Kehoe

The Winning Season (PG-13)

★★★✩✩

Sam Rockwell’s acting saves this formulaic tale of redemption. Bill (Rockwell) gets a job coaching a girls’ high school basketball team. Predictably, Bill whips the team into shape with a no-nonsense approach. Rockwell’s comic timing and world-weary fatigue keep the ﬁlm dramatic. The ensemble of actresses— Emma Roberts, Margo Martindale and Jessica Hecht—don’t fare so well.

The Last Exorcism (PG-13)

★✩✩✩✩

Following in the shaky-cam footsteps of The Blair Witch Project, Daniel Stamm directs a poor script about evangelical con-man Reverend Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian). Marcus takes along a couple of documentarians to record his experiences and the trio road trip to rural Louisiana where a fundamentalist farmer believes his daughter Nell (Ashley Bell) is possessed.

New Insalata AOC.- Arugula, Cool Orange Slices, Cranberries Toasted Almonds and Goat Cheese topped with Tangy lo-cal Citrus Dressing

Machete (R) ★★★★★

Robert Rodriguez’s co-directed grindhouse fun-fest is loaded with laughs, gore and commentary. Machete follows a former Mexican Federale called Machete (Danny Trejo) who is hired to assassinate a Texas senator. Machete soon becomes public enemy numero uno, waging a one-man war against the bigoted powers that oppress and kill his people. You can guess his weapon of choice.

Takers (PG-13)

★✩✩✩✩

Written by a committee of screenwriters, Takers is a nondescript heist movie with one-dimensional characters and a silly plot. Director John Luessenhop wants his audience to admire his well-dressed gangsters who talk like they’re taking a semester away from Harvard to pull off an armored car job. To see talented actors Matt Dillon and Marianne JeanBaptiste stoop so low is a travesty.

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Zagats Best Pizza Awards (Inside Ellis Island Casino) & Best Pizza R-J Readers Poll 4111 Boulder Highway

(Inside Boulder Station Casino)

www.metropizza.com 90

Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

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The Other Guys (PG-13)

★★✩✩✩

Co-writer/director Adam McKay (Step Brothers) gives humor to an off beat buddy ﬁlm that never quite ﬁnds its pitch. Detectives Allen (Will Ferrell) and Terry (Mark Wahlberg) attempt to replace their doomed predecessors (Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson). This action comedy would’ve worked better with more comedy and less action.

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Dining

The steamed ﬁsh-head casserole at Dong Ting Spring.

Photo by Anthony Mair

Mastering Chinese

Two authentic, adjacent restaurants will put your taste buds (and spice tolerance) to the test

By Max Jacobson

If sugar, cornstarch, soy sauce and oil—the distinguishing ingredients at Chinese emporiums such as Panda Express— are Chinese Food 101, the ﬁery Hunan and Szechuan fare at two local counterparts, Dong Ting Spring and Yunnan Garden, are graduate-level courses. Appropriately, English is minimal at these places, which are sequestered in a backstreet behind Kung Fu Plaza Mall, near the corner of West Spring Mountain Road and South Valley View Boulevard. But the local Chinese certainly know they’re here, because business at both restaurants is usually brisk. Dong Ting Spring (3950 Schiff Dr.) is the more modest. Hunan is Mao’s home province, north of Canton in central China. It’s cold there, so the natives rely on Fagara pepper and mountain chili to warm things up. So, be warned: When the server asks if you want your food mild, medium or hot, medium is the new hot for these people.

Chairman Mao’s Pork with bamboo chunks is mild enough, but Dong Ting-style twice-cooked pork is positively incendiary. The thinly sliced pork bellies have been steamed and then sautéed in a pool of hot chili, garlic and oil. Green garlic (the shoots, actually) comes with more chilies (the green ones), lots of black beans and a rich sauce. One spoonful will take care of an entire bowl of rice. Two, and you may have to call the fire department. The menu is filled with exotica such as stir-fried frog and crunchy stir-fried pig’s ear, but there are less intimidating choices, too, such as sautéed ong choy, dry fried string beans and acceptable meat-filled dumplings. For me, though, the raison d’etre is the steamed fish-head casserole, which is a halved fish, head on, perched on a blanket of chopped red chilies. The fish is moist, with enough flesh away from the head that a shy type can avoid it altogether. I’d Continued on Page 94 September 16-22, 2010 Vegas Seven 93

Dining

Diner’s Notebook

A ﬁshy new ﬁsh, a big Greek weekend and a little con-fusion

The stir-fried lamb at Yunnan Garden. Chinese Continued from Page 93

ask the kitchen to go easy on the oil. One man’s luxury is another man’s excess. The heat is even higher, if you can believe it, at Yunnan Garden (3934 Schiff Dr.), named for the province of southwest China that abuts Myanmar and the Indochinese hill country. Only a few traditional dishes from that region are served here, such as herbed chicken soup in a clay pot, or the strange but delicious beef with balsam pear. Actually, this is a Szechuan restaurant, so when a dish is marked with a chili symbol (most things on this menu are), run for cover. The cold buffet is incredible. You get three choices for $4.50, and one plate is a full meal by itself. Since English is minimal, just point at the menu. My favorite

choices from it are cold spicy beef, cucumber salad and chicken with peanuts. All three have a mule’s kick. Most of the patrons will be eating beef stir-fried with dry and green peppers. This is an amazing concept. In Chinese, the name translates as “shingle beef.” Picture a shingle that tastes like beef jerky and has a wicked crunch. Then imagine that it has been dipped in habanero juice. Just a few of my favorite dishes here are lamb with cumin, oil dipped tofu, the non-spicy dishes spareribs in fried garlic and ﬁlet of ﬁsh in brown sauce with garlic, and the positively tame smoked duck. If you like them, too, congratulations—you now have a master’s degree in Chinese food. Dong Ting Spring is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Call 3877888. Dinner for two, $27-$49. Yunnan Garden is open 11 a.m.-11 p.m. daily. Call 869-8885. Dinner for two, $26-$57.

Here’s the Beef Thinking inside the bun with Fine Concepts’ latest: i❤burgers By Xania Woodman All apologies to Huckabees fans, but i❤burgers—the Palazzo’s new high-end burger joint’s name—is articulated as “I Love Burgers.” Fine Concepts’ CEO Jeffrey Fine (brother Jonathan Fine of Rockhouse and PBR Rock Bar is also a partner) says he’ll open an “approachable” gourmet burger concept “by the end of the year” in the former Mainland Asian Noodles space. With seating for 200, i❤burgers will serve lunch and dinner with an eye toward capturing late-night business via a walk-up counter, which will double as a daiquiri/milkshake bar. Executive Chef/GM Errol LeBlanc, best known for his avant-garde 94

Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

cuisine at R.E. Tapas Kitchen, assures, “You’re not going to need an instruction manual” to enjoy his gourmet burgers: Kobe, buffalo, sirloin and Ahi tuna ground to spec daily and served on fresh buns. They come with more than a dozen potato options, including trufﬂebutter-tossed fried Yukon Golds, London-style chips and baked russet potato fries. Menus are seasonal and produce organic and locally sourced wherever possible, right down to LeBlanc curing his own pickles. “We make everything except for the ketchup,” he says. “I would make my own cheese if I had the capacity to do so.”

At the bar, diverse specialty and microbrewed beer is on tap and in bottles. Milkshakes are spiked and cocktails are well in hand thanks to bar manager/head mixologist Myke Ramos, whose bacon Bloody Mary is served with pork cracklins and house-made apple-woodsmoked-bacon salt. With at least three more gourmet burger joints hovering on the horizon of an already saturated Vegas market, you have to wonder about this stampede. Between casual fare and gourmet cuisine, “Gourmet burgers bridge the gap,” Fine Concepts’ vice president of development Zach Conine says. “A burger can also be a vehicle to try something you’ve never had before.” “We think we can create a fun, cool, whimsical environment unique to anything in the Venetian/Palazzo complex,” Fine says.

GMO’s—short for “genetically modified organisms”—are creeping onto our plates with regularity, and I for one do not much like the idea. Most soy and much of our corn are genetically modified, and now fish is poised to join the parade. Aqua Bounty Technologies salmon are safe to eat, according to U.S. regulators in a preliminary analysis. The fish, called AquAdvantage, are genetically altered to grow twice as fast as normal Atlantic salmon. The Food and Drug Administration is weighing whether to approve the fish for the U.S. market and is set to hold a three-day public meeting on Sept. 19-21. For the record, I insist on wild salmon whenever I order the fish, and that’s not going to change. One of my favorite food events of the year will take place late next week when the 38th annual Greek Food Festival takes place on the grounds of the St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church, 5300 El Camino Road. Live Greek music and other entertainment frame an eating frenzy that includes such Greek treats as souvlaki, spit-roasted lamb, Greek salad and homemade pastries such as baklava and melomakarona, which are delicious Greek Christmas cookies—no one complains that it’s September. This is the only place in Las Vegas to get a proper Greek-style roasted lamb, and the smell is positively intoxicating. You will line up to order from various booths, which are housed under blue and white awnings, the colors of the Greek flag. It’s a great time for everyone. The festival runs 3-11 p.m. Sept. 24 -25 and noon-10 p.m. Sept. 26. It’s only $6 to get in, and it’s free for kids 12 and under.. Yassou. Finally, I had an unusual dinner at a new restaurant, Jai’Ho, which is Hindi for “victory,” an expression heard several times in the film Slum Dog Millionaire. The restaurant (9530 S. Eastern Ave., 260-7555) bills itself as Chinese/Indian fusion, a name that looks good on a marquee, and although I enjoyed what I ate here, it’s mostly an Indian restaurant dressed up in new clothes. I tried two “fusion” dishes: one called Hakka noodles, and another, Gobi Manchurian. Gobi is Hindi for “cauliflower,” and this dish offers the vegetable in a red sauce that tastes as if it might have ketchup in it. The noodles dish fares better; it’s a large bowl of what seems like garden variety Chinese noodles sautéed with vegetables. But what makes this place a must-visit is the traditional Indian fare, such as terrific tandoori meats, beautifully presented lentil-battered chicken pakoras and mouthwatering masala lamb chops, served charred on the bone. Hungry, yet? Follow Max Jacobson’s latest epicurean observations, reviews and tips at foodwinekitchen.com.

Photo by Anthony Mair

By Max Jacobson

Dining

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

Singapore Barbecue Stingray at MOzen Bistro

This contemporary restaurant of delectable pan-Asian cuisine features this unique dish everyone should try at least once. Hailing from the Hawker Center of Singapore, the stingray is cooked with lime and sambal barbecue sauce. $17, in Mandarin Oriental, 590-8882.

96 Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

Pork and Mushroom Hand-Pulled Noodles at Beijing Noodle #9

It’s magic to watch chefs trained in China roll, twist and pull dough until they morph into strands of fresh noodles. The show is free, but the noodles—best hot with a diced pork and mushroom sauce—are not. $15, in Caesars Palace. 731-7110.

Fritto Misto at the Verandah

Chef Michael Goodman’s fritto misto, a plate of lightly battered shrimp and calamari with fried lemon slices, is as delicate a version of this dish as you’ll ever ﬁnd outside a Tokyo tempura house. $15, in the Four Seasons, 632-5000.

Kick Start at Tropical Smoothie Café

Did you know that September is National Breakfast Month? Neither did we, but the folks at the café must have. On Sept. 1, they launched this new ciabatta sandwich, made with egg, spicy ham, bacon and buffalo sauce. For an added a.m. kick-start, try pairing it with the very healthy Triple Berry Oat Smoothie. Note: The café will be posting special offers on this sandwich for their fans on Facebook. $3.50, multiple locations, TropicalSmoothie.com.

Dining

Profile

In Good Spirits

Seven Things Michael Can’t Live Without

At Nevada’s biggest liquor distributor, Michael Severino is the guy who makes sure the money ﬂows back into the city, too

Wine: It is the common denominator with people, food and good conversation. Also, because we sell a lot of it.

By Sean DeFrank

98 Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

Frank Sinatra’s music: I grew up listening to his music and my Aunt Josephine told me stories when she would cut school as a kid to go see him at the Paramount Theater in New York City in the ’40s. Mixologists: Their creativity with alcoholic beverage recipes have made them celebrity bar chefs, especially my friend Francesco Lafranconi, who makes a great Negroni. Good books: I am fascinated by good literature and the written word, especially nonﬁction because most of the time it’s stranger than ﬁction.

“He’s the one who allows us to give back,” Severino says. “It’s his philosophy, and he’s truly a philanthropist.” But it is Severino’s responsibility to carry out Ruvo’s philanthropic mission, and Ruvo says his ability to build relationships, develop and train people, and maximize the impact of each event makes him the ideal person for the task. “We recognize that when our community succeeds, we succeed,” Ruvo says. “And Michael is a great person to spread that message to our employees. He’s somebody that they look up to.” Severino is simply thankful for being in the position to do good works. “We’ve been blessed that we’re able to do it,” he says, “and our suppliers support a lot of what we do.” Despite the tough times, alcohol sales are still doing well, and Southern Wine & Spirits is the leading distributor in the state, shipping more than 10 million cases of product annually—excluding beer and water. While many high-end wines and spirits have seen a decline in consumption, Severino says the purchase of import and crafted beers are strong, and that same demographic that is fueling upscale beer sales is also getting more interested in wine. “There’s a wonderful charm about wines,” he says, “and we try and take the mystique away from it and let people know that it is an agricultural product. … The people who are in the business are very passionate about what they do, and we’re very passionate about selling.”

A Bronx Tale: Because of its heartfelt message. It really is a love story between a father and a son and growing up in New York. I think Chazz Palminteri is a class act—you should see his show or watch the movie. Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health: Because of what it will mean to Nevada and the world. And it bears the name of a man I was fortunate enough to call my friend. Gratitude: Being able to give back and setting a good example for the next generation. Well-done is better than well-said, and to say thank you more often to people and mean it.

Photo by Anthony Mair

There’s little doubt that Michael Severino is a fortunate man. He works for a company whose business is alcohol, and besides being surrounded by some of the ﬁnest elixirs known to man, that business is always booming, thanks to a city in which more than 100 million alcoholic beverages are consumed each year. On top of that, in his role as general manager of event marketing for Southern Wine & Spirits of Nevada, Severino is responsible for overseeing the company’s extensive philanthropic efforts—essentially using spirits to lift spirits. “Health, education and social responsibility have been at the top of our list as far as giving back not only to Las Vegas, but to the state of Nevada,” he says. “We take pride in the fact that we’re able to do it and we ingratiated ourselves with the community, and them with us.” Southern Wine & Spirits has donated and helped raise millions of dollars to organizations such as the Nevada Cancer Institute, Opportunity Village, Catholic Charities, the Andre Agassi Foundation, Keep Memory Alive and UNLV’s Harrah College of Hotel Administration, which gets a big boost every year through the company’s UNLVino festival. And Severino has been a vital force in those efforts, according to his boss. “Michael Severino is an important part of my life, and an important part of the culture of Southern Wine & Spirits,” says Larry Ruvo, the company’s senior managing director. “I would have a huge void if he weren’t here at my side giving us the presence in the community that we’ve enjoyed through the decades.” Severino, 61, was born and raised in New York City and has lived in Nevada since 1977. He met Ruvo while working as food and beverage director at the Frontier, and the two have been close friends ever since. Ruvo’s parents owned and operated the popular Venetian restaurant, a Las Vegas staple for 43 years. In 1992, after Ruvo’s father, Lou, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Severino came to the Venetian to help the family maintain the business. “He was the crutch for my father for two years, and that’s something I’ll never forget,” Larry Ruvo says. “He was just an extraordinary friend and extremely capable.” Severino and Ruvo are both devoted to Keep Memory Alive, a nonproﬁt organization Ruvo founded in the late 1990s to support research and education on memory disorders. This passion and support led to the establishment of the city’s marquee medical institute, the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. Now at Southern Wine & Spirits for 14 years, Severino says it is Ruvo’s dedication to the community that allows the company to perform its charitable acts.

Neighborhood epicureaN

For a gaming lounge, Porchlight Grille offers some serious cuisine, such as Thai chicken skewers.

Abundant Choices

From soul food to shawarma, there’s a satisfying mix at D.I. and Durango

Photo by Anthony Mair

By Max Jacobson If you were to drive by casually, it would be hard to guess that the sprawling mall anchored by a Vons at the intersection of Desert Inn Road and Durango Drive housed a wonderful diversity of ﬁne restaurants. But as the French say, plus ça change. The mall just lost Bamboo Bistro, a Vietnamese place, but is gaining Moretti’s Eatery, a new Italian concept, across the parking lot. In the meantime, these ﬁve places offer far more than cold comforts. Sababa. If it’s ethnic and casual you’re craving, you can’t do much better than Sababa, an Israeli restaurant that specializes in falafel and shawarma. The latter—thin, crisp slices of highly spiced turkey cooked on one of those rotating spits also used for gyros—is incredible on pita bread. The restaurant is Glatt Kosher and also features Israeli salads. Open 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sun-Thu, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Fri, 3220 S. Durango Dr., 547-5556. Sen of Japan. Local foodies consider this the best off-Strip sushi in Las Vegas. I’ve eaten here more than 10 times and never been let down. Hiro Nakano, the chef/owner, has an impeccable eye for quality and great technique. Delicacies such as salmon skin salad, the Spicy Spider Roll with seared salmon, mango and sweet chili sauce, and tsukune, soy-glazed quail meatballs on wooden skewers, bring customers back again and again. Open 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Mon-Sat, 5 p.m.-midnight Sun, 8480 Desert Inn Road, 871-7781.

TC’s Rib Crib. This hole-in-the-wall seems to be popular with everyone who likes ’cue and soul food. TC’s does the whole gamut of barbecued meats, such as pulled pork, tender beef brisket and even hot links, and there are sides such as Grandma Georgia’s Mac and Cheese, Aunt Ada’s Potato Salad and Big Sam’s Baked Beans to accompany them. The restaurant makes lots of its own desserts as well, including an outrageous grilled doughnut bread pudding. Open 11 a.m.10 p.m. Sun-Thu, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Fri-Sat. 8470 Desert Inn Road, 451-7427. Porchlight Grille. Unlike most 24/7 gaming lounges, this one has serious food. There is a restaurant separated from the lounge, but food is served in both rooms and the menu is huge. Appetizers like Thai chicken skewers, burgers, pizzas made from scratch, and sandwiches such as grilled salmon on a ciabatta roll, are just a few examples of this good pub fare. Open 24 hours, 8416 Desert Inn Road, 562-3990. It’s a Grind. If you’re looking for the un-Starbucks (yes, there is a Starbucks in this mall as well), look no further. This funky café grinds its own coffee and makes good sandwiches, even three kinds of tiramisu. Sink into one of these huge leather chairs, and enjoy your Coconut Crunch, a signature coffee here. The café also prides itself in being dog-friendly. Open 24 hours, 8470 Desert Inn Road, 360-4232. September 16-22, 2010 Vegas Seven 99

Travel Ventura offers fun indoors (such as Anacapa Brewing Co., below) and out (Inspiration Point on Anacapa Island, left).

Adventure in Ventura Historical sites, farm bounty and coastal attractions awaken the senses By Max Jacobson

If You Go …

sandwich to stave off our hunger from the ﬁve-hour drive from Las Vegas. Then we strolled past the shops and antique stores on Main Street until we came to San Buenaventura Mission, which Father Junípero Serra founded in 1782. The Spanish Colonial architecture and lush gardens are just two reasons it’s a must-visit. The history is palpable. Directly across the street, the recently expanded Museum of Ventura County (100 E. Main St.) offers glimpses of life here during the past two centuries. Highlights include new landscaping, a spacious Front Plaza with a water feature and a mosaic by artist Larissa Strauss that she made from more than 45,000 pieces of cut glass. We had reservations for dinner at the Sidecar, where a chef named Tim Kilcoyne does farm-to-table dishes such as the Niman Ranch pork chop, corn, bacon, Swiss chard and thyme with a blackberry barbecue jus, and showcases the bounty of the farm stands that dot the county. But ﬁrst we stopped for a cocktail at the beautifully restored Watermark W20 (598 E. Main St.), whose walls are emblazoned with stunning murals. The following day was reserved for hiking in Channel Islands National Park, a 90-minute boat journey from Ventura Harbor. We weren’t lucky enough to see whales in the channel, but it’s not unusual The historic Watermark contains the W2O watering hole.

Ventura County offers one of the more diverse weekend getaways in California, thanks to a restored downtown Ventura, excellent dining and accommodations in the town of Ojai, and the opportunity to experience unspoiled nature at Channel Islands National Park. Since it lies directly between ﬂashy L.A. County and glamorous Santa Barbara, it’s easy to overlook. That’s a mistake. Ventura bills itself as “the real California,” and it has the Old World ambience to prove it. My wife and I arrived on a Friday afternoon and stopped off for a glass of handcrafted ale at the Anacapa Brewing Co. (472 E. Main St.), adding a Cuban

100 Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

to spot humpback whales there through September, and then again in December through March. Even more spectacular is the Pacific gray whale, which migrates from Mexico to the Bering Sea and often can be seen in transit. The weather was clear and cool on the ocean, and we spotted sea lions, seals and marine birds as we came across the East Anacapa Island’s North Shore. Each of the five islands that make up the national park is unique, and three are open year-round. If you can’t make the trip, at least stop in at the Channel Islands Visitor Center (1901 Spinnaker Dr.) to see wildlife displays, and eyeball the interactive maps. The following morning, we drove up a twisty, 11-mile road to Ojai, a sacred place with the Chumash because of its unique geology (the mountains here runs east to west, rather than north to south), and it’s a New Age Mecca and art colony as well. Ojai is almost tropical, with the climate a good 20 degrees warmer than the coast, a short distance away. The downtown is quaint, and there are more art galleries than we could count. We had two amazing meals here, a lunch at The Feast, where the chef prepared a salmon cake salad so fresh and colorful I wanted to paint it instead of eat it, and dinner at Azu, a Mediterranean restaurant and tapas bar that serves terrific lamb kababs and paella. On the drive home to the desert, you’ll pass dozens of farm stands, where you can stock up on whatever is in season in this mostly agricultural county.

Getting There: Ventura is 320 miles from Las Vegas. It is best reached by car: I-15 south to I-210 east, then U.S. 101 north. If you ﬂy, the best airport connection is Burbank, 60 miles away. Amtrak serves it from downtown Los Angeles as well. Getting to the Channel Islands: Reservations are a must. Contact Island Packers, 805-642-1393, for more information. Where to Stay: In Ventura, the Four Points Sheraton (1050 Schooner Dr., 805-658-1212) offers spectacular coastal views near Ventura Harbor. Rooms from $129. In Ojai, the Emerald Iguana Inn (110 Pauline St., 805-6465277), which has lovely cottages in a peaceful country setting. Where to Eat: In Ventura, The Sidecar, 3029 E. Main St., 805-653-7433. In Ojai, Feast Bistro, 254 E. Ojai Ave., 805-640-9260, or Azu, 457 E. Ojai Ave., 805-640-7987. Optional Activity: Wine Trail Tours, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, visit tasting rooms, winemakers and farm markets. Call 805-648-2075 (24 hours advance notice required).

SportS & LeiSure

picking up Steam Seven reasons why the defending UFL champion Locomotives are worth a look

By Sean DeFrank There have been four professional football franchises in Las Vegas since 1994, and none of them managed to stay afloat for very long. There were the Posse of the Canadian Football League in ’94, the Outlaws of the XFL in 2001 and two Arena Football League teams—the Sting in 1994-95 and the Gladiators, who managed to last from 2003 through ’07. The latest addition to that list are the Locomotives, who begin their second season of play in the United Football League at Sam Boyd Stadium on Sept. 18 against the Florida Tuskers. And while history is against them, here are seven reasons why the Locos could be part of our landscape for a while, and, in the short term, why they might be worth your attention: 1. We are the champions. OK, it might not be winning the Lombardi Trophy, but the Locos are still the team to beat in the UFL. Las Vegas, after a 4-2 regular season last year, earned a spot in the title game at Sam Boyd where it upset the unbeaten Tuskers 20-17 in overtime. How many times in a lifetime do fans get the chance to wave a giant foam finger and scream, “We’re No. 1” and really get to own it? 2. Real coaches. The guys calling the shots aren’t just some clowns who are happy to have a job; the UFL’s five head coaches are NFL-quality minds. Locos coach Jim Fassel took the New York Giants to the Super Bowl in 2001, and was NFL coach of the year in 1997. Sacramento’s Dennis Green was an NFL head coach for 13 years with Minnesota and Arizona; 102 Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

Clockwise from top left: quarterback Tim Rattay, head coach Jim Fassel, linebacker Ed Hartwell and the LocoMotion cheerleaders are all reasons to check out the Locos.

Hartford’s Chris Palmer coached the Cleveland Browns in 1999-2000; Omaha’s Jeff Jagodzinski has been an NFL offensive coordinator; and Florida’s Jay Gruden is one of the greatest players and coaches in AFL history and served as an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers under brother Jon. 3. Players you’ve actually heard of. UFL rosters are filled with guys with NFL experience, and there’s even a couple of former Pro Bowlers taking snaps this year in Omaha’s Jeff Garcia and Sacramento’s Daunte Culpepper. The rest of the league’s quarterbacks—Las Vegas’ Tim Rattay, Florida’s Brooks Bollinger (last year’s league MVP) and Hartford’s Josh McCown—also have NFL starting experience. The team with the most recognizable names is definitely Omaha, which, besides Garcia, has running backs Ahman Green and Maurice Clarett, and ex-Colts linebacker Cato June. The Locos have former Cardinals running back Marcel Shipp, as well as … 4. Our own hometown hero. The biggest offseason acquisition by the Locos was bringing home former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ed Hartwell, a 1996 Cheyenne High School graduate. The eight-year NFL veteran will man the middle of the Las Vegas defense and bring experience and intensity to the unit. 5. You can bet on it. Yes, most local sports books take wagers on UFL games. And unlike the stuffy NFL that publicly and hypocritically turns its nose up at sports betting in Las Vegas, UFL officials

openly encourage fans to bet on league games. And look at it this way: While it’s nearly impossible to find a bad line on NFL or major college games, if you are willing to put in enough research, you could become a UFL wise guy. 6. It’s a party. The UFL is doing more than just offering a solid product on the field; it’s also shooting for an overall entertainment experience. There will be musical acts performing at halftime of each game, with pop-rockers Sugar Ray getting the nod for the opener. Local act Yellow Brick Road will perform outside the stadium before the game as part of the interactive “UFL Experience,” which will include face painting, balloon artists and other activities in a carnival-like atmosphere. And don’t overlook the Locos’ cheerleading squad, known as the LocoMotion. 7. They could be your favorite team in 2011. With the great likelihood of no NFL season next year because of a lockout by the owners, the UFL is in a potentially perfect spot to grab America’s attention in the country’s desire for football. The Locos’ home opener is set for 8 p.m. Sept. 18. Single-game tickets start at $10, and season tickets for all four home games can be purchased for $60. The opening game can also be seen on HDNet. For more information, go to ufl-football.com.

Going for Broke

Siding with wrong coaches costly in NFL’s opening week By Matt Jacob Sometimes you get so caught up in all the minutia when studying a football matchup that the obvious ﬂies right over your head like a Mark Sanchez pass. To wit, check out the NFL coaches who sit at 1-0 after the season’s ﬁrst week: Bill Belichick, Mike Shanahan, Jeff Fisher, Mike Tomlin, Sean Payton, Mike McCarthy, John Harbaugh, Ken Whisenhunt and Tom Coughlin—all proven winners (only McCarthy and Harbaugh haven’t been to a Super Bowl, but both have made multiple playoff appearances). Now get a load of some of the coaches who reside at the bottom of the standings: Norv Turner, Chan Gailey, Marvin Lewis, Wade Phillips, Tom Cable, Josh McDaniels, Mike Singletary, Eric Mangini and Steve Spagnuolo. So what did I do in Week 1? I advised you to play the Cowboys (Phillips) over the Redskins (Shanahan), and the Bengals (Lewis) over the Patriots (Belichick), part of a 4-6 effort that cost me $567, dropping my bankroll to $4,293. It’s a good thing I wasn’t around to handicap the Civil War: I would’ve told you to bet the (actual) farm on the South! On to this week’s picks … $220 (to win $200) on JAGUARS (+8) over Chargers: At least I was wise enough to go against Turner and my Chargers in Week 1, who lost outright in Kansas City. That’s the third straight Week 1 noncover for the Bolts. And you know the old adage that says teams make their biggest improvement from Week 1 to Week 2? Not so with Turner. Since arriving in San Diego in 2007, his teams are 0-3 straight-up (SU) and against the spread (ATS) in Game 2. It gets worse: From Week 1 through Week 5, the supremely talented Chargers are 6-10 SU and 5-11 ATS under Turner. I’m convinced that if you put Norv in charge of Microsoft, Bill Gates would be on food stamps within a month. $110 (to win $100) on PACKERS (-13½) vs. Bills: Let’s see: Gailey vs. McCarthy. Trent Edwards (led team to 10 points in home loss vs. Dolphins) vs. Aaron Rodgers (led team to 27 points in road win vs. Eagles). Buffalo hitting the road vs. the Packers’ home opener at Lambeau Field. If that’s not enough,

the home team is 8-0 SU and 7-1 ATS in the last eight head-to-head meetings (five regular season, three preseason). Average margin of victory in those eight games: 15.5 points, with the Packers scoring four straight double-digit wins at Lambeau. $110 (to win $100) on BOWLING GREEN (+2½) vs. Marshall: Never underestimate the power of the “letdown.” Last week, facing No. 23 West Virginia at home, Marshall collapsed like Amy Winehouse after happy hour, blowing a 21-6 lead with less than six minutes to play and losing 24-21 in overtime. With a chance to force a second overtime, Marshall missed a field goal by six inches, making it the ultimate kick to the crotch—and making a play against the Thundering Herd this week a must. Bowling Green is also 0-2 after road losses at Troy (30-27) and Tulsa (33-20), but it covered in both defeats and is 6-0-1 ATS in its last seven. $110 (to win $100) on DUKE (+23½) vs. Alabama: The Crimson Tide must be feeling pretty good after blowing out San Jose State and Penn State by a combined 72-6 margin the last two weeks, which makes now the perfect time to fade the nation’s top-ranked team. Not only is this Alabama’s first road game, it’s a big “sandwich” situation (coming off the win over Penn State with an SEC battle at Arkansas on deck). Duke (34, 41 and 48 points its last three games) will be the first team this season to challenge Alabama’s young defense. And while the Crimson Tide have cashed in four straight games dating to last year, they’ve had just one five-game ATS winning streak since the start of the 1995 season. BEST OF THE REST: Patriots -1 at Jets ($55); Steelers-Titans UNDER 38 points ($44); Virginia Tech -17½ vs. East Carolina ($44); Georgia -2½ vs. Arkansas ($33); Air Force +17½ vs. Oklahoma ($33). Matt Jacob is a former local sports writer who has been in the sports handicapping business for more than four years. For his weekly column, Vegas Seven has granted Matt a “$7,000” bankroll. If he blows it all, we’ll fire him and replace him with a monkey. September 16-22, 2010 Vegas Seven 103

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seven questions Bill Hornbuckle MGM Resort International’s chief marketing ofﬁcer looks back on 30 years in Las Vegas, and forward to the city’s future By Elizabeth Sewell

What is one of the biggest changes you’ve seen in the gaming industry? For a couple of decades, as the industry matured, the town changed and we went from gaming-centric to, in the last decade at least, non-gaming-centric. Things like great accommodations, great entertainment, great food and beverages, great retail all made a difference. Up until the recent downturn, we were doing exceptionally well with that. Does Las Vegas need to reinvent itself? I think what’s important is that we continue to appeal to a cross-demographic proﬁle. When you have an environment that needs 40 million people to successfully survive, it needs to be a little bit of everything for everyone and that’s a difﬁcult proposition. When you spend $100-plus million for a show, the economics of that have to work. When you hire and retain worldclass chefs and you spend millions of dollars on great restaurants, that needs to work. When you develop things like Crystals, and all of the world’s leading brands are represented, it needs to work independently as a business to be successful. The idea and the notion that Las Vegas could kind of rewind itself and go back to any singular proposition to save itself is probably remote. The value proposition is what Las Vegas grew up on, is known for, and now has returned. If you’re a convention attendee or corporate meeting planner or an individual coming out of Chicago, the value proposition in relative terms is like it was 15-20 years ago. 110

Vegas Seven September 16-22, 2010

What do you like about Las Vegas? When I ﬁrst came here there were 330,000 people, and now there’s 1.9 million in the Valley. It’s still a small-town feel to me. I think the creation of communities, I think the town has done a great job with that. Despite growing unemployment, despite our rank with education, it still can be a pretty positive place to live and I think people are surprised by that.

Is Las Vegas threatened by new gaming destinations? I can remember when the idea of riverboats ﬁrst came up, and we all thought we were going to go broke. What happened is it brought new people into the market. It exposed people to gaming and it exposed them to the experience and ultimately they wanted to come to mecca. I think when you look at the explosion of gaming in Asia it’s a little different. Macau will push $15 billion this year in gaming, when Las Vegas will be lucky to do $7 billion. That destination has grown to two and a half times this one, and will continue to grow. Singapore is going to be a $4 billion destination. That part of the world … they like to gamble. It’s mostly about gaming. It looks like Las Vegas in the 1970s in terms of how people react to it, but I think over time that will mature, too.

What don’t you like? I miss the personalities that drove the buildings, drove the businesses, where they were individualized entrepreneurs who had a rich background. I miss some of that. Anytime you look at things in reverse when you’re younger it always seems bigger than life, but it felt that way then and now it’s become a very good place to come and make a living and enjoy, but it is different.

If you could talk to anyone in Las Vegas’ past, who would it be? If I could sit down and have lunch with anyone it would be Howard Hughes, just to understand what he was thinking at the time and what he saw and what his vision was. He didn’t have to come here. He could have gone anywhere else in the world and spent his money.

Can you imagine a time when Las Vegas isn’t relevant? I certainly hope not. We’ve all invested a lifetime and a whole bunch of other folk’s money and our own trying to make this the “Entertainment Capital of the World,” and despite all that is going on in the past couple of years we arguably and easily can still stake that claim. I think we’d really have to falter.

Photo by Anthony Mair

Bill Hornbuckle has a classic Vegas story. After trying college in his native New England he dropped out to work at a hotel in Connecticut. Finding he had a knack for the industry, Hornbuckle migrated to the world’s premier destination for hotels—Las Vegas—and went back to school at UNLV before going to work in the casinos. Since arriving in 1977, Hornbuckle has held almost every job in the hotel business, starting out as a room-service buser and working his way to the top. Hornbuckle’s 30 years of experience working in Las Vegas led him to his current position as the chief marketing ofﬁcer for MGM Resorts International, one of the biggest companies in the gaming industry.